#area 77 references

[convexicalcrow]

False didn't want to know. She'd heard, of course, about the skulk. About Cub. About the skulk spreading all over his base. It brought back memories she didn't want to think about. Not- not memories about, well. Well, okay, maybe memories about Cub spreading skulk all over the place, but also - more so - well. Her, really. Her sister. Sister? God, she wasn't really sure what she was anymore.

But that was two worlds away, right? She was- she would be fine. Away from her.

-

In spite of herself, she went to Cub's base and perched high on the mountainside, looking at how far the skulk had spread. It was- horrifying, really. And no one was really stopping it, or feeling concerned about this. Was False the only one worried? Was she just overreacting? Yes, of course she was.

But-

-

Gingerly, she flew down closer, seeing the straight roads and the blue fire and the deathly silence the skulk brought, even when this wasn't the right biome. It just ate sound completely. Even the fires sounded soft, muted, as if they were actually fifty blocks away. It was weird. Especially given the building styles Cub had used for the rest of his base. Sure, you could argue that the dark skulk made the bright colours all the more vivid, but there wasn't any hint of a coherent style anywhere.

It just felt-

-

She left, of course. She didn't like how it felt, being so close to the skulk. She got back to her base, focused on the circles, the dark oak, just the-

She had to pause as she caught her reflection in the water, and saw- her. It startled her so much she threw her sword into the water, breaking the reflection. No. No, she wasn't- she can't be. Right?

-

The water felt- odd. Her briefcase felt weird. Oddly heavier than usual. A new river had appeared, perhaps? Maybe that was it. Yeah. Maybe she didn't see someone else's hands as she cut down more dark oak, placed down more copper, set the portal tower on fire as if some great calamity had-

-

The fire was what triggered it all. She fled into her starter house, hiding under the blankets like a frightened child. No. Nononono. Fire danced in her mind. She had thought she'd repressed all those. Blasted them out of her mind the same way she'd done to-

But all she could smell was burning. Hear explosions. See the carnage left behind in the wreckage of her tower. Underneath her base. All the people who'd died because of her. It was- no, she was responsible, she killed those people!

And yet, when she stared at her own hands, they dripped with blood. After all, who locked her in there in the first place?

-

False returned to the skulk. Sat on the edge. Reached out to touch it a little, feel the sticky veins clinging to her skin, as if hungry to devour her soul. She wasn't sure it would be any good for it, but perhaps that was beside the point.

-

"Hey False, you okay?"

She looked up to see Cub landing before her. She shrugged. "Oh, you know." She gestured helplessly.

"It's not the skulk is it? Bringing it all back, hey?" Cub said.

She shook her head. "No, no, not- well. Sort of. You know. Just- wasn't expecting all the skulk, that's all."

"Yeah, it is maybe an odd choice, but I dunno, I think it looks better than the grass here, don't you think?" Cub said, coming to sit beside her.

"Yeah, I guess so. Makes the colours pop, that kind of thing," she said.

"Yeah! You see it!" Cub said. "It makes them so bright, I love it!"

-

"Hey, Cub, do you ever think about the crossover? And what happened there?" False said, staring at the ground.

"Every now and then, sure. They were good times, good times," Cub said.

"Even though I saved you from the skulk?"

Cub shrugged. "I mde my peace with it. What about you, though? I heard there was some kind of imposter over there? Another False?"

False brought her knees up to her chest. She frowned. "It's complicated."

"Oh, was Scar right when he said it was a clone or something?"

"I mean..."

-

"Was it Area 77? Or before that?" Cub asked.

"I don't think I even remember anymore. But probably. I-I didn't mean to, like. She-she was just meant to be like-"

Cub rubbed her back softly. They were sitting on his bed in his starter house now, having needed to retreat from the night. False leaned against him, reaching for his hand. Cub linked their fingers together.

"I dunno why I find it so hard to talk to anyone other than you about this. It's not like you even really understand, but- I dunno. You were there, I guess. You saw what was going on there. You know. You get it," she said. "You know what it's like to be kept in the dark."

"Hm, maybe."

She was right back in Falsewell then. Cub - well, he looked different back then, but his energy had never changed. The two of them standing by the motel, trying to catch a glance of anything inside Area 77. Wondering.

-

She'd started crying as the fire returned. Cub offered to help. Maybe she held his hand tight as he used some of those Vex powers to make her forget. Maybe it didn't quite work, but maybe it was enough to dampen the flames.

She'd do it again, of course. If she ever came back, if she ever found her here, she'd do the same again. She had to. She was too dangerous.

There was no way she could get here, of course, there was no Grumbot, no Rift, no way to connect to that world, but-

-

"She's probably so lonely, isn't she? Stuck there on her own?" she murmured into the darkness. Cub's body was a heater that she needed right now.

"Maybe, maybe. You'd still leave her there, wouldn't you?"

She nodded.

"Well, there you go."

[moosh2727]

CHARMY AND CLUTCH LITERALLY CARRIED ISSUE 77 OF IDW COMICS

Spoilers ahead, also IM POSTING SO MUCH TODAY WHAT THE HECK

its that area from that one chao racing plot part!

i love charmy in this, gives me the same vibes like the cutscene that plays before digital circut in shadow 05

ooooo i wonder who it is!! if it rlly is clutch!

snack time!!

of course its rough and tumble- when is it not LMAO

WHATS WITH THESE FACES LMAOOOO

hes such a brat /pos i love him, ALSO IS THAT WHISPER, TANGLE AND LANOLIN AS PLAYERS OMGGG!

VECTORS NOW BUILT LIKE A STAGE 2 INFECTED MLP AU /J

Vector does not give a single care and i love it

HOLY CRAP IT WAS CLUTCH BEFORE- HES SO SCARY AND MENICING

i rlly don't like him LMAO he gives the creeps when hes so oddly polite, also charmy is LITERALLY CARRYING THIS ENTIRE STORY

i like the change of atmosphere, it adds to the vibe also when you rlly put all of this into perspective so much stuff has gone down in the idw comics now wth

THERES SO MUCH DRAMA ON THE PAGE IM LITERALLY JUST SENDING THE PAGE WHAT THE HECK- the vibes are immaculate 🫶

jesus christ, this is actually insane perspective-wise omg

the faces are so memeable plus charmy wanting the sonic version of snakes and ladders is so silly to me

charmy is actually killing me /pos hes so funny hes like actually the funniest character in the new idw issue

charmy's getting a gold star for being the funniest person in this issue istg

i understand vectors point but at the same time, it makes sense for clutch to sorta be a sad old man considering hes lost everything, his chateu and job is even owned by rough & tumble of all people

FNAF REFERENCE? /j

seems vector was right also oh my gosh eggman is getting creepier as well

oh gosh he looks so forced and uncomfortable, eggman rlly took at hit on him

dang ig its over, tho whos ready for kit and surge to be back! cause I am!!!

[vintagelasvegas]

State Line Chevron & Bar, c. 1960s Whiskey Pete's restaurant, State Line (Primm), Nevada, 1983

 When U.S. Route 91 was established in the 1920s along the Nevada-California border, "Whiskey Pete" McIntyre opened the State Line service station. McIntyre was believed to be a bootlegger, he once shot a man at the station, spent time in a sanatorium, and was buried on the property when he died.

The property changed hands after McIntyre and was still just a gas station when it was bought by gaming pioneer Ernest Primm. Primm acquired 750 acres around the state border, some under the Federal Land Grant Act. He filed water rights with the Bureau of Land Management and tended barley fields on the property for three years to satisfy requirements for ownership.

Primm opened Whiskey Pete's in '77, a European castle-themed casino with a 12-room motel, and a coffee shop. A hotel tower was added in the 80s. The business passed on to son Gary, whose Primadonna Resorts (aka Primm Valley Resorts) opened Primadonna and Buffalo Bill’s casinos in the 90s.

The exact location of Whiskey Pete's burial had been lost. Workers grading a railroad track linking the resorts in '94 accidentally uncovered his coffin and remains.

"The tractor caught the edge of the box and the skull popped out," said the project manager Bruce Sedlacek. "There was Whiskey Pete staring at us."

The legend of Whiskey Pete says that on his deathbed Pete made a request: "Bury me up on the hill, standing up facing the valley so I can see all those sons of bitches goin' by." Sedlacek said the coffin was about 80 percent intact and buried at an angle to the highway, rather than "standing up." The remains were moved to another burial site on the property.

The name "State Line" was commonly used, but never an official designation. (Elsewhere in Nevada, “Stateline” in Douglas County had already a designated place for decades.) Board members for Primadonna Resorts Inc. lobbied the Nevada State Board of Geographical Names, and the U.S. Board, to change the name of the area to Primm. It officially became Primm on 10/10/96.

Postcard & photo from Felix Lenox, Nevada Armored Transport. Photo below, 2001, by Jeff Green.

“I remember as a kid visiting Whiskey Pete's grave site up on the hill. That would have been in the late '40s. A few of the old timers attended his burial. Many were railroaders and 31 Club. They would get together on Sunday for a drive and picnic. That would have been one of them. Whiskey Pete was a Bootlegger, no doubt about that. Some of the old time railroaders dropped whiskey off to him. They referred to the Federal Agents as ‘Pro Hi's.’” - Charles Musser to Vintage Las Vegas, 12/20/2024.

Note: Las Vegas Post 8 of the American Legion formed the "31 Club" circa '51, comprised of members who had lived in Las Vegas since '31 or prior.

Below: Unverified photo of Whiskey Pete's grave site, posted by Bill and Eileen to Findagrave.com on 11/08/2011.

Sources include: Whiskey Pete McIntyre faces charge. Review-Journal, 3/26/31; Whiskey Pete Is Freed of Insanity Count. Review-Journal, 10/15/32; Whiskey Pete Can Stand in Grave in Peace. Review-Journal, 2/10/41; Strip City Between Here, Los Angeles is Proposed. Review-Journal, 3/31/54; R. Cornett. Duel in the desert just a family feud. Review-Journal, 9/16/84 p1; D. Palermo. Remains of Whiskey Pete Found. Review-Journal, 2/5/94; Primadonna Resorts, Inc. and subsidiaries. SEC.; Ed Vogel. Primm is prime candidate for State Line name. Review-Journal, 1/18/96; John. L. Smith. Company calls Primm a proper name for State Line. Review-Journal, 1/19/96; Ed Vogel. Primm finally proper. Review-Journal, 10/11/96; Don Catlin. The Lottery Book: The Truth Behind the Numbers. Bonus Books, 2003; L. Benston. Primm's Lure: Freebies. Las Vegas Sun, 7/2/2009.

Updated 12/20/2024

[give-grian-rights]

Hermitcraft - Basic History of Teams!

Alright. Buckle in.

Only a few days from now, and Hermitcraft 10 will begin! If you're new, I hope this helps!

Hermitcraft has existed for over ELEVEN YEARS now! While very few have been here for every single season, with the exception of our lovely Tumblr Resident, and official Tumblr Sexy Man Joe Hills, and our derp Xisumavoid.

