#also you can see the sutures going underneath the wound. fixed that too. it's all working now

[dravidious]

You're more amazing than making a game

Sutures are working great 👍

[hinatastinygiant]

Chapter Two

Abaeis Nicippe

Pairing: Haikyuu!! x Fem!Reader

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You walk out of the forest and return to your bus only a few minutes after leaving. You're humming to yourself with your shotgun in one hand and the rabbit in the other, hanging by its legs with little care on your part, but you don't have the energy to care. It did steal from you, after all.

When you get back to your bus, you notice the gate to your garden is wide open. You're quite certain you didn't do that. You quickly rush over and find your carrots pulled from the ground, your tomatoes plucked. They weren't even ripe yet. You then notice your bus door is open.

"Hey, fucker! Get out here!" you shout even more pissed off than you were with the rabbit. You'd think humans would know better. However, there's no response.

You drop the rabbit onto the ground by the gate of your garden as a warning to anyone else looking to steal from you. You then pick up your shotgun and cock it as you step up into your bus. Inside to your left, you find a blonde man with glasses raiding your icebox.

"You! Stand up!" you order again as you point your gun at him.

The man looks over at you and slowly does as you say. You notice he's got a pretty deep wound on his left arm and cuts all over his body like he had been frantically running through the forest before he had gotten to your home.

"Is this your place?" he asks rudely.

"Of course it is. Why the hell are you raiding my shit?" you shout back.

"Some shit you got," he scoffs. "I know where there's way better food than the bullshit you've got here."

"Well then why not go there instead, hm?" you question, a bit curious as to where this good food is.

"What can I say, I'm a bit desperate for food at the moment," he then shrugs.

"Tell me where the food is," you interrupt, your gun still pointed at his face.

"Like I'd tell you that after the welcome you gave me," he chuckles as he fixes his glasses, getting a bit too comfortable.

You glance down at the wound in his arm before opening your mouth. "I can fix that," you tell him. "I'm a doctor. I can make sure that doesn't get infected or... anything worse."

"I can do that myself," he rolls his eyes.

"It'll save you a trip to get bandages and medical supplies and the danger involved with that," you attempt to convince him. "Besides, I've got this gun aimed at your skull."

The man sighs as he walks over to your couch and sits down with a sigh. He puts his legs up on the chaise and rests his wounded arm on the rest. He then pulls out a twinkie from absolutely nowhere and rips open the plastic seal. You sigh upon seeing the sight. This certainly isn't what you pictured yourself doing today but you could use some good food. Your garden is nice and all but wouldn't exactly be pictured on the cover of any gardening magazine. 

You walk over to your end table used for keeping your medical supplies. The stranger looks over and watches as you pull everything together. "How'd you get all that stuff?" he asks.

"My old office had it all. There was so much surplus it came in handy. I also collect some things when I take trips to the store. Or I have patients who bring me things when they come to visit," you explain to him.

"So you really are a legitimate doctor then? You know what you're doing?"

"I was. Now I just do my part to help others," you nod, causing him to laugh when you say that. "What's wrong with that?"

"Help others?" he repeats with a serious attitude. "You nearly shot me."

"You were stealing for me. What else would I do?" you scoff.

The man then turns quiet as you quickly slide your shotgun from over your shoulder to underneath the driver's seat. You then grab your needle and sutures, readying yourself to repair his cuts. You are admittedly a bit worried about how he saw where you put the gun, but you don't pay it much mind right now. You don't want to be too jumpy and cause him to make a run straight for it. He could be a criminal for all you know.

"Were you a good doctor?" he randomly asks you as you wipe his wound with an alcohol wipe.

"Of course, I was," you roll your eyes as you pour water from a plastic bottle to sterilize your needle as best you can. "But this is still going to hurt. I don't have anything to numb it with."

"I suppose it could be worse," he sighs as he braces himself for the worst. You then begin your work.

"Since I'm helping you and keeping you alive, you could tell me your name," you say to him as you slide the needle under his skin.

"Kei Tsukishima," he tries to say as calmly as possible.

When you get a moment to take a breath, you look up at him and smile. "Nice to meet you, Tsukishima. I am Y/N L/N."

"So, Doctor L/N?" he asks.

"That's right," you chuckle.

"And are you alone out here?"

When he says that, your brain thinks straight back to the gun. He isn't going to attempt anything, is he? "Right now I am, yes," you explain as vaguely as you can.

"Are you traveling with a group then?"

"No, I stay here and have patients who come to visit me so I see people but nobody else lives on the bus with me unless they have a serious issue and need to stay," you admit a bit hesitantly.

Tsukishima nods.

"And what about you?" you then ask him.

"I don't plan on staying in one place for long," he says. "I was with a friend but we got separated and the next thing I know I'm being sewn back together."

"So you haven't seen anyone since you lost your friend? Has it been long?"

"No, it was recently," he shakes his head.

You smile softly, hoping to ease the sad look in his eyes. "Well, hopefully we can make this partnership work while we're together." You then finish up the sutures and cut off the end. "You're all set."

Tsukishima picks up his arm and inspects it up close.

"No need to thank me," you roll your eyes as you clean up your tools and walk outside the bus. Ignoring him, you walk to your fence and lock it. However, you decide to leave the rabbit in its spot for now.

When you get back inside you quickly glance under the driver's seat and see the shotgun still in its place. "Alright," you say to Tsukishima with a smile, "Time to show me where this good food is."

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[captainkurosolaire]

Prompt #7 ~ A Tale Saved

Previous - ♫Raccoon City♫ - References

(Third Person: Narrative) "I never speculated. It'd be you who saved my life... again. In youth an unsung hero emerged and rescued me. Showed me hope and taught me to be brave. When I seemed to be sentenced to abuse. 'You're going to learn overtime you'll be in power, and th' Captain of yer fate!' This stuck with me. I dedicated to learning medicine, so I could spread in healing people, like you affected me." A quill bronze-skinned feminine hand took pause from her diary entry. -- Sometimes those who hurt the most, are those wishing to prevent others from experiencing the same struggles, prevent from suffering in that horrible realm, that seems nearly inescapable. They put on tough faces for others to prevent showing old wounds that still linger, trauma doesn't disappear instantaneously. It's a processed mend which paces in everyone's unique recovery. When finding work in a free clinic underneath the slob, mangy, putrid soul's of the lower and less regarded, she always held work with suturing and stitching up squabbles between pirate's, rowdy uncontested foul. A place in which her past carried the most wounds, she returned wanting to find more. While redefining that place. The learning experience and challenge of continuous work, left her unknowingly developing remarkable skills. Of course her failure's in saving netted her many unpleasant threats from Crew-mates, Captain's, she couldn't fix up or yells. It was easier to lay the fault of the healer in grievance. Then a fool or unwise decisions caused by the injured and the company responsible for securing the well-being of their fellow. Bottling up and stacking her shortcomings, she woke up with only her will in activity, reinvigorated to hone better, determined and reciting to herself, that fateful day she was shown kindness in a cruel world if it existed, at all... Slowly steadily she earned a reputation and whispered rumors of her talents in the realm of an underground circuit of criminal's, heathens, outcasts. Though she never heard this appraisal or bolster at first because of the nature of her clients.

Remembering that maintaining positive influence is a battle. It's more likely to be uncovered and swallowed with misfortune and realism because it comes in more dreadful abundance. Helplessness felt like strangling her chest. It didn't matter how much she cauterized and bandaged, or fixed, it kept spilling over the staples that never lasted. She felt eventually her passion was becoming aimless and starting to wither again. The First Crewmate brandished in gold appeared at the clinic with a cutthroat approach. His motions were proposed. "I require you... My grandmother is gravely injured and cannot use the function of her arms." Naturally she rejected sweetly, "You'll have to bring her during business hours and follow the queue." The seemingly unreadable only registered as another barbaric brute who couldn't get what they wanted sighed out and pulled out a deadly knife. "You'll find the time to save them." I was reminded of my past, the same abuser and all those I walk aside that run quantities in Limsa, I felt pitiful that my voice remained mute. Then as that First Crewmate honed in a linkpearl call to demand their client. I never suspected it'd be a Captain; the same one from my childhood and neither did I suspect you also recognized me. Damaged and appendage arm's that couldn't be lifted ton's more scars, scrapes, wounds and I could tell was also conflicted approached. And instead you rejected and redefined everything one would assume by the surface. "Judas... Ye really holding her hostage? I'm sorry mate, but this isn't how I'll be treated. I'd rather remain, armless and dysfunctional... You haven't any clue what the sacrifice cost a healer or how they're never given proper gratitude for the lives they save, especially under this rat-sack of a City-State. Long ago, I wouldn't have been any better, I'd selfishly desire only t' see myself conditioned. I owe my past. Debt's aren't a pirate's comfort." Confused, the two bickered against each-other. It's when I saw the frustration and panic, the First Crewmate who was forced to disarm, was doing this out of not only reason, but admiration and love. He stormed off irritated with almost a disappointing and deadly dirk-gaze. Then I watched heels beginning to leave determinedly willingly to go without preserving themselves selfishly, rather be shattered, while also an apology was muttered low. I froze as if time was halted. The curiosities and you disappearing again, like almost, as if you were a ghost. There once, then vanishing without a trace of peep. Eventually that's when I found myself first following. Finding out you were troubled too like myself. I couldn't fix the arm's entirely but instead you praised me for my attempt and then you offered me a job, or to join your Crew. To explore mending outside and maybe expanding out would do me better, you said. I struggled joining for a while, but because it was you, I saw you held hope for me. The Crew is assorted with amazing wild people, from all acts of cultures, each carrying such lofty dreams, grand visions. Most larger than themselves. I felt like an outcast, and when you needed me the most and the Crew. When that dark-caster appeared, Silv'a, on the seas, turning me to a sheep, I once again felt useless and discouraged, defeated. Tried silently to vanish and not be a burden. I felt only the emotion of drowning under the pressure. Attempting to plunge deep down under the seabed. But you showed up on the decks even at night when all others were asleep, you saw how I shut myself in days and became more quiet and reached to me. Like I was a star, you once already saw loss. "...Casta, it's because yer ordinary. You fit with us. You remind us ov' everything we may forget or miss. You're special beyond all. We-- I need you upon this sea-vessel in my life. I don't need you to become violent, or monstrous, I need you to be yourself, and remind me what it's like not to be one." "You exist as a world, only you can Captain and show me. I will follow and always b' there t' see yer wonders and secure t' protect; you

