#slug pellets

[squidaped-oyt]

I lust for slug death

[beesmygod]

do the forbidden woods have any connection to the beasts or great ones, aside from being geographically adjacent to byrgenwerth? Are the snake infested fellows just "normal" as far as yharnam is concerned? Like before yharnam got all bloodborney, was the Yharnam Cartographer's Guild map of the woods still just a big circle with SNAKES written?

this is a really good question because, as a lore psycho, i think the understated lore implications of the woods are genuinely fascinating. i think there's a lot to unpeel, even if we take into account that it was one of the places in the game that was chopped up at the 11th hour and scrambled before release.

as always for these lore posts, important nouns are bolded and speculation is in italics. we are going to discuss the woods in three parts: from the gatekeeper to the windmill is "the village". from the windmill to byrgenwerth is "the woods". the subterranean cave shortcut back to yharnam will just be called "shortcut." i'll expand on this shit GREATLY when we reach this part in "you hunted" (I HAVENT STOPPED WORKING ON IT I PROMISE IM JUST SWAMPED) so considered this a light overview. feel free to ask for more details on things and ill do my best to fill in the blanks.

THE VILLAGE:

-from the jump, the village gatekeeper is a fucking weird little blip in bloodborne's narrative. i haven't thought about him enough to figure out if he's more than just a spooky, unexplained element but he has some cut dialog that sheds some mindboggling information about yharnam: he seems very confused about WHEN it is and will cite the last time he had a visitor as anything from a year to a century.

-the lamps in this area lighting the way to the village are little burning fetal beasts of some sort.

i'm starting to understand more and more about how fire operates in the world of bloodborne, since most of the time it appears in the game, it's seemingly impossible. the thing that confused me the most was how old yharnam was still burning if it happened a long time ago. i think it's time to start thinking of the old blood as impossibly combustible and a great source of light/fire. this isn't the first in-universe example of creatures being used as fuel: the lamps in the fishing village are slugs (also infants? they strongly resemble the hunter's appearance as a baby great one in the "childhood's beginning" ending). this is a whole fucking like, thing. it's its own post.

next, the huntsmen enemies here are dressed funny. you probably noticed it but couldn't pin down how. they're dressed in white church clothes! the first model here is used only in the forbidden woods. the two on the left are from central yharnam. note the gloves on the first two; these are church doctors!

(this post goes on like this for some time)

the white church doctors are the ones that were doing "experimentally backed blood ministration". the butcher's garb further defines it as "forbidden research". these white church doctors are the citizens of this "village". in the clustered buildings where the majority of the huntsmen are, you can find blue elixir and beast blood pellets in abundance. both of these items can only be purchased from the store after obtaining the choir's badge, drawing a firm connection between the white church doctor's research and the goals of the choir.

although, this probably isn't too much of a surprise; it's almost certain that this is where fauxsekfa came from. she took the same shortcut we did, right? i'm not really sure i understand the shortcut too much. but let's talk about it.

THE SHORTCUT:

although not explicitly stated, i am strongly convinced that this cave is the entrance to the hintertomb. at the very least, it is absolutely an entrance to the labyrinth. the presence of tomb mold, blood gems, parasite larva, and pthumerian giants/corpses makes this very clear. the root chalice for the hintertomb describes it as "a cesspool of noxious snakes and insects"; i think it's likely that the snakes came from the hintertomb given they can be found in the swamps there.

the giant graves here and further into the woods are referred to as "tombstone[s] of a great one".

the hunter's mark i think would suggest these are pthumerian made. its possible that the hintertomb is spilling out into the world above but frankly all of the graves here are baffling. grave placement and appearance needs more research. the graves in the woods only are developing a strange sort of honeycomb rot pattern not unlike the head of an amygdala. this pattern shows up enough that it warrants more investigation.

the slow poison-inducing "water" here has similar properties to the slow poison pool in the research hall. they are different colors, but have similar origins: the poison pool in the research hall is from the decomposing bodies of the patients, who were exposed to bizarre blood ministration and parasitism. the pool here is likely from decomposing great ones. with this in mind, perhaps the silvery liquid is mercury.

the ladder leading out of this area is fucking insane and i have a hard time understanding what occurred there. like what in the hell is up with that grave you exit into in yharnam. who popped it open. why is it so cavernous. what happened to the contents.

anyway, let's just go back to the woods.

THE VILLAGE (again)

there's really only two more things to mention here before we move on: first, beast roar can be picked up here. it's the undead, still twitching hand of a darkbeast. nothing touched by the old blood can truly die, and these severed limbs are no exception.

second are the butchers. these are the people who collect specimens, hack them apart, and present them to the church doctors for research. they show up in three different ways: the surviving madaras twin wears the butcher's set (the hunter picks up the set from the other twin's corpse), the "executioner" enemies (REMINDER: a better translation would have been "butchers" [or, literally, "dismantling men"], i have no idea why they went with "executioner" outside of their superficial appearance) wear the cape with the popped collar, and there are huntmen enemies skulking the streets below the grand cathedral hunting for victims dressed in the garb. they literally only appear there.

ah, one more thing. this is the place where you can find the suspicious beggar and interrupt him while he's in the middle of chowing down on one of the biggest families i've ever seen in my life. at first i thought the devs hysterically fucked up the sizes of the corpses, but they're dressed like the citizens of yahar'gul. while not outright stated, evidence strongly suggests that the beggar is irreverent izzy or one of his followers such as the close proximity of one of izzy's inventions and the beggar's clothing reflecting his past as both a veteran tomb prospector gone mad and former church agent. there's a lot of meat on that bone, but for another time.

