#and again this could realistically be applied to literally any of them

[minty-mumbles]

I had a fic idea about queering the Chain into oblivion

What if every single member of the chain was a trans man, or at least transmasc in some form. Every single one except for Wild. (Could honestly be any of them, but I made it Wild because I like playing with Wild's gender)

Wild is the last to join the chain. as they so often are. It eventually comes out that Wild is not a trans man?? Apparently he's a cis man?? The rest of the chain are baffled by this, because why would there be an outlier to the pattern?? Seems strange.

Answer: There isn't an outlier, and Wild isn't cis.

Two ways this could play out:

A) Transfem egg but in a funny way.

No angst here. Wild simply hasn't had time to examine their gender closely, what with dying and saving the country and ect. I imagine it would go something like this:

One of the Links: Wild, you're cis?? Wild: Haha, yep! I'm a man. I mean sometimes when I'm in Gerudo town I really like when people see me as a woman, but I mean everybody feels that way!! Just your regular manly man here!!! :) Narrator: What the poor naive dingbat did not realize was that not everyone felt this way

Immediately the other Links are like. "Oh this one is trans. Just in the other direction... makes sense." Either they leave Wild alone and let them figure it out on their own, or (more likely) shenanigans ensue as they try to get Wild to realize that they're a girl

B) Wild is blatantly transfem/nonbinary in some way, and just prefers to pretend to be a man while traveling because it's safer

The rest of the chain is oblivious to this and ignores/dismisses the signs that Wild is a trans girl/has a weird gender.

Wild: *Standing there in a shirt that has "respect trans rights" printed on it in bold letters, is wearing a hat that says trans pride, and a trans flag around her neck like a scarf.* Rest of the chain, somehow missing the she/they pronoun pin on Wild's shirt: Hmmm, is this a cis man ally?

In this second scenario either: Wild knows the rest of the chain thinks they're cis and is utterly amused by it. They want to see how long it takes for the other heroes to realise.

Wild: I'm gay. Warriors: So you like men? Wild: haha no Warriors: I'm confused Wild: Then stay confused :)

OR: Wild has no idea that the chain doesn't know. They think that the chain calling them he/him pronouns is simply the others supporting their decision to pretend to be a man while traveling. Wild made an offhand comment about being trans shortly after they joined the chain, and assumed that tipped the others off. In reality, that comment only made the rest of the chain wonder why a cis man would have such intimate knowledge about the trans experience.

[dokidokitsuna]

Magical Girl #1

So I realize I haven’t been posting a lot here lately…there are several reasons.

Most of it was just a garden-variety depressive episode, which was unfortunately extended after I had to go on antibiotics for a couple weeks. It got to a point where I considered canceling a bunch of projects because I just didn’t like to draw anymore. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Still recovering from that, tbh…)

After a while I decided to focus on my writing instead, at least to take my mind off that frightening thought. ^^; I got pretty far into a new novel (which I’ll probably talk about later) but more importantly, I managed to complete a 19-page script for ^this concept, the first new original comic idea I’ve had in years.

It’s basically my take on the idea of a solitary magical girl, which you don’t see so much of nowadays…I think the most famous is Cardcaptor Sakura, and even she had some magical sidekicks (iirc, they just had different sources of power, something like that). I’m not familiar with any examples in the genre where it’s literally just her, ala typical Western superhero…

But that’s not really the reason I wanted to write this story– I developed it mainly to explore the idea of a solitary protagonist, someone who doesn’t have any conventional social relationships outside of their family, AND doesn’t use the story to form any. How could I develop an entertaining story around such a person; what sort of character arc would they go through? Might this character realize, to some degree, that they’re not a ‘traditional’ protagonist, and have some thoughts about this…?

For a while I toyed with the idea of applying this framework to an existing idea, but then I figured it’d be easier (and shorter) to write a completely new self-contained story. Which led to the creation of Anno the magical girl, and her partner Armitage. ^^

My #1 rule was ‘no crutches’: No making her (2) family members stick to her like glue and take the place of the usual friendgroup, for instance. This rule also forced me to change the usual characterization of the helpful fairy sidekick to that of an abusive parasite…which ended up being one of the best writing decisions I ever made. ^^ I love Armitage; not only are he and Anno a great comedy duo, but I think his meanness makes Anno a stronger character.

His worst ‘friendless loser’ insults towards her are just simple statements based (oddly enough) on things I’ve heard people express about themselves. So his dialogue becomes almost cathartic, and Anno’s reactions to it become more realistic as a result. She can’t just brush off his comments as meaningless hate; she kinda has to internalize them whether she wants to or not…if she were just a little more sensitive, this story would probably have a very unhappy ending. ^^;;; But as it is, it’s just an introspective comedy about a neurodivergent girl learning to love and trust herself.

I’m not 100% sure what I’m going to do with the script now that it’s done…mostly I’ve just been using it as motivation to draw for fun again, and to continue developing a manga style (I think I’m getting close to something solid).  But will I actually attempt to draw the manga? Will I try that thing I always wanted to try where I commission some artists to draw it with me…? Or will I just hang onto it and start writing a sequel in my spare time, like I usually do? ^^; Only time will tell…

[myfandomrealitea]

Was your Safe Spaces post discord-(or any closed forum I guess) specific, or do you think the same should go for fandom-themed blogs on tumblr? Like, if I follow someone for Doctor Who content, I'd rather they didn't put real world issues on my dash, but otoh, it's their blog and they get to decide what they post on it (preferably tagged so I can curate). I've observed that people that run themed blogs that become popular often seem to feel an obligation to use their platform for activism (or, in the case of crypto-radfems, deliberately built their platform to recruit), and it stresses tf out of me for the reasons you mentioned, but it's not like the maintags are much safer because there will be spam relating to real-world issues, or antis trying to relate fiction to real world issues.

Realistically; the same outlook can and could be applied to any social setting. Be it online, private, public, face to face, ect.

Your point about obligation in terms of platform scale is something I've also noticed and have been dabbling about raising. Mostly because you see it a lot with celebrities or public content creators who receive a large following. Its often less that they feel obligated and more than they're usually bullied into it.

For example; I follow a trans (FTM) vlogger on Instagram. His entire online presence is based around being trans and helping to educate people and support people in regards to learning about being transgender, transgender health, his personal transitional journey, ect.

He's got a modest following, nothing ridiculous but I think right now he's sitting at around 75,000 followers.

And as of late, there are random people who don't follow him and aren't at all interested in what he has to say flooding his comment section with things like:

Why didn't you mention anything about Gaza?

All these followers and no shout outs for smaller creators?

What are you doing to raise awareness for X?

All these views could've been used to raise awareness for X.

And its fucking ridiculous. People are pressuring a middle class trans man with 75,000 followers to accept responsibility for counter-responding to a literal war when there are actual celebrities and billionaires with both the actual reach and money to make a difference who simply refuse to because they won't personally benefit from it.

I used to run a really popular fandom blog here on Tumblr. For an actual fandom, not just what I do here and now. It started off small, but I eventually grew it to the point where my follow count was creeping toward 10,000. Which for Tumblr and for a fandom-specific blog was not at all insignificant.

And the moment my notes count started going up, the demands started flooding in. People expecting me to reblog their donation links, demanding I share their friend's aid post, asking why I wasn't reblogging awareness posts or donation drives, ect.

Its largely because its easier to harass accessible people over it than it is to harass someone like Kim Kardashian, but its also because again: we have such a skewed understanding of what is actually effective in terms of activism and circulation of information.

Most of it comes down to shaming people and trying to assert that they're a bad person for having the privilege and benefits of a large following but not doing anything for other people or to 'deserve' that following. They're 'a bad person' for having 75,000 people's attention and not using it to force them to be aware of X.

A good example of proper audience targeting and activism is the page We Rate Dogs.

We Rate Dogs will share awareness posts and donation drives.

About dogs.

Because their followers are there for the dogs. Their followers like dogs. They want to enjoy dog content and help dogs.

If they started sharing posts about war and death and rape, the people who are following them to see cute dog videos will simply unfollow them.

They're using their targeted platform properly.

[howtofightwrite]

I have character A whose born female, small in stature and well trained in hand to hand combat and character B whose born male, a few feet taller, fucking huge and has had to rely on strength his whole life. Realistically how can two people like this fight and for how long? what kind of qualifications could character A have to help her beat character B in hand to hand combat? at what point does strength win over strategy or vice versa in a fight? does any of this make sense lol

Nope.

Okay, so, how long can Character A fight? As long as she needs to, which based on your assessment, shouldn't be too long.

Character B cannot fight. Unless they have training that you're not disclosing, they won't be effective.

“My relies on strength to fight,” is a bit like saying, “my character drives their car via their sheer physical strength.” It's not how this works.

Unarmed combat isn't about strength, it's about a precise understanding of human physiology, and exploiting the limitations of it.

For example: You may have noticed your knees only bend in one direction, however, this is a lie, your knees can bend in any direction they want to, provided a small application of force in the correct point which will permanently expand your knee's ability to move in this new direction. It's not strength, or at least, not a meaningful amount, it's about looking at your opponent's body as a mechanical system, and then selectively breaking it until it stops trying to break yours. The funny thing about this is, if you don't know what to do humans are obnoxiously durable. Unless you get lucky, you can literally rip limbs off and still fail to kill them.

