#his friend has an associates degree! and he’s a manager!

[yourheartinyourmouth]

oh my gods y’all send best vibes possible

husbeast has a friend who thinks he can get husbeast a WFH job on his team making 60-65K or at least re-vamp his résumé and cover letter and help him find work in a similar role/salary and also maybe me too

please Hermes my man i need you now more than ever

[a-shade-of-blue]

Urgent: Help Mahmoud's 17 Family Members Escape from Frequent Bombings!

Hi everyone. Mahmoud (@mahmoudfamily1) is trying to raise fund to evacuate 17 members of his family (including no fewer than 5 children!), and he has asked me to share his story.

Mahmoud found out the bombing of her sister Tasnim’s husband’s house, the house his entire family was staying at, on the news. He could not contact his family for 3 days after that. He knew that several people had died and several more injured, but he did not know whom among his family survived, and who didn’t.

When he finally managed to reach them, he found out that a close relative, named Alaa, had been killed, along with her children: Ahmed and baby Iman who was not even one month old yet. Alaa was a beloved member of their family. She was optimistic and tried hard to cheer everyone else up. For the longest time, Alaa believed that the world would not turn away from their suffering and the war would end soon. But an airstrike took her and her children’s lives, the bombing continued, and the world remains indifferent.

Mahmoud’s sister Tasnim, was severely injured in the bombing. The attack happened while the family was sleeping, and Tasnim woke up to find her body injured and broken, bleeding heavily with bones sticking out of her leg. She found her 6-month-old daughter under the rubble, severely injured, but thankfully still alive. Tasnim's leg was fractured in multiple places, so severely injured that they all thought it had to be amputated. Tasnim’s husband and her 6-month-old daughter, her father-in-law, her brothers-in-law and Alaa’s husband were all severely injured by the bombing.

A few days later, Mahmoud’s family narrowly survived a second bombing on the street, as the people behind them, too slow to escape from the attack, were killed. They hid in their car, watching the plane flying above dropping bombs, praying that it would not target their car.

Given Tasnim and her 6-month-old daughter’s severe injuries, the family used a lot of money and exhausted all means to get them out of Gaza to receive the essential medical treatment they require. While Tasnim and her youngest daughter managed to evacuate, the rest of Mahmoud’s 17 family members, including Tasnim’s 2-year-old daughter who sustained first degree burns from the bombing, are still trapped in Gaza.

Mahmoud’s 17 family members (including no fewer than 5 children!) risk being killed and injured from the frequent airstrikes every day. They have narrowly escaped death no fewer than 5 times. On 31 August, the IOF dropped bombs on the tent next to theirs, killing 9 young men and women, and Mahmoud’s family woke up to their broken bodies.

Look at the photos Mahmoud sent me. These children, they are all trapped in Gaza where bombs may fall on them anytime. Please do not look away. Please help Mahmoud’s 17 family members reach safety!!

Mahmoud’s campaign is vetted by association. Mahmoud is @hazempalestine's friend, see post here for proof. @hazempalestine is vetted by @/el-shab-hussein and is listed as #281 on the verified fundraiser list by @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi.

I’ve been trying to boost Hazem’s campaign, but we are both worried about Mahmoud’s campaign as donations are coming in really slowly for him. I hope you will support Mahmoud’s campaign and help him evacuate his 17 family members as well!

Extremely Low Funds! As of 3 September, Only $147 CAD raised of $80,000 goal! Last donation was 19 hours ago!!!

Please follow Mahmoud on @mahmoudfamily1 to get updates on his family's situation! And also, please, please, share/reblog, and donate if you can! Every donation helps!!

[suzukiblu]

Excerpt from an in-progress DP x DC soulmate AU starring Jazz Fenton, a very unfortunate mugger, and a smoothie. Oh, and I guess Jason is there too.

Jazz meets her soulmate in, of all places, Park Row. Or as the locals call it, Crime Alley.

Seems about right for her life, she decides as she kicks the shit out of the guy who was trying to stab him for his wallet fifteen seconds ago. Her soulmate watches her curiously, seeming unconcerned by the fuss, and takes a sip of his smoothie.

Also seems about right, for her soulmate. A guy who got too nervous when necessary violence happened was not going to survive Thanksgiving in Amity Park, much less Christmas.

Well, it is Gotham.

"Hi," he says.

"Hi, sorry, one sec," Jazz says, then leans over the groaning mugger and offers him a card to the best local crisis center she's managed to track down via research and word of mouth in the four months she's been in Gotham. Not her card, obviously, since she just roundhouse-kicked the guy in the head to protect her soulmate from him and that's arguably a conflict of interest. Or close enough, anyway. "So you should check these guys out, they've got a very high success rate in their job program and there's an associated food bank and rent assistance, if you qualify."

"What?" the mugger says dazedly.

"Also if you ever touch my soulmate again I'll make you wish for the cold mercy of the Infinite Realms," Jazz adds pleasantly. The guy goes very, very pale. Then he snatches the card from her and runs for his life and eternal soul.

"This is the nicest thing the universe has ever done to me," her soulmate muses, taking another sip of his smoothie.

"Getting you mugged?" Jazz asks wryly, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Are you religious? Do you want kids?" her soulmate asks. "Also, who's your favorite Bat?"

"Robin, obviously," Jazz says. "The overdramatic and feral little stabby one, I mean. He reminds me of my little brother. Makes me feel a little bit maternal, to be honest. So that answers two out of three, and as far as religion goes, I only believe in Psychology Today, highly customized guns, and my mom's ninth-degree black belt."

"This better not awaken anything in me," her soulmate mutters under his breath.

"That seems unlikely, or we wouldn't be soulmates," Jazz says.

"Point," he says, sipping his smoothie again. Jazz didn't even know anywhere in Crime Alley sold smoothies, but she is new around here. "Wanna go break my bed? Or maybe go get coffee?"

"You've already got a smoothie," Jazz says.

"So I do," he says.

Jazz looks him over. He's her soulmate, so she's not surprised to find him gorgeous. She wasn't ever expecting a familial soulmate–Danny is a very intense sibling to have, and her parents are very intense parents to have, not to mention everything about Dani, and "soulcousins" aren't typically a thing–and she's never been especially interested in keeping around too many close friends, so considering all that, she was already expecting her soulmate to be a romantic one. If they are platonic, it's definitely only going to be because her soulmate is an aromantic asexual. Which he probably isn't, since he already asked about kids and religion and if she wanted to go break his bed.

Then again, she's met people who'll posture worse than that. Especially guys, and especially ace ones with a clear investment in their masculinity, and given this particular guy is built like a brick house could only dream to be, chances are he has some feelings about his masculinity. Though he's also drinking a visibly pink smoothie, not a neutral-colored protein shake or generic black coffee, so . . . fifty-fifty there, maybe?

Further inquiry will probably be required.

"I'm Jazz," she tells him. "What's your name?"

"Robin," he says. Then he–pauses. Blinks. "I mean–Robin."

He looks very confused for a second, and Jazz blinks too, and refocuses her eyes a bit. Oh, is he–

"Are you overshadowing that guy?" she assumes. For the love of–of course her soulmate would be a ghost, she thinks dryly. Who'd want a soulmate their mom and dad wouldn't want to grill for information and ask a thousand invasive questions, after all? "I mean, he's really hot, don't get me wrong, he looks good on you, but I'd rather meet you for real."

"'Overshadowing'?" Robin looks bemused.

"I'm Danny's sister," Jazz clarifies. Robin does not look less bemused. "You know, the new king?"

"What?" Robin says. Jazz frowns a little, feeling a bit bemused herself.

"Do you not get out much?" she asks.

"Never, actually, but also yes and constantly and way too often," Robin says. "My job is kind of demanding that way."

"What's your job?" Jazz asks curiously. Ghosts' jobs are always interesting, even if only for how they interact and manifest with their Obsessions. She wonders what his Obsession is, actually, because smoothies seem like an unlikely option but she doesn't have much else to go on here.

Can't be weirder than Box Ghost, either way.

"I'm a Bat," Robin says, then looks absolutely alarmed and also absolutely horrified.

"Huh," Jazz says, tilting her head. He seems really big to be one of the Robins, and a little too old besides. A year or two younger than her, maybe, and even the older Robin she's pretty sure is at best Danny's age. Though that's assuming this body is the one he fights crime in, admittedly. Although it's kinda funny if one of the Bats is just named Robin. Must get annoying on patrol, though. "I didn't know any of you were dead, but I guess that's not actually a surprise either, given the profession."

"Why did I say that to you?" Robin asks tightly.

"I told you, I'm the new king's sister," Jazz says. "You know, it's the royal family thing. Technically I'm his regent, legally speaking, but only because I'm better at paperwork and he doesn't count as a legal adult in the Infinite Realms yet. Hasn't been dead long enough, you know how it is. But I've been alive long enough to, apparently? But his 'being alive' technically stopped tracking at fourteen. It's complicated, basically."

"What the fuck does that mean?!" Robin demands.

"It means you can't lie to me because you're one of my brother's subjects," Jazz says, really not understanding his reaction. Every ghost knows this, after all. The only ones who wouldn't know it are too young to be away from their guardians' haunts or even leave the Infinite Realms at all. Definitely a ghost who knows how to overshadow someone this thoroughly and fully is old enough and experienced enough to know it, though. "Whose body is that, anyway?"

"It's my father's," Robin says. Jazz's eyes widen a little and she has several very concerned internal reactions before he chokes and sputters–"I mean–it's not–he's not–!"

"You realize there is no healthy way to mean that, right?" Jazz says. Robin looks frustrated and freaked out and she feels bad about it, because she didn't mean or want to upset him, but she clearly has. "Sorry. I mean, I still secretly feel like I'm the one parenting my parents half the time, you're not the only one with weird feelings about yours."

"I'm his," Robin says, then grits his teeth in visible pain. He's this close to crushing the smoothie cup he's holding but hasn't actually done it. Jazz wonders if that's an example of deliberate self-control or subconscious restraint.

She's pretty sure Robin didn't mean to say that, though.

"Are you okay?" she asks, a little concerned. Normally ghosts just stop talking about things they want to lie about, when they realize who she is.

"No," Robin says. "I'm just his. I've always been his, I always will be, his good soldier, his worst mistake, not his actual fucking son, why am I telling you this?!"

"I don't know," Jazz says, frowning in increased concern. "Usually people can work around the inability to lie a little bit, but you sound like you're being compelled to speak. Increasingly like, actually. Hm. What's your Obsession? And what kind of core do you have?"

"What?" he says.

"They might be making you unstable, is all," Jazz says. "I don't think it'd be a soulmate thing but to be fair I don't really know how that works. Are you dead, or are you a manifestation of something?"

"I'm dead," Robin says, staring at her. "That bastard clown beat my head in with a crowbar and blew up what was left of me. I woke up in my grave and–I–how did you know that?"

"Well, I didn't, that's why I asked," Jazz says reasonably, idly wondering why the Joker isn't dead yet, since this is Gotham and obviously it wouldn't be another "bastard clown" Robin was referencing, even if he wasn't a Bat. But like, at least dead via the court system, if nothing else. The Joker is insane, yes, but no one can argue he doesn't know right from wrong at this point. Does New Jersey just not have the death penalty, maybe? She hasn't thought to check. "Maybe it's the guy you're in? He's not drunk or high or anything, is he?"

