#//otherwords im sorry

[istherewifiinhell]

Fan wikia, foolish: the character said they were this old but based on the passage of time mile markers thats an error and they have aged.

Me, enlightened: when the character says how old they are we are to understand thats how old they remain, regardless of how many holiday episodes have happened.

[scuddle-bubble101]

Hey I hope you’re doing ok. Im sorry for not giving you a cookie yesterday so here ^^ * give you a bag with 2 cookies that look like ghost*

I'm doing as well as pud can be. In otherwords... I'm sick lol. But I'm ok.

[panie-wanie-dean-bean]

Hi yes i adore ur work, can I get uhhh [squints at menu] some more of that 'Dark Daddy Mommy Kink' Jack and Rory hybrid with Cub YN, pls? Idk how they'd manipulate them into it but the lead up is soo yummy? but wat u wrote on threadsuns blog was hot as fuck and twisted, Is it possible for some gentle cnc (because 'ur parents didnt love u cant love u like we can' Whet??? And also im wet?) and some breeding kink thrown in?

In otherwords a combo meal with an extra side of horny, a large fry and aaaaaa diet coke please? However way you desire to give it to us?

Ok, I'm assuming you read the the big bold text that said I don't write for pregnancy stuff and you're asking for the breeding kink where it's more focused on stuffing you with cum

A fair warning, these two lean a bit into the incest kink side of mommy/daddy kink

It all started when Rory captured you as his pillow for the afternoon, he just loves your scent and thinks you're a good pillow. The dynamic noticeably shifts when Jack joins in. Rory and Jack have been calling themselves your Daddy and Mommy respectively and it's starting to got out of hand. It was cute and a little silly at first but the longer it goes on the more it feels like they're really trying to replace your dead parents

You shouldn't let them keep doing it, you know it's fucked, and you know they'd stop if you told them to, but you don't. It's half born out of morbid curiosity, how far would they really go with all this? You soon find out as mommy and daddy start helping you get ready for nap time

Jack helps you into your favorite jammies and Rory tucks you all in to take a nice afternoon nap. As you lie down you notice your pillow smells a bit odd but ignore it, there's lots of scents around the house and while this doesn't quite smell like any of your boys it doesn't smell bad at all, it actually smells pretty good. You can feel the smell trail up your nose and into your brain as it lulls you to sleep, taking you farther down than just a nap

You find yourself having a wet dream, of what exactly doesn't matter, what does matter is when you stir slightly from your dream to find Jack's hand down your pants. You try to squirm away but his and Rory's hold on you is too tight, there's nowhere to go "Oh, cub, sorry we woke you up. We just couldn't help but hear all the cute little moans you were making. Mommy thought you could use a little help, isn't that so sweet of him?"

Rory moves in to kiss your neck, his grip still tight against your arms "Listen to how slick you are little cub. So cute and wet from your mommy helping you get off. You can't really blame me can you? After all, you're the little freak who had a wet dream while in your parents bed" You hate how his voice makes you shiver and buck into his hand. You can feel both of their hard cocks grinding against you as you squirm

"Mmm~ Oh, little cub, be a good baby and cum for your mommy and daddy. That's it, just let your mommy's fingers make you feel so good" You can feel how Rory purrs into your skin as he speaks, the vibrations spreading a sickening warmth through your chest. You try to hold back, try to keep the groggy remains of your mind, but you can't help it. You cum all over Jack's hand, shuddering at the groan he lets out as you do

You don't have time to recover as Jack's fingers start to work your ass open with your cum "Such a good cub~ Did so well for your mommy, but you're still so pent up, aren't you?" Rory sighs "So instable honey, but don't worry, mommy and daddy will fill you with all the cum you can handle" Jack chuckles as you whimper "And then maybe a little more" They both use your cum and slick to lube up their cocks

Jack enters you first, sliding in so easily from how well he worked you open. After a moment of rest you feel panic bubble up within you as you feel Rory's cock against your ass as well. No, no no, It won't fit "Shush, trust us sweetheart, we know what you can handle. Just relax, and let me in" It's tight, it's so fucking tight, but somehow it's not painful

It's all you can do to just cling onto them as they take turns thrusting in and out of you so you're never truly empty. You can't even count how many times you've cum, you're not even sure if you can count that high anymore, each orgasm shutting down another part of your brain until you're nothing more than a moaning sobbing mess. They stuff you so well, not stopping until they start to shoot blanks into you. You all lie there, panting and moaning and crying together as they fuck you so well. The last thing you hear before you pass out is Rory telling Jack that they need more of that spray for your pillows

