#nature tion-in

[palant1r]

you know, for a series about reckoning with the sins of america's past, the conflict between different forms of governance and the pitfalls of blindly assuming the infallibility of american liberal democracy, and being forced to stop depending on modern technology and search for alternative solutions in an attempt to live in reparative relationship with scarred land or die trying, fallout sure doesn't have that many indigenous people in it, huh.

[mochiepie]

Tits TyPa Man you ask? - sukuna

He is the epitome of "tits are the greatest invention, creation, whateva 'tion' just, tits are life" there's not a single day he is leaving without.. touching your tits, flicking your nipples or pinching them, squeezing them, biting them, or digging his long nails into your nipples and the flesh of your tits.

🍈 " you keep talking and giggling, and those milk monsters go boom boom on me brat!" yeah, that's the king of curses right there talking, like a toddler. Like wtf is boom boom?

🍈 when you weren't sukuna's gf or even wife, like the very first time you met him, girl. He wasn't even looking at your face. His eyes, were stuck on your.. titties. His face told that, he was wondering how your breasts looked like under your tshirt

🍈 he thought himself to be into ass, as with the amount of concubines he had slept with in the past. And that's when he totally went wrong when you walked towards him.. well not exactly towards him you walked past him when he saw you for the first time ever. His eyes got stuck on those magnificent 'boom boom' of yours. For the first time he doubted himself.. " i was.. into ass right? ....right? "

🍈 it's so normal now, his hands resting on your chest, not even in a sexual way.. just, laying on em, yeah it's his property, you just lucky enough to have tits attached to your body but it's .. his. He is the owner. You wanna take a bath? Sure, he'll be the one to wash, massage your breasts. He'll be the one to put the lotion on your titties, help you wear a bra and any dress. Why? Cuz you (your boobs) belong to him you stupid.

🍈 when you guys had sex for the first time, when he saw your glory, for the first time, your tits for the first time.. his 4 eyes snapped. He paused.. like *sukuna.exe stopped working* his four giant palms immediately kneading your tits simultaneously, like his movements were soo sloppy, inexperienced despite sleeping around with so many concubines, that is because no woman has ever tempted him the way you did. And yes, you changed him, you changed the king of curses completely. You made the ass guy turn into tits guy. "Fuck, these tits are gonna make my silk black sheets turn into white" and then, automatically he got the breeding kink, the thought of you getting pregnant?

🍈 sukuna threw your birth control and began to fuck you like a bitch in heat. Why? Cuz your tits would have milk. Simple. That's all what you lacked. What's the purpose.. of these gorgeous tits when it can't produce milk.. right? So he is being generous enough and planting his seeds in each round, making sure you womb is swollen. Your milk ain't belonging to his future child.. nah, it's his. His alone. Mf is jealous of his own child.

🍈 his favourite position? Missionary or you riding him. Why? TITS. he'll need your tits to stay motivated and keep fucking you. The bounce? The jiggle? The sounds? The perky nipples? Those areolas? The squishiness? Oh YEA

🍈 sukuna would always roll his tongue around your areolas, while his second mouth would be biting, digging those sharp canines in your other breast, he once bit your nipple so harsh, that made u bleed.

🍈 despite sukuna never caring for anyone, he cares immensely for you. He instantly began to give up, trying his best to remove this addiction to your tits. He loves you so why is he acting like some perv only blinded by your tits? Well, his will didn't even lashed 2 days and here again he is sucking your tits on the kitchen counter, your apron and tshirt thrown somewhere.

🍈 "you're the only woman who is... Making me get on my knees" sukuna isn't a man to show vulnerability.. but if showing his vulnerable nature makes you stay with him. Oh yes, he is ready to become a sub. He is too into you, drowned basically, and now he can't resist anymore.

🍈 while he sleeps, he'll unconsciously end up getting between your arms.. his face squished and pressed on your tits.. ocassionally licking and sucking your nipples and tits. Oh yes, you sleep naked. That's your relationship rule.. you can't sleep wearing something. You must sleep naked. He'll wake up, between your arms, pressed against your tits, and again begin his session of sucking titties. Yeah, that's his ritual. You can't stop him.

🍈 he is in some meeting? His subjects are busy talking? Yeah let em talk! He has your sitting on his lap while he is sitting on his lap. His 1 hands resting on your tits. Yeah, and if any of his subjects looks at you? Instantly "cleave" attack. Also, he likes to demonstrate his powers and show you how... You belong to him and if.. anyone even looks at you the way he does.. he gets pissed, super pissed. Like not even any enemy or opponent can piss him off more then if he catches any men or even women being tooo into you or your beauty. Just, not possible. You're only his. His alone. You can't even count on how many lives he has taken for you. Both men and women, he had killed just because they stared at u for longer then necessary, or tried to approach you. Also, you don't even know that he had killed anyone for you cuz.. how can he let his precious wifey know about his wrong doing.. right? He only shows his upper layer or a coating of his powers.. just to keep you under him. He can't think of traumatising you by showing his real doings. You're too precious.. also your tits.

[p-rtyboy]

Flag id: A rectangular flag against a black background, only seen in the top corners. There are 5 arch shaped flags, similar to a rainbow, with the middle most stripe being more circular. From top to bottom, the stripes are; very dark green, evergreen, camo green, greenish grey, and dust brown. /end id

Coytinction [kai-tingk-shn]

Pt: Coytinction [kai-tingk-shn] /end pt

Gender related to found footage, exploring abandoned locations, faded / baggy clothes, gas masks, black coffee, doomsday prophecies, number stations, the idea of righteous anger, diagrams, coyotes, old radios, and the Extinction from the Magnus Archives

Suggested suffixes ; Coy-, -tion, -tin

Terminology

Pt: Terminology /end pt

Coytinity [kai-tin-it-e] — Having a Coytincton quality, similar to masculinity or femininity

Coytinine [kai-tin-nine] — Adjective form of Coytinity, similar to masculine or feminine

Transcoytinine [trans-kai-tin-nine] — Someone who is transitioning towards being Coytinction

CoyIN [kai-in] — Coytincton in Nature

Coyan [kai-yan] — General term for someone who is Coytincton, similar to person

Alara [a-lar-a] — Generally used for a Coytincton minor, similar to boy or girl

Ahari [a-har-e] — Generally used for a Coytincton adult, similar to man or woman

Iodinian / Coyan4Coyan [io-din-ian / kai-yan for kai-yan] — Juvelic orientation for Coytincton folks who prefer to / exclusively date other Coytinction folks

Cosmiradian [cosmi-rad-ian] — Galactic alignment for being, in some way, Coytincton-aligned

Coined on October 30th, 2024

Colors based on the definition- particularly radiation, radium, and coyotes, template is based loosely on rays

Etymology —

Main name: [coy]ote + ex[tinction].

Referential language: Alara is based on the phrase "as low as reasonably achievable" which is a principal in radiation safety, Ahari isn't a real word but would mean "as high as reasonably imaginable"

Orientation: [iodin]e + ian

Galactic alignment: [cosmi]c [rad]iation + ian

See also: Ocinversity [link], since this term is based on one of my OCs

Tagging @radiomogai

[bonefall]

Is Sandgorse still abusive in BB? If so does he still save Sparrow? Idk I think it'd be a neat thing for Talltail to brood on and move past once realizing the truth. Like just because your abuser did a "Good Thing tm" doesn't mean you have to forgive them or that all of a sudden it excuses their past a tion towards you.

Or did you remove this plot beat entirely? If so I don't blame you :P

Weird that Tumblr search isn't giving me all the stuff I tagged :/ hopefully after finals are done I can compile a 1st draft/The Story So Far for the rework of Tallstar’s Revenge

It's now called TALLSTAR’S COLLAPSE. It is actually a story I am rewriting with tragedy in mind. It's about Talltail fleeing WindClan with his starcrossed lover, Sparrow, only to eventually be drawn back to it where he becomes a perpetuator of all the things that made him leave.

To answer your question; Yes, and. Sandgorse is abusive and there's a LOT of nuance to this situation. I'm not sure if he still saves "Sparrow" though because I have waaaay more of a point in mind with Tallstar’s tumultuous relationship to him.

Summary of changes,

Tallstar's Collapse

Sparrow is the Clanmew name Jake takes when his group interacts with WindClan. His first language is actually a dialect of Townmew!

(Also Firestar has no known father in BB)

His group is nomadic. They go from place to place trading goods. I need a name for both them and their cultural "cluster" but in my head, Jake's family is the Algernauts because Algernon is the current leader

It's important the Algernauts are extremely endearing because leaving them is VERY painful

(and something i want to frame as the wrong choice for tallstar, emotionally)

WindClan is in a very sensitive period of its history. Before Tallstar was born, Heatherstar began the Mothermouth Moorland War, to take a very large parcel of land from ShadowClan. A good 1/5th of it.

Naturally this is a huge project and incredibly ambitious. Sacrifices Must Be Made

The sacrifice she has chosen to make is the death of tunneling. Because she's smothering it.

Tunneling is PEACEFUL, defensive at best. You can't dig them in a floodplain, they would be useless for holding the Mothermouth Moorland territory

Tallkit is born into a terrible position. Son of the head tunneler, mother in a terrible depression, and Heatherstar trying to pry a wedge between the "future" and the "past"

Im also planning to change his name. He was born Slowworm-Kit, which has a connotation of cleverness in Clanmew. To bully him, Shrewpaw calls him Wormtail, because Slowworms drop their tails if pulled. It means "you will get trapped in a cave-in, and when they pull your tail, it'll fall off"

But it doesn't translate well into English... so I'm not sure what his Heatherstar-given warrior name would be. Wormwing or Wormleap maybe, like he "defied fate" to become a wonderful moor-runner...

Or maybe the prefix is Drop? Droptail as the mean bully name and Dropflight as the warrior name...

Anyway, when he returns, Heatherstar welcomes back the extra claws and honors the lesson he learned with "Talltale." In Clanmew this is "Story-travelled," his leader name meaning "Tale-star."

Anyway. Back to the cat drama

Talltail (name pending) is in a tight spot. I kind of want to show everyone being a victim except Heatherstar herself, who has all the power in this situation.

