#decay mention

[umbraastaff]

47 years of this

[4bs0lut3-s0lv3r]

Ironic, isn't it?

[navigatorsghost]

[Idle Naruto meta thoughts, under a cut for graphic discussion of decaying bodies.]

Thankfully, my life is not one where I encounter rotting corpses very often, and even more thankfully the only ones I have encountered have been animals and not humans (which by all accounts are far worse). But every time I do, and catch a whiff of that particular smell, I can't help but think: Hidan had such a valid grievance with Kakuzu over the whole Chiriku thing.

In case you've never experienced it, corpse-smell even in small amounts is, for want of a better description, sticky. Almost sweet, intensely organic, cloying - and viscerally discomfiting, because your instincts know exactly what that smell means and want you to get away from it before you get sick. It's similar to but worse than just plain old rotting meat, because you're getting the decay of everything else that was in the body, not just the muscle tissue. And the organic compounds that actually make the smell are so pervasive they can seep out of or into pretty much anywhere, and moreover, so persistent that they're almost impossible to scrub out of anything even slightly absorbent once they've worked their way into it.

So that days-old corpse, which seems to be pretty well embarked on the decay process judging by its unhealthy colour and general battered appearance, and the man who's had its oozing juices soaking into his coat for the last however-many miles of walking in the summer heat, have got to be generating the most unbelievable area-effect of pure olfactory horror. Every scavenger animal and bird for miles around has to be going "whoa, did lunch just walk by?" - not to mention that there should be enough flies tagging along with them to make an Aburame blink. And if Kakuzu pulls this type of stunt regularly, he'll have that smell so ingrained into his clothes, hair and skin that he's going to reek like a walking corpse himself all the time.

(My working theory here is that Kakuzu's sinuses are so full of Earth Grudge Fear that he genuinely hasn't been able to smell a thing in decades, which means he can be this gross with personal if not social impunity. Hidan, meanwhile, who has perfect physical regeneration, only wishes his sense of smell would finally stop working for good and fucking save him from this.)

[dermestia]

It is beeble day.

Inside the small wagon, the squirming bits of grub wiggle and worm their way around. They're excited to be out of the Burrows, and even more excited to be with their adopted caretaker for the day. This isn't all the grubs, but merely the newest hatched- and yet to receive their little blessing.

He knows well enough that he's nowhere near as flashy or interesting as other Fae that might flutter their wings or appendages at the great Hive-Prime, but he hopes that the other might be willing to bestow a gift to the little grublings. The Burrows below help take care of the refuse and decaying matter that comes with the process of living and dying.

They also have the unwanted work of helping breakdown the deceased, making sure their selves are reinterred to the great Hive Below, and to hatch again as new grublings to experience the world once again.

Here and there, the wicker baskets with their dowry of tithe creak softly with their loads. Bits of soft mushrooms with a nutty, earthy taste, tubers carefully cleaned of their dirts, and of course- the soft white strawberries that don't require sun. There's a wealth of things to eat under the soil, and he doesn't know if those Above have tried any yet.

So! He maintains on staying cheerful, singing a song that gets the humming grublets to respond back. The creaking of the wagon's wheels is a nice counterpoint to the melody as they cross through the dappled sunlight on the path.

[new-revenant]

Dani finally gets stable via the help of a reformed Vlad and discovers her obsession is discovery. Once she's old enough, and all the legal papers are settled, Dani goes to college in Star city, she's studying medicine and bio engineering along with paleontology, while bored one day she decided to use the campus lab and a smidge of dino DNA from the local museum, she bumped into a dino skeleton while fighting a rouge ghost, and essentially created a clone baby dinosaur, specifically a triceratops. Over the course of a few weeks Dani makes a few more of different species and catches Green Arrow's attention

Green Arrow!!!! Yes!!! And discovery is a neat idea for an Obsession, even if this prompt does go in a bit of a weird direction. I don’t mean that in a bad way, I just did not expect that at all lamo. Dani accidentally becomes a Dino themed “villain” because you cannot expect her to keep an eye on all of them 24/7. Although it becomes very obvious that she is trying so hard to wrangle all of them whenever they cause the slightest amount of mayhem. Green Arrow is just glad that Dani isn’t trying to sick the dinos on the city on purpose. But she will get banned from messing with any prehistoric DNA.

[loudclan-clangen]

Alright, now I'm curious, what are the rules of StarClan's Oneway Dunktank? Are there cats who can't touch it (mediators for sure but anyone else?) Do healers meet there every half moon? They can sacrifice a life to speak directly to StarClan but what about other times?