A lot of the philosophy of strength fighting is built off a misunderstanding. Force is important. However, when it comes to weapons, the weapon itself amplifies and delivers that force. For example: hammers are often portrayed as strength weapon. You'll see them being carried around by huge bulky bruiser types (when it's not played for laughs, anyway.) However, real sledges are not extremely heavy. A real sledge can get as heavy as ~20lbs (~9kg) (normal ones are less than half that), which is extraordinarily heavy for a weapon, but getting it swinging isn't that hard. It's designed to be swung. Once it's at speed, it will connect with a lot more force than you could generate based on raw physical strength. The basic physics are that you get the hammer's head moving significantly faster than the haft where you're holding it. The basic woodcutters strike where you start with one hand at the bottom of the haft and one near the head, then slide it down the haft as you swing makes it even easier to get it moving.

(Worth noting, there are sledgehammers designed for exercise, rather than as tools, and these get a lot heavier, but they're for building up muscles. Which, to be fair, there's nothing wrong with a character who's absolutely ripped, and there are ways they can use that to their advantage, but it doesn't help them fight, just like it doesn't help them drive.)

Beyond that, as we've mentioned a lot recently, swords really are not a strength weapon. It's a long razor blade, which needs to be carefully applied to your opponent's soft screamy parts, not their armor.

The one weapon that really is a strength weapon is the bow. If you're a professional archer (using historically authentic weapons, rather than mechanical compounds bows) there's a very real potential you'll be ripped. You're pulling a lot of weight in your shoulders. Of course, bows are also very high maintenance weapons, which isn't often reflected, but weapon maintenance is often an underrepresented in general.

When talking about unarmed combat, the amount of force necessary is shockingly low. Again, it's about exploiting the body's limitations. Knowing where to put pressure lets you use your opponent's body against them. Most people, “normal people,” don't look at other human beings as 100-200lbs of ambulatory meat stretched across a pulley system. When you start learning anatomy for the purposes of combat, the ability to break another human being starts to become frighteningly simple.

So what happens? She quickly neutralizes her opponent.

How long does that take? Depending on training? Could be less than five seconds. Certainly less than a minute.

What does neutralize mean in this context? I dunno. It could mean that he's subdued and gradually losing consciousness. It could mean that he'll never dance or play piano again. It could mean his next date is with the coroner. All of these are reasonable potential outcomes depending on who she is, and what she trained to do.

Remember what I said near the beginning. (Assuming she has a practical combat background) her job is to break his body before he does the same to hers. If he's a big bruiser type with no context of violence outside of John Wayne films and high school scuffles, she could kill him. In a lot of cases, she needs to, because she doesn't know what his background is, and the faster he is permanently scratched off her threats column the better. From her perspective, leaving him on the board poses an immediate and critical threat to her life.

This is the other thing about violence, you don't know what your opponent can or will do. When you're assessing a threat like this, you need to have a plan to remove them. “Do unto them before they can do unto you.” That doesn't always mean, “kill them,” but we're talking about a walking mountain who's at least seven feet tall. At that point, life altering injuries start to sound a lot like reasonable force, and justifiable lethal force is just around the corner. Depending on his behavior, it may already have arrived.

So, how long does this take? Not long.

Strength only wins out over strategy if the strategies are poor or poorly implemented, if she has combat training, that shouldn't be a consideration. Beyond that, people are far more predictable than we like to see ourselves as. Good combat training includes a surprising amount of practical insight into how people behave. Realistically, he's not going to be able to do anything she hasn't trained to counter, at least not if he doesn't have some training of his own. And, again, even if he was to have training, his strength wouldn't be the deciding factor, his training would be the important consideration.

-Starke

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get access to new posts three days early, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’re already a Patron, thank you. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

[d34dlysinner]

Prettybusy Updates/promises for the future. Year 2024

I literally took this from their website so. This was posted today: 10/01/2024.

Hello, this is Prettybusy.

Since the release of <What in Hell is Bad?>, many people have found Hell to support us and tell us what could be improved.

We are most apologetic that we cannot reply to all the voices.

But even when we weren't able to respond to everything, we still read every email, made sure we didn't miss anything,

and kept the production crew together for ongoing discussions.

We would like to apply many new things to Hell, but here's our first response to your voices,

summarizing what we can realistically expect to see in 2024.

More info about content, pricing and improvement of environment under the cut.

[Addition of contents]

Life goes on forever.

To those of you who come to find <What in Hell is Bad?>, we hope to be with you for new stories and new events.

So, here are some new content that we promise to add.

First

The addition of a new main story - Chapter 5 - (within January)

Hell's next story will be added.

What will be added in the new main story are main story episodes including battles, Minhyeok's story, and Hell's chatrooms.

We aim to add new chapters once every 3 months.

Second

The release of the minigame <Catch Minhyeok's Boxers> (within January)

Minhyeok's boxers have flown away in the wind! It is a game where you catch boxers floating in the sky with Ppyong who is armed with shibari.

To satisfy your desire to earn paid currency, we will add a minigame that allows you to randomly farm items alongside light gaming.

You can obtain not only Lesser Keys and Greater Keys, but also Solomon's Seals if you're lucky(!)

Third

The addition of new daily chats (within February)

The interest of all devils which you can see once a day. Daily chats will be added.

We are aiming to add daily chats steadily once every 2 months.

Fourth

The addition of the Friends system(within March)

You are not alone now...!

Adding friends gives you the ability to earn additional items, see what characters your friends have that you don't, and show your profile to other friends.

Fifth

The addition of Realm of the Seraphim(within March)

The closed <Realm of the Seraphim> of the Dark Sanctuary will be opened.

You can now enter Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael's realms to fight them.Similar to the Nightmare Dungeon, you can only face them if you fulfill the conditions, and while it will be a scarier battle, you will be rewarded with better items.

What's unusual about this is that you won't exchange items through an exchange, but rather you get the

items you loot from their realms immediately after the battle.

Sixth

The addition of a birthday system(within April)

The devils understood the human world's <celebration of birthdays>.

Now, the devils will congratulate the day you were born, the most unusual being in Hell.

Devils who are on good terms with you will contact you, and also prepare presents with their hearts.

Seventh

The addition of decorating the lobby icon(within May)

The production crew also enjoy decorating everything with the devils we love.

Like on Halloween, the function to decorate the lobby icon with a single devil's theme will be added.

The icon packages for all devils won't be there from the start, but the icons of all devils will definitely be added.

Eighth

The addition of line stickers(once registration is complete)

We are preparing line stickers of each devil version.

First off, Ppyong's stickers are ready and we are getting ready to register. It is not up to us to decide whether it will be able to register so we can't give you an exact timeline, but barring any major issues, you should be able to see them in the first half of the year. We will also be creating a number of opportunities for you to join the devils outside of the game this year.

[Pricing system reform]

Once again, we sincerely thank you for finding Hell despite its many shortcomings.

We will continue to improve the parts that inconvenience you in Hell's environments you experience.

So, here is our promise of 2024 to make your experience more comfortable.

First

The function to 'select' when summoning an L grade character (within February)

We confirmed that you have been working hard to get your hands on L grade devils, and we have seen how

frustrating it can be when you have reached your number of guaranteed acquisition but can't get the devil you want more.

Therefore, the production crew discussed this to be the improvement that should be made first.

Now when L grade characters are newly released, you can select the character you want once you

reach the number of guaranteed acquisition.

Moreover, we sincerely understand and apologize for the frustration of those who didn't get their limited characters.

In the interest of equity, we can't directly give you the angels you didn't get, but we have added a system to make it

easier to get Solomon's Seals with the promise of a definitive reprint of the angel characters.

Second

Monthly acquisition of Solomon's Seals (within February)

We have confirmed that people who play the game 100% for free don't have the opportunity to get an L grade character, and that makes them feel a great sense of loss.

We have made all of our stories available for free for those who want to play for free, but we empathize that the devils, especially the touchable ones, tempt you so strongly that it is difficult to resist.

Therefore, players who play for free can also obtain 500 Seals per month through various activities such as quests and attendance.

Third

Pancake Shop renewal (within March)

We have received a lot of feedback about the efficiency of the Pancake Shop and how getting S grade characters and artifacts with pancakes just isn't that much fun.

Also for 100% free-to-players, one of the largest opinions was to to give them the opportunity to

earn L grade characters when they obtain duplicate L grade and S grade characters, even if it costs much currency.

While it is impossible for us to listen to 100% of the feedback we receive, we have been working hard to make sure we are listening to you as much as possible, which is why we are announcing a complete renewal of the

Pancake system and prepare the opportunity to obtain L grade characters.

(1) The Pancake Shop will now be upgraded to the Nightmare Pancake Shop, and free-to-play players will now be able to obtain L grade characters through the Nightmare Pancake Shop.

With the addition of the Nightmare Dungeon and the Realm of the Seraphim, you will need to develop a variety of characters. Gold and Tomes will be much more important, and you will need to be more efficient with limited action power.

As a result, duplicate acquisition of B/A/A+ grade characters will now grant Gold and Tomes, and duplicate acquisition of S grade and L grade characters will grant <Nightmare Pancakes>.

(2) <Nightmare Pancakes> will be used in purchasing goods in the newly opening <Nightmare Pancake Shop>.

In the Nightmare Pancake Shop, you can purchase a monthly rotation of <L grade characters> and <L grade character artifacts>, <exclusive stickers to decorate your chat room profile>, <in-game icon design packages>, and

<Solomon's Tears>.

(Through fun planning, we will continue to add novel and adorable goods.)

(3) The <Pancakes> you already own can be used to purchase items from the existing Pancake Shop, or exchanged for <Nightmare Pancakes> - currency that can be used in the Nightmare Pancake Shop. (*Not at a 1 to 1 ratio.)