and I... Believe we can heal together. Though your steps are yer own, what do you wish?" You said with an arm extending out, ready to give an embrace, or still chase to throw yourself under with me. I could see in your eyes that you knew what it felt to be alone and tried hoisting others from the same. It was a step away from walking overboard, or turning to you and the sail. I'm writing and devoting these chapters to this journey, this is my diary logs reciting, The Tales of the Goldbrand... I want all to know even though you believe in fading like the pirate's of old. I chose to live, Captain... You showed me what that means, again... - My Captain, who saved your Crew Surgeon, Casta. <3

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Dark”

Welcome back, everyone! Can you believe it's been six weeks already? I can't. Something something the uncomfortable passage of time during a pandemic as emphasized by a web-series.

But we're here to talk about RWBY the fictional story, not RWBY the cultural icon. At least, we will in a moment. First, I'd like to acknowledge that shaky line between the two, growing blurrier with every volume. A sort of good news, bad news situation.

The bad news — to get that out of the way — is that we cannot easily separate RWBY from its authors and those authors have, sadly, been drawing a lot of negative attention as of late. This isn't anything new, not at all, but I think the unexpectedly long hiatus gave a lot of fans (myself included) the chance to think about Rooster Teeth's failings without getting distracted by their biggest and brightest production. There's a laundry list of problems here — everything from the behavior of voice actors to the quality of their merch — but as a sort of summary issue, I'd like to highlight the reviews that continue to pop up on websites like Glassdoor, detailing the toxic, sexist, crunch-obsessed environment that RT employees are forced to work in. A lot of these websites requires a login to read more than a page of reviews, but you can check out a Twitter thread about it here. 

Now, I want to be clear: I'm not bringing this up as a way to shame anyone enjoying RWBY. This isn't a simplistic claim of, "The authors are Problematic™ and therefore you can't like the stuff they produce." Nor is this meant to be a catch-all excuse for RWBY's problems. If it were, I'd have dropped these recaps years ago. I'm of the belief that audiences maintain the right to both praise and criticize the work they're given, regardless of the context in which that work was produced. At the end of the day, RT has presented RWBY as a finished product and, more than that, presents it as an excellent product, one worth both our emotional investment and our money (whether in the form of paying for a First account, or encouraging us to buy merch, attend cons, etc.) I'll continue to critique RWBY as needed, but I a) wanted fans to be at least peripherally aware of these issues and b) clarify that my use of "RT" in statements like, "I can't believe RT is screwing up this badly" is meant to be a broad, nebulas acknowledgement that someone in the company is screwing up, either creatively (doesn't have the skill to write a good scene) or morally (hasn't created an environment in which other creators are capable of crafting a good scene). The real, inner workings of such companies are mostly a secret to their audiences and thus it's near impossible for someone like me — random fan writing these for fun as a casual side hobby — to accurately point fingers. Hence, broad "RT." I just wanted to clarify that when I use this it's as a necessary placeholder for whoever is actually responsible, not a damnation of the overworked animator breaking down in a bathroom. Heavy stuff, but I thought it was necessary (or at least worthwhile) to acknowledge this issue as we head into the second half of the volume.

Now for the good news: RWBY has reached 100 episodes! For any who may not know, 100 is a pretty significant number in the TV world because, when talking about prime time programming, it guarantees syndicated reruns. Basically, networks don't want audiences to get burned out with a show — changing the channel when it comes on because ugh, I've seen this already, recently too — and 100 episodes allows for a roughly five month run without any repeats, making it very profitable. RWBY is obviously not a television show and doesn't benefit from any of this (hell, modern television doesn't benefit from this as much as it used to, not in the age of streaming), but the 100 episode threshold is still ingrained in American culture. Beyond just being a nice, rounded number, it is historically a measure of huge success and I can't imagine that RT isn't aware of that. Regardless of what we think of RWBY's current quality, this is one hell of a milestone and should be applauded.

All that being said... RWBY's quality is definitely still lacking lol.

Our 100th episode is titled "Dark" — keeping with the one word titles, then — and I'd like to emphasize that, as a 100th episode, it definitely delivers in terms of plot. There's plenty of action, important character beats, and at least one major reveal, everything we'd expect from a milestone and a Part II premiere. The animation also continues to be noteworthy for its beauty, as I found myself admiring many of the screenshots I took for this recap. There are certainly things to praise. The only problem (one we're all familiar with by now) is that these small successes are situated within a narrative that's otherwise falling apart. It's all good stuff... provided you ignore literally everything else surrounding it.

But let's dive into some examples. We open on Qrow starting, awoken by the thunder outside. Robyn has been watching him and makes a peppy comment about how none of them will be sleeping tonight, followed by a more serious, "Sounds bad out there." Yeah, it does sound bad, especially when they all know — thanks to Ruby's message back in Volume 7 — that this is due to Salem's arrival. I think a lot of the fandom has forgotten that little detail because people often discuss Qrow as if he is entirely ignorant of what is going on outside his cell. Even if we were to assume that he's forgotten all about the pesky Salem issue (the horror of Clover's death overriding everything else, perhaps) he still knows that Tyrian is running loose in a heat-less city with a creepy storm going on and, from his perspective, the Very Evil Ironwood is still running the show. So it's bad, which begs the question of why Qrow (and Robyn, for that matter) hasn't displayed an ounce of legitimate worry for everyone he knows out there. Thus far, their interactions have centered entirely around Qrow's misplaced blame and Robyn's terrible attempts to lighten the mood, despite the fact that a war is raging right beyond that wall. It's another example of RWBY's inability to manage tone properly, to say nothing of balancing the multiple concerns any one character should be trying to juggle. Just as it rankles that Ruby and Yang don't seem to care about what has happened to their uncle, Qrow likewise doesn't seem to care about what might be happening to his nieces. When did we reach a point where these relationships are so broken that someone can be arrested/chucked into a deadly battle and the others just... ignore that?

So Robyn's otherwise innocuous comment immediately reminds me of how badly the narrative has treated these conflicts and, sadly, things don't improve much from here. We are thankfully spared more of Robyn's jokes when Qrow realizes that what he's hearing can't be thunder. A second later, Cinder blasts through the wall — called it! — and Qrow instinctively transforms. 

The only downside to this moment is that the whole ceiling falls down on Qrow and the others because APPARENTLY these cells don't have tops on them. Seriously. As far as I can recall we don't see the stone breaking through the forcefield somehow and this looks pretty open to me.

If it is... you're telling me these crazy powerful fighters who practice landing strategies and leap tall buildings in a single bound —

— can't just hop over this mildly high electric fence to get out? Qrow can't just fly away?

We're, like, two minutes in, folks.

We transfer to Nora's perspective as she wakes up, seeing Klein giving her the IV. He tells her not to worry, that "you and your friend are going to be just fine." What friend? Penny? Klein went upstairs prior to Weiss hugging Whitley or Penny crash landing outside. I had thought them bursting through the door with another unconscious friend was the first time he learned what the big bang outside was, but apparently not.

Penny is, obviously, a mess. While I now understand the choice to make her blood such an eye-catching color when that's crucial to the Hound's hunt, I still think it looks strange visually. Like someone has taken a copy of RWBY and painted over it. It doesn't look like it fits the art style. More than that, it implies some rather complicated things about Penny's humanity, especially in a volume focused around her being a "real girl." Real enough for Maiden powers, but with obviously inhuman blood that isn't even referred to as "bleeding." Penny "leaks" instead.

Toss in the fact that she's literally an android who is made up of tech — recall the running gags about her being heavy, or it hurts to fist-bump her, to say nothing of keeping things like multiple blades inside her body — yet Klein says that her "basic anatomy" is the same and he can "stitch up that wound."

I'm sorry, what? Whatever Penny looks like on the inside, it's not going to resemble a human woman's anatomy, and Klein might be able to stitch the outer layer of skin she's got, but that won't do anything to fix whatever metal bits have been broken underneath. Penny isn't a human-robot hybrid, she's a robot with an aura. Penny has knives in her back, rockets in her feet, and a super computer behind her eyes. When our clip introduced that Klein would be the one to help Penny, my initial reaction was, "Seriously? He's a butler and a doctor and an engineer?" But RWBY didn't even try to get away with a Super Klein explanation, they just waved away Penny's very obvious, inhuman anatomy. Yeah, I'm sure "stitching up" an android wound is just like giving Nora her IV. I hope the surgical sutures he used are extra strong!

