#Cortical Cocoon AU

[tumblingxelian]

Cortical Cocoon AU:

Actually, on the subject of food, how do you see various Imago going about getting it?

I mentioned the Infestigator setting up a dead drop or clandestine rendezvous with a delivery guy, or just going ahead and casually buying food like they don't probably have a warrant for all the hostage taking during their emergence.

But how do you see other Imago going about food acquisition?

Good question and hilarious mental images regarding the Infestigator.

"Well technically it was my human host who took the hostage not me." "That means you killed the man yourself after driving him crazy!" "We can't help how we're born." "So wait, are you that guy or a new guy?" "Excellent question! One you should perhaps also direct towards Miss Rossi . Normally I'd not interfere but Chameleons tend to eat insects you see."

As for other Imago, I think it'd depend a lot on their type, personality & obsessions, as well as how much destruction they are prone to cause on their own.

Like, Startrain probably has to grudgingly come back to earth and raids a space station to steal all the "space food" & takes off again.

Style Queen just orders the nearest server to bring her food and then maybe doesn't kill them if she thinks they did a tolerable job.

Princess Fragrance sends her loyal lovelies out to collect her food, or has her adoring attendants make her home cooked meals.

You get the idea.

Some of the more rational one's may even be willing to pay people!. Ya know, in theory, an autograph from Anti-Bug counts as money!

XD

[tumblingxelian]

Dammit I thought I responded tot hits, so sorry!!

Anyway, thanks I am glad you think the sequence of events work, I wanted to avoid frontloading things too much while building up a substantial threat and personal wound for the heroes to deal with but not "Too" personal, ya know? All while keeping it line with previous discussions.

Infestigator: This is the best of both worlds, I was proven right and there will be more Imago!

So the events would go as such:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Yeah this all makes sense, I might have a "Moment 0" which is Heroes' Day, or like, post Heroes' Day, but that's mostly just what inspired Gabriel.

Also I love the name Alisa Maurelle and how her experience with the doctor allowed her to realize what was going on and "No U" the Akuma in that way. As well as her instantly moving on to crime time and gang growing. I imagine she wants the doctor grabbed or killed because he's the only one who knows the source of her powers?

6, 7, 8,

Solid stuff though gosh the tonal whip lash from "Spiraling madness" to "Slap-stick chase scene is wild, but also helps off-set the sense of threat regarding the Imago issue in universe.

9, 10,

Yup, this all scans well, I wonder if seeing the broadcast is maybe what finally triggers her transformation? I may be tying things together too neatly there though.

11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Oooh interesting, I hadn't imagined his response to being uncovered would be an attempted invasion so much as "Converge and execute these interlopers!" But that would help with the big reveal. I imagine a decent amount of property damage happens regardless. Also I love the reveal near the end that an Imago has emerged outside of Paris, great ominous cliff note to end on showing its already too late.

NOTE:

I remember some early ideas I tinkered with on this subject involved the Heroes' not grasping the scale of the Dungeons at first and ending up separated and needing to regroup at the surface but Chloe got left behind. Not maliciously, but mostly cos she doesn't have a "partner" and everyone kind of just assumed someone else would grab her.

This led to a duel with her & Darkblade and her partial transformation into an Akuma, before she suppressed it or ripped it out of herself. Which would feed into her being left with a Miraculous as that kind of willpower is rare, useful and also not something you want ending up as an Imago or on Hawk Moth's side.

Still that is likely my Chloe centric brain talking hahaha XD

Though I do think them being forced to retreat would be a good set up for Darkblade being confident enough to try and invade perhaps? Sort of a: The false heroes of the rabble have been forced to flee my mastery of blade and war. Pursue them, run them down, with them out of the way no one can stand between the throne of Paris and its king. Let the invasion commence!

Very rambly half formed thoughts regarding Imago order and public perception but like:

Patient Zero & Infestagator happening first/second, within a short period.

Public: This is bad, but also manageable, they were criminals/'crazy', we're fine.

Darkblade (Unknown) and Mylene (Info contained to avoid panic)

Public (Unaware anything's changed) Heroes' & Mylene's peers (VERY AWARE)

Probably some minor Imago & regular Akuma, things seem stable but growing 'worse' but not yet out in public.

Then the Dungeons of Daarkblade happen & while he' stopped, tons of people have been made into Drones and other ranks and need to be quarantined and Mylene escaped into the catacombs and this cannot be covered up at all.

Now people can start panicking & oops, Imago have started to show up elsewhere in the world, so sealing off Paris won't stop them.

