#if this what life without hallucinogenics then you can have it

[sanguineterrain]

your most recent jason fic has me in a bit of a chokehold and its bc you do so well with the dialogue and the banter!!

HONEYLOVE???#?*×& i need to be physically restrained (i appreciate your fics respectfully)

anyways, the fic has me thinking: imagine it's the same reader, but they know Jason's alive and they're back to being friends again (skipping over the drama of "YOU'RE ALIVE?!?" "yea lmao sorry ily tho") but there's this tension now. and since Jason's not working with a mask anymore (and he's slightly more vulnerable with r), it's him who gets flustered and it's r who does the flirting playful banter. maybe it ends with a kiss (˘ ³˘) ?

i'm such a sucker for a flustered Jason and there's something that tells me he gets really weak in the knees for someone he adores >:) anyways, you can always choose to write this or not but a very big, fat thank you if you do

the reaction pics are SO FUNNY i'm glad you enjoy this au <3

jason todd x gn!nocturne!reader. pt 3 of vigilante reader. this is basically reader just being feral over jason :> they speak for all of us, really. love confessions, tension, somewhat flustered jason, more sparring lols.

pt 1 / pt 2

****

Jason Todd is alive. Jason Todd is sitting two feet away, talking about a case.

You can't quite believe it. You went home two days ago and expected to wake up to the whole thing being a dream or the result of a Poison Ivy hallucinogen.

You can't stop staring at him. It's weird. You're being weird. But you can't help it.

Every time you see Jason, you want to look at him for as long as possible. You don't want to forget his face. This new face. Scarred and hardened, but still good. Still loved.

And, well. It's not like Jason's bad looking. Sure, you thought he was cute when you were teenagers. Resurrection makes the heart grow fonder, et cetera.

But now? Now, Jason makes your heart stupid. You can barely contain your desire. It's been two weeks since he revealed himself, and every time you see him, you have to dig your nails into your palms to keep yourself from showing him what he does to you.

Sometimes you think he sees right through you, but if he does, he never acts on it.

"—listening. Yo. Ground control to Major Tom. Are you with me?"

Jason waves a hand in front of you. You blink.

He's unmasked and in a Fleetwood Mac t-shirt and dark jeans—the most comfortable you've seen him, actually. His hair is still wet from his shower.

"Sorry," you say, suddenly zeroed in on the three droplets of water sliding down his neck. "I'm listening. Just looking at you."

"'Cause I'm so pretty?" Jason asks, batting his lashes.

You reach over without thinking. He freezes when you wipe the water off of his neck. Then you tuck a curl behind his ear.

"You should let me blow-dry your hair," you say, taking your time in dropping your hand. "It'll take ages to dry in this humidity."

Jason's eyes have gone wide. Pink splotches bloom on the apples of his cheeks.

"Uh." He swallows. You watch his throat bob. "Thanks. Maybe... next time."

"I'll steal Dick's. He's got the fancy sixteen setting one."

That makes Jason smile. "Hm. Some things never change."

His eyes crinkle at the corners. Fondness swells swiftly in your chest.

You stay like that for a moment, caught in each other's orbit.

Jason breaks it first, leaning away. "Right. You should probably get back to the Manor. Br–the others'll probably think I kidnapped ya."

You shrug. "I quit."

"What?"

"Bruce was getting on my last nerve. I can't work with someone like that."

Jason snorts. "Join the club. Look, I can't say I'm not thrilled that you're stickin' it to the old man. But if this is 'cause of me... I wouldn't be mad if you kept workin' with him. Honest. If that's what you wanna do, don't let me stop you."

"Jason." You rest your hand atop his. "I joined this life because of you. To honor you. You taught me how to help people, not Bruce. You taught me what it meant to be kind, to be a part of something bigger than myself."

To love, you don't say.

"I..." He shakes his head. "You became Nocturne for me?"

You close your eyes, then open them. You've cried so many times. You don't want to stay in your grief any longer. Not when he's right in front of you.

"When you died, I..." You take a deep breath. "Nocturne was something to ground me. I think Bruce recognized that. I think he knew how much you meant to me. He didn't have to take a chance on me, and I appreciate that he did. But I've realized that he doesn't know everything. Can't see what's right in front of him sometimes."

You squeeze Jason's wrist. He sighs.

"God, I'm sorry," he says.

"What're you sorry for, Jay? You came back. That's all I ever wanted."

Jason chews his cheek for a moment. Then he stands, chair scraping the floor.

"C'mon," he says.

You follow him to the living room. He moves the armchair, the couch, and rolls up the rug. He disappears down the hall and returns with two thick mats. He tosses them onto the floor.

"Uh..." you say. "What're you—"

"'M gonna show you what y'did wrong that night on the roof."

"Wow. Can't believe you're still single. Being reminded of my shitty combat skills gets me so hot."

Jason rolls his eyes. "Alright, smartass. Just 'cause you quit the Bats doesn't mean you won't go out there and keep helping people. I know you. The least I can do is pick up where Dickface left off in your training."

"The least you can do, huh? I think you just wanna pin me against the floor again," you say, smirking.

He clears his throat. "That—no."

"No?" You step closer and look at him through your lashes. You're so close, you're touching his chest. "What happened to tying me up 'cause I was out when I shouldn't have been? Isn't that another educational technique?"

Jason's throat bobs. "That wasn't—I was just saying things."

"Hm. That's too bad."

You skip right past him, onto the mat, and hold out your arms.

"Okay. Put the moves on me, J.P."

It takes Jason a moment to craft his usual poker face. When he does, he groans. "'M not an evil Gilded Age financier. Still don't like 'J.P.'"

"But you like me-ee," you sing-song.

He shrugs. "Sometimes. Until you give me a heart attack and run into a burning building."

"Wish I could've seen your face for that one," you say as you steel your shoulders and secure your feet.

"Better you didn't. I'm sure there was a vein or two popping outta my forehead." Jason cracks his neck. "Ready?"

"Lay it on me, big guy."

"You first. Attack me like you normally would."

So you do. You step forward and throw a punch similar to the one from your rooftop spar. Jason catches it, of course. But this time, he locks you in a hold. One leg is between yours, and your arms are twisted behind your back with one hand. Humiliating.

"Dude!" You wiggle. Jason doesn't yield. "Jay, come on. No petty criminal is gonna know how to do all that."

"I know. The point of this is for you to know how to use someone's size against them."

Jason presses his cheek against yours. You tamp down your shiver. You can hear his heartbeat.

"Take a breath," he murmurs.

You close your eyes and breathe. Jason's grip doesn't hurt, but you're frustrated by how predictable you are. How he knows your body. A part of you is missing in not knowing him the way he knows you.

"Alright," he says. "Think. What part of me is exposed?"

"Not the important parts, I hope."

You can feel his eyeroll.

"You're hilarious. C'mon, focus. What can you attack?"

"Um... your legs. You trapped my arms, but my and your legs are free."

"Good." The praise warms you. Being this close to Jason will never get old. "What else?"

"What else? Do you have a tail I don't know about?"

"Sucha wiseass," he says, mouth close to your ear. "Your head. You're still able to move your head, and you're close to my face."

"Yeah, I'm not headbutting you. Out of the kindness of my heart."

"I appreciate that, sweets. Sweep my leg."

So you do. Jason goes down easier than he normally would for your benefit.

"'Kay," he says, once again underneath you. Now you have his hands pinned. "Good. Remember what went wrong last time?"

"You bucked me off like a Clydesdale."

He smiles. "Yeah, okay. So what'll you do different?"

"I'm not in my suit," you say. "I don't have extra weight in my boots."

"No, but you don't need it if you keep my legs apart."

"So that was your plan all along, huh? Perv."

Jason coughs. "Ah-hum... I—c'mon, lock my legs."

You grin and spread Jason's legs, using your knees to keep him immobile.

And then you just stare. This time, it's not because you're thinking about the miracle of resurrection (though what a miracle it is). No, you're just thinking, once again, about how your best friend got really, stupidly pretty.

And how you really, stupidly wanna kiss him.

Jason still looks young, but his jaw is now defined. He's got a five o'clock shadow coming on. His lips are full and pink. Freckles dot his cheeks and nose. The nose that still has a bump from when he broke it during a fight with Riddler.

You remember how he played it off for weeks. Bruce said that didn't even cry. But when you asked if it hurt, Jason had said yes.

You wonder when the last time Jason cried was. You wonder how much pain he's suffered since.

You wonder if he knows he's got your heart in the palm of his hand.

"Hey," Jason says. His voice is soft. Shy. "I lose ya again?"

You shake your head. "No. Never."

"There somethin' on my face?"

"You're a lot to look at," you say. "Pretty, pretty boy."

That gets an undeniable reaction. Jason Todd has never been able to take a compliment. You've been exploiting that all day.

Perhaps you know him better than you thought.

He exhales sharply, like you've sucker-punched him. His eyes dart to you. Waiting.

"Your eyes are green," you say. "Like, mixed. Blue and green."

Jason nods. "I—yeah. The Pit. Changed 'em. Changed me."

You lean in. His gaze flicks to your mouth. You watch his Adam's apple bob in a hard swallow.

"They're still pretty," you say. "Always had pretty eyes, Jaybird."

"Heh, right. Even with this shit?" He points to the scar that crosses over his right eye, stopping at his lip.

You let go of his wrists—not that you were holding them that tightly anyway. If this were a real fight, you would've lost ten times over already. Considering how much of you is touching Jason, you happen to be winning hard.

You trace the puckered white flesh with your thumb. Jason flinches but doesn't pull away.

"Your face could never turn me away," you say. "Never."

He closes his eyes and shudders. "Y'too nice to me. Always so nice t'me. Even when we were fighting. Why're ya so good?"

Your lips are a hair from his now. "I don't know how to make it more obvious, Jaybird. I'm absolutely insane about you."

Jason's eyes fly open. He sees your mouth and his breathing increases. You smile.

"Yeah, want you bad. No place I wouldn't follow you. Do anything for you."

Jason makes a strangled noise in his throat. You grin.

"C'mon, big guy. I'm right here. Come have me, Jay. I'm yours."

Jason soars up and kisses you. Swallows you, really. His hands hold your waist for dear life. You wrap one leg around his.

You nip his lip. Jason whines softly. Delicious.

You grab his face, fingers tangling in his curls. Jason sits up, slotting you against him. One hand supports you on your back, the other on your side.

"God—" He breaks away, just barely. "You're way too good for me. Had sucha... sucha crush on ya when we were kids. Y'so sweet."

You blindly find his throat and bite, hard enough to leave a mark. Jason makes a guh sound. You lick the bite to soothe it.

"Missed you," you say into his skin. "Missed you so goddamn bad, Jason."

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah," he babbles, clinging to you as you kiss up his neck. "Yeah, missed you too."

"Not letting you go," you say, almost snarling. You're angry with want, angry at the world for keeping this from you for so many years. "It's you and me now, Jay, mkay? Gonna be mine?"

"Always been yours," he says, panting. Jason finds your lips again. The kiss is messy, uncoordinated. Full of love. "No one but you."

You haven't fallen behind. You're starting anew.

"Never been anybody but you."

