#so you might have to jump through hoops to actually get help

[hidesinthedark]

I feel this is important to mention.

But I checked again, and I think I should clarify. If the building is condemned (usually means it's structurally unsound) then you probably won't be able to move back in. If it's something smaller, the landlord may have to make repairs within a certain time limit after the citation if they don't want fines, and you may have to temporarily move to allow that to happen.

Also important:

most areas have organizations that can provide free legal aid or advice to certain vulnerable groups like people with low income or seniors. If you are having trouble with a landlord and can't afford legal action, try looking up legal aid organizations in your area and see what they cover. Even if they cannot give you representation, they may be able to provide advice, so it might be worth it to try calling.

I know for Illinois illinoislegalaid.org has information on laws and procedures, but I don't know much about other states.

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

hmm you know at first I wasn't sure how to feel about percy just falling in bc in the book it was the first time he actually asked poseidon for help and it was like a big moment for him but actually I might like this better. it's like poseidon saying 'you don't have to earn my love', which is what percy has desperately needed to hear since getting to camp, and was vocalizing to annabeth earlier in the episode. percy is angry but he doesn't WANT to become jaded. every demigod he's met so far is resigned to having to jump through hoops for affection, and percy is right to call it out. athena literally threatens annabeth's life because she embarrassed her. percy makes it clear he has no respect for his father, so by all accounts poseidon should be treating him the same way. but then he's dying, with no respect, no pride, no glory. and his father saves him anyway.

[callahanisms]

hey, can you make Miguel O'Hara X gender neutral reader? Where reader (Miguel lover) accidentally get teleport or glitch in the spider verse where they (the Spidey's) were in the middle of chasing miles? Thank you! <3

hi anon. i'm happy to write this for you.

i wrote this in the form of headcanons rather than a fic. i'm still recuperating from finishing dragon age: inquisition, the succession finale (even if it was like a week ago), my adrenaline high from the across the spiderverse, and the other things i have written already.

some creative additions i made: this is a spidey! reader. i think it naturally made more sense to have a spidey! reader rather than a civilian. i would have to jump through a lot of hoops for a civilian reader to make sense and my brain does not have the capacity to jump through those hoops right now.

you deserved a well needed rest. after all the work you had been pulling to keep the multiverse safe, it was the least you deserved. especially a nap.

what you didn't expect when you went home was to just fall asleep on the couch.

you had gone out with your friends, finally caught up with them, and changing into some comfortable lounging clothes. you had plans to watch the newest 3 hour long ego project the director called a movie. and naturally because it was 3 hours long and an ego project filled with nothing, you ended up falling asleep.

what you forgot to take off was your multiversal band. you always kept it on in case of emergencies.

you also had a habit of rolling around in your sleep a bit. and you don't have the best luck with technology.

naturally your band malfunctions and you're thrown into the portal and transported back to hq.

ideally you didn't want to be falling through the space. but you were. and that woke you up.

"fuck! fuck! fuck!"

you had no web shooters. why would you? who sleeps with web shooters anyways? (actually there are some spider people that might)

and the worst part is, no one seemed to notice that you were falling. because they were busy doing something else.

when you squinted your eyes, you saw what was happening: every single spider-person that was at hq was chasing after one singular spider-person.

you didn't know who it was but from the looks of it, it looked like a young spider-person. someone who was only a kid.

if only you weren't just free falling-

"(y/n)! what are you doing here!" a familiar voice exclaims.

he caught you in midair, swinging safely to the nearest platform that wasn't stampeding with spider people and other variations of spider totems to set you down.

you took in his appearance. his hair was disheveled and his fangs were poking out. you also noticed his talons were out too and his breathing was heavy.

"i...i was teleported here on accident." you explain. "what is going on?"

"i can't talk right now. go back home! it's supposed to be your day off!" he gives you a small kiss on your cheek and prepares himself to jump off the platform.

"miguel, who is that?"

"miles morales. he disrupted a canon event and now the multiverse is at stake! and we're trying to prevent him from causing another one."

"okay well did you try talking to him?"

"of course!" he exclaims, turning to look at you. "it's the first thing i did. but he doesn't want to listen. now i have to catch him before he disappears!"

he doesn't even wait for you to respond before jumping off. as much as miguel loved you and loved talking to you and cherished your presence, he had to catch up to miles. he had to stop him.

he had to save the multiverse.

you were left with a sinking pit in your stomach. something told you that today was not the day to take off.

but first you needed to find lyla or margo to help with your watch so you can grab your suit and equipment and come back.

[sanasanakun]

I think my favorite part of the dlc’s final boss is how it (can) directly mirror your Tarnished, and by extension, their relationship with Ranni. Obviously, this is coming from me, your resident Ranni glazer who will make everything about her if I can, so please understand this is my interpretation. 

My interpretation is that Miquella/Radahn act as a foil to Ranni/Tarnished, specifically when it comes to the themes of love, consent, and freewill. Now, I know it’s up in the air about how consenual the pact between Radahn and Miquella is. Personally, I see it as non-consensual; Miquella resurrected and controls a puppet of Radahn and/or bewitched him to be his “promised consort.” Given the theme of control with Miquella, I don’t think FromSoft would turn that around on us at the last second. Radahn’s situation is meant to be the final nail in the coffin; a demonstration of what Miquella’s “love” exactly means. Total control over one’s entire self and mind. Anyway, I digress, let’s get into how I see their situation mirroring, and acting as the antithesis, to Ranni and Tarnished. 

First, we’ll examine Miquella and Radahn. Miquella is presented almost throughout the entire game as a beloved figure. He is literally called “Miquella the Kind,” and his actions at the Haligtree paint him as an even more heroic figure. A demi-god who wants to help the weak, the oppressed, and anyone in between who has been scorned by the Golden Order. As we discover in the DLC, Miquella wants to create an “Age of Compassion.” But there’s always a catch, and Miquella’s plan is no exception. Why? Because his new age would remove the free will of everyone by giving him total control of how they feel, act, etc. He’ll make them happy and at peace because they’ll have no choice; they’ll have no self. This is exemplified in literal form with Radahn. The relationship between the two brothers presents itself as a one-sided obsession on Miquella’s part. Though we don't know a ton about them together, I think it’s safe to theorize Radahn didn’t willingly go along with Miquella’s plan. Radahn is canonically a fan of the Golden Order given his admiration of Godfrey and his father, Radagon. I can’t see him wanting to disrupt the current way of things. Plus, I don’t believe Maleania and Radahn would stage a fake war just to get Radahn into a position where he could be resurrected via Mohg. Too many hoops to jump through, so Occam’s Razor says Radahn rejected Miquella. 

Now that’s great and all, but the real meat I want to analyze comes from the actual boss fight, or more specifically, the twos’ body language during the fight. Radahn is an empty shell. He doesn’t have any dialouge aside from small grunts. He doesn’t address us at all, which is entirely unlikely for how he’s been described. He’s a ferocious warlord who values the strength of both his allies and enemies. At the very least, he would address someone as prolific and talented as the PC Tarnished. Yet, he doesn’t. Radahn is literally there to act as “the muscle;” he is the strong and powerful lord that Miquella admired him to be. However, by making Radahn only act like this, Miquella has erased the true essence of what made Radahn. He lacks his soul. Miquella might be the more interesting of the two when it comes to body language. I think Miquella’s theme of control really shines with how he places himself on Radahn during the battle. He is literally draped over Radahn with his arms wrapped around his neck. Obviously, at first glance this is meant to imitate an embrace, solidifying the two as both a team and lovers. Yet, Miquella’s position doubles in meaning when considering his need to control. The arms could represent a collar, with Miquella acting as the leash. His hovering gives off a “helicopter” vibe (for a lack of a better term). While playing I called him a “helicopter parent,” comparing him to where they are constantly looking over your shoulder and trying to direct you. Essentially, Miquella is caging Radahn in his embrace, revealing his need to control the situation and Radahn himself. Miquella is the personification of control; he won’t allow free will to happen because he thinks it causes too much pain and uncertainties. And Radahn, he embodies the fate of those who would live under the Age of Compassion; he is a puppet. Specifically, he is Miquella’s puppet in both battle and love. He doesn’t have a choice in the matter at all. 

So, how is this the antithesis to our beloved blue wife and the Tarnished? Ranni doesn’t appear to help the Tarnished during their fight with the duo, which I’ve seen a few complain about. While I would love to fight alongside my support princess (and I have downloaded the mod lol), I think Ranni appearing would undermine the character FromSoft has established and her relationship with the Tarnished. Ranni is very hands off. She gives her vassals the tools to work with and then tells them to do what they wish with it. She never forces you to do anything you don’t want to. When you confront her about her role in the death of Godwyn, she willingly admits it and then asks you if you’d like to pledge service to her. She doesn’t say, “You know my secrets, therefore you will be in my service so I can keep an eye on you.” Instead, it’s a choice; a choice for someone far below her in class and power, but she gives it to you nonetheless. For Ranni, the ability to choose and live the way you desire is incredibly important. She seems to dislike outside forces messing with the ability to expereince life (as she says feel, see, taste, etc). 

Therefore, in the final battle with Miquella and Radahn, Ranni is there with you via the tools she’s provided and the faith she has in you (you can interpret this as her blessing with the “we will see each other once more”). She doesn’t need to be hovering over you, arms wrapped around your neck; she trusts the Tarnished above all else to succeed and fight for her. But should they choose not to, she’ll be heartbroken but she won’t stop you. As for the Tarnished, our character is not a shell of a person. They are someone teeming with ambition and the will to fight for their chosen successor. They fight because they want to be there and challenge whatever comes to face them; they don’t need Ranni telling them “go fight Miquella and Radahn for me pls.” 

Their “Age of the Dark Moon” also is the antithesis to Miquella’s “Age of Compassion.” Whereas his is about control, Ranni wants to remove all outer god influence from the world. She wants people to experience their lives without the intervention of any god; to experience life on their own terms, whether they want otherworldly guidance or not. She literally takes her order and leaves the planet (?) with it and you. 

Ok, that’s enough of me rambling about whatever the fuck comes to my sleep deprived mind. I have a flight to catch in three hours, so I’m gonna leave it here. In closing, Ranni good I love her very much mwah<3

[nethhiri]

Chapter 55: Flatline

Warnings: references to rape, violence, murder (ish)

Curiously, you woke up without the familiar cage of Kid's arms around you. Stretching out, you could feel that Killer wasn't beside you either. It took a few seconds in your groggy state to notice, but the shower was running and there was a fast-paced rhythmic thumping sound followed by a string of strangled moans. Oh. While this normally would have encouraged you to go join them, you were understandably not interested in sex in the least bit. Physically you were fully healed and, while you could participate in that aspect, mentally you were not there yet. 

You thought about waiting for them to finish, though depending on how long they had been in there already, that could take a while. It was also a reminder of something that you didn't want to dwell on, another way you weren't the same person you were several weeks ago. Killer had been thoughtful enough to bring some of your own clothes to the room for you, so you grabbed them and tossed them on. It was a few minutes of fumbling with where the holes were on things and how to figure out if they were right-side-out or not before you could get them on. The shoes weren't as hard as you thought they would be. There wasn't any underwear, which was odd, but he probably just forgot.

You got to the hallway and had to pause, remembering where everything was and trying to imagine spatially where it would be. You didn't get far before there was a wet nose prodding under your arm. Mini slid her head under your hand to guide you to the deck. There were people on deck, you could hear them talking, getting slightly more hushed when they noticed you there. The majority of them hadn't seen you at all since you had been back. The sound of someone running and feeling of arms wrapping around you alerted you to the presence of Quincy. 

"Y/N! It's so good to see you out." She squeezed you once and let you go. "How are you doing?"

"Probably better than most would be."

"Yeah... If you need to talk or anything... I mean I'm sure Kid and Killer have it covered but..."

"Thanks, Quincy. I'll..." You were about to brush her off, but it might actually be nice to talk to someone else. "I'll keep that in mind." 

She bounded off to complete her duties. You didn't really have anything to do. You didn't even know where you were going. You could go to the infirmary, though it wouldn't do any good to be there. Mini helped you wander around until you found yourself leaning against her, sitting in the skull at the ship's bow. It felt good to walk around, and even better to breathe in the fresh, salted sea air. The sound of the bow cutting through waves was calming. You had a lot of bottled anxiety given your new normal and you hated it. This was the first time in your life that you weren't confident in anything that you did and you were very unsure where you were headed. With the loss of your log pose, you had no way of tracking down the last person on your hit list. If you were lucky, maybe you could torture it out of Warthin. At least you had that to look forward to. 

"Mind if I join you?"

The voice made you jump. 

"Sorry!" 

"For a big guy, you're light on your feet."

There was a faint jingle as the hoops on Heat's belt dinked together when he sat. "I didn't mean to be." 

The two of you sat there in silence. You continued to half-meditate, yet there was something prickling at the edge of your mind. It feels like I'm being watched. It was such a strange feeling and it was beginning to unnerve you. At the same time, you thought that you could tell where it was coming from.