You are under NO obligation to watch every season. There are probably few, if any, active users in this community who have. It's just not possible to watch it all. You don't need to watch the previous seasons to enjoy our community space! While there are a lot of back-references, for MOST people, it doesn't extend to lore and actions any older than season 6.

Most of the Hermits are associated with specific other members, despite ALL OF THEM taking turns collaborating, interacting, and sometimes building whole new dynamics and factions in the process. Some of the team-ups that you'll see referred to in fandom-spaces and the occasional one-off mention from our creators, include:

(Season 5) NHO, New Hermit Order - Docm77, Ethoslab, Bdoubleo100, and VintageBeef. Living in a jungle while having "fights" with others. Attempts to tax those who enter their jungle, had traps around it, and criticized the then-popular AFK Fishing Farms. Bdoubleo100, or Bdubs, especially enjoyed stealing from these. (Season 5-6) Convex, or ConCorp - GoodTimesWithScar and Cubfan135. One group I am the least familiar with unfortunately. They built a brand around the Vexes, with their business having pretty extreme low-morals that includes pollution and war profiteering.

(Season 6) ArciTects - Very close to be naming "BuildStone", it was proposed by and founded by Grian to Mumbo, later giving an invite to Iskall85. The purpose of this alliance was for builders to help redstoners, and redstoner to help builders. It accumulated in the ATTEMPT of founding the "greatest shop in the history of Hermitcraft", Sahara. It was, hilariously, a very large failure. Grian miraculously managed to entirely ruin the system with a single baked potato. No, I don't know how.

(Season 6) G-Team & Team STAR (Superior Tactical Alliance for Retaliation) - The Hermitcraft Civil War, consisted of a long list of minor conflicts in which various members of Hermitcraft blamed other people for pranks they committed, eventually spiraling into the confusion that was The Civil War! G-Team: Grian, TangoTek, Iskall85, Joe Hills, ZombieCleo, StressMonster101, and iJevin. Team STAR: Docm77, WelsKnight, FalseSymmetry, ImpulseSV Xisuma, RenDog

Mumbo Jumbo acted as a mole in Team Star, for the G-Team. He created this commercial for Team STAR. Team STAR made a very iconic diss track, which was soon remixed. It is a...Very iconic piece of Hermitcraft fandom. The result was Joe Hill's Response, in his short video also remixed by the same creator. Albeit missing the additions of the totally real voices of the other G-Team members

(Season 6) Area 77 & The Hippies - (I didn't finish Hippies POV and i didn't watch anything of Doc or Scar's POV of this unfortunately) Area 77 was founded by (unsurprisingly) Docm77, and GoodTimesWithScar, where they were doing experiments and studying abonomalies. SOmehow, this lead into Grian, once again, turning against them and forming The Hippies with the help of Ren, with Impulse soon joining. The conflict primarily consisted of them griefing Area 77 with flowers.

(Season 7) Boomers Demolition - Early game business formed by TangoTek, Bdoubleo100, and ImpulseSV which consistedo f almost exclusively non-duped TnT demolition, and was very fun!!

(Season 7) The Mycellium Resistance/HEP (Hermitcraft Environmental Protection) Hermicraft 7 saw Grian introduce the Hermitcraft Mayoral Election, created with the idea of putting Mumbo in as a puppet-government. If I had a nickel for every time Grian tried to start a puppet government (at this point) I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice. Grian and Mumbo lost. In it's place was GoodTimesWIthScar. As Mayor, they had further control over the shopping district. Scar's promise was to replace the shopping district's Mycellium with grass. Despite very happily admitting that grass looked better, Grian, in a moment of nostalgia, decided to replace some Mycellium. Scar proceeded by putting caution tape around the area. This spiraled into The Turf War

Mycellium Resistance: Grian (Mother Spore), ImpulseSV, RenDog, XBCrafted, iJevin, Ethoslab, StressMonster101, Docm77, and Mumbo Jumbo HEP/Mayor Scar: Scar, Bdoubleo100, Keralis, Xisumavoid, TangoTek, Cubfan135, FalseSymmetry, Mumbo Jumbo, who joined due to them having the better vault. Etho had intended on being a double-agent, selling information to Scar. His information, however, was useless on purpose and decided to pledge full loyalty to The Resistance.

(Season 8) Boatem Hole - Grian, Mumbo Jumbo, GoodTimesWithScar, ImpulseSV and PearlescentMoon more or less stumbled and tripped into forming a group after innocently stacking boats and crafting tables and crystals on a pole, dubbed Boatem Poll. They then proceeded to create a hole down to bedrock, and eventually into the void, called the Boatem Hole. It was a large plains biome which was turned into varying mountain terraforming and the like from all of them and was connected in some small ways.

(Season 8) The Big Eyed Crew - Bdoubleo100, Keralis, and TangoTek. Tango did not, in fact, have big eyes and instead wore sunglasses to compensate. They had a town and shopping area and was occasionally dragged into pranks by the Boatem Crew.

(Season 8) Octogon/Goatem - Docm77 and RenDog! Main rivals with Boatem (thus the Goatem - pole of goats) had a mega business, game-breaking creations, and jaw-dropping spidery teal-and-deepslate creations. Weird Science!

(Season 9) Soup Crew - ImpulseSV, PearlescentMoon, GeminiTay. Made the CRAZIEST combo-base where all their different themes blended into a cohesive build

(Season 9) Buttercups - Grian, MumboJumbo, and GoodTimesWithScar. What's up, Buttercup? They formed after an incient where Scar and Grian blew up a massive, complex tunnel bomber in Doc's base. They could not understand how to repair it, and left a few diamond blocks before conflict started. They dragged Mumbo in, and had a robot fight with...

(Season 9) The Perimeter - Docm77 and RenDog. Doc's base, known as The Perimeter, teamed with Ren to attack the Buttercups using walking redstone creations to do a robot fight. Due to an issue with one of the server's plugins, they all re-logged, breaking one of the bots and ending with Buttercup's bot to do more harm to itself than the Perimeter's, but ultimately the destruction did prevent Doc and Ren from getting any further. Ren and Doc then launched flying TnT dupers, which looked like butterflies, towards all of the Buttercups' bases and camp. They stopped them both, with one butterfly destroying The Perimeter's own bot even further.

I am so sure that I'm missing some, but I am losing my mind with all this trying to remember them all!! I hope this could give people an idea of who they might enjoy watching!

[easternmind]

The weird and wonderful history of Kowloon as a digital interactive space - Part I

The Kowloon Walled City was one of the most emblematic locations in Hong Kong due to its irregular, fast-paced and largely ungoverned growth within a minute parcel of land. During the occupation of Hong Kong Island by the British in the mid 18th century, the Qing authorities surrounded the area with walls, turning it into a strategic position from where to closely inspect the foreign nation's covert activities. Almost a century later, during World War II, the area was seized by the Japanese, who tore down the walls and repurposed the stone for the construction of a nearby airport.

After the war, China would eventually regain possession of the city, though the disinterest of local authorities in addressing its increasing social disturbances placed it in a downward path to a state of utter degradation. By the 1970s, Kowloon had become the epicentre of Hong Kong's criminal underworld, dominated by a handful of its most vicious Triads.

Towards the last years of its existence, the ancient settlement was as a precarious heap of concrete, sheltering nearly half a million people within less than seven acres of land. Cultural and political changes in China made it increasingly difficult for this urban anomaly to remain unaddressed. In the late 1980s, an action plan was put together aiming to relocate its inhabitants and reconvert the real estate into an inner-city park. Stories about residents refusing to leave their unsafe and unsanitary homes were featured prominently in newspapers, baffling readers all over the world. Once the single most densely populated area in the world, this enclave was an architectural aberration whose disconcerting aesthetic influenced numerous works of art in different fields of creation; including a small yet consequential number of video games that briefly reference or prominently feature this abominably transfixing space.

九龍島 (Kyu-Ryu-Tou) - Starcraft - 1986

The year is 2025. An arms dealer escalates the tensions between East and West by developing a genetic weapon in a secret base at Kowloon Island. The United Nations react by sending in their best man, Jamie Starr. Unrelated to the Walled City itself, the first game to be located in the Kowloon peninsula - and indeed include the name as a part of its title - is this obscure turn-based RPG, Kyu-Ryu-Tou for the NEC PC88 and FM-77 machines. The game is a sequel to Shangai, released the year before, featuring the same protagonist. Starcraft would also go on to produce a third instalment in 1987 named TO.KY.O. Clearly there wasn't much regard here from the developers part for geographic accuracy, as Kowloon is depicted here as being an island. While Hong Kong's southern territory is composed of an actual island, all the different areas named Kowloon are located in the mainland.

Riot City - Westone - 1991

One of the most shameless specimens among a relatively long list of Final Fight clones, Riot City contains subtle references to Kowloon, though never referring to it by name. Two narcotics detectives are assigned with the mission of dismantling a cartel running a crime-ridden located in fictional Riot Island. This recurring yet geographically nonsensical notion of Kowloon as an island comes up here, yet again. The final moment of the introduction sequence for this minor Sega arcade success shows both protagonists approaching a tight cluster of buildings whose source inspiration is quite unmistakable. Because Westone maintained ownership of most of this production's intellectual property, a later port to the PC Engine entitled Riot Zone was made possible with the help of Hudson soft. Kowloon's Gate - Zeque - 1997

Reviving the Walled City through the lens of cybermystic surrealism, Kowloon's Gate is a dense, daunting adventure masterfully capturing the slum's dark and narrow recesses. This 1997 Japanese Playstation exclusive spans across four discs of unparalleled full motion 3D CGI spectacle, alternating with real-time 3D dungeons brimming with outlandish characters and concepts deeply inspired by Chinese history, geography and cultural traditions.

Ironically, Zeque managed to embed the theme of Feng-Shui, the ancient geomantic art seeking harmony between the individual and their surrounding space, into a story set in the world's most historically untidy district.

SaGa Frontier - Square - 1997

SaGa Frontier takes place in a solar system named The Regions, composed of multiple inhabited worlds for the player to explore, each with its different degree of civilizational development and culture. One of these planets goes by the suggestive name Kūron. Its pervasive neon light signs, food stalls, makeshift cabins and rooftop scaffolding instantly evoke the memory of China’s so-called city of darkness.

Shadow Hearts - Sacnoth - 2001

Shortly after the release of Koudelka, Sacnoth's initiated the development of Shadow Hearts, the first episode from a cult RPG trilogy exclusively designed for the Playstation 2. In good Japanese fashion, the game proposes an anachronistic yet visually suggestive depiction of Kowloon, portraying its architectural style and degree of decay as it existed in the late twentieth century, despite the fact that the game's events take place during the nineteen twenties.

Just as noteworthy is the almost complete absence of any inhabitants, which inadvertently make this portrayal of the quarter eerily reminiscent of the state in which it was found circa 1993 or 1994, as local authorities brought the long, arduous eviction project to a close.

