#and i am very sorry

[lepoppeta]

medicsniper but its sniper leaving various dead wild animals outside medics lab for experimentation purposes like a house cat leaving "gifts" for you on the front porch.

[nirikeehan]

A second prompt, if you prefer! For DADWC: "Secret that stays in the cave" for Thalia & Samson maybe?

LOL OK this was gonna be scary but then it got pathetic real quick. This is not quite... the full secret, but it is some of it!

Part of the next chapter of nightmare!au aka Through a Glass, Darkly, I present to you: Thalia and Cullen have narrowly escaped Samson's grasp... or have they?

For @dadrunkwriting

WC: 1144

---

Thalia did not like the idea of splitting up so soon after reuniting, but Cullen slid down to the forest floor with a groan, putting his head in his hands. It occurred to Thalia he’d already been pushed past his limit for quite some time. The way he hunched over in the indent of the tree provided decent cover… granted no one approached him head on. Thalia sighed, looking west. Or at least, the direction she was fairly certain was west. With no sun or stars to navigate by, it was a vague approximation, based on the way the vague remnants of moss grew on the trees. With a little time and concentration she could summon a directional spell, but she hadn’t the time nor the energy earlier.

She bade Cullen goodbye and ventured deeper into the forest. The directional spell made her course correct slightly, but they were, at least, not completely turned around. She used the spell to mark Cullen’s location, so that she could backtrack to him easily. 

Thalia continued overland. She came across no road or game trail, and thought safer that way. After a good half an hour, she decided to circle back around, unsatisfied with what she’d seen: unbroken, fog-laden woods. 

On her way, she heard Cullen’s voice. Faintly, but he was calling her name. Thalia sped up her pace, not wanting to shout back to him — what if that attracted unwanted attention? She summoned her location spell, but the amorphous blob that swirled in her palm seemed to indicate he hadn’t moved. Had she gotten turned around after all, and was closer to him than she’d thought? 

She cleared a thicket of bushes and found a low ascending hill. A narrow cave entrance stood in the vine-covered rock wall. “Thalia,” called Cullen. “In here.” 

Relief flooded her. He must have found a shelter after all. She ducked inside, blinking rapidly to adjust her eyes to the gloom. “Cullen?”

The cave was small and dank, with only a trickle of daylight cascading in from above. Standing in the pool of light in its center was a tall, bulky figure. Not Cullen. She knew that at once, and her hand went to the staff strapped to her back. “But how—?” 

Samson stepped fully into the light, which reflected off the ruby of his breastplate and cast his gaunt face in a blood red glow. There was real blood splattered on his face as well. He was grinning, holding up his fist. He opened his palm, and on his gauntlet sat a small, round stone, pulsing with magical energy. “Thalia?” The voice from within sounded remarkably like Cullen. 

Thalia took a slow breath to stave off the terror. “A summoning stone.” 

Samson tossed it in the air and caught it easily. “Neat little trick, eh? Upside of working with the Venatori. They can do all sorts of fun stuff for you. Always pays to have one or two in your camp.” 

Thalia didn’t hesitate. She drew her staff, twirling it in her hand to build up electric energy. She gripped it with both hands and slammed it into the ground, shooting lightning in his direction. Samson dropped the stone, drew his red lyrium longsword, and cut a brutal arc in the air, absorbing the magic attack. The great sword glowed with infernal heat. 

Faster than a man in such armor had a right to be, Samson advanced upon her, deftly batting the staff out of her hand. It flew behind her, thudding to the ground somewhere near the cave’s entrance. 

“Now, now,” he said, looming over her, “no need to be rude. I just wanna talk.” 

Thalia tried to back away, but after a step or two, her back hit the jutting cave wall. Her mind spun. How did he escape the battle? How long has he been following us?

“That didn’t seem to be your objective back in the clearing,” Thalia retorted. 

“Yeah, well, that was Plan A. It went south. This is Plan B.” Samson sheathed his sword and stepped back, hands up as if in surrender. “I’ve got a present for you, if you’d like it.” 

“A w-what?” Thalia had a difficult time following, concentrated as she was on finding a way out. Her staff was too far away; he’d be upon her before she could reach it. Her pouch held nothing that could help. She’d tucked a small dagger from Vivienne’s laboratory in the back of her belt, more as a way to replace her old paring knife she used to take in the field than for self-defense. It might be her only shot. 

“A present. You know, a gift? Like the ones they give at Satinalia or Wintersend — not that we were allowed to do that, mind.” He retreated to the shadows, maintaining his chatty demeanor. “Strictly against protocol in Kirkwall, a Templar giving mages gifts.”

“I don’t care what you did or didn’t do in Kirkwall,” Thalia snapped, horrified. What was he prattling on about? Had he finally lost what was left of his mind? 

Samson returned and, true to his word, he held a wrapped package, tied with a satin bow. He held it out to her with both hands, like an offering. Despite his smirk, the rest of his face looked painfully sincere. 

