#none Epileptic seizures

[blue-eyed-cutiepatootie]

.

[frostryn]

I was diagnosed with epilepsy a little while back & ever since the major seizures the dr's stopped prescribing me adderall which sucks so much because having untreated adhd after finally knowing what it's like to have a brain that works it's absolute hell

[itscharh]

Big studios diagnosing kids early.

This is not the kind of news we enjoy bringing. This is about the teaser trailer for Disney and Pixar’s Elio, which comes to theaters in March 2024, and is likely to be shown before showings of Elemental, which arrives in theaters this week.

After the narrator and on-screen caption say “In 2024″ (around the 15-second mark), there are 25 seconds of near-constant screen-glitching effects. While they are not as severe as the ones in the first trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, or the trailer for Incredibles 2, they are still strong strobe effects, and they last for 25 of the trailer’s 128 seconds, almost nonstop.

The picture shown here is the first image shown in the trailer.

Image ID: a view of the Earth from space, with the moon in the foreground and the sun in the background.

[elsa-fogen]

hello lobotomy au - special delivery! PAIN.

it's even more depressing than i expected... shit. it makes ME sad. which, usually, doesn't happen.

this au is really fucking depressing.

"i'm not gonna post about this au any time soon" - she said and immediatelly posted something

okay, so, how this "surgery" affected the Trix

Stormy's now absolutely passive. she doesn't do anything on her own, doesn't talk, doesn't react. she's basically like a ragdoll - except the times when she's not. she has only two conditions now, 1 where you can do anything with her, 2 where you can't move her even with a fucking tank. nothing in between. What is going on in her hed tho is a complete mystery.

Darcy's doing little bit better. just a little bit. she still can talk, can do many things. she just doesn't. she's absolutely apathetic, and without guidence she can just… starve to death, lying on the floor near the full fridge, just because she can't make herself get up and do anything (I wanted to give her memory issues - that she can't make any new memories and wakes up thinking that the last battle with the winx was just yesterday, but i was told that lobotomy doesn't cause memory issues). she also almost doesn't feel any emotions. The only thing she feels - is rage towards people who did this to them, when she sees Icy crying. speaking of her…

Icy is lucky (or unlucky) to be the most functional one of the three. she can still walk, talk and react almost normally to her surroundings. she just has really hard time thinking anout literally anything. it's like her iq dropped from 180 to 40-50, idk. so, yeah, no plans for world domination in this condition can be made. she even has hard time planning her day. And, also, she now can't control her magic at all - anything she touches will be frozen, so she has to wear artifacts that don't let her use magic at all. But not only her magic is out of control, her emotions are as well. In my aus Icy usually doesn't cry at all. In this one tho... in this one she will cry for all her alternative versions, yeah. And, as a bonus, occasional epileptic seizures.

And the worst thing is - she DOES realise how much she changed, notices that things she used to do without thinking at all now are taking her way to long to do. And she sees how her sisters changed as well. And she hates herself, she hates the winx, she hates the light rock for doing this to them. But she can't just end her sufferings, although she was thinking about it, her sisters will not survive without her. so she keeps living. for them.

she found a way, she spends her evenings trying to live through the next day and making a plan in her notebook, she sets alarm clock for every step, she sends million delayed reminders to herself. she goes to bed very late, but at least her next day will be a little bit easier.

But... their life has another catch. Obviously, none of them can work, not with such conditions. Icy tried, but got fired in less than an hour. But they are getting only one pension - for Stormy. Why is that? Because Icy and Darcy have huge family savings. But they can't get to them - it's now too difficult of a task to do. Icy can't plan the whole thing through, something will go wrong and she will be lost. And Darcy can't even leave the house before losing last bit of motivtion. Even if she left, she would stop in the proccess without someone who'd tell her to continue. And they can't go together, not without Stormy. And with her it becomes much more complicated. Hell, they can just lose her somewhere. And so they have to just survive with what they got.

The Trix don't have anyone, except for themselves. Who will take care of Darcy and Stormy if something happens? Icy always would answer: I will. But who will take care about you, if something happens to you? Darcy and Stormy will, isn't it obvious?

she never thought, that something can happen to all of them at once.

[madschiavelique]

Can I request a Gale, Astarion and Wyll with a gn! Reader who has epileptic seizures? I’ve had them since I was a kid and for me they usually happen within an hour of me waking up. Luckily I’ve been seizure free for a year so far!! :)

I understand if you are uncomfortable writing this!

hi love!! first of all CONGRATS ON THE ONE YEAR SEIZURE FREE !!! second of all i'm sorry i took so long to write it but i wanted to document myself first to write that properly! i have no idea if i made justic to it, and i would love for you to give me some returns in case i didn't portray it well <33 special little note of thank you for my friend @duffyyy911 who helped me greatly to write this !!!

─ . 𝜗𝜚‧ characters : gale, astarion, wyll

─ . 𝜗𝜚‧ content warning : none, mostly comfort (as far as i know), gender neutral reader, no use of y/n

─ . 𝜗𝜚‧ words : 966 ( ~ 300 per characters)

( not proofread, english is not my first language ☆)

─ . 𝜗𝜚‧ gale :

Chances are that, completely unbeknownst to him in the first place, gale was the one to make have you start a seizure.

Poor guy was just casting dancing lights or colour spray, and the next thing you knew you were on the ground, and he was completely lost.

He had read one too many books, many about spells and a few conditions. He was no doctor, but he was a wizard that had sufficient magical knowledge and an unrelenting hunger for reading who was ready to do anything to help his companions.

He was quick to help, although a bit overthrown by panic and surprise, he tried using the most of his spell slots possible to keep you in place and keep a proper eye on you until it was all over.

After that incident, you can be assured that in every city or village or places you passed that he would be on the hunt for a library with as much information on the seizures as possible.

He was alert at all times, remaining at your side in case anything happened.

You can be assured that he’d always have a scroll of Hold Person on him to cast, a spell of Resistance or Sanctuary ready to crack under his fingers, preparing Sleep, Feign Death or Slow to ensure at any times that whatever might cause a seizure could be countered by his thorough preparation and attention.

He’d arrange the softest bed for you, whatever pillows and spells he could use to get you to have some proper restorative sleep were all cast and placed under you.

He’d read by your side, waiting for you to wake up and simply looking after you. He’d kiss your forehead when you’d start moving, softly emerging from your much comfortable slumber.

─ . 𝜗𝜚‧ astarion :

At first, Astarion thought it was a joke, or at least some accidental fall from you when walking on some of the ice that made you prone after a quite stressful fight.

But you were starting to be strangely prone, the kind that looked quite painful.

“Come on, I know ceremorphosis or whatever the name of it is couldn’t have caught up to you just now darling.”

But as Shadowheart came to help you, a look of worry in her eye, Astarion’s chest clenched.

“It’s not a joke, Astarion. It’s a damned seizure.”

He immediately came to your side to help Shadowheart, panicked and feeling like a complete idiot. “Are they okay ? Are they dying ?!” 

