#save fetuses

[sunnyschristiancottage]

My argument against abortion:

1. A fetus is alive according to the four criteria of life which is as follows:

Energy acquisition:

All living things need to be able to take in energy from their environment, whether through photosynthesis (plants) or consuming other organisms (animals).

Liquid water:

Water is essential for most biological processes and acts as a solvent for many important molecules in living organisms.

Stable environment:

Organisms need a relatively stable environment to maintain their internal conditions and function properly.

Chemical elements:

Life as we know it requires specific elements like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen to build complex organic molecules.

A fetus fits into all 4 criteria. Thusly it is alive.

2. Now, many people have argued, "Well, my liver technically fits within the four criteria of life, and it isn't a lifeform. Thusly a fetus is no different from an organ." This statement is only half correct. Yes, a liver does fit within the four criteria of life and is considered a part of life, but it is very different from a fetus. First, if you were to remove an organ from a person, that person would lose some quality of life or just die depending on the organ. If you took a fetus from a mother, the mother would be fine, but the fetus would die. But what really defines a fetus as its own living creature is its DNA. You see, every lifeform has a unique DNA sequence. An organ does not have this. But a fetus does. Thus defining a fetus as its own lifeform.

3. Another argument I see is, "Well, a fetus is really no different from a tumor or parasite." This statement is very wrong. First, a tumor does not have unique DNA like a fetus does. Second, a fetus can't be considered a parasite given the fact that a fetus actually provides benefits for the mother, such as:

Wound healing

Fetal cells can migrate to damaged tissue and help repair it, including wounds from C-sections.

Reduced risk of disease

Fetal cells may help protect against breast cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. One theory is that fetal cells act like sentinels, watching for and killing breast cancer cells.

Somatic maintenance

Fetal cells may contribute to ongoing maternal somatic maintenance.

Immune status

Fetal cells may influence the immune status of women, including autoimmunity and tolerance to transplants.

Fetal cells can be found in many different tissues and organs in the mother, including the blood, bone marrow, skin, and liver. In mice, fetal cells have even been found in the brain.

Thusly a fetus is not a parasite. It lives a symbiotic relationship with the mother.

4. "Well, that still doesn't mean it's human life." True. But human DNA does. A fetus contains human DNA last I checked, so that means it is human life.

With all these facts presented to you, please choose life! And reblog this information so we can spread the word and save lives!

[bisexualfbiagents]

Never give up on a miracle.

THE X FILES GIF MEME [6/20] EPISODES Per Manum (8.13)

[news4dzhozhar]

[kira-akira]

What I Want You To Know About Long COVID

Well lads, I've been suffering from Long COVID for over a year now. My life is at a complete standstill. I'm 25 years old and I'm too sick to go back to school, I can't work, I had to move back in with my parents and I'm still stuck here.

Here are just a few things I wish people knew about Long COVID, including things I didn't know myself until I got it.

COVID destroys your immune system. Yes, even if you don't have Long COVID. Are you getting sick more often now? When you get sick, does it last longer? There are many studies showing that COVID causes t cell depletion, even in mild COVID cases! T cells are how your body remembers how to fight off infections you've had before so losing those cells? Bad news.

Your initial infection can be mild and you can still get Long COVID. Right from Yale Medicine, "Most people with Long COVID had mild acute COVID." (This is also a good link for a basic Long COVID overview).

There can be a gap of time between when you "get better" from the initial COVID infection to the onset of Long COVID symptoms. Some people get sick with an initial COVID infection and never get better. Some get better and then weeks or months later start developing Long COVID symptoms. Long COVID symptoms can even fluctuate over time, can go away for months and then suddenly come back.

So many people have Long COVID and don't realize it. Do you feel more tired lately but no matter how much you sleep, nothing helps? Is it harder to concentrate at work or school? Can you just not think like you used to? You could have Long COVID and not even know it. Even mild post-COVID symptoms are still Long COVID.

COVID can do anything to your body. Long COVID has over 200 recognized symptoms and can affect basically any part or system of your body. There is no one mechanism or cause of Long COVID which unfortunately also means there's no one cure either.

The effects of COVID are cumulative. Each COVID reinfection increases your chances of developing Long COVID. COVID is also affecting your body in other ways, yes, even if you're otherwise young and healthy! "Repeat COVID-19 infections increase risk of organ failure, death".

Once you have Long COVID, repeat COVID infections will make your symptoms worse. "80% [of Long COVID patients] saw their symptoms worsen [from reinfection]. In 60% of people who were in recovery or remission from Long COVID, reinfection caused a recurrence of Long COVID."

There is a lot more I want to say about Long COVID but I want to keep this post at least somewhat manageable to read. Like how when COVID is contracted during pregnancy, those COVID-exposed fetuses have a 6.3-fold increased risk of motor developmental delays, or that another study found 50% of babies exposed to COVID in utero had developmental delays.

You need to keep caring about COVID, for others around you and also for yourself even if you're "healthy". Everyone is at risk. And don't forget 40-60% of COVID infections are asymptomatic, which is why masking even if you feel fine is crucial. The only way right now to not get Long COVID is to not get COVID in the first place. It's not too late, if you've stopped masking it's never too late to start again! I know it's easy to get distracted by things in your life that seem more real than the possibility of getting sick some time in the future, and the peer pressure to not mask can be intense. But it only feels less real or less important until your entire life is having Long COVID. Trust me.

I know this is a complicated issue, many people can't afford to stay home when sick even if they want to because of their jobs, there are disgusting policies trying to ban wearing masks, but please if you can. Keep masking. Masking works, masking saves lives.

This post got a bit longer than I wanted so below the cut is a non-exhaustive list of my Long COVID symptoms and some of my experiences as one of the "healthy young people" who got "unlucky". cw brief mention of suicidal ideation.

Welcome to the Thunderdome that is my body with Long COVID. Keep in mind these are just my experiences and symptoms, Long COVID can cause any range of symptoms at varying severities.

Dysautonomia: Exercise intolerance, Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM), fatigue, and heat intolerance. What do those things mean? Here's some specific examples. Absolutely terrible circulation I am so cold all the time but also, if I get a little too warm I will pass out. Eating hot food makes my heart rate spike, I sweat, my body feels heavy. Blood pooling and pins and needles in my feet when I walk. Don't even think about exercising past walking, it's impossible. I used to work out an hour a day 4 times a week and now walking up one flight of stairs makes my heart pound and I can't breathe. Can't take even just warm showers anymore or I will pass out. Heat rashes from being in the sun for 10 minutes.

