#Because my previous intake was similar

[applestand]

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[five-rivers]

Another continuation of my poll fic; the previous part is here.

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“Hello?” called Danny.  “Is anyone there?  Hello?”

There was no answer except a further flicker of light, more distant.  

Danny touched his tongue to his lips briefly, then marked his place in the intake book using one of the blank cards.  He slid out of the chair and off his stack of books to stand.  The cold wood and iron of the floor made him rethink that and he floated up.  It was better that way, anyway, in terms of vantage point.

He approached the gap between shelves.  “Hello?”  

Looking out into the passageway beyond, the light seemed to wrap around and layer over itself with different levels of brightness.  Danny looked back at his own trail of brilliance, saw where it faded, saw where it was fresh and new.  This other trail, it looked like someone had walked this way multiple times.  Going in circles, maybe?

He floated upward, trying for a better vantage point and jostled a set of what looked like windchimes, long triangular metal rods covered in tiny symbols gathered together under domes.  They jingled and jangled musically in the muffling silence of the library.  He stilled them with one hand.

There was movement out of the corner of his eye and turned.  There, just before the passageway bent around a particularly precarious collection of papers, floated a ghost.  

It was a very strange ghost.  It glowed like a small sun, and if Danny’s eyes hadn’t been changed by his own alteration, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to look at it.  It had long, long ears, shaped mostly like a bat’s but furred like a cat’s.  Their eyes, too, were catlike, slitted.  It had wings, and at their ends they were thin and flat, like a moth’s or butterfly’s, but they were fluffy with fur and feathers near their bases, and there was something birdlike about their structure there as well.  Its body was relatively small, and looked soft, although it wasn’t nearly as small as Danny currently was.  Danny couldn’t tell if the ghost was male or female or something else entirely.

But perhaps the strangest thing of all was the pervasive sense of silence it carried with it.  

In any case, Danny saw no golden thread, and some of the other features - like the light - seemed to match with the aids offered to guests.  Only, like.  A lot of them.  All at once.  Meaning they must’ve gotten lost a whole bunch of times, even if Danny couldn’t see any visitor badges on them.

“Um, hi,” said Danny.  “I noticed, um.  Are you lost?  The attendant should be coming before too long.”

The faintest of breezes tickled the back of his neck and he looked behind him, to the other end of the passage.  There was another almost identical ghost hovering there.  

“Um.”  Danny was, perhaps, getting just a little nervous about the silent staring.  

More light.  Yet another similar ghost floated at the opposite entry to the card catalog space.  And–

Danny moved backwards, into more open space as the area brightened further and more luminous, winged ghosts floated into view or poked heads up over shelves and other barriers.  

“Danny,” said Mom.  

“Not now,” said Danny.  He blinked.  

Next thing he knew, fingers were brushing his throat.  He flinched backwards and away.  Fast.  Either naturally so, or via alteration.  Or, if they weren’t visitors, maybe because of a home-field advantage or disadvantage on Danny’s part.  Some places did that, and he hadn’t been here long enough to determine if this was one of them.  

“I don’t want to fight,” he said.  Or tried to say.  He went through the motions, but his voice made no sound.  He made no sound, period, not even the sound of his tongue tapping against the roof of his mouth.  

He’d been silenced.  Not good.  That meant that not only could he not negotiate, he couldn’t call for help.  

He was left with limited options, and limited time to choose between them.  Luckily, those same battle-born reflexes and reactions that were inconvenient elsewhere served him well now and gave him the chance to choose.  

He could fight.  The librarians would be unhappy.  It was against the rules that the receptionist had given to him, and likely to damage the books and card catalog, so he’d probably be kicked out.  But, if he fought, he was sure he’d win, even with these numbers, and that would be safer than his other options.  He couldn’t imagine that this many people ganging up on someone who looked like they were five meant well.  

He could flee.  He would almost certainly get lost, but that was a lesser crime than damaging the card catalog.  Whether or not he’d get caught… well, he had about the same amount of experience running as fighting, but he usually wasn’t running from a group this large in unfamiliar territory and facing unfamiliar powers.  These silent ghosts could have further unpleasant abilities.  

He could freeze.  Literally.  He could build a shell of ice and ghost shields up around himself and hunker down until he either thought of a better plan or the attendant came back.  That might put the attendant in danger, but Danny didn’t know if it would be more danger than if he just ran away.  Anything other than fighting and winning decisively meant that these people would still be around.  But if they were meant to be here… if the attendant could negotiate with them or authorize a fight…

Too much speculation.  He had the space of a breath in which to act.  Less. 

[mantisgodsart]

@bug-oc... round ONE! Finally! Still counting this as "round one" of transmutations because of the blog round numbers despite the fact that we've already done a round of like two bugs! We... didn't realize how many of these characters were yellow until it was actually time to draw them. It's like we went in with a theme, and then stuck to it. Except for with Holly, who presumably lost the dress code along with their head. Please vote for our cool dune cricket in the handful of hours before this round ends, and thank you!

Individual characters and transmutation notes below cut.

[...though I briefly considered another form, limiting surface area relative to the size of the entity is crucial for stability in ectoplasmic entities, and I don't currently intend to attempt to form a "swarm", as similar entities often form in the wild - a more simple, and thus more stable, form is better. The energy pack in the subject's possession upon intake appears to be either nearly or fully impossible to reclaim, unfortunately - ghosts can be hard to separate from things with sentimental value, so it's likely a lost cause. I'll continue obsevation...]

Beera by @longeth-dayv. An actual design, this time, rather than our fucking-around-with-maybes! This one, we think, does a lot more for the actual character, though from our understanding of Luigi's Mansion the species choice might be slightly more "generic". We particularly enjoyed tinkering with the wire of the power pack - ghosts and transparent things are VERY fun to draw, and we liked working out where that wire would go in the areas normally hidden by the body. Long, winding lines are very fun to draw sometimes. Hopefully this one works better for you, too!

[...successful partial isolation of the fungal element proves both that it can be isolated and that transmutation of cordyceps symbiotes may be less of a barrier than previously thought. Results appear similar to "Moka" back in the first year of experiments, where the cordyceps remains untransmuted within the new body - is this a quirk unique to vertebrate physiology? The failed transmutation with Fulminis pulled from a largely bug pool, whilst both successful cordyceps transmutations have been with beasts.]

[The avian physiology doesn't seem to have produced much difference from reptilian, minus some differences in visible fungal growth, but the subjects started with varying quantities of visible fungal growth to begin with, and the magic present in both of the previous round's subjects presents an additional variable... at the very least, I know that the fungus on its own is either resistant or immune to conventional transmutation, considering Mop, though I still need to work out how the host-symbiote synthesis alters things...]

[I'll have to do further testing- I dearly wish that these subjects were easier to get my hands on, but I don't know where I would be able to source them in my own universe, much less if they even exist there, since I'm no longer certain if the time portal event through which I met Holly Holiyxeiul was from the past of my universe, the past of another universe, or the present of somewhere else. Omelette's successful transmutation proves that I can manufacture them, but I won't be certain as to the limits of this until I can collect samples...]

Butterscotch from @w-krajobrazie-zapomnienia. The wings on this took... FOREVER. Deciding to make Butterscotch a bird with individual "charring" on the feathers was an act of monumental hubris, and EASILY the most labor-intensive part of this page. Doing this in watercolor would have been easier, probably. Alas, if we want to be capable of using a marker, we must put effort into marker drawing. At the very least, we think the effect came out fairly well! We like the sort of "scorched" effect that Butterscotch's base design has, and though difficult to recreate in marker form, we think we pulled it off! Hope this works decently well for you.

[...expanding lizard experiments from the ones found in the former grounds of Five Pebbles to their closest resemblances in the fleshbeasts of our world, I found quite a few points of similarity. Though for obvious reasons, I haven't had the opportunity to observe any specimens of the original species, given that most vertebrate beasts have been extinct since before I was hatched, the underlying biology is similar enough that I could carry through a significant amount of understanding forward.]

[Though majority of traits seem typical for what I can observe from preserved specimens, I am noting some minor divergences - typical for the lizards of RW9089-1, but not, as far as I know, typical for the reptiles that once roamed the wastes. The subject has developed sensory whiskers, narrower than those observed on Black Lizards but seeming to serve a similar function of detecting scent and motion in the air.]

[Additionally, the subject has developed a short coat of setae across the back, with a similar texture to the subject's former ruff - some surface-level similarities have been found to the hair on the pelts of Northern Moths, particularly those found in areas where significant quantities of water make leviathans a dietary staple. Though fur "coats" can be found in RW-9089-1 specimens such as Strawberry Lizards, this trait is, as far as I can tell, unique to this specimen.]

[When following up, I'll want to examine the dorsal frills to be certain that former shape's traits are not overwriting the end shape's traits to too significant of a degree - this is not an unknown trait in salamanders, but I'll need to be certain the structure isn't too similar to insect wing structure, as this many traits carrying over may indicate mid-point speciesation, which will mean any parts harvested will have wholly different traits from the originally sourced...]