Shenmue II - SEGA AM2 - 2001

Shenmue II exhibits the most complete and period-accurate video game representation of Kowloon to date. While more recent games featuring this area may represent a number of its aspects with the aid of improved visual fidelity, none features it with such depth as this masterpiece of masterpieces. More than mere background decoration, Kowloon exists in the Shenmue series as a crucial, climacteric element of its modern epic narrative.

It is a well known fact that Yu Suzuki and his team conducted extensive research of the region so as to achieve a result that impresses even to this day. It must be noted, however, that they have similarly taken a fair share of creative liberty when converting the area to best align with the themes they wished to explore. Further reading is required for a more complete context in this regard, namely how this area ties with an early Dreamcast tech demo design which fans lovingly named Tower of Babel. Ostensively, technical limitations did curtail the degree of precision in which the surrounding area could be replicated. The aerial view from the cutscene in which Ryo Hazuki arrives on location places Kowloon at an imaginary degree of elevation over surrounding vegetation. In the year of 1987, during which the game is set, the actual enclave stood perfectly levelled with a myriad of other modern buildings, undoubtedly more than could be reproduced under the circumstances. These trifling considerations aside, Shenmue II entirely succeeds in capturing the vibrant life and mesmerizing beauty of the destitute and decayed urban agglomeration, in a way that it was deemed entirely impossible at the time of its release.

For reasons entirely related to per post content limitations imposed by Tumblr, this article will be continued in PART II.

[riacte]

Doctor Who AU (Rendog centric)

(Vaguely based on Ren’s characters although they do get shuffled around, major character deaths)

The story begins with Time Lord Ren (short for Renegade) and Time Lord Iskall growing up in Kingdomcraftia. They used to be best friends but then something happened and now they’re each other’s arch nemesis but in a homoerotic way. Ren travels in his TARDIS which is usually a vehicle of sorts, for example a camper van or a spaceship.

Fast forward to the incarnation Renbob, who lives a happy hippie life with companions Grian and Impulse. Their goal is to take down Area 77 headed by a mysterious figure named Doc. This takes place next to a town called Falsewell. Renbob feels there’s something about this Doc that is familiar and he theorises Doc knows about him in the future / he’s forgotten about Doc, but Doc never confirms anything. Insert weird and inexplicable Rendoc tension. Grian accidentally takes control of the TARDIS and transports the hippies into an “alpha” version of the world. In the end Ren decides he wants a truce with Doc but Doc is like “nah, can’t do, sorry”. Something blows up, Doc erupts in flames, Ren regenerates and is forcibly transported into the past.

Grimdog is the War Doctor in which he “kills all the Time Lords” and gets really sad about it. He quickly regenerates into Stargazer Ren and finds his way back to Earth, however when he lands, he finds out his companions Grian and Impulse have peacefully passed away of old age and it’s “confirmed in time” that they didn’t do more adventures together. Ren is devastated but is comforted that his hippies lived out full and happy lives.

Stargazer is a cautious incarnation unlike the previous carefree and merry Renbob. Stargazer doesn’t know what he wants but he feels compelled to follow his fate, whatever that means. At first, he considers himself a “loser” and ambivalently travels through time and space, then he stumbles into Martyn, a knight from the medieval times who turns his life upside down. Stargazer is charmed by Martyn’s wit and takes him to places, and Martyn dramatically declares he will follow Ren because “he showed him life”. Slowly, they change each other for the better.

Doc (or a younger version of him) makes a reappearance. Ren is surprised but Doc acts like he's known him for a long time. Doc doesn’t seem to know what happened at Area 77 so Ren assumes it’s some time travelling shenanigans. Ren has always wanted to befriend Doc and feels a strange kind of fondness for him, so while he’s confused about this Doc, he doesn’t question it or tell Doc about his future. Ren and Doc start to meet out of sync.

Stargazer receives a mysterious message that "you are never alone". This turns out to be a reference to Iskall, who survived Grimdog "destroying" Kingdomcraftia. Iskall can also regenerate and is currently in his "Pacific" incarnation. Ren and Martyn complain "Pacific" is not an adjective. Martyn is jealous of Iskall and his strange codependent bond with Ren. Iskall tries to destroy the world or something but is stopped, and then escapes. Iskall and his future incarnations continue to meet Ren and his future incarnations.

Their happy time is cut short at the Red Winter incident in which Martyn stares into a Time Vortex and becomes the Red Winter entity to save Ren. Martyn influences the universe by repeatedly posting the words “Red Winter is Coming” to make sure him and Ren end up at the right place for their timeline to work. Stargazer kisses Martyn to extract the Time Vortex energy and save him. Ren begs Martyn to behead him with an axe, and a pained Martyn agrees. Ren becomes the other half of the Red Winter entity and regenerates into the Red King. Ren subconsciously chose the form of RK because he thought Martyn might like a king better.

RK and Martyn have a jolly time travelling the universe until the Battle of Dogwarts in which Martyn is transported into a parallel universe and can’t come back. This shatters RK and has a major impact on him. A grieving RK eventually picks up Bdubs as a companion and it sort of feels like a rebound at first but they form their own dynamic. RK also finds a companion in Cleo (“I just want a mate.” “You want TO MATE?” “Oi, watch it zombie girl!” “Oi, watch it space dog!”). Eventually bad things happen, Martyn comes back through a rip in the universe, the gang is about to die, the world is going to end, etc. Cleo touches RK’s fallen crown and triggers a meta-crisis, becoming part Time Lord and creating the Meta-crisis RK who is a human clone of RK. They save the world but RK erases Cleo’s memory to save her. RK gifts the clone RK to Martyn before they are separated forever (again). Funnily enough, Martyn’s RK has traits absorbed from Cleo. Bdubs decides to stop travelling with Ren but remains in touch with him.

(Human RK and Martyn eventually become pirates together and live out a life as captain and lieutenant.)

RK fucks around for a bit and ponders on his mortality. In the end, before he regenerates, he visits past Martyn one last time and promises his loyal Hand that he will have a fantastic year. RK is unwilling to let go of his crown and tearfully declares “I don’t want to go!”.

RK regenerates into Knight Ren, who is the Last Life/ Double Life version of Ren. In some ways this is a response to King Ren and his failure to protect his friends. If he can’t be a leader, maybe he can serve a leader. He picks up companions Lizzie and BigB. Lizzie also has a partner (Joel). When Ren initially meets BigB, he is confused by the soulbound connection they share (in which they feel the same things), so they decide to find out what happened. They have fun adventures together, Doc and Iskall swing by sometimes, then tragedy strikes.

Joel gets touched by a Weeping Angel and is sent back in time and dies. Lizzie decides to follow him back, so Ren loses both of them at the same time. Ren and BigB cling onto one another. Ren gets paranoid that his enemies want BigB due to their miraculous connection and his TARDIS transforms into a protective fortress called "The Box". Unfortunately, Ren and BigB still face a crisis. Ren is unwilling to lose BigB and realises BigB is his soulbound because he made it that way to save him. They are stuck in a paradox. With no other choice, Ren links BigB to him, erases BigB's memory, and sends him back in time so the past Ren will meet the soulbound version of BigB. Ren understands the only life he can live with BigB is the time the paradox allows and he can never change it.

A freak accident causes Knight Ren to regenerate into Octagon Ren, who is constantly on high alert and suspects the world is not what it seems like. Octagon Ren was "supposed" to follow Stargazer Ren, but Stargazer did a detour and regenerated into RK for Martyn's sake and subsequently Knight Ren. Octagon Ren has a prosthetic arm and leg. This is where the arc with Doc unfolds. It turns out they're married and both time travellers meeting out of sync. Octagon Ren finally meets Doc for the first time on Doc's side. Ren remembers he first met Doc on his side back at A77, and understands Doc tried to keep it from him because A77 is a fixed point in time. A77 is necessary for Ren to be sent back into the past and set his life into motion. Doc doesn't know he'll die at A77 but Ren does. Angst ensures. Insert Hermatrix technobabble. Octagon Ren and Doc spend one last night together before Doc does his duty of returning to A77 to act as the "villain". He thinks he'll be back, but Ren knows this is the last time he'll ever see him.

Octagon Ren, exhausted and burdened by his various losses, stumbles into False. Slowly, he remembers False (or versions of her) always seem to be around. Falsewell had a mayor, the tourney in which RK won his crown also had a False. In fact, every incarnation of his has met False in some way. Ren recalls feeling "a missing piece" when he hasn't met False yet, and it's not the same when the character she plays isn't close by. False is The Impossible Girl and this drives Ren mad.

Octagon Ren regenerates into Gigacorp Ren with False as his witness. Gigacorp Ren is the oldest of all incarnations, both physically and emotionally. He has greying hair and is more mellow than Octagon Ren. Gigacorp Ren greatly trusts False and gives her a multipass (key) to his TARDIS, so everything he owns is also hers. Ren eventually begs False to escape in his TARDIS with the multipass to save her at the cost of his life, which she refuses to do so but he forces her anyway. False travels to the end of Ren's timeline to interfere with it and hence save him, but gets shattered into many versions of herself across Ren's timeline to make up for her damage. This is why Ren feels a strong sense of familiarity — the various Falses he encounters are part of his timeline and hence his fate.

At the cost of fixing Ren's timeline, False's death becomes a fixed point in time. Ren promises he'll do anything to save her, even spending years locked in his personal hell with an immortal killing snail for her. Ren vows to fight off the "Reapers" sent to kill False as much as he can. He brings her to the end of the universe to save her, but that doesn't work. He decides to erase False's memory, but she erases his memory of her instead to spare him the anguish.

Ren, alone in his TARDIS, wakes up. The only thing in his hand is a multipass, which is weird because Ren's own TARDIS key doesn't look like this. He thinks there should be a name written on it, but for the life of him he can't remember who it is. Who did he travel with, and who returned this to him?

[vintageshanny]

Don’t Go Changing

I wrote this for an anonymous request that Big Daddy Elvis walk in on reader while she’s changing and smut and fluff ensue. 18+ I hope you enjoy! 😘

I envisioned this taking place in 1976-77, but there’s no real date references, so you can imagine it however you wish! ❤️

You drummed your fingers anxiously against the inside of the door frame as the car pulled up the driveway and around to the carport. George glanced over at you with a little smile. “Nervous?”

“What? No,” you scoffed. “I get set up on dates with superstars all the time.” George had been friends with your older brother and sister for years, and apparently had decided that you’d be perfect for his other long-time friend, Elvis Presley. You knew plenty of girls would still jump at the chance to meet him, but you had hemmed and hawed over the decision. Sure, he’d always been easy on the eyes when your sister had dragged you along to some of his movies, and you enjoyed his music, but the posters on your wall growing up had been of David Ruffin and Stevie Wonder. Although you were a little embarrassed to admit it, your latest celebrity crush was Jackie Jackson, who was honestly much more age appropriate for you than Elvis. But George had pleaded with you to just meet Elvis and see how it went.

“I really think you’ll hit it off,” George was saying as he jumped out of the car and came around to open your door. “Just be yourself. Elvis is usually very warm and friendly, nothing to be scared about.” You just nodded wordlessly as you stepped out of the car and smoothed down your pale pink eyelet sundress.

