#Belgium detective

[ferdslree]

A pencil drawing of Thomson and Thompson, from the Adventures of Tintin. TIL they have different mustaches [orig post].

[blueiscoool]

Mysterious 12-Sided Roman Object Found in Belgium  

A fragment of a mysterious artifact known as a Roman dodecahedron has been found in Belgium.

A metal detectorist in Belgium has unearthed a fragment of a mysterious bronze artifact known as a Roman dodecahedron that is thought to be more than 1,600 years old.

More than a hundred of the puzzling objects — hollow, 12-sided geometric shells of cast metal about the size of baseballs, with large holes in each face and studs at each corner — have been discovered in Northern Europe over the past 200 years. But no one knows why or how they were used.

"There have been several hypotheses for it — some kind of a calendar, an instrument for land measurement, a scepter, etcetera — but none of them is satisfying," Guido Creemers (opens in new tab), a curator at the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren, Belgium, told Live Science in an email. "We rather think it has something to do with non-official activities like sorcery, fortune-telling and so on."

Creemers and his colleagues at the Gallo-Roman Museum were given the fragment by its finder and identified it in December. It consists of only one corner of the object with a single corner stud, but it is unmistakably part of a dodecahedron that originally measured just over 2 inches (5 centimeters) across.

Metal detectorist and amateur archaeologist Patrick Schuermans had found the fragment months earlier in a plowed field near the small town of Kortessem, in Belgium's northern Flanders region.

Creemers said the Gallo-Roman Museum already displays a complete ancient bronze dodecahedron found in 1939 just outside Tongeren's Roman city walls, and the new fragment will go on display next to it in February.

Mysterious dodecahedrons

The first Roman dodecahedron to be discovered in modern times was found in England in the 18th century, and roughly 120 have been found since then in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

It's not possible to date the metal itself, but some dodecahedrons were found buried in layers of earth that date them to between the first and fifth centuries A.D.

The mystery doesn't end there; archaeologists cannot explain the geometric artifact's function, and no written record of the dodecahedrons has ever been found.

It's possible they were used in secret for magical purposes, such as divination (telling the future), which was popular in Roman times but forbidden under Christianity, the religion of the later Roman Empire, Creemers said. "These activities were not allowed, and punishments were severe," he explained. "That is possibly why we do not find any written sources."

Several explanations for the mysterious artifacts have been suggested over the years. Initially, they were described as "mace heads" and were thought to be part of a weapon. Other ideas are that they were tools for determining the right time to plant grain (opens in new tab); that they were dice, or other objects for playing a game; and that they were instruments for measuring distance (opens in new tab), possibly for finding the right range for Roman artillery, such as ballistas.

A recent suggestion is that dodecahedrons were knitting patterns for Roman gloves.

But most archaeologists think the objects were probably used in magical rituals. The dodecahedrons have no markings indicating how they were used, as might be expected for measuring instruments, and they all have different weights and sizes, ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 inches (4 to 11 centimeters) across.

Roman dodecahedrons are also found only in the Roman Empire's northwestern areas, and many were unearthed at burial sites. These clues suggest that the cult or magical practice of using them was restricted to the "Gallo-Roman" regions — the parts of the later Roman Empire influenced by Gauls or Celts, according to Tibor Grüll (opens in new tab), a historian at the University of Pécs in Hungary who has reviewed the academic literature (opens in new tab) about dodecahedrons.

Ancient puzzle

Creemers said the dodecahedron fragment found near Kortessem could shed more light on these mysterious metal objects. Many other Roman dodecahedrons were first recognized for what they were in private or museum collections, so their archaeological context is unknown, he said.

But the location of the Kortessem fragment is well documented, he said; and subsequent archaeological investigations have revealed mural fragments at the site, indicating that it may have been a Roman villa.

A translated statement by the Flanders Heritage Agency (opens in new tab) said the fractured surfaces of the fragment indicate that the dodecahedron had been deliberately broken, possibly during a final ritual.

The location will now be monitored for further finds.

"Thanks to the correct working method of the metal detectorist, archaeologists know for the first time the exact location of a Roman dodecahedron in Flanders," the statement said. "That opens the door for further research."

By Tom Metcalfe.

[bargainsleuthbooks]

The Secret in the Old Lace (Nancy Drew Mysteries #59) by Carolyn Keene #NancyDrew #BookReview

Nancy Drew and her girlfriends are headed to Belgium to solve a couple of mysteries involving an antique cross and a pair of #BelgianLace cuffs. #TheSecretoftheoldlace #NancyDrewMysteries #carolynkeene #nancyDrew #bookreview #teensleuth #teendetective

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Poplar Lappet Moths: these moths are able to mimic the dead leaves of a poplar tree (there is at least one moth in each of the photos below)

Above: the photo at the top shows two poplar lappet moths disguised as foliage (the two "leaves" on the left-most end of the branch are actually moths) and the photo on the bottom shows another poplar lappet moth clinging to a leaf

The scientific name of this species is Gastropacha populifolia, but it's more commonly referred to as the poplar lappet moth. It's also known as pappelglucke in German and feuille-morte du peuplier in French.

The moths are distributed across large sections of Europe, Russia, China, Korea, and Japan, but they're regarded as a rare species throughout most of Europe.

The shape, color, wing pattern, and resting position of this species all contribute to its unique disguise, as it bears an uncanny resemblance to a dead leaf. It even has a dark, snout-like projection (the labial palpi) that mimics the stem of a leaf, and its wing pattern completes the illusion with a dark, raised line forming the central "vein" of the leaf; the soft ridges and scalloped edges of its wings also add to the effect.

There are many other leaf-mimicking moths out there, but this species is particularly impressive.

The caterpillars also have a knack for blending in -- thanks to their cryptic coloration and fuzzy, setae-lined sides, they are easily camouflaged against the bark of a poplar tree.

Above: the photos at the top show Gastropacha populifolia caterpillars blending in by pressing their bodies flat up against twigs/branches, and the photo at the bottom shows one of the caterpillars in a more conspicuous setting

These moths are defended by more than just mimicry, though; they can also produce ultrasonic clicks that interfere with the echolocation signals of predatory bats, which allows the moths to avoid being detected (and ultimately eaten) by bats.

Above: the adorable face of a poplar lappet moth

Sources & More Info:

Nota Lepidopterologica: Continuous Long-Term Monitoring of Daily Foraging Patterns in Three Species of Lappet Moth Caterpillars

Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Belgium: Gastropacha populifolia

Moths and How to Rear Them: Gastropacha populifolia

Wikipedia (German): Pappelglucke

Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa: G. populifolia

EurekaMag: Effect of the Scale Coverage of the Moth Gastropacha populifolia on the Reflection of Bat Echolocation Signals

[olowan-waphiya]

of fucking course.....they fucking coated paper straws with pfas......its a fucking nightmare

--

Long-lasting 'forever chemicals', which can cause damaging health issues, found in 18/20 brands of paper straws

In the first analysis of its kind in Europe, and only the second in the world, Belgian researchers tested 39 brands of straws for the group of synthetic chemicals known as poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

PFAS were found in the majority of the straws tested and were most common in those made from paper and bamboo, the study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Food Additives and Contaminants, found.

PFAS are used to make everyday products, from outdoor clothing to non-stick pans, resistant to water, heat and stains. They are, however, potentially harmful to people, wildlife and the environment.

They break down very slowly over time and can persist over thousands of years in the environment, a property that has led to them being known as "forever chemicals."

They have been associated with a number of health problems, including lower response to vaccines, lower birth weight, thyroid disease, increased cholesterol levels, liver damage, kidney cancer and testicular cancer.

