#conditioned taste aversion

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Word List: Psychology

more psychological concepts as reference for your poem/story

Mental fog - (also called clouding of consciousness) a mental state involving a reduced awareness of the environment, inability to concentrate, and confusion.

Metaworry - persistent worry about one’s own thoughts and cognitive processes.

Numbsense - the ability of some people who have lost feeling in part or all of their body to respond to tactile stimuli in the insensible area. Such individuals insist that they are not aware of any tactile sensations but can nevertheless discriminate between stimuli and point to where they have been presented.

Object love - in psychoanalytic theory, love of a person other than the self. It is a function of the ego and not the instincts as in object cathexis.

Oneirodynia - a form of dreaming characterized by nightmares or unpleasant dreams.

Passive joy - a feeling of extreme gladness, delight, or exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction that involves tranquility and a feeling of contentment with things as they are.

Sauce béarnaise effect - a colloquial term referring to a conditioned taste aversion. If a person happens to become ill after tasting a new food, such as sauce béarnaise, they may subsequently dislike and avoid that food. Regardless of the actual cause of the illness, the sauce will be identified with it.

Sensitive soul - in the thought of Aristotle, the type of soul possessed by nonhuman animals. The sensitive soul has the capacity to receive and react to sense impressions but does not have a capacity for rational thought.

Symbiotic marriage - a marriage or partnership of codependency, whereby the individuals are entirely reliant upon each other for the gratification of certain psychological needs.

Synergic marriage - a marriage or partnership that is enhanced by the contributions the partners can make in satisfying each other’s psychological needs in a positive manner.

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Part 1 2 3 4 ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[boyswillbebuggsorsomething]

Sick Days

Spencer Reid x Reader 

Summary: Spencer takes care of you while you’re sick.

Warnings: Sick R, vomiting, brief mention of R having joint pain & pain in their bones, so many commas, R has no physical description other than having hair and looking sick/tired, written while sick and barely able to focus, NOT PROOFREAD OR EDITED

A/N: I’m currently sick and crave comfort so here’s this. Because I’m sick and in pain though, this may not be very good quality. This is very self indulgent so the way R’s sickness presents is the same as mine (and I am disabled & chronically ill), which may not be the same as yours. But anyways, this is my first short little sickfic ever.

Word Count: 673

.....

Getting sick sucks for anyone, but you were convinced that something somewhere had to be against you to make you feel like this. If you could ignore the god-awful ache in your bones and the creaking of your joints anytime you moved, you couldn’t ignore the horrible feeling of throwing up your guts every time you so much as drank water. 

God was simply against you, it seemed.

Luckily, you weren’t alone in your suffering. You had your lovely, kind, amazing, extremely germ-averse boyfriend who was going through his own hell with the germs you were surely spreading through your apartment with every breath. If you weren’t in so much pain, you’d feel bad for him, but in your sickness-addled mind, you could only manage extreme gratitude for his presence. 

“Hey,” Spencer whispered softly as he approached you where you were splayed across the bed with your favourite mug, full of tea, and medicine in pill form as you refused to take the liquid, “It’s a chamomile and ginger blend,” he explained as he handed you the tea, “Both are proven to aid in minimising nausea and relieving sickness and are commonly used as parts of remedies for colds and the flu.”

“I know, love, thank you,” You smiled weakly, though you clearly looked as terrible as you felt based on the small wince of a smile he offered back. 

Despite the kindness of the gesture, you really didn’t want to induce any more vomiting and began to set the cup down on the side table before Spencer stopped you.

“At least drink some with the pills, dry swallowing medication can cause a lot of harm to your throat,” He nudged the mug back towards you and placed the pills in your hand. In turn, you nodded, giving him a tightlipped smile as you placed the foul tasting pills on your tongue, washing the medication down with the honey sweetened tea.

“Thank you,” You murmured again.

“You don’t need to keep thanking me, I want to take care of you,” Spencer smiled kindly, pushing your hair out of your face and resting the back of his hand against your forehead.

“But I’m all gross and sick, and I don’t want to get you sick too, because you hate germs and you do important things everyday so I don’t want you to get sick,” Your words were much less eloquent as they could have been as you fought against the brainfog of illness to explain.

“While that may be true, I love you much more than I hate germs,” He paused briefly before smiling wider, “And if I help you get better, you will stop being sick much faster which means less germs in the long run.”

You manage a small huff of laughter and nod in response.

“Do you want anything else, or would you prefer if I just let you sleep?”

“I’m tired, but I want you to stay,” You groan.

“I can stay.”

“Will you lay with me?” Your question was hesitant, not wanting to expose him to too much of your sickness, because as much as he said he didn’t mind, you knew who you were dating and germs were not his thing.

“Of course,” Spencer’s voice was soft and kind, and the small glint of hesitation in his eyes disappeared as he looked over your sickly form. 

He shifted the blankets out of the way and laid beside you, his warm body instantly comforting even given your current condition. You inched towards him, resting your head against his chest with a soft sigh. Spencer’s hands rested atop your body after a moment, holding you close to himself, one hand rubbing your arm gently. Despite the pain wracking your body and the way your stomach turned with any food or drink you consumed, the exhaustion that wormed its way into your bones took over, leaving your eyes heavy and your body relaxed against him.

Being sick is definitely the worst, but having Spencer with you made it so much easier.

[viradahlen]

Some scattered thoughts about Wesker's character and STARS

Your worst sin is that you've destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing" - Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Wesker grew up in an environment controlled by Umbrella. I like to think of it as an institute or orphanage. He must have felt lonely. He must have been alone.

This fact is not trivial because loneliness is thematic and yet ambivalent when it comes to Wesker's character. His relationship with other people and humanity as a whole is complex but fundamental to understanding his motivations. We know for a fact that he is not averse to being alone and even enjoys solitary walks through the Arklay forest. He also talks a lot to himself. But is his relation to aloneness one-dimensional?

To understand the character, we must not forget that he was human, and so alterity interplay necessarily shaped his identity, even if he himself went so far as to cast away his humanity, deemed a weakness. This credo does not pertain only to Wesker. Alex Wesker, Dr. Marcus, Spencer, William Birkin, Sergei Vladimir... Umbrella's executives and higher-ups regard humanity as a dead end to be overcome with the help of science.

But unlike them, Wesker managed a small family team for almost 3 years. And unlike them, even after his rebirth, Wesker never really works alone.

I like to imagine how much inner conflict and cognitive dissonance the STARS era must have triggered. Can you really select people that you find highly capable, train with them, earn their respect and trust, and not care at all ?

Is it truly possible that he was but a cold monster, conditioned by Umbrella to destroy the world and embody the future of humanity ? An efficient tool that was taught how to identify valuable people and exploit their abilities ? Is Wesker just repeating with others what Spencer did with him ?

It’s an interpretation of the character. I find it a little too plain for my tastes. Wesker is a man of contradictions. He values freedom, is brilliant, and yet he is never able to think outside Umbrella's conceptual box. He values efficiency and yet seems unable to get rid of Chris and Jill. He obviously wants to be in control and seems wary and distrustful, which is probably a result of Umbrella's smothering grasp on him since childhood, and yet he trusts Ada, Krauser, Excella and other people to carry out his plans, increasing the risk of betrayal. Wesker is multifaceted, and so is his relationship with humanity.

Wesker's education is undoubtedly orchestrated by Umbrella/Spencer. Conceived and planned by Lord Spencer and his colleague Dr Wesker, Albert’s education was designed to make him an active defender of utilitarian philosophy, though devoid of its moral aspect. 

I believe the STARS, its inability to let go of the past, particularly Chris, reveals something else.

Even if "little piggies" sounds provocative and unflattering, and even if he evokes "a family reunion" in an ironic way, there is still something along the lines of possessiveness that manifests itself here. When it comes to Chris, Wesker is the most ambivalent, helping him during the events of RE1, lamenting that he "cannot understand" his vision in RE5 and expressing his pride at every encounter.

The point is that Wesker almost never made a choice that wasn't designed or foreseen by Umbrella in his life. Even his suicide and following rebirth, a last-minute plan that was his way out of Umbrella (he symbolically steps on his glasses branded "property of Umbrella"), was overseen by Spencer. But he chose the STARS members himself with no criteria forced upon him.

When he was given full latitude to build up a team from scratch, he selected talented people, sure, who displayed for most of them an unconventional profile and a sense of honor and justice. Chris was kicked out of the USAF, Jill's father is a notorious thief (and herself is suspiciously good at picking locks), Kenneth is a chemist, Richard Aiken lost his sister and wanted to protect others, Rebecca is caring and brilliant,... etc. Wesker's targeted people who were courageous, empathetic, and strong-willed. And yet, at this point, he didn't know what Umbrella's planned to do with them. He chose them freely, with no hidden motive at this point, without Umbrella interfering.