OKAY. LAST PART NOW.

THE WOODS:

this is the part you probably remember the most bc it's snake hell. the first thing we absolutely need to keep in mind is that the snake-infested guys you meet are a reference to doobie from jojo. the snakes are parasites to people, but the snakes themselves are also being parasitized? they are covered in ticks, those are the huge bloated blobs all over them. given that the augurs of the great ones are invertebrates...what does that imply about the inclusion of the ticks narratively?

there's something absolutely fascinating happening to the flora and fauna in this section of the woods but it's hard to know what it all means. some notes:

-when enemies in bloodborne die, the game handles their corpse in different ways. some of this is lore related, some of it is to reduce hardware strain. some corpses turn into ragdolls, some explode into blood, some explode into white particles (sometimes with blood but not always). snakes explode into white particles. i got way too into the fucking weeds with this, but (outside of the slime scholars....kind of) all of these enemies either appear or were intended to appear in the chalice dungeons, the nightmare frontier, or the nightmare of mensis (the lecture hall containing the scholars connects the waking world to the nightmare). all of these locations are, arguably, the nightmare.

-there are statues of amygdala and a presumed evolution of the celestial child sprouting out of the ground. i am almost certain these are original versions of the statues in the grand cathedral and yahar'gul, respectively.

-remember that strange pond with the fireflies? the only place in the game where there's fireflies? what the hell is up with that lol. i kind of have an answer:

most concrete is this: back when the original boss of the woods was snakeball, you would have faced a rematch in this pond.

insane theory crafting moment: look, this is stupid complicated and a reach so if i have to get into really defending it it, ill do it in another post. but in bloodborne people can be teleported around via "communion". communion is the means of entering the chalice dungeons and requires three things: ritual blood (or perhaps just liquid, if rom's arena is anything to go by), something to hold the blood (typically a chalice, but sometimes the "chalice" is a skull), and light (this is almost always achieved with candles). this pond is probably full of blood, if the rotten bodies nearby are any indication, and the fireflies offer light. but, look, this shit was cut so don't think too hard about it.

-its in the art book but also in the game (but hard to see): the wall separating byrgenwerth from the rest of the world is melted.

wait wtf there's dudes in it. lol. what da hell!

oh my. the name for this asset is "wall of divine tomb". cool. every day i lean some new insane shit about this game, for real.

anyway the only other point of interest is whatever the fuck valtr and the league are doing. too deep of a topic for now. anyway, those were the points of interest in the forbidden woods. i hope this was....whatever counts for informative when it comes to video game trivia

[yourladyindank]

Some of my neighbors have a bone to pick with me. They don’t like my lawn, you see.

They say it’s too wild.

I let the grass grow too long, I let the weeds grow too strong. My water features and food gardens and feeders nourish these pests.

It is strange. It is alien.

I tell them I know.

That’s why the fireflies only dance in my yard at night. Thats why I get to watch the dragonflies battle eachother and everything else, a dragon fly almost always wins. That’s why I have birds nests, and beautiful spider mothers carrying their young, and a skunk hole with a seasonal family. That’s why it’s hard to garden without disturbing a bee or a wasp or a butterfly. Thats why the snails and slugs leave funny patterns on the big string leaves of my morning glories. Thats why I found owl pellets by the watermelons. Thats why I only get to pick half my strawberries. That’s why the crickets sing, the grasshoppers chirp, and the baby bunnies sit in that very tall grass.

To me, the silence and extinction that follows a lawn? Thats alien. Thats strange.

[weepingfoxfury]

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday ... and the snaily offer of a lifetime! Read to the bottom and you'll be forever young! ;-D

Not sure how many days this little gastropod has been pondering life, the Universe and all things snail, but I am certain I'd like to do the same thing. That'd be quite something! Just crawl up a wall, come to a halt, seal yourself in place and close your eyes.

Not so keen on the idea of having birds peck at me ... the hole in this critter suggests that's part of what it's thinking about. From my understanding, it's taken around 5 years to reach this size ... 5 years of outsmarting hundreds of beaks, animal feet and slug pellets.

I remember seeing an advert for a special snail cream. Apparently, there's a way of collecting the snail goo which, if you believe everything the ads tell you, is then added to a 'magic mix' of a cream. This cream, once slathered on your face, will then roll back the years. Ah yes, another product for the human race and it's obsession of stopping the ageing clock.

Hmmmm ... reckon I could offer a couple of snail 'therapies'.

Offer 1: Come lie in my grass and I'll pop some tasty salad on the bits you want de-wrinkling, and you can wait for the 'therapists' to eventually reach you. Can't guarantee they'll be the only critters to explore you, but that'll just add to the experience.

Offer 2: Alternatively ... take a dip in the 'pool of youth'. Gastropods galore to set up residence on every inch of you whilst you soak ... and you'll look 16 again by the time you leave. ;-)

Any takers? ...

[black-aengel-07]

Also named as the Universal Gun, for its flexibility on the battlefield, it is considered the standard weapon of choice for the various groundside Man of Iron battle constructs in the Legion Armada.

Given its use of Repulsion fields in exchange of magnetic rails, it is able to make use of anything as ammunition, provided it has mass to affect and repulse. Everything from metal to plastics to plain gas can be utilized with this weapon, granting it immense tactical flexibility that the Imperial Bolt Gun would simply lack. The repulsion field can further be modified to fragment a slug as it travels through its terminal point or be used as a short-range repulsion field that can knock enemies off their feet or even contain them with constant repulsive force.

However, this is not the limits of the RCGs, as their second greatest trait is their modularity. Each Coil is an independent component that can be removed or added to reconfigure the weapon for various purposes, permitting the RCG to be converted from an assault rifle to a grenade launcher and then into a sniper rather quickly in a pinch.

Ammunition Forms:

Depending on the RCG and the Fabricator Feedstock its being used, it would fire solid heavy metal slugs or pellets, bolters and special fluid types.

Solid Metal Projectiles. Given that they are much faster to produce, they tend to be quite common and RCGs making use of these have shown a much higher rates of fire. Do not underestimate the power of these basic rounds, for more powerful Infantry Grade RCGs can fire a ferromagnetic slug with enough force to punch a wide hole through the resilient armour of Astartes with surprising ease.

Reactive Liquids. While they tend to not be as commonly employed, reactive fluids have found their place within the army of the Men of Iron. Given the Repulsion Field's ability to affect anything with mass, RCGs made to fire a steady stream of reactive liquid have their uses. From searing Promethium to Pyrocaustic Substances and the horrendously deadly Graywash [The Man of Iron's term for Nanites], they should not be underestimated.

Ferrum Bolts. While indistinguishable at a glance from standard Imperial Bolts, Men of Iron Bolts are much more compact and as a result are superior to their Imperial counterparts, possessing far greater range, speed and payload, and oftentimes capable of surprising tricks to increase their tactical flexibility. The following is the general list of Ferrum Bolts encountered by the Imperium by the end of the Razing of Prospero.

1(a): Standard Round and their General Sizes [Top to Bottom].

Heavy Bolt

Standard Bolt

Light Bolt

1(b): Special Munitions (Any Size)

Bio-Chem Round: Ranging from neurotoxins to pyrocaustic acids, the Bio-Chem Round is the catch-all term used for RCG Rounds that make their kill through the application of deadly chemical compounds or lethal pathogens. Its most common form is with the use of the Acid-KLR.7, an extremely deadly acid compound that releases hazardous fumes into the air once it begins dissolving matter. Rarely used unless for clearing out organic targets in confined spaces like Hive Networks and Ships, provided that they are used without the worry about civilian casualties.

Wailing Glass Round: A type of Psi-Round made from a synthetic version of the Shimmering Glass of the Reflecting Caves from Prospero. Bolts made with this material contain a heavy impact core energized with traces of Empyrean energy that does great damage to Metaphysical creatures like Daemons. Requiring a special Fabricator to be installed on the unit that intends on firing them, they are easily felt by psychically sensitive creatures for the 'wailing' sound they make as they travel through the atmosphere.

Tactical Round: Further modified Bolt, it is the general designation for Bolts designed for specific tasks in mind. Scatter Type explode mere meters away from a target, causing a shotgun like effect of heavy metal pellets to flay the flesh off their target. Ideal for Light Infantry. Hunter Type are able to make fine course corrections mid air to hit their target with increased accuracy or focus on weak points. Tend to be used for well armoured high-speed targets like Astartes. Restrain Type are light bolts filled with an adhesive and rapidly expanding foam. Used when wanting to incapacitate a target from afar with minimal chances of harming it.

Melta Round: A modified base round that is used mainly against Heavy Infantry and Light Vehicles. It is considered little more than a hybrid between a Bolt and a Melta Charge, yet this demonstrates the Men of Iron's ability to miniaturize advanced technology and mass produce it to a frightening scale.

Nanofluid Round: Made with killing Astartes in mind, it fills the role of a bioweapon designed to eliminate organic targets with an Immunity Rating of 7 and higher, whereas conventional bioweapons would be rendered either ineffective due to the aforementioned immunity or because non-combatants could also be afflicted with them should a bioweapon spread occur. It kills its target by injecting them with short lived Graywash fluid that rapidly shred the internal organs of its victim until all that remains is a darkened liquefied bloody paste, guaranteeing a swift yet very painful death on its target.

1(c): Heavy Special Munitions (Heavy Round Minimal Size Requirement)

Piker Round: Piker Rounds are made to penetrate deep into armour thanks to a Power Field that assists in perforating through vehicle armour with ease and detonating within. Made for taking down vehicles and extremely armoured heavy infantry like Terminators with a handful of shots.

Bullhead Round: Seismic-Grav Impact, made for causing as much damage to structures and heavy vehicles as possible, but limited to the higher-end weight class of RCGs. Upon impact, it releases a gravitational pulse combined with a singular, high-intensity shock wave that is capable of turning ferrocrete blocks into fine gravel.

