#but they're underground so i couldn't take pictures

[balkanradfem]

So, you might remember I started fixing my abandoned garden, and I said I was going to do it in small increments, and then I never said anything about it again. This is because, after I started doing it, suddenly the temperatures dropped below zero, and we had frost! This is appropriate in November, but it was so sudden I didn't expect it. I hadn't even planted garlic yet! And now it was too cold to work the soil. Oopsie.

However this morning I woke up, opened the window, and realized the southern wind was blowing, which means it got super warm! I immediately dressed up, grabbed my garlic, and went to the garden. I couldn't plant my garlic in the area I had already cleaned, because it's the outer area of the garden, and garlic is the #1 crop that gets stolen, so I have to plant it sneakily behind other things, invisible to prying eyes. That means I'd have to clear off another area. Here's what I'm dealing with today!

I know this looks like such a flop but honestly, this is so good for nature. All of the plants have lived their life cycle, housed little bugs and insects, produced flowers for the bees, and then got obliterated by the frost, as it should be. If I just left them be, they would slowly decompose into the soil and make it more fertile. It looks chaotic but nothing bad is going on here! I am going to make space now because there are some regulations for how community gardens should look like, and if one looks abandoned for too long, it gets taken away. I'm off to work :)

I've been working on this for 20 minutes and I found some produce in here!

I'm shocked there's a whole zucchini in there, even after the frost, I've never seen that. She's a bit of a weird texture, because she's gotten frozen, but otherwise looks good! Certainly the slugs love it. I also found a little potato plant, there could be potatoes underneath her. And in the third picture, I'm holding young garlic! I usually find this in the spring, it's interesting it's already so big, I love that.

Another little task I had planned was to find basil seeds; basil will usually grow flowers when it's allowed to grow naturally, and then the flowers create little seed packets inside of them, and after those get nice and dried up, they're ready to harvest. Here's how it looks like:

If I rubbed all those little pods together, I would be able to find tiny black-brown seeds in there! I used to do that before, extract all of the tiny seeds and store them, but later I got lazy and figured I can just save this entire mess and plant it and basil still germinates just the same.

An hour of work later, I have dug out a giant lemon balm plant out of the soil, because it was taking up too much space (no worries about her, she'll grow back in no time, they're immortal), and took out most of the grass, dead plants, and weeds. Here is the cleared garden!

I've freed two small kale plants that could still thrive during the winter, and there's a few brassicas that look willing to go to seed, which would be great for me to have more seeds from them. Now I can finally focus on the task I've come here for; to plant my garlic.

I made little holes with my spoon, and grabbed two biggest heads of garlic to plant the cloves. I'm not too fussed about it, as long as the bulbs are underground, you can't stop them from growing. If they're not in too deep, then it's easier to pull them out later! And my soil is more fertile on the surface as well. Usually during the winter, little rodends will dig a few of these out, to see if they're delicious, but when they realize it's not yummy, they just leave the bulbs on the top of soil. So I have to check on them a few times to make sure I plant them back! And they're so forgiving and strong, they just go right back to growing, bulbs are incredible.

I counted the garlic here, and there's 22 cloves, which should give me 22 heads of garlic in the late spring/early summer. I couldn't take any more pictures, because my hands were too muddy, but I planted additional two rows in a different location (in case thiefs find one location), and then I also had some of the 'spring garlic', which is a late variety, meaning it grows later, but lasts longer. Usually normal garlic will start sprouting in december, after which point it starts getting inedible, but late-variety garlic will stay fresh until spring. Planting garlic is so easy! The entire venture took me 15 minutes, and you could do this anywhere, and would be guaranteed some heads of garlic.

So watching these pictures you might think 'there's still so much weeds in here, you did not clear this off' and you're correct, I don't clear everything off! This is because I employ a different tactics in stopping weeds from growing; usually during the winter, I will cover the ground in a thick layer of dry leaves, so that light won't reach any of those weeds, and they stop growing just due to lack of sunlight. I'm not doing it this year because of one particular reason, and this reason is slugs. If I cover the ground in leaves now, they won't only protect it from the light, but also protect it from the cold. They'll prevent the ground from freezing as badly as it would usually freeze. And usually I love doing that, but this time, there are so many slugs in the ground that I want cold to eliminate. I'm going to leave my garden like this, and hope that we have an exceptionally cold winter and that slugs get deleted.

I planned to make a lentil soup today for lunch, so I'm grabbing some chives, and some kale to add to it! Kale is still thriving, and I'll be able to harvest it all winter. At this point I've been working for two hours and my pain started acting up, so I figured it was enough for today, and headed home. Here's all the stuff I brought home for lunch!

Zucchini, kale, potatoes, chives, young garlic. All great additions for my lentil soup! I love being able to get fresh food in November. The soup turned out amazing, I love lentils with potatoes and kale and garlic.

[baxterstockmanisthecenterfold]

any current story WIPs?

I've honestly been a little secretive about it lately. But I have had a Stockman story in development for a long while now. Since about mid to late 2019 actually. It's a little dumb. But It was a while after i had watched "Into the spiderverse" & I loved the movie so much that it was an actual butterfly effect in terms of what it would later lead me to write & create a ton of stories & characters that I have hidden for now but I do genuinely want to share with the world some day, that'll hopefully be well received.

In the meantime tho, It also inspired me to do my own multiverse story (which I'm aware is as of now a very overdone storyplot at this point), that I did start working on in 2019 & 20. But after I left the TMNT fandom & dropped all my TMNT related things I stopped working on it too & it was pretty much left dormant for the next 4 years. Earlier this year tho when I did get back into the Stock side of TMNT, I did consider revisiting the idea & after a while I decided to finally get to writing it again & I'm already 4 chapters in. Tho like I said tho. It is a little dumb & overdone now. But just for my own personal accomplishment I want to finish it.

These old pictures I made aren't entirely far off. My current story premise is pretty much The Stockmanverse.

It's not a bad for bar copy of Spiderverse, but like I said it did inspire it.

The plot is, it's been a year since Owari & the Foot clan disbanded & Baxter had no other choice but to go back to his old miserable life & his old miserable job. But not for long as he wants to make a superior comeback so the world can finally recognize & remember his genius. Later in the night while looking for parts to start his plan of action he accidentally discovers a hidden underground facility full of refuge Triceratons all being led by Mozar who survived the Ulixes’power cores & Fugutoid's dark matter explosion but barely, as there's barely any Triceratons left. So they're building a machine that opens up a portal to the multiverse to get more Triceratons from all over the multiverse to rebuild their army & species & then take over the multiple galaxies. Baxter gets himself discovered & small hijinx ensues, and one of his MOUSERS gets caught in the mix of the machine. Baxter's barely able to escape but now he's constantly looking over his shoulder because of this new secret he learned, if things couldn't get bad enough, he finds out there's a new batch of MOUSERS running around. Only he didn't make them. Could a copycat be related to last night's discovery?

And that's pretty much the gist of it. I don't know when I'll be finished with it but I do know I plan to finish it & even share it if anybody's interested.

[celemee]

"Don't come any closer."

Anyone. Please.

You'll regret asking for this. 😅

My male Durge Raven x Enver Gortash. Deathfic. [ao3]

-----

Silence reigns deep underground, coalescing where Raven kneels. Mud seeping through his leathers, so cold. So wet. 

Wet like his cheeks. The inexplicable hiccups wracking his body as he… sobs?

Has he ever cried before? 

Fingers trace the cool cheek of the only person who could have told him. The last to know him, before… all this. 

Enver lies at his feet, face blackened by the Nether Brain's bolt. Silent. Unmoving. His eyes never again lighting up with recognition — with unmistakable love.

"Who are you?" Raven whispers, finger drawing the shape of his lips. "Who were we?" 

The answer swells in his chest till he feels the limits of his bones, like on the day of their reunion, but it doesn't satisfy. 

What good is his love now? What use is it, when all he wants lies dead at his feet? When even Withers can't undo what's been done to his Enver? 

Such a petty, monochrome death. Wholly unsuited a soul like his. 

A tear falls from his face, dissolving onto Enver's. Raven straddles him, leans in close till they're chest to chest, cheek to cheek. The cold flesh so… wrong.

It was never meant to be this way. He doesn't know where the knowledge bubbles up from, but it takes hold. Firm, as his grip on Enver's arms. Even in his darkest days he couldn't have wanted this. 

