#think it is the 'u don't know me like that' factor which is kind of silly :P BUT WHATEVER! i can make something nice that doesn't like.

[b-blushes]

*guy who has already got multiple projects on the go voice* i should make a sign for my front door so people can differentiate it as a flat...

[utilitycaster]

How can Molly's death be considered a major mistake? It's the crux of the entire campaign.

so I think about this a lot, because you're right, and it really comes down to like...a lot of factors in how people interact with fiction, and some stuff I feel about fandom.

The short answer is that Molly is some people's favorite character, and they really wanted to watch him for 141 episodes and not just 26, and they didn't get to, and so it's valid to feel sad about that. But I think what personally grinds my gears is the idea that it's a mistake and because this is a Fan Favorite character he SHOULD have come back. Setting aside the fact that he had both his fans and his detractors from the start and a lot of people (myself included) who found him irritating didn't say much for a good chunk of C2 because, well, he was dead, this isn't a fucking competitive reality show. You don't get to vote on your phones to decide who wins a resurrection.

I think the longer answer is that there is a certain type of person in fandom, born of a certain type of person in social media communities, who just...is not willing or interested in considering not just that their experiences, preferences, and philosophy are not universal, but also that they are not objectively best and correct and that everyone who disagrees is wrong. It's often really common in, though not exclusive to, people who have particularly limited experiences - young (like, teenager/early 20s), people who haven't lived in a diverse area or in multiple different areas, people who for whatever reason do not get out much - which both makes sense (haven't been exposed to a ton of different perspectives irl) but also means that you get people who, for all they may talk about global politics, kind of unconsciously seem to act as though everyone they interact with online is a variant of someone from the same 3000 person town in the United States in which they've spent all 21 years of their life. ANYWAY getting back to the main point I feel like Molly attracted a lot of that kind of person, who just...doesn't get that while Molly is, to them, a deeply validating expression of gender identity, for many people he is "guy you meet at your friend's birthday party in a two-bedroom 6 floor walk up and within 5 seconds he has pissed you off so profoundly with his overfamiliarity that you go into the kitchen and mainline as much vanilla vodka as possible to not stab this guy with a secondhand knife that says "CHEESE!" on it even though you hate vanilla vodka and it's summer in NYC and you're on the 6th floor in a small apartment with too many people so it's approximately 117 degrees Fahrenheit in this kitchen and the vodka isn't much cooler, and you succeed in this goal, and then after sending your friend who couldn't make it because they were at a family thing that weekend a picture of a rat on the tracks of the 3 train with a caption "this u?" at 1:54 in the morning you're like "so this guy Molly was there" and they're like "oh my god I met him at Cameron's last party, he SUCKS" and you're like "I KNOW". Like a lot of people just do not get that Molly was very popular with their circle, and also a lot of people either were neutral-to-not-feeling-it. This is before we get into the post-death idealization of who he was that takes him from "irritating but I think he'd have grown on me in some ways eventually had he lived" to "horrible and insufferable fake-ass bitch."

And then we get to the true impasse: the idea that something that does not fulfill every single one of your personal wishes might still be a great story.

I'm certainly not perfect, and there's things I thought I wanted for the end of C2 that I didn't get, and there's some things I do wish we'd have gotten to see (or that we'd have done in C3), but I like to think that I try to remain at least partially open to the possibilities. I like to think that my enjoyment of a story isn't contingent on whether one single character survives, even if they are my favorite (and I say this as someone whose favorite ASOIAF character was immediately Ned Stark, a statement that should surprise no one who follows me) nor that the story precisely reaffirms my existing worldview. I want stories to tell me something new and interesting that wouldn't come from my own head, and I want them to sell me on it. I think that a lot of people lost the thread of the importance of representation, namely, they forgot that while it's great to see people like you in a story, you should also be trying to see people not like you and perspectives that aren't yours. I am extremely defensive of my and other people's right to say "I didn't like this story and here is why" without someone being like "Give it a chance! Here's why I think it's good" but at the same time, there is a difference between "I really wish Molly had stayed alive and I don't like that he died," and "everything that happened after he died was A Mistake because it wasn't what I Wanted, and someone should fix this." Like that's what toddlers do. That's not an adult way of interacting with narrative.

So those people don't even get to the point of "the entire campaign is deeply influenced by the loss of Molly; that is what binds the rest of the Nein together and makes them what they are; the fact that Lucien wears the face of a departed friend is crucial to the entire final arc comprising about 20% of the campaign; and the fact that he does not come back, but someone new, with new chances and new choices to make does is emblematic of a campaign about people who find that they cannot undo their pasts, but neither are they trapped or damned by them." They're stuck at "guy I liked died and I'm throwing a tantrum 6 years later."

[ghostgirl101]

hey, i really like ur writing and idk if ur working on something rn but when you can and if you want to, could you possibly write some ben drowned x reader kissing headcanons? (only if u r comfortable w/ that ofc!) ur literally my favorite writer on this app nd i literally read everything u post lol so even if u don’t do this ty anyway and have a nice day/night and take care of urself!!🩷

Kissing BEN Drowned Would Be Like This:

A/N: Sure, I'm comfortable with that; this is kind of a whole affection headcanon thing, which I've only just realised now I'm reading it over 🙃 I'm glad you like my writing, hope you enjoy this one, take care of yourself too 😀 Also, should I start making a taglist for my creepypasta posts? If you're interested, let me know.

🎮• So. If you're expecting BEN to be an absolute gentleman who asks for your permission before giving you any form of affection, or is a bit bashful to initiate it...

🎮• Haha. Sorry.

🎮• I mean, he'd never push your boundaries or deliberately make you feel uncomfortable when you guys are being intimate somehow, but he's not gonna be shy about it. That's because it takes a bit of time for him to warm up to the idea of physically coming out of the screen and materializing himself enough for you to hug him and everything safely, without getting electrocuted or whatever.

🎮• Another factor is that after all he's been through, the idea of letting himself be that vulnerable around people is a bit of a daunting one, even if it's you, someone who he's learned to trust and get close to until it gets to this point.

🎮• So, well done to you, for earning the ultimate sign of trust from this maniac virus boy. Chances are that after you hint at wanting to be able to kiss him or something, he's gonna act all teasing and dismissive about it, but what you don't know is that the thought stays in his mind after you've finished up on the computer and gone to bed. He watches you silently from the camera on your open screen (that he's insisted you keep open for him to check in on you) and lets the idea of it grow into a nice, tempting one.

🎮• So get ready for yet another burst of an adrenaline rush as BEN gives you the scare of your life when he comes crawling out of the screen as you wake up in the morning, scattering your desk trinkets and stuff all over the place in the process. BEN has very pale blonde hair in his humanish form, almost white, and even paler skin, with empty black and red eyes, sometimes glitchy... you probably know already. BEN's eyes bleed lightly even when he's not upset, but seem to gush blood when he is. But even with the whole horrifying appearance, somehow, he manages to make himself look handsome. Don't tell him, though, or he'll tease you about it and probably won't ever forget it.

🎮• When you get over the initial shock of him literally just spawning into your room, he stays completely indifferent, if not a bit amused, because isn't this what you wanted? It's not like he bites. Unless you're into that sort of thing.

🎮• BEN is a bit apprehensive at first, because, let's be real, you're his first kiss. His life was twisted into an electronic form when he was really young, and so human touch is almost a completely foreign experience to him at this point, so he will start slow. He might flinch a couple of times, but dismisses it and tells you to go on, that he wants to get used to it. And he does.

🎮• When he does, that's when you've got his chaotic bursts of affection energy to deal with. He loves catching you off guard; you could be doing anything, working or hanging around or whatever, and then he's suddenly there behind you, and you get the tiniest of electric shocks as BEN grabs you effortlessly and refuses to let go for a solid five minutes while you fidget in his glitching but strong arms and glare at him.

🎮• The first thing you'll end up doing is hugging, because he likes the feel of being close in somebody's arms in a way he didn't think he could be before. You're warm and he's consistently cold, leading to you having to slap at his hands when he slides a hand down your back or something bratty just to make you squeal and shiver. They draw out into cuddle sessions, another thing he likes, and will ultimately go soft over. There have been many times when you've managed to fall asleep in BEN's arms, and that's one of the rare times where he'll let all his guard down and fiddle with your hair or play with your jewelry or just stare at you with a newfound feeling of protectiveness and fondness.

🎮• Now for the actual kissing part 🙃 I need to say that it really isn't a first "kiss." It's the first of many long makeout sessions, because BEN will drag it out as much as he can, and then stop abruptly when you least expect it, just to be a tease and wanting more. I see it happening when you're rambling about something or other, and he's out in the real world instead of in a screen, when you realize that your faces are inches apart, and he has a blank, frustrating unreadable look on his face.

🎮• And, before you can say anything, he'll take the plunge before he can think about it any more, leaning in and brushing his lips against yours, but waiting for you to accept it and move in too. It starts off surprisingly soft and sweet, until BEN starts getting addicted to the new, intimate sensation, and tries deepening it. Then it's less sweet and more intense, and (sorry for the cliche lol) electric. He tastes kind of appley, and his lips are cold and soft. BEN will carry on going, further and further, to the point of you ending up breathless and him pulling away with a stunned look on his face. That look morphs into his usual mischievous smirk after he recovers in a few moments, and he raises a brow in amusement at your wide eyes and swollen lips, probably with a snarky little "Not bad."