Lumina Fluid Round: A Bolt Round exclusive to one Specialized RCG. Lumina Fluid is an extremely volatile and unstable psi-reactive substance that requires extensive security mechanisms to safely create and contain. It is oftentimes described as having the worst aspects of raw Warp Energy and Nitro-glycerine combined into the most frighteningly unstable Psi-reactive compound in the Man of Iron's army. As such, Bolts made to contain this Fluid require a miniaturized Stasis Field to avoid an unwanted pre-detonation. When they strike, however, the target is subjected to a miniaturized and explosive Empyrean detonation that no material armour can resist. However, their true target is the Metaphysical organisms that exist within the Warp, as being struck by such a weapon would critically injure even Exalted Daemons.

-Standard RCG Models- {2}

a) Crisis Pistol: Small sidearm for the Peacekeepers. Used mostly against infantry or to deliver specialized ammunition fire.

b) Tri-Angled Modded Crisis Pistol: Due to a quirk in the Repulsion Fields, creating something like a minigun is unfeasible. Instead, high fire rates are achieved by multiplying Repulsion Coil Barrels into a single weapon.

c) Principality Assault Repulsion Rifle: Standard RCG used by most Peacekeeper models.

d) Flamer Modded Principality Repulsor: A modification of the Principality Repulsion Rifle for dispensing a stream of Promethium.

e) Principality Adapted Granade Launcher: Heavy barrelled grenade launcher, capable of fabricating and launching specialized grenade ammunitions at a rapid pace.

f) Providence LMG: Large and heavy hitting firearm, used exclusively by Knights and Paladins. Excellent for eradicating anything in their path.

g) Providence Adapted Sniper Gun: Capable of taking down heavily armoured targets up to seven kilometres away or even further if aided by course correcting ammunitions.

-Specialist RCG Models- {3}

Specialist RCGs are all named in a long-forgotten tongue of Man. For whatever reason, the Man of Iron bears a fancy for ancient unspoken languages.

A) Canto de Dante: To the untrained eye, this RCG may seem like a mere Combi-weapon given its ability to fire both searing beams of molten metal and discharge short range blobs of plasma, however, that could not be further from the truth. Making use of the comparatively most powerful Repulsion fields in union with a component that bears many similarities to the Volkyte systems, it is able to fire a condensed beam of superheated metal at its targets. However, this system bears great flexibility, for it can also heat the very metal inside the containment chamber until the point it becomes a searing glob of barely contained heavy plasma that then gets discharged at close range in a wide cone capable of melting through any target. While the Magnetohydrodynamic beam struggles to penetrate thicker armour at range, the ionized metal discharge up close will succeed where the former fails.

B) Lagrimas de Lilith: Only weapon permitted to fire the infamous Lumina Fluid Round. While internally it is not that dissimilar from a standard medium RCG, its fitted with an E-Injector for charging the Lumina Fluid that it uses, as well as Stasis Field Projector. Externally, it is protected with thick plating to protect the very fragile and volatile components within. However this volatility is also used as a feature in certain cases, as Lilith's Tears can be turned into an impromptu Warp Bomb capable of turning even heavy tanks into a heap of Empyrean Warped metal and screaming scrap.

C) Gota Negra: Specialized weapon designed for producing and dispersing Graywash fluid in various. Its main form of attack is to fire Nanofluid Rounds, yet that is not the limit of its power, for it has three settings to diversify its lethal arsenal, by either releasing a stream of Graywash in a thin condensed jet that breaks down matter and tissue, or disperses clouds of microscopic particulates that are exceedingly dangerous to walk through unprotected, much less inhale.

D) Martillo Esmeralda: Specialized RCG that is less a gun and more a Seismic-grav Thunderhammer with a RCG Barrel and fabricator attached to it. So large and heavy that only Paladins are known to be able to properly wield them, it is in their hands an impossibly agile weapon as the device can regulate its own gravitational mass, capable of tipping over light armour as if they were mere toys with every hit and levelling buildings with frightful ease.

Author's Notes: Okay, I think I went a bit overboard. I have grown a whole new level of respect for concept artists. Phew...

I was meant to do the drawing for the Scythe, but since I already had these weapons in my prior drawing I decided to recycle the used assets and make this before moving onto the fighter jet... little did I know that my urges to make something as high quality as possible resulted in me just adding one too many shootas... sweet god... anyway, I hope you enjoy. Next weapon sets will be the Direct Energy types.

[inkandguns]

This is why I keep a rifle nearby and a handgun on me at all times. If four people busted into my room I have the Beretta 1301 right on my nightstand now. It’s loaded with 8 pellet 00 buck, but I’m considering doing alternating slugs just for fun.

The ROE at the farm is that anyone armed that comes in the gate uninvited or is inside the fence line is to be immediately brought down with effective rifle fire. No warning shots or verbal warnings inside the wire. Just head and A zone chest shots. And yes, we will mercilessly make fun of someone if they drop rounds outside the A zone.

I firmly hold the opinion that you should be able to use lethal force to defend property. Any society that doesn’t praise and acknowledge this is totally uncivilized imo and allows the practice of slavery.

Grant County would be a better place if those 4 sacks of shit had been capped that night.

Gallos Negros - “Thieves Die Slow”

[riflebrass]

I kinda want to make some ballistics gel. The pre-made synthetic stuff is nice but it's really expensive. A Clear Ballistics FBI spec gel block that's 6X6X16 is $90 and ideally I should be testing with 2 blocks.