"Straws made from plant-based materials, such as paper and bamboo, are often advertised as being more sustainable and eco-friendly than those made from plastic," says researcher Dr Thimo Groffen, an environmental scientist at the University of Antwerp, who is involved in this study.

"However, the presence of PFAS in these straws means that's not necessarily true."

A growing number of countries, including the UK and Belgium, have banned sale of single-use plastic products, including drinking straws, and plant-based versions have become popular alternatives.

A recent study found PFAS in plant-based drinking straws in the US. Dr Groffen and colleagues wanted to find out if the same was true of those on sale in Belgium.

To explore this further, the research team purchased 39 different brands of drinking straw made from five materials -- paper, bamboo, glass, stainless steel and plastic.

The straws, which were mainly obtained from shops, supermarkets and fast-food restaurants, then underwent two rounds of testing for PFAS.

The majority of the brands (27/39, 69%) contained PFAS, with 18 different PFAS detected in total.

The paper straws were most likely to contain PFAS, with the chemicals detected in 18/20 (90%) of the brands tested. PFAS were also detected in 4/5 (80%) brands of bamboo straw, 3/4 (75%) of the plastic straw brands and 2/5 (40%) brands of glass straw. They were not detected in any of the five types of steel straw tested.

The most commonly found PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), has been banned globally since 2020.

Also detected were trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMS), "ultra-short chain" PFAS which are highly water soluble and so might leach out of straws into drinks.

The PFAS concentrations were low and, bearing in mind that most people tend to only use straws occasionally, pose a limited risk to human health. However, PFAS can remain in the body for many years and concentrations can build up over time.

"Small amounts of PFAS, while not harmful in themselves, can add to the chemical load already present in the body," says Dr Groffen.

It isn't known whether the PFAS were added to the straws by the manufacturers for waterproofing or whether were the result of contamination. Potential sources of contamination include the soil the plant-based materials were grown in and the water used in the manufacturing process.

However, the presence of the chemicals in almost every brand of paper straw means it is likely that it was, in some cases, being used as a water-repellent coating, say the researchers.

The study's other limitations include not looking at whether the PFAS would leach out of the straws into liquids.

Dr Groffen concludes: "The presence of PFAS in paper and bamboo straws shows they are not necessarily biodegradable.

"We did not detect any PFAS in stainless steel straws, so I would advise consumers to use this type of straw -- or just avoid using straws at all."

[useless-catalanfacts]

Earlier this month, and given the ongoing massacres and genocide in Gaza, the dock workers in Barcelona (Catalonia) declared that they won't allow ships with weapons in the Barcelona port. Barcelona's port is the 5th busiest container port in the Mediterranean.

It's not the first time that the Barcelona dock workers have refused to serve ships that carry war material, but this time they have created a more stable way to proceed. The union representative has said that they will "act automatically when we detect the presence of a ship with war load".

This was their statement, which I translate to English below:

We, the dock workers of Barcelona's port, from our free and independent organization (OEPB), want to reiterate our most absolute rejection of any form of violence.

As a workers' collective, it is our duty and commitment to respect and vehemently defend the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights that seem to have been forgotten by the same countries that signed the Carta Magna and which nowadays are being violated in Ukraine, Israel or the Palestinian territory, among other places in the world.

This is why we have decided in assembly to not allow in our port the activity of any ships that carry war material, with the only purpose of protecting the civilian population, wherever they are from. No cause justifies killing civilians.

We demand an immediate ceasefire and to proceed searching for peaceful resolutions of the different conflicts. We also ask the UN to stop its complicity by inaction or negligence of its functions, and [the UN] to take back the spirits and motive for which it was founded:

• Keeping the peace and safety around the world

• Protecting human rights

• Distributing humanitarian help

• Supporting sustainable development and climate action

• Defending international law.

Barcelona, November 6th 2023

Dock workers in Belgium, Italy and the USA have already blocked ships that were suspicious of carrying weapons for Israel, and activists in other places like Kent (England) have blocked factories that make weapons.

Does your workplace contribute to killing civilians and genocide? How does your city, town or area contribute to sending military equipment to Israel? Do your buying habits send money to support the displacement or killing of Palestinian people?

There are many changes that need to be done to stop contributing and to leave Israel alone and unable to continue its massacres.

[froggi-mushroom]

I KNOW IVE SEEB THESE BUT I AM NOT CAPABLE OF BEING NORMAL ABOUT THIS

I LOVE THEM SM

More detective au doodles!

(From left to right: Gabriel (Portugal), Edith(England), Emma(Belgium), Marta(Macau))

--//--

After a while...

--//--

And an angsty comic based on some convos with @froggi-mushroom hehe

[vimbry-moved]

*if you've heard a couple songs but don't really know much about them, or haven't listened in a long while, you can play!

update: the highest votes went to gudetama. but was it correct? here are the full titles and albums.

❌ "put your hand inside the puppet head" - they might be giants

the opening verse makes reference to leaving one's job and how "it's sad to say, you will romanticise all the things you've known before. it was not, not, not so great". according to flansburgh, "the lyric revolves around the idea that looking back on anything colors it in sentimentality".

❌ "I'll sink manhattan" - they'll need a crane (ep)/miscellaneous T

this is a flansburgh song, but linnell explained its meaning in a 1989 interview with NME as "a song about a guy who somehow figures out how to sink the island of manhattan just to kill his ex-lover, so it's his apology to the other people he's gonna kill in between. he's just gotta do it!"

❌ "meet james ensor" - john henry

it's about james ensor (belgium's famous painter).

❌ "wicked little critta" - mink car

from the tmbg unlimited collection: "forged in the crucible of an eastern massachusetts junior high, this song expresses the dreams, fears and hopes of a new england young adult" the lyrics seem to suggest said young adult fantasising about being a sports star alongside bobby orr and john havlicek while goofing off outside.

❌ "working undercover for the man" - mink car

from flansburgh: "it's more a meditation on the "mod squad" [a 1968 crime series about cool undercover detectives] than anything else. the idea of the narc just seems... like, those episodes of "dragnet" where they have the young undercover dress in a hippie suit."

✔️ "talent is an asset" - kimono my house

the lyrics illustrate an overly-cautious family shielding their very gifted child from others, to keep him studious and soak in all the glory, and is heavily implied to be little albert einstein through puns on relatives and relativity. it's not by them, tho. it's by the band sparks. it came 2nd, so I think many of you recognised it (or really wanted to see the results!)

❌ "bee of the bird of the moth" - the else

"this is a song about a creature called a hummingbird moth, which imitates another creature, which imitates yet another creature. it's completely fucked up, and can only be explained in song!" so they did.

❌ "2082" - join us

thewrap's review of the album describes this song as, "a science-fiction short story (...) a protagonist who travels into the future, finds himself hobbled but still unhappily alive all the way into the next millennium, and travels back to the title year to smother himself with a pillow in a mercy killing". fun!

❌ "call you mom" - nanobots

referred to by linnell as an "oedipus pan" song, the lyrics follow an unfortunate young man beginning a relationship with a woman, getting dumped due to his behaviour of treating her like a mother figure, then infantilising a possibly younger woman in a different relationship and in turn leaving her, who goes on to experience the same issues. fun! (altho, the final chorus actually still refers to her Mom leaving, not her dad, I got the details wrong there in the poll).

❌ "gudetama's busy days" - dial-a-song / my murdered remains

yes, that's a real song. quote flansburgh: "(...) it is really just about feeling isolated from the world, even if you are in a crowded place and manically trying to keep up with your life. the character of gudetama appealed to me because he is such a mopey sad sack."

