#(though sometimes it just depends on the context/severity?)

[official-time-loop-posts]

On the topic of time loop movies, Triangle (2009) - it's a horror movie so there's gore, so if that's a no for you totally understandable, but there's like multiple loops/one loop looping over itself multiple times - it's complicated but also not but super cool to try and figure out

Sounds cool, I’ll check it out!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Would I be the asshole if I refused to pay my phone bill?

📱🧾♿️ <- To recognize my post for later :)

The title is probably already a bit of a red flag, but I genuinely didn’t know how else to word it…

For context: I am a disabled, chronically and mentally ill trans guy who recently turned 20. I haven’t left home yet for a lot of reasons, some being that my parents promised to let me live rent-free so long as I was in college (which I am, just not currently for the summer) as well as the fact that they really haven’t raised me to be very independent and rely solely on them (which is honestly a whole other can of worms), but primarily because of my disability. It isn’t safe for me to live on my own, as I faint commonly, cannot stand up for more than maybe fifteen minutes at a time roughly, and sometimes am unable to eat for long periods of time due to debilitating nausea which leads to weakness. I also have severe chronic pain in my limbs and gut, something I’ve had most of my life, while my chronic illness I’ve only had for about a year and a half now and am still struggling to adjust to.

Because of my disability, I also can’t work a traditional job. I offer art commissions online, because I’m very passionate about art and it’s one of the few things I’m good at, and I haul in a decent amount, but certainly not enough to live off of. I make enough to set aside some good savings (I’m currently saving for a wheelchair, as that might grant me more freedom and the potential to get a job at least for the summer) while also indulging myself in buying the occasional fatty treat (I’m very underweight so that’s not an issue, and I was raised essentially in an almond mom household all my life, so this form of eating is really the only sense of control I have over my life, as I’m fully dependent on my parents elsewise).

The issue has come upon relatively recently. I feel like a huge entitled brat for it as well, and if others believe the same, I sincerely don’t blame you.

My mom sat me down the other day and said that she expected me to start paying at least one bill. She offered my cheapest bill (which would be for my phone; my parents bought it, and it’s theirs, they’re just letting me use it as my own.. I don’t own a whole lot of “my” items myself) and asked what I thought about that. I was fully honest with her: if I had a steady stream of income, I wouldn’t hesitate to offer to pay for all of my bills, but with the way it stands, I just don’t make enough month-to-month to regularly afford the bill. I also do my commissions through my phone, so if I could afford the bill, my phone would be turned off, and I’d be unable to continue.

My mom got very upset and started talking to me like a child (though she really has every right to, honestly, and I know that). She went on a very long rant about teaching me responsibility, and how I can’t rely on my parents forever, and that I need to grow up at some point… All things that I fully agree with. I sincerely want to! I want nothing more than to be fully independent. But the way it stands, my parents cover my entire medical bills and they pay for my meds… And I just don’t make enough to survive on my own, and I can just barely afford a meal or two from a sandwich shop I enjoy twice a month to keep my sanity in check because I’m usually bedbound.

I tried explaining to her that I would if I could, sincerely, and that I’m not trying to be a leech or lazy, but she wasn’t having it. She just scolded me and said that if I can afford to eat out every month, then I can afford the phone bill. But again, with the way things are, I don’t think I’d be able to do it every month without tapping into my savings, which again, is for my wheelchair so I can regain some sense of freedom for myself. I’m seriously debating just telling her no straight out, but I don’t know what the aftermath might look like…

So, sincerely: Am I in the wrong here? Should I just swallow my protests and cough up the money somehow? I really don’t know and would love an outside perspective.

[prince-liest]

since you acknowledged vox and valentino as a uh. less than healthy relationship (lol) several times (going feral over what vox was implying in that latest 666 fic), do you think there's ever the chance of alastor feeling... probably not protective haha but maybe possessive over vox the next time he's a little banged up? alternatively, how else do you think alastor would react if whatever they were getting up to is halted by vox nursing some kind of injury from one of his and val's fights? - ✨

I think it really depends on how Vox presents the situation, to be honest! They, uh, bang each other up a lot themselves, hahaha, and Alastor doesn't really register it as problematic. A lot of writing 666 is balancing the idea that these guys are living an existence where the a real life normal-meter really can't accurately be applied, and also maintaining that they still do have personal boundaries and lines that might be crossed.

A reminder of some (but not all) of the fucked up things that Vox and Alastor have done to each other over the course of 666:

One murder attempt that Vox didn't draw a line in the sand over

Vox got annoyed and slapped Alastor across the face hard enough to knock him down, with no warning or prelude, in a sexual context

Vox slammed Alastor's skull into the ground, out of anger, several times until he was dazed and bleeding

Alastor literally tried to eat a chunk of Vox's shoulder, most likely resulting in the reverse of the scenario you're describing: Vox having to take it easier with Val because he has a gaping shoulder wound courtesy of Alastor and can't lift his arm

About three dozen bucketfuls of severely under-negotiated and sometimes not-at-all negotiated edgeplay (as in, not safe-sane-consensual) kink from both ends, including but not limited to: choking (via hands and via dick), fearplay, deliberate boundary-crossing wrt touch, hypnosis, painplay, bloodplay, wounding, and gaslighting for the purpose of humiliation

Like, Vox asking "I want to make sure I didn't cross any boundaries!" in the second 666 fic does not in any way absolve him of having deliberately crossed about thirty of them immediately prior, and the fact that Alastor enjoyed it is mostly just because Alastor is also fucked up. Some people seemed quite surprised at Alastor crossing so many boundaries in the wireplay fic compared to all the shit Vox had pulled prior to that point, and I think it's because he, unlike Vox, didn't pay lip service to it, though they both do about the same amount of actual "keeping an eye on things".

Them caring about each other does not mean that their concept of "boundaries" or even "okay things to do to another person in an intimate setting or otherwise" aren't very, very colored by them being demonic overlords who live in hell and haven't so much as waved 'hello' to a single healthy intimate relationship in the past hundred years.

Vox having to take a breather because he has some kind of injury from Val is, unless he's actively making a 'this is fucked up and I'm opening up to be vulnerable and unhappy about it' kind of deal about it, is not really going to ping on Alastor's radar as a problem.

And Vox isn't going to make that kind of deal about it because that isn't how he sees his relationship with Valentino. Yes, Val often treats Vox in abusive ways in 666. That is also colored by both of them being demonic overlords who live in hell, and Vox treats certain aspects of it as frustrating and upsetting (and often takes that out on Valentino - hence the frequent off-again-on-again nature of their relationship), but he doesn't actually, like, see their relationship the way that we do.

He loves Val. Val loves him. To him, the rest is either normal overlord behavior or their own damage, and they've found a balance where the general response to a shitty happening is, "Eh, we've worked through worse."

TL;DR: Valentino, Vox, and Alastor all need to have "DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!" stapled across their foreheads. To paraphrase Bay: They're in hell. The insane acts of violence are basically a love language at this point.

[stevenbasic]

Growing into the Job, Post 408: Babysitting, p3

“So, how exactly are you going to pay for all of this?” Randi asked me, her eyes rising up from her laptop from where she sat on the couch, several cushions away, “You’re broke from the divorce, aren’t you?”

“She, um, gave me debit card,” I answered, not taking my eyes off my own screen - the big tv in Melissa’s mom’s great room. I’d figured out a way, with Randi’s help (and permission) to use the television to surf the web. I hadn’t been online in a while and at first Randi was reticent about letting me use it. I explained, though, that I just needed to do some shopping.,After some arguing, and, well pleading, she finally relented and said I could, as long as she could supervise. So, sitting here on a quiet Thursday afternoon after having endured not just one but, I think, three blow jobs while watching the first part of Melissa’s interview for Channel 5, I put another set of shoes into my Amazon cart. Yes, I was dependent on a woman’s money and being policed in my internet habits by a 20-something year-old.  At this point, though, I was nearly beyond the embarrassment and humiliation of the situation. Nearly. “She said I could use it for whatever I want.”

When I said ‘she’, there was no question of who I was talking about, and Randi’s eyes lit up with a smirk.

“Melissa’s got you sucking from her bank account already, huh?” Randi quipped, the bank account/teat analogy not lost on me but not rankling me quite as much as it should have. Quite. “How much did she give you?” 

“ I- she gave me two thousand dollars,” I answered. Maybe I was relaxed from the half-hour or so I’d spent in Randi’s mouth and the quick nap I’d taken after, but admitting my financial dependence on my girlfriend didn’t bother me much. Much. I’d kept an eye on my online cart; I still had a good cushion in my budget and moved on to looking for shirts…in the “Youth” section. “I’ll be careful not to run out.”

