#Even if they can't really do much harm with it

[teaboot]

I feel like if you're using a lot of disposable plastic bags in your day to day life, you've gotta do something sustainable to make up for it. Like using bamboo toilet paper or eco friendly cat litter or something, yknow

Honestly I exaggerate for comedic effect, while I DO routinely use ziplock bags to hold spaghetti I cook maybe once a month and the bag itself is usually for freezer storage. I actually throw out maybe one bag a week? I DO hate washing plates and tupperware and junk but that usually just means I eat sandwiches without a plate.

I agree though that needless waste should be avoided, and I do avoid it- biodegradable bags and recyclables, empty butter tubs used to store leftovers, etc.

This said, though, not applicable necessarily for myself but for a lot of others- I feel that it's importat to remember that there are many people who legitimately NEED things like plastic straws, or catheters, or pre-packaged foods

And the idea that that's a moral failing that individuals need to personally make up for when a single billionaire blows out more CO2 in a long weekend than I will in my whole life on a superjet meet-cute in the Bolivian rainforest between humvee drag races funded by the river-polluting textiles plants they planted in a third world country to avoid EPA laws and give an entire village stillbirths and stomach cancer is an idea that those very same bigwigs have spent a LOT of time and money investing in planting in the public psyche.

Like- Glass bottles are infinitely recyclable, so why are so many drinks in plastic now? Loads of drinks manufacturers used to buy them back and clean them for re-use, so why did they stop? If they chose to make something out of a limited and environmentally irresponsible material, why is it my failing to track down a correct process of disposal for them? What if there are none in my area? Do I lobby for more recycling plants in my area? Do I set aside some of my limited time outside the pain factory of my job- which I have more than one of, thanks to rising costs of things just like that drink I just emptied- to properly dispose of this company's waste FOR them?

Say coca-cola just rolled up to your town and started dumping millions of empty plastic bottles in the street, going, "wow, you should really think about building and staffing a recycling depot, it would be really shameful of you to just put these in the trash." When companies purposefully use materials with limited lifespans- because yes, even plastic can only be reused so many times- and tell you it's your own fault if it harms the environment- that's essentially what they're doing, just with more steps.

Yes, its important to be as environmentally concious as we can in our day to day life, but responsible sustainability is not catholicism. We don't get good boy points from our lord and savior Captain Planet every time the average low-income household gathers together to hold hands and repent for a single-use plastic that allows them to access something they need.

Entire families could eat trees and shit dead lithium batteries for years and still not do as much damage to the planet as an average dye plant or braindead celebrity does in a week just for fun, and I'm mad about it

...this went on longer than intended.

TL/DR: DO recycle and minimize waste, but don't beat yourself up over the little waste you can't avoid, and follow the money.

EDIT: Part 2

[moonys-tea-leaves]

I don't give AF how people identify - if you want to do all that and call yourself non-binary, go for it. I don't even fucking care if a genuinely cis person tries on a trans identity for awhile.

I consider there to be a giant difference between a person who cannot safely come out so privately, in safe spaces, uses different pronouns but has to use the pronouns of their assigned sex for safety reasons - and a person who claims to be transgender/non-binary while claiming to have no dysphoria, dressing cisnormative for their assigned sex, and always using the pronouns associated with their assigned sex.

People who cannot safely come out - that's not what I'm talking about here.

I have a problem with people who claim to be any variety of transgender while comfortably living and presenting cisnormatively for their ASAB - and then try to alter the direction of the transgender community in ways that are harmful to trans people who need to socially/medically transition.

Honestly, I'm skeptical about exactly how much voice they should really have in the community.

For large-focus support: I do believe that large-focus support should embrace them and be safe spaces for cisnormative presenting trans people.

Individual trans people? Some of us are going to be skeptical about cisnormative presenting trans people, because the fact is that some of them are cis people who are trying on our identity for funsies and will get bored and go back to being cis.

There are a lot of aspects of transgender life that a cisnormative presenting person is never going to experience and a lot of trans people aren't going to be able to relate to a cisnormative presenting person regardless of their gender identity. There are going to be conversations we don't want to have them present for.

And, listen, I've got no real patience for cisnormative presenting people who don't have much dysphoria and face no serious problems for their identity getting pissy about the rest of us not "embracing them enough" - because the rest of us are fighting for our fucking lives and face so much discrimination because we can't just fit into society's box of our ASAB the way you can.

"The nonbinary afab who goes by she/her, dresses femininely, and uses a push-up bra when I—" when you what? What's wrong with her?

Is she not nonbinary enough for you? Is the way she experiences her queerness and how she presents not perfect enough for you? Nonbinary people don't owe you androgyny, right? So why is she the exception? Why does she have to hate herself to appeal to your standards? Why is she any less trans—any less worthy of respect—cause it's "not visible"? Queer solidarity my ass. Don't spout this bullshit on Pride, man.

[barcaatthemoon]

fireball || alexia putellas x reader ||

Alexia learns firsthand why you don't drink often.

The shots that many bars in vacation areas gave were much bigger than the shots that you wereused to. Alexia had warned you of this several times, and yet, you still hadn't slowed down one bit. The two of you were still in Barcelona for the night, but she had indulged you in letting the two of you go to one of the places only tourists sought out. It was a bit gimmicky and most of the staff spoke primarily English. Alexia hated it, but you absolutely loved it.

"Ale, come dance with me!" Alexia stared at you skeptically. You could barely stand up straight, having nearly fallen twice as you tried to get another drink at the bar.

"One dance, and then we have to go amor," Alexia told you. You nodded, more than happy to leave with Alexia. However, you didn't realize that Alexia wasn't taking you home for the reasons that you wanted her to. She needed to get you in a bed for some sleep, but you could feel a subtle hum in between your legs as Alexia held you for the dance.

You tried and failed to dance on Alexia to seduce her, instead managing to nearly fall onto the ground. Alexia caught you and simply carried you out of the club. You would have normally protested, but you were more than enjoying the view of Alexia's ass as she carried you over her shoulder.

"You're so strong. Will you hold me up against the wall and fuck me?" you asked her. Alexia's jaw dropped at how nonchalantly you asked her that. You were definitely the bashful one in your relationship, often trying to bat Alexia away when she started kissing you in public. For you to just say that on a busy night street where anybody could hear was a sign that Alexia should have made you stop drinking an hour ago.

"Amor, you are very drunk. I would not feel right taking advantage of you in this state," Alexia told you as she helped you into the car. You whined and pouted, nearly on the verge of tears as you mumbled incoherently. Alexia sighed as she realized just how long of a night she was in with you. It wasn't often that you even drank a glass of wine with dinner, much less got drunk. She had learned on a trip with your national team that you were a legendary drunk, hundreds of stories coming from just a couple handfuls of nights.

Alexia thanks whatever powers in the universe she needed to that you willingly let her carry you inside. You seemed eager to get out of the car, and you managed to make the ride without getting sick. Alexia knew that it was only a matter of time, most of the alcohol you had been drinking was cheap and full of sugar. Still, you had enjoyed yourself, and that was the whole point of tonight. Alexia had given you the green light to do whatever you wanted, promising that she'd stay sober to take care of you.

"Ale, now that we're home, we can do shots!" you cheered. You made a beeline for the kitchen, but Alexia stopped you. She held onto your waist as she guided you to the couch to sit down.

