#short storries

[rotten-whispers]

They Run in Circles

The lab mice have begun to show unusual behaviors...

TW for mouse body horror and light gore

Rodents love to run in wheels.

Laboratories around the world have established that they prefer the little contraptions over almost all else. Some never stop running, at the expense of sleep, food, self-preservation… One might call it an addiction.

Nobody quite understands why animals love to run in wheels. I’ve seen cat-wheels in my local cat-cafes, trending videos of armadillos running on wheels. One researcher even left a wheel outside and videotaped wild mice and even slugs using it. Animals seem to be obsessed with the idea of running and running but never quite getting anywhere. Chasing an endless circle.

Human hamster wheels haven’t quite taken off yet, but I’m sure we are approaching that point. Treadmills just aren’t the same, because they give the illusion that you might end up somewhere. If you’re running in a circle, then you should understand that you’ll never reach anything. Surely even animals would be smart enough to understand this.

I study the neurological condition of laboratory mice. Because they are nocturnal, I am often watching them for long hours in the night, running on their little wheels. They are docile, chubby things. With an endless supply of food and water and wheel-based entertainment. Nothing at all in their eyes other than the comfort of a worriless existence.

Most of them love to run. They will sleep, run, sleep, eat, run, repeat. For hours upon hours. It can get a little unsettling, trying to make out their little white bodies in the dark, under a red-light headlamp, to avoid disturbing their circadian rhythm with white light.

Sometimes my eyes play tricks on me in the dark, wandering to a corner of the pitch-black room, as a white creature rushes past. Always in the corner of my eye, like an escaped mouse, like a ghost.

I have an overactive imagination. It does give me trouble on these long nights, but my quick grasp of my surroundings has allowed me to capture many a-runaway mouse. Usually the little creatures will just sit outside their cage once they escape. Dumbly surveying the environment without a care in the world, as though uncertain of why they chose to leave, or how they can return to the only life that they have ever known.

Of course, some of the little bastards bite you and immediately scurry under the door and into the hallway, but those are not the ones that I like to think about.

My mind often returns to why they run.

Sometimes a mouse will find that its wheel is stuck and doesn’t spin. Sometimes those mice will gnaw at the wheel, as though somehow instinctively knowing that it should spin, chasing the allure of the circle without even knowing that it exists.

Of course, this is ridiculous and would get me kicked out of a scientific conference, but I sometimes find myself wondering if there is something more to the mice than what we can see. Or can even comprehend.

Some of them don’t run in the wheels at all.

These are the odder cases. Sure, some of them don’t run very often, or avoid what they perceive as a threatening object. But these aren’t the… mice that I am talking about.

They run in circles.

The first time that I saw it, I thought that I was tired, or that there was something wrong with the wheel. But everything – the mouse, the wheel, the food – everything was fine. With the exception of this new, odd behavior.

They would run in a perfect circle, as though chasing their tail, like a dog. Wearing little circles into the bedding. Some of them would run in circles on the wheels, perfect circles that didn’t actually move the wheel. Loose circles, encompassing the entirety of their cage, or tight circles that barely allowed the mouse the opportunity to turn its entire body. Some of them even climbed their cage and moved in little circles on the lids.

It was… definitely odd. Unnatural.

When animals do behaviors that are “unnatural” or not displayed in the wild, they’re called “stereotypic behaviors”. Some view them as a sign of stress, like a tiger pacing in the zoo. Others view them as a sign that the environment needs to be changed, or an artifact of domestication. Most don’t understand them at all.

But why circles? Why the dog chasing its tail, around and around and around in an endless circle?

The mice that run in circles don’t run on the wheels, I noticed one day. They seem to have gotten over this addiction to spinning, replacing it with the more thrilling urge to transform their own bodies into circles. To scratch the same itch, the same desire.

Is it the running? Or is it the circle?

I became a bit obsessed with the question. It was the long hours, the late nights. The mice spinning in little circles on their wheels.

Out of 200 mice, maybe only half a dozen would even do the circles. It was a rare occurrence, enough to make me wonder if it was a sign of mental illness. Stimming, like in a human with Autism? An Obsessive Compulsive tic? But the mice showed no signs of any human mental health disorders. They just ran in circles.

An inner ear problem, a colleague offered. Something wrong with their balance.

No dice there either. It remained a mystery.

Are the wheels causing the circling? I wondered. Or are the wheels just satisfying a primal urge to run in circles?

How ridiculous. Why would an animal want to run in a circle?

So my brain went, over and over in circles.

I watched the circling mice. Their eyes completely blank, their mouths unmoving. Like little glass toys, scrabbling against the floors of their cages, the bedding worn away in little mouse crop-circles. Unblinking, hardly seeming alive.

What is the point of a circle?

To humans, circles are often used to create protective barriers in rituals. A wall that an evil spirit, demon, or entity cannot cross. Ancient Sumerians drew circles with flour to purify and repel evil in sacred spaces. Pentagrams are done inside a circle. Signs of aliens are often attributed to strange markings or behaviors, such as the questionably legitimate crop circles.

Circles also don’t make sense, logically. The circumference of a circle is two multiplied by the diameter, multiplied by an endless number. Pi – often shortened to 3.14 – has been calculated to 105 trillion decimal places by a supercomputer. But likely contains an infinite number.

The rationality of math often escapes me, but the idea of a tangible object being determined by a number that doesn’t really end is a baffling concept. Like the reality of your life being determined by a fleeting dream.

The Fibonacci sequence, another baffling concept in math, forms a never-ending spiral. Such a spiral outlines a circle, does it not? A circle disappearing endlessly into the distance, or even into itself, like Ouroboros, the snake devouring its own tail. Endless destruction and rebirth. Even our own universe is a spiral, our own world a circle.

Essentially circles represent life and death. Likely due to the shape of the sun, burning its place in human society, life, religion, and natural world. Circles are organic, despite their odd, smooth appearance. Uranus is a real planet, although it looks as though it were rendered in Blender.

But the mice know none of this. They just know that they have to circle.

Some runners prefer to run in circles because it completely blanks out the mind, creating a dull, monotonous state. A paranoid person could argue that such a blank slate is prime for possession by something else, an easy target for something that could be summoned – say, by the creation of a ritualistic circle.

My evening has gone on too long, I’m becoming ridiculous.

With a sigh, I pull myself away from the circles in my mind, to focus on the mice. Mouse #602 is eating, check. Mouse #603 is sleeping, check. Mouse #604 is running in circles.

Hmm… This is odd.

Sometimes the mice that circle do so since birth, genetically predisposed to whatever behavior, defect, stressor, or mental condition is causing the circling. But this mouse showed no odd behavior until tonight.

“Are you alright, little buddy?” I murmur, crouching in front of his cage and peering inside. Tapping his water first and checking that he still has food. “Did you hurt your head?”

The mouse is fine – nothing at all wrong, save for the strange circling behavior. I head home for a night of fretful rest, but return bright and early for my morning shift, of more clipboards and more circling mice.

More of my tired eyes scanning the mice.

#602, sleeping. #603, drinking water. #604, running circles.

My stomach drops.

The same mouse from last night is still running. He hasn’t stopped, while most of the other mice have bedded down for the day.

“…Buddy?”

There is red on the cage.

I crouch down again, my heart thudding desperately in my chest.

The mouse skitters in those tight, tight circles. His feet are red, raw. His eyes are empty, cavernous holes, leaking candy-red blood almost too bright to be real. And still he runs, over and over and over and over again.

.

I didn’t sleep at all that night. My mind – brain – heart beating in an endless circle of panic.

We had to euthanize the mouse. An infectious eye disease, the vivarium veterinarian said. Likely the same one that has been going around the lab. The mouse scratched its eyes out.

It’s odd how much the eye can bleed. But orbital blood collection is common with mice, when large quantities of the fluid are needed. The eye is a circle of blood, after all.

Our lab spent the remainder of the day disinfecting and treating the other mice, to ensure that none of them caught the same affliction. However, the following day, the mice were declared disease-free, and yet they continued to run. Some normally, some in circles.

How simple an infection would have been. A disease, a parasite.

The world’s smallest animals are parasites. Of the Myxozoans, Myxobolus cerebralis is a parasite that causes whirling disease in freshwater salmonids. A terrifying sight to any fish farmer or hobby aquarist, due to its horrifically infectious manner, with the end result almost always leading to death. Even a surviving fish would continue to spread the disease.

A fish infected by the parasite will gain neurological damage and physical deformities, causing it to spin like a whirling torpedo through the water. The infection is spread through consumption of dead fish, but if spores are released into the water, even a single drop can infect equipment, destroying tanks and causing horrific financial ruin to fish farmers.

An endless cycle of spinning fish.

