#i've been stumped on whether to add it or not

[wolfiafuntime]

You Believe in Santa?! | Obey Me Platonic HCs

Inspired by this weird half-joke I play on my sister every year, where I lie and tell her I believe in Santa. This has been going on for years now- I have NO clue how this started, and I'm in too deep to stop now... Also because I think(?) I've talked myself into thinking Santa exists; which is why I describe it as a half-joke.

Ft. The Demon Bros!

Tw: Mentions of Satan loving you but it can be read as platonic; You get called adorable; 1 mention of cancelling; Mammon slander (I'm sorry!!); Let me know if I need to add more!

Also, this is implied to be taking place in season 1 of the original game!

Published: December 9, 2023

Words: 3,500 (500 per bro)

Pages: 9.7 (1.4 on average)

Lucifer:

 You know that face Lucifer makes whenever he's disappointed or tired? Yeah, he makes that expression when you tell him you believe in Santa. He can't tell if you're lying or not, which is odd for him because he can usually tell when you're lying; even if you're good at it.

 "Do you actually believe that?" He'll inevitably question you. You'll tell him 'yes' with a cheery smile and chipper tone, but something about your behavior makes it difficult for him to fully believe you.

 Whether you want to tell him the truth or not is up to you. If you do, and you ask him to keep your secret, he'll smile and agree. Although, chances are that he'll let Diavolo and Barbatos in on it. He might also tease Mammon when he inevitably starts to think Santa's real, too. But if you don't, he'll spend the next few weeks- if not, the entire holiday season- trying to figure out if you actually believe what you're saying. And while he's doing that, he's also trying to decide if he should tell you the truth or not.

 If you're fifteen or below, he probably won't. If you're in your thirties or above, he probably will. And if you're in between, then he's probably going to try and let you down privately and softly. It all depends on how mature you usually act, and on how dedicated you are to keeping up this lie.

 He's not gonna be happy when Solomon inevitably starts going around and telling people Santa's real. It doesn't matter if Lucifer's in on it or not. If he knows, he doesn't like it because Solomon's very shifty and he doesn't like having those kinds of people around his family. But he ultimately won't do anything to ruin your fun; he'll just tell you to be careful and keep an extra careful eye on you. But if Lucifer doesn't know, then he doesn't like it because he thinks Solomon's getting your hopes up, and he doesn't want you to be upset when you 'learn the truth'. In response, he'll corner Solomon in one of RAD's hallways and threaten the sorcerer into silence.

 He'll be confused when he finds a gift from 'Santa Claus' underneath the tree on Christmas day. When he doesn't recognize the handwriting, he'll cautiously open the box, believing it to be some sort of prank. Only to be stumped when he finds what seems to be a custom blend of tea. Curiously, he'll brew himself a cup, only to spit it right back out upon tasting it. It was horrid. So much so that only one person could have made him the gift. Solomon.

 The sorcerer's going to be in a world of pain soon...

Mammon:

 "Pfft, Santa ain't real! If he was, then he would've given me a limitless credit card ages ago!" Mammon scoffs upon hearing you. If Lucifer's nearby, he'll immediately get a smack on the head. Still, he won't start feeling bad until he spots you pouting at him.

 Your age doesn't matter. When you first start saying stuff like this, he's gonna be blunt and tell you that you're stupid. But if you keep it up, he'll slowly get softer and softer on you. Until, eventually, he stops telling you altogether. Keep it up some more, and with some help from Solomon, then he'll start to believe you're telling the truth. Maybe he'll to the conclusion that Santa only visits human worlders'. Did Solomon plant that thought? Maybe.

 He doesn't care when the others tease him. He's be too busy being pissed at Santa Claus for only giving humans gifts when 'The GREAT Mammon is only one world away!' Starts scheming about how he can sneak his way into the human world Christmas night so he can finally get that limitless card he wants. And yes, he's forcing you to help him. He's gonna say it's only because you're from the human world, but everybody knows that's just an excuse.

 He nearly gets to the human world. But as usual, he gets overconfident and brags about his plan in extreme detail. And as usual, Lucifer overheard and hung him upside down for the next day. You get strung up as well for helping him, but if Lucifer's not in on the secret, and you sorrowfully say 'but I wanted him to meet Santa...', then it'll only be for an hour. A side effect of saying this? Mammon starts feeling sad for you.

 When he's finally let down, one of the first things he does is visit Solomon. He's not stupid, he knows Lucifer's keeping a close eye on him now. But he knows that Solomon has easy access to the human world, and with his age, he's surely met Santa before, right? So maybe the sorcerer could get the old man to write him a letter and make him a gift? To cheer you up!

 He's pleasantly surprised on Christmas morning, when he discovers that Santa decided to make gifts for the whole family. He's a bit disappointed when he opens his present and discovers golden coins instead of a limitless card. But he perks back up when he realizes he's got fifty of them, with each being the height of his thumb! Excitedly, he contacted some demons he could pawn these off to... Only to be laughed at when one of those demons pulled the- fake- gold off to reveal it was actually chocolate!

 To make things worse, they tasted horrible! Didn't you say only bad people get bad gifts?!

Leviathan:

 He gives you a deadpan look, the words 'I can't believe I live with this normie' echoing in his mind. He's got half a mind to tell you the truth, but his perspective on things changes when he finds a new anime called 'I Used To Believe In Santa Claus, But Then My Otaku Best Friend Told Me The Truth Which Really Strained Our Relationship, And I Just Met An Elf And I Think I'm Falling In Love With Him, But I Don't Know What To Do...!' ('Santa Claus Belief', for short) which completely changed his perspective on things.

 He ultimately decides not to tell you, or else he could risk losing you just like the Otaku in Santa Claus Belief did! Sure, the Otaku and the MC made up in the end, but that's completely different! He's, well, himself, and it's only gonna be a matter of time until that weird kindness of yours runs out and you abandon him. It's with this thought in mind that he doesn't even tease Mammon when he starts thinking Santa's real, too. This actually makes Mammon suspicious, but when he goes to check on his little brother, he gets nothing. So, he goes to you, Levi's Henry, and asks you to figure out the problem.

 Getting him to admit his worries isn't hard. Just hang out with him in the safety of his room, and when the time is right, bring up how Henry and The Lord of Shadow are always honest with one another. Is it hypocritical? Yes. But when he finally admits his grievances to you, you start to feel guilty and tell him your secret. He gets a bit flustered at first, but he cheers up when he remembers how well you've tricked Mammon.

 He can't help but join his brothers on teasing the secondborn after that. And sometimes, he teams up with Solomon to further mess with Mammon's head. Although, these are more spur-of-the-moment than planned.

 Come Christmas day, and he immediately knows the present from 'Santa Claus' is actually from either you or Solomon. Curiously, he opens it, and is immediately ecstatic to find a chocolate Ruri-Chan figurine inside of it. He stays in that high for a while, until he realizes that it's only a matter of time until the figurine melts. To try and stop it, he goes and turns down the house's temperature to zero. And then he does it several more times, because everyone else keeps turning it up, until Lucifer threatens to give the figurine to Beel.

 So, he goes to Solomon to get some sort of freezing spell that he can put on it. He's shocked when Solomon, a bit disappointed to find the figurine still intact, admits that he was the one who made it. Still, Solomon casts the spell, and Levi leaves; troubled knowing his beloved Ruri-Chan contains pure horrors.

Satan:

 Becomes curious when he hears you still believe in Santa Claus. From the human books he's read, all humans learn the truth about Santa sometime in their early teen years. If not, a couple of years before then. So, he starts asking you why you still believe in Father Christmas. Naturally, you tell him it's because you've gotten a present from him every year without fail.

 This sparks a conflict within Satan. With you being in the Devildom, far from the loved ones who'd no doubt been keeping this delusion of yours alive, you'd surely learn the truth... But that means you'd get your childhood dreams shattered on Christmas day. One of the happiest days of the year for humans.

 With a heavy heart, he decides to tell you the truth a few weeks before Christmas, hoping that your mourning period would end before then. But when he does, you assure him of the opposite. And you do so while keeping your cheery mood; not even feeling an iota of wrath. He asks you about it, and you tell him that nearly everyone you've ever known during the holidays has tried telling you the same. It's here that he becomes fascinated with how resolute humans are- especially you.

 He's tempted to try and use facts and logic to break through to you, but he ultimately decides not to. He loves you, and the thought of ruining your childhood memories makes him angry with himself. And the possibility of having to do it multiple times doesn't help. And so, he decides to go out and buy you a second Christmas present- one from 'Santa Claus'. He ends up buying you both presents, however, when he discovers a pair of magical books that allow for interdimensional communication! He wraps them both up and puts an illusion spell on the 'to's and 'from's to keep you from recognizing his handwriting.

 However, come Christmas Day, he's incredibly confused upon finding a second gift from Santa. Sensing an illusion spell on it, he dissipates and instantly recognizes it to be Solomon's handwriting. Instantly, he's on guard. He's heard that the sorcerer's been helping keep your lifelong beliefs alive, which soothes some of his eternal anger. And the fact that he's apparently convinced Mammon that Santa is real brings a smile to his face. But Solomon's always got an angle, and he doesn't know how pretending to be Santa Claus and sending his entire family gifts will benefit him... But he decides to forget about it when he sees Lucifer spitting tea from 'Santa' into the kitchen sink.

 Opening his present, he finds a book made out of candy inside of it. At first, he thought the only candy bit was the peppermint cover. But a note reveals it's actually made out of thin wax candy, and the words are written with food coloring.

Asmodeus:

 He can't help but giggle when you tell everyone you believe in Santa Claus. He didn't know humans think that! And apparently, most of them grow out of it? Well, aren't you just adorable! Not as adorable as him, of course, but still adorable! So much so, that he makes a post about it on his Devilgram, with a selfie of the two of you to go with it. And if he sees any hate comments, then he's gonna cancel them and leave them for his... Rowdier, fans.

 He wonders how you'll react when you don't get a present on Christmas day. Will you pout, or will you make up some sort of excuse to keep this fantasy of yours alive? It's for this reason that he, himself, pouts when he hears that the others are trying to bring you down to reality. And so, he goes to try and talk them out of it; making sure to be careful with his words. If you do become sad on Christmas morning, he'll for sure be there to cheer you up! But he knows that Lucifer would tie him up if his intentions were discovered, and he does not want his clothes to get messed up!

 His opinion on Solomon also telling everyone that Santa exists? He finds it just as funny as he finds the rest of this situation. A simple conversation with the sorcerer reveals to him what he already knew: That Solomon doesn't really think Santa exists. But it doesn't reveal to him that you don't believe in Santa, either.

 Another thing he can't help but laugh at is Mammon. He knew the secondborn was stupid, but he didn't know he was that stupid! His laughter grows when Solomon says that Mammon wants him to 'talk Santa Claus into making a quick trip to the Devildom'. While on the topic, Asmo gives Solomon some gift ideas for every member of the House of Lamentation... And then Asmo gives a bunch of gift ideas for himself.

 His disappointment is immeasurable, come Christmas, and he finds Solomon used none of his gift ideas. But his day is not ruined! Especially when he discovers that all of 'Santa Claus's gifts are made out of candy. Even more so when he discovers that his gift is a small assortment of extravagant candy jewelry. A, because the gift isn't going to waste because he'll simply wear it. And B, because it gives him the perfect excuse to hold a photo shoot! And yes, you're gonna be included in some of the photos. You're the reason why he got such a magnificent gift in the first place!

 When the day comes to an end, though, he wonders how Solomon chose everyone's presents. He knows the sorcerer isn't close enough with them to know their preferences, nor would he care enough to remember them...

Beelzebub:

 Hm? You say Santa Claus is real? Does that mean he only gives gifts to those in the human world? He's very close to fully believing you, with his only saving grace being Belphegor, who tells him the truth... But then Solomon starts saying Santa's real, and he starts doubting Belphie. Yes, he feels slightly guilty for doing so. But at the same time, both you and Solomon are from the human world. Meanwhile, Belphegor has been ignoring the realm's existence for hundreds of years now.

 Chances are that he's gonna start believing in Santa before Mammon does. Unlike Mammon, though, he's not going to get mocked... Mostly because no one's surprised. Don't get them wrong, they aren't unsurprised! But Beel's just got that vibe, you know? What with how dense and food-orientated he usually is.

 But Beel believing Santa's real isn't definitive in this headcanon. Because there's an equal chance that Belphie talks him out of it a second time. When this happens, he'll be disappointed. Not extremely, but enough that he decides not to tell you the truth. And he'll ask the others to do the same. After all, if he was sad after learning Santa's not real when he only thought so for a few days (a week at most), then how'd you feel after thinking that for over a decade?

 But if Belphie can't talk him out of it, then Beel's going to help Mammon talk Solomon into talking Santa into coming to the Devildom (Boy, was that a mouthful...). And while he's there, he asks that Santa bring him a gingerbread house the size of the HoL.

 Either way, he's super excited when he smells the Christmas tree smelling like a buffet on Christmas morning. It takes all of his willpower to keep himself from eating both the tree and all of the presents. But thankfully you spot him struggling and hand him his first gift; a circular box signed by Santa. He's actually a bit disappointed at first, because while he smells sweets inside, the box is awfully small when compared to him. Too small to properly feed him, which leads the poor boy to believe he'd done something naughty.

 Thankfully, however, he turns his frown upside-down when he unwraps the gift. A nice-looking cookie tin with a note on the lid: 'I know that you've got a bottomless stomach, so I made you this! Just put the ingredients for a batch of cookies inside of it, wait ten minutes, and you'll have a batch of cookies ready to eat!' And luckily for him, they don't taste horrible!

 (Also, the day before Christmas, he bakes a batch of cookies with you! If Beel thinks Santa's real, then he does his best to not eat them all. Mostly because he believes Santa's power comes from eating cookies!)

Belphegor:

 Father Christmas? Kriss Kringle? Saint Nick? Who are they and why are you rambling about them and Santa..? That's right, he doesn't know that much about Santa Claus. He's been ignoring humans and avoiding everything that wasn't their suffering since he fell into the Devildom. If he heard about Santa, then he probably erased it from his memory after scowling about how humanity had something so nice; real or not. And the others probably kept their mouths shut to keep from upsetting him.

 So at first, he thinks that Santa's real, too. But he quickly learns otherwise when the others start poking fun at you, and even straight-up tell you that you're wrong. Curious, he asks you about him. And after hearing all your tales, he goes to Satan to get some books on him. He can't help but laugh when the fifth-born confesses that he gets a bunch of sloppily written letters from human kids this time of year. Belphie's always been curious about it, but has always been too tired to ask.

 He doesn't blame Beel when he starts thinking Santa's real. After all, with all of the different kinds of spells, there's surely a perfect combination that would allow someone to do what Santa can do. Like stalking spells, time slowness spells, teleportation spells, and more. However, the power needed to deliver gifts to half of humanity in a single night would take Lucifer-level power. And he doesn't blame you for thinking Santa's real, either. At least, not entirely. After all, children grow up believing in him. But you were supposed to learn the truth years ago. But despite being told the truth who knows how many times, you've consistently refused to listen to it. He tries a couple of times himself, but quickly gets frustrated and gives up...

 Until he overhears you and Solomon talking, that is. He was napping on a bench at RAD, so the two of you must've thought it was safe. But unfortunately for you, he'd awoken earlier than expected. This is something he doesn't bother hiding, and something else he doesn't hide is how funny he finds your and Solomon's faces. When his laughter dies down, he semi-playfully demands something from the both of you to keep your secret...

 He has to keep himself from smirking on Christmas morning. Especially when he spots Beel drooling and gazing at the tree with hunger. He's curious to see how long his twin will last, but unfortunately you spot him, too. But he doesn't let that get him down, and insteads opens his gift from Solomon. There, he finds a gingerbread scented neck pillow with a note telling him it's enchanted to shrink and grow whenever he pushes and pulls on it.

 (He's not able to catch all of them, but he finds the others' reactions to their gifts hilarious!)

Masterlist

[twothpaste]

fic snippet featuring lucas & porky & the profound disillusionment of realizing you're never gonna get through to a motherfucker 😔

It laid, back then, a hundred n' fifty some-odd feet from the shoreline. No walkways of wood nor metal carved the path. If an audience with the king was what you sought, you'd have to rough it to his throne. Through the soggy stench of rotting cardboard. Drenched facades melting, squelching, and pooling at your heels. Traverse his skyscraper's serpentine spine. Either atop its precarious columns, or beneath its ribcage archways. Today, the big stupid spikes with which he'd adorned the sides've since been weathered away to moundish stumps. In 2 ADD, though? They'd formed a sharklike jaw line in the treacherous muck. Dentition to rival the Dragon's own.

She soared high. Black streak on a gray blanket. Wouldda blotted out the sun with her wings, if it'd been up there to begin with. Even back then, New Pork's desolation had a notorious propensity for overcast weather. Lucas had to wonder whether that was her doing, too.

Lord of the Rings wouldn't make it into his repertoire for a long while. Leder's library had yet to scavenge any copies. The Hobbit, however, was a White Ship stowaway. The old judge kept it in a secret stash, with the rest of the survivors' forsaken tomes. Lucas'd been the first to read it, once the locks were finally broken. He couldn't help but think of it. Here of all places. Stony imagery of a lost mountain kingdom. A darker dragon, hoarding ill-gotten gains. How small he felt. How bitterly humble. To traverse these halls.

The Absolutely Safe Capsule didn't sit atop a gilded pile. Just purple-gray rubble. N' acid rain puddles. N' concrete.

A broad, hungry, window-bound smile greeted him. Upon his arrival.

Lucas didn't humor it with any of his usual salutations. Not even a glance. Just trudged right past the pane, and seated himself upon a closely-nestled boulder. He remembers his chewed nails clawing against the harsh, clammy surface.

"Y'know, Lucas," Porky purred. With no particular forward. Whether the king thought his visitor's silence haughty, amusing - or perhaps even infuriating - he didn't bother to say so. "I've been thinking," he simply announced. Craning his miserable neck, right up to the glass, as if tryin' to catch whatever delightful pout or scowl might grace the hero's dumb, pimply face.

"I bet," said Lucas. Flat as a burnt flapjack. That made Porky grin, too.

"It's sort of funny. Hilarious, even. That your so-called new society's here, to salvage my city."

This came about as outta left field to Lucas as it probably does to you. Which is to say, hardly. Weren't never really conversations, to be had with Porky. Whatever happened to be on his mind, he'd barf it right onto your sneakers. Then glance at you, expectantly, almost innocently. Like he was awfully eager to watch you clean it up.

"My city," he repeated. With a cough. "Which, as you know, I modeled oh-so-painstakingly after our old world."

Lucas turned those slatey eyes of his toward the Capsule. But held his tongue. Again - you can call it patience.

"It's almost as if nothing starts from the ground up. You're always recycling something rotten. Always on the shoulders of man-eating giants. Even if you try to pretend otherwise."

"Yep," Lucas contended. Gray as the rock he perched on. "That's the idea. We're learnin' from the past. Y'couldda stood to do the same."

Porky's prison emitted a raucous cackle. If Lucas were still looking, he'd've seen a curled lip. A snarling smirk.

"Oh. I learned plenty, my friend."

To sigh would be to appease him. Spoiling a bad dog.

"I don't really get why you won't apologize," Lucas mused, instead. "Why y'won't even fake it. There's folks who'd fall for it."

(He prob'ly would've. He thought. Up until three days prior. He'd decline to add that, though. Let Porky guess it for himself.)

"Heh. What can I say? I'm an honest guy. Much more honest than you cheating, stealing, hypocritical hicks give me credit for. Besides -- Agh..! Haahhck…!"

Porky's bone-popping shrug was cut short by a trademark wheezing fit. Lucas waited. Nails grating.