"Heat? Are you staring at me?" 

"O-oh. I didn't think you could tell." Heat paused. "Wait. How can you tell?" 

"I... don't know." 

"It's just... you look so sad. I've never seen you like this." 

Hearing that, coming from the saddest looking guy to ever do it, made you snort. "Yeah, well, when you've been assaulted and permanently maimed, let's see how well you handle it." You thought about how little you knew of Heat and his scarred smile. In reality, he probably had been through something similar. Maybe that's why he was eternally sad-looking. Maybe you had more in common than you thought. You were instantly guilty. "I didn't mean that. I wasn't thinking." It was silent and you thought he might have left.

He laughed, despite what you thought was a fairly mean attack. "Now I know you aren't doing well. You? Apologizing for being mean?"

That made the ghost of a smile appear on your face. 

Heat rested a reassuring hand on your knee. "I like it when you're mean to me anyway." 

You were grateful for Heat trying to make it seem like a normal day even though your comment probably did wound him deep down.

"It won't be permanent." Heat scooted next to you and put his arm around your shoulders, resting his head on yours and giving you a side hug. "Kid is going to fix you up, just like he did for me. Maybe he'll even give you an upgrade, too." 

"I hope it's not fire breath or one of us will have to leave," you deadpanned.

"That's the Y/N we know and love." Heat ruffled the hair at the top of your head and patted it before getting up. He did have other duties to attend, but he wanted to check on you first. "And then when you feel up to it, you can try to fix the other one with your devil fruit."

"I already tried." A frown settled on your face. "I can't make something from nothing."

Heat was confused by this. "What do you mean 'from nothing'?" 

"I need at least a part of something to restore the rest of it. I can't create something out of thin air." You sighed. You really didn't want to be thinking about this, which is why you came out here in the first place. "And that eye is long gone by now." It had been over a week since Warthin had gouged it out of you and who knows what happened to it afterwards. 

Now Heat understood. You didn't even know they had your eye. He told Killer that he thought it was a bad idea to keep that from you, but obviously he didn't listen. "Y/N... " Heat tore his eyes away from you. He wouldn't be able to tell you if he watched your face.

You gave him a puzzled look.

His face was one of concern and perhaps regret. He was silent.

"Heat?" You prompted, suspicion evident in your voice.

He didn't want to get Killer in trouble like this, though he did make it clear he thought it was wrong to keep your eye from you. 

"Heat, tell me," This time your tone was serious. It left no room for him to back out of whatever he was trying to tell you.

"Please don't get angry." He knew those words would have no hold over you. 

Your heart sunk, knowing whatever he was about to say was most assuredly, going to make you angry. 

Perspiration broke out on Heat's skin after seeing the dark change in your expression. He couldn't backtrack now. And he couldn't lie to you. Maybe he could frame it in a positive way to soften the blow. "It's actually good news when you think about it-"

"HEAT, JUST FUCKING TELL ME." The anxiety of what he had to say was eating at you and you could already feel your temper flaring. 

"Your eye is fine. It's here. We have it."

"What?" Venom dripped from your voice and you stood up.

Heat backed up a step as you walked towards him. "Warthin sent it to us along with the video transponder snail." 

"So you've had it this entire time," your voice cracked as it boiled with anger, "and you all let me think I would never see again." 

"That would never be true, even if it really was gone. Kid can fix anything."

"So that's it? He kept it from me so that he could make me completely dependent on him? Held it hostage so that he could be a knight in shining armor huh?" 

"No! Killer thought-"

"Killer!?" Kid had done some stupid stuff before that made you mad, but Killer had really never done anything that hurt you. It was hard to believe that Killer could do something so cruel. 

"He thought it would be best to wait until you could heal. He was worried that you would fuck up your eye if you tried to mess with it too soon!" 

"That is not a choice that he gets to make." You stepped to Heat until your chest was flush with his body. "Do you know what was the most traumatic thing for me?" You paused. "It wasn't being force fed every day. It wasn't getting beaten. It wasn't having a permanent brand carved into my skin. It wasn't being raped over and over and over again, not even when it was broadcasted, not even when it was multiple people, and not even when a fucking beer bottle was shoved up my cunt. It was getting my fucking eye ripped out and wondering if the last  memory I had of Kid would be him getting shot in the head, wondering if he was alive or not. Or if all my memories of Killer would slowly be replaced by the last face I saw, the face of someone I despise. I was more worried about what you would all think of me if you found me than if you were actually coming at all. What would I be without my eyes? What worth would I have? And the whole time I've been back, I've been stuck in an endless loop of these fears. I have been tormented every fucking second of every fucking day that once you all realized that I was useless, the only reason to keep me here would be to fuck me, because that's about all the worth I have right now. And even then, why would you want to, after seeing what he did to me?"

You shoved Heat aside in your anger and made a furious beeline back to Kid's cabin. Your throat was pained from yelling and the way the air was cold against your cheeks made it known to you that tears were streaming down them. It was unknown if it was your ominous aura that kept people out of your way, or the haki you didn't even know you possessed leading you in a clear path. Even in your rage, you didn't want to harm either one of them. That was the shitty part about catching feelings. It made you soft. Before, you wouldn't hesitate to start swinging. That didn't mean you weren't going to go apeshit though. You kicked the cabin door open so hard you could hear the frame splinter. 

"WHAT THE FUCK, ROTTEN?"

"SHUT UP, KID!" You and Kid were both shocked at how vicious you sounded. You could sense Killer somewhere in the room, taking a millisecond to locate him. You pointed at him. "GIVE ME MY FUCKING EYE!

"Y/N-"

"And don't say a fucking word because I don't want to hear anything you have to say right now!" You were livid and it bled through in your voice the way it cracked and was slightly raspy from screaming. 

This was a complete betrayal. How could they do this to you and claim they loved you? You cried in their arms and bared your heart to them. They knew how much torment you had endured and all the fears that seeped into your mind. They consoled you and reassured you that you would see again, all while having the ability to do so right that instant, yet still withholding that information. How could they have been extending your anguish purposefully like that? It was not an accident or a misunderstanding. It was a deliberate choice to keep you from seeing. The heart you bared to them, that loved them, that only kept beating for them, they held it in their hands and crushed it. 

Killer silently led you to the infirmary, where he had placed the jar with your eye in it on one of the highest shelves. He could almost imagine a hole burning through his chest with the way you were projecting vitriol towards him. He could feel it flowing freely from you. He could hear it in your heated breaths as you followed him. Killer knew there was a possibility that you would be pissed. He didn't think you would be this mad. He expected to be yelled at. The way you were completely silent after you had screamed at him was unsettling. He wanted you to say something, even if it was just more yelling. His own heart was sinking, realizing that this might have been the wrong call. 

Kid followed the both of you, also freaked out by the way you lit into him and were now clearly brimming with wrath. Part of him was there to back up Killer, and by how unpredictable you were being, he didn't know if that meant physically or with words, or emotionally. He could see from behind you, how tightly your fists were clenched, and the short moments where your devil fruit flickered to life within them. The hair on Kid's neck stood on end as he realized that he and Killer were within an arm's reach and could peel their skin off with a simple touch, if you really wanted to. It looked like you were fighting to contain it. 

You heard the sound of glass sliding on the counter to rest in front of you. After making sure your hands were clean, you felt around in the jar until something slimy bumped your hand. Scooping it out, you held it, feeling around for the various attachments it should have. There was no foul stench from the jar. That was a decent sign that your eye hadn't decayed yet. The harsh smell of formalin burned the inside of your nose and throat instead. The tissue was dead, but preserved. You could work with that. It was heavier than you thought it would be, as you ran water over it. If you put it back in as is, the formalin would give you a chemical burn on the inside of your skull, which may actually be preferable to whatever you were feeling currently. 

Taking a deep breath you tilted your head back, separating the eyelids on the left and dangling your eye above the opening. You lowered it back into its original setting, using your devil fruit to part the newly forming scar tissue that had filled the empty space your eye's absence had left behind. Your power worked at the neural tissue, reforming bonds with the nerves in your eye. The foreign feeling of your brain being altered made you lightheaded and ill. As the nerves in your eye made connections, light, without color or shape, became visible to you. It was like someone was shining a light through fog. Your breath caught in your throat with hope. You were afraid to breathe until it was done. Shape came next, in the form of blobs in varying shapes of gray. Tinges of color crept into the blobs and they began to sharpen. The colors became more saturated and the blobs turned into more recognizable shapes. The readjustment for your brain made it ache. Vision was not unfamiliar to it. The portions used for vision had begun to be allocated to other functions, so reversing that did take time. It was a soreness akin to using a muscle that hadn't been used in a long time. When the shapes became clear and the color had fully returned, it was still slightly off. Holding your hand in front of you, it looked sideways even though you knew it was straight. You rotated your eye in its socket until everything was going in the right direction, then you healed the musculature around the orb, securing it in place and making it able to move. You could let your breath out. You made several slow blinks, moistening the long-dry eye. You could see.

You turned cautiously, stopping, unsure if you wanted to look at either of them right now. Continuing the turn, part of you was relieved and you wanted to cry tears of joy that you could see again, that you could see them again. The other part of you was utterly mangled, seething, unwilling to give them the time of day. Your newly restored vision only settled on each of them for a millisecond before you breezed past them, yanking Kid's pistol from his belt as you did so. Whatever they said to you as you went, you didn't hear it and you didn't care to. Right now, even though you wanted to really let them have it, you didn't want to say something you would regret. The feelings you had for them held you back. The same feelings are what made you so livid in the first place. If you didn't love them, their actions wouldn't have hurt you this badly. 

So you would do the next best thing, take it out on someone who really deserved it. 

Mini followed closely behind you as you stormed out on deck and down into the bottom level of the ship. The bubbling anger that was roiling within you was laced with a certain malicious giddiness. Finally. Finally, you were going to give that sick piece of human garbage what he earned. The sound of several heavy footsteps followed you. You ignored them. When you slipped into the ship's dungeon, you slammed the door behind you and sealed it with your devil fruit. The heavy footsteps stopped at the door for a time, and eventually walked away. 

You turned your attention to the man at the far end of the room, one you would never mistake for another. Your steps were solid and intentional as you stalked towards him. His eyelids were sewn open and he was swollen with joints at unnatural angles. In spite of your hostility towards them, you couldn't help but feel your lips tug up in a smile at what was surely Kid and Killer's work. It was incredibly satisfying to see Warthin sagging in pain. He recoiled at the sight of you, appearing as if he was trying to disappear into the wall behind him. You raised the pistol as you neared, firing one shot into his abdomen, reloading, and doing the same thing, then again, and again, until you had one bullet left. With that one, you ended your walk by pressing the barrel into his eye. You cocked it, letting him get a good look at the person who was going to end him.

And pulled the trigger.

Next

Tag List: @bbnbhm @nocturnalrorobin

[olderthannetfic]

Oh great, everyone is all in on the ~all the kids who think they have DID are wrroooong~ thing.

Im sorry but none of you saying that are helping the community or plural folks as a whole. Even if you are also a system or have a CDD.

For DID *alone* the barrier to diagnosis is very high- arguably as high as Autism and according to one study it takes an average of 10 years in therapy to be diagnosed because so many doctors are ill-informed or refuse to diagnose it/believe it exists despite all the evidence due to the shadow of the satanic panic. The goddamn REASON people are diagnosed in their 30s and 40s isnt because you *need* to wait that long its because they look for horses before zebras and refuse to do anything else most of the time and fuck us over!!! Many of us report symptoms -the same fucking symptoms- since teen&young adult age or earlier!!!

The diagnosis has many of the same drawbacks of any other major diagnosis like autism and schizospec stuff where you can lose custody of children or the ability to adopt, face unofficial discrimination from doctors or employers or people you try to get accommodations from with it, and could even have your drivers license taken away or have to jump through hoops to keep it- and more issues!

Pursuing a paper diagnosis is not for everyone and the plural community for decades has been built on this- even before the exclusion criteria were added to the DSM and ICD that kicked a huge chunk of us of us off even getting one despite being systems (which is a good thing to be clear! If its not impairing or distressing it shouldnt be pathologized!). We have folk therapy and dyi resources and we have a lot of them for a reason.

And thats not even getting into how therapy has historically severely abused our community and how the only accepted treatment path is pursuing the fusion into one person (which has a hilariously low success rate that for anything else wouldnt be accepted as a vaild treatment) and not everyone wants that or is helped by that.

Most of us are never going to be ABLE see useful therapy or a paper dx, so we use the community to find resources and community and it FUCKING WORKS. We built our community with our own blood, sweat, and tears because no one else could or would fucking help us. And it WORKS.

Attacking these people who self-dx ONLY ever causes splash damage on the very people this kind of behavior claims to protect.