This is an upgraded version of the Pancake Shop that we have been working hard to continuously bring you as many opportunities as we can.

Not all functions are immortal, and we are planning to listen to many opinions again after implementing the shop.

Through the renewal of the Pancake Shop, we hope you obtain more efficiency and opportunities.

Fourth

Adjustment of the price of the Nightmare Pass (within March)

The Nightmare Pass was designed to give players a chance to get a guaranteed L grade character and a lot of paid items for a fraction of the cost.

However, there were various opinions ranging from the Pass being cheap to too expensive due to exchange rate

differences between countries (in some cases due to the dual conditions of exchange rate and app store).

One thing we know for sure is that most players had a blast.

We want you to enjoy your visit to Hell, so we have decided to price the Nightmare Pass a little lower than it is now, taking into account currency differences between countries.

We will announce the exact price again.

However, we respectfully ask for your kind understanding that it takes a lot of time and effort to bring

L grade characters to you, including the artwork, Live2D, stories, comics, and voice acting, so we can't just make them too cheap.

[Improvement of environment]

First

Adjustment of staging time of Ultimates (within February)

While we wanted to maximize the spectacle of combat through fancy staging, we found that the pacing of

combat can be a bit sluggish for those who are already used to staging.

The scenes in which the characters' faces appear will be reduced to 1/2.

Second

Enjoying event story illustrations (within March)

We accept wholeheartedly the feedback that after watching an event story, it is very sad not to be able to see the illustrations after the event story period.

You can now rewatch the illustrations you enjoy in the future event stories you meet in the existing album.

Third

Addition of a Boss skill window (within March)

We hear your feedback that when a boss angel appears, it is hard to respond because you don't know what skill they use.

Boss angels will now have skill icons next to the angels, and you can tap on it to see the skill they use.

However, there are bosses that intentionally do not expose their skill icons in some places for the sake of difficulty.

Fourth

Faster announcements

We recognize that announcements about new character additions and release schedules do not give you enough time to prepare, or even make you feel anxious.

To explain the situation so far, the <evaluation> takes a very long time unlike other games, and it is very difficult to confirm the release date.

This is because even if we announce our release date well in advance by the standards of other games, 2-3 weeks can easily pass if we get rejected only a few times.

But this is not a situation that our players should have to deal with, and it is something we must solve.

For a safe announcement, we are planning to update only the main story and minigame in January without releasing new sub stories, new S grade characters or L grade characters.

We will be pulling about two months' worth of evaluation for new characters that are tied to evaluation, so we'll be able to give you a stable schedule ahead of time once we have the results of the evaluation.

We realize that not releasing new characters can be boring for our users. But if you could understand that this was a very difficult decision for us to make, we'll be working harder in the month of January to ensure that we're able to give you stable announcements.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for finding Hell once again.

We would like to say that although we do have many shortcomings, but we never made decisions to give you bad experiences.

And that we'll never stop, and that we'll continue to think and listen every day to keep things moving in the right direction.

We wish we could use large staff to make faster improvements and respond to more voices in real time, but we are deeply sorry and saddened that we can't.

We will repay your love with a production crew that will answer your questions as quickly as we can.

You are the most valuable and appreciated part of the production crew's experience.

Though it may be slow, Hell will not stop. It will become more experienced and faster.

Thank you always.

Link of the website:

http://whb.prettybusy.kr/

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Do you think Kalim’s unique magic has healing properties or at least promotes growth in plants? In chapter 4 the rain made everyone feel better(though I imagine getting a drink of water after THAT work out would be good either way) and after a few days the oasis grew back. I know after rain fall in a desert plant life grows back, it just seemed like Kalim’s magic made it grow faster.

In the game itself, Kalim's unique magic, Oasis Maker, is described as being able to produce a large amount of water using only a miniscule amount of magic. Additionally, as noted by both Kalim and Grim, the water that he conjures is the most pure and delicious around.

There are no other explicit mentions of additional effects or properties, but I think the idea of Kalim's water having the power to heal is a neat concept. I'm not going to count the act of drinking the water since these homies just marched through a desert so any hydration would feel like a godsend). However, the actual physical properties of the water could be such that it provides more relief over normal water. For example, water that has been enhanced with electrolytes can replace some of the minerals that have been lost via sweating excessively. Grim also comments on the temperature of the water being perfect--not too cold, not too warm.

The example brought up of the oasis becoming lush again is really interesting! I believe that Kalim casts his UM once there (to refresh the students), but the oasis is still dried out the second time Scarabia comes to the oasis. The third and final time they pay the oasis a visit is at the very end of the episode, and the place has suddenly become lush and full of water again. Since the events of episode 4 take place over what is winter break, this means that it took about a week or a little over a week for the oasis to be restored. I actually don't know if this is possible in real life or if that's a realistic recovery time 💦 When I looked it up, Google tells me that it usually takes a few weeks to a month minimum to see change in a dehydrated plant. If we're using that as a point of comparison then yeah, the oasis blessed with Kalim's UM water did indeed experience a speedy restoration to its former glory. This could imply that Oasis Maker water has other benefits that aren't clearly exposited in the narrative or the dialogue.

What I find really cool about this idea is that it seems plausible enough given the lore and the attitudes of the characters surrounding Kalim's magic. Kalim himself doesn't think of it as a big deal; he says that maybe it would have been really useful back in the old days before potable drinking water was readily avaliable in arid areas, but nowadays it's pretty useless with how accessible water is. (Think of Silk City's canals and modern irrigation system!) However, Azul points out to Kalim that he's casually overlooking the true power he has. The game kind of just goes for a joke about Azul's greed (as he laments how profitable Oasis Maker could be), but in a sense, Azul's right. Kalim can do so much more with his abilities, it's just that he doesn't know how to really apply them and he underestimates what he can do.

Let's think of it like this: sure, the Scalding Sands are fine with their water. But you know who isn't? The Afterglow Savanna. The people there are pretty opposed to anything that interferes with their philosophy of living in harmony with nature; some of them live on well water which may not be entirely safe all the time--but with Oasis Maker, Kalim could literally make it rain clean, safe to drink water for all their needs with just a smidgen of magic. Even better, because the water comes down like natural rain would, it doesn't harm nature (and in the case where his water does have healing properties, it would actually promote the growth of plants). In other contexts, Kalim's UM could do immense good. (My thought is that perhaps since Kalim grew up so privileged, he takes some things for granted and therefore doesn't think too much in depth about things outside of his immediate environment or people who are lacking what he already has an abundance of?)

Kalim seems to adopt a somewhat flippant attitude towards his UM; he doesn't hate it or anything, but he definitely talks it down. He doesn't really seem to think it's useful or has large applications outside of reenergizing his friends-and for him, that's enough! Kalim's happiest when others are happy, and they can all sing and dance together, just like the incantation to his UM says. It's possible, then, that he didn't bother experimenting with Oasis Maker to determine its other properties outside of just producing nice water (which would sort of explain why Kalim doesn't see its broader uses, but a big brain like Azul, who is far more results oriented, can).

ADDENDUM: Interesting detail on Dorm Uniform Kalim; with M3 (magic 3) that comes with his third uncap, he has a healing water spell.

[nutzgunray-lvt]

I will forever be salty that Bakugou's behavior at the Sports Festival was rewarded with him not only winning the whole thing, but also getting the second highest amount of offers of anyone in Class 1A.

Hori could have gone any which way with it if he wanted to make Bakugou's "redemption" or "character development" actually believable, and I've seen so many better ideas on this damn website:

- Bakugou losing to Todoroki and getting second place (which given Todoroki's ice and the fucking drawbacks of Bakugou's Quirk that we mysteriously never see applied, realistically SHOULD have happened).

- Bakugou losing to Ochako, since he not only clearly didn't take her seriously throughout the fight (he literally says so right after Aizawa's bullshit sermon about how the Pro Heroes shouldn't be Pro Heroes for... *checks notes* calling out Bakugou for being a cocky asshole?), but Aizawa then brought attention to Ochako's plan to trick Bakugou into giving her a lot of debris to work with (which, again, strange how we see him using his Quirk so much and he never once gets dehydrated from sweating or suffers from hand cramps - the canonical drawbacks to his Quirk)

- Bakugou losing in the Calvary Battle, since he demands that his team focus all of their attention on Monoma for calling him out on being an arrogant asshole. Monoma's teamwork would be rewarded, and it would give him an early start into his character development.

- Bakugou fighting Shinsou in the first round and losing to him. His temper would make that fight a walk in the park for Shinsou, and it would also show some criticism from the Pro-Heroes that Bakugou's temper will only get him into serious trouble out in the field if he doesn't get a hold on it.

Any one of those instances could have had Bakugou (maybe Aizawa as well) realize that, hey, maybe I'm not as hot shit as I thought I was. He could still get some internship offers because of his "aMaZiNg QuIrK" and Best Jeanist could still take him on in hopes of getting Bakugou's head out of his ass. Then Bakugou could slowly and surely develop into a not nearly as horrible of a person as he used to be.

Or because some people will never chanfe no matter how many chances you give them, Hori could have made Bakugou double down on his attitude and throw multiple hissy fits (as seen in canon), alienating other Pro-Heroes from him and having Aizawa's teaching be called into question further (maybe even have Mic call him out like "dude, why haven't you nipped that kid's God complex in the bud?). Maybe have someone else bust Bakugou for accosting Izuku (again, canon) and accusing him of helping his opponent win against him, getting him officially punished or reprimanded. Have this start alienating him from the rest of Class 1A.

