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lordgrimoire · 3 months

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So, an Idea, or AU I had regarding the good ol DPxDC.

I’m not sure what sort of disaster Amity’s ghost problem would be classified as, but think of what would happen if the local EMS (Emergency Services like Fire Departments, Law Enforcement, Emergency Medical, etc.) pretty much started jumping over the Mayor from the get-go? What if hard proof of these hijinx, for a brief time, were able to get out of Amity?

Well the Governor would probably have someone take a look, and once nonsense is confirmed (especially of its weird nonsense that looks a little to close to supers) they send in the National Guard, at first to keep an eye on the situation.

Then comes the Ghost Investigation Ward, and things go from moderately worrying to “WTF” real quick. And things start looking less Small Town USA and more Stalins Town USSR, at the height of Stalins Purges.

Admittedly it’s not immediate, and during the time between being put on “Indefinite Alert” and actually being relived this unit (I’m thinking a Battalion Sized force so about 1,200 soldiers/guardsmen total) ends up befriending the locals, and much to the Mayor, and GIWs, frustration, Phantom, as well as Red Huntress.

This leads to a standoff, the GIW can really only do what they want because of the Governments permission for them to do so, but engaging National Guard, who had not been federalized, may cause an issue or two. So they bring up the issue with someone who they think will back them up, their new boss Lex Luthor.

Now Lex isn’t a fool, but he figures out how the Justice League isn’t being called is due to a jammer the GIW set up and figures he can take a look around incognito like, or more accurately get trusted members of The Goonion, who he had Federally given approval to, to go take a look around.

When Alex gets the full story, and not just the GIWs original story but also updated info from the Doctors Fenton, who are now VERY worried, because they were wrong about Ghosts in more ways than they originally thought they may have been. Suffice to say, when Lex manages to get a copy of "The History of The Infinite Realms" and finds that Krypton's Afterlife is GONE, as in they did something similar to what the GIW is planning, he starts hitting the "Abort" Button with fury. Only to be told "Too late we're underway, we're going through a tunnel, what? What?" And now Lex decides Enough is Enough. Lex does two things, first he sends the GO order for the National Guard Battalion in Amity Park, then he starts trying to get a hold of the Justice League because "Listen I know you dislike me but I am willing to drop it all if you HELP WITH THIS BS THAT I JUST INHERITED!" Meanwhile back in Amity Things go from 0 to 100 faster than an Flash, that being the National Guard heard "GO" and immediatly started blasting. The Townfolks: Confused The Ghosts: Confused Team Phantom: Confused and Afraid The Ghost Hunters who are now studying Ghost Culture and the like: Very Confused and sorta getting Arrested. The GIW: Full of Bullet Holes, Screaming, and On Fire Meanwhile, The National Guard are waiting around two hours later with Phantom for any "Federal" News to come through: So the New President decided the Anti-Ecto Acts are BS, unfortunately they haven't been overturned yet so we're all most likely going to be marked as traitors. Mind if we hide out somewhere our bosses can't find us? Also the Justice League never actually knew any of the BS we've been going through, GIW Had some Jammer set up.

Phantom, Tired of all the damage and killing the GIW has caused in Amity Park: I'll try, but I'm not sure how much good it will do if the League shows up.

TLDR: Amity Park during it's entire run has a Battalion of US National Guard camped out in the outskirts/abandoned parts of town and they figure out most of the situation regarding Phantom not being the Villain Mayor Masters and the GIW Claim him to be. Following this logic they turned around and at the first opportunity attacked the GIW and pushed them out of Amity Park.

#dp x dc #danny phantom #dc x dp #danny fenton #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp prompt

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felixcloud6288 · 9 months

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It's Hurricane Season so I'd like to share some advice as a life-long Floridian who's experienced a few things. This is going to be directed primarily to people living in areas at risk of blackouts which could last several days.

Preparations

Aside from food, water, and gas, some things you'll want to make sure you have are flashlights and batteries. Make sure to refill any medications you might need.

Get raincoats in case you need to go outside cause the wind will destroy any umbrellas.. If you can't get one, take a garbage bag and tear a face hole into it and use that.

Also, get bug repellent, especially mosquito repellent. Mosquitos breed around still water and there will be a lot of still water.

You might want to buy some gardening gloves as well to make the post-storm cleanup safer.

SUPER IMPORTANT FOR SANITY AND SANITATION: get caught up on laundry and dishes. No power means no running water. Don't make things worse by not having clean dishes or clean clothes to use. While you're cleaning, change your bed sheets as well. Once you have power, change your sheets again.

Also, download any games, ebooks, shows, etc you can onto any battery-charged electronic devices you have. It will help your sanity when all you can do is wait.

Finally, while you should ideally board up your windows to protect them from debris, make sure at the minimum that all your windows are closed. Wind pressures are going to suck air out of any openings in your home.

Food and Water

First and most important: DO NOT BE A HOARDER!!

Even if your home has no power, that doesn't mean your local grocery store has no power. You can expect some reduced supply due to damaged supply lines and a spike in demand, but you shouldn't be worrying about empty shelves. At worst, have the amount of supplies you might need for 10 days. If you normally go to the grocery store every 2 weeks or longer, just stock up the amount you normally would.

Buy more items that are less likely to spoil and don't need refrigeration. When you have no power, prioritize eating anything which requires refrigeration (milk, cheese, meats) or has a short shelf life (bread).

Demand will be higher in preparation, and supply will be diminished for a bit, but supply issues only become unbearable when people start hoarding.

As for water, you'll need a surplus since you need water for so much. I cannot stress this particular part enough:

You need water to flush your toilet.

If there's somewhere with running water you can go when you need to poop, use that whenever possible, but you need water available at home to refill your toilet's cistern if you don't have that option (either time, distance, etc).

Make sure you have a supply of drinking water. Don't go buying every water bottle you can find (See the bit about hoarding), but you should buy more than you might normally use. Instead, gather water through things like your sink or from a hose into any sealable containers you might have . If you have a bathtub, fill it up just before the hurricane. If you have a pool, that's another source of water. If no debris got in the pool, you can use it for bathing. If you have empty buckets, you can get some additional water during the hurricane by filling them with large rocks or bricks and leaving them out in the open to collect the rain water.

Different water sources will be used for different purposes:

bottled, canned, or other store-bought water: Drinking, cooking, and refrigeration (explained later)

Water in unsealed containers: refill the toilet cistern

Water in a sealed containers: bathing and cleaning (Can also be used for the toilet)

As mentioned with food, supplies at your grocer will be reduced but not necessarily empty. You should be able to buy enough additional drinking water and be able to also use it for cleaning, giving you more water for the toilet. The tip about gathering rain water will only work once. There will likely be no rain for at least a week afterward.

In case you need to evacuate

Keep tabs on whatever emergency alerts are available. Check what your local radio channel is or what sites to check online. Make sure you know how to get to your local shelter, including alternate paths in case a road is inaccessible.

Load your vehicle with anything you might need to bring with you before the storm so you don't have to spend time looking for them and double checking when every minute could count. Pack some pillows, blankets, and extra clothes just in case. Also include anything you cannot risk losing for school or work like laptops.

Refrigeration

Without power, your fridge is now just a giant cooler and a ticking bomb to being a biohazard. Fill it up as much as possible. Cold air escapes easily when you open it and heat disperses fastest throw the air. Remember how I said you should buy extra water? A fridge filled with cold water will stay cooler longer. Any liquid will do. Fill your fridge with water bottles, soda cans, beer, fruit juice, whatever. As long as it doesn't spoil at room temperature. Milk can technically help too, but since it spoils you shouldn't keep much of it and should use it quickly.