(Also you're not gonna believe this, I looked up effects of crude oil exposure and studies indicate it may cause Anemia and low white blood cell count, so maybe she got a bleeding disorder because she can't stay out of the Forbidden Jacuzzi).

VERY LONG, LOTS OF TEXT, SORRY I GOT EXCITED TO LORE DUMP

The rules/powers of the Black Water Pool and Starclan are intentionally very nebulous. 1. Because I think starclan is more effective as a mysterious force than a clearly designated entity, and 2. Because I would like to have some flexibility going forward in the comic regarding the powers/rules of starclan. Here's what's clearly defined:

Any cat can touch the oil, like physically speaking. They will not just drop dead unless something else is going on that is worsened by the experience. But something may be worsened by the oil, especially if they are deeply exposed to it, like swimming in it or ingesting it the way one might if they weren't specifically trained in how to interact with it safely (like a healer or a leader). This leads to rumors of cats being cursed with terrible visions (hallucinations), disease (coughs caused by respitory damage), or wounds (chemical burns from prolonged exposure) because they touch the Black Water without permission. These could be actual curses from starclan, or they could be biological reactions to the oil, but that doesn't really matter because the cats believe that they are curses. (If that makes sense). For this combination of reasons, (religious belief and biological evidence), cats with open wounds, bad coughs, or who are actively pregnant are absolutely not allowed to touch the oil and are encouraged not to be near it. (Excluding dried oil worn by healers, we've covered in an earlier post that that is a stable form that isn't going to pollute others). This is justified by the healers as being times when one does not want to tempt death, and that being near the pool brings one's spirit closer to the dead, which is good for communing with them or asking them for favors, but bad when you are fighting for/actively creating life.

All of the leaders and their leadership teams have meetings staggered throughout the moon. Leaders and deputies meet on a full-moon, healers meet on a half-moon, and mediators meet on a new moon. (Gatherings also happen on full moons, just later in the day/night. The clans meet the leaders at the gathering place.) Healers might meet at the Black Water Pool but they do not always. Specifically, the Freezingclan healers refuse to meet at the Black Water, so if they want all of the clans' healers to meet they have to pick another place, usually the gathering place for simplicity. Since the healers can only commune with Starclan by sacrificing a life, they don't do it on a monthly basis and not meeting at the Black Water isn't inconvenient for them.

The healers (and leaders) can only speak directly to Starclan by sacrificing a life period. One of my biggest issues with the actual books is that speaking to Starclan is so casual that they constantly have to justify the cats not being able to in order to maintain any form of mystery or miscommunication, or risk making beloved characters look like jerks for not telling the living cats something important/make the entirety of Starclan look less powerful by claiming that they just "didn't know". My very simple solution to this is to put a layer of separation between them. In order to talk to the dead you have to die. This means that characters will only do so if they feel it is VERY important and they are certain that Starclan will give them a helpful answer, which they will not always do. (Why doesn't Wildfirecry ask Starclan how to cure Rosehippaw? Because he knows that there is a very high likely hood that the answer is "you can't" and then he'll lose both his daughter and a life that he could have used to help his clan in a more effective way).

Circling back to how normal cats are meant to contact starclan if they aren't allowed to touch the Black Water Pool by themselves, we finally get to talk about Loudclan burials! (This idea has been rattling around in my brain since the bonus art for Moon 18!) Okay, so: When a cat dies, the ground on the mountain is too hard and shallow for them to really be effectively buried. Due to this, the body is placed into a shallow dip dug into the ground and then covered by a pile of heavy stones in a make-shift cairn. The cairn discourages larger scavengers, like foxes or ravens, who might carry pieces of the deceased away, but allows smaller scavengers like mice and insects to eat away the fleshy bits. After a few moons, (during which family and friends are encouraged to keep their distance and learn to live without the deceased) when the scavengers are finished and all that is left are clean bones, the body is exhumed and repositioned so that the skull is left exposed outside of the cairn that covers the rest of the body. This is meant to allow cats to speak directly to the spirit of specific dead clan mates, though there is, of course, no expectation that the spirit speak back. (This is what we see Fiercestripe do in the Moon 18 Bonus Art). All burials happen in a field of forget-me-nots (small, blue. five petal flowers) as they cover the scent of decay, and therefore the cairns/graves are often decorated with them, along with other flowers or plants that may have been special to the deceased. Less commonly, a family member may ask to take a piece of the deceased from the cairn, such as a small tail bone or claw that they will wear to "carry the deceased with them". This is only allowed if the cats are known to have a close relationship, and is very frowned upon if the requestor is not a close family member or lifelong mate.