Brainworm, or moose sickness (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis),is a parasitic nematode of moose that causes them to pace in circles, unable to rip themselves out of the cycle. It too, is almost entirely fatal.

I wished that this mouse disease could be explained away as a parasite. At least then, I would have a rational explanation for why they were running in circles.

But there was no rationale that made sense.

“Hey,” My coworker nudges me. “Did we forget to put bedding in #46’s cage?”

“What?” I barely notice that she spoke, lost in thought under the cacophony of squeaking wheels.

“Look, there’s no bedding in the cage.”

I glance over at wheel 46. The mouse’s home cage is indeed bare, the creature running circles on the empty plastic.

“No, there was bedding in there this morning. Where did it go?”

Frantic with confusion, I search around the wheel.

“Wait, there’s a lot of bedding by the cage. Did the mouse move the bedding?”

We glance at each other. This is nonsensical – the mouse would have needed to carry every tiny piece of bedding to the side of the cage and push it through the bars. Repeat a million times, ad infinitum. Until the cage was completely bare and prepped for – more running in circles?

“Why would he do that?” I ask, hoping that my coworker has an answer that I cannot think of.

But she looks as puzzled as I am. “I have no idea. It’s like the bedding teleported out of the cage.”

The mouse’s dark eyes continue to stare at nothing – or perhaps, something that we cannot see. An elusive goal that it desperately, frantically is trying to reach, as it increases speed and tightens the circle into a vice.

And, although it may have been my imagination, the squeaking suddenly seems to have stopped altogether. I glance around the room, quickly, and notice that all the other mice have stopped running on their wheels.

“Bedtime, I guess.” My coworker grabs her clipboard. “Let’s go upstairs, I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” I murmur. But something feels very, very wrong about the sudden silence, like an impossible coincidence.

On the way out, I scan the room again just to make sure that I am not losing my mind, and that’s when I notice that none of the mice were running on their wheels. Instead, they  are all watching the spinning mouse.

Two hundred pairs of unblinking eyes, united in one pure moment of silent concentration.

Ad then – a second later – the moment is gone, buried amidst squeaking wheels and the pitter patter of little feet once more.

.

The situation is getting worse. As though learning from each other, the behavior increases. Every day that they spend on the wheels, the circling becomes faster, more frantic, more often.

Some scientists claim that wheel access causes an increase in circling behavior once the wheels are removed. But why then, do they circle instead of run? An arcane ritual that only the mice understand, conducted alone in the darkness.

I think about more circles, what the shape means. Why does such a simple shape have so many meanings? Protections, rituals, doors to and from other worlds. Life, death, neurological decay. Impossible mathematical principles and alien hoaxes. All the same simple shape – a perfect sphere made of an infinite array of points, each themselves a circle.

Fairy rings are an entrance to the world of the Fae. You’re not supposed to step into them – those rings of mushrooms that sometimes appear, in marshes and forests. Supposedly due to nutrient allocation in the soil, but still not properly understood. Stepping into a fairy ring invites the Fae. Leaving something in a fairy ring tempts the Fae, and the Fae are unpredictable, temperamental creatures.

Obviously, the mice are not trying to summon aliens, and I doubt that their circling is the result of a ritualistic barrier to the supernatural, but what does it all have in common? That damnable shape.

With no beginning and no end.

Except there will be an end, I think, because the wheels are being removed tomorrow. They can circle all they want, but without the stimulus of a wheel, I expected their behavior to cease. No more exploding eyes, no more impossibly empty cages, no more horrific silences – this would all be over.

Just have to hold out until tomorrow.

Just have to hold out until midnight, actually.

I was teetering outside the door, clipboard in hand, terrified to return and complete my last shift of observations. Would they all be waiting, staring at me the moment that I opened the door? And why did nobody else ever seem to notice that something was wrong?

Was I just going crazy?

Obviously, everybody has the urge to run in a circle now and then, right? Give a strange little turn, do a little pace, rub circles on an object for comfort. That doesn’t make you crazy, of course not. Tics, stimming – these are fine and normal behaviors.

I affix the red headlight and suck in a breath.

The room is normal. Dark, except for the grim shadow of red, barely casting enough light to see the clipboard and the little white creatures running. Their eyes gleaming in the darkness, the room silent except for the squeaking wheels and scrabbling of dozens of paws.

But all of them are behaving normally.

I breath in a sigh of relief.

You’re overthinking it. Lab mice enact stereotypic behaviors all the time. Some of those are weird, like removing bedding. But it could happen, the mouse could have moved all the pieces, one by one, in its mouth. Not impossible. And eyes explode sometimes, it happens. Just a disease, nothing more.

The minutes tick closer to midnight.

I think about minutes all the time, actually. If decimal points are endless, then time cannot really exist. Think about it – 11:59pm and one millisecond. 1.1. 1.1111111111111111 – when does 12pm ever actually begin? Are you trapped in a forever number like Pi, the clock frozen in its impossible existence?

11:55pm. Just a few more minutes.

A mouse does acrobatics on its wheel, another climbs into its food hopper and makes a nest out of its crumbs. Cute.

11:58pm. A mouse sleeps, lazy for a nocturnal creature. Another runs so quickly that its body becomes a white blur on the wheel.

All normal and good behaviors.

11:59pm. A mouse circles. I give it a cursory glance and turn away, not wanting to spend the last minute of my shift running around in my own thoughts. Just, for once, I want a break from the circle of dread.

Its footsteps scrabble, like a gunshot in the quiet room.

Quiet? When did the room become quiet? The squeaking of wheels has once again ceased.

No, I’m not turning around, I think. Just one more minute.

The mice are looking at me again. Unnerving, their eyes trained in an unblinking, glassy stare.

I finish my rounds and am forced to return to the other side of the room, where the circling mouse scrabbles in the darkness. Its body is a perfect sphere, tail to mouth like Ouroboros. Almost as though trying to bite its tail, a Sisyphean task in the darkness.

11:59pm. The last minute is dragging by, as it always does. Just when you want to go home the most.

I try not to watch the time, instead training on the mouse. Running, circles, circles, circles. Everything seems to disappear, blur away in the silent, dark room.

I don’t know how long it is until I snap out of my trance, but my legs are suddenly aching, my mouth and eyes painfully dry. Trapped by the mesmerizing, rodentine cycle.

Hypnosis can be a circle, I think. How much time did I lose?

The blood drains from my face when I glance at the time.

11:59pm.

This is insane. My watch must be broken, there is no other explanation. In any case, taking off one minute early is not going to get me fired. At the very least, the mice won’t tell.

So I stand up and get ready to leave.

-Except my legs don’t move. They are leaden, as though molded into the concrete floor. Stiffly upright, my body won’t turn away from the spinning mouse.

Terror crawls at the corner of my mind, threatening to encompass me in panic.

11:59pm.

The mouse isn’t strewn in darkness anymore. A strange white glow is emanating from beside the cage, like the dim remnants of a star in the back of your eyes.

11:59pm.

A loud cacophony of noise brews in my head – seemingly coming from nowhere at all. A horrifically violent explosion, like an aneurism, like planetary destruction. I cannot move, I cannot breathe.

11:59pm.

The mouse continues to run amidst the eternally loud interference.

Belly-up, unblinking, with foggy white eyes like a dead fish. The corpse-like creature runs upside down, as though his abdomen had been broken and removed, legs glued onto a rotting back. Legs that glide the corpse through the darkness, in circles and circles and circles.

The terror and noise are greater than anything that I have ever heard.

Beside the cage, the white dust no longer resembles a distant star – it is bright, bright enough to hurt, swelling spirals in the back of my unblinking eyes. Figures, symbols that I don’t understand, sequences that make no sense.

11:59pm.

The  mouse continues to run – a fixed action pattern with no beginning or end, and no purpose in sight. Except there is a purpose, I realize, as the white circle continues to envelop the cage.

I can see everything, and this is not the work of a demon. No alien or otherworldly creature has come to play, nothing monstrous has risen from the darkness.

11:59999999999999pm

No, this is the work of our world, unveiled and bare to the eye. The coding of a biological machine, encased by atomic 1’s and 0’s, golden numbers and impossible sequences in twain.

This is reality skinned, reflected in the last moments of every dying being, etched into the DNA of every beating organism.

This is Us.

This Is Me.

The explosion of noise reaches a crescendo. A lightning-clap, and everything falls silent in my head. My body clatters to the floor, inoperable and limp. The light is fading, disappearing back into the ether.

The last remnants of my own vision are fading, disappearing.

12:00am.

Everything is gone.

.

In the room, the mouse continues to run.