After positioning you correctly on the ground, Shadowheart reassured him that you were not nearing any death at the moment.

It is only after the seizure had passed and some well deserved rest on your part that he asked you questions about the event.

On one hand, he’d try to find some sort of positivity in this situation. “We can just live a vampire life you know, hiding from the sun would be a great start.” But he would find that if you’re in the dark all the time, wouldn’t it just make it easier to induce a seizure then ?

So at first, he’d have no idea as to how he’s supposed to help you. But with the help of Shadowheart eventually, he’d pick up on the things to do next time.

He knew how to place you properly, what to do to just ensure that you’d be safe no matter what, and was always here to take you to bed after a seizure happened.

He’d look after you while asleep, threatening anybody in the camp that if they were to make any loud sounds or anything that could wake you up, he’d make sure to make them his next meal.

─ . 𝜗𝜚‧ wyll :

If there is one thing the blade of frontiers doesn’t know how to handle, it is you, the leader of the group, having a seizure.

He has fought many enemies in his years, but one that comes from within his partner is a whole new one.

When you went into a seizure for the first time in front of him, you were just practicing some of the basic magic and swordsmanship that Wyll had knowledge of at camp. Your target was the trunk of an old dead tree, and Wyll wanted to show you - mostly impress you - by casting an Eldritch Blast to straight up destroy it. 

Multiple crimson zaps and flashes crisped the air as he perfectly hit the trunk, turning to you with a proud smile, “See, just like th-” but he stopped dead in his words as he saw you on the ground.

He knelt immediately, throwing his sword away as he placed his hand on your shoulder calling your name repeatedly.

In complete and utter panic, his eyes not leaving you, he heard strong steps stomping the ground. Next second, Halsin came next to the both of you, his sixth sense for the ones in need calling for him. 

“What’s happening to them ?” Wyll would ask, his voice breaking as he watched how Halsin gently placed you on your side on the ground.

“Just a seizure,” Halsin explained, concentrating on examining you, “do you know if they are stressed ? did they drink properly since this morning ? any bright flashes of light happened before that ?”

Wyll’s heart got tight in his chest as he realised his desire to impress you had caused this to start. After getting reassured by Halsin who explained to him how to handle such situations in the future, he stayed with you next to your bed, waiting for you to wake up.

He kept holding your hand all the way till you woke up, his guilt still holding his stomach in a tight knot. You reassured him about it, explaining to him your symptoms, how it’d happen like Halsin had mentioned, and kissed his trouble away.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am I the asshole for being rude to my friend?

😾 - so I can recognise this

I am the organiser of the friend group. I don’t mind, but Somtimes I do struggle playing a large game of telephone.

I made some very last minute plans to go visit friend A with B, and forgot to tell C until this morning. Sometimes it’s hard for me to be the communicator and tell people what’s going on when.

I told C and appolagised for the short notice and invited him to come visit A with us.

C said he could come along, and asked if they should bring B and D’s stuff with him. I texted back ‘I don’t know, ask them?’

C seemed upset by this and said that they’d hang out by themselves that day.

Issue is - I had a seizure the day before. I have non epileptic seizures, and my brain was completely fried. Hence my fatigue and forgetfulness. I could just about manage yes or no questions, so I genuinely didn’t know. C has their number and Instagram so could ask B and D quite easily.

It’s the first time C has heard of my seizures as I tend not to discuss it openly and only tell people who live with me or look after me. I’ve been trying to be more open about it and to communicate my needs though.

C has left me on read after my explaination, and I feel like a right asshole. I feel like it was rude of me to text that to them. I explained why I was scrambled and said sorry. I am leaving it at that as I don’t want to pester them if they don’t want it, but I am also not a huge fan of the silent treatment.

It is worth noting that C is having a rough time at the moment and I am trying to be very gentle with them as I realise that life is tough for them.

We did used to have a group chat, but C left unprompted. I decided not to dig because it’s none of my business, but I do try to check in with them regularly to ensure they’re ok. It comes off as if they’re isolating themselves.

So. Tumblr - AITA?

[scariusaquarius]

It's criminal I've never said it but I re-read those epileptic Reader/Leon headcanons you wrote regularly LMFAO they're a big comfort to me and I love how you characterize Leon <33 You're THE re4og Leon writer dare I say.

If headcanons are still open atm I was wondering if you're down to write some similar headcanons for Dean Winchester with an epileptic Reader? Tysm! (If you still write for him obviously, if not totally feel free to ignore this!)

Babe, i am ALWAYS writing for my boy, Dean Winchester heheh. I've just been a tad bit busy with writing my supernatural/transformers fic and irl that I haven't really been able to write much else!

Dean Winchester with an Epileptic Reader would include...

Let's remember that there are many different types of epilepsy and symptoms will display themselves differently. However, I will write about the general and most common type of epilepsy only this time. Let's get started<3

Tonic Clonic/Grand-mal seizures

Some people with epilepsy have been shown to have 'aura's before their seizures, which can be described as a feeling of euphoria or doom, deja vu, a loss of a sense (such as hearing or sight), or a gain of a sense (i.e. smelling food when there is none, hearing a ringing sound, etc).

Dean Winchester is somewhat of an aura for you: meaning, he knows when you're about to have a seizure before you do. I think it's been displayed throughout the series pretty well that Dean has a pretty wild sixth sense, and though we know Dean isn't psychic in any way, I think that he would learn your tells and pay attention to the signs of your seizures and warn you before you even realize what's happening.

Dean can be a bit of a worry-wart, but he's been a hunter for so long that he can react easily while under the pressure and adrenaline. So, if you have a seizure while Dean is around, you can be assured that he can take care of you.

He knows what to do when someone is having a seizure thanks to his years of medical knowledge due to his line of work, Sam, and research. So, rest-assured that Dean has your back when you don't.

Unless you are medicated and don't have as many seizures as you would while unmedicated, Dean is very reluctant to take you on hunts that are, in his terms, 'too dangerous'. Dean would probably only be comfortable with you being on simple hunts, like Salt 'N' Burns.

This doesn't mean that Dean thinks that you are weak, but he is trying to keep you safe in a way that he knows best, which means making you stay behind or only allowing you on simple, short hunts. The only time that Dean will call you onto a dangerous hunt is if he absolutely has no other option and needs backup.

Dean is very good at making sure that you take your medication and keeping track of how many you've taken for the day. He has an internal logbook in his head of when you've taken your meds and at what time.

If your seizures are extremely sudden, then I don't think Dean would be comfortable with you going on hunts at all. As much as it sucks, you are a liability and Dean doesn't want to take any risks.

When in the height of a seizure, Dean is very calm and will rub your arms, gently hold you close in a way that doesn't get in the way of the life-saving technique for seizures, and either talk or sing to you.

The first time that Dean encountered a seizure, he honestly thought you were being possessed :"") (that is, if you didn't tell him about your epilepsy at first). Sam was the one that knew what was happening and helped you through it while Dean worried his ass off beside you. (listen, i love him, but he can be a bit of an idiot sometimes.)