[thatharringrovehoe]

I love 'stuck in a time loop' fics where the characters slowly fall in love with each other. But right now I'm thinking of Steve rushing downstairs wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and his left sock while someone pounds on his front door in the middle of the night. When he opens it, there stands none other than Billy Hargrove, sweaty and exhausted.

And carrying an axe.

Steve tries to close the door but Billy's already jammed his boot up against it, holding it open. Billy's voice is a croak in the otherwise eerily silent night.

"The first pet you ever had was a cat named Sampson. You found him in the alley behind Melvald's and hid him in your room for six weeks before your mom found out and gave him away while you were at school. You were eight."

Steve is sure there's smoke billowing out of his ears from how hard the gears are turning in his brain. But try as he might, he has absolutely zero fucking clue what to do with this information. Somewhere in the house an antique clock strikes midnight.

Billy flinches, grip creaking around the axe propped up on his shoulder.

Steve chooses his next words very carefully.

"While I'm really glad you and Tommy are swapping childhood stories about me, it's getting late-"

"-And you have a shift in the morning. Yeah. I know. I also know that in the past one hundred and fifteen days you've never once even made it till morning. So I'm here to keep you from becoming monster chow and then maybe my fucking life can go back to normal"

Billy's shouting by the end. Steve's heart thunders in his chest.

you've never once even made it till morning

monster chow

The image of a demon falling out of the Byer's ceiling in a cloud of plaster and rot bubbles up with a growing panic. Billy's tapping his fingers anxiously around the handle of his axe, eyes darting to the side every now and again like he expects something to be there. Steve swallows down a hysterical laugh with the thought that the best case scenario right now is Hargrove took some type of hallucinogenic drug and drove to Steve's house in the middle of the night with a weapon.

The worst case scenario...

An owl hoots in the darkness and Steve feels like he might vomit with the surge of adrenaline. A stray breeze rustles the branches of the forest around them.

What if it's a prank?

God please let it be a prank

"All my friends knew about Sampson. Hell, the lunch lady knew about him."

Billy's jaw tics. "Look, I'm trying to keep us both alive so would you just shut up and let me in? The last place I wanna die is bumfuck Indiana."

He moves to shoulder past but Steve doesn't let him through. From this close Steve could count all the freckles on Billy's nose, air tense as a piano wire. Billy stares back, gaze wild.

Desperate

And one hundred days is a long time to get to know a person.

"I'll let you in. But-!" Steve's hand shoots up to press back against Billy's chest as he attempts to shove past him. His heart beats like a hummingbird under Steve's palm. "You have to make me believe you."

Billy breathes a harsh sigh through his nose, leveling a glare at Steve. The axe thankfully does not lodge itself into any part of Steve's person. For now.

"What do you want from me Steve?"

A coyote howls in the distance. Guttural and wrong. Chills erupt down Steve's spine.

"Tell me something I've never told anyone. Something only I would know."

An expression Steve can't parse flashes across Billy's face. Whatever it is it looks painful. Sad, but not for himself. There's more rustling out in the woods. This time without a breeze.

"You're adopted"

It's like a punch to the sternum.

Steve lets him in.

.

[odditycircus-2002]

Mortal Kombat 1 Intros with Medusa!Reader Part II

Li Mei

Y/N: Are you sure we cannot keep the traitor as a lovely ornament?

Li Mei: Reiko has to face trial like anyone else, Y/N.

/

Y/N: I still regret that I could not have done more for Sindel.

Li Mei: I know it pains you, but no one is accusing you of doing nothing.

/

Y/N: I am not sure I can give a testimony without trying to kill Shang Tsung on sight.

Li Mei: Justice cannot function properly unless you follow it thoroughly.

/

Y/N: I hope you're still not holding it against Syzoth for disturbing the lantern festival.

Li Mei: After everything he's done for the Empire? I'll let him off with a warning this time.

/

Li Mei: It is thanks to you that most of Sun Do's constables survived our battle with Shao and his allies.

Y/N: I am glad to hear they made full recoveries.

/

Li Mei: You must put your faith in justice.

Y/N: There is no such thing as it, the best I could hope for is revenge.

/

Li Mei: It still baffles me that you managed to slip away from me the first time you came to the palace.

Y/N: What can I say? I've always been the slippery type.

Kitana

Y/N: I am presuming that Li Mei wishes to speak with me about slipping hallucinogenic mushrooms into the rebel army's food supply.

Kitana: You did what now?!

/

Y/N wistfully: It seems like only yesterday to me that I helped bring you into the world.

Kitana: Time tends to fly by like that, Y/N.

/

Y/N surprised: I understand honoring Baraka, but Mileena wants to do the same with me?

Kitana: You have served Outworld with as much determination and loyalty as any honored soldier, Y/N

/

Y/N: I am truly sorry I couldn't save your mother.

Kitana: My family and I know more than anyone how hard you try to keep her alive.

/

Kitana: By the gods, NO! That is absolutely a cruel idea.

Y/N: How is throwing food that is secretly explosives worse than Shao weaponizing Onaga?

/

Kitana: Perhaps you should stop coming to the strategy meetings...

Y/N: Is this about my latest suggestion?

/

Kitana: You have a sister?

Y/N: Yes, but we're not as close as you and Mileena.

Liu Kang

Liu Kang: Even though he proves to be resilient, I’d be wary of Baraka loosing control.

Y/N: Have you forgotten I too was once a beauty now a turned beast?

/

Liu Kang: Baraka and his fellow Tarkatans view you as a beacon of hope for all you’ve done for them.

Y/N: Only because NO ONE elssse would help those poor unfortunate soulsss!

/

Liu Kang: Do not become tempted by Shang Tsung’s Well of Souls.

Y/N: If you had any chance of saving the one you loved from a cruel fate, wouldn’t you take it? /

Y/N: I asked you to kill me in a previous timeline???

Liu Kang: Kronika made it so you cannot go on without Shang Tsung. /

Y/N: I was a dangerous enemy in a past timeline, why didn’t you erase me for good?

Liu Kang: Because I had hoped that with better circumstances, you’d turn out kinder.

/

Y/N: I am grateful that you didn’t have me predestined to marry Shang Tsung

Liu Kang: As am I that you had an actual choice to choose who to love.

/

Y/N: I hope you do not expect I pray to you, not when I have to rely on myself to heal others.

Liu Kang: No, I do not need any of the sort, Y/N.

Kiu Liang (Scorpion)

Y/N: For freeing me from Shang Tsung and Quan-chi, I am in your debt till death.

Kiu Liang: I could not stand idly by and let the Sorcerers continue to use you.

/

Y/N: Thank you again for those earthrealm medical books you've gifted me.

Kiu Liang: May they prove to greatly help your cause.

/

Y/N: Truth be told, I envy that you and your new bride have life to look forward to together.

Kiu Liang: I understand why your heart would be in such turmoil.

/

Y/N: My venom is more than strong enough to overpower yours.

Kiu Liang: But can you take the force of my sting?

/

Kiu Liang: Baraka and the rest of the Colony are fortunate to have you as their healer.

Y/N: As is the Shirai Ryu for having you as Grandmaster.

/

Kiu Liang: I promise you, my clan and I will ensure that Bi-han is tried for his crimes-

Y/N angrily hisses: I do NOT care that he'sssss your brother! He must be cut like the tumor he is for hisssss attack on the colony!

/

Kiu Liang: You taught Outworlds High Mage hydromancy?

Y/N: Only the basics. He bringsssss me great shame for abusing the magic he's learned.

Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)

Y/N: Kuia-Liang will be disappointed that he's not the one who finished you.

Bi-Han: He will be disappointed to know you died thinking you could.

/

Y/N: You are plague to everything you touch.

Bi-Han: Only to those who would stand against me or my clan.

/

Y/N angrily and hissing: You killed my patientssss!!!

Bi-Han: I did them a favor by releasing them from their misery.

/

Y/N: Taking Shang Tsung's offer was a foolish mistake.

Bi-Han: You're right. I do not need his sorcery to bring power and glory to my clan.

/

Bi-Han: What manner of illness did you give my Lin Kuei, witch?!

Y/N patronizingly: I thought your clan was supposed to be stronger.

/

Bi-Han: I know your cold blood will stand no chance against my cryomancy.

Y/N: Actually, I ssstill remain warm-blooded.

/

Bi-Han: Your hydromancy has no chance against my cryromancy.

Y/N: Have you forgotten what ice is made from, Bi-han?

Rain

Rain: Why did you never teach ME how to control blood?

Y/N: I wished to spare you of the magic’s cost of madness.

/

Rain: I will always regret my crimes against Seido

Y/N: If you’re truly remorseful, then their ssssouls shall haunt you till the day you die. /

Y/N: I did NOT teach you how to control water, sssso you could dishonor me or your family!

Rain: I know how deeply I’ve shamed all of you. /

Rain: With the magic you know, why did you never pursue becoming High Mage?

Y/N: To avoid being overwhelmed with ambition asssss you were. /

Y/N: Your once cleansing water are ssssstained with the blood of Seido’s victims.

Rain: It is something I can never truly wash away. /

Rain: I have surpassed your water magic!

Y/N: How bold to assume that I’ve taught you EVERYTHING about water’s capabilitiessss.

/

Y/N: You want to come with ME into the Kytinn Hive???

Rain: So I can finally start my penance.

[howi99]

A story of a Knight and a Yokai (part 4)

RK: *looking around the gardens* The red king would have been jealous, seeing how well kept this place is.

???: *appearing behind him* Thank you. At least someone is appreciative of my hard work.

RK: *turning around to see a woman in a maid outfit, with silver hair* ... *Sigh* I assume you must be Sakuya? Your boss told me that you would probably be here at this hour.

Sakuya: And here i am. *Looking at him* You don't look like the kind of person my master would take interest in. Can i ask what you might be doing here?

RK: I'm searching for a friend, or at least what i think is my friend. Remilia said you might have seen her yesterday.

Sakuya: Ah yes, the "creature" who keeps eating my rose. *Sigh* I wouldn't mind it so much if it wasn't such a pain to tend.

RK: *chuckle* If it's any consolation, she wouldn't eat them if you were not tending to them properly.

Sakuya: *chuckling too* Well, at least i'm getting complimented for my efforts. Though i would still prefer that she wouldn't destroy hours of work.

RK: *nod* Don't worry, once i find her she will not be a problem. In fact, she probably already moved on from here. She prefers forested areas.

Sakuya: *almost laughing* Pfft, the way you talk of her, she sounds more like an animal then a yokai.

RK: ... She is? She's a Jackalope.

Sakuya: *round eyes* ... Eh?

RK: A big rabbit, with antlers? You never saw one?

Sakuya: *questioning look* N-no? I knew the thing i saw had antlers, but i assumed she was a Yokai of some sort. *Thinking* A Jackalope... That would explain the strange marks on the ground i saw yesterday.

RK: Can you show them to me?

Sakuya: *shaking her head* I'm afraid i already took care of them. But i can give you a description of them.

RK: I see... *Nod* That will have to do.

Sakuya: They were near the fountain, they didn't look like rabbits footprints, but more like trails.

RK: *sigh* She must be suffering from that damn poison... *Shake his head* Have you seen where the trace where going?

