#it's awful for mod testing

[arcandoria]

I'm really tired of not having money to spare for lil' things that would bring me joy but it is what it is

[lightningzbolt]

Usable Nintendo 3DS for Sims 4

Not the first console I shared here, nor is it the first one I made. Check my ModTheSims for the others I shared so far. Model is from Model's Resource as I can't make those. But all the textures beyond the teal were made by me. This is made from the Slablet so anything that can do, this can do, just looks way more fun. Both screens display, yes, but it's the same on both of course. Ten swatches, all seen above. I actually first made this over 2 years ago, just resized it today as it was a little big so I could screenshot and share it. No it can't close, just pretend your Sims are lazy.

SimFileShare

[beforus-for-real-justice]

listen to me, boy, i am talking in2 ur ear rn. - me when my cullee is tryina microwave a can of pears

[stachehand]

I should've posted this over a month ago, but this was essentially me after quitting on The Final Horizon (effing Master King!)

[mrs-elsie-barnes]

Give Me Shelter, For My Heart | Alpha!Bucky Barnes x Omega!Reader | One Shot? 3k

Things are missing around the Avengers' compound and a newly returned Bucky is acting weirder than normal...Steve and Sam go to investigate and discover more than they bargained for.

Warnings: 18+ for language and suggestion of Hydra violence/torture/experimentation, omegaverse themes including alpha & omega, suggestion of pregnancy/pups, wolf shifting Rated F for Fluff and G for good friends

Challenges & Prompts: @buckybarnesevents Alpha Bucky April with extra prompts - word count, nesting, purring, beta characters, (I'll let mods decide if this hits the breeding/baby fever prompt). And @fandom-free-bingo 'forehead kisses'

Graphic by me and Canva, dividers by @firefly-graphics & @reveriesources

Masterlist | Bucky Barnes

“Hmm,” Steve looked around the supply room, surveying the gaps and empty shelves, normally well stocked with blankets and provisions. It was the third time this week he’d found himself at a loss, not just for words but his things too. Everything seemed to be going missing. 

First it was a few plates and mugs from the galley kitchen by his office, then it’d been the lunch he’d left for him and Bucky in the fridge. Last night he’d gone into Bucky’s room to make sure he was okay and found the man sleeping on a bare mattress, all the sheets, pillows and blankets were gone and the newly revived Bucky refused to explain what had happened to them or even acknowledge that there was anything wrong at all. He hadn’t even addressed that fact that the window was wide open and it looked as if he was sleeping in his shoes. 

Which brought Steve’s thoughts to the man himself. Bucky had been so odd since he’d returned. For a day or two, he’d been something like his old self, despite the awful situation they found themselves in, he’d joked with Steve and reminisced with the few memories he had. They’d enjoyed a beer together and he’d even met with Tony during their mediation and patched things up. 

Then, they’d all climbed onto the jet and he’d become distant, pacing like a caged animal until they’d landed. As soon as the doors were open he’d vanished for forty-eight hours and sent the entire compound into mayhem before strolling back in as if nothing had happened, bruised and covered in blood. Judging by the bandages he sported later that day, his cuts and bruises spread under his shirt and trousers too. 

Steve knew that he’d changed during his time with Hyrda, back in the 30s they’d both been betas, happy to plod along ignoring the madness of the few alpha’s in Brooklyn. It had been a rare thing then, to be an alpha, now they were considered a dying breed, so when Bruce’s tests had revealed that Bucky was an alpha now, they’d tried to take it in their stride that he might go off on his own sometimes, especially since omegas were even rarer. But there was still so much they didn’t know, so much to unpack and discover about the Bucky they’d rescued, and Steve was so desperate to spend time getting to know this new man that all the time apart was making him worry. 

“You okay?” Sam asked from the doorway, leaning in to hand Steve a hot cup of coffee. 

“Just doing a stock check.” 

“He take something else?” Sam stepped into the small room, lined with shelves and shelves of tents, camping stoves, parachutes, it seemed to go on and on. The bare grey shelves where stock was missing was stark against the white washed walls. 

“He?” 

“Barnes,” Sam sipped his coffee, matter of fact, and Steve confronted the worry that had been plaguing him. 

“It’s Bucky, isn’t it?” Steve dropped his head heavily and Sam patted him on the back, still sipping his drink. 

“Sorry man, told you, he’s not right yet. He’s not hurting anyone though, if he hates his bedding, who cares, if he hates your lunches, who could blame him.” 

Sam sidestepped Steve’s halfhearted swipe with a grin on his face. 

“But what’s he doing with it, Sam? Where’s it all going?” 

“Hell, I don’t know, have you asked him?” Sam raised his eyebrows. 

Had Steve asked his best friend, who flinched at his touch and shied away from any conversations? Bucky who vanished for hours at a time and came back looking as if he’d been dragged through a hedge? No, he hadn’t. He’d been too scared to confront what might be going on, what latent part of his programming might be at play. 

“Look, if you’re too scared to ask why don’t I?” 

Now it was Steve’s turn to raise his eyebrow, it wasn’t that Sam and Bucky didn’t get along, they just didn’t get along yet. Steve was working on it. 

“What if we…followed him?” He offered instead and Sam laughed again. 

“Who knew Captain America was scared of his own friends,” he couldn’t contain the chuckles. “Fine, fine. Let’s keep an eye on him.” Sam turned to the ceiling, more comfortable with the AI than Steve was. “FRIDAY, if Sergeant Barnes leaves his room, please can you alert us - privately?” 

“Of course,” the soft voice answered and Steve gave his friend a weak smile. 

FRIDAY’S alert went off twice a day, every day, over the next week. But despite their best efforts neither Steve nor Sam managed to catch up with Bucky. 

It wasn’t until the following Saturday that they managed to follow him. Bucky was supposed to be at a training session to get his official certifications but they’d both had a feeling he’d try and skip it. As predicted they’d spotted the blue of his new henley edging around the side of the compound, a full backpack strapped to his back. 

Bucky ran across the grass and towards the thick forest. His still uncut hair was tied back but tendrils fell out as he sprinted into the wind. 

He was surprisingly loud, as he strode quickly between the trees, snapping twigs and branches that Steve knew he could’ve dodge even before the serum and his training. Sam looked at him, both of their feet silent as they followed. 

Bucky’s speed increased as he turned his face up into the breeze, his backpack jostled against the trees, bouncing when he began to run. 

Steve kept up, sending Sam wide, into the breeze, in case Bucky doubled back. 

Just as he was starting to feel lost in the repetition of trees and ferns, Bucky burst into a clearing and Steve slammed to a halt. 

The pine trees gave way to a small patch of clear sky, shining down on an old shed. Unlike the other abandoned guard houses, this one had obviously been cleaned recently. The small porch was swept and a pair of Avengers camping chairs were arranged neatly facing into the forest. A line had been strung between the cabin and the trees where one of the missing blankets fluttered in the gentle wind. 

Steve crouched down, motioning to Sam on the other side of the clearing to stay out of sight. 

Bucky approached slowly, “Cățeluș, are you here?” 

At first there was nothing and then a wolf nosed its way out from behind the door, it’s chestnut brown fur almost gold in the sunlight. It leaped forwards from the porch and shot across the clearing, leaping into Bucky’s arms. 

Steve whipped his head up to try and find Sam and by the time his eyes found Bucky again the wolf was gone, replaced by a woman pulling on a large t-shirt from Bucky’s backpack. 

“James!” Her sweet voice rang out in the otherwise quiet forest. 

Swamped by Bucky’s familiar red henley, you shot from the door and into Bucky's waiting arms, the back pack dropped to the floor and forgotten. 

She was swamped by Bucky’s red henley and he wrapped you in his arms, one large hand on the back of your head, tucking you into his neck. The other supported your legs, now wrapped around his waist. 

In the clearing Bucky's shoulders relaxed as he sank into your embrace, kissing and nipping at your neck. In return you tipped your head, practically purring at the attention and wriggling in his arms. 

“Have you been okay, baby.” Bucky asked, pulling away enough to look you over. 

“I'm okay, I missed you though, James, please don't leave me again.” You begged cupping his stubbled cheeks in your hands. 

Bucky turned into your palm and kissed it, “I know, I know, I’ve been making sure it’s safe for you.” 

Steve's heart sank. Bucky didn't feel safe? 

“You trust me, don't you, my little omega.” Bucky rubbed his nose into your cheek and you giggled, holding him even tighter, your hands in his hair. 

An omega? 

Sam stared over at Steve, eyes wide. 

It was clear to them both that this was no chance encounter and all Bucky’s odd behaviour suddenly started to make more sense.

Steve motioned for Sam to leave, they could sneak back to the compound and perhaps bring this up tentatively. Perhaps leave some items you might like lying around in the hopes that Bucky would take them and understand that his secret was out, but it was safe. 

Sam moved swiftly round the clearing as Steve continued to watch Bucky. 

Bucky vanished into the cabin, leaving you on the porch alone, snuggled into his shirt and pressing the collar to your nose. 

“She’s cute,” Sam whispered, squeezing up against Steve, still hiding in the overgrown ferns that lined the edge of the cabin. 

“We can’t let her sleep out here. She must be hungry and cold.”

Bucky emerged from the cabin carrying two of the missing mugs, balancing them carefully on the railing before scooping you up into his lap. His hand hovered by his mouth, sipping in slow motion as his eyes scanned the tree line and Steve took a breath, sitting back quickly. 

“Stay here, Cățeluș,” he was up in a flash, eyes always on the tree line even when he reached into his boot to pull out a familiar gerber knife. 

Instead of flipping it into his palm, he balanced it on the arm of your camping chair. Eyes still on the trees he placed his metal hand on top of your head, “stay here and stay safe, follow the plan, do what you need to.” His voice was low, series, almost a growl. Far away from the happy, loving tones he’d been speaking to you with before. 

You nodded, and as soon as he felt your head move he was up and off the porch. 

Steve and Sam looked up in time to see a wolf leap towards them. 

It was true then, the experiments had worked and Steve had the cold feeling that returned every time he discovered something new about his friend during a fight, but he had no time to worry about it now. Not when the wolf was closing in on them. 

It was huge, its white fur dusted with fallen leaves, but its teeth gleamed in the afternoon sun as he pounced, snarling. His paws the size of dinner plates slamming into the ground in front of them, teeth bared and snarling. 

Steve rolled away, pulling Sam with him and covering his body, regretting not bringing the shield. 

“Bucky!” Sam shouted from under Steve’s arm

“Bucky it’s us we don’t want to hurt you!” 

The wolf pulled back from the two men pinned beneath him, and something like clarity passed over Bucky’s icey blue eyes and he sat on his haunches, head cocked to one side, ears floppy. Then it stood, rounding the bushes and, in a blink, the man had reappeared still hiding before the foliage to cover his naked body. 