Using bulk unflavored gelatine I'd need 2 1/2 gallons of gel to make a block that size. It's been a long time since I've looked for it but it's probably going to be close to $50 per block. I can look up a recipe online to make a block of gel but without a pellet gun and a chronograph there's absolutely no way to tell if it's up to par with FBI specs.

Still just for dicking around it'll be fine.

I'd like to compare a few types of defensive ammo side by side out of a pocket pistol, a full size, and out of a carbine.

Then when we've had our fun I want to finish it off by comparing a dove load vs a wax slug vs a good quality slug.

[halfdent]

◖@stainedpast /𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐒  he never forgets an act of kindness, selflessness, whether it be by his self-appointed nemesis: the humans, or his own kind. he might have not needed their gesture at the time, but it showed him the kind of person they are. he might act all hateful and despising of their species, but he is the one to make his kind able to blend in with them, to look like a human, think like one, act like it; he could be humanity’s demise and destroyer, but he can also be their savior, their aid and voice to the other party, his own. today is not his day; most of his powers lie dormant deep within him. it seems this day is not theirs either; his gaze catches the reflection of a sniper’s rifle, its aim is quickly determined: their head. there is no time to warn or reach them for a push, too risky anyway, and so he locks his eyes with theirs since the alternative of practicing this on the sniper has less chances of success, he puts everything in him during this disadvantageous state so he could control their mind(s), forcing them to move away from the route of the bullet, exposing the sniper and the failure of their assassination orders. —emrys @ whoever u want

⚖ - unprompted / ACCEPTING.  彡

People  want  them  dead  .  Always  have  ,  always  will  .  Dent  for  his  ground-breaking  sweep  in  getting  Gotham's  least  desirable  individuals  locked-up  .  The  long  year  when  he  became  a  suspect  to  murder  .  And  now  ,  a  crime  boss  in  of  themself  .  Everyone  had  pieces  of  this  Janus  they  wanted  to  chip  away  .  Still  they  didn't  see  the  sniper's  pellet  shot  up  towards  them  .  Somebody  must've  because  while  the  dominant  two  personalities  remained  unbeknownst  their  body  jerks  out  of  the  way  ,  only  seeing  the  slug  hit  a  crate  behind  them  on  the  mainline  dock  mere  seconds  after  the  involuntary  response.

The  body  flails  in  a  matter  of  regaining  the  feeling  in  their  limbs  ,  they  swerve  around  the  corner  ,  creating  distance  between  them  and  the  hitman  ,  no  longer  in  the  sights  of  the  rifle  set  on  them  .  There  long  coat  is  the  last  thing  to  soar  en-suit  of  them  .  They  have  only  a  matter  of  seconds  to  access  the  situation  before  they  would  need  to  move  on  .  Get  the  hell  out  of  here  .

Who  wuz  that  ?  !  Sure  as  fuck  wasn't  me  or  Harv  so  I'm  wonderin'  who  else  is  in  this  head  ?  Judge  ?  Hah  ,  nah  .  I'd  know  if  he  craned  his  face  in  'ere  .

Wouldn't  be  the  first  time  and  won't  be  the  last  someone  wanted  to  get  in  here  .  Whoever  it  was  they  saved  us  .  God  only  knows  why  .

No  time  for  yer  pitiful  lament  ,  Dent  ,  move  yer  ass  or  the  next  slugs'  ain't  gonna  miss  .

[martha-anne]

Garden happenings

Due to some March sowing overzealousness, I had dwarf bean seedlings ready to be planted out much too early. It really should be at least another month before beans go outside, but I decided to send them out into the world anyway on the off-chance some might survive. 

Every slug deterrent I've tried so far has had little to no effect (wool pellets, copper tape, eggshells) but this past week I've been experimenting with coffee grounds and hoping.

I've relocated several volunteer nasturtiums and sunflowers, of which there are many. I'm hoping the pictured nasturtiums will want to trail over the edge of the stone wall.

In perennial plant news, I have acquired a tayberry. Having been inspired by berry arch photos I've seen online, I'm hoping I can get it to grow over my pathway supported by a metal archway. Space is at a premium in my little garden, so anything which I can grow upwards rather than outwards is highly desirable.

There has been loads of spinach and chard to harvest from plants which started growing last year, and I picked my first radish! It's a bit on the small side, but extremely tasty.

Tulips are still flowering, and it feels like every few days there is a new kind of weird bug living in the pond. What a genuine pleasure to watch these things play out.

[crevicedwelling]

How often do you have to do a full clean of these critters' tanks? I imagine it's more often for the slugs than for the tarantula, but I'm curious about all of them.

isopods: monthly. their waste is dry dirt, and does not rot or mold or smell, so I typically let isopod frass accumulate for youngsters to eat for gut flora and to accommodate a little burrowing. for a typical cup, I sift the frass out every month and for tubs every few months. it’s not a very urgent thing so I just do it when I have time.

centipedes, tarantula, scorpions, amblypygi: spot clean 1 day after feeding to pick up exoskeleton scraps and any centipede feces. arachnid feces is watery white like bird poop, dries to a crust. I scrape the floor of ambly enclosures now and then, they produce hardly any waste at all. scorps and Cassie make more of a mess so I spot clean like centipedes.

millipedes: I don’t. like isopods, when substrate is over half frass I sift out the smallest frass pellets, add more wood and leaf litter until substrate is complete. spirobolids actually lay single eggs in cocoons made of frass, so another reason to leave it in!

feeder roaches: about the same as millipedes, a bit of frass buildup is pretty much their substrate. provides food and burrowing medium for the beetles that live with them. most of the cleaning is removing uneaten food that might mold. about twice yearly substrate changes

slugs: scrub and soak/dry substrate weekly or more, depending.