Dean isn't the greatest at time management unless it comes to hunts, but whenever he finds out about your epilepsy, he makes sure to write down when your doctors/neurology appointments are.

Dean will treat your epilepsy like it's a hunt in terms of research. He will spend hours researching about your diagnosis and how he can help you during a seizure.

do not expect him to not make seizure jokes because he will. He will stop if you say something to him about it, but he'll make a joke here and there. When you have to have an eeg though? He's cracking all of the terminator jokes.

I hope you enjoyed this! Thank you so much for the request, and I hope it was up to par with you

[wheelie-sick]

having the hEDS trifecta + lupus is very frustrating because it's just like "okay where is this symptom coming from?" and no doctor can agree so it doesn't get treated

I have professionally diagnosed MCAS

I'd like to share the symptoms of MCAS can cause:

Constitutional : Fatigue, subjective hyperthermia and/or hypothermia, sweats, change in appetite, weight gain/loss, chemical/physical sensitivities, poor healing

Dermatologic : Urticaria, itch, flushing, hemangiomas with itch/pain, various rashes, telangiectasias, striae, skin tags, folliculitis, ulcers, eczema, angioedema, alopecia, onychodystrophy

Ophthalmologic : Irritated, “dry” eyes, difficulty focusing, blepharospasm

Otologic : Tinnitus, hearing loss, coryza, rhinitis, nasal congestion, epistaxis

Oropharyngeal: Pain, burning, leukoplakia, ulcers, angioedema, dysgeusia, dental and/or periodontal inflammation/decay

Lymphatic: Lymphadenopathy, rare splenomegaly

Pulmonary: Dry cough, dyspnea (difficulty taking a deep breath), wheezing, obstructive sleep apnea

Cardiovascular: Presyncope, hypertension, blood pressure lability, palpitations, edema, chest pain, allergic angina (Kounis syndrome)

Gastrointestinal: Dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and/or constipation, gastroparesis, angioedema, dysphagia (usually proximal), bloating (post-prandial or spontaneous), malabsorption

Genitourinary: Menorrhagia, pelvic pain, endometriosis, vulvodynia, vaginitis, dysmenorrhea, miscarriages, infertility, dysuria

Musculoskeletal: Myalgias, migratory bone/joint pain, osteopenia/osteoporosis

Neurologic : Headache, migraine, sensory neuropathies, dysautonomia, episodic weakness, seizure disorders, non-epileptic seizures, cognitive dysfunction, insomnia, hypersomnolence, restless leg syndrome

Psychiatric: Depression, anger/irritability, mood lability, anxiety, panic, obsession–compulsion, attention deficit/hyperactivity

Hematologic: Easy bruising, polycythemia, anemia

Immunologic: Hypersensitivity reactions, increased risk for malignancy and autoimmunity, impaired healing, increased susceptibility to infection

source

"well that's just everything" ya. that's why I can't figure out where my symptoms are coming from. lupus is also like this. autonomic neuropathy is also like this. my doctors run in circles pointing at the other doctors to solve the problem but none of them want to.

[genderfluid-insomniac]

“Little Seizures” Six Eared Macaque x reader x Sun Wukong & MK

Note: I don't know what to put as an intro but this is based on my experiences with epilepsy as I've had it for a year and a half. Seizures are fucking annoying and I don't see much epilepsy content in fanfiction so I did it myself. Enjoy!

P.S. This may not be accurate to your unique experiences because I based it off of general epileptics.

You had gone with MK to Flower Fruit Mountain for his training and you volunteered to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t mentally drain himself. Maybe there was another reason that you had but it totally wasn’t about your friend’s two mentors were in the process of courting you and how all the citizens of the mountain were adorable fluffy monkeys. Speaking of which a few of them were sitting on your back and picking through your hair for bugs to which they’d unfortunately for them find none of. But some others were sitting around you eating the fruit you’d given them. “Guys I hate to tell you but you won’t find anything but you’re more than happy to have a mango, peach, or banana.”

“Lotus, don’t you want to feed me a piece of fruit?” You must have jumped at least 3 feet in the air as some of your companions cried out at your reaction and the new demon by your side. Groaning you playfully hit his arm and rolled your eyes as Macaque laughed at your amusing reaction. Some monkeys chirped and moved over to him, climbing his black fur and settling in on his head for grooming. You looked at your friend who was still training with both his mentors and back at the shadow demon who was now smirking at you. “Shouldn’t you be fighting MK and Wukong without using a shadow clone?”

“Yeah but eating sweet fruit and spending time with you is much better.” Taking a bite of a banana and glancing at you with a raised brow, growing concerned at the lack of response from you and how you swayed. You guessed at least. All you could see or feel was the room growing darker and everything feeling like the ground beneath you was shaking (and not from the huge battle going on just a few yards away). Bits of conversation could be heard as all of your senses faded in and out, one dark fuzzy outline holding you surrounded by little white ones and two tanish ginger figures running over to you.

“What’s….to….?” Your body grew tired and all of a sudden you wanted to sleep, tiny hands poked your cheek in alarm and worriedly cried out to someone. “Name!……me-“ “They just…..passed out….. shaking-“ “Macaque…. keep….. still….. King get…..much water….” There wasn’t anything you could hear after that, only having the feeling of falling asleep like any other night. Your entire body felt like lead and gravity was ten times stronger, barely able to open your eyes and speak anything except for a single word. “Fuck.”

Hearing was one of your first senses to come back and touch wasn’t far behind, feeling a warm body supporting your back as you rested against them. “Ha. Glad to see you’re awake! You have all of us a scare!” Sun Wukong was the person holding you. Not that you could see him but his voice was enough of a hint. “The kid was worried sick pacing around and muttering about how he should’ve noticed. I’m guessing this is something to do with the thing MK said about having pepsi or something?” You weakly laughed and tried to sit up, only to be gentle pushed back down.

“Easy, peaches. From what I could see and what Mac heard, it sounds like your body short circuited. MK! They’re awake bud!” No doubt your friend hadn’t strayed far from you given his already anxious worry about you and your disorder but he cared and you were thankful for it. “Epilepsy.” He looked down at your comment. “Hm?” You went to clarify, sti fatigued from your body’s strange method of expending your built up energy. “It’s called Epilepsy. It basically like my brain overloads from time to time which causes me to do that.”

An anxious loud voice called your name and your turned your head to see MK, looking up at Wukong and hearing his whisper. “I’m glad your okay. Nearly thought Id lost you.” His vibrant tail circled your wrist comforting, and looking back over to his successor. “NAME!” The wind was knocked out of you by MK tackle hugging you and spewing apologies with teary eyes. You loved him dearly but he apologized for things out of his control and his heart is too kind for the world sometimes. “MK, I need to breathe. I’m okay! You’ve seen me have one of my seizures, I probably just got overly stressed or dehydrated.”