George led the way through the back door into what appeared to be a very gaudy den area where a handful of people were sitting around, talking and laughing. Every surface seemed to be covered with green carpeting, and the furniture was all elaborately carved. Your heart skipped a beat when you spotted Elvis sitting in a high-backed chair. As you locked eyes with him, you could feel a magnetic attraction that seemed to pull all of the reservations right out of you. He rose from his chair and strode over to you. His face was definitely fuller than what you remembered from the movies, but the trademark crooked grin that spread across it as he approached you sent a flutter through your body that caught you completely off guard. Elvis beamed as George introduced the two of you.

“Nice ta meet ya honey,” he drawled as he pulled you into a big hug, the swell of his belly pressing into you. The affection was making you weak in the knees. Elvis smiled as he pulled back and noticed the flush spreading over your cheeks. “Ya okay, doll?” he teased. “Ya ain’t scared of me, are ya?”

“No, no, um, it’s just, uh, kind of warm in here,” you whispered, knowing full well that everyone in the room could see that your face was on fire.

Elvis just chuckled and nodded. “It is a little warm in here. But now that you’re here, we can go swimmin’. Ya brought a bathing suit, right?” You nodded and motioned to the tote bag that you were clutching. George had warned you to bring a swimsuit and change of clothes because you never knew what Elvis might suddenly be in the mood for. Elvis grabbed your free hand and pulled you down a little hallway toward the bathroom. “You can change in here, honey, then jus’ go outside that way toward the pool,” he pointed. “I’ll be waitin’ for ya out there.”

You pulled on your swimsuit and examined yourself in the bathroom mirror, certain you had worn the wrong thing. Your royal blue one-piece had a halter neck that showed off your cleavage a little bit, but the bottom had a skirt that covered your thighs. You figured that Elvis was used to being around actresses and models, and you felt insecure showing too much of yourself. Now you worried that you looked too frumpy though. Just be yourself, you repeated George’s advice in your head. If he likes you, great. If not, his loss. With one last glance in the mirror, you turned and headed for the pool.

The others were already splashing around and playing a game of keep-away with a beach ball, but Elvis was relaxing on a lounge chair, his head tilted toward the sun, still wearing the powder blue tracksuit he’d had on when you arrived. You approached his chair and cleared your throat. “Are you, um, not going in the water?” you asked, clinging shyly to the pale pink beach towel you had brought.

“I was jus’ waitin’ for you, honey,” Elvis smiled, turning your insides right back to jelly. “Y’know,” he continued as he stood to remove his tracksuit, revealing a navy blue T-shirt and swim trunks underneath, “I do have towels here sweetheart. I wouldn’t have made ya stand out in the sun ta dry off.”

“I didn’t think you would,” you laughed, trying not to let your gaze linger too long on his sturdy thighs, “but George said to come prepared, so I didn’t want to take any chances.”

“And did ya?” Elvis asked with a little smirk.

“Did I what?” you responded, confused.

“Come prepared,” Elvis smiled, his blue eyes twinkling behind his tinted glasses.

“Oh,” you giggled nervously. “I don’t think so, actually. I wasn’t really prepared to like you so much.” The awkward words tumbled out before you could stop them. Elvis tilted his head back and let out a big laugh as you blushed profusely. “I mean,” you continued on, “it’s not like I’m some groupie and you’re, y’know, a bit older than me and, I mean, oh my gosh, I’m sorry, that was so rude, I didn’t mean, it’s just that you’re so nice and funny and cute and I wasn’t expecting…” your voice trailed off as Elvis’ laughter grew louder.

“Wow, ya really had high hopes for me, huh?” he teased, trying to recover from his amusement.

At that, you started giggling a bit too. “I’m sorry, I guess I just kept digging myself in deeper and deeper.”

“That’s okay, honey, it’s nice ta know I can still take people by surprise,” he joked with a wink. “Now let’s cool off. I can’t tell if that’s a blush or a sunburn covering you.” Elvis grabbed your hand and led you down into the water. As you passed through the game everyone was playing, Elvis suddenly dove for the ball. He came up sputtering and laughing, tossing the ball to you to keep the game going. As one of the other guys, whose name you couldn’t recall from George’s introductions earlier, lunged toward you to get it back, Elvis quickly grabbed it and tossed it to the other end of the pool. “Y’all stay down there with that,” he snapped as he shot the guy a glare for daring to get close to you, seemingly forgetting his own role in joining the game. He pulled you over to the side of the pool and smiled again. “Tell me more about yourself, honey.”

As you chatted with Elvis about your recent graduation from UT Memphis and what you were thinking of doing next, you couldn’t help but notice how his T-shirt, now soaking wet, clung to him like a second skin. You could see very clearly the bumps of his nipples and the raised pattern where a trail of hair led down from his chest to his stomach and beyond. It was like a very sexy topographical map. It was taking everything in you not to reach out and touch him.

“Honey, wh-wh-what do ya keep lookin’ down at?” Elvis asked with a frown. “Do I got somethin’ on myself?”

“No, I’m sorry, it’s nothing like that,” you blushed, caught red-handed checking him out.

“W-w-well what is it? T-t-tell me what you’re thinkin’ ‘bout.” Elvis sounded almost nervous, and for the first time you realized he might have insecurities too. You’d been so focused on your own nerves that you hadn’t even questioned why he would wear a shirt in the pool in the first place.

You leaned in closer, your breasts brushing up against his chest as you whispered nervously, “It’s just that I think you’re so sexy. It’s hard for me to stop looking at your body.” You pulled back in time to see Elvis’ eyes widen and his face turn a brilliant shade of red.

“I feel the same way about you, honey,” he murmured as he leaned in and softly pressed his lips against yours, apparently unconcerned about anyone else witnessing this display of affection. A little shiver ran through your body, and you could feel your nipples harden against his soft chest. Elvis pulled back, a blissful smile spread across his face. “Ya cold, baby? Ya wanna go inside with me?” You nodded, feeling a compulsive urge to follow him absolutely anywhere. “We’re gonna go in and have a little tour,” Elvis announced to his friends as the two of you got out and dried off. “Y’all can stay out here.” You slipped your hand into Elvis’ as you headed back inside. “Where ya goin’, baby?” Elvis asked as you walked back toward the bathroom.

“I was just going to change back into my clothes,” you responded, a little confused.

“Bring ‘em upstairs, honey, you can change in my bathroom. It’s a lot more spacious, and then we can keep gettin’ ta know each other.” You grabbed your bag of clothes and followed him, wondering just how well you’d get to know each other. As soon as you entered the dark, cool bedroom, you could feel the nerves set in. As if completely attuned to your emotions, Elvis squeezed your hand reassuringly. “Honey, we ain’t gonna do anything you don’t wanna do. I-I-I really like ya and jus’ wanna keep talkin’, okay?” You smiled and nodded. “Look, you can go right in the bathroom and change. I’ll be out here.”

“Thanks, Elvis. I really like you too,” you whispered, feeling suddenly very shy again now that the two of you were alone together. You slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind you. As you reached back to untie the halter neck of your suit, you realized that in your nervous state while putting it on, you had knotted it way too tightly. The water had tightened the knot even more, and now it was completely stuck. “Shoot,” you muttered as you kept picking at the knot. There was a soft rap at the door.

“Honey, ya okay?” Elvis called out.

“Yes, I’m almost done!” you lied, starting to feel panicked. You were too embarrassed to ask him for help getting undressed. Out of sheer determination, you finally loosened the knot and untied it. Right as you rolled your still-damp swimsuit all the way down your body and stepped out of it, there was another soft knock. Before you could answer, Elvis opened the door gingerly.

“Honey, are you sure you’re okay?” he started to ask before his voice trailed off to nothing, his jaw dropped a little bit at the sight of you standing there completely naked.

“Elvis!” you shrieked, trying to cover yourself with your hands. “Don’t look! I’m naked!”

“Well I can see that honey,” Elvis couldn’t help teasing. “What’d ya say before? Somethin’ about bein’ so sexy it’s hard not to look?”

“Elvis, it’s not funny! I’m embarrassed,” you whimpered, still trying to cover your top half with one hand and your bottom half with the other.

“Honey, you ain’t got a thing to be embarrassed about. You were hidin’ all that under that swimsuit? Goddamn,” he let out a low whistle as he gently moved your hands out of the way and pulled you in close to him, looking you up and down. He let one of his hands trace slowly down your side, over the curve of your hip, while the other reached around and gave your butt a squeeze.

“Elvis, I-” you started to protest but the words didn’t seem to want to come out after all.

“I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t mean ta embarrass ya. I really thought ya were changed already. Do ya want me ta stop?” he whispered into your ear, the warmth of his breath tickling you.

“Don’t stop, Elvis,” you whispered as you leaned up and kissed him passionately, your tongues dancing together.

“Mmm,” Elvis moaned as he walked you back toward the counter and hoisted you on top of it. “I won’t stop until ya say so.”

“Wait, Elvis, before you do anything, can you, um, let me see you?” you whispered.

Elvis blushed and shrugged. “I guess fair is fair,” he said as he pulled off the dry shirt he had changed into. You could feel yourself growing slick at the sight of his broad hairy chest and soft belly.

“What about those?” you asked, nodding toward his pants.

“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, baby,” Elvis teased. “You jus’ relax and let me make ya feel good.” He spread your legs apart and groaned at the sight of your arousal. He slipped two of his fingers through your folds and slid them inside of you.

“Oh, god,” you moaned as you reached out and ran your hands over his chest, down his stomach, and gently palmed what was growing hard inside his pants. Elvis let his tongue travel down your neck and over your chest as he continued pumping his fingers, crooking them just right to hit a spot that drove you wild. You explored his body as much as you could with your hands, and when you pulled him in for another deep kiss, you noticed he was panting just as much as you were. The simultaneous action of his hands and tongue finally took you right over the edge, your moans filling the room.

“I’m sorry, I usually don’t move so quickly with anyone,” you whispered as you came down from your state of euphoria, wondering what he must think of you.

“Neither do I,” he grinned. “But I can tell you’re somethin’ special that deserves to be taken care of.”

“Can I, um, take care of you?” you asked, looking down at where you had felt his chubby length through his pants.

Elvis grinned that sweet crooked grin again. “We should probably save somethin’ for next time, huh?” You smiled back, but you had noticed that there was a suspicious wet spot on his pants, and the noises he’d been making started to make a lot of sense. “Here honey, jus’ put this on and come lay by me,” Elvis said, handing you a silky robe from a hook by the door. “I jus’ wanna hold ya.”

Tag List (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @whositmcwhatsit @missmaywemeetagain @lookingforrainbows @thatbanditqueen @be-my-ally @ellie-24 @from-memphis-with-love @arrolyn1114

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil’s water surface area shrinks below historical average in 2023

The surface area of water throughout Brazil dropped below the historical average in 2023, a MapBiomas Água survey released this week shows. Last year, water covered 18.3 million hectares, or two percent of the national territory, down 1.5 percent from the historical average, first calculated in 1985.