"Wait here, I'll be right back," Alexia told you. You pouted, but sat there anyway. She grabbed a couple of snacks that she knew you liked whenever you'd been drinking and a bottle of water. It was a struggle to get you to drink the water, claiming that it would completely ruin your buzz.

"I can't believe that Alexia Putellas has regular chips. You always get on me for snacks," you pouted. Alexia sighed, not having the heart to tell you that she kept those around for you. You stayed on top of your fitness better than anybody Alexia had ever met, so she didn't see the harm in keeping a couple of little snacks for you around at her place. It had been early in your relationship when she asked if your snacks were approved by the nutritionist, long before she knew how hard you really worked.

"Maybe you're a bad influence," Alexia teased. That seemed to be the wrong move as your eyes began to well up with tears. Alexia quickly backtracked, but as she continued to talk, Alexia noticed that your attention was elsewhere. "Amor, you aren't getting sick are you?"

"I don't like this," you said as you pulled your top off. Alexia quickly covered her eyes, despite having openly stared as you got dressed earlier that day.

"Why are you undressing?" Alexia asked, slightly panicked.

"Because it's hot. And I'm hot. God, it's almost the winter, and I am baking Ale!" you exclaimed. Alexia rolled her eyes as she dropped her hand, unsurprised to see every bit of your clothing on the ground. "Let's go to bed."

"Are you just going to sleep naked?" You nodded as you stumbled your way towards Alexia's bedroom. Alexia followed you in and watched as you fumbled your way through your nighttime routine. Alexia tried to help where she could, but you were stubborn about doing it yourself. Alexia went through her own routine and found you asleep in bed by the time that she was halfway through the second step.

[ceilidho]

Me: I don't like fauxcest so I'll avoid the tag/ block any accounts.

Also me: I want a daddy Dom who's really big on being a prodiver, probably got daddy issues himself, is an older man and financially secure. Makes sure I'm fed, well dressed and happy. Maybe even makes me live with him so he can just freeuse me and have something to look after because he just really wants to-

Like. I know it ain't the same but everyday it feels like it's borderline treading into that territory and idk if I can face myself or have the strength to accept that about myself. Like I use to be a puritan prude in my youth so the fact I ended up with a daddy kink would make my teen self disgusted. But ya know, shit happens.

I probably won't ever pass over that territory as I do get icked out by the idea of referring to a sexual partner as 'dad' or anything like that. So it's clearly not for me but I need some people to look at themselves TRUELY look at the stuff they're into or want in a partner coz probably like me, they are one kink/good fic/wild fantasy away from the "gross icky kinks!!" They wanna ban so much

Ever since I became an adult and started exploring what I like, letting myself read fics I was like "I'm not gonna like this but I'm desperate for content" and then come out of a changed person - I do start caring less. Do I still have my own opinions and icks and such? Yeah but like, the best thing about the Internet is that you can just block tags, block people or images that don't agree with you. Keep to your bubble of people who agree with you and such, but like, if you're not atleast aware or open to the fact your views may be hypercritical or even abit weird or taboo yourself - that's just destined to fail.

I think a lot of people can't separate identity from interests either, or they feel incredibly locked in with their identity.

like, you're allowed to find things gross, block them, or enjoy reading certain topics but only to an extent (like you won't allow yourself to enjoy anything beyond your limit because you're scared about what you'll uncover about yourself). it's also fine to one day come back to those same things and reevaluate your original opinion.

I'm not sure how to describe this but I feel like a lot of people have this tendency to equate any Thing they enjoy with subsuming that thing into their personality/identity, and if you think that way, then obviously any potential interest seems like a Threat to the persona/identity you've been meticulously building your entire life. which is terrifying! i do understand that there's a large group of people that probably equate reading/enjoying any content that's remotely dark to a real life want.

I personally think the most generous thing you can do for yourself is say "okay, I enjoyed that. it doesn't have to mean anything." you can read the kinkiest erotica ever and then go on to enjoy a vanilla sex life (or no sex life! tons of asexual people enjoy erotica). it simply doesn't have to be a big deal.

and this is also not saying you have to enjoy or force yourself to enjoy content that disgusts you. the brain is just complex. if you're living life in a way that is compassionate and avoids causing harm to other people, but some of your interests/kinks tend to veer towards the dark/taboo, just give yourself the grace to realize that an interest is not this Big, Horrible thing that'll destroy you and turn you into something monstrous.

[oddlydrawnfriend]

Considering how 911 has forgiven every terrible parent of the main characters, not forgiving Eddie who has devoted his entire life to Christopher since he was born would be absolutely ridiculous. Like Buck's whole speech to Chris on why to forgive Eddie is him forgiving his own parents who drove him to self-harm to gain attention? Which is way worse than what Eddie did. We've been told time and time again how much Eddie's parents messed him up in canon, and now suddenly they are the more 'stable' choice to parent a kid?

Another point if we continue with Eddie losing Chris is it would reinforce the very harmful lie that Eddie thinks: he cannot have joy, forgiveness, and identity outside of his son.

The blowout with Kim only happens once Eddie tries to find closure with Shannon in a very messed up form on non-consensual therapy. Eddie recognized what he was doing wrong and tried putting a stop to it. He was not going to go to Kim again after telling her about Shannon. But once he finds some sort of closure, he is punished harshly by his son walking in and then walking out of his life, making his worst nightmare come true.

He finds forgiveness with the help of the priest and joy in a very very long time? The newest clip seems to punish him immediately with now Chris might not even come back.

CHRIS'S POV

Even from Chris's POV, it doesn't make sense that somehow both the Diaz grandparents suddenly gained emotional intelligence and maturity to raise Chris in a healthy environment to get over his trauma when they couldn't do that for more than 30 years?! Chris is avoiding, I doubt he is getting therapy there to deal with it. It was traumatic and he is valid for being mad but staying mad is hurting him. Eddie's whole arc and issue stem from the toxic masculinity that he needed to unlearn which makes him the king of repression. You know who caused a silly goofy man (Eddie at his core is very silly and is forced to be serious) to repress? His parents who are now somehow better options to deal with Chris's complicated emotions?

They think Chris loves the water, but they don't know the enormous work Eddie did to help Chris get over the tsunami. Chris breaks down during COVID because he misses Carla and his friends which dredges up his abandonment issues? They don't know that it was Buck who supported him through it and how Eddie adjusted his relationship with Ana to make him more comfortable. They don't know that Eddie quit the job he loved so Chris wouldn't be scared of losing him. They don't know how scared Chris was when Eddie got shot. We often focus on how Buck broke down and how Chris hugs him but Chris is breaking down with him together.

THE WILL (DISREGARDING ROMANCE)

Eddie's not stupid. He didn't put Buck instead of his parents in his will out of spite. Because really when it comes down to it, Buck was the best option for the will in canon. In the very beginning, we were told Tia Pepa and Abuela can't take care of Chris full time (thus, Carla). But Carla is paid for her job, she won't be on the will. Eddie has no other family in LA and we don't know how his situation is with his sisters. However, considering canon implies then to be younger (thus his parentification), Eddie would consider them too young (subjective) to raise his son. None of the 118 is as involved with Chris as Buck is. In fact, a big reason is the fact that is that Buck allows the Diaz boys a safe space which Eddie was not allowed to have growing up.

