#can they be infected by the virus and if so which ones and how does that impact the ecosystem?

[lxdreyar]

Hi guys! I did it in the fall, for Halloween, but I've only translated it now! I hope you enjoy this zombie virus universe comic! Sorry for the bad English, I used a translator.

Laxus Dreyar. He is nicknamed "Thunder" because of his loud voice and unexpected appearances out of nowhere. Ivan Dreyar, Laxus' father, decided to do research on this very virus. But not in order to create an antidote, but in order to find out how the virus can be manipulated for its own purposes, subjugating (already former) people. Young Laxus, not fully understanding what is happening and why his Grandfather banished his father from the town, follows him to find out everything and help his father, believing that he was driven away unfairly (he does not know the reason and cannot believe that his father could do something so terrible). Ivan was not so friendly towards his son, believing that he would interfere with him in every possible way, as he saw in him exactly the same thoughts and views on life as Makarov. While they were walking to Ivan's temporary base (which he created while still under Makarov's command), he finally decides that his son will be an obstacle to him, after a couple of phrases that Laxus said "casually." Therefore, in the same way, "casually", as if by chance (so that his conscience would not torment him) pushes him down from the roof of one of the garages along which they were walking. The guy lands extremely unsuccessfully, from that moment Laxus has no right eye. Ivan watches as his son slowly dies and his conscience begins to really torment him. He begins to grieve even more when he sees one of the infected fall to his knees in front of his son and bite his hand. Ivan goes downstairs, realizing the mistake he made. He kills the infected and decides to stay with Laxus until he dies. He heals his eye as best he can, spending some reserves of alcohol and bandages on it, and can only wait for when he will have to kill his own son a second time. But what a surprise for him when Laxus wakes up fully conscious after a while, he feels bad because of the loss of his eye and he is disoriented, but he is alive, can talk and, in principle, no symptoms appear on him. Ivan dramatically redoes the story of Laxus' fall, saying that it really was an accident and pulls him towards that very "base" - the "Raven's Tail" There he tries in every possible way to explore Laxus and the only thing he understands is that His bitten hand has become darker, almost completely black, the veins have swollen and become brighter and obvious purple color.

But it didn't go above the forearm. It was in this area that the weakness and problems in using the right (previously leading) appeared. hands, because of what he will have to retrain and become left-handed. At this base, Laxus eventually meets a newly arrived guy, Freed Justin. Despite his abominable socialization, he manages to make friends with the guy (although, rather on the contrary, Freed manages to make friends with him) and from that moment on they spend all their time together. After a while, Laxus finds out that Freed has some other deadly disease and he has very little left. It breaks his heart and he angrily shuts himself off from everyone (including Freed) A couple of days later, Ivan calls Freed for one of the studies, telling him that it could help with his illness. This study becomes lethal for the green-haired man.

Laxus was an observer of this study, greatly worried about his friend, so when everything went wrong and Fried began to literally change before his eyes, losing his mind and screaming in pain, he began to panic greatly. When Laxus saw that Freed's pulse had stopped, his heart broke for the second time. Realizing that he was left without the person who had become his first and true friend, he slowly began to lose his mind. He saw hallucinations in the form of Freed, dreams, sleep paralysis, and so on and so forth. He could hear his voice and it seemed so real..

[m4sc4r4]

The walking dead is a frustrating case bc I think it has a lot of potential with the acting and funding it has but it’s so painfully limited by the ideology of the writers.

[covid-safer-hotties]

To My Unmasked Friend in the Fifth Year of COVID - By: Anna Holmes - Published Aug 17, 2024

I’m going to be honest with you, because I love you, and you deserve nothing but honesty. I’m going to try really hard not to be angry while I do it, but it’s probably going to slip out every now and again. But I need you to hear me out, all right?

By now, we’ve talked about my reality. My personal struggle with long COVID, the isolation I live in, why I am so angry all the time.

But let’s talk about you. You just went to a big convention overseas. You got on a plane, got a little gussied up, talked shop with some insiders, geeked out over awards and merch, ate, drank, were merry, left with your social cup and your heart full.

You’re a good person. We wouldn’t be friends otherwise! You’d never dream of tripping a person with a red and white cane, using the r-word, excluding a disabled person from an event because of something they can’t help.

You might even acknowledge that the COVID response from governments and organizations has been ableist and inadequate.

But you didn’t wear a mask.

For whatever reason — you wanted to show off your makeup, it makes you itchy, you believed the messaging that COVID is endemic (what does that actually mean?), you just don’t think about it anymore — you made a choice that actively excludes people like me from participating not only in an event like a convention, but society at large. And yes, it is a choice. Every time you step out into the world without a mask on your face, you have made a decision that your very good reason, whatever it is, supersedes the right of disabled and at-risk people to exist safely in your orbit.

Well, hold on, you say. It’s not any one individual’s fault, it’s the inadequate public health messaging. Isn’t that what you’ve been saying?

And I have. In the past, I have talked about how it is unconscionable that health authorities have thrown their hands up and rescinded guidance that would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prolonged a pandemic that, to hear them tell it, has been bested. It hasn’t. Worst of all, the financial motivation that we all know is driving this premature victory lap isn’t even being fulfilled. Long COVID and other post-COVID complications are costing the global economy one trillion a year. Meanwhile, article after article handwrings about nobody wanting to work anymore, about the sagging college application scene, about declines in military enlistment, and the strain on our healthcare systems.

All of this is very much the fault of our leaders, who have decided the political ramifications of “normalcy” are more important than the health and lives of the 400 million people living with long COVID across the globe, the immunocompromised folks who are increasingly being shut out of every conceivable public space, and the disabled community which has been screaming into the wind about our marginalization since before the virus even hit US soil.

But I want to be very clear. You are helping them do this.

The reality is that we have been living in this deeply flawed landscape of “personal choice”, and you’ve made yours. You’ve opted not to look into how densely clustered cases are. You’ve stopped listening to your friends who have informed themselves. You’ve given yourself permission to put COVID on the back burner. You’ve earned it, right? Four and a half years of trauma?

COVID doesn’t care if you’re tired of being scared or careful or considerate. COVID is not something you can personally overcome by being smart or virtuous or brave. It is a virus which only seeks to infect and replicate, and it is getting very good at those things. While you’ve looked away, my community has been scrambling to avoid variants that skirt immunity and don’t show up on rapid tests until day five-seven. The constant battle has changed since you were last in it. It’s not sufficient anymore to get your shots and test before a big event. You could well be asymptomatic and infectious, or have symptoms and convinced yourself it can’t be COVID because that second line hasn’t popped up.

You have come to the conclusion sometime between 2022 and now that you just have to decide what level of risk you’re comfortable with and live with it. The problem with that is scale. It’s you and everybody else doing that, and a lot of people have decided they are comfortable with a high level of risk. Despite what you’ve been told, you’re not just making that decision for yourself. You are making it for every person you come in contact with.

Think back to the early tense days of 2020. We were told to select a “bubble.” Those people would be our social lifelines, and through those, we could control our exposure.

My bubble is quite small. It includes my husband, my sister, and two friends I see relatively frequently.

My husband goes to work via the bus, and to the grocery store. Every person he comes in contact with there has the potential to infect him, and then he has the potential to pass it along to me. He mitigates this by wearing a well-fitted respirator at all times.

My sister goes to work at a busy public place. She masks when public facing and takes it off in the back office. She goes to restaurants, bars, concerts, hangs out with friends and her own partner unmasked. About 75% of her interactions have the heightened potential to infect her, which she might then bring into my house when she visits me.

My friends do not mask anywhere except my house when asked. They attend concerts, shows, cons, bars.

Obviously, I am in control of whether I wear a mask around these people. And as we approach one million new cases a day, I will be around everyone but my husband. But science is clear: reciprocal masking is more effective at infection control than a single person masking — especially when that single person is trying to protect themselves, not others.

This is settled science. We’ve known this since 2020. It says clearly that the choice you make is not personal- it has implications for everyone you come in contact with.

And being clear — if I could, I’d make everyone wear a mask for their own health. I don’t want people suffering with what I have. But you’ve been told this lie that you can take your risks for yourself, so you feel comfortable going out without a mask. You’ve been told this lie that it’s possible to completely recover from a COVID infection, so you assume that even if you do catch it, that’s what’ll happen to you, despite evidence showing that every body is indelibly changed by an infection, and that risk only grows with each subsequent infection.