Digestive issues: Honestly too many to name but: constant bloating, extreme nausea, constipation, slow motility, lack of appetite, just so much cramping and pain. I lost 18 pounds from Long COVID, as someone who was already considered underweight their entire life, and almost had to get a shunt put into my chest to deliver nutrients because I was nearly completely unable to eat. For the first 6 months of Long COVID, if I could manage 600 calories a day, that was a good day.

Histamine intolerance: Oh boy. My worst symptoms, I don't even know where to start with it. If you know Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) it's very similar. I can only eat 19 foods. If i eat a single bite of something not on that list, it's 48 hours of absolute hell. Coughing, migraines, itchy eyes, such extreme nausea I cannot even describe it, panic/feeling of doom, racing heart rate, derealization, rash, uncontrollable muscle tremors. I only learned about histamine intolerance 5 months into having Long COVID so before that, I was experiencing these symptoms nearly every single day. Terrifying isn't even a strong enough word to describe how it felt to experience all this and have no idea what it was, how to stop it, or if it would ever stop. Really dark times.

Neurological issues: More of that derealization. Inability to concentrate. Anxiety. OCD-like symptoms such as thoughts getting "stuck" in my head, repeating 24/7 completely unable to stop them, genuinely felt like my brain had cracked open and I had lost my mind. Constant dizziness like I'm on a boat.

Sleep issues: I sleep like garbage. I have insomnia, I wake up dozens of times every night and every single time I sleep I have intensely vivid dreams. I can't sleep longer than 7 hours total no matter how exhausted I am. It is exhausting. I'm exhausted, I'm so so tired.

And finally. Just. Really intense suicidal ideation. My body, my health, my entire life has been stolen from me because someone else decided my life was worth less to them than wearing a mask or staying home if they feel sick. Before I got Long COVID, I was preparing to go to South Korea to teach English, then on to a PhD in neurolinguistics, I was supposed to meet my long distance partner and had already booked plane tickets when I got sick. All of that has been destroyed.

Most of us with Long COVID are stuck in a cycle of being extremely sick, then if you're lucky you'll slowly get better over months, just to get reinfected and go right back where you started or worse. Honestly, I'm not scared of dying from COVID. I'm scared of living for a long time, suffering from Long COVID the entire time. This isn't living.

I don't know how to end this now. I'm still fighting, I'm trying experimental treatments, I'm not giving up yet. I hope everyone reading this stays healthy and well.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

WRITING PROMPTS REGARDING ABORTION AND MISCARRIAGE 

trigger warnings for graphic description of the above topics, human trafficking, cannibalism, violence against pregnant women.

everything about this is entirely fictional, meant for writers. since I understand there aren’t many whump blogs that feel comfortable writing prompts about the subject (very understandable), I figured I could offer writers out there some prompts about this, in case they were looking for ideas for their works.

that being said, while the prompts are not real, the subject is very much real and can be triggering, so if it’s not something you’re comfortable with, don’t read below the line.

__________________୨ ୧ __________________

*feel free to change/adjust the pronouns however you want

a pregnant whumpee got kicked in the stomach by whumper, which led to miscarriage.

a pregnant whumpee, who was a housewife, fell down the stairs at her house when her partner was away for work. she didn’t tell her partner about the incident either because she was afraid he was going to get mad at her or because she thought it was fine and didn’t want to worry him. until she suffered severe bleeding that turned the mattress red at night.

whumpee who went through miscarriage kept hallucinating a life where her child was alive and she got to raise them. caretaker tried to help her, and even though her condition only seemed to get worse, they refused to send her to an asylum. 

whumpee who lost her child during childbirth refused to surrender her child’s corpse. It was understandable at first, until the child started to decompose and rot in her arms and she, with a knife in her hand, would attack anyone who tried to take her baby away from her.

whumpee was a sex slave who got pregnant, the thing was that it was a mistake. so in order for her to be able to continue doing ‘her job’, whumper made her undergo unsafe abortion by having a straightened-out wire with sharp edge (from a coat hanger) inserted into her vagina and into her uterus. they got the fetus out, but whumpee later got a nasty infection that resulted in her suffering from hallucinations, and her not being able to stand or stop her pale, naked body from shivering. whether or not she was rescued in time is up to you, the writer. 

whumper is an OB doctor who often lied to the patients that they miscarried their perfectly healthy stillborns and that the babies needed to be surgically removed in order to save the moms’ lives. this made it very easy for the doc to get away with eating fetuses, since the moms would rather not keep the corpses of their stillborns anyway, and police were never involved. (I mean who would question a licensed physician?!)

[barefootbaltimore]

My least favorite birth/pregnancy myth is the whole cord wrapped around babies neck bit so now Tumblr is showing me this ad every 3 seconds im losing my shit

Like. Like. Do people think fetuses are in there breathing for their oxygen?

[sleepyfan-blog]

Isn't vat-coming a thing in 40k?

Imagine being pregnant by a primarch and finding out you're having twins... rip coochie 😭

Guilliman returns and you wring your hands and tell him the news that there's two babies instead of one, and the man stares off into space before fainting instantly. It takes like seven Ultramarines to catch him and the whole scene sounds like a shelf of pots falling on the floor.

[cheerfullycatholic]

Anyone else so tired of arguing about abortion? Like, I'm still just as on fire about it being banned completely and replaced with competent doctors who care about both of their patients and offering real life saving help, but the arguments are the worst

From my point of view, there's four kinds of arguments

1. The person values human life but doesn't believe that life begins at conception. You show them how it does, and they go on their way rethinking their position (very rare)

2. The person says some awfully dehumanizing, false thing about preborn babies, you ask them to explain it, and they get angry until someone gets blocked. Example;

"fetuses are parasites"

"how?"

"are you dumb? Look it up"

"you seem to know, I want your explanation"

"fuck you"

These people may or may not value human life outside of the womb, but they're so caught up in being defensive that they're not willing to listen to anything except the echo chamber they've been stuck in (Most common argument I get into and see)

3. The person is understandably concerned about abortion exceptions for high risk pregnancies. I don't mind these arguments, but these people tend to not listen when I tell them there are already life affirming solutions for both patients (second most common argument I get into)

4. The person blatantly doesn't value any human life but their own and will straight up say, proudly, "I know the fetus is a living human being, I will kill them anyway". This is the one I'm most concerned about because the only thing to argue is the value of human beings and that can't be argued. You can't force someone to not be selfish and value someone else's life, that's something they have to choose on their own, and we, people they hate, cannot help them (this one is becoming more common and it's concerning)

It's exhausting. Have any of you been in different kinds of arguments?