[blairjojo]

Maby I should take a brake

Cast: shale shadow maria

Shale: *laying in a flower bed in victory garden eyes closed, they slowly drift open* Shadow what the f***** s*** are you doing here

Shadow: nothing inportent *lays down next to her*

Shale: *looks up at a cloud* that one looks like you

Shadow thinking: she is like Maria nice and fun

Shadow: heh It kinda dose

End

So sorry its short

[ramblin-tiger]

I woke up in the woods today.

Now, this is nothing new as I live in the woods of course. What was new was how I woke up in the woods.

I woke up to silence, standing there in the fog. I did not wake up laying in the warmth of my bed. I did not look out into the woods and admire the trees. I was simply standing there. Waiting. I almost felt like I was waiting for something specific. Maybe even someone.

The silence did not last long as a sharp crack of a branch had shattered the silence. I twisted my head in the direction of the sound and saw a small group of people making their way through the woods. There couldn't be more than four of them, and they seemed to be arguing about some of their equipment not working and being lost. A smile crept upon my face as I began to follow them, keeping behind trees so as to not be seen. It had been a few years since humans had entered my forest.

I would eat well tonight.

Moody woods

[gayrob0t]

I ordered a pizza earlier tonight, forgot about it, then woke up to the delivery guy and completely obliterated half a stuff crust super supreme pizza

[the-royal-blue-network]

Beverly Marshal

Beverly Marshal never thought she’d one day be in an abusive relationship; but then again, who does? Beverly’s relationship with her wife, Kiara, started like a fairytale; woman meets another woman, and the two fall madly in love, get married and live happily ever after. But unlike in the fairytales, Beverly and Kiara’s story didn’t end with the wedding. Instead, their ‘happily ever after’ was the beginning of a new story, a story of control, possession, and toxicity. Fast-forward a few years, and now for Beverly, hell is the place which she calls home. Slaps, broken dishes, and shouting is her new normal. But when a couple moves in next door to Beverly and her wife, Beverly soon realizes that she isn’t the only one living in a personal hell. Despite never meeting her next-door neighbors, the shouting, breaking of glass, and the sounds of slaps, are enough to paint a crystal clear picture of what goes on behind closed doors. But when the shouting stops, and a body is carried out of the apartment in a black bag, Beverly realizes, that if she allows her own life to continue on the path that it’s on, then she’ll be the next one in that black bag. But now the question remains, how will Beverly escape?

CLICK THE TITLE AND READ THIS STORY TODAY!

[gwenyundreiko]

I need to scream about Arcane S2 (spoilers for the whole season)

Alright, it's been 2 days since I've watched the end of Arcane, and I'm still in a bad mood over it, so I am going to scream into the void about it, and hopefully it will allow me to move on.

I do not like the second season of Arcane.

Season 1 ? Absolute banger, still love it. I love it even more after recently watching it a second time in preparation for season 2.

Season 2 though ? ... I will not go into the details (because I feel like I would need to rewatch it again to be more accurate, and I don't want to do that), so I am just going to write about how I feel about it now that it is over.

Season 2 has left me deeply unsatisfied, to say the least. I think this feeling comes from the fact that most characters' arcs look like they were either cut short, or didn't really go anywhere. This makes the entire story feel pointless; an undeniable marvel of aesthetics and animation put in service of nothing.

I could talk about a lot of the main cast, but I'll only talk about Vi, her relationship with Caitlyn, and the Zaun vs Pilltover theme.

First off : Vi, the character who fought tooth and nails for those she loved and always tried to do the right thing. Accepting responsibility for everyone who looked up to her... and got nothing for it in the end but pain. From the start of the serie, she is set up to be one of the protagonists, along with her sister and Caitlyn. Yet the story feels pervert in the way it insists to both :make Vi suffer without giving her any sort of confort or moment to express her feelings ; and make all of her actions be pointless.

In episode 8, when she says "I always make the wrong choice and lose everyone", we have to admit that from a narrative point of view, she is absolutely right. For the first time, Vi is self pitying. She's shown as vulnerable, doubtful, almost sounding like she's giving up by saying that all she ever does is useless or worse. This is incredibly out of character for her, and yet the story proves her right. Nothing she does matters in any meaningful way. She doesn't even contribute to the final battle : she gets stranded in the defence of the artillery tower (which turned out not to be a key asset in the battle), then go 1v2 Warwick with Jinx, and Jinx ends up sacrificing herself to kill it, but only AFTER the battle is over and all the narrative tension has calmed down. (Sidenote : yes yes I know it is hinted that Jinx is still alive, but still. Let's agree that it's in bad taste for a suicidal character's triumphant moment to be a reckless act of self sacrifice, independently of the outcome.)

Vi gets mistreated throughout the whole storry and gets nothing in the end despite her bravery and efforts. No matter how hard she fought, she still ends up separated from her sister and she still loses Vander. The only thing she gets in the end is a girlfriend with whom she basically had no tender moment since their breakup, making Vi feel like a rescue dog at Caitlyn's house, but let's talk about her relationship with Caitlyn in more depth.

I'll say this first : I love the sex scene. It's tender and passionate. It's a bit awkward, but in such a relatable way that it only makes the moment sweeter. It does an excellent job at showing us how the characters feel about each other. Taken on its own, it's perfect. Two people that love each other so much they just need to have each other right here, right now... I just wish their relationship around it was more fleshed out.

From what we get to see on screen, they get a really messy break up in episode 3, and then never interact again until crossing paths at the commune. In the meantime, Caitlyn has allied herself with Ambessa, declared martial law on Zaun and is oppressing it with the full extent of her legitimate violence... but upon seeing Vi again, she instantly switches side to go against Ambessa with a rushed plan.

We get absolutely no other insight into their emotions or thoughts at this moment. No scene to show that despite their conflicts and standing on opposite sides, there is still tenderness and affection between the two of them that could hint at them getting back together. Instead, Vi calls her a petname once, and it's done, no further convincing needed. (Sidenote again : this makes Caitlyn look impulsive and irrational, when everything that comes before shows us that she is smart, collected and patient. Here, she instantly abandons everything she was previously fighting for, even at the risk of putting her entire city in danger. This includes abandonning her vandetta against Jinx, which is the reason why they split up in the first place, but this isn't adressed between Vi and Cait ever again either.)

After that, Vi holds her accountable for her actions for the time of 1 dialogue.

Then they barely interact again until the jailcell scene. Hell, once the battle starts, I don't think the two of them interact AT ALL until the epilogue.

The lack of substance in the portrayal of their relationship makes this sweet and tender sex scene feel like a spur of the moment thing. An almost self-destructive action from Vi trying to scrape at any possible source of confort after being cut out by her sister. A good thing happening for the wrong reasons. (Mind you, a hate sex scene would have worked wonders in my opinion, but that's not what we got.)

So yeah, given all of that, I'm struggling to see how Vi ending up with Caitlyn is supposed to be a meaningful and happy resolution to her story, when this relationship is barely shown on screen during season 2.

Finally, let's talk about the Zaun vs Piltover situation : it goes nowhere.

An entire 5 acts showing us that Piltover treats Zaun like shit, turning it into a ghetto and leaving it to rot in its own misery . The promo campaign for season 2 teased us a revolution... and in the end, we barely see any change. The way the story resolves implies that now that Zaun and Pilltover have triumphed over a shared ennemy, they grieve together and make peace because they have learned that war comes at too high a cost, and Zaun gets to be represented by ONE councilor.

I'm sorry but either the show tried something and missed, or the show was just incredibly shallow from the beginning. This conflict was set up from the first second of the show by having the main characters be orphaned by cops in a popular uprising which only looks more and more justified as we learn more about Zaun. That is to say that Topside doesn't care about Zaunites. From what we can tell, Heimerdinger has been leading the city for 300 years, and he discovers just now that Zaun has problems ?? Piltover prides itself for being the city of progress and equality, while exploiting the misery of the people that are LITERRALY BENEATH THEM. It's the final shot of THE FIRST SCENE IN THE SHOW, the topside people are sitting ON TOP of Zaun, reaping the benefits while throwing their wastes at them.

I think there's no better illustration for how Piltover considers Zaun than the scene where Jayce announces to the Council that Silco has demanded independance. All the councilors lose their shit. They are OUTRAGED by the demand. Clearly, Piltover considers Zaun its property. People to exploit, whose need and misery they can ignore, and ultimately, a problem to be solved through the police by having them arrested/beaten up/killed.

So either the show was indeed trying to tell a story about class struggle and oppression, and failed to deliver a satisfying conclusion; or the show was only interested in the appearance and flavor of class struggle only as a vessel for the cliché of "the cycle of violence". Which hmm, yeah it's 2024. I don't think anyone needs me to write an entire section about the necessity of fighting for human rights and resisting oppression.

