#is this going to be a series? good lord

[valiantstarlights]

Omegaverse Lore: Blue Fingers Disease

As with the previous omegaverse lore post, I talked about this on @mr-sadman discord, and I'm also posting about it here because sharing is caring. 😊 Again, feel free to use this in your omegaverse stories, as long as you give credit/tag me. Thank you! 🥰

Huge thanks to @sleepsonfutons for coming up with the official medical term for the Blue Fingers Disease, and to @arialerendeair for reminding me to post the lore! 🙇‍♀️

Thermal Dysregulatory Sensorineural Myocarditis (TDSM), or as it's more commonly known, The Blue Fingers Disease, is a Secondary Gender Disease that can happen to anyone, regardless of their secondary gender, as soon as they reach their majority.

CAUSE

Rejection (or apparent rejection) by one's potential mate.

SYMPTOMS

1.) Low body temperature and unnaturally cold skin

The longer the person is experiencing this disease, the lower their body temperature gets.

This symptom is easier to spot in alphas, whose body temperature run hotter than betas and omegas.

2.) Discoloration of the fingertips

Fingertips during early stage TDSM are a shade paler than the person's skin, while later stages of TDSM sees the person's fingertips turn into shades of blue that grow darker the more the disease progresses.

Fingertips that are almost dark blue are advanced cases, as the person could literally die at any time if not provided with immediate care.

(A sure sign that a person's cause of death is TDSM is when the person has blue-tinged lips immediately after their death, along with dark blue fingertips. The blue shade does not fade over time.)

3.) Intermittent tremor in the hands and poor grip strength

4.) Lethargy

5.) Memory loss and/or confusion

6.) Tendency to space out

7.) Lack of appetite

8.) Vulnerability to seasonal diseases

These include, but are not limited to: the common cold, influenza, and pneumonia, as well as mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue and malaria.

TREATMENT

Receiving care from other sources, such as family and friends, is a tried and tested way to cure TDSM. But the recovery is slow (taking months or years) and the person is still considered at risk until the blue on their fingertips fade completely.

The quickest way to fully cure the person, of course, would be if they fall in love with someone else, or if the person who initially rejected them returns their love. If this is the case, then it is not unheard of for the person to be cured of TDSM in a single week, though it would still take a couple more weeks for the symptoms to fade completely.

That being said, it is important to note that multiple studies conducted worldwide show that it is more common for TDSM to be cured by the care of others versus the person's feelings changing or their feelings being requited by the person who had initially rejected them.

DURATION

There is no set time for how long this disease lasts until the afflicted person dies. There have been cases where the person only lived for a couple weeks more after the rejection happened, while in rare cases, the person lived for decades after the rejection, before they finally die around the same time as their beloved.

One of the most famous long-lived cases of people who lived with TDSM is St. Francesca,* which caused early Christians to start referring to TDSM as St. Francesca's Disease.

(*It is said that St. Francesca fell in love with a married man and, realizing that it was against the teachings of the church, prayed to God to let her live so she could serve Him all her life.

However, recently discovered evidence suggests that Francesca was actually in love with her fellow nun, Sister Cordelia, who was one of her childhood best friends. When devout Cordelia decided to enter a convent upon her reaching her majority (a decision supported by her religious parents), Francesca allegedly ran away from home to join her.

She had written a note to her older brother that she made the decision to run away 'with both eyes open,' knowing that Cordelia will never return her affections, but willing to suffer TDSM (she used the term The Internal Winter) if it means still being a part of Cordelia's life.

Multiple sources write about how the two remained best friends until their later years, often claiming that Francesca and Cordelia are 'true sisters in the eyes of the Lord,' and that it is rare for one to be seen without the other.

St. Francesca died less than a day after Sister Cordelia did, at age 79, after having TDSM for more than 60 years.

Due to this, people are now theorizing that Sister Cordelia is an aromantic asexual, but that she still loved St. Francesca as her dearest friend, so Francesca did not succumb to the illness or get too sick, as others with TDSM do.

People from their hometown have asked for Sister Cordelia to be made into a saint as well, and they have commissioned statues of the two women to be made. The statues will be placed in the town square, and will depict the two sitting by the fountain, with Sister Cordelia warming St. Francesca's hands.)

There have been claims that the stronger the feelings of the person are, and the harsher the rejection was, affect the time in which the disease accelerates. And while this is a trope often used in literature and popular culture, there is no scientific basis for it as of yet.

STATISTICS

The Blue Fingers Disease is one of the top 10 leading causes of death worldwide, with more than 80% of the people who died being betas and omegas.*

(*As TDSM is more easily detected in alphas, it is possible that betas and omegas often get misdiagnosed with depression during the early stages.)

