⚠️ homicidal herbivore!

"So much blood was shed here. It was fun to see!"

wonder why she interpreted it that way? 🤔 as a coping mechanism? because it was all she'd ever known? both? the Lambs' history of conquest - I know Woolhaven's their home, but Flockade is. extremely literal-ritual war, gamified. (I'm going to ignore Yngya's ordeals to focus upon what remains of the pre-genocide culture; i.e. Flockade).

^just wished to share my thoughts.

(also this isn't an argument for "the lambs are EVIL and Marchosias was justified!" <- since I fear the greater COTL fandom is.. wary of nuance. 🫩 my position's more like: "the Lambs were harmed, and sought to end the cycle by creating a new, apocalyptic one. they're both possible-colonizers and victims, for lack of a better word. Marchosias's attempts at creating a non-abusive mini-society still failed! something something seeking to escape the past but just tripping back over to it!" <- smth smth Clauneck's fatalism, too*).

*do you think the developers had planned out the whole DLC-lore in advance and simply kept the news quiet, or? I love how the lore, explicit and implicit, interlocks with all the other worldbuilding-tidbits, but sometimes my pondering gets. pointed.

Sincerely,

Swooning-Sofa.

ENG: Here is the English translation of your message, tailored to match the friendly and analytical tone of your conversation:

"You're right. If you look at her dialogue, she's actually depicted as someone who enjoyed slaughter even when she was alive. For example:

"It's not so bad, dying. I don't know why it's such a fuss! Killing is fun, too!" "It was very exciting, the fighting. Such blood and viscera flying! Hehe!" "Imagine seeing her head being cleaved from her neck... I think that would be nice!"

If she had enjoyed the slaughter with malicious intent, she probably wouldn't have been given the title 'the Innocent'.

I thought of it as an innocence born from pure ignorance. It's like how a young child might find it fun to pluck the wings off a dragonfly. The child does it thinking the bug is just a toy, but the dragonfly is obviously suffering. Of course, once the child grows up and learns better, they stop doing it because they realize it hurts the insect. But considering that actions stemming from pure ignorance can sometimes be the most cruel, I feel like Temi's case fits perfectly into that category.

Also, your point about Flockade being a game that implicitly represents the history of the Lambs' conquests is incredibly interesting! I completely gave up on playing Flockade because I didn't understand the rules at all, but I'll definitely have to look into it again when I get the chance. Thank you for sharing such an intriguing thought.

Moreover, I find the Lambs, Marchosias, and even the Bishops so fascinating precisely because none of them can be simply categorized as purely good or evil. Just as you said, the Lambs were potential colonizers themselves, but they were brought to ruin by another power (the Bishops), which led them to attempt a ritual of total erasure out of revenge. Marchosias took advantage of the chaos to seize Ewefall and conduct all sorts of experiments for his own revenge. Yet, considering quite a few individuals genuinely achieved freedom through him, you could view him as a sweet devil who honors a deal, true to his namesake.

And the Bishops... you could say they are the root of all this, but technically, they are victims of Narinder too. They were Lawful Evil. Their presence was what maintained order for the creatures living in this world, and they governed them. They're almost like the mafia in a way. In fact, if you revisit their territories after the Bishops die, the remaining inhabitants instinctively attack us—whether to seize power, out of pure hunger, etc. Like this, everyone has their own stance, so you can't definitively label them as strictly good or bad. (Of course, I'm not blindly defending them either; their actions may have reasons, but that doesn't make those actions acceptable.)

Lastly, yes, the writer Jojo mentioned that they intentionally leave gaps in the story rather than explaining everything. I also saw somewhere that the DLC had been in planning for over a year, so it's highly likely they had been plotting this out well before that.

I love digging into COTL's lore and finding all the hidden details, so I'm really glad we could have this conversation. Thank you for the message!!

맞아요, 그녀의 대사 목록을 보면, 그녀는 생전에도 살육을 즐기는 듯한 묘사가 나옵니다. 예를 들면,

"It's not so bad, dying. I don't know why it's such a fuss! Killing is fun, too!" "It was very exciting, the fighting. Such blood and viscera flying! Hehe!" "Imagine seeing her head being cleaved from her neck... I think that would be nice!"

