#long post warning i guess

[affectionatecorpse]

I'm once again getting overly philosophical over horror movies, so here's a study of the death angels from A Quiet Place as observed by a very enthusiastic animal loving veterinarian.

Every time people talk about death angels, it is, understandably, about how violent they are. These creatures are brutal and merciless, and will tear apart anything that makes too much noise. Hence the title of the movie.

Death angels are frankly terrifying, and show no empathy towards the creatures of the planet they invaded. No living thing is safe from them.

... so here's why they COULD be--

Look. Death angels are simply not suited for our planet. It's a noisy, chaotic place full of noisy, chaotic animals. From humans, to raccoons, to birds, to cats, nearly everything in our world is a potential trigger for a noise sensitive animal such as these.

But that's exactly what they are. Animals. And no one seems to remember that fact. People talk about them as though they themselves are sentient, anthropomorphic monsters, but the way these creatures act mimic many real life animals. Animals that don't belong here, but are trying to survive here. On a noisy planet covered in water, which they despise and cannot swim in.

Death angels are completely blind by nature, as seen in many other creatures such as cavefish, moles, and my personal favourite, the olm. Due to a lack of sight, they very clearly use echolocation in the film, to scan their surroundings and... well, not get dead. But echolocation is far from their only tool, as their ears are the strongest asset they have.

Their ears are INCREDIBLY sensitive. Just the slight ticking of an egg timer when heard from their perspective in the first film, is like a pounding drum in their ear. This is fine in a naturally quiet planet, but if a very subtle tick is that loud, then imagine the rest of the noise. Screaming. Explosions. Crashing. Little toy planes. Holy CRAP, that's gotta hurt.

Sounds that loud would definitely cause extreme hearing problems from pressure over time, and easily result in lifelong illnesses and disabilities such as deafness, infection, and so forth, if not stopped. It's going to be painful. It's literally bursting their ear drums inside their heads, and you can't explain to an animal why it hurts. You cannot rationalise with wildlife about treatment and self care. An injured and scared animal is always going to turn hostile, no matter how docile they may be normally. You can't explain to a lion with a knife in it's belly that you can stop the pain if it just doesn't attack you. You can't explain to a death angel that it needs to go somewhere more isolated instead of just destroying the source of the noise to shut it up.

Going to backtrack here a sec. Remember how I mentioned echolocation being another asset this creature has? Which means the slightest movement, the tiniest breath, can immediately allow you to be seen by it. With ears that good, too? It can see you from ages away. It knows you're there. Which means they DON'T attack for sport.

'Evil' is a concept rarely seen in nature. Yes, a lot of humans can be evil. And yes, many creatures can be too. Animals hunt for sport as well. Cats, for example! Although even then, I wouldn't describe it as evil. Calling the death angels evil implies they're attacking out of malicious intent, which just isn't true. In moments of panic, they'll destroy. But they are fully aware of humans around them.

Humans need to breathe, and can't stay perfectly still very easily. The death angels would be able to see our main cast at several points, even when they're being quiet. They don't attack whenever they locate a sign of life. For example, the scene in the basement. Being that close, whether the water was running or not, that alien absolutely would've heard Evelyn and the baby's sharp breaths. It didn't care. It was clicking at them almost curiously before it heard the bang of the silo, to which it ditched them to stop the sound.

This scene is a great example of why they don't kill for sport. Injured and young animals are especially easy prey for a creature built so strong and nimble. Evelyn is shown to be terrified of the mere presence of this thing, but it never actually does anything in the scene. It moves about. Ignores her movements in the flooding water. Investigates the baby. Clicks curiously at her while she backs away. It moves slowly and on all fours, when we know while aggressive, they will stand up on their hind legs (unless sprinting) and move very fast.

This implies it was in... well, not a submissive position, but a nonthreatening one. It wasn't baring it's teeth (as best it could), it had it's claws tucked up and unused, and was in no way in a primed-to-attack mentality. Until the silo made a loud bang. And even then, it could've quickly sliced up the two in the basement before running off, but it DIDN'T. It just left, without a moment of hesitation.

Let's also acknowledge the anatomy.

This is a carnivore. With sharp teeth for ripping apart prey, sharp claws for defence, and thick armour for protection from it's natural climate, as well as strong, long legs for running, this is absolutely a meat eater. The fact it's so well equipped makes me wonder if their natural prey is just as dangerous as them, which is why they have such tough skin. Or if they themselves have something above them in the food chain.

They seem to be pack animals, as usually others aren't far behind when one is about. Such as the trio by the Abbott house, the few at the docks, the ones by Emet's hideout, and even that group sliding down the building in the Day One clip I keep seeing as a gif. With their knack for running included, I wonder if they function like lions? Blending into their environment back home, clicking to hear prey, then the whole pack going on the chase when their target is vulnerable, in a way.

I got distracted. My point was, in a year, all the bodies from past victims vanished. All those people in the town who were swiped left and right just vanished from the town. They couldn't have decomposed in such short time, which means something moved them when it was safe. Something like a carnivore needing food after it felt comfortable in the silent aftermath. The argument that they do it for sport is one I see all the time, and it's just not true.

Everything needs to eat. Carnivores need to eat. Animals need to protect themselves from suspected danger. They never eat on screen because whenever they're on screen, they're surrounded by noise and are DISTRESSED. Have you ever had a sick pet? Most of the time, it won't eat when it's ill because it's too stressed, uncomfortable or in too much pain. When having their ear drums assaulted, a death angel isn't going to sit down with a cup of tea and a grilled cheese. Also, I won't add it because there's blood, but in the scene with the old man screaming in the woods, after it attacks, you can actually see it go back on all fours and sniff about the aftermath, like a hungry predator catching prey to eat. This was probably the first and currently only on screen proof of my claim.

By all means, not all animals are meant to be tamed. Jordan Peele's Nope said that best. Yet I can't help but wonder about the individual. Every animal is completely unique. Some will tolerate more than others. Due to their realistic nature and the similarities to actual animals, in specific circumstances, could they be befriended?

Anyway keep an eye out for A Quiet Place 4 where someone has a pet one that wears doggy ear protectors and accepts meat in exchange for pets-- /j

[star-farer]

Okay, so

Nala Se takes Omega for the reasons you said, but also you could add the fact that she could be a liability for them in the coming war. CF99 needs to be at the top of their game and doesn't need distractions. Also it could act as a double edged sword that if they try to rebel or don't preform well that there is a threat of harm to her.

Yes, Nala Se would absolutely do this. She would claim Omega to be a liability and that they are elite soldiers that need to win the war, just to put them in their place, which, according to her, is beneath her.

Also, the sudden raise in stakes because Omega's welfare is being brought into the mix would be an excellent explanation to their 100% success rate (ohohoho my brain is storming very well presently). Maybe all the arrogance and bravado they put up in the face of everything hides their true fear of the consequences of their failure.

Additionally, in terms of Omega remembering things, there could be potential for some gaslighting like "you're just imagining things/made it up". Maybe Nala Se doesn't even have any sort of affection for Omega starting out and doesn't realize/acknowledge it until later.

This would work beautifully...except for the fact that Omega needs a motive to visibly perk up at the sight of Hunter and the rest of the Batch in the staging area during Palpatine's speech and follow after them in the hallway.

If she doesn't remember much about them, it wouldn't make any sense for her to pursue them like that.

In the show, she's pretty much their biggest fan. She knows all their names, even Echo, the latest addition to the squad. She's probably been keeping track of them via reports and such.

Such desperation to be a part of the squad (which is a recurring theme in the series) wouldn't make much sense unless she remembered them from her lonely childhood.

When Echo, Wrecker, Tech and Omega return to Kamino to save Hunter, she remembers the coordinates to the secret landing platform and knows how to get into Nala Se's private lab. She even mentions remembering their creation and enhancement in the lab.

