#because technicality is not how phobias work

[hellsitegenetics]

my Valentine’s Day love letter is for chytridiomycota :D the grandmother of every single fungi on the planet, the chytridiomycota is somehow unlike any other fungus in varying ways

such as its environment. chytridiomycota are largely aquatic,yet they’re one of the most common land parasites :D on the same topic, their spores are flagellated in order to literally swim through the water, which is unique almost entirely to them.

Chytrids are also one of the only fungi that reproduce oogamously relating them closer to LAND ANIMALS !!!! Than any aquatic creature or fungi.

This makes me believe that they actually had a hand in the creation of humans during evolution, since fungus and human genomes are so incredibly close to each other. It’s one of the most simple fungi but it’s so incredible to me :D 🖤🖤🖤

String identified:

at’ a tt ctcta : t gat g g t at, t ctcta a t g ag a

c a t t. ctcta a ag aatc,t t’ t t c a aat : t a tc, t a agat t ta tg t at, c at t t t.

Ct a a t g tat c ga atg t c t A AA !!!! Ta a aatc cat g.

T a tat t acta a a a t cat a g t, c g a a g a c c t ac t. t’ t t g t t’ c t : 🖤🖤🖤

Closest match: Odiellus spinosus genome assembly, chromosome: 13 Common name: Harvestman

[hershelwidget]

I don’t know anymore have a Caleb prepared to Fight for his bestie

“she asked for no pickles” lookin scene

[hllywdwhre]

Blurred Lines

Pairing: Jonathan Crane x fem!reader

Summary: You come to Jonathan with a new idea that he’s more than willing to help you test.

Warnings: Ideas any psychological association would frown upon, Jonathan being Jonathan and getting off on fear, I’m gonna be honest I didn’t have the patience to write a lot of plot soo…. You’re getting enough to set up the story but that’s about it, needles, unprotected p in v, technically recording a sex tape but under the guise of ‘it’s for science’, lowkey (highkey) doctor/patient kink, bondage, dirty talk, degradation, light spanking, fingering

Word Count: 3.2K

Notes: I need help and a lot of it

You and Jonathan had worked together at the asylum for a couple months now. You were one of the only therapists that he could stand to work with, and it was purely because you took an interest in his… less than ethical ideas. Your interest in these ideas, mixed with the attraction you held towards him, lead to your own less than ethical idea.

The two of you typically stayed late at the asylum to work on paperwork. Usually, this involved you helping him with his and you teasing him about how you deserved a pay raise for being a psychiatrist and his assistant.

Tonight your teasing was absent as you thought over how to bring the idea up to him. You sat on the opposite side of his desk, sorting through a stack of papers. Deciding to bite the bullet and just spit it out, you cleared your throat and drew his attention to you.

“So, I had an idea about a way to overcome certain phobias,” you said, still looking down at the stack of papers as you flitted through them.

“And what would that be?” Jonathan asked, briefly glancing up at you before returning to his own stack of papers.

“It’s a mix of classical conditioning and exposure therapy.”

“Sounds like something that’s been tried before. Offer a reward to a patient so the patient associates their fear with a positive reinforcement instead of a negative memory,” he said dismissively, brushing you off.

“Yes,” you said, your voice turning hesitant, “but that’s not all for my idea… mine involves a different type of positive reinforcement.”

This seemed to catch his attention. He looked up at you, an eyebrow quirked.

“What type of reinforcement?”

“Well, what are the physical and chemical similarities between fear and arousal?” You asked. Both eyebrows raised as he seemed to catch an idea of where this was going, but he answered your question as if he was clueless just so you would continue explaining.

“They both release adrenaline and cortisol, and they both increase heart rate and breaths per minute.” His voice was calm as he answered, but the way his eyes remained glued to you as he answered revealed his interest.

You nodded your head and continued,

“And when you orgasm, the adrenaline and cortisol mix, along with hormones and chemicals specific to sex. You get a state of temporary bliss which can lead to the person experiencing the orgasm even developing fond feelings towards their partner. My idea would capitalize on those feelings of post-orgasmic bliss and use them to help people overcome their fears.” The words came out rushed but they had captured his attention even further.

Jonathan leaned back in his chair, the paperwork on his desk long forgotten now as he studied you and let the idea run wild through his mind.

“The theory is an interesting one, I’ll give you that,” he said, pausing for a moment before adding on, “but who would be willing to have this theory tested on them?”

A blush tinted your cheeks and you looked away from him.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to it, it’s just a bit difficult to test… alone,” you said in a voice that was just barely audible.

He stood up from behind his desk and came to stand in front of you, one hand going under your chin to force you to look at him.

“I thought you had lost the ability to surprise me when you found out about my fear toxin, but here we are,” his voice trailed off as he continued to take you in. You could see his mind working a mile a minute behind his eyes as he went over your idea again and again in his head. After what felt like an eternity, he spoke again, “I’ll help you test this, but only on certain conditions.”

Your eyebrows rose in shock. You didn’t know what you had expected his reaction to be, but a willingness to test your theory with you wasn’t how you thought he’d respond.

“What are they?” You asked.

“Firstly, I’m not blind. I know you didn’t just come to me with this idea because of my own unethical ideas. This entire experiment involves sexual attraction being needed, and I’ve noticed the way you look at me.” Your cheeks darkened even more as he called you out on your attraction to him, and this only made him chuckle. “If we do this experiment, I’m the only one who gets to see you like that. No one else.”

You resisted the urge to tease him and ask if this was his way of asking you to be his girlfriend, knowing it would get you nowhere and somewhat fearing the answer. Instead, you nodded your head once to say you understood.

“Next, we’d have to record these sessions. Neither of us are going to be in a clear enough space of mind to pay much attention to anything else during the session,” he said.

You nodded again. You knew you definitely weren’t going to be able to concentrate on anything aside from him during the session.

“Lastly, we’d have to do these sessions at my personal lab. Meaning you’d be seeing where I live along with a multitude of other things that I’ll need your word you won’t say anything about.”

“I haven’t said anything about your fear toxin, have I?” You pointed out, causing him to chuckle again and shake his head.

“No, I suppose you haven’t,” he admitted.

“Not to mention that you’re literally going to have a sex tape of me. If I said anything about this, both of our careers would be ruined,” you added on.

“I take it that means you agree to my terms?” He asked.

“Yes, I do,” you confirmed.

“Then how would you feel about starting the first session tonight? It’s a long weekend so neither of us have work on Monday in case you need an extra day to recover,” he offered, causing another look of surprise to rise on your face.

“I-uh, o-okay,” you stuttered out, watching as the familiar smirk grazed his lips.

The two of you gathered your things and made your way out to his car with him telling you he would bring you by to pick up your car the next day, but that there were a couple more things he wanted to go over with you on the ride there. You both put in place a safe word, deciding to use the color system. If everything was okay and he checked in on you, the color was green. If you needed things to slow down, you could say yellow at any time. And if you needed things to come to a complete stop, you could say red. He also informed you that there were already security cameras recording his lab, so both of your every moves would be recorded the entire time.

When you arrived back at his house, you followed him inside, taking in the area while he led you to his personal lab. You followed him through the doorway and down to the basement, entering into a room that looked exactly like a lab. You could see where it was once just a finished basement, but now there were tables full of various chemicals and, in the corner, a doctor’s examination bed, along with plenty of other things scattered throughout the room.

Plenty of questions flooded your mind, but you thought better than to ask them. The less you knew about what he did outside of work, the better.

“You said your fear was needles, correct?” He asked, causing you to turn and look at him.

“Yes. No particular reason for the fear, though,” you answered.

“I’ll gather everything if you want to go sit down and get ready,” he said in a voice devoid of emotion, as if you were just another patient he was treating.

You stripped naked and sat on the table, feeling what you were sure was going to be a permanent blush on your face.

Jonathan walked over a moment later with a tray that was covered and set the tray on the table. Despite the way he was trying to remain somewhat professional, you noticed the way his eyes raked over your figure, taking in every inch of you.

“Do,” he stopped and cleared his throat, another sign that he was affected by this the same as you were, “do you think you’ll need to be restrained?” He asked.

This time you couldn’t stop yourself from letting the teasing comment leave your lips,

“I don’t think I’d need to be restrained, but I’m okay with a bit of bondage if you are,” you said, a smirk making its way across your lips as you spoke.

Jonathan’s eyes shot to yours and you felt a bit of smug satisfaction at the way you had been able to catch him off guard.

“Quite the little minx, aren’t you?” He asked in a teasing tone of his own.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Crane. Being tied up is just the tip of the iceberg.” With every sign of attraction towards you Jonathan let show, you felt your confidence boost, and this only seemed to spur him on.

He came to stand in front of your naked form, looking down at you and placing a hand under your chin again to keep you from looking away.

“Seems like it,” he agreed. His hand went from under your chin to the back of your neck, “maybe I’ve finally met my match,” he commented before pulling you to him.

Jonathan’s lips met yours in a hungry kiss and the last of your insecurity faded quickly. He kissed you as if he was a starved man and you were the only thing that could satiate his hunger. His tongue slid past your lips as he laid you back on the examination bed and crawled onto it himself. Your hands made their way to his hair, tugging slightly and eliciting a moan from him.

One of his hands went to your hair and pulled, exposing your neck to him. He left a line of kisses down it while nipping at random spots before he continued down further.

“F-fuck, Jonathan,” you moaned out when his mouth attached to one of your nipples.

His hand left your hair to play with your other nipple before he traded off and took your other one into his mouth, letting his tongue dart around it at the same time that his hand trailed between your legs.

“A bit of kissing and having your tits played with you gets you this worked up?” He taunted as he felt just how wet you were already, “Or did the idea of me strapping you to this table and doing as I please with you have something to do with it?”

Another moan fell from your lips as he teased you and began to rub gentle circles on your clit.

“Please, Jonathan,” you whined, your hips pushing against his hand as you desperately tried to get him to apply more pressure than the faint touches he was currently using.

“Since you asked so nicely,” he said in a voice of faux sympathy before pulling his hand away. Before you could protest, he was strapping your wrists to the side of the table and crawling off of you to do the same to your legs.

Your legs were hanging off the edge of the table and bent at the knee and he crouched down to strap your ankles in place. There was no way for you to close your legs from him, leaving you on display.

When he stood back up again, there was an almost predatory look in his eyes as he took you in.

“All tied up for me,” he commented, trailing his hand along your inner thigh as he spoke, “a perfect little toy.”

A shiver ran down your spine at the pet name and it didn’t go unnoticed by him.

“All those times I caught you staring at me and I couldn’t figure out why,” be continued teasing, his fingers beginning to rub at your clit again and causing another moan to leave you, “who would’ve known it was you fantasizing about me tying you up and leaving you completely helpless to whatever I decided to do with you?”

With his free hand, he picked up something off of the tray he brought over earlier and revealed the object to you. It was an empty syringe and you felt your heart lurch when your eyes landed on the needle.

A slap was delivered to your inner thigh, causing your eyes to shoot back over to him,

“Eyes on me. You’re my toy, you watch me, not the needle. Understood?”