Not that it excuses anyone

Sandgorse is watching something he loves dying, an ancient tradition passed down for generations. He is trying to force his son into a position he shouldn't HAVE to occupy, but his child is the one thing he might have any control over

(Until Tall breaks it ofc)

Tallpaw was just a kid. He needed to take out his bullying and the stress on something, and that was usually his mother and the concept of tunneling

Palebird has been completely neglected by her mate as he focuses on the person he WANTS his kid to be. She NAMED a Fading Kit, a serious social taboo, and even the support of the nursery and Woolytail can't pull her out before Tall's kithood is over

Heatherstar is using Tallpaw as a political pawn and Tallpaw is too young and hurt to realize it. He was given to her sister, Dawnstripe, and endlessly praised for his skill and talent in a time where he NEEDED positive feedback

Which is making his relationships with his parents worse

All the while, there's VIOLENCE. Regular raids and counterstrikes. Cats die and get injured, and it only escalates as Tall gets older and Cedarstar is reaching the end of his lives, hoping to end the conflict before then

And in all this chaos and uncertainty, there comes Sparrow.

Just a trader and an honored guest, there's been lots of these nomadic visitors since the time of Windstar herself, but they've become quite rare.

When Sandgorse dies suddenly in that collapse (TITLE DROP) Talltail has the push he finally needs. It's too much. He can't process this

Sparrow begs him to leave with them, they don't even need to confront anyone, just come!

IF IT SUCKS HIT DA BRICKS

I have tons of really nice little things planned for this part of the story. It's several chapters of Talltail being free.

He engages in the funeral rites of Wee Hen, asking if he may sit vigil for her. His new family is honored to allow it, Reena even tries to do it too and falls asleep

(Little sister energy)

They meet all sorts of people and go to many places. Talltail learns that the world is vast, and there's an endless amount of knowledge out here.

It all starts crashing down when him and Jake find a litter of abandoned kittens, and become parents.

They're a few moons old.. around the same age as his halfsibs back home.

It starts bringing back memories. He wonders how they're doing. If they made a nice grave for Sandgorse...

The sudden longing for his own mother strikes him like lightning.

For the first time in eons, he feels GUILT over leaving. He thought it was over-- he's living his own life now!

But what if they're hurt? What if there was a battle and he couldn't help? What if his mentor died and he didn't even know?

What kind of a horrible son doesn't even say goodbye?

The problems that made him leave seem so small now, and the homesickness is like acid leaking from his stomach, dissolving his guts and leaving him hollow

He's raising kits who will never know what it means to earn a title, or have a permanent home, or--

(Any of the other things he should have learned don't have meaning outside of clan culture. Things they wouldn't miss.)

He cherishes the memories he makes here, raising children with his mate, but something turns inside of Talltail. Like the groaning ache of a hundred stones on top of a decaying mineshaft

The REAL collapse is this. An existential crisis Talltail can't escape from.

And eventually, it comes tumbling down with one last, horrible nightmare.

In his dream, he came home only to find the sandy camp abandoned, the dens decrepit, full of musty scent and cobwebs.

Sandgorse was there. And they talked.

His dad was gruff as always, disappointed. But he didn't say anything the real Sandgorse would say.

The nightmare said, "You really did turn out like me. We both left your mother when she needed us. Turned our backs on our leader. And now we're both dead to WindClan."

Tall wakes up crying. Jake is there to comfort him, but the conversation they have is sad.

Jake tries to tell him that's all not true, and even if it WAS his dad, his dad sucked and would only say that to hurt him!

But... Tall can't believe it. Jake's right but also wrong. He IS all those horrible things.

And...... how can jake ever Understand? He does not know the Bonds of a Clan cat

(thought terminating cliche. Outsiders Cant Understand Our Bonds.)

He stays a few more days, but that nightmare was the end. And everyone sees the change.

The kits are apprentice-aged. He stayed until they would be old enough to keep up with the Algernauts.

And he says goodbye. He won't ever leave without saying goodbye ever again.

Jake says it doesn't have to be goodbye, he'll always love him, and they can visit! They can see each other again!

And Tall says yes. That this isn't the end. It's... see you later, my love.

(...but they both know how violent it's getting between Wind and Shadow. It isn't safe to visit.)

It is the end. But neither can admit it.

But after Tall is a fair distance away, one of his kits tackles him.

POSSIBLY Post-Tallstar's Collapse

Not sure if I'd put these in a novella or still make it part of it, but these are all directly related to the fallout of Tallstar's Collapse

Most likely is that there would be overlap between this and Brokenstar's Cataclysm, so the same events would be seen in different perspectives.

The kit's name is Fly. Tall has to wait for him to catch his breath and stop crying before they can talk.

Fly already lost parents before. He says he knows he can't make his dads stay together, "But PLEASE, papa, let me choose where I go this time!"

How could he say no? How could he send his son away after a plea like that?

He told him it would be hard. That he would be trained. That there would be dangerous fights.

Fly didn't care, he said he could be strong. He could do anything he needed to.

So... Tall took him to WindClan, where he became Flypaw. He became the warrior he promised he would be.

And Tall didn't notice how much the kid was changing until it was too late. Flytail took to it as if he was Clanborn-- but had to work twice as hard, fight thrice as viciously.

Though Talltail was graced with an Honor Title and open arms, he'd adopted his greatest rival.

Fly and Tall started competing for deputyship as soon as they finished training apprentices; Heatherstar had a fondness for the two of them.

In the end, Talltail won the spot by springing into action and saving Heatherstar's young nephew, a little golden tabby, from an adder.

Flytail continued as one of the more aggressive warriors in the Clan, surviving increasingly violent and bitter battles, until it came to a head in Heatherstar's Last Stand.

Her final battle as an old leader was a gruesome, definitive curbstomp in the last strategic point ShadowClan held above Carrionplace.

One of the losses was Lizardstripe-- neck snapped in Flytail's jaws.

Runningnose, and by extension, the oak-tree to his long-shadow, Brokentail, remembered this. Especially when Runningnose's father Mudfoot collapsed later that year.

As Talltail took leadership from the dying Heatherstar, a familiar regretful guilt wormed into his belly.

His son Flytail stood with a bloody mouth, eyes wet with sorrow, looking down at the leader Talltail once loved almost as much. Appreciating her sacrifice.

(secretly he didnt choose Deadfoot as his deputy just for his honor title or the battle move he invented... he chose him because there was a shocked, sorrowful look in his eyes at the fallen shadowclan cat. Sympathy seems more honorable in this moment.)

Tallstar is a wise leader... but his fatal flaw is naivety. How could he think he'd bring his son into WindClan, and not see the boy grow into a ferocious Warrior?

And naivety is what he displayed when he offered Raggedstar a peace deal. WindClan would keep the land, but they would pay a small tax of rabbits over the winter.

It was unprecedented. It was merciful. It was stupid.

When the winter was over, what would stop them from pushing further south?

Would they trade back the frogs and the flax, come summer?

On the blood and bones of so many warriors? As if giving up was ever an option?

Brokentail killed his father to prevent him from taking the deal, and reawakened Ripplestar's War Tactics.

BURN the peat. KILL the prey. OFFENSE is defense. A dead warrior is 10 less claws. A dead apprentice is 1 less warrior.

Stolen kittens are 1 more warrior on your own side.

Tallstar paid the ultimate price for letting Flytail follow him home that day. On the night of the massacre, Flytail went down fighting alongside a mate and a daughter. Dogpiled by Tangleburr and her squadron in revenge for Lizardstripe and Mudfoot.

Tallstar's granddaughter Stoneclaw, made a warrior and sitting for her vigil on that night, was the sole survivor of the little family.

The event stopped her from speaking again, like she's still sitting vigil.

Tallstar is a character who almost broke free of the control of the Clans. For a brief moment of his life, he was free.

He thought maybe he could change things a little, protect his Clanmates from the battles by being part of them, have the Mothermouth Moorland and protect the peace at the same time. But you CAN'T.

You can't fix broken systems without fundamentally changing them. He thought he could be a nice warlord and that would work on the Clan whose territory he had inherited. Power acts through people just as much as they act through power.

And that's Tallstar. He who travels the world, yet is never able to go far enough. Always falling just a little short of the point, believing that love and mercy is enough while blissfully ignorant of the pressures of pride and power.

Into this role, as a successor to this leader, Onestar is unwillingly thrust.

[thinking1bee]

You Haven't Failed Part 20

Requested by Anonymous

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Tags: Spidey!Reader, Venom!Reader, So Much Angst, Fluff, Established Relationship, Graphic Depictions of Injuries, Blood, Violence, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Smut

Everything Taglist: @ara-a-bird, @iliketozoneout

Series Taglist: @alexawynters @dorabledewdroop @ima-gi--na-tion

Once Nick gave you what you needed, you went to Tony’s lab. Your suit, still in its idle form of a bracelet, sat in a glass case near his desk and you took it, slipped it on your wrist, and activated it. The feeling of the nanobots unfurling to engulf your body felt comforting and familiar even though you’ve only worn this suit once or twice. The blue, black, and silver were all familiar and you smiled at Tony and his brilliance, even if he was unhinged and childish at times. It’s what gave him the “crazy uncle” energy you loved so much.

“Hello, Y/n,” FRIDAY’s voice said as the nanobots surrounded your head and filtered the voice through the helmet.

“Hey FRIDAY. Long time, no see,” you said genuinely. Oddly enough, you missed the interface Tony made.

“How are you recovering?”

You watched as the suit molded to you, the tech rippling as it settled on your skin. Panel after panel of scans highlighted the screen, and you watched as FRIDAY synced the suit to your metrics.

“It’s going well, but that’s not the reason I need you today.”

“Does this have to do with the missing Avengers?”

You nodded and watched as FRIDAY concluded the scans. Though it was unsurprising, you were bummed to see the area around your spine flash red.

“Y/n,” FRIDAY began. “My readings show some healing damage around your spine. You may not be ready for the mission ahead.”

“I know FRIDAY, but I’m the only one here, and I need to get my family back. Can I work around this?”

There was a pause, and you waited with pursed lips.

“I am currently downloading a protocol that was created by Ms. Maximoff.”

“Protocol? What protocol?” you asked. You went around the lab, gathering gadgets and extra web shooters in the event something happened to your natural webs.

“The protocol she made for you. She called it PAP, and it is to be activated the moment you become incapacitated.”

You raised your eyebrows, but you trusted in Wanda more than anything. Whatever it was, you knew that it was there for a reason.

“FRIDAY, I’m going to need your help,” you said as you sighed. “HYDRA has everyone that I care about. I’m not at my best, and I know that, but I can’t sit here and do nothing. God knows what they’re doing to them, and I have no idea what we will see. I know I fucked up with Venom. Please don’t let me fuck this up.”

“I will do everything that I can to assist you, Y/n. You won’t be alone.”

You nodded as you grabbed a bag full of supplies. You continued to the jet and loaded it up with everything you needed. You knew that your ride could attach to the side of the quinjet. It was that small, so you could only take so much, but you didn’t know what HYDRA was doing. Some extra food and med kits may be needed. You activated the comm in your helmet.