SECONDARY GENDER DISEASES AWARENESS MONTH

February is Secondary Gender Diseases Awareness Month. The month was chosen primarily for easy recall, as it is the second month of the year. However, February is also the month when new cases of TDSM spike worldwide, due to everyone everywhere celebrating Valentine's Day.

--

Note: In the original discussion, this was supposed to be an alpha-only disease, but for the sake of all the delicious angst, I say it's up to you to decide in your stories who can have this disease. 😊 Enjoy!

[titfairy]

[athousandbyeol]

keep up the thamepo [episode 8]

this episode easily became my favourite episode after episode 1. the flavours are beautifully mixed and I love how everything ties together into a wonderful and coherent dish.

i was fearful of the possibility of them dragging the jun-thame-po drama until the end of the episode, but I'm glad they resolved it at such a right pace and gave us more time to witness another step taken by thame and po—the progress of their relationship is beautiful and captivating. it makes me giddy and happy and shy and rooting for them even more.

i don't have much to say about the past few episodes because they're quite direct and easy to digest (in my opinion). however, I'm keen on talking about jun's side of the story and the physical intimacy between thame and po (finally!)

p.s. i do apologise for not writing this weekly thamepo post for episodes 6 and 7 for reasons I've stated previously. but without further ado, let's begin!

1. jun's unrequited love — his sacrifice for the friendship that means more than the world to him

for weeks, i've been asking myself, "what's up with jun?"

his actions confused me because the series!jun was doing things that were different from novel!jun. for context, I read some spoilers a few weeks ago, and I learned that in the novel, jun likes thame. the air hockey scene was when he was *kind of* confessing his feelings for thame, but not directly and openly. i don't know how novel!jun treats novel!po, therefore I can't really make a deduction if he's also falling for po. but in terms of the series!jun, I believe he did like po.

let's be serious. he wouldn't be here if he didn't have feelings for po. i don't think anyone can convince me (at this point) that he didn't like po romantically.

he knew thame was busy dealing with khun pemika at the company (and other stuff pertaining to MARS), so he took another step to be there for po when thame couldn't—he didn't want po to feel left out or abandoned.

it's so fascinating to me that at this point, jun believed that their feelings were one-sided; he knew po liked thame, but jun didn't believe that thame would feel the same. i think this has a lot to do with the fact that thame is more of show not tell kind of person.

jun was looking at thame and po—he was observing them. he was trying to put two and two together (and hoping that the answer wouldn't be four because if it did—he would have to back off). but the answer was indeed four and jun...

i think, at the back of jun's mind, he knew what was happening between thame and po—it was so obvious that they shared something mutual. but jun was battling his own devils. along the way, as his feelings grew for po, and all those moments spent with po—perhaps jun saw that he had a chance. he only had to be in this headspace where he believed thame didn't feel the same for po. thus, why jun was running away from thame—because jun knew, if he confronted thame (or vice versa), he would discover the truth. and I guess, he wasn't ready for that rejection.

jun was really attentive, and that wasn't a surprise. he was always watching and trying to access/understand the situation. i guess, aside from pepper, jun would be the next to see the bigger picture. he would be the one to take charge if thame and pepper couldn't.

he knew po's favourite snacks. he wanted to be there with po—for po. even though he's brash and rough, this was his way of showing that he cared—he loved.

(i think i've covered more extensively jun's character in this post for better understanding of where I'm coming from hehe)

so the confrontation began and jun said everything he wanted to say to thame.

in my opinion, jun believed that whatever thame were doing for po wasn't enough. i guess, jun put himself in po's shoes for a while here—it reminded him of how thame selflessly took all the burden of MARS and carried them on his shoulders alone. thame did those things for the sake of the group, and jun found that unbelievably selfish because they're in a group—he's supposed to be thame's best friend, someone he could trust and talk to—they should be in this together. but it was second nature for thame to take everything and leave nothing on the plate, probably because of his role as a leader.

i think jun was hoping that thame wouldn't do that alone. he didn't want thame to blame himself for everything that happened to MARS before they reunited. jun didn't like many decisions thame made, so this was why he decided to distance himself from MARS and led the other members astray from thame. it was his way of coping with problems and betrayal and disappointment: he would run because he wanted to avoid conflict—he didn't want to paint anyone as the bad guy.

so this was what he did: he avoided thame so that he didn't have to confess his own feelings for po, while he vaguely knew that po might not feel the same.

even though i know many of us (me included) were confused about jun and the reason behind his doings, this episode really cleared the air for me. he loved his friendship with thame more than anything—he loved thame a lot to put a stop to their years of friendship. people could say anything about him, but at the end of the day, jun genuinely cared about thame and po. and he chose them over his own feelings.

