#the fourth movement will have one more part to it and then we're on to order of the phoenix

[theorist-fox]

Perfect timing

Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Reader

18+

CW: filthy smut, PWP, piss, omorashi, soft dom Simon, brief CNC/dubcon. Simon's a bit mean but we love him your honor

Masterlist 🦊

There's an anvil on your chest.

Might as well be, considering Simon's bulk and how little effort he's putting into keeping his weight off you.

You're drenched in sweat but he doesn't seem to mind. The opposite, actually. Like he prefers it that way, with your skin glueing itself to his—inseparable, stuck until you can't tell where you start and he begins.

He's forcing your eyes on him. Or at least, your face. Doesn't really care whether you keep them open or roll them back—he seems more interested in watching you morph for him. How your face changes shape the more he thrusts in. A hand around your jaw, switching sometimes to wrap around your neck until your breath stutters and coughs.

You don't know how many orgasms he wants to take from you. Hell, before he pinned you to this bed, you didn't even know you could have this many orgasms. Instead here you are, with Simon's dick ploughing inside you and snatching your breath away, losing count at your third. You're so wet each movement causes a squelch that only gets louder when you cum—again.

Fourth, or fifth.

It starts to hurt sometimes, but as soon as your eyes twitch in discomfort, Simon changes tactics and it isn't painful anymore. He pulls out, stuffs his fingers inside of you instead and pumps a few times until the line between your brows smooths over. Rubs the pruny pads of his fingers over your clit until you're fluttering around nothing and your grimace turns into awe.

And then he slams back inside again. His hand returns to your jaw and his nose is brushing with yours. Simon leans closer, if even possible, and you can feel his heavy panting in your ear.

"Tired?" He purrs.

"Y-yeah," you croak. "Need a break."

His thrusts come to a slow rhythm, but he doesn't pull out. You can feel yourself flutter around the length of him and your heart pounding madly in your throat—same frequency as his, plastered to your chest. He shifts above you, planting a hand next to your head, his other one cradling your cheek. His face levels with yours, eye to eye.

"A break?" He cocks his head. "Reckon we barely started."

You snort. "You're insane. We're past started. We're past done."

He hums. "Dunno. Are we?"

"I'm pretty fucking knackered."

His lips twitch. "Are you now."

He's infuriating like that. When he takes control of you, your mind and your body, and changes your perception of things. You haven't barely started—you reckon you're pretty fucking over and done, and you'd like to reiterate that. 

But he has that look on him now. Those eyes narrowed into two cheeky slits, a hint of a smile pulling at his lips like he knows he's about to change your mind, if he hasn't already.

You mimic him. A game of stubborn stares between two people who ultimately want the same thing: for this to stop and yet never end at the same time. Feels too good to give up and too much to continue, ecstasy and fatigue clinging together like heavy chains wrapped around your chests and keeping you bound to one another.

It’s what you wanted, what you pleaded with your eyes as soon as you got home. Dark circles around them, etched by the longest of work days, and lashes fluttering as you asked if he could take care of you tonight.

And with a man like Simon Riley, what you ask is what he delivers.

He keeps rolling his hips in a comfortable, slow fashion that is soothing more than intense, like he's scratching the parts of you that you couldn't possibly reach by yourself.

"Did you even cum?" You ask in between breaths, brushing your lips with his.

He grunts. "Nah. Not yet."

Fucking hell. Might be torture at this point—for him, naturally. Bit for you as well, though. 

But to be frank you couldn't give two shits about discomfort and those zaps of overstimulation that make your eyelids twitch and your toes curl. This is anything but torment for you. You've never felt this boneless in your entire life, and honestly, you'd have paid good fucking money to experience this sooner; if only you knew it was a possibility, to have your overworked brains fucked into a soup of nothing coherent.

At this point you don't even need to cum anymore—you've done that plenty. You just need him where he is, doing this magic trick with his hips that has your insides churn and melt like hot syrup at the base of you.

He plunges in with a particularly harsh thrust and you gasp. Your eyes roll to the back of your head and your nails dig in, leaving what you’re guessing are going to be awfully deep scratches on his shoulder blades.

Simon falls still.

"F-fancy doing that any time soon?" You stutter.

And he rolls his hips deep, continuously, stretching out the moan that had already left your lips.

"Why the rush?" He asks.

The husk in his voice hints, however, that he might be in a rush as well. Greedy as always. Fill you up or paint you with it. Watch his cum ooze out of you, or witness it roll in droplets from the valley of your breasts down to your heaving belly.

"I need to pee," you breathe. "There's the rush."

Simon is unfazed. Moves like you didn't utter a word to begin with. Instead, what he does is leave your cheek and travel downwards, squeezing your breast in his hand as he passes by. He finds your clit and rolls idle circles that mimic the movement of his hips.

You throw your head back, muscles slack in your neck. 

"Fuck," you choke. Your eyes fall closed. The pressure builds and you can't quite tell if it's going to feel incredibly good or incredibly embarrassing. Or both.

Your voice rises in pitch. "Don't—"

He interjects. "Mhmh?"

You feel his hum vibrate with every inch of smugness down to your core. Your chest reverberates with it, and the enjoyment radiating from him seeps into you, effortless as osmosis.

"Why." He pulls back. 

"The." And thrusts in. 

"Rush?"

Your groan is feral. 

It scratches at your throat, dry and tasting of iron. You can feel your limbs turn gooey and powerless, your stomach contrastingly hard and contracted to stave off release.

"Fucking hell, Sim—"

"Come on, pet." He thunders above you.

"This isn't gonna end well—"

He chuckles and never falters with his fingers or his cock. Steady and precise, hitting right where you love it and touching exactly where you're tight. 

"Nah it ain't," he agrees—to an extent. "It's gonna end fucking perfect."

Your belly burns, coils, rattles—you can feel your legs shake around the thickness of his waist and your eyes tear up.

You whine. "Simon—"

"I know baby, I know." He whispers, voice low yet still thick like liquor. "Feels good, aye? Can feel it too."

You can feel it. Fucking hell you can.

His voice is soft, drawing out the vowels. "S’alrigh’. Breathe through it.”

You can feel it coming right up and it's gonna be a fucking disaster. It's in the sudden wetness rushing at the base of your belly, in the increasingly louder squelches echoing in the bedroom the more he thrusts in. 

"Cum for me, love," he purrs. You recognize the feeble stutter in his voice that hints at his own release, but he's stubborn like that and he'd rather have the most unsatisfying orgasm in the world than lose the battle he's started.

Competitive bastard even where there's no competition at hand.

"I can't—I'll—"

He predicts you. Switches his fingers so that his thumb is now rolling over your clit and the heel of his hand can press above your pubic bone.

"Make a fuckin' mess, then," he groans. "Let go, pet. Let go."

You see stars there. A shaky mess of colours shifting into unrecognizable shapes behind your eyelids, wired shut in your futile attempt to regain control of your body. You don't want it to happen and yet you do, you don't want to let go and yet you're just about to.

You try it all. Squirm away, but it only makes him drill in harder. Push at his chest, but he grabs your hands and anchors them above your head in a white-knuckled grip. 

Plead, if you like, and he'll drink your prayers with a kiss.

But it's useless. You surrendered your control to him: it's what you wanted, to be used until worn out, to feel good beyond repair, and without putting any effort into it.

He's delivering what you asked.

You whine again. "Please—oh fuck—I'll—"

"Fuckin' do it." He curses. 

His thrusts turn erratic, but the sudden switch in pace doesn't deter your orgasm from approaching. If you hadn't been so focused on tightening your abdomen, you would've noticed you were on the verge of cumming already.

"Cum all over me."

It's like a switch. Your body turns jello. You can feel your throat closing in as your mouth opens wide in a scream that doesn't quite make it through.

Simon's voice breaks in a groan that sounds like it’s coming out of the most delighted of grins.

Your orgasm is strong and gut wrenching. Body hot in bliss and shame, as a warm stream rushes out of you unbidden. It splashes down your ass and your thighs, wets Simon's legs and his pelvis. He makes it even messier by rapidly stroking his fingers over your clit, prolonging both ecstasy and embarrassment.

Wet sounds are dotted by his grunts growing louder and huskier, rough to the touch if you could brush your fingers over them.

"Fuck—" He groans. "Fuckin' perfect. That's my girl—My fuckin' girl."

He cums as well, but it's lost in the mess happening between your bodies, and your head is not quite there yet to witness it happening. You can only feel it, barely, as he twitches inside you and the grip on your wrists tightens a fraction—but the rest is as lost as you are.

Simon unceremoniously collapses above you as your breaths heave and pitch upwards, until your voice doesn't even sound like yours anymore.

His kisses, left unhurried and open on your collarbones, are what brings you back. You blink yourself back inside your body, back beneath his own—heavy and thick and sweaty. The air is pungent and smells of sex, with his breath tickling your neck and the droplets perspiring from your skin.

And even though you're feeling on cloud nine, your mind betrays the laxity of your body. You can feel embarrassment run hot through you, scorching you worse than any fire could.

"I fucking hate you," you breathe to the ceiling.

Simon chuckles against your chest. "Aye. Get in line."

"Not the time."

"Perfect time."

You frown. It's hard to breathe with him crushing your chest and you almost want to push him away, but that would mean to witness the mess you made on the bedsheets, so you decide that choking on air is a better fate.

You huff. You can feel your skin burn hot, so you use your hand to cover your face as much as you can, rubbing nervously at your cheek. 

"I didn't mean to do that."

"Glad you did," he huffs. "Cross my heart. Hottest thing y’ve ever done, pet.”

You grimace. "Eh, I don't think so."

He kisses your chest. Rises upwards until his lips meet the space beneath your lobe, and there he leaves a plain kiss that clicks softly in your ear. 

"I do." He whispers. You can feel his mouth twitch in a smile. "Bloody perfect when you relax. Should've taken a picture right there. Keep it in my wallet."

Blood warms up your chest and coils around your neck, touching your cheeks. Honest to God, this man is charming once a year and that single event always unfolds with the worst possible timing.

"Not the time to be a sap." You bite on your cheek to prevent a smile from blooming. "I just wet the fucking bed."

He snorts. "Not only the bed."

"Simon!" 

He sinks his teeth in your neck softly, as his whole body shakes with laughter. He's laughing at his own joke, and suddenly his single, charming moment of the year is over just as quickly as it began. Shame for you, that his laugh is also a rare event, and it’s as infectious as they come.

You laugh too.

"Not—" you playfully slap his shoulder. "The fucking time!"

But he's relentless, and his lips journey from your neck to your cheek. He lifts himself just enough to make you breathe, and just enough to kiss your lips.

He sighs in your mouth when you reciprocate. "Perfect time."

[xaythefreak]

Hey, its me the "old man bots yaoi couples" enjoyer the one who sent to you. Im here to bring me more because im quite normal about drift and ratchet. Very normal...

(Why have one bot, when you can have two?.. heh.. it's a package deal. Im so sigma/hj/silly)

Anyway-!! AHEM burps this at u:

Drift truly believes you’re the missing third spark to his and Ratchet’s bond— that Primus wants the three of you to be together. Every word, glance, or moment of kindness from you is a sign. Even your fear? Drift chalks it up to being overwhelmed by fate.

Drift constantly calls you little one, starlight, or our spark. Yes, our. He already sees you as part of the bond. (Sweetspark, sparkmate..... we need more nicknames, like- "my sweet discord kitten e-liaison. Our darling mate human-") gets shot 98 times

He tells Ratchet every night how lucky they are to have "found you".

Ratchet isn’t delusional— he knows you didn’t agree to any of this. But that doesn’t matter. You’re his patient, his responsibility. His.

He monitors your vitals 24/7, programs the doors to restrict your movement, and disables any datapad you try to send out.

Ratchet is sharper, more grounded— he knows your relationship isn’t real… yet. But that doesn’t stop him from locking down your access routes and tracking your vitals obsessively. (Him and the other scientists bots or smth. A working together. Brainstorm and percy is right at his back yayaya)

He rationalizes his obsession as safety: the Lost Light is dangerous, and your body is too fragile for normal routines. (Be so fr like, imagine if we sneeze or crack our fingers infront of him and he's go haywire and panic mode, thinking if we're terribly ill or sick or smth.)

He controls what you eat, where you sleep, and who you talk to— because no one else is qualified to handle a human. (I like to see other bots fighting for our reader ass smh. Its like watching a cat fight/j..)

He sometimes argues with Drift about being too fast or too gentle, but they always circle back to the same thing:

“We love them. We’re the only ones who do.”

You are now the squishy center of one very obsessed, very in-sync, very delusional mech-marriage. (Time to sign the marriage papers or sparkbond or smth.. idk)

(Look at this old ass love sickfools... they make me SICK/ affectionately)

Something about drift being delusional and ratchet being possessive and protective towards reader, scratches my brain right and flip my the switch very good.... oh my primus, they're so overbearing perhaps overwhelming— i migjt explode right here, right now!!!!!! /hj.... (I migjt send this more in your inbox if thats okay w yoi. In honesty i was nervous to send this at you 😭😭😭)

from this day fourth you shall be called "old man yaoi anon" /j

but AAAAAAAA jumping around shaking the bars of my enclosure /pos

save me old man yaoi save me,,,

doing kinky medical shit with ratchet as Drift praises us as he jorks it woah what was that must've been the wind /j

BUT this is so cute,,, both of them being delusional ass old men who just wants to keep their precious lil human safe <33

Imagine if Ratchet finds a way to you pregnant w/ him and Drifts sparkling,,,, oooohhh,, oughhhh,,,,

also PLEASE send more stuff in my inbox if you want!! i LOVE YAPPING!!!!!! /gen /nf

[averagecygnet-blog]

one thing I absolutely adore about tgwdlm is how completely and irrevocably a stage musical it is. it HAS to be a stage musical - the medium is so deeply baked into the story that it truly would not translate to another medium.

some reasons why:

the musical style is old-fashioned in a way that screams classic broadway. you can't get away from it, especially in songs like "lah dee dah dah day" and "show stoppin number". and it's not just the music, it's the dancing too - have you ever seen a kickline in a movie musical, once, ever? or jazz hands? gimme a break

along similar lines - all the broadway references! hamilton of course, but also wicked and mamma mia and jekyll & hyde

all the attention deliberately brought to the lighting and set! the performers in "la dee dah dah day" loudly saying "lights down!" when it's over; ted, paul, and emma striking the stage after "show stoppin number"; the lighting panels used as sirens, TVs, showcasing hudgins' alexa, and more; ted wheeling the big meteor prop off the stage after "let it out". they don't let you forget that we're in a theater.

all the hokey ass miming and special effects???? charlotte and hudgins having their guts ripped out is flashy and fun onstage because of the intestine props. emma and ted having blood capsules in their mouths. paul, emma, and zoey violently shaking when pantomiming being in a helicopter. ted running in place, moving forward or back to suggest movement across the road. it's all so fun and consistently reminds you that this is a stage

double-casting as intentional obstruction of the truth. we're used to seeing one actor play several roles in a musical, so when a familiar face shows up in a new costume we assume it's a new character. but it was zoey flying the helicopter to clivesdale, and I think it was zoey in the hospital at the end as well. you couldn't pull that shit in a movie because movies don't double-cast.

the role of the audience, the laughter and gasps and reactions and applause, especially the applause at the end when emma is begging the audience members to let her use their phone and demanding to know why they're clapping; sure movies have audiences too but the presence of the audience as part of the story makes a point about societal ideals as something we all have a part in that a movie just couldn't make in the same way

on a related note - emma's sudden awareness of the stage and the audience as the horror trope where the person realizes they're trapped and will imminently die. she knows she can't escape because it's just a fuckin loop. she knows no one will save her because they're all clapping. you couldn't do that in a movie because in a movie there is a fourth wall, whereas on a stage there's nowhere for the characters to run away. on a stage the characters can look you, the audience, directly in the eye, with no camera or screen between you

I will literally never shut up about that curtain call

god damn what I wouldn't give to watch this show performed live

[butterflydm]

more WoT s3 spec - what we know vs what we're guessing at

I've been poking at what we know about s3 vs what we can reasonably guess, so I wanted to break that down a bit.