The major exception to all of this "Starclan is nebulous and distant" stuff is when I draw ghosts (like Bluepaw talking to Owlstar, which, admittedly, I drew before I had a good grasp of what I wanted to do with spirits and starclan). I know that it sort of negates that distance but... I just think it's fun. I think it's more fun to see what the spirits have to say (on occassion) than strictly sticking to never seeing Starclan outside of the Black Water Pool. So for those instances just remember that you, as the audience are getting sort of a third person omniscient view. You can see the ghosts but the characters in the story cannot (unless it is stated that they can due to like ghost sight or something).

Of course, as I said at the beginning, I'm trying to remain flexible, and I'm sure I'm going to break all of these rules at some point, but if I do my job correctly, then moments when these rules break should be important, and not just because I'm disregarding or forgetting them.

On a completely different note: You're not gonna believe this but I actually did know that! I did a decent amount of research into the effects of oil exposure when i was thinking up the Black Water Pool and yeah! It absolutely has played a part in Eklutna's condition. She's had hemophilia since birth, (which very simply means that her blood doesn't clot very well (for all of you biology nerds out there yes i know that it is rare for a cis female to have full hemophilia but it is possible if both of her parents had it)), but that has 100% been worsened by her love of swimming in "the forbidden jacuzzi". As long as we are sharing fun facts: exposure to crude oil while pregnant, while not always, can occasionally cause birth defects like weak lungs!

[puppetmaster13u]

In your Meat Marionette au (which is awesome by the way), I was wondering if when Dick is shedding the chunks of 'skin' as Nightwing one of their rogues collects some to try and get a DNA sample for whatever reason and just finds the DNA of a bunch of dead people?

Have a good day :D

Oh my, what a wonderful idea and question. @phoenixcatch7 look at this <3

Honestly, as Dick is the first Robin to go through molting, he definitely did leave behind some chunks of flesh that someone definitely tries to sample. (It's not like he or Bruce had any idea that chunks of his body was just going to start... shedding lol)

The question is if they could even successfully do so, or if it's so muddled that it doesn't work. Because it's not just human corpses the Tunnels use, it's everything. Any biomass It can get ahold of (hence why Jason's Red Hood is an amalgamation of pieces of skulls when it comes to the head when his body was destroyed)

[m4lexxx67]

Finally fucking done with this one, jesus fucking christ this took me so long! (Mainly because I took several month-long breaks from working on it lol) But it's done and I can't wait for it to be cold enough to wear, it turned out so good!!!

But there was so much math involved in making the design, seriously, it was so hard to fit the fly to the words in the background and make them the same size and all and I'm pretty sure it only worked out because I used the wrong measurements or made a logical mistake, something like that lol (it's been a while, I think I made the sketch in like January or February)

[cyrsed]

sometime between dead space (2023) and dead space 2, isaac recounts a dream where the line between the ishimura and isaac is blurred. was there ever a line to begin with?

the comic is up on itchio for free in PDF form + includes a bunch of in progress pics and extras (putting a few below the cut here :B). also my other dead space comic is up on itch as well!

[sunshine-zenith]

Should’ve filed the paperwork quicker

[langernameohnebedeutung]

actually a highlight of Blaine's season 1 look is that he would strategically hang out around bars to find rich people to take him home to infect.

but also meanwhile, he looked like this.

i mean, I'm not saying they could have guessed that he's carrying a brain-eating virus of the undead. All I'm saying that this is what I imagine the sailors looked like who carried the black death into Italy

[4bs0lut3-s0lv3r]

Ventish.

The body feels like it's Rotting while i'm still in it.

[tachiharastanacc]

Hi! So I think a lot about Tachihara as well, as a fellow super fan, which kind of leads to something I thought of:

What if Fyodor took Tachihara into the Decay of Angels before he robbed the Hunting Dogs safe? And uses him against the Armed Detective Agency and Port Mafia? ADA, since Yosano is an indirect reason for his brothers' suicide, and Port Mafia, because Mori is a, if not the, main factor for his brothers' suicide?

What do you think Tachihara's role would be? What do you think his relationships with the other Decay of the Angels would be?

