#I mean I get why he's reacting that way | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

narwhalandchill · 4 months

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oh my fucking god i feel. SO stupid rn at How i didnt make the (super sane very normal just absolutely. Yes. Surely) connection earlier but uhh

so anyway im now like 89% certain that whatever the "traces" of the narwhal that remain on ajax and facilitate their (ever-growing) innate connection are like. an actually fundamental aspect of it (them?) more or less.

why? because if you consider its pov just for a moment. the narwhal was literally about to depart teyvat for good. it had nearly finished consuming the primordial sea and preparing to breach surface to finish the job by eating the french for the leftovers their human bodies were made from. its an interstellar voyager it does not linger on planets it devours. it goes glug glug and it leaves.

and like if it wasnt for traveler intervening its confirmed through narzissenkreuz and renes world formula that teyvat wouldve just been destroyed. no one could have stopped the narwhal not neuvillette not focalors not anyone.

so what was the one other thing it did right before going for that french brunch? calling for ajax. getting them reunited in the primordial sea. like all the possible implications aside bc theres many different ways to speculate on the exact reasons why and the nature of that link. the point remains.

it wasnt leaving teyvat without finding him.

like the narwhal is about to fucking Dip from this cringe planet and whatever part of it that ajax carries within himself his narwhal Absolutely wanted to be reunited with. what the fuck am i supposed to read from that. hoyo???????!??! answers?!?!?!

and its not only the calling from the narwhal side itself either bc this is ALL coinciding with the growth of a 'restless power' within ajax and his vision malfunctioning (the things celestia is literally confirmed to harvest energy thru to repair its damaged authority) and his connection with the narwhal reaching an actual conscious level (arguably subconscious n emotional too bc i find it Curious his mood is poor right as the narwhal is repeatedly described as positively malding to the point its boss fight mechanic is literally a rage meter). ajax' power is growing. his destiny is starting to shift and something is drawing him to fontaine... right as the narwhal is getting close to finished with the primordial sea. funny how it overlaps eh. how it aligns 🤨🤨 why are they orbiting each other like this (they should kiss)

(& not to even Mention how ajax just Happened to get that absolutely exponential and borderline unbelievable feat of power spike in extending his foul legacy endurance as massively as he did. while. within the primordial sea. with his narwhal. who had at that point all but incorporated the power of that sea into itself. i s2g if childe was getting passive home turf co-op bonus exp with a 4x multiplier automatically the whole 40+ days 💀💀)

#man the way its lovely reunion but tjen ajax fucking ATTACKS IT ON SIGHT you couldve gotten married!!!!11!1 fucking unbearable i am in agony #anyway contrary to popular belief we still have no fucking clue whether ajax' link to the narwhal was innate #skirk saying the traces remain on him after meeting it isnt saying tht much. the parts he shares w it couldve well been innate but dormant #instead. also just the fact that he woke it up already shady #then like. monoceros caeli being his from the beginning is completely plausible despite ppl acting like its been confirmed his const change #and like them being halves of the same entity on some lvl would make the narwhal being so weak without him n until ajax found it again #make very much. sense. anyway ajax toxicity jokes aside if the narwhal was just trying to eat him point blank without even a hello #i do get why hed react aggressively. but also bros been telling everyone n their mom hes fighting his narwhal the seconf he finds it again😔#so i feel somewhat confident in assuming he started that 40+ days brawl #anyway if ajax Isnt the celestial narwhal on some level or possibly becoming it as their link grows.#riddle me this atheists. why is his 3rd phase boss theme. the song about His individual murderous rage at us #bc he thought he was outplayed by us. His personal wrath #whys the song for that called the wrath of the celestial narwhal. of the star swallowing whale. Hmmmge. his individual rage.#why does tusk of monoceros caeli speak of him embracing the narwhals innate qualities as embracing mere parts of Himself #funny how tjat goes!! (the OST n boss drop is not 100% serious theory but it does drive me insane. bc why would they phrase it like that)#anyway either theyre 2 halves same original entity or theyre soulmates idgaf . they should fold teyvat in half and eat it for brunch #aaand im going to be consumed by this realization for the next month wish me luck #WHY DID IT NEED HIM THERE SO BADLY???? HUH??????#i mean relatable dont we all. but its sooooooooo inch resting. Curious indeed #rambles #genshin #childeposting #childe