“Well, if you use it up I’m sure she’ll let down some more money for her needy little man,” Randi finished, “Melissa’s got very big…accounts.” Her smoky voice was still deliciously throaty from the blowjobs. 

Again, haha, with the boob analogy and a - fuck me - stirring in my sweatpants.

“Yeah,” I answered, this time finally feeling myself flush. Randi certainly had a way about her, a way to find my buttons, and she obviously loved to push them. I always thought of her as pushy, a little critical, and with a somewhat rough, randy (hey-oo) sense of humor. She had a penchant for deliberately pressuring me, and sometimes seducing me, way beyond my comfort zone. Today, in fact, was our third private tryst, and it was an unspoken fact that it came with her best friend’s nodding approval. I understood Randi’s seductions as mostly practical. They were calculated, mercenary, career-advancing moves designed to trap me in a corner and use my own weaknesses against me. She knew I didn’t have the strength of will to say no, and her advancements almost seemed like an amusement to her, practically a prank. On some level, though, both Randi and I knew there were heavier machinations at work. She’d never admit it but my cock down her throat filled some deeper instinct, some sort of connection that flowed through me, her, and all the girls.

Yeah, so Randi was maybe becoming more than just a brash prankster who liked making men horny and stupid, getting her kicks from pushing them to risky and humiliating sexual acts. Something important was quietly happening, surfacing in her - like it was in lots of the girls at the office. Randi was no doubt an acerbic, short-tempered young woman but she was smart, and given the context of her being overwhelmed with all of the new demands on her life I got the sense she knew she was moving upwards towards some greater role than just Social Media Director at a geriatrics practice in the Midwest. 

With Randi pestering me, I’d unconsciously found myself stroking the debit card Melissa had given me. I never told anyone, but  I nearly always kept it in my pocket. Weirdly, having it around made me feel safe. Now that I had it out next to me, I couldn’t help but hold it close. 

“Maybe I’ll buy something nice for her,” I muttered, not even realizing what I’d said out loud as I navigated my way toward the ‘Women’s Clothing’ section. Amazon had certainly started using curvier, more athletic models these days. Maybe they felt the need to start living up to their name haha. 

“Oh, you want to get Melissa something? I know she was talking about a dog collar,” Randi offered. 

“Really? Why?” I asked, “Is she thinking about getting a new pet?”

Speaking of, Melissa’s moms cat - ‘Tiger’, I think - sauntered across the room, between the television and where I sat. Had it been around here the whole time?

“Hey, cat, what’s up? Need your litterbox changed?” Randi teased. 

The thing paused, fixed Randi with a death stare, and moved on. 

Randi chuckled, and turned her attention back to me. “Anyway, no more tv,” said, putting her laptop aside, “you and I got some chores to do.”

Oh yeah, that. Laundry. 

Five minutes later, at Randi’s command, I found myself back upstairs gathering up not only my own dirty clothes from the bedroom but Melissa’s as well. Panties, bras, socks and athletic gear were all strewn haphazardly about the room. Most of the time I was a bit too distracted to notice, but she really was a mess and a half sometimes. Finally, with a bit of work, all the clothes found their way into the already half-full laundry basket sitting in the corner. Apparently not satisfied with the bra from which I’d still needed to breathe, I took the chance to surreptitiously sniff Melissa’s dirty clothes. Good god, the smell of her was like a drug. I just couldn’t get enough. This must be love, right? I was alone, and suddenly horny again and was considering rubbing one out right th-

“Hey, dude..!” came Randi’s voice, calling up to me from the bottom of the stairs, “What’s taking so long? Are you rubbing one out?”

Sigh. 

I was still strong enough to carry the now-overflowing basket down the steps and to the laundry room, where Randi supervised me separating out the delicates (mostly Melissa’s lingerie) from everything else. We’d started the load of regulars, some towels and a robe were already in the dryer, and Randi had - Whoah! - picked me up under the armpits to boost me to sit on the washer while she went through what looked like another pile of bras that had been set atop the dryer alongside me. 

My feet dangled off the edge as I watched Randi pick through them, looking at tags, setting some aside to go through the next load. 

I recognized a few of these bras. Old ones of Melissa’s, from months back.

“Uhh…” Anything to do with Melissa’s bras did seem to enthrall me. 

“These are ones she’s outgrown, she told me I could have them,” Randi explained, holding up a white underwire whose band and tag I recognized from an old Insta post of Melissa’s. 

“R-really?” I managed. 

Sidelong, Randi glanced at me and her smile curled into something a bit more predatory when she heard the crack in my voice. “Yeah. I’m basically as big as she was when you hired her.”

Randi’s tone suggested she knew exactly how captivated I was.  “Well, I’m taller now than she was then, so 34GG’s don’t look as ginormous on me as they did on her,”  she dryly explained, “But don’t worry I’m a growing girl.”

Though I’d been confronted with this before, the sheer absurdity of the fact that yes all the women around me seemed to be getting taller, stronger and bustier still boggled me. “h-how does this happen??” I asked with obvious futile impotence, sitting on the washer and eye-to-eye with Randi, who must be over six feet tall at this point. 

“Dude, haven’t you figured it out yet? The Melissssy Effect?” she snipped, white lace brassiere still in her hands, “Spend too much time around her and you start becoming what she needs you to be.”

Yes, right…wait, what?! I knew it, I felt it, this influence my new Office Manager was having over our staff… and over me <shiver>. I think I’d secretly known it all along. I could ‘feel’ it, but it was just too ludicrous to get my head around. “H-how..??”

“Plain and simple,” Randi answered sharply, “She’s magic.”

My brow furrowed. “T-there’s no s-such thing as magic,” I muttered, hearing for myself the uncertainty in my voice. 

To my reply, Randi cocked a dark, sculpted eyebrow. “I dunno. I wouldn’t be so sure.”

My throat caught, blood rushed behind my eyes. “C’mon…she’s not ‘magic’,” I insisted, again with the hesitation of a man whose worldview had been crumbling around him already. “Magic’s impossib-”

“Okay then she’s ‘science’,” Randi retorted, “You believe in science don’t you?”

“Yes but…” The science was even more unbelievable. 

“Or, maybe she’s ‘religion’. Or - I dunno -  maybe she’s all three,” Randi concluded a bit uncertain herself. Her tone seemed to signal that there were things about what was happening that she didn’t fully understand herself. “I honestly don’t fucking know.” Irritated, she obviously wanted to move onto something else. 

The washing machine vibrated underneath me, the dryer rumbling alongside. 

She held the big white bra in her hands, making a bit of a show of it. She wanted me to look up as she inspected its full satin cups. Despite knowing what she was doing, I couldn’t help but grow silent, my mind captivated by the sight. 

“Anyway, since we’re on the subject,” she began again, “now that I’m as big as she was when you hired her - and we all know you hired her for her tits - I want to make as much as she did.”

Wait. 

“Wh-what?” Now we’re talking salaries?

“I want a raise. A big one.”

“Y-y-you want to make as much as Melissa? Our Office Manager??” The shock of it pulled my attention out of Melissa’s bra cup and back to Randi’s crooked smile. 

“Well, not as much as she makes now of course…” Randi offered. 

Makes…now? Melissa’s pay should be the same as- 

“She gave herself a raise, didn’t you know?” 

My expression must have been one of shocked incredulousness, and I felt myself gaping, confused. 

Randi chuckled at my consternation, and her hand drifted down to find my erection alive and well in my sweatpants, clear for her to see. After a brief second of shock, my body tensing at her touch, I realized just how obviously turned on I was from this predicament I found myself in. With well-practiced proficiency, she slid her hand down the waistband of my pants, and pulled my hard shaft out into the open air. Fuck it was huge, startlingly so on my skinny, 4’7” frame. She smiled as she gave it a squeeze. 

I groaned, my eyes fluttered, but - passively - I didn’t complain. Suddenly I was distracted from the surprise of Melissa’s raise and the insult to my already-crumbling authority, and all my attention was centered right where Randi wanted it. On her.  

“Face it, buddy,” Randi said, as she took my cock and wrapped it into one of the white satin bra cups of Melissa’s bra, causing me to shudder and moan anew. My vision swam and already my loins sparked and clenched. “We’re all getting richer. We’re all getting more beautiful, taller, stronger.” She began to stroke the bra over my throbbing, nearly ten-inch shaft. Her voice was smoky and low. “All of us are getting bigger, all of us -  except you.”

“Oh godddddd….” I groaned, and - Jesus, that was f-fast - came into Melissa’s bra.. 