But nope, that would mean Bakugou actually facing consequences for his actions, and we can't have that happen.

[caitlin666]

The main vampire kisses (book series) complaints I see and my thoughts on them

* Raven’s personality is cringey

I think the readers forget Raven is only 16. It’s pretty clear that Raven was written to be a realistic teenager, and all teenagers have their cringey moments.

* It’s annoying how Raven goes on about how “goth” she is

Honestly this comes down to personal preference. Because I personally LOVED the descriptions of her outfits and the objects she owns. And lots of preteens and teens like these descriptions because they feel inspired by the main characters of books they read and want to recreate outfits or buy objects that character owns

* The story is predictable

Personally I disagree. I first read the books at 12/13 and then 16 and then again at 20 and there are plot points I am genuinely surprised by because I forgot them. I personally feel the stories have their twists and turns but to each their own

* The story/writing is juvenile

This is a book series for PRETEENS AND TEENS. Although some very young adults (18-22) may enjoy the books as well, any older and it is highly likely you may find the writing style childish.

* The story is too cheesy/silly for me to take seriously

If you pay any attention at all, it’s pretty obvious this is supposed to be a

comedy-fantasy series. It’s not supposed to be taken seriously

* The story is too flat and boring

Are we even reading the same books? I found almost every page funny/comedic or at least entertaining.

* Raven is only goth by aesthetic/appearance/fashion

She literally mentions enjoying Bauhaus and The Cure (goth bands) AND mentions enjoying Dracula movies and Anne Rice novels

* Raven’s only personality trait is hating preppy people

I think it’s normal for alternative teens to have “not like other girls/boys/people” stage. I definitely did as a teen and cringe now at it, but it’s normal. Also Raven clearly has other personality traits if you look hard enough

* It’s annoying how the main two towns in the series are called Hipsterville and Dullsville and never properly named

The author Ellen Schreiber said she purposefully did this so lots of people could identify their closest dullsville and hipsterville to themselves and connect to the story more. For example, my town is quite conservative and very dull, but the city centre is more chill with a solid amount of punk and goth people. The towns not being specifically named is because a decent amount of people (in western countries at least) will have a dull conservative town and a chill/alternative/hipster/artsy city by them. People can think about what their own dullsville and hipsterville would be and apply it to them

Are there any other complaints I forgot to address? Lemme know. And yes, I understand that this series is not perfect, but these specific complaints are stupid/silly/ridiculous.

@victor-the-vampire

[amugoffandoms]

THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS: A Little Discussion into the Machiavellian Concept and Its Applications to MILGRAM

Hello there!! Welcome to my discussion into MILGRAM and the Machiavellian concept of the end justifying the means. Apologies in advance if stuff doesn't make sense, I feel like this was a very complicated thing to explain??

enjoy the es headers to divide some of my thoughts lol

I was thinking about something and the phrase "The end justifies the means" popped into my head, especially for Haruka.

Like, I feel like the end (getting his mom's attention) certainly justified the means (murder) in his point of view.

But, such an idea is often frowned upon, as "That snappy justification for everything “sinful and wicked” sounds good on paper at first to some realists, but in practice, it is a slippery slope to despotism and immoral horrors. See Hitler, eugenics, and other horrors like that." (Source)

However, the Machiavellian concept has more nuance to it.

"Machiavelli in all cases is implying that “the means” matter, and “the ends” don’t magically justify them, yet sometimes it is worth accepting all the ramifications of “unjustifiable means,” and the damage they do to one’s reputation, for the end goal.

In other words the ends don’t cancel out the means in every respect, but they may none-the-less justify to some extent the original less-than-virtuous actions needed to secure the ends. . . .

DO THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS? The ends can sometimes justify the means, and the ends are often more important than the means. Sometimes, one must muster up criminal virtue to ensure an end which brings the “greatest happiness,” but one must understand that we are talking about the “greatest happiness” theory here. Thus, people should consider the philosophy of consequentialism and consider the morality of the means as well as the result of the ends, and not just seek their ends by any means without consideration. Machiavelli as a political thinking, virtuous master, and republican would no doubt apply the same sort of reason to the seeking of a perfect happiness theory. Truly, one could argue, that only a tyrant would consider ends to justify means – period…" (Source)*

*The source is from the same link as above.

Now, I'm not calling Haruka a tyrant (he's literally 17 and was neglected as a child, of course he'd do what he could.)

However, Haruka believes in the original idea, that his mother's attention justified killing someone. But, here it states that to some extent, these actions can be justified.

So, Haruka can't entirely justify his actions because of just the end. He begs for his INNOCENT verdict despite what he can and says he will do. There are obvious consequences to these actions and it's not fair to take just the ends into account.

In fact, as I write this, it makes me believe that MILGRAM, underneath all of this, is asking you:

"Does the end justify the means?"

You see this throughout the entire project, either subtly or directly:

Haruka - As aforementioned, does getting his mother's attention justify killing someone?

Yuno - (I'm using the pregnancy entrapment theory here as it's very plausible, but you could use many different theories.) Does getting someone's attention/love justify trapping them in a pregnancy?

Fuuta - (help this one's complicated ^^;;;) Does someone dying justify your mindset of destroying all "evildoers"?

Muu - (See, this one is complicated as well as her murder and why is heavily debated, so I'll go with Muu trying to kill Rei because she wasn't forgiven and also because she wanted the suffering to end. Please let me know if there is a much more nuanced idea.) Does the ending suffering justify killing someone?

Shidou - Does saving a singular person justify all the other people they've killed to save them?

Mahiru - (See, once again, complicated, since we have no idea what her murder is, but I'll try a guess. Once again, please let me know if there is a much more nuanced idea!) Does someone dying justify overwhelming love?

Kazui - Does someone dying justify lying, but telling the truth in the end?

Amane - Does someone dying justify your faith?

Mikoto - Does protecting someone (or in this case, an alter) justify killing someone?

Kotoko - Does serving justice justify possibly killing someone?

One thing I forget to mention in the original posting (and I'd like to thank @inferablossom for this point! Please take a look at their reblog here!) is the application with Es and MILGRAM itself.

In their words, they say, ". . .the treatment of the guilty prisoners. . . that's an important thing to look at. All the prisoners who were voted Guilty had their thoughts rejected in the fork of hearing lots of voices condemning and judging them, something that's been not unfairly called out as psychological torture. We are being asked to judge these prisoners as forgivable or unforgivable. Some of them, people won't find forgivable, and many have stated an intention to forgive them later, but not now, with an intention to make them 'better' in some way. But can we justify essentially subjecting people to psychological torture to achieve this aim? And on the other side, for Kotoko, many people likely voted her forgivable based on her crime, but she also deemed it as accepting her deal and therefore sanctioning her violence against other prisoners. Can we justify actions that could lead to her harming many people?"

As I stated in my reply, I honestly wasn't looking into MILGRAM because I was so focused on the prisoners, but it's a great point!

I'm basically restating my reply here, but:

Can we justify putting prisoners through "psychological torture" to ensure "betterment"? Can you forgive someone terrible to save someone else?

For example, Haruka and Muu. After Haruka made that threat in his 2nd VD, people must have seriously been considering voting for Muu's innocence to stop him from committing suicide. However, we all automatically went to a guilty verdict.

Voting for Kotoko's innocence caused her to beat up the other prisoners. So, are you able to justify these actions that can lead to more?

As an audience, we must see if the ends justify our means, see if violence can justify forgiveness, and if "betterment" (or in what Alice said in their tags, harm mitigation) can justify psychological torture.

This is very reminiscent of Fuuta's 2nd MV, where he yells at Es for being just like him. Es, and I suppose us as well, justify their actions by saying this is MILGRAM and they must find the truth.

(Can finding the truth behind someone justify psychological and physical suffering?)

It also reminds me of Amane's voting! Everyone wanted her to realize her murder, but it caused her to become more "stuck" with her beliefs. Can betterment justify a guilty verdict, causing psychological torture, to realize one's murder?

If we were to judge ourselves, would it be fair to say we'd give ourselves a GUILTY verdict?

Quick Side Topic: In voting in MILGRAM, I like to take into a few factors: personality (it is not affected as much, but depending on the situation, it does help), actions, and the crime itself.

I'm not saying anyone who voted certain prisoners the opposite way is wrong to vote that way, but I like to think of these factors to fairly judge, as if I was part of a jury in a trial.

For example, since her voting period ended last month, Muu. I voted her guilty because of her disregard for Haruka's threat and guilty prisoners' wellbeing, saying they deserved it, no? (In my eyes, no one deserves such a fate unless they have done something EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY wrong. I'm not justifying murder, but I'm saying the actions done to them were wrong.) Her personality didn't really swing my vote any way. Her murder, however, did. In my eyes, it seemed like she was trying to get retribution for her bullying (I have this whole theory that one of Rei's friends were being bullied, killed herself, and Rei called her out on this.)

Back on track...

Once again, there is so much more nuance to each of these characters than DOES THE END JUSTIFY THE MEANS? Haruka is certainly more than wanting his mother's attention; Yuno more than trying to get pregnant from someone; Fuuta more than his mindset; Muu more than her suffering; Shidou more than his dead patients; Mahiru more than her boyfriend; Kazui more than his lies; Amane more than her faith; Mikoto more than his DID (Can't recall if this is the right term.); and Kotoko more than serving justice.

But, that's what some of their ideals and murder itself boils down to, can you justify murder? Can you look at why they did it (motive/goal), what happened (murder/means), and your own morality and decide if you can forgive someone?

