#Thorny Devil Facts

[wild-wow-facts]

The Thorny Devil: Nature's Financial Wizard

Discover the incredible adaptations of the Thorny Devil! Uncover how this spiky lizard thrives in harsh deserts.

Check out my other videos here: Animal Kingdom Animal Facts Animal Education

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Many desert animals have special adaptations that allow them to either find water in extremely dry areas or survive long periods without it. One of the more unusual adaptations is that of the thorny devil lizard. Its skin is covered in microscopic grooves which are able to draw water up out of the ground and transport it directly to the lizard's mouth via capillary action-- the same process that pulls water up into a paper towel.

(Image: A thorny devil (Moloch horridus) pausing for a drink by Christopher Watson)

If you like what I do, consider leaving a tip or buying me a ko-fi!

[ningauinerd]

Everyone knows and loves thorny devils (Moloch horridus), spines and all, but I think most people are unaware of their peculiar and highly elusive sister species, the chameleon dragon (Chelosania brunnea).

(Image credit: The Reptile Database)

Named after their laterally compressed body, extendable dewlap and funnel-like eyes that give them some resemblance to the true chameleons of Afro-Eurasia, the chameleon dragon occurs widely in the monsoonal savanna woodlands of northern Australia in the Kimberley and Top End (as well as a tiny part of north-western Queensland). They are quite rarely observed and little is currently known about their ecology or behaviour, but this is likely due to their highly arboreal nature and they may actually be more common than records suggest.

At first glace, the chameleon dragon doesn't share a great deal of resemblance to the thorny devil, but some similarities begin to appear on closer examination. One of the most obvious links is their diet - thorny devils are well known for being specialised for feeding on small black ants, and the chameleon dragon, despite its drastically different appearance and lifestyle, appears to have a similar diet. While a lot less is known about the diet of chameleon dragons, they may also be ant specialists and have been recorded feeding on green ants (Oecophylla smaragdina), a species that is particularly common in the treetops they inhabit.

(Image credit: Colin Trainor & Gunter Maywald)

As a matter of fact, genetics indicate that the thorny devil and chameleon dragon are not only each other's closest living relatives, but also that they form their own distinct clade amongst Australian dryland agamids. The majority of Australian dragons are part of a single evolutionary radiation that diversified as the continent began to dry out in the mid-Miocene, with most exceptions being basal wet forest genera like forest dragons (Lophosaurus) and the Australian water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii). However, the thorny devil and chameleon dragon appear to be the only living members of a more ancient, basal agamid lineage that colonised dry environments independently of the recent large radiation.

As a testament to how much we still have to learn about this fascinating species, it was only in 2020 that a study (linked in the image credit below) found significant sexual dimorphism in regards to colour in chameleon dragons, with males being grey while females are yellow. This same study also published the first evidence of the species using tree hollows and the nests of arboreal termites as shelter sites. Due to the lack of data they are currently considered Data Deficient by the IUCN, but they may be threatened by altered fire regimes and feral cats.

Males above, females below (Image credit: Laive & Jolly 2020)

Gonna be posting infodumps like this on Australian/Oceanian species I feel compelled to share fun facts on for whatever reason

[roseofhybrids]

niche history aye?

Back in Rome they had a really popular fermented fish sauce known as "garum"

Which traditionally was made by layering whole fish, herbs, and a thick layer of salt in a large vessel. This pattern was repeated until the container was filled. You would then cover the top and leave it sitting in the sun for about 2 months.

This would produce a scent so bad that there were regulations to how close it could be manufactured by towns and cities

It makes me happy when they listen

[gloomywolfmushroom]

Spiny Devil Katydid (Panacanthus cuspidatus)

The Spiny Devil Katydid can be found in the lush forests of Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama. They are also commonly referred to Spike-headed katydid or Thorny Devil katydid.

This katydid has a red 5 pointed horn that protrudes from its head. It is covered in an exoskeleton that provides support and protection. The body can be various shades of green to help with camouflaging, and they have red eyes, with yellow to orange mandibles. They can get up to 3 inches in length, with the female being larger. Its antennae can grow even longer than the body!

There are several ways the katydid can protect itself against danger. Their wings or long hind legs can be used to escape far enough out of enemy range. Their spiny legs can be used to fight off or trap the enemies and prey. But if this all does not work, they will use their powerful jaws to inflict painful bites. These bites can even pierce human skin.

Spiny Devil Katydids can fly for short distances when they must but more than often prefer to walk and climb. They also use their long hind legs to jump long distances, just like an average grasshopper. They have poor eyesight in the dark but have an excellent sense of smell to find food. Also, having such long antennae, they can be used to scan the air for food sources as well as detecting danger. This species of katydid is omnivorous, so enjoys eating plants but will supplement their diet with snails, frogs, caterpillars, and even other katydids.

When darkness falls in the forests, the males will begin to sing, scraping his wings together. This loud and high-pitched whistling can reach far and high to reach the females ears. Now, whats really cool is that katydids have great hearing, but they do not have actual ears. They have a special organ called a tympana. It is like two eardrums just below the left "knee" that can capture sounds us as humans can't hear.

Image links: 1 2 3 4

[cosmiccerebellum]

Thorny devil

The thorny devil (Moloch horridus), also known commonly as the mountain devil, thorny lizard, thorny dragon, and moloch, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is endemic to Australia. It is the sole species in the genus Moloch. It grows up to 21 cm (8.3 in) in total length (including tail), with females generally larger than males.

The females are larger than the males. Most specimens are coloured in camouflaging shades of desert browns and tans. These colours change from pale colours during warm weather to darker colours during cold weather. The thorny devil is covered entirely with conical spines that are mostly uncalcified.

The thorny devil is covered in hard, rather sharp spines that dissuade attacks by predators by making it difficult to swallow. It also has a false head on its back. When it feels threatened by other animals, it lowers its head between its front legs, and then presents its false head. Predators that consume the thorny devil include wild birds and goannas.

The female thorny devil lays a clutch of three to ten eggs between September and December. She puts these in a nesting burrow about 30 cm underground. The eggs hatch after about three to four months

An intimidating array of spikes covers the entire upper side of the body of the thorny devil. These thorny scales also help to defend it from predators. Camouflage and deception may also be used to evade predation. This lizard's unusual gait involves freezing and rocking as it moves about slowly in search of food, water, and mates

The names given to this lizard reflect its appearance: the two large horned scales on its head complete the illusion of a dragon or devil. The name Moloch was used for a deity of the ancient Near East, usually depicted as a hideous beast. The thorny devil also has other nicknames people have given it such as the "devil lizard", "horned lizard", and the "thorny toad".