Buck has respected Chris's autonomy (admires it even- canon from s2), supports and listens to him without making him feel bad, expresses his emotions and finds ways to support him (like finding equine therapy, accessible skateboard) and respects his decision even if he doesn't like it (going to Texas). And I'm not saying because of Buddie or anything. Even if they remain platonic co-parents (co-parenting as described by Oliver Stark and Ryan Guzman), they serve as parallels to things Eddie wouldn't have gotten from his parents if he was in Chris's position.

Eddie was forced to manage his mother's emotions while his father was absent. Chris has a dead/absent mother but never has he had to manage Eddie's emotions. When Eddie has a mental breakdown, he calls Buck and is told to focus on his own healing (equine therapy). Time and time again, Eddie has said that his problems are not on Chris to help.

When Chris wakes up crying from a nightmare about the tsunami, Eddie gets him help and never criticizes him. What do you think happened when Eddie would wake up from his own nightmares after being discharged from the army? He was living with his parents, Shanon and baby Chris, there's no way his parents didn't know about it. We have proof in canon that Eddie never received any help and Shannon was at the end of her rope until she abandoned him. All his parents did was fight him for custody and applaud him for almost dying (aka silver star).

POSSIBLE FIX

One way to maybe fix this is by working with the theme of Eddie reclaiming his agency. If he goes to Texas to fight for his son, to have that communication, group therapy even, letting Chris know he is working on making himself better and that Chris needs to confront his issues and how running away and not feeling with grief is how the Kim situation happened in the first place.

Or, I understand that Gavin McHugh might want to take a break and return to the show except a few scenes. We can give him the Denny or May Grant treatment, where they are there but we don't see them anymore, just referenced. Like have a video call saying he wants to come back, show Eddie ecstatic and ready to hug someone at the airport, fade to black, and next time we can have Eddie on cloud nine but also scared of losing Chris again.

TLDR; It's unfair to punish Eddie when every main character's terrible parent has been forgiven and reinforces the idea that he isn't allowed to have joy, forgiveness and identity outside of Chris. Keeping Chris with his parents implies they are a better choice when they're the reason Eddie has these issues. There are better ways to handle the situation while minimizing Gavin's screen time.

[opinion1656]

I actually agree with you on a societal level. Prison abolition does help millions while only harming a smaller number. I do think it's most likely a net positive and potentially could be the best direction to reform toward.

BUT it is not a perfect problem. By saving the bigger number you WILL be harming the smaller number. And it's good to help more people and hurt fewer but all the discourse I see focuses so much on statistics and percentages that I felt it was worth pointing out that the small percentage that can't be handled by a prison less society are still people that are hurt. AND even though people are hurt it has potential to be a net societal good.

You say you do not think she should be a sacrificial lamb. But to be frank what you think "should" be doesn't really matter. Under a prison abolished system she WOULD have been further harmed wether you think she should be or not.

Again I believe the current correctional system is beyond broken, and abolishing prisons might be the best option. But it feels disingenuous to keep discussing without acknowledging that there will be people sacrificed for the greater good.

If there is a trolly problem with 1 million on one side and 1 thousand on the other yes it moral to switch to the thousand side. But lets just aknowledge it sure does suck if you are one of the thousand.

[ultravioart]

On a positive note, the comic for Hazard actually was interesting enough to make me look past his 'safe' for a punk character design. I'm hyped!

I did not expect overwatch to directly call out systemic ableism and classism in the story.

Kids in poverty being funneled into a military pipeline only to be spat out and cast aside as disabled vets in poverty is a very real issue in the world.

If Hazard was rich, he could have afforded prosthesis that actually fit him, ones that didn't cause him pain. Instead, only bc he could not afford better ones, the system gave him the bare minimum for survival, and instead of actually dealing with the root cause and issue they gave him pain meds. In his eyes, this was done so that the system could pay him to shut up, or face consequences. No different than what his parents went through. They wouldn't even give him the respect to tell him WHY the deadly crash that maimed him happened, nor do anything to prevent OTHERS from being hurt in the same way. The system is working as intended. The system didn't care about him, nor others. The system uses it's citizen's bodies for profit.

This panel hits so hard because visual story telling wise it says so much.

In this panel, the stray animal that saved his life is the only one who cares, as the fellow human beings he fought to keep safe as a veteran walk past him at full pace.

How in this panel, his disability is 'blocking the path' of the able bodied, his very existence a 'hindrance' to the able bodied, when the hospital path really ought to be the one taken into account for. Pushed out the door into a system that was never designed for him. Yet, anyone could be in his shoes. Anyone could become disabled, poor, or neglected. Anyone could become just another 'stray mutt' in the system.

How in this panel he is posed in a way where he has the choice to turn and 'go with the flow' of the system and follow the crowd and not look back.... or go 'against the flow' in the opposite direction of the crowd looking for other 'strays' like him left behind by this system.

Honestly props to the comic creators for even discussing systemic oppression to dorectly.

I also am incredibly interested in seeing if Sombra got her spine mods from the Phreaks or not, because it looks like similar tech in her short.

I just hope that the Phreaks are more RobinHood and 'guerilla warfare against the system to spark change', rather than purely anarchists blowing everything up bc lol. The Phreaks being anarchists would be a waste of story, just another gang that became radicalized and corrupt and causes harm and must be defeated by Overwatch. (I am only worried about this because Ramattra became radicalized and demonized for trying to prevent the extinction of omnics. Ramattra is fully in his right to physically resist omnic extinction bc omnics ARE finite and being killed. We STILL don't know what those null sector helmets are for... but for some reason Ramattra is written as emotionally hasty(???) to the point of horrible accidents happening, which makes no sense since he is a R-7000 built for war TACTICS, not an emotional human that can misremember. The way Ramattra's story is handled doesn't make sense imo, they write him as if he's a biological being.)

I hope Hazard aims for accountability and dismantling of oppressive systems, rather than having no rules at all thru anarchy (he as a child saw what no rules in small doses gave him: bad homelife, bad school life, no accountability, no fostering of the mind and well being. That's why I think making the Phreaks anarchists would be stupid to do. There are systems that CAN foster mental and physical wellbeing, cooperation is one of those systems and Hazard is pro cooperation.) He did have an "eye for an eye" against the forces that took out the Phreaks in Morocco, but to be fair Oasis is using minority report 'predictive crime ai' bs so I can't blame Hazard for wanting to hit Oasis where it hurts by stealing thier most secret tech. (Perhaps Sombra helped the Phreaks/gave them that clue since Sombra is against the eye conspiracy, and that eye conspiracy is connected to Oasis)

I also hope Hazard's character is used to discuss the discrimination disabled people face in the Overwatch world, because they really dropped the ball with Soujorn on that front. (Her book used ableism... as a metaphor for racism?!?! Awful stuff. Cyborg (life saving surgery for disabled) people canonically face discrimination in overwatch.)

Because of that, I am super interested in hearing Hazard's voice interactions for lore, I hope we get more lore on omnics and Oasis and the Sombra eye conspiracy, and I am curious about Hazard's kit and what he will bring to the table matchup wise. We will probably get more eye conspiracy lore with the release of the Morocco map tho, tbf.

