#basically there's logical reasons for it to become a trigger

[not-poignant]

Happy New Year! My question is for Arden in Falling Falling Starz. Does he compartmentalise when he practices Judo? I’ve never done Judo but I’ve done Jiujitsu and there is a lot of touching in that sport that I would think falls into his hard limit touching.

There is a ton of grappling in judo!

But it doesn't trigger Arden. First, he's very competent at it, so he's actually confident he can throw just about anyone that comes at him, and when he's putting himself in positions to be thrown it's specifically with newbies / people he's educating so he can control the situation.

Second, he started learning before he was molested/assaulted, so his associations with the dojo, and that kind of touch/pressure/movement, were already firmly in place as something safe and fun.

Third, it's non-sexual!

Fourth, triggers aren't logical. This one should probably have gone first, because it's the most important one. Triggers aren't logical. As an example, I have a C-PTSD and PTSD from a lot of different things, and as an example of a hit-and-miss trigger around surgical trauma, I can't watch any reality TV about medical stuff or surgeries but I can watch medical dramas if they're fictional and handle people talking about medical stuff they've gone through. I don't know why reality TV is the hard line, and I don't need to, and no one else needs to, that's where the trigger manifests (that and in real hospitals). You'd assume, using your logic, that because there's a lot of exposure to medical stuff and graphic surgical depiction in fictional TV on the subject, or in friends talking about it in detail, I'd find it equally as triggery but I don't not only find it less triggery, I don't find it triggery at all. That part of my brain simply doesn't wake up, and has zoned it into the safe zone.

Triggers don't have to be consistent - in fact it's more realistic if they're not.

Judo is a non-sexual sport that was brought into Arden's life before he was hurt by his brother, where Arden is very competent and knows what he's doing. Despite the proximity and physical closeness, judo helped Arden to feel safe and protected, especially in the chaotic aftermath of what happened to him. And also: triggers do not give the smallest shit about being consistent and/or logical. Like, sometimes, they do! And sometimes it's just...they do not care.

[scarletiswailing347]

im the kinda guy who effortlessly managed to avoid a lot of the internet shock horror pieces back in the day but looked them up puposefully anyway to see what the hype was all about

[triflesandparsnips]

So I understand that there are Good Omens show fans who have never read Good Omens the book, and that makes me deeply sad because--

Like, there's so much depth to the story being told about humans and humanity and the choice between good and evil -- and how that's actually a false dichotomy whoooops -- WHILE ALSO not really being about Aziraphale and Crowley at all (who are, imo, basically there as embodiments of "Impressive Failures" for the purposes of Theme and also Plot).

BUT IF you want to know why I've shipped them since the book-- here's the moment it happened for wee teenage me:

Wednesday (before the end of the world)

So it's Warlock's birthday party. And there are all these children and security guards and also an angel doing magic tricks while a demon is disguised as a caterer. This bit is basically the same as the show, so hooray.

But as wee me understood the characters up to this point, they were still basically enemies who had been in the field together for way too long and knew each other's moves well enough for the same tempting/thwarting of one another to become kind of boring and repetitive and generally pointless-- particularly once they realized that they could, for instance, just live their (separate!) lives watching humans being weird (Crowley) and seeking various sensory stuff (Aziraphale) while doing the least work necessary to keep their respective bosses off their backs.

The Arrangement was borne not out of hiding a friendship or anything, but instead the realization that sometimes covering for one another would just... cut down on their total overall workload. They were, at best, employees of two different, competitive companies-- though in same kind of department, doing the same kind of work-- who discovered they liked to have lunch at the same deli and that their jobs were sometimes distressingly more similar than either was comfortable with.

SO ANYWAY. BACK TO THAT WEDNESDAY. They're not covering for one another with this whole Antichrist thing-- they're now actively collaborating, and they've acknowledged (mostly) that it's not to cut down on their individual workloads, but rather to preserve their identical-- but not shared (not yet)-- goals of Getting To Continue The Lives On Earth They've Grown To Enjoy.

But like-- still not friends. Not really.

Until Aziraphale fucks up a bit, Warlock accidentally gets hold of a security guard's weapon and starts waving it around, and:

Then someone threw some jelly at Warlock. The boy squeaked, and pulled the trigger of the gun. It was a Magnum .32, CIA issue, gray, mean, heavy, capable of blowing a man away at thirty paces, and leaving nothing more than a red mist, a ghastly mess, and a certain amount of paperwork. Aziraphale blinked. A thin stream of water squirted from the nozzle and soaked Crowley, who had been looking out the window, trying to see if there was a huge black dog in the garden. Aziraphale looked embarrassed. Then a cream cake hit him in the face.

My teenage brain exploded at this moment.

BECAUSE: there is no reason for Aziraphale to do that.

Work-wise: If he got shot, Crowley would get discorporated, but not die-- and anyway, it would happen in such a way that both of them could explain it away easily to their respective sides (and possibly even be commended for it!).

Collaboration-wise: If Crowley had been watching Aziraphale, and if he'd seen Aziraphale have the chance to change the gun but not do it-- then yeah, probably that would've been annoying enough to have warranted some chilly conversations once he came back topside, and therefore, Aziraphale choosing to save Crowley could've been a reasonable, logical choice to keep their working relationship on an even keel until they'd sorted out this Doomsday thing.

But Crowley was looking the other way.

Work-wise, it doesn't make sense-- and secret-collaboration-wise, it doesn't make sense-- and so it is, overall, really weird that Aziraphale saved him.

But his automatic reaction-- in a blink-- is to stop Crowley from getting shot. And he knows it's weird-- he feels embarrassed that his sudden, unthinking reaction is to save his "enemy".

And the final bit is just a couple paragraphs later:

With a gesture, Aziraphale turned the rest of the guns into water pistols as well, and walked out.

SO LOOK: He changed only the pistol about to shoot Crowley. His automatic reaction had nothing to do with saving a party full of humans, many of them children-- nothing to do with Heaven or Hell-- nothing to do with preserving the coworker he needs to stop Armageddon--

It was all to do with saving Crowley. Who may be the enemy, but he's Aziraphale's enemy. And another part of his life on Earth that he's doing all of this just to preserve.

Which may also be, for the first time, the moment he lets himself realize how important Crowley in particular is to him.

...and so anyway, that's how I started shipping these two immortal idiots, and one of many reasons why everyone should read the book.

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

I am so happy you're back and seem to be doing even a little bit better! We missed you!

I wanted to send a little message, so you can ignore it if it sours your mood or you don't feel like dealing with it, feel no pressure at all! It's just this blog has been a safe space and the community has been so welcoming that I figured I could vent really quick

You know when sometimes the brain just has a really shitty day, like when you draw something and it screams at you that it's trash even though there's nothing wrong with it? I've been having a rough time with it deciding to scream that comfort characters would cheat, probably as an 'You are so unlovable not even fictional characters would be loyal' bullshit. Now, logically, I know this makes -67 sense. But, I was wondering if you could just reassure that like, Sanji, Mihawk, Buggy, Shanks, Crocodile, Blablablablabla long list of One Piece characters you write for, would not cheat? I'm sorry, this sounds lame to even write out but I'm trying to get my brain to stop thinking that asking for help is 'pathetic' because it is not and it only applies that logic to me, never to anyone else.

I dunno man. Brains and bring human ate both though af.

I missed all of you as well. Really and sincerely. I have a tendency to go radio silent when I'm going through a difficult time and I hate it immensely, but hearing that I was missed to makes me all

And yes, oh gods, I know. My brain is frequently my worst enemy. Especially when I'm not writing. My anxiety starts working overtime and my creative drive becomes dedicated to coming up with problems that could potentially happen for me to worry about even more and it's an absolute bitch; or even when I am actively creating and a little voice insists that everything I make is stupid garbage.