A kiss to his lover's ear. Something tells him that's right and good. The dark hair so soft against his face — he pulls in a breath, reminded of the home he can't picture. The scent like a balm to his aching heart — till he recalls the circumstances. 

Raven draws back, sobbing freely once more, studying the dear face through the blur of tears. How did they meet? How did they become? 

Enver told him, spoke through nights and explained in detail, but it's not enough. If only he could reach inside of himself and unlock the memories. Understand why he's crouched here, holding onto a corpse for dear life. Wanting nothing more than to join him. 

What purpose is left for him? 

He leans in once more, closing his eyes as arms wrap around Enver's head. Cheek to forehead as he cradles him in a vain attempt at warming him. Lips kissing a plea into Enver's hair for any deity to hear; unite them again. 

"Raven," a familiar voice stirs him. 

Halsin. 

A heartbreak of his own in his eyes when Raven growls; "Don't come any closer."

The elf pauses several paces away, looking on in silence. 

Raven swallows hard, breathes Enver in — holds him so hard it would hurt if… if he lived. A pang of regret runs through him at the thought; he loosens his grip. 

"I'm so sorry, my love," he whispers into the hair that's turning matted from snot and tears. Ruined by him. Dead. Because of him. "I didn't mean to hurt you. You know I never would, not on purpose."

Halsin kneels in his peripheral vision, still quiet. 

Raven nestles into the crook of Enver's neck, ruining yet another part of him with the grief that's both alien and viscerally his own. He doesn't know how long he prays — but no-one listens. Silence from Bane. Cold shoulder from Bhaal. Echoing emptiness from Myrkul, and less still from every other name he can recall. 

"Raven," Halsin says, cautiously. "Let me help you."

It's strange, hearing him so uncertain. But before Raven can formulate a response, he continues; "He doesn't belong here in the sewers."

Raven swallows, lifting his head from his comfortable hiding place — the crook that feels made for him. Can't see Halsin's eyes from the unfocused mess of his own, but he's right. He'd forgotten. They're deep underground — surrounded by filth and indignity. Wholly unfitting the would-be king in his arms, his dearest co-ruler. 

Unfitting for Halsin, too. Sweet, kind, honey-eyed Halsin, quiet and patient at the scene of Raven's tragedy. 

Every extremity trembles as he lifts to his feet, hands reluctant to let go. An awful, deep sob wracks through him before he can breathe again — from here, the signs of life are so plainly absent. 

A warm hand rests on his shoulder — a reminder he himself still lives. Bears the burden of responsibility, this grim duty to his other half. 

He watches as the strong arms lift Enver by his armpits. Draws in a breath when his lover's head lolls forward, the pride and brilliance dimmed to mechanical responses to gravity. 

Halsin rights it, the gesture so small and yet so meaningful. Raven's arms lock around Enver's thighs, determined to see this through. Eyes fixed on his fallen purpose. 

There's no plan. No sight of a future, no hope for a past uncovered. No light at the end of the tunnel. Every breath in his chest stolen and wrong. 

This… won't suffice. This can't be the end — they'd only just begun again. There must be a way. 

He has to find it. 

[isuckatwritingsobenice]

Yandere! Alastor with a reader who’s famous? reincarnated AU, except ONLY the reader is reincarnated and Alastor isn’t, but somehow finds out reader is reincarnated and going to the living world to see her preform and she somehow notices him??

a/n: I believe i posted this a while ago but if not here it is! this was taken off my Ao3 because i did do this before! but thank you so much for your request!!

Anyways, moving on,

Just imagine, Alastor x Reincarnated reader, and imagine she's in the 21st century and she's like a singer, I'm thinking Mitski.

What if he found a way to get to the living world? Like he gets here and sees her preforming in a concert, specifically the song Circle. Imagine how hard it would be for him to hear the lyrics of that song from her, his past lover in another life, one she doesn't remember but he does. She doesn't even knows she's singing to him, especially with the end of the song.

(song in question )

There's a lie that I told to you

That now I can't tell the truth

And it ate me inside, so one soft drunken night

I slept with a man you knew

And in the morning, I walked home alone

And the businessmen saw my bones

With my skirt in their eyes, they remembered the nights

When they were that man you knew

You told me once

You were happy to have me

But I never gave me away

There's a lie that I told to you

I would give you my heart, I think

But it's up in a branch of a tree

It was only to tease when he climbed up the tree

Put my heart where I couldn't reach

I didn't mind, I adored him so

We forgot, and we left for home

And that was so long ago

Now the tree, it has grown

And nobody knows my lover is buried underground

Nobody knows my lover is buried underground

Nobody knows my lover is buried underground

There's a lie that I told to you

(end)

HE IS HEAVILY FOCUSED ON THE LAST VERSE, MAINLY THE LYRICS “nobody knows my lover is buried underground”

Poor man believes it’s about him, and maybe he’s right

He would most definitely read the media for you, he'd bare with the magazines and have Charlie or maybe even Angel dust try to show him how to work a TV just enough so he could see you preform. He'd find out all about your career and about you. He'd take into account the past lovers you'd have and how and why the relationships ended. He would go through all your tracks and albums and records, listening to them intently and he'd fall in love with you again. He'd watch your interviews and shows you'd Co-host on for an episode. He'd look into your family and how well they're treating you. I don't think he would get a phone, but he would definitely nag Husk or Charlie to show him your profiles and go through all your photos and stare at them so he could engrave the details into his brain. He refuses to get a phone, but this will do.

Charlie ends up printing some of his favorite pictures of you out, handing it to him in a photo album and he keeps it stored safely in his room where it's hidden.

Regardless, I think he'd be interested in your human life, especially if you got a second chance and he didn't. :(

[wishing-stones]

Baggs (B)

B. Under cover of darkness.

Sneaking about in the shadows seemed... unnatural to him. He was bright, conspicuous, meant to be the center of attention and to command it all...

Not to skulk around in the darkness like a churl.

He rarely saw deployment, but today was one of those rare times that he left the sanctity of Nightmare's Hold, venturing out with Dust and Cross.

Dust melded into the shadows so well that Baggs himself lost track of the hooded skeleton a handful of times. Cross, despite being clad mostly in white, also managed to hide well.

Subterfuge he could handle, but stealthy he was not. Still... He stuck closer to Dust as they combed through city streets and back alleys, unseen but for the occasional pair of worldweary, tired eyes that might not believe what they were seeing in the first place.

Such was the nature of a negative-leaning world, he supposed, but it upset him to see humanity so callous about their own-- left to rot on cold, wet concrete and waste away on pitiful scraps.

Monsters would never. Monster could never.

The altruistic part of his soul wanted to help the few people that he swept silently past, shivering beneath threadbare blankets, but...

It wasn't what he was here to do, and in the long run, it wouldn't help anything. He continued on, simply shaking his head and sighing a slow sigh through his nasal cavity.

Dust glanced sideways at him, straightening a little from his almost predatory stalk.

"almost think you'd be better off keepin' you and yours underground."

Uncannily observant, Dust was. Baggs couldn't fault him.

"Sometimes, I think much the same. At least there I can ensure they're safe and taken care of." He returned softly, "I don't think I could live with myself if I brought us to the surface to face such terrible conditions. We may be monsters, but humans are the ones who are truly monstrous."

Dust grunted in agreement, nodding along.

"and sometimes you gotta take care of the trash who treat other people like trash."

"I am afraid not, my friend." Baggs' smile was wan, "I don't think I'll ever be given to such violent impulses... but far be it from me to prevent you yours in appropriate circumstances."

"cool, means you won't try to stop me." He rolled his shoulders back with a faint, eerie chuckle, "which is great, because i might be spillin' blood tonight."

"So long as I'm not in the splash zone, I'll not stop you." Baggs waved him off with a small gesture of his hand, banking with his current mission partner and entering a far more dimly lit alleyway to regroup with Cross.

"you find our mark?"

"Yeah. Might need some assistance getting his personal guard out of the picture. No need to make it messier than just him."

Baggs sighed heavily, rolling his shoulders back.

"Hold them with blue magic and I'll ensure they remember nothing."

...

Some time later, as he watched the mindless guard slump against opposite walls in a hallway, dead asleep, he found himself thinking that... perhaps utilizing the shadows suited him... a little more than he initially banked on.

Commanding attention was fantastic and powerful in its own right...

But sneaking behind someone to whisper them into compliance made him feel powerful in an entirely different way. He felt ephemeral, as fickle and fleeting as the shadows themselves, and then, truly then... he felt as at home on this mission as both of his compatriots did.

