#it takes a while

[doriana-gray-games]

They? Will we be able to choose Mycroft's gender? Or are they the same gender as Sherlock?

Ohhh, no sorry! Mycroft uses he/him and is a man! (For all MCs).

My brain sometimes just defaults to they/them when talking about people, especially with regards to this game 😂

😀 I do it in the code too. And it sadly does not make my coding process easier.

[soupiestfics]

To the like 19 people asking abt my existence in asks

I promise i live

I promise i will update the fics soon

Jumps out window

[startledoctopus]

Post-election day 3:

a lot of people are telling you to get with your friends and do solidarity and mutual aid work, or telling you to join an organization.

and you might be going "i don't have friends" or "my friends don't align closely with my politics" or "what organization?"

no one can give you an exact roadmap to how to do this but here's some info i hope can help. today i'm going to start with "i don't have friends"

if you don't have friends, that's a big difficulty not only to starting mutual aid projects but also i imagine to feeling a sense of safety and comfort in the world in general right now (not just post-election). whatever work you need to do (physically, emotionally, logistically) to be able to put effort into making friends, i can't instruct you through because i don't know your life.

making friends with political goals can be both more difficult and easier than making friends for nonpolitical goals. it can be more difficult because in environments where we worry about state repression, people can be secretive. it can be difficult because the people who share our politics aren't always people we personally like or who will personally like us. sometimes people are impatient with or rude to people who don't know as much as they do or don't have the same context they do. on the other hand, it can be easier because people who share your values are statistically likely to have things in common with you that you both think are important. it can be easier because people who have been doing the things longer than you probably want to talk about their history with doing the things and why they do the things and how they wish the things could be done better. it can be easier because people can be more open, sometimes, in difficult times or while doing difficult work, than people who are just going bowling or whatever. you are not the only person looking for friends right now.

there are a couple of things to think about as you decide how you're going to go about finding friends:

are you looking for people who are "close enough" in politics who you personally get along with very well and like, or are you looking for people who align closest with your politics above all? both are useful. friends with relationships of trust can often find avenues of action with one another that are radical even if someone's politics could be defined generally as apathetic, centrist, democrat, or what have you. people who you don't immediately take to but share your politics more closely push you to further your political education (as hopefully as you push them). You'll have the chance to develop close trust and mutual affection and respect through taking action together. maybe you'll end up being closer friends than you thought at first as you grow together.

building a relationship takes variable amounts of time. i have some friends i met and was like YOU. ME. WE'RE BESTIES NOW. NO TAKE-BACKSIES. There are a few folks I thought I wasn't going to be friends with and knew for quite a long time before finally starting to interact with them more often and realizing that they are the best. most of my friends landed somewhere in between. HOWEVER, personally I cannot tell if I like someone or someone likes me via any sort of digital interaction. when I online date, I'm that person who's always like "cool, glad we matched, wanna get coffee?" are you like that? or do you prefer to talk to people online first or exclusively? you're going to want to think about this carefully, because if you are always trying to force yourself to use a mode of communication you hate, or to interact with people you aren't excited to get to know, it's not going to go great. building relationships takes variable amounts of time, but usually a while, and that requires you to show up and show up and show up. so using a medium you like to get in touch with people you're excited to know will make it much easier to sustain. if you put in a shitton of effort for two weeks and crash, you will be very unlikely to hear from any of those people again.

do you know what it feels like in your heart and mind and body when people like you? not everyone experiences this i imagine, and it probably varies a good deal from person to person, but generally speaking things feel easier with people who like you or are open to knowing you. conversations flow more naturally, they say yes to plans at higher rates, and underneath any panic you might feel about potentially fucking up something that seems to be going well should be some kind of sense of "it's all coming together! yes!"

if you "make a friend" but you are constantly managing negative feelings from them or from within yourself, that's probably not the right friendship for you. you can still be community members if you're politically aligned, but don't give them the energy you're saving for friendship or looking for friends. keep looking.

(yes, i'm aware that neurodivergence makes everything harder, as a neurodivergent myself. an autistic friend sometimes talks to me about their attempts to make friends because sometimes i'll say things like "hmmmm, do you like them or are you trying to convince yourself to like them?")

running out of brain steam tonight, but generally speaking, consider the above points, and then put yourself out there as much as you can stand to. go online or in person to places* you might meet cool people and start conversations, or participate in them. sometimes if i am feeling weird i will bring a drop spindle or my tatting and start doing that, and usually at least one person comes up to me to ask me about it. so i don't have to initiate but i still get to talk to at least one person. maybe there are strategies like that which will work for you? or you can use dating apps to try to find friends - just make your profile explicit about that. go to volunteer day at a place** that does something you agree with. you aren't surgically targeting a person or a group, you're seeing who's around who you might like. you're gonna need all kind of relationships in your life so don't be too narrowly focused, just focused enough to end up with people you can feel good about knowing. and people who get to know you can be great about introducing you to other people they know

having community relationships and doing work with people you don't personally like or that you can't trust is a totally different thing that i hopefully will get around to writing about at some point.

*see the below point, and also, unless you live in my city i have no idea what your location has. what do you like to do? probably your location will at some point have talks? town halls? people love to chat at those, even if some or most of those folks won't be people you agree with

**gonna suggest orgs in my city quite a lot in the coming days. if you don't live here, maybe your area has similar orgs

[stackof17pancakes]

imagine when this happens after the tynan fight

@comicaurora photoshops part 3 ft. journey to the west

[totaldramaonline]

Btw! How did the Duncan, Courtney, and Gwen poly relationship happen? I'm curious!

Ok so you sent this like a year ago but I forgot so here I am.

I think that maybe after the events of TDWT Duncan and Gwen end up breaking up because they

aren’t used to interacting outside the show

Are both feeling incredibly guilty about courtney

So then all three of them are just like miserable right. And I think Courtney and Gwen make up first, because Gwen actually really enjoyed having Courtney as a friend and can tell Courtney could really use one now they they aren’t on the show. It takes a while for them to get close again and Gwen is terrified she’s gonna fuck it up by catching a major crush on Courtney but one day our try just. kisses her. Like they’re just hanging out and Courtney real idea she really liked Gwen that way and she’s not gonna let it slip through her fingers.

After that they spend a few weeks in bliss but eventually he comes up. And they acknowledge they both really loved him and the conversation eventually becomes “do we still love him?” And they figure out that they do. And now it’s gwens time to shine so she proposes polyamory to Courtney and after EXTENSIVE research and planning they decide that’s what they want if he does.

So he’s like totally blindsided when they start talking to him again, he and Courtney hadn’t spoke since WT and his and Gwens have been awkward since Gwen/Courtney happened. But suddenly they’re both ??flirting?? With him and he’s just. So confused. Slightly afraid. Eventually Courtney gets pissed that he’s not catching on and they just like show up on his doorstep like “be our boyfriend again”

And obviously he’s all cocky about it whatever but secretly he is just. So happy. He missed them so bad bro he’s such a simp he’s so excited he has his girlfriends back and he convinces them to move in together so quickly bc he was lonely but now he has them back 🥺

[bilbopaggins]

@Crazyheadcomics

[feyburner]

Ignacio Varga the sacrifice Ignacio Varga the martyr the saint the lamb to slaughter the Jesus the Isaac dying at the altar of his father except in the end he is not spared by God (death) or his father (judgment) the thing about weighing the heart against a feather and the feather is Truth… He went out after unburdening himself of the truth, in the end he felt lighter than feathers,,,,, sorry to be basic but ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyyyyyy god