#some day I'll figure out how to manage brevity

[likestoimagine16]

#it's a good game. great game even. I love foreshadowing and innocuous details that take on new meaning retrospectively ❤️ #also you've got to tell me more about that headcanon 👀 that sounds very interesting

It is kind of ties into the foreshadowing with Shulk's grief/vengeance quest being fed into by Zanza's brain gnawing, tbh - basically the questions come down to 'why did Zanza and Dickson have a backup plan that involved shooting Shulk?' and 'why did they need it?'

Obviously the answer to the first is what happened in the game - Zanza tried to compel Shulk to hate the Mechonis and kill Egil, but Shulk chose not to do that. Because Shulk did not choose murder, Zanza and Dickson chose it instead.

But like... why was that necessary? Why go through the entire game trying to subtly influence him, trying to direct the natural flow of his choices towards that end, when he was apparently able to possess Arglas without this kind of build-up?

My headcanon is basically that he planned this because of Arglas - because he found a host who was compatible with the Monado, and could therefore grant him a body that could use it, and yet Arglas loved the Machina, as much as he loved the people of the Bionis. He wanted to work with the Machina in harmony, and so when Zanza used his body to destroy them, Arglas would have been willing to fight back

I think this, combined with the Machina's own attempts to evacuate, could have tipped the scales enough for Meyneth's fight with Zanza to end in a draw, despite being at a disadvantage as the defending party who absolutely Does Not Want collateral damage, when compared to Zanza seeing all that death as a literal goal.

I don't think the game proves or disproves it in any way, which is why I consider it more of a headcanon than a theory, but I think it fits well with themes of the game - that Arglas's will could have been one part of the fight against Zanza's bleak destiny, and that his resistance had meaning even if he couldn't live to see it through.

Happy 2024! My roommate and I are back with more xenoblade!

We did like 2 quests and hit 5 star affinity in Central Bionis! We're Nopon celebrities now

We've been stuck on Valak Mountain for like an hour just trying to get all the battle-exclusive items needed for quests. The mountain is taking its revenge for how easily we got the ice cabbages...

During the red pollen orbs sidequests: Roommate: "So it's drugs, right? It's just drugs."

I don't know what magic they put into the NPCs in this game to make them so memorable but it's amazing. We were going to get the club card and my roommate said "oh, I bet the drunk Nopon has it" and then he does! I love how we both 1) remembered him and 2) predicted that he'd be the one to give us the card because of his previous character

The Fiora and Sharla heart-to-heart is kind of fucking me up because like. [best route] Sharla: "Maybe he tried really hard to stop himself from changing. [...] Maybe part of him really wanted to keep hold of who he was." [neutral route 1] Sharla: "He doesn't seem so...grimly determined." Which is like! Hello Zanza! And I can't even scream about it properly because my roommate has no idea!

And then the other routes deal with Fiora worrying that the rest of the party just pities her for the robot body situation and augh. Surprisingly top-tier heart-to-heart for something that starts out failing the bechdel test

[thejustmaiden]

So out of nowhere I was tagged and quoted by a SR shipper for a blog of mine posted in August of last year. Talk about throwback but, hey, gotta appreciate that level of snooping. 😉

Back in the day I actually used to encourage discourse amongst Inuyasha fans- both shippers and antis alike- but I've since realized that it's a lost cause. But for you, @feministmetalgreymon , I'll grant this exception. Just 'cause it's been a while so why the hell not. haha

I want to assure you, however, that nothing you say will ever convince me that Sesshomaru and Rin are meant to be together romantically or that the story intended it so. Nor will you find any validation here. You can ship them for all I care, but please for all that is good and holy while I have your attention try- I mean really try- to understand why it is so many of us Inuyasha fans are so against this pairing in the first place (newsflash: it's not about ship wars), and why we believe a romance between the two of them is completely and utterly out of character.

For those of you interested in reading this, the blog of mine in question that the above shipper mentions in their counter-argument is here for reference. It's titled "Jaken = Rin's Dad?" I'm going to try and keep this short, but I'm also making no such promises. After all, I'm not exactly known for my brevity. haha Now let's get crackin'!

Like you, feministmetalgreymon, did for your recent blog here where you took screenshots of mine to address certain parts, I will be doing the same and dissecting yours accordingly.

[Snippet 1]

I worked with kids for many years as a teacher, and many people in my family have too or still do. Two of them happen to be just over 5 feet which is quite short for the average adult woman living here. I've also worked alongside many a women of short stature, and never did I hear any of them complaining of issues with their students having difficulty differentiating them from their own peers just because they were short as well. I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous. Kids are quite smart and pick up on a lot more than you seem to give them credit for. Height is not the only characteristic they look at to determine who's an adult and who's not, and it's foolish to suggest otherwise. So unless you're a babysitter who's still in their teens and/or who has very childlike features or behavior then I'm afraid what you're getting at is total hogwash. This is just another example of how you shippers offer nothing of real substance to your reasoning, it's only ever cherry-picking or strawmanning from you guys. Stop deflecting from the real issues please, because this certainly isn't one and only winds up being a complete waste of time for all parties involved.

[Snippet 2]

Okay, calm down now. I wasn't insinuating that relationships between parents and children can't change over time in terms of how they get along. Of course that's possible, as all families experience their fair share of estrangement and abuse. What I was speaking about was in reference to the overall dynamic between the two. Because a bad mother or father can still be viewed as a parental figure to their child even if say they're not in said child's life anymore. Since Sesshomaru and Rin share a healthy bond- and just a friendly reminder that in my blog I even said that he doesn't have to necessarily be labeled her father but that a romantic relationship later would still be inappropriate- I didn't deem it necessary to address what you brought up. Plus, it kinda, umm, misses the point?? Please, let's stay on topic. And it's not captured in the screenshot, but stop acting like there isn't a small part of them that idolizes their parents at some point during childhood. Just like you mention later on how it's normal for kids to have innocent crushes on adults that they eventually grow out of? Well, guess what, the same concept applies here. Kids eventually learn that their parents are far from perfect and make mistakes too. Rin is so damn young in the OG series though that we never even get to see her reach that maturity level.

[Snippet 3]

LOL! Alright, okay, so the "unbreakable bond" bit you're mentioning was actually me quoting you sessrinners. Did you not catch that? I literally spelled it out. *sigh* The whole point I was making is that shippers like yourself make hypocritical and contradictory statements all.the.goddamn.time. One moment you guys claim that Sesshomaru and Rin were essentially strangers and meant very little to each other, only to say in the same breath a few seconds later that they were destined to be together and their bond is like no other. I agree, their bond is special, but why must that mean they're going to fall in love?

That is the root of the matter here. Too many animes/mangas have romanticized this older adult man & young girl growing up falling in love trope that it's become way too normalized and widely accepted across the world- and yes, in some cultures more than others. Sadly, you lack the awareness to recognize how this all works. You know how we know that? When we see that you shippers are so desensitized to sexualized images of girls in the media that you share posts like this one below which *subtly* imply a future romance although one half of that pairing is still just a child in the pic and then try and pass it off as cute. That's like super fucking problematic and it scares me that you can't see that (or deny you do). 🤢

After all that's said and done, Sesshomaru leaving Rin in the village with Kaede is to me the strongest indicator more than pretty much anything else he's done for Rin that proves he is her adoptive father. It's so funny to me how you somehow see the exact opposite though. 🤔 What I think is happening is that you got yourself on some squeaky clean ass shipper goggles fresh out of your little echo chamber. Because I hate to tell you, but what you're fantasizing is what you want to see and not what's actually there on screen or was written into the story. I'm strictly talking about Inuyasha and the manga of course. [For the TL; DR version skip to the last paragraph.]

Parents looking after their kids is what parents are supposed to do. A good parent will do anything to keep their child safe and ensure they are cared for, so what he did for her by leaving her there was in her best interests clearly. Besides, as a babysitter, you more than most people should understand that parents aren't always able to be there for their kids so sometimes others gotta step in to help. Haven't you heard of the saying, "it takes a village to raise a child?" Which in Rin's case is literally true! 😂 Sometimes kids are even sent off to stay with grandparents and that's who raises them instead. Or maybe they have to temporarily live with an aunt or uncle because their single parent's job requires they work out of town 4-5 days of the week so they're hardly home. But that doesn't mean that the parents care or love their kids any less, and it's foolish to assume that Sesshomaru must have thought very little of Rin simply due to the fact that he made the decision to leave her in the village. Come on, y'all are acting like he abandoned her there!!

It's just given the circumstances Sesshomaru finally came to learn that Rin traveling with him was no longer safe. I also like to think it's because he wished for her to live a more normal life and to learn how to fully trust humans again. Plus, continuing to travel with him as young as she was would have proven dangerous and unwise. Now for you to know all this and still manage to turn his past actions towards her while she was just a child into a romantic gesture is what boggles my mind. Regardless of how you look at it, from my perspective or your own, Sesshomaru is in the wrong. Either he's a father figure who impregnates his daughter at the young age of approximately 14. OR he's this man she used to travel with who maybe isn't a father to her but who nonetheless basically rapes her since kids her age can't consent to sex with an adult. Idk about you but it sounds to me like nobody here wins with either scenario we're given. In other words, you should be just as mad as we are. If only one side didn't choose to forsake their morals they know we both have in common for the sake of a ship. Welp. 🤷‍♀️

I agree, incest is disgusting but that's not the only problem we have with this pairing. A romantic bond forming between Sesshomaru and Rin would also constitute as grooming.

You realize that over the years he visited her in the village that he brought her gifts too and essentially watched her grow up right before his very eyes, right? I mean, I know you do, but I really shouldn't have to explain further why pursuing a romantic/sexual relationship with each other is plain and simple wrong. And before you say it's not because he didn't have any malintent, please understand that considering their history and power dynamic up to then that yes this is still considered grooming even if Rin supposedly "wanted it" or "made the first move." Whether you consider him her father or not, as the adult who took on a role resembling that of a caretaker in her early life- a critical developmental time for a child- Sesshomaru is obligated to turn down any advances by Rin and most definitely should not initiate any himself. As the first close adult figure she's had in her life since her parents died, it's unfathomable to imagine how Sesshomaru could go through with taking advantage of this young girl who was under his care and supervision since they met. To think he could be capable of betraying that trust sickens me to the core.

This. Now THIS is how a parent/guardian or a similar adult caretaker (babysitter, teacher, etc.) talks to a child. And, in turn, this is how some young children talk to adults. You'd be insane and delusional to deny it! We see it in our everyday lives, do we not? From where else do you think our stories draw most of their inspiration? Yes, obviously these fictional universes have aspects of fantasy that don't exist in the real world, but so how then do you suppose we're able to relate to them? The reason for that being is because these stories are written by people for people, so naturally there are going to be real life aspects embedded throughout. Sure, a little escapism doesn't hurt as we don't need to take everything so seriously, but ultimately we all need to recognize that the messages in the stories we tell matter. Most stories possess a combination of both light and dark themes, but when it specifically comes to the latter we gotta be careful with how we tackle this in children's media since kids are far more impressionable.

So if at the center of a story we have two of the main protagonists whose mom is basically their same age and to top it off she knew their dad when she was just a girl and who just so happened to help raise her, wouldn't you say that's beyond fucked up or at the very least so fucking weird? Like why would we think it's even remotely okay for our children to watch this garbage?? Really think about it. Try and be objective for once and think about how it would sound explaining this storyline to an outsider who's never watched IY or HNY. Well, antis have tried this before many times and we always get the same reaction: Ewww!

Like I said earlier, if you wanna ship it then fine, but 1) please stop seeking our approval or trying to change our minds - your ship wish came true didn't it, so why do you need us to validate it? 2) even though it's not canon, respect that we don't support this sequel portraying pedophilia in a positive light. It's harmful af to not only allow but glorify the continuation of sexualized images of young girls everywhere. And I shouldn't have to say this, but just because this trope is popular as you say does not make it right. Lolicon themes in the media have been an issue forever and it needs to stop. Yes, even some people in Japan or "the East" would agree. Shocker!