This is still very much and always will be a safe space. It definitely is awful to feel that unworthy of love. Full disclosure, I've mentioned in passing before that I've been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder depressive type. My main issue is auditory hallucinations that like to insist that everyone I love and care about only tolerate me out of pity and secretly would rather I not be around, which leads to me isolating myself from people. Huge part of the reason I go silent when life decides to be a bitch. I know it's just as bad feeling that way about comfort characters, if not even worse, when we're supposed to have them to help us get through that kind of bullshit.

So let me provide a little drabble for the one comfort character I’m certain wouldn’t ever allow us to continue being so silly about our worthiness of love and affection, because we’re all worthy of such a basic human need. I may do more later, but one in particular jumped at the opportunity to provide this comfort, and I fear he may counter me with his dreaded puppy-dog-eyes should I even dare attempt to wait.

Good Enough

OPLA!Sanji x AFAB!Reader

Lil drabble thingy

SFW, Hurt/Comfort

Possible TRIGGER WARNINGS for depression, insecurity, self-worth

♫♬ Moonshine ♬♫ — The Fratellis (yes I’m STILL on my Fratellis BS leave me be)

"Never knowing is the most evil feeling, when every answer here is none too appealing"

Sanji had always been a flirt. You knew that from the moment you started working on the wait staff at Baratie. Your trust issues had made it a little difficult for you to open up around the young sous chef (and occasional waiter on the frequent occasion that Zeff kicked him out of the kitchen for insubordination), but it was his outgoing nature and perseverance that had ultimately won you over. He had a way of making you feel like you were the only girl in the world when you were together, doting upon you, all but worshipping the ground you walked on.

But when he was sent out to work the dining area, it always made you nervous. His innate charm, his handsome features—he was nearly always a hit with female customers. No matter how much you told yourself that he was only doing his job, there was always a nagging feeling that maybe there was more to it than that. Watching him interact with a table of pretty young women, who by their clothing and demeanor were obviously far more affluent and sophisticated than you, left you distracted in your own work.

Seeing how they giggled at everything he said, how they fluttered their eyelashes when he brought them their drinks.

How the pretty blonde at the table leaned so close to him while he pointed to something on the menu, close enough to brush her hand across his.

You managed to spill a tray of drinks all over yourself while you were watching, leading to a scolding from the front of house manager. You saw the table of girls from the corner of your eye, giggling at your clumsiness before you were sent off to clean yourself up and change your uniform.

No matter how much you told yourself you were being silly, there was nothing you could do to shake it. The doubts, the thoughts of how easily he could find someone better than you. You had your jaw clenched the entire time you were changing your shirt in the staff restroom, tossing the soiled one aside as you leaned against the sink in front of the mirror and forced yourself to take slow, level breaths.

You were still on the clock. You couldn’t break down. You had to get changed, had to get back to work, had to pretend everything was fine, if he found out you were being so stupid about this then he would definitely drop you like a bad habit, you had to compose yourself or—

Knock knock.

Your eyes darted to the bathroom door, your breath catching in your throat at the sound of the light knock.

“J—just a minute,” you forced out, flinching at the sound of your own voice breaking a little.

Stupid, you’re being stupid, stop it stop it stop it—

A brief silence followed your answer, a silence that seemed to stretch on for miles despite lasting only a few seconds. The familiar, gentle voice that answered after a moment made your hands clench around the porcelain of the sink.

“You alright, love?” You drew in a sharp breath, swallowing, clenching your eyes shut. Of course it was Sanji. You had almost hoped that the manager had come scold you for taking too long. That would have been easier to deal with right now. Your eyes darted to the locked doorknob as it rattled a little. “I heard—”

“I’m fine,” you said immediately, the strained quality of your own words as they met your ears making your hands tighten a little more on the edge of the sink. “I—I just tripped and spilled a few drinks, I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” You gritted your teeth, laying your head back to stare up at the ceiling. Of course he wouldn’t let it go that easily. The doorknob rattled a little again, and you glanced at it as if it were a viper poised to strike out at you at any second.

Stupid, you’re being stupid, don’t—

“You sound—”

You reached out and turned the lock on the doorknob, and turned away from the door, crossing your arms over your half-buttoned shirt and stared down at your feet. After a long moment, you heard the door open behind you.

Evidently you didn’t look any less distressed than you felt. His quiet sigh met your ear as the door shut lightly and the lock turned. “Oh, love, it’s fine,” he said gently, his footfalls echoing quietly in the small bathroom, closing the short distance across the tile floor between the two of you. Your whole body tensed as he wrapped his arms around your waist from behind, resting his forehead over the crown of your hair with a quiet chuckle. “It’s only a few drinks, it could happen to anyone.”

You shook your head, your shoulders shaking a little. Stupid, it was so stupid, but the words were already leaving your mouth before you could stop them. “Oh, yeah, anyone.” You couldn’t stop. You couldn’t. He had a way of pulling all your insecurities to the surface that no one else did. You pulled your crossed arms tighter, staring down at the white floor tiles for a moment before shutting your eyes tightly, your voice shaking a little. “Especially a dumb screw-up like me—”

“Don’t do that.” His tone came out a little sharper with this, and your breath hitched audibly in your throat this time, your shoulders hunching as you clenched your eyes shut tighter, swallowing back the lump in your throat. As if to counter your stiff posture, he pulled his arms tighter around your waist, pulling you closer, his thumb rubbing lightly against your waist in a comforting manner. “Don’t, sweetheart. Please.”

The warmth of his embrace already had you relaxing a little. Your shoulders slumped, your body leaning back against him, but your eyes were still burning when you opened them to stare down at the toes of your shoes.

“Was it the manager?” he asked gently, shifting behind you to rest his chin on your shoulder. “If he was being an ass I’ll gladly kick his ass off the docks.” Your breath left your lungs in a slow, trembling sigh as you shook your head no, your gaze drifting down to his hand at your hip, still rubbing lightly against you, your lips curling into a fleeting smile at his offer. You knew you were being stupid, but… “Then what’s wrong, love?” he asked, his voice a soft, comforting murmur in your ear.

“I…” You drew in a deep breath, closing your eyes as he tilted his head so his cheek lay against your shoulder. “Y—you—“

You swallowed against the lump forming in your throat, drawing in a deep breath, trying and failing to steady the whirlwind of thoughts swirling through your mind, thoughts of how maybe this was all a lie, of how you weren’t anything more than a silly little fling to him, how you weren’t good enough, how easily you could be replaced.

You bit your lip, glancing down as his hand found yours, watching his fingers lace between your own…and the breath left you in a slow, resigned sigh.

“It’s stupid,” you said quietly.

“If it’s got you this upset, then it’s anything but stupid,” he countered, and you had to purse your lips tightly to keep them from curving into a small smile as you felt his press briefly against your cheek in a soft kiss. “And if it’s something I’ve done—”

“N—no, you haven’t—” But how quickly you shook your head, how your shoulders tensed, betrayed your worries. “I…I just…” You slowly relaxed once more as he squeezed you against him, his cheek nuzzling against your shoulder, his soft blonde hair tickling against your neck. Still unable to turn your head to meet his eyes, you bit the bullet and forced yourself to voice your worries. “You have beautiful women making goo-goo eyes at you all day,” you said, keeping your voice low in an attempt to keep it steady. “I—I don’t—I’m not—” You bit your lip, your heart racing as you clenched your eyes shut, cursing yourself internally as you felt the tickle of a tear leaving your eye to trail down one of your cheeks. “Y-you could have any girl you wanted. L—like that blonde that was hanging all over you while you were showing her the menu, or—or—”

“Oh, sweetheart…” You weren’t quite able to mask the small sob that hitched in your chest as Sanji loosened his embrace—only to gently place a hand on your hip, guiding you to turn around and face him, to pull you against his chest as you tried and failed to fight back tears. He gently shushed your quiet sobs and stammered apologies as he wrapped his arms around you fully, combing his fingers through your hair as he laid his head over yours. Your eyes remained clenched shut as you fought to control your breathing , as he pressed a tender, lingering kiss to your forehead.