"I hate drugs," Robin says, gritting his teeth again; tightening his grip on the smoothie again. He's trembling, just barely. "I hate them. I'd never touch them. I don't know what you are. You're scaring me. Please stop."

He definitely didn't mean to say that, Jazz can tell.

But . . . he doesn't know what she is.

He doesn't know.

Well, that's a problem.

"Robin," she says gently, and for some reason his face twists painfully at the sound of his own name. "Can I see your core? Please?"

[anxiousnerdwritings]

I can totally imagine that, after getting absolutely no where, Jokerized!twin darling just has an Azula-level breakdown. Especially if the Batfam or God forbid Damian somehow manages to subdue the unpredictable mess. There's no way that Twin!Reader doesn't resent Damian to a degree, especially after everything he put them through... so seeing his twin brother not only be accepted but also find a family that was willing to have him? While Twin!Darling was just used and abused in some shape or form? Absolutely breaking down!

Twin!Reader wholeheartedly holds an immense amount of resentment towards both Damian and Talia. I really like the idea that Twin!Reader was more akin to being that of a normal child born outside of a family full of assassins than to acting like one who was. Like, Twin!Reader was on par with Damian when it came to the proficiency of their training but the mentality just wasn’t there for them. They couldn’t just aimlessly kill, they couldn’t just walk away with someone’s blood on them and not feel something. Not only that, they just weren’t emotionless to any degree like how their mother and brother so easily were. They laughed, they cried, they felt fear, they felt hurt. Like, I’ve had this scenario in my head for a bit of there being a thunderstorm or a blizzard and Twin!Reader seeking out Damian because they’re scared, they sneak into his room and they just want comfort. They just want to be together with their twin brother in their moment of need. And Damian begrudgingly allows it cause they won’t go away no matter what he says but he still makes comments about how weak they are for something as ridiculous as a storm to have them acting like this and that the Reader better be out before mother finds out. I especially like this kind of scenario being what Twin!Reader holds onto when they need something no the better side to look back on. It didn’t happen often, nor did it come without berating, but there were a few moments that Twin!Reader had with Damian that they’ve held onto, that they’ve cherished.

I also really like the idea of Talia having tried to kill Twin!Reader behind Ra’s back, leaving them for dead only for them to survive and that’s where we go from there. I think it really adds to the whole familial betrayal thing and gives more to the Reader eventually going off the rails, especially as they’re in search of somewhere to belong, for someone who willingly and genuinely wants them for them. It makes it even more of a surprise and gut punch respectively for Damian, Talia, and Ra’s when the Reader pops back up. Especially, after being Jokerized.

All their life, Twin!Reader as been used and abused in some way, shape, or form. And even after being Jokerized that’s all they’re met with. Even if it isn’t to the same extent it was with Talia and Damian, these new people the Reader is trying to find belonging in all have ulterior motives. They want to use the Reader against Batman (or one of the other main people the Reader’s been associated with), they want something to have and hold over Batman’s (or whoever else’s) head. That’s all it is, at least in the beginning. Eventually these people do come to have some amount of care for the Reader but by then it’s too late and the Reader is in the wind and on to the next one.

I do really love the idea of Damian and Twin!Reader sharing their love for animals. I especially love the thought of the Reader’s first pet/companion being a hyena Joker and Harley (probably just Harley) gifted them after their initiation into the Clown Family. That hyena would mean the absolute world to the Reader, as far as the Reader was concerned it was their first friend and the first thing that ever stayed around for them. Wherever the Reader went, so did it. I love the thought of the hyena being protective of the Reader, sticking close to them for both security and comfort. The hyena very quickly becomes the only thing that Twin!Reader truly cares about anymore. Not to mention, there’s no doubt that after everything Twin!Reader’s been through before and after being Jokerized they have constant nightmares, even some night terrors, and the only one there for them is their loyal hyena. It’s there to curl around them protectively, to give them a warmth they’re not used to and a sense of being looked over that they’ve never felt before. I can even see the hyena bringing the Reader snacks to remind them to eat and take care of themself.

I can really see the Jokerized!Twin!Reader being thrown into an all out breakdown if their hyena died, especially if it died protecting them (whether from the batfamily or some rogue rando). That was their only friend, the only thing that truly ever cared about them and now they had nothing anymore. They had no one. They were lost all over again. If any of the batfamily members had anything to do with the Reader’s precious hyena’s death there would never be any forgiveness. If someone else were the reason for the hyena’s death than the Reader wouldn’t think twice about killing them and getting revenge for their beloved companion. Either way, no matter who caused the Reader’s hyena’s death I can see the batfamily all trying to subdue them from enacting any revenge on whoever. No matter how feral and berserk the Reader is in the moment, no matter how hard they fight, how hard they hit, I see Bruce, Jason and Damian especially not letting go of them. They hold the Reader the entire time, unrelenting in their grasp no matter how hurt they get in the process. If the Reader is as unrelenting as they are then they’ll have to knock them out. From there the family will take Jokerized!Twin!Reader home, where they’ll be safer, where the family can watch over and be there for them.

After their breakdown, there is no way in hell, Damian and Bruce especially will be able to go on with the Reader not being with them. Seeing how absolutely destroyed they’ve become, how much of a broken husk they’ve been turned into after everything they’ve been through, Damian and Bruce can’t allow anything more to happen to their sibling/child. No matter what it takes, how long it takes, Damian and Bruce aren’t giving up on Jokerized!Twin!Reader. They will save them, they will put them back together again. They will be the family that the Reader should have had all along.

God forbid if Ra’s was there to see his precious grandchild breakdown like that in front of him. Damian and Bruce be damned, he’s taking them home with him and Talia will be thoroughly dealt with for her part in all of this, in destroying his pride and joy.

[yandere-toons]

Yandere Bakugou Katsuki (Platonic & Romantic Headcanons)

Warnings: mentions of child abuse (with domestic implied in association), bullying, intense violence, toxic mindset.

A.N. - Usual friend/partner format is absent to denote character's complicated relationship with intimacy!

"Friend" is a word he would never use, as it implies a degree of closeness and equal standing that Bakugou struggles to accept, that eats up the freedom and control he refuses to surrender, although others apply it for him.

Despite the enforced distance, Bakugou is quick to harass and torment any who claim intimacy with you or wish to establish such. This stems less from any clash with such feelings in Bakugou and more from the simple fact that attention divided is attention lost. Additionally, letting some extra into your life is another way of calling him incapable of fulfilling that need, a grave insult that rouses him to sever this dead weight on the battlefield.

Whomsoever has the gall to take that mantle from him, a death match will settle the undying question of whether his passion can conquer theirs. If they manage a desperate escape or a swift rescue, Bakugou will forever brand them a coward and challenge them on sight to let him finish the job.

It is difficult to overstate the amount of enmity he feels for those who intrude on the relationship. All who came before him, with the superior bond of time, cluck their tongues and sneer at his efforts to surpass them; all who come sniffing after him, he refuses to see as anything other than leeches in need of plucking and destruction.

A volatile household has imbued in Bakugou a hypersensitivity to all forms of criticism. He wishes to never again feel so trapped and powerless as the loser of a fight, so he exerts a similarly aggressive level of control over others, believing violence to be the one reliable way of coming out on top.

After all, no relationship is without contest as far as Bakugou was taught: compromise and compassion are tools for the weak, who cannot stand alone and serve only to elevate the strong. Some opponents, such as his teacher Aizawa, present a challenge not undertaken without first suffering heavy penalties to his dream, and thus this battle of wills is relegated here to a more passive defiance.

Through strength and superior force of will, a connection with Bakugou can only be a deterrent to other bullies and all the Minetas of the world. It is a pathway to unmatched companionship, performance, and success. All other relationships are transient, but with Bakugou, the results are entirely concrete and, by extension, reliable. You don't need nebulous concepts like "good company" preached by lesser individuals when Bakugou will ensure the identification and erasure of all vestigial weaknesses.

Additional elements in your life are, at best, a source of concern as dead weight or, at worst, actively prohibiting your well-being by limiting your time with him. Anyone who refuses to exact their pound of flesh in the relationship is either a liar or an idiot. Lies mean danger and warn Bakugou to expect an attack; idiots are not long for this world and therefore are unworthy of his time save for the occasional heckling.

Bakugou drives himself to excel at his every pursuit, trusting in such a "mastery over all" persona to cover his weak spots and allow for nothing that others could point at as his one failure. If he wins in all contests, then who could legitimately claim he is wrong?

Bakugou thrives on any chance to flaunt his strength — but abhors the idea of being used in the same manner as a lowly foot soldier; that is, presented as cannon fodder and expected to die a forgotten tool. Such requests are seen as an attempt at controlling him, which in and of itself is indicative of disrespect and cannot be tolerated.

Any advances from another in your life, he assumes, are a deliberate slight against his pride; and the knife must be stuck in a thousandfold lest he be remembered as the simpering coward who showed his belly at the first glare of competition.

Bakugou expects a mountain of boasting and gushing at the supposedly generous act of bestowing upon you his undivided attention; he, however, remains silent on the affair so as not to suggest any emotional dependence, an achingly true reality he is certain others will prey upon with mockery and invasive questioning. The loss of control over his attachment is a long-kept secret, for once it goes beyond his immediate control, it becomes a potentially gaping vulnerability, one readily exploited by his many enemies.

Despite his best intentions, Bakugou is much like the mother he fought so hard to survive and escape, a fact he both resents and considers necessary to protect himself. Only through being the strongest, and king of the hill, will his voice and his desires never again be ignored.

Bakugou often re-enacts these fights on his own terms, where the opponent is hopelessly outmatched and he can assume the position of power, subconsciously spewing the same insults and threats that were used against him to eke out a sense of worth and control in his life.

As a youngster, Bakugou is ripe to demand participation in all group activities. He frames his team as the one for whom success is guaranteed and assures you he only partners with winners. Any who step in or challenge with another word are blown away.

Among classmates, Bakugou has made a habit of targeting your favourites and any more who dare to dream they can take his place, unable to cope with a future where he is unnecessary. He must be essential, for anything less is an insult to his capabilities and a potential source of vulnerability.

In combat exercises, no one else is allowed to engage you. Those who land even a single blow, he puts through the wall. Bakugou himself is noticeably milder with his attacks on you, taking aim at less vulnerable areas and shooting to stun rather than kill. Training with you is fundamentally still a competition, but he won't allow you to be harmed by any of the lesser candidates and would-be heroes.

For the opposing team, Bakugou displays an enduring hatred and arms his attacks with power enough to blow through the human body and split the concrete wall behind it. This is no longer a game to him, but something deeply personal.

He leaves a slot open on his team and chases away any who seek to fill it, convinced that with an ample enough show of force, you will realise the error of your ways and switch sides to the clear winner. Still, he cannot let slip that he hopes for such a thing and would be hurt by its absence. If anyone asks, the slot was left open because his team, having him as a leader, did not require full manning.

At the peak of junior high, Bakugou's emotions spiral: lunging for perceived rivals, pummeling them, and teasing an explosion down their throat. Teachers, victims, and spectators alike keep quiet, half in fear for their own safety, half in the hope that he will grow out of it. The threat of death in such encounters is quite high, but any follow-through is likely to occur after the school day ends, where no one can block Bakugou from his prey.

