#animal death is triggering to me

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

Part 2/2

By the time Stanley had realized he wasn't as alone as he believed himself to be entrapped in this ravenous abyss; he had honestly begun to suspect that he was finally starting to properly lose his mind.

In all the ceaseless miles that Stanley had journeyed during his apparent permanent residence within the dark devouring void, not once had he encountered another conscious, walking, talking being similar to himself. Every other formerly living creature that he had crossed paths with had been so... silent. Empty. Dead, in every sense of the word. It was as though the very essence of life itself had been sucked out of their bodies with a straw, their forms slowly falling apart piece by piece under the vicious gluttony of the darkness that surrounded them. They looked like they actually were supposed to be there, unmoving and comatose, unlike him.

So, when Stanley first began to encounter the twins, all of a sudden, he wasn't the only one in the dark.

When meeting the first pair of them, he found himself standing in a lake.

He hadn't even noticed the changes at first. It felt as though he had been walking for weeks on end, his body moving purely on autopilot and his aching legs leading him towards a destination only it knew. A thick fog of forgetfulness and flickering memories had descended upon his brain like a heavy blanket of numbing static as he had traveled. In this absentminded state, he hadn't even realized that the ever-present undulating, buzzing darkness surrounding him had begun to gradually shift and morph to form a horizon line; stretching into tall looming cliffsides that almost seemed to close in on him. Once the nonexistent floor beneath his soles abruptly began to ripple and warp, like the disturbed surface of a shallow puddle; only then did he finally notice his transformed environment.

The transition was seamless, almost dream-like. One moment, he was still surrounded by that filthy, overwhelming abyss; and the next, his boots were suddenly plunged deep into the cold, dark lake water.

The silence didn't leave, however. It still choked and stuffed its way into Stanley's ears to clog up his mind with thick cotton; the eerie quiet not quite matching the calm, almost serene scenery the void seemed to have abruptly transformed itself into. Like a movie with its sound cut off; leaving only the unsettling hum of the projector to fill the empty air.

It was odd. The lake was surely incredibly deep. He could obviously tell from how thin and pathetically small the shores appeared all the way from where he now unceremoniously stood in the middle of the lake. Stan could look down and see the darkness below his feet swallow what meager light that managed to break through the murky waters. The overwhelming black almost seemed to beckon him, gaping and haunting; a bottomless underwater pit of pitch black that never seemed to end.

And yet, he didn't sink. Stanley remained perfectly level, the almost ink like waters stopping just at ankle level, as though he were held up just above the surface by some invisible force. Even the writhing waves seemed small and low, as though the waters were shy to climb up his legs further than that. It was odd, so very odd.

However, it wasn't nowhere near as odd as the sight that greeted him when he finally lifted his eyes from the waters.

Stanley had crossed paths with truly unbelievable sights in this strange somewhere; from bursting, collapsing stars; to the imploding heat death of entire universes, but none of them seemed to hold the candle to what he saw then when he lifted his eyes:

Children.

Two, to be exact. Two, nearly identical looking children stood motionless before him; completely soaked through to the bone as though they had taken a plunge into the frigid water that pooled around their ankles. It was a girl and a boy, both adorned with twin expressions utterly devoid of emotion, their wide eyed stare seeming to burn holes into his thin jacket. Their drenched clothes sagged off of their scrawny frames; thin rivulets of water dirpping off of them and disturbing the glassy surface of the water at their feet. The little girl's hair had messily stuck to her face in thin sodden strands, her cheeks still full and round with youth just like the boy's. They looked young. Too young to be in a place such as this.

Oh, but their eyes; their eyes.

They burned with such anger; such injustice, brighter than any dying star or galaxies he had ever seen. Anger towards the world, to fate, to whatever cruel deity that had deemed them fit to be sent to this wretched place so prematurely. They were too young to be here; to be entrapped like he was amongst this hungry darkness. And yet, here they were, sheer denial against their own untimely deaths being the only thing keeping them awake and conscious amongst the dead and rotting. A show of juvenile defiance to nature itself so vehement even the all-consumign darkness seemed hesitant to devour them whole just yet.

It saddened him. It saddened him to know that they belonged there, that they were supposed to be there. He could see it, he could feel it; they were dead. No amount of determination could deny that universal fact.