And the greatest lie of all — that only the sick or elderly have anything to fear from COVID — has given you unfounded confidence in your own “good” genes or immune system or fitness. You can get long COVID even if you’re in peak form — in fact, may even be more likely to be hit hard.

So you have decided, individually and collectively, that only the sick or elderly should have to take precautions, and you freewheel through life, only to get surprised and dismayed when you bump into COVID in the wild. It’s back, people declare every summer or winter, as though it ever left.

But I want you to really think about the implications of your choice. Besides yourself. Because let’s be honest here, that’s who you’ve been thinking about, right? Your risk. Your comfort. Never mind your bubble, never mind the bubble of everyone you come into contact with, never mind the people like me who are literally hiding from people like you.

You’re not masking at the doctor’s office. You’re not masking at the airport. You’re not masking at the giant superspreader you just attended, and you’re not masking in the bars and restaurants where we know the virus flourishes. And then you’re bringing that exposure back to your family and friends. Back to the grocery store, where you run across people like my husband, shopping for someone who is unsafe to leave the house, or your elderly neighbors, or an immunocompromised employee.

You’re a good person, or you like to think of yourself that way. That’s why when you’re asked to mask, you dismiss it out of hand — because that changed behavior implies that you’ve been doing something wrong.

And my friend, I’m telling this because I love you: you have been. You might have been doing that on faulty information, but be honest with yourself and with me — you’ve heard me begging people to take this seriously. You’ve seen the information I’ve been sharing. You have had the opportunity to seek out the correct information all along, and you have chosen not to.

It isn’t too late to change your view of the risk you’re imposing on the people around you. It’s not too late to push public health to become more effective. It’s not too late to act in solidarity and be the inclusive person you think you are. It’s not too late to take care of yourself.

Ultimately, that’s what I have been screaming myself hoarse about. I don’t want you to end up with what I have. I don’t want you to inadvertently impose that on someone else. And yes, I’ve been angry, because you’ve been advertising your absolute lack of concern with group shots of your naked faces on social media. It doesn’t seem to bother you that I am stuck at home like it’s 2020, except for doctors’ appointments that I literally have to risk my life to go to. You’ve told yourself that it’s not your problem, because only the sick and elderly have to take precautions.

You know better. You can do better. For your community, yourself, and me, do better.

Please. I love you.

Anna

PS. If you’re feeling upset and embarrassed right now, the best thing you can do is take action. Get yourself good masks (the surgicals and cloth ones don’t cut it anymore), donate to mask blocs so others can access good masks, write to your representatives and the President, comment on upcoming CDC guidance, schedule yourself a booster, and talk to your loved ones about doing better, too. The only way we get out of this is with community care. So care.

[ask-the-rag-dolly]

after listening to an among us song i was given the drive to reboot this au so ,

originated from a doodle that spiraled , SPREAD THE INFLUENCE is an au where ragatha is the ( unwilling ) host of a parasite called ' the influence ' which is a virus that only wants to spread and survive . she wasn't compliant about it at the beginning which was ' fixed ' with an itty bitty bit of psychological torment !

also yes i know the abbreviation is unfortunate and i do not care it's funny

even though ragatha's still our usual sweet little optimist , there is this persistent feeling of wrongness . too positive . too affectionate . it's like all of her humanity has been scooped out and you're left with the mask she made for others in the circus .

which is how the virus spread in the circus - they preyed on vulnerabilities which was what their host is perfect for . striking when the victim puts their guards down , making them submit under the guise that their problems will be fixed ... unfortunately it's a monkey's paw situation .

of course , that's only for this particular instance of the influencer ! something to note is that the virus takes a lot from the host's personality , so t.i's mellow and passive , only resorting to violence whenever necessary . t.i's not really an opposite ragatha she's more like a Dark , Fucked Up Version of ragatha the amazing digital circus . she cares a lot for everyone she considers a part of her hive , but it took a lot of manipulation and gaslighting for them to get infected .

caine is left uninfected because " i would do that if my goal is to destroy this place ! " t.i's ultimate fear has always been dying . it'll do everything to not die , to the point it's trying to spread out of the circus ( <- honestly take this info with a grain of salt i wrote this before i fully developed the story ) . unfortunately there's this jester who's resisting the virus with pure lesbian rage and is trying to stop her .

now rags would eventually get de-influenced and the circus will no longer be infected , but we will talk about the extremely rocky journey of recovering from knowing you harmed everyone you cared about Later

was this ' the influence ' that amanda ( ragatha's va ) keeps referencing ? sighs ... yeah . ( feels so surreal that i can say i have their seal of approval for this )

why ragatha ? in story , how is she not the perfect host ? metatextually , this is an au of an au - this came from a blog about ragatha getting a virus that is inconveniencing her life . i simply thought of an idea of ' hey what if the virus took over her body ' one day . then this abomination was born . i would reveal the why and how she got infected ... eventually .........

is she still afraid of centipedes ? is it a ragatha if she doesn't have a fear of centipedes

does pomni still use a taser ? yeah

could i use / be inspired by the influence for my au ? i did not invent the concept of Computer Viruses so feel free to be inspired by it , no credit needed . for t.i as a character specifically , please credit me !

are there ships ? just pomni x ragatha

is suggestive content of t.i ok ? just don't send them to me , tag it as #tw suggestive or #suggestive so i could filter it out

is nsfw content of t.i ok ? my tiny artist hands are powerless against the unstoppable force that is the internet so my answer will not matter . that being said , i recommend that they're not put in the main au tag so people won't unexpectedly come across it . and no i do not want to see it please do not send them to me

could i draw fanart / write fanfic of this au ? 100% yes you could either mention me or tag it under #tadc influence au

does this au have an ask blog ? nah just a normal blog lol

READ THE COMIC ... I GUESS ... !!

the main story

oh boy a prologue

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hey Sex Witch,

Question about herpes (mainly oral herpes but also genital I gues). All the advice I have seen says to not kiss someone while you have cold sores to avoid spreading the virus, but also it is estimated that up to 80% of people have the virus anyway. If someone with an open cold sore kisses someone who has previously had oral herpes, is that a danger?

Im super confused because if the virus is dormant in your system forever, does that mean new exposure is a threat at all? I know you can transfer it around the body to new places which is not good, but can you 'reinfect' the same place? If I have a cold sore, and I kiss someone who has previously been infected with oral herpes, will they get a new cold sore because of this????

(sorry if this is a ramble, I am just confused! also purely speculative, obvioussy best practise not to kiss anyone)!

hi anon,

so, a quick note: there is no such thing as "previously having" oral herpes. once you get infected with herpes, whether it's oral or genital, that little guy is ride or die for the rest of your life. kind of like a pokemon, except it's in you and you'll probably never notice it's there and it can't learn any attacks. just because you don't have open sores (which most people with herpes don't) doesn't mean you don't have herpes, it just means you don't have open sores.

that means that if someone with cold sores kisses someone who previously had cold sores, that's just two people with herpes kissing each other. love wins!

although you can't "double up" on your viral load of one strain of herpes, it's worth noting that there are two strains humans can have: herpes simplex viruses 1 (spreads orally and causes oral herpes and cold sores, although it can also less commonly cause genital herpes) and 2 (spread sexually, causes genital herpes), known as HSV-1 and HSV-2 for short. HSV-1 , with the cold sores, is the one that most people have, but it's not impossible to also get infected with HSV-2 if you already have HSV-1. so you can get a different flavor of herpes if you already have it, but you can't get or cause someone else to have double oral herpes. not how herpes works!

[scoobydoodean]

what is your opinion on people calling dean a heavy misogynist? i don’t agree personally but i feel like you could put my thoughts into better words

First, I have to chuckle a little at "heavy misogynist". Apparently, some people have begun to realize their fave is also guilty of misogyny crimes therefore they focus on making sure all of us know Sam is a light misogynist and Dean is a heavy misogynist. I just find that amusing.

This is a broad topic in a long show, so I won't endeavor to address every conceivable incidence of misogyny in the show I can think of. Instead, I'm going to create a few headings, at least one of which I think most criticism falls under.