Still at the peak of junior high, Bakugou is king of the schoolyard, and yet, has just as little power at home as he did before. This constant failure demands more showboating and greater performance at school, lest Bakugou be unacceptably rejected as another lost cause. He will never realise his goals if the world is not reshaped as it must be.

With age comes more power, and with more power comes more wins; and soon enough, Bakugou turns his hostilities on teachers. While in grade school, the few who tried to coax him into letting his "special friend" play with other kids were dismissed as copycats of his mousy father and roundly ignored; but in high school, the many who resort to lectures and threats sound all too like his mother and trigger a host of aggression.

Calls are made to his home about increasingly violent behaviour, which in turn leads his mother to scream profanity for hours and lay hands on him as punishment. His father, shut out of the loop by a dismissive wife and an equally hostile son, mistakes the vicious cycle taking root for general delinquency. He tries to talk Bakugou into standing down, but risks his own life in the process and so remains resigned to the background.

These well-intentioned but ineffective efforts, in a tragic twist of irony, feed Bakugou's attitude that no one has his back, and he must fight to keep hold of his one safe spot in life. As his "special friend," you must see his excellence and, only in continued and ever-greater reminders, be motivated to stick with him as you should. When he decides to grace you with his presence, there will be no distractions, only recognition for the inner weakness of all who fall short of his towering standards.

Well into his formative years, Bakugou retains a growing distrust of adults, viewing them as inherently antagonistic figures who seek to smother his freedom and cannot be relied upon when it counts. They are, at best, effete annoyances and, at worst, monstrous obstacles to be endured only until they may be properly annihilated.

Conditioned to see a potential foe in everyone, only once stout trust has developed can Bakugou turn his back and not fear the glint of the blade come swinging to make him regret it. These innocuous displays remind Bakugou of how much would be at stake if the intensity of his true feelings were revealed or, worse yet, surreptitiously exposed by some gossip-prone dunce.

In the event Kirishima turns the wrong phrase, Bakugou allows him to escape with a comparatively light thrashing, whilst everyone else is subject to the uncorking of years of rage and belligerence. Only his "special friend," worth more than all others, is spared the worst of his wrath.

Nothing riles him so as a battle with an audience, and when Bakugou has someone in particular to impress, what remains of the enemy is carted off the field on a stretcher. Through an excessive response, Bakugou simultaneously asserts his dominance as the premier hero, crushing his villainous opposition, and unambiguously demonstrates why choosing him in lieu of all the others was the only sensible conclusion. Everything is right in the world, at least until the next challenge presents itself.

Strength is the greatest virtue, and nothing says "superior dedication" like dropping your worst enemy at your feet after everyone else cautioned forgiveness. Bakugou sees a downed enemy as a current and future threat, but he sees a broken and crushed one as a sign of power.

Climbing to the top rung is his way of proving, both to himself and to the world, that Bakugou Katsuki is no longer the little boy who only dreams of victory and cannot face his mother. All opponents, today or tomorrow, will be summarily crushed, and Bakugou will prove, definitively, that any opposition was wrong to contest his will. In the heat of battle, he charges to conquer, afraid only of the feeling of smallness that comes with loss.

Raised in an environment where violence was the only way to be heard and respected, backing down from any kind of challenge is tantamount to cowardice; and the cowardly have no hope in this world, merely asking to be walked over and trampled. Pity and mercy are insults from the lips of those who look down on him, who see him as no threat and wish to deepen the wound of his mistakes.

Bakugou shapes his value on what he can accomplish rather than who he is. The rage and panic after a failed exam, the violent jealousy — it all stems from one core belief: if he is less than the best, he is nothing.

[tobiasdrake]

Fun Fact: Namekian regeneration is costly and needs to be performed with a mind to resource management.

Namekian regeneration is an interesting ability. Namekians can spend a significant portion of their ki to regrow missing body parts.

It's an ability Piccolo first introduces after losing his arm to Raditz.

After the end of the fight, he's able to use Namekian regeneration to regrow that arm.

However, the limitations of regeneration force him to postpone his regrowth until after the fight is over. For the duration of the fight, he elects to remain disabled.

This is a tactical decision. Had Piccolo regenerated his arm during the fight, it's unlikely he could have produced a strong enough Makankosappo to kill Raditz.

The reason for this is because Namekian regeneration costs a sizable amount of ki to perform.

A Namekian warrior can trade a portion of their ki for limb regrowth, but at a harsh cost to their stamina. Piccolo weighed his options and deemed his ability to output as strong of a Makankosappo as possible to be more valuable than a second arm.

Given that Raditz's statblock made him and Goku look like fools in a straight fight, this was probably a wise tactical decision.

The cost associated with this kind of regeneration is also part of what made the Cell Games viable as a competition. At least, in Cell's mind.

Unlike the Twins, Cell doesn't have the benefit of infinite energy. He has actual ki, as well as the weirdest ki signature in the history of Dragon Ball due to the nature of his biology.

Cell has five separate ki signatures, one for each of his donors. Super freaky.

But the point is, unlike the Twins, Cell has ordinary biological limitations. This includes the ability to burn through his ki and tire out. The plan for the Cell Games, the way he intended to lay it out, was an endurance match.

His foes would come at him one after another, and Cell would be forced to face everybody in consecutive battles without time to rest between fights. Thus, they might be able to wear him down enough that their heaviest hitters could then come in and finish him off.

Because, in addition to the energy he spends defeating them, any time he has to do something like this:

That's going to come at a cost. Cell can be worn down by pushing him hard enough, making him fire off too many powerful attacks and forcing him to regenerate too many times. This lends the tournament a degree of balance and, for Cell, a measure of engaging challenge.

Which is precisely why the decision to have Goku step up to the plate first is so subversive. Goku isn't playing Cell's game.

Goku what are you doing

You're the MVP. We're supposed to take turns burning out as much of Cell's ki as we can so that you can swoop in at the very end and finish him off. Are you out of your goddamn mind!?

Sure enough, Goku hits Cell hard. Hard enough to do this.

It doesn't kill him; Far from. But that was a lot of regeneration he had to do just now.

This is precisely how the game was meant to be played. Goku can't beat Cell in a straight fight. Nobody can beat Cell in a straight fight. But wearing him down? Forcing him to burn through his ki through match after match after match until he can't fight anymore? That's possible.

Cell even offers to let contestant #2 also be Goku.

However, not only does Goku have a different contender in mind...

He also refuses to play the game. Volunteering to fight first was, in and of itself, a rejection of Cell's terms of engagement. Goku refused to play along and let his friends burn out Cell's ki before fighting him.

He similarly refuses to accept Cell's idea of an endurance bout.

Letting Cell recover his ki between matches is a flat rejection of Cell's own rules. Goku erases the stamina cost of his own Teleport Kamehameha as well as the other moves Cell had to pull against him because he isn't playing Cell's game. Instead, he baits Cell into playing his game.

This is Goku's game. Screw "Dogpile on Cell", we're playing "Make Gohan asplode with fury!" instead.

As much as it's Vegeta's fault that Perfect Cell was able to happen? By the same token, nobody worked harder to bring out Super Saiyan 2 Gohan than Cell did. Goku took Cell's general lack of real motive and interest in just having a good time doing whatever, and he played those attributes against him.

This distinction, incidentally, the limitations of regeneration, are what makes Majin Buu into such an entirely different beast.

Majin Buu is a magical taffy monster with bottomless stamina who can freely regenerate with no limits.

And that's cheating.

[anitalianfrie]

please please tell me more about bezz uni student au that lives in your head

anon i went and opened the unibo nightmare site just for you, i hope you know this

first of all, small introduction to the univeristy system in italy: uni is usually divided in two segments/degrees: triennale (three years) and the magistrale (two years). this is true for the majority of degrees with some exceptions like medicine, which is six years and is not divided in triennale and magistrale.

bez either does mechanical engineering or something like. economics. and is a fuoricorso (meaning that he's been studying for his degree for more years than it should actually take). he lives in a shitty rented apartment with mig and pecco and a misterious third flatmated who bails on them in september which means they are in dire need of a new guy to replace him. Pecco remembers about a kid his mum told him about, the son of a friend of a friend of a friend, and scrambles to call him and ask him if he needs a place to stay. Luckily for everybody, Cele does.

so cele, nineteen and doe eyed, who's about to start his first year in uni (he's an engineer 100% i just need to decide whether mechanic or aerospace) moves in. and that's how it starts, idk yet about the rest but something will happen. angst will occour.

vale is the crazy professor every single one of them had (either physics or analysis or something equally crazy) and has an insane feud with marc who teaches his same course/is in his same department. rosquez craziness is never out of my aus.

bez goes around with totebags, is an active member of various uni associations and lives out of pasta al tonno (pasta with canned tuna) than he still manages to cook abysmally and things he heats on the pan (not the microwave bc the apartment doesn't have one) that his mum makes him every weekend when he gets back home. he doesn't know he's bi and living with cele (gay, out and proud. okay not really proud nor out but doesn't hide it. kinda involved in the uni lgbt association after the first months, asks bez to go scout it with him and bez almost implodes) sends him to the deepest pits of gay hell and desperation.

idk what the others would study yet tbh.

[omg-hellgirl]

I’m glad there is some level of awareness of Angie’s contributions (creative and otherwise) to David Bowie’s success & legacy. For a man who was a god to the “freaks” of the 1970s, especially during the glam rock / glitter rock era of the 70s, I perceive his dynamic with Angie as a mirror of the corporate world / sexism in the corporate world (and in society in general) where women are exploited for their brilliant ideas and/or have credit taken from them by men. Like, absolutely love David Bowie’s music… so, so much. Just an infuriating analogy I’ve noticed. Sick of women being exploited in general but especially for their intelligence and creativity.

hey anon, thank you for saying that. Angie Bowie was part of David Bowie's story and actively contributed to it, mainly by encouraging him towards the glam rock path that EVERYONE appreciates him for. Not taking away his merit as a good singer and performer, but there is more than one account of Angie pushing him in that direction and supporting him; she was a force in his early career. It's absolutely frustrating that David (according to Angie HERSELF) and his fans have always tried to erase her.

For those who don't know (most of them): Angie studied in Switzerland and had and theatrical experience — years of it! And unlike David and his friends/associates, including the people in charge of managing and promoting him, she had nine-tenths of a degree in marketing.

Angie was very popular with Bowie fans in the 70s and was very kind to them. She spent hours answering fan letters and even wrote to them from JAPAN. She fought in Japan with the local police to defend them. After the divorce, David's attitude changed and over the years his fans became what they are today.

It's a shame that many fail to recognize the extremely sexist and absurd attitudes he had towards Angie just because they don't like her. Ask any of them why they don't like her and you will get an unsatisfactory answer either because David himself didn't like her or because she said something about David in public that they didn't like.

I won't put it all here — there is all the content on my blog under the Angie Bowie tag — but in her book it is implied that he even used photos of her in sexual moments with other people to put her at a disadvantage in court. Would this be acceptable by today's standards, or any standards? Do we have a name for men who do this nowadays? Also:

Angie attempted suicide in Switzerland at Christmas time in 1977, when she arrived and found out that Zowie, contrary to her expectations, was in Berlin with David.