Can you look into yourself and truly find that there is a justification for murder?

In the words of Es in former English subs for UNDERCOVER, "You get to know them and tie them with their EGO? Can you really judge them? Is it really okay to be done with deciding with just your EGO? Will you be able to forgive them after listening to their sins?"

Can you look past the less-than-virtuous means to justify the end?

In the words of the new English subs, "Shouldn't you look beyond your EGO, before it all ends?"

Can the ends justify murder?

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading my little discussion into this topic. Once again, I apologize for any confusing parts in this. I myself am still trying to grasp the concept, but my thoughts are now in writing.

I'm not well versed into some of these characters, so I am willing to edit this to fix any mistakes I've made in their little analysis of them! Thank you for your help if you do!

I think the first thought of this concept and how it was comparable to Haruka and it started snowballing.

When I realized I had my thoughts down in a whole essay/discussion, I realized it would probably be best to divide this up into easier to read chunks??

MILGRAM is an amazing music video project and considering the release of I Love You is soon, I'm excited to see what is in store. If I recall correctly, they said this was an intense trial, so oh dear! ^^;;

Here's to more amazing songs to analyze!

[monstrouslyobsessed]

at this rate ima beat this jack frost all black and blue with how much trouble it is to write something im happy with. sighs. anyway, i got some asks to answer! some of them got a tad too long so its all under the cut!

tw / tags: heavy heavy beastfolk lore/worldbuilding talk, momster talks too fucking much, breeding mentions, implied noncon, multiple pregnancy mentions, long post, beastfolk / beastfolks characters mentioned: revius, zedrik, cerelos (brief), sea witch, adoxi, and velarius

Beast folk idea I have! How about a male kangaroo that is of course some type of famous professional athlete (aside from boxing, he could be a martial artist, sprinter, etc.) that has been a play boy all his life (based off of how male kangaroos flex their muscles in real life to females). He never I guess had any “moment” in his life with any females, where he felt right actually wanting to be with them and love them whole heartedly (whether beastfolk of his own species or those not). So then one day someone he knows (close friend or maybe a work professional) takes him to an exclusive private party where the beastfolk have “rented” some humans to do it with. (I don’t know lore wise how legal this is, if at all, but it happened some how). I guess it’s so private because some of the guests there are secret human efers, those in denial, or just haven’t found the “right human” yet and would like some hands on sampling before purchasing them. And so, that’s how the kangaroo meets us his adorable darling. And I’d really like this to be very sweet and fluffy (before becoming mouth watering smutty of course), with kangaroo just having a “zing!” moment with us. We were the female he needed to feel complete in regards to love, and he plans to take GREAT care of us. (It’d also be funny to show how overprotective he is of reader from the start, by him unhesitatingly outbidding some of the other party guests who’ve also taken interest in reader). Of course it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, as reader has trust/abandonment/attachment issues. So finding out that her new kangaroo owner is (was) a MASSIVE play boy isn’t helping her fears. Now it’s up to kangaroo to do damage control, learn how to be a much better beast man, and show his sole love/devotion to reader. Making sure she’ll never question his love/loyalty to her ever again! He wants to make her the envy of his past flings, other beastmen, and just everybody really, since she’s the center of his universe. (Kangaroo also wants to really make her his permanently by getting her knocked up/wifey too). I don’t know if you’d like this idea/concept, but I thought it’d be very cute. I just love the trope of a Casanova finding their soul mate, and having to fix all the damage they’ve caused themselves by their own consequences. Cause it really is a self conflict, and great for character growth arcs. (I also just wanna be spoiled/doted on endlessly by a man who’s capable to throw hands literally and figuratively 24/7 to protect me). Thanks 🪭 —anonymous

hmmm, a bit -too- overdetailed for me to write this one since i like some breathing room to apply my own spins. tbf, it sounds like you already got it started! all you needed to do is to write it~if you write this one, link me! i wouldn't mind reading it and supporting fellow writers <3

while it is -my- au, i especially love seeing what it inspired in others and see their interpretations of it! while the worldbuilding remains mine (STILL chewing on starting a book/series on it someday, but the thought of publishing anything is scary af), it's literally just (semi-realistic) furries mingling with humans with extra history/political dramas included.

so, as long as you keep your worldbuilding somewhat different and source the inspiration to me, have at it. write your own beastfolk world!

anyway, on the finer details (for my AU anyway), as long as those humans are 'beastfolk-owned' and not green card/independent humans, they're essentially viewed as property to do whatever with albeit with responsibilities to ensure their well-being. as long as they're fed and have open access to water, have sufficient shelters, are clean, and their health is regularly checked, their owners can do whatever they want, really. the court won't interfere as long as the humans are safe and healthy—and mind you, the beastfolks are very slow on the uptake about the mental health, less so with their humans'.

that said, this can also depend greatly on what region they're in. some areas have far more human rights than others, being more liberal, while others may be more conservative and views humans as, well, livestock, essentially. humans in these places sometimes have the same rights as actual animals (if they're lucky). that said, the more rural it is, the fewer rights the human pets have.

of course, money DOES talk too.

so, you can just easily say that your characters are either in one of those conservative regions—or have shady connections and/or have an insane amount of money where the laws would just look the other way. just don't make it public and you're good to go, pretty much.

auctions would probably be a common sight in certain black markets, depending on where you are and when you are on the timeline. the zoo breakout to the early post zoo eras sees many of those events. on the most parts in the later era, those auctions are then transformed into whole new events entirely (aka, sports), which is the logical next step since they used to be the aftermath for when the bidding was ending in an outright war between several bidders and was used to solve the issue. instead of bidding, you'd complete for the human you wanted (i'm not clear at how the human would end up there yet since i don't feel any reputable shelter would align with those events for the 'adoption war' or that the adoption is the only way. still debating on this--in any case, the darling ends up there when there are more than two beastfolks fighting over them) and prove your worth while treating the unfortunate human like a rat bait (see: the maze headcanon i wrote a while ago—and am planning to write a whole piece of it to properly thank a very kind supporter when i'm able. some details had been changed since then, but it mostly still hold up).

in a lot of ways, the auctions were rather kinder to the humans as they wouldn't be put in outright danger right then. :/ the (new) spectator sports, such as the maze race, exploits multiple legal loopholes, since they involve no money (not outright anyway) as the auctions were (publicly) banned for "unregulated monetary transactions and the unpredictability of bid outcomes".

if anything, a good amount of these sports are...purely for "adult entertainment", if you get what i'm implying. ahem. the laws are actually pretty behind regarding the 'adult content/sports', especially with the open access of internet around then on that timeline. the large part of that had to do with encouraging the beastfolks to procreate with the humans though, so any form of sex between both races are simply not regulated outside the acceptable age range and limitations on physical violence/abuse and this includes the "entertainment" aspect.

it's fucked, but that's how they gets away with such things.. i'm rambling, but this can be a good alternative for you to think about too, to add on that extra drama flare and to further traumatize the human.

this is a super cute idea though and i sincerely hope you'll expand it yourself if you can! this is a very nice starting point too, if you're not used to writing. as for me, i'm not sure i can write all of this for you unfortunately, since i tend to go TOO long on just one scene and i have multiple ideas i wanna work on as well, aha. but you did give me room to talk the worldbuilding to help expand similar events like your idea so thank you for that. i can most definitely tell you that your poor fella is definitely not an isolated example.

Apparently penguins kidnap other penguins’ children to try and raise as their own. Was watching nature utube vids on this and it’s so sad! The desire to be a parent is so intense for some couples that they’ll take away another couple’s baby! How’d this play into your beast verse? What measures would government and organizations take to help combat this extreme phenomenon? And think about being a human parent and having your Penguin spouse come back with a random baby 💀💀💀 Even worse is if you’re in a Penguin community and have to fight off other penguins casually when you have your baby. On the streets, home break ins, etc. —anonymous

ngl featheredfolk (penguins are flightless but they're still birds and have feathers still so they count as one) is a bunch of odd birds with cultures other beastfolks often struggle to understand, especially with the dramas that often follow. children theft in general with the featheredfolks is complicated and tends to only involves the similar peers to sort it out, because outsiders (humans included, if not one of 'theirs' via being the spouse or the child/ren) would just get frustrated with their fucked logic to the point of being angry about it.

so, no, penguins wouldn't be the only birds that deal with this mannerism, but is the most common one to do so.

that said, they tend to have big enough noggins not to involve anyone who isn't a featheredfolk (and to an extent, wingedfolk), because they're still mostly prey in nature. skittishness towards the predator kind is basically ingrained in their dna.

but that's not to say such incidents never happened though! usually, it only happens when the community is actually quite small, that they have to 'outsource' to another beastfolk. it's a very dangerous thing to do though, since beastfolks are naturally very overprotective of their youngs. in cases where they do succeed with the kidnapping and escapes unscathed, it normally doesn't take long before the one they took the child from to track them down due to using their superior senses.

it's 50/50 on how it may end though and the laws would still side with the victims regardless of the outcome. hopefully, someone else would call the laws first to deal with such matters though and to calm the angry parent/guardian.

that said, i do imagine that the government would get around this annoying instinct by advertising adoptions as another option from the featheredfolk's early age in their school. they'd push it so much that the featheredfolk tends to feel like they were being singled out for it too.

...honestly, i'm not even sure how to answer this one fully. i should treat this as a serious question with a serious answer, but i can't.

the featheredfolks are legit viewed as the clowns of the beastfolk world already because of how...simpleminded most of them can be (not a bad thing!) 😭and now this. the birdbrains....still, i hope this somewhat answers your question(s)...?