In an effort to not entirely drag this episode, I do appreciate that Whitley is allowed an "ugh" moment about the non-blood covering his shirt without anyone calling him out on it. That felt like the sort of thing the show would usually try to make a character feel guilty about and I'm glad that, for once, he was just allowed to be frustrated without comment.

Then the power goes out and May calls, which raises questions about what state the CCTS is in and when scrolls are available to our protagonists vs. when they're not. But whatever. She's checking in because she just "saw another bombing run light up the Kingdom" and —

Wait. Bombing? Salem is bombing the city? I know we've seen explosions in the sky, but I'd always just attributed that to evil aesthetic. Why does this dialogue sound like it's from a World War II film and not a fantasy sci-fi show about literal monsters launching a ground attack?

May looks pretty against the sky though. I like her hair color against that purple.

I'm admittedly grasping at positives here because we finally return to her "You have to choose" ultimatum and — surprise! — May has pulled back completely. Ruby says that once they've helped Penny, "We'll...we'll do something!" which is once again her avoiding making a decision. Ruby still refuses to choose, instead falling back on generic, optimistic pep talks. They'll figure out how to stop Salem later. They'll think about the impact of telling the world later. They'll choose who to help later. Ruby keeps pushing these problems into the future where, she hopes, a perfect, magical solution will have appeared for her to latch onto. When that continues to not happen, others pressuring her to actually do something and stop waiting for perfection — Ironwood, Yang, May — she panics and continues stalling for time. Wait an episode and the narrative supports her in this.

Because initially May was forcing Ruby to decide. Now, May enables her desire to keep putting things off. "Don't beat yourself up, kid. At this point, I don't know how much is left to be done." That's the exact opposite of what May believed last episode, that there was still so much work and good to do for the people of Mantle. This is precisely what the show did with Yang and Ren's scenes too, having people call Ruby out... but then return to a message of, 'Don't worry, you're actually doing just fine' before Ruby is forced to actually change.

None of which even touches on May calling her "kid" in this moment. That continues to be a convenient way of absolving Ruby of any responsibility. When she wants to steal airships or Amity Tower, she's an adult everyone should listen to, the leader of this war. When the story wants to absolve her of previously mentioned flaws, she becomes a kid who shouldn't "beat herself up." I said years ago that RWBY couldn't continue to let the group be both children and adults simultaneously, yet here we are.

So that was a thoroughly disappointing scene. Ruby gets her moment to look sad and defeated, listing "the grimm, the crater, Nora, Penny" as problems she doesn't know how to solve. Note that 'Immortal witch attacking the city I've helped trap here' isn't included in that list. Ruby is still ignoring Salem herself and no one in the group is picking up where May left off, challenging her to do more than wring her hands over things others are already trying to take care of: Ironwood is fighting the grimm, May has gone off to help the crater, Klein is patching up Nora and Penny. Ruby, as one flawed individual, should not be expected to come up with a solution to everything, but she does need to stop acting like she can come up with a solution to everything when it matters most (office scene) and rejecting others' solutions when they ask for her help (Ironwood, May).

If it feels like I'm dragging the flawed, traumatized teenager too much, it's not in an effort to ignore those aspects of her identity. Rather, it's because she's also the licensed huntress who wrested control from a world leader and violently demanded she be put in charge of this battle. Ruby, by her own actions, is now responsible for dealing with these problems, or admitting she was wrong and letting others take the lead, without purposefully derailing their plans. She doesn't get to suddenly go, "I don't know," cry a little, and get sympathetic pats.

But of course that's precisely what happens, courtesy of Weiss.

During this whole scene I kept wondering why no one was celebrating Nora waking up, especially when Ruby outright mentions her. Have they just not noticed given all the Penny drama? Because Nora absolutely woke up.

Aaaand went back to sleep, I guess. What was the point of that POV shot? No worries though, she'll wake up again in a minute.

Willow arrives and announces that they can fix the power (and Penny) using the generator at the edge of the property. I'm convinced RT doesn't actually know what a generator is because the characters are acting like it's some super special device that only richy-rich could possibly have. Whitley says that it's the SDC executives who have their "own power supply" and that it's "extremely unfair." Now, don't get me wrong, a good generator powering large portions of your house can run you 30k+, but you can also get one that plugs into your extension cord and powers your fridge for a couple hundred. There's absolutely a class issue here, just not the one Whitley and Weiss seem to be commenting on. They make a generator sound like the sort of device that only a politician-CEO could possible have and it's weird.

Likely, it sounds weird because it's a choppy way of getting Whitley to bring up the wealth disparity so he can then go, 'That's right! We're crazy rich with a company housing tons of ships! We can use those to evacuate Mantle.' Awkwardness aside, I do like that the Schnee wealth is being used for good purposes, but... evacuate where? To the city currently under attack by a giant whale? In a RWBY that wasn't determined to demonize Ironwood, this would have been a great plot point during the office scene instead, with Weiss offering her services to Ironwood, even if the group decides that a continued evacuation still isn't possible.

Instead, we get it here from Whitley. Do I need to point out the obvious? That Whitley is the MVP of this episode? He's done more good in an HOUR than the group has managed in a year. Give this kid some training and make him a huntsmen instead.

We're given a (very pretty!) shot of the shattered moon because it wouldn't be RWBY if we weren't continually reminded that gods once wiped out humanity before destroying part of a celestial body... and absolutely no one talks about that lol.

Blake's coat might not make any sense for her color scheme, but it does make her easy to spot as she and Ruby run across the grounds. Oh my god, they're actually doing something together! It only took eight years. They even get a lovely talk where Blake admits how much she looks up to Ruby, despite her being younger, and once again I'm struck at how much more I would have loved this scene if it had appeared elsewhere in the series. It is, indeed, as sweet and emotional as all the RWBY GIF-ers are claiming... provided you overlook that this is the exact opposite of what Ruby needs to hear right now. She doesn't need to hear that she's more mature and reliable than her elders when she's functioning under a "We don't need adults" mentality. She doesn't need to hear that not knowing what to do is totally fine, not when that led to her turning on Ironwood, despite not knowing how to stop Salem. She doesn't need to hear that "doing something" — doing anything — is a strength, because Ruby keeps avoiding the big problems for smaller ones she's comfortable with, like standing by Penny's bedside instead of deciding between Mantle and Atlas. Blake's speech is heartfelt, but it's a speech that suits a Beacon days Ruby who is having some doubts about her leadership skills, not the girl whose impulsive — and now lack of — actions is having world-wide repercussions. Everyone is babying Ruby to a staggering degree. It's like if we had a med show where the doctor is standing by the bedside of a coding patient, fretting between two treatments. 'Don't worry,' their colleague says, patting their shoulder. 'I've always looked up to you. You'll do something when you're ready' and then they continue to watch the patient, you know, die.

Also: who does Ruby look up to? Everyone talks about how much they depend on and trust Ruby, but who does Ruby look to for guidance? A number of her problems stem from the fact that she has rejected the advice of everyone who has tried to help her improve: Qrow, Ozpin, Ironwood, even Yang. Ruby is presented as the pinnacle of what to strive for in a leader, rather than a leader who has only been doing this for two years and still has a great deal to learn.

Anyway, they get the generator on and the Hound shows up.

I am begging RT to just make RWBY a horror story. All their best scenes the last three years have been horror I am bEGGING —

Anyway, while Ruby waits to be eaten we cut to Willow and Klein, the former of which is reaching for her bottle, pulling back, reaching again, all while her hand shakes. This is good. This is what we should have gotten with Qrow. Which isn't to say that their (or anyone's) addiction should be identical, but rather that this is a far more engaging and complex look at addiction than what our birb got. Willow tells us that she doesn't drink in the dark despite bringing the bottle with her; tries to resist drinking when she's scared and ultimately fails. Qrow just decided to stop drinking after decades of addiction, seemingly for no reason, and that was that. Why is a side character we only met this volume written better than one of the main cast?

Blake manages to call Weiss about the Hound and she asks if Whitley can handle the airships without her. I mean, I assume so given that Weiss is looking at the bookshelves while Whitley does all the work lol. He makes a teasing comment about how he can if she can handle that grimm and she comments that they still need to work on his "attitude."

No they don't. Weiss stuck a weapon in her kid brother's face. Whitley made a joke. Even if Weiss' comment is likewise meant to be read as teasing, it's clear that we've bypassed any meaningful conversation between them. That hug was supposed to be a Fix Everything moment even though, as I've laid out elsewhere, it didn't even come close.

We cut back to Ruby getting thrown through a wall into the backyard and the Hound creepily coming after her. She's freaked out by this clearly abnormal grimm and Blake is weirdly... not? "It's just a grimm. Just focus!" Uh, it's obviously not. Have we reached the traumatized, sleep-deprived point where the group is sinking into full-blown denial? I wouldn't be surprised. They've been awake for like... 40+ hours.

Because the Hound knocks Ruby out with a single hit. Just, bam, she's down. "Focusing" is not the solution here.

Weiss calls to warn the others about the grimm, telling them to stick together. Willow (understandably) starts freaking out and flees the room (classic horror trope!). Klein is left alone when Penny wakes up with red eyes. Oh no!

Don't worry. You know nothing meaningful happens.

She shoves Klein before (somehow?) resisting the hack, her Maiden powers going wild in the process. Just when it looks as if Penny might cause some serious damage, Nora wakes up, takes her hand, and says, I kid you not:

"Hey... no one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do... It's just a part of you. Don't forget about the rest."