Misogyny through the writing team

How Sam's misogyny gets a pass

Purity culture wank and Dean performing for Sam

How Dean actually treats women

Misogyny Through The Writing Team

First, Supernatural in of itself has issues with misogyny—as in, the writers of the show (including female writers) have issues with misogyny which they are happy to put on display semi-frequently. The show started in 2005, during a period of time where casual sexism was absolutely rampant on TV and no one thought anything about it. Female celebrities were regularly mocked and dragged on cable television in a way men simply weren't. They were called bitches and skanks and whores, and even "progressive" voices were inundated with casual misogyny and a fixation on purity culture (that largely applied to women only). Quite simply, I think fandom tends to be far too generous toward the writers, assuming certain things were "flaws" the writers intentionally wrote for the characters.

Put another way, there are some criticisms I prefer to level at the writing team rather than the characters, because what is written plainly reflects their ignorance in the real world rather than any intent to give Sam or Dean or any other character meaningful flaws—much less outright terrible ones that greatly harm their image. I'll give a few examples:

2.17 "Heart" makes me very uncomfortable as I sit here in 2024 and observe how Sam and Madison's romance develops. Me feeling that way does not mean the authorial intent of 2007 Sera Gamble was that I think to myself, "Man Sam comes off as uncomfortably rapey here." Hopelessly bad with women, perhaps—but not creepy.

In season 2, the writers begin to develop a running “joke” that Sam is afraid of not just clowns but also little people. The latter “joke” is (wisely) dropped fairly quickly. I have never criticized Sam for being afraid of little people, and I never will. It is readily apparent to me that this running "joke" reflects the ignorance of the writing team rather than an intent to give Sam meaningful or interesting flaws. Their intent was to use little people as the butt of a joke. I personally find this "joke" distasteful, and the idea of trying to take that and somehow "dunk" on Sam for the bigotry of the writers is more distasteful to me.

This is also how I feel about the running "joke" of a porn magazine and website (BAB) that solely features Asian women, that is put on display on multiple occasions during the show—first in 2.15 "Tall Tales", where the context is Gabriel infecting Sam's laptop with a virus from the website and making him believe Dean is responsible. BAB continues to make "Easter Egg" appearances in the show afterward. While often associated with Dean by fandom, the writers clearly think of BAB as a general, "funny" (it isn't), running gag with no more depth than "haha men like porn funny". An issue is stolen by a sentient teddy bear in 4.08 "Wishful Thinking". An issue is owned by the teenager who swapped bodies with Sam in 5.12 "Swap Meat". The Men of Letters also collected a considerable number of issues (8.17). I simply do not believe the writers thought for a single moment about BAB being a grossly racist gag. They most certainly did not write it as an intentional criticism of Dean from that perspective. It reflects nothing but their ignorance and racism here in the real world, and absolutely SHOULD be criticized from that REAL WORLD impact.

How Sam's misogyny largely gets a pass

One of the things I have not been able to stop noticing on this rewatch is Sam's issues with misogyny, and how often Sam's misogyny comes out in conflicts with Dean... starting from the very first episode of the show. Pretty much any time you get anything that feels like it might be a misogynist Dean or horn dog Dean moment... Sam either just has or is about to follow that up with some misogyny of his own.

In 1.01, right after entering Sam's apartment and meeting Jess, Dean mentions the Smurfs on Jess's shirt. We think to ourselves "Okay. A little misogynist... a little horn-dog Dean." Sam is happy to 1-Up that in two ways. First, Jess voices her intentions to go get dressed. Dean dismisses this, but while doing so, makes it clear he intends to leave the room with Sam, as he'd like to have a private conversation with Sam anyway. Sam objects, walking over to Jess and putting an arm around her, demanding Dean say whatever he needs to say right then and there. Maybe this would feel supportive if Jess wasn't in her underwear and hadn't just made it clear that now that the panic over a possible break-in is over, she'd really like to not be in her underwear in front of a stranger. But nope. By god she needs to stand there so Sam can prove a point about misogynist Dean! Second, Sam immediately (and I think quite erroneously) jumps to imply Dean is trying to cut Jess out of the conversation because she's... a woman? Or... something? He makes a big show of moving over Jess and standing beside her, saying anything Dean has to say, he can say in front of Jess. However, the moment Sam actually understands that Dean is here because John is missing on a hunting trip, he dismisses Jess to speak to Dean alone... because he's lying to her. By painting Dean erroneously with this "The men are talking" bullshit that had nothing to do with anything, Sam sets himself up to be viewed as a misogynist by his own framing of the situation and what it means to leave Jess out of a discussion. He also reveals his own alleged principles as a performative illusion. Despite being his intended life partner, Sam never intends to tell the woman he loves about his past as a hunter (he makes this clear later on the bridge). However, I think because Sam's actions usually co-occur with what gets called out more directly or more immediately recognized as misogyny from Dean (should have gotten him for the Smurf's comment, Sam!) Sam's misogyny often flies under the radar... and he's really... pretty bad.

I spoke here at length about how Sam tends to look down on women who interact with Dean (often before meeting them). There is absolutely an intersection with purity culture here and there's discussion in that thread about that as well, and whether this is a "2000s writers" issue or intentionally written flaws.

In 1.06, Sam cuts Dean off before Dean can accept an offered beer from Rebecca, but then as soon as Sam needs Rebecca out of the room, Sam asks her to not just bring them those beers... but also fix them sandwiches. Rebecca says, "What do you think this is, Hooters?" and Dean mumbles, "I wish" and we somehow lose sight of the fact that Sam literally just asked a woman to make him sandwiches which is possibly the number one misogynist man trope. Sam vaguely suggests Dean is a misogynist in 1.19 for nudging Sam to go on a date with Sarah Blake and possibly get information on the case, because that would be "using" her, but Sam wants to "use" Meg Masters in 1.22 and he wants to "use" Ruby to get what he wants, and when he said getting information from women was "Dean's job", he was also showing he was perfectly willing to use Dean and Sarah—he just doesn't want to get his hands dirty. It also comes to light in 1.19 that this is more about Sam's belief that he has to protect women from him, and Sarah herself ends up calling Sam antiquated for it.

I mentioned before that Sam doesn't plan to ever tell Jess who he is, and he makes the same plans with Amelia. Dean, meanwhile, confides in Cassie (it's what leads to their breakup) as well as Lisa.

I also have to mention... one of the funniest things I see deancrit samgirls in particular dig at time after time after time is Dean calling women "bitches". Never mind that Sam also calls women like Ruby and Bela bitches and calls a woman a bitch in front of Madison. Apparently none of these occurrences count because... *looks at notes* reasons. "Bitch" only counts as misogyny when it's Dean saying it. Also, let's not mention that Sam exclusively uses the word "bitch" to refer to women, while Dean also calls men and creatures bitches at different points so it isn't a gender specific insult for him.

Dean is definitely the "heavy" misogynist here... right? (I guess Sam is a "tall" misogynist instead).

Purity culture wank and Dean performing for Sam

Dean is commonly treated in fandom as if he's some kind of sex pest, and quite blatantly... he isn't one. Women almost always proposition Dean first (thejabberwock has sets on this here and here), but him asking people out also isn't inherently creepy in any way? Co-occurring with Sam's purity culture inundated judgements, we often see fandom's own as well, where Dean is some kind of sex pest because he... likes women? Or... because he has sex with consenting women who also want to have sex with him? Sometimes it's giving purity culture wank, sometimes it's given big radfem energy... but regardless, I sometimes see people talk about Dean like him so much as making eye contact with a woman is a violent sexual threat, and that's just laughable—as is denying the agency and autonomy of consenting women in general.

Even though it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, I'll also add that Dean... doesn't even actually have sex with the frequency that people talk about it? Dean has sex with Cassie—who was a long term partner of his in 1.13. He has sex with an actress in 2.18, and with Doublemint twins in 3.01. He has sex with a waitress 4.05. He plans to have sex with someone in 3.04, but turns her down when he realizes she's a prostitute who's working. This happens again in 10.07. I'm on season 4 of my rewatch and haven't been formally keeping up... but Dean is not actually having a lot of sex? We get implications he's been out partying a few times, and can maybe infer he scored, but we don't actually know.