The thorny devil is also equipped to harvest moisture in the dry desert following nighttime's extremely low temperatures and the subsequent condensation of dew. The process involves moisture contact, their hydrophilic skin surface structures with capillaries, and an internal transport mechanism.

[snotdad]

my new years resolution is to spit blood from my eyes like a thorny devil 

[illarian-rambling]

As requested...

Wip Intro:

The Final Voyage of the R.S. Starbreaker

✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️🛥✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

Illaros, a world of magic and monsters, stands upon the cusp of space travel. Unlike our world, this one, with its runic technology and arcane traditions, takes its rudimentary steps into space quite differently. The goal put forth by the Kesh-Abas Department of Exploration is to map the outer planets, as well as passing beyond the odd starry curtain they've observed at the edge of their solar wheel. However, space suits are a bit beyond their technology. Instead, they've asked a priest to call upon the gods in request of a crew of willing souls to complete this mission. After all, what's already dead cannot die to the vacuum of space.

The gods of Illaros are willing, as they have an alternate motive for seeing this mission succeed. For eons, they have battled their sworn enemy, End, the primordial incarnation of destruction. Yet, after so long spent fighting, the gods are tired and flagging. They hope that if this crew can pass beyond what the humans call the 'starry curtain,' aka End's body, they can perhaps find allies to aid this eternal fight. It's a dangerous gamble, but a small crew will be harder for the ancient terror to notice.

Five souls are chosen - not the greatest, but perhaps the most desperate for success. Their number includes a voidskiff captain who lost everything to vice, a long-dead astronomer from a famed warrior lineage, a selkie scholar dedicated to mapping the world and now the cosmos, a fae musician learning to understand empathy, and, perhaps the most important piece, an ancient and cursed soul who might be the only person in the world who understands the threat End poses.

But let's take a closer look at this pack of freaks!

Captain Faalgun Falani 🐉

Description: A Flying City native of mixed Hal'lan, Daramakti, and Illari blood, he stands at about 3'5" and generally appears as a bipedal, draconic-looking fellow. His scales are a light blue and a ruff of white fur cascades down his back and into a tuft at the end of his tail. His horns are crystalline. He wears a ragged, torn uniform, looking exactly as it did at his moment of death. As such, his neck is also clearly broken.

Personality: Faalgun is everything one would expect from a Flying City captain. He's professional, honorable, a bit strict, but ultimately looking out for his crew. Outside of work, he's more of an introvert and is slow to make close bonds. However, the closer you look, discrepancies start to pop up. Faalgun is always the last to leave a brawl, and only in the most dangerous of moments does a look of true joy find his face. He's cagey about his past and, despite his obvious experience, refuses to be officially named captain.

Fun facts:

Faalgun is aroace

He was raised in an orphanage, though he was well-loved there and saw it as a great place to grow up

He has a wonderful tenor singing voice and often sings when no one else is on-deck

Nyda Burningrock 🔭

Description: Nyda is an elf of Nabafyrian descent. She has coppery brown skin and green hair shaved into a (rather disheveled) mohawk. Her pointy face and ears are covered in piercings, with the most notable being a chain running from her nose to her ear. Some faded tattoos of thorny patterns cover her arms along with some old scars. She wears a cropped vest and baggy shorts. Under the vest can be seen the spear wound that killed her.

Personality: Your typical punk, Nyda hates authority and being told what to do. She's loud, brash, crude, and easily amused. This devil-may-care attitude somewhat hides her true brilliance as an astronomer. Though, it's not like she does really care about that. Nabafyrians are a renowned warrior culture and Nyda is... not that. She tends to invalidate her own efforts through lack of care - not taking notes or recording methods and the like. It almost seems like she wants to be anyone else than who she is.

Fun facts:

Nyda is a transwoman and a flaming butch lesbian

She can play the accordion

She is incapable of getting through a whole sentence without swearing

Kaulakri Ondohuroata 🗺

Description: Kaulakri is one of the halawemavish, or ocean selkies. In her land form, she is a plump woman with lightly furred, spotted gray skin, sleek dark gray hair, liquid dark eyes. Her ears are a triangular shape and she wears practical traveling gear. Her sclera are bloodshot and her face clammy even in death, hinting at the disease that took her life. She wears a sealskin cloak as well, which allows her to shift into the form of a leopard seal-like mermaid.

Personality: Highly meticulous and spatially minded, Kaulakri is a peerless cartographer. She has the determination and love of her (oft thought of as boring) job to leave no stone unturned and no island or planet unmapped. Mapping the Janazi Isles used to be her life's work - now mapping the planets is her death's work and she couldn't be happier. Indeed, she's far better with maps than people. Kaulakri can often come off as blunt or stuffy, or occasionally irrational when she lets her temper boil over (usually when Nyda is involved). Deep down, though, she has the greatest appreciation for the massive scientific leap this mission really is and will do anything to keep it going swimmingly.

Fun facts:

Kaulakri is a demiromantic lesbian

She's also autistic and likes to stim by nodding her head (historical maps are her special interest currently)

She grew up in a tiny selkie enclave and was the first of her people to attend a college, and attain a PhD. no less

Pashananath 🪕

Description: At first appearing to be a teenager, his smokey voice brings doubt as to how old the fae man actually is. Pash is from the Exumbra Hive. He was created with music as his Contribution, so he was quite literally built by the Gloaming Queen to be good at that. His fingers are dexterous and his voice is heavenly. Standing at about 6'2", Pash is a lanky fellow with a thick head of black hair that grows into fur on his elbows, pointy ears, and the tuft of his tail. His skin is pale, and both his pupilless eyes and pointed teeth are solid red. A gash can be seen across his throat.

Personality: Pash exudes laid-back energy. He's generally relaxed with whatever path the group takes and is a great listener when it comes to conversation. However, his fae upbringing has instilled him with some... odd values. Pash believes that pleasure is the ultimate pursuit, and that you should do anything to achieve it. He himself was murdered for singing an unpopular song, and he really does believe this was fully justified. His only regret was not being fast enough to kill the other guy first. Because of this, he can be exceedingly selfish, however, this only makes his moments of kindness shine all the brighter.