Going by the theory that CF99 age like the regular troopers, i.e. twice as fast as a human, and that Omega canonically ages like a normal human, she couldn't be significantly older than them when they were created, maybe just two or three years their elder.

And yet, she has remembered them.

And this ties into my theory (or headcanon) of Omega having really good memory. Even at such a young age.

So coming back to my AU: I intend to keep the Palpatine Speech Scene and First Meeting in the Hallway Scene more or less the same, if not more heartwarming. It wouldn't make sense for her to attempt escape from Nala Se's clutches unless she remembers them. Or, at the very least, fragments of her relationship with them.

Also, the reason she manages to get away from Nala Se in the first place is because of the sudden reorganization of the Republic into the Empire: amidst all this chaos, Nala Se is unable to keep track of her and Omega can slip away more often.

And of course, Omega slips away. All this time she's lived all alone and isolated from the rest of the world and she remembers the warmth that was her aliit once upon a time and if this is the only opportunity she'll get then she'll seize it with both hands.

So Omega does remember her buire in this AU, and while she isn't openly hostile or rebellious towards Nala Se (she's too frightened of the scientist for that), she does harbor resentment for being taken away from her buire, though the resentment is very much muffled by her usual kind disposition.

All this being said, I do have a Sub-AU of Ik'aad where she doesn't remember them raising her at all. She's just a clone girl who learns about Nala Se's deviant and defective batch of experimental clones and goes feral over the fact that oh it's not just me who's strange and different and odd, therefore becoming their biggest fan.

The Palpatine Speech Scene and First Meeting in the Hallway Scene end up becoming bittersweet in this case,

because on her part it's just yes I finally get to meet my heroes and they could be my brothers and we could be like all the rest of the clones and be together and this is just so awesome and exciting and— why are they looking at me like I'm the stars or something??

while for them it's just oh she's back she's here she's home and she's grown so much and wait, why is she — doesn't she recognize us?? doesn't she — oh, oh, she was too little, she was too young, infantile amnesia, we should've expected this, she looks at us like we're her heroes, not her buire.

So your second para about Nala Se gaslighting her fits wonderfully in this Sub-AU, which I have most lovingly named the Gregor AU and will have to rename it for obvious reasons if I ever do get around to putting it out here.

As for Nala Se and her relationship with Omega: I'll have to get back to you on that, considering the fact that I've never really cared for the Kaminoan and thus never cared for her relationship with Omega.

For the ik'aad AU: did Shaak Ti play any part in the Batch keeping Omega in their care? Was it an open secret of sorts? Random questions that came to me!

-Yatz

Alright, I think I know enough of Master Ti to answer this.

Shaak Ti, unfortunately, played no part in Omega's care.

In fact, Omega's entire existence is heavily kept under wraps. The only reason she was found in the first place was because Hunter was one of Nala Se's experimental clones and was summoned to one of her private med-bays after an injury.

Nala Se is fiercely protective and secretive of Omega, so Shaak Ti never ends up knowing about the girl's existence. Omega's sole interaction has been with Kaminoans, droids and injured or unconscious clones, and of course CF99 in her youngest stages.

Nala Se reveals that she has known CF99's involvement in her upbringing and kept silent concerning it because it has proved beneficial to her growth and development (clones are highly communal beings, and also Se's just got a soft spot for the kid - as soft as someone as cruel as her can be). She then claims that Omega's nature has grown unacceptably defiant and disobedient, and with that, Omega is taken away from them.

After all this, Se is clever enough to make sure Omega is occupied most of the time and doesn't manage to run off to mingle with the rest of the clone populous. It's why she gives her the headdress and clothing akin to her own. Omega is kept secluded and unknown and secret in sly and clever ways, since if she is kept under literal guard, unwanted attention would be drawn Omega's way, then Nala Se's way, and subsequently the Prime Minister's, and that's the last thing the Kaminoan's want.

CF99 make it a point never to speak about her after that, partly for her own safety, partly because her loss is just too much to bear. They never had much choice, there was little they could do under the hand of their creators and masters. Sure, they could've fought for her, ran away with her in tow, but they're valuable assets, not to mention Nala Se's valuable assets.

Omega therefore remains a terrifically well-kept secret, even better kept than the inhibitor chips. Nala Se is even more prudent concerning Omega around Master Ti once she understands the depth of the Jedi's compassion for the clone units.

I could go on about CF99's helplessness in all this and why it was only when the Empire popped up they could do something about it, and also about Nala Se's strange affection (if that's what it must be called) for Omega, but I'll tie it up here.

There's a lot in here that could apply to Canon too, if you're choosing the route where Shaak Ti doesn't know about Omega (there's always the chance that she did, but she was caught between a war and her beliefs as a Jedi, so there was little to be done except show kindness).

Along this line of thinking, however, I think Omega would have adored Master Ti, because oh she's never seen anyone like this with montrals and lekku and gasp she's got a headdress too and oh she's a Jedi she's just so cool!!!

Obviously, Master Ti would find herself once again torn between treating her like a professional clone medical assistant and instead braiding her hair and swinging her hand and amazing her with simple telekinetic tricks with the Force and sneaking her treats from Coruscant (she does this with every clone cadet) and oh dear, is she going to adopt yet another clone???

(who am I kidding, the entire GAR's made up of her lads, and this time she's got a little lass too <3)

[cake-emu]

"When we're happy-- I'm not saying that we're not happy now, it's just that... when we know what we want, alright, then there ain't nothing gonna keep me from that church… or registry office… or whatever you want, really." "Beach in Ibiza." "Beach in Ibiza... now you're talking."

Coronation Street | Carla Connor + Lisa Swain (Carla's journey so far (7th October 2024 - 26th May 2025))

[karenandhenwilson]

Okay, so you want to talk about the basketball scene? Let’s do that.

A couple of guys regularly meet for pickup basketball games. Buck has always declined invitations in the past and finally joined. It’s a pickup game, though. NBA rules are the last thing those guys are following. They’ve probably put down some ground rules. But more likely, they’ll assume everyone knows how to keep the game mostly friendly.

Because that’s the thing about pickup games of any sport. It’s not the kind of competition you find in a professional league or even in a semi-professional league like school leagues. It’s mostly about having fun, but it’s also about egging each other on, about riling each other up to such a degree that most people who meet for these kinds of games go around saying things like “just a friendly game, the ‘friendly’ being optional”. 

They play hard and fast with the rules, and we saw them egg each other on repeatedly during the scene. It was pretty clear where the whole scene was leading from the very beginning. Because the thing about these kinds of pickup games, no matter what game, is that the amateurs playing will always get injuries that professionals wouldn’t get so easily. Because of the general disregard for rules, but also because the amateurs don’t have the training for the game and might just take a wrong move, or don’t know how to fall, or aren’t able to contemplate the consequences of body checking the other player, especially in the heat of the game.

Everyone who joins in that kind of game knows exactly that they’re risking injuries. Not even just because the guys they’re playing with might get callous in their fouls, but just because they might make a wrong step, or they might be really unlucky in catching the ball.

Eddie had to go to the hospital. That’s true so far. 

Remember, we are watching a show about firefighters? The kind of job where having even so much a sprained ankle means you aren’t fit for duty. Because working with a limp while responding to a fire will slow you down in a situation where you can’t afford that. It might mean you aren’t even able to handle carrying all the required equipment in the first place. Working with a limp at the scene of a car accident or something similar, where you have to work with heavy equipment and sometimes have to rely on your strength alone.

Of course Eddie would go to see a doctor for such a fall to make sure he was fit for duty. He can’t just show up with a limp to his next shift and walk it off.

