Greatest Fears/Phobias

[Cap'n Sofa]

The only real phobias, the ones that can get me to cry, are needles and being eaten alive or depictions of it. Other, minor fears include the dark, absolute silence, and being burned alive. I've always been comfortable around spiders and heights though.

 

[Autumn]

long drawn out torture and pain

the supernatural

video game glitches (supporting my theory that i'm actually a robot)

and again: abandonment. this is my absolute worst fear. i can take on the world without a single complaint, i can stand at the edge of a cliff and peer over enough that it makes everyone else nervous, i can leap into the ocean and swim far enough out that i'm up to my chest in water, i can look at a cockroach or spider and say "huh, interesting" before squashing it, i can ride any roller coaster without caring one bit, needles don't bother me, death i can handle, public performance i can pull off and laugh about it easily.

abandonment i cannot handle.

life is certain. death is certain. there is no choice for me in this life but to be faced with spiders and cockroaches, needles, public performance. it is likely i will have to face heights and cliffs and the ocean. abandonment is not necessary to living a fulfilling life. abandonment is what makes me miserable. abandonment is why i have been suicidal. abandonment is the only thing i truly fear.

 

[Minish]

Hey, don't squash slaters and spiders if you're not even scared of 'em. :( Mean!

 

[Vipera Magnifica]

Falling objects. I won't stand under a palm tree for fear of being bludgeoned to death by a falling coconut. And no way I'll stand by cliffs. Fuck that.

When I was younger, I had an acute fear of meteors, and falling aircraft. If I heard a plane going by I was paranoid that it would crash down on me. Or perhaps drop a bomb on me.

Roaches don't scare me so much, but if one of them fuckers comes flying at me, I am likely to defecate upon myself.

Huh, I wouldn't call it a phobia, but I am definitely deeply unsettled by things like lotus seed heads. I had no idea there was a word for it.

I also can't even look at one without feeling my skin crawl. I really have no explanation for this.

 

[Worst Username Ever]

Fear of wasps.

Also I guess have a bit of trypophobia, though it's mostly when it's holes in any living creature/human or bugs/animals crawling out of the holes(uggggh), otherwise holes doesn't bother me.

 

[ultraviolet]

Huh, I wouldn't call it a phobia, but I am definitely deeply unsettled by things like lotus seed heads. I had no idea there was a word for it.

yeah, for some reason the wikipedia page for trypophobia has a picture of a lotus seed head at the top of the page, too.

 

[Tailsy]

I'm *afraid* of some things like needles and surprise spiders jumping on my face (u___u), but i only have a phobia of navels and people touching them or shgfjdfhgyhyg

UGH THEY'RE SO FUCKING GROSS

I have vomited because someone stuck their finger in mine before it's really gr8

 

[Vipera Magnifica]

My skin is itching from head to toe now, and I feel sick to the stomach. It's the worst sensation. Lousy goddamn stupid trypophobia trigger images.

 

[1. Luftballon]

I don't exactly have any phobias, I mean like I'm afraid of drowning but that's because I can't swim, so it's not really that unreasonable.
sometimes I wonder if I'm the only person in the world who's not afraid of spiders! I am usually the person picking up and taking spiders away from people who have found them and are curling into a ball of fear (which I'm happy to do; they're cute).

!! but you live in australa where the spiders are, like, australan spiders

 

[opaltiger]

!! but you live in australa where the spiders are, like, australan spiders

Fun fact: no one has died of redback or funnelweb (arguably the two most dangerous Australian spiders) bites since antivenoms were discovered in 1956 and 1981, respectively.

Though this is slightly worrying:

In September 2012, it was reported that stocks of antivenom were running low, and members of the public were asked to catch the spiders so that they could be milked for their venom. One dose of antivenom requires around 70 milkings from a spider.

 

[1. Luftballon]

... members of the public were asked to catch the spiders, eh, when stocks of antivenom stocks were running low. this is probably not as bad as it sounds, but.

 

[shy ♡]

This is because spiders cannot actually kill you unless you are tiny or allergic. They only have enough venom for little things (their food).

 

[opaltiger]

Not actually true. Venom delivery against large animals might be inefficient, but they are certainly capable of killing adult humans. (Though obviously children are much more likely to die of spider bites.)

 

[Phantom]

I'm not really scared of anything.

I mean, yes, I'd be scared shitless if someone pulled a gun on me, or if I was in danger of drowning or incoming chance of being blown up.

But that doesn't mean I'm scared of guns, or being on boats, or explosives.

I just would be scared momentarily before I, you know, die of said things or something.

But I'm not scared of things. Circumstances, maybe.

 

[1. Luftballon]

they still seem to be at least slightly annoying and potentially causing hospitalisation and things ... and antivenom would probably be used in treatment, so it still seems rather inefficient to have members of public, which may or may not have formal training in catching dangerous spiders, trying to catch spiders.