Additional things like fruits and veggies will also help. What matters is you want to reduce the amount of empty space and fill it with anything which can keep the temperature down. Put a frozen block of iron in for all I care. Just don't have a super empty fridge.

If you have a generator

Good for you. You're not completely without power now. But you need to set priorities on what to use it for. Generators can only supply so much power at a time so you can't just hook everything to it and expect things to work out.

Top priority is the fridge. Twice a day, morning and evening, plug the fridge to the generator and let it run for two hours to cool things down. Don't hook up the fridge when you don't expect to open it (like when everyone is asleep).

Second priority should be charging cell phones, laptops, and anything else like that. Depending on your circumstances, you can charge them at work, from your car, etc so only hook them up when batteries are low.

Third, comfort. I understand this will be stressful, but hooking up your tv and gaming computer isn't the best idea. If you've done what I suggested earlier, you'll at least have something to watch or do without needing to hook it to your generator. Like with the above electronics, you might be able to find other ways to charge them, but only attach them to your generator when you don't need to worry about necessities.

Finally for the love of god, DO NOT HOOK AN AC TO THE GENERATOR!!. Air conditioners draw a lot of power, especially once the room is hot. But your generator can only do so much. The AC will kill your power supply really quickly. Use a fan or the AC in your vehicle if you need to cool down.

Also worth noting, if you have an electric vehicle, that could potentially be used as well. I don't know specifics, but look into that if you own one.

Final notes

This is not comprehensive and I may be wrong about some things.

Please refer to actual expert sources for comprehensive help.

This is just suggestions from someone who has to deal with this every year and has figured out how to deal with the aftermath. Your living conditions may be different so please check how to handle any concerns unique to you.

Stay safe and do not give up hope.

#original post #hurricane #hurricane prep #weather

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strwberri-milk · 2 months

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Do you think you could do genshin charas (I don't mind who! Your pick 🫶) with a reader who has a reaaaaally clingy cat

The kitty hates everyone but the reader and follows them everywhere. When the reader leaves and the cat can't follow it meows SO loud for hours until the reader comes back. Kitty will jump up on the readers shoulder and sometimes sit on their head (small kitty) and if anyone comes close to reader the kitty will start hissing and swatting at them until they back away. Basically like a guard dog but a guard kitten

hmm im giving you diluc and kaveh!! i'm also making it so that kitty warms up to him *eventually* because itd be so sad if it hated him forever :( ALSO my friends kitten literally hates me she refused to take a treat from my hand for like half an hour [sob] she would sniff it but wouldnt eat it :((( oh ya also surprise rafayel bc hes so funny LMAO

I can see Diluc taking to cats. They're more self sufficient than dogs and considering his busy work schedule he'd think it'd be a little difficult to keep a dog busy without also worrying for it's safety. When you tell him you have a cat he doesn't mind it at all but he's a little concerned when your cat starts hissing and spitting at him.

He looks at you, unsure of what to do and you explain that the cat is simply just protective of you. He doesn't want to somehow offend your cat by encroaching on your shared bubble so he looks to you to see what he can and can't do.

Now whenever your cat and Diluc hang out it's like a game of chicken. Diluc's trying to figure out what he's allowed to do (by permission of your cat) and you're trying to make sure your cat doesn't scratch Diluc/hurt itself trying to jump onto him to protect you.

Diluc also tries other ways of acclimating your cat to him. He leaves a jacket in the room you and your kitty are in together so it can explore his scent freely, waits to see if it'll come to him rather than you bringing it to him, etc. When it slowly finally warms up to him he can barely hide his relief, hating the thought of you having to choose between him or your pet.

He's very patient and your kitty seems to appreciate it, hissing at him less until finally, one day you come home and find Diluc sitting incredibly still watching your kitten sleep soundly on his lap. He's barely breathing, turning to you when he sees you come in with awe in his eyes not unlike a child's. It definitely helped that his body runs warm and kitty just needed a place to nap.

Kaveh jumps the first time your cat hisses at him. He wasn't expecting that to happen since most animals warm up to him pretty quickly. Similar to Diluc, he knows not to force a relationship between himself and your kitten so he also takes his time to acclimate your cat to him.

Unlike Diluc I think your cat would warm up to him faster. Kaveh has absolutely great vibes and animals tend to follow him around because he also has a habit of feeding them if he can. This natural kindness is shown in the way he respects your cat's boundaries and the way he watches you care for the animal.

Your cat slowly explores Kaveh only if you're close to him. He has a bit more success if he's wearing something or has something you've recently worn draped over him but he's careful if your kitty starts circling around his feet. Even if it lightly nips or hisses at him he tries not to react too strongly, knowing that it's just trying to protect you and getting mad at it is just going to halt progress.

Eventually your cat starts to slowly enjoy sitting with Kaveh and watching him sketch. It doesn't interrupt his drawings but you notice it's eyes watching his pencil flit about. When it gets more comfortable it might tentatively bat at it, Kaveh carefully picking it up and depositing it into your lap to avoid any actual damage being done to his work.

Rafayel is incredibly dramatic and because you know he's afraid of cats you've decided to keep your cat away from him. That was mostly successful until one day he came in as you were getting dressed in your room. You knew he'd be coming over and you forgot that he could just let himself in and quickly tried to make yourself decent the second you heard his screaming.

You're ready to attack whatever it is that made him lose his composure, thinking you're ready to go face to face with a Wanderer when you find him crouched on top a kitchen counter glaring daggers at you. He knew you had a cat and was under the impression that since you knew he was coming today you would have put it away.

In a weird way he tells you he's glad that your cat isn't "trying to trick him" by being cute and cuddly. He's very adamant about not touching your cat and keeping his distance away from the "creature". You'd have to convince him to touch your cat but that only happens once your cat actually calms down in his presence. It sees how you act around him and over time realises that you care a lot about him.

It takes some more time but your cat and boyfriend have some sort of peace treaty with each other that's never actually communicated. They relatively leave each other alone and tolerate each other's presence only for you.

#genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #diluc x reader #diluc ragnvindr x reader #kaveh x reader #rafayel x reader #love and deepspace #love and deepspace x reader

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hmslusitania · 11 months

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Ted Lasso is a portal fantasy

I know, I know it's not in any way a speculative fiction show. I know. Bear with me for a second. Ted Lasso is a portal fantasy, but the real question is whether this is the story we know from the Wizard of Oz, or Mary Poppins. Ted himself is at once Dorothy and Mary, and I think my reaction to the end of Ted's story, specifically, depends on whether you take the show at it’s title, that it’s about Ted Lasso (Dorothy) or take the show at Ted’s word that it was never about him (Mary Poppins).

To Ted, he is very literally Dorothy.

He’s away from Kansas, he’s surrounded by the reminder that “there’s no place like home”, and he spent the finale wearing honest to god ruby red sneakers. The evil wizard stalked down from his curtained owners box and was removed from power. The lion got her courage, the tin man for his heart, and the scarecrow got his brain, and Dorothy went back to Kansas (leaving Toto behind). But unlike Dorothy, we didn't really get the build up that Ted had to go back to Kansas to get what he wanted -- Henry back in his life. Rebecca even offered him the choice to stay, and the means to bring Henry and even Michelle back to London with him. Exactly zero compelling reason was offered to explain why Ted wouldn't take that offer. But he's Dorothy, in a portal fantasy, and that's what Dorothy does -- she goes home. It is the ending of the vast majority of portal fantasies, no matter how much it will fuck up the protagonist (there's a whole series detailing that damage and undoing it by tumblr's own Seanan McGuire which I highly recommend btw). To me, this is an unsatisfying ending for Ted himself, since no reason was given for him to turn down Rebecca's offer.

