Safe Place

bucky typically wearing multiple layers of clothing with his arm hidden vs being in a simple shirt with his arm out on display indicating his comfort and familiarity with sam is so personal to me.

and another thing i love is the symbolism in the fact that he’s wearing the same style of shirt (henley) in both of these pictures. except the red indicates an anger and conflict in his identity vs the blue symbolising strength and serenity (newfound thanks to sam).

I feel like I don't have the spoons for this, nor the understanding of real-life PTSD enough to explore it, but I feel like it's worth examining Jayce's arc for signs of PTSD. Much has been made of the canonical mental illnesses and PTSD of characters like Jinx, and I've mentioned that I think Jayce might have generalized clinical anxiety, but I think it's worth looking at how much of his behavior might be PTSD related even before he goes to the Anomaly future.

Some possible places I'd look:

Jayce has been getting fed paranoia by Marcus and by the tension that is being deliberately ratcheted up by Silco and Jinx. Yes, he says awful, bigoted things to Viktor on the bridge, but it is worth pointing out that he's not saying this in a vacuum, there are people in proximity to him deliberately stoking his paranoia and that of the city for their own ends, literally Marcus is gaslighting him actively by telling him the Firelights are responsible and the best way to keep people safe is shut down the bridge.

The fight in the Shimmer Factory gets more wild to me every time I watch. Jayce should not be there for so many reasons but one of them is Jayce is not a fighter. I think his video game counterpart sort of obscures this, but unlike Vi who has spent her whole life fighting AND in prison for years, Jayce has never, ever wielded that hammer before. He didn't even have it until the day before! And suddenly he's up against the Shimmer-infused berserkers who are some of the toughest fighters in the whole show. He almost gets his head cut off, if not for features he built into the hammer like weightlessness and the shield, he'd be dead, and then he makes what I call the, "Jayce is Making Bad Decisions" Face (I need to make a gifset of this face btw, he makes it a couple times, also while resurrecting Viktor).

Ok I might make fun of the Jayce is Making Bad Decisions face, BUT on a serious note, it's clear the Fortiche animators are doing a superb job showing someone who has gone into "Adrenaline Mode". REAL fighters do not want adrenaline. Adrenaline fucks up your reaction times and makes you shaky and turns off your higher brain functions. I've been in a fight when fear adrenaline kicks in and you just start wildly swinging to get people away from you and that is exactly what happened when Jayce's face got scrunched up and he started shooting wildly, he just wanted to stop the threat because he's never fought before, unlike Vi. And then he kills a kid and the triumph of his first fight against an uncomplicated enemy just dies and btw, never returns except in that moment fighting more Shimmer berserkers and Renni but those are clear self defense and there's no triumph in it.

BRO gets HIT BY A ROCKET, has a pure panic response leaving living people who need his help in the chamber to save Viktor, and he doesn't go back as far as we know.

Ok so the things that me, as not an expert would be curious to note as possible PTSD responses would be:

Jayce not leaving the lab after the attack except 1) to go to the funeral (where he's attacked AGAIN) 2) to comfort Caitlyn after Mel basically tells him to, 3) to make weapons for Caitlyn's team specifically to keep a small group of people safe, not arm an entire army. Besides that, it looks like he spends all his time holed up in the lab, even after Viktor is gone, because that's his safe space and I think I read once that PTSD has a way of shrinking your world down to just the people and places you trust.

Dragging that hammer around with him in the Anomaly future. Look, Jayce is a city boy, he has no survival instincts, but it wasn't just a bad idea because it broke his leg, it was actively detrimental to his chances of survival because lugging an anvil around drained him of water and calories. Bro had a lot less chance of survival with it, but he thought he was surrounded by zombies (he wasn't, they're all dead and they're all controlled by Viktor, we learn he was never in danger, though I don't blame him for that). But that could also be a PTSD response, his actual emotional support hammer.

Clamming up and not talking to Mel about what happened because she's not in his circle of trust anymore, it's more or less shrunk down to just Viktor (once he can save him) and Cait, maybe.

Ok as usual this got longer than I intended by just... some things that are in my mind right now.

how do y’all think haymitch felt when katniss came back to him all “i want wiress, beetee, and mags as allies” in catching fire? hand-picking his two and a half men(tors)!!

“of course you do” as his response now means so much more bc he’s not just exasperated he’s like “you really are me with a braid”

JJK MENTAL HEALTH INSPIRATION

remember that gojo would want you to stay hydrated, and drink plenty of water. megumi wants you to learn more about yourself, and advance in life. yuuji wants you to make sure you’re comfortable, and not exhausting yourself socially. nobara wants you to spoil yourself, and buy that thing you’ve been wanting. nanami would love for you to take a step back, breathe, and re-evaluate yourself if you’re feeling off. how can you fix the issue? sukuna thinks you’re strong willed, and a powerful individual. don’t ever forget that. toge wants you to try something new, and panda wants you to learn a new skill. maki wants you to work on your physical capability, so that you can surpass any challenges.

utahime needs you to work more on mental balance, and understanding of your mind. mahito wants you to take long breaks after training, and take a nice long bubble bath. getou thinks you have potential, and to work on being more selfish with your time. do things for yourself, not everyone else; but mai wants you to be nice to others when it counts, so you don’t lose people you’re close to. noritoshi wants you to become more in tune with your senses. todou wants you to eat more, and stop skipping meals. toji wants you to stop being so serious, and growing up too quickly. enjoy your youth while you have it. choso wants you to take a nap, and sleep in. mei mei wants you to do a skin care routine, and hair masks. it’s been a long day, take care of yourself.

when you’re having a bad day, and you want to give up on taking care of yourself— remember to be at your best, for your comfort characters.

Something I love about Fizzarolli/Asmodeus is how clearly they serve to show the difference between wanted and unwanted sexiness.

They’re shameless and kinky and hopelessly in love and- importantly- that doesn’t mean either or both of them are up for anything!

From the jump Fizz has been clearly shown to be uncomfortable with the Fizzbot weirdos projecting onto him

and in this ep we actually see how much the parasocial sexual relationship with his fans causes them to over step and touch or talk to Fizz in ways that make him uncomfortable. This is in spite of him being loudly sexual and comfortable with being sexy onstage and publicly, but this ISNT in contradiction to that!

Asmodeus, Ruler of the Lust Ring, has strong feelings about consent! Consent is sexy and it’s not sex without consent.

It makes Mammon’s commodification of Fizzarolli and his sexuality all the more stark. 🤢

Alastor: My partner need to be regal, powerful, clever, with the passion to take over Hell with me.

Reader: *Trips on the sidewalk and falls over crying because they stepped on a caterpillar*

Alastor: That one. I want that one.

I brought you some Alastor and wine.

gossiping old ladies

forget being afraid of being judged as a sinner or winner, I am afraid to be judged by THEM.