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yellowsubiesdance · 3 months

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i think i’ve learned a lot when it comes to not applying my own values to the media i consume

for my script analysis class yesterday, we discussed two gentleman from verona, and nearly every classmate of mine was up in arms about how sexist the story is.

and i'm not saying it's not, or that it's not infuriating to read. but i'm also not putting my energy into getting upset about something written 500 or so years ago. and i'm not about to put my own beliefs onto these characters that are not me. i'm going to let their choices speak for themselves, and interpret it in the context of the story.

all that said, this now brings me to the point of alastor in episode 5, and how viscerally people are responding to it. those of you up in arms about the choices he’s making, and the violent threat he gave husk, you’re missing the entire point of his character, of this place they’re in, of the story being told. he’s an overlord, and he became an overlord by killing much bigger overlords and broadcasting their deaths over the radio.

HE IS NOT A GOOD PERSON.

if you started this show with the belief that every character working the hotel is a good person, you’re in the wrong place. watch the good place if you’re looking for a good wholesome story about getting dead sinners into heaven, because that’s not what this show is about.

you’re more than welcome to hate him after seeing the way he exerted power over a being whose soul he owns, but you’re doing the media you’re watching a disservice by writing it off so quickly. if you don’t like to be uncomfortable watching media, watch something else. this is an uncomfortable show, it handles uncomfortable topics, and it’s going to be an uncomfortable ride, and if you’re not up for something like that, then you should take a break from it and pick up something else. you don’t have to get online and defend your own ideals while you watch a show that goes against your ideals.

#hazbin hotel spoilers #that’s not even touching on the fact that husk was an overlord too #he also owned souls that he used as currency to supply his gambling addiction #he’s also not a good person!!#the majority of these characters are in hell for a reason: they’re not good people #i quite frankly love the way this show blurs the lines between good and evil #our heroes are sinners and overlords and demons. while the enemies are angels. but that doesn’t mean our heroes are good people.#you HAAAVE to come to terms with that!! you have to stop seeing the world in black and white or you’re not going to survive this world #if you’re upset because alastor was cruel to husk fine! be upset! but explore why you’re taking yourself out of that world.#in this world sinners own other people. there’s no ifs ands or buts #‘oh alastor is a poc why would he own people’ he was a serial killer when he was alive do you really think you can apply your values to that #(and this is me speaking as a poc. specifically a mixed race poc.)#i cannot speak to who vivzie is as a person. but i’m interested in the message she’s writing and thus far i’m finding it compelling #it’s a similar story as the good place but it’s going the distance to explore even worse people than those in the good place #i don’t think it’s responsible to write something off just because unsavory things happen in it.#and she’s giving us so many different types of representation that don’t involve race (although we’re also getting a lot of hispanic rep)#just like cool your jets and maybe process some of the anger you’re feeling. and maybe nothing will change.#but if you act. instead of react. if you understand why you’re feeling some type of way and then make a choice.#that’s so much stronger and more responsible than reacting and not thinking anything through #hazbin hotel #alastor #husk #hazbin alastor #hazbin husk #anyway let me get off my soapbox #long post

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starpros-sunshine · 8 months

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seb. seb hes not smiling. and has a fatui background................

I knowwwwww he's still everything to me you do not know how smitten I am with Lyney as a character