Sanji lowered his head and nuzzled into your hair, holding you flush against him.

“I already have the girl I want. The perfect girl.” He pressed another tender kiss to your temple, murmuring against your skin, “I have her right here in my arms. And I hope,” he said, his tone turning a little playful as he shifted to rest his forehead against yours, “that I’ll still have her tonight after dinner shift is over.” He brushed your hair behind your ear, smiling as he tilted his head to meet your gaze, puling a small smile to your lips as your cheeks grew a little warmer. “So we can cuddle up together on the balcony…watch the stars…laugh at all the drunk idiots stumbling back to their boats…”

You could practically hear him smiling as a few soft giggles escaped you, as you finally leaned fully against him and returned his embrace, your arms wrapping around his torso as you buried your face against his chest.

“I’m sorry,” you sighed, relaxing against him. “I…I’m just…”

“I know, love.” The way he called you ‘love’ all but melted your heart now that you were calmed down, pulling a faint smile to your lips. “I know. You don’t have anything to be sorry for. And if it’s any consolation, I was in the middle of telling that self-righteous blonde bimbo how my sweet, adorable, beautiful girlfriend would wring her neck if she kept putting her hands on me—“ He chuckled as you whined in protest of his praise, tugging you closer and grinning, meeting your eyes without hesitation.

He lifted his hand to your face, his thumb brushing across your cheek, the warmth of his gaze holding yours.

“I—“

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

You both jolted in alarm, your heads turning in unison toward the sound of the pounding on the bathroom door. Before you could so much as glance at each other, a gruff voice spoke up from behind the door.

“We’re in the weeds, Eggplant!” Zeff called . “Get your scrawny ass to the kitchen! And bring your damned girlfriend, we need all the help we can get.”

A long moment of silence stretched between the two of you as you both stared at the closed bathroom door, before your gazes drifted slowly toward each other.

Before you were both giggling under your breath, as you buried your forehead against his chest, a broad smile spreading across your lips as you clung to him.

“I suppose we’ve been summoned,” said Sanji, pulling back from you only enough to gaze down at you, still smiling. “Shall we, then?”

[mrmanbat]

I’m skimming through/looking at screen shoots of Jason’s old comics and my controversial take is that he was better as a villain and I would’ve preferred it if he became like, a permanent fixture of Batmans or even Nightwings rouge’s Gallery rather then becoming the 95th troubled teen that hangs around the Batman supporting cast.

Plus he was funny as fuck back then ngl. Yes worstie, go around murdering people in Night-wings suit, give that man a migraine.

IDK Jason is interesting because of the way he stands as

1. A direct challenge to Bruce’s philosophy

2. A living embodiment of Bruce’s greatest failures/grief

3. The many interesting and fucked up ways he adds gasoline to the forest fire that is the bat family.

I kinda agree with you? Halfway at least.

Jason used to add a lot of contrast to the bats, and that contrast made interesting comics.

But to have that you’d have to sacrifice Jason as a character. He’d just slowly turn into what the Joker- where his existence in the comics solely depends on Batman being there.

Like the Joker his life would orbit Batmans.

And that’s poetic sure, but we don’t need another Joker.

What DC should have done was let Jason keep his rage. Keep his anger and disappointment and center that on the system that failed him.

Let him be mad at the bats. Let him have his and get his frustration out by terrorise them (it would be so funny, like did you read the actual Titans Tower incident? That shit was funny as hell). Then let him have a bigger reason for doing the shit he does.

Right now- depending on the issue you read- Jason is ether portrayed as this anti-hero who has an itching trigger finger but suppresses it for the sake of his family. The same family that failed him. That or he’s a angsty psycho manchild who shoots people bc he has daddy issues.

Both of those depictions are really eh.

Basically my point is- let Jason do horrible shit but give him a logical reason for it. Let him be mad but have him release Batman isn’t the main enemy.

So yeah. He’s better when he’s leaning towards the villain side. But he has to be doing the ‘wrong’ thing for the right reasons.

(I just desperately want anarchist Jason)

TLDR: Jason’s better off as an anti-hero leaning towards the villain side. Also he should detest the bats.

[shera-dnd]

Alright I have eaten my mato peach and have gained the amazing power to do literary and thematic analysis of any piece of media, no matter how fucking stupid

and as the first activation of my ability, I'm turning it towards the stupid ecchi reverse slave harem manga, Mato Seihei no Slave (or Chained Soldier if you're not as much of a fucking weeb as I am) in order to prove that this is actually thematically consistent and surprisingly well written

(long pause as I let all my followers block me and leave)

but first to address the two shuuki in the room

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU'VE BEEN READING AN ECCHI SLAVE HAREM MANGA YOU FUCKING WEIRDO?

Look... LOOK! It's not what you think!

Okay so like a lot of anime and manga recently (primarily isekai) have been including slavery as a thing in their world building, and tho I'm not gonna claim that's the only thing it ever gets used for, it's quite clear that a lot of people are only using that as an excuse for kinky slave play BDSM

and then forget that that stuff comes with like... you know, the horrific implications of slavery as an institution

WELL GOOD NEWS! The author of this manga does not give a shit about disguising his femdom slave play kink as commentary on slavery, this is literally just a BDSM thing and it never pretends to be anything else

...besides, a woman has needs, okay?

WAIT SHOULDN'T THIS MANGA TRIGGER YOU? ISN'T YOUR TRIGGER THE LITERAL CENTRAL GIMMICK OF THIS?

YOU WOULD BE CORRECT! By all logical means I should not be able to read this manga without having the most viscerally negative response possible... except that I don't

I'm not gonna pretend that I know why or how this is working

But I read Monster Musume back in 2015 and it somehow helped me get over my fear of spiders, SO WHO KNOWS maybe niche ecchi manga are how I get over my mental blocks

I would rather it wasn't, but I'm having a hard time proving otherwise!

oh god we're already 400 words in and I have only just finished the preamble. Why am I like this?

Okay okay let us get started as I'll give a detailed explanation as to why Mato Seihei no Slave is about the bonds between people, the ways we bring out the best in each other, and what makes a good dom- ahem I mean leader... what makes a good leader

So for those who don't know the central conceit of this story is that this is a world where women get super powers and men get... to be stay at home husbands

Our protagonist is male wife supreme, Yuuki Wakura, whose main hobbies include cooking, cleaning, and day dreaming about one day becoming a hero

unfortunately for our adorable little boy toy he immediately finds himself falling through a portal into actual literal hell (technically it's called Mato, but like it's just hell) where he's promptly attacked by several giant monsters

BUT GOOD NEWS FOR HIM! He's being saved by a hyper competent hot woman in a uniform (lesbians going "it should have been me!" count should be at 1 by now)

BAD NEWS FOR HIM! She's alone and soon they both get overwhelmed because she can't go full apeshit murder mode while protecting his soft boy ass

Thankfully there is a way for her to save him still, it just requires some collaboration from him

("it should have been me!" count: 2)

And here we are at the main fucking gimmick. The reason why all the ecchi shit happens, the silly excuse for why this bad bitch decides to keep this guy at her side

Chains of Eternity: Slave

Kyouka Uzen (the ultimate girl boss) can forge a contract with someone to bind them to her will as her slave. This will bring out their hidden potential and allow them to fight by her side, turning them into a super powerful killing machine at her command.