Water losses were reported in all months of 2023 compared to 2022, including in the rainy season. In 2022, the water surface reached 18.8 million hectares. The figures refer to 1985 through 2023. The survey says that the biomes have been suffering from the loss of water surface since 2000, with the 2010s being the most critical decade.

In 2023, natural water bodies accounted for 77 percent of Brazil’s water surface, down 30.8 percent—6.3 million hectares—compared to 1985. The other 23 percent are anthropogenic bodies, i.e. water stored in reservoirs, hydroelectric dams, aquaculture, and mining, which adds up to 4.1 million hectares. Of this total, large reservoirs account for 3.3 million hectares, up 26 percent in 2023 from 1985.

“While the cerrado and the caatinga are experiencing an increase in water surface as a result of the creation of hydroelectric dams and reservoirs, others—such as the Amazon and the Pantanal—are facing severe reductions, leading to significant ecological, social, and economic impacts. These trends, aggravated by climate change, highlight the urgent need for adaptation strategies for water management,” Juliano Schirmbeck, technical coordinator of MapBiomas Água, said in a statement.

Continue reading.

[punchdrunkdoc]

Part 4, Chapter 11

Summary: After the events of S3, Matt Murdock is trying to once again balance life as a lawyer and a vigilante. But he’s been scarred by loss and betrayal - will a mysterious new neighbour help him heal? Or will her secrets drag him back into the darkness? Notes: This is a slow burn romance with an original female character, told in 4 parts. There is mystery, intrigue, action/violence and angst - all the good stuff!

Also available on AO3 and Wattpad

Masterlist

Reference pics

————–

PART 4

Chapter 11

October 2023

The day everyone returned…

Calina counted down the seconds slowly.

186, 185, 184…

She concentrated on holding her position - knees locked, forearms braced against the carpet, and gaze fixed straight ahead.

167, 166, 165…

Nika’s wet nose nudged against her cheek, but she shooed the dog away. “We’ll play later. Go lie down.”

140, 139, 138…

The Widows were on a rest period. A series of back-to-back missions in far-flung locations across the world had worn them all out. So the powers that be had granted them a week off. It was only day two, and Calina was bored.

122, 121, 120…

The other Widows were currently in the rec room, watching a movie and gorging on popcorn. Calina didn’t enjoy movies now. Or reading. Or dancing, or baking, or any of the other hobbies that had once passed her time.

The serum saw to that.

So she was in her room, alone, working out. She’d started with a hundred sit-ups, then a hundred pushups. Now she was in a plank, trying to beat her own record.

99, 97, 96…

The exercise reminded her of meditating with Matt all those years ago. The stillness of it. The way it helped focus the mind, in order to free it.

79, 78, 77…

She liked that she could think of Matt now, and not have it spark off a torrent of grief and pain. It made her wonder if she even needed the serum anymore. She’d been taking it for three years, after all. And it had been more than five years since the Vanishing. Maybe enough time had passed.

Maybe she’d be fine now, without that crutch.

55, 53, 52…

She spied a stray vial of the serum under her bed. It had rolled there after she’d dropped it last week. She stared at the amber liquid, and tried to remember what it was like to feel - to really feel something - instead of just the hints and echoes she sometimes experienced.

40, 39, 38…

She shook her head, banishing those dangerous thoughts. She concentrated instead on the slight tremble in her arms and the burn in her stomach muscles as she fought to hold her form.

22, 21, 20…

The blare of an alarm broke her focus. She collapsed to the floor as the siren screamed from the corridor outside her room. Nika started barking, adding to the cacophony of noise. Then the tannoy system kicked in. “All able-bodied personnel, gear up and report to Helipad B. Repeat, all able-bodied personnel report to Helipad B.”

Calina sprung to her feet and hastily shoved on her Widow’s suit over her sports bra and shorts. She grabbed her weapons, flung open the door, and started sprinting through the compound, Nika bounding beside her.

“What’s going on?” she asked Sonya as the other Widow emerged from the rec room. She’d been injured during their last mission, and was hobbling around in a walking cast. She’d obviously been left behind when the rest of the Widows had raced towards the helipad.

“No idea.”

Calina slowed, and put a hand under the other Widow’s arm. Sonya waved her off. “Go. I’ll catch up.”

Calina nodded and started running again. She barrelled through the back door of the compound, raced passed Nika’s agility course and through the small wooded area that separated the barracks from the helipad.

As she emerged into the clearing, she saw the other Widows checking their guns, braiding their hair, and priming their Widow’s bites.

They were gearing up for a fight.

She found her second-in-command. “What’s happening?”

Drassa nodded to two asian men standing in the centre of the helipad, both dressed in robes in muted shades of blue, yellow and purple. Calina recognised them as being Masters of the Mystic Arts - the same order that Dr Strange used to belong to. “They need our help, apparently.”

“What for?”

The older of the two sorcerers answered. “To build an army. In order to defeat Thanos, once and for all.”

“Thanos is dead.”

“One version of him is.”

Calina frowned, and looked around at the other Widows for answers. But they all seemed as confused as she did.

“We don’t have time to explain,” the sorcerer called out. He had a kind face, but his voice was firm and his eyes held the look of someone ready for battle. “My name is Wong, I’m the Sorcerer Supreme, and I’m here to tell you that a war is taking place in New York, right at this moment. We’re looking for volunteers for the fight. It will be brutal - like nothing you’ve ever faced - but we need as much help as we can get. The entire universe is at stake.”

Calina swallowed, a tiny hint of fear leeching through her glass barrier. ‘No pressure’, she thought.

The sorcerer - Wong - stretched his arms out in front of him. He held the left in place, and made circles with the right. Sparks erupted in the air, which coalesced into a spiral before stabilising as a glowing golden portal. “I have to gather more troops. Those of you who wish to fight, follow Ariann.” He nodded to his companion, before stepping through the portal and disappearing.

Calina looked at her teammates - her sisters - and could see fear and trepidation on their faces. But also determination. “Are we doing this?” Calina asked.

But she already knew the answer. They’d all been battling for years to try to make this world a better place. They’d taken on gangs, and thugs, and cartels and cults. They’d killed and been wounded, and suffered under the weight of their failures.

But they’d always kept on fighting.

Calina didn’t know each individual Widow’s reason why. Whether it was because they knew of no other life, or because they wanted to balance out some of the bad they’d done under Volkov’s command, or simply because they felt it was the right thing to do.

Whatever their reasons, they kept on fighting. And today would be no different.

“Of course” Sanvi said.

“Obviously,” Drassa replied.

Each Widow in the clearing gave their version of ‘yes’.

Even Nika woofed, as if offering her own assent. Calina crouched down next to her dog. She scratched behind her ears and smoothed the thick fur over her back. “Sorry, Neek, I don’t think this mission is for you.”

Nika was a great soldier when it came to stealthy incursions and recon work. But she wasn’t built for war. And Calina couldn’t bear to lose her - she remembered the love she held for this dog, even if she couldn't feel it. She looked to Sonya, the only Widow unable to fight. “Watch her for me?”

Sonya nodded and called Nika over to wait by her side.

“It’s time,” Ariann said, his voice soft and calm despite the circumstances. He performed the same magic as the other sorcerer, and within seconds a golden gateway was waiting for them.

Calina moved to the front. She was the leader, and one of the oldest and most experienced of the group. It was only right that she go first.

She glanced over her shoulder, at the rest of her squad milling behind her. “Survive,” she ordered them.

Then she took a deep breath, and stepped into the unknown.

———

The sky was black, smoke from burning rubble blotting out the sun. Calina blinked, adjusting to the sudden change from the bright light of Geneva. Then she took in the rest of her surroundings. Small fires blazed in the wasteland that used to be the Avenger’s compound. Calina recognised it from the lake in the distance, but everything else looked alien - literally. An enormous black spaceship filled the sky, spewing out dragon-shaped ships - the same ones that had reigned terror on New York over a decade ago. And on the ground, hundreds of creatures amassed in a horde behind an armoured Thanos.

Seeing him in person - the despot responsible for the single most devastating event in Calina’s life - caused a wave of anger to overtake her. The force of the emotion was so powerful, it broke through the serum’s numbing effect. Calina clenched her jaw, and grabbed both guns from her holsters.

The Widows on either side of her armed themselves too, and the army surrounding her - growing in number by the second as more and more portals opened - prepared for battle. Calina didn’t spare them a glance, her focus on the enemy across the field.

Then it was time to engage, and with a thundering roar, Calina and the Widows and the rest of Wong’s army descended on Thanos’ troops.

Chaos ensued. 

The sounds of gunfire, and thunder, and the clashing of giant creatures deafened Calina as she fought against alien soldiers. Lightening forked through the sky. Ships fell from above, and crashed to the ground. Bright blue energy bolts blinded her, and the heat of explosions seared her skin.

But she kept fighting. She knew she was no match for the larger combatants, so she concentrated on doing as much damage as possible to the more humanoid aliens and the smaller, six-legged creatures that scurried over the field like rats. She fired and fired until her ammo ran out, then grabbed whatever discarded weapons she could find and kept on fighting.

Until something went horribly wrong.

She was stabbing a creature with an electrified spear when something very large blotted out the dim light of the crater she was standing in. Drassa screamed a warning at her. Calina looked up in time to see an 8-foot-tall leather clad and heavily-muscled alien drop into the crater next to her, his landing shaking the ground beneath her feet. Calina dropped her spear and ran from him, up the edge of the crater. She scrambled to reach the safety of the ridge, but before she could make it, she heard the whistle of air as the alien swung his giant hammer-like weapon. She felt the crushing blow against her legs, then she was suddenly airborne from the force of the hit.

She crashed back to the ground several feet away, the pain of the impact stealing her breath.

Then the pain stole everything else, and her world went black.

———

November 2023

4 weeks later

“Miss Balashova?”

It took a few moments for the strange sounds to form themselves into words.

“Miss Balashova, can you hear me?”

At first they were distant, as if coming from the end of a long, echoing tunnel. Then louder. Clearer. Until Calina realised they were being spoken by someone right next to her.

And they were talking to her.

She was Miss Balashova.

She was Calina.

More sounds intruded. The steady beep, beep, beep of a heart monitor. The hum of electricity. Soft shoes padding across a tiled floor.

Then sensation. Soft padding beneath her back. A pillow under her head. Cool dry air over her skin.

With sentience returned, Calina tried to open her eyes. Her eyelids felt heavy, like she needed all her strength just to flutter them open. A crack of bright light appeared, searing her with pain.

“Take your time,” the voice said. “Your eyes won’t be accustomed to the light.”

Why?

What had happened to her?

Calina struggled to remember. She’d been in Geneva. Then someone had come to them for help…

A golden portal.

A dark sky.

A battle.

The pain in her legs…

The steady beeping suddenly sped up. Calina could feel her heart start to pound in her chest in time with the staccato beeps of the machine. 

