#and not so much the other kinds of windmills in the area

[dirigibleplumbing]

quick note because I just reblogged my Green Grass destiel comic: I do know it would be an American windmill. literally the ref I used is a pic from the Netherlands. I appreciate the americana aesthetic of the america guns toxic masculinity beer homophobia destiel show, but that is not the aesthetic I chose for the comic. you'll also note that there's not a real bramble plant that looks like that, nor are skies in america typically green, nor are millions of stars and nebulae usually visible in the night sky in whatever midwestern state Dean put Cas's ashes

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

The Good Omens Article From the TotalFilm Magazine, Issue August 2023 :)

POST APOCALYPSE GOOD OMENS The heavenly and hellish creations of Gaiman and Pratchett ride again…

Having averted Armageddon, angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) have settled down to the quiet life in London – but the arrival of a familiar face shakes things up for everyone.

Season 1 covered events in the novel you wrote with Terry Pratchett – what was the inspiration this time?

Neil Gaiman (showrunner): Terry and I were sharing a room at Seattle’s World Fantasy Con in 1989 and, by the end of one night chatting, we had a huge, apocalyptic sequel to Good Omens. Season 2 is all the stuff we had to put in place before we could get to that sequel, and it starts with the archangel Gabriel [Jon Hamm] wandering through Soho, with no memory – a mystery that doesn’t have giant consequences for the universe, even if it does for Aziraphale and Crowley.

What has changed between Crowley and Aziraphale?

David Tennant (Crowley): Aziraphale is a much more enthusiastic detective in this mystery and, as with most things, Crowley is reluctant to get involved or to exhibit any kind of energy or enthusiasm, so he’s dragged into it. They no longer have to report to head offices, so they’re in this slightly grey area – neither supernatural, nor of the Earth.

Michael Sheen (Aziraphale): They’ve always been the only two beings who could understand each other’s position, but now they’re slightly freer agents so they’re pushed even closer together. It’s an interesting dynamic.

Maggie and Nina, you’re back too – although not as satanic nuns this time…

Nina Sosanya (Nina): No – we’re two human women! Nina is slightly cynical, churlish and owns a coffee shop, Maggie runs the record shop and she’s rather sweet and hopeful. It’s an ‘opposites attract’ thing and Neil kindly gave the characters our names so we couldn’t say no.

Maggie Service (Maggie): Aziraphale is still running his bookshop, but he’s also Maggie’s landlord. She thinks he’s the best because he lets her stay on and doesn’t really mind if she doesn’t make too much money. Maggie and Nina act as catalysts in a way, when Crowley and Aziraphale get involved in their relationship.

Neil, you’ve had some writing help this year…

NG: That’s right. We have three 25-minute ‘minisodes’ within episodes. You learn Aziraphale and Crowley’s part in the story of Job, written by John Finnemore. Cat Clarke takes us to 1820s Edinburgh for a tale of bodysnatching. Finally, Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman reunite the League of Gentlemen, because I fell in love with Season 1’s Nazi spies and kept wondering what would happen if they came back as zombies on a mission from hell to investigate whether Crowley and Aziraphale were fraternising. That story involves the Windmill Theatre, black market whisky, and a bullet catch…

[elbiotipo]

If you're from Argentina, you've probably heard about the Iberá wetlands, and you know the tourist pitch: a vast expanse of natural wonders in the middle of Corrientes, full of beautiful lapachos, cute carpinchos and yacarés, and now home to the fastest-growing wild yaguareté population, all with the unique Guaraní influenced culture of rural Corrientes.

Now, things aren't as shiny as they look, since the creation and management of the new national park is still a point of contention in many ways, but you will be suprised that this kind of thinking about the Iberá is very, very recent. Most people considered it an obstacle to progress, a big bunch of swamp in the middle of what could be a very productive ranching province. In a geography book from the 1910s (unfortunately I lost the screencap) it says something like "the biggest obstacle for the development of the province is this swamp, and it should be drained"

This took me to the other side of the world, to the Netherlands. They're known for land reclamation, from literally building their country from the sea. Especially when we're facing rising sea levels because of climate change, the Dutch seem like miracle workers, a look into our future. You will find no shortage of praise about how with some windmills and dams, the Dutch took land "from the sea", and turned it into quaint little polders, making a tiny country in Europe a food exporter and don't they look so nice? But when you look about it, you can barely find anything about what came before those polders. You have to dig and dig to find any mentions of not "sea", but of complex tidal marshes and wetlands, things I've learned are ecologically diverse and protected in many places, but you won't find people talking about that at all when talking about the Netherlands. It's all just polders now. What came before was useless swamp, or a sea to be triumphantly conquered. It's like they were erased from history

The use of that language reminded me of the failed vision of draining Iberá... and the triumphing vision in the Netherlands, and many other places. Maybe those wonderful places, those unique wetlands, would have been a footnote, you wouldn't find anything unless you were a bored ecologist who looked, and not even then. Now, far it be from me to accuse the medieval Dutch, who wanted to have more space to farm, of ecocide. And don't think this is going to be a rant against European ecological imperialism either, as the most anthropized places you can find are actually in China and India. But it does get me thinking.

I work with the concept of landscape, and landscape managing. (Not landscaping, those guys get better paid than me) The concept of landscape is somewhat similar to the concept of ecosystem you know from basic biology, but besides biotic and abiotic factors, you also have to involve cultural factors, that is, humans. There is not a single area of "pristine" untouched nature in the world, that is a myth. Humans have managed these landscapes for as long as they have lived in them. The Amazon, what many people think about when they think about "unspoilt" nature, has a high proportion of domesticated plants growing on it, which were and are still used by the people who live on it, and there once were great civilizations thriving on it. Forests and gardens leave their mark, so much that we can use them to find abandoned settlements. From hunter-gatherers tending and preserving the species vital to their survival in the tundra to engineers in Hong-Kong creating new islands for airports, every human culture has managed their natural resources, creating a landscape.

And this means these landscapes we enjoy are not natural creations. They are affected by natural enviroments; biomes do exist, species have a natural distribution. But they are created and managed by humans. Humans who decide what is valuable to them and what is not. The Dutch, seemingly, found the tidal marshes useless, and they created a new landscape, which changed the history of their nation forever. We here in modern Argentina changed our perception of Iberá, decided to take another approach, and now we made it a cherished part of our heritage, which will also speak about us in the future.

Ultimately, what is a useless swamp to be drained or a beautiful expanse of nature to be cherished depends in our culture, in us humans. We are the ones who manage and change ecosystems based in our economics, our culture, our society. This will become increasingly important, as climate change and ecological degradation becomes harsher and undeniable. We will have to decide what nature is worth to us. Think about what is it worth to you.

[mllemaenad]

So ... the stuff with the Emperor. I am somewhat twitchy about designating a group of people as always evil, especially since the game has noted that several races "used to be" considered evil, but now are not. But I can see illithids always being ... antagonistic, as a group, at best. Because they eat people. And unless they can stop eating people, having an illithid friend is always going to be problematic, even if they have no actual plans for world domination.

There's Omeluum, in the underdark, and while I would not say I've interacted with it enough to confirm it is what it says it is, there - at least at face value - is a "good" mind flayer. It's still very much eating people, though. Researching ways to stop doing that, and good for it, but still eating people. Eating "bad" people, sure, but defining "bad" and when being eaten alive would be a reasonable punishment for that is a whole other damn issue.

But the story the Emperor told me isn't ... quite adding up for me. Or else the lore isn't adding up.

From the start of the game, I assumed illithid infection was a matter of incubation. That is, the tadpole in your brain was a person unto itself, and it was going to both feed on you and use your body as a kind of trellis to grow to maturity. In True Souls, the growth was arrested, so no mind flayer was actually erupting out of a body, and the tadpole was consuming little if any brain matter. In the case of your party, even its influence was limited by the presence of the artifact, which turned out to hold an imprisoned githyanki with super powers.

That matched nicely with the things Lae'zel said about infections, about them consuming everything you were, and with the symptoms of infection as described: fever, memory loss, delirium. It sounded as though a person was being eaten alive.

But then the Emperor turns up and claims to be an adventurer who was transformed. It claims to be the same person it was it was before the infection. If true, that would mean that illithids were only "evil" because they themselves were mind controlled. Without that, they'd just be people with unfortunate dietary needs. And, well, we're still hanging out with Astarion for some reason, so this party does not have reasonable grounds to complain about that.

And it could be true. Sure. What do I know about illithids? Lae'zel's information could be wrong. We do know at least some of what she knows is more githyanki propaganda than truth.

Except.

Well, for a starters Withers makes a whole speech about mind flayers not having souls. Now - I don't even believe in souls, so that's not something I'd even consider without being prompted by the narrative. In any fantasy setting where ghosts and souls are assumed to exist, I tend to equate soul with person. If someone is talking to me, they've got a soul. Illithids possibly being terrible people is irrelevant to that question.

Under other circumstances, I'd dismiss this as simple prejudice. But one, this does seem to be Withers' area of expertise and two, it's presented as a plot point: the gods should be attempting to gather souls, but they are not, they are gathering soulless mind flayers who ought to be useless to them. It's weird enough to be worthy of comment.

If the Emperor were a human or elf or whatever, and was transformed into a mind flayer, then it ought to have a soul. Because if there's continuity of personhood, it wouldn't make sense for it to not have a soul.

And then there's the windmill horror. I went the wrong way when doing a quest hunting for lost letters, because I missed that the guy said west and assumed the trail of blood I found was related to the dead pigeons. I followed it to a windmill, picked the lock and went snooping. Inside was a newborn mind flayer - and I could ask it if it had been the one screaming. Its response? No, those were the dying screams of its vessel. It actually delighted in the anguish and terror of the man it emerged from. This wasn't a distressed person who had just undergone an unexpected species change. This was a wholly new person, with little sympathy for its vessel.

So ... barring the arrival of any new evidence that makes the Emperor somehow exempt from this, it does not seem as though it could be who it says it is. I mean - it's entirely possible it incubated in an adventurer. That's as likely as anything else. But every piece of information I can find apart from its story indicates that that adventurer died screaming, and a long time ago.