Sorry for the response delay.

Anyway, that does seem like a pretty good order of initial Imago.

Infestigator is probably going to be pretty upset that his warnings were ignored.

He is then going to be smug once people actually realize it's a problem.

So the events would go as such:

Initial wave of Infestation

After several weeks, Alisa Maurelle (a name I came up with for the Magician's civilian identity) is checked into a hospital due to worsening symptoms from Infestation.

A bit into her stay, a Doctor in possession of a magic seeing glasses notices the strange energies surrounding her. However, he does not recognize it as being akuma energies due to being new to Paris. As such he attempts to confiscate the akumatized item, but Maurelle resists, eventually resulting in the Akuma in her forcing large amounts of Akuma energy into the doctor, infesting him.

Maurelle, now having a greater understanding of what's going on, imposes her will upon the Akuma, triggering her emergence as The Magician whilst leaving her in control.

The Infested Doctor notices these events and begins to put the pieces together. He is later attacked by a underling of the Magician and flees to an abandoned warehouse. He attempts to warn the Ladyblog about the infestations but fails to properly communicate.

The Infested Doctor, increasingly influenced by the Akuma, decides to resort to drastic measures. He lures and kills a member of the Magician's gang before taking their gun.

Afterwards, he makes his way to the TV station and rushes a live broadcast, taking multiple hostages. Following this, the Infested Doctor attempts to give his warnings about the threat of the Imago. This warning is mostly ignored and perceived as the ramblings of a mad man.

Shortly after Ladybug and Chat Noir arrive on scene, the Infested Doctor gives in to his infestation and emerges as the Infestigator. Realizing that he is unlikely to win this fight, the Infestigator attempts to flee, resulting in a comical chase sequence.

Shortly after the situation resolves itself, D'Argencourt becomes Darkblade and heads underground, using his abilities to slowly gather an army.

While all this was happening, Mylene has been suffering from severe nightmares and night terrors caused by infestation. She succumbs to the mental assault and becomes Horrificator, an event that her classmates discover. However, Mayor Bourgeois suppresses information about this in an attempt to prevent panic, believing that the situation can be brought under control.

Meanwhile, Horrificator ends up encountering Darkblade, who decides to bring her under his control for use as a 'guard dog'.

Infestigator has, by this point, noticed the situation regarding Darkblade and decides to pass a warning onto the heroes via Rose, who passes it on to Alya, Lila & Chloe, who pass it on to Ladybug and Chat Noir (who also overheard the information earlier in class). This warning is taken seriously due to correlating with various disappearances in the catacombs.

Shortly afterwards, the heroes gather a team together to investigate, finding the Dungeons of Darkblade. This, however, results in Darkblade attempting an invasion of Paris, causing mass panic.

Eventually, Darkblade is defeated, with Horrificator being freed from his control and fleeing back underground. However, a large number of Drones still remain, some being captured and put in quarantine, others going to ground and escaping.

There is some debate on sealing off Paris to prevent further spread, but then a report comes in from elsewhere in France. Another Imago has emerged. The situation has changed drastically.

Yeah that's a good way to set things up.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Cortical Cocoon: Firstly, a brief overview for anyone who doesn’t already know about this AU and to cover the basics.

The point of divergence is that Hawkmoth decides to attempt to create a permanent Akuma.

He does this by slowly infusing a victim with increasing levels of Akuma energy over time. A ticking time bomb lying within the head.

This is of course severely disruptive to the host’s mental health and perhaps even their physical health as more energy is imbued.

Eventually, one way or another, the process reaches the final terminal state. A state of permanent Akumatization, creating the being known as an Imago.

Ye! Terrifying and I know there's more asks floating around that I haven't tagged so rip.

[tumblingxelian]

Hey did I ever get around to asking you about your thoughts regarding Marrinette's mindset of separating the Akuma from the host in the context of Cortical Cocoon?

I don't believe so, but it is an interesting question, I think Marinette would really struggle with Imago on a conceptual level for many reasons.

Off the cuff, Marinette is a problem solver who feels responsible for everything. As a result if she can't fix something or a problem seems insurmountable she starts to catastrophize things.

So she's already gonna be super anxious about them.

Add in that she sees Akuma as basically people possessed and otherwise rendered unto as tools and thus not remotely responsible for their Akuma's actions be they good or bad. IE to her the Akuma does not reflect anything about the person so Chloe not killing Chat Noir doesn't say anything more about Chloe than Nathanial trying to murder Chloe & Marinette says about him.

