Oolong

she/her · 20s

[aromanticduck]

Just realised I follow three different nonbinary people named Maia. The nickels keep rolling in.

[aromanticduck]

I need to collect one who uses he/him pronouns, one I don't know very well, one who's slutty, and one who's really funny.

The I can have a Maia (he), Maia (who), Maia (hoe) and Maia (haha).

[embetie]

Happy 2nd anniversary Sylus! ♡

Artwork done for @syluskittenproject on insta, a project made to help and feed stray cats of Istanbul

[oolong-tea-leaf]

MY CAT ADORING, VINYL BUYING LOSER HUSBAND lookathimbeingsosoftnooooo

[legallybrunettedotcom]

[inbabylontheywept]

Until death, all defeat is psychological.

[victusinveritas]

[black-crested-jaybird]

I always think of the description I saw years ago: Self-imposed deadlines don't help me, because I know the person who set them, and they're full of shit.

[makingtrouble]

Give yourself the treat before you start. I'm serious. And ideally during the task and afterwards too.

Executive dysfunction comes from a lack of available dopamine. Common advice is wrong. You need to provide your own dopamine before you can start. Otherwise you're trying to run your car on empty.

"But what if I still don't do it" well you already weren't getting it done anyway. Now you have a little treat. Try again later.

You deserve kindness and care even when you aren't being productive.

(Also read How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis)

[twwings]

I give my students a LOT of techniques for starting writing when it feels overwhelming or daunting, but one of them is exactly this: dopamine load BEFOREHAND. It may sound weird to people on tumblr dot com, but a lot of people seriously struggle with executive dysfunction when it comes to writing literally anything, to the extent that it can cause such symptoms as panic, depression, and AI chatbot use.

I usually suggest this technique as a "Reverse Pomodoro." In the original Pomodoro, you work for 25 minutes and then take a break for 5 minutes (the times vary, but that's the essential ratio). People with executive dysfunction often find this insurmountable, and they get even more frustrated, and then the task seems even more difficult. So instead, flip those times.

FIRST, spend 25 minutes doing something energizing and engaging that you like to do. Not scrolling social media passively, not watching tv, not napping. Try something like colouring, doing yoga, running/walking around the block, talking about your favourite tv show with someone in real time, playing with the dog or cat, making and eating a lovely sandwich, hula hooping, something active. Having a little treat absolutely falls in this category!

(on the subject of little treats: refusing yourself food until you do work is for fucking Puritans and you can be kinder to yourself)

Then, after 25 minutes (or however long it takes to eat the sandwich or finish the yoga routine, it doesn't have to be exact), spend 5 minutes writing (or doing whatever you're struggling to start). Most people can coax themselves into doing something they find difficult for five minutes, if they have already filled up the joy/energy/engagement bucket. You can put a timer on for the 5 minutes if you want, or if you find that annoying, just work for as long as you like.

The other key is: don't push yourself to keep going when you're frustrated or tired—that will just reinforce the negative belief that you already have, which tells you that this task is painful to do, and needs to be avoided. If you've commonly had to force yourself to do this kind of task, that's likely part of why you think of it as painful and have trouble starting it now. Also, you should just, at a basic level, try not to put yourself in pain for the sake of productivity. So just do it till the good feelings run out. Then start hula hooping or colouring again for another 25 minutes. When the tank's refilled, try another 5 minutes of work, if you can. Adjust times to taste.

Not every technique works for everyone, but I've seen this one work for many students who are genuinely and seriously disabled by executive dysfunction. And many people find themselves getting more and more excited and engaged in the "difficult" task—because the good feelings from the hula hooping carry over, and because they're suddenly able to do the task without feeling pain, and feel accomplishment without feeling pain.

[princesssarisa]

I'll try this and see how it works.

[schmellows]

Happy anniversary, Valko. It's been one month since your reveal, I hope to see you soon... once the fight is over. <3

[east-of-nowhere]

“Home is where the trees look normal” is the sweetest, saddest, most nostalgic truth I’ve ever heard.