“I’m leaving, Nick.”

“Be safe out there, kid.”

You could hear how weary he was, his voice grumbling with fatigue and stress. You just knew that his tequila shot glass was testing on his desk.

“I’ll do my best.”

With your haul in hand, you entered the jet and inputted the last known coordinates that you had for your team. Then you locked in and took off.

+++

“I swear to fucking god! Fury is getting my foot right up his ass, all the way to the fucking knee!”

The HYDRA base you were infiltrating was crawling with agents. If it weren’t for the invisibility cloak that Tony gave you, you would have been so utterly screwed. You haven’t gone on a mission in so long. It’s been almost a year since the Venom incident, and never in your life had you seen a HYDRA base this loaded with security. You were currently scaling the ceiling, your hands and feet securely locked to the cement as you made your way through the base. It took an hour to fully map it all out. Before you even entered, you sent in several small recon drones and watched as FRIDAY mapped the facility. What you found was horrible. All the Avengers were being experimented on. It looked like HYDRA scientists were trying to recreate powers and abilities. Through the cameras of all your drones, you could see that your friends were all restrained. All of them were hooked up to various machines and devices, and your heart dropped when you saw that Wanda was restrained in a straitjacket. A collar was secured to her neck, and you could only assume that it was to keep her from using her powers.

“I’m coming for you, baby. Hang on.”

The more you mapped out the base, the more your odds of capture ratcheted higher and higher. You sat inside of the jet while FRIDAY made a holographic, 3-D reconstruction of the building you needed to infiltrate. You sat on the floor, your helmet by your hip while you rested your arms on your bended knees. Sighing tiredly, you interacted with the map, spinning it this way and that while trying to plan a method of entry.

“We’re fucked, aren’t we, FRIDAY?” you asked bitterly. There were multiple floors of agents and concrete levels separating you from the people you loved. You were just one person who was still walking with a cane.

“Gaining entry will be difficult,” she confirmed, and you nodded. You wanted nothing more than to get Fury on the phone and kick his ass. Several invisible drones were still in the building, and the more they scanned, the more the structure was revealed to you.

“I think I can help you gain entry,” FRIDAY said after several beats of silence. “Unfortunately, this relies on your ability to remain stealthy. I found their security system, and if an alarm is tripped, the building immediately goes into lockdown. No one is permitted in or out.”

“Perfect,” you grumbled. This was exactly what you needed. A suicide mission.

“There is more,” she continued. “The moment the alarm is activated, their infrared systems are activated as well. It would render your invisibility useless. The best way to do this, is to not get caught.”

You nodded as you checked your arms for gadgets. You had your web bombs and stun webs. You were going to bring more, but the rest of Peter’s or Tony’s other inventions weren’t...inconspicuous.

“How well does this suit perform ballistically?” you asked.

“This suit can protect you from all projectiles. It can also absorb most forms of electricity.”

Well, at least you didn’t have to worry about catching a bullet.

“What about knives?”

“Handheld blades cannot penetrate the suit.”

Good. You didn’t want to get stabbed either. Been there, done that, and you didn’t want to rinse and repeat.

By the next hour, you were in the base, and in the hour after, you were in the lab where all of your friends were held hostage. Your blood boiled at what you saw as you crawled across the ceiling. Though everyone was in the same room, they were all separated from each other and bound in one way or another. You could tell that they all put up a fight. Most of them were covered in injuries and blood. Their suits were ripped and tattered. Their faces were bruised and swollen. More than that, more blood smudged the floor, and you released a quiet but furious breath at what you saw.

“FRIDAY,” you whispered. “Can you tag the enemies?”

She did so without answering, and by the time she was done, there were 20 people that you were going to have to take out as quietly as possible. You were in stealth mode, your body invisible already. If you did this right, you may be able to pull this off.

“FRIDAY, map their movements and highlight the trails.”

Again, the interface did as you asked, and you watched for several movements as all the HYDRA agents followed a pattern. This might be easier than you thought. You flicked each of your wrists and readied your gadgets as you focused. You moved fast, taking out the seven outermost agents that patrolled the perimeter. You knocked them out with well placed, silent punches before webbing them and launching them into the air. From there, you’d cover them, head to toe, in web before webbing them to the ceiling. You added more layers of webs just in case so that they couldn’t escape. By the time you were done, seven cocoon shaped lumps littered the ceiling, and you moved your attention to the inner most part of the lab. The lab was enormous considering the tech and equipment that they had. The room was tall enough that the ceiling was shrouded in shadows, so unless someone really looked, no one was going to see your handy work above them.

This was when things started to become difficult. There were too many obstacles in the way, which meant that if you weren’t careful, you could accidentally web something instead of someone. You observed the highlighted trails of their walking patterns and noticed that there were small gaps in their patrols where you could intercept them and attack. However, you wouldn’t be able to do it from the ceiling. If you wanted to be accurate, you couldn’t take the chance to attack so far away. You readied your stun webs before detaching from the ceiling and landing silently on the ground. You snuck up behind one guard before you shot him in the mouth with your web. Immediately, his body went ridged as the electric current coursed through him. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and you took him down quickly and quietly. You immediately launched him into the air and shot your webs at him, the sticky substance glueing him to the ceiling with the others. You kept doing that for the next five agents. You moved amongst the desks and lab equipment as you took down more of your enemies. By this point, the other Avengers could see what was happening. They couldn’t see you, but they could see what you were doing. Their eyes followed your movements as you sent bodies and web fluid up into the ceiling.

You had seven agents left, and the lab was looking visibly scarce. The bodies on the ceiling were still and unmoving, and you were crouched on the wall as you watched your next targets. Some conversed among themselves in German and you watched them as you followed their highlighted trail.

“Status check,” one of them said in English.

You froze, your eyes widening as you looked around. Status check? Fuck!

“Status check,” he repeated as he looked around the room. His reaction was immediate when he saw the lack of reinforcements where people were once patrolling.

“Intruder alert!”

You moved, your body reacting before you had a chance to truly think about what you were doing. One soldier was moving towards a red button on the wall, and you shot webs at him, the substance stunning him as he tripped over his feet, fell over heavily, and skidded to a stop on the ground. You were still invisible, which wasn’t going to help you here shortly, but you still took advantage of the precious seconds that you had to web that same soldier to the floor. You attacked two more as you launched yourself into the air and executed a series of punches and kicks that knocked them out. You webbed them to the floor as well.

Four more, but that was when things took a turn for the worst.

You watched as they each activated a pair of goggles before slipping them over their eyes. Even from where you were, there was a high-pitched whine when the tech activated. Invisibility wasn’t going to save you now, but you did have one thing in your favor. There were four of them, and one of you, and it looked like their line of communication was limited to just this room. That meant that if they wanted reinforcements, they were going to have to get to the red button behind you.

“The spider is here!” one of them yelled as they pointed towards you. “Get them! We need their power!”

No part of you desired to be a science experiment. You frowned as you faced you’re remaining enemies. There was no point in invisibility anymore.

“FRIDAY, divert all energy to suit durability and integrity.”

Immediately, the light shifted around you. You could feel the nanobots undulate minutely as your suit seemed to ripple. The invisibility faded away to reveal you standing there, and there was a perceptible flash of light from the tech as your suit fortified. The moment you were visible again, all guns pointed at you and fired. It was a hail of bullets, and you moved quickly to upturn a metal desk and duck behind it. You were cornered and you hugged your limbs closer to your body. Bullets were ricocheting off the surrounding equipment and floors, but the worry that you felt wasn’t for yourself when you heard more metal bounce off the desk. You were terrified that someone that you loved was going to get shot in all of this.

“Uh, FRIDAY?” you said in an ill contained, nervous voice as beads of sweat trailed down your face. “Help.”

“Get to the alarm!” someone yelled behind you.

You heard feet thumping against the concrete floor and that was when FRIDAY chimed to life.

“On your right.”

No sooner was it said did an agent try to sprint past you. Instantly, you webbed his feet, and you watched as he tripped unceremoniously and slam heavily onto the floor. You covered him in a thick layer of more webs before you tucked yourself back behind the desk.

You were cornered, trapped. You leaned your head against the metal as your breaths came in short, heated pants. Your friends were still behind you. You were consumed with the thought of their safety, but now, you couldn’t think straight at all. Suddenly, the air around you was sweltering. It was like a desert-like heat suffocated you, your chest rising and falling rapidly as you began to feel your pulse throb painfully in your temples. Your hands clawed at your chest, the metal grating against metal. You knew, intrinsically, that it wasn’t the suit that was making you feel like this, but you still felt trapped inside of it. Something inside of you was screaming at you to take it off, to free yourself and breathe as tears welled behind your closed eyes.

“F-FRIDAY,” you whimpered breathlessly before you gasped.

There was a searing flash of pain in your back, an agony that rivaled the heat that was suffocating your whole body and choking out your ability to think.

“You’re having a panic attack.”

The hail of bullets suddenly stopped, and you heard screaming in both German and English.

“Surrender or we kill your friends!”

You heard the threat along with the cock of guns. They weren’t kidding, especially when you heard them grab someone.

“We will kill her!” they warned again.

Right on cue, you heard them viciously slam something against the person that they held, and her cry of pain was what almost made you spiral. Wanda. You peaked from behind the desk and saw that they were pointing a gun at her. The others were struggling to free themselves, their vigor renewed when they saw how dire the situation was. Wanda tried to use her powers, but the moment she tried, the collar flashed red before it shocked her. She didn’t get the chance to react to that pain before she was met with the butt of a gun. Her head snapped to the side and a mixture of blood and saliva sprayed out of her mouth. You gasped, your heart almost seizing in your chest at what they were doing to her. You went to stand up, the urgency to save her and everyone else strong, but not strong enough to override the panic that was about to make you vomit.

“What do I do?” you gasped violently. “What do I do?!”

“Activating protocol PAP,” FRIDAY immediately announced. The screen suddenly went dark, and you saw PAP fill the space. Panic Attack Protocol. Instantly, her voice melted away to make room for another one.

“Hey, baby.”

Wanda’s voice. It was pre-recorded and the screen flashed to life to reveal not just her, but everyone else that you loved in the compound. They all gave you loving looks and smiles. Even Fury was there, and while what you saw wasn’t really a smile, it was his version of one and you couldn’t help the silent chuckle.

“You gotta breathe for us, Y/n. Can you do that? Can you take a deep breath?”

You closed your eyes and sniffled before you took that deep breath. The video continued to play as you focused on calming down.

“That’s right, honey,” Nat’s voice said. “We’re here for you.”