[thebraxiatelcollection]

+

[fangedmetadevil]

you wake up, fresh from sleep, turn on your phone and check your messages and the first thing you see... is he.... Catsuki Meowugou

[instantflowerhologram]

Straight up, i know I'm like 10 years late into the LMM fandom but holy hell, thank you to those who still write, who still post and who still create content (or simply those who still keep their fics up despite not writing anymore). Yall mean the world to me 🥺

[czortofbaldmountain]

im sorry if this seems out of the blue, but I saw the post you’ve written about astaroth and was wondering if you’d be willing to share any personal experiences? i’m interested in working with them, felt a pull lately, but i’d like to know what i’d be getting myself into, if that makes any sense? i’m very new to working with demons,,

Sure! So, I've been working with Astaroth not for very long, since for a long time my work with the demons was really just Lucifer. But I will help you as much as I can 🖤.

In my experience they have a very strong presence, very sweet and absolutely badass at the same time. I associate them with roses because of that, and found they very much enjoy when I give them rose water, especially mixed with vodka. They offered to help me learn more about how to defend myself if need arises when exploring the Otherword, they also encourage taking care of and giving myself more love which is something I struggle with, and both of those things make sense with their roots in Astarte but also with some later things in their later lore as well. Some other things they're associated with is divination and liberal sciences - they're very much a demon of knowledge as well! I really suggest you researching more about them, in an outside grimoire traditions, though I cannot really suggest using historical goetic and associated magical techniques, which leads us to another matter.

Astaroth is a goetic demon with a notable presence in many old grimoires, and for centuries "work" with demons in goetic and similar traditions was essentially magicians trying to violently force them to serve their will, in fact some people still work this way. Now, respect is always important with spirits, but I found that with those demons it's often good to go extra mile to show them you respect them as beings on their own, and not just vending machines to fulfill your wishes. I also found they highly appreciate small acts of kindness without expecting immediate gratification. It doesn't mean you cannot get anything from those relationships, in fact working with demons can be immensely helpful in many areas of life and you can learn so much from them - but it's about mutual respect, kindness and reciprocity.

[wizkiddx]

heyheyhey idk if u do req but love your dad tom stuff! PLZ PLZ do tom helping his kids with homework but cant do it and reader has to help and its all fluffy 😩💕

ye im down to do req and this had me going completely ott cos its v cute (and a lot less angsty than what ive written recently aha) so apologies for my ramblings:

Summary: tom has the kids for a day and maths homework throws a spanner in the works - tomhollandxreader

implied smut + v slight reference to porn but basically just fluff I promise xox

\\\\\\\\\\\\///////////

Tom had dealt with a lot of whining today. Nova and Leo were the absolute joys of his life, there was no doubt about it. Of course, he also loved you a hell of a lot too - sometimes to his detriment though, hence the position he was in now. 

You’d had a busy week at work and he had been away for the first half of it - leaving you as an almost single mother to a 5 and a 7 year old. So completely fairly, you’d asked if he wouldn’t mind watching the kids for a the day on Sunday, allowing you to go to a friends baby shower. There was no answer but to agree, Tom loved quality time with the kids and he wanted you to kick back and relax with you friends too. 

However the afternoon had not been nearly as idealistic as it were supposed to be in his head. You had left him only one real job (apart from the unavoidable essentials of keeping the kids alive with food and water, something you’d hope he need not be reminded about now). Really it shouldn’t of been that hard, it was just each kid had two pieces of homework. After convincing and cajoling the kids into sitting at the table which he’d already set up with Nova’s ‘Liverpool FC’ and Leo’s ‘captain marvels’ pencil case, the English was easy. 

In fact 5 year old Leo took great joy out of writing a poem with his Dad, which basically involved trying to rhyme any word with another - especially when he tried to convince Tom that all his completely fictitious words were real and worked together. A personal favourite had been ‘snakes’ and ‘palakes’ which Leo was convinced meant pancakes - arguing so vehemently Tom almost started to doubt himself on basic English. 

Thankfully though his eldest and most sensibly child eventually took him out his misery. If anyone had any control over the Holland boys, Leo and Tom - it was the Holland girls. You and Nova had both boys completely under you spell, often taking advantage of the fact too. It was only when Nova got bored of hearing Tom and Leo mock arguing, interspersed with the little boys giggles that Tom tried his absolute hardest to keep a straight face at, that she swooped in.