“Steve -” Bucky looked thoroughly confused, 

“Bucky, we’re so sorry we shouldn’t have followed you.” 

“What are you doing here?” Bucky’s voice wavered, his body cold without his fur and with his clothes left behind in the cabin. 

“We were worried about you, man, you’ve been so weird - stealing stuff, going missin’, can you blame us for getting creeped out?” Sam raised his eyebrows and Bucky’s brow furrowed. 

“Sorry, I’m sorry, I just had to -” he gestured back towards the cabin and, as if remembering he’d left you behind with no way of knowing he was safe he turned and ran back to the clearing. 

Steve and Sam jumped up, chasing after Bucky once more. 

The cabin porch was empty when Steve picked his way down the slope of mud and rocks into the clearing. 

A howl rang out as he got closer to the little house, a high, pained sound and then the response came, low and level. 

There were two wolves now, hidden at the side of the cabin in the shadows.

The white wolf kept itself half turned towards Steve and Sam, who kept quiet and still, barely daring to breathe, allowing its companion to approach slowly. 

The brown wolf dropped in front of the white, ears flat back against its head, and then rolled over, showing a soft belly that the white wolf nuzzled gently before turning back to Steve and barking sharply. 

Steve held his hands up and the wolf barked again, turning tail and returning to the cabin. 

It took only moments for Bucky to show himself on the porch, pulling his henley back down over his now dirt streaked belly. 

“Come in,” he gestured up the stairs and vanished again. 

The cabin, though run down, was well kept. The porch was swept of leaves and there was even a little mat by the door. 

“Shoes,” you whispered, pulling on Bucky’s sleeve as you entered the main living space, making an attempt to hide behind him. You’d dressed again too, also in one of Bucky’s henleys and a pair of leggings that Steve recognised as Avengers recruit issue. 

“Do you mind?” Bucky asked while Steve and Sam stared between you both. 

“Shoes,” you turned to look up at Bucky again, eyes pleading in one moment and then flicking to the two new men treading mud into your home. 

“Your shoes, take them off.” Bucky helped them arrange their boots neatly by the door while you pottered around the fireplace. “This is her nest,” he whispered, making sure the doormat was straight and the little curtain was neat over the window. “It’s important to omegas, to her,” you turned shooting a glare over your shoulder, “to us-that it’s kept just right and she hates shoes inside.”

In the small living space a camping stove had been set up with a kettle, a portable fridge, and an assortment of mugs, both Avengers field regulation and novelty, which were set neatly on the mantel. You chose four, and placed them next to the kettle while it steamed happily away. 

Bucky spoke softly to you in a mixture of English and Romanian, but you didn’t come any closer to the strange men. You’d seen them before, on the television and in Bucky’s notebooks, but now that they were here, so large and imposing, you couldn’t bring yourself to even look over. 

“This is Cățeluș, well, that’s not her real name but we couldn’t find that. She - uh -” you watched Bucky struggle for words and lay a hand on his cheek, smiling warmly up at him. Your Winter, your James. “-I don’t want to say the word, it upsets her, but she was with me when I was - him - part of the experiments.” 

You poured the tea quietly, watching the steam rise into the darts of sun making their way through the broken knots of wood in the wall, and you took a deep breath. With shaking hands you gave the first man, Sam, a cup. He had a gentle face, a wide smile and he didn’t look at you with pity, as you feared, only interest. 

The second man held his breath as you approached, keeping his hands as close to his body as possible until you pushed the cup towards him. Steve. Bucky had lots of pictures of Steve in his notebooks and had told you more stories than you could remember, but he didn’t look sickly, he looked too big for the space, his shoulders drawn in, slouched. You appreciated that he was trying not to look scary, even though your every nerve was on edge.  

Bucky took the proffered mug from your hands with a kiss to your forehead and you sighed, allowing him to steer you to the only arm chair in the room and then passing you your own tea. 

“We got out, eventually and - I brought her here.” Bucky sat on the rolled arm of the chair, draping his own arm over your shoulders and fitting you into his side. 

Steve and Sam could only stare. 

“Why didn’t you bring her to the compound? She can stay -” Steve turned to you, “you can stay, either in Bucky’s room or you can have your own room if you’d prefer.” 

It took you a moment to process the offer, but eventually you shook your head, turning into Bucky’s side. 

“It was awful - in there, with them she, we both -” Bucky struggled for the words, the desire to protect you rising inside 

“It’s okay,” Sam said carefully, “I know the transition’s been rough on you, Bucky, I can’t imagine what it’s been like for her, how you even got her out here. But there’s nothing to be afraid of, maybe she’ll come with you? If you suggest it?” 

Sam kept looking at you, his eyes soft and encouraging but you turned away, pressed your face into Bucky’s ribs where his scent had soaked through his shirt, reassuring and primal, chanting in your head Alpha, safe, Alpha, safe. You did miss him, when he was gone, but how could he keep you safe in that place. 

You’d seen it, once or twice, through the trees when you took a walk, looking for whatever you could find in the forest. Guards left lots of things behind, bottles and coats and jackets, useful things. You collected them all, skirting around the edge of that horrid white building and hoping to never see the terrifying things that flew out of it, men in suits and robots, it was too much. 

“You can bring whatever you like with you, and maybe Nat and Wanda could help you with some new things, if you liked?” Steve followed Sam’s lead, keeping his voice steady and low. 

“James - my nest.” You mumbled, gripping his henley in your fist. 

He dropped a hand onto your head, “we can do whatever you like, baby. You want to stay here, we can stay, you want to go to the compound, we’ll go.” 

You felt Bucky’s heart rate pick up, its beat hammering and your anxiety grew too, your breathing more ragged, you turned even further into him, practically climbing into his lap, the henley you’d taken from him riding up. 

Instantly you knew it was a mistake, the scars of your time in Hydra were still visible, raised on your skin, yellowing patches of healing bruises and calloused skin from repeated bouts in the chair. 

Sam and Steve could barely conceal their inhale of breath. 

“Bucky, did you get her checked by a doctor or…” Sam trailed off, Bucky looked angry again, his arms fully surrounding you. 

“And what would I have said, Sam?” He growled, “I know she looks like she’s been kept in a cage and beaten but please don’t arrest me, I promise it wasn’t me? Her social security number? Sorry, I don’t have it, we don’t even know her name. I did the best I could.” His anger tipped over into a resigned sadness. Bucky cupped your face in one hand and forced you to look up at him, “I did the best I could, baby, I really did.” 

You nodded and his grip loosened so you could nuzzle into his chest again, your own tears running down your cheeks at the memory of those early days. Bucky’s shaking hands patching up your burns and cuts, the whisky you’d slugged before he pulled out a stray bullet from your arm and stitched it with floss. Every touch had been gentle though, every time he’d changed your bandages or cleaned you up, it had been gentle. It had been everything he could give you. 

“We didn’t mean it like that, Buck,but we could help, get her checked over and then you can come back here.” Sam’s voice was plaintive, deliberately soothing and it made Bucky’s blood boil. 

“I’m not taking her to that place.” He bit back, there was no mistaking the way he curled you into his body, tucking your head under his chin and wrapping his arms around your back. 

It didn’t hurt anymore, to be touched, but then it’d never hurt to be touched by James. His hands had always been careful with you, his strength used only for protection and it was for that reason that you lay your trust in him completely. 

“Don’t make me go, Alpha.” You whispered, your lips brushing the base of his neck where you’d marked him, right over his scent gland, your teeth marks an eternal brand. You nuzzled into him, your chest rumbling again. 

“I won’t make you go,” he looked back at Steve and Sam, the finality of his decision sat heavily in the air. 

“Can we at least bring some medical things here? Would you let Sam check you out?” Steve offered, he was increasingly concerned by the way Bucky had retreated into the chair, his own legs now curled up on the overstuffed cushion.

Above you, James nodded once, “just you and Sam, don’t tell anyone else. I’ll know if you tell anyone else.” The panic edging Bucky’s voice had Steve raising his hands in surrender. 

“I promise, Buck, just Sam and I.”

Sam and Steve left the cabin at dusk while you and Bucky watched from the deck. As soon as they were beyond the trees he pulled you even tighter against his chest, his heat warm. 

“Everything is going to be okay, baby, I promise, no one’s going to ever, ever, hurt you again.” His hands slid down your arms and across the slow swell of your belly. “But we should consider their offer, make sure we’re making a choice that’s good for you and me, as well as them.” His palm pushed up under your shirt, splayed on your tight skin and, deep inside, your pup pushed back. 

[rebuilding-the-garg]

The Gargantuan Fossil

This post was from the beginning of my project, thus some information I’ve written here is outdated. Please read my recent posts to see up to date information.

The Gargantuan Fossil is one of the most recognizable parts of the mid-portion of Subnautica’s gameplay. Its sheer size strikes both terror and awe into the hearts of players who stumble upon it. It’s unfortunate that only a third of the creature’s fossilized remains can be seen. Even using the Freecam command to check under the map reveals that the rest of the skeleton remains unmodeled. This is all we have of the Leviathan.

“Gargantuan Fossil” is quite the accurate name, considering just a third of this creature’s skeleton measures 402 meters in length, with the creature’s total size being an estimated 1,100-1,500 meters. Just the skull itself is under 100 meters, and our human player character can nestle comfortably in even its smallest eye socket. I would’ve tried to show our human character’s model for a size comparison, but this thing is so large you wouldn’t even be able to see him.

There have been many different reconstructions of this behemoth of a fossil, the most popular being this commission piece made by Tapwing, for the YouTuber Anthomnia, shown below. And while it’s cool, it’s... not all that accurate.

In the past, I actually helped create a Gargantuan Leviathan mod based off Tapwing’s concept, working alongside other incredibly talented artists (who will remain anonymous, they can talk about their experiences as they please) and some... not so savory individuals. I don’t want to be associated with that old Garg. This reconstruction project is both a way for me to move on and make something better than what I had in the past, and to test my skills and knowledge in the various natural sciences.

Although there is a second specimen, the skull of a younger instance, this fossil holds no significant data outside of showing just how small these creatures start out as. As shown in the image below, despite being a much younger instance, our player character could still fit inside the Leviathan’s smallest eye socket, although it wouldn’t be as spacious as its adult counterpart.

The game’s PDA (Personal Data Assistant) states that the Gargantuan Fossil is approximately 3 million years old, which is INCREDIBLY RECENT. For reference, 3 million years ago we still shared the planet with multiple other hominid species like Australopithecus afarensis back in the mid Pliocene. The Subnautica we know today is a byproduct of a mass-extinction of megafauna, such as Leviathans. My guess as to how the Gargantuan got this big is a combination of deep-sea gigantism and an evolutionary arms race against the other megafauna alive during its time, with prey attempting to become larger than its predator to avoid predation, and the predator growing to continue this cycle. When this ancient ecosystem of leviathan-class super predators collapsed, likely because of the meteor that struck Planet 4546B, the Gargantuan Leviathan was out of a substantial food source and went extinct. It could be possible that these creatures even gave live birth due to their serpentine body and massive size, making them too large for life in the shallows, where laying eggs is easiest.