“It’s been hard, kid,” Fury said in his rich timber. “It’s okay that you feel like this. Just keep breathing for us.”

The voices of your friends filled your ears, and when more tears trailed down your cheeks, it wasn’t from the panic. It was from the care and love you felt from them, that they all loved you and implemented a protocol for when you felt like this.

“Hey, Y/n.” Tony. “I know you don’t hear me say this enough, but I’m proud of you. I’m so proud of you. You survived a lot, even before Venom. You’re one of the strongest people I know. Take this moment. Breathe. Know that we’re all here for you.”

You let the voices fill you, their words of encouragement louder than the agonizing beat of your heart. You let their love chase away the fear. You inhaled deep breaths at a time and exhaled all the fiery heat that suffocated you. It took a few seconds, but you felt yourself go back to normal, and when you did, you opened your eyes and focused. The pain in your back disappeared the moment your fear did, and you clenched your hands into fists.

“FRIDAY?”

The video ended abruptly, the screen going back to reveal multiple readings on your surroundings.

“I’m here.”

“There are three of them left. What’s the best way to take them all out?”

“I won’t repeat myself!” he warned.

You forced yourself to stay calm as you waited. When FRIDAY was done, she showed you what to do in a step-by-step tutorial. You watched the animation, your eyebrow quirking. It would be tricky, but it was manageable. You readied your last gadgets in each arm, stood up, and faced the last few agents with your hands up.

“Don’t do anything stupid!”

You shrugged your shoulders and fluttered your fingers. Meanwhile, you gauged just how far apart everyone was from each other. Everyone’s sole focus was on you, which was good. You looked at Wanda, and despite her being unable to see your face, she knew that you were looking at her. It was like she read your mind though her powers were blocked. She swallowed thickly and nodded inconspicuously. You both knew that while her hands were bound to her chest, her body was free to move. She could get away from him if the timing was right. You hoped that she could feel you mentally count down as you swallowed thickly. The man that held her pressed the nozzle of his gun to the underside of her chin.

“Surrend-”

You were already moving. With one outstretched arm, you launched a stun web straight at Wanda, and with the other arm, you launched your web bomb. The bomb detonated and took out the two agents that stood too closely to each other. A web of fluid soaked them, and it stuck them to each other and to the desks that they were standing nearby. You could hear grunts, yelling, and the grating sounds of desks moving as they tried and failed to free themselves. The moment you moved was the same moment that the man tried to pull the trigger. You heard the loud pop, but luckily, you and Wanda were a second faster than him. She jumped out of the way of his gun, just as your electrified web landed on her collar. The juice it had was just enough to fry the circuitry and render it powerless. The moment it shut down, Wanda’s eyes turned a furious red, her magic engulfing him before she launched him across the room. He hit the far wall with a sickening crack, the solid surface cracking under the force before he landed in a silent heap on the ground. It was quiet for a second, the immediate danger taken care of before you released the breath you were holding. Your friends all shot you grateful smiles as you went and freed them one by one.

“I love you all but, uh, I’m never doing some shit like this again,” you said jokingly, your hands moving to release them from their bonds and the machines that they were all attached to.

Part 21

[poppitron360]

saw your post abt epic & music theory! Are there any interesting time signatures (non-4/4), key signatures, or tempo changes in epic?

and/or something similar?

Yes!! Charybdis is actually in 5/4!!

For the normies out there, the “4” on the bottom refers to the fact that the bar is counted in Crotchets (or quarter notes if you’re American). The number on the top refers to the amount of them that there are- i.e 5/4 being five quarter notes. Most music you hear is gonna be in 4/4, but another song you might know that have 5/4 time is “tolerate it” by Taylor Swift.

Now Jorge has said many times that one of his main influences in writing Epic is videogame music. I recently watched a video about time sigs in music for nintendo games- linking that vid here (part 1, part 2)- and one thing I noticed is that the “weirder” (translation: more awesome) the time sig got, the more often it was used in a boss battle. Charybdis DEFINITELY feels like a boss battle.

“I told myself I’d never write a song in 5/4 […] And the one idea that kept coming into my head was this idea that Charybdis throws Odysseus’ balance off. The same way 5/4 initially threw my balance off.” - Jorge, in one of his videos explaining how he made Charybdis’ music. Now what’s special about 5/4 specifically, is that it’s SO CLOSE to 4/4. SO CLOSE to what our brains are accustomed to hearing, to what sounds “right” and “natural”, but it’s just that one extra note that throws us off.

At this point in the story, Ody has lost everything. He’s back after 7 years on Calypso’s island, and he’s changed. I love how with each progressing Saga the music gets darker and wilder (re: my post about Scylla being my all-time fav in Epic in terms of music production and composition). The fact that this is the only song in non-4/4 makes it stand out. It throws us off.

Also, the little intro bit to the song (before the electric guitar kicks in)- it’s hard to tell but I believe it’s in 4/4. This is showing that it’s before we meet Charybdis.

What’s interesting to me is that after Ody survives Charybdis and sees Ithica again after 20 years, his instrument switches back to his gentle nylon-string guitar, but the music doesn’t switch back to 4/4. It stays with that extra beat. Odysseus is still shaken.

Even though he’s home, he will always be looking over his shoulder at what’s behind him. He will always be flinching at every noise. He will always see the faces of the men he was responsible for in his nightmares.

It could just be that Jay didn’t wanna have to write the melody in mixed meter, but I prefer this interpretation.

In music, we often count odd time signatures in smaller chunks, which can differ depending on the way that it’s phrased (e.g 10/8 could be counted as “one two three, one two, one two, one two three” OR “one two, one two three, one two three, one two”). What’s interesting about this specific use of 5/4 is that it’s counted as “one two three, one two”. In the video I referenced earlier, Jorge explains his struggles to get a song in 5/4 to be “catchy”. The way he tackled this was to have each instrument + the vocals highlight this rhythm. So even though Ody is being thrown off by Charybdis, he is still in control.

Let’s look at how the melody in the verse reinforces this:

The first four beats of the bar are completely conjunct (moving in steps)- staying within three notes of the root note (1st note in the scale). Then on the 5th beat (the one that throws you off) goes lower than the root:

1 2 3 1 2

You be Her men

must who mes

tioned-

This solidifies the feeling of being thrown off, showing not only how Charybdis but this whole voyage has shaken Odysseus, which makes Poseidon’s appearance afterwards even more terrifying, because we as listeners are completely disorientated by this effect.

[maespri]

your turn to die chapter 2 deaths ranked by how painful they were (and why)

CRAZY ASS TITLE AGAIN. i know. hear me out. this post is kind of an addition to this post i made ranking all the deaths in YTTD, but it focuses only on the "game over" deaths that occur in chapter two of the game. because... i watched a video on it, and jesus there were a lot. and i wanted to analyze it all again!

as usual, spoilers ahead, and TRIGGER WARNING that this post will be going in-depth on the deaths and the nature and science behind them. it gets gory and detailed. if that will be too upsetting to read, please keep scrolling!

let's get into it!

if you haven't read my other post, some backstory: i have a special interest in anatomy & physiology, and i find it interesting to analyze these deaths and try to work through and understand exactly how they occurred.

each death/"game over" is named after the attractions/circumstance under which they occur. then i'll go into specifics. some of these were difficult to analyze due to the fact that it wasn't totally clear what happened, but i did my best!

quick glossary: exsanguination: severe blood loss asphyxia(tion)/hypoxia: inadequate oxygen supply to the body artery: vital blood vessel carrying blood out of the heart and to other vital tissues/organs spinal cord: cord that carries nerve signals from brain to body and vice versa pneumothorax: condition occurring when no oxygen can enter the lung(s), resulting in the organ shutting down hypovolemic: loss of fluid in the body, often referring to blood or water shock: life-threatening condition where the body does not have enough blood circulating through it TBI: traumatic brain injury cerebral: relating to the brain hemorrhage: bleeding necrosis: cell/tissue death neurotransmitter: chemicals that allow neurons to communicate with each other throughout the body

most painful:

stay on target:

sara and her partner get eaten alive. that sounds painful upon first hearing it, and it only gets worse when you consider what that actually means. for starters, sara and her partner are alive for every bite until the end of their death, where the mouth spits out their blood.

getting chewed alive would be excruciating. necrosis occurs as the bones, muscles, and nerves sitting in the lower limbs get crushed into mush, and as it moves further up the body, it worsens. until the spinal cord is severed (and even then, there's no certainty it actually would be severed; whether or not that occurs depends on the strength of the bite and the angle), they'll feel every bit of that pain. and if the spinal cord is cut, they'll only stop feeling pain everywhere beneath wherever that part is severed. for example, if sara's spinal cord snaps around her thoracic vertebrae (basically the middle discs of the spine), she'll stop feeling pain from the mid-back down- but if it doesn't snap again above that? she'll keep feeling it, if that makes sense.

so... overall, i think this would be one of the worst deaths. just imagine getting crushed over and over and over again.

-> official cause of death: likely shock, and/or fatal TBI from the brain getting crunched last

hide and seek:

this one was really interesting to analyze. judging by the blood splatter, it seems sara was slashed with a scythe around the right shoulder/lung. which... i hope i don't have to explain why that would hurt like hell. namely because she would likely still be alive for at least some amount of time and in terrible pain until the damage to her torso results in death.

irreparable damage to her lung combined with exsanguination would result in death here. the axillary artery sits around the armpit, meaning a hit to that area would most certainly result in the huge amount of blood we see staining the wall behind sara. and once that artery is hit, and in such a severe way... yeah, it's over.

-> official cause of death: hypovolemic shock due to exsanguination + pneumothorax leading to fatal shock

fly swatter:

so... this one was kind of insane?

my friend and i did some research for this one as well as suspended some disbelief and decided the answer that made the most sense given the characters appearances is that the flies literally chewed through their scalps and into their brains. there are actual flies in the world that can bite, but not to this extent, so it makes more sense that asunaro would have created these flies specifically for the death game and given them abilities.

there is also the possibility they were stung, but the amount of blood streaming down their faces, in my opinion, makes me think they were actually eaten. i also think this because if gin is your partner in this game, there will be holes in his hoodie implying the flies chewed through them (not pictured, apologies).

anyway, in this case... having your brain get eaten from your scalp... um. that would suck! pretty bad! you'd likely be terrified, thrashing around, and have intense pain in your head while your brain literally gets eaten. while, fun fact, the brain itself can't feel any pain, everything surrounding it can. i think this is just a nightmare scenario all around.