Sakuya: *thinking* If i remember correctly, they were going east of here. On the other side of the lake lay the forest of magic. I... *She looks at him* Wouldn't recommend a human to go there. Or anyone, for that matter.

RK: Hm? And why's that?

Sakuya: The forest is dangerous. Hallucinogenic mushrooms, powerful ones at that. They are very dangerous to inexperienced explorer.

RK: ... And?

Sakuya: ... Uh? I don't think you understood what i just said.

RK: *shaking his head* I lived most of my life in a place where nothing made sense. Hallucinogenic mushrooms? At worst, i'll feel like home and at best, they won't even work against me. Or Juniper, for that matter.

Sakuya: ... *Suspicious* Are you... Human?

RK: *shrug* Maybe. I can't be sure, since i should have died long ago. *Smiling* I'm probably more dead than alive, since i'm pretty sure my semblance is all that keeps me alive.

Sakuya: ...?

RK: To simplify, let's say it's my innate ability. I think? *Scratching his head* Your world is so different than mine.

Sakuya: Your world? Aren't you from earth?

RK: *look at himself then back at her* with what i have gathered, do i look like someone from the 21th century to you? *Hit his plastron* That's made of metal that doesn't even exist in this world or earth.

Sakuya: ... Are you insane?

RK: Honestly? Probably, yes. Just... Not the same "insane" as you think. I saw many things, including but not limited to an evil immortal witch, a not so evil ghost who keeps changing body without his or the host consent, creatures made of pure darkness and malice and a bunch of talking animals, dolls and whatnot... I also fought a dragon.

Sakuya: ... *Sigh* I shouldn't believe you. But you sound so certain of yourself, i know what you are saying is true.

RK: So, any recommendations? A map of some kind?

Sakuya: Well, i don't have a map, but if you follow the paths inside the forest, you should be able to find an antique shop owned by a man called Rinnosuke Morichika.

RK: The clients must be plenty.

Sakuya: *chuckle* It is a weird place for a shop, yes. Now, will that be all? I need to get back to work.

RK: *smiling* I should be good to go. Can you tell your master that Juniper shouldn't be a problem anymore?

Sakuya: *inclining her head* I shall tell her when my work is done.

RK: *nod* Thank you *leave*

Sakuya: *thinking* Now that i think about it, didn't one of the fairies say she saw glowing red eyes?

_________________

Meanwhile, at the hakurei shrine

Rumia: *looking at the strange creature in front of her* Now, what might you be?

Juniper: 🐰

Rumia: Hm....

Juniper: 🐇 *approach her, sniffing her clothes*

Reimu: *point to Juniper* Jackalope! It's a jackalope! Like the one from mister knight stories!

Juniper: *tilt her head, seeming to recognize what she was talking about*

Rumia: *crossing her arms* Now that you mention it... He said her name was Juniper, right?

Reimu: *Nodding her head excitedly* Yes! He said Juniper was a good girl!

Juniper: *seems to appreciate the kind words*

Rumia: *scratching the back of her head* Jeez, sorry but the knight left this morning. He's supposed to come back later, would you like to stay with us in the meantime?

Juniper: 🐰

Rumia: I'll take that for a yes.

As she said that, a portal open near them, letting out Minako and Yukari

Reimu: Mom! *Hugs Minako's legs* Look look! It's Juniper!

Minako: *taking Reimu in her arms, hugging her back* Ah ah, yes! Then i assume the rusted knight is back, yes?

Rumia: *shaking her head* No? Wasn't he supposed to be with you?

Minako: Weird, he was supposed to go find her at the manor. They said they saw something with antlers near it.

Rumia: *looking around* Well, either he's the best player of hide-and-seek, or she came here by herself.

Yukari: Oh my. And here i thought i could talk with the man i saved. *Sigh* Had i known, i would have stayed home.

Minako: *smiling* As if you had anything better to do! *Thinking* But if Juniper is here then what was at the manor?

Yukari: *looking just a bit worried* I know that something else came through the barrier at the same time as those two. However, it didn't come from the same place as both of them. I simply assumed it might have been a lost soul, but now that i think about it, the timing is off.

Rumia: And you didn't take the time to go check it?! What are you, senile!?

Yukari: *pouting* I'll have you know that i'm a perfectly healthy young maiden! I do NOT suffer from any kind of memory loss!

Reimu: *starting to get teary eyes* D-does that mean mister knight is in danger?

Minako: *panicking* N-no! Of course not! Remember those stories he spoke of? He's gonna be fine *look at Rumia* Right?

Rumia: *nods* Y-yeah! No way he's in danger!

___________________

Return to Jaune POV

RK: *looking at the marking on the ground* ... Tsk, there's no way that's Juniper. Stupid false hope. *Look at the forest* Then again, i did say i was going to fix the problem. And whatever it is *look at a broken tree* It's bigger than a deer. *Sigh* What a pain...

As he enters the forest, a black feather falls behind him. Dissipating as soon as it touched the ground.

[allwormdiet]

Interlude 6

Justice for Paige McAbee

This is. Fucking evil. Chaining a woman up like an animal and parading her around the courtroom. Like what the shit.

Utterly fucking barbaric

Brief detour I guess to provide exposition on the existence of rogues

Going from heartbreak to outrage this quickly in succession was some fucking whiplash when I first read this arc, fucking tell you what

Actual torture.

The inhumanity of this entire arrangement is borderline sickening to see play out. What an utter failure of the system

Oh hey you two

I can see how people would get. Touchy. About a power like that. But touchy enough for a life sentence is fucked.

Also, credit where it's due, Bakuda's ingenuity in this situation is still pretty well on display

Bakuda is playing with fucking fire here, and not just pyrokinesis, har har

Okay you know what, callousness and cruelty aside, this is a fucking badass display from Bakuda.

Okay so what the fuck is up with the ABB capes, actually. Bakuda built a bomb that would've devastated, like, the entire Eastern Seaboard, and probably even further beyond that into the west and north. I'd say that she was slumming it as part of a gang that's only got a minor presence in one city and a few neighboring areas, but honestly Lung feels just as cracked.

Dude basically only fights harder over time, he would've taken down everyone in that warehouse if Skitter didn't make a Hail Mary play with Newter's hallucinogen. Kaiser, Sundancer, Bitch, Newter, and one or both of the twins would've been fucking smoked, maybe Labyrinth if Coil's guys didn't bother to pull her out. This dude could've been putting up massive numbers throughout his entire reign as the head of the ABB.

So what the fuck was he doing instead? If he's a gang boss with this kind of power at his fingertips, where's the fucking appetite that should come with it? Skitter didn't even think he was an A-lister before they fought and he proved her wrong, she thought he was like, a step above Uber and Leet? In what world does that misconception become publicly accepted?

I'd say this is gonna bug me, but uhh, Lung's going to the fucking oubliette to end all oubliettes so it's a bit of a moot point, isn't it

Like, okay. Fucked up, sure thing. But this is still such a massive injustice; it was a one-time thing and she couldn't have possibly known if this was the first time it ever happened. You could've demanded training for her power, if nothing else, but you throw her into Hell on Earth. Fuck me.

This is a level of determination that I think has so far gone unmatched in this story. Like, I'll give Taylor time to pull off something even more outrageously self-harming for the sake of an objective, it's her story after all and there's a lot of words left, but Bakuda really is something else.

Of course that "something else" does include being an abrasive piece of shit, but hell, she's a parahuman, I don't think I've met one of them that's without some kind of baggage.

Maybe there's a world out there where after her trigger event she comes down on the other end of the hero/villain line. Bombs aren't exactly heroic but she could build non-lethally for standard use and save the big damage for shit like Endbringers. Plus the obvious potential of having a bomb Tinker as an EOD expert, that would be game-changing.

She'd still probably be an asshole, but like. You don't have to be pleasant to be a hero, we know that one for sure.

Alas.

I was torn between wanting Paige to get out of this and wanting Lung and Bakuda to get what's coming to them.

Hi Dragon, wish you weren't the warden of the worst prison I've ever heard of in my life, see you later in the story maybe

Also. Six hundred prisoners in the Birdcage. Not counting whoever's died. That's a fucking lot of them.

Wait what the fuck happened to Newfoundland

Oh, Dragon hates this too, well there's a small fucking mercy.

Also, "the hole the men opened into the women's half of the Birdcage" is a fucking alarming phrase. We're just fucking letting anything fly down here, huh? Jesus Christ.

Dragon's description of the Birdcage's security measures is. Fucking extreme. This is a fucking nightmare, an absolute cavalcade of human rights abuses that I can't even begin to fathom.

Have children been born in the Birdcage? If not, who's preventing that? Is everyone being covertly dosed with contraceptives to keep them from having children? Do the block leaders have people on hand to deal with abortions? How do you handle dietary restrictions? Religious restrictions? What if it turns out you were wrongly convicted?

Literally everything about this place is a horror show. Every implication is dark as fucking Vantablack.

Gross

I guess this is what passes for society down here, huh

Well shit, I guess I'm glad Bakuda has some enrichment at least.

Okay, so, Marquis is a supervillain who's taken over a cell block, and he's a Brockton native invested in learning what he's missed out on

...Easy money says he's Amy Dallon's old man.

Not entirely shocked that Lung's spent time behind bars, though I assume that was before he got his powers.

And uhh. I'm gonna be real, I feel kinda bad for Bakuda here. Like she's a piece of shit, obviously, but for all her insults she seemed happy to work for Lung, enough that she made a point of freeing him from the Protectorate and putting him back in charge when she could've stayed in charge, taken advantage of his arrest and done whatever she pleased

and now he's gonna kill her. Because she insulted him. Because it'll make life in prison easier.

I mean, shit. I do not like Bakuda's odds in this exchange. It probably doesn't take a lot for Lung to have her debilitated, and from there the kill is even easier. Maybe he dies too, but I don't expect that to be the case.

Current Thoughts

Justice for Paige McAbee

The Birdcage is, I think, a very reasonable simulacrum of Hell, and its very existence probably gives in-universe philosophers, ethicists, defense attorneys, and human rights activists fucking hives.

Also, justice for Paige McAbee

I'm not going to mourn Bakuda, but maybe I'll mourn the version of her that could've been in a kinder world.

Last thing, just in case we weren't clear:

Justice for Paige McAbee

[illwilledomen]

My Piglin Headcanons !

Piglins have a lot more body fat than humans as they often must go without food for long periods. This does not mean they are just blubbery however, as piglins have considerably more muscle mass as well, which makes them considerably stronger and more resilient in their environment.

Their large ears help dispel heat to keep cool, and also to detect prey and other piglin over vast distances.

Similar to how some humans developed yodeling to communicate over long distances, piglins have developed various vocal techniques to herd strider and hoglin and signal to other piglin tribes or bastions over the Nether’s large, precarious mountain ranges and chasms. Because it is an enclosed space, the sound can echo off of the walls and travel a great distance.

Piglin settlements and communes are often found nestled in valleys or banks, which are often cooler and shielded from the lava “oceans” heat. Their culture is entirely dependent on crimson fungus, strider and hoglin meat, and so they often set up camp near crimson forests.