[olderthannetfic]

I'm on a hobby site. This hobby is literally aimed at adults, if you're a minor in this hobby there are three options: 1 You're shit at saving your pocket/part time money and own like a tiny amount of "real" hobby items. 2 You only own fakes 3 Mommy and daddy bankroll your interests and don't ask questions. Anyway, there recently was this mini-flood of complaint and tantrum posts made by the minors in the hobby, like 1:100-1:200 ratio of minors to adults. All of them complaining about the bad evil adults in the hobby.

You guys are fucking fetuses in a hobby made for people who have more hair on their ass than head, what the fuck are you complaining about "nasty adults"? You're barely able to hold your head up, and none of you contribute to the hobby in any way, and you wail about the oldies fucking around in a hobby made by adults for adults, and kept going by adults. SMH

--

Time for an old people forum and the ban hammer.

[theconcealedweapon]

Pregnant people have been forced to carry fetuses that have already died. Pregnant people have been prosecuted for having miscarriages.

But police are rarely prosecuted when they assault a pregnant person and endanger the life of the fetus.

It was never about "saving babies". It was always about control.

[cimerran-714]

I figured that it would be helpful to call out ten of the most common pro-choice arguments that you might notice online. I'll preface it by saying that I am not a philosopher (or at least not yet), but I am a person with common sense, and you can see through these "arguments" if you have two brain-cells left.

Also, I understand that there are good PC arguments out there (although they are of course not successful, for a strong argument doesn't necessarily have to succeed). I am only arguing some of the most insane and ridiculous ones you'd spot.

If you want to go through some really good claims made by pro-choice/pro-abortion advocates, I'd recommend David Boonin's 'A Defense of Abortion'. It'd help you instead of you having to regurgitate whatever you are spoon-fed by the leftist cult. Go check out that book even if you're pro-life, because it's a great one.

Let's get started, shall we?

A human embryo/fetus is not human:

Yes, it's both human and alive. Biologists agree with this (including pro-choice biologists), and even pro-choice philosophers acknowledge this. This is basic empirical reality. And you only have to open an embryology textbook to know how wrong you are. Also, these people can never explain what species the fetus belongs to if not "Homo Sapiens".

2. It's just a "clump of cells".

All of us are made up of cells. Some are "clumpier" than others. And plus, it's not merely a clump of cells: the embryo is a human organism in its earlier stages of development, and very soon is also differentiated as it grows. That's like saying that it's okay to destroy a car because it's just "a bunch of metal thrown together".

3. It's not a person/sentient, yadda yadda:

Irrelevant and it's the same logic that slave-owners used to own people. Human rights is species-based, and the embryo/fetus is human. That's all that matters. These people love to make up ridiculous, arbitrary criteria to justify their bigotry.

4. You cannot force people to donate their organs...

Not the same thing at all. You cannot be forced to save people, but that doesn't mean you can actively kill them. This is the difference between killing someone and letting them die. There is a significant moral difference between deliberately pushing someone off a cliff and not saving someone who's hanging off a branch at a cliff. Abortion is the former.

5. Women would die...

All states have life-threat exceptions built into it, so this is just deflection. And yes, there are doctors who refuse to perform entirely legal abortions, but that is their fault. It IS legal. They're just cowards, and you can't blame the law for this because they already make this exception.

6. You cannot force your views onto others:

If you support democracy (and, you know, voting) you're forcing your views onto others. That's how law works.

7. The child would grow up in poverty, yadda yadda yadda...:

We don't kill born children because of these reasons, so it's a ridiculous claim. You don't solve poverty by killing the poor.

8. They are just pro-birth:

Statistics show that Republicans donate more to charity than Democrats. Also, just because they don't agree with your method of helping people doesn't mean that they don't care about born people. You see, it's like saying "A fire-fighter rescued someone from a fire, but they don't want to pay out of their pockets to look after them throughout their lives. They don't actually care!"

9. Showing pics of fetuses belonging to other species as a gotcha:

Yes, mammals of different species look the same in their earlier stages, but that doesn't mean there isn't a difference between them. This is, once again, bigoted slaver logic (to want to kill people based on their looks).

10. Men cannot have a say because:

As men are directly affected by this, they absolutely have a say. They are fathers too, and remember that they're the ones who have to pay child support.

There you go. I am not expecting you to be pro-life yet if you are not, but I hope that I have cleared your head up somewhat.

[helpmeimblorboing]

ARCHIVIST

Statement of… no one ? Well, that’s rather interesting

MARTIN

What ? How’s that possible ?

ARCHIVIST

Says here these were found in books found abandoned in the woods. Now, doesn’t that sound familiar…

MARTIN

You think they might be Leitners ?

ARCHIVIST

Possible. Anyways, onwards. Statement of unidentified young woman, estimated to be a teenager based on her writing patterns, regarding incidents that took place in the town of Kurouzu, Japan. Or… does that say Uzumaki ?

MARTIN

Spiral ? You think…

ARCHIVIST

Even if it is, we have to record it, right ? Might as well get started. Here goes. Statement of unidentified young woman, estimated to be a teenager based on her writing patterns, regarding incidents that took place in the town of Kurouzu, Japan. Original statement given June 10th, 1999. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.

ARCHIVIST (STATEMENT)

This is Kurozu-cho, where I grew up. I would like to share with you, the strange events that took place here…

————————————————————————

And in the sky, towering over us, was a vast… spiral.

ARCHIVIST

Statement ends

Well, that was… deeply upsetting. From the sounds of it, quite possibly every single Entity, save perhaps a few, decided to gang up on this one town. That’s… distressing

MARTIN

What on Earth did Japan ever do to the Entities ?

ARCHIVIST

The lighthouse was clearly the work of The Desolation, and the whole… spiral thing (shudders) was doubtless The… well, Spiral’s work, but…

MARTIN

But ?

ARCHIVIST

How do you classify vampire babies ?

MARTIN

I was under the impression that they were vampire fetuses, actually

ARCHIVIST

Yes, Martin, I’m sure that makes all the difference in the world. Now, how on Earth do I classify vampire fetuses ?

MARTIN

I rather think it… defies classification by its nature, doesn’t it ? It’s definitely Spiral-aligned, after all. Isn’t that the Spiral’s whole… well, thing ?

ARCHIVIST

I suppose so (grumbles) The next time I see Michael, I am punching him in the face…

MARTIN

Maybe it’s just a misidentified Leitner and none of it ever happened ? (shrug) Who knows ?

ARCHIVIST

God I hope so

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hi, can I request RoR? In Philippine Mythology?