Which in turn means that this story seems like just as much a masquerade as the business of dressing up as something from the character creator.

"Hey, one of your allies is a friendly illithid!" would not necessarily make me suspicious. I mean - we've got a mummy that raises our souls for pocket change, a priestess who came back from the dead, and very frank demi-goddess, so sure, why not?

But these repeated attempts to convince me that it is in some sense not really an illithid? When every indication is that it is? That I do not trust at all.

[tomswifty-fr]

whats the technology level of your lore? and does it vary much by flight?

Hey! It's been three weeks! I have been writing a massive loredump that was way too detailed and going nowhere so this is an attempt to simplify/condense that into a reasonable answer. Feel free to send followups about anything because there is so much I'm leaving out.

Short answer: "Technology level" is kind of a loaded term and also not that useful in this context imo. It varies by flight but that's not going to be the defining factor in whether a specific clan has like, lightbulbs and antibiotics.

Long answer:

On the whole, Sorneith's tech level is going to be below that of modern-day Earth. Sorneith is orders of magnitude less industrialized, less electrified, and less computerized. Mass comm as we have it is very much not a thing.

Also, please add "with some exceptions" to every paragraph because it is all with some exceptions. Reality is like, 70% exceptions by mass.

High tech (computers, telecom, aerospace, etc) is going to be clustered in urban, high-population areas and is often associated with Lightning, Arcane, Wind, and Plague flights.

Things like telecom and transportation are going to be small scale and local (examples: a telephone network that covers a single city, or train tracks that only go between a factory and a mine). Lack of interflight cooperation, lack of intraflight cohesion, and all sorts of environmental factors mean that no one is building large scale infrastructure and it would be extremely difficult or impossible to maintain if they did. There are all kinds of things that dragons could technically build, but don't because no one is willing to build the infrastructure necessary to support it.

Electricity generation is not uncommon, but is again going to be highly localized and probably magic based. No huge dams that power the whole county or whatever. There is a petrochemical industry, but it is mainly geared towards manufacturing, not fuel. Yes, dragons have plastic. Sorry.

A lot of mechanical stuff is powered by kinetic energy, often in the form of clockwork. Windmills are also very common, especially in agricultural contexts (hulling, grinding flour, etc) but also for things like looms.

Plague and Nature have the most advanced biomedical science, with an emphasis on gengineering and modifying already existing species that other flight cultures can find offputting (but not offputting enough to not take advantage, of course). The Plague approach to treating illnesses consists largely of breeding bacteria for specific purposes - if you get measles, your medicine is going to consist of a live culture of measles-hunting bacteria that will cure you by spreading through your body and eating all the measles pathogens, then dying off. The Nature approach is more focused on identifying plants with medicinal effects and modifying them to be more effective, with an emphasis on symptom management and preventing transmission while letting the body ultimately fight off the infection on its own.

Plague is also the flight that invented solid-state computing, specifically for medical implants and prosthetics. Lightning and Arcane are still fighting over who had the first computer but they were using crystals and vacuum tubes, and mostly still are. Personal computers are typically not a thing.

Personal transportation technology is less about vehicles and more about body modification (temporary or permanent) to make running and flying easier or more efficient. These are often adapted to/from mobility assistance tech for disabled dragons. Flying is more common in this context than running because large parts of Sorneith lack good roads.

Agricultural technology is going to be geared towards things like modified seeds, chemical fertilizers, and farming techniques rather than things like tractors. Factory/mass production is something that would be more ubiquitous if there was better transportation infrastructure; as it is, it mostly exists near large urban centers (example: barrel factory that makes all the barrels for the big city, but doesn't sell any nonlocally. surrounding towns have their own coopers or get them from someone in another small town.) or where the product is something that clicks all the boxes of

Hard to make / knowledge to make it is not widespread / can only be made in certain conditions (jam factory makes no sense because anyone can make jam)

Enough demand to justify factory production (hydroelectric turbine factory makes no sense because there aren't enough dams around to make more than like, one turbine a year. pointless)

Expensive or necessary enough to justify nonlocal shipping/transport (ribbon factory makes no sense because hauling it across the continent it costs like twelve times as much as the ribbon)

In practice, this mostly means medicines and some types of electronics.

Cargo transportation is usually water-based. Steamships exist but are unpopular and unlikely to supplant sailing or dragon-powered ships.

Other things they have: firearms (primitive, used for mostly hunting or gunsports), nuclear power (relatively new, there are like single digit plants and all but one or two are in Lightning), radio (I said no large-scale telecom but there are a couple of big NGOs that are really pushing it), artificial intelligence (almost exclusively magic-powered, also very rare), typewriters, mimeographs, adding machines, phonographs, cameras, refrigeration (semi-common).

Things they don't have: Broadcast television (cable only, where it exists), the internal combustion engine (I could write a whole nother post about vehicles and why there aren't many), militarized explosives (that's what magic is for), internet (could you imagine).

[nightfurylover31]

I really love Adam Bryce Thomas's cover for the 5th Year Anniversary issue! It's so cute! I was hoping the mini issue we were getting was centered around it, but we got something else. So I decided to write something about it! Capturing everything that happens in every picture, keeping it within canon range. I hope you all like it.

*takes place before #57*

The air was refreshing. Much warmer than it had been, yet the breeze had a bit of a chill. The cherry blossoms had bloomed and some of their petals had begun to fall. Other flowers had started opening. A clear sign of early spring. As such, the Riverside Romp was the place to be. 

“Wow, it just started but the place is already packed,” Sonic said as he and Amy walked through the entrance. 

“It is one of the biggest celebrations around the villages in this area,” Amy responded. 

The river in this zone branched out into several villages. As such, everyone gathered in the field outside of Riverside, celebrating the new season. Sonic recognized folks from Vista View, Windmill Village, Barricade Town, Spiral Hill, and more. There were tents and food stands set up all over. The festival lasted all weekend, but even the first day was filled with guests. 

“I’m glad you decided to join us, Sonic.” Amy was going with Cream and Vanilla, but decided to ask Sonic as well. Things had been tough on him lately, so she thought he needed to relax a bit. And she figured having the Rabbit family would put him more at ease about coming.

“Sure thing, I’ve always wanted to come to one of these.” 

“With all that’s been happening, this is just the kind of break we needed. Especially you.” 

“Oh come,” Sonic rolled his eyes. “don’t start that again. The last few adventures were rough, but nothing I couldn’t handle.” 

Amy put her hands on her hips. “You were violently electrocuted, and then nearly brain swapped with a robot. And both times your leg was injured.” 

Sonic let out a sheepish chuckle. “What can I say? Trouble always seems to find me.” 

The pink hedgehog sighed, resting her hand on her forehead. While she admired Sonic’s spirit, she wished he didn’t take these kinds of experiences so lightly. 

“My point is there’s nothing wrong taking it easy.” 

“I know, and you’re right. Let’s just enjoy today. I hear they got special chili dogs at these things.” 

Amy couldn’t help but laugh as Sonic licked his lips at the thought of trying the food. 

“Mr. Sonic! Ms. Amy! Hurry!” The two turned to see Cream calling them as she and her mother had already entered the gate. 

“What are we waiting for?” Sonic smiled. “Let’s go!” 

The group spent some time together until Cream saw a face painting booth. She got the artist to paint Cheese’s face while Sonic and Amy continued. There were souvenir stands with handmade clothing, bags and accessories. Naturally, the former stopped when he saw a hotdog stand. With so many toppings he had to try one with everything. Next to it was a backed goods stand, which Amy was drawn to. The large heart-shaped cookies hanging overhead looked especially delicious. As the two headed over to the picnic tables to eat and rejoin their friends, Amy noticed a familiar woolly figure making their way to the river. 

“Sonic, go ahead,” she said as she gave her treats to him. “I’ll catch up.” The blue hedgehog shrugged but did as he was told. 

Outside of the festivities, Amy met up with a lone girl sitting on a log. 

“Hello Lanolin.” 

The sheep turned her head. “Oh, Ms. Rose. I didn’t expect to see you here.” 

Lanolin was part of the Restoration. She joined just after the Neo Metal incident. She had been helping regularly. If memory served correctly, she was now an assistant to Jewel.

“I came with my friends, and please, call me Amy. No need for formalities.” Amy sat down beside her. “What are you doing here instead of the party? It looks like something’s bothering you.” 

Lanolin hung her head low, looking at her hands folded in her lap. “I just wonder… if I’m really making a difference.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“When you and Sonic saved my town, I realized how helpless I was. I couldn’t do anything. I wanted to do more. So I joined the Restoration to help. But even so, I feel like I haven’t done anything.” 

“That’s not true,” Amy quickly defended. “You’ve helped with the evacuations when we were dealing with the Metal Virus. You even protected the survivors when we were in Spiral Hill and Angel Island. That’s something.” 

“Barely. Most of the Zombots were focusing more on the areas I wasn’t in. And when the Zeti attacked HQ, I didn’t fight back either. I just grabbed as many people as I could find and hid. I feel like a coward.” 

“Protecting people is just as important as fighting. Nothing to be ashamed of.” 

“But it’s…” The sheep went quiet. 

Sensing her discouragement, Amy took a deep breath and sighed. “It’s not enough. You want to contribute more.” 

Lanolin nodded. “You and the others do such amazing things. I know I can’t do anything like that, but-" 

“You just haven’t found it yet.” 

“W-what?” Lanolin was caught off guard by Amy's interruption.

“You haven’t found your special skill yet. Something only you can do. I had my own problems figuring it out, but I kept trying.” With that Amy started fidgeting with her fingers. “Honestly, you remind me of how I used to be. I wanted to go on adventures with Sonic, but I was just getting in the way. Even after getting my hammer, I still felt like I was a bother most of the time. But even if I can’t run fast, fly, or anything super special, I still try to help in any way I can. No matter how small.” 

Hearing this caused Lanolin to smile. She rubbed her cheek, as if wiping a tear. “Thanks for that, Amy. I’m still not sure what I could do to help more.” 