So there are a few things we know just about the structure of how the show has worked so far: we know they shoot in blocks of two episodes each and that each of those blocks is going to have the same director for both episodes. Because of this info, we can make some guesses at where specific episodes may land. We also have some casting info (wotseries.com being a great resource here).

They tend to have a major reveal in the fourth episode - Nynaeve being incredibly powerful in the One Power in 1x04; Selene being Lanfear in 2x04.

What we know for certain:

Rhuidean & the Waste will appear (Rand & Egwene's storyline).

Tanchico will appear (Nynaeve & Elayne's storyline).

The Two Rivers will appear (Perrin's storyline).

Rand and Perrin will each get focus episodes akin to Nynaeve having "What Might Be" and Egwene having "Eyes Without Pity" in s2.

We have four episode titles: "To Race The Shadow"; "A Glimpse of Crimson"; "Goldeneyes"; and "He Who Comes With The Dawn".

Sea Folk are confirmed for S3.

Potential leaks include:

Mat, Min, and Thom all being part of Nynaeve & Elayne's storyline in Tanchico. Big change for Mat & Min, but matches canon for Thom. And since show-onlys have only seen Thom with Mat and Rand, it would make sense to use Mat to re-introduce us to him.

Reports of the actresses reported to be playing Morgase and Elaida seen at a castle which is almost certainly in Caemlyn (Andoran banners spotted), most likely for the first or second episode due to the timing.

An actress playing Maigran (one of the Aiel from the Rhuidean glass columns sequence) is listed under the director who is being used for eps 3 and 4.

An actress has been cast to play an older version of Latra and I really like @wheeloftimeofficial's idea that we'll see her as the ancient Aes Sedai who establishes Rhuidean in the glass column memories, especially since the younger actress also has s3 listed on her CV.

We have (unofficially) confirmed castings for Faile & Galad.

Hints we've gotten from interviews & bts info:

In an interview filmed before the actors' strike, Daniel mentions Lan having some really good relationship scenes with Nynaeve, so we know that there's interaction between those characters before their plotlines separate, implying that we will not begin with everyone already all off on their separate journeys, like they were in 2x01.

Also from Daniel, it's implied that there are training scenes between Lan and Rand (could happen at any point, since Lan is likely to be in Rand's storyline the entire season).

From what Josha has said, the show will be pivoting to a more familial relationship between Egwene and Rand next season (which matches the book timing).

Rafe made a point of mentioning that Elayne healing Rand was to flag to the audience that this was a relationship to pay attention to (which implies we'll get at least some movement on that relationship in s3).

Josha also says that there is "way more togetherness" for Two Rivers' characters in s3 than in s2.

In an unrelated interview on screenrant, Rima Te Waita (Sheriam) mentioned that she will not be in s3 but, if s4 is greenlit, she will be in s4.

Josha and Ayoola posted some cute instas of each other after finishing up the South Africa shooting stint near Cape Town, which might be a hint towards our potential AviRand interactions (could also just be the actors being cute!).

Guesses based on book & show knowledge:

It seems likely to me that Gawyn & Galad will be introduced in the same episode as Morgase and Elaida, which I am tentatively going to guess will be episode 2.

I think that Verin, Alanna & their Warders are going to be getting out of Cairhien as quickly as possible. And that they are pretty conveniently set up to head to their TSR storyline.

I am pretty torn about when the coup will happen! I feel like it happening this season feels pretty much a lock because there really isn't any more "White Tower storyline" until the coup happens, and they do already have the set made. But it could either happen pretty early on or fairly late in the season. Maybe episode five? That lets us meet Elaida in episode 2, gives her and possibly Gawyn & Galad time to get to the White Tower, maybe we get some scenes of her politicking in the WT in episode 4, with the trigger being pulled in episode 5 or 6. But another possibility is that the coup happens right away, while all those Sisters are still in Cairhien and we see Liandrin take the lead on something like stilling Siuan and Leane, which would put the White Tower in chaos before Elaida even arrives. There are at least two Black Ajah Sisters in Cairhien, after all, and Liandrin likes to act extra-judicially, and she might want to try to make sure that Siuan is taken care of before anyone has a chance to out her (Liandrin) as Black Ajah. But there is also a chance that it might happen in the finale, so that we can parallel Moiraine & Siuan's 'downfalls'. So really this one is a wildcard for me. It isn't really directly tied to any other specific events in TSR, so it can happen whenever.

We will get the glass columns in episode 3 or 4. In the books, it happened as soon as Rand landed in the Waste, basically, but the show could potentially do Cold Rocks Hold first, depending on how Rand is getting to the Waste. I used to lean towards it happening in ep3, but after learning the leak about Mat being in Tanchico, it made me wonder about ep4, maybe, as that could potentially lead to Mat going through the doorways (just speculation with zero leaks or spoilers to back it up but I like it a lot lol) from Tanchico to Rhuidean either at the end of ep4 or the start of ep5, leaving Nynaeve & Elayne's storyline and going to Rand & Egwene's.

I do keep thinking about Josha saying that the Two Rivers' kids would have "way more togetherness" than in s3, which seems difficult if they all separate by or after ep2 and then don't reunite the entire season. I guess technically it would be true because they don't reunite in s2 until the final moments of 2x08 but feels somewhat underwhelming to mention, lol.

I do still suspect that we're getting Lanfear & Moiraine with the doorway at the end of the season.

So, a tentative outline. Now we leave behind the more solid leaks and knowledge and enter into the wild speculations. Please check out @markantonys' recent post too, she's got some fun speculations!

3x01: To Race the Shadow

"Way more togetherness" between the Two Rivers group than in s2, so says Josha. This is also where we have to be getting the Lan & Nynaeve romantic scenes that Daniel keeps hyping up, lol.

Moiraine and Rand are going to be arguing about his next plans.

Something will happen that makes them realize that Something Is Up in Tanchico -- this might be a first Dream from Egwene that leads them in the direction of the museum? Which also leads to her talking to Amys, which is why she decides to go with Rand instead of going with Nynaeve & Elayne. The big question for me is if they are going to Tanchico because of Liandrin or if they go for other reasons and then run into Liandrin also being there to get the same thing that they're getting.

Now Mat may go into a doorway here as speculated by @markantonys (the room of curiosities) but for this specific outline, I'm going to say that he doesn't, and instead he chooses to go with Elayne & Nynaeve because he's running away from Rand (after the Stabbening). This pulls in something that Mat tries to do a lot in the books but gives him a new motivation that fits his show character.

I think Lanfear is going to warn Rand about the rest of the Forsaken being free but potentially also send Liandrin to Tanchico to try to get the, uh, plot token for her potential use in the future (a girl needs a back-up plan).

Lanfear talking to Rand might be another thing that Rand and Moiraine argue about.

Rand and Egwene are going to have their official 'break-up' and then we'll see their more platonic relationship develop over the course of the season. I also feel like we have to have at least a scene or two with Rand and Elayne to establish them feeling Some Kind of Way about each other, to build on that moment from 2x08.

3x02: A Glimpse of Crimson

Good episode title for a Red Ajah & Andor episode!

I'm going to guess that Rand & co are going to be stopping in Caemlyn (my feelings are similar to @markantonys about us potentially getting a garden introduction between Egwene & Gawyn here, and then having Rand & Egwene meet Elaida & Morgase (and Galad?). Elaida will have her Foretelling about Rand and freak herself out.

Our group hears the rumors about the Two Rivers, and Perrin decides to go investigate. The question is how is Rand going to get to the Waste from Caemlyn? I don't feel like they would introduce Portal Stones as a one-off if they haven't done it before, so I think there's a chance that Loial might go with Rand instead of Perrin, as Perrin doesn't need to go through the Ways to get to the Two Rivers (of course, then they would need to change how the battle resolves in 3x07).

(alternatively: there's always the Lanfear express, I guess, lol)

This could also be when Elayne, Nynaeve, & Mat arrive in Tanchico, and their introduction to the city is our B plot. I don't think they would throw all the plots at them at once and I feel like just introducing Thom first would be a good start for the first episodes in Tanchico.

3x03: Unknown

Rand & co arrive in the Waste, but I'm going to send them to Cold Rocks Hold for now, instead of straight to Rhuidean. This gives Rand and Aviendha time to bond, Rand and Moiraine time to fight, Rand and Lan time to train together, and gives the audience a chance to get to know the Aiel culture in a bit more of a relaxed setting. Then we get an attack by Shadowspawn and Rand gets the reminder that the other Forsaken have been let free and don't share Ishamael and Lanfear's feelings about him.

Another plot will be in Tanchico, involving Nynaeve, Elayne, and Mat investigating, running into Min and/or Egeanin or Tuon taking Egeanin's role. This may be where we get our early encounters with Moghedien (she Compels one or more of our characters to spill the beans to her about their plans) and potentially where she reveals herself to Liandrin & co as one of the Chosen and takes control of their group after playing servant for part of the episode.

We also have Perrin & co arriving in the Two Rivers and getting the lay of the land. This could be a fairly emotional episode for Perrin, due to memories of Laila's death. Maybe when Perrin says goodbye to Laila (putting his ring on her grave/memorial?) and potentially our first sighting of Faile.

3x04: Unknown

Rand goes to Rhuidean and into the glass columns. This is the main plot of the episode and Rand's focus episode of the season.

We get the history of the Aiel here, and learn about Rand's ancestors.

Subplot: Aviendha is told that she is destined to be a Wise One (maybe she accidentally channeled during the fight at Cold Rocks Hold?) and deals with idea that she has to leave behind being a Maiden.

Our Tanchico B-plot leads to Mat entering through the twisted doorway in the museum, For Reasons, and getting his prophecies. Maybe this same plotline leads to Elayne and Nynaeve finding dream ter'angreal, and to Tuon/Egeanin realizing that Elayne and Nynaeve are channelers, and potentially learns that all sul'dam are, and then leaves our main plotline at this time.

3x05: Unknown

When Rand leaves the glass columns, he finds Mat hanging on the tree outside, and saves his life (we've gotten a few different pieces of foreshadowing about Mat being hanged, so I feel like it will happen at some point). Mat says he was just in Tanchico.

We catch up with Perrin in the Two Rivers, with him learning to move past his grief as he gets to know Faile.

Because we've already done Cold Rocks Hold, this means that Rand & co can go straight to Alcair Dal at this point.

Aviendha and Rand bond over their lives being dictated by being able to use the One Power and not having any choices about their future.

On the way to Alcair Dal, we meet the traders, who are hiding Lanfear and Asmodean in their ranks, and Lanfear sees that Rand is getting closer to Aviendha and Does Not Approve.

Nynaeve and Elayne worry about where Mat has disappeared to and experiment with the dream ter'angreal that they recently discovered in the museum (might only be one: the twisted stone ring, so that channeling isn't needed for it), and run into Birgitte in the dream. She gives them a warning but they realize that this is the same place that Egwene was talking about in 3x01 and are excited that they might be able to communicate with her.

3x06: Unknown

Another journey into TAR for Nynaeve (maybe a successful contact with Egwene?), and she encounters Birgitte again, but Moghedien too, and this leads to Birgitte getting ripped out of TAR and bonded by Elayne to save her life.

Moiraine tells Rand that he needs to go to Tear, to fulfill more of the prophecies, but Rand is resistant.

The Two Rivers ramps up for the battle.

This would also be a good spot for the coup, imo.

3x07: Goldeneyes

The Battle of the Two Rivers. Potentially Perrin's focus episode as well, as he comes into his own as a leader. I think that it would be good to push any confirmed Perrin/Faile romance forward into the future, so they will still just have some vibes for now.

We get some pieces moving into place for the other storylines: Rand arrives at Alcair Dal; Nynaeve and Elayne make plans to return to the museum.

3x08: He Who Comes With The Dawn

Desperate to get through to Rand and worrying that he is focusing on the Aiel instead of being the Dragon Reborn, Moiraine went back to Rhuidean to try to use the doorway, as when Mat talked about his experiences there, she recognized what he was talking about and wants answers of her own.

Rand announces himself at Alcair Dal, drawing the attention of Lanfear, who makes her pitch to him that We Could Rule Together, worrying that she's losing her hold over him after seeing him getting closer to Aviendha. She tells him about Asmodean and about him potentially teaching Rand so that he can reach his potential.

Inside the doorway, Moiraine gets answers that she doesn't like about Rand and Lanfear (sort of merging her going into the doorway in Tear with her going into the silver rings).

On the Tanchico side of things, we have our big Tanchico encounter between Nynaeve and Moghedien, which results in Nynaeve breaking her block. Nynaeve and Elayne escape Tanchico on a Sea Folk ship, heading towards Tear, potentially bringing Min & Thom along with them.

After talking with Lanfear, Rand is let out of his 'bubble' at Alcair Dal as Couladin declares that HE is the Car'a'carn and he will prove it by leading the Aiel to conquer the wetlands (setting up s4 to be a combo of TFoH/LoC, with a hint of TDR with the destination being Tear instead of Cairhien). Rand realizes that the fake dragons on Couladin's arms were put there by Asmodean and goes after him -- Asmodean Skims back to Rhuidean and he and Rand battle, and Lanfear arrives, puts the block on Asmodean and offers him up as a teacher to Rand. Moiraine takes advantage of Lanfear's focus on Rand to yeet both of them into the doorway while channeling, based on the knowledge that she learned inside, melting the doorway. We see in the Tanchico storyline that the other doorway melts at the same time, leaving them no exit.