You nodded your head but another slap was delivered to the opposite thigh,

“Use your words.”

“Yes,” you replied, stopping yourself before you said ‘sir’ and giving him a sly smirk, “yes, Doctor.”

The firm look he had been giving you changed. His eyes darkened and you could see the way he hadn’t expected for the use of his title in that manner to affect him so much.

“Such an obedient little thing,” he praised after a moment before pushing two fingers into you. He immediately curled them upward and caused you to let out another moan. “Such an obedient and twisted little thing. I lead you into my basement, tie you down, and give you a couple slaps and you’re this wet already? I could only imagine how you’d react if I got to treat you exactly how I wanted.”

The entire time he spoke, he was thrusting his fingers in and out of you, making sure to curl them and hit that spot inside you every time while your pathetic moans and whimpers continued filling the space.

“Then again, judging by the way you’re reacting to this, you’d probably get off on it.”

His words should’ve caused some amount of shame inside you, but at the same time they registered in your head, you felt the cold touch of the needle trailing down your cheek and towards your neck. The sensation caused you to freeze for a moment, but when his fingers curled inside you and he used his thumb to begin rubbing at your clit, the shame left your mind.

“Fuck, darling, you might’ve been onto something combining fear and sex,” he said with a chuckle, “Especially if you clench around my cock the way you clenched around my fingers.”

You felt your mind and body battle with themselves as he continued to trail the needle down your body while his fingers continued to work at you. The needle’s presence sent your body into fight or flight, but with nowhere to go, you became keenly aware of every sensation. You could hear the rumble in his voice and the feeling of Jonathan’s fingers inside of you seemed to be amplified, bringing you closer and closer to your orgasm already.

“There we go,” he coaxed, “let the pleasure and fear blur together. Cum on my fingers like the good little slut you are while I’ve got a needle pressed against you, and maybe I’ll let you cum on my cock.”

Fuck, you knew there was something wrong with you, but you couldn’t care less. Jonathan’s dirty talk, the unrelenting rhythm of his fingers inside you, his thumb rubbing circles over your clit, and the presence of the needle heightening your senses caused your orgasm to hit you full force.

Your head fell back on the bed as you moaned out and you felt the needle press against your tied up arm. The pace of Jonathan’s fingers never faltered as he pushed you through your orgasm and let you ride out your high.

When he finally did remove them, your head was spinning and your breathing was heavy. It was the sound of his belt hitting the floor that grabbed your attention and caused you to look down at him.

“You have no idea how much control it took for me to not ruin our first session and drop the needle and go ahead and fuck you,” he said, stepping between your legs.

“Thought you said I was your toy? Sounds like that makes it your decision on when you fuck me,” you commented through the haze of your mind.

“It does,” he said, dragging the tip of his dick through your folds, “and I wanted to see the way you looked when you couldn’t decide if fear or lust was going to win out before I fucked every thought out of that pretty little head of yours.”

Whatever response you had was lost as he pushed his cock into you. Your jaw fell slack and a pathetic mix of a whine and moan filled the room as he filled every bit of you. His hands gripped your hips and he gave you just enough time to adjust to the way his cock felt inside of you before he was setting a brutal pace.

A symphony of his name and curses left your mouth and he seemed to revel in the way you sounded and looked beneath him.

“God damn,” he swore, “it’s like your cunt was made for me,” he said while his hand came down to rub at your clit, watching the way your back arched off the table.

“Please, Doctor,” you begged, not even sure what you were begging for.

He sped up the pace of his thrusts and removed his other hand from your hip to begin rolling your nipple in between his fingers, going back and forth between the two.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” He taunted, “for me to tie you down and fuck you? For me to use you however I wanted?”

“Y-yes, Doctor,” you stuttered out between moans, feeling your orgasm creep up on you again.

“Such a good little toy. Getting off on being reminded of your place with me,” he chuckled, “Go ahead then. Cum on my cock and prove how much you want to be my little fuck toy.”

It didn’t take much longer for your back to arch off the table again, his fingers still rubbing at your clit in perfect rhythm with his thrusts.

Once he was sure you had ridden out your high, Jonathan’s thrusts sped up and he began chasing his own, cumming inside you after only a moment longer.

The both of you took a couple moments to catch your breath and then he was pulling out of you. He undid your restraints and helped you to sit up, making sure you were okay before kissing you again.

“I meant what I said back at the asylum,” he said against your lips, “No one else.”

You shook your head the slightest bit, still kissing him in between his words, “I don’t want anyone else. I came to you with the idea for a reason.” You pulled away just enough to be able to look him in the eyes, a playful look crossing your face as you spoke again, “Besides, I can’t wait to see your reaction as you learn more of what I’m into if that was the reaction I got for something as simple as being tied up.”

Jonathan chuckled and shook his head slightly,

“You little minx,” he muttered, kissing you once more.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive (Daily updates!)

By Stephani Sutherland

Gentle nasal spray vaccines against COVID, the flu and RSV are coming. They may work better than shots in the arm

Alyson Velasquez hates needles. She never liked getting shots as a kid, and her anxiety only grew as she got older. “It really ballooned in my teens and early 20s,” she says. “It became a full-blown phobia.” She would panic at the sight of a needle being brought into an exam room; more than once she passed out. Velasquez says that she took an antianxiety medication before one appointment yet still ran around the room screaming inconsolably “like I was a small child; I was 22.” After that episode Velasquez, now a 34-year-old financial planner in southern California, quit needles completely. “No vaccinations, no bloodwork. For all of my 20s it was a no-go for me,” she says.

Then COVID showed up. “It finally hit a point where it wasn’t just about me,” Velasquez says. “It felt so selfish not to do this for the greater public health and the safety of our global community.” So she got vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2021, although she had to sit on her husband’s lap while he held her arms. “It was a spectacle. The poor guy at CVS ... he did ask me, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’” She very much did. “I’m very pro-vaccine. I am a rational human. I understand the necessity of [getting] them,” she insists. But today she still struggles with each injection.

Those struggles would end, however, if all her future vaccinations could be delivered by a nasal spray. “Oh, my God, amazing!” Velasquez says.

The amazing appears to be well on its way. Vaccines delivered through the nose are now being tested for several diseases. In the U.S., early clinical trials are showing success. Two of these vaccines have generated multiple immune system responses against the COVID-causing virus in people who received them through a puff up the nose; earlier this year their makers received nearly $20 million from Project NextGen, the Biden-Harris administration’s COVID medical initiative. Researchers are optimistic that a nasal spray delivering a COVID vaccine could be ready for the U.S. as soon as 2027. Although recent efforts have focused on inoculations against SARS-CoV-2, nasal vaccines could also protect us against the flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and more.

A few nasal vaccines have been introduced in the past, but they’ve been beset by problems. The flu inoculation FluMist has not gained popularity because of debates about its effectiveness, and a different vaccine was pulled from the market decades ago because some people had serious side effects. In China and India, nasal vaccines for COVID have been approved because those countries prioritized their development during the pandemic, whereas the U.S. and other wealthy nations opted to stick with arm injections. But this new crop of vaccines takes advantage of technology that produces stronger immune responses and is safer than preparations used in the past.

In fact, immunologists say these spritzes up the nose—or inhaled puffs through the mouth—can provide faster, stronger protection against respiratory viruses than a shot in the arm. That is because the new vaccines activate a branch of the immune system that has evolved for robust, rapid responses against airborne germs. “It may be more likely to really prevent infection from getting established,” says Fiona Smaill, an infectious disease researcher at McMaster University in Ontario. Such inoculations may also help reduce the enormous inequities in vaccine access revealed by the pandemic. These formulations should be cheaper and easier to transport to poor regions than current shots.

But nasal vaccines still face technical hurdles, such as how best to deliver them into the body. And unlike injected vaccines, which scientists can measure immune responses to with blood tests alone, testing for immunity that starts in nose cells is more challenging. But researchers working in this field agree that despite the hurdles, nasal formulations are the next step in vaccine evolution.

Traditional vaccines injected through the skin and into an arm muscle provide excellent protection against viruses. They coax immune cells into making widely circulated antibodies—special proteins that recognize specific structural features on viruses or other invading pathogens, glom on to them and mark them for destruction. Other immune cells retain a “memory” of that pathogen for future encounters.

Intramuscular injection vaccines are good at preventing a disease from spreading, but they do not stop the initial infection. A nasal spray does a much better job. That’s because sprays are aimed directly at the spot where many viruses first enter the body: the nose and the tissue that lines it, called the mucosa.

Mucosa makes up much of our bodies’ internal surfaces, stretching from the nose, mouth and throat down the respiratory tract to the lungs, through the gastrointestinal tract to the anus, and into the urogenital tract. Mucosa is where our bodies encounter the vast majority of pathogenic threats, Smaill says, be it flu, COVID, or bacterial infections that attack the gut. This tough, triple-layered tissue is specialized to fight off invaders with its thick coating of secretory goo—mucus—and with a cadre of resident immune cells waiting to attack. “Mucosa is really the first line of defense against any infection we’re exposed to,” Smaill says.

Mucosal immunity not only prepares the immune system for the fight where it occurs but also offers three different types of protection—at least one more than a shot does. Nasal vaccines and shots both mobilize immune messenger cells, which gather the interlopers’ proteins and display them on their surfaces. These cells head to the lymph nodes, where they show off their captured prize to B and T cells, which are members of another part of the immune system called the adaptive arm. B cells, in turn, produce antibodies, molecules that home in on the foreign proteins and flag their owners—the invading microbes—for destruction. Killer T cells directly attack infected cells, eliminating them and the microbes inside. This provides broad protection, but it takes time, during which the virus continues to replicate and spread.

That’s why a second type of protection, offered only by the mucosal tissue, is so important. The mucosa holds cells of the innate immune system, which are the body’s “first responders.” Some of these cells, called macrophages, recognize invasive microbes as foreign and swallow them up. They also trigger inflammation—an alarm sounded to recruit more immune cells.

Another part of this localized response is called tissue-resident immunity. These cells don’t have to detect telltale signs of a pathogen and make a long journey to the infected tissue. They are more like a Special Forces unit dropped behind enemy lines where a skirmish is occurring rather than waiting for the proverbial cavalry to arrive. This localized reaction can be quite potent. Its activation is notoriously difficult to demonstrate, however, so historically it’s been hard for vaccine makers to show they’ve hit the mark. But it turns out that one type of antibody, called IgA, is a good indicator of mucosal immunity because IgAs tend to predominate in the mucosa rather than other parts of the body. In an early trial of CoviLiv, a nasal COVID vaccine produced by Codagenix, about half of participants had detectable IgA responses within several weeks after receiving two doses. That trial also showed the vaccine was safe and led to NextGen funding for a larger trial of the vaccine’s efficacy.

It’s possible an inhaled vaccine may provide yet one more layer of protection, called trained innate immunity. This reaction is a bit of a mystery: although immunologists know it exists and appears also to be produced by intramuscular injections, they can’t quite explain how it works. Immune cells associated with trained innate immunity seem to have memorylike responses, reacting quickly against subsequent infections. They also have been found to respond against pathogens entirely unrelated to the intended vaccine target. Smaill and her colleagues found that when they immunized mice with an inhaled tuberculosis vaccine and then challenged them with pneumococcal bacteria, the mice were protected. In children, there is some evidence that a tuberculosis vaccine, in the arm, generates this type of broad response against other diseases.

Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University who is working to develop a nasal vaccination for COVID, sees two major potential benefits to nasal immunity in addition to better, faster, more localized protection. First, attacking the virus in the nose could prevent the disease from being transmitted to others by reducing the amount of virus that people breathe out. And second, Iwasaki says, the spray may limit how deeply the infection moves into the body, so “we believe that it will also prevent long COVID.” That debilitating postinfection condition, sometimes marked by signs of entrenched viral particles, disables people with extreme fatigue, chronic pain, a variety of cognitive difficulties, and other symptoms.

Making a new vaccine is hard, regardless of how you administer it. It needs to raise an immune response that’s strong enough to protect against future invasions but not so strong that the components of that response—such as inflammation and fever—harm the host.

The lining of the nose puts up its own barriers—literal, physical ones. Because the nasal mucosa is exposed to so many irritants from the air, ranging from pet hair to pollen, the nose has multiple lines of defense against invading pathogens. Nostril hair, mucus, and features called cilia that sweep the nasal surface all aim to trap small foreign objects before they can get deeper into the body—and that includes tiny droplets of vaccine.

And lots of small foreign particles—often harmless—still make it through those defenses. So the nose has developed a way to become less reactive to harmless objects. This dampened reactivity is called immunological tolerance, and it may be the biggest hurdle to successful development of a nasal vaccine. When foreign particles show up in the bloodstream, a space that is ostensibly sterile, immune cells immediately recognize them as invaders. But mucosal surfaces are constantly bombarded by both pathogens and harmless materials. The immune system uses tolerance—a complex series of decisions carried out by specialized cells—to determine whether a substance is harmful. “This is very important because we can’t have our lungs or gastrointestinal tract always responding to nonharmful foreign entities that they encounter,” says Yale infectious disease researcher Benjamin Goldman-Israelow. For example, inflammation in the lungs would make it hard to breathe; in the gut, it would prevent the absorption of water and nutrients.

These barriers may hamper the effectiveness of a nasal flu vaccine that’s been around for a while, called FluMist in the U.S. and Fluenz in Europe. The inoculation is safe, says infectious disease scientist Michael Diamond of Washington University in St. Louis, but it faces a similar problem as do injected flu vaccines: it isn’t very effective at warding off new seasonal flu strains. This might be because flu strains are so common, and people are frequently infected by the time they are adults. Their immune systems are already primed to recognize and destroy familiar flu particles. FluMist is built from a live flu virus, so immune cells probably treat the vaccine as an invader and demolish it as soon as it shows up in the nose, before it has a chance to do any good. This preexisting immunity isn’t such an issue in children, who are less likely to have had multiple flu infections. Nasal flu vaccines are routinely used to inoculate kids in Europe.

In other vaccines, researchers often use adjuvants, special agents that attract the attention of immune cells, to boost a response. Some nasal vaccines use adjuvants to overcome tolerance, but in the nose, adjuvants can pose unique dangers. In at least one case, a nasal adjuvant led to disastrous consequences. An intranasal vaccine for influenza, licensed in Switzerland for the 2000–2001 season, used a toxin isolated from Escherichia coli bacteria as an adjuvant to provoke a reaction to the inactivated virus. No serious side effects were reported during the trial period, but once the vaccine was released, Swiss officials saw a concerning uptick in cases of Bell’s palsy, a disease that causes weakness or paralysis of the facial muscles, often leading to a drooping or disfigured face. Researchers at the University of Zurich estimated that the adjuvanted flu vaccine had increased the risk of contracting Bell’s palsy by about 20 times, and the vaccine was discontinued. “We need to be cautious about using adjuvants like that from known pathogens,” says pharmaceutical formulations scientist Vicky Kett of Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland.

To get around the challenges posed by the nose, some researchers are exploring vaccines inhaled through the mouth. Smaill is working on one of them. She and her McMaster colleagues aerosolized their vaccine for COVID into a fine mist delivered by a nebulizer, from which it rapidly reaches the lungs. Experiments in mice have shown promising results, with mucosal immunity established after administration of the vaccine.

Another vaccine strategy is to use a harmless virus to carry viral genes or proteins. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City selected a bird pathogen, Newcastle disease virus (NDV). “It’s naturally a respiratory pathogen,” so it infects nasal cells, says Michael Egan, CEO and chief scientific officer of CastleVax, a company that formed to develop the NDV vaccine for COVID. A small early clinical trial showed the CastleVax vaccine was safe and caused robust immune responses in people. “Those results were very promising,” Egan says. People who received the vaccine also produced antibodies that indicated multitiered mucosal immunity, not simply the adaptive immunity from a shot in the arm.

Following that trial, the CastleVax project received NextGen funding, and results from a trial of 10,000 people are expected in 2026. Half of those people will receive a messenger RNA (mRNA) injection, and half will get the new NDV nasal spray. The data should show whether the new nasal vaccine can do a better job of preventing infection than the mRNA injections. Egan has high hopes. “We’re expecting to see a lot fewer breakthrough infections in people who got the vaccine up the nose by virtue of having those mucosal immune responses,” he says.

Florian Krammer, one of the Mount Sinai researchers behind the vaccine, engineered NDV particles to display a stabilized version of the spike protein that’s so prominent in SARS-CoV-2. “You end up with a particle that’s covered with spike,” he says. Spike protein in the blood­stream can raise an immune response. But the NDV vaccine works in another way, too. The virus particle can also get into cells, where it can replicate enough times to cause virus particles to emerge from the cells, provoking another immune reaction. Before moving into human trials, however, researchers had to complete clinical trials to establish that the Newcastle virus is truly harmless because the nose is close to the central nervous system—it has neurons that connect to the olfactory bulb, which is part of the brain. Those trials confirmed that it is safe for this use.

Nasal sprays aim directly at the spot where most viruses first enter the body: the nose. This type of caution is one reason a COVID nasal vaccine approved in India hasn’t been adopted by the U.S. or other countries. The inoculation, called iNCOVACC, uses a harmless simian adenovirus to carry the spike protein into the airway. The research originated in the laboratories of Diamond and some of his colleagues at Washington University at the start of the pandemic, when they tested the formulation on rodents and nonhuman primates. “The preclinical data were outstanding,” Diamond says. Around the time he and his colleagues published initial animal results in Cell in 2020, Bharat Biotech in India licensed the idea from the university. In a 2023 phase 3 clinical trial in India, the nasal vaccine produced superior systemic immunity compared with a shot.

Diamond says American drug companies didn’t pursue this approach, because “they wanted to use known quantities,” such as the mRNA vaccines, which were already proving themselves in clinical trials in 2020. As the pandemic took hold, there was little appetite to develop nasal vaccine technology to stimulate mucosal immunity while the tried-and-true route of shots in the arm was available and working. But now, four years later, an inhaled vaccine using technology similar to iNCOVACC’s is being developed for approval in the U.S. by biotech company Ocugen. Both inhaled and nasal forms of the vaccine are set to undergo clinical trials as part of Project NextGen. These new vaccines are using classical vaccine methods based on the virus rather than using new, mRNA-based technology. The mRNA preparations were developed specifically for intramuscular injections and would have to be significantly modified.

Codagenix, which is developing CoviLiv, sidestepped the need for a new viral vector or an adjuvant by disabling a live SARS-CoV-2 virus. To make it safe, scientists engineered a version of the virus with 283 mutations, alterations to its genetic code that make it hard for the virus to replicate and harm the body. Without all these genetic changes, there would be a chance the virus could revert to a dangerous, pathogenic form. But with hundreds of key mutations, “statistically, it’s basically impossible that this will revert back to a live virus in the population,” says Johanna Kaufmann, who helped to develop the vaccine before leaving Codagenix for another company earlier this year.

Because most people on the planet have now been exposed to SARS-CoV-2—in the same way they’re regularly exposed to the flu—some nasal vaccines are being designed as boosters for a preexisting immune response that is starting to wane. For example, Yale researchers Iwasaki and Goldman-Israelow are pursuing a strategy in animals deemed “prime and spike.”

The idea is to start with a vaccine injection—the “prime” that stimulates adaptive immunity—then follow it a few weeks later with a nasal puff that “spikes” the system with more viral protein, leading to mucosal immunity. In a study published in 2022 in Science, Iwasaki and her colleagues reported that they primed rodents with the mRNA vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the same shot so many of us have received. Two weeks later some of the mice received an intranasal puff of saline containing a fragment of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Because the animals had some preexisting immunity from the shot, the researchers didn’t add any adjuvants to heighten the effects of the nasal puff. Two weeks later researchers detected stronger signs of mucosal immunity in mice that had received this treatment compared with mice that got only the shot.

“Not only can we establish tissue-resident memory T cells” to fight off the virus in the nose, Iwasaki says, but the prime-and-spike method also produces those vigorous IgA antibodies in the mucosal layer. “And that’s much more advantageous because we can prevent the virus from ever infecting the host,” she notes. The study suggests that this approach might also lessen the chances of transmitting the disease to others because of the lower overall viral load. Experiments in hamsters demonstrated that vaccinated animals shed less virus, and they were less likely to contract COVID from infected cage mates that had not been vaccinated themselves.

Although most of the new vaccine strategies are aimed at COVID, nasal vaccines for other diseases are already being planned. Kaufmann, formerly of Codagenix, says the company currently has clinical trials underway for nasal vaccines against flu and RSV. CastleVax’s Egan says “we have plans to address other pathogens” such as RSV and human metapneumovirus, another leading cause of respiratory disease in kids.

Vaccines that don’t need to be injected could clear many barriers to vaccine access worldwide. “We saw with COVID there was no vaccine equity,” Smaill says. Many people in low-income countries never received a shot; they are still going without one four years after the vaccines debuted.

In part, this inequity is a consequence of the high cost of delivering a vaccine that needs to stay frozen on a long journey from manufacturing facilities in wealthy countries. Some of the nasal sprays in development don’t need deep-cold storage, so they might be easier to store and transport. And a nasal spray or an inhaled puff would be much easier to administer than a shot. No health professional is required, so people could spray it into their noses or mouths at home.

For these reasons, needle-free delivery matters to the World Health Organization. The WHO is using the Codagenix nasal spray in its Solidarity Trial Vaccines program to improve vaccine equity. The CoviLiv spray is now in phase 3 clinical trials around the world as part of this effort. “The fact that the WHO was still interested in a primary vaccination trial in the geographies it’s passionate about—that’s indicative that there is still a gap,” Kaufmann says. CoviLiv was co-developed with the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines by dose. The partnership enabled production at the high volume required for Solidarity.

The CastleVax vaccine with the NDV vector provides another layer of equity because the facilities required to make it already exist in many low- and middle-income countries. “The cool thing is that NDV is a chicken virus, so it grows very well in embryonated eggs—that’s exactly the system used for making flu vaccines,” Krammer says. For example, for a clinical trial in Thailand, “we just shipped them the seed virus, and then they produced the vaccine and ran the clinical trials,” he says. Many countries around the world have similar facilities, so they will not need to depend on pharma companies based in richer places.