Okay. I want to re-emphasize that I love hopeful, uplifting, victory-won-through-the-power-of-love stories. Istg I'm not dead inside, it's just that RWBY does this so badly. I mean, what is this? It has similarities to the character shouting, 'No! Resist!' to their mind-controlled ally, but this is not presented as a desperate, last-ditch effort by Nora. She just speaks like this is the most obvious truth in the world. If you don't want to have your mind taken over... just don't! It's that simple. The problem definitely isn't that Watts has changed her coding and has implemented a command she can't override, it's that Penny has forgotten about the "rest" of her personhood.

And this works. Granted, not for long, but we leave Nora having successfully calmed Penny down and until her eyes unexpectedly go red again scenes later, we're left assuming that this is a permanent solution. That, imo anyway, is taking the Power of Love too far, overriding the basic reality of Penny being hacked. It’s not a personal failing she must overcome, it’s an external attack. I would have rather had Nora react to the scars she saw on her arm, or have a moment with Klein, or get some love from the group. Not a wakes up, falls asleep, wakes up again to save Penny with a Ruby level 'Just ignore reality' pep-talk, then back to sleep again.

So Penny isn't attacking her allies, or mistakenly hurting her allies with wild Maiden powers. Not that the group doesn't have enough to deal with, but still. Weiss arrives to help with the Hound and attempts a new summon, only to fail when two minor grimm burrow up into her glyphs. I really enjoyed that moment, both for the wing visual and the knowledge that Weiss' glyphs can fail if you break them somehow (which makes sense). Also, I just like that she failed in general? Weiss is, as per usual now, about to demonstrate just how OP she is compared to the rest of the team, so it was nice to see her faltering here.

The Hound tries to make off with Ruby and Blake does an excellent job of keeping it tethered. Ruby finally wakes, only to realize that the grimm is actually after Penny since it's staring at her power up through the window, no longer trying to escape. Moments like this remind me that there's someone on RT's writing team that knows what they're doing, at least some of the time. The assumption that the Hound is after Ruby as a SEW, the surprise that it's actually Penny, realizing it holds up because Ruby is covered in Penny's blood and Blake is not... that's all nice, tight plotting. More of that please!

The Hound drops her and Ruby's aura shatters when she hits the ground. I want everyone to remember this moment as an example of how strong the Hound is. The group may be tired, but unlike YJR they've been sitting around in the Schnee manor for a number of hours, regaining strength. We saw the Hound hit Ruby twice — once through the wall and once to knock her out — and then she falls from a not very high distance for a huntress, yet her aura is toast. That's the level of power and skill the Hound possesses. Decimating YJR, knocking Oscar out, same for Ruby, avoiding Blake and Weiss' hits, soon to treat Penny like a ragdoll. Just remember all this for the episode's end.

Blake tells Weiss she'll take care of Ruby, you go help the others. Yay breaking up the duos more! Bad timing though as the new acid-spitting grimm pops out of the ground and Blake is now left alone to face it.

Weiss re-enters the mansion, knowing the Hound is somewhere nearby, but not where. Suddenly, Willow's voice sounds through her scroll with an, "Above you!" which... doesn't keep Weiss from getting hit lol. But it's the thought that counts! Willow has accessed the cameras she's set up throughout the manor, watching the Hound's movements, and I have to say, that is a WAY better use of her separation from Klein than I thought we were getting. I legit thought they'd have Willow run away in a panic, meet the Hound, die, and then Weiss could be sad about losing her mom.

It does say something about RWBY's writing that this was my knee-jerk theory, as well as my surprise when we got something way better.

The Hound runs off, uninterested in Weiss, and she asks Willow to keep tabs on it. It heads for Whitley next (also covered in Penny's blood) and very creepily stalks him in the office with a, "I know you're here." Whitley is seconds away from being Hound chow before one of Weiss' boars pin it against the wall. He runs, then runs BACK to finish deploying the airships, before finally escaping assumed death. Goddamn this boy is pulling his weight.

I assume all these ships are automated then? I hope someone takes a moment to call May. Otherwise it's going to be super weird for the Mantle citizens if a fleet of SDC ships just show up and hover there...

I don't entirely understand how Weiss saved him though. She's nowhere to be seen when Whitley leaves and he runs a fair distance before he and Willow encounter Weiss again. We know her summons don't have to keep right next to her, but are they capable of rudimentary thought, attacking an enemy — and an enemy only — despite Weiss being a couple corridors down and unable to see the current battlefield? I don't know. In another series I'd theorize that this was a deliberate hint, a way to clue us into the fact that Willow, someone who we currently know almost nothing about, had training in the past and summoned the boar herself. Weiss and Winter certainly didn't get that hereditary skill from Jacques. Hell, we might still get that, Weiss reacting with confusion next episode when Whitley thanks her for the boar, but I doubt it. That scene with Ruby and the Hound aside, the show isn't this good at laying groundwork and then following up on it.

Case in point: Weiss says, "I didn't forget you" to Whitley after he gets away from the Hound, the moment trying to harken back to her promise to Willow. Key word is "trying." Because she absolutely forgot him! Weiss threatened and ignored Whitley until he proved his usefulness. I also shouldn't need to point out that, "Don't forget your brother" does not mean, "Don't let your brother die a horrible death by abnormal grimm." Weiss acts like her saving him is a fulfillment of her promise, rather than just the most basic of human decency. And also, you know, her job.

So that part is frustrating. The entire Schnee dynamic is a mess, from Weiss making a joke of her father's arrest, to Willow (presumably) fixing their relationship by putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Okay.

Then Weiss cuts off the Hound by summoning a giant wall of ice. My brain, every time this happens:

YOU COULD HAVE FIXED THE HOLE IN MANTLE'S WALL.

Moving on, Blake's fight against the acid... thing has some great choreography, including Blake using her semblance which we haven't seen in AGES. 

I really like the fight itself, just not what Blake is shouting the whole time. "I need you, Ruby! We all need you!" This has really gotten ridiculous. Ruby is presented as everyone's sole savior despite failing time and time again. It's not that I don't think Blake as a character should have faith in her leader, it's that I don't think the writers should be crafting a story where everyone puts their unshakable hopes in an untrained, disloyal, impulsive 17 year old. I mean, Ruby is currently unconscious, yet Blake is acting like if she doesn't wake up — she, as an individual, if Ruby Rose does not re-join this fight — then all is lost. If Ruby doesn't save them, no one can. Which is, of course, absurd on numerous levels. Blake doesn't need the passed out, aura-less Ruby right now, she needs the still very healthy Weiss pulling out multiple summons and an ice wall! Use your scroll and call for backup again.

But of course, Ruby wakes up and kills the new, terrifying grimm with a single hit. It's a preview of what's to come with the Hound and it's just as ridiculous here as it will be there.

Speaking of the Hound, am I the only one who thought this was... cute?

I can't possibly be the only one. That head-tilt is exactly what my dogs do and my brain instinctively went, "Aww, puppy!"

Murderous puppy.

The Hound realizes none of the Schnees are who it's looking for and runs off. Penny, meanwhile, has been fully taken over because, well, that's just what's convenient now. She resists long enough keep Amity up, then succumbs, then resists to apologize to Ruby, then succumbs, then resists because Nora asked her to, then succumbs once it's time to knock her out. If RWBY was willing to commit to consequences, Penny would have been taken over and that was that. The characters would need to deal with whatever outcome happens as a result. Instead, the show very carefully avoids any of those pesky consequences by having Penny successfully resisting at key moments, despite no explanation of how she's managing that.

She shoves Klein again (Klein is having a Bad Time) and starts walking down the main steps. When Whitley wants to know where the hell she's going, Penny mechanically responds that she must "Open the vault, then self-destruct." I suppose the change Watts made was the self-destruct order? Ironwood obviously wants the vault open, though not necessarily Penny's death. Think what you will of his moral compass, she's a damn powerful ally — a research project, perhaps — and a Maiden to boot. At the very least, her death may give the powers to someone even worse.

God, please don't let them have brought Penny back and made her a Maiden just to kill her again.

The Hound arrives though and, as said, knocks Penny out. We're back to square one with her, then. Note though that this attack is near instantaneous. She grabs its hands one second, is hanging limply the next. Wow, the Hound sure is a terrifying antagonist!

Not for long.

"That's enough," Ruby says and one-shots it with her eyes.

Now, I want to talk for a moment about the implications of that line. "That's enough." Obviously Ruby is #done with this situation and emotionally unwilling to let the Hound kidnap Penny (congratulations, Nuts and Dolts shippers), but there's a meta reading here as well. Not intentional, but glaring to me nonetheless. Basically, the idea that the Hound has, from a plot perspective, done enough. It has served its singular purpose. It kidnapped Oscar and now it dies. Never-mind how insanely powerful we've established the Hound to be, never-mind how Ruby's eyes also work or don't work according to whether anything of actual import is on the line. From a plot perspective "that's enough" and the Hound can be disposed of instantly. It got Oscar and gave us an episode of filler creepiness. Move along now.

The idea behind Ruby's eyes isn't bad, but the execution absolutely is. RT has undermined a huge portion of the stakes by giving their protagonist an instant kill-shot that always works precisely when she needs it to. Starting with the Apathy, we have yet to get a moment where Ruby's eyes fail to save the day when she really needs them to, no matter how incredible the challenge. The Hound was very intentionally written to be a grimm outside of the group's current power level. It thinks, it talks, they literally can't touch it. This creates the expectation that the group will need to grow stronger — or at least become smarter — in order to surmount this new obstacle, yet Ruby's eyes undermine all of that. The group hasn't grown in years, the show just makes enemies weaker as needed (Ace Ops), or has Ruby pull out her eyes as a trump card. It wouldn't be that bad if we'd at least gotten a good battle out of it, one where the group gets close to defeating the Hound on their own, but needs Ruby's eyes to finish it off. Instead, she literally walks up without any aura, announces to the audience that this antagonist's time is up, and blasts it out a window.