We're pissed off and rightfully so because Yashahime's TV rating is 14, not to mention it airs at the prime time kids in Japan watch TV after getting home from school. That's Towa and Setsuna's age, true, but if Rin being the mom when she's like only a year older than them (please don't argue w/ me about the math- antis have so far been right every time with it) is straight-up disgusting and not something we should be supporting or endorsing. Rin's a whole ass child!! Please don't start with the "but times were different then so her having kids at 15 is acceptable" argument either, because we've already debunked that and every other single excuse you guys throw at us. Besides, how or why would you expect young viewers to know these historical "facts" anyway, especially if as you suggest fiction doesn't affect reality so what does it matter? Yet here we are, arguing over a fictional show in real life almost a year and a half into the "Sesshomaru fucks?" sequel being announced. My ass, your ass, hell all our asses fiction doesn't affect reality!

Look, I do apologize if the tone of this blog came off as snippy or condescending at times. I do not wish you any ill will, it's just I'm not really sure what you expected to get out of all this besides maybe getting on my nerves perhaps. haha A lot of you shippers have been desperately scrambling to interact with us, lurking in our tags, jumping onto our posts screaming canon and getting so defensive even though you sought us out first. We've been sticking to our tags, so how about you stay in your lane too. By the way since we're on the topic, have you seen Twitter or Reddit?! SR shippers there are the actual worst and many Inuyasha fans (not just antis) have complained of not feeling welcomed to engage in fandom spaces anymore. Shippers swarm them and scare them off simply because fans don't like your ship and refuse to accept it. It's pathetic, really. No one should ever be bullied or harassed just because they don't like something you might. We're all fans of Inuyasha, aren't we? So let's act like it. Yashahime on the other hand, you guys are welcome to that pungent heap of trash. Fans have a right to criticize it too, but if you like it then good for you, so keep on liking it and don't mind us.

I'm almost done, but real quick back to Jaken! Let's not forget about how the official Yashahime website- which came out after my blog, mind you- described Jaken. This translation isn't the best one available but it's the only version a fellow anti friend could track down. They do recall a better one done by a native Japanese speaker who was also an anti, and that member confirmed that Jaken is indeed called Rin's babysitter. So you see, I was right in my interpretation. In the original post I did compare Jaken to a brother, but after talking to others (some comments can be found under said post) I did acknowledge that he's more of a reluctant babysitter who's not related. And if he's not at least a brother to Rin, then he's definitely not her father.

At the end of the day, the creator Rumiko Takahashi has the final word. Which is guess what? Hogosha. 💖 Probably should've just started out with that and saved us all the trouble, huh? Good day/night to you.

Papamaru bids you adieu now. 🤞

[wyn-n-tonic]

So, to preface this, I just want to say that this is going to be US based as US based mental healthcare is what I have most experience with utilizing as I've lived here most of my life and I work in mental healthcare as well. I'm sorry I can't give information about other countries but I don't want to give inaccurate information.

Mental healthcare is hard. It is demonized and stigmatized and figuring out where to start is difficult. And even when we find resources, even when we do find that starting point, taking that first jump to ask for help is hard. Asking for help is hard especially if we've spent years being told to toughen up or that other people have it worse or, my personal favorite, it's all in our heads. Of course it's all in our heads, it's in the name!

Our brains can get sick just like any other part of our body and it's nothing to be ashamed of but people make it a shameful thing so... where do we start?

First of all, we need to talk about the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist/therapist. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in mental healthcare and the diagnoses and treatment, including writing prescriptions, of mental illnesses/disorders. A psychologist/therapist is a counsellor who has been trained in talk therapy to help you manage mental health symptoms and improve how you handle stress as well as help you process trauma. There are some states where psychologists can now write prescriptions for medications and you don't need to see a psychiatrist. I don't know have a full list of those states so I suggest you looking up that information for yourself but I will always advocate for seeking out a trained medical professional for medication first and foremost.