When they spoke, Stanley could hear anger:

Stan chuckled in a futile attempt to lighten the suddenly heavy atmosphere that threatened to crush him whole. "A lake monster? You kids and your imagination," he teased, hoping to somehow rid the poor kids of the haunted look that seemed to whirl in their glares. No child should have been burdened with such a knowing look; such eyes that looked like they had seen everything there was to see about the world, the horrid and the good.

Clearly, it had been the wrong thing to say, and Stanley's faux pas was rewarded with a scowl from the little boy. A world's worth of sour contempt etched into every contorted groove that his grimace seemed to dig into his much too young face. Stan suddenly felt guilt squeeze at his weary bones for having caused that.

"That's what they all said," the boy spat out, eyes shining with a sheen of wetness Stan wasn't sure he was prepared to deal with.

Stan left that first interaction with the twins with the feeling of guilt and sorrow still clining to him.

He couldn't have known, at the time. He couldn't have known that this wouldn't be anywhere near the last time that he would meet the pair. He hadn't realised just how many of them there were. After that first pair, his endless journeying within the Abyss was hardly be spent alone anymore. Countless more times, he came face to face with the exact same two young and impossibly worn faces; forced to meet one pair of beaten and bruised kids after another.

Not one pair had died the same death as another. Some had gotten lost, prey to whatever threat that had snatched them up out in the open; some had fallen from high up; some had been crushed under an incredible weight; some had burned; some eaten alive; some zombified. Some didn't even seem physically harmed at all, body perfectly intact, and yet that same faraway, distrubed look in their eyes remained.

He thought the worst ones were the ones he found alone. A little girl or a little boy, left all lonesome without their other half there. Twins, he remembered a pair of them telling him once.

Once, he had come across a town full of silent, stone statues. It was a rustic, shabby, almost nostalgic looking town- odd and strangely familiar. The sight of it had tugged at an aged memory that had long since wasted away in the back of his mind. It was serene, almost deceptively so. The sun shone; the air smelled crisp and fresh; numerous waterfalls continued to crash down from the tall cliffsides; and a soft nonexistent breeze whistled through the thicket of pine trees that blanketed the outskirts of the town. None of it seemed to match the gruesome scene of the hundred wailing statues that littered every inch of the town.

He had found the boy's statue on the other side of town, deep within the green forest and toppled over the gnarled roots of a towering tree. Like the rest of the townsfolk, he too, was frozen mid-shriek; his stone face twisted and contorted into a mock impression of a silent scream as his body lay paused in a writhing struggle. He made sure to be gentle when he carried the boy's statue over to place it beside the girl's, whose statue stood far deeper into the forest, sporting the same rictus grimace of terror as her brother's. It somehow felt wrong for them to have been so far apart from one another, even in death.

He had come to dread meeting of the twins. He hated every second he had to confront yet another pair of dead children that did not belong here, but fate had decided they did. He despised having to listen to their tales of woe as they wept about the injustice of the world, of having died young; he despised himself for being unable to do more than weep with them.

"We don't belong here, Grunkle Stan," he would listen to the little girl weep, calling him a title he didn't recognize. He never remembered if they had ever told him their name, but they all seem to know his, without a fail. "If we're dead, then what about you? What about Grunkle Ford? Mom? Dad? What about them? We can't be dead, we can't be," they would say, confusion and frustration written all over their faces. They didn't understand. They didn't understand why they had come to the darkness so early, so unfairly.

He never knew what to say, he'd never been good with words.

All he could do was kneel down to their levels and engulf them in his arms, hoping he could somehow squeeze the pain straight out of their bodies in his embrace. He hugged them, because what else could he do?

[lastoneout]

Love having multiple dietary restrictions due to my chronic illnesses including a massive wheat intolerance and watching people on twitter assure everyone that "you won't starve if animal products and meat become prohibitively expensive or completely unavailable" like just say you don't give a shit about disabled people and go.

[qoldenskies]

How do you think cc Donnie would take the Technodrome? Any aftereffects you think he'd have?

i would NEVER do anything to cc!donnie like the horrors i put cvd!donnie through (because ive still danced around in the story it but its BAD bad) ,,, and my reason is just "i think he's been through enough" but depending on your interpretation of how you want the movie to go i think there's still plenty of horrors there. i could see him being in the console being extremely triggering because of his claustrophobia, at the very least!

