#more at 5:00

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Question: why do people refer to Tobias in Megamorphs 4 as a "quasi-voluntary" controller? I don't have access to my copy right now but I don't recall anything that would imply he had any knowledge of what he was joining/cooperated in any way? Did I miss something?

So I call Tobias quasi-voluntary, because I think — from my read of MM4 — that Tobias is about as voluntary as any "voluntary controller" ever gets. Which is not that voluntary. Tobias goes to a Sharing meeting because Jake's there, but pretty soon he gets sucked into the cycle of love-bombing: "When you attend your second meeting of The Sharing they assign you a guide" (MM4). In Tobias's case it's a guy named Bill, a few years older, who spends every meeting praising Tobias, and talking up how the Sharing cured his depression and being a full member changed his life.

Bill waits for Tobias to say "I want to be a full member." And then he asks if Tobias is sure, and Tobias says "Yes." Bill presses all the way to "You trade a little bit of freedom for a lot of belonging" and gets Tobias to agree a third time. When the time comes for the "ceremony" (infestation), Chapman makes Tobias explain why he's joining, and Tobias does. Three more times Chapman asks, and three more times Tobias says, out loud, that he wants what's going to happen next. Chapman explains why they want Tobias's consent: "We only have problems in twenty-one percent of willing members. And there are... fewer incidents of contested control." Tobias withdraws consent when he realizes they're about to put a slug in his brain, but by then it's too late.

Later Tobias says "Most painful of all was the image of myself swallowing everything the Sharing told me. I had walked, willingly, to my own destruction. At the time I'd seen no alternatives." So is Tobias voluntary? Well, is Chapman voluntary? He agrees not to resist in exchange for Melissa not being recruited, and he keeps his end of the bargain (#2). Not only does he not fight back while there's a yeerk in his brain, but there's every possibility he's one of the people allowing the yeerk to slip out of their brain and then quietly walking to go wait in the break room without supervision.

Okay, but surely the taxxons are voluntary. They chose to ally with the yeerks... Only it turns out their options were ally with the yeerks or starve to death (#53), and just because their leaders chose the yeerks doesn't mean individual taxxons were okay with it (Andalite Chronicles).

But then, we all know Taylor is voluntary. Because she gave up her freedom for little old things like... relief from pain. And escape from discrimination. And basic health care that didn't cost her family their life savings (#33). And she could never change her mind, because she got punished by Sub-Visser Fifty-One for misbehaving (#43).

But Mr. Tidwell's definitely voluntary. He chooses to have a yeerk in his brain even after joining the YPM. Only he was so depressed he couldn't take care of himself when he joined (#29), and probably would have literally died without the yeerks.

Hang on, is Tom voluntary? He spontaneously offers to "be quiet" and "never trouble you again" when Temrash 114 starts trying to recruit Jake (#6). We don't know for sure that Tom isn't hanging out in that same break room after the events of #1, in exchange for Jake not being recruited.

So on. We know the Sharing targets people who are unhoused and/or mentally ill, and that the ones with happy, stable home lives (Tom, later Jake) tend to go unconvinced. You have to be vulnerable to end up voluntary, the series shows, so vulnerable that your whole ability to consent is seriously called into question.

[noirandchocolate]

I’m drunk and she went to bed because she has to get up SO EARLY for WORK because UGH but I need you all to know:

I love BAST. She is my girlfriend and I love her thanks autocorrect for fixing aaaaallllllll my typos Bast is BEAUTIFUL and SMART and she has so much talent for many things like ART and makes me HAPPY!!!!!!! She cooks for me and I make her lunch we went out for ramen on Saturday

Everyone should have girlfriend like Bast she has blue eyes and pretty hair and tells me about artists and FACTS about things and shows me only the good tiktoks of birds and memes. She says I’m smart!!!! She said it just now I try to be and everyone should have a girl who listens when they talk about law or things they do at work and interests.

I love Bast. She is @purpledemoncat and @purpledemonart for ART go look she draws many things she is good at the forms and COLORS LOOK AT IT PLS

I love her.

[mercurytrinemoon]

Ok so THIS I CAN get behind:

[the-wunderkind-cyborg]

I'm sooo sorry it took so damn long, but chapter 2 is now up on Mega, please enjoy!

[moxie-girl]

♪ yeah, the gods are real, and they have kids, and those kids have issues! ♪

I watched a school production of the lightning thief musical and was inspired by the way each character modified the camp t-shirt into a unique outfit, and it also totally restarted my pjo hyperfixation, so… camp half-blood prosekai au!!

[ellavei]

In my fanfics or headcanons, I always like to describe how Spain (in AU is would be Antonio) feels so much painful when he is in a long-term relationship with France (Francis).

There are several canon details that show Spain's mental health is really up and down. He can be enthusiastic in one minute and then trapped in deep sorrow in the next.

Meanwhile, France (Francis) is very good when it comes to controlling the atmosphere and talking about mental problems. Because of that, he is very good at exploiting the advantages and disadvantages of this matter.

As a man like him, France (Francis) knows tons of things to make Spain (Antonio) like the feeling of being psychologically close to him as a partner, despite Spain (Antonio) still having great precautions.

Spain (Antonio) is not naive. He is actually very mature and responsibly when someone or something needs. But with France (Francis), everything is so freaking complicated with him.

[mouseteeths]

Computerkin. have y'all seen this shit

I am going silly over this right now. Count to 31 on one hand. If you happen to have two whole entire hands, count to 1023. If you have three... well, lets just say. 32,767 (... I think. Don't judge me, I'm no computer !!)

[namesarehard123]

Today was the first day of Journalism bootcamp and I'm already so excited for Newspaper to start!

We learned a lot of stuff, but especially stuff about interviewing and it's just

I'M SO EXCITED

[lynxgirlpaws]

Wohoo guess who's got ten more hours to edit fellas!!!

[batri-jopa]

[gatheryepens]

…

[feralnumberfive]

John Powell you are so cruel for 4:24-5:26 in As Long As He's Safe. What the actual fuck.

[bitchatcloudtower]

How do you afford living in Manhattan?

I don’t.

[adaine-party-wizard]

oops! got fed up with the annoying guy in my class who keeps asking stupid fucking questions! the prof said they’re just about fully burnt out so they uploaded the old assignment brief that has the wrong due date and this guy was like “well can’t you just go in and change it” so i said the due dates are all in the syllabus if you get confused you can go check there!! like my guy prof JUST finished saying they are almost fully at the extreme end of the burn out scale don’t fucking ask them to do more! check the fucking syllabus!!! you are in an MA program for fucks sake!!!

[moecartoons]

Looking at the blogs I follow to see that most last posted years and years ago and I'd just really like my dash to be filled with more art, I just gotta find blogs...

[rainbowgod666]

So I just remembered Way Back When i watched a movie that was like "truth or dare but like, a demon" and the one thing that makes me wonder why the movie even exist is that the demon doesnt even die/get banished

Which would explain why some of my intrusive thoughts are shaped like biblical demons and shitty blasphemous nonsense, and no i dont mean "le bestemmie italiane" those are funny, no i mean shit that sounds like an insane man. But anyways yeah i think im everyday getting closer to entrino a new charter of my life. After all, luffy's timeskip was until he was 19!-

[SUCCESS: PSYCHOLOGY/THEOLOGY/MEDIA LITERACY/OPINION ON THE INTERNET]

...

《SON OF A MONG US-》