Granted, Ruby's eyes don't completely finish it. The Hound pulls itself to its feet and we see this.

Yup, that's a guy and yup, those are silver eyes.

I would like to issue a formal apology to the "It's secretly Summer!" theorists in the fandom. I mean, I still think it would be ridiculous (and at this point highly improbable) that Ruby's dead mother has actually been a grimm mutant this whole time, just hanging out in Salem's realm while she waits for the plot to start before attacking the world, and then sends some no-name faunus dude after the group instead of their leader's mother for extra, emotional torture... but you all were definitely right about the “It's a person” part! I... don't know how I feel about this. Admittedly, it seems to be a logical continuation of the other grimm-human hybrids we've seen — namely Cinder and Salem herself — and it finally explains why Salem wants Ruby alive (even though it actually doesn't because WHY did she want more SEWs for Hound grimm when she wasn't even attacking back then? And already has all these other insanely powerful tools??), but at the same time, it feels like it's complicating a story that doesn't need further complications. The group fights monsters and has an immortal enemy. You don't need to add 'Some of those monsters are secretly human' to the mix.

It doesn't hurt that this twist is giving me Attack on Titan vibes, which, ew. A dark time in my fandom life, folks.

The Hound staggers a few steps before Whitley and Willow dump a suit of armor on it. That's all it takes to kill the most dangerous grimm we've ever seen: a single flash of silver eyes and some heavy metal. This also wreaks havoc with the implication that Salem wants SEWs alive because they create such powerful grimm. Obviously not. I mean yeah, normal huntsmen are going to have serious  problems, we’ve seen that this volume, but any other SEWs nearby will take a Hound out instantaneously. For a villain with so many other powerful abilities — immortality, magic, endless normal grimm, her nifty soup — Salem would be much better served just killing SEWs straight out. Clearly, creating Hounds isn't worth the effort.

The Hound leaves some bones behind and Ruby collapses to her knees, overcome with the knowledge that this was once a person. Again, uncomfortable Attack on Titan parallels.

We finish our premiere with Cinder clearing away rubble to reveal Watts. Honestly, I like that we ended on this because her rescue is hilarious. She just slings him over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes and blasts off with her magic fire feet. Fantastic.

Note though that with this scene we've seen almost everything from the clip and the trailer. What's to come in the rest of Volume 8? No idea. Outside of Winter leading the charge with the bomb, we got it all here.

Time to update the bingo board!

I'm crossing off "Introducing new grimm that are quickly abandoned." Between the Hound and acid-dude both falling to a single blast/cut from Ruby, we've more than earned this square.

It doesn't look as if we'll get another Watts-Jacques team-up now that he's left, but you never know.

Maria's got me worried. I feel like her Yoda fight against Neo is the one thing she'll be allowed to do this volume, but given that we didn't see anyone except Ruby's group this episode, we don't yet know whether the story is now ignoring her and Pietro, or if they'll re-appear in another episode like YJR.  

Qrow is free. Will he get a drink before trying to murder Ironwood? Perhaps.

Still no bingo :(

All in all, the episode was by no means horrible. I think there were lots of horrible parts, but also some legitimately well executed moments, fun action, and scenes that I can easily imagine as squee worthy if you lean back and squint. Everything is comparative and in the growing collection of bad RWBY episodes, this one isn't securing a top slot. Which doesn't mean I think it's good, just... not as bad as it could have been and primarily only bad due to long-running problems, not things this specific episode has done. That's my bar then, so low it has officially entered the underworld.

Still, RWBY is back and a part of me is eager to see where this volume takes us, for better or for worse.

Until next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

[mauserfrau]

Mama’s Rings, Part 1 - Bordertober Fic

Oh gosh.  I confess, I dropped in rather unexpectedly last night.  So, this is all @kingcharon ‘s doing, though I didn’t and up jumping on the awesome prompt list because too much awesome and I’d beat myself up if I didn’t finish.  I’ve got kind of an erratic workload this time of year, so I’m just letting my muse drag me ‘round by the nose as time allows.

There’s a good many people making really cool stuff in these tags, so please do have a looksee and feel welcome to join in.  Makeup weekends are a thing.

That said, tonight is Troy learning his way around his illness. Contains medical situations, mentions of the twin’s early childhood trauma, Typhon existing and small children having digestive issues.  Tonight is 1-4, I’m expecting about 9.  

1.

In his very first clear memory, he’s crying.  A dull, throbbing ache winds through his whole body.  It’s worst around his middle.  There’s this sharp spot on his back too.  He squirms. 

Mama holds him up on the potty chair.  He’s terrified to be there.  He doesn’t have the words for why.  She sings to him, or she says hush with her voice all teary, her big hands stroking his sides or his hair.

One moment when she pauses close to his face, he grabs her thumb in his hand.  He pulls her down.  He picks over her scratched silver rings.  He still hurts, but playing with her keeps his mind off of how much. 

Leda sings again.  She doesn’t hold him so tight.  But she doesn’t let him take his favorite ring off of her thumb.

“That’s mine,” she whispers, hardly missing the words of the song.

~*~

2.

Troy refuses to eat after a bad ‘spell’.  Mama makes a jammy paste out of the almost too old plums to try and tempt him.  Ty munches on glowbugs, the really tangy orange ones, but his head has started to hurt by the time she comes to feed him too.

When she tells him, he whimpers.  “I wanted to play too! It’s not fair.” 

“Just eat! You can’t throw up light!” They never say ‘magic’ about how the two of them work.  ‘Spells’ are ‘magic’, but ‘spells’ are also what Troy has. 

He wonders.  There’s clearly something not OK in his belly.  Maybe he can throw up light.  Maybe it’ll come out of the old IV pinpricks in his veins.  Maybe his Siren markings will bleed it like stuck Djira.

Tyreen tells him she hates him and she leaves.  He thinks she’s whimpering too.  The sound of Mama and Dad arguing drowns it out though.

He starts to figure throwing up light can’t be much worse than crying, listening, being there and knowing this fight is his fault.

After everybody’s gone to bed, Troy rolls over against his sister.  Tyreen throws her arm around him before he’s got any chance to stop her.

There’s light.  His senses fade back into being, one by one.  So, there’s pain too.

He stares up at the ceiling, tasting glowbugs underneath his skin.  He realizes that if he’s magic, magic must be a terrible thing.  It makes people scream and cry.  

He’s four.  Deciding this breaks his heart so badly he can’t sleep even though he’s starving and his whole, hurting little body wants to sleep.

~*~

3.

Mama spends time in the medical suite with him sometimes if the homestead is all set with food and fire.  It’s kind of like how Dad works on the robots.  Well, Mama helps with those too, Troy and his sister soon enough since they have “tiny fingers”.  They both get told no a lot for carrying screws in their teeth, but especially Tyreen since she’s got two hands and no excuse.

Troy doesn’t mind being “worked on” too.  The medical suite is simply part of the homestead to him.  A lot of his other earlier memories start and end there.  None of them scare him as bad as the really old one about the potty chair.  Some are even kind of nice, like the one where he woke up next to Tyreen and Mama had posed them like fish with the very last two of the sparkly bandages.

“It’s your shoulder.  There’s a little more that has to come out,” Mama tells him now, petting his head.  

Troy nods.  He breathes the disinfectant and the steely warmth beneath the lights.  

When he wakes up a while later, the room is dark and something is very wrong.  He knows very well what sutures feel like and he is covered in them.  Also, he’s alone.

He calls for Mama.  Something in his belly stabs with agony.  He catches his breath and holds his hand over his mouth.  Monitor noise fills the room.

It’s Dad who comes to get him.  “There’s my little man,” he says cheerfully.  “Wow, you were really down for the count.  Did a number on Mama too.  She’s dead to the world someplace out back.”

Troy balks, wide-eyed.  He points to where he’s hurting.

“Huh? What about your business?” Dad seems ever so slightly taken aback.

No.  Troy shakes his head.  He ends up clumsily grappling with the bedclothes while his father laughs and laughs.  Like the loop of missing skin on Troy’s stomach and the drain sticking out of the wound perfectly normal.

He can hear Tyreen whispering.  “I think she had to fix his belly button like she did mine.” Then, to him— “Can I see?”

Troy sobs and pulls the sheets up.  Not that Tyreen doesn’t end up seeing anyway.  It’s days before he can walk himself to the toilet.  Tyreen takes him.  She doesn’t complain much.

~*~

4.

Mama dies.  Dad doesn’t let Troy help dig the grave.  He has the robots do it even though they’re too precise and they don’t seem to realize not to laugh about it.

It’s that plentiful season after the rains on Nekrotafeyo when new mantas are born and there’s so much spawn and sprat in the lakes that Tyreen can go wading for supper, though Dad says that’s wasteful. 

It seems deeply wrong for Mama to be gone at all, but especially then.  When everything else is alive and she’s not anymore.

Troy picks around the homestead, looking for where Dad might have put her rings.  He couldn’t have burned them.  Silver doesn’t burn.  But then where are they?

