#also them having separate symptoms is just funny

[pixelatedraindrops]

RAINCODE 4KOMA COMIC PROJECT

This is another project that I'm currently working on with @kazinsblog! We adore makoyuma and they're our number one faves.

So we decided to make a little 4koma style side special of Kazin's mini series "The Kanai Ward Case Files"

This intro is the only normal comic in this story.

Prologue: Flu season hits worldwide, and Makoto calls Yuma one day and gives him the warning. Yuma notices his congested voice so he wants to head to to Kanai Ward to check on him. But meanwhile, Yuma is trying his best to hold his cough as he talks on the line. Only to suffer the fit after Makoto hangs up. He isn't well either.

When Yuma arrives in Kanai Tower finding Makoto completely disheveled and passed out at his work desk, he ushers the stuffy CEO to bed. The two were shown pushing themselves while being sick alone. But now that they're together, these stubborn workaholics will finally rest and break from their duties in order to take care of each other.

further information below

Of course since I'm involved in this project, they're obviously not going to be doing well... XD But this story is going to be a lot more fun and lighthearted than others I have written. (It's essentially written in a silly sick filler episode of a cartoon kind of vibe) meaning less whump, and more sick comfort and hilarity. There may be a few somewhat whumpy ones here and there (I can't resist) but it won't be as common.

Full Story Summary:

This RainCode fan side story revolves around slice of life comedy 4koma style strips with scenes of Yuma and Makoto being sick together and spending time with each other in Kanai Tower for about a week. They both have different halves of cold symptoms, Yuma with throat based, and Makoto with nasal based. (hence the title) Various cute and wacky stuff happen between the two and their bond grows stronger spending this sick week together away from their duties as detective and CEO. They may be sick and miserable, but at least they're in it together! What could possibly go wrong?

The comic strips will be drawn by Kazin, but there will be some bonus art that the two of us will work on together (similar to the title which was a collab by us both)

Also, both of us agreed that these strips should be posted on my blog rather than Kazin's. Reason being is that this story is based on illness and my blog is half an illness blog so it makes more sense to share it to mine. You all likely expect this sort of thing from me at this point anyway… XD (I’m also the director so I write the descriptions of them.)

And this series will continue to be ongoing so long as Kazin and I have ideas. (we currently have almost 100 strips planned)

I will update this in separate posts whenever more strips get fully digitally drawn by Kazin whenever she can work on them. With the tag #kanaiwardcasefiles h&h. Some strips will be random, some will be two parters, and some will have a timeline or are connected to others.

We both hope you look forward to this project! There will be a lot of funny and cute moments between these two, so we hope you makoyuma enjoyers are excited!

Also bit of a fun fact: This was inspired by when my mother and I had covid late April 2024. Something similar happened to us, and we each had one cold-like symptom more than the other. So I thought of this idea!

#whumpcode #rain code #master detective archives: rain code #rain code spoilers #master detective archives spoilers #yuma kokohead #makoto kagutsuchi #makoyuma #pixelprojects #art collab #comic collab #kanaiwardcasefiles h&h #sick comfort #illness whump #yeah another project is anybody shocked? xD #kazin and I have had this on the brain since late last month #the idea of one caring for the other is nice and all #but what if they BOTH went through it and had to care for eachother? #the perfect reason to take a break from their hard work :3c #ofc with their weak immune system they both get sick during flu season haha #also them having separate symptoms is just funny #both have the same disease but different symptoms #i like to think the penalty of having one half missing means the other gets AMPLIFIED 😈 #thats just a fun concept and it works for these two x3 #now this isn’t canon so don’t take it too seriously!! #its just for fun! we’re just playing around! x3c #its the exact opposite of AHR… x’D #but yeah it’ll get updated whenever more get done #theres no exact date so just be patient and expect the unexpected!! #making the title was so fun!! >w<

[dearestaussiechannie]

☀︎ Your Mom Showed Me Your Baby Pictures ☀︎— Lee Felix

word count: 2.4k

paring: Felix x afab!reader

genre: Fluff

warnings: afab!reader, boyfriend!Felix, pet names (sweetie, love, beautiful, sunshine), kissing (goes no further), engagement, proposing, mentions Hyunjin, if I left anything out please let me know, kinda proof-read

Felix had thought out absolutely everything that you guys would do for your vacation back to his parents house in Australia. He had the restaurants picked, theme parks, beach days, you name it and he’d planned it. Sadly things weren't going to his plan. Due to the sudden change of weather, you'd caught a cold.

It's been three days and your symptoms are barely easing up. Your fever had finally broken early this morning but you still had body aches and a sniffly nose. No matter how much you insisted that you could do everything he wanted, he refused to let you leave the house, which wasn’t a bad thing since this meant that you'd get to know his siblings and parents better. 

Everyone had been super understanding and helpful while you were sick, whether that was his mom making you something to eat that was light on your stomach, or Olivia coming to watch a movie with you (on separate sides of the room so she didn’t get sick), or Rachel bringing you a fresh blanket out of the laundry when Felix had told her you were shaking from your fever. 

They had all been so nice, even before you were sick and just got to talk to them over the phone. His mother and father would constantly ask about you if you weren't present for the calls, at least that's what he told you, sisters texting you constantly to just check in. The funniest conversations were with Olivia though. She would constantly send you funny memes of her older brother or the thirst traps that would pop up on her tik tok, messaging the same thing every time, “this is what you’re into *barf*”. 

Today was no different besides the fact that you'd pulled yourself out of Felixs’ room to sit in the living room when his mother saw you. Her smile warmed the room just like her sons would, making you smile back to her. “Hi sweetie, are you looking for Felix?” She asked you before walking over and rubbing your shoulders, placing her hand on your head to see if you still had a fever.

You now see where Felix gets his tenderness from, it was the woman standing in front of you. Going back to her question, you shake your head before wrapping the blanket tighter around you. “No Mrs. Lee, I just wanted some fresh air… the room was becoming suffocating.” you respond, watching her roll her eyes when you call her that as she's told you many times you just refer to her as mom at least a hundred times by now. “Gotcha, well he went out to lunch with his father and sisters, so it's just the two of us here right now. Are you hungry? I can make you something.” but before she finished speaking, you're being pulled to the table and she disappears into the kitchen.

You sit and listen to her little stories of when the Lee siblings were little, giggling when she makes sure to tell you the embarrassing things Felix did while he was still in school. Eventually food was done and she'd made enough for the both of you to have lunch together, saying it was nice was an understatement. The food was delicious and her company was amazing, always making sure that you were okay and didn't need more to drink, getting you the medication you needed for your cold, talking to you not only about her kids but also asking you about your childhood and your parents.

Once lunch was over, the two of you had moved back to the livingroom and continued the conversation on the couch. Suddenly she stands up and hurries out, only to return with large books and a bright smile. “Has Felix ever shown you any of his baby pictures?” She asks as she sits back beside you, quite close so that you could look through the books together. You simply shake your head with a large smile, excited for what would come next.

The two of you flip through the books, giggling at the silly photos, stopping when his mother would start telling the story behind certain ones. You couldn't hold in a particularly loud laugh when you see a photo of him from the early years of grade school, leaned up against what looks like a tree in a white button up with a blue grid pattern. “He looks like a little business man!” you say as you look over at his mother who's nodding her head laughing with you. “That's what happens when dad picks your clothes for picture day.”

You flip through more pages, taking a couple pictures of the ones you'd want to look back at. Some time goes by and you've finished looking through the photos, his mother puts the books away and not soon after, the rest of the family walks through the door. You smile when you see your sweet sunshine walk inside, making his way straight to you. You stand up and hug him tightly, his arms pulling you tightly to him by your lower back before pulling one away to feel your head. “No fever, Love?” he asks you, brushing the hair out of your face. “It broke this morning before I woke up, I've been spending time with your mom.” You respond, looking over at her before you see her put a finger over her lips, silently shushing you and you know why, his baby pictures.

A few days have passed since then and since you were finally feeling better, the two of you started doing all of the things that Felix had planned. You're out at dinner with your boyfriend and you couldn't have asked for anything more. The two of you ate and held small conversations, telling him about lunch with his mother the other day and him telling you about everything he did with his father and sisters while you were sick. Dinner was eventually over and the two of you were on your way back before Felix suddenly turned in the opposite direction of his house. 

You just look at him for a few minutes before curiosity gets the best of you. “Lixie, where are we going?” The question leaving your lips, making him glance over at you before slowly grabbing your hand in his free one, pulling it up and rubbing your knuckles against his lips. “You just looked so pretty in that dress, I wasn't ready to go home yet.” He answers, car turning again making your eyes fall away from him only to be met with the sight of water, the moon reflecting on it and waves gently splashing against the bay. Your cheeks flushed as he parked the car, getting out and walking to your side, opening the door for you and slowly taking off the white heels that matched your dress before helping you out of the car.

He carried you to the sand so that the road wouldn't hurt your feet. You insisted that if he had let you keep on your heels, you could have walked but he didn’t want them to be ruined by the sand. Once into the sand, Felix slowly puts you down, making sure both feet are on the ground before completely letting you go. He looks at you with a smile, glancing quickly down at your lips before putting his hands on your hips and pulling you close to him before gently placing his lips against yours. The kiss is very gentle, lips moving against the others with a slight rhythm, your arms draped over his shoulders as you play with his hair and his hands moving to your lower back, rubbing small circles.

Once you break away from the kiss, you lean your forehead against his before giggling and running towards the water. You're about to shin deep when Felix finally gets in since he had to take off his socks and shoes as well as roll up his pants quite a bit so that they didn't get too wet. He runs up to you causing the water to splash and you to squeal as the cold water suddenly hits the back of your thighs, his arms wrapping around you, kissing your shoulder gently. “Now we're both all wet, what about your car?” you ask him, raising an eyebrow when he starts giggling, smile shining so bright even in the dark.

“So… there's actually towels in the backseat. I knew that I would eventually take you to the beach so I put them in the car just before we found out you caught a cold.” He admits, moving a hand from your back to the back of his neck, rubbing it slowly. You can't help but laugh before cupping his cheeks to make him look at you then showering his face in soft but quick pecks. This makes him chuckle, putting his hands on yours before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone, putting on a soft playlist that Hyunjin had sent to him when he told him his plan. 

“May I have this dance, beautiful?” he asks, nerves building in his stomach with his hand outstretched to you. You nod, softly placing your hand into his. The two of you dance slowly, hearing him hum along before he slowly spins you making you laugh as the water splashes around you. You both somehow manage to make it back into the sand as the song changes, sand sticking to your feet but the two of you could care less. The only thing that mattered in this very moment was each other.