“Stop being silly Leo, mummy told you he’s not good at school!” She looked oh so innocent, eyes immediately flicking down to continue the little short story she was happily going on with. In response  Tom scowled, knowing your highly curious and intelligent daughter had asked you (for one reason or another) why he was not so academic. Yet instead of Leo bursting out laughing, instead he just nodded and accepted it too - making Tom scowl even more. Not even Leo thought it was a joke. 

So apart from his children apparently taking pity on his simple mind, it was all going smoothly. Perhaps, due to the thankful fact your children had inherited their brains from their mother - something Tom was forever thankful for, until he was shamed for his substandard intellect in the family. Then again though, he was Spiderman. So take that. 

Until Nova brought out her maths sheet. Then the afternoon quickly descended into chaos. It was fractions, something she hadn’t quite grasped from school yet - a concept that still hurt her head somewhat. Normally though it’d be fine, she’d bring the sheet to you and the two of you used ‘ girl power’ to figure it out… you prior experience as a tutor while in uni helping you know how to break through to her. 

Unfortunately Tom didn’t share this same experience. Nor did Tom share a maths qualification… something that had evaded him completely during his schooling career. Of course, it had never been a particular issue, acting didn’t require the use of maths and algebra and Tom was in a very lucky position of being able to pay someone to manage his finances from a very young age. So no, dividing 2/3 and 3/7 didn’t come the most naturally to him. Or at all to be quite honest. 

“I CANT DO IT AND GRACE IN MY CLASS COULD!” For context, Grace was one of her school friends, who forever liked to compare herself to the young Holland - especially because she was normally ahead. Nova had gone from quiet frustration, staring at the questions with her tongue sticking out slightly, to one of pure rage - yelling at her dad with tears in her eyes. Nova was normally incredibly intuitive, she always found it difficult when she couldn’t do something. Now, with a ‘teacher’ who was more useless than her - the frustrations inevitably bubbled over. 

“Hey, we can work it out, just calm-“

“YOU CANT DO IT EITHER YOUR STUPID “ She was just young and frustrated, Tom tried not to take it personally but … it wasn’t always easy. Chiefly because this was the height of offensive statement Nova knew - this was her version of adult explicit language. 

“Nova you can’t be rude.” He used his stern voice, something Tom very rarely used with his little girl. Though he never wanted to upset her, neither did he want her to think it was ever okay to be so rude to anyone like that- no matter how crappy at maths they were. It hurt him to do so but it was necessary - life lessons about the importance of being kind needed to be learnt. And it worked… if what Tom was aiming for was his beautiful baby girl’s eyes to brim with sparkling tears, her bottom lip quivering slightly. 

Instantly Tom’s eyebrows drooped, trying to fight his natural reaction to scoop her onto his knee and reassure her everything was okay. But as you had lectured him many a time before, he had to put his foot down once in a while. So instead, the father and daughter were locked in a silence and intense eye contact, until Nova hesitantly began to speak. 

“I’m sorry Daddy.” During which, Nova shoved her chair back, making it screech against the tiled floors uglily before running off up the stairs. Tom knew she was crying a lot. Knew this was going to take a bit of fixing. 

With a sigh of his daughters name, Tom popped his head into the living to check on Leo who had already finished all his stuff. Seeing him completely zombified in front of ‘paw patrol’ on TV, Tom trudged up the stairs. He knew where she was, when Nova was upset she always hid in the corner of her wardrobe and cried in the darkness. So after steadying himself with a little internal monologue of how to approach the situation Tom walked in and sat down beside the wardrobe - knocking on the door slightly. 

“Nova… can we talk please?” All he heard was sniffing echoing from the wooden chamber until she tried to shout through the door.

“Go-go… go away daddy.” It broke his heart, the way her voice wavered, making Tom pout - gently letting his head fall against the wardrobe doors. 

“I don’t want you to be upset beautiful…. And you did apologise which I appreciate. You know why Daddy got angry right?” Her sniffles heightened before she muttered a quiet ‘yes’. “And you are sorry? Because that might’ve made me really sad too.”

“I’m s-s-sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

“Then that’s good and we don’t need to cry. You want a cuddle little one?” Before Tom could even properly get up the door was being pushed open by her little hands, revealing a tear stained face and big glassy eyes looking up at her Dad. Swiftly Tom scooped her up and out of the cupboard, whispering to her while she buried her face in his chest. 