Once again and after dark, Troy goes out to Mama’s grave.  He starts to ask her, but the night is cool and whistling.  His voice seems like too much for the valley below.  Besides, he does know where one of Mama’s rings went.

Troy pulls up his shirt and plays with the round scar she left underneath his belly button.  He wonders if maybe she fixed his spells since he hasn’t had one since.  Part of him knows it’s wishful thinking.  Besides, why didn’t she tell him what she found?  Why didn’t she tell him she was going to?

The same reason she didn’t give him her ring to play with.  Some things were hers.  

When he heads back to the homestead, Tyreen’s waiting for him in the shadows, her arm tucked against the wall so she’s awfully hard to see.

“Was she there?” she asks.  

He thinks at first she’s trying to scare him, although that’s funny stuff to say if she is.  “Ah, no?” he answers like it’s normal.

Next thing, she’s fists balled up and trembling in front of him.  Troy puts his hand up to guard, concerned she’s going to hit him.  

Then she’s gone in the moonlight and he barely sees her for the next few days. 

[shadowofthelamp]

Relish the Flavor

Happy Halloween, you filthy animals.

Ao3 link

Summary: Zim has a craving for something... different.

Wordcount: 1870

Rating: T or M, only a very brief mention of sexual stuff but... well, look at the warnings.

Warnings: Gore, cannibalism (does that count if one’s an alien?), consentual vivisection, hard vore I guess? Messy messy messy. Also mpreg.

Comments either here or on ao3 super appreciated, as well as likes, replies, and reblogs! 

Zim was hungry for something.

What, he wasn’t sure. Something other than sugar, because he’d had a few spoonfuls and they hadn’t even cracked at the hunger. Usually, whenever he had a craving that satisfied it, but now it just nagged at the pit of his spooch like a loose tooth. He’d already taken a single bite of nearly everything in the fridge and none of them sad sated the itching desire. (On top of that, Dib’s ham sandwich had nearly made him sick. He wasn’t sure why he thought that might be it.)

His knees pressed against the curve of his abdomen, and he narrowed his eyes, one hand squishing the blanket underneath him.

“Why can’t you just give me an answer? What do you want?”

The smeet didn’t reply. Typical. They really enjoyed playing him like a puppet, didn’t they? How a bundle of meat had so much control over such an Elite soldier’s biology was beyond him. They were clever, taking full advantage of the fact that he had to listen to them or risk his body rebelling. It was going to be worth it in the end, but in the meantime...

He turned as Dib emerged from the elevator, cracking his back so loudly it made Zim’s antennae flinch. “You need to fix the rough edges of that one console, it snagged me when I was crawling back out.”

“What were you doing under it?”

“I dropped something,” Dib said, licking at the back of his hand like a cat. Zim huffed.

“That’s your fault, then, isn’t-” His words died mid-sentence as he caught the scent of something wondrous. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Dib turned to him. “Oh, damn, it got my side too… man, I really need to get more clothes, these are getting torn up. Your base is a death trap, you know that?”

“That smell.” Zim pushed himself up off the blanket pile with a grunt, sniffing at the air. “It’s rich.”

“Rich? Okay, maybe I need to wash up a little, but-”

“Not that! Your stink isn’t as offensive as usual to me at the moment.” Zim dismissed it easily, moving closer.

Dib licked at his cut hand again, and yelped when Zim suddenly dug his fingers into his wrist. “Gah! What the hell, Zim?”

“This. This is what they wanted.” Zim squeezed Dib’s thin wrist, watching the bright red bubble up over his skin. Dib swallowed.

“Wanted?”

“I’ve been attempting to figure out what the smeet’s been making me crave.” Zim pulled Dib’s hand closer, tongue running over the cut. The blood soaked in, coppery taste jolting his senses, and Dib stared down at him.

“Uh… that one’s new.”

Zim lapped at the wound for a few more seconds before growling, throwing the hand down. “It’s not enough.” He grabbed Dib’s hips, twisting him before throwing him down on top of the blanket pile and straddling him. He reached back towards his Pak, and Dib held up his hands.

“Woah, woah, slow down for a second! What are you doing?”

“I want something more.”

“More?”

“Something… more substantial. Bloody, but better.”

“What, like one of my organs?” Sweat dripped down Dib’s cheeks, and Zim raised an eye.

“That was the plan. You lost your lungs for a bit years ago and were fine.”

“I still don’t know how that worked.” Dib wriggled underneath Zim, and Zim could feel him under his bump. “You should at least ask before you steal a guy’s heart when it’s this literal.”

“If I make you an extra, will you let me have yours?”

Dib’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. “What?”

“If I grow you a replacement organ, may I have one of yours?” Zim repeated more slowly, unsure how Dib didn’t understand the first time.

“I- I guess so…?”

Zim licked his lips. “Good. Then come with me.”

_________

The ride down and walk to the lab was silent. Or rather, it would have been, but Dib’s heart rate was heavily accelerated. Zim probably could have heard it even if he’d been a human.

Dib climbed up on the table. “So let me get this straight. You’ll grow me a new organ, then open me up, take mine out, and put the new one in?”

Zim snapped a glove on. “That’s the idea.”

“How long will it take to synthesize a new-”

“No time at all,” Zim said, crossing the room to open a fridge. “I cloned all of your organs years ago.”

“Can I ask why?”

“I don’t want you dying of something preventable if I wasn’t the one to do it. Heart failure is such a pitiful way to go for a warrior like you.” Zim pulled out a spleen, turning it over in his hands before putting it back. No, no, that wasn’t right, it needed to be perfect.

“Oh. Wait, years- this was back when we were enemies?”

“As I said, you weren’t going to die to anything but me.” Intestines? Tempting, but his wouldn’t be as clean as these. Lungs? Mmm, those had been surprisingly tasty, but partially hollow…

“Oh. Well, you always were a possessive jerk. Not that I wasn’t the same.” Zim heard the rustle of fabric and turned to see Dib had pulled his shirt off, grimacing at the cut on his side. “Why can’t you just eat the grown one?”

“It isn’t yours. I want yours. ”

Dib gulped. “Got it.”

He decided on a heart. Dib had mentioned it before, and it was the symbol of sticky love-feelings, wasn’t it? It was juicy and had more than enough meat. He set it back in the jar, bringing it over. Dib looked over at it.

“Wait. This was a clone from when I was younger- is it going to still work with my older body?”

“It’ll be fine.” Zim reached for the sterilizing gel. “Now relax. I don’t want to break anything that doesn’t need to be broken.”

Dib laid back on the table. “I always figured I’d be the one to cut you open first.”

Zim didn’t respond, the end of his tongue sticking out as he focused on the gel application. “Table, activate restraints.”

Dib yelped as his wrists and ankles were bound. “Hey!”

“It’s so you don’t wriggle around and have your liver pop out. The gel should numb you enough that it will only be a mild sting.” Zim pulled out his tools, selecting a scalpel.

“That’s- okay, that makes sense, but geez, a little warning would be nice, huh?” Dib slumped back, staring up at the ceiling. “And your pain tolerance and mine are pretty different.”

Zim snickered. “I know, but I would have knocked you out if I didn’t think you could handle it. Don’t be a smeet over this.”

“You’re cutting me open, I have the right to be a little- uh.” Zim had climbed on top of the table and straddled over Dib’s legs to get a better angle. Dib’s height had nearly doubled over the years, and Zim had to crawl up him like a pole if he ever wanted to get anywhere, nowadays.

Dib pushed up a crooked, nervous smile. “Not gonna lie. You look really good, with the backlight and the scalpel and- you know what, I’m going to be shutting up now.”

Zim grinned. “I always look good.” He lowered the blade, making neat a shallow, neat ‘V’ over the middle of Dib’s chest before beginning to cut. Dib sucked in a breath, but Zim was focused. A line dragged down under the initial cuts, and he pried the skin and muscles open, blood immediately pooling over his hands. He needed to work fast- he hadn’t thought to lower blood pressure, and the rapid beats of Dib’s heart weren’t exactly helping. It stuttered like a rabbit, and Zim couldn’t help the way his stomach growled.

He reached around the ribs to cut the heart away from the arteries and veins, taking care to keep as much of the aorta intact as possible. When he was done, he set aside the scalpel to pull the heart out. Dib stared as it pulsed in Zim’s hands, speechless for once.

Zim set the heart down on the tray, carefully lifting the replacement out of its jar and setting it back in. He maneuvered it around the other organs, settling it back where the original had been. The tiny program inside of it ignited upon being settled into place, reaching out to the veins and beginning to beat.

“That was… easier than I thought.” Dib admitted as Zim settled the layers of muscle and skin back into place before sliding off Dib. “Uh, Zim? Are you gonna finish-”

Zim could barely hear him, drool pooling in his mouth at the rich organ sitting in front of him. He picked it up, watching as it continued to beat. Still alive, even though it was no longer attached to Dib. Even though it was Zim’s now.

He licked it first, not caring about the gore that soaked his gloves. It tasted like the cut had, only better. This blood was healthy, full of oxygen, not tired from travel through the veins. This blood that helped keep Dib alive. That was going to nourish Zim.

Then, he took a bite, ripping part of the aorta off with his teeth. The taste was indescribable and he immediately swallowed, taking another. He needed more.

Dib let out a little squeak, but Zim was preoccupied, feeling the salty sweetness soaking through his tongue. Dimly, he realized he was making a mess- the heart was still dripping blood, and now viscera soaked his chin and probably his clothes. It was far away compared to the satisfaction of the ‘food’, though, the craving disappearing amongst the texture and taste. He’d never taken bites before- the only other time he’d consumed human organs, they had all been whole, and he’d dampened his taste buds to keep from becoming sick.