[yumeurl]

harry, draco, and sectumsempra

this is just to write my own interpretation about the scene and what it meant for me before i start another 596765 thread on my twitter gmemgfdg

i know sectumsempra is like, The Drarry Fodder in the book that's already drarry fodder overall; it is to me as well, though taking off my fudan glasses halfway i see it as a symbolism more than anything else

harry and draco have a funny dynamic throughout books 1-5. they regard each other as 'archenemies' according to harry, yet their fights mostly consist of taunts, quidditch or normal wizard duelling. it's rare to see them actually physically harming each other, and in the rare instances that they do, it's ron and hermione who did it (the first year fight and hermione's slap), or if it's harry, it's because draco went too far with his goading and he was at the angriest point of his life.

only one of these did draco actually try to fight back, and it was with ron. throughout the books he has shown to be aversive of physical fights and pain in general, even neville(who was regarded as a loser for so long) trying to attack him he cowers behind his bodyguards.

i think this is one of the few things that enabled him to regret being a DE tbh. while crabbe and goyle never became a fullfledged death eaters, they support voldemort and have this naivety that makes them think casting killing spells or torturing people is just like playing with a toy. draco does not, atleast when reaching this point.

anyways, so draco is typically aversive to fights that truly harm a wizard, and harry does the same thing, atleast to draco. both of them don't really harm each other. all of their spells are fixable, no matter if the reader finds them mean or too much. and in the instances where they go too far (this is mostly draco tbf), they back off and go back to the status quo.

this is schoolyard fighting to them, even in ootp, when voldemort has came back, draco's taunts and motivation doesn't stem from serving him, it's from getting back at Potter. it's their thing, it's constant. both of them know that subconsciously

but sectumsempra is symbolism of this dynamic ending, end of an era if you will. they Can't return to schoolyard fighting, try as they might. draco has to follow voldemort or risk him or his family killed, while harry has to follow dumbledore and kill vodemort.

harry, in his 'finding out what malfoy is up to' thing, operates as if it's a little mystery to solve. it's not That serious at this point. while he had suspicions that whatever draco is doing is DE related, i don't think he knows the true severity of it. why would he? malfoy is a constant, they've duelled many times before and they don't truly hurt each other. alot of the DE damage is outside of hogwarts as well, hogwarts is safe and untouchable.

sectumsempra marks the end of that. not only draco attacks first in a hostile manner, but their spells escalate as it goes on:

Levicorpus -Harry Blocking spell for Levicorpus -Draco unnamed spell that caused the bin behind harry to explode -Draco Leg-Locker Curse -Harry Crucio (incomplete) -Draco Sectumsempra -Harry

(i still think it's highly unlikely that harry heard crucio and retaliates with sectumsempra like what people believe. he didn't even know that the spell would do to fight back with it... but that's for another post)

in just one fight, draco tried to torture harry (regardless if it would've worked or not), harry harmed draco with an unknown dark spell that he doesn't know the counter to, and harry basically finds out that whatever draco's doing where he gloated all about it at the beginning of the year is something that's giving him distress. enough to cry and talk to moaning myrtle of all people

it's different from their constant. malfoy shouldn't cry and he should retain his same spoiled brat personality. harry shouldn't dabble in the dark arts especially when he doesn't really know what it does. it rattled him so much (plus losing all the things he was fixated on this school year all at once, not just finding out what draco's up to) it's enough to make harry stop with his investigation and start a love life gmrgmfdgf

i'm also interested at how harry thinks about draco at the end of the book

He despised Malfoy still for his infatuation with the Dark Arts, but now the tiniest drop of pity mingled with his dislike.

you dislike draco for his 'infatuation with the dark arts'?? not calling your friends insults and slurs?? gmeogmfdg and the word dislike too... but you can tell when he truly hates a person, like snape or even mclaggen. for draco it's just constant to butt heads with him, maybe even fun. voldemort's insistence of killing harry makes harry's childhood and innocence slowly get taken away, even the presumed constant of fighting draco malfoy won't remain constant forever

[sage-nebula]

I've been suicidal many times in my life, and while I could talk about those experiences, given what this post is about, I'd rather talk about something else.

My boss at my previous job was not just my boss. He was my friend, my mentor. I'd met him as a student employee; I still remember the day I went in for my interview, and I asked to speak with "Mr [name]," and the other student employee who answered the door made a face and said, "Hey, Mr [Name], this girl is here to see you" when he let me in because my boss never wanted us to be so formal with him. We were on a first-name basis with him, always. I was nineteen, and super nervous interviewing for my first job that wasn't retail or food service, but he cracked jokes and made me feel welcome. He treated all of us like that.

He was just a really good man. He always stood up for us, every time the university tried to do something that would make our lives harder or less safe. I made a Facebook status once about how I was harassed by a gas station employee near the university, and he commented telling me he'd bring his bat if I needed it. When one of the supervisors ended up overstepping boundaries in a big way with us student employees, he worked overtime to make sure that we would all be safe. When I got promoted to a supervisor position after graduation, and took it upon myself to oversea the yearly Secret Santa tradition for the students (meaning I didn't participate because otherwise I would know who my Secret Santa was), he decided he wasn't letting me go without a present and got me one anyway, despite my insistence that it wasn't necessary.

Unfortunately, he had his own demons to fight. He was going through difficult stuff in his personal life. He told me a lot about it; I was a confidant for him, and at one point he told me I was the only person he could speak to about any of it. More unfortunately still, as much as I wanted to be there for him, I was also struggling to keep my own mental health on track. It was around this time that I was looking into starting antidepressants / anti-anxiety medication for the first time because of how much I was struggling, and I was really focused on getting all of that sorted so that I could stop being tempted by the trains I heard pass by my home every night. Because of this, I didn't check in on him regularly. And so, when his boss called me one morning before my shift was supposed to start and told me that he had taken his own life, I was consumed by more than just shock and grief; I was crushed by guilt.

You see, I blamed myself. Largely because he had told me I was the only one who could confide in, I couldn't help but think that if I had checked in on him more regularly, if I had been there, this wouldn't have happened. I could have prevented it. I could have saved him. He wouldn't have taken his own life, and it wouldn't have been one of his young daughters who found him like that. Not only had I lost a friend of nine years, but I felt like I failed him.

I know now that isn't the case. There were many factors involved, not the least of which being it turns out I wasn't the only one he confided in after all. But it took me a long time to reach that point—a long time until I could honestly say that I didn't feel like it was my fault.

In the midst of depression and suicidal ideation, it can be incredibly hard to see the importance that you have in other people's lives—the place that you have there, that no one else can fill. I know this intimately, because it is something that I struggle with regularly. But even if you can't see it, you have to hold in the forefront of your mind that the importance is there. The impact will be felt. Not only do people care about you, but those closest to you will hold the weight of responsibility for your life on their shoulders for a long time. If nothing else, you don't want that for the people you care about, do you? You don't want to do that to them, do you?

You are not the only one harmed by your suicide. In fact, you're the one who will feel the impact the least. Death doesn't hurt the deceased; it only wounds the living. That's why we have funerals: it's for the sake of those left behind. But no amount of funerals or celebrations of life can assuage the pain left by a suicide. It doesn't help. Notes don't either.