As the orgasm wracked me, I fell forward from where I sat. my face planted itself into Randi’s - my savior and tormenter’s - waiting bosom. “Shhh…deep breath,” I heard her chuckle, waiting until I inhaled before speaking again. She felt me melting. “I smell like her don’t I?” 

Nnngh…nnngh…nnngh….Melissa. Yes, she did. A sharper edge to it, perhaps, but Randi’s scent was all but exactly Melissa’s. 

“We’re all starting to get to be more like her,” Randi drawled as she milked me through my climax, into the satiny cup of her friend’s enormous bra, “and not just the tits.”

Nnngh, nnngh, nnngh. Into the bra I came, until my pulses waned. 

Still gripping my spent manhood and the bra with one hand, Randi pulled me back from her chest with the other. She took one of my hands into hers, and opened it up so we were palm-to-palm. We both marveled at the lopsided size comparison, how my fingers went just past the first joint of hers. She chuckled, and turned her narrowed eyes back onto me as she brought my hand up to her lips. Gently, she started kissing my fingers, looking into my eyes with a suddenly tender intimacy that was unusual for Randi.

“Being with me is kinda like being with her, hm?” she said, both of us aware of this weird energy - and Melissa’s unseen presence - in the room, “You can think about her when you’re with me. She’s your girlfriend, I don’t mind.”

Randi kissed my fingertip, sucked gently on my index finger to the first knuckle. She was still rubbing me, massaging me through the squishy bra, and she saw my eyes fluttering again. “C’mon I know you can do it,” she whispered. 

Astonishing even myself, I began to swell again. 

“Oooo there you go,” Randi chuckled, as her hand - assisted by the cup of the bra and now the lubrication of my last release - began to squeeze and stroke me anew. “Women really have so much power over you, don’t they?” she posited, feeling me hardening, “such amazing things we can do, Melissa, all us girls.”

“M-Melissa..?” I groaned. 

“Shhh remember, I’m getting to be just like her. And she’s not jealous. Being with me is like being with her, she’s told you herself,” she purred, sucking my index finger into her mouth and then out again, like she was sucking a dick, “But…there are still some special things of my own I can do. My own particular talents…”

I groaned. Was she actually going to do this to me again?

“Let me show you why they call me ‘The Mouth’.

At that she started feeding my fingers - two three four…five - in between her lips, and then slid them into her mouth. Her lips closed over them, and I felt the muscle of her tongue moving slowly underneath my fingers.

I shuddered in pleasure and she chuckled as I watched, eyes searching mine as I began to realize what she was about to do. 

She moved on to take in my entire hand. 

My eyes went wide. She had my whole right hand in her mouth, to the wrist.  She still grasped my forearm which, by god, was not much longer or thicker than my cock, between her fingers. Her glossy lips were closed in a tight seal around my scrawny wrist, and - drawing in her cheeks - she sucked on my hand powerfully. Her tongue continued its unseen gymnastics around my palm and fingers like an eel. I felt the sharp edges of her teeth bite delicately into my wrist, while all the while her eyes remained locked on mine, staring into my shuddering depths.

She hummed pleasantly, the vibrations of her vocal cords shivering all the way up my arm. I was beginning to groan again, in new pleasure. What was this girl capable of??

With another tug of suction, she began to show me. 

I gasped in disbelief as she took in the first few inches of my arm. My eyes stayed locked on hers as - oh my god - she didn’t stop.

She ate more of my arm, lips sliding up and up and up my thin limb as she still hummed into my bones. I felt my hand slide down into her throat and soon she had me to the elbow. 

“o-o-oh my god Randi…” I stammered, now staring down at the spectacle. She’d taken my entire forearm into her mouth, her lips closed around the joint of my elbow. I could feel my hand squeezed by the top part of her esophagus, and she swallowed several times on purpose, squeezing my hand and wrist in a muscular embrace of warm tightness….and drawing me in further. 

Deeper and deeper she fed me into her mouth, her lips inching forward slowly, gaining territory with each gentle swallow and pull. She was a snake, a she-cobra, devouring its prey and I watched her throat bulging with the thickness of my arm down inside it. The start of my withered bicep, then the middle. Randi kept going. 

My cock was throbbing hard now, fully back at erection and still being stroked by Randi now with both hands through Melissa’s bra. Though I couldn’t take my eyes off the horrid spectacle of my arm down this girl’s outrageously distended mouth, hers still bore into mine with insistence, unblinking, not wanting to miss a moment of my reaction.

Randi sucked me in again and I heard the first real gag out of her. She had my upper bicep and then - my god - her jaw widened even further and her lips closed around my shoulder, and came to a stop. Her big head, her mane of straight black hair, was right there, her eyes staring deeply into mine. My jaw hung open and quivering, she’s swallowed my entire arm. My entire arm is inside her, down her throat. 

I felt the acid of her stomach burning my hand, threatening to eat away at it.

She hummed deeply again and jostled her head, shaking my whole torso like a panther with its prey. Then she growled, suddenly baring her teeth at me, showing me two rows of teeth clamped down over my shoulder. There was absolutely no doubt that, if Randi had wanted to, she could have bitten off my entire arm. She growled once more and - nnnnnngggguuugggghhh -  I felt myself orgasm again, unngh, unngh, unngh - into the already sodden bra. How did I have anything left in me?! Her tongue lapped under my armpit, and she sucked on my arm like one giant cock, her entire alimentary canal closing tightly around it and milking it in rhythm with my climax…

=============================================

Thanks to reader GrillFan for his insightful character analysis of Randi, much of which is included here, Joyce Julep for inspiring the arm-eating scene, and once again RiF for proofreading.

[cripplecharacters]

hi! i saw the ask you recently posted regarding the amount and date of asks currently in your queue, and im not sure if i understand the response fully. as you said your queue currently contains asks from early 2020, does this mean that at the moment the average time for an ask to be answered is about 4 years? this is not a complaint or anything of the sort, i understand and appreciate the massive amount of work you put into these answers - im just asking to know whether i should send in a question myself, as i usually dont work on building a character for several years, so i would just be burdening you with yet another ask that would no longer be applicable by the time of an answer. again i apologize if this comes off as rude and i really dont intend to be demanding, i just want to inform myself on how this blog works so i dont add to your workload needlessly. thanks for all the great work you do here!

Hello!

To clarify: The average time for an ask to be answered is NOT four years.

There isn't really an average wait time per ask since it differs so greatly but I'd say it's usually no more than a couple months? Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong though😅

Depending on the ask, it may be answered almost instantly and chucked into the queue or it may sit in our inbox for a while before somebody can get to it. This all depends on a few factors, including:

What's the ask about? If it's something that multiple mods can answer (Such as questions about autism, mobility aids, etc.), then it will likely be answered sooner. On the other hand, an ask about something more specific that fewer mods can answer (Such as progressive vision loss or albinism) will likely take a bit longer.

How detailed is the ask? If it's a question that's more simple and can be answered without as much effort/energy, it will usually make it's way into the queue quicker than a question that's more detailed/specific to the asker's story/characters, which will take a bit longer.

What topics does the ask deal with? Sometimes there are asks with heavier topics that can be more difficult to deal with. In my experience, I find that I have trouble spending too much time on these asks at once and I'll usually draft an answer and then go back to them after a few days.

This is by no means an official 'why your ask hasn't been answered yet' post, just some clarification and a few of my own observations but hopefully it's helpful!

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

Editing to add:

A huge part of why there’s such a big backlog is also that, for around a year or more, there was really only one active mod on the blog.

As you can imagine, this blog is kind of a lot for just one person to run. So the backlog built as it was much harder for just one person to do it.

For reference, we now have 10-11 mods, which helps us be able to do more questions.

Hope that helps for some context!

Mod Sparrow

[choosingwhatmatters]

Music in The Loyal Pin, episode 3

The more I hear of the music, the more I marvel at the genius behind it. My spreadsheet of themes and motives is over two pages long, and often there are several iterations of one melody, depending on the context of the scene. Just in case you’re wondering, this is what my professional spreadsheet looks like:

I am too lazy (and frankly, too sleep deprived) to record each motif, so I am writing down the numbers of the notes. 1 is do, 2 is re and so on. After that I note down the time measure. It’s not a perfect system, sometimes my inner ear can’t make sense of what I am seeing. But again: lazy and tired :D

So, last week I talked about a piece that I call “Pin’s heavy heart.” I also introduced the concepts of major chords (which tend to sound cheerful) and minor chords (which tend to sound wistful). “Pin’s heavy heart” features a lot of minor chords, which makes sense because we often hear it when Pin is sad. Not in this episode though. In this episode, the piece plays when Patt and Pin receive Anil’s invitation to Pine Palace.