He willingly chose to surround himself with people who absolutely did not share his beliefs. He did NOT choose meek people. He COULD have found competent AND cynical, less idealistic, less intelligent, policemen. But he chose them, introducing a risk factor as he was actually reporting to Umbrella. He chose people who have a strong moral compass, though they are less likely to be manipulated, are more difficult to lie to, and would rather not compromise. People with a sense of justice are often fierce and eager to defend their beliefs even though it's not in their best interest. They could have put Wesker in a delicate position, and, as a matter of fact, Chris, Forest, and Joseph were hated by Brian Irons.

So, why did he do that ?

If you listen attentively to Wesker's soliloquy in RE5, while he tries to pursue Chris as a clumsy octopus-like monster, I believe it makes sense if you consider he sees himself as a Messiah and a Creator.

Wesker states that he hates humanity. But before his experience with STARS, humanity was actually comprising his colleagues within Umbrella. He doesn't know the world. Umbrella taught him that people are worth less than nothing. (Though ironically, Umbrella's executives and accomplices, such as Brian Irons, probably reinforced Wesker's belief that humans were to be punished and corrected).

And so, when he loses his mind, he does not ramble, like a classic comic book villain, that humans are stupid or a lost cause. No. He laments that he sees "war and pestilence" wherever he goes. It is very telling : He desperately craves peace. He relishes on being a Creator, a Demiurge. A GOOD one. He wants to punish humanity AND start anew. That's precisely what Uroboros, a never-ending circle of life and destruction, encompasses.

Wesker doesn't only want humanity to face its long overdue punishment ("this winnowing"). He wants humanity to do better, to be closer to perfeection, even though his method is totally irrational (as you could argue that he was the one bringing up War and Pestilence at its climax in their universe...).

He hasn't killed Chris, nor Jill, AND he EVEN confesses that he should have killed him YEARS ago. But why does he want his former pointman to understand ? Why is he OBSESSED about Chris "not understanding", if he isn't supposed to survive ?

I think that in Wesker's twisted mind, Chris represents what humanity should be at its best. Wesker fawned over his Tyrant because it was his Creation. A new Human, created by him, the first step to his new world. But Tyrant is soulless. Chris, and Jill and every member of STARS he chose, trained and teamed up with, embodied values that he regards as worthy, honorable but not fitted for this corrupt world. If he calls out Chris on his self-righteousness, it's because Chris does good deeds in an evil world, which Wesker deems worthless because that's inefficient (utilitarian thinking). A drop in the ocean that changes nothing. However, the members of STARS (a name that evokes hope) had a soul. They were drops in the ocean. And they were his.

There is something so enticingly complex about a character who implicitely confesses that the world would be a better place if people were all as good and pure as the STARS members were, while he brutally killed them all in a way that reminds me of the sacrifice of lambs on behalf of a God that is supposed to be fair and good.

This man is hautingly complex your honor. He is Frankenstein's beast and a coward and a nerd that loves his action men and women.

But alas, he suffers from chronic backstabber disorder and delusions of grandeur. He believes that he had to escape humanity to punish them and save them, that he had the courage to do what is necessary for the greater good when he is, deep down, just a man. A man who is very angry, very hateful, and who walked a path of loneliness because it was much easier than to face the truth : The world can only be painted in shaded of gray and certainly not in black and white. But that would mean throwing away the great destiny that Umbrella designed for him (for Spencer actually, but he realized that at 50 yo...). That would mean that he is just a man, wronged, "manufactured", manipulated and slowly turning into a BOW. Their BOW.

Wesker, who blamed "loathsome humans" for turning the world into a cesspool, was actually one of these humans he so despises, partly because he never really abandoned Umbrella's mindset ("you're just another one of Umbrella's leftover" ie : a thing that belongs to them and doesn't think for himself which is TRUE).

And paradoxically, ironically, he betrayed and murdered in cold blood people that would have helped him make the world a better place.

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Mammalia - Dasyuromorphia

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

As marsupials finally made their way into Australia they began to diversify even further. The order Dasyuromorphia represents the vast majority of “carnivorous marsupials”, marsupials which fill the niches of the placental carnivorans. This order contains the living families Dasyuridae (mulgaras, Kaluta, Kowari, quolls, dasyures, Dibbler, marsupial shrews, antechinuses, phascogales, planigales, Kultarr, ningauis, dunnarts, and the Tasmanian Devil) and Myrmecobiidae (the Numbat). Famously, this order also contained the extinct Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus).

Most Dasyuromorphs are small and mouse or shrew-like, though the group also contains the cat-sized quolls and Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) (image 2). They have many features considered primitive to marsupials, such as seperate toes (in many other marsupials, the second and third toes are fused) and some lack a full pouch. Instead, many species have a simple fold of skin surrounding the teats, to provide some protection to the developing young. Dasyuromorphs are primarily insectivorous, but they will also eat small lizards, birds, frogs, mammals, fruit, nectar, and flowers. One of the few exceptions to this rule is the Tasmanian Devil, which subsists mainly on carrion but can feesibly take on prey up to the size of a small kangaroo. Adult dasyuromorphs are typically solitary, or travel in small groups of two to three individuals.

As in other marsupials, dasyuromorph joeys are born as relatively undeveloped “jellybeans” and must crawl their way from the vagina to the pouch or teat and latch on. Once the young makes contact with the nipple, it expands, locking the joey in place and ensuring it doesn’t fall off the mother or out of the pouch while they finish their development. Smaller dasyuromorphs generally reproduce at least twice a year, but the larger Numbat, quolls, and Tasmanian Devil generally only have one litter a year.

Dasyuromorphs have existed since the Late Oligocene, 33 to 23 million years ago.

Propaganda under the cut:

Quolls (image 1 and gif) are sometimes referred to as "native cats" and occasionally "marsupial cats" or "tiger cats", due to their cat-like size and behavior.

Although they are nocturnal, the New Guinean Quoll (Dasyurus albopunctatus) is known to spend its daylight hours basking in the sun.

The Paucident Planigale (Planigale gilesi) is also nocturnal and enters a state of torpor in unfavourable conditions to reduce energy expenditure in times of inactivity. However, it also exhibits basking or sunning behavior as an energy-conserving strategy. The Paucident Planigale is the smallest mammal to display basking behavior in the wild in order to reduce energy requirements, particularly in winter.

The Western Quoll (Dasyurus geoffroii) is at the top of the food chain in Western Australia, and eats lizards, birds and their eggs, frogs, spiders, insects, and small mammals, even bandicoots, parrots, and invasive rabbits.

The current major threat to the endangered Northern Quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) is the spread of the Cane Toad (Rhinella marina). Native to South and mainland Central America, the Cane Toad was introduced by European colonists as biological control of agricultural pests in 1935. The toad was unsuccessful at controlling the targeted cane beetles, but was successful at spreading across Australia and poisoning many of its native predators, who had not evolved alongside the toad to develop a resistance to its toxins or aversion to its taste, and did not recognize it as poisonous. Like many other native Australian predators , Northern Quolls are poisoned after eating or mouthing cane toads. Immediately after the Cane Toad invasion of Kakadu National Park, Northern Quolls became extinct at one study site and declined from 45 individuals to 5 at another site. The Northern Quoll may cease to exist in most areas in the Top End once the Cane Toad population completely overlaps the Northern Quoll's range. Scientists sought to reintroduce quolls who had been trained to avoid the toads, and released them into the park. This was at first successful, however, the quolls had lost their ability to recognise and avoid both feral dogs (dingo) and cats due to being raised in human care, and the population was lost again. Some Northern Quolls persist in Queensland, and seem to naturally be “toad averse,” as well as on islands where the toads have not reached.

The smallest dasyuromorph is the Pilbara Ningaui (Ningaui timealeyi), which is also the smallest of all marsupials, and one of the smallest mammals, averaging 4.5 to 5.8 cm (1.8 to 2.3 in) in body length.

Another tiny dasyuromorph is the Long-tailed Planigale (Planigale ingrami), which averages 5.9 cm in body length and weighs 4-6g. Despite this, it is an active and fearless hunter, preying mostly on insects and their larvae, small lizards, and young mammals almost as large as itself. With larger prey like grasshoppers, an initial pounce is often insufficient and the planigale bites repeatedly until the prey stops struggling.

Following the extinction of the Thylacine in 1936, the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world.

The Tasmanian Devil's large head and neck allow it to generate among the strongest bites per unit body mass of any living predatory land mammal, with a Bite Force Quotient of 181 and exerting a canine bite force of 553 N (124 lbf). The jaw can open to 75–80 degrees, allowing the devil to generate a large amount of power to tear meat and crush bones; sufficient force allows it to bite through thick metal wire. The teeth and jaws of Tasmanian Devils resemble those of hyenas, an example of convergent evolution.