Lote from @fallenvoidhere! We went through a handful of design iterations on this, mostly trying to home in on making it clear that it's the character - we sort of underestimated how much blue we'd need to add, but when you're turning into a lizard several times your normal size, it's probably understandable to lose a lot of your accessories…? Since the black on the design, respectively, is mostly accessories, most of these markings are improvised - we based our placement at least partially off of an orca whale, after going through a lot of markings from IRL salamanders. Originally, we planned to make the wing further in to the body a bit more transparent, but… well, as it turns out, we're probably a bit too used to watercolors for our own good, and working with markers is a bit of a different beast. We still think it came out pretty decent!

[...previously noted properties of fireflies appear to ease the rougher edges of this, though it will still need some refining before it's ready to go to market. A working prototype is better than I've gotten with previous generations of this recipe. I'll have to spend some time going over the readings to work out how to route things on anything that isn't a firefly.]

[With the way that most of these particular transmutations have gone, forming a "chamber" for the light before the light-producing compound itself is produced appears to be key for the survivablity of the subject. I suspect that there's a reason that the gas compound found in the component-introduction artefact hasn't been found in natural beings; despite the multitude of uses it has in charmcraft, mercury tends to be quite toxic with continual exposure, and mercury vapor in particular can be deadly. Another reason to stick to proper PPE..]

Nox from @erijuice! This one's quite a dramatic modification to the body plan. We may have gotten a bit carried away with things here, but... okay listen we will be fully honest with you this is just an elaborate plan on "glow wyrm". We based this one heavily off of tatzulwurms and similar creatures, and from there mostly just went into "having fun with it". The wings might grow in more later, or they might not - this was one of our personal favorite designs to draw, and though we sort of wish we tinkered with the pose a bit more, it's a bit hard to do here without running into issues with... space. Such is the consequence of making a big page o' transmuted bugs.

[...more experimental brews have their pros and cons, and with this one, it's a bit hard to define which is more present. On the plus side, the resulting form seems stable; lack of mandibles aside, it's standing and walking, and seems in fine health from the readings that I can see. Subject is alert and appears to have either full or very close to full former cognitive capacity, as shown by the multiple attempts at escape via manipulating the lock. It's just that I don't have the slightest clue what it is, or how its biology... works.]

[I intend to collect samples once the transmutation settles enough for properties to solidify. From initial testing, I think that its digestive system may rely partially on the fur-like... appendages, on its ventral side, but it's presently somewhat unclear. Upon coming into contact with some spare biological waste (see: Vessel project, Voidless transmutation attempts), the material appeared to "tangle" in the ventral fur, and was gradually dissolved over the course of about eighteen hours. From what I can gather of the data, this appears to have given off similar readings to a more conventional being having eaten a large meal? Will test with other forms of biological material once I can gather enough material to recreate the end organism if existing subject is lost.]

Yasmine from @darth-moth - and this is one that was very fun to do! The lines in this were very, VERY fun to work with, and we had quite a lot of fun just banging this out! - the design here is, probably fairly obviously, based heavily on Rain World's Rain Deer, as well as the multitude of "creepy deer" type stories that are practically everywhere on the internet. We were tinkering, if vaguely, with the concept of something like a terrestrial filter feeder, or similar - did you know that some whales have begun hunting behavior of pretending to be shelter so that fish will hide in their mouths and, thus, be eaten?

We'd picture that this, whatever it is, wanders places and passively snags prey with the dangling "fur", avoiding any sort of need for energy-intensive chases while keeping itself fed on whatever it walks over. A passive scavenger, probably with not a lot in terms of personal self defense. The vents on the sides, though they might be slightly unclear as is, are just about the only active method of offense - releasing toxic gas or something similar in an attempt to choke out predators. Our greatest desire in life is to design enemies for a soulslike poison swamp and we think that Yasmine is an excellent poison swamp candidate. We hope that this is a normal and usual motivation and ambition to have, we had a lot of fun with it.

[...uncontrolled crystal growth took over before the transmutation had completed, at roughly 4 days, 8 hours after the initial administration of the formula. I was lucky to be awake at the time - the remote monitor that I imbedded appears to have been consumed by the same phenomenon shortly before my arrival. I can only assume that this is due to pre-existing contamination - if not accounted for, Crystals can react very unpredictably to transmutations, and I didn't account for contamination of this assumed level.]

[Though I've observed this sort of effect before, it's been years since I've experienced a bloom of nearly this extent. What really surprises me is that the subject appears to still be moving, despite the extensive damage to... everything. The head appeared to have been fully destroyed at the time of arrival, and the crystals sprouting from the back have to have gone right through the ganglia - the weave of the transmutation has been fully destroyed, so it can't be sustaining itself on the former body's imprint, so I can only assume that the crystals captured some of the host body's mind during the overgrowth event and are attempting to continue to run the same old patterns of behavior.]

[I am currently unclear on how much of the former bug remains. What scans that I've taken suggest that the new crystals may have linked up with their companion Warden, though to what degree is still unclear. If I want to properly analyze this, I'll need to take it back to the lab. From there... diagnosis work, and maybe trying to work out how poor Snakemouth Den's lab security is, really.]

Holly from @thetroupemaster! Our first transmutation failure of the tournament! Holly, unfortunately, fell victim to poor lab safety - a more open-ended formula intended to gather a form from environmental factors, combined with some unfortunate lab contamination. This actually links in to a few personal headcanons on how Crystals work, though we don't think we've posted them before.

A crystal is a colonial organism, much like coral, storing both data and magical energy. Generally gathering energy from the sun to power itself, it grows so slowly as to be unnoticeable to the bug eye, but it does grow, and when exposed to, say, a charm engineered to allow for rapid change of a physical form, it has the potential to rapidly grow and consume that energy, stopping its growth either when it grows out of magical energy or when the handful of elements present in the original weave to let it change and grow are consumed.

Some people in external kingdoms do this to avoid having to constantly ship in Crystals from Bugaria, but it's not particularly common, as this method of growing Crystals tends to consume things like your other projects, or the lab shielding you probably want to keep intact, or yourself if you have the poor foresight to not properly protect yourself against contamination. Under control conditions, the chances of this happening are nearly zero! Under these conditions... well.

Crystals are very, very good at preserving memories. The rest of Holly's body, on the other hand, might be a bit of a lost cause at this point. You can work in a lab without seeing things, right...?

...yeah, we aren't counting on it, either.

Bonus: for those who scrolled down this far, a quick compilation of labels. As well as, of course, a teaser for what's yet to come.

[...the most complimentary thing that I can say about Mal, I think, is that Hobbes would get along well with xir. Terrible lab safety protocols. AWFUL cross-contamination protocols. Just looking at this bug's methodology is giving me hives. Venus give me strength. I suspect that any brew that I attempt to use will suffer from enough unknown, uncontrollable outside variables that none of the data I get will be even remotely applicable to any other situation. "Edge case" is generous - I struggle to call this sort of tampering anything less than an utter abomination of science.]

[I will be using one of the more heavily conceptual brews for this. The REMW-19 formula is reasonably stable enough that the weave shouldn't just collapse in on itself, but it has been remarkably poor at producing organisms capable of surviving on their own once the transformation has set enough that they don't have enough former anatomy to "fall back" on - I suspect, currently, that the survival of targets afflicted with the effect I am attempting to recreate relies the support on some sort of internal magic system, and if so, the sheer amount of lingering cross-contamination likely seeped into every ounce of aer chitin might actually boost survivability. I have no positive expectations for this, however.]

In spending ingredients on this, I hope to assemble an encyclopedic list of all of the ways that a charm's effects can go stupidly, horribly wrong. Venus willing, it will not double as a list of ways that my lab can be destroyed, or a list of ways that tampering with Charmcraft can go wrong. I have had enough recent trouble with repairing the lab's seals after the Vessel experiments - I have no particular desire to replace anything else now.]

[animeandfilmotaku]

烏は主を選ばない-[A Raven Does not choose its master]: Outside world through Inner lenses (Non-spoiler Free review)

“The world isn't in your books and maps, it's out there.”-J.R.R Tolkien

On the last episode I feel it’s emptiness and yet it’s beauty as we close with Yukiya acknowledging Wakamiya as his master- you may wonder why I chose the subtitle- similar to an episode in the second half of the series, while I praised the first half for its tasty court drama, the second half zooms out to the world of Yamauchi, and it’s conflicts which affect its intriguing characters which made me proclaim the best series I watched to date (well alongside Fullmetal Alchemist, Fruits Basket, Dororo and Mononoke), and since we reached its conclusion, I would love to go to an in-depth review on this hidden gem since I touched it so briefly in my previous review (And yes I get to read the manga so yes, I got a different outlook of that gorgeous series.)

(FYI I am hiding this behind, in case you do not like to get spoiled by the plot points)

The 1st half is painted on the inside world of the Yamauchi-the court; ministers conspiring on court affairs, 4 consorts in their ‘bird-cage’ Sakura palace, fighting with one another to win the Kin’u’s hand. And those close to these noble court feeling the tidal wave of its affections, similar to every court intrigue drama which I thought of The Tale of Genji in my head.