The piece starts with its usual repetition of a minor third but then – oh, how I adore it – the whole phrase lands on a major chord and continues from there. The familiar melancholy of the piece is now streaked with little sunbeams from major chords. It’s almost as if Lady Pin had a reason to feel happy. We’re seven-and-a-half minutes into the episode and my little heart is already pleasantly warm.

The piece I want to talk about this week is one I have coined “Big emotions.” It sounds somewhat like this:

There are only five instances in the show so far where we could hear this piece (I think), but they are the reason for the name "Big emotions". In episode 1, Medium Anil attempts to suck the non-existent snake venom from Pin’s wound and Medium Pin learns for the first time that Anil is to go to the UK. In episode 2, Medium Anil realises that she won’t be seeing Pin during her travel preparations and Medium Pin cries in her bedroom while Prik eavesdrops. In episode 3, Anil asks if she could show Pin Pine Palace which the latter joyfully agrees to.

The piece experiences not one, but two variations in this episode. The first is played by a glockenspiel and can be heard when Pin learns that she is to massage Anil. The second is played by an accordion and sounds when Pin presses herb compresses to Anil’s back. Big emotions indeed.

Next week, I’m definitely going to have to talk about some pentatonic shenanigans that happen whenever Anil gets close to Pin, because that is the music the episode closes with: Anil’s face getting closer and closer to Pin’s cheek while pentatonic notes keep raining down. Also, I think there is a brandnew motif that is introduced at the same time as Anil’s cousin is. I suspect that we might hear it again in episode 4 ... But for this week, I am all music-ed out.

As always, thank you so much for travelling with me through the exciting soundscapes of the show! Thank you also for the kind comments on my last post! This fandom makes my little heart all sorts of warm.

[sysmedsaresexist]

this isnt at the mods who run the blog im just ranting. for clarification

im so tired of people who clearly dont know what delusions are calling endo systems delusions PLEASE LEARN WHAT PSYCHOSIS IS IM SHAKING YOU BY THTHE SHOULDERS PLEASE ACTUALLY LEARN WHAT A DELUSION IS PLEASE LEARN HOW TO TREAT PEOPLE WITH DELUSIONS SOME OF YOU ARE SO MASK OFF WITH YOUR ABLEISM

please please please check your ableist biases. and yes you can have disabilities and be ableist society has oppressed diabled people for eons ableism is ingrained in all of us in some way

*Nods* I agree with you, anon. I often see anti-endos calling endogenic systems "delusional" in the same way that ableist singlets call CDD systems "delusional." It's to invalidate our experiences because, to them, delusions are false beliefs.

I hate this idea about delusions, though. There's tons of mounting evidence that delusions aren't random, false beliefs -- they're a person's attempt to explain confusing or overwhelming experiences. Here's an interesting excerpt from a book called Psychosis, Dissociation, and Trauma: Evolving Perspectives on Severe Psychopathology:

Surprise, surprise! Delusions may be related to trauma & dissociation. I don’t think the people slinging delusional at others really care, though. To them it’s just their “this person is faking” buzzword in the same way that non-survivors co-opted the word triggered to start calling us weak / over-reactive. Nice, ableism. Love that. /s

To dig into this a little deeper, let's talk about what a delusion is. According to the DSM-5:

"Delusions are fixed beliefs that are not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. . . The distinction between a delusion and a strongly held idea is sometimes difficult to determine and depends in part on the degree of conviction with which the belief is held despite clear or reasonable contradictory evidence regarding its veracity. Assessing delusions in individuals from a variety of cultural backgrounds can be difficult. Some religious and supernatural beliefs (e.g., evil eye, causing illness through curses, influence of spirits) may be viewed as bizarre and possibly delusional in some cultural contexts but be generally accepted in others."

Notice how they say the belief is fixed, not false. The content of the belief doesn't matter that much. What matters is the behavior and distress that it brings. Someone with a delusion is fixated on the belief, it brings them distress/impairment, it won't change even they've seen lots of evidence that disproves it, and it's not a broadly accepted belief by their culture.

Plurality is its own culture, believe it or not, and this is academically recognized. Plurality existing without trauma is a widely accepted possibility here. Just because someone people don't think it's possible doesn't make it a delusion. It's just conflicting beliefs, not delusions. (That's not to say that it's impossible for someone to have delusions about being a system, or that systems can't have delusions related to their own plurality at all. But that's for those people and their therapists to work out, not us.)

I'm with you, anon. Calling people delusional for having a different belief not only waters down the actual distress and difficulties that having delusions brings, but it also turns the lived experiences of neurodivergent people into an insult. It's ableist. It's fucking ableist.

[merlinfromberlin]

Question: Where does Bumblebee go in "New Recruit"? (S02 E18)

I've just rewatched this episode for the first time in years and I couldn't help but notice that Bumblebee just vanishes from the episode for a few minutes after they decide to bring Smokescreen to the Autobot base.

So, naturally, I was wondering what happened there? Warning, spoilers ahead!

This is the last time we see Bee in quite a while. It's at around 6 minutes 18 seconds (depending on where you watch) and at the end of the sequence introducing Smokescreen. He is standing with Ratchet and Arcee who are questioning Optimus' decision to trust Smokescreen, but doesn't say anything himself.

He actually hasn't said anything in quite a while at that point, too. I didn't look up the specific time he talks for the last time during this scene, but it's at least been 30 seconds.

The next time we actually see Bumblebee is at 13 minutes and 41 seconds (again, depending on where you're watching). You get two screenshots because the mid-transformation screenshots are just too goofy. At this point it's been almost 7 minutes and 30 seconds since we've seen him for the last time. That's more than 1/3 of the episode.

And usually that wouldn't be too weird. Sometimes bots just aren't in episodes. It happens and normally I would just roll with it. Except...

Except, this time it just doesn't make sense for Bee to not appear. If we look at the stuff that happens in between his two appearances, it's mainly three things: 1. Starscream learning of the existence of the Red Energon 2. Smokescreen and Jack bonding 3. Smokescreen and Team Prime talking in the Autobot base

It makes sense that we cannot see him during the first two scenes. But, he definitely should be there for the third one. I mean, everyone else is there: Smokescreen, Ratchet, Arcee, Optimus, Raf, Jack, Miko. Even Bulkhead shows up after a minute or two to give Smokescreen a much needed reality check.

Just Bee is missing and even though I am willing to admit that, as an ardent Bumblebee fan from day one, I might be biased here. But, at the same time, it would just make more sense for Bee to be there with the others than not.

This is at 6 minutes 25 seconds (again, might vary based on where you're watching) and even though the groundbridge has already been shut of, it is implied that they just came back. Not only does this scene come immediately after the scenes in the forest, but Arcee, Ratchet & Optimus are also just walking off of the bridge together.

So, why isn't Bee with them? From what we saw in the last scene, he was standing behind Ratchet. If anything, he should probably be behind him.

At first I thought that Bumblebee had maybe just gone first and was standing somewhere in the background. So, I kept looking out for him in the background of the scene. But, no. We get several angles of the main room (which I am not going to show with screenshots right now because it would take forever). He just never shows up.

After that, my next idea was that he might be off to pick up Raf or something. Even if it would have been odd for him to vanish just like that, it would have at least been an explanation. But, no, neither:

As we can see in this screenshot from 6 minutes 36 seconds, all of the kids are there.

I mean, he has two short cameos in the scenes he's missing from. When Starscream browses the internet, a picture of his vehicular mode can be seen for a few seconds, and Ratchet mentions him off-handedly when Raf pulls up the picture of the Red Energon. But, I wouldn't count that as really appearing.

And that was the point where I just ran out off plausible explanations for his absence in the context of this episode. So I turned to theorising:

The other bots just left him behind at the crash site to guard it or something.

Alternatively, they just forgot him at the crash site. I don't think that that is very likely, but just imagine the angst you could write about that.

Bee actually entered the groundbridge and went off to sulk. Either because of Ratchet's comment implying that he is anything like Smokescreen, or because Bee, as well as Bulkhead, is afraid of getting replaced.

And that's just what I came up with on the spot. But, like, I was really just sitting there, asking myself why they had left my precious boy behind. xD ^^"

Gosh, I would love to write some fanfiction right now. But sadly, I've been neglecting my university work all day and need to get onto that before I get to bed.