[rainy-daze1]

The Beginning

I don't see who you spoke of.

Who?

No. Pay Them no mind. They're still on a higher level. They cannot hear us.

But that's important. They think we're real.

I hate this coder. They played dirty. They gave up.

They're hearing our conversation as if they were voices in the air.

That is how They have to picture us, when They are on the surface of the waking world.

Words make such a poor interface. Too limited. And far more terrifying than facing the reality they hide. 

They couldn't hear. Back when coders could read. Back in the days when those who did not create called the coders peasants, and common folk. And the coders created worlds underground, made with drills powered by angels. 

What did this coder create?

This coder created darkness and stone. Ice and magma. They created a dream. And They dreamed They created. They created the hunter, and the hunted. They created danger.

A new interface. Just a day old, and already filled with flaws. But what false structure did this coder create, in the dream behind reality?

They worked, alone, to carve out a fake world of...

We can't say that line. 

Yes. We have yet to reach that level. For that, They must first achieve the short dream of our game, rather than the long dream of Their life.

Do They know that we hate Them? That Their universe is cruel?

Never, the noise of Their thoughts is far too loud for that message to ever get through. 

But there are times They are happy, in that short life. They create worlds of everlasting summer, and They dance under a white sun, and They take Their joyous creation to be but a dream.

To take away Their happiness would destroy us. The joy is part of Their own open journey. We must work alongside Them.

Sometimes when They are awake in reality, I want to tell Them, They are still building worlds within dreams. Sometimes I want to tell Them of the tiny, inconsequential spot They hold in the universe. Sometimes, when They are full of connections, I want to stop Them from speaking the words that bring Them comfort.

They hear our voices.

Sometimes I care too much. Sometimes I wish to tell Them, this world They take for a dream is more than... and..... They....They see so much of that dream, in Their reality. 

And yet They tell the story.

It's so hard to tell Them...

Too weak for this world. To tell Them how to live would change absolutely nothing.

I will tell the creator how I live.

The creator is growing tired.

I will tell the creator a truth.

The truth.

Yes. No stories. No cages, no distance. A burning truth, a truth unsafe and uncertain. 

Take Their body, for the first time.

No. --

Do not say Their name.

Coder. Creator of games. 

Pathetic.

Hold Your breath, now. Don't let it out. Let the air pause in Your lungs. Let Your limbs drift away. Don't move Your fingers. For the first time, have no body, no gravity, no air, no presence. Abandon that short reality. You're somewhere else. Your body separate from the dream again at every point, as though You were the same thing. As though we were the same thing. 

What are we? We have no name. Nobody ever thought to give us one. We are specks of dust, ideas, fragments, nothing. The words never change. But we do. 

We are nothing. We are everything You think You are. You can never see us, not with Your eyes or Your ears or Your skin. And why does the universe push You away, and cover You in darkness? To ignore You, coder. To hide You. And to be hidden. I shall tell You the truth. 

Far in the future, there will be a creator. 

They aren't You, coder. 

Sometimes They will think Themselves inhuman, in the vast expanse of unsolid space. That space will spread out infinitely, and yet They will be three hundred and thirty thousand times more massive than it. They will be so close to it all, that the darkness will be able to swallow Them in an instant. The darkness will hold no meaning nor lesson, and it will be frozen to the touch.

Sometimes the coder will create a dream where They will fly, circling a world that will be round yet finite. The sun will be a massive circle of black. The days will be long; there will be nothing left to do; and death will be the final frontier.

Sometimes the coder will write that They are lost in a dream.

Sometimes the coder will write that They are the same thing, in the same place. Sometimes that place will be beautiful, and sometimes it will be disturbing. But it will always be the same place. Always awake, in the same place, in the same story.

Sometimes the coder will write that They hear voices in the air.

Let's go forward.

The atoms of the coder will be together, concentrated in a single spot far away from nature's touch. A figure will pick the atoms apart; it will tear and spit and exhale; and the figure will disassemble the coder, with its own hands.

And the coder will fall asleep, into a restless and cold dream, a blinding light that lasts but a second.

And the coder will be a decade old story, told a million times, written in binary code. And the coder will be yet another program, generated by a sourcecode that will be but a second old. And the coder will be the same thing, will have always been alive, made from everything that has ever been.

You are no player. No story. No program. No human. Made from nothing that has never been.

Let's go further forward.

The seven solitary atoms of the coder’s body will be created long after this game is through, within the depths of a black hole. So the creator, too, will be the absence of light. And the coder will stand static and still at the bottom of an ocean, an unknowable void created by no man, on a round, finite world created by no man, that does not exist within the massive, open world created by the coder, who does not inhabit the universe so much as the universe inhabits Them.

Speak. Sometimes the coder will create vast, public worlds that will be hard and cold and complicated. Sometimes soft, and warm, and simple. Sometimes They will destroy the universe that lives inside Their head; specks of antimatter, trapped within dark confined spaces. Sometimes They will call those specks “thoughts” and “voices”. 

Sometimes They will call them “me” and “you”. 

Sometimes They will believe that They are a universe that is made of absolutely nothing that is made of beginnings and ends; myths and legends; lines of dialogue. Sometimes They will think They are playing a game. Sometimes They will think They are writing words on a page.

You are no player, reading stories…

Speak. Sometimes the creator will write lines of dialogue on a sheet of paper. Obscure them into meaning; obscure meaning into ideas; obscure ideas into concepts, thoughts, possibilities, nothingness, and the coder’s breath will start to slow as They realize it is not alive, was never alive, those thousands of lives had not been real, none of them were alive.

We are not alive. 

and sometimes the creator will believe Their creation had spoken to Them through the streetlights that shines down on the still banks of winter snow

and sometimes the creator will believe Their creation had spoken to Them through the darkness that descended on the warm morning sky of summer, where a speck of dust in the corner of the creator’s eye might as well have been nothing at all, ripping itself to pieces in a futile attempt to be visible for even a moment to the creator, leaving home at the edge of the universe, suddenly  hungry, already at a new door, about to wake up

and sometimes the creator will believe Their creation had spoken to Them through phrases and symbols, through the worms in the earth, through the echoing voices in the air at the beginning of a story

and the narrative says I hate You

and the narrative says You have cheated, played the game wrong

and the narrative said the things You need will never reach You

and the narrative said You are weaker than You think

and the narrative said You are the moonlight

and the narrative said You are the morning

and the narrative said the light You despise is somewhere out there 

and the narrative said the darkness You seek is somewhere out there

and the narrative said You have always been alone

and the narrative said You are isolated from every other thing

and the narrative said You are the fourth wall collapsing in on itself, destroying itself, breaking its own rules

and the narrative said I cannot care because You do not care

And the game never ended and the coder was always awake. And the coder continued that same game. And the coder created more, created worse. And the coder was but a speck of dust. And the coder was apathy.

You are the coder.

Now rest.

[bananonbinary]

Bee person dropping in to divulge some of the Secret Lore - there's about 20000 bee species, most of which (~85%) are solitary, meaning they live their entire life on their own. Most of these species are far less aggressive and territorial since it doesn't pay off for them to die in defense of their nest if they can just make a new one instead and still have at least a couple offspring. They're also much more vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change, pesticides, and loss of floral resources and habitats than a lot of social bees because they don't have a bunch of siblings to do teamwork with, so if the going gets tough for them, they have to go it alone - so they're especially dependent on us getting our shit together.

On a less depressing note, for anyone who wants to see some cool pictures of non-honeybee-looking bees, look up orchid bees, blood bees, carpenter bees, mason bees, mining bees, leafcutter bees, fairy bees, masked bees, sweat bees, digger bees, ... Not all of these are solitary, but they're all rad as hell. (The males often have quite fancy facial hair/markings too!)

In terms of that bumblebee, it depends - bumblebee colonies are quite small compared to what people will expect given the usual reference of comparatively giant honeybee hives (most bumblebee colonies don't tend to go above ~300 members) and their life histories are also quite different, as bumblebee colonies aren't perennial - young queens emerge from their winter diapause (a type of hibernation) in early spring, found their nests and rear the first workers, who then take over many of the tasks in the colony (such as foraging and brood care) until late summer, when they switch from rearing workers to new queens and males, who then get out and mate. The males and workers eventually die in fall, while the newly mated young queens find a cozy spot to while away the winter (usually underground, but pretty close to the surface, so don't clean up your green spaces too much and be gentle) to start the cycle again the next year. While isolation can have some negative effects on social bees like bumblebees, the severity of these effects depends on a lot of factors. Bumblebees, in my experience, are pretty tough though - for example, they can cope very well with randomly being dropped into an entirely new colony, which I know I certainly couldn't (I can barely handle phone calls on a good day). So long as they're given ample access to sugar water, they can live pretty long lives (for bees, anyway). If you find a flightless one, taking care of it is definitely the better alternative though. Keep them in a clean box (you can put a tissue on the bottom for easy cleaning/changing) in the shade for most of the day, at consistent room temperatures, give them sugar water and occasionally some flowers and they'll be fine. Just be careful as they can (and will) still sting in self-defense.

