#Phases of Prosthetic Care

[dragonfire2lm]

Elden Ring Headcanon: Messmer Edition

Spoilers below, these headcanons are based on item descriptions, and thanks to some helpful people in the discord I'm in for clarifying some lore that completely flew over my head.

Ok, so, just as a disclaimer: I do not care who you ship Messmer with, or how you view him, the following headcanon is just my interpretation, that does not mean that everyone should share said interpretation. If you do, awesome! if not, just continue on with your day, the following headcanon has no bearing on your enjoyment of the character, the game, or what you do to express your love of Elden Ring.

Messmer seems very aromantic coded to me. He has friends among the knights that serve him, cared about them to the point he listened to them when they wanted knowledge preserved, and mourned the loss of a friend when two of knights rebelled against him because of Messmer's serpentine nature. He also has a lot of love for his family, with how he was an older brother figure to Radahn and had a brotherly bond with Gaius, not to mention how he's turned himself into a symbol of fear and uses his fire (which he has tried to get rid of multiple times) all on his mother's orders.

Yet he has no interest in romantic relationships (R.I.P Rellana), and I just, think it'd be neat if I headcanon him as aromantic (Note: that does not mean he's also asexual, I am specifically focusing on aromanticism here) based on the fact that he cares a lot about his knights and his family, but had no interest in Rellana in a romantic way.

Plus, its all in good fun, and aromantic rep is sorely lacking in media, so what's stopping me from reading certain characters as being aro-coded? Fandom often interpret characters as gay, bi, trans and so on for their headcanons and fanfics, so what does it matter if I pick a character to write as being aromantic?

This is, after all, a hobby, its for fun, and if you personally don't agree with this, that's ok. Whatever ideas you have, and whatever ideas I have can coexist in the same fandom space.

Now, here's a headcanon that's a lot less...controversial.

Messmer sees via his serpents, his remainnig eye, as seen in his phase two transition, is a glass one, a prosthetic eye. He probably can't see out of it. Granted, there is a lot of blodd on his fingers after removing it, so maybe it is a magical functioning eye or something, but it could go either way. But given that when we enter his boss room for the first time, we see one of his snake friends before we see him, so I feel like that opening cutscene hints at the fact that he uses his snakes to see.

I like Messmer, he's very friend-shaped.

I just think he's neat.

Edit: The lengthy disclaimer at the start of this post is just me covering my bases, I've gotten guilt-tripped and generally felt unwelcome in a couple of other fandoms for simply having an aromantic spectrum headcanon, or you know, being an asexual fan of a game and its characters when most of the player base is clearly not asexual. (A different game, not Elden Ring, the elden ring community has been very accepting, but the Doubt Still Remains because of my previous experiences)

Thank you for reading.

[thebluestbluewords]

And they were roommates

I’m having fun with the rise of red trailer! This movie is going to be absolutely bonkers and I’m going to have a great time. Also I think Red and Chloe should be in lesbians together.

"Who are you?" 

The girl jerks her head up from her paint. Her lips are red, not like blood, but like the last-season cherry red lip tints that were on trend before the current sheer glitter gloss phase swept in. "I'm your new roommate." 

Chloe stops. She’s— 

She’s misheard something. The girl must mean dorm mate, or neighbor, or else there’s been some sort of mistake. Sure, she’s living in a double room as just one student right now, but that’s because nobody else in her class needs the accessible shower on this floor. Unless this new girl also has a prosthetic? She can’t count that out yet. Maybe there’s just been a communication error. "My what?" 

The girl grins, and yeah, that’s definitely cherry-red lipstick. So last season. "Roommate. You have those here, right?" 

Chloe takes a second to assess the possibility that she’s been hit on the head and this is all a hallucination. Sure, she’s out of her room later than she’s strictly supposed to be, but there’s nobody but this girl around who could have hit her, and she’s been up late studying, not fencing. Her swords aren’t even out of their cases yet. 

The odds that this hot-but-weird girl is just a concussion- induced hallucination are low. Chloe pinches her own arm, subtly. Yeah, ouch. Odds of a hallucination are less than 5%, and dropping further the longer the girl stands here staring.  "Yeah, but this isn't my room. This is a hallway." 

Cherry-red rolls her eyes. Her hair is red too. Same shade, like she bathes in it. "Outside our room." 

"Okay,” Chloe admits, because yes, this girl is in almost the right place, if she really is who she says, and the school really gave her a roommate with no warning. “But this still isn't our room. You can't paint the hallways just because they're outside our room. It's against the rules, and also, it stinks. Can't you open a window before you vandalize school property?" 

"No." 

Maybe the fumes are what’s causing the hallucination. "Fine, then I'll do it." 

Red flinches forward. "No! No. You can't." 

Well, isn’t that something. Little miss trouble doesn’t want the whole school smelling her spray paint stunt yet. "Why not?" 

Chloe’s watching the girl’s face, so she sees the moment of hesitation before Red opens her mouth. "Because it's nighttime. Duh.”

Her mother always says that it’s important to have courage, so Chloe pushes. In the form of rolling her eyes. And popping her hip. She’s going to look like the most annoying, stuck-up princess ever, and then once her maybe-roommate gets angry enough, she’ll show her hand. "So? It's September. It's not too cold out. We're allowed to open the windows for fresh air, and besides, even if we weren't, you don't seem to care too much for the rules."

"I care about one set of rules. Mine." 

Chloe turns to the window, but she keeps the girl in the corner of her eye. "Cool. I care about being able to breathe in here, so I'm opening the window." 

She’s lucky that she catches the flinch. Red is good at keeping a straight face, even with paint cans in each hand and an unknown stranger harassing her about her artistic hallway design choices. 

"Fine,” Red casts her eyes up to the ceiling like she’s annoyed, instead of afraid. Or maybe she really is annoyed, and Chloe is just wildly misreading the situation. “Don't come crying to me when your face gets eaten."

"My—“ don’t think about kissing her. Don’t think about kissing her. Don’t. Throwing herself face-first onto that red smirk is the last thing that Chloe needs to do right now. Even though it would feel good and probably distract the girl from the whole vandalism thing. “My what?" 

Red throws Chloe a look like she knows exactly what she’s been failing not to think about. "Your face. Eaten off. By the toves." 

"Sorry, the what?" 

"The toves,” Red repeats, like Chloe’s the fool for not knowing what a tove is. “They're wonderland creatures, you wouldn't get it anyway. Just don’t worry about it.” The smirk is back. “Go ahead, open up that window. See where it gets you.” 