If you're in a place where you're ideating, reconsider. Reach out to someone close to you. Tell them where you are, mentally, and have them come be with you. Believe me when I say that they would much rather sit awake with you all night, than wake up the next morning to a message that you're gone.

Give us the chance to be there for you. It's all we ask.

periodic reminder that your death by your own hand will wreak more havoc on the lives of those you know than you are ever capable of imagining and if you need a sign not to kill yourself this is it. people care more than you know & i am one of them

[teaboot]

Hey! Bamboo toilet paper person here. Your response was very thoughtful-- I want to apologize for placing the onus of climate issues on individual action, haha. I work at a zoo that bills itself as being very heavy on conservation messaging, but as a non-partisan organization we're obviously not allowed to talk about the evils of capitalism. This means that in our programming, we MUST place the responsibility of stopping climate change on individual guests, encouraging them to make more environmentally conscientious decisions like buying reef safe sunscreen or reducing carbon emissions by driving less. The most "political" we're allowed to get is telling people to stay educated and vote in favor of laws that will have a positive impact on the environment. I think I've been drinking the Zoolaid a little TOO much recently, because you're totally right-- the vast, VAST majority of damage to the environment is caused by major corporations, not random people working around their own unique needs. It was also low key a little ableist of me to take issue with that ngl.

Obviously no obligation to respond to this publicly (though it's fine if you choose to do so), but I did want to thank you for your response and mention that it did get through the nonprofit mission-based-organization propaganda living rent free in my head haha. Cheers!

Hey, you work at a zoo? That is SO cool, aadsdggjjg@!!!

And hey, no worries, you totally had a good point about endless waste and trying to counter it where possible- Just from personal experience involved in the barest edge of the fashion industry, I really, really, REALLY hate the idea that, like... people can't access simple shit like plastic straws, even if they're the best, most practical, least-harmful option for them.... because a 12 year old made up some random number for a school project about plastic waste

Where, as a zoo person, I imagine you're already aware that the average sea turtle is WILDLY more likely to die from abandoned plastic fishing nets or ocean-dump grocery bags than accidentally get a straw inside it

So here we are, using paper straws!- which may be an improvement, or may not, I don't have that data, and construction emissions are their own thing- BUT WE STILL HAVE OCEANS FULL OF ABANDONED NETS

WHICH ARE OBJECTIVELY WORSE, but MUCH harder to get rid of, and as the average person doesn't USE fishing nets, it'd much harder to market as a "You, not me" sort of issue.

Cleaning up fishing nets isn't trendy. It isn't sexy. You can't troubleshoot a cute little trendy solution for it that you can market to upwardly-mobile tweens.

But a reusable water bottle? A cute canvas tote? A metal straw? That's a solution you can buy and feel good about.

Never mind that you need to use a single cotton reusable bag somewhere like a million times before the cost of its construction counterbalances the cost of a single grocery bag every time you shop- which, hey, some of us were reusing as trash liners for their wastebaskets, or bundle bags for donating clothes, or lining for our leaky winter boots!

If a better option is available, I'll take it. But as ZERO HARM is next to impossible at this time, I personally am gonna aim for MINIMAL HARM as long as I can.

...sorry, I didn't mean to ramble off again.

But hey, if your nonprofit is doing good things, feel free to shoot me a link! I can post it on my blog :D

(Link to original post for context lol)

[sephirthoughts]

Hear me out: Weiss/Rufus for the minific thing

OH MY GOD

YES

YOU ARE A GENTLEMAN AND A SCHOLAR

NSFW under the cut

meaning explicit, no minors, 18+ only

Cocky.

That would be the word to describe him. Walking around like he owns the place, looking down his perfect little nose at everything and everyone, posh and polished and ever so pretty, dressed in white from head to toe, not a single hair out of place.

Soft.

That would be the other word. Like five-hundred thread-count sheets and down pillows. Hands like a baby's, wrapped delicately in kidskin gloves. Feet that have probably never walked on anything but the cushiest carpets. There's even a faint slick of lip balm on his plushy lips. He looks...

Delicious.

Like a steamed bun. Sweet and warm and yielding, between the teeth. The tiger's eyes are on him, watching hungrily, but with a film of languidness over their gaze—a result of the heavy sedation required, to keep him under control.

"Why is he on a throne?" the spoiled little bitch asks, with a sniff of disdain.

"The restraints on that chair are powered directly by the core of the reactor, sir," a scientist explains. "That's the only way we can keep him chained down. It, uh. Happens to look like a throne, so the Restrictors started calling him Emperor Weiss."

"You, prisoner, can you talk?"

Weiss bares his white teeth in a lazy grin. "Depends. You anyone worth talking to?"

"I'm Rufus Shinra, the Vice President of the Shinra Corporation," the brat says, with a haughty toss of his pearl-blonde head. "For all intents and purposes, I own you."

To his discomfiture, Weiss breaks into a hearty, booming laugh. "Oh, you do, do you? Well, well, well. Not every day you meet the man who owns you. Pardon me for not getting up to greet you, Mr. Vice President, I'm a little tied up."

Rufus scowls. "You're mocking me."

"Perceptive." The ice-blue eyes flicker unabashedly over his body, from head to toe and back up. "So, what do you want? Make it snappy, I haven't got all day."

"Tsviet Weiss!" a voice thunders, from the black cloaked and helmeted figure, who has remained silent till now. "Shut your fucking mouth and show the Vice President proper respect!"

Weiss sneers, but he shuts his mouth. He can't defy the Restrictors. Not yet.

"He's a wild animal," the brat says irritably. "How is he any use to me?"

"Weiss is all bark," the Restrictor rasps. "I assure you, he will be perfectly cooperative. There are more than chains keeping him in check. Isn't that right, emperor."

"Yes, sir," the tiger growls, glaring sullenly at the floor.

"Well, if you can guarantee his obedience…I guess I'll take him. Have him ready to go by nine."

"Don't suppose you want to tell me what's going on," Weiss says, after the blonde leaves.

"Bodyguard duty. You will attend a diplomatic function in company with the Vice President, tonight. There is a credible threat to his life, at this event, and he needs the very best protection Shinra can offer."

"Why doesn't he just…not go," Weiss points out.

"Smoking out the assassins. We don't need all of them alive. Just one will be enough. The rest…do what you want with them. But if the Vice President returns with a single hair on his head harmed, your little brother will pay the price. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

Turns out the assassins are half the people at the damn party. Someone really wants the brat dead. Too bad. They didn't bet on him showing up with a walking hydrogen bomb.

Much more quickly than is flattering to his several dozen opponents, Weiss stands victorious, amid the carnage he has created in the embassy courtyard, laughing maniacally. His twin swords are in his hands and he's drenched with blood.

Rufus is behind him, his white tux also spattered with crimson. He's pale and he looks stressed out, but his gun hand is steady, and he even fired a few competent shots.

Just in time to miss all the fun, the Turks descend in their black helicopters. Weiss tosses them the requisite alive assassin, before escorting Rufus back to his limousine.

"I really expected you to just lay there and let me do all the work," he says, as they climb in. "Who knew you'd be a halfway decent shot."

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" Rufus looks up into his face, to find his lips flushed, his pupils dilated, and the gold rings in his ice-blue irises glowing. "What the fuck, do you get turned on by violence?"

"Yeah. Don't you?" Weiss asks, without a hint of shame.