🎮• After you've done it once, you're gonna end up doing it a whole lot more. There are hardly ever any proper warnings apart from BEN gradually moving in closer and being more teasing and flirty, or on sadder days where painful memories of the past come creeping back to haunt him, a source of comfort and reminder that he's still here and has another reason to be alive and basically immortal. It's not just to drive people to insanity and infect their systems with disturbing things until they crack, or whatever other motives he has. Now, there's you, someone who he's decided he needs to look out for and be with in any possible way.

🎮• Like I said, kissing BEN Drowned usually ends in suggestive makeout sessions and the like, because that's just BEN all over. But they're one way he's discovered he can show he cares, and so he'll keep doing it if you want him to, without any hesitation. Realistically, the boy is beyond touch starved, and so that all pours into the affections he gives you. To anyone else, he's a twisted, demon-like boy who makes peoples' lives hell by getting into their heads through ways they can't control, but to you and you only, he'll let himself become more and more vulnerable, until you see that really, he still was and is Ben.

[mikashida]

u seem like u have a lot of wolverine headcanons pls ... 🤲

you've enabled my rambling just know that you did this to yourself. I do also wanna quickly disclaimer I've not read many of the x men let alone wolverine comics so idk how much of this *is* canon or has been mentioned, I was raised by people who thought comics were evil and would "Turn Me Gay" so I only got to watch the movies because obviously movies can't turn you gay (they did)

most of these are kinda depressing the only funny one is the first one

for like General Headcanons that would apply to all variants i 10000% believe the gruff gravelly voice is fake and he just Does That intentionally. I'm not saying his voice isn't deep but the whole like "ruruuuhughgh. im trhe best at what i do but what i do best aint very nice hnrnrghh..." is overplayed. so when he gets nervous or caught off guard his voice raises like at least half an octave. to illustrate what I mean here's a cutscene from the origins game

I also think he tries to drink to slow his healing factor and not necessarily to get buzzed. this is pretty much canon in Logan, but even outside of that canon he's very often been shown to at Least be fascinated by the idea of being mortally wounded if not genuinely suicidal at times and i imagine drinking consistently kinda fucks with that. like let's say he's physically harmed while intoxicated i figure it would probably hurt more/heal slower than it would if he was sober if that makes sense.

to continue with that i think he's tried to kill himself a lot and not in the funny way that deadpool does (like when he shoots himself in the game to get out of a conversation with colossus lmfao) (not saying that deadpool hasnt Genuinely tried to either though) probably doesn't bother anymore but imagine being like fuckin 20 years old and you cant die and you have So Much ptsd and no way to deal with it because its the fucking 1800s

i generally think his ptsd affects him a lot more than the movies and comics let on, which I understand because it's not easy to write when you don't have experience with it. I think it was written really well in deadpool and wolverine though, I am very tired of the perfect victim trope and I like that this logan is actually. kind of a horrible person (I have more headcanons about that but I will stop with this one). he failed his world and that made him the man that saved the universe, but that doesn't cancel out his wrongdoings, and now that he has people in his life again he has a responsibility to do better for those around him

tldr wolverine has issues and i want to make them worse

[ladydeath-vanserra]

CoN + the Eternal Perpetuation of Abuse and Toxicity

ok see here's the thing. people aren't born evil. people aren't Born awful and despicable and monsters. there's always a mix of genetics and environmental factors that end up bringing out the worst in people

ok now think about the Court of Nightmares

you will NEVER get me to believe they're all just evil monsters who all delight in harming each other for... just because. you will NEVER get me to believe that Morrigan is the one (1) person in the entirety of them all who is just ✨️pure and good✨️. actually dare I be controversal: her pick-me nastiness is a byproduct of living there. OK NOW MOVING ON

consider them all being trapped in that place together. They are trapped under that mountain with each other. there is severe power imbalances put in place, which means people are trapped with their abusers under there

sometimes, when people are trapped in a corner with bullies, or they're being raised by bullies, that is all they know. they build the same nastiness, the same callousness and pointy and sharp and mean words and actions as a means to defend themselves. it is pure survival. it is not "lol they're all awful and delight in hurting people". if people are being awful and enjoy it, that means there are victims of that hurt and wickedness. are we saying they enjoy being victims of that torment....?????

if basic needs aren't being met, often times contention and cruelty is born out of necessity. When you're around hate, you become hate to protect yourself. often it's not even intentional or conscious, its a defense to protect yourself from that hurt. you bite before you get bitten. toxic environments breed toxicity

until there is a new option brought in, until there is hope and resources and a way out, nothing changes. it all festers. it all gets worse

Rhys being like "lol they all delight in hurting each other. i just leave them be" about the CoN is perpetuating all of that abuse. he is letting it fester and grow. victims are being made every single day and he is choosing to let that happen

Keir wants out. he wants his PEOPLE out. maybe they don't want out so they can just delight in cruel merriment everywhere under the sun. maybe, just maybe they're trapped in hell and working with what they have

Feyre is complicit in keeping those people there. When Keir says his people want to be FREE from the mountain she's like ok but all ur comfort tho. is that not enough for u

Feyre died UtM. She saw victims being brutalized UtM. UtM was designed and inspired by the CoN. is she REALLY going to subject the same women and children and men of that kind of torment???

@kateprincessofbluewhales @ae-neon @achaotichuman @bookishfeylin

[ashyjingles]

What's your favorite trope in thiam fics? (Or in general?)

this ended up being something a lot longer than i meant to be and is less of a fav trope and more of an analysis of how i view them or whatever but like. here have it

theo learning how to cope with life outside of the dread doctors and being viewed as a monster for his actions (which,,, sorry theo ily and i will forever be a theo defender,,, but never an apologist bc wtf bro) and liam understanding him because of what he's done during his ied episodes and the repercussions

liam's reluctant to admit he feels that empathy for him at first because hey!! this guy kind of not only evil but also batshit fucking bonkers!! but he kinda realizes without empathy he loses an aspect of his humanity and when he accepts it he realizes theo was quite honestly just in an incredibly abusive situation and was just trying to survive and became a product of his enviornment (and considering one of the causes of ied is environmental factors i feel like it wouldn't be too far fetched to say liam understands that personally too)

and theos reluctant to admit that he. feels guilty for anything he did. because that means admitting that he did bad things. which when he tries to rationalize makes no sense because he has done bad things and has even enjoyed doing it because his brains a little fucked and he knows that because he's a monster. but being guilty means he's a failure to the dread doctors. and he's already rotten at the edges and the edges are starting to peel away to show a rotten core and that means he's a failure to the mccall pack because they're a bunch of saints (compared to him at least. and if not, well they're on a saints leash) and he's spent so long being anything but a failure because being a failure means being dead and he cannot shake that no matter how hard he tries until he realizes liam sometimes fails at keeping his anger in check but that doesn't make him a failure. and then without even realizing liam starts teaching theo that it's okay to slip up a few times because that's what makes people human and maybe theo doesn't have to be a monster

but when they both accept themselves and the other it leads to a relationship that no one else quite gets (sure, mason has been there for liam his entire life and i cannot stress how much i adore their friendship but sometimes understanding something because you've watched it happen is worlds away from actually experiencing it) at first but it's the sort of thing that just. fits. because they can both push each other to their limits without actually going over (eventually) but also pull each other back when they need a reminder of who they are (people. not monsters.)

tbh i love them cause there's so many different dynamics and tropes that can apply to them but this one,,,,,,,, this one is the one that well and truly wrecks me most of the time. and i don't even think this counts as a trope.

if i had to choose like a trope trope then. idiots to lovers? basic. enemies to lovers? too obvious. idk any tropes now that i think about it,, fuck. sunshine x grumpy?? but also i think i like grumpy liam more than sunshine liam because that boy has an ied and a shitload of trauma he's not gonna be a ray of happiness all the time and like hell will theo be a sunshine character. OHHHH YOU KNOW WHAT?? FAKE DATING!! or the and they were roommates thing. idk tbh dude. hanahaki if u wanna take a peek at my 4 hanahaki drafts for them lmfao

in general tho? combination of idiots to lovers but also fake dating but also grumpy x grumpy that sometimes leans toward grumpy x sunshine I GUESS. since you're MAKING me CHOOSE.

[flufallo]

Um.... I found a random quote generator

Cat king: Hello all, it is I, your favorite person.

Charles: Actually, Edwin is my favourite.

Cat king: Okay then, it is I, that bitch.

Edwin: Do you have a self-care routine?

Jenny: "Keep going bitch" said to myself in different accents.

Charles : Do you guys want to see a butterfly?

Niko: Ooh, yes please!

Jenny, with their laptop open: I'm not going to stop working to look at a stupid bug!

Charles: It's not a bug though...

Jenny: ...

Niko: ...

Jenny: Well I still don't want to see.