Wonderland. Red. 

Ohh, this girl is from the Red Queen’s court. The notorious topsy-turvy upside-down land where rules aren’t real, and if they’re not, then they’ve got to be followed anyway. Chloe’s never been allowed to travel to wonderland herself, but she’s got a souvenir snowglobe that her brother brought back for her un-birthday when she was ten, so she likes to think of herself as a little bit of a multicultural expert.   "If they're from wonderland, then why are they here?" 

Red spins one of her paint cans over the back of her hand. She’s not looking at Chloe anymore. Not that Chloe wants to be looked at. She’s cool, and calm, and she’s totally not feeling anything like butterflies in her belly from the way Red’s lips curve up at the corner.  

"My mom."

"This is a boarding school,” Chloe points out, only because it’s weird to have parents at school. Not because she wants Red to look at her again. “Why would your mom be here?" 

"To visit me?" Red’s voice drips with condescension. “Duh?” 

Right. 

Bubbly princess time. 

Chloe smiles, and forces the threat of a giggle into her tone. "That's fair. I deserve that one. Are you going to go inside our room, or just stay out here in the hallway?" 

Red spurts a little heart of paint around her own reflection in the hall mirror. "I don't have a key. Yet." 

"Did Fairy Godmother check you in? Or– Headmaster Uma. She's the one to see about that. She’s really cool, she probably won’t even give you trouble over showing up so late.” 

Another heart. This time it’s over her face. "She's dealing with my mom." 

There’s a message there, and Chloe’s not dumb enough to miss the fact that her new roommate, vandal or not, doesn’t want to talk about it. "Oh. Okay. I guess I can let us both in for tonight." 

Red adds a little lightning bolt from her other can, bisecting the hearts. “Much appreciated, princess. I’ll try not to get paint on your bed.”

[strawberryflavoredvenum]

Sally face hcs

Sal:

He doesn't mind people asking about his prosthetic but it gets tiring. Sometimes he thinks about making business cards about it.

Sal wants pet rats but is worried gizmo would eat them.

Wears traditionally feminine clothes like skirts and dresses often but mostly in his or Larry's apartment. He kept a few dresses from his mom (like the dress he wore to his dad's wedding). Ashley loves it and likes to style sal in her clothes/ let him borrow clothes.

He's bi curious and it's mainly brought to his attention with Travis. His friends judge him, not for being bi curious, but for considering having a relationship with TRAVIS of all people. They think he deserves better.

Ashley :

She's pagan. There's no reason for me to think this, I just want her to be.

She waxes her legs regularly and if the boys come over when the pots on she will try to wax them too. They are all too chicken to let Ashley do that despite her insisting that it doesn't hurt that bad.

She's a trans woman. It took a while to come out but she's never been happier.

Todd:

ABSOLUTELY HATES bugs. Even butterflies. He will high pitch scream if he sees a big in his house. His parents don't believe in killing bugs and will insist that they let it outside but Todd will straight up throw furniture at one.

He's gay but doesn't come out until adulthood. Not because he thinks his friends would judge him, but because he didn't think about romance much until he started dating Neil. They were awkward friends throughout high school but didn't start dating until adulthood. No one was surprised when they started dating, they were very happy for him.

Larry

He wants to be a tattoo artist when he gets older and definitely had a graffiti phase.

He gave sal a sf stick and poke but it faded very quickly.

He's straight but an ally. He loves his friends and could not care less who they decide to love as long as their happy.

He absolutely loves horror movies, the more corny the better. Some movies are so bad they're good. Lisa thinks it's bad for him and tries to encourage him to watch other movies.

[swallowerofdharma]

Yashiro’s Cruel God part two

Intermission: romanticizing trauma or Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.

Most people looking at someone like Yashiro would feel deeply sorry and they would make a wish for him to find something or someone good in life. But when we start talking about healing we forget or we don’t know what trauma is. Manga can actually help us understand much better in what terms trauma really works: the word we use in several european languages comes from the Greek word for wound τραῦμα. I don’t have the same linguistics insights for the Japanese words - it would be great to have that insight if someone can provide it - but I have access to visual representations, because a number of mangaka associated traumatic events/memories with physical injuries, and the very severe ones with a lost limb, a lost eye. I have talked about this briefly here. The earliest in life or the most severe or prolonged or repeated traumatic events or experiences - the deeper the injury is registered, written in the brain. In the case of a lost limb, there isn’t much healing to do, that part of the body is forever changed, but there are other things to do: relearning how to do things in different ways according to the changes and forgetting about what you could do before or what other people can do with their limbs intact and fully functioning. Of course you can get a prosthetic, an aid, you work around the injured parts. But they ache, they give you phantom pain, they don’t grow back, and the healing is only possible in the parts that are left. Thinking about trauma like this is how we don’t romanticize it. I really think that Yoneda-san is intentionally making a point to show how difficult this process of adaptation is and also how common is for the people around Yashiro to not fully understand or care or know what can be done and what can’t be done. Only Yashiro knows himself that well, can properly determine his boundaries. First he went through a long phase of trial and error and he progressively learned to regulate his impulses quite successfully I must say, because we see that he was alone, lacking guidance, and he did end up naked in an alley, but at least he was sober and drug free. That is when Misumi came in and, although he had also his selfish motives and interests, he cared enough and offered Yashiro some guidance and most importantly conditions so that Yashiro needed to learn how to restrain himself and only indulge his sex drive more safely and more intentionally, setting new rules and adapting to a life full of other responsibilities and commitments. Remember that the premise here isn’t to assign blame or make moral judgments or excuses, but to understand how these characters grew, matured or changed or how they developed their expectations and interpretations of the world around them.

There were areas where Yashiro, as a full formed adult, still refused to be challenged, mostly because he had adapted and learned how to be self reliant, but unfortunately also because he interiorized an image of himself as someone unlovable, as a consequence of his parents’ behavior and later his unrequited feelings for Kageyama. Yashiro can absolutely find love. He fell in love twice, other people have fallen in love with him before, he doesn’t want to hurt others, he generally cares, he has gained much better social skills than those he had as a teenager, he is still an eccentric but not unreasonable or crazy. The problem is that he doesn’t know how to accept romantic love because he doesn’t recognize the feelings of being loved. The new experience is confusing, disorienting and scary, nauseating, because he lacks points of reference. He can’t go back to a foundation in love, an original self that is pure and secure and healthy, because his parents didn’t help him build it or deliberately destroyed and reshaped it with fear. Romanticism poses love as a good, natural, inevitable human thing, implies an ideal world where everyone has that pure healthy self and if pain and hardship are inevitable in life and each person is wounded, they must get to heal normally or simply by reaching back and restoring that pure and secure and healthy self as much as possible. If it was parental love/care and responsibility to offer the best condition for the self to be that way, then it will be the love/passion and commitment of a romantic partner to help healing the inevitability wounded self later in life.

