#typing/talking can be difficult for some people

[sailorsol]

So most of this is true. We are very good at making things boil to create steam to make the spinny thing give us power. But. We are also very good at making things EXPLODE to make the spinny thing give us power.

This was touched on briefly in regards to internal combustion engines, but this is true for any gas turbine engine. If you cram a bunch of oxygen into a small space and add some fuel and then EXPLODE it, you get a lot of hot air pushing out of that area really quickly, which will make your turbine spin as well. This is a gas turbine, most commonly seen in jet engines, but there are also industrial gas engines (as seen at natural gas power plants, for example) that are basically GIANT jet engines that don't fly.

Part of the reason natural gas is more efficient for energy generation is because you don't have to heat the water to make the steam to turn the turbine to get the power, you just explode the gas. You also get a lot fewer problems with the turbine when steam isn't involved, because steam has a habit of causing pitting on the turbine blades if it isn't dry enough. (Yeah, dry steam is a thing. Try not to think about it too hard else you'll break your brain.) This means having to replace the turbine a lot more often--which is fine if your cooling loop is separate from your primary heating loop, like in most types of nuclear reactors, but if you've got a boiling water reactor, your turbine is exposed to irradiated steam so maintenance becomes a lot harder.

All that being said--we have been using water and wind to generate power for thousands of years. Not electricity, but power, which is really what we're talking about when we talk about making the spinny thing go. Because the spinny thing is creating mechanical power, which is then used to make an electric engine go WEEEEEEEE to give us electric power. But mechanical power can be used directly for things like pumping water or grinding grain or operating bellows to fuel really huge blast furnaces for smelting iron.

Humans have been really good at finding ways to make mechanical power and reduce the amount of energy we are personally required to put into getting that mechanical power. Because humans are relatively weak and generally lazy in the sense that we're always looking for an easier way to do something difficult.

Steam power, in the grand scheme of things, is relatively new, and frankly it took a lot of trial and error (and explosions) before it could be used reliably and efficiently, which is also partly why we don't see things like steam powered cars or nuclear powered jet engines (though they tried, for both). It just isn't efficient or practical. And inherently one of the ways to make steam power more efficient is to pressurize all that lovely boiling water (whatever the heat source), which is where the explosions come in. Think about a bottle of soda exploding, but now imagine that with a giant metal tank and boiling water, and you have the horror of late 19th century steam power. The number of trains and ships that exploded was not inconsequential. There was an entire insurance company created just to deal with steam boilers because no one else wanted to touch them. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers was basically created because a bunch of engineers got together and said "right, there has to be some way to do this without blowing people up" and the pressure vessel regulations came into existence. But that was in 1880, and if you look at the development of steam powered energy, not much has changed except the source of the heat.

(Yes, Vitruvius created a bladeless radial steam engine in ~30 BCE, but you'll note that it never really took off, mostly because it lacked a good way to do anything with all the spinning, like turning a gear shaft.)

So yes. Nuclear power is really no different from coal power, they just use different sources to make sources hot. And steam power is great, but at the end of the day, we have come up with lots of better ways to create power. Steam is just the best way we've found so far to create a lot of power all at once. And with nuclear power in particular, we can get a lot of electrical power out of the system with very little energy being put into it. One uranium fuel pellet that can fit in your hand is equivalent to 40 tons of coal, the size of a large dump truck.

So if you need lots of electrical power, steam is one of your best options. But if you're just looking for mechanical power, there are lots of better options.

nuclear power is impressive until you get up to why. "we use the most precisely engineered machinery ever created to split atoms to release energy" oh yeah how come? "boil water to turn a fan" get the fuck out

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

what do you think the third years would be like 10 years from now?

What comes after Ever After?

You’re looking at the new buff baker that helps man the Clover Patisserie. He’s beloved by the local housewives and school girls— His parents are getting up there in age, so Trey has taken up a bulk of the responsibilities: ordering supplies, prepping ingredients, baking, stocking, and customer service.

After hours, Trey experiments with new recipes and leftover ingredients. Sometimes he comes up with some truly awful inventions, but other times they end up working out really well. Who knew that adding oyster sauce would enhance the flavor of this bread? He calls these the “Clover Specials, Piping Hot and Fresh Off the Trey” (yes, that was a pun).