Human Reader, a single mother of quadruplets, 2 boys and 2 girls, look like normal human babies, but if harm/hurt their loving human mother, they'll turn into a Tiyanak…

In Philippine mythology: The Tiyanak is a vampiric creature in Philippine mythology that takes on the form of a toddler or baby. Although there are various types, it typically takes the form of a newborn baby and cries in the jungle to attract unwary travelers. Once it is picked up by an unfortunate passerby, it reverts to its true form and attacks the victim. The tiyanak is also depicted to take malevolent delight in leading travelers astray, or in abducting children…

Various speculations on how Tiyanaks came to be range from babies born dead in the forest to the Catholic-influenced unbaptized stillborn infants, and later extended to vengeful murdered infants and aborted fetuses…

In local belief, various countermeasures are supposedly effective against the tiyanak. Those that were led astray by the creature's cries are believed to be able to break the enchantment by turning their clothes inside out. The tiyanak finds the method humorous enough to let go of the traveler and go back to the jungles. Loud noises such as a New Year's celebration are also thought to be enough to drive the tiyanak away from the vicinity. Objects believed to repel Aswang (vampiric shape-shifters), like garlic and the rosary rosemary are also commonly believed to be effective against the tiyanak. It's also believed that giving a name to these lost souls will bring them peace, and offering a white candle will help guide their spirit to the afterlife…

Reader's story goes like this: (You may change it if you want)

She's living in an abusive/forced marriage, she's been mistreated/used by her own family & by her husband and his family, who's rich or from a higher social hierarchy than her family, and no one can help her…

When she finds out she's pregnant, even though she's carried the children who she hates and gets mistreated by, she loves them, and she plans to raise her kids, & to escape far away from the people who mistreat her…

When she finally escapes while pregnant, she knows the risks and she'll do everything to keep her babies safe, as she's running away, her family and her husband are after trying to stop her even by shooting at her…

When she's in the wooded area (forest/jungle), trying to hide but she's caught by her husband, and he proceeded to hurt/beat her until she didn't move, her husband thought he kill her and then he leaves her bleeding…

As she is about to lose her conscious, she saw her bleeding from her legs, and she thought that her babies are dead and it's her fault and pleads to whoever is out there to save her babies, she's mourning & saying sorry to her babies & that she's a bad mother, as she loses her conscious, she saw a blur two figures coming towards…

She woke up in a house and thought that her babies are dead. a woman came to her, comforting Reader that she and the babies are well (which Reader is about to lash out) and the husband came and saw he struggling to carry 4 crying babies, that they look exactly like Reader, and he gave the babies back to Reader and Reader crying that her babies are fine…

As she recovers, she's found out that her babies did die and then became a Tiyanak and also founds out that the couples, who helped her & her babies, are mythical creatures (the Man's Syokoy and Woman's Sirena from Philippine Mythology) and they're are others or residents lives nearby and they're from the Philippine Mythology, like Kapre, Tikbalang, Duwende, & even some hostile/neutral, like Mananangal or aswang…

As she's lives and adapts to her new home and in motherhood to her babies and some mythical residents, they became friends and almost like family, as they taught her anything to do/learn (household, survival, etc.) including some mythical creatures, they became caring & protective & willing to do anything for Reader and her kids' safety and home…

One day, Reader meets (character) through her children as he's wandering around, then he and Reader get along with each other, as he and her kids are getting along as well and they consider him as their dad and the Mythical creatures met him, they get along (as they threatened him if he hurt Reader and/or her babies)…

Then Reader's abusive husband & family came back to a wooded area, where Reader and her babies live, going to destroy it for their business plan, when they're about to start it, the husband/family saw Someone, thought it's Reader, but their stopped by something else, by (character) & some mythical creatures that reside at the wooded area, in there unseen/invisible form, using their abilities to stop them and made them to never come back…

Yandere: Adamas, Beezelbub, Hades, Shiva (w/ his wives & son), Rudra, Loki, Buddha, Hercules

-The pain you bore is one that you never wanted your babies to carry the pain of abuse from your cruel husband and his family, who believed that you were basically a slave, not caring if you carried his children or not.

-You didn’t love your husband, but you loved your babies, despite them being in your belly still, and you didn’t want them to be born into pain. You had thought about killing yourself and killing them many times, so they would be safe, not caring about your own life.

-You had a chance, only once, to run and you took it, running deep into the forest, clutching your aching and bruised body, wounds old and new flaring from the strain.

-You felt yourself slip down a shallow ravine and your heart leapt to your throat and that’s all you remembered before everything went black.

-When you awoke, a man and a woman, kind people, were there for you, and your hands immediately went to your belly, a gasp leaving you, “My babies!” you went to stand but her hand was firm but gentle on your shoulder, keeping you down.

-The man disappeared for a moment as the woman sat beside you on the bed, “Your babies are safe, as are you.” Your eyes widened before her husband reappeared, holding four squirming babies, struggling to do carry them all as tears of relief welled in your eyes.

-Your babies all seemed to immediately settle down once in your arms as you wept quietly, peppering their faces with kisses, thanking your two saviors over and over again.

-The couldn’t help but smiling, sharing a small glance between the two of them, happy to see that you were all right. You looked up at them, holding your babies close, “Thank you for saving my babies! Thank you both so much!”

-You were confused as their faces fell and the woman took her seat next to you again, petting your hair gently, “Y/N, your babies didn’t make it. They are Tiyanak now.” Your eyes went wide in surprise, hearing this, as you looked down at your babies, but you didn’t care, you just smiled, pressing more kisses onto their heads.

-The man introduced himself and told you that he was a Syokoy, and the woman was a Sirena, both creatures of myth and legend, just as your babies were now, and that the five of you were now safe in their little village, a village of other mythological creatures, leaving you the only human.

-You were hesitant, but those around you didn’t really bother with you, as they had learned of your past, learned of the abuse from your family and what you did to escape, putting yourself and your babies at risk, but they respected you, seeing you as a mother wanting to keep her babies safe.

-There were some creatures in this village that warned you only once to keep your distance from them, which you respected, and in turn they left you be, despite their aversion to humans.

-Your babies were quick to grow, much faster than normal babies, but they always remained close to you, making sure you were safe and your new friends allowed you to live alongside them, building you a house and in turn they taught you how to hunt and survive, so you could provide for yourself and your children.

-You weaved baskets for the members of your village, giving back to them in any way you could, as you wanted to repay their kindness in letting you stay safe, and many admired you for that, seeing your kind heart, you weren’t like other humans.

-It was two years later when your children, who could change their forms to look like babies or like five-year-olds, came back pulling a new friend. Initially you were scared, as you were always terrified your family would come back for you.

-However, this wasn’t a human, this was a god, as Sirena was able to confirm this. You were respectful but a little nervous being in the presence of a god, but he was nothing but kind to you, seeing you for what you truly were, a scared and damaged woman, but a woman who would work hard and do anything to provide for her family.

