#I babble a lot again

[autemis]

If you ask someone what "bonding" actually means, they will usually just tell you, "it's when an alpha bites an omega." This is true in principle, but the other person will still not know what "bonding" actually means or what happens. That is why it is interesting to have a look at the anatomy behind it. Oh, and to clear up a few clichés right away: No, bonding does not mean that an omega now completely belongs to an alpha and has to do everything he wants. This is a misconception that many have already fallen for and a reason why bonding has such a bad reputation among the Omegas.

All right, let's get started:

First of all, it should be said that the "ritual" does not require any special preparations. For some reason, it has become a misconception that the omega has to be in heat for this process, but that is not the case. It is probably because, during this time, you can easily lose control and do things without thinking. (This danger exists, especially with young Alphas who are experiencing an omega in heat for the first time. It is therefore incredibly important to keep young Alphas and Omegas separated during a heat). But let's not dwell on that too long. Let's stay with the Omega: An indispensable part of the bonding is the scent glad on the neck of the omega. It's a clearly visible skin elevation about the diameter of a ping-pong ball. Depending on the state of health or the heat cycle, the appearance of this bulge can vary. The bulge is also caused by the pheromone deposit, which is located under the skin layers, in the area of the fat layer. It is also responsible for the individual scent of an omega.

Inside the bladder there is a great negative pressure, but it does not feel painful for the omega. Only when great force hits it, it can become uncomfortable. The bladder is also connected to the blood circulation. However, since the openings are normally very narrowed, nothing can actually exit or enter.

The counterpart to this are the fangs of the alpha. In the canines, there is a small cavity in the inner part, which leads up into the jaw like a tube system. This can also be called as a kind of "tunnel". It's also is a pheromone layer there, but with much more highly concentrated pheromones than in the scent glad of the Omega. The cavity itself is closed by a caries-like formation, so that the tooth cannot be attacked from the inside. Nevertheless, alphas are advised to pay special attention to their dental care.

Now let's move on to the bonding process:

An alpha penetrates the scent glad of the omega by biting. The pheromone liquid acts like a kind of solvent on the filler in the alpha's tooth. This exposes the passage and the pheromones of the alpha can mix with the omega ones. The resulting mixture becomes a new pheromone, which the alpha and omega will now share. At the same time, a chemical reaction occurs, which causes the negative pressure in the bubble to become too high. The accesses will widen, so that the new liquid can escape from the bladder and will slide into the bloodstream of the omega. At the same time, some of the pheromone fluid is also shot back through the tooth into the alpha, where it is also absorbed through the arteries into the bloodstream. The bonding is now complete and both alpha and omega now share the same pheromone allowing them to be identified as mates. The former pheromone deposits close within 2 - 3 days and the tunnel in the tooth is sealed again after about a week. Omega and Alpha are never able to perform this ritual again. It is a misconception that only the omega is bound to the other forever. Also an Alpha can never again "bond" with another Omega.

However, bonding should really be considered carefully. You can theoretically get together with a new partner - if there are problems in the bonding relationship - but this is not advisable in any case. It is not that you die if you are separated from your partner for too long (I don't know who came up with that), but there are enough other things that cannot be fulfilled by other Omegas or Alphas anymore. The omega for example is no longer influenced by the pheromones of others. This in turn means that, for example during an extremely stressful heat, the omega can only be calmed by his partner. Of course, the same goes for the Alpha. Only his chosen omega is able to calm or influence him.

That is why another word for bonding is "soul pact", because it is assumed that only true soul mates dare to take the risk of bonding.

That's basically it, but there's one more thing I'd like to talk about:

- The new pheromone that the two now share is actually a mixture of equal parts of alphas and omegas. However, studies have now proven that the alpha pheromone is more present in terms of smell. Some Omegas have even been mistaken for an Alpha after bonding, just because the Alpha's pheromone was so strong.

Sanji and Law are the prime example. Since Sanji has only very weak pheromones, Law's phermon clearly dominates this ritual. So you could say that Law's scent has hardly changed, but Sanji is no longer considered a beta, but an alpha.

That should be it. I hope that now more people understand what bonding actually means and that it is in no way only to the disadvantage of the Omega.

Thanks a lot for listening and if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. Oh and if you have any suggestions or wishes for further lessons, please let me know!