He tries to make the bakery more whimsical for the customers. Little seasonal decorations, cute little doodles on the placards that indicate what each item is, a sign that reminds folks to brush well after eating sweets, etc. (Trey claims he doesn't really care for little flourishes like this; it might just be the nostalgia of the unbirthday party days getting to him.)

If there are things that haven’t sold at the end of the day, he’ll offer them for a discount in a blind box style. You’ll never know what you’ll pull, but it’s always delicious, if not a little stale or slightly lumpy looking. Waste not, what not!

Every so often, he has nights out with his childhood friends Chenya and Riddle. Trey's responsible for bringing the snacks (he uses his friends as a test audience for his experiments), and the three spend that time drinking, sharing stories, and catching up on each others' lives.

Cater’s a social media manager and agent for various influencers. His career allows him to basically work from anywhere (which is convenient because he travels to various promotional events) and to be on his phone 24/7, monitoring stats, attending strategy meetings, and coordinating with PR teams.

Keeps up with the latest trends! He's not one of those "how do you do, fellow kids?" types though. Cater is genuinely on top of what's cool--so much so that he's sometimes contacted as a style consultant. It feels like he's got his hands in many facets of the entertainment industry.

He regularly sees a therapist (although he doesn't let any of his friends or family know) to talk through his insecurities and other darker thoughts. It's really been helping him sort out these complex emotions he's been sitting and stewing in for the longest time. He's hoping that, someday, he can reach the point where he can open up to everyone about this other side of himself.

Every now and again, the thought to text an old NRC classmate strikes him--but something keeps Cater back. Doubt, apprehension. The worst that can happen is being left on read, but to Cater the consequences feel so much worse than that. It's a huge relief to him when he gets a text out of the blue from Trey one day--an excuse to text back, to make that connection. Though it's still difficult for Cater to gather the courage to initiate another conversation, this is still a foot in the door for him, the potential start of something new.

Cater still has the Magicam accounts of his school mates. He'll sort of like... cyberstalk their pages just to keep up with their lives, to feel a sense of closeness with the people he failed to reach out to during his NRC days. When he stops to reflect on it, he really regrets his inaction--and, on some nights, he scrolls and scrolls until the dread and the loneliness lulls him into a comfortable, dreamless sleep.

It took a lot of resistance and arguing, but--much to the delight of Kifaji and his family members--Leona has (begrudgingly) taken on the role of a royal advisor to support Sunset Savanna. There were of course some growing pains, especially with Leona's callous and arrogant attitude clashing with those of the other (older, much more conservative) advisors--but for the most part, it's been a net positive.

His focus is on improving infrastructure while also conserving as much of the environment as they can. The knowledge and experience he has gained from his 4th year internship comes in handy here, and thankfully they've been able to take small but steady steps to modernize the country.

In addition to improving infrastructure, Leona has made efforts to strengthen the Sunset Savanna's soft power. He has established new schools and food banks, particularly in impoverished areas, and started magift/spelldrive teams. This has made him popular with certain groups, such as the hyena beastmen and children.

Leona loathes putting on airs, but it's a necessity when facing the public so he manages. Unfortunately, he's still in the habit of skipping meetings and ceremonies he deems unnecessary or a waste of his time, which earns him pockets of ire. He usually just shoots back with, "Yeah? So what? I'm still gettin' results, ain't I?"

Political demands? Not a problem for him. But family? That's the real pain in his tail. Cheka, now an energetic 15-year old, has not let up on bothering him one bit. Then there's also the affectionate Falena, who is trying to desperately reconnect with his estranged brother. Leona just tosses out the excuse of "being busy" to dodge the both of them.

Vil continues to be an A-list celebrity and triple threat--actor, model, and influencer. He has racked up several more leading roles since his school days, including non-traditional bad guys. Vil has been an anti-villain and sympathetic villain.

Having aged like fine wine, he was able to play the character of a father too, just like how he dreamed of as a third-year student. When Vil got the call about the role, he excitedly told his own dad about it, who was so ecstatic and joked that Vil "takes after his old man". They went out for a little father-son bonding time to celebrate, dining at a high-class establishment and having a toast to Vil's future.

It was a Big Deal when Vil was offered his first-ever hero role. Social media and news outlets were popping off about it, and Vil himself was so excited he actually squealed. To this day he still considers it a turning point in his career and one of the most fun characters he ever played. Since then, he's been getting much more diverse roles, which has really opened up the door for him to expand his skills.