I will again admit to being biased here. Bumblebee has been my favourite character ever since I saw this show for the first time when I was 8 or 9 years old. And I remember quite vividly hating Smokescreen for stealing Bee's thunder and screen time. So, I was going into this episode spending additional attention to Bumblebee to see how much of my perception was actually true. Like, I don't want to hold a grudge against Smokescreen for misperceiving him 10+ years ago. If I end up not liking him, I want it to be because I don't like him now. (/joking)

However, I was not prepared to be proven right this fast. (/joking)

Addendum: I also mentioned at the beginning of this text that Bee stopped talking even before he disappeared visually from this episode. Even though he is present for the harbour fight scene with Starscream and the end at the base, he does not make a single beep. Not, when he is hit, not to communicate with Arcee/Optimus during the fight, not when they are back at base. Instead he just gestures, fights and exists. Tbh. I'm kind of just glad he didn't get lost on the way home again. (/s)

At the same time it makes me think that Bee's silence and disappearance were probably due to some weird time or budget issue. However, where would be the fun in that? I can't write fanfiction about that. Or, at least I don't want to.

Bonus:

I love this screenshot from the end of the fight with Starscream and the way Optimus has caught Bumblebee and proceeds to propel him up onto the platform. It's so freaking cute.

Also, like, I live for everything that can be interpreted as Optimus and Bee being parent and child. And that shot just played into that hard. :3

Confession:

I had to go back and edit this post because I wrote Mike instead of Miko. I don't know why, but I have a habit to just subconsciously exchange random vowels for e when typing and tired.

[lurkingteapot]

Hi, how would a non-binary person (me) get around the binary gender rules and vocab in Thai?

Thank on you for your amazing resources!

Hi there!

This is a question I feel like native speakers of Thai should be much more qualified to answer 😅 @recentadultburnout ? @jinitak ? Any takers?

For what it's worth, though: I also consider myself outside the gender binary, and am uncomfortable with some forms of gendered address in languages I'm fluent in, and as such have looked into it a bit. I'm barely conversational, so the things I list here have been sourced from conversations with queer and non-binary Thai acquaintances and a couple of language teachers plus my own observations, which may very well be faulty … so under the cut it goes.

First off: Thai isn't nearly as clearly binarily gendered as many beginner resources indicate. Beginner resources will say, oh, men™ say ผม (/pʰǒm/) and women™ say ฉัน (/tɕʰǎn/), but (as you may have already observed while watching shows or interviews) in reality people (queer or straight, cis or trans) will use several different pronouns for themselves and others depending on who they're talking to, and in what context—perception of gender is only one part of that. Your age, the tone of voice and level of politeness/formality you're affecting, the situation you're in at that moment, all those things affect how you talk about yourself to others, and how others talk about and to you. It's not as cut and dry as English "these are my pronouns" -- partially also because you'd kind of need to go out of your way to gender the person you're talking about in Thai.

One example: people of all genders can and do use ฉัน (/tɕʰǎn/), though I gather it's less commonly used by men these days. Contrary to what most classes will teach, men or people who are read as male may (and do!) use ค่ะ (/kʰâʔ/; often drawn out to ค่าาา (/kʰâː/ with a very drawn-out aaa)) and จ๊ะ (/tɕáʔ/) in affectionate/familiar conversation, and it's not unheard of for men to refer to themselves by their given name, either -- something a lot of teachers will say are "feminine" speech patterns. For women or people who're read as female to use particles such as ครับ (/kʰráp/) or pronouns such as ผม (/pʰǒm/) seems to be less common, though not unheard of, especially when a woman is affecting a brash personality at that moment. All that is to say … for those of us who fall somewhere in between (or outside the binary altogether), there's quite a bit of wiggle room.

Golf Tanwarin (former MP and the director of GMMTV show The Eclipse) uses different particles depending on context – I've watched interviews where they use ครับ (/kʰráp/) exclusively, others where they use both ครับ (/kʰráp/) and ค่ะ (/kʰâʔ/), and in the live spaces they opened when the Eclipse was airing, to my recollection they used ค่ะ (/kʰâʔ/) and จ๊ะ (/tɕáʔ/) pretty much exclusively. Some non-binary Thais use non-standard polite particles -- Silvy Pavida (The Warp Effect, Laws of Attraction) uses งัฟ (/ŋáp/) on their IG posts, for one example.

My personal approach (which, again! may or may not work for you) is that I go with what people expect from my appearance, and switch to other options only once I'd've got to know my conversation partner better. My reasoning for this is that as a language learner, trying to deviate from the expected language use will likely be perceived not as me trying to express my identity, but simply as me being bad at the language -- I feel like I need to attain and display a level of skill with the language that makes clear the uncommon way I use it is intentional, first. This might not be your approach! but it's worked for me so far.

What I'm doing in the meantime: I try to watch content by people who … idk, match the sort of presentation I aspire to, or who I feel kinship with? and try to emulate what they do (keeping in mind that most online content is rather informal); sometimes, when I'm comfortable enough, I will just try things out when I have the chance (though this can have embarrassing results).

tl;dr there's no way around it, but there are several ways to manage it, and you'll find out best by playing around and finding what works for you, personally :)

(also: I'm glad you found the 'learning Thai' link dump helpful <3)

[thorraborinn]

Hey, bit of an odd question maybe but I've been looking into the use of "drengr" and had a thought I hoped you might have some insight on: I know "drengr" was & can be used for women just as it is but I was wondering if, grammatically/syntactically/etc., something like "drengkona" or "drengmaer" would make any sense at all if you wanted to specify a woman-drengr without other context? thanks!

I think maybe kvendrengr but the problem would be in the semantics. What modern English-speaking heathens mean when they say "drengr" comes from a particular set phrase, drengr góðr (or góðr drengr), literally meaning something like "good lad" but used so often that it takes on a distinct meaning separate from the two words that make up the phrase. Sometimes góðr is replaced by another adjective (beztr 'best', hæfr 'competent', dugandi 'capable', etc), and sometimes it's extended to harða góðr drengr, but you can always tell that some kind of formulaic phrasing is being used.

Outside of that phrase, you need to give context to how the word is being used, or it could mean any of several different things. In Old Norse times, I'm not sure what its unmarked, "default" meaning would be, but I don't think it was the same as when it's drengr góðr. It was probably just a young, unmarried man, or maybe "someone in service to a war-leader". In modern languages it mostly just means "boy," sometimes "farmhand/hired worker" or similar. In Modern Icelandic, the phrase drengur góður can still be used regardless of gender, but drengur on its own is inherently gendering (as male), and it probably was in Old Norse too.

Just to be clear, it was used in the same sense as the phrase drengr góðr, but that isn't the only thing it meant, and you need context to make it clear that that's what's intended, and as far as I can tell it was never applied to women that way. To give you a sense of the degree to which saying the whole phrase dominated usage of the word in general, here's a section of what is returned when your search the Scandinavian Rune-text Database for "dreng":

These are mostly in the accusative so look for góðan. The one third from the bottom that doesn't say 'good' says 'best'. And yeah, I could have looked for a section to screenshot that wasn't so uniform but I also could have given three or four non-overlapping sections that looked the same. The entries that don't say góðr (or another similar adjective) in proximity to drengr are mostly using the word differently, to say that someone died young (ungr drengr), to say that someone was in service to someone powerful ([some guy's] drengr), and sometimes it's plural and indicating the people who commissioned or carved the stone, so something like "we lads did this".

There are some derived words that might be useful to you, including drengskapr (think 'dreng-ship') and the adjectives drengiligr and drenglyndr. If your context allows use of two words, then drengilig kona would be a better way to say what you're trying to say. Or you could just use an adjective in the feminine in isolation, like drengilig (though this is also the plural neuter).

Personally (without knowing more about what you're doing with this), I would either say drengr góðr and let it be ambiguous with regard to gender, or just use a different word. I think English-speaking heathens would not think drengr were as special as they do if they had a better grasp on the Old Norse vocabulary generally. Maybe something like skǫrungr; this word is actually gender-neutral in application (grammatically masculine, but is used for women very frequently, whereas calling women drengr góðr is very uncommon, and just drengr nonexistent), and all the women in the sagas who are called drengr góðr are also called skǫrungr. But if you want to be specifically clear about her gender the word kvenskǫrungr already exists. I dunno, it depends on what you're doing with it and what in particular you're trying to say.