I could have talked about how pitfighter Vi was 60% of the promo for Season 2, and yet was done and gone in a minute, which was also what we got with the promo, or how a French animation studio decided to call an independant, pacifist and egalitarian community " The Commune" (if you know you know); I could have also talked about Jinx's character, and how the show portrays her self healing from her devouring guilt, but I'll stop rambling here. I hate that I have wrote this, because I don't want to spread negativity. I'd rather spend this kind of energy on things I love.

The thing is, I really really wish I enjoyed Arcane season 2, because season 1 means a lot to me. Vi's character awakened something in me. It is representation I never knew I needed and it changed me. I know this sounds silly. It's only a fictionnal story after all, but it helped me grow into a better and more hopeful person. In the end, I just feel like season 2 went too far too fast, and left me behind to try and pick up the pieces of my expectations. If you've made it this far, I sincerely thank you, and I hope you have a beautiful rest of the day.

[usafphantom2]

Why was the SR-71 Blackbird chosen over the A-12 Oxcart?

There was a flying competition how epic would it be to be able to witness a fly off between the A-12 and the SR 71!

The iconic SR-71 Blackbird spy plane is known for being the official record holder for the fastest jet-powered, piloted aircraft of all time.

The SR-71 was based on another Mach 3, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, the A-12 Oxcart.

The A-12 was operated by CIA but its operational lifetime was short-lived because the CORONA reconnaissance satellite, which was first launched in June 1959, began providing worldwide imagery without much of the risk associated with airborne reconnaissance. At the same time, the SR-71 began operations with the US Air Force (USAF), leading to the A-12’s retirement in 1968.

Why was the SR-71 Blackbird chosen over the A-12 Oxcart?

From Oct. 20 to Nov. 3, 1967 the A-12 and the SR-71 were pitted against each other in a recon fly off, code named “Nice Girl” over the US that included refueling, flying identical routes 1 hour apart on three different days and both would complete the full sortie with collection sensors operational. On the first attempt, the SR-71 was OK but the A-12 had a problem. On the 2nd day, the reverse was the case. On day 3, both aircraft successfully flew the route. On that day, it was under-cast for the northern part (from California to Kentucky) and the A-12 could only photograph clouds while the SR-71 was able to collect ELINT and SLR data. After air refueling, both accelerated and climbed over the Gulf of Mexico. From New Orleans to the San Francisco area, the weather was CAVU and both aircraft were able to provide their full collection capability/data for the evaluation.

•Lt. Col. Al Hichew and I, Maj. Tom Schmittou flew mission #1.

•Maj. John Storrie and Maj. Coz Mallozzi flew mission #2 Maj.

•Bill Campbell and Capt. Al Pennington flew mission #3.

•Jack Weeks flew all three A-12 missions.

The first two flight days were inconclusive. After the third day of flights, it was determined by Intelligence evaluators that the SR-71 was a better overall investment. A-12s had much better cameras – wider swath and higher resolution but the SR-71 collected more types of intelligence than the CIA aircraft could. These other sensors were infrared detectors, side looking airborne radar, and ELINT-collection devices needed for the SR-71 mission of post-nuclear-strike reconnaissance.

The conclusion was they picked the SR-71 to continue flying. The A-12s were retired. The A-12s were put in hangars until 1984. (They might’ve been taken out and used again. Only the CIA knows the answer to that as it should be.)

Written by Linda Sheffield Miller this was shared in aviation geekclub, two years ago.

@Habubrats71 via X

[bigmack2go]

So you finished your outline kr even your entire story? And now yove gotta come up with a title but you don’t wanna be as boring as using the main characters full name? LET ME HELP YOU!

Idk how to make a good intro to this but i’ll just try by starting with: theres a difference between fanfics and books

For fanfics it’s okay to have a shitty title, a song related title or just a whole ass quote(all tho that last ones debatable) theres still a lot of fanfics with great titles though.

This one seems obvious but please at least make your book SEEM interesting

But if you do want or need a good title let me help. I have no idea where to start so jm just gonna give u a couple of things to keep in mind withoutany particular order.

Okay so idk how to start this but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep your title at two words or less. If you have three… fine i guess but thats the absolute limit. Also absolutely avoid going over four syllables! That also in most cases means: no quotes, not songs etc unless theyre short enough. This is not optional! There’s nothing that i hate more than a name that takes ages to say when i try to recommend a book or show or movie which is why i simply dont do it. And you don’t want that. You want your storry to be recommended. Like the summer i turned pretty. Great book. Great plot. The title almost made me not read it.

Talking about at one. The summer i turned pretty also made no sense what so ever! Especially with the sequels??? Please make your titles make sense for the story! And if you wanna do sequels i’m BEGGING you to keep that in mind for the title.

Dont spoiler anything but for fucks sake make it make sense

Also pls dont start it with “the” cuz thats bad enough as it is but thats not even my point: if you dont want something boring as the MC’s full name, you also dont want something like the important object or just some random noun i promise. It CAN work if its like a name for a group of people like the outsiders or a gang name or smt but its like that it won’t so just… dont

I’d also avoid using original words that u amde up for the story. This isn’t necessarily smt that makes the title bad but it automatically means that it’s harder to remember so if you wanna be recomended thats probably a No. Unless its super easy to remember foe whatever reason.

So now that ive told you what NOT to do, let me give you some ‘DOs’

So theres several kinds of titles.

My personal favourite are like word plays. Not necessarily puns bc they often create new words which are as we’ve established hard to remember. But just something with a double meaning or something like that… i love that

Something else that always works are inconsistencys. Nothing like titles that contradicts itself! It sparks confusion and most importantly: INTEREST. People wanna know what the fuck is up with that. And it can alsk be rly soothing (for some reason)

References and innuendos are smt else i’ll never say no to if they’re used right. This can also overlap with wordplays. Famous (short) quotes or sayings, places or names are never not it

Smt else that slaps is good ol’ simplicity. Be bold. This👏does👏not👏have👏to👏be👏a👏spoiler! I promise you that just because you make it obvious what’s the book about that won’t spoiler shit.

Talking about: i love a good On-The-Nose title especially because most people expect nothing less than the exact opposite of it. Dont get me started on how banger of a title “They Both Die At The End” would be if it were just a little shorter!

And lastly even tho fullnames are an absolute turn-off last names can be sooo good. Especially when they’re about the whole family and especially when they’re in singular

Ofc these rules don’t always apply. Here are some examples of when they didnt

Fifty shades of gray (not defending the book itself, im just saying: the title is awesome)

Ansalom

The guy who didnt like musicals

Pride and prejudice

The kangaroo chronicles

Dracula

Alice in wonderland

That nineties show

Lollita

Bonny and clyde

Out of africa

Come from away

The never ending story

But trust me they usually do apply and just because a book is doing well it doesn’t mean the title had any part in it! Here are some books that should not have done so well and wouldn’t if it were for the title

Harry Potter

Percy Jackson

Mathilda

Birth Control is Sinful in the Christian Marriages and also Robbing God of Priesthood Children!! (Like holy shit dude wtf u literally have not one but TWO exclamation marks in there and take up TWO lines)

The little shop of horrors

Here are some really good titles

Red clocks

Hamlet

Star Wars

Maze Runner

Qualityland

Hamilton

Let’s win

Newsies

Half bad

Blackbird

Avatar

Chrimson rivers

Fight or flight

Young royals

Bridgerton

Titanic

Here are some titles that could have been soooo good if they just… (and what i would change them too

How to get away with murder its so long (sort of wordplay?, interesting)

The fifth season- season five its too long sry (interesting)

Maze Runner-*not having sequels* it just doesn’t make sense for the sequels (simple and interesting)

Just lovers (like we’re suposed to be)- just lovers (contradiction, interesting)

History is all you left me-simply history (?) (contratdiction) too long

More happy than not (interesting) too lonh

They both die at the end (on the nose) too long

Half bad: the bastard son of the devil himself- half bad (interesting) too fucking long dudeee

Also some that DID folow the rules but are still… not so good for some reason? (This is only about the titles not the works!!!!!)

Best friends brother

Choices

Girl in pieces

Boy meets world

No one saw

That nineties show

Lalaland

Im also maybe gonna do some of these on covers and genrally viduals

[deadlifeseries]

Ok Prowlbulk nation i currently have three(3) short storries brewing in my deafts and i will let you, yes YOU pick which one you want first. They will all be posted but you get to choose which one goes up first

[druidx]

Her Countenance was Light - Chapter 47

CW: None AO3 ; Chapters: 01. 10. 20. 30. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46 Tag list (ask for +/-): @aquadestinyswriting, @hannah-heartstrings, @jacqueswriteblrlibrary, @babyblueetbaemonster @mr-orion

She's laid up in hospital for two more weeks. During the first, her only visitors are unknown TPD Officers and a revolving door of King Storri's Ubiquitous Black Suits. A nurse comes in a few days after Farren's visit with a letter. Elo recognises the blocky scrawl on the outside. The machine she's hooked up to starts wailing, so the nurse tucks it away and gives her a sedative. The second week,she's allowed to see Strucker and her mother, and eventually Cobbleskater, who – much to Strucker's annoyance – sneaks paperwork in to keep her busy; Strucker stops complaining when Elo reminds him of his own work ethic. She learns Breakwood, Cobbleskater, Monday, and Yates busted their asses to tie up the case against Brauma and deliver it, pretty bows and all, to the DA. They raided Brauma's house and found the murder weapon. A short, gangly man by the name of Stone came forward as a witness. Arts & Antiquities held some of the missing pieces to their puzzle. Organised Crime, it turned out, held the rest.