Niko, realizing: Please don't throw-

Charles : Whee! *throws a stick of butter*

Monty: Edwin keeps forgetting which WiFi network they're supposed to use.

Monty: So I renamed ours to "Edwin, use this one" to help them out a little.

Charles: How would you like your coffee?

Crystal : As dark and as bitter as my soul.

Charles, shouting to someone behind the counter: I need one vanilla latte with extra cream and sugar!

Cat king: Fuck you.

Esther : No u.

Cat king: I'm down.

Esther : You're like 2, what the fuck-

Cat king: I AM NOT 2!

Cat king: Monty is a strings kid. We must sacrifice them to the band gods.

Charles: Yes.

Crystal : You're right. It'd be a good initiation for me.

Monty: Wait, guys, what about the truce we signed-

Charles: What truce?

Cat king: *sigh* The truce that we must destroy all the choir kids and leave the strings alone.

Esther : Wait, I'm a choir kid!

Everyone else: *prepares for sacrifice*

Squad reactions to being called straight:

Jenny: The fuck, no I'm not.

Edwin : Excuse the hell out of you?

Cat king: Ding dong, you are wrong!

Charles: Who told you that? And why did they lie?

Niko: Rude.

Esther : *punches the person*

Cat king: FIGHT ME, YOU NERD ASS SLUT!

Esther : At least try to sound slightly more sophisticated when you threaten someone.

Cat king: Oh, I'm sorry. I should ask; dost thou want to engage in a duel, my good bitch?

Esther : Somehow that's worse

Jenny: Well, if you're not at least a little bit gay for your friends, then what kind of friend are you?

Monty: What makes a bigger memory than a passionate kiss?

Edwin: A stab wound.

Jenny: You are now one day closer to eating your next plate of nachos.

Monty: That's the most hopeful thing I've ever heard.

Niko: But what if I die tomorrow and never eat any nachos?

Crystal : Then tomorrow is nacho lucky day.

Niko: I just want someone to take me out.

Crystal : On a date?

Cat king: With a sniper gun?

Esther : Both if you're not a coward.

Esther : OKAY, YOU KNOW WHAT?! TIME OUT! GET ON TOP OF THE FRIDGE! GET UP THERE!

Monty: *Climbing* THIS HOUSE IS A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!!!

Cat king: Is this mistletoe?

Edwin: Uh, no, no, that is basil.

Cat king: Too bad cause if it was mistletoe I was gonna kiss you.

Edwin: Yeah, no, it’s still basil.

Charles: You know what’s funny about Edwin? They’re my best friend, and anyone who’d hurt them is someone I’d murder, probably.

Charles: I’ve only had Edwin for a day and a half but if anything happened to them I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.

Cop: What are your names?

Esther: Don't tell them, Cat king.

Cop, writing: Cat king...

Esther: Crap.

Cat king: Nice going, Esther.

Cop:

Cat king: Uh oh.

Monty: I’m taking a look at your numbers, and it doesn’t look good. You have a lot of measurements. Quite a few variables.

Charles: Is that… bad?

Monty: Variables are the #1 risk factor for outcomes. The past is a big contributor to the future.

Charles: Isn’t that just causality?

Monty: Causality is the leading cause of death in this country.

Charles: So what are my odds?

Monty: Do you have a family history?

Charles: Of what?

Monty: Just, in general.

Charles: …Yes?

Monty: Oh no.

Niko, texting Edwin : *sends a voice message*

Edwin , texting back: I’m a little busy, is it urgent?

Niko: No, don’t worry, just listen later.

*later*

Edwin : *presses play*

Niko's voice message: THERE’S A FIRE-

Monty: Onion rings are vegetable donuts.

Esther , used to Monty being dumb: Sure...

Monty: Your stomach thinks all potatoes are mashed.

Esther : Okay?

Monty: Lasagna is spaghetti flavored cake.

Esther :

Monty: Lobsters are mermaid scorpio-

Esther : Jesus, that one is a little-

Jenny, interested: No, no, Monty, keep going.

Crystal : But we’re friends! I was building up to calling you a nickname soon!

Edwin: That’ll never happen! In fact, you just lost “Edwin” privileges. From now on, you can call me by my last name or ‘Hey, you.’.

Crystal : Come on, Edwin.

Edwin: *glares*

Crystal : Come on, Hey you.”

Crystal : That shirt looks great, Charles.

Charles: Thanks.

Crystal : But I bet it would look even better on Edwin's floor.

Edwin: Are you hitting on Charles... for me?

Cat king: What do we think of Monty?

*pause*

Charles: *sighs* Nice pal.

Crystal : I think they're gay.

Esther : What am I supposed to do?

Monty: If I were you? I’d try and make peace with whatever deity, pantheon, or Divine Other you believe in.

Esther : I’m an atheist.

Monty: Then just get ready to die I guess

*playing twister*

Crystal : Right hand red.

Charles: *ends up on top of Edwin *

Edwin: You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?

Crystal : I stopped spinning like 15 minutes ago. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't notice

Cat king: So... who's the big spoon and who's the little spoon?

Edwin: We're chopsticks!

Cat king: Well... that's cute!

Cat king: Does that mean you two snuggle together perfectly?

Charles: No, it means that if you take the other away, the only thing the other is good for is stabbing.

Monty: Do you want to play 20 Questions?

Edwin: Sure!

Edwin: Whats your favorite color?

Monty, laser fucking focused: Triangle. Do you like men?

Edwin: I love the term 'partners'. Are we dating? Are we robbing a bank? Are we the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies and are members of an elite squad known as the special victims unit? Who knows

Cat king, to Esther : All right, let’s tell each other a secret about ourselves. I’m going to go first– I hate you.

Cat king: I’m a bad person, I’m a very bad person, I’m a horrible person.

The Squad:

Cat king: No you’re not, Cat king! We still love you, Cat king!

Esther : This should be illegal!

Jenny: It is.

Jenny: What scares you guys the most?

Charles: Werewolves!

Niko: Sharks.

Edwin: The unstoppable marching of time that is slowly guiding us all towards an inevitable death.

Monty:

Monty: Edwin.

Charles: What do you think Cat king will do for a distraction?

Edwin: They'll probably, like, make a noise or throw a rock. That's what I would do.

*Building explodes and several car alarms go off*

Edwin: ...or they could do that.

Charles: Pfft, you should meet Niko, they're such a tsundere.

Monty: They... they just stabbed you.

Charles: So cute.

Cat king: All in all, a 100% successful trip.

Niko: But we lost Esther .

Cat king: All in all, a 100% successful trip!

*Cat king falls over*

Monty: Cat king! Are you alright?

Cat king: Is that you, God?

Monty: What?

Cat king: It's just, you sound a lot more like Monty than I expected.

[garyc0re]

rigby (regular show) & borderline personality disorder

(a post by someone with a b.a. in psychology)

tw: abuse, neglect, suicide

what is borderline personality disorder?

borderline personality disorder (bpd) is a cluster b personality disorder that severely impacts a person's ability to manage their emotions & causes unstable relationships with others in the process (national institute of mental health).

while there are multiple risk factors for developing bpd, one of the most common is childhood abuse and neglect (bozzatello et al).

rigby's childhood

in multiple episodes of regular show, rigby's parents (barbera & sherm) are shown to participate in behaviors hinting at abuse or neglect. specifically, rigby's parents favor his younger brother (don) and are often seen comparing rigby to don, or ignoring rigby for don. additionally, rigby is implied to be intellectually disabled (ex: being unable to spell his own name), which neither his parents nor his teachers took seriously. on top of that, he is also bullied, a common childhood experience that has been shown to worsen borderline personality disorder (erazo et al). the episodes below focus on rigby's home life, but note that a child's school life is very important for the development of mental disorders, too.

01x10 - Don

this episode introduces viewers to rigby's resentment towards don, which we later learn in other episodes is primarily due to their parents. we're led to believe that rigby is upset about his sixth birthday party, where don unintentionally steals rigby's friends, taking the attention away from him. we're later told that, "it's everything. i'm always in your shadow. you're so much better than me. everyone likes you better, and to top it all off, everyone thinks you're my older brother. i'm the older brother! me! why do all my friends think you're so much cooler than me?" with a montage of rigby's friends consistently ditching him to hang out with don when they were children.

05x18 - Rigby in the Sky with Burrito

in a flashback, barbera says to a teenage rigby, "you're always making so much trouble for yourself. now don never gets in any trouble when he's at school."

06x27 - Lunch Break

in a flashback, pre-teen mordecai and rigby buy five boxes of cereal in order to dig for special prizes that come inside the cereal box. sherm catches them and forces them to eat all five boxes of cereal, saying, "nothing? this is nothing? you've been digging for prizes again, haven't you? you know the rules, son. don't you dare open a new box of cereal until you've finished this one. and since you're a guest in our home, mordecai, that rule applies to you, too." after eating the second box, rigby looks at sherm, and sherm says, "don't look at me, look at your cereal." this ends up with the two in the hospital, as the cereal contained trace amounts of poison that sherm hadn't checked for.