With all that being said... let's get to finding a professional for ourselves.

Psychology Today is a great resource and I wish I could tell you how much I utilize this magazine/website in my every day life at work but you would get bored and hate me. But I love them SO MUCH.

They have separate searches for what you're looking for including Psychiatrists and Therapists. They also have searches for telehealth, treatment centers and support groups and while those are not the ones I'll be focusing on they are also super duper helpful.

So, you go into those searches and you input your zipcode and hit search and it brings up the results. But what's really cool and makes this better than just Googling professionals in your area is the way you get to tailor the search results for yourself and it looks like this:

This helps you find somebody you are comfortable working with because if you are not comfortable working with somebody, you will not make progress in your mental healthcare and that is unfair to you.

You can choose what kind of issues you want your therapist to specialize in handling (the list is extensive, I won't be including it here for brevity purposes). You can choose what insurances they take if you are one of the fortunate people in this country to have health insurance and therapy is covered by said insurance. You can choose the gender of the therapist (male, female and nonbinary are options). You can choose the type of therapy they are specialized in administering (CBT, DBT and EMDR are three very popular and common types but they are not the only types nor do they work for everybody). You can choose their age range. And my favorite: Price range. Because price is a big factor in why a lot of us don't seek out mental health help. They have four options, it looks like this:

I always choose less than $90 and that sliding scale option. That means it's based on your income level. Do not ever feel ashamed of clicking the sliding scale option. You can also look for places who have interns working for them. They're in their last semester of training before they start the licensing process and they're usually a lot cheaper. For example: I started with my therapist when she was an intern and she was 20$ per session for me on a sliding scale.

Then there's the more tab where you really get to narrow your search down between ethnicity served, sexuality, language spoken and the faith of the therapist. It looks like this:

Because, again, if we're not comfortable with who we're working with, then we're not going to do very well in our healing. Not only do we want professionals who know what they're doing, we want professionals who empathize and sympathize with us as well, who might have experience with what we've gone through ourselves. Tailoring the search results and finding a professional who meets you where you are is so important.

Then comes the really hard part of actually making phone calls but, honestly, email works great too if you have anxiety about talking on the phone. I reached out to a few therapeutic practices and just put myself on a couple of waitlists. It cost nothing and they move super fast. When you come off a waitlist and find a therapist you're comfortable working with, just politely email the other organizations and let them know so they can move somebody else up on their list. I have never experienced a professional being mad nor have I ever been mad at somebody taking themselves off the waitlist. Mental health professionals want you to get the help you need and the help you're comfortable with and if you found somebody before somebody else can help you, that is fantastic and we will genuinely wish you the best. Because we want the best for you.

This is not an exhaustive guide by any means but I hope it's helpful. Please feel free to reblog, please feel free to add on some other resources you know of. If you have already made or you decide to make a similar post for another country, please let me know and I'll be super happy to reblog it because Tumblr isn't an American only space and mental healthcare is not an American only need.

[iturmom]

i guess this is a d*nation post but i don't even know what i would do with money if it's d*nated because there's legitimately no way i could raise enough to fix my problems because although i have suffered immense trauma i don't have like cancer or some equally terrible health condition or something equally extreme in the eyes of the masses at least. but i'll briefly explain the situation i'm in so you can see that it really is extreme (ca is $ityourmom if you can give anything, and please boost)

i worked my ass off to build my life even though everyone, especially the powers that be have been against me and all the odds have been stacked against me all my life. yeah i had a fucked up childhood and grew up in poverty and trauma and had no support. don't want to go into details for the sake of brevity. i was kicked out of my grandma's house after high school bc she didn't want to be responsible for her fucked up grandchild. fucked up of her but fair. i didn't really have any support. i put myself through college full time and worked full time through most of college to make ends meet