We see two persons that are entwined to the ‘court’ world- Asebi (The Eastern consort); naive and kind- entering a glided world where she unfortunately holding little straws to the cut-throat inner world of Sakura Palace; and Yukiya-a ‘blockhead’ from Taruhi Village- a prominent point in the North prefecture; whom by unusual circumstances is called to serve Nazukihiko (I.E Wakamiya), a true Golden Raven (I.E the Kin’u), which it is emphasised through interactions between the clever Yukiya and the mysterious Wakamiya.

I would say navigating through a complex maze of court intrigue proves to be tantalising to me, because no one expect any moment of each character’s intakes whenever it was the stern Lord Natsuka, the strong-willed nature of Hamayuu or Atsufusa- one of Natsuka’s followers. You are introduced to backthroat court world, at a flip of a coin, he could either be a great ally or a cunning enemy that is willing to stuff a chicken in your robes to pretend you are stabbed by a burly bodyguard (Looking at you Atsufusa), having the two anchors which are Asebi-a kind-hearted consort with no allies holding this line out from Tennesse Williams -'A Streetcar Named Desire' (I will always depend on the kindness of strangers) energy, a moth intrigued by the bright blinding lights.

and Yukiya whose battle with his own conflicts of identity and purpose, both plunged into a world where facades are not what it seems and one must keep its toes up in order to survive.

You may wonder about who shall be his consort, well- it was an unexpected choice. Neverthless that twist of Aesbi on the end of the consort selection contest haunted our minds, which I am still reeling over- a beautiful flower that hid rot within her core (I need to mention that I wish to see the Empress' reaction on knowing Asebi's evil intentions to be animated because when I read the manga, it would be delightful but I see why it is edited out due to pacing purposes)

With the choice of the consort out of our mind, we pave for the second half, which Yukiya went home for a brief moment after a year in service in court. If the 1st half of Raven is about the inner politics; the 2nd half sees a world beyond the confines of Yamauchi- which make the selection ceremony a minor ripple in the pond , as always you are always keep up to your toes with our characters and its motives- expect it is no longer inner conflicts of ladies who desire Wakamiya’s hand with their courtly backstories. Instead we follow a young girl Koume who survived a village massacre and the rumours of a drug that cause its residents to go berserk.

You may think that we, like Yukiya can rest on our laurels on this case- however it went much deeper like the medicine that circulate the veins, this second half is when I fell truly in love with its series- because the real meat is here, a sheltered bubble threatened to burst. It is never what it seen, we explored the seedier areas only briefly explored on the 1st half, where the threat rippled at every crevice, which we hold our suspicions on Koume's truth if she is the carrier of the drug. As always- it is not a simple incident that concidently built up overnight, akin to a full course meal, with intriguing flavours, each moment enchant a truth or hide a lie, and Yukiya despite being jaded from witnessing the court’s cruel acts especially on Asebi, changing from a stubborn boy who desired to protect his small village, to a loyal and steadfast ally to Wakamiya, carrying the burden to protect his folk, his change proves to be gradual which made the last episode which he call himself a 'lowly servant' impactful.

I would say the Wisteria Arrows scenes are my favourite because the choice of music and animation made these scenes haunting, and tangible that someday that bubble could break anytime.

In the end, we no longer see Yukiya as charming “blockhand”, but as a young man with his eyes open upon the world that is beyond, it is a cyclical change for all characters, and in the end, akin to that Tolkien quote; the world is not simply written in books or whispered by scheming court officials but expanded through different lenses, neither good or evil, but layers of grey that one must journey.

If there is a flaw- is that the court intrigue drags a little longer and it may pull people off, which I can guarantee- it is not,it is a pity that it really flew under the radar among the packed anime season (BTW I did not follow much), because the plot and characters proves to be intriguing with unexpected twists and all.

I really hope for a Season 2, with that post-credit scene; I would love to dive to the world of Yamauchi again following Yukiya's devotion to the Prince, in the meantime I am going to try to catch up the manga with the translated scans, as much as I can (I actually finished A Raven of All Seasons Manga which dealt the 1st half of the series, and I tell you, it is soooo good)

[cornus27florida]

Gwen's Dreamscape Analysis

A webtoon comment make a weird theory that Humpty Dumpty = little prince = the tiniest prince = Frederick because color motif is 'green' and 'golden' - but rereading make me sure it's the (abhorrent, sorry I know Gwen's dress beautiful but I like to make 'dark joke' based on canon) dress that Gwen wears at the very first meeting with the Plaid Princes. So a theory is debunked, but make me theorizing about entire things related to Gwen's dreamscape so far

That theory is, related to Humpty Dumpty~

And the recent episode gives more material to analyze over - WHY Gwen dreamscape there?

I never expected Rose Hall to appear in the dream, I predict the crystal room long ago from cpc webtoon banner. Rereading also make me believe that locatiins in her dream related to her shattered feelings...

But the 2 locations, both gwenderick/freddolyn moment and I find it's important to mention. These locations if linked with Frederick in nutshell about him questioning Gwen's (in term of romantic) as following :

Crystal room: Frederick wondering about the truth to Gwen about his conscience that something amiss in their relationship with;

"did I do something that hurt you when we first met? "

I've wrote my interpretation in previous post, in nutshell Frederick wondering what's wrong

Rose hall: aside from the whole broken proposals fiasco, I like to pointing out Frederick's quote right before the waffle note comes falling down

"T-this is all happening so fast… "

My interpretation is that Frederick feeling something amiss, something is skipped over - and we as the reader know what is it…

Gwen hiding the truth that she overhears about Frederick called her very ugly in their first meeting day, she keep hides it desperately (similar with how her own mother hides the truth that she's not feeling herself to be beautiful, to Jack - her romantical love interest) - even when Frederick nudges her to tell the truth at the gala right after his bullies got dealt, or Prez warns her that hiding truths isn't a good relationship foundation (even if pres is aroace that not really understand romance, that's warning is correct)

I have personal intake about : "something missing" that Gwen wonders in her dreamscape

Is related to the need for Gwen to processs everything, mainly for her believing that Frederick's apology is true - what he said recently is true, as he's changing opinion about her… That he believes that Gwen is beautiful.

If you love someone genuinely (if I could dare to say, the true love) , your love interest becomes very beautiful in your eyes (like comically the animated shoujo filter for example). This make me believe that Frederick is PART of the solution for Gwen's self love and it's healthy one once Gwen sees Frederick with honesty. Remember my previous analysis over Frederick's outfit that ended with urging Gwen to see Fred as a true him - because (romantic) relationship is supposed to be a joint effort, Frederick doing his best in waking reality to be the true him and Gwen needs to do her part too by believing him.

So if Frederick love is likely true love, will his kiss breaks the spell and awakes Gwen? It could be, but I didn't want to take debate about what's actually the true love and what's self-love supposed to be (I have enough of people that still despising Frederick, like believing that she should woken up by other way as gwenderick is "toxic"). Because? I didn't know as I am happily single, I won't presume to know what's love is especially theorizing which exactly the true love for Gwen - but I take the witch saying that true love doesn't necessarily to be singular, you could have multiple true love at once and even to non-human like Jamie loves waffle. This means the multiple true love that Gwen has could be directed to multiple options at once.

Also remember, despite so many people loves Gwen - what matters to breaks the spell is if Gwen loves them back or not. And that's the problem because with the way poisoned apple scene depicted very closely to attempting suicide - Gwen in dreamscape truly believes that no one loves her. Look at panel right before she eats the apple. Someone that feeling in pit of despair feels like they're deep at the dark tunnel without any light (as believes no one will care or love them) when in reality is not true, there's always light at the end of tunnel. BUT people in despair got numbed in their sense, which could leads them not realizing the reality OR believes (have delusions) in things that actually not real (having hallucinations). Thanksfully the dream spell that the witch made make noises (sound) and smell could still seep in the dream - and we have dubious witch way that related to portrait BUT this leads to the another theory subplot that I feel won't explain right now espc because we're lacking canon content to speculate about it

I like to move on to another step of my theory about gwenderick/freddolyn. Frederick could escape from the prison because he got delusions (that mixed with realities sense in the way of his mother and Jamie talking to her through the thick) that despite everything, Gwen needs him and he should get out from the prison to can see Gwen again. There's mysterious scene where the gala portrait got lifted up to the top so laverne can see it and lifting Frederick up, and with the witch say the soul that trapped in the 'magical' portrait (that Leland stole, thus make Plaid palace haunted for years) could travels to any portrait in the house they reside in. So I predict the reason it could go up because Lilyth's soul posses the portrait at the moment. Means Lilyth helps Frederick (future son-in-law) indirectly

^ that link is to my theory about Fred's outfit, might be too irrelevant but what I like to highlight is "once Fred be the true him, without trying to be Plaid prince, is the start of him could reach Gwen". And I have theory (more like hope) that Frederick could somehow reach Gwen too that helps Gwen to be awake from the spell. Maybe by assuring Gwen that he truly loves her (sound?). Maybe his mere presence (like his smell, but unsure if Gwen could recognizing Fred's smell or his smell recognizable - it's kinda rude notion as compares her akin to dogs) make Gwen realizes that Frederick is here, debunking her worry that Fred didn't want to be 'here'?