Vil is also a business owner now, having several brands under him. A skincare brand, a clothing brand, a makeup brand… Despite them being celebrity owned, the products are actually high quality (Vil won’t sign his name off on subpar products) and very popular, particularly whenever his face is plastered on the marketing campaigns.

These days, he allows himself to be a little less guarded with his front-facing persona. Vil still comes off as cool and regal, but notably laughs more, smiles more, even giggles more. He has a bit of a youthful sparkle to him and talks openly about his own struggles, fears, hopes, and dreams. Fans praise him for being so much more "relatable" and honest.

Rook claims that he is a globe-trotting archeologist now, but you get the feeling that he’s not telling the full truth. What kind of archeologist carries around a belt of weirdly invasive tools on it? Are those teeny-tiny listening devices? And why is his camera (which he says is strictly for his photography hobby) loaded with shots of suspicious characters taken from a distance?

He shares all kinds of crazy stories, like about the time he swung from a vine with a family of gorillas or how he discovered a lever that revealed a roller coaster to a secret underground laboratory. “Um, are those the kinds of things an archaeologist does…?” you ask him. Rook just smiles and laughs, but doesn’t provide a clear answer.

His stealth and marksman skills have developed to a scary degree. You sometimes forget that Rook is even standing beside you, and you've witnessed him kill bugs with frightening precision with nothing more than his gloved fingers. He brushes it off as abilities he sharpened "on the job".

... In any case, whatever Rook's actual occupation is, it requires a lot of travel. He lavishes his friends with souvenirs and post cards of the loveliest sights, then babbles on and on about local attractions, culture, art, and charming hole-in-the-wall destinations. It seems like he has accumulated a lot of knowledge about Twisted Wonderland in the 10 years since you've last seen him, and he's all too eager to blab about it all.

He's become an artist, although he operates under a pen name. You'll find paintings, sculptures, or collages he has assembled in various small exhibitions, and poetry he has penned where you least expect it. Rook puts his talent out in hopes of beautifying the world.

Idia has succeeded his father as the Director of S.T.Y.X. There’s a lot riding on his shoulders, but the pressure surprisingly never really gets to him. He’s cooler, more methodical now—almost as though he were a machine himself, set so clearly on his task that he won’t budge until it is completed first. (He worries that he has become just like his downer dad 💀)

Sometimes he spirals and his nerves get the best of him. In those cases, he has to resort to the text to speech device he invented back at NRC to get through his meetings. The staff at S.T.Y.X. get used to it and are largely alright with it.

He has the habit of snacking on the job. There's chip crumbs and gummy worms scattered on his desk, which is already messy enough with important documents. (He complains that this should all be digitalized anyway!) Idia keeps even more snacks in his pockets, munching on them whenever he’s annoyed or needs to give himself something to do.

The dark circles under his eyes get way worse. With work eating up so much of his day, Idia has less free time to games and other hobbies. That just means he ends up staying up super late into the night to catch up on his dailies and to grind out events, read manga, watch anime, etc. (“Sleep is for the weak!” he insists.) It’s a miracle he can still get up in the mornings to clock in for his next shift!

Shockingly, Idia takes breaks to go outside and touch grass soak up some (artificial) sunshine. He has learned from past experience that being locked up indoors all the time isn't exactly healthy. That, and his Chief of Cybersecurity (Ortho) pesters him to put himself out there more! Sometimes Idia even awkwardly tries to converse with his coworkers around the water cooler, though that's never quite as relaxing as him just chilling by himself in some quiet corner of the Island of Woe.

Make way for the reigning king of Briar Valley! Maleficia has finally retired, passing on her title to her grandson Malleus. There was a coronation ceremony (now recognized as the holiday or Ascension in Briar Valley), which you were of course invited to as a guest. You had a seat up front and were one of the first to congratulate him right after he was officially crowned.

As a relatively young king, Malleus isn’t the perfect ruler right away. Learning about ruling is nothing close to actually ruling. He stumbles and has to adjust to the role and, most of all, he has to balance the conservative values of his country and his people with the ever-changing lands beyond his home. Not an easy task, especially when he has only just gotten used to the concept of change himself—but with the support of his like-minded retainers, Malleus knows he isn’t alone in his endeavors for a brighter tomorrow.

His power also poses another challenge. Malleus is so used to solving his issues by casting a spell or terrifying his opposition into backing down. He’s no longer in a position to do such things or to let his emotions run wild, lest he risk tearing apart his own court and driving a wedge between the valley and other countries. A leash on his temper, a regal demeanor—this is how a mature adult presents himself. The anger only truly comes out when his people are in danger or he is deeply insulted.