-He was so gentle with your children, playing with them and you slowly relaxed, sitting with him and just like your children, he was quick to befriend you as well.

-He was nothing like your husband or his family, he was so kind to you, treating you like you were delicate, but also treating you with respect. You later learned from your babies that they and many of the other citizens of your village had threatened him, daring him to try anything ill willed against you.

-(Love) learned from your babies and your friends about your past, learning how cruelly you had been treated and how you ran and now working to provide for your family while living alongside creatures that nobody would probably ever see, unless if they were die immediately after, leaving no witnesses.

-This drove (Love) to be a bit more protective of you, accompanying you when you went into the forest to forage for herbs, fruits, and nuts, being on guard while you weren’t safe in the village, something your children noticed.

-It took some time for you to open up, as you were terrified at the thought of being in a relationship again, as you didn’t want a repeat of what happened, but there was something about (Love), you could tell that he would never hurt you, or your children.

-You were in the forest, (Love) and your children nearby, playing as you were collecting some berries when a twig snapped and you heard a voice you never wanted to hear again, “Y/N?! Where have you been?”

-You looked up in horror, seeing your ex-husband and his family and many other humans, going through the forest as they were looking for areas to clear out to build a new business.

-You had no time to think or run, but you didn’t have to, as (Love) immediately ran forward, scooping you up into his arms, turning you and tossed you into Sirena’s arms and she disappeared into the forest with you.

-You clung to her, tears in your eyes, “My babies- where are my babies?” she shushed you, making it back to the village that now seemed eerily empty, everyone had rushed to where you had been moments prior, hearing your babies sound out the alarm.

-She held you close, trying to calm you, “(Love) and my husband are with them, they will all be safe.” You sniffled softly, remaining on guard until your babies flew into the village, “Mama!”

-You melted, accepting their hug, holding them close as (Love) and the others all returned, all looking quite pleased with themselves. You didn’t want to ask, but (Love) saw your curiosity and he just gave you a small smile, “They’ll never bother you again, and they will never enter this forest again.”

-You thanked him and he just smiled, tapping his cheek for a kiss for payment, which made you giggle and you gave him one before your children shoved him out of the way, telling you they wanted kisses too, which made you laugh softly.

-You would never find out the truth of your ex-family ‘never coming back’, you just thought they had been scared and would never enter the forest again, that wasn’t true, but they would all keep that secret, to keep you safe.

-You were so unique, especially for a human, but he adored you for that, and seeing what a kind and gentle mother you were, it wasn’t hard to fall for you. He can see your hesitance about getting closer, but he doesn’t mind waiting, he’s got all the time in the world and is happy to wait for you at your own pace. Loves your children, finds them funny, mischievous, but very sweet and protective of you, and he has no issues become their new father figure if that is what you wish, because he knows your children will side with you, no matter what, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t help him sway your opinion a bit. Respects you and demands others, mainly other humans, to do the same, as he knows those in the village you live in, while all of them may not like you, they at least respect you because you respect them.

            -Hercules, Rudra, Shiva, Loki, and Buddha

-Had absolutely no issues getting rid of your ex-family, he did it himself personally, wanting to make sure it was done and make sure that all the suffering you had to endure was given back to them, ten-fold. He adores you, finding you fresh and full of life, but not annoying, you are a light in his life and he wants to protect that light, and he has no issues doing whatever he needs to do to make sure that happens. Adores you and your children, respects you about your aversion to entering into a relationship, but he has no issues showing you how safe you would be with him but isn’t pushy, he wants you to come to him. He finds your children charming and doesn’t mind them in the slightest and quite enjoys being a father figure to them, as he shows you that subtly as well, showing you that he’s a provider for them.

-Adamas, Beelzebub, and Hades

[thebottomfromhell]

Headcanons

Traditional Courting [more or less], Demon Male Reader, but genitals are not specified (this one has no sexual content). This are Gyutaro and the Hantengu Clones.

Gyokko, Nakime, Akaza, Douma and Kokushibou are here.

Warnings: Cannibalism, Mentioned dead animals, Human death, Mentioned death of unborn fetuses, Mentioned kidnapping, Threats to reader.

Gyutaro:

When you first ask permission to court him, he thinks it's a joke, and a funny one. He laughs hard and every time you try to explain he keeps laughing.

Then you ask permission to him and he realizes you are not joking. You managed to get Daki to help you to see him, but she thought you would get rejected.... technically for a second time. She stormed out with a tantrum, not wanting to share her brother with you, as he gave you not only the permission, but ordered you to court Gyutaro. To be honest you don't know what of yourself caused such an impression to him, but it's not like you want to back off, or even have the choice right now. [Muzan actually just wants you to get a strong bond with Gyutaro for him to be able to use you to "convince" him to absorb Daki :( ]

You start inmediately, more often than not he complains "just because you are a handsome, big and resourceful man doesn't mean you get to treat me like a girl, ne." You still don't stop to offer him to walk together, or bring him gifts.

It doesn't take you long to discover what gifts he actually likes, he prefers dead animals or dead people over anything else. He likes to keep the first, specially if they are pests, to be honest the worst thing you gave him was a snake and a mantis, both reminded you of him and he loved them. "If I am a mantis I might as well eat you sooner or later" he jokes, wincking, actually starting to like the attention. He eats all the humans you give him once you discover his taste, he likes ugly and deformed body parts, but the sweetest thing for him are organs, specially healthy and full stomachs, he likes the acid flavor in his mouth and how abundant it is.

You refrain to touch him as much as you can, not because you are disgusted but because he doesn't like touch. But that is a lie, Gyutaro is actually touch-starved, but you let him start any contact between you two. You are as respectful as you can, that at times makes him taunt you "Such a good husband you are, but here you are courting the ugliest of all the Red Light District instead of some pretty girl. Ne?"

To convince Gyutaro he is not ugly is both impossible and unnecesary, while he feels a bit shameful at times, he would not change his appereance for nothing. He doesn't know why, but it makes him proud. You let him have this self-denigrating humor he has, even though you don't find it funny, which is good because it might actually hurt him if you did. You also praise him a lot, not on his appereance since that makes him upset, he neither thinks you are lying out of pity or as a joke, he would feel it as condescending.

He likes when you tell him he is a good brother, that he is a good fighter, that he is powerful and scary. He also likes the promises of aid and company. At the end, once you prove you are honest and willing to make some few compromises for him, you're in his heart. He has very few things he cares about, much less people, so once the barriers are down, he is nothing but good with you as long you don't hurt him.