[talesofphilos]

"Valko."

Valko approaches Sylus, his hair and tail dripping with salt water.

"Valko, do not step any closer," Sylus commands from his beach chair, angling his book to hide the pages against his chest. Valko doesn't stop until he's right in front of him.

With a small, innocent smile, he shakes. Water splashes everywhere, dotting the sand, the chairs, and the towels, but mainly Sylus.

Despite his physique, you always forget how fit Sylus is until you're giggling at him chasing down Valko, both of them sprinting at full speed, until Sylus tackles him into the ocean. They narrowly miss Rafayel gliding through the water, their private section of the beach allowing him to show off his brilliant tail.

Beside you, Xavier stirs, peeking one eye open and squinting against the sun. You smile down at him. He's adorable like this, all groggy and disheveled, his cheeks tinged pink from the heat and the sun.

"Hey, Xavie. Good nap?"

He just hums, rolling over to rest his head in your lap, eye closing again. With a small laugh, you card your hand through his soft hair, allowing him to make himself comfortable again, his arm flopping over your ankles.

"I'm never doing this again!" Caleb's voice travels across the beach. "It's impossible!"

"You can fly a fighter jet, my love. I'm confident that you can surf," Zayne replies, a bit of amusement in his tone underneath the encouragement.

"The sky likes me way better than the sea does. I swear, I think that kelp was tryin' to drown me."

Zayne hums. "I think a certain fish would come to your rescue, should you need it. Now let's put some more sunscreen on and try again." Caleb just stares, and Zayne raises an eyebrow. "Don't give me that look. I know you won't give up that easily. You're too stubborn for your own good."

You could stay here forever, you decide, with zero responsibilities besides keeping your favorite men company.

[fuckthisshit-ugh]

please read this even if you're not indian. especially if you're not indian.

you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.

first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.

and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.

and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.

it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:

• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.

• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.

• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.

• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.

• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.

• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.

and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.

what i'm asking:

if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.

if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.

india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.

we can still save her. but only loudly.

reblog. share. don't scroll past.

[standwithdaanes]

India's youth-led Cockroach movement vows to continue protest after police crackdown

The movement, which began as a satirical protest, has evolved into a nationwide challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

Supporters of India's youth-led Cockroach movement said Tuesday they will continue their protest in New Delhi, refusing to leave their sit-in site a day after police used tear gas and batons to disperse thousands of them as they tried to march toward Parliament. Hundreds of protesters camped at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site, under heavy police presence, saying they would stay until Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns over alleged failures in India's examination system. "We are going to continue our protest," said Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, which emerged just two months ago. The movement, drawing students, professionals and families, marks a rare public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's government in its third term, reviving criticism over its handling of dissent and its use of force to respond to protests. [...] Sona Bisht, a 20-year-old student who was part of the protest, said the confrontation strengthened her resolve. "If the government thinks that doing this with Gen Z, they can stop us, then that won't happen. We are here talking about education, talking about securing our future. And till the time our demands are not met, we will not move from here," she said.

"Definitions developed thus far about youth, like the Gen Z narrative, have largely been linked to roles attributed by the dominant system. The rulers have invented a whole range of terms — rebellious, irresponsible, apolitical, extremist, consumerist — not to understand youth, but to neutralize it. They know as well as we do that whoever wins over the youth wins over society. [...] Thus the question is not whether youth is powerful, but in whose interest this power is directed. Today’s uprisings — such as those in Nepal, Bangladesh, Madagascar, Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, and beyond — demonstrate that youth continues to emerge as a decisive actor. Young women like Deniz Ciya have proven this with their lives. These uprisings are not expressions of generational temperament. These „Gen Z uprisings“ are expressions of a social force confronting structural crisis inherent in the current system. [...] Recent youth uprisings — whether in the form of environmental justice protests, labor movements, or uprisings against authoritarian governments — are proof that youth worldwide are not only responding to a set of circumstances; they are consciously and collectively rejecting the narratives that seek to define them. Thus, it is crucial to analyze what transpired, and draw lessons from these uprisings, particularly in the context of building a global youth democratic confederalism. For the power of youth movements is interconnected, despite being geographically distant." — "Beyond "Gen Z": Defending Revolutionary Youth Spirit" by Lêgerîn