Even high-income countries face barriers to vaccination, although they may be more personal than systemic. For very many people, the needle itself is the problem. Extreme phobia such as Velasquez’s is uncommon, but many people have a general fear of needles that makes vaccinations stressful or even impossible for them. For about one in 10 people needle-related fear or pain is a barrier to vaccinations, says C. Meghan McMurtry, a psychologist at the University of Guelph in Ontario. Needle fear “is present in most young kids and in about half of adolescents. And 20 to 30 percent of adults have some level of fear.” A review of studies of children showed that “concern around pain and needle fear are barriers to vaccination in about 8 percent of the general population and about 18 percent in the vaccine-hesitant population,” McMurtry adds.

Some people are wary of injected vaccines even if they’re not afraid of needles, Kett says; they see injections as too invasive even if the needle doesn’t bother them. “We’re hopeful that something administered by the nasal route would be less likely to come across some of those issues,” Kett says.

In the U.S., however, sprays and puffs won’t be available until they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which requires clear evidence of disease protection. As Diamond points out, standards for such evidence are well established for injections, and vaccine makers can follow the rule book: regulations point to particular antibodies and specific ways to measure them with a simple blood test. But for nasal vaccines, Iwasaki says, “we don’t have a standard way to collect nasal mucus or measure antibody titers. All these practical issues have not been worked out.”

Iwasaki is also frustrated with a restriction by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that stops researchers from using existing COVID vaccines in basic research to develop new nasal sprays. The rule is a holdover from 2020, when COVID injections had just been developed and were in short supply; people had to wait to get vaccinated until they were eligible based on factors such as age and preexisting conditions. “That made sense back then, but those concerns are years old; things are different now,” Iwasaki says. “Now we have excess vaccine being thrown out, and we cannot even get access to the waste, the expired vaccine.”

Today scientists want to contrast the effectiveness of nasal formulations with injections already in use. “Those comparisons are really important for convincing the FDA that this is a worthy vaccine to pursue,” Iwasaki says. But the restriction has held up studies by her company, Xanadu, slowing down work. (The CDC did not respond to a request for comment.)

Despite the bureaucratic and scientific hurdles, the sheer number of nasal vaccines now in clinical trials encourages Iwasaki and other scientists pursuing the needle-free route. They say it seems like only a matter of time before getting vaccinated will be as simple as a spritz up the nose.

Velasquez, for one, can’t wait for that day to arrive. The circumstances that finally forced her to reckon with her fear of needles (a global pandemic, the prospect of parenthood and the numerous blood tests that accompanied her pregnancy) were so much bigger than her. If not for them, she might still be avoiding shots. “So having vaccines without needles—I would get every vaccine any doctor wanted me to get, ever. It would be a complete game changer for me.”

[devilheartsblog]

Here’s Part 2 of some ideas I’m doodled for my Winx rewrite

Last post seemed to do better than I expected and I’m glad a few people enjoyed it. So here are some more things I want to work with.

I like Artu and Roxy’s relationship but I would have also liked some backstory on them and more depth. Like Gantlos said “it’s just a dog”. How did Roxy get Artu? Is he adopted or bought? Is there a reason he doesn’t like anyone outside of Roxy and Klaus?

In my rewrite, yes. Abandoned as a puppy, a kid Roxy took him in after her mother left her dad unexpectedly. She basically raised Artu and he means a lot to her, but she never socialised him since she herself isn’t social with people (so while Artu may tolerate someone’s prescence he doesn’t like being touched or seen upclose). Roxy raising Artu is also why she gets pissed and earns her fairy form but doesn’t want the fairy gig since it ended up hurting her dog, because as a fairy the wizards are after her and Gantlos hurt Artu.

Speaking of Gantlos

Gantlos my beloved you’re so fucking bland the only personality trait you have is having fucked up pointy hands and a cool hat <3

Ok in all honestly I like his apathy to animals and the Winx in general, but that also applies to the other wizards to some extent. At least you can say something about the other wizards; Orgon’s voice is top tier, Duman has really cool powers and design, Anagan’s banter with Flora’s entertaining. This one’s technically a headcannon I made cannon in the rewrite. I did my research btw.

Gantlos has a pretty intense fear of deers also called Elafiphobia, even asking Duman to not shapeshift into one. It’s pretty bad, seeing a deer gets him pretty close to a panic attack. I’m not going to spoil why but I’ll say it’s a consequence of the Great Fairy Hunt. In fact all the Wizards despite being the cause have been affected by the fairy hunt, either overall or because of a major event. Gantlos’ deer phobia is also why he doesn’t like/care about animals initially, I mean, why should he like them? Just cause they’re cute? Hah!

Apart from Riven and Musa I hate the melodrama in season 4 it’s so shit. Since in my version Sky isn’t in the story cause king stuff, Mitzi is narratively cremated and Nabu doesn’t die, on top of planning to expand on Anagan and Flora’s relationship as rivals and Anagan ��flirting” with her, it’d be weird for Helia to be like “eh”. Like even if Flora can hold her own I think he’d at least be a little concerned and annoyed at Anagan.

So yeah, Helia’s conflict is having a case of Impostor syndrome because Anagan’s a foil to him; confident, extroverted, confrontational, and actually bounces off of Flora really well. (Like, I don’t ship Anagan and Flora but the people who do I don’t blame them, it sounds more interesting) Even if Flora doesn’t reciprocate Anagan’s feelings, Helia feels inadequate and is anxious Flora will lose interest and might even break up with him since he’s the anti-social poet of the group. Timmy could even help after his confidence arc in Season 2. He’s not overprotective of Flora like wanting to fight Anagan since it kinda goes against his pacifism but the narrative doesn’t care about that as much as I do :/

And lastly I think it’s be neat if we saw a more fleshed out dynamic between the Wizards, the best I can think of is when they’re protected by Syllia and Duman almost slips their plan to which Anagan says he’s being whoosy, Orgon complains about being protected by fairies while Gantlos is fine with it.

A lot of the rewrite is focused on fleshing out the wizards because I want complex villains grr, and they’re perfect for it. The Earth Fairies? They’re good but they’re dead in my rewrite soooo-

I like to think Orgon is pretty manipulative of them. Was he always like this? No, but he’s desperate to secure the disappearance of magic from Earth, and his manipulation gets worse and worse as the episodes go on, in the end being threats and guilt-tripping. He still cares but mostly how the wizards can be of service to the Black Circle. And yes Duman is his favorite because he has the best powers. Shapeshifting will always be OP and the best power in my heart.

Anyway that’s all folks. If I make a part 3 it’ll probs cover some other stuff like Jason Queen, which I like his character, it’s perfect for Musa’s development (until they made Bloom the fucking main singer like WHYYY) or perhaps talk about Klaus or Morgana, Tecna and Timmy and more about Nabu. Anyway I’ll go watch some more nostalgic minecraft videos and webtoon rants. See ya!

[warsamongthestars]

After the roaring rage of the last few days, how bout some hope?

ONWARDS TO THE CLONE WARS!

Me rewatching the TBB TCWshow Arc (... [sigh], again), and I caught a new thing.

See, Hunter and Rex are meant to be narrative foils to one another.

Rex is upright and honest, whilst Hunter is evasive and snarky.

Rex is a clean cut commander who is having doubts about the war, and Hunter is a scruffy sergeant who isn't really taking all this that seriously.

Rex using an algorithm to vary strategies and relies on defense. Hunter aggressively rushes in, and he and his team trust instincts instead of orders.

Rex keeps his cool under pressure, and when he loses his cool, he gets aggressive. Hunter tends to be a snippy worrywart, and shutsdown as a response to aggression.

The new thing is that, on other end, Echo is also meant to be a Foil and Contrast to Hunter... But where Rex and Hunter don't compliment each other--Echo does compliment the Bad Batch, just as much as he'd compliment Rex as a character.

When we get reintroduced back to Echo, inspite of his circumstance, he maintains good humor and though its a life threatening situation, he not only maintains his cool, he's back on his feet in hours.

He's got humor and optimism to Hunter's cynicism and worry, and can even work to outsnip him. Determination against any fears and pressure in the face of danger, to Wrecker's emotional state and phobias.

Social graces to Tech's technical graces (To a point, but I don't really want to rely on this as their contrast, but its the only one I've spotted outright... because its kriffin' typical. )

And to Crosshair? Well, instead of the "Reg"ular clone, meet the "Reg"ulations Clone. In fact, there's actually a comparison here. Both of them will simply march up to any officer and tell 'em how it is--with Cross its usually for purposes of hostility, but for Echo, its purposes of forwarding goals. I know a lot of HCs and Fanfics go into how Echo, with his regulations reading, is about chain of command--but Echo has never respected chain of command. As a Cadet, he outright jumped to General to ask for a Transfer. Echo gives no fucks.

Honestly, by his introduction into the Bad Batch, he fits right in.

If such relationships were given a show to expand on these comparisons and contrasts, it would've been great.

[destiny-in-the-universe]

The Meta-Analysis on Howard and Randy [1/?]

Okay, so this is happening apparently-

This is less about the ship Weinerham and more about the canon technically, but either way- they'll probably still be connected because that's just how we roll, baby; also fair warning: this might get a bit long so you might want to buckle in and just be along for the ride

So honestly, I wanted to start Howard because there's so much for this kid and keep in mind, this is my interpretation- you don't have to agree with me but be nice in the comments, yeah? Anyway!

Right off the bat, Howard is shown to be Randy's direct opposite- where Randy is energetic and impulsive, Howard has a mean streak, he debuts as a character that honestly feels a bit unlikable because it took me a bit to warm up with his character. Howard is shown to be a bit selfish, but then again so is Randy- this is equally true for both of them; that being said, Howard is shown to put his interests above others and is one of the reasons he would not make a good Ninja (although he did it well when Randy, in his dumbassery, wiped his own memory-)

though moving back to the topic at hand, Howard is openly meaner and doesn't seem to realize how his actions would affect others; now I am in no way saying that either of the boys are in the right or wrong at the moment, but Howard doesn't seem to take Randy into consideration at first. He focuses more on his own plight, but then again- Randy did sort of leave his friend in the dust more than once because of his Ninja'ing. Now granted, this isn't done intentionally but again we're starting with Howard!

Howard is canonically an extrovert- he hates being alone and this isn't fully addressed, you're left wandering why he apparently takes such an issue with not having others around him. On one hand, neither he nor Randy have a large friend circle- they mostly depend on each other which has brought on a sense of codependency. What we see is two best friends with practically no one suddenly being thrust into heroics- we have them now facing danger and probably the last thing on their minds is acknowledging how they treat each other

Let's also add onto the fact both of their families seem to constantly be busy enough to leave them unattended- between Heidi as the older sister who has her own ShoobTube channel and likely has more work on her hand, and the fact that Mort clearly is busy a lot of the time, then that literally means there's no one to supervise them. They get away with a lot; with Howard, he's dependent on Randy for a lot of things which in a realistic lens means his family struggles with money- (also complete side note, where is his mother? She's referenced in a single episode but is never directly breached- are his parents divorced, or is she just also a workaholic?)