And I agree with @markantonys that possibly the most effective stinger would be the reveal that Tuon is the DotNM, but if there is no Tuon in this season, we could have it be a Forsaken (Sammael) setting up shop in Tear, to set the scene for the upcoming season.

It is a lot more cliffhanger-y than our previous season finales and I'm sure that my thoughts on it will change as we get closer and learn more spoilers, but that is my wild speculation for this specific week!

[capricornlevi]

tattoo artist!choso x reader // v mildly suggestive/nsfw, mdni // wc ~700

---

"choso, it's just like tattooing anybody else," you quip, diligently keeping your arm in the position he set out at the beginning. his tattoo parlour's bench is quite comfortable, all things considered -- you don't think you could manage two hours on your side with your arm over your head otherwise. "just pretend i'm any other client."

"you're not," he retorts, and when you glance down at him, you see he's locked in on the movements of the needle, eyes not so much as flickering a millimetre in your direction. his hair is pulled back out of his eyes, his sleeves rolled up to reveal the black-and-white whirls of his own designs, but even as you gawk down at him, he continues pretending that the only visible part of you is the three-inch wide patch of skin he's tattooing.

equal parts relieving and frustrating.

"how is it any different?" you press, trying to point out the ridiculousness of his worries.

he scoffs in response, careful to not let it affect his movements, the unrelenting sting of the needle against your ribcage serving as evidence. "i haven't seen my other clients naked before."

you roll your eyes. "you've seen me naked three times, y'know. we're hardly married. can't a girl ask her talented friend-with-benefits for a tattoo? isn't that one of the benefits?"

choso's nose scrunches up adorably, brow furrowing from something other than concentration. "don't call us that."

"aw, are we lovers? paramours? in a situationshi-"

"don't finish that sentence," he butts in impatiently, gloved hand holding your waist firmly in place as he puts the finishing touches on his design.

he had been mumbling before about how awkward this could be, how he doesn't like to tattoo people he knows. how it's too much pressure.

you decide to put his mind at ease. "well, we're not dating, so if it turns out shit, i can't really break up with you. i can only just ... make it so that you won't see me naked a fourth time, i guess. is that still a scary consequence?"

"terrifying," he mumbles through a fond smile, your ramblings having successfully cut through the tension. and just then, the buzz of the needle quietens to a stop, with choso grabbing some equipment from his side tray that you presume is for the aftercare.

"is that it?" you gasp, trying to angle your head to catch a glimpse at the finished work. "is it done?"

"that didn't feel like two hours to you?" he asks, lips still pulled up into a nervous little grin as he grabs a mirror. "can't say the same for myself. i told you how much pressure it is-"

"choso!" you squeal, a bit more ungracefully than you expected, mouth falling open as the image of your tattoo reflects in the mirror in front of you. "i fucking love it!"

the design is the stuff of your pinterest board dreams; exactly as you imagined it but somehow better, with refined details you couldn't have pictured yourself. all done with minimal pain and only a bit of griping on the artist's end.

a blush has formed along choso's sharp cheekbones, the same blush you get to see whenever you have the apartment to yourself and can invite him over without your shared friend group making the world's biggest deal out of it.

the same blush he gets whenever you kiss him, when your fingernails start to dig in against his lower back as he --

"you like it?" he asks, adorably bashful despite the objective beauty of his design.

"of course," you reply earnestly, figuring it best not to tease him when he's done you such a favour. "i know you're giving me a reduced rate, but fuck, man, you could charge double for this."

"double is a bit dramatic," he replies quietly, blush spreading. your turn to grin.

"okay, then i'll have to make it up to you in other ways, i guess."

he swallows thickly, your implication obvious even to someone as innocent as choso.

still, for the sake of clarity and to show your sincere gratitude -- and your own self-interest, admittedly, since you can't believe it's been nearly two weeks since you're felt his lips on yours -- you decide to elaborate on your offer.

"up for a fourth time?"

[jumpywhumpywriter]

Living Weapon Whumpee part 17

Warnings: forced living weapon/fighter, recovery whump, reluctant alliance, rejection by peers, betrayal

But the men were growing bolder and more confident the longer Whumpee was around, and it was on the fourth day that Whumpee faced his first round of genuine, direct trouble.

It was usually passive-aggressive with them, but this time he was being directly challenged by Jake himself.

"So you've suddenly switched sides, eh? I don't buy it," Jake sneered boldly after a long training session. Whumpee raised a single eyebrow at him, and a few of the men behind Jake shrank away at that movement alone.

"Flint seems to think you're tamed now, docile. But we all know the truth, and I'm tired of pretending I'm okay with this. And I'm pretty sure I speak for all of us when I say that."

A few murmurs of agreement rippled through the group.

"What are you hoping to accomplish by telling me this?" Whumpee asked flatly. He kept his expression carefully neutral to avoid escalating the situation.

A lot of men will likely go out of their way to cause you trouble, Flint's words echoed in his mind. Whumpee needed to keep calm, show he wasn't a threat if he wanted to earn any trust whatsoever. If it was a rise Jake was looking for out of him, he wouldn't give him the satisfaction. But his blood still boiled at Jake's words.

"What I'm saying is that we don't want you here," Jake scoffed, lip curling. "If what you say is true that you want to help, run away from this place, and don't come back. We're all safer without you. You're a ticking time bomb."

It hurt more than Whumpee expected, stinging him in the chest, a pang of hurt. "...I will leave if Flint tells me to." He spoke slowly, deliberately, choosing his words carefully. "Flint is now my leader as much as he is yours. And I only take orders from leaders like him."

Jake's eyes flared and darkened with anger. "I am leader of this team, or have you forgotten? So by your own logic your loyalty should apply to me too, right? So if I tell you to leave, shouldn't you obey like a good dog?"

The heavily conditioned part of Whumpee instinctively wanted to cling to the order and follow it, but he consciously stopped himself, revolted by the mockery of being called a 'good dog'.

In his peripheral, Reed caught his attention, back turned to him and peering down the hall like he was looking for something. Something about it didn't feel right, but his attention snapped back to Jake when the large man took a menacing step forward.

Whumpee's mind was already analyzing the situation and preparing for a fight out of pure habit.

Favors left leg, typically feigns to the right during sparring...

He shook his head with a frown. No, what am I thinking? I'm not supposed to fight these men, he reminded himself firmly. But Jake was egging him on, and it was really starting to get under his skin.

Suddenly, Reed let out a single short whistle, low and quiet, some sort of signal, and Whumpee stepped back in surprise as Jake lunged toward him, swinging a loaded right hook. He was under attack, instinctively defending himself. It was a bold move from Jake, one he hadn't seen coming.

⏪️ Back Next ⏩️

Masterlist

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump

@ay5ksal @otterfrost @sausages-things @i-don't-know-sal @togzy

@whump-till-ya-jump @cravesunconditionallove @whumpwritinglover222 @silly-scroimblo-skrunkl

[sleepynegress]

A COMPREHENSIVE & AUTHENTIC UHURA LOVE/HISTORY POST

The above is where Roddenberry 1st employed Nichelle Nichols [click to watch the full clip]. It was a military show based on Roddenberry's own experiences, the episode is called To Set it Right (I highly suggest reading the wiki article about it).

You should note two other actors, whom he later pegged for Star Trek are in the episode.

They dated briefly and then became good friends way before Trek came about.

Miss Nichols was already an accomplished singer and dancer who performed regularly w/ Billy Eckstine and Duke Ellington

Roddenberry's 1st show, The Lieutenant, was canceled/pulled from the air before these scenes bluntly dealing with racism could air (there's blackface as punishment for the racists at the end of the show, in a case of 'he 'a little confused but got the spirit' for the times, so tw)

He created Star Trek to try to soften the blow of all the social messaging he wanted to insert from his military experience. Star Trek was basically, a submarine drama placed in a sci-fi setting. He made it diverse on purpose because the military helped him travel and serve with all kinds of people. Roddenberry was inspired by that.

Uhura was the first person to read for Spock and in fact, helped to shape the character with her reading and based many of the traits of Uhura (formerly Uhuru) on Spock.

She was basically a glorified secretary. She played the part with poise, joy, and the 60's style womanism she got to play out for those times... Everything from her mini-skirt (which Nichelle herself called very comfortable) to her smile, and teasing lines, and quips were about her playing "big" in a small role. She made every moment, every look, every line, and movement count:

Roddenberry cracked jokes about the fact that the network never figured out that Uhura was fourth in command.

Nichelle was the only main cast member who was not salaried. She was paid by the hour. This attempt at marginalization actually resulted in her being the highest paid at times, because of the long hours.

Nichelle was not let in the front entrance at times, her fan-mail was kept from her, and she grew frustrated with the constant cutting of her scenes, lines and storylines. This is why she justifiably attempted to leave. The bigots in production did not like her being there (and if we're being real, were it not for Janice Rand's actress Grace Lee Whitney having gone through so much and thus losing her job in the 1st season...Uhura might have had even LESS presence)

The lost context in MLK convincing her to stay was that YES she was minimized and could make more money and be more fulfilled on broadway, but her symbolism and presence meant so much at a time when Black women weren't on TV unless as a racist caricature cleaning a house, and even that was rare...that she stayed.

One of her best allies was DeForest Kelly, who threatened to quit if they fired Nichelle. George Takei was her absolute best friend on the show and in life (she served as his Best Woman at his wedding).

There was an unfilmed episode in which Uhura and Deforest would have played reverse roles in "racial dynamics" on a planet they visit

Spock and Uhura were originally supposed to kiss in the alien mind control episode, but Shatner demanded to do so for the publiicity.

Her work to recruit marginalized people as astronauts, as in personally going to colleges and talking to candidates after the show is a staggering achievement that arguably is the most potent of any castmember in any of the Trek series post-show. Sally Ride, Guy Bluford (she personally recruited the 1st woman and 1st black astronaut), Mae Jemison (the 1st black woman credits her for inspiring her to become an astronaut).

Uhura did finally command the ship in the animated series. She would not have gotten to voice the role, but for Leonard Nimoy making it an obligation that all the original actors voice their parts for him to come on.

Scotty and Uhura in the film was definitely a pair the spares situation, in which both were the leftover senior citizens with the writers just going "why not?"

it was beyond insulting and she did protest about the scene where she's bumbling through a giant translation book to speak to klingons for laughs in trek 5 ...but her best moment IMO is her pulling a gun on the young ensign in the transporter room in Trek 3...sadly her ONLY scene in the damn movie.

Miss Saldana got to play to MANY corrections in JJ Abrams rebooted Trek, from being amazing at languages to having an actual life & love, to confidently turning down Kirk at every turn.

FUN FACT!! Both JJ and Bob Orci both expressed disappointed shock that the love story between Spock & Uhura got more hatred from fans than BLOWING UP PLANET VULCAN.

another FUN FACT!! The love story between Spock & Uhura is what grabbed the old school Star Wars fan (JJ Abrams) enough to come aboard to direct. Yep. JJ ships Spock & Uhura.

Zoe's iteration became the 1st version of Uhura to speak confidently in Klingon

Celia Rose Gooding becoming Uhura brings around a lot of Uhura's qualities full circle, IMO. As she is also from theatre (like Nichelle) and has a beautiful singing voice as well as the charm. Zoe's iteration was sharper, and much more protective, professional, & mature, about her life and love.

Celia Rose has the youthful curiousity and stars in her eyes and had vulnerability from her first intro... I loved the eagerness the crew showed to being in her orbit, seeing the glow of her talent and being drawn to that, to have a part in nurturing that.

As I've said... Celia IMO has the most dazzling smile, giant warm brown eyes, fantastic curves, and an energy that feels essentially Uhura, & that is all light, joy, a bit of uncertainty, -from the light singing (!) and the growth to her joy in discovery... I'd love to see her writing move away from serving and be more about her wants needs and growing in friendships/loves.

But Celia is a gift and is perfectly cast.

Essentially Uhura = femininity, graceful carriage, gorgeous smile, excellence in engineering and translation (canon!), ability to sing and play the Vulcan lyre, sharp womanist wit, love for her U.S. of African-Kenyan culture and being beloved by all crew...

When Miss Celia hummed those gorgeous notes to the alien entity on that comet?? That Solidified that she IS Uhura IMO.

I 100% think they fucked up by killing Hemmer, because that mentor-mentee relationship was giving marginalized coming together and bonding over everybody else's bullshit and I was here for it...it was giving me Data and Geordi updated...and since then, IMO they've lost track and given us the same kinda backwards wingwoman role BS, that people who like to pretend to be her fan shoehorn her into.

...but I have high hopes that they'll course-correct.

All this to say ALL OF THE ABOVE is Uhura and anyone calling her ugly, bossy, pushy, annoying, whatever is just sad little hater who doesn't know wtf they are talking about.