The next day we see Eddie on shift. (How do we know it’s the next day? Pickup basketball games are every other Thursday. Buck and Tommy’s first date was Saturday. The shift with the guy who had no control over his hand was between those two events.) And he isn’t even limping. Based on that, I dare say his ankle wasn’t even sprained and the whole hospital thing was nothing but being overcautious. Because that’s what canon tells us with that.

And with that, I have to say: Everyone claiming Buck broke Eddie’s ankle invalidates their whole argument right away. If you have to make the injury worse to make your argument work, you clearly know you’re full of bullshit.

Let’s take a look at the aftermath.

After Eddie falls because of Buck’s body check, Buck immediately looks and acts in a way that shows he is feeling guilty. Chimney calls him out on his behavior at the same moment. We then get a whole scene of Buck talking through that moment and how he feels about it with Maddie.

We don’t see an on screen apology, that’s true. But we get shown at great length that Buck’s behavior was not okay, that he feels guilty about it, and that the people around him call him out for the behavior. The episode then ends with the strong suggestion that Buck will call Eddie to apologize. 

You know when we haven’t seen people feeling even slightly remorseful or are so much as talking about an apology?

All three times someone got physical with Buck in an argument. 

Bobby never apologized or felt remorseful as far as we see. We never saw any follow-up for that scene. We don’t even see any kind of reaction in Hen, who watches the whole thing calmly as if nothing strange is going on.

Chimney went on a whole rant about killing Buck and bringing him back to life weeks later. So his off-hand comment much, much later to Hen that he talked it out with Buck and apologized feels suspicious at best, and unbelievable at worst.

Eddie claimed “someone” was mean to Buck, skillfully avoiding admitting any fault of his own. And then shoved two people at Buck he knew Buck would be so happy to see he’d forget what a jerk Eddie was both during the argument and then with the very misleading note in the morning and telling Buck it was his fault for misunderstanding that note.

Somehow, it’s always only Buck who is haunted by it, even seasons later, when he makes a mistake or people even just perceive Buck as the one who made a mistake (e.g. Dr. Wells being brought up as a joke). And people wonder why so many people feel with Buck and argue about his bad decisions less than other characters.

[the-cats-noodles]

so, I may or may not have done a thing… :3

Fan Art for @glitter-stained ‘s AU The Protector!!

specifically based off two scenes in ch 7-8 I believe? I really liked the contrast between a safer/happier time and the on going conflict in the ch (vague I know,, but you can always read it to find out >:3 )

and

I’m not sure how,, but it turned out kinda monochromatic?? also, tumblr may have eaten the quality so heres the two sides individually:

Please read the fic (it’s literally amazing and I treasure it immensely)

it’s got one of the best representations of trauma and how it affects interpersonal relationships in the fandom

It will punch you in the heart, just a little bit (n maybe more) but it’s absolutely worth it and I once again /highly/ recommend reading it!

[natolesims]

Reaper's Rewards | Week 1

Yoru moved to Willow Creek and failed at making friends. At least she hasn't burnt down her kitchen and is starting a small garden of flowers. She also met the... man (?) she's obsessed with.

[cherrirui-official]

Friendlocke Violet Gijinkas (Part 3/7)

PART 3 RAAAAGH!!! SO SORRY THIS ONE TOOK SO LONG AAAH!!!! But it's here now, yippee!!! And just in time for Christmas too, wowie!

I plan on posting them in order by groups of three, so there's gonna be seven parts in total, all of which I'll be linking here when done vvv

(Part One) (Part Two) (Part Four) (Part Five) (Part Six) (Part Seven)

!! These will contain personal headcanons I have for the cast, little fun facts, and also spoilers for Friendlocke Violet (for both the edited vids and the streams) !!

@saltydkart-reblogs

Designs under the cut!

GRACE:

The light scars/ cracks on her body were injuries formed while she was accidentally sent through Turo's time machine. Unlike the paradox pokemon/ miraidon, GrAce's body isn't made of iron or metal, so her body wasn't able to withstand the large amount of tera energy used to power the machine as easily as the paradox pokemon were.

Luckily, she was just barely able to hold out against the time machine's energy until she made it to Turo's lab in the present day. Unfortunately, she can't be sent back because she would literally die if she went through the time machine again. Sooooo she's stuck in the modern era.

Very familiar with Area Zero and the various pokemon that reside down there, but moved out in order to continue producing music as well as familiarize herself with current-day Paldea.

She only vaguely know Clavell back when he was a rebellious teenager, though she didn't know his name. Clavell, on the other hand, was one of her biggest fans back in the 50s-60s.

Funny enough, when she sees "Clive" for the first time, she recognizes him! But not as Director Clavell, she just barely recognizes him as the random teenage fan that would occasionally ask her to sign various GrAce posters he had bought. She is also under the belief that he too, was sent from the past into the present, unaware that he simply just grew up.

Likes doing random poses for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

BRAIDY:

Believes that everything can be solved without violence, but can and will throw hands if need be.

Everyone in Braidy's family greet each other by playfully ramming into one another. So when Peppy and his team were getting chased down by Braidy's family during their journey, they weren't trying to attack them, they just wanted to say hi!

Braidy is really good with kids due to his experience with being the eldest sibling, as he'd often have to take care of his younger siblings.

Mykyie and Braidy shop at the same clothing store.

Speaking of Mykyie, the lighter parts of Braidy's fur appeared only after Mykyie passed...

As of now, he's still an apprentice, but he has great potential to become an all powerful wizard... someday.

CHRISTENE'S:

Artist's note: I couldn't fit their children in the bio sorry girls and gays. I'll probably draw them out later on after I'm finished with everyone else.

Their stomachs are basically voids, so every time they eat the food just disappears, which is why they're ALWAYS hungry.

HIGHLY flammable.

It is speculated that they're poppets, but you don't have any proof of that, do you?

If you listen closely, you can hear soft bell noises every time they walk. It is unknown why this happens, but I believe it is best not to ask.

Aaaaand that's it! I plan on taking a short break from these bc I wanna draw some other stuff. Dw, I'll continue to work on these very soon!

[kangaracha]

white hyacinth + lee know

white hyacinth: 'meddlesome angels and the people they save'

written by @keepswingin

tw/cw: near death experiences, suicide attempts, unspecified eating disorder, references to child abuse, drowning, self-harm.

---

"I never should've saved you," Minho all but hisses as he throws himself into the closest chair, wringing out the bottom of his shirt. "I don't even like you." There's already a small puddle forming beneath his feet as water drips from his clothes. Seaweed is caught behind his ear. "Were you trying to drown yourself?" 

Hyunjin hangs over the kitchen sink, equally drenched. Water droplets slip from his hair and onto the dirty dishes he couldn't bring himself to clean. His fingers are pruned. He's surprised his legs can hold his own weight. His throat is sore and his teeth ache. He coughs to try and relieve some of the lingering pressure in his chest only to hack up more salt water, burning on its way up and out. He groans, slumping against the counter. "And if I say yes?" he counters quietly, voice rasping across the kitchen. 

"Then I should've let you," Minho spits, and a heavy splat of water hitting the tile punctuates his words. Hyunjin isn't sure how to feel when his tone of voice is like this, lingering in the space between biting and sharp. Oddly enough, he doesn't feel guilty for taking Minho's time. "Millions of people die everyday and I save the one person trying to kill himself?" 

"I didn't ask you to," Hyunjin says, quieter. "You could've saved someone else." 

The silence that comes after prickles uncomfortably at Hyunjin's skin. The chair scrapes against the floor when Minho finally stands. Hyunjin doesn't bother to turn, barely bothers to breathe. "No," Minho grumbles, and it sounds like the fight has suddenly been drained from his very body. "I saved you."

oo

"Lose some weight," Minho snarks to the body he drags away from the edge, barely able to budge him any further than a few feet. "You're too heavy." The mud hinders his progress and he spits a curse as he lets go of him, glaring. His arm falls into the muck, splaying across his skin. "Unbelievable." 