07x03 - The Lunch Club

rigby vents to benson about sherm in this one: "wow, you're pretty messed up. my dad, he was always like, "your brother don is so amazing. just go back to being a screw-up, rigby." i don't even understand half the reasons i do the things i do. i'm expected to be a clown, so i'm a clown. but clowns cry too, man. clowns cry too."

07x13 - Just Friends

in this episode, sherm comments, "now there's a son i can be proud of!" about don while rigby is in the room.

Regular Show: The Movie

when teenage rigby gets his letter from college u., his parents are shown to lack any emotion about it, not bothering to hide the fact that they expected him to get rejected even though he is excited about the letter coming in the mail. when he finds out that he didn't get in, sherm says, "look, rigby, we were kind of expecting this, so we looked up an out of state school where-" on screen, it is shown that his parents were planning to send him to mexico by himself for college, despite the fact that rigby is implied to be intellectually disabled.

07x27 - Rigby Goes to the Prom

this is the episode that most people think of when they think about rigby's parents. there are many moments in this episode that show the unstable relationship rigby has with his parents. for example, when don convinces rigby to go see their parents so that he can ask sherm to borrow his car, sherm comments, ""drop in." ha! you really think rigby would just come to dinner? i know you just need something." barbera asks don, "so, how are things at work?" to which don replies, "great! we just picked up cheezer's as a new client." sherm says, "that's our donny!" rigby awkwardly pitches in, saying, "i ate at cheezer's yesterday." there is a silence before rigby's parents blantantly choose to ignore him, saying, "that was a good update, don." rigby then lists some of his recent accomplishments, to which sherm replies, "yeah, and?" after a fight, rigby storms off to his room, which has been turned into a walk-in closet. after being given the keys to sherm's car by barbera, rigby spends his entire date with eileen nervous that he will mess up sherm's car. during the date, eileen notices that he is nervous and asks what's wrong; rigby replies, "no, my mom gave me the keys, but it's my dad, you know? he doesn't trust me with anything. i was hoping he'd finally be ready to see me as a real person. it's always don, car, everything else, me." afterwards, sherm makes a scene at prom upon finding out that rigby took his car, screaming at the students and the principal, and eventually finds out that rigby is at lookout mountain with eileen. sherm puts eileen and rigby in the car and begins to drive recklessly down the mountain, yelling at rigby the entire time, saying, "seems like every day you find some new way to mess up our lives, and now, you've found someone new to mess up their life, too!" (referring to eileen). sherm then nearly crashes the car, saying, "it's your fault we're here in the first place!" after a few scenes, the car is eventually totaled in a near fatal accident, and after crashing the car, rigby exclaims, "the car!" sherm says, "forget about the car. are you okay?" to which rigby looks surprised that his dad would care about his safety.

as shown in the above examples, rigby is implied to be (and sometimes is blantantly shown to be) abused and neglected by his parents. this would put him at risk for borderline personality disorder.

symptoms

in order to be diagnosed with bpd, a person must experience five (or more) of the following symptoms:

frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment (note: do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in criterion 5)

a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation

identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self

impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating) (note: do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in criterion 5)

recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior

affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)

chronic feelings of emptiness

inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)

transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms

(desk reference to the diagnostic criteria from dsm-5 by the american psychiatric association).

i'm going to go over each symptom that rigby displays that leads me to believe that he has borderline personality disorder.

CRITERION 1: frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment

i want to quickly go over another terminology exclusive to people with bpd: favorite person (fp): "a favorite person is relied on for comfort, happiness, and validation. the relationship with a... favorite person may start healthy, but it can often turn into a toxic love-hate cycle known as idealization and devaluation... at first, an individual may view their favorite person as flawless. however, if the favorite person doesn’t meet expectations or isn’t available, someone with bpd might swiftly shift to intense negativity toward them. these shifts between idealization and devaluation can occur rapidly and frequently, leading to instability in the relationship." (bachert).

it is my belief that mordecai is rigby's favorite person. rigby is shown to have an intense fear of abandonment that often revolves around mordecai. while it is impossible to go over every example, i will go over a few of the ones that stood out to me while watching the show.

01x06 - Meat Your Maker (Transcript)

rigby becomes distressed when mordecai is mad at him in these scenes and is later shown talking to himself in mordecai's voice, reassuring himself that mordecai isn't mad; "yeah, rigby, you're doin' good."

01x08 - The Unicorns Have Got to Go (Transcript)

rigby is angry at mordecai for bailing on their plans to hang out. despite claiming that he's "gonna have to get some new friends," he appears distressed when mordecai finally has enough and leaves. he ends up nearly crying when trying to apologize to mordecai later, claiming "i miss you."

02x15 - Temp Check (Transcript)

doug begins to copy rigby's traits to the point where he begins to shapeshift into rigby, stealing his friends. rigby appears distressed and angry the entire episode. when mordecai chooses doug over rigby, rigby has an emotional outburst.

05x05 - Wall Buddy (Transcript)

rigby admits that he wasn't upset that he had to clean his room; he was upset because he felt like mordecai sold him out, saying "it used to be both of us against the man... now my only buddy is wall buddy."

Regular Show: The Movie (Transcript)

the most severe example of rigby's fear of abandonment is during the movie, when he forges mordecai's rejection letter to college university. he does this because he believes that mordecai will leave him behind if they go to different schools. he keeps this secret from mordecai for as long as he can in fear of losing him.

rigby's fear of abandonment extends to eileen, but his fear is not as intense as it is with mordecai.

2017 Special #4: Fancy Dinner

in this comic, rigby believes that eileen is going to leave him because he doesn't know how to cook.

CRITERION 2: a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation

rigby often alternates between thinking mordecai is the best person in the world to being intensely mad at him, often because his fear of abandonment was triggered. this is referred to as "splitting," and there are several examples where rigby splits on mordecai, as shown below (salters-pedneault).

01x04 - Death Punchies (Transcript)

rigby goes from being excited to play dig champs with mordecai (idealization) to being angry with mordecai due to some teasing on mordecai's part, even going as far to say "i hate you" (devaluation) minutes after being excited to hang out with him.

01x08 - The Unicorns Have Got to Go

rigby goes from being excited to spend time with mordecai (idealization) to insulting mordecai with his new friends (devaluation) after mordecai bails on their plans together.

02x02 - It's Time (Transcript)

rigby goes from being excited to see zombie dinner pary with mordecai (idealization) to flirting with margaret the whole episode in order to purposefully hurt mordecai (devaluation) after mordecai bails on their plans together.

05x05 - Wall Buddy

rigby goes from being excited to get chimichangas with mordecai (idealization) to being extremely petty the entire episode (devaluation) because he felt abandoned.

additionally, rigby relies heavily on mordecai for emotional support. this is part of the "idealization" phase of the idealization/devaluation cycle (ertel).

02x01 - Ello Gov'nor (Transcript)

rigby relies on mordecai to walk him to the bathroom when he has nightmares.

Regular Show: The Movie

teenage rigby refuses to go to college if mordecai can't go with him.

07x16 - The Eileen Plan (Transcript)

rigby seeks reassurance from mordecai.

07x38 & 07x39 - Rigby's Graduation Day Special (Transcript)

rigby is unable to give his speech without mordecai's direct support.

CRITERION 3: identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self

rigby has low self-esteem and has been shown to change aspects of his identity on a whim.

03x24 - Trash Boat

rigby changes his name to "trash boat" because he thinks it will make him look cooler, and then regrets it when he is made fun of by his friends.

03x33 - Diary (Transcript)

while confessing his secrets, rigby admits that he's a horrible person.

07x16 - The Eileen Plan

rigby impulsively goes back to high school in order to impress eileen.

CRITERION 4: impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging

rigby has shown signs of binge eating and impulsive spending.

because this post is so long, i'm no longer able to add images, so i'll copy the transcripts instead!

01x11 - Rigby's Body (Transcript)

rigby participates in binge eating with mordecai.

"(A montage begins of Mordecai and Rigby eating a variety of snacks. At the end, the Snack Bar is a mess, and Mordecai and Rigby are sick from overeating.)

Mordecai: I need to eat something healthy, like a salad or something.

Rigby: What? Are you kidding? Dude, all these snacks are free, dude. (Stops himself from vomiting) Trust me. If we keep eating, we'll feel better in no time."

01x12 - Mordecai and the Rigbys (Transcript)

rigby participates in impulsive spending with mordecai.

"Rigby: Dude! Check it out, man! They're here!

Mordecai: What's here?

Rigby: Our fake band t-Shirts that we ordered from that site last night."

05x05 - Wall Buddy

rigby participates in impulsive spending regularly.

"Mordecai: (grunts) How are we gonna fix this now? Why didn't you just clean up your mess? (Mordecai pushes Rigby) It's like every time you have to do something simple, you buy some dumb product and make it worse!

Rigby: What? When have I ever done that!? (screen shows some of Rigby's past products he brought up in the series like the Brain Max from "More Smarter" and The Russian from "One Pull Up". Rigby then slides the products away.) Anyway... (sighs) I'm upset!"

mordecai and rigby participate in life-threatening scenarios not listed as an example in criterion #4 in the dsm on a consistent basis. for example, rigby eating an omelet to obtain a hat that he wanted on impulse despite the fact that he was deathly allergic to eggs, leading to his hospitalization.

additionally, it is a staple in the show that drinking soda or eating wings is equivalent to doing drugs or drinking alcohol, which mordecai and rigby participate in in too many episodes to count.