In exchange once the task is done she must give a reward to her slave based on the difficulty of the task and the slave's "latent desires"

So yeah, Kyouka doesn't get to decide what the reward is, Yuuki doesn't get to decide what the reward is, only Kyouka's magic can decide what the reward is. Which basically just means the author gets to insert whatever horny fuckery they want into this

Rewards vary from giving him head pats, offering him treats, giving him a back massage, kissing him, to...

well this is a femdom series for a reason

(I think the "it should have been me!" count is at like a 4 or a 5 now)

and now I'm gonna analyze the ever loving shit out of that ability and how it is the crux to all the themes of the show and actually informs us on the nature of Kyouka's character

no, I'm not kidding

Okay so let me just break down what Slave does here from a kink point of view. It basically allows Kyouka and Yuuki to enter into a BDSM relationship where the dom always knows what the sub wants, while still being able to surprise the sub with her actions. She gets to constantly keep her sub beneath her, while also being magically required to reward him and give him aftercare once she's done

Those two have entered a ridiculously healthy BDSM relationship by forging a magical contract that lets them skip all the negotiation bits and go right to what the audience wants to see

(yeah it's gonna be impossible to track the "it should have been me!"s from this point on, so just try to keep your own count at home)

This is also the author's way of like having his cake and fucking it too

Because that way we can have Kyouka as the baddest bitch to ever live AND have her do embarrassing stuff with Yuuki without ever breaking character. In fact the loftier her goals and the more tragic her backstory the more reason she has to accept the reward mechanism as the price to pay for this power

It's also why Kyouka is easily the most developed and interesting character of the manga, to the point that Yuuki is more a supporting character to her arc

This brings us back to those three themes I mentioned waaaaay at the start

Starting with: "how we bring out the best in each other"

For starters it's quite obvious how that works with Yuuki. He wants to be a hero in a world where he should not be able to have super powers, and in comes Kyouka who gives him both the power and the purpose to achieve that goal

But this also extends to literally everyone in Unit Seven and beyond

We have seen the ways in which Kyouka has helped all of her team mates grow stronger and overcome their past traumas, some times by the sheer confidence and kindness of her presence

Hell we see one of her team mates unlock a rage mode power up because someone said Kyouka was a bad leader

and there's even another team leader who straight up evolved her powers into a new stronger form just out of sheer love and respect for Kyouka

This culminates in the development of Lending. The ability to let others take Yuuki's chain and use him in combat

and like I'm not stupid, I'm not gonna pretend this isn't primarily an excuse to have different hot women give Yuuki rewards in ever hornier scenarios, with the added benefit of being able to design cooler monster forms for him

and I mean... those are some really cool monster forms

But that's besides the point

The point is that this also pulls double duty by allowing Kyouka and Yuuki to constantly empower all of the people around them and help them through their character arcs

From helping people stand up to abusive family members, to allowing others to gain the confidence they need to grow, to just decking an asshole real hard in the face

And not once does Yuuki steal other's glory. The final confrontation and the catharsis is always delivered by the person who is being helped. Because lover boy here is the supporting character in his own story

This all leads neatly into another point: the bonds we have with others

DAMN RIGHT MOTHERFUCKERS WE'RE GETTING CHAIN SYMBOLISM IN THIS BITCH!

Oh are we getting a message about how we're all links in the chain and the stronger each of us gets the stronger we all get? FUCK YEAH

Are we getting chains as a representation of a mutual bond of trust and respect, and get to see those bonds be used as a literal weapon to defeat a foe who is antithetical to that idea? ABSOLUTELY

TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK, BABY!

But wait there's more! We got a character who can copy other people's skills and she also grows like crazy with each person she bonds with

We got teams of heroes besting villains who refuse to work with anyone

THAT'S THE SHONEN ANIME GOODNESS WE'RE HERE FOR!

(I mean this is technically seinen but who gives a shit, right?)

And that brings us finally to the third point, the series antagonists, and Kyouka's main goal

What makes a good leader?

So far we've focused on Kyouka and her ability, Slave, and how that allows her to help the people around her grow and encourages her to fight on the front line where she can be a shining example for all around her to follow

She treats everyone around her with trust and respect, even the boy who is literally her slave, and is by all metrics BEST GIRL!

Now all of that good shit doesn't mean much if we don't have anything to contrast and compare to

Enter Ren Yamashiro

gonna give y'all a second to simp for a bit before I continue

done staring at her legs? good. Anyways here's why she's awful!

Ren is the commander of the Anti-Demon Corps and easily the strongest character in the setting by a wide margin

She's also self centered, corrupt, physically AND emotionally abusive, horrifically petty, and likes dogs in the exact same way Makima from Chainsaw Man likes dogs

This is, of course, perfectly translated into her special ability, because this author loves having abilities inform characters

So not only does she have some absurd broken power that she has the power of anime and buddha on her side, BUT the way it manifests is as kanji covering her eyes whenever she activates her skills

Quite literally making so all she can see is her own power and greatness

AND her main use of her powers is to fly around, so she can be ABOVE everyone else

This isn't fucking subtle, but it sure as fuck gets the point across

This is a trait that Ren shares with ALL the main villains of the series. Each and everyone of them is blinded by their own greatness and is constantly looking down on others

Ren is just the least subtle. I guess they had to compensate for the fact that she isn't an actual literal evil god

And so all of those are put in opposition to Kyouka, whose goal is to overthrow Ren, become the new commander, and destroy Mato for good

The woman whose power makes her dependent on others, but that allows her to bring out the best in everyone she meets

A power that grows stronger the more people she helps and the more people help her in return

Standing up against all these people who refuse to rely on anything besides their own strength

That is why Kyouka is the shining example of a good leader!

Now here we are 2k words into this (OH DEAR GOD WHY AM I LIKE THIS), so what was the point of this journey?

Is it me recommending this manga to people and claiming it's genuinely "peak fiction"? OH GOD NO

This thing has so many issues and literally all of them stem from the fact that this is an ecchi harem manga story first and foremost.

Titillation always comes first over anything else, several of the smaller side characters eventually devolve into just different flavors of wanting to dom Yuuki, and that's not even going into all the pet play stuff featuring Ren

This is an unashamedly horny manga with a very specific brand of kink in mind and when I started reading it that was legit all I wanted out of it

But then it refused to be JUST that. It had an interesting story, fun action scenes, compelling characters, and a surprising amount of thought put into its themes

It's not a manga I'd recommend to most people at all, and it requires a considerable amount of tolerance for some capital H Horny anime bullshit

But honestly? If you're cool with that and want a fun and a little unhinged story you can do way worse than this

So what else is left to say except

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!!!!

[thevoidcannotbefilled]

Actually going to make this reply its own separate post. TLDR: I have a theory that Chester, Norris, and Augustus are essentially spooky AI created from datasets from the fears/tapes.

Now, @gammija and @shinyopals weren't sure how Augustus fit into this. Right now, the leading theory is that he is Jonah Magnus. He only had one statement in the show, so there's basically no data to collect, so why would he be an AI?

Hypothetically speaking, let's say he isn't Jonah. Or at the very least, he isn't the Jonah we know.

Here's an idea: Augustus isn't the TMA Jonah Magnus, but rather the Jonah Magnus of the TMagP universe.

Here's my current thoughts as to why this may be the case:

1) TMA Jonah is dead. Jon had to kill him in order to control the Panopticon. While I won't discount TMA Jonah's and TMagP's Jonah's memories combining, I don't think it can be entirely TMA's in there.