"The youth in general, and especially the young women, are the spark of every revolution.We can’t look at the history and found a revolution without the youth. We are a fundamental factor. We should be aware of this reality, we should take conscience of our historical role. By doing this we will provide ourselves with a plan that will allow us the unity of action and objectives. The Youth should not be condemned to be a slave of the capitalist system. [...] If we reject the labels and mentalities imposed by the system, taking consciousness as Internationalist Youth in a global level and organizing ourselves, is there someone who can stop us?" — "The youth is the spark of every revolution" by Lêgerîn.

[nixdvn]

A group of idiots (old art)

[neyiarts]

awoo milk 🐾

lost wolfie.

if found, please return him.

[sunsetagain]

Finding a metal pull tab means you get to open something? You should be careful, I'm a person, not a soda can.

[serraphsusu]

He would do that fr tho

[oolong-tea-leaf]

I miss the wolfie I never met :c

[always-just-red]

Just a silly little drabble since I'm not gonna have time for a proper fic this week! Also the banner for this is taking me out lmao SYLUS 😭😭😭

Bad Hair Day

(or, 'literally the best day ever!!' ~ Luke and Kieran)

Sylus x gn!Reader, 650 words.

“Did it hurt, Sylus?”

“When I fell from heaven?”

“When you got struck by lightning.”

Sylus frowns. You snap a picture as he looks up from a data pad, mid-peruse of the news. He’s only mildly perturbed, mind you, not outright confused; the distinction has always been sacred. Confusion implies he’s in the dark, and—morning affairs in digital fine-print before him— Sylus is never, ever, in the dark about anything.

“Lightning, sweetie?” he fishes idly. “I’ll bite. You… felt a spark when you looked at me, hm? There’s electricity in the air?”

You rest your chin in your hand. “Why’re you so convinced I’m making a pass at you?”

“Every word from your mouth is a pass at me, kitten. I’ve learned to live with it.”

“He says, in a whorish silk robe.”

He tuts as he sips at his coffee. “It’s sophisticated.”

Is it sophisticated? “It’s halfway down your shoulder, Sylus.”

With a flicker of a sideways glance, he regards the wine-red silk bunched precariously at the top of his arm. Silk that slips another few centimetres when he shrugs. “Oops.”

Your lips are a thin line as you raise your own mug up to them, making Sylus chuckle. It’s a rich, self-indulgent sound— so hedonistic, so pleased with itself. Silently, you press a few quick buttons on your phone, then thrust it towards him:

The picture you’d taken.

Sylus’s chuckle cuts out like someone has gripped his throat and squeezed.

In the image and in life, his hair is a mess: points jutting out every imaginable angle. It looks deliberate— fixed with gel, spray, or perhaps a spontaneous desire to be a talking point at breakfast— but his eyes are sharp with curiosity as he pats at his head. Is his hair really—? Yes, he can feel it under his hand.

Now that’s confusion, soft-bellied and exposed. You don’t know when you’ll have this chance again, so you take the shots you can, rapid-fire, no mercy:

“You look like you fell asleep in a washing machine. Like you were practicing alchemy, and it blew up in your face. Ooh, ooh! You look like a toilet brush that’s been used to scrub seven million toilets.”

Sylus hums as he pokes a hair tuft. “How… colourful.”

“Seriously, Sy. I know you’re a deep sleeper, but you’d think something was nesting in there, the way that—”

You gasp.

A little preoccupied, Sylus misses the ember. By the time he gazes up, sensing warmth and danger, it’s too late to stamp on it. He tries, anyway. “No. No. Kitten? No.”