When in reality that are people transformed and exaggerated by external stimuli, IE magic drunk/steroids that births an alternate persona but one they are still part of...

Its entirely possible she views becoming Imago as death.

The Imago is not a person its a monster that festered inside someone and ate them from the inside out and now they are dead and any resemblance between the two is happenstance.

Which to be fair is not 00% inaccurate depending on the type of manifestation, but is also not the case 100% of the time and more to the point, even unhinged and dangerous, Imago aren't inherently evil, in fact some are less-so than Akuma, though this is rare to be fair.

So, yeah I think she'd both feel immense guilt about anyone who becomes an Imago but also low key view it as a death sentence and would not see the Imago as an evolution, successor or continuation of the person in question.

At least not at first, no one's thinking is so rigid that they can't find exceptions or grey area even if they won't acknowledge it.

So like, if Chloe went through the Chrysididae transformation, Marinette would try to give this new being the grace of a fresh start but would also REALLY STRUGGLE not to just see Chloe pretending to be someone else.

In contrast if Alya transformed into Lady Wifi she'd want a complete 100% discontent from this thing puppeting around her friends corpse and want to destroy it, but probably while crying the whole time. & 50/50 on whether she could actually go through with it.

Basically, she'd be super fucked about them and struggle a lot.

[tumblingxelian]

Cortical Cocoon AU: Interesting idea I had due to thinking about Poker Night at the Inventory.

Every so often, some of the Imago in the catacombs will get together and play some Poker or other card games

There must be some really interesting conversations there.

Oh, and the Infestigator ends up being the dealer after winning too often due to his skill at calling bluffs.

Honestly that sounds very fun and also reminds me I think I wanted to share this video with you:

But yeah love the idea that some Imago can form a degree of community, or at least hold truces with one another.

Its like imagining Scylla and Charybdis casually chatting in Greek Mythos XD

[tumblingxelian]

Cortical Cocoon AU: So I happened to be looking at the Missing Floor tvtropes page and I learned about Ghost Stations.

Of which the Parisian Metro has at least a few.

And it seems to me that such a location could serve as a decent spot for an Imago who wants to avoid the catacombs to set up their Nest or Hive.

The most prominent ones are the Ghost Station that had never opened in the first place, namely Porte Molitor and Haxo. Both of which don't tend to have trains passing through due to their locations and lack any surface connection.

Another station an Imago might want to use as a Nest/Hive is Saint-Martin, which closed in 1939 due to WWII, opened again after Liberation, then closed again due to being redundant.

It's apparently been used as a homeless shelter, with the eastern section currently being used a day shelter.

An unscrupulous grouper Imago would likely take that as a benefit.

Sorry for the wait, been wrapped up in a map making project.

Anyway dang this is super cool, Paris has so many places for villains and monsters and cults to set up, how wonderful! & yeah I can definitely see those places becoming habitats for Imago.

Vampire: Well its not the Catacombs but this Ghost Station will do nicely as a lair. Pixelator: Hey get out of here, I called dibs! Vampire: Oh gods more of them!

Also oof, yeah I imagine a lot of people in unstable or insecure positions will find themselves victims of an untoward Imago, be it as a meal (Horrificator, ETC) or subjects (Darkblade, ETC) & such people would be among the least likely to be noticed missing or heard if they avoided capture too.

Gods ANdre would probably consider that a boon cos he can claim credit for "Ending homelessness in Paris" or something.

[tumblingxelian]

Cortical Cocoon AU: This song feels fitting for someone suffering from various physical effects prior to Emergence.

Perhaps the same Patient the Investigator was treating?

Medical Anomaly- RIProducer

Ooh yeah that fits extremely well, especially the strong contrast in the like, expectation of recovery of undiagnosed state of things VS what they 'know' what they can 'feel' is happening.

[tumblingxelian]

Okay, so I was listening to 'The Experiment' from Steampianist, (I'm pretty sure I've shared it with you before) and I stumbled upon this cover of it, which includes extra additional lyrics.

Which I feel are really appropriate for the Cortical Cocoon AU.

Thoughts?

Oh it was not a good idea to watch this before bed XD

But also yeah I totally see it deteriorated minds, "We are you" over and over again, "We are the madness that lurks within you", "We are the animal instincts of greed", Also damn "You've been chosen eyes wide open", That whole intense frantic section about not sleeping feels like the person realizing and fearing their situation too.