My experience of watching heathens put drengr on a pedestal has been very weird because I speak a language where it's still used and is very normal and no more interesting than any other word. So it's like if someone from a non-English-speaking culture were like "Can you help me to make sure I understand your extremely important social and religious concept of the 'guy' correctly?" The prevalence of the phrase drengr góðr on memorial runestones indicates that yeah, this formula had a significance back then that it doesn't have now (yeah, you can still say it, but nobody's putting it on their tombstone) but man it's weird to hear, especially as a single word. To be honest most of my experience of being called a drengur involves someone being vaguely demeaning.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

would i be the asshole for contacting my ex to ask them if they could stop talking about me online to a community that knows who i am? (🥐)

tw: kinda emotionally abusive relationship

bg info

me (24f) and my ex (28) were in a three month relationship three years ago following a whole year of friendship. they were my first partner and i came out as a lesbian to everyone during our relationship. when we were together, they were 24 and i was 20. i was very emotionally dependent on them when i was 20 due to mental health issues and so were they which is probably one of the reasons why our relationship was as explosive as it was. i looked up to them, my whole emotional world revolved around them, and our friendship/relationship was the only thing i had in my life at the time. they constantly asked me "hey is it even ethical that im dating you, im 4 years older, you tell me please, oh i feel like such a bad person", yet, they still continued dating me every time they would ask.

our fights were horrible and truly explosive as they broke their stuff in front of me out of anger, threw things at me and insulted me as stupid, amongst many other things. our fights usually ensued because i would ask them for reassurance and they would start panicking and screaming at me to shut up. to be fair, i would cry every time i was asking for reassurance which probably made them feel scared about losing me, so i consider myself 50% at fault for everything that happened in our relationship, i shouldve been able to talk to them in a secure manner that wouldnt trigger their abandonment issues. our fights were quite jarring and made me walk out on them several times out of fear. yet i always came back and apologized and took the whole accountability, even though i dont consider myself the only one at fault. walking out several times during fights was probably one of the worst things i could have done but at the same time i was simply scared. even when i walked out after our last fight, they begged me to come back, which i did, i apologized under tears, and yet, told them that i cant promise them to stay no matter what.. and left.

we met through tumblr and were in a medium distance relationship. after our relationship, i went to a clinic and had to learn a lot about myself, what i experienced and what i want from life. im in a very happy and healthy place now and since the end of 2021 im with my current partner whom i want to be the love of my life and whom ive started to build a life with.

context

i have my ex blocked on all social media because they used to do hour long deep dives into my blog, even as of recently (i have statcounter installed for my safety bc im paranoid about them sending me anonymous asks). at first i also used to visit their blog after our break up but stopped doing so after moving on with my life. one year after breaking up i temporarily unblocked them and explicitly asked them not to look at my social media (or at least to do it in a way in which i dont notice aka asked them not to watch my instagram stories).

while i dont visit their blog/social media because i dont want to know whats going on in their life, tumblr mutuals frequently dm me stuff like "hey i think you should know that your ex posted about you/shit talks about something that you posted". i havent asked my mutuals to tell me whenever this happens but i imagine they do so because within the tumblr space we exist, everyone kind of knows everyone (so my ex doesnt have to mention my name for people to know who theyre talking about). sometimes mutuals send screenshots of the posts so that i dont have to visit my ex's blog. last ive heard my ex joked about throwing jewelry at me and posted extensively about a tattoo that i got. my ex's behavior makes me uncomfortable and feel just as helpless as i did back then.

why i might be the asshole

im scared that they might be venting because i was more at fault in the relationship than them and that i am unconsciously deflecting. however, i talked about every detail of the relationship and this fear extensively with my therapist, friends, and partner who are of the opinion that i was young, scared, and intertwined in a relationship that was incredibly toxic. im still unsure though because my emotions frequently triggered theirs.

why they might be the asshole

i asked them once to stop visiting my social media and i feel like venting about our relationship that broke off 3 years ago to a tumblr community of friends and acquaintances is kind of unfair. however, i might be the asshole and they might just need the space for venting. i could just ignore the vents and let them heal in their own way from what ensued.

WIBTA if i confronted them again and told them that i want them to stop talking about me online? or would i be a party pooper because every person needs a space for venting?

What are these acronyms?

[profchamomile]

Greetings! I am Nori Phoris of the Ultra Reconnaissance Squadron and I am curious about your pokemon. You have a few of what you have called ‘service pokemon’ and I am confused about their usage. From the little information I have gathered on the subject they are supposedly able to help a person with medical needs, but I fail to see how a pokemon could be utilized in this manner. I understand that pokemon are generally much more even tempered and gentle than Ultra Beasts (and that humans are not as technologically advanced as my people) but I am unsure that they could successfully do such a thing. My intent is not be rude, of course, I was just wondering.

For more information you can contact me or my partner @from-ultra-space or by sending a message to the Heahea Dimensional Research Lab in Alola. The URS Headquarters are located in Ultra Megalopolis. Thank you for your time.

Why of course; I would be happy to tell you more! Thank you so much for asking; it's wonderful that you're willing to educate yourself on the matter! This is gonna be a long post though, so bear with me!

There are several types of Service 'Mon, so I'll be addressing a few.

For a little context: I use the term "handler" to mean the human, because not everyone with a service 'mon trains their pokemon for battle, so calling them trainers is inaccurate.

Medical Alert Pokemon: Pokemon generally have very keen senses and abilities that humans don't have, and are therefore capable of sensing things in humans before humans can even sense it in themselves. This helps them in detecting seizure activity, heart conditions, fainting episodes, to name a few. These Pokemon are trained to alert their handler if they detect if the medical episode is about to happen so that the handler can take the necessary steps to prepare (for example: someone with a disorder that causes them to faint will sit down somewhere so that they don't fall and risk a concussion). The Pokemon will also ensure that the trainer is safe while they ride through the medical episode. Some Pokemon with keen sense of smells can also smell allergens for people with severe allergies, as some can be triggered by the smallest trace of said allergen.

2. Psychiatric Service Pokemon: Psychiatric Service 'Mon are for people who have certain mental health conditions that affect them so severely, it inhibits their quality of life to a major degree. Examples of this would be Anxiety, Schizophrenia, PTSD or c-PTSD, Bipolar disorder, again to name a few. Their tasks can vary greatly on the individual's needs; they can range from retrieving medications at scheduled times to calming and grounding their handler when distressed. Certain Psychic Pokemon are very good with this since they can detect emotional distress, but sometimes it can be simple as having a soft, well-tempered Pokemon that's trained for these things.

3. Guide Pokemon: This might be the most well known type of Service Pokemon. These Pokemon are trained to lead the blind or visually impaired around obstacles. The handler does the directing, and the Pokemon ensures that the handler doesn't run into any obstacles on the way or into any potentially dangerous areas. I once knew someone with an Absol for a Guide Pokemon (even though they're not easily trainable for such things), because they can detect disasters.

4. Mobility Assistance Pokemon: These Pokemon are trained to help people with disorders that affect their mobility. What they do exactly depends on the Pokemon's physical ability and the handler's needs. For example: Some Pokemon may pull wheelchairs for handlers in certain circumstances that are hard for the handler to navigate themselves (for example: Ignis can help me get up steep slopes). Some also aid with balancing issues, providing extra support or stability for the handler. If the Pokemon is big enough to ride or strong enough to carry you without getting hurt, some of them... Basically do just that to help with inaccessible areas, or in emergencies (that's not encouraged to be a frequent practice, however; more of a "do if absolutely necessary"). They can be trained to pick up certain objects for handlers who either have low dexterity or can't reach it themselves.

My Service 'Mon, Ignis and Queenie, are both Mobility Assistance 'Mon, but they have different tasks.

Ignis, my Arcanine, helps me get around outdoors. He has the strength to pull (or push) the wheelchair if needed, such as with high slopes or on a difficult path; he can also detect when I'm getting fatigued and start pulling the wheelchair himself so it's a bit easier on me (manual wheelchairs are harder than they look, since you're basically pushing your own body weight around).

Also since I can walk short distances at least: I have a special chair that's light-weight and can fold up pretty well, and has a handle for him to carry in his mouth. This is so: when we find a some stairs, I fold up the wheelchair, have him carry it, and we go up the stairs with me using him for extra support (I don't ever put my full weight into him; it's mostly for balance and to keep me from falling).

And, since I do a lot of field research, sometimes I ride Ignis for a short duration of time so he can get me to areas not easily accessible even for able-bodied people. And he can just as easily get me out of those areas in case of emergency.

Queenie on the other hand, has very different tasks. She uses telekinesis to help pick things up and move them for me. If needed, she can use it to help with moving my wheelchair as well, or help keep me from losing my balance.

Queenie is also capable of helping me do basic tasks when I'm too fatigued and the "brain fog" sets in (that's where I start struggling to think coherently due to being too physically and mentally exhausted; it affects my ability to focus, remember things, put thought into action, or even articulate myself). This technically isn't an official task of hers as a Service 'Mon; she started doing that on her own accord without being trained to do so.

Queenie's tasks are more indoor-focused while Ignis's tasks are more outdoor focused, due to a variety of factors such as their size, abilities and their types and temperment (understandably, some people can get uneasy with a large fire-type indoors).