I don’t think it was pure coincidence that in the same chapter you have these two different scenes not far from each other. Doumeki has been left behind and he is reminiscing about the events that brought him to this point. I am still focusing on Yashiro now, so that I haven’t properly talked about Doumeki, who has his own wounds within him, but as I mentioned last time, Doumeki experienced betrayal, especially regarding his father, after he already had a foundation in a family with a sufficient amount of care. Even if his parents weren’t especially doting or his experience was so much at odds with his sister’s experience inside the same family, he still developed normally, if not very reserved or able to express himself only through controlled physical aggression at kendo practice. We see in this memory another element, Doumeki playing normally with other boys and having fun. When the chapter goes on showing Yashiro in a flashback, we see him spying on Kurobane’s nephew on Misumi’s order. But we also see him as this uncomfortable nineteen years old who is an outsider and feels like one when confronted with normal children playing normal games.

I’d really like to write a proper analysis of the confrontation between Yashiro and Doumeki in the car in chapter 32, because I think that conversation is a very good example of two people coming from completely different places and confronting each other without reaching a solution that would work for both of them, because of lack of understanding and the extreme difficulty to communicate. We see very well here how the dynamics older/younger and realist/romantic play out. Scenes like these, where they talk, get to know each other, they are there and they were frequent even.

For now, I just want to underline another example of Yashiro looking at children with a foundation in love/safety from the outside and having to wrangle with that feeling of alienation. How can he take part in that same world as these people, how can he be part of the same world Doumeki lives in? Since he is going to meet Hirata and he doesn’t know what might happen there, his only choice is to leave Doumeki behind, but since he doesn’t obey anymore, Yashiro has to push him away and, if necessary, intentionally hurt him. Doumeki tries different strategies to stay, and Yashiro seems to relent on occasions, but when the time comes, he takes the gun and shoots.

Again a long post, and I don’t know how much I have accomplished with this. Between phone calls and my cat giving me the stinky eye because I am two minutes late to feed her, although I had mentally prepared to tackle the part about Doumeki, I recon I am going to leave this part as it is and continue the analysis later. Hope you don’t mind, I am not great at planning things out. So this is again to be continued…

[sutexii]

The Phases - Lords of Lornkin

// lore below //

After the collapse of Yphae-Dolob, an organism attached to the moon worshipped for it's blessings, the world fell to madness.

The phases are lords who, while mad themselves with grief over the loss of their god, chose to see it not as a loss but as a grand miracle.

They manipulated and refined the god's now toxic blood (myhiza) into a palatable form (oroguine) allowing them to retain some sense of self after consuming it and mutating, giving them control over these powers.

They formed a new following, much like the one that came before, only now full of delusion and horrors.

___

Gibbous - The Scholar - A researcher and philosopher, lives in a grand library and observatory. Dislikes their concentration being broken and can become frantic when they realize they don't know something, lashing out in anger.

___ Full - The High - A towering figure, and queen of the group. Claims she has connection to Yphae-Dolob, and much like Vaoyle can tap into it's collective conciousness, even have it fully inhabit her.. Therefore she guides the Lornkin onwards.

___

New - The Genesis - An experiment to re-incarnate Yphae-Dolob using it's spores and modern alchemy. It floats in a suspended pool of Oroguine and shows promise and over it's previous attempts, able to control the legs of it's tank in clumsy, fawn-like movements. Created by Crescent and Quarter, taken care of by Full and schooled (babysat) by Scholar.

___

Crescent - The Mind - All alchemists present during the first testing of Oroguine were caught in the following mutation, creating a connected being mastering in alchemy and sciences. They create potions and concoctions all day in a secluded location, alone yet never alone.

___

Quarter - The Forged - His body didn't make it through his mutation, reduced to a mass of flesh. His assistant was able to create a very basic body for him powered by Oroguine. From there he built himself up, adding more components and advancing the technology as he went. Now he engineers machines powered by Oroguine and flesh, and designs prosthetics for those with less manageable mutations like himself.

[that-one-i-think]

For @localcryptidinthewoods 's Divine Warriors Rockstar AU

I have some ideas on all of their backgrounds (but featuring my own headcannons for the Divine Warriors) and feel free to bounce ideas as well.

They all met at a boarding school, one that was where they sent kids in need of a "second chance", a(r/u)tistic folks, and kids who were musically talented and slightly annoying to their parents. A take my troubles away school for the parents.

Irene: She gives big large-range-soprano energy. She was a theater kid who said she was either become famous by 25 or start murdering people. Fortunately their band got a big break rather early. Not in contact with her parents but was at the school with scholarships. Possibly foster care.

Shad: He and Menphia knew each other for a long time, both having really rich parents who threw money at them. Shad technically was being raised by an uncle but it was a "I give you money and roof, you leave me alone" relationship. Led to a LOT of teenage rebellion.

Menphia: Her dad was a fashion model and her mom was a boxer. Her dad was very much a girlboss malewife while her mom was a Gaslight Mansplain type of person. Both fueled her interests and encouraged her rebellion. They weren't regular parents, they were cool parents.

Enki: Their dads were professors and sent her to the school so he could let his creativity flow. They were very encouraging of the arts but believed it was more of a phase. Did help them get a solo dorm so they could be as genderqueer as they needed to be. Enki is incredibly smart and to make her parents happy she did get a librarian degree.

Esmund: He was an Irish exchange student who got a scholarship. The scholarship was due to his dad helping the dean get out of a bar fight and saved his life. There because of nepotism but genuinely talented, and he also never knew of the nepotism so he believed he had to work hard.

Kul'Zak: A part of the second chance program. Incredibly musically talented, like broadway vocal talent and worked hard. Naturally gifted but he isn't there because of a scholarship, his juvie officer recommended him for the second chance pity/charity program after seeing him make a guitar out of contraband. (Juvie officer also wanted people to stop trying to hide contraband in his prosthetic leg).

[whump-side]

So, how do you like futuristic themed whump? With elements of high tech for whumping, like laser weapons, cyberic viruses or mind control, killer bots, future disasters and diseases, human experiment labs. Then there's medical stuff, like um, specific treatments and hospitals and surgeries, healing pods, modern prosthetics and enhancements, and robot pets/assists/pals. Sorry, I don't what it's called exactly, cyber punk? space/alien/future whump? (Although I have a feeling you might like the older-time whump aesthetics more, right?)