NOW. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE BONES!! It’s important to figure out if the Gargantuan Leviathan had a cartilaginous skeleton or a bony one, so let’s count the bones!!

There’s TWO WHOLE BONES!!! AND IF YOU LOOK NEXT TO IT!! THOSE RIBS ARE BONES TOO!!!! UWAA!!! SO MANY BONES!!!! How can we tell this is bones? It’s simple! Cartilage is rubbery and flexible, so it doesn't fossilize well, while bone is hard and rigid, perfect fossil material!! Cartilaginous skulls also tend to be made up of many little interlocking bones, with bony skulls being made up of only a small handful! 

Another thing I found interesting about the Gargantuan Skull is that it seems to have a ball and socket joint? This could have just been a similar mishap to the top and bottom jaws being fused in the skull’s model, but I’m trying to keep things as close to the original anatomy as possible. The ball and socket joint probably evolved to help with the burden of such a massive and heavy skull and allowing for greater speed and range of motion. In a world full of Leviathan-class predators, being able to have a wide range of motion would be extremely beneficial in locating both potential predators and prey.

Despite its immense size pushing the claim this Leviathan was an apex predator, it sports a small pair of horns, which is unheard of in large apex predators here on Earth. The darker coloration leads me to believe that these aren’t just horn cores, but the entire horn. These horns were most likely used to assist in defending itself against predators while it’s still small and vulnerable. It could also be a possibility they were used for threat displays and territory fights though it seems unlikely due to their small size. Sexual displays are also unlikely since just about every creature in Subnautica seems capable of asexual reproduction, as noted in the PDA entry for eggs. Asexual reproduction seems to be a very ancient basal trait in Planet 4546B’s evolutionary lineage and was most likely evolved to help species persevere even with low numbers and harsh conditions, preventing the dangers of inbreeding.

Overall, the skull’s shape and tooth structure suggest a piscivorous diet (of course it eats fish, the planet’s 99% water), and its shape specifically is reminiscent of an Orca and Redondasaurus. The lack of nostrils stumps me, there’s no openings in the skull aside from its eye sockets, however there’s also no evidence for a gill apparatus. I’m... going to have to come back to that at a later date. Though I personally believe the Gargantuan Leviathan was an air breather due to the lack of evidence for gills.

OKOK, ENOUGH ABOUT THE SKULL ASRIEL, WHAT ABOUT THE RIBS?

WELL... THE RIBS ARE... SOMETHING.

Behold! My very poor photomash of the same two images to show the total approximate length of the Gargantuan Leviathan, and a bad edit to show off what I believe the whole skeletal system would look like! (skeleton image credit)

Despite the game’s PDA describing the Gargantuan Leviathan’s body as “eel-like,” its skeletal structure is more reminiscent of a snake. The ribs show no indication of limbs, so it probably had a dorsal fin similar to eels or sea kraits.

One thing I’ve noticed about the Gargantuan’s ribcage is the existence of what appear to be bony, avian-like uncinate processes, which help the trunk’s muscles pump in and air out of the body, adding onto the idea that this leviathan breathed air. These uncinate processes in diving birds are especially long, which help reinforce the body and musculature, allowing the animal to stay underwater for longer periods of time.

My hypothesis for the role the Gargantuan Leviathan played in its ecosystem is similar to the Sperm Whales of our world, taking in large amounts of air before diving into the depths to fetch their food.

Next week, I’ll be doing more research into the skeleton and possibly beginning work on fleshing the Garg out! If there are any sciencey folks out on Tumblr who want to add their own input, feel free!! I want information!! Correct me if I got anything wrong!!

[boxheadpaint]

juice induced hill depression. Back on meds again and hopefully going to get in touch with a new psych who can prescribe me something else. Have been very tired and unjoyful the past week but better now and playing modded Skyrim, initially just to make my oc in it but then just kept slamming more thangs in there. Mod that puts bunny rabbits everywhere. Also is there a mod that adds cute animal ears/suits as wearables or one that even makes the girl armor less sucks. Like im either fully leaning into the immersion breaking for self indulgence sake or im getting rid of the annoying shit.

visiting mom in Vegas earlier this month was nice except for the part where I hate Vegas. I know im not great with travel and settling into places can be a tough one for my brain but also my god it’s just evil there. Brilliantly so but still evil. I would have loved to enjoy the scenery surrounding the place more as deserts are just very beautiful and fascinating places but at no point during the day was the temperature less than a full hundred degrees Fahrenheit. It barely dropped during the night either. Between that and varying physical ailments (Oof Ouch My Digestive Sensitivities Lol) (Oof Ouch My Tendons Lol) (Oof Ouch The Agony Caused By Using Stairs Lol) it was the perfect conditions to be a miserable pile when I wanted to be with my family. As sad I was to part ways again I was not sorry to leave that place. Gained a new appreciation for changing up what I eat randomly to keep my body on its toes. At one point mom brought us to a pub and her husband asked for Diet Pepsi while I asked for regular Pepsi. Visually there’s no difference so we got handed the others pepsi and swapped. And then later after he refilled his Diet Pepsi another waiter came up and wordlessly refilled mine as well. With Diet Pepsi. Wasn’t even asked. Fucking stunned. Also went to a near dead mall that was nice anyway

stuck on brain zaps as a symptom of Specifically antidepressants withdrawal. There’s some things describing them as “mini seizures” in function. To me it’s like the body noticing the usual isn’t happening for some reason so it tries to jumpstart the brain into working good like before. universities I can go to with my theories. Back in and at it this week, hopefully to remain consistent for longer than before which will also likely help with the depression and anxiety. More people should just put stuff in their blood if they can

it can be embarrassing to express your misery more clearly to someone, specifying the fact fact thoughts running through your head. But then again it’s only embarrassing because your mind convinced you so, and will convince you that holding it in is also cruel and selfish. Finding it funny that animals probably don’t have as complex spirals and bouts of depression because they dont have a language to articulate to themselves in their own heads that something is awful in a very specific and contradicting way. Or actually no because there is still pattern recognition but that’s more a paranoia learned thing. Is there an animal that can randomly, for seemingly no reason evident to anyone including itself, experience crushing dread and self doubt. Is there an animal that feels shame besides man

had a tilt table test that was embarrassing too but for much more clear concrete reasons. Somehow didn’t know about that second part, and did complain through most of the first part because Oof Ouch Everything Hurts Lol. REALLY did not know the iv thing and had to once again sadly state that no, It has to go in the hand . I will say the experience was funny in the second part from the other ways because my first reaction was literally just “Uh Oh.” The moment I realized it was going to get worse. all I know is my blood pressure stayed consistent throughout, I don’t know what else im gonna hear about it. Hopefully something helpful.

is setting up an ABLE account difficult? Can anybody do it? It’s an issue dealt with by a lot of people but I should at least try to find a way to save money from benefits for the future or in case some stupid medical shit happens that the health won’t cover. I just looked up and saw Vinny sleeping while propping lubics head up with his foot. Hoping I can enjoy things normally again shortly,

8/26/2024, Still better than july

[saturns-cryptid]

Lovingly wraps up some hi fi rush headcanons for you as a gift. Enjoy

1- While prototyping stuff for 808 Peppermint made a kitten sized test version of her to make sure everything functioned right

2- Despite hitting enemies with it Chai is overprotective of that guitar. That guitar has a name and gets dusted every morning and night and the first time he breaks a string he's So Devastated he has to lie down for an hour

3- he also flips 808 around in his arms like a lil ragdoll whenever she lets him and no one expects her to love it as much as she does. She's just smiling contently while being used like nunchucks

4- Korsica is a sleeper agent of a gamer. She doesnt really game much bc she has work to do oftentimes but the MINUTE she has a controller she is whipping everyone's asses at whatever they're playing. She and CNMN are their greatest assets in lethal company as the only ones who don't get stupid the second they see a monster on screen.

5- Macaron is banger at card games but cannot shuffle for shit. He always passes the cards off to CNMN to shuffle for him and CNMN takes the opportunity to cheat. Bc CNMN is not as banger at card games but he Will find a way to count cards in every game he plays.

5. Cont- Card game night is an entire event at the request of those two. CNMN has entire outfits with the visors and some fake cigars and everything for the occasion for everyone to wear and it somehow makes the table so much more hostile while they play.

tearing into these like a kid on CNY YAYY YAYY

(1) WHERE'S THE BABY NOW HUH /lh... i like to think pepp mighta named that little thang 404 or maybe 8bit.

(2) ??? Is the thing where Chai's guitar turns into a real guitar an actual thing? i thought it was just a visual thing ... either way though, i absolutely believe he's overprotective of that guitar both the scrap one and the one he gets at the very end. i personally hc he named the scrap one Anise and the Vandelay Custom one Clementine. (however, if we weren't sticking to the food theme, my backup names were Simone for the scrap, Calliope for the custom)

(3) SDJKFHSJKG 808 being manhandled is so funny and chai would totally do the (holds cat like gun) meme or do the "petting my cat but more aggressively each pet" trend or maybe spin her around in a circle in bed like this one tiktok i saw way back WBAHWAHBAHWB i love this one

(4) I LOVE THIS ONE... i just know she is banned from mario kart nights LMFAOJFJSKHJSDG. i remember reading this one and i went to go cook and while i was making chicken broth, i was like "wouldn't it be so funny if everyone else just happened to all get a blue shell while she was in first." i think that would be such a funny One in a Million scenario. conversely, I think Macaron and Peppermint would be some of the worse gamers. Chai's pretty decent, but he only ends up dying and stuff because he wants to cause trouble on purpose and on accident but ends up screaming and yelling KORSICA KORSICA HELP HELP MEE HELP NSJKFNSDKJG

(5) i just know the nights where they try and play like modded uno orr like monopoly deal are awful and contrary to Chai and his ability to aggravate, CNMN is ABSOLUTELY the reason why yelling starts and tables are flipped BWAHJBFJHFB. on this note, i also totally think they would do the same thing with board games. monopoly NEVER finishes on time or at all because everyone's either yelling about money being stolen, rent money and properties, and CNMN becoming the 1% every single time

[whumpy-wyrms]

The Last Lab Rat #5: Favorite Little Test Subject

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content: lab whump, captivity, drugging, experimentation, torture, needles, begging, restraints, body mods, body horror?, wing whump, noncon touch (nonsexual), test subject whumpee, intimate/creepy scientist whumper

—

Today was an important day for Anton. He was going to attempt something that had never been done before, at least that he knew of.