“Please be calm,” the voice said. “You’re in a medical facility in Wakanda. You were portaled here after being injured on the battlefield in New York. But you’re fine now. It took a little longer than expected, but you’re fine.”

Calina forced her eyes to open, needing to gauge that for herself. Needing to understand what ‘fine’ meant. Because she remembered what had happened to her legs. She remembered them being crushed by that alien’s weapons…

And there was only one way to save her from that type of injury.

Amputation.

She blinked against the light again. Then slowly turned her head to look at the person standing next to her. It was a young woman.

“My name is Shuri. This is my lab, and you’ve been in a healing stasis for the last four weeks. We’ve just weaned your sedation, so you may still feel a little weak and groggy.”

‘Weak’ was an understatement. As Calina tried to take in her surroundings, each movement felt like wading through wet cement. Eventually she was able to glance down, and saw that her lower half was enclosed in some sort of plastic pod.

But it was clear plastic…and through it she was able to see her legs.

Her intact, still attached, and apparently uninjured legs.

She wiggled her toes, as if to prove to herself that what she was seeing was real. “How?” she croaked out, her throat dry and scratchy from disuse.

“Cutting-edge stem cell regeneration therapy,” Shuri explained. “We essentially rebuilt your legs. I can only take part of the credit. I was working on the technology prior to the blip, but my team perfected it over the next five years. This”—Shuri patted the plastic pod— “is also proprietary tech. It's designed to stop infection while you heal. It also provides sedation and pain relief and administers electro-stimulation to your muscles to prevent atrophy. Which means you should be up and walking in the next couple of days.”

Calina frowned, the thought of walking right now feeling impossible. She could still barely move. And her eyes felt heavy again.

So heavy…

“It’s fine,” Shuri said, her voice sounding further away, back in that tunnel again. “You can sleep now. We’ll talk more when you wake up.”

Calina felt the pull of unconsciousness…and gave in.

———

The next time she woke, the process was easier - like drifting out of sleep, rather than dragging herself from the depths of some abyss. She opened her eyes and realised she was in a proper bed, half propped up against a stack of soft pillows. She looked around, and saw four similar beds to her right, and three on her left, only two of which were occupied.

The room she was in was large and round, at once industrial-looking - with large steel beams and a black glossy floor - and high tech, with walls formed of read-outs and scans, all glowing in orange. Technicians and doctors milled around a series of pods on the opposite side of the room - presumably containing people who needed even more healing that she had.

If that was even possible.

Still unable to believe that she really was okay, Calina shifted up the bed until she was sitting properly. Then she removed the thin sheet covering her legs and studied them. They looked like her legs, albeit paler than they were before.

That’s because the skin is brand new, the analytical part of Calina’s brain observed.

That fact was proven by the absence of the scar that used to run down her right shin. Two years ago, she’d collided with a rock while parachuting into Cambodia. She'd sustained a large laceration which had healed with a thick shiny scar.

But it was gone now.

She tentatively flexed her ankles. Then bent and straightened her knees. Rotated her legs at the hips, checking her range of movement. But everything felt fine. More than fine, in fact. The faint stiffness she’d carried in her right knee since her fight with Matt all those years ago was gone.

She laughed out loud, the sound almost delirious. They really did build her legs. It felt like something out of a science fiction movie. But considering her old legs had been crushed by an 8ft-tall alien during a battle for the fate of the universe, the fiction part of that equation was all relative.

Calina was so engrossed in studying her new extremities, she didn’t register the woman walking towards her across the laboratory floor. Not until she softly called out her name.

“Calina?”

Calina glanced up.

And saw a ghost.

———

Katya knew she’d made a mistake straight away.

Anya had told her to wait. To let Calina hear the news from someone else. To let her have some time to process. But Katya thought she knew better. She thought what Calina needed was to hear the truth as soon as possible. And she’d thought her friend would be so happy to see her, the shock of her sudden appearance wouldn’t matter.

But she’d been wrong.

So wrong.

When Calina glanced up after hearing her name, her face drained of all colour, and she actually flinched away from her, her whole body recoiling.

“It’s okay,” Katya said, taking another step closer. Which was another mistake.

Calina practically jumped out of the bed trying to get away from her. Her legs wobbled briefly and she clutched at the wall to keep her balance. “Y-you’re dead,” she stuttered, shaking her head.

“No, Calina. I came back. We all came back.”

“What? When?”

“The Avengers fixed it. They fixed what Thanos did - that’s what led to the battle in New York.”

Katya had blinked into being again in the middle of Central Park, Anya by her side. The two of them - with Calina - had been walking Yelena’s puppy down a leafy footpath before they’d been unceremoniously snapped out of existence.

Barely minutes after the shock of their return had worn off, a sorcerer had appeared in front of them and they’d been transported to the middle of a war zone. After victory had been won, they’d taken stock of the wounded…and found Calina. Katya and Anya had been in Wakanda ever since, watching over their sister and willing her to heal.

Now that she had, Katya had been too excited to wait.

Hence, her colossal mistake.

Calina shook her head, as if trying to process the news. The machine monitoring her heart beat sped up, the fast beeps ringing out across the room. “You- you all came back?” she panted, her breathing faster now too. One of her hands went to her chest and she clawed at the collar of her medical gown.

“Yes,” Katya replied, slowly coming around the bed. “Calina, you’re scaring me. Why don’t you get back into bed, and I’ll call a doctor,” she said gently.

Calina didn’t seem to hear her. Her breathing got faster still, and she stood there panting as if she’d just ran a marathon. “Did Matt…?” she whispered, tears filling her eyes.

“Yes. Matt came back too.”

A harsh cry escaped Calina. Then she suddenly collapsed. Katya lunged forward to try to catch her, but Calina fell to the floor, her knees cracking harshly against the black tile. She stayed there, hunched over in a ball as she struggled to breathe.

The machine went crazy, alerting the doctors on the other side of the room. They came running, and managed to get Calina in bed. She was hyperventilating now, her breaths coming in shallow hitched sobs, her eyes wide and panicked.

“Calina!” Katya cried, as one of the nurses pulled her away from the bed.

A doctor grabbed a syringe from a nearby cart and injected it into Calina’s arm. Calina took another strangled breath, then slowly collapsed back onto the bed.

“Is she okay?!” Katya called out again. “What the hell is happening?”

One of the doctors came over to reassure her. “It looks like a panic attack. We’ve sedated her, and she should be fine when she wakes up.”

“A panic attack?”

Calina had never panicked in her entire life.

What the hell was going on with her sister?

———

The answer came a little later that evening, courtesy of Shuri. 

Katya had gotten to know the Wakandan princess a bit over the last month. She was the head of the scientific facility, and an exceptionally intelligent woman. She also wasn’t known to sugar-coat things.

“Calina was on some kind of drug.”

“What?” Katya said.

“Are you sure?” Anya asked. “That doesn’t sound like Calina.”

“We ran a toxicology screen before she was put in the pod - standard procedure. It flagged up an unknown compound. My team have been analysing it in our spare time - not that there’s been much of that around here.” Shuri sounded somewhat disgruntled. Her thoughts on all the outsiders filling her medical beds were well known, but Katya suspected it was all a front - Shuri would never turn away someone in need. She was too kind…and too scientifically curious.

“We think we’ve got to the bottom of it now.” Shuri handed them a printout of her findings.

Anya took the documents and started skimming through them. She shook her head. “No. This can’t be right.”

“What is it?” Katya asked. She grabbed the papers from Anya but couldn’t make sense of all the chemical formulas and notations.

“It looks like a modified version of the serum,” Anya explained. “The serum.”

Katya reared back in shock. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know what serum you’re talking about,” Shuri said. “But best we can figure, the stuff Calina was using targeted the neurotransmitter signals within her amygdala. It would have significantly dampened her emotions - if not blocked them completely. Which may explain her reaction earlier.”

“In what way?” Katya asked

“If she’s been chemically blocking her emotions, she may not have the ability to process them now. They might all feel so overwhelming that it-”

“Manifests physically,” Anya finished. “As a panic attack.”

“Right,” Shuri agreed.

The two of them started discussing the other side-effects and unintended consequences of messing with the amygdala, but Katya tuned them out. She was still feeling dazed at the thought of Calina being back under the serum’s effects.

She couldn’t understand it.

And she needed to know one thing above all else:

Had someone dosed her against her will?

Or…had she willingly done it to herself?

-------

Chapter 12

Tag list: @hollandorks @stilldreaming666 @sio-ina-bottle @tearoseart-blog @acharliecoxedfan @freckledbabyyy @chezagnes

If you’d like to be added - let me know!

[writing-whump]

In reference to our recent conversation about your OC's relationships, and remembering this post from many months ago ( https://www.tumblr.com/writing-whump/751203707543289856/i-dont-chat-or-dm-but-ill-ask-a-question-to-get?source=share ), i'm curious if something changed in the view of your OCs in your character eyes, after all this time. It would be nice to see some progress (or maybe some things are sure and stable?) And of course there is more of them now, so you could describe shortly their thought about others not only inside the pack (which is currently bigger), but also pack-wolfson brothers?

If you have time, if course,and if it makes sense. 😘

This is a very interesting idea! It's been almost a year, since the original post is from May 22, 2024. Storywise, it happened right after Hector and Arnie found out the truth about their father (50.) and before the pack met Rip (77.-79.). It's fun to sum up all the things that have changed since then: Isaiah's heart attack, Dylan and Rip, the vacation, Shawn, Seline and Isaiah breaking up, Kieran, Alessia and Dominick...

How do they see each other?

Isaiah and Matthew

I think their relationship is changing a lot. Matt stopped seeing Isaiah as this otherworldly figure that can do no wrong - esp after the heart attack, he realized that sometimes it wasn't just okay to disagree with Isaiah, but necessary. Matt didn't know that was something he could do, he admired him so much. Now he dares to disagree a lot more, but still not as directly as he could. Isaiah is not thinking about this intentionally, but he feels like Matt is progressing a whole lot and figuring himself out...and I think he can see him being free from his past, rebuilding the bond with his sisters and finding a purpose not defined/involving the Executioner bussiness...which he seems as an advantage while Matt perceives it more like distancing and like he isn't needed around.

Isaiah keeping Matt & Seline out, while he is struggling with the meaning and his role as Executioner is one of their biggest current issues.

Isaiah and Seline

These two also went through a lot of changes. At the end it wasn't the secrets that broke their [romantic] relationship (though the strict separation of life segments plays a role) but the inferiority/superiority complex. I think Isaiah and Seline are both used to be very, if not the most, dominant in the room either by skill, expertise or knowledge, that's why they find it hard to find an equal. Now if they do, they both have not-so-healthy reactions. Seline switches to quickly feeling competitive and insecure about the things she is supposed to know and should perform to make up for what the other person is better at than her. Isaiah goes to his unworthiness pattern and "I don't want to burden you with my existence" feels. Being needed and in the protective supervisor role feels familiar and safe for him and he can give that to Sel, who is learning to accept and enjoy it—in their friendship based relationship that feels less threatening to her.