[mi4011-elrenrikvagbandara]

Class Activity- Animation analysis

One Piece- Episode 1072 "The Ridiculous Power! Gear 5 in full play"

The Animation Magic of Luffy's Gear 5: 12 Principles in Action (Episode 1072) Watching One Piece episode 1072 last night and I'm STILL not over how the animation team absolutely demolished every expectation with Luffy's Gear 5 debut. As an animation student, I couldn't help but notice how beautifully they incorporated practically ALL of Disney's 12 principles of animation. Let me break this down before I lose my mind from lack of sleep. 1. Squash & Stretch

The entire CONCEPT of Gear 5 is basically squash and stretch on steroids. Like when Luffy grabs Kaido and stretches him into ridiculous proportions, or when his own body compresses and expands with those exaggerated rubber movements due to his awaked abilities of gear 5 being in full play – this was just pure animation gold. His face stretching into those wild expressions while maintaining volume? Chef's kiss. 2. Anticipation

Did you know that there were perfect wind-up moments before Luffy's major attacks like a looney toon character? There's this split second before he transforms his arm into that giant fist where everything slows down. The animators gave us that brief hold before the explosive action that makes the impact feel SO much more satisfying. 3. Staging

The way they framed Luffy against that stunning moonlit sky? (Perfection muwah!). Each major move is clearly presented so we never miss a beat of the action. When Luffy looks directly at us facing towards the screen with that mischievous grin, breaking the fourth wall – that's a selective staging designed to make us feel like we're part of his playful chaos which is hilarious n it really draws you in. 4.Straight Ahead vs. Pose to Pose The fluidity of Luffy's more cartoonish movements screams straight ahead animation, while his power poses feel meticulously planned and unhinged. That contrast between the wild rubber physics and those impactful freeze frames creates this perfect rhythm throughout the fight making you try and guess on what luffy's next move is 5.Follow Through & Overlapping Action From Luffy's hair, his clothing, even his LIMBS in the way he moves have this gorgeous follow-through as he bounces around that makes it feel ridiculous since that what gear 5 is. Nothing stops all at once. When he spins for a punch, his body parts move at different rates and settle at different times. It's this attention to detail that makes his movement feel so natural despite being completely fantastical. 6.Slow In & Slow Out

The timing of Luffy's movements is just *chef's kiss*. He starts slow, builds momentum, and then slows again at the end of each major action. That drumbeat attack where he bounces Kaido's head is the perfect example – gradual acceleration and deceleration that gives weight to each impact. 7.Arcs

No stiff, linear movements here! Everything flows in these beautiful arcs from Luffy's punches to his body as he flies through the air. Even his eyebrows move in arcs! This is why his movements feel so dynamic and alive making it seen everything around him is alive aswell which is seen everywhere from the ground to the sky and even the air around him 8.Secondary Action

While Luffy's main actions drive the scene, there are SO many secondary movements that everything happening simultaneously n instantaneously. His clothes rippling, his hair bouncing, his eyes widening – all these little details add dimension without distracting from the main action even kiado gets these little little details matching with luffy's style while still being himself and menacing to the views. 9.Timing

The rhythmic pacing of the animation is IMPECCABLE. Fast, explosive moments contrasted with held poses and anticipation frames. The animators knew exactly when to speed up for impact and when to slow down for comedy or emphasis since many different animators from all over the world came together to create this episode especially which can be seen in their own style in the anime itself. 10.Exaggeration

I mean... this is literally what Gear 5 is all about. Everything is turned up to 11! From Luffy's ridiculous facial expressions to the impossible physics of his attacks – it's cartoonish exaggeration that somehow still feels true to the character we've followed for 1000+ episodes making luffy truly feel like the freest man to ever live 11.Solid Drawing

Even with all that exaggeration, Luffy always maintains a sense of weight and three-dimensionality. His proportions may change wildly, but there's still this underlying structure that keeps him recognizable. The animators clearly understand his form from every angle and oda made sure of this himself,. 12.Appeal

Luffy's Gear 5 design is just inherently appealing. The contrast of the white hair and clothing against the colorful backgrounds, the expressive eyes, that infectious smile – it's impossible not to be drawn into his joy and freedom. The color white mainly symbolizing freedom and peace and nobody can resist luffy's smile and laugh its just that feeling that when he smiles you smile with him.

This episode wasn't just an amazing animation – it was a masterclass in applying traditional principles to push the boundaries of what anime can be and it made history in all of anime culture for years to come. I've rewatched it like 7 times now and keep catching new details (My obsession with one piece is getting out of hand at this point!). If this is what we can expect from Gear 5 going forward, my animation studies might have to take a backseat to my One Piece obsession 😅 Anyway, back to my storyboard assignment that suddenly feels very inadequate...

[askpokeeosin]

[TMI Tuesday] Have you ever had second thoughts about your current career choice?

Now that I'm a fourth year medical student and have had that time to think about everything that I've seen and experienced, I'd say that it kinda depends on what you mean. There's two ways to answer the question: regrets regarding medical specialty and regrets regarding the medical field as a whole.

Regarding specialty, well, I don't have one yet. I'll be applying for residency training this academic year and my plan is to apply for psychiatry. The funny thing, though, is that from first to third year, I was doing everything I could to try and *not* like psychiatry. There was always this fear that going into psychiatry would result in me abandoning the rest of my general medicine knowledge. There's actually a post about that *really* early in this blog's archive.

At the time that I got into medical school, I was really interested in either family medicine or neurology. I still like family medicine a lot and if I can't get into psychiatry, as much as I want it, I still see myself being happy in family medicine because I like primary care and the generalness of knowledge needed in order to do it well. After doing a vascular neurology (neurology focused on strokes) rotation, I realized that my only interest in neurology was the stuff like movement disorders which are often part of psychiatry and often have a psychiatric component. The problem is that stroke is very much a giant part of the field and I just wasn't as wild about it as I thought I would be. There's a super small window for treatment of strokes and if you miss it, there's not much that can be done except get the patient on aspirin, a statin, and blood pressure meds and get physical and occupational therapy on board early. And that was the case for a lot of patients I saw on that service. A lot got better but more often than not, it wasn't anywhere near what their function was like pre-stroke. Psychiatry, on the other hand, I got to see actual improvement in the patients every day that I was there. Seeing a previously psychotic patient becomes coherent to the point that we're able to send them home felt great. So just a long way to say that I regret trying to force myself to like/not like a specialty before I actually experienced it.

Regarding medicine in general. No regrets about it whatsoever lol. This is actually a second career for me. I was always told that if I could see myself doing something else, do that instead of medicine. I did something else and I was bored to tears with it. I might have a different answer to that question by the time I finish up residency training where I'll be working (on paper) potentially 80 hours a week averaged out over the course of 4 weeks. But right now, no regrets about where I'm at.

[bayofwolves]

Rereading Blood Ties

We're back again with the third book! In these posts, I highlight details that I find interesting enough to comment on and/or that I previously missed as a younger reader. Since I plan to revise this series and create a fourth arc, a full reread is in order. So, let's see what adventures these kids get up to next!

This is one of my favourite covers in the entire series. There's really nothing more iconic than the first, like, four covers in my opinion. Also, the way I see Meilin is pretty close to how she appears here.

Rollan experiences seeing through Essix's eyes for the first time in this book, completely by accident. And that's not the only thing. In a later chapter, he taps in to her sense of taste, too (unfortunately for him).

Xue hesitates when she introduces herself to Meilin, suggesting that this may not be her real name. "My name is... You can call me Xue."

True melanistic tigers such as Zhamin do not exist on Earth, so here we have a fictional tiger colour!

Assuming names from Meilin's part of Zhong follow the same conventions as Chinese ones, Meilin's full name would be written as Teng Meilin (surname first, followed by given name). Of course, it's never explicitly stated that Teng is a surname, but from my basic knowledge of Chinese names, I think it's clear enough. Meilin is probably the only one of the Four to have a surname.

Somehow, the Tergesh never summon spirit animals, which Lishay theorizes is because of their existing relationships with their rhinos. Interesting. So exposure to an animal from a young age can prevent any spirit animal bond from forming? I feel like it should be the other way around -- growing up close with one animal opens up the possibility of a spirit animal bond forming between you when you're old enough -- but that's just me.

Lishay is able to understand Zhosur's thoughts as if there is a telepathic link between them. Same with Tarik and Lumeo. This must be common in spirit animal bonds. Do the humans just have the thought deposited in their minds, or do they hear the "voice" of their spirit animal? I think it would be awesome if, in time, the Four Fallen were able to speak directly into their human partners' minds, using the voices they had as Great Beasts.

Meilin's tattoo of Jhi keeps moving around from the back of her hand to her arm, even in this one book. I go with the hand in A Revised History of Erdas; it's a more unique location.

It appears Conor has renounced his ties to Trunswick since Hunted. Whereas Abeke proudly tells Jodoboda that she is from Okaihee, Conor says he is "from nowhere in particular". Of course, this could be because his family lived in the fields near but not in Trunswick, but I prefer the idea that he gave up his connections to the town after his abysmal experience there in the last book.

Abeke can tell time from the movement of the stars. She also names one of Erdas's constellations, the Elephant's Trunk. I wonder, was this constellation named in honour of Dinesh? Are there perhaps other constellations likewise corresponding to other Great Beasts? (This is the kind of stuff I want to know about Erdas; what's going on in space? What are their stars like? What if they had more than one moon? Are there other planets nearby?)

When Conor and Abeke ask Briggan and Uraza to help them see better in the swamp, it's almost reminiscent of prayer. They kneel down, close their eyes and utter their request in their minds. Since the Great Beasts are essentially Erdas's gods, I found this bit neat.

So the Sunset Death is spread via insect bite, and seems comparable to malaria. It's named this because the person who falls ill to it will die at sunset. Man, Rollan has been through it.

Conor talks in his sleep.

On the way to the Lake of the Elephant, Meilin rides noticeably silently and later falls off her rhino as if she had been asleep. However, this is very likely a well-disguised instance of her being mind-controlled by Gerathon, which explains how the Conqueror army found them so quickly. I've never realized this before now.

Dinesh has some pretty cool powers. He can turn himself to stone, change his size and heal himself instantly. Despite his obnoxious behaviour during the Grand Council in Tales of the Great Beasts, he might be one of my favourite Great Beasts.

Conor puts two and two together and concludes that the reason Abeke stayed with the Conquerors for so long is because she had feelings for Shane. Seems like everyone knows what's up except for Abeke and Shane themselves. This is an instance of clear romantic implications for these two -- Abeke blushes and is uncharacteristically defensive when Conor questions her about Shane, Conor then figures out that she likes him. Overall, the nature of Shane and Abeke's relationship is left somewhat ambiguous, enough that I used to see many people argue there were no romantic feelings between them at all -- but there are moments like this that say otherwise.

Lishay is the Erdas equivalent of Indian, confirmed in later books but first implied by the fact she uses a talwar, a type of sword from India. So, Zhong isn't just a fantasy version of China -- there are other Asian regions in there, too.

Shane is probably the one responsible for Teng's death, not Gar. Even though Gar was riding Grahv when the crocodile killed Teng, he had no control over him as he wasn't his spirit animal. Which means, unless Grahv was following his natural instincts in that moment (possible), or Gerathon was controlling him like with Iskos (unlikely), Shane was controlling him from afar.

It's still unclear how Meilin was given the Bile. Did Teng replace the Nectar with Bile himself, or did he get someone else to do it? Sheyu might have been involved, if he defected to the Conquerors -- he did let Lenori take Meilin to the Greencloaks, but that's what the Conquerors wanted. I guess we'll never know the truth of it.

A spirit animal may return to the passive state in death. We see this with Zhosur and later Aputin (Dante's spirit animal).

Xue kind of reads as a mystical being to me. Her age, her wisdom, the way she comes and goes... I'm sure she was intended to be a normal human being, but I think it'd be cool if she was actually a spirit who guided Meilin on her quest. Something about their relationship reminds me of those stories about supernatural beings disguising themselves and appearing to humans, helping the good ones but cursing the bad ones. Whoever Xue is, there's certainly an aura of mystery around her. I wish we saw her again in the series.

This book has some really good scenes of the Four bonding and working together as a team. Meilin even lays off Abeke for the entirety of the book! It's too bad she relapses into her mistrust and aggression towards her in the next two.

This reread really made me appreciate how fantastic Blood Ties is. My love for Meilin has been well and truly rekindled by now. What an amazing character. The Reilin developments were wonderful to read about, too; their romance is so good. I really let this one pull me in and could clearly visualize everything that was happening, which is part of what made the experience so enjoyable. And the final battle was the greatest one so far.

Let's hope we don't sacrifice all this character development in the next book! (Spoilers... we do)

This is part of an ongoing series.

Wild Born | Hunted | Blood Ties | Fire and Ice | Against the Tide | Rise and Fall | The Evertree

Immortal Guardians | Broken Ground | The Return | The Burning Tide

Heart of the Land | The Wildcat's Claw | Stormspeaker | The Dragon's Eye

Tales of the Great Beasts | The Book of Shane | Tales of the Fallen Beasts

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

two special edition rehearsalposts in a row? damn we're on a roll. anyway, rehearsalpost and quartetpost election day edition time i guess

the two older ladies in my section complimented my outfit for today (a blouse with fun sleeves and a tie neck with trousers and doc martens) which is how you know you've won in life

viola friend spent much of the day stress-baking and gave tita conductor a scone, which she happily accepted

as we got settled, my stand partner leaned over and said to me, "ten dollars she mentions the election"

sure enough, tita conductor referenced the cute flute couple, who are poll workers, and i pretended to pull out a wad of cash and hand it to my stand partner when she was done talking

we then commenced with what i have decided to call the Cardigan Chuck. and what, pray tell, is the Cardigan Chuck? allow me to enlighten you.

without fail (and at most 10 minutes into rehearsal time) tita conductor decides she's done wearing whatever cardigan she's put on for the day, shrugs it off, and puts it to the side at the front of the room. she does this by balling up the poor article of clothing and yeeting it away, sometimes over the heads of the outside stands of the cello or first violin section (depending on her whims that day). either way it is wildly funny and i have to try not to laugh when she does it

we got started on the first movement of the dvořák and tita conductor told the robust cello section, "to quote myself—what did i say last time?—i will not be sending you an engraved invitation. you will need to come in"

"you need to start playing this like the cavalry is coming from six counties away" -tita conductor to the violas

there's a finicky bit in the development that i've been struggling to get under my fingers independently, but i think feeling the context in rehearsal made something click for me and i felt a lot more confident playing it. W for me i guess

at some point in the sprint toward the first recapitulation the second violins were repeatedly Not Getting a series of notes, so tita conductor asked us to sing them through

after the first time through, during which i was the only one not mumble-singing, tita conductor looked down and asked us to do it again, adding, "and em, your leader, is doing a perfect job" 😭

madamina, once again, may i remind you we are in public; moreover, doesn't being technically part of chamber singers give me an unfair advantage in this

left for class shortly after and returned for quartet about an hour and thirty minutes later. we decided to read through eine kleine nachtmusik because, considering the current circumstances, none of us thought death and the maiden was suitable for the occasion

hilariously, every time keys could be heard jingling outside (we had the door propped open), we would all look to see who it was, because 9 times out of 10 if you are on the first floor of the arts building and hear a copious amount of keys jingling, it is usually tita conductor. call that conditioning

however, this time it was not tita conductor, but our two trumpet players, who walked in to give us an electoral college update before complimenting our playing and disappearing again

we managed to read through the first and second movements of eine kleine and would have done the fourth had ate dean not had grading to do. we cleaned up and would have informed tita conductor of our departure, but by then her office lights were off, so we all parted slightly somberly.

anyway considering that i will not have time to do anything of consequence in lab on tuesdays and thursdays next quarter, i think i’ll join chamber singers. seems like tita conductor would be amenable

[templephoenix]

The Atmosverse Discussion, Part 4 - On the Boat

So far we've been introduced to three different 'worlds' in the previous ATMOSPHERE ASMR videos - a medieval fantasy, the Victorian age and the far future. Video #4, originally released on October 8, 2019 and available here, takes us back to the first of those. We've done our introductory tour; now it's time to start developing a narrative...

IN SHORT: We join the same mage from Alchemy in the Forest as she takes a magically-propelled boat across the lake, explaining her purpose on the way.