“I want you to spin three times for me this time with your eyes closed, okay?” He asks, words more like a demand than a question so you simply nod. He smiles sweetly before spinning you, making sure your eyes are closed on the first spin, he reaches into his pocket and drops down onto his knee. He watches the way that your dress spins with you, the way your hair flows in the wind so effortlessly and the beautiful smile on your face as you make that third spin. He knew now that he was making the right decision. His nerves climb into his throat when you've stopped spinning.

You open your eyes only to realize you're facing the wrong way which makes you laugh. “Lixie why didn't you tell me to turn arou-” You ask him, lips falling silent before you could finish your sentence when you see him. He's in front of you on one knee, smiling so bright you’d bet your last dime that it'd put the sun itself out of business. Your hands quickly cover your mouth as you step closer to him, each step shaky as if you're unsure that your legs can hold you up.

“L/n Y/n, you're the most amazing, beautiful, funniest, most caring person I've ever had the opportunity to meet. You always make me smile, help me through anything that I’m having trouble with and even though you get into my baked goods before I say anything about it amazes me. The way that you also take care of my friends makes me realize every single day what an amazing person you are. I’m in love with you and have been since that first date we went on. Will you make me the happiest man to walk the earth and spend the rest of my life with me? Will you marry me?” He asks a bit shaky in the beginning, finding more confidence in his words as he continues.

“Yes!! Oh my god Yes!!” you shout at him with excitement before you drop to your knees in front of him. He gently grabs your hand and slips the ring onto your finger. It was a perfect fit and he couldn't thank Olivia more for finding out your ring size for him a few months ago. You look at your hand in his and the beautiful ring on your finger as you feel your bottom lip begin quivering. You look up at him, noticing that his is the same, eyes watering as yours do the same. 

You quickly wrap your arms around him, hugging him tightly and kissing him a bit hard but neither of you care. Both of you stay like this for some time before slipping apart, staring at each other, laughing softly as he rubs the new ring on your hand. Eventually the both of you make your way back to the car, drying off after using a water bottle out of the car to get all the sand off. The ride home wasn't a long one but time has felt at stand still since you saw him on one knee. 

You both walk back inside and to his room, changing into more comfortable clothes and crawling into the bed. You put your phone on the charger and he finally sees your lock screen. “What was that?” He asks, a bit shocked when he sees the photo. How'd you get that? Isn't that his moms coffee table? “Hmm?” is all you say back to him, acting clueless as you try to finish getting ready for bed. “Y/n. How'd you get that photo?” He asks, knowing the answer but he wants you to confirm it. “Oh, you mean the little cutie on my lock screen? Your mom showed me your baby pictures the other day and I just couldn't help it. I wanted to be able to look at it again without having to bother her.” You answer him.

“This is what I get for telling her that I was gonna propose to you while we're here.” He rumbles as he rubs his temples. “Oh shush. You look like a cute little business man who is now all grown up and oh so very very handsome and engaged.” You say, pushing your hand in his direction which makes him smile. He gently grabs your hand and his phone in the other, taking a picture of your hand and sending it to his group chat. 

1 Attachment. “I did it you guys!! She's gonna be Mrs. Lee Y/n soon!!”

He then locks his phone, hearing the pings going off but his attention has shifted back to you, gazing lovingly at you as you brush your hair. 

“I’m in love with you, Beautiful.”

“And I’m in love with you, Sunshine.”

©️ dearestaussiechannie, all rights reserved.

Taglist: (to be added, comment or message me♡)

#dearestaussiechannie writes♡ #lee felix x you #lee felix x female reader #lee felix x y/n #lee felix x reader #felix x you #felix x y/n #felix x reader #skz x female reader #skz x you #skz x y/n #skz x reader #stray kids x y/n #stray kids x female reader #stray kids x you #stray kids x reader #lee felix imagines #lee felix fluff

[lani-heart]

|| series masterlist || next // previously ||

genre(s) -> angst, fluff, smut, non-idol, hybrid au, poly au paring(s) -> jung wooyoung x reader warning(s) -> smut, losing virginity, panty theft, mentions of pillow humping, hybrid anatomy ( knotting ), dry humping, etc words -> 1.7K

abstract -> Wooyoung is struggling with his preheat symptoms... while San can't help but expose just how much of a pervert the desperate fox is.

y/n's perspective

“I don’t understand why they keep going missing,” I said as San laughed. “It's not funny! Are you hiding them?” I asked and he smiled. “Nope… but I do know what’s happening to them,” he said and I sighed. 

“How long have you known?! What's even happening to them?!” I asked and he laughed. “Let's go, kitty, '' he said as he held my hand. He took me to Wooyoung’s room. They decided on separate rooms and each room even was too big for one person despite that they had privacy.

So what could Wooyoung be doing with my underwear? 

“Here we are,” he said with a smirk. “What could he even be doing with it?” I was confused and he chuckled. He was clearly having fun at my confusion. 

He opened the door and looked around before he pulled out… a lacy pair. “Why is it wet?” I asked and he smiled. “Well… he’s going into heat, and he clearly likes you” he implied, making my face go red. 

“When are you going to tell him you know?” he asked and I didn’t know how to approach it. 

“Why are you guys…” I heard Wooyoung at the door and now had his eyes on the underwear he stole. 

“Should I stay? Or give you two privacy?” San teased and I scoffed. He chuckled and left as Wooyoung stood in front of me waiting for me to speak. 

“So… you’re the panty thief” I said and his cheeks turned red. “I’m sorry! I know it's weird and disgusting but…” he was panicking and didn't know what to say. 

“You like me” I said “Yeah and it's so– Wait!” he said not realizing his confession, making me chuckle. “I knew for a while. Kun and San both told me on separate occasions” I said and he grumbled in embarrassment. 

“I was just waiting for you to tell me,” I said with a smile and he looked at me worried and teary-eyed. 

“Are you gonna reject me?” he asked and I smiled and shook my head. “I think… I liked the thought of having a boyfriend like you when I was younger you know” I was confused and he looked at me shocked. 

“You showed me so much worth when no one else did. Not to mention you took care of me through my worst” I said and he smiled softly. He hugged me tightly and kissed me on the forehead. 

“If you’d let me, I'd like to complete your younger’s self-image,” he said with begging eyes and I nodded. 

It was then he kissed me, shocking me but I didn’t pull away. He was desperate, curious, insatiable…

“San tells me you have fantasies?” I asked when I pulled and I noticed how he swallowed his own saliva while looking away, getting redder by the second. 

“Is that why you became a panty thief?” I asked and he growled. “I was desperate… my heat is coming soon” he whined and I chuckled. 

“What else have you stolen?” I asked and he whined as he pushed me softly onto his bed and got on top of me. He was red and whiny trying so hard not to look me in the eyes because of his embarrassment. 

“I wanted to feel close to you” he confessed and he started kissing my neck rather desperately. I couldn't contain the moans and whines from his playful nipping on my neck. 

“You want me to be honest?” he asked and I nodded. “I stole a lot of your panties and even buried myself in your dirty clothes. I’ve also fucked your pillow…” he muttered and I was shocked. 

“Your scent is just so intoxicating. I want more of it… jealous that Sannie gets to have you” he confessed and I didn’t know what to say. 

“Can I have you like he does?” he asked and all I could do was nod. 

 no one's perspective

Wooyoung desperately kissed your neck while his hands explored under your shirt. Moans only make him more desperate, his fantasies finally coming to life. 

The number of times he came against a pair of panties or even your sheets was embarrassing. He knew San knew of his perverted actions but he never thought he’d snitch. Then again he should be thanking him since now he had the opportunity to finally have y/n-nie. 

“Take it off, please” he muttered as he gripped your shirt tightly. Maybe even leaving holes in it with his nails. Taking off your shirt, Wooyoung followed and stripped off his clothes. 

At the sight of you in only your bra and panties almost made cum in his pants. He’s stolen the exact pair several times… he's even sure he’s covered each pair of panties and bras in cum at least once. 

“Wooyoung?” you said snapping him out of his perverted thoughts. Overwhelmed and not knowing where to start you grabbed his hands to put them on your chest. He let out a closed-mouth whine as he gently grabbed your chest through your bra. He pulled down to reveal your boobs to him for the first time… he started kissing, licking, nipping, making you moan out. 

As he focused his mouth on one he groped the other and he hated how badly he wanted to cum at just sucking your boobs. How much he imagined it… San even teases him that he has an oral fixation, maybe he’s right. 

He stopped momentarily while opening his eyes to see your red face. Even biting your lip to try to stop moaning. Wooyoung is now pressing his weight against you to kiss you messily. Saliva even dripped out of your mouth as he humped your pussy through his boxers and your panties. 

Everything too much that he did ends up cumming and the wet spot on his boxers now spreading on your panties… “Did you cum?” you asked out of breath and he tried to ride out his orgasm by humping you some more and hiding his face in the crook of your neck. 

“Wooyoung” you moaned out now feeling close to just him rubbing your clit through the layers of fabric. You even started chasing your own orgasm as you humped against his bulge, slowly getting him hard again. “Fuck… please can I make you my mate? I wanna be yours… please” he begged and you almost came to just his words. Nodding, let him sit up and take off his boxers as he didn't even have the patience to take off your panties instead he pulled them to the side to reveal just how wet you were. 

He experimented with softly touching your clit making you moan out at just how close you are to cumming but needed more. 

He crouched down to have a taste of the source he’s fantasized about. The panty stealing wasn’t anything close to eating you out. He didn't have to do much before you started moaning out louder with curses and his name leaving your mouth. That alone made him so close to cumming again…

He didn't want to overwhelm you but he couldn't stop. Your cum only gives him more to enthusiastically lick up while looking out at your face contorting with pleasure. The grip on his heart only makes him want to be in between your thighs forever. 

“Wooyoung, please” you started begging, making him stop. He chuckled… “Maybe I got carried away,” he said as he sat up. He allied himself against your pussy. He pressed himself against your clit to get some friction only making him moan out alongside you. 

He was more vocal than San was… but San liked to talk you through it. Wooyoung was desperate for anything he could get, satisfied with anything.

A pervert who had a crush on you for years now, finally getting his wish come true. 

“Can I?” he asked as he wanted to be inside you so badly and you nod just as desperate for him to fuck you. Both of you are chasing your second orgasm.

When he entered you gasped and moaned, but Wooyoung was louder. He didn't expect you to be so tight… he didn't expect this to feel so good. He didn’t even have to think before he started thrusting into your pussy sloppily. Nothing about this was organized, everything was desperate. 

He started groping your boobs again as he kissed your lips making a mess. Everything he imagined, dreamed of, and fantasized about would never compare to the real thing. 

Both of you were so loud as you were so close. “You’ll be my mate, right? Mine… and- and I'll be yours right?’ he asked and you nodded. “Please!” you begged as you could feel so close. 