“Let’s give them some space, bud.” Macaque came into your view with a clay cup of what you could guess to be water and used his tail to lift the young adult off you. Handing the water to you and visibly relaxing once he surveyed your appearance. “Happy you’re okay, kid. Sorry if my scare caused this-“ The demon sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and averted your gaze before coming looking back at you. “If I’d known this would happen I never would have jumped you.” You grabbed his hand and smiled, softly chuckling. “I forgive you Mac. It was probably a result of my medication change and thank you for getting me water- Hey guys…”

A bunch of small monkeys crept up behind you all and approached you, climbing on your lap and tugging your shift to grab your attention. “I’m alright. Thank you for your concern!” It was all adorable, watching the ones who were close to you with a bit more boldness quietly make noises at you. Not that you could hear what they were saying but you could tell they were also worried. Both celestial primates make some calls at the young ones who answered back and went back to their day, all except for one. Who ran over to your bag and pulled out a fruit, offering it to you. “Thanks buddy. I need to energy.”

[honeycombhank]

6/8/23

Today was a lot of things.. fun but at times very hard and emotional, I felt supported but I also wish I could be more supportive and helpful to some in my family but I sometimes don’t feel like I can even care for myself many days. Life is a strange ride.

I walked another 5 miles with my love today, the weather was a bit cooler and it was just about perfect for us out there.

Yay! We made the choice to move our bodies and that pretty much always feels like a win.

[hannigramslesbianhusband]

Clocks and Metronomes in Hannibal

``Hannibal counted the beats of the metronome against those of the clock. They went in and out of phase``

?????? Clocks???! speaking of this, I found out something really cool. I was researching trying to find some kind of connection or UN-connection between clocks and metronomes and what they might mean here, and I found this very interesting journal, which references and builds off of some of Christiaan Huygens' discoveries and work.

Let's list out a couple of things:

Arguably, Hannibal's favorite book is Treatise of Light, by none other than Christiaan Huygens.

``Among Mr. Jakov’s books was a copy bound in leather of Christiaan Huyghens’ Treatise on Light, and Hannibal was fascinated with it, with following the movement of Huyghens’ mind, feeling him moving toward discovery. He associated the Treatise on Light with the glare of the snow and the rainbow distortions in the old windowpanes. The elegance of Huyghens’ thought was like the clean and simplified lines of winter, the structure under the leaves. A box opening with a click and inside, a principle that works every time. It was a dependable thrill, and he had been feeling it since he could read.``

I skimmed a bit of the book- and it does include an explanations of the calculations Hannibal used to determine the height of the towers in his castle- which he was doing before he read the book. Bro is a literal genius.

``Also in the year Hannibal was six, Count Lecter found his son determining the height of the castle towers by the length of their shadows, following instructions which he said came directly from Euclid himself. Count Lecter improved his tutors then—within six weeks arrived Mr. Jakov, a penniless scholar from Leipzig.``

The journal I previously mentioned is, in very simple terms, about how pendulums and clocks synchronize. We can very reliably assume Hannibal is a fan of Christiaan Huygens, it’s very possible he could later have read Horologium oscillatorium, where he discusses these discoveries. Unfortunately, I can not dig too deep into the original text because the only copy I could find is in Latin, and I really don’t want to translate all that. But I CAN use the information provided in the journal. It’s also reasonable to assume Hannibal would know a lot of the information presented in the journal, because although Christiaan Huygens’ books are from the 1600s, Hannibal is not, and discoveries have been made! Science has advanced! Yippee!

In the journal, It is stated that “Synchronization occurs in diverse physical, biological, and chemical systems. Examples include the synchronous flashing of fireflies, the chorusing of crickets, the rhythmic applause of concert audiences, the coordinated beating of cardiac pacemaker cells, the pathological neural synchrony associated with epileptic seizures, and the coherent voltage oscillations of superconducting Josephson junction arrays.”

It all sounds very artistic. It is beautiful and connected. Right up Hannibal's alley, for sure. But- whats that near the end?? “ the pathological neural synchrony associated with epileptic seizures”. Epileptic seizures. Let’s put that away for later. 

The synchronisation of pendulums (pendulum clocks, metronomes) placed on the same (wooden) surface even if started at antiphase will eventually become in phase with eachother BUT: synchonizing in phase causes the pendulums in the clocks to slow down, so they lose time (multiple seconds an hour) but- they way they synchronize is dependent on several things(mechanisms in the clock, length and thickness of the surface they're on,etc etc.) but basically- with a SMALL amount of damping (loss of energy in an oscillating system) the clocks with synchronize in phase, with a large amount of it they will be antiphase. clocks synchronizing in antiphase has been called sympathetic motion or the sympathy of clocks (not empathy). 

Synchronization in itself is a pretty artistic thing, beautiful and connected. It shows up everywhere- including something called neural synchrony. neural synchrony is basically when two people interact or communicate, their brain rythms/waves synchronize, couple, create matching patterns. You understand eachother. this is seen a lot more in romantic couples or people who are close together, child-parent relationships(especially as infants) and the such. Not usually seen in strangers. the brain to brain synchronization happens in the  temporal-parietal part of the brain. The way will makes himself think like killers- to the point sometimes he feels like he becomes them- is definitely neural synchrony. Why he can do that so easily with strangers, who may have never even met? Who knows; but at least we know all kills leave behind a part of the killer, a part of their psyche, and not always just a message.  Basically, Will's whole metronome thing is symbolic of him synchronizing mentally(and neurologically! Very cool) with the killers. This may have been way too much work for something that is a bit obvious, but it’s very interesting to unravel.

I’m not sure how I started with picking apart clocks and metronomes in relation to Hannibal (in the book), and ended up with a conclusion about Will (in the show), but I did! I can’t say much more on this for now as I haven’t finished the book, and Will has yet to show up. 

Now, that thing we put away for later.

Neural synchrony is also associated with epileptic seizures. Neuron firing tends to become synchronous/hypersynchronous in the middle of a seizure.

I wanted to go more into Will's encephalitis and seizures related to this- but those are only a thing in the TV show, so I cant connect it quite as well. I can share the things I did find out, though, so if anyone is interested to see that please let me know! But right now, I'm too researched out to put it all together, and that's mainly why I'm not including it here now. All in all- we all know Hannibal knows all that psychiatry stuff and is crazy smart and crazy insane, so here is a bit of the science of it and how it all loosely connects to the books. And, of course as someone who values beauty and art, he would become obsessed with Will upon seeing how effortlessly he can achieve that synchronicity with others- especially those who think similarly to him. Honorable mention to Eldon Stammets.