Though it seems I'm getting sidetracked again, but Howard and Randy used to practically do everything together- and now they're seemingly being torn apart because Randy's now the Ninja and the protection of Norrisville isn't something that can just be ignored out of nowhere. Let me reiterate: they are teenagers.

The Sorcerer is one thing- but McFist and Viceroy? We don't know their exact ages, but they are literally actively trying to destroy the Ninja- and on top of that, flat out kidnapped the boys before but going back on Howard's dependency on Randy and the fact he hates being alone-

This is crucial honestly, because Howard has something along the lines of a literal phobia- which unfortunately Randy dismisses, but even with this: could this also just be a product of him just not having enough of a support group? It's also an added thing to mention that Howard is the youngest sibling and Randy's an only child- they're bound to have been painfully close, and now Howard feels like he's losing him (also the added notion they're bullied, but are they being affected by this? It doesn't seem like they are- because they just continue doing as they want, but even then-)

Howard is fourteen.

What we're given is that due to Howard's blatant as day immaturity, he just focuses on himself- but we also see the fact that he deeply cares for Randy; and this has been proven over and over again to be canon and true. I am not going to hunt down the episodes right now, but Howard covers for his friend on more than one occasion- also I cannot stress enough the look on his face when Randy threw himself into the portal when he was fighting the Sorceress, like he was worried sick- Howard is a good friend, but he's also extremely bad at regulating himself which, guess what?

That's a neurodivergent symptom! Who would've guessed!

I also literally recall the season two finale when Howard was very stressed over Randy having to move away- (i need to rewatch the series for... science, duh, and i'll cover episode stuff later heh)

but I do see Howard as being neurodivergent, more specifically he's autistic- like, are you seeing what I'm seeing? The special interest on video games, the niche understanding on chess (like that kid is a prodigy-), certain safe foods that are brought up in some of the episodes. His seeming apparent dismissal of Randy's emotions- also are we not going to address the distaste he has toward his schedule being changed? He likes routine- and somehow this leads to a second issue,

Howard is openly shown to have frustrations over Randy being the Ninja, but is still willing to defend him-? Like, this has got to be talked about (i obviously am not the only one- i looked through the rc9gn hesdcanon tag and found stuff that aligned-) we do once again have the codependency shenanigans, but there's still the added fact that- I like to think that Howard reacts the way he does toward the Nomicon and Randy's double life because of the fact a; Randy has literally complained about being the Ninja before- that's not to say he doesn't love it because he does but he does have quite the weight on his shoulders and b; literally the fact that, on more than one occasion, we have Howard covering for Randy- he's seen Randy get hurt repeatedly and to make matters worse, the connection with the Tengu which is a topic for another day (i will rant about this, just not right now-)

I am going to bite people istg, but Howard and Randy are such idiots- granted, they are teenagers, though you have Howard knowing full well the life Randy leads and he wants to keep him safe, hell he wants him to be happy and comfortable, and because Howard's still a freshman- his ability to express this is not that great

Howard's not adequate to be the Ninja but even then- we see that their dynamic is literally influenced by one another; they don't exactly have role models (although i will incorporate mentor finja into some of my stories until the day i cease to exist-)

but okay, this is not going to be completed in one part because this is standalone to Howard and not the full depth of their relationship just yet- Randy's analysis has to happen, also the fact that I want to cover Weinerham and Randy's literal jealous and possessiveness from the canon-

I apologize if not all of this makes sense, but this is what you're getting. I'll see you soon!

~ Mod Danny (They/Them)

[bugoutreviewgirlie]

Miraculous Ladybug “London: At The Edge of Time” Review

also read here

The fourth Miraculous Ladybug special, “London: At The Edge of Time” sort of functions like an extension of the season five finale episodes. Unlike the other specials that showcase the city they’re set in, the London special shies away from showing much more than Big Ben and the London Eye on the horizon. Chronobug spends most of her time indoors, fighting villains in basements, bedrooms, prisons…anywhere but the streets of London itself. 

So if you were hoping to explore the city through the movie, or even to see Felix, you’re out of luck. Luckily, the story has lots to offer elsewhere.

We knew he was granted his wish of returning to his wife’s side, therefore dying and leaving Adrien an orphan. And lastly, we knew that somehow, Gabriel Agreste was regarded as a hero to Paris, meaning the truth of him being Monarch was never revealed.

The London special’s job was to answer the questions lingering after the genuinely surprising results of the finale: how did Marinette feel after being defeated by Monarch? Who picked up the butterfly miraculous? Why does Paris think Gabriel Agreste is a hero? What happens to Adrien now? 

Marinette’s relationship with Gabriel has been an interesting one; she went from idolizing him as a fashion designer to criticizing his cooking abilities in his own home. Ever since learning of Adrien’s mistreatment, she’s been Gabriel Agreste’s #2 hater. (Nathalie takes #1, since she tried to shoot him with a crossbow and all). 

Despite her hatred for Gabriel, she wanted him to be there for Adrien. She was so against Monarch because she believed he would sacrifice an innocent life for his wife’s. When his wish resulted in his death, Marinette failed to protect the person she cared about most: Adrien. 

As she entered the building where Adrien was being kept, she was listless and totally devoid of emotion. She wordlessly freed Kagami, who by nature isn’t the most emotional, but also treated Monarch’s demise like a non-success. Both girls are so tired that instead of feeling happy that it’s finally “over over”, or even crying together in relief, they robotically discuss how to break the news to Adrien.

Here, we hit the main snag. Marinette would literally rather die than admit to Adrien that his father was Hawkmoth. Technically, Kagami is right, like she usually is. Marinette’s love for Adrien stopped her from making the correct decision.  

One has to think of the implications of Ladybug revealing the entire truth. The Agreste family name would be ruined. Adrien, once a beloved celebrity, would become an outcast. Nathalie would be sent to prison, as would Kagami’s mother. Adrien, as Chat Noir, would never be able to look Ladybug in the face again. His entire world be turned upside down, and the legacy of his father being the villain who terrorized not only Paris, but the entire world, would follow him to his grave. Nobody would ever trust him again. 

Marinette can’t have that. Adrien is already in a fragile state, being locked up for so long when that’s his biggest phobia. When she breaks the news of his father’s death, he takes the news extremely hard, lashing out at Ladybug, someone he’s loved and idolized since the beginning. 

The London special answers another question within its first ten seconds: the villain of the special and the person who stole the miraculous butterfly was Lila, aka Cerise, aka whatever identity she goes by these days. She continues the proud tradition of abusing poor Nooroo and using the butterfly miraculous for her own gain. She concocts a bulletproof plan where she uncovers Marinette’s identity, steals the miraculous straight off her ears in her sleep, and makes a wish that ends the universe. 

Luckily, Bunnyx is there to safeguard against stuff just like that, so she and Marinette work together to stop the new villain from ever discovering her identity. Having to come in and defeat the mysterious time-traveling villain does Marinette some good, giving her a problem to solve outside of Adrien’s feelings, while forcing her to come to terms with what she did. Though she’s frustrated there’s  another supervillain out there, her deduction skills are unparalleled, and she’s able to figure out their goal is.

Side note, Spectral Looter felt very much like they could’ve been a villain in ZAG’s other show, “Ghostforce”. Chronobug also drew a direct comparison to a similar villain who could also phase through objects, Troublemaker. I love when the characters reference people and events from past episodes; it’s evidence the episodic nature of the show’s early seasons serve a purpose. The characters are learning from these conflicts and applying their knowledge to solve bigger problems. Good stuff.

In a parallel to her speech to Hawkmoth in Season 1, Chronobug makes a declaration to Time Stalker that no matter how long it takes, she will beat them and recover the butterfly miraculous. Despite technically losing to Monarch, she’s still determined to bring peace once and for all, not just for the people of Paris, but so she and Adrien can be together in earnest. 

So what happens to Adrien now? Well first, he goes through 4/5 stages of grief in approximately 2 minutes. 

Denial: The camera tilts as Ladybug breaks the news and he sits back down in disbelief.

Anger: Ladybug reaches out for him and he lashes out.

Bargaining: He tries to reason that since her magic ladybugs repair everything, his father not being alive is impossible and he could’ve saved him if he hadn’t been locked up.

Depression: He cries into Kagami’s shoulder, the sadness finally setting in.

Acceptance: We have to assume that by the end of season five, when he’s peacefully picnicking with the rest of the class, that he’s accepted his father’s passing.

He’s now an orphan and the people who care most about him are the people who are lying to his face about who his family really was. He’s also carrying enormous guilt about not being available to help Ladybug fight Monarch, not knowing things could’ve been worse if he’d been present. Everyone’s entered this gray area where they do bad things for good reasons, and lie to protect. 

I was delighted to see 70-year-old Bunnyx in her first ever appearance. The oldest Bunnyx is a little more stately, but still as competitive and ebullient. Like other adult miraculous holders, her suit isn’t skin tight and actually has different pieces to it, like pants, a vest, and an underblouse. Her design reminded me of the woman in the watch, when we first saw the miraculous of the rabbit. Time travel is confusing, but I’d like to think 70-year-old Bunnyx had something to do with the watch’s design.

I love that at the end of the special, Marinette is reversing the damage done to the miraculouses and making them pretty accessories again. Begone brutalist architecture! When season six rolls around, all the kwamis will be reunited with their holders and we can kind of start anew with a new set of conflicts and main characters fundamentally changed, for better or worse. 

[emiplayzmc]

Aaaaand... finally a ref sheet for Gabriel Lecter, my Deltarune Human OC! HE LOOKS SO SWEET IN THE LIGHT WORLD FORM ACK

Also thank you to @turntableart for helping with the skin + hair colour of Gabe'a Dark World design because I was STRUGGLING with it hjgfss- ty Turnip 🙏)

The Lecter Lore:

-37 years old, standing at 5'8, he/him

-3rd year medical student in Hometown, automatonophobic*

*Fear of robots - technically automatonophobia refers to HUMAN-LIKE robots and figures, but that was the closest fear I could find that encompassed SPECIFICALLY the appearance of robots rather than just 'the advancement of AI and technology in general' or 'the fear of robots taking human jobs' - technophobia and robophobia, respectively. If I'm able to find a more accurate phobia to just 'the appearance of robots in general' that's being changed.

♤~~♡~~♤

♤~~♡~~♤

Gabriel fell into the Dark World in the Librarby computer room while he was studying for an exam and needed to do online research. When he arrived in the Dark World, his appearance enhanced and cyber-fied the looks of his college uniform and bag - as well as some of the colouring and traits of Ambyu-Lances, mainly the giant needle and the red-blue colouring.

Unfortunately for Gabriel, he had ended up in a world full of robotic creatures - his first encounter was with a Werewire in the Cyber Fields, launching him into a battle where he sees and feels his literal SOUL leaving his body to fight - a purple heart. Terrified of his new surroundings and unsure of whether he's having an incredibly elaborate nightmare or not, he fled the battle and subsequent ones with other Werewires, a few ViroViroKuns, and ESPECIALLY from Sweet Cap'n Cakes.