It was when you felt a stretch and he slumped over that you came for a second time. You moaned now at the stretch giving you a slight pain but only added to your orgasm. 

“I’m sorry…” he muttered and you were confused. He panted as he put his forehead against yours “I should've warned you that I would knot you” he said and you clenched around him at the new information making him moan. 

“Its okay– fuck is that your cum?!” you moaned out as he chuckled. He moaned softly as he looked at your face. You had messy hair, drool coming out of your mouth, and a dazed look in your eyes. 

“We’ll be stuck like this for a while,” he said in almost a whisper as he pressed his weight against you, clearly tired. 

“That means we were mated then,” you said and he smiled while opening his eyes you could even feel his cock move while his tail wagged. “You’re a dream come true” he muttered before he dozed off. 

He was out of it, really tired after losing his virginity and fucking you giving the both of you two powerful orgasms. 

“Can we do this again, when I wake up” he muttered half-asleep already. 

@wonuangel @danirael @angelsaway @krissroo @minkysmilk @mayonnaise-on-toast @robertsbbygirl @superbbananananana @hyukssunflower @kitty4hwa @justconniez @senpai-of-doom @kibs-and-bits @caityelise99 @ilovekinny @ateezennie23 @wooahaelemons @purplelady85 @watamotee33@chidess97 @littlelostdemonofthelight @maliamaiden @burntarm1n @spooo00oky @eastleighsblog @momo-peachy @kitstar1117 @quartzpirate @sunnyhokyu @iwishiwasrichasfuck @theginger543210 @pandolinka @ddaeing @kpopnightingale @slid3er @kekdo-520 @puppyminnnie @sparklinghwa222 @calicanbeevil @itsvxlentine @atinism @loumin908 @smally97 @rxnexxi @acetruepunk @majesticbeluga @namjooncrabs @tashizxy @itstheghostofmypast @smilefordongil @teeziny @totallynotlyntv @kyeos4ng @prodsh00ky @acescavern

please don't be a silent reader !! reblog, comment, and like <3

#ateez #ateez x female reader #ateez circus #ateez x reader #ateez seonghwa #seonghwa x reader #ateez hongjoong #hongjoong x reader #ateez yunho #yunho x reader #ateez yeosang #yeosang x reader #ateez san #san x reader #ateez wooyoung #wooyoung x reader #ateez mingi #mingi x reader #ateez jongho #jongho x reader #ateez smut #ateez wooyoung smut #wooyoung smut #jung wooyoung smut

[7ndipity]

Them With An Autistic S/o

Ot7 x Reader

Summary: How the members would handle/react to their S/o being on the spectrum.

Warnings: Mentions of sensory issues, feeling over/under stimulated, depression, meltdowns, stimming.

A/N: Thanks to the lovely anon who requested this! This is a list I’ve actually wanted to write for a while, but I’d been slightly nervous/unsure about it. But as someone who’s also on the spectrum, I know how much comfort similar posts from other blogs have brought me! I also tried to keep this one a bit lighter, since someone asked for a separate list about meltdowns/shutdowns, but if there’s any specific reactions/hcs like this that you guys want, let me know! (Please note that these are based off my own knowledge/experience, so I’m sorry if they don’t fit for everyone)

Masterlist

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Jin:

I feel like he’d be slightly confused and worried at first because he’s not sure what to do/how to help you, but once you explain a bit more, he gets a lot more comfortable, and really is such a good caregiver when he needs to be.

Catches onto your different stims pretty quickly and what each one means.

Like, y’all have whole conversations solely through funny little hums and stim noises.

Really good at reading and matching your mood/energy. You wanna talk about the Mayans nonstop for two hours? Cool! You want to just sit silently and do nothing? Also cool!

He’s really good at normalizing your symptoms and making them seem like nbd(because to him, they aren’t) Food sensitivities? He’s got them too! You hate loud noises and crowds? Same Honey, let’s get the fuck outta here! He knows they’re not quite the same thing, of course, but if it makes you feel more comfortable and safe being your true, unmasked self with him, then that’s all that matters to him.

Really good at calming you down when you feel overwhelmed or on the verge of meltdown.

Does his absolute best to bring your mood up whenever you’re struggling or feeling really down, pulling out his best dad jokes(even if they don’t make sense to you), bringing your favorite snacks, etc.

Yoongi:

I think he would handle it really well. Does his research after you tell him, and asks you about it casually during dates/hangouts.

So fucking respectful of your boundries. If you prefer to have your own space, he’s totally fine letting you do your own thing. If you need more closeness and cuddles, he’s all over that too, letting you sit right next to him while he works.

Not only lets you rant about your special interests, but makes the effort to take interest in them and asks questions. Randomly buys you little things related to them.

He’s so calming and soothing when you’re feeling stressed or overstimulated, understanding whenever you randomly need rest or quiet time(stress nap buddies)

Keeps things like extra sunglasses and headphones in his bag for you, just in case you forget yours.

Would have a lot of fun if you have audio stims, letting you listen to his new songs because your reactions and enthusiasm are so cute to him. Makes you panning audios as gifts.

Always there to look out for you whenever executive dysfunction decides to kick your ass. Washes the dishes, doing the laundry, restocking your safe foods, etc. He would also be really good at body doubling.

Hobi:

I honestly think he would be really good with an S/O on the spectrum. Like, he literally designed Mang, who is soo ND coded like omg😭, so I think he would be able to understand you really well.

(if you haven’t seen the videos of him talking about Mang’s personality and character traits during the re-design process last year, pls go watch them, I almost cried)

Loves buying you new fidgets and stim toys whenever he finds new ones to try(he even has a collection of chewlery that he wears bc he thinks they’re neat).

Is really good reading you and distracting you when you start to get overstimulated or anxious, sometimes noticing before you do.

Lowkey protective over you in spaces and situations he knows are stressful for you, positioning himself next to you whenever he spots things he knows bother you.

You know how Yoongi described him as a vitamin? That’s how it is for you now too.💛

He’s so stimmy himself, so he would find a lot of your stims really relatable and endearing. Like, if you start happy stimming, he can’t help but join right in, bouncing or squealing with you. It makes him so happy that you feel comfortable enough with him to share those parts of yourself with him.

Namjoon:

Instantly super supportive when you told him, making an effort to research on his own, as well as listening to your personal experiences to understand as much as possible.

Happily sits and lets you info-dump about your special interests. He honestly loves seeing you so passionate and animated about whatever you’re talking about and loves getting a glimpse into how your mind works(it was probably during one of these moments that he realized he was in love with you)

Surprisingly good pebbler, he’s always finding cool rocks or shells for your collections.

Doesn’t mind speaking for you on days when you’re nonverbal.

The sweetest when you’re feeling overstimulated. He closes all the curtains to make it dark and cozy and sits with you, talking as softly as needed or not talking at all, tapping your hand gently now and then to let you know he’s still there.

Soo protective over you, almost to a fault at times. Like, you might have to scold him once or twice about babying you, but he really doesn’t mean to, he just wants to make sure you’re safe and happy.

The world feels a lot less scary tho with him next you. You know if you need anything, he’s got your back.

Jimin:

The softest boi🥺 He was honestly a little scared when you first told him, because he didn’t want to do anything wrong and was worried he wouldn’t be ‘good’ at looking after you, but he quickly relaxed and grew more confident as he learned more from you.

The best comforter when you’re feeling overwhelmed or depressed, full of quiet reassurances and long hugs(if you’re okay with those). He’ll gladly cuddle with you under your weighted blanket for however long you need to feel better.

Literally set up a little “nest” for you at his place with a like beanbag chair and your favorite types of blankets/pillows, so you have your own place to just ‘be’ and recoup when you need it.

Carries fidget toys and sensory aids like sunglasses and headphones with him at all times, just in case you need them.

Really good at communicating with you on days when you’re nonverbal, whether through texts or little notes(which he always adds little doodles on to make your smile😊)

Makes sure you never feel guilty or like a burden to him for letting him in on those tougher days. If anything, they make him love you even more because of the trust you have in him.

It really makes him feel so proud and happy inside that you find so much comfort in his presence and that he gets to take care of you.💜

Taehyung:

Another that I think would be particularly good with a neurodivergent S/O. Like, everyone jokes about how he’s weird, so I think he’d love that you’re both your kind of own unique kinds of ‘weird’.

Happily rewatches your favorite comfort shows/films with you, and speaks in fluent film quotes with you.

Loves when you fidget and stim with his hands or fingers.

If you like pressure stims, he’s a dream come true. Like, the man’s a living weighted blanket, so when you basically give him a doctor's note for cuddles? He’s never gonna let you go.

As relaxed as he might come across sometimes tho, he’s super observant of your stims and triggers and takes it so seriously whenever you start feeling overwhelmed or stressed.

It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, if you need a break, he’s getting you to a quiet place where you can sit and just recalibrate.

Rivals Jin and Yoongi for top spot in the acts of service department on your bad days, making sure you eat properly, doing any household chores that need done. He even learned how to wash your weighted blanket so you don’t have to.

Jungkook:

Was definitely a little lost and overwhelmed when you first explained everything to him, but he really takes it in stride and tries to learn as much as possible to help make things easier for you where he can.

The King of comfort squeezes. Like you’ve seen his arms, he gives the best hugs, I just know it(especially on those “the weighted blanket isn't enough, I need a hydraulic press” days)

Loves learning about your special interests. Like, It’s no longer just your special interest, it’s our special interest. He’s even studying and finding things for it on his own to surprise you with.

Honestly plays with some of your fidget toys more than you do, lol! You might even end up giving him a few of his favorites😊

Gets super happy and smiley whenever you get echolalia of his songs.

Another member of the protective squad, ain’t no bad stimuli getting to his baby if he can help it!