-> official cause of death: cerebral hemorrhaging/TBI.

quick draw:

in this death, sara gets impaled by a sword. its unclear exactly where the sword impales her, but it is obviously somewhere in the torso. the exact positioning actually does vastly change the amount of pain.

if the sword impales sara through her lower torso, it'll certainly pass through her intestines. potentially the pancreas and/or kidney(s). if it does hit her here, she'd be in pain for a long time; the organs of the lower abdomen are not as vital as the organs of the upper torso such as the heart and lungs, so... she'd basically be lying there, in horrible pain, bleeding out for some time. also, the conus medullaris (where the spinal cord essentially "ends") lies in the lower back often above the lumbar vertebrae. a direct hit there would result not in loss of sensation as spinal cord severing often does, but instead in severe back pain alongside other painful symptoms.

my point is- it would hurt. bad.

if the sword impaled sara's upper torso, she'd still be in pain, but for a far shorter time. the blade would pierce the heart/lungs, and, being in the center of sara's back, likely result in a complete spinal cord injury and cut off all sensation below that. she'd be unconscious due to shock within a few seconds, and total brain death would occur soon after.

i also want to note that there is blood on the blade above sara's body, which means the blade was inserted very quickly and resulted in her blood splattering upward over it. all this really means is the damage was even more extensive.

-> official cause of death: exsanguination, shock

painful:

spirit shutter:

this death occurs from sara getting choked to death. the first hand that appears on her is the one wrapped around her neck. the others fade in to hold her down, with one even covering her nose/mouth to make it even harder for her to breathe.

i think this death is painful especially from a standpoint of pure fear. being held down, choked to death, unable to do anything, is a horrifying concept in and of itself. add to that the fact that there all these other hands covering your face and grabbing you as well, and it's all just. awful.

choking occurs from the crushing of the windpipe which doesn't allow for adequate oxygen supply. overall, terrifying and painful.

-> official cause of death: cerebral hypoxia.

arm-wrestling:

this death was. disgusting to think about in-depth!

i think the thumb/forefinger of the red hands are digging into the eyes of sara and her partner. first of all, jesus, that hurts. ultimately, i believe their heads are just squeezed until they explode.

it's difficult for me to consider the science behind that considering that, in real life, it is impossible to crush a 17-year-old and late-20s-year-old's live human head with one hand. but it would definitely be incredibly painful. first the skull starts cracking and splintering, then it closes in on the brain, just... eugh.

the fact that their deaths appear to be mostly instant, however, shown by a single flash of red before the screen cuts to black, makes me think this death is less painful than the others, at least. it's very quick, at the very least.

-> official cause of death: fatal TBI.

charge card battle:

in this death, a giant blue beam crashes into sara. while i have no way of knowing what exactly that beam is made up of, it's likely some very strong volt of electricity.

the wound on sara's chest, the blood splatter behind her, and the cracked wall implies the beam was powerful enough to cut all the way through her skin, muscle, bone, and organs and break the wall behind her.

what's interesting here is that sara is killed immediately upon impact, but keiji has enough strength to lean to the left slightly toward her (shown by his outline not making the blood outline behind him) and tell sara he's sorry, an apology which sara is not alive to hear nor respond to.

i think this would be incredibly painful for what i hope are obvious reasons. a fiery electric beam cutting through your body would result in blinding, burning, pain for at least a few seconds before leading to death. however, i put it lower because the death is almost instant.

-> official cause of death: exsanguination, blunt-force trauma to the entire body

"least" painful:

runaway-minecart:

i would argue this is the least painful death out of any in this post, because it is instant. there's no time to feel pain. they're just dead. getting crushed by a giant boulder? you're just nothing. dead instantly because the brain gets crushed.

-> official cause of death: TBI.

white gas:

this death occurs if you fail to help shin hack the security system in time. a white gas floods the room, sara says she "can't breathe," and the "game over" appears. i'm uncertain what kind of gas is thrown into the room; some sort of advanced poison gas. most poison gases cause terrible symptoms and pain for a long time in victims, but because sara seems to be affected and presumably die instantly, i'd guess it's some sort of specific concoction conjured up by asunaro.

either way, the fact that it kills her so quickly makes this one of the least painful deaths.

-> official cause of death: asphyxiation due to poisonous gas.

poison door:

this death occurs if you input the wrong number into the door. something pricks sara's finger and presumably injects a poison into her bloodstream.

poison works by unleashing neurotoxins, cytotoxins, and hemotoxins into the body, all of which affect the nervous system, cells, and the blood respectively. all of these can have adverse effects on the body which ultimately lead to the destruction of nerves and result in paralysis, seizure, and death.

in sara's case, she was likely injected with a very fast-acting poison. my guess would be a high dose of cyanide. cyanide interferes with cellular respiration, which causes cell necrosis and essentially results in the body's tissue being unable to use oxygen.

cyanide poisoning very quickly results in a loss of consciousness, which is also shown through sara passing out practically instantly. so even if she were to continue to have symptoms (such as seizure- which i would guess would be unlikely, given she would likely be dead before any would begin), she wouldn't feel it.

that's why this falls under one of the least painful deaths.

-> official cause of death: cell necrosis -> hypoxia.

uncertain:

i was unsure about how this death worked.

memory dance:

this one was very confusing to me. the death scene begins with white ropes wrapping around sara's arms and legs, keeping her in place; then, a curved woosh of something white crashes into her. the screen goes red, and this is the final thing shown. at first, i thought maybe she was hit by a large blunt object whilst being restrained, and that it killed her upon impact.

but the weird thing about this image is sara's stance. she can't be hanging from something because her arms are at her sides, not up, meaning her body is relaxed. but if she isn't hanging, that means she's standing up... despite being dead?

i really have no idea what to clock this death as. something obviously hit her and killed her, but i don't know what it was or where it hit. i'm also confused on the way she's standing. i could very well just be stupid though, so if someone else has an explanation, please do enlighten me. lmfao.

bonuses!

i wanted to touch on the hallucination-related "game overs," of which there are two. while they technically aren't deaths, i still think they're really interesting to talk about from a psychological/neurological standpoint. this might just be mostly mindless rambling, fair warning... but, whatever. here are my thoughts.

if you use the hallucination machine three times:

before i get into this, i'm really gonna need you to suspend some disbelief for this game. modern medicine isn't at a point yet where we can ultra-specifically cherry-pick memories to remove. i'm aware of that. i'll try to explain how this might work, anyway.

if sara uses the hallucination removal machine three times, joe will essentially appear to be "eaten away" by sara's psyche. sara appears to have become addicted to the machine, begging to be allowed to use it one more time. safalin uses this to her advantage, stating that if sara obeys her, the machine will be her "reward."

while it is impossible to pick and choose specific events or people to remove from your memory in modern medicine- as far as i know...- this is still interesting to me for a few reasons.

the first reason being that it illustrates how unstable sara's state of mind has gotten. she wants to keep using the machine, no longer out of a desire to forget joe- she already did that, it was shown- but solely because it's the only thing bringing her peace anymore.

so why does overusing the machine result in a bad ending- and if sara has forgotten joe, why is she still addicted to the machine?

countless neurotransmitters are responsible for memory formation, but i want to hone in on glutamate, acetylcholine, and serotonin.

glutamate is heavily involved in long-term memory. a decrease of this neurotransmitter can result in memory loss, alongside a myriad of other unfortunate symptoms.

acetycholine helps organize working memory into long-term memory. cholinergic neurons (nerve cells in which acetycholine works) innervate the hippocampus (the part of the brain where your memories are stored), and aid the formation of episodic memory (your memories of specific events) as well as semantic memory (your long-term, basic, memory, such as numbers, words, and concepts).

serotonin has a few ways of aiding memory, but one of its most vital functions is its construction of neural pathways which allow you to learn new information more quickly.

with that in mind, if i had to assign an actual science to the hallucination removal machine, i would imagine it works by:

impacting the hippocampus in some very specific way, to where it only impacts sara's memory of joe

or, somehow decreasing the level of glutamate, acetylcholine, and serotonin in the brain.

for the first two hallucination removals, maybe a minimal or safe amount of each neurotransmitter was removed. just enough to make sara forget about joe enough to calm down again.

but repeated depletion of these neurotransmitters would cause immense problems. i also want to point out that sara appears to struggle a lot with anxiety in chapter two due to the hallucinations, and anxiety is thought to be related to inadequate amounts of serotonin. my point there is that she was (obviously) already struggling before ever using the machine.

so by the third time sara uses it, something in her brain must snap. too much has been taken out, whether that be because safalin manipulates the machine to remove more than necessary, or just because sara's body has truly hit its limit.

this makes sara physically weak. each of the previously mentioned neurotransmitters affect the memory, but they also play a vital role in your body's basic functioning all throughout the body.

what makes sara mentally weak is dopamine.

dopamine is the feel-good neurotransmitter; it makes you relaxed and satisfied. every time sara uses the hallucination machine, she's flooded with dopamine; she gets to forget about all the pain of remembering joe. that feels amazing.

most likely, she came to associate the hallucination-removal machine with dopamine release, and in a situation where dopamine release would otherwise be incredibly minimal (not much satisfaction to be gained out of watching everyone around you die and lie and fight), the hallucination machine would be a godsend.

my point here is that sara basically became addicted to the machine because it became her only solace.

so combine her now-physical weakness with her addiction to the dopamine she gets out of the hallucination machine, and she gets this ending where she fully submits to safalin under the condition that she gets to keep using the machine.

so... that's my messy explanation there!

reaching maximum hallucination level:

if you reach a hallucination level of 130, sara will essentially lose her mind. she'll see a version of herself walking up to joe during his death scene with a knife in hand, which she ultimately plunges into his neck. after this, she screams, it cuts to black, and there's a "game over."

this entire ending is the embodiment of sara's self-blame as well as her desire for control.

when it comes to loss, the first person people tend to blame is themself. for sara, this is because she actually does blame herself for not being able to do more to save joe's life. but it is also because she felt powerless both in the death game and during joe's death. she clicked over and over and it led to nothing. by blaming herself for joe's death, she gets to maintain some control over it, even if she wishes it never happened to begin with. that control brings her some subconscious sense of sick comfort.

her self-blame and guilt for joe's death, despite not actually being her fault, causes her to conjure up this manifestation of her own internal struggle in the form of a hallucination of joe.

it's very realistic for sara to try to avoid thinking of joe during chapter two. i believe sara develops PTSD after witnessing joe's traumatic death in chapter one. memory loss is very common in PTSD and is a defense mechanism by the brain.

but sara doesn't forget joe entirely; she just tries not to think about him. unfortunately, she's triggered by certain things around her that force her to remember him. however, she can no longer conjure up good memories of joe; only able to think about the fact that he's dead. with no other concrete figure to blame, she blames herself.