Changbin lifts his mud-covered arm and stares at for a long moment before dropping it against his chest. His heart is still racing from the adrenaline of it all. He can still feel how weightless he was as he teetered, one foot in the air, his weight tipping forward into near oblivion. Minho's painful grip as his fingers had latched around his forearm, yanking him backwards. 

Minho huffs, still glaring. "What were you thinking? That you'd get a free pass and catch yourself in time?"

Changbin almost laughs. "I wasn't thinking," he says, voice strangely detached. He doesn't know where to go from here. This was his final step. "Were you?" he dares to ask Minho, turning his head so he can watch him. "Thinking?" He's sure there's better people out there to save. He wonders if Minho even bothers when it comes to people that deserve it. He knows he definitely doesn't deserve it and yet Minho pulled him back. 

"I was thinking about how stupid you are," he replies easily, not bothering to soften the words in an attempt to get them through his thick skull. "The movie you've been waiting for comes out on Friday. Your gym just got new weights. You told me you wanted to try new food." He reaches over and grabs at his arm, mud slipping from his skin onto Minho's palm. "I thought you were saving yourself."

"There's nothing left of me to save," he whispers, digging the words out from where they've been buried. 

Minho lets go of his arm. A spot of mud lands on Changbin's cheek. 

"There's plenty of you left," he says. "I'll find it again even if you can't." 

oo

"You're insane," is all Minho can bring himself to say as he stares down at the gun in his hands. He's never held one before and it's heavy in his palms, heavier still with the weight of being able to end a life faster than Minho can save it. He looks up and wants to yell, for the first time in a long time. It pushes and pushes at his chest, but he swallows the words before they can make it anywhere. 

Chan is emotionless as he stares back at Minho, dark bags under his eyes, cheeks sunken with something more than stress. He stands still and numb in the center of the room. His fingers are shaking. Pale. "I was using that," he says, and it could be a joke if this was anything else than what it is, even if his tone is just as empty as the rest of him. 

"Not anymore," Minho throws back, pocketing the pistol and hoping that he was successful in flicking the safety on. "I'm surprised. You're usually smarter than this. Did you expect me to clean up after?" 

Chan winces at the barb. His eyes drift down to his shoes. The abandoned warehouse around them creaks with the next flick of wind. He feels unlike himself. He feels exhausted. He feels like a terrible person as Minho stares him down with eyes that are never as cold as the rest of him. He wonders if there's a limit to how many times one can save him. He wonders if he can find that limit himself or with some help. 

"I'm sorry." He doesn't think he means the words, not in the way he should. His mind keeps replaying the motions. He can still feel Minho's grip, can still hear the shuffle of his feet on the concrete as he had moved toward him. 

Minho rolls his eyes. "Save your apology for when you mean it," he says. Chan gives a small nod. He doesn't know if he should stay here or go home, or find somewhere completely new. He doesn't know where he belongs. "And pick up a new hobby. Guns don't suit you anymore than this does." 

oo

"Do you even care anymore?" Minho asks from outside the bathroom stall, arms crossed as he leans against the medium. "From the sound of it, I don't think that you do. Which is ridiculous when I've never met someone who cares more." The toilet flushes in response and there's a moment where he simply listens to the other's heavy breathing, and then the door opens. 

Felix doesn't spare him a glance as he moves past him to the sink, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He looks worse than the last time Minho saw him, smaller, unhealthy. His hair is struggling, and the foundation smeared under his eyes looks out of place on such a thin face. His lips tremble and he can barely hold himself up, let alone walk. Minho isn't surprised that he ended up here. It looks like he's on the brink of something much worse than death.

"I do care," Felix finally says, eyes sliding to meet Minho's in the mirror. 

"Not about yourself," Minho spits, all sharp edges. "You haven't cared about yourself in a long time."

His stomach barely exists. If Minho reached out to grab his arm, he would be afraid that his grip alone would break the limb in two. The designer clothes he's wearing don't fit right even in the smallest size the company can offer. Minho wonders just how much editing they do to his final photos and then tries not to think any further. 

"I'll be fine," Felix dismisses, turning towards the door. But he turns too fast and grows dizzy, nearly stumbling into the wall. Minho darts forward and catches him by the shoulder, keeping him steady. "I'm fine," he murmurs, pulling himself from the other's hold.

"Stop acting like it," Minho all but growls, reaching out again, shaking his head. His fingers bruise paper-thin skin. "Don't say it again until it's actually true." 

oo

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" Minho whispers as he picks himself up from the ground, dusting off the sides of his pants before spitting a curse. He's not sure he's allowed to curse. He doesn't really care, something hot and angry bubbling up inside of him. He's always annoyed but this kind of anger is new, especially as he frowns at the young boy curling into himself on the sidewalk in front of him. "There are better ways to die," he continues, almost as a dare. "Don't you know them?"

Jeongin slowly shakes his head. He's made himself so tiny that Minho nearly forgets that he's lived through more things than people twice his age have. The highway before them doesn't stop with them, another thing Minho hates. No one stops to check anymore. No one cares. No one ever cares. If they had hit him like he wanted, they probably would've kept going without looking back.

"Are you planning to stay like that the rest of the night?" he asks. When Jeongin doesn't answer him he sighs and takes a step toward him, shoe poking at his skinny shoulder. "Your shelter is down the road. Go back home." 

"I don't have a home," Jeongin says, still unmoving. "I don't have anything." 

Minho has half a mind to pick him up himself and carry him back. Instead he pokes him with his foot again, harder this time. Jeongin tries to move away from him but Minho follows, unrelenting. "Neither do I," he grouses, ignoring the way that Jeongin peeks at him, eyes wet. "But there's still things to do. Get up and figure out what you do have."

oo

"Can't take a punch?" Minho sarcastically asks as he approaches, immediately going to untie the rope wrapped around and around. "I thought you were used to being a punching bag." The rope tumbles to the ground, leaving the other to slump forward, bucket kicking out from beneath him. Minho catches him around the shoulders and lowers him carefully to the ground, gently leaning his back against the wall.

Seungmin grimaces and lifts a hand to the still bleeding gash in his side. His face is a mess of purples and blues, his left arm hanging limp. Minho thinks it might be broken and glares at the rope like that will change how he found him. His head lolls before finding the wall alongside the rest of him, hitting it with a soft thump. Maybe Minho's too late and he's already gone, an addition to the sea of lost souls he isn't allowed to touch. 

"You're not done, are you?" he asks, shaking him. "Your father finally decides to get rid of you and you just lay down and take it?" He exhales against the prickle in his chest. "You used to fight back." 

"I...used to," Seungmin breathes, the words out of place as they tumble from a mouth that doesn't quite know how to work anymore. Minho shifts closer, party surprised that he's still conscious. "Can't." Another pause as he struggles to form the word he's looking for. "Anymore."

Minho scoffs. "You were never scared to die." 

Seungmin's chest stutters on his next inhale and the wheeze that comes after sounds like something that nearly chokes him. Minho worries that his presence enough won't be enough. Sometimes it isn't. He reaches out and grabs his shoulder, ignoring the pang in his chest when Seungmin flinches. His sight lingers on the red line around his neck, on the rope that had kept him between life and death.

"You didn't die," he says, Seungmin's breath hitching. "Start acting like you deserve to be." 

oo

"You're bleeding," Minho says as he stands in the doorway, taking in the precarious state of the bathroom. Water drips from the sides of the tub with every breath, and there's blood slipping down the porcelain. His sight lingers on the amount of red on both his wrists, held slightly above the water. "I thought you said you were sick of bleeding." 

Jisung huffs. His chest is barely moving up and down like it should. The rest of him is beginning to shake, but Minho's not sure if it's from the shock or blood loss. He figures he should probably learn the difference if every time he sees him, there's always a scene that looks like something from a horror movie. 