Meanwhile, the medical Ambyu-Lance named Ware is ALSO in the Cyber Fields, having chased after a ViroViroKun that he was supposed to watch for a law enforcement Ambyu while they called in backup. Searching for the Viro, he comes across Gabriel cowering on the other side of a puzzle. Being the impulsive Ambyu-Lance that he is, Ware got ECSTATIC to meet a Lightner, and also immediately launched into a battle with him. Unable to escape the puzzle area since Ware is blocking the entrance (unknowingly), he tries (and mostly fails) to dodge Ware's attacks.

Gabriel eventually gets to very low HP, hit with cuts and scrapes and electrical burns, and Ware finally notices that the former isn't attempting to fight back and seems to be trying his hardest to get away. Ware ends the battle and approaches Gabriel carefully, wanting to heal him and understand why he wasn't fighting back. After a while, Gabriel VERY reluctantly relents to letting Ware heal him, and Ware figures out that Gabriel has absolutely NO idea what's going on, meanwhile the human is panicking and hyperventilating and seemingly trying to pretend that he's in a very intense nightmare. After some deliberation, the Ambyu-Lance hesitantly offers to bring Gabriel to the main city so that he can meet with QUEEN and attempt to leave the Cyber World, to which Lecter (equally as hesitantly) agrees.

Skip to a while later, Gabriel Lecter figures out that he can't go home. A Lightner can only leave the Dark World if their current Dark Fountain is closed, or if they're near a Grand Fountain (aka, Castletown's fountain). Since Gabriel doesn't have the power or KNOWLEDGE to close a Fountain, nor do any of the Cyber World residents know where exactly a Grand Fountain IS... he's stuck in the Cyber World.

Ware, feeling like he's now RESPONSIBLE for the Lightner's safety, offers to let Lecter stay in his apartment and allow him to work at the Cyber City hospital, while also offering to teach him about the residents of the Cyber World and how to fight / live there. Over time, Gabriel becomes somewhat of a nurse to the hospital, and grows more comfortable around Ambyu-Lances and learning to be around other Darkners (Addisons and Werewerewires, especially, terrify him and take him the longest to get used to - the humanoid appearance of Addisons and the sheer size and strength of Werewerewires doesn't do favours for his phobia).

♤~~♡~~♤

♤~~♡~~♤

Gabriel is a Perserverance SOUL, since even despite him being thrust into a terrifying world, he ends up trying to push through and make the best of his worst situation. His casual clothing tends to lean more towards light academia and comfortable clothing, although he certainly hasn't been opposed to walking around his house in scrubs all day - he doesn't really care about the texture of clothes as long as it's stuff that he regularly wears (in other words... he can sleep in jeans.).

He's almost always seen wearing an Alzheimer's Awareness pin on his clothes and with his messenger bag. In the Cyber World, the pin translates to two ribbons on either side of his coat, a golden button on the bag strap turns into a small gem on his breastpocket (as well as three smaller blue ones turning into gems that dot the perimeter of the bottom of his coat, and his bag and syringe pin turn into a strap for his main weapon - a syringe that can shoot out streams of liquid-based attacks and defense.

He's more of a reserved person, but he was a well-liked student in his class in the Light World with two or three close friends, and he got good grades. In the Cyber World, at first he's quite terrified of going around the city by himself, or even going out at all besides the hospital and Ware's townhouse. Eventually, he learns to somewhat step out of his comfort zone, and at first goes out with Ware, then slowly going on to do his own thing in the city as long as it's on a set route (such as to and from the hospital, shops, or the park).

He's also got a little bit of voice blindness (phonagnosia), which makes it hard for him to discern between voices - that's not made easier by the fact that Ambyu-Lances all have very similar voices: think of the Turrets from the Portal games, and that's very close to what I imagine for their voices (Ware, specifically, with a malfunctioned Turret voice). Gabriel noticed that a lot of Ambyu-Lances had distinguishing decals and stickers over their bodies, but he still ended up losing Ware in a crowd of them, especially if Ware took off his little moon decoration. So, Gabriel decided to put a large, glittery golden star on Ware's syringe-head (with the latter's permission, of course) so that he could identify his ally / friend easier.

♤~~♡~~♤

♤~~♡~~♤

Aaaand there's the Gabriel Lecter lore!! I actually love him now lol.

[eyesoiree]

FUN FACTS ABOUT VALERIE NOW

also hehe please do tell Toby in your creepypasta au (and the others) ^^

qessusie you beautiful man im going to chew on your face

Valerie:

she has a lot of inspirations but a big one is Ruby Lane from Fear Street!! (I love the fear street movies so much shoutout to @stxticfxce for getting me into it)

originally, her favorite food was gonna be cherries and her ship name with Jack would be "cherrypie", the pie part coming from Jack's magpie nickname. I scrapped it cause i just stopped liking it after awhile.

Jeff calls her "Lamb chops" sometimes. I'm a firm believer in the headcanon that Jeff is terrible with names and just calls everyone whatever the hell he wants.

she can run in high heels and platforms!

her main weapons are dual switchblades with silver handles. her last name is engraved into the blades. if she can't use her hands she's really good at fighting with her legs (Jack's first impression of her was almost getting kicked in the nuts, actually)

she's closest with Kate and Jack, she's only comfortable being extremely vulnerable with them and maybe Slenderman.

Jeff's first impression of her was being stabbed in the eye with his own knife (she apologized and gave him cigarettes to make up for it after his body fully healed, they're decent friends now)

She has entomophobia (fear of bugs, not fear of vomiting) due to something that happened in her childhood. The memory of what caused it is lost to her, but the phobia stayed.

Toby:

African American in my AU! I saw a prophecy from the gods above and it felt so right. He's still extremely fluent in German though, he calls Jeff a bunch of German cuss words when they piss each other off lmao

I've been thinking about making him aroace for awhile. i think him and Clocky work better as a platonic Wybie and Coraline duo than romantic, at least my versions. also clockwork is a lesbian in my au.

Toby's name is the only one Jeff can remember because he's constantly being yelled at. He's just a silly guy!!

He has a plethora of different weapons that he uses on missions! he might use his hatchets or a baseball bat or a chainsaw. He tried to use a flamethrower once but he accidentally exploded his eyeballs cause he got too close to the fire. He was out for like 6 hours until his body was able to heal itself and he could see again. He got the target though!

Heavily inspired by Wybie Lovat design wise, he is a slouchy, spindly man. Him and Clocky are the same height, but he looks shorter cause his posture is awful.

Pretty close with Valerie but he kinda overwhelms her sometimes. They bond over shared amnesia.

Ben:

Ben isn't technically his name.. the letters B-E-N are just his initals. He doesn't remember his actual name and doesn't care to. (Fun fact, it's russian! I'd tell you what it is but I haven't thought of it yet 🌝)

Doesn't smoke pot in my au since i'm not rlly good with drugs.

Besties with Jeff. Like homoerotic besties. Yk those 'straight' guys at school that sit on their friends lap as a 'joke'? they're like that.

He doesn't look exactly like Link, but his fashion sense is inspired by him. He wears alot of green beanies and grows out his hair to shoulder length, etc.

Not technically a full ghost.. he's like a mix of a proxy and a ghost. (Proxy is a universal term for anyone who works under slenderman in my au. I'll make a post fully explaining how my au works sometime in the future if someone asks for it. or if i get bored one night, who knows.)

He got Jeff into anime but has been sworn to secrecy since Jeff thinks anime is too "nerdy" for him.

Jack:

Tall boy. 6'8 with his slouch, 6'11 at his full height.

I've learned recently that Chernobog is an actual, very real deity in slavic culture. Because I want to avoid being disrespectful, and also because i love making up supernatural entities, his backstory is very different than in canon! I'm not gonna go into full detail in this post but to summarize, he kinda merged with a type of cannablistic demon during the ritual. Demons in my au have lots of different types. Ones that don't belong to a specific.. breed (for lack of a better term) are usually really powerful and are very rare. The Operator is one of those rare cases!

If he listened to music he'd definitely listen to Shoegaze. I think of him to Ghost by Whirr and Mercury by Glaze alot.

He can't gain any proteins or calories or anything from regular food, he can only really 'survive' from eating human meat. Anything else is technically starving.

Doesn't have sharp teeth, just an extremely strong bite force and a hunger that battles a medieval peasant's.

If he's not outside finding things, or hanging out with Val, he's usually just sleeping. He doesn't have a lot of hobbies and not much motivation to find any. He watches youtube sometimes, but only when he's really bored.

Very quiet, both verbally and physically. Before Val, he usually only spoke if he had to and even then he wouldn't say anymore than he needed to. He often unintentionally scares people because he doesn't make any noise doing like.. anything so its extremely hard to notice him before he's like 5 inches behind you.

He's been struck by lightning twice. He was fine after, just a bit spooked.

[twig-tea]

Get To Know Me Tag

Tagged by @telomeke @lurkingshan @my-rose-tinted-glasses @he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle and @hyeoni-comb thank you all! 💕

Do you make your bed?

I like a messy bed, it feels more welcoming to me somehow. The only time I make my bed is when I'm without heat and it's winter, then you gotta do it to keep in any residual warmth! But normally I'd rather keep everything loose.

What’s your favorite number?

I....don't think I have one? Is this a thing people have, how do you choose?

What is your job?

I manage a team of Product Owners in the Operations division of a multinational company. In other words, I go to a lot of meetings.

If you could go back to school, would you?

Absolutely not. Beyond the fact that I was formerly a substantive editor of university textbooks, which included both editing the textbook content and sometimes writing their ancillaries (tests, powerpoint slides, etc.) so it feels like I took first-year Sociology at least ten times, I just don't love formalized education. I love learning but on my own terms and at my own pace.

Can you parallel park?

I can't drive at all! Technically I learned how, took lessons and everything, but never got my license.

A job you had that would surprise people?

Hmm. I was a call center person for half a day, it was terrible and I left without getting paid for the work I did because I was so eager to get out of there I didn't want to fight them for my pay (even though I needed the money which is why I was there in the first place). I hate phone calls, I can't hear well on the phone, and it was clear the call center script was designed to be exploitative. It was one of the worst jobs for me I could have taken lol

Do you think aliens are real?

I think it's extremely likely!

Can you drive a manual car?

Nope, even when I learned, it was only on an automatic.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

I'm not guilty about it but I can decimate an entire family size mac and cheese when I'm feeling down.

Tattoos?

I have 3 tattoos; one on each foot and one on the back of my neck. They form a rainbow.

Favorite color?

Blue-green! The shade of preference for any given moment varies, but anything in the region from mint to aqua to teal to turquoise will do; I love them all.

Favorite type of music?

My music taste varies widely but the common denominators are 1) fast tempo or upbeat, 2) solid harmonies, and 3) if there's a tempo or key change I am doubly sold.

Do you like puzzles?