CRITERION 5: recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior

Regular Show: The Movie

rigby is the only character in regular show to have attempted suicide. after mordecai ends their friendship, he asks his ship to fly him into the sun.

"Rigby: (crying and depressed) Fly me into the sun so I won't have to be sad anymore!

Computer Voice: Fuel cells critical.

Rigby: No, No, No! Come on! STUPID SHIP! STUPID SHIP!!

Computer Voice: Auto pilot engaged to nearest refueling station.

(The Ship takes Rigby to the refueling station. Rigby gets mad and kicks the ship, hurting his leg and falls into the gas tank, knocking him out.)"

CRITERION 6: affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood

CRITERION 8: inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger

i'm putting these two together because, for rigby, his unstable moods are often paired with intense bursts of anger. there are many more examples than the ones i have listed, but these were the ones that stood out to me the most.

01x04 - Death Punchies

rigby destroying their room after mordecai makes fun of him and saying "i hate you" in the process. criterion 6 is met here as well because rigby spends the rest of the episode angry at mordecai.

"(Rigby runs to his and Mordecai's room.)

Rigby: Wahhh!!! (Jumps on Mordecai's bed.) Ugh! Ugh! Dumb Mordecai! I hate you!

Mordecai (downstairs): You better not be messing up my side of the room.

Rigby: (Yells and grabs a book) YOU'RE RUINING MY LIFE!!! (throws book at the door, it bounces of and hits him in the face) Oww!!! (screeches in pain continually off-screen)"

01x10 - Don

rigby spends the entire episode angry at don, and ultimately lashes out at him, saying that he's mad at don for being born.

"Don: What's going on with us? You never give me some sugar. Did I do something?

Rigby: Yeah. You were born!

Don: (visibly hurt) Wow. That's heavy. I gotta get out of here."

Regular Show: The Movie

teenage rigby destroys his room after being rejected from college university.

"Past Rigby: If I can't go to college with Mordecai, then I don't want to go to college at all!! (He slams his door, throws things off his desk, tears down his "College U" posters and turns on his console.)

Game: Welcome to College U, the College for accepts everyone.

Past Rigby: Meh!! (He flips his T.V. to the ground and falls to his knees, resembling Future Rigby's flashback. He looks at his letter, which has "Rejected" stamped on it in red.)"

CRITERION 9: transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms

rigby shows signs of stress-related paranoid ideation.

02x15 - Temp Check

before doug's scheme is obvious, rigby spends time stalking doug due to paranoia, as doug is spending extra time with mordecai and copying the things that rigby is doing.

05x28 - Expert or Liar (Transcript)

rigby spends time paranoid that everyone is out to get him after being humiliated on national television.

"(Rigby then tries to pull the man's face off, leading to a montage of several failed attempts to find Bert Coleman. He ends up attacking a mime, yelling at an ice cream man, frightening a couple making out on a bench, bothering a construction worker, looking into a horse's mouth, and even fighting with Bloodshed and Manslaughter, who fight back. Rigby is then seen walking around with a black eye and angrily eating food. He looks at a billboard that is advertising Expert or Liar, the camera zooming in to the word 'liar.')"

as shown above, rigby fits 8/9 of the needed criteria for borderline personality disorder. it is possible that criterion #7 (chronic feelings of emptiness) exists but is not expanded upon in existing regular show media due to the fact that the characters in regular show rarely express their true feelings outside of anger.

comorbidities

people with borderline personality disorder often have more than one disorder. some common comorbidities include (shen et al):

mood disorders

anxiety disorders

substance use disorders

other personality disorders

rigby canonically has an anxiety disorder (specific phobia, claustrophobia) and participates in substance use (however, it is unclear if he participates frequently enough to warrant a diagnosis of substance use disorder).

conclusion

whether or not it was unintentional, rigby is a bpd-coded character. many of the characters in regular show would benefit greatly from therapy, and rigby is one of them; though eileen helps him improve himself later on.

here is the twitter thread that inspired this post! it has resources for people with borderline personality disorder at the end, so i recommend checking it out.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

https://www.tumblr.com/reflections-in-a -critical-eye/757069484485902336 /interesting-that-w-korea-covered-the -upcoming?source=share

The article does make u give it side eye.. no usual ppl are writing such abo type things.

Also do u think jkk thinks that ppl take interest in their friendship or look at it more closely than other pairs? I remember there was this interviewer who asked jk if all BTS has the same friendships among others like how he has with jm or not. while mentioning to jm the interviewer also referred to that one moment in BTS's book. don't remember if it was regarding Tokyo trip or if it was the bar scene when jm goes after jk. leaning more into the later one. the interviewer seemed more like he wanted some controversy regarding BTS's friendships but jk handled it well.

Then when that other interviewer in US asked jk "I know jimin's in town too right?" the question ain't odd but looks like jk wasn't expecting it lol. he looks baffled there for a sec and given how they were acting secretive i wonder.

This is an interesting question and I'll admit I was intrigued a bit by each of those situations when it happened.

But first, I do want to look at it from an outsider perspective because I do think there's an answer here as well that has nothing to do with them as a romantic ship.

Jungkook being asked live during an interview about Jimin shouldn't be shocking. The interviewer was a BTS fan and for her, knowing there's another member of the group freshly arrived in the city, of course she'd briefly ask about him. It was entirely plausible during that interview. But Jungkook was caught off guard because the remark wasn't probably part of the previously established set of questions, which means he wasn't prepared with an answer in English, hence the awkwardness.

As to the other situation, that ended up a written interview for an American magazine (Variety, Vanity Fair? I don't remember, but I do know it was one with long history in the entertainment business).

If the interviewer mentioned a passage from the book in the context of Jungkook's friendship with Jimin, it shows that the person has done their research. That's the bare mininum and going as far as finding that particular source (which is mostly for the fandom circle), it shows there was a bit of digging. But even if that entire source wouldn't exist, I believe (and this is where my heavily biased perspective comes into play) that for an outsider, it becomes obvious very fast that Jungkook and Jimin have a close relationship just by observing them even in group settings. It is less complicated and less debatable for those who are not heavily involved within shipping/fandom spaces. We can sometimes lack perspective or see the bigger picture because we're too close to it. For a person who probably dedicated just a couple of hours of research because they had to do an interview with Jungkook, Jimin most likely stood out in terms of friendship/relationship of any kind.

Was the question asked in order to create controversy? It is possible of course, but in this case, I doubt it. The stakes are low. Even if the interview would gain traction given the subject, the usual readership of the magazine is not the fandom of a kpop idol. It wouldn't be worth it and I doubt anyone dug deep enough to know that group duos and dynamics can be a sensitive topic.

Lastly, apart from the short piece in W Korea being slightly weird, it does make me pay attention even more to the type of coverage and reactions that AYS is getting ahead of its release. If for almost a year, the excitement was contained in jikook circles, it seems that ever since the first teaser a few weeks ago, it has captured the attention of the fandom at large and beyond.

Factors such as their popularity as soloists do come into play to a various degree, but I believe that the footage we got so far is really appealing to a wider audience. They are simply fun to watch! You don't need to ship them or to believe they are in a relationship to be able to enjoy it. They have chemistry together and people are drawn to that.

To answer your initial questions, all these inquiries over their relationship or mentions have always remained neutral, without an actual hint at something else. Yes, there was talk about couple pjs, a Japanese website calling their announcement of the show as them looking like a couple, or using the word bromance in the headline. But all these are small details that are used as fun ways to attract/cater to audiences, while remaining in the platonic sphere. It's good for business, but everyone is keeping a safe distance. Which I believe will be entirely fitting with the actual show.

[theresattrpgforthat]

My wife's looking for a TTRPG where you run a store. I don't know why she wants this but as her husband I must deliver, hit me up please noble ttrpg purveyors

THEME: Running A Store

Hello! I have quite a few games that I’ve recommended in the past for this, so I’m going to direct you to a few of those first. I have a Markets and Trade rec post that you might want to check out, for example, as well as a post about Tavern Games. There will also be a considerably sizeable list at the end of this post.

Now, let’s see what else we can find. Most of these look like they’re specifically for running a cafe, if not for some kind of food service. That being said, the goals for each of these games are very different!

You Want Fries with That?, by Matthew Landrum

Welcome to our company! We’re sure you will find working at our restaurant rewarding and fulfilling as you deliver meaningful dining experiences, develop marketable employee skills, and enrich company value.  Just trust in the guidance of the General Manager, and remember, we’re all family here! 

In You Want Fries with That? each player takes the role of an employee in a fast-food restaurant, scrambling to meet customer needs and find meagre satisfaction in their work.

This is a cutthroat game of struggling to keep up with customer orders in a fast-food environment. Play happens over a number of rounds, in which players will cover for each-other’s weaknesses, strategically take breaks to conserve your stamina (and your enthusiasm), and battle against wage theft, angry managers, and rapid promotions.