Rufus feels his ears and neck flush with warmth. "I—I don't know. Maybe a little. That actually was kind of exciting. Except that I almost died."

"Almost dying is the exciting part. If it was safe, would it get your blood pumping, like this?" Weiss' big hand reaches for him. His eyes get round but he doesn't pull away. A calloused finger gently touches the pulse point under his jaw. "Your heart rate is all over the place, Mr. Vice President. How about we blow off a little post-fight steam?"

Rufus swallows hard. The fingertip slides along his jaw to lift his chin.

"Fuck," is the last word he gets out, before the beast is on him.

He can feel heat radiating off this man's broad, hard, impossibly muscular body, even through their clothes. The metallic scent of blood, sweat, and cordite saturates the humid air, in the back of the limo. His mouth tastes like whiskey.

Fumbling fingers undo buttons and zippers, as they kiss urgently. Rufus gasps, when Weiss grabs his hard dick and yanks it out of his tux trousers, and groans when the man's much thicker, much heavier shaft slaps against it.

"Spit," Weiss commands, and he does, right into that big palm.

Then it's wrapped around both of them, together, and the beast is rutting into him, pounding him into the leather seat, fast and rough and dirty. He's never been taken, like this. Dominated, devoured, used like a cocksleeve, by a man who doesn't even bother to pretend he gives a damn about him. And he loves it. Fuck, he loves it. Raw, hot, animal fucking.

"Ah…Weiss!" Rufus moans. "I'm c—I'm close!"

"Give it to me, bitch," the tiger snarls, in his ear.

He digs his fingers into Weiss' arms and fucks wildly into his fist, sliding against his big cock, till his own pulses, hot and fast. Suddenly it's too much, and he's hissing from overstimulation because Weiss keeps going, thrusting in the slippery slick, till finally, Rufus feels that monster throbbing, and long, hot spurts of Weiss' seed spill all over his belly.

"Ha…ah, fuck," Weiss pants, as he pushes himself up and falls back in his seat, to refasten his pants. "Thanks, Mr. Vice President. I needed that."

"Don't mention it," Rufus says absently, rifling his pockets for his handkerchief, to clean up the mess the man left him with. "Thanks for…you know. Not letting me die."

"That was the mission. If you want a bodyguard, I'll give you a hundred percent. Otherwise, we have nothing to do with each other."

"What if I want a fuck?"

"Same answer," Wiess grins.

[horrornsd]

Hell can I have an ask about reader who came from our world who is a big fan of predators who can read, write and speak their language and fight like them too gets teleported to yautja prime and I guess she was looking around for shelter and she found a clan so she entered their clan grounds hoping she doesn't get killed and she found a pyramid (from what I remember seeing in one of the movies) which turns out to be where the clan has its important meetings. And the elder clan leader let's call him Kar'dokh (if you don't mind) was having meeting with other nearby clans so reader accidently enters the meeting room filled with other clan leaders and their most trusted soldiers standing by their side and the silence was LOUD

Reader: .... 

Kar'dokh and the other clan leaders: .... 

*Kar'dokh gets up about to kill her*

*Reader speaks in yautja*: wait I mean no harm I swear!! 

And like all of the yautjas were flabbergasted to find this out and they were suspicious of her cause how does a human know so much about their people? (cause in the world no human ever went to yautja prime) so word got out and everyone wanted to see the human including people from other clans, so fast forward reader and kar'dokh got close -e ends up liking her try's courting her but she pretends to be oblivious to it

Kar'dokh: ooman

Reader: yes? 

Kar'dokh: why do you refuse to be my mate? Am I not a worthy enough male for you? I have you know I have strong seed to sire strong pups so why do you refuse me? 

Reader: what...? What do you...huh? Kar'dokh you are an alien I wouldn't even be able to give you children! 

Kar'dokh: my people's technology can fix that issue so be my mate

Reader: I... I can't 

Kar'dokh: and why not? 

Reader: because I'm human!!! 

Kar'dokh: not valuable reason. Try again

Reader: why do you even like me!?!? Kar'dokh: because I am attracted to you

Reader: *tip toe’s and manages to grab him by the shoulders* raise your standard!!!!

Kar'dokh: *slams hand into metal and puts a deep dent into it then proceed to grab her by the risk*

AND BOOM he pounces on her, corners her against the wall gets her to confess her feelings and they do the super Spicy boombayah doggie style😉

And she somehow got pregnant a few days later 

SORRY FOR IT BEING LONG!!!!! 

I love the idea, it sounds really cool!! I'm going to start writing a series or at least a long story with that idea! :))

[egg-emperor]

In a cyberpunk world covered in smog, Eggman factories/theme parks and filled with scared civilians, empty shells, robotomized drones, robot servants, mind controlled slaves you'd probably be the only living being genuinely smiling and happy under Eggman's superior glorious rule. In a crowd full of frightened peasants and empty shells that given up any hope of freedom, singing the daily egg national anthem , the sheer genuine joy and enthusiasm on your face stands out like a beaming ray of light.

Your enthusiasm brings the egg immense joy, he would be pleased with your service and genuine loyalty.❤️

Yesss I love that. Most people were forced into it after he succeeded in taking over the world, whether by harm and threat or full robotomy and anyone who ever felt positively only did due to brainwashing or delusion of the kind of person he was and his plans for the world, until they actually had to live it

Now the world is dark and polluted with smog covering the skies and deadly theme parks, robots, and factories all around. There's no way to escape his powerful reign, it's all encompassing, taking up more and more of the land day by day and leaving everyone with no refuge from their new harsh reality

And all the people, his new slaves, stand lined up together now, forced to bow and sing praises to their new cruel, terrifying, diabolical emperor who towers high above them all, looking down on them so smugly with such pride, loving the high of the power and control as he makes them sing the daily anthem

Everyone has had their freedom ripped away, some to the point they can't think for themselves anymore and have become mindless drones from robotomy, trapped in robotic shells, or brains numbed and taken over by brainwashing or mind control and live as lifeless drones, chanting the anthem in monotone

And those who still have their mind intact to think are horrified and miserable, and ashamed if they were once deluded and helped allow it to happen. The anthem only forces them to come to terms with it as they're forced to sing words that affirm it, at gunpoint of the robots that surround them

While everyone else looks either miserable, scared, or blank and lifeless, with either crushed souls or devoid of one entirely, one face stands out in striking contrast to dull crowd, full of light and life and immense joy, with a bright passionate soul and adoration in his eyes and that's meee hehe 🥰

I sing passionately from the heart with great enthusiam, so delighted to celebrate our brilliant and handsome emperor. I'm the only one who is truly genuinely happy to live under his rule in a world that's been owned and changed by him in every way, with no delusions about it involved

I knew exactly what I was signing up for- not that I really had any choice or say anyway because the world was going to be his and he was going to do whatever he wants, no matter what we thought. But I think it's all so beautiful because it's what he wants and makes him happy so I want it for him too

He can immediately spot my smile standing out from the rest and it makes his smile grow into a wider grin. He's getting all the attention and praise he's always desired and never cared how much the people wanted it and was happy forcing them- but it does feel good that someone truly wants what he wants

Who is truly loving and loyal, passionately lives by the rules of the empire, and means every word of the anthem. Who looks at him with nothing but immense love and joy like he truly deserves. It's a big extra ego boost when he's already on top of the world figuratively and literally with it at his feet

I'd be even happier to see how it makes him happy to know he's deeply loved and appreciated and put an even bigger smile on his gorgeous face! 💜 And perhaps eventually he'd say "With enthusiam like yours, you should come up to the podium and announce my arrival before I make my epic entrance!"