However.

To the Richmond family, Ted is Mary Poppins.

One of the complaints I’ve seen about this season is that we don’t know where Ted is, emotionally. Much like Mary Poppins, whose internality as a character is, at best, an afterthought. Mary Poppins is not the point of Mary Poppins. The children she helps are the point of Mary Poppins, and when she leaves at the end, although you’re sad to see her go, you know the kids she left there have grown as people and will continue to grow by her example and her benevolent Julie Andrews ways. And by and large, you don’t really worry about the place Mary Poppins goes to. She’s Mary Poppins and she’ll do what she does and ours is not to question etc. ("Mary Poppins isn't a portal fantasy" yeah, I know, technically, but it's kind of an inside out portal fantasy since there's a character who came from another kind of realm, who swept in to be the answer to some problem, and then went home {or, wherever}; it's just we're seeing it from the pov of the locals rather than the person from the other realm.)

The Richmond Team have all grown as people under Ted's stewardship. As we’ve seen in the character progressions particularly of Roy, of Nate, of Rebecca, they will continue in the Richmond way that they’ve developed. Forever changed by Ted sailing in on his parasol, missing him certainly, but able to continue. More narrative weight is given to the Mary Poppins side of the story, and in this scenario, I take much, much less issue with Ted's the character's ending.

In conclusion, Ted Lasso is the story of Mary Poppins staring Dorothy Gale in the titular role.

#Ted lasso #Ted lasso spoilers

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somber-sapphic · 10 months

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Was wondering if I would be ok to request a sick reader with Wandanat where readers just come out of surgery (could be for anything, like injured on a mission, wisdom teeth etc) and they’re kind of loopy still, not really sure if it counts as a sick fix though so I don’t mind if it’s not your thing 😅

A Little Less Wisdom

〖Notes: Okay, I had my wisdom teeth out a few months ago and I thought I'd be funny after waking up. NO. I just cried. I cried a lot. And then I got confused and hit my ride home. It was a long day.〗

〖Summary: You need your wisdom teeth out.〗

〖Word Count: 1320〗

〖Pairing: Wandanat x Sick Reader〗

☾Masterlists☽

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Out of all of the problems you could face as a superhero, ‘impacted wisdom teeth’ was never on your list. It hadn’t even crossed your mind; it just wasn’t something you’d ever believed that you’d need to worry about. Maybe there was a part of you that considered the possibility, but when there were so many other more dangerous things to worry about dental health didn’t really make the top hundred.

But two weeks ago, when your girlfriends had noticed the way you were avoiding hard foods and the copious amounts of over-the-counter pain meds you were taking, they finally said something. It really didn’t click to you that anything was wrong until Natasha had brought it up, a look on her face that betrayed her true concern.

Once they had completed their makeshift intervention, you began to notice the real pain in your mouth and began to wonder how exactly you had ignored it in the first place. Your best guess was that something was always hurting from one battle or another, that this one just didn’t seem too pressing. That sprained ankle had been a worse issue than the tooth pain. Until you noticed it, of course.

After a checkup from Dr. Helen Cho (who reiterated over and over again that she was not a dentist) and a few x-rays later, you were found to have “severely impacted” wisdom teeth. Not just regularly impacted, but severely. Not only that, but it was all four of them. You didn’t do anything in halves.

Wanda had been shocked at how well you had been hiding your discomfort, while Natasha was more focused on helping you to feel better. She wanted you to have surgery as quickly as possible, stating her concerns about possible complications and expected recovery time.

This was her way of expressing her love, getting overly caught up on details, and making sure that everything was 100% taken care of so that neither you nor Wanda had to worry. She was a wonderful girlfriend.

The day of the surgery came and went, a mission getting in the way of your dental care. This didn’t particularly bother you, part of you (as embarrassed as you felt) was incredibly nervous about the operation. You had read up about it in secret and had learned about every single complication ever recorded in human history.

This was, of course, a bad idea. Now you were panicking about dry-socket, nerve damage, infection, and possible death as a result of the anesthetic. The idea of being completely out of control of your surroundings was not one that you particularly enjoyed.

Unfortunately, beings who wanted to destroy the human race could only keep you from getting your wisdom teeth out for so long. The day arrived and you were mildly freaking out about it. Wanda, who could literally sense your emotions, had been trying to keep you calm by distracting you with silly little tasks and offering small comforts.

Natasha was less subtle about her attempts to soothe you; she straight up hadn’t left your side the whole day. She kept murmuring reassurances to you while you watched some dumb TV show and had even done research of her own to combat what you had found. She combatted your fear with love and statistics. These two very different ways of trying to make you feel less anxious were working very well together to put you at ease.

You lay back in the dentist’s chair and stared with panic-filled eyes at your loving girlfriends who were hovering in the doorway, unable to enter the sterile field. Suddenly, a very loud thought filled your head.

It’s all going to be okay. Breathe. We’ll be right here. You’ll be okay.

It was hard to describe how it felt when Wanda projected a thought into your mind. You could tell that it wasn’t a thought of your own, it had a comforting feeling. A soft, gentle, loving feeling. It put you at ease more than the intravenous anesthetic that was being pumped into your body.

The last thing you felt as you closed your eyes was that lingering emotion that Wanda had pushed into your mind.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“They’re waking up,” Natasha murmured, nudging Wanda slightly. The witch looked up from her phone where she had been anxiously tapping away at some game, a look of relief flooding her face. The two women stared down at you, both smiling as your beautiful e/c eyes fluttered open.

“Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?” Wanda cooed softly, reaching out to brush a few strands of hair out of your lashes. You opened your mouth as if about to speak, but then closed it again. You repeated the motion a few times, your eyebrows furrowing slightly as you started to reach up for your mouth.

“No no no, let’s not do that. We’ve gotta leave that alone for now, okay?” The brunette chastised, quickly pulling your hand away. You pulled a pout, but the time it took for you to actually change your expression was absolutely hilarious. It took you a full five seconds to register that something had been said and react to it.

“Mh mufh iffmahds.” You mumbled around the gauze, the words you were trying to say lost around the cotton fabric stuffed into your mouth. Natasha leaned forward and bent down to kiss your head, leaving her lips there for a few moments to express her relief. She knew that nothing bad would happen to you, but the anxiety was always going to be there.

“Just rest baby, we’ll talk when you’re a little more awake.” She said kindly, grabbing Wanda’s hand as your eyes fell closed again. The redhead turned to her and grinned before kissing her soft pink lips.

“They’ll be okay Wands.” She reassured, resting her forehead against Wanda’s.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The peace of you being sort of asleep only lasted for twenty or so minutes. This time when you woke back up, you were ready to go. You quite literally came up swinging, your eyes wide and yelling something that neither of your girlfriends could understand through the gauze.

“Woah! Calm down, it’s alright babe, it’s okay.” Natasha said, reaching over to grab your fists.

“The chicken! The chicken’s comin’!” You cried, forcing the words out as you struggled against the grasp of your concerned girlfriend.

“What are you talking about? There’s no chicken!” The redhead replied, sounding frantic as she dodged a kick aimed at her face. You weren’t fully coherent, but your fighting skills were still very much intact. You had trained for this and were using your training to keep yourself safe from the aforementioned chicken.