"Ah.. Hagh… Besides.. Little ol' Porky Minch's got nothing to apologize for, anyways. All I've done is reveal the cold, hard truth. Taught you sorry lot a thing'r two 'bout human nature." His royal highness dipped into a mockery of the peasants' lowly drawl. Before extending one hand, to count his points on his wretched fingers. "Uncertainty, control, anger. Frailty. Self-destruction. That's always been the long n' short of it. N' always will be."

"Agree to disagree," Lucas maintained. His low, crackly, teenaged timbre shifting an inch closer to a growling grumble. Porky ate it up. When you've been stuck in an oversized baseball for two years, you tend to develop a ravenous craving for the smallest of crumbs.

"Fine by me. Your descendants'll realize I was right all along. Even if you're too proud to accept it."

"My mom always used to say somethin' 'bout pots n' kettles."

"Ha. So, you admit you're the kettle."

"I'm more of a skillet, I reckon."

"Well, ain't that goddamn charmin'? My mom bashed me over the head with one of those, once. I ever tell ya that story?"

"Y'didn't. M'sorry to hear that."

A snort.

"No you're not."

In lieu of an answer, Lucas could only stare. Impasse was a recent addition to his vocabulary. He'd read it in one of Leder's books. He traced its edges, in his mind's eye. Chewed it, silently, between his tongue and teeth.

[mercurial-vroom]

Hi Meg!

I just finished binge reading GTG and hopped on straight here to yap about it.

I don't think I've EVER had this much fun reading any fic!!! The humour was, the EASTER EGGS from irl F1, the pace, the group dynamic and ofc CarCar!! You guys are absolute geniuses! The jokes during the group interactions were especially my favourite but nothing will beat the utter chaos of the gc when Lando outed CarCar. I had to legit stop reading to laugh at that one for at least a couple of minutes straight!!

And your Charles has got to be my most favourite Charles from ANY fic based in ANY universe!! Loved loved loveddddd his ditzy characterisation.

If you do actually end up writing more for this universe - which I hope you do - I sure hope you consider writing a gc interaction at some point. I would totally not mind the entire spin off or multiple chapters being solely in the chat format. You guys are hilarious, your humour is top notch and so is your writing so I'm sure you'd COOOOOK with it!! And I'd gobble it up!!

Okay that's enough rambling haha. Just, thank you for writing this beautiful fic and for sharing it with the CarCar fandom. We definitely need more CarCar enthusiasts like you to keep this ship sailing!

Wahhhh this is the absolute kindest ask I've ever gotten! Thank you so much!!! ❤️❤️❤️ We had just so so so much fun writing Grill the Grid, and it makes me immensely happy that people are getting even a fraction of the same joy and laughter out of reading it that we got from writing it.

And I am definitely planning to add more to the GTG-verse! At the risk of making promises I may not 100% deliver on, we already have a couple ideas that we're considering for little bonus oneshots or follow-ups (none are guaranteed to actually be written, but we're having lots of fun spitballing concepts):

An entirely groupchat-based spin-off, like you said! I wrote all the messaging bits in the original story, and they were so fun to do... the texts from the "CarCar get caught" scene in Ch 9 came out of me literally jolting awake at like 4am one day with them having popped into my head fully formed, and I had to frantically type them up in my notes app before I went back to sleep and forgot all about them.

Something Maxiel focused - Their developing background relationship was a really fun part of the story to write, so I've definitely been thinking about ways to make them the focus of a spin-off... either something going back into how their relationship came to be/what they really got up to at that holiday party, or maybe something in the future, like a fluffy little oneshot of Max helping Daniel come up with questions for a week he's not going to be there (including lots of couple-y bickering and subsequent makeup sex, ofc).

The Chaotic Adventures of Charles - My husband sent me this idea in the middle of a workday last week, and I can't stop laughing every time I think about it. 😭😭😭 The idea of Charles getting into Situations all day and then having a Slumdog Millionaire-esque sweep of trivia that night (to everyone else's immense surprise) based on the random things he learned is soooo funnysilly to me. He is allegedly drafting up an outline for me of this and was responsible for most of Charles's funniest lines/general aura in Grill the Grid, so we will see!

4. Galex? - I adored writing Galex's dynamics and would love to write a whole spinoff chapter that focuses on them, but I am stumped by the fact that I never actually decided whether they are together or just, like, intense platonic soulmates. So maybe that's something to be explored? Though I also don't want to ruin their intentional aura of mystery!

5. CarCar in Spain - I've thought a little "meeting the family" oneshot of Carlos and Oscar in Spain for the holidays could be fun... possibly alongside snippets of a trivia night back in Austin that goes very unsuccessfully without their presence, lol.

Anyway, for anyone who enjoyed Grill the Grid enough to read through this entire stream-of-consciousness text wall -- would love to hear what type of spin-offs you'd be most excited to see, or if there are other ideas or characters you think could be fun to explore!! ❤️

[tomwambsmilk]

Hey. Recommend your favorite indie movies rn. I promise ill watch them because i need to watch more indie stuff anyway and i trust your judgment

sooo glad a couple of you took the bait <3

Right off the bat, I'll say that the line between indie and not is a bit blurry and malleable, so I'm defining it as movies that didn't have the backing of a major US studio. That said, there's debate over whether A24 and Annapurna count as major or indie studios. So ultimately, to split the difference, I've settled on 7 "true" indies, one A24 picture, one that's kind of an indie but also not for reasons I'll get into, and one that's not an indie at all but people still don't watch it because it's old so I'm going to take this opportunity to stump for it.

Leave No Trace (2018)

This is the first movie that jumps to mind for me when people ask me about the best indie movies I've seen. It's about an ex-marine with PTSD so severe he can't function in modern society; instead, he and his 13yo daughter live in National Parks. He's homeschooled her (well!) and taught her to be independent and live off the land, and they have a very, very strong relationship. But, she's also 13, and is struggling with the extreme isolation that comes with their lifestyle. She loves her father and doesn't want to abandon him, but it's starting to take a toll on her mental health. And her father loves her, but he's simply incapable of integrating into society in a way that would allow her to have the social relationships she needs. It's moving and heartbreaking and very much a coming-of-age story. Even though the situation at hand is completely alien to my life experience, the core of it is about a father-daughter relationship, and growing up and also losing your father. It came out only two years after my own father died, and on the way home I had to duck into a Mcdonald's bathroom and ugly cry because it jogged something loose in me, which is what finally spurred me to go to grief counselling (which I'd been avoiding for two years).

2. The Five Obstructions (2003)

This one is actually a documentary, but one that I think is worth watching if you're interested in film. The premise is that Lars von Trier has challenged Jørgen Leth to remake his 1970s-era experimental short film, "The Perfect Human", five times - but each time von Trier gives him a set of rules to follow (which, in each case, are designed to "ruin" the picture). Every time Leth comes back with something which has inexplicably been made even better because of the restrictions placed on him. On an academic level, it's fascinating to see how the different techniques change the energy and even the meaning of the film - I'm also personally a huge fan of the use of "creative constraint" in art, so it was especially fascinating to me. On a human level, it's intriguing to watch von Trier try to push Leth to confront less of the "perfect" and more of the "human", and how doing so ultimately elevates the art.

3. A Dog's Breakfast (2007)

This one is maybe the truest indie of all on this list, and the only reason I know it exists is that I've been a long-time fan of its writer + director + producer + star David Hewlett. Hewlett's character (Patrick) is an isolated and somewhat dysfunctional man, who is visited by his sister and discovers that she's engaged. He becomes convinced the fiance is trying to kill her, and decides to try and kill the fiance instead. Patrick's sister Marilyn is played by Hewlett's real-life sister Kate, which personally I think adds something to their whole dynamic. It's a pretty small-scale film - the whole thing takes place at Patrick's house or on his property, and there are only 4 actors, not including Hewlett's real-life dog Mars - and I love what that kind of creative constraint does to a film. Also - it's a comedy (and a riotously funny one, if you enjoy that kind of humour). It's maybe not the deepest or most insightful on this list, but it's a LOT of fun and I've seen it several times.

4. The Invitation (2015)

One of my greatest frustrations in the last year was hearing people talk about The Invitation and getting excited that they were FINALLY discovering this brilliant, underrated indie horror - only to realize they were talking about the shitty vampire movie of the same name. Okay.

The less you know going into The Invitation, the better, so I'll just say it's about a man who goes with his girlfriend to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife and her new husband. It's immensely suspenseful, and it utilizes the kind of social anxiety that would come with this sort of extremely awkward situation to great effect. The main character and the viewer are constantly asking - is there something weird and sinister going on? Or is this just supremely uncomfortable for other, more mundane reasons? It also touches on grief in some brief but meaningful and relatively poignant ways, and has an extremely chilling and effective coda that I am still thinking about to this day (I am forever trying - and failing - to replicate the impact of this movie's final shot in my own writing).

5. Treed Murray (2001)

This is another one that I only know about because I obsessively watched David Hewlett's filmography for a while. Up front, I'll say it's maybe not the most original or insightful social commentary out there, and I also watched it when I had much less awareness of racial issues than I do now, so it’s possible there are the problematic things in the writing I’ve forgotten about. That’s the disclaimer. But it still holds a special place for me because of the premise - a yuppie ad executive gets chased up a tree by a gang of would-be muggers, and the rest of the movie plays out with him stuck in the tree overnight and them waiting for him to come down. The acting all-around is superb, the script is suspenseful (even if the character beats aren't the most unique or original), and I have such a soft spot for any movie that uses a limitation like "this guy is gonna be in a tree the whole time" to its advantage like that, so it's making the list.

6. Nightcrawler (2014)

This is one that's technically indie, but because Jake Gyllenhall is attached it got a lot more attention than another film might have. Gyllenhall is a "nightcrawler" - a video journalist who drives around at night looking for shocking crimes and accidents he can film and sell to news stations for their morning news. It's dark, it's suspenseful - and it's also an incredibly cogent commentary on the news media, how it exploits victims, and how it plays into polarization, division, and marginalization for profit.

7. The Death of Stalin (2017)

Again, this one's technically indie, but Steve Buscemi is in it and it's written and directed by the guy who did Veep, so it got its fair share of attention. But it is one of my all-time favourite movies. It's a satirical look at the leadership of the Soviet Union in the days immediately following Stalin's death; it's bitingly funny, and a lot of humour rests on the sort of bureaucracy that's frustratingly relatable to anyone who's ever worked in an office. At the same time, it manages to touch on the horrors of that period in history in a way that is genuine and respectful, which is a difficult line to walk. Altogether it makes for something that manages to be simultaneously entertaining and somewhat chilling.

8. First Reformed (2018)

This is the one A24 picture I mentioned, but I'm including it in part because it hasn't gotten as much attention as other A24 movies, and in part because it had such a huge impact on me personally. Ethan Hawke plays the pastor of a tiny little tourist church, suffering from depression after losing his son in the Iraq War. A pregnant parishioner comes to him to ask him to speak to her husband, an environmental activist who believes it's wrong to bring children into a world facing climate catastrophe. That encounter shakes the pastor and sends him spiralling as he tries to reconcile the state of the world and the deterioration of the environment with the kind of pat, consumable, shallow, capitalist christianity being pushed by the protestant megachurch which owns his parish.

I will say that part of the reason this film resonated with me so specifically is because I saw it at a point in my life where I was pretty severely depressed, struggling with repressed grief, and really grappling with questions around the faith I'd been raised with, so it spoke to me in a very particular personal way. It might not resonate with other people in quite the same way, but I do think, regardless, it's a well-done exploration of a particular kind of psyche, and so worth a watch.

9. Snowpiercer (2016)

So this one is debatable as an indie; it had a budget of $40 million, it stars Chris Evans, and its worldwide box office was nearly $88 million. Most of that $88 million, though, came from South Korea (where it was initially released) and China; when it came to the US it had a reception and release much more comparable to an indie. So it's a weird one to talk about, because it's "indie" in North America only, and it raises questions as to whether we should be sticking to definitions of "indie" that center on US production companies. If a South Korean studio can make a comparable effort and expenditure, should it not be classified as a major studio?

But. The point of this list is movies I (a North American) recommend to my (largely North American) friends and they simply don't watch because they're "indie movies", and this absolutely fits that bill. And it's especially galling after the (deserved!) success of Parasite. Snowpiercer is also a Bong Joon-Ho film, and while it's not on the same level as Parasite (few things are) it's still excellent. It has all of the suspense, nuance, character work, and adept social commentary of Parasite, but in a dystopian post-apocalyptic setting. After a new ice age brought about by climate change, all of humanity lives on a train constantly circling the globe. The few wealthy live at the front of the train; the many, many poor live at the back. Chris Evans' character leads an insurgency against Wilbur, who runs the train, and the film follows his group of rebels as they move from the back to the front. (I also love this premise because of the physical space limitations which come from having your whole movie set on a train, which the film uses VERY well, especially in its action sequences).

10. Touch of Evil (1958)

So this one is cheating because it's not an indie at all. In fact, the edits made by the major studio it was attached to (Universal) are a big part of why it flopped so hard when it first came out. But I'm taking this opportunity to stump for it as a movie that I love so dearly and no one ever watches because it's black and white and old and Orson Welles directed it and people immediately think of Citizen Kane and think it'll be boring and don't want to touch it. But it is excellent (provided you can get past Charlton Heston in brownface, which is.... hm). It's probably my favourite classic noir (and I have seen many noirs). A car bomb explodes along the US-Mexico border, and Heston, a Mexican drug enforcement agent, has to partner with an American police captain (played by Welles) to investigate - but he quickly starts to suspect that the American captain is planting evidence. The movie itself is dark and gripping and suspenseful, but I also think the key ideas about the ethics of the police and the importance of civil liberties are especially resonant now. It makes the opposite argument of modern "copaganda" that implies that we would all be better off throwing our rights in the trash and letting the cops do whatever they wanted. Instead, Welles is making a case that, actually, personal rights are important and must be held sacred, even if (and especially if) that makes the cops' jobs harder.

[revenant-dumpster-fire]

Heya! Just wanted to see how you are doing! Hope everything in life is going your way and that you have plenty of motivations! How is the new chapter coming along for Of Feathers and Venom? I hope it hasn’t left you stumped and that writing is going easy.

Hello! I actually have a lot of asks about this, and I appreciate the well wishes. My plan is to include my "life updates" in the Ao3 Notes, as is apparently tradition. I have stories to tell.

But here is the update for Of Feathers And Venom and other projects:

The following two chapters are complete from where I left off.

The following two chapters after that are in-progress in parallel.

One additional chapter is complete, but it comes after these four chapters and I haven't decided when it best fits into the timeline.

One additional HECK entry is in progress, but I've been pushing the main fic first.

A new, parallel-to HECK entry is complete, but I want to polish it more and add more if possible.

I have around five or so additional "floater" sections, which are little fillers that can be slipped into any area I need to pace. They may not all be used, but this is a valuable strategy to help future writing progress, even if it has slowed me down lately.

I started another I Can't Believe It's Not Lore entry for Revenant Reborn, but I am deciding whether or not it should just be a short or if it should be a kickoff for something larger.

Of the four incoming chapters, the reason I want to do them all together is because they are very dependent upon one another. I want to be able to proof read them all in a large bulk together, and make sure I have it "right". It's a part I've been planning for a long, long time.

In total, it will be well over 40,000 words. Each chapter is at least 10K words (or the following chapter must make up for any slack to average it out), so there's a huge chunk of content there that I want to do justice.

TL;DR: My content may be cringe but I at least want it to be quality.

...

...

...

The chapter that doesn't have a "place" yet in the timeline is 17K words I have poured over for months that will not have a place in the Mature version. Sorry for those folks who won't benefit from all that effort.

[fizzingwizard]

Big sims update with infants is out, and early access for the new pack. I didn't watch early access vids except to see the build/buy. I don't like the tables/chairs in the pack, but I love most everything else (and that matters more to me because we have plenty tables and chairs :P).

These new items are my favs as shown in MsGryphi's vid, plus a couple things from lilsimsie's update vid.

WE HAVE A STANDING PIANO!!! I'm sooo happy. No more stacking endtables and merging them with the keyboard lol. Now we finally have an option between formal grand piano and that electronic keyboard. And look at the swatches soooo cool!

I'm also really loving the detail in the sink and bathtub. The quality has advanced a lot in recent packs. (to the point that it's actually made it difficult to even use base game/early pack items because they just look so bad by comparison.)

Also these tree wall decalls <3 I don't know how I'm gonna use them but I really want to. And the mushroom planter, the owl statue... so cute. Love this wall art because it looks like legit art! The black cat makes me think of the Le Chat Noir poster, and the one next to it makes me think of Alphonse Mucha. In another swatch there's a painting which reminds me of Hokusai's wave.

MsGryphi seemed confused by the "children's statues" (the rocketship and pirate bear). To me they definitely look like the way kids put everyday items together and use their imagination to turn them into something else. I really like these items, except for their being nonfuctioning, they really add reality to kid sims.

Again with the detail... look at this kitchen set!! I'm so in love with the stove in particular, I've been wanting a stove like that. The couch with the throw blanket is my favorite, the other one is not my style, but I do love the colors and the swatches, and I wanted to add it because you can see again just how much more detailed sims games are now. Instead of looking washed out and old, these couches look to me like someone really decorated them.

The smaller items I adore: so happy to have a toy box which fits in a more rustic home, and a new lantern!! It looks nicer than the other lanterns so I'm sure I'll use it everywhere. Love the owl backpack too.

The final four detail items I will definitely use all the time. Love the shadows from the trellis and the gazebo. The rock-line planter will be a great shortcut instead of painstakingly lining things with rocks myself lol. And I love the little sapling growing out of the stump! What a nice touch!

These crafts... as a pre-k teacher, I have made every single one x'D hahaha. And I want this fox lamp for my own life. No really, I NEED it.

Last but not least: look at the infants!!! I love this strawberry sweater (there's also a red-pink one that I might actually like better, even though I don't usually go for red-on-red!) And the middle haircut is THE baby haircut for me. I love the soft wispy baby hair soooo much. And the final pic is what newborns look like now. I still wish they were cuter... and smaller.... but eh. They're only newborns for a very short time so it's more important for the infants to be cute. I'm still not sure what I'll think of them, and how obviously they'll differ from toddlers. But they do look cute.

It is nice to have a more interesting childhood. In particular I'm excited that child skills now roll over into teen years. That for me was a major detractor from childhood before: why be a child if what you do as a kid has no impact later on? It does have an impact, though, at least if you have Parenthood (I'm not sure whether this is pack specific or not): you gain extra traits based on your parenting as a child. But those are extra traits - nice to have, but they're not useful like skills. If my child plays piano, they should be able to have at least one or two piano skill points as an adult, otherwise it just doesn't feel worth it. So glad that's a thing now!

[antisocialxconstruct]

OKAY so basically ever since I decided to take Ghost City out of the SR setting and make it its own thing, I've been really stumped on what to do about this tattoo...

Because originally in-fiction, "грешник" was sort of an inside joke with himself because he thought it was funny that the colloquial term for someone with a legal ID in UCAS was "SINner," especially with the added element that he, an illegal immigrant, was going to great lengths to get a fake SIN just so he could like. rent an apartment and buy cigarettes :/

I didn't want to get rid of the tattoo itself because I just like it as an element of his design, but I felt like this specific term felt too intrinsic to SR for me to be comfortable just keeping it in my setting, so... I've been wracking my brain for a new reason he could have "sinner" tattooed on his collar that still felt like it said something pointed about his sensibilities. And finally it hit me... what if he got that one really young? What if instead of a cheeky joke it was earnest, overly dramatic teen angst and he's just continued to own it ever since? I think that still feels like it adds a similar bit of flavor to his character--it's been like 15 years and not only has he not gotten it covered or removed, he still actively makes wardrobe decisions that show it off.