His top priority once he is in power is restoring the bonds that were put in jeopardy on account of his… “oopsie” in his third year at NRC. There’s still lingering distrust between him and other nations due to that incident, so Malleus makes it clear that he’s apologetic and willing to come to the table for discussion, should other countries wish. His schedule is jam-packed with meetings with foreign dignitaries.

Massive and sweeping reform is not happening—not anytime soon. No opening of the borders, no sudden introduction of new technology. There would be massive outcry and resistance from the public + senators, not to mention that Malleus himself isn’t entirely comfortable yet with the concept. However, he has put together incremental proposals and tries convince others of the benefits, implanting the seeds in the minds of the people. He’s also supportive of initiatives which promote learning and cultural exchange, such as the import of reading materials from overseas (Sebek’s idea) and has even appointed Silver as Briar Valley’s very first human ambassador.

Lilia has comfortably retired to the Land of Crimson Long. He lives in a little hut far removed from civilization, but he ventures out into the town to pick up the essentials and to play board games with the local retirees. For the most part, it’s just Lilia and the wilderness! ... Which has led to rumors of a monster haunting the forest. This, Lilia entertains in by dropping down from the trees and frightening any hooligans who come close to his territory.

Though his magical abilities have been in decline, he does his best to stay active and in shape! Lilia once snuck into a nearby military camp, disguising himself as one of the new recruits, and partook in their training with them! He even stopped to lend extra help to the recruits who seemed to be struggling the most--though he still came first place in all of their exercises and holds the record time for climbing to the top of a pole to retrieve the arrow there.

He delights in partaking in the local customs and cuisine. Lilia loves to travel to shrines and admire the temples built to honor ancestors. He lights up some incense and joins others in prayer, knowing that he, too, will one day be among the dead. Best to pay respects now! Lilia has also taken to several cups of tea (as recommended by his doctor) with his meals, and has rice porridge with sunnyside egg eyes and bacon smiles whenever he needs something comforting.

Lilia of course keeps in touch with his loved ones! He's still gaming with his online companion Gloomurai and texts his Diasomnia boys all the time. Lilia also sends cards for special occasions, putting much love and care into his notes and the pictures + souvenirs he attaches to them.

His whole face lights up when his friends are able to make the time to pay him a visit. Lilia makes a big show of it, insisting to arrange a big feast or to play a tune for them—oh, and how about a fireworks show?! But his guests just tell him to sit down and take it easy while they take care of everything for him. It’s his turn to be doted on!

[postcrashcurly]

A Deep Dive into Curly's Injuries

CW: Medical discussion and graphic themes.

I see a lot of people discussing Curly's injuries in the fandom and I thought that I would take some time to absolutely word vomit information for consideration as someone training in the medical field.

Burns and Calculating Total Body Surface

Starting off simple, we’ll discuss the following burns:

First degree burns only affect the outer layer of the skin (epidermis). Second degree burns, or partial thickness burns, affect both the epidermis and part of the layer underneath (dermis). Third degree burns, or full thickness burns, affect all layers of the skin, fat, and muscle. Third degree burns DO NOT HURT as they destroy the nerves.

Typically you will not see significant 4th degree burns premortem- they are often postmortem and resemble more of a char. The body is basically cremated/incinerated. I'll touch more on this further down.

The rule of nines is the method for estimating the percentage of affected body surface (size of the burn). I used this to roughly estimate that Curly is burned anywhere from 82-91% of his total body surface. We don't see his backside, but assuming he walked into the cockpit before the crash it is POSSIBLE that his backside isn't as burnt.

Note the R-Baux score and prediction of burn-related mortality (TBSA – Age + [17 x R] TBSA: total body surface area R: 1 (Inhalation injury) or 0 (No inhalation injury)

Amputation Possibility and Weight of Risk

While there are a lot of factors to keep in mind when it comes to Curly’s condition and subsequent survival, in order to connect reality and canon the following needs to be considered.

We'll go over two of the most popular interpretations post-crash:

1. Anya performing amputation as a preventative measure.

We have to think about the veins and arteries in the human body when discussing rudimentary amputation.