“Robot chickens! So many, too many, can’t do it, gotta go!” You spat out, starting to get out of the reclining chair. You made it halfway up before falling back again, not entirely prepared for the weight of gravity. Gravity was hard.

“Y/n, Y/n. Listen to me. There are no chickens, okay? We’re in medical, you had surgery, and it’s all okay. Relax babes. You’re safe. It's just Nat and me.” Wanda soothed, putting every bit of calming energy into her voice. She felt bad for using witchcraft on you to alter your emotions, but she needed to calm you down as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, it worked. You sat back and relaxed, your body going limp against Natasha’s. You quite literally fell against your favorite assassin but remained conscious this time, breathing heavily as you relaxed again.

“I don’t like poultry.” You grumbled, nuzzling your face into Natasha’s shoulder. The redhead laughed softly, and Wanda let out a weary sigh, a grin spreading over her face. The operation was over, but it was becoming more and more obvious that that had been the easy part. Now they had to deal with an incredibly confused, slightly high you who would probably remember absolutely none of this.

〖Join My Taglist!〗@lovelyy-moonlight, @bloomingflowersthings, @lots-of-pockets, @asiangmrchk13, @fxckmiup, @animealways, @scrambled-brain-eggs, @kljhsong, @juststuckhereforever, @fayhar, @chairhere

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queenofcoquette · 9 months

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anti-aging: the good and the bad

not to be all “we live in a society” but i’ve noticed that on social media at least, there’s horrible discourse about anti-aging, pushed by beauty companies that pressure people into botox, fixating on their apperance. etc. so i want to talk about the good and the bad- agingin healthily vs. being superficial.

anti aging- the good:

good mobility/flexibility. a lot of older people get injuries due to their lack of mobility and flexibility. as we age we naturally lose these skills, but by working out and staying consistent we can ensure that we’re strong even when we’re older.

healthy diet. younger people usually don’t think too much about their diet, since our bodies just kinda take care of themselves most of the time. but for an older person an unhealthy diet can lead to a whole lot of problems, so it’s important to invest in a good diet that keeps you healthy and happy.

healthy lifestyle. staying active now and when we’re older is another way to stay young, mentally and physically. having good hygeine, having hobbies, things like that. take care of your body, not just for the sake of looking good, but for the sake of feeling good.

staying mentally sharp. another factor to anti-aging is constantly learning. keeping an open mind and being fascinated by things. continuing to learn instead of being stuck on the past.

living life to the fullest. life shouldn’t stop when you turn 60 or whatever. my grandma’s sister is one of the strongest people i know. she lost her son and her husband yet even in her late 70s she volunteers, she went to Hawaii. her life is still fun and she’s surrounded by people she loves!

anti aging- the bad:

fixating on wrinkles. having good skincare and sun protection is important for the health of our skin, but fixating on not having wrinkles can be damaging. certain skin conditions can lead to getting wrinkles younger, or just if your skin is drier or oilier. i’m tired of seeing influencers pushing ‘anti wrinkle straws’ or telling people to smile less. its dumb- we’re all gonna get wrinkles.

fixating on a youthful appearance. we only have a bit of control over how “youthful” you look. like if you have a more angular face and dry skin, you’ll look less youthful then someone with a rounder face and oily skin. there’s no way to control that, so who cares?

what we can do:

stop giving in to these toxic ideas. i see so many girls on TikTok freaking out about wrinkles and all those things. i was scared a while ago cuz when i smile i have tiny lines on the corner of my eye- but i realized everyone my age has those! stop engaging in toxic content.

health over beauty. focus on longevity- working out to be strong in the future, eating good to feel good when we’re older. when you prioritize being healthy you’ll automatically look younger. so you’ll look and feel good- it’s a win win!

keep learning. even when we get older we should always prioritize learning new things and broadening our mind. my grandpa is 83 but he’s still open-minded, he’s willing to hear different political points and that keeps him young.

reflecting. age only brings wisdom if you’re willing to learn and reflect.

remember that life never loses meaning as old as we are. the people who think life stops being fun when you’re 40 are the people who act old. plenty of people can be old and have fun. i saw a 97ish year old guy who goes to the gym everyday, a 93 year old lady on Instagram celebrating pride and going to parties with her friends. life only stops being fun when we close off our minds.

conclusion:

instead of fearing what we’ll look like in 60 years, let’s think about how we can live our best life 60 years from now. anti-aging should be about health, to live life to the fullest when we’re older, instead of worrying about little things that don’t matter. life is kinda short, so we should make the most of it, and ensure that we can always have fun. we shouldn’t spend our whole lives worrying about wrinkles or living in the delusion that life stops being fun with age. living long is a blessing that we should all use to the best of our ability. life only stops being good when you give up.

#self improvement #that girl #that girl 2023 #queenofcoquette

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thelampisaflashlight · 7 months

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A silly thought, but hear me out: Ghouls don't have less kits on the surface because it's physically difficult for them conceive necessarily, it's because the mortality rate for ghouls on the surface is significantly lower than in Hell.

Hell's not a bad place if you're a demon, but there's still a lot of unsavory things that happen down there, and it's not uncommon for fights to break out, or full on wars between packs, etc, so ghouls have large families to sort of compensate/whatever.

On the surface, though, ghouls don't have to worry about that, at least not nearly as much as they do down below, so they're able to actually be more hands on in raising their kits/have more resources to care for both their children and themselves.

Not having to worry about your kit's mewling alerting a larger demon to your den's location, or risking orphaning them because you have to go fight something in order to feed them makes things a whole heck of a lot easier.

Ghouls summoned to the surface get to experience a side of parenthood that their own parents never got to; They get to actually see their kits grow up, and enjoy simple things like learning and playing without it being about teaching them to survive.

So yeah, the ghoul population is kept from exploding purely because the ones that do choose to have kits are able to take more time to be with and care for them, and the ghouls who absolutely DO NOT want kits don't feel like they have to.

Also I think ghouls with kits would definitely enjoy the various "baby containment" items, like playpens, if only because ghouls are so used to having to carry their kits around with them or pop them into their nests and hope they don't climb out.

"You mean to tell me I can put this net over the baby prison and he won't be able to climb out and damage himself? Wonderful."

That and pacifiers/teething toys.

Anyway, end of silly thought.

#lamp rambles #shitghosting #nameless ghouls #ghost band #the band ghost #ghost bc #ghost band headcanons #nameless ghoul headcanons #kits are just weird cats

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ellecdc · 5 days

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Mother, serious question mainly for my own self-esteem 😮‍💨😅

How do you think the boys (any of them really) would view a partner with like all sorts of facial piercings and like rat tails in their hair and funky colors(truly best describes as a queer little gremlin lol). Cause I know Marlene and Sirius have an alt rock aesthetic (I don't think I spelled that right) but as much as I love these characters I never feel like I would have fit in with them if I was really there ya know?

Idk it's kinda stupid but just curious on you're thoughts on this. They're just so cool and I would hope they would like me enough to at least be my friend if they were real 😮‍💨😖

okay first of all, love the title queer little gremlin; let's all capitalize those letters and add them to surveys when they ask you how you identify plsss??

Here's my take:

James:

I love (and follow religiously) the headcanon that James is pansexual but I believe that expands beyond just gender identity, if that makes sense?

It doesn't matter if you're male or female or anywhere in between or beyond or both or all

and I feel like it doesn't really matter what you look like to him

I feel like he loves people for their hearts, their minds, their interests, etc

I feel like he'd maybe be worried because....those had to hurt??? you do that on purpose? doesn't it hurt terribly? his poor sweet angel????