"I'm sick of a lot of things," Jisung whispers, voice barely louder than a whisper. His eyes are locked on his wrists, watching as blood rolls and rolls and rolls. Minho moves into the room. He takes a seat beside the bathtub Jisung rests in, leaning his head back. The water tickles his hair. 

"Are you sick of me?" he asks quietly, possibly the softest he's ever spoken. Minho always feels a tug, whenever he's needed. It tugs at him now, reminding him how little time is truly left for the other if he doesn't do something. "If you're sick of me, tell me." 

Jisung stays silent. For moment, Minho worries that he's died. He turns his head to glance at him, only to find that he's still watching the blood, almost like he's trapped in a trance. Minho sighs and slides closer, grabbing the wrist he can reach and wrapping his hand around the wound before lifting the limb into the air. Jisung's eyes flicker to his. There's still life in them, Minho thinks, before squeezing tighter at his arm. 

"Are you sick of me?" he repeats. He doesn't know why he feels as though he needs the answer. Usually he holds them all, but this one feels far out of reach. 

"You've saved me more times than I can count," Jisung replies, tone painfully netural. There's a part of Minho that hates how calm he is, how resigned he is to die everytime he slices another line into his skin. "Pretty soon I'm going to be in your debt." 

"You already are," Minho is quick to jab, falling back to what he knows. 

Jisung doesn't flinch, barely reacts. Blood sticks to Minho's palm. His tight hold is barely clotting the cut. Jisung's other arm isn't fairing any better on its own, blood slipping against the water. Soon the everything around Jisung will run red and his fate will be sealed. Minho isn't sure he wants to be here for that, if that's what the other truly wants this time. For as many times as he scolds, or spits jokes that bite, he's never been one to clean up the messes that are left behind. That's for the being that comes after him, the one Minho is sure hates him for all he doesn't do. He's never had the gall to attempt to meet them. There's a part of him that thinks he doesn't ever want to  because all it will do is remind him of his failures.

"If you keep it up you'll owe me a house, you know," Minho continues, nearly chiding. "Then a car. Maybe the rest of your savings." 

Jisung's skin is cold. Minho almost shivers. 

"Okay," he whispers, resigned. Minho doesn't like it, eyes sliding back to Jisung's face. He never had a problem rising to the challenge, throwing something just as equally scalding back. 

"Do you still want to be saved?" Minho finally brings himself to ask, and for some reason the words hammer against his ribcage, stick to the inside of his chest like they don't want to come out. 

A shaky exhale slips from Jisung's lips. For a long heartbreaking moment, Minho thinks he's going to say no, but before that moment can come, sirens echo from outside. A soft smile crosses his lips. Curse Jisung's downstairs neighbor for better or for worse, but the water must've found a crevice that happened to be in the old woman's sight. He nearly blesses the apartment right then and there too, something close to relief flooding him when he hears the sound of car doors slamming shut. The pounding of fists on the door a few moments later. 

Jisung's eyes flicker. They have trouble finding Minho's own, but when they do, a tear finds its way down his cheek. Minho squeezes tighter and tighter, and tighter still. Blood rolls down his own wrist, mimicking the wounds that brought him here in the first place. "You owe me," he says, like it means something. Jisung's chest shudders. "I don't go around saving just anyone." 

Voices growing louder, the crack of wood splintering. Minho thinks it's an attempt at a laugh, the noise that leaves Jisung then. "You save us," he mumbles, barely audible. "Every time. We must mean something." 

Minho's mouth runs dry. His heart beats faster. He can hear it in his ears. 

"Yeah," he says simply. "You do." 

---

permanent taglist

@amyyscorner @kokinu09 @rainfallingfromthesky @keepswingin @rylea08 @puppysmileseungmin

@thatonedemigodfromseoul @atinyniki

[thevioletcaptain]

So I've been quiet on here a lot longer than planned.

The reasons are many. The reasons are varied.

The reasons are mostly fucking horrible.

Under a cut because it's long. Check tags for content warnings.

First was the expected absence: my parents came to visit me in Los Angeles over my birthday, so I spent the first half of October showing them around whenever I wasn't working a shift at my shitty department store day-job, or in class at UCLA.

Then, almost immediately after they went back to Australia, I got a second job working as a personal assistant for a composer. This was (and is) an extremely fun and rewarding job, but meant having one more thing on my weekly schedule, which was an adjustment.

Given that until halfway through last year, I'd been out of work since I immigrated in 2019, it took a while for me to get used to having so many concurrent responsibilities, and I'd just started to get a handle on things when I got sick right before the holidays. I took many covid tests -- all negative -- and eventually determined that it was just last year's strain of flu, which I hadn't managed to find time to get the shot for due to the aforementioned super busy schedule. I'm almost positive it was thanks to a particular customer at the aforementioned shitty department store job who coughed hard enough in my direction for their germs to get through my n95.

Anyway, last year's flu was a monster, and I spent a week in bed with a fever, then several more weeks being utterly drained and with a horrendous cough to match. It took a full month for me to recover, and then in mid-January, almost as soon as I started to catch up on all the things that had fallen behind while I was sick, things got bad, then good, then worse, then better, then much, much, much worse.

Basically, it starts with my dad being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He'd told me in October when they came to see me, but the surgery was scheduled for the tail end of January.

The surgery happened on a Monday, and it was a complete success. They got it all in one go. No chemo or radiation or further treatment needed at all. I spoke to him on the phone after he woke up, and he was in good spirits. Happy to have been given the all clear by his doctors.

I told him to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds & Evil while he rested up at home, because I'm writing specs for both this year and wanted him to be able to read them and know what was going on. He's the one who got me into sci-fi and horror, after all.

He went home.

He was home for two days.

He started feeling a bit rough on the Thursday. Short of breath. No appetite. Mum took him back to the hospital, just to be safe.

Turns out he'd had a mild heart attack. They couldn't figure out why. The echocardiogram didn't show any issues with his heart.

Then over the next couple of days, his breathing got worse. They took a scan of his lungs, and found that they were extremely inflamed. They'd given him covid tests but they came back negative. We told them about a work accident he had about 20 years ago, where a switchboard he'd been working on exploded in his face, and he'd suffered from inhalation burns among other things.

They thought that maybe something during the prostate surgery had caused irritation in his already damaged lungs, which put stress on his heart and caused the mild heart attack. He's never had any issues with his lungs since that accident, but they thought that maybe he'd just adapted to the damage over the years without realizing.

They kept trying different treatments to help his lungs heal. Nothing seemed to work. His breathing kept getting worse. They had him on as much oxygen as possible without intubating him, but it wasn't enough, so over that weekend they decided that they'd need to move him to another hospital with a more specialized lung unit.

When they were preparing to do that on the Monday night, he crashed. Another heart attack. Bigger, this time. They intubated him. Sedated him. Called my mum and told her to come in right away because things looked so bad.

But then he rallied. By the morning, though he was still sedated and intubated, the doctors were confident that with the right treatment at the specialized lung unit at the other hospital, he'd be okay. He was still in a rough condition, but stable. They transferred him to the other hospital.

He was given another covid test. This one came back positive.

My mum and brother called me once it was a reasonable time in Los Angeles to let me know what was going on, and the next day my brother booked me a flight back to Australia. I had to leave for the airport about five hours after my ticket was booked.

I got to Melbourne on February 1st.

For the next two weeks, dad was intubated, sedated, and in an isolation room. Every few days, they scanned his lungs again, and they were slowly improving.

Finally, he stopped testing positive, and was moved to a regular room in the ICU. Then he healed enough for them to extubate him and wake him up.

On February 13th, he was conscious enough to squeeze my hand when we went in to see him. On February 14th, he was conscious and capable of talking enough to ask a nurse in his ward to bring him his phone, and called mum first thing in the morning to wish her a happy Valentines Day.