An expensive advocate turns up, but won't say who he's been bought by. He tells her she's been demoted back to Detective Constable. Still a detective, Elo thinks – and is glad they've let her keep that. As the previous lead investigator, she must attend Brauma's posthumous trial for Evelyn Strucker's murder. She may also be called to testify against the others responsible for the art fraud and gun running rings Brauma was orchestrating. Her own trial will be separate. Elo nearly dismisses him, because what's the point of a defence advocate when he's got nothing to defend? But she doesn't, because she knows she'll need an experienced hand to help navigate these waters.

A doctor comes to talk to her about being discharged. Despite everything, she wants to go to Farren's; as far as she's concerned, it's the safest place in the city. But she hasn't spoken to him for two weeks – the longest she's gone without speaking to him while still in the city – and it would mean she has to sleep on the sofa, which the doctor says isn't suitable. So once again, she'll be packed off to Strucker's spare room.

The day she's due to be discharged, Elo's packing up her things when she finds the letter. She's dressed, ready to go, and only waiting on whoever Strucker sends to pick her up. As she holds the letter in her hands, she feels her heart speed up. The doctors have said she can handle some excitement, but not too much. Her heart is still delicate. Bug, the letter starts, in Farren's blocky lettering. I'm sorry. It wasn't supposed to be a trap. It was just to find out more details. No one was expecting a full confession. I wasn't there to hang you. On my badge, I wasn't. You're my sister, Elowyn. More than that, even. I would never do something like that to you. Never. Understand? Call me, okay? Let's get this squared away. The immediate flush of feeling betrayed had passed quickly enough – Elo had known he would never have done something like that to her, not on purpose. But every time she'd looked at the letter, the machine started wailing and she'd had to set the affair aside. Now she feels an utter turkey. All that time she left him stewing! When she gets to Stucker's, she'll call and set things straight.

–––

She's given another week's reprieve. Time enough to sort things with Farren and say teary goodbyes to the Icelandic contingent – they can't be in the city, Storri says, at the same time as Drakemar, who is rumoured to be dealing with the matter of Elo's trial personally. He tells her he'll be back in a month, to ratify some accord or other, and he intends to cash in on the two dinners she owes him. "Two?" "Two. The pre-agreed remuneration for our alliance, and the one you skipped out on to ensure the other end of our bargain was kept, in that foolish way you managed." "Technically, I never signed that accord." "Strucker and Clayrmantle were your proxies. Not that I would think you the type to go back on your word, but I still expect to be paid in full!" His tone suggests he expects she'll still be around to keep the bargain. "Sir," Elo says, neutrally; she won't make a promise she can't keep.

The reprieve is time enough to settle her accounts and double-check her will before she's swept up in recording statements and giving testimony and pinned to her desk with all the paperwork she wasn't able to do before.

Before her trial, there'll be an inquiry. It's supposed to be an assessment – was this murder or a lawful and justified killing – but they all know, no matter the result, Elo will have to stand trial. She killed a member of the Triumvirate. The public, the senate, and the constitution all demand she appear before court for such an act. The inquiry is led by one Lieutenant F. King Sensible, of the 61st precinct. They've worked together before, briefly, in a special task force to deal with the Brotherhood case. She knows he's a good man and a better cop, who'll make a fair and reasoned assessment before the court, even if it doesn't matter much in the end. She's made copies of all the reports and evidence, refusing help from anyone. Farren is being bounced up to sergeant, Cobbleskater to constable first-class. While Yates and Monday are still their desk neighbours, they've been unassigned. Elo knows the pecking order – and besides, she thinks maybe this way she can distance them from her screwup. She goes alone to give her statement to Lieutenant Sensible and submit to questioning; when they find out later, she gets an earful, even from Cobbleskater. Fugit just looks disappointed – and pulls strings. When she has to go back the second time, her advocate is waiting for her outside the 61st.

"I want to go over the fight again," Sensible says. Elo rakes her hands through her hair. "C'mon, Kingy. I've told you everything I remember already. Face it – there's always going to be holes in the narrative. The doctors said I had trauma-based amnesia." "Maybe something'll jog loose if we go through it again." Advocate Yevlyn holds up a hand. "What is the end point of this line of questioning?" Sensible sighs and pulls out a piece of paper to hand over to the Advocate. "In the hospital conversation with Detective Breakwood, O'Toreguarde stated she thought Brauma would 'become another Greydown'." "A conversation, incidentally, which is inadmissible." "But it is part of the record." Sensible turns back to Elo. "What I want to know is how you came to that conclusion, and did it have anything to do with words exchanged during the fight?" Elo glances at the Advocate. He nods. She shakes her head, lost. "Maybe? We exchanged words before we fought. He was itching for any excuse to attack. I think I asked him to stand down. Maybe we mentioned other things? I'm sorry, King, I don't remember. The only clear thing I can recall is his dismissive confession, and knowing that I was winding up dead either way." "And then decided to expedite the process." "Lieutenant," the Advocate raises a warning finger. "I must remind you not to allow your personal feelings to colour your judgement." "Of course, Advocate Yevlyn," he says, not sounding at all contrite. "O'Toreguarde, the fight happened before you knew about the gun-running, correct?" "Technically." Sensible raises an eyebrow. "Technically?" "In the Victim's personal diary, page 130-something, she speaks to an informant who says, and I paraphrase, 'one of the Masters is bringing danger into the city'. The victim interpreted that to mean someone in the council, and was conducting background checks on everyone. I read this after Brauma attempted vehicular manslaughter of myself, but before I knew it was he who attempted it. So I was aware there was a threat beyond the art fraud, but nothing specific." "And your conclusion was that Brauma was that Master?" "Yes. Item seven is the mechanic's assessment of damage done to the underside of Brauma's car. You'll see he notes a high prevalence of gold-coloured plastic fragments. Plastic, which came from the fairing of my motorbike after Brauma drove over it in an attempt to drive over me. "Additionally, Sargent Monday was able to trace the renter of the jetty at Tattham Docks and the owner of the sunken barge back through a string of shell corporations to Brauma." "That was after his death, though?" "Yes." Sensible shakes his head. "It still feels like something is missing. Some final step which made you take that leap. And from what I can see, having gone through all the statements and reports and evidence, it must have happened during the fight." Sensible stops sifting the papers in front of him and looks up with an exasperated huff. "If I may be candid? El, you're one of the most reckless people I've ever met. But I know for a fact that even you wouldn't do something so utterly misguided as getting deliberately stabbed, unless you thought it was the only way to solve a problem. "I just can't see how you got from Brauma's animosity towards you to 'he'll be another Greydown'." Elo throws her hands up. "I don't know what to tell you! After his confession, and refusal to stand down, everything in my memory is just… fire." "Fire?" "I think we should take a break," the Advocate says. "You are causing my client undue distress, and she's still clinically vulnerable." Elo holds up a placating hand to Advocate Yevlyn, and takes a couple of deep breaths, knowing that he's right – she still needs to keep her pulse under control.

"Thank you. I can continue." She looks at Sensible. "Yes, Kingy, fire. The rebar wasn't rebar, but a flaming sword. Every time I landed a punch, it left a burn mark… I can't explain it. It must have been some… hallucination?" "I didn't see anything about this in the medical reports," Sensible says with a frown. "Did you share this with the doctors?" "These false memories weren't as specific as they are now. But yes, I mentioned it in passing, and was told it would go away eventually when I remembered what really happened." "But that hasn't happened yet?" Elo shrugs. "No." "And you've not had any other memory issues or hallucinations since?" "No." Sensible draws a hand down his face. "Alright. We'll end the session. I'll call you if I need any more questions answered." Advocate Yevlyn passes over a business card. "I'd prefer if you called me first. Detective O'Toreguarde is having some memory issues, pursuant to her Sixth Amendment rights." Sensible cants his head at Elo in a disappointed gesture, before wrapping the interview up and switching the recorder off. They stand to leave. "Off the record?" Sensible says as he collects his papers together, "I'll do what I can. But you haven't left me much wiggle room." "That's kind of you, Kingy, but I know what I did. Even if I can't remember why, I'm firm in my conviction that it was the right thing to do. I'll take whatever's coming to me with as much grace as I can." He looks at her with tight lips and grave eyes. "Still, I'll give it my best. I hope things go in your favour." Elo nods her thanks, and they shake.