Fun facts:

No one really knows how old he is or how long ago he died

Despite his music being the literal reason he was created, Pash has a passion for travel

His favorite instrument is the erhu

Anarac Fifth-Blood 🌠

Description: Anarac is a man in his early thirties, with berry-red skin, shoulder-length blonde hair, and deep-set brown eyes with heavy dark circles. His ears are slightly pointed. He stands at about 6'0", though he usually keeps his head bowed. He wears a homespun tunic and light armor of an ancient make. His expression is usually quite vacant. A cut circles his entire throat, implying he died by decapitation.

Personality: Maybe once Anarac was outgoing or witty, but after spending seven thousand years as a part of End, much of that has been scraped away. He's a shell of a man, terrified of the stars, other people, and anything that might remind him of his past. All he seeks is a chance to make an apology, and to do so, he must find the lost afterlife of his extinct people. Despite how deeply traumatized he is, Anarac is highly observant and frequently curious about the world. He wants to keep his companions safe and happy. That's just a little difficult when he dissociates at the mere glimpse of starlight.

Fun facts:

He used to be a chef, and his secondary quest is to find out if he can still eat food as a ghost

In life, he was a divorced teen dad

He's fully aware that he comes across as a crazy guy hiding in the corner, but his dignity is too long gone to care

Here's a group portrait :)

Please let me know if you have any questions and I hope you enjoy!

@amandacanwrite @elsie-writes @riveriafalll @kosmic-kore @kaylinalexanderbooks

@bard-coded @carrotsinnovember @patternwelded-quill @somethingclevermahogony @whatwewrotepodcast

@the-angriest-author @mk-writes-stuff @frostedlemonwriter @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling @watermeezer

@leahnardo-da-veggie @mr-orion @televisionjester @ray-writes-n-shit @evilgabe29

@trippingpossum @tragedycoded @halfbakedspuds @ominous-feychild @cain-e-brookman

@wyked-ao3 @thecomfywriter @mysticstarlightduck @rumeysawrites @sableglass

@cowboybrunch

[mysticstronomy]

IS TIME TRAVEL POSSIBLE??

Blog#455

Wednesday, November 20th, 2024

Welcome back,

In the movies, time travelers typically step inside a machine and—poof—disappear. They then reappear instantaneously among cowboys, knights or dinosaurs. What these films show is basically time teleportation.

Scientists don’t think this conception is likely in the real world, but they also don’t relegate time travel to the crackpot realm. In fact, the laws of physics might allow chronological hopping, but the devil is in the details.

Time traveling to the near future is easy: you’re doing it right now at a rate of one second per second, and physicists say that rate can change. According to Einstein’s special theory of relativity, time’s flow depends on how fast you’re moving. The quicker you travel, the slower seconds pass. And according to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, gravity also affects clocks: the more forceful the gravity nearby, the slower time goes.

“Near massive bodies—near the surface of neutron stars or even at the surface of the Earth, although it’s a tiny effect—time runs slower than it does far away,” says Dave Goldberg, a cosmologist at Drexel University.

If a person were to hang out near the edge of a black hole, where gravity is prodigious, Goldberg says, only a few hours might pass for them while 1,000 years went by for someone on Earth. If the person who was near the black hole returned to this planet, they would have effectively traveled to the future. “That is a real effect,” he says. “That is completely uncontroversial.”

Going backward in time gets thorny, though (thornier than getting ripped to shreds inside a black hole). Scientists have come up with a few ways it might be possible, and they have been aware of time travel paradoxes in general relativity for decades.

Fabio Costa, a physicist at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, notes that an early solution with time travel began with a scenario written in the 1920s. That idea involved massive long cylinder that spun fast in the manner of straw rolled between your palms and that twisted spacetime along with it. The understanding that this object could act as a time machine allowing one to travel to the past only happened in the 1970s, a few decades after scientists had discovered a phenomenon called “closed timelike curves.”

“A closed timelike curve describes the trajectory of a hypothetical observer that, while always traveling forward in time from their own perspective, at some point finds themselves at the same place and time where they started, creating a loop,” Costa says. “This is possible in a region of spacetime that, warped by gravity, loops into itself.”

“Einstein read [about closed timelike curves] and was very disturbed by this idea,” he adds. The phenomenon nevertheless spurred later research.

Science began to take time travel seriously in the 1980s. In 1990, for instance, Russian physicist Igor Novikov and American physicist Kip Thorne collaborated on a research paper about closed time-like curves. “They started to study not only how one could try to build a time machine but also how it would work,” Costa says.

Originally published on https://www.scientificamerican.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, November 23rd, 2024)

"CAN GRAVITY FORM WAVES??"

[fountian-of-youth]

Dr.kraken's file

Former Name: Mikhail ivan sokolov

Current name: mikhail ivan Scott (only his husband is allowed to say his name since he's the only one who knows it )

Code name : Dr.kraken

Birth date: Dec 19 1969

Rank: all Access doctor /scientist

Age: 55

Appearance:

Species: cybernetic human

Abilities: use tendrils to pick up things / stab / crawl. Super human strength and speed , cross any kind of terrain

Weakness: his more human part are weaker and vulnerable, his pride and ego , his God complex

Personality; snarky and manipulative asshole who turns your words against you. Sadistic as hell only seeing people who don't agree with him lower than dirt to walk on. Pure evil scientist doctor

Additional information: he knows morse and nonbinary code , has huge knowledge of animals and biology. He has the fear of death

Backstory: growing up kraken was raised in a rich family only child to two wonderful parents who were advocating for echo friendly things. His father was a multi owner of tech companies that aimed to keep echo friendly.

While his mother was a fashion designer who reuse fabric and other things to not create waste unlike others. Both were doting and loving parents who loved their son to death. Both did their best to try and raise kraken right.

But ever since he came out the womb he had always been different ... .when he was four that was when he was officially diagnosed with autism. Now his parents were victims to the idea of the 1940 autistic views where it's described simply here

a lack of imagination, a lack of hallucinatory thought, a lack of creativity and a lack of dreams

Essentially his parents thought he was stuck being a child who couldn't think for himself or really become an adult who stride forward through life without their guidance. Which has the two trying their best to raise kraken but most times don't work as they couldn't properly discipline him without feeling guilty.

Of course kraken wasn't some empty husk , he was very much just a high masking autistic person. He was very scarily and supported by his parents into biology and science especially with animals and nature. He had grown up always watching those animal documentaries and became that animal lover kid.