i had to rent out both of my rooms to afford rent (i was renting a trailer from my grandma) so i had to sleep on the couch. fucked up my back real bad but that's mostly recovered now. i had some terrible roommates but the last one attacked me. police didn't help protection order was denied so i had to flee the town (he still lived in that town and for brevity's sake just know i wasn't safe there) stayed with a friend but it was too much for her with 4 kids and 5 dogs and her own bullshit she had to deal with and she was moving to a different state anyway so she had to kick me out. i couldn't find a place to live within my budget so i packed up my life and my cats and left my dream job to move to alabama to live with my neonazi mother and her equally fucked up conservative husband. this was the beginning of covid and i lived with her for 10 months. she was abusive and it escalated to her trying to kill me. her husband helped her but she was the primary assailant. it was honestly horrific but the worst part was when the cops got there and she was still on top of me attacking me but i was the one who got arrested. when i got out of jail i was picked up by these people who ran an unofficial group home (arranged by my mother and she paid for my first week so it was worth it at least for the first week. it quickly went to shit). they were "recovered" meth heads. they were insane bible thumping racist conservatives. they were abusive to me. they kicked me out for something i didn't do and i had to stay in a hotel for 3 weeks and subsist off a single pizza a day.

i moved to live with my girlfriend in texas. i had to go back and forth for court dates on my dollar even though the case was ultimately dropped. all this bullshit drained my savings. i had $5,000 (tax returns and stimulus checks with a little of that being savings from work) at the time that i was arrested almost 2 years ago and now i have almost nothing. my girlfriend ended up being very abusive. she knocked my head into the wall and i fleed with nothing but the clothes on my back and my wallet and 3ds (no charger) which i used for internet to try to get help and the dv hotline. went to the battered women's shelter. might i interrupt to remark on how bullshit it is that my mother tried to kill me and the government punished me for it and stole all my money and society left me homeless but my girlfriend just hit me once and i got free food and rent among other things for 2 years fuck this bullshit garbage evil system.

so now i am living in a restorative living program for vulnerable women but the program is dissolving and we have about 6 months to figure something out except that timing is not set in stone it could be much less. my case manager is being hella shady lately acting like i'm just a lazy fucking bum treating me like i'm just gaming the system for free rent which i am and i have every right to after all that this system has done to me, all that it has enabled to be done to me, and all it has stolen from me. THEY PLAYED ME FIRST okay? BUT. i'm doing everything i signed up for to participate in this bullshit program and i've also been working my ass off to get public assistance and i keep getting denied for disability and i don't think i'll get it even though i am way too traumatized and fucked up to function AND i can't participate in a system that has taken everything from me and fucked me over even if i WAS stable enough. which i'm not i'm constantly haunted by a lifetime's worth of extreme trauma and i can't get medication prescribed that would fuck me up enough to make me able to function. i've also been denied almost every other public assistance except food stamps but they require you to go through an intensive program and work 30 hours a week because food is not a right and i am absolutely not stable enough to commit to that. well i got exempted since i'm applying for disability but like i said i keep getting denied and i don't even know if it's worth pursuing any further so i'll lose food stamps too.

so i can't get any public assistance, i'm way too fucked up to depend on myself and don't trust this system to sell my soul to it again, my case manager is being shady so i don't know if she's actually going to help me find another program once this one dissolves (which isn't a gaurantee that she'd find anything anyway) or if she's just going to kick me out since i'm such a fucking leech in her eyes, even though i'm doing everything i signed up for, going through the ringer to try to get public assistance, all while i'm barely functioning with cptsd, add, and anxiety.

so my future is completely uncertain and i'm terrified and my mental health is spiralling out of control. i don't know what to do bc i've tried everything and the system is rigged against me, has used me up and broken me and is ready to throw me out like trash. i'm helpless and hopeless and i don't think there are any options for me. i don't think there's anything i CAN do in this situation i'm fucked and i'll never get justice i know that for fact and i don't think i'll get any support. but also i don't think i can possibly raise enough money to fix my problems. i don't know how much i need. nothing is certain for me right now. what i really need is help. i need justice. i need disability. i need options. i need my life back that was stolen from me that i busted my ass to build from the ground up.