Vicky: yearly substrate changes. I sift her cocofiber so it isn’t powdery, and she only poops in a 1x1” square behind her cool hide. geckos are very clean animals!

[ahedderick]

t   Last night, in the last part of dusk, K and I went out to gather up the chicks and put them in their cage on the porch. I’ll bring them in until they’re big enough to join the adult hens and sleep in the coop.

   I picked up one chick and the bowl of feed (it also would draw unwanted wildlife attention if left out.) I had been feeding them very small quantities, and today I gave them a bigger serving. Of course, within an hour after I gave them that, it poured rain. The pellets in their dish turned to mush. The mush is still edible, in fact it’s probably better for them in terms of keeping them hydrated and digestibility. But - argh! Sudden summer thunderstorms* can be so frustrating.

   K scooped the other two little guys, and we trouped back toward the house. As I walked up to the back door, Something hit my foot. Wetly. It then jumped off and through the door into the house.

   Ack! Toad attack. It was a small, feisty one, disoriented by the sudden light and hopping every direction at once. My hands .  were.  FULL and I didn’t want to set the chicken down inside the house to deal with a darned toad. K, coming in right behind me, managed to gently herd it back out with what looked very much like slo-mo soccer footwork. I took a slightly-vexed breath and led the way through the house to the front porch.

   Once there I couldn’t get to the cage because a laundry rack was in my way (THAt laundry didn’t get rained on - but it didn’t actually dry either. I was trying to shift the laundry rack without dropping the small chicken or the feed dish when K yelled “SLUGS! the feed dish is covered in SLUGS, Mom!!”

   And it certainly was. I kept my grip. Teeth gritted. Yelled for my son to assist. The laundry rack half collapsed, threatening to send the clean laundry to the floor. The chicken was being remarkably patient and cooperative, but I was literally losing my grip. On everything at once!

   K got her chicks popped into the cage and grabbed mine (no slugs for her, thanks!), A arrived and took the laundry from me. Once again I have provided humor for the family! I feel so good about that! I grumpily put the feed dish down on the porch floor. Those dang slugs can just. eat as much chicken feed as they want. Grr.

   Early this morning I took the chicks, and their slug-ridden feed/mush back out. I put the feed in the adult chickens’ run. The slugs were far too large for chicks to consume (and HOW would you do the Heimlich maneuver on a chicken with a slug stuck in its beak?). The adult chickens, however, regard slugs as the highest form of treat. MeAT’s back on the mENu, bOyS!

   Good morning, and I hope we all have a good and peaceful day.

* did I ALSO have laundry hung out. Yes. Yes I did

[paramouradrift]

Febuwhump Day 1 - Helpless

Fandom: Avatar/Mirror's Edge crossover au

Characters: Sokka, Katara

HELPLESS

Gunfire echoed in the crawlspace. Plastic pellets ricocheted off the concrete wall outside. Katara shrieked, flinching in Sokka’s protective hold.

“Shh, quiet!” he said, his voice pitched in a low whisper. “They’ll hear you!”

Katara nodded, and put her hands over her mouth. Sokka peeked out through the slats of the vent grate that concealed them from the street. Clouds of tear gas obstructed his view of the clashing protestors and OSec enforcers. He clenched his fists. They weren’t doing anything wrong! Why did the enforcers start shooting?

A VTOL flew overhead, rotors clearing the tear gas away as it hovered, revealing a horrifying tableau: a line of protestors on their knees, OSec enforcers standing guard. In the middle of the line, Sokka could see his mom and dad. He gasped, and pulled Katara closer into him so she wouldn’t see. Even over the VTOL, though, they heard everything.

“You can’t do this, Ozai,” Dad said, hands bound behind his back. “We have rights! The Conglomerate can’t just dictate whatever it likes!”

“Employs such as yourself should refrain from causing a public disturbance,” the man called Ozai said. He was tall, dressed in enforcer armor, and when he removed his helmet Sokka got a good look at his face: haughty, cruel, with piercing golden eyes and a well-groomed beard. “Illegal assembly, inciting a riot, assaulting members of the security services, and resisting arrest are all serious breaches of policy.”

“To hell with your policy!” Dad spat. “The Assembly won’t roll over for you or your corporate dogs!”

“They already have,” Ozai said with a triumphant smirk. Sokka clapped a hand over his mouth as OSec began to execute protestors. Dad and mom struggled to break free, to fight back, but they were helpless against OSec, helpless to stop Ozai as he drew his own gun—armed with lead slugs to kill—and fired.

The first shot went through dad’s eye. The enforcer holding him was splattered with flecks of blood and bone. Mom screamed and lunged for Ozai. The second shot went through her chest. Maybe it went through her heart. From this angle, Sokka couldn’t see. What he did see was his mom crumple to the ground, twitching and bleeding, while Ozai holstered his gun.

“Clean this up,” Ozai ordered.

“Yes, Commissioner!”

Sokka and Katara huddled silently as OSec removed the bodies. They remained in place as street cleaners came and removed the blood and debris.

