#.musings / this ain't about you

[theneighborhoodwatch]

i love franklydear as much as the next guy, but i have to admit i’m always a little thrown off by how much fanwork portrays them as married from the get-go, because part of the appeal of franklydear for me is the prospect of someone having their gay awakening while also experiencing the muppets’ adaptation of silent hill.

[mad-hunts]

can i just say that i have a love / hate relationship with carrd? because i literally just spent the last thirty minutes trying to find out whether i could somehow restore barton's carrd to its previous version (,,: and this is because it somehow got overwritten by the first version i had it set to... though i had no luck with doing so, so i had to rewrite the sections that got lost and i just. WHYYY

[brutalmasks]

[lususnatura]

i just know that blamore's hammock is huge because it's a cuddler and not only likes doing so with his partner, but with friends as well. though, of course, the kind of cuddling with friends would be a bit different; and it would wanna make sure they're comfy with the idea first. but goshhh... i can just imagine blamore trying to comfort a friend this way with it's arms around them + while murmuring to them that it's 'gonna be okay,' which makes me wanna WEEP 😭 i love him sm your honor (even though blamore has certainly committed his own fair share of atrocities but SHHH)

[anthromimicry]

okay, so i believe it's time to talk about what kind of powers misao possesses. let me start off by saying that she is by no means invincible and/or invulnerable: so, she can be defeated in combat, of course. i just wanted to affirm that with y'all because she does have an enhanced healing factor. but unlike a regenerative healing factor, which heals a lot of things pretty much automatically, it does still take a good amount of time for her to heal. i'd say it's just a bit faster than a human's ability to heal, and so she can not do things like regrow limbs / reattach her head.

BUT to counteract her lack of a more proficient healing ability... misao and all jorōgumo can produce very sharp, silk-like threads and manipulate them to their liking to attack other's + create constructs out of these silk threads that can be used as weapons. and thus, one could argue that she has a certain 'advantage' over humans since this is a long-range attack, which would mean only they would have to get closer to her in combat if they didn't have any long-range weapons themselves. being a spider in actuality, misao can also make webbing that comes from within her. also, because of her true nature as a spider, misao can control diminutive spiders or just regularly sized spiders at will.

another, and her last ability, is that she has venom available at her disposal much like a real spider that targets the central nervous system / is a potent neurotoxin ( in which she would transfer directly into someone through a bite ) buttt the thing is is that she will often not use this method of killing, and/or seriously harming someone because of how long it takes for her body to regenerate the venom. thus, most of the time, misao will only use it if she is in a very dire situation where she has to defend herself or someone she cares about.

and as a result, those who are in combat with her don't really have to worry about her using this ability unless she's genuinely on death's door or something of that nature. so yeah; i hoped this gave you all a little more insight as to what exactly she can do with her powers as a jorōgumo.

[oculusxcaro]

Khare is not an inherently violent person but she will have violent reactions when it comes to certain situations. These involve jumping her from behind (especially trying to get a bag over her head), coming anywhere near her with a needle or jumping out at her while wearing a bear costume. These are guaranteed to get her kicking and biting.

[agapestricken]

alright, yeah, manja may be kind of sly... BUT have you also considered that she's a seven foot tall partially moth-like woman with luxurious, long black hair and glowing yellow eyes? like she's honestly gorgeous and i'm tired of pretending like she's not okok (LMAO i'm just joking as i know this account is still new so i haven't talked about her much 💀 but even with the, uhhh, body horror thing's manja's got going on — she is stunning)

[ultfan]

HOW TO WORK WITH KOMAEDA.

given komaeda's dementia it is essentially impossible to convince him of something that goes against what he believes. because of that it can also be very difficult to convince him to do things he doesn't want to do either. even if it's something that is objectively good for him. so here are some little notes on what komaeda would be receptive and unreceptive to in most circumstances. obviously this doesn't have to have any impact on how your muse interacts with him. 90% of people probably won't even know he has dementia so they probably wouldn't know how to deal with it regardless. and the people that do know are probably pretty uneducated on the topic— and maybe a bit unwilling to learn given... everything. komaeda may be aware of his diagnosis but he isn't always aware of how it effects him.