Due to there being very few true plants able to survive in the nether, piglins cannot digest most vegetables from the Overworld. Their stomachs are evolved to mostly digest meat. Travelling groups of piglins often eat dense, highly nutritious foods similar to pemmican, but made from nether ingredients.

Piglin have a high resistance to multiple hallucinogenic chemicals produced by Nether fungus, having a far less potent reaction than one would see in a human. They are also immune to multiple toxins found in the flesh of native nether life forms, such as magma cubes.

Recreational hallucinogenic substances are very important to piglin culture, and has influenced their mythology, medicine and philosophy.

Inspired from the Farmers Respite mod, an expansion to farmers delight, coffee beans are one of the few native but rare plants of the nether. Due to this, piglins are the inventors of coffee, which helps keep them active and alert during long treks and hunts.

Like dolphins, when piglins sleep, a part of their brain remains awake. For unknown reasons which baffle Netherologists, entities which enter full REM sleep while in a dimension they do not originate from have a very high chance of spontaneous combustion. Due to their Overworld ancestry as wild pigs millions of years ago, Piglins have had to evolve to combat this.

Piglins have three main universal forms of language. Vocal language, which is both talking and non-speech vocalizing. Piglin sign language - which is used with extradimensional beings such as humans or Endermen as neither can physically speak piglin very well, as well as deaf or mute piglins. And finally, their written word, which consists of symbolic hieroglyphics. Stone tablets are typically used, and smaller tribes or communities may not use it.

Bastions are vastly different to other piglin communities, as they are closed religious groups. They only allow outsiders (piglin or otherwise) if it is by blood or formal invitation by a religious leader. Piglin of the bastion may be hostile toward humans and players, as humans have stolen from them in the past during tensions between piglins and human explorers, which occurred before the fall of the ancient humans.

Nearly all Piglin worship their goddess, a golden sow, which represents different things depending on what tribe you’re talking to, but usually power and honor. This may stem from the fact female aligned piglins are larger and thus considered more powerful in their society.

This is why gold is very important to them. Contrary to outdated beliefs held by old school Netherologists, gold is not a piglin currency - piglins trade goods for other goods amongst themselves, not with currency but with produce (there’s probably a word for this but idk it. Things don’t have fixed prices, you can buy a basket of mushrooms and pay that with some hoglin meat yk what I’m saying). Gold is rather a sign of respect and allyship, hence why if one wears it you will be allowed near hunting parties who may share some of their resources with you.

Piglins have a peculiar ability to detect disturbances in a soul. For example, they will be heavily psychologically affected (moreso than others) by soul sand, and may be wary of players (humans that have altered souls & can respawn) as opposed to normal humans (when they die, they die.)

Piglins raise their piglets communally and tribes are often led by an older female. Piglins, like all minecraft creatures, are intersex, and, again, like all other minecraft creatures, can alter their hormone levels naturally - a piglin that decides to remain with high levels of estrogen is what I mean when I say a female piglin.

[ladyylavenderrr]

Garak and Psychosis

Very self indulgent little post about instances of Garak displaying behaviors that read to me (or at least can be read) as a symptom of psychosis. I will almost certainly miss some, but I want to compile this together for myself. I completely see Garak as having some kind of psychotic disorder. Most of these examples will come from A Stitch In Time, but we have some from the show as well. Also keep in mind that many of these could be interpreted in a myriad of ways, not just as a psychotic symptom. I’m not claiming any of this is definitive proof or anything of the sort, and Garak’s past as a spy (a profession that by nature demands a lot of paranoia) certainly complicates all of this. That’s not to say this an either-or situation. He can be both psychotic and a former spy and in fact the effect both would have on the other would be quite interesting, as laid out in this post

Again, all of what I say can be interpreted in many different ways, but I just want to have it all written down in one place. Psychosis can manifest in very different ways for different people. Some people might be debilitated by their symptoms, struggling to function without assistance. Others might function just fine most of the time and only experience relatively mild symptoms, though the associated distress isn’t any less important.

Season 6, episode 5 “Favors The Bold”. Garak insists Julian examine him for a some kind of mind reading device put in his head by Starfleet Intelligence. Despite Julian telling him there’s nothing out of the ordinary in his head, Garak doesn’t believe him and insists he keep looking. Came off as a delusion to me, especially since he remains convinced despite evidence proving his delusion false.

Season 4, episode 21 “For the Cause”. Upon meeting Ziyal, Garak becomes convinced that she wants to hurt and kill him. I wouldn’t say her being Dukat’s daughter is enough evidence for the average person to be this worried. In fact, Quark even calls him out on his paranoia and we get this exchange.

GARAK: I was going to cancel. I've had visions of Ziyal presenting my head to her father as a birthday gift. 
QUARK: That's a little paranoid, wouldn't you say? 
GARAK: Paranoid is what they call people who imagine threats against their life. I have threats against my life.

To be fair, Kira warning him to stay away from Ziyal gets him to calm down a bit, or maybe not because he still seems quite apprehensive when he actually meets Ziyal, still afraid she might want to hurt him.

Now to A Stitch In Time.

Part 1, Chapter 7. As Garak helps Parmak dig people out of the rubble of a bombed Cardassia (highly stressful and traumatic situation), he seems to hallucinate a figure. You could read this as metaphorical, but he reacts to and tries to interact with the figure in the real world, which doesn’t come off as a metaphorical way of describing his despair to me.

“I have never lived with despair, Doctor, the way I live with it now. It's almost like a phantom companion that shadows me and casts doubt on whatever I do.

"Why save him?" it asks, as we remove a young boy from the rubble of a school. "You're only keeping him alive for a future of privation and chaos. Wouldn't it be more satisfying to join the burial unit?"

I want to scream at this phantom, to shut it up. Once I turned around suddenly and raised my hand to strike it. When I realized it wasn't there, it was too late. Everyone in the unit was looking at me; I'm sure I must have looked like a madman.”

After this, Parmak gives Garak some pills. He only calls them “relaxants” so it might be a sedative of some kind, but I’m not sure. Either way, Garak hallucinates again after swallowing the pills, panicking as he sees those Cardassian orphans from the episode “Cardassians”. I doubt the pills are hallucinogens, both because Parmak specifically gave them to Garak after witnessing him hallucinating and is seemingly trying to stop that, and because they speak about the hallucinations like an unintended side effect ("I'm afraid they don't react well with me," I explained. “I understand," he said.)

Certain drugs making psychotic symptoms worse isn’t uncommon.

Part 1, Chapter 6. As Garak and the rest of his group in Bamarren are forced to stand still in the heat for what might be hours as part of a training exercise, he begins to hallucinate multiple figures, including his parents (it’s interesting that one of the figures seems to be Palandine, even though neither we nor Garak have been introduced to her yet). If this were the only instance of Garak hallucinating in the book, I wouldn’t assume he has a psychotic disorder since this example has obvious an explanation outside of a mental health issue. People are known to experience hallucinations when suffering from heat stroke. However I’m putting this example here simply because it’s part of a larger pattern of Garak hallucinating multiple times throughout the book. It’s also interesting to note that this scene happens right before the scene of an adult Garak hallucinating that figure with Parmak.

Part 2, Chapter 18. Garak seems to hallucinate as he looks at the frieze. He sees the frieze move and the people painted on it move as well. He thinks some of the figures are he and Palandine but isn’t sure.

“The frieze now began to move in the upward direction. I was too amazed to ask if this was truly happening. People would disappear at the top while more would enter from below.

Certain faces were recognizable, but I didn't know why. Something was also rising within me, an energy moving up my spine to my head, and I began to feel dizzy. Two of the figures could have been Palandine and me, but I couldn't be sure. I was almost nauseous with the energy surging within me. The figures completed the cycle and disappeared at the top. The frieze stopped moving.”

This one can be interpreted in a more metaphorical way than some of the others, but like I said, it could also be another symptom of this potential psychosis.

I’m sure I’ve missed some examples, but you get my point.

[themcomicsofficial]

My own Amazing Digital Circus idea.

Since we're aware of the company, C&A the company responsible for creating the video game.

However, I had this idea on my head since it's pilot came out--so I'm going to bring here to you!!!

The origins of C&A:

Our story begins with its founders, Cain Matthews and Abel Middleton the creators of the--what else? The Amazing Digital Circus so here there are origin stories.

Cain Matthews was born on October 1952 in a small town of Massachusetts somewhere near Salem. Growing up, Cain loved going to circuses and dreams one day being or creating one. However, he loved to draw funny characters, when he gets scared he often had his stuffed bunny by his side. What was the bunny's name you may ask?

JAX...

During his childhood he loved to draw himself in a circus with characters which would later become the characters we know in love.

In the late sixties and early seventies he studied Child Psychology during his times at college. However, Cain met a roommate named Abel Middleton who later become his partner and friend later in life.

As the mid seventies to early eighties came around, the two had ideas on what makes a kid happy--Cain want back to his childhood and had this idea, puppets!

Around 1983 they formed C&A it was a small non-profit organization at the start, it was only for children's entertainment. This was before the era of console games, Cain and Abel would perform puppet shows for children. The characters appeared first was Jax, Caine, and Bubble.

As the decade shifted to the nineties, Cain and Abel saw the rise of hand held devices and video game consoles without going to the arcade. Also, in that decade--CGI was blowing up in popularity so the two made a decision WHY so them their work if THEY show their world to them???

In 1994, they shifted their non-profit organization to a video game company where they begin working on their magnum opus.

1996, the two launched The Amazing Digital Circus which became a national phenomenon around the world. Its popularity was so big it had toys, action figures, plushies, pasta, storybooks, coloring books, and audio books! Also, they pitched a children's animated pilot around 1998-99 but it got rejected...

However, not all things have to successful...

As the new millennium rolled around something weird happened...Cain installed a new chip on the virtual headset to make it more into the Y2K craze of that time. It almost seemed like it worked but something went wrong, terribly wrong...

2001-02

There were some new reports of people including children experiencing hallucinations, nightmares of the circus and the characters from it after taking off the headset which sparked a massive controversy toward the two.

Cain said to Abel and to the employees to "shrug it off" however Abel argued that this controversy needed to be taken seriously but that's just the final crack that broke the camel's back. Cain grew more power hungry and aggressive and started carelessly on focusing on money, quantity, he stated he doesn't care about kids like as he was no longer the kind, generous man Abel knew.

2002-03: The final years

C&A started to experience toxic work placement from Caine's attitude, projects were rushed, updates had glitches which made the controversy worse.

However, the FTC sued C&A for intoxicating children and adults with "hallucinogenic substances" in their devices for $2,000,000. Finally, in 2003 the comapny closed down for good...During that year, Digital Circus merchandise were recalled and never to be shown again...

The next year, Caine vanished without a trace without any sightings during that time there were numerous disappearances following the year C&A shut down.

For Abel, he suffered through drug overdose, alcohol addiction as he became a mess, however he started to go through a sober recovery up to now.

Yet, he can still see the characters...

The Amazing Digital Circus is owned by Gooseworx, and GLITCH Productions.

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

cooking, by asmi, because someone wanted this. i can't cook, btw.

Were they joking? Probably. Cheers, @deathwords334, beware what you wish for. NOW BABYGIRLS, BITCHBOYS, AND BOYCOTTERS OF THE BINARY, I WILL... TEACH YOU HOW TO COOK. EXCEPT UH. I CAN'T COOK.