“Well, is there any way you can think of to make the Restoration more effective?” 

The sheep blinked for a moment, then put her hand to her chin to think. After a while, she spoke “Considering all the havoc Dr. Eggman has caused… if there was some way to get the jump on him…” 

“Like a response team? That’s a great idea!” A way to stop Eggman before things get too out of control. That way there would be less collateral damage, and less Sonic would have to deal with. Amy knew he loved the thrill of the fight, and she didn’t want to take that from him, but so much weight had been put on him lately. Some have even blamed him for certain events due to his actions. If people did more, they wouldn’t have to keep relying on him or turn any distress towards him.  

“It’s just a thought. I don’t know how to pull it off—” 

“But it’s a start, and that’s what matters,” the hedgehog assured. “As a very special friend of mine says, ‘nothing starts until you take action.’” 

“Smart advice,” Lanolin agreed. 

Amy got up and motioned her hand. “Come on. Let’s get back. There’s still plenty of fun to be had.” 

The two headed back to the festival. Lanolin saw her friends before Amy did, so they split up. She saw the gang still at the tables eating. Though she couldn’t help but notice a few bites missing from her cookie. 

“I’m sorry Ms. Amy,” Cream apologized. “Cheese was hungry, and I couldn’t stop him.” The Chao still had crumbs on his face. His face painting had also been smudged trying to wipe them off.

Amy simply patted bunny on the head. “Don’t worry about it, Cream. There’s still plenty left, and we’re here to have fun." 

After going around to more of the stands, the last event of the day was about to start. Sparklers were passed out some people. Amy watched the lights dance around, careful that the sparks didn’t hit her hand. Everyone gathered as the mayor of Windmill Village stood at the front. The old ram cleared his throat and began to speak. 

“Thanks to all of you for coming out and joining us! I know the last year has been hard on us all, but that’s exactly why we need to celebrate the good days we have. We must cherish everything and everyone around us and let them know how they mean to us. Spring is a time of new beginnings. I’m sure new stories and opportunities are awaiting each and every one of you. So let us welcome it all with open arms.” He raised his fist in the air. “To a wonderful year!” 

“Yeah!” 

The crowd cheered with absolute bliss. Amy was so in the moment she didn’t even realize she was holding Sonic’s hand. Soon the music picked up, and everyone was singing and dancing. This went on for a few more hours.

As the sun began to set, everyone began to head home. Cream and Vanilla waved goodbye as they parted ways from Amy and Sonic. 

“That was so much fun,” Sonic exclaimed as he stretched his arms in the air. “Thanks for inviting me along, Ames.” 

“I’m glad you joined us too,” Amy beamed. She felt much more at ease than she had been in a while, and she could tell Sonic did as well. The way his quills bent down, the way he smiled. She knew how to read him by now when he was tense. She did not see that now. All cares and troubles were out of mind. It felt great to finally be able to relax without Eggman or anyone else ruining it. “We should come again next year. We could invite Tails, Knuckles, Tangle, Whisper, and the others to come too.” 

“Or it could just be the two of us and make it a date,” the blue hedgehog said casually.

Amy froze in place. Her face turned bright red. She looked at Sonic, who was sporting his smug grin. 

She gave him a playful shove. “Don’t tease me like that!” 

“What? I thought that’s what you wanted, right?”

"Sonic, you-" 

The two friends continued laughing as they made their way home. 

[umgeorge]

George Russell wants F1 cars raised

George Russell is leading calls from drivers for Formula 1 cars to be raised for the sake of their health and safety.

Russell said the violence drivers experience when cars hit bumps on track at high speed was "unsustainable." The problem has arisen following the introduction of new rules in 2022 which brought back ground-effect cars with venturi underfloors. These floors are an inverted wing that creates a low pressure area under the car, producing prodigious aerodynamic downforce. But to work most effectively, the cars have to be run very close to the ground and with stiff suspension to control the car's ride-height.

From 'AA battery' to 'chickpea'

Russell said the problem becomes worse as the cars pick up speed down the straight and the aerodynamic forces suck them closer to the ground. "All the drivers have been speaking with F1 because it is a little bit unsustainable to keep running the cars like this," the Mercedes driver said. "You get the most amount of performance running the car as close to the ground as possible and as stiff as possible, so you feel like your teeth are rattling out down the straight. The length of an AA battery is the distance we are from the ground at the beginning [of the straight] and at the end it's the size of a chickpea. So every single tiny bump, it goes all through your body, and we hope for the next generation of cars they find a better solution." The idea behind the new rules was to bring the field closer together and make overtaking easier. The rule-makers planned to do this by controlling the so-called aerodynamic wake behind the cars, so it had less effect on the car following and drivers could follow each other more closely. But Mercedes technical director James Allison said the idea of controlling the wake as a means of enhancing overtaking was flawed, and that the cars could be raised without affecting performance. Allison said: "There are things in the regulations that don't serve any of us well. I don't think it's sensible to have cars that hug the ground in the way these cars hug it, and I think the idea that you get good racing by controlling wakes while ignoring tyres (is flawed). The whole idea of controlling wakes (is) a kind of tilting at windmills type of challenge. That side of things has been tested to destruction fairly evidently. I don't think there is anything wrong in particular with ground-effect floors, but the particular layout of these ones that have a response to rear ride-height that is not particularly good for the cars, that isn't something we should carry into 2026. Among the teams, that would be a pragmatically accepted response. I think the FIA is still very much of a mind to place wake management at the top of the tree of everything, sacrificing other stuff for it, and I think it would be helpful if there was more of a balanced approach."

[mommy-milkers69]

Orphan Tears

Genshin Sagau Part one. Part 2 coming soon! ...

You don’t know how far deep into the forest you ran, but you no longer recognize where you are. There are plants surrounding you on all sides, some of which you recognize and others you do not. You fall to the ground, painting for your breath.

The sky had already gotten dark, and stars were now showing in the sky. Without all the light pollution the night sky is beautiful and if it were any other day you would’ve stopped to look at it.

But right now, you had a lot of things on your mind and didn’t even give it a glance.

As you inhaled and took a second to reminisce on all the things that have happened. I just.. Don’t understand. It all happened too fast for me to comprehend.

The last thing you remember before appearing in Teyvat, was playing your favorite game, Genshin Impact.

…

I groggily rubbed my eyes trying to clear the sleepiness from them. The sun that gazed upon me made it easier to wake myself up. For some reason it was brighter than it usually was when the blinds were closed.

I got up from my laid position and stretched my arms out. I needed to get the stiffness out of my back from laying on the ground for so long.

Wait-. Ground!? That certainly got me awake.

Why am I sleeping on the ground? Where the hell is my bed? I looked around and saw that all around was not the fluffy, comfortable sheets that I’m used to, but grass.

It was warmed by the sun’s rays and was very comfortable, but that’s besides the point.

How did I even get here? I know I would not willingly sleep outside.

Did it finally happen? Did my parents kick me out?

But.. Where am I?

There was so many questions but so little answers.

I got up and dusted the back of my shirt. I should find some people so they can help me. They can tell me where I am.

Farther from where I was standing there is a dirt trail. I could probably follow that to civilization.

I started following the path. It did cross my mind that I could've been kidnapped. But I don’t understand why they would just leave me in the middle of nowhere. Maybe that’s what they do so people can go missing. I hope that’s not the case and I'm not far from home.

..Is that.?

On the ground, there was a wild flower that unmistakably looked like Lamp Grass from Genshin. But.. That can’t be right. Last time I checked there was no such thing in my world. I’m definitely seeing things.

I’m probably hallucinating from fear but don’t realize it..Maybe I’m in shock?

I just shook it off and continued on my walk. It didn’t take long until I saw a huge city that had windmills. It looked a lot like Mondstadt. The resemblance was uncanny.

This is kind of weird.. This is definitely not Mondstadt! It couldn’t be, it’s not real! Hehe, yeah..

I near the bridge that leads to the entrance of the city. There are pigeons crowding around one area where a little boy is watching them.

Timmy!?

That can’t be possible.

I avoid the birds by walking around them on one side, they just move away from me and luckily don’t fly away. I don’t want ‘Timmy’ yelling at me right now.

If it really is Timmy.

I walk pass the guards and they don’t stop me or anything they just give me weird looks.

I thought that they would stop me and ask who I am, like Amber did with Traveler in the beginning but this makes it easier. Although it is weird..

There isn’t as much people out and about as I thought there would be, but oh well.

Usually, If this happened I would be ecstatic, but right now I'm just downright confused.

This feels like a dream and I have no idea how to feel about this..

Kathryn waves to me from where she’s standing at the adventures guild.

I smile and wave back at her. I feel a kind gust of wind breeze past me.

Everything finally hits me all at once.

I’m in Genshin Impact.. I’m actually in Genshin! This is supposed to be impossible but I’m here! It’s like a dream come true! I’m so excited!

I can meet all of my fav characters! I wonder where the traveler is right now? And if it’s Lumine or Aether!

You know what? I’m going to go to the Plaza to see Venti’s statue. It probably is bigger and looks more detailed than in the game.

I start going up the steps.

When I finally got to the top, I realized to things. One, I need way more exercise, and two, I completely underestimated how huge this thing would be. It looks amazing though and if I had my phone I would definitely take pictures.

I’m so sad I don’t have my phone. I checked earlier and it’s nowhere to be seen. Sad.

“Hey!”

I hear shouting to the left of me and I see a couple of guards carrying there weapons up the stairs.

A few citizen bystanders are following behind them and I realize that there are more people out than when I first got here.

“You are under arrest for impersonating the divine creator. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law!”

What? Are they talking to me? Why am I getting arrested!?

“What!? What did I do?” I voiced my question out loud. The guards look at me with anger and some of the people that surrounded us look at me with disappointment.

Huh? I’m so confused once again. Then the guard starts speaking again, “Now you pretend to be clueless of this huge offense!”

“This is preposterous! Get them and lock them up. We will let the higher ups decide on what your punishment will be.”

They suddenly charged at me with their weapons raised.

Seeing this, I quickly made a run for the stairs and started climbing down them as fast as I could, but I was also careful to not fall.