[tumblingxelian]

Cortical Cocoon AU: here is a song again

I’d talk more but I’m experiencing unusual levels of fatigue.

Animal - The Living Tombstone

Gosh I love Living Tombstone:

My first unclenches I’m losing all of my senses I freeze I’m tense defenseless suspense presents with intense mystery I move my body but it feels like someone taking over me My thoughts are gone like they’re locked up and someone threw away the key It’s like a creature from a nightmare

Damn this one comes right out the gate swinging as far as terror and losing one's self goes.

I do not feel like myself, I think I might be something else, And I don’t think I can tell if I am dreaming My mind is packed and leaving, I’m feeling like an animal

Mhm, overwhelming emotions, thoughts, more intense drives, its still you but is it really you? Are you even human>

Don’t know what has occurred but I see in third person view I try to talk to myself but the voice I hear sounds just like you The words I’ve spoken make me . think that my mind has broke in two Not in control or without a soul there’s no telling what I’ll do I’m like a creature from a nightmare

This persons gone down the slippery slope so fast!

Did I always have the potential I’m revealing I have become something new, or am I turning into you And will I even make it through this delusion Or is this evolution, I’m feeling like an animal

I feel like this one may work best for "Has been an Akuma long enough for it to start becoming permanent, the degree of disassociation but still present, losing ones self to instincts of the Imago with the animal lines, ETC.

Losin sight of what I once was, it might get gruesome I feel like I’m ten feet tall, and nothing frightens me at all Ready to fight and tonight I’m out of control I’m finally done concealing I’m feeling like an animal

They full embrace their new nature as two become one.

[tumblingxelian]

Cortical Cocoon Vibes: https://youtu.be/gduNlGgX1c8?si=oaUI7vG5XJSywYXV

Damn that was a cool video, also horrifying! I think I see what you're getting at there too.

[tumblingxelian]

Found another song that reminds me of the Cortical Cocoon AU.

ALREADY DEAD - KittenSneeze

Oh snap yeah this fits extremely well, though I think in this context HK would fit for the golden rabbit, while I imagine a third voice emerging from inside Vanny's and overwhelming hers as the Akuma becomes an Imago and thus its own entity.

[tumblingxelian]

Found a similar song like the last song I sent you that reminded me of the Cortical Cocoon AU.

ALWAYS WANTED

Wasn't sure on this one at first, but one it got to the counting up section I was all in, that def works well.

[tumblingxelian]

Honestly I think the comparison works well, and if there was an insectoid or fleshy horror style Akuma that became an Imago it'd be quite believable as a development.

As for Nymphs' that works fairly well. I think the easiest way to describe them is an Imago going, "I want you to be as much like me as possible" and transforming a person for that person.

With Syren, Kim would gain all the same physical and magical traits that she herself had, he'd just not be 'as' powerful & the transformation perhaps not 'quite' as fitting. Not unless this transformation reflected his identity as much as it did hers. But it'd still be like dealing with something Imago or Akuma adjacent.

Berserks Pseudo Apostils work well for this, compare the Count (Left) to his chief enforcer (Right).

I really like your take on the Drone and Hive system, kudos and thanks for the excellent outline there. I love the idea of some going into the catacombs, like they don't wanna leave Paris but its gonna take awhile to build up strength enough to move openly. But they are too publicly inhumane or their potential nests & hives too obvious to have anywhere in normal society.

Could lead to some amazing territory fights down there too.

Regarding the rank breakdown, I could see this addition working:

Akuma, or whatever source of power an Akuma is drawn from are the source of Imago which are then the one's tat can actually properly create all these other critters. Thanks to becoming stand alone entities & not reliant on the Butterfly, they can create pupae, be it recruitment or some form of reproduction & recruit others too.

I think the indoctrination structure works really well too.

Unless the Imago has tons of mind powers, they won't have as easy of a time dominating the wills & transforming the bodies of others. So it makes sense the process goes in stages.

With Pupae being highly suggestable and influenced, but then becoming fully transformed upon arriving at the nest/hive. I could see signs of being a Pupae as being rather subtle or overt depending on the Imago & how into the person is and how long its been going on for.

Like a Darkblade Pupae might start talking in an old fashion manner, or carrying themselves in a more militant manner, and before long be found with a bladed weapon on their way to the nest/hive, where upon they fully transform into a Knight-Drone in his service.

I imagine the process of freeing a Drone requires at a minimum getting them away from the nest/hive and then finding a way to break the connection between them & their Imago Master & then purifying them.