2) I'm pretty confident that Freddie has connections to the Institute, for a variety of reasons. If nothing else, Freddie could have been connected to them before the Institute burned down in 1999. And unless it's a different Magnus starting the Institute, I'm just going to assume for now that Jonah started the Institute in both universes.

3) Augustus already separated himself out from Norris and Chester in two ways. He speaks less than the two of them but also his case is really odd which I'll go into next.

4) Augustus is the only Text-to-Speech voice who didn't say where his case came from. Norris and Chester so far have always told us where they're reading from. They say links, they mention threads and who said what in each thread, and we know each different email sent. Meanwhile, Augustus can't even tell us who the case giver is in "Taking Notes". This wouldn't mean much, but... we also know that all the papers in The Institute are gone. Noticeably so. Perhaps even integrated into the Freddie system.

5) Tbh... I just think it would be more interesting if they aren't all three from the same place. We know from the promotion, the Ink5oul case, especially the design of the logo that alchemy will be a major part of TMagP. Transformation and immortality. I wouldn't put it past this universe's Jonah to try to search for immortality in his own way.

And this is less of a point and more of a general obversation. We have zero clue how these three got to this state. Even if we assume "fears stuff" generally the fears and how they transform people have some sort of logic to it, dream or not. I don't currently understand the logic yet on why they've become this. Also, we don't know what triggered them integrating into Freddie in the first place.

There's an outside force at play here, and I think it would be interesting if Augustus was a key factor to understanding it.

[stromuprisahat]

I always wondered how it was possible that Alina immediately believed what Baghra told her about Aleks, without having the slightest doubt? It's completely ridiculous. Who would trust a woman who has been nothing but rude to you? Verbally degrading/insulting you at every opportunity, and fucking kicking you during your lessons? Yes, who would trust that, rather than the man you spent 6 months building a relationship with, who encourages and values ​​you and who you have feelings for? I don't understand. Especially without any proof?! The painting they added to the series will always make me laugh. Doesn't it even look particularly old? How is that proof? And all the Baghra talk about the Darkling having had centuries to learn how to properly manipulate people... I mean. Girl. You just learned that this woman is his mother. His mother, who raised him and who is undoubtedly older than him. You do not tell yourself that it is she who could be manipulating you? Oh. Of course not seeing that Leigh Bardugo is trying to push that bullshit of "women do no harm." completely knew how the king and queen would behave, seemingly taking the blame off them?! There are two ways to deal with this stupid revelation from Baghra. Number one, that Alina just fucked him. (the most realistic and logical thing). Or second, Alina realizes in the sequels that she was stupid to believe Baghra and realizes her gullibility/naivety. But obviously, we had neither. The worst thing is that a friend of mine literally told me that she would have also directly believed Baghra, which... is completely stupid? Her response was that she basically trusts no one. Well very well. But why trust the person who treated you like shit over the person who was good to you? On the contrary, if you are paranoid you generally don't listen to the person who has been a mess with you.

I could sum the answer up into three points:

Aleksander and Alina didn't really have a relationship in books. Sure, there was the journey on the horseback, then they talked like three times (and always shortly), before the most awkward immortal kiss ever. The Darkling's away most of the time, or busy with his duties. No riding together, no midnight flirting like in the show. That's also, why are the antis' common notions about manipulation or even grooming so off the mark. He simply wasn't around for any of it.

Alina is pretty prejudiced. She doesn't trust the Darkling since the beginning even though he's only been kind to her. Thanks to her low self-esteem, even his attention seems like a good reason to wait for the other shoe to drop. Hell, when he wants to ask her about her first day, she's expecting torture! Learning she's been right all along, and he isn't honest about his interest in her is self fulfilling prophecy.

Alina has a gigantic blind spot, when older female figures are concerned. She was raised by a woman, who's been anything but kind, yet she idolizes her childhood and their relationship. Seeing another (shitty) mother immendiately triggers "obedient good orphan" response, and Baghra's claims become The Word Of God™.

In the show, Alina looks simply stupid. She's older than her book counterpart, she acts more confident, yet her actions are more immature. If your reaction to claims of an abusive woman, regarding her alleged son you're intersted in romantically, is to run away instead of confronting him, you might not be fit for that kind of emotional commitment. And he deserves better luck with women in his life.

[lockheed-martin-unofficial]

Sooooo I’ve been getting into Metroplex lately (pun intended) and the whole concept of titans and cityspeakers is so fucking cool. I decided that was how I’d add Razgriz into Aces of Cybertron, and while this sketch is barely visible I like the idea too much to wait before I post.

Wanna listen to me ramble semi-coherently about the blorbos I spin in my head?

The premise is, Razgriz the demon is a Titan, while Trigger is a cityspeaker who HATES her job. For my version of normal AC7 Trigger, her emblem dog is real and is Razgriz in disguise because she refuses to wield the demon’s power directly. It’s a whole thing and I hope you don’t need to know it to understand, because all of it exists only in my brain. anyway.

Let me explain regular AC lore first. In the games, Razgriz is a force of good and evil, chaos and balance. Whenever history encounters a great change, razgriz appears first as a demon who causes destruction, and then as a hero who restores peace and brings prosperity. These things are metaphorical in the game, the hero being several of the protagonists. It’s a cycle that repeats basically every war. While AC7’s protagonist Trigger isn’t directly linked to the Razgriz, it’s implied by the soundtrack using their motifs. Hence why I prefer to write Triggs as someone who refuses to become one with the Razgriz.

Aces of Cybertron Razgriz speaks to her and wants her to merge with them so she can wield their power and carry out their will. Trigger is reluctant, but the demon in her head DOES end up befriending her in the end, gaining her trust and offering guidance. She even does the merging thing a few times, but only when she really has to. I imagine it more so serves to enhance her own strength rather than have her physically control Razgriz, but maybe both will happen. They are probably constantly in her head anyways. Razgriz in this universe can’t be classified as good or evil, they are simply a force of nature carrying out the cycle of change. That’s what makes them dangerous, they only care about upholding the cycle and not the sheer destruction they cause. You can’t appeal to morals which aren’t there, either. You can, however, bargain and reason with them. They are logical, and will do as you say if you convince them it will achieve their goal better.

Don’t give me spoilers on the comics because I’ve only skimmed them! Razgriz in AC canon does have weird eyeliner similar to Caminus’ in Transformers, and I dunno if in TF that’s only a Caminus thing but I’ve decided to give Raz some as well to stay true to the source. Need to figure out how to translate the shape of a cloak into cybertronian back parts.

I like to think Alicron and the Arsenal Bird (need to find it a TF name) are also titans in this AU. Not as powerful as Raz, but titans nonetheless. Or at least something similar, because Alicron has a whole ass backstory idea. Actually, I’ll tell it.

Alicron himself was once Tanager, sporting a battleship altmode and leading the Aegir fleet. My idea is to make Aegir a pre-existing dead character, and have Tanager’s spark transferred to his lifeless frame to form Alicron. Maybe Aegir was the Titan, and Alicron sorta became him. I have to flesh this whole thing out but I wanted to ramble about it. That is all, if you’ve read this far thank you! And have a good day!

[somerandomcryptid]

Ok so the plot point connected to this art might not stay because I know it's treading on Cala's boundaries and I feel really bad about that (but I fucking forgot about it when I was drawing this so sorry, I'm just dumb like that) so Cala absolutely feel free to tell me no that's too far, I'll absolutely rework it, but I wanted to at least post the art because I'm really happy with the art

So uh possibly triggering context under the cut

Tw for brief SH (scratching, though not to the point of drawing blood, and filing horns down, with no lasting or major nerve damage, just grazing it a bit, I don't even go into any of it actually, am very vague) and generally just, lots of Cryptid's mental state being absolutely totally fucked up

Basically, the short version, is a few weeks after Cryptid moves back into the artic commune, Dream and them have a big fight. This is post The first bottle, not the last.