They seem to be catching up quickly, but I’m honestly not surprised. I got tired just walking up them.

They also have been in this city longer than me, probably their whole lives.

They got closer and closer. I do not want to find out what would happen if they were to catch me.

It seemed like there was only one other option.

I run over to the ledge of the stairs and without looking down, I jump.

I felt my stomach float up to my chest and my breath caught in my throat.

I knew if I looked down before I jumped, I would’ve hesitated and may have not jumped at all.

But now I have to look down to see where I’m going to land.

The ground approaches at a high speed. It looks like I’m going to hit the concrete.

Hopefully I’ll only break a bone or two at most. I know that I’m going to break something since I dropped from an extremely high height.

I close my eyes shut as if it would numb the pain, as the ground reaches close.

I fall onto something and I don’t hear the expected crack of bones breaking. It sort of felt like a mushroom, but whatever it was boosted me further away from the beginning of the stairs at a fast pace, past the fountain, closer to one of the side exits. Somehow I landed on my feet. Not giving it a second thought, I ran away from Mondstadt through the side entrance.

…

The news of an imposter that bore the face of the creator spread like wildfire across the whole of Teyvat. Many important figures, including the archons, caught wind of this fake, and search parties sent out on missions find them.

They would not take any person disrespecting their lovely Creator’s name. They hope that catching this person will make their Grace proud of them.

The branded ‘Imposter’ was on the run for over a few days. At least, what they thought was days.

They wouldn’t know, there perception of time is messed up. The days seemed to be going quicker than they usually would back at their world.

They drank water from any source that was available to them, like ponds, lakes, or even potholes in the dirt that contained water. They ate food from the trees or plants they recognized as edible. As well as stealing from the hilichurls when they weren’t paying attention.

They took big risks so that they wouldn’t have to starve.

Going through many different regions trying to find a peaceful please that they can stay without worrying about the possibility of death looming over them as they sleep.

…

I sat on the floor and deeply breathed in and out repeatedly. Trying to calm my beating heart, not sure if it was from being on the run or from the actual running.

I think back to all the characters that looked at me with either disgust, anger, or disappointment, there was no other emotions shown other than those three unless they were accompanied by pity.

Some probably thought that I should just accept death.

That’s what awaited me if i ever got caught by any of them. I won’t let that happen though.

It broke my heart seeing all my beautiful, lovely characters look at me in that way when, to me, I’ve spent long hours and nights with them. I watched them all grow and get stronger.

I would even say that I felt a connection with them. I thought that they would understand me as I understand them.

It may have just been me though, they don’t even know me, although I know all their pasts and backstories.

Even though I felt hurt thinking of the way they treated me and how they feel about me, I could never bring myself to hate them.

I don’t know the reason why they feel that way about me, and why I’m labeled an imposter, but whatever the reason was that they had to treat me so badly, I probably deserve it.

Most of the characters are kind and whatever I did to make them so upset with me must’ve been horrible.

I wasn’t too deep into my thoughts, so I noticed when small yellow dots started to appear in my vision. They looked like fireflies so I didn’t think much of it, since it is night time after all.

But when one of them touched my leg, it didn’t feel or look like a firefly at all.

It was a literal yellow ball, that was extremely fluffy.

…What the hell?

I definitely must hallucinating. That doesn't make any sense, maybe the chase finally got to me. I don’t remember any creatures that looked like this.

When the trees around me started to feel like they were closing in, that’s when I decided that it was time for me to rest my eyes, for the good of my health.

…

[tatzelwyrm]

In Defense of Dark Souls 2 – Scholar Edition

Now that I have finished all of the Dark Souls 2 DLCs, I must say, people don’t give Dark Souls 2 enough credit.

Is DS2 a perfect game? No. But think of all the nice things Dark Souls 2 gave us that later Soulsborne games (including Elden Ring) adopted:

Fast Travel between bonfires is immediately available after leaving the tutorial area.

Fast Travel is available from every bonfire to every bonfire (excepting Primal Bonfires).

To increase the number of Estus uses you upgrade your flask instead of upgrading individual bonfires.

Levelling up is tied to the Firekeeper/Finger Maiden/Doll equivalent rather than the bonfires, allowing for Majula to become something of a hub world, much more than Firelink in DS1.

As a consequence, Emerald Herald, to me, is much more fleshed out as a a character (like the Doll or Melina) than the Firekeepers in DS1 (Elden Ring chose a unique middle ground by having you level up via your friendly neighbourhood maiden, but having her appear at every bonfire equivalent rather than in a hub area – which made me not feel connected to Roundtable Hold or any of the other areas as much as I did to Majula, the Hunter's Dream or DS3's Firelink).

Weapon upgrades are far less complicated in DS2 and subsequent Soulsborne games. There’s still different weapon categories that use different upgrade materials but the different upgrade paths are easier and quicker to unlock because they aren't locked behind as many different kinds of embers.

There’s also a bunch of exciting stuff only DS2 did. The most prominent example of this is

ADJUSTABLE DIFFICULTY!

By giving us the following:

Extinction – Enemies stop respawning after you’ve killed them about 12 times.

Bonfire ascetics – Burning an ascetic at a bonfire allows you to manually force an area into a higher NG state, respawning enemies that had previously been extinct (ensuring you can keep farming souls) and even respawning bosses that you’ve already beaten.

Joining the Company of Champions covenant increases damage output and defenses of enemies and disables friendly summons (you can leave the covenant any time via the talking cat. There are no penalties for leaving covenants in this game).

The only other Soulsborne game that allows you to play around with difficulty a bit is Bloodborne by making enemies becoming stronger and giving them additional moves if you increase your Insight score enough.

Do you know how many times playing DS1 and DS3 I thought “If this was Dark Souls 2, I’d be getting rid of that one guy”?

And, finally, I simply feel like DS2 managed to capture the spirit of DS1 very well while still managing to be its own game (as evidenced by the new mechanics mentioned above) rather than simply being a rehash of its predecessor.

I don’t think the areas in DS2 are as consistently creatively unique as the areas in DS1, but the spirit is still there.

There are multiple areas that can be made easier or harder by using your torch (Brightstone Cove Tseldora (at least in Scholar which is the version of the game I played), the Gutter, Shrine of Amana. The torch can also unlock special items for you (Things Betwixt, the Gutter). The windmill in Earthen Peak can be burned (there’s even an NPC summon pointing this out to you). It's a neat way to make players consider using a 1-handed weapon without a shield for a bit.

The invisible enemies, thick fog and moaning trees make navigating Shaded Woods particularly creepy – and you can use the moaning trees to distract the enemies while you sneak around them!

Aldia’s Keep has that Dragon Skeleton that moves – once! I’ve already forgotten what the trigger for this was, so this is gonna be a guaranteed jumpscare the next time I play this game.

The Wyverns at Dragon Aerie only become hostile if you step on too many of their eggs.

If you duel the big fellas at Dragon Shrine one-on-one the other enemies won’t attack you.

There’s also the many Pharros contraptions that you can unlock to find treasure and/or traps throughout the game. (I just wish these had been more integrated into the gameplay in Doors of Pharros. Like, there's an entire area littered with these things, named after the guy who invented them, but it’s also the one area in the game in which the contraptions don’t do anything exciting. Imagine if this place had been more akin to Sen’s Fortress. They could have given you special Pharros stones to disable the traps in this area – special ones so you can’t accidentally insert them somewhere else and make the level unplayable.)

And that’s just some examples from the base game. The DLCs are each centered around unique level mechanics.

Navigating Shulva requires you to find and keep track of multiple switches to raise and lower platforms – and to disable traps and find hidden pathways inside the Dragon Sanctum. (So maybe they overdid it a bit with the switches in this one. There’s like 3 of them that I never figured out what they did because I lost patience, but it was still a nice change from the more combat-heavy areas.)

Brume Tower (probably my favourite area in the entire game) has a lot of elevators for you to navigate once you figure out how to active them while the Ashen Idols pose something of an environmental threat. Additionally, there's lots of gunpowder and fire for you to use and abuse as you wish.

Frozen Eleum is, well, frozen the first time you enter it and unfreezing parts of it allows you to access new areas and make the final boss fight a lot easier (with Burnt Ivory King making for the best spectacle fight in the entire series, IMO, if you find and bring all the Loyce Knights).

Compare this to Dark Souls 3. I loved DS3 when I played it (still do). It has incredible boss fights and very smooth, fast-paced gameplay and an epic soundtrack. But you can’t deny it’s is also a lot less daring than its predecessors when it comes to level design and the related mechanics. This is true for what I've played of Elden Ring as well.

DS3 (and Elden Ring) are well-made games, but there’s an unhinged charm to the some of the more unique level mechanics of DS1 and DS2 that make them such weird little games and it breaks my heart a bit to see that the newer games didn’t try to replicate any of that.

Even though a lot of these mechanics were a bit broken, Dark Souls 1 and 2 wouldn't be the same without them. I can’t help but wonder if it were all the complaints about DS2 that made the developers deliberately cut back on weird little ideas for DS3, resulting in a very enjoyable, very polished game that is still somehow less than what it could have been because the devs decided to play it safe.

[major-wren]

Headcanons for Sonic characters' living situations (family/upbringing/housing)

We don't see most sonic characters homes or relatives anymore post-Archie comics, which tbh I actually like bc I like them to stay simplistic adventurer characters in main-line canon, but here's a bit of a masterpost for what I like to imagine in headcanon world lol

Even tho it's headcanons, I like to base them off of canon information (one off dialogue, old comics, less played games), so ull probably learn a lot about their actual canon homes through this read if that interests you team

Im splitting this into two posts! Click here for team dark, read below the cut for team sonic-

Team Sonic homes & upbringing

Sonic

I really really do not have any interest in Sonic being a tragic orphan lol. No interest in the Longclaw tragedy or him being alone his whole childhood. I think most can kinda agree that the tragic orphan main character trope is kinda overdone anyway, and honestly I just don't think it's accurate to his personality at all, at least not how I see him. My headcanon is that he had a pretty normal childhood, despite his super speed, and that the reason he didn't cause a commotion out adventuring at an even younger age than he already did is because he canonically grew up on Christmas island, so he couldn't get to the mainland since he can't swim. On TailsTube Tails said that the mainland is mostly urban cityscapes populated by humans (I assume with further away, more forested areas like windmill village and north glade further away from the human cities) and that the animal people mostly live on or at least come from tropical islands surrounding the main land (that are more tropical and similar looking to the early games with their palm trees and sunflowers).