This had to be some sort of trick, like the summoning stone. “I don’t understand,” Thalia said helplessly. 

“Most people start with ‘thank you,’” Samson quipped. 

Thalia huffed, snatching it from him. She tore open the packaging, ignoring the hunger in his eyes as she did. In a narrow box, folded with painstaking care, was a bolt of fabric, silk or linen, dyed a deep scarlet. Thalia frowned. No, that was wrong. She grabbed it and shook it free, letting the box fall to the ground. 

It was a dress. The strangest, ugliest dress she had ever seen. Despite clear technical craftsmanship, she wasn’t sure how any woman could actually wear this dress. Holes — large ones — appeared throughout the area where the bodice should be. There were no sleeves, only larger bits of fabric that, she supposed, were meant to wrap around the bosom to give the wearer the smallest illusion of modesty. The skirt was similarly baffling, just long strips of gauzy, transparent fabric, so that one might bare her her entire thigh as she walked. And some of the skirts had… cuffs? As if they were to be adorned to the wrists. 

It was a dress devised by a madman. 

Thalia looked from it to Samson, grinning widely.  

She felt ill. “You thought… I would like this?”

“I designed it myself,” Samson said, a touch defensively. 

Of course he did. Thalia looked away, shook her head to clear it. He thought — somehow — he could lure her here — using Cullen’s voice — and win her over with this monstrosity? 

[mousemilf]

I grew up running through clover and stuff without shoes and I never got stung. I got stung for the first time in a city actually. I just watched where I was going as a kid because I didn’t want to hurt the bees/wasps.

if you were watching your feet then you simply werent running with the blissful abandon that i was. sorry you never got to experience that.

[endusviolence]

Rowling isn't denying holocaust. She just pointed out that burning of transgender health books is a lie as that form of cosmetic surgery didn't exist. But of course you knew that already, didn't you?

I was thinking I'd probably see one of you! You're wrong :) Let's review the history a bit, shall we?

In this case, what we're talking about is the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or in English, The Institute of Sexology. This Institute was founded and headed by a gay Jewish sexologist named Magnus Hirschfeld. It was founded in July of 1919 as the first sexology research clinic in the world, and was run as a private, non-profit clinic. Hirschfeld and the researchers who worked there would give out consultations, medical advice, and even treatments for free to their poorer clientele, as well as give thousands of lectures and build a unique library full of books on gender, sexuality, and eroticism. Of course, being a gay man, Hirschfeld focused a lot on the gay community and proving that homosexuality was natural and could not be "cured".

Hirschfeld was unique in his time because he believed that nobody's gender was either one or the other. Rather, he contended that everyone is a mixture of both male and female, with every individual having their own unique mix of traits.

This leads into the Institute's work with transgender patients. Hirschfeld was actually the one to coin the term "transsexual" in 1923, though this word didn't become popular phrasing until 30 years later when Harry Benjamin began expanding his research (I'll just be shortening it to trans for this brief overview.) For the Institute, their revolutionary work with gay men eventually began to attract other members of the LGBTA+, including of course trans people.

Contrary to what Anon says, sex reassignment surgery was first tested in 1912. It'd already being used on humans throughout Europe during the 1920's by the time a doctor at the Institute named Ludwig Levy-Lenz began performing it on patients in 1931. Hirschfeld was at first opposed, but he came around quickly because it lowered the rate of suicide among their trans patients. Not only was reassignment performed at the Institute, but both facial feminization and facial masculization surgery were also done.

The Institute employed some of these patients, gave them therapy to help with other issues, even gave some of the mentioned surgeries for free to this who could not afford it! They spoke out on their behalf to the public, even getting Berlin police to help them create "transvestite passes" to allow people to dress however they wanted without the threat of being arrested. They worked together to fight the law, including trying to strike down Paragraph 175, which made it illegal to be homosexual. The picture below is from their holiday party, Magnus Hirschfeld being the gentleman on the right with the fabulous mustache. Many of the other people in this photo are transgender.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a group of people. Some are smiling at the camera, others have serious expressions. Either way, they all seem to be happy. On the right side, an older gentleman in glasses- Magnus Hirschfeld- is sitting. He has short hair and a bushy mustache. He is resting one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him. His other hand is being held by a person to his left. Another person to his right is holding his shoulder.]

There was always push back against the Institute, especially from conservatives who saw all of this as a bad thing. But conservatism can't stop progress without destroying it. They weren't willing to go that far for a good while. It all ended in March of 1933, when a new Chancellor was elected. The Nazis did not like homosexuals for several reasons. Chief among them, we break the boundaries of "normal" society. Shortly after the election, on May 6th, the book burnings began. The Jewish, gay, and obviously liberal Magnus Hirschfeld and his library of boundary-breaking literature was one of the very first targets. Thankfully, Hirschfeld was spared by virtue of being in Paris at the time (he would die in 1935, before the Nazis were able to invade France). His library wasn't so lucky.