And then THAT finally made something click with me that explains why even when I'm like "I think Maksim would have more than just three tattoos 🤔" I can't figure out what else to give him... basically, the way I've written him is that his choice to get a tattoo is always spurred by wanting to cement a significant moment in his life, but specifically in a way that's kind of... reasserting himself, reclaiming or taking the power out of an idea that's hurt him in some way. So basically what we've got is:

"грешник" - his first tattoo, probably got it on like his 16th birthday or something against his parents' wishes and specifically to get a reaction out of them. His parents were a) not super religious but just observant enough to frustrate him, and b) emotionally hands-off to the point that he spent most of his teens acting out """for attention""". So he just wanted something that his little undercooked teenage brain thought would be really shocking and scandalous to them.

the snake - gotten after two different relationships had broken down back to back, one where he was accused of being cold and emotionally unavailable, and another where he was accused of being dishonest and sending mixed signals. He concluded he must just be impossible to love, and the tattoo marked his decision to give up on intimate relationships for good. (lmao)

the clover - gotten after The Incident, and mirrors the gunshot scar on his left shoulder... I think even Maksim isn't sure whether this one is meant to be earnest ("I'm lucky they were able and willing to incapacitate me instead of just killing me") or ironic ("how lucky our team was that they just happened to have someone so uniquely susceptible to mind control who ruined everything!"), but obviously he wasn't gonna walk away from something that paradigm-shattering without a new tattoo...

And now that's got the gears turning where I'm like well gosh..... what keeps coming up as something people call him intending it to be insulting or derogatory? 🤔 Didn't Ilya make a comment early on about him being an "attack dog" for the Russian state? Didn't Nav call him a "rabid dog" that should have been put down? Didn't people start calling him Ilya's dog after he decided to help them against NervAMP? (I've only published one of these scenarios here but trust me the answer is yes across the board gfdsg) So..... it sure seems like he might be due for another insult to reclaim and assimilate into his persona :3c

reminder to myself to ramble about Maksim tattoo lore when I get home

[theramseyloft]

4/21/22 Catch up

It's been a long, shitty week.

Spent nearly all of Saturday in the ER, and have been on mandatory bed rest until today.

Family have been taking care of both me and the flock, thankfully.

I am still waiting for the Candidia meds to arrive. Those are set to get here on the 22nd.

Called the vet to check up on whether anyone had gotten back up with her concerning the next available viral panels.

She said no.

I have been reading in the meantime, and the three most likely are Avian Flu, Adenovirus, and Circovirus.

None of which have vaccines.

Flu is airborne.

Since Cheeto and Cotta both got sick, there is no way in hell they wouldn't have infected and immediately killed the doves.

That makes avian flu unlikely.

Adenovirus has two forms.

Type 1 exclusively effects (visibly sickens) young birds.

Literally every bird except the doves and the three rescue pigeons in quarantine showed symptoms, so that rules type 1 out.

Type 2, which effects pigeons over 4 years old, kills all adult victims within 48 hours of developing symptoms.

But most of my adults recovered.

If Banner still has any useful tissue, it would be good to test for just to rule it out.

Circovirus attacks the immune system, particularly the lymphocytes, rather than going straight for any vital organs.

Fatality is nearly always from secondary infection, and one of the most common symptoms is vomiting with green to black diarrhea.

It's very persistent in the environment, but it seems it can be tested for in a cloacal swab?

Something that doesn't add up, though, is that that one is also said to be spread on dust and aerosol.

Again, the doves would have been super insta-fucked.

I'm stumped and frustrated by the wait.

Thankfully, the birds are ok.

My family have been diligent in feeding and cleaning, and the flock seems to have fully recovered.

Dad in law had to fix a light switch malfunction out there, and I spent a lot of time watching them while he worked.

I removed five new eggs and swapped them all with fakes.

It looks like they're really starting to feel themselves again, so I may have to order another pack of plastic feggs.

And a pick stone.

Some of you have warned me that the pick pot is more loose that I expected, and I wouldn't want to risk them gorging and getting an impaction.

It's balls in the morning and it is going to be a long work day.

At this point, I think I'll just update y'all if anything noteworthy happens.

I'll let you know when meds get here, I make an order or purchase, and when I get any word back on either what I can test for, or how I can ascertain when the flock is clean enough to be travel safe.

Other than that, I'm gonna focus on taking care of what of my physical health anything can be done about.

My vascular, endocrine, and reproductive system issues are my most immediate priorities right now.

I've seen my Dr.s for all three of those over the last few weeks leading up to the ER visit.

I'm rambling.

My sleep schedule is fucked from the week of bed rest.

So, probably gonna have to try and force sleep so I can get through the day with the least difficulty.

[serinemolecule]

Scenes from the rat Japanese Discord (the unattributed ones are me talking):

-----

word of the day is 大胆

daitan

"large gallbladder"

also "how dare you"

you see, according to traditional chinese medicine, the daring is stored in the gallbladder

-----

fun fact: 黒茶 (black tea) is "dark tea"

bc 紅茶 (red tea) is already "black tea"

I learned this in China

when a tea saleslady showed us 黒茶 and was like "LOL guess what the Americans call this"

-----

ok

here is all you need to know to make conversation like a native:

いい天気ですね

("Nice weather today, huh?")

(I said this after having this conversation like five times that day.)

-----

(source)

"Tactical magic staff"

-----

me: TIL the Enuma Elish is a real thing

me: I'll be honest I only recognize Enuma Elish as the name of a gay hentai involving Gilgamesh the Fate/stay night character

Limitless: not even Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm? :v

me: look I'm not a nerd

Limitless: yeah fair

me: WHAT DO YOU MEAN "yeah fair"

me: "I'm not a nerd" IS LIKE THE LEAST TRUE THING I'VE EVER SAID IN MY LIFE

-----

apparently it's pretty hard to recognize 虹 in isolation

I was like "I can't think of this insect"

turns out, this is because rainbows are not insects

what a misleading radical

-----

nextworldover: 洗熊!

(the Japanese word for "raccoon" is araiguma which means "washbear")

me: it's called a washbear because it washes food before eating it

nextworldover: that's adorable

-----

today I spent a long time trying to puzzle out what kyuubiiroppu was

I haven't been stumped by katakana in a long time

but today, I was defeated

turns out, it's QBLOP

-----

(Outlier kanji dictionary)

"Note that this is a pre-order. We'll be releasing very soon (February 2021)"

love to see this on a website in June 2021

really inspires confidence

-----

(nigero means "retreat!" in Japanese)

-----

me: I remember like 15 years ago when people online learned I was a girl and asked for pics I'd just give them a link to the Google Images search for "hot asian girl"

me: No one's asked for pics in a long time now, all my internet hangouts are too autistic lol

someone: I feel like asking would be impolite but if you feel like randomly sending selfies I won't be offended or anything

me: https://www.google.com/search?q=hot+asian+girl&tbm=isch

me: you walked into this one

-----

(Autocorrect turned "I'm going to be late! please start without me!" into "I'm going to be late! please start blooming!")

-----

(explaining how China started to use "emperor" instead of "king")

in later Warring States period, the other Zhou leaders started calling themselves 王, which was in essence them deciding they were powerful enough that the charade was unnecessary

and this led eventually to Qin Shi Huangdi creating a new title for himself (for conquering the other states, as a treat)

-----

me: word of the day is 泡立て器

me: whisk

me: literally "bubble-making machine"

me: (learned from the instructions on this bag of karaage batter, unrelatedly I'm making karaage)

tototavra: do you have a recipe you'd recommend?

me: recipe:

me: 1. buy a package of powdered karaage batter

me: 2. follow instructions on package

me: this is also how I make mapo tofu ;)

me: now curry, curry I entirely ignore the instructions on package

me: and mapo tofu I add green onion whether or not the package tells me to

-----

someone: So is the school uniform in this comic Chinese, Japanese, or Korean?

me: It's obviously not Chinese, you can tell because it looks good.

me: Chinese school uniforms look like this:

me: And Japan and Korea's school uniforms look like this:

[acespec-ed]

Hey, so I've been questioning whether or not I'm sex-favorable asexual for a bit now. The thing is, sometimes i want to have sex with specific people, but generally it's due to aesthetic or romantic attraction + a general desire to have sex. Does this mean I'm not ace/I actually do experience sexual attraction? I have trouble believing that sexual attraction is really just looking at someone and being aroused/wanting to have sex with them, as that's something I've almost never experienced

This question actually has me a little stumped, because I've never been sex favorable towards someone I'm not sexually attracted to. I've never really thought of the details of it. (If anyone who is sex favorable towards people they aren't sexually attracted to, you're welcome to add in your perspectives!)

It seems like you already know it's aesthetic and/or romantic attraction, and you know yourself better than I do. If you're this sure about it, then yeah, you can go by ace.

I'm gonna get a bit TMI here, but hopefully this will help you figure out what you're feeling. Sexual attraction, for me, involves feeling this carnal need to have sex with that person. No question of a doubt. When my libido is acting up, I want that person bad! I feel like I will not be satisfied until I do. (Obviously I exert self-control, but if they were willing, and there were no consequences, I'd go for it. Keep in mind these strong feelings only occur when my sex drive acts up.) To me, it comes down to that. If the sexual desire you're feeling isn't "please God I need to fuck that person!!!" then it's probably as you say- wanting to have sex with someone you find aesthetically/romantically attractive. I imagine sex favorable aces won't go out and have sex with the first person willing. They've got preferences too.

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part Eighty

Words: 3.1K

Warning(s): Explicit language, substance abuse, verbal abuse

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LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED

My dad always used to tell me, "wisdom is being young enough to get away with doing something stupid, but still knowing better."

I never paid any attention to it because I didn't have any stupid decisions lined up at the age of eight. Or thirteen. Or sixteen...I guess because I never experienced the art of bad decision making and their damnable consequences, all of that pent up stupidity broke loose when I was seventeen and didn't slow down until I was in my thirties.