I'm not a huge fan of performing Dean, in the sense that I think over the years I have seen it wildly overstated far too many times. But I do think Dean sometimes plays a character for Sam especially. Dean tells us this himself in 2.03 "Bloodlust" when confiding in Gordon. He never says so directly when it comes to the sexy sex guy doing sex persona, but his actions reveal him. One can think of plenty of examples of Dean saying horny stuff about women to Sam... but what about his actions?

How Dean actually treats women

Finally, there's how Dean actually treats women... and one would be very hard pressed to prove to me that Dean is sexist toward the women in his life. He's been close friends with multiple women and worked with women on hunts on multiple occasions and never once batted an eye. Jo in 2.06 is sometimes floated as an example, but it's actually discussed within the episode. Dean makes it very clear that he thinks women can do the job just fine. What he has a problem with is Jo's lack of experience and her romanticization of the job (especially during a period where Dean has fallen deeply out of love with the job himself). Everything we see as the series progresses supports Dean's assertion as truth. He's very good friends with Charlie, Jody, and Donna and doesn't go around excluding them on hunts while favoring men. That is not a thing that happens. While he initially tries to talk Claire out of the life (as he does everybody—this is not unique to women—see Adam for example) when she decides to hunt, he supports her regardless. There is nothing uniquely overprotective about how Dean treats women who hunt. End of. Dean has no illusions about traditional gender roles or any of that nonsense, jumping to clean dishes after dinner at Jody's and cooking breakfast for Lisa and Ben. (Our knowledge of Dean and the chores he does for his family already tell us this—but regardless). Even Demon Dean, an entity with no love for anyone and close to zero principles, targeted men who abuse and threaten women, and when Crowley ordered him to kill Lester's wife to fulfill the terms of Lester's demon deal, Demon Dean instead became so deeply annoyed with Lester's hypocrisy (he cheated on his wife first) and his assertion that it's different when men cheat, that he killed him and smiled while doing it.

So anyway, nope—I don't think Dean is a "heavy" misogynist.

[wisp-writes-x-reader]

Hi! Can I request a Sonic x reader (romantic) that can outrun him? Which mean they way WAYYY faster than him (basically sonic needs to run at his full max speed to be able to match Redaer's normal running speed.)

Reader is Sonic's first friend and stick with him on his journey since. They have some problems communicating and would much prefer someone else doing that for them.

That's all <33333

ofc, thank you for the request!

Sonic x EvenFaster!Reader ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

aka the ‘blue blur’ and the ‘didn’t even see them they’re that fast’

when you first met, Sonic is so shocked

his entire identity as fastest thing alive is just gone, but he’s okay taking second place if that means he gets to be friends with you :)

that doesn’t mean Sonic’s not competitive though, he’s always ready to race you and push himself to try and finally beat you (it never works, but he has fun trying)

when sonic and you meet tails, you both treat him like a younger brother, and are absolutely ready to fight any of his bullies >:(

also tails is definitely testing the both of you on his running wheel to see how fast you two can run

Sonic notices your problems with communicating after you always depend on him to carry conversations with other people, so he asks tails if he can develop some tech to help (like communication cards, an ACC device etc)

when you find out, you’re flattered, and if the tech will help, you use it gladly. If tech won’t help, you’ll try and explain to Sonic that it’s something that can’t be helped with things like that

Because he’s never really had communication issues, he doesn’t understand why, but promises to carry on helping you out in conversations like he always has

I like to think that during the metal virus arc, when sonic was infected and had to run it off every so often, you’d run ahead in front of him to keep him motivated and give him some much needed company

Sonic’s never been great at being in a relationship because he doesn’t want to settle down, he’s too fast and no one can keep up with him, but that’s not an issue for you, so he finally starts to let some walls down

He definitely does something really corny like 'if you beat me in this race you get to kiss me ;)'

Sorry this took so long!! I ended up getting sick and had a shit week tbh 😭

[snailsnaps]

Did you know? The animatronics of FNAF: Security Breach run on Windows!

I've recently been analyzing the intro of FNAF SB (mainly for a piece im working on - but also because im a computer scientist nerd), just trying to gather about what Freddy's POV looks like, why he glitches, and generally sort of understand how the animatronics might work!

This is a frame from the intro, specifically the moment when Freddy starts to glitch out - a lot is happening right here - a lot of interesting stuff might I add, especially those messages by the left (which i am not going to get too into detail in this post, because thats a WHOOLE another can of worms) - but where I want you to focus is by the little messages around the top right corner of the screen.

You might inmediately recognize the word system32 there - the common name for one of the main system folders for Windows operating systems!

Since we see the ">" symbol after system32, we can assume this is text box is a command box of sorts, and the first command that we see getting executed is being run from the system32 folder.

So, yes. Freddy, the other Glamrocks, and likely the DCA, Staff bots and DJ Music Man all very likely run on a Windows-based operating system.

What does this mean though? A lot!! This could help us understand how they work - how the virus infected and affected them, even what they're probably capable of doing - and also what they aren't capable of as well (without taking into consideration the oo spooky remnant evil spirit virus thingy and all).

Neat!! =)

I might go into another of these long rambles about how the animatronics work, im still trying to study the individual command lines that we can see in the intro. The fnaf reddit has also been a lot of help!

[thediaryofaurora]

It’s ok if you can’t but I would love for the next headcanons for creepypasta character could you do X-Virus.

General HCs

X-Virus/Cody Anderson

Sorry this one is sooooo long. I have so much to say about this nerd.

- Seventeen! Barely older than Toby.

- Roughly 6’0, maybe a little over. He isn’t very toned, since he really just sits in the lab all day.

- White with mostly Welsh heritage.

- He was in foster case from about seven to thirteen. His mom was neglectful and a drug addict so child services inevitably took him away. He was adopted by a pathologist who created and spread chronic diseases that only he knew how to treat, which he profited from since he was the only person who knew how to cure them.

- His foster father had used Cody as an assistant and made sure he knew his way around the lab. They would often test the diseases on animals first and see if the cure worked just enough so that people would continuously come back for medication rather than completely healing. At around fifteen Cody was trusted to be in the lab alone, so he would take the time to test more fatal things on the test subjects. A few years later when he was about seventeen, he was a little too desensitized to fatal infections and death. He thought seeing how animals reacted to his creations weren’t enough to prove the data he wanted.

- With that, he went into one of his lonesome neighbor’s homes in the dead of night and tested one of his viruses on him. He had planned to return home and brush it off, but Slender thought he was too valuable to let him go.

- This dude is a GENIUS, and a massive nerd. Most of the residents overlook it since he’s just a dumb teenager who works in the infirmary, but he’s extremely intelligent. He spends all of his days studying and analyzing data, so it’s kind of a given.

- Mainly gets along with Toby, EJ, and surprisingly Helen.

- Since him and Toby are extremely close in age, they naturally hovered to each other when they first met. They aren’t necessarily similar, but they do have a brotherly connection.

- Him and EJ work together in the infirmary/ lab, so they have to communicate and at least slightly get along. Jack almost sees him as an annoying little sibling, but it’s a nice presence. Cody really looks up to him and that means a lot.

- Helen stops by on occasion to talk to Jack and over time he started talking to Cody. They’re strangely compatible given their age difference and personalities, but Helen’s a listener and Cody can’t help but ramble. Helen does botany in his free time, so he’ll bring by plants for him to study or incorporate into his excitements. Cody always makes sure to track Helen down and give him all the results and notes he took of whatever plant he had brought.

- Germaphobe. His hands are DRY from over washing and using so much hand sanitizer.

- He has a bunch of rodents and other test animals for his experiments. He’s made sure to tell Nina if she ever doesn’t want her guinea pigs anymore he’d be glad to take them.

- Strangely smells like a dentist’s office. With all the chemicals, hand sanitizer, and air fresheners in the lab he’s bound to.

- Allergic to dogs, and cats, and everything ever.

- He’s a pretty big recluse. A perfect day in his eyes is sitting alone in the lab and testing a bunch of random shit, which sounds pretty boring to anyone he tells that to.

- Cyber punk enthusiast to the absolute core. You can’t look at him and think otherwise.

- He rarely goes on missions. Usually he’s stationed in the lab to either cover for EJ or do whatever the hell he wants. In the occasion that he does get sent out, him and Jack make a great pair. Since EJ can sense pretty much anything and everything, all Cody needs is the go ahead to take the kill.