만약 악의적인 의도로 살육을 즐겼다면, 순수한이라는 이명이 붙지 않았을 겁니다.

저는 그래서 무지함에서 오는 순수함이라고 생각했습니다. 마치 어린 아이가 잠자리 날개를 뜯으며 재밌어하는 것처럼요. 아이는 잠자리를 장난감으로 여겼기 때문에 그런 행동을 한 것이지만, 당하고 있는 잠자리는 끔찍한 고통이잖아요. 물론 그 아이도 자라고 세상을 배우게 되면 자신의 행동이 잠자리를 아프게한 것을 깨닫게 될 것이고 더는 그런 장난을 치지 않겠죠. 하지만... 악의 없는 무지가 그 무엇보다 잔인해질 수 있다는 점을 생각해보면 테미도 딱 이런 케이스이지 않을까? 라는 생각을 합니다.

그리고 플록케이드가 과거 어린 양의 종족의 역사를 암시적으로 표현하는 게임이라는 그 의견이 매우 흥미롭습니다. 저는 Flockade의 룰을 전혀 몰라서 플레이하다가 포기해버렸기 때문에 기회가 되면 다시 그걸 봐야겠어요. 흥미로운 의견 감사합니다.

그리고 저는 어린양 종족과 마르코시아스, 더 나아가서 주교들까지 모두 선함과 악함으로 마냥 분류할 수 없는 캐릭터들이라서 매력적으로 느낍니다. 당신의 의견대로라면, 어린 양의 일족 역시 잠재적 식민지 개척자이었지만 또 다른 세력(주교들)에 의해 몰락하고 이에 대한 복수를 위해 모두가 사라지는 의식을 진행하고자 하였죠. 마르코시아스는 자신의 복수를 위해 혼란을 틈타 암양폭포를 차지하고 온갖 실험을 했어요, 하지만 그럼에도 진정한 자유를 얻은 이들이 꽤나 많다는 것을 생각하면 약속을 지키는 다정한 악마같은 존재같아요. 그리고 주교들은... 모든 일의 원흉이라고 할 수 있지만 따지고 보면 나린더의 피해자죠. 주교들은 질서악이었어요. 주교들은 이 세상에서 사는 생물들의 질서를 유지하며 통치했죠. 마치 마피아 같은 존재랄까. 실제로 주교들이 사망 후에 통치지역을 간다면 권력을 차지하기 위해, 혹은 식욕에 의해.... 등 본능적으로 우리를 향해 공격해옵니다. 이렇듯 각자의 입장이 있기 때문에 이들이 무조건 착하다, 나쁘다라고 단정지을 수는 없습니다.(물론 마냥 옹호하는 것은 아니에요, 이들의 행동은 이유가 있지만 그렇다고 해서 그 행동이 용납될 수는 없으니깐요.)

마지막으로, 스토리 작가 조조는 의도적으로 스토리를 전부 알려주지 않고 구멍을 만든다고 했었어요. 또한 DLC를 기획한 지 1년이 넘는다는 것을 어디선가 보았는데, 그런 점으로 생각했을 때는 1년 전보다 더 과거부터 이를 기획하고 있었을 가능성이 높아요. 저는 cotl의 로어와 각종 숨겨진 디테일을 찾는 걸 좋아하는 데, 당신과 이런 대화를 나눌 수 있어 기뻐요.

Yeah. Yiiiikes. They also moved some settings from Web and App Activity settings to uhm. I don't know I think it's to the new Search Services History settings where the media saving setting is.