And like. If someone reports an autonomous entity that talks in their mind and takes over their body sometimes its... rather obvious they belong in the 'having an autonomous entity that talks in your mind and takes over your body sometimes' community regardless of anything else. NB4 people say psychosis; Schneiderian First-Rank symptoms are actually more indicative of DID than schizophrenia in this manner according to studies- but schizospec people with persistent personlike voices are known to benefit from the same exercises you'd do if they were ''''real'''' alters and are included in the plural community anyway (which btw doesnt require a dx- calling yourself plural or a system is not self diagnosing its an identity label the community created OUTSIDE of diagnosis criteria FOR this very purpose of self-ID).

While yes, we would agree many people say DID For Sure when they might want to hesitate there- we do NOT doubt they are plural. We just wonder if they were told the ONLY way they could be plural/a system is through DID and that is why they are saying they have it. Which... yeah thats not so great. HOWEVER informed self-dx is fine provided they havent been fed that kind of misinformation.

The solution there though is to just spread the real information about the breadth of plural experiences and people will feel less pressured. Simple as that.

Never EVER telling them its really just something else, you dont know yourself- you cant know something that extreme when something that extreme is EASIER to tell tbh because its such a unique and intense experience.

--

[stripedstarsblueflags]

i didn't win the wheel: episode 8

(i made a post earlier as a preface as to what to expect in this IDWTW, check it out if you missed it)

Alex [leading the intro of the video]: "....Logan and I, we're here in honor of Wimbledon to play *turns to a detached and uninterested Logan* table tennis. Because nothing says Wimbledon like table tennis."

Logan [finally looking up right at him, starting to laugh]: "I think that's like... disrespectful..."

[they both laugh]

oh, alex. alex albon. you beautiful human being you. something i've mentioned earlier that i'm going to get into now: their dynamic is fluid and compatible and gentle, but it's hard to exactly fit them into roles because they switch back and forth. there might be two primary positions, but they flip back and forth between them easily depending on what the other needs. so Role A might have this sort of gentle leadership and reassuring presence, guiding the other through the task and getting them to engage with the game even as they're unfocused and overstimulated. Role B is a little lost, too in their head, unable to focus and unable to engage until they find themselves prompted by the reminder that oh, it's not just a game, it's a game with him. but it's impossible to put either of them down as always A or always B because earlier in the series we've seen logan help alex stabilize and recenter himself through his hyperactivity and now, more and more often, we're seeing alex coax logan out of his little shadowy corner. and alex does it in a way that even though it's an unspoken but obvious instruction (get your head in the game etc.) it's so personal it actually looks intimate, even on camera. the way he waits til the end of the sentence (while logan tries to pretend he isn't there) and then turns to face logan, lifting his arm to make a point but also opening up his shoulders toward logan and straight up leaning forward with that smile. he's tilting his entire face away from the camera so he can smile it logan, so he can say with his eyes "i know we're just doing this stupid challenge but i want you to know i'm not trying to drag you through it, i know you they're making you jump through these hoops and it's not fun and it's condescending and insulting, but i'm here and we're gonna do it and i'm gonna make this fun for you." and logan looks up and meets alex's eyes and they're so on each others' levels that these connections happen within a split second, almost easy to miss but when you catch a glimpse of it i feel like i'm intruding through the lens of the camera...

no reason to include this other than i felt like citing my sources (it's written all over their faces)

generally underwhelmed by william's admin choices for these videos. not only are the challenges really unoriginal, but they're also really simple. there's not a whole lot of challenge and there's also not a whole lot to go off. even ferrari adding a blindfold to everything ends up with better content than this. it should be obvious– mclaren admin has this down– but what makes the content popular isn't the score of the stupid table tennis game, it's the interaction. it's the dynamic. one of the reasons we're seeing alex go so obviously out of his way to bring logan into the picture is because admin has given them basically nothing to work with, so there isn't a backtrack of this is fun! this is interesting! this is amusing! to distract us. there's just alex wanting logan to have fun with him and logan not being in a situation to want or even be able to have fun.

[Pretty uneventful game over, Alex wins]

Alex: "5-3, to the champion, it's the– uh, this was a great victory for me and I'm, I'm very happy, I–"

Logan 😊😊: "Does that mean you could win Wimbledon?"

sorry if you ever thought you were babygirl for alex albon, logan sargeant has blown you out of the water. this is the cutest thing i have ever seen. this is how my dog looks at me when i come home from college.

ahhh this is nice to see. these are the roles i was talking about earlier. this is a pretty good callback to episode 5, but once again vice versa– then alex was still feeling hyper and silly from the game and logan was the one both guiding the activity and kind of letting alex calm down on his own time and still engaging him, now we've swapped. logan is almost looking at the camera now– he's almost doing the actual media presentation part of his job as opposed to the cap covering his face, head down, body language less expressive than a statue. only he can't make himself look at the camera for more than a few seconds because he's looking at alex.

he isn't even moving the video along. he's just straight up interrupting. alex has to due some mental and verbal gymnastics later on to get the activity back to the wheel-spinning part but still makes a point to segue from what logan's yapping about to the wheel instead of cutting him off completely.

also, round of applause for whatever moment between this video and last video where they've both become totally at one with the "awkward slanted shoulder one arm on the table so they can inconspicuously face each other" pose because unless they're actively swinging a paddle that's pretty much their default for this video. because that's the game for them. the fact that they're with each other.

i think i have one more episode to do. i'm still going to do it, because leaving this unfinished would somehow feel worse, as if none of this ever happened. but it fucking did. it was here and it's on video and alex fucking remembers and i'm not going to give up on immortalizing these moments and what they might have meant just because james consonants somebody wants to erase them.

[itsbansheebitch]

I hate modern shopping

I hate how we are practically forced to buy clothes online now. I want to hold it in my hands. I hate how cheap on low quality clothes are today. I hate that production rates and profit come before people's wellbeing.

I hate Shein for brainwashing us into thinking a shirt should cost less than $5 when it's been clear for a while that their products are usually chock full of lead and new allegations say Shein is using actual slave labor

I hate Temu for bringing expected prices even lower and selling negative ion (which might protect you from 5G but certainly doesn't help on the radioactive front) items. For selling cheap garbage and trying to tell us they're a company.

I hate Shein and Temu for basically forcing underage influencers to take sponsorships so they can get out of bad financial situation.

I hate Amazon, but not their workers

I hate Etsy, but not their shop owners

I hate modern shopping. I'm tired of the labor violations. I'm tired of the bs and the hoops you have to jump through to find a company that doesn't use child labor.

I hate that pay is bad enough that people are forced to work for people like Shein, Temu, Amazon, etc.

I hate that we aren't paid enough to buy even mediocre quality products. I hate that about ~19 people for every 10,000 in America is homeless and 40% of homeless people have jobs. I hate that we are considered entitled when all we want is an apartment and to maybe be treated like human beings at work.

Anyway here's my personal good but expensive recommendation:

Sheep Inc clothing will last decades at least. They have a repair service which you can use for life.

This isn't a paid ad I just like their business model

Btw, don't even get me started on Nestle

[aclowntiny]

How Seventeen Act Around Their Crush (Gender Neutral)

& my first work for Seventeen too 💎 hope you enjoy this Carats 🥰

S.Coups

♡ You may not figure out that he likes you immediately, but let me just start by saying Mr. Choi Seungcheol would be THE SWEETEST suitor to you!!!

♡ He looks at you with the fondest smile whenever you guys talk, nodding attentively & making tons of mental notes of what you tell him.

♡ Will absolutely use that in conversations later, like you mention your pet so he asks if they would like this thing he saw or he was at that café near where they live & hey, didn't you say that was your favorite spot?

♡ Anyone who makes you sad WILL FEEL HIS WRATH. Even if you don’t see it, he’ll give them a look that signifies their impending doom 🥰

♡ You’re the only person that can make him laugh as hard as you do- cherish his happiness as he does yours 🥺

♡ Also, you’ll pretty much be able to get away with murder. Behavior that the other members could never get away with slides by from you like it’s nothing. Teasing him & addressing him more casually/softly is a special privilege that is yours & yours alone.

♡ If you do anything potentially risky/dangerous, expect to have Seungcheol hovering around you at the ready to swoop in & help you!

♡ He’s more energetic around you, wanting to show you his bright side & how well he plays with the members, not just the tough leader side people may think of. He wants you to know there’s a softer side to him. Also, expect lots of heart eyes if you take care of him & the other members too, like it’ll just make his day if you show your doting side so pls indulge him lots you might get to see smiley affectionate Seungcheol if you do ☺️

♡ Once you get close he’ll greet you with the warmest hug everrrr 🥺

♡ Your support means the world to him, so he’s always expressing how grateful he is when you’re in his company.

Jeonghan

♡ You're going to have moments where you question it, where he leaves your head positively spinning because he's Yoon Jeonghan, but yeah, you'll be able to figure it out.

♡ The way he looks at you alternates between a soft, joyous smile & a mischievous smirk, it all depends on the interaction you're having.

♡ Subconsciously plays with his hair a lot around you because he wants to look good but it also has the side effect of looking soooo flirty not that he would complain if he really thought about it

♡ Playfully nudges you a lot & teases you, little things like asking 'say/do that again' whenever you say something funny or do something that you're a little flustered/shy over.

♡ Elaborate hoops jumped through to learn things about you, like he'll casually bring up a show he knows you'll have seen so he can talk about the popular ships within so he can ask what you think about romance or what relationship dynamics you enjoy.

♡ Incredibly caring though, like if you mention using something a lot he'll buy some & throw it in his bag to whip out for you or offer you his jacket when it's cold!!!

♡ Claps for anything you do, especially if it's out of your comfort zone past teasing, like an actual effort for you. His smile is so genuine in that moment, you really feel his empathy.

♡ Alwaysss generous & sharing with you, totally the type to surprise you with something that made him think of you & anything on his plate is yours to swipe & only yours.

♡ Tries to convince you to join his side in every game because he needs you to win even though he totally doesn't, he just wants you to rule at his side 😏

♡ Jeonghan is the guy who purposely steals someone else’s seat when they get up so he can sit next to you & gradually scoots closer during the whole movie 🩵

Joshua

♡ Joshua may accidentally have you gaslighting yourself because does he like you or is it just a very unfortunate or fortunate ;) coincidence that he acts like a total romance lead every time you see him? (Spoiler alert: it is not.)

♡ He introduces himself so politely, saying how he hasn't met you before but is really happy to meet you, & wowza does this man know how to make eye contact. That & his sweet smile are already swoon-worthy & he hasn't even started trying yet GDVSCS

♡ Any time there's a split decision, Joshua asks the others 'hey, why not let (y/n) decide?', taking advantage of any bickering or confusion to subtly give you some power. He hopes you see that way that he values your decision & wants to learn about you.

♡ Joshua is always making sure you’re comfortable, telling you no pressure whenever he asks something of you or if you seem anxious. The first one to remind you that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to especially if it’s just for a silly game or something!

♡ That’s probably how he breaks the touch barrier, reaching over & drawing a soothing circle on your back with his hand while comforting you or giving you a hug 🥲

♡ Also, moves you when you’re walking, pulling you a bit closer to him, as a bike goes by & tells you to be more careful so you don’t get hit ok?

♡ After you tell him your favorite song, he learns it in secret & just starts playing it on his guitar at the next gathering so he can see your surprised smile!

♡ Guaranteed he will text you to make sure you got home safe if he wasn’t there dropping you off 😭

♡ So nice if you ever apologize to him, he’ll repeatedly tell you you’re cool & probably say something like ‘you could never make me mad!!!’

♡ He’ll go between reenacting your favorite meme with you to dropping sweet words like ‘that’s why you’re my favorite, you get me 😌’ as if it was NOTHING

Jun

♡ Your first time meeting Jun, you'll just think he's super duper outgoing because he comes right up to you with a big smile on his face & introduces himself so wow, total social butterfly amiright? You may clue in on his interest if you manage to see that all that perking up is a direct result of your presence 👀

♡ Like, he could be sitting totally quiet & checked out, then in you walk & he practically bolts up, deadpan expression melting into a wide smile as he comes up to say hi.

♡ The first person to ask what you want to do whenever you visit the guys. Jun wants you to feel welcome not only with him but with the people he loves most!

♡ To break the ice, he shows you funny pictures of the other members & shares some laughs with you over them :3

♡ When he gets elected to go on the next snack run, he asks if you want to come for a breather from the crowd, then when you tag along he points out a bunch of city sights, helping you see a regular street like it's new again. All Jun can think about is how many other places he'd like to walk with you.

♡ Absolutely the type to pick a random little road flower & hand it to you 🥺

♡ He isn't super-duper-over-the-top-touchy-feely, but will definitely lean/fall on you when you guys are laughing super hard. May also pull the ol grab your hand to look at your nails/ring trick.

♡ If you don’t already speak Chinese, he’ll teach you the funniest sayings & maybe even things to say about the other guys too 👀 only you & Minghao get to know hehe

♡ Every time pictures get taken, Jun ends up next to you because he wants to see what you guys look like together please protect him!

♡ When you impress him, you’ll know because he looks at you with such awe & the cutest little wooow 🥹

Hoshi

♡ You're going to figure it out eventually whether it's his demeanor shift or the massive heart eyes he's always giving you.