I love it!!

I had a big Voltron phase when I found the whump community a few years ago, so I consumed daily Voltron whump fics. Maybe that's why I didn't draw futuristic whump yet since I was consuming it all the time

One of my fav tropes that can fall into the futustic whump categories are laser gun wounds. Especially since it can be versatile. It can either just make a whumpee bleed, burn them or cautherized the wound at the same time it goes through whumpee. Delicious whump ❤

And second one is healing pods! I love how whumpees are just displayed for anyone to see. Even tho things will be better, it doesn't mean some complications can happen during the healing process, or worse, the healing pods can always have some malfunction and whumpee needs to be taken care of in more traditional ways !

[cantsomeoneelsedoit]

Ch 50: It's Up to You Now

Failure Is Not An Option: A Shoujo Story About Love and Monsters

UMA Autumn has gotten both bigger and stronger from eating people while Fuuko and Andy were in the book. Andy suggests that it's starting to enter its second phase and busts out a new move:

Autumn can regenerate! That's perfect for Rip, except...

he can't even injure it in the first place because he's still just a kid!

We get to see Latla's ride, and it's a motorized broom of some kind. I hadn't really thought of her as a witch before this, but I guess it makes sense since she can predict the future. Her side-saddle riding is so cute. Is Latla a magical girl now?

She's got her back turned to Autumn both because it's gross and so she can make a quick getaway if she needs to. I don't blame her tbh.

Anno Un says they'll draw an Artifact that can capture Autumn while the group distracts it. Rip asks Latla to fact check Anno Un and we FINALLY get an explanation for her ability.

Also, I kinda can't believe Viz hasn't fixed Andy's typo in the first panel. I wonder if they fixed it in the print edition. UU is usually pretty clean, so it caught my eye.

Anno Un reflects on their strange life as they draw the Artifact with the G Liner in their mouth. The first object Akira manifested from a drawing was a little car, and that discovery led to the creation of Anno Un.

Once they had a human avatar, they tried to visit Akira's mom, but she had already passed.

Akira couldn't bear to even look, and so Anno Un did the grieving for him. Anno Un did all the things that Akira couldn't, including drawing those characters that little Akira had been so eager to show her:

Each character is described by their relationships and loyalties to other characters. It's their relationships and interplay that make up the core of the story, no matter what the plot is.

Beyond the fact that his mom likes handsome (adult) characters, I think she would like Rip because Rip also lost someone. I don't believe there's ever an explanation for what happened to Akira's father, but it must've been a loss at some point, whether through death, divorce, or abandonment.

Akira's mom took a different path than Rip by devoting herself to those who remained instead of pining for the one who left. After all, she had a kid to care for, and there wasn't anything supernatural she could do to bring Akira's father back, unlike Rip using the Ark. But she probably understands his feelings very well. After losing Akira, I'm sure she'd do anything to find him again.

Anno Un uses the Life Is Strange Artifact on Rip and turns him back into an adult. Latla's expression is hilarious:

With his prosthetics getting taller and his shorts shrinking, Rip's kinda got an Absolute Area/zettai ryouiki thing going on! (Which reminds me to add that Tatiana's ability is named after the A.T. Fields in Eva, which are protective barriers like Tatiana's that expand around the users. Which of course, got turned into a stocking fetish by otaku...)

ANYWAY, Rip already knows how the Artifact works because it's the same thing that Feng used on him when Andy almost killed him. It causes the user to age 10x whatever they aged the target.

Rip has a moment of pure kindness and offers to use the Artifact on Anno Un to try to even out the damage, but they won't allow him. The look on Rip's face in this bottom panel is a turning point.

It's like he realized how much they knew already and how much they really did care about him. Rip has a hard time understanding selflessness and altruism, like when Fuuko saved Chikara. And here's someone he barely knows--someone he was recently trying to kill--and they're willing to sacrifice themselves for his sake. Rip's expression is childlike, which is funny since he just got aged up.

Rip is still stunned as Anno Un fades away, leaving only the tracksuit, Soul Caliber, and the broken G Liner. The unlikely team of five will have to fight the rest of the battle without their advice. Will we ever see Akira again?!

Masterpost

[irontragedyreview]

Well after the analysis or attempted analysis of Tomura, it's time to talk about Izuku. As I said with Tomura, many men who read shonen should be prohibited from making interpretations about certain character traits or even commenting the manga. Seriously, since the leaks came out and began to be commented on, a large number of men have commented on the recent events about Izuku and his arms as a kind of punishment for wanting to do a talk no jutsu (Guys, please let Naruto rest, I love Naruto but even I know when to blurt out certain things and this complaint in different fandoms is already pathetic).

Before doing any analysis of Izuku, I want to make certain points clear. 1) Izuku and his fight aren’t over yet, there is still fight in that boy and we are talking about Izuku who fought to rescue bk without his two arms too, so yes I don't think this will take him out of the fight; 2) I can't guess what will happen to Izuku's arms, the truth is that there are two possible ways for his arms to be returned by a quirk I doubt it's Eri, she doesn't have enough energy, either Chisaki, since as far as we know he can’t use his quirk without arms, perhaps Tomura when he returns can do so considering the original nature of decay, but considering that the quirk implanted in him was modified in a laboratory, I don't know if it can evolve like that. Another option is for Horikoshi to go for what we already know prosthetics after the war, so far no character with lost limbs has recovered them; 3) Tomura isn’t dead, he is there and he is going to emerge to kick AFO's ass along with Izuku; 4) Sorry to all Aizawa fans but the truth is I'm not very interested in his plot with Shirakumo, honestly the most interesting thing about seeing Kurogiri again would be to see if Shirakumo had recovered his true identity and know if there is any part of him that he cares about Tomura beyond Kurogiri's programming.

Having said that, let's start with Izuku. One of the things that led me to write this analysis of him was the number of times I saw that the loss of his arms is a kind of punishment for not wanting to kill Tomura (seriously, men get out of your edgy phase and stop of thinking that characters with compassion are inferior who don’t accept reality) and on the other hand that this was a chronicle announced by Midoriya's recklessness, on this point I don’t disagree with the idea that Izuku losing a limb hasn’t been mentioned more than once in the manga also he was obviously going to get physical injuries outside of the OFA with gearshift , but I disagree with comparing this moment to Midoriya being reckless.