DON'T:

tell him he's wrong/insane/crazy. at the end of the day he just won't believe that. he'll think your ignorant or a fool or you just don't get it. if he's not very critical of the person talking to him he will probably feel a bit dejected about being misunderstood.

try to use logic with him. if you try to explain why what he is doing/saying is inappropriate— or scold him— he will either double down or apologize without realizing why he's being scolded. it will not change the behavior. he will be back doing it pretty soon after. he is quite literally incapable of comprehending what it is that is inappropriate or how it is inappropriate. the only thing he will understand is that you are upset with him/trying to control his behavior. which may upset him, sadden him, or make him trust you less. (NOTE: when komaeda apologizes for something most of the time he is doing it because he knows "someone is upset with me so i should apologize and maybe act more compliant." it is not because he's actually sorry. he just knows that's what he should do in order to pacify them).

use questions to get him to do things he is adverse to. for example: "komaeda, don't you want to try eating something healthier?" / "komaeda don't you think you should take a shower?" — giving him the option to say no to something he doesn't want to do is just going to have him brush the requests aside. of course this doesn't apply for everything, just stuff he is already pushing back against or avoiding.

force him to do things he is adverse to. while komaeda is not someone who physically fights back against things (if you try to forcibly drag him or restrain him for some reason) it will make him irritated, cause you to lose his trust, and possibly make him panic depending on what it is you're trying to make him do. while you can sometimes get him to come do things willingly by getting upset/lashing out at him, this harkens back to his behavior with apologies. he will still be cross with you even if he acts like it's okay because he will feel like you've taken away his agency. his low self worth makes him slightly more willing to give it up if you're harsh with him, but just because he thinks it's "only natural" he's treated that way doesn't mean it won't be upsetting.

DO:

be patient with him. komaeda is someone who could really use someone to take the time to sit down and tolerate him. he is extremely difficult to deal with so it's important to actually put in the time and effort to understand him.

try to speak his language. he won't listen to your logic or reason— he has his own way of thinking about things that will not budge. so if you want him to comply with you it's better to actually go along with his delusions rather than reject him. tell him you're doing something to combat despair— or that his actions will be a stepping stone for your hope. it's natural instinct to want to try to steer komaeda away from these mindsets, as they fuel his self worth issues and tend to be harmful. but because it's something he isn't capable of changing his mind on it is better to twist his words and beliefs into things that benefit him. take him on a walk for the sake of hope, run errands with him and tell him it will keep you from falling into despair. he'll be happy to comply 90% of the time.

redirect his negative behaviors. if he is being rude or seemingly harmful it is better to try to move him on to a different task rather than indulge it by trying to reason with him/scold him. if you're pulling him away from causing problems for another party explain the deal to them so it doesn't cause more damage than necessary and so that they might know how to tackle things in the future. komaeda being an asshole to some reserve course student? let him know that you need help practicing your talent or something and have him move onto something less harmful. knowing him he'll probably switch back over into being his pleasant, smiley self pretty quickly.

invite him to do things he is adverse to doing on his own. tell him to do something with you rather than asking if he wants to do something, like in the don't section. for example: "komaeda we're having salad tonight, let's go eat." / "hey komaeda i'm gonna go rinse off you should come with me." — it's a subtle difference but it does help. if he is still being difficult you can refer back to speaking his language and trying to basically trick him into doing stuff he should be doing for his own good.

as a final note here i do think that junko is someone who kinda knew how to speak komaeda's language here, getting him into ultimate despair by using his ideas of how hope grows stronger by overcoming despair. in my personal headcanons i've imagined matsuda helping komaeda with his dementia and/or researching his brain, which would be a perfect gateway for junko to know of his disease along with the odd behaviors that come with it.

[glaciescustodia]

When that one line lives rent free in ur head but you know its much darker than this smooth talker implies 🙃

[kerstrel]

i miss 2020 mcyt fandom vibes........

[ultalliance]

What if I kept drowning you in tags? What then? Tag dump pt.3/3(?)

I will definitely add more muses ny'all know me

[lususnatura]

blamore having to wear things like back-less shirts / lower - cut tops and just items of clothing that will allow him SOME sort of free range of movement for his tail in general + will actually not constrict his rib cage may just make him a fashion icon y'all... sorry, i don't make the rules ( nah i'm just joking around with you guys LOL... mostly )

[saucy-mesothelioma]

Not gonna lie, explaining life in the south to people whose knowledge is limited to incest memes and the time they watched Forrest Gump and Deliverance can be really fuckin funny if they're not dicks about it. Like tellin them that half of the recommended tourist attractions listed for your state on the internet are museums you ain't been to since your 3rd grade field trip. And it's not an exaggeration either, I looked up tourist attractions for my state and I'd only recommend 2 out of the 10 spots listed because the others are just a waste of time and money. The best places to go whenever you visit are places not even listed on any of the websites.

Another thing that's fun to explain is like the actual sizes of most places down here. This video explains it perfectly, but the comment section had a few ones he missed that are absolutely worth mentioning:

•Speed Trap Towns: The town that no matter how slow you're going, you WILL get pulled over and WILL get a speeding ticket in, because that is pretty much the only income the town actually has.

•Suburban Nation: Places that are called "cities" but are pretty much just a few shopping centers and chain restaurants surrounded by endless neighborhoods because the land was cheap back in the 90s.