[avephelis]

hey to any prophets on dash what's it mean if i found 6 dead pufferfish and a large bone today

[traumasurvivors]

While it doesn’t really bother me, and I just delete the messages, I want to bring attention to this because not everyone is okay with having trauma details dumped into their inbox.

It feels like a common theme on the internet nowadays honestly. And I’m mostly making this post to ask people to be mindful. There are still real people behind these screens. And dumping such details to someone without their consent can be triggering for them, exhausting or any number of things.

Being lonely sucks. Feeling alone is awful. And I’m sorry for that. But please don’t assume that internet strangers are okay with you sending them messages or comments about some trauma details.

[zundely]

Bioware, why your white guy companion does get to exist separately from his skeleton son add-on that players can kill for a tear-jerker moment , but the black guy needs to die with his flying dog?

And if you went ahead and stated that you thought the death of the flying dog would be more impactful of the two rather then death of Davrin, honestly the best companion in the cast (whose whole quest revolves around survivors guilt and finding new things to live for) couldn't you at least let my man live regardless? Or at least have enough decency to not talk about him in the interview as if he is the add on part of this duo? Please?

[slushyseals]

All videos showing people removing barnacles from sea turtles are not rescue videos, they're animal abuse- even if the video is "real".

Please report these videos as abuse and stop letting these people profit off rescue videos

There are many videos where the "rescuer" is actually the one who attached the barnacles in the first place (some you can even see the hot glue underneath as they pull off the pieces). Unless you see the animal in a rescue center with a vet tech treating it, that animal is being abused. How so?

The reason those growths are there is likely something far more dangerous that needs to be addressed. Healthy turtles do not get this level of growth on their shells. So if you see something like this, it’s a sign that this turtle is unwell and has been sick for a while. Scraping off the growths doesn’t solve the underlying issue. Also, doing so without any tools or pain medication can be extremely painful and stressful for the turtle. Often with this level of growth, barnacles will have borrowed through the turtle’s shell into live tissue. And just ripping them off like this without the expertise of a medical professional can do more harm than good. Not to mention that it is WAY stressful and not what the turtle needs most. Imagine if you had a the stomach flu or food poisoning and someone decided to “help” you by first detangling your hair, popping pimples, and exfoliating you when what you really need is fluids and someone to handle you very gently. It’s focusing on the wrong problem first and can worsen the underlying condition.

If you see an animal "rescue" video, always think- how did they find this animal? (Is it likely they just found an animal- or did they put an animal in danger to play hero for clout and ad profits? How did this animal get into this terrible situation in the first place? (The number of giant snakes found wrapped around a dog is pretty unbelievable- usually it's a person abusing two animals they own.) How is this person running into so many animals in dangerous situations? (Especially when you look at their other videos and they reuse the same animals to "save".) I am outside daily and I don't come across anywhere near as many animals needing help like these content farm channels.

Even when videos are real, if they are not a trained rescue worker they are often doing more harm than good! The people kidnapping tortoises and "saving" them by throwing them out into lakes and rivers might have just killed that animal. Many tortoises are land animals and aren't built for swimming like sea turtles, they can easily drown! A surprising number of people don't understand seals need to rest on shore, and end up killing babies and harassing adults by chasing them into the water. Baby seals can't swim for long distances, and chasing them into the water means their mom won't be able to find the baby after she's done hunting fish- the baby will slowly starve to death if actual rescue workers do not intervene!

Heck, some people have found perfectly healthy and happy baby seals waiting for their moms on the beach, but because the person doesn't understand that the mom isn't there 100% of the time think the baby has been abandoned; a man kidnapped a pup when the rescue wouldn't send someone out to get the animal which not only hurt that pup whom he caused to be an orphan, but now that pup is taking up resources that could have been given to babies that actually needed it. Rescues don't have infinite resources and I don't want to put to words what can happen when they reach maximum capacity. (The guy was also very lucky he didn't get bit- seal bite infections are much worse than regular bites!) So many others people mistreat because they don't know better, like the baby seal that had people dumping water and ice on it like it was Free Willy. Or trying to feed them sandwiches. Both of these actions make life worse for the animal.