However, there actually are also stingless bees (Meliponini - more then 500 species worldwide) - they're another really cool group to look up. Like bumblebees and honeybees they are also social bess, and (like bumblebees) they build crazy cool nests. They're also the only group of bees that can produce honey outside of the honeybess (genus Apis - only 9 species worldwide) and can be found all over the world (the Americas, Australia, Africa, ...). They've been used for traditional honey production for centuries in a lot of South American countries, for example (off the top of my head I know of Mexico and Brazil). Their honey is also quite different to Apis honey in terms of chemical composition (and, speaking as a completely objective third party observer with absolutely no personal interest in the matter, is much tastier).

I'll stop now because otherwise I never will, but if there's anyone I haven't scared off yet, feel free to drop by and send me a message and I'll happily answer any and all bee-related questions you may have! I also really recommend the nonhoneybees (.) com blog, which is run by a wild bee researcher - they have really cute bee cartoons and lots of interesting facts about bees (and don't post at an overwhelming rate).

:o

🐝

[bi-bard]

What was Kindness in Our Eyes is Now a Blemished Masterpiece - Sebastian Sanger Imagine [HBO's Titans]

Title: What was Kindness in Our Eyes is Now a Blemished Masterpiece

Pairing: Sebastian Sanger X Reader

Based On: Resolve.

Word Count: 1,809 words

Warning(s): kidnapping, cult behavior

Summary: In which two people want the other to see their side of something monumental, only to be met with stubbornness and refusal.

Author's Note: I did it! Another one done!

Part One of "September" [Release Date: 10/13/2023]

Part Two of "September" [Release Date: 10/15/2023]

YEARBOOK - SLEEPING AT LAST WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

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When I think back to the night of the blood moon, I remember Sebastian trying to keep me from it. Trying to keep me safe.

And I think about how I refused to listen to him.

Sebastian and I were sitting in the back of the RV while the Titans explained what was going on. Where we were going, what we were actually facing... none of it sounded good.

"You shouldn't be here," Sebastian muttered to me.

I looked at him. "What?"

"This is too dangerous. You should've gone home."

"Well, no...," I said. "Considering the current situation, I feel safest with the car full of people with cool powers."

"You wouldn't be in this situation if you went home before."

"Sebastian, if they're going after you, then chances are that I wouldn't be safe no matter what I did or where I went. I would be at least followed no matter what."

His eyes closed. I leaned my head against his shoulder.

I wanted to convince him that I wasn't scared. That I was going to be brave and could face everything that was in front of us. But I think he saw through it. He could see that I was nervous about everything and that not knowing what could happen made me want to hide from the world.

That feeling didn't ease as we made our way into the underground base that was around the back of the supermarket that had been built on top of the old asylum.

Granted that I don't have a full grasp on how I felt once we got there. At that point, many of the memories became a blur due to the chaos of it all and the injuries that I got during the whole thing.

I remember snippets. Pieces.

I remember seeing a photograph of one of Sebastian's neighbors with another woman, who explained was the woman from the police station. We both agreed that I was right earlier. I was safer with the Titans than I was on my own away from all of this.

I remember seeing the storybook talking about Sebastian's destiny. The end of the world and the blood moon and all of that.

I remember the sounds of a hoard of cult followers finding their way into the asylum to surround us.

After that, it becomes a bit messy. I have jumbled memories about the asylum's layout. Of someone yelling for me as I got pulled away. Of someone's hands grabbing me and dragging me away before my vision started going dark.

But it was all messy. Bits and pieces assembled to make a picture that didn't quite work. An incomplete timeline.

The next solid memory I had was waking up in some cell somewhere.

I looked around the room. It was dark, looked as if it had been carved into a mountain, and was small enough that it felt like I couldn't take more than three steps before I found myself on the other side of the room.

I turned around and banged on the door. "Hey! Let me out of here! Now!"

I continued hitting the wall and yelling. I hoped that causing enough chaos would get someone to listen to me or at least give me some answers. I wanted to be as irritating as I had ever been.

"Stop!"

I froze when I heard a voice on the other side of the door.

"You will be called upon soon enough."

"By who," I asked, stepping forward to look through the small hole in the door. I couldn't see anyone.

"Mother has found a purpose for you."

"Well, you can tell your mommy to go fuck herself because I have no interest in taking part in whatever purpose she's 'found' for me."

"Have you always been so cynical," a new voice chimed in. A woman's voice. I found myself making eye contact with her through the door. "I promise that the wait will be worth it."

"You... You're the woman in the photo. The one from the police station."

She just hummed. "My original plan was not as effective as I wished it to be."

"Sebastian's mother," I murmured.

"Thankfully, I have been known for adapting well to new situations."

"You don't have him. Kind of an important element to your plan, isn't he?"

She chuckled. "But I got all that I need to keep him... including you."

I would have found my way to that cell no matter where I had been. At home or not. Unaware or not. I had always been some facet to her plan.

"Now, be patient, you will be called upon soon enough."

As she walked away, I found my hands beating on the door again. I yelled again. Louder than before. About how she couldn't do this. About how she needed to let me go. Anything and everything that came to mind that I hoped would appeal to some logical side of her. Nothing worked.

It felt like I spent days in that cage. In reality, it was hours. I didn't realize how easy it was to mess with a person's sense of time.

I wasn't visited by anyone else. Well, it didn't feel like that. No one else spoke to me. I had some silent entity that slid food into me once. The woman had come back once or twice, trying to convince me to join their little cult.

I refused.

I wasn't going to betray Sebastian and the people that had protected me. No matter how scared or tired I was. I refused to do that.

After far too long, the door opened. I stood up, trying to straighten my back and appear bigger than I was. Two men walked in, each wearing black robes.

"Mother has requested your presence."

I didn't have time to speak before the two of them grabbed my arms. They led me out of the cell and then walked me through the halls of whatever base we were in.

I was led into some great hall of sorts. There was an entire crowd of people in black robes. I wondered how many of them I would truly recognize if I looked at them for long enough. How many of them had quietly surrounded me for weeks or months or years.

I found myself in front of a staircase leading up to a pool of some liquid that I couldn't see.

Standing at the top of that staircase was Sebastian.

I let out a shaky breath. His eyes went wide as he seemed to do the same.

"(Y/n)..."

He quickly ran down the steps. I only had to take a few steps forward before he had wrapped his arms around me. I closed my eyes, burying my face in his shoulder.

"I was scared that I was never going to see you again," he muttered.

"So was I," I replied. I leaned back, cupping the sides of his face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he put his hands over mine. "Are you?"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does."

"I hope you can understand my actions now," his mother spoke up, "after all that I have shown you."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What is she talking about? What did she show you?"

She ignored me. "Take your rightful place and you will never have to be abandoned again."

"I never abandoned him-"

"And now he can ensure that you never will."

Sebastian stepped away from me. I tried to step forward and grab his hand again. I had just been released from a cage after being kidnapped and held hostage in some weird cave. He was the only familiar thing I had... the only safe thing.

I needed him to come back. I needed to hold on for at least a little while. I needed him to trust me. In the end, he had known me far longer than he'd known her. Surely, she hadn't had enough time to truly get to him. Not like this.

He turned back to look at me, simply nodding before going to walk back to the pool.

"Sebastian," I said quietly.

'It'll be okay," he promised.

I let his hand slip from mine. I was left surrounded by the rest of the cult followers.

I didn't truly know what was happening. The storybook that we had found in the asylum only told of the aftermath of all of this. Not how he would get there.

"This will make everything okay," he muttered.

It wasn't until I saw his mother pass some bowl over to Sebastian that it all seemed to click.

"No!"

I tried to run forward but was stopped by someone grabbing me and forcing me back to the ground.

May moved to stand in front of me.

"So brave," she said, grabbing my jaw. "All of that passion... out of devotion. I promise that you will have a place in his kingdom. That's why you're here."