He put a gag clause in the divorce to force her to keep quiet. Not very feminist or cool, right? Not very liberal. Wearing skirts and makeup and all the gender revolution didn't help him be a better human being with Angie.

Is there anything to be called besides Parental Alienation for a mother who in 2016, even after David's death, needs to send messages to her own son via Twitter?

How many years of being away from his mother and knowing about her only through David's distorted words did it take so that even after David's death they didn't have a mother-son relationship again.

No one has the right to disrupt a mother-son or father-son relationship, and that's what he did. His fans still won't admit it.

Anita Pallenberg, Yoko Ono, and Angie Bowie are demonized while fans can forgive paternal neglect, domestic assault, hard drugs, underage girls, and the parental alienation of several rock stars. I'm definitely aware of and recognize the sexism and, dare I say, misogyny of some fandoms.

Thanks again for this, anon. These aren't even all the sordid details of the pain David Bowie inflicted on his first wife. It's also not possible to describe all my sadness about this situation — I could spend hours talking and crying about it. I'll keep posting about Angie in the hopes that one day the blindfold will fall off people's faces.

‼️and shout out to Keith Richards who never belittled the role and influence that Anita Pallenberg had on him and in the whole rock history even though she hurt him badly; he was always FAIR and respectful to the mother of his three children‼️

[ofrolysdogs]

My honest opinion on how Feitan would be as your boyfriend: a self indulgent headcanon post

boy oh boy this took a day to write... I made a post sometime ago that there isn't enough soft fei stuff, and when there is.... it's not soft enough, and sometimes people go a little overboard that makes it a little.. out of character even for someone like him? so, I decided... why not make my own headcanon thingy? I tried my best to make him as in character as possible, so don't hurt me if you see something you don't like.

I tried my best to make this as genderless as possible so if you see something that's more traditionally feminine with no masculine input.......... I did not proofread this for shit so spelling errors will be present, nsfw stuff will be in the mix with an "🔞" on the side, also some concepts will be problematic but it's mainly 98% fluff and the reader won't be on the receiving end soooo minors don't interact!! thx

triggers; sadism and torture mentions (not on s/o) murder (on s/o) general nsfw stuff includes degrading and whatnot.

; this is quite the detailed and long post so you have been warned.

SFW

⭐ How would he meet you?: I feel like he would rather date someone who he knows very well rather than meet someone completely new, and if they are new, they would have to be a part of the troupe or just associated in some way at the very least, I doubt he would show interest in someone completely random in the current state he's in, bonus points if you know him from childhood and grew up with him in meteor city, there's a chance he would be more comfortable being himself around you without fear of judgement since the both of you know each other so well.. to some degree. While I do think he wouldn't care for meeting someone new out the troupe, it is possible! I just.... don't know how LMFAO. But if you aren't apart of the troupe, like I said before, you might as well be his childhood friend he knows very well, that would mean you would have a chance at knowing some of the other members from childhood too! But there's a high chance your relationship with him would be kept out of the troupe's knowledge since everyone's gonna be like "WHHAAAAAAT? YOU BE GETTIN BITCHES??????"

⭐ Realizing he likes you/confessing: Something tells me that once he loves, he loves hard, literally once he realizes he likes you it's like it changes something in him, of course he would 100% deny every ounce of these feelings but I don't think he would straight up try to kill the person he likes because he isn't sure about this fuzzy little feeling he gets when he thinks of you....... okay maybe he contemplated on it a little but after he realizes he really does like you and he officially has you, he would never ever hurt you (unless you're a masochist or something then that's kinda different?), he would treat you as if you are this rare gemstone that shatters easily (ik ik cringe on his part but hear me out pleaaase), you would not be able to tell he feels this way about you unless you get into a fight with someone and you get badly injured, then he'll do everything to get you the help you need and will never leave your side. He would never in two trillion years, express verbally that he likes you, he's just really shit at communication so you would either have to put two and two together or come to the conclusion that he just may not be that into you on your part, he will however show you that he likes you, like treating you a little different from the others in the troupe, being around you more, following you around and such; and if that isn't enough, he'll (awkwardly) ask to hang out with you more outside of missions, he's trying his absolute best to woo you somehow, and if he manages to get lucky, he'll expect you to ask him out since dawg got too much pride, he's kinda rejection sensitive especially since he likes you so much, and if you do ask him out, without hesitation he will accept.

⭐ Random Headcanon I can't name <3: Since he won't hide anything about himself from you, he expects you to be scared of him, he's a sadist who tortures people after all, the sounds of people crying are like music to his ears, and seeing that he's the one who's causing it fuels some weird ego thing in him, makes him feel like he's the shit, when it comes to you, especially if you're a normal person, he wouldn't be surprised if that managed to run you away from him, fine, leave, but me personally? I don't think he would force that type of stuff on his partner, if you aren't comfortable, you aren't comfortable; trust me, if he wouldn't give two shits about you, you would not be in his presence right now unless you're in that chamber getting your legs broken, though it is considered a plus if you are just as sadistic as he is and would love to assist in his fucked up torture shit, he wouldn't think of you any different if you aren't into that, you're special to him regardless, just don't try to change him or things won't work out in your favor!

⭐ Jealousy: The thing I agree on the most is that yes, this man is possessive, he's from Meteor City, where he grew up on nothing and may have been abused in his childhood, love was a foreign concept to him until he met you, best be lucky he decided to give you a chance, and because of how you treat him he thinks you are different from everyone else, and feels as if he'll never find another like you, so you're god damn right he's gonna wanna protect you like you're just this shooting star that appears once every eon, you're the only person he can truly relax and chill around, the only one that he can laugh and touch without having a visceral reaction, the only one he can be human around; after all of the years of removing his brick wall piece by piece and allowing this person to love him, losing someone like that would make him lose his mind, as if a piece of him had been ripped out of him. Now I don't think he would be jealous the minute a man turns his neck to view you, it'll take a little bit more; someone would have to actually go up and flirt with you to see the jealousy bubble up in him. And once you're in this exact situation here comes a 5'1 little man grabbing you by the wrist and dragging you away after giving said person the worst glare they could ever see from a human, his pale face is adorned with rose tinted marks around his cheeks, and once you both are alone, he kisses you, reassuring you that you are his.

⭐ Physical Touch: He's usually not good with physical touch... unless it's your touch; see, he may not want others hugging or kissing on him, but you're touch is familiar, so he's pretty much used to it and slowly learned to like it a lot! Whenever he's away from you on troupe business he would sometimes think about you kissing him on the cheek and running your fingers through his hair. While you will be the one to initiate the hugging for the most part, he has no problem pulling you close to his chest during a movie night and snuggling under the covers and maybe playing footsies (I hate imagining feitan's feet I HATE FEET IN GENERAL he will be wearing socks).

⭐ What if: You Die!: Your death would hit him like a deer being hit by a semi truck, by that point, he wouldn't know what to do with himself, his world will start spinning, his vision will blur, everything starts feeling so unreal to him, bro might just have a heart attack right on the spot, he had never felt so weak before in his life! Once he finds out you have been murdered he will not stop to find your killer, and once he does, oh boy oh boy will he have the time of his life fucking this man up in that chamber, they will feel every ounce of pain they have caused to you, talk about karma! But after that he realizes ... he won't be able to ever get you back, so now, hes the exact same he was before he met you, and now, no one will ever get a chance to get that close to him ever again.

⭐ Other miscellaneous things: I absolutely adore the idea of him stealing things for you during missions, imagine the both of you going somewhere one of these days, and you had been thinking about getting this one thing but you're low in cash, when he's away on business he'll go back to that store and steal it for you because you're his precious, he'll do anything for you (not anything tho LMAO) if it comes with seeing that smile on your face! If you are fem presenting he'll steal dresses and makeup for you because he thinks you look like an angel in them, if you're masc presenting he'll steal other things you like..... idk what masc people like specifically so sorry uh... moving on.. So, specifically for my fems out there: at first he didn't like the idea of you playing with makeup on him or doing various hairstyles on him, too much pride gets in the way, but he eventually lets you, you decided to braid his hair a little and it's safe to say, he thought he looked nice! He's not going outside with them tho, he doesn't really know how to take care of his hair so he lets you do all of the washing and conditioning! He cherishes every moment he spends with you mainly because he's afraid of loosing you by either you cheating or someone killing you, on anniversaries and birthdays, since he doesn't know his own birthday, he basically considers your birthday to be his own, and on this day the two of you spend the whole day together going to fun events you like, you wanna go roller skating? No problem! The mall? No problem! Even if he hates how crowded both places can be, it's all for you! He also loves teasing you, the scene of him calling Phinks "girly girl" runs rampant in my mind like a fucking tomb raider so the idea of him being like that with his s/o is... yeah! He'll playfully misplace certain items of yours just out of sheer joy of seeing you look for them getting pissed by the second and once things start going overboard he'll finally give it to you, he's kind of a kid at heart when it comes to stuff like that so it kind of happens often, it shows how he's comfortable with you. One last thing I would like to add, he would never ever in a million years cheat on you, I personally don't see him as the type to do that, he ain't a big fan of most people around him anyways, so, him cheating will never happen, no matter how bad the argument between you was, he'll also never physically abuse you either, he doesn't really like arguing especially with you so he just gets up and leaves without a warning to cool himself off, might put his anger on a victim of his tortures.

NSFW

⭐🔞 What is Sex like?: A loooooooot of people think that he's a lil kinky bastard off rip, as much as I love reading the fics of him tying me up and fucking me like no tomorrow, I that I feel like he would be a bit more vanilla when it comes to someone he cares a lot about, he knows he can be rough if he isn't careful, so unless you want to be tied up and fucked like no tomorrow, he isn't gonna whip out the ball gags and whips and go to town, it'll be a little more intimate, he's still gonna pound the sonic coins out your hole tho... he can't really help how rough he's going in, that feels good to him and makes him cum faster, but don't worry, he's extra careful not to injure your cervix or prostate, if you want him to go slow you're gonna have to tell him that. If you aren't some random fling (which I imagine he didn't really have many before meeting you, not a bit fan of hookups) he would make sure you are also pleasured, hearing you moan his name and how good he's fucking you is ecstacy. Also I know people will disagree but after a while he would have no problem being a bottom for you, riding him, degrading him a tiny bit and just taking control in the bedroom is something he replays in the deepest parts of his dirty little brain, he would love to moan for you on how good you're making him feel, but one thing about it is; nothing will be going in his exit only hole, that's only reserved for you! Its just gonna be in like what... a decade before you open that side of him because bro has too much pride, he'll never reveal this side to you unless you guys have known each other for a while and that you are 100% certain that any information about it will not leave the both of you.