♡ At first he's shy, hanging back a little, smiling & glancing at the ground with cute little nods at what you say that are just enough to encourage you- after all, he's not awkward, just comes across a little introverted.

♡ He quickly becomes comfortable as you chat & play with the guys more, & once you blend into the group he opens up like a wild sunflower, suddenly trying to impress you at any chance.

♡ Insists you be on his side/team for any of said icebreaker games under the pretense of wanting the new person or not wanting xyz other member but it's really just him wanting to sit by you 🥺

♡ Will do literally anything you ask. Go get you a water bottle because you don't want to get up? Done. Dare him to eat something weird before you do? Sure. You want him to teach you that ridiculous move you just saw on screen? Well, he'll sure as heck try!

♡ Honestly, he probably likes doing choreography bits hoping you'll think he looks cool, glancing over at you with a toothy smile as he does them. 100 percent will invite you to dance with him.

♡ From being so shy when you first met, comfortable Soonyoung will tentatively break touch barriers, starting with playful nudges & gradually working up to grabbing your hand to lead you places.

♡ Highkey this man wants to fall in love with his best friend, so you better believe you’re getting pulled into some ANTICS 😤 you’re going to become his ride or die!

♡ Even when he’s tired he seeks you out, telling you that time with you still feels like me time to him ☺️

♡ This man is all smiles when you’re around, trust me, you’re his sunshine ☀️

Wonwoo

♡ He's pretty good at hiding it from you if he wants to, but oh boy do the guys get a laugh because Wonwoo is never like this with anyone but you.

♡ He's an introverted guy, right? Quiet. Not unfriendly by any means, but not exactly outgoing either. Doesn't like the spotlight. So tell the guys why he is approaching you right away trying to get to know you 🤡

♡ What a menace, this guy probably immediately apologizes for the other guys, throwing them under the bus just to get to see you laugh.

♡ Wonwoo pretty much takes you under his wing from there, leading you through the chaos, introducing you to anyone else you don't know, & all the while subtly laying a claim to you bold.

♡ He'll make jokes about you, too, but only things he's seen you laugh at. Like if you tell him your family's had a running joke about you being clumsy for a long time with mirth in your eyes, then ok, he's going to teasingly tell you don't drop that & the like.

♡ Recommends things he thinks you’ll like, whether it’s books, songs, or a movie he saw recently. It helps him figure you out & gives you common ground to bond over later!

♡ All the supposed cool confident behavior kinda goes out the window if you’re a physically affectionate person though, like if you get touchy feely with Wonwoo that’s when he’ll get a bit more shy, just quietly smiling to himself.

♡ He wants to spend more time with you, so he’ll try to include or invite you into more one on one things, even if it’s just a quick errand.

♡ Does the most adorable attentive head tilt when you’re talking to him!!!!

♡ Probably also puts his glasses on you because he thinks it would look so cute bye 🥺

Woozi

♡ This is an interesting case, because it seems like you wouldn’t know with him, but there’s actually a pretty good chance you will. He tries to hide it, but he also doesn't know how to act when he has feelings lol

♡ The first time you meet him, he just straight-up looks a bit surprised you exist because holy crap you're really pretty what does he do with that??? Then the more you come around he just is shy 🥺

♡ It's so cute, every time you visit he always asks how you are. It comes out slightly awkward to him, but it makes you feel like he cares, too.

♡ Gets so embarrassed the first time you catch him practicing on his guitar not realizing how !!! that is. He shyly asks if you have any songs you'd like him to play once you acknowledge this new skill you've learned he has.

♡ He'll sing for you, but he just can't look you in the eye while he does it because his heart will explode ok? 🥺

♡ Makes absolutely hilarious comments off to the side, usually at a volume only you can hear so you guys can share a private laugh.

♡ Does goofy stuff, but only for you. The encouragement & grin you give him are worth the embarrassment of the action for sure!

♡ Would love to learn from you, so open up about your skills & Jihoon will have a bunch of questions for you. He's so smart too he'll ask really good ones, really trying to think deeply about your passions.

♡ Smiles so big once you break the touch barrier omg it'll be some of the happiest you see him I promise just do it!!!

♡ Purposely walks next to you on a chilly evening so he can 'spur of the moment' offer you his jacket 'you know, if you needed it since you looked sort of cold & I'm not really...' then once again looks so happy & proud at the sight of you in his jacket, goes from 🥺 to 😏 real quick!

DK

♡ Yeah, you're going to know.

♡ He literally trips & falls the moment he sees you, prompting a reverse kdrama moment where you catch him, but he's such a good sport about it he just bursts out laughing & you do too so hey it wasn't all bad right???

♡ Pretty much follows you around after that, sticking by you & chatting a whole bunch but you can't complain because he makes you feel really comfortable & is super down-to-earth about it, listening as well as he talks.

♡ Gets so goofy around you, but it's cute so he gets a pass FDGSVCHSD 'Oh (y/n), I think you dropped this! *reaches into pocket, pulling out a finger heart & grinning*'

♡ Any hobby you have, he wants to try it too, preferably with you teaching him. Especially if it's something hands-on where you'll have to guide him 👀 but mostly because the things you love are a piece of you & he wants to experience that!!!

♡ Uses your name a lot because it shows how much he likes you & that your name is special to him!

♡ Seokmin adores doing funny skits with you, please play along & do the little voices with him it’ll make him so happy 😊

♡ Accidentally grabs your hand once while laughing really hard & it lives rent free in his mind because you don’t pull away so the gears are always turning in his head now how he’s going to recreate that 🥲

♡ Has a mental tally going with evidence of if you like him or not, but he second guesses himself & starts to try to find ways to test it like watching if you do the same things to the other guys

♡ He is just forever excited to see you, will always be bouncing on his heels to greet you & invite you to sit by him!!!

Mingyu

♡ You'll know pretty soon because he wants you to know. Uh, duh, how else is he going to date you???

♡ Glances at you a lot & also tries to catch you looking/staring if you are. If you guys meet eyes by chance, he'll wink & if you burst out laughing or get giggly his heart will melt.

♡ Suddenly goes macho mode, insisting electing to become the one who moves things out into the room & opens things up, probably also stretching the truth a bit by saying oh yeah, the guys always come to him for stuff like this.

♡ Conversations he is in become conversations you are involved in, as Mingyu will find any possible way to bring you into them even in the most mundane cases ever like people could be talking about the weather & he can still find a tie-in.

♡ Puts on an act of some retro bit just so he can take you by the hand & lead you somewhere gingerly but smoothly gliding with you, fingers tightening just so over yours.

♡ Will dramatically run a hand through his hair 'when you're not looking, the whole time internally trying not to be like 👀 straight at you

♡ Total flirt, like the type to say 'is that a challenge?' at any possible opportunity & playfight with you!

♡ Loves making things for you! Absolutely expect Mingyu to try his hand at whipping up a snack you like by hand because it's that much more personal that way 😌

♡ Playfully steals things from you & runs away, but not very fast because he wants you to catch him ❤️

♡ Despite all the flirting, he actually prefers non-appearance compliments because those are more genuine in his mind. Instead of telling you you look pretty, he'll more often compliment how much fun you are to be around or how intelligent you were when you figured something out!

The8

♡ DGFGDCSCVSGHCSVS you ain't gonna know shit at least not at first. Don't worry, he's super nice, you just won't be able to discern special treatment immediately like you could with some of the other guys!!!

♡ The type to want to get to know you before really considering having legit feelings for you, so he'll watch how you interact with others, making sure you're kind & respectful, then will ask you some questions too.

♡ One thing he'll probably want to know about you is what your goals are & your livelihood. He'll try his best to slip in a compliment to what you do & relate to it if he can find a connection.

♡ Definitely not the 'let you win games' kind of crush, he's gonna make you work for it 💀 but it'll be a laugh even if it's a little at your expense shhh

♡ Conversely if he feels like anyone is teasing you too hard he'll tell them to stop right away & probably check on you afterward too 🥺

♡ You become a muse for him, so he probably asks if he can take your picture if you wear something cool, strike an interesting pose, pick a flower, anything photogenic. That picture becomes an important memento to him, too, though, not just a symbol of the world's beauty.

♡ Wants you to know you can come to him with advice, opening up to you & showing your opinion a lot of respect to encourage that dynamic with you.

♡ Has tea ready for you every time you visit 🥺 learns exactly how you like it so he just pours it & makes it like your personal barista every time!!!

♡ Not afraid to very bluntly ask deep questions like if you believe in an afterlife, what's the most important character trait to you, what legacy would you most like to leave behind in the world, because those are important & any partner of his would be involved in plenty of late discussions like that.

♡ Minghao wants to experience nature with you, so he'll probably invite you outside or to share a beautiful view with him because he loves the way your face lights up & the wonderful sight reflects in your eyes 😌

Seungkwan

♡ It is Seungkwan's mission for you to NOT!!! KNOW!!! He likes you! Because that's embarrassing!!! But also he really really wants you to like him so 🤷🏻‍♀️

♡ Man is so incredibly smiley around you please 😭 he lights up whenever you walk into the room & will gradually head over to you because again, he is not obvious not at all.

♡ Cracks so many jokes around you because hey, funny people are cool, right? & also he's just a natural comedian anyway. Feels his chest grow four sizes when it works & you're laughing lots around him.

♡ You will never want a single thing while Seungkwan is around. He'll fetch you a drink, grab anything you want to try for you, go get a chair for you, totally bring the whole party to your sector if you look like you're feeling isolated.

♡ Very very shyly works on breaking the touch barrier starting with a simple 'oh hey, you have a little something...here, let me get it' & working up to putting a hand on your arm in mock condolence or when addressing you in conversation.

♡ Hypes you THE HECK UP!!! You're so good at what you do, you did so good at that song/dance, you're really nice he's having a great time talking to you fyi. If you take the spotlight, he'll be like your personal Vanna White.

♡ If you start hyping him up or getting touchy-feely though, Seungkwan will become a blushy, flustered mess so fast & mess up his next three attempts at a sentence 🥺

♡ LOVES to have little running jokes with you, anything that feels like it's special to you two just makes Seungkwan's heart go 💗 & makes him feel connected to you so he'll never let those jokes die.

♡ Will try to compliment your appearance, but will have to recover from his jaw dropping & will be super shy about it!!!

♡ No matter what, he'll take time to talk to you & you alone, paying full attention to what you're saying so hopefully you feel special, worth his time, & like you're truly connecting.

Vernon

♡ Discreet king. You won't be able to figure out his feelings until you want him to, but that's also because he's lowkey hard as shit to read lol

♡ Vernon is a little awkward with you, but in the endearing way where he's just really kind in a guy-next-door way so that's how you assume he is, like his swag attempts just fall flat which he realizes is a good thing anyway because pretense is gross.

♡ Once that hits he realizes he just got in his own head, calming down & just asking you some good old-fashioned questions like what you do for a living & what you enjoy doing because that's a better way of seeing if you guys actually connect & Vernon personally needs more of a foundation than 'hey look someone pretty'.

♡ One of his first questions is probably what kind of music you listen to because A. it's good icebreaker stuff, not weird B. everyone likes to talk about their favorite music C. it'll give Vernon a lot of insight into you & give you a great diving board for common ground.

♡ He's so easygoing with compliments, he doesn't realize how smooth he is sometimes. It's just so casual, like 'hey, I like that shirt. looks good on you :)'.

♡ Subtly tries to flex how well he knows you by answering questions in your stead, like asking for your favorite drink in front of you when another member starts offering drinks.

♡ Wants to know your thoughts on anyyyyyything before it gets done. Practically lets you make decisions for him because he doesn't really care...except suddenly he cares what you think 🤔

♡ One hundred percent the type to send you memes he found. You basically become his meme reviewer & he acts like you're the only one who gets them please feel special it's an honor ok?

♡ Not a toucher, but will lend you his headphones & put them on your head himself & make it feel strangely intimate & heart-fluttering as he slides them gently in place.

♡ Vernon is the only one allowed to sit next to you on movie nights, he doesn't make the rules except oh wait, he does oopsie 😘

Dino

♡ Dino would be such an interesting mix of forward & not obvious when it comes to showing his feelings 🤔

♡ Mr. Passion over here makes it HIS LIFE MISSION to talk to you & seem really cool & make you laugh & make you his.

♡ Walks so confidently up to you & introduces himself, completely nailing the first impression. Turns around so happy from your first successful conversation he walks into a table.

♡ Makes a point to bring up in conversation how he's been really working on vocal training in hopes you'll ask him to sing you something 👀

♡ Very encouraging, tries to get you to share in his spotlight half as a way to make you feel confident too & half to connect you & him in everyone's minds. Like if they ask him to perform something, you become his assistant/partner/congrats, you're getting dragged up to do it too.

♡ Probably takes up juggling or some shit so he has another cool party trick to bust out in front of you lmao

♡ The type to come up to you at a gathering if you look bored or lonely & pull you onto the dance floor because that will not do at all!

♡ As energetic as he can be, he holds your hands SO. GENTLY!!! The first time you guys dance, it's like you're made of the most precious substance known to man & he wouldn't dare cause a single bit of harm to it.