The gentlest with you when you're overstimulated or having a tough day. Anything you need, he’ll do without question. All he cares about is making sure that you feel safe and comfortable🥺

Taglist: @sopebubbles-replies @btsw1fe @this-must-be-my-tardis @whitefoxgirl @bethanysnow @coffeedepressionsoup @main-bangtansmauyeondan @feminympho @a-gayish-unicorn @dfqcsqueen @mother2monsters @captainorangegoose @k4ngelz

#bts headcanons #bts reaction #bts reactions #bts requests #bts scenarios #bts x y/n #bts x reader #seokjin headcanons #seokjin x reader #yoongi headcanons #yoongi x reader #hoseok headcanons #hoseok x reader #namjoon headcanons #namjoon x reader #jimin headcanons #jimin x reader #taehyung headcanons #taehyung x reader #jungkook headcanons #jungkook x reader #7ndipity #bts fluff

[turtleblogatlast]

okay so just so you know, im literally in love with your prison!leo au, yesterday i spent like over an hour scrolling through the tag and i think i read every post at least twice (more for the comics). its combining ‘prison dimension has permanent effect on leo, and not just mentally’, ‘immortality angst’, ‘object or place having a form of sentience’, AND ‘leo is somehow made significantly younger than his brothers which very much changes their dynamic without him wanting it to’ all into one which is just amazing.

i love how you combined comedy and tragedy very well!! like, for example the idea of leo being mistaken for the youngest brother, than a son, then a GRANDSON, is kinda funny for a second, but when you think about it for more than a couple seconds its also. really tragic. this poor kid may never be able to fully grow up - not only is he likely going to outlive his whole family but hes also permanently in the body of a child, lacking a fully developed brain and maybe never having the full maturity of an adult (at least in path b, until hes able to find a ‘cure’, if ever). its just. so good!!

anyways aldjsldkksld enough of the gushing (i mean i could keep doing it for like two thousand more words, but if i did it would probably devolve into keysmashes at some point from the Grip this au has on my brain). i am curious, what would happen if leo got sick? i know you mentioned that things like a common cold wouldnt really affect him that much, but what about one of those sickness is that leaves you pretty delirious/feverish and can take you out in a matter of a week? (could be a type of mystic sickness or curse as well, where you don’t know if the victim will survive or not and the only option is to wait it out.) what would happen? would they sort of just decide that its better to find a way to temporarily kill him so his body could regenerate as new, or would they try to take care of him and see if they could wait it out, since i imagine it would be the only time he’d really let his family take care of him in that way. thats all assuming his body wouldnt just automatically find a way to heal the separate curse and he’d be well again within an hour (still not fully sure as to how his healing works, sorry!)

anyways, love this au and im going to be obsessed with it for the next Month thanks

[ cw: discussion of murder / discussion of mercy kill / risky behavior implied / ]

Omg I’m

So touched???

Thank you for enjoying my AU so much, it really makes me happy to hear this :’) This whole AU was thought up exactly because of my interest in the concepts you mentioned - particularly the one regarding the Prison Dimension having a permanent and visible effect on Leo.

I know I haven’t updated it in a while, but I am still working on it and have even finished drafting the next comic, I can’t say when I’ll finish it but this ask definitely pushed me to work on it more so thank you so much <3

As for your question- it depends! In most regular illnesses, Leo would get over them very quickly, only experiencing the briefest brush with the symptoms before his body throws it away, if that. If the illness is mystic in nature then things get a little more complicated, as you’re right in that it could potentially end up as an endless loop of the first part of whatever weird sickness he gets. So if the illness is something that instantly affects you in the worst ways, and it’s something you just need to ride out until it leaves…that can potentially be harmful. Of course, it needs to be a powerful illness to bypass the prison’s curse to that extent though. …then again, maybe something would prefer that for him, should it appear beneficial :)

As for whether the fam would decide to just…’reset’ Leo to get rid of the illness…that’s a tough one. It really depends on how long Leo’s been back, and even then, it’s not something they’d just do, it’s hard for them to even imagine really. More likely, a sickly Leo would merely try to find a cure himself in his delirium, and end up ‘reset’ along the way.

I hope my wishy washy answer was enough! And really, thank you so much again for the kind words, they mean a lot :’)

#p!l au ask #prison!leo au #murder implication #mercy kill implication / #risky behavior implied / #I swear I’m working on an update! #path A has turned out to be very hard to come up with a solid introductory comic for but I believe I finally got it 👌 #anyway- ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #I still love my boy and his undead self to death #even if path b kinda makes him very sans Undertale esque at times lolol I swear it wasn’t on purpose

[jlhynde-insanitybrilliance]

UDLTTOM Worldbuilding rambles: UNFORGIVABLE CURSES—Why are the so unforgivable?

This is a thought that’s been bouncing around in my head for awhile. (It’s going to be a little rambling.) You know that saying that a person dies twice, first when they die, and second when the last time someone says their name. Well, this thought is sort of a mix of that and some sort of personal philosophical views on death that I have. I’ve reasoned to myself that there are 3 different sides to death, not just two. Essentially, when I think of death, I separate it into the following 3 parts:

Death of the Body: The most visceral and visible of the three, it’s the physical process of the body wearing out and shutting down. It’s a disconnecting from one’s own flesh, an inability to do what you once could, aches and pains, paralysis, etc.

Death of the Mind: Not as noticeable as the body shutting down, but the mind also shuts downs during death slurred speech, loss of awareness/memories, in ability to distinguish reality from disillusions, etc.

Death of the Soul/Spirit/Will-to-Live: Most common example of this I can think of is chronic depression or someone suffering through extreme, physical, emotional, or psychological trauma. Essentially it’s someone who’s given up on life spiritually, but might still mentally and physically still be able to function.

Over the last year, I’ve been thinking a lot about these 3 facets of death. I’ve watched my mother go through them as she battles terminal cancer. And I guess maybe I had a sort of epiphany when I started thinking about this in relation to the Unforgivables in HP.

Why are they so unforgivable?

At the surface level they seem like kind of basic spells, right? The killing curse kills, the torture curse causes pain, the mind control curse controls peoples’ minds, yada… And I think most people agree that killing, torturing, and controlling people is morally reprehensible and just on that context alone we as the reader can understand why they are illegal. But then you see other spells or potions that kill, and torture, and control people and you wonder why these sort of spells aren’t treated with the same severity as the Unforgivables.

So why? I asked myself: What makes the Unforgivables so Unforgivable? And then I thought about Neville’s parents and the after effects of the Cruciatus and how they had to be held in St. Mungos for the rest of their lives. On the surface my first assumption was that they were obviously driven to madness from the hours of torture, and suffering from severe PTSD, paranoia, etc. But what if the cruciatus has physical symptoms? What if the reason Neville’s parents had to be kept in a wizard equivalent to a psychiatric ward was not only because the trauma but because the spell altered something fundamentally about their bodies in relation to pain?

Which brings me to my first theory. That the cruciatus curse’s intention is not to cause pain. I propose that, in fact, it does the exact opposite under long durations. Cause think about it, the body can only handle so much pain before a person goes into shock or passes out, right? And a person’s tolerance to pain can also increase with repeated exposure to it. So following that logic, I think the cruciatus curse would only hurt for like a few minutes at most before the body would go into shock. And once the body is in shock I think something funny would happen with the pain and pleasure centers in the brain (I’m no neurologist btw, but what little I know of this sounds plausible to me) that the wires could get crossed and the body would start associating pain for pleasure. And afterwards I feel like when your nerves get fried in a fire and it creates a numbness in the body, a detachment from one’s own flesh that can only be relieved by experiencing intense pain. Except the person doesn’t actually associate the pain as being painful, but with pleasure and so they develop a compulsion for self-harm and self-mutilation. Which adds such a horrific context on to this curse. Because this compulsion is incurable. The brain has been irreversible rewired to associate pain in this way, so either you go through life being physically numb unable to feel your own body or chasing some kind of feeling through torturing yourself.

And jumping off of this thought, I then considered if the cruciatus disconnects you from your body, the Imperius curse has to disconnect you from your mind, right? I think you have some sort of awareness when you’re under the imperius to be able to resist it. But again maybe that’s only for the particularly resilient wizards? It makes sense to me that for most it would be like a total blackout, dissociative state. So prolonged exposure I think would not only effect short and long term memory, but also a persons ability to be fully present in their day to day life. I think of the after effects being similar to a dissociative disorder where the person is constantly being disconnected from their own conscious reality.

And finally there’s the Killing curse, which rips the soul from the body causing the person to just drop dead. And obviously because the person dies there’s no real after effect, right? But then I remember that scene with Slughorn and TMR discussing horcruxes:

TMR: And how does one split his soul, sir?

Slughorn: I think you already know the answer to that, Tom.

TMR: Murder.

Slughorn: Yes. Killing rips the soul apart. It’s a violation against nature.

Which my first thought seeing this scene is that if Slughorn thinks killing is a violation against nature, he’s clearly never watched a nature documentary. I mean if Casual Geographic has taught me anything is that the animal kingdom is naturally violent and the kind of shit animals get up to in their spare time is what would put any human in prison on a life sentence, but I digress. So I had to think about this from a different perspective. So then I think about what the purpose of Horcruxes is, to split the soul and place it into object and tether yourself to the physical world. And what curse do we know that severs the soul?

The killing curse. Slughorn says killing rips the soul. But I think Tom misinterprets this to mean murder, when the professors is in fact talking about the killing curse itself. And what we know from the Unforgivables is that you have to mean them to successfully cast them. So following that line of thought, in relation to LV’s horcruxes, Tom would’ve had to cast the killing curse on himself repeatedly. Which means that Tom Riddle had to have an incredible sense of self-loathing, and there had to be something—a personality trait or the like—that he despised so much that he wanted to kill it and cleave it from himself forever. Which in that context, suddenly Slughorn’s words make a bit more sense because suicide is going against that inate survival instinct that all animals have. And for Tom in particular, it squaring up and facing the one thing he is most afraid of (which might explain why it took him so long to make the first horcrux to begin with.)

And the degradation of Tom Riddle into Lord Voldemort as he makes more and more horcruxes is the effect of the killing curse & why it is so unforgivable.

I have so many thoughts on this topic of horcruxes & Tom’s deeply ingrained feelings of self-loathing, but I’ll probably save those for another post.