⭐(🔞 slight) Meeting his friends: If you're a non troupe member, the only, and I mean THE ONNNNLLLLY people that will know about you two are Phinks first, and after a while, Shalnark second (yes, the trouble trio, I love them so damn much fight me) that's it, to the other members including the boss himself: don't ask about her, don't even go searching for her! Since he is a literal criminal he just doesn't want any enemies coming for you. The only way Shal found out about you was when he saw your contact in his phone on complete accident, and Phinks? Well, I like to imagine that Fei is much closer to Phinks than anyone else so he has no problem telling him small details about you, a little self indulgent thought light a motherfucker is that Fei would either most definitely have like some emoji's like ❤️, 🥰, 🌸 with a cute little nickname like "Angel" or "Darling", or, he would just go plain like "Girlfriend". Don't open those texts tho, you'll be hit with some freaky deaky shit, he's not a fan on sending dick pics since he thinks they'll look stupid coming from him, but he loves the nudes you send him, you in lingerie or showing off that hot body you worked in the gym for? Booooooyy you better be lucky hes not there to tear that ass up! Just wait until he gets there! the both of you text like crazy on some occasions when he's away and it can get....... interesting when he's alone. ANYWAY, one of these days, Fei invites Phinks and Shal to your shared place to meet you, and that forms an interesting friendship! Once you have established a relationship with the two of them, you'll probably see them every now and again. Maybe one time you all can just chill at your shared place and play games watch movies or whatever.

⭐🔞 Kinks & Icks: I feel like he would have a bit of a praise kink, a bit? Nah scratch that, bro is a praise kink personified, he likes how talkative you can be during sex, like, tell him his dick feels so good penetrating your innards, tell him your holes belong to him and only him, and that no one else has the privilege to see you in this state, tell him you're about to cum all over his dick, tell him how you feel! He'll even praise you in his native language like how good you feel wrapped around his dick, how wet and tight you are, how you sound when he's pounding you, too bad you can't understand a word he's saying. One thing he gets the ick from is being called "Daddy." He genuinely does not understand how people find that hot (I'm projecting here,I saw two people say basically the same thing and I 100% agree), why do you think of your father when someone's going down on you? That's so odd! If you want to call him anything just call him by his name, that's it, that's all. When it comes to him degrading you, he'll call you things like "slut" and "bitch." Here are some dirty talking examples because I love when people do these xP(some might be ooc but again... whatever makes my pussy throb I guess); "Who's making you moan like this? Say my name, tell me who's making you scream like this?" "Fucking slut, just eager to take my cock down your throat, aren't you?" "You've been acting bratty all day, mind if I do something about that attitude of yours?" Speaking of the latter, he absolutely loves fucking the brattiness out of you, mad about someone at work pissing you off? Just got into an argument with him over something? Of course if it's something genuinely serious he's not gonna be sexual about it but 9 times out of 10 he can tell if it's a front, so you better be prepared to take him for a good few hours, he likes reminding you who runs this mf.

⭐🔞 What gets him in the mood?: His dick is average I say, 6-7 inches when hardened, take it or leave it, big dicks are actually dangerous, he's perfect! Or maybe not? Things that you do that make him hard are walking around in tight clothing that hugs your curves, especially if he can see your ass just double cheeked up in some biker shorts, you best be lucky hes not wearing anything else right now other than that one outfit he's always wearing or you would notice his pants are a little tight on him... oops! A small headcanon I have is that when it comes to fems, he's more attracted to curvier women, a nice ass and some thick plush thighs is something he dreams of in a woman every now and again, no hate to my skinny girls! He'll 100% be down for a thin piece too, he doesn't discriminate when it comes to body regardless of gender identity. He also likes it when you sit on his lap, looking down at him, blissfully unaware that his dick is ascending below you, to let you know he's in that mood he'll grind himself on you, feeling how your clothed pussy throbs under him with each stroke of his own clothed dick, dry humping lowkey be better than sex sometimes, he likes to take it slow during moments like this, and once he finally gets you, he gets you!

⭐🔞 Oral Sex: Receiving and giving! When it comes to him receiving he likes it when you got him all down your throat, he prefers someone who doesn't have a gag reflex but if you do, he'll 100% be turned on by the sounds of you choking on his cock, the way his dick feels when it hits the back of your throat as your moans vibrate on it? He prays that he'll last longer than a literal mini second. His balls aren't that sensitive but doesn't mind when you suck on them, his tip though? Good god that'll probably be the first time you'll hear him moan so blissfully, he has some amazing self control but if you just lick his tip a little, the precum won't stop dripping, the teasing sometimes be better than the whole head session! When it comes to giving, if you have a vagina he loves teasing your clit, circling his finger on it as more of your juices push out begging for you to touch him more, he loves the way you moan and cry under him as he fingers and eats away at you, when it comes to people who own a dick like him, don't expect him to go all out, I don't see him as the type to eat ass, I really don't, but it takes a lot out of him to suck some dick, he might start with the tip first and work his way down, you find it amusing when you cum on his face, seeing him a little grumpy ass his face is splattered with your semen.

⭐🔞 Other miscellaneous things: He'd be the type to randomly touch your ass while you're doing something like washing dishes or laying on your stomach on your phone, he'll squeeze or smack it, don't matter, it's his, and he gets to touch it when and however he wants, also he likes the way it jiggles when doing backshots! He hates to admit that he finds the idea of your twerking hot, like, shake that ass while he's taking your from behind a little, its fascinating! When it comes to missionary, he loves the faces you make when he slides his cock in you as it touches your cervix/prostate, you get embarrassed by the way he just fucking stares into you, calmly as he penetrates you, if you put your hands up to your face in embarrassment he'll put them down, telling you he loves the faces you make when he pounds you, no matter how ugly you think you look.

[diacripticcomplex]

DL Characters as College Majors/Life after highschool/Adulting experiences: 

Shu: Did not attend college, and will not. Somehow he was able to find a super boss lady girlfriend who literally takes care of him and doesnt want him working or going anywhere. Shu thinks that he's the one running things in the relationship and she will make him think that but she's pulling all the strings in the background. The only thing she wants Shu to do is take care of their dog and cat, which Shu gladly does, he is much better at taking care of animals than he ever was at taking care of other people. Smokes a lot of weed when his girlfriend isn't home, she keeps him at peace and without her he starts panicking. 

Reiji: He graduated highschool a year earlier than most, and is in his third year of pre-medical school, he successfully got his associates degree in Biology. He's also engaged to someone he doesnt even know but he has no choice but to obey his father's wishes. Doesnt go to any college parties and is not friends with anyone, however he does ass kiss the professors so that he would be able to score a good internship and letters of rec for Medical school. A few ladies in his classes think he is very attractive but he is uninterested in them and is loyal to his betrothed, having no idea what she even looks like is crazy but good for him I guess. 

Ayato: The life of the party, Literally he only went to college for the parties, his GPA was really low but he got money so he's able to pay of course. Joined a whole frat, is a huge frat bro and his major is finance. Which is crazy cause he sucks at math and anything pertaining to numbers.  He always makes class groupchats in order to get the answers for assignments and exams, thats how he's managing to get by all his classes. He's gotten roofied at a party before and is super careful with his drinks now as well as keeping a lookout for other people. He always tries to get his brothers to attend his frat parties, Laito does and once Subaru went, instantly regretted it cause Ayato made him jug like 20 beer cans back to back. He also has a huge crush on Yui but never invites her to the parties because he's scared something bad can happen to her there since there were many cases. 

Kanato: A well known art and design major, as well as minoring in historical fashions. Kanato has a huge passion for designing clothes and he was so happy he got accepted into a university that allowed him to use his creativity. He takes a lot of art related classes, his favorite is sculpting because it allows him to create sculptures out of wax, and he even got an award and his own exhibit on campus, yes he's that good. He's a part of a very quiet friend group of artists who silently create their mark on the school, the whole group is 5 girls and Kanato, crazy thing is Kanato managed to have sex with each one of them and theyre all aware as well but the convinced them in was to further their artistic view on bodies. He has a side hustle where he sells handmade bags and clothing, he's been doing very good to the point he can own his own boutique. 

Laito: He loves a good party and tries his best to attend all of Ayato's frat parties, but he does not go to college, instead he takes online courses on how to be a "health" guru, (sex guru). He's been doing good though, he's also a part-time massager for women only, he literally harassing them but they do not mind. He's also in a throuple relationship and a step father currently, but he has 3 kids from his previous relationships, yes Laito has 3 baby mamas and he's also  very active on social media trying to be a trendy influencer. He's also been in therapy for his mental health issues and past traumas, its been helping him. he tries to convince his brothers to come with him but they refuse, he never gives up. He really wants that family group therapy. 

Subaru: College did not spark his interest at all, despite the fact that he pretty much would be able to get a scholarship or be a pro-athlete. Subaru started to do boxing as a career choice, going into professional fights and winning every fight he has ever been in. His fighting name is the White Tiger. He loves to workout, and keeps a very healthy lifestyle so that one time he did go to that annoying frat party it completely messed up his flow it took him a few weeks to recover. Before he was fighting he tried using steroids to get ripped but stopped after he started feeling like shit. He has a girlfriend, and they have been together for YEARS! She's pregnant too and they have a cat together as well, they live in a nice condo and iconically he drives a subaru. 

Ruki: He's in culinary school. Honestly, he can cook very well. even Gordon Ramsey was impressed. He goes abroad quite often for competitions and for learning more about cultural dishes. He's managing an online business where he sells these goodie snacks and its international as well, Kou being famous helps promote his snack brand even more. Ruki also got married around his 3rd year in culinary school to the head chef, she literally fell in love with his cooking, however they keep their relationship a secret for obvious reasons, she's his teacher technically. He always brings his brothers back souvenirs from everywhere he goes, his favorite places so far were New York and Las Vegas, the food impressed him very much. 

Kou: He's been famous, and now he's evenm more famous thanks to Tiktok and instagram. He has a whole PR team as well and is often also traveling between Japan, California, New York, and Paris. He has a lot of modelling and brand deals as well, he's currently working on a cologne line and perfume line for women as well as male skin care. Kou has a lot of groupies and he almost married one but she was crazy and still stalks him. He has a lot of scandals as well. His nudes were leaked and a tape as well going viral on twitter and discord. He has collabed with a lot of famous singers and tiktokers. He is thinking of getting into acting if the scandals die down. 

 

Yuma: Works in the agriculture industry, but he’s not a farmer or gardener, he inspects gardens for a living and if they’re bad he will tell them how to improve it, he also works closely with importation of certain fruits and veggies. Nothing gets past Yuma, he has a big house with an even bigger garden and green house as well, he’s also gay and still big in love with Shu but respects his relationship they hang out sometimes. He’s currently working on a product to remove pesticides without harming the human body or altering the fruit/veggie. He’s been to a few gay clubs, and had some fun but likes to keep his life private and isn’t interested in a relationship right now.

Azusa: He met a very good person who was working as a therapist and she ended up becoming his girlfriend, he was never her patient but she was def helping him without even him realizing it, he's focusing on his mental health mainly and he's gotten a bunch of tattoos to cover up all his scars. He also works from home and is currently writing a book about his life, specifically the peak of his low, which was when he met his brothers in the orphanage. He has a pet kitten and he actually has 3 kids with his soon to be wife, he's also been getting into drawing and wants to illustrate children's books, and do a side hustle of tattooing. 

Carla: Works in the police force, he spends most of his time with the international forces and monitors media, he’s also working for disease control he used to be a detective however he shot someone innocent and couldn’t work the ranks anymore so he just works in internal affairs, he had a whole political campaign at one point but some women came forward with allegations against him some were true, some just hate him so they lied, safe to say he’s not getting into power any time soon, his daughter is his rock but he’s on the verge of a divorce. (I don’t like Carla)

Shin: He went to college to become a zoologist, but decided to get into the fur pelts industry instead, he works closely with fashion designers and certain colder countries , he’s been getting great trade, he also almost had a near death experience with a wolf so he no longer wants to be around animals. He practices not showering for months. (Yea I don’t like Shin)

Kino: (I def don’t like Kino) He works at a game stop.