[babacontainsmultitudes]

I'm not the first person to bring this up but, I do feel that the general response to the gun range scene has mostly failed to acknowledge the context that would call for such extreme levels of self-defense training in the first place. We know from episode 23 that even just a few years after the release of the doodler (when Lark and Sparrow themselves are still just teens) things are already pretty bad (to the extent that in Lark's case the stress of it all has already begun to take a physical toll on him- don't forget that he and Sparrow too were once kids who had the world placed on their shoulders), and one need only look at how quickly the situation with the mayor has degraded to imagine how bad things would have gotten by the time Hero was 12. Training your six-year-old to use a gun in a normal or at least mostly normal world? Batshit crazy. Training your six-year-old to use a gun in a world overrun by an eldritch horror where danger, death, and the possibility of corruption from said eldritch horror are around every corner? Still intense but, much easier to understand the reasoning behind.

oh oops it's a long post woops woops woops

In Sparrow's case in particular, we know that he behaves quite differently under alternative circumstances, and that Normal (Hero too for that matter) lives a pretty different life in a post code purple world:

Not that it hasn't been Sparrow's intent and priority to mitigate the extent to which Normal was caught up in everything from the get-go, as evidenced by his namesake. Recall what he had to say on the matter:

In some ways this extreme self-defense training is a "two sides of the same coin" sort of deal vis-a-vis Grant's extreme isolation of Lincoln for his protection, a major difference being that Lincoln still deals with this in a post code purple world (to the extent that he literally had to pretend to starve himself to get his dad to let him go to public school), whereas Normal and Hero get the chance to live mostly normal lives and do as they please (the disapproving words of a drunken and partially-doodlerized Sparrow aside), now removed from the immediate threat of the doodler.

Hero's case is, at least from what we currently know about the prophecy, more complicated than Norm's. It is easy to reprimand Lark and Sparrow as being the worst parents (and/or uncles) whilst forgetting that their circumstances are fundamentally different from the other kiddads. The first half of this lying in their shared responsibility (and guilt) in releasing the doodler. Grant and Nicky can retreat to their respective homes on the basis that this is the best they can do, resolving to put their energy into protecting their closest ones first and foremost. At the end of the day, they aren't really any more responsible for dealing with the doodler than any other bystander. The same cannot be said of Lark and Sparrow, who can't exactly look away from the fact that they were the ones who brought the doodler into the world. At least from their perspectives- of course Lark (and Sparrow by extension) in reality was a child that was manipulated into doing what he did, which as some people have pointed out is not dissimilar to what happened to Normal at the end of this episode (and if Sparrow felt the need to rid Normal of his memories of this event in particular, perhaps it was to spare his child from feeling guilty about it for the rest of his life).

The second half of what differentiates them is, of course, the prophecy (right- now we can actually get to Hero lol). We must remember that, as far as the twins knew, the only way to actually "defeat" the doodler permanently was through the chosen one, i.e. Hero (probably- after last episode I'm starting to think that Norm may be more directly involved in the prophecy than previously thought, but that's a tangent). "Continue to let the being you released into the world kill and torture millions (very likely billions) of people, which could wind up including both of your children, or put your ill-fated child through very intense and ultimately traumatizing training to put an end to it, potentially losing her in the process", is essentially the choice the twins were given. Hero isn't made to kill a deer with her bare hands for the hell of it, she goes through what she does because Lark (who likely did not see the same thing that Normal did on the throne- or at the very least interpreted things very differently) and Sparrow had no reason to believe that there was any other possibility. This certainly does not negate or undermine the extent to which Hero was deeply traumatized by it all, but it's not exactly a detail that you can choose to ignore when discussing the ethics of Lark and Sparrow's decision-making.

And yet, despite it all, Sparrow and Lark do ultimately chose saving their children over saving the world. Not before significant damage has already been done (to Hero that is), but they do decide to go through with the one plan that allows both of their children to (hopefully) live a doodler-free life: code purple. Code purple, which ultimately reduces to a trolley problem with a presumably near-equal number of people on both tracks, with the important difference of sparing their own children in one case, and likely not the other. And if we want to talk about Henry's ethical stance in the matter and how it compares to the twins, we need to consider what it says about him if he was *not* in favor of code purple, with all of this in mind. Not to come to any hasty conclusions about Henry either- I think there remains too many unknowns on that front to assume much and... Ultimately it's a complicated matter! But that's kind of my point.