This famous picture of the book burnings was taken after the Institute of Sexology had been raided. That's their books. Literature on so much about sexuality, eroticism, and gender, yes including their new work on trans people. This is the trans community's Alexandria. We're incredibly lucky that enough of it survived for Harry Benjamin and everyone who came after him was able to build on the Institute's work.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of the May Nazi book burning of the Institute of Sexology's library. A soldier, back facing the camera, is throwing a stack of books into the fire. In the background of the right side, a crowd is watching.]

As the Holocaust went on, the homosexuals of Germany became a targeted group. This did include transgender people, no matter what you say. To deny this reality is Holocaust denial. JK Rowling and everyone else who tries to pretend like this isn't reality is participating in that evil. You're agreeing with the Nazis.

But of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Edit: Added image IDs. I apologize to those using screen readers for forgetting them. Please reblog this version instead.

[emberglowfox]

Keeper -- a short comic about an angel meeting a robotic lighthouse keeper that doesn't know the world has already ended. Made in about 18 hours for a 24-hour 24-page* black and white comic challenge (that I arrived late to, ha.)

*the actual submission does not include the cover, which was created after the fact for this post.

This was a really great learning experience as someone who's... never really made a completed comic. I ended up really attached to the story by the end of the project (possibly due to all-nighter deliriousness lol) and ultimately am very proud of what I made.There are some things I'd still like to change, particularly text placement, but in keeping with the spirit of the challenge I've elected to leave it as is.

[pathologictwo]

y’all remember we’re talking ab allegations of pedophilia and human trafficking and domestic violence right. real-life abuse. this isn’t fucking hannibal or Genshin or some shit even as a joke these posts are fucking weird

[yuutaguro]

the art of the unwind ☕️ 📚

[what-am-i-doing-in-this-fandom]

I am such a big Werewolf Stan advocate I had to jump on this particular train 🙏 (but I didn't really wanna commit to full line art, you guys understand)

Oh, and you guys aren't gonna believe this, but here's part two 🙌

[wanderer-clarisse]

early morning sunlight at Bag End

[reallybadblackoutpoems]

the crucible (1953) - arthur miller

“ough”

[hinamie]

corvidae

[kathaynesart]

REPLICA PLAYLIST

MUSIC UNDER CUT

I have been receiving requests for any songs that inspired Replica, so here, have my personal playlist. Sorry it’s not Spotify/Soundcloud but they don’t have some of these songs available so uh… guess you’re stuck with YouTube vids. For fun I'll include my personal titles for them (which might give a few hints of what to expect in the future/end).

Replica Main Theme - “Die for You” by Grabbitz Like Father Like Son Like Brother (Omega and Shelldon) - "As Above So Below" by Alistair Lindsay Mikey's Theme / The 1st Vision - "Suzume no Tojimari" by Nanoka Hara Military (Mad) Dogs / Central Park Colony - "Imperium" by Madeon Shanghai - "Icarus" by Madeon Boom Goes the Donnie-mite (Mikey/Donnie vs the Sweeper) - "The Red Zone" by Mitsuoto Suzuki The Day the Sky Bled Red - "7 Seconds Till the End" by Nobuo Uematsu Going Out Like a Boss (Raph and Leo) - "Agape" by Nicholas Britell Remembering the Right Way (Mikey and Leo) - "The Souls of Many" - by Alistair Lindsay Mystic Hands / The 2nd Vision - "Am I Dreaming" by Metro Boomin x A$AP Book 2 Trailer - "Sea Dragon" by Covet 7 Years Later - "Iron" by Woodkid Leo's Theme / Attack on the Labor Camp - "Ego Death" by Polyphia Omega's Theme - "Touch" by Daft Punk Flat Lines (Omega Alone) - "Die Toteninsel Emptiness" by 1000 Eyes Spear - "Monsters" by Tommee Profitt Final Protocol - "The Kraken" by Katie Dey Rise / Epilogue - "Close in the Distance" by Masayoshi Soken & Tom Mills

I will admit, it's a little embarrassing since you can easily see the patterns of what I've been listening to for the past year or two. I swear I listen to more than just videogame OSTs, these songs just jive well with the story and I often find lyrics distracting when brainstorming scenes. Regardless, the music I listen to is such an important part of my creative process and some of these songs really defined the scenes I now have locked in my head. So I figured it was only fair to give them the credit they're due.

I will continue to add to this playlist, and will note in comic updates when one of these songs is applicable!

[egophiliac]

You can’t pick Lilia for this. But who is your other favorite short character in Twst?

I like the angry little king boy 🌹

[thetoyboxs]

As the oldest of four I say I'm qualified enough to say, close enough!

[fightmemiguel]

i'm going to start trying to tag things from now on. prayers appreciated because I will not remember. queue is mostly untagged bUT IT'LL GET TO THE TAGGED STUFF I SWEAR

[keirahknightley]

Costume appreciation series: Barbie (2023) dir Greta Gerwig

Costume Design by Jacqueline Durran