Note: Arteries carry blood away from the heart to the body, while veins carry oxygen-poor blood back to the heart. Arteries and veins are connected by capillaries. Direction as follows:

Risk to major arteries and veins would potentially result in excessive blood loss (we will focus on arteries since they are larger in diameter and their ability to withstand high pressure from pumping blood). Repairing arteries typically requires surgical intervention.

Curly's right arm ends at the wrist, while his left ends midway up the forearm. This would sever the radial and ulnar arteries.

Curly's right leg ends just below the knee. The popliteal (back of the knee) artery is the continuation of the femoral artery- one of the largest arteries in the body.

Curly's left leg ends about midway down his calf. We can assume that severs the posterior and anterior tibial arteries.

The image below is a quick edit and isn't an accurate representation of location, only a rough diagram.

Note: The legs network of small arteries are available to SOMEWHAT compensate for blood flow if one of the major arteries is damaged, but it likely wouldn't be enough to prevent excessive blood loss.

We CAN consider cauterization in emergency situations; however it would require some ingenuity and a significant heat source. Small tools that could be repurposed to cauterize Curly’s wounds would do more harm than good, and it is likely that Pony Express has banned large, heat producing objects. They ARE on a space freighter with artificial gravity and set oxygen levels, after all.

Lack of proper equipment and medical knowledge would make amputation unsurvivable.

2. Curly's limbs were eviscerated by the crash.

This is where we talk more about the possibility of fourth degree burns and what that means.

Fourth degree burns are the most severe type of burn that affects muscles, tendons, and bone.

Where to position Curly in the cockpit during the crash is… tricky.

It’s difficult to imagine the angle he would need to be in order to sustain full body burns and loss of limbs. This is the part I pondered the most, and I think a good explanation would be electrical burns from the control panel on impact.

Electrical burns are carried by nerves because it is the path of least resistance. Extremities are more susceptible to damage when a current passes through them. (Yes, this means his genitals are gone too. Sorry, folks!) *See article on electric extremity injury under Read More

Facial Injury and Eye Trauma

Moving towards Curly’s face we come back to our discussion of third degree burns, which I’ve explained a bit above. I do want to note that the survival of his left eye interested me the most while compiling this post.

Your eyes don’t melt in extreme heat (goofy ahh Indiana Jones shit).

Your eyes are mostly composed of water, which makes them resistant to combustion. Since we never directly see the eye socket beneath the bandaging it’s reasonable to assume that his right eye is not entirely destroyed but instead severely damaged (flattened, scarred, cloudy). Without eyelids or even eye drops his remaining eye would dry, potentially blinding him if the heat on impact didn't.

Another point of interest is Jimmy manually manipulating Curly’s mouth several times throughout the game.

This rounds back to third degree burns and the damage to the superficial masseter muscle (moves the lower jaw upward – mastication, or ‘protrusion of the mandible’), the deep masseter muscle (retraction of the mandible – mastication, or ‘closing the jaw with force’), the temporalis muscle (mastication, enabling jaw movement for chewing, biting, and grinding), and surrounding tendons.

Knowing this, a ‘slack jaw’ position would cause visible oral damage like dry mouth and halted saliva production. I’ll touch more on this below.

Loss of Skin and Infection

The skin is the largest organ in the human body with a variety of life sustaining functions like protection and excretory function.

In Curly’s condition, the loss of his skin leaves him open to systematic infection. Skin protects against infection by producing antibacterial substances (defensins and cathelicidins), which greatly increase when injury or inflammation are present. Without skin your body's natural defenses no longer protect against bacteria.

Pathological vulnerability is the key factor in this section. A severe and sometimes fatal response to infection (sepsis) would likely occur under these conditions without proper medical care and antibiotics.

Administering Water, Food, and Medication

This section is where some interpretation comes into play.

The average healthy person can survive approximately three weeks without food and 3 days without water (both vary greatly). According to the games timeline he was kept alive in this state for four months, which means that somehow, in some way, they were able to get him enough nutrients for basic human survival.

This was likely in the form of paranutrition bags and IV fluids since Curly does not seem to have the ability to move his mouth or swallow on his own. When your mouth is kept open for extended periods of time you stop salivating as frequently because the act of swallowing, triggered by the build-up of saliva, is no longer happening.

When having medication administered, Jimmy can be seen (or more so heard) shoving the pills down Curly’s throat with his fingers.

I can’t help but speculate that additional damage was done to his esophagus and vocal cords since there isn’t a way to push the pills far enough down to avoid the steady breakdown of the medication in his throat.