I’m not going to deny that Midoriya tends to be reckless, many of his fights and his trip with the OFA were him pushing his body to the limit, but this wasn’t out of pure recklessness, no one who reads the manga and understands Midoriya's character can’t ignore the way he’s always trying to be enough, above all Izuku fears failing the people who gave him a chance. His first meeting with All Might when his hero tells him to see reality and leaves while walking home Izuku tells himself that he shouldn’t cry, that he knew it was a fantasy. I say this because one of the main points that many forget when they criticize Midoriya is that he never prepared his body, but the truth is that he was always realistic for what society told him he should expect, his notebooks and his desire to be a hero were a desperate attempt to deny that reality that everyone wanted to mark him, but when All Might his hero tells him to abandon, there is no reason to deny it anymore and it’s in this first chapter where Midoriya considers accepting his reality twice, the first once with All Might and the second time with bk before AM offered him OFA.

With All Might everything changes, for the first time someone gives him the opportunity that he dreamed so much however, we see for the first time the carelessness he has for himself, in his training he overexerts and reaches a fatigue that makes him makes him faint, AM notices the overdemand and scolds him but Izuku knows that he´s at a disadvantage against others, it’s unhealthy but he understands that everyone there has been born with quirks and has been training for longer than him, so he really wants to take this change, he’ll have to put in the effort. Here AM should have insisted that Izuku focus on his health, but again AM also doesn’t know how to set a limit to his own demands, and therefore he is not the one to set a limit, if he adjusts his routine but doesn’t prevent the overdemanding of Midoriya continued his development.

Throughout the manga, Izuku has taken his body to unexpected limits, his first fight with Muscular, Eri's arc where to stop the advance of the rewind he took the OFA to its maximum so he destroyed himself at the same speed Eri healed, the entire first war arc where his fight with Tomura is literally fierce, and his solo arc where he is pushed to the limit of standing. I say all this because Izuku's recklessness comes from his own conception of heroism that leaves aside his own well-being, but above all because Izuku separates his own self between Deku who can do it and the useless Deku who can't save anyone, He sees himself this way because he hates his old self, the quirkless, defenseless part, the one that AM saw at first and told him that he couldn't be a hero, even today no one has told Midoriya in his face that he can be a hero without a quirk, which is more than enough, no one told him that, class 1A told him that they were friends, Ochako said that he was special for himself not because of his quirk and when Aoyama introduced himself as a traitor and Kirishima said something like "what does it matter that he doesn't have a quirk", none of these are words of encouragement for someone who lived much of his childhood being bullied and attacked.

All this brings us to chapter 419, some say is the result of recklessness or in the case of many others a punishment that Midoriya deserves for wanting to save a villain, seeing compassion as weakness and harm as punishment is so stupid about all because there is something much more interesting and devastating. Izuku during all this time is sacrificing every piece of himself to reach Tomura, he sacrificed OFA and now his own arms because he really wanted to reach him, he’s fulfilling his own words he wants to know, he needs to understand so that their confrontation isn’t just senseless violence and the saddest thing is that trying to reach Tomura and finally take his hand, refusing to let him go even if it could disintegrate him, is the act that allowed AFO to take control again.

All this time Izuku is doubtful, he doesn't have a certain plan because the situation is difficult but he also can't ignore that crying child, that's why when Tomura screams that he’s beyond salvation or no longer human, Izuku continues to insist the opposite and the moment where he finally catches up to him is the moment where he loses, because Izuku's actions weakened Tomura and allowed AFO to take control, but one thing should be clear Izuku wasn’t reckless when he took Tenko's hands, he knew the consequences and he still wanted to reach him, he wouldn’t regret it because if there is something that characterizes Izuku as a character, it’s the great capacity he has to feel compassion and his kindness.

[radskull-69]

What if

Now hear me out

What if

Whether it be in the same au or separate ones, the undermutts as doomsers?

OOOHHHH

each of them being their own crime lord and having their own territory of the same city is such a genius idea omg, I’ll DEFINITELY make designs of them one day

One would be the top of the food chain I believe, was born rich and into his life. and even if the other mutts tease him at meetings and the dances they host they all (secretly) respect him.

owns the dead center of the city, mostly where the people live in tight apartments.

very strict with his citizens and rarely goes easy. He has a soft sport for mothers though, so that’s something. Deals with his problems himself instead of sending others to do it for him

His keen senses would be doubled and it’d be impossible to lie to him, escape from him, or even get close to him.

has two large dobermans that he loves and takes care of, though isn’t afraid to let them loose on people.

Kills people publicly if they get in his way, why take them out of the public eye when one of his goons pissed him off now? He doesn’t have time for that, one chop and their head is off and One is already continuing on like nothing happened.

much more colder in this Au, and I imagine he still meets the detective too. Just not under a fake identity, definitely toys with the police force to get the deceives attention and is less mushy about it too.

Two would own all the hospitals, doubling fee’s no matter how dire or simple the treatment is. And isn’t afraid to take the needed kidneys from them for his own benefit. Uses the hospitals as a cover up to deal drugs under the guise of the police

in this au he can phase through any matter, living or not. So he can go through walls and if someone try’s to shoot him he can simply make it phase through.

has a few wives, kinda like concubines. Doesn’t pay them much if any attention, he just likes the company.

feared for the horror stories of how he tortures information out of people, or just experiments on them. It’s how he makes the best drugs in the city, using live unwilling guinea pigs.

isn’t afraid to wonder into One’s territory, doesn’t mind the fights they have either. Actually took off one of One’s fingers during a fight, keeps it pickled by his bed. One now has a prosthetic finger because of him and it makes Two smug.

Three owns all the clubs and casinos, she’s the richest in the city because of it but spends her money on a lot of dumb shit so it’s hard to climb the ranks.

her powers are much stronger, able to make larger explosions and immune to fire as well. Very chaotic and people make sure not to mess with her or else them and their house is burnt to dust

Refuses to make deals involving any drugs and gives her clubs/casino’s customers a warning before they’re taken out if caught taking it.

does make deals involving weapons, she makes the best guns in the city and people pay good money for it. She hosts a lot of parties and dances at her mansion whenever she feels lonely

Makes people call her ‘sir’ and ‘Mr boss’ just because, doesn’t like the fact she’s the only girl Doomser in the city and hopes another one climbs the ranks so she can have a bestie.

often seen at her clubs, where she makes most meetings at. Or when she invites the others out with her, sitting in the back of the club in a VIP section so no one can ease drop on them

most of her goons and lackeys are tough women though, not because she likes women or anything!! Because she’s like- a feminist and all that.. totally (gay)

takes in any stray cat she sees, has a army of them in her mansion that tear everything up but she doesn’t care!