#udlttom #udlttom worldbuilding rambles #tom riddle #lord voldemort #unforgivable curses #horcrux #tomarry #harry potter #tomarrymort #hp fandom #harry potter meta #headcanon

[lilysaus]

okay. this fucking picture made me so mad i went on a 15 minute rant to my sister while she was trying to read her book.

so ive been looking at a lot of pictures of posts on pinterest because thats just where i spend most of my time. most of these posts are on the topic of adhd. ive never been properly diagnosed, but reading through these posts has made me feel so welcomed and understood (more than my parents have made me feel, pretending that this is "all just a phase that ill get over soon because pretending to have adhd is just the thing right now") that i realized ON MY OWN that "hey maybe i do have adhd." well.

i found this post while scrolling through pinterest, and it really sparked my anger.

i have a friend who was diagnosed with add before it was considered an "outdated" term and scrapped because apparently ALL FUCKING FORMS OF NEURODIVERGENCY THAT ARENT AUTISM ARE JUST "ADHD".

i read this post and it was what sparked my anger and my 15 minute rant to my sister. people who get degrees in this stuff, or counselors at schools, never really know what youre going through. all they know is that youre having some problems and they need to be solved.

which brings me back to this picture. if you look up "is add still a thing" on google, this is the first picture to pop up. and just seeing the visual aids they put with it makes me furious enough to throw something or someone out a fifth story window. the little girl is fucking SMILING while thinking about the most common shit people think us neurodivergent folks think when distracted. first off, no. false. we dont just think of video games and candy. we think of the randomest shit possible, like how long can i sit here without blinking or what kind of funny shit can i draw on this one sheet of paper.

and ALSO.

you cant just categorize adhd as TWO SEPARATE THINGS and call it good. we dont fit under two umbrellas. theres too many of us. we each have our own figurative umbrellas that only we ourselves can fit under, no one else. thats the problem with neurotypicals. they fit the typical stereotype for humans: we try to understand everything by putting it in a box. those lists of "symptoms"? i match every single one. on both sides. so ha. take that SCIENTISTS. what am i? some kind of freak of nature because i dont fit under just ONE of your precious categories?

i also looked up what "inattentive" means and it made me angrier. according to oxford languages, "inattentive" means "not paying attention to something", which doesnt seem too bad, right? it fits some people perfectly with their symptoms, right? but its not the definition that bugs me. its the example sentence thats used. "a particularly dull and inattentive student". basically saying that if you dont pay attention well to something, youre dull and boring.

im sorry, what? sometimes i have trouble paying attention, sure, but you ask any of my friends and they can agree i am NOT boring in any way, shape, or form. non of them would describe me as "dull". inattentive? sure, but not dull. so to call it "inattentive" adhd, instead of just add, is stupid! my friend with ADD (not fucking adhd, stupid scientists) is one of the funniest, most entertaining people ive ever met. shes an incredible artist, super smart, and knows how to make anyone laugh. does that sound dull to you? does she have problems focusing sometimes? yes. does she struggle with doing something sometimes? yes. but dont the rest of us?

my point is, when i see things like this, it pisses me off. like, unless all of the scientists who agreed "add" is an outdated term have it themselves, i refuse to believe its outdated and i will continue to say that my friend has it. she was literally diagnosed by the doctor telling her "you have attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder without the hyperactivity." THATS JUST FUCKING ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER YOU DUMBASS!!!

anyway, i hope im not the only one who feels this way. i just felt it necessary to get this out there. maybe someday, people wont be so dumb and single minded. in my opinion, neurodivergent people are superior in intellect and creativity, but i guess until someone like that takes over the world and dropkicks neurotypicals into the stratosphere, we'll never know.

#adhd stuff #undiagnosed adhd #living with adhd #neurodivergence #neurodivergent #add #its called add not adhd #you dumbasses #scientists are stupid sometimes #make that all the time

[rainbow--skies]

I don't talk about my food allergies much on here because them being the One Thing half my classmates knew about me growing up and the excessive paranoia my parents shoved on me about them genuinely makes me hate doing so, and I also don't really PERSONALLY consider my allergies a disability (but I have no problem with other people doing so).

However I have noticed that whenever they get included in disability posts on here, it's always by people without food allergies who have barely any idea what the fuck they're talking about. So many people (including people with allergies!) are SO uninformed about how they work and it's worrying so here's some stuff I wish more people knew:

An Epi-Pen does not cure you it helps with some of the symptoms so you can get to the fucking hospital. You still need to go to the fucking hospital.

Food allergies CAN kill you- many people's are not that severe but they CAN kill you. Take them seriously please

Your little "haha people with food allergies are the weakest link" jokes are harmful and offensive and part of why so many people don't take allergies seriously. Stop it. You're not funny. Find a better joke. So many mainstream TV shows even do this it's disheartening

Many people with food allergies also have eczema (I used to when I was younger) or asthma (I don't but I know people who have both), the comorbidities are very common, but not universal

Airborne allergies are not very common at all and usually do not cause severe reactions and it's weird to me that people act like this is common (it kind of feels like excuse to isolate people with food allergies when food is being served sometimes) but if someone has said they do not want to be near their allergen at all you should respect this you do not know what someone's symptoms are

Cross contamination is also something not everyone suffers from (some people have low level allergies) but many of us do (including me) and you should not get offended if someone doesn't accept food they can't see ingredients/health info for or homemade food for that reason

You can be allergic to any food to any degree- people seem to have this weird misconception that it's just peanuts, nuts, dairy, eggs, and other more publicized foods but that's not true at all

If it's possible, ask people what they would prefer as an accommodation when food is being served PLEASE. Some of us would rather eat before, some would rather bring food, some would rather alternative options be offered or restaurants they can eat at be chosen. Some are fine sitting near people eating stuff we can't, some would rather sit in a separate space, and some would rather if the food was just not eaten when they are present at all. Myself and many others that I know actually would rather sit next to someone eating something we can't because it doesn't actually affect us to be near them if we're careful enough not to touch it than to sit at separate "allergen free" tables and such because it's a socially isolating experience, but there are people who would feel more comfortable eating away from others and this is okay too.

Many of us are only allergic to one or two things, some are allergic to a ton

There are less common types of allergies that don't follow the typical pattern of food allergies- as an example I have some allergies that come from oral allergy syndrome, which basically means that my seasonal allergies to certain types of pollen makes me slightly allergic to some fruits and vegetables too

Food allergies can sometimes randomly develop in teenagers and adults, they are not always there from birth or early childhood like many people think (though it's incredibly common for them to start that early). There is not a guarantee you will never get one but your chances are higher if your family has a history of them. Sometimes they can go away or decrease in severity over time too, though, but that does NOT happen to everybody

Lactose intolerance and Celiac Disease are not food allergies! They are separate conditions with separate symptoms and needs! Please educate yourselves about those too and not assume they are synonymous with food allergies

#rainbow's mind 24/7 #important #allergies #food allergies #reblogs okay and actually appreciated btw

[xxlovelynovaxx]

Me, a physically disabled (high support needs) neurodivergent (mid to high support needs) person: Hey, my neurodivergence IS extremely disabling in a way that a lot of you say "isn't possible" and also my physical and neurological disabilities often combine in ways that can't be separated and produce symptoms that are new or of added severity for me.

Responses I've gotten from disabled exclusionists (some of whom are also both physically disabled and neurodivergent):

"What drugs are you on, you delusional freak?"

"I've never experienced this and therefore you're a dirty lying physically abled neurodivergent person who just wants to be more disabled and oppressed than you are. My experiences are universal and anyone who has different experiences is a lying liar. No one can ever prove otherwise because my axiom is that anyone who claims otherwise is lying."

"The ableds are at it again."

"Sit down and let the REAL disabled people talk."

"You're never allowed to find similarities between disabilities that are of different types, even ones you have, and if you do you're actually the reason why accessibility is such an issue because conflating them is why ableist doctors don't give us what we need and why society thinks medical gatekeeping is good, actually."

"If you're that suicidal do us all a favor and kill yourself."

This is without even getting into stuff about how disabled labels often apply differently to systems. The big discourse now is "nonverbal" labels for headmates who are permanently, always nonverbal, primarily by people and systems who refuse to view systems as anything but "parts" of a single person. Which is funny to me because ah yes, we have actual studies showing physical disabilities such as allergies can apply only to individual headmates, but gods forbid you apply a neurological label to someone whose brain activity is not only visibly different on scans from yours, but to the extent that it changes your entire shared physical body!

Like here's a novel idea: maybe we could just stop policing how other disabled people talk about their disabilities forever! Maybe we could blame any and all harm done even from the unicorn-rarity "actual fakers/liars" (also don't think I don't see you being ableist against people with actual diagnosed that cause compulsive lying) on the ableists DOING the harm because it's actually perfectly possible for them not to cherrypick our words and listen to the MAJORITY of us!

Maybe, just maybe, we could form a coalition, focus on the REAL enemy (ableist medical professionals and lawmakers) and push for actual change for ALL of us!

#also. I have been called ableist for reclaiming the r slur in a 'so what if I AM unintelligent or otherwise socially/emotionally incapable #specifically BECAUSE it was used against me for YEARS to the point of severe trauma #specifically FOR being a socially inept 'gifted kid' #and yet I've been told telling the truth about my own experiences is 'speaking over people with intellectualdisabilities' #and that I didn't actually experience that and they were actually not insulting me becaude they were only insulting intelligence #and it's like 'a bullet with your name on it aimed at me that hits me isn't making YOU bleed' #the target of a bigoted attack is the person that gets hit by it regardless of if the bigot is wrong about their identity #because get this bigots don't actually stop and apologize if they find out they're 'wrong' about you #because the reason they're attacking you is to enforce normalcy on you and they've sensed you are abnormal #it's like hey maybe actually slur reclamation discourse is bullshit and the basis for reclamation should be 'have you been called this' #and 'listen to people with different disabilities' should never mean 'other people know your own experiences better than you' #because that's precisely the problem causing so much ableism towards neurodivergent people from physically disabled people! #'I'm more disabled and oppressed than you on the disabled hierarchy' #'and therefore I get to define your own experiences and the meaning behind them' #No! That's a fucking problem! And super ableist no matter WHAT your disabilities #'listen to other disabled people' goes both ways #you might actually have to examine your own biases and readjust your viewpoint #because newsflash the ableism you think is unique to YOUR disability? ISN'T. #boo fucking hoo you have to acknowledge other people have been hurt by the same things you have #hyper individualism is a plague. you are not special. we're all fucked under abled hegemony #and yes abled people listen to some of us more - lower support needs and intellectually nondisabled people most #but you cannot just assume based on ONE label or lack of that someone is in the 'listened to' category #ableds don't listen to me regardless of eloquence or w/e because I'm massively crippled and mad and have cognitive disabilities #like if you think I have privilege over you bc I'm 'smart' or w/e. abled people take one look at me being a crippled schizo #and write me off as completely crazy! NO ONE listens to mad people. we are in THE SAME BOAT #anyway this rant is not even at anyone or any particular group because I've noticed it coming from EVERYWHERE in the community #these are just some examples #discourse #tw suibaiting mention #tw delusional as insult mention

[actual-changeling]

hi, in you post the other day you said that some authors `wrongly portray PTSD` ? can you axplain what you mean by that?

Hi anon!

I assume you are referring to this post, though I have made a couple at this point.

When it comes down to it, I mostly mean two things with that: ignoring their PTSD and trauma entirely and the portrayal being medically/factually incorrect.

I wish I could say that you can completely ignore the shit that happened to them and still write the characters as they, but in my opinion they are way to intertwined, you cannot separate Joel from his trauma because his trauma MADE him Joel, same with Ellie. Unless it is an AU and/or purposefully written out of character, you have to acknowledge their PTSD in some way. And mind you, even in most AUs people still include Sarah's death and Ellie's traumatic experiences because they are defining to their characters.

Still, my issue isn't even with people completely ignoring it (honestly if you wanna do that please do! let them be carefree and happy), the problem arises when people continue to write them the way they are, PTSD symptoms and all, but do not acknowledge it whatsoever. Ellie flinches and it's portrayed as funny, Joel is anxiously overbearing and it's written as "oh he is just like that", I am talking about authors taking serious disordered symptoms and depathologizing them. This is dangerous because it means people who aren't as educated on the matter read that and think those experiences are normal. They are not.