“Oh come here my little bean.”

//////////////////////

When you came home late that evening, only mildly exhausted from spending the whole day gossiping with your girls, it was weirdly quiet. All the lights were out in the front room, which made you close the door gently, thinking Tom had managed to exhaust the kids - and himself in the process. With a relieved sigh at the peace you pattered into the kitchen to get yourself a drink (it had been a little concern that Tom would’ve worked the kids into a hyperactive and delerious state that kept them up long past bedtime - which ultimately you’d have to deal with). The house was remarkably silent and though it was clear from the littered toys everywhere that it had indeed been Tom alone in charge, everything seemed pretty okay. 

It was only as you were about to head upstairs to join your hubby in bed that you realised the study light was still on, streaming through the small crack in the doorframe. Assuming Tom had just neglected to turn it off, in otherwords Tom being Tom, you nudged it open with your hand. Surprisingly though, there was your husband, hunched over the desk, looking almost angrily focused - between the computer screen and a piece of paper below him. Normally you would’ve just assumed it was another script sent over or an edit Harry had sent of another screenplay they were writing together. 

But no, the blatant red flag was the screen that you could see. A screen on YouTube, of a man pointing at a whiteboard of fractions. 

So with a soft wrist you wrapped your knuckled on the side of the door, even if you had technically already entered the room. The reaction had you stifling a laugh, it was as if you’d caught him watching something *less PG* the way he jumped out his seat, closing the browser immediately. 

“Love!! I -er … didn’t know you’d got back?”

“I just did.” You smiled gently, while walking into stand behind his chair, wrapping your arms round his neck and pressing a kiss to his jaw. “Soooo…. what’ca doingggg” The glee in your voice was evident, making Tom groan and shut his eyes. 

“I hate you, you know that right?” 

“No you don’t… but you were watching a primary school video on fractions, if I’m not so mistaken?” He sighed deeply, making a point of turning the paper with his scribbles over to obscure it. 

“Nova’s homework.. she couldn’t do it and neither could I, so then she basically screamed at me for being thick and udseless and then had a breakdown.” 

Now you felt guilty. This was a bit of a sore spot with Tom, he always for some reason felt inferior because of his academic ability. Which was stupid- mainly because he was the most clever and talented man you’d ever met. Just…. Just not at fraction. 

“Oh T… you could’ve just left it for me to do with her, I don’t mind.”

“That’s not the point Y/n.” He snapped a little, shrugging your arms off him and spinning in the chair so he could face you. “She’s my daughter and I should be able to help her! It’s not like it’s that hard, it’s just I’m unbelievable thick.”

“Tom stop. Look - you can do this I assure you, it’s just been a long old time ‘kay? Your rusty and that’s only natural.”

“I really don’t think I could ev-“

“Can I teach you? It’s just the method and then I promise you’ll get it.”

It took a bit of persuasion but eventually Tom agreed, letting you pull the corner chair forward to beside his desk so you could demonstrate it to him. To be fair, he really could do it- just a bit of familiarising on the ‘stick-change-flip’ method. The way the lightbulb moment literally caused his face to light up; scurrying to do the question for himself, tongue sticking out in the process; then presenting it to you proudly - well it had you melting in your seat. 

“See! That took all of 5 minutes and you got it.” You elbowed  his side by leaning forward in the chair, which instead of letting go, Tom reached and caught, before pulling you up and round. You landed with you bum perched on the edge of the mahogany desk, Tom now stood up- his legs in-between your parted thighs - your feet hooking round the back of knees. 

“It’s all down to my incredibly talented teacher.”

“No…. No I really don’t think it is” You mused with a soft voice, fingers instinctively going to the nape of his neck - twirling the little curls round your fingertips. 

“Well even so… I think I could teach you a thing or two too.” Never one to mull on anything, Tom’s tone had immediately switched to something a lot more… mischievous. 

“Not even going to ask about my day? Wheres the chat mr smooth?” He had to repress the grin at your smirk because as much as you infuriated the hell out of him - you also had this weird ability of making him feel so entranced and helpless. He relented with a sarcastic chime.

“Fine, how was your day love.”

“Good…. but I have a feeling you’re about to make it a whole lot better.”

That was all the signals he needed to lean forward, in doing so forcing you back until your back landed completely on the cool wood. His lips feathered yours, both hands pinned either side of your head.

“Oh darling… you have no idea.”