Also regarding the settlement ranking system I have some thoughts >:3c

Nest: This is the inner sanctum of the Imago & maybe their Nymph, their seat of safety & power, for Darkblade it would be a throne room.

Hive: This is the structure that ground around the Nest if the Imago goes that far. These are areas still under their influence & inhabited by the Drones. Continuing the Darblade theme, an apartment would become a tower, a city block a fortress, city hall a castle.

Colonies: These could perhaps be called superorganisms, though some of that depends on how the specific Imago & co work. But in the broad-strokes, this is what happens when a Hive grows beyond a self contained area like building, city block or small territory. This is when they start altering the environment and lands on a large-scale.

We saw something like this when Darkblade managed to hang his flag and started transforming everyone in Paris into his knights. This is sort of like that but slower & it effects the environment as much as the people. Just being here likely subtly influences a person, though it won't change them on its own.

Had a spark of Cortical Cocoon inspiration & wanted to share, namely regarding those transformed by Imago into part of their host.

Like how Syren wanted to make Kim her prince or Darkblade turned people into his loyal retinue.

We already discussed earlier how unless people's powers sort of related to that kind of thing to begin with it would be hard or near impossible without the Butterfly to do so & I largely stand by that.

But I do think there's some wiggle room & that its worth discussing how nests or hives might be able to form, & other similar stuff.

Let's use Syren and Darkblade as they both had an emphasis on transforming the world & people around them but in very different ways.

Syren:

She flooded Paris, which given Paris isn't inside a giant sinkhole means at some point magical walls to keep the water at a stable level will have appeared.

Without the butterfly she likely cannot do this, but likely could create a smaller contained area or water, or suffuse her power into pre-existing bodies of water and gain influence over them.

Beyond that, she explicitly wanted to make Kim like her, and for him to join her as her prince. This is not an AKuma simply forcing someone to obey as Maladiktator does, or creating barely alive dolls like Befana.

This is much more powerful & intimate, it is the creation/ascension of a Nymph, known as brides in bug language, these are the Imago's companion. It is someone they shared some of their raw essence with, transforming them into something of an Imago.

Due to the process the transformation was more controlled in terms of what it would create & the resulting creature is likely still somewhat weaker than their predecessor, or otherwise heavily influenced by them.

But, but they still have their own personality filtering through & otherwise more personality & agency. Consider it akin to how a vampire might have a strong hold over those they sire.

Darkblade:

He could take command of others and after knighting them in a ritual, transformed them into his obedient knights. He was also capable of transforming things like cars into catapults.

Due to the nature of Akuma & Imago he cannot just make anything he wants, with or without the butterfly, it has to still align with their identity so to speak. But they can enhance and grow said ability over time.

At least in theory, but if an Imago's sense of self shifts too much (No easy task) their powers likely shift with it. Like re-emerging one might lose their legs, but gain wings, ya feel me?

Anyway, Darkblade does not create Nymph's while he's not significantly stronger than his subjects. This is because his powers are heavily rooted in changing the people and world around him through symbolic actions, Hence needing to knight his subjects & hang the flag.

What Darkblade creates with his powers are Pupae (Dolls), or they could be called Drones, or Subimago (That might fit the Nypmhs better) or taking from Berserk, pseudos'.

The end result is the same.

Pupae are heavily reliant on and tethered too their Imago Master and while not in possession of their creators power. They are more enhanced compared to their former selves in some ways; unless the Imago wants super weak creatures to surround it. Being in possession of supernatural nature endowed by their new form.

These entities are not as strong as their maker, or Nypmhs, and they tend to have less free will, though it is not absent and more personality can grow or re-emerge over time. I imagine with time, hierarchies tend to emerge with those who have personalities emerging ranking higher thanks to being better at creative thinking nd able to grow beyond the confines of their role.

But these are also dangerous because they could become something else over time, ironically this is more possible with Pupae than Nymphs' due to the lesser intimacy. Possibly leading to the emergence of a new Imago "Queen" should the head of the hive fall. Not that Nymph's can't break away just that its harder.

Notes:

I imagine both types are capable of some form of internal self sufficiency. Also this is different from infestation which is more just jamming an Akuma or sufficient Akuma essence into a person & seeing what emerges. These transformations have similarities but are more limited by nature but also more stable and controllable.

Off-topic but the mention of Hives and Nests makes me think of [PROTOTYPE] and the Hives from there, which uh...

Well this probably isn't what you meant. But while we're on the subject...