Even post code purple, Lark and Sparrow (and the rest of the kiddads) try to pursue that which they believe (or at least hope) will both put an end to the doodler without involving their children and without the enactment of the prophecy. Is blowing up an entire world with the sun to save all the others a plan I'm gonna sit here and defend? I don't think so lol, but you can't exactly look at it and pretend that Lark and Sparrow don't care about protecting their fucking kids.

My point isn't that Lark and Sparrow haven't made a lot of mistakes and questionable decisions, my point is that their circumstances are so much less black and white than the majority of the takes I see on them make them out to be, and a lot of the conclusions I see people jump to when it comes to the twins' feelings and intentions strike me as... Pretty odd? Tangentially-related: if you don't think Sparrow is someone who is affectionate with and deeply loves his kids despite his flaws, I don't really think we're listening to the same podcast. But even in Lark's case, yes he's more subtle about it and yes, Lark can be quick to anger (not that I personally read him yelling in the last episode as anger so much as panic but all the same), but affection can be sewing bulletproof material into your nephew's mascot costume, or secretly taking him out for pizza, or pretending to be his dad so that you can tell him you're proud of him, or putting your gun down when he asks you to. The twins are anything but perfect but, fuck if they aren't trying (and changing, and improving). And yes, they deserve some damn nuance.

Also, okay, I couldn't really find a neat way to bring this up in the above but, speaking of no-nuance and bad faith takes, can we talk about the locks? Or lack thereof, rather. "How could they be so stupid as to leave the door unlocked?" you're right, that does seem odd, and Anthony made a point to explain that every other door was very thoroughly locked, and Normal seemed to have practically been moved into opening the door against his own will so... Hear me out, maybe, just maybe, the door usually *is* locked??? And something fishy or unusual is afoot? I also wouldn't take their immediate, knee-jerk reactions to a dangerous flesh monster being released to come to any conclusions on whether or not Lark and Sparrow "blame" six-year-old Normal for it. In Sparrow's case, I struggle to even imagine it. In Lark's case, though I wouldn't put him above getting angry over it, my doubts on his deeper feelings are still high. Conversely, if he actually did place some of the blame on Normal, at the very least there is an interesting discussion to be had on how this relates to Lark's own guilt over what Willy manipulated him into doing, and subsequently being denied the catharsis of punishment. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Like I said, a lot of important things are yet unknown.

*breathes* okay end of overdue ramble [insert proper conclusion paragraph here lol], thank you.

[chiscribbs]

Sorry for the big gap in uploads. These past few weeks have been crazy busy (as is this one) and I've been feeling a little under the weather lately, as well. Not great for productivity.

So, while you wait for the shenanigans to continue, here's a little sneak peek of the next AU comp comic:

[bonefall]

Voted for Bumble bc of course but also if you think Alex would not pspsps Bumble you are wrong. If they could communicate they would go to therapy together /s

If then could communicate they would go to therapy together

/GEN

Kyle/Green Lantern resurrects her but then he becomes convinced that she's not the same person she was before the incident, OR SOMETHING SOMETHING Black Lanterns aren't ACTUALLY bad they're just misunderstood Grim Reaper types, in either case Alex ends up breaking it off with Kyle because they've become very different people.

And then Bumble's there

And then they go to therapy or Alex adopts Bumble, and then uhhh Bumble's like one of the superpets. Like Krypto the Superdog. Free premise go forth and play with it if ur a DC fan

[bubblybloob]

Ooouugh I just thought of an amazing line for Hunted that completely obliterates the compromise option, it lost so now we have to make it look bad. What do you mean that wasn’t the main point of the poll?

[chickpea0]

Do you guys ever think about historical age regression? And no I don't mean in fiction I mean like how there's so many people that regressed. What was it like? Do you wonder if there was a regressor and their caregiver who lived in the 60s? Did any adults or teens in the early 1900s wish they had a rocking horse every time they saw one in a shop window? What about even further, in the 1800s? The 1600s even. Older?

We're not alone, maybe modern day is during a time where regression is more present because it's a perfect amount of certain factors, sure but it's not like someone in 2014 just decided to! I think it's really facinating and intimate to imagine all these people throughout the years going through what we go through. And I bet a good lot of them lived happily. And maybe quite a few found a good support system.