Young enough to get away with doing something stupid…

"What the hell are you thinking, Duff?" His older brother yells.

I'm listening with my ear pressed to the door, waiting in the hallway outside of Duff's apartment...trying not to be too mortifiedly embarrassed. 

"Matt, it's—"

"—You're fooling around with a married woman, Duff, I know exactly what it is!" He yells. 

"They're getting divorced, Matt, alright? It's not like I'm-I'm just sleeping with her for the hell of it!"

"She's getting out of a six year relationship and getting a divorce at twenty-three, Duff, don't you fucking think the reasonable thing for you to do is back off and let her actually process that before having sex with her?!" 

"It's not like I'm taking advantage of her! I'm not! She loves me—"

"—She's lost! She's vulnerable! She's confused! She'd fall in love with any bone head that was a good guy right now!" He shouts at him. "What are you thinking, Duff? I mean, honestly, what the hell are you fucking thinking?" 

"I-I don't know!"

"What the fuck happens if the media gets ahold of this? If mom finds out that her son is getting hot n' heavy in cars in dark parking lots with a married girl!"

It's quiet for a second.

"I would explain that they're getting divorced, and—"

"—Bullshit. You know what she'd say? 'Married is married until divorce is finalized'." He states. 

"I think mom would be pretty understanding, Matt. I don't think she'd judge me like you are or try to talk me out of it."

"You sound like dad right now, you know that? Just fucking like him." He cuts. "And it's bullshit because I know you aren't anything like dad which is why I'm so stumped right now." 

"It's not that big of a deal." Duff argues. 

"Has she filed yet?" Matt asks next, not skipping a beat. 

"W-What?" 

"Has he filed yet? Have they filed yet?" 

"I don't know—it's not my fucking business." 

"So you're just sleeping with her and you don't even know if they're even splitting up at this point? Of course not because she probably doesn't even know what she wants!" 

"She told me she's gonna divorce him." Duff tells him, certainty in his tone. 

"Well, actions speak a hell of a lot louder than words, don't they?" Matt fires at him.  

...but still knowing better.

The door opens quickly and I pretend I wasn't listening, taking a few steps back as Matt storms out, giving me a second glance before walking down the hallway to the stairs.

I peek into the apartment to see Duff pacing, not paying any attention to me still being out here. 

I take a breath before heading after him. 

"Matt," I say when I get to the parking lot as he goes to his car, "wait."

"You don't owe me an explanation about it, sweetheart, it's between me and my brother." He tells me calmly, getting into his car. 

"Do you have a girlfriend?" I ask him, catching my breath, before he can close the door. 

He looks at me for a second. 

"Do you? Or a wife or a boyfriend or something?" 

"I have a girlfriend." He tells me. 

"How long have you been with your girlfriend?"

"Like, almost a year, now." He replies, not seeing the point of telling me this. 

"I bet you're really good to your girlfriend, Matt." I say, and he slowly catches on, sighing a little. 

"I try to be."

"Nikki wasn't good to me. For years. While he was killing himself with drugs, he was killing me with how he treated me and how he acted and when you really love somebody you sit and make excuses for them to make however they're killing you seem justified, and it's not. It never is." I explain, a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. "And you don't realize it until one day you're watching a woman you loved and trusted tell the world she's been having an affair with your husband. And then those rose lenses shatter and it's clear. You've spent years of your life giving everything to someone who would probably trade you for an ounce of smack if he ran out." I sniffle. "I really loved him, and you're right, I do still love him. I do. But I also know I'd rather die than willingly throw myself back into that hell. I haven't filed yet, but I am going to when he gets back from Japan. And I do love Duff, and he's a very, very good man. I don't know the situation with you guys' father and it's not my business, but whoever and whatever your dad is...your brother is the farthest thing from it. And I know you are, too, just from the way Duff's always spoke of you and your siblings. I'm sorry for the trouble, and I know you're just trying to look out for him, but you need to be proud of him. Not for what you saw earlier, but just for the fact he's a really great person in a city filled with selfish pricks. You need to be proud of him, and he needs to hear that you're proud of him." 

He lets out another breath, processing what I'm saying, nodding again. 

"Have a good night." He mumbles to me, shutting the door, and I let out a breath and head back upstairs, seeing Duff stopped pacing and eventually just plopped onto the couch. 

He looks at me when I come back in, his eyes sad, a solemn look on his face. 

"I'm sorry if you heard any of that." He says to me and I sit down on the couch beside him. 

"It's okay. He's just trying to look out for you, you know?" 

"I know but he doesn't even know the half of it." He sighs. "And I'm not acting like my dad because if I were I'd be sleeping with anything in a skirt and leaving my wife to deal with my eight kids. 

He tells me lowly, hurt in his voice. 

I try to find the humor in it, nudging his side. 

"You have a wife and eight kids?" I ask, smiling a little and he looks at me, his lips tugging at the corners. 

"No," his lips crack the smallest of smiles for a moment, "but even if I did I wouldn't treat them like shit." He adds. 

My hand comes up to discreetly brush against my stomach. 

"Your brother just wants the best for you." I tell him.

"Who cares? It's not his or anybody else's business." He replies, leaning back, rubbing his forehead. 

"I love you." I offer, hoping the words make him relax a little. 

He huffs out a breath, finally looking at me, his hand grabbing mine, pressing it to his lips.  

I did love him, just not the way I thought I did. I mean, when I was in love with Nikki, it was evident to everybody. I looked at him like I worshipped the ground he walked on—because I nearly did. With Duff, people had to ask me whether I really loved him or not. I always thought it was because we were moving so fast that it seemed abnormal, but in photos when Duff and I were together it was obvious he and I had no fucking clue what we were doing. We were happy with each other, and loved each other, but it was like we both subconsciously knew we weren't going to workout. At least we eventually accepted it. 

I could've divorced Nikki, eventually married Duff, anyway, and made the same bizarre decision that Tansy and Axl made to divorce twice before finally getting married a third time, years later, when their shit was together—because even if Duff and I did get married, we wouldn't have made it through the early 90s.

A couple mornings later, I'm going back to my house since the coast is clear from Nikki since he left for Japan. 

Checking the mail, I furrow my brows as I'm sorting through the bills, randomly seeing an envelope with my name on it. 

I take the mail inside and open my letter.

"What the hell?" I mumble, looking at a couple hundred dollar bills.

Then it hits me. 

"Hello?" Karen's voice on the other end of the phone, chipper as ever. 

"Why the hell am I getting sketchy money from Elektra?" I ask. 

"It's from 'Wild Side', Viv." She explains. "Because Nikki credited you as one of the writers, remember? They couldn't write you a check because it's under the table." She adds. 

"Under the table?" 

"To avoid—"

"—Well, I don't want it." I state. 

"Viv, you're getting a divorce. I'd keep every dime I could, honestly." She advises. 

"Karen, that's no…" I trail off, my mind running a mile a minute, piecing it together. "What time is it in Japan?" 

"Uhm, like, 2:00a.m. maybe?"

"Where are they staying?" 

"Vivian—"

"—I need to talk to Doc. Where are they staying?" 

I didn't want to talk to Doc. Don't ask me how I managed to harass my estranged husband from 16 time zones away, but, I did.

"You knew you were gonna divorce me, you piece of shit, that's why you credited me so I'd get money to cover divorce court!" I accuse viciously. 

"I don't fuckin' know what you've been smoking, Vivian, but you sound insane right now!" He fires back. 

"What I've been smoking? What the fuck have you been smoking, Nikki?! Huh?!"

"Have you been sleeping, Vivian?! You're being fucking psychotic!"

"I'll get on a flight and show you fucking psychotic, asshole, you set me up and then left the fucking country!"

"I credited you as a joke—I didn't think they'd actually take it serious and send you part of the royalties!" 

"Bullshit! You and Vanity planned for her to tell everybody about your bullshit with each other, knowing I'd leave you and file for divorce so you could be together!" 

"If I was that fucking mean, Vivian, I wouldn't have credited you so you wouldn't have gotten paid shit, you crazy bitch!" He insists. "And take your goddamn medication!" 

He hangs up and I roll my jaw before throwing the phone.  

I could've killed him had I felt like flying to Japan.

"Then he tells me I'm being psychotic!" I vent to Izzy over the sound of the vacuum. 

"Well, were you?!" He asks me and I cut the vacuum off. 

"No, I wasn't. I just called him out on his bullshit because he loves to think I'm stupid."

"What exactly did you say to him?" 

"That he credited me so I'd get money, that I'd probably put toward paying for a divorce."

"That's not too bad." He furrows his brows a little. 

"Exactly. Not to mention the fact I know he's still seeing Vanity and the whole plan was to tell the world they were engaged, knowing I'd leave him, so they could finally publicly be together." 

He looks at me funny, before asking, "d-did you tell him that?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, you lost me, Viv."

"What?"

"That's complete bullshit." He states. 

"How?" 

"How? Viv, the man is on a horse-sized dose of heroin on a daily basis—and the crack he would smoke with Vanity—do you think either of them had the energy or mental compacity to conduct a plan like that?" 

"They had the energy to fuck each other, so, my perception of how much they were able to do under the influence has no limits at this point." I argue. 

"I think pregnancy has you cuckoo  for cocoa puffs." He mumbles. 

"Izzy, I'm being serious." I hiss. 

"I am, too, Viv." He tells me. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be a complete asshole, but I just don't see Nikki high as a fucking kite coming up with this elaborate plan to leave you so he can be with his side piece while simultaneously deciding he wants you to be financially stable enough to withstand a divorce. He's a mean fucker. If he wanted to leave you, he would tell you to fuck off and file the same day without giving a flat fuck if you could afford it or not." He says. "And he's not seeing Vanity. There's no way she'd keep her mouth shut if they were still together." 

"She managed to keep her mouth shut about it for over a year." I grumble. 

"Yeah, because she was probably hoping he'd leave you for her." 

I stop what I'm doing and look at him. 

"Do you think he would've if she didn't tell everybody about it?" I ask next. 