- Straight, but he doesn’t really think about intimate relationships very often. If he’s watching a movie with romance in it he might think on it for a little, but he prioritizes his work over anything. If he had to date someone in the mansion, it would probably be Nina. She’s as hyper as him and doesn’t know anything about science, so she gladly listens to whatever he’s working on. However, in realistic terms he wouldn’t date her.

- He likes musicals, I specifically mention this because Repo! The Genetic Opera reminds me of him and he would absolutely love that movie.

- Listens to a surprising amount of goth music. He thinks it’s the only music that makes him feel more productive, so he puts in his wired headphones and works while listening to it. Massive Siouxsie and the Banshees fan.

- His room is PRISTINE. Absolutely no decorations, just scattered files and white bedding. Since he’s such a germaphobe he tries to keep his room as clean as possible, even if he’s not in it very much. He thrives on energy drinks and the most sleep he gets is a nap, usually in the lab with his head down on his desk.

- HORRIBLE handwriting, definitely adds up with him being somewhat of a doctor. Pretty much only him and Helen can (almost) decipher it.

- He gets soooo giddy when referred to as Dr. Anderson. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does he’s ecstatic, especially because that’s what his foster father went by.

- Wears a lab coat and goggles on the regular. It’s not always necessary, but he feels so accomplished when he does. Occasionally wears scrubs.

- He’s been one of my favorites for like five years.

Thank you for reading! Feedback and requests are welcome.

✧✬✧✬✧✬✧✬✧✬✧✬✧

[possessionisamyth]

Not to kick a dead horse, but there is a way to make Pier's death genuinely very loaded and tragic that fandom consensus just seems to continue to miss! I've never seen a take about Piers's death being about PIERS, but all about "ooohh chris lost a good one" and how the two are not able to fuck anymore. But I am going to free you from these shackles while I zero in on Chris' comment of

"I wanted him to replace me."

Surely Piers was being trained to take Chris' job ideally after a decent retirement party, but neither of them get that luxury because Edonia happens, and Chris is gone. The beloved captain has vanished, and the person who's supposed to take his job is right there, so they give it to him. It's Piers responsibility to not only be a face of what the BSAA represents, but also the heavy shackles of expectations are slapped onto him.

Everyone wants Chris, which means Piers can't be himself nor figure out how to run the same jobs his way. No, it has to be Chris' way. There's no time for anyone to adjust and shift gears either with the C-Virus outbreaks, the terrorist attacks from Ada*(Carla), and the search party he shambled together to locate the missing Redfield. So he tries his damnedest to fill Chris' shoes and suddenly realizes just how out of his depth he is. There were so many reasons people called Chris for certain tasks, even tasks Piers hadn't known about and definitely hadn't been trained on, that Piers never saw. There's no mentor to dial. No reference other than fellow soldiers saying things like, "We don't know how, he just got it done," which is the least helpful thing in the world. Hell, there's barely any notes to go through when he searches Chris' office for a semblance of a hint as to how he should do this job.

Maybe it turns out Chris was doing his best to gently ease that heavy mantle into Piers' hands. It's why his scheduled retirement seemed so far away at the time. Perhaps, after one comment too many where he'd been accidentally addressed by the name of his captain for the 50th time, Piers breaks. He can't do this. He's not ready for this. He needs the one person who did all this back by any means necessary, so he drops all the work and joins the search party. He verbally harasses an amnesiac Chris into coming back because maybe it isn't that bad. Maybe Chris just needs a reminder of what he's been doing everyday for literal years and things would be back to normal again.

But it's not. It's messier. It's uglier. This isn't the Chris he worked so hard to fight alongside. There are glimpses of him in there, but most of the time in China, Piers feels like he's working with a stranger. People die, and Chris keeps pushing forward no matter how much he's shouted at, and Piers feels like this is all his fault. The deaths are his fault because he couldn't buckle down and do what Chris originally wanted him to do. Take Chris' place. Replace him. Be better than him.

So when they go to that underwater facility, and their backs are against the wall, there's the looming sense of failure and a terrifying amount of pressure. If they get out of this alive, who knows when Chris would be back in shape to work again if that ever happens. Piers would have to be responsible. He was already responsible for the squad he gathered to take up this job, and they were skewed into pieces around downtown Lanshiang. Take Chris' place. Replace him. Be better than him, and Piers failed on all accounts. He couldn't get Chris back the way he was supposed to be. His squad was dead. The responsibility he'd have to take up if they made it out alive would be nigh unbearable, and then he gets infected.

He gets infected and suddenly the decision is so easy. To let go. To hope for the best. To be the one left behind when he was supposed to be the one moving towards the future. Another glimpse of the Chris that Piers knew is seen, a more confident glimpse wherein Chris does everything he can to try and save him. And Piers smiles when Chris fails. When he saves Chris. When he seems to finally do one thing right after things never seemed to stop falling apart.

It's the last thing Chris sees. That smile and the ever encroaching weight of immeasurable responsibility that'll grasp him tight as soon as he breaks the surface. The weight Piers couldn't take from him, and maybe never wanted in the first place.

[astupidweeb69]

You know x-virus don’t get enough love…. Do you have any head cannons regular or nsfw (maybe both)??

I've been thinking about this guy a lot lately for some reason. Also I've never written for Cody before so hopefully this came out okay.

I was going to work on Toby's but.... I have more inspiration for Cody at the moment. He absolutely doesn't get enough love!

X-Virus Headcannons

SFW

Isn't related to Toby at all. In fact doesn't really look like him either. Sure, he's got the brown hair, but he looks waaay more dorky than Toby does. While Toby has kind of a boy-next-door-from-hell look to him, Cody is more slender and works out less. He looks like your typical STEM student (sickly complexion, poor nutrition, etc.). His whole schtick requires him to stay indoors most of the time, in a make-shift lab.

Has a refrigerated van, which he paid to be converted to safely transport whatever science experiments he's got going on in a temperature-controlled environment.

He tries to stay in one place. He's less of a drifter than most of the other creeps but sometimes... the things he does requires him to uproot his life and start over in another town. (No Cody you can't just infect your landlord with a mutated form of tuberculosis when they raise your rent! There will be consequences!)

Has kind of a nasally voice. I feel like he always has a bit of a cold too.

Ironically has a shitty immune system, and probably drinks those Airborne Immune Support drink mixes like it's his job. Also a germaphobe, wearing medical gloves all the time, and his hands are dry and cracked from overusing sanitizer.

LOVES Re-animator. He's rewatched that movie more times than he can count. But he has a love for science fiction movies in general, with horror elements to them. Like Alien.

Also loves zombie apocalypse movies, but that's an obvious one. Specifically 28 Days Later and World War Z.

Sometimes he's like... should I try to make a zombie virus? nah.... unless...?

I also think he was raised by a single father, who worked for a large pharmaceutical company.

Antisocial. I know Toby and him are compared a lot and people give them similar 'hyperactive' personalities, but I don't see that for Cody at all.

Cody's more focused, and is less inclined to interact with others. He doesn't really get lonely?

I'd say he'd get along okay with someone like EJ (both like science, ya know?).

Toby and him hang out a bit - they'll stay in and watch movies together. Or Cody will tag along with him to a bar and watch as Toby fails to pick up anybody. Cody wouldn't say it to his face, but it makes him feel better about his own social skills to see Toby strike out like that.

NSFW (Under the cut!)

I don't know how he'd find himself in this situation - but if he DID have a partner.... the sex would be kind of bland at first?

He doesn't know what he wants and frankly is too much of a germaphobe to get up close and personal with someone he doesn't know well.

You'd have to spend months getting to know him for him to feel comfortable to engage in anything sexual.

I think at the start of the relationship, he'd want to experiment with voyeurism.

He'd be across the room watching you touch yourself, giving you directions while he slowly strokes his cock, loving the feeling of ordering you around.

But as things escalate, of course, he'd give in to his urges. However, the voyeurism would become how he likes to foreplay.

Out of all the creeps (most of whom I view as being dominant) he's actually pretty tame.

He whimpers a lot, and it sounds almost pathetic when he moans. He's been holding out for so long for the right person, and when he finally gets to fuck he's absolutely drunk off of you.

That said, his sex drive is about average.

One of his roleplay fantasies is him being the experienced scientist, and you being his lovely little assistant.