Without properly swallowing pills Curly most likely developed pill esophagitis (irritation of the esophageal lining), which causes painful acid reflux.

Speculation of Internal Injury

This is more presumptive than other sections.

Due to previous notes regarding the source and nature of Curly’s wounds, it is reasonable to assume that not only is smoke inhalation a contributing factor, but ash, technological equipment, and shrapnel also run the possibility of entering his lungs on impact.

However, when I was looking into photos of the cockpit post-crash it brought another potential inhalation/consumption risk to mind; the expanding foam.

It is known that it expands to cover potential weak spots in the ship, so the strength of the substance needs to withstand the pressure of space and maintain the artificial gravity. The cockpit is covered in it, so it is possible that in some way Curly was physically in contact with it when the crash occurred.

Whether he ingested or inhaled it something to consider, but externally there must have been some effort removing the foam from his already burnt skin.

So, what does this mean, Leo? What’s your point?

Well, there is no real point to be made. Everyone is going to interpret things differently! I just thought it would be cool to put forth some real world medical knowledge and compare it to canon! I AM STILL IN TRAINING and I have a lot to learn, but I wanted to put something together for you guys! You can take something from it, or nothing at all!

Final Notes:

Realistic Prognosis (prediction of outcome):

Without medical treatment total body third degree burns are NOT SURVIVABLE.

Extended periods of festering and infection would make skin grafting impossible (There is some wiggle room with this depending on how you perceive medical care to have changed- but I do think it's important to consider the limits of the human body).

🖤 If you made it to the end, thank you for reading! 🖤

Thank you so dearly to my love, my life, @13nn0x for the help compiling information and just generally being the sexiest person alive.

Some extra articles to refer to:

Note: Some articles include images but I put a warning on the ones that do.

(CW: Includes Photos) Clinical spectrum of electrical burns - A prospective study from the developing world by Ashok Kumar Sokhal, Krishna Lodha, and Rajkumar Paliwal. LINK

(CW: Includes Photos) Electro-Amputation of Lower Limbs Due to a High-Voltage Shock: Report of an Unusual Case by Suraj Sundaragiri, Senthil Kumaran M, Venkatesh Janarthanan, Chaitanya Mittal, Gerard Pradeep Devnath S. LINK

Ocular Burns by Gregory C. Patek, Amanda Bates, and Allison Zanaboni. LINK

Drug-Induced Esophagitis by Fatima Saleem and Ashish Sharma. LINK

Better among the two for Burn Mortality Prediction in Developing Nations: Revised Baux or Modified Abbreviated Burn Severity Index? by Sheerin Shah, Renu Verma, Rajinder K Mittal, Ramneesh Garg. LINK

[iwoulddieforher]

Random Casey x Alex ask for you… neither seem like the type to cry. Like they’re the ones who feel like they need to be strong and hold it in, in front of others. So what would happen when they finally break in front of the other? What’s the reactions?

I love this prompt! Thank you!

Alex crying is definitely something that happens really rarely, but when it does it surprises her as much as it surprises Casey. It's a weird moment- Alex comes home, feeling guilty as hell for something that happened during the workday, and Casey comes over to cook for her in her apartment like they do sometimes and she turns around to ask how much seasoning Alex wants her to use or something stupid and domestic like that and realizes Alex is just staring at her blankly with tears streaming down her face.

But Casey has a lot of family members, younger ones too, so although someone as esteemed as Alex crying catches her totally off guard she's used to comforting people- large family reunions always end in fights, growing up with siblings means sharing their hardships, that kind of thing- so she just turns the stove off so nothing burns, pours Alex a glass of water, and then sits next to her and tentatively asks Alex what she'd like her to do-

Alex turns and just pulls Casey into her, burying her face in the crook of Casey's neck, and just focused on the feeling of Casey rubbing little circles in her back while her tears get soaked up by the redhead's shirt.

Alex crying always starts and proceeds like this- completely wordlessly. She doesn't have much facial expression when she cries, her face just solidifies into a mask other than her eyes getting puffy and tears streaming down her cheeks. Internally, Casey is freaking the fuck out but knows better than to let her shock be evident in anything that she does.

I imagine proceeding would be difficult for Alex- figuring out the appropriate time to stop crying, how to act after she stops crying, that sort of thing, so a lot of the time it ends with Casey just taking Alex to bed and tucking her