Of course he took it more extreme, always asking what it would be like to have fangs of a snake , the ability to shoot blood out the eyes like thorny devils. Ect

This landed him as the weird kid in school where kids to teen years mocked and taunted him for being so weird. The highschool years he was very much bullied for having the name Mikhail because during the time he grew up. His parents fell for some scams landing them in being less rich and almost poor. Only thing keeping the family up float was the fact they could work many jobs in their field.

Due to being bullied and picked on it caused kraken to despise other people and see them as nothing but dirt to walk on. Focusing on his interests he was able to get into engineering using nature to fuel his works and machines while also dabbling in biology to craft serums and DNA extraction methods.

By the time he was an adult his parents had fully become poor and were living off government support to keep their son going to the colleges that accepted him for his strange smart mindset. Which kraken graduated with no problem and got himself into a science route job to earn stable earnings.

He became more sadistic when he turned 21 , where accidentally running over a homeless person led him cutting up the body and finding out how humans are not so different from animals ....and his deranged idea of immorality clicked.

"if death can be conquered...no one could stop me from pursuing answers to my questions "

He caught urban shade’s interest when he hit his late twenties (precisely around 27) showing off his methods. To prove he would do anything for the company called urban shade , he quite literally murdered his own parents and used their corpses to demonstrate how the DNA extraction works and how his version of administering DNA worked a bit faster then the current methods urban shade used.

Their last words to their son were quoted to be " "no matter what ...even now we still love you son "

Only for him to reply with "your love been nothing but wood to my fire , goodbye mum, dad may you rest in what ever void you seek " in the most sadistic and cold tone

Same methods used when z-13 was taken into custody for experiments . Kraken was 34 at this age and was not involved in the group that operated on the experiment. In fact he was doing his own project as he wanted to grant humanity the ability of immorality.

When he was around 53 he had made a breakthrough with his project called “ fountain of youth”. The serum was perfect and ready to be shown but needed time to set. So kraken took a day off to go and celebrate his success in the Philippines where unfortunately. A combination of accidentally getting tricked to eat some drugs and alcohol caused him to drive drunk.

Leading to a crash where he ran into z-013253 when the entity was still human and not in custody of urban shade. This crash has caused urban shade trouble to hide and cover up as they didn't want it to be public. Their scientist caused a crash being drunk and on drugs. This crash also horribly disfigured and left kraken in horrible condition where to be useful he paid with what money to get his body cybernetically enhanced to walk and move again.

He also has obtained the fear of death which spurred him to want to focus more on his fountain of youth project.

He was demoted down a rank to where he would be constantly supervised till he can prove he can make up for his mistakes with HQ and the leaders. During this time he would run into Damien Scott for one year spent as bickering enemies eventually falling for each other. The second year being married life.

When z-13 caused the breach, kraken was 55 and at the time his life work was supposed to be used to test on another subject. Leaving the precious serum of immorality in the hidden parts of hadal blacksite Lab. To get his work back, Kraken hired an expendable to try and get his work back when retrieving the crystal.

During this deal he found out the person aka allo nanol he crashed into was used as the cover up for the crash. To make the person pay he handpicked allo to become an Expendable with the paid expendable he sent.

This failed of course and caused kraken to be enraged knowing his work was just swept away. Later only to find out the person he threw under the buss , allo nanol, had been injected with his life work.

Now bitter and deranged to grasp immortality he chased after allo to get back what he wants and needs to obtain his chance at everlasting life.

[rroechan]

The Thorny Spider

spidersona-ish-more-like-oc

'Flying Devil'? 'Spider from Hell'? That's just your terrifying friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man on the prowl!

lots of yapping below

Super late for the spiderverse trend but i've been reading an unfortunate amount of peter parker fics and i couldn't help but pull this guy up from memory

Spider-Thorn? Horned Spider? Spider-Fiend?

His name is Piers Lang, born and raised to kick your ass. With both parents dead at the ripe age of 8, kiddo found himself going from his home in M'sia to living with his aunt and uncle all the way in USA 🫡🦅🇺🇸

Abilities

his abilities are about the same as OG spiderman, like spider-proportional strength, speed, stickiness etc etc. There's only one thing that's vastly different from the others is his enhanced senses

So like, enhanced hearing, scent, that sort of thing. If it was already bad for Peter in his day to dau life, imagine what this guy's goin' through

due to a mix of nature and nuture, his senses, particularly his sorta 'area awareness' is higher than the average spidey

He grew up with terrible vision and in a rough neighbourhood so his senses has always been fairly attuned to his surroundings. A bit like a 6th sense or a natural instinct one would naturally gain over time. The bite basically strengthened all these features except his eyesight (most spider species have poor eyesight. only some have it good. i thought that was funny)

that scene in spider-man: far from home where spidey relies entirely on his spider sense to fight mysterio's drones? Yeah THAT but 10 fold

even when totally blinded, he can use this specific ability to make like a fully 3d mental map of the area around him. Basically seeing everything around him 360 with his eyes closed. So he can fully fight no issue in the dark (basically Daredevil's radar sense)

sometimes he purposely fights with eyes closed cause it helps prevent him from being overwhelmed (even pre-bite he had issues with sensory overloads)

For the hearing and smelling, i tried to see if OG spiderman had any upper limit at all to the distance of his abilities but there's nothing solid :// My guy in particular, I like to think there's no true limit to his sense, like he could track a whole city of people if he wanted but he'd have to be meditating and in a super focused state to do so + overuse of his senses makes his head hurt a lot

Out of the suit, he has a habit of wearing earplugs or earphones constantly playing some genre of white noise. And some strong smelling balm on his upper lip (idk whats the actual english name of it)

Aside from that, he has a few spidery traits (got the idea from a fic, no I do not remember what its name is). The spider he was bitten by had all sorts of different spider dna weaved into it.

He sometimes chirps or purrs when in a good mood or just, when he's comfortable enough to not hide his spidery traits. Has stare offs with actual spiders for dominance. Absurdly flexibles and can get into wild contortionist-like poses and calls them comfortable. Likes smoothies. Gets sleepy when cold. Salvatory glands produce a very mild venom. Yada yada

About the suit

He didn't design it, his man-in-the-chair did. Though he did do all the wiring, engineering etc and was the one who suggested to base the suit design off an orb weaver spider

The red of his suit glows with exposure to UV. Adding on the fact that he mainly patrols at night makes it worse for baddies because imagine you're in the middle of crime-ing and from out the darkness, Satan himself comes to be your reckoning.

The suit being majority black adds the challenge of making sure his poses are readable so that's Fun.

of his 8 'eyes' only 2 of them actually function which are the main ones in the upper front. the others are for show.