If you or anybody else have questions on the subject, please let me know! And if anyone else with Service 'Mon experience want to share information, or even talk about what their own Service 'Mon do if they have one, by all means, feel free to do so!

[ranahan]

What do you think is the correct word for "greater Mandalorian space"? I've seen 'Mandalase', don't remember where though, and have been using Tra'Manda in my own fics. Is there anything established in canon/fanon?

Good question! I’ve pondered it myself and the answer I’ve arrived at is that there should probably be several words.

See, what is meant by “the greater Mandalorian space” probably varies depending on the time and the speaker and the context, because the Mandalorian civilisation is a bit like the Roman civilisation: do you mean Rome the city, Rome the administrative region, the Roman Empire, or the Roman world as a cultural area?

For Mandalore we have at least these different senses:

Mandalore the planet (“Mandalore actual” or Manda’yaim)

Mandalore system (which includes at least three other inhabited planets and moons)

Mandalore sector

The entire area of space administered by the Mandalorian government (which is never really defined in canon)

Mandalorian Empire (historical)

The wider Mandalorian cultural area/area influenced or historically a part of the Mandalorian Empire

The indented words are from the unedited parts of my dictionary, so they are somewhat tentative and I’m not necessarily married to them. However this is what I currently have.

#1

The first is easy, the planet Mandalore is called Manda’yaim in Mando’a.

Manda’yaim: 1 the planet Mandalore, the fifth planet in the Mandalore system, capital world of the Mandalorians; 2 during periods of diaspora, can also refer to other Mandalorian areas or enclaves

haat’manda’yaim: Manda'yaim proper; planet Mandalore in contrast to its satellite Concordia, other planets in the Mandalore system, other Mandalorian worlds, or Mandalorian enclaves of the Mandalorian diaspora

#2

The Mandalorian system we can probably form directly from the word for a star system, perhaps Mando’tolase, lit. Mandalorian system, assuming tolase is also the word used for star systems and not just for other kinds of systems (not sure which way I lean on it tbh). Or Manda’tolase, if you subscribe to the fandom take that the star Mandalore is named Manda (or a variation thereof).

Or people might colloquially refer to the Mandalorian system also as Manda’lase.

I imagine there’s probably some kind of interplanetary law which defines what area of space is considered to belong to a planetary system and what is “international waters”/deep space.

#3-4

The third is what I suppose you were asking about. I’ve seen Manda’lase all over the place, but I don’t actually know where it came from—if anyone does know, please let me know! Linguistically the derivation goes something like this: manda ‘the shared Mandalorian oversoul’ > manda’la ‘having the Mandalorian soul, i.e. Mandalorian’ > Manda’lase ‘all of Mandalorians collectively’. In any case, I rather like it and have been using it myself since it seems about as established as anything in Fando’a.

Edit: Manda’lase appears to have been coined by Batsutousai; thanks for @johamur for pointing it out!

Mando’tra, Mandalorian space could also work. Manda’tra, substituting the word mando ‘mandalorian’ for manda ‘soul’, sounds to me a bit like the emphasis is on the shared culture less than the shared administration. Not that Mandalorians themselves necessarily see a big difference there.

It’s unclear whether Mandalore sector refers to a geographical area or an administrative region. I guess in everyday speech, people might conflate the two and use Manda’lase for both. So you might end up with a definition something like the following:

Manda’lase: 1 Mandalorian space; 2 Mandalorian system; 3 Mandalorian sector (colloquially)

In any case, I haven’t come up with a word for sector I like yet, although it’s on my list of needed words.

#5-6

For the historical Mandalorian Empire, I have:

Mando’alorai (or Mand’alorai): 1 Mandalorian Empire (historical); 2 still sometimes used of the regions that used to be governed by the Empire as a cultural area

alorai (n): 1 empire; 2 realm, domain, holding, governed area

Where alorai is either a portmanteau of alor + veeray, or alor + the same nominal suffix -ai we have in e.g. parjai.

Another option is:

Ori’Manda’lase: Mandalorian Empire (lit. Great Mandalore); Greater Mandalore, the historical region of space once controlled by the Mandalorian Empire

ori’manda’la (a): imperial (of Mandalorian Empire specifically, not other empires); of or belonging to Greater Mandalore, the historical region once controlled by Mandalorian Empire

ori’manda’lase tugoten (n): Mandalorian Empire Revivalism (Revanchism), an ideology on Mandalore that supports the revival of the Mandalorian Empire and a return to Mandalore's conquering days.

ori’manda’lase tugotenii (n): Mandalorian Empire revivalist, a supporter of Mandalorian Empire Revivalism. Tugotenii for short.

I’m using revivalism and revivalist over revanchism and revanchist, because in the Star Wars universe revanchists could be confused with supporters of Revan.

In any case, I think context should determine whether you mean the historical empire as a nation state, or the historical empire as a current area of cultural influence. Most reasonable beings would use Mandalorian Empire in either of these two senses, but then you have the likes of Tor Vizsla, who’d probably use a term with a similar sense to “Greater Russia”, i.e. areas that “should” belong to or be returned to Mandalorian governance.

I have some other scattered words and thoughts about Mandalorian government and citizenship, but this is already pretty long. In any case, that’s what a quick search through my dictionary file brought up, hope you found something to your liking!

[nemo-draco]

Bendy: Secrets of the Machine Thoughts

Putting them under a spoiler cut for readability

So far, there is a lot of intrigue regarding GENT and their role, as well as the potential return of the Nightmare Run characters.

GENT's involvement so far as been more on the sidelines in the games. It's implied they have similar issues with the supernatural, and they are running experiments with the ink the Machine produces, the books also backing this up with the reappearance of Archie Carter. However, with the new character. Riley Wells, introduced, it creates a more interesting layer to this, in that it is implied that she was recruited by GENT shortly following her dismissal from JDS. Now, if she is a villain or a victim is up for debate. It could be that they hired her as a test subject similar to Archie Carter and her metamorphosis was just far more severe as a result of the traumatic experience in her childhood, or perhaps she provided the specs that ended up producing a real-life version of "Bloodwheel", the more monster-y version of Gaskette that even gets a whole song in Riley's flashback.

Riley's story is also interesting in that it provides a canon explanation for why the Nightmare Run toons are more monstrous, though it really only does so for Gaskette. She's never shown drawing any of the other bosses, just him. Which makes me wonder if maybe she was part of the character design for only him, and the others are all going to get their own stories later on in the game. I really do hope they go this route, mostly because it would be a nice callback to the no longer available Nightmare Run, and you could have some real fun with the bosses 'backstories', depending on how involved you want to be.

Can think of a few things immediately off the bat: Chester being another example of a childhood fear turned into a debilitating trauma, except involving someone who has thalassophobia strong enough to rival H.P. Lovecraft. Kind of paves the way for a lot of spooky imagery involving the ocean, ocean life, and ink.

Dewey at first seemed a little comical to think about in this context, after all, a fear of librarians seems extreme, though thinking more on it my thought is that he's the product of a different type of emotional stuckage. Instead of a fearful person, perhaps Dewey was created by a very angry person, someone who had a lot of trouble controlling their temper and would frequently blow up at seemingly minor issues. After all, Dewey's main character trait seems to be his temper, as we remember from his character card that he has a disproportionate reaction to Bendy knocking over some books. Granted, between the fact that the exact quantity of books is never mentioned, and a cartoon being a cartoon, it makes me wonder if Bendy might not have knocked over a few books, but more likely a few stacks or even whole shelves worth. I mean, what's funnier, a few books coming down or the library getting a spontaneous remodeling job thanks to a careless patron?

...It's probably not so fun for the librarian, but you get my point. So, potentially, we have someone who has a temper problem creating this character as a way to offset their issues. It might just be less helpful and creating a bit of a feedback loop, where they're constantly ruminating over their problems rather than addressing and moving on from them.

Canoodle was another one that eluded me a bit, though there are two potential driving forces that could have fueled his creation. On one front, junkyards aren't exactly friendly places sometimes, and it would be easy for some sort of accident to happen that could produce some sort of negative association, though there is also the fact that a sentient can being in a junkyard creates this almost weird mental image. You'd think that'd be a dangerous place for him, and this is somewhat proven true if you beat him in Nightmare Run, as he's promptly crushed and disposed of. So, perhaps a preoccupation with death, or a person who is constantly cheating bad or dangerous circumstances? It's something, and it could definitely be interesting played out if that's the direction they're planning on going with this.