♡ Laughs at all of your jokes, even if he doesn't think they were that funny 🤫 & tries to learn your humor style so he can joke with you accordingly!

♡ When you walk together, offers to link arms like a gentleman, though in truth his heart is beating out of his chest when he does 💗 it's worth it when you agree & he gets to pull you close, looking at you like you're the most special thing he's seen & his resolve to complete his mission solidifies that much more.

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Double-Mutated Mikey

Chapter 15: Feral FOMO

Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Prev || Next

"Llllleeeee--- ohhhh? Llleeeo! LEO!" Mikey shouts, tail flapping wildly and threatening to smack someone upside the head.

"You did it, bud!" Leo squeals, grabbing Mikey and hugging him close. "Ahh, music to my ears! My name has never sounded so good!"

Mikey giggles and sqeaks with joy before pointing to Donnie.

"Ee! Eee!" he says, hoping they get the hint.

"You wanna learn Donnie's name?" Raph asks. Mikey nods.

They spend the next ten minutes working on enunciating the 'D' in 'Donnie'. It's harder than they expected, and Mikey mostly uses the 'T' sound as a cheat. His voice is gravely and scraggly, worn out and scratchy. But it's there. Just a little out of use.

The vocal exercises and enunciation techniques slowly start to get on Mikey's nerves. He's trying, it's just so hard! And to him, he thinks he IS saying properly, it sounds right! But not good enough for the others.

But it's worth all the irritation, because when Mikey finally makes that 'D' sound, the room erupts into cheering. Mikey is elated.

The rest of the afternoon is spent teaching Mikey to speak again. They focus on sounds, pronouncing them as best as possible. Mikey understands the language, he just has to re-train his throat and vocal chords and tongue. But by lunchtime, he can say various basic words and phrases, such as his own name, Leo and Raph and Donnie and Splinter and Casey, food and cold and human, hurt and happy and scared and angry, among others. Simple things to help him express himself in quick moments. He's getting the hang of it pretty well.

Lunchtime is fun, Mikey shows off his new vocabulary to Casey, who he was calling male human until he learned his actual name. Casey looks a little hurt by that admission, but is blown away when Mikey says his actual name to him, not just signing! Splinter actually starts crying when he hears Mikey's voice, withered and hoarse as it is.

After lunch, Donnie insists on doing some work and suggests that Mikey have fun with the others, looking at Leo specifically.

Leo takes the hint and goes to get a bunch of puzzles, books, memory games, etc. Things to help Mikey exercise his brain.

Mikey, Raph, Leo, and Casey try to work out a huge jigsaw together in Mikey's room. Mikey seems to understand it well, his eyes moving fast and brain piecing it together. His problem-solving skills are on point. The only issue he comes across is getting to pick up the pieces. His talon-like fingers are too big and sharp, he ends up tearing the paper designs on top of the puzzle pieces. The others help him as much as they can, and soon enough they're halfway through.

Until Donnie walks into the room with an enormous grin on his face.

"If I might have your attention for a moment, I believe I have created something quite ingenious!" he states with excitement.

Mikey knows this excitement, he recognizes it well. He remembers having this same excitement whenever he finished a really good drawing or came up with some new... what was the word... razzmatazz!

It's why he and Donnie hung out a lot before... they were both imaginative creators, and wanted to share their work with people who they knew would appreciate it.

Mikey jumps from his seat and runs up to Donnie, purring and circling around his feet in anticipation.

"D-Dee! Dee make? Mikey see! Mikey see it!"

Donnie smiles enthusiastically and leads him to a room filled with ramps and skateboards. The rec room. They look around in confusion, wondering what Donnie's come up with this time. Dee halts, turns around dramatically, and points upwards.

Mikey cranes his neck and gasps in pure delight.

From the ceiling is hanging hoops, bars, levers, huge tubes with windows, rope swings, ladders, and even a slide! Donnie made him a jungle gym!

Leo whistles in astonishment.

"Geez, Donnie, when did you have the time to make this?"

"After the conversation about the importance of physical exercise yesterday, I got to work on blueprints and designs. I made most of the materials last night, and finally finished setting it up about half an hour ago. It is ready for use!"

He turns to his mutated brother.

"Would you care to do the honour of breaking it in?"

Mikey shrieks in delight and rushes for the gift his brother made him. He leaps up and grabs onto the rope dangling from the ceiling, scrambling up with light speed and swinging as he does. He jumps from the rope to a tube tunnel, scurrying through it and then leaping to the monkey bars, doing all kinds of gymnast moves and even using his tail as an extra arm before swinging to the slide and whooping on the way down.

"Well, that didn't take long," Leo jokes.

"Do you like it?" Donnie asks with anticipation in his voice.

Mikey squeals and shrieks in delight, rushing to his brother and pouncing on him, twirling around and around in his arms.

"MIKEY LOVE!!! Dee make... make Mikey happy! Mikey LOVE DEE!!"

Donnie grips him tightly, hoping to hide the tears in his eyes as his little brother shouts in his ear. He doesn't care, he doesn't mind. Anything for Angelo.

Mikey lets go of Donnie and dashes back to the upside down jungle gym and plays with it over and over again, looking down at them from the windows in the plastic tunnels and chirping at them, as if asking them to join in the fun.

Leo smiles and ribs his twin.

"Well done there, Don-Tron."

.

.

.

"How's its heart rate?"

"Doing well, Dr. Timothy."

"Good. Dr. Chaplin is coming in for an examination, you know how invested he is in our little pet project..."

Mikey runs as fast as he can on the treadmill. He's not getting tired, but he is getting bored. You can only run in place for so long... Cords and suctions and beeping things are attached to his wrist, chest, neck, and head as he runs and runs and runs. There are numbers on the small digital screen connected to his arm. The numbers are pretty high, at least that's what the doctors say.

"80 mph and going steady, Doctor."

"Wonderful! And how long has he been running for?"

"Almost twenty minutes... we've only just started."

"Good. Keep it up, Abigail."

A door opens and another man in a white lab coat walks in.

"Ah! Dr. Chaplin! Good to see you..."

"Mmm. Dr Timothy, Dr. Finn," the man hums, his gaze fixated on Mikey. "How's our little miracle monster doing?"

"Wonderfully, considering we've completely rewritten his DNA and molecular structure. We're testing endurance now. He's holding up fairly well -- health is good, stamina great... he's lost a lot of weight, though."

"Will this be an issue, Dr. Finn?" Chaplin asks, turning to look at the young woman with a tablet.

"Not to my knowledge. If it goes down any lower though, we may have a problem."

"Hm. Keep me updated on that. We want him healthy and strong. Speaking of which, let's place him in the Interaction room after this, Prof. Honeycutt has been good enough to create a new batch of machines for the training simulator, and I would like to see how this 'Mikey' creature handles them."

Abigail Finn nods and turns her attention back to Mikey. This poor dumb animal has no idea how terrible his day is about to get...

.

.

.

Mikey is dozing off a bit, letting his thoughts seep in like molasses, slow and sticky and enveloping him completely.

He had been enjoying the privacy of the tubes, resting in them for a bit as his mind wandered and he watched Raph and Leo teach male human Casey how to skateboard. They'd been doing that for a while, and it is now early evening, possibly around 5PM or so...

He comes back to reality when the memory of the labs is interrupted by April calling for Leo.

"Leo! Hey, 'Neon Leon'! Where IS everyone?"

"Rec room," Leo shouts back.

Mikey pokes his head out of the aperture and watches as April runs in, sees the jungle gym and stops to point at it, her mouth opening in surprise as she wants to ask a question before shaking her head and staying focused on topic.

"Leo, Cass just texted me -- there's an issue happening at the Chelsea Piers! It looks like that komodo-mutated Kristoff Van Bradford, and all-star player turned billionaire owner-slash-coach-slash-recording artist, Tim Dunkman!"

"Those guys?" Leo asks, riding his board up the skate ramp and landing with a twist. "Wow, whou'da thunk we'd hear from them again!"

"So I guess it's hero time, huh?" Raph calls back, jumping down from the opposite ramp and tossing his skateboard onto a nearby bench. "Alrighty then! Let's get our gear and --"

Raph pauses, and turns to Leo.

"Sorry. Uh, what's the move, leader?"

"April, text Cass to try and hold them off but stay safe," Leo responds after thinking it over. "We'll be there soon, just need to figure out a few details."

"On it!" she calls, grabbing her phone out and typing quickly.

"Okay, next up... someone has to stay and keep Mikey company."

Mikey yells his protests, swiftly clambering down from the jungle gym and expressing his utter disinterest at being left behind. Leo seems to ignore him as Casey walks over.

"I can stay, if you need me to..?" he offers.

"Great. Mikey, is that okay with you? Do you feel comfortable with CJ?"

Mikey utters sounds and scoffs as he tries to think of words that can help.

"Mikey... g-go! Mikey... angry, Mikey go! Mikey... not love alone, Mikey go w-with brothers! Mikey... ssss... ssssstttt... stttrrrong! Mikey strrrong, Mikey not, not..."

"Weak?" Raph offers, trying to help with word association.

Mikey nods at Raph. "Mikey... help! Mikey good help, Mikey not weak!"

"It's not about strength or weakness, bud," Leo says, crouching to lay a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "I just don't want to risk losing you again. And I 100% believe that you could kick their butts no problemo, but you need your rest. The last thing you need is to go on a mission and risk getting hurt while you're still recovering."

"Awwwww!" Mikey whines loudly.

"No buts, mi hermanito," Leo says firmly, standing tall. "You're staying here for now. We'll only be gone for a short while, and then we'll be right back."

Mikey pouts and crosses his arms, hoping this will change their minds. It doesn't, and Leo starts to lead Raph and April out of the room to go and fetch Donnie.

Mikey chirps sadly at them and tries to follow before Casey places a hand on his shell, causing him to pause. Mikey whimpers at him, begging him to stop them, or let him go. But Casey doesn't lift his hand. He strokes his shell softly, but seems kind, sympathetic. Mikey sits.

Mikey gazing sadly as his brothers walk out carrying weapons. Donatello stops to glance back at Mikey, a worried expression on his face. He keeps walking, though. Mikey follows after them quietly, watching as Leo swipes his sword and creates a portal in the air.

Mikey's eyes widen.

When did he learn to do that?!

The three others step through the portal before Leo, who turns back to see Mikey giving him a sad expression.

"We'll be back soon," Leo promises, a soft smile on his face.

Mikey takes in the smells sifting through the portal. Water. Fish. Smoke from cars and boats and machines, something like rubber from balls like the ones he and the other experiments were given to play with...

Leo steps through, and the swirling blue light vanishes. Mikey yipes a quick whinge, then runs to where it was a second ago.

"Don't worry, they're okay, they'll be back!" Casey promises.

Mikey is not happy about this. He wants his brothers back now.

They left you again. I knew they would. Betrayal. Betrayal. Betrayal.

Mikey starts running immediately.

"Wait, Mikey!! Where're you going?!" Casey calls after him.

Mikey isn't sure. He's following his nose for now... He dashes back and forth, looking for the exit...

He finds the garage where the tank is, but doesn't understand how to navigate the tunnels... Casey runs in after him, out of breath.

"Mi-- wheeze, wheeze -- Mike, Mikey! Would you -- gasp, gasp -- would you slow down for just a second?!"

Mikey can't. Mikey has to be fast. Mikey has to be swift. It will be bad otherwise.

The labs taught us that.

Mikey finds a hatch high up in the ceiling. There's a ladder. Mikey runs to it, despite the shouts of disapproval Casey yells. Mikey makes it all the way to the top and inspects the hatch.

Unscrew. Lift. Simple.

It is simple. Mikey twists the manhole cover and pushes it up. He climbs out and looks around.

LOUD. VERY LOUD.

Mikey ignores the blaring sounds of traffic and the overwhelming smell of bad humans. It's everywhere. He crawls out of the manhole and slinks to the shadows, watching. Looking. Smelling.

Saltwater. Fish. Smoke. Rubber. Look for those. SMELL.

Mikey smells. He can very faintly pick up the scent. He hears Casey yelling after him as he climbs the ladder rungs to give chase. Mikey dashes away over the wire fence behind him before the male human can take him back down.

Mikey is swift and unseen. He manages to snake himself about in secret, dodging all eyes as he follows the scent of saltwater and fish to the pier. Once there, he finds the smells of rubber and smoke. He follows it to a section of the pier where several warehouses and complexes are being evacuated as a reptilian man with long blonde hair, and a tall and thin man wearing a mystic amulet around his neck are demolishing the place.

"Dis will teach you imbeciles to underestimate Kristoff Van Bradford!"

"And I will not let my career be a shambles! If I can't have the basketball championship, then NO ONE CAN! Nobody one-ups 'The Dunk'!!"

The two men create chaos and smash the sports equipment as a young woman fights against them, drawing their attention away from the crowds.

"Kaliiii MAAAA!!" she yells, flipping as she dodges their attacks. "Is that the best you can do?! A BABY COULD FIGHT BETTER!"