Whatever the actual situation, what's actually the true love, how exactly to breaks the spell...I feel Frederick should in the part of variable, in similar way of Gwen is the reason he escapes the prison. So I believe that Frederick will help Gwen to awakes, be it directly or indirectly - and Lilyth will help as part of variable to help Gwen. Make the 3 variables (Lilyth, Gwen, Frederick) be part of "breaking the spell" - which the first as spell of imprisonment already broken, now slumber spell

END: Let's see various screenshoots about self-love! It could be hints to predict the future!!!

I think the club ideas of self-love is giving hints:

@ Lean to (us) that loves you - at the season 4 Gwen changes her notion of love (from at the start shattered to couldn't self-love, to her sisters [the one that works but mere moment] and her friends at the CPC [there's still cracks but small) that to Frederick, romantic love interest, completely. Prez alrdy warns about this, twice but Gwen didn't heed the warning

@ believe (us) when we tell that you're beautiful. For now Gwen didn't believe at all that she's beautiful, espc because her reflection becomes so creepy it totally not showing her entire face. I feel during the gala as now Gwen anchors herself totally to Frederick's love, the previous love source from her siblings along with the CPC can't work. This make Gwen should believe in one, or multiple sources at once: believing that she truly beautiful herself (Leopold hints by apple pie and autumn example, will you hate them if others said they hate those two? No), believing what Frederick tell to him as a truth without forcing notion (it could be happen with Frederick assuring Gwen again that she's beautiful, her dreamscape could hear sounds from outside world - but Fred not yet near Gwen) or the motherly love as Lilyth enters her dream (one of biggest problem for this, is that Gwen could be SUS over Lilyth as she never know her before, and the witch say that the soul can't communicate or touch with anyone)

@ remember that you never alone : I won't tell much because i know there's nice theory about in by someone in cpc blr but I forgot exactly, but dream! Gwen wears her mother's robe - so it's the hint that Lilyth is the key for Gwen's self love

The self-love that being rushed over as shown in the panel of episode 146, it's indeed not right solution to skip forward (to happy ending)

Let's back to the BBW - big bad wolf (real last!)

BBW basically chasing and breaking havoc in Gwen's dreamscape, like urging her to awake from the slumber spell but in violent way and I am afraid if that could harms Gwen somehow. I feel it's identity being so important as the key for gwen breaks the slumber spell thou. And idk if it's just me bit the very last place that Gwen in, is similar with prison cell Fred trapped? Coincidence?? Am I overanalyzing? Well~

[glowstone23b]

UAGSHDHFK ITS SO FUNNY U SHOULD MENTION TOOTHLESS FROM HTTYD BECAUSE WHEN I WAS DESIGNING A CONCEPT FOR SAGE’S WINGS (which im still in the process of making) HE WAS MY FIRST REFERENCE :’’’) I LOVE NIGHT FURIES

but also to answer some of those previous elytra questions because they have been on my mind . i’ll sort of just be quoting them audvdhfj ive been thinking about them all day

“What if the elytra (after having been fully fused, I guess, but early users apply too) runs out of durability?”

— okay so pre-fusing the elytra is sort of. brittle. not fully but like regular durability you get in normal minecraft; it wears down after a while and this is because of a couple factors

1.) still adjusting to the host, hasn’t gotten the proper intake of blood and nutrients in its wings to fully sustain itself for the while yet so it’s trying to run off what it currently has (which tends to be very little resulting in them damaging over time if not fixed)

2.) it doesn’t wear down post fusion because the mutations and genes mixing in with the host lets it sort of stabilize by itself and become a part of the host entirely; once the “magical” properties of it are slowly simmering and is replaced with blood, skin, bacteria, etc (on that note the tendrils inside the host’s shoulder blades etc also sort of melt and become new veins/paths for blood circulation to take) (dont ask me how that works uhhh magic and minecraft stuff idk)

“Are the wings something you yourself can feel once they’ve fused with you, or is it more like… a neurological thing, where the elytra just know what you’re thinking?”

— OKAY when the tendrils slip in you’ll feel some generous amount of discomfort but pulling them out hurts more than letting them sink in

— new elytra users need a small bit of time to adjust to the wings and get a grasp on how they feel. its sort of different for everyone but at first it feels like a very strange version of pins and needles- you can move the wings around but it feels weird.

— although yeah the parasitic-ish parts of the elytra kind of do. connect with your brain (DIY lobotomy /j) in order to both A.) get the brain to move the wings around and B.) to do all the increased reaction time and instincts shabang (these stay permanently after fusion)

“Could you feel them as an extension to your body? If they get hurt, would you be able to feel it as if it were your arm or something, or would it be numb?”

- new elytra users get a numb sort of sensation when the elytra gets damaged via an arrow or something

- older (fused) elytra users get the similar sensation to the webbing of your fingers being sliced or punctured (owie)

- also at first they do feel like weird body extensions before eventually adjusting and them becoming literal body parts aisnfwidhfjfk

“If you run out of durability on fused elytras, is that something you could ever fix?”

— yes actually!! healing potions + usually phantom membrane is an efficient way of patching up deep wounds— depending on the type of wing it might just require a lot of healing potions and bandages, but eh its different for every user

— although if a massive chunk of those wings is like torn off then oooh. ouchie thats like having ur arm torn off. yeah that probably wont heal

^ — however . you can get fixes where they attach like a leather-like wing and hollow light silver(?) rods onto where the bones end to make a makeshift wing repair (leather is typically dyeable and able to be decorated)

bonita drawing ik . but you get the idea !!!!

“Would you be able to get a new pair if you hadn’t been fused yet?”

— YEAH

— if you get the new pair from another person who used it previously the process of the wings shifting to suit you better will take a while longer and vice versa

“Would you have to try to cut off your old elytra to replace it if you *were* fused?”

— yes

— not a pleasant experience but if you hate ur wings so bad then yes you could probably slice them off (i wonder what you would do with them afterwards?? Whats to do with sliced human-sized wings? … wall decoration?? Could you cook and eat them maybe?)

“could you potentially *pick* how your elytra form to look on you?”

— kkkkkkind of? the elytra by default looks like a weird mix of dragon and beetle wings all in one. good flight but also not infinitely durable like mentioned

— the shape of the wings, however, changes to fit the user from what the elytra can gather from their brain

(for example, Sage’s wings are based off night furies and peregrine falcons — fast speedy creatures due to Sage’s own history of enjoying fast speeds/being thrown or spun around and also from the lack of any fear of heights/falling)

(in fact actually enjoying those things) (yk how some kids ask to be thrown into lakes because they enjoy the sensation. yeah thats her)

“Like, if you tried to repair your elytra using a combination of some standard repair materials (phantom membranes, occasionally scales) as well as some other thing (like parrot feathers, for instance), could you possibly get the elytra to take on a form you’d prefer?”

— this is sort of tricky to answer because like. the elytra chooses what form of wings suits you best.

— mutations, though? Like having the elytra change from the dragon-beetle-ish look to having feathers and bright colours? That’s still achievable!! Theres even the possibility to mix and match different biological materials from the desired creatures however if you add in too many the elytra might like. kill you by accident or something (im talking more than like 5 or 7) (usually people opt to have only one or two main repair materials) (3 is teetering on the edge slightly i imagine because of like. neurological effects with all the mutations both physically behaviourally and mentally etc etc)

this also kind of raises the question of “how do you get bug wings” and i’ll be honest w u i have no idea. I imagine there’d be *some* strange way to achieve it? go ham many methods for elytra repairing

( mini rant of sage vv)

(Her way of flying is very similar to toothless in the first two movies. shes sleek and elegant in that cat-like fashion but she also does dive bombs and spins and rolls and is overall extremely confident, nigh cocky with how she flies. a lot of control too!! ,,,, most of the time has definitely crash landed several times) (not to mention speed,,,,, in certain situations when she picks up enough velocity you can hear a whistle coming from the air being sliced by her wings . no idea how to explain but you get the idea)

ALSO THE PHANON TAG IS ALR !! she/her pronouns for me but idrc if you use they/them ajdbfjk

Apologies for the late response, I wanted to make some quick doodles for this at the least!!! It's so fascinating to me! A sidenote before I forget-- what do you think about rocket-propelled elytra flight? Would that be possible at all, or do we pretend canon isn't there for it? It's very silly to think of, but I don't think it'd be very safe, lol.

Here's a rough gif of how I think it might work! (emphasis on might). The 'elytra' (used to refer to the parasite in this sense) feels like a bug to me... like a palm-sized ladybug, sort of. Just the right size to fit on the small of your back pretty easily. Once you set it there, it'll like... pinch/hurt a bit as it sets in its initial veins & whatnot to connect to you, but it just chills there otherwise. I feel like for pre-fused elytras, trying to take one off would feel kinda like a tick? Gross, but hey

I also use "elytra" in the literal sense-- the hard, chitinous sheaths that cover bug wings-- here, so I could draw it in my head. I think that wouldn't be very comfortable to sit back on, to be honest, if you were in a high-backed chair or something. Anyways, like bug wings they'd unfold and the blood that goes through them would fill them up to full size like you said! It'd likely happen in a matter of seconds for long-time users, but take up to a couple minutes for first-timers.