SO I WILL TEACH YOU WHAT I THINK UH COOKING IS. KINDA. FUCK YEAH THERE'S NOTHING I'M BETTER AT THAN EXPLAINING THINGS I AM SEVERELY UNDERQUALIFIED TO EXPLAIN.

STEP I: WASH THE ENDS OF YOUR FORELIMBS

WASH YOUR HANDS. UNLESS YOU'RE USING GLOVES. PLASTIC GLOVES, BECAUSE THE OTHERS WILL CATCH ON FIRE. To be fair plastic gloves might melt into your skin and cause worse damage than--YOU KNOW WHAT JUST WASH YOUR GODDAMN HANDS 99.9% OF GERMS GONE WITH EVERY HANDWASH EVER.

STEP II: FIND SOME REAL ESTATE TO EXIST IN

YOU SHOULD PROBABLY BE IN A KITCHEN. IT'S NOT A NECESSITY. YOU COULD ALSO HAVE A BONFIRE. OR A MICROWAVE IN A DORM. IS HEATING UP READY-MADE PASTA COOKING? FUCK YEAH IT IS DON'T GATEKEEP COOKING HERE.

YOU CAN ALSO STAND OVER A CREMATION PYRE AND COOK. IT IS NOT ADVISED. FOR LEGAL REASONS.

STEP III: CONTAIN YOURSELF MY DEAR THOTSON!

DR BEGONE THOTSON! MOVING ON. GRAB A CONTAINER. IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE, YOUR PALMS UP IN SUPPLICATION TO OUR LORD GOD BILDADDY ARE A NATURAL CONTAINER. UNLESS YOU'RE HEATING THE CONTAINER. PLEASE DO NOT HEAT YOUR PALMS. YOU CAN GRAB A SWORD OR SOMETHING AND SKEWER THE FOOD IF YOU'RE DESPERATE.

STEP IV: FIND EDIBLE ORGANIC SUBSTRATES

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FOOD. ON THE MAGGOTS SERVER, THERE WAS DEBATE WITHIN THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF WHETHER OR NOT CONSENTUAL AND LOCALLY SOURCED CANNIBALISM IS ETHICAL. THAT'S NOT THE POINT OF THIS POST. JUST GRAB SOME FUCKING FOOD UPROOT A BUSH IF YOU HAVE TO.

HELPFUL TIP: BEWARE WILD MUSHROOMS

OH ASMI, WE KNOW, SOME ARE FUCKING HALLUCINOGENICS, SOME ARE POISONOUS, SOME ARE LAXATIV--NO NO NO. NOT MY POINT. SOMETIMES, MUSHROOMS GROW IN CIRCLES. THIS IS A TRAP SET BY THE FAE. @queermarzipan, PLEASE CONFIRM.

DON'T GET TRAPPED BY THE FAE WHILE FORAGING FOR FOOD.

STEP V: IT'S GETTIN' HOT IN HERE MMMKAY

IF YOU'VE MADE IT THIS FAR WITHOUT GETTING BURNED ALIVE, ARRESTED OR KIDNAPPED BY THE FAERIES, CONGRATS! YOU ARE READY TO COOK. UH. YOU NEED HEAT, PROBABLY. IS MAKING A SALAD COOKING? IS MAKING A (NOT GRILLED) SANDWICH COOKING? I DON'T KNOW.

FOR SOME REASON I THINK HEAT IS KEY TO THE COOKING PROCESS.

SO WELL, GET IT HOT! FUNERAL PYRE OR MICROWAVE, GREAT! KITCHEN, PROBABLY A STOVE IN THERE. BONFIRE, GREAT! OKAY I FEEL LIKE STEP FIVE IS THE SAME AS STEP TWO. IT'S FINE.

WORST COMES TO WORST, PUT ON A TV SHOW LIKE GOOD OMENS (NUDGE NUDGE PROMO PROMO WATCH THE FUCKING SHOW IT'S BEAUTIFUL I LOVE I-OKAY SORRY) AND THE HOMOEROTIC TENSION WILL HEAT UP YOUR FOOD.

STEP VI: SPICE IT UP A BIT!

ADD SPICES THE WAY FANFIC WRITERS ADD FINGER BRUSHES, ONE BED, DANCING AND IT SWITCHES TO A SLOW SONG, WING SENSITIV--SORRY UM YES ADD SPICES THE WAY THEY ADD DETAILS TO THEIR SMUT. SPICE AND CHEMISTRY PEOPLE IT'S SPICE AND CHEMISTRY.

COOKING IS GAY.

STEP VII: MOUTHHOLE THAT BITCH

EAT. BONUS POINTS IF SOMEONE WATCHES YOU EAT. OR YOU WATCH SOMEONE EAT. HOMOEROTICALLY. LIKE CROWLEY WATCHES AZIRAPHA--OKAY FINE I'LL SHUSH BUT WATCH THE SHOW IF YOU HAVEN'T.

y'all I think I might not be coping well with life LOVE YOU MAGGOTS REBLOG IF YOU LEARNED SOMETHING AMAZING ABOUT COOKING TODAY! FROM THIS POST I MEAN. NOT IN... GENERAL. I THINK I'M FALLING ASLEEP. FUCK.

[sillywormz]

i was having a chat with one of my friends (hi mike if ur reading this) the other day abt whether the hollow is sapient/intelligent or just an animal, and whether it grasps the emotions of the memories it shows kamen or is just following a set of biological cues beyond our understanding to get the response it wants from him, without fully comprehending what it's seeing. and i think it's interesting bc there rlly is space for both interpretations.

like hollow could be viewed as a very basic animal that sought out kamen for the purpose of getting him to acquire food for it, and its subsequent actions as just corrupted confused versions of its normal biological drives (which have been messed with due to its symbiosis with kamen). its telepathic abilities could be relatively basic, and kamen's brain might be doing most of the work for it by filling in the gaps with fiona in much the same way that the human brain responds to hallucinogens in real life.

alternatively, the hollow could be just as or more intelligent than a human being, and sought out kamen on purpose because it saw him as a good resource that it could manipulate, or perhaps bc it felt pity for him. it could fully understand that his memories are emotionally intense for him and be purposefully using them to hurt or entice him depending on its needs. it could appear as fiona on purpose bc it knows that he loves her. and its actions later in the series could be read as it genuinely taking pity on and caring about kamen, and doing what it can to try and protect him and care for him.

i think the series is ambiguous enough that you really could read the hollow's actions in either of these ways. there's nothing that disproves either reading. there's no definitive proof that the hollow is an intelligent being, but there's no proof that it isn't either. personally i think it is at least as intelligent as a person, but that's more of a headcanon than anything else. i like that the series gives the audience enough space to figure out our own interpretations and readings, rather than spoonfeeding everything to us yknow

[animebw]

So The Woman Called Fujiko Mine feels like an argument against itself.

I don't mean that in broad metaphorical terms. I mean that this show quite literally looks into the camera and tells you that the very concept behind it is bullshit. It's a grim and gritty re-imagining of Lupin III that seems to regard grim and gritty re-imaginings as little more than contrived nonsense, something hastily slapped onto a perfectly fine piece of media with no regard for what makes that media work in the first place. I don't think I've ever seen a more purposefully self-defeating work of fiction in my life.

What do I mean by this? Well, the basis of this show seems to be explaining the backstory of Fujiko Mine, the Lupin franchise's resident femme fatale cat burglar. What kind of experiences, it asks, would lead someone to sleeping and stealing their way through life? And this being a supposed grim and gritty re-imagining with Naked Titties and Fucking, the answer it comes to is, of course, horrific sexual trauma. The final arc descends into this ludicrously overcomplicated conspiracy involving hallucinogenic drugs, human experimentation, possibly actual magic, all to explain how Fujiko was horribly abused as a child and repressed those awful memories through a life of cheap sex and fancy trinkets. Even the OP screams this point at the start of every episode: "The act of stealing lets her forget everything and keep her memories at a safe distance." She covers herself in jewels and men as if they can hide her shameful, scarred body from the horrors it was forced to endure, a lifetime of cheap thrills to escape the pain of her womanhood.

Except just when you think the whole conspiracy justifying this backstory can't get any more complicated, it overcomplicates itself even further to reveal that none of this actually happened. Turns out, Fujiko's repressed trauma memories were false memories implanted in her when she was already an adult as part of some roundabout cry for help from the actual victim. And in fact, Fujiko was already a sex-loving, treasure-grabbing femme fatale by the time those false memories were put in her. Not because of trauma, but because she just likes having sex and stealing things. And I'm not exaggerating when I say she all but looks the audience in the face and outright says, "See? Isn't it stupid and condescending trying to force a contrived rape narrative onto a female character just because she likes sex? Why can't I just be a bombshell who loves what she does without having to feel ashamed of it? Or does it only count as feminism if characters like me have to suffer for our sexiness?"

It's a genuinely wild subversion that feels a decade ahead of its time. But therein lies the problem: you still have to sit through a mostly straightforward grim and gritty deconstruction to get to the point where it points out how stupid most grim and gritty deconstructions are. And if the point was to criticize those kinds of stories just by being an example of one, well, all I can say is that it succeeded. It absolutely feels at times like a pointlessly dark and edgy paint job slapped on top of a story for the sake of feeling "mature" when all that really means is lots of rape and uncomfortable sexual hangups. Did I mention there's a Class S episode where Fujiko becomes the teacher at an all-girls school and proceeds to have affairs with multiple of her students? Because that happens, and I could feel my skin trying to crawl off my body the entire time.

Like I said in an earlier post, this isn't fanservice in the traditional sense. In fact, with the ending reveal in mind, the presentation and execution is almost maddeningly confrontational, as if daring you not to see it for the cheap shock value it is. You can almost hear Yamamoto and Okada laughing behind the scenes as you scramble to find an explanation for why all this misery porn needed to exist, only for the show itself to say "Actually, yeah, this was all pretty tasteless and crass, who would actually want Fujiko's story to be like this?" But it's still a frustrating fucking show to watch in the moment because all that possibly intentional metafictional subversion just reads as straight-up boring edgy grimdark before you're shown the man behind the curtain. Or, woman behind the curtain. Whatever.

I dunno, I don't think I can give this one a proper score. 5/10, I guess? Ask me in a few months and see if that's changed at all. For now, I'm more than happy to polish off my Yamamoto back catalogue and move onto something else. Which 2013 show will take its place, I wonder?

[inky-duchess]

Writing About Drugs

Writing about drugs and addiction can be challenging. Like it or not, drugs are a part of society. I strongly urge all writers to do their own research into this topic and handle it with the upmost respect and care.

Your Character's Journey Into, During and After Drugs

If your character happens to use drugs or is a recovering addict, it does not make them bad people or mean that they had must have a bad upbringing. People do drugs for all sorts of reasons and it isn't an indicator of moral virtue or lack of it.

Most people start using drugs voluntary to try them out. Some people start using drugs as a way to influence their mood or 'help' another problem. Experimentation doesnt always lead to addiction. People can use drugs without becoming dependent. Your character may be feeling lost at this time or bored or disenchanted with their situation or suffering.