Probably started after the first time you helped him in his lab.

He just kept thinking of you in a tiny little lab coat, bent over his desk - papers and test tubes falling to the ground while his hips piston into you.

[pomefioredove]

mea culpa

I'm stressed and overstimulated and can't focus on matchups tonight. need roro to decompress

summary: "it's not my fault" type of post: short fic characters: rollo additional info: romantic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu, angsty as hell (pun intended), some suggestive visuals

Rollo is an eloquent man. He understands the art of words, how to weave them together in all the right ways to create a shimmering tapestry of illusions- it's lying without dishonesty, and it's his specialty.

He knows many words, in many languages, in many forms, on paper and on tongue. He knows their definitions, their synonyms and antonyms, and their origins. He knows how to hide behind them as if they were a suit of armor, shielding him from the depravity of the common folk's unwashed tongues.

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of words in which to express this feeling now, both saccharine and bloody, addictive and revolting, and yet, despite all of his knowledge, Rollo can only think of one.

Bad.

Very, very bad.

Those three simple letters, one syllable which so easily rolls off the tongue, have festered in his mind and spread throughout his body like an infection, making him feverish and mad with obsession over this disease of the soul.

This... is not him. This is not who he is.

This virus is not a natural part of his body. It does not belong there. And yet, it is dragging him by the back of his neck, forcing him to kick and scream and claw against the dirt in a vain attempt to escape its gnarled grasp.

It's a sickening reminder that his heart is still beating warm blood throughout his body. How he detests being reminded of his corporeal existence. As if he is more of a body than a person.

Rollo already had enough trouble sleeping.

What one might liken to butterflies or fireworks, he would to needles and flames. It's an uncomfortable, itchy feeling, one that makes him wish he could simply pull his aching heart out of his chest and run it under cold water until the burning washes away.

This isn't him.

He's not one to be distracted by restless thoughts, or the uncomfortable feeling of having hands. He hardly thinks of himself at all.

This is not his fault.

It's as if he is being interrogated and tortured for a crime he did not commit. Certainly, this is some sort of cruel and unusual punishment? A test of wills?

Or is it truly just a sickening, aching obsession which consumes his mind until all that is left is an empty room, in the center, your image draped in red?

A fire which swallows all it can reach, crawling up every inch of his body, touching him in places he had long forgotten about. A furnace burning within the center of his chest.

He cannot help but stick his hands directly into the flames.

Every time it's windy, he thinks of you.

[leonstoenailunderhisbed]

Congregation Of The Mind

Summary: You were Leon’s partner in Spain, belong to rescue the president’s daughter. But it all goes wrong when Leon and Ashley get infected and you had to confront Lord Saddler while also save Leon and Ashley.

Warning: fight scenes. supposed to be unsettling and more accurate (I think I got cooked ngl). There is no romance or smut, this is simply for the October people who like a little bit of uneasiness.

A/N: to my professor that makes everything about religion and gets mad at me for countering his arguments THIS ONE’S FOR U HOE🖕 (yes I’m petty and what about it)

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” —Animal Farm, George Orwell

Pure. Pure. Pure.

The mind is a pure soul that gets tainted by those who refuse. Lord Saddler, in his mind, blesses the impure and turns them pure with his sacred gift. Las Plagas.

Millions of lives were lost to his cause, declaring that he is the one true God that will bring peace to the tainted world and will cleanse the evil out.

When Leon got sent to retrieve Ashley back from Spain, he definitely didn’t expect to meet such obscure and horrific situation. Zombified people, immortal aristocrats, and a bald guy who thinks he’s god. If you were to tell him before he went to Spain about what he’ll encounter, Leon would’ve scoffed and say that you were being dramatic.

But no. It wasn’t dramatic. It was the truth.

You stood behind Leon as he held his hand in front of him, trying to disarm Ashley. Both Ashley and Leon got infected with Las Plagas and Lord Saddler had wanted Ashley to kill Leon and submit to the virus.

You stood behind Leon, the room dimly lit as Leon’s arm was covered in dark veins, an indication that Leon had also received the same “gift.” Ashley stood in front of him, gun in hand and readily aimed at Leon but before she could follow through Saddler’s commands, you jump right in by taking Leon’s shoulder and pulling him back until you were in front.

“Damn you, Lord Saddler,” you said through gritted teeth. You’ve about had enough of this, you’re tired and you’re over Saddler’s shit, “Enough with your shit already!”

But Lord Saddler does not budge. The ends of his chapped lips curl up into a frightful smirk, revealing his yellow and decaying teeth, “My friend, I cannot give you my sacrificial lamb. The girl is vital for our faith.”

“Faith? You call all of this fate?!” You retaliated, anger cursing through your veins as Ashley grunts in attempts to resist Lord Saddler’s commands, same with Leon holding back behind you.

“Yes,” Lord Saddler continued, pacing left and right along with his staff and cloak as he spoke, “We believe in a better world and with this gift, we can achieve anything so long as we get our Holy Body.”

You scoff, “Holy Body? She’s just a girl! You’re robbing her of her own life, how does that relate to faith?”

“You may not understand now but you will soon once we give you the gift as well like your friend Mr. Kennedy,” Lord Saddler said as he pointed at Leon, eyes sunken with darkness as he glared at Saddler. Leon tries hard to resist and remains still, not wanting to succumb to his subordination.

“I’m… sorry,” Ashley whispered as best as she could before she pulled the trigger but terribly missed, or luckily. Once the sound of the bullet rang, you took that as your cue to intervene.

You quickly take Ashley’s arm and pull her towards you before throwing her behind you towards Leon, who manages to break from Lord Saddler’s control and catches her. With Ashley now safe, you take out your own gun and start shooting at Saddler while two summoners stood beside him.

The summoners began to make their way towards you, summoning Plagas and commanding them with psychotic influence but you were quick. You shot them in the head, their bodies falling limp on the floor as their lamps go out and the plagas die on the floor. Saddler stood there, seemingly unimpressed since he believed he still had control over Ashley and Leon behind you.

Which is exactly what he did. With his psychic abilities, Saddler commanded both Leon and Ashley to attack you.

“Let’s see how well of a person you are,” Saddler taunted as Ashley, against her will, stood straight in front of you with her hands fisted and ready to fight. Leon, however, had taken out his combat knife from his sheath. They stood in front of you, ready to attack while their faces were hard—they didn’t want to attack you.

“Make it stop!” Ashley yelled in agony as she attempted to swing at you but you dodged to the side, putting a hand behind her back to push her away while Leon tried to lunge at you with the knife to which you kicked his knee and watched him fall to the ground on one knee.

“Give in children!” Lord Saddler exclaimed, “Become one with the divine providence bestowed to us! I shall be your new God!”

You grunted as you were about to lunge towards Lord Saddler, only for him to use his psychic influence to make both Leon and Ashley hold you down by the arms, “You really think you’re a god, don’t you? You’re not a savior, you’re a monster!”

Lord Saddler stares down at you as he commanded Leon and Ashley to force you to kneel before him, “Monster? No, Y/L/N, I’m a force of nature. This gift—this power—it's meant to change everything.”

“Change? You mean turning people into mindless zombies? That’s not change, that’s destruction!” You yelled back, frustrated at the deluded man.

“It’s evolution! I’m giving them a chance to transcend their weaknesses. They’ll be stronger, united.”

“United? They lose their free will! You’re not uniting anyone, you’re enslaving them! How is that moral?” You narrowed your eyes at him, watching as he slowly walked towards you, “Morality is subjective! I see the bigger picture. Humanity is flawed, and I’m offering a solution.”

“A solution that comes with death and suffering! You’re preying on their fears, not saving them,” your words cut deep but they fell on deaf ears.

“You don’t understand the power of this gift,” Lord Saddler said as he stood in front of your kneeling form, “It’s not just about control, it’s about liberation from the mundane!”

“Liberation? You’re just using your power to play god! You’re hurting people. That’s evil.”

“Evil is a construct. They’ll thank me one day when they see the world as it truly is.”

“Thank you?!” You scoffed humorlessly, “They won’t be able to think or feel! You’re taking away their humanity!”

Lord Saddler scowled down at you, his eyes narrowing and his grip on his staff tightening, “And what has their humanity brought them? War, suffering, chaos. I’m offering a way out!”