Anton wanted to succeed in what his predecessor couldn’t… But he wasn’t going to make a shapeshifter; that had turned out horribly last time. Sure, the reasoning behind it made sense. Shapeshifting could be the key to immortality: controlling one’s entire body; its shape and its functions, maybe even the chemicals that made up the body itself, becoming immune to bacteria, eternal youth, and etcétera.

Messing with the structure of the human body was important to his goal, but he was going to start slow. Anton didn’t… He wasn’t going to rush things at the cost of the test subject. Dew would learn to accept his role eventually, and then they, together, could accomplish great things.

Immortality was a big goal, and Anton wasn’t even sure it was possible. His whole life, his mentor had prepared him for this, taught him everything he knew. Finding the key to immortality was Anton’s entire life’s purpose.

But so was science. And he didn’t want to rush science, knowing what could happen— and what did happen last time.

Anton hopped out of bed, drank his morning coffee, and did his morning routine of intensely staring out the cabin window into the trees for an hour. Then, it was time for work.

He walked down the stairs to his secret lab. They were in the middle of nowhere, yes, but he still needed to keep his work hidden. The world wasn’t ready for some of the things he created, and he wasn’t ready for all that attention. Nor was he ready for what Pierce would do if he found out Anton told another soul about his lab.

Anton reached the bottom of the stairs, unlocked the door, and flicked on the lights. He’d learned that his test subject had a few sensitivities to light and texture, so he always made sure to dim the lights before any experiments began. Anton knew what it felt like to not be accommodated, to not be treated like a human, and he never wanted to be that kind of person.

Even if he did kidnap an innocent person and was about to conduct an unethical experiment that would permanently alter their body without their consent.

But hey, it’s for science!

Anton looked up through the window into his test subject’s room. The little guy was still sleeping under the bed. Why? Wasn’t it uncomfortable under there? Was he just that scared of being out in the open, where he could be seen by anyone? He reminded Anton of a little mouse in its enclosure, sleeping cozily in a little hide, burrowed under the bedding. It was cute.

“Hello, my favorite little lab rat,” Anton chimed, walking into his test subject’s room. Dew glared at him from where he laid huddled under the bed.

“Aw, don’t be like that!” Anton said, setting the tray of breakfast on Dew’s night stand. “Today’s a very important day for us!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dew scowled, crawling out and snatching his food.

“It’s a surprise,” Anton smiled. “Come on, hurry up and eat so we can go to the lab.”

Dew sighed. He learned by now that there was no way out of this, and until his next chance of escaping came, he was going to do whatever Anton asked.

Dew grabbed the food, and started eating- slowly though. He was in absolutely no hurry to go into the lab, especially after the first experiments. But he stopped worrying about whether the food was poisoned or not, because it wouldn’t matter. Like the scientist had said, if he wanted to drug Dew, he’d just do it, there was no point in hiding it in food.

Dew was wide awake, having not spent the entire night staring at the wall. After the scientist figured out his test subject had a slight insomnia problem, Anton started to feed sleeping pills to him every night to get a full night’s rest.

Dew argued against it, promising he’d sleep the whole night, but was always proven wrong. Anton never hesitated forcing a sleeping pill down his captive’s throat when he refused to take it himself. He had tried to “Anton-splain” (what Dew chose to call it) about why sleep was important— both in general and for the experiments— but Dew just responded with a silent glare. He couldn’t remember the last time he slept a full night that wasn’t drug induced.

But that also meant Dew was wide awake now. He had gotten a full night’s rest, and now he was fully aware of every single thing going on around him. He wasn’t tired anymore, he was scared.

“Are you almost done?” Anton asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Dew said, glaring at his captor. He hesitated a moment before asking, “…How long have I been stuck here anyway?” Dew almost didn’t want to know the answer to that question. Almost.

“A little over two weeks I think, Why do you care?” Anton asked blankly.

“I…” Dew couldn’t believe it. Had it really been that long already? “Is… is anyone l-looking for me…?”

“Nope,” Anton said nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t just shattered Dew’s hope of ever getting rescued. Dew had no reply to that, definitely not believing it for a second, so he continued eating in silence. He wondered what Anton would do to him today, but was too afraid to ask and find out.

Dew finished his food and looked to the ground as Anton restrained him again. “…Will it hurt?” Dew asked, barely a whisper.

“What? Ah,” Anton realized his test subject was asking about his next experiment. He thought about that for a moment before replying, “Yeah, probably a lot. Let’s go, we don’t have time to waste!” Dew numbly nodded his head as Anton grabbed his wrist, leading him out.

Anton left Dew’s room with his little lab rat following behind him, and they went into the lab. He saw Dew wince once he realized they were going straight to the operating table, but he still stayed close behind. Anton beamed, happy his test subject was finally following orders and getting used to his new life.

After the trials from the few days prior, Anton had learned everything he needed about his test subject, and what drugs affected his body in different ways. It was good to know; he wouldn’t want to accidentally inject something into Dew’s system that could hurt him… unless it was part of the experiment, of course.

But those were just small experiments— hardly that, more like a chore. Just a way to see what Dew’s body could and couldn’t handle. This experiment, though, will be far greater.

Anton instructed Dew to lay on the table, and Dew did. Because he was scared what would happen if he didn’t.

This time, things were different. Anton flipped Dew over so he lied on his stomach, facing away from him. He told Dew to take off his sweater to expose his back, which he did, and it was set to the side.

Dew looked behind himself, staring at Anton with wide, confused eyes. The boy didn’t struggle as Anton restrained him, making the straps tighter than last time. Instead of his arms being restrained to his side, they were spread out in front of him, as if making room for… something.

“W-What’s happening? What are you gonna do to me?” Dew asked, eyes already full of tears.

“Relax,” Anton cooed. “It’s a surprise, remember? Now, lay your head down on the table, that’s it.” Anton turned to grab a small pillow, placing it under Dew’s head. “You can scream into that if you need to, the next few moments will be a bit painful.” Anton gently wiped some of Dew’s tears away, and walked behind him, out of his line of sight.

Dew tried to turn his head around, but Anton kept firmly pushing him down before he could get a look at anything, well, besides the giant fucking needle Anton was holding. It wasn’t like the others. It was a huge syringe, filled with a bright green liquid.

“W-Wait, j-just tell me what you’re gonna do!” Dew cried. He would have fainted if he weren’t already terrified.

“Aw, really? It’d be much better as a surprise I think. Now stay still, this is gonna hurt.”

As soon as Anton plunged the syringe into Dew’s back, next to one of his shoulder blades, he screamed. He felt the giant needle force its way through his skin, piercing painfully through his layers of muscle and tendons all the way until it hit bone.

“Pl-please—” Dew was sobbing now, the spasms of his body only sending the needle deeper into his back, scraping his bones. Dew felt every single tiny movement send jolts of pain though his body, unable to do anything but struggle against the tight restraints. “It hurts!”

“Your feeling of pain is crucial for this part of the experiment, Dew.” Anton said as he slowly pressed the contents of the syringe into Dew’s trembling body.

“P-please!” Dew gasped, pain soaring through his body as he felt the needle injecting something into him. It stung, every edge of flesh and muscle and bone it touched felt like it was being poked with thousands of knives, embedding themselves into Dew’s body. “I’ll do anything! I’ll let you inject me w-with anything else! J-just make the pain stop, I-I can’t take it anymore! Pl-please make it stop!”

“It’s tempting, since you’re begging so nicely,” Anton sighed. “But I’m afraid you’re going to have to endure this a little longer. You need to be awake and feeling all of it so you can tell me the effects. But don’t worry, I’ll give you some painkillers later, after it’s all over.” Anton smiled and ruffled Dew’s hair as he continued to cry into the pillow.

Once the amount of mystery whatever it was was injected into Dew’s back, Anton pulled out the giant syringe and poked it into Dew’s other shoulder blade, making an identical injection as the first one. Dew braced himself, but nothing could prepare him for feeling that again. White hot pain erupted through him and he could only scream, hoping for the nightmare to be over.

Anton smiled, the first step of the experiment was done. He moved his little concoction aside, and began preparing the next step. The details of what exactly he injected into his test subject weren’t important, but it was in Dew’s body now, and Anton had to make sure it was prepared to grow safely.

Dew continued to wail and beg and cry and sob through all of this, despite Anton telling him there was nothing he could do to get out of it. The screams were so loud at this point, that it was starting to become distracting for the scientist. So he set down his tools, and stepped to the side, fishing through one of his desk drawers.

“W-what are you doing now?” Dew asked miserably. His eyes went wide in horror as he watched Anton pull out some cloth and a roll of duct tape. “W-wait! Wait- wait no!—”

“Shhh,” Anton cooed. “I know it hurts, but you’re being too loud. Begging won’t work for me right now, so there’s no point in letting you talk. You’ll just hurt yourself with all that screaming.”

“Please, it hurts— I d-don’t wanna—” Dew’s words were cut off and replaced with a whimper as Anton stuffed the piece of cloth into his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears flowing down his cheeks.

“None of that now.” Anton picked up the roll of duct tape and ripped off a large piece, taping it over Dew’s mouth and wiping away his tears. “Stay still, I’m almost done,” Anton gently patted Dew’s cheek and got back to work.

Anton grabbed a knife, and began to carve into him. The scientist did— what could only be described as rearranging— Dew’s muscles around the two injection sites. Molding him as if he was nothing but a malleable piece of clay. There were a series of procedures, as if the scientist was altering Dew’s anatomy of his shoulder blades and spine, as if he was making room for something.

The pain was unlike anything Dew had ever felt before. He didn’t- he didn’t understand what was happening to him. What did he ever do to deserve this? When will the pain stop?

Dew could only shudder, silently crying into the pillow, his pleads muffled by the gag. Anton gave Dew no time to calm down, getting back to work right away and grabbing more scary looking medical tools.

The next step was closing the wounds. Stitching the skin back together was a hassle when the test subject’s body was racked with sobs, but Anton eventually got the hang of it.

Now he just had to wait for his concoction to do its magic.

Anton walked around the table, taking Dew’s chin in his hands. “We’re done now,” he said, so softly. The scientist carefully pulled off the tape, and removed the cloth from Dew’s mouth. He was still crying, still sobbing, that his words only came out as incomprehensible blabbering. “Shh, let’s get you back to your room.”

Anton removed the restraints, and picked his test subject up in a bridal carry. The poor thing just clutched Anton’s shirt, crying into his chest. He had no idea what was happening to him.

The scientist gently laid Dew on his bed, pulling the blankets over him. “You can rest now… You might want to sleep on your side too. Well, I guess you already know that.”

“P-please, it hurts, please make the pain stop,” Dew begged.

“I can’t, sorry Dew. Not until this experiment is over, I need to know everything you feel, everything that’s happening to you.”