A very big fight, a lot of hurtful things are said, mostly by Cryptid, because they are still rightfully pissed about everything. Dream insists he cares about them, Cryptid is skeptical. But eventually convinced. This does not make them any less angry and resentful.

Infact they just decide, "you care about me? Fine. I'll make that one of the worse mistake of your life." Because as they logically conclude, hurting themself will hurt Dream. You can probably see where this gets bad.

Thankfully they don't really get to hurt themself much. And they are talked down by Wren, but this is when everyone realizes just how hard they're spiraling.

Anyway yeah that's about it for context, I get if it's too much and overall Dreaming of death spiraled into something way darker then I originally intended and I honestly didn't even realize it, which I feel bad about given this is an au of someone else's work.

It turned into a bit of therapy for me and that was very unintentional, but I think it's honestly so connected to some of my plot points that I can't really separate that. I would be majorly changing the story if Cryptid didn't become an emotional mess of a person at some point, but certain things like the SH is definitely something that can be removed for everyone else's(and especially Cala's, since they're the author of penpal) comfort. I have my reasons for adding it, but I don't want to be violating any boundaries.

Anyway sorry for rambling, I kinda did this art and then realized, 'oh fuck idk if this is ok actually' so I just wanted to make clear that this might change and I'm completely willing to change it based on if Cala's alright with it or not

(I've literally mentioned them like 4 times but I'm tagging them here, @calamari-minecraft-corner is the creator of penpal, the fic Dreaming of death is based on, as we all know by now)

[ed-recovery-affirmations]

I'm so tired. I feel like my whole life I've been fighting to have a healthy relationship with food and my body, and I just can't do it anymore. I can't fight anymore. And it's so, so easy in comparison to restrict and obsess over tracking everything I eat

I'm dealing with symptoms of a currently unknown disability right now, and I'm so tired. I'm tired of doctors saying "wow, I have no idea what's going on, I've never seen labs like this... but I'm sure losing weight will help!" (Or, worse, "looks like everything's fine, just lose some weight!") It's become this belief that if I was skinny my symptoms would be taken seriously. If I was skinny I'd be able to figure out what was going wrong because doctors wouldn't rely on my weight to explain everything. I know logically there are lots of disabled people who are still ignored while being skinny, who still struggle to be taken seriously, but I can't shake this feeling that everything would be easier if I was skinny

It feels like my life is in the hands of people who don't give a shit about me. And they still probably wouldn't give a shit if I was skinny, but maybe they would. I don't know, I've never been skinny, so I can imagine that everything would be perfect if I was

It's definitely at least partially a desire to have control over my body, too. I can't stop my symptoms, I don't have the tools to figure out what's wrong on my own, but I can starve myself! It seems very silly written out, and it is, but knowing it's silly isn't enough

I saw in your about that you've dealt with comorbid chronic illness and eating disorders, so I guess I'm asking... how? That's probably already on your blog somewhere, actually, so I guess I'm just venting more than anything. Advice would be appreciated, though

God, I feel this so hard, anon. So so hard.

First of all, I am so sorry I have taken so long to get to this ask. Work, ny studies, and my personal life have all been overwhelming lately and I’ve been having to focus on some wellness work for myself.

But yeah. What you’re talking about is a REAL problem, and you are not alone. And the constant medical neglect of fat people and the “I’m sure all your mystery symptoms will go away if you just lose weight” is just the cherry on top of the shit sundae that is chronic illness. It hurts peoples’ lives. It can kill. I don’t have a quick fix for this system, anon, but I just wanted to take a moment to validate you because I know that what you’re going through is so frustrating and draining and soul-sucking. I am mentally sending you strength.

First of all, I might have one suggestion for you: lie. Lie to your medical professionals about just one thing, and no other: tell them you are already on a weight-loss journey, even if you are not. If it gets you the help you need in this system - yeah, fib a little. But then, explain to your doctors that the reason you are seeking treatment for your symptoms so proactively is that they are preventing you from doing what you need to do to lose weight. Yes, of course you really want treatment to improve your basic quality of life, but when you’re talking to your doctor, sometimes you gotta frame it in a way they’ll hear. Explain how each symptom has made you unable to pursue an active lifestyle. Or how you’ve been too fatigued to meal prep, or how your symptoms are costing you so much that you are struggling to budget for dietary changes. You don’t have to actually be planning any of these things, but if it gets them to continue pursuing the source of your symptoms, just lie. I know it’s so triggering and awful to have to do this just to get taken seriously, so set aside time to prioritize something that you find self-caring after this.)

I know you say your desire to control your body seems silly written out, but it’s not silly at all. I get it. I really really do because I have the same impulse. When your body keeps acting out of your control in painful ways, it’ll make you desperate. And when you’ve had the message pushed your whole life that being skinny fixes everything, it tends to stick in your mind. You are not alone. You are desperate and being driven by a valid impulse.

Instead of pursuing an eating disorder, remind yourself that eating disorders only give you the illusion of control. Eating disorders only pave the way for the disorder to get more control over you. Not to mention, starving yourself will likely take even more of a toll on your health, doing lasting damage if you lose a significant amount of weight from starving. You are allowed to love yourself more than that. I know it’s hard. I know it’s hard to keep fighting for yourself.

Are you in any chronic illness support groups, online or in person? If you aren’t, I suggest you find some. You may find a good outlet to vent about symptoms, get advice on what got doctors to take other people seriously, and learn more about your own symptoms.

While I don’t recommend starving yourself, you could try tracking your symptoms in relation to certain foods and see if specific food sensitivities worsened them (this was true for me.) For me personally, it helps to remind myself that these foods aren’t “bad” foods - they’re just not good FOR ME, and choosing the ones that make me feel better is a way of taking care of and loving my body. (If you find your symptoms do not change based on dietary experimentation, you can disregard this advice.) For me, it can be really triggering having to avoid certain foods, so I definitely have to take a pause to calm down and talk myself through it sometimes.

Things like meditation exercises, gentle yoga, de-stressing exercises and therapy will not cure your chronic health condition, but may help keep symptoms from spiking as badly because stress is known to exacerbate physical symptoms. (Easier said than done, I know - what you’re going through is stressful. I am not telling you not to feel stressed, just to try and create small pockets of time where you try to give yourself a break from stress, which may not come naturally and may be hard because you cannot go to a place of escaping your symptoms. Just keep trying patiently and be compassionate with yourself.)

Anon, I really really hope this gives you some sort of help and comfort, even though it’s not a cure-all and I did get to it so late. There’s more I could say based on knowing specific symptoms if you’re okay sharing them, but for now I’ll just leave it at this. Feel free to vent in my inbox any time.

[weirdestcornelius]

This is gonna sound extremely nerdy and kinda nitpicky + not universal but I kinda don’t like how KC has like little to no basic explanation for most of the silly illnesses in the story. Like yeah there’s no logical explanation for all of your bodily fluids turning into contagious orange juice, but you don’t have to make it sound realistic or logical, just plausible enough! For example, here are my headcanons for The Uncommon Cold:

TUC is a foodborne illness that is present in stages. In the first stage, the body attempts to control the spread of the virus by warming up, but as the virus spreads more and more, the body gets hotter as an attempt to desperately control the spread inside the body.

Stage 2 TUC is when ppl usually mistake it for the virus going away, but the virus actually lowers your temperature incrementally in order to make it a more suitable environment for cultivation, since colder temps hold more germs. The virus doesn’t lower it enough to kill the host, but the lower temp can cause joint pain, cold sweats, and full body shivers.