[Transcript:] If your saved media is used to train our AI models, it is disconnected from your Google Account. This training data will be kept for up to 4 years, even if you delete the original activity. [End transcript. ]

Oh great I have no control over it haha that's great /sarc

Google also has this to say (from this article):

[Begin quote:] We take your privacy seriously and take steps to protect it when using your Search Services History data to train our AI models. For example, data is disconnected from your Google Account before it is used to train our AI models or reviewed by our trained service providers. We will seek your permission before sharing your media with these providers for human review as part of the model improvement process. We use filters designed to automatically remove a broad range of identifying info or sensitive personal information. We are constantly working to improve our filtering and safety systems to better protect your privacy. When Search Services History is off, your future activity won't be used to train Google’s generative AI models, unless you provide feedback. [End quote. ]

:/.

Thankfully, you can turn this off. Under the cut is a tutorial for doing this, as well as more (I'd say rather important) info about this media-saving feature. If I've missed anything (especially since the wording on Google makes it seem to me that this may be one of several new features), do feel free to add onto this!

yeah. and you can even include "thing that reduces the barrier to doing the task" as a catalyst/enzyme

1. If you see this post, highly recommend taking it as an opportunity to set a timer for 15 minutes and switch over to ACTIVITY YOU ENJOY. if after those 15 minutes, you want to go back to scrolling, that's okay!

2. Huge shout out to this popping up in my notifs often, bc I do go back to activity.

(also I hope your summer's been going well! :) -Follower Swooning-Sofa

ENG: Hi, sofa! Wow!! A drawing of my persona!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!!! It's still morning here in Korea, and I'm so happy to receive such a meaningful gift to start my day. The horns on this creature are especially impressive. I really love horns! And I also love the long, furry body and the black legs. The legs actually remind me of tentacles. I really love tentacles too, haha. Thank you so much for drawing this. Have a great day!!

안녕하세요, sofa! 와!! 제 오너캐에 대한 그림!!! 정말 감사합니다!!!!!!!! 오전부터 뜻깊은 선물을 받아서 정말 기뻐요. 이 캐릭터의 뿔이 특히 인상적이네요. 저는 뿔을 정말 좋아하거든요.ㅎㅎㅎ 그리고 털이 있는 길쭉한 몸과 검은 색의 다리도 좋아요. 꼭 촉수같이 생겼는데 저는 촉수도 정말 좋아하거든요 ㅎㅎㅎㅎ

your persona has horns (antlers?)

-> this is rather akin to Leshy's

I attempt to draw this and it comes out looking like claws

"wait a moment this resembles Narinder's claws/exposed lengths of bone" (impressed follower face >:)

Do some peoples heat cycles sync up like periods. PLEASE tell me that there are groups of friends that all get ravenously horny at the same time and will call each other up like “GIRL… GUESS WHOS NESTING…” and they’ll all be like “OMG BITCH ME TOO!!”

Do you think some alphas make it a job out of fucking omegas that don’t have a partner. Like food delivery but for dick. Just put your address in the app and a stud will show up at your door like. Hey mamas let’s breed. Do you think that’s a viable career option in this world. Do you think you could tell your parents that’s the job that you have over dinner. Or is that not the kind of thing you would discuss in polite company. Or would it be disrespected and not looked super proudly upon because it’s like doordash .

Do you think a common fantasy a la chastity play and denial amongst omegas is being forced to take heat suppressants . Don’t get mad at me for asking the real questions here

First of all: omegas can top and alphas can bottom. Alphas can bottom for omegas too. Generally during heats omegas prefer to be penetrated and alphas to penetrate but they can just use toys. Alpha ≠ top. Omega ≠ bottom.

With that outta the way here we go.

In most concepts of omegaverse you “present” as your secondary sex during puberty, however some writers may decide to make secondary sex something people are aware of from birth/ very young. Usually the second one ties heavily in soulmate or destined mate* concepts, but the former can as well. You’ll find a lot of stories that show finding out you’re an alpha or omega (or beta) through a national blood/pheromone test at a certain age, or multiple times during life as test results can change slightly over time, in these stories being an alpha or omega doesnt do much until you fully “present” during puberty.

Depending on the level of education in an individual story yes there can be garbage sex ed that tells you almost nothing of what to expect and how to deal with it. These concepts usually relate to omegas that don’t bother to read their “test” results abt their gender and believe they’re an alpha until they suddenly go into heat, or their test results were inaccurate all along. They also relate to stories that portray omegas as “lower class” or simply sex objects. Bad sex ed stories usually include challenging stereotypes as a main focus.