“Wh-what is happening to me?”

“You’ll know soon enough, and it will be extraordinary. But I will warn you, the pain will probably only get worse before it gets better. Now rest, I’ll be sitting right here if you need me.” Anton sat, cross legged on the wooden chair in the corner, clipboard in hand. Dew was turned away from him, so he didn’t notice that Anton was writing something down, occasionally glancing up at Dew’s back, as if he was expecting something to happen.

. . .

After a few hours of waiting in silence, nothing seemed to happen. Dew couldn’t fall asleep and Anton didn’t want him to, in case there was a sensation he should know about. But eventually, they both needed to sleep. So when it became apparent that whatever he was expecting to happen wasn’t going to happen yet, Anton gave Dew some sedatives and said goodnight.

The next day was almost no different. Dew refused to talk besides begging for something to relieve the pain, which was getting worse. But that was the only thing that was changing- so far.

A couple days later, Dew said that he could feel something in his back, as if something was “growing” inside of him. This was the confirmation Anton was waiting for that made him know he’d done it.

Though, the process was much longer than Anton had anticipated. It didn’t take a few hours, not even a couple days, it took weeks. Long, agonizing, painful weeks of something growing from Dew’s back, slowly and painfully ripping through his tendons and flesh and everything around it.

Dew awoke one night to a sharp, searing pain around his shoulder blades, erupting through his skin and down his spine. He screamed in agony, frantically looking around in the darkness until his eyes landed on the camera still above the door to the room.

Anton came rushing in instantly. “Dew, are you okay?!” He asked, frantically turning the lights on and looking over Dew’s back with fascination, of all things.

“S-something’s happening—” Dew flinched as Anton came closer, but didn’t resist letting the scientist look him over.

“How does it feel, Dew?” Anton asked, holding Dew’s trembling shoulders and staring at whatever was growing out of his back.

“It hurts, please, just tell me what’s happening to me?” Dew cried, curling up on his bed and bringing his knees to his chest.

“Wings, Dew,” Anton’s hand gently grazed over a white feather sticking out of the small appendage that had erupted from Dew’s back. “You’re growing wings.”

. . .

Dew didn’t understand what was happening to him. Everyday was pain and agony now, as a pair of huge, feathered, fucking wings grew from his back. He didn’t believe it at first, he couldn’t.

The days were spent with Dew mostly in the lab, sitting on that cold, metal table while Anton admired his new creation.

It was small at first, hardly a few feathers and new, fuzzy skin peaking its way through Dew’s flesh, and then it kept growing. After they were out, they didn’t seem to stop. The wings tore their way through his flesh, filling Dew with excruciating pain as his skin and muscle ripped around them. The wings grew from his bones, moving and breaking them inside his body— as if his entire body was changing shape to acclimate his new limbs— his existing bones becoming lighter- hollow, spine changing shape as the wings continued to grow from his back, tearing at his shoulders and neck as more muscle and bone was moved out of the way, making room for the wings.

More feathers started to grow from the wings, giving Dew a whole new feeling he couldn’t describe. It felt like needles, like his new nerves were on fire as each feather sprouted from the skin, becoming itchy and so so sensitive. Dew had feeling in his wings— a bizarre new feeling for bizarre new limbs— every single touch or poke or graze he felt, and it hurt.

What made it worse was that Anton didn’t seem to stop touching them.

The scientist never left Dew’s side. Every second was spent with him admiring his work, touching and petting the feathery appendages growing from his test subject’s back, proud that his experiment was a success. He had no care in the world that Dew hated every second of it.

Anton never stopped asking questions. “Can you feel them? Can you control them? What do they feel like? Describe the feeling for me?” Dew could only scowl and reply coldly, knowing that the scientist wouldn’t stop asking his endless amount of questions and conducting his endless amount of tests.

Sometimes Dew asked what was happening to him, to his body. To his horror, the scientist answered in detailed descriptions of ripping flesh, twisting bones and how amazingly his body seemed to be adjusting itself to Dew’s new wings.

With all his pain and sensitivity, and the giant mass of flesh and feathers growing from Dew’s back, he couldn’t hide from Anton under the bed anymore. He could hardly cover himself with a blanket, with every single touch feeling so sensitive to his feathers and back. He ate a lot, more than usual, needing the nutrients for the new bones and muscles growing back there.

As well as it just hurting, all the time, it was also extremely itchy, the feathers tickling his nerves and causing the inside of his body to itch as well. When Dew’s wings got bigger and more feathers started to sprout, it was hard to comprehend the new feeling in his new limbs. He couldn’t describe how he felt, as if his brain was also trying to adjust to this new, alien part of himself now.

Whatever was happening to him, Dew didn’t want to think about it anymore. He’d do anything to make the pain stop, as he’d been telling Anton for the few weeks this had been going on for.

Dew was tired of resisting everything Anton was doing to him, and realized that here, in this fucked up lab underground, he’d be in pain a lot. It was a fact that he’d have to get used to. Dew realized that until he escaped, he’d do whatever Anton wanted. Anything, anything to make the time he was being forced to spend here slightly easier and less painful.

So one night, as Anton was checking his vitals, taking blood samples and doing more tests, Dew decided he needed a distraction from the pain. So he started talking to the scientist.

Dew’s goal was to find out any information he could about the guy, anything would be helpful in getting out of here. But he also yearned for some kind of normalcy. It’s been so long since he had a normal conversation with another human, he’d do anything at this point.

“Anton?” Dew began. His captor looked up from his clipboard, surprised to hear Dew’s voice in a tone that wasn’t the confused, miserable, begging mess it had been the past couple weeks.

“Yeah?”

“When will… my w-wings (it was still so strange for Dew to use that word to describe something apart of his body)- stop hurting?” He asked. “I-I know you want me to feel it all and tell you all about it, but-but it hurts. A-and I don’t know how long I can take it anymore.” Dew tried not to cry as he was talking. He was tired of crying.

“Dew, your body is still adjusting to itself. I honestly thought this would be a much faster process.” Anton sighed. “I didn’t intend for this to take weeks. But now that it is, I can’t do anything about it but wait. No human has ever gone through something like this; you should be happy you have the opportunity to feel something like your own wings.”

Dew just nodded, numbly. Now that he was talking again, after weeks of either silence or blabbering pleas, Dew couldn’t stop himself. He hated conversing with his captor, feeling like it meant he was accepting his life here, but he couldn’t not distract himself from the pain or boredom any longer.

“Why did— why’d you decide to give me wings anyway?” Dew asked.

“Hmm,” Anton thought about how much he should reveal. “Just felt like it, I guess.”

“Oh.”

“Any more questions?” Anton tilted his head, assuming his lab rat would shy away from interacting with him any more than he needed to- like he always did.

“So, do you um, h-have any hobbies?” Dew cringed, great start.

“Um,” Anton seemed taken aback by the question as well, setting his work down and focusing all his attention on his now talkative test subject, who was anxiously kicking his dangling legs back and forth where he sat on the table. “I’ve dedicated my life to science, which is really the only ‘hobby’ I have.”

“Oh.” Obviously, Dew thought. “How old are you anyway?”

“26.”

“Really?”

Anton nodded, rolling his eyes with a smile. “Awfully talkative today, aren’t we?”

“I-I dunno,” Dew said, looking down. “I’m tired of being scared of you,” it came out barely a whisper, Dew wasn’t even sure if he said it out loud.

But the scientist had heard it. Anton tilted his head, and Dew flinched as he stood up. Anton walked to one of the cabinets and pulled out a jar of some kind. Dew didn’t care to keep watching; whatever weird science device his captor was going to test on him next couldn’t be worse than what he’d been through already. He’d rather not know. Dew brought his knees to his chest, and wrapped his arms around them.

“You’ve been good today, here,” Anton held something out towards Dew, avoiding eye contact. Dew took a glance, and timidly reached up for it.

“A- a cookie?” Dew asked. This had to be a trick, right? It wasn’t time for dinner yet, and the scientist never gave Dew any food besides during those three same times, and it was never anything like this.

“Yeah, chocolate chip, from my secret stash. Don’t ask for more though.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Was the scientist giving Dew a treat for being good? Dew shuddered at the thought, but ate the cookie nonetheless. It had been so long since he’d eaten any sweets, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re acting different today,” Anton said. “Are you finally coming around about this place?”

“N-no,” Dew said, swallowing the last bits of the cookie. It was fucking good, but he’d never tell Anton that.

“Oh,” Anton said dryly. “Then what’s up with you?”

“It just- it’s boring…” Dew began. “Just- the only thing I do all day is sit here being poked and prodded, and then I’m alone in that room with nothing to do. And- and I miss talking to people,” Dew blinked back tears. “I miss the sky. I miss my pets. I miss- m-my friends.” He wrapped his wings around himself, like a cozy blanket, and cried.

Anton tilted his head, scribbling something in his notes. “Your wings- did they just do that on their own? As if sensing your emotions and acting on instinct?” Anton had been trying to help Dew control his wings, but to no avail. They were still too new, painful, awkward or confusing for Dew to control by himself, and this was the first time they’d moved in a way that had meaning, that wasn’t random jagged twitches. “Also, you can talk to me, you know,” He shrugged. “If you didn’t make everything so hard by resisting so much, you might even enjoy my company. All we really have here is each other.”

Dew stilled, taking a deep breath. He thought for a moment, how long he’d been here for— maybe four weeks? Fuck, that was insane. He remembered trying- and failing- to escape the second day. And now it had been about thirty.

It wasn’t like he didn’t try. He literally couldn’t. Not with him drugged up out of his mind while recovering from top surgery. And then after that, he was tested on again, while also sleep deprived. And now he had wings growing out of his back taking a huge toll on his body, making him hardly unable to move by himself for long periods of time. The days passed in a blur, and now it had been almost a month.

Almost a month trapped here. As much as he couldn’t believe it, it was the terrifying truth Dew was forced to accept. It meant that the likelihood of people searching for him was dwindling, and his friends were worried, and his pets felt like he abandoned them. And everything was wrong. Why had he let a month slip by like that? Why hadn’t he tried escaping again? Because of the pain? Because Anton was by his side every second he was free from his cell, and restrained by either chains or the pain itself, keeping Dew from moving an inch away from his captor?

“I just…” Dew looked up at Anton, wide wide, sad eyes. “I miss my home. And my friends. And it’s destroying me. I dunno what to do.“

“Aw,” Anton cooed, excusing Dew’s mention of his old life just this once. “Don’t feel sad, Dew. Look at yourself, look how far we’ve come. You have wings, Dew. You should be happy. And hey, I think pretty soon you’ll be able to try flying, how does that sound?” Anton patted Dew’s shoulder, smiling down at him.

Dew just simply shrugged, looking at the ground.