[r--c]

Min Yongjun

On 14 December 2012 between 7 and 8 a.m. local time, a 36-year-old villager identified as Min Yongjun stabbed 24 people, including 23 children and an elderly woman, in a knife attack at Chenpeng Village Primary School Wenshu Township, Guangshan County, Henan province, China. The attack occurred as the children were arriving for classes around 8:00 to 9:00. - The suspect was initially identified to be Min Yingjun however, later reports identified the perpetrator to be a different man, Min Yongju, of the same village as Min Yingjun. He is reported to have had a long history of epileptic seizures, and to have been influenced by the 2012 doomsday phenomenon. This was allegedly propagated in China by the Eastern Lightning church. In December 2013, Min Yongjun was found guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced to death

Due to strict gun control laws in China, knives are usually the weapon of choice in violent crimes. The attack on the children occurred at the entrance of the school. Min first targeted the elderly woman, aged 85, who lived next to the school. He went to her house at around 7 a.m., stole one of her knives and attacked her. The woman's daughter said an argument had occurred. At around 7:40 a.m., Min pursued the children with the knife he had stolen from the elderly woman's house and slashed them, many on their heads. Xinhua reported that some of the children had had fingers or ears cut off in the knife attack.

Min was restrained at the primary school, and transferred to police custody. The victims were treated at three hospitals. Two of the children were taken to hospitals located outside Guangshan County to receive better care. None of the victims were fatally wounded.

The local police released footage from a security camera showing the attacker barging into the school and attacking a student. The video was noted and analysed by many news agencies, and contributed significantly to the widespread coverage of the incident.

As the Chenpeng school attack was followed by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in the United States hours later comparisons were drawn between the two. The difference in gun control laws between the two countries was used to explain the disparity in casualties of the school attacks by journalists and politicians, including U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler, and an article in the Associated Press noted that despite the different outcomes, an underlying commonality between the attacks was the increased frequency of school attacks because, "attackers often seek out the vulnerable, hoping to amplify their outrage before they themselves often commit suicide."

[zomvom]

Zom’s ososan headcanons! :3

Just kinda stream of consciousness style, any may be subject to change, feel free to talk to me about your own hcs! :3c

This is a repost of my twt thread, I’ll list what I have down already, any new hcs or changes to previous ones I’ll just put in reblogs

These are all my personal headcanons! I kin ichimatsu so many of hcs for him are based off myself! This is just for fun but if you don’t agree with or like them that’s perfectly fine! Feel free to block or ignore me!

———

First things first I hc all 6 of the matsus as autistic and trans in some kind of way!

I think oso, kara, choro, ichi, and jyushi are all transmasc and todo is transfem! Transfem choro is also cute tho

Either way tho, none of them are neurotypical or cis!

Oso: He/Him trans man. Is currently on T. Prefers a binder over transtape cuz it’s less work but only wears it like half the time cuz he’ll often forget to put it on when getting dressed and it’s too much work to take his shirt off, put on his binder n put his shirt back on lol also he’s bi with a preference for women!

Kara: He/They trans man. Pansexual. Currently on T. Has gotten top surgery! Wants to get cool tattoos over his scars but is a wuss lol he also still gets a lil nervous bout shot day after all this time but puts on a brave face

Choro: He/She transmasc bigender. Omnisexual. Low dose T. Doesn’t bind all the time but prefers transtape over a binder when she does cuz it’s not as hot since he’s often wearing an undershirt anyway

Ichi: He/Him transmasc agender. Gay oriented aroace. Has gotten top surgery! Was on T for a good while but stopped for various reasons. Also prob has some kinda cat themed neopronouns just for funsies haha

Jyushi: He/Him trans man. Is on T. Who needs to bind or get top surgery when you can just hella work out? lol I don’t think he cares about labels but he’s def some kind of multisexual, maybe bi? Maybe pan?

Todo: She/Her and Fae/Faer trans woman. Is on estrogen. Bi with a preference for women

_______

Eyesight from worst to best!

Choro: very nearsighted! usually wears contacts nowadays but will occasionally wear his square/rectangle glasses to give her eyes a break. Still has his old round glasses from hs as back up tho

Kara: his vision isn’t as bad as choromatsus but it’s still not great! Farsighted. He refuses to wear normal glasses cuz he thinks it’ll make him look lame so his sunglasses are prescription instead, nobody knows that tho! Also has some form of strabismus, one of his eyes tend to move slightly inward.

Oso and Ichi: they’re both nearsighted and are at about the same level of vision. Neither of them are nearly as bad as choro and kara tho! Still, they would probably both benefit from glasses but choose to just live their lives a bit blurry lol Also ichi has visual snow! And while ichi is aware his vision isn’t the best, oso is oblivious and thinks it’s completely normal

Jyushi: also has strabismus! His is more noticeable and tends to move outward! but aside from that his vision is actually relatively good!

Todo: is the only one with 20/20 vision lol I feel like she would sometimes wear glasses just for fashion and choro hates it haha

———

Ichi has chronic fatigue, chronic pain, and pnes! (Psychogenic Non Epileptic Seizures)

I’m not sure if I want him to have exactly what I have in regards to his chronic pain condition, which for me is fibromyalgia, but I’ll prob end up going in that direction anyway since I project onto him so much anyway ya know?

His conditions affect p much his whole life as is the thing with being disabled haha but in particular it affects his sleep. He’s usually a p light sleeper and has a hard time falling and staying asleep unless he’s feeling completely exhausted from either his pain, or the aftermath of a seizure or whatever else, in which case he’ll knock the fuck out, and will sometimes sleep for so long and deeply he’ll scare his family into thinking his dead haha

His condition also often affects his ability to walk, so when he’s struggling he will use a cane

Unlike me tho, he doesn’t need it like all day everyday, only sometimes

Choro also uses a cane sometimes! He has a bad knee and poor balance which causes her to trip and fall a lot! His cane is his same color of green and while he does prefer the clean and sleek look, she does have a couple of little idol charms on the handle!

Ichi’s cane is either black or purple and is covered in various cat themed stickers with a couple lil things attached to the handle that he will use to play with neighborhood kitties!

Oso and jyushi will sometimes steal choro and ichis canes when not in use and sword fight with them lol

I can imagine when either ichi or choro first got their canes, oso in particular would playfully tease them and would use their cane to pretend to be an old man. The other matsus would also join in on the heckling such as todo calling either choro or ichi old men haha

Kinda going back,, when ichi had his first seizure, the others definitely freaked the fuck out. I imagine some of them prob would still panic when it happens at times but not as much. When it happens while they’re all trying to sleep, Kara will quietly help ichi n look over him till it stops, making sure he’s on his side n all that. I also imagine Kara would the most consistently remind ichi to breathe during a seizure and since ichi doesn’t like to make a big deal out of his seizures, Kara wouldn’t mention it to the others unless ichi brought it up first. (Ichi is thankful but doesn’t really verbally thank him often). Same goes for most of the other matsus if they’re alone with ichi during a seizure except for maybe jyushi who would blurt it out and sometimes oso unless explicitly told not to mention it. And prob right after the first seizure, todo researched what to do during a seizure and taught the others what to do so everyone was better prepared for next time.