"I don't know, Viv." He answers honestly. 

"Would you?" 

He glances at me, serious for a moment, before the hint of a smile tugs at his lips. 

"Never in a million years." He says and I smile a little. "Would you leave me for Duff?"

I pretend to think for a second. 

"Depends on who's better in bed." I reply with the response I expected from him and he just blinks at me. 

"Fuck you." He says and I laugh, eventually getting quiet, really thinking about what I said the last time we spoke. 

"I'm not gonna do that to Duff." I say to him and he just looks off for a second. 

"What made you change your mind?" 

"He really loves me, Izzy." 

"Yeah, he does." He shifts on his feet. 

"Do you think...like, if him and me stay together…" I don't have to finish it, he already knows where I'm going. 

"I think it'll be great for the first several months because it always is." Izzy replies. "But once the new wears off and things get more clear…" 

"...Yeah."

NIKKI 

"Jesus fucking Christ."

I beat the phone against the wall so the crazy bitch can't call here again. 

"Two o'clock in the morning and she's making a long distance call just to gnaw my balls over something I didn't even fucking do? And bringing Vanity back up? What the fuck's her problem? 

So, she got money for her credit, oh well. Plenty of people wouldn't necessarily mind seeing a couple hundred dollars for them in their mailbox but of course her ungrateful ass can't even be thankful for it." I hiss to myself pacing my room. "Cunt." I add, grabbing my bottle of wine from the TV stand, taking a big swig of it. 

"Fuck her." I state next. "Fuck her. Fuck her. Fuck her...fuck," I take my wedding band off and throw it at hard at I can at the mirror in the corner of the room, on the wall, "her!" I yell when it makes impact, taking a step back, and another, falling flat on my ass. 

I don't have the energy to get up, laying on my back and staring at the ceiling. 

Just like my dad. 

Just like my mom.

She just fucking left me...and I made her. 

"Fuck her." I refuse to admit aloud it's my fault because it's not.

Sure, I fucked Vanity, I cheated on her first, but that doesn't give her the excuse to do the same to me. 

"Fuck her." I repeat again.

I kept trying to convince myself I hated her. The truth was I hated myself, and was just trying to get that frustration out by turning on her. 

It was easy to do when I imagined her under Duff while I was across the world, suffering, telling myself repeatedly she didn't give a shit about me.

She was probably thinking of me under a random groupie the entire time I was gone, and I don't blame her. I stayed under random groupies any other time, so why would Japan be any different? Especially after she and I were separated and had no obligations to each other.

I didn't have sex in Japan, honestly. I couldn't. I was too fucked up. I would try to, but it just wouldn't go over too well. My body was give out from abuse, my hands were scabbed from picking, my skin ate up with track marks, my face was sallow. 

Fans would tell me they were worried I had the flu and I'd laugh it off and promise I was okay, then go to my room and stay locked in there until I absolutely had to leave. 

I was on smack, constantly, to the point I wasn't even high but just shooting smack as maintenance, which served as a good excuse when a big magazine reporter came to Japan to talk to me and the guys about the tour and when the topic of Vanity came up…

I try to keep from rolling my jaw as the loser starts his question cautiously, testing the waters to see if I'm going to cut him off and tell him to ask another question or fuck off, or if I'm okay with it. 

I remember Vivian's bullshit idea about me and Vanity wanting her to find out about the affair so she'd leave and we could be together. 

Why the fuck would I go through that much shit just to be with someone like Vanity? 

Leaving Vivian to be with Vanity is like leaving the frying pan to hop into the fire dick-first. 

With this in mind as, "so, who is she to you?" finally leaves his mouth in reference to Vanity, pen in hand, ready to jot my answer and spread it around America the second it leave my lips, I pretend to think for a moment, and finally reply, "she was my fiancée." 

[nihilnovisubsole]

Hey man, do you have any advice for describing body movement? I remember your Crowley and Agent 47 (using them as examples that stand out) both had very expressive and true-to-character body language, and I've honestly been killing myself for the past 2 weeks trying to figure out your style, but I either focus on the wrong body parts or choose wrong words - what do you consider to be focal points in mannerisms.. or maybe words/phrases to think about when describing a character's body language?

sorry to hijack your question, anon, but a quick order of business: i’ve noticed something about how i’ve been receiving asks lately. i only tend to get them directly after i post/reblog stuff, like people aren’t sure whether i’m around or don’t want to bother me [which some of them have said outright]. don’t worry about it! trust me, i lurk on tumblr all day. i’ll see it. i’m grateful for the distraction. just because i don’t hate writing doesn’t mean i don’t love to procrastinate.

anyway, body language. i think, without having seen your writing, you’re probably being too hard on yourself. if you’re for-real-for-real using my writing as a style reference, i’m very flattered. if you message me off anon, i’d be happy to chat about it. let’s also not rule out that my style might just be nonsense and you’re struggling to figure it out because it’s, well, nonsense. let’s not forget we’re human here.

but in general, it’s an inexact science - like many things with writing, you kind of just have to feel it out. i don’t follow any body language rules that i don’t make myself follow with the rest of my narration, too. “stay in active voice,” “stay in third-person objective as much as you can,” and “use a verb only once per scene unless you’re really struggling.”

if finding focal points on a character’s body helps you, let’s look at it that way. which body part is changing? what were they holding still, but are now moving? which part of their face is communicating their expression the most? i notice that people emote a lot in their eyebrows, which may be where eyes get their reputation for being “windows to the soul.” some people talk with their hands or interact a lot with the furniture around them. some people are more self-contained.

more importantly, what do you notice? what do you like to think about? your sense of human observation is what will make your writing yours. do you find yourself paying attention to people’s hands a lot? or maybe their posture? you’re not doing it wrong if you’re not doing it exactly like me.

if you want some more detailed thoughts, i’ve included one of my usual tl;drs below the cut. these are less a direct answer to your question and more ideas i have about writing body language in general.

1. acting helps

if you’re writing a character that somebody has portrayed onscreen, you’ll have a big advantage when you try to write how they move. skilled actors are able to give their characters a distinct physical presence, and it’s all just sitting there for you to study and work from.

this is the big reason i like modeling my characters on famous people. i mean, well, mainly i just love movies and daydreaming about what filmed versions of my stories would be like. but when you have that base, you can look up videos of them and analyze everything from their physical habits to the cadence of their voice. how do they sit? what kind of roles have they performed well in? certain people just fit into a time period or aesthetic like a glove. i was completely lost with marcus until i made the connection between him and henry rollins, and then it all fell into place. that stiff, over-disciplined posture and tamped-down nervous energy were perfect for a career military man with a lot of inner turmoil.

in crowley’s case, david tennant is a very physical actor. anyone who writes good omens fic has a treasure trove of lanky, rubbery body language to work with. [aziraphale, my favorite, is kind of the underdog here. i love michael sheen’s performance, but aziraphale’s whole thing is restraint, so i guess crowley ends up being the one who jumps off the page.] on the opposite end, agent 47 is extraordinarily still, with bursts of extraordinary brutality done with extraordinary precision. where crowley is swooshy, 47 is about no wasted movements. his body is wired to be a predator even when he’s off the job. i know it’s weird to compare a video game character to a live actor, but i assume 47 was mocapped, so just… bear with me.

once i have that frame of reference - or i don’t, and i have to come up with my own - i start to act out the character myself. i’ve talked about this before: i feel more comfortable writing a character when i can “embody” them, imitating their body language as i read their dialogue. i must look pretty eccentric when i do it, but it works.

P.S: of course you don’t have to limit yourself to trained actors. you can just as easily reach into your personal life. a lot of authors get incredible results from going back to their mother, or a friend, or some tragic first love.

2. simple, but specific verbs

i’ve heard that a lot of creative writing teachers find their students are timid about the strength of verbs. they’ll bend over backwards to “soften the blow” with gerunds or other unnecessary clutter because they’re not confident that they’ve chosen the right one. “he was sitting on the stump and starting to carefully carve a bar of soap when she came over and he pressed a kiss to her hand.” that kind of thing. my preference is, own it. choose a good verb and leave it naked. let it speak for itself. be declarative. be more forceful in your personality. fight. WIN!

for the record, i’m not averse to using a thesaurus. i think they get a bad rap because of writers who shoehorn in SAT words to make themselves sound more intelligent. did your character walk across the room, or did they pace? did they stroll? did they stride? did they lope? did they run, or dash, or scamper, or bolt? they all feel different, don’t they?

counterpoint: some people add flourishes to their body language so that you’ll really linger on the feature in question. the first thing that comes to mind is romance, where they want you to think long and hard about, i don’t know, the hidden strength in the love interest’s folded hands. this is… i feel… a matter of artistic discretion. it’s not my thing - i prefer to describe more neutrally - but many people love it. it’s something my producers at voltage lovingly bap me on the head about, because lovestruck games are all about zesty High Romance™ and i always wish i could play it down with my plain, unromantic prose. i used to rail away about it in other people’s work. now? whatever. i’m not here to judge you. writing is hard.

3. on the other hand, don’t be afraid to get colorful

if, in the process of writing, you discover some quirky figurative twist that nails dead-on what you’re envisioning, i say go for it. especially if you’re not trying to be wholly detached as a narrator. if i tell you a character “scooted across the bed like a seal,” it gives you a pretty clear mental image, doesn’t it?

if you have a distinctive voice - and i’m sure you do - i think these are the times where you, the writer, as a character are really going to come out. the reason we keep coming back to, say, mark twain is because nobody “prose talks” quite like he did. whether you like it or dislike it, it’s unique.

full disclosure: this is a potent spice, so you may want to use it in moderation. the most fanciful comparisons may work better in comedy, when you have a little more room to be out-there. my mother defines humor as “associating two unlike things in a way that highlights the absurdity of how similar they actually are.” it may not be a coincidence that a curious case of miracles and death and orchids are less serious stories, so i felt comfortable being sillier with my figurative language, and that may have made crowley and 47 seem more expressive. YMMV!