I've also got a couple post-fusion drawings here, under the cut bc it's kinda veiny and a little gross, so if you're averted to that thing, look away!

Again, bonita drawing, but just to get it out of my head. The main "body" of the elytra would start to stretch down your back to get further up along your spine, where all the good veins are! Eventually, the body of it would be more vestigial than anything, because it no longer needs it to look for a host (do you think elytras in end cities would be able to wander freely before fusing to someone? Kinda funny to think of someone just getting like. hit in the face by a stray elytra buzzing around).

I do have this as bug in my head, because my brain loves making sense of things, so it's struggling to figure out how other wing types would work. I know it's magical, so whatever goes, but hmm... maybe the customization just comes after fusing, when the elytra doesn't need to expend the extra energy on needing to find a new host, and can instead divert it to making different, sturdier wings...?

I like the makeshift wing repair with lightweight metals or leather and whatnot, it'd be neat to explore that! Just like toothless :). Color & style customization, too! Do you think anybody gets wing jewelry or piercings just to show off? Like irl vultures with wing tags?

"(i wonder what you would do with them afterwards?? Whats to do with sliced human-sized wings? … wall decoration?? Could you cook and eat them maybe?)" -- I mean, if we're in a world with human-sized wings, there's most likely a market for them! I wouldn't be surprised if long-term elytra users were hunted for sport if they had a particularly unique wing type... Wall decoration, for sure, I think hunters would enjoy them! Also good for food in dire situations, as human meat is probably a lot more gamey than any other available source. Feathers or membranes would also be valued for use in repairing of other elytras, in clothing, ceremonial stuff, etc. Kinda neat!

Tell Sage I love her and her flying skills are unmatched. She's crashed before? Didn't see it. She rules

If any of this is coherent, congrats! If not, poke me so I can explain it! Most of my posts will be one long rant and not really read over again for mistakes or anything so godspeed, buddy! Overall I like your thoughts on the matter you rule!!!! Gives my brain more things to rotate :)

[tlaquetzqui]

In my SF future history, the UN has given way to the Alliance of Nations. It retains a lot of UN organs (the UN retains a lot of League of Nations ones), including the IMF. In my future it issues a currency, called the “right”, short for Alliance Drawing Right, derived from the IMF Special Drawing Right of our day. Since the government issuing it is the “AN”, and it’s the currency used by everyone, its symbol is the one used in logic for “for all”: ∀. (I think it was adopted partly in a situation analogous to the creation of the Allied Military Currency and Military Payment Certificates after World War Two: the AN having arisen to replace the UN for similar reasons to the UN replacing the League, namely a big fuckoff war the previous organization didn’t prevent.)

My main aliens, on the other hand, use what is technically a representative currency, like the gold standard, but based on an abstraction: the price of enough of an idealized animal fat (they’re obligate carnivores) to supply their metabolism with a given amount of energy. A hundredth of a Planck energy is about the daily calorie intake of a predator in the jaguar-to-tiger size range, like the aliens. (Unlike most Planck units, the energy one is huge: about 2 gigajoules, because the others are so small and there’s division involved.) I’m still trying to figure out what they call it, though—might just be the “energy, dietary”, and they just measure it in actual energy-units.

I think the aliens using, basically, calories-worth of lard, as a currency standard, grew out of similar causes to the aforementioned Allied Military Currency and Military Payment Certificates, but less catastrophic. Something like, people near the forts of the various empires accepted military ration points as legal tender, so those became a standard medium of exchange, eventually spreading over their world like the Spanish dollar. Obviously, of course, you aren’t originally measuring that directly in calories, but in volumes of fat—like how the productivity of a daimyō’s domain in feudal and shogunate Japan was assessed in units of koku (about 180 liters), generally considered the rice required to feed a person for a year.

[that-girl-lyra]

My Fitness Favourites (2024 Master Post)

This is sort of like my own master post and or an update upon my previous one on Reddit, but please remember that like all things, not everything will work for everyone. I am not a doctor or certified PT (yet!). I'm just a girl who wanted to lose weight and found a passion for all things gym and fitness related :)  With that being said, I hope that you guys find the tools that I used helpful to you, and I can not wait to see your progress <3 

Apps 

Here are some of the apps that I used and still use to this day to help track my fitness progress. I’ve gone through a bunch of different fitness apps and these are by far my favorites. 

FitNotes 

This app is super straightforward. I use it each time I go to the gym or do a home workout to track the number of sets, reps, and weights. There are no ads and it's completely free. You can also add in your own workouts and machines if you can't find what you’re doing in their list. 10 out of 10, highly recommend!

FitBod 

I no longer use this app HOWEVER, if you’re just starting out I think this app would be a good place to get started. It lays out a workout plan for you based on what your goals are, and it even shows you HOW to do each workout if you’re unsure of the movements and form. I found it super helpful when I started out and I hope you do too! I will say, the free version does give you a lot, however it does have a paid plan to which I am unfamiliar. 

Tabata Timer 

Personally, nowadays I only use this app occasionally but if you’re not a fan of counting reps, this may be a better alternative. You can create workouts and customized times for sets, breaks, rests, etc. I like to use this for my kettlebells and mace work at home, but you can use it however you wish! Bonus points because it's also 100% free. We love free shit here lol. 

MyNetDiary 

Similar to MyFitnessPal, this is an app that tracks your calorie input and output. I prefer it’s interface over MyFitnessPal personally, and this is the app I used to lose 40+lbs in 2022. Along with a food scale, this is a very useful tool, and I still use it when I go into a cut. The free plan is great and it doesn't force you into a paid one. You have the option to upgrade, but its not necessary unless you really really really wanna see all of your macros besides calories, sodium, protein and carbs. 

Alarmy 

Sleep is probably one of the most important things for your overall mental and physical health. I used to suck at waking up early but I really really wanted to become an early bird and track my sleep. I found Alarmy and I haven’t looked back. In the free version, you can be awoken with annoying sounds and tasks to turn off your alarm, as well as track your sleep and sleep quality.  

Websites 

TDEE Calculator 

As I said in my previous master post, a good place to start is to find out what your TDEE is (total daily energy expenditure). Basically, how many calories you burn just by being alive. You can go from there to find out how many calories you should eat depending on if you're trying to lose/gain weight, as well as protein intake on top of your desired fitness level. A very handy tool. Just plug in your current height, weight, age, and fitness level and you’ll be good to go! 

Equipment / Tools 

Xiaomi MiFit Band  

Ima be honest, I really hated the samsung fitness watches. I went through 2 of them due to battery issues and I never even physically damaged them. I got the Xiaomi MiFit band because I was sick of paying so much money on fitness watches and this thing has the durability of a Nintendo 64 I swear. I only charge the sucker like, maybe once a week, and it gives a pretty accurate read of how many calories I burn during walking, workouts, etc. Also, the thing was like $40 or something. Ive had it over a year and the only thing I’ve had to replace was the strap (a pack of two was like $6). The strap was also my fault for breaking it lol. 

Renpho Scale 

Sort of a tool/app combo. The scale is around $20 on amazon and it tracks your weight (duh) as well as body composition to a fairly accurate degree. The gym I currently go to has a body composition machine and I’ve done a DexaScan in the past and the information between all of them is a close match. The app is free as well and I love it. 

Adjustable Dumbbells 

I love the gym, I do, but my heart will always belong to dumbbells. There is so much you can do with them from arms, legs, core, back,etc. They’re a great piece of kit and I will never stop using them. A set of adjustable dumbbells will put you back a few bucks sure, but imo, it's a worthy investment in the long run. Plus if you’re like me and you have limited space in your home, they’re a great choice. 

Supplements 

I wanna reiterate the fact that I am NOT a doctor lol but I'm sure everyone has seen a metric ton of influencers and PT’s recommending this or that supplement. Truly, I don’t take many and the only one I can recommend personally is Creatine. Just remember to drink water with it and you’re golden. Some people get a mildly upset stomach on it but again, that all depends on the person. I’ve personally never gotten an upset stomach with it and I take/have taken 2 types of Creatine (Monohydrate and Alkaline). 

You’ll hear about a “loading phase” but you don’t have to do that if you don't want to. It's not necessary. 

The only other thing I take is magnesium but that's just to help me not have hypnic jerks when I go to sleep. Literally no other reason lol.   

General Advice/Tips 

If you’re just starting out with your own fitness journey and begin to tell people that you’re working out, eating right, etc, you may experience some negativity from others. Once you say anything like “Im working out/losing weight!” everyone and their mother becomes a health expert. I’ve gotten people telling me to not lift weights because “Its bad for your bones!”, or “Your heart will explode eventually!”. 

These are people who are just jealous and they envy your dedication to yourself. Ignore them. Misery often demands company. 

You may also find lovely little messages in your dm’s from that one girl in high school who was a bully and is now shilling MLM products. Please for the love of all that is good and green on this earth, do not interact! They will send you really crappy copy and paste messages saying that they can help you on your journey with “insert snake oil product here”. 