Besides, Matt might have let the inferiority thing pass, but you bet Seline would be super offended if Matt explained to her what he did to Hector about respect=distance, vulnerable=protective issue.

Isaiah & Hector & Arnie

These three are evolving as well, but it's a painful process. Hector and Arnie have a problem seeing Isaiah outside of his caretaking role. After the Reveal, they both accepted Isaiah was this big hero for both of them and means well and loves them and they get to have him back...and it's really difficult to let go of that heroic image and accept him having human flaws and weaknesses. He is on a pedestal and he is supposed to be this unbreakable strong person they look up to. Now even when Isaiah tells them otherwise, admitting to his pain, they don't know what to do with it & try ignoring it out of existence.

Matthew & Seline

Their relationship is pretty stable. Loving, close, supportive. Staying in their areas of expertise and admiring what the other can do that they don't.

Dylan & Rip & Trio

Dylan and Rip had been adopted into the pack quite naturally and implicitly. No official proclamations, they just happened to fall in one day. Dylan is figuring himself out, he and Rip are both healing from different things. Matt and Seline feel protective and nurturing over both. Dylan is a bit too relaxed and childish, but it's a trusting state in a safe space. Rip is...learning to trust it. The process is painful but a lot more gratifying than he thought.

Isaiah and Rip

What Rip has over Matt is that he is always going to be worse off anywhere else beside Isaiah. Matt has a chance at a life—Rip won't have another opportunity. That's why Isaiah doesn't mind relying and revealing to him a lot more while teaching him as his apprentice and involving him with his Executioner missions. Rip doesn't yet quite see Isaiah as a person with needs and wants either. He is grateful and Isaiah is a symbolic helpful authority that he finds worthy to accept and learn from. Rip doesn't understand how and why Isaiah needs him, that this whole deal isn't just for Rip's sake or doesn't have to be. But he is doing his best to be useful and develop his skills in a meaningful name. Right now that purpose and goal is to please Isaiah, but he will able to tap into his own ingrained justice code as well—and it's a powerful one.

Matthew & Hector and Seline & Arnie

Matthew and Hector developed a very interesting bond, founded on brutal honesty, provocations and banter. But they never cross certain boundaries and there is mutual respect and understanding between them now that makes it easier to communicate than with other people in their lives.

Sel and Arnie have been a lot closer since the vacation and the law meeting. They don't find it too hard to stay in touch or text each other, and Arnie invites her into cinema or theater and other cultural event stuff that Matt and Hector would be too bored or allergic to attend.

Isaiah and Kieran

I find this dynamic interesting, because it's so conflicting. Kieran is Isaiah's opposite. An indulgent rebellious freedom-obsessed thrill-seeker. And he sees in Isaiah everything he hates about wolves, their control, arrogance, bossiness and martyrdom. They are just so tortured with their constant control-need instead of living out their shadows. Isaiah doesn't understand why yet, but Kieran can get under his skin a lot easier than anyone else he has met before.

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #77

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 5, The Ball, wrong

...

Sideburns Check

The sideburns are still long and the same length as when Crowley spoke to Maggie. They are not the longest-length that happens around Gabriel when humans aren't around.

This scene puts Crowley close to his own car that's helping this supernatural zone take shape. There is now more fog and fewer humans shown to be passing in the street. In fact, there is at least one demon shown to the camera's right when Crowley says the name of the coffee shop. Otherwise, the few humans around are understood to be walking and passing through the area.

There is likely a second demon standing in the street and facing the bookshop as Nina enters since I think Nina is supposed to be the next-to-last human to enter the ball.

...

Brighter Red Streak Check

The more saturated red streak of hair is at its most noticeable point in the story, in my opinion, in this scene. It is strongest when Crowley is telling Nina, with urgency, to get to the meeting.

That's also when Nina shifts from finding Crowley weird and mildly irritating in that moment to finding his demeanor scary.

...

Hairstyle Changes

The curl in the front and top is taller and more centered, creating a pocket of hair in the process, at least for the earlier part of the scene. The more saturated red streak of hair is more vibrant. I'm not sure its ever stronger in the whole season.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Crowley says the name of the coffee shop and with the word "name" as a hint that's the point he wants to earn. That's point #1.

Nina has a question for asking Crowley what he wants. That's point #2.

She has a self-touch, like Maggie did. She actually uses both arms, but it's her left hand that is visibly placed on her waist and makes a pocket. Interestingly, that's the opposite hand Maggie used.

After that, Nina at least says the name, "Lindsay," and has a self-mouth touch for 2 points. Crowley also has a self-mouth touch in the cut where the two of them are last seen together for point #3.

...

Time to pay attention to the pockets.

The Tied Hands do not retie.

The Belt Head might get an Overhead Light when Crowley points to the bookshop and says, "Just to remind you about the..." If so, it's presumably helped along by the self-made pocket of hair, especially since it's only the top part of the Belt Head that is visible.

There is a human wearing white who visually walks behind Crowley, but the way Crowley's ears and lights line up over the course of the scene still don't amount to an Overhead Light for his actual head, as best I can tell. That's because the lights are to Crowley's right. He doesn't do anything to properly switch them from how I've played other scenes. Crowley does at least get the flames of the coffee shop wall above, behind, and to the left of his left ear. That's most clearly shown during and after he convinces Nina to go to the bookshop.

While Crowley has been known to frequently have self-made pockets, the main two I can find is the one he makes with his hair and another little self-made pocket he makes with his legs and the lower interior window frame of his car.

...

Story Commentary

The fog is still setting in. There are still a few humans.

Crowley senses something is wrong. As he mentions that to Nina, he adds that lots of things are wrong right now, but right now, this wrong he senses is coming in waves, like a hangover.

To our knowledge as the audience, this wrongness is probably the demons arriving, possibly with a "creeping sense of unease."

Crowley's actions up to this point have indicated he anticipates their arrival, at least on a layered level. He's not touching any earthly objects here, just as he wasn't touching any when Nina questioned him earlier about his relationship with Aziraphale.

Since Crowley mentions a hangover, it's worth recalling that he did drink wine earlier and is using a substantial amount of power in making this shift into a supernatural zone happen.

When he says a lot of things are wrong, he could be referring to his more layered awareness within the games.

This moment also shows what I meant that Crowley and Aziraphale aren't really asking the humans to attend. Whatever it takes to get the invited human to the ball? It's going to be done. In this case, Crowley shows a sense of urgency that's strong enough for Nina to abide by him flat out telling her to go. She gets scared of him.

Honestly, she might not have even been able to leave since she accepted the invitation on camera in Crowley's presence with his touches happening, and the supernatural zone is already taking shape. Crowley both escorts and dismisses other humans from the space later, as a way to allow them to leave.

...

Nina

Something very interesting in the Earthly Objects game happens.

I am very unsure of the below, but here is my current play in trying to understand this scene within Earthly Objects as a game.

When Nina arrives, she touches a threshold. More specifically, she has four left hand fingers on the door. The middle finger touches the push plate. The index, ring, and fingertips touch the door panel though the ring finger is aligned just below the edge of the push plate. As she continues to enter, her right arm is shown to be crossed under her left arm. Her left thumb eventually appears and is shown to not be touching the door.

Her left hand lets go of the door, and her body obscures the touch her right hand still has on the door. She says, "I'm going mad."

Now let's take a look at how Crowley touches this same threshold later in episode 6 as the Single of The Pocket Trick. I won't cover everything about it because it's a lot.

For starters, he has a visible pocket touch with his right hand that has four fingers in the pocket with the thumb outside the pocket. Crowley also places four left hand fingers on the door. For him, it's the index finger instead of the middle finger that touches the push plate. Both the index finger and middle finger are touching each other at the lower edge of the push plate. The middle, ring, and pinky fingertips are on the door panel. As Crowley continues to enter, his right arm is shown to be crossed under his left arm. He's using his Pocket Chain with the car window behind him for the touch, especially with the thumb and its shadow on the astragal. The cut itself does not show the door actually closing. He is still touching the door by the end of the cut.

He had his mouth open but no dialogue during the touch.

Other humans have touched doors during Good Omens 2. I haven't tracked every touch, and I don't have it in me to go back and check them as I draft this post because it won't change my point about what follows from Nina's touch.

For whatever reason, in this instance here, Nina's threshold touch is treated like a mistake that must be corrected. It's like the game wants to overcompensate.

Here is my current breakdown of trying to understand what happened.

Nina's touch cannot count as an earthly object touch because three fingertips on the door panel is a threshold-only touch. But it's not a Threshold Trick or part of one. It's something she did in a heated moment of fear. Crowley's threshold touches are very particular about how they are done.

Nina says, "I'm going mad," for point #1. The game treats statements like this one, a statement of place, as a "Hello."

But, instead of having Nina go into an interaction set, she'll get her own points #2 and #3 later, as dialogue points, because the other characters she encounters are earning 3 points in one collective duo set and 3 solo sets. All of these characters will be touching earthly objects.

Mutt is holding a glass of champagne and a book as he says Nina's name. That's point #1 for the book and #2 for the name. He's not talking to Nina. He's talking to his spouse because his sentence began, "Why, my dear, it is Nina..." His spouse has a line of dialogue toward Nina while also holding a glass of champagne. That's point #3. I'm guessing Mutt's touch on the book for counts for him to make it different from the touch his spouse earns.

Nina doesn't respond verbally to them.

Justine is holding a glass of champagne and has a self-touch with her left hand for point #1. Her self-touch probably counts to make what she touches being herself instead of the glass of champagne. That way, it's, again, different from what Mutt's spouse was touching. Justine says, "bonsoir" as a "Hello" equivalent for point #2 with a question about it being a fine night for dancing, no? for point #3.

Nina finally earns her own second two points with the name "Justine" as point #2 and the question, "Justine, what's going on?" for point #3.

Mr. Arnold has a touch on the piano for point #1 and sitting on a stool for point #2. He says Nina's name for point #3.

Gabriel is holding a tray for point #1. He says "Hello" for point #2. He asks a question about Nina trying one of the tiny little dinners for point #3.

That's 15 points total.

It mostly seems to end here since Aziraphale shows up shortly, and he and Nina proceed into at least one standard interaction set with him touching a bookcase for point #1, saying Nina's name for point #2, and Nina asking why she doesn't feel upset for point #3.

After that, I can't figure out any remaining sets for the scene. Mr. Brown earns at least two points with "Excellent eventide to you, Mistress Nina," as a Hello and a name. Since his hands aren't shown, I don't know if his newspaper touch counts. I would think so otherwise since he wasn't holding it earlier when he entered the bookshop.

...