•" Back down the Hollar": Mostly just one big family compound with all the land owned by Grandpa Jeb and various structures and mobile homes dotting the landscape.

There was also this hidden in the comments section that was too perfect not to add because holy shit is it accurate.

"When telling people where you're from, you also have to consider your audience. This is my method:

- If they are invited to my house - say we're a mile and a half south of the nearest LUD If they live in the same state and are closer to my parents' age give the name of the nearest town

- If they live in the same state and are closer to my age -I give the name of the nearest city, and then the next nearest city if the first one didn't work

- If they are from a neighboring state treat it like a Kind of Between situation, but just say it's northwest of one of the major cities because there are no major cities in the other direction for hundreds of miles If they are from a distant state give the name of my state. If they ask me to be more specific, ask, 'Do you know the name of any cities in my state?'"

[anthromimicry]

thinking about how the first time misao makes a friend with a muse on here, she's probably going to be SO fiercely protective of them. because trust me when i say... misao hasn't had an actual friend in a while. thus, she mayyy or may not cling to them a bit and i know that that could lead to a possibly unhealthy attachment between them forming on her side, but. i just imagined them being in a situation where your muse got severely hurt and perhaps by accident by someone who was trying to make up with them, so the ex-friend (or whoever they may be to your muse) naturally tries to reach out to them to help. but misao absolutely REFUSES to let them touch your muse.

and she does this by holding them close to her in such a way that no one would be able to pry them away from her. plus, if your muse was hurt by another human or something then i feel like this would just make her reaction to it even worse, since this would just give her all the reason NOT to trust humanity as a whole in her mind; and also for the desire for her quote unquote 'save' the only purely good one she has known in quite some time getting stronger. plus, the implications behind misao just glaring at them and yelling at them to go away because SHE'S going to take care of them, not them... AHHH like, i can honestly see it from each sides point of view, but misao just wouldn't give a single crap about who they were to your muse because they hurt them and that's all that's important to her

[mad-hunts]

Joker has a lovely singing voice, does Barton sleep better to lullabies or songs? Or just feel more at ease because of them? I imagine Joker would sing for her cell block on particularly bad nights...

OOH, she does? honestly... i love that for her — and i can totally imagine your joker having a beautiful voice, NGL!! but that's an interesting question as well as a very sweet sentiment... like, oh my gosh 🥺 now i'm even MORE of a fan of the concept of the rogues being there for each other in arkham, like you were talking about, because they don't really have anyone else. i honestly don't think that barton grew up with having lullabies sung to him, TBH. i think that he did have several songs sung to him as a kid (particularly by his surrogate dad, winslow) when he couldn't sleep, however, and they did help.

so i'm inclined to say the same would apply for him now; especially with barton's reputation for nights being the worst time for him quite often, because he doesn't have anything to distract him from his thoughts. and that is outside of arkham. so, INSIDE of it? they'd probably unfortunately be even worse because barton REALLY doesn't like not being in control of a situation. and some sedatives do have a possibility of giving you terrible side effects like trembling + muscle spasms, so yeah 😬

i could picture music affecting him positively / helping him feel more at ease. this does make me want to ask one question, though. what kind of songs does joker like? because don't get me wrong, anything would probably help barton, BUT i'm just curious (,:

[visualtaehyun]

I hate hate hate that twt is the main place-to-be to keep up to date with Thai artists cause the negativity, entitlement, bitterness and hate drives me up the goddamn walls! Fandom is supposed to be fun and a happy place!! Like, I mostly follow ZeeNunew and the amount of toxicity I see in their fandoms is so headache-inducing 😩 I realize it's because their fandoms are big so the bad apples stick out more but why are twt users always up in arms? All I see these days is people badmouthing and boycotting the company and staff members (to the point they're even leaving the fandom and the artists they say they love), looking down on the gen3 boys for "trailing after znn" and "leeching off their fame", being petty to and fighting with other fandoms who they feel they've been slighted by in the past (I'm so sorry on behalf of znn fans being rude and unkind to FreenBec's fans for example 😭), constantly demanding apologies and "professionalism so as to not further damage the artist's image and work opportunities" ...the list goes on and on!

This tweet sums it up perfectly (and I'm sure this exact same shit happens in lots and lots of fandoms on twt 🥲):

The amount of staff members and znn themselves I've seen just within this year having to post on socials to literally just go- Please stop verbally abusing staff 🫠 Literally how many more ways can sweet polite darling Nunew ask fans to just trust him to make good decisions and surround himself with people who want the best for him and to please take a step back and calm down? Being a public figure is wild, I could never, I swear my boy Gawin Caskey made the best choice in barely even using social media in the first place 🙏