❌ "marty beller mask" - album raises new and troubling questions

this is real, too! it's just about how marty beller was actually an alter ego of whitney houston the whole time. he's not, but wouldn't that be interesting. the song name-checks multiple of her own in the lyrics. it was temporarily retired out of respect following houston's death (4 months after its release), returning to live performances ten years later in 2022.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Humans infecting animals infecting humans − from COVID-19 to bird flu, preventing pandemics requires protecting all species - Published Sept 4, 2024

I remember back in 2022, someone mocked me for worrying about zoonosis of new coivd strains. The science backs up my thoughts once again: We have to protect *everyone,* even critters, from disease to prevent future pandemics.

Authors Anna Fagre Veterinary Microbiologist and Wildlife Epidemiologist, Colorado State University

Sadie Jane Ryan Professor of Medical Geography, University of Florida

When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, humans had been the only species with reported cases of the disease. While early genetic analyses pointed to horseshoe bats as the evolutionary hosts of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, no reports had yet surfaced indicating it could be transmitted from humans to other animal species.

Less than two weeks later, a report from Belgium marked the first infection in a domestic cat – presumably by its owner. Summer 2020 saw news of COVID-19 outbreaks and subsequent cullings in mink farms across Europe and fears of similar calls for culling in North America. Humans and other animals on and around mink farms tested positive, raising questions about the potential for a secondary wildlife reservoir of COVID-19. That is, the virus could infect and establish a transmission cycle in a different species than the one in which it originated.

For example, spillback has been a long-standing threat to endangered great apes, even among populations with infrequent human contact. The chimpanzees of Gombe National Park, made famous by Jane Goodall’s work, have suffered outbreaks of measles and other respiratory diseases likely resulting from environmental persistence of pathogens spread by people living nearby or by ecotourists.

We are researchers who study the mechanisms driving cross-species disease transmission and how disease affects both wildlife conservation and people. Emerging outbreaks have underscored the importance of understanding how threats to wildlife health shape the emergence and spread of zoonotic pathogens. Our research suggests that looking at historical outbreaks can help predict and prevent the next pandemic.

Spillback has happened before Our research group wanted to assess how often spillback had been reported in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. A retrospective analysis not only allows us to identify specific trends or barriers in reporting spillback events but also helps us understand where new emergent threats are most likely.

We examined historical spillback events involving different groups of pathogens across the animal kingdom, accounting for variations in geography, methods and sample sizes. We synthesized scientific reports of spillback across nearly a century prior to the COVID-19 pandemic – from the 1920s to 2019 – which included diseases ranging from salmonella and intestinal parasites to human tuberculosis, influenza and polio.

We were also interested in determining whether detection and reporting bias might influence what’s known about human-to-animal pathogen transmission. Charismatic megafauna – often defined as larger mammals such as pandas, gorillas, elephants and whales that evoke emotion in people – tend to be overrepresented in wildlife epidemiology and conservation efforts. They receive more public attention and funding than smaller and less visible species.

Complicating this further are difficulties in monitoring wild populations of small animals, as they decompose quickly and are frequently scavenged by larger animals. This drastically reduces the time window during which researchers can investigate outbreaks and collect samples.

The results of our historical analysis support our suspicions that most reports described outbreaks in large charismatic megafauna. Many were captive, such as in zoos or rehabilitation centers, or semi-captive, such as well-studied great apes.

Despite the litany of papers published on new pathogens discovered in bats and rodents, the number of studies examining pathogens transmitted from humans to these animals was scant. However, small mammals occupying diverse ecological niches, including animals that live near human dwellings – such as deer mice, rats and skunks – may be more likely to not only share their pathogens with people but also to be infected by human pathogens.

COVID-19 and pandemic flu In our historical analysis of spillback prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the only evidence we found supporting the establishment of a human pathogen in a wildlife population were two 2019 reports describing H1N1 infection in striped skunks. Like coronaviruses, influenza A viruses such as H1N1 are adept at switching hosts and can infect a broad range of species.

Unlike coronaviruses, however, their widespread transmission is facilitated by migratory waterfowl such as ducks and geese. Exactly how these skunks became infected with H1N1 and for how long remains unclear.

Shortly after we completed the analysis for our study, reports describing widespread COVID-19 infection of white-tailed deer throughout North America began surfacing in November 2021. In some areas, the prevalence of infection was as high as 80% despite little evidence of sickness in the deer.

This ubiquitous mammal has effectively become a secondary reservoir of COVID-19 in North America. Further, genetic evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 evolves three times faster in white-tailed deer than in humans, potentially increasing the risk of seeding new variants into humans and other animals. There is already evidence of deer-to-human transmission of a previously unseen variant of COVID-19.

There are over 30 million white-tailed deer in North America, many in agricultural and suburban areas. Surveillance efforts to monitor viral evolution in white-tailed deer can help identify emerging variants and further transmission from deer populations into people or domestic animals.

Investigations into related species revealed that the risk of spillback varies. For instance, white-tailed deer and mule deer are highly susceptible to COVID-19 in the lab, while elk are not.

H5N1 and the US dairy herd Since 2022, the spread of H5N1 has affected a broad range of avian and mammalian species around the globe – foxes, skunks, raccoons, opossums, polar bears, coyotes and seals, to name a few. Some of these populations are threatened or endangered, and aggressive surveillance efforts to monitor viral spread are ongoing.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported the presence of H5N1 in the milk of dairy cows. Genetic analyses point to an introduction of the virus into cows as early as December 2023, probably in the Texas Panhandle. Since then, it has affected 178 livestock herds in 13 states as of August 2024.

How the virus got into dairy cow populations remains undetermined, but it was likely by migratory waterfowl infected with the virus. Efforts to delineate exactly how the virus moves among and between herds are underway, though it appears contaminated milking equipment rather than aerosol transmission, may be the culprit.

Given the ability of influenza A viruses such as avian flu to infect a broad range of species, it is critical that surveillance efforts target not only dairy cows but also animals living on or around affected farms. Monitoring high-risk areas for cross-species transmission, such as where livestock, wildlife and people interact, provides information not only about how widespread a disease is in a given population – in this case, dairy cows – but also allows researchers to identify susceptible species that come into contact with them.

To date, H5N1 has been detected in several animals found dead on affected dairy farms, including cats, birds and a raccoon. As of August 2024, four people in close contact with infected dairy cows have tested positive, one of whom developed respiratory symptoms. Other wildlife and domestic animal species are still at risk. Similar surveillance efforts are underway to monitor H5N1 transmission from poultry to humans.

Humans are only 1 part of the network The language often used to describe cross-species transmission fails to encapsulate its complexity and nuances. Given the number of species that have been infected with COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, many scientists have called for limiting the use of the terms spillover and spillback because they describe the transmission of pathogens to and from humans. This suggests that disease and its implications begin and end with humans.

Considering humans as one node in a large network of transmission possibilities can help researchers more effectively monitor COVID-19, H5N1 and other emerging zoonoses. This includes systems-thinking approaches such as One Health or Planetary Health that capture human interdependence with the health of the total environment.