Daki, on her side, is a menace, thanks to her the courting is lasting forever, as Gyutaro doesn't dare to fully accept you without her approval even when you finally managed to get him to like you back. [Be glad, that is honestly what is saving you all from Muzan]. There isn't even a thing as marriage between demons! But still, when she is not looking, Gyutaro sometimes calls you "husband" as a playful nickname, since it's mostly a game where you need to make sure Daki doesn't hear him. She would make the biggest tantrum ever. [And Muzan would know he can get what he wants from you 💀, better stay courting and flirting forever]

It takes an infinity of time before Daki warms up to you, but even then, she doesn't want to share Gyutaro. It has always been them together and she hates the change. She will get used to your presence, but will still compete for Gyutaro's attention and time no matter what you do, and if he has to choose, she will always come first. "Don't be mad, but she is my little sister, ne. She is everything to me, ne."

Sekido:

{It was complicated to convince the clones to remain separated, the lack of the surprise element it's just something that scares Hantengu. You don't even know how you manages to find and face him again and convince him to order the division of the clones, but you did. He, on the other hand, did not care. At all. That you wanted Hantengu (or at least part of him). He actuaĺy wondered if something is wrong with you and if it's bad enough that he should kill you. But again, doesn't really care, just let you do as you pleased as long as the clones started to take advantage of the numbers and look for the damn Blue Spider Lily.}

Sekido constantly rejects you, and each time he is more aggresive. It just starts with a "You think I'm taking a woman's role for a guy like you? Do you want to anger me or what?" It gets to the point that if he is not in love with the gift you gave him or not manage to get the food the exact way he likes it, he will destroy whatever you give him, or worse, give it to Karaku and Urogi if he gets the chance, and they neither end up destroying or loosing the gift. And food, what food? There is no food leftz there was never food to begin with, but of course they didn't eat it..... (they are the dogs.)

The only thing you have seen him eat are brains of intelectual and near the middle age men, but only when it's still pink and full of blood, for some reason judges in particular seems to make it like the food more, but you never figured the change in taste a job could give. Also, he likes coins, for some reason. Old coins, foreign coins, high prize, low prize, new coins, big ones, small ones, ugly ones, pretty ones, hold, copper, anything, he keeps them all, counts and clean the collection.

Also, when you become insistent on the gifts and proposals he gets even more annoyed and angry with you, leading him to attack you both physically and verbaly. "You think you are doing something? You are an annoyance and a burden! Go to pester somebody else, damn okama!" So it's better to give him space and breaks from you after every interaction. [Okama is how drag queens or very femenine gay men are called in japan, but the word is a slur for queer people, please never use it.]

To actually get him to warn up to you you must befriend Hantengu and the rest of the clones first, which takes a lot of time and effort since now they are all separated and doing their own thing and the main body resents you for making him order the separation of the clones. In the end, Aizetsu takes pity of you and helps to with the others (he is also the one that told you about the coins, he's very helpful). "I see you are keeping the others out of trouble. Don't get it over your head, but I can appreciate that." He starts liking you back the moment he realizes he doesn't have to worry as much for the others with you helping around. He can actually relax for a while and be less angry all the time.

After a while he ends kidnapping a priest for both of you to have a ceremony, one he organized without letting you do anything. He enslaved Urogi, Karaku and Aizetsu for them to help him make everything the way he wanted and actually surprise you with "If this is what it takes for you to make my life easier, then fine. You will be my husband." You both eat the priest at the end of the ceremony.

Mind that while it was hard for him to catch feelings, loosing them will not be even ⅓ of the trouble the courting was. One big mistake, like not listening to him or forgetting something important will not be tolerated, if this behavior remains he will throw you to the sun. You spent more than 5 years courting him, so don't mess it up.

Karaku:

{It was complicated to convince the clones to remain separated, the lack of the surprise element it's just something that scares Hantengu. You don't even know how you manages to find and face him again and convince him to order the division of the clones, but you did. He, on the other hand, did not care. At all. That you wanted Hantengu (or at least part of him). He actuaĺy wondered if something is wrong with you and if it's bad enough that he should kill you. But again, doesn't really care, just let you do as you pleased as long as the clones started to take advantage of the numbers and look for the damn Blue Spider Lily.}

Karaku. Is. Greedy. Very greedy. The second you ask to court him he laughs happily "Sure, show me how enamored with me you are, lover-boy~". He takes every gift (even though there are times he looses them, which frustrates him at times but recieving a new gift or something to eat for you always makes him feel better, specially if you don't get mad at him) and every piece of flesh you get him.

Karaku, even though he doesn't use most of them, likes lavish and expensive stuff. Bath salts, jewelry, robes, essential oils, and other luxury items, he also thinks stolen goods are better than buyed ones, he laughed and joked about it when you asked. "If you are capable of stealing their stuff maybe you'll have a chance stealing my heart. C'mon, show me you are a bad boy and I'll show you I can be a good wife~" He also eats anything you give him, but he has a giant preference to fetuses and unborn children for some reason, not pregnant women, fetuses and unborn children. Obviously that is really hard to get, but you did manage twice or thrice.

Another thing is that he not only flirts back at you at every chance he gets, but also from time to time he likes to get you food and gifts. He is actually very romantic in that aspect, giving you flowers, reciting poems and philosophical quotes (he tells you he made them, since you don't remember human literature you can only believe him [he did not]), spending quality time together and so. And at time together, it's not just quality, it's also quantity, he spends most of his time with you. "Flower, what flower? The only thing I need is you, handsome~" He uses you as an excuse to procrastinate, which most of the time gets you in trouble with Sekido, who resents you for it...... it's a work in progress.

Still consider, while he does this, it doesn't mean he has fallen for you already, or even likes you the same way you like him. He is just chasing a good time, so if you want this to work instead to look for genuine feelings you should just entertain him. He barely knows your name until much later (that is why he ALWAYS calls you petnames, and the fact he likes them). When time passes and you are alredy fully integrated in his life, to the point you are even part of the life of Hantengu and the rest of the clones, is that he realizes "Holy shi- I think I actually like you."

Actually, the courting doesn't last that long, less than 4½ months, specially when you reject having sexual intimacy before marriage. It's fine, if he gets bored he can only throw you to the sun or the demon slayers later, he doesn't need to think much about it, but while you are courting him mostly traditionally, he wants a relationship upgrade, and he wants it soon. So it's surprise when he makes a- "Hey babe, I made a surprise party, a surprise wedding! You can thank me on our honeymoon~" but you should have expected something like this when he dissapeared for more than a week. You still have to win Sekido over by the time you both marry :(

On the good side, he does eventually catch feelings, and the wedding was nice :)

Urogi:

{It was complicated to convince the clones to remain separated, the lack of the surprise element it's just something that scares Hantengu. You don't even know how you manages to find and face him again and convince him to order the division of the clones, but you did. He, on the other hand, did not care. At all. That you wanted Hantengu (or at least part of him). He actuaĺy wondered if something is wrong with you and if it's bad enough that he should kill you. But again, doesn't really care, just let you do as you pleased as long as the clones started to take advantage of the numbers and look for the damn Blue Spider Lily.}

Even with his wings, Urogi falls, and falls hard, fast and deep. The moment you asked to court him, you won his interest. The second you give him food and gifts, you won his stomach. And the moment you started saying pretty promises to his ear, you found the stomach you won he had his heart. He easily becomes very needy and spoiled.