#he's soooo #i love it when the silly magicuan has a mysterious past and isn't actually allll that silly #I'm a little angry at the traveler for reacting the way they did at the end if the archon quest ngl #how is Lyney so different from Ajax please explain to me why you think him beingba fatuus is unacceptable but Ajax can get away with almost #commiting genocide #i mean ik it's kimd of about the withholding of information but come on.#they were nothing but nice to you the entire time cut them some slack and give them the benefit of the doubt will you #and god lyney in his voicelines is so. is flirty the right word he certainly is very very friendly good god man #Lyney and Lynette can do no wrong in my opinion I'd forgive them about anything #i don't mind the fatui that much tbh i mean yeah sure as an organisation they're. bad. to say the least #but if we look at the individual fatuus it's just kinda. okay.#Dottore sucks sure I like Tartaglia i really like him he's a very interesting personality Signora is dead she doesn't concern me anymore #and I don't know enough about the rest #Arlecchino looks very promising though I'm very intrigued by her #and so far Lyney and Lynette just seem like two people who got caught up in the organisation i don't have their vackgrounds unlocked yet #but!!!! i am intrigued Oh so very intrigued #Venti Kaeya and Diluc are my favourite genshin characters they have such a special place in my heart they mean so much to me #but Lyney is my favourite character in terms of I am normal about him Fontaine has SUCH a good cast #we have the girls of all time we have the silly magician and the socially anxious diver and then theres Manfred von Karma #if he was a genuinely nice man that had a solid moral compass and was actually devoted to the concept of justice #I like Neuvillette he also seems very interested i would Love to know more about his relationship with Furina #and Furina!!!!!! she's so silly I adore her being all confident and then if cuts to her inner monologue and she's just losing it #i love that #I really really like Fontaine so far the only grievance I have is that they should've put more accordion into the soundtrack but that's #irrelevant in the face of the osts just all being absolutely gorgeous #yumefan🌠🎼

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bywandandsword · 17 days

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Huh. I think I'm having a prolonged anxiety attack. It's been going since last night

#It feels like there's a huge pressure on my chest and it feels like I can't get a full breath #emotionally I feel like a raw nerve #and mentally I've just been in this really weird floaty headspace #like an hour ago I offered a classmate a ride home cause we got let out early and the bus wouldn't come for another 45 min #and he said no that he was going to grab something to eat #and immediately my rejection sensitivity bullshit was like ''oh he hates you and your shitty car and that's why he said no''#and that's what made me stop and reflect cause that's not a proportional reaction #but like recognizing what this is is great and all but it doesn't stop the way my body is reacting #I mean it makes sense we're getting close to the end of term but normally my breakdowns happen after the semester's over #maybe it's cause I never decompressed from last semester #either way it's bullshit #I have an appointment at the clinic scheduled for tomorrow just in case this isn't an anxiety attack but I think that's what this is

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ru-inn · 8 months

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“So they knew each other for a long time before Eden”

Neil Gaiman what exactly does that mean?! Were they acquaintances? Two people that worked together? Did they consider each other friends?? Or was it more they crossed paths sometimes??

This is going to haunt me everyday for the next few years cause any of these options have so many implications…

#why did he do this to us #I’m in so much pain #oh also just me reacting to this info way too late sorry been busy #did aziraphale idolise Crowley the whole time or did they actually get close pre fall #I NEED TO KNOW #good omens #anthony j crowley #aziraphale #ok but what if they actually were together like fr before prefall #I mean I think maybe that’s leaning too much into fanfiction #also idk if I’ll actually like that it’ll change their entire relationship #ineffable husbands #aziracrow

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gifti3 · 2 months

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Im cursing [REDACTED] right NOW

#god i better never have contact with this guy again or i might flip out on him #im about to ramble about my past “dating" adventures (we were casual but sheesh cant even be friends with this guy tbh)#im realizing months later how much this guy i used to talk to sucked #like DUDE be a better or stay single FOREVER (ΘдΘ)#and by that i mean learn how to better handle approaching others feelings!#god the way he would just shutdown others ppls feelings and it was just an endless loop of “that doesnt make sense” or “thats dumb”#sure emotions can be irrational but if someone is desperately TRYING to explain why they feel a way (even if theyre struggling to be clear)#maybe dont be so dismissive #like literally one time i was annoyed cause talking to him was grating on my nerves #and i was like ik it doesnt make sense so let me step away cause im annoyed #and hes like trying to logic me out of my annoyance???#like worstie im literally walking away so i can cool off #leave it be!#god looking back on all this....#i hope to god whoever hes talking to (if hes talking to anyone) isnt dealing with similar things #ppl can change so ill just hope for that #or maybe he'll meet his match #someone who reflects the same energy he has!#tho im not sure if hed like that haha #the guy seemed to have a lot of relationship problems in general (romantic and platonic) and i wanted to have the benefit of the doubt #but now im thinking maybe his personality was also just clashing with everyone elses #which isnt necessarily a bad thing on its own #gotta get context for everything u know #but in this case....naur #like im a pretty anxious person so how ppl i care about will react to what im doing or saying is constantly at the back of my mind!#so ppl who just come off as flippant about my fee fees annoy me fr #im like “ahh what if i upset so and so” constantly #trying to make sure not to make things harder for them #and they cant even spare me a single thought before doing something and dismiss me when i get upset #but also they wanna come to me when theyre feeling sad about something???