As for why the human guests are talking weird, I go with the general theory of it being Aziraphale's influence on the space with his wish to have this ball happen this way. His power is influencing the humans. Aziraphale wants the humans safe from the demon invasion, but he also wants to dance with Crowley and celebrate their connection.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

[northgazaupdates]

8 January 2024

Journalist Mahmoud Abusalama interviews Sabreen Bahjat Salem, a woman who recently survived the massacre of her family by the IOF. She tells how most of her family has been wiped out, including her two children, and many of them are still trapped under rubble. She describes being blown into the street by the force of the bomb, and lying there for six hours without help because rescue crews had no way to reach her. The entire interview has been translated by Instagram user faridaek, and is posted under the cut. “M” refers to Mahmoud and “S” refers to Sabreen.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mahmoud Abusalama (@almajd_free)

M: We bring you a story amidst dozens of reports of Israeli massacres of civilians in the Gaza Strip. This account focuses on the Salem family massacre, where 143 of 153 displaced individuals were killed in their home. We're joined by Sabreen Bahjat Salem, a mother who lost her two children, parents, and the majority of her family members, who were also seeking refuge in that house. My sincerest condolences, Sabreen.

S: May God reward your endeavours/efforts.

M: Please tell us what happened, from the beginning.

S: We were displaced from Jabalia Camp, we thought we were safe in our homes but the Israelis warned us the camp was dangerous, so we evacuated. Our destination was Al-Rimal, deemed “safe” by the Israelis, but it was far from safe. We went there and got trapped two nights before we were bombed. We were stuck in this house, unable to leave or flee the area. The next night, they bombed us.

M: What time did the attack happen?

S: The attack happened around midnight, and I was lying in the street from midnight till 6 in the morning, with no ambulances or anyone to help. Most of my family is still under the rubble. Of the 153 people in the massacre, only 12 of us survived, and we all ended up scattered in the streets.

M: So, we're talking about 153 people and displaced people all under the house, how many people were rescued?

S: 77 people were retrieved then buried, 77 people. But most of them remained under the rubble, and only 12 of us who were pulled out are alive, all of us scattered in the streets.

M: While you were on the street, were there army vehicles and tanks there?

S: Yes. They were there. They first came in around 1AM, and people were crushed by their tanks and bulldozers.

M: So, we're talking about Israeli tanks going over the bodies of the wounded or martyrs from the family?

S: Yes, exactly. They ran over the bodies and crushed them, killing them, and there were pregnant women amongst those crushed! And we were on the other side of the street, and the tank passed us at 6 AM, once the tanks and bulldozers finally left, then the neighbors were able to help us, and even then, when they were helping us, the helicopter was shooting at them directly, so nobody could help us except with great difficulty/danger.

M: Who did you lose in this massacre?

S: I lost both my children, my father and mother, and my two siblings, meaning most of my family is gone. I am the only surviving member left. Most of those who were pulled out were the sole survivors of their families, meaning the majority of people lost their mother, father, and siblings.

M: Was there any specific target in the house? Were you warned or informed to evacuate the house?

S: No, we were all civilians in the house; no one informed us to leave. No one told us to evacuate. According to the Israelis, it was a safe area, so we headed there under the pretext that we would be safe, but it turned out to be a disaster-stricken area, according to the Israelis, it was a safe area, so we headed there under the pretext that we would be safe, but it turned out to be a disaster-stricken area, according to them. May God avenge us.

M: This testimony comes from one of the survivors who endured the bombardment of the Israeli forces. It recounts the tragic Salem family massacre in the Al-Rimal neighborhood. Originally from the northern Jabalia camp, they had relocated to Gaza city, believing it to be safe. Tragically, this attack resulted in the loss of 143 members of the Salem family. May God greatly reward their endurance/patience.

[jasper-the-menace]

Leiurus

The deathstalker (Leiurus quinquestriatus) is a species of scorpion, a member of the family Buthidae. It is also known as the Palestine yellow scorpion, Omdurman scorpion, and Naqab desert scorpion, as well as by many other colloquial names, which generally originate from the commercial captive trade of the animal. To eliminate confusion, especially important with potentially dangerous species, the scientific name is normally used to refer to them. The name Leiurus quinquestriatus roughly translates into English as "five-striped smooth-tail". In 2014, the subspecies L. q. hebraeus was separated from it and elevated to its own species Leiurus hebraeus. Other species of the genus Leiurus are also often referred to as "deathstalkers". Leiurus quinquestriatus is yellow, and 30–77 millimetres (1.2–3.0 in) long, with an average of 58 mm (2.3 in).

(Source: Wikipedia's Deathstalker page)

New OCs based on scorpions? New OCs based on scorpions. This is Leiurus, based on the Leiurus quinquestriatus, which is one of my favorite scorpions ever. Further fun facts:

She is 5' even (because deathstalkers are smol).

She has a 9-to-5 job because my stepdad misheard me when I was talking to myself and said she should have an office job, but I'm still determining what is it that she does exactly.

Her 9-to-5 job a public facing one so she has mastered the Customer Service Voice. The rest of her time is dedicated to killing.

Whenever someone is being an asshole or creepy to her coworkers, she kills them and buries their bodies under the basement storage area.

She invented her wrist blade things herself, and yes, she does have her venom coating the blades, thank you very much.

Literally the first bit of information in her development was that she is a lesbian. I didn't even control it, she just is.

[fluentisonus]

Cadastre B; Cadastre C; Cadastre A

The cadastres of Orange

Dating from 77 BC and commissioned by Vespasian, the three so-called Orange cadastres consisted of large white marble tablets, of which 300 fragments have been preserved. They represent the plan of the colony, and are the only surviving example of their kind for the entire Roman era. This cadastre provides us with information about the land and fiscal administration of the times.

The term 'cadastre' refers to the administrative organisation of ancient Roman territory for the requirements of land and fiscal administration. The cadastres covered the entire territory of the colony of Orange.

On cadastre B [image 1], the representation of the kardo and the decumanus [the two lines forming a crossroads created by a surveyor from which to measure land] enabled the territory to be divided into four major regions and determined the coordinates of each centuria. Each of these, measuring 750 x 750 metres, covered an area of 50 hectares (i.e. 200 jugeri, the unit of measurement of land area used by the Romans).

The inscriptions show the various legal statuses of the territories:

EX TR. [ex tributario]: land allocated to the settlers

REL. COL. [reliqua coloniae]: leased land (the amount of the lease and the name of the lessee are mentioned)

TRIC. REDD. [tricastinis reddita]: land restored to the defeated indigenous peoples (in this case, the Tricastini tribe).

-- Text from the Museum of Orange [with a couple clarifications]

^ detail of a section of cadastre B [image 1] showing the outline of river

^ more example details from cadastre B

+ dad for scale:

[dailyanarchistposts]

From Nowhere to Everywhere

Then, there’s Half-Earth Socialism: A Plan to Save the Future from Extinction, Climate Change and Pandemics, by Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass, proposing a global production decrease alongside a participatory shift toward renewable energy and plant-based diets. Mitigating much stress on the Earth, this plan would enable a return to far safer levels of biodiversity and atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The authors envision these transformations being achieved by a “Half Earth socialist” coalition of environmentalists, Indigenous peoples, scientists, vegans, and feminists, among others. Getting these groups to work smoothly together will require a degree of compromise, with Marxists abandoning their tradition’s productivism, and vegans “temper[ing] their attacks on Indigenous hunting” (16), for instance. They’re careful to repudiate conservation’s colonialist legacy, and call for nature preserves to be “under Indigenous leadership wherever possible” (74). Their vision aligns much more with community-based versions of conservation than with the fortress-conservation model of human-free parks.

The term “Half-Earth,” made famous by E.O. Wilson, refers to a proposal for turning half of the planet into protected areas. Vettese and Pendergrass trace the idea back to the journal Wild Earth, in the early 1990s, but I’ve encountered a 1977 proposal by Mulford Sibley that, “Approximately one half of the surface of the earth is reserved for wilderness areas.”[5] Abolishing animal agriculture would, by itself, be sufficient to raise the world’s protected areas from 15 percent of habitable land to over 50 percent (11, 77). Such a trajectory, Vettesse and Pendergrass explain, would have multiple benefits including protecting biodiversity, sequestering atmospheric carbon, and drastically reducing the rate of zoonotic illness. Although critics call Half Earth an overreach, I actually think that protecting 75 percent, the amount needed to cover every terrestrial plant species and to secure ocean populations, comes closer to what’s needed.[6]

Vettese and Pendergrass give a courageous critique of the anthropocentrism of their Marxist roots. They lament that Marx “mocked those who ‘childishly wonder at the cuckoo laying eggs in another bird’s nest,” that Trotsky “hunted ducks,” that Stalin “killed his pet parrot with his bare hands’ (32–3). This is not even to mention Mao’s famine-inducing campaign to exterminate the sparrow.[7]

Far from sharing Marx and Engels’s hostility to utopian socialism, the authors identify as utopians in the tradition of William Morris, Otto Neurath, and Ursula Le Guin. They even name one of their chapters after Morris’s 1890 utopian novel News from Nowhere. Following the best of this tradition, they are quite serious about the details of implementing communism on Earth, creating a world where utopia is everyplace rather than no-place.

In this vein, Vettese and Pendergrass devote many pages to the mechanics of economic planning. Half-Earth socialism, they explain, would fuse linear programming with cybernetics, building on Stafford Beer’s viable systems model. They celebrate this model’s emphasis on local participation and compare it favorably in contrast to “top-down authoritarian” forms of planning (119–120). Although Beer spearheaded Chile’s short-lived Project Cybersyn under Salvador Allende’s government, the principles can be applied in stateless contexts. There’s no reason why the system’s five components–implementation, coordination, self-organization, intelligence, and ethos–couldn’t be achieved through entirely horizontal networks of assemblies, councils, and working groups.[8]

[ask-commander-arild]

Arild, dear summer baby boy, what is norway like

(ooc: Thanks for the ask! I was hoping someone would ask this! But, just remember, country names have been Motherified, Norway will be referred to as Fjordland!!)

Oh? Well... I haven't visited since I was 10, and I have not lived there since I was around 6. But, from what I do remember, it's... very very beautiful. There are many forests and mountains and plateaus of lush green, as well many lakes and rivers. Before we moved away, my family owned a small farm in a very pretty area, and I always loved getting to run and play outside. Though, not always, because it's also pretty cold there. I think on average, it would get up to around 18-25°C in the summer, and down to about -6° in the winter (that's around 64-77 and 21 Fahrenheit respectively for all you Eaglelandians out there). It probably doesn't help that it rains there quite a lot, haha. I think that's actually part of the reason we ended up moving, though I can talk about that later.

As for the culture... I really could not tell you as much. Like I said, I was very young when we moved, but I do remember the people being very nice and very kindhearted. Hmmm... I do remember fishing being a pretty big thing, what with all the water I mentioned, heh. And to this day, it's still one of my favorite things to do. My pappa even built a shack we would go to when he'd take me on fishing trips! Outdoor activities like that seem to be a favorite among the people from my homeland. In fact, a lot of our traditional food comes from farming and fishing. Lots of fish and cheese/dairy and bread and livestock animals and such. Doesn't sound much different from anywhere else in the world, I know, but just trust me on this.

I really miss being there... As much as I would love to talk more about it, it just gets harder and harder to remember details about it as the days go by. I wish I go back there again and everything could be the same. It was always my dream to move back when I grew up, but I really don't see that happening anymore. Oh, well...