Two days later, on Friday 16th, his lungs looked good enough on scans that they felt it was safe to do an angiogram, which they wanted to do just to double check that there weren't any issues with his heart that they missed with the echo.

They did the test. They found massive blockages. 90% blockage in one artery; significant blockages in two others.

Even though he'd barely recovered from covid, the blockages were bad enough that they scheduled him for open heart surgery on Monday 19th. They said without surgery there was a 100% chance that the blockages would cause another massive heart attack that he would not survive. They said there was about a 20% chance that he'd have complications, but only about 4% that they'd be serious/life threatening.

Like before, the surgery went well. Triple bypass, in the end. We got a call late on Monday afternoon to say that he was in recovery and looking good. His heart was functioning perfectly. They'd bring him out of sedation that night. Keep him in the ICU one or two days just as the standard post-op procedure. He'd spend a week or so in a cardiac ward after that, then head to a physical rehab ward for a couple of weeks until he could build back the muscle mass he'd lost while sedated.

We went in to see him the next day. Tuesday 20th. His 66th birthday.

He was tired, but looked good. Color in his cheeks. He made a couple of jokes. We left after about 45 minutes because he was pretty worn out, and we wanted to let him get some rest.

But then after, that his breathing started to get bad again. By Wednesday morning, they'd switched out the oxygen prongs in his nose for a big, high-pressure mask again. They called to let us know they were going to intubate him again so he could rest while his lungs recovered a bit more.

They struggled to get the tube in.

His lungs were deteriorating badly. He kept getting worse. We couldn't go in to see him because they were working on him all day.

At 9pm we got a call to say that he was just getting worse. They had him on 100% oxygen. He just wasn't absorbing it. His entire body was under massive strain. They were doing everything they could, but he just wasn't improving.

They said we should go in right away.

We got there by 10pm. My brother and his wife arrived about the same time. We went in to see him. He didn't look good. He looked pale. But he was warm, and he'd come back from the brink before, and we were sure he could do it again. We stayed with him for about an hour, and left not long after 11pm. Went back to my brother's place because they live closer to the hospital.

We were there about half an hour before they called us again. Just after midnight. He was gone.

That was about a week and a half ago, now. It still doesn't feel real. He was only 66. He hadn't even retired yet. He was working full time up until the week before Christmas, and had planned on going back to work a few days a week after he'd recovered from surgery. He never had any heart trouble, or lung trouble. He was active. He was fine.

My wife Zel and her mom flew in a couple of days after it happened. I barely remember anything from the past two weeks. Everything just feels fake.

I've been trying to write something to say at the funeral, which we've finally been able to arrange for next week -- it was delayed because we had to wait for dad to be released by the coroner. I don't think I'll be able to do it.

Anyway. That's where I've been.

It'll probably be a little while longer before I'm around here much, let alone posting with any regularity, because I'll be in Australia helping my mum & and my brother sort everything out. I have no idea how long I'll be dealing with stuff, or when I'll be able to make words cooperate enough to post anything, but I'll be back eventually.

I'm trying to keep an eye on Discord (I'm violetmatter over there) so you can find me there if you want. But yeah, I just wanted to let you guys know why I've been so quiet.

[dawnthefluffyduck]

New game interest unlocked

(crow in bottom right belongs to @patchwork-crow-writes)

[leopardom]

Bojan doing a finger heart 🫰 for good luck

22/09/23 - Tampere, FI (mine)

[chiimeramanticore]

waow

[sprinklecipher]

Ace Attorney Characters' Prominence In Game Canon vs In Fanfic

I got curious about how the amount of "screen time" Ace Attorney characters have in the games relates to how much fan fiction is written about them, so I crunched some a bunch of numbers related to characters' total in-game dialogue and how often they're tagged on Ao3*

*I acknowledge that neither of these are perfect measures of how much focus the series or fanbase puts on these characters, but they’re the numbers I can get :)

AA Characters With Much More Prominence in Fanfic (vs Canon)**

Here's a table of dialogue/tag totals for the 20 characters with the highest ratio of Ao3 tags to overall game dialogue:

**excluding characters with literally no dialogue

(LOTS more data below the cut)

A lot of the characters in the previous table have very little dialogue, so if you limit to characters with at least 500 words of dialogue, you get this:

(“Karma” is Manfred and “von Karma” is Franziska, btw)

AA Characters with Much Less Prominence in Fanfic (vs. Canon)

On the opposite side, here's the data for the 20 characters with the lowest tags: dialogue ratio:

Characters with Most Dialogue in-game vs Most-tagged Characters

Here’s some more tables, with the first showing the 20 characters with the most in-game dialogue and the second showing the 20 most-tagged characters:

Of note, Kristoph just barely sneaks into the top 10 most tagged AA characters (despite only having the 48th most dialogue), Manfred von Karma is the 16th most tagged character (vs 69th-most dialogue), and, most dramatically, Clay is the 20th most tagged character despite having less than 50 words of dialogue and a dialogue rank of just 165th!

On the flip side, the Judge doesn’t make the top 20 most tagged characters despite having the 4th most dialogue, and Justine Courtney / Verity Gavèlle is only the 109th-most tagged character despite being in the top 20 for dialogue (although the timing of the data collection played a big role for her in this data, since I pulled the numbers fairly shortly after the AAI Collection was released, and, glancing at Ao3 now, her total tagged fics has since increased nearly 7x since then)

Graphs!

For good measure, here’s a couple graphs that show the major characters’ Ao3-tag vs game dialogue data (including vs excluding the main protags, respectively):

The trendline basically gives an idea of the “expected” number of tags for a character based on how much dialogue they have: characters who are under the line have fewer Ao3 tags than expected based on how much dialogue they have, and characters who are above the line have more tags than expected. The further the character’s point is from the line, the farther away the number of tags is from what’s expected (like the poor Judge is VERY underrepresented lol)

Also, for any stats nerds reading this (hi!), there’s statistically a very strong correlation between characters’ in-game dialogue totals and how often they’re tagged on Ao3, R2 = .85, p < .0001. The main protags (sorry, Athena!) are driving a lot of that, however, so if you exclude Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Apollo, it drops down to just R2 = .39 (which is still a fairly strong relationship, all things considered).  

Data notes

For the dialogue totals, I included total dialogue across the mainline AA games (AA1-AA6) and the Investigations duology, but didn’t include PLvPW, since that has its own fandom tag in Ao3. The dataset is one I put together pulling from the AA wiki transcripts

The Ao3 tag data is as of 1/18/2025 (it took me a little while to write this up lol) and is for canonical character tags only

For the curious, here’s the whole data table in Google sheets

Note that there’s tons of identity shenanigans that goes on in AA that made it so that I had to use my judgment a bunch when deciding how to calculate the dialogue and tag totals, so if there’s an alter-ego-type character (or similar) that doesn’t show up in the data set, most likely I grouped their counts with the “base” character they’re associated with.

[poolboyservice]

warning for very long post underneath cut LMAO you've been warned

What Are Starry Vampires? 

Starry Vampires, alternative named Heliacal Soldiers, is a term to describe individuals, or vampires, who are directly related to and/or part star[s]. There's many types of Starry Vampires, however, the entire bloodline of these vampires originate from, well, the stars.

It's not exactly known on how they are born, but they are considered to be alien life by the Starry Vampires Association (SVA), due to their origins being outside of Earth, despite their human appearance and/or origins.

We'll first go through the abilities a Starry Vampire may have, next go through the different types there are, then we'll go through specific factoids about Starry Vampires, and afterwards we'll talk about specific phenomena that occur in these creatures of the stars.

