#(blub blub)

"Love! Love! Love!" Brendon knew what was coming as soon as he heard the sound of her running through the house. "Look! I can dislocate my finger!" Brendon saw her make a simple movement, where the metacarpal simply came out of the metacarpophalangeal joint. And back with a loud POP!

"Why?! Why do you do that?!" He asks, taking her hand and giving it a few kisses as if it would make things better.

"It didn't!"

"Well, it should!" He replies, opening one of the drawers in his office and taking out his collection of splints and immobilizations (which he bought just for her). "Want to wear the splint again?"

"No..." She says, her happiness going down the drain.

"Then don't dislocate your fingers, please."

"Why are you sitting like that?" He asked, seeing his girlfriend watching television in the most impossible position possible. One leg practically behind her head. Her right hand raised, her forehead under her right leg... Her torso twisted.

"It's the only position I'm comfortable in," she said as if it were abnormal.

"Honey, I don't think it's a good idea for you to do yoga..."

"My physical therapist said I should do physical activity! Strengthen my muscles so they can support my joints!"

"She meant some physical activity that involves strength! And not putting your leg behind your head for fun!!!"

"You're jealous because I can do this," she said before dislocating both shoulders at the same time. Brendon lost control of his breathing, starting to cough as he watched his girlfriend walk towards a wall and easily put her shoulders back in place.

"That doesn't prove the point you think it proves!" He said, watching her leave.

And, at the worst possible time:

"Oh shit! Harder!!!" She moaned, gripping the sheets and slamming her head against the pillow. Her knees were braced on the bed, and Brendon held her hips as he forced his body harder and harder against her.

He pushed harder.

And listened.

POP

"Shit, that was—"

"Damn it, Brendon?! Why did you stop?!!"

"Because your body moved out of place!"

"IT WAS JUST MY COCCYX! IT'LL GO BACK!"

"What?!"

"Brendon Park, if you don't keep fucking me in three seconds, I'm going to open the drawer and finish the job with the vibrator!"

"Tomorrow I'm taking you for an MRI... There's no way that noise was your coccyx!"

"FUCK ME ALREADY, BRENDON!"

(Clearly a story loosely based on me, because I have ligamentous laxity and hypermobility, hehehe)

i do think that it is very telling how i see a lot of folks saying that they have "outgrown" the therian label and taken up holothere instead, saying that it feels more real and legitimate.

something about it wigs me out. and i think that it has to do with perceived seriousness and a bid for legitimacy. linguistic shift is normal and expected, it's not like this is really avoidable. but the difference between holothere and therian is not the same as therianthropy vs. therianism.

therianthropy vs. therianism is really just people using the wrong term. it's not intentional. it's what happens when "therianthrope" has been shortened so much that the original tenses and forms of the word are just forgotten. it's an arguably pretty normal linguistical shift. im a little annoyed by it, mind you. "therianthrope" and "therianthropy" are some kickass words that I think should be used more. but i can't really be shocked or even upset that it's happened.

holothere is different. while the coining of the word + the way many use it can be very genuine, there is undoubtedly a growing population that uses it because of its perceived to be more serious than therian. it's adopted as a way to been seen as a more legitimate identity. and i can't really be mad at that, either. to say that therian has lost some of its.... idk.... power? due to it being picked up by certain demographics is not wrong. like there is nothing in the reasoning or the desire that is bad or wrong with any of this.

but it does make me a bit squemish, I think? Because it introduces therianthropy as something lesser within the community. You have an internal conflict with legitimacy, here. And it's based off the label you use. In the past, the community has negotiated legitimacy through grilling. And I am not calling for a return to grilling, I don't think it was a great thing, but... it is something I'm noticing.

How we are changing the way we assert our identity's seriousness is now based off of the initial words we use, as opposed to the understanding of that word.

I had a design drawn up for Erin as a shrimp mer ages ago. I revamped it and here we are!

☆彡 pirate! k. bakugou x merman! e. kirishima x mermaid! reader

...when a merman is unexpectedly dragged aboard your captain katsuki's ship, your perfect sea-faring life is upended. an epic quest must ensue to save your most valued possession, your last remaining family, and maybe you'll gain a new lover, or two?

tags-> fantasy au! mermaid au! angst, slow burn, fwb to lovers, enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort, poly kiribaku and reader endgame, lore and world building, no use of y/n, gender neutral reader, lots of author being obsessed with marine biology :3