There are also plenty of other fun moments and little easter eggs for fans, so either way, we do get something fun. I would honestly be over the moon if they did something for all of the Nightmare Run toons though. Gaskette is a good nod, and Riley's backstory intrigues me given the circumstances, and especially the apparent involvement with GENT. Kinda makes me wonder if they're, in a sense, keeping tabs on people who were associated with JDS, people who maybe would have some stronger ties to the art being produced there and potentially have a bigger reaction when the ink is used on them.

It's something to think about, for sure. If anything, I'll enjoy using these puzzle pieces in my own work.

[peapodsinspace]

Moomin x JJBA AU - Intro post!

Hello!!!! I figured I should make a post about this, and probably some other aus too eventually…

(I’m gonna go ahead and put this under a cut cus it’ll be long, but even if you don’t care about the au I promise it’s not just words!!! I put silly drawings too!!!)

Alright! So this is an au where characters from jjba are like moomin characters! To clarify, they are still in their normal universe, with stands! (I may also do some spin offs in a no stands/ actually in moomin valley version of this au too!)

I’m calling this the “JOJOxter au” because all of the jojos are joxters :]

I’ll start with a list of each species + a brief explanation of traits / details!

(Note that I have made moomins / snorks roughly the same thing in this which is why there isn’t a section for moomins)

Joxters

Joxters are very cat like, in appearance and behavior. They tend to be very adventurous, though sometimes lazy by nature (though this is the general rule, there is of course exceptions to this!).

Physical traits can include: cat-like eyes (yellow sclera and cat pupils), retractable claws, sharp canine teeth, markings on the nose bridge, cat-like ears and tails, fur on various places of the body (hands, forearms, chest, legs, etc), and whiskers.

Mymbles

Mymbles are the most humanoid of the bunch. They can be anywhere from extremely short (like little my (from moomins) or diego (in my au), to extremely tall (like mymble mama or mista). Mymbles often have a love of chaos and general shenanigans. They are also known for having strong familial bonds. Mymbles are able to hibernate, and do so occasionally.

Physical traits can include: small horns with rounded ends, skinny tails, and sharp teeth.

Snufkins

Snufkin are a mix between Mymbles and joxters. They can show traits more similar to one or the other, be a perfect mix of the two, or even change from one to the other. As such a lot of their characteristics depend on the individual!

Physical traits can include: cat-like eyes (usually without the yellow sclera), tails, sharp teeth, pointy or claw-like nails, fur on various parts of the body, and whiskers.

Muddles

Muddles are generally known for being very emotional, or feeling one (or more) emotions very strongly. Usually anxiety or fear (moomin example is the muddler), but it can be any emotion(s). They often like to collect things, and get attached to or find comfort in their collection.

Physical traits can include: long floppy ears (like a rabbit’s), whiskers, long tails, fur on the legs, and large eyes.

Snorks

Snorks are very round looking creatures, known for being very soft! They are able to change the color of their fur based on their emotions. Snorks are known for being friendly or accommodating, but this is more due to general snork philosophy rather than a trait! They often have many hobbies, and are known to be very big on hibernating the winters away, though they don’t have to.

Physical traits can include: pointy ears, long tails with tufts of fur on the end, paw pads, and round faces

Here is a doodle page I did to decide how I want to draw each species:

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I just realized how long this is… yikes

Anyways! That’s basically the meat of it, so next is mostly just doodles!!!

Here’s bruno and jotaro! (Bruno is a snufkin and jotaro is a joxter)

[image ID in alt text]

Here’s drawings of diego and silver bullet I did:

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For context, this is how horses are drawn in the moomins (or at least *a* horse) and I thought it would be funny to draw them like that too!

So diego rides a normal sized horse in this, since having a small one would put him at a severe disadvantage in the race!

Here’s some miscellaneous drawings! (For reference fugo is a muddle, narancia and mista are mymbles, jolyne is a joxter, and FF is a snork!)

[Image ID in alt text]

In this au instead of FF being plankton, they’re a bunch of hattifatteners!

Alrighty!!! That’s all! I hope you enjoyed, even if you just skimmed everything :]

Please reblog, comment, or send me asks about this au if you have any questions!!!

[myobsessionsspace]

Fatigue

Kinda Random Thoughts a couple of days after the 'last BTS Live'

Ngl feeling a bit of mental and emotional fatigue.

I think it’s safe to say it’s going around.

The sad thing about social media is no matter how much you try and curate your own bubble with things that make you happy and positive people, it’s hard to maintain. Social media is a representation of everyday offline people. Regular people behind the usernames with their own opinions, experiences, likes and dislikes (celebrities are regular people too, just famous for something or talented and known for it).

Though it’s good for growth and maturity to not just surround yourself with the same opinions and thoughts as yourself, it’s also tiring when you feel the need just be understood. When you can never enjoy things in peace because others need more information, more context, need to pick apart, need to make their side seen, their conclusions/interpretations the decisive one.

Over the years we’ve had SEVERAL Jikook lives, OT7 lives or lives with some of the members as well as Jikook. I, like most of us, LOVE Jikook lives. When watched in its entirety we not only see their ‘moments’ but we see them as regular people, we then can discern the fake from true when we see fake subs, edits etc. What makes Jikook even more interesting and captivating, to me, is when I can see the similarities as well as the exceptions in their interactions with each other and their other members. I found Jikook AFTER I found BTS…

and not only do I love their lives with primarily the two of them, I also love their solo lives, their lives with other members and OT7 lives. All the members are interesting in their own ways and their lives shed light on them and the other members, Jikook included. Watching their lives (though still them putting their best face forward and always aware that they’re being watched by millions) is so much more rewarding than just watching edits, summaries etc from the likes of TikTok, YouTube and other platforms. It’s fun AFTER watching their lives to then see what army have done to have fun with them, such as funny edits, fake FUN subs etc.

**please please please, weverse is free, whenever you have the time, watch the lives there with the subtitles there, though not always the best, it’s better than those who may not translate for altruistic reasons**

It gets me down sometimes the constant need it seems, within fandom culture, to microanalyse every piece of content we get. We have the need to seek out hidden messages, hidden looks, put context behind what is and isn’t said. Give explanation where it isn’t needed and draw conclusions from what isn’t said.

Most of the time it’s cute, fun and ‘harmless’

But sometimes 😪

MANIPULATION, MISINFORMATION & MISTRANSLATION

Without agenda, edits, cuts, slow mo and with context & rightful subtitles - Original Weverse Source

It’s always been this way and sadly seems like it always will be. I like context, I like information, when possible I like to get it from the original source. It’s nice when busy and unable to read whole interviews or watch whole lives, to see little snippets and clips that float around online. But it’s so draining when those little clips and snippets are then used to paint different pictures and narratives depending on the sharer’s biases/intention. When it’s aimed at making members into villains, defaming their characters etc.

It’s rarely the case that the purpose for lives (when there is one) ends up being appreciated solely for that. Just the members wanting to connect with their fans.

mukbangs, karaokes, Legos, q&a’s, tmi’s, messages of thanks, birthday lives, just because lives. All the times they go on live that can be appreciated for just that end up being used as material for hate

Everytime it should be healing to interact with those we are fans of, after the initial wave of euphoria is over, undoubtedly what follows is soo much negative noise, new narratives, more hate etc.

As I said before I try to curate my timelines, who I follow, things I like & comment on etc but sometimes the need to correct misinformation, the need to defend the lies and negativity means I still end up seeing so much of the bad.

REAL (Weverse Original Source)

FAKE!

I know this is a cycle and I have choices and am not being forced to be anywhere.

It’s just one of those days where I want to word vomit on my blog.

I just want to enjoy BTS and Jikook peacefully and positively. Why can’t everyone want to do the same for their faves?? Why is it always so angry and combative and about winners and losers, horrible name calling and malicious lies, insults, nasty images etc. Why campaigns to cause mental anguish to members and their family? To sabotage and try to get members separated or even imprisoned. Why mass report playlists and accounts? Why when more often than not, it changes nothing.

If you don’t like something why spend so much energy on it? The members will still interact with each other, those that have ships & biases remain and Jikook will still be Jikook 💅

I know social media is a representation of the real world and that there are nasty people in the real world, so of course it makes sense that there are nasty people online, it’s just tiring and sucks the fun out.

They won’t stop me enjoying BTS’ music & content, them as individuals and a group nor will they stop me enjoying whatever Jikook chose to share with us,

but everyone once in a while it does mean I get social media fatigue, fandom fatigue and the need for me to do posts like this.

💜

Please use this post to share on the good things you like about the fandom, the group and BTS & Jikook online spaces. Let’s bring the positivity back for ourselves 💪

I hope anyone feeling like me can find what they need to keep on going in the fandom or make the move to take a break 💜