Usually in omegaverse omegas are undesirable to hire due to heats being more frequent than alpha ruts, and thus more disruptive. so they lie about being an omega to get hired, and then either pump themselves full of heat suppressing medication, or call in sick every time. In stories where omegas are treated fairly they just call in normally lol. They keep track of their heats and they work with their job to get time off periodically for it, unless triggered by an alpha’s rut or pheromones, heats are pretty consistent unless they have some sort of condition that makes them irregular. Prostitution is a very common theme in omegaverse due to omega’s not being able to get hired at “normal” jobs and societal pressures.

I imagine workplaces will require a doctors note or something to prove irregular heats etc if someone was abusing the “call out for heat” option. But omegas will often call out a day or so before their heat just to prepare better.

Some betas do pretend to be alphas or omegas to get further in life or to fuck more people. Its seen as sleazy and manipulative.

Alpha/alpha relationships depend on how the author wants to write the concepts of their society or biological instincts. Usually alpha relationships include a lot of domination and sexual fighting with the winner of the fight being the one to top (if they dont already have a dynamic that suits them) switching is common with both alpha and omega same sex relationships. In omegaverse these dynamics are either seen as normal or are extremely frowned upon. Usually they are kept secret to avoid conflict.

Sometimes if an alpha gets extremely aroused they can pop a knot without being inside something, this is common during puberty the same way boners are in teens. Its usually super uncomfortable and sensitive and legit physically cannot go away for at least ten minutes.

Heat cycles do sync. So do rut cycles. Heat and ruts can sync too. Not all omegaverse omegas nest but yeah they do have gc with friends lol.

Yes alphas make it a Job to help with heats. They’re called “heat aids.” In some omegaverse friends help each other through heats too, be it by just being around or sexually. Its usually seen as like kind of embarrassing to hire a heat aid cus it means you have no one else close to you or a bf/gf to stay with you to get you thru it. But its considered “normal” to hire one.

I havent seen a forced to take suppressants as a kink story but some stories have omegas fantasising about being confined to houses or rooms and used only to make babies (they call them “pups” pretty often).

All in all omegaverse is an EXTREMELY varied story device and no one has clear ideas for it, but yeah basically everything op said is a thing.

#omegaverse reflects a lot of real world issues by magnifying them 100x #mostly for kink reasons but also for commentary

#omegas (women) being used as breeding stock; undesirable for/not allowed in the workforce; smaller and weaker and receptive #bad sex ed. heat suppressants/birth control. realizing at puberty that your place in society is not always a great one #it allows a framework in which you can place these struggles on male characters as well #or free female characters from them

#but it also caricaturizes maleness #alphas (men) as aggressive; dominant; socially prioritized; seen as either leaders or brutes with not much in between

#and you can play with all the gender fuckery all of that entails #it's like camp or drag; gender performance exaggerated to the point of absurdity that then asks you to engage with it anyway

#you can also turn a same gender (M/M of F/F) couple into one that occupies a ‘straight’ societal role (A/O) #which might be healing for some or grotesque for others (and strangely intriguing either way) #or make it queer by ABO standards too (A/A or O/O or throw a beta in there somewhere) and go wild with it

#heats/ruts give space for very free and intense desire with a lack of inhibitions #which is something we don't normally allow ourselves to feel without criticizing ourselves #so it's a space to see and experience that within the safety of fiction #it's a thing you see with dubcon/noncon fantasies too (emphasis: Fantasies.) #if you weren't in control of what happened then you can't be blamed for it and you don't have to feel guilt/shame about the pleasure you felt; you can just allow yourself to feel it #again: not talking about real life here

#so as a framework ABO magnifies our cultural hangups and amplifies them until they're impossible to ignore #and then says: now what?