The second problem is people writing PTSD and other disorders in a way that is medically incorrect, either out of pure ignorance/lack of education or on purpose because it serves their plot.

Before I explain why exactly that is an issue though I wanna say that there IS a third version of this one where it is okay. If you have PTSD/whatever disorder it is about and write it in a way that provides catharsis to you or helps you process something that is 100% alright, you are not contributing to the problem. Writing is personal and sometimes we don't want the shit we go through on the daily to be as heavy as it actually is, just the comfort we can come up with. So if you are reading this and worried I mean you: I don't, promise.

Now, the problem. I think the most obvious one is the fact that it is inaccurate representation that can not only give people false information but also contribute to stereotypes. If you are not educated enough to write an accurate portrayal of PTSD the one you do write will be based on ableist stereotypes society throws at us.

I have read fics not just in this fandom but basically all the other ones I have been in where panic attacks and triggers are healed by "the power of love", where panic attacks are always excessive hyperventilation and laying on the floor and it's the only symptom they have, where bad memories are erased because the person they like suddenly does love them back. Any symptoms that would require someone to actually understand how trauma affects someone are just fully erased or ignored. People get triggered and it's either "haha funny look how they flinch" or "you are evil for showing symptoms" - not even intentionally, but the way people write about it expresses exactly that to someone who has PTSD. There are inaccurate depictions of dissociation like "they pass out and need to be carried home" which is simply not how it works at all, or contradictory things like "they dissociated the whole time but still remember every little things" (if you didn't know, dissociation prevents memories from forming, it is not possible to heavily dissociate and then remember everything afterward).

I could go on and on about the shit I have seen, but I think this explains what exactly I meant by "inaccurate portrayals of PTSD". It contributes to ableism and stereotypes and unless you have PTSD yourself you have no business writing it like this. Trauma isn't your playground, either do it properly or not at all.

I hope this helped you understand anon, feel free to leave another ask if you have more questions or need something clarified, I am always happy to respond! I hope you have a good day <3

#alex answers asks #the last of us #tlou #joel and ellie #joel miller #ellie williams

[aspd-culture]

What ASPD stereotypes do you think are the most ridiculous and untrue?

Ooooo, a fun one. In no particular order -

• That every pwASPD hates animals or is violent towards them. This is a super vicious stereotype that has made it's way all the way into the DSM. We are not super likely to hurt animals, at least no more than any other traumatized child. It does happen, yes, but many of us actually feel closest with animals because our lack of empathy and remorse and all that doesn't mean much to them. Depending on the animal, they either love you unconditionally anyway, or they tolerate you on the basis that you keep providing snacks. Plus, they don't require us to understand or care about social code. They also affect a different part of your brain than other humans your own age (more similar to how one bonds with a young child - instinct to protect and care for), so we are more likely to be capable of experiencing close bonds with them. Whilst not everyone with ASPD likes or gets along with animals, we also do not all attack them.

• That lacking remorse is what predisposes us to violence. These are entirely separate symptoms that have next to nothing to do with each other if you put them in that order. Sure, I don't feel remorse besides with Exceptions, but that's not what causes my violent urges. The people who say this are thinking from the perspective of making decisions in fear of feeling bad for things, which if you never experienced remorse in the first place, does not affect you. The people who say that without remorse we must go around violently hurting and k*lling people around us ("because what's stopping you??") are really just telling on themselves & admitting on main that they would st*b their loved ones given the chance. Super weird of them.

• (A classic) That they can pick us out in a crowd/we have a specific look in our eyes. Peak comedy is the many people who say "Don't worry, I'll let you know if you're dealing with a sociopath. They're easy to find if you know what you're looking for" directly to a pwASPD who hasn't told them. Literally my favorite thing ever that prosocials say.

• That a "true sociopath/psychopath" will never tell you they are one/that someone who is good at manipulation would never tell you they're manipulative. Well that's a funky lil trick you got there - you just gave me an easy in to abuse the crap out of you. Good thing I don't want to, but really? You don't see the flaw in saying that out loud to someone? It's also just false. Pretty funny again tho, except I hate the urge to manipulate or abuse people who say this just because I obviously easily could, so I try and steer clear or call them out for how fucking stupid that is.

Many, many more are untrue but these are the more lighthearted, ridiculous ones.

#aspd-culture-is #aspd culture is #aspd culture #tw sociopath #tw psychopath #tw ableist term #actually aspd #aspd #aspd awareness #actually antisocial #antisocial personality disorder #aspd traits #tw aspd stigma #aspd stigma #anons welcome

[mod-kyoko]

Hmm~ how about the splitting of an aphrodisiac chocolate prompt with Maki, Mikan and Kaede

chocolate aphrodisiac ft. maki

info: ⚠️nsfw!!, one-shot format, established relationship, non-despair au, reader is dominant

a/n: i have absolutely no regrets creating this prompt event i am so excited.

also, unfortunately i will not be writing anything nsfw for mikan or kaede for personal reasons, that's my bad i should have specified it before, so sorry!!

♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧♤♧

"do you want to share this with me?" she asks, despite seeing a toothbrush in your mouth. you groan, not wanting to miss out on the candy, but you're gonna have to brush your teeth again after. after waging a mini-war with yourself, the fomo wins, so you spit out your toothpaste and wipe your mouth.

as you're in the bathroom getting ready for bed, you hear a crinkling noise from your bedroom, like a plastic wrapper. you pop your head out the door to see maki sitting on your shared bed, opening a chocolate bar. she meets your gaze, and holds up the chocolate bar.

walking back into the room, you see maki separating the chocolate bar into halves, waiting for you.

"this better be some damn good chocolate, because i just brushed my teeth." you tease, though it really isn't that big of a deal to you.

"sorry, i forgot i had it in my bag."

after sitting down on the bed, you both pick up your piece, and pop them in your mouths.

"it's pretty alright," you say first, swallowing the chocolate. without another thought, you settle under the sheets and pick up the tv remote so you can relax before bed.

"i like it," maki says, before settling under the sheets herself.

you flick the channel to whatever is playing a funny, lighthearted sitcom, and cuddle up with maki.

after a single twenty minute episode, you're starting to feel tired.

"i think i'm gonna go to sleep," you tell maki, who has her eyes trained on the tv screen.

"i'm going to keep watching," she replies, and you roll over.

another episode goes by before you realize you can't fall asleep. you're so hot you're sweating, and at first you attribute it to the thick comforter, so you take it off. even after, though, you can't seem to cool down. you decide that if you can't fall asleep within the next 15 minutes, you'll just violently knock yourself out.

15 minutes passes, and your symptoms have worsened since then. you thought the dampness between your legs was just sweat, but it might be something else. your chest feels like it's tightening, and there is a zoo in your stomach.

with a sigh, you sit up, and get out of bed. the chocolate is suspicious. i mean, you only started feeling weird after you ate it.

"what's wrong?" maki asks. she's still wide awake, watching the sitcom. you don't answer, instead you rush over to the chocolate wrapper, which was still on the nightstand, and pick it up.

"maki, this is an aphrodisiac," you toss the wrapper in front of her face, and her eyes go wide as she reaches for it. her eyes scan over the description, and she brings her hand up to her mouth.

"oh god, i didn't know, i'm sorry..." she doesn't know what else to say, slowly looking up at you. you can see the fear in her eyes, she's afraid you'll be mad. but instead, when she meets your gaze, you're wearing a small smile.

"you know you didn't have to slip me an aphrodisiac. if you wanted me so badly, you could have just said so," you tease. you know she would never slip you anything, but you really want to know how she'll respond to your remark.

"that's not... shut up!" she gasps, reaching for the comforter and yanking it up so that she's completely covered.

with a chuckle, you return to your side of the bed. this time you respond with a more serious tone.

"if you just wanna go to bed, that's okay. i know it was an accident, it's alright."

"yeah, i'm gonna go to sleep."

so you decide to go to sleep, after turning off the tv. to be honest, you're a little disappointed things didn't go further, but whatever maki wants is what you want.

a few minutes goes by yet again, and you still can't sleep. you turn to face maki, wondering if she's feeling the same way. you can't see her in the dark, but you can hear her rustling around, as if she can't seem to get comfortable. you watch for a minute as she tosses and turns, before finally settling in a position facing away from you.

"s/o." her voice calls out in the darkness.

"yeah?" you respond immediately.

"do you think that we should..." her voice trails off. maki is inexperienced. you were her first kiss, her first partner, and now you might also be her first...

your breath catches. you don't even wait for her to finish her sentence, before sidling up against her back. you snake your arm around her waist to pull her closer, until her back is flush against your body. you trail your hand up to her neck, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear so you can sink your teeth into her skin. you almost chuckle at the way her breath gets caught in her throat.

you take your sweet time lacking and biting at her neck, allowing your hand to trail back down until you find the waistband of her shorts. she let out a whimper as you slid your fingers under both her waistband and her underwear, until you find her clit.

still paying attention to her neck, you swirl your fingers around, drawing out shy moans from your partner. she's never felt a pleasure like this.

she instinctively spreads her legs, allowing you to rub her clit faster. you sink your teeth into a particularly sensitive spot behind your ear, and she gasps.

once you've abused her clit enough, and it's red and puffy, you move down to her hole. without warning, you dip a finger in.

"you've been silent long enough, i want you to tell me what you want now."

#mod kyoko #danganronpa #danganronpa headcanons #danganronpa imagines #danganronpa x reader #maki harukawa #maki x reader

[godshivered]

Just saw your "Melissa has PTSD" idea and I am totally on board. If you're comfortable answering, do you think that would be more from her marriage or from the "shady" side to her family that sometimes gets hinted at in the show?

ty for asking!! ok so it very much depends on what we find out about melissa’s family and ex (i imagine the show will tell us more eventually). but in general:

i had a personal headcanon for a while that melissa has a tough relationship with her parents, mainly bc they are never mentioned as stepping up during the struggles with her nana’s health. but generally they never come up, which interests me. and if joe was a toxic ex and she stuck around with him despite that, that’s a telltale sign of an unstable attachment to parents. AND THEN i read a couple fics on ao3 which also headcanon melissa as having mother issues. most recently, “before it’s all too much” by Teyamarra has a good exploration of that dynamic.

obviously melissa’s family gets up to some… funny business, legally speaking. i don’t know what i think that is, exactly, or how much involves her. but i do think growing up in a family with so many secrets, knowing from a young age that people generally can’t be trusted, would give her some learned hypervigilance. depending on the ramifications she’s seen (if she’s had any family members hurt/jailed, if she herself has been arrested or hurt), this could be a root for complex PTSD.