[thebiggerbear]

Misc Fic Recs List

Rec List under Read More:

Rough Around the Edges by @lila-lou - Jack's day couldn’t have gotten any worse. Exhausted from a grueling shift under the scorching sun, he just wanted to crash at home with some wings and a football game. But his plans for a quiet night were shattered when the racket from his new neighbor echoed through the walls. (Jack Durfy x Reader, Buddy Games Franchise)

A Home and A Heart by @winchesterwild78 (Jack Durfy x Reader, Buddy Games Franchise)

Y/N adjusted her leather jacket, tugging at the collar in a futile attempt to shake off the nerves... by @reaper2187 (Jessica Rabbit x Reader, Disney: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)

Blinding Love by @brummiereader - Soon to be divorced and co-parenting with the notorious leader of the Peaky Blinders was never going to be a breeze. But when a number of unanswered calls and a string of dead bodies surface in your attempts to move on, you gain the attention of a detective and the pressing matter of his colleagues whereabouts, with whom you had spent one evening on a date with. Promising you witness protection in return for the evidence he was sure you had on his sole suspect, your husband. Your future is left in the balance when Tommy’s paranoia and inability to let you go makes itself known as your codependency continues to show no signs of surrendering. Will you let yourself be free of the man whose love for you has consumed him? Do you even want to be? (Thomas Shelby x Reader, Peaky Blinders)

Family business by @cheynovak - After a long day at work, Jack Durfy comes home stressed from the weight of running the family construction business and dealing with his irresponsible brother. His wife, Y/N, tries to soothe him, offering to help with the business and take some of the burden off his shoulders. (Jack Durfy x Reader, Buddy Games Franchise)

Only you by @cheynovak - Y/N, is the daughter of James an ex-marine who fell in love with a Belgian woman Sophie, they raised their kids in Brussels, Y/N and her twin brother Matthias moved to Texas after leaving the special forces in Belgium, Y/N witnessed her partner and fiancé gets killed in a secret operation, she has trouble following orders after that, so they let her go with honourable discharge. Dealing with the loss of her fiancé, made her decide to move out of the country, leaving her starting fresh in the US. (Cordell Walker x Reader, Walker)

Preludes by KameTerra - Raphael and April had never spent much time together… but as their newfound friendship deepens, both are unprepared for what it brings. Prequel to "Bound." 2003/2007 verse blend. (Raphael x April, TMNT) [FanfictionNet]

Bound by KameTerra - Friendship, family, love, and honor are the binding forces of life. But when life gets messy, some bonds sever too easily while others seem to hold you too tight. (Raphael x April, TMNT) [FanfictionNet]

Interludes by KameTerra - A set of short sketches highlighting some of the more light-hearted aspects of Raph & April's relationship within the storyline of Bound. Eight: Love is in the air…even more so than usual. (Raphael x April, TMNT) [FanfictionNet]

Fortitude by @xx-ingie-xx - Nearly fifteen years after Ocarina of Time, Link and Zelda struggle to preserve political peace after their controversial marriage. But when disaster strikes, Zelda finds herself facing far more than political turmoil… (Zelda x Link, The Legend of Zelda) [FanfictionNet]

Forgotten by @xx-ingie-xx - A sequel to Fortitude. (Zelda x Link, The Legend of Zelda) [FanfictionNet]

Stay With Me by leoslady4ever & Deathsembrace137 - Lucy had never considered a love with Laxus, until the day he died saving her life. Now, he haunts her thoughts with dreams of what might have been, and unable to move forward, she finds herself going back, learning everything she can about the man who, out of love, gave his life for her. Soon she realizes, his one sided love, may not be so one sided after all. (Laxus x Lucy, Fairy Tail) [FanfictionNet]

Abducton by prettylilah - Goliath is supposed to meet Elisa at her place, but when she arrives, she finds an imposter waiting in the dark! Rated for future chapters, picks up after Hunter's Moon pt.3. (Goliath x Elisa, Gargoyles 1994) [FanfictionNet]

Game, Set, and Match by Firebird9 - How does one small but determined cat manage to defeat a police detective and a gargoyle? (Goliath x Elisa, Gargoyles 1994) [FanfictionNet]

in front of the children by smartalker - Gray and Lucy watch porn. And take notes. (Gray x Lucy, Fairy Tail) [FanfictionNet]

Jail Bait by x.Miss.Attention.Span.x - I hate you, I hate you, I love you…". She cringed as the last three words slipped out of her mouth. (Buffy x Faith, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) [FanfictionNet]

Unspoken Rules by @winchesterwild78 (Character x Reader)

Not A Monster by Cyndi - Peach sees an entirely different side of Bowser when a routine kidnapping is interrupted by Junior falling ill. (Peach x Bowser, Super Mario Bros) [AO3]

Danceverse Series by Cyndi - The unlikely love story of a human woman and an alien robot destined to belong to each other. (Optimus x Mikaela, Transformers) [AO3] (*personal note: every one of the works in this series is amazing but Lines is my personal favorite, it's the one I started with way back and got hooked onto this 'verse)

We Are The Same by IridescentEuphoria - They were stood in the ruins of their relationship, that had only begun to build, when Eve walked away from her and broke both their hearts. Little did she know Villanelle had planned all of this to save her life. (Villanelle x Eve, Killing Eve) [AO3]

The Price of Pleasure by mydeira - Dawn's night with Spike isn't all it seems. (Dawn x Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) [AO3]

Linda Barrett Relationship Headcanons by @laddieseddiemunster (Linda Barrett x Reader, Fast Times At Ridgemont High)

Bruised Fruit by @lostloveletters - Gloria falls like overripe fruit from a wilting tree branch, and Michael Corleone intends to devour her amidst the rot and decay that's long since taken root in his family, intent on dooming her with him for a chance at another heir. (Michael Corleone x OFC, The Godfather Series)

Scotty Doesn't Know by @titsout4jackles (Charlie Baker x Reader, The Cheaper Dozen)

Moth to a Flame by @jobean12-blog - You never want to disturb the General but for him, nothing is more important than you. (General Acacius x Female!Reader, Gladiator II)

Messy by @lizthewriter - you and regina have been secretly hooking up for months, but she breaks up with you when you ask for more. after she gets hit by a bus, you fear for her life and whatever relationship you have left. (Regina George x Female!Reader, Mean Girls 2024)

Sinnerman by @venus-haze - You can’t even see your old life from Crockett Island, but nevertheless it weighs on your conscience like an anchor on the ocean floor. Father Paul Hill tries to pull the anchor up, only to sink your whole damn ship. (Father Paul Hill x Reader, Midnight Mass)

Power in the Blood by @venus-haze - There’s power in the blood. Father Paul knows this. Soon, you will, too. (Father Paul Hill x Nun Female!Reader, Midnight Mass)

Fascination by @dimitrescus-bitch (Jamie Moriarty x Reader, Elementary)

Dating Jamie Moriarty would include… by @onegayastronaut (Jamie Moriarty x Reader, Elementary)

Dark Necessities by @dimitrescus-bitch (Jamie Moriarty x Reader, Elementary)

Brownstone by @blog-of-a-multitude-of-fandoms (Jamie Moriarty & Platonic Reader, Elementary)

Forever After All by @jobean12-blog - You and Javi have been working together for a few months and you can’t deny that you like him…everything about him. And you know you’re not imagining the subtle flirting and lingering glances but when you have an assignment that puts you two closer than you ’ve ever been you find out what it all really means. (Javier Pena x Female!Reader, Narcos)

Special by @decaf-mother - You mean the world to him but he’s not sure he deserves you. (Josh Washington x Female!Reader, Until Dawn)

Shadow and Sin by @blackleatherjacketz - Having just recently moved to New Orleans, you get intimately acquainted with both Mikaelson brothers, but don’t find out who they truly are until it’s too late. (Elijah Mikaelson x Reader, Klaus Mikaelson x Reader, The Originals)

In Every Realm by @caplanbuckybarnes - he vows to love you in every universe (Sub-Zero x Reader, Mortal Kombat)

Untitled by @catierambles (Captain Syverson x Reader, Sand Castle)

The Storm Outside by @bullet-prooflove - Larry comforts you during a stormy night. (Captain Larry James x Reader, Walker)

Question…? by @collecting-stories - After leaving your home in Boston for a new life, a ghost from the past rolls into the same place and you can’t shake the feelings you once had for him. (Tom Davidson x Reader, Walker: Independence)

One Time Thing by @bullet-prooflove - This thing between the two of you was just meant to be a one time thing. (Cordell Walker x Reader, Walker)

cherry lipgloss by @sapphistically - buffy and you have a fight while patrolling, you get hurt and she can’t help but realise you were right, she does love you. (Buffy Summers x Female!Reader, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Be There by @anundyingfidelity - John comes to your door wounded late at night for help. You wish he would stay. (John Wick x Reader, John Wick Franchise)

Keep Safe by @dimitrescus-bitch (Jamie Moriarty x Reader, Elementary)

Dismantle Me by @dimitrescus-bitch (Jamie Moriarty x Reader, Elementary)

your new neighbor has taken a liking to you by ghostsangel (Simon “Ghost” Riley x Female!Reader, Call of Duty)

*I will add more as I go

dividers by @firefly-graphics

[dontforgetukraine]

-Over 533,200 pieces of explosive ordnance have been detected and disposed of since Russia's full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022.