Going back to ichis chronic fatigue/ poor sleep,

He either sleeps like 2 hours or 15, no in between lol

Oso doesn’t have chronic fatigue but he is really bad at maintaining a consistent sleep schedule so he and ichi (and sometimes the others) will often hang out and go on late night adventures, resulting in them both sleeping in way too late n getting scolded by either choro or matsuyo

———

More general sleep based stuff:

Ichi is a side sleeper n likes to be super curled up, he is shrimply kitty, he cannot change this. Kara is a back sleeper mostly, cant stand being too warm and prefers cooler or thinner blankets. Todo flip flops between back and side, is a pretty quiet, peaceful sleeper. Oso is kinda all over the place, flip flops between back, side, and belly a lot and likes to either be spread out or cuddling smth. Choro also flip flops between back and side, doesn’t take up a lot of space. Jyushi is a back sleeper and always very spread out

I can see them all snoring at least a lil bit except for maybe choro. I think it’d be cute if todo had like a baby snore and ichi had that classic cat snore. I can def see oso being loud tho

Poor choro being sandwiched between the two that take up the most space, move the most, and prob the loudest lol

———

Jyushi is usually very intense when he stims, lots of physical/moving stims! Definitely hand flapping, rocking, sometimes spinning, etc. I think he does his bat swinging, and mimicking of baseball terms n such as special interest centric stims. Plus his “HUSTLE HUSTLE MUSCLE MUSCLE!”

I think he also really likes deep pressure! Likes to be wrapped up n buried with blankets, and clothes n such (+ the warmth is nice since he doesn’t have great temperature regulation)

He would love a weighted blanket haha, and I think, while he’s not really a huge hugger most the time, he would sometimes ask for tight hugs from his family, or just have them like lean or straight up just lay on top of him haha

Also likes to chew! Seeing as how he’s often chewing on his brothers heads lol he would prefer a really hard/tough toy to chew on. Any thing softer, he chews straight through em

Kara loves anything shiny/sparkly and colorful! He also likes the texture sparkly things/ things with sequins often have,

I also think he would like space and ocean themed things cuz blue and pretty haha

I think he would have jewelry he would play with like rings or necklaces, such as running his fingers along his necklace chains or maybe a spinner ring or something small with intricate details/ rougher textures he could stim with

I imagine something metal/ silver maybe in the shape of a skull! Not sure what tho.. maybe a keychain? A necklace? Just something he keeps in his pocket?

Choro loves like cool lights/glowy stuff esp if it’s related to his special interest(s) ie idols! I think she also really likes clicky noises like a keyboard or switches! I think he would def carry around at least one fidget to help with anxiety but I feel like she would maybe be torn between his toys being colorful/related to her interests or being like subtle and “adult” looking ya know? I also think he’d get kinda self conscious about doing raptor arms or just feel like “what do I do with my hands” n developed a habit of putting her hands on his hips instead haha, I also think choro has a picking habit and uses picky pads to try to avoid picking at his skin and while it’s not as bad, Kara also still feels the urge to pick sometimes from when he had bad acne so choro turned him on to picky pads n she will use the beads to make kandi! But also sometimes she’ll get so caught up in just wanting to pick out and organize all the beads, hell get too focused on a pad and won’t have one for when she actually has the urge to skin pick. Also choro would love a busy board with all the flashing lights n clicky switches haha

Todo is a big visual stimmer! A bit too self conscious most the time to more openly stim in front of most ppl so she watches a lot of like stim boards and “satisfying” videos on her phone and maybe like very specific asmr videos. Her physical stims are a bit more “subtle” like very light rocking, kicking her feet, tapping her foot, using her face roller, playing with her hair, etc. I think she also chews but she doesn’t think it’s cute enough so she tries not to do it and will kinda gently chew on the inside of her lip or tongue or use gum or smth. Definitely prefers much softer chews than jyushi! Also think she likes to do the pop sound with her mouth sometimes

Ichi loves soft fuzzy textures and likes to pet and rub them whether it’s a cat or an inanimate object! He also really likes somewhat squishy things, think like paw pads, that he can squish in his hands! If it’s something bigger like a soft blanket or pillow or smth he likes to kinda knead it. He also likes pain seeking stims esp when hes having sh thoughts and will use things that are sharp and pokey but can’t do any actual harm like acupuncture rings or smth n he will keep like a mini squishy or acupuncture ring in his hoodie pocket to mess with. He also likes bubble wrap n pop fidgets! He likes the sound and the feel of em. I also think he has a bit of a picking issue too and will steal Kara’s like half done picky pads and then leave the beads for choro in places he knows he will find them like a cat leaving “presents” haha, sometimes choro will literally wake up with a lil baggie of beads on her and he’s very confused by it, she has no idea where these lil baggies keep coming from lol. I also think ichi uses his finger as like a worry stone of sorts and will rub his thumb on the side of his finger between the knuckles sometimes just cuz, sometimes to calm himself! Also purring! He likes to purr! He’s so kitty brained haha

Also also he likes to mess with lil bits a trash like paper clips, straw wrappers, bread ties, etc. with like straw wrappers he’ll turn them into like lil stick figures n stuff

Oso doesn’t really notice for himself when he stims! At least when it comes to his physical stims. His lil nose rub thing for example! N Unless hes like actively doing something, if he’s still for like 5 seconds, he’ll just start swaying or rocking back n forth whether he’s sitting or standing. He also likes to be upside down sometimes, just doing that weird upside down sit he does n will like sit on the couch upside down. Also he finds anything that goes really fast or spinny or like colorful flashing lights really captivating, reminds him of pachinko n the races haha

I think when has the urge to like fidget he will steal his siblings stuff instead of just getting his own. I can see todo or somebody buying one of those pop it games n oso stealing it n playing it way more than whoever bought it in the first place haha ichi would also use it sometimes but would prefer the sound effects off

Also I think oso is a big vocal stimmer! Lots of weird lil noises, mimicking of words/phrases, humming, etc. when somebody points it out or asks him to stop he likes to fuck with them n act dumb like “huh? What? What noise? I didn’t say anything. Are you hearing things? ……………… *does it again*” lol I also think when todo does her lil pop sound oso will do it back and things like that will sometimes spread to the others and even matsuyo and matsuzo occasionally n then they’re all just mimicking the same thing, flock of seagulls from Nemo typa behavior lol. Oso also sometimes mimics peoples hand gestures n body posture while they’re talking, sometimes on purpose, sometimes he doesn’t even realize till they point it out, either way it annoys the fuck outta ppl n he finds that funny haha. Oh I forgot but oso also has an oral fixation but uses food instead of toys or gum, bro is snackin all the time haha

———

Couple quick lil ichi hcs: ichi wasn’t really a fan of bugs for a long time (didn’t hate them but was still grossed out by them) but then he started noticing how cute and cat like some can be and now he’s a big bug lover! Moths and spiders are his favs! Cuz “fluffy” and cute mostly lol and when I say spiders I’m mostly thinking jumping spiders but I think he’d also like bigger and “scarier” spiders too) also also! 2nd quick ichi hc! He’s very light on his feet and will often scare ppl (usually by accident) by just kinda appearing by them and his family gets mad at him for “sneaking up on them” and will yell at him to wear a bell in like a half joking way but then eventually ichi does start actually wearing a lil bell (maybe a bracelet?) either of his own volition or bc his siblings made him lol Either way, it doesn’t bother him much to wear it cuz it makes him more kitty like and if he wants to be quiet he could just take it off lol

[v-tired-queer]

Hey! We don't know each other but I found you through the PNES tag. I'm trying to find out more info about PNES versus temporal lobe epilepsy, to help me figure out how likely it is that I need medication for what I'm pretty sure are focal seizures.