I think Christmas island is probably tucked out of the way, and that Sonic grew up with a mom and dad and maybe even a little sister. I just think Sonic is such a big brother type, he had to get it from somewhere, he just fell into it so naturally with Tails like it was no big deal to him to have some little guy following him around tryna copy him, like maybe he was used to it. I bet his little sister is a lot younger though, like a bigger age difference than Sonic has with Tails, so by the time she was more self aware he was already off adventuring. I think before he left though, he was a massive trouble maker, always trying to find something exciting to get up to and burn energy with. I bet he had a skateboard and would be constantly hurtling around the island crashing into other peoples' stuff, so everyone knew him well. That kind of small town childhood where every mom and pop shop owner knows you by name and gives you a free little treat while you're out grocery shopping with your parents. I think everyone was shocked by his super speed at first but got used to it because, tbh, judging from other characters, although it's rare it doesn't seem that insanely crazy for animal folks to be born with some sort of special ability or crazy fur or eye color. I think the only reason Tails got bullied for his is just because it's so much more visually jarring and really seemed to be more of a deformity than a special ability until he realized he could fly.

I think Sonic would befriend someone who managed to get a proper ship that can make the distance to the mainland, and would end up begging his parents to go off and adventure, to finally stretch his legs and find the limits to his speed while he sees the world. In Sonic's world, and even Blaze's dimension, I don't think this is uncommon. Supposedly Amy ran off to adventure, Cream's mom Vanilla lets her go and adventure so long as Germerl or a team sonic member is watching her, and Marine from Blaze's world was also intent on adventuring no matter what anyone said. I don't really like when people try to say that this is like,, trauma inducing or something, because that's just how adventure cartoons and games are. Like, little kids go off and adventure the world in pokemon too and stuff, that's just normal for them or even an exciting opportunity that others envy them for, so, yknow, that's how I see it for sonic's world, too. He wasn't abandoned by his parents or anything he just wanted to go adventure and see the world outside his tiny island.

Obviously once he was off the island, at some point he ran into eggman and couldn't stand by and watch him do evil, jumped into action, and kickstarted their rivalry. Remember, he didn't start out doing cosmic universe saving conquests, originally he was just roughing up eggman to save little woodland critters! And during this cat and mouse game he met Tails, Amy, and Knuckles, with this rivalry obviously becoming more serious when Metal Sonic was introduced later on (Metal was introduced 2 years after Sonic's first adventure, so I like to think that at least 2 years really did pass in their time and so he's a proper teenager by then and ready to take on the challenge).

I really like to emphasize Sonic's adventuring sprit, and so I think he started out with the money his parents gave him to rent out motel/inn rooms or yknow those little rooms people will rent our of their homes for some extra money. Probably a few of the nights inbetween he may have used a hammock and camped out for fun, he does like to enjoy some quiet time in nature every now and then after all. I think by the time Metal Sonic comes in and Sonic's position as hero becomes a bit officiated, he's probably run out of the money his parents gave him at that point but doesn't wanna abandon his duty against Eggman now and his new friendships, and has found that he really loves this freedom and exploring. But now he's a proper hero, maybe not worldwide but definitely in these forested areas I mentioned earlier that are distant from the urban cities at the center of the mainland. So people probably take him in and let him sleep in their guest rooms or on their couch with Tails for free on the days they don't feel like camping out, yknow as thanks for keeping eggman at bay and saving woodland critters and kidnapped victims like Amy. Eventually in time Tails finishes building a Lab in Emerald Town with Sonic's help and that became their home base.

So I think Sonic lives all over the place, that he mostly sleeps at Tails' lab and has his own room there, but that he also still travels a ton inbetween adventures (because it's so easy for him to do, run for 10 seconds and you've skipped 5 towns) and likes to still stay at strangers' houses to hear their stories and sight-see, or will stay at whatever hotel or inn, or maybe even still set up a hammock if it's a night with good weather.

What about his family though? Oh he totally visits them as often as he can, but since it's a small island that hasn't made any connections to the mainland yet, they don't have a ferry system and are too far out to build a big bridge without promise of business to justify it. He hates the water so much and hates the boat rides there, so that's why it's reduced to yearly visits, but they still send letters back and forth all the time, with his parents sending pictures and updating him on his little sister, and Sonic sending back all the details of his adventures and new friends. I'm sure by the time he's become a big hero, like by sonic adventure 1, at that point the news of his heroism reaches his parents before his letters can, and they always make sure to write in how proud they are.

And don't worry!! Tails isn't left out by any means, he goes with Sonic to celebrate holidays at his family's house every year, and his parents make sure that he feels like he's a part of the family too, because he is! Besides, Sonic really appreciates the company for the boat-rides there and back, if we've learned anything from Sonic X, it's that he's not particularly a huge fan of long boat rides. Tails is Sonic's little bro through and through, and his little sister is simply thrilled to have two adventuring hero big brothers. Sonic's parents love to have Tails too because it gives them a chance to embarass Sonic with all the stories of how he would try to impress his little sister with radical skateboard tricks or setting a new record for running a lap around the island, but would always end up hurting himself somehow. Still, it made her laugh, and makes Tails laugh at the stories now even years later, so there's no real loss.

Tails

We all know the story of how Tails was bullied by the others in his village for either his second tail or his advanced skills in technology, depending on the media. Sonic was the one to scare the bullies off while running by one day, and Tails ended up following him and joining in on his adventure, so there's not much room for my own headcanons since he already has a past and home in canon (the lab/workshop he built in Emerald city). It's never said where his parents are in all of this, at least not in the cartoons, games, or IDW comics. It's unclear whether they simply were never there, possibly neglected him and therefore did not care when he left, or if they let him leave to adventure the same way Cream's mom lets her. The headcanon I ended up coming up with is that in Tails village it has a 'it takes a village to raise a kid' mentality, and although kids still lived with their parents, they were cared for by everyone in the village, and that it was predominantly foxes living there. Because of this, I think if Tails wasn't claimed by his parents and instead lived in a group home or orphanage, it wouldn't be too bad since he'd have the whole village of adults looking after him, but: This would also make it easy for him to kind of feel like he doesn't have much tying him to his home, just kind of generally cared for and not having a direct link or loyalty to a specific home. I also think that his village being majority foxes would cause them to be more closed minded toward any differences, like his second tail. So when Sonic comes by, and shows off how he's backpacking the mainland alone and embracing not having anything tying him down, Tails is totally star struck and wants to follow in his footsteps. They of course go on exciting adventures together and Sonic becomes his big bro, with the adventures slowly becoming more intense as they grow older and rise to the challenges and make connections to adventuring types all over the world (and beyond, into the future and other dimensions and other planets).

Obviously he needs a place to store his equipment though, when his skills expand and demand more than the tools and materials he keeps stored in a bag on the Tornado. What was a single bag and the tornado ends up blowing up into a full blown workshop, multiple mechas, basically a whole industry with his logo showing up even on common household items. I think that's how he makes money too to stay independent, through selling inventions or being commissioned for repairs or designs.

Also in the IDW comics, there's a small side moment where Tails asks Sonic to play games with him, and there's a panel showing them playing games on a couch, so it's clear that Tails' workshop does have a living area with the typical furniture and comforts.

As said earlier he visits Sonic's family every year whenever they can make the time for a trip and be sure they won't be needed for anything important (this becomes easier when the freedom fighters or the resistance/restoration is formed, depending on whichever continuation you follow, regardless it allows them to go off for a little vacation/home visit more often). Tails is nervous at first but after a few visits becomes excited to go see them again and feels like a part of the family, and a holiday without him just doesn't feel right at Sonic's family's house. Whenever he's there he definitely helps with any home repairs they may need as thanks, and eventually helps them with setting up a way to do video calls. Even with video calls, Sonic still likes to send letters back and forth too, it became a way to really sit down and digest all the big events that happen to him, like a way to help process it all while also chronicling all the good moments with his friends. Still he appreciates the video calls Tails set up, but since he never keeps any tech on him, they have to be scheduled so he can make sure he can go have a sit-down at Tails' lab to be there to answer the call and have a chat (this means Tails is always there for the video calls too!).

At first at Sonic's family's house his bedroom had been left untouched and still has his silly race-car bed and stack of comic books and stuff, and it isn't until he literally can't fit in it anymore that it's replaced, and when it is they make sure to put a second bed in the room for Tails too since they always visit together.

Amy

Amy seemed to seek independence from a really young age. It's implied in Sonic X that her parents really upheld gender roles and expected her to stay at home and stay away from rough housing with her hammer. It was her fortune cards that told her to leave home, that she'd find her hero out in the world, and so that's how she ended up chasing Sonic around. I really like that Amy still found fun in femininity despite her parents' influence on her, that she knows she can simultaneously weild her massive hammer and bark orders while still expecting to be treated delicately and wear her cute outfits.

Since Amy isn't included on a lot of Sonic's early adventures with Knuckles and Tails, I tend to fill this gap with her having to return home because she doesn't really have anywhere to stay except for her parents' home, unlike the boys, so she can't tag along, as much as she'd like to. By Sonic Adventure 1 though, we see her independently grocery shopping and such, so it can be assumed that she moved out of her parents house the moment she was able to, probably saving up all her money to get away, and likely not being especially fond of or attached to her parents because of their conflicting thoughts on gender roles and adventuring, although not exactly hating them either. I like to headcanon that she moved into a human city maybe because its just easier to be independent there, that the animal-people communities have a focus on family and community and build their own eco-huts, but since she was goin' it alone it was easier to move into a pre-built apartment in the city. I bet, too, that she was excited to live right next to Twinkle Park. I also like to headcanon that shes specifically living in a tiny apartment right above a bakery, and that she works there a little bit to pay her rent living above it, like Kiki's delivery service. Obviously she regroups with the boys now that she's able to and joins in as a permanent fixture to the adventures.