Maybe I’m just blind and stupid, but did you touch up on beastfolk courtship rituals for some species? Ex- Birds may decorate, dance, or sing to court another. Hooved/fanged folk may literally fight each other to get rights to begin courtship with x. I’m just so curious to see what animal behaviors transfer to your universe! :) —anonymous

uhhhh, i don't think i really expand on those yet, no! the 'traditional' courtship rituals are more commonplace in the past than the 'modern' era, tbf, if between beastfolk and humans.

if it's just between two (or more) beastfolks, then yeah, 'traditional' courtship rituals are common.

in the present, it's a common understanding that the humans may not always understand their actions, so the beastfolk tends to adapt the best they could for 'the best of both worlds' kind of ritual—sometimes to the extreme mean though (lol).

for example, with the featheredfolks, for being a species with brittle bones, they're rather sturdy so they're often happy just living in a large treehouse and staying steady no matter the weather and season. it's more like an old cabin, with a lot of drafts. but, the thing is, neither (or more, i don't judge those in the poly relationships lol) would care, because the one doing the courting built it just for their love interest—and later built it better together for their upcoming new family members.

but for a featheredfolk genuinely interested in a human, would have to outright learn how to build a modern house—and that is far more complicated than just putting together a log cabin in the tree. they're very adaptive folks though and if they're sincere about the human, they'd go that far to at least attempt to build the foundation single-handedly. thankfully, the bird community is often tight-knit, so others would step in once the basic foundation is done and rally in.

(unlike our irl, everyone in that AU can at least afford some ways to build their own home and not be buried in the debts for the rest of their life. this is mainly because some specific beastfolks having an instinctive needs to build, that the common government would offer to offset some of the costs to abate those instincts from turning destructive.)

in their cases, even if the courting failed, the featheredfolk learned and can actually apply it to their lifeskill/career path/etc. for birdbrains, you'll see a lot of them in the engineering and architecture fields. (funny how that works!)

as you pointed out, yes, hoovedfolk and fangedfolk are more violent with their courting, but that's generally only in the cases where the love interest have more than one (alike) suitor vying for their affection. i'm not really sure how common that is in the more liberal areas tbf, but i do imagine it's a daily thing in the conservative/rural regions since those usually have a lot of, hm, predominant 'single-species' community? sorry, i'm not really sure how to word it.

since strength is what they consider their worth and humans rarely understand the point of physical violence, they'd probably show off what they're capable of instead—from lifting a car to carrying all the groceries at once for the human they're interested in. endurance too, so if the human is into, say, a sport or likes to run, they'd compete to show off just how good they are with either (though, i do like to think they'd carry their human on their back while running five more miles when the human gets tired--just to say, 'look at me! i'm not even tired yet and i'm carrying you!'). unlike the featheredfolks, fangedfolk and hoovedfolks are much milder about their courting.

whiskeredfolks are much more sly, but they like to show off how much they can provide (which is also something fangedfolk likes to do, but the former is often more subtle). usually involving money (and management) and ordering things their human hadn't realized they needed yet. things like that. they really likes to bring home food too, lol. since they can't exactly show off their hunting skills and bring home a bloodied deer carcass, providing is the next best thing with their human love interest.

there's more, but i'll stop here, but their courting rituals for their humans are basically 'modernized', with some species (obviously and hilariously so) trying harder than others.

tbf, parts of the birds' rituals were inspired by that tumblr meme on 'if men were like birds'. can't find that now though.

hope this answered you some?

Question:Revius and Zedrik- What’s family life with them now if you were to have 2 children (1 from each)? Just wondering how dynamics would change, what the children’s personalities would be like, etc. Sea Witch (octo man)- Can we have babies with him? And if we did would it be a multiple pregnancy since female octopuses (I know we are a modified human) technically lay hundreds of eggs. And how would family life be from there out? —anonymous

hm, i can't comment on the childrens personalities (and any other details, really) since that's kinda something i leave to the readers to decide.

honestly, both revius and zedrik would fall deeper in 'love' with their darling for enduring both of those difficult pregnancies, that they're rather clingy to them more so than to each other. though, granted, both knew how capable each other would be so it's more on how 'frail' their darling really is in comparison. zedrik is more openly emotional than revius is though, but revius is certainly more of the nagging type like a strict, doting mom might be. personally, i feel they'd butt heads more often after their children are born, (but never to the point of separating [imo anyway, they'd been together for some times before they decided to...'pursue' the darling]), because of how different their parenting styles were.

let's just say that cerelos' darling has an easier time wrangling with the emperor than their darling did with those two.

otherwise, they're both pretty devoted as fathers. i do imagine their kids would've been confused by their upbringings a bit though due to, again, differing parenting styles. the darling does their best though! but it's kinda hard to raise children double, triple your size lol

as for the sea witch, that's implied! i wanted to let the reader to decide on their own if they're going to have kids with him or not, rather than outright branding 'breeding kink' on the piece. but, yes, there'd be oviposition going on, had you wanted to imagine that storyline.

not sure if i understood you about the multiple pregnancies though, so i'll refrain from answering that one. instead, yes, the darling would probably carry multiple eggs and, well, egg laying. i do imagine the sea witch would've found a way to make that not at all a painful process (probably quite the opposite, tbf).

as for the family life, i'm...not at all sure. i'll leave that for you and other readers to decide. i honestly see the sea witch just enjoying the pregnancy, because to him, his darling is now ruined and marked with his seed (or, eggs). afterward? not sure if he'd enjoy the fatherhood too much, especially with multiple 8-legged kids running about.

he might be an excellent father

or he might genuinely be a shitty one.

his personality is kind of confusing in that regard, so i'll just let yall to make that call and we'll go from there.

I've really gotten into your beastfolk universe but I want to ask: Does adoxi exist within that universe or is he in a separate universe? —anonymous

nope! he's too human-looking to be a beastfolk--and is too healthy, pretty, and (mostly) sane to be a hybrid. thats why hes not in the beastfolk masterlist.

initially, he's from his own universe, where humans are living in ignorance of the existence of inhuman beings like adoxi, but i've been chewing on the possibly of him being a descendant of my other character, the cursed god. it'd explain why he's looking fairly human yet not (the 6 arms isn't genetically inheritable fyi, since the priest ripped them off from unfortunate souls to replace the ones he lost).

but that's only me chewing on it and isn't 'official' yet, since there are couple details that wouldn't make sense (but is workable). still thinking about it.

hope this answered!

God I love how you write snakemen like Adoxi and Valerius. They act like bastards but good lord I would get on my knees for them so fast! —anonymous

hee~snakes are so fun to write, ngl. imagining being wrapped around in his coil is a guilty pleasure. glad you're enjoying my depictions! <3

there's a few more, but they're requests i'm hoarding in my inbox for now lol but man who let me talk??? anyway, sorry that i took a minute to answer your asks hhhh life just keeps on happeningggg. sighs. anyway, hope yall are doing well and as always, my inbox is open for (mostly) anything. <3 love ya~and take care of yourself!

[hozaloza]

"She knew she had a special talent with her eyes. Specifically, being able to see the signs a rift was going to open. It had always been something she noticed when she was a young girl. The first instance of this happening was when she was going to a haunted hotel with older cousins as a part of their little "vlog." She noticed something off about the building...the light flickering, the strange change in atmosphere...

She couldn't go in that building. She refused.

Annoyed at her, her cousin opt out of the overnight stay in spite of wanting to see ghosts. On the drive back, she would lecture Jasmine about really needing to face her fears eventually if she wanted to keep hanging with them. Jasmine scrunched her brows at her, 'I'm literally 10 years old, what do you want from me??'

Well, it didn't really matter what her cousin thought. Because when they came the next morning to pick up the others, they were in a deep coma. Jasmine never saw those cousins ever again.

Now, she was no longer scared of entering these places. She knew what to look for, when it'll happen, and if it extends out. Jasmine made her boss real proud. She was his proudest group member. This should have made her happy to be seen as important for the cause. But... she couldn't help but feel...empty." "......"

"A trick of the light"

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ Jasmine looked at Ryan, then to the paper she was being shown to her face. It couldn't be...this wasn't right...right? There was absolutely no way this was her boss's true intentions. She surely wasn't going to be disregarded after he gets the kids on his side, right?? He...he still needed her! She was the only one who could see the rift...

He...he needed someone to detect it so he doesn't get dragged in it. That was why she was by his side so often. She was the most important part of this plan, she had to have been there once the kids were fully convinced of the lie.

Right? Right?? ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

"Where am I?"

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ She stumbled on herself as she backed away, feeling her vision leave her. Come on, he had to be pulling her leg. Ryan was only pissed that she found out about his secret, he made this up, he had to had made it up.

She was going to be there. She wasn't going to be killed off after they succeeded in overthrowing the facility.

Jasmine looked up to meet the nurse's gaze, knowing he was a part of this sick joke. But he looked dead serious. No...nononononono...

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

"Time fades away...like yesterday."

...

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ Jasmine fell to the ground, tears blurring her vision. He had to be wrong. This wasn't real. She was having a bad dream. Yes! A bad dream. A really...realistic...dream...

She pinched herself, it stung. She tried again. And again. And...again...

It was real.

This was the truth.

She was used. Again.

She couldn't breathe. Her lungs couldn't get enough air inside. She felt like puking. Her body kept shivering unbearably as she held herself. How did she end up here? Why did she ever take this job? Would she had been happier someplace else?? Would things be better if she had declined his offer all those years back...?