Mikey ducks in and watches from a corner. This female human smells like the male human he ditched back at the lair. He wonders...

Mikey suddenly hears a familiar sound. A roar that should terrify him, but instead fills his chest with warmth and a joyful feeling of comfort and safety.

Raph lunges forwards, his entire body covered in red light as a ginormous version of himself that covers him up like armour slams his fist into the komodo man. He flies backwards and lands in a basketball store.

"This would be a lot easier if you'd just show us how to do the Seven-Deadly-Vipers move!"

"Kinda in the middle of something, now!" April shouts back.

Mikey sneaks in closer. His brothers are here. Mikey wants his brothers.

But they betrayed you, and left you...

Never.

Leo slides in, his moves quick and calculated. He slashes the air as Raph throws an entire canister of baseballs into the portal he creates. A separate portal activates across the way and slams into the back of the man wearing the amulet. He yells in pain before clutching the amulet tightly, his body contorting in odd ways before transforming into a giant cyclops creature.

"I am SO glad I kept the magic jewel from that archway!" he cackles, grabbing several of the balls and tossing them back at lightning speed.

Leo dodges them, creating a new portal that lands him on top of the cyclops. As the Dunk struggles to reach behind him and grab the turtle, Donnie creates a huge ray gun that sucks up the Hudson River and shoots it at the two villains, soaking them both and slamming them into a wall. Leo creates one last portal behind the Dunk which reopens above a dented basketball hoop. The celebrity flies into the portal and falls into the net, getting stuck upside down in it. The amulet slips off of his neck and clatters to the floor, the one-eyed monster transforming back into a man with a groan.

"Now that's what I call a slam DUNK!" Leo proclaims proudly, doing a quick fistpump.

Meanwhile, Kristoff Van Bradford crashes into a soccer goal and becomes tangled in the net. Raph grabs the two ends of the goal with his hologram form and wraps them around the man, effectively tying him up.

"All wrapped up, eh?" Raph tries.

Leo boos him in jest.

"The jokes are my thing," Leo scorns. "The hero speeches are yours."

Raph rolls his eyes and smiles as he hangs up the green-skinned actor and pet komodo dragon next to Tim Dunkman so they can't escape.

"Is that everything?" Raph asks.

"I think so," Leo sighs, turning to Donnie. "What's the damage?"

"Structurally, not as bad as it could have been. As for the publicity, I think a few people snapped some chats of us," Donnie informs, clicking away on his wrist tech. "But nothing substantial. We're in the clear. The police are on their way now, so we should get going."

Leo nods, ready to lead the way when he stops, his gaze catching Mikey's eyes glittering from the shadows. He peers at him before his eyes widen and his mouth falls open with shocked anger, realizing what the glowing eyes belong to.

"MIKEY?!"

Uh-oh.

The others turn to watch as Leo storms over to where his brother is hiding. Mikey slowly creeps out with soft chirps, hoping it will smooth things over with his infuriated older brother. It doesn't.

"Mikey, what did I tell you?!" he shouts. "I said you needed to stay home! I said we'd be back soon! How in the f--"

"LANGUAGE!" Raph shouts quickly.

"--ffffffffrrick did you get here?!" Leo grumbles.

"Mikey smell brothers, Mikey follows," he explains. "Mikey no like alone. Mikey want brothers."

He looks at the expressions of the people watching his scolding. They don't like that he's here, either.

"Mikey... do bad?" he asks hoarsely, looking up at Leo with sad puppy eyes.

Leo stares back at him, trying to keep from falling for those big eyes again.

Don't fall for it. Don't fall for it...

He lasts five full seconds before closing his eyes and sighing, relaxing his tense shoulders and kneeling down next to his brother.

"Mikey... I just want you to be safe. I can't lose you again."

Lost. Not betrayed. Mikey was lost?

He stores that information away to ask about later...

In the meantime, Leo hoists him up and lets him ride on his back as he takes him home.

"Come on guys, let's get outta here..." he groans.

"I need to stop at the junkyard," Donnie announces. "I need more supplies for some of my tech."

Leo gives a nod and the group hurry away from the pier, avoiding the crowds as they travel to the Repo-Mantis scrapyard.

Mikey clings close to Leo, feeling guilty for making him mad and disobeying him. He whimpers softly, nuzzling closer and resting his cheek against the area between Leo's shoulder and neck. Mikey vibrates his throat, murmuring his self-pity and hoping Leo can tell how sorry he is.

The group arrive at the scrapyard. It's quiet.

"You think he closed for the night?"

"Not like it matters," Donnie says as he slips through the entrance. "I'm not paying for his scrap metal."

The team wander into the area as Donnie flips his goggles and begins scouting for the items he needs. After a few minutes, something in Mikey stirs. He lifts his head high, sniffing the air.

"Mikey? What's up? Something bugging you??" Leo asks, feeling the change in his attitude.

Mikey's tail spikes raise. The scales on his shoulders lift and curl into quills.

Donnie's goggles sight something in the distance as well, and he grips his tech-bō.

"Be on alert, there's something up ahead..."

Mikey starts to growl.

"What--"

The group are suddenly ambushed as a series of pink and purple people start charging them, climbing from the trash and rubble and rusty metal, roaring and snarling. Their bodies are covered in eyes, globs of putrid flesh and veins, claws that protrude at odd angles, spines and extra arms and faces where they shouldn't belong.

"AGH! Krang zombies!" Donnie screams.

Mikey roars back at the creatures and leaps off of Leo's shoulders at them --

Only to be caught midair by Raph, who grips him tightly and pulls him back.

"RUN!" he shouts loudly.

The team runs away from the horde, seeking whatever shelter they can get. Another group of krangified zombies start running from around a mountain of crushed-up cars, herding them towards the very back of the landfill.

"This way!" Donnie yells, leading them to a small building that Repo-Mantis works out of, trying to open the door. "It's locked!"

Raph creates a giant fist and punches the door down, revealing a cowering Repo-Mantis from the inside.

"Ack!! What're you doing here?!" the mutant bug man yells, jumping away from them. "What the heck is that thing with you?! It's not one of them, is it??"

"Donnie, get the door!" Raph bellows, ignoring the frightened villain and carrying Mikey over to another area of the room and setting him down. "Mikey, you stay here!"

Repo-Mantis stares at the double-mutated freak in fear, slowly scooting away.

"How long have they been here?!" April shouts as she helps to board up the windows, while Donnie creates a special ninpo door that bolts into the framework of the building.

"Three days!" Repo-Mantis sobs. "I've run out of onion rings and pork rinds!"

"You've been holed up for three days?!" Leo yells. "How are we supposed to get out of here?!"

"Why not use your portal swords?" April points out.

"Take me with you!" Repo-Mantis weeps, crawling on his hands and knees as he begs the heroes. "Please! I need to use an actual bathroom so badly!"

"Okay, ew."

"We can't just leave these guys here!" Raph rebukes. "We gotta take care of the horde, or else they'll just go after other innocent people!"

"Right, okay, so if I can make a quick portal to the lair -- April, Cass, you go get the formula and --"

The door shakes. The walls pound loudly, drowning out anything Leo says. The ceiling starts to cave in.

"Here they come!!" April screams.

Raphael stretches his arms out and backs everyone away from the door. One last stand...

The door holds. But the walls and windows do not. The monsters crash through, growling and howling as they all burst into the shabby shack.

Mikey unexpectedly scurries underneath Raph's legs and approaches the zombies. He roars at them, his scutes, scales, spines, and quills raised high and sharp, his talons extended and his fangs to their full length as he snaps and snarls at them.

"Mikey!" Raph yells.

Suddenly, he's back in the hall, and Mikey is about to fight an army of mutant, mangled animals, and turn into something terrifying that he should never have been forced to become...

"No! Not again!"

Mikey roars loudly at the krangified, and the horde freezes...

They stop.

They stare blankly at Mikey, who stands in between them and his family. He clicks angrily at them, his tail cracks like a whip. The horde slowly backs away. Mikey moves forwards, pushing the zombies back and out of the broken down hut they were invading. One of the bigger krangified zombies staggers forwards, growling at him, barking in defiance. Mikey roars in response.

Raph, Donnie, Leo, April, and Cassandra stumble outside to watch this strange altercation. Each member of the team dazed and confused as they watch Mikey. Repo-Mantis just runs the heck away while he still can.

The larger zombie rushes Michelangelo, who is more than ready for him. He swipes his tail under his legs, knocking him down instantly. His tail grabs the zombie and whips him around, throwing him into a pile of metal with a loud crash. The creature staggers and whimpers as it embarrassedly limps to the back of the horde...

Mikey howls at them again, and the krangified stand at attention, cowering under his gaze. Mikey's throat makes a deep and guttural clicking, a warning for them to stay in line or else.

"What... what is he doing...?" Leo asks, voice barely a whisper.

"It... it looks like an animalistic intimidation stance," Donnie responds, just as thunderstruck as his twin.

Mikey snarls at the horde, and they cease their offensive stances, slowly sitting or laying down on the ground at Mikey's command.

Mikey sits down as well, his scutes and scales lowering as he calms.

He turns his head, smiling brightly at his brothers. His tail wags with pride at a job well done.

"Mikey do good?"

Prev || Next

[hellenhighwater]

Hi Hell, congrats on the exciting foster kitten news!

I just applied to adopt a kitten and had my interview for her today. The woman seemed most interested in convincing me of how terrible dry food, traditional litter (she preferred clay), and tap water is for cats. She said the carbohydrates and ingredients were terrible for their kidneys, the dust in litter is bad for their lungs, and the chlorine in water is harmful. I have a 12 year old cat named Scipio who has been using those things all his life, and now I feel guilty and scared for his health. He seems perfectly healthy to me but she said “cats are stoic.” What do you use with the Tiny Terrors? Is she extreme?

Well, I'm not a vet, so the actual answer is that your cat should be getting what their doctor recommends. But I've had those conversations with people before, and I can give my two cents--just take it with a grain of salt.

So...it's basically always true that you can spend more money on fancier 'health' options and there is, to some extent, benefit to the pricier choices. But there's a point at which that benefit is pretty minimal compared to what you get for the midrange price options. This is as true for pet health as it is for people health.

It's true that wet food is usually a better option for cats. Among other things, it helps them stay at a healthy level of hydration, can be easier on their digestive systems, and is often more palatable for cats who are elderly or have dental problems. But that doesn't mean that dry food is inadequate--Mal and Vice used to split a can of wet food daily, and graze dry food whenever they wanted. They're currently eating almost exclusively dry food, because Vice is on a sensitive skin and stomach diet to help address his overgrooming. I would avoid the bottom-end dry foods, because they seem prone to contamination, but that's more manufacturer quality than an issue with the dry food generally. Dry food is usually a nutritionally complete way to feed a cat, and there's nothing wrong with it.

Mal and Vice drink tap water. They have a bowl of still water, and a fountain with an inbuilt filter. The fountain is because if they don't have running water, they will make running water by splashing their bowls all over. I can't speak to chlorine but it's definitely healthier than drinking out of puddles, which is what they would be doing if left to their own devices.

They use clay litter because that's what's effective and affordable. When I'm changing it out I generally give it a few minutes for dust to settle before I let them at it--someone always wants to make a deposit in the clean box--but there's pros and cons to all the litter options out there.

In a perfect world with infinite resources, I'd be feeding the cats a careful balanced diet of fresh-prepared meats and filtered spring water, and they'd take dumps in a tiny kitty toilet that cleaned itself without my help. But that's not really practical or achievable for me, my life, or my cats, and frankly, it's not necessary. I want them to have a good life. It doesn't need to be a perfect one. If your cat is doing well, and their vet is giving them a clean bill of health, you probably have nothing to worry about. I'm not a professional; you should consult your vet and research options for yourself (which is what I do) but you're not doing anything wrong here.

I will say that when I was going through the process of adopting Mal and Vice, some places (usually private rescues) wanted me to jump through INSANE hoops to even apply. I respect that their hearts are in the right place, but... There are hundreds of kittens in shelters right now that need homes desperately, and the quality of the cat has very little to do with the quality of the rescue--they might have more or less vet work done, depending on where they're coming from, but nobody's managed to fundamentally change the nature of the beast. If you can provide a safe home, food, clean water, and attention to a cat, that's really all they need. The rest is just gravy.

[returnsandreturns]

idk how to go about sending you a screencap etc but i donated! Could i get some childhood friends mattfoggy or cooking gone wrong? Thank you for taking your time to do this!

IT BECAME A MATT ADOPTED BY THE NELSONS FIC AND I GOT SOME FEELINGS.

(also, if you would like a matt/foggy thing of your very own, donate any amount to the palestine children's relief fund and i'll write you an undisclosed amount of words)

--

Foggy’s the first person to visit Matt at the hospital after his accident—Matt’s dad didn’t want to let anybody in yet until things were more stable but Foggy talked his way into it. He’s really good at that.

“Hey, Matty,” he says, squeezing Matt’s shoulder. “. . .bad week, huh?”