[twistedappletree]

Thinking about Lan Sizhui teaching Jin Ling how to play guqin.

Thinking about Jin Ling absolutely bored to tears by the fundamentals until he hears how beautifully Lan Sizhui plays and suddenly takes an interest (in the guqin, definitely the guqin, he’s interested in the guqin only, okay??)

Thinking about Jin Ling practicing outside of classes because he wants to impress Lan Sizhui by how much he’s improved and wants to make him proud and wants to see his face light up with a smile—I mean, what? No no no, he just wants to show initiative to learn, that’s all there is to it, nothing more. Nothing at all.

Thinking about Lan Sizhui finding Jin Ling asleep on his guqin after a night of wearing himself out with extra practice and gently waking him up to safely escort him back to his room so he doesn’t get caught by their seniors. Meanwhile, Jin Ling sleepily leans against him on the walk back to his room because it’s normal, he’s just tired, it’s obviously normal because Lan Sizhui slips his hand into his and smiles and Jin Ling’s heart feels like it’s on fire. Oh no.

Thinking about Jin Ling opening up to Lan Sizhui about his nightmares from all the trauma he’s endured and Lan Sizhui staying to play guqin for him until he falls asleep, each note chasing away every bad dream that tries to disturb him.

Thinking about them practicing guqin alone together the next day. And the day after. And the day after that—and they really are practicing but it’s a little hard to focus when Lan Sizhui keeps putting his hands over Jin Ling’s to move them to the correct strings, and Jin Ling’s face is a breath away from Lan Sizhui’s every time he leans over to help him.

It’s just guqin practice, that’s all there is to it, perfectly normal. 🩵💛

[4lph4kidz]

something that irks me quite a bit is when people disavow the shitty stuff in homestuck by saying the only good thing about it is the fandom instead of engaging with the source material critically. i think it is really sidestepping the issue. like i get it, i get that such hostility has been encouraged by the author's antagonistic creative persona and absolutely incoporated into the work itself but i personally do actually like the source material for what it is despite being incredibly critical of it and the author's writing choices. idk. trying to pull this misunderstood ass version of death of the author by acting like the material's only worth lies in being raw material for a fandom to feed upon and repurpose into its objectively better form, and just overall lionizing the fan community rubs me the wrong way

[y-rhywbeth2]

Got a whole poorly explained thing in my head where Gortash probably initially looked at the psychological trainwreck that's Durge, and he, engineer and control freak, went "oh, I can fix that." And not in a good or healthy way. In a manipulative way.

[firesofdainix]

Honestly why do the ninja still bother with putting their hoods on when they've compromised their identity since s1. They're not protecting shit 💀💀💀

[carcharadroid]

This is the last thing I'm probably gonna say on Palworld for a while but look

listen.

I'm just begging people to give this thread a look and stop being in denial.

Drawing inspiration from the same concept is one thing, but more-or-less tracing a model and barely tweaking it is a whole other kettle. I'm not going to bat for Nintendo here, because at the end of the day no matter what happens I doubt Palworld will put a dent in Pokemon's profits.

I just want people to stop harping on the fucking sheep and sending death threats to the devs. Make your case but for fuck's sake make it well and don't threaten to kill someone over it. The fuck is wrong with y'all??

[beannary]

does anyone want to see a picture of my dog? 🥺👉🏽👈🏽

[popponn]

707 ( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡) thank you so much everyone i love you all. i hope the things i post in the future will be able to amuse you ;;;

[mastcrmarksman]

KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER.

REPOST DO NOT REBLOG !!

NAME : Izzy

PRONOUNS : they/them

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION : I'll hand out my discord here and there, but you can reach me by DMs.

NAME OF MUSE(s) : Clint Barton, and then I've got a handful of other blogs; but Clint will literally devour my soul and I can't write anyone else when this happens (it's happening)

BEST EXPERIENCE : Honestly, this come back to tumblr after being away for like 3 years. The friendships and dynamics I've built with Clint on my return has been amazing, and I'm also very glad people like how I write him, cause I've pretty much picked up comic Clint and said "he's mine now. i'm giving him a whole new arc/plot/story to explore and away from canon" and people are buying into that. Thank you so much everyone! I love all my friends and writing partners here so much <3

RP PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS : Uhhh, pet peeves? I don't quite get what's with people not liking posts anymore or using the reply/comment feature more, like if you see someone posting an hc. Take a second to read? Give it a like or comment a heart even, if you're really that pressed to control your likes..... Dealbreakers, I haven't encountered anyone, I guess it'd be just if I pushed to write or make smut centric, but no one is doing that.