"Jasmine..." ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

"I DON'T NEED YOUR SYMPATHY!"

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ She lashed out at Ryan, swatting away his hand from her shoulder. She forced herself to get up, almost falling over again from how weak she had gotten after the truth finally sunk in. The tears fell from her face, she couldn't bear it anymore. She was agitated. She needed to let this anger out on somebody... ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

"Your vicious lies, they're killing me."

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ She yelled, clenching her hair as she paced the room. Ryan deserved to be yelled at. He was a fucking loser who couldn't even make any other friends other than Thomas and her. He was a pathetic man who got angered easily. He was a wimp who was scared of being left out, so he applied to work at the same facility in the same group to...to.... ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

"And things will never be the same"

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ...He applied to the same hellhole just to be with his friends... He signed a contract with a corrupted government run facility just to see his friends. To see Thomas. To see...her. ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

"It's over now"

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ And here she was, yelling at him as if he was a stranger that agitated her. Jasmine had become cold to her own friend. Her friend who thought he lost the only people who he could trust in this hell hole. He was suffering in this place by himself, fearful for his own life... ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

"And I'm to blame."

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ Because of her. ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

[icanseethefuture333]

hi desi🩵 how you doing?

i read somewhere that your future spouse can't change because that's how it works. but a reader told me that the energy of the person it's not the same so now fs is someone different. it is possible that my fs change bc some random circumstances?:o

i send you so much love! and thank you for rt info about gaza and palestinians!!

Aw ty sweetie! Ofc no problem 💕, but to answer your question - some people might not like this answer from me, but honestly I don't think "future spouse" is the correct word to use and I use it very differently in comparison to what might other tarot readers refer to it and how their interpretation is of the meaning of the two words: "future spouse". When I say future spouse, I mean it as in a very literal way - The next person you will marry. Now, if you are someone who's never been married then that still applies, but I guess I am more inclusive to the term? Since there are people who have been divorced and want to get married again, then that could also mean for them their future spouse. I feel like when people say "future spouse" they just mean their "forever person (as "in till death do us part" & "♾️" xoxo). When honestly, the way I think of it is you could get married, but then could also get divorced, or maybe you're married but not necessarily marrying for love? Now I'm not wishing that on people or raining on their parade, but it's just a more realistic perspective given the fact I know people who are married and are happy (or unhappy), or people who got divorced and got married again and found the person who makes them happy (or they get divorced again), or also they feel happy being alone single, or dating around. So it's like... whatever floats your boat I guess? Me as a person, I know what I might want today, but it might not resonate with me 10 years later. So me as a young woman in her 20s, I could want my future spouse to be a certain way and I want my marriage to be stable and secure, while if by the time I'm in my 30s and I'm not married still, I could just want a completely different kind of spouse, or maybe I wouldn't even want marriage, maybe I want a different kind of relationship where I want a partner who can be my side and elevate and support me when I need them the most. I feel like people are so obsessed with finding their forever person and don't really understand that life is a journey. There's different kinds of love for a reason and each experience will have a lesson for you or just be positive memory for you 🤷🏽‍♀️. So if you're wondering if your future spouse will stay the same or change to a different person, I don't think you need to worry about it. Don't worry about what the details of who it is exactly. You can just have fun and play around with the idea, like read pacs, watch tarot readings, etc, but don't get so caught up on who's gonna marry you. It will happen naturally. So if you want to manifest your future spouse that's completely fine, but marriage is not like being in a relationship (as in just having a partner you're dating). It's a contract. You can't just break up that easily and divorces are a long process, add children to that then it's even messier. So just enjoy your life, enjoy your freedom as a single individual, discover what your likes and dislikes are as you date people, focus on making sure you are financially independent, and have the necessary security and safety when you get your own home. When you are successful and feeling good with yourself (your self esteem, health, and finances), then you can think about the significance of marriage in your life. If any suitors wish to come forward to propose (or if you wish to propose to someone) during that time and you go "hmm, I think I am ready to get married!", then I say go ahead and I support your decision on that :)

[coralcalypso]

Fish thoughts time

i had some of this typed up already on discord but never posted it on Tumblr. It’s rough but has a lot of my vibes down

I like to divide the character (or concept of the character) of )(IC between different eras

)(IC during the ancestor Era,

)(IC as a spacefarer

)(IC Post Vast Glub,

)(IC under Lord English (and differences between earth a and b)

So on Alternia/Ancestor era she was a lot more hands on about ruling on the home world, probably did a bit more overseeing of policy instead of leaving EVERYTHING to the clowns and nobility.

I imagine that Alternia was probably at a more stable point pre Rebellion than it is post Rebellion because it is not being ruled by a bunch of children, but similarly she is still probably focused on more overarching goals for the Empire

(for Sef I like having it so before she became Empress that Alternia was already a bit more involved in Astropolitics so there are aliens and other factors out there that influence her policy making decisions).

post summoner's rebellion, i imagine that she realized that if something like that happened on the homeworld again there would be nonzero risks that it could threaten the survival of the species. So we get to the Spacefarer era. and at that point space travel and helmsmen are more of a common thing so here starts the era of cosmic expansionism

while in space i actually think she had a relatively decent with the crew of her ship, probably sans the helmsman but i think over the hundreds of sweeps it is at least not violent at each turn. It’s still a fucked up situation, but i think that you can’t really spend hundreds of sweeps around the same group of people without having to learn to deal with each other.

ruling with violence and hatred all the time doesn't really work and i think she is smart enough to know when to apply a softer hand when it comes to her own personal matters, so she isnt going to stab the person who missed a shot during a space battle willynilly or anything.

And i think the longer she is in space, the more detached she feels from actually having to rule directly and more of the administrative side is deferred and she only has to sign off on things here and there. So you see the decline in management of the homeplanet over time (Aside from just being ruled by children, there aren't any fleet members in the same star system anymore)

So she is more of an distant ruler with a bunch of chancellors who manage the different parts of the empire, which has its own issues obviously but realistically 1 person cannot manage everything like that (See clowns running land administration)

She is still the direct absolute monarch but i think that there is still a point to be made about how she kinda ended up being mythologized and was more of a figurehead in the distance than a personally involved ruler during canon

post Vast Glub she is the only troll alive in the universe and spends hundreds of sweeps going through space alone.

I imagine that probably had a significant impact on her emotionally and mentally, especially since the first troll she sees in literal centuries she has to fight to the death then ends up getting swooped into lord english’s service

(I have a whole thing in mind regarding the Handmaid and her, their parallels, and the nature of their servitude towards LE and how both of them were able to fully detach from him through death. And the question of where do nonplayers go when they die and a lot of ideas. That's another concept inspired by my RGU feelings)

I think that by the time we meet her in canon, she's desperate, somewhat depressive, but still determined to get out of her fate

from dirk's dialogue she did try to create new trolls but anything close got killed by the mimicry of her lusus, she performed experiments on herself to become stronger (all psionics any %), she plotted against lord english but she was only able to be released from service in the same way the handmaid was

I think she is still terrible as a person and even if she was in a scenario where everything was manipulated to be that way (shout out to doc scratch), she still could have been better

With Sef and with how i interpret )(IC, i think she also is very duty oriented with how she ruled Alternia. Needs of the many over the few, hyper conscious about the empire’s united front and how any form of internal struggle could be taken advantage of by enemies, her personal feelings and preferences don’t matter if they would set the empire back in strength, etc

i think that she did care and cared a lot, but after everything she was a husk of who she once was after realizing her life has been manipulated to become a pawn for lord English and her attempts at rebellion costed humanity in the earth b timeline and she once again doomed an entire species with her actions.

i think that the parallels between her and the handmaid are really interesting and that both of them are figures who never got to know what they could be without someone manipulating their lives (Gl’bgoylb was a gift from Doc Scratch and the whole psychic bond thing, the Handmaid appearing in different points in time as the Demoness to sow chaos and dissent, Handmaid being taken in by Scratch and raised to be a tool, etc)

[helios-narloch]

A Roll of Quarters Never Hurt Nobody

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandoms: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics),

Relationship: Peter Parker/Wade Wilson

Characters: Peter Parker, Wade Wilson, yellow box, white box, Nubbins

Additional Tags: Nubbins is a cat, Wade loves his cat, Peter is Broke. and so am i, hidden identities, Cute, free food, friends - Freeform, This was deleted so i'm posting it again, realistic?, Adults

Language: English Published:2022-08-11 Words:9,055 Chapters:1/1

It began awkwardly.

"I'm not homeless?" Wade frowned as he slowly took the offered scone from the young man.

The stranger's face paled and his expression glazed over as his frazzled college brain scrambled for an appropriate response. 

"I live in the apartment upstairs," Wade added to fill the awkward silence, unintentionally grinding the guy's mortification further. "I'm just waiting for my DoorDash because last time the chick walked off with the goods."

He could see the wheels and cogs turning in the young man's head as he tried to think but Wade was running out of things to say before this turned into a one-sided conversation he didn't really want to have. "You sure you're in any shape to be handing out food so Willy-Nilly?" He asked as he glanced him over, reaching out to peel a piece of masking tape off of the man's chest that had .50 cents written out in sharpie.

[I hate it when people write cents like that, having a point before the cent amount means it's half a dollar, no need to write cents after it. Choose one or the other. Dollars with a zero and decimal or cents, not both please.]