Love puzzles of all kinds. I have a collection of jigsaw puzzles I do regularly, and word puzzles, logic puzzles, sudoku type stuff is all very fun. I don't make a lot of time for them but I do them occasionally and always enjoy it.

Any phobias?

I am afraid of falling. Not heights, but falling. The difference is: I can lean over the railing at the top of a 20-storey building or walk on a glass floor over a big drop and just feel a minor thrill, but am terrified to the point of maybe crying if I have to balance on a single step of a ladder or walk across a patch of ice. I had several brushes with death related to falling when I was a kid, and a few bad falls that caused injury as an adult, so it makes sense. Luckily I am pretty tall so I rarely have to do any kind of ladder-ing!

Favorite childhood sport?

American-style tackle football. We used to play at lunch on the pavement because the soccer kids got the field; we played in all seasons including snow, and we did it for love of the sport. I loved it a lot.

Do you talk to yourself?

Occasionally I'll provide a little commentary on what's happening aloud to myself; but I don't really have fully conversations.

What movies do you adore?

I have loved a lot of movies in my time! A few random ones that come to mind right now because I've been thinking about them for whatever reason are Saving Face (2004), Monster (2023), Practical Magic (1998), Moonlight (2016), and Clue (1985).

Coffee or tea?

Despite my username being a type of tea, in this as in all things I am a perfect Kinsey 3. Love both equally and drink a ton of both (coffee more regularly, tea in greater volume).

First thing you wanted to be growing up?

Lifeguard, I think! And then when I was in elementary school I wanted to edit textbooks (I was that kid who got annoyed whenever there were mistakes), so I did actually get to do my childhood dream job.

No pressure tags just going with vibes based on who I've interacted with recently (if you've done this already tag me in the comments!): @rocketturtle4 @visualtaehyun @sollucets @troubled-mind @jimmysea @ginnymoonbeam

[ominous-feychild]

Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday! What would you say is the defining trait of any of your settings?

Omg, this is a very difficult question to answer because I do a LOT of worldbuilding, haha. But let's see...

I think, technically, the most defining traits of my settings is how different they are? I hop around the (in-universe) world in each individual story, and each in-universe country is inspired by real world cultures. But mostly drawing inspiration from ancient cultures because I explicitly prefer ancient history to modern. Plus, it's more fun to research. Which--ha--I'm definitely in the minority for feeling this way, I know!

I actually mentioned this recently toward the very end of another post I made recently, but I'll restate it for convenience's sake, haha... and then go into more detail.

Glavnran (tAR) is Slavic (drawing primarily from early Slavic history, while I do my absolute best to figure out what the folklore was like before Christianity got its grubby hands on it. A polytheistic spinoff of Christianity exists in my story, appropriating a lot of its themes and imageries. That religion exists nowhere near Glavnran, so it has no place there. Also I think I've made it clear I dislike Christianity.)

Jhandar (tAR) is Indian (off the top of my head, I can't recall if I was taking from any specific era, but I'm drawing on inspiration from Hinduism and there's a prominent caste system. Jhandar is also an empire, drawing inspiration from Rome and especially the rule of the Qin Dynasty of China. While not exactly thematically relevant, it's fun and helps explain some things I wanted happening in Glavnran/the surrounding countries. Oh, yeah, Glavnran is under the thumb of the Jhandan Empire. It's why there's so much tension between the Glavni and Jhandan peoples.) (Also, the blue-and-red coloration here isn't a "good-and-evil" thing. To anyone who's read anything about my writing, it should be VERY clear that Glavnran isn't a great place and is, in fact, full of crime and -phobias of all sorts. It's based on their temperatures/climate, haha. I would've put Glavnran as orange but that fits other countries better.)

Lynsmouth (SaS) is Western European (the Western World gets a lot of focus in media, so Lynsmouth and the country it takes place in that I've definitely named get to be the Token "West" in my writing. It gets inspiration from all over Western Europe, but I've primarily focused on France and the Netherlands for it. It's also got Italian-style mafias, haha. They have the Christian-adjacent religion where they glorify a single god. It is, however, subtly dying out, because of Lore and immigration of a sort. The "new arrivals" so to speak have their own religions.)

Kihroin (RFtA) is Northern African (as in Islamic. I'm most likely leaning most strongly into Morrocan inspiration for anything "modern", but obviously most strongly leaning toward ancient history. Islam itself obviously won't appear in my writing, as I'm working within a fantasy world with provably real pantheons of gods. I haven't decided how I'll adapt their hyper-religiousness into Kihroin, especially because I'm personally uncomfortable with religion (though I bet you couldn't tell) and yet want to adapt something that major to their modern culture(s) into my writing. Yet another reason RFtA isn't a current project.)

Cirrane (RFtA) is Latin American (given that actual Native American history is incredibly difficult to get our hands on--cough cough THANKS COLONIZERS, THANKS CHRISTIANITY cough cough--it has a lot more modern inspiration(s) than ancient. Howeverrrr... that's not necessarily a "bad" thing considering that Cirrane is a very bad place and I know plenty of people will @ me accusing me of racism for it anyway. Nah, man, it's pretty much everywhere in my writing! It's almost like it makes for a better story! Also my Mexican gf approves of what I'm doing with it, so take THAT, SJWs.) (Oops, I ranted there for a second. Long story short, it takes a lot of inspiration from all over Latin America! That applies to the other two "Latino" countries too, though, haha. Besides that, it's also stolen quite a bit of imagery from Rome. Ah, that must be where the Evil's from. /hj)

Tzakah (RFtA/tCC) is also Latin American (one of my favorite places in all of my worldbuilding!!! Is also extremely tropical. It's a lot more "original" of a culture due to worldbuilding stuff, but it still takes a lot of Latin American Inspiration.)

Minogua (RFtA/tCC/???) is the last Latin American country (explicitly has a previous history of colonization that they've (relatively) recently shaken off through rebellion and ousting the authorities from other countries. Tackles a lot of those issues a lot more directly and has them more modern than the other two. Though it makes sense considering Tzakah was previously part of Cirrane. Regardless! There's lots to possibly tap into, but Minogua so far only has characters originating from there. Well, and minor plots relevant to those characters but y'know. I definitely want to eventually make a story placed there eventually to more directly explore its themes!)

Honorable mentions/speedrun:

Isagnea (tAR, though idk how much it'll show up, and ???) is Italian (not very worked on, but it's the home country of some side characters... hence why it's not really worked on. It'll definitely see more attention if and when it becomes relevant. Most likely, it won't be until if/when I work on another story focused on those characters. Or, y'know, it appears in another story.)

Ilyich (tAR, tho it likely won't show up more than once) is Slavic (country Glavnran was once a part of, before they split off (not peacefully) over religious differences. Methinks a Christian-esque religion might actually be rather hated by the Glavni people...)

Shilyma (tAR, mentioned but not visited) is a Slavic/Asian mix! (so, yknow, likely would take inspo from Mongolia? Not too developed, but is like Tzakah in that its origins are unique.)

Anispe (tAR, end of series, and ???) is Greek (spoilers! 😁 But Jhandar is actively at war with it, trying to get them under its thumb as well! I have Plots to eventually make a story centered on Anispe before it was Anispe, too!)

Shaoraigh (SaS) is Celtic (an oldie but goodie! I did a good bit of worldbuilding here in the past even though it's never appeared in my writing. One of its gods are VERY important in the worldbuilding, however.)

Drønhals (SaS) is Celtic/Norse (Freya's home country, was once part of Shaoraigh (in-universe) but they separated over religious differences!)

Tulidin (tCC) is Chinese (I'm probably changing its name eventually, though. Also has minor worldbuilding and a character originating from there.)

Shoutout to misc unnamed countries that exist, but I've never gotten around to naming them for one reason or another! Like, for example, the Jhandan-Glavni colonies Rieka and Adilzhan are from and the Hawaiian-and-Japanese-inspired country hidden away from the rest of the world. (Wish I could make it Pure Hawaiian, but... you try doing research on Hawaii. Join me in my hatred for Christianity.)

Can you tell I've been writing/working on this world for ten years?

This post has gotten WAY longer than I was expecting (though really I should've figured, smh) so I'll make this last bit quick:

The technology contained within each country/story is very different, both due to wealth gaps and time period jumps! There's... a lot of worldbuilding. The Arcane Rifts takes place approximately 200 years before Sun and Shadow and Rising From the Ashes (which are connected to each other), so that on top of the exploitation from Jhandar means they're not going to have the greatest tech for example. Sorry this was so long! Hope you enjoyed reading!!!

Also, apparently I have more of Western Europe in my worldbuilding than I thought. Now I'm disappointed in myself.

Also-also, I misread this Ask. I thought it was asking for the defining traits in everything... whoops. I made this WAY harder on myself than I needed to.

Tagging those interested!: @the-golden-comet @the-letterbox-archives @honeybewrites @darkandstormydolls @mysticstarlightduck

@urnumber1star @aalinaaaaaa

[truths33k3r4]

How would you say Lotus’ relationship is growing with the brothers?

I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO RESPOND TO-

I was on vacation and away from my precious computer with all my lovely files and sketches on it, so I had to wait till I got home to answer-

ANYWAYS! To your question!

Ooooh hehe this is gonna be another long one~ STRAP IN HAHA!

(Before I begin I'm going to give a little warning, because this is, technically, discussing spoilers of my story! You have been warned!)

(TW- mention of ptsd, needles, medical phobias, implied experimentation, trauma)

Lotus begins her time with the brothers pretty... rough. She's hurt, afraid, and continually fighting to keep control of her emotions and ptsd. She attempts (at first) to cover this up by speaking with more confidence than she truly has. She's blunt with her words, never allowing someone to misunderstand her. But her honesty becomes troublesome as Mikey becomes more curious about what happened to her. He constantly asks questions, and in order to keep from scarring the younger turtle, she vigilantly censors and blurs her answers.

It helps that Mikey has been in the Medbay so many times himself. Many of Lotus' triggers lie in that medicinal room, and Mikey quickly learns this. It doesn't quite make sense to him at first why she's so scared. He's been sat down on that exam table more times than he can count, but any time fear tried to show its ugly mug, the love and gentleness of his oldest brother's care pushed it back into the shadows.

To Lotus, Mikey looks and acts about the same age as she might be, so she feels a natural sibling comradery with him. It takes some time for her to finally open up to him, (again, for fear that she will legit BREAK THIS POOR BOY), but his gentle encouragement eventually pulls the last brick of her crumbling walls loose.

~

Lotus and Don share many similarities: Their lack of patience for any kind of stupidity, their shared mentality of logic over emotion, and especially~ the reason of their work ethic.

Don is the only brother who has a "human" job. He works in IT, helping customers with their computers, files, softwares, etc. He has put this large responsibility of a full-time, remote job on his shoulders so he can be of more use to his family. Sure, he takes care of the various leaks and loose screws (his brothers) around their home, but it never feels like it's enough. God gave him a brain- so he better put it to good use! Like a rusted piece of an engine, you're only so useful for so long, and can easily be replaced if a better substitute comes along.