If a character begins drugs regularly, they may deny they have a problem. Most drug users hide their habits from others which an lead to some risky behavior. They may start forming relationships with other users to hide their use or sustain it.

Characters who begin to fall into regular use of drugs may start to compartmentalise their use. They will become more adept at hiding their use, sometimes even scheduling their highs.

A character will start to act differently while using drugs, even look different. Some drugs cause weightless due to nausea and lack of appetite. Their behaviours will usually be blamed on something else or waved away. A character may become irritatable and defensive when asked questions.

Addiction is usually around the time a character loses control over their use. They may begin to engage in longer binges, high doeses and lose control of their life outside of drugs. Relationships may break down, jobs may be put in peril and the character may begin to take more risks.

Addiction is an illness and left untreated it can kill your character. However, they may shun help out of shame or fear of judgement, or may be too anxious to try help themselves. Your character will have to come to terms with their addiction and its effects on their life. Only when they've accepted it can they move on.

Withdrawal can be harsh on your character depending on what drug they use and how long they've been using. The side effects of withdrawal can cause a character to fear getting clean. It can be a long exhaustive and often painful process.

Characters who get clean can fall back into using drugs. Sometimes this can be triggered by stress. Falling back into drugs can pose issues such as lead to a higher risk of overdosing. Getting clean is a long process and they will need a lot of support.

Kinds of Drugs

Dissociative drugs: Dissociative drugs alter perception leaving the participant feeling a disconnection with the world around them. Examples: Ketamine and nitrous oxide

Depressants: Or sedatives calm the participant, slowing the breathing and reaction of the participants. Examples, GHB and benzodiazepines

Stimulants: Stimulants are the opposites of sedatives, perking up and hypering the participant. Examples: Cocaine and amphetamines

Psychedlics: Are an 'Hallucinogenic' drug. They cause changes in perception, thought, emotion and consciousness, altering your mind. Example:  LSD, Mushrooms

Opioids: Are made of extracts of poppy or opium. They decrease pain and sensation in the participant. Example: heroin, morphine, codeine, heroin and methadone. They are classed as narcotic analgesics - meaning they decrease pain reaction and sensation.

Common Drugs and their Side Effects

Cocaine: Cocaine a short acting but powerul drug upper drug. Cocaine comes in powder form, most commonly snorted it can also be injected (after being liquified) or smoked, known as crack. Cocaine is fast acting but the effects usually last only 30mins. One becomes more alert, your heart rate and pulse races, your pupils dilate, you may be hyperactive, you will sweat and your mouth may feel dry. Cocaine in long term uses often causes mood swings, digestive problems, heart issues. It may even cause a person to become violent and sexually aroused. Overdoses can bring on heart attacks, strokes or epileptic fit. Cocaine is an expensive drug, due to its high value and the short life span of the high. Cocaine comes from the coca plant and is often cut would other 'fillers' even things such as baking soda which means every dealer may have a different combinations. Cocaine is extremely addictive and hard to withdraw from. Cocaine comes by many names: coke, blow, snow, tokoyo, crack.

Ecstasy: Comes in pill form but can be crushed to be snorted. Ecstasy takes longer to work than other drugs (20-70 minutes). The high can last from anywhere to 2-6 hours. Esctasy brings on a euphoric high that can make sensations and emotions more intense. Heart rate, temperature and blood pressure go up, causing nausea and in some cases hallucinations. People may sweat, experience dry mouth, heightened sense of anxiety, difficulty passing urine and experience a bout of depression known as a comedown. Ecstasy is also known as E, XTC, pills, yokes, MDMA, MD.

Methamphetamine: Another upper. It effects the central nervous system. Meth comes in many forms, rocks, pills and crystals. Meth is dissolvable in water or alcohol. It is odourless and tastes bitter. Meth can be smoked, snorted, injected or swallowed. The effects last between 4 to 12 hours. Meth gives the user a feeling of adrenaline, causing euphoria, arousal. Meth also causes compulsive behaviour, a lack of appetite, rapid breathing, nausea, panic attacks, paranoia, hallucinations and psychosis. Meth rots teeth causing long time users a spate of dental issues. Meth is also known as crystal meth, yaba, chalk, glass, tina, chriostal, ice, crank, zip and christy.

Speed: Speed is a stimulant that comes as powder or tablet. Like other drugs it can be snorted, swallowed or injected. Speed comes as a pinkish or off-white powder. Speed can be rubbed onto gums and mixed into drinks. The affects start within 20 minutes, lasting up to 4-6 hours. Speed brings on energy, widened pupils, increased breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. It also brings on diarrhoea, teeth grinding, increased bladder use, sweating, headaches, and jaw clenching. Speed can make somebody more active, talkative but they can also become more aggressive, more irritable, depressed and suffer bouts of psychosis. A user can build up a tolerance meaning they have to use a higher dose to feel the same effects. Speed is also known as phet, billy, whiz, sulph, base.

Ketamine: Ketamine is actually an anaesthetic used in medicine. Ketamine is a dissociative and psychedelic drug. People feel detached when using it, relaxed and euphoric. Ketamine comes in white powder, pills and if taken from a medical source, liquid. Ketamine can be snorted, swallowed (wrapped in cigarette paper), mixed into drinks and injected. Some users have hallucinations. A user may suffer stomach cramps, vomit and issues with coordination. Ketamine is also known as K, Ket, Special K, Horse Tranquiliser, Vitamin K.

Cannabis: Cannabis comes from the cannabis plant. Depending on how the plant is grown, it can have different levels of potency. Cannabis comes in many forms. Cannabis resin/hash (is a black or brown lump formed from the resin of the cannabis plant. It is comes in blocks.) Herbal cannabis/grass / weed (made from the dried leaves and flowering parts of the female parts of the plant. It is often smoked). Cannabis oils (is oil extracted from the plant, sold in droppers, syringes or capsules). ‘Shatter’ (cannabis extracted using a solvent. This produces a glass-like substance which is smoked in a pipe), Edibles (food products infused with cannabis such as baked goods or sweets). Cannabis is commonly smoked, the ground dried leaves rolled with cigarette papers in a joint. Effects start instantaneously when it is inhaled. Ingesting cannabis leads to a delay in effects. Cannabis gives the user a sense of calm and relaxation, giddiness, bloodshot eyes, dry mouth, increased appetite, paranoia, mood swings, mild hallucinations, troubles with coordination and memory and in some cases psychosis. However, cannabis also has medical purposes such as helping with anxiety, act as pain relief and help with nausea. Cannabis is legal in some countries. Cannabis has many nicknames: weed, hash, hashish, weed,  pot, ganja, grass, bush, herb, puff, spliff

Magic Mushrooms: Magic mushrooms are certain breeds of mushroom that when ingested cause a high. Mushrooms are usually sold dried and raw or in liquid fom or capsules. Mushrooms can be eaten or stewed in tea. Effects vary from types of mushroom or personal factors, usually beginning an hour after ingestion. Mushrooms distort sensations, giving the set feelings of giddiness, euphoria, energy, joy. It can also cause the user to lose track on time. Mushrooms can cause stomach discomfort, nausea, sweating followed by chills. Also known as mushies, shrooms. liberties, liberty caps, magics, golden teachers, truffles, fly agaric,

LSD: LSD is a hallucinogenic drug, coming from a fungus known as ergot which grows on grasses such as rye. LSD usually comes as a piece of paper to be ingested or sucked. Effects begin about a half hour and can last up to 20 hours. LSD causes distortion of senses, hallucinations , paranoia, thoughts of suicide, effects on judgement, delusion. It is known as acid, L, lightening flash, blotter, dots, flash, hawk, cheer, liquid acid, lucy, micro dot, trips, tabs.

Codeine: Codeine is a painkiller widely available through doctors and over the counter in tablets, liquid or capsules. It is an opiate. Short term effects are relaxation, effected temperature, confusion, dry mouth, pinpoint pupils, itchiness and issues breathing. Longer term effects can cause breathing problems, constipation, low sex drive, irregular periods and liver issues.

Methadone: Not to be confused with Methamphetamine. Methadone comes as a blue/green liquid. Methadone is often prescribed by doctors to help heroin users manage their cravings. Methadone causes slower breathing, pain relief, drowsiness, dry mouth, lower blood pressure, constipation, pinpoint pupils, sweating, itching, pain in the joints, dental issues. Like some drugs, a user can build up a tolerance which can encourage them to use higher doses. Alcohol is extremely dangerous when mixed with methadone. Known juice and phy.

Heroin: Heroin is an opiate. It acts a sedative. Heroin comes as a powder, usually brown or white. Heroin can be injected, snorted or smoked. Effects start quickly usually lasting for hours. Heroin can give the user a sense of security, pinpoint pupils, dramatic mood swings, relief to pain, nausea, lack of appetite, lower sex drive, constipation, drowsiness and effects breathing. Like some other drugs, you build a tolerance, so users take more and more to reach the high, which often leads to overdose especially if the user has been clean for a while. Heroin is dangerous when other factors such as alcohol is involved. Heroin also wreaks the cough reflex which can cause a person to choke. Heroin is known as H, smack, gear, skag, junk, brown, china white, dragon.

[ubu507]

In an episode near the end of their marriage, Ted Hughes found a joint in the house, and the ensuing crisis prompted Sylvia Plath to reveal to him a secret from her past.

"I did a little experimenting myself," Sylvia said. "With JFK. I want you to know I've smoked pot."

Tensions rose in the air she prepared to confess. “JFK?” said Ted sharply. "What do you know?"

In fact, insiders say Sylvia Plath visited JFK when First Lady Jackie was out of town, turning him on to marijuana and LSD while he bared his administration's darkest secrets.

And Sylvia, cool casual Sylvia, without emotion, would she fit better into JFK's mold – with the help of those drugged cigarettes?

Sylvia rolled a couple of joints for Jack before going to the party and they tentatively chatted.

"You seem to know all about it," JFK said. "I wish I could turn-on. All the groovy people seem to."

"Well, don't worry," she said. "We'll fix you up. I know a Stone"

"You have to be a nut to go for them psychedelic drugs," the cabbie said, enjoying the captive audience as he drove them to Brian Jones’s estate. "How do you know what's going to happen to you when you turn-on with that stuff?"

“The politics of imagination and the hallucinogenic drugs used in the 1960s as part of the drive towards a visionary quest have always incited material opposition,” said Sylvia. “Western materialism considers decadent those whose preoccupations are with inner events. Like Brian.”

Brian Jones had withdrawn into his own private world, experimenting with drugs alongside his close friend Sylvia Plath and, some say JFK.

When they arrived they were both conscious of an oversweet scent in the air. "Pot" Sylvia said in answer to JFK's quizzical look. "Don't worry," she mocked. "I don't freak out on drugs."

For a while, Smith dorms were sweet with pot parties. It hadn't lasted.

When they got there The usual groover types were lying about the front room, stoned and hypnotized by the dream machine.

Hundreds of slender joints had been rolled and were accessible in bowls and on paper plates while fruit jars of the manicured pot had

been set out for those who might bring their own special smoking devices.

Incense smoke curled out of three or four empty coffee cans and clouded the apartment with murky fragrance.