-30,000 square kilometers of mines have been cleared over the past two years - an area comparable to the size of Belgium or Moldova.

-Since 2022, approximately 174,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian land have been contaminated with explosives, making 144,000 square kilometers still potentially dangerous.

Source: Ukraine has neutralized over 533,000 explosive devices since February, 2022

[blueiscoool]

16th-Century Coin Hoard Unearthed in Poland

A father-and-son metal detecting duo discovered a "priceless" treasure trove of 17 rare historic coins.

Sławomir and Szymon Milewscy found the coins near Pomiechówek, a village in the Mazovia region of east-central Poland.

The silver coins, dated to the 16th and 17th centuries, came to light during a search by the Polish Association of Prospectors in collaboration with the Triglav Historical and Research Association. The search aimed to uncover evidence of a road from the time of the Roman Empire, but the effort resulted in a very different kind of discovery.

"We have a treasure. We didn't expect this at all," the prospectors association said in a on November 3 post.

"We will start with the historical value—this one for us is priceless," the association said in another post on November 4.

While Piotr Duda, an archaeologist from the Triglav Historical and Research Association, also noted that the coins' historical value is "indescribable," their material value is estimated to be around half a million Polish zlotys—equivalent to roughly $122,000.

"This is probably one of the largest treasures of this type discovered so far in Poland, and certainly in Mazovia. Yes, in recent years, deposits of coins from various historical eras have emerged, but not from the 16th and 17th centuries," Duda told Science in Poland.

We knew that these were silver coins and their value could be high, but when we started looking at them, we were rubbing our eyes with amazement. It is simply unbelievable," he said.

The coin hoard consists of thaler and paragon coins, which were large silver coins used in Europe from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

The thaler, originating in the Holy Roman Empire, was widely circulated and became the model for many currencies. It was known for its stability and high silver content. The English word "dollar" is also derived from the name.

The patagon, meanwhile, was a similar large silver coin primarily minted in the Spanish Netherlands. This territory included parts of modern-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands during the late 16th and 17th centuries. These coins were widely used in European trade and exported to Spanish colonies, making them valuable in international commerce.

One of the coins—a 1630 thaler depicting Sigismund III Vasa, king of Poland (1587–1632) and Sweden (1592–99)—is a particularly rare Thaler. An identical coin, but in much worse condition, was sold at auction last year for more than 86,000 Polish zlotys, or around $21,000.

The newly discovered treasure will now be transferred to the Mazovian Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments and eventually placed in a museum.

By Aristos Georgiou.

[yandere-daze]

This post is for me and the 3 other Rain Code fans on here that asked for this. The thoughts and ideas just wouldn`t leave my mind so here you go <3

I actually started writing this when I was in Belgium in August and only finished it now. Hope you still enjoy <3 Please do let me know what you think!

Warning: This post will mention and talk about the Fortes of the Detectives so if you want to stay blind please don`t read this as it will contain spoilers!

tw yandere, obsession, stalking, desperation, manipulation, mention of murder, kidnapping, childhood neglect

gn reader

Characters: Yuma Kokohead, Halara Nightmare, Desuhiko Thunderbolt, Fubuki Clockford, Vivia Twilight

Yandere Archives: Rain Code

Yuma Kokohead

Yuma is kind of an interesting character to imagine as a yandere. I think you could make a case for him to be a lucid or delusional yandere. He´s a character with strong morals, one who doesn´t want to do others any harm and is more than capable of recognizing when he is doing something wrong. On the other hand, I can also imagine him acting very irrationally when he falls deep into obsession with his darling

I simply can´t imagine him having a lot of experience when it comes to love, you´re probably the first person he ever fell in love with and it would happen very fast. As such, Yuma would be pretty lovestruck with you, he just feels so happy when he´s around you! He always wants to help you in whatever ways he can and tends to trail behind you like a lovesick puppy. He gets very flustered whenever you praise him in any way, he really enjoys the attention he gets from you.

He´s so inexperienced when it comes to love, that he doesn´t really understand that the way he feels for you might be a bit more intense than what actual love would be like. It shouldn´t feel so completely unbearable to leave you for the night whenever you both have to head home. He knows he will most likely see you again the next and yet Yuma still feels like crying whenever you have to separate. But that´s just what being in love is like, right?

It´s normal that he sometimes lies awake at night for hours, tossing and turning in bed before finally getting up and heading out into the streets to see you again. He´s easily memorized the path to your home from the many times he has gone there and so he finds it even in the darkness of the night without a hitch.

His heart feels heavy and only when he can finally see your sleeping form through the glass of your window does he finally feel like he can breathe once more. You just look so peaceful, Yuma almost can´t rip his gaze away from you.

But then in the morning, when you tell him that you once again feel uneasy because you could swear there were eyes on you all day, he can´t help but feel guilty. Following you home, that´s bad, no questions about that. Yuma knows that. He knows that and yet he can´t bring himself to stop. He needs to see you, he has to be right next to you every minute of every day or he feels like his heart will stop functioning.

He can´t be apart from you and it breaks your heart to see Yuma so sad every time you say goodbye, but you do notice that it keeps getting harder to actually leave every single day. The way Yuma looks at you so sadly, the way that with time, Yuma starts begging on his hands and knees for you to stay with him just a moment longer. It´s worrying. He seems so unhealthily attached to you but no matter how many times you try to bring it up, he immediately shuts down any arguments you try to bring. He just won´t hear it. He can´t bear to hear it, because deep down he knows you´re right.

It can´t go on like this, but Yuma just can´t let go. He wants to be with you so badly, he would do anything!

His desperation to be with you would almost be cute if it wasn´t so frankly worrying. The longer you are with him, the harder it gets to leave him. But the longer you are gone, the more determined and desperate he gets to keep you around for longer. You really don´t know what to do.

And Yuma? With time he realized that this is a problem, the way he thinks about this isn´t normal. But the thought of you being gone is even more unbearable. And honestly, Shinigami is just making things worse. As the god of death, her morals are way looser than Yuma´s and so she tends to give him "helpful advice" on how he can be with you forever.

Killing rivals through the Mystery Labyrinth, finally taking you home, and not letting you leave until you promise to love only him...

Yuma is horrified to hear these things and he refuses to act on any of them. But the more time goes by, the more he hears Shinigami´s voice in his head, and the more desperate he gets, the more appealing her "solutions" sound.

It´s only a matter of time until total obsession can turn even someone as honest as Yuma into someone willing to do terrible things for the one he loves

Halara Nightmare

Halara I imagine to be the one that takes the longest to fall for you out of everyone here. They are a very serious person and try to detach themselves from their emotions. What time do they have for things like romance when they need to do detective work?

