welcome to my bloggy!

i’m old enough to remember when the first iPhone came out. it was iconic, sure, but it also started a slow, painful descent into the hellscape of screen addiction we’re all wading through today. back in my day (yes, i’m saying that unironically TT-TT), my parents used to kick my brother and me out of the house on school nights after we’d finished our homework. the rule? don’t come back until the streetlights flickered on. we survived. we thrived. we developed something called an attention span.

now, let me be clear: i do NOT blame kids these days.

i blame lazy, checked-out parents for causing the iPad Kid epidemic. we all know the type. the parents who shove a glowing screen into their toddler’s hands at the dinner table instead of, i don’t know, parenting. the ones who act shocked when their middle schooler can’t hold a conversation without glancing at their phone every 30 seconds like a caffeinated stockbroker.

parents, it is OKAY for your child to be bored. actually, it’s good for them! boredom sparks creativity, problem-solving, and the ability to exist without constant stimulation. you know what boredom gave us? blanket forts, doodling masterpieces in the margins of notebooks, and the deep, almost spiritual experience of staring at the ceiling while contemplating life. it gave us daydreaming, which is basically free entertainment straight from the brain.

(mak lore drop: back when my family would do long roadtrips i would watch the ENTIRE shrek movie from start to finish in my head. and as a 25 year old i can still do it.)

and listen, phone-addicted adults, you’re not off the hook either. your kid sees you doomscrolling for hours, responding to work emails at the dinner table, or watching TikToks while you “watch” their soccer game. you’re leading by example—just in the worst possible way. maybe, just maybe, if you put the phone down and engaged with reality, your kid would too. wild concept, I know.

── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──

with hate, mak

christmas 2011, lil mak has just opened up present. it's a nook simple touch. little did i know at the time of ripping off that wrapping paper that i would very shortly become an active roleplayer on barnes and noble review pages.

i feel like some context is needed. growing up, my parents did the right thing and did not give me free, unrestricted internet access as a child (much to my hatred at the time) instead my time spent online was monitored through the Family Computer play webkinz, pixie hollow, and other kid flash games.

my current obsession at that time was the warrior cats series by erin hunter. after catching up with the series an eagerly checking the to see if a new book had been released, i discovered roleplay. after innocently checking the reviews on into the wild, i saw folks leaving reviews that were advirtising their clans recruiting kits, warriors, medicine cats and other positions. (i won't explain this to non-warriors, see the lore here).anyways, folks would leave reviews like this:
Darkclan Dis clan is intended to be cray cray. In order to join you must be willing to stay up until at LEAST 10 on most nights and you must be active. If you can't take the heat, then don't come. Otherwise, join at heart res one -Mistystar

so you would search 'heart' go to result one and post a review introducing your cat. and BAM you're roleplaying. i was stay up so late and spend all day bouncing from book to book, roleplaying. at my peak i was active in a couple clans and roleplaying in percy jackson, harry potter, and other fantasy groups.

all the while, my parents were clueless how i was spending my time on my nook. until one day, i came home from school, eager to protect SunClan from an enemy raid, but oh no. my mom said that my nook was broken. i never got in trouble for my activity on there. but what i assume happened was that my account (made through my dad's email) was banned due to spam comments after barnes & noble caught on to our little roleplaying scheme. and my parents out of 1. embarassment for me or 2. just lack of awareness as to what roleplay was just never brought it up to little mak.