Four is mostly regarded as a legend around the city, barely ever seen and rumoured to have been a monster thanks to his large hight, inhuman strength and gnarly scar.

I’m reality, he just works under it all. Has his own mob going on but it’s very discreet, so well no one really ever hears of their crimes, deals and what not.

his power is pretty much the same, can still bring people to life using his sewing but can also alter peoples bodies if they provide or lay extra for the limb or part they want.

people pay a generous amount to be able to have longer legs, a prettier face, stronger arms. They don’t want to know why he gets the parts from and they don’t ask.

does some sewing on the side and makes people clothes!

rarely ever seen, mostly due to him not liking being around others. Is mostly seen in Three’s clubs when hanging out, making deals or lingering around.

he owns the side of the city filled with shops and restaurants, he has his own actually and people say it’s to die for. Literally… Three had served human meat once when Four invited her for a meeting, she is now banned from his restaurants.

He would’ve been content normal sales man doing odd (and disturbing) deeds and not a crime lord if people hand targeted him for his abilities. Accidentally killed his way to the top and can’t back out now.

has a wife, though she’s stitched all over she’s well. He loves her dearly, people see her even less than him. Whenever Four see’s a woman who catches his eye he steals their parts for his wife whenever her old parts start to rot.

is on everyone else’s good side, doesn’t bother One much. Trades parts with Two. Hangs out with Three and cooks with her at her mansion. He lets her hang out with his wife since he knows she’s lonely as the only girl with this status.

[self-loving-vampire]

From a game balance perspective I do understand why so many games try to limit how many augmentations players can get by dangling the “Cybernetics Eat Your Soul” trope over them and taking away their humanity points (and, in Shadowrun, also their magical ability). This “humanity” metric is often directly tied to empathy, which certainly has... Implications.

Here’s one page of the Cyberpunk TTRPG manual.

Like... Why does it even work like this?

Let’s assume that getting fancy prosthetics and body modifications somehow removed your empathy. Kind of strange to tie your morality and decency to how many body-altering surgeries you have had (trans and disabled people are just doing it wrong apparently) but let’s just roll with it.

1- Why is empathy treated as a defining human fundamental anyway when there’s humans in real life who were either born without it or who lost it at some point for a variety of reasons? 

It just seems like another manifestation of the idea that abnormal empathy makes people somehow subhuman.

I may not be very attached to humanity myself (for entirely different reasons) but this still seems like a very bad place to draw a boundary between humans and non-humans.

2- A lack of empathy is not the same as a general lack of emotions. People with below-average empathy can be just as emotional as anyone else, the difference is that they just don’t also feel other people’s emotions.

3- Most importantly, low empathy by itself doesn’t translate to “I’m going to go on an irrational and self-destructive murder rampage for no reason.” 

This is really just the new “Without religion people will just go on random murder sprees.” 

I don’t even know how to explain to people that low empathy is not the same as the sadistic, pointless violence people just assume of the trait without ever actually thinking about it. 

A lack of affective empathy is not the same as malice or hatred either. All it means is a reduction or lack of the usual emotional flow from other people towards you. It doesn’t even necessarily mean you don’t value other people or don’t care about them, just that their emotions don’t become your own and may be difficult to understand/relate to.

This really just feels like the usual mental illness stereotypes but with added bio-essentialism.

I strongly prefer the approach of Eclipse Phase, which is a science fiction game with a more distinctly transhumanist bent. It is also not perfect but in that game altering and customizing your body however you wish is just normal, as is uploading yourself to exist without a body or downloading yourself into an entirely separate body.

The worst thing that happens if you do something as drastic as literally switching to a whole new body is that it takes time to get used to the differences, particularly if the new body is dramatically different from the previous one, and experience some mental stress from the loss of continuity of self.

In other words, problems that are actually understandable and interesting. 

You had to download into an undesirable body that doesn’t suit you at all because it was the only thing available at the place you had to transmit your mind to? Congratulations on the body dysmorphia, it’s stressful but you probably won’t just go on a homicidal rampage.

In fact, I find the setting of this game extremely useful when explaining transness to people in real life.

It also deals with issues relating to identity and what the self even is much better than cyberpunk fiction typically does. Your character is not their body, they are the information contained within. As a result, it is even possible for them to exist without any body at all.

The average person in this setting has a set of standard bio-augmentations (such as the ability to live on 3-4 hours of sleep and immunity to all normal diseases, including cancer) plus cranial computers and medical sensors. This doesn’t turn anyone evil and there is no humanity stat.

[kingprinceleo]

Does that mean Tails in your 1000 year au had kids of his own?

Yep he has! he's kinda gone through different phases (I imagine he's somewhere on the aroace spectrum)

He's had biological kids of his own occasionally throughout the 500 years, but most of the time he takes on a guidance figure to new seedarian sprouts. Cosmo has grown into a mother tree and tails lives right next to her, they're best friends. He helps deal with new sprouts when they are born from flower buds. He takes on whatever role they need him to be whether that's a stranger, friend, brother, or parent.

The very beginning on 1000 years bound, tails has a seedarian daughter he's taking care of. She's very meek and scared of the world, having a traumatic experience that led to her needing a prosthetic leg. Tails was taking her on a emerald hunting adventure in the Tornado, until they ended up in Solar Sanctum (shadows kingdom) and they got separated

[seagullcharmer]

i think a lot of why i love xc1 sm is because like,,, it's pretty much all normal people. yeah, dunban and riki are cultural heroes, but before that? dunban was just a guy raising his baby sister. riki is in massive debt trying to take care of his wife and twelve kids. dunban is disabled, and they never try to 'fix' him. shulk is pretty commonly perceived as autistic, and again, no one tries to fix him. some folks interpret reyn as being disabled. fiora is disabled, her whole body basically a prosthetic. sharla is practically a widow. melia, although a princess, faces racism and discrimination within her home and community.

yeah, most of them have cool designs, like melia's curls or dunban's fashion, but also they're just normal people?? especially in the wii version. dunban has a weird nose. shulk has never had a proper haircut. alvis' hair is in that awkward growing out phase. sharla has moles. they're all just normal people who decided to take action. and i love them for it

[owl127]

Two times Weiss Schnee regretted finding the bees, and one time she did not

"We should wait until morning to cross the bridge." Jaune had a tone of finality when he spoke now. Weiss wasn't sure if that was because of his age or his suffering from loneliness and betrayal. Maybe both. "There are wolf-boar scouts at night in the Dark Acre."