Lotus, (after recovering enough to stand and walk on her own again), quickly tries to find a chore she can do for the family that took her in. They went out of their way to take her into their home; giving her a bed to sleep in, real food to eat, and a warmth in her heart she never dreamed of feeling.

Their grace will never be wasted on her.

After finding that she was still too weak to do most of the chores around the lair, she defeatedly went to Don for advice on what she could do. They brainstormed for some time. Don would click and clack on his computer, jotting down all the possible choices for her, until one in particular caught Lotus' attention.

BAKING.

With his thorough understanding of chemistry, as well as years of watching and helping Splinter as a child, Don was the perfect teacher for her. After his shift ended, he and Gliss, (his nickname for Lotus), went into the kitchen and baked an array of strudels, croissants, cakes, and many other delectable treats. Don would even sneak a few pastries from their load of "stale" baked goods from the bakery down the street, to use as reference for techniques on folding, braiding, and so forth. They would also get some good ninja practice in while fending off Don's thieving brothers from their sweet treats.

(Here's some old concept art of a later scene of Don and Lo on the rooftops) :)

~

Lotus and Raph don't always see eye to eye. In fact- they fight. A lot. Like Don, Lotus is also extremely similar to her fiery brother. Their boldness and tempers mix violently, creating a flaming whirlwind of spite and annoyance in a matter of seconds. Neither will usually back down, often leaving that particular responsibility to someone else. Their arguments can range from a long and low-flickering rivalry, to a raging inferno that will swallow both of them up if not stopped.

However, the worst of enemies can also become the closest of friends.

When Lotus begins having horrible side affects of her treatments, (or lack thereof), she vigilantly tries to keep her sickness hidden. (She can NOT be a burden to the family that took her in- not EVER) Raph is one of the first, (alongside Leo), who catches on to what she's keeping hidden from them. When all is revealed, and arguments begin, Lotus finally breaks about her guilt of being a burden to her the family. Raph recognizes this guilt as the same in his own heart from years of being an enemy of one of his brothers. This connection of weakness bonds the two.

Over time, they learn to respect the other's opinions and feelings, no matter if they make sense or not. The specific Bible verse "A fool uttereth all his words, but a wise man keepeth them in" is continually referenced by their brothers on the road to their relationship's recovery.

Curt replies and snide remarks become clarifications and encouragement.

Competition becomes humility.

Rivalry becomes tenderness.

Eventually, Lotus is often found chilling alongside Raph in Don's office while the freckled brother works. Lotus loves to watch Raph sketch in his notebook, and Raph soon learns to allow the subtle scrutiny, so long as he gets to spend time with his sis and twin. Their passion and creativity blend into something beautiful when they come together to create a very important mural.

(More concept art- and also something else the two share.. A fear of needles. :( )

~

Lotus and Leo's relationship begins pretty badly at first.

After the dreaded surgery gone wrong, Leo becomes more nervous and hesitant around Lo. His guilt of what went wrong during the surgery being his fault drives him to be extra cautious around her, trying not to bring up anything that will trigger her in any sort of way.

Lotus both appreciates it and hates it. She loves his care for her, but she despises being coddled in any kind of way. She isn't some delicate flower that will blow away with one sneeze. She also becomes more hesitant to be near him, (not just because he works in that awful room), always choosing to hang out with Mikey or the twins.

Leo can't blame her.

When Lotus begins having tense side affects to her treatments in the labs, Leo and Raph combine forces to get her to tell them when she's sick. "I'm fine" is no longer a liable answer to how she was feeling. Nope- they demanded descriptive and thorough answers.

The road of Lotus' recovery is a long and tedious one.

Every second spent in the Medbay filled Lotus' heart with the paralyzing chill of her past. And despite previously forgiving Leo for the surgery gone wrong, she still had a stubborn spark of distrust in her heart towards him. Especially when he treated her.

But after an exhausting few months, she slowly grows stronger and healthier. Her Medbay visits become less frequent, (much to her delight), and her independence finally is given the chance to bloom. Leo still catches himself coddling her, but always cuts himself off and dismisses his oldest brother protective instincts.

Over time Leo introduces her to one of his favorite past times~ puzzles while listening to music. Something simple, that didn't require too much brain work, and also could be done sitting down. It was the perfect mental getaway for the leader; Something so calm and relaxing that he could do to recover from a mission or a stressful day in the Medbay. (And of course he could organize every single puzzle piece and not get flack for it, because that is LITERALLY HOW you do a puzzle, and it is NOT WRONG to enjoy the organization process of shapes and colors~)

So whenever they weren't training, or off saving the small world of New York, Lotus and Leo would sit and hum to various soundtracks, while placing and organizing the puzzle pieces.

Okay, that's all I have for now! :) I have been writing this for two hours now heheh XD

Thanks for the question, Anon!!

To God be the glory!

~ Melissa

[mockerycrow]

wip roundup

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! Tag as many people as you have WIPS!

im updating this as i complete stuff tbh

thank you so much @glossysoap for the tag!!

i apologize for this list tbh, life has been getting in the way of my writing. i hope y’all understand

twenty four 4k requests left

Be Good (09!Soap x GN!Reader)

-> bdsm dom!09!soap, pain kink etc. requested

Best Reality (Laswell x Fem!Reader)

-> you’re laswell’s wife and it’s just soft fluff about waking up together in bed, loving each other. requested

Undercover Part VI

-> After you’re allowed to get up and move around in a wheelchair, you begin to open up about what happened with Makarov; his plans, and you begin to process some things. You have a formal introduction to Sergeant Kyle “Gaz” Garrick.

Undercover Part VII

-> Taking a break from telling your experiences, Soap and you spend the day together; leaving the room without telling anyone which sends half of the team into a panic. Classic Soap Antics. (subject to change)

Hockey Fight (Soap x Fem!HockeyPlayer!Reader)

-> technically hockey fight will not be the title, but it’s a short wip about soap dating a woman who plays hockey and witnesses a brawl on ice for the first time. soap never really watched hockey too much before dating you.

Hockey Win (Gaz x Fem!HockeyPlayer!Reader)

-> gaz is a life long hockey fan and he witnesses you winning your playoffs &lt;3

Hockey Fight (Gaz x Fem!HockeyPlayer!Reader)

-> gaz’s reaction to a brawl you were involved in on ice.

The Tempest (Price x GN!Captain!Reader)

-> a series i’ve been thinking for a few months. none of the chapters are ready for release, though. basically you and price have history and are forced to work together, along with your task forces. a lot of angst, a lot of heartbreak—but also a lot of self discovery.

Over The Hill (Ghost x Fem!Reader)

-> hanahaki au but you and ghost are lowkey toxic fwb. a lot of angst. i mean it. a lot. A LOT. haven’t decided if this would be a mini series or a one shot.

Chiroptophobia (Roommate!Gaz Series)

-> you meet kyle’s task force for the first time and you bond over humiliating gaz with his phobia of bats.

Sick Moments (Soap Edition)

Sick Moments (Price Edition)

I believe that is all…. this is embarrassing. i need to find time to write everything!!! AGH.

I’m not tagging anyone because i’m NERVOUS but you guys can absolutely use this post as an indirect tag for yourself!!

[dutifullylazybread]

Thank you for the tag @sleketon666 and @reverieblondie 😊

Do you make your bed?

Kinda--I pull my half of the blankets up after I've gotten out of bed.

Favourite number?

6--it's always been my lucky number

What's your job?

I'm a technical writer

If you could go back to school, would you?

Possibly? I've been kicking around the idea of going back for my PhD, but I would likely have to move states/countries to work alongside the doctors who specialized in my field of interest.

Can you parallel park?

If I have a lot of help 😆--I should honestly work on this.

Do you think aliens are real?

Oh yeah. It'd be a bit sad if they weren't, I think.

Can you drive a manual car?

Not yet

What's your guilty pleasure?

Really bad horror films. If the boom mic drops into the shot at any point, I'm in absolute heaven.

Tattoos?

Not yet--I have a few ideas. I'd love to get a sword tattoo on one of my calves, and I've been playing with the idea of getting a tattoo down the line of my spine (but from everything I've heard from people with tattoos, the bonier the area, the more it hurts). I do also really like the idea of getting a sprig of lavender running the length of one of my collarbones.

Favourite color?

Wine red

Favourite type of music?

Do videogame soundtracks count? I listen to those quite a bit.

Do you like puzzles?

Most definitely--I really like jigsaw puzzles, nonograms, and sudoku

Any phobias?

This is a tough one. I used to be terrified of the dentist, but not so much anymore. I guess I'm scared of my health being ignored by medical professionals and dealing with the fallout from that.

Favourite childhood sport?

Volleyball

Do you talk to yourself?

Mostly when I'm in the car replaying a conversation. If I'm trying to figure out how I sounded, I might repeat what I said to get a feel for it.

What movie(s) do you adore?

I... have a loong list... 😫

Practical Magic, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Pan's Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water, Song of the Sea, The Labyrinth (Jim Hensen), The Dark Crystal, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

For the sake of everyone, I'm gonna stop there.

Coffee or tea?

Tea is my first choice--I love genmaicha (toasted rice tea). I do have a cup of coffee every morning, and there is a coffee shop near me that makes some incredible iced coffees (silky smooth to drink, I swear).

First thing you wanted to be growing up?

(I'm gonna say the first three, because I love the progression!) A princess, and then a mermaid, and then a professional wrestler.

No pressure Tags!

@darkurgetrash @commander-krios @little-paperboat

[guentzel]

get to know me

i was tagged by @couthbbg ! thank you so much for the tag <3

1. Do you make your bed?

yep every morning! i like getting into cold sheets at night

2. Favourite number?

46!

3. What's your job?

product review specialist. i basically review synthetic dna before it gets shipped out to our customers to make sure its right

4. If you could go back to school, would you?

yes i would, only if i could afford it and didnt have to work. id love to continue studying cw

5. Can you parallel park?

im fantastic at it :P

6. Do you think aliens are real?

oh absolutely, i dont think its possible for us to be alone in the universe

7. Can you drive a manual car?

nope

8. Guilty pleasure?

h*lluva b*ss lol like its enjoyable enough for me

9. Tattoos?

no, but i keep meaning to get one :')

10. Favourite colour?

orange!

11. Favourite type of music?

probably rock? i listen to that genre more than anything else.

12. Do you like puzzles?

yes! its not technically a puzzle but i really enjoy doing the nyt connections because i got to figure out how to group these words into fours. but i love normal puzzles too

13. Any phobias?

enclosed spaces, heights, mannequins, mascots

14. Favourite childhood sport?

mm probably softball or volleyball

15. Do you talk to yourself?

sometimes kfjdg and more often than i should. usually i do it "through my dog", giving her a stupid voice that i talk through

16. Tea or coffee?

coffee, although i prefer it iced

17. First thing you wanted to be when growing up?

a writer!

18. What movies do you adore?

the godfather, princess mononoke, titanic, singing in the rain ! random assortment but i really enjoy all types of movies, they just gotta hit something inside me yknow

i tag: @theflirtmeister, @captainbradmarchand, @barkovsasha, @gayhughes, @bichettes, @donttelltheelff and anyone else who wants to do it!