If you want a chance for your characters to interact with each-other and role-play, you’ll want a different game than this. But if you want a survival game that takes place in a hostile environment, consider this one!

Twenty (Stories Tall), by kumada1.

On good days, when the weather is clear, you can see the end of the world from your window. You work in a little coffee shop in the Inner Circle. It's one of many coffee shops and kiosks in the city of Abject, and if there were other cities left in existence, they would probably think the people of Abject have a bit of a coffee problem. There is no food scarcity, no one starves in order for coffee beans to be grown, but the volume of beans produced here is truly extraordinary, and they are ground, brewed, and consumed daily at hundreds of quaint little bistros across the city.

Your shop, with its little bites to eat and its trendy décor, is no different from the others but for one important factor---you.

Ever since you came of working age, there's been a power stirring in your blood. Sometimes, when you get too bored, or too angry, or otherwise too emotional, you grow. You grow from Small to Medium, Medium to Large, Large to Twenty. And at Twenty (stories tall), you're big enough to go toe-to-toe with the monsters that would destroy your city.

Twenty is a 50 page tabletop roleplaying game about fighting monsters and working in food service. Twenty uses things you could find in a coffee shop instead of dice, and it regards relationships as hit points. It's suitable for oneshot or campaign play, and it comes with a starter adventure.

The theme of running a shop is definitely here, but the target of your character abilities look to be aimed more at fighting giant monsters. It’s also a game that encourages you to think about the stresses and horrors of customer service. If you like a game that’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, then this is the game for you!

Whistling Wolf Cafe: Multiplayer Edition, by Lucky Newt Games.

Thank you for joining us at Whistling Wolf Café! Our motto is “You might not always get what you want, but you’ll always get what you need.” Serving customers by giving them what they need to feel better instead of what they prefer can be tricky, but I trust that your amazing tea-brewing skills will win them over. 

There’s a small shop next door with things that might help you, and people looking for a bit of work. Just be sure you use your own tips to purchase them or the owner will be, well, not so happy. Also, I hate to say it, but the more bad reviews you get, the worse it looks for both of us. So do what you can to avoid that.

Whistling Wolf Café is a café sim game for 2-4 players. You are a master brewer who is more focused on what a customer might need rather than what they want, and that can complicate things. All you need per player is a deck of playing cards, a handful of six-sided dice, and something to take notes with. Between a shared Shop and a few different items, player interaction is built into the game.

If you like games that are about taking care of other people, this game might be up your alley. It looks like there’s also a balance component - how many customers can you serve, and how well can you brew your tea? The descriptions for the tea and food offered in the cafe look absolutely scrumptious. Definitely worth checking out!

Coffee & Chaos, by CobblePath Games.

Coffee & Chaos is a comedy tabletop roleplaying game about running a cafe, bar, restaurant or other establishment as everything goes very, very wrong around you.

Coffee & Chaos allows characters to retain all of their quirks from any other games they might be in. Your druid can still wildshape, your street samurai still has their cyber-arm. But when taken out of their element the focus is on how they use those skills and abilities to solve problems (or accidentally make things worse).

I like the idea of transporting your already-created characters into a new setting, and Coffee and Chaos certainly does this. Your character will have three approaches to problems: Knives (direct approaches), Forks (creative approaches), and Spoons (considered approaches). Coffee and Chaos is designed for comedy more than realism. The goal for this game is fun stories more than anything else.

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

Poutine, by the Kinematic Cafe.

Sweaters by Hedgehog, by Haunted Oak Press

Spirited Cafe, by A Couple of Drakes.

A Diner at the End, by Bammax Games.

Merchant, by Hella Big Claws.

Fox Curio's Floating Bookshop, by lostwaysclub.

[aingeal98]

hiii i consider u a cass expert and since this has been eating at my brain for a few years at this point; do you have any thoughts on the way cain's poor excuse for parenting impacted cass on more of a cognitive/developmental level? like children need stimuli of all kind that she clearly didnt get even outside of literacy and social interaction and i think its super interesting to explore how cass has complicated relationships with things most people take for granted (like... did cain allow her to have any toys? to play any games other than the "two for flinching" thing? does she struggle with the fine motor skill needed for writing bc she really didnt have smth similar? omg is she ok?? i want to peel her like an onion so badly) sorry for brain vomiting over here i have thoughts and feelings about cass cain and its incurable

Anon you've come to the right place for incurable thoughts and feelings about Cassandra Cain! And you raise such a good point like there's no way Cain's abuse didn't leave her with more than just aphasia, illiteracy, cptsd, all the emotional issues... OK well he left her with a lot of stuff but still! You're definitely right that there's more. I'm no expert but one thing I know how to do is ramble about Cass, so:

In flashbacks we see young Cass doing a jigsaw of a rose in the dojo Cain's raising her in, which makes me think he did want to find ways to make sure her cognitive skills functioned even without words. Of course this is just me theorising but in terms of toys I think he would have carefully selected things that would stimulate her brain and improve her motor skills even without reading and writing. The image of David Cain carefully buying Jenga and Operation and making sure all the packaging with words on it never reaches Cass is now permenantly stuck in my head so thank you for that.

I do think she was definitely deprived of a lot though, and things like the jigsaw were clearly meant to be filler stuff for her before the actual fun games like "getting shot and dodging the next few bullets". I don't think Cain would have ever wanted Cass to be relaxed and comfortable enough to actually fully enjoy playing with toys, you know? If she was actually able to find things like jigsaws meaningful and fulfilling then his conditioning of her to associate getting shot with "fun game of dodgeball" wouldn't have been as successful. Cass may not have liked two for flinching but she did love the fighting and the dodging. Any thoughts of "why am I in pain when I could just be playing Jenga" would have never been allowed enter Cass's head. Which would be easy enough because (understandably so given the isolation) Cass looked up to Cain and got joy and fulfilment from seeing him smile. He doesn't care if she finished the jigsaw other than getting angry/worried if she fails. Whereas being able to assemble and break apart a gun while blind makes him light up with happiness/pride. So naturally, even with Cain making sure her brain isn't TOO different for her not to be able to function as the perfect weapon, she would still be deprived of important cognitive skills and stimuli.

The writing specific fine motor skills would definitely be impacted imo because while her training makes sure her hands can work a massive variety of weapons and probably permenantly injure a man in multiple places with each finger, writing is such a specific task that only comes naturally to us because we learned it so young. It can be learned later in life of course but the natural act of holding a pen and writing would feel so alien to Cass. And that's before you factor in her dyslexia like no wonder we only saw her pick up a pen once 😭 Cass being able to write the alphabet with any sort of ease and lack of intense focus would be a massive accomplishment given David Cain's fuckery.

And just in general being so isolated for most of her childhood would have impacted her brain so badly like even without the autism Cass must have been in overstimulated sensory hell after leaving Cain. So many voices talking, which she'd never heard before. So many smells and sounds and new textures and sights that are too intense for her eyes to handle. She missed out on an entire world and only got to start experiencing it when she was 8, that's got to have a longterm impact. I think as well as autism Bruce and Barbara had her tested for adhd due to all the symptoms she displayed. Doctors aren't clear if she actually has it or if its something different brought on by her upbringing. She spent nine years homeless and travelling so she's more adjusted than she was at the start but there's still times that the whole world just goes blurry and whoops panic attack time need to find an empty place and hide.

I'll stop here so I don't rant forever but thank you for giving me the chance to yell about head. canons and theories. Cass is indeed the most fascinating onion, and the layers are endless. Feel free to rant in my inbox whenever you want I love hearing other people's thoughts on her!

[alluralater]

Hello, im femme, 20, and Ive never tried strap before and im wondering how does it feel like, if u can describe it and if it hurts the first time. 🙄

Thank u

hi! being strapped can be an amazing experience but it very much depends on a number of factors whether it will be enjoyed. i'm going to drop a little list here and the rest of my answer will be in the lower section because it's a bit long <3

the best advice for your first time is this: water-based lube, lots of foreplay, be comfortable communicating with your partner about what feels good and what doesn't, be aware of how tight/shallow your vagina is if you have one because taking more strap than you can handle is such an easy way to get hurt and lube is not a fix-all, only a tool to assist. whoever is fucking you should be wearing a condom on their strap unless you bought it with them to use just on you or you're exclusive. the strap should be silicone and nonporous. ummm lemme think. go slow to start. if you need to stop at anytime because it hurts, stop. don't push through it. last thing is to have fun! it can be daunting to think of but it is REALLY just as hot as myself and everyone who is into being strapped says it is <3

the first time i was strapped was really great. it felt like being filled up in a very perfect way. i get really fucking wet but the person strapping me at the time still used lube because i tend to be really tight, like at first i kinda joked that we didn't need it and they looked at me in a very serious way and said, "yes you do." how right they were because it was filling. when they positioned the head at my entrance i immediately understood what they meant. it was very different from being penetrated by someone's dick. like far different, because the material doesn't have the same kind of give that actual skin does. so i kinda braced myself for a moment (a bit worried if it would hurt) and they told me to breathe, which i did and they started kissing me.