I also see him as the type of bf who would be like "oh! are we changing colours? which one's? can I help?" and will dutifully like, adorn gloves and sit in the bathroom breathing in dye fumes and chatting away with you while the two of you talk about everything and nothing - I think he'd love spending that time with you and it would be special bonding time

(also, have you seen the James fan art with him with a nose ring??? fuck me sideways)

Sirius:

you're so right re: alt-rock aesthetic etc

I think he'd find the facial piercings awesome tbh, you might even have inspired him to get one or more of his own

I think he'd make it almost a competition of who can dress the most grunge that day hahaha - but the two of you would make quite the couple

also? you look like the kind of person his posh, prissy, stuck up parents would hate seeing him with - that's totally a bonus

I see this guy as someone who loves hair care and would be horrified at how much/often you change your hair colour and would insist on helping you/buying the more expensive products/ensure you're doing it right to save your hair from too much damage

that's the only 'problem' I see him having

Remus:

idk, I kind of see him a little bit like James tbh; looks would be a little less important to him? like he doesn't care how you express yourself in terms of style and clothes

what would be important to him is that you're kind and patient, that you're openminded and considerate of others

I mean...he's littered with scars, is he not? He doesn't exactly look "normal" (derogatory) and would probably feel very similar to what you've described; like he doesn't feel he particularly 'fits in' with his friends

I see him having like, not long hair but like a decent head of curls, and he'd totally love if you braided a few little pieces of his hair like your 'rat tails'

I think he'd find the hair fun; you'd show up one day with new colours and I could see his face lighting up like 😃 "that looks great love; so fun"

Regulus:

he's tricky because he's so posh and stuck up lmfao

BUT

people also ship bartylus and I see so much Barty fan-art somewhat similar to how you've described yourself and if Reg likes Barty - he'd certainly like you too

Barty:

as mentioned above, I could totally see him having like a green streak in his hair or something

perhaps some piercings (I think he'd get piercings down below.....), tongue piercing, nose piercing, eyebrow piercing - I feel like he'd be down for it all himself, so he wouldn't mind it on you at all either

and again, as a guy with daddy issues, he'd be a lot like Sirius and think the better chance he has at dating someone who would sooooo piss of his dad - the better!

thanks for your ask babes <3

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prince-kallisto · 2 months

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Magic Assault Practice & Styx’s Lachesis System

I’m very suspicious of the Magic Assault Practice event that is directly run by Crowley 👀 In this event, there are these virtual projections for the Magic Assault Practice. The battles are set in a virtual simulation, which Crowley explains it was for practicality reasons, as in last years, this was set in physical locations like reserved/uninhabited islands which caused SO much trouble amongst the students and teachers. Since virtual projections has progressed so far in terms of realism, Crowley reasons this would be the most efficient way for the students to get some training without the hassle. (At least this is what I gathered from translating it myself online andjsjd)

With this system, Crowley makes himself the final boss battle in every map of the event, and says Virtual!Crowley has significantly less magical power than he really has for everyone’s safety. And as I found out from the lovely @floydhat, the virtual projections are adjustable, where the difficultly level can be reconfigured by the real him.

His virtual projections reminds me a lot of Styx’s Lachesis System, used in Book 6 so the students could virtually battle at full capacity without having any real harm sustained in their bodies.

The Lachesis system was already a shock to all the students- even students like Riddle and Azul who have stronger knowledge about these sort of things- especially relating to the school. The Magic Assault Practice event is stated to be a new thing “introduced” by Crowley, that “from now on,” these unique lessons will be set in the virtual setting. Furthermore, the Lachesis system does more than just testing magic in a facility. It combines with the battle simulation to create false yet extremely convincing environments and people. The virtual people can talk with the same voices, the environments look exact- it’s scarily realistic.

In the Magic Assault Practice event, Crowley says virtual projections have improved to the point of being able to recreate forests, underwater scenes, beaches, etc. to the point it’s “no different from the real thing.” It is why the battle maps take place in every single dorm- we don’t actually travel to different dorms. It’s just a projection in there coliseum. And here, much like the Lachesis system, it goes beyond regular VR and more of a practical lesson for the students magic. I assume any damage the students receive is simulated, much like the Lachesis system, but I don’t know for sure yet!

Considering the Magic Assault Practice event says this simulation thing is new, I conclude this equipment gifted from Styx. I sound oddly confident about a theory for once, don’t I? 🤣 But I was look back at book 6 for this theory, and I was blown away by Crowley mentioning that Styx not only covered the repair bills for the damage they caused to the school, but expanded the school’s facilities. Isn’t this a genius potential callback? This would realistically be an incredibly expensive system- Crowley’s stinginess with money or not, a brand new system that’s this high tech would be an unreasonable amount of money just for some student lessons. It all makes sense!

But at the same time, it worries me. Crowley in the event is very specific about saying how the simulation would be just like the “real thing.” I feel like putting all these clues together could lead to a lot of different separate theories here, but…I’m not sure. All I can say is that I feel more confident than ever to Crowley having a direct connection with Styx and the Shroud family 🤔🐦‍⬛ I don’t why, I just have some suspicions on why Crowley was given the high tech virtual simulator in the first place, when we’ve only seen Styx use it to monitor blot levels…is the Magic Assault Practice event for other motives, I wonder?

Also, I got curious of what “Lachesis” meant. There are two meanings to it. The first being that Lachesis is the name of the one of the Three Fates/Moirai, the infamous divine trio in Greek Mythology that control the birth, life, and death of every single person, aka the destiny of everyone. Their symbols are there thread, spindle, and scissors. Clotho first weaved the threads of life, Lachesis measured the threads, (how long a person gets to live), and Atropos cuts the string, ending a person’s life. Depending on the mythological text, Lachesis is also the one who chooses each persons destiny- but in others it’s the job of all three. Interesting! (Edit: sob sob I don’t want to admit it, but Disney’s Hercules has the Three Fates. In the screenshot above, Lachesis is holding the string. Crowley’s mask HELP?! 🤣🤣🤣💀💀💀💀)

But secondly, a Lachesis is a type of snake- a venomous pit viper, to be exact, named after the Lachesis of the Three Fates. This seems irrelevant at first, but notice how prevalent the symbol of the snake is at NRC’s logo and Dark Mirror. I go into a bit more detail in a separate post here about every meanings of this, but isn’t this strange how Styx is getting shockingly more connected to NRC the more we think of it? Crowley essentially having his own Lachesis system…Lachesis measuring threads of fate before they are cut…depending on mythology Lachesis is the one who chooses destiny…

The weaved spindle wheel threads in Book 7’s trailer are cut, which signal the end of life…

Crowley, what are you doing?! Σ੧(❛□❛✿)

#twisted wonderland #twst #dire crowley #twst dire crowley #twst theory #twst crowley #twst shroud family #twst Styx #twst jp spoilers #twst spoilers #kallistopost #it’s funny how big this theory used to be…#it branched off into 3 new separate different theories that I am working on!#sob sob there’s just a lot to cover but I do my best to make these posts legible and digestible 🤣🤣🤣

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drdemonprince · 1 month

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How do you maintain a healthy relationship with exercise as someone with a history of disordered exercising? Asking for me

I'm an eating disorder harm reductionist, not a perfectionist. Some of my ED behaviors exist to help me regulate my anxiety and impose structure on an unpredictable world, and I don't care about getting rid of those impulses anymore, I try to just work with them. I'm not especially worried about whether my relationship to exercise is "healthy", because what would that even mean -- normal? not obsessive? I've never been those things. so long as I take steps to minimize any damage I do to my body with my behaviors, i'm satisfied.