Not aimed at OP, who I'm sure was legitimately asking real questions, but some of the people acting surprised that these questions have answers are pissing me off. There's comments in the notes like "if the genre actually addressed these questions then I'd read it!" Well you didn't look very hard, did you? Because it does address these questions. Regularly. It's a significant focus of the genre and even I, largely an outsider, know that. You just assumed, clearly without looking at all, that the entire genre must be nonsense porn without plot and with no connective tissue. Why? Why did you assume that?

(This post on Medium)

How did you first learn about Baeddelism?

Vera:

I started dating a trans woman I’d been hanging out with who was relatively cool at first, was also relatively popular on Tumblr, but started to get into very anti-men rhetoric.

This trans woman took advantage, I feel, of my actual, legit trauma of cisgender men, and she started wording that in a way to suggest that trans men were also dangerous. While there were some issues that I had with a few trans men, I don’t feel that anyone- regardless of gender- is inherently good or evil.

Then I saw this person’s friends start referring to themselves as “Baeddels”- or some sort of quippy parody of the word.

How did you first come into contact with the trans women that introduced you to Baeddelism?

I met them in anarcho-feminist, radical marxist, radical communist spaces. Very heavily influenced by academia, and very white-dominated academic spaces.

What was your experience with Baeddels, and with Baeddel ideology as a whole, like?

A lot of word salad [laughs]. A lot of confusion, a lot of rewriting history and my own experiences. And what I mean by that is that they were rewriting my experiences, and taking ownership of them from me- like, they would explain my own experiences to me.

So sort of co-opting your experiences and narrative?

Yeah. Well, the co-opting didn’t come until I started talking about intersex stuff, but they would definitely use my experiences of being antagonized as a kid, or the misogyny and sexism I experienced, to further their own narrative that they were inherently separate from.

What these Baeddels seemed to be saying was that women couldn’t be sexist, and that men were; it’s this idea that they have, this, “I’m a woman, so I can’t be hurtful to you”. Any Feminist theorist will tell you that you don’t need to be a man to enact misogyny.

Did you have more experience with Baeddels in person, or online?

I knew probably four Baeddels in real life, but most were online.

Online they were more willing to say things that were, for lack of a better word, stupid. They would say things that lacked any kind of logical sense. But in person, they would go into this kind of toxic femininity- this weaponization of weakness. And I think that’s because online they were often in these echochambers, but in person they had to rely on much more subtle manipulation.

You mentioned that the trans women you interacted with were very often separatists- how did that manifest?

There was a time when I had predominantly been around men my entire life- and I enjoy dating men- and the first time I dated a trans woman, she told me that “there’s no greater pleasure than a trans woman dating a trans woman”. And I had never even really identified as a trans woman, I was just always seen as a really butch cis woman. She saw me as- and this is going to sound really self-absorbed- someone she really wanted to be. She was very tall, and I was very short, and she envied that kind of thing about me.

[The same woman] was dating a trans man, and she got really upset when he kissed me one time. He was her meal ticket at the time; he was working and she wasn’t, he was cleaning for and driving her, and when I came in I started doing some of that cleaning for them. And they both took advantage of that, but I think she- and I see a lot of Baeddels do this, actually- they’ll have one trans man they can date, or that the group can date, and they’ll really use him, so very much, to do all the labor, the emotional labor, the cooking, and working to support them, because it’s “safer to be a trans man than to be a trans woman”. Which isn’t true.

I think when he kissed me, she got really threatened by that- and that’s when she started doing things like accusing me of making up an eating disorder. She called me out on Tumblr, which like, she convinced me to be on Tumblr in the first place because she wanted us to be like “hot Tumblr dykes”- like some sort of internet power couple.

And I could talk at length about this, and the triggering my eating disorder, and trying to get me to be thinner, and thinner, and thinner. And that goes back to the intersex thing, because I know a lot of fat distribution is dependant on hormones. A lot of trans women- especially the thin ones- want everyone to look like them, like very skinny.

“I felt really lonely there, and stupid all the time. I felt like I was being a bad trans person.”