That video of a dog as a service animal rehabilitating a baby seal? That was made by a couple idiots who likely scared the mother off and caused the baby to starve to death just so they could make their intentionally misinformative video knowing full well they were lieing! Dogs should be leashed and kept far away from any seal as they are a reason many seals are horrifically mauled to death each year! Videos like this are absolutely vile as they misinform the public who own dogs and may see a seal on the beach and think, "Oh! My dog is a good boy and can go play with the water puppy! They enjoy that!" Please do not do this! Seals shouldn't be encouraged to associate with or like dogs, that puts puts in danger not only of cross contamination with things that can make them very sick, but you don't know the temperament of any and every dog that seal will see in its lifetime. All it takes is one- and there are plenty of dogs who act fine around human children and vicious around a random seal they find. The babies don't even have a chance against a full grown dog! Their ONLY chance is that situation never happens; keep your dog leashed, because it will see that seal and shoot off before you can stop it. As well behaved as your dog is on the best day, it has free will and at the end of the day is a dog and will be an animal.

Let's face it, most of us don't know the proper care of any and every wild animal we could run into and can only guess when faced with a genuinely unexpected situation. Any legitimate rescue video should start with the person contacting the local rescue to ask the experienced and knowledgeable staff what should be done if they themselves are not a trained rescuer. Often times the animal is perfectly fine, humans just see something they don't expect and misread what's going on causing a situation that didn't previously exist. Other times if there is an issue, the rescue will instruct the person what to do- which may be to keep an eye on the animal until trained rescuers can arrive. And lastly, please be aware of fake animal rescue channels and report any videos you see and inform others about this so these channels stop being praised and profiting from animal abuse.

[in-memoriam-tgwk]

Amberfuzz is not the type of cat to cry. Or smile. Or… Well, any sort of emoting, really. She’s been this way since kithood; when her father stood shaking over the frozen frail body of her littermate, she sat by his side and observed his grief in silence. Catching her first prey only brought a calm reverence over her face as she quietly thanked her teacher for her exuberant praise. When Glowstar appointed her as his second-in-command, she was truly honored to be considered! But she didn’t jump around like an excitable fawn. It’s simply isn’t her nature.

Meeting Shinefreckle was like getting caught in a flash rainstorm. It left Amberfuzz befuddled and uncomfortable, and soaked to the bone. It made her irritable and snappy, and wishing for better days.

But it was also eye-opening for Amberfuzz. The older molly was everything she isn’t. Shinefreckle was bubbly, and naive, and she felt everything at an eleven. She’d squeal at the sight of lady bugs, she’d weep during the sad tales Heatherdash would regail over the evening meal, she’d loudly berate the apprentices for grabbing moss littered with pine needles. She was a whirlwind of sunlight and storms and she could grab attention without having to lift a paw.

Amberfuzz hated her for it, just as much as she envied her for it.

She never expected to get close to Shinefreckle, but it wasn’t long before they were sharing meals and sharing tongues on the regular. Shinefreckle was good at conversation in ways that Amberfuzz lacked; she could chitter on about the littlest things, investing in mostly one-sided conversations and pausing every so often for Amberfuzz to offer commentary. When Amberfuzz’s turn came to speak, she’d sit and listen with full attention, nodding when needed, gasping and smiling and giggling like anything she said was the single best thing Shinefreckle had heard all day.

She’d never admit it, but Amberfuzz preened under the attention. She’d even started smiling more, much to the confusion of the other Colony cats.

Losing Cliffclaw destroyed Shinefreckle, in more ways than could be seen. Eating was no longer a priority. She grew thin and unsteady as her frame became more bone than muscle. She couldn’t leave camp without an escort, and she rarely left at all at that point. When bathing took too much energy, her fur grew matted and dirty. Eventually Amberfuzz set about doing it all for her; she’d force her to nibble on her prey, she’d take her on small walks along the cliffs, she’d pick the tangled twigs from her fur. Despite her best efforts, however, Shinefreckle looked worse and worse as the days rolled on.

And then, Shinefreckle developed a cough. It was manageable at first, but despite a moon of treatment she just couldn’t seem to get better. She eventually had to be carried to the medicine den.