“Me and you, we can accomplish great things together. We already have. You as my lab rat, and me as the scientist, we are unstoppable.” Anton picked up a needle, noticing how Dew’s wings seemed to wrap tighter around his shoulders. “Now, spread out your wings, I wanna test something.”

. . .

Eventually, the pain did fade. Dew gained more control over his wings, and his body grew used to it’s new limbs that were forced upon it. All the extreme discomfort and sensitivity died down a little, and Dew felt back to normal after a few more days.

Well, as normal as he could be with giant white feathery wings on his back. Dew grimaced, huddled on the bed in the room, thinking about all the terrible things the scientist could do to him that he didn’t even think was possible before. Dew watched the scientist leave, looking more excited than ever as he hummed a strange tune, skipping out of the lab and high-fiving himself. Dew grimaced. When Anton wasn’t a terrifyingly powerful scientist, he acted like a harmless, silly guy.

But even though his body didn’t hurt anymore, Dew still couldn’t hide from Anton under the comfort of his bed. For the first time in Dew’s life, he felt claustrophobic in such a small, dark space. He felt the need- the instinct- to stretch out his wings comfortably, and not have them huddled up so close to his body anymore. He needed to take care of them as if they were a part of him. Because, well, they were now.

—

Dew’s got wings now :) yay

taglist: @whumpinthepot @shywhumpauthor @whump-me-all-night-long @whump321 @fuckcapitalismasshole @sorry-i-spaced @theelvishcowgirl

let me know if you want to be removed or added to the taglist!

[glossolali]

i feel you and your precious soul

shadowidomauk, shadowmauk

hurt/comfort, sci-fi au, cyberpunk au, relationship negotiations, touch aversion/ sensitivity/starvation, essek pov

gift for @wanderingbasilisk 💜

6k

AO3

—

“How are you feeling?”

Molly sits across from Caleb, and both hands, prosthetic and natural, lay in Caleb's outstretched palms atop his knees. Molly flexes the natural one easily enough, but the other is in a tight fist, and he's frowning at it, seemingly frustrated.

At Essek's prompting, he looks up, and it takes him another moment or two to focus his gaze on Essek’s face proper, who stands in the doorway, his own hands clasped together anxiously. Essek is patient and steady as he can, and even if his heart aches for him, he sequesters that away to a private place. He would hate to seem anywhere near pitying of him.

“I'd love to say I'm right as rain, but that is not quite the case.” Molly tries for a smile but it doesn't quite reach his eyes and falls too quickly, and he ends up revealing instead how tired he is.

“Uhm... I'm still numb in some places, and in others, it hurts. And I can't stop twitching since yesterday. This hand,” and he gestures to his left, the mechanical one, “Has been locked in a fist since last night. It usually takes a few hours to unlock on its own, but it seems to be stuck this time.”

Molly's left arm has been jerking intermittently, a clearly uncontrollable motion that shifts his whole body and translates all the way down to his clenched hand, and seems to be bringing him some distress, and pain.

Caleb's eyes follow the motion and turn a shade more somber, though he secrets that away swiftly while Molly is turned around. Essek can almost see Caleb's heart take a tumble and break into pieces as Molly speaks, as upset as he himself feels. Caleb's circuitry scarred hands squeeze Molly’s lightly, then return to their former position where they cupped them.

Essek can't help but feel utterly awful. After all, he's the one that did this to him.

He recalls with a pang the distressed message Caleb had sent him, then Jester's, begging for his help to save their friend, Mollymauk. He'd met the tiefling in passing, finding a chaotic and colorful being who never stayed in one place for long enough for Essek to parse him out properly.

A few days after the Message, the entire Mighty Nein appeared at his doorstep. When they ensured Essek's lab was secure, Caleb fetched what was left of their dear friend's bloody, mangled body from an Amber Vault – a digital, portable safe– and handed that over to Essek, alongside a memory drive that had Molly's mind uploaded to it in a combination of efforts by Caleb and Caduceus.

Essek had been terrified at the responsibility inherent in saving such a precious person's life, but he had done his best to focus on the cybernetics puzzle at hand and to take the anxiety out of his mind. There was no room for mistakes or missteps.

He was successful, much to his relief, and his friends’ collective joy.

The tears and yells as Molly had opened his eyes for the first time rang clear in his memory. The tiefling had startled, covered his ears, and ran from the room– only to collapse in a heap a few steps into the next one.

It wasn't an unexpected sign of failure by any means– the collapse, that is, not the fleeing– after all, Mollymauk’s body was half machine now, and it had yet to be calibrated and tested properly. More specifically, it was costly, state-of-the-art cyberware mods and prosthetics, provided for free of course, connecting what of his ravaged body Essek and his team could salvage.

As a scientist who'd lived through the last hundred and twenty some years watching the world and its technologies develop at an alarming pace, he'd slowly grown more and more doubtful of the ethics of the now normalized practice of cyber modification, or ‘cybermods’. It's even worse that his current patient– ward, friend, whatever their odd relationship now was– hadn't been able to consent to these operations at all.

It made Essek hate himself just a little bit more, made him doubt his work– political and scientific– his family, their wealth, their entire society, his everything, even more deeply, despite how thankful all his friends, and Molly, were in the aftermath of that incident.

“Essek?”

Molly's voice has now taken on a subtle digital tone to it due to his voice-box being modded, and in addition, he sounds… lost, exhausted. Nothing like the person he once was.

Essek tries not to wallow right now. That can be for later, when he's done his job and is alone once again.

“My apologies. Just thinking.”

He goes to them. A person he is helping take care of needs his care right now. He has a function to serve, and that is the priority.

[Read the rest on AO3]

[simmingnate]

The next morning - and Love Day was here!💕

Beverlee still felt awful, and now she had a stomach bug on top of the nagging anxiety and depression.

If she could just make it through the day, she'd be able to WooHoo all her fears away with Johnny!

While Beverlee stacked shelves and slacked off, Johnny played Daddy to the triplets. He was loving it, and had already upped his parenting skill to level 5!

But it was still hard work - and soon they'd have three toddlers on their hands!

YIKES!

The prospect of toddler triplets was daunting - but hey, if Johnny Zest is good at something, it's seeing the funny side, so I let him have a microphone. He'd earned it!

"So a llama, a Tragic Clown, and a burglar walk into a bar…"

Beverlee returned from work and immediately had to throw up. She has a stomach bug! She even has the moodlet! She must have eaten putrid eggs and toast again! It's FINE!!

…but still… let's make sure, OK?

At least this gave Beverlee a good opportunity to use the new pregnancy test interaction that came with the Realistic Childbirth Mod! And how pretty does she look when she's all worried? 💕

Anyway, it was almost definitely a stomach bug…

[scribblediana]

Hi! How are you?

And how's the quest to get glasses going?

If your still looking for new ones some online glasses companies have much cheaper options!

I heard like 20$ maybe youtubers tried and have diffarant frames

(But you can't try them on wich do sucks)

And if your still struggling to get them maybe starting a kofi will help!! Wil the goal of glasses

HI SO THE UPDATE ON THE GLASSES THING!

basically! doctors did not know what was wrong with me and took trial and error to finally understand what was happening with my eyes for the past 2 years i spent so much money and i gen wish i get more kofi commissions or something because glasses are EXPENSIVE AAAND i got 2 pair,,,, one of them was extremely wrong prescription probably screw my eyes more than they already were,,, now im rocking new ones!! but still have fatigue problems so went back and they did MORE test and were like "oh ok so basically you cant focus and unfocus your eyes normally anymore and take a chunk of your eyes power to do it, so you been suffering from your eyes being tired all the time also dry eyes" and i swear i was gonna cry, which was more dollars down the drain,,, its ok tho !!! i got my new upgraded glasses and some drops and I been doing better! and that's! (kinda) the end of my suffering, also yeah thats the explanation on why you barely seen art from me the past few 2?? years?? i had a lot planned but I like forgot lol so will see. its not that i havent wanted to draw, i just been unable to do so lol.

Hopefully i should be able to draw more consistently now! i might like use the asks here for some warmups or smth because I still get people here asking me and like why not lmao.

ALSO ABOUT THE KOFI I DID START ONE!!! i feel awful doing this but it would be very good and would make me very happy if you support me by buying me kofi or a commission I have there!! YOU DONT HAVE TO! but it would be nice :))) thank you for listening!

the mod Kiti :b

my kofi btw:

https://ko-fi.com/squiddlykiti

[candyredappledragon]

[ final ] ( LONG LONG POST. I'M NOT KIDDING.)

( Warning: Poor writing from the mod. )

Kieran went to change clothes for the training quickly and quietly, he didn’t want to disturb anyone for the night especially his sister. He put his hair up and stretched his arms readying himself for the rigorous training ahead of himself. Stuffing the items into his bag he thought carefully of to use on Pecharunt for testing on moves to use. Grabbing a notebook that has a pen clipped to it just in case to jot down any notes to see what works and what doesn’t. Furret tagged along jumping onto his back and clinging onto his shoulder. Kieran was surprised by the action of his dear friend but welcomed it.

With that he set off, silently and steady, as he stood in front of his house and took a brief moment looking at the community center. Kieran let out a sigh. Hopefully, this’ll prove himself right and maybe. Maybe, he can make it right. Just this once by himself. It felt like the odds were against him but perhaps this time it will change. If not then.. there isn’t really much to lose anyway after all of it. Considering what he has done yet others told him it wasn’t that big of a deal. He just has a hard time believing it.

The feeling of loneliness is so reminiscent of him.  He balled up his fists as a stress response to call him down, grip and release, grip and release in repeat motions as he felt himself relaxing a bit and stopped. He can’t cry anymore, he has no reason to nor have the energy for it emotionally. Kieran felt tired and hurt but he was just sick of it. He didn’t really want to be alone; he secretly wants to keep being friends even if Florian doesn’t have feelings for him anymore. It’s better than nothing, better than being completely alone. He knows his family cares about him but they don’t really talk to him as much and he doesn’t really either. Just small talk. Especially for Carmine, granted she did check up on him multiple times before when he was recovering. It was nice of her at least.

Kieran didn’t want to think about what happened that night. He was very… unwell to say the least. He shook his head to shake away his thoughts. The harmonious sound of Pokemon out in the night chirping and singing made it feel somewhat lively. It was comforting. The Illumise and Volbeats flying over the grass fields peacefully as if they were dancing to themselves. It was nice to look at for a moment but he has a task in hand. 

As he got to Wistful Fields he let out his team and Pecharunt. His long-time Pokemon looked around in confusion then noticed their trainer. They could see his tear stained face, he looked exhausted and upset. Concern and worry were apparent across their faces. One by one they get close and surround Kieran, hugging him not too tight. This broke him and started to sob uncontrollably. Pecharunt watched Kieran’s team in awe in the background then slowly joined the group hug.