[aquadestinyswriting]

By Any Other Name

Summary: Meredith finally loses her temper after a Lord on the Fangthane Council continues to us a name and title she is deeply uncomfortable with after being told not to

Words: 624

Tags: @druidx @homesteadchronicles @sparrow-orion-writes-orion-writes,@warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @blind-the-winds , @thesorcerersapprentice ,@writeblrcafe , @ashirisu, @flashfictionfridayofficial

Warnings: None.

Notes: this is more or less directly followed by 'What's in a Name?'. This just gives more context as to what Yoruk is despairing about there.

"Lady Copperheart!" I freeze and glance around for the tell-tale jangle of jewellery or a snide remark from somewhere nearby before I finally realise that the call was, in fact, meant for me. I take a breath to calm the flare of annoyed anger in my heart before turning in the direction the voice had come from. 

The middle-aged dwarven merchant now standing before me is gazing at me with a befuddled confusion. I take another moment to school my expression, lifting the glare from my face a little. Despite my repeated requests not to call me by that accursed name, several members refuse to discontinue old habits. Actually, I'm fairly certain the man now asking me some inane question about the budgetary report for the Church Inquisition is one of those who take great delight in deliberately ignoring such requests. I listen, politely, and answer his question in the same manner. I'm just about to take my leave, when he decides to make one last comment;

"In future, High Inquisitor, you would do well to acknowledge the other members of the Council the moment they call for you." He remarks, "I'd also advise you to refrain from glaring at them as though they've done wrong." He adds with an imperious sniff.

It takes all the willpower I have not to punch him, never mind keeping my expression as neutral as possible. I manage a tight smile,

"My apologies, Lord Stenskärare, but I am quite sure I have previously requested that the Council refer to me by Gruksdottir where possible." I tell him. The nobleman scoffs and shakes his head, sneering at me,

"Refusing to acknowledge the prestige of a House you now belong to is a dishonour to your husband." He snaps, "Then again, I wouldn't expect a peasant girl like you to know anything about that." 

It's a very good thing for Lord Stenskärare that we weren't the only people still in the antechamber of the meeting room. I dread to think of what might have occurred were we alone. As it is, I do finally lose my temper. I’m not really all that aware of what I yell at him, I only know that I’m swearing in at least four different languages and he doesn’t understand the majority of them. I only stop when Captain Bloodvein finally shoves me out one door and gets one of his guard to shove Lord Stenskärare through another. I’m still fuming even as I apologise to His Majesty, Her Highness and Captain Bloodvein and storm out of the palace.

It's not that I don't want to acknowledge the honour and legacy of the Copperheart name – by all accounts, the late Captain Copperheart was a highly regarded Kingsguard – but I cannot rid myself of the memory of her every time I hear that name and title in combination with one another. There are just too many bad memories associated with it. Especially given everything she did during her relatively short reign of terror, which the entire Council are aware of. I did go into great detail in my report to King Storri once all was said and done. It's ridiculous, she's gone for good, locked in the deepest recesses of the Pit for the rest of eternity. By all rights I should be glad to reclaim the honour that the title deserved this whole time. And yet.

It's no good. I'll either have to talk to Yoruk about changing the name, or just learn to live with the dread that climbs up my spine every time I'm in a damned Council Session. In the meantime I think Uncle Snorri's boiler needs bashing back into shape, I can practically hear the thing chugging and sputtering from here.

[gleamingsilence]

GET TO KNOW ME (hi! 👋)

thank you @galateaencore  🥰

Favorite color: green

Currently reading: 

- Müller: Der sammelnde Professor. Wissensdinge an Universitäten des Alten Reichs im 18. Jahrhundert (work)

- Sapkowski: The Last Wish (first time)

- Irving: For Lust of Knowing. The Orientalists and their Enemies (personal)

- Yoshimoto: Mein Körper weiß alles (short storries)

Last song: Toto-mixtape (St. George and the Dragon)  📼

Last movie: Colossus (1970)

Last series: Derry Girls  ❤️

Sweet, Savoury, Spicy: savoury!!

Craving: a much needed vacation

Tea or Coffee: just and only tea 🙃

Currently working on: The Witcher Flash Fic Challenge #073  💪

I hope non of you got this before 😊 @the-butch-of-blaviken @windflowerofskellige @limerental @she-who-drank-vodka-with-cats

[harvardwang]

珍妮·戈德利

H：生命的奮戰，輸赢不是重點，精神毅力才感人。20241105W2

維基百科：

珍妮·戈德利是一位蘇格蘭單口喜劇演員、演員、作家和政治活動家。她於1994年開始她的單口喜劇生涯，並在2000年代憑藉喜劇贏得了各種獎項。 在 COVID-19 大流行期間，她為政客和其他知名人士製作了一系列配音剪輯。第二年，在一系列有爭議的歷史推文出現後，她被從《美女與野獸》的啞劇表演中除名，戈德利後來為此道歉。

簡介

珍妮·戈德利

janey godley

出生資訊： 1961 年 1 月 20 日，英國格拉斯哥

逝世： 2024 年 11 月 2 日，英國格拉斯哥

子女： 阿什利·史托瑞

身高： 168 公分

父母： 安妮·庫里、 吉姆·庫里

配偶： 西恩·史托瑞 (結婚於 1980 年)

綜合外媒報導，潔妮戈德利2021年發現罹患卵巢癌後，於2022年6月將子宮摘除，沒想到同年2022年12月就復發。如今她的女兒阿什利斯托里（Ashley Storrie）透過社群證實母親已經在2日過世，表示媽媽是在睡夢中離開，而當時家人們也都陪伴在她身邊。

Janey Godley

Scottish actor, writer and comedian (1961–2024)

Janey Godley (born Jane Godley Currie; 20 January 1961 – 2 November 2024) was a Scottish stand-up comedian, actress, writer and political activist. She began her stand-up career in 1994, and won various awards for her comedy in the 2000s.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she made a series of voice over clips of politicians and other well known personalities. The following year, she was dropped from a pantomime performance of Beauty and the Beast after a series of controversial historical tweets emerged, for which Godley later apologised. She was later diagnosed with ovarian cancer, from which she died in 2024.

Early life

Godley was born in Campsie, East Dunbartonshire, on 20 January 1961. The youngest of four children born to Annie and Jim Currie, she was raised on Kenmore Street in Shettleston, a district in the East End of Glasgow, and attended Eastbank Academy. Living in poverty, which was rife in the East End during that time, Godley left school at 16 with no qualifications. Her parents were alcoholics and her mother was also addicted to tranquilisers. Her uncle molested her and her sister for a number of years during their childhoods, crimes for which he was charged in 1993, being sentenced to two years in prison in 1996.

Career

Godley began her stand-up career in 1994 using her middle name as both the Storrie and Currie families had disappointed her and changed her name from Jane Godley Storrie to Janey Godley the following year. She won an award for the "Best Show Concept" at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in 2002 and the "Spirit of the Festival" in 2006. She published her autobiography Handstands in the Dark in 2005. In 2006, she was a finalist for the Edinburgh Evening Times' "Scotswoman of the Year" award. In 2002, 2006, 2008, and 2009, she was nominated as "Best International Guest" by the New Zealand Comedy Guild. Her TV appearances include River City, Sam Delaney's News Thing, The Alex Salmond Show, Have I Got News for You, and Traces, and she appeared in the film Wild Rose. Godley often made spoof voice-overs of videos.

In 2020, Godley wrote and starred in a series of short films titled Alone, about a recently widowed housewife whose abusive husband has died of COVID-19, as part of the National Theatre of Scotland's Scenes for Survival webseries. In December 2020, the Royal Society of Edinburgh commended Godley's voice-overs of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's COVID-19 briefings for helping engage the public with the warnings. That year, she won the Scots Language Award's Speaker of the Year Award. In September 2021, tweets Godley had sent in 2011 were publicised by The Daily Beast, leading MSP Douglas Lumsden to question the decision to cast her in a pantomime performance of Beauty and the Beast. Some of these tweets included insults based on the Chernobyl disaster and disabilities, and racial insults towards African American musicians Kelly Rowland, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg in 2011. Godley apologised for the tweets and Public Health Scotland dropped her from a campaign.