The horns are where all the business is at. They all have a solid exterior so he fully can use em to shoulder check, headbutt, etc baddies but their main purpose is to act as antennas. Both for his comms so he can go super long distances without worry as well as help hone and focus his senses to his surrounding area

See, usually his senses is like a motion detector but across a super big area so without earplugs and the smelling balm, his senses are extremely scattered and kinda blurred.

He figured out fairly quick that with antennas connected to his main 'sensory points' on his body help focus his senses to his immediate area instead of being fragmented (does this make sense? im fully bullshitting at this point)

Not illustrated but under the suit he has this network of connected patches (like those they put on you during surgery) to track his stats and junk alongside the whole spidey sense honing thing

Moving on, the spider on the back of his head is actually a later addition cause ppl keep thinking he's supposed to be a demon (him not realising ppl aren't entomology nerds like him)

The spikes on his knuckles are purely for combat and is entirely inspired by his favourite sonic character: Knuckles.

The baggy pants, body suit and hood are all one piece. Only the mask and the utility belt are removable

The whole front of the mask is a solid piece under the fabric. So he can't fold the mask halfway up to his nose and kiss someone upside-down but he can remove one of the lower eye panel thing to eat or drink if he needs to.

the utility belt mostly has his burner phone, zipties, few first aid necessities and cereal bars

I wanted to add a brief telling of his backstory here as well as his ascociation to the spiderverse gang but this post is long enough orz

Ill definitely post abt this guy again though, that's for sure. I'm more a manga fan but I have some plans on mimicking american comics style for some 'fake' comic pages for this guy and his main villain

[mysteryyuck]

so you know that line that junkrat has where hes like "anyone got a toothpick? ive got a mantis leg in me molars" or something like that?

picture this: he loves bugs. cant get enough of em. BUT he also knows their nutrition facts? like he could tell you how many calories a thorny devil would be. he could nerd out about them all day. he knows their behavior too, of course. (cant eat bugs without knowing where they are!) but he definitely likes to chow down on em.

[liminalpebble]

Eddie's Education, Chapter 27

Masterlist link

Minors DNI

Chapter 27

It was heartrending for Eddie to watch when Leia's eyes clouded over into the milky unseeing white, and yet his eyes were cemented in place. She rose from the grass like a marionette, pulled by strings to her full height, then languidly stepped forward in her trance, hair whipping out behind her like a black flag on the frigid nocturnal wind.

Eddie and Dustin nodded to each other, ready to execute the part of the plan they hadn't told Leia about. Her consciousness was with Vecna now, but they would keep her body away from crossing the threshold. They would dangle her corporeal form before him long enough to distract him and then snatch her away. Eddie felt a bit guilty that they had to hide this from her, but it was safer for her not to know, considering Venca's clear vantage point within her mind.

Eddie itched to grab her immediately, and it took all his will power to allow her to move inexorably closer, and closer, and closer to the devil himself and his kingdom. He took heaving anxious breaths, jaw clenched, as he watched Dustin for the cue. As she moved towards the vermilion rend in reality itself all he could see was her silhouette; her little body like a shadow puppet tugged forward. Wrenching his eyes away, he looked to Dustin who finally, finally, nodded for him to move. They ran over grabbing both of her arms and pulled with all their might.

----

From her jagged throne in Vecna's mind palace, Leia watched the scene unfold like a movie, relayed to them by her own eyes. She watched powerless from inside as they tried to hold her back, but her body simply flung them away like rag dolls with bolts of red energy. Leia winced as she heard the two men thud heavily and against the ground, then heard Dustin's frantic exclamation. “Shit...shit. I didn't think he could do that anymore.”

Beside her, Vecna released a deep satisfied laugh and said, “Oh, but I can.”

Leia felt her heart sink even though she suspected they would try this, and suspected just as strongly that it wouldn't work.As her friends still fought valiantly for her, she tried to make peace with the fact that she might really have to sacrifice herself, after all. It was no longer hypothetical, and it was terrifying.

Robin and Steve shot off like rockets to assist, using all their might to hold her back, but to no avail. They only received the same bruising blow from the blinding red bolts. He was too strong, they realized, as a wave of panic crossed each of their faces in turn. Seeing this, Leia begged silently, Come on! It doesn't matter. We knew we were risking me. We were ready for it. We still have a chance! And squirmed against the restraints of the thorny throne. Vecna only watched her and laughed, sending trepidation trickling through her veins like ice water. She thought she was ready for it, but now, with evil incarnate's laugh in her ears and in her mind, who could really be ready? Who could ever not be afraid? She wanted a life as much as any of them...a life with Eddie. The thought made her struggle all the more fiercely until the world shifted and dropped.

Leia felt a nauseating lurch as she surfaced into consciousness within her physical body, just in time to hear her friends screaming her name into the chilly air. Abruptly, the din was muffled by the warm slimy broth of the upside down. It sucked her in, as if it were a living, conscious, hungry thing (and maybe it was). Her heartbeat began to race in panic as she felt her lungs struggle for breath, stuck in a suffocating press beneath the fluid. Pushing in hard strokes against the heavy water, she tried with all her might to kick and heave her way to the surface. It seemed impossibly deep, like the floor had fallen out and now the sides of the little pool had become the dark-tunneled walls of a well, closing in on all side as the light failed to reach her. Around her vision, a halo of smoky shadow closed in, further, further, further, until her eyes shut. In the oppressive silence, she drifted. She sank.

The tug of a strong limb hooking around her waist jolted her back into wakefulness. She tried again to scramble for the surface. Somewhere in the back of her mind she thought, Eddie?, and her heart lifted, thinking it might be him pulling her out.

A grating chuckle rang through her mind as vines and sinews shot out to still and surround her wriggling limbs. They pulled her until she smacked against a tree trunk...no, not a tree trunk...a torso of desiccated flesh, one she had only seen in her mind thus far.

He can't save you now, little Leia, but I can.

A huge clawed hand caged her head in as the need for oxygen became a desperate tight hiccup in her chest. Vecna pulled her writhing form against himself and latched his mouth over hers; a horrific parody of a romantic kiss.

Heat like a furnace roiled from the monster's throat into hers, crashing past her airway and trickling across the flesh of her lungs. The burning ache was excruciating, and the acrid smell and taste of ash permeated her senses, soaked up like a sponge by every internal membrane of her respiratory system. The delicate skin of her tongue and mouth felt like tissue paper, parched and feeble. The ache subsided into a dull throb as she realized she was no longer struggling for air, but sharing some substitute for it with her captor. Her lungs heaved in relief and her body slumped against the rigid form of the monster gripping her. She heard him in her mind, even as his physical tongue busied itself tasting her mouth, reveling in the sweet last hints of its moisture.