I’ve honestly thought of this a bit before bc brain rot is strong :)

I think Tachihara is already relatively easy to manipulate. We directly see Mori do it in chapter 90.

Tachihara really wants to belong somewhere. He wants to be part of something in a way that lets him be his own person and not just his brother’s shadow.

We also know that he values orders above himself.

Both of those things mean it’d be simple for Fyodor to get younger Tachihara as an ally by appealing to that sense of wanting a family- telling him he’s proud, encouraging him to build connections with the other members, etc.

Bc we all know Tachihara will fight to his last breath for the groups that he cares about.

As for his role, I think he’d basically be a glorified attack dog if I’m being honest. He has, as admitted by Fyodor himself, a strong special ability. Not that Fyodor necessarily needs another assassin, but I think he’d also recognize Tachihara’s value as a spy.

I don’t think he’d still be a spy, because I think Fyodor would acknowledge Tachihara’s weakness would be him getting attached and, according to Dazai, Fyodor doesn’t trust anything he can’t control. But I think Fyodor would still see his value in that regard.

So yeah, bro is a secret weapon Fyodor points and shoots at enemies (specifically without using his ability until the time comes bc that element of surprise made it especially difficult to counter the first time).

I also don’t think he’d spare Yosano in this universe. I think Fyodor would know that, at least for a while, if Tachihara gets what he wants and isn’t fully loyal, there’s a risk of him backing off.

Anyway, manipulation of a teenager aside, the fun part!

He’s probably seeks Fyodor’s approval a lot. He already does it with Jouno and even a bit with Fukcuhi. I think Fyodor’s mysterious personality would make praise from him seem even more powerful.

Tachihara constantly gets dragged into Nikolai’s schemes. Like it’s almost a full time job and he’s kinda given up resisting it at this point.

Nikolai finds it incredibly fun to use Tachihara’s ability to mess with the other members, much to Fyodor’s chagrin.

I doubt Tachi would really know about Bram, but I think he’d be nice to him. I think Bram would consider him trapped as well, just in a different way and at least be willing to converse with him.

Fukuchi is much colder to the DOA members than the hunting dogs, so I don’t think he’d pay Tachihara much mind other than as something to watch out for.

Saving the best for last, I think Sigma and DOA Tachihara would get along really well. I actually think they’d be good friends in the canon universe if things were different (or maybe in the future pspsps) BUT, I think as the only sane DOA members, they’d be a lot closer.

Both of them would complain about Nikolai’s shenanigans. They also would have a few serious talks about belonging and what a home is. If either of them ever left the DOA, I think the other would join them.

So yeah, hopefully that was fun to read bc it was fun to write. Ik it was a bit long, so sorry about that, but I have Thoughts abt them all.

:)

[essektheylyss]

I have seen the newest fhjy Aelwyn Abernant gifset multiple times in the last week and I had planned to watch it eventually but like...... is that really what's gonna get me into this series. Is that really what it takes. What the fuck level of targeted advertising is THIS.

[coffinup]

Something that is interesting that you see when you actually work with dead bodies is that how the common idea of “bloat” as a stage of decay isn’t necessarily a stage as much as a condition that CAN happen. A lot of bodies that aren’t found until after rigor has completed will have some sort of tissue gas in a part of the body, but not always throughout the whole body. Some people get it immediately after death, which is why I dont consider it a stage. It mostly stays in the abdomen area, but can spread to the face. Tissue gas is caused by bacteria called clostridium perfringens, and it causes a condition called “gas gangrene” in life when it affects an area with poor blood circulation. Swelling in other areas of the body is usually caused by edema, which is fluid buildup. Not all bodies will have a uniform “swelling” when they begin to decay, especially if there are wounds or if there are pests/vermin/scavengers that get at the body.

It also highly depends on the ambient temperature and environment!

I see some bodies with no tissue gas at all. And a lot of people are embalmed or cremated before it can set in. You’re more likely to get it after death if you have poor gut health/diet or an active bacterial infection when you die.

Decay starts at varying states depending on the person’s body composition, health at death, surrounding environment/temperature, etc.

[leelreallylikespersona]

Decaying Godhood- Chapter 2: Solemn Freedom

<- Chapter 1 ● Chapter 3 ->

“Nothing is moving…”

Nyx sat quietly on the ground, watching the three look out the giant golden door. Occasionally one of them would look back at her. It made her feel something unpleasant, she wasn’t entirely sure what it was though.

“No one is collapsing, either…” Minako said, “it’s like they’re frozen in time.”