Lifting weights and being on T has been a good middle ground for me in a lot of ways. a brief lifting session in the morning gives me the sensation of having generated some endorphins, which makes me less likely to self-harm or behave impulsively, and it does so without requiring a ridiculous time commitment the way my long, long aerobic exercise sessions used to do. I used to miss a lot of special occasions with friends and holidays etc because I would spend so much time exercising every day, mostly as a stim and a way to offload stress. now the exercise I do can easily get squeezed into my downtime without taking away from other important things in my life.

strength training doesn't damage my joints or tendons the way that aerobic shit did; rather, it strengthens them. This kind of physical activity makes me hungrier and requires that I ingest enough protein, which motivates me to eat more, and i do tend to need that external motivation because otherwise i'll forget. being a muscle bro is also all very silly and stupid, which makes it easier for me to laugh at myself and not see the whole thing as super dire the way a restrictive eating disorder + exercise bulimia felt.

I still cling very obsessively to a set exercise schedule, but I don't see that as inherently eating disordered, it can just as easily be a very Autistic self-regulation thing. i honestly first started lifting weights in 2018-2019 because i was craving the endorphins from enduring pain HEAVILY, and would have really impulsive BDSM sex with complete strangers to get a pain rush without any prior negotiation or forethought, and i wasn't really looking after my safety. but i noticed that when i put myself through the controlled "pain" of lifting weights every few days, my desire to behave completely recklessly subsided and i could get by with having kinky sex more sporadically, and with actual planning and safety protocols being on the table instead of just pulling the first rando i could find on fetlife.

if someone believes in total eating disorder recovery/abstinence, they'd probably still look at my rigid adherence to a lifting schedule and my tendency to not feel hunger cues and my fixation on getting enough protein and think that i was still fucked up, but i feel physically the most energized and strong that i ever have in my life, my exercise regimen does not consume my daily schedule the way it once did, i dont think about my body size at all anymore, and i self-harm less and take fewer risks. so. seems pretty good to me.

harm reduction and a personalized recognition of one's needs > health

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tears-of-amber · 2 months

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Having Pets And Witchcraft

(Some compromises and adjustments I’ve made to my practice as a witch to accommodate my cat Muffin now living in my bedroom).

🔮I don’t burn candles in my room anymore. (Idc that I crack the windows, candles are not good to burn in tight spaces with the company of cats and most pets. Unless your pet is a fish or in a tank of some sort that doesn’t get exposed to the candle smoke or scents). If you see a candle, it’s literally just there for a representation of fire. I never burn it anymore.

🔮I made space on my altar for my pet. Especially with cats, they ARE going to jump on your altar whether you like it or not. Might as well give them some space to sit so it’s less likely they’ll knock things down. (I happen to be devoted to the cat-loving goddess Freyja. So I’m not worried about disrespecting her by making kitty space).

🔮NO essential oil sprays. Nada. Not even a little bit. Instead, use plain moon or sun water sprays with no oils or added infusions. I used to use essential oil sprays before any animals could come into my bedroom. They were a quick and easy way to cleanse my space, but for the health of your pet (dog, cat, or otherwise) do NOT go spraying these around a room they live in. You can charge moon-water or sun-water with intent or draw a sigil on the spray bottle you are using, and it works just as well. Plain drinkable water mist isn’t gonna harm your babies.

🔮Be fine with your witchy stuff falling, getting knocked down, and potentially damaged. This applies to crystals, trinkets, wands, etc. I highly recommend you replace glass spell bottles with plastic tightly sealable spell bottles if you’re going to leave them in reach of your pet. IT IS NEVER THE PETS FAULT IF THEY DAMAGE A CRYSTAL. You’re the adult human, so take responsibility and decide what sort of stuff you’re leaving out in a pets reach.

🔮Meditation is hard (for me) with my babygirl Muffin doing everything she can to distract me. Its ok. I literally go outside in the backyard to meditate if she’s being crazy and playful so I don’t get disturbed. It’s better to relocate than get angry at an animal that just wants playtime or attention.

🔮Most pets are great psychic protectors (each in different ways), so treat them with respect. They are guarding you in your sleep and even on occasion bringing your attention to when the energy is off or something negative is afoot. However, don’t rely only on them for psychic protection, as that’s A LOT for one animal.

🔮Plant allies are fine if you choose a nontoxic one for your specific pet. I’ll give you some generally good examples for cat safe ones, since that is what I know best as a cat mom. African violets, Sunflowers, Roses (de-thorned), and Orchids, and most succulents, are safe bets.

That’s all for now, folks!

Tysm for reading!

#witchcraft #witchblr #witch #witchy #pagan #spirituality #paganism #norse paganism #baby witch

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traumasurvivors · 9 months

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This is an article I wrote on "parentification trauma." If you don't want to click off site, you can also read it below the read more.

Parentification is a form of abuse where a child is forced to take on the role of a parent. It’s important to note that taking on responsibilities isn’t necessarily parentification. This comes when the level of responsibility given is more than a child should be expected to take on. This can be accompanied by a normalized attitude to it and a child suppressing their own needs and desires. There is a difference between having some chores and parentification.

There are two types of parentification, instrumental and emotional. A child may experience one or both types of parentification. Instrumental parentification involves physical things like cleaning, cooking and caring for one’s self, their siblings and/or their parents. Much parentification is parent-focused, but it can also be sibling-focused. This occurs when a child needs to take on a parental role toward their siblings in such ways as cooking for them, putting them to bed (including such things as reading bedtime stories), helping them with homework or disciplining them.

Emotional parentification is about a child being forced to take on the emotional role that a parent normally holds in a family. They may be treated a lot like being a therapist for their parent. In some cases, it may involve the child taking on the role of a partner to a parent, providing support that a parent would normally get from their spouse. This may include learning about things that are not appropriate for the child, like information about their parent’s sex life and the sexual frustrations that may go with that. A child may take on parental stresses like worrying about money for dinner and finding solutions to family problems because their parents react badly to the problems in such ways as getting upset, having anxiety attacks, etc. The child may also have to reassure their parents that they are “good parents.” They may have to be a mediator for conflicts between their parents. They might be a protector of one parent against the other or siblings against parents, especially if one or both parents are physically abusive.

One of the ways to note the difference between chores or “helping out” and parentification is the way the child’s role is received by their parents. If they are asked to do something to help out occasionally, perhaps given the message that this isn’t normal but is needed temporarily, that is not as likely to be damaging to the child. If they are frequently praised for the way they pick up some slack in the family, perhaps given allowance or other rewards, that is also less likely to make the child subconsciously feel like they’re taking over a parental role. If the action becomes normal and “expected”, that tends to make it more likely to be traumatizing and destructive.

Parentified children generally learn to neglect or ignore their own needs. They may be taught that there is no “space” for them to express problems or desires. They may be ignored or even punished when they show vulnerability. They may learn to worry about the way their parents will react if they express a need. For instance, they may need money for a school trip but believe that their mother will cry or otherwise get visibly upset or stressed if the child asks about it. In such a situation, the child may hide the trip and skip it if possible. Another example may be that a child will attempt to hide not being well from their parents (whether this is physically or mentally). Parentified children are expected to be strong and responsible. They may feel they are the only thing holding the family together.