kissing for me is such a turn on so i actually started grinding my hips up and then the head was inside me plus another inch. all of the air left my body for a moment when entered me and i kinda couldn't think because it felt like a LOT but it also felt really good. they talked me through it and told me to let them know if i felt any pain during, which i didn't because they started off slow, giving me more length as my body was naturally taking it rather than just sinking inside me all at once. as soon as i was comfortably able to take it all, they started moving more intensely. i personally love being penetrated so it was easy for me to enjoy it straight away but you should be self aware of your own likes/dislikes and communicate those to your sex partner(s). i'm sorry if this wasn't super in depth. i'm currently sick so i'm a little all over the place but i can add to this if anyone needs more info <3

[monstress]

hii. if u dont mind, could u please share that "change of attitude" towards journaling? i feel like i really need that.. since i myself changed my attitude towards drawing and have been much more productive and happy doing it this last year. however Writing About Myself its another beast completely.. hope u r having a nice day! 🍃

hope you're having a lovely day as well! anyways as i was typing this up, what starts as a small tidbit has gone off the rails so i suppose this is my blanket advice as a newbie in journaling:

the materials!

choosing the titular journal aka notebook:

soft vs hard cover - i didn't realize this is SUCH a deciding factor until much later. most people prefer soft covers since journals can get massive with use but it's very subjective. be tactile - if it just don't feel right in ur hands, it's not gonna be something u reach out for when u have free time.

size - the most common sizes are A5, A6 or regular aka travelers notebook. you have to think abt who you are as a writer. do u have a large handwriting that takes up pages and pages? do you like space or are you overwhelmed by a blank page? do you travel a lot and do u want something unobtrusive in your bag? choose something that will reasonable work as a part of your daily life.

paper texture - paper that is smooth to write in are a great source of pleasure. notebooks with 100gsm paper is a good benchmark.

price - pleaseeee do not break the bank to purchase a fancy notebook. an expensive notebook can become an unloved one. you'd be too stressed to ensure every entry is perfect and pretty enough and the notebook eventually becomes too intimidating for you to fill in. check out your local hypermarket or online stores for quality notebooks. moleskins are overrated--in my country, they are v v expensive so don't feel pressure to buy a certain stationary just bc you see them often on ig/tiktok like my journal cost me approximately RM10 (USD2.34) and my new one w 100gsm paper cost me RM17 (USD4) like affordable options are out there!

build a connection with your notebook - listen...this sounds strange but having an attachment with your journal and making it inviting as possible is a great source of motivation. personalize it: add stickers, doodle or paint the cover. get a fabric/pvc cover to keep it clean if you'd like (you can add lil papers/stickers on ur actual notebook cover before putting on the pvc cover! very cute and easy)

and your pens:

again: less is more! use any relatively cheap pens you like - be it for the ink or smoothness. if you want to journal a lot, expect to lose a few pens during traveling or just around the house lmao

for fans of darker inks like me, i use Uni-ball Signo Broad, M&G R3 retractable gel pen and my favorite: Faber Castell RX Gel Pen 0.38mm - which cost like RM1.49 (i dont wanna convert - it's change money in america)

final note: i don't use fountain pens so i'm afraid i'm not well-versed enough to advise in that department but i deeply respect (and a little in awe) of journallers who use them 🫡

the tenet!

purpose: what do u plan to use the notebook for? daily journal? art journal? planner? all three? it's your life! live deliciously! since i have a 9-5 job, i know i can't keep up with more than one journal so i've been using mines as a diary and i dump my daily activities/thoughts/reviews of all kinds of media i'm currently obsessed with and it fills up quick!

don't be too hard on yourself: if you missed a day or two of journalling, it's fine - take it back up. write down anything memorable you'd like in the past few days. if you come across a certain blank page your brain is blanking to fill, perhaps after a previous dark entry, skip the page. skip two pages if needed. don't be scared of blank pages. if it needs to be blank, let it be.

it doesn't have to only be words! add stickers, dried flowers, receipts, ticket stubs, other ephemera you collected in the day. be artful! go crazy on page decoration!!

if there's anything you take away from this post, it's this: if you truly want a journal that is used up quickly, do not have plans to share it on social media. personally, i find once you are in the mindset of sharing your journal for an audience's consumption, you get worried whether it's "aesthetic" enough or is it too boring or too ugly or too dark or that you don't upload regularly enough. social media can be inhibiting your creativity or motivation to journal like let your animal brain ruminate in private! stay free from the shackles of responsibility!

[bewareofthenewphannie]

Hey sooo could u pls share the twitter essay here👉👈

context

thank you for the ask, I'm honored that you want to hear my thoughts on this, and thanks char for sending your anon over to me!

okay, you see the thing is, the reason I blurred it out is a bit anticlimactic: I have no actual clue what I was talking about.

I don't actually know too much about this topic of what the dynamics between dannies and phillies looked like in the past because I've only been here since november last year and have never seen someone really discuss this in depth, I've only seen it being mentioned in passing. So everything I wrote was assumptions I made based on vague posts and my general understanding of dnp's and the phandom's history. I feel like this was enough to get the gist of this across to someone who doesn't really know dnp (apart from my previous elaborate ramblings about them) but not enough to post it on tumblr.

so if somebody has any input regarding this topic please tell me! and if I'm saying anything that's wrong (which is very likely) please correct me, I'm genuinely curious to hear thoughts on this by someone who actually knows what they're talking about :)

I will put what I wrote, along with some commentary, under the cut!

(addition: as I'm writing this commentary I'm realising how little I actually know, so please don't take this as actual information but more as...an interesting case study of how a new phannie perceives the history of the phandom)

first of all some more background info:

the original question was "[are there any people who] only like one of them and hate/don’t care about the other one?".

some shorter messages leading up to the long one seen in the screenshot:

there used to be a dannie/phillie divide but afaik all the way back in like...2013. now there are obviously people who prefer one of them but not in a way that they actively dislike the other one. and within the phandom I don't think there are really people who feel indifferent about one of them cause yk the thing is, these days it's impossible to watch one of them alone. dan doesn't use his channel, we wouldn't even see him if it wasn't for phil and even when he did a live stream thingy for his solo tour, phil was there. and phil either includes or talks about dan in every video he makes. so I guess either you like both or neither, you don't really have much of a choice also, they make it so goddamn obvious how much they love and care for and apprechiate each other and what an important role they play in each other's life, it would be kind of weird to claim to be a fan of one of them and then hate the person they like the most, yk

this was asked in the context of us talking about why there's this phenomenon that if you have a group of famous people who are strongly associated with each other (for example boybands or actors that work together on a tv show), there'll often be one person that is "hated" by the fandom. Their hypothesis was that this happens when "the one hated is either problematic, doesn’t like the other(s), or is more successful than the other(s)".

okay first the relevant part of my answer: I think overall you're right. I feel like if someone's more popular an important factor for them being disliked is that it feels like they think they're better/more important than the rest of the group. or if they all started out together that they don't apprechiate where they've come from, which both obviously hurts people who like that thing this person dismisses. but this also goes the other way, the people who like that person who is more famous often dislike the others in that group for being "jealous"/"leeching" off of the more famous person's fame.

and finally the thing you actually asked about, the long messages froom the screenshot broken up into multiple parts with the afore mentioned commentary:

now the less relevant part which is just me yapping about dnp and why this didn't happen to them I can imagine that at the very beginning some people probably didn't like dan because he was just some random dude, just another fan, who suddenly was part of youtube and attached to phil.

did...did this actually happen? it seems plausible to me, and I obviously know about charlie etc but how did people really react to dan suddenly being part of the AmazingPhil universe? I know it was an entirely different youtube culture back then and everything happened on a much smaller scale, so it's really hard to estimate how people reacted to this back then. in fact, now that I think more about it, judging from old screenshots I've seen, even at the very beginning people mostly seemed to be quite supportive of them and I think dan got an overwhelmingly positive reponse to uploading his first videos?

can't tell you exactly what went down after that but I do know 2012 was incredibly difficult (long story). things were very tense and especially dan was reallyreally defensive during that time and he had his whole "we're two seperate people" phase.

okay, so if there was any time in the phandom where there was serious tension between dannies and phillies it must've been during this time, right? because from recent discussions I know that there was a point where especially phil wasn't exactly treated the best but I don't know when that was. I feel like it would make sense here though.

anyway, at some point dan surpassed phil's subscribers and I genuinely don't know but I would assume that strengthened that dannie/phillie divide.