The first European Tasmanian settlers ate Tasmanian Devil, which they described as tasting like veal. As it was believed devils would hunt and kill livestock, a bounty scheme to remove the devil from rural properties was introduced as early as 1830. In areas where devils were eradicated, poultry continued to be hunted by quolls. Over the next 100 years, trapping and poisoning brought Tasmanian Devils to the brink of extinction. More than 900,000 Tasmanian Devils were hunted in 1923—and this resulted in a continuation of bounty hunting of devils as they were thought to be a major threat to the fur industry, even though quolls were more adept at hunting the wallabies and possums typically hunted for fur. After the death of the last Thylacine in 1936, a conservation wake-up call, the Tasmanian Devil was finally protected by law in June 1941 and the population slowly recovered.

Since the late 1990s, devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) has drastically reduced the population of Tasmanian Devils and again threatens the survival of the species, which in 2008 was declared to be endangered. This aggressive, non-viral, clonally transmissible cancer manifests itself as lumps of soft and ulcerating tissue around the mouth, which may invade surrounding organs and metastasise to other parts of the body. DFTD is most often spread by bites, when teeth come into contact with cancer cells. It can also be spread by ingesting of infected carcasses and sharing of food. Adult Tasmanian devils who are otherwise the fittest are most susceptible to the disease. Starting in 2013, Tasmanian Devils are being sent to zoos around the world as part of a Tasmanian Devil conservation and breeding program.

Tasmanian Devils are fully grown at two years of age, and few devils live longer than five years in the wild. Possibly the longest-lived Tasmanian Devil recorded was Coolah, a male devil which lived in human care for more than 7 years. Born in January 1997 at the Cincinnati Zoo, Coolah died in May 2004 at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.

Male Little Red Kalutas (Dasykaluta rosamondae), all antechinuses, and many other small dasyurid species die shortly after a frenzied breeding season, probably due to stress or exhaustion. In human care, males can live from 2 to 5 years, but will no longer be able to reproduce after their first year.

The Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) was once widespread across southern Australia, but after the deliberate release of Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) by European colonists for sport hunting, the entire Numbat population in Victoria, NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory, and almost all Numbats in Western Australia were wiped out. It is now restricted to several small colonies in Western Australia. By the late 1970s, the population was well under 1,000 individuals. An intensive research and conservation program since 1980 has succeeded in increasing the Numbat population substantially, and reintroductions to fox-free areas have begun. Perth Zoo is very closely involved in breeding this native species in captivity for release into the wild.

As an adaptation to a diet consisting almost entirely of termites, the Numbat has a long, sticky anteater-like tongue which it uses to catch its prey. Although the Numbat finds termite mounds primarily using scent, it has the highest visual acuity of any marsupial, and, unusually for marsupials, has a high proportion of cone cells in the retina.

Every night the Fat-tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata) consumes approximately its own body weight in food. During periods of food shortage it decreases its duration of activity while also increasing its intensity of feeding. It uses specialized, sharp teeth to grind its prey into fine pieces.

The Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was the last of the Thylacinids, a family of dasyuromorph marsupials. It lived from the Pleistocene to the Holocene in Australia and New Guinea, driven to extinction in the 1930s by hunting, human encroachment, disease, and feral dogs (dingos). The Thylacine was already extinct on the Australian mainland and New Guinea by the time European settlers arrived, with the island of Tasmania being its last stronghold. Settlers feared the marsupial would attack them and their livestock, demonizing it as a “blood drinker”, and bounties were put in place that drove the Thylacine to be overhunted. As they became rarer, there was a push to capture Thylacines and keep them alive in captivity, but unfortunately it was too little, too late. Conservation and animal welfare was not at the level it is today, not much was known about their behavior in the wild, and there was only one successful birth in captivity. Studies show that with continued successful breeding, a campaign to change public perception, and protections put into place much earlier, the Thylacine could have been saved. But the last captive Thylacine died in 1936, and official protection was not put in place until that year, 59 days before his death. Sightings continued into the 1980s, and even today some claim to see them, but all of these sightings are unconfirmed and unlikely. The Thylacine is definitively extinct. Today, carnivores such as wolves and coyotes are demonized in the same way the Thylacine was, and there are some who wish to also wipe them out entirely, even having succeeded in many places. While some of the Thylacine’s closest relatives, like the Numbat and Tasmanian Devil, survived the European persecution which killed off the Thylacines, they are still endangered today due to introduced predators and disease. Instead of continuing to search for, or trying to resurrect the lost Thylacine, perhaps it is best we channel that attention, love, and regret onto the species we still have. Extinction is forever, and it is easier to save those who are still alive.

(source)

[neurodivergent-loverboy]

It seems like this needs to be said, so I'm going to say it:

Having an eating disorder is not a moral failing. Nope, not even if it includes an aversion to eating foods from unfamiliar cuisines. Sensory differences and anxiety about trying new things are morally neutral traits, and they are certainly not indicative of bigotry.

This does not mean that people with ARFID (or people who avoid certain foods for any other reason) are incapable of expressing their aversion in harmful ways. Take a look at these hypothetical statements:

"Guacamole is disgusting. I don't understand how people can eat that stuff without gagging!"

"I would never eat curry, it looks like vomit."

"People who actually like sushi must have something wrong with their taste buds."

"I don't like 'ethnic' food, it's all gross."

These statements are judgemental generalizations about foods from non-white cultures. They are disrespectful, close-minded, othering statements. Speaking like this about any cuisine, especially those that have been historically vilified by groups in power, is unacceptable. That is true regardless of a person's mental health or disability status.

Now take a look at these statements, and note the difference in tone:

"I can't eat seafood. It triggers my gag reflex."

"I wouldn't be able to eat that. I'm really sensitive to texture when it comes to food, especially greasy or mushy textures."

"A lot of the flavors used in Thai cooking are overwhelming for me, and I can't handle anything spicy."

"I mostly eat food that I already know I like, because that's what's comfortable for me."

These statements, like the previous ones, are expressing an aversion to certain foods. But unlike the previous statements, these ones center the personal limits of the speaker rather than placing judgement on the food they're talking about or the people who eat that food.

There is no good reason to conflate these mindsets. Shaming people with ARFID simply for having ARFID is not effective antiracist action - it's lateral aggression. Call out bigotry when you see it, criticize harmful and disrespectful rhetoric, and hold neurodivergent people to the same standards of equitable behavior as your neurotypical peers. All of that is possible to do without implying that a disabling mental health condition is really just a moral failing.

[silentmoths]

A vampires guide to feeding from a hemophobic partner. Ft. Neuvillette

*Pokes head out of the shadows*

Well heya. S'been a while.

What's brought this on? it started as a minor shitpost to @crystalflygeo's musings on vampire Neuv, and her mentionings of hemophobia- you know what it'll be easier to show yall.

So thats it. an elaborate shitpost.

Neuvillete x F! Reader. NSFW. Smut, general vampire goodness, Neuvillete being a fkn routine bitch because lets face it, he is.

Neuvillete could feel it. The…the pull, the desire, the need…the hunger.

The chief justice sighs as he pours over his paperwork. He would have to tell you tonight.

“Be beloved…I am hungry.” He tells you over dinner. Whilst he did not need to eat, He always made sure to prepare and join you for your evening meals…a routine one might say, he simply enjoyed spending time with his love, any spare moments he could get.

“Is that why you made steak for me tonight?” you question, knowing well his penchant for making you more Iron-rich dishes before he himself needed to feed.

Neuvillette nods solemnly, it was for your health after all; he would be remiss if he took and took only for you to become deficient. He doesn’t miss it, the sudden draining of colour from your face, or the increase in your heartbeat.

You were nervous, you always got nervous on feeding nights, and Neuvillette desperately wishes he could give you more time, but his hunger was a fickle thing, sometimes he could go weeks without needing to feed, others it was just a few days, it all hinged on how heavy his workload was. Yet he feels like more warning might be worse, because it would only psyche out his poor darling. Despite your absolute phobia of the very sight of blood, you insisted he feed off of you and you alone, an arrangement he happily complied with.

After all, whose blood better to nourish him than his darling’s?

He was always very organised when it came to this, anything for your comfort after all. After dinner and a bath, you find yourself gently tugged to bed with him, soft, nimble fingers gently massaging over your clammy skin. Sometimes you hated how afraid you were of this process, even though it had happened many many times now, without issue. You trusted Neuvillette. 

You trusted the way he spoke to you, the way he held you so gently in his arms, in the way his lips slowly travel the expanse of your throat. His murmuring compliments and praise as he slips behind you, your back pressing against his chest. Considering what he was, he always felt so…warm and inviting, welcoming, despite your heartbeat pounding in your ears.

He always starts with a kiss. Most vampires prefer the side of the throat…it’s generally seen as an easier extraction point…and yet Neuvillette does not, not after discovering your aversion to blood; he instead chooses the nape, not as easy, and a little longer to extract his fill from, but this way, you never had to see a drop, and he could hold you close. “Are you ready, my darling?” At your nod, he hums, thanking you quietly before sinking his fangs in, using the light scarring from the times he’d done this before as a guide. 