Stage 3 is usually what causes admission to a hospital, as the fur becomes damp with cold sweat and condensation from the lack of necessary body heat to evaporate the water, so you just feel damp most of the time unless you use a towel. This stage causes amnesia and slowness due to the lack of new blood entering the brain (anthries are historically a snow-adapted species so I imagine it would trigger some vestigial hibernation response). It isn’t contagious in rooms hotter than room temperature since the virus is extremely sensitive to heat and it would be killed immediately.

In my AU the virus comes out of nowhere in the 5990s-6000s and it takes them multiple years to come up with a cure and to find the cause (in the current setting of SC, 6016, the cure is far from being found).

I just came up with that on a whim. I’m not asking for it to be at the level I just did, I just want my silly illnesses to get some fleshing out!! /lh

- 🖍️ anon

This is actually such a cool idea! I especially like the ideas as to WHY it makes the body cold, instead of just wanting to play off completely on cartoon logic! I'm working on better reasoning for Spinch illnesses as well, especially goopy guts (I am very interested in it specifically for some reason).

After I finish my list of side patients' names and identities I'll definitely start working on the illnesses! I just want to have everything set up correctly before I start writing.

Looked at Flarecare, it looks awesome btw! I especially love Uni's redesign.

[oblivious-melodies]

frequently asked questions

(thank you @captainbobcat for pointing out that the original link wasn't working! - here's a proper post with all the same info which should hopefully work a bit better in-app!)

Q: what can i expect from Oblivious Melodies?

A: Oblivious Melodies has two main characters, male and female, and the chapters alternate between their perspectives. These characters are semi-fixed; you can customise their choices and personalities, but their social roles, appearance, and background etc. are fixed, for reasons I hope will become fairly clear as the narrative progresses. Adventure, romance, detailed world-building, and intrigue are to be expected - however there are a number of potentially triggering elements to the story that you may want to take into consideration before you play. Each chapter has a content warning section for you to read, which is updated chapter-by-chapter.

Q: how long will the finished IF be?

A: I’m currently planning for there to be 4 volumes, each 6 chapters long. This may change however as I am still figuring out the exact details! I will update you here if there are significant changes to the planned structure.

Q: how do you ensure continuity between chapters?

A: The dreams that come to your MC at the end of a chapter are important: I strongly recommend typing up or noting down the details, as you’ll be prompted to remember them at the beginning of the next section! This will basically import your choices from former chapters to the next, ensuring continuity fairly smoothly. This is fiddly to code however and if you notice anything that doesn’t seem to follow on logically, please message me and I’ll take a look at it.

Q: i’ve noticed a typo/bug/glitch, what should I do?

A: Message me on this tumblr - I check it pretty frequently and it’s probably the fastest way to get my attention. I’ll try and sort out the issue straight away!

Q: do i need to pay to play Oblivious Melodies?

A: No, and there are currently no plans to monetise it, either. I am however not currently in permanent employment, and if you do want to donate or subscribe to me at all, I do have a Patreon and would be incredibly grateful for anything you can give! Please however do not feel the need to donate if you are not in a position to do so. It’s amazing to be able to let people enjoy my writing for free!

Q: who are you, exactly? 👀

A: I’m a researcher of the 18th and 19th centuries passionate about replicating a period of history I’m fascinated with in a game format! Everything I learn from my research has informed my writing style and the details I choose to include here.

Q: actually, i have a different, much more esoteric question than any of these…

A:… Then send me a message! I always welcome friendly interest in my work and am more than happy to yap on about my creative process :)

[mobius-m-mobius]

Thank you for posting all those gifs of Mobius being kind and supportive together. I've seen some takes about Mobius deserving it, but logically it doesn't make sense. He's already doing everything he can to save the timelines. He doesn't want to know his past, nor does he need to know to be motivated to save the timeliness, because he's already been doing since ep 1. Even if we make the argument he has no real free will until he sees his past, this argument is disingenuous because he's using his free will NOT to see it. From a narrative and character development standpoint, he will be forced to see it for the audience's entertainment, because he is a fictional character with no free will-- the screenwriters are the gods (Time Authors, if you will).

In-narrative, you could make a case he should see his timeline if he were actively trying to keep the TVA the way it was, but that's not the case with him. Sylvie's accusations this fall flat.

Mind, I'm not against Sylvie's proposition to start from scratch. Revolutions are important and serve that function. But the TVA is the only organization with people who know how the Loom and timespace work. It's not unreasonable for them to try to stabilize the situation, save the lives of as many timeliness as they can, and consider dismantling the TVA entirely and starting from scratch later.

Since we're dealing with time paradoxes, it's possible that the collapse of the Loom is what causes Loki to recruit Mobius, B-15, and Casey (I'm not sure what kind of entity OB is?) from their timelines. If they all accept, then Loki was the original creator of the Heart of the TVA. It's possible HWR took over at some point in the future and wiped everyone's memories then. The future influenced the past, thus closing the time loop. If this is the case, then Sylvie also contributed to the creation of the TVA, because killing HWR triggered the destruction of the Loom, which will force Loki to recruit, which will create the TVA, which will monitor the multiverse, which at some point will be taken over by HWR to create the Sacred Timeline, which become the multiverse one again after Sylvie kills him, which will destroy the Loom, which will cause Loki to recruit.

Of course!!! Always a delight to and on that note we're truly seeing eye to eye on every single point you raised so thank you for such an amazing ask! Exactly the conversation I was craving after making those gifs just to get some things off my chest about how Mobius gets treated since as you said, he's already been doing everything possible to protect the timelines while clearly under incomprehensible pressure yet has never hesitated to evaluate and change his worldview accordingly to better serve the whole.

Honestly confused by those insisting he HAS to see his past and is in the wrong for not having done so because isn't that up to him?? Doesn't matter what his reasons are, he's entitled to his choices and I can honestly say without hesitation if I were in his shoes my decision would be the same. He enjoys his job, he's incredibly good at the work (people seem to forget he's facilitated the progression of basically every plot point), and has recently built more connections he appreciates and wants to grow than in the entirety of his life combined so why is he not allowed to make a single decision in his own interest when neither his approach to changing the TVA nor any other person is being impacted? But you're exactly right about how regardless he'll be made to have the experience anyway and while I'd be perfectly happy with that never happening I accept the advancement of narrative as a given and can only hope whatever cards he's dealt are ones that only bring him peace of mind about the work he's done so far and in the future.

(adding a read more here because I've got a feeling this is gonna be a long one, lol)

Have also seen many people saying Sylvie blowing up at Mobius was necessary or that he needed to hear it but that logic is completely missed on me? For example Ravonna did the same but considering the amount of history between them her reaction is fully understandable even if I don't agree with the points she made about his compassion being a weakness. Mentioned this to a friend earlier but I truly wish it had been some random character besides Sylvie who yelled at him simply because she doesn't have the kind of personal connection to make judgements and because I don't want any ship war elements at play or anything when my take is solely based around wanting Mobius to be recognized as someone who has been good and kind from the start? Watching him be put down for that as if it's fact in basically every episode is getting exhausting 😔

To that point I also agree with the importance and necessity of revolution but not sure starting from scratch is necessary when the TVA does have a solid base and plenty of people willing to stay and help the cause? In reality there's no time for anyone there to stay currently focused on anything but stabilizing the situation when the alternative is the end of every timeline, burning things to the ground only really counts if there's any ground left to build on which is yet another reason Mobius and the others switched to preservation. For example, O.B's quip about Sylvie ruining his life by killing He Who Remains was complete fact and while I don't have any hate towards her character at all and certainly don't want any mirrored scene of someone yelling at her, etc, it's driving me crazy how she refuses to admit they've actively been saving lives and scrambling to accommodate these unexpected branches while she was at a MCDONALD'S.

