#dealing with stuff

[scramratz]

Yes, I feel a deep, gut-wrenching sadness when I see cis men my age living happily. No, I'm not a trans man. What do you mean??

[fallingblueroses]

The bedroom was dark, but Geoff didn't need light as he lay on his side and watched his wife and son sleep. Kathy had an arm wrapped around William and was holding him close. The house was silent except for the hum of the air conditioner and the occassional car passing outside. They had decided to keep William home from school the next day and turned off their alarms for the morning. He doubted anyone expected them to be at PattyCake.

Kathy had calmed down immensely after she had her baby in her arms, and seeing Kathy calm had gone a long way toward calming Geoff's nerves. William had taken things far better than they'd expected. He'd stared at them for several seconds as he processed things, then he'd climbed into Geoff's lap and asked "So you can fly now?"

He'd had to laugh. "I don't know. I haven't tried." When he thought about it, it would be a shame to have wings like this and then they not work.

He and Kathy had both worked on reverting to their human form. For some reason it seemed to be easier for her even though, like Geoff, she couldn't hold it for long. William had simply watched in fascination before asking if he'd grow wings too. And again, all Geoff could say was that he didn't know.

He listened to his family breathing and nagging worries began to eat at him. What if the changes weren't done? What would happen to William if they became full dragons or demons or whatever? And even if they didn't, how would they explain this to their relatives? What about their work? And what if...what if they were taken away by some government agents or scientists for "study"? Geoff shuddered as he imagined himself and Kathy chained up in cells, being stuck with needles and having bits of tissue cut from them.

Stop. You'll drive yourself crazy. He took a deep breath and slowly released it before moving closer to his wife and son. He put an arm around them, then carefully brought one wing up to cover and protect his family and tucked his head in close to Kathy's.

He kept listening to them breathe as he fell asleep.

***

Geoff's body felt far calmer when he woke up the next morning. He drew his wing back and got out of bed, careful not to wake his family. Yesterday his wings had felt like sandbags hanging from his back, but as he stood up they felt lighter, more natural. He barely noticed the extra weight as he walked to the bathroom.

The horns weren't as frightening as they had been when he looked in the mirror. His eyes had gone from hazel to tawny, and his hair was fuller and longer, hanging past his shoulders. He studied his reflection for a long time, then looked down at his hands with their claws. Yesterday he'd been ready to cut the tips of his fingers off to get rid of the claws, but today...I guess I'm getting used to things...Wonder if I'll be able to play the piano with these...

His wings wouldn't quite fit in the shower comfortably, but he was able to hold his human form long enough to clean up. Once he was dressed he went to the kitchen to cook breakfast. He was absolutely ravenous, and he had to assume Kathy would be as well. They had plenty of food on hand for now, but... How am I supposed to get groceries like this? Maybe I can ask one of the guys to go shopping for me...

A few minutes later his phone beeped twice with notifications, and when Geoff checked his phone he saw the texts were from Layne. Hey Geoff. Look at this. There was a video attatched, titled "'Dragon Syndrome' Reported In 13 States".

He blinked as he played the video. The reporter was shown for a few seconds, then a map of the United States was displayed with various states marked in red. "Thirteen states have reported what is for now being called 'Dragon Syndrome', with people actually growing dragon-like wings, horns, and claws. There is very little information about this, but the Center for Disease Control is asking that anyone experiencing this go to the nearest emergency room for testing..."

Geoff growled to himself. Yeah, right. Not happening. If the government wants us they can come and get us. He wasn't sure if this made things better or worse. He couldn't help but think of how things had spiraled into insanity when the COVID pandemic had hit.

Another thought came to him. If it was some kind of virus...He texted Layne back. You're not growing wings, are you?

Nope. I'm fine.

Good. Hopefully the others were as well. Geoff put the phone away and kept making breakfast as his mind went over this new development.

***

After breakfast Geoff showed Kathy Layne's text, and Kathy looked up more articles as William helped Geoff clean the kitchen. "This one says it's in nineteen states now," she said from her seat at the kitchen table.

Geoff sighed as he rinsed a plate and handed it to William to put in the dishwasher. "Great. It's spreading."

Kathy frowned. "But if it's a disease of some kind, then a cure can be found."

"Yeah, but that could take years. I keep thinking about everything that could happen. People might panic, Kath. And if they do things are going to go to hell pretty quick."

"This isn't the Dark Ages, Geoff. People do crazy stuff to their bodies all the time. What we have is nothing compared to some of the pictures I've seen."

He pointedly flexed his wings. "Seen anyone walking around with wings lately? It just takes a few lunatics to get the pitchforks and torches going." A strong need to protect his wife and son rose in his chest. "And there are people who would stir up that kind of trouble just to watch stuff burn."

Kathy studied his face, then came up to him. "I know. But there's so many other things to think about. Why don't we worry about that when it starts to happen." She hugged him and rested her head on his chest.

Geoff sighed. "Right." He put his arm around her. A glance to the side showed William staring at them and he beckoned for him. William came up and hugged them both, and Geoff brought his wings up and around to cover them again. He wondered how that gesture had come so naturally to him, but decided not to think too hard about it. At least not right now.