Your blood tastes like the finest ambrosia to him, like the first sips of water after being stranded in the desert for weeks. If he never tasted another person’s blood again in his life, and only had yours, he would die a happy man.

He rumbles softly as you whimper, it stung, of course it did, even he understood that this was not a comfortable process. His arms cross over your chest, lovingly holding you close and steady, his thumbs rubbing gentle circles into your exposed shoulders.

He drinks and comforts until he’s had his full, until he can feel the warmth in his cheeks return. He watches and listens to you, always keeping a constant eye on your condition, he would never ever forgive himself if he overindulged and made you suffer for it. The next part is a rather rigorous and rushed process. His fangs retract and one of his hands quickly reaches for a disinfecting wipe, the moment he pulls his lips away, he presses the wipe over the wound, cleaning it up as he coo’s softly at you.

“You did well, my darling, it’s over now…let me take care of you.” he whispers in your ear, tone thick with love and joy. He feels much better now, and it was his turn to make you feel better.

He cleans and dresses the wound with careful hands, as he cleans you up, he tries his best to clean himself up, any errant droplet of your blood on his lips is licked away. “Rest a moment my sweet, I will be right back.” He whispers to you before vanishing into the bathroom to brush his teeth and rinse his mouth. Not exactly a necessity, but if it helped abate your fears in any way? He’d do it. You’re still a little shaky when he returns, but now that he’s sure that there is nothing, no sign of blood anywhere, you couldn’t see your wound, and he didn’t smell of it, he can finally descend to pull you into his strong, yet gentle arms, so he can pepper kisses along your face and whisper sweet nothings in your ear. 

He’ll ask you what you want as a treat, it could be ice cream, it could be a slice of the sixteen-slice a day cake, he didn’t care how late it was, he would procure it no matter what. Anything for his darling.

 This was, is and always will be, the usual routine.

However, one day, your dear Iudex, has another idea. 

It starts, as all feeding evenings tend to. He cooks you a hearty, iron-rich meal, he warns you. Everything follows the usual, until you’re clean and showered, skin soft and silky from the fancy shower products he always insisted on keeping for you. (He had his own, but he was partial to body products that contained little scents.)

You sit in bed, awaiting your husband, and are taken aback when he walks in totally naked. His slim, yet sculpted physique on full display for you, pale skin unmarred by any scar or scratch, perfect in every way. “N-Neuvie?” you stammer as he crawls along the bed towards you, his gaze…sweet, yet predatory. “I thought-” “Oh my love, make no mistake, I will be feeding tonight…I just thought I’d try something…new to keep your thoughts from straying, hm?” Just what had you gotten yourself into?

Soon enough, you find yourself, face and chest pressed into the pillows your husband absolutely ploughs into you from behind, your cries muffled by the silken sheet, his hands pressing over yours, his fingers tangling between your own. You were trapped, well and truly trapped; you can't even recall the last time he’d destroyed your pussy like this. 

You hear his growl from above you, and you moan for it. It wasn’t often Neuvillette lost control like this, but when he did? It was its own form of ecstasy.

You’re so caught in pleasure, you never once felt the prick of his fangs, the only indicator of a change was the way his hands moved to press your chest into the bed further, holding your top half still whilst he continues to thrust into your sopping cunt like it was the last thing he’d ever do. You orgasm with a scream of his name before falling limp, fuzzy and barely-conscious against the sheets, only able to moan weakly when his hips snap forward, burying his cock as deep into you as it can before he cums, filling you with his hot seed.

That’s when you expect him to bite, when you’re in this soft, gauzy space of post orgasm. Yet he simply quietly tends to you, you feel the usual dressing gently press over the back of your neck and you blink in confusion.

“N-neuvie-” you whimper, his response is to gently take your hand and press a kiss to your knuckles. 

“It’s all over, my love. You did so well, you didn’t even notice.”

“W-wha..?”

You watch as he slowly rolls you over onto your back, giving your aggrieved spine a break after all that bending and arching. He reaches for the pitcher of water by the bedside, pouring you a glass first and helping you take small sips, before he takes a glass for himself, it wasn't quite his teeth-brushing routine, but for once, he didn’t feel it wholly necessary. 

You’re shocked, you really hadn’t felt it, there wasn't any pain.. “So.” He practically purrs as he leans over you to rub his nose against yours “what does my darling beloved want as her reward?” He asks, shifting some of his silky white hair from his face. 

“C-could we…do it like this more often?” you ask, voice barely above a whisper. This was so…out of the ordinary for him, to change up the routine…so you figure you might as well change up the reward.

He tilts his head at you before chuckling, leaning down to press a soft kiss to your lips as his hands move down to your back, massaging at the sore spots and making you groan appreciatively.

“I think that can be arranged.”

Taglist: @stygianoir@meimeimeirin@ainescribe@dustofthedailylife@rjssierjrie@crystalflygeo@asoulsreverie@zomzomb1e@moraxsthrone@mysnowmanandmebaby@inlustris-is-slowly-dying@pvbbyb0y

[quitealotofsodapop]

I absolutely adore Tang River Water au!

I really like the idea that Tang accidentally drank water from this river and became pregnant just out of carelessness. It's too hilarious. An even funnier thing was that now their child is the rebirth of jade emperor. They can never have a break. Poor guys.

But for some reason it became very interesting to me what type of Tang will be during pregnancy? Will it be easy or will he be terribly emotional? Or something else, I would really look at it. I also think that he would really not like that when he tried to eat his husband's food, and then he started to feel sick just from the smell. He would definitely look at his stomach with anger and disappointment "you. traitor". And he would absolutely ask Pigsy to hold his belly in the later months of pregnancy.

I also really wonder how they would behave with their daughter. I know they love her, but I'm sure they're absolutely scared and DON't know what to do. I just want to know what they're planning to do. Will they overprotect her because she is the rebirth of the most powerful being in all of heaven? Or will they hide it? Maybe they will ask for help from heaven?

referencing.

Hehehe! I'm glad you like it!

Tang was just so thirsty after being in the desert (I believe is meant to be the Gobi) that he just leaps into the first water source he can find. Pigsy yells after him but Tang's already gulped down the yucky muddy stream water before Pigsy reminds him that there's a water purifier in the TEA. By then, the remnants of the Mother-Child River had already begun the process.

After his body adapts to the major magically-induced change, Tang ends up using his condition to get out of work/to get pampered on. Emotionally he's ok, just a little more worried than usual. And Pigsy is such an adoring spouse that Tang's symptoms rarely go unattended. Lots of cuddles and tummy rubs in the later months.

Ankles swell: "Oh Piggy~ My feet hurt." Morning Sickness: "I need tea and kisses!" Cravings: (Tang: "I require oranges, bao buns, ramune soda, takoyaki sauce-" Pigsy: "How about I leave you inside the Speedy Panda with 500 yuan and I close my eyes while you go shop?" Tang: "I love you so much piggy.") Smells: "MK you stink. Take a shower or I will literally barf." Painful Kicking: "Cuddle time." >:3

And if the *cicada* part of the Golden Cicada is acting up; he gets into carving/whittling - cicadas etch tree bark to lay their eggs. Pigsy now has many tables in the restaurant defaced with Tang's "masterpieces".

And I absolutely hit Tang with what (he believes) is the worst symptom on Earth; Food aversion. Specifically towards NOODLE SOUP. His husband's own cooking! He's distraught! Something about the combination of broth and noodles makes his stomach turn! Broth and noodles separate? Ok. Together? Instant morning sickness. He suspects its something to do with the texture of the noodles when their soggy.

Wukong: "Maybe your brain thinks its worms." Tang: *turns green and retches*

Pigsy goes out of his way to prepare dishes for Tang that don't set off his nausea, even if it means altering his traditional methods.

Pigsy: "Ok, I've been experimenting with a new dish for a while and I want your opinion." Tang, delighted: "Ooo hoho! You know I'll always be your taste tester, Piggy." Pigsy: *presents the elements of his noodle recipe* Tang: "Huh?" Pigsy: "You seemed really sad to not eat noodle soup, so I made a dry version so that you can still enjoy the flavours. The broth is on the side so you can drink it. The guy from the somen restaurant gave me some pointers." Tang, getting emotional: "You... you changed your recipe for me!?" Pigsy, grabbing Tang's hands: "Our family recipe, Tangy. That includes you and our little critic." Tang: *bursts out sobbing and shovels the dry noodle fixings into his mouth*

The baby - "Bao/宝/treasure or bundle" (also bao buns were one of Pigsy's cooking Tang could eat) - ultimately looks similar to a baby orc from Dungeon Meshi. A mostly chubby human baby with pig features. She has a puff of Tang's dark hair that becomes little black stripes on her back like a wild piglet.