[femmesandhoney]

hi im sorry for the dumb question but english is not my first language and im rlly interested in radical feminism so im still learning the definitions and stuff. When you say "binary" what do you mean exactly ?

not a dumb question at all. its actually fairly simple. the definition of binary states "something made of two things or parts" or "a division into two groups or classes that are considered diametrically opposite". in otherwords you can think of a binary as two groups that are considered opposite or that are a 'one or the other' type of relationship. so the sex binary is male-female, meaning there's only two sexes one can be born. it's one or the other. this is a pretty standard meaning.

im not sure if one of my own posts sparked this question, but in one of my posts i refer to the mathematical definition of a binary which splits everything into 0 or 1. those are your groups and there's no other choices to build off of, we think of computers when we think of this type of binary.

[supershiny-raven]

Oh no, you asked for it! Im gonna bombard you with asks now!! Mweh heh heh!! Ok, would would the UT, US, and UF Skellies react to having an S/O that loves to just run up randomly and smoosh in for hugs?

Oh my gosh you doin it to me, im sorry it toom so long im gonna have to type faster😂 Sans:He accepts them with bumbling grace. In otherwords you both fall and someone gets mildly hurt but loved. Papyrus is gonna get onto you both for canoodling! Papyrus:OHHOHOOO YOU ASKED FOR IT TINY HUMAN!! If you dont stop hes gonna start running into your small body. You see what he does to those windows, its gonna happen to you! You have been warned! Blue[us]: AAAAAHHH YES PLEASE! hes quite happy you do this to him, he really loves the attention especially when hes so clingy! He'll carry you all day after just the one he just loves your warm body! Red(uf): please font do this in public he has a figure to uphold! Its not that he doesnt see it( hes not prone to jumpscares this is why you cant enjoy scary movies he will call them out) but outside of public pleas do! Even add kisses he will melt for kisses! Edge(uf): no dont do it what are you thinking??? He doesnt even like you doing it at home! Hes so sharp he doesnt want to hurt you! Just gently lay down with him please he cant risk cutting you.

[aurora1040]

THANK YOU FOR POINTING OUT THE IDIOT HARE!!!!!!

Also, his work is a direct conflict of interest because he MONETIZES the diagnosis to teach 'classes' on 'how to spot a psychopath'.

Also, not only is his research work incredibly biased due to studying only prisoners, but he also STOLE THE WORK OF ANOTHER PSYCHIATRIST named Cleckley who made the ORIGINAL checklist. And thats what it was: a CHECKlist. not final diagnostic criteria. Not only did Hare steal Cleckley's work, he also reworked it and made it impossible to distinguish between what Cleckley was working on from Narcissism.

And because Hare monetized and sensationalized the term Psychopath/y, its all over pop media and it drives me up the stinking wall!!! I can tell usually with in 2 minutes if a person is properly educated in what Psychopathy even is or not.

You, my friend, are SO MUCH closer than most and I applaud you for digging deep!! The mere fact that you mentioned Hare and the problems with him is a HUGE indicator that you are on the right track.

This is gonna be a long one, so click to read more. [Disclaimer: Psychology is my SpIn and these diagnoses happen to be a special SpIn within my SpIn. I am NOT a liscensed psychologist.]

Ok, so 10 times out of 11, when someone accuses an individual of being a Psychopath (or a Sociopath), its because of abuse or lies or manipulation or narcissism (stat is guesstimated observation, not an official one). But what people fail to realize is that the Amygdala in a Psychopath's brain is smaller than the average individual's. All this means is that their EMOTION RECEPTORS ARE INHIBITED. Thats it. Not that their emotions dont exist. Its that those emotions *do not register with their brains to begin with*. This is like registering every breath, every blink, and every heart beat. If you pay active and deliberate attention, you notice and feel them. But if you arent paying attention, they just as well not exist to your brain. And thats how it is with Psychopathy. Those emotions are there, but they have to pay extra special attention to even notice them.

What this actually means is that Psychopaths are less likely to make irrational decisions, as most irrational decisions are based on impulse of emotions... which they dont even notice is there. This means their decisions are all consciously made and are very deliberate in doing so.

This brain difference can be spotted using an fMRI scan. That is, the last I checked, the only credible proof of diagnosis for someone with Psychopathy.

Because of the lack of emotional impulsivity, Psychopaths are actually very reliable for the high stress positions. Im talking lawers and surgeons and other very high stress, high stakes jobs where a level head is a requirement, not an option. This is a GOOD THING, not a red flag people paint it to be.