Amberfuzz doesn’t cry, but her eyes stung as her ears tuned into the rasp of her friend’s breathing, the only sound in a dusty room. Her own air hitched in her lungs— and what a foreign feeling to her— as the stench of sickness flooded her senses. Her nose burned as she tucked her face into Shinefreckle’s neck, pressing close enough to feel her heartbeat lightly tap in a withered rhythm.

She doesn’t cry. She never cries. She will not cry—

“Fuzzy…?”

Shinefreckle’s voice rattled where it caught on her cough, her head raising just enough for Amberfuzz to see her tired eyes. They crinkled at the corners from a weak smile.

“I’m here, Shinefreckle. You’re in the medicine den.”

Shinefreckle’s gaze flitted about before coming back to rest on the other. “It seems I am,” she croaks.

“Don’t move too much,” Amberfuzz said, and pressed a paw to her flank. “Heatherdash says you’re very sick. You need to rest, to get your strength up.”

She expected Shinefreckle to scoff, or to whine, or to make a fuss like she usually would. Instead, the molly’s eyes drifted to the side, like her thoughts were leading her somewhere else entirely. It took quite some time for her to float back.

“I’m tired, Fuzzy. I don’t want to fight anymore.”

Amberfuzz frowned at her. “Don’t say that. You’ll see, you just need a few days of proper rest. You’ll be well in no time—“

Shinefreckle shook her head, and her body shuddered through a series of coughs. “N-No. I won’t be.”

“Shinefreckle.”

“But it’s okay,” Shinefreckle said, and bumped her head gently against Amberfuzz’s temple. “It’s alright, Fuzzy. Just sit with me a moment. Can we please sit together?”

She smiled a soft smile, the kind that a mother would use to ease her wailing kit. It filled Amberfuzz with a sadness she couldn’t describe, one that she could only feel her way through, hanging heavy and wet in her chest. She flexed her jaw, scowling through the tears that dampened her cheeks. “Okay,” she said with a tremble in her voice. “Okay.”

She held Shinefreckle until her rattling chest finally stilled, until her eyes fluttered shut, until the first streaks of dawn tickled at the medicine den’s entrance. She held her on her final descent down the cliff, refusing anyone who offered to help carry the load. She only let go when it was time to lay Shinefreckle on her bed of rosemary, right next to Cliffclaw’s grave. Only then did Amberfuzz let go.

Amberfuzz doesn’t cry. But the buzz of a lady bug’s wing is sure to stop her in her tracks. She talks more to the rest of the Colony, and even shares stories of her own in the evening time. And if you’re lucky, on the right kind of day, her stone face will crack at its edges in a smile.

[deadrayg2mf]

Wed to the Lich (Arranged Monster Mates #8) by Layla Fae

Okay, I went into this knowing this was not the first book in the series but it didn't seem that the series may be required to be read in order as it is a collab series between Layla Fae, Eden Ember, and Cara Wylde and it wasn't recommended to be read in order - however, now having finished this I realize I may need to start from book 1 to assuage some issues I had regarding world building info. Also... that lich is just so hot... I needed to know more about him when he was what drew me to this. Which brings me to the covers!! The entire series has amazing cover art, it ranks right up there with SJ Sander's cover art that I love.

This is currently a series of 16 novellas between the above-mentioned authors, Wed to the Lich being dead in the middle at #8. It was a total of 208 pages and I read it within a quick day at work. It was a simple story which does involve triggers involving anorexia nervosa, past abuse, and animal death.

Basically, this is a world in which an event called The Shift has occurred, and from what was explained in this book alone it sounds like that was basically the... dimensional overlap of the human world and monster world where parts of the monster world ended up being transplanted into the world we know? Hopefully that is some semblance of correct as it's how I understood it. In this world, monsters rule over humans in most areas and if a human is wanting to get some cash for their family or, if you're our FL May, trying to get out of a bad situation you can sign up at the Temple and get married off to a monster.

This is exactly what May commits to as she decides to escape the abusive orphanage director who haunts her thoughts when it comes to beauty and its relation to her size and food consumption. How well this goes about depicting the troubles that come with experiencing an eating disorder I could not say, so I will leave that up to your interpretation if you choose to read. May gets married to Virgil, the all fearing Lich who can suck out your life force with just a look.