What the baby takes after Pigsy in appearance, she takes from Tang in greediness. Before she's even off milk she'll try taking bites of other people's food. She's bold and confident, hilarious to anyone seeing a tiny piglet chasing Celestial soldiers like she's her own army.

And of course theres the issue of Bao being the reincarnation of one of the oldest and most powerful deities in taoism...

Pigsy and Tang are def the overprotective types, not so much for Bao being a powerful baby, but because every immortal seems to forget that she's still an uber-fragile preemie. Her health wasn't great when she was born (worsened by the circumstances around the birth). The freenoodles parents atleast have experience raising the little chaos monkey that was MK - the only difference being that Bao can't climb so good. Though she does seem to have control over the weather for some reason.

The Celestial Realm has to catch on quickly that she isn't the Jade Emperor anymore - she gets kidnapped atleast once by Heaven's officials needing the Emperor to approve paperwork. Bao screamed and grunted, rampaging around the imperial Palace the whole time.

The Queen Mother is saddened but adoring - her husband truly has passed on, but this little angel is a wonderful new beginning for him. She hopes to reunite in a later life.

Demons in general are pretty hopeful of Bao''s existance. Now that the Jade Emperor has been reborn on one of their kind - perhaps demonkind will be elevated once more? They'll have to wait until she's out of diapers before they start placing bets.

Princess Iron Fan's immediate reaction (after dealing with the shock of losing her estranged father) is to burst out; "HAH!" at the irony. Her father disapproved of her marriage to the Demon Bull King for his race - only to be reborn as a pig demon! The coincidence is hilarious! The Demon Bull fam does visit the baby girl to send their blessings, and offer advice based on how chaotic little Red was as a calf. Bao adores her giant uncle Bull since he's fluffy and big and smells like her baba when he cooks. She also gets super attached to Red Son for similar reasons - though Tang suspects it's because she smells grilled meat on him.

MK adores Bao, and will kill everything in the three Realms if anything happened to her. Bao in turn loves her big bro - even if she bites him and steals his food.

[mamamittens]

Reader who got turned into a child with platontic yandere strawhats.

My god this crew is already chaos, and that's with One (1) Baby on Board (possibly more depending on your babygirl headcanons). Ngl, not super heavy in the yandere category, but I tend to make yandere groups lighter since they balance each other out more than small teams and it's harder to 'upset' the balance with so many people. Individuals may be unhinged af to make up for a lack of control, but groups can quietly distract you while the shady shit happens elsewhere. That and it's a kid, so there's less opportunity to meaningfully upset the dynamics.

Luffy is, of course, thrilled cause child reader is so impressed and enthused with damn near everything on top of being clingy. Screams laughing every time he launches them to another crewmate. Loves just bundling up the kiddo to run around with if they happen to go to an island. Food runs are with kiddo in front to distract Sanji cause he's not going to let a kid go hungry regardless of gender, though he will still gladly punt Luffy for stealing.

Reading time with Robin! Reading time with Robin! Robin loves hanging out with child reader raptly listening to everything she reads. If Reader can't read yet, she will teach them despite knowing they'll turn back eventually. Just really likes the chill, soft hang out time and absolutely gives %100 of her attention to anything the kiddo brings. Sometimes adding small, neat fun facts to enrich the experience.

Sanji is very careful with baby in the kitchen but will fondly have them assist with small tasks like carrying over food items and things that won't break if dropped. Can and will walk them through fun recipes with them on his shoulders, taste testing along the way. If he doesn't think they're old enough for cutting, he'll gladly let them mix or mash potatoes. Has them lowkey on Luffy watch to give the captain sad, weepy eyes that "you can't wait for the surprise, luffy 🥺?" works like a charm.

Zoro is weirdly good with kids and will jokingly engage them in a workout. Lifting the baby barbells for like, five reps before exaggerating how bored he is of his weights and inviting kiddo to sit on them only to effortlessly keep going. Or like, sitting on his back with an extra bounce to make them laugh. Naptimes are spent tucked into his yukata (it's a yukata, right? Either than or kimono, I'm not sure of the difference, but you get what I mean). Very easily gets Reader to settle down. Traveling with Reader is fun cause he will actually listen to Reader's directions and only get's lost like... 1/3 less of the time.

Nami is slightly awkward around kids for a moment before she just starts emulating her late mother. Getting them to help pick and sort her fruit harvests or doing small tasks to make them feel useful like delivering messages to the crew. Is the first to tie them down if the weather threatens to turn foul just in case or sends them below to 'watch over' supplies that she knows damn well aren't going anywhere. Might even go over budgeting (child friendly version) with them. Has an incredible aversion to engaging in map making with them due do her past trauma but, if the condition persists, she will eventually have them help pick out ink and paper, perhaps even letting them draw with pencils on scrap paper. But nothing more than that.

Franky has a blast making small inventions for child reader to pilot around with hilariously over the top safety added on top. Like a helmet for a bike with an auto targeting system that activates if they cry. Will gladly carry them around on his shoulders while showing off the many neat tricks he put into the Sunny. Has them 'help' with projects, at first forgetting that they can't carry whole ass beams of wood before giving them buckets of nails and whatnot.

Ussop is literally in his element entertaining the kid with wild tall tales until it's time to eat. The first to lift reader into the air if anything remotely dangerous happens before running off to a safe distance. Probably gives them a little sling shot to 'assist' in fights while he praises them endlessly for incredible aim (even if they never get close). Probably the first to make a child carrier to fights so they can 'watch his back for him' despite being a long distance fighter.

Child Reader will be absolutely floored by Brook, undoubtedly. Just wide eyes watching him play in awe as he shows off. Probably letting them play with his hands and the many small bones, quietly informing them of their proper names. If they promise to be gentle, he even lets them touch his hair. If he's got a child-sized instrument, you can bet he's giving them lessons on how to play. If not, he probably talks them through music theory while demonstrating the notes and details. I imagine he plays piano with their hands under his to give the illusion of skill while he idly comments on how much better it is to play with someone else.

Chopper is really thrown to have someone as short as himself around but he's happy to have their help. It's kinda hard to do some things without opposable thumbs, alright? Of course, work never lasts, so he's off to play with them in due time, really livening up the ship as Reader compliments him endlessly about literally anything. And he gives them fun health advice on top of convincing them to eat whatever healthy food Sanji makes (because we all know it'll slap, but kids don't typically jump right into gross healthy food).

Jinbe has a bit of an awkward standoff at first, unsure if the reader will be frightened until they gleefully marvel over his fishman attributes right down to his skin color and webbed hands. The one to swim with them (or just hold them in the water if they've got a devil fruit) never letting them go for a second. Has them 'help' steer the ship on occasion, making them think it's effortless for a child when in reality he's guiding them through it entirely. Talks about the people in his life that he misses with them, glad to have a child marvel at the great but dearly departed. Legitimately tears up when they console him in that special, innocent child-like way at the news that they'll never get to meet these people because their gone.

Now, the Thousand Sunny also has plenty of love to give in a much more... quiet way. Soothingly rocking child reader to sleep when they're struggling and no one sees it. Secretly guiding them to fun little cubbies and passages to spook the crew and captain. They may not be there physically, but the spirit is definitely guiding them every step of the way in the rare moments they're alone.

Of course, engaging in a fight while the reader is a vulnerable child is a terrible mistake. At first the crew will fight normally, shielding the reader and guiding them to less dangerous parts, but the minute it looks like they'll even get grazed a rubber limb is sending the perpetrator into the stratosphere. Assuming a flaming leg, swords, bullet, hands, water, staff, hoof, or (insert robo-tech here) doesn't do it first. Might even be a race as they keep the atmosphere light to make sure child Reader knows that they're still safe.

God forbid you make the baby cry.

[x-neurotoxin-x]

Y'know, and maybe it's petty of me, but I've always found the jokes about Chisaki's misophobia and touch aversion to be in poor taste. Both because I'm personally touch averse and touch aversion and misophobia are most commonly stress induced and caused by trauma, and because in Kai's case his phobia and aversion seem to symbolize that.

I also found it ironic these remarks commonly came from other lov/Shigaraki stans when uhh your mans also has stress/trauma induced conditions that caused itching much like Kai's misophobia caused stress induced hives, itching, and touch aversion. And now we learn the quirk Afo gave Tenko is likely a version of Kai's overhaul (which was probably obtained by experimenting on Kai) and the destructive qualities of that part of the quirk might also be contributing to these conditions in both Tomura and Chisaki. They get mad about anybody making fun of Tomura's dry skin/itching but turn around and blast Kai's hives/itching? Y'all are kinda hypocritical, ngl

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

hi, summer!

i saw your post about ARFID and how it can correlate to autism and other neurodivergencies that struggle with sensory input.

is it possible that you can explain better what ARFID is and the signs of it? ive heard of it before and have a slight understanding about it, but based on the article you told anon, i misunderstood it completely. could you explain it in a more simple way than articles explain it? i think that's where i got lost, is the complexity of most medical articles.