The Abilities of a Starry Vampire

Nothing truly makes someone stand out like abilities and skills can do. Starry Vampires are no exception, as they have approximately 27 recognized abilities since their first recorded appearance. However, for the sake of space, and your sanity, only five will be listed.

- Ability to turn into a bat

Pretty self explanatory, nothing much to be said. However, for some variations (i.e. Star-Borns), they may turn into orbs of light for transportation, or glittery dust (aka mist).

- Turning others into vampires

All Starry Vampires have this ability, which is often done via biting, but it can also occur if you inject vampire blood into your veins (NOTE: Vampire Blood is different from Vampiric Stardust, which will further explained in Janus-faced Dhampirs)

- Super Strength

Self explanatory

- Psychic Connection with Other Vampires

This often occurs when older or higher ranking vampires are capable of hearing low ranking or younger vampires, often their disciples however, for other connections, such as young-by-young connection, it can be caused by a Constellation Phenomenon, which will be explained later.

- Rebirth

This will be extended onto later, however, for Star-Borns, and a partial percentage of human-turned-vampires, when a Starry Vampire is injured enough, or at the brink of death, there is a chance that instead of dying or dissolving into dust, they will reincarnate into a new vampire.

- Psychic Abilities in general

Although mostly witnessed within specific Agonizers, most Constellations, and very powerful Star-Borns, Starry Vampires can hold the ability of telekinesis, and other psychic abilities. Outside of mindreading/mind-commanding, this ability allows a vampire to do what's included but not limited to: move things with their mind, seeing the ghosts of the dead, and/or sense if someone is a Hybrid Dhampir, Zombie, Werewolf or other non-vampire species.

There are many more abilities they withhold, but these are the most notable, as much of the other abilities (i.e. mind control/hypnotizing, immortality, and so on) are pretty much in all aspects of a vampire, and are not specific to any variation of Starry Vampires

The Types of Starry Vampires

As like with all species in and out of the world, Starry Vampires also have variations, though, it ultimately depends on their origin, and whether they were born this way, or have been turned, among other things. We'll start with the first, and the start of it all: Star-Born Vampires.

Star-Born Vampires

Alternatively called Originals, Star-Borns are vampires that are born directly from stars. They are often much older than most of the Starry Vampires that will be mentioned here, however, there can still be newer/younger Star-Borns, though not as much compared to other variations. They have the most accessibility to the powers mentioned, among other abilities exclusively unique to them.

They are somewhat immune to the sun, especially as elders, however, they are weaker and/or sensitive to Earth-originated objects, such as stakes, plants, sparkling water, and so on. It's also noted that contrary to other vampires listed, Star-Borns do age, just much, much slower than humans or Dhampirs. They may go through a process nicknamed Metempsychosis, which will be discussed later.

Agonizers

Agonizers are human-turned-vampires that have given entirely into their star-made vampirism, mostly giving up their humanity. They have more access to their vampiric abilities compared to other human-turned-vampires, however, in turn, they are easily more influenced by Star-Borns and elders, and may struggle with holding a sense of self, or may even become a different individual entirely. 

It isn't exactly certain if the previous person they were is still there, however, for some Agonizers, they can hold memories of the past person they were. Some even say they can still hold on humanity if they fight enough, though the results have been mixed. They often do not age, and are more sensitive to the sun to where it is lethal, however, they are stronger/more immune to Earth-originated items, contrary to Star-Borns.

Grievers

Grievers, or alternatively Griefers, are the in-between of being a full ledged Agonizer, and a Human/Dhampir. These are human-turned-vampires that have not given up their humanity, but have been turned into a vampire nonetheless. They may struggle with obtaining or controlling specific abilities, and also are still sensitive to the sun. Grievers very much obtain just about all memories and sense of self, while also being passively influenced by Star-Borns or elders time to time.

Grievers are titled such, as in reference to the grief and internal conflict you may feel when becoming a vampire, due to having inhuman desires clash with human emotions.

Janus-faced Dhampirs

Also titled "Fake-pires" by Star-Borns and Agonizers alike, Janus-faced Dhampirs is what happens when a human somehow absorbs Vampiric Stardust into themselves. To quickly summarize, Vampiric Stardust is what comes out of a Starry Vampire when burnt, or incinerated, by the sun.

Janus-faced Dhampirs are unable to be turned by low ranking or non-elder vampires, as they technically have some of the cells that makes a Starry Vampire, which renders them unable to be turned. However, they cannot turn other people. They age just about the same as a human if not slightly slower, though they live longer, approximately 300 years. That's pretty much all there is to a Janus-faced Dhampir, as they can still die by natural means, and do not have any unique abilities. It is essentially what people consider a "treatment" to avoid vampirism, though they can still be turned by elders, and/or well experienced Star-Borns.

Hybrid Dhampirs

What is considered to be the only true dhampir by many, Hybrid Dhampirs is what happens when a Starry Vampire has a child with a Human, or a non-vampire individual in general. Contrary to Janus-faced Dhampirs, Hybrid Dhampirs actually do have special abilities akin to regular vampires, however, likewise with Grievers, they will often struggle at obtaining powers or building their skill, if not, have even more difficulty than Grievers.

This is where a lot of information on Hybrid Dhampirs get a bit muddy, as each and every Hybrid is different from the last. For example, the first recorded Hybrid Dhampir was nothing more than a farmboy who was slightly sensitive to the sun, could not be killed by vampires, and did not have any special abilities. However, for other Hybrids, they may burn into ash the second they step into the sun, akin to Agonizers, or are capable of turning others into vampires. Some may live the life of a regular human, while others may live to be immortal. It's really all randomized chance.

Some people even say that if a Hybrid were to bite any kind of vampire, possibly even Star-Borns, they become human, or a dhampir as well. But that's all just rumors.. Right?

The Quirks of a Starry Vampire

Traits are something that all vampires and hybrids pretty much obtain (with a few exceptions), as it is part of their genetic code, or hierarchy. However, as of recent, the traits and the phenomena category for vampires have fused into one, as it's noted that their origins are similar. Either way, each quirk talked here will be noted to be either a trait or a phenomenon, to avoid confusion when meeting or becoming a Starry Vampire.

Constellations

Also titled a "death oath", Constellations is a trait that describes a situation where two or more Starry Vampires, regardless if Star-Born or not, are psychically connected. The cause of this is unknown, but it's commonly believed that this happens when multiple vampires are born/turned at the same time. Vampires in a constellation can easily access each other's minds, know exactly how they feel, but can also feel their pain, or even obtain injuries another vampire had. While a vampire dying in a Constellation will not kill the others, it will greatly weaken them for a long time, if not permanently. They typically come in fours or sevens, but sometimes, in very rare situations, there can be constellations of 10+ vampires. It is important to note that Constellations are different from Sires and the hierarchy between them and Agonizers/Griefers.

Inversion of the Mind

Inversion of the Mind, or just Inversion, is a phenomenon that occurs when a Griefer suddenly transitions into an Agonizer, although mostly temporarily. This period of them being an Agonizer can last from a few hours to a span of months, however, the average is recorded to be about 1 1/2 weeks. Inversion seems to occur about every 2 months, and only with a quarter of the Griefer population. Sometimes the opposite occurs to an Agonizer, where they suddenly transition into a Griefer for a temporary time, however, this is more rare and even argued about its possibility. Griefers and Agonizers alike have come with the informal nickname of "Vampire's Period", even though it has nothing to do with periods, however, it is most preferably said as a coping mechanism by vampires that experience Inversion.

Repeat, Rebirth, etc.

Gone by many names by this point, Rebirth is a trait that all Star-Borns have, where if a vampire is at the brink of death, mostly by sunlight or fire/burn related wounds, rather than dying, they temporarily solidify into stone for a period of time. After this time passed, the stone will break and fall off, revealing a new vampire, who looks similar to the previous vampire. Some of these new vampires, often titled Resurrectors (although not considered a new or different variation of vampire), may hold the memories of the previous life, however, most of them have majority to total amnesia on everything. Some claim that the memories are just suppressed, though there's not much research entailing such.