JFK went in and frankly was a bit surprised at the scene. There were five or six sets of hippies sitting around the place.

They were smoking pot no doubt about that. Mostly they were just sitting there gazing rapturously at the lights surrounding them.

The dream machine experience begins with what visually approximates a perpetually metamorphosing Persian rug.

As the color spectrum broadens so the symmetrical patterns

grow increasingly intricate.

From where Sylvia sat she could see the narrow hall with walls all swirling colors, painted with exploding women and acid flowers, plus the odd monster or two.

Purple walls. And a Reynolds Wrap ceiling. And on the purple walls and Reynolds Wrap ceiling gold circles and half-moons. And on the gold circles and half-moons, on the purple walls and Reynolds Wrap ceiling black red and green letters spelling out words Like LOVE or phrases like: There is no life above the grasstops or Reveal Your Nature! And Let Me Lick it! Over it all hung a miasma of marijuana.

Brian Jones had never appeared so radically divorced from reality

As he wandered amongst the crowd as the unofficial Shaman of ceremonies or perhaps as the drug-addled Acid King.

I'm so high and so dry

I'm sailin' in the sky

Just blow some gage

I'm on a rampage,

Jack, I'm mellow

The blond, long-haired Brian put down his guitar and

came over and flopped down on the cot near JFK's chair.

Brian Jones smiled, took out a joint and lit up in a moment another sweet, sickening odor was added to the room's collection.

He took a few drags and said "Jack, you don't seem to fit in."

Sylvia reached over, lifted Brian Jones's cigarette and had a deep puff.

"Smoke the marijuana sometime. You know a little in the evening.

Every now and then."

Without a word she handed the cigarette over to JFK.

"None of us are habitual smokers but it is nice to have sometimes on a quiet night when there is nothing special to do"

A sharp pain like a knife slashed down JFK's windpipe into his lungs

"Hold it" Sylvia coached. "Hold it" She pressed the flat of his hand across JFK's mouth for a minute preventing him from exhaling.

He dropped the joint and Brian picked up the fallen reefer and handed it back to JFK.

Sylvia moved to sit in the exact center of the rug, lighting one of the tiny cigarettes, and shaking the daisy petals of her bright head.

She sucked in her breath hard, studying the stick of tea holding it in front of her eyes, concentrating on the spiral of smoke

"Real crazy stuff" Brian Jones said proudly. "This cat came back from Vietnam with a barracks bag full of it. Wild, man. He says you're walking through the jungle over there, 90 miles from the asshole of nowhere, all spooky and mean, and some little guy will run out of the grass and grab your arm and say “Hey Mac you want to buy some hash?"

Then he stood a minute watching. "Take another drag, Jack," he said finally. Slowly JFK's hand rose to his mouth almost against his will, but it rose. The pain was not nearly as sharp this time.

"If a man wishes to rid himself of a feeling of unbearable oppression, he may have to take to hashish," said Brian.

If he had gotten high JFK didn't know it, or even what high was supposed to be. He remembered now still blinking at Sylvia's freckled back becoming terribly sleepy after smoking the bitter cigarettes, then eating the sweet crunchy bars of chocolate.

Brian Jones had let them share his vibrations – a tape of Moroccan ear-zonkers that Brion Gysin had lifted somewhere. And the rockets of music flew overhead.

Brahim Jones Joujouka Very Stoned

"Listen to that sound," Brian Jones said excitedly. "Isn't that beautiful? It sounds like a bag of snakes."

Inspired, he picked up his guitar:

I'm so high and so dry

I'm way up in the sky

The world seems light

And I'm so right

Jack, I'm mellow

"It's crazy" Brian Jones said. "But I figure if we can get a commission on how pot doesn't corrupt anybody – except the fuzz. Look at Sylvia over there. Does she look corrupted?"

Sylvia inhaled deeply and held the smoke deep within her lungs, her large tits jutting out from her chest as she sucked on the small cigarette

“Capitalist ideologies function by the manipulative means of keeping the collective immersed in real time,” she said, after she’d exhaled.

But right now JFK wanted something that would reassure him that this was really a great kick.

Mentally, he tallied the effects: Euphoria. Thought magnification all the way to thought animation. Formal structures seen on their own terms. Aesthetic experiences, all brought into high relief. Self and other mix and pull apart. Perspective.

It was absolutely the greatest JFK told himself, enveloped in exhilaration. What a kook he'd been, to miss this.

Brian was still talking. Meditation and self-discipline were part of his ideas, he explained, but the whole process should be combined with drugs.

"Wow, You kids are really hip." JFK's eyes strayed religiously to the high rise of Sylvia’s breasts, pushing audaciously against her blue cashmere sweater.

Both of them stayed quietly, with their backs to a wall, super stoned while it happened all around them. Then she felt his arm around her waist.

“Drugs accelerate the opening of the mind.” Brian Jones kept on saying that drugs were part of our evolution

“Cannabis may be mankind's first cultivated plant, but it has never lost its wildness.” he said as he wandered off, guitar in hand.

Sylvia drew on her joint, and began to sway with the music, head back , eyes closed, mouth slightly parted. She gyrated to the beat of the music, mentally willing JFK to join her.

JFK grinned his eyes fastened to the tight stretch of fabric across her breasts.

It was not Sylvia who danced. He thought. It was the dope.

For a moment JFK felt that he was above it all, beyond the reach of ordinary rules and laws. He could have done any sort of physical task no matter how difficult. He was amazed at himself as compared to what he had been only a few moments before.

"Take off your sweater and let me look at you," he urgently ordered.

Sylvia moved her shoulders backward in a deliberately provocative gesture.

"Crazy" JFK muttered but his hand found its way beneath the cashmere sweater. Beneath the filmy bra.

"Take off your clothes and let me see your gorgeous body." JFK said, removing his coat and tie.

Sylvia pulled her sweater slowly above her breasts, over her head. Dropped it at her feet.

She arched toward him so that he could find the snaps that restrained the pulsating rise of her breasts.

His swift intake of breath at the sight of her popping above the limp lace was like a good chew of khat – the old African aphrodisiac that the CIA had brought to him.

Sylvia stretched her arms high above her head lifting her breasts into freestanding mounds, tips stiffening audaciously.

His hand that wasn't occupied with his joint clutched at the high rise of her.

So what  JFK thought defiantly. His mouth descended in a sudden hunger that brought forth a gasp of pleasure.

Oh Golly, he thought in sweet abandon, I could go ape this way!

She knew how she looked hovering there before him in brief panties and nylons. She was glad her breasts were full and firm,with the nipples pushing out enticingly from huge dark circles that no longer embarrassed her.

She felt strange, high, like she was someone else.

When she was naked, she went over and kneeled down before JFK.

On the floor he reached down and took her breasts in his hands and started squeezing them.

She lay close against him, not moving except for the lift of her round breasts.

The masturbation scene was something she had been into before.

She had been taught to masturbate by a far out guy named Wilhelm Reich.

In time she grew to enjoy the caress. Enjoy having him firm and demanding in her hands, enjoy the excitement that coursed through him and the pleasure that her hands brought him.

JFK was trance-like and intent on reaching his mind-climax. But Sylvia couldn't concentrate. Too many walls were bending and colors changing, and she couldn't get the words or ideas together in her head.

As his cock pumped deeper and deeper down her throat she was struck by the idea that, at that moment, all his power rested in her mouth. I may never go down in history, she couldn't help thinking, but I am certainly going down on it.

Then she heard a ghost of a memory say a Leary thing that No trip is a real trip without... but she could not hear the ghost's whisper. She could only feel the wetness of his hands on her body and the rhythm of his words.

The floor beneath her felt as comfortable and soft as her own bed. The hands that touched and prodded, the mouth that kissed, felt absolutely one hundred percent out of this world

Really will  go ape  JFK thought dizzily.  It was too marvelous to be real.

This was one of those crazy drugs that make everything bigger than reality. “Let it never end, he gasped in soaring ecstasy.

And then there was no need for talk because they were all-absorbed in this compulsion to merge completely, the sounds of their labored breathing, blending with the sultry beat of the recording repeating itself endlessly.

Don't let this ever be over,  JFK thought, passion lifting him to incredible ecstasy, Don't let it ever be over! And then the dam of his passion bathed her and he spilled over with soft moans of satisfaction.

It was nice to know how lost he got in the sensation, because it helped Sylvia get lost as well and until she got lost she could never get there.

I'm so high and so dry

I'm sailin' in the sky

I got my roach around

I can't come down

Jack, I'm mellow

JFK was dazed, rather drugged with experience and sensation.

He understood a lot of what happened at the party. But a lot of it baffled him. He'd been blowing pot true, but a lot of what Brian had been saying made sense.

He decided to call for serious research in the public and private sector

To determine whether there are benefits from marijuana.  A Presidential panel to end the politicized debate by conducting in-depth and impartial scientific research into possible benefits for some patients.

"Her eyes were red, white and blue, hurrah," added JFK and lit a joint, handing it to Sylvia.

JFK slipped by in slow motion. He slid his eyes into slits. He reconnoitered reefer wracked and wrapped in a marijuana mushroom cloud.

Brian Jones listened superciliously and said "Really, Sylvia." And spreading his legs asked her to suck him off to make him less uptight.

Maybe if he'd asked her to plate him, she might have obliged, feeling guilty as she did about Jack’s cum on the rug, but she hated the "suck me off" expression, and together with all his cracks about her and JFK, she didn't feel very cooperative.

So she told him no she really couldn't manage it right now

He gave her a disappointed look and asked her to roll him a joint instead. Which she did

She wandered off for a bath hoping Brian Jones would forget about JFK.

The same afternoon, Detective Inspector raided a London flat belonging to Brian Jones and confiscated for chemical analysis 11 different items, including suspicious vegetative matter.

My mother's friend Sylvia smoked pot with JFK and he told her that it's actually better for you than cigarettes because it doesn't have all the extra chemicals that cigarette makers put in tobacco. Was he right?

FH, 14, Missouri

Dear FH,

What if Sylvia is with her guy JFK when he's busted for possession, she's going to get in lots of trouble. Or what if he’s “holding” when he happens to be assassinated, what would our nation think of that?

Let Sylvia know that if she really wants to be a great girlfriend she needs to help her guy JFK get off drugs.

You shall hear from Detective Inspector, of the Drug Squad of Scotland Yard, who has taken part in raids on many premises

Where cannabis resin was being smoked and who is familiar with its effects.

You have heard about a naked girl and a strong unusual smell. We are not in any way concerned with who that young woman was or may have been. But was she someone who had lost her inhibitions? And had she lost them because she had been smoking Indian Hemp?

The passing on of the habit, which seems to be one of the strongest desires of the drug fiend, makes Mr. Jones even more dangerous to society than he might otherwise become.

What had to be proved by the Crown is that Brian Jones knew and permitted someone else to smoke cannabis in his house.

It presumably wasn’t the drugs per se which caused the authorities such vindictive consternation, it was more the altered states of consciousness with which they are associated.

Sylvia’s drug case came and went. She got off with a small fine, by playing it very straight, saying that she had just been trying to find out what it was all about, that she didn't like it, and she was sorry and never again.