psychologically speaking... no, you can't die of "losing your mind." but grief, PTSD, and trauma can result in physical symptoms. for example, a heart attack, which most certainly can kill you.

but in this ending, i don't think sara actually dies. her last words are just her laughing. i think she kind of just... loses it. and that makes sense.

i think the reason this ending happens, and the reason sara sees herself killing joe, is because her mind is no longer able to understand why joe died. so it makes something up.

she sees all these things that remind her that joe was alive once. every time we see something that reminds us of someone else, we think, "that reminds me of this person" -> "that makes me feel [sad] [happy] [mad]" -> "anyway..." and move on.

but sara's brain instantly jumps to extremes. she goes from "this reminds me of joe" to a very blunt "oh, joe is dead" to the question of "why is joe dead?"

and instead of thinking logically- "joe is dead because he got unlucky and drew the sacrifice card. joe is dead because he got kidnapped and put into this death game. joe is dead because miley told the wrigglers to drain his blood."

sara can't compute that. she sees hallucination joe blaming her. just goes straight to, "joe must be dead because of something i did."

in psychology, this is a very common way of thinking in children. they aren't old enough to understand that the world doesn't revolve around them, so they think everything that happens happens because of them.

in sara's case, she seems to kind of regress back into that way of thinking, even if it is only in relation to joe.

so after being reminded of joe so many times and going through this cycle of thinking, her mind gets tired of trying to sort between real and fake memories of joe's death and just solidifies itself on one side of the story.

sara's brain basically decides, sure, we killed joe. it's easier if we believe we killed joe. here's how you did it, too. you took a knife and plunged it into his neck. there, now it's definitely your fault.

which totally backfires for sara, who has now completely lost it. there's no line between real and not real for her anymore. anything she convinces herself she's done, she believes.

so that's how that ending works, in my opinion.

that's it!

as always, if i got something wrong or if you have any thoughts of your own, please do correct me or share with me! i'm not a professional, just insane.

thank you for reading!!

[manic-maniac-man]

Undercoverism

SS10 Gap interview

Jun Takahashi / Designer

"Less but Better" was the theme for the first men's show by Undercover. The theme of the collection has been taken from a book written by Dieter Rams who was a long-time head designer at Braun. Takahashi felt that there was an affinity between his design direction and Ram's philosophy when he started working on the collection and began his creation while collecting products designed by Rams. By sheer accident, Takahashi had a chance to meet Rams in Japan. He showed his sketches to Rams and got approval of using the title of the book for his first men's show.

gap PRESS spoke to the designer about his first show and collection.

Q1. After your first men's show, did you find any difference in your approach for creating men's clothes and womens?

- There is a big difference in my approach to create men's line as the basic concept is to design things I want to wear.

Q2. Was there any point you paid an attention to while creating this collection?

-As this was my first men's runway show, I paid attention to the feeling and balance of the entire collec- tion. I tried the minimal styling and avoid entertaining aspects to make the overall image stoic and minimal.

Q3. What was the trigger for you to stage your first men's show? Please tell us the difference between this season and previous men's collections.

- I had an offer from Pitti Immagine Uomo over one year ago and they wanted me to do a men's show and that was the cue. Actually I've been designing men's clothes for 20 years and I used to use a lot of fabrics. But, this time I tried to use as little as possi- ble. I have really never had a theme for my men's collections, I just designed them. But this time it was theme-based and deliberately designed.

Q4. The inspiration for this collection was designs by product designer Dieter Rams. How did you express the simple and beautiful attributes his designs have in this collection?

-His products have a distinctive presence and functionality no matter how old or new they are. I tried to express the simplicity and clear statement running through his works, which eliminated unnecessary decorations. As a direct approach, the details of holes like an air duct, meters and leather handles were incorporated in designing. The main color gray-beige is a mix of the tone I sensed from Rams' products and the one I wanted to express in this collection.

Q5. Considering the theme "Undercover-istic curve ball of minimal", what is the definition of undercover style? What exactly did you want to express through the collection?

- A unique interpretation of minimalism. I wanted to capture an Undercover-esque original minimal look.

Q6. Please tell us about what brought you to have your first men's show at a traditional Florentine ren- aissance garden and how it made you feel? And was there any particular point in production of the show?

- I chose a place where I could reflect the inclination to juxtapose industrial design and nature by showing the ideas originated from industrial design in nature. I persisted in a non-choreographed rendition. The rea- son I chose Boboli Gardens was because the place had an image of an Italian castle and was perfect for having a show and a doll-making performance.

Q7. What inspires you most often?

- It depends on each season. Sometimes it is music or artists, nothing in particular.

"Less but Better, Reflecting Product Design in Clothing Minimal Expressed thorough Hybrid Approach"

[momdusa]

So I was digging into Strawberry Shortcake lore, and though the Strawberry Universe was later created/expanded upon by Muriel Fahrion and AG, I found the original "Strawberry Girl" art by Barbi Sargent (a freelance artist with American Greetings) (Exhibit #3 above) from 1978. It reminded me of Holly Hobby (pic #1 - created in the 60s but was a popular toy line in the 1970s and 80s) and also the Sarah Kay girls (top center), Sarah Kay being an Australian illustrator known for drawing happy little girls in polka dots and pinafores. Very demure. Very cutsey u_u

Got me wondering about WHY these little Prairie Girls were so prevalent in our toys, greeting cards, and clothing in the early 80s. I had a Holly Hobby doll & lunchbox and iirc my mom made a Holly Hobby Halloween costume for me (still looking for pics). My sister and I were gifted lots of little Strawberry Shortcake items (but that was probably due more to the ANIMATION SELLS TOYS form of marketing in the 80s). We had many a ruffled blouse and tiered skirts and lots of calico. One would guess that it came from the very popular Little House on the Prairie series, about a pioneer family, starring the very wholesome Michael Landon and child actor/activist Melissa Gilbert and based on the writings of authentic Prairie Girl Laura Ingalls Wilder. (Sanitized and Romanticized for TV of course).

And it made me wonder- Was this longing to return to "simpler days" a result of, oh I don't know, the rapidly changing world? The conservative push against the Womens Movement? Was this precursor to our current Cottage Core just people wishing we could go back to a time when Men were cowboys MEN and Women kNeW tHeIr PlAcE (and weren't fighting for the right to contraceptives, safe ab**tions, and the right to have their own goddamn credit card?) Were these little Holly Hobbies and Strawberry Shortcakes just... meant to encourage the Trad Wife life??

In this essay I will...

But Wait!

JOKE RUINED !!

!!!!! THEY WERE !!!!

"While the prairie look has its roots in the hippie fascination with all things Victorian and “natural,” I can’t help but think it grew in popularity partly as a response to this labor shift. Looking back at how it was sold, the prairie revival, ironically, appears to be both a conservative fantasy of “traditional” gender roles and a mild resistance to late-capitalism. Advertisements and editorials depict a “frontier” or country life where chores are hobbies and you spend most of your time sitting on wooden fences watching the sunset over a field of daisies."

"And for adult women, when you’re living in a culture that demands your labor but isn’t prepared to offer fair pay or equal opportunities (the Equal Rights Amendment died in Congress in 1982) the daydream of dropping out of a stagnant 9 to 5 job to churn butter and watch sunsets sounds pretty good."

"The prairie fashion revival, then, followed a larger trend of nostalgically romanticizing America’s rural and frontier past. But there was more to prairie’s appeal than whitewashing and nostalgia. In the early 1980s, women were entering the workplace in record numbers. A 1986 Atlantic article about how women earned less because they just didn’t want to work as much reported that “from 1890 to 1985 the participation in the work force [sic] of women between the ages of twenty-five and forty-four soared from 15 to 71 percent.” The increased visibility of working women in “traditionally male positions” was both a cause for celebration (1980’s second highest grossing film was the feminist comedy masterpiece 9 to 5) and anxiety (in 1982 that spot went to Tootsie, a movie about an annoying straight white guy who can’t get a job until he disguises himself as a “feisty feminist” woman). "

(some excerpts from the Dismantle Article "What the 1980s Prairie Revival can tell us about Cottage Core" by Sara Tatyana Bernstein)

Anyway, ok, maybe they weren't meant to brainwash us into that lifestyle but still ... >_>

[pileofsith]

Hello there (no pun intended),

I do not have any questions regarding the Grand Inquisitor/Nameless comic per se (which reminds me of the fact that I still need to leave a comment on Ao3), but I just wanted to say that you rewired my brain with the page on which Tion Medon talks about a young Grand Inquisitor being taken in by the Jedi without him knowing that the guy in front of him is actually the person in question (and the Grand Inquisitor looking kinda like a kicked puppy). I'm especially obsessed with the line "Very polite child, very sweet, but so very timid." due to the sharp contrast to who and what the Grand Inquisitor has become. 

On another note: I also love that one piece of yours that depicts the Grand Inquisitor scrambling on the floor, all bloodied up, after Darth Vader backhanded him as punishment for his failure on Lothal, because it just makes so much sense, especially after reading Charles Soule's Darth Vader series (2017). The way the Inquisitors are depicted as both abuser and abused in it is really fascinating, which makes me wonder whether Vader ever maimed the Grand Inquisitor like he did with the other Inquisitors. Do you have any thoughts on that? Also sorry if I'm assuming too much! You referenced the Grand Inquisitor's strained relationship with Jocasta Nu very early into the Grand Inquisitor/Nameless comic and since it was a bigger plot point in the Darth Vader series (2017), it felt like a natural conclusion. I'm currently trying to finish a little character study on the Grand Inquisitor, which is mainly based on that source, and your comic was a very big inspiration for me to even try writing down the first draft.

Either way, have a nice rest of the day! Can't wait to see more from you!

Hello! Huge thanks for your awesome ask and your kind words, made my day! Thank you for reading the comic!

And please do share what you'll create for your character study, I'd love to read it! :)

So: I have only read a few snippets from the comic series, but have definitely used them as a basis to expand on the Inquisitor's character - I'd love to read the whole thing, however, I don't know where to find it!

"The way the Inquisitors are depicted as both abuser and abused is really fascinating" <- This is 100% my opinion, too! I have a lot of thoughts about them that I have a hard time putting into words, but this really sums it up, thank you!

For my comic, I admit I am definitely woobifying him a bit, but I can't really help that when I write stuff about villains, I just tend to make everything three shades nicer than in the source material. :-/

But I do try to keep his main personality intact, I just glaze it over with a more sympathetic view than I expect a canon explanation could offer.