(i do think it’s complex PTSD that melissa would have (short definition: PTSD due to continuous trauma, rather than a few extreme instances of trauma), which manifests very differently and would be interesting to discuss in a separate post.)

my other main thought is melissa’s ex, joe, mainly because the scene on the phone with him was the most striking instance of body language shifting. that relationship informs her beliefs about dating and marriage — it causes her to avoid dating, and particularly men in uniform (avoiding reminders of trauma, even at the cost of your own happiness or growth, is a PTSD symptom). she’s shown reacting anxiously when gary, the vending machine guy, shows interest in her and makes a minor faux pas with the dave & buster’s suggestion. she loses all confidence and literally runs from the scenario (turns out you have both fight AND flight, melissa). we see moments of her trying to predict and prepare for red flags — hypervigilance, trying to protect herself…

which suggests she feels vulnerable/scared in romantic relationships. which suggests her experience with joe was particularly influential and damaging. we know she also has wavering self-esteem and is very sensitive to hurtful words (read: any time someone calls her a bad teacher, or when barbara says “people like you”). so my personal headcanon is that joe was verbally aggressive. it’s also generally HCed in the fandom that joe cheated on her with nina, which is believable to me. i don’t know if there’s reason to think he was physically aggressive (she’s still very touchy and doesn’t seem to have a visible fear of men), so i think it was just verbal/emotional abuse/toxicity.

anyway, that’s way more than you asked for! but that’s my basic thinking on it. i’m open-minded about it this early in the show, and wanna know more about her background. especially her family, which seems complicated (yet she has a zillion photos of them around her house, so there’s love there!)

#abbott elementary #melissa schemmenti #lisa ann walter #ptsd!melissa #work wives #anon ask #tw abuse

[on-wednesdays-we-eat-the-rich]

I'm posting about autism again.

Because I've seen a couple of posts making the rounds that I've had some Feelings about but I only just managed to put them into words.

The posts are something along the lines of "neurodivergent people are making jokes about neurotypical people and Clearly this means neurodivergent people think neurotypicals aren't real". Or, to shorten it slightly: "neurodivergent people are oppressing neurotypicals by making jokes about them".

I have made a post already in which I semi-comedically argue against this idea, but I thought I might as well write an essay about it too just to make sure I'm being completely clear.

For a little bit of context, here are the kinds of jokes neurodivergent people make about neurotypicals (taken from pins in my autism board on Pinterest) (just to clarify, neurodivergence is not limited to autism and covers a whole bunch of different disabilities; the reason these jokes are mostly about autism is because I got them from my autism board. I'm sure people with other disabilities have made similar jokes.)

Obviously there are other examples but these are my favourites. Especially the last one, it's hilarious.

Why do we make these jokes?

Because they're funny

To parody the kind of mocking we get from neurotypicals by turning it back on them and showing how silly it is

To let off steam after a frustrating social interaction

Probably more reasons because I don't speak for everyone

Very rarely do I see a neurodivergent person make a joke that is specifically meant to hurt, harass or alienate a neurotypical person. However, those are all common reasons that neurotypicals make jokes about us.

You can apply the same logic to basically any marginalised group. For example, we see a lot of queer people make jokes about straight people, right? Always silly sarcastic things like "straight people have no fashion sense". Why is this a common joke? Because it's a very common stereotype that queer people, especially gay men, are fashionable and wear pretty clothes. Also, we get a fair bit of confusion from straight people about popular gay fashion. So making this joke is both a response to the confusion, and often judgement or piss-taking, and a reclamation of a stereotype that has been used in a derogatory way.

It's a very similar concept with neurodivergence. Many symptoms of disabilities, for example, autistic special interests, have been commonly seen as something bad that needs to be changed, and have only recently been reclaimed by the neurodivergent community as a good thing that brings joy. Special interests are still made fun of by people who don't understand them. We get called obsessive, annoying and childish. So if we make a joke like "I guess neurotypicals don't have interests" in response to this, it is not to make all neurotypicals feel bad, or to separate them from us, but to point out and laugh at the ridiculousness of telling us off for something that 1. we have very little control over, and 2. is not even a bad thing.

I don't know if neurotypicals are under the impression that neurodivergent people can't be sarcastic, but if that's the case it would explain rather a lot, because they seem to always take everything we say really seriously. Whereas if they say something about us that is actually hurtful and damaging, and we call them out on it, we have to listen to them call us overdramatic snowflakes and tell them that yes, we can in fact take a joke. The difference is that what they're saying is rarely actually a joke. Because they believe it. For hundreds of years, they've learned and been taught to believe that we're some kind of alien species, that we don't even count as human beings, that we either have no feelings at all or we express our feelings too much, that we need to change everything about ourselves to live up to their standards, and that we should never have existed at all. And when we retaliate, they tell us we're hurting their feelings. They say, "you know neurotypicals are still people, right?" and it's exactly the same thing that straight people do to queer people, that cis people do to trans* people, that white people do to POC, that men do to women, that any privileged group does to any marginalised group as soon as they show the slightest bit of resistance. All of a sudden you're the victims and we have to be reminded that you're People and you have Feelings and you can't take even a little bit of criticism because if you do you'll spontaneously combust. You're the ones who have been dehumanising us for as long as you've known about our existence, but sure. We could stand to be taken down a peg or two, right?

I'm reminded of James Acaster's stand-up routine in which he took the piss out of other comedians like Ricky Gervais for making transphobic jokes.

"I'm An EdGy CoMeDiAn, It'S mY jOb To ChAlLeNgE pEoPlE! Yeah because you know who's long overdue a challenge? The trans community."

I'm just going to leave that here. Feels like its fits.

#autism #the tism #neurodivergence #neurodivergent #long post #james acaster #just a little bit of james acaster #neurotypicals whining about how we're “excluding them” or some shit #as if they haven't done the exact same thing to us #doesn't feel good does it guys? #try being mercilessly bullied by a gang of teenagers #or sent to therapy that's meant to threaten you into behaving in a socially acceptable way #i think y'all can survive a little bit of piss-taking

[beehivesystemsillys]

Hello! :3

First post, wanted to make a sorta intro!

We are an undiagnosed system, likely Osdd-1b, we don't experience amnesia! We are also Autistic and Adhd, among other things, and use things like tone tags and communication card/emojis. We are also a mobility aid (cane) user! Just some important lil side notes!

This is one of our main blogs (for personal reasons, we'd like to keep them separate and not share the other blog names, but alters go on other blogs and the system name is the same everywhere, so can't really stop that). This blog is made mostly for our system little and pet-regressor, so we'll mostly post/interact with content like that, but other alters may show up on here from time to time.

Due to severe social anxiety, we may not talk/post much, but who knows, maybe we will! :3

We'll try to stick to tagging posts appropriately so we'll use:

"#silly rambles" for posting abt/saying random stuff

"#[insert front tag/emoji] likes this post" for reblogs that certain alters rlly like or relate to

And we'll add more tags here when we make other posts and need a different tag for them.

Some other info:

We collectively go by many names, but mainly Bee and Moth. Our system name (we decided on this very recently) is the Beehive System or Beehive Mosaic (in reference to the way we view our plurality). We are also bodily a minor, so no funny business!(/silly but /srs)

The main alters that will be on here are:

Little—The system little/age-regressor.

Pronouns are: He/they/bub/plush/doodle/🍼/🧸/🫧/🔆/🩵

Uses masculine and neutral terms.

Signs off with 🍼

Pup—The system pet-regressor. Usually, puppy regressed, but sometimes other animals.

Pronouns are: He/it/they/pup/paw/kit/meow/woof/bark/wag/fluff/🐶/🐱/🐾

Uses masculine and neutral terms (or just animal terms).

Signs off with 🐾

Tism—The system's symptom holder? Unsure. Also, tbhcreaturekin sometimes. (Name seems very direct, but all of our alter names are like that. Want to clarify that we are all autistic, Tism just personifies our autistic traits and experiences them much more noticeably.)

Pronouns are: He/it/they/boing/bop/vwoop/bonk/stim/wag/yip/yippee/paw/thing/X3/🍬/🌈/🎉/♾️/🦈/🪸/🐠/🫧/🪼

Uses masculine and neutral terms.

Signs off with ��

Default—System host/gatekeeper and more. Basically always fronting.

Pronouns are: He/they/it and any neos/xenos

Uses mostly neutral terms, sometimes masculine terms, and rarely feminine terms.

Signs off with 👍

Those are the main ones, but others that may pop in are:

Scene Qween—Unsure what they do, but very silly and Scene. Has a couple of typing quirks that may be hard to read (Stuff l1k3 th1z).

Pronouns are: She/he/they/it/Rawr/XD/X3/:3/:D/X]/:]/X0/:0/xe/nyan/kandi/🌈/🎶/💜

Uses mainly neutral terms, but fine with any.

Signs off with 🎵

Neon—Also unsure what they do. They just sensory seek a lot (bright stuff, loud stuff, etc).

Pronouns are: They/it/neon/bright/glow/rainbow/💖/🩷/❤️/🧡/💛/💚/💙/🩵/💜/💫/⭐️/🛸/🦋/🪼/🫧/🩻/🎉/🎨/🚦/🌈/🍭/🛼

Uses neutral terms.

Signs off with 🌈

Plush—Fragment? Really loves plushies and collecting.

Pronouns are uncertain for now, so either they/them or just use their name.

Unsure on terms, use neutral for now.

Signs off with 🧸

Sunny—System Caretaker.

Pronouns are: She/they/sunshine/honey/fun/🔆/🌻 (Mainly she/her tho)

Uses feminine terms.

Signs off with ☀️

Toony—Unsure of role, but cartoonkin.

Pronouns are: He/it/they/boom/whizz/toon/cartoon/silly/boing/bonk/💥/✨️/🎉/❗️

Uses masculine and neutral terms.

Signs off with 💥

Weirdkin—Nonhuman alter? Weirdcore-creaturekin. Has typing quirk (l1k3 s0)

Pronouns are: It/thing/that thing/that/creature/odd/eye/tooth/👁/🦷/they/he

Uses mainly neutral and nonhuman terms, but is fine with masculine aswell.

Signs off with 👁

Anyways, that should cover most info but we may update/redo this later! Anyways, remember to be nice and have fun! :D

#intro post #sys intro #system intro #first post #sfw agere #sfw petre

[the-rewatch-rewind]

Another new episode! Maybe the weirdest movie I've talked about yet?

Script below the break

Hello and welcome back to the Rewatch Rewind, the podcast where I count down my top 40 most rewatched movies over a 20-year period. My name is Jane, and today I will be discussing number 30 on my list: Twentieth Century Fox’s 1952 science fiction comedy Monkey Business, directed by Howard Hawks, written by Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, and I.A.L. Diamond, and starring Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn, and Marilyn Monroe.