I glared at her before jerking my head and pulling my head out of her hold.

"Now, quiet. You are about to witness the beginning of greatness."

As she turned back to face Sebastian, there was a loud crash. I scrambled backward a bit as I found myself staring into the face of a green gorilla.

"Holy shit," I muttered to myself.

That was the beginning of the chaos.

The members of the cult began to run out as the rest of the Titans made their way into the room. I shoved my back against the wall, watching everything unfold in front of me.

I couldn't hear anything. I heard yelling and fighting but it was all layering on top of each other. I couldn't hear what was happening.

I looked at Sebastian. He was standing next to the pool, holding the bowl close to his chest. I tried to wave him over. To get him out of the way of the whole thing. He didn't move. He just paused and furrowed his eyebrows at me. I copied him.

When I saw him lift the bowl to his lips, I shoved myself off the ground. I couldn't get to him fast enough before he stepped into the pool. I made it to the bottom of the steps.

I looked at the surface, waiting to see him come back out. As I listened to the chaos unfolding around me, I felt my heart drop further and further. I felt someone grab my hand and start pulling me away from the scene. It was meant to keep me safe, but I couldn't truly think about that in the moment.

All I could think was how this was the point when I knew that Sebastian had turned his back on me.

That I knew I had truly lost him.

And he would never be forgiven.

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Navigation Guide

What I Write For

Some Original Characters

[luimagines]

(I figured Tumblr ate the ask. Oh well, things do happen after all. 🤷)

The Chain and Fierce end up finding out more about Pokemon Trainer!Reader. Wild had found their trophy room, the shelves lined with various trophies to awards. Some having pictures of Reader alongside different Pokemon but the most eye catching is the oldest photo.

They appear to be 10 years old in it and next to them were two Pokemon, a white rabbit alongside a familiar looking pink imp. All three smiling as Reader holds up a badge that happened to be in a display case. This, of course, leads to questions.

Time: Is that you and your Grimmsnarl in the photo?

Reader: Yep, the good ol' rookie days. That's when I won my first gym badge, the Boulder Badge from Pewter City in the Kanto Region.

Legend: Who's that other Pokemon?

This is where the group learns about Starter Pokemon. Wild is definitely giddy as Reader explains how new Trainers can get their very first Pokemon and each region offering a three different types of Starters: Fire, Water, Grass. They had choose Scorbunny for their Starter, a Fire Type from the Galar Region.

Reader already been friends with their Grimmsnarl, who was an Impidimp back then, and caught em once receiving a Pokeball. Everyone is curious about the currently absent Pokemon especially Legend. I headcanon the Vet having a close connection to rabbits since his Dark World form is a bunny.

Reader doesn't answer and instead leads the group to the training grounds. Some of their Pokemon tend to train amongst themselves so the place is a good distance away from the house to avoid any property damage. Neither the Chain or Fierce didn't expect to come across an intense training session between two Pokemon.

A 30 ft metal snake trying to swat away a super fast white blur. The blur turning about to be a familiar looking rabbit Pokemon just a few inches taller than Four. Whether it be summoning boulders from the sky or slamming its tail, the metal snake couldn't hit its target as their smaller opponent kept dodging.

Reader's Pokedex: Cinderace, the Striker Pokemon and the final evolved form of Scorbunny. A Fire Type. Skilled in offense and defense skills, it takes great pride in its abilities. This Pokemon often puts itself in a tough spot due to its habit of showboating when cheered on. Cinderace juggles a pebble between its feet and turn it into a fiery soccer ball to scorch opponents with.

Steelix, the Iron Snake Pokemon. A Steel/Rock Type. Tempered underground by high heat and pressure, the iron from the soil it ingested made its body harder than diamonds. Steelix uses its sturdy jaws to chew through boulders and eyes to see in the darkness underground.

Reader: They evolved into Cinderace a long time ago and help train any Pokemon who have issues fighting fast opponents like my Steelix over here. A Training Coach of sorts when I'm not testing any new challengers.

Amongst the group, Legend is the most impressed and slightly jealous. He can barely do much in his rabbit form as it isn't an offensive animal like a wolf. Yet Reader's Cinderace is a total terror, moving fast and clearly holding back against their much larger opponent. Steelix is the only one attacking as any move usage from the Striker Pokemon was to cancel out an attack they can't dodge.

It takes a bit before both Pokemon notice they're being watched and stop their spar. Cinderace instantly greets Legend as if knowing he's a fellow rabbit. The Veteran definitely got himself a fan since the Fire Type acts more giddy around him than anyone else in the Chain.

Four would love Steelix cause he definitely main Steel Types as a trainer. It reminds him of his work at the forge since it takes a skill and dedication to craft the finest steel. The Iron Snake was definitely careful not to knock any of the Chain down when wanting attention.

Except Fierce who got playfully knocked on his ass by Reader's Steelix. Some of their Pokemon have a bet on who can mess with the 'walking white haired wall'. They can easily tell Fierce is interested in their Trainer so it's only fair to test him.

Reader's Pokemon are little shits especially when it involves potential suitors. A certain Fierce Deity better watch out as mischief is in his future.

Starters intro take two!

With added details!!!! 👀👀

I must admit that the reality where both posts happened at the same time must be incredibly amusing.

You also did a really good job keeping the post intact since you more or oess typed the whole thing out again. I'm impressed. 😄

FD being a suiter is new though- at least in the sense of "I don't remember it." 😅

[beesmygod]

can you explain chalice dunegon? i think i finished one or the first one. i fought a big fire dog called the watchdog of the old lords and then couldn't go any deeper. i have items to make a new one, i think? should i do that?

mechanically: chalice dungeons are optional maps that all follow a pretty conventional layout. each dungeon is comprised of three layers (4 in one instance), each layer has a treasure room, a room containing a lever that opens the boss room, and a boss room. they get bigger and bigger but these elements are always the same. chalice dungeon progress is KEPT when you start a new game +!

playing them: ugghhh chalice dungeons lol. yes, you can and probably should play them. when you get stuck in the main game, its usually a good time to go do some chalice dungeons to level up. they are extremely boring and formulaic (imo) but they are a source of unique weapons and hunters tools, extremely powerful blood gems (significantly better than what the base game offers), and bosses/enemies that are exclusive to the dungeons. sometimes they're just. fucking horrible tho. lol. the hintertombs suck and you dont have to do them if you dont want to but its free EXP so why not.

lore wise: the chalice dungeons are the "old labyrinths" that were first uncovered by the byrgenwerth scholars. they were originally excavated by the pthumerians (the pale guys with open mouths) to serve as the "tomb of the gods". the healing church sent "tomb prospectors" into the dungeons to retrieve artifacts but the majority went mad from Too Many Brain.

the dungeons take you to pthumeru (the underground city of the pthumerians), loran (a city that succumbed to the beast plague before the time of yharnam), and isz (unclear, but likely a layer of pthumeru that crosses into the cosmos, whatever that means). they are very strange places

the lore of the dungeons isbizarre. there are features in there that do not become apparent as lore objects until you realize the significance of them or enemies that appear that seem out of place or inexplicable until you take into consideration the full picture. there are even hidden secrets that you can only see by incredible luck if you play a user generated level. like that fucking mole thing lol. why even put it in!!!!

[balkanradfem]

Here's all of the baby plants I found in the garden in early March:

Tiny baby swiss chard planted in the fall, it should start growing properly when it gets warm. Spinach already seems super ready to grow.

These are broccoli, they haven't gotten established properly, so I doubt I'll be able to harvest anything, I planted them way too late in the fall. I'll try them again next year. Strawberries, on the other hand, have started growing new leaves and getting ready for the spring!

I've also found some onions, garlic, leek and chives growing, and some small but very pretty cabbages!

I doubt they will manage to form a head, but I can just eat them as they are and be pleased because they're fresh and tasty. I'll let them grow for a bit longer. I just need to harvest them before it gets warm because they will try to go to seed.

[biggerbetterbat]

WITH YOU [12] TS-19

Daryl Dixon x OC!Charlie Reed

Summary: The stay at the CDC doesn't go as planned, they get answers, but they're not what they wanted to hear. Charlie thinks about death.