You're acclimating. Give it time. He commanded, as the burn faded into a dull feeling; bruised and parched. She had no strength to respond or even struggle against his revolting contact. She wasn't sure how she knew it, but she thought to herself, he's giving me air and poison all at once.

Hmm. Not exactly. I'm...calming you. Let it take effect.

NO...no no on. She thought, finding the tiniest crumb of strength to wiggle.

Shh. You have to accept this or you will die here...and once it affects you completely, you can never survive out there. You'll be like me...changed...transubstantiated...the Eve to my Adam. We'll never be alone again and we'll reign here.

His charcoal tongue and jagged lips caressed hers as she tried to fight it but her body had turned to docile dead weight, latched and locked onto him against her will.

Hmmm. What a soft, wet, fragile, thing you are, and I have been parched...scorched. I can see why dear Eddie is bewitched by the taste of you. I almost consumed him. Did you know that? He was very nearly...acclimated...as well. But no matter, I'd rather have you.

Screaming..she was screaming loudly in her mind, though her body wouldn't obey. Disgust and fury flashed through her like lightning bolts, not just for herself now, but for poor Eddie, almost eaten alive here 15 years ago...all to quench a monster's endless blood thirst.

Shhhhhhhh. Shhh, he cooed, Oh I know this is not ideal. You must be so afraid..disoriented. Let's go somewhere more comfortable, shall we?

@sweetsigyn @veemoon @elegantkoalapaper @little-wormwood @hellfirenacht

[mechanicalriddle]

the moment weve all been waiting for EXALTED SECRET 2023 BIOS YAAAAAY

Heres my bios for the secret santa ! this years theme is Girls Who Rot, Have Rotted Previously, or Are Rotting Right Now

I like to provide some little details, tidbits, tone and setting ideas in my bios in case you want to draw them in like a little scene; don't feel obligated to get that fancy, though!

without further ado.

Pleione (Plin for short, she/they, roughly equivalent to early 20s) is a Marrow Aspect forged from the remnants of a young royal from a long-forgotten kingdom, resuscitated from the depths of the mausoleum in which her body was interred by (accidental) necromantic means. She's spent the past two decades quietly living on her Anchor's manse-estate, indulging in her passions for art and botany.

Plin is a big chicken who is deathly terrified of conflict and does a lot of screaming and cowering when things come to blows for someone who

Her personality is particular, peculiar, and holier-than-thou. She's got dynastic sensibilities, snobbish and disinclined to associate with 'the proles'. Get her on the subject of one of her special interests, though, and you might find each other fast friends.

Motifs- Plin has an orchid motif on account of the fact that she needs a dose of a special tea made from a (formerly) extinct orchid several times a day in order to NOT DIE. She hasn't died yet. She doesnt know she can come back give her a break. Some other motifs include glass, terrariums, spiders & fireflies; marble & porcelain, old-timey anatomical drawings, delicate floral and baroque patterns; antique-white, minty green, deep purple, and black.

Ideas- If you want to draw her doing something she is equally likely to be found reclining on a huge pile of pillows with a book or with her knees planted in the dirt rooting around in a thorny shrub. She loves to dissect and draw plants and is liable to be found at a desk or behind an easel doing one of those activities

Anima- Currently I am thinking... a grove filled with ghostly-white plants twining over enormous bones (hopefully of the animal variety, but hard to say, really) and probably features giant flowering orchids that are shaped suspiciously like skulls... Also its hard to say but the ground does look an awful lot like meat, and those stringy bits look an awful lot like connective tissue... hmm

---

Desert Fang Grim Devil Lioness (Grim for short, she/her, 36 yrs old) is a renegade Midnight caste former-warlord-turned-backwoods vampire-MILF. upgrades!

Grim was fazed a lot as a child (being pawned off by your family as a slave will do that to you) and vowed to grow up into a woman who Wouldn't Be Fazed By Anything. Having achieved this (with a few notable exceptions), she mostly gets her way by via being larger, stronger, and scarier than as many of her problems as possible. Sometimes problems don't and can't have physical largeness, though, which is annoying.

One of these problems included being counter-merc'd by one of her targets and dying of exposure under the desert sun. She didn't... quite... let this stop her, though. There are people in need of her skillsets, and dying isn't really a disqualifier for their service. She was raised as a deathknight and for several years served as one of the First and Forsaken Lion's most fearsome officers.

Another problem is... More recent. Having run off with her lunar mate and tried to start a family far, far from FAFL's stomping grounds, it turns out toughing it out in the wilds of the North can kind of suck.

Motifs- Pretty normal deathknight stuff. Black iron of the wrought variety, and soulsteel; tattered and blood-drenched fabric, rough-hewn basalt and dark masonry. Honestly got stronger canid than felid vibes, to spite the name. Black-and-red is an obvious throughline but grimy grays and natural tones complete her overall color scheme. Things that are totally inert and lifeless, and will always remain as such.

Ideas- Riding her terrifying steed (basically just a half rotting perma-permafrosted elk corpse with a broken antler), slicing something in half with her awesome reaver daiklaive, hovering over a pot of survival-stew boiling over a crude hearth, walking thru the woods in the dark covered in blood. Or maybe hanging out with her awesome baby (pictured) if youre inclined to draw something... Nicer :)

Anima- A bit stereotypical, I think like. a blasted land with bloodsoaked earth so barren and expansive that it blends with the crimson sky, as well as off in the distance banners that tower like skyscrapers which only flutter by virtue of their enormity. Not even Mela's breath will touch this forsaken place.

Grim is the current wielder of Gorgon.

---

(WHOOPS forgot the tattoos in the second thing but like hell im fixing that at this point)

Last but not least, the Gunstar Autochthonia Girl Hirudana Siithavari (Siithi for short, she/her, 32 y.o.) a No Moon ostensibly still answering to the Deliberative; at heart, a roustabout and a scallywag. She crawled deep into Authochthon's world-body on a suicide mission and then beat all odds by sheer cockroach-style stubbornness, earning her Luna's favor. Also, terrible death-sorcery (necromancy is sort of an unknown factor in our rendition of the Gunstar shard but she somehow managed to make contact with the neverborn and stumble into its practice)

she likes drinking, and gambling, and yelling, and generally being a nuisance. Sometimes a little bit of heart-of-gold shines through, and quite frankly everyone is probably better off with the secrets of necromancy in her hands rather than someone slightly less grounded in reality.

theres more pics of her in her tag if you want to poke around.