It took a bit for Kieran to calm down, as he wiped away the tears he felt even more determined to prove them wrong. He brought out the items and notebook. Well let’s get started shall we?

-

As the sun rose over the horizon the light dappled into the town with soft autumn colours. Carmine was ready for the last Loyal Three and get it over with. She couldn’t really check on her little brother last night. He needed time to collect himself and calm down after all of that. She knocked on the door a few times then opened it.

“Kiki, I’m sorry about yesterday and-” Carmine stopped, she looked at the empty bed then scanned the room. Slowly realizing he’s not there anymore.

No, he couldn’t have gone there by himself to fight Okidogi alone. She darted out of the room and headed outside going over to the community center seeing the other group waiting on her but noticing Kieran wasn’t with her. Florian gave her a look of concern.

He glanced over at Carmine’s house as in hope he was running late, “Where’s Kieran?”

“He’s not home. Urgh,” Carmine grabbed her strands of hair in a bit of frustration. “He probably went after the last of the Lousy Three.”

The group were taken aback Florian clearly showing fear and concern in his eyes. “We have to go right now then.”

Everyone nodded and started heading over there quickly.

-

Kieran was right beside the sign at Paradise Barren with Furret beside him running in circles around the trainer. He was nervously anticipating the fight. Breath, breath, relax. The worst thing that can happen is Pecharunt being unable to fight against Okidogi, right? What’s the worst that can happen? Kieran’s bit his thumb to calm himself from the troubling thought.

Furret’s head perked up hearing footsteps from afar his ears twitching a biy. It was the others and they were running over to Kieran was. Carmine was ahead of them and went up to him, she was not clearly happy.

Carmine yelled, “Kiki! What in the world were you thinking?” She jabbed her finger at his chest angrily.

“W-what?” Kieran stuttered in complete shock and confusion.

“Stop acting stupid! You went ahead and fought Okidogi!”

Kieran gave her a look and brushed her hand away. “I didn’t. I’m not THAT stupid and even if I did I would’ve shown you the pokeball that I caught Okidogi with. But I don’t have it, do I?” He held up both of his hands at face level showing nothing there to show he wasn't lying.

Carmine gave him a confused look, “Then what were you doing?”

“..Training Pecharunt. B-but just so you know I already caught the Pokemon itself so it can’t do anything to anyone.” Kieran reassured, he held up the ultra ball and let out Pecharunt.

The peach Pokemon looked around in confusion then at Kieran. He reached out to the Pokemon and pets it, showing it meant no harm and that it won’t attack anyone. “See?”

Carmine reached over to Kieran and ruffled his hair. “You are always so kind and caring with helping Pokemon, Kiki.”

Kieran looked at her in question, “Is it wrong?”

“No. It’s fine but there are limits to it and so speaking to this Pokemon and what it has done-”

“So? It changed. Things change, sis. I trained it just so I can prove to you guys that it would fight Okidogi just to prove that it won’t hurt you guys or me.”

Pecharunt floated over to Kieran’s side as Furret crawled onto Kieran ready to support him. There was silence between them until a voice was heard.

“Alright,” Florian said, readying his pokeballs taking a battle stance. “I won’t be convinced until you defeat me in a battle.”

Kieran glanced at the ground then gripped the ultra ball tightly. “Fine, you want a battle? You’ll get it.”

“Florian, what are you doing?” Penny asked in question, looking at him confused. “Shouldn’t we save that for later or something?”

Nemona placed a hand on her shoulder, “Don’t, Florian already made up his mind. I’m so proud of him.”

Arven and Penny looked at her in disappointment. “You can’t be for real, Nemona.” Penny muttered, facepalming.

Carmine clasped her hands in worry as Kieran took position for the battle. She was worried, worried that if Florian beats him what would happen? What will happen? Will that be it for the two’s relationship and have the little vacation of the group end with a bad note? What would have happened with Kieran? She’s worried for her little brother’s wellbeing, especially how he looks.

He looked hurt and sad. The light in his eyes was slowly fading away as if he’s on his last legs to keep on going. She doesn’t know if Kieran would ever be the same after this if he loses. She knew he treasures Florian’s friendship a lot and how he reacted was surprising to her but understandable. He was alone too much back home and it was no different when he was in Blueberry Academy either.

Kieran took breaths to calm himself down as Furret climbed off of his trainer and stood right beside him ready to cheer him on. He wasn’t prepared for it but he is willing to fight and try winning. He looked over his team and picked the ones to go out first. Pecharunt returned to its ball as Kieran selected the first two Pokemon: Grimmsnarl and Incineroar.

As Florian took a look at Kieran he scratched the back of his neck in slight embarrassment. He really didn’t think this through yet he wanted to see if Kieran was right about the Pokemon. He didn’t want to take any chances because sometimes Pokemon disobey their trainers. It reminded him how he caught a Goomy and it still refused to listen despite how badly hurt it got during battles. She attacked randomly at times even when told not to. It just wasn’t a good experience overall. He had to give the Goomy away to someone anyway. Florian has no idea if she ever changed her attitude after changing trainers.

He genuinely didn’t want the same thing to happen to Kieran despite his friend putting so much trust into it. It concerned him a little but Florian knew deep down that Kieran was doing it out of the kindness of his heart. He just didn’t want his dear friend be hurt from betrayal from a Pokemon that controlled three other Pokemon and killed Ogerpon’s friend. It just didn’t settle right with him.

Gripping the two pokeballs Florian sent out Iron Valiant and male Meowstic into the battle. This is going to be a long battle, he thought.

.

As both sides take blows, one by one their Pokemon goes down, Kieran wasn’t too worried about it but he did notice that Ogerpon wasn’t out in the battle yet. Florian might be using her as a trump card just in case and they were both down with three Pokemon as of right now. Kieran only had Hydrapple, Whimsicott and Pecharunt left but as soon as he thought of that Whimsicott went down from trading blows with Glimmora. Both of them fainted and returned to their pokeballs.

Kieran stared at the ball Pecharunt was in and exhaled quietly. He lets Pecharunt out from the ball and the Pokemon comes out of its shell ready to battle. Florian brought out Ogerpon and as soon she came out of the ball. She lets out a cry and stared down the peach Pokemon.

As both trainers were hitting each other not holding back their power the sound of the fight rang throughout the barren grounds causing Okidogi’s ears to perk up and noticing Pecharunt’s presence at the same time. The brute dog Pokemon goes over to the source of where it is running with loud footsteps shaking the ground.

Kieran placed a hand on his face biting on his thumb in thought. This isn’t going to end well but he will try to finish it one way or another.

“Use Malignant Chain on Ogerpon, Pecharun-” A loud boom was heard as it caught Kieran off guard. The dust clouds were drifting throughout the battlefield as a figure rose from the landing it swung at Hydrapple making it get knocked back and bodying Meowstic taking them both out. Kieran looked at the Pokemon in shock then squinting at it to see as to who did that as the creature let out a howl.

Kieran quickly reached for his bag and threw a Full Restore at Florian as to which he caught it but was surprised as on why Kieran did that. 

“Our battle can wait. We’ll have to defeat this guy first. C’mon Pecharunt!” The Pokemon looked at him with uncertainty but nodded as ic saying it was willing to fight the retainer Pokemon. One of the Pokemon it used to have control over but lost it during the process.

Okidogi’s eyes were filled with anger and greed. Anger towards Pecharunt and the greed of wanting to get a hold of the masks was still there. Still poisoning his mind as the desire for the treasure was still ingrained in it. Pecharunt still had no control over him anyway, so trying to calm him down was near impossible.

Kieran quickly healed Pecharunt as Okidogi readied to make another move. Florian healed Ogerpon as well and yelled out the first move. 

-

As Okidogi kneeled down in defeat, Kieran shouted at Florian, “Now’s your chance, Florian!”

Florian looked at him then gave Kieran a curt nod. Throwing the pokeball at the dog Pokemon hitting its head with it as a bright flash of light lit up from them. The ball falls down and rolled a bit towards Florian. Shaking a few times then a click was heard. He let out a sigh of relief scratching the back of his head. Thank Arceus that was over with. Ogerpon jumped up and ran over to Florian with a smile on her face then stopped as Kieran walked up to the two.

Pecharunt floated right behind Kieran, afraid that Ogerpon might hurt it. “Uhm.. good job catching Okidogi and…helping me battle it.” Kieran said quietly, as Furret climbed up to his shoulders looking at Florian with curious eyes.

“C’mon Kiki I wouldn’t let you battle him by yourself let alone you had one Pokemon left anyway. That would be not.. right of me. ‘Sides that’d just show how horrible of a friend I am.” Florian said, glancing over to Ogerpon. “And I think Ogerpon is fine with Pecharunt after that… maybe just a tad.”

“W..what?” Kieran was taken aback. “Y-you still consider me…as a friend? B-but I didn’t listen to you… I hit you with the ball.”

“Yeah that hurts but I know you care about others deeply especially those who are weak. Kiki, you’re a good person and I.. really appreciate that you still stood your ground for your friend over there.” Florian motioned Pecharunt. “I was just genuinely concerned for your safety and I should’ve.. not said those things to you.

“Aha I sometimes forget to think before I speak but I uh guess my feelings kinda just made me say things in the worst way possible. That’s totally on me.” Florian looked over at Kieran then blinked in surprise as his friend's eyes were swelling up with tears.

“I-I’m… sorry really sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything. I-I just wanted to help someone for once and-and.. I was really hurt… that you didn’t want to support me anymore.” Kieran sobbed, Furret nudged his face against his in an effort to calm him down. “I thought you didn’t want to be friends anymore after all I’ve done an-”

Florian grabbed him and gave him a tight hug. “Kiki… please no. I would never stop being friends with you honestly. You’re like the bestest friend I could have ever asked for.  You are genuinely one of the nicest people I have ever met. Meeting you was the best thing that could ever happen to me.”

Kieran sniffled as Florian let’s go from the hug.

“Besides… er. Did you seriously use a love ball to hit me out of all things?” Florian asked, with a confused look.”That was pretty funny to use to hit me.”

Kieran looks away with panic, his face feeling hot. “U-uhm. I was going to.”

His friend looked at him with a raised eyebrow, “Yeah?”

“N-never mind. I don’t want to do it in front of everyone here…” The Kitakami kid said in embarrassment.

“Huh?...” Florian gave him a blank stare then jumped back in surprise. “WAIT HOLD ON. YOU WEREN’T SERIOUSLY-”

“You gave me an Applin during our trade, a shiny one in fact, Florian.” Kieran interrupted. “I… just kind of recently found out what it meant.”

Penny let out a snort of laughter in which Florian gave her a glare. She stopped and whistled as if nothing happened.

“W-well…” Florian sighed in shame. “Yes, I gave it to you with that exact meaning you are thinking of. Penny over here helped me out since she told me about it.”