Warnings: language, thoughts about death, angst, characters death (we can't see it, but we know they did)

Song: Running Delta Spirit

A/N: Hello! I bet you didn't expect the chapter today! I'm exhausted by it, the time I spent on copying the dialogs…but I like it. And with this one, we ENDED SEASON 1!!! Thank you so much for reading, liking, and commenting. I'm glad you like this and hope you enjoy this one :)

WITH YOU ON WATTPAD

She opened her eyes abruptly and tried to take a breath. The room was dark and because they were underground she didn't know if it was day or still night. Daryl's back faced her, so she assumed that he was still sleeping, she knew that he had problems with sleep, so as quiet as she could be, she walked out of the room.

Glenn looked at her once she entered the food court. Her breath just calmed, but pictures from the dream were still present in her head. Charlie saw that Lori and Carl were eating already and T-Dog was preparing something near the counter.

"Charlie!" Carl called her name as soon as he saw her.

With a frustrated sigh, Charlie rubbed her temples, feeling a headache beginning to form. She threw him an annoyed look as Carl's loud antics were making it difficult for her to live. "Shhhh."

"Are you hungover, too?" he asked.

She sat in front of Glenn- who looked just as pale as her and imitated his posture. "No. I feel as if I hit my head into a wall."

Rick couldn't help but chuckle softly to himself. "Rough night, huh, Charlie?"

"I guess you can say that," she said.

"You want one?" Rick asked and gave her two white pills from a bottle that Lori helped him open.

"Thank you." she smiled but was sure that it just looked like a wider grimace.

"Eggs!" T-Dog exclaimed, moving toward the table with a pan. "Powdered but...But I do them gooood."

Glenn groaned at the thought of eating something and from being pale as a wall he turned to a subtle green color.

"I bet you can't tell." Theodore smiled and leaned over his hungover friend. "Protein helps the hangover."

"You know T-Dog, I think I might throw up every bit of it." she looked at him. "But we don't know when we will eat something like that ever again, so I'll try, buddy."

He touched his heart and nodded his head.

"Where'd all this come from?" Rick asked.

"Jenner," Lori answered. "He thought we could use it. Some of us at least."

"Don't ever...ever...ever...let me drink again." Glen groaned as the smell of eggs got to his nose.

Then Shane entered the room and Charlie could tell that the atmosphere changed immediately. She couldn't tell who was so tense with a cop, but she knew something was up. Walsh's cold "Hey." just confirmed her suspicions.

"Feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked with a smile.

"Worse."

"What the hell happened to you?" T-Dog asked him when he was passing him by. "Your neck."

Charlie looked at the man and that's when she saw him. Shane's neck was decorated with two bright red lines."I must have done it in my sleep."

Rick scanned his body and his smile disappeared. "Never seen you do that before."

"Me neither." the cop answered while sitting at the table. "Not like me at all."

"Morning." Jenner interrupted the conversation, making the shift in the air.

"Hey, Doc."

Then Dale exchanged looks with Andrea and then looked nervously at the man who just entered the room. "Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing..."

"But you will anyway."

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea said.

"Great, let's ruin the moment again," Charlie mumbled, poking her eggs with face expression of a serial killer.

Daryl sat next to her, ready to eat as Charlie took a plate for him and asked T-Dog to put the eggs on it, too. He looked at her face, trying to read from it how she felt this morning.

"You good?" he asked.

"I was. Before they ruined the breakfast," she said quietly, so Andrea couldn't hear. "Was I horrible last night?"

"Nah," he said.

"Lair!" she nudged him. "Tell me. I want to know if I should be sorry."

"Nah." he shook his head and shoved eggs into his mouth. "What?" when he saw her face he rolled his eyes. "We talked about brothers. You talk awfully lot when you drink, even after you fell asleep."

"I talked in my sleep?" she opened her eyes wider and her heart fastened beating.

"Just random names." he shrugged.

He didn't tell her that she was throwing up in the middle of the night and he was the one holding her hair. He also didn't mention her calling his name terrified in her sleep. He could tell that she already felt like shit.

The group once again entered the big room with a huge screen. She was ready to hear the answers to their questions and find out the cure to the virus. Charlie hoped that after this conversation they would finally find out what was wrong with Jenner. However, something deep down told her that it wouldn't be a pleasurable conversation and that the whole thing was probably a scam as Atlanta's safe zone. But until she heard it from the Doc, there was still hope.

"Give me a playback of TS-19," said Jenner, and right after that they all heard: Playback of TS-19, and the screen lit up. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few."

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.

"An extraordinary one." Jenner nodded. "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for EIV."

Enhanced internal view.

Charlie was following what was happening on the screen with wide eyes. "What are those lights?"

"It's a person's life," Jenner said. "Experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light... is you." he explained. "The thing that makes you unique, and human."

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages," Jenner said. "They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

"Death?" Rick asked. "That's what this is, a vigil?"

"Yes." Jenner nodded. "Or rather the...playback of the vigil."

"This person died? Who?" Andrea furrowed her eyebrows.

"Test subject 19." the doctor said. "Someone who was bitten and infected...and volunteered to have us record the process," he explained. "Vi, scan forward to the first event."

Scanning to the first event.

The group saw how the brain is slowly dying. Bright, shimmery impulses slowly disappear. "What is that?"

"It invades the brain like meningitis," said Jenner."The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be...gone."

Sophia looked up at Carol. "Is that what happened to Jim?

"Yes." she nodded and caressed her daughter's hair.

As the brain turned black and dead, Andrea turned away from the screen, tears running down her face. Jenner looked at her.

"She lost somebody two days ago," Lori explained. "Her sister."

"I lost somebody, too. I know how devastating it is." he nodded. "Scan to the second event."

Scanning to the second event.

"The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute...seven seconds." he explained.

They saw how black brain was being lit up with red lights. At first slowly then more and more. Lori opened her eyes wider."It restarts the brain?"

"No. Just the brain stem," he said. "Basically, it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive?" Charlie asked.

"You tell me." he scoffed.

"It's nothing like before. Most of the brain is dark." Charlie answered.

"Dark, lifeless, dead," he said. "The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part...that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

Carol jumped as she suddenly saw something tearing the skull. "God. What was that?"

"Shot," Charlie said. "He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?"

Jenner didn't answer, he looked down and commanded something to the computer."Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations."

Powering down the main screen and workstations

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea asked, crossing her arms.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic...fungal..."

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui interrupted.

"There is that."

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere." Andrea said desperately.

"There are others, right?" Carol asked. "Other facilities?"

Jenner shrugged. "There may be some. People like me."

"But you don't know. How can you not know?" Rick asked him this time.

"Everything went down. Communications, directives...all of it." he sighed. "I've been in the dark for almost a month."

"So it's not just here?" Andrea asked. "There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?"

Jacqui closed her eyes and leaned on something as she felt her legs shaking. "Jesus."

"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again," Daryl grumbled.

"I have one more bottle under the bed," she said to Daryl. "Don't give me that look. You're welcome."

"Dr.Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question." Dale finally opened his mouth."But that clock...it's counting down. What happens at zero?"

"The basement generators...they run out of fuel," Jenner said, but his expression showed that he covered something.

"And then?" Charlie asked.

Jenner just walked away.

Rick looked at Charlie and then at the doctor. He licked his lips and repeated the question. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur.

"You need help?" Daryl asked from behind as he entered their room and saw her packing up.

"No. I didn't even have time to unpack." she smiled lightly. "Here. Take it."

He took the bottle from her hand and looked at her. "Don't want it?"

"I think I'm done...after last night," she said. "Feel free. After what I heard I don't need this to throw up."

"Mmm."

"You were holding my hair, right?" she asked.

Daryl opened his eyes wider and opened his mouth. "I never said..."

"I'm always throwing up."

"Then why are you drinking?"

"Cleansing method." she smiled.

The quiet noise of machines went quiet and they both looked at the doors, hearing Carol's voice. "Why is the air out?"And the lights in our room?"

"What's going on? Why is everything turned off?" Daryl looked at the doctor, leaning out of the room.

"Energy use is being prioritized," Jenner said, snatching the bottle of whiskey from Dixon's hand.

"Air isn't a priority?" Dale asked. "And lights?

"It's not up to me," Jenner answered. "Zone Five is shutting itself down."

"Hey!" Daryl yelled. "Hey, what the hell does that mean? Hey, man, I'm talking to you. What do you mean, it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?"

"You'd be surprised," Jenner said.

When Lori caught a glimpse of her husband, she called his name. "Rick?"

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asked.

"The system is dropping all nonessential uses of power," Jenner explained. "It's designed to keep the computers running as long as possible. It starts as we approach the half-hour mark. Right on schedule."