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moonlightfilly · 2 months

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i've been totally consumed reading Kaleidoscope of Death it's too much fun i love gay horror

#i was watching the drama but i've given it up the book is just worlds better they changed too much in the drama....#even their dynamic feels softer?? WHY. and they just didn't have freedom or budget to serve horror.... it's massively turned down... cheap.#enjoying the horror and the crossdressing bfs in the book so much mwah #Nanzhu gutting the witch without warning and ending up covered in blood. everyone runs away but Qiushi just wipes the blood off his face <3 #every time they're both just like 'we are normal people' *reacts in a way that is Not Normal* i love them sm #normal ppl: IS THAT BLOOD??? DID SOMEONE DIE? WAHHH I'M SCARED. meanwhile Q: ........ did you just accidentally kill our clue? N: .....oops #anyways horror is easy for qiushi. admitting he loves nanzhu is hard kjdfg but we're getting there i mean they're basically already dating #Evie reads #Evie reads Kaleidoscope of Death #tumblring by moonlight

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waloeders · 3 months

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thinkin of them <3

#jupiter.speaks #❤️.dion #❤️.joshua #> if i havent said before. giant polycule mcgee here #> not mid tho shes awesome n kinda reminds me of an irl friend lmao #> i think she was confirmed to be like 16 in the book abt ff16? so always sus when ppl bring her up in relation to joshua #> i get why- they had a cute hug scene! but he is like 28 here lets be fr #> love the way they both react to getting a hug its make so emotional. joshuas so glad to receive affection n dion is so surprised #> like yes boys u do infact deserve good things. crazy that #> also just to clarify when i say i get why i mean the game is dreadful for giving out canon ages. u gotta do like in relation to joshua #> im so fr thats how i do all my timeline maths 😭 oh how old was joshua here? 10? great. wonderful. do not tell me the year of the realm #> i dont understand the calendar year in xvi and im too scared to find out. why did they only start counting ~800yrs ago

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hatake · 7 months

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#been watching the newest season of love is blind #bc ya girl loves a corny reality show u kno #and then listening reviews/reading the subreddit like an idiot #and the amount of grace ppl give shitlords like izzy and uche baffles the mind #izzy rejecting johnnie after he begged for vulnerability and she opened up about her difficult/complex love history is like #peak male behavior it's giving men are more likely to leave their wives with cancer than vice versa or w/e #and the way uche verbally berates aaliyah like he's so mean to her #and the internet is so mean to her bc tell me why #even when ppl agree uche is trash they still blame her for ~allowing it~#u know if she was a white woman the internet would be in tears with her #she's just a lady with an open heart who doesn't seem able to advocate for herself in those conflicts the way she should #and she shouldn't be judged for that like how many of us have toxic relationships of sorts #bc ur so stuck in the situation you can't see the toxicity for what it is #girl came ready for love and was thrown a whole shitbag situation with the uche/lydia thing #anyone would be emotional and confused in those circumstances #this an aaliyah defense squad acc i feel so bad for her #all she's done is react to a confusing situation / get yelled at abt it by the guy she likes #then yelled at again by the internet for Not Leaving Immediately #i have a million other thoughts on it but that's my biggest gripe #justice for aaliyah!!!

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scionshtola · 2 years

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good morning. i made myself sad already today thinking about how between leaving vestra and reuniting with aeran in karth mirren did not have anyone to hug

#or like any kind of touching in kindness/love for years…#bc of the combination of her aversion to touch unless she considers them close and her unwillingness to let ppl be close to her #and her aversion is like part natural aversion. part bc she holds herself away from people.#and part bc she doesn’t like to see how ppl react to her touch (which is why the first clio meeting was so important!)#and though she usually does not like it that much she does sometimes. want it. from ppl she cares about. u know?#so being reunited with someone she already has a close relationship with!! who is generally very affectionate/physically affectionate #i wonder how long it took them to get back to that. like if they had to work up to the way they are in episode 1 physically #i mean i mostly wonder about aeran lol. if he was like careful. had to work up to it for a while #on mir’s part she probably took a bit to get used to it again #if you made it through these tags ilu #oc: mirren sero #just us #for the tags lol #i need a text post tag

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chryzure-archive · 2 years

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scenes that made me throw down the book and pace my room like a caged tiger.