I imagine hives and nests of Imago would tend to be much more... subtle. Unless of course the Imago in question was powerful enough to hold off the resulting attacks from being so blatant about it.

They are established in places like abandoned or otherwise disused buildings, maybes parts of the apparently quite large underground of Paris, or perhaps even just hiding out in a rented apartment or storage unit.

Though that last one probably isn't affected by the Imago as much, in order to avoid any suspicion. Likely temporary ones then.

So most Imago who decide to establish a Nest or Hive opt for locations that are less likely to be noticed if they start affecting the environment. But not so far out of the way to be inconvenient for whatever goals they are pursuing.

Anyway, moving back to the subject of the secondary entities, it is very interesting what you've come up with.

So Nympths are sort of like the progeny of a vampire or something?

That's the kind of vibe I got, anyway. Can't really think of anything to add on about them.

I'll carry on to the Darkblade-Style secondary entities, then. I'm not really certain which of the name options I like the most. They all have their pros and cons.

Still, subimago makes me think that should refer to the apparent 'inheritor' in the event of the Imago leader's demise. Y'know, since they act like an Imago but aren't really an Imago, but can become an Imago if the previous Imago dies or is otherwise 'dethroned'. Which I suppose opens up the possibility of a coup in some imago Hive structures.

On that note, I'm kind of thinking that a Nest should refer to a smaller scale base meant for either a singular Imago or an Imago and any Nympths or close allies. Whereas a Hive is meant to act as a base for Darkblade-type Imago and their many secondary entities that operate as a command structure.

Anyway, back to the names. I feel like that the proposed names could all be employed in a sort of ranking system. Perhaps going as follows, in reverse order:

Pupae - Equivalent to a recruit, or perhaps conscript. They have just been controlled by the Imago, but can still be broken free if someone intervenes. However, if enough times passes or they arrive at the Hive, they will proceed onto the next stage.

Drone - Fully enmeshed in the structure. Most have no personality and are rather dull. They form the bulk of the secondary entities. Theoretically possible to recover, but incredibly difficult to do so.

Pseudoimago - Some Drones manage to gain or recover some amount of personality and mental ability. They tend to eventually move up to here, becoming the lieutenants to the Imago. This of course comes with a certain degree of additional power.

Subimago - There is only one Subimago. They serve as an underboss, right hand man, and overall second in command to the Imago. In the event of an Imago's death, they are likely to end up succeeding them.

For references purposes, I downloaded an image of the mafia family structure off of wikipedia and have edited it to represent the structure I've described.

Ignore the rectangle next to imago, I had to cover up the position of Consigliere with it.

But yeah that pretty much fits the general command structure idea.

Also sorry for the delay in answering this. Took me a while to figure out my response.

[tumblingxelian]

Cortical Cocoon AU: Found a really fitting song this time.

The Chattering Lack of Common Sense - GHOST

I found it via getting recommended this pretty good AMV of the song based around the Beholder games.

As in the Animation is based around Beholder, not the song. Well, the animation is meant to sync up the song via... I'm rambling, sorry.

Anyway, I really like the bits of that animation where the chracters are rapidly swapped between.

...although a lot of bits probably won't make sense if you don't know a lot about the Beholder series.

I'm not familiar with the series, but I love the vibes and skill on display regardless!

[tumblingxelian]

Cortical Cocoon AU: Taking a moment to readdress the topic of superspreader events, do you there might be a risk of the locations these events occur at being turned into Hives or Nests?

After all, it has been noted that certain powerful grouper Imago can force weaker Imago under their control. So in theory if one powerful Imago was to emerge at the same general time and location as several other comparatively weaker Imago, it could result in the location being rapidly converted into a Hive.

With less than positive effects on non-Imago that happened to be inside.

I imagine it may be easier if the Imago happened to share a sort of general theme. Perhaps medical based.

On that note, have an appropriate song,

I can see where you are going with this and I agree and am also horrified, cos god damn, yeah that could go to hell super fast.

[tumblingxelian]

Cortical Cocoon AU: Found another song! Not sure if it fits or not since it is almost entirely in Japanese, but has English subtitles.

I'm honestly not entirely certain what the message is supposed to be. But it seems very profound. I think.

Anyway, take a listen and make sure to turn on the subtitles.

Oh gosh I love this song, I only heard a portion of it on this amazing "The Dehumanized by Atlas Duo!" AMV someone made!

I think it works in the sense of ongoing, bubbling frustration and bitterness with a little voice advising more extreme actions to gain freedom and release.