Political activism

Godley was a strong advocate for the transgender rights movement, actively supporting protections for the international transgender community, a stance that had led to her receiving death threats. She was also a supporter of Scottish independence. Initially a supporter of the Conservatives in her youth, once going so far as to meet Margaret Thatcher at a Scottish Conservative Party Conference in Perth, she later became a supporter of the Scottish National Party and toured the UK in February 2016 in support of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Godley went viral that year after being pictured standing outside Donald Trump's Turnberry Golf resort holding a sign stating "Trump is a Cunt", having been prevented from approaching her subject by Police Scotland (who did not, however, stop her displaying the sign), and organised a protest in Glasgow just prior to the election of Trump as president, for which she received rape threats through Twitter.

Personal life

Godley married Sean Storrie in 1980. Storrie, who is on the autistic spectrum, was born into a Glasgow gangster family. Their daughter, Ashley Storrie (born 1986), who also has autism spectrum disorder, is a stand-up comedian and BBC Radio Scotland presenter.

Godley ran a public house in Calton, Glasgow, with her husband and his family for 14 years during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1982, when Godley was 21, her mother died after drowning in the River Clyde. Godley believed that her mother was murdered by her mother's boyfriend, who she claimed was violent. He was never charged by police for Annie Currie's death despite calls from her family for an investigation. On 31 December 2010, her brother Mij Currie died from a drug-related illness.

Illness and death

In November 2021, Godley announced via Twitter the cancellation of the last weekend of her tour, explaining that she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was being treated in hospital, and underwent a full hysterectomy in January 2022. In June that year, she announced that she was cancer-free. In December, she announced that her cancer had returned and that she would need further chemotherapy. After her cancer spread, she began to receive palliative care and moved into a hospice in September 2024. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow on 31 October 2024.

Godley died at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow, on 2 November 2024, aged 63. Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon paid tribute to her.

Books

Godley, Janey (2005). Handstands in the Dark. London: Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-190877-5. OCLC 61175808.

Godley, Janey (2020). Frank Get the Door!. Illustrated by Christina Connelly. Edinburgh: Luath Press. ISBN 978-1-910022-14-6. OCLC 1198558126.

Godley, Janey (2022). Nothing Left Unsaid. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-1-5293-5712-7. OCLC 1308460883.

[kornstreifs-storys]

Announcement (Change)

Happy new year everyone. I hope you had a good day so far.

With 2024 starting, I wanted to address some things about how this blog has been going.

You might be aware that beside my main Story Ages of Ruin, I tried running a second story Birth of a Goddess, in form of an ask blog. Unfortunaty this blog just doesn't seem big enough to support such an endevor, as in all the time I've had the story running not a single ask was send.

Now, Birth of a Goddess was ment to be a prequel story running parallel to Ages of Ruin and I planed to reviel some information about the my AU's rules through that medium. Obviously that didn't happen.

So I'm going to close the ask blog and instead tell the Story I planed through a bunch of short storries instead. I am a bit sad that I couldn't run the askblog I wanted but I don't want to drop Birth of a Goddess either and if I wait any longer I might just loose interest in the story alltogether. So I'll change my approach to the stories at hand. I hope you'll stick around regardless.

Additionally, I recantly created a Deviant Art and started Posting the Story over there as well. So If you want to check that out, the link to that is here: https://www.deviantart.com/kornstreifs-stories

Well that is all, have a good year everybody.

[sheenoffeen]

This is short storry

[valdederon]

FLAMES JOURNEY CHAPTER> < # 12 creation of the mewn and the story of its creator as well as the world around them

{ this is a short break from the story to rechrage and also get some lore out.. please note this is not a story for those who want a simple and cute read yes i will have cute and funny moments.. but mine is more twords the harsh reality of life in a more fantasy maner. a dark but also light read yin and yang.. life and death please be patient with me and enjoy the storry as best you can descriptions of injuries will be detailed battles can and will get dark fast in some areas. }

in the world valdederon finds him self in full of stable trades and endless amounts of tradeable goods it can be easy to ignore the fact the mewn all thogh old by human standards in the world of pokemon were some species can reach ages of up to 1000 and further the mewn is new with in this worlds recent history.

(( the drying is a drout and will be mentioned a few times))

about 20,000 years back the world around was decrepid in terms of trade and comerce to buy from markets youd have to carry many bags of many currencies from stone chips to wood tablets bronze and copper coins to gold and silver blanks nothing was ballanced or fair.. were you could find a bag of onions at 3 copper coins that same bag some were else soon is suddenly 300 silver blanks .put simply crime was prevelant.. theft and murder was not uncomon.. teens killing a merchants guard holding a bag of moldy bread just to fead his siblings while he went hungry. life was cruel back then it wasnt un common for entire tribes to dissapear over night due to having not had food for weeks.

but that soon changed when a small village near what is now the pheonix valley guild to the south east near the top of a mountain lived the noble yet tricster prone zoroua and zoroark. a small family distant relitives of the tribes elders often foraged for food on thier own the eldest beeing a young 15 year old. some times moody boy named kelldeer he hunted frequantly in the valley near the mountains some times bringing a single small deer for his family and a large buck for the village only lasting them a week at most with rationing.. none complained knowing how scarece food has been with a drout during that time period.. the vilage poor but fending for them selves despite the cruelty around them keeping to them selves when one day a trade caravan full of sneasel and weevile a rare group who distained violence visited one of thier younglings sick and injured. the elders letting them in after seeing the fear in thier eyes despite the others protests as zoroaks know the history between both sides..

during thier stay kelldeer visits the sick sneasel whos crying only a year and a half old burns on his shoulder from a flame thrower attack .

kelldeer--- what happened

the leader a tired and old weevile scoffs

rex-- what the fuk do you care zoroark your elders let us in not you.

kelldeer--- mom always said to not cling to ones species past or struggles but to always look ahead.. look for peace.. you guys sell stuff???.. what does sell mean

rex thourougly shoucked laughs alittle

rex-- you mean your vilage doesnt trade or.. buy or sell.. uh.. ok say you wanted this stick in my paw… id ask for payment.. like these copper pieces i have.. this is money you give it to me for the value of this stick and i give the stick to you.. though each town and city has its own kind of money.. so you should learn about the worlds currencies first.. most caravans dont make it long because of how many there are.

kelldeer--- thats… horrible.. some one has to do somthing about it.

rex chuckles softly scars up and down his arms his ches and even a larg one across his face

rex---well that will be a day the world celebrates kid.. do your family a favor and forget you ever heard of trading.. kids yoru age are always victims of this worlds ineptitude..its impotence.. just look at my baby boy just last week a group of charmeleons attacked us.. my boy got cought in the cross fire . hes been sick ever since we have no medicine either..

the elder brings abottle of mashed oranberry juice and puts it in the childs mouth

kelldeer---- why.. why did.

rex--- food kid.. food sam reason it happens alllll over the place when your tired.. hungry.. your sitsers or brothers crying for even some molded berries.. your emotions take over and some times violence is yoru only answer in your brain all foged up with pain hunger and emotions.

kelldeer-- fine.. if you wont man up i will you have food.. fine give us a years worth and ill give you evry bit of valubles i have and then.. FOR MY DAM SISTER ILL MAKE THIS WORLD BETTER..

the room falls silent as the zoroark whos always been moody but other wise quiet and laied back is now near sobbing tears streaming down his face his mouth a snarl fists clenched as he growls and storms out the entire room dead silent.. as if not a single soul lives untill the infant coughs up alittle oran berry mush braking the silence.

kelldeer---- that kids somthing else..

elder saraphine--- hes got a kid sister.. he gives most of his food to her as shes younger and needs more to grow.. were as hes able to live off what the woods offer. hes out hunter.. one of a few actualy. always asking what can be done to bring us out of this rut we barely have a weeks worth of food with whet he and the other 4 hunters bring for 300 souls.. he worries me.

rex---his hear bleeds for his family.. that look.. i almost thought hed want to pry the food from me.

elder saraphine chuckling--- ha ha ha no he wont do that he cherishes life far to much.. he may not show it but the kids fallen for yoru caravan.. dont be go witten it of as him blabin to blab off hes willfull persistant and smarter then most of us elder folk.. dont tell him i said that we gota stay the wize elders wer are seen as he he he.

rex--- you sly old codgers you folks arent know as tricksters for nothing arent you

she gives a soft blep and smile before wiping the young kits face and cheking the poor kids now healed wounds giving a thumbs up while kelldeer talks to all the sneasel and weevile holding a note book and pen he crafted from a chared stick taking notes about trading and the various currencies they have encountered. soon kelldeer gives all the gems trinkets and other odds and ends to the trade caravan stuff hes collected over hi 6 years of hunting and gathering much to thier shock having enough value to purchase out thier entire food stock of dried fruits meats and even fresh veggetables even getting a toy for his 5 year old sister after they leave the sun is already setting as kelldeers mother prepares a hearty soup with the bounty he gathered.. with rationing a good 2 years of food in terms of dried goods about 2 weeks of veggies as well.