#memorie.txt #s.chrysiarchie #i was like ‘WHAT!!!!!! DO NOT DO THIS TO HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!!!!!!!!’#currently brainstorming ways chrysi finds out #funny option: archie finds out first and he is like ‘oh… this… makes me embarrassed. since i spent so much time distancing myself frm you bc #i didn’t want to risk a close relationship when i was going to die. meanwhile you were willing to take the plunge despite ur disease.’#funnier option: chrysi finds out archie’s dying first and she does not say anything hehe :) she jst sits in agony :)#and then she reveals it with ‘let’s play a game. whoever dies first wins.’ and archie thinks she jst says it bc of her dangerous job.#(spoiler alert: neither option is funny)#i also don’t know how clear i’m being rn. my head is KILLING me #but i love the idea of archie’s disease being revealed first #and he has to deal w chrysi being heartbroken over it #archie thinks it’s normal!! the way she’s reacting!! because YEAH she found out the man she loves is dying!!#and i mean. it IS. but chrysi’s also grieving the fact that she’ll STILL die first #and that archie won’t even live long enough to get over her + live a long and happy life #because… he’s dying too…. he’s dying at a slower rate than her but he’s still dying #godddddd THAT hurts. and archie finding out and he’s like ‘WAIT. ACTUALLY THIS FUCKING SUCKS. WHY DO WE BOTH HAVE TO VE DYING.’#is sad :( don’t think abt it too hard because it hurts so much #i started out this ship as a way for chrysi to be a lesson to archie.. something funny and heartwarming #chrysi teaching the flirt how to love… and now it’s the worst race to the end for both of them #A R G H!!!! IN ANGUISH!!!

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hpdgirlfriend · 2 years

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yea nvm actually thistle is a little bitch and i hope he feels bad forever

#why does he always assume fucking bad intent from me. lmao.#stop projecting onto me ik ur an asshole but im not trying to be #why does he think he has a right to complain after all the shit he does to me lol. ur literally sooo better off #but yea go ahead and cry me a river let me pplay the worlds smallest violin for you.#just because YOU make jokes that aren't really jokes and are just hiding behind the j indicator doesn't mean i am.#passive aggressive piece of shit #why don't you actually talk to me if everything bothers you so much! lol!#it bothers you when i fucking TALK to people besides you when you A) DONT RESPOND TO ME and B) get mad that i hate your friend #who is a biphobic asshole who said he wanted me dead and constantly talks shit abt people (including friends?) publicly on main #AND C) LITERALLY; GENUINELY CHOOSE OTHER PEOPLE OVER ME AND I DONT REACT NEARLY THE SAME WAY YOU DO #hm. every time i say all this i get the silly little temptation to cut him off for realzies #and the silly little thought that im just putting up w abuse for nothing #the silly little thought that this is abuse.#but im biased :/#thistle go kill urself challenge #diary

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leatherbookmark · 2 years

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i swear to god, jgy being bitchy/prickly as a proof that he's finally opened up to someone is possibly my most disliked fandom treatment of him, because with obvious jgy haters at least I know we have exactly nothing to talk about! aaaaand block! but then people who claim to love him just make him into a total opposite of who he was in the novel and it's just like. sigh