The following story revolves around May's struggle with food, her inner demons, and being beautiful for Virgil who is also struggling with how May views him and fearing that one day she may come to fear him and try to leave. In the end, they end up working out their troubles with each other's help and are a lovely couple, no matter what those town villagers think. I liked both May and Virgil's characters, he was really checking the marks for me as both loving and caring but strict and forceful when he felt necessary. By the end, May had come into who she was as a person when she wasn't tormented by her past.

My main issue comes from how I felt finishing the book. I had read 208 pages of what essentially felt like it had amounted to nothing. Unfortunately, for all that happened, there wasn't enough deep diving into characters, relationships, or true plot that it felt worthwhile. It was one of those where I was shocked it was so long for how much I got from it. I think it's a really cool story, I love a Lich, and I love a FL battling her inner demons and unafraid to seek help from another in order to do so. The way May was willing to just be blunt about what was going on versus other characters who might hide things that lead to a (beloved but sometimes overdone) miscommunication was rather refreshing.

I think I would have really enjoyed this story had it been more fleshed out. The writing was good, but the content felt unsubstantial. For all of that, I'll give it a 5/10. Mid but enjoyable and full of potential.

Would I read again? No, but not because it was bad. Just because there wouldn't feel like a point.

Would I recommend? Yeah, I am gonna go and try out the series from the first book - Wed to the Ice Giant also by Layla Fae - and then pry check out at least on book by each of the other authors. If I don't like it - you'll hear about it :)

[julesnichols]

Tell me why Tumblr keeps giving me ads with images of a dead mouse and doesn't give a SHIT... animal death/death generally is a VERY common trigger and shouldn't be allowed in ads but welcome to hell!!!

[thatswhatsushesaid]

well i'm glad i checked doesthedogdie.com before continuing to watch kaos because if i had to watch what happens to dennis the kitten actually transpire on screen (and what dionysus experiences afterwards), i think i'd be straight up non-functional today

fair warning that i will probably end up discussing specifics in the notes, so be careful if you decide to read them.

[sunflowerseraph]

This is a difficult post for me to make, but to anyone whos commissioned me and is waiting on it, it may take a little longer than I wanted. My cat, Sammy, passed away last night and its really taking a toll on me and my mental health. Its difficult to work through but I'll be doing my best. Thank you for the patience so far with it all, and I'm sorry to ask for more of that patience. Thank you for understanding. Let me know if theres any issues regarding the wait, sorry again.

[lightyakami]

i'm not sure when this happened but just in case anyone likes to keep their tags tidy, ao3 seems to have made some changes to the various death note tags. the tl;dr is you can keep tagging everything exactly as before and nothing will change, but it's now possible to do some optimization.

ao3 has removed 'death note' and 'death note & related fandoms' as canonical tags. they both synn to 'death note (anime & manga)' now. this means 'death note (anime & manga)' is now functionally the main tag.

'death note : another note' is still a canonical tag. it is now sorted under anime & manga, and it uses 'death note (anime and manga)' as its metatag, so in theory you no longer need to crosstag for it to show up there.

the live action & musical properties have always been messy and they continue to be so. none of them use 'death note (anime & manga)' as a metatag so you DO need to crosstag if you want it to show up there. you can tag them 'death note' or 'death note & related fandoms' if you don't want to put a technically incorrect tag on your work and it'll end up in the same place.

anyway, the effects of this are primarily aesthetic -- only canonical tags show on your fandoms list but all tags show on your stats page, and also you no longer need to include multiple crosstags to make your labb fic findable.

[sunlitmiracle]

smashes my current interest together with my old interest (aka yet another "what Dungeon Meshi but Gamers?" AU)

Once when I was a child I had a complete crying meltdown over Creatures, because the manual insisted that the complicated AI of the Norns made them truly alive and 10-year-old me was freaked out at the idea of being solely responsible for making sure these real animals wouldn't die. The funny part was that this was the Playstation version of Creatures, which has no biochemistry and very basic AI compared to the PC/Mac games where players actually were debating whether or not it was true artificial life. A PSX manual gave me existential dread and it wasn't even telling the truth.