velma--- so i hear you saved the village for the next couple years.

lily--- big bwuva smawt

kelldeer--- lily. anunceate your words please… its big brother .. and its my big brother is smart sweet bean.

she sticks out her toungue making him sigh to tired to fuss with it

kelldeer-- you know the only reason im not drilling it in is because im tire dyou little brat.. behave for mom ok.. dad is out hunting still.

velma--- ha ha hes in for a super shock when he gets back.

they all smile as she servs the bowls of thick meaty sup with onions carrots potatoes deer and beef made with a thick broth and kelldeer looks at the bowl crying silently confusing his sister.

lily--- momy why is he crying.. is he upset the food is bad.

velma--- no dear hes not.. your worried about when the food runs out arent you.

kelldeer---a.and when i head out. im tired of us not having enough food to thrive.. this village used to be so much bigger ..when i was10 we hadd over 500 villagers most of them have left or starved out and now i find we could have been trading for food… 6 YEARS OF ME COLLECTING JUNK… and its suddenly enough for alll of the food i just got us.. more food then ive ever gotten in a week of hunting and gathering.. im going to go out learn about the world and create a universal currency that all can use.. and find trust worthy traders like those sneasel and weevile.

velma-- hun.. think about what that entails.. youl be gone fore ever and what if you dont make yoru coin.. if you want to go you can but be careful.. dont get your hopes up just to get them crushed ok..its ok to dream as long as you dont loose your self in it.

kelldeer--- i know mom.. you said the same when i siad i wanted to hunt ive kept us going this long. but the drying is getting worse.. the rivers are nearly gone the deer are spreading thin.. id i dont go soon it may be tolate to save the ..the world not just the village.

she puts her paw on his and smiles just as his father a rare albino kantonian zoroark often mistaken for beeing a hisuian zoroark

felldon-- somthing smells great

velma--- that would be your sons amazing junk saving us for a couple years.. all those things you thought were just random junk.. he traded for food.. and a toy for his sister..

felldon-- collor me shocked. then.i owe you an apology kiddo im sorry i judged your collections.. but ithought they were .

kelldeer--- food was far more important then my collections..ill miss my treasures but treasures dont fill the stomach..as you once put it.

felldon---i was pretty angry then wasnt i… i apologize

kellderr walks over and hugs his father purring and they all sit down to eat feldon seeing the tear stained fur on his sons face.

felldon-- you ok kiddo..youve been crying.

kelldeer nods eating his soup.

velma--hes a tad bit upset of the state of the village and our food ..hes got a plan aparently.. though i am worried. can you train little lilly to be a hunter when shes old enough.

kelldeer--- ill also show the others were i do most of my hunting in the valley before i head out i know my plan will work out some how. it has to .. for lilly and all the kits in the village and the elders.. those old bats need food just as much as the children.

felldon givs a quiet nod and dinner goes by with a almost sad atmosphere ervyone knowing that soon kelldeer will leave the village into the chaotic and unpredictiable outside world. the next morning kelldeer starts making breakfeast waking up before evryone making some sausage and tomato soup plating evrything up just as evryone wakes up.

felldon--- he he here i was thinking id need to cook thismorning ha ha ha ha

kelldeer--- morning dad. i made yoru favorite today im also going to need help gathering all the hunters so i can show them my hunting paths and such i have a map of the area were i hunt theres also lots of berry bushes deep in the valley as well.

felldon sits down as the others walk to the table

felldon--- sure i can help ya ther kiddo. as long as you tell me this plan of yours first deal.. i know your old enough to venture on your own but i .. im still worried.

kelldeer-- yea i can do that.. my plan is basicly im going to leave and travel the world learning evryones trading systems and currencies.. learn whats most common and use that to make a unified currency of some kind..

felldon smiles and puts his paws under his chin elbows on the table

felldon--- after having talked with the elders and learned more about what happend yesterday..i have to say thats a dam good plan.. just be carefull people out there are scared and hungry by the sounds of things.

kelldeer nods having already gotten more detailed accounts from the sneasel and weevile and the family sits down to eat together lilly beeing as messy as always her furr covered in bits of meat and tomato soup after eating and cleaning up felldon and kelldeer gather up other 4 hunters joanah, mako, nexus and lorkan.

kelldeer-- sorry for gathering evryone suddenly like this but.. i have to leave the village.. before i do that im sharing my hunting grounds with evryone.

lorkan--whoa whoa whoa wait aminute your doing what…

joanah--.. ok.whats going on

mako and nexus in unison--- shut up and listen to the kid

mako--- he did get us food for a couple years

nexus--- we have to ration it but its still more then weve ever had since the drying lets listen to our little hero

kelldeer blushes but explains his plan to them showing his hunting grounds the berry bushes and other fruit picking spots areas hes found wild veggies and.

felldon-- in the mean time we should start training up more hunters lily is only old enough to start learning how to track animals but i know some others who are 10.. and ready to hunt

kelldeer-- hunting when done right is fun.. ill miss it but..if my plan works we wont need to want for food any more.

lorkan and joanah sigh in defeat knowing they cant change the young zoroarks mind

lorkan--your as stubborn as your father some time syou know that.. ha ha ha.

kelldeer chuckles and gives the hunters friendly hugs and begins to pack his stuff after reminding them to collect any odd trinkets , gems or interesting items they find as they can be traded as well hugging his parrents and his little sister he ventures off exploring evry corner of the continent of neonis from the cintrus berry islands to the east to the west in the silva island cluster the mountains north of the river that flows north east into lake palicon alll the way to the most northern edge were a fairly barron but still habitable island houses 2 small citties thriving on mostly fish and birds. he finds that gold and silver tend to catch peoples attention more as wlll as n od choice of metal called xeracine. so he heads back home having spent 9 years traveling to find the hunters have begin finding a few more animals evry week keeping a steady meat supply going lately the drying easing up but food still quite scarce luckily trade caravans having been told of a friendly town have more then made up for the lack of animals.

he walks into his little village abit more lively then when he left it but still filled with un ease as food all though stable now has fluxuated frequantly and still does but now childrens lauging and joy can be heard and suddenly hes pounced into the dirt with a playful growl in his face as his sister now 14 is happy to see him.

lilly--- your back your back your back..

kelldeer---good lord could you be any more agressive ha ha ha ha ha.. i love you to baby sister

lilly---- hey im a hunter now.. im not a baby.

kelldeer-- youl always be my baby sister hun.. im older then you.

she smiles and helps him up and they head to thier house.

kelldeer-- i see we have new kits in the village

lilly--- yea about a couple years after you left the hunters managed to fin a small patch of gems uner a cave and collected them though they werent to happy about having to.. and that same day the sneasel and weevile carravan came back to trade food hasnt been fixed but at the moment.. its.. some what stable…… uh..we also have new sibling.. an

kelldeer rubs her head softly--- aww did my baby sister become a big sister now.. whats our siblings name

lilly--..w.what your not upset.

kelldeer---- hell no. im happy to have a new borther or a sister what ever the case may be

after saying that a small white zoroua runs out and jumps into her arms sticking his tounge out

lily-- fell why arent you in bed

Fell---nuh napp nawt tiwed..

lilly picks him up by his scruff and stares him in the eyes

lilly--- you get your white furred little rump back in that bedroom and go to sleep or ill tell mom you snuck into the cookies again

he yelps and runs inside after she sets him down

kelldeer--- ha ha he looks so much like dad..how old is he

lilly--he turns 3 tomorrow

kelldeer smiles and ruffles her main softly

kelldeer--- im proud of you sis..im sorry i was gone for so long but im home ti stay now..got some stuff i need to do still but i think the world is going to change… in a big way.

lilly--um..could i….kell..

kelldeer sees shes embarrassed on somthing.

kelldeer ---whats bothering you sis..

lilly blushes and whispers in hes ear

lilly---i.started having accidents in my nest again and i dont want to tell mom

kelldeer holds back a chuckle and just rubs her back

kelldeer--- mom wont make fun of you sis dont worry your secrets safe with me but.. i think the little rug rat might have loose lips if he finds out his older sisters secret so be sure to tell her your self.

she sighs embarresed but nods. and chuckles

lilly--- other then that can i help with your project

kelldeer--- definately id love the help the project is going to be making a coin the front will have mew and the back a zoroarks face.. your a better artist them i am so id love the help

lily--- he he and your a better hunter then i am guess were even

they head on in the house and he sits down at the table pulling his back pack over and putting materials on the able to stark making coins.

from this point on the world slowly found out about a strange new coin beeing celled the mewn a single xeracine disk with gold on the front silver on the back and intricutely carved mew and zoroark its.. with in 200 years the econimies of the world merged to this 1 coin kelldeers name next to the zorroark and the fron words saying in mother mew we trust.