#practically every time i bitch about it i bring up the fact that Yes the perspective of being able to be your worst self with no fear that #the person who sees that will hate you and book it is seductive and heady #but its never about that. or rather: when you read the novel you get the feel that jgy is wearing a smiling mask almost #constantly and it would be nice for him to not have to do that. but often fanworks lack that element and jgy is just a bitch #i mean yes sometimes you get a vague mention of difficult work! or some vague idea of a backstory that hints at jgy being a bitch #because he got hurt in the past and its his armor. and thats nice but its not jin guangyao. whose whole thing in canon was that he was #ALWAYS polite. i guess most fans picture a smile that you can See is fake and murderous but its not the case in the novel at all #and even if there really IS a setting where jgy can let himself be a bitch in front of his partner... it's just. so annoying #like jgy isn't a person but a little chihuahua throwing a little fit hihihi! how funny! have we mentioned he's so short?#I haven't found a fic where jgy genuinely can complain about his work/family/whatever troubles him and the other person reacts in a way #that would be a satisfying and appropriate emotional reaction for him (idk how to put it but for example when i need to vent i also need #the person im venting to to agree that yeah this is shitty/bullshit! which is why i dont really vent to people anymore lol)#it always has this comical undertone and it feels so wrong 4 me #on top of that this bitchy little a-yao is so popular that people dont even think twice about it. just like nmj who's so warm and loving #not to mention endlessly queer and supportive that people forget the original flavour (to borrow the sv term lol)#and again i do understand! one of my past otps was very Quirky and over the top (thats anime 4 u) and i soaked up the rare moments when #they were just people with complex feelings like a fucking sponge. then my fic was all about the complex feelings without any of the #quirkiness because i was tired of its abundance in canon. but in a way because of this they were a complete 180 from their canon selves #so like. i guess i understand. but what i dont understand is that this assumes thay jgy's smiles and kindness are ALL a front and that the #bitch (or gremlin! he and wwx are ~gremlin friends~ uh huh) is the True Self. and i mean. w h a t #people got So hooked up on short bitchy customer service employee forced to hide his oceans of snark behind a smile so fake its cracking at #the edges thay they forgot about the man who would do everything for people he loved + enjoyed making them happy and comfortable #and was kind to his subordinates. there's nothing of that dude in popular fics and im not even sure if authors know he existed #the closest we have is him trying to be the favourite uncle/satisfy his in-laws first/show off which just seems so shallow lmao #and its like Oh God #i know 'these are all fictional characters eli' but ashfhfkflsahfjsgod #shut up shrimp

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bunnyb34r · 1 year

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Whyyyy do I watch horror game let's plays when I KNOW it's gonna spike my paranoia something BAD

#im so stupid 🙃#it was the jerma stream of the mortuary assistant which was a hilarious stream but a scary game #i mean it wasnt like phasmophbia scary but it was... unsettling to say the least #and i just spent an hour reading lore on it bc he didnt get all the endings and i wanted to know why chat was yelling at him to grab #the necklace and coins if he didnt use em BUT it was bc the scene that you need to trigger to use those is randomly generated and he didnt #get them he did get the grandma one which was funny bc of how he reacted #anyway very interesting game! i like how you just think it's a mortician game until the second shift and youre like ohhh nooo...#and then the more times you play you can unlock different endings and learn more lore which was a cool mechanic #and having the haunts be randomly generated was also cool bc certain ones lead to different ''secret'' endings which gets the player to #keep playing over and over very nice #unfortunately my paranoia spikes h e a v i l y when i watch/read horror shit #i wish it didnt but its so stupid like i KNOW it's not real and that i wouldnt feel like this any other day had i not seen it which proves #that it's not real to my paranoia BUT IT DOESNT HELP BC MY BRAIN SUCKS #im trying to ''AND HERE COMES BOSHA WITH A STEEL CHAIR! AHHH HES GOT THE DEMON BY THE NOSE!!'' my way out of it but...#(ill picture my stuffed bear beating the shit out of whatever im paranoid ab and sometimes it helps like oh no worries Bosh has it #covered if any stupid monster comes here. boshas got it)#anywsy thats a lot of tags agdgdggdgdgdgd #marquilla

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kaijutegu · 4 months

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Alligator Body Language and You, or: How To Know When An Alligator On Social Media is Being Stressed for Views

Alligators are wild animals. Despite the idiotic claims of animal abusers like Jay Brewer, they cannot be domesticated, which means they are always going to react on the same natural instincts they've had for millions of years. Habituated, yes. Tamed, yes. Trained, definitely. Crocodilians can form bonds with people- they're social and quite intelligent. They can solve problems, use tools, and they're actually quite playful. Alligators are also really good at communicating how they're feeling, but to somebody who doesn't spend much time around them, their body language can be a bit mystifying. And it doesn't help when social media influencers are saying shit like this:

That is not what a happy gator looks like.