Perhaps it was just because he’d grown to enjoy the taste of Dib, or perhaps he’d jumped the gun and all human organs had this transcendent property. The bites became larger and larger until he was left holding nothing but thick, sticky globs of blood.

Zim burped, a hand settling down on his now-thoroughly soaked shirt. It was only then that he noticed Dib again.

He’d fumbled for the medical sewing kit, giving himself sutures. Well, he’d always been quite self-reliant for a human. He was fine. What worried Zim was the glazed look in his eyes and the flush on his cheeks. Zim waved a hand in front of them. “Are you dead?”

“No…” Dib’s voice was quiet, and Zim realized as he shifted something was nudging him from underneath. “But I think I just realized that I’m way more into this than I ever thought.”

It took a moment for Zim to process Dib’s vague phrasing, but he smirked, leaning forward to stroke a hand soaked in Dib’s own blood over his cheek.

“I have the others. We can try again later, and you can personally give of yourself to make the smeet happy.”

Dib’s eyes drifted down to the curve of Zim’s stomach, and he nodded slowly.

“Deal.”

[buckyodinson]

Sutures (Cable x Reader)

This wasn’t a request but I’ve seen Deadpool 2 twice now and I’m actually in love with Cable and there are hardly any fics about him yet so I thought I’d write one while I had a spare hour. I’m sorry about all the requests I still haven’t done. I promise I will get to them soon. I completely finish school in about 3 weeks time so I’ll have all summer to be free and write again.

This was based on a prompt I found while deleting some old notes and then this fic just kinda happened.

“You’re beautiful.”

“Don’t try to hit on me right now.”

- Reader is injured after an X-Force mission and Cable helps fix her up.

This is probably also wildly ooc but idk it just happened.

Word count: 1,300ish

You were all back in the X-Jet on the way to the mansion after a mission. Domino was remarkably, but unsurprising unscathed from the mission - Lady Luck was on her side yet again. Wade was missing an arm, but it was already starting to grow back, and everyone was happy to ignore the process. Colossus had some dents but was otherwise fine. Cable seemed to be okay, he was just quiet, as per usual.

You, on the other hand, had a fairly large cut on your stomach, and you could feel yourself bleeding out, but you didn’t want to make a big deal about it until you got back to the mansion, because you knew Colossus, especially, would freak out and wouldn’t leave you alone. Thankfully, your combat gear wasn’t skin tight or revealing, so the wound wasn’t too obvious. The fact that your suit was a very dark red, almost black, also helped.

You were doing a pretty good job of hiding it until you hit a bit of turbulence and got shaken about and you hissed in pain. You closed your eyes and leant your head back onto your headrest, and took deep breaths to try and ease the pain. Cable was sat across from you and he seemed to be the only one who noticed you hiss. His eyes narrowed as he looked you over, trying to deduce the problem.

Then he noticed the pool of blood forming on the floor underneath you, and started to get worried, “You alright over there Y/N?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

You opened your eyes, and smiled before humming and nodding in response, unsure if your voice would give away your pain.

“I need a verbal answer, darlin’. Because it looks like an awful lot of blood is coming out of you currently.”

“I’m fine Cable.” You attempted to say in a relaxed manner but your voice was strangled as you said his name, because you were rocked side to side by the landing. Your arm moved slightly from where it was in front of your stomach, and Cable noticed the blood coming from the cut.

He started to get up to look at the wound but before he could make his way over to you, you’d already gotten up and sprinted out of the open door and into the mansion. He cursed to himself and ran after you, leaving the rest of the team to wonder what had just happened.

Cable managed to catch up with you pretty easily, since you weren’t moving particularly fast because of the injury.

“Hey, just let me help you.” You heard his gruff voice from behind you, but you carried on walking to your room. He ran to stand in front of you, forcing you to stop.

“Honestly, Cable, I’m fine. I can deal with this myself.” You stepped to one side, and he mirrored you, then you tried the other way and he did the same. You sighed in defeat, and motioned for him to join you.

You walked silently to your room, unlocking it and gesturing for Cable to walk in before you. He did so and stood around awkwardly before you told him to make himself comfortable.

He didn’t want to impose so sat at your desk rather than on your bed or sofa, which were the pieces of furniture you pointed to.

You went into the bathroom to find a needle and thread, and some bandages, then walked back out and put them on the desk next to Cable. He started to thread the needle while you found some alcohol, glasses and a towel. You sat in the chair next to him and poured two drinks.

“Well, for me to patch you up, you kinda have to show me the wound, darlin’.” He smirked. You slowly peeled your shirt off to reveal to large cut on your abdomen.

“Jesus Christ, Y/N.” His eyes widened when he saw how bad the cut was.

“It’s fine. Stop gawking and just sew it up.” You rolled your eyes as you took a sip of your drink.

“Y/N you should have told someone how bad this was. You shouldn’t have waited so long to clean this up. You could get an infection. You sho-“

“For God’s sake, Cable. Just sew me up or I’ll do it myself - like I was going to anyway.”

“Sorry Darlin’, I care about you, is all. I don’t wanna see you beat up like this. This is gonna hurt, okay?.” He said as he leant forward to start his sutures, and you braced yourself, cheeks burning slightly at his confession.

He was very soft with you and tentative not to hurt you. While you grimaced and winced occasionally, you were watching him work with a smile on your face, and a vague blush adorning your cheeks.

“You know, you’re beautiful Darlin’.” He smirked and looked up at you, and you quickly looked away.

“Don’t try to hit on me right now, Cable. Your hands are covered in my blood - and I’m definitely sure that’s not good for the metal. Just finish stitching me up, and maybe continue this when I’m not bleeding out anymore.”

“Sure thing Doll.” You blushed at the nickname and looked intently into your glass as if it was the most interesting thing you’d seen.

A few more minutes went by and Cable finished his work, put a bandage over the stitches and went to your bathroom to wash your blood off of his hands.

He came back to sit in front of you, while you wiped at your stomach with the towel to remove some of the blood. He picked up his drink and just observed you.

You smirked and asked “Like what you see?”, and you were met with a chuckle from the usually stoic man.

“Well I do, now I know you’re not gonna bleed out and die on me.”

“Thank you for this, Cable. I know I could have done this by myself, but I guess it wasn’t all that bad having you around.”

“No worries princess.” You looked away, embarrassed by the nickname. “Oh and also, you can call me Nathan if you’d like.”

Your eyes widened when he told you his name, since it had been a mystery to the team for the past month or so Cable had been with you.

You thought for a little while before replying, “You know, as nice of a name as Nathan is, I have taken a liking towards Cable. It’s very rugged and cool… and maybe even a little bit sexy.”

His eyebrow peaked, “Oh really?”

You shrugged your shoulders before standing up and turning to put your glass down on the counter. You began to stretch your arms up but each arm was caught by metal and flesh, respectively.

“Be careful doll.” He spoke softly into your ear as he moved your arms back down, “You’ll rip your stitches and I’ll have to start over again.”

You felt his breath against your neck, and you turned in his arms, “You spending more time here isn’t necessarily such a bad thing.”

“It kinda is if you’re always bleeding out.”

“Well what if I could guarantee you a stay where you won’t have to play doctor?” You smirked up at him.

“I’d like that a lot.” He smiles back down at you, and you leant up to catch his lips.

He melted into the kiss, and rested his hands on your hips, being careful not to press himself completely onto you. Your hands snaked their way around his neck as you leant up further, and you felt the metal on the side of his neck. Brushing your fingers against this sent shivers down his spine, and you made a mental note of that for future reference.

It’s safe to say a few stitches did end up getting ripped that night due to strenuous activity.

[drferox]

I understand you have a long list of these questions, but figured I'd get in line. I want to adopt a retired greyhound racer. What health problems do you see with them? I've also heard they are especially sensitive to anesthesia due to their low body fat. Do you have a protocol you find is particularly safe for them? The rescues have too many conflicting answers. One even claims they never should be put under anesthesia ever, even for dentals, because they "just die!" Which is ridiculous.

Anonymous said: Is it ok to request another breed? Ifso, greyhounds? Possibly rescue racing hounds if that specificationhas any problems that pet raised greyhounds dont

and

Anonymous said: Hello! I was wondering if you could (orhave already done) a post about greyhounds? Specificallyracing-quality ones? I read something earlier that claimed they werea lot healthier than most dogs and I’m wondering if that’s true.Thanks!

and

Anonymous said: Hey there! I noticed you said recentlyyou’d like to see more ex-racing greyhounds as pets - I’m seriouslyconsidering adopting one in the future and I was wondering whathealth issues you see in them? I’ve heard that they can get painfulcorns on their feet and that you need to be careful about theirtemperature, but is there anything else you see that a future adoptershould be watching for? Question tax: came for the the vet stories,stayed for the refreshingly sensible advice :)

Oh vetlings, I have a lot to sayabout Greyhounds.

I adore these dogs, and am glad to workwith them, but don’t specifically condone organised greyhound racing.Most of these dogs like to run, I would have no problem with themrunning around a track casually for fun, but once prize-money isinvolved it becomes too tempting to push limits, to cheat, to cutcorners, to overbreed, and this leads to poor welfare outcomes fortoo many dogs.

