#Certain Medication

[inkskinned]

because sometimes there are invisible tests and invisible rules and you're just supposed to ... know the rule. someone you thought of as a friend asks you for book recommendations, so you give her a list of like 30 books, each with a brief blurb and why you like it. later, you find out she screenshotted the list and send it out to a group chat with the note: what an absolute freak can you believe this. you saw the responses: emojis where people are rolling over laughing. too much and obsessive and actually kind of creepy in the comments. you thought you'd been doing the right thing. she'd asked, right? an invisible rule: this is what happens when you get too excited.

you aren't supposed to laugh at your own jokes, so you don't, but then you're too serious. you're not supposed to be too loud, but then people say you're too quiet. you aren't supposed to get passionate about things, but then you're shy, boring. you aren't supposed to talk too much, but then people are mad when you're not good at replying.

you fold yourself into a prettier paper crane. since you never know what is "selfish" and what is "charity," you give yourself over, fully. you'd rather be empty and over-generous - you'd rather eat your own boundaries than have even one person believe that you're mean. since you don't know what the thing is that will make them hate you, you simply scrub yourself clean of any form of roughness. if you are perfect and smiling and funny, they can love you. if you are always there for them and never admit what's happening and never mention your past and never make them uncomfortable - you can make up for it. you can earn it.

don't fuck up. they're all testing you, always. they're tolerating you. whatever secret club happened, over a summer somewhere - during some activity you didn't get to attend - everyone else just... figured it out. like they got some kind of award or examination that allowed them to know how-to-be-normal. how to fit. and for the rest of your life, you've been playing catch-up. you've been trying to prove that - haha! you get it! that the joke they're telling, the people they are, the manual they got- yeah, you've totally read it.

if you can just divide yourself in two - the lovable one, and the one that is you - you can do this. you can walk the line. they can laugh and accept you. if you are always-balanced, never burdensome, a delight to have in class, champagne and glittering and never gawky or florescent or god-forbid cringe: you can get away with it.

you stare at your therapist, whom you can make jokes with, and who laughs at your jokes, because you are so fucking good at people-pleasing. you smile at her, and she asks you how you're doing, and you automatically say i'm good, thanks, how are you? while the answer swims somewhere in your little lizard brain:

how long have you been doing this now? mastering the art of your body and mind like you're piloting a puppet. has it worked? what do you mean that all you feel is... just exhausted. pick yourself up, the tightrope has no net. after all, you're cheating, somehow, but nobody seems to know you actually flunked the test. it's working!

aren't you happy yet?

[irradiatedsnakes]

i didnt mean for this to blow up and of course there’s some dumbass comments on it which is annoying as hell. which is why im appending it with my mob psycho furry and pokemon art thank you

also transmeds go fuck yourselves

[dignity-senior]

Seniors are more likely to fall due to weaker bones and joints that come with aging. The risk of falls can be increased for those who live alone in their homes and have not yet signed up for assisted living facility in Visalia, California, and should not be ignored.

[rowrowronnie]

just watched new lil pootis episode, absolutely lauv those scout designs so much

[luna-loveboop]

I love how warriors is the one who always asks paramedic-style questions when someone’s hurt

He’s asking questions not just to distract, but to see how bad the wound has impacted mental functioning “maybe we should be worried, because that’s not what I asked”

Calling by name to draw attention, asking easy questions…

Like look at his face in each panel, how closely he’s watching while talking to assess the damage

He’s always the one taking action in first aid (though obviously he can’t do magic stuff like hyrule but outside of that it’s him)

Wars is a captain, he’s trained and has had to take care of wounded, so he knows how to take care of not only the physical but the mental impact of injuries as well, and he always comes through for it.

I just kinda think that’s pretty cool

(Credit to Linkeduniverse au)

[0straycat0]

Tomodatchi saving my ass from having zero ideas

[triptychofvoids]

and the cycle repeats

[ms-demeanor]

I don't even really get the impression that if you were domming someone there would be anything "motherly" about

Yeah no I'm much more likely to be projecting semi-detached professionalism. If I'm domming I'm not really there for roleplay, I'm there to supervise you while you're locked down and squirming. I talk like tech support when I'm in a scene. "Not too tight? Good. I'm gonna take the vibe up two settings, yeah? Okay, great, I'm gonna leave that there, snap your fingers when it's getting to be too much; we'll keep ramping it up until you have to tap out." I like being unaffected and in control while people are losing it and I am not particularly tactile or into being touched or getting off while I'm doing that.

Which is great if you like to be dehumanized and objectified and hand yourself to me like you're taking a car to a mechanic! Less great if you're looking for a lot of praise or comfort or physical contact in the moment.

[lesbianshepard]

i think we need to put a moratorium on cis people using "AFAB" and "AMAB." they're getting a bit too comfortable with it.