There is no magic pill, drink, juice, cleanse, detox, whatever the hell that will do the work for you. Pyramid Schemes that are the most common for this are ItWorks, JuicePlus, Herbalife, and BeachBody. Idk if Plexus is still around but still. If you’re ever unsure about anything, I would pay a visit to r/antiMLM for more info. 

Diets, diets, diets are all the rage (as they are always). Guru’s telling their followers to eat only animal based because “its how our ancestors ate!” or “do x to lower your cortisol levels”, and “STAY AWAY FROM BREAD AND SEED OILS!”. Block, ignore, and unfollow. 

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely fucking love bread and cheese and will turn any Olive Garden within a 20 mile radius of me into my bitch with unlimited breadsticks and pasta. 

Yes, we all know certain food is healthier than others, but at the end of the day as long as you are watching what you eat, and getting your workouts in, it doesn't matter. If you want a burger then eat the burger. 

In Conclusion 

I could go on and on forever about anything and everything fitness related. Book recommendations, creators to follow/unfollow, routines…I love it all, I truly do. And one day I hope to become a certified PT myself, but until that day comes, I simply am not. I'm just a girl who got fit, and want to see others achieve their goals as well. I know how hard and awful the process can be, but I guarantee you that every step you take up that mountain is worth every second of the view at the top. 

Movement is improvement, and as long as you keep moving, you’ll keep improving. 

If you’re here reading this, then you’ve already taken step 1 and I couldn't be more proud of you. Its a hard thing to look in the mirror and say to yourself “I need to change ''. Self confrontation is often very difficult and disheartening. But where many have chosen to give up, you chose to step up. And I am so fucking thrilled that you did <3 

If anyone has anything else they’d like to share in the comments about tools and what not that you’ve used, please feel free to post them! This is a safe space for all of us. 

Thank you all for reading and I hope you find what I’ve written to be useful in your fitness journey. Keep up the good work.  

Lyra

[autobotmedic]

[ more thoughts on if-combining/fusion-was-really-possible-for-average-bots but this time with all of team prime because i would love to draw all of them but i do not have the time and energy for it BUT I CAN RAMBLE ABOUT MY THOUGHTS FOR HOW I WOULD DESIGN THEM:

ratch and arcee- honestly not that much bigger than ratch because she is just smol and there isnt that much of a mass change, but they are more elegantly shaped than ratch. pretty and sassy. also angers easily due to combined trauma and bottled emotions, yet finds stability in those shared feelings and damage. four arms, two primary and two smaller secondary, all four able to form blades to wreck you.

ratch and bulkhead- they are not only very strong but so stocky and huggable it's illegal. four optics, as they do not analyze or see things the same. also due to ratch's controlling personality trait and bulk being fine and trusting him to lead, their stability is partially due to ratch-half being the main guide and decision maker. the other part of their stability is due to their shared big protective hearts.

ratch and wheeljack- pretty stocky, but not as big or stocky as the previous. combining probably only happens one time and ratch swears never again (but he would if he had to). four arms (two of which wield swords and two of which are blades) and four optics. not very stable, can only keep together for a limited period. debates or reacts to themselves out loud repeatedly, unpredictable behavior, but when they CAN synchronize for a minute, they are incredibly lethal.

ratch and bumblebee- the second to smallest fusion and the second most agile to combining with arcee. pretty stable due to mutual trust and care, despite their other differences. they appear not to have any extra anything, but in truth, they have two intakes (mouths). one is just usually covered by a face guard. ratch is glad that, in this form, he can give bee a voice again, even though he cannot fix his normal one.

ratch and optimus- the most balanced, the most stable, no extra appendages, optics, or otherwise. they balance each other, or trust the other for certain topics, leading to easy transitions between which half is dominating when they aren't synchronizing equally. really heckin big truck. soft. and wise. and protective. will hold others in his arms contently. but will also beat your aft with two large sword arms if you try to take others' lives.

ratch and ultra magnus- very similar in size as the previous, but less stable, debate a bit with themselves on how they view certain situations (which results in four optics), due to medic caretaking vs tactical commander priority differences. mature and focused enough to work together decently if needed though, even if not for long periods.

ratch and smokescreen- they don't really WANT to combine with each other and if they tried the maturity/reckless level difference would be instability point #1 with ratch's knowledge and personal trauma levels being overwhelming as instability point #2. unsuccessful if attempted.

bonus:

ratch and shockwave- surprisingly stable. like, definitely more stable than expected, concerningly stable. has one extra optic, and two hands override the gun hand just so they can work faster. could combine for rapid-fire thought sharing and knowledge/problem solving in a very serious case, not likely for combat. so intelligent combined with occasional, unpredictable emotions emerging from a very cool demeanor, kinda scary ngl.

ratch and starscream- can't see that ever happening because ratch doesnt want him in his head but also they are NOTHING ALIKE and ratch would not cooperate hfksjhdfsd. unsuccessful if attempted.

ratch and knock out- honestly i dont know, probably unstable with four arms and four optics due to priorities and ethical differences?? proBABLY???? but on the other hand if they could focus on the things they have in common, they might also make a really beautiful somewhat stable sassy fellow, I'm really not sure.

[plumpingofage]

21. high school/college AU setting. (For Becky)

((It’s hilarious you chose this because Dumbing of Age is LITERALLY a college AU of his previous comics.))

When Dina told Becky she wanted to try some “experimentation,” naturally Becky was on board. Experimentation was Dina’s way of saying she wanted to do hanky-panky activities. But she was confused when Dina told her the experimentation would “carry on for an indefinite period of time, until satisfactory or unsatisfactory results were acquired.”

“I don’t think I quite understand what’cha trying to say here.”

“I am trying to determine if I am partial to another sexual kink right now. It could take days or weeks to determine the results.”

“Wait, you want to do it for days on end?! I don’t think I got that sorta stamina…”

Dina smiled.

“Oh Becky. This is closer to actual experimentation right now. I only need you to eat much more than you currently have been.”

Becky’s eyes widened.

“Oh I getcha! You wanna see if you like me with a lil’ more junk in my trunk!”

“Correct. Billie-I mean Jennifer, had a similar body type, which was attractive. And with her new modeling job, her physical appearance has grown more sexually appealing.”

“That’s not all of hers that has grown more.”

“Indeed. I would like you to attempt to put on as much weight as possible.”

“Well, I don’t know if I can…”

Dina leaned in and whispered in Becky’s ear.

“There will be plenty more ‘experimentation’ during this analysis.”

The poor lesbian’s heart went pitter-patter.

“Alright then! Let’s put some meat on these bones!”

Over the course of the next few weeks, Becky’s food intake increased. She would stay at the lunch hall for hours at a time, eating multiple meals. When she was in her dorm room, Dina would feed Becky snack cakes and pour entire bottle of soda into her. When eating out at restaurants, Dina would encourage Becky to order extra food. Soon enough, Becky’s waistline began to expand more and more and more. Then, one day in Dina’s dorm room…

*huffpuff* “So, you get the results from your experiment yet?”

“Oh, I got them weeks ago. It was only two days after I initially asked you to help me.

Becky was confused.

“Wait, if you got your results that fast, then why continue having’ me put on all this weight.”

Dina smirked.

“Oh, I wanted to see how big I could make you. And I want ALL of this…” Dina rubbed Becky’s massive belly, “…to myself.” She playfully pushed Becky onto the giant Dinobot plush that took up a considerable portion of her room.

“Now then, I did promise you experimentation.”

Becky blushed.

[iamgrape]

Gluttonous Love♡lust 3

Warning: Nothing for now. (~￣³￣)~

Previous || CH 3 || Next

"Hey Niki! What took you so long ?" It was another night where Niki have to tag along with his group of friends to a certain haunted area in the human world to keep it being haunted by being the ghost in the place.

Today it's an asylum where a certain group of humans who likes to takes photos of supernatural will go too..

"I'm sorry, I have to prepare midnight meal for MC." He rush to the three as he tell them their reason.

"Through they'll probably won't be awake till late in the evening tomorrow..." He chuckle hopelessly as he remembers you only up to eat meal, only awake for 5 to 8 hours a day.

You said it's normal since you start dieting with only consist of the food he make. Which confuse him a bit. After all you still eat a lot like he intakes-- that's not considered as a diet.

"Niki-han have a lover?" The young punisher tilt his head in curiosity. He always heard that Niki is taking care of someone, other than rinne. But he seems to like to take care of this certain person more than rinne.

"HiMERU cannot believe you get a love life before HiMERU. HiMERU wish you'll trip on a banana pill." The reaper who smiled through the annoyance not of Niki but feeling the presence of certain fallen angel quite close in the area cannot help but be salty to Niki.

"Ehh...?" Niki can only stare at HiMERU who cross his arm and glaring at a certain direction. When he take a few moment observing the direction where HiMERU is looking, he sense another presence far off the forest near the asylum. "Oh it's Kazehaya-kun." He spoke out loud who he notice the presences is similar too. The reaper glare at his direction causing him to shut up.

"Niki~ you never told me about this MC." Rinne put his arms around Niki.

"Niki-chan, I just move out from your place a few months ago to live with my brother. And your telling me you already have another one in your life?!" and so the leader give a very loving choke hold with his arms around Niki.