So here we are, our first recurring character! We still don't get a name for our magical friend, but from the forested landscape surrounding the lake we're still in the same location as the last time we saw her. In these early days of the videos we were still a way off from Anastasia using the WorldAnvil site to post maps of this world, but we're already slowly expanding it. We also still don't know the exact relationship that we, the audience, have with this character, but the explanatory way that she speaks to us suggests that we don't ourselves have the same gifts or knowledge of the area that she does.

This is another relatively short video, but we do get a little bit of character and world building alongside the ASMR triggers. As she talks about her upcoming task and her dislike of talkative people/liars, we get more of an idea of who this mysterious woman is. She's straightforward and fairly no-nonsense, but is clearly someone that the local people can trust to investigate their supernatural problems. There's also a hint that our presence as someone she's spending an extended period of time with (and patiently explaining herself to) is a rarity, and it leaves you wondering how long 'we' have known her.

In terms of construction, the video uses a similar blend of techniques as the first fantasy episode; Anastasia's costume and the single prop - the lantern - grounds her as our focus amidst the digitally-realized boat and lake. It's already slightly more ambitious than that original outing, though, syncing the filmed elements to the movement of the boat in a way that sells the idea. Notice how that movement subtly changes as the boat leaves the dock, crosses the lake and approaches the opposite shore - it's an attention to detail that's going to be one of the hallmarks of these videos.

In terms of the ASMR experience, this is a conversational and environmental piece rather than featuring personal attention or overt trigger use. You have the soft speech (because Anastasia recorded a dub then layered it over the video her words are very slightly out of sync with her lip movements, but rather than detract from the episode it actually helps to create a dreamlike atmosphere that works with the mood) over the soft background noises of the water and the magical boat. Then, once the conversation is over, the rain is brought in to take over as the primary auditory trigger. It's essentially an ASMR video of two halves, the first more focused and the second forming a calming 'downward slope' to the end.

The way that the ATMOSPHERE videos slowly ease the audience into their worlds is so measured and restrained; Anastasia is taking her time to build to what she's envisioned rather than immediately making a bold statement as to what these episodes are going to become and what her aims are. There's no THIS IS WHAT THE STORY IS AND HOW IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, there's just a gentle demonstration with this fourth instalment that having introduced these three settings, she is going to return to them so that we can spend more time with these characters.

Join me next time as we return to another of our cast members and take a look at how the different kinds of ASMR tropes serve to identify and inform how we see the characters - both the ones on screen and our audience surrogate. See you then, friends!

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

New Rule: The War on the West | Real Time with Bill Maher

New Rule: For all the progressives and academics who refer to Israel as an "outpost of Western civilization" like it's a bad thing, please note: Western civilization is what gave the world pretty much every goddamn liberal precept that Liberals are supposed to adore.

Individual liberty, scientific inquiry, rule of law, religious freedom, women's rights, human rights, democracy, trial by jury, freedom of speech. Please somebody, stop us before we Enlighten again.

And since one can find all these concepts in today's Israel and virtually nowhere else in the Middle East, if anything, the world would be a better place if it had more Israels.

Of course, this message falls on deaf ears to the current crop who reduce everything to being only victims or victimizers, so Israel is lumped in as the toxic fruit of the victimizing West. The irony being that all marginalized people live better today because of western ideals, not in spite of them.

Martin Luther King used Henry David Thoreau's essay "Civil Disobedience" to help shape the Civil Rights Movement. The UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights owes its core to Rousseau and Voltaire. Kleisthenes never showed up for a sexual harassment seminar, but without him there's no democracy. The cop who murdered George Floyd got 21 years for violating his Fourth Amendment rights, an idea we got directly from John Locke, who no one in college would ever study anymore because he's so old, and so white, and so dead, and so Western.

Yes, that's how simple the Woke are. It's never about ideas. If it was, would they be cheering on Hamas for their liberation? Liberation? To do what? More freely preside over a country where there are no laws against sexual harassment, spousal rape, domestic violence, homophobia, honor killings or child marriage. This is who liberals think you should stand with? Women there should be so lucky as to get colonized by anybody else.

And for the record, the Jews didn't "colonize" Israel or anywhere ever, except maybe Boca Raton. Gaza wasn't seized by Israel like India or Kenya was by the British Empire. And the partitioning of the region wasn't decided by Jews, but by a vote of the United Nations in 1947 with everyone from Russia to Haiti voting for it. But apparently, they don't teach this at Drag Queen Story Hour anymore.

Now it is true that for too long we didn't study enough Asian or African or Latin American history. But part of the reason for that is, frankly, there's not as much to study. Colleges replaced courses in Western Civ -- boo! Eyeroll! Dead white men, am I right? -- they replace that with World Civilization classes, which is fine in theory, but what it meant in practice is you read queer poetry of the African diaspora instead of Shakespeare. And I'm sure there's value in both, but as usual, America only ever overcorrects.

And so, we're at this place now where the words "western civ" became kind of a shorthand for "white people ruined everything." But they didn't ruin everything. No, they didn't live up to their own ideals for far too long and committed atrocities. But people back then were all atrocious, not just the white ones depending on who had the power.

But it was the western Enlightenment that gave rise to the notion that the law of the jungle should be curbed. Henry David Thoreau. John Stewart Mill. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Three-named dudes. It was all about three-named dudes. Three-named dudes like that were the OG social justice warriors. The ideas that came through Athens, Rome, London, Paris, and yes Philadelphia, are what make life good for most people in free societies today. That the individuals have value, and even the powers that be must submit to the rule of law. That punishment should not be cruel and unusual. That accused people get a trial. That there is such a thing as a war crime.

Why is it that every other culture gets a pass, but the West is exclusively the sum of the worst things it's ever done? You think only white people colonized? Historians estimate that the very non-western Mr Genghis Khan killed 40 million people, and that was in the 13th century. He single-handedly may have reduced the world's population by 11%. On the other hand, he kind of made up for it, because he was such a prolific colonizer of vaginas that today an estimated 16 million people are his direct descendants.

So, stop saying "western civilization" like it's a contradiction in terms. It's not. You're thinking of "moderate Republican."

==

The people who snarl "western civilization" went to elite universities with air conditioning where they used their MacBook Pros and iPhones on extensive Wi-Fi networks.

[hisuianhellion]

Update. Too tired to be emotional, so this might sound dry.

Not dead. Despite the universe's attempts to kill me, I am decidedly not dead. My family's also doing alright. All of us are alright on food, shelter and no one's injured. I'm... we're sacred, but we're okay.

I was actually kind of amused by Volo's little excersion onto my blog. Seems people don't trust him, but neither does Mutt, so I'm not gonna say you guys are in the wrong. Only that I DO trust him.

Kamado is not content with letting sleeping dogs lie, and despite Cyllene, Akari and Laventon being opposed, their hands are tied. He has been sending Security corp after Mutt and I. And I'm... rapidly losing my patience about that. We've had to fend off three of them. A fourth would've, but... it was Pacif. The one I helped teach. He's... he delivered a message from Akari. And said that he refused to obey, leading to him being cut from the fucking corps by Kamado, going OVER Zisu's head. And she couldn't do anything.

It's made it clear that even if I wanted to rip that man in half, he's a rather integral part of how Jubilife functions. I can't do too much to him. I don't want blood on my hands, but I was more tempted than I care to admit thanks to Maddie's shared fury over the situation. The people listen to him on the whole, and even with people cutting out to defy him, he's the one in charge. He dies, the village rebels.

I have thus spoken to Mutt. We will not be returning. Ever. I do not fucking care what that man says, I do not care if he grovels on the ground, crying out for forgiveness. I will not go back. I will rip my fucking tail off if I'm made to go back. Not again. I will fucking hire people to build me a house in the Fieldlands. There's no feasible way I will ever fucking go back to that village for anything other than helping Cyllene, Laventon, Pacif or Akari.

As for... what I've been trying to do. I explained to Irida and Adaman that the change to being a Pokemon was "within the week" levels of recent, and while confused, didn't seem opposed. I was still me. Mutt was still Mutt. They would help. They've been tag-teaming assisting, with Adaman leading us to Lake Valor and Irida to Lake Acuity.

We met... I think they're Legendaries. Azelf led me on a fucking fool's errand trying to deter me, and I nearly wanted to bite its head off before it conceded. It wanted me to show my willpower. And Uxie effectively quizzed me. They wanted to make sure I knew exactly what I needed to know, which meant a hefty amount of questions about the Pokemon I claimed to know of. And I got something from them both.

Adaman is heading back to the village to keep a closer eye on Kamado. Something about his movements has us all worried. Volo's been making sure we get information by effectively trailing to the Gingko guild both for supplies and for news, and it seems Kamado's prepping. For what, I don't quite know just yet. I'm not inclined to wait to find out, so I'm on my way to Lake Verity to meet the third of the trio. Cogita's offered to craft the Red Chain, so... it's about time we get shit done.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Seiko Kimura VS The Lizard [Danganronpa Survivor VS Spider-Man/Marvel Comics]

Hifumi: Dr. Seiko Kimura; the Ultimate Pharmacist!

Leona: Dr. Curtis Connors; The Lizard!

Hifumi: Part-human...Part-monster...ALL SAVAGE!

Leona: But when their backs are against the wall who's the most savage of them all!? He's Hifumi and I'm Leona!

Hifumi: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, talents and skills, to see who will win a DEATH BATTLE!

Leona: So for our combatant in Mikan Vs Fluttershy, we talked about a medical girl who's life just fucking sucked. THIS TIME however, we're going to talk about a medical girl who's life just fucking sucked! ...Wait a second.

Hifumi: We've talked many times already about the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History. Also known simply as the Tragedy, it's origins lied in Hope's Peak Academy; a coed, private, city center high school with boarding facilities that was approved by the government and established several decades before the events that are known to us.

Leona: Before it was known as that though, it all started as The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, the chronologically first mutual killing game to occur in our world, despite it's brevity. 

Hifumi: Many have characterized the Tragedy as a remarkable instance of social unrest that swiftly descended into meaningless chaos, violence, and fatalities. What began as the "anti-talent" movement quickly spread throughout the world and became more violent by the day, with the Masterminds, Junko Enoshima and the Ultimate Despair, working to fan the flames of unrest. Soon, chaos and death became the norm in society, and the initial reasons for the protests were forgotten. Before long, the majority of people had descended into chaos and hopelessness, and a significant global phenomenon had emerged.

Leona: But when things were at their bleakest, that was when a certain organization slotted themselves in to quell the Despair and return the world to how it always has been - The FUTURE FOUNDATION! Wow...We're 10 episodes in and only now we're really going into the history of the Foundation? I mean, it's basically our job.

Hifumi: That's simply because it hasn't been COMPLETELY relevant to our other combatants backstories thus far. For this particular character, it's quite an integral part of her tale. Alumni of Hope's Peak Academy founded the Future Foundation at some point during or after The Tragedy drove the world to the verge of destruction in an effort to defeat Ultimate Despair and repair the harm their actions had caused to the world. While initially founded by Kyosuke Munakata and Kazuo Tengan, it's unclear when they started operating, but they were clearly well-established during the events of the first killing game because they were able to support the Hope's Peak Academy survivors after they defeated Junko Enoshima and Monokuma.

Leona: And one of the founding members of this organization was a very interesting individual who served as a lead medical expert and the Branch Chief of the Fourth Division...Dr. Seiko Kimura.

Hifumi: Technically speaking, Seiko Kimura didn't OFFICIALLY get her doctorate until AFTER the events of the Tragedy and the Final Killing Game, and there's a rather tragic reason as to why. Not an awful lot is known about her backstory or her family life as a child, but what we DO know is that even as a youth, she had a terribly sick complexion and a chronic illness, hence her pale skin and grey hair. In order to stay alive, she had to submit to taking the same sample of medicine every single day of her life, otherwise, she could potentially die.

Leona: Because of her weak constitution, she didn't have many friends, except for two rather notable childhood companions in two other eventual Foundation leaders: Ruruka Ando and Sonosuke Izayoi. Though she hated being closed off, Seiko naturally learned a lot about the medication she was taking and the happenings of the medical industry. And it was thanks to this that she decided to make use of her pitiful life and do some good with it.

Hifumi: Though a younger Dr. Kimura had a tendency to undergo emotional spikes and snap at people for minor inconviniences, she was naturally quite humble and compassionate, and realized that there were many people in the world who were suffering like her, perhaps even moreso, because of sicknesses and illness beyond their control. 

Leona: So she studied hard to become a doctor, and went on to develop her own brand of special medicines with never before seen special effects, some of which she made when she was in Elementary School! 

Hifumi: This was what initially drew Ando and Izayoi to her. When Dr. Kimura was unable to save a dog from a car accident, the three of them first got together. They were surprised by how effective her medication was, and Ando warmed up to her, giving her some of her best-made candies. 

Leona: Sadly, Seiko was unable to eat them because of the harmful side effects that sugar has when combined with her medication; otherwise, she might not survive. 

Hifumi: Ando called Kimura a friend as a result, and Kimura promised to assist Ando in any other way she could to make up for this slight. She had gone to the same school as Ando and Izayoi all through elementary, middle, and high school, and eventually, all three of them got accepted into Hope's Peak Academy. Izayoi as the Ultimate Blacksmith, Ando as the Ultimate Confectioner, and Kimura as the Ultimate Pharmacist. Unfortunately, there was one other thing about Ruruka Ando that we need to mention...

Leona: She's a bitch! ~♪

Hifumi: I would not have put it so aptly but...Yeah, I suppose we can say that...

Leona: Though she kind of is so naturally, Ruruka Ando is probably the most toxic as fuck best friend you could ever hate to have, and I'm friends with Maya Canzanilla, so you know I mean that! Most of her relationships, ESPECIALLY the one she had with Seiko, was manipulative at it's core, with a "Get them to love you, and they'll do anything for you." kind of mindset. Mainly when it came to their practical exams at Hope's Peak, she made Seiko create sweet tasting drugs to put in her food to kind of...cheat-code her way through the exams.

Hifumi: And this HEAVILY came back to bite her in their second year. All thanks to the actions of one particular individual - Nagito Komaeda: the Ultimate Lucky Student of Class 77

Leona: Ugh THIS GUY again...!

Hifumi: After witnessing his classmates' depressing behavior all day due to the loss of Hiyori Sato and Natsumi Kuzuryu, Komaeda felt compelled to take action. He devised a plan after failing to get the exams postponed and went to see Dr. Kimura in her research lab. His plan was to lace laxatives in the judge's food, and should that fail, set off a bomb underneath the exam hall to disrupt the proceedings.

Leona: The fuck is wrong with this guy!? Ahem...Anyway, it's a pretty long and stupid story, but basically this led to a whole bunch of mixups, like Nagito swapping around similarly named medicines and then accidentally swapping bags with Seiko, that led to the judges ended up eating Ruruka's pastries laced with laxative, and Seiko accidentally switching on the bomb along with Ruruka.