Matt’s silent for a moment before he bursts out laughing, catching his breath before he grins up at Foggy and says, “Kind of, buddy.”

“I’m going to try to avoid all the concerned questions and stuff because you’re probably already tired of that,” Foggy says. “Although I bet that you’re liking getting attention from all the pretty nurses.”

“Are they pretty?” Matt asks, raising his eyebrows. “I can’t see them.”

“In that case, they’re all super hot,” Foggy says, then makes a soft interested noise. “Hey, do your other senses actually get all heightened when you’re blinded? Like can you smell colors now?”

Matt falters for a second then laughs and says, “Uhm, no, nothing like that.”

“Damn,” Foggy says, ruffling Matt’s hair, fingers lingering there for a few moments. “You really can’t win.”

~~~

The night that Matt’s dad dies, Foggy’s mom picks him up and brings him back to their apartment.

Foggy apparently knows everything because he just pulls Matt into a hug and holds on, which is what makes Matt really cry, the insane tension in every inch of his body releasing as he sobs into Foggy’s hoodie. Foggy doesn’t even shush him or tell him everything’s going to be alright. He just pets Matt’s hair and stays and it’s exactly what he needs.

He sleeps in Foggy’s bed that night because neither of them wants to let go of each other.

A few days later, they fit another twin bed into Foggy’s room. His parents jump through hoops to become foster parents just so they can take him in and he won’t be in the system. And Matt, confused and scared and grateful, stays.

“Permanent sleepover,” Foggy says, flopping down on Matt’s bed, when they’ve mixed up the room to fit in all of Matt’s things. “You’re gonna get tired of me real quick, buddy.”

“I doubt it,” Matt says, sitting next to him. “How long have we known each other?”

“We reached for the same juicebox in kindergarten,” Foggy says, dreamily, “and it’s been true love ever since.”

Matt turns his head when he laughs, hoping that Foggy won’t see him blush.

“If I haven’t gotten tired of you by now, I think it’ll be fine,” he says.

“I mean, you’re sort of my brother now,” Foggy says, sitting up, “so our dynamic might dramatically change.”

“. . .do you think so?” Matt asks, feeling weird about it.

“Nah,” Foggy says. “Our friendship is rock solid.”

~~

“If you don’t put your dirty socks in the laundry hamper, I’m going to smother you to death with them,” Matt says, darkly, throwing one of the worst offenders at Foggy’s head.

“I can’t help that you’ve got a sensitive nose,” Foggy says.

“It doesn’t take a sensitive nose, Franklin!” Foggy’s mom says, passing by the door.

“Yeah, Franklin,” Matt echoes, smirking.

“You’ve been here a month,” Foggy says. “I can’t believe you’re already the favorite child.”

“I’m not,” Matt says, rolling his eyes.

“MA, WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE KID?” Foggy yells.

“MATT!” Foggy’s mom yells back.

“Told ya,” Foggy says, sounding happy.

~~~

The Nelsons throw Matt a thirteenth birthday party that he has to sneak away from midway through, not surprised when Foggy peeks his head into the bathroom to see him sitting in the bathtub.

“Hey, bud,” Foggy says, softly. “You good?”

“Yeah,” Matt says, wiping his eyes with his sleeves and trying to smile.

“It’s okay if you’re not,” Foggy says, locking the bathroom door and climbing into the tub with him, pressed against his side.

“. . .I miss my dad,” Matt admits.

“Oh,” Foggy says, wrapping an arm around him. “First birthday without him.”

Matt nods.

Foggy hugs him close for a second before he presses a firm kiss to his temple and climbs out of the tub, saying, “Stay right there. I’m bringing back cake.”

Matt presses fingers to the place where Foggy kissed him and tries not to think too hard about it. Lately, he's been desperately trying not to make it weird that he's feeling new things when Foggy casually touches him.

~~~

They're fourteen when they're left home alone for a night and proceed to get drunk for the first time off three bottles of beer shared between them.

"Tell me about the kiss," Foggy insists.

"I don't know what you want me to say," Matt says, a little more smug than he means to be for someone that kissed a girl for five seconds during a game of spin the bottle. "It was just a kiss."

"Act it out," Foggy says, thrusting a throw pillow at him. "On this pillow."

"No," Matt says, giggling.

"You're useless to me, Murdock," Foggy says.

"C'mere," Matt says, leaning in, because his head is swimmy and they're all alone and Foggy will probably think that it's funny. He finds Foggy's face with both of his hands and kisses him softly on the mouth.

"Oh," Foggy says, softly.

". . .yeah," Matt says, sitting back slowly. "It was just. . ."

"A kiss," Foggy says.

"A kiss," Matt echoes, nodding.

~~~

The summer after their freshman year, they're bickering over something and it leads to stupid playfighting, a broken lamp and Matt flat on his bed with Foggy on top of him.

"Sorry," Foggy says, not moving.

Matt listens to his heartbeat for five seconds, trying to make a decision, but Foggy kisses him first this time. It's different than the first time. They're older and they've both kissed other people and it makes Matt moan, a noise that startles both of them.

They're quiet for a long moment.

". . .my, uhm. . .my parents want to officially adopt you," Foggy says, strained.

"Oh," Matt says.

[rjalker]

You cannot claim you want books to be more accessible to people and then get mad about the Internet Archive accepting book donations that people have fully bought and paid for and lending those donated books out to people completely for free with no hoops to jump through.

I don't know who needs to hear this but not everyone has access to public libraries.

Assuming you even have a library in your town, not everyone can physically get to them! The poorer and more disabled you are, the less likely you are to even own a car, let alone be able to drive it!

And in most US cities, walking from point A to B is either literally physically impossible or illegal, or so literally life-threateningly dangerous that you're better off not risking it!

And assuming you can get to the library -- guess what! There's no guarentee you can actually get a library card! Yes, despite how everyone always sings endless praises, libraries aren't perfect, and there are still very real obstacles between some of the most vulnerable people and being able to borrow from a library!

In many places, you can't get a library card unless you have a driver's liscence / state ID. And in some places, even that alone isn't enough -- you also have to provide proof that you live in the city!

Which means homeless people who've had their IDs literally stolen by the cops, who don't have a mailing address they can use as proof they live in the same city as the library can't get a library card unless they can somehow get to the DMV and miraculously have the money pay for a new ID. Which they can't do without other forms of ID. Which the cops probably also literally stole.

Even if you're not homeless, if someone steals your wallet, and you can't drive, you can't get a library card either now, because you have no ID, and no way to get a new one!

The Internet Archive's lending library is actually free and accessible to everyone who can connect to the internet, with no hoops to jump through. You just have to make an account and you can start reading.

Stop claiming you want people to be able to read books if you don't actually want the most vulnerable people to actually be able to read books. Which have already been paid for and helped the authors.

If you don't even understand the bare minimum basics of how the Internet Archive's lending library works, maybe don't go around proclaiming yourself the expert. And if you literally do not live in the USA, don't go around claiming our libraries are freely accessible to everyone when they're literally not!

The Internet Archive does not hurt authors. It does not hurt publishers. If you understand how it's perfectly fucking fine to buy a book and then lend it to your friends so they can all read it, you understand why the Internet Archive literally accepting fully paid for donations of books which they archive for all of humanity completely for free is also literally fine.

And if you pretend there's actually some evil difference between the two, you just need to admit you've swallowed the capitalist propaganda that publishing companies, who want to turn books into the next streaming service where you never actually own anything even when you buy it, and you're spreading blatant capitalist propaganda that actual authors hate.

It is literally a fact that if people can borrow a book from a library to read it for free, they are more likely to buy it and the rest of the series than they would if they never got the chance to read it without first forking over hard earned money that could be going towards groceries, for a book it might turn out they absolutely hate every second of.

You cannot claim to support libraries and support making books accessible to everyone and then shit on the Internet Archive. Unless you're also going to claim that lending books out to friends or Little Libraries are also immoral.

You people are really blatantly drinking the capitalist "turn everything into a subscription service possible so they never own anything and have to keep giving us money" koolaid and we can tell.

[cripplecharacters]

hi! a friend of mine has recently told me a bunch of stuff about how i could include some disabled characters in my short stories (i write hurt/comfort for the record) and what they'd like to see more of.

something on the list was "[disabled people] have access to certain medical supplies that normally wouldn't be accessible." google isn't being super helpful as it's a pretty vague statement. can you give me some examples of this? would it be syringes and needles? or certain medication that's easy to use with malicious intent? (also for the record, they were specifically asking if i could write more disabled characters doing the hurting instead of being victims of it, since that tends to be an underrepresented category). i dont even know where to start researching since there's so many types of disabilities, so any help would be hugely appreciated!

Hello,

Prescriptions open up a world of medical supplies that the public would have to jump through major hoops to access or wouldn't be able to access at all. For example, epinephrine auto-injectors, commonly known as Epi-Pens. In America, one can only get those with a prescription or if you're the caretaker for someone who has life-threatening allergies, there is no other way to get them unless you buy them from a shady sight from the United Kingdom or Canada. Even Adrenaclic, created by CVS Pharmacy, which also treats anaphylaxis, is only available when prescribed by a medical professional. Disabled people with chronic pain can access medical marijuana, or even medical-grade opioids. One can't legally buy Schedule 2 Drugs (things like Adderall) without a prescription. It'll depend on what condition they have, but prescription medications are a huge part of that "access to supplies the rest of the population can't have."

The second thing is medical-grade sterile equipment. Sure, you can buy IV bags off of Amazon for fifteen dollars for fifty, but those probably aren't medical-grade and you don't have a guarantee that they're good or safe quality. IV fluids are hard to find at a reasonable price. Syringes? Those absolutely need to be sterile, it's not safe to buy those from anywhere that isn't a pharmacy. All of this stuff is best purchased as medical-grade, meaning it could be used by a doctor or a hospital, and they aren't buying this stuff from Amazon. Pharmacies get this stuff from similar, maybe even the same, sources as hospitals are getting them, and a pharmacy will probably only sell you most of this stuff to someone who's prescribed it and who has a diagnosed medical condition that requires it. Even then, disabled people usually need to jump through hoops to get our medical equipment.

And the third is something that might surprise you- mobility and assistance devices. Yes, you can get a cane from Walmart or a hospital-type wheelchair from Target, but those aren't personalized. They'll do the job but an abled person probably can't get a custom-built wheelchair as easily as someone with cerebral palsy can. This isn't saying it's easy for disabled people to get these things, it's just easier than it is for the general population. Plus, things such as a class three powerchair are thousands of dollars. If you're prescribed one, insurance might cover part of it, or you might have the option to receive these things for free from charities, or at a discounted rate, especially if you're low-income. You can buy them if you're abled, sure, but you'll have access to a better way to go about it if you're actually disabled.

Again, nothing on this list is guaranteed to be a breeze for a disabled person, but there are routes we can take that make getting them easier than it would be for an abled person who doesn't need them.

Mod Aaron

[multimilfs]

Alma Peregrine x Fem!Reader: Not-Birthday

Summary: Alma Peregrine + 17 — “You did all of this for me?”

AO3

Prompts found here!

A/N: I hope you all enjoy this!!

Full Ficmas List

Tag List: @multifandomfix @escapetodreamworld @ghostsunderstoodmysoul @imtrashinflames @evil-feather @elenaguarnieri @nonbinary-cryptid-baby

Warning(s): None

Things are actually going according to plan. 

You’re still waiting for something to fly off the rails, but overwhelmingly, everything has fallen into place; Alma took Olive and the other children into town, leaving you with Emma and Enoch to help.

Every month or so, you’ve started doing a ‘not-birthday’ for one of the children. Alma stopped celebrating their birthdays long ago to keep from reminding them of how time never passes. It’s a sweet thought. You felt that the children never got to be individually special, though, as a result and so; not-birthdays. 

“Miss Y/N, does this look okay?” 

You look up to see the pink paper-letters spelling out ‘Olive’ hanging on the wall next to the staircase. It’s perfectly straight, just the way you wanted it. 

“It looks perfect. What else do we have?” 

“You wanted to make a cake,” Emma says, “but you might not have time. Do we always have to do it in secret?” 

“Yes.” You nod, leaving no room for argument. 

Enoch clears his throat, “If you’re not going to offer me a task, can I at least go to my room?” 

“Enoch, you know Olive better than anyone. I need your eyes.” 

“Olive adores you. She’ll adore anything you put on.” He shakes his head. 

You take one of his hands and squeeze, “Please, Enoch. I want this to be perfect.” 

He sighs. 

“Alright.” He grumbles. 

You grin and squeeze his hands again. Back to the details, you focus on your list, trying to cross-reference what needs finished with how much time you have left. Alma is nothing if not efficient, but she knows the plans, and should take a little extra time. 

The idea of not-birthdays aren’t too far from an actual birthday celebration; which makes Alma twitch. She fears knowing how old they should be will make them itch for freedom from the loop she can’t provide. And while you can agree with that, the point of a not-birthday is that it’s completely random, and you don’t mention age. 