It takes a long time for you to prove yourself in Halara´s eyes, they need to respect you as a strong and genuine person before they could ever develop any kind of attachment towards you. And let´s be clear: That really isn´t an easy task. Halara is not easily impressed and they´re even less likely to think of someone as honest

Due to the past scamming their family fell victim to, Halara is very wary of strangers. In their eyes, there´s no one in this world who does good things simply for the sake of it. Everyone has their own motives and reasons for doing things, theirs just include money.

So to earn their trust, you must be quite a remarkable person, one with a bright head on their shoulders. And then maybe with time, you will begin to earn their appreciation

It definitely takes Halara the longest out of everyone here to fall for you, it´s a very gradual progress, one that both of you probably aren´t aware of. Halara isn´t very affectionate with you and that doesn´t really change later on either once their obsession with you grows.

And Halara? Well, I´m pretty certain they have no experience with these sorts of feelings and might even push them away whenever they surface. They´re just a distraction from their work, they can´t afford to feel these things for you.

But slowly but surely, they keep falling deeper and deeper until even they can´t deny the way they feel about you anymore. They haven´t loved anyone like this before and it takes them aback, but they´re not stupid. They can surmise what the fluttering in their chest whenever you send a smile their way means. The way their cheeks feel warm whenever you fleetingly touch them. They know what all of this means, they´ve simply tried to deny it for the longest time

From the outside, it seems like nothing changed at all from the way they act. Their behaviour around you doesn´t really change all that much, though they are maybe a bit gentler when it comes to talking to you. But it´s really hard to catch on to honestly, and that´s how Halara prefers it to be.

Strangely enough, I can actually see them as one of the few yanderes that isn´t actually 100% interested in getting into a relationship with you, it isn´t really all that necessary to them. They greatly enjoy your company, yes, and their heart speeds up whenever you enter the room, but they simply don´t believe that a romantic relationship is the only fulfilling way to be with you.

Yes, touching you more tenderly and maybe even kissing you definitely sounds appealing to them, but it isn´t their priority when it comes to their darling.

What is their priority? Their darling´s safety.

As we know, Halara is very wary of any stranger you might meet. They´ve always been convinced that people simply can´t be trusted to act in your best interest, even before meeting you. And now you´ve entered their life and yes, Halara is happy to admit that you might be the only exception to that rule.

To them, you are the one good, honest person walking this earth. You do nice things out of the goodness of your heart, you care for other people and want to help them. And Halara knows better than anyone else how strangers will try to take advantage of that. They simply must keep you safe from any harm that might befall you.

They´re very smart and quick to figure out when someone has ill intentions and they´re even faster when it comes to fending them off. They´re very well informed and have no problem with blackmailing or threatening people to leave you alone. And if that fails, Halara is also very well-versed in hand-to-hand combat. Any possible threats are quick to run away afterwards.

And to be clear: ANYONE is a threat in Halara´s eyes. The world is full of scummy people and you can never be too careful. You have a good heart and someone needs to be there to protect it. That´s their job and they will do anything to complete the task.

No one will ever lay a hand on you while they´re around.

Desuhiko Thunderbolt

I feel like Desuhiko would be very fast to develop a crush on you and it would be very obvious to everyone. He can be very "intense" when he shows interest in someone

He would try to make a move on you almost immediately, though that would most certainly lead to you rejecting him and being kind of uncomfortable.

Funnily enough, with how he usually is you probably wouldn't even suspect how deep his love for you actually goes. He's like this with everyone so he's probably not serious about you at all. It's just like with everyone else, you think

So because he's coming on so strongly with everyone, you wouldn't even think that anything was different this time with you. And at first, you were right.

Desuhiko went to try and talk up other people but somehow, his mind kept returning to you. His thoughts started focusing on more aspects of you than simply your looks. No, in his mind he really started admiring you for your personality and all the little quirks you have

It was strange to him because never before had he gotten so attached to someone he was interested in.

When he realizes that he's actually in love with you, Desuhiko doesn't really know what to do with himself. He's completely overcome with emotions and just kind of a mess all around.

But now that he realizes the extent of his feelings for you ( he doesn't really because he doesn't know just how obsessed he is with you) he doesn't know how to go about it. Suddenly lame pick-up lines don't feel right anymore and he gets more and more tongue-tied when around you. It's quite a rare sight to see Desuhiko be so flustered and almost... shy?

Suddenly he's very self-conscious about what you might think of him. You probably think he's really lame with the way he tried to hit on you first, huh? Yeah, maybe that wasn't really the best move

But Desuhiko is nothing if not persistent. He won't give up on you so easily after a single defeat, now that he's aware that what he feels for you is special

Honestly, his attempts to win you over will become way more endearing? You can tell that he tries really hard to impress you. See, he's caught onto another criminal all on his own! Isn't he cool? You think so too, right??

On the other hand, he will also keep complimenting you on every single thing you do.

"Oh y/n, you're so smart for figuring that out!", "Oh, you're just so kind for helping that person out"

It would almost feel patronizing with how he praises every single mundane thing you do but you brush it all off because Desuhiko is just being Desuhiko

And after a while, Desuhiko will get a bit upset when he notices that you aren't really taking him and his feelings seriously. Because he is very serious about you! He's made up his mind that he wants to be with you and he'll do anything to prove that to you!

You start to notice that something about this is different because Desuhiko completely stops trying to hit on random people on the street. And all you can wonder is what possibly could have caused this. It was a good change obviously but you were still curious

But of course, the real reason is that he wants to show you how serious he is about you. He doesn't need or want anyone else when he already has you. He would consider it downright cheating if he kept up his old behavior. I mean you're already almost kind-of dating, right? I mean you must have picked up on his feelings by now, he even confessed all these months ago! Continuing to hang out with him means that you're not entirely opposed to the idea, right? Right?

He just keeps getting more and more persistent and it´s really hard to go anywhere without him. He always insists on tagging along with you, no matter how short the trip. It´s honestly pretty frustrating sometimes, it´s like you can never have a moment to be on your own, Desuhiko is always with you.

Naturally, you start complaining. And even Desuhiko can see that you´re getting annoyed with him never leaving you alone, even with his rose-tinted glasses. But he just can´t bring himself to ever leave you alone. And this is when his Forte comes into play.

You see, his Forte is actually kind of perfect for a stalker. Can you imagine the kind of stuff a yandere could pull off with the ability to disguise themselves perfectly? Whenever you get sick of him, Desuhiko can simply disguise himself as someone else and "discreetly" follow you when you´re out in public. And even if you do end up catching him, well, he has another person´s face, how are you supposed to know that it´s actually him?

And while we´re talking about disguising himself as someone else, this would actually be a pretty effective way to get rid of any perceived rivals without doing anything truly heinous. Despite everything, Desuhiko could never find it in himself to actually hurt someone like that, it´s not really in him.

So when he sees someone trying to make a move on you? It´s very simple for him to disguise himself as them and then make them look bad right in front of you.

Fubuki Clockfort

Fubuki definitely strikes me as a delusional yandere. Never before in her life has she ever been in love with anyone so when she feels that burst of warmth in her heart when she sees you for the first time, it‘s a strange and foreign feeling to her. Not at all unpleasant though! It‘s just something she has never felt before and so she is very curious about what this could possibly mean.

So to figure out what this is all about, Fubuki spends more and more time with you. And as she comes to find out very soon, she really enjoys your company! And her heart starts beating really really fast whenever you‘re near to her! Oh, this exhilarating feeling, it makes her feel strong and so, so weak at the same time.

But it is a wonderful new feeling and one she wants to hold on to for as long as she can.