(i also love the back-and-forth tension between jun and thame as they confessed the things they'd been dying to say to each other. and each time they were right, the puck entered the goal. that was so effective to prove the intensity of their emotions from a literary standpoint I was actually vibrating in awe because they DID THAT so well ugh it was so delicious!!!)

but the thing that made me scream and lose my breath was thame asked jun "you like him, don't you?" and the puck entered jun's goal OH MY GOD THAT WAS PEAK CINEMA in my opinion!!!

and jun was transported back to those moments shared with po, that little time he spent with po—these feelings that were growing fonder by the second. they were fleeting, but still so beautiful. (if this isn't love then I guess... I'm blindsided by love. i don't know what love is anymore t_t)

and it broke me when jun answered, "it doesn't matter how I feel," because JUN, LOVE, YOUR FEELINGS MATTERED GOODNESS :'(

and when jun said to thame, "you don't even have feelings for him," THAME STOPPED THE PUCK FROM ENTERING HIS GOAL GOODNESS THAT WAS ANOTHER PEAK CINEMA MOMENT BECAUSE!!!!!!!

it wasn't true. he had feelings for po. he loved po. thame loved po so much.

i think, due to his inexperience, thame didn't know much about navigating his feelings for po. he didn't know what was enough and what was overdoing things. thame was always standing on this thin line between sanity and madness—he didn't know how to find the perfect balance. there was no doubt that thame liked po more intensely, but in jun's eyes (and I believe pepper too), thame wasn't doing enough. and po could be oblivious sometimes, so that was why jun saw this as a chance for him to make a move—to revolve with po. because love wasn't only about late-night texts and failed movie dates and long walks and heart-to-heart talks. love should be thame moving forward with po and not for po—love should be thame holding po's hand and facing the upcoming obstacle together—not just handling it alone.

jun just didn't want thame to repeat the same mistake he did with MARS. after he knew everything from po about thame's sacrifices (in episode 3), he was gutted that thame kept so much guilt and anger alone. he just wanted thame to prove (more to himself than anyone) that he was a man of his word—he would be there for MARS and po. he would love and protect them as promised.

jun and thame's friendship runs deeper than the sea and we can't pretend that we can't see the depth of their understanding and reliance on each other. these two individuals have so much love to give and receive, but the winner takes all—and in this game, thame won.

thame said that even though they'd been friends for a long time, neither of them had to back down if they really liked po. this also proved thame's selflessness and also his openness to accepting the what-ifs of po not picking him.

however, i believe, jun loves thame and this friendship more than his blossoming feelings for po—jun backed down for the sake of this friendship—for his love and respect for thame. //jun... I've wronged you in so many ways. I'm sorry that I doubted you. love, you deserve more than the entire world :'(//

jun said he didn't have feelings for po: this was his way of waving the white flag. i think jun believed it wasn't worth giving up years of friendship and watching it going down the drain just for a person—even though jun hoped it could transpire into something more meaningful if he never discovered about thame's truest feelings for po. but like I said, it was clear from the start that thame and po liked each other, and all jun wanted (and tried to avoid) was to believe he could be in thame's shoes if thame stayed in his spot—if he didn't get the clarification from thame about his feelings for po.

jun was obviously dejected and disheartened, but he masked it so well with that usual smugness. but at least, in my eyes, I knew jun genuinely liked po, and he cared about him in ways that thame was lacking before. but he believed po was better off with thame instead of him since their feelings were already equal.

and i have an inkling that thame—to an extent—knew that jun was lying. i think thame knew jun liked po too... and this was why episode 3!jun and episode 3!thame were so important to be understood because their friendship is so genuine and strong and nothing could ever break this bond except the both of them. thame was aware of the sacrifices jun did and vice versa. this wouldn't affect their friendship—this wouldn't make them crumble. they loved each other too much to let it happen (although they'll never say this aloud).

jun turned from a thame's potential competitor to thamepo's unofficial cupid. no one's doing it like jun. he's the OG definition of 'best friend' in my opinion: a pain in the ass, but would stand up for others no matter what.

and the way he was looking at po here... it felt like a goodbye to his feelings for po :( but I hope they'll continue being this bickering duo and frenemies because jun really helped po see his potential and po gave jun warmth and comfort like never before :(

also, shoutout to nut for being the perfect jun! you're an amazing actor! the emotional rollercoaster you strapped me into while watching your shenanigans and heart eyes for po gave me chest pains (tbvh). but friend, I love you. i hope you'll find happiness *coughs* dylan *coughs* ;)

it drives me insane that jun and po were finally meeting somewhere with a brighter setting and lighting—probably hinting that both of their feelings are no longer in the dark. no one was hiding from the truth anymore.