(... but wait, who /usually/ catches spiders for milking)

 

[Phantom]

(... but wait, who /usually/ catches spiders for milking)

Super special trained chimps and reeaaaally small milk buckets.

 

[ultraviolet]

Fun fact: no one has died of redback or funnelweb (arguably the two most dangerous Australian spiders) bites since antivenoms were discovered in 1956 and 1981, respectively.

Though this is slightly worrying:

In September 2012, it was reported that stocks of antivenom were running low, and members of the public were asked to catch the spiders so that they could be milked for their venom. One dose of antivenom requires around 70 milkings from a spider.

yeah, that was a news story here a while ago. funnelwebs are kind of harder to find because they're not house spiders like redbacks are (which tend to hide and make webs in anything kind of crevice or corner, like under toilet seats or under gate handles).
although it wasn't like 'everyone! go find some spiders!' it was more like 'if you happen to find one, please bring it in instead of killing it'.

This is because spiders cannot actually kill you unless you are tiny or allergic. They only have enough venom for little things (their food).

maybe where you're from, but yeah people can die from spiders here (it's just uncommon). my aunt got bitten by a redback while she was hanging the washing and (eventually) got an antivenom, but she had to get a pacemaker shortly afterwards because the venom does something gross to cell membranes iirc. redback venom in particular is kind of similar to what you'll find in some snakes and blue-ringed octopuses. It's not so much the amount of venom, it's about potency. redbacks will poison things much larger than themselves to eat, like geckos and stuff. even when they don't cause death, venomous spider bites are usually extremely painful.

they still seem to be at least slightly annoying and potentially causing hospitalisation and things ... and antivenom would probably be used in treatment, so it still seems rather inefficient to have members of public, which may or may not have formal training in catching dangerous spiders, trying to catch spiders.

(... but wait, who /usually/ catches spiders for milking)

Spoiler: talking about spiders here

it actually depends on the kind of spider! spiders are kind of vaguely separated into small, web-spinning house spiders (usually poisonous) and larger, predatorial spiders (sometimes poisonous).
web-spinning spiders are kind of like ordinary house spiders: they just sit in a web most of the day and chill and don't do much. redback spiders are really poisonous and are web-spinning spiders and they're fairly easy to catch! you just need a plastic container and hope it doesn't just run away into a crevice. generally these kinds of spiders aren't too keen to confront you and attack (plus they're tiny) so you just trap it against a wall with a plastic container and you're done, really.
funnel-web spiders (or sydney funnel-webs) are predatorial, don't have webs and actually live in burrows underground, so they're harder to find and to catch, because predatorial spiders will actually run away or toward you quite quickly (because they're built to), or up your arm and into your clothes. they will also probably be aggressive (they'll raise some of their legs and 'look angry') and they're bigger, too. I personally wouldn't go looking for a funnel-web to catch, because they live in burrows and you're just as likely to kill one as your are to catch it, probably. I mean if there's one hanging around and you have a jar or something, sure, but trying to extract a spider from its home is kind of a silly thing to do, and you'll probably lose sight of it because they camouflage in leaf litter reasonably well.
I dunno. funnel-webs don't inhabit Western Australia, but redbacks are everywhere here (I could probably go find one right now, really). Generally the rule is if it's poisonous, don't pick it up and let something else touch the spider, like a container or some paper or something. Some spiders are safe to pick up and look at because they're not poisonous (but will bite if you're not careful).

Spiders can be caught by anyone willing, but milking is done by professionals, usually at zoos or wildlife parks.

Hey, don't squash slaters and spiders if you're not even scared of 'em. :( Mean!

If someone's afraid of spiders, I'll just do what'll make them feel better. Some people are fine if I just pick the thing up and take it outside, but some people feel very sick seeing a spider in someone's hands or seeing it crawl or feel better seeing it not alive anymore. considering there are literally so many bugs around here all the time, I don't feel so bad about it.

 

[Spoon]

But! Killing spiders, especially with shoes, might not be the best option, as some spiders like the wolf spider carry their eggs on their spinnerets and squashing it can spread the the eggs in all sorts places. Not good. Not good at all.

 

[Minish]

uv: Sure but I feel like usually people don't really mind either way as long as it's gone soon! Obviously if it's a really crippling phobia they also can't just flee the area or close their eyes or anything, but I've never really encountered anyone genuinely like that.

I feel like it might be a good idea to try to combat at least the "I really really don't like it so it needs to be dead!!" mindset. :( I get that it's not really a conscious thing for lots, though.

 

[sv_01]

I have vomited because someone stuck their finger in mine before it's really gr8

Is that... irony... with Vriska's quirk?


Anyway, I'm sort of scared of heights if there's not enough railing. As for trypophobia, I have no problem with the lotuses, but all those people with holes photoshopped on them... That's horrible.