Motifs- Bronze, brass, grimy earth tones mixed with bright accent colors. Black leather, studs, needles, teeth. Tubes, pipes, gears, grates and various industrial junk. Worms, bugs, and other vermin. Dankness, darkness, the sickly shadows of Black Non. Smoke-haze and drug paraphernalia.

Ideas- Generally she spends most of her time at the bar, the gym, in her lab, or asleep. you could draw her pumping iron, or taking a toke on a decrepit sofa in her dingy weed-cave (not a literal cave though that would be kind of fun), or sitting at an industrial workbench pouring over a half-disassembled chainsaw. or corpse. or both at the same time.

Anima- Her lower-level anima is kind of gloopy like a lava lamp. Iconic is a swamp with oil for water, populated by mangroves assembled from pipes and black plastic tube-vines, with the moon reflecting brightly on its surface. Her spirit shape is a Buffalo Leech, one of the largest species of leeches (on earth at least). i'll attach a pic of her hybrid form if you wanna draw that instead!

(necessary disclaimer for these sorts of things) youre welcome to take this as an opportunity to do some experimenting but if you don't think you can passably represent a certain characters body shape i would recommend picking one of the other options. thank you!

[jungle-angel]

Settling In (Rhett Abbott x Reader)

Summary: It’s another freezing night in Wabang and you and Rhett decide to get the kids settled in for the night

“Alright miscreants!” Rhett called up the stairs. “Dinner’s ready!” 

Seven little Abbotts all came barreling down the stairs, nearly slipping and falling over each other on the way down, only to be pulled up to their feet by Amy. 

Hannah was the first to grab her plate for dinner as you loaded it with potatoes and pot roast. Royal was the last one through the door, stamping his feet off on the doormat before shutting and locking the door, only to have one of the skunks curling around his leg the same way Willy and Tiny usually did with visitors. 

“Damnit Rhett!” Royal cursed. “I told ya’ll to keep these rats with stripes down in the basement.” 

“Dad c’mon, they’re basically domesticated cats,” Rhett chuckled. 

“Yeah, domesticated cats that smell like Willie Nelson’s tour bus,” Royal muttered under his breath.

Kaya shakily carried her dinner plate to the table before Royal took it from her, scooping her right up off the ground and reveling in his granddaughter’s giggling. You and Kaya were the last to take your places at the table, surrounded by everyone but Cecelia as Royal said grace. 

Dinner was eaten with the kids chattering away about all the things they had done during school. Hannah couldn’t stop talking about how her teacher was teaching the class how to knit and how she planned to make mittens for everybody. The twins on the other hand, had their first grade teacher in stitches after they had been discussing Thorny Devils during their main lesson on animals, unwittingly letting their poor teacher know that their father had shared the nickname “horny toad” with the funny looking little lizard while also remaining morbidly fixated on the fact that it could shoot blood from its eyes. 

“So Daddy’s a horny toad huh?” Royal laughed. 

“It ain’t funny dad,” Rhett warned him, his face going red. 

“Royal, c’mon, as funny as it is, there are alot of little ears present,” you said, trying to hide your own laughter. 

“Aw c’mon (y/n), ya’ll should’ve heard the shit that my dad used to say in front of this one,” Royal said, pointing to Rhett. 

As soon as everyone was done and the dishes loaded into the dishwasher for the night, it soon came time for the utter hell that you and Rhett had down to military precision.......bathtime. 

Rhett had each and every one of the kids lined up in the halls with Amy going first since she was the oldest of the bunch. Hannah had been no trouble at all, but the twins had been a different story. The two little troublemakers had gotten it in their heads to use Rhett’s Irish Spring as bubble bath, but despite you and Rhett’s exasperation, you didn’t care as long as the boys were clean. Kaya was  next and the last set of twins, Harvey and Franklin, were the last to go before each of the kids were in their pjs and ready for bed. 

“Oh, hey now,” you chuckled as you looked at your phone. “Guess what?” 

“What? Wes’s septic tank exploded again?” Rhett said with a shit eating grin. 

“No,” you answered. “No school on Monday. Every school in Amelia County is closed.” 

“Oh damnit,” Rhett groaned. 

You laughed as you handed Hannah her pink blanket, fresh from the dryer. “You gonna go and see if your Ma needs help?” 

Rhett nodded and headed straight up the stairs to the bedroom the two of you had shared for the last ten years, only to find Cecelia sitting in the rocker with Dallas falling in and out of sleep in her arms. 

“Oh ya’ll are just too cute for your own good,” she cooed as the tiny little boy drifted in and out of sleep. “Pretty soon girls will be fallin all over you just like they used to do for your daddy.” 

“Let’s just hope it ain’t too soon for that Ma.” 

“Jeebus, Mary and Joseph!” Cecelia jumped. “Need I remind ya’ll Rhett James, that I happen to be holding a little one?” 

Rhett laughed a little before Cecelia handed Dallas off to him. Even now, it still made Rhett nervous as hell to hold something so small and completely dependent on him and you. “Ya’ll gonna go get in bed for the night, Ma?” 

“I think I might,” Cecelia yawned. “Your father and I might watch one of the old James Bond movies and sleep in tomorrow since it’s Saturday.” 

“Ya’ll can go,” Rhett told her. “I’ve got this.” 

Rhett seated himself in the rocker near the small woodstove in your room, calmly rocking the little one all wrapped up in his Irish knit blanket that Cecelia had made for him. Rhett couldn’t believe that he was still this small, worrying every day if Dallas would grow or if he’d have problems later in life, despite the nurses telling you and Rhett that he’d turn out perfectly fine. 

Rhett began to hum a song that Russell Redwood had taught him as a child, one that the Nez Perce mothers used to sing to their children to help them sleep at night during the frigid winter months. He hardly noticed the sound of small feet on the hard wooden floors when Kaya came trailing in with a book in one hand and her little velveteen bunny rabbit tucked under her arm. 

“Daddy?” she whispered.  

“What baby?” he asked. “Whatcha need?” 

“Can you read me a story?” 

“Let me get your brother into bed and I’ll read it, ok?” 