I'd be honored to announce and say "All hail our beautiful, powerful, mighty emperor of the glorious Eggman Empire, Lord Eggman!", setting the example of how a true most loyal and faithful member of the empire should act, stepping down and bowing to him when he enters the spotlight with a prideful stride

The idea of him and I literally being the only truly ones happy left, himself for getting everything he's ever wanted and me because all I wanted was for him to get what he wanted is wonderful. And we get to be happy and enjoy and celebrate this new beautiful perfectly twisted world together. His world 😍

[thesaltyace]

Okay so apparently smart watches cannot scan NFC tags.

Sad day.

But that's fine, I generally have my phone with me all the time for music anyway.

And NFC tags are cheap.

I'm so so excited to set up reminder things based on scanning NFC tags.

Reminders to wash/change the sheets.

Reminders to not let the laundry languish in the washing machine.

Reminders to do maintenance on things that only need it occasionally (and therfore are usually forgotten).

Reminders to take the trash bin to the curb every week because I have three different reminders already but I often accidentally swipe them away and they don't come back so I forget. 😤

I can already do so much useful stuff with just those tags, like... This is an ADHD/autism dream.

ADHD hyperfocus on setting up new routines via NFC? ☑

Autism delight over efficiency? ☑

Practical automated assistance that I control? ☑

This is basically just, "If your brain can't make your own executive functioning system, store-bought is fine."

[spotaus]

Hi guys, this is usually what a doodle page ends up looking like <3 (oh, and @ancha-aus thought you might like this! Not writing but certainly fuel to my fire lol-)

This one is New Age filled!!! (Close-ups abd Lore beneath the cut!)

1) Night and Cross!

Night is actually very clingy once he's a teen. He doesn't usually realize it, but around the castle he'll snake to be closer to his Knights so long as there's no one he needs to keep his composure infront of is nearby. Cross is the one who's not used to physical touch (when it's not Ink ofc) so Night in his personal bubble makes his heart melt but also scares tf out of him <3

2) Error and Night's Meeting!

Error was carrying his whole life on his back and trying not to get arrested for unintentional property damage at this point, so when he saw the chance to get back at his brother and prove he was strong enough? Yeah, he got that on chance instantly. And was VERY smug when Nightmare chose him. (Also, Error is wearing gloves, so less Haphephobia)

3) Dream and Blue designs!

I think these are good tentative designs! Dream probably has a more regal fit, but he likes to play up that rugged exile look- He's inspired by Archers, while Blue takes on that classic Knightly-vibe. Their equipment is mostly stolen from Night's troops or brought with them from Blue's home kingdom.

Also, Dream is approx Killer's height at this point, shorter than Cross and *much* shorter than Apple!Nightmare. (Hc that Skeletons tend to be tinier in stature thanks to weird monster beauty standards. Horror and Geno's fam are outliers.)

4) Horror and Dust designs!

Horror is naturally a very *large* monster. He's very malnourished when Nightmare meets him, but by the time he's a Knight Nightmare has made sure that's no longer the case. He actually loves comfy, simple clothes, but to play up the whole 'strong mysterious' bit he wears a more barbaric Knight's garb. He doesn't mind acting scary, it's more fun that way :]. Dust is very very small, and envies horror sometimes for his size, but his tiny stature let's him control his body and move a lot quicker. He's very much based on a rogue, and usually covers the lower part of his face w/ a black cloth, and the upper part w/ his hood or mask. Dust only removes both to bathe, eat, or relax in a safe location. (Ignore that I can't draw the stupid gaster blaster lmao-)

These last two were space-fillers, but Cross and his Borzoi (Windmill, otherwise known as Milly (Killer named her-)) and really bad first wips of Ccino! I think Ccino was a chubby, happy toddler, but lost a lot of 'weight' (bone mass? Magic?) due to stress and pressure and bad eating habits. So it isn't until a while after the Coronation that he starts to relax abd feel safe enough to eat normal meals (Nightmare used to guilt him into eating snacks together, but as his boss (and younger brother) he can encourage it more often). By the time Killer shows he's still not quite healthy, but he's better. As more weight is lifted off his shoulders, the better he is. (That 'beauty' most people saw was a more stereotypical slimness, but Killer never stopped seeing Ccino as beautiful-) I think he never looked traditionally underweight, so no one noticed, and it was only much later that Night processed it. (And maybe it's why Dream hardly recognized him later on-)

[blissfulrain12]

Sometimes I feel like the Mouthwashing fandom needs to be studied because despite how much discussion of abuse/rape culture there is the fandom is still steeped in it. There's so much to say and I struggle with getting it all out. Op you've said so much of what I've been thinking.

There's just so much the fandom isn't just failing to grasp but perpetuating. It kinda hurts and worries me how many people are so quick to dismiss the emotional abuse Curly goes through. And just the fandom's reluctance to engage with Curly's abuse in and of itself without it being just a metaphor for Anya. The fandom's reluctance to look at Anya outside of being a perfect victim "who did everything right". Just like Curly, Anya was in a position of power as the Nurse/sole medical officer and she failed to protect the vulnerable person under her care. And the fandom can't deal with this because then they'd have to confront that they're still struggling with the separation between morality/likability and victimhood.

The inherent misogyny/patriarchy/abuse/rape culture in the insistance that the male victim should "grow a backbone" and violently confront his abuser despite his abuse to protect the female victim while insisting that it's perfectly justifiable for the female victim to leave the male victim in the hands of the same abuser because of her abuse drives me up a wall! There's something really gross about the chant of "don't baby/cuddle" the male abuse victim. There's something really gross about the way fandom reduces Anya down to this angelic character.

The dismissal of the aspects of capitalism is also heartbreaking. The reluctance to see how little options that company left them. The reluctance to even question if maybe no one person should have that much responsibility on them. Especially when they're just blue collar workers. This isn't Star Trek. They're hauling ineffective Mouthwash on a skeleton crew for a company that doesn't trust them with access to artificial sweetner.

This game has so much to say about so many things and the insistence to not engage in like 2/3rds of it because to do so is to confront our own complicity in these systems is a disservice. I think people really need to let go of "good" and "bad" person labels cause it's not helpful in actual getting into the heart of these subjects. And it's definitely not helpful if we want to grow beyond the systems and attitudes that harm victims.

You ever just see a Mouthwashing take that makes you want to bang your head into a wall? I literally just saw someone claim Curly couldn't have been emotionally abused by Jimmy before the crash because he was in a higher position of power than Jimmy.

-Shrimp Anon

The mouthwashing fandom has shown me that people genuinely do believe that certain types of abuse are not as detrimental as other types especially when they deem those immune/resistant, ergo, believing one is objectively worse no matter how it affects the person nor the intersections of power, history and dynamics at play.