Yui: this precious Angel Yui, goes to college for religious studies, she makes cute rosaries for all her fellow church group members/friends and they pray together, she wants to become an abbess very badly and is trying her very best in all of her classes, she does a lot of charity and fun raisers too, putting her cooking and baking skills to use, she had a crush on Ayato they shared the same pre req class but once he started partying and stuff she grew super distant from him, but still says hi to him when they see each other on campus.

[mylordshesacactus]

Hold Fast: Countdown

As I mentioned previously in this post, the climax of the Suncrest campaign involved our bard having to hold concentration as long as possible, maintaining his grip on a casting of Wish to determine the degree of monkey's-paw involved in how that Wish would manifest.

(The party's Wish: "I wish for the Fae Queen of the Summer Court to lose all interest in the Spellbound Dominion.")

The challenge: Ten rounds. Combat would continue for the full ten regardless of when concentration dropped, as well--if they lost concentration early, they still had to survive the battle, just without the benefits. I counted down from ten, and each round had an associated additional twist (I wrote two variants--one for if they fought in the Court of Summer itself, and one for a battle in the city of Suncrest), as well as a consequence for what would happen if Max lost concentration during that round.

Keep in mind I had JUST given the party access to the Die of Fate--if Max had somehow managed to drop concentration in the first few rounds, they would deserve whatever they got!

Round 10: Psychic Backlash. The Faerie Queen is one step away from a god--she KNOWS, she can feel, that these mere mortals are trying to rewrite her mind. She lashes out viciously, with all her considerable power. Consequence: Catastrophic detonation. The spell takes effect, and the world as a whole is saved--but the party, and every living thing within 10 miles of the border, takes 10d10 points of psychic damage. This would instantly kill every civilian in range....including the entire city of Suncrest, and the Ranger's whole family.

Round 9: Spike Growth. Centered on the party, the Fae-infused magic of the area moves against them to hold them in place while the army occupying Suncrest rushes to confront them. Consequence: Permanent limbo. The Faerie Queen stops trying to annex the Dominion, but it remains half-phased into the Faewild forever.

Round 8: 1d10 Archfey Warlocks enter the battlefield. (The original number was 1d10+10! But the party went out of their way to find the warlock contracts in the Summer Palace and destroy them, preventing the Queen from calling on them.) Consequence: The spell takes effect with no nuance, a panicked, graceless shove at anything fae-touched....including the party, who by this point have collected several fae boons, magical effects, magic items, and even warlock pacts. It would also drag all of their werewolf friends into the faewild and bind them there.

Round 7: Eledrin enter, Sparrow enters. (Sparrow is the fae pegasus that our Ranger bonded with--he can be summoned, but it took him a few rounds to catch up.) The eledrin represented higher-level elite soldiers, a bigger challenge than the infantry pawns the party fought earlier in the war. Consequence: The fae directly under the command of the Summer Queen are banished--but the Wild Hunt, which she unleashed on the Dominion but does not command, remain, and will be a threat in this region forever.

Round 6: Commander enters. This is the cold sadistic commander who killed the party's friend Olassa, the guard-captain of Suncrest, during the initial attack, and who nearly performed a coup-de-grace on a downed Andromeda before Audie saved her life with a clutch Banishment. She has not mellowed in the months since we last saw her. Still a fucking bitch. Consequence: Permanent portals. The armies are banished, and since the Summer Queen will no longer be interested in this war once the spell takes effect, they won't return as a full invasion--but the portals they ripped open remain, and will always be a problem, allowing fae leakage and incursions that will need to be eternally fought.

Round 5: Wild Court Reinforcements. Not all the twists are bad! Round 5 is the midpoint--a good moment for a twist. The timing was perfect, too--things were starting to look bad for the party, and when I described another portal opening I got audible wincing from around the table...and then Shasta, the lesbian androsphinx who's been a long-time ally, roars onto the battlefield at the head of the Wild Court of Summer to shore up their defenses, and the badly-flagging party gets a much-needed infusion of hope. Consequence: The fae are banished, no exceptions--but the damage done to the ecosystem, and to the city, remains. Cleanup will be difficult, and repairing all the damage will take the better part of a decade, if not longer.

Round 4: Wall of Fire. The dry, oppressive heat of a parched summer has been concentrating around this battle--now something, maybe the spark off clashing swords or maybe just malice on the Summer Queen's part, ignites the kindling deep beneath the roots overgrowing the massive, fae-touched tree dominating what used to be the market square of Suncrest, choking the life from the city. It blazes into a wildfire, scorching the party and cutting off their ability to flee deeper into the city. Consequence: Neutral. No drawbacks, but no benefits either. The party is now fighting for 'yes, and'.

Round 3: Earthquake. Hunters of Shroudpost enter. The Queen of Summer is coming. The earth rips open and shudders with the force of that power, knocking party members down. They're already on difficult terrain--they've been driven from the gates and deeper into the city, across rooftops before being forced down, and are currently fighting in and around the massive root system of that towering fae oak tree. In another much-needed infusion of positive energy, the Hunter militia from the party's very first adventure are revealed to have made their way to Suncrest and connected with the Resistance. They fire off a volley from high in the trees and call down to the party to hold on a little longer, the Resistance is on its way! Benefit: Unconscious friendlies will stabilize at 1hp once the Wish triggers.

Round 2: Faerie Queen Enters. Everything is fucked. She can cast any druid spell at will, including as a legendary action; she cannot be charmed, is essentially immune to psychic effects of any sort, and also holds two silver hunting knives and can make six attacks per round, or another as a legendary action. I searched LONG AND HARD for an archfey statblock that suited the level of threat I was going for here. This is not an enemy you try to kill--it's going to be hard enough to survive. Benefit: The love and power of the Wish seep into the very earth around this city the party has given so much to defend--Suncrest remains under the effect of a Hallow spell for ten years. (I'll get more into this in another post.)

Round 1: Sunburst. Having just brutally cut down a brave young paladin of Pelor, and entirely seeking to rub salt in the wound, she casts a brilliant explosion of blinding sunlight into the battlefield, dispelling the field of Darkness that our tiefling fighter had thrown down in order to shield some badly-wounded party members from directed attacks, searing everything in the area and taking out the fighter herself. (This was originally going to be a last-ditch vicious casting of Power Word: Pain on Max to break concentration, but Max was under two layers of Banishment at the time so I pivoted. Fuck a RAW; it was clever and creative, so DM fiat said that in THIS SPECIFIC instance--Max was forewarned, consenting, and holding concentration on a) a fucking Wish, which works however I say it works and b) not a battlefield effect--he could absolutely do it.) Benefit: Tree of Charm Resistance. The great fae-growth oak tree around which this final desperate scramble has taken place becomes a permanent, powerfully magical fixture in the city of Suncrest. I'll go into more detail in the epilogue post!

Round 0. There's no twist. I made it clear to the party that Max could release concentration now and get everything he wants, no drawbacks, some beautiful gifts--or he can hold it, for one more round, and see what crystallizes. Unanimous call was to keep fighting. Benefit: All fae curses in the Spellbound Dominion break. Every single one. Hag curses are broken; werewolves who choose to be are cured...And far away, in a vault beneath the city of Requiem, five adventurers stir for the first time in fifty years.

[bittersweetbonbon]

rushed thesis on a sburbian reading of on guard 43/admonition

okay. so. my theorem is that each of the seven "main characters" of on guard 43 can be mapped to a homestuck aspect, and ill describe (messily) the reasons why below. im not gonna go over all of them, since i only have a decent grasp on a few on them, so if anyone wants to chime in with their thoughts, PLEASE feel free!

placeholder mcdoctorate? time player. 100%. he is doing time player shit all fucking day. its weird and abstracted time player shit, but that's because the foundation isn't playing by sburb rules. anyways, the REISNO cannon is literally a time travel device, just like dave's turntables and aradia's quartz music boxes. he has to kill alternate versions of his friends, and time players are heavily associated with death. the REISNO cannon created a doomed timeline that was brought to end by outside forces. he's even in contact with versions of himself from the future. he's a goddamn sburb time player, i swear to fucking fuck. if it wasn't intentional on the author's part, then hussian brain programming must be installed very, very deep indeed.

lillian lillihammer? mind player. shes very concerned with her self, and meddles with other people's states of mind (thats what memetics are for, after all) as well as her own. her eidetic memory? memories are how the brain creates the mind. hers can't be tampered with that easily, even with timeline shifts. mind player trait. also, she ran off while transitioning so nobody she knew would perceive her transition, which feels very mind player to me for reasons i can't articulate since i'm very tired while writing this.

doctor william wallace wettle? light player. either fully inverted light player, or just a class that starts with an absolute fuckton of negative aspect relation. light isn't just about information, it's about luck, and wettle is incredibly lacking in both departments, to an absolute comical degree. he even degrades the luck of those around him! and while some people would argue "oh thats just void aspect-" i have to disagree. void is about concealment of information, not just a lacking of it, and also void has nothing to do with luckiness whatsoever? and also....

harold blank? void player. i think. this one im not too sure on, actually, but for one, i couldnt resist the pun of blank void, but also, it seems to me that wettle and blank are both inverted of their aspects. wettle is incredibly unlucky, and blank's informational exposition is scattered throughout various tales - always just enough information to provide context, but nothing more. honestly, it might be that they're absorbing each other's aspects, in some fucked up way, or something. anyways, his whole deal of pouring over the past to find things that might happen in the future reads as void to me, and also as seer class. determining what isn't yet from what already is or isn't and then using that to prevent (or void out) an event entirely.

karen elstrom? heart player. an inversion of the mind aspect, karen is both incredibly gullible and difficult to influence. she can't see the trees for the forest, so to speak. honestly she seems concerned with how people view her, but in the opposite way to lillian. she wants people to dislike her, to hate her, as it makes her job of managing the relationships of others easier. and the heart aspect is all about relationships. better to take herself out of the equation, or keep herself as a static variable, right?

anyways, yeah, that's my rushed and honestly incomplete thesis on what aspects the on guard 43 characters would be. hope you enjoyed!!

[thenationaltreasuregazette]

Why so Many F*cking Lemons??

National Treasure is the kind of film that presents many mysteries and asks its viewers the hard questions. Questions like:

What if there was a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence?

What if American history was a cool connected puzzle?

What there was a big ol' treasure?

But most importantly it asks us to consider:

4. Why does Patrick Gates have a whole fridge full of lemons???

Now the most obvious answer here is because the plot demands it. Ben and co need to cover the whole back of the Declaration in lemon juice, (although do they?) so they have to have enough lemons on hand.

The second most obvious reason is because the cinematography demands it. I mean this shot looks a lot better than, like, a single lemon. (Probably the same reason for Dakota Johnson's bowl of limes. It looks better.)

But neither of those answers are very fun, so let's dig deeper.

What is the plausible, in-story reason why Patrick Gates has a bowl of lemons?