I’ve actually been told by a Baeddel that the fat positivity movement is inherently transphobic, because it talked about curves and body fat, and not all women have curves. And while there’s room to speak about how exclusionary that can be to trans women, I was told that I was being transphobic for engaging in fat positivity because of that. Which is ridiculous.

It was very isolating. I didn’t see my friends for a while, I was kind of just living with them, cooking and cleaning for them, starving myself, and slowly growing crazy. I was just being consumed by this weird academia and theory that had no basis, because everything was online and Tumblr-based.

I think I was coming from a place of being harmed by everyone in my life, and I needed a place to relate to someone; so any time I shared my experiences, they would go, “I relate to that!”, or “I experienced that!”

And I really hate to say this, but I don’t think they experienced everything they said they experienced. I know one of the Baeddels had said that she had grown up a privileged white straight man, and now she’s a lesbian, and that’s the most oppressed thing. And I asked, “what do you mean that’s the most oppressed thing?” And they said, “well, the cis gay men”- and well, what do you mean “the cis gay men”? That’s very conditional between race, class, and so many other factors. I don’t know if they had ever been to the deep South, but I really don’t know if a feminine cis gay man would have some kind of privilege like that.

Any time I asked questions there would be this very lengthy response, and the woman I was dating would use these big words she knew I didn’t understand, and it was very hard to keep up with her privileged white woman academia. That’s what I see a lot of them doing through academic terms, even though they don’t read theory at all- they just write their own theory. Which is, in my opinion, pretty dangerous.

It came to me at a point where I was very quick to weaponize anything anyone told me about their experiences, because I was always a fighter. I’ve been an activist for a long time, you know, and when these trans women would come to me with their experiences I would believe them. I wanted to. But the way they acted didn’t add up when compared to what they were saying.

I felt really lonely there, and stupid all the time. I felt like I was being a bad trans person.

A clown girl breaks into your computer and holds you hostage while yapping about visual novels?!

Yes, this is actually informative and intended to be a beginner's guide to visual novel development!

play it here:

I've got a 3-step (four steps if you count washing face with cold water first) skincare routine (it is probably in a bad order but i don't care sorry baby steps) that I intersperse with tooth care. So moisturizer one, then floss while that's drying down, then moisturizer two, then brush my teeth while that's drying down, then sunblock and that's it i'm done i'm off to do whatever.

Sometimes people say things to you and it's exceptionally clear that they don't live someplace that has been hammering people on showering for five minutes or fewer each day. Makes me feel like an Atredies soldier on Arrakis. "No showers here, you scrub your ass with sand!"

But also *laughs in curly hair*

Anyway. Yes, it would be ideal to bathe daily, probably, and to wash my face daily, and to brush my teeth twice a day. However, this is a post explicitly about me attempting to successfully get to moisturizing my face once a day and flossing my teeth once a day. Saying "well actually it would be better to do all of that a lot more" doesn't help. I wasn't able to even brush my teeth once a day until my mid twenties. I still have trouble taking daily medication and miss doses at least two to four times a month.

There are lots of adults who struggle with hygiene and body care for a large number of reasons. Mine are a combination of ADHD and sensory issues (cannot fucking stand being wet; bathing twice daily sounds like torture, and this is also why I have trouble washing and using products on my face).

So I'll say it again: "Perfect (rigid schedules and attempting to hit the ideal goals when you're struggling with the bare minimum) is the enemy of good (flossing at least once a day and trying to keep my skin from cracking open)."

How frequently you shower is largely based on cultural tolerances for body odor and cultural notions of "cleanliness." Dermatologists generally recommend that people shower once daily to a few times a week, and they recommend only soaping your groin, armpits, and feet and avoiding exfoliants.

Replacing moisture in your skin or hair is not the same as natural moisture in your skin or hair. Shampooing too frequently can dry out both your hair and scalp, and if you strip moisture out of your hair with frequent shampooing, simple conditioning will not re-moisturize it and you will need to do more intensive (and expensive) treatments. If you put lotion on after every shower, that doesn't do anything to replace the beneficial natural bacteria on your skin, which leaves you more vulnerable to skin infections and skin damage.