Now moving over to SOciopathy, the similarities are absolutely there, in that they seem to dispaly a lack of emotional impulses on the surface, and you would be (mostly) correct. Unlike Psychopaths, Sociopathy is not a PHYSICAL brain difference. Rather, it is a psychological difference. Let me explain.

Sociopaths are made, not born. Psychopathy is nature, sociopathy is nurture. How does an individual become a Sociopath? It happens during the developmental years via, usually, series of traumtic events. In otherwords, this is the BRAIN'S PTSD response. This is when the brain forcibly shuts off the person's access to nearly all emotions.

Notice I said NEARLY all. Not every. And this is because, just like every other form PTSD takes, Sociopaths DO have a trigger. And more often than not, that trigger has something to do with or is very closely related to the source of the trauma that created the Sociopathy to begin with. And when they ARE triggered, it is usually displayed by sudden and explosive anger.

In both cases, these two neurotypes are not generally your ax murder at the end of your bed, nor are they your abusive ex (sorry, not sorry. Stop equating abuse with pop-psychology lables, PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU). There are 100% mentally healthy people who will make the active choice to be abusive criminals, that will choose to lie and manipulate. BAD PEOPLE ARE JUST BAD PEOPLE, OKAY??? (I am very passionate about this, can you tell? lol)

And now we get into the whole Narcissism that Hare has oh so lovingly and with with such dedication made indistinguishable from his appalling opinion of what Psychopathy even is by his infamous checklist.

Narcissists are chronic liars and manipulators. I know what i just said earlier. Let me explain. Narcissism, as the diagnosis, is literally being incapable of being honest. Most people when they are caught in a lie will admit they were lying. They'll be embarassed, or they may just walk away and storm off in anger, but they give up nonetheless. A Narcissist will not. They will lie through their teeth and when they are cornered, they will double down and gaslight on top of it. Are they gaslighting themselves? I dont know. it's possible. But they still refuse to give it up.

Do Sociopaths or Psychopaths lie? Some do! But not all. And if they do, its a conscious choice, not an impulse they cannot control. They know the limits of their lies and they know when to give it up. Narcissists have no such self awareness.

Narcissts are manipulators. Just like they impulsively lie, they will say or do anything to get what they want. This includes gas lighting. This includes emotional, psychological, and/or physical abuse. Not all are going to be presented in each Narcisst's case, but the manipulation will be there as a strong indicator.

Do psychopaths and Sociopaths manipulate? Some do! Just like everyone else is. This is not, however, an indicator of psychopathy OR Sociopathy in the way that it is an indicator for Narcissism.

Narcissts have an overly inflated sense of self worth, often to the point of self delusion. This is the whole reason why the diagnosis is named after the myth of Narcissus. This is a very important, very deeply significant indicator of Narcissism.

Do Psychopaths and Sociopaths have this delusional sense of self worth and ego? NO. In fact, being delusional is an automatic DISQUALIFIER for Psychopathy! It is literally incompatible. If anything, I would say that Psychopaths tend to have an overly balanced view of themselves. Sociopathy, on the other hand, it is possible, but unlikely, to have a delusional sense of self worth.

So to wrap it all up: Psychopaths are not the scary emotionless freaks you think they are and neither are Sociopaths. They ARE two distinct diagnoses and they are NOT to be confused with Narcissism or abuse under any circumstances. That said, not all abusers or criminals are Narcissts, either. Abusers and Criminals can be completely NT and consciously choose to just be bad people.

honestly, im really, genuinely curious, and I’d like to hear you talk about it. Why aren’t psychopaths an actual thing?