Hifumi: Due to the mixup, Ando believed Kimura had purposefully given her the incorrect medication, which was why she failed her exams. Ruruka's comments hurt Seiko as well, and the two of them lashed out, releasing years' worth of pent-up resentment. Furthermore, the bomb incident resulted in the expulsion of all three of them, including Izayoi, whilst Komaeda, thanks to his talent, got off with a suspension. Due to these incidents, Seiko and Ruruka developed a deep dislike and mistrust for one another and thought the other was a traitor.

Leona: But to be branded a failure by Hope's Peak is to be branded a failure by ALL of Japanese Society. Seiko had NOTHING LEFT, and was implied to have been homeless and without a place to go when Munakata, Chisa Yukizome, and Juzo Sakakura stepped in to offer her help. Thus she became one of the Future Foundation's first members, and currently it's longest running.

Hifumi: Dr. Kimura's pharmalogical skills earn her the natural envy of even the most potent medical practitioners in the Danganronpa universe, like Mikan Tsumiki and Kanata Inori. As the Ultimate Pharmacist, the medical industry took a keen interest in Dr. Kimura due to her ability to discover novel applications for pre-existing medications in addition to developing her own. Many pharmaceutical companies had approached her, vying for her talent, saying they wanted to offer her their full support, but she took only minimal assistance with her research.

Leona: Seiko can create just about any kind of medicine, even with little resources, ranging from something common like laxatives and cold medication to more ludicrous concoctions such as strength enhancers and super-healing medication. Like the Doping Corn Soup that Akane Owari uses in some her battles that we covered in her episode.

Hifumi: Or the healing fluids that Mikan Tsumiki employed in hers. The Future Foundation trusted her to provide medication to the Tragedy victims, and she delivered. And Dr. Kimura carries a supply of these medicines on her person so that she's always ready to heal herself or her companions. The healing medicine she carries is so potent, it can regenerate even broken bones in a matter of seconds.

Leona: Though she unfortunately still suffers from her own affliction, she's been able to cure, repress and counter some of the most powerful afflictions and illnesses. She repressed Nagito Komaeda's cancer and frontemporal dementia, cured Nekomaru Nidai's heart virus, and balanced out Kuripa Kurafto's CIPA's disease by creating a drug that through ingestion, speeds up his already naturally slow healing process...Though this does have some nasty side effects if a person who DOESN'T have CIPA's takes it...As seen with Kaede.

Leona: And these medicines have helped herself and her friends survive the most powerful afflictions and adversaries they've ever come across, especially when she, Ruruka and the other Foundation leaders would be swept up in the Final Killing Game, secretly hosted and created by Kazuo Tengan as a weird as fuck attempt to save the world. For real though, I don't GET ANYTHING with that plan!

Hifumi: Don't think about it then. It's not worth your stress. But this came in clutch in the Final Killing Game, even after meeting her very unfortunate demise. Instead of executions, the Final Killing Game employed NG Code Poisoning in their place. The Monokuma bangles strapped to the participants wrists recognizes when a player transgresses their NG Code or Forbidden Action and instantly injects a deadly poison into their bloodstream, which almost claimed the lives of Daisaku Bandai, Koichi Kizakura and Kyoko Kirigiri.

Leona: Emphasis on that ALMOST. You have a deadly poison! WE have a Seiko!

Hifumi: Though it was only thanks to her research and Mikan Tsumiki's equal medical knowledge, Seiko Kimura developed a COUNTER-MEDICINE to the NG poisoning. A person would go into a comatose state rather than pass away from the poison injection if they took the medication prior to the bracelet activating. Taking the drug before her NG Code activated allowed Kyoko Kirigiri to survive. Even though she looked dead to her friends, the physical effects were significantly less severe, and after Mikan Tsumiki revived her, she had no lasting side effects. And she achieved this UNDER FOUR HOURS after Daisaku Bandai was first induced with it.

Leona: That's not even mentioning that she eventually developed a CURE! Even though she confirmed Bandai's almost instant death with the NG Code Poison, she was able to resuscitate both him and Koichi Kizakura hours after everyone believed they had died. But I know what you're all wondering. "MeH, thiS is A DeAth BaTTlE, HOw's she gUnNA uSe tHIs To FIGHT, mEh!?" Which is fair, since what's the point of being so smart if she can't hit hard? Fortunately, she can, with her most powerful and notable drug...

Hifumi: Dr Kimura was developing a "Reanimator" just before she was expelled from Hope's Peak, which had the added benefit of enhancing the user's physical condition. No matter how worn out someone was, she claimed that one ingestion of the pill she was developing would revitalize them completely when it was believed to have been added to Ando's confections. A small dog that was consuming some of the reanimator during Komaeda's antics soon transformed into a GIANT, which enabled it to completely breach a wall.

Leona: In the Final Killing Game era, it takes the form of these little green pills that Seiko takes by popping a handful of them in her mouth. And taking these little babies transforms Seiko into her BEAST MODEtm!

Hifumi: Dr. Kimura specifically enters a berserk-like state, exhibiting glowing purple eyes, longer hair, claw-like fingernails, and a more muscular body. When she was attacked by Ando and Izayoi, she used this transformation, and as soon as she transformed, Izayoi threw a knife at her, which she caught in her mouth and broke with her teeth!

Leona: The transformation gave Seiko the strength and immunity to power through all of the traps that Ando and Izayoi set for her. Given that Izayoi has previously shown to be on a similar fighting level as Remnants Akane and Nekomaru, Seiko being able to wrangle with him shows just how powerful she really is.

Hifumi: And it's not just Izayoi that Kimura was able to "wrangle" with. She also took Juzo Sakakura, the Ultimate Boxer, head on, and even fought and almost beat Kanade Otonokoji, who was able to defeat Kuripa Kurafto by catching him off-guard.

Leona: Not to mention that at the time they fought, Kanade was coked up herself! On HOPE SERUM! The same drug that was developed to gift Ayumu Fujimori and Nagito Komaeda the Ultimate Hope powers that Hajime Hinata recieved through the Kamukura Project, becoming an unstoppable being who's existence is talent and power itself.

Hifumi: ...Sort of. When Kanade Otonokoji took the Hope Serum, her body was not pre-prepared for it's effects. So instead of giving her Ultimate levels of capability, it instead boosted her strength by a fair margin, but not as much as it would have done if she had the right body type for it. Even still, with how ferocious she fights, it's still impressive that Dr. Kimura was able to fight with her on an equal level. It implies the effects of her drugs have the potential to keep up with Fujimori and Komaeda if they're developed further.

Leona: Seiko also broke down several metal doors and structures with relative ease, jumped great distances through and up into the air, and was even able to smell the scent of Ruruka while she was a great distance away, even through solid glass, giving her bloodhound-like senses. And this isn't even the full power that the form can reach!

Hifumi: The number of Reanimators that Dr. Kimura consumes at once determines how her form changes; consuming more of them lengthens the transformation and boosts her power. During her transformation into the advanced state, she bent a metal rail, sent Sakakura skidding away with a single blow, repeatedly punched through reinforced glass, leaped around a large room breaking lights along the walls, and then embedded her feet in a wall above the window of an observation booth, and tanked several missiles fired at her by Miaya Gekkogahara, causing a massive explosion.

Leona: But one interesting thing about her berserk state, is that even though her senses and bloodlust rise exponentially, it seems that her intelligence and consciousness remains...mostly intact.

Hifumi: Indeed. While she does undoubtedly go crazy in this form, she has always demonstrated that she is still capable of thinking when she uses it, as evidenced by the suggestion that she wanted to mend Aoi Asahina's injured arm or the fact that she was still capable of taunting communication during her fight with Otonokoji. And even though she is a beast, she still knows how to use her medical knowledge and equipment, like how she used her medicine to heal her arm when Izayoi damaged it.

Leona: Alas, as incredible as she is, she is far from indestructible. As a regular human without the use of the medicine enhancers, Seiko is just a normal human with normal human weaknesses.

Hifumi: And even though she poses a serious threat as a monster, her metamorphosis is only temporary and ends when the effects of the drugs wear off. And sadly, even the beastial form did not save Seiko Kimura from her demise in the Final Killing Game. In her last moments as her transformation started to wear off, she began to reflect on how all she really wanted was to be friends with Ando once more. She was also sorry that she was unable to stop her allies from dying. She fell asleep for the last time when the timer on her bracelet rang. She was brainwashed into taking her own life while she was asleep.

Leona: Until the Future Foundation's resurrections devices brought her back to life! Which by the way, she was kind of in on all THAT stuff as well!

Hifumi: Well, she didn't MAKE the machines, but she helped to study and improve them, which led to the ones who died in the first killing game, including yours truly, to be brought back to life. I really owe her a lot now that I think about it...I should show my appreciation more often...

Leona: Just get her some valentines chocolates or something.

Hifumi: I would if I didn't risk invoking Mr Komaeda's wrath. During the same time as her resurrection, the Remnant's of Despair, now reformed and back to their old selves, were beginning to work with the Future Foundation, and came initially under Dr Kimura's care; something that she personally did not like at first. Though this also had to do with her past experiences of being manipulated and not wanting to increase her social circle too much. But still, when she discovered that the prior terrorists had changed their tune, she changed hers, and went on to help them with lots of their long-standing issues and by this point in time, basically became one of them.

Leona: So you're telling me that after he got her and her friends expelled, ruined her life, became a Remnant, destroyed the world and then betrayed the Future Foundation for the sake of petty revenge, she hooked up with that weirdo? I'd judge her standards, but I'm about the same.

Hifumi: Well, Mr Komaeda became a very different person following the events of the Jabberwock Island Killing Game, and it's mainly thanks to Dr. Kimura. Though remaining an idealist, Komaeda was eternally grateful for the things that Seiko had done for him in spite of their rough history, and regretted what he had inadvertedly done to her and her friends. He committed a lot of his time to helping her out and getting whatever she needed for her, eventually falling in love with her. Genuine affection, that is.

Leona: I.e. NOT the creepy hope obsession affection that he usually displays. but yeah, Nagito's care for her allowed Seiko to keep going even when Zetsubou kidnapped her and forced her to develop their powerful Hope Serum, and boy did she style on them once she got her edge back. 

Hifumi: Seiko Kimura will always remain despite all that she has endured and witnessed, and will regretfully always be confronted with from her traumatic past. And among the many powerhouses of our universe, she will continue to be among the most astute and formidable women in history.

Leona: Ok, but seriously though, are there any medical people in our universe who's lives DIDN'T fucking suck?

Hifumi: Um...Dr. Inori?

Leona: Lost her parents in a car crash

Hifumi: Your friend Mr Ito?

Leona: Struggled with transphobia when he was a kid.

Hifumi: Mr Porosen?

Leona: Barely counts and you know full well how damaged that baby boy is.

Hifumi: Fair...

Leona and Hifumi continue their back and forth

Leona: The strange case of Curt Connors is one of the most tragic in Spider-man's career. Over the years, he has watched helplessly as his close friend has slowly devolved from human into animal. But the road to reptilian hell was once paved with good intentions.

Hifumi: Dr. Curtis Connors, known by his family and peers as Curt, started out life as a very good man. Born in Coral Gables, Florida, he studied a doctorate and became a gifted and talented surgeon, eventually joining the US Army as a combat medic, operating on injured soldiers in combat emergencies. He had many friends despite his introverted nature, and was a family man with a loving wife, Martha, and son, Billy.

Leona: Why does every superhero comic have a loving wife named Martha...Ahem, never mind! But then one day, tragedy struck...His arm went KABOOM!

Hifumi: While serving the force, Connors was caught in an horrific explosion that, miraculously, he survived, but his right arm was damaged beyond repair, and he had no choice but to have it amputated. Unable to serve the force anymore, Connors was discharged and went back to civilian life as a research technologist. His medical and scientific wisdom landed him a job at Oscorp, or S.H.I.E.L.D depending on the iteration.

Leona: However, coping with the loss of his arm turned out to be a NIGHTMARE for Curt, and he struggled to live with his lack of it. Using his wealth of knowledge and research, he and a few close friends set out to try and find a cure, or a way to help him regrow his lost limb. But his path towards a solution came from a rather interesting place...Herpetology! Wait...he got his solution from HERPES!?

Hifumi: NO! Ugh...Herpetology refers to the area of zoology which is dedicated to the study of reptiles and amphibians. What Connors was specifically interested in was a reptiles unique genetic "recipe," that provided creatures like axolotls or lizards their enhanced regenerative abilities of musculoskeletal tissues, 

Leona: ...Come again?

Uchui [off-screen]: They can regrow their limbs!

Leona: Ooooh! Ok, so by understanding the secret of how lizards regenerate their limbs, Connors set out to develop a potential way to simulate the regeneration of limbs in humans, helping them regrow amputated or damaged limbs. Not just for himself, bare in mind, but he figured if he could use his medication on himself, he could use it to provide revolutionary healthcare to the rest of humanity who were suffering like he was. What a SWELL GUY!

Hifumi: And it honestly wasn't that far-fetched of an idea, at least not on paper! Despite being cold-blooded reptiles, lizards essentially have the same genetic toolkit as mammals. In fact, lizards are the most closely-related animals to humans that can regenerate entire appendages. Researchers have found that in particular areas of a regenerating limb, such as the tail, they activate at least 326 genes, including those involved in wound healing, hormonal signaling response, and embryonic development.

Leona: Curt became obsessed with learning about reptilian limb regeneration. He finally developed an experimental serum derived from reptilian DNA while working from his home in the Florida Everglades with the assistance of war buddy, Ted Sallis, and in a few iterations, the one and only Peter Parker, the son of Richard Parker, an old friend of Curt's who attempted to help him before he mysteeeeeriously disappeeeaaared~

Hifumi: As it turns out, the experiment worked out pretty well at first! Connors put this serum to the test on an amputated rabbit, and it worked! To take this experiment to the next level, he discovered an even better test subject: Himself.

Leona: Despite his wife's desperate pleas, Curt used himself as a Guinee Pig and ingested his own experimental serum. Thus "Experiment-that-can-only-go-wrong No.342" occurred...Le sigh...THIS is why we LISTEN to our wives, people!

Hifumi: Once Connors took his serum, his amputated arm regrew within MINUTES, something that reptile regeneration actually doesn't do, since it takes a lot more time than that. The results of his experiment were frankly miraculous, and for a brief time, the Doctor believed he had revolutionized modern medicine...But then reptilian green scales started to spread over his body, and he spouted a long, lizard-like tail...!