Lunar Glow

For all vampires, including dhampirs of both artificial and true variants, they will emit a faint glow in the night. This glow can intensify depending on how they feel, if they're in danger, or if they are using any ability. The color that a vampire glows is mostly debatable on their ranking or age, akin to how a star changes color as they age. For example, recently turned and/or low-ranking vampires will emit a blue or even indigo color at night, whereas elders and/or high-ranking vampires will emit a deep red. This is not only important to detail how old a vampire may be, but also the social status of a vampire. Blue-glowing vampires are often considered everyday people, or morsels by elders, whereas orange or red-glowing vampires are considered very special, or royalty. There have been recorded instances of other colors outside of the spectrum of blue to red, such as green, or pink, but as of now, there's no verifiable reason on why that is.

Rigor Lethargy/Dormancy

To finish off this master-list of everything you need to know about Starry Vampires, we end it with Rigor Lethargy, or Rigor Dormancy. This is a phenomenon that describes when a vampire or other undead like a zombie, during their sleep, their muscles will tighten and immobilize, akin to rigor mortis. This commonly happens with recently turned vampires, but can occur with any vampires, including Hybrids. This is, fortunately, non-permanent, as waking up your limbs by repeatedly attempting to move them will help your muscles loosen and let you get back to your feet.

There's many more traits and phenomena that vampires withhold, likewise with traits, however, this post is getting really long, and we pretty much covered all the bases.

Finish

I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had brainstorming and writing this all out! Goddamn my arm and brain hurt lol

I'm open to questions and/or suggestions you guys may have !! ^^

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Free Day Thursday

(Picks up where Viper left off)

"You know you've got like a whole bucket of cactus paddles down there?"

Jak sauntered back into the throne room from the hidden door and tossed Damas a sealed bag of roasted crickets.

"I should hope it's a full bucket, considering I picked those this morning."

Damas pulled out one of the cooked insects, plucked off the legs, and popped the rest into his mouth.

"You don't eat the legs?"

Jak draped himself over the edge of the throne to snatch a handful of crickets from the bag.

"They get stuck in my teeth," Damas complained, "I save them for my birds."

Daxter snickered. "Even Pecker?"

"If Pecker doesn't like the food, he's free to fly back to Onin," replied the king with an almost mischievous look.

"Oye, you didn't mess with anything in the kitchens, did you? The head cook is...tetchy."

"She's a miserable old cuss and she threw a knife at me," Jak said indignantly.

"She throws knives at everyone. You're lucky it was only a knife."

Around another mouthful of crickets, Jak made an appalled expression. "What else does she throw?!"

Damas grimaced and rubbed his forehead as if remembering an old injury. "Whatever is closest. Pans. Porridge. Whole onions. Cactus paddles with the spines still on."

Daxter started to come closer, but glanced at the dead snake still decorating the dais and thought better of it. "Hey, Jak doesn't need to go to the kitchens to experience that! All he has to do is get distracted while on the Leaper again and he'll have a mouth full of prickly-pear!"

"That wasn't my fault!" Jak protested hotly.

Damas raised a brow. "Oh? I hadn't heard about this one."

Hoping to avoid retelling the story, Jak quickly changed the subject.

"Wait, can you actually eat cactus?" he demanded.

He moved to sit cross-legged directly in front of the throne, and began examining the viper's mouth to get an idea of how to harvest the fangs later. Absentmindedly, he reached a hand back behind him, and was too deep in focus mode to register that this wasn't Daxter or Keira he was non-verbally bumming snacks off of. Nonetheless, Damas made a goodnatured scoff and placed several more crickets in his hand.

"You can eat specific kinds of cactus," Damas clarified. By the emphasis he placed on "specific", it was fairly obvious he was anticipating Jak trying to eat random cacti in town.

"Only the ones with the paddles like you saw, understand?"

"Sure, sure." Jak brushed this off. "But what do you make with them, though?"

Damas inspected the bag of crickets and sealed it back up to ensure that they would have some snacks during the coming meetings. "You use them for just about anything you need a vegetable for, honestly. I tend to grill them with lemon. Some people boil them for salads. Sig's mother is known in the East Quarter for frying it in batter and selling it in little cups."

"Ooh! We still haven't met Sig's ma!" Daxter chirped. He grinned wickedly. "We should ask her about Sig's embarrassing baby stories."

"She has no shortage of them," Damas agreed.

Daxter glanced back at Jak, happily munching crickets, and shuddered.

"On a scale of one to "Jak eats things raw if he can't figure out how to cook them", how hard is it to cook?"

Jak looked insulted. Damas snorted.

"After the afternoon appointments, I'll teach you one of the simpler methods. You won't need much- Jak, don't touch the fangs. We still need the evidence intact."

"I was just looking!" Jak defended.

"With your hands?"

With a gusty sigh, the teenager scooted back to the right of Damas’s seat. He looked a little cross, but it faded soon enough.

"What appointments do you have, anyway?"

Damas stood up to stretch. Precursors knew he wouldn't get a chance in the next few hours.

"Third bell after noon through fifth bell is reserved for Arbitration Court," he said. "Which is why I do not usually call you during those hours. My job as king is to uphold the safety of my people, ensure the continued functioning of the Beacon and the water filtration system, mediate disputes not serious enough for the Arena, and enforce laws agreed upon by myself and my council."

Jak made a face. "That sounds like a lot of being stuck inside."

Dryly, Damas asked, "Why do you think I planted an entire grove of date palms in here? I would have died of boredom years ago if I did not."

He turned to fix both boys with a stern look.

"Out of respect for your fellow Spargans, try not to fidget during Arbitration Court unless you notice something suspicious. After five is a monthly meeting with the northern clifftop farmers to discuss rent payments."

"You rent farmland?"

"They rent from me," corrected Damas. "I didn't clear boulders until my hands bled just to abandon my land when I became king."

Jak blinked. "Fair enough. Man, we should've charged Sandover rent, Dax."

"Pal, they thought we owed them compensation for being allowed to sleep on their porches and eat a bare minimum of their food," Daxter pointed out sourly.

He caught a troubled frown on Damas’s face after the statement.

"Hm. I would like your attention to be on the visitors most during the rent meeting and the council meeting after evening meal. If anyone has a problem with me, specifically, that's likely where they'll turn up."

Jak eyed the snake again. "And if they blow their cover, I get to take 'em out, right?"

"No." Damas narrowed his eyes and pointed at Jak as he sat down again. "I need to determine how far the plot goes. No killing the assassin or accomplices."

"What about after?" Jak pressed.

"I'm the aggrieved party, I'm the one who deals with them," Damas said in mild reproof.

Jak folded his arms. "I dunno, we're feeling pretty aggrieved, right Daxter?"

"Positively outraged," Daxter added, sounding more bored than offended. "More Jak than me, but he's the sensitive type. You know him."

"Yes," Damas said, shaking his head with a small smile, "Yes I do. The answer is still "no", Jak."

Jak huffed and settled more comfortably against the throne. "You never let me do anything fun," he joked.

"I don't, I really don't." Damas reached over to prod the back of Jak's head affectionately.

"I'm a horrible, mean, adult who only lets you risk life and limb four days out of the week instead of every three hours."

"The folks in Haven would think that was the worst kind of tyranny, not being able to make us do all their work for them," Daxter scoffed.

The lift began to rattle, and Damas cleared his throat.

"Well, back to work. Eyes open, my boys. Let us see if we can't catch a would-be assassin. Jak, don't touch the fangs."

"I wasn't!" Jak protested.

Neither of his companions looked convinced.

[unexpectedbrickattack]

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