Yes! Thank you for asking! So, let’s start with the most obvious question: what is a psychopath? You certainly hear the word a lot. People will also frequently say sociopath. They’re used kind of similarly, mostly. What’s the difference?  Well, this is the problem we run into. There isn’t any fixed definition. The usual authority on these issues is the DSM, or Diagnostic Standard Manual. It provides names and agreed on definitions that accredited psychologists will diagnose. There’s no category in it called “psychopathy” or “sociopathy”. No similar organization has such a definition.  But isn’t there a checklist or something? Yes, there is, but it’s not put out by an organization like the DSM. It was written by a random psychiatrist as a proposal and it hasn’t found universal acceptance. There are a few writers who write about psychopaths and sociopaths, but all of them have their own definitions, meaning there’s no one universal definition you can pin it down to. That means it can’t be diagnosed or even defined, really.  But that’s not the biggest problem with the idea of psychopathy and sociopathy. It probably wouldn’t be too hard for the psychiatrists who write about it to get together and agree on a single defined symptom list. There even are already two diagnoses in the DSM that people who worked on it say were meant to be their stab at representing what a diagnosis for the general idea of sociopathy/psychopathy might look like: antisocial personality disorder and dissocial personality disorder. Those diagnoses are defined, but not officially linked to the terms psychopath and sociopath.  So what’s the bigger problem? Well, to answer that we, first have to look a little closer at what a diagnosis actually is. The usual idea people have is that every diagnosis represents some kind of brain, something real inside the mind of the person it’s a diagnosis of. According to this idea, a diagnosis has a sort of causal power: you act in certain ways because you have a certain type of brain.  But that idea is more like the GOAL of psychiatry, not the reality. In reality, especially for personality disorders, it’s the opposite. Rather than people acting a certain way because they have a diagnosis, they are diagnosed because they act a certain way. Every diagnosis is a list of behaviors, and if you meet a certain number of them, you’re eligible for the diagnosis. But it’s hard to know if people act that way because of that diagnosis, that is, that it represents something about their brains or if it’s just an arbitrary grouping. It would be as if we grouped animals based on what they DID rather than whether they can breed. “Skittering” might represent a meaningful group of animals, but would “swimming”? Or “hiding?” Maybe several different diagnoses represent various different ways people deal with a specific kind of brain. Maybe many different types of brain can lead people to act in similar ways, and get lumped into one diagnosis. So the question is: when we look at the sorts of behaviors that people tend to associate with the terms psychopathy/sociopathy, is there reason to think that they represent a sort of brain, as there is with, for instance, the term autism, or is there reason to suspect that many kinds of brains could behave that way and the behaviors are only associated in some other way? And HERE is the big problem with psychopathy/sociopathy. Especially when you look into the history of the terms and the research that the people who use it did, it becomes very obvious that what psychopathy really is is “commits crimes disorder”.  One of the big names in popularizing the term psychopath is Robert D. Hare. And guess where most of his research is done? Prison. And if you look at his checklist, his criteria are a mix of criteria from several other diagnoses with criteria that are subtle variants on “commits crimes”. And what other researchers, including one I’m about to quote, have found is that what happens is a lot of prisoners with completely different disorders that have been involved in their criminal history check off the criteria that are just doing crimes and the criteria that are from the issue they actually have, and thus get labeled with psychopathy rather than their real issue. Dorothy Otnow Lewis, a professor of psychiatry at Yale writes: “To this writer’s mind, psychopathy and its synonyms (e.g., sociopathy and antisocial personality) are lazy diagnoses. Over the years the authors’ team has seen scores of offenders who, prior to evaluation by the authors, were dismissed as psychopaths or the like. Detailed, comprehensive psychiatric, neurological, and neuropsychological evaluations have uncovered a multitude of signs, symptoms, and behaviors indicative of such disorders as bipolar mood disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, complex partial seizures, dissociative identity disorder, parasomnia, and, of course, brain damage/dysfunction.“  And this gets to the darkest part of psychopathy/sociopathy, which is its use in the law. Despite the fact that it’s not a diagnosis, people like Hare get brought in to testify about it at trials and it increases the penalties for offenders. Psychopathy is an astonishingly, I would argue, suspiciously convenient disorder for our prison system. Once someone is deemed a psychopath, there’s no use treating them or giving them sympathetic therapy. The only answer is locking them up, because that’s all you can do with a psychopath. And fortuitously, that’s already the path of least resistance for the prison system.  So, tldr, psychopathy isn’t a real diagnosis. It doesn’t have an official definition. And the definitions people have made are suspicious. Often the people they call psychopaths have other things going on, and the term psychopath seems almost tailor made to excuse the prison system for its cruelty and failure to do anything but lock up people with numerous mental health issues. 

[major-victory]

So now that I've finished season 1 of bnha, I wanna try and do a little analysis of what I do/don't like about it, or in otherwords: despite being a flashy action shounen with a fun basic hook that is well drawn and voice acted, why does it lose me?