Leona: Similar to a letter-day Jekyll and Hyde, Dr. Curt Connors had gone from being a mild-mannered scientist into a BLOODTHIRSTY villain...! The LIZARD! Because superhero comics...HATE DOCTORS!

Hifumi: When Connors is the Lizard, his altruistic personality takes a backseat to the reptilian rampagers brutal behavior. He is unable to control his transformations very well, and he is constantly in a state of rage and fury. Warranting him an unmatched destructive power, as well as MULTIPLE encounters with the web-slinging hero; even the X-Men at times.

Leona: Lizard is a ruthless beast who possesses incredible strength and inhuman powers. While he may walk like a man...sometimes...and is even capable of speech...sometimes...his behavior is anything BUT civilized. And he has only one goal and desire...to WIPE HUMANITY THE FUCK OUT!

Hifumi: To put it another way, his goal is to eradicate all mammal life from the planet. To his animalistic mind, the only way to restore reptiles to their rightful place as the planet's masters is to wipe out all warm-blooded species, including humans. Despite the fact that Dr. Conners and Spider-Man have grown dependent on one another over time, the Lizard despises the webslinger for impeding his efforts to wage war on humanity. And with his own unique powers, as well as how he can handle Spider-Man multiple times and quite easily at that, it's all the more important for Spidey that he needs to be stopped.

Leona: Let's talk stats. To start with, Lizzie's leg muscles are so powerful that he can leap nearly 12 feet into the air, and cover an average distance of about 18 feet with a single bound, which more than helps him keep up with Spider-Man, even though he's not as fast AS the hero. He's also used his incredible speed to keep up with characters like Morbius and Doctor Octopus.

Hifumi: He can whip his tail at speeds of up to 70 mph, and his top running speed is close to at least 45 mph. That's comparable to a Greyhound's speed. And thanks to the Lizard's natural ability to regenerate from wounds and fatigue, his stamina is almost immeasurable. The bio-regenerative serum gave him an enhanced, hybrid physiology that allows him to fight almost endlessly without fear of fatigue. He can withstand severe bleeding and brutal wounds thanks to his healing factor, and he has lost limbs several times without so much as blinking.

Leona: So he's got speed and stamina in the bag, but what about power? Well, if the big-ass teeth, fuck-off claws and hulking beastbody don't sell it...Yeah, yeah, he's REALLY strong.

Hifumi: The Lizard has fought and matched Morbius the Living Vampire in battle, who in Spider-Man's own words, "hits like an h-bomb," and while this is obviously exaggeration, Morbius' actual attack potency is indeed above and beyond that of most Marvel heroes, much more than Spider-Man's. 

Leona: And over the years that Lizzie and Spidey have been fighting, he's just gotten more powerful every time. Kind of like if Goku was a large angry reptile and also very evil! Evidence of the Lizard's passing is "a steel door torn off its hinges like it was cardboard," and he often causes mass environmental damage. In Insomniac's Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man's fight with Lizard infamously took them across most of New York, and whatever infrastructure the two came across was basically totalled.

Hifumi: Spider-Man even claims in the comics that unlike most of his recurring foes, Lizard is one that he can't afford to pull his punches with as he usually does. Though many forget it, Spider-Man's punches are ordinarily LETHAL in potency; especially since he's able to one-shot Tombstone, who can't ordinarily feel pain, and halt the charge of the Rhino with a single kick. If he struggles to fight Connors without holding back, that's certainly saying something!

Leona: But there's MORE to it! A few times in their early fights, Spider-Man outright states that the Lizard's reptilian skin is so thick and hard that's what she said...that he almost FRACTURED HIS KNUCKLE just punching him! And this is coming from the same guy during one of their fights, punched through a three-inch thick steel door!

Hifumi: This would take about 150 tons, or 300,000 pounds of force, for a mild steel door. The force for a HARDENED steel door could increase significantly but would likely remain below 1,000 tons, particularly if the door is composed of an exotic alloy like maraging steel. Either way, to know that the Lizard's skin is somehow DENSER than that makes you wonder how Peter is even able to HURT the Lizard in the first place.

Leona: Sometimes it feels like he CAN'T! Lizard's skin HAS proven to be bulletproof and explosionproof, and even when Spider-Man goes all out, it's very hard to keep the beast down! He's also taken hits from Stregon, another reptilian villain who put his fist directly through concrete with a punch, and he's taken hits from opponents that are just as strong, if not stronger than that, including, but not limited to, Wolverine, White Tiger, Man-Thing and the Last Son of Kraven.

Hifumi: It's a little bit complicated in lore terms, but the Last Son is a Kraven clone raised on an accelerated life cycle and trained from birth, who went on to hunt and kill 86 other Kraven clones raised in the same manner. Additionally, Kraven's Last Son has the ability to punch Kraven through walls while he is wearing the black Spider-Man suit, and Connors was hit repeatedly by the Last Son even when unable to retaliate because of an adamantium inhibitor chip in the back of his neck.

Leona: Even aside from his natural strength, durability and speed feats, the Lizard is more than just some movie monster. He's got some weird, wacky and FUCKING TERRIFYING powers under his scaly belt! Like Hifumi already said, for one, he can easily regenerate.

Hifumi: As I already said, ACTUAL reptile regeneration is not a quick process. The injured stump where the lost body part was originally located forms a "blastema" in reptiles with the ability to regenerate body parts, such as newts and salamanders. This is a mass of cells that will regenerate the damaged body part, including stem cells. The genetic program that initially formed the body part before birth or hatching will be activated by the blastema. If the creature LIVES for that long, this process could take a month or up to fifteen months.

Leona: Ok, I get it, it's slow, stop using big words!

Hifumi: But the Lizard on the other hand has a regeneration process that is just inhuman or...in-reptile I suppose; not just because it's much faster, but because it's far greater than just regenerating limbs. Not only has his tail and arms grown back, but so have his eyeballs. He has quickly healed from multiple gunshot wounds and made a full recovery from impalement. He swiftly healed his broken neck, avoided having the Man-Thing burn his head, healed after receiving a knife wound to the head and regurgitated his spinal cord after it was severed!

Leona: He ALSO adopts characteristics from other reptiles like Alligators, and by which I mean those bastards stealth skills. Though he as the power to tear down buildings at his leisure, Lizard typically relies on catching his prey by surprise, and he's damn good at it despite his large size and beastly aura. He uses his stealth skills to stalk his prey at the night, and is perfectly capable of causing distractions, like how he was able to sneak under a couple's car without them noticing. Wait, how the fuck does he fit under there!? He's like 3 times the size of me!

Hifumi: Lizard's hands and feet are also covered with tiny claws that create adhesive pads, like those of a gecko. The pads allow him to scale and slither even sheer surfaces, with naturally faster speed than a real lizard and ever greater ability than Spider-Man himself.

Leona: But among Curt's many abilities, what to me is his most interesting one is his telepathy. Yeah, among all the other insane bullshit, this guy can CONTROL MINDS! WOOOOO!

Hifumi: Well, sort of. As long as they're close by, Lizard's special ability allows him to control and manipulate the minds of all other ranges of reptiles, including snakes, crocodiles, and lizards. When it comes to Spider-Man, Lizard is more than happy to use the reptiles as his foot soldiers. This power is robust as well. He's even used it to control the mind of Man-Thing, and once, he summoned an entire swamp of creatures to attack Ben Reilly Spider-Man.

Leona: But surprise surprise, he can use this power on HUMANS too. Spider-Man explained that the telepathy is like an aura around Lizard that "makes the Id take over the Superego". What that fucking means, I don't know, but based on the dialogue I'm going to assume it means it makes everyone around him stupid. Considering it made Doc Ock act like an animal who talks like the Lizard, I'm gonna assume I'm right.

Hifumi: Sorry to hit you with more science and calculations, but the way the Lizard does this relates to the Triune Brain structure; a hypothesis put forth in the 1960s by American physician and neuroscientist Paul D. MacLean regarding the evolution of the vertebrate forebrain and behavior. One aspect of the diagram is the Reptilian Complex, or R-Complex. The word comes from the belief held by comparative neuroanatomists that these structures dominated the forebrains of birds and reptiles. According to MacLean, instinctive behaviors typical of a species such as aggression, dominance, territoriality, and ritualistic displays are caused by the reptilian complex.

Leona: So in summary, it's LITERALLY every man's inner beast. In order to employ this, Lizard's body gives off a noxious fume that can fuck with someone's mind in a DEVASTATING way if it's inhaled. He forces the animal instinct to be released, and to make human beings act mindlessly and destructively, which he's employed against and ON Spider-Man, employing the web-slingers lizard brain to induce fear in him and make him run away in terror.

Hifumi: As for any other abilities he might have, it has also been demonstrated that he has poisonous clawtips that cause excruciating pain, disorientation, and sensory impairment to those who are slashed by them. Additionally, he's resistant to heat and diseases. He was unaffected by boiling water, merely startled by a Bunsen Burner's flame, and had no trouble biting into flaming objects. 

Leona: Damn...We sure covered a lot of crazy as fuck feats. And I bet you all thought he was just some big green scaly monster. So the question is this...if the Lizard is such a terrifying foe, how is Spidey able to beat him?

Hifumi: For one thing, Lizard has a rather potent weakness to the cold. The main thing that separates reptiles from mammals is the formers cold blood, and in the case of Connors, severe cold severely impairs him and may even stop him entirely. It also drives him, on occasion, into hibernation.

Leona: Plus, as I said before, Lizard is only KIND of able to communicate and strategize beyond that of his animal instinct. The longer Curt Connors remains AS the Lizard, the more his abilities to talk and think slip away, and his hunger for violence and destruction only grows. 

Hifumi: When they first clashed, using Connors' notes, Spider-Man created an antidote to return the Lizard to his human form and mentality. The family man was back, and even though his mentality regressed over time due to the battle with the beast inside him, he went on to remain one of the webslingers most trustworthy allies, even going as far as to save May Parker's life when she was accidentally exposed to Peter's radioactive DNA.

Leona: But how long do you think THAT'S gonna last?

Hifumi: Good question. And the truth is I can't tell you for sure. It later became clear that the success of Connors' apparent cure from the Lizard persona was short-lived. A cycle began of Connors' transformation into the Lizard continually caused by stress or a chemical reaction; Spider-Man fighting him, forcing him to swallow the antidote to stop the transformation until the next time, rinse and repeat

Leona: At any time, be it due to reactions with chemicals or overexertion of stress, Dr. Curt Connors can at any point relapse into the reptilian beast. Until the day comes that someone finds a true cure for the monster, The Lizard will stay one deadly predator and one of Spider-Man strongest and deadliest rogues.

Hifumi: Alright, the combatants are set! We've run the data through all possibilities!

Leona: IT'S TIME FOR A DEEAAATH BAAATTLLLLLLEEE!

The scene opens to a dark, damp and grimy sewer, as Dr. Seiko Kimura, the Ultimate Pharmacist, carefully trudges through the sewage. With a worried look on her face, she sees multiple slash marks and the traces of what appear to be mutilated animal corpses lying in the grime. Her goal is to track down the perpetrator.

*hisss...!*

Seiko: ...!?

She suddenly senses a presence nearby, and barely spots a shadow as it lurks around a corner. Instinctively, she grabs a bottle of pills and equips a bag full of medicines to her side.

Seiko: Doctor Connors? If you're trying to scare me...It's working...!

Seiko suddenly breaks out into a run as the pressure gets to her. With her feet splashing along the damp pavement of the sewer, the Lizard finally crawls out from it's hiding place and scales the ceiling to catch up to her. It pounces and knocks both of them down a large drop where the sewage water falls.

Seiko cries out and very quickly shoves a handful of green pills in her mouth, as she and her reptilian adversary splash down into a pool of dirty water, with Lizard being the first to emerge by swimming through the 

Lizard: Hrrrgh...!?

To the reptilian ravagers surprise though, Seiko Kimura's hand, now more beastly and with claw-like fingernails, bursts out of the murky water. It slams on the concrete, cracking it, as she hoists herself out. The rest of her body then rises, with her hair now longer, her eyes a bright glowing purple like the Lizard's glowing green pupils, and her fangs as sharp as a staple remover. The Lizard however, is not threatened.

Lizard: You...think you can sssstop the LIZARD!?

Seiko: Whether I have to currree you orrr kill you...! One way or anotherrr...I'm taking you down!

With a growl, Seiko charges the creature that used to be Doctor Connors, but the Lizard's reflexes are quick, and he smacks her back with his powerful tail.

Seiko rebounds swiftly from the severe blow, and the Ultimate Pharmacist attempts another claw slash, but her opponent shrugs off the attack, lands a kick, then a second blow with the tail and finally a claw swipe.

Seiko: GRRAAARRRGH!

Lizard: GAAGGH!? RRAAGH!

Seiko scrapes the sewer's concrete wall, chipping away at a sizable portion of it before slamming Connors back into his obstruction. 

Lizard: HYAAAARRGGGGH!!!

Seiko: USE YOURRR WORRRRDS CONORRRS! With SYLLABLLLES!

Without any delay, she grabs the head of the reptile and violently bashes it against the sewer wall. Even though the Lizard doesn't seem to be affected much by this, the attacks are so strong that they indent and eventually shatter the wall, sending the two Devasting Doctors flying through it.

Seiko tosses her battered opponent to the ground below as they find themselves in a new, open area with rushing water behind them. The Lizard lands hard, but Connors rolls over onto all fours, his victims' blood streaming from his mouth as he snarls.

The vicious Pharmacist lunges in at full speed and runs along the ground to intensify her attack. In return, Connors roars and rushes in her direction.

Seiko: GRRAAARRRGH!

*BANG!* *BASH!*

Lizard: YOU'RE SSSSSOO PITIFFFUL!

*SHUNK!* *SMASH!* *BAM!*

Because of her agility and smaller stature, Seiko gains the upper hand and tackles Connors, hitting him twice with outright vicious punches. Connors then returns fire, cutting Seiko with his claws and hitting her again just as hard.

When the lizard tries to bite his opponent, she dodges and then tries to bite back, which gives the monster the opportunity to whip her severely with his tail.

After being knocked back, Seiko uses her claws to climb the adjacent wall and escape Connors's follow-up bite. Connors however, does the same, scaling the wall with the tiny claws on the pads of his hands.

Lizard: RRRRAAGGH!

*CHOMP!*

Seiko: GRRRAAGGGH!

*CRAASSH!*

As the two monstrous scientists grapple against the wall, the Lizard is able to bite Seiko and launch himself off, driving her into the ground in a manner akin to a German suplex, except with his mouth. Lizard keeps a tight hold of Seiko's arm, which starts bleeding profusely.

Lizard: You're ssssoo weak...! You're not even worttthh keeping alive in my empire...!