Again, I don't actually know when this happened (I would assume some time around 2013/14?) and I have absolutely no idea what the actual reaction people had to this was. but if I know anything about fandoms, this definitely must've stirred up...something. I don't know how obsessed the phandom was with numbers but even if it wasn't that bad, I can't imagine this happening completely without drama attached to it.

but one thing you need to know is that phil was always incredibly supportive of dan and the other way round, dan never talked shit about phil.

correct me if I'm wrong, maybe we simply don't talk about this time that much (with good reason) and I know dan said and wrote a lot of things that were very dismissive about some stuff etc. but in the clips and old posts I've seen he still emphasised that they were friends and didn't hate each other.

and thennn they started their bbc radio show, their joint channel, released a book, went on tour in 2015/16, basically they fully embraced their DanAndPhil brand. this was their peak in popularity and from what I've heard people say that joined the phandom at that time this dannie/phillie divide was basically gone by then because yeah, people liked their seperate things but what really made them blow up was the things they did together.

this is based on something I saw the other day. some people who I know joined the phandom around that time were talking about how they luckily never experienced that dan vs. phil mentality. that's why I wrote the things before this paragraph based on the assumption that the worst bit of the dannies vs phillies thing was before that era and kind of fizzled out by the time tatinof came around.

thennn the hiatus of the gaming channel, coming out (soulmates etc.), dan disappers from the internet (phil's just always there chilling btw). okay the most interesting part comes now, dan eventually writes a book and goes on tour. alone. now if we look at our hypothesis this would be the perfect reason for people to start disliking him, but not with them. phil goes behind dan's back to promote his book, before dan leaves on tour they make this video (https://youtu.be/2M2dF_21ANc) [edit: this is dilm in case you're wondering] where they keep talking about ohhh we've never apart for longer than to weeks oooh how will we cope blah, disgusting. dan makes a youtube series promoting the tour which phil is heavily involved with. and yeah, dan has this "I'm a strong independent dan" thing going on, but it's mostly part of his tour persona. (and also he did have to figure himself out for himself because he's been attached to phil since he was 18, so literally his whole adult life.)

I know some people disliked dystopia daily (which is valid but just for the record, I will defend her with my life) and I know some people generally didn't like/were disappointed with what dan was doing during that era. however. I know that's not representative of the whole phandom and I don't think (look at me assuming things again) those people truly hated dan for it but more like wished that things were different.

and then and then! after the tour nothing...until *drumroll* the gaming channel is back! aka, phil pushed dan to start making dapg videos again and dan's actually enjoying it. and they're fully embracing their DanAndPhil brand again. tl;dr I think the reason why this divide isn't there between them is [because of] how vocally and explicitly they support each other.

THE END

if you've made it this far, congrats, you get a cat! ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

I genuinely meant what I said earlier, I would love to hear more "qualified" opinions on this! feel free to add to this post, completely unravel it...or ignore it if I was too offensively wrong about things :)

[ca-suffit]

Sorry this is long. I'm working through the thought as I write this.

There's a post with kinda a lot of notes going around that idk how jokey it is and it's like here's what you need to have read/seen before watching IWTV so you understand the abusive patriach.

And well, I feel like it's part of the pattern of ppl pushing the show's critique of the abuse family structures enable in a way where they won't have to talk about race. How does Revolutionary Girl Utena relate to IWTV? How does Succession? I've never seen Succession, but their cast is almost completely white, which is racial commentary all its own... In Utena neither race nor colorism ever figures into the narrative iirc. I haven't read the Cairo trilogy since uni but I don't remember race factoring into it either??

Like Lestat was the abusive patriach of their family bcuz he's white! His power is gendered bcuz race is gendered (becuz power is gendered and so on). I think the show is in greater dialogue with James Baldwin and bell hooks than Yoji Enokido and Jesse Armstrong! Baldwin outright, didn't Rolin Jones say in an interview once that Giovanni's Room was a direct inspiration?

It just bothers me. The omission of art by Black creators was so striking I felt like someone slapped me. And maybe if then the tone wasn't so condescending and the idea that you have to have read The Oresteia to understand patriarchal violence so classist, maybe I could shrug it off. But you couple both and I'm like damn we squeezed the Greek and the Japanese in but don't mention even one Black person. I'm not saying the OP did it on purpose cuz I don't know the OP, but it felt so so glaring to me the times I've seen the post. Especially ppl sharing it going yeah exactly!! 😐

Lestat As Patriach to me is just more about white supremacy than the cisheteropatriarchy, and how despite Lestat's promises to Louis (be all the beautiful things you are etc) vampirism could not and does not free Louis (+ Claudia) from anti-Blackness. Altho patriarchy and white supremacy are closely related and both relevant to the show, obvs, it just rubs me wrong when one is ignored in favour of the other. And of course it's always the critique of whiteness that ends up ignored 🤔

Why is everyone so scared of mentioning that Louis is Black? Ugh. Sorry. I'd like your thoughts this fandom makes me feel like I'm off my meds. - 🦁

sry it took me a min to get to this, I wanted to track down the post itself for context. I can't find OP's username now but I remember seeing it before and it not being familiar. so idk otherwise what they've said about this post for the tone and intention.

I can say tho that utena and succession have made rounds here in comparison to iwtv from black fans sometimes. but I've also seen this post otherwise criticized before this ask for not having any black references on it. I tried to find that rolin quote about giovanni's room too, cuz I remember it, but idk where it is or what the whole context was anymore.

from being around the tumblr fandom, what I can say about this kind of stuff is that....from the book ppl to show fandom, both sides usually want to "prove" they're rly smart? it's for diff reasons but sometimes the same references. fandom in general keeps moving towards if u can make ur argument about whatever thing sound deep then that means it is and more ppl will support it. there's a lot of constant misuse of social justice and psychological terms as well as connections to art and literature. look how often ppl never talk about anything critically bcuz "it's gothic romance, sweetie" or "stop looking for morality in stories about vampires" (that was anne rice's whole point tho?? but ok lol). it's a lot of words to say nothing.

ppl will basically always jump thru more hoops than is necessary to look smart in ways that ppl have a broad connection to. a lot of black creators aren't well known to ppl in the first place and mostly only prbly by black ppl too, so referencing anything doesn't get u the points that greek "classics" or pop references get. it also depends on the age range of where anything is posted. this fandom tends to be 20s to 40s but with more emphasis on 20s now, prbly, so lots of focus on proving ur worth and intelligence in the world. this post feeds that type of thing. it's kind of a pat on the head that ur engaging with "smart" stuff.

idk if the post *was* meant as a joke or not bcuz this is the kind of stuff the fandom *will* weaponize in defense of white fandom shit in rly racist ways, so. like u said, it's always kind of about all these other things except the most obvious.....which doesn't take much book smarts to see, u just look at the world around u on any given day. but I've noticed ppl tend to avoid topics that hit too close to home, so this is a way to give distance to things too, I think. If it's all fictional then it can't hurt u fr and also u don't have to care about being vocal about anything or doing any work otherwise.

[acourtofthought]

hi! idk if u’ve read cc3 or not—if no do ignore me as this would be spoilery but if u have I’d love to hear your thoughts…

so Bryce gives nesta back the sword and tells nesta to figure out why she had the eight pointed star tattoo right… and well it’s my thought that nesta would need to do research… meaning she’d be spending a lot of time in a library… who else works in a library… gwyn… but who else is tied to cc3 and the sword… azriel

idk it just makes a lot of sense to me for the next ACOTAR book to kinda be smth along those lines maybe not that specifically but smth similar but I haven’t really heard anyone else talking about it so wanted to know what you think about it!

I apologize ahead of time because my perspective is a bit different from the direction you're leaning though I know many others feel like you do! Personally, I don't think Az will have anything major to do with the sword for two reasons. First, he was extremely uncomfortable when TT and the Starsword were together. He was able to hold them both because TT "wanted" to be next to Gwydion but he was extremely twitchy outside of that and I think it would be a bit odd to see Az walking around constantly agitated. Second, the Starsword is meant to reach it's full power when held by a Starborn fae and from what I'm gathering, Az is not starborn since we got confirmation that the Asteri created their kind (the Illyrianss). As for the events of CC3, so far neither Bloomsbury, Sarah J. Maas or bookstores have made it clear that the Crescent City series needs to be read in order for us to understand the next ACOTAR book. Though I do think the events of HOFAS will eventually work their way into the ACOTAR series on their own, I'm not sure they are going to play a major factor in the next ACOTAR book. If someone ended their SJM reading experience with Silver Flames as many have, and never picked up CC then their focus is going to be where things left off in that book. It might be a bit odd for them to pick up the next ACOTAR and have the focus be on a space traveler who left them a magical sword and now the main characters are worried about threats to their world from other planets. I think most ACOTAR only readers are wondering about Koschei, Beron, the Elucien bond, the state of Spring and the treaty since those were the unresolved issues at the end of Silver Flames. Will the reason Nesta was left with the sword become a focus in the future? I think it definitely will and my guess is that has to do with them turning the "Dusk Court" into Valkyrie territory. But I think that any major crossover related plots are not going to take place within the ACOTAR series as we know it and instead is building up to the new series Bloomsbury spoke about in one of their meetings. Sarah once had a work in progress titled Twilight of the Gods and the Valkyries in the Dusk Court defending against threats from outside their world (which would include other crossover appearances) makes more sense to me than anything time travel related taking place in the book after SF. I think for normal readers who aren't in the fandom, going from the end of SF right into Bryce having landed in Prythian and warning them about otherworldly threats which would now be the characters focus is jumping ahead too many steps. Defeating Beron and Koschei, securing the peace and THEN dealing with what exists beyond their world? That seems a more natural progression (in my opinion).