“Sokka, I’m hungry,” Katara said.

“We don’t know if it’s safe yet,” Sokka replied, his own stomach growling.

A pair of running shoes stopped by the grate. Katara gasped in shock, and then Bato’s face appeared.

“Sokka? Katara?” He called quietly. “It’s okay. You can come out, now.”

“Where’s mom?” Katara asked as she clambered out.

“I’m sorry, Katara,” Bato said, shaking his head.

“Where will we go now?” Sokka asked.

“Somewhere safe,” Bato said. “Follow me.”

At 15, Sokka had watched the Conglomerate murder his parents. He vowed he would never be helpless again.

[pinklocksoflove]

An idea for one of Iggy's weapons

A double barrel shotgun that is an unusual breed both because of its bizarre appearance and its unconventional technological foundation. Instead of firing ordinary buckshot, this electromag shotgun launches small, razor-sharp steel spikes.

Critics argue that its heaviness and bulkiness make it unreasonably inconvenient for practical use. Its advocates, however, point out that the funky shotgun is undeterred by walls.

A normal shot travels faster than most shotgun pellets and keep a narrower cluster. Slugs with a normal shot is akin to a heavy caliber round that can punch through steel armor.

When charged not even concrete can block the shot to a degree.

A downside is that this weapon very easily causes collateral damage as shots tend to not stop once it penetrates a target can pass through multiple people with a charged shot.

[socialjusticeinamerica]

Modern adult precision pellet guns use up to 4,500 psi of compressed air to fire slugs with nearly the force of an actual powder burning gun. They are now used to hunt large game across the globe. This isn’t a spring loaded Daisy Red Ryder BB gun of days gone by. Many models of pre-charged pneumatics (pcp’s) can easily kill out to 200 yards and they are barely regulated.

[inkandguns]

Shotgunning was productive today. Damn it’s easy to blow through a box of shells quickly. I’m going with Fiochhi Exacta 12 ga 9 pellet 00 buck.

It was very low recoiling, when employing the “push/pull” method correctly it felt similar to the AK. Here’s the pattern at 15 yards.

Firing quickly at 15 yards with Fiochhi

And then I tested the slug zero at 15 yards:

Not bad. Next up was running the rest of the slugs on my side saddle:

This next round was not pleasant to fire at all. Federal 00 buck 9 pellet

I fired two shells because I pulled so hard to the left on the first one. 16 out of 18 pellets landed on the target. Much more of a spread than the Fiochhi nickel plated. The recoil is similar to the slugs I have hoarded so I’ll run it as training ammo to practice “push/pull”.

It was a nice little range session with the Beretta 1301. Next week I’m changing the stock out, I think it will be easier to shoot the higher recoiling rounds. The Mesa pistol grip isn’t great, I do not suggest it if you’re in the market for one of these.

Side note - the vertical oval shaped holes on either side of the target are the A zone locations when we shoot AK. Getting pretty good at that but I definitely need shotgun practice.

[all-the-pacs]

#4 - Pac-Man (Coleco Tabletop) (1981)

Now now, sweetie. We have Pac-Man at home.

Remember last week, when we said we were playing something that was officially sanctioned by Namco? Weeeell... We never said it was developed by Namco, just licensed.

Oh yeah, if Galaxian Hardware was us dipping our toes into the world of odd hardware, this is us full-on taking the plunge into the depths of the weird, obscure stuff we have to play. Behold, ladies and germs, the first official home port of Pac-Man! ...Technically, anyways.

For a tiny bit of background context, the Coleco Tabletops were Coleco's own foray into the handheld gaming market. Yes, handheld, albeit maybe only on technicality. These things were no larger than something you could rest on your desk, though you could perhaps hold them directly if you really had the dexterity for it; they were approximately the size of a lunchbox, though, so uh, good luck! Oh, and these were shaped like tabletop arcade cabinets. Coleco had the pedigree to handle electronic games by this point--after all, they made the ColecoVision console just a year after this, so we sure hope they would--so this isn't too shocking to see them here.

As for hardware... Look, we're not gonna sugarcoat it--these are Game & Watch-esque, Tiger Electronics-esque "sheet that lights up certain segments depending on the gameplay" graphics. This is why we had to expressly define what "video elements" meant, because if we didn't, we'd have to decide for ourselves whether to either include or exclude these sorts of games. Ultimately, we decided there was no harm in including these even if there aren't exactly any liquid crystal display elements to the display.

Now, you may be asking--how the heck do we plan to play this thing. This is a full on physical unit, and these things are like, 60-to-100 US bucks secondhand nowadays. And sure, this thing is definitely fair game for emulation, but how would you go about emulating this sort of device?

The answer's a little easier than you might've been expecting.

Thanks, Internet Archive! They have been and are continuing to be invaluable for this project. Case-in-point, they have several pre-configured setups powered by MAME right for you to use in-browser. Handy!

Let's zoom in a bit, and start the main game up.

...Gross. And we're not talking about the visuals, but... Maybe we are, because look at those ghosts! While the original Pac-Man hinted that the ghosts may have secretly been slug monsters, here they look more like... amoebas. It doesn't help that one of their eyes is just identical to the slice they're using for pellets, and inside their foreheads is... Pac-Man??? These look a lot like they're gelatinous blob monsters that already ate a Pac-Man! This is NOT how we expected the first game to display multiple concurrent Pac-Men (Pac-Mans?) would go.