Seiko: You arrren't the scarrrriest thing I've seen...! RRRGH! Good luck getting out of these sewerrrrs ALIVE!

Lizard: HYAAUUGH!

Seiko bounces back swiftly from the hard landing, using her superpowers to deliver a vicious uppercut to the Lizard's jaw that tears it apart and frees him from her. She hurriedly digs through her medicine bag for a green syringe, sticks it in her arm, and instantly seals the wound on the her arm, quickly wiping it of blood.

Lizard: Hisss...That'ssss MY ssscchchtick!

With a growl of frustration, Lizard watches as Seiko tends to her wound before roaring and rushing back at her. In an attempt to evade the attack, Seiko leaps multiple feet into the air and bounces off the wall to get some distance. However, the Lizard simply makes an equally high jump, sending their fight into the air, at least 14 feet above the ground.

With the lack of footing, Seiko finds herself at the initial disadvantage, thanks to the Lizard's autonomous tail, but eventually she seizes an opening by grabbing the tail and jumping on the Lizard's back!

*SSSHUUNK!* *CRAACK!*

Lizard: REEEEEEEEAGGH!

Lizard cries out in pain as Seiko suddenly takes the syringe that her healing serum was in earlier and stabs him in the eye with the needle! Not only that, but while the pain shoots through his face, Seiko grabs both sides of his jaw and pries it open as they crash back down to the ground!

The Lizard's body breaks Seiko's fall, but Connors bears the full force. Even though he throws Seiko off of him by grabbing her with his tail, the Lizard breaks his jaw when he lands face-first on his pried-open mouth.

However, this does not have the long-lasting effect that Seiko aims for. Though in immense pain from the impact, the Lizard's jaw muscles and bones naturally regenerate very quickly, and within seconds, it's like the injury never happened.

Lizard: I'm not about to losssee my mouth when I sssstill have yet to feasssst on you...!

Seiko: You'rrre not eating me today, Connorrrrs...!

Lizard: Don't missssunderssstand...! Mealsssss are meant to be SSSSHAAARED!

To Seiko's horror, the scaley scientist summons several sharp-toothed reptiles to attack her, and they suddenly emerge from the sewer's dark crevices. She struggles to fend them off as they start jumping her and trying to sink their fangs into her, not helped when the Lizard makes follow up attacks with his own powerful claws.

However, Seiko is still able to fling the reptiles off of her with a powerful spin, and quickly starts pulling medicines out of her pouch. She quickly kicks Connors in the face to get him to back off, then starts combining medicines on the fly while avoiding his reptile minions.

Once she's created a concoction, Seiko bottles it up and smashes it on the floor in front of her, clouding the sewers with a pungent aroma that repels the reptiles from her, including the Lizard, to an extent.

However, something then happens that she doesn't expect. Lizard starts releasing his OWN gas from his body that overpowers hers. Not powerful enough to bring back his reptile army, but enough to allow him to push back towards Seiko, who is not taking to his fumes well.

Seiko: What...arrrre...you...doing...to...me...!?

Lizard: HRRRAASASSAAAGGGH!

Connors however, has given in to the beast, and cannot respond with words anymore. However, his scent starts to activate the R-complex in her brain, and what little sanity and stability she has left starts to slip away...!

Seiko: GGRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHH!!!

Seiko also succumbs to her feral inclinations, roaring and spilling some of the contents of her medicine pouch onto the wet floor as she drops it. With each punch, slash, chomp and smack, the two ravenous monsters continue to pour blood as they trade several lethal blows.

Seiko's technique, though now sloppier thanks to giving into her monstrous instincts, is still potent enough to overwhelm Connors quickly, and the Lizard counters by pushing her back with several powerful whips of his tail!

Before Seiko can react, Lizard suddenly wraps his tail around her neck and starts to strangle her, but Seiko is able to pry herself free. Seeing this, Connors instead opts to send her crashing into the wall, which she is cratered into. He himself, needing to take a second to catch his breath, pauses, clutching his head as he feels his human side try and retake control.

Seiko: Haaagh...Ngh...gagh...

But then, in the brief moment of silence, Seiko Kimura starts to slip into unconsciousness...The effects of her enhancing medication start to wear off, and with the R-complex in her brain still active, she feels overwhelming exhaustion in what little senses she still has left.

Lizard: CONNORSSSSS ISSSSS DEAD! AND SSSSSSO ARE YOOOOOOOUUUU!!

With his sanity only barely intact, Lizard is just able to choke out these words before the Reptile consumes all! The Lizard lunges forward, slashing his claws at the now-defenseless Seiko, then bites into her leg, tossing her around like a rag doll until her leg is severed from her body, and her corpse once again impacts the wall!

In a desperate attempt to escape despite the loss of limb, Seiko claws at the wet ground, her vision blurring and her consciousness slipping. However, the Lizard pulls her back and, in an instant, slams his big mouth down on her head and bites it off, utterly DECAPITATING her.

With his opponents dead body at his feet and an army of small reptiles surrounding him. The Lizard lets out one last roar...A roar of victory...!

Leona: HOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLYYYYYYY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! That was...! I think that was our most brutal death yet! That was fucking awesome and yet...yet I can't help but feel really sick that it had to be such a kind girl who suffered it!

Hifumi: Although Seiko Kimura was an undoubtedly fierce opponent, the Lizard had most things going for him in this bloody brawl of jaws and claws.

Leona: Which is not to say that this was completely one sided. In fact, there are quite a few aspects that Seiko actually outclasses the Lizard in. First of all, considering Seiko was able to keep up with the likes of Izayoi, who has contended with the likes of the supersonic Akane Owari, and Lizard has managed to tag Spider-Man several times, it's safe to say that they tie when it comes to speed. And their transformations gave them very similar abilities, like their heightened senses and incredible strength.

Hifumi: And both are potentially as athletic and acrobatic as the other. Lizard is able to fight in midair, jump over buildings, execute drop kicks, and break falls by clinging to a ledge in quick succession, and he has also been known to backflip to avoid Spider-Man's attack and slap him with his tail in the process. Additionally, Dr. Kimura has caught knives with her teeth, and jumped across a sizable room, shattering lights along the walls, before sinking her feet into a wall and remaining perched there.

Leona: But the BIG ADVANTAGE Seiko has over Doc Connors is bleedingly obvious. Her INTELLIGENCE.

Hifumi: Neither Kimura nor Connors are fighters, and they rely on their animal instinct more than anything to win their fights in their beastly forms. But as regular humans, it's pretty clear to tell who the smarter one is. Connors studied enough to the point where he was on the verge of revolutionizing medicine, but Seiko Kimura has been doing that since she was SIX! Creating extremely powerful healing medicines and concoctions with varying helpful effects and basically NO side effects! Much less turning you into a giant green scaly monster.

Leona: So, here's a question I bet some of us are wondering. We talked extensively about Seiko's knowledge with medicine, so is it at all possible that she could fashion up her own brand of the lizard antiserum, use it on Connors to repress the Lizard, and then kill him in his weakened human state? Well, the answer to that is...Yes!

Hifumi: Within the span of four hours after seeing Daisaku Bandai's "death", Seiko Kimura was easily able to create a counter medicine that saved Kyoko Kirigiri's life, and then made a structure for a cure that saved Daisaku Bandai and Koichi Kizakura. It isn't THAT hard to assume that with her genius level knowledge as a pharmacist, that she could quite quickly fashion a cure for the Lizard Serum and turn Connors back into a human.

Leona: It's helped a lot by the fact that unlike Connors, Seiko actually retains her sanity throughout her transformation. Connors mind is basically turned to mush, but Seiko is still aware enough to avoid and counter traps, administer her serum and retain her empathy and humanity. So...what's the problem?

Hifumi: The PROBLEM is how she's going to actually ADMINISTER a potential serum. In order to properly apply the medication to Connors, she'd first have to either overpower him, or somehow incapacitate or restrain him. Neither of which was possible for her.

Leona: Curt has rather effortlessly torn through Spider-Man's webs, which have been stated to be as strong as steel. Curt has also easily broken through ACTUAL steel, and is generally shown to be much stronger and beastlier than Seiko. He'd overpower her pretty easily in a wrestling match, even if his opponent can outsmart and outmaneuver him in many ways.

Hifumi: Dr. Kimura didn't really have anything she could use to trap Connors either; no notable tools or anything that would really work. In addition to this, while she IS more aware and less of a mindless beast than Connors, the Lizard could easily reprimand this by taking hold of her R-complex, taking away what little insight she has left and turning her into a TRUE beast!

Leona: When it comes to that, Seiko's one big strength over Curt is just GONE, and she's basically at a complete disadvantage. But wait...Sonosuke Izayoi fought the likes of Akane and Nekomaru, who are SUPER strong. And Seiko was able to fight him and opponents beyond his level, like Sakakura and Otonokoji. With scaling, doesn't that mean that Seiko is technically the stronger one here?

Hifumi: That's actually not a bad assumption to make. Both Dr. Connors and Dr. Kimura have ripped through hard substances like steel like they're toilet paper, so even if the latter isn't STRONGER, she's at least on a similar, if not equal level. However, Spider-Man implied that Morbius' punch was tantamount to that of a Hydrogen Bomb. And the Lizard is just as strong as he is, so if we take this literally, his damage output is tantamount to at least 1000 Kilotons of TNT.

Leona: And we estimated in a previous video that Nekomaru Nidai's strongest attacking feats, like his superpowered shit, is tantamount to about 94 Tons. Ah, I getcha. That would realistically make the Lizard at least over 10,000 times stronger than Seiko.

Hifumi: Well, Spider-Man was obviously gravely exaggerating Morbius' power, even if the living vampires strength warranted such a comparison. But even in the case that it is, it doesn't really matter. Regardless of how strong she actually is, Dr. Kimura didn't have the attack potency to breach the Lizard's thick hide. Spider-Man is far stronger than she is, there's no doubt about that, and the web-slinging hero himself stated that punching the Lizard almost fractured his knuckles due to how hard his reptilian skin is.

Leona: So basically, if Seiko tried swiping at the Lizard with her claws, she'd chip a nail and then some. And even assuming that she somehow WAS able to get through his hide and damage him...what does it even matter? Connors can just regenerate the damage in seconds!

Hifumi: Both doctors possess healing and regenerative powers as part of their arsenal, but the difference is that the Lizard's is a NATURAL healing factor due to his reptilian genes, while Dr. Kimura's is provided to her by her medicine; a resource that is FINITE. If this were a battle of attrition, Dr. Connors would come out on top every single time.

Leona: Speaking of things that are finite, the same is true for Seiko's transformation. It only lasts a limited amount of time, and she turns back to her basic, measly strength when the effects of the medicine wear off. Meanwhile, Connors can retain his reptilian form basically indefinitely, and even if he regresses back into his human form through means like the serum, even the most minor interaction with a stressful situation or medical reaction can bring it back out in no time.

Hifumi: Lizard's regeneration factor also provided him almost unlimited stamina, so even if Dr. Kimura had enough pills to keep her transformation up, Lizard could still wear her down before she had the chance to do the same to him. Although, it's more likely he'd casually rip her to shreds before then, since her defensive capabilities are NOTHING compared to his.

Leona: Seiko has tanked missiles from the robotic Miaya Gekkogahara, but Connors has done the same thing against Gray Garrison, AKA Warrant; a bounty-hunter who first surfaced when he was hired to capture, or kill him. Lizard took a missile fired straight at him by Warrant, which knocked him back, but did not injure him even slightly. And that's without mentioning that Seiko's defense feats are wholly inconsistent. Despite the missile feat, when compelled to commit suicide, she repeatedly hit a concrete wall to embed herself in it, which ultimately killed her.

Hifumi: Seiko Kimura was relentless and vicious, but the Lizard had the strength, the skills, and the overwhelming bestiality to win brutally against her.

Leona: Such a shame that Seiko couldn't get through to him. She could have really helped Connors with his "a reptile dysfunction~"

THE WINNER IS DR. CURT CONNORS! THE LIZARD!

Next Time...

The masses need a savior when the world is in danger. In a society that consistently held them back, these incredible heroes began life with nothing and developed the charm, fortitude, compassion, and drive to defend the people they care about. However, which one of them will prevail when everything is on the line?

[blindrapture]

NEW SUNSETTERS!!!!!!

back when we first released our first album, back in 2016, we spontaneously (and immediately) followed it up with a 30-minute song. over the years we have refined and polished and rereleased that first album, but this beast was always left behind. because the thing is, in Sunsetters Canon, this "takes place" after their fourth album, No Entry. and we weren't there yet. well we are now!!! and you bet your bottom dollar we've been working on this thing!!!

I can also say "I." I have been working on this thing, as I am kinda the Editor and Producer of Sunsetters stuff. I am allowed to be proud. and I have been hard at work!!! this thing has absolutely been refined!!! listen to it, I beseech you!!! it is a slow buildup but it goes places, and it should keep your engagement all the way through!!!

"so then. is that it? is that the exciting Next Project after No Entry that you've been working on?" nope! this is a side thing, an EP. I just had to also get this done, and I ended up in love with it. there's still two more releases in the works. but they could easily be a ways away still, so seriously, don't wait up, check out this thing I just posted!!!

"but jordan." yes, lurker? "what if I don't feel like listening to a 30-minute thing right now? what if I want to skip to the good bits?" then I have a playlist for you! I have uploaded all five individual movements of this piece as separate videos! and let me break down the five parts for you so you can decide for yourself:

WARWIG. intro.

SOUTH OF THE FOG. slow smooth sassy doom rock.

THE WHITE DROUGHT. intimate grieving acoustic guitar piece.

DEEP CUTS. the big one. all chaos, all metal, my Editing Tour De Force!!!

SLEEP NOW. outro.

"but jordan." yes, lurker? "what if you don't have to even convince me, I want to drink up all your music right here, right now? what if I want to download all this?" then I have a Google Drive Folder for you! this contains six mp3s (each individual movement, and also the big full 30-minute thing) and two PDFs (a Fictional and a Non-Fictional one! read the Sunsetters's words about their work, and the lyrics! and then when you're done, read mine and Lindsay's words!!!).

"but jordan." yes, my lovely? "what if I want to see this on your Website, or on Bandcamp?" that'll come later! I worked a lot today! today is Release Stage 1, the Fuck-It Release! you get youtube and google drive today!! later will be Release Stage 2, with Website and Bandcamp and also a Paid Boosted Promoted Tumblr Post!!! later!! maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, when I get around to it!!

seriously, just!!! the music's there!! right now, it's there!!! we're really proud of it!! @rapturebones is proud of it!!! I am proud of it!!!! let it impress you!!! let it carry you along!!!

Sunsetters: Ancestor!!!!

thank you!!!! :D