Plus, there were many years Alma didn’t celebrate before you came along. So the children have long lost their sense of time and their own age. 

The older three are always the trickiest to plan for. It is easy enough to get the girls out of the house, but getting Enoch away long enough to plan raised his suspicions. Every year you find yourself jumping through new hoops to surprise him. 

Olive, though, is the simplest. She’s so sweet, she never expects anything for herself; the thought gives you chest pains. Every time she’s just as surprised as before. And though you know she’ll love it no matter what, you strive to make it bigger and better each time. 

“Emma,” You call, making your way into the kitchen after a while, “How is the cake coming along?” 

Emma is leaning against the counter with a book in her hands. She’s flipping through it lazily, pointing at the oven without looking up. You resist the urge to shake your head. 

Cracking it and peering in, it seems the cake is coming along nicely. Emma made quick work of it. Though you do hope it’ll be done before everyone returns, you know it’s unlikely. 

“Miss Y/N.” Enoch calls.

Busying yourself with preparing the cake decorations, “Yes?” 

“They’re back early.” 

You freeze. Next to you, Emma does too. 

The two of you look at one another and then stare at the oven. There’s no way. Even if you had a way to manipulate time, there’s no possibility of finishing it before they come inside. You’re left to rely on your peculiarity. 

“Are you okay with keeping an eye on it?” You ask. 

Emma nods, “Of course. Try and distract them, please.” 

You nod back. With a flutter of your fingertips, Emma is hidden from view, as well as any indication that the oven is on. You race around the house doing the same with all of the decorations. 

By the time you’ve hidden all of the decorations, the front door opens. 

“Miss Y/N, we’re home!” Hugh calls out. 

Coming around the corner, attempting to smooth down your hair, you smile. The children seem none the wiser. Alma’s brow ticks up ever so slightly, a sly little smirk coming to her lips. 

“How was town, my darlings?” You ask. 

Your arms are suddenly full of Claire and Bronwyn. The latter nearly sends you flying backwards. If not for her strong arms holding you in place, you’re certain you’d be in another room. Her sheepish smile tells you she’s aware of that fact too. 

Claire wraps herself around you like she’s trying to become one with you. She’s careful to keep your arms away from her back-mouth. 

“The humans were more subdued today,” Olive says, coming to give you a little side-hug, “It was weird. They were almost… nice.” 

“Odd.” You agree. 

Alma cuts in, “It was likely the early hour. We scarcely visit so early. Shoes off, children.” 

They’re all quick to obey. Both sets of arms unwrap from around your waist as the children line their shoes up near the doorway. Even Millard, who is actually clothed this morning, thank the heavens. 

Alma is at your side. She offers a kiss on your cheek in greeting when she’s sure none of the children are watching. You smile, though you can see that curious smirk still on her face. 

She speaks quietly, “The house is normal.”

“How odd.” You say, giving her a pointed look. 

“Emma is also curiously absent.” 

“Is she?” 

“Darling,” Alma grins, “You went overboard, didn’t you?” 

“No, you just came back too early.” 

Alma shrugs. Her little smirk makes you furious and ravenous in equal measure. She seems to know it, if the twinkle in her eyes means anything. 

The children disperse back to their normal routines while you attempt to subtly continue the not-birthday details. It’s an infuriating game of pretend. Everytime one of the children walks into the room, you have to seem busy with something normal. 

A few of the younger children accept your behavior and go on about their business. The older ones stop and eye you, but ultimately walk off too. You breathe out a sigh each time. 

Three taps on your shoulder startles you from what you’re doing. 

Emma’s voice is in a whisper, “Everything is ready.” 

Making sure nobody is around, you snap, and Emma is fully visible again. She smiles. 

Behind you, a throat clears, and you turn to see Alma leaning against the doorway. The two of you offer smiles. Shaking her head, she turns to head back downstairs, throwing behind her, “I’ll collect the children.” 

And she does. 

The decorations are visible and when you hear the little gasp from the hallway, you know you were successful in surprising them. Olive comes into the kitchen with a look of wonder, eyes widening. 

In the center of the table is a pretty pink cake. It perfectly matches her dress, which is coincidentally her favorite color. 

“Happy not-birthday, Olive.” You smile. 

“You did all of this for me?” She whispers, staring at you with glossy eyes. 

When you nod, she hugs you tight around the middle. You laugh and hug her back. You could do the smallest thing for Olive and you know she’d love it. It makes you feel so warm inside to do something sweet for her, especially when she expects so little. 

She deserves more appreciation and love, they all do. You’ve made it your mission to make sure they get all they deserve. 

You fade into the background as the children bicker and fight over slices of cake. Emma, as always, steps in to mediate; taking the knife and doing her best to cut even slices for all of them. 

Alma discreetly takes your hand in her own. 

“You did well.” 

“Thank you,” You smile, looking into her eyes with your heart brimming with love, “You’re next.”

“Don’t you dare.” Alma shakes her head. 

“Too late, the plans are already in motion,” You sing-song, kissing her when the children aren’t looking, “You’re just along for the ride, Miss Peregrine.” 

She does her best not to smile at your apparent joy. Her unblinking gaze follows your every move, love in them. Her voice drips with sarcasm, “Fantastic.” 

[moongothic]

Look I just had to get this out of my system man

I keep on thinking about what kind of theoretical hoops Crocodad would have to jump through to happen in canon and I figured being able to actually visualize the known timeline would help

And that's what this post is about. We have a visual of the timeline. Now let us think about it a whole lot.

Minor notes about the timeline graph; Luffy's birthday is on May 5th and Croc's is on September 5th, so both would get a +1 to their ages by the end of this year in the timeline. On this note, if I am not mistaken, the year Luffy was born Crocodile would've been 27 at the time of his birth and would then turn 28 a few months later. But this is assuming Crocodile is already, at this moment, 46 years old (as opposed to if he was only turning 46 this year in which case he would actually be 45 at this moment, which would further mean he would've been 26 at the time of Luffy's birth and would've turned 27. It's slightly hard to tell what the case is exactly since we don't really get those exact timestamps during the actual story, but I think he's supposed to be 46 turning 47, and that's the assumption this post is written with). (Further sidenote, according the Vivre Card Databooks (appearently), the Strawhats got to Whiskey Peak in February and by late March had obtained Thousand Sunny. Thing is that Luffy was implied to have left on his adventure around his 17th birthday, which would mean that 8-9 months would've passed between Luffy setting out and arriving at Whiskey Peak, and he would've been a few months away from turning 18 already. Which, like, is plausible, but I'm personally willing to ignore this trivia information, not gonna fucking lie)

Anyways, to recap the timeline

We don't know

When Crocodile set out to become a pirate; since he was present at Roger's execution I think the implication would be that he would've set out soon after that, at age 22, but it's entirely possible he might've already been a no-name pirate before that or he could've set out a few years after the execution

When he met Ivankov and if their meeting was like a one-and-done thing and that they never saw each other again until Impel Down, or if that's just when they first got to know each other. (In Iva's own words (in Japanese), they knew Crocodile "during the era when he was still considdered a rookie")

When he got humbled by Whitebeard; it was "soon after" he became a Shichibukai (in Oda's words), but we can't tell if that was like 2 days or 10 months after becoming a Shichibukai

What we do know is that

Crocodile made a name for himself fast "much like Luffy" (in Oda's words); you could interpret that as him causing just a ton of chaos within like a year of entering the Grand Line

He rose to fame and became a Shichibukai in the first half of his 20's (in Oda's words), so before he turned 25?

He supposedly "calmed down" / "went quiet" (again, in Oda's words) for an unknown period of time

By the time he was 30 he was appearing on the news for his heroics; we don't know when he started appearing on the news, just that by this point he was appearing on the news

So I believe the implication is that Crocodile set out on his adventure between the ages of 21-24. If you wanted to push the Crocodad angle, you might want to push it to that 24 (since his Rookie Adventure happened so fast), which would also be around the time of the Revolutionary Army's founding. And while it is entirely plausible Crocodile could've had his ass kicked by Whitebeard VERY soon after his promotion, or it could've been around the time he was like 25-26, if you really wanted to push it for the Crocodad angle. And indeed, we don't know how Crocodile and Iva-chan knew each other. The implication I think is that he transitioned before he rose to fame as a rookie, but he could've just befriended Iva-chan at the time and gotten more well acquainted with the Revolutionaries after his ass kicking and transitioned later. It would just push the "knew him in the era he was considdered a rookie" to an absolute limit, but it would be technically true, just. Kinda pushing it.

And indeed, the Problem Point; Crocodile would've transitioned at age 27 after having Luffy, already a Shichibukai, a public-ish figure.

So if you wanted Crocodad to be canon, either

A) Crocodile being trans isn't a secret, it's something else that Iva-chan tried to blackmail him with B) Crocodile being trans is a secret, so how the fuck did he keep it if he transitioned at 27

If A); Indeed, if there was a scandal about a Shichibukai suddenly transitioning, it would've been like 17-19 years ago. Arguably that would not be something worth bringing up by anyone anymore considdering he had spent at least the past 14 years (pre-timeskip) being a hero to the masses, followed by his warcrimes. Like, it'd be old news. Which would just leave us wondering what the hell the "weakness" Iva-chan mentions really was about (a child, maybe? Or a threat of detransitioning him? Something else?)

If B); Although he was clearly a menace as a rookie as he got himself a relatively massive bounty relatively fast and became a Shichibukai at a young-ish age, we don't know how many bounties he went through before he was offered the position and how he appeared on the news at the time. Like if he went through 2-6 bounty updates before becoming a Shichibukai and appeared in the news A TON it'd feel unlikely he'd be able to keep transitioning later a secret. But if he only had like 1-2 bounties in a short span of time without being photographed too much, it'd definitely feel more plausible. Especially if his OG bounty photos were either shitty sketches (like Sanji's OG poster) or like otherwise poor photos that didn't show his face/features too well. This could also be helped if pre-T (and pre-pregnancy hormones)!Crocodile was kind of androgynous (like Cavendish) and people confused him for a man to begin with On top of this, if Crocodile lost his left hand and got his scar from Whitebeard, if he just went "missing" and then came back transitioned 2-4 years later, he could maybe argue that he was like. A late bloomer. And had hit the gym after Whitebeard kicked his ass. Like yeah he had changed a lot but it's not like there's other Sand Sand Fruit users around claiming to be Crocodile. And it is worth reminding that Iva-chan ability to change people's bio-sex isn't super well known in-universe. So even if people saw him on the news and were like "wait wasn't Crocodile a chick", without knowledge of Iva's abilities people could've been like "no way, surely not, that's not possible". And although the Government maybe could've found it suspicious if they knew about Iva's abilities (which they might've, as Ivankov was a Revolutionary, and their Warlord interacting with a Revolutionary would be sus), as long as Crocodile played nice (which he did, during his Heroic Era) they might've just let it go? (Also if Crocodile was rich at the time he probably could've bribed Morgans to make sure whatever news they published about him didn't ever question his gender or anything)

So all of this to say,

The Most Likely and Most Viable Timeline for Crocodad to be canon would be, approximately;

24-25 Becomes a Shichibukai, gets his ass kicked

25-27 Enters his Quiet Era, Romances Dragon

27-28 Luffy is born, transitions, back to Shichibukai'ing

Of course, this is not an absolute timeline, it's just the one that seems the most viable to me. 'Cause even this timeline is really pushing what Oda and Iva have told us about Crocodile, both the "first half of his 20's" (as opposited to mid 20's), and the "when he was considdered a rookie".

It's pushing it. But it's kind of plausible. And I can't imagine how else it could work in canon.

I do find it interesting though how Crocodile's "quiet era" does overlap nicely with when Luffy was born. Like we don't know how long that era lasted, for all we know Crocodile could've started to get Alabasta like a year after getting his ass kicked by Whitebeard. But it's interesting! And interesting coincidence!

Another interesting note is that 17 is an... interesting number. Like Oda's first one-shot, WANTED! was published when Oda was 17 and that in some ways marks the begining to his adventure as a comic artist. Similarly, Luffy set out on his adventure at the age of 17. A lot of people have been speculating if the God Valley Incident is what caused Dragon to leave the Marines because he would've been 17 at the time. And... It's not quite the same, but if Crocodile transitioned at 27 (as in, started a 'new life', a 'new adventure' as a man at 27)... IDK it'd be an interesting coincidence

Sitenote Re:Missing Kuja Empress

19 years ago, the year Luffy was born, Hancock and her sisters were kidnapped off of the Kuja Pirate's ship when the previous Empress was still the head of the crew

15 years ago the Boa sisters escape slavery and return to Amazon Lily, the status of the former Empress is unknown

13 years ago Hancock becomes the new Empress, the former Empress is presumably dead by this point (as she is said to have died from Love Sickness)

Point being; I reaaally doubt Crocodile is the missing Empress. Like if the former Empress had also been a Shichibukai and had transitioned and was still around, there's no fucking way people wouldn't know about that, right. Like surely they wouldn't say she had died specifically of Love Sickness, right. Like it's not impossible but surely not