(even as a medical nerd, i still get lost in those darned articles sometimes, lmao.)

Hi Evan,

I apologize that I’m just getting to this, but I found a helpful infographic that shows signs and characteristics:

According to the article:

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder is an eating disorder that denies the body the necessary nutrients needed to grow and function normally. Recognizing the signs of someone struggling with ARFID is extremely important in mitigating health risks. While it is not a comprehensive list, the following symptoms are some of the most common among those struggling with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder:

Exhibit little interest in the act of feeding or eating

Extreme pickiness in choosing food

Difficulty chewing food

Lack of appetite

Social isolation

Anxiety when presented with “fear” foods

Vomiting or gagging after exposure to certain foods

Trouble digesting specific types of foods

Dependence on feeding tubes or nutritional supplements

Avoidance of specific food items as related to sensory features (i.e. texture, color, taste, smell)

Food refusal related to aversive or fear-based experience

For adults, weight loss; for children, failure to gain weight

While picky or selective eating is a common occurrence among children and some adults, it becomes a problem when there are not enough calories consumed to develop properly and maintain basic bodily functions. It is still unclear exactly what conditions put someone at risk to develop ARFID, but researchers do know that it is more likely to develop among people with ADHD and intellectual disorders, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anxiety disorders.

The full article will be below if you want to read through it.

In my experience, I love consistency when it comes to food and I have issues with food texture. For instance, carrots are good raw but feel and taste horrible when they’re cooked. It’s all mushy and gross. When I eat tacos, I can’t have lettuce or tomatoes because it tastes and feels so gross in my tacos and if I find a piece, I’ll cease to eat any more. I’ve also gagged and chocked. Not only due to eating food, but due to smell too. My mom cooked Brussels sprouts and it smelled so bad I was gagging and had to go outside.

Anyway, I’m sorry for going on. I hope this helps answer your question. Thank you for the inbox. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. ♥️

[alijuan]

One interesting elven characteristic that few are aware of is the elves' lack of canine teeth. Since they sprang full-fledged into the form they now occupy, they skipped the evolution process undergone by so many other races. Thus, although they are omnivores and their teeth are all strong, they have no pointed, canine incisors.

The Complete Book of Elves by Colin McComb

It's 2e and I don’t know if elven teeth have changed in later versions. I never really paid attention to that before Astarion. Anyway, it’s interesting as a headcanon. Astarion before vampirism with no fangs at all, not even a little sharp.

In real biology, canines (canine teeth; fangs) vary in shape and size depending on diet and killing behaviour. I haven't studied dnd vampire biology much, but it's more likely that they have long, straight, thin fangs, like felids (cats) for example, because that shape allows to bite flesh easily and deeply. Catstarion is not a joke anymore. As far as I can tell, hematophagous vampire bats (blood-drinking bats) have similarly shaped canines.

Astarion also seems to have (I'm not sure) sharp lower canines, which, along with the upper canines, are used to fix prey. My headcanon is that they are even sharper than in the game and that they extend when he feeds (like the upper canines). In addition, his sharp premolars from early access would fit better, this shape helps to sharpen the canines. Oval premolars (normal human premolars) are needed for chewing food, they don't fit to vampires. Maybe his oval premolars are part of the vampire’s disguise, but who knows.

Also, I recently read that common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) have lost the ability to develop taste aversion. Conditioned taste aversion is an adaptive trait necessary to avoid toxins. These bats can't do this because of their diet specialization (blood). Like them, vampires are monophagous (feed exclusively on blood), so theoretically they would have lost this ability, especially 3.5e vampires, who don’t need it because they have immunity to poison as undead (if I remember correctly). In that case, Astarion wouldn't be disgusted by the taste of Gale's poisoned blood.

[goatcheesecak3]

HI DO YOU WRITE FOR MATT FROM DYING BREED????

if so...... can you do a fic where him and reader (m!reader preferred but thats up to u :3) take a bath together???? it doesnt have to be smutty, just... some silly fluff???

Trip to Scotland

Matt x GN!Reader

fic type: fluff

warnings: none

summary: You and your boyfriend Matt enjoy a nice day out on your holiday, followed by a cosy evening sharing a bath

A/N hello! thank you so so so so much for requesting a Matt fic! He's so pretty i love himb. also!! i wrote this with the intention of making it x m!reader, but like halfway through i realised that i hadn't actually used any pronouns for the reader, so i just stuck with that, hope that's okay!

It had been a year since you and matt had visited rural Tasmania and suffered a terrible ordeal. Somehow, despite all the turmoil you’d gone through, not only had you and Matt stayed together, but you hadn’t let the events of that trip ruin travelling for you. Deciding that the pair of you wanted a change of setting, you had taken a trip to the beautiful Scottish highlands. A whole two weeks on a quaint little peninsular, surrounded by rolling hills and luxurious green fields spread across the land like velvet bedsheets. Having an aversion to camping, after your last trip, the pair of you had opted to stay in a gorgeous renovated mill house, with all it’s original architecture still in tact. This was most definitely a smart move on your part, taking advantage of the amenities of a house was by far preferable to a dirty tent.

This getaway consisted of long days hiking, visiting out of the way historical landmarks, and cosy evenings curled up by the fireplace. However, on one particularly rainy day, the two of you had decided against braving the treacherous conditions, and instead opted to visit a distillery.

“Babe, look!” Matt exclaimed excitedly, pointing towards a kiosk in the gift shop. A little sign read ��free samples.”

“Knock yourself out, babe” you smiled. You were driving that day, so you couldn’t exactly sit around tasting whisky, so instead you had a little gander around the rest of the shop.

You found an adorable beanie, navy blue with an embroidered wild boar on it – it was the perfect gift for Matt, you always thought that blue brought out his eyes. After checking out, you found Matt back at the kiosk, having just purchased a pretty fancy bottle of whisky.

“For us tonight” He grinned, shaking the bottle by the neck, before slipping it into his bag.

“Now that is an idea I can get behind” you grinned, as the two of you left the distillery, “come on, you” you giggled, pulling him into your car.

The rain persisted throughout the rest of the day as the two of you browsed local knick-knack and gift shops. Matt looked cute enough to put in your pocket in his new beanie, which he was incredibly grateful for by the evening when the temperature began to drop. But soon enough, not even knitwear could keep either of you warm, so you decided to call it a day and head back to the mill house.

The crackling fire punctuated the sweet silence of the living room, as you snuggled up in an armchair to catch up on some reading. The reading was going to have to wait, however, when Matt burst into the room, an excited look on his face.

“Y/n, come with me” he beamed, his cheeks rosy from the warmth of the fire hitting his face.

“May I ask what exactly I’m giving up my precious reading time for?” you chortled.

“Just come onnnn” he whinged needily, holding out a hand for you to take.

It took no more persuasion for you to follow Matt and his longing green eyes upstairs, as he lead you to the bathroom.

He’d run a bath and set two tumblers and the bottle of whisky on a stool next to the tub. Matt stood proudly in the doorway.

“Now, I’m no genius, but I think drinking fancy scotch in a bath with your boyfriend is a lot more fun than drinking it alone with a book” He winked.

“I don’t know… books are pretty great” you teased sarcastically, already getting undressed.

…

Leaning back into Matt’s chest, you sipped your drink and closed your eyes, letting the hot water run all over you. Matt’s soft hands tenderly rubbed up and down your arms, his chin resting in the crook of your shoulder.

“Better than a book now?” He whispered

“yeah, something like that” you smirked, turning to look at him.

He pressed a delicate kiss onto your cheek, his arms weaving their way around your waist and holding you close.

“You’re gorgeous, you know that?” he mumbled, the alcohol rendering him a soppy and affectionate mess – not that you minded.

“you’re not so bad yourself” you smirked.

“I’m serious, Y/N, look at you. I can’t believe I’m in a beautiful country, drinking the fanciest bloody whisky I’ve ever had, in a bath with the sexiest person I’ve ever seen.”

It usually took a lot to render you speechless, in fact more often than not, you had an answer for everything. But when the love of your life looked at you with those mesmerising eyes, so full of love and admiration, you almost forgot how to speak. You knew that no words could ever do justice for the way you felt about him, so instead you turned your body to face him, cupped his face and kissed him.

“Love you so fuckin much” you mumbled against his lips, earning a giggle and a squeeze around your waist from Matt.

“I love you too, baby” he replied.

[floatingcatacombs]

GENSHIKEN POWER LEVELS

12 Days of Aniblogging 2023, Day 10

For no particular reason, all the members of the Genshiken have had their abilities translated into specific parameters. It’s pretty obvious that A would be the strongest, but you might be thinking to yourself, “What on earth is all this B+ and C+ nonsense!?” Well, don’t worry, because I’m not going to explain anything here. Just consult the Servant Parameter Rules.