[icantmiss-blog]

mar.vel: k so clint is like a father figure to some of the heroes out there MCU: he’s literally a father to 3 kids

me, who has an au with a friend, where clint went off and adopted an entire orphanage of mutant children because “orphanages are illegal now, wtf”: not enough

[youtiaoshutiao]

heyoo ~ i've been thinking about subbing to practice my chinese, so i was wondering if you could give a lil insight to your experience with it. ie. what software you use (and whether or not you write a script of everything before putting it in said software), how you get vids from iqiyi (this one's stumping me the most lol), uploading process, etc. tysm for your time!

hihi anon, so sorry for getting to your answer late!!!

tbh I’m not that experienced with subbing + i sub at a snail’s pace, but let me try to answer with what I know!!

software:

k so when I was fansubbing ALSB with a bunch of other people, since we were doing it collaboratively we had to do it online. we used youtube (the add captions function) till we got copyright-striked, then we moved on to use dailymotion to add subtitles. in our team, we had an overall editor, and as our subs were getting stolen and uploaded onto various other websites, we would complete our subtitling as softsubs, and our editor would download them and then reformat into hardsubs so that the subs wouldn’t be stolen. this served us pretty well! but between the two, i find the youtube interface much easier to use when it comes to adding subs, as you can just click to create a subtitle and drag across the audio wave display which helps with timing, and type your line in.

moving on to me fansubbing exclusive memory now, i attempted to use youtube initally but they didn’t allow me to upload the videos, so i decided to try downloading subtitle programmes to use. currently, i use Subtitle Edit, which is free and is the easiest for me to use (i tried Aegisub which is quite popular but I just can’t really get used to the interface). My interface looks like this:

So I just click on ‘insert new subtitle at video position’ at the start of someone saying something, then drag the subtitle brackets to fit the timing on the audio wave display at the bottom of the screen, then type the line into the text box. I just translate and subtitle as I go along, line by line, rather than writing a script before that. On average it takes me about 8 to 10 hours to subtitle a 50 minute episode…. lmao……

(Lately, someone very kind on twitter has offered to help me time episodes too, so they create the file first with all the timings, and I just add the subtitles which saves much effort of adjusting the timing)

After it’s done, I save it as a .srt file, so it’s a softsub file that you can load with the video when you open it on most media players.

As I prefer to save my videos as hardsubs (meaning the subtitles are encoded into the video itself) so that it’s not as easy for people to rip the subtitles and upload them elsewhere, I then use VLC Media Player to encode the video. First I set the subtitles to a font/size/position I like so that it doesn’t block the Chinese subs and can be read easily: (the preferences will be saved so you just have to adjust once for like the first episode and it’ll work for the rest)

then click ‘Media’ > ‘Convert/Save’:

and then you can load up your video and subtitle files:

There’s a bunch of settings to fiddle with after that but I won’t elaborate because the post is getting quite long hehe you can PM me/ask me more if you do it via this method and need help! But generally after that, it takes about the video length time to process the entire vid, then viola, you have your subtitle-encoded video!

procuring videos:

*coughs awkwardly* uh… hehe, while i try to watch airing dramas on the youtube official channel/tencent/iqiyi if i can (i.e. if they don’t geo-restrict me) to contribute to viewership, I like to make the occasional gifset + i get a bit anal about the video quality of the dramas I download like they must be crystal clear 1080p (unless it’s some ancient drama from like the 20th century/the 2000s then the best video quality i can get!!) + no logos as much as possible. sooooo i don’t really download from tencent/iqiyi (anyway I don’t really know how to like it just ends up as some weird video file that can’t be watched anywhere else but on their own media player)…. you can pm me for the links i use to download stuff!

uploading videos:

i think dailymotion is a safe bet, but it’s been geo-restricting my videos for exclusive memory so I’ve just been relying on google drive… sigh. honestly the best option (imo) is if there’s an official youtube channel that has the episodes alr, like I wouldn’t mind being a little minion and helping to add subtitles on youtube, because it’s the most ‘legitimate’ and you don’t have to worry about the videos being copyright-striked/taken down haha. Sometimes I get a little anxious about the vids I uploaded…… Oh well.

-

that’s about all I can think of! do pm me/drop another ask or smth if there’s anything more you’d like to ask! jiayous for your subbing endeavours!!

[andnatiabrosca]

Small anxiety wants to add a disclaimer: I am not a prosthetist, I just studied biomedical engineering (primary to biomechanics) for a few years.

Okay, so, I've got a rough discussion built here, but ofc it's all fantasy and nothing /has/ to make sense.

So a lot will matter on where the amputation is, whether it is above or below the knee.

Below the knee prosthetics are a lot easier to manage and make functional, because there's only one joint to deal with (the ankle). This is what your design looks like, because you have the prosthesis starting just under the knee.

An above-knee prosthetic is more complicated as it needs to consider articulation of both the knee and ankle. I can write something up for this if you need an above-knee prosthetic design, but it gets a little...swampy...because I adore articulation designs.

If we're looking at below-knee prosthetics, we're going to be looking at a couple points:

1. Construction of prosthetic

2. Securing prosthetic to the body

3. Use of runes

Under the cut:

Construction of prosthetic.

Looking at a lower-leg prosthetic, the major issues are going to be articulation of the ankle joint and stability for use. Fixed ankle joints are more common in older prosthetics, naturally, so may be options for Lillian. However, these cause issues with body mechanics (gait changes), so an articulating ankle joint is preferred.

Fixed ankle joints can be single-body items, so like one block of wood for the entire prosthetic (think of a peg leg, for example).

Articulating ankle joints necessitate two bodies (to articulate with each other) with some form of joint between the two.

These can be gravity propelled - lift the leg, the foot drops - often with a spring or elastic "recall" or limiter that, well, limits how far the foot can drop.

Other articulating joints (I'm looking at an early design from around the American Civil War) utilize levers within the socket that actuate the "drop" when the remaining calf muscle flexes (making it bigger), via a bunch of metal and springs that interlock in a specific way. I can't tell much more from this from just the patent - I would need to look at the actual device, as I'm much better at hands on stuff.

Finally, on review of your design, your ankle moves on only one axis. This is good! Multi-axis movement is really hard to make work, especially in pseudo-mediaeval tech. It is not the natural movement of the ankle, though, which is something to remember.

The articulated front toes, I would expect to just be on springs of some sort, to maintain movement as simply as possible. Springs are generally to the "up" of the joint, to fight gravity.

Also, ankle joints often need adjusted, and often amputees can maintain them themselves; accessibility to adjusting bolts is a good thing. OH and feet can be interchangeable.

2. Securing the prosthetic to the body

Keeping the prosthetic on is a challenge, based on the actual body it is attached to, and has been solved in many different ways. Sometimes it's attached by a garter to a girdle of sorts. Modernly, it is carefully fitted and often screws or snaps into place. I've seen models that were worn like suspenders.

Based on your design, I think you might like an option from my interpretation of an archeological find. Small rods ascend from the prosthetic up the thigh; several cords run through the rods which are buckled or tied around the thigh to secure the prosthetic.

This was an initial concern when I saw your design: I think the straps likely will work, but with them simply "pinning" the metal bars to the thigh, rather than being connected in some way (perhaps thru loops in the metal, like belt loops on pants), I am not sure they'd work to hold the prosthetic up when lifting the leg.

On this same front, I wanted to mention sleeves. The residual limb (stump) is covered with fabric and padding to protect it from the prosthetic. I like your sleeve design. Modern sleeves often have pegs out the bottom to "snap" into the prosthetic. And a notice, because people often don't seem to realise: a good portion of the residual limb is INSIDE the prosthetic, to increase the adherence and control of the prosthetic.

3. Use of runes

Okay, so this is the third and final section. I've not thought too far on this, because I do not know much about runes/magic in dragon age. It gets too finicky for me and bothers me so much.

I would recommend a possibility for use of hale runes, in a replaceable context, to absorb some of the daily pain from using prosthetic. If you think a rechargeable rune would be possible, I'd recommend it. This judgement is from the hale runes giving X additional HP on a weapon, and how I would rule it if someone wanted it on my table. The idea being the rune would only be able to provide so much "padding" before it overloaded.

I don't know much else about runes, so that's all for that.

Recommended:

I'm not putting these in directly as they are, well, mildly disturbing at times (the really cool ones are definitely a little concerning) & this is already so very long so:

You may want to look up some early examples I found:

Capua Leg (wood coated in bronze. no longer have the original)

Hanger Leg (the American Civil War example)

Gillingham (leather fitted, interesting suspensions)

Please appreciate Lilian's compass rose tattoo that i will draw approximately never

[victorluvsalice]

. . .Nikal got a promotion while I wasn’t playing her. Come on, girl, you can’t just sneak that past me! *sigh* Well, she’s happy -- she’s a UFOlogist now, and unlocked some new build/buy stuff for the lab! So of course I had to expand it out and give it a bit of a makeover. :D The new door and window look great, and I like the new set-up, with the central computer stations and more wall space for their various pictures. And shelving to hold collectibles -- I really like those honeycomb shelves for in here. I should buy some more to display other stuff. It just adds to the SCIENCE! feel of the place, you know? (And, as you can see, I also bought the special stump to hold their bean collection outside. One day, I am going to find the final bean Emmett needs and grow that damn tree. . .)

Anyway, Emmett and Nikal ended up having a pretty quiet night in -- Nikal took care of all the needs the game had dumped in the toilet over the course of her workday, while Emmett attempted and failed to extract elements from one of his metals. Poor guy -- one day, it’s gotta work! I want to fill up that display stand just as much as you do. *pats* And then they had supper, and then Nikal went for an early sleep, while Emmett watched a movie and determinedly ignored the vampire standing on their doorstep. XD Yeah, one of the NPC vampires tried to knock on their door to gain access -- sorry, buddy, you’re not Vlad, so you can keep your butt outside. Emmett and Nikal have enough going on.

Next time -- even more goes on! Namely, we have a holiday, a glitchy end-of-summer bash --

Oh, and that damn UFO is back. Fun, right?