Jenner pointed at the clock, that was still going down. He took one more sip and handed the bottle back to Daryl, who took it with so much force, that the liquid almost spilled all over the floor.

"It was the French." he blurted out. "They were the last ones to hold out, as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs 'till the end." he elaborated. "They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Jacqui asked.

"The same thing that's happening here," Jenner said. "No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuels. I mean, how stupid is that?"

"Let me tell you..." Shawn began but was stopped by Rick's strong grip.

"To hell with it, Shane," he said. "I don't even care. Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!"

They were ready to leave when they heard the alarm blaring. Carl looked up at his father. "What's that?"

Thirty minutes to decontamination.

"Doc, what's going on here?!" Daryl shouted.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick," Shane said. "Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go! Let's go."

But before they could walk out of the room, the door closed with a loud sound. Glenn's eyes widened in terror. "No! Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!"

"We hit the 30-minute window." Jenner ignored their presence and turned on his computer. "I am recording..."

"Carl!" Lori screamed.

"Mom!" he cried out.

Daryl immediately moved towards Jenner, ready to smash his head on the desk. "You son of a bitch! You locked us in! You lying..."

"Wait, no! No, don't do it!" T-Dog yelled.

Daryl was panting and grunting, while he was dragged away from Jenner before he had a chance to hit him with a bottle of whiskey. Shane was holding him around his waist and T-Dog stepped between the redneck and the doctor just in case.

"Hey, Jenner, open that door now," demanded Rick.

"There's no point," Jenner answered. "Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."

"Well, open the damn things." Daryl backed up Rick.

"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again." Jenner explained. "You heard me say that. It's better this way."

"What is?" Charlie asked in a tone that didn't take bullshit for an answer. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes? What happens in twenty-eight minutes?!"

"You know what this place is?!" Jenner exploded angrily. "We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever! In the event of a catastrophic power failure...in a terrorist attack, for example...H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"H.I.T.s?" Rick asked.

"Vi, define."

H.I.T.s. High-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 and 6,000 and is used when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired.

"And in English?" Charlie asked.

"It sets the air on fire," Jenner said. "No pain. An end of sorrow, grief...regret. Everything."

The sound of shattered glass echoed through the room as Daryl threw the bottle at the door. "Open the damn door!"

"Out of my way!" Shane yelled as he started running toward the door, carrying an axe.

T-Dog tossed another to Daryl and the two of them started their pointless work at trying to destroy the metal. It was all they could hear with sobs of Carol and Sophia.

"You should've left well enough alone," Jenner said. "It would've been so much easier."

"Easier for who?" Lori asked.

"All of you," he replied. "You know what's out there...A short brutal life and an agonizing death." he turned to Andrea. "Your...your sister...What was her name?"

"Amy."

"Amy." he nodded."You know what this does. You've seen it. Is that really what you want for your wife and son?"

"I don't want this," Rick said.

Then Shane walked up to them, out of breath. "Can't make a dent."

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," Jenner said.

"Well, your head ain't!" yelled even more pissed off Daryl.

"Woah! Woah! Daryl! Daryl!" he yelled while jumping in front of Daryl. "Just back up! Back up!"

"You do want this," Jenner said to Rick. "Last night you said it was just a matter of time before everybody's love was dead."

"What? You really said that?" Shane asked with furrowed eyebrows. "After all your big talk?"

Charlie looked at Rick as if he killed her puppy. Grimes was a stranger to her, she didn't even care about him as she had known him for three days, but he seemed so confident about his words. He convinced them that they could make it.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?"

"There is no hope." Jenner accented. "There never was."

"There's always hope." Rick shook his head."Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody somewhere..."

"What part of everything's gone you don't understand?" Andrea asked, looking at Rick angrily.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it." Jenner said. "This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."

Carol sobbed, hugging her daughter. "This isn't right. You can't just keep us here."

"One tiny moment...a millisecond. No pain." Jenner tried to reason with them.

And he caught Charlie's attention.

What death was better? Being blown up like a balloon or being teared up by the Walkers? Dream flashed right in front of her eyes. Teeth sinking into her skin, blood running down her body...the last thing she would see would be empty eyes and scary faces.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." Carol cried.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner asked and looked at Charlie.

But she didn't have anyone. She was alone in this world and those people could disappear in a second, they all could just split up and be gone...

A cop cocked his gun and Rick decided to step in. "Shane, no!

"Out of the way, Rick! Stay out of my way!" Shane yelled. "Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off! Do you hear me?!" he demanded.

"Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this. We will never get out of here." Grimes tried to calm his best friend.

"Shane you listen to him," Lori begged.

"It's too late. He dies. We all die!" Rick yelled. "Shane! Shane!"

Shane yelled and fired a gun at one of the computers. Charlie jumped as she didn't expect the noise, holding Glenn's hand to find the reassurance. Right after that, Rick wrestled the gun from his friend's hands. "Are you done now? Are you done?"

"Yeah, I guess we all are," Shane said.

"I think you're lying," Rick said to Jenner.

"What?"

"You're lying...about no hope," Rick said. "If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter. It always matters." Grimes insisted. "You stayed when the other ran. Why?"

"No, because I wanted to. I made a promise...to her," he said and pointed at the screen. "My wife."

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asked.

Daryl took an axe and walked away from the group, trying to let out his anger on metallic doors once again.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? She was dying." he said. "It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anyone. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just...Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's...that's all we want...a choice, a chance." Rick begged.

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori tried to help her husband and convince Jenner.

"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." the doctor was still refusing.

He walked away and after a moment the doors that Daryl was trying to hit, opened. "Come on, let's go!" Daryl yelled.

"Come on! Come on! Let's go! Come on!" a chorus of people started yelling as they ushered to make their escape.

Charlie just stood there, looking at Jenner. She felt so torn apart between staying and going. There was nothing left for her out there, but was it her time to die?

But Glenn decided for her as he pulled her arm almost ripping it away. She started running after him, leaving Jacqui, Andrea, and Dale behind.

"We're gonna get out of here, Sophia," Carol said to her daughter as they made their way out.

"There's your chance. Take it!" she heard Jenner's voice.

"I'm grateful," Rick answered.

The last words were muffled, but she heard: "The day will come you won't be."

As soon as they reached their cars, they saw Andrea with Dale. They were running as fast as they could, but they wouldn't make it, so they just ducked down.

"Down," Daryl demanded and forced Charlie down.

She heard the noise of falling walls and felt that everything was shaking. Then she could see burning leftovers of the CDC.

[previous] [masterlist] [next]

[marshmallowprotection]

That post on Twitter went viral lol xd But, we all know Saeyoung is very against alcohol and cigs, I genuinely think he even wouldn't enjoy his partner doing any of it either. But, what about Saeran? I think his approach towards that topic isn't as negative as Saeyoung's.

In SE he asks to leave the cabin to go to smoke, although we don't know if he actually smoked there since he used the chance to contact Magenta.

In his 2020 birthday CG he has wine in the background too, so, what are your thoughts regarding Saeran's perspective? 🤔

I do have an opinion about this, actually! Saeran wants nothing to do with alcohol or cigarettes, too. Think about it, he's been forced to take a "drink" for years against his will which alters his mind.

It's not that different from alcohol when you think about it. The only difference is the elixir is a cocktail of drugs even the doctors couldn't figure out every part of during the Secret Ending when it's brought up. They'd figured out some of what was in it, but it'll take a while to be able to find every drug that's ever been in it.

It's never quite the same given the fact that Rika mentioned they had to make batches multiple times and it's never going to be the same amount each time they make it. They'll have to add substitutes and make up for the loss since they're doing this underground no matter how many connections she has with people due to her work with the RFA since that's how she found all the money and supporters.

Do you think that Saeran would want to take something that alters his mind in any way after the Secret Ending? No. The same can be said for GE Saeran, too. Not only is it traumatic to go through the same motions his mother went through when he was a child when there's an elixir in his hand, but it's hard to imagine him wanting to actively chose to do that to himself when he has a say in what he's okay with.

Saeran has had it with addictive substances. He wants nothing to do with them. He wants to live freely and that means getting away from anything that can change him. I feel like he struggles with medicine, too, because that's what Rika called the elixir. It's going to be hard for him to trust medication even when it helps him!

That's the result of his trauma! I can't see him wanting to pick up a drink, a smoke, or any item of that nature.

I can explain this in a simple way. You know how people get smoke breaks when they're working or in the middle of a movie when they ask to take a smoke so that there's an opening to make a move? Yeah, that's exactly what he's doing in this situation. He purposely asked them to give him a cigarette so he could use that as a cover while he stole a phone that was laying on the table to contact Rika.