Parentification may be caused by many different things, including but not limited to: parental disability or illness, divorce, an abusive relationship between parents, parental alcoholism or drug addiction, or the death of a sibling or parent. In many cases, the parents may not register the position they are putting their child in. They may be caught up in grief or stress about a different child’s life-threatening illness. They may be a single parent, working two or three jobs to financially support the family. In some cases, they may even convince themselves that they are teaching their child to be responsible, while not recognizing that they are putting too much on their child. The situation they are in may be a difficult one, where if one or more children did not take on some extra responsibilities, the family would have trouble surviving. However, even in such a case, parentification is more likely to be avoided if the parent(s) make sure to give their children emotional support and listen to their wants and needs, and avoid forcing their children to be therapists for the parent(s). It is important to note that parentification can be traumatizing even in the absence of other trauma, and that parents who do it may be fully aware, partially aware or completely unaware of the position they are putting their child(ren) in and the harm they are doing.

Parentification has many long-term effects. Children who have been parentified may struggle to deal with their own negative emotions. They may bottle them up until they come out explosively, as they were never taught to deal with those emotions in a healthy way. They may carry an attitude forward into adulthood that no one wants to hear about their problems, and that they should be quiet and keep any emotional issues to themselves. Parentification may cause many issues that are often associated with trauma, including anxiety, depression, personality disorders, eating disorders and C-PTSD. As adults, those who were parentified may find that they are always taking on a caregiver position in adult relationships, as they do not know how to avoid such a dynamic or feel that is the only way they can be worthy of affection. They may feel they have to be responsible for everyone else. They may be more likely to end up in abusive or otherwise toxic relationships. They may have trouble getting close to others, out of a fear that they will be exploited in the same way they were as a child. They may be codependent and insecure or afraid of abandonment. They may become hyper independant, as they feel they cannot count on anyone else. If they have children of their own, their parenting may be affected because they were not shown healthy parent/child relationships.

Parentification is a form of neglect and abuse that often is not recognized because it can seem like “just helping out”. It is important to recognize that parentification trauma is a valid form of trauma that can carry many lasting and harmful effects for an individual. An individual that has suffered from parentification trauma is deserving of help, support and understanding. A parentified child may not experience the unconditional love that can be so crucial to healthy emotional development. They may be taught, “If you do everything we need, if you never force us to deal with anything difficult from you, then we will love you.” Children deserve a love that says, “I/we love you. No matter what.”

#my blog posts #parentification trauma #tw abuse

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constant-and-immovable · 16 days

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Please tell me your serious thoughts on the Peter Pan crocodile!!

OH BOY. Alright. Okay. Hmmm

So there's a whole lot that I really can't disclose onto what I'm doing with it in The Novel because it plays a significant role in the prequel or sequel I'll tell my publisher I'm willing to write when they inevitably demand another installment, HOWEVER for the function of it as it exists within the story itself....

if I was directing a film or movie of it, I would want to keep it within semi-plausible parameters, but not make it a prehistoric croc.

It's a solid choice! To go with a living fossil like Sarcosuchus or Deinosuchus, because it's "real," but honestly...it's somehow less plausible than one that has simply managed to get to a fuck-off-big size.

Because yeah! I wouldn't want to be ANYWHERE near this thing!!! But I also don't think a kid chucking a hand in the water is going to be enough to bait one this size unless there's already blood/gore/bodies in the water that he's snapping at. True, this is not a story where logic prevails (hi, the acids in the guts of even a modern croc tend to destroy metals: jewelry, pieces of traps, animal tags, etc have all been found in them but VERY damaged/worn down. A clock is nothing, forget how you would hear it tick, it's just. anyway), however I'm not personally a fan of the "Somehow This Dinosaur Survived" genre of beasties, not when there are more things in heaven and in the earth.

SO.

Beyond the clock and the size, there is ...really nothing abnormal about it. The crocodile exhibits pretty standard behavior for a saltwater crocodile, the largest modern species (12-16ft is most common but some absolute monsters have measured in at nearly 20ft, and stories are everywhere about a mythic 25 ft)

If you grew up in the 1990s, you probably remember this guy wrangling them for tracking purposes. You can also see here what I was saying earlier: yes, they have an INSANE bite force, but their jaws aren't that tough otherwise--some rope, even around a big guy, is plenty to make the teeth less a concern. Then you just have to worry about their tails: solid muscle, which can propel them out of water like so:

Maybe he would have some more sympathy for the captain, given that he's also missing his right arm. If you've ever seen pictures of salties before, you've probably seen this one, or other pictures of him. This here is Brutus. He was, as of this image, estimated to be over 60 years old (!!!) and one of the largest living wild crocs. He's thought to have lost his arm to a bull shark when he was younger.

Bull sharks and salties do semi-frequently prey on each other: they both cross territories, though the sharks are primarily oceanic, and satlies (despite their names) are more common in rivers and brackish water. The reason they're called salties is that unlike most crocs, they CAN survive in saltwater. Again, we have a check in the box for old Tick-Tock, given that it seems to go inland on the island with some frequency.

If you've never seen a croc come out of the water before, it's Unnerving as hell. Watch any doc on the Nile, and you've seen a Nile croc (we'll get back to these) seemingly come out of nowhere and chomp onto a gazelle, but with salties it's somehow worse. The water just goes...still when they're gone. Like they were never there to start with.

Going off the book/play, a saltwater crocodile seems to be the most obvious, but again, we're running into size limitations. Reptiles never stop growing, and they certainly don't age the same way a mammal would, but they still do seem to have a lifespan under 100, and rarely break that 20ft limitation (with males typically getting larger than females of similar ages). It wouldn't be genetic impossibility to have one that had something going on in its DNA that made it BIG, at least not as unlikely as seeing a survivor from millions of years ago.

Plus, I do not care for the fact that the croc in the 2023 version seemed to eat anything that moved. It kind of defeats the purpose that this thing is after Hook specifically. And guess what? That's not impossible.

My only thing is...salties are my favorite, they're not related to dinosaurs but you look at this thing and the awe...

Look at him. He's a fucking dinosaur. The croc in the play/book/a film adaptation should, much like the ship, make you immediatley go "CROCODILE!" ...sleek, dangerous, fast, green, with fang like teeth. My brain always makes a crocodile green, and they're really not. None of them are. American alligators, the ones most prevalent in zoos when I was growing up in the US, are more often dark grey or even black looking in the water.

So that brings me back to this guy:

(that's a fish in its mouth, this individual is of a sane size)

The Nile crocodile. Confirmed man-eaters as well (I don't think I mentioned that, but salties are known man-eaters, there are some gnarly, tragic stories out there to complete with the grosses of shark attacks. Do not recommend research in this area), they're more known for this than their salty cousins. How much more well known?

Well. This guy is the responsible for more human deaths than we can even keep track of due to the remote locales they live. While I hate the idea of any wild animal being held up as villain, it's bonkers to me that we fear sharks as society rather than crocs since...Niles alone take down hundreds of people per year, instead of the 5-25 by all shark species combined.

True, they're freshwater beasties, but they can live in MILDLY brackish water. Its not something an animal can readily adapt to within its own life, but give a few generations to the ones that are currently invasive in Florida may eventually be able to cross to the Caribbean Islands.

They also have, and you can kind of see this in the skull structure, even weaker muscles for opening the jaws than salties.

You can put your hands around this thing's jaws (DO NOT. RECOMMEND.) and hold them shut.

More points in his box: Nile crocs had a uniquely nasty reputation in England following the Battle of the Nile in 1798, where crocs came rushing towards the violence and were picking off drowning and injured soldiers and eating bodies as they hit the water.