Overall, the ratings represent ‘otaku power expressed as deviance, taking combat potential into account’.

Spotted Flower spoilers follow. (everyone is bisexual now).

Sasahara Kanji: C+, B

Condition: Green

An “average” otaku in nearly all respects, though he has good taste and the ability to distance himself and speak objectively, even when under attack by girls. Can appreciate yaoi in some situations. As a manga editor, of course, his power increases, and his devotion to his waifu is commendable. The Gunpla Quiz gave him the Ball as his favorite mobile suit, and he’s also a Patwaber fan!

Still… Ahhh! Men who get in the way of Yuri are unforgivable!

Kousaka Makoto A-

BAYOEN! BAYOEN! BAYOEN! BAYOEN! BAYOEN!

Extremely high base stats, a very scary offense and near-perfect defense, that pretty-boy face, perfect crossdressing, and the ability to make it all look effortless. Capable of going at it for half an hour while also watching anime! He can pull girls for threesomes whenever he wants! (not Saki though). He’s a master of the Great Tanaka Rensa technique! That kind of power is truly fearsome… However, a kiss on the cheek from Sasahara was super effective.

Harunobu Madarame. C++/--

Sou Uke

A lot of pros, a lot of cons. However, it all balances out to an average C. This guy is the very picture of a normal otaku… or at least, he tries to be. Low base stats, excellent coverage and decent utility, but he suffers from four moveslot syndrome. Capable of entering a gay relationship, and even bottoming, although the circumstances were not particularly praiseworthy. Easily punishable, due to his excessive recovery frames.

…I can’t decide if cheating on his wife on the night she gave birth to their child is something that raises or lowers his power level.

Mitsunori Kugayama C-

Level 27 Ranger

A pretty skilled artist, when he has to be. Usually he doesn’t have to be, so that’s fine. Manages to live a nice normal life without drama, and that counts for a lot – but he’s pretty conflict-averse.

Souichirou Tanaka. B

P-Bandai 1/100 MG Master Grade Ver. Ka

Capable of successfully synthesizing 2d and 3d by sewing cosplay, building gunpla, and even making custom figurines. Tanaka definitely understands the power of care and love. That’s not the kind of power you can take lightly.

The type to mostly just block attacks until he sees an opening.

Kasukabe Saki E

Blood Type: AB

An otaku-sounding name, but a low power level. Not actually very good at conflict, either. Still, she has been to Comiket Comifest! Don’t count her out.

Ohno Kanako D+, B

Wears a Three Star Uniform

Just wants to be a pretty cosplay mannequin with no internality – until Ogiue shows up, and then the gloves come off. You can really tell the devs put a lot of effort into that jiggling, huh. Don’t take her lightly though: she built seven Goufs.

Her victory line, “There’s no such thing as a girl who hates homos!!”, does feel really out of place after a round win against Hato though.

The Genshiken President ???

BLOOD TYPE: BLUE

A mystery to the last.

Angela Burton – C+

“Unlike your chest, mine gives people dreams and desires.”

You’d think that not being able to understand all those doujinshi she’s buying would make her a weak otaku – but in practice not speaking Japanese just makes her really good at dodging attacks. Extremely high attack power. Eventually becomes an enlightened being capable of appreciating both Yaoi and Yuri and, uh, demanding threesomes from her friends. Hm.

Suzanna Hopkins – B+

Pettan Pettan Tsurupettan

Today I’ll sneakily hide in the trees again and keep stalking Ogiue! I'll wait and steal the precious thing!  The little girl who speaks in nothing but references is actually really blushing?! She sticks out her arms when she runs; is she going for the cute look?

This fanservice joke girl (evil spirit begone!) /

born into the nation of America (probably plays puyo puyo)/

was actually, canonically, (Kadabra, Alakazam)/

bisexual??????? (Mada Mada Ra, Mada Mada Ra, Mada Mada Rame, yeah!)/

Manabu Kuchiki – E

Stand Parameter: Development Potential E

The other kind of joke character. Like Sue, he’s a grappler, but he just doesn’t have enough options or ability to adjust to matchups. Gets points for liking traps, but loses them for one-note misogyny; gets  points for kissing Madarame but loses them for being boring. Starts a lot of conflict but easy and uninteresting to deal with; he always goes for the super so you just have to bait it out and then smash attack him.

If that wasn’t enough, I personally hate this guy because if not for him Hato and Madarame totally would have done That!!!!!  

Ogiue Chika D+, A

Genshiken Brigade Chief and Ultra Fujoshi Director

Incredible otaku power – enough to draw doujinshi of people she knows in real life and easily grasp the truth of Kifujin Kaminaga’s “Hato x Brother” madness. She does constantly try to kill herself and deny her heart but once she stops doing that she’s capable of producing incredible amounts of manga. Ends up with a boyfriend and a girlfriend but complains that sexually satisfying them both takes away from her drawing time. She’s bad at dealing with conflict but her pure ‘level of ability as an otaku’ is close to the top of the rankings.

This ranking is curtain fire shooting game.

Girls do their best now and are preparing. Please watch warmly until it is ready.

The border land was wrapped in Scarlet Magic. Girls believe that you solve this Genshiken Nidaime.

Yoshitake Rika C+++

Nen Type: Manipulator (Pseudo-Coercive).

A demon of chaos. Her power as a fujoshi is fairly standard, but she devotes herself wholeheartedly to causing problems and drama – and in this capacity she’s powerful enough to approach Hato. All her moves have random components… in serious play nobody uses her but among casual players she’s often considered broken.

Yoshitake Risa D

Noble Phantasm Rank C

It’s all fictional anyway but girl. what is wrong with you. Fails to appreciate Hato, but does get Hato to wear fetish clothing, so that’s a bonus. The gap between her appearance and her personality is moe.

Mirei Yajima D+, A-

Self-Proclaimed Uncute Girl Doing Uncute Things

Toiling away in the shonen mines, convinced that someday Naruto and Sasuke will kiss for real no you just don’t understand the depths of their relationship. A terrible artist, and she knows it. Grouchy and grumbly and insecure about her gender presentation, especially with Hato around.

But she’s a good writer, and a good editor, and she knows what she wants (Hato) and how to get it. My second favorite character honestly; I really love the way her complexes towards and around Hato play out. “He needs to have sex with a guy so we can draw better manga, which is the only way to make sure he stays with me!” Yajimacchi are you okay? (no she is not. She has way too much internality).

Kenjirou Hato. A++

Super High School Level Homewrecker

What is Hato’s otaku level? Let’s review: Hato is a crossdresser with a foundational crush on his older brother’s EX-level fujoshi girlfriend, going so far as to dress up as her, copy her drawing style well enough to end up with a wall circle spot at Comifest, and blush when she tells him “Hey. I’m getting married to your brother soon. It’d be really hot if you dressed up as me and fucked my husband-to-be, your brother, as revenge on me for taking him away from you.”

Hato has a naked floating tulpa girl of his fujoshi self floating around behind him who does things like make him smell his senpai’s bedsheets and shower in his room, hoping Madarame will walk in on him. Once he's in deep enough with all of this, he gains a second naked floating tulpa girl of his fujoshi self who has the same eyes as his older brother's girlfriend and is Evil. Hato then integrates both of them and keeps crossdressing after a conversation with Ogiue about what he really wants to be and what he wants to draw.

Hato is out of his fucking mind. I love him.

Hato’s conflict potential is also extremely high. Not only was he a judoka (who spent time in the locker room looking at other boys’ bodies and thinking about yaoi) he expertly plays all kinds of “ohhhh you should just give up on me” women games with Madarame’s pure maidenly heart.

And then Spotted Flower happens. Spotted Flower is a moiling toxic sexual swamp of barely-holding-together relationships and threesomes where your good old favorite Genshiken buddies are now bi (Kousaka, Sasahara, Sue, Ogiue, Angela, and Yajima, in addition to original series bisexuals Madarame and Hato) and cheating on each other. Everybody hates Spotted Flower and they’re so wrong.

By the time of Spotted Flower, Hato is living as a woman full time, with silicone implants.

Regrettably, I have no choice but to stan.

[donnerpartyofone]

I have posted about this multiple times before but since tumblr's search won't cough any of it up, I'm just going to say it again so I can add my new thing to my thought process about trigger warnings:

Years ago a popular true crime blogger posted an ask from someone requesting that she tag for needles. I think she had posted that notorious x-ray of masochistic serial murderer Albert Fish's colon, which is admittedly disturbing, but she very politely declined on the basis that everything she posts tends to be violent and disturbing--you actually SHOULD find her blog upsetting--and users should manage their expectations around that general premise. Additionally, needles do not carry the specific traumatic weight of something like, say, racial violence or child abuse, for which a warning could be in order; needles are everyday objects that one might reasonably encounter in a store or a person's home, or practically anywhere. If you have such an aversion that it really affects your life to see a needle, you might want to pursue treatment and stop using a part of the internet that is essentially a giant random image generator.