Faster than you could realize, Fubuki starts to get really clingy with you. She keeps insisting that she should go with you when you head out with the excuse that she would be able to guarantee your safety due to her Forte if you ever got into any trouble. So obviously she has to tag along!

Fubuki would be so so sweet to you, singing your praises every step of the way. It's almost impossible to get her to calm down once she has started rambling.

I think after a good amount of time, Fubuki would be able to realize that she is in love with you. She might have had a sheltered upbringing but love was something that had always been at the back of her mind, even if she didn't allow herself to dwell on it for too long

As the heir to a very important family, Fubuki has been in an arranged marriage for as long as she can remember. As such, all her life, she never allowed herself to fall in love with anyone. She knew she was already promised to someone and she couldn't bear the thought of having her heart broken if she fell for someone else. She realized that her own wishes would have to take a backstep for the good of the Clockford family

She has told herself this all her life and yet when she finally does fall for you... Oh, this feeling is so addicting, how could she ever give up on this?

How could she ever choose her family over you? She has already envisioned her perfect future with you! Fubuki will go on adventures all around the world and you will accompany her as her loving and loyal partner! Oh, she can't help but fluster just thinking about all the time you two will be spending all alone!

The thought that you might not feel the same way as her doesn't really register in her head. Surely you must also have these intense feelings, just like her?

Because she's so delusional, she will definitely jump the gun with confessing to you.

"Y/n, I want to tell you something very important. I think - no, I know, that I'm in love with you. You look confused? Please do not worry, I've already spoken to my parents about breaking off my arranged marriage. There won't be any issues!"

She says this all with a smile while you wonder how someone can fall in love with you and break off their engagement after knowing you for 3 weeks.

Is very shocked and close to tears if you reject her, no matter how gently you do it. Also, you won't do yourself any favors if you mention that you two don't know each other enough yet. She will see that as a sign that you're willing to date her if you two spend more time together.

And if you just outright reject her? Well, Fubuki is definitely not happy about that. Maybe she should have waited a bit longer before confessing her feelings? Oh how clumsy of her, she's so unfamiliar with how love works!

So what does she do in this type of situation? She uses her Forte to turn back time to before she confessed her feelings. She understands that you need more time to process your feelings! So she will ask again tomorrow <3

Honestly, you could really abuse her Forte, she could just confess over and over to test the waters and then simply turn back time every time you turn her down. Or what if she suggests holding hands? Or asks if she can kiss you? If you don't want to, she can simply turn back time and make you forget it ever happened

That being said, if you keep rejecting her, Fubuki might get a little desperate. She really wants to show you that she could be perfect for you! So she'll definitely shower you with gifts. Anytime you even remotely mention wanting something, she'll get it for you with a smile. It's really no issue for someone whose family has as much money as hers.

Also because she's an airhead, you could definitely also manipulate her into giving you things or doing things for you. Whether it's clothes, a villa or her bank account number, nothing is out of the question!

Speaking of her family, you would be in a very rough spot if she ever brought up wanting to marry you to her parents. She probably wouldn't realize that she's pressuring you but how could you ever refuse if the Clockford family offered you an arranged marriage? How could you slight a family with so much power and money?

If you accept, Fubuki will be overjoyed, knowing all along that you loved her as well

And once you're married, there's no way you're ever going to be able to run away from her.

The only good news is that Fubuki is pretty tame as far as yanderes go. She would never want to harm you in any way, she just really wants to please you! Anything you wish for you will definitely get! She just wants to be with you for the rest of your lives!

Vivia Twilight

Vivia for me is a strange case because I can both see him taking a long time to fall for someone or falling for someone almost immediately

As we can see from his Gumshoe Gab, Vivia had a very troubling childhood where he went through a lot of neglect. He also expresses that a lot of people stay away from him because of his Forte so he probably feels quite lonely, even if he doesn't directly say this

So I think more than anything, Vivia would fall for a darling that is very kind and caring, someone who gives him the time of day and isn't deterred by his way of speaking or perceived strangeness

That being said, I don't think his darling would actually have to be an extraordinarily good person to catch his attention, as we can see him describe Yuma as "very kind" simply for talking to him or listening to him speak about his interests

Due to all the neglect he had to suffer through, Vivia might latch on to anyone who shows him the bare minimum of decency or affection because it is something he isn't used to and wants to continue to feel

“You keep talking to me every day. You must be some kind of angel.“

So I think Vivia would latch on to and fall for you almost immediately but it would be a slow and gradual descent into madness for him. It doesn't happen immediately and you probably wouldn't even notice anything changing about his usual behaviour

His way of speaking in metaphors and mysteries ironically enough would make any underlying thoughts and motives he has anything but overt. You might chalk up the way he‘s behaving suddenly to Vivia being Vivia.

It's not at all obvious when Vivia has a crush on you, it's like nothing really changes. He‘s not going to be upfront about his feelings so it would be up to you to pick up the small clues he leaves behind to figure out what is really going through his head. In front of you, he's still his old tired self, though you might feel someone intensely staring at you from time to time while you're at the agency. It´s kind of unnerving because every time you turn around to look, you can’t find the person responsible for giving you that chill up your spine

It´s honestly unlikely that you‘ll catch Vivia in the act of watching you, he can be very discreet when he wants to. On the flipside though, if you do end up seeing him, he‘ll simply smile directly at you and then turn back to his book, making you believe that nothing was strange about this after all with how casual he‘s acting about being caught.

Maybe you were just paranoid and jumping to conclusions. What´s so strange about being looked at sometimes? You‘re sure it was just a strange coincidence that it always seems to be Vivia who‘s studying you so intensely

If only you knew though, him staring at you out in the open was the least of your worries.

There is something much worse that you have no idea about. Vivia‘s Forte lends itself perfectly to a stalker yandere like him.

It's almost too easy. Vivia can simply lie down on the ground and use his Forte to turn himself into a ghost. Now he's completely invisible to everyone's eyes and he can even phase through walls if you were smart and locked the door to your room. Nothing you will do to protect yourself from your stalker will actually hinder Vivia in any way.

Locks, motion sensors, security cameras - nothing works. And the longer there is no evidence of a stalker, the more you will start to believe that it must have all been in your imagination from the start.

I mean surely, if there really was a stalker breaking into your house every night, something would have shown up on your security cameras, right? You made absolutely sure to cover every single area outside your house so there wouldn't be any blind spots. And yet still - the recording tapes turn up empty

At least Vivia will listen to you when you express your worries about believing you have a stalker but not finding any evidence. He feels a bit bad about how paranoid you have become because of him and yet he can't really say no when you ask him if he could spend the night at your house to help keep watch because you feel unsafe. It's too perfect an opportunity to pass up

You can rest assured that no one will secretly break into your house tonight while Vivia keeps watch over you <3 He's not getting a lot of sleep tonight due to being so close to you in person. It's just so different to have your permission for once to admire you all night

Can't help but chuckle to himself when you thank him in the morning for keeping watch so diligently. He looks so tired too!

Getting a bit off-track here so let's reel it in again. Vivia as a yandere would crave a normal relationship with you, which means he would ideally like you to fall for him as well, even though he sees it as a bit unlikely that someone as perfect as you would ever fall in love with him.

He wants your relationship to be peaceful and sweet, which is why he never wants you to find out about his tendencies. It would completely shatter the illusion he had kept up for so long and change everything, he can't let that happen

Because of this, I don't think Vivia kidnapping you is all that likely. He wants to be overt in his obsession for you and so no matter how much he wants all of your attention and affection, he won't do something so drastic, especially for no reason.