this was when jun got the last confirmation that po liked thame—and this was where po knew that thame liked him too. this ended on a bittersweet note for jun, but an epiphany for po. //my heart hurts for unknown reasons...//

2. physical intimacy ��� another step forward, a moment of clarity

sometimes, i think, thamepo took the slow burn too seriously because what do you mean in episode 8 we finally got them properly holding hands??? (but i love it so much T_T)

but the whole sequence of thame and po talking, trying to squeeze out the 'i like you' from each other but didn't get to because that felt too heavy on their shoulders for now. so they settled with conversations filled with metaphors and symbols and I'm always down for that ;)

i think this was the first time that they were this physically close. my heart was in my throat for the remaining 13 minutes because they were so shy and this moment felt so intimate and sensual and I shouldn't be prodding but I couldn't stop gawking at them finally being this close and all over each other (metaphorically) and I didn't know where they were heading—

and thame decided to watch the movie in po's room because, like jun said—

"why you should be there in a rush? seeing him today, I guess, at most, you'll just end up staring at each other. I'm telling you, during the first six months of dating him, even holding hands is an achievement. and it will take two whole years before you two get to kiss. as for going to his room, i'd say it'll definitely take up to five years."

the way i CACKLED because jun, friend, sorry to burst your bubble, but these knuckleheads FINALLY HELD HANDS!!!!!!!!!

i wondered if i was a victorian man seeing a woman's ankle for the first time because this scene got me squeaking and screeching and hollering and screaming and giggling and blushing and losing my marbles because yes!!! finally! they were one step closer (literally and physically)! thame was really proving jun wrong because this guy was done being vanilla xD

there's really this different charge in the air after thame and po reached a moment of clarity through jun. thame was visibly more confident, and po was more open to accepting thame's advances (even though he was still nervous. i think this still has a lot to do with the emotional trauma that po has after his break-up with earn).

thame did the korean male lead move here and expect me not to scream??? the audacity.

and when thame said he wanted to do so many things (to po and with po), but watching a movie in po's room would be enough for this new beginning—THAME YOU'RE INSANE!!!

and yes, thame was buying a bottle of water and lozenges for his throat to spend the night with po (and not what we had in mind... 👀)

we know what's coming next week. and that particular scene (the second picture)... if you know, you know... //readying myself to jump off the nearest rooftop//

are we even ready for thamepo dating era? //i'm not...//

[payaquo]

GOOD OMENS SEASON 2 SPOILERS (scroll quick)

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WAIST GRAB!! This is so bonkers.

I just wanna say how surprised I feel about this pairing. Despite everything, I don’t feel it’s rushed whatsoever? I adore the concept of these ethereal beings having a much different concept of love, bonding, and affection than humans do. They just clicked!

[send-me-a-puffalope]

this is a formal announcement to every Vanessa Afton fan to WATCH DEAD OF SUMMER AND/OR COUNTDOWN. good LORD can Elizabeth Lail act her ass off, she’s so good at playing characters that just go feral.

[todayisafridaynight]

[bag-of-bones-and-hearts]

bro i missed them sm

sometimes i gotta go back to my roots shhh

[maddymoreau]

Why is everyone in Fallout 3 extremely hot

[ike-mcswains-mortician]

so i watched matpat’s fnaf timeline finale and

and i made the meme before i even finished the video, it got worse from there. go to bed matpat please

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

Rewatching* ATLA and augh, the animators knew what they were doing on this show. Look at the anguish in this poor kid's face.

[kindaorangey]

HELP someone needs to stop me from reading the vampire chronicles plot summaries. what do you mean armand gets marius to babysit for his adopted human children

[talesfromthebandgeekmafia]

Okay I read the entire Death series of Discworld but I just finished Guards! Guards! and my life has changed, that Disc sure can World

[brutal-nemesis]

every time this pops up i just get a big smile you know dis one gonna be very sexy

[goofy-episode]

been thinkin about how in the same episode, we had Xavier tell how Demanitus "[used] both magic and science" to create his device that saved the kingdom

and then we witnessed Varian combine the magic of the black rocks with the science of alchemy to create something that ruined his life.

[cornmazehater]

THERES GOING TO BE AN ORV ANIME?? HELL YEAH IM EXCITED AAAAAAAAA

[bag-of-bones-and-hearts]

tummy ache

instead of sleeping I've been drawing which includes these little bastards. i was originally gonna draw it digital however wings are hard