My question is: can PNES seizures have an aura?

Are there any ways you know of to tell the difference aside from an EEG during an episode? I am planning on getting a neuro referral at my next doctor's appointment but it's been giving me bad anxiety worrying about it.

Thank you for your time.

Hello! I really hope things go well with your appointment! I know how scary all of it can be. I have full faith that you've totally got this though!!

So, to answer your question: yes, some people with PNES can and will experience an aura before a seizure, but others won't. The way that PNES affects people and is experienced can vary from person to person. For example, like I said, I do experience an aura sensation before I have a seizure. My head begins to fog up in a way that's kind of hard for me to fully describe. For me, it's almost like I'm slowly becoming mentally numb, like a fog is rolling in that puts me on high alert. But I also have other tell-teale signs that I'm about to seize: my left hand always starts to tremble, and I always become vastly less-than-aware of myself and my surroundings. Other people with PNES might have different cues, or similar cues, or anything else entirely. That being said, the seizures themselves can differ, too. While mine include no longer being in control of my limbs and violent convulsions and twitches, some people may have ones that look like absence seizures, or even another type completely.

Before I was officially diagnosed, I went to two different neurologists and had two different EEG scans done: one in office and one overnight. They monitored how my brain behaved both outside of a seizure and during a seizure. PNES seizures and epileptic seizures look very different on EEGs, which is to be expected due to their different causes. It's actually pretty cool to see the difference, I recommend looking up some different scans to see! But outside of the tests, my doctors ran through my symptoms and how I experience having a seizure, and were able to jot down the differences in what I was experiencing compared to someone with epilepsy. For example, I'm actually able to hear everything around me during a seizure, but since I'm seizing, I'm unresponsive no matter what, which tends to be abnormal for the type of seizure I experience. I also go completely nonverbal after a seizure for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. But again, that's just how I experience them. Experiences can and often times will vary from person to person, but the cause is the same: PNES is brought on by an emotional response, while epileptic seizures are caused by a physical response from the brains nerves cells.

Now that being said, temporal lobe epilepsy doesn't seem to be caused by an emotional reaction, but rather, can be triggered by an emotional reaction (usually high stress levels) due to the epilepsy being present in the, well, temporal lobes. Which then circles back around to the overall cause being different, though symptoms can be similar.

To be honest, due to their similarities, I'm not sure if you could be diagnosed with one or the other without having EEGs and other tests done. But the good news is, none of the tests hurt! And for all of them you'll be closely monitored so in the event of a seizure you won't be injured then, either.

(I'm a "glass half full" kind of person lmao)

I cannot stress enough how important it is to be honest with your doctor about what you're experiencing. It's definitely anxiety inducing for a lot of us, but the more open and honest you are with them, the more they can help steer you in the right direction. And if you get saddled with a doctor unwilling to listen or simply write you off, please don't hesitate to really advocate for yourself. You really need to be in your own corner so you can get the correct diagnosis, so you can then get the proper help and treatment you need. It'll take time, and at some points it'll probably be frustrating--I know it was for me--but it's so important to get the proper treatment for the true problem.

I really, really hope that things go well for you and that you can figure out what it is that you're experiencing! I'm rooting for you!!

(Also this got very long very quickly, but I hope it helps nonetheless!)

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: #34

34. CYPRUS Silia Kapsis - "Liar" 15th place

Decade Ranking: 128/153 [Above Benny, below Reiley]

15th place? Generous. Good floordrops only get you so far if that's the ONLY thing you've got.

Every year there's a few acts that I thought just plain sucked, and yet can't really muster feelings of dislike for. Like, what's the point of putting in the effort of emoting if I can simply choose to focus my attention on better, worthier songs? They're shit, but that's their problem, not mine.

And that awkward little spot where those acts go is also where dear young Sillia lands. "Liar" is bad, I think we all agree? Laurel Barker still hasn't shown her busted face since "Sober" (GOOD.) but her spirit lives on in mediocre, poorly written girlbops with no substance, and this season had multiples of those. "Liar" stood out the worst to me by virtue of, well, not really standing out at all, other than for its horrible libretto.

CUZ YOU'RE A LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR YEAH YEAH YEAH YOU LIE IE IE IE YEAH YEAH YEAH

that THIS is a chorus of a Eurovision FINALIST. 😳 Futhermore the lyrics also rhyme "oolala" with "truth la la" (okay this one is ACTUALLY funny) and present Silia as some sort of... intrusive busybody calling out pther people's adultery and philandering? I suppose it's a little LESS scuffed than have Isaiah Firebrace hone his gaslighting, uglycrying and concern trollery skills at the same age. But if you're going to tweak the narrative in function of her being a minor, and attempt to steer her away from sexualization, then perhaps don't style her in a top that accentuates her cleavage? And don't end with this:

(always a telltale sign of a losing battle when you have to splice THAT into a song/act that doesn't call for it just to get a Q.)

Unlike a Nutsa or a Sarah, you can't quite say that Silia was at the top of the performance game. She was a 17 year old with limited on-stage experience, and it showed. She had memorized her stupid lines and rehearsed her stupid TikTok dances and delivered both as flat and robotic as one does when they go through the motions. The Dance Break lmao what the FUCK was this epileptic seizure:

If you want a true Performative Piece emulating a neurotic disorder, got tho say Il Senso did it better.

"SHARP. BLADES. OF. TIME. CUTS. THE. SPACE. :twitches: " 😍

Silia was in the Reiley zone where nothing she did was particularly bad but also none of the things she did were objectively good, and it balances out in blandness. It was all just a little bit too much "Participation Trophy" material, which is the Cypriot special by now. Btw, did you know it is a Greek hand-me-down? ("Liar" starts at 0:59)

That's right, this was the song that lost to "WHAT THEY SAY" and then tried to fight its loss in court and lost the appeal. This song is so embarrasing it lost in an internal selection to Victor Vernikos.

Ofc behind all of this lay a huge shitstorm of a selection with Cyprus planning to do an NF on Greek soil based on a format ERT had planned and trashed sometime in the past. Greece found out and threatened to blank Cyprus completely if they appropriated their NF concept, which forced Cyprus to recruit another Australian and contact Kontopoulos who still had "Liar" in his folder, with the hopes that the badness would fly under the radar.