Later on when she's older (I like to think her outfit reflects her age, that she was a child when she had the green skirt, a teenager with the big red skirt with lace edge, and an adult when she's got the red dress we see her in now) she finally moves back into an animal folk community and builds her own eco-hut. She has people over for tea often and bakes little treats to go with it. Just like the annual comic, I think she draws the mini-comics of her friends, and has been drawing their adventures and funny moments for a long long time. She definitely seems like the type to draw diary comics, or at least any kind of diary. Even though she settles down in one of the animal folk villages, I think she still makes trips into the city to go shopping with Rouge or to drag Sonic to Twinkle Park (he pretends to hate it but actually loves the arcade section with dancing games and the thrill rides, and soon they start making it into a trip with even more friends). There's a moment in the IDW comics where she takes everyone on a camping trip, and it's shown she has a cute car too, so I think she goes out and does stuff often, having little planned out trips with friends.

Amy realizes that her cards were never telling her of a hero that'd save her, they were sending her on her quest to become a hero by spreading love and protecting compassion, just like what she said in Sonic Fronteirs. I think her speech to Shadow, the way she protected Gamma, the way she looks out for Sonic and holds together the alliances and friendships he sparks, I think that's her role in the group and I think it's reflected in the way she lives, the way she builds a home wherever her friends need to be, and the way she's one of the only ones shown to have a car to help connect friends, always the one planning the get-togethers like her picnic in Sonic Prime and camping trip in IDW.

Knuckles

Okay honestly I don't have a lot in mind for Knuckles but there's no fucking way he actually just sleeps on the steps in front of the master emerald I refuse to believe it I refuse-

So obviously in my headcanon Knuckles is not homeless/shelterless. Yea sometimes he probably posts up in a hammock around angel island, same as Sonic's habits, maybe sometimes he does fall asleep in front of the master emerald by accident, but I like to believe he has a little home to keep things in and rest his head and hide out from the rain, even if he's not materialistic.

Remember when he popped up out of a sewer manhole in Sonic Adventure 2? I like to emphasize his whole thing of like, climbing up rock-walls and digging underground with his knuckle claw things lol. So building off of that, I think there's a hidden hatch somewhere and that the master emerald's temple is actually hollowed out inside underground for the protector to make a home of. That way he literally lives beneath the master emerald. I'm sure he has a little spot to cook food and a bed and maybe a makeshift boxing area and that's his home darn it give him a home. Beyond that he doesn't have any belongings inside because mostly he spends time all over the island looking after the chao, exploring, uncovering new engravings and structures, etc etc.

Also, honestly, I feel like it'd be nice if he had a few more hobbies. Especially if he was like, keeping some of his culture alive through crafting/making art, like weaving or carving small sculptures or stuff like that yknow? He doesn't like to hold on to too many items though because clutter makes him feel overwhelmed so he exclusively makes them as gifts for others. When he gifted Amy a small accessory he made Amy tried to gift back an accessory of her own that she knitted but she soon learned that it was better to just visit Knuckles and craft together side by side while enjoying the weather.

[shadowonwater]

Pokemon Scarlet playthrough part the 9th: I avoid getting crushed by giant boulders, fighting a make-up artist, doing some cave exploring, and then fighting a really sweet wrestler.

Masterlist of my playthrough

Okay so I got a bit mixed up when I said "flying gym leader" next. It was actually flying titan next and then a gym leader whoops.

Gotta say the mountain area where you fight the giant bird? Beautiful. I love climbing up the windmills and gliding from place to place. A very good area for gliding.

I clearly saw the giant Bombirdier in the distance and I was like, yup, that's the titan. So I had to dodge some giant boulders on my way up, not the easiest thing. Gotta say, hiding behind big rocks like that reminded me of this one bit from PR: Shadows of Almia. Similar situation and all, but this time much shorter.

The bird... was very easy. I am overleved and am using an electric type against it. One hit KO.

Happy as always to help Arven's sick dog, I hope the last herb makes it all better. And now... I CAN FINALLY SWIM! Now I can get to the last titan out in the water, first I'm going to fight the Psychic Gym Leader, tho.

Arven thinks that there some sort of mental block stopping Kori from going to battle mode. Something traumatizing. Considering Kori's body language, I'd say he's correct. I'm very suspicious of his mom right now....

I haven't explored the area as thoroughly as I'd like but it's easy to get lost on where you've been and where you haven't when you include all the jumping onto high areas.

So I headed towards the city where the Psychic gym is and went into the cool cave, it seems like a really big cavernous cave. Climbed to the top and into the town. I'm happy to say I'm on level again, considering the wild Pokemon.

I caught a phony Sinistea, might try to get the real deal some other time, but this is fine for now. Also caught a Klefkey and a Banette. The Banette battle was kinda funny because it pretty much sabotaged itself.

See I was using my Clodsire, who has Yawn. I use Yawn to help me catch Pokemon by making them fall asleep. Turns out the Banette had the Insomnia ability which would have stopped this from working if it hadn't used a move that made it copy my ability. So then I had Poison Point instead, which is useless against my Clodsire because it's poison and also because he only has special attacking moves.

So the town itself is real pretty looking what with all the tiles and water fixtures. But the way it looks and the music gives real Orientalism vibes. And I'm just a little uncomfy with that considering the history of Orientalism. idk, maybe I'm overthinking it.

When I talked to an NPC and they mentioned Pokemon artwork on the observatory that looks like old video game sprite art, I got really excited. I was like "is it old Pokemon sprite work?!" and it was! It was sprites from gen 1! I really adore this reference to the older games, it's a really nice addition. Anyway I'll be visiting the gym and seeing what my test is right after this, toot-a-loo.

Uhh... I didn't really like the gym test I think it was kind of tedious, the music was nice though. Also one of my teacher's was there. Y'know something I always find myself wondering is why the other challenges are using the same typing as the gym. I get game mechanics wise, they are suppose to act as the gym trainers you fight in other gyms but in this case they are supposed to be challengers. Wouldn't they have more variety of Pokemon? Or they could have Pokemon that are strong against that gym's type.

Anyway the gym test was pretty much a quick time event, altho I had much more time than I needed, and I just like it went on for too long.

The gym leader herself, meh. I don't really care about make-up. I liked how she had those flapping wings on her outfit tho, they were cool. And I feel like her team fit her theme well with all of them being very pretty Pokemon.

It was nice to battle a gym where I was on level again. She even took out 2 of my Pokemon. I mostly used my grass cat against her, because dark type. I didn't get a single one hit KO, so good on her. I switched to my Rock Salt golem because it has a Steel move to try try to use against Gardavor. But it had Energy Ball and I only got one hit in.

At the end her flower lady became Psychic but it still has its Fairy moves of course and took out grass cat with a Moon Blast. Finished it off with my Giraffe.

Afterwards I decided to do a bunch more exploring. I checked out the detour to that Psychic Town, and it was super cool, very scenic. I explored some other caves around the area. And climbed around the waterfall.

I ended up finding two more stakes. But I've realized something. Up until now I haven't given much though about why the stakes are different colors, yellow and purple. But I think I figured it out. The creepy gate was purple, so I bet only the purple stakes were tied to it. So I bet there's a different Yellow Gate, and the yellow stakes affect that one. So yeah I'm going to keep exploring for a while longer.

Nothing much to report about my exploring. I used Kori's newfound swimming ability to visit some random islands. I was surprised when I found people on a couple of there. I was like "What the hell are you doing way out here?"

So what I decided was Fighting Star Raid first, then going after the Dragon titan after that. Trying to figure out how to get to the next Star Raid was a bit tricky because the area was kinda hard to get to and out of the way. I wonder what made her choose a place so secluded.

Anyway this bamboo forest looking area is really pretty though. Nice music too. I had a hard time getting through because I'm back on level and the many Fighting Types around here keep trying to pick fights with me.

I was surprised to find the boss of this group, Eri, trying to guard the gate herself. Mad respect. Doing the raid itself was interesting because I pretty much just had to go in a straight line, a much less open area this is.

I will say I might have actually been slightly underleveled but I did fine. I had a Normal/Psychic, a Fighting/Flying, and an Electric/Flying with me. So I had a lot of type advantage with me. The fight with Eri herself gave me some trouble.

First I used Kilowattrel against her Toxicroak. Air Slash brought it into red and it's Poison Jab brought me into then low orange (also poisoned). So I used a Full Restrore. It used Poison Jab again but didn't poison me that time so I used Air Slash again and took it out.

I won't do a whole play-by-play but her Annilape gave me some trouble. The car was hard to fight too. In the end I was victorious but half of my team was fainted.

So anyway Eri is really sweet, I like her a lot. It's glaringly clear indeed that Penny/Cass/Big Boss are all the same person. When I ask Cass about her "Gang" she never directly answers me but talks about the motivation's of Team Star, thus, implying that that is the gang.

Penny clearly seems to look down at her past actions as the Big Boss. I'm very interested in hearing more. I want to hear her motives behind everything.

After all that I explored the area a bit. When I saw that huge wall of stone I was like "what the fuck is that" but now I've realized that that is the boundary between this region and another. After all Spain/Portugal isn't an island. I'm just more used to that sort of thing being blocked by a forest. But I guess a forest isn't going stop Koraidon, now is it?

I also found another stake but this was a new color, blue! Are there three doors then? I've never found Blue stakes before.

Another weird thing, I think, are these... crystals? idk what rock they are but there are these big black rocks around and I'm like, "What's the deal with these?"

Anyway I'll leave this post off here, I'll be going after the dragon titan next and then I'll start heading off into the mountains. to face the last stuff that's left. Unless I decide partway through to take some more school classes. Been meaning to take some more.