“By making them into monsters? You’re deluded if you think this is for their good,” you tugged at your arms, attempting to break free from Ashley’s and Leon’s grasp, but to no avail. Saddler was making them hold you tight. A small smirk reached Lord Saddler’s lips, “Deluded?” He repeated.

“I’m the only one with the vision to see beyond the present. I can create a new world!” He leaned down towards you, grasping your jaw in his hands. You tried to move your head away but his grip was tight, “A world built on fear and loss. You’re not a creator, you’re a destroyer.”

He chuckled amusedly, “You’re scared, Y/L/N. You can’t see the potential. Join me, and together we could change everything!”

“You cling to outdated notions of morality while I forge a new path,” he continued, “Fight all you want, but in the end, I will prevail. This is evolution, and it’s already begun.”

“Not if I can’t help it,” you muttered before you harshly pushed Leon and Ashley behind you, both of them grunting in pain as they stutmbled backwards and you swung at Lord Saddler but he was quick. He quickly disappeared, his superhuman speed allowed him to move backwards and away from your target range. He was too quick.

“Come now, Ashley and Leon,” he said to them. The two of them tried to not walk towards Saddler, resisting against Lord Saddler’s command. This only made him angry, “Follow me you feeble humans!”

This was your chance while Lord Saddler was distracted, you took the gun that was dropped on the floor and shot Lord Saddler but he escaped before he could get hurt. As he escaped, his influence on Leon and Ashley disappeared and the two collapsed on the floor. You quickly went to check over them, making sure they were still breathing. Las Plaga was spreading fast and you needed to take them to the Laboratory Luis had mentioned earlier.

“Hang in there,” you muttered as you put Leon’s arms over your shoulders and an arm around Ashley’s waist. It would be hard work but you were determined to help the two of them throughout the castle. It couldn’t be that far, right?

-

Both Leon and Ashley got treated in the underground laboratory. Now, as Ashley stood on the sidelines by a cliff, it was time to face Lord Saddler’s horrific form. You and Leon were initially fighting but he only seemed to eat the bullet that penetrated his skin. It wasn’t until Ada showed up and helped.

Lord Saddler’s disgusting and slimy body attempted to swipe at you and Leon, barely dodging by a hair’s breadth. This was a tough fight but when Ada threw Leon a grenade launcher, it was checkmate. As Lord Saddler began to die, you ran towards Ashley to check on her while Ada took the sample.

A lot happened but now you were happy to go home, even if meant doubting yourself on your beliefs thanks to Saddler’s words.

After Ashley had been returned and you and Leon went back to headquarters to write a report, you couldn’t help but be a bit distracted.

Was Saddler doing the right thing by wanting to forge a new path without war? How nice it would be to live in a peaceful society—no, don’t think like that. Lord Saddler killed millions of innocent people and turned them against you and Leon during your mission.

“Hey,” a voice suddenly rang out and a hand shook your shoulder. It was Leon, “You okay?” He asked quietly, sitting in front of you on the other couch since you two were in the break room.

You nodded, rubbing your face with your hand as you sighed, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“Hm,” Leon hummed quietly as he observed you in silence. The mission had taken a toll on the two of you, it was surprising how you weren’t losing your head already, “That guy—Lord Saddler—he’s… I’ve never seen anything like him,” Leon muttered.

“You and me both. I’ve seen a lot of crazy shit in my life but never have I thought that we’d fight against a god wannabe. Should’ve known we’d find lunatics in the middle of nowhere in Spain,” you replied and looked back at him. The ends of his lips slightly curled into a small smirk, very faintly, “A little heads up would’ve been nice, yeah.”

Silence overtook you both once again but it wasn’t uncomfortable. So much happened in the mission and yet you two understood each other very well, “Wanna grab drinks later?” He asked bluntly.

You stared at him for a couple of seconds in silence before you shrugged your shoulders and nodded, “Fuck it, why not,” you muttered, mimicking a faint smirk on your lips like his.

Later that evening, as you and Leon went to grab drinks at a bar to forget about the mission, the thought still lingered in the back of your mind.

Lord Saddler had wanted to create a peaceful empire with Las Plaga, but what difference does he have by using destructive means when countries do the same thing under the pretext of saving humanity? Is the pretext of religion simply a way to pursue all means necessary to establish peace and combat threats like how you and Leon did?

Upon reaching the end of the night, bidding other bar customers that you knew, Lord Saddler’s face keeps haunting you. Taunting you with your thoughts as you could almost hear his voice, "When you acquired this power, you too will understand."

You swore you heard his voice but as you turned around before you could leave, he wasn’t there. It was just normal people drinking the night away. Goosebumps crawled up your arms and a shiver ran down your spine, but you brushed it off and walked out with Leon.

The presence of Lord Saddler only seemingly taken a following to you, feeling the touch of his sharp nails drag along your skin, feeling the coldness of his fingers as his voice continued whispering in your ear—forcing you to doubt yourself and spiral into a mania of paranoia.

Unbeknownst to you, his remnants lives in your brain. The voice commanding you to spiral into a haze of delusional and self-doubt.

You had become the sacrifice lamp.

[scam-alerts]

🔎Scam Exam(ination)🔍

Seen as: Click here! / Read more... Scam type(s): Phishing / Malicious website

Good day everyone, today I'd like to talk about a scam that is some what pretty obvious to spot on tumblr. Unless you're someone who straight up lets curiosity get the best of them and you go clicking links on sketchy looking blogs without thinking. (Don't do that.) You'll probably be able to avoid it.

Now, for safety reasons I'm not going to be linking the blog in question that is running this scam because I'm not going to 'tempt fate' for the sake of documentation. But I will be showing you through the help of a couple useful websites, what's going on behind the scenes.

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The first thing I noticed (other than the blog only being a few days old) when I saw this persons posts was, well, what I consider to be one of the most biggest and immediate red flags that was on every single post of theirs.

If you know anything at all about internet history and internet safety, one of the most common and well known ways that malicious actors try to get you to go to their scam/phishing website is with the temptation of a big reward if you do x to y.

'You've won a free $100 gift card! Click here to claim!'

'Hot local singles in your area! Click here now to find them!'

Memes aside, it should go without saying that you should not, under any circumstances, click links that look like this that you receive via email, text, or that you see in advertisements. Not only could these links lead you to a phishing page (wiki) that mimics tumblr or another social media platform in an attempt to get you to log in. Doing so would result in your account being compromised and your login information being stolen.

Tempting links like these could also lead to a web page like the one that this one in particular I'm about to show you, too.

With the help of Cloudflare via their url scanner tool I was able to examine this website, see where it redirects people to, view the HTML (for you nerdy folks) and in turn see the landing page it takes you to when you click it. Without clicking it myself.

Want to know what this takes you to?

A page leading to a fake popup with a link to install a virus.

Now, let me be 100% clear: These viruses are bad.

From what I know of them, not only do they hijack and steal all of your login information on the device you installed it on, 9/10 it will also install a keylogger onto your system. What this does is: even if you uninstall the virus and your system seems clean, these bad actors will still be able to monitor your device and steal your information unless you factory reset your device or PC.

Here's information on keyloggers. (malwarebytes)

If these bad actors really, really wanted to ruin someones day, by installing these 'free apps' it could also put what is known as Ransomware on your device. A trojan that locks down your device, encrypts your files, and demands you pay a ransom for it to be unlocked. All of which is under a timer or it will completely brick your system.

Here's a video by IBM that explains how ransomware works.

Another very, VERY useful website I'd like to share that I became familiar with through some channels on youtube that talk about scams is VirusTotal. https://www.virustotal.com (despite its name, it's not a virus!)

This website has two key features I think are awesome: 1- You can scan a url for viruses/malicious activity to see if it's been flagged by one of the many antivirus vendors on the market. and 2- You can upload files you downloaded to see if they are infected by trojans or malware before you even open them.

CloudFlare and VirusTotal are 100% free to use websites with no sign up or cost. (No this isn't an ad and no I am not sponsored. These are just resources and I am giving them to you lol)

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Final thoughts: I know curiosity may get the best of us at times, but don't let that become your downfall. If you see blogs that are only a few days old exhibiting this behavior, please make sure you report them on your own time and don't encourage mass reporting by making posts about them.