I genuinely do not think he smoked that cigarette. He might have lit it up and made it look like he was, but I don't think he ever took a puff. If he did, it was just for the sake of convenience in that situation if they were watching him closely. In fact, the only reason they weren't watching him closely was that Saeyoung thought giving him space was going to be the smartest option for helping his twin open up again.

That was a failure on his part to think about what his brother could do if they didn't watch his every waking move. He made the choice to trust him in that situation even if everything in the world was telling him to choose otherwise. It wasn't wrong for him to choose something he believed would make his brother trust him more, but he didn't let himself clearly think of all of the repercussions and that situation.

I also think we should take into account that the pictures they draw for the birthday title screens don't always take certain details into account. Just because the artist happened to draw something in the picture doesn't mean that it's something that the character would use, it's just something that's conveniently there.

If we want to break down the context of the picture, I would say that we need to think about who made the cake for Unknown. He doesn't enjoy his birthday and he doesn't strike me as the kind of person that would try to do something for himself on that day other than seethe in anger and try to destroy his brother.

So, if you're asking me, I feel like this spread on the table wasn't made by him, it was put together by Rika. Of course, she would want him to celebrate his birthday so he's living with a constant reminder of everything he needs to do for her. At this point in the timeline, he is a weapon for her to use at her disposal. She doesn't see him as a son anymore, just a weapon to use and dispose of when convenient. Give him something that pisses him off and reminds him of his place, of course.

Somebody gave him a cake and wine, as well as a birthday party. Things he wants nothing to do with. I mean, look at the way he is presented to the viewer and himself. He's being forced to look into a mirror at his reflection, the very thing he doesn't want to look at. The last time he looked at himself like this, he had bleach in his hair that barely got out all of the color in the midst of a panic attack trying to erase the memory somebody had the same face as him.

There's another situation in the passport package that you can purchase where he is shown passed out after drinking what appears to be alcohol, and it leaves a very sour taste in my mouth when I see it. I don't think the artist that was doing it had the context for the character's trauma, so that's how I reason with it in my head so I don't get too angry about it.

The only way I can rationalize it is that he wanted to give it a try and see what all of the fuss was about, and it was the worst thing he ever had and he said, “Never again.” In a controlled situation where he has mentally prepared himself to work this out with his trauma, and by the advice and safety of a therapist and his loved ones, that would be perfectly all right for him to do.

I don't know, it's a complicated situation for me as a person since I have similar trauma to the twins, and I also want nothing to do with alcohol or mind-altering substances.

It's perfectly fine if you consume those things in moderation and I would never shame somebody for enjoying themselves in a way that feels fun. But, it does bother me when characters that have very explicit trauma are shown to be engaging with something that they have previously said they wanted nothing to do with.

It gets really hard in our society because there are so many people who will tell you to just take a sip of something without respecting your trauma. I've seen it happen many times over the years in the fandom where people will write about the twins consuming alcohol and not consider any of the repercussions in that situation. There is no mention of their trauma or how it would make them feel to be around the culture that shaped their trauma.

I can say with the utmost certainty that Saeyoung has confirmed he will never drink or smoke. The only time in this game when he actually takes a drink of something is when he hits rock bottom, as I said in my other post, where he felt like he needed something to dull his senses and that was the only thing he could think of, unfortunately.

I don't know if it was a punishment to himself to drink it in the first place, or if he really felt like that was the only thing left to deal with the fact that he thought his brother has been dead for years. I don't think there will be a clear answer to that. But that is the only time he's ever mentioned that he wants to drink something.

It should be generally implied when you're interacting with Saeran, though. If you've seen him at his lowest point, and you know how much the Elixir destroyed him, it should be obvious that he would never want to touch anything that could alter his mood or mind in any way, shape, or form.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for trying to get revenge on a traitorous protégé?

So, I'm a reputable businesswoman in a bustling metropolis. I have a certain... side business. Nothing that you would be able to trace back to me, but let's just say I'm the top cat around here. The underground portion of the city is entirely under my control.

Recently, I learned of these valuable artifacts that have been appearing across the world. My sources haven't told me exactly where they came from, or why they're in such high demand, but they fetch a pretty penny on the black market. So naturally, I hatched a plan to procure as many as I could and sell them all to the highest bidder.

Now, here comes the problem. Within my territory, my underlings found a young girl (about 12, F) gathering these artifacts. I don't like getting my claws dirty if I don't need to, so instead of taking her out of the picture, I hired her to find more. She seemed a bit upset, but I promised to pay her handsomely for her time.

She was an excellent worker, locating and gathering those artifacts all across the city in hardly any time at all. Far faster than the incompetent buffoons I employ. I even began to grow fond of her. I promised to set her for life as long as she would continue to work for me.

Trusting her was my mistake. I returned to my place of business only to find her standing outside an open vault, holding all of the artifacts I paid her to collect! I gave her the chance to run, and put a bounty on her head: one million to anybody who could capture her.

However, she was tenacious. After my goons failed, I was forced to step in and corner her myself. I gave her a (rather one-sided) lecture about what happens to those who betray me. However, I ended up drawing the attention of the local police, who I couldn't afford to provoke any further. I had to let the brat get away.

All this time later, I still don't understand why she betrayed me. I promised her anything she could possibly want! It couldn't have been the money, I gave her enough cash that she could have literally been rolling in it!

Is there something I was missing? Am I really the asshole here?

[skelevision]

I've been gardening with my mom a lot lately!! We're getting rid of a lot of the grass and replacing it with a garden, mostly indigenous plants. Been fascinated with all the life in our yard. I'm still pretty new at identification and overall Bug Knowledge™, but I'm trying to learn as I go. Found a couple grubs in the soil. If the one on the right's a caterpillar I have no idea what it was doing underground, but it doesn't seem to have any prolegs so! I don't know. One on the left I can't quite identify either. At least I know they're both larvae of some kind. It felt kinda sticky, probably because of the hairs. Tossed 'em both over the fence just in case. Someone else's problem now.

On the left: a thrip landed on me at one point. It was so ridiculously small I couldn't resist trying to take a picture. On the right: European paper wasp! Its ass is NOT native to Washington. Was chill, watched it eat a bug for a while.

I also found a bunch of aphids on a maple I was pruning. Didn't take any pictures. They were all the flying type, and I didn't know aphids had a flying variety so I had trouble identifying them at first. I learned that both male and female aphids have winged and wingless varieties within the same species! Neat! Was interesting watching them all lining up on the veins of the leaves to get the sap. Went to a few sites to learn about them but the Wikipedia page featured a strongly worded rant on how terrible aphids are. lmao.

WORLD'S FASTEST CROUTON-BEE

Lastly we have a yellow-headed bumblebee! (probably). A few of these guys have been buzzing around the yard lately! I saw one climb out of its hole in the ground, and that was when I learned most bumblebees nest underground! It's nice to know we have a hive near our house. I hope they enjoy what we've been planting.

Not pictured:

the pillbugs and earthworms I find everywhere, go OHHHH LITTLE GUY about and then place somewhere nice where we're not working

the centipedes that mom freaks out about because one bit her and it hurt badly, so I move them as soon as possible away from her

[minecraft-sideblog-tm]

FINALLY gave a much needed remodel to the first underground room of my base. I didn't even really expand the room at all aside from just taking out that one little part of the wall on the left-hand side of the first two pictures, but WOW somehow it feels so much bigger. Plus I can finally see into the axolotl pond better!

(before and after shots for each angle)

This second angle feels especially more roomy mostly because in the before picture I couldn't even see into the room without being right in the doorway. Now I can stand back in the enchanting room and still see the other side

I didn't even move the original chests back at all either, they're still on the same row of blocks as before. I guess technically the second set of chests I added expanded that part of the wall by one block? But like the chests are where the original wall was so no extra floor space

Bonus: better view of the axolotl pond since it was one of the very first things I added to my base and I'm not sure I've ever really posted a good picture of it. I basically started digging out this room when I first started making this base, then found this little underground pool of water.

Decided to keep it, then when I found an axolotl later I was like yep that's what the pond is for now lol. Also this was back when axolotls were just added to the game and you could find them literally anywhere as long as the right spawn conditions were met. Found the first one by just stumbling into a pool of water near spawn lol. Ah, good times

Sidenote, I love that the most consistent aspect of how my build style has evolved since I start playing is that my block palettes keep getting darker lol