This is the pic you referred to, if anyone's wondering (it's super old but still checks out, lol):

I do not think Vader ever maimed him like the others, but I think he would have opportunities to casually injure or torture him, if he ever feels like it the Grand Inquisitor goes out of line. Having said that, I do think the Pau'an seems to be perpetually aware of the risks in working with Vader, as he does carefully defy some of Vader's decisions with a verbal objection, but he never tries to contradict him further if his input is dismissed.

My pet theory is that neither Reva nor the Grand Inquisitor were ever maimed as a lesson in loss because they had both already survived loss events that filled them with enough rage: for Reva, it's the massacre of her Temple friends. For the Grand Inquisitor, it's the end (betrayal?) of the Jedi Temple Guards he was dedicated to.

I also find it interesting how Vader reframes his own greatest "weakness" in Jedi terms - dealing healthily with loss - into a template for how to teach others how to turn into darksiders.

I generally think Vader treats imperial inquisitors similar to imperial officers - useful if competent, but ultimately expendable, and free to use as a squeaky toy to vent frustrations. For the Grand Inquisitor, since the Pau'an is really arrogant and thinks so highly of his own intellect, the most efficient way to put him in his place would be for Vader to flaunt his own Sith powers against the Pau'an's humble dependence on him, to deny him some knowledge or to humiliate/humble him in some way...

About "Very polite child, very sweet, but so very timid":

When Jocasta and the Grand Inquisitor fight in that comic, he says something along the lines of how he never felt he belonged among the Jedi. I thought that was a really good starting point to imagine his life decisions. What brought him from being wholly dedicated to protecting Jedi, to becoming a hunter of the very group he vowed to protect? It's such a contrast! There has to be some nice, meaty psychology there to dig into and explore.

I imagined him as a subconsciously lonely sort of child, being from a much longer-lived species than anyone else (and in an Order that values detachment, perhaps one would diagnose that as a problem), so that when he grew into a detached, bookish individual, he sought to gain belonging in the Temple Guard as a permanent fixture around which to base his whole life. But then the Jedi Order starts shaking at its foundations, and he wants to escape, but his particular ~*°special-secret-Force-magic°*~ vows to the Temple do not make it possible to just walk away like Ahsoka or Dooku did. And that leads to inner tensions and a pull to the Dark Side, eventually.

[en8y]

extinclypse - from extinc(tion), (cata)clys(m), and (apoca)lypse

an umbrella term for identities centered around the apocalypse, destruction of nature or creatures, the end of the human race, radiation, remains of junk, pollution, man-made objects or catastrophes, technology, codes and coding, lines of numbers, and The Extinction from The Magnus Archives! can be connected to the umbrella term mislypec, but isn't inherently related to it.

extinclysphy - equivalent of masculinity/femininity extinclysine - equivalent of masculine/feminine cataclyst/endling - an extinclypse person CATASTIN - extinclypse-in-nature extintic - gender alignment affextinca - (extinclypse4extinclypse; cataclyst4cataclyst) an extinclypse person being attracted to another extinclypse person. transtinclyst - transitioning into extinclysphy extaclyst - an extintic gender

inspired by @radiomogai's umbrellas; occunous, imosril, and chokrypt!

@buntress @electrosaccharine @3clipse-eats-deodorant @browzerhistory @harts-hoard @petramaeic @absc-hoard @honey-makes-mogai @yay-im-a-catgirl @plutobie @liom-archive @madly-motley @in-nature-archive

[lights-camera-ask-tion]

Lights.... Camera.... EDD-TION... huh!!!! huh???... was that?? was that funny???......

Ok I'll leave. Whoops, it seems like our boys have been subjected to the hell that is community theater all for their individual reasons. Follow them on their many misadventures as they put together a nondescript play run by none other than EVIL- I mean normal director Bing Bingbong! (And his bodyguard Larry).

Here YOU can get some behind the curtain information on how the production is going, how cast and crews are doing and many other things of asking nature by pressing that little button at the top!

With that out of the way let's do a little role call for our cast here! Wait what do you mean only one (and a half) of our guys act in this?

more below! (*RULES AT VERY END!*) (sorry)

Edd (CREW • PROP/SET DESIGN)

Looking for a little extra cash one day Edd comes across a TV ad about a few spots open in the theater for an upcoming , unnamed production. Naturally his friends sat close by also watching. Together they decided they'd go in, try their hand at it and once the show was over put together all the money they got and split it equally. Edd easily got into props and set design because Bing knew he was an artist and for a director he's fairly lazy when it comes to assigning jobs and roles. Edd doesn't really struggle all too much with props and sets due to his prior painting experience. But the behind the stage activities and chaos get to him a bit. Needless to say he's just a inch more tired than his usual self

Matt (ACTOR • UNDERSTUDY)

Matt got assigned as an understudy for the lead role which he was pretty bummed out about at first! But as time went on the lead had fallen ill. Matt was the temporary lead! Good for him. Bing didn't really think about the repercussions of having Matt as an understudy for the lead but it's already pretty far in the show to change things around in Bing's eyes. He's just a bit stuck up... stuck up enough to make everything about himself and to be fair his, his well everything skills are a bit subpar. But not many people are signing up for this production he'll do!

Tom (BACKGROUND CHARACTER • AUDIO)

You would think Tom would just take one job but unfortunately just a week prior to this his guitar Susan had fallen apart (wow so unexpected amiright--.) In order to make enough money to fix her Tom had taken a background role. Should be easy, he has to say only one line! Well Tom doesn't know this yet but uhm! He has horrible stage fright, he freezes the instant he's made to act and this is just one miniscule line before he can just go back up to the sound stage and get that done but this one line stumps him. Will he be able to act by the end of pre-production??

Tord (LIGHTING)

Tord took lighting because it was there. Bing didn't care just as much as Tord and he could use a few dollars. Though he's the only one who openly finds it a bit weird that Bing is making a play that isn't even titled... and seemingly has little to no plot aside from a few things pulled from other movie scripts of Bing's past. He slacks off a lot and spends most of his time doing odd tasks and just floating around (occasionally causing mischief) (ok what am I saying he has purposely made stage lights fall on people before). He doesn't really like that the sound studio is right in the same room as the lighting booth. This will be fun.

Now that all the fun stuff is out of the way let's glance over at the rules and regulations!

----

-No proshippers or NSFW accounts allowed here!

- The people behind this account are both minors and would rather not have sexual asks or comments made about the au

- No ships are really present at the moment for right now this is mostly focused on the guys misadventures

- The main tag for all the tasks goes under "EDD-tion asks". Some non ask drawings and events will be shown under the tag "#EDD-tion comic". Occasionally art that isn't a ask or event will be under "#EDD-tion art." And for all who wish to draw fanart (would be very awesome!!) you can tag this account and or post under a fanart tag (#LCE fanart, #Lights, Camera Edd-tion (fanart/art) etc)

- As for non art related tags. "#Off-stage" is for out of character posts, "#Important" is for announcements.

---Enjoy the show!

[nasirofmanderlys]

who; @tionpeake when and where: semi-flashback to the realms all gathering in casterly rock, nasir manderly seeks out his closest and oldest friend, lord tion of house peake - for a specific reason. context: grand reveal time lolol

there was the announcement of nasir's arrival to the quarters of the tion peake; something that was not entirely unheard of; especially when the kingdoms finally reunited as one for some reason or another, it was not peculiar or rare to see the men of two mighty ancient lines coming together. there was a reason their fathers had introduced them to one another at a young age, as much as they saw differences in the other they also saw similarities - similarities that made them in one another's orbit.

there was greatness that had always been destined for them, a greatness that had come with hard work and patience - their reality was also being better than half of their contemporaries, and having to work twice as hard.

an evident example had been the way in which tion peake had all but single handedly sorted the finances of several generations of house peake; reaching his hand into complexity and working until he could resurface with a sense of stability. and yet, it were garland hightower who had first been granted the appointment as master of coin for the treasury of the kingdom of thorns and roses - all for the name of hightower, and the city's walls which would provide a good location for a bank that could have been built regardless of who held the position.

his ever present serious nature seemed to cease in the presence of the man who was a brother to him; he pulled him into their usual embrace, looking upon the new master of coin for the reach - something he knew tion had wanted for some time. nasir did not wish to add further clouds to the man's head by mentioning garland's death, no; this was the correct decision. it was about time. "i hear a new title has been added to your name, yeah?" nasir asked, a hand remaining on the man's shoulder as they pulled from the warm embrace. "it's your time, brother. show 'em that greatness."

and nasir pulled away when a figure of a younger boy crossed over the room, seemingly directed by another member of staff to leave from his stationary post. the man's dark orbs followed the boy's moving figure, feeling a slow thud deep within his chest as he looked upon the retreating figure, and the door closing behind him. the two men of manderly and peake were alone now. it was then nasir let out a slow exhale, his hand coming to rest upon his nose the way it always did when he was refocusing himself. it was strange, to see him grow. he never understood it; because he couldn't.

"how is zakariya?" is what nasir manderly asked.

instead of, how is my son?

[calaisreno]

Oenology

Drunk discussion, a Mitch Hedberg joke, and the Science of Seduction.

When Sherlock solves the case of the winery, the owner, as promised, sends them a case of very nice wine. Naturally, they have to open a bottle and try it. And another to compare. And a third to consolidate their findings.

“Is this cooking wine?” John takes another swallow and squints into his glass. “For dinner I was going to make that thing.”

Sherlock opens his eyes. “The thing with the peas?”

“No. It has chicken and… you know… things. Parsnips. Or carrots. Vegetable things. And you cook it in wine.”

“Red or white?”

“I dunno. White, I guess. Isn’t chicken white?”

“This is pink,” says Sherlock, clinking his glass against John’s. “Cheers. I don’t gen-er-ally like rosé, but this is… quite de-lect-able.” He’s pronouncing words carefully, he notices, because his lips are not fully cooperating. Speech is such a complicated thing.

“Green,” says John. “Those green grapes. Why isn’t there green wine?”

“Good question. No clue.”

“Should be. For holidays.”

“Not a vivid green, though,” says Sherlock. “Like ab-snith…absence… absinthe. Absinthe.” He says the word several times to make sure it’s right. Not an easy word. “Absinthe. I had it once.”

“How was it?”

“Disappointing. Could hardly taste the wormwood.”

“Wormwood.” John frowns. “That a mushroom?”

“Plant. Ornamental. Toxic, kinda.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“Not very. Only one documented case. Idiot.”

“Idiot yourself.” John giggles. “Only you would know that.”

They’ll have to go to the shops if they want to make the chicken thing, with the vegetable things, and that sounds like too much effort. They open a packet of flatbread and slice some of the cheddar that isn’t hosting a mould experiment. Sherlock finds a bunch of grapes that are not very shrivelled.