He needs to feel really threatened or like you're going to completely slip away from him to ever consider kidnapping you. He realizes that being kidnapped greatly reduces the likelihood of you falling for him.

That being said, if he did decide that this was necessary, he wouldn't have too hard of a time. We learn in the game that apparently he's always carrying around a syringe and we've seen him sedate people with it too in the flash of a moment. This leads me to believe that that probably wasn't the first time he knocked someone out and so he would also know what he needs to do if he wants to put you to sleep.

Will apologize but explain that he had to do this to ensure your happy future together. Hopes that you find it in the kindness of your heart to forgive him

Also, I feel like this is the right time to mention that Vivia would be a protective yandere. You're an amazing and kind person to him so it's of utmost importance to keep you safe. You deserve the world ( and so much better than him, he thinks) and he won't stand for anyone trying to harm you. You're so, so important to him, he can't let anything happen to you

I think this protective tendency is something he wouldn't really display in front of you all too much, aside from maybe making some small comments on the side when he thinks that someone might be up to no good

He will definitely follow you around in ghost form though!

Now, Vivia doesn't like violence all that much and would rather avoid any bloodshed. He's not the type of yandere to go crazy with jealousy and just murder anyone he deems a rival. ( I think I should mention that I can't imagine Vivia as a very jealous yandere in the first place)

He really rather wouldn't and especially not in front of you. He doesn't want you to become scared of him because he started swinging around a knife all carelessly. If he deems someone a threat, he might just go with something ominous. That combined with his height should be enough to scare off most people.

That being said. He does canonically have a box cutter in his coat at all times and he knows how to use it. If it really came down to it, Vivia could bring himself to hurt or even kill someone for you and your relationship. Murder is an absolute last resort and he‘s not quite sure if he could actually go through with it, but it‘s not out of the question.

He just wants a quiet and peaceful life with you at his side for the rest of his life. And he‘s going to have it, no matter what.

[f1ghtsoftly]

All The Women’s News You Missed Last Week

11/25/24-12/2/24

Feminist Activists fend off attacks from the U.S. far right in El Salvador, Sex Workers in Belgium get new labor rights, Latin American heads of state take on Trump and Musk and searching begins to find Indigenous femicide victims in Canada.

Women’s Rights: 

Belgium's sex workers get maternity leave and pensions under world-first law 

Judge rejects effort to stop transgender college volleyball player competing 

Beatriz v El Salvador: the abortion case that could set a precedent across Latin America

Women in the News: 

Florida woman sentenced to life for zipping boyfriend into suitcase, suffocating him

Woman driving drunk who killed bride still in her wedding dress sentenced to 25 years in prison

Mexican president says she is confident that a tariff war with the US can be averted

Brazil first lady uses expletive against Elon Musk at G20 event

Venomous snake slithers up driver's leg on Australia motorway 

Chinese companies apologise for 'shrunken' sanitary pads 

Bushra Bibi led a protest to free Imran Khan - what happened next is a mystery 

Vietnamese tycoon in race to raise $9bn to avoid execution 

Is Namibia going to elect its first female leader? 

She fled Israeli bombing four times. It still found her 

Male Violence: 

Landfill search begins in Canada for remains of serial killer's victims 

WATCH: 'It's important that we come together and stand for Nikita' 

'People want nothing to do with him': How Ireland turned away from Conor McGregor 

Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after ‘alarming blood test,’ attorney says

Rape helpline calls almost doubled after McGregor case

Femicide victim's family awaits killer's sentence, and change in Italy 

Childcare worker who abused more than 60 girls jailed for life

Australian suspect in 1977 murders extradited from Italy 

An ex-detective accused of abusing women died in an apparent suicide as his trial was starting

An Australia police officer who shocked a 95-year-old woman with a Taser is guilty of manslaughter

Man jailed for murdering girlfriend he set on fire 

Arts and Culture: 

K-Pop group NewJeans split from agency in mistreatment row 

Gregg Wallace apologises for 'middle-class women' comment 

Sean 'Diddy' Combs denied bail for third time in sex-trafficking case 

Movie Review: Angelina Jolie is graceful and sharp as opera star Maria Callas in ‘Maria’

Review: Though earnest and visually dazzling, ‘Moana 2' is more dull than so shiny

Movie Review: ‘Wicked’ fans, rejoicify! Erivo, Grande shine in lavish adaptation of Broadway classic

Movie Review: A luminous slice of Mumbai life in ‘All We Imagine as Light’

[felassan]

this post is under a cut in case anyone would consider it to be DA:D spoilers. (the things it mentions are not new information and it's minor stuff only)

a few weeks ago it was noticed that on this website, a new VA was listed as the voice of several named characters in DA:D - 'Olen', 'Marek’, 'Lord Borgiani’ and 'Templar Captain'. [source] like I said in the tags on that post, I'd guess that these are more minor-type of characters, like sidequest chars or quest-givers, -type of deal. (so this is overanalyzing for sure ik, its just a bit of fun). I was thinking about this again today, wondering what type of characters (e.g. what race, where are they from etc) they are, and also got to looking up the names online. disclaimer: I was just poking around on Google here, if anything here is incorrect or you're familiar with the names/words and know better, pls lmk! ^^

none of the names return any results on the DA Wiki.

Lord Borgiani - Borgiani seems to be a surname that originates in Italy. the nations and groups in Thedas have multiple inspirations/influences from irl (not just the one) ofc. one of these for Antiva is said to be Italy. Borgiani sounds like it could be an Antivan name, so I'm wondering if Lord Borgiani is Antivan. "Lord" implies they are a dude. their Lord status could imply that they're human nobility. Lord/Lady is a noble title in Antiva (not only there though, ofc). thinking of characters like Lord Otranto from Josie's romance and Lord Enzo of Rialto. putting "borgiani" into Google translate, it detects Corsican as the language and advises "bourgeois" in English, which, you could easily make a link from there to a character who has some form of status.

Marek - a "West Slavic (Czech, Polish and Slovak) masculine given name", like "Mark" in English. it's also a surname. allegedly the name means "warlike" or is ultimately derived from Mars, the Roman god of war via, e.g., "Marcus" (name sites are quite unreliable though in terms of the info on them sometimes). Czech, Polish, Slovak, Slavic & so on names in DA World crop up quite a bit as the names of dwarven characters, so I wonder if Marek is a dwarf?

Olen - a given name and a surname. it's also a place in Belgium and Russia, and Olen was a legendary early poet from Lycia. this page gives Olen as being a name related to the name Ole, "a Danish and Norwegian masculine given name, derived from the Old Norse name Óláfr, meaning "ancestor's descendant". this page gives it as the "masculine form of Olena, a name ultimately derived from Ole." hmm, maybe someone Fereldan, Avvar, dwarven or from the Anderfels?

Templar Captain - as a character without a specified given name, surely they are a minor-minor/background character like e.g., "Templar Guard" from Lake Calenhad Docks (DA:O). self-explanatory. likely human.

[context, two]

[owlservice]

The available information suggests that most ketamine seized in Europe is imported from India and, to a lesser degree, Pakistan and China. It transits through countries including the Netherlands and Belgium and is distributed outside and to a lesser extent within the European Union (National Police of the Netherlands, 2022). Shell companies may be used to import the substance via pharmaceutical companies in Europe. For example, in Austria, legitimate needs by licensed pharmaceutical companies should not exceed 25 to 50 kilograms of ketamine, yet shipments are frequently in the order of hundreds of kilograms (EMCDDA, unpublished). The Belgian Police estimates that about 28 tonnes of ketamine may have been diverted between 2019 and 2021 (EMCDDA, unpublished). Substitution of ketamine shipments with sugar or salt before further transit appears to be one of the methods used to avoid detection.