[jackhornersimp]

Hello everyone, I just want to let y'all know that I'll be slow on commissions as I....I am dealing with a divorce, I'll tell my story later on but right now I just wanted to let y'all know that the commissions will take some time as....I am very depressed about this, I wanted the divorce not him, so please be patient with me, that will be greatly appreciated

[runningoutofbooks]

Dancing through my house singing a made up little song about

Internalized Biphobia

[carangueijobox]

I don't feel awesome and confident enough lately. If not a main character, at least I could be an important stepping stone for others to reach their full potential. I can live with that! That's kinda pretty

[artistakai]

Sorry for the poopy art, I'm not mentally feeling good rn dawgs

[chloesimaginationthings]

Vanessa's first impression on Mike in the FNAF movie

[swordsonnet]

i'm sorry but i don't think we should call this the "autism website" when there's still posts with tons of notes mocking people who:

struggle with social skills / have anxiety around social settings

are unemployed / unable to work certain jobs

have intense or "age-inappropriate" interests

haven't had certain life experiences that are deemed universal/essential

struggle with personal hygiene

don't have any friends or dating experience

don't go outside much or at all

take things literally / don't get sarcasm/jokes

have unusual ways of speaking

generally aren't "normal"

[happiness-is-a-difficult-skill]

On many occasions, more than I prefer, it hits me that some of my quirks I had when I just younger was/is anxiety.

But when asked I will denial having it, I had it before "anxiety" existed. I just deal with it. Still don't know if the denial is the healthiest options, but I feel too old to deal with it...

[sleeping-drunk-dragon]

Honestly, I always feel bad when I gripe about my current situation, and feel the good old classic 'I must be faking it' when looking at the fact that I'm still very much in the closet despite finally 1) not living with certain family members anymore and 2) working in a "progressive" city. I'm well aware of how bad things can be. Thhee-en something comes up and the immediate mental response is "Well, duh, coming out is a really really bad idea at this time. Did you forget how things are actually irl despite what the internet says about this place?" Well no, I just keep hoping I'm missing something (despite dealing with this city for 30+ years).

…aw crap. This whole shctick comes from constantly being told throughout my whole life I'm being overly sensitive/just wrong/scared/etc? Only for the later realization (insanely constantly, usually years late) that no-o I was right/fine/reacting appropriately. Even with hard evidence… but that's just it, isn't it?

I'm looking at the fact of how much crap I've now had to deal with dealing with this city (and everyone else I've talked with in person) and… I've seen literally every issue buried. Hidden. Local health department calling out the city due to some shit? Expect anyone reporting on it to have it taken down within literal hours. Some nasty crap happen? Dig up some similar shit on one of the neighboring cities and go all out on the news crews, all while ignoring the exact same thing or much worse is happening on a much larger scale in your own city. Yes I'm bitter. Almost every time I hear of this place online is saying this city is good for queer/black/fill-in-your-minority-of-choice. And it's become very badly obvious over the years how much that image is… cultivated. As in, that description is EXACTLY what is forcibly shown online. You notice the almost? The one place I've seen it shown even slightly otherwise was… apparently a shock for one of the city dwellers. I didn't participate in the conversation, but they brought up an interesting note I didn't think of - a good portion of the city is chronically online. They themselves had been unaware of anything happening "in their backyard" that didn't deal with the image they had in their head, and were genuinely shocked at the old, hard evidence in front of them saying otherwise. The others in the conversation were people also in the area but not from this city, and were simply unsurprised. Which l guess why it took me so long to let me believe myself that things aren't okay here for me (and others!), and it wasn't just me. Because I've been hearing for the longest from those within I wanna say a 500km radius or so (wild guessing from people saying rough locations, it's not like I can read people's ips) this place is supposed to be special… and on the ground it just isn't. I don't expect things to be magically better when I move - I just want the backstabbing/hiding the shitiness to stop. I know it can be better - heck, most of the surrounding cities are I know from experience (still in a bit of a pickle with the current situation so alas how it is). It just… drives me insane seeing about here online and having a very, very different experience irl.

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

I’m sure Dumat being defeated the same year andraste was born means nothing

I’m sure this has nothing to do with the fact that andrastes mother was part of a tribe who helped the grey wardens fight and defeat dumat the same year she was born, meaning that she could have been a fetus affected by the taint in the proximity of a dying arch demon

And the fact that nobody knows which grey warden killed dumat, as seven wardens died from injuries from his death throes, and therefore we cannot actually identify a warden who absorbed his soul, means nothing

And I’m sure it is a complete coincidence that andraste had dreams and visions of the being later referred to as the maker her whole life, and behaved strangely, talking about hearing lost voices and seeing strange auras. That absolutely doesn’t sound like anyone else we know

[r0semultiverse]

The code at the end of the credits in the FNAF movie spells "COME FIND ME" btw for those without captions.

[vebokki]

they're judging you unfortunately

[demaparbat-hp]

Izumi (steambaby) sketches.

[acoraxia]

his name is Jahel; they have a p neat 'friendship'

[gubler-garbage]

Moe Bumbercatch