As you can imagine from a game that looks this rudimentary, its sounds and gameplay are also pretty bare-bones. Pac-Man, the Ghosts, everything moves with strict adherence to the grid, as you can expect from a Game & Watch-style game. The maze has been simplified--so much so one of the ghosts has been kicked out of the pen and starts the game outside of it! Yet there's also dots immediately surrounding the ghost pen, and with that, zero spot for a Bonus Fruit whatsoever (We'd guess there was just no way to put it on the display, to be fair...)--fundamentally, this game does not, in fact, score like the Arcade version. Which we wouldn't remark upon if the manual didn't brazenly declare it scores like the arcade version. (More on the manual in a bit.) And yet they still somehow got Pac-Man starting by moving left perfectly intact? How baffling, but we're not complaining.

And, perhaps most importantly, the ghosts/amoebas lack unique colors... And indeed, unique behaviors of any kind. The colors are understandable, but the AI is definitely a major downgrade. Now they all act more-or-less the same, and seem to behave a bit like a reverse Clyde, wandering around aimlessly but trying their best to get to Pac-Man when he's nearby.

Probably the biggest change is the fact that these ghosts/amoebas can turn around 180 degrees. In Pac-Man, the ghosts will never reverse directions unless the player eats a Power Pellet--otherwise, they will only make 90 degree turns. Here, however? They will gladly turn around entirely and you have to be careful to avoid that. Being able to turn around freely when the ghosts couldn't was a huge advantage that the player had, but now it's gone! This definitely makes things more frustrating, and while this behavior is often associated with unofficial clones of the game, if you can believe it, this won't be the last time we see this in an official version of the game.

For whatever reason, when you eat a Power Pellet--er, a red pellet, seeing as there's only one type of pellet, just two colors for it--the Pac-Man inside the ghosts vanish? This is what actually clued us in those little dots were meant to be eyes, but then that raises a whole new conundrum... The pellets have pupils now.

Admittedly, this is kind of a Morton's Fork situation that naturally comes from trying to represent every game state in a little drawing like this--either one of the ghosts' eyes would not have a pupil, or now the dots have pupils--but honestly, we feel like maybe the former would've been better, because the latter just kinda looks plain creepy!

In any case, that's the end of the main game, but if you paid attention to the header, you'd know we have two entire other game modes to cover! Yep, this was technically the first Pac-Man game with side content to it.

The second mode, described as Head-to-Head Pac-Man, is... Weird. Another first for the series is concurrent multiplayer! Yep, it debuted here, and we guess a second player mode that happens simultaneously was seen as so impressive that they just had to call it a whole new mode. Fittingly, the handheld has a second joystick just for this.

But... y'know, it's not really all that incredible, mostly for no fault of its own, just because Coleco Tabletop Pac-Man just isn't exactly powerful to do this concept justice. Still, very strange to see simultaneous co-op Pac-Man on this dinky thing from 1981!

The third game mode, Eat & Run, is perhaps a little more interesting, though...

So, a lot of firsts here. Pac-Man has entered the ghost pen--er, the "base" if the manual is to be trusted--for the first time! Not only that, he starts in the base. And the ghosts are in the four corners with four power pellets, with zero normal pellets in sight! This is definitely weird to see so early on in the series, alright.

So, in this mode, you effectively have to play Capture the Flag. The ghosts are already out, and they're guarding the four power pellets--your flags, so to speak. Leave the base when it's open, grab as many of the pellets as you can, but victory doesn't happen when you eat all four. No, victory is only called depending on if you make it back to the base, and the more pellets you have, the more points you get! This means it's actually possible to die with zero pellets left in the maze.

And, of course, the base isn't always open--sometimes, its doors will open and shut, so you have to make it over where while it's open, unless you want to try surviving a cycle until it re-opens. This is a pretty interesting take on the game, and to be honest... It's probably as complex as this thing can handle. We kinda wish we saw a version of this with proper ghost AI and a proper maze (and if that's coming up, don't spoil us.), because it's a fun concept! It's just bogged down by this game and its... eccentricities.

...Oh, right, let's talk about the manual. We never had a better time to elaborate on this, but uhh... It's more than a little flowery, which is a double edged sword. The upside is that it's extremely funny for it! The downside is that it takes a bit of trial-and-error to learn how to work this thing on the Internet Archive's embedded emulator, because instead of clarifying how to start a game, it...

Okay, um. Let's just. Show you a collage of some of the headers in this manual. You'll see what we mean when we say it's extremely funny unintentionally, but also unhelpful when you're trying to find something about, say, how to play the game.

Goodness. Overdramatic, much?! It's just a Game & Watch-esque downscaling of Pac-Man! It's really not that heartfelt, adrenaline-filled, and sobering! Just tell me the button to press to start Eat & Run mode! ...Though, this could serve as a great fodder for blackout poetry, if anything, and as you can see above, it definitely makes for great snippets.

...Well, that's about it for the Coleco Tabletop Pac-Man. But we're not quite out of the woods just yet. So, um, next time around, expect something... Well, a little similar to this, but also a bit different. It's published by Bally Midway themselves, too! ...Technically, anyways. Look, it's complicated. We'll just be seein' you around.