Dr. Barnaby Fulton (Cary Grant) is a chemist developing a formula to reverse some of the symptoms of aging. His boss, Mr. Oxley (Charles Coburn) believes this could become a fountain of youth drug, but Barnaby is more realistic, and merely hopes it could cure his bursitis. He’s been experimenting on chimpanzees but decides to try the newest version on himself – and soon after begins behaving like a frivolous college boy. However, unbeknownst to Barnaby, or anybody else, one of his chimpanzees has mixed a separate formula and poured it into his water cooler, so it’s actually the drink of water he used to wash down his formula that he’s reacting to. After a wild day, much of which he spends with Oxley’s sexy secretary Miss Laurel (Marilyn Monroe), the formula finally wears off and Barnaby is back to his more mature self. He’s eager to try it again, but after hearing about his day, his wife Edwina (Ginger Rogers) drinks his second dose before he has a chance to – and, crucially, also takes a drink of tainted water. And hijinks continue to ensue.

The first time I saw this movie was when it happened to come on TV. It must have been summertime because my sister was away at camp and I distinctly remember writing her a postcard about how I had just watched the funniest movie ever. Thus began a phase when I was kind of obsessed with this movie: I watched it three times in 2003, three times in 2004, and twice in 2005. Then I got a little tired of it and took a break, but I returned to it in 2009 and again in 2010, then twice in 2012, and then once each in 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. There are certain things about this movie that really bother me, which is why I don’t rewatch it as frequently anymore, but there are also things about it that I absolutely love, so I don’t think I will ever abandon Monkey Business completely.

This is the second appearance of both Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers on this podcast, so I’ve already mentioned that they’re two of my faves. To people who have vaguely heard of them, a movie like this might sound out of character for these stars. Cary Grant seems to generally be remembered as a debonair leading man, and Ginger Rogers is generally remembered as Fred Astaire’s frequent dance partner. While those aren’t exactly inaccurate perceptions, they are definitely incomplete. People don’t talk nearly enough about how funny both of them were. Like, no offense to the writers, but with the wrong stars this movie could have been absolute garbage. I mean, I think we can all agree that the story is completely ridiculous. But Grant and Rogers were both comedic geniuses, and basically the only reason I keep revisiting this movie is because of how fun they are to watch in it. By 1952, they were both at least two decades into their film careers, and while they did sometimes play serious dramatic roles, much of their work was in comedy, so they’d had plenty of time to hone their comedic skills, and it shows.

I love that Monkey Business gives them so many opportunities to show off different facets of their comedic talents. The silly tone of the movie is set at the beginning of the opening credits, which Grant keeps interrupting by opening the door, and we hear director Howard Hawks’ voice offscreen saying, “Not yet, Cary.” Then in the first scene, Barnaby and Edwina are at home, preparing to go out for the evening, but Barnaby is distracted thinking about the formula and keeps failing at getting ready properly, until Edwina gives up. They both have such perfect timing and excellent chemistry that this dynamic feels entirely believable and natural, and is also incredibly funny. The first time Barnaby takes the formula, Edwina isn’t around, so we get to see Cary being a goofball by himself, and then with Marilyn Monroe as his “straight man”. But then Edwina takes the formula, and it’s Ginger’s turn to be silly, and Cary’s turn as the straight man. And then later both Barnaby and Edwina drink a bunch of coffee in his office, using the water from the cooler, so they both start acting like children, which means they get to act goofy together for a bit. These changing dynamics are all handled flawlessly. Even when they’re under the influence of the formula and acting silly, they’re still somehow believable. While I’m not convinced that feeling younger would really make people behave quite the way they do, the actors sell it so well that it’s easy to just accept it.

The aspect of their behavior that I have the hardest time accepting is that while under the influence of the formula, both Barnaby and Edwina seem to have the instinct to cheat on each other, in ways consistent with stereotypes about their respective sexes. Younger man Barnaby finds himself drawn to sexy Miss Laurel – I know I mentioned in a previous episode that as an asexual I don’t really understand what “sexy” means, but there seems to be a general consensus that Marilyn Monroe was it. Her character is a fairly basic ditzy blonde who was clearly hired for her looks and not her secretarial skills and isn’t particularly interesting, although she does get to say one of the funniest lines in the movie: “Mr. Oxley’s been complaining about my punctuation, so I’m careful to get here before 9:00.” The first time Barnaby takes the formula, he leaves work in the middle of the day, so Miss Laurel is sent to find him, and they end up going out on an extended date. At one point, Miss Laurel kisses him on the cheek, but then he mentions his wife and she backs off disappointedly. So it’s relatively innocent “cheating,” if it can even be considered cheating at all, but that doesn’t stop Edwina from getting jealous – a feeling that is significantly heightened when she takes the formula, to the point that she tries to start a fight with Miss Laurel. Then younger Edwina seems to think she and Barnaby are on their honeymoon, but they end up having a weird fight that doesn’t really make any sense and she locks him out of their hotel room, at which point she calls their lawyer, Hank Entwhistle, played by Hugh Marlowe, who, it was revealed in their fight, kissed Edwina once, presumably years ago. We don’t get to see exactly what happens next, but the following morning Hank seems to think Barnaby is physically abusive based on what Edwina told him. So to summarize: men who feel young want to go out with pretty women, and women who feel young want to pick fights with their husbands and turn to a “friendzoned” man waiting in the wings. And this is reiterated when they take the formula again and act like actual children instead of young adults. Even then, Barnaby is drawn to Miss Laurel and Edwina is jealous of them, and after a fight with Barnaby, Edwina calls on Hank again. I’m not going to claim the way they portray this isn’t funny, because it is, but I don’t love that message, and that’s part of why I don’t love this movie as much as I used to anymore. There are a few scenes between “normal” Barnaby and Edwina where they talk things out that I think are actually pretty good, and it seems like they’re trying to show that a certain level of maturity is necessary for a healthy long-term relationship, which I think does make the message better, albeit amatonormative. I still think they could have made that point without being quite so sexist about it. Although it was 1952, so… maybe they couldn’t have.

There is also some blatant racism in this movie that I realize was common for the time, but that doesn’t make it okay. Child Barnaby overhears child Edwina calling Hank to come over, so he grabs a pair of pruning shears and rallies a group of (all white) neighbor children playing “Cowboys and Indians” to help him tie up and scalp Hank when he arrives. One of the kids informs Barnaby that they have to do a war dance first, and sing, so Barnaby organizes the kids into an “Indian choir” of sorts, and listeners… it is so painfully bad. On the one hand, from a historical perspective, it’s interesting to see how white American kids used to play in that era, but on the other hand, it’s just… no. I get that it’s supposed to be silly, but there are so many ways to be silly that don’t involve mocking Native Americans. A less serious complaint I have about that part is the next time we see Hank after he’s been tied up, part of his head has been shaved all the way to the skin, and there is no way the clippers Barnaby had could have cut anywhere near that close. And while I can easily suspend disbelief enough to accept a chimpanzee unlocking the secret of youth with a mixture of random chemicals, asking me to believe that pruning shears could shave a man’s head that closely is going way too far!

I also had a know-it-all phase when it bothered me that people often refer to chimpanzees as “monkeys” when they’re actually apes, but now I’m more in the “all words are made up to begin with and classifications of animals are especially made up, so who cares” camp. I guess that’s one way I can tell I’ve grown up and matured since the first time I watched this movie, without trying to use the ability to maintain healthy romantic relationships as a metric. But the more I learn about how animals – particularly apes – have historically been treated by the entertainment industry, the less I can enjoy seeing them in older movies. I haven’t heard any specific stories about Monkey Business in particular, but I doubt the chimps featured in it had very good lives, and that is yet another thing that makes it harder to enjoy this movie.

But despite all its problematic aspects and its relentless amatonormativity, overall I do think Monkey Business has a pretty good message about our society’s obsession with trying to stay young. After he and Edwina have both tried the formula, Barnaby has this to say about youth: “We remember it as a time of nightingales and valentines. But what are the facts? Maladjustment, near idiocy, and a series of low comedy disasters. That's what youth is. I don't see how anyone survives it.” And in the final scene, Barnaby concludes: “You’re old only when you forget you’re young.” The movie points out the importance of learning from experience to keep people from acting like fools who don’t understand consequences their whole lives. But it also shows that you can embrace getting older without completely abandoning the youthful joy that people and things you love brought you when you were younger. So the way I feel about this movie is remarkably consistent with its message. As I’ve grown and matured and learned more about the world, I’ve become more aware of its negative aspects, but that doesn’t negate the delight it brought me when I was younger, and having some problematic elements doesn’t make the movie all bad. Monkey Business reveals that life is more complicated than we think it is when we’re young, and youth is more complicated than we think it is when we’re old. Basically, life is messy, and there are no quick fixes, so let’s stop wasting time seeking perpetual youth and instead make the most of the life we have.

This does feel like a bit of a hypocritical message coming from Hollywood, which is famous for its obsession with youth and beauty. I do appreciate that this movie’s two main stars were both in their 40s – positively ancient by Hollywood standards, at least for an actress. In fact, at 41 years old (possibly only 40 at the time of filming), Rogers was the oldest leading lady to ever star in a Howard Hawks movie, which is incredibly upsetting. Grant would continue to play leading men for over another decade, and by this point in his career he’d already begun starring opposite women who were closer to Marilyn Monroe’s age than to his own (he was 22 years older than her), so it’s a bit refreshing to see him mostly paired with Rogers, who was only 7 years younger than him, with his attraction to Monroe portrayed as youthful infatuation that we’re not really supposed to take seriously. Marilyn Monroe herself perfectly embodied Hollywood’s ideal of youthful glamor, and it literally destroyed her well before she could make it to her 40s, so her presence in this movie really draws attention to the hypocrisy of its message. It would be great if the entertainment industry would actually take the movie’s advice and value age and experience rather than constantly worshipping (and thereby often ruining) youthful beauty, but as is so often the case, Hollywood released a movie with a decent message and then proceeded to ignore it.

Thank you for listening to my conflicted thoughts and feelings about this movie. I truly don’t know if anything I said made any sense to those of you who haven’t watched it, which I assume is most people, but I greatly appreciate you sticking with me anyway. Remember to subscribe or follow if you want to hear more, and rate or leave a review to let me know how you’ve been enjoying this podcast so far. Next week I will talk about the third and longest movie I watched 17 times, which is another fun, silly, obscure older movie, so I hope you’re enjoying these. And if you’re not, I hope you will continue listening anyway, I promise there are more recent and more well-known films coming up too. As always, I will leave you with a quote from the next movie: “How do you say in English ‘parachute’?”

#monkey business #cary grant #ginger rogers #marilyn monroe #charles coburn #the rewatch rewind