That's a terrified, furious gator who isn't attacking because the ogre handling her has her in a chokehold. She's doing everything she can to express her displeasure, and he's lying about it because he knows his audience doesn't even know how to think critically about what he's doing. He knows that because his audience doesn't know anything about these animals, he can get away with it. This I think is why I hate him so much- he deliberately miseducates his audience. He knows what he's doing is factually inaccurate, he just doesn't care because attention means more to him than anything else in the world.

Let's change that! Here are two really important lessons for understanding alligator body language on social media.

Lesson 1: Alligators Don't Smile (in fact, most animals don't)

So what's going on in this video? Jay Brewer is aggressively choking his white alligator Coconut while scrubbing algae off of her with a toothbrush. And make no mistake, he is digging into the creature's throat while she is visibly distressed. He claims she's happy- but she's not. He is willfully misrepresenting what this animal is feeling. That's a problem, because people... well, we actually kind of suck at reading other species' body language. The reason for this is that we tend to overlay our own responses on their physical cues, and that's a problem. For example, let's look at an animal with a really similar face to ours, the chimpanzee. Check out Ama's toothy grin!

Wait, no. That's not a happy smile. That's a threat display. When a chimpanzee "smiles," it's either terrified and doing a fear grimace, or it's showing you its teeth because it intends on using them in your face.

How about a dog? Look at my smiling, happy puppy!

Oh wait no, this is a picture of Ryder when he was super overwhelmed by noise and people during a holiday party. He'd hopped up in my sister's lap to get away from stuff that was happening on the floor and was panting quite heavily. See the tension in the corners of his mouth and his eyes? A lot of the time when a dog "smiles," the smile isn't happy. It's stress! Why Animals Do The Thing has a nice writeup about that, but the point is, our body language is not the same as other species. And for reptiles, body language is wildly different.

For instance, look at these two alligators. Pretty cute, right? Look at 'em, they're posing for a Christmas card or something! How do you think they're feeling?

Well, I'll tell you how the normal one is feeling. He's annoyed! Why is he annoyed? Because the albino just rolled up, pushed another gator off the platform, and is trying to push this guy, too. I know this because I actually saw it happen. It was pretty funny, not gonna lie. He's not gaping all the way, but he was hissing- you can actually see him getting annoyed in the sequence I took right before this shot. Look at him in this first shot here- he's just relaxing, and you can see he isn't gaping even a little bit.

By the end, he's expressing displeasure, but not enough to actually do anything about it. He's annoyed, but he's comfy and that's where one of the best basking areas is, so he'll put up with it.

Reptiles open their mouths wide for a lot of reasons, but never because they are actively enjoying a sensation. Unless they're eating. No reptile smiles- they can't. They don't even have moveable lips. If a reptile is gaping, it's doing so because:

It is doing a threat display.

It is making certain vocalizations, all of which are threats. Alligators are one of the rare reptiles that do regularly vocalize, but most of their calls aren't made with a wide open mouth.

It is about to bite something delicious or somebody stupid. Check out this video- virtually all of the gaping here is anticipatory because these trained gators know darn well that the bowl is full of delicious snacks. (I have some issues with Florida's Wildest, but the man knows how to train a gator AND he is honest about explaining what they're doing and why, and all of his animals are healthy and well-cared for, and he doesn't put the public or his staff at risk- just himself.)

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It's too hot and it has opened its mouth to vent some of that heat and thermoregulate. This is the main reason why alligators will often have their mouths part of the way open, but sometimes they'll open all the way for thermoregulation. This is what a thermoregulatory gape looks like- usually it's not all the way open, kinda more like < rather than V, but you can't say that 100% of the time. Additionally, a thermoregulatory gape... typically happens when it's hot out. If they're inside, maybe they've been under their basking light for too long. Heat's the dominant factor, is what I'm getting at.

There is another reason that a captive crocodilian might be gaping, and that's because it's doing so on command. Some places have their gators trained to gape on cue, like St. Augustine Alligator Farm and other good zoos. They have the animals do this in presentations that are genuinely educational. They ask the animals to open their mouths so that they can show off their teeth and demonstrate how their tongues seal off the back of their mouth. They'll also do it as part of routine healthcare, because looking at their teeth is important.

In this case, the animals aren't gaping because they're stressed, they're gaping because they know they're gonna get a piece of chicken or fish if they do it. And what's more, they're doing it on cue. They have a specific command or signal that tells them to open wide. It's not an instinctive response to a situation. It's trained. If the animal provides the behavior after a cue, the situation is much less likely to be negatively impactful.