“Do you think it’s just the view we have from here?” Minato asked.

“No,” Ryoji answered, “something doesn’t feel right… at all.”

Minako glanced back at Nyx, “do things feel off to you?”

She nodded.

“Well… what do we do?” Minako moved her attention to the other two.

“Wait.” Ryoji pointed out of the door, “something’s moving.”

The twins looked carefully.

“It looks like a person…” Minato said.

“No way,” Minako gently pulled the hair away from his eyes, “look again, no human has hair that white.”

“Akihiko-senpai had white hair, though.”

Minako shook her head, “but not that bright!”

Ryoji cleared his throat, “how about the feathers? Humans don’t have wings.”

“Are they wings? It looks more like a cape.” Minako let go of Minato’s hair, “check out all that gold too…”

“Either this guy is just really rich, or not human.” Minato said flatly, turning away.

“And those are mutually exclusive?” Ryoji moved away from the door. “They could be both.”

“I suppose so.”

“Guys.” Nyx flinched when all three quickly looked at her, “they’re moving, right? Does it matter what they look like?”

Ryoji sighed, “no, you’re right.” He faced the twins, “what should we do?”

“I don’t know, but…” Minako gestured out the door, “there’s someone else there now.”

Ryoji and Minato quickly looked out again.

“I’m going to investigate.” Ryoji said suddenly, “you two stay here… whatever is happening seems to only be affecting humans.”

“Wait, how do we know it’s safe?” Minako questioned, folding her arms.

“I can’t die, remember?”

“Yes but-“

“Ryoji!”

The three slowly looked at Nyx. She bit her tongue, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to shout… it’s just.” She stood up, “have you felt anyone die?”

Ryoji narrowed his eyes, “what are you saying?”

“You’re Death,” she said, “you should be able to tell if people are leaving this world.”

Ryoji paused. Nyx could tell he didn’t want to take her words, but he pondered anyway.

“No one is dying.”

“There you have it,” Nyx said, “the world is at a standstill.“

Minato glanced at Ryoji.

“…You’re coming with me.” Ryoji slashed the chains off of Nyx’s wrists and neck, “I don’t trust you to stay with them.”

“That’s fair…” Nyx nodded, holding her wrist.

Minato placed a hand on Ryoji’s shoulder, “may I speak with you first?”

Nyx watched them wander off. Minako approached her, grabbing her hands.

“Listen, I know… he has every right to be mad at you, but…” Minako picked up her evoker, placing it in Nyx’s hands, “I hope you’ll protect him. Even if he doesn’t want you to.”

Nyx felt her eyes begin to water.

Minako smiled, “I don’t know if I can stay mad at you… it wasn’t really your fault, was it?”

“You don’t have to make excuses for me.”

“I know, but it wasn’t you, was it?”

Nyx could feel her heart sting. Minako was right, but she felt as though she couldn’t admit it.

“Does it matter?” Nyx asked, “I still tried to do it.”

“Nyx, you weren’t even a person, then,” Minako patted her shoulder, “you were… an idea, a force of nature. Of course you didn’t know the harm it would bring.” She held her hand, “I… know about Erebus. I’m sure reflecting on all of that now must…” Minako shook her head. “I’m putting my trust in you. Now is your chance to become a great individual.”

Now she couldn’t see. Tears flooded from her eyes, dropping onto her hands below.

“I know gods probably can’t get Personas, but… I want you to take that evoker with you.” Minako attempted to wipe away the tears with her stone fingers, “ah sorry! That probably isn’t very comforting.”

Nyx laughed slightly, “thank you, Minako.”

“Damn, you made her cry?”

Nyx could barely make out Minato’s form before her.

“I didn’t mean to…” Minako said.

Nyx wiped her eyes, looking at Ryoji. His gaze still held disdain, but had softened slightly.

“Oh that’s a good idea!” Minako noted Ryoji wearing a SEES armband. She removed her own, the bright red colour returning as she wrapped it around Nyx’s arm. “Now you guys gotta go be the heroes, okay?”

Nyx smiled softly, bowing to her, “I won’t let you down.”

“Ryoji,” Minato said, “are you gonna give it to her?”

Ryoji sighed, “if you act out I’m taking this back,” he held out the sword he had used while he was Nyx Avatar.

Nyx carefully took it, “thank you, Ryoji.”

Ryoji nodded, facing Minato again, “we’ll be back.”

Minato smiled softly, “and we’ll be watching over you two.”