But don't worry Cyprus repaid Greece by ranking Eden ahead of Marina in the jury vote. 🙂 I wouldn't blame the Greeks if they invaded and annexed (or bribed the Turks to do it for them) 🙂

So yeah, Cyprus made the final. Unfortunate because it rewards an entry that deliberately plays lowest base on several levels. I suppose I would find Liar's advancement offensive in most cases, but like... it's semi 1. Half of the acts in that shitshow deserved to get the boot including Silia yes, and all five acts that were eliminated, so whatevs. Do we really care which shitty acts made it in, if at least three of them were advancing anyway, idfts. Finland was the only one I wanted to see dead (not literally. i think.) and that was never happening in a full televote from that second half.

Besides, the finale had a much bigger fish to fry, and Cyprus's generous-AF 15th place overall (reminder: this is the same placement Maraaya and Zalagasper got in WORSE finals) feels like such a trifle in comparison. So, I'm FINE with ranking her barely into yellow today. Pray that we're spared more degenerative nonsense from this clown country next year if there's a next yeah and and if Poseidon doesn't make the disrespectful island sink into the sea for its many crimes against Marina Satti.

THE RANKING

[psychic-refugee]

Xavier Thorpe had always been interested in art. It had been his passion since he was young.

He dreamt of galaxies and spaceships, of a man with flowers and tall aliens who graciously accepted them.

His art was world renowned in the sci-fi world. He was commissioned to do cover art for novels and made a tidy living from concept art for blockbuster films.

He had his own art studio in SoHo that was a popular destination when the Star Trek convention and other like events were in town.

Lately, he had dreamt of a woman with dark hair and agate eyes. He painted her over and over again, unlike anything he had ever done before. Those paintings were in his private collection, and none had ever seen them.

Unbeknownst to him, his studio got repeat visitors from a pair that always wore crisp black suits. The studio manager always politely asked them if they were interested in purchasing a piece, but they always said no.

It didn’t occur to the manager that it was odd that he never remembered them, even when they visited nearly every day for the past several weeks. They were always so discreet and nothing about them had ever stuck in his mind.

“Well, that’s definitely a Betazoid,” Agent A commented as he studied the painting.

“It’s not just a Betazoid, it’s Reittan Grax,” Agent W specified quietly, “And it’s a far more flattering portrait than he deserves.”

Agent A simply laughed, he knew his partner was one to hold grudges and the biennial Betazoid Trade Agreement Conference being held on Earth was a headache for the Organization globally.

As they studied all the art on display, they also took note of Bolians, Mizarians, and Zakdorns.

They had all the public and non-public records of Xavier Thorpe. From all their research, he was as human as they came.

The question was, how was he painting aliens that were not known to humans? At first their boss, Agent L had suspected an undocumented alien merely capitalizing on actual alien likenesses in order to make Earth money and a life for themselves. But Xavier Thorpe had all the proper records and history, even their most prolific forger would have a hard time mimicking a human life so well.

They were sent to investigate and had lucked out that day as Xavier needed to consult with his manager about his next showing.

Xavier was left speechless when he literally met the woman of his dreams.

Agent W and Agent A were suspicious when it looked like Xavier recognized Agent W, which should have been impossible.

They did their usual protocol when they introduced themselves by implying they were government agents, their badges held no actual seal of any U.S. government agency, but most of the human population was never that observant.

Xavier had been nervous, but he answered their questions honestly. His answers all matched up to his paperwork and they each discreetly performed tests with their advanced technology.

Xavier Thorpe was human and of Earth, there was no denying that.

“Thank you for answering our questions,” Agent W started to wrap it up, they would need to head back to HQ to debrief Agent L and get guidance of what to do next. She took out a silver cylindrical tube, ignoring Xavier’s confused look.

She set the time and date for him to forget, and with a quick flash, she started to do her normal spiel,

“You never saw…” her words died on her lips when Xavier simply looked confused rather than dazed.

“What did you just flash me with?” the flash wasn’t painful, nor did he have any idea why she did it, but he could have been epileptic for all she knew. It was just rude and dangerous.

Agent A frowned at the neuralyzer, wondering if it was broken. It had never happened before to his knowledge, but he wasn’t sure what else to think.

She flashed him again, and again Xavier was not affected by the device. In fact, he got annoyed and smacked it out of her hand.

She frowned at him and he frowned right back at her,

“You’re gonna give me a seizure or something,” he griped.

Xavier also wasn’t entrenched in the sci-fi fandom for nothing, so he put together the two nameless agents in sunglasses while indoors and the weird doohickey they flashed in his face.

“Is it safe to say that you guys are part of some shadow government?”

Both agents sighed deeply, and Agent A rolled his eyes.

The Men in Black were a known secret amongst the sci-fi nerds, and they wondered if others were immune to the neuralyzer and that’s how they ended up on Reddit all the time.

Xavier brought them back to his apartment and showed them the paintings of Agent W.

They were beautiful and well done, and Agent W almost shed a tear for they were snapshots of her past life, before she became an Agent.

When she had a family and a dream to become a writer.

They took him to MiB headquarters and Xavier was amazed that so much was hidden under their very noses. He had passed the HQ building several times and never would have thought it held a secret government agency.

They ran some tests and Agent L explained,

“Xavier, you are the rare human that has psychic ability. It’s why you dream of aliens that have visited our planet and why the neuralyzer does not work on you. Normally we would make you disappear, put you in a sort of exile to preserve the secret of alien life and protect Earth. However, with your abilities, I believe you would be ideal for our special unit.”

“Special unit?” Xavier took it all in stride, he thinks he always believed there might be some truth to his dreams.

“Yes, it’s not just extra-terrestrials we deal with. It’s a secret even to most of our most senior agents. Most of the time, it’s more than enough to know aliens exist. If they also knew the supernatural existed as well…well some have had to retire early,” was all she would say.

Xavier considered his options. He certainly didn’t want to go into exile, and he wasn’t particularly close with anyone. He hadn’t even spoken to his father in years, and he didn’t have any close friends.

He could only think of Agent W, and the dreams of them together. He felt he was where he was meant to be.

So, he accepted Agent L’s offer. He traded in his paintbrushes for his own neuralyzer, and his paint splattered camo pants for a bespoke black suit.

You will not stand out in any way. Your entire image is crafted to leave no lasting memory with anyone you encounter. You’re a rumor, recognizable only as deja vu, and dismissed just as quickly. You don’t exist. You were never even born. Anonymity is your name. Silence, your native tongue. You are no longer part of the system. You are above the system. Over it. Beyond it. We’re “them.” We’re “they.” In the absence of light, darkness prevails. We stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers.

The words of Agent L echo in his mind as he puts on the suit.

There are things that go bump in the night…we are what bump back.

He developed his psychic abilities under the guidance of Agent L. He was glad to see that Agent W and Agent A were given promotions and assigned to his unit.

“Welcome,” Agent L began, “Our unit is a secret within a secret. We are the Outcasts. This is our newest agent, Agent X.”

Agent W nodded respectfully, but from the heated way she eyed him up and down, rather liking him in a black suit, Xavier, now Agent X, knew his dreams would be coming true sooner rather than later.