John grabs the cheese and flatbread and another bottle of the wine, and moves the feast into the sitting room. Sherlock follows with the grapes and a packet of biscuits. John lights a candle and they sit on the floor, like a picnic.

It’s almost romantic, Sherlock thinks. “Almost romantic,” he says. “Did I say that out loud?” He pops a grape into his mouth.

John giggles. “You have to wait.”

He chews the grape. “Wha’ for?”

“Th’ grape,” John says. “It’s a grape.”

“I’m aware,” he replies.

“Still a grape. Not wine yet. You gotta wait.” He giggles again.

“Okay, I’m waiting.” He’s not sure, but maybe John has just told a joke. Interesting. “What does it mean?”

“Yer a wino,” John says. “Don’t eat the grapes. Gotta wait for the grapes to turn into wine.”

“We have plenty of wine, John. And grapes— I s’pose we’d have to ferment them. What we need is— Saccharomyces cerevisiae.” He’s not sure how he’s managed to pull these syllables out of his brain, but there they are. It’s like a magic trick, only the magician is completely pissed.

John snorts. “Just a joke. And now you’re doing that thing.”

“What thing? I’m not even wearing my coat. Or collar. What thing am I doing?”

“That thing. Where you seduce me with science.”

“Science,” he repeats. “My dear doctor, se-duc-tion ought to be an exact science, but I can see that you have once again attempted to tinge it with—“ He draws a breath, not sure where his sentence is going.

“Come here, you romantic seductor… deductor... deducer…,” John says, grabbing his dressing gown. “I deduce that you are seducing me.”

The kiss is sloppy, and tastes a bit like wine, but it’s the best thing Sherlock has ever imbibed.

“You’ve biased my judgment, doctor,” he says.

“About time.” John presses a grape to Sherlock’s lips. “I wasn’t ‘bout to wait any longer.”

The Mitch Hedberg joke: "I saw this wino, he was eating grapes. I was like, 'Dude, you have to wait.'" Maybe you had to be there.

Originally posted in Trifles, Chapter 10.

[my-jokes-are-my-armour]

WIP Tuesday

Thanks @astaldis from tagging me. I don't share my stories anymore but a fun (to me at least) little WIP doesn't hurt.

This is from the next chapter to drop. I put two linked extracts or the "joke" on the second will fall flat.

A little sacrifice - Part 2 - Mermaid

Modern AU - Geralt and Jaskier shenanigans

Today was not the day. People were just shadows in his mind, he couldn't see them. But he spotted Jaskier right away, even from afar. He smiled discreetly. His friend was the anomaly in the picture. People of Cidaris had a strong taste for black and white - which was great for him for a change. Bermervoord inhabitants had some nuanced blue in the mix, but Jaskier was sporting a pink shirt with big yellow flowers and brown trousers. This was a blatant faute de goût but he was bringing something fresh out of an insipid composition.

- “You don't understand the use of buttons, don't you ?” Geralt said when his friend stopped in front of him, with his horrible shirt opened almost to the belly, and almost sliding off one shoulder.

- “This is the perfect use, buddy.” He replied, smiling from one ear to the other, before sitting next to him. “So how was your trip ?”

[...]

- “Now… Please change your gears. Tonight we are seeing my little sister. I want the natural and genuine clean you. There are traces of badly washed dirt on thoses.”

Geralt laughed and stood up, putting his phone on the table. He took his own bag and removed from it, clean shirt and trousers, both black.

- “No problem.” He grinned.

- “You are impossible, but I fucking love you.”

Jaskier was facing the closet again while he removed his own shirt. For a brief moment, Geralt noticed the ghost scars on his friend's skin, reminding him how twisted the future was, and he shuddered, but he refused to let this change the great mood. So when the old shirt hit the ground he said :

- “I am glad that you don't keep this atrocity on you.”

- “Oh shut up !”

Jaskier put a white shirt on, but this was a very good quality. It had small flowers discreetly embroidered on it. He turned toward him and provocatively slowly buttoned the shirt up, stopping just between the belly button and the pecs. Rising an eyebrow and smirking, he said :

- “Fashion per - fec - tion. In your face mister hunter.”

Geralt changed his clothes in turn. Then he crossed his arms on his chest and declared in a monocordous and purposely dark voice :

- “Sobriety for the win.”

Jaskier didn't anticipate that from him and laughed so hard that it took him several minutes to properly calm down. These were the best last freedom days ever for both of them.

I tag @the-mightier-pen, @pippinoftheshire because they are my most recent reads. No obligation what so ever.

[mumms-the-word]

BG3 Appreci-May-tion Prompt List: can I have a combo #26 and #27 of the ladies of bg3 with a femtav dancing in the rain, please?

I know I wrote like a mini drabble about Ardynn and Halsin dancing in the rain but now I can't find it???

It wasn't much but anyway I'm gonna rewrite it slightly because dancing in the rain 100% these two nature freaks more than my other tavs, but this time I'll write it without Halsin in the picture.

Edit: Also I’ve been informed that this event is meant to be written about other people’s Tavs and Durges but for the purposes of this request I'm just going to respond with a normal little fic! This time my appreciation is for YOU and the fact that you're always dropping into DMs encouraging me and others :)

~*~*~

Summer rains were Ardynn's favorite. She loved the kind of storm when the sky was overcast and the air heavy and warm, where thunder was just a growl in the sky and rain was cool and refreshing. She remembered days of her childhood spent splashing in puddles and kicking up mud, laughing and chasing her brothers. Others went indoors when it rained, but Ardynn always longed to be outside, feeling the drops against her skin and turning her face toward the sky.

So when the first rainstorm visited the Reclaimed Lands, she was out of her new home immediately, venturing closer to the heart of their new village. The first drops were scattered and fleeting, but she knew more rain was coming. She had smelled it on the horizon for a few hours now, watched how the tree branches bent and swayed under the stormy winds. The sky had grown darker over time and now, at nearly high noon, the slowly healing lands were shaded over with slate gray clouds heavy with rain.

She wasn't alone outside. Refugee farmers who had planted a few crops also stood in their vegetable patches and fields, faces upturned toward the sky. Thaniel had healed much of the land, but there was still a lot of work to do to get it back to where it could perpetually and naturally sustain life. Rain was a welcome sight, even if it brought a darker sky with it.

As the drops began to fall faster and harder, Ardynn saw some of the refugee women and Halsin ushering the children into a large building to shelter from the rain. Halsin himself stayed outside, glancing skyward every now and again. Little faces appeared at the windows to look out and watch the gentle summer storm grow closer, the sky grumbling overhead. Rain was nothing new to any of them, but there was something compelling about a storm, especially watching it through a foggy pane of glass.

Then, on the horizon, came one of Ardynn's favorite phenomenons. A sheet of rain, like a curtain, appeared at a distance, slowly sweeping toward them. She could hear the hush and shhh of the storm as it neared, but she didn't disappear inside to shelter away from it. She stepped out further into the open, spreading wide her arms and lifting her face. As the curtain of rain washed over her, she shivered slightly at the cool wetness, but quickly grew used to it. Within seconds was soaked to the bone.

She laughed, turning her head to watch how the rain dripped down over the leaves of the trees, their leaves still slowly turning from shadow-cursed red to healthy green. She could almost sense the hard ground beneath her feet eagerly soaking up the rain, desperate for nourishment. This rain was much, much needed.

Just then, a familiar small figure darted through the trees nearby, with another figure following close behind. Thaniel and Oliver were chasing each other, slipping and sliding in the rain, bending to splash puddles at each other and laughing brightly. After a second, Thaniel paused and started to sing, him and Oliver joining hands, dancing around in a circle as Thaniel's song traveled over the stormy space.

There was a kind of spell in his song. Perhaps not a literal one, but his words seemed to be easily heard even over the rain and they lifted Ardynn's spirits with ease. Thunder was his percussion and raindrops on leaves and houses were the persistent harmony to Thaniel's words. Ardynn was reminded of Art Cullagh, who would be strumming along with his lute by now if he were still living. Overwhelmed with a strange emotion, fueled by Thaniel's song, she joined in herself, humming his tune and swaying and moving to the song.

The children's faces at the window grew restless. Soon, despite Halsin standing in the doorway, several of them slipped past him, running over to join Thaniel and Oliver. Laughing and singing awkwardly, trying to learn the words on the fly, they jumped in and out of puddles, dancing with wild abandon, sometimes joining hands with each other or Thaniel and Oliver and sometimes dancing to their own rhythms.

A couple of young girls noticed Ardynn swaying nearby and ran over to her, taking her hands and tugging her closer to the gaggle of children. Ardynn smiled and let herself be pulled along until she was among the children. Thaniel began his song over again and Ardynn, now knowing about half the words, joined in, linking hands with the little girls and dancing in a circle with them (at their instance), guiding them into little spins and jumps. Other children ran to tug other adults over, coaxing them out into the rain. Though many adults were reluctant, soon the joy of the children and the allure of Thaniel's song had them drawing closer with smiles on their faces.

The rain continued to pour, lavishing the healing earth with cool, refreshing rainfall and nourishing the landscape. As the children continued to play or dance, or refugees found themselves swaying in the rain to Thaniel's song or even joining in games with the children, Ardynn found herself pausing, breathless, to search for Halsin. He ought to be out there with the children, enjoying the fun with them, singing Thaniel's song as one of his dearest friends.

She found him lingering under the awning of one of the buildings, leaning against the wall, watching them with a face filled with mixed emotions. At first she thought he had been pulled out into the rain and had retreated, but as she drew closer she realized that the wetness on his face wasn't rain, but tears.

He quickly rubbed them away with the pads of his thumb and fingers as she came closer, but the next shuddering breath he took told her that he wasn't quite done with tears yet. But when she took his hand and coaxed him out into the rain, she knew he wasn't grieving. Or at least, that his grief was not at the forefront of these emotions. She didn't have words for what he must be feeling, a mixture of gratitude and happiness and joy and longing and more, but she didn't want him to linger on the sidelines to simply watch. This moment was as much his own creation, his own doing, his own legacy, as it was hers. In fact, she'd only done a fraction of the work.

She led him out into the rain, singing Thaniel's song to him, and as the children continued to splash and play and spin, as the adults continued to smile and dance lovingly with one another, she pulled him close for a dance that was all their own, lead by Thaniel's sweet song. In a short time, they would all need to gather the children back indoors, drying them off and making sure they were all seated next to warm fires to stave off any threats of cold or illness. But for the moment, this was a time to celebrate.

~*~*~