That sounded as confusing as any other threat in this place, and Weiss had learned to respect them. At least a little bit more. She stretched her neck and winced at the knot there, massaging it with a gloved hand. The small clearing they called a camp was damp from rain and quiet with just the three of them. "Hey, are you cold?" Weiss asked Ruby, who blinked and shrugged, but her skin was cool to the touch. "Where's Yang with more firewood?" Weiss didn't ask anyone specifically, but Jaune shook his head anyway. One look around, and Blake seemed to also be suspiciously absent. Groaning, Weiss set out to the task of being the only responsible and mentally stable huntress in their party.

She knew what she would find before she heard the muffled laughter, and Weiss missed home a little bit more, even if the thought of home made her feel sick. But right now she really missed doors with locks.

"I don't mind it." Weiss heard Blake's voice, low and raspy, and she never wanted to hear it again. "It's part of you."

"But don't you think it's too cold? Or too hot? The heat transfer is insane with the metal," Yang responded, giving more information than Weiss was willing to process.

"I'm approaching this area!" Weiss yelled from about ten feet away from the giggling couple. "I repeat, I, Weiss Schnee, perfectly capable of hearing and sight, am approaching this area!" she repeated, to which the giggling increased. The nerve of these dorks.

Weiss crossed a tree line to find Blake's boots just hitting the ground, her jacket rumpled, and Yang's arms still shamelessly around her.

"Heya, Weiss," Yang greeted with a grin while Blake had the decency to blush.

"Unbelievable," Weiss murmured, arms akimbo. "You left a while ago looking for firewood," she accused Yang, who shrugged and pointed to the forgotten heap at her feet. "Ruby's cold," Weiss added with a drop of teasing, satisfied with Yang's furrowed brows. "I know this is exciting and new for you," she continued, "but not everyone is in the mindset to enjoy your honeymoon phase. So please keep your hands to yourselves."

"We were about to head back," Blake offered with a small smile. "Care to give me a hand?" There was a glint in her eyes as she asked Yang, but it took Weiss a second too long to catch up.

"No problem!" Yang responded, detaching her prosthetic while Blake piled it along the firewood.

"I can't," Weiss said before walking back into the tree line without a second glance in the direction of her adorable but insufferable teammates. "And you have a hickey, Belladonna!" she added triumphantly, marching back to camp.

0000

The rain never stopped. It fell mercilessly, and they haven't seen the sun in the Dark Acre for days. Ruby had barely been speaking, and the tension between their group was palpable, like a constant heartburn in the back of Weiss's throat. They had been taking turns watching Ruby, and tonight it was Weiss's time to try and convince their broken leader to eat.

"It's not that bad," Weiss said as she chewed on stale carrot-cheese, offering a piece to Little and another to Ruby. "It's aged cheese, if you think about it."

"Yeah," Ruby answered apathetically, turning her back to Weiss. Impromptu naps were another thing Ruby had started doing, which Little celebrated at first but then understood that it was a problem.

"Rest." Weiss tried to adjust Ruby's hood around her, but the girl shrugged her off. "I'll check on Blake and Yang for more food."

"I'm not hungry."

"I know." Weiss took a deep breath and stood on the moist ground. Her fighting skirt had seen better days, but she was Weiss Schnee, and she patted her thighs with grace and elegance as she set into the task of finding more food. Rain kept its ruthless pace, though as she walked farther from camp, it seemed to slow to an annoying trickle. Her hair was not doing well either way.

She found a tree with fruits Jaune would have to clear for them before eating, and as she spotted another fruitful tree, she heard a sound that made her stop in her tracks.

Not a grimm; not a Jabberwalker. Right now, not even Salem's laughter would make Weiss this instantly mad. Weiss groaned out loud at the sound of moaning.

"What have I done to deserve this?" Weiss expressed to the picked fruit in her hands. She located the source of the sounds, a small cave to the side of a clearing. Part of her wanted to ignore it and bleach her brain, but Ruby was alone and they needed food. Someone needed to knock some sense into those two. She expected such abhorrent behavior from Yang, but pulling Blake into it was too much. She left the fruit outside the cave and took a deep breath.

"Too much, too much." Weiss heard Yang's voice echoing in the cave, followed by a hiss. "Slower, Blake."

Weiss froze on her way inside because there was absolutely no way they were up to that.

"I'm sorry," Blake replied, her voice low and calm. A sound of kissing followed, and Weiss gagged. "I'm going to try again. Try to relax."

Weiss wanted to die.

"But you also need to push a little harder on the way out, or it won't work."

Scratch that. Weiss was dead.

She jumped inside the cave, her rapier in the air as her other hand covered her eyes. "I can’t believe you two are even in the mood for such lewd behavior!" she yelled, brandishing her weapon at nothing. "I’m giving you ten seconds to look presentable before I open my eyes!"

"Weiss, open your eyes," Yang deadpanned.

"Are you both dressed?" Weiss pressed further.

"Yes," Yang confirmed in a similar monotone. 

Weiss opened one eye first, scanning the cave quickly. Both Yang and Blake were indeed wearing pants, and while Yang had her jacket off, intimate body parts were 100% hidden. Yang’s arm was detached, and Blake’s hands were around the base connected to Yang’s scar. 

"It’s been bothering me since I got it back," Yang explained. "I usually need help when detaching the base."

Heat flared in Weiss’ cheeks. "Well, I see you already have assistance." Weiss nodded at Blake, her cat ears betraying the laughter her mouth managed to dampen. "I will be heading back to camp, then."

"What did you think we were doing?" One golden eyebrow was up, followed by a half-smirk. "Weiss Schnee, did you really think Blake and I were having s—"

"You have no limits, Xiao Long."

"How dare you"—Yang placed her left hand over her heart—"I would never."

"Is everything okay back in the camp, Weiss?" Blake asked before the teasing escalated.

"We’re looking for food."

"We won’t take long," Blake amended with a small smile. Weiss frowned at Yang, who grinned innocently as she left.

"C’mon, let me tell her," Yang said once Weiss was out of earshot.

"Don’t you dare."

"It’ll be good for her!"

"Yang, no."

"It was just some hand stuff," Yang said while shaking her prosthetic.

Blake couldn’t hold her giggles, leaning to kiss Yang’s cheek. "I love you… but let’s tone it down around Weiss. She might explode."