MUSE PREFERENCES : I like characters that have an internal struggle (lol that could be anyone). I don't know. I try to write so many types of characters, but characters like Clint I always come back too. Honestly, whatever is the character type that's been Clint Barton and Pepper Potts.

PLOTS OR MEMES : Memes are usually good to start, but I definitely wouldn't mind doing more plotting and giving a general direction to a thread. Although, really memes are great, and I truly appreciate those who send a bunch of memes, or don't mind treating some memes as one shots ( i love one shots ; just look at the length of some of my ask responses )

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES : Both. I want more shorter threads right now, but I have a knack for getting wordy and writing long things. This is why length matching does not matter, as long as there is enough substance to continue or something to help move something forward; a shorter reply to a longer reply is good; just as I tend to take a shorter thing and get longer with. This is also why I tend to like or mention with meme responses, like you can just reblog/save this and treat this as little one shot/drabble I wrote for you. I also tend to do the same.

BEST TIME TO WRITE : I don't get a lot of work, I am home all the time. So i'm bored a lot. So literally anytime, although I have a tendency to write a lot more late at night. For me, why I'm not writing is usually mood, or I don't have a very good set up for writing long haul; so if my neck, back, or hands and wrist start to cramp up cause my sit down to write isn't a good position/only position. That usually defeats me; like after I post this I will probably take a break, stretch, keep on my break and write a bit in a few hours.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S) : Yes and no / I don't know. I know I'm the type of neurospicy where Clint Barton has rotten my brain for like the past 15 years or something; and I've been writing him for like 10 years; that I'm probably funny like Clint is, but who actually knows lol. I try to be normal and healthy with muse and mun separation; even if his whole recovery arc is very important and real to me; and I will live in the delusion that is what I am getting from the comics as in I will just write it myself on my roleplay blog (this is a joke; legally I have to say that I think)

tagged by; @danversiism evil boops you infinity, ily tania <3

tagging: lol im suppose to tag people; if you wanna expose yourself, do it. flash the dash. i'll probably read it and like it.

[bonefall]

Do BB!Jay and Poppy ever become friends again? Obviously there's... the Whole Kits Thing but IDK I just like seeing them be friends. I think they should have been friends in canon but god forbid Jayfeather hangs out with anyone except the Three (and Hollyleaf before she dies and then she dies again)

It doesn't happen for years. Poppyfrost wanted to move on SO bad, and she's chronically avoidant of any legitimate problems. If left to her own devices, she would have kept dodging him until the day she died.

(Poppy with her garden like "I Just Want To Grill.")

I think what changed was Dovewing leaving.

Poppyfrost is one of the last people who talks to her before she Hits Da Bricks, not knowing that she was close to a boiling point. She was FINALLY going to be brave about it and chat with her 'niece' after being distant her whole life so far. And uh... it didn't end well.

Too little too little too late, really. But it killed her, that when she finally mustered up the courage it basically pushed Dovewing over the edge.

But after that, with Dovewing leaving completely and disavowing her garbage family for how they all hurt her or failed to protect her, Jayfeather can't keep doing this shit. Poppyfrost avoiding him and refusing to talk about it

He KNOWS it's just as hard on her as it is on him. And that her breath catches uncomfortably when she looks at him. How long are they going to live like this? Badly pretending that nothing happened while they're both obviously in the middle of a big mess of their mutual making?

I haven't written on it yet but I imagine he cornered her while alone, and ended up actually, legitimately chasing her down. Like,

"Poppyfrost. You're bottling something up again."

"Aaaaaahaha idk what you mean. What. Huh."

"Yes you do, this is getting absolutely ridiculous. I'm blind not stupid, you can't pretend our secret codebreaking lovechild didn't--"

"BYE"

"What do you MEAN BYE IM- HEY!! POPPYFROST!!!!"

Something about the way that EVERY time Poppyfrost turns her head, Jayfeather is there. Once a comfort, then an inescapability, and someday... back to something comfortable.

Never the way it was, but better than it is when she's bolting through the woods trying to pretend her problems don't exist.

[anemoflower]

It.to please come home I've got Beetles 🐞