It was such a horrific sight that Nelson was presented with a gift sword that had one of the coolest design I've ever seen, though wildly impractical:

fabulous. look at that smile.

Anyway, the Nile Crocodile was the 'Jaws' of the mental menagerie of the Victorians. Barrie would have, when picturing a crocodile, very likely have been imagining one of these simply from how they became the stand-in for crocodilia in public consciousness.

Now it does lose some points not just for the saltwater issues, but because they only hit get around 15 ft, and Barrie's monster was big enough to eat a man whole even with some difficulty. In his notes for a silent film, he intended this be be shown on camera and it was frankly more traumatic than the 2003 film ending, of a mere snap of the jaws.

Side note: the 2003 crocodile is still under 30 ft, as is the 1953 one, it's just the skull/mouth proportions that make them seem MUCH bigger. Just like with sharks, the jaws of even a 20ft individual are going to be a LOT smaller than most people imagine.

The 2003 one works well enough, despite not seeing it very much (I have a WHOLE other essay on that--most of the set/props of the film we only get in small glimpses, giving it a dream/memory like quality where you fill in the blanks of a lot of what you think you're seeing. the croc included) but I kind of hate it's cartoony face:

Genuinely, what the fuck is this thing even supposed to be. I appreciate that it looks almost demonic, an exaggeration of a crocodile--just as the ship was an exaggeration of a pirate ship, everything on the 2003 Neverland was taken to story-book extremes, making it seem all the more like a dream/tied to the imaginations of the kids.

MEANWHILE...Their concept art was better; this thing at least looks more like a croc than...whatever that thing was.

And of course the 1953 one is goofy, the entire movie was...well. Cartoony. The SyFy crocodiles fail to really drive home the scariest part of them, that they're intelligent enough to stalk an individual to the death, same as the 2023 one did: despite the whole "no one is safe from this thing" element that should raise the stakes, its just...not the same. [Though I HAVE seen an adaptation where the crocodile was after everyone but Peter and his friends, since it was HIS PET...the whole adaptation kept trying to keep the show from being too scary but ended up being one of the most disturbing Peters I'd ever seen].

All in all, despite the fact that I firmly believe a monster-sized Nile was the original vision, I'd be going with a salty, but the first time we see it, it would be covered in a slick of algae or weeds, giving it the green look everyone always pictures/draws/designs:

this isn't Brutus, but the guy on the left has a damaged right paw too--it's actually a fairly common sight on larger crocs, to see missing paws/damaged limbs from their various encounters with other predators, trespassing crocs, or boats/traps.

I had also put some thought into the possibility of a Cuban crocodile, American crocodile, and the Orinoco crocodile--the last of which may have once had expanded territory into the Caribbean, and historically had sailors claiming to see 20ft ones, although they typically measure smaller (and lighter) than salties today, under 15 ft.

Still, all this is irrelevant because peak character design for Tick Tock has already been reached:

I still haven't seen the movie, and I don't give a damn that this stupid thing was designed to sell toys, I have one that lives on my work desk and my evidence for why he's the superior Tick Tock is simply that he is the Bestest Boy.

(concept art by Sona Sargsyan, I didn't see a credit anywhere for the concept art/promo image of the 2003 one)

Look at him. If this thing gave me those eyes and asked for a snack I'd start cutting off pieces of the captain myself. I mean not really, that's a bit bloody but you get the idea.

#peter pan #annie writes things #long post

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sigridstumb · 10 months

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Unmasking makes me an asshole, though.

The more I think about my autism, the more I think I don't have an actual personality.

Hear me out, this one is complicated.

And I am ABSOLUTELY NOT speaking for All Autistic People, so if this doesn't sound like your experience, cool! No worries! Have your own autism, I understand that it comes in a huge variety of flavors!

I learned as a very young child that what I said and did was Weird and Wrong. So as a very young child -- four or five years old -- I started copying people. I copied other kids, I copied adults, I copied characters in books most of all. This method was hideously flawed, and I was frequently called out for copying people. But sometimes it worked. Sometimes I had social interactions and people responded positively to me. Over time, over elementary school, I slowly learned ways of behaving that made me less visible. That made me blend in.

By the time I was fourteen, I wasn't getting beaten by other kids anymore! It was this miraculous thing, this ability to slide through social worlds and pass as almost like everyone else. I loved it.

In high school I began experimenting with it more. I could act differently around different people! I could talk one way to one friend, and they really liked what I said and they responded very positively, and I could speak in a different way to another person and they responded positively to that! It was only weird and strained if I was in a situation where BOTH of those people were present. Then they each thought I was a weird fake liar, because why did I act like THAT? What did I REALLY think and feel? When was I lying, and to whom?

Everyone. I was lying to everyone.

No-one. I was lying to no-one.

I had Goals. Social goals. 1) Not be hit, kicked, spat on, tripped, or shoved. 2) Not have adults angry with me. 3) Not have anyone know that I was an alien mutant waiting for my superpower to kick in. 4) Have sparkly interesting people like me and think I was funny and kind.

I watched people. I listened. I practiced facial expressions in the mirror. I read a LOT of comics, because in comics characters perform actions while thinking about their motivations, and I could see what facial expression and body language they used to convey or hide what they thought and felt. I played AD&D, and tried out different voices - vocal tones, accents, pitches, etc. I learned what the people I found interesting liked, wanted, thought, and felt. I gave them what they wanted, and in return they wanted me around.

This worked so well, most of the time, that I continued doing it until about two years ago. Three decades, more or less, I did this.

When was I lying? And to whom?

Constantly, to myself.

I do not know how to turn the people-suit off. Now that I understand and know what I am doing, I don't know how to stop. Or, rather, I can absolutely stop! And then my closest relationships get damaged. There's this whole "everyone should be able to unmask!" thing going on, and I get it, I truly do, but if I completely stop masking I AM A FUCKING ASSHOLE.

I don't want to be an asshole. I care about people, at least a handful of them. Maybe twenty, total. I don't want to hurt them. So I run scripts literally all the time, in every interaction, I run scripts between what I think and what I say because my first responses DO NOT SUPPORT MY LONG-TERM GOALS.

When someone I care about wants to tell me about something they are interested in, my first thought is almost always "why are you telling me this? I don't care about this." But I care about the PERSON, so I run one of the five or so "I am interested in this conversation" scripts. When someone I care about has something bad happen to them, my first thoughts are usually either to say something I think is funny about the bad situation or to say nothing because there is nothing I can do about the bad situation. But because I care about the PERSON, I run scripts of either sympathy or problem-solving, or both.

I don't think this is lying to people. My long-term social goals are to have these people in my life. There are tasks I must accomplish on a regular basis to maintain relationships. Tasks like maintaining facial expressions, correct vocal tones, and proper scripts.

But I think I am lying to myself, in some odd way. Or, rather, I don't know what I would want or how I would act in my life if I did not have relationships. I don't know what my personality would be were I not performing the Sigrid-people-suit in literally every interaction. I don't know, because every time I get close to not performing the people-suit, people I care about are hurt by my words and actions.

In the meantime, I think about it and I talk about it with my partner, and we have come up with ways to manage my unmasking a little bit. It's challenging, and hurtful to both of us sometimes. (I learned last week that apparently there is no neutral register of acknowledging other person's statement of fact, and that if I do not make my acknowledgment sound positive, it sounds negative and mean. I truly believe and intend a neutral "I heard your statement," but this is not an area in which unmasking works for my relationships.) But we are working through it together.

#actuallyautistic #autistic #alexithymia #mirroring

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