Urogi's favorite meal, you learn rather fast, are the eyes, tongue and fats from young people, specially in their face, and he likes to take the nose too. "Those parts are so cute I can't help but wanting to grab them!" On the other hand, the gifts he likes are dead animals, mostly the ones that are part of the bird of prey's diet, and anything shiny. Jewelry, coins, metal decoration items, blades, trinckets, even trash and leftover, as long as it's reflective, he wants it. "Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme! I want it! You said you would be my suitor, that means you must suit me! So do so and gimme that golden tooth you found in your dinner!" He also accepts very giddy soft items, like pillows, comfortable clothing, strings, feathers that are not his, animal skin, and so. The thing is that he will destroy everything you give him.... to build. Nests.

Usually tearing down with his talons, fangs and soundwaves he tears apart averything you give him, and if he is not eating it, it's going to the several nests he started to build all over Japan, big enough to have two people (his idea was to have enough space for him to stretch with half-way eaten corpse besides him.) "Just the idea makes my heart sing of joy! It's like being rich and having several houses! One in the mountains, one in the beach, one by a river, one near a city, and more!" He has let you into one of his nests, for your surprise they are very comfortable, retain the warmth and it's a padded surface. He also has offered sleeping together, but wanting to finish the courting, you tell him you want to wait until marriage, he taunts you for that. "Well, aren't you a responsible and suitor? I hope you actually become more dutiful of what I want once we marry."

Urogi also loves petnames, you find out soon enough, both recieving them and getting them. He likes when you call him bird related nicknames like "birdie", "songbird", "feathers" and so, but the one that specially gets him giddy is "baby bird". "Yes sir, I'm your baby bird! Call me that again!"

You are the one that, when the time is ready and you have been given all the family's blessing, you ask for his hand after the year or so of courting. He lets you prepare the ceremony, his only condition is that he wants everything shiny. Or at least as much as possible. It would be almost impossible for him to fall out of love once you reached this part, you would need to break his heart into pieces and even then there is a bigger chance that Karaku and Sekido would do something about it than Urogi himself. Again, he is very needy, so you must take care of him.

Aizetsu:

{It was complicated to convince the clones to remain separated, the lack of the surprise element it's just something that scares Hantengu. You don't even know how you manages to find and face him again and convince him to order the division of the clones, but you did. He, on the other hand, did not care. At all. That you wanted Hantengu (or at least part of him). He actuaĺy wondered if something is wrong with you and if it's bad enough that he should kill you. But again, doesn't really care, just let you do as you pleased as long as the clones started to take advantage of the numbers and look for the damn Blue Spider Lily.}

Aizetsu doesn't really know how to react when you ask permission to court him, at first it's embarrasing that he is taking the traditional female role before a man like you, but he barely protests. When you start courting him, he realizes he actually likes to take that pasive role. He doesn't really has to do anything, and the attention is a nice one, a kind and peaceful one. The gifts and foods leave him touched, specially since you make the effort to know and get what he likes.

His taste in food is weird, he likes old people, specially men, aged enough to be bald and wrinckled, he likes the heart and the skin. "It's soft and very easy to tear, I also like the feeling of the veins exploding in my mouth...." he defends himself weakly, but he himself can't explain why human so similar to Hantengu are his appetite. He likes comfortable, warm and soft things, pillows, clothing, sheets and plushies, things he can hug, warm up, hide and cuddle with when he is feeling specially down. "Thank you for getting this robe for me, I know we don't need to cover up for winter, but it's very soft and nice. I like it." He takes care and uses all of the gifts, and if one can't be maintened or fixed if he encountered a slayer while having it around, he never throws them away. He even keep the ones he didn't really like that much. Also, unlike the other clones, he likes living things, animals and plants, alive.

You started to get him small wild animals that you release at the end of typur encounters (you don't need to spend that much time hiding them from Sekido, Karaku and Buddha forbid Urogi to find them.) You usually keep literally catching butterflies for him, he loves all of them. "It's so sad how short their life is, specially in this beautiful form. I really like them, but they deserve to at least be free in this violent world. Still, thank you for the time and the effort."

Courting is rather simple with him, as long as you treat him gently and kindly, he suits himself just fine. From time to time he is the one to take initiative and start contact. You know you did a good job the first time you had him crying in your arms, because no matter how sorrowful Aizetsu expresses he is, he doesn't cry before others. If he fears to appear weak or being berated for it, it doesn't matter, but the fact is that he trusts you.

He specially likes your baritone voice whispering against his ear as you help jim to calm down, sweet promises from your mouth. Company, stability, love, comfort, warmth and tenderness. "Most men, both demons and humans, I have met are loud and aggressive, one way or another.... you are very soft with me. I like it." He is used to be the push-over between the clones, so having you this way leaves him content.

It takes a bit over two years for the courting to end and finally marry, you already having all the blessings you need by that time. You asked if he wanted the ceremony around the year and al half of courting, but Aizetsu was afraid this interested and sweet suitor you were would become a complacent and distant husband. "I can't hurt you or kill you if you decide you already did your part, I can't even let Sekido, Karaku and Urogi do it for me. You ruined me."

He needs to be taken care of, Aizetsu is sensible and even after the wedding you must change the least possible your behavior to not scare him with the idea you will neglect him once you already get what you wanted. As you plan the ceremony you comfort him and show him you are still listening to him, you make sure all his needs are and will be met. He has become rather dependent on you and your promises, and to break them would be breaking Aizetsu's heart irreparably.

You have a peaceful wedding, with an old and slow-speaking priest that because of his age didn't even realize the situation he was in. While Aizetsu felt a bit of pity, he also felt hungry, besides you worked hard to get his taste. He is grateful and loving towards you, his now husband.

BONUS: Gifts and meals for the children!

Daki likes to eat skin, the prettiest, smoothest, cleanest, healthier and palest skin, specially from young women, hopefully ones that smell near their period. She is also very picky, one wrinckle or mole is enough to ruin all the plate for her. She also likes eyes, the left eye is always her favorite, for some reason. For the gifts, she likes expensive and beautiful clothes, make up, essentials oils and jewelry, anything else she will be throwed away.