Actually, Sylvia did not truly understand the reason why she did drugs. She guessed her reason was quite shallow. She enjoyed them.

When she thought about it, whenever she smoked some bud with her buddies she ended up having a great time. When she was stoned Everything was kind of fun – you could just play records and have a good time when you might normally be kind of bored. It was pretty darn sad really. Wasn't it?

Brian Jones was unable to shrug off his drug charges so flippantly. Slipping further into notoriety at his own case on October 30, he was found guilty of possessing cannabis and allowing his flat to be used for the smoking of the drug.

Brian in a convincingly repentant mood, spoke from the witness box of drugs as having “only brought me trouble and disrupted my career, and I hope this will be an example for all young people who wish to try them.”

In the end it is understandably difficult to believe that a woman who had performed sex acts with Kennedy, smoking pot with him, perhaps turning him on to LSD, a woman who knew Brian Jones and believed Kennedy had been murdered as the result of high level conspiracy to prevent him from legalizing marijuana –

Moreover a woman who was married to a poet who was a known CIA asset in charge of “dirty tricks” against the UK's leftist writers – how could her mysterious “suicide” not be related to Kennedy’s assassination and its cover-up?

And what of Brain Jones’s own inexplicable drowning?

At the end Sylvia saw JFK at a far window, beyond her reach in a golden haze. She wanted to shout a warning, but couldn't spring the words. She could only taste marijuana on her tongue.

"Anything wrong? JFK asked

"No, nothing," Sylvia said. "It's just the marijuana.”

[merkavahpartyvan]

Talking to scientist ghosts from the modern era

So, for the last... year and a half or so, I've been (largely unknowingly) exposed to enough methane gas to cause someone to have massive distress and very vivid, often anxiety-fueled hallucinations, many of which were beyond anything I've ever experienced in my life. And that goes for the other occupants of the house. This was like when a whole town gets mass hysteria without realizing it because their wheat got ergot in it. There were a lot of times that I couldn't really tell what normal was or couldn't realize that I wasn't having a sane life experience.

The thing is, while this was happening, I was also practicing a lot of magic and doing a lot of spirit work. So you know those initiations where you do a lot of some hallucinogenic herb and then receive visions of the cosmos and learn to talk to spirits and animals and connect with some sort of spirit companion or guide? Well I did a lot of that, because I was sort of stuck in the house with nowhere to go, a lot of magic books, a lot of art supplies, and the ability to predict when a specific nuclear scientist's estate went on auction on ebay. I now own basically his entire nuclear papers and library.

So like now I talk to a nuclear scientist's ghost on a regular basis. Now that I'm in the new house WITHOUT the magic stinky gas in it... I can hear him BETTER.

I don't really know how to talk about Jerry and the experience I've had communicating with him, but I do want to talk about it. Not to prove anything, but to share a kind of experience that I don't think a lot of people are able to openly share these days, for fear of stigma. Honestly, after all the weird crap I've said on this blog, sometimes under gaseous influence, I think you all can take me going on about protons for a bit.

Jerry likes to explain his favorite science to me a lot, so I hear him go on about newtonian physics, astrophysics, particle physics... and philosophy too, since he got his degrees back in the days when nuclear physics was in the philosophy department. It's part of why I keep watching so many science videos and talking so much about nuclear stuff on my blogs. He's really interesting and he's helped me do research much faster than I think I would have managed on my own. He used to design nuclear submarine propulsion systems and he also had a specialization in how crystals form on an atomic level, so in my opinion he was probably one of the most interesting people on the planet when he was alive.

Nowadays he's a very interesting ghost who wants to teach me (and anyone else who will listen) about how hard it is to hit a proton when you need/have to. Also he can rattle off quite a lot on nuclear policy and diplomacy and he keeps telling me which companies in the nuclear space are just hyping theoretical models instead of actually having a working prototype. Every time I look up what he says it's correct. (After research I personally wouldn't invest in NuScale. This is not financial advice. I am not a financial professional and Jerry was not either.)

The thing is, there should be a lot of ghosts out there like Jerry. Not just because nuclear stuff makes you psychically weird and therefore more likely to project a force ghost (or whatever astrals are), but because all manner of sciences came about in the turn of the 1900s and their degree programs solidified in the early decades of the 1900s. So there should be a lot of ghosts out there who know like, 'modern' science. And other people besides me must be talking to them.

[ask-blog-for-cold-family]

Cooler and Frieza  Self introduction live stream

*The live stream is opening.*

Cooler: Hello! I am Cooler. I think most people know who are me. This live stream is the first live that we do after we being revived.*He say with enthusiastic and excited tone.* Frieza: Hello. I am Frieza, I am the emperor of the North Galaxy, Son of King Cold, the small of Cooler.*His tone is Cold and polite.* Cooler: I think you don't need to so formal , Frieza. This is just a live stream. Frieza:.... I always talk like this, I am not talking too formal, Cooler. Cooler: Oh, of course you always talk like this, because you are boring and dull. You will always just a boring ice cube, if you continue act like this. *He say with mocking tone.*

Frieza: Let us focus on our live stream, ok? *His tone is Cold and polite.*

Cooler: Ok fine.

Cooler: Anyway, the purpose of this live stream is to reintroduce ourselves to you all after being revived. We have a lot to tell you about our recent activities, so let's get started!

Cooler: So... Frieza do you do anything recently? *He say with mocking tone.*

Frieza: I have a new form and I stronger than the Saiyan(Goku and Vegeta) now and I also fine a place that inside one day equal to one year and I training at there ten year but outside just ten year.*His tone is Cold and polite.*

Cooler: WHAT!!! ARE YOU KIDING ME!*His tone is full of shock.*

Cooler: I thought you are always doing your Boring and Dull work being your "Boring and Dull" Emperor but you say you find a special space and train inside ten year but outside world just ten day!?

Cooler: And the most important thing is How you know it is ten year? You know because of our long life span , we have Poor perception of time, other race very long time in our eyes is just a short time.

Frieza: I use a special method to made use about it.

Cooler: What special method?!

Frieza: secret.

Cooler: Don't be such a boring ice cube, Frieza! Just tell me how you did it! Come on, I got to know!*He say with mocking tone.*

Frieza: Let us talk about other thing what are you doing now?

Cooler: Oh, I find a planet full of mushroom, And I think I will called "The Home of mushroom".

Frieza: You mean the place where you collect those Hallucinogenic mushrooms and trip balls all day? You can just say you do drugs, Cooler. You don't need to invent stupid names for everything.

Cooler: HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT!!*His tone is full of shock.* Cooler: And the name is not stupid! I think it many time when I think the name!*He say with angry tone*

Frieza: Whatever.....

Cooler: It's not a stupid name! I thought of it for a long time, and it's a very creative and unique name!*He say with angry tone*

Frieza:Ok, sure… Whatever you say, Cooler.*His tone is still cold.*

Cooler is clearly becoming annoyed by Frieza's cold personality. Cooler: *To Frieza* Wow, you really are a boring ice cube, aren't you? You don't think my idea is creative or unique at all, do you? I thought we were supposed to be brothers! At least pretend to be interested in the things I'm interested in, instead of being so cold and condescending all the time!

Frieza: .... Cooler .... Let us go back to the topic.... The Hallucinogenic mushrooms thing...

Cooler: Do you want to say like don't eat to much, because it will hurt something like this! Don't be funny and so motherly Frieza! You know drug resistance is how strong no thing can hurt us using Hallucinogenic mushrooms.*He say with mocking tone.*

Frieza: I just want to give you some advice .... I worry about your body.... I just don't want you to get ... hurt...

Cooler : Yeah, yeah… You don't need to worry about my body, Freeza. I'm fine! I can handle my mushrooms just fine, without getting hurt or anything! So stop being so motherly and let me enjoy my mushrooms in peace! It's not like I'm going to overdose or anything, anyway! I'm not a lightweight like you, Frieza!

*Frieza take out a video when Cooler is eating the Hallucinogenic mushrooms and being in the Hallucinogenic state and acting crazy.*

Cooler : Wait how you have this?! Close it , we are live streaming now!*He say it with fluster tone.*

Cooler:W-w-wait! Did you seriously record me… in my… mushroom-induced… state of craziness…? Are you… are you serious right now?! He says with a flustered tone, clearly embarrassed.

Cooler: Ok, fine. We don't talk about mushrooms now.

*Frieza close the video and put it back.*

Cooler: So what are you doing recently?

Frieza: I am making a plane about Exchange Meeting between the Seventh and Sixth Universe. And you need to go with me.

Cooler: So you means I need to go to see Frost there too with you?

Frieza: Yes, Frost is there too, we all now why really.

Cooler: How he can still alive when he trick the G.O.D ?

Frieza: Because They need Frost,the universe need Frost , the G.O.D need Frost. When Frost is kill the universe 6 may fall down with he too.

Cooler: I don't get it, wouldn't the G.O.D be mad at Frost for tricking him? Why is he still alive? Is he secretly friends with the G.O.D?

Frieza: because Frost control the whole economy of the universe , also politics using only his brain no using any violent way.

Cooler: So you means he is Dangerous and I need to careful about him? Frieza: Yes.

*Cooler see the time , the time say the live stream is need to be over.*

Cooler: I think we need to stop the live stream, now, Frieza. Frieza: Ok. Cooler: Bye everyone , See you next time! Frieza: Bye. *The live stream is over.*

[incomingalbatross]

"Shawn Gets the Yips" is VERY fun.

the fact that it starts off at an SBPD softball team dinner and Shawn and Gus are on the team. They're part of the community! They hang out with the other cops! They have the shirts!

Shawn zeroing in on the shooter and immediately, correctly, heading to read Lassie in on the situation

Lassie is carrying (at least) two guns at a post-game softball dinner

the vibes of the department after the shooting, with everyone running around in their sports shirts and badges thrown on over them, or whatever... actually really good at getting across the feeling that the cops themselves were attacked in what was supposed to be their safe territory

Henry! Hugging his son!! The whole exchange is very funny, but let us not be tricked by the humor into overlooking the Henry-Shawn hug, which Shawn returns automatically and with zero awkwardness. (Asking because I have not been doing a full rewatch and also my memory is bad: is this actually the first onscreen hug for them? I don't think it can be, but...not sure...)

Shawn following up with a return to the scene, and the minor detail I like that the manager gave him directions to the security system's monitor without asking for credentials (he was there at dinner. he's still wearing the SBPD team shirt. he is Clearly A Cop)

Lassie's life was legitimately saved by the fact that Shawn called him and also by the fact that Lassie saw his name on the screen and leaned over to pick up. In other words, it is equally vital that Lassie listens to Shawn.

"A lot of people want to kill me." *brightens slightly* "I take great pride in that."

Oh, this is the one where Shawn wants an immersion-therapy tank and some hallucinogens! :) I should watch Fringe again.

So three years ago—during S1—the drug lord was arrested and Shawn took money for a consultation they didn't actually do, due to some paperwork mix-up. ...Yeah, I'm tempted to say S4 Shawn wouldn't have done that? Or at least he'd take the money and then nose his way into the middle of the case, instead of leaving it be. :P

Oh, this is also the one with the exploding mailbox! The things you forget.