Anyway, kid!Marcille would also have a meltdown over the Creatures series, especially if she had the computer games and got to see how vastly different some breeds' lifespans are. Like in C2 where you have Norns that live for around 5 hours and Norns that live for 10, both of which are vastly more than Ettins who don't even live for 1.5 hours (and usually less due to radiation or starvation).

Lucky for her, having the computer version means she could download modified genomes made by other players that make creatures live longer or even outright remove certain death triggers. However I think she'd have more fun learning to read and edit the genomes herself, to get a better understanding of how the game works and how to change it to suit her own tastes. And because she could pretend she's one of the mysterious ancient Shee who created the Norns, Grendels, and Ettins and then vanished, leaving behind relics of their old society.

(Speaking of Grendels, she would unfortunately dislike them because they're the Designated Evil Species and she'd hate how they harass and attack her Norns. I think she'd also pity them though, because they get sick a lot and have short lifespans. Likely she'd just end up downloading/creating a genome without the aggression towards Norns. Ettins she'd like except for in C3 when they dismantle her meticulously-placed gadget setups, so she might mod out their hoarding compulsions too. Both of them would of course also live for however long her Norns would live.)

Also. While standard creatures' lifespans are counted in hours, if you modify the half-lives in the genome editor you can increase it to centuries. Or even just over a millennium if you set the half-lives to their max length (assuming you also leave the old age death trigger at its vanilla value).

and I like to think that elven Creatures players would pass around copies of what they consider a template genome that's appropriate to their own lifespans. Something that would make their creatures live for weeks or months of continuous play. I also like to think the Creatures DS Warp is still active in this AU because of the hilarious frustration when these long-lived Norns travel to worlds run by short-lived players whose Norns have vanilla lifespans, and vice versa.

(Most of the time in Creatures, offspring of parents with different lifespans will just have one or the other, but there's a chance the genes cross over right in the middle of the various age triggers and cause unstable aging rates. Like a Norn that goes through the childhood stages in hours but then has a very extended adulthood. Or a days-long childhood followed by suddenly dropping dead of old age once the vanilla adulthood genes kick in. Or, if the child has one parent's half-life decay rate and the other parent's age triggers, all sorts of odd things could happen. I once had hybrid Norns who lived for 20 hours and would die of organ failure before reaching the old age threshold!)

(Now that I think of it, Marcille would absolutely hate fast-agers. The first time she watches a creature hatch, turn old, and die in just one brief minute of life, she would be sobbing for days. One of the first things she'd learn to mod out would be mutations that cause the Ageing/Life chemical to decrease unusually fast.)

On a lighter note, while I don't know what her favorite designs would be I think she'd love choosing cute breeds to use in her world. Once she figured out how to give her creatures the comfortable life she wants them to have I can see her redirecting all her gene-editing efforts into changing color expressions. She might even learn to sprite or model her own custom designs.

[fatass-adam]

Ah...fuck...something sudden and bad came up, and I'll put it under the cut and tag it since I know it's close to one of my own triggers

Just know that things will be slow for a bit. The ball is still on though, and the bad news has nothing to do with it. Me and @dreamerlucifer made up on that! But anyway, really sad news under the cut-

My wonderful roommate's sweet old dog is starting to lose himself mentally and today he almost attacked me and Luce for no reason. He's been close to fights with our other animals, and he's actually bit my roommate himself twice now...

He has decided today is the day

He just left to take him to the vet, and specifically asked us to let him do this on his own, but of course we're upset as well. We've known him online for a while but have only known him as his dog for a few months IRL...but that was all we needed for him to make a place in our hearts. On top of that, we don't want our roommate to have to deal with such a hard decision himself

So yeah. Gonna be taking it easy, mourning ourselves, and just trying to stick by our roommate's side during this devastating time. Thank you all for understanding

[intertexts]

i will say though mostly bc. worm IS tonally very different than prime defenders & apparently we keep luring jrwi fans in with our epic fucked up yuri & miserable au anglerfish lure... worm is not, like, a pleasant book. it barely has downtime and things effectively never get better, only worse, & wildbow is Not lying in the intro when he says it would be quicker to say what trigger warnings don't apply than what do. so. y'know. keep in mind, esp. if u don't read capeshit deconstruction frequently!