Zohakuten is very picky as well, he eats humans he deems as bullys, but these must also have certain strengh level, be male, adults, height more than 5'5¼ and smell sweaty. Thank heavens the clones don't fuse that much, because it's so bad he NEVER eats anything else. Giving him gifts is easier, he actually likes wooden toys a lot, more drums, figures, swords, if it's made of wood he likes it. He also loves small animals, let it be miece, kitties, puppies, some snakes and lizards. He likes them alive, give him something dead and you are next.

[sulky-cabbage]

I once made a not so serious post about a possible parallelism between Megumi and Sukuna.

And....

Sorry but how do you keep Megumi trapped inside Sukuna and when Yuji reaches the depths Megumi starts saying this stuff

right after the chapter where Yuji was trying to reach Sukuna and show him the beauty of life without me thinking that what Megumi's saying is a hint to Sukuna's true buried (human?) feelings and maybe what he could never have?? (Or maybe not and he's just the antithesis of Megumi which is another form of parallelism)

Megumi's soul is trapped inside a curse!!!

let me rephrase that...

A "Blessing" is drowned inside the king of curses!!

A "Blessing" that he tried so hard to suppress by killing his love one(s)

This is the exact type of symbolism that sticks in my brain and I just can't ignore it.

Maybe it's a reach but I just can't brush it off!!

Yuji tried to save them both!!

Keep in mind the Ksitigarbha is also a guardian of children and a patron deity of deceased children and aborted fetuses.

Gege did repeat the scene where Satoru meets child Megumi but with Yuji this time!!

Satoru was trying to save Megumi and reach Sukuna but he failed. (Seems like Yuta's method of becoming Satoru also failed)

I didn't take the Yuji being Satoru's parallel seriously before but I think there's some merit to it now.. (especially after that panel of him with child Megumi, Really Gege?)

Yuta was also a gojo parallel (he literally became gojo) and his character was connected to the theme of love as well. (There is also that whole Rika= Geto thing)

Maybe Gege is showing us two types of students? the one that imitates his teacher, and the other one that does it in his own way and actually succeeds??

Reminds me of these images lol

It makes sense that Yuta is the one to carry Satoru's will and kill Kenjaku (a major villain) and maybe even get to bury geto's body and Satoru's body... maybe next to each other?👀

I imagine Shoko will be there too at the burial...

On the other hand we have Yuji dealing with the main villain (the other thing that Satoru wanted to do and failed)..

I can see Yuji having the ability to see the afterlife of others like Sukuna and Maybe he will guide Sukuna and Gojo (and the others?) to go North?

Honestly this correlation between Megumi and Sukuna is interesting I don't know what it is exactly but...

The fact that we found out that Gege planned for Sukuna to possess Megumi from the start but he was told to change it!!??

AND The cursed womb arc (which I think is the heart of the manga) where Sukuna rips Yuji's heart out and says he can live without it but the brat can't..

(Which was a very cool and symbolic way to subtly tell us the difference in their ideals)

I don't know if it still has the double meaning in Japanese... it probably does

The shibuya stuff and everything was to get gojo out of the story so Sukuna can possess Megumi (which is what Gege wanted all along) so he can repeat what happened in the cursed womb arc again but in reverse.

Also..... there's a possible parallel between Megumi killing Tsumiki and Sukuna killing Gojo?????

Gege gave Megumi a sister that's important to him (and literally does nothing with her) makes me think she was made only so she can get killed by Megumi's hands, but not before making her possessed by a woman who's obsessed with teaching Sukuna about love. (Right before his fight with Gojo mind you) and then connecting this love thing with his fight with gojo (possibly Sukuna's important person?) Bringing up yorozu's words again and again and again during the fight!!

He killed gojo while in Megumi's Body!! (He didn't need to do that!! Don't you find it suspicious that right after killing gojo he turns into his true form??????)

He only gets into his true form when he starts fighting Kashimo (who's kinda Satoru's true form in a way) and he uses the weapon Yorozu gave him on Kashimo!!

And then more talk about love ensued !!!!

And love was never brought up again!!

Honestly this whole thing is diabolical I don't know how Gaygay managed to cook this hard !!

I still have no idea how this is gonna end though.. is Sukuna really just evil? Will we ever get his backstory? Will Yuji be able to actually reach him and make Satoru proud?

[old-school-butch]

The shrinking global population

This is something that is getting lots of media attention, especially in anything focused on economics and global growth.

The narrative goes like this: as a country’s wealth grows and living gets more expensive, women get more educated and push back the age of marriage and opt to have fewer kids.

There is an incoming deluge of think pieces and policies too to ‘encourage larger families’ that will range from abortion bans to baby subsidies.

As feminists, we must insist that these discussions focus on the reality of women’s labor as the unpaid resource that is being exploited in our society.

Some key points:

1. Even women working full-time jobs do more housework and childcare than their male partners. This is called the ‘double-shift’ and it’s been observed since the 60s.

2, Women in advanced economies that have more supportive programs for mothers, (where having a child doesn’t mean abandoning your career) have more kids that women in advanced economies that offer no support. In nations where those measures - like parental leave - extend to fathers, dads take on more of the work of raising kids and ultimately... this also leads to more kids. So the patriarchal argument that women’s rights need to end so women will return to being barefoot and pregnant can be rebutted with the simple notion of ‘maybe try making motherhood less shitty for women?’

3. Even without government subsidies, women around the world who have male partners who take on more of the house work and childcare have more children. A specific complaint of South Korean feminists, for example, is that men have not changed their attitudes about the role of wives as domestic servants. Why marry a man and have your workload triple - caring for yourself, him and a baby too? Women are making rational choices.

4. Limiting those choices will be attempted. Bans on birth control, abortion rights will be a theme for the next decade.

5. Appealing to racism and/or weird guilt trips will be attempted. Resist all messaging to ‘save’ whatever ethnic, religious, racial or cultural group you are in by having more children than you want.

6. We must resist another rational choice that will be available for some women - to offload the work of child-raising onto an underclass of women. From using surrogates, maids, or low-paid childcare workers - the ‘solutions’ available to upper/middle-class women will continue to exploit economically vulnerable women as a group. Men already exploit these women as mail-order brides, and this practice will increase since so many countries have aborted so many girl fetuses that there’s an excess population of males. Instead, we need to examine how to make childcare more efficient and extend health care for all families to protect women and children’s health.

7. A shrinking population is always framed as a disaster in the making, but surely some economists can come up with ways to manage this process in a way that makes a bit more room on this planet for plants and animals. Growing populations have driven famines and wars for millennia, surely it’s time for humans to learn to how to create a slower, more stable impact on the earth.