“...Oh,” Kieran eyed him, slowly understanding where this was going. “B-but for me I didn’t know what it meant on my side of the trade. I just thought I’d give you one of my favorite Pokemon…”

“Yeah I figured-”

“But,” Kieran interrupted, fidgeting with the end of his jacket while looking down. “I uh.. feel the same… way.”

Florian blinked at Kieran for a minute. Fully processing everything ever so slowly. “What.”

“Well I mean if you don’t feel the same way what I was thinking then never mind-”

Penny let out a heavy tired sigh, “Dude you have no idea how much Florian talks about you at times. It’s kind of ridiculous.”

“P-PENNY??” Florian was bewildered by his friend saying it without notice. “YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO TELL KIKI THAT.”

Penny shrugged as Nemona and Arven laughed at Florian’s reaction.

“Ugh you guys are the worst.” Florian pinched the bridge of his nose. “I do that… a lot. More than I can let on and. I was going to... ask you out at some point. I was hoping the gifts I was giving you and stuff would help me drop hints but uh…”

Kieran puts his head in his hands, “Oh my Arceus…” Carmine walked over to her little brother patting his back in sympathy. 

“I didn’t want to tell ya since I thought it’d be funny.” Carmine teased.

“SIS? YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS?” Kieran looked up and glared at her, she held her hands up in her own defense.

“I meaannnn it was obvious. I even threatened Florian about it months ago.”

“WHAT?”

-

As the group settled down and decided to have a picnic for lunch, both Kieran and Florian were away from the group talking to each other alone so the others wouldn’t hear their conversation. Sitting on some patches of grass in the barren lands.

“So.. uhm about the love ball that you hit me with.” Florian laughs.

“I said I was sorry!” Kieran replied, shaking his head as if annoyed.

“Right, right my bad hehe. But do you really feel that way for me what you said earlier?”

Kieran closed his eyes in thought as the gentle winds blew throughout the land. The one feeling of being afraid and hurt was gone as if the winds took it away from him. The weight of those emotions slowly lifted away from his chest making him feel a little lighter.

He looked at Florian with a smile, “...Yes.”

-

[ End ]

[babymorte]

so im watching a list on worst to best resident evil games and every time someone does one of these they always talk about all the thing og re4 did first as far as mechanics and stuff and most of them were in dead aim first which like im not complaining (well i mean i guess i kind of am) and trying to not let the snooty resi fan in me out but like re4 wouldn’t exist in the way we know it if it wasn’t for dead aim. like you play dead aim and then play og4 and tell me dead aim wasn’t the blueprint. like im not saying this as someone who isn’t the biggest fan of og4 and trying to shit talk it im saying this as someone who is overly passionate about a game that doesn’t get enough credit for what it actually did to the gaming industry. like sure im overhyping the shit out of dead aim because it is inherently not great but if that game didn’t exist og4 wouldn’t either. i mean re4 is just diet metal gear but my argument still stands. i will die and leave my body to rot on this hill.

also also re5 is diet watered down gears of war and after playing through the first two gears games and going back to re5 for the first time in years makes me wish that i was playing gears instead…also dom over sheva all day. im sorry sheva i love you but don is supreme. im not ready for gears3.

but anyway……..

i also think i love dead aim because i think its it’s the first time i realised that capcom will release ‘bad’ games just to test game mechanics because they know us resi fans are psychotic and will buy whatever they throw at us. (also side note like i fully believe they never intended to release re:verse as a full game. capcom has enough money that they can afford to do this sort of thing. they’ll lose less money developing a shitty half hearted multiplayer game and keeping it in beta to gauge the reaction than just putting out a multi that people buy, hate, and then lose faith in the company; potentially leading to poor sales on future games. i think they learned their lesson with umbrella corp to not just make things to follow trends. like village is clearly a test run for what they wanted to do with 4s remake (also side note…i love the whole REmake/REmak3/re-three-make (i think that’s my fave honestly)/REm4ke (re2 doesn’t work i refuse to call it re-two-make i just can’t) thing like i always called the og REmake and the first time i saw other people doing it was the coolest thing cuz it just felt like we were all this giant hive mind. like every time i see someone doing it my heart fills with so much joy i don’t care how lame that sounds but ANYWAY.

i dont even know how i got on this tangent. my brain is just in resi mode apparently.

but what i was trying to say with them never releasing re:verse they’re clearly working on a multiplayer and part of me is thinking/hoping it will be for the multiplayer in 6 when they eventually remake that. that multiplayer was the only one i actually played online. it was legit so much fun. and they’re clearly working on outbreak. they would be stupid not to. they’ll definitely have to allow team chat because the original outbreak mechanics are trash by todays standards (not even resi streamers play it they only play with the team chat mod) plus it just makes it insanely difficult to play with people online who may not be great at these sorts of games or doesn’t know where to go and trying to communicate only by whatever lines the game allows you to use and only being able to hear other characters when they’re in the same room as you is beyond frustrating. i was definitely the kid that everyone got angry with for not knowing what they were supposed to do and just ran around being annoying spamming the voice lines. like it’s great as a single player game (maybe playing with friends) because it’s so immersive but it’s awful for trying to play with others. but all these multiplayer games they’re putting out they’re clearly making simple arenas shooters to test player/enemy mechanics and genre types without taking too much of a risk…right? or am i looking too much into it than i should be…which honestly possible knowing me. if that is the case it’s smart as hell if you can afford it. going back to my original thought…i also think re3 was to test for how leon would play in re4, like you could make the argument that’s why it seems so low effort in comparison to re2. like they were more interested in re4 that re3 was just another blueprint. like i do think capcom is playing 4d chess a little bit but i also think i have a major tendency to give capcom more credit than they deserve.

but fuck who would have thought the tables would turn between konami and capcom. like resi was commercially more popular but in the survival horror community (at least the corner i grew up in) silent hill was supreme. we watched resi fall from grace while regardless of how anyone feels about the room and downpour and all the other non team silent games they still have something to offer in their own way even if they make for bad silent hill games. as resi tried to go mainstream it lost what made resi resi and people just stopped caring while silent hill never really went away. people stopped asking for new resi but the need for another trip to silent hill was always being talked about. now capcom is back on top. resi dominating, and Konami is putting out silent hill skateboards (which are actually pretty dope but why the fuck who asked for this). like these modern resi games are what shinji mikami wanted resi to be from the start the hardware just didn’t allow for it. the original resi was supposed to be a co-op horror fps! like we need to be able to appreciate that aspect at least as snooty og resi fans who miss tank controls and fixed cameras so im just so so proud that the modern resi games exist as they do…but again im rambling…

I need to stop cuz im about to start an evil within tangent and we don’t need that now do we. but also i love that game. eh on the second…i never finished it but ive watched a lot of lore videos and i just like the first one better but regardless kiki you need to shut up and go make food.

[theropoda]

to the skyrim-mod savy people out there: are there any mods that let you skip the game's intro when you start a new save? since its always reccomended to thoroughly test a newly installed mod on a new save instead of a mid-game save i want to be able to download new mods, test them out on a new save WITHOUT that awful dragging intro...

i know unbound exists but the mod's faq seems to say you can't play your mid-game saves that you started with the vanilla intro if you've installed the mod??? which. I Would like 2 continue playing them.

[windvexer]

Hey, Chicken! Hope you don't mind this ask, as I'm not sure if you know much about this topic (I don't remember seeing you mention it before), but I was just wondering if you have any advice on using a pendulum for divination? I've been told something about "micro movements" affecting the accuracy of readings, but I'm unsure if this is an actual thing that happens or not, and it makes me nervous that my readings are super inaccurate (I don't have a pendulum stand, unfortunately). If you don't have any advice or opinions or whatnot, no worries! Thank you for taking the time to read through my ask regardless. Take care! 🐔

Hi!

I'm not the biggest pendulum reader. For years I couldn't get any level of accuracy out of them. However, in recent years, I've made decent progress.

Idk about the micromovements thing. I don't worry about them. I'm assuming a micromovement is like... tiny little jiggles?

IME, pendulum readings shouldn't be tiny little jiggles. They should be big, active movements.

When it comes to accuracy, we have some problems and some solutions.

Not all divinatory tools can measure the same things, first of all.

If I asked you, right now, to use tarot to determine the charge level and activity status of an enchanted spell vessel, could you do it?

Perhaps! I have no reason to doubt you.

But, like me, perhaps you would need to create a custom oracle system within tarot before you could do such a thing. Because tarot, in and of itself, is not an excellent system for determining the power levels within magical objects.

Now, if I asked you to do the same thing with a pendulum, could you?

Of course you could. That's, like, pendulum 101. That's what a pendulum does, baby!

You just hover that bad boy over an enchanted spell vessel and if it makes a biggo circle, the thing is charged up; but if it makes a small circle, or only does these micromovements you speak of, it's not charged at all.

Using a pendulum, you can obtain in seconds what you'd have to spend hours doing with a tarot deck.

And vice-versa!

Try using a pendulum to obtain a guidance message from a spirit. So tedious.

What this demonstrates (I hope) is that if you apply a pendulum to the incorrect ends, it will be very difficult to wrangle answers from. You can use a power drill to saw through a board, certainly; but the results will be tedious to obtain and awful to behold.

The benefits I've found is that the pendulum makes absolute ease of certain magical needs, but you've got to know what it can do and what it can't do; and if you need it to do something it can't do, you need to be prepared to develop your own custom systems of divination to attach to the pendulum, much like one downloads workshop mods to modify a computer game.

Yes, do confirm with the pendulum what direction is "yes" or "no," either through asking or telling.

Confirm whether or not your readings are accurate by reading on verifiable things. If you would like a test, make a pendulum board like this one (same link as before), and have friends send you photos of objects enchanted with the same categories of energy as your board contains. Use your pendulum to determine the types of enchantment contained therein.

If you are anything like me, you'll find that pendulums are excellent at detecting energies, but quite poor at producing sentences and paragraphs like tarot can.

I think of the pendulum as more of a gauge, or meter. It can be activated on a scale of "barely" to "very," and move in either the direction of "this" or "that."

I have never bothered with using a pendulum over a spirit board to slowly spell out answers, when you can draw two tarot cards and get a few sentences at once.

Likewise, why bother with tarot, or casting lots, or energy readings, when you can hold up a pendulum and get a quick, accurate reading of the properties of some object or person, or whatever?

So I'm definitely rambling, but my biggest tip to you, is:

Figure out for yourself what domains are easily read when you and pendulum work together, and strive to discover, modify, or create systems of meaning which make sense for the both of you, and allow the both of you to work as a team to discover certain answers.

Do not see the pendulum as interchangeable with any other system of divination. See it as a skill, in and of itself.

You may find much greater success reading on things which you can interact with, such as objects and photos, as opposed to hypotheticals, such as predicted futures.