"Ackkk...???? Rinne!? Let go!" Niki tried to free himself but cannot. Rinne chuckle at his hopeless attempt through rinne only pause when he smell something familiar from Niki.

"I don't know you, your into those type of folks! What a lewd demon you are!" rinne quickly identify your identity being a lust demon based on the scent you left on him after hugging him goodbye when he left to go to this place.

"Whaaaaa?! Rinne your very annoying ok?!" The gluttony finally able to push the reaper off him as he dust himself from any scent rinne would leave in his cloths.

"Geez. What are you on about?" He rolled his eyes at Rinne. Not understanding what's going on to Rinne who's giving him a Lenny face look.

"Oh Niki, oh Niki. How could you hide your preference to me!? And i thought you like me!" rinne dramatically fall to the floor.

Kohaku and HiMERU already left them behind to go deeper into the haunted house. They refuse to be spotted with those weirdos.

"Rinne your full of shit." Niki smiled that isn't a smile to Rinne. "Please get off the floor. Your embarrassing me!" even through there's only them at the moment.

"GYAHAHA~ " rinne chuckle as stood up with his right arms around Niki, the two soon follow the two inside the haunted asylum to start to get ready to scare the living out of the humans for a paycheck.

"Through, Niki. Your the less I expected to have a lust demon around you." The reaper honestly is quite surprised at the revolution.

It only been a few months since he last seems Niki because of an important matter. But to find Niki to have a lust demon companion is truly a surprise.

"What? What... a lust demon?" Niki pause as he look at Rinne.

"I don't have a lust demon companion???" He don't understand where Rinne get it from at all.

"The last person held you before me. Are they the one you called MC?" rinne began.

"... What are you on about...? But yes, it's MC." Niki solemnly stared at his friend not understanding why rinne dont seems to know MC at all, When his the one who send them to him.

through a smile appear on his face as he mentioned your name. He and your are quite close now after all. It been a few weeks since you live with him and not mentioning about his tendency of intakes of unruly meal for humanity standard of human.

"Don't you send them to me or something...?" He mumble, worried about something. As Rinne seems to stare at him oddly.

"What? Oh. Right. But I was about to do that. But you said last time theres someone living with you already. It's probably the same MC huh?" Rinne shrugged his shoulder at the memories.

"... Wait you don't send MC???"

" Noopee~" Rinne pop the sound of the p. He then walk ahead of Niki who process what he said.

"I was so surprise you get yourself a pal without me knowing. A lust demon at that! Most been nice to have some good nightly moment. AHAHAHA." He added.

"... MC... Is a lust demon?" He mumble to himself. Unable to process it quickly but he slowly follow rinne, he still need to do his job or else he won't get paid.

[feathery-dreamer]

I received a similar treatment from my parents as a millennial.

they made me feel horrible because of my flaws, rather than help me fix them or even be decent role models. whenever I had a breakdown or pointed out an unfairness against me, I was either mocked because "ehh he's a kid, ofc he gonna throw tantrums over benign shit" or screamed at for "causing trouble". much of my childhood was lived in violence, constant terror of messing things up and earning a punishment, and having all of my issues either downplayed or blamed on me.

nowadays I see the exact opposite - instead of being too aggressive, child owners (I refuse to call them "parents") are too passive. they use tablets and smartphones as "babysitters" and a great excuse to forgo parental activities, like educate or protect the child. after all, no need to physically intervene to stop a kid who's not running after a ball near a busy street, right? they also overcompensate for the stigma around child abuse by being overly complacent. never saying no or being very shy about it, giving in to the kid's screaming fits, etc.

and that also is abuse, even though it's not violence, it's neglect. these child owners don't even feel accountable for the kid's behavior, and that lesson rubs off on the little one. it shows the rules of society don't apply to them, so they can freely violate other people's boundaries. as they grow older and don't grow up, they continue wanting to have their way with manipulative tactics. instead of child- and spouse-beaters, modern child owners raise the emotional abusers and gaslighters. guess who's gonna pay the price for all those future behavior problems; their "parents"? hhah~

plus, that leaves them vulnerable to predatory advertising tactics, and trust me corporates love nothing more than that. a youth receptive to commercial arguments, and voices that call out this bullshit going unheard.

not to mention the plethora of health problems from having little to no physical activity. lack of muscle or joint or nerve maintenance, kinesthetic stimulation, equilibrium, and more. associated with high caloric intake, leading to childhood obesity and other similar metabolic diseases.

naturally all of these things will be blamed on the child themselves, when it isn't whatever's trendy. just like how previous generations of child owners cried "video games" or "punk music" or "queers".

anything to avoid taking personal responsibility for your own offspring's behavior.

right?

in like 5-8 years when gen alpha starts really making fun of gen z no one is allowed to complain because like 99% of people do nothing but treat those kids like shit

[sarkos]

Chichger, an associate professor at Anglia Ruskin University, and the study’s co-author, Dr Aparna Shil, of Jahangirnagar University, in Bangladesh, said neotame carried a threat to health because it could damage the intestine by causing “good bacteria” to become diseased and invade the gut wall. In the process that could lead to illness because the epithelial barrier, part of the gut wall, could break down. They published their findings, which they said are the first to show that neotame can have that damaging impact on healthy gut bacteria, in the medical journal Frontiers in Nutrition. Previous research, including by Chichger, found that other common sweeteners – such as saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame – can also have that harmful effect. Chichger said: “There is now growing awareness of the health impacts of sweeteners such as saccharin, sucralose and aspartame, with our own previous work demonstrating the problems they can cause to the wall of the intestine and the damage to the ‘good bacteria’ which form in our gut. “This can lead to a range of potential health issues including diarrhoea, intestinal inflammation, and even infections such as septicaemia if the bacteria were to enter the blood stream. Therefore, it is important to also study sweeteners that have been introduced more recently, and our new research demonstrates that neotame causes similar problems, including gut bacteria becoming diseased.” The co-authors said further research was needed to look into “the toxic effects of some of the artificial sweeteners that have been developed more recently”, given their widespread use. Some of the newest sweeteners in use produce a sweet taste that is 1,000 times sweeter than sugar. Even a low intake of neotame might be harmful, Chichger stressed. “Even when we studied neotame at very low concentrations, 10 times lower than the acceptable daily intake, we saw the breakdown of the gut barrier and a shift in bacteria to a more damaging behaviour, including increased invasion of healthy gut cells leading to cell death. This can be linked to issues such as irritable bowel diseases and sepsis,” she said.

Cakes and drinks sweetener neotame can damage gut wall, scientists find | Food safety | The Guardian

My favorite part of my hospital stay was, as a diabetic, having all my meals shifted to “lo-cal“ versions with Sucralose, despite my pleading with the dietician that my default reaction is a combination of diarrhea and vomiting.

 They acted like I was insane, and three weeks of non-stop vomiting did nothing to convince them,

[codegengar]

just two hours prior, i was agonizing the rest of the night. i now feel very accomplished. it goes to show how just pushing through things despite your mental state can lead to an overall win for both your productivity and mood. it's not always easy, though, given bpd.

for context, i was offered my ideal job for co-op at my university. which, don't get me wrong, made me really happy upon seeing the message yesterday as i got ready to go see the screening of five night's at freddy's on halloween. however, i had gotten an email from another really good opportunity for an interview, which pays higher than my first choice, and is a similar kind of work. the difference is that mine caters to both students and staff, while the other one is only educational tech support to staff, with a lot of creative side projects to work on, as opposed to projects such as coding and data visualization. i want to learn more techy things, as well as my previous work at the bookstore being a point in contact with the first technology centre. but a part of me felt some grief because i wanted to be a graphic designer and content creator when i was younger, and i felt almost like i was throwing away that dream that little me had, and someone still holds onto every time i pick up a pen.

i sent in the email to respectfully decline the interview this morning. as well as cancel the interview to a big technology and accounting firm who also requested an interview with me. that felt really overwhelming, but i knew i had to as i had two assignments due tonight. all of these responsibilities would have incapacitated me mentally.

but all of that weighed on me heavily, and intensely. although i had woken up at around eleven or noon with d, i did not get out of bed until past five in the afternoon. i debated on what to eat, and almost gave up on the idea. there was a tiny platter of cheese leftover from when t and e came over and d and i had prepared a makeshift charcuterie board, minus the meat and garlic bread bits. just cheese. usually i do not like just eating blocks of cheese, a relic from my childhood where my mother gave me blocks of marbled cheese to eat in an attempt to increase my dairy intake. but goat cheese with herbs... sublime!

although these people could care less about me, it feels like i'm letting them down. if people become aware of my existence (which i do not make a habit of allowing), i need for them to have a good opinion of me. not that i wrote a disrespectful email to them, but... there is just some feeling of wrongness.

while i let these thoughts pass, i felt the wave of dissociation blanketing over my thoughts and encompassing my body in a warm cocoon of emptiness, as if it were comforting me. it is almost motherly in this sense, as it came to extinguish the anguish that i failed to pinpoint. why did any of this matter? i acted appropriately. which is always my fear, that i am not. i would wish my therapist would psychoanalyze me about this. i think she has, about my social anxiety. i can't remember what she said. that's just as well, with my security blanket always washing away memories like powder through a sieve...