"Oh, well- I just..." the man giggled nervously before he scrubbed at his face, pulling at his skin so that his eyelids pulled away from his eyeballs and threatened to let them pop out of his head for a mere point two seconds.

(That was mentally scaring.)

The fifty-cent sweater was nice. It looked like some kind of wool knit. It was black with white snowflake patterns and looked casual with his well-loved jeans and abused backpack. His hair was brown, fluffy, and clean.

(And his eyes are bloodshot and big...)

His eyes were green....

[concerningly dark bags hang below those dusty green irises]

"I'm sorry.  You just looked like you needed something. Sorry about your DoorDash lady... you don't look homeless, I'm sorry. Did I say that, how did you know I was thinking that?" The young man asked, clearly distraught. "Don't worry about the scone, you can keep it."

(Bitch, as if I would ever consider giving it back.)

(Lick it, claim it as ours.)

[Would you shut up?]

"Your eyes gave it away. Most people look at ugly fucks like me and just assume I'm a ptsd ridden maniac with no home or way of getting a job." He shrugged. "It's not a first."

"That's...." The strange shook their head "again, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Thanks for the snack..." he offered the masking tape back from the end of his finger and looked away, taking a bite from the treat. It was blueberry, sweet and equally boring.

* * *

The second time he ran into him it was in the laundry. He was sitting, playing Mr. Love Queen's Choice while he was waiting for his machine to finish (as one does) when a sharp intake of break caught his attention. He looked up and none other than the green-eyed Peter was there to greet him. Well, not literally greet him. He wasn't even facing his way.

He watched the young man for a minute, staring silently while the guy pressed the start button only to fiddle with the settings knob and try again when the machine didn't start. Peter turned his attention to the mechanism, pushing the lever in to try and figure out what he'd done wrong, clearly in denial over the fact that his quarters had just been eaten.

[he seems pretty stressed. You should check it out.]

(But Lucien is confessing his feelings... who cares? We are in a date with a fictional man)

[maybe a real man wouldn't hurt.]

(With this face? Are you daft?)

Wade sighed and locked his phone. He pulled out his earbuds and got up to walk over to the familiar face. "Everything alright?"

Peter tensed, glancing over with a shameful look. He recognized him quickly and the tension left his shoulders but he still avoided his gaze. For once Wade didn't feel like it was because he was hideous.

"Hi," Peter said quietly. Laughing nervously for a moment. It must have been a moment needed to compose himself because when he looked over at Wade again an expressive mask had been put on to hide the anxiety that had been pouring off the kid moments ago.

"Guess you didn't know this is the quarter eater, huh?" Wade toed the washing machine. It was dented from years of angry patrons kicking out their frustration on the thing. Naturally, the machine was built like a tank and about twenty years older than Wade so the dents weren't a huge deterrent unless you took a good look at the scuff marks left behind from the soles of Peoples shoes. "Someone must have ripped off the note I left on it last week."

"Oh." Peter said quietly, staring at the agitator surrounded by his clothes in dismay.

"Here, just throw everything into that one next to mine." Wade pointed a few machines down. "People don't use the ones next to me in case they have to run into me while unloading."

Keep reading this sweet little slice of life on A03.

[papytonpropaganda]

A bit late for for the writing ask thing! 💖👻😈🤔💭🍰

💖 What do you like most about your own writing?

I guess I'd have to say how effortless it feels when I'm really in the zone. I don't wanna say it's easy, because most of the time it's not, but when I'm actually able to sit down and focus, I can crank out a whole Walls chapter in a couple hours (yes I have done this before). I think it's due to how much I love the characters and the story I've created for them, and being excited to share that story with people, especially those who resonate with the characters.

👻 What is one WIP you think you may never pick back up?

I have this really old wip from like. even before Walls was conceived I think. it was basically going to be Undertale but from Chara's perspective. I haven't completely rejected the idea of going back to it, but I'm just not sure if I have any ideas unique enough to really set it apart from other similar fics, or interesting enough that people are willing to basically sit down and re-experience Undertale in written form.

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

again I can't really think of anything, but I'm curious to see what others have to say (again pls be nice if u have anything to say)

🤔 What is the hardest part of writing fic?

I feel like I could go with multiple different answers here, but the one I'll pick for now is basically trying to follow my artistic vision while also not pissing anyone else off. what I mean by that is like... I'm constantly trying to get other people's approval for my creative decisions, and I feel like that hinders the stories I write and my personal growth as a writer. while I'm not one of those people who constantly complains about "puritanism" in fandom, I do think there's a bit of a thing where people hear that a work includes a difficult topic, and they immediately distrust the creator without verifying for themselves whether that topic is handled appropriately. I have personally experienced people automatically assuming I'm doing something "fetishy" when I mention the topics that Walls deals with, for example. and I just feel like this is such a sad and unproductive way to interact with anyone's creation. it doesn't foster a sense of community or respect, or encourage anyone to personally engage with a work and figure out for themselves whether it did what it was intended to. now of course I'm not saying you should never be skeptical, I just think it's important that you verify for yourself what a work does with a topic rather than just relying on hearsay.

sorry for the soapbox rant lol. I'm basically just trying to say that it's difficult for me to stick to my honest vision when I'm also trying not to cross any lines. and that doesn't even have to apply to like, dark topics, it can also apply to just characterization in general (I frequently feel like my visions of Papyrus and Mettaton aren't humorous enough, for example, and that I'm turning people away by having all the angst in Walls.)

💭 What is a headcanon you have about your own work?

Chara is an entity in Walls, but only Frisk and Flowey are aware of their presence (and Flowey only knows because Frisk told him). Chara has various opinions on all of the family members at the beginning of Walls, and throughout the story, their opinion on Mettaton changes the most--they go from thinking he's boring and annoying to "if anyone hurts Mettaton I will kill everyone in this room and then myself" once they figure out how abusive Devon is.

🍰 Name one of your fave comfort fics (doesn’t have to be your all time fave).

I don't read fic much these days but there is one I constantly go back to and I would say it's definitely my favorite fic I've ever read. and surprisingly it is not Undertale. it is. uh. Harry Potter 🙈 but it's literally SO good, way better than anything JKR ever wrote and it's basically the only HP thing I engage with anymore. it has Harry actually responding realistically to having been abused by his aunt and uncle, and Snape is an actual well-rounded, likable and sympathetic character. I literally can't read the original books anymore because they just don't compare to how fantastically written the fanfic author made the main characters. the premise was a bit weird and I remember being cautious when I first read the fic, but the author REALLY made it work and well. obviously it became something very precious to me lol. but yeah.

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

So, i know that logic has never applied here, but I've been seeing some rumors where people are afraid that Carlos will be hospitalized and Iris will keep TK from his medical stuff and I'm just kind of confused about that? Like, technically Owen should have been the only one who was allowed to know about TK's condition during the comas 2.0 since I'm sure he was his medical contact at the time but the doctor had literally no problem telling Carlos, Tommy, and Nancy TK's condition and everything going on with him. So, I just don't see how that can kind of be a thing. But also logic doesn't apply sometimes LOL

But I also think that Iris isn't really going to be a part of episode 4 since she's prob rescued in 3 and I like the idea of the divorce papers being signed and we get the false happy ending bc carlos gets shoveled lol.

I've seen that theorized as well. I hope that isn't where this is going. I think I prefer the sequence of events you suggest. A false happy ending before shoveling Carlos seems like a good way to go.

As you mention, this show has never been that concerned with medical privacy. However, there is a difference between finding out medical information and making medical decisions. We don't know what kind of prior permission was given or who exactly TK's emergency medical contact was at the beginning of season 3, but realistically, the hospital probably shouldn't have been giving out medical information to people TK works with and his ex-boyfriend (unless Carlos was his medical contact, but we don't have any confirmation of that). Regardless, we never see the hospital allowing random people to actually make a medical decision for TK. Then we have the fact that the show made a big deal about TK being Owen's medical proxy. I think the main point of that was that TK would be able to make decisions on Owen's behalf. The way I've seen people discussing this theory about Iris is that the conflict would come from Iris being the one able to make medical decisions for Carlos. Since the medical proxy issue has already come up with Owen, there is some precedent for this kind of thing on the show. I don't think we've ever actually seen someone make a medical decision for someone else without proper authority to do so.

I guess the scenario would be Iris wanting to withhold medical treatment that TK thinks Carlos should get? I can't imagine why that would happen or what the possible treatment would be. Or would it just be that TK would feel helpless and left out because he wasn't allowed to make the decisions, even if Iris was making the right ones? I don't know. Personally, I don't like it. It feels too close to villainizing Iris, which I really hope the show doesn't do. I think she and TK might be at odds at least a little bit in this next episode, but I'm hoping that won't continue beyond episode 2. I don't like the idea of them essentially fighting over Carlos. Really, they both love and care about Carlos, so if Iris is involved during episode 4, I would like to hope there wouldn't be conflict between her and TK. I just don't see the point. I suppose it could possibly be used to make TK want to get married as soon as possible because he would never want to be in that situation again, but I don't think we need that since he clearly already wants to get married as soon as possible.

We'll probably have a much better idea on how likely this is after the second episode. We'll find out what Iris' position on signing the divorce papers is, and it also looks like we'll at least start to find out about the mystery/problem/danger involving Iris. I'm betting these facts will give us a lot more to go on when it comes to theorizing about episode 4. I don't feel like we know enough yet to say whether this theory is likely or not. I don't think I want Iris to be a part of episode 4 or involved in Carlos' near death experience, particularly if that requires a conflict between her and TK, but ultimately, I'm reserving judgment until we see how it plays out.