It's also important to remember that there's a difference between a partially open mouth and a gape! As discussed above, alligators will often have their mouths a little bit open just to maintain temperature homeostasis. It helps them stay comfy, temperature-wise. These guys are all doing thermoregulatory open-mouthed behavior- that slight open and relaxed body posture is a dead giveaway. (That and it's the hottest spot in the enclosure.)

Lesson 2: A Happy Gator Is A Chill Gator

So if alligators don't smile or have facial expressions other than the :V that typically signifies distress, how else can you tell how they're feeling? One way is stillness. See, alligators subscribe to the philosophy of if it sucks... hit da bricks.

Basically, if they hate it, they'll leave. Unless, y'know, somebody has their meaty claws digging into their throat or is otherwise restraining them. (Restraint isn't always bad, btw. Sometimes the animal is going through a medical thing or needs to be restrained for their safety- which a responsible educator will explain.)

Let's look at a very similar scenario, in which a captive alligator is getting his back scrubbed.

As you can see, it's quite different. First, he's not being restrained at all. Second, look at how relaxed he is! He's just chilling there vibing! He could simply get up and leave if he wanted to, because he's not being held. Towards the end of the video, as he lifts his head, you can see that his respiratory rate is very even as his throat flutters a bit. I'm not sure what this facility is, so I can't comment on care/general ethics, but like. In this specific case, this is an alligator enjoying being scrubbed! And you can tell because he's not doing anything. A happy gator is content to be doing what they're doing.

Why Should I Listen To You?

Now, you should ask yourself, why should you listen to me? Why should you trust me, who does not own an alligator, versus Jay Brewer, who owns several?

Well, first off, there's no profit for me in telling you that what you're seeing on social media is in fact not what you're being told you're seeing. I'm not getting paid to do this. That's the thing with people who make social media content. The big names aren't doing it just for fun. They're doing it for money. Whether that's profit through partnerships or sponsorships, or getting more people to visit their facilities, or ad revenue, you can't ignore the factor of money. And this is NOT a bad thing, because it allows educators to do what they're passionate about! People deserve to be paid for the work that they do!

But the problem starts when you chase the algorithm instead of actually educating. A "smiling" alligator gets the views, and if people don't know enough to know better, it keeps getting the views. People love unconventional animal stories and they want those animals to be happy- but the inability to even know where to start with critically evaluating these posts really hinders the ability to spread real information. Like, this post will probably get a couple hundred notes, but that video of Coconut being scrubbed had almost 400,000 likes when I took that screenshot. Think about how many eyeballs that's reached by now. What I'm saying here is that it's just... really important to think critically about who you're getting your information from. What do dissenters say in the comments? What do other professionals say? You won't find a single herpetologist that has anything good to say about Prehistoric Pets, I can tell you that right now.

Another reason you can trust me is that my sources are not "just trust me bro," or "years of experience pretending my pet shop where animals come to die is a real zoo." Instead, here are my primary sources for my information on alligator behavior:

Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations- Vladimir Dinets

The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles- J. Sean Doody, Vladimir Dinets, Gordon M. Burghardt

Social Behavior Deficiencies in Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Z Walsh, H Olson, M Clendening, A Rycyk

Social Displays of the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)- Kent Vliet

Social Signals and Behaviors of Adult Alligators and Crocodiles- Leslie Garrick, Jeffery Lang

Never smile at a crocodile: Gaping behaviour in the Nile crocodile at Ndumo Game Reserve, South Africa- Cormac Price, Mohamed Ezat, Céline Hanzen, Colleen Downs (this one's Nile crocs, not American alligators, but it's really useful for modeling an understanding of gape behaviors and proximity)

Thermoregulatory Behavior of Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Cheryl S. Asa, Gary D. London, Ronald R. Goellner, Norman Haskell, Glenn Roberts, Crispen Wilson

Unprovoked Mouth Gaping Behavior in Extant Crocodylia- Noah J. Carl, Heather A. Stewart, Jenny S. Paul

Thank you for reading! Here's a very happy wild alligator from Sanibel for your trouble.

#reptiblr #alligator #crocodile #Youtube

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