Remember: Stop and think before you click that link. :)

Other helpful guides on spotting scams. (by @kyra45)

[actual-changeling]

I think in like. 90% of "they're handcuffed to each other" scenarios, they would not care. It would barely affect their work at all. They'd keep them on even once they have the key because this is the perfect 'for the love of God, do NOT get kidnapped again' insurance.

However.

There are those delicious 10% right in the middle of the Diana mess that would make for the most painful, angsty, hurt/comfort fic you can imagine. Arcadia, but turned up to 11.

This was not supposed to be anything resembling said fic and instead stay a shitpost—but here we are.

———

They're fighting over who gets to be in charge of movement immediately, and they do not stop . They keep tripping because they decide to suddenly walk in two different directions, and their wrists are chafed and bloody.

They keep going like that for a while until their lack of coordination and teamwork almost gets them killed, and then they're stuck hiding in a small, dark space, forced to TALK.

Imagine a janitor's closet or a small, windowless bathroom.

First, there's silence.

Then, one of them dares to say a word, and suddenly they're at each other's throats, going straight for the jugular.

Petty fighting turns into insults, which turn into months of pent-up emotions spilling out without any control over how, and they both say things they'll definitely regret later on.

Until it finally reaches a breaking point when Mulder—annoyed, frustrated, confused—cuts her off and says, "You're making it personal again, Scully."

Her mouth closes with an audible click, and she freezes before shuffling as far away from him as she possibly can. He realises he has fucked up. A lot.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Oh, you meant it, Mulder; don't backpedal. You meant it now, and you meant it back then too."

"Scully—"

"Shut up."

She's exhausted. So fucking tired. You made me a whole person to get her to stay, and she'd believed him. Damn it all, she had believed him. Just for him to turn it into a lie and destroy her trust within seconds.

"What does it take? For this thing to come up and bite you on the ass? I saw these creatures. I saw them burst to life. You would've seen them, too, but you were infected with that virus. You were passed out over my shoulder."   "Mulder, I know what you did. I know what happened to me, but without ignoring the science, I can't… Listen, Mulder. You told me that my science kept you honest. That it made you question your assumptions. That by it, I'd made you a whole person. If I change now… it wouldn't be right or honest."   "I'm talking about extraterrestrial life alive on this planet in our lifetime. Forces that dwarf and precede all human history. I'm sorry, Scully, but this time your science is wrong."

He had walked away from her without a second of hesitation, and she wishes she could walk away from him now.

Six years of loyalty and trust, and for what? To end up as the second-best, easily forgotten choice? To be wanted not for herself but as a placeholder, a substitute for someone else?

Forgiveness, over and over, without hesitation, and Mulder took it for granted. Of course, she will do what he wants. Even when he goes behind her back. Even when he tricks her into it. Even when he leaves her behind with barely a word. Even when she has no reason to do it except because it's him.

Because it's personal.

It has always been personal, but suddenly it's a fallacy she spun out of nothing and not the foundation of their partnership.

"I shouldn't have said that, Scully, i—"

I'm asking you to trust my judgment. To trust me.

"Mulder, shut. up."

He hadn't trusted her. She still trusts him and hates herself for it. What's the point of trusting someone when the reward is rejection and loneliness? When he stopped trusting her God knows how long ago?

The skin on her right wrist burns with abrasions, but she refuses to budge. Pain is sharp and honest, grounding and constant. She trusts pain more than she trusts him.

Time is hard to tell in the dark, it could be minutes or hours of waiting until she can feel his fingertips brush against her palm; she suppresses the urge to flinch. Mulder's touch is warm and light, not meant to ask but to offer, and her body betrays her mind and allows him to interlace their fingers.

God, she misses him. 

Underneath all that bubbling anger and lingering betrayal, she misses her partner. She misses him and the person she knows she can be with him—lighthearted, happy, alive. Contented hours of searching through files and writing reports have become a necessary sacrifice; suffocating spans of time she counts down by the minute.

It was never about the desk. It is not about Diana, not really. 

Maybe the darkness makes them both a bit braver, a bit softer around the edges, because she lets out a deep sigh and wills the tension to leave her muscles. If they keep going the way they have in recent weeks, they will break apart sooner rather than later, and she doesn't want to lose him, she never has. 

All she wants is to get her best friend back and to keep him for however long the world will allow. Not a clean slate or a new beginning, but a second chance for both of them. 

Caught between either extending an olive branch or ending up alone, it is easy to choose. Because it's personal, always has been, and always will be.

The pressure around her wrist disappears when she stops trying to keep her arm from him, and he hesitantly squeezes her hand—she slowly squeezes back.

"I'm sorry. for all of it. I never meant to hurt you, but I did, and I'm so, so sorry."

Scully pushes herself backward so she is leaning against him again, and when she closes her eyes, she can almost pretend they're somewhere, anywhere else, and she's finally coming home.

"I know, Mulder. I know."

[artificialchaoscola]

I'm sleep-deprived and yapping about zombot arc! Shadow

Wouldn't it have been really cool if, like, Shadow turning was ultimately Sonic's fault in some way? Or in a way that he would blame himself for it in the future when Eggman is rubbing in his face how his inaction at taking the Doctor out is what led to this in the first place?

Like, I really like this. How Shadow immediately sees the gravity of the situation and doesn't appreciate Sonic's jokes, how he tells him its HIS fault for what occurred, and how Sonic after can't retort anything he says because he's not incorrect. It's harsh, and I think it's fitting for it to be so. Sonic is whimsy and a jokester, always trying to keep the situation light, but that's not what the situation needs.

I think everyone generally agrees that the way Shadow went out in this arc stinks. It was reckless and ooc, as well as just generally boring for a zombie story. He literally grabs the zombot of his own accord for no reason and gets infected, and then refuses to run. Like... what are we doing LMFAO

Instead, what if we make a situation where Shadow has to save someone? I think sacrificing himself to save Rouge AND Sonic as well as the survivors in the truck is the play. Sonic's demonstrated at this point in the story to be winded from all the running he has to do, so make HIM fuck up here. Make him get hit from behind, momentarily stunned and for once not fast enough to stop the zombots from attacking the truck. Make Shadow see this, pause, and then at the last second he chooses to save Sonic and the survivors inside the truck, ordering Sonic to go. We could have Omega also be ripped apart a bit before this to really push Shadow's decision. He could tell them all to run, Sonic reluctantly has to follow, and Shadow's fate should be left a bit ambiguous here. Make the reader think on whether or not he's infected or not, whether or not he can actually survive the infection. Shadow's comms are dead afterwards, we have no clue. Imagine the suspense and the drama + Sonic having to live with the fact that despite that argument Shadow still saved him.

(With this you can also have it be a hope that maybe Shadow IS immune, that they can find him and solve this, but in the meantime they'll have Sonic do the tests.... just for the drama... They hit a lot of zombie tropes in this arc we can't miss THIS one!!)

Then, maybe around when Zavok and his posse start taking control, you finally have a moment where they use zombot Shadow. I think having this happen around Sonic's conversation with Eggman would be HUGE, because Shadow would be the representation of how much he fucked up.

Shadow was the one who wanted to kill Eggman, Shadow was the one who gave them more time despite that, Shadow is forced to be a weapon once more, and Shadow is the representation of what would occur if Sonic turned. Sonic DOES mention in the comic that Shadow is "faster than the average zombot" even without his shoes, which implies what it needs to, but I think it would've been awesome to have this moment happen later in the story, after many bad things occur (like Charmy, Vanilla, the loss of HQ, Tangle, etc.)

Shadow is very useful as a reflection of Sonic in general, and while I don't NEED him to be a main character in this arc, I feel it would've been more impactful to Sonic's story to have him be one of the final threats/moral dilemmas. Sonic is so close to turning as his running is getting less effective at this point. He'd think about how Eggman tried blaming him for helping to spread the virus unknowingly, and then he'd consider how zombot! Shadow has likely been doing just that. All because HE messed up in Sunset City.

I do love this arc regardless because I'm a sucker for zombie stories. I think my only criticism overall is Shadow, which I know a lot of people can relate on. With a little reconstruction though we can make this REALLY good, or at the very least avoid the issue of Shadow going out like a total jobber.

...At least we got that one panel of zombot!Shadow chasing after the truck and it was really funny so bonus points IDW you win I'm wrong frfrfr--