[adelaideriedesel]

Ziploc Bags and Lucky Stars - Week 4: February 2, 2024

Another week…another story time! Before story time started a very kind and local Mom came to Lisa, the Education Director, and gave her a hand-drawn map of the woods around the mansion where she used to play as a child. This included a huge tree that had rickety metal ladder steps leading to an overgrown metal platform, a deep ditch with a ladder, and fallen windmills. The fact that she was casually playing in untouched woods was such a wonder to hear. She recounted memories of her and her friends finding artifacts like leather boots and buckles. Tracy said that if that area the mom drew is on county property, we’ll go explore it next week. If that happens, that will be a very long post! To get back to story time there were around 15 kids this week. The theme was all about birds and the kids colored some really sweet paper birds. This story time was not as exciting as last week’s, but still cute as always and this time somehow louder. We cleaned up the storytime supplies and then I started on the bin from last week!

I started off light and updated the spreadsheet of the excavation papers. To be honest I was a little bit nervous because I didn’t know if all the bags were disintegrating and what I was going to do. To my luck there were quite a few bags that were still intact. My plan of action was to take out the complete bags and do my best to read what bags were broken before it literally crumpled in my hand the second I touched them. I found this practice quite successful as I referenced the excavation papers to see which bags were missing and pieced together the clues that way. As I was carefully going to pull out the intact bags, I noticed a complete small bottle within a bag. It was a clearly very old bottle that had raised writing with “Clovers Imperial Distemper Cure, H. Clay Clover, New York”. I did a quick google search and found that it was veterinary medicine made around the 1890s! This was such a fascinating find as a lot of the artifacts were broken glass, burnt wood, and other small fragments. I continued to comb through the bin piece by piece until at the bottom were the artifacts spilled from the broken bags. In total there were roughly 50 bags in the bin! To make it even easier to find something from the spreadsheet I put all the same bags in another bag. To put it simpler, bags 14.3 - 14.9 are all in one big bag. This will make it much easier to sift through three or four bags rather than a grand sum of 50+.  This whole process took quite a few hours, but I honestly loved every minute of it. 

Throughout all of this I showed Tracy, the Director, what I had found like the veterinary medicine bottle, another complete bottle, St. John’s pottery, and some ceramic pieces with beautiful flower designs. She then said that there was a room in the stable that she wanted to make a little exhibit in and have some artifacts displayed… and she suggested that maybe I could do that for another segment of my project. I obviously gladly and enthusiastically accepted and simultaneously thanked my lucky stars for leading me here. I already have so many ideas and thoughts on what to do, but I’m going to take it one step at a time. In my second post I talked about humanizing the past and the people who lived here, and this is an amazing opportunity to do just that.

I am so grateful that I stumbled upon this sanctuary of a space and extremely lucky to have Lisa and Tracy guiding, trusting, and believing in me.

The pictures for this week include my workspace (Tracy’s office floor and photo credits to Tracy), a close-up of the veterinary bottle, and my view on the way home.

That’s it for this week!

Adelaide

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

The year is 117AD, you just inherited the Roman Empire at its absolute height of territory and power. What do you do to make certain it survives until modern times?

i'm not sure how much you want me to cheese it vs be realistic but i have some ideas.

reform, reform, reform....

first things first, revive the republic and reform the administration of the provinces. turn the empire into a quasi-federal republic with a mix of local and federal government. let's advance the creation of the "imperial" and "senatorial" provinces. amply assimilated provinces will be made into "senatorial" provinces and they will be given a greater degree of local government and they will elect their own governors and provincial senates. "imperial" provinces will be under the direct control of the consul/imperator/princeps/whatever and will be treated as military-occupied territories, being governed by military governors appointed by the federal government (the city of rome, which would be their equivalent of D.C.).

we also would establish /clear/ rules of succession/election. i'm not too concerned with the details, but since we're americanizing the roman empire i'd suggest some electoral process similar to what we have in america and establish some kind of senatorial electoral college that elects the consul and his co-consul. hopefully this will limit the occurrence of generals starting rebellions because they think they can just take the throne by force.

quite frankly, i would just codify the whole roman constitution and reform the legal code in general. streamline and modernize it. make the constitution resemble the american constitution as is reasonably possible, while still respecting traditional roman rights. but the important thing would be to establish civilian control of the military and outlining the election process.

i would also need to establish a national bank and start issuing fiat currency. have this national bank loan money at little to no interest to individuals, collegia, and other institutions, etc. whoever needs capital to invest in something. this fiat currency will be made the only legal tender in the empire.

speaking of investing, the roman government would be encouraged to invest in various infrastructure projects and internal improvements; roads, canals (build the suez canal), bridges, aqueduct, watermills, public schools, etc. also start subsidizing the construction of imperial academic institutions of higher learning. especially ones that are researching and development things like steam engines, windmills, agricultural efficiency, etc. start sponsoring geniuses and inventors and patronizing artists. "nationalize" the shipbuilding industry; starting pumping out a shit ton of boats (owning the seas is a top-priority) and include a shipbuilding university that studies and teaches sailing and shipbuilding and facilitates new innovations.

reform the tax system. both the kinds of taxes (like institute a land-value tax) but also the method of collecting them. introduce protective tariffs for critical industries.

deal with the parthians. just conquering them would be ideal but with conditions as they are in 117 AD i don't think this is practical. maybe in a few decades after all of my above mention policies have taken effect we'll be in a better position. but right now i think i'd be seeking peace and trying to normalize relations. establish the border at the euphrates. let them have mesopotamia as an act of good will. create some kind of trade agreement to maintain the flow of trade through the silk road. we need to end the wars in the east so we can focus on the north.

the north. brittania, germania, and dacia are the three big problem areas. i say we cut brittania loose. create a client kingdom, trade for their tin and silver, and also get some income from the import duties. fact is, brittania costs too much to hold right now. we can easily get the tin and silver through trade. we will conquer her another day. our focus should be on germania and dacia. move the british legions there. and i say we push the border to the elbe. it will actually shorten the border.

as for the germanic tribes. we play them off each other. divide and conquer. ally with some, fight the others. we settle our allies inside our territory and assimilate them. break them up and scatter them across the empire though. mandatory military service for them. you know the drill.

either abolish slavery or severely restrict it to the point that it will slowly die out over time. also abolish serfdom.

also land reform. start distributing lands in imperial provinces to soldiers and the urban poor (after being educated how to farm) and to newly integrated germanic citizens. this will both help with a more equitable distribution of land/wealth but also expedite the colonization and assimilation of these imperial provinces.

/actually/ persecute and exterminate christianity.

[danishmuseuminterns]

INTERN BLOG - THANK YOU!

There are not enough words to describe how I feel right now…

After 6 months here at the Museum of Danish America, my internship is over and I’m headed back to Denmark to finish my degree.

This has been the adventure of a lifetime, and everything I could have ever dreamed of. From arriving in the coldest winter, I have ever experienced (and I have lived on Greenland, so that says a lot) to leaving in some of the hottest weather I can imagine.

This past month has been super busy. In the beginning of June, Diya, Delaney, Julia, and I went to Omaha for a Taylor Swift party (not to be confused with the Eras Tour, which we did not have tickets for). For anyone who is still confused, it was a party at The Slowdown, where they only played music by Taylor Swift! So much fun!

Then, Amelia and I picked up a very special guest from the airport. My sweet, sweet partner Kasper, flew in to help us celebrate the 40th and we are traveling back to Denmark together later this week. I showed him all of my favorite attractions in the area, including Albert the Bull in Audubon, of course.

Last week was so busy, but so much fun! From all of the setting up to talking to celebrating, the DAHS Conference was interesting and I enjoyed listening to the different speakers, and it was nice to have Center for American Studies at the University of Southern Denmark represented through Anders Bo Rasmussen and his book. The Saturday celebration included a bit of rain, but that did not stop us! Everyone was in amazing mood and I got to talk to people from all over the United States (and Denmark!).

Speaking of Albert the Bull, I think I must owe an update to my Iowa bucket list! I’ve done most of the things on the list (and so much more). We never found the time to go to Adventureland, but I have gotten to experience so many other cool things! I also saw a racoon mom and her babies in almost-daylight, so I’m counting that as a win! Tomorrow we will be going to the Henry Doorly Zoo and officially finish off the list!

Leaving the Museum and Elk Horn is not fun – I have so many new friendships from here and I’ve learned so much. I’m looking forward to going home, but I am so sad that I have to leave. To all future interns. Cherish the time you have here, it all goes by so fast.

Thank you to the Museum of Danish America for letting me try out everything I’ve learned and for teaching me even more, thank you to all staff members who I’ve been lucky enough to call me co-workers, thank you to Amelia Juhl for being the best friend one could ever dream of (and to the rest of the Juhl family for being just as amazing). To Shaun from the Windmill for giving me what must be the last Elk Horn fridge magnet in America. To the volunteers and board members that I have met, thank you for being so kind to me, and to the Scan Design Foundation – thank you for making the Danish internship program possible. It is truly life changing.

There are not enough words to describe how grateful I am.

[nataliesnews]

Date: Tue, Mar 28, 2023 at 4:00 PM Subject: AN AMAZING WOMAN, and Israel today

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Natalie Ginsburg <natanyag@gmail.com> Date: Tue, Mar 28, 2023 at 4:00 PM Subject: AN AMAZING WOMAN, and Israel today To:

 If you want to read about an amazing woman, I am sure that I must have spoken about her before,  it is Adina bar Shalom. When one reads how she dealt with all the setbacks in her life and came out on top.... I met her years ago at a meeting with women and afterwards went up to her and said that she had made me feel very differently about what is happening with our religion. 

  --https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/adina-bar-shalom

AND if you want to read     more about what Netanyahu is capable of...I doubt he has ever heard the     word truth....these are lies that he has used time and again

I am exhausted and so glad     that because of the situation  my lesson at Schechter has been     cancelled. Daphne was here yesterday and I went to the Windmill of     Montefiore where we had a wine tasting and cheese. One of the wines they     brought us was from the occupied areas so I sent it back and they brought     me a wine made in Israel. The two young men were very understanding and     pleasant. But then I managed to lose my little bag with my ID in it and my     credit card. So this morning the first thing I did was go to the Ministry     of the Interior. One thing about getting old is you get  preferential     treatment and don't have to make an appointment and within an hour I was     out of there. It was  very important to me to do that even though I     also have it on my phone but I know these soldiers and police too well and     it would be very easy for them to give me a fine...or worse. So at least I     have that sorted out. 