Kaya nodded and jumped up onto yours and Rhett’s bed when you entered, fresh from the bath and taking Dallas from Rhett before placing the little one in the knotted pine cradle next to the bed with plenty of blankets. Tiny, the calico house cat, crawled right in beside him, purring as she laid her head right near his and one of her paws slung across him. Thankfully, Willy was downstairs, much like he always was and their kittens nested safely in their basket near the fireplace. 

You and Rhett crawled into bed with Kaya between you before Rhett began reading “The Mitten”, a favorite of hers which Kaya had pestered Rhett to read every winter. 

When he finally reached the end of the book, Kaya was snoring away before Rhett turned off the lights and pulled the covers over the two of you. “Think we should carry her to bed?” he whispered. 

“Nah, let her be,” you answered. “We’ll be up before her anyways.” 

You could see him smiling in the dark before he kissed the back of your hand, the both of you hugging Kaya as she slept with the two of you joining her in sleep very soon. 

[yusei-tales]

Betelgeuse

Betel let out a faint sigh, turning his gaze to the mountain of documents piled up to his elbow. It seemed unlikely he’d get through them all by today. As always.

The sun had set, and the night had long since taken hold. Perhaps he’d been so engrossed in work that he hadn’t even noticed the passage of time. In his now-dark office, the lone demon king fell briefly into thought.

Night veils all. The birds that had chirped all day now close their eyes. With vision obscured by the descending darkness, only the whispering breeze brushes the windows, a quiet, solemn, and peaceful scene. But in such times, there are certain thoughts that become all the clearer.

In a corner of his mind, there always lies a thorn—a small piece he tries to forget, only to feel it slowly, stubbornly resurface every time he seeks peace.

No, perhaps it’s more accurate to say he’s choosing to avert his gaze, rather than forgetting it altogether.

This is about his younger sibling.

He has a sister named Reve, small and thorny, like a rose—sharp, fierce, but not truly cruel. A girl with only half a human’s blood, one who is neither fully human nor quite like him or their father, a devil. She’s likely sitting on the white sheets of her bed in her room across the dark hallway, unable to sleep as usual, as still as a doll.

But if she’s only half, then isn’t he the same? Betel glanced idly at his reflection in the silver table, his horns faintly gleaming. He never looked down on his sister for that. In fact, he despised those who did. Even so, to bring her into the open like nothing was amiss… the girl was fragile, like glass that might shatter at the mere touch, so—

And so—

Thus—

She had remained within the demon castle, a delicate porcelain figure, for a hundred years, confined to that single place.

It wasn’t as though she had willingly accepted this treatment. She simply hadn’t been able to take a single step outside, and so Reve had no choice but to live like this.

It felt as if everything in this castle was frozen in time. Trapped in its unmoving flow, Reve spent today much as she had yesterday, in a body that hadn’t aged a day since her murder a century ago at the age of seventeen.

Betel touched his chin with his fingers, absentmindedly clenching and unclenching his other hand—a habit of his when deep in thought.

“Shall I go see her?”

Yet he knew his sister wouldn’t be pleased to see him.

He could recall it all as if it were yesterday, when the girl, then just five years old, used to beam so brightly that her white teeth would show, calling him, “Brother, Brother!” She would run to him barefoot, as if she didn’t even feel the chill of the marble floors, leaping into his arms. Each time, Betel would bend down, letting her climb up his clothes, ignoring his friends’ teasing remarks about his lack of dignity as a demon lord.

When he’d bring her along to his office, she’d soon fall asleep nestled against him, and he would gently carry her back to her bed, tucking her in with the same blanket and bed she still used today. Everything was just as it had been, as though nothing had changed, and yet it all felt like it was gradually fading into a shadowy, dust-ridden hollow.

Demons rarely forget.

They live longer lives than humans and remember much more. Even with that in mind—

“It’s impossible to forget.”

With that thought, Betel’s gaze drifted to the door of his office, his hand idly held up.

The faint, light steps approaching grew louder, picking up on his sharpened senses in the quiet.

“Come in, Reve.” He spoke with an air that might sound warm, though it was laced with the ease of someone who already knew the visitor’s identity (and he did). There was a momentary pause in the footsteps.

Then, as if she’d decided it didn’t matter that she’d been caught, his sister pushed the door open with a forceful grip. The golden handle spun halfway around, glinting in the light.

Standing in the doorway was a girl with brown hair, dressed in a white gown with falling sleeves and a red ribbon around her neck. She was barefoot, just as she’d been in her childhood. She had likely come as she was in her nightclothes.

It was the kind of attire that would usually earn her a scolding for her recklessness or at least a reminder that she’d catch a cold, but neither said a word. They both knew, even from long ago, that such things hardly mattered now.

“What are you doing, staying up so late, Brother?” she asked, her soft, high voice laced with an almost thorny undertone. Though it sounded like a normal sibling’s concern, the glint of the kitchen knife she clutched made her true intent plain.

“Well, as you can see, I’m buried in work again.” Betel shrugged, pulling his lips into a casual smile. “A shame, isn’t it? It’s too bad you won’t be able to kill me since I’m still awake.”

At the genuine tinge of regret in his voice, Reve felt a rush of anger surge within her, filling her to the brim. His casual, unbothered tone stirred up fury within her, just as liquid fills a cup.

“Even if i were to be asleep, I wouldn’t let you kill me that easily. Look—I have too much work to let that happen.”

“Like I care.” Reve glared at him, biting her lip. Both of them knew it: her brother always found ways to provoke her, making any normal conversation impossible.

“Yes, I know that well.” Betel interlocked his fingers on the table before meeting Reve’s gaze. “We hold very different priorities.”

“You want to die.”

Betel, still seated, met her intense gaze from across the table and smiled softly.

“And I can’t allow that.”

It’s a simple matter. You only have to give up, he added, barely finishing his sentence when Reve’s silver earring trembled as she took a sharp breath.

“Tonight, Brother, I’m putting an end to this.”

“As if you didn’t already know how that would go.” Betel ducked gracefully as she swung the knife.

“Oh, and try not to hit the papers. Those are urgent.”

Despite his flippant tone, the poor documents scattered through the air, shredded to pieces in the wake of her blow.

Anything is better than apathy. Better that she have something to rage at, something to strive for, rather than be left with the endless tedium of waiting. That’s what he told himself. Though deep down, he knew.

Maybe he wanted to be hated.

I can’t forgive myself, so I wish you’d feel the same—that you’d push me further, so I won’t forget, so I won’t be at peace.

Because back then, and even now, I’ve never been able to protect anything properly.