Get ready cause this is a yap session:

Cause like it's heavily implied that Curly and Jimmy's friendship was toxic and abusive, pointedly in the direction of how Jimmy uses Curly's belief/comfort in him. Curly wasn't forced to enable Jimmy but he was emotional and mentally on edge around him in almost every scene in some way. Mental and emotional abuse are not contingent on what positions you have at work. Yeah, he's Jimmy's boss but he was Jimmy's friend first and it's like getting into Psych discussion to talk about how social power tends to overshadow any perceived organizational power in the human mind. People are concerned about their jobs ofc but they tend to hang onto and put more value/investment into their personal relationships, hence why there tends to be laws and restrictions around mixing the two.

I always see the sentiments that "Curly is a grown ass man", "Curly is bigger than Jimmy", "Curly is Jimmy's boss", "He just needed a backbone" as criticisms of Curly and while I do agree that on the surface level all of these to be true and viable ways Curly could've taken more control of the situation, I often look at the parallels of Anya and Curly as victims of Jimmy pre/post crash.

The way Jimmy talks to Anya post crash is how he talked to Curly in the pre-crash segments. It's hard to pin-point mainly because we know he hates and wants nothing to do with Anya compared to his contrary but similarly handled obsessions with Curly. It's a weird sort of "honey-moon" effect of abuse Jimmy does in terms of emotional and mental victimization. He is always horrid to Anya, always talking down or questioning her abilities and thoughts in a situation, this of course includes the harassment and assault. However, he has a moment of attempted gentleness/conditioning when he question her about the mouthwash when she's contemplating drinking it at the table. The key difference is he has no personal investment in Jimmy outside wanting nothing to do with him, meaning there is no sort of romanticized version of him that he can condition her off of. He knows this, hence, why he always reverts to trying to make her to scared to oppose him.

This sort of give and take of "kindness" doesn't work on her because she knows he is just doing it to take more from her than whatever he could possibly give but it reflects even the "softer" scenes between him and Curly where he always rewords or rephrases Curly's sentiments and concerns to sound more shallow. He is feigning a deeper understanding by reworking Curly's emotions into something bad and needing to be hidden. Everything is laced with envy and resentment, an outburst just around the corner, I mean he even slams the table in the birthday party scene, a tactic in emotional manipulation to set the victim on edge and cloud their ability to respond. Even if Curly knows Jimmy won't get physical in that moment, the physical actions is intended to make him back down in the confrontation in case it does. This is something that is just not person specific. It ingrains itself into how you interact with the world and life and it shows in major and minor ways with Curly.

Post-crash, the abusive nature is more in tandem to the physical victimization Anya went through and the stripping of voice and autonomy we see take place. Like the parasite in HFIM, Jimmy speaks for Curly most of the time and puts words in his mouth, similarly to how he takes Anya's plans as his own. He very commonly, with the both of them mind you, supplements the worst aspects of himself into them; pettiness, selfishness, lack of understanding... And tries to cover himself with their best qualities; kindness, planning, initiative, etc...

These parallel are just to say that positional power has little to do with if a person can be abused and how it can even be flipped to further the abuse. There is no doubt that Curly could've picked up on Jimmy's envy of his position hence another reason he never confronted him as a Captain but as a friend as doing so would immediately put Jimmy in a space to be confrontational/combative.

I think the disdain some people have when they talk about the heavily implied if not implicitly stated emotional/mental abuse Curly experienced being Jimmy's friend is when treating it as an excuse to why he didn't do more. I can understand that completely because it is not an excuse to why he didn't do more but is a very real reason people in his position in these scenarios can experience whether in the context of a work or social environment. However, I also think the way people talk about it really does demonstrate a bigger problem when talking about abuse when somehow who is/was abused is either part of the issue or enabled it.

Harkening back to the sentiments about Curly's inaction regarding Jimmy, I think the exact phrases I used/have seen show how there is an inherent belief that it is easier to overpower the effects of emotional/mental abuse that go in tandem with the perception of Curly as someone who should be able to. There is not an age you suddenly stop being susceptible to abuse nor a set point or low where you realize how it has affected you. You don't suddenly know to stand up or put a face on to face your abuser nor admit that you inadvertently enabled them to subjugate someone else to the same treatment. Maybe it's my psych brain but their is this growing belief that direct action is somehow easy or always the best method with the game shows you instances where it is not always the case. In real life that rings true too. He should have done more, but it's not impossible to see why he struggled to find a way or didn't even if it makes us mad.

It's not easy to suddenly gain a "back-bone". You don't immediately want to resort to aggression, especially if it mirrors the type you were a victim to. You don't want to believe you allowed yourself to be treated this bad, let it get that bad or allowed something bad to happen to someone else. It is easy to be in denial, to retreat to your thoughts or make excuses to avoid the painful truth. It's frustrating but in a way we know is relatable. It why we both hate and love Curly for it. We know we'd be better, we think we'd be better, we like to think we wouldn't falter in the same ways but it's always easier to say that from the outside looking in. It's easy to see what he was doing wrong because we are seeing it, not him, but the game really does make you picture what you would do if this was your raw reality and it's why this debate about Curly seems so never ending/contradictory. We can all say what we'd do but bottom line is that's much different when you're in the moment with all the emotions and human feelings attached.

I personally think Mouthwashing tackles the themes of rape culture, enabling, toxic masculinity, types of abuse and patriarchy in ways that are meant to deconstruct the typical straightforward views we mostly have of these concepts and how little subtilities of them are just as, if not more, detrimental than the overt/obvious parts. The game deals with the idea of little details and bigger picture in a way to show that sometimes the bigger picture is not the issue but the little details that make it up. It's why I have a personal dislike of depictions of Jimmy as the typical horrible person who would of course do something like this because the game is about noticing the little warning signs, the foreshadowing and foresight.

It's why I dislike the typical discussion of "bro code" and "boys will be boys" for the game because the game makes a point to avoid the standard depictions of such. It is about the type of men who still enable despite not condoning, agreeing or even perpetuating harmful beliefs because they can't see the little details or the ways it seeps into their everyday. The severity is not obvious to them as it was not obvious to Curly, Swansea or even Daisuke the way it was to a woman like Anya. There are little details about Jimmy that should ring alarms but if you are too naive like Daisuke, too distant like Swansea or too conditioned like Curly, they are just off markers.

There is 100% more constructive/concise ways to say "Curly was a victim of Jimmy's abuse on an emotional and mental aspect that clouded his judgements and perceptions in the scenario" while also critiquing on the side of "Curly still had a responsibility to protect Anya as a crew mate and Captain that he failed to do due to biases and stigma's he failed to surpass" without the weird condemnation people give him about should've knowing better than to let himself be manipulated by a person he considered a close, if not family/best-friend and had his own reasons to trust initially. Also stop being weird about victims of abuse in general with this fandom, like sorry not everyone has a like social epiphany the moment someone's nasty to them. People are treating it like you immediately know when you are in a toxic relationship immediately or comprehend when a person is actively dangerous and either it's your fault for not knowing how to leave/cut them off or you deserve it. Like the hypocrisy of people believing how certain fans treat the story reflect their irl views but not their own is crazy.

End statement is: I honestly don't even know man, I've been writing this too long and just like no man on that ship was perfect or really helped Anya when it mattered and I feel like pitting them against each other in discussion on who did the least or most or how it was justified sucks cause in the end Anya always did the most and best thing for herself.