"We should set her up with Jaune."

"Yang, no."

0000

Through the sandstorm, Weiss heard the familiar shriek of a Nevermore. Wyvern and Lancers also took the sky, attacking at random intervals.

"Ruby. Ruby, open your eyes!" she begged her unconscious teammate. After using her eye power, Ruby had fallen limply, and it took most of what was left of Weiss' aura to clear the path to her friend. "Ruby!" she yelled, sand entering her eyes and mouth. "Ruby, talk to me!"

"We gotta bounce!" Nora yelled from behind Weiss. "I’ll help you carry her!"

"Wait, where are Yang and Blake?" Weiss asked with Ruby’s arm around her neck.

"They were the ones distracting the big flying chicken."

"The Nevermore?"

Nora shrugged, shooting a flying grenade in the direction of an approaching flock of Wyverns before helping Ruby up from the other side.

"Can you take her by yourself?"

"Weiss, we need to leave!" Nora’s statement was punctuated by Winter’s chilly attack somewhere above them.

"I’ll meet you back at Shade!" Weiss didn’t look back and ran in the direction of the fight.

"Weiss!" She recognized Winter’s voice. "You need to leave this instant!" Her sister had become overprotective since they returned, but there was a layer of fresh desperation in Winter’s voice as she landed next to Weiss.

"Have you seen Blake and Yang?" Weiss held her sister’s shoulders.

Winter’s eyes widened. "Winter?" Weiss insisted, but they had to break apart as a Lancer tried to sting her from behind. As the grimm froze to death, Weiss latched to her sister’s forearm. "What happened, Winter?"

"I saw the moment Yang’s aura broke. Blake was with her, but I haven’t seen them since. Weiss, come back here!"

Nothing could stop Wiess from finding her friends—her family. Hunters ran in the opposite direction, as it was clear they had been called to retreat. They trickled in behind Winter’s line of defense, but none of the hunters were Yang or Blake. She wasn’t going to give up; Weiss would fight wave after wave of grimm to find them.

Winter had taken Weiss by the waist when she heard the familiar sound of a high-caliber weapon.

Ember Celica.

"They’re here!" Weiss yelled before her sister carried her away. "Yang! Blake!"

"Help!" Blake’s voice, followed by more shots. Winter was gone in a flash, flying through the harsh storm in the direction of Blake’s cries. Weiss watched as Blake ran in her direction, with Winter carrying an unconscious Yang above them.

"We need to go!" Winter ordered, grimm’s growling intensifying with the lack of hunters. "Now!"

Weiss took Blake’s forearm, as her hand was occupied holding the left pair of Ember Celica. "You two need to stop running away!"

Blake chuckled a wet laugh, her eyes red-rimmed. "We love you too!"

"I’ll strangle you both once Yang wakes up!"

"Don’t give her ideas!"

"BELLADONNA!" 

[dentalcareonline]

Is Dental Implant Painful?

Are you having missing teeth and scared of dental implants? In this video, we will talk about dental implants. A dental implant is like a screw that is placed in the jaw bone and acts as a root like in a natural tooth. It is safe, as this screw is made of titanium metal. The procedure has a 98% success rate. The dental implant procedure is divided into two phases: a 20-25 minute surgical phase and a prosthetic phase after 3-4 months. The process is comfortable, conducted under local anesthesia. Post-implant care includes avoiding hot food for 24 hours, drinking cold juice after 45 minutes, no spitting for 24 hours, taking warm saline gargles after 24 hours, and maintaining oral hygiene. Implants aren't recommended for those with uncontrolled sugar levels or heavy smokers. Costs vary based on factors like implant brand and practitioner experience, averaging around 20,000 - 25,000 rupees. If you have any doubts about dental implants, contact us.

[greensaplinggrace]

Happy Disability Pride Month to the SaB characters! Here are more HCs:

some in-universe hcs to match this post about alternate universe hcs

Genya is a genderqueer bi lesbian with chronic pain and reduced mobility in her left arm. The scarring covers most of her body, but especially her face and her shoulder, leaving her blind on her left side and partially deaf in her left ear.

Genya struggles with C-PTSD and intense flashbacks. She’s autistic and married to her autistic husband, David. She's spymaster to the crown, and takes great pride in her ability to keep those under her care safe and protected.

At David's encouragement, she eventually gets with Zoya and Alina, even finding a fast friend in Mal, who can relate to her many struggles.

Alina is a bisexual, nonbinary person (she/they) with OCD, BPD, and schizophrenia. Her intense bouts of depression often align with suicidal thoughts, and the worsening of her other symptoms, including chronic fatigue and chronic migraines.

When Alina lost her powers, it affected her senses and her body, as well as her mind. Mal helps her through her phases of grief and depression, staying with her at her lowest moments of loneliness and isolation, to her highest moments of joy at her new life and what she is building with him.

For a long while, it was only her and Mal, but she slowly reformed contact with her old friends again. First entering a relationship with Genya - when she realizes Genya has assigned spies to check up on her and watch her house - and then with Zoya, who finally comes to visit in person after many years of simple letters and the occasional gift.

Zoya is pansexual, polyamorous, and bigender, identifying as both a woman and a demiwoman, and she is deaf. She is also autistic, and deals with insomnia and night terrors as the result of her PTSD.

After learning her dragon form, Zoya lost her ability to hear as a human. As a dragon, she is still becoming acquainted with her new senses and the dragon's very different methods of thought. The adjustment is not an easy one, and Zoya spends many hours sparring to reacquaint herself with both of her bodies, as well as meditating in an attempt to handle her new bouts of dissociation.

Zoya is in a close relationship with Nikolai, who shares her experiences in many ways. He struggles with his new monster form, and is also deaf because of this. They work together to recover from their losses, and Zoya also finds comfort in her other partners - Alina, Genya, and Mal - as well.

Mal is a bisexual trans man with ADHD, SSD, and PTSD. He is an amputee that experiences chronic pain, and has essential tremors in his left hand.

When Alina was forced to take his bones and wear them to gain her powers, they had to amputate his right arm to keep the infection from spreading. He, David, and Genya often work together to create prosthetics for his arm as well as her eye, and have formed a close friendship because of this. Mal even begins a relationship with Nikolai, after the man visits him one too many times to be normal, and they eventually invite Alina into the relationship as well.

Mal lives with Alina in their small orphanage, taking care of their children and finally settling into his retirement from military life. While he often has flashbacks to old battles, and especially the deaths of his friends, Alina and his new family are always there to help him through them and show him he is loved and safe.