My personal take on content/trigger warnings (are those different? If not then why do we have varying tags instead of one universal one to keep the system reliable?) is similar, that they're only important for material that could seriously upend someone's day. Is Thing X something you truly could not have expected where you encountered it? Would you need to leave work or school if you saw Thing X? Would you need to seek assistance or take a medication? Does Thing X cause significant social problems or affect your sense of safety? If not, you don't need a warning. I mean everyone can tag whatever they choose and of course some folks are happy to tag stuff just because someone might find it annoying or unpleasant, but you're not entitled to protection from strangers just to spare you casual discomfort.

One day I got this extremely angry anonymous message in all caps yelling at me for not tagging spiders. I had no idea what the person was talking about, but after a while I realized it had to be about a popular post I'd made years ago showing tarantulas in a Kids In the Hall sketch. This was especially funny to me because at the time I was posting a lot of explicit violence and sexual imagery that someone could reasonably object to, but this person felt that it was my job to help create the illusion of a spiderless world for their benefit. I know arachnaphobia is a real thing but I still think that if you suffer from it then it's your job to look after yourself and not everybody else's job to protect you from remembering that there are spiders.

This is kind of a tangent but I often think about how trypophobia is not technically a phobia because it isn't affecting anybody's ability to lead a normal daily existence. It's just a grossout thing, basically a matter of taste, but people love to try to elevate it to the level of a serious psychological vulnerability for some reason.

I'm thinking about this stuff (again) today because I just saw a post on one of the autism subreddits where someone linked to a scientific paper to answer a specific question, but they said it needed warnings for incidental use of the term "high-functioning" and advised that some people may not wish to read the paper at all so they wouldn't be triggered by it. That term is sometimes used to invalidate or deny care to people who give the outward appearance of less urgent needs, so it is indeed pretty tricky and needs work. But change is only going to come from attention; if you are concerned about the effects of that language then I think it behooves you to know how it is being used so you are able to argue about it and lobby for change. It's hard for me (a "high-functioning" person) to imagine a scenario in which I'm interested in reading about a condition I have, and then I refuse to do so because the phrase "high-functioning" is going to trigger a psychiatric episode so bad that it's better for me to just ignore information about my own health. I think an adult who is usually inclined to educate themselves should be able to handle occasionally seeing troublesome or outdated language.

Put more concisely than above, my criteria for warnings is just: when the questionable item relates to a real, reasonably common traumatic experience that would be unfair to spring on someone who could relate to it, and/or when the content would be legitimately surprising in its context. Like if you're in my corner of tumblr you should expect that you're going to see horror movie stuff, I'm not tagging anything like that unless it's miles over the line I typically draw. But on the other hand I was out at a restaurant one night and this spoiled egomaniac was practically shouting for a long time in graphic detail about episiotomies within earshot of everyone who was trying to eat. Honestly one of the staff should have told her to shut the fuck up. That's not a thing that people should be normally expected to put up with in a public dining situation, even though it regards a medical procedure that is not morally offensive.

It's probably obvious by now that I think that being uncomfortable and even offended, at least to some degree, has an important psychological and social function. It enables you to recognize and react to problems around you. Understanding what makes you uncomfortable is critical; dealing with discomfort builds character; and continuously avoiding everything you don't like keeps you infantile. It's actually not good to live in a world of only your favorite things.

[cryptidsurveys]

Saturday, December 14th, 2024.

1 - Have you ever had stitches? No.

2 - Who was the last person to shake your hand? I'm pretty sure it was someone I was introduced to at the animal shelter, but I can't remember who.

3 - What was the last thing you bought when you went to the grocery store? Cat food, a few frozen rice mixes, pierogi, chicken pot pies, frozen carrots, grapes, potatoes and sweet potatoes, spring greens salad mix, rolls, hamburger buns, pepper jack and jalapeno cheese, eggs, butter, chips, diced grilled chicken, some wreath-shaped sugar cookies, panettone, pizza, powerade, paper towels, and I think that was basically it.

4 - How often do you find yourself needing to do laundry? Every couple of days. Especially in the colder months when I wear bulkier clothing like hoodies and jackets.

5 - Coke or Pepsi? I guess Coke, but I don't really care. I'm fine with Pepsi too if that's what's available.

6 - When was the last time you struggled to get to sleep? I think I struggled a little bit on Thursday night.

7 - What did you have for your last meal, whatever that was? I'm eating a bowl of oatmeal right now, but lunch was a sandwich with cheese and greens and some baked bbq chips.

8 - Do you have anything fun planned for the upcoming weekend? Nothing out of the ordinary. Just the animal shelter 8:00am-12:00pm on both days. I did just finish baking a variation of a pecan pie, though. I made some "bars" the other day and while they turned out well enough for me to enjoy, they were probably a bit overdone and the homemade crust was a bit difficult to cut through, so this time around I just added the filling to a premade pie crust. We'll see! Hope everyone likes it! (fingers crossed)

9 - Which of the four seasons is your favourite? Autumn. I love winter as well, but my favorite aspect is the snow and we don't get nearly enough for my tastes. Instead, it's just sunny and barren. Preferable by far to summer, but not to the beauty of autumn.

10 - Do you still have all four of your wisdom teeth? I do.

11 - If you drive, do you enjoy it or is it just a necessity? It's both. I enjoy driving when the traffic is light, but not so much on busy weekday mornings.

12 - Do you prefer sweet or salted popcorn? Probably salted, but I enjoy sweet as well.

13 - When was the last time you were in pain? What caused it? Earlier. Not serious pain, but I keep messing with the little wound on my earlobe.

14 - Are there any textures that you have a weird aversion to? Like food textures? Not really. Textures in general? I don't like touching fleecy / woolen blankets with super dry hands.

15 - What was the last thing you said outloud and to who? I said "bless you" to my dad.

16 - When was the last time you got up from where you're sitting and why? Not that long ago. To go smoke.

17 - Have you been diagnosed with any chronic health conditions? Apparently, migraines are only considered chronic if you experience symptoms on 15 or more days per month, so technically no.

18 - Are you an early bird or a night owl? Eeeearly bird.

19 - What are some of your favourite Christmas movies? Mostly just the ones I remember from childhood - A Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas…

20 - Have you ever met up with someone in real life that you first met on the internet? Was it just as good as you hoped? I have. Looking back, it was a very rushed and naive decision.

21 - Who was the last person to text you? What about call you? The last person to text me was my dad. He was telling me that everything was alright with my car, etc. On Friday morning, very shortly after I set off, I started to hear a clunking sound. I pulled over at a nearby laundromat to check things out. Opened and closed the doors in case they were what was rattling. Noticed one of my tires was looking pretty low on air. Wondered if the sound might have something to do with that. Decided to drive home and have my dad take me to the shelter instead of risk it. While I was gone, he took the car to get checked out, got a much-needed oil change, and put air in the tires. But lol it was probably one of the doors after all. As for the last person to call me, that would have been my mom. I think it was on Wednesday night?

22 - What are some of your favourite smells? Coffee brewing, freshly baked bread, baked goods, the woods, crisp and cold snowy air, when people light their fireplaces or cook bacon and I can smell it from a distance…

23 - Are you more hungry or thirsty right now? Probably thirsty, but I am still a bit hungry after that oatmeal bowl.

24 - When's the next time you plan on going to the cinema and what will you be going to see? Most likely within the next few weeks. I'm not yet sure what I will be seeing. It's almost always my mom who comes up with ideas.

25 - Would you rather watch a film at home or in the theatre? I sort of wish I had the motivation? concentration? (whatever it would take) to watch films at home, but I just don't. If it wasn't for my mom taking me to the theater, I might never watch anything.

26 - If you have pets, what colour are they? Esther and Karenna are white and gray and Lacy is a calico.

27 - Did your parents have any influence over the music you like? My dad got me into listening to classical music. He started off listening to it in his car, which morphed into me listening to it in mine. When I was younger, my mom had some influence over my tastes, but they've obviously evolved beyond that into their own sort of thing.

28 - When was the last time you rode a horse? Not since I was a teenager.

29 - Has your style changed much in the last few years? I'm not even sure how to describe my previous "style." Flamboyant thrifty pajama goblin? A whole ass mess? I guess I'm still a thrifty pajama goblin, but the flamboyancy has been replaced by animal shelter garb. I kind of want to revive at least some of my old style, though. I just feel so boring and unlike myself.

30 - Do you prefer real books or audiobooks? What was the last one you read or listened to? Real books. I switched over to reading The High Adventure Of Eric Ryback on my lunchbreaks.