…

“Hold still, Sylus!”

Mephisto wobbles on Sylus’s head, hunkering down for stability with a chirp.

“Take your time, sweetie,” Sylus grimaces, claws in his scalp as you take so many more pictures than necessary.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m almost done… try, uh… try to look really grumpy, yeah? Like you wanna kill me. Can you do that, Sy?”

He can’t, actually. He might be bleeding, ridiculed, but there’s light in his eyes as he watches you laugh and fuss over the composition of his downfall. When you say something about the rule of thirds, you catch his lip quirking; he’s trying not to smile.

You lower your phone, grinning. “Okay. I’ve got it.”

Sylus lifts Mephisto from his head— plonking him down on the kitchen counter, then finally, finally, tending to his hair. He mumbles as he smooths it back down, guiding silver-white curls with his fingers: “The things I do for you, kitten. Just make sure the twins don’t see it, hm? I couldn’t care less what they think, but the headaches, oh, they’d never let me hear the end of—”

Across Onychinus’s base, someone shrieks with laughter. Sylus flinches.  

You glance up from your phone, where your group chat with Luke and Kieran is open. “Hmm? Say that again, Sy, sorry, I missed it.”

Divider by: @/omi-resources Taglist: @midiplier @queen-serena88 @sayoko-ou @leighsartworks216 @ditsynddotsy @sylusfluffymeow @confused-romantic @the-golden-jhope @carmelves @m00nchildwrites @aglommynight @fiyori @sylus-crow @sniickerdoodles @sprout341 @mentaltrouble2201 @yuhuahuaaa @animegamerfox @sylus-hunter @obeythebutler @aenishas @kingraspberry12-blog @cordidy @gardenialily @cateleya21 @luminaryorbit @hachisenshi

[oolong-tea-leaf]

YES YES YES DOWN BAD AND UNCOMPOSED SYLUS

[oolong-tea-leaf]

You know, when you imagine a bed breaking, it's usually with a sexual connotation, or maybe some roughhousing, jumping or what have you.

Istg all I did was sit down, and I'm on the smaller side for crying out loud.

Low-key reminds me of the time when I was chopping things CALMLY and I broke the chopping board. It was a thick slab of bamboo wood. Or the time I accidentally broke the mop handle.

Breaking the bed is a new low though.

[oolong-tea-leaf]

I need to clarify that this was a STURDY bed base.

[oolong-tea-leaf]

You know, when you imagine a bed breaking, it's usually with a sexual connotation, or maybe some roughhousing, jumping or what have you.

Istg all I did was sit down, and I'm on the smaller side for crying out loud.

Low-key reminds me of the time when I was chopping things CALMLY and I broke the chopping board. It was a thick slab of bamboo wood. Or the time I accidentally broke the mop handle.

Breaking the bed is a new low though.

[calebs-slavicgirl]

someone posted a weibo calling out the company, accusing them of hurting the players, ruining the reputation of chinese games abroad, and damaging the country’s cultural export and global expansion projects—and it got a ton of likes... i hope the company realizes the terrible impact they’ve caused and gives valko back. we were being very gentle before, but it didn't work. now that we're taking a harder stance, i really hope they finally listen to us

translation ⬇️

unfortunately, this is a war where everyone loses. no matter who is pulling the strings behind the scenes, and no matter what your stance is, you have completely and utterly lost. unless you are a literal traitor who despises seeing china do well. i took a quick look at twitter (X), and the overwhelming amount of comments are split: half are bashing papergames, and the other half are bashing china itself. are you happy now?

as an overseas chinese, let me tell you clear as day: japan has anime, south korea has k-pop, and the only thing from china that currently holds any real popularity among young people overseas is gaming. genshin impact, black myth: wukong, honkai, wuthering waves, and then papergames' otome titles—specifically the nikki and deepspace series. but now, foreign players' trust in chinese games has completely collapsed. you can find endless comments everywhere saying they will never touch a chinese game again.