[s-lycopersicum]

[thebibliosphere]

"Oh hey! I saw one of your posts on Pinterest."

vs

"Oh hey! I saw one of your posts on the front page of Imgur the other day."

Instant fear response. Shaking like a chihuahua. Burrowing underground. I do not wish to be perceived.

[heartshapedgreen]

really hate how 'avoid therapy speak' writing advice is to write your characters not able to convey their emotions period, instead of y'know... making them convey them less clinically (which is what i think 'therapy speak' is supposed to mean?) and more in line with your character's view of life.

like if your character is someone who is very self-aware, or someone who ruminates a lot (hello ocd), they're gonna have A Lot to say when asked about their feelings. maybe it's unreliable. maybe it's diverting from the real issue. maybe they're lying. even untruthful/'wrong' answers can reveal so much about a cynical mindset or that they hate their self or that they've been gaslit so much their entire conclusion is wrong, and it's a "oh..." moment for everybody.

i even have a character who actually would say 'umm... not good, i guess? i have no idea' to being asked 'so how does this make you feel?' but that's cause. they literally have alexithymia. or, i guess if that could be an appropriate reaction for a character who is overly guarded & has trust issues. i also wonder if displeasure at 'therapy speak' has to do with the fact most of us probably don't have many people who ask us about our feelings, and conversations like these feel sappy and uncomfortable and like fanciful imaginings of unrestrained trust that won't be betrayed, because often IRL trust like this goes betrayed. most 'therapy speak' advice comes across as really jaded, and i'm saying this as someone who has trust issues lol. also, considering that alexithymia is actually very common, i wonder if that plays a role in how weird these conversation seem to readers who have it. (i'm actually curious about this.)

[tyrianludaship]

ok so asking as someone who wants to ship themselves with the mercs but is terrified of butchering their personalities... i like to imagine them having a soft spot for me but i always fear that i am making them too ooc by writing them as softer or more caring. and honestly seeing this fandom talk about mischaracterization of the characters nonstop has given me a new kind of anxiety so im kinda scared too ship myself with them now sdgdfhfghgfh

I think the mercs being softer over a person they care about wouldn't butcher their personalities at all. Seeing Soldier's interactions with Zhanna in the comics for example, is really good at conveying his personality while also having him be more caring.

Obviously a guy like Soldier wouldn't be as well-versed in romance as someone like Spy, but he still cares about Zhanna enough to reassure her in this panel. Engineer would probably be a little casual / more genuine talking to someone he likes, where Scout is attempting to sound flirty while trying not to throw up when asking someone out. (Source: Expiration Date, Scout looked openly nervous talking about Miss Pauling to Spy and impressing her for their date)

I imagine some of the mercs would be more subtle or casual about loving someone, where others would be very open and almost dramatic. Also all of them would be touch-starved, no explanation needed.

A gentle smile could mean as much to some mercs as kissing them until they're breathless.

An actual example of butchering a merc's personality I can think of is Medic being depicted as heartless and sadistic with no redeeming qualities. When he actually does care about his team; albeit in an unconventional way. Some people write Spy like that but I don't understand due to him being in the goddamn comics and very clearly showing that he can care about people.

[ehhgg-art]

i hear a lot of talk about wash and a service animal but what about caboose’s service dog freckles?

after everything caboose has gone through likely without proper treatment or medical attention (i mean, we’ve all watched the show, right??) he probably has some underlying issues (“not to self diagnose but i think something is wrong” type of situation).

and so maybe once everything has calmed down and they all get back to earth tucker sets caboose up with some health professionals and helps him get a service dog (i’m thinking a shepherd of some kind. caboose could match their high energy).

and caboose loves the dog very much :) i think he might have put Freckles The Robot in retirement once he got to back earth since it’s not really acceptable to carry a gun into a grocery store like that. and since Freckles The Robot was really his support through a lot of traumatic events he had a hard time adjusting. but now he has Freckles The Dog !!! who he can play real fetch with and can go with him to the grocery store :)

[pookielious]

I would like to talk about the seer amount of chaos happening after they leave the German side in the last patrol like just about everyone is screaming, freaking out, vest and jackson crying ,vest and heffron trying to kill the prisoners all while Jones is trying to keep everyone calm and keeping them from killing the prisoners to ensure they won't have to go through the same thing again

then the way everything immediately went quiet when the medics came in all of the screaming came to a immediate halt and I really think that detail is neat the way they all just stopped and watched as the medics did their thing

[heartfulselkie]

It's exhausting and frustrating when I find a condition or some form of neurodivergency that likely applies to me but I have to be so careful who I talk to about it. Way too many people are quick to write off my concerns as me being silly or quirky or lazy or "just like that". Or if they do listen they just write it off as being part of my depression or anxiety. Because apparently these things can't be connected. Because I've had one diagnosis that's the only one I can ever have.

It's humiliating and irritating when people claim to understand and know you so well that they know for sure that you can't have xyz. And yet those same people don't actually know the first thing about you as a person.