Theory 1: Patrick Gates is a connoisseur of homemade lemonade

According to this hypothesis, Patrick loves homemade lemonade so much that he makes it for himself on the semi-regular. Yes, it's like October, but why should that stop him.

Does this check out?

When we meet him, Patrick is hanging out alone in his bathrobe late on a Friday night, having had pizza for dinner and something from a soda fountain to drink. That doesn't strike me as a foodie who wouldn't just buy lemonade if he wanted some.

Theory 2: Lemon Fish

In this version, Patrick is about to grill some fish. There's a way to do it (which is really tasty, and doesn't require a grill pan or rack) where you place bunch of slices of lemon directly on the grill grates and grill the fish on top of them. The fish doesn't stick and it imparts a delicious citrus flavor.

But again, we run into the same plausibility issues:

it's autumn

the Patrick Gates we meet here doesn't seem dedicated enough to the food he eats to do through the somewhat tedious process of grilling fish, especially not in not-summer

Theory 3: Cards with the Boys

What if Patrick is part of a weekly rotating card game? It's maybe a few masons he knows from his treasure hunting days and some of the guys from the insurance company (I don't know what I think that Patrick sells insurance, but I guess that's the most 'square' job I could come up with).

They rotate houses every week or month, and it's soon to be Patrick's turn to host. The drink of choice amongst the group is whisky sours, tom collins's or another straightforward drink that requires lemon juice.

This at least I think is more plausible with what we see of Patrick's lifestyle than an explanation with a more foodie-type bent. With Ben and his ex-wife both out of his life, Patrick must be a pretty lonely guy. I like the idea of him having a circle of friends.

Theory 4: Health Benefits

And here I think we have the most plausible answer: that Patrick might be interested in the health benefits associated with lemons and drinking lemon water.

Different compounds in lemons can have benefits regarding

lowering cholesterol

managing blood sugar

kidney health

and more, but those are the ones I suspect Patrick might be interested in. He's of a certain age, lives alone, and (unless we caught him on an off night) might not take the best care of himself as far as his diet. Perhaps he's been found to have high cholesterol, is pre-diabetic or has other blood sugar concerns, or has the decreased kidney function that can be associated with aging.

Perhaps he's had kidney stones or another health issue or scare in recent years and is attempting to take better care of himself.

Maybe that soda fountain cup is full of lemon water.

Conclusion

While all of these are plausible to various degrees, I find myself more interested in the last two. Patrick as an aging man without any family (or at least not any family who still speaks to him), living alone and becoming concerned with his health is heartbreaking, but I think adds a certain softness to the character, and extra layer to him and to his reconciliation with Ben.

And in any case, I also like the idea that he hasn't been completely alone since his falling out with Ben. While Patrick does behave in a way that suggests a fairly traditional 'breadwinner,' family man masculinity, we at the National Treasure Gazette will always stan platonic relationships and social supports. I'd like to believe that Patrick has his own squad of friends he can rely on.

I don't think I've ever thought about Patrick Gates this much, but now that I have, I find myself kind of wanting to give him a hug? He may not be the easiest character to love, but he has his own struggles.

What about you?

What are your theories regarding the lemon bowl?

I'd love to hear in a reblog, reply, tag, etc!

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Hmmm.... chewing on the parallels between Miquella and Ralsei.

They're both childlike princes who are in part associated with dreams - Miquella through St. Trina, and Ralsei through the dreamlike Dark Worlds - and both are beloved figures, though in the latter's case it's more out-of-universe than in-universe. But what's causing my brain to go brrrr about it is the concept of eternal childhood and how their eternally-nascent natures might serve to "compel" affection.

This is long, so it's going under a read more!

As social creatures, we humans are predisposed to fawn over infants, not just of our own species but those of many animals. We associate early childhood with innocence, naivety and purity, Hearing a crying baby is particularly distressing to us, and in many people instills a compulsion to attempt to soothe, look after and protect these helpless creatures.

In Miquella's case, it could be that his eternally youthful state preys upon this instinct in people, and they are drawn to serve and protect him despite his standing as an Empyrean. Indeed, it's possible that he has learned to weaponise it, placing himself beyond reproach as a platonic ideal of purity and innocence, which he could potentially use as a veil to commit some questionable actions. And I think there's something to be said for applying this view to Ralsei, as well.

While the Prince from the Dark is assumed to be a teenager, and around the same age as Kris and Susie, a lot of Ralsei's characteristics are more typically childlike - his very large eyes in proportion to his head (accentuated by the huge lenses of his glasses); his general naivety of the greater world, the people in it, and even himself to a degree; his relentless optimism that no-one needs to be hurt or killed, not even the most monstrous of foes; and above all, his overwhelming need and desire for companionship, manifesting in an almost-religious devotion to people he considers his friends. It's clear that these traits are designed to play on those instincts to nurture and protect, in us players if not necessarily the characters in-universe. This isn't even going into the potential nostalgia of his associations with and connections to Undertale's version of Asriel.

I have often considered Ralsei to be a prime example of a "supernormal" stimulus - an extreme over-exaggeration of certain traits that provoke an equally extreme instinctual response in creatures susceptible to it. Think of herring-gull chicks who will prefer to peck at a bright red spot on the bill of a dummy adult, rather than an actual live adult with a less-bright red spot. Whether because he was designed that way, or because he's deliberately cultivating that impression, Ralsei's playing-at-childhood-innocence has a similar effect, serving to "compel" affection from players in a like fashion to how Miquella is able to "compel" the affection of characters in Elden Ring.

Where this gets REALLY interesting is when we take Undertale and Deltarune's incorporation of meta elements in their game universes into consideration. There is a compelling case to be made that Ralsei's main target for his affection, Kris, is actually just a proxy to his real goal - us. Considering all of the above regarding his childlike traits, it's hard not to think that at the very least, Toby and his team are trying to engender this strange pseudo-reciprocity of affection between us and Ralsei, even if the character himself is not actively trying to achieve that in-game. And it is when we look at Miquella, who serves as a template for how such affection can be compelled, that we can see just how Ralsei has managed to achieve such a vast and devoted following, despite his seeming lack of depth as a character and his being a literal expy of Asriel from another game.

Of course, since we don't currently have all the information to hand, we don't know to what end this potential angle could take us. But I find it extremely fascinating to consider that there is actually quite a strong case that we are being groomed by Ralsei - or his creator - in some way. Especially when you consider what Miquella actually ends up doing with his abilities, it raises some pretty interesting possibilities that just might make us consider our favourite fluffy little cinnamon roll in a more nuanced light, as opposed to the false binary of "uwu baby" and "diabolical villain".

Thanks for reading! This wound up being much longer than I'd initially planned for, and it's just a jumbled assortment of thoughts I had upon learning about Miquella in Elden Ring, and how the nature of his being might transpose onto Ralsei. Hopefully this made you think a little bit about that too!

[findmeinthefallair]

Big "T" and Small "t" Trauma Portrayed in The Owl House

Warnings: abuse and trauma mentions ahead.

I thought of putting together a post of its own to highlight an aspect of trauma that has been incorporated into the show. This post will be added to my TOH-related mental health masterpost that will be uploaded after the S3 finale, Watching and Dreaming, is released.

Big “T” traumatic events are singular, standalone, life-altering events that don’t happen repeatedly. The type that replays in your mind weeks, months or years after it happens. They can significantly change your perceptions and physiology, and aren't necessarily just about physical harm. Examples are a car crash, a life-threatening injury, getting publicly humiliated, or a natural disaster.

Small “t” traumatic events are importantly still very distressing, and can repeat over time. One of my therapists described this as drops of water falling on a rock again and again, eroding the rock over time (while big “T” would be a single big smash against the rock that leaves a pretty noticeable crack or two). Examples of small “t” are emotional abuse, a loud noise along a street, and smaller scale versions of bigger events that aren’t an immediate danger or which happen after you have established/reached safety e.g. seeing something that reminds you of someone, that makes you feel distress. If you were a parentified kid, like Hunter (having to overextend himself in dangerous situations to be Belos's punching bag), you will have definitely have experienced small "t" trauma to some degree.

This concept was first introduced to me by the best therapist I had. Each of these two types would be treated in different ways. Both types can be experienced differently by each person, since we each have unique life histories and unique combinations of risk factors (that may worsen one’s mental health) and protective factors (that can improve one’s mental health).

E.g. a car crash may not actually feel like a big “T” trauma experience for some people, while certain incidents of more intense psychological abuse that don’t involve physical harm, could be a big “T” incident for other people because it is life-altering.

I’m pretty sure almost everybody has gone through both “T” and “t” trauma to some degree. If you have been affected by trauma, managing your symptoms, and the way in which you receive support from trusted loved ones (and if you choose to see one, a therapist), will be different depending on whether it is the aftermath of big “T” or small “t” events that need to be attended to. If you have experienced both types, you'd need to attend to each differently. This will manifest differently for each person.

Big “T” events can really quickly change the meanings you subconsciously give to things about yourself (e.g. how strong you thought you were) and things around you (e.g. How safe is the world I live in? In what ways does the world feel different now?), changing those into negative associations. With small “t”, the same thing can happen on a smaller scale but it may be easier to turn those negative perceptions around and nudge them in a positive direction. You may benefit from being equipped with reframing tools e.g. journaling, hanging out with safe people, creative outlets like dance or art classes, etc.

Hunter is written so darn well and the production crew have overall made good distinctions between the big “T” and small “t” incidents that he experienced.

Big “T” incidents in the show are the big reveal in Hollow Mind, watching Belos 'die' (I'm wondering what must've been going through his mind when watching his friends put up the drawings of their loved ones in the refurbished shack..), being possessed, and losing Flapjack. Can’t deny that they were life-altering:

Small “t” incidents he went through include, and there are..........so many of them:

(The number of them that are in Labyrinth Runners alone is bonkers)

but we need to remember that small “t” can still be very distressing to go through: we don’t wanna invalidate or minimize that.

Even in the therapy room, if I have a client who has experienced both types, I may not necessarily attend to a client's big "T" wounds first, even though at first that may seem like the logical formulaic thing to do. Because if the client finds that too painful, we could always start by working on small "t" wounds. That's how case by case things can be for mental health treatment.

For a few other Hunter scenes it is less straightforward, e.g. his manic behaviour in Eclipse Lake:

And the haircut-related panic attack:

though I’m inclined to think these are small “t” because I don’t think he will look back on these incidents years later and become disturbed just by recalling them.

The kind of note I want to end on however...might not be what you'd expect.

One of the other Labyrinth Runners moments is a small "t" event that is not listed above. To this day it is my fave snippet in the entire show even after watching Thanks to Them, because from a clinical and thematic perspective I find it realistic, layered and powerful, so much contained in just under 15 seconds:

Because this little experience, while obviously unpleasant for Hunter (likely getting him to emotionally flash back to the moments where Belos almost killed him) for a short time, was also good for him because a safe trusted person was present to hold the space for him. There is both bad and good at play here, ultimately good because contact/connection was willingly made between them both (Hunter could have chosen to shut him out, but in the 3rd and 4th frames it is so telling how deep down this kid truly wants to connect...which is a basic need anyway).