You should bathe as often is as comfortable for you and as often as is necessary for you to avoid infection. If you're doing intense workouts in the morning and then going to your job as a UPS driver, it may be reasonable for you to shower twice a day. If you live somewhere that is extremely hot and humid, it may be reasonable for you to shower twice a day. If you're in a moderate climate working indoors and you don't frequently get sweaty, you don't need to shower every day.

If you have difficulty bathing because of mobility issues, sensory issues, motivation issues, or memory issues, change your undergarments daily and attempt to wash your body as often is as possible; if you aren't able to bathe as much as you would prefer to, using cleansing wipes on your groin and armpits can help you between baths and showers. ProCare wipes are one option, but there are a lot on the market (though even if these say "flushable" please dispose of them in a trash can).

There are a great many people in the world with a wide variety of experiences and personal physical differences. Some people find it relaxing to put on a moisturizing mask or sit in a hot bath for an hour, some people find that extremely unpleasant. Some people are very uncomfortable if they don't floss their teeth twice a day, some people have jaws that dislocate when they floss or find it difficult to stand over a sink for as long as it takes to floss.

Dentists DO recommend brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing your teeth once a day, but doing literally anything is better than not flossing or brushing at all. Here are some tips for improving dental hygiene if you aren't able to brush or floss as much as is recommended:

The purpose of brushing is to disrupt bacterial growth on the surface of your teeth. If you can't stand the feeling of the bristles, consider something like a baby toothbrush, which will have softer, more rubbery bristles. You can also use a cloth, or even just a finger with toothpaste on it if that's all that's available to you. Move your cleaning implement over your teeth in gentle, small circular motions.

Use fluoride toothpaste. If you hate the taste of mint, look for other flavors - there are a lot of different flavors for both adults and children these days, and it's quite likely that you'll find an option that tastes better to you than mint if you look online. But it does have to be fluoride toothpaste, and if you're an adult using children's toothpaste you may want to use a little more because that's not formulated for adults.

You're not actually supposed to rinse your mouth after brushing. You are supposed to spit it out if you've got a lot of foam, then let the toothpaste sit on your teeth. If you *have* to rinse after brushing (a lot of people can't stand the texture) try to wait a couple of minutes to let the fluoride work.

If you can't stand any kind of toothpaste for some reason, brush your teeth with a wet toothbrush. The mechanical action of the brush (or the baby toothbrush, or a soft cloth) alone DOES help to prevent damage to your teeth from bacteria.

Brush your tongue - this also disrupts bacterial buildup. If you can't brush the back of your tongue without gagging, brush as far back as you can and try to build up to brushing the back slowly.

If you can't use a roll of floss because you can't get your fingers in your mouth without pain, use floss picks or a water flosser.

If you can't use floss for any reason, actually, use a water flosser. A water flosser is going to do a good job of getting between your teeth and your gums to prevent plaque buildup.

Use your water flosser on the lowest power setting and use it with warm water - especially if you have teeth that are temperature sensitive!

It is better to floss occasionally than not at all, and if you can't floss at all it is in your best interest to try to brush your teeth as often as possible. I really cannot overstate enough that if you can do nothing else, your teeth should be your priority. If you can't shower, that's fine, it'll keep. If you can't floss, that's something to aim for, and something that can possibly be replaced with a water flosser. But you should at the very least try to brush your teeth once a day.

Seriously. Once a day, once every twenty four hours, can disrupt the bacteria that causes plaque. If you can brush your teeth once a day, you're doing a good job. And if you're building up to once a day, you're doing a good job.

If you're trying to get up to once a day for tooth brushing, keep toothbrushes around your home; keep one by your bed, keep one in your bathroom, keep one in your kitchen. You don't have to brush your teeth standing at your bathroom sink with a thick stripe of mint toothpaste and lots of water to rinse, you can brush your teeth sitting on your couch and watching cartoons on your phone with a sip of water and a dot of toothpaste on the brush. You can brush your teeth with a baby toothbrush and no toothpaste while lying in bed.