I can't add a readmore, so bear with me here

Overall

I overall like the show a good bit. Switching over to English has definitely made it more engaging for me, though it is Entirely Possible that it's primarily due to Chris Sabat carrying it for me personally. But all of the actors are great, theyre well suited to their roles, and they feel well directed. (And I'm not biased at all that I hear Saitou when Chris speaks shut up, im sorry my fave role of his is such a small one when the man literally voiced in DBZ)

The hook IS genuinely fun. I LOVE the concept of a kid showing such an urgent desire to help that he inspired a known pro hero to push himself as well, and I am always weak for Strong OP Master accidentally adopting a kid that he initially wrote off, but in such a way that he would Kill for said child. Better still when, in order to make the child his apprentice, he gives the child a piece of his own power (see: the breaker for another fun example of this narrative) and this ends up hurting him down the line.

Animation

The animation is also very fun. They let these kids make Great Expressions -- lots of wrinkles and lines, over exaggerated when necessary to drive home the intensity. The action and posing is fun, tons of foreshortening, great camera angles for a lot of the fights.

So with all of that being as fun as it is, I think it loses me in 2 places: narrative and lighting.

Narrative

Basically -- the pacing just feels Off. I think I'm not a huge fan of introducing shigaraki so early in the game, instead of having no build up to them as a threat, and then turning around and going into the sports fest... it isn't even whiplash, it just doesn't feel like those arcs were supposed to come one after the other like that. Like there should have been an arc before USJ that helped ramp things up a bit more, made the USJ bit feel more impact full. In stead it just punched you in the arm, said "Jah! Bet that was scary" then ran off leaving you more confused why you were punched in the arm at all.

Lighting

Lighting really just boils down to All These Scenes Look The Same. They all have the same lighting intensity and shadow placements, every scene is as saturated as the last. Even the shots of Deku in the night, or Deku leaving school at sunset have largely similar lighting, it's just the color itself that is off.

There is only 1 scene I can recall in those first 15 eps (I'm 2 eps into season 2 so shh) that had any distinct lighting: the scene where Deku completes his beach cleaning and the sun is still rising. It created a fun back-lit effect on him, and was gorgeous when combined with the raw emotion and his scream. Loved That.

But there were other opportunities to use lighting just as dramatically, especially in the USJ battle sequences, when Shigaraki first appears. This is such a terrifying, heavy set of fights, but the whole time its illuminated like it's just a sunny day. There's no dramatic shadows that obscure half a characters face, no fun colorful spec lighting to help them stand out against the combat around them. They just look the same as they do in any other scene. I think, writing about this now, that has a huge impact on the fact that these fights are occasionally losing me. They're fun they're fast, theyre flashy, and I like that, but they don't look any different.

That said, I know there's a few scenes later in the show that look to change this up a bit, but I'm not sure when they do, or how often either.

[soaringsearingphoenix]

Have you gone to bed at all tonight

Im sorry what was that? I couldnt hear u because i was asleep

However at the moment u sent this, the answer was probably no. I mean, I’d made it to my room but I had no immediate plans of resting.

I uh. I was only up til 2am though thats not so bad. Its 2.5 hours later than I started feeling tired but that’s fine. I mean, 45 minutes of that was journal time, which is necessary to me. And another 20 was waiting on some laundry to be done. So i only listened to like... three more episodes than i’d intended...

It felt... just like when I first watched Gravity Falls and I was like “i’ll go to bed at the end of this episode” but then it was two episodes before Weirdmageddon so the episode ended on a cliffhanger, and the whole next episode extended the cliffhanger, and I was like “Okay well i guess we’re doing this tonight” and I was up ‘til 4am eating fancy chocolates and dissolving the edges of my mind into a colorful otherword just a little bit.

The main difference is that TMA episodes are shorter and I am out of fancy chocolates

[dr-emile-picani]

Emile nods... carefully listening. That father sounded horrible! He would’ve used otherwords if he wanted to, but not right now. He gently rubbed up and down Virgil’s arms, rests his head in the back and crook of Virgil’s neck. “Im sorry....” he whispers... he hated knowing that’s what happened to Virgil.

(onthevirge) By the time Emile got to Virgil's cell for their appointment Virgil was already sedated. He was just laying on the floor with his eyes closed, his nose bleeding slightly. He wasn't able to wipe away the blood due to his straight jacket.

Dr. Picani was led to Virgil’s cell by the guards. And almost instantly got irritated when he saw Virgil sedated. How do people think he was going to be able to HELP Virgil if he’s not in the normal mindset!?

Calm… calm down… Emile takes deep breaths as he gets put into the cell with the inmate. He walks over and sets his notepad on the metal bed and looks down at Virgil. “Virgil… remember me?” He asks.