as i did some routine tasks such as spending some resin on genshin impact, i thought about the two assignments i had for my undesirable course of the semester. you would think that a class on k-pop would be fun, but this class is anything but. i might elaborate in another post at the end of the year if i decide to do a semester review. i had a written assignment which i had, for some reason, thought was five hundred words (it was three hundred, i got mixed up with the recent paper proposals for my two courses which were to that length). then a pop-quiz on last lecture's content, which i had recorded as i do not pay attention. while i agonize about how unattainable it felt, as i have done none of the readings for that week and did not pay attention during the lecture, i decided to go outside and walk to my residence's main building to pick up my package. a halloween gengar sweater that came a day too late. but nonetheless, it will be worn and treasured. the fresh air did help, and i eventually decided to make my favourite meal, fire noodles, despite its unhealthiness. if i were to put in the effort to use any other items in my pantry and fridge, it would have been more beneficial for my passive weight loss goals, but the thought of cooking something from scratch was too overwhelming.

it was really good. i did not overcook anything this time, and all of the components were perfect. i had regular fire noodles this time, with two eggs, perfectly jellied, shabu shabu pork belly, carbonara fire dumplings, and my usual garnish of baby cucumbers, scallions, and cheese. sesame oil, sesame seeds, and the seaweed garnish packet for the final touches. sublime!

i watched some more masterchef canada season three while i was eating. there is just something more enjoyable when watching cooking shows (not kitchen nightmares, though) while eating.

revitalized, i decided to open up canvas and look at a potential reading i could skim and reference in my paper. it was long (as all of the papers the lecturer assigns for this class, which i think is unnecessary as she assigns three to four readings of twenty plus page length every week. very unattainable considering this class is considered an elective to most). i ended up taking a look at the actual assignment instructions, and the questions she wanted us to answer, i could actually do without any academic references. and so i did. and to put in one source to meet the minimum criteria for this assignment, i was pleased to find that the last paper listed of the week seven list aligned with what i wrote, and i inputted the in-text citation for it behind one of my sentences. again, i realized at this point that i needed to cut down my words tremendously as i had around five hundred fifty, which i thought would be okay as that was the cut off for the paper proposal, but i had forgotten that reading responses for this class was a maximum of three hundred fifty. so i did a lot of cutting down. but it was done fairly quickly, as it is easier to cut down rather than add more words.

now it was onto the pop-quiz.

unfortunately, my multitasking had rendered some of the recording visually incapacitated (i.e. i was trying to fix my discord third party custom skin, and had left winrar open for about five minutes over zoom). i kept skimming through the video for definitions to answer the five questions, and i had found a few after letting it play in certain parts. i was stuck on the last one, but eventually through some buffering through, i found the exact part where it was mentioned. it was quoted word for word, the quiz with the lecture.

excellent.

that's one of the things i dislike about this class. i do not know if it is part of the korean education system, but we had a guest lecturer for today and she did the same thing as my current lecturer does – read out a script basically (which was probably how the teaching assistant wrote the quiz word for word from what she had said). it is very formal and their voices are very monotone, which is hard to stay engaged with. anti-fun. if i tried really hard to, i could pay attention and take notes, but at this point, we do not have any examinations where i have to listen to the lectures attentively. i could rely on the readings and research for the final paper assignment. because what she "says" (re: recites) in lectures are just ideas from all the papers she assigns, anyway.

in total, these two assignments only took me two hours, unlike the five hours i anticipated from seven to midnight. i noticed in my email (which i have been avoiding by changing my phone's focus to my i'm going ghost mode – aka, no messages or notifications can be seen through the lock screen or as a banner) that my lap tray from costco is ready to be received through the main residence's mailboxes.

i happily put on my hoodie and made my way down from my building, vaguely concerned for the weather as the two girls in the elevator on my way down were wearing raincoats and donning a large, black umbrella. well. it was too late now. i trudged through the rain in my pikachu adidas slides and made my way to mailbox b-10, and got my box which i used as a rain cover on my way back to my dorm. i hope that everyone that i had passed by doesn't think i'm weird.

a concern i constantly have. it is very tiring.

i unpackaged it and revelled in its utility. i cannot wait to use my ipad and eat on the floor with it. i really do not like the desk and chair that the dorm came with, and it's hard to concentrate. i think the association with gaming and my personal computer also does not help.

i shared my sense of accomplishment and triumph over today's challenges in my prof's server afterward, to which he suggested i journal about this. and i haven't written on here in a while. so here i am. this is a reminder that i can accomplish tasks that feel overwhelming. and be eloquent, somewhat, than what i feel as of right now and my current unemployment. more on that later, perhaps.

in the meantime, i got to go do my genshin dailies.

[lessapander]

Had a little check-up yesterday with the dietician.

I'm on track and doing well. I reached my first target goal and have maintained muscle mass and hydration properly, so everything seems to be good. I can still stand to increase dairy and protein intake in the afternoon, which is good to hear. I still need to have bloods drawn to confirm cholesterol levels are down, which won't be until December, but I've already seen improvement with my blood pressure, so it's likely my cholesterol will have improved as well.

However, she implied I can lighten up a little bit more now and then, and that reminded me of my past treatment courses with her.

So I checked my previous food diaries: I had the same issue of going really hardcore into her advice when I saw her previously for cholesterol issues like this, as well. And again before that for the FODMAP testing and glucose problems. In both cases, after I stopped seeing her, I gradually slacked off and went back to eating too much protein and not enough vegetables.

Knowing how I am, I've been trying to keep myself pretty strictly on regimen because a) I know I have shit self-control; if I keep a regular amount of junk food in the house, I absolutely will eat it, and b) I know that I'll be indulging in dinners out for most of next month in particular.

She was very reassuring about the trips I have planned for next month, and said "what's the worst thing that happens? You gain a bit of the weight back or your cholesterol goes up a little. Oh well. You'll get back to it in October and it's no big deal. You're doing fine."

We talked about a few other things as well, such as what kinds of "indulgences" aren't actually that indulgent (apparently a chocolate paddle pop has a very similar nutritional content to a regular tub of yoghurt because it's aimed at kids; go figure) if I'm really worried about going overboard.

We also discussed what my healthy weight range is as someone who is glucose intolerant and has a family history of diabetes, and I was surprised to hear how close I already am to that weight. As a teen and younger adult, my GP told me a much lower "ideal" weight than what she and I discussed. According to her, that number (which is what I weighed for years) is actually quite a bit underweight for the amount of muscle and bone mass I carry. So while he looked at a chart and said "ah yes, you're this tall, so you should be XXkg", she's said "mmnah, that's too thin. We can reassess in a few months, but for now, don't even think about that."

tl;dr: I'm doing fine and the dietician says I should go eat some ice cream sometimes lol

[eldritchmochi]

listen, there was a 5 month period in 2023 where basically all my nutrient intake was via nutrient drinks like ensure and coffee that was half creamer (per my nutritionist) because i had a recurring bowel obstruction issue and i was more likely to keep liquid down than anything solid. as someone who has had food issues for the bulk of my life, to the point where the "joke" was that i hated eating (it was not a joke), living off nothing but nutrient slurry was the most miserable soul sucking thing i have ever gone thru

you do not want to do it on purpose

i bounced back FAR more interested in cooking and for the first time in my life i truly appreciate and enjoy eating. i dont fuck with food that doesnt taste good because its not worth the misery

if you dont know HOW to make food taste good (because it is a science, and not widely taught), there are a ton of books. i haven't read them yet but i have several of America's test kitchen's books in my tbr, recced by someone with similar food issues and described as basically a text based mythbusters for food. they get into the nitty gritty of why things work and how their previous attempts failed. good eats with alton brown (or basically anything with alton brown) is also a fantastic resource for learning the science of flavor

another thing to keep in mind is: what are you craving? often, if you have a specific craving, or if something specific tastes REALLY good, there's something in that food your body knows you need. i get midnight cravings for eggs and toast after i work out--the eggs have protien, "good" fats, and are great vessels for salt, and buttered toast has, again, fats and salts, plus easy to process carbs, which are all very important post work out. similarly, in the winter i tend to crave fruit. oranges, which i dont normally like, are the tastiest thing ever; i tend to naturally eat more fruit in summer because its cold and wet, but in the winter its less on my mind so i dont eat as much as i should and thus, end up eating four oranges hovering over the trash at 10pm when i should be in bed

so if something doesnt taste good and you dont know how to season it, the most basic thing you can do is ask: what are you craving? and incorporate the base flavoring of that thing to what youre eating (when it makes sense, ie salting ur veg when u want potato chips, or adding cheese if you want nachos idk) or just. eat that thing instead

Taste is the most important factor in nutrition.

Because you get the most nutrients from the foods you'll actually eat.

So add cheese, oil, spices, vinegar, sauces, etc. Try them roasted or sauteed or pureed, etc.

The actual secret to eating lots of fruits and veggies and other nutrient dense foods is:

Make them taste good. That's literally it.