We in the audience already know that Gus is a safe person - though Hunter doesn't believe that yet - who has come along at last to cross paths with him, outside of the Emperor's Coven and after Hunter has fled from that coven. And Gus asks out of genuine concern, "What's going on with you?" which breaks the icy layer of avoidance and detachment that Hunter has been trying to put up since he dashed out of the Owl House in the middle of his first panic attack.

Re-experiencing trauma can't be totally avoided, but the connection you could experience 1. with the people you trust while they support you, and 2. with yourself while using helpful tools and resources on your own.....especially when you have #1 and/or #2 while you are re-experiencing something difficult memories: that is the powerful stuff that could keep you going.

As you might be able to tell, I love this kid so muchhh 😭 He has helped me connect better with my inner child than ever before, on top of my past therapy sessions, he helps me as a licensed clinician to notice textbook stuff that is applied in a practical way, without me having to do as much guesswork on the go with real clients! And I have read on this site that his story has helped other fans to notice things about themselves that should be attended to with care and love.

[perpetualexistence]

Sea Monster AU: First Meetings

I'm still getting a heehoo giddy feeling with all the interest for this AU! I haven't even properly written things yet and you're all being very welcoming! I'm seeing likes from people I've been following in the TD fandom! I got my first reblog from someone else who understands the joys of big monsters and monster x human tropes! Aaa! It sparks joy in me.

I promise to use this joy exclusively to give Noah a Bad Time. He's one of my favorites, so he must suffer. That's the rules. (Don't worry, Alejandro will get to suffer too, we just haven't gotten that far yet.)

I'm going to start with how the two meet and their relationship up until Alejandro decides to reveal his true colors. So no real content warnings for this part except for manipulation and intimidation, especially regarding size. Given the premise, and the fact that Alejandro is Alejandro, this is going to be true of most of this AU.

Now let's see if I can properly use the Read More button to get into the juicy deets.

<- Start/Prev | Next ->

Noah lives in a small town on the coast of Lake Wawanawka. In days long past the town was a major shipping port. It was fighting with a rival city for dominance in the region. A massive storm set the town back, and now it only exists as a place to stay that's cheaper than the big city up the coast. The town government has been trying to revitalize the town by turning it into a tourist trap, but that's only resulted in tourists trashing the place at night while they spend most of their time and money in the big city. Still, money is money, so the townspeople have little choice but to put up with it.

Noah's recently been accepted to the one community college in town that's kind of helping to keep the town afloat. He plans to coast through an associate's degree with ridiculously easy classes. Then he's going to use his intelligence to get a scholarship to a private university and will never look back on this town. Only exception would be to come visit his family, though at this point only a few of his older sisters still live at home. Some have already left the nest just like he plans to.

Noah doesn't have many friends, so he tends to go off on his own. He's managed to find one spot on the beach that's inaccessible to most. It requires a tight squeeze through rocks. It's the one thing his wiry frame is good for. Tourists don't know about it so they can't ruin it. Townspeople who do know about it typically don't bother. He's taken measures to make it look as unappealing as possible. Can't have people taking away his best spot to get away from a rowdy house and read in peace.

That is, until a particularly bad storm hits. He returns to his reading cove, ready to complain as he has to either deal with or ignore the debris that's sure to be littering the place. It's while he's kicking away debris that his foot comes across something soft, small, and....tan? He moves the debris away to see something that would look like an eel if not for the top half being a human that looked around his age.

He reacts calmly when this thing groans and looks directly at him asking "¿Qué pasó?" He takes a second to breathe, and think rationally about what he's seeing in front of him.

He certainly doesn't scream like a bitch, fall on his ass, and attempt to crab walk away.

Once Noah actually calms down and accept the fact that this is not a psychotic break on his part, he and who he learns is Alejandro get to talking. Fortunately in English. Alejandro reveals that he swam too close to the surface and got swept in the storm. He doesn't know where he's ended up. He took a really nasty blow to the head too because he doesn't even quite remember where he came from. Alejandro would greatly appreciate if Noah could tell him where he is.

Noah's got some questions about all this. Ignoring the fact that merfolk apparently exist (a phrase he never thought he'd utter), Alejandro's an eel. Literally. Eels aren't native to Canada. So there's no possible way he could be from Lake Wawanakwa. Noah suspects he's an electric eel, which would place him somewhere in South America. When he points this out, he swears he sees a spark of electricity in Alejandro's tail. It confirms Noah's suspicions. It also confirms that Noah's not about to touch Alejandro with his bare hands. Alejandro commends him for being smart enough to help jog his memory. He remembers humans referring to the name 'Peru' in the waters he comes from.

He reveals that magic does exist in this world, as is evident by his very existence. There must have been magic in the storm that brought him here. Sadly, he doesn't know how he can use it to get himself back home. Not that it matters much, he can adapt to living here. Still, he begs for Noah not to tell anyone else that he's here. Noah has been so kind to him, but Alejandro isn't quite so sure how other humans will react to seeing him.

Noah's still quite suspicious about Alejandro. But the alternative is either A) a townsperson finds Alejandro, sees him as their ticket out of this town, and does who knows what to him for fame and money. Or B) a tourist finds Alejandro, and either does like the townsperson, or flips out and calls the cops, leading to who knows what kind of military experimentation assuming the cops don't just shoot him on sight.

So curse Noah's bleeding heart, he tells Alejandro that if he's going to stay in shallower waters, he'll be better off staying here. He warns him about the tourists and the townspeople. If he's going into deeper waters, then he's going to have to watch out for the fishermen, the cargo ships, and the ferries that go across the lake. Alejandro just grins and promises to repay Noah's hospitality in full one day.

And thus, Noah begins to meet Alejandro in secret. Mainly because he refuses to concede his favorite reading spot. Noah does some research on electric eels, and comes prepared with rubber gloves any time he wants to get close with Alejandro just in case. Alejandro isn't always there, but when he is he insists on interacting with Noah. He gets interested in the books he sees Noah reading and reveals that he doesn't know how to read. Noah can't just allow for that, so he teaches the Peruvian how to read English. He tries to teach him how to write too, but that's more difficult given the size difference and Alejandro constantly being wet. Noah will take to reading aloud to Alejandro, and when Alejandro learns how to read, he takes to slithering his way in between Noah and his book so he can read along, taking care not to touch Noah's skin.

Their relationship continues to grow as they talk about their respective lives. Noah tells him about humans, and Alejandro will tell him things about merfolk. When Alejandro goes to deeper waters, he comes back and describes the old shipwrecks he's found closer to the bottom of the lake with a certain wonder in his eyes. He'll even start to bring little treasures back from them, first for himself, but eventually for Noah as well. They get to make fun of tourists together and watch them from afar. Noah's dog Ark comes in at one point, and Ark loves Alejandro. Alejandro doesn't feel the same way about Ark and complains about the slobber. At a different point, a stray cat makes its way to the beach and Alejandro learns that he loves cats. And that cats don't feel the same way about him. To them he smells like a fish and looks like a snake, so they'll either try to claw at him or flee on sight. This saddens the Alejandro. He vows to one day successfully pet a cat.

Then, things take a turn seemingly out of the blue. Alejandro reveals that he has a surprise he wants to show Noah. It's a skill he'd lost for a while due to the nature of his arrival. He's been practicing it in private, but he thinks he's finally recovered it fully! He begs for Noah to indulge his theatrics by covering his eyes. It will be the last time he asks like this. He promises. Noah rolls his eyes, but begrudgingly agrees to do so.

Noah hears a lot of shifting. Of rocks. Of waves. He hears something scraping the ground around him. He feels the air around him grow charged. The hair all across his body is standing on its end. He can't help but remember those initial doubts he had about Alejandro.

"You may open them now." a familiar voice rumbles. The accent is as thick as ever. It's louder than a tiny body should be able to produce. It's coming from the wrong direction.

It had been so nice to be wrong. If he keeps his eyes closed, he can keep being wrong. Schrödinger's idyllic beach life. He's smart, and he has a friend with no strings attached. He's smart, and he knows patience is not one of Alejandro's virtues.

Noah opens his eyes to gaze at the massive beast staring down at him.

Were his teeth always so sharp? Alejandro spoke of hunting, which implied he needed teeth sharp enough to rip into flesh. Noah had never really paid attention until he was looking at a full set of teeth, each the size of his hand. They grinned in a facsimile of a warm and inviting smile he was accustomed to.

Noah forced his gaze further upward to check if Alejandro's smile met his eyes. He recognized those eyes. When Alejandro had first started bringing his treasures, he would talk about them nonstop. Noah had tried to grab one of them to get a closer look. Alejandro had immediately retreated to the water, holding onto his treasure as if his own life depended on it. He'd felt an odd sense of something he later recognized as jealousy. Which was strange because it was jealousy over an object. But it was an object that had commanded Alejandro's full attention, full protection, full possession.

What a fool he'd been to feel jealous of something he was now the target of.

"What do you think?" Alejandro asked like a dog that had just brought home a dead cat and was now begging for praise. He closed the distance between them by bending down and slithering back to meet closer to Noah's level.

Noah's throat closed. He felt his face betray him as his ears and cheeks began to flush red. This is fear and a confused and conflated mixture of adrenaline and oxytocin brought forward by an intense situation, nothing more.His feet remained loyal. He backpedaled, only to be stopped by a soft wall that hadn't been there a second ago. He pressed a hand against the wall while maintaining eye contact with Alejandro. That was what you did with wild animals wasn't it? Certain ones at least. He didn't if it would work with eels. An electric eel will wrap itself around its prey, ensuring that there are at least two points of contact for maximum effectiveness. Once established, it will send a shock to incapacitate its prey before consuming it. If he wheels through facts he picked up about eels to prepare himself for this situation, he doesn't have to acknowledge that the wall that dwarfed him from behind was a hand.

"Noah, por favor." Alejandro purred. "We're amigos. I haven't forgotten the times we've spent together. They've been delightful! And so very informative."

Noah had been too concerned about protecting Alejandro from humans. He taught him how to read. He warned him where the people frequented. He taught him how modern ships run on electricity. Alejandro shared that he wished he could have met the ships he'd visited before something else had sent them to the bottom of the lake. All of these red flags only served as the pins and needles holding Noah in place.

"And more importantly, I made a promise to you! A Burromuerto never breaks their promises. Not even to humans." Alejandro suddenly tilted his hand forward, forcing Noah to stumble backwards into a cupped palm. He pulled Noah closer until his face engulfed the entirety of Noah's vision. He let out a breathy sigh right onto Noah. "It truly is a shame that you're a human in my new hunting grounds. I could allow you to simply stay if you weren't. I have no doubt you would enjoy literally ripping apart los estúpidos turistos with me just as you enjoy verbally ripping them apart."

Noah felt an index finger ruffle the top of his hair. On instinct, he moved his hand up to smack it away. His eyes widened as he realized what he'd just done, but Alejandro only chuckled. "See what I mean?" he continued. "But, sadly for both of us, I can't let it be known that I let a human go without a fight. I have a reputation to uphold. However, I will reward your hospitality with something I will never offer to another human again. Porque eres tan precioso para mí."

Alejandro carefully placed a thumb under Noah's chin to keep his gaze focused on the former. His claw rested against Noah's right cheek. The sharp tip faced away from him, but that could change at a moment's notice. "You have the privilege of convincing me why you deserve to live."

And Noah knew he would have to choose his next words very carefully.