the cultural propaganda and global outreach projects that our country worked on for so long were destroyed by you in a single week. you relied on throwing around accusations of 'rh' (insulting china) just to force caleb's voice actor out, and you've left love and deepspace looking half-dead. but let me tell you: the person who truly doesn't love the country, the one who is actually 'rh', is YOU. you utilized tragic historical events just to pressure a game company, all because you wanted to remove a character you didn't personally like. you are the ones who truly disrespect our martyrs.

you can keep rewriting history and acting like nothing happened, but the fact is, your idiotic actions have dealt a massive blow to the overseas markets of all chinese game developers. not that your bird-brained heads care, because all you can say is, 'chinese games must cater to chinese players first, domestic games must survive domestically first.' i truly wonder if the people shouting this crap every day even own a passport.

love and deepspace's cultural export and global expansion projects were heavily supported by the state. if the government didn't value cultural outreach, why would they back it? these people went abroad carrying a mission from the higher-ups, and you completely ruined it for them, haha. the performance metrics of the staff involved are now completely gone; they probably absolutely despise you right now. in the end, you created a scenario where the entire country suffers a total defeat, yet you guys just casually move on, living your peaceful lives and pulling for gacha cards. no wonder lu xun said medicine couldn't cure the chinese people back then—your brains are truly terminally ill and beyond saving

🖇: cr. shumaarr [twt]

rh stands for 'insulting china' (sinophobia) in the context of geopolitics and foreign policy

[oolong-tea-leaf]

This was very strongly worded, and I do not disagree on a single point.

[gingerteawrites]

LOVE PATS - LOVE AND DEEPSPACE VALKO

A/N: My first of hopefully many future contributions to the Valko cause! Let's keep pushing and hope infold brings him back

"Can you stop petting me like a damn dog?" Another annoyed grumble from the hunk of a man splayed over your lap. One that only makes you chuckle.

He'd come home particularly grumpy today, not even fully taking off his work suit before flopping head down into your body while you were catching up on your favorite show.

"How are you going to put yourself in prime petting position and then complain when I do just that?" Amusement tinges your tone, your fingers getting lost in the red tuft of hair to scratch behind fluffy ears.

Valko's entire body shudders at the move.

"See? You love this, don't you?"

"Shut up," his quip holds no bite. Not when his usual sharp tone is softened by a breathy whine.

You absolutely loved this part of him. Loved how despite fighting his instincts tooth and nail, you were always capable of making him melt under you.

Feeling particularly emboldened by this turn of events, you decide that some more teasing is in order.

Your fingers trail down to his undercut, lightly tugging at the hair there and eliciting a soft groan from the man.

"Aw, I'm sorry then. I'll stop since you hate it so much," fingers halting their movement causes him to go so very still. Amber eyes find yours in an instant, brimming with something that makes you feel hot and cold all at once.

"S'fine. Don't stop." His voice is merely above a whisper.

"What was that?" You're pulling your whole hand away now, but it is caught in his grip before you have the chance to create much distance.

In the blink of an eye, your entire world flips and your back makes contact with the plush couch beneath you. His eyes almost seem to glow now. Topaz brimming with a flame from his very soul.

Behind him, his tail flops against the head of the couch, beating with a soft, insistent *thump thump*

Valko lowers himself so that his chest presses into yours, and his face nests against your neck. Breathing you in like his favorite scent. Your hand—still in his hold—is redirected back to his tuft of burgundy hair.

"I said don't stop. Please." If you weren't already lying down, the little whine in the word would've made your knees weaker than jelly and sent your body tumbling to the ground.

You oblige. Of course you do. Who ever could be invulnerable to the charm of an oversized puppy begging for attention?

"Should've never complained in the first place," soft caresses follow even soften head scratches, and he's humming and burying his nose deeper against your skin.

You could spend an eternity just like this.

_______

Comments and reblogs are much appreciated (❁´◡`❁)