Please note the disclaimer that theseposts are about the breed from a veterinary viewpoint as seenin clinical practice, i.e. the problems we are faced with. It’s notthe be-all and end-all of the breed and is not to make a judgementabout whether the breed is right for you. If you are asking for anopinion about these animals in a veterinary setting, that is what youwill get. It’s not going to be all sunshine and cupcakes, and isnot intended as a personal insult against your favorite breed. Thisis general advice for what is common, often with a scientificconsensus but sometimes based on personal experiences, and is not aguarantee of what your dog is going to encounter in their life.

Also please note that this will be a Long Post.

General conditions of Greyhounds

Whatever theirhistory all greyhounds have a few things in common. Most of themstruggle to sit, they tend to either stand or lie down. Their paintolerance is interesting, walking in with a broken bone but screamingat a tiny needle prick. They like to feel someone touching theirhead. There are also a few conditions common to them, regardless oftheir lifestyle or upbringing. They are one of the very few breedsthat I think it’s not an exaggeration to say you benefit from seeinga vet with experience in this breed. We have a lot to get through, soI’ll try to keep the basics fairly short.

Bloat,(Gastric Dilatation Volvulus) is more common in the big males, butcan occur in any greyhound due to their deep chest. Delicate, pickyeaters seem less at risk.

Greyhoundsare generally very athletic, but they can and do develop Dilated Cardiomyopathy. While theyhave generally reached a reasonable age before developing thiscondition,

Pannuscan affect any greyhound, and this chronic eye condition is generallymade worse by UV light exposure. Once diagnosed it’s not too hard tocontrol with medication but it is a long term condition. This is themost likely reason you would see a greyhound wearing doggy sunglassesor ‘Doggles’.

Greyhoundscan also get Progressive Retinal Atrophy,which may manifest as 'night blindness’ first, though this seems tobe less common lately.

Greyhounds,perhaps surprisingly for all the raw food they seem to get whenracing, have generally poor Dental Health. Despite being bigdogs that are generally pretty tolerant, most of them don’t like tochew. They’re delicate chewers and won’t necessarily gnaw a bone.

Speaking of bones,these dogs get Osteosarcoma (Bone cancer) fairly readily. Thiscancer has a biphasic age pattern. Basically it usually occurs indogs around 2 years of age, and dogs around 8-10 years of age. It’sall kinds of bad, every time and there’s not much else to say aboutit, other than the life expectancy is short. I’ve talked about itpreviously.

Of purely cosmeticconcern, greyhounds also commonly develop pattern baldness.Typically the affected areas are the thighs and ventral neck, andthere are a few possible reasons for this. It might be genetic, itmight be nutritional or stress related, or it might be due to bloodvessel compression under due to large muscle groups underneath theskin. This generally bothers the owners more than the dog.

Greyhounds oftenhave thin skin, and while this doesn’t necessarily bother thedogs most of the time it certainly bothers me as the surgeon! Some ofthese poor dogs will seem to tear themselves open with any littlescrape, so be careful of the suture materials you choose. They areprone to pressure sores with poor bandage care too.

And associatedwith their thin skin, some of these dogs develop “Happy Tail,”which is basically a chronic injury on the tail tip which wont healbecause the blessed dog insists on wagging it against solid objectsall the time, despite thepain and injury. They can’t help it. They’re too happy, hence thename of the wound. This takes creative bandaging or the occasionalpartial amputation to fix.

Conditionsassociated with Racing

Mostgreyhounds are reared for the race track and it’s not until laterthat they’re identified as being 'unsuitable’ for the track. Somegreyhounds will be 'retired’ early, before they ever get to run, butmany will be retired either with injuries or because they just don’twin. Greyhounds that have been retired due to injury are notnecessarily lame, they may have healed well enough to do normal dogactivities, just not enough to win races.

Track legis probably the most common 'racetrack injury’ we see. It’s basicallya swelling on the inside of the tibia below the knee, caused by thegreyhound continually hitting its hind leg with a front leg as itruns around the track in the same direction all the time. They’reusually not painful, and generally go away when the greyhound is notrestricted to always running in a very large circle.

Cornsare hard thickenings in the bottom on a footpad, either secondary totrauma, foreign objects (grit) or papilomas. They start out small butgrow with time, and are painful. It’s like having a stone in yourshoe all the timeand many greyhounds will become footsore because of it. Affectedgreyhounds are often reluctant to walk on harder surfaces, andanti-inflammatories doesn’t seem to make much difference. We treatthem by paring them out and waiting patiently.

Gritin foot padscan cause corns, and can cause similar lameness to corns, but willshow up on Xrays if you use high enough detail. These are fragmentsof sand or other foreign objects that have become embedded in thefoot pads while running. Greyhounds are particularly lame with thisinjury and often don’t respond fully to anti-inflammatories. Theyneed surgery to remove these pieces of grit, and the surgery canresult in corns.

A Fracturedhock, carpus or metacarpal/metatarsal might be a racing careerending injury, but not necessarily a life ending one. Depending onthe extent of the fracture the greyhound may have no lameness with awalk or light run, or may end up with a completely fused joint.Generally these dogs are only retired to pet homes if they can stillget themselves around pain free.

A Split Webbingis an injury to the web of skin between toes. When this skin tearsit’s nearly impossible to get it to heal if both layers are torn, sothe recommended technique is to split it all the way to the base ofthe toes and remove the webbing. This doesn’t seem to bother the dogsat all, and prevents it from re-tearing over and over again as itheals.

Maxillary Fractures are a rare injury of long-nosed dogs who are also klutzes and tripover, slamming their nose into a fence or the ground. This upwardsforce can fracture the upper jaw, just in front of the canine teeth.These fractures may be non displaced, causing little more than ablood nose and needing pain relief and soft food for a few weeks, orthey may be loose and need wiring. They are fairly uncommon overall,but it seems to be greyhounds that get them most.

Associatedwith racing greyhound husbandry, Neosporainfection from raw, infected beef consumption (and similar Toxoplasmafrom kangaroo or sheep) is more common in greyhounds due to theirhigh prevalence of raw meat being fed. It may present as anythingfrom back pain to blindness, and you can lose whole litters to theseparasites.

There are a number of odd AssortedSports therapy things thatgreyhounds might be subjected to, from particular lineaments beingused, ultrasound therapy, chiropractic treatment or 'seeing themuscle men’, some of the 'treatments’ racing greyhounds are exposedto seem more like hope and witchcraft than medicine. These dogs mayalso have been supplemented with all sorts of things during theirracing days, including iron and B12 as the most common supplements.You don’t necessarily know what a dog has or hasn’t been given in itsracing days, but most will be little consequence, if any, after a fewmonths.

Racing greyhounds are also known for afew particular metabolic weirdnesses. Exercise associatedheart conditions, exercise associated epilepsy, water diabetes (likea temporary diabetes insipidus), rhabdomyolysis and acidosis are themost well known.

Anaesthesia

Now, this is aninteresting difference. Greyhounds area bit different when it comes to anaesthetics. Most vet students willeasily recall that barbituate anaesthetics aren’t recommended insighthounds due to their proportionally low body fat (and very youngor very fat dogs for the same reasons), but greyhounds also seem tohave a different liver metabolism that makes handling this class ofdrugs more difficult. Fortunately there are many other options thesedays.

Thewhole 'they die under anaesthesia’ thing is…sort of true. If youput them under anaesthetic when they’re under 24 hours off the racetrack then they tend to…well… die. But when these dog’s have beenat rest for at least 24 hours there doesn’t seem to be a particularincrease risk of death specifically.

Thesedogs are prone to both hypothermia and hyperthermia underanaesthetic, and in life in general.

Theyare prone to rapid wake ups from anaesthesia, which is not fun whenyou have a 30kg dog thrashing about and freaking out. For this reasonhigher premed doses seem to help if you’re using an alfaxaloneprotocol, medetomedine/butorphanol works well for sedation and weusually use xylazine/ketamine/atropine for orthopaedics. I will notbe posting dose rates on this blog, but rest assured greyhounds areperfectly able to have an anaesthetic. They’ve got to get theirdental disease treated somehow!

Compared to other breeds

Generallygreyhounds are considered pretty healthy. They’re not free ofproblems, but their common problems are differentto common problems in other breeds. Greyhounds have one of the lowestincidences of hip dysplasia in purebred dogs,  and rarely develop thesame common structural issues we see in other breeds.

Theirblood results are often a little different. A greyhound in racingcondition will have a higher PCV, and a pet greyhound may keep thisin their retired life. They often have a lower platelet count,  byaround 20-25% or so, and may have a relatively low T4. A low T4 canbe normal for a greyhound, and hypothyroidism shouldn’t be diagnosedwithout a TSH level.

Theyare, in general a little more prone to being clingy or developingseparation anxiety. This is generally because most of these dogs areraised in big groups in a kennel situation, and may not get to betruly 'alone’ until they’re in a pet home. Some dogs just need a fewweeks of being spoiled with TLC to adjust, some dogs need somepharmaceutical assistance for a while. Some dogs only really relax ifthey have a companion, but it depends on the individual.

Sothatis the greyhound breed from a veterinary viewpoint in a nutshell.Some of these points are brief because I only want to give you anoverview, but I do recommend vet students spend some time in agreyhound practice, even if you don’t want to work with them or theracing industry, because the musculoskeletal exam of a greyhound isso much more thorough and I understood hocks and carpi much better ingreyhounds than I ever did in horses.

Phew, that took a while to write. If you would like to support Dr Ferox’s writing time you can via Patreon for as little as $1 a month!