My ep 5-6 theory matches yours regarding about the collapse of the Loom being the cause of Mobius, B-15, and Casey ending up at the TVA because their Nexus event technically isn't one, it's them choosing to leave with Loki of their own free will and the good of existence. I'm also not sure if O.B. was ever a variant so he could possibly be the key to figuring out where Loki can find everyone's original self? Psyched to learn more about him and how he ended up in such a vital position! Hundred percent think the series is ending with Loki as the founder and probable ruler of the TVA but can't quite figure out where the switch to He Who Remains entering the picture fits in, and your point about Sylvie also contributing to the creation of the TVA in an infinite loop is a fascinating one that's going to leave me thinking for a long while so thanks for that as well and of everything I have to admit the possibility of Loki and Mobius being their own ouroboros in creating just the right person to intrigue and change themselves into who they always wanted to be has been giving me life, them as timekeepers along with B-15 has been my hope since the first episode of season 2 and is probably the most incredible place I could imagine leaving everyone if we don't get another season.

[rival-the-rose]

So, last week, just before my birthday, I developed dysphagia, gastroparesis, and ileus due to a weird viral infection (came with a fever and sinus inflammation but nothing else). In layman's terms, this basically means all of the muscles in my entire GI tract have stopped working - esophagus is not moving food to the stomach, stomach is not opening to allow food nor is it opening to release food, and my intestines are not moving things along, just being inflamed and full of gas.

This is obviously deeply uncomfortable, I have been on a liquid diet and barely reaching BMR, on top of being dehydrated bc plain water causes a lot of pain (adding a neutral-basic substance to high acid environment=bad).

On top of that, I am not a layman, and therefore I know that generally this suite of symptoms are associated with the Big Bad Diagnoses and once they show up they are frequently lifelong and not infrequently fatal. I also know that my history and symptoms don't match any of the Big Bads and it's more likely a weirdly dramatic response to viral inflammation, and I think we confirmed that with my doctor today. She's an osteopath who used to specialize in post-GI surgical care and felt that my intestines responded to manipulation in a way that was more similar to inflamed intestines than intestines that are no longer enervated. I would tend to agree and also she relieved so much pain today, I can take deep breaths again.

However, she hasn't seen or heard of this before. She expects that if there's no active damage being done, the inflammation should be mostly resolved in a week or two, but that's based on physiological knowledge rather than specific disease etiology.

So I'm having a lot of emotions. Anxiety, bc these are serious issues that I don't have a solid timeline on resolving. Anxiety 2, bc any time my body does something weird I become paralyzed with fear that this is going to spiral into profound disability again. Shame about Anxiety 2 bc I feel like I'm being dramatic and also being paralyzed with fear makes me feel bad about myself. Concerned that this is going to trigger an eating disorder relapse. Excited that I get to relapse "legitimately" and the fact that I've been on half rations for awhile is relieving the thoughts around how much weight I've gained since getting back from Vermont. Concerned bc I'm already feeling some of the emotional effects of calorie restriction (weepy+fussy) and physical (so tired.) Shame bc I feel like I should be done being sick and I'm tired of cancelling things I really want to do and also bc I look fine and I do feel ok as long as I haven't eaten recently. So I feel like I'm letting ppl down for no reason/I should be toughing it out more. ???Bad bc this is the eating disorder dream and why can't I be functional while doing it (aka being confronted with the reality that I can't indulge my disorder in a safe way which is so scary). Fussy bc I don't actually feel sick so I still want to do things but then I do and I'm uncomfortable/tired/frustrated immediately. Shame about just lying on the couch so much. Fear bc I want to start T and I'm in the process of applying to vet school and I can't do either of those things if I keep having organ systems shutting down (I really thought my lungs were doing better but they're apparently still not deflating appropriately).

Logically I can see that if someone told me they had these symptoms I would be like "why are you not in a hospital" (as long as I can keep up on calories and liquid reasonably it's not necessary). But I'm the one experiencing it and it's not that bad so why can't I do more stuff. Even though I worked full time this week and went to a doctor appointment today and OT yesterday. But I cancelled hanging out with my bestie on her birthday today so I feel really bad about that.

Idk. I just want to feel better. Except for the part of me that wants to starve to death. I'd say that's the core of the issue lol.

[sassypotatoe1]

Every day I curse the knowledge of the existence of a particular skin disorder because my ocd is mostly manageable, unless it comes to pests, skin irregularities and illnesses, and this particular disorder (that I will not name because I don't want others to deal with the same intrusive thoughts I have about it and I ask nicely that no one try to guess what it is please) has all 3.

Imagine picking the fuck out of bumps because it's one, a bump and we can't have that oh no, two, possibly caused by a parasite and three, infestation can cause serious health complications, and the compulsive behaviors that can come with that when your compulsions are triggered by all three of those categories. The thing is, right, good hygiene, topical steroids and a halfway decent immune system can completely eradicate an infestation. People affected are people who are immunocompromised with poor hygiene and diet, and no access to the very basic medication used to treat this disorder.

I don't fall in that category I have topical steroids for my eczema, which I don't use because long term use can have a rebound effect, I have access to ivermectin and someone authorized to administer it available, I have good hygiene, excellent hygiene actually I wash my hands with the surgeon method, and my immune system is actually halfway decent. I have had no exposure to the parasite, no one in my life has or have symptoms, and so it's incredibly unlikely that the rash I currently have is that disorder.

The most likely culprit is the medication I started recently for my chronic pain which I could be allergic to, or less likely but somehow more fitting lichen planus, which is maybe an autoimmune disease, definitely can be triggered by nsaids which my new meds fall under, and is described and pictured exactly like the rash I have, which does not look like the rash for the disorder my ocd is trying desperately to convince me that I actually have.

By all accounts, knowing this should stop the intrusive thoughts and compulsions. Both are incredibly easy to treat, for one I get a small dose of ivermectin and use the topical steroid for the rash, for the other I switch the pain meds to something else, neither are life threatening situations. Still, my ocd is fighting tooth and nail to convince me that it is the first and that it will kill me with sepsis, and the related compulsions are actually harmful to my health.

This is the reality of ocd, especially mild ocd that can fly under the radar. It's not liking things to be clean, it's washing your hands with undiluted bleach and a pumice stone because you've become convinced that a minor rash is a parasitic infestation, and the only reason you even know about it is that a guy once talked about having an infestation in the past and what it was like.

Can it look like washing your hands obsessively is just being a germaphobe? Yeah, and a lot of the time people with ocd can't articulate why they do it, or don't want to because "I'm a bit of a germaphobe" is easier to communicate and better received than "I'm scared there's tiny parasites poisoning me through my skin and I have to wash off all of them right the fuck now or I will die".

It's not easy to live with, especially considering that life is full of pests and disease and rashes and skin irregularities can occur for any reason, and being highly logical and reasonable about them doesn't translate to being able to avoid the compulsions, because the part of my brain going "you do not have a parasite it's just a benign idiopathic skin rash" is not the part of it that's going "scour your hands actually burn the skin off we have to kill the little fuckers before they kill us" and the second part is louder and more instinctive.

I can stop compulsions, I can stop intrusive thoughts to some degree, but it's like trying to drive a car on a busy highway with the passenger screaming at you that you're going to crash at every action you take. You can ignore it, stop yourself from jumping and causing an accident, but sometimes the passenger yanks on the wheel trying to avoid an imaginary oncoming vehicle and you end up in a ditch. This rash is making my passenger yank on the wheel, and if I'm not careful I'll turn a minor swerve into a major pileup.