 I saw that kind of     behavior when I was with Hanna Barag with whom I have gone in previous     years at Ramadan to the checkpoint at Bethlehem. We had no problem going     in but when we wanted to go out through the gate which is opened for the     handicapped and through which we have always gone in previous years a     little weasel faced creep would not allow it even though  two of the     other police told him to let us through, He made a big performance of     taking our IDs to check them out. I told him as I now tell all of the     police and soldiers who act in that way that I hope their mothers and     grandmothers will be treated in the same way in time to come. And I mean     it.

The numbers are  not     mine but gmail which I have learned to hate. I don't know how to get rid     of them. Anyhow about the story of the luggage. It was probably the     luggage of the whole delegation though why one would need so much luggage     even for his entourage which I believe was 60 people for two days is hard     to understand. I hate to think what the last three jaunts of weekend     dissipation have cost the country. He does not seem to have been very well     received anywhere and there was no reason for going off to eat in unkosher     restaurants while the country is burning. And that at a time when he is     trying to pass a law to prevent bread being taken into hospitals where     there are many Palestinian patients.

Don't be fooled by Netanya     suddenly agreeing to hold back till after Peisach. Now that he has     practically already passed many of his dictatorial laws,      he is not agreeing to change  anything after Peisach. It is just an     attempt to stop the protests which will afterwards lose the empetus. All     whom I have spoken to say the same.

And now we will soon have     the stormtroopers. If the latter does not remind you of stormtroopers in     German what else will. I dread the thought of what Ben Gvir and he troops     will do in the Palestinian villages and wuth the shepherds. No, get this     straight. This has just started

  Deal cut after     national security minister reportedly threatened to quit coalition over     decision to halt judicial legislation; critics slam move as handing Ben     Gvir private militia

https://www.timesofisrael.com/to-okay-overhaul-delay-ben-gvir-gets-promise-for-national-guard-under-his-control/

 A fact that the media has not bothered to announce is that a house of  a Palestinians family was set on fire by settlers and the woman and three children  were pulled out to safety. The media has tried to make out it was an electrical problem but the owner of the house said he heard a window being smashed in and then the flames started. But of of course no one has been arrested and the affair has not been investigated.

To okay overhaul delay, Ben Gvir gets promise for ‘national guard’ under his control

Deal cut after national security minister reportedly threatened to quit coalition over decision to halt judicial legislation; critics slam move as handing Ben Gvir private militia

https://www.timesofisrael.com/to-okay-overhaul-delay-ben-gvir-gets-promise-for-national-guard-under-his-control/

[monstermaster13]

Hessian Hex Remake part 1

You may not believe this story (which is something you'll hear frequently in stories that likely were creepypastas or grimdark in nature, trust me, this is nothing new), but then again pretty much given that i've dealt with the paranormal before this is nothing new. But this is one that you would have to see to believe. It started off on a seemingly quiet and normally night, I was with my companion Rebecca (my goth monster loving companion, replacing the companion in the original version of the story) and we were going on a tour of the famous town of Sleepy Hollow. Almost all of the buildings where closed except for the library (okay..some artistic liberties were made here, but it was a weekend so), the church and several other places of interest. Of course, given this town's infamous history of the supernatural - something was sure to happen. I had just left the library and it was pretty dark but luckily I had a torch with me, as I looked around and checked the map (remember to check the map). 'Alright - Becky, since you're my companion for this adventure, let's start the adventure and you are the companion…what do you say we meet outside the woods near the old windmill? I'll take the left and you take the right.'

"But what if something happens to you like if you get eaten or killed or something?"

"Relax - everything's going to be fine."

'I don't know, this being the town of ol Sleepy Hollow and all. What if you run into the Hessian Horseman?' 'Man that would be awesome. Oh no, I mean that would be horrible! I don't want to lose my head.' 'I just want you to be safe out there…alright?' 'I'll try to.' I took off to the left and headed over to the mainly woodland area to go and have a look around, I crept around quietly - not making a sound - making sure not to make a sound. Everything seemed normal, except for the glowing eyes in the background and the ghastly moaning.

"So far so good.."

Just then I heard the sound of wicked laughter, coming from not too far away. I turned around to see where it was coming from but the laughter stopped. 'Huh? I could have sworn I was being watched. Oh well…you know how these cliches go.' I continued on my way but as I did, a crow that was sitting upon one of the branches of a knarled old tree looked down at me. I didn't stop to question this, I just went on my way , but as I continued walking the crow started following me. 'Why is this bird following me? Oh well..I really shouldn't be questioning these sort of things. After all i'm used to weird stuff.' When I got to a clearing I took a breather and as I did, the crow flew down onto the ground as it did it morphedi nto a woman with long black hair and a pale complexion as well as green eyes.

"Gah! Who the heck are you?"

"I am…Michayla…the maiden of the night."

"Are you some kind of demon, werecreature or vampire? What are you?"

"I'm a witch. And i've had my eye on you for quite sometime."

"Really now? What would a dark maiden like you want with someone like me?"

"I want you to carry out a very important task of mine."

"Let me guess..it involves killing…"

"It does. Do you think you're up to it?"

"Ummm…does 'no thank you. I'm not going to kill anyone for you' count as an answer?"

"I'm afraid you're going to do it."

"Well i've got news for you, Little Miss Black Magic. I'm not a killer, and besides i'm no ordinary human being…."

I leaped into the air and growled, turning into Growler the weregrinch and turning to face Michayla. 'Oooh, I like you already. You're going to be a very useful and powerful addition to the little plan i'm concocting.' 'Sorry, Mistress of the Dark but i'm not going to be part of your evil plan…not even if you asked nicely. Now prepare to face my wrath!'

"We'll see about that….."

I started fighting her with my monster powers but unfortunately she used a dark magical energy attack to drain my powers rendering them useless and turning me back to my normal human form. 'I have the better powers now.'

"Ugh. Please gimme my powers back."

"You won't be needing them once I get through with you."

'What are you up to? You're not going to turn me into a frog are you? You better not think about eating me.' Of course I made a cliche fairytale reference. I rolled my eyes at my own joke and then looked up at her. I wouldn't say an evil witch is sexy or anything, but at the time I wasn't known for being attracted to dark/powerful women.

"Oh I wouldn't do that."

"Aaaaw…you're not gonna eat me either? Not even without fattening me up first? Pitty, I was so looking forward to that."

"I have something different in mind…"

"Is this some kind of weird witchy voodoo spell?"

"Yes..it's a spell."

'Is it an animal transformation spell? I've already been turned into several different animals, heck…even my own best friend Staten turned me into a pony once.' 'That's true, he did get transformed into a pony.'

"No…."

"Well what is it? Huh?"

"A Transferance Spell."

"And just who or what are you going to transfer into me?"

"The Hessian…"

My face turned to a look of pure shock as I did a double take, my eyes bugging out of my head all cartoon-like, 'Are you kidding me? W-W-What? Okay.. allow me to do another double take of that. W-W-W-What? The Hessian? As in the mad Hessian Horseman that decapitates his victims and has razor sharp teeth? THAT Hessian?'

"Yes…."

1

"Oh that's just great, that's just trucking great. I'm going to be possessed by the spirit of a Hessian warrior with a love of carnage and bloodlust."

"Now this won't hurt a bit."

"That's what my doctor said when I got my vaccine. He lied."

Michayala waved her hands and spoke an incantation in Latin as dark magical energy flowed through them, shadows came to life and started sneaking up on me as a dark magic aura surrounded me. I struggled to fight the shadows but the shadows were too fast for me to fight without my monster powers. Hey, I gotta get to what cursed me to be the monster in the first place.'

"It's no use. You can't fight it now."

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that once this spell is in effect…that you're going to be my Hessian."

"What? I'm going to BE the Hessian Horseman? Oh no no no no, tell me it isn't so."

"I'm afraid it is."

"I won't let you do this."

I tried to break out of the dark magic energy field and swat away at the shadows but I was knocked over. 'It's no use trying to fight it.' 'No matter what you say, i'm NOT going to turn against anyone. I am the hero of this story here - NOT the villain.' Which was true, even though I do have dark tendencies and a bit of a history to me that I cannot discuss here, I was definitely a hero.

"You won't be once this is done though."

She stared deeply into my own eyes as the spell took affect, the spirit of the Hessian taking control of me for a brief while as my eyes turned from brown to a ghostly shade of blue. The dark magical energy aura dimmed down but the shadows were now permantely surrounding me. Michayala laughed evilly as she turned back into a crow and flew off, leaving me alone

in the woods.

"Damn it!"

"Nathan? Where are you?"

"Oh no….Rebbecca is coming. I can't let her find out about this."

My eyes turned back from blue to their normal brown colour as I calmed down a bit and the shadows dimmed down. I didn't know what had gotten into me back there, but that witch certainly must have done something to me, but I didn't know what.

"Nathan? Nathan?"

"I'm here, Beckster. Just brushing off some dust."

"There you are. So what happened?"

"Well I was going through the woods and some weird witch lady put a spell on me."

"Oh. I'm glad you're okay though."

"Me too…"

"Come on…..let's go."

She grabbed my hand and as she did, she noticed that something wasn't right - she stepped back as a shadow stretched out and hissed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nathan….what did she do to you?"

"I don't know but for some reason…i'm starting to feel like I want to go on a rampage now. "

"Oh no….we better get out of here before something worse starts happening to you."

With that the both of us ran out of the woods and headed back towards the town square. The townspeople started looking at me like I was some kind of monster, I had no idea why. Something weird was definitely going on. Why did my eyes turn blue earlier? And why did I just I felt like I wanted to go on a rampage? Oh no..could it be? Could I really have been starting to turn?

All these were questions I would have to seek the answers to without causing a scene, and to do that I would have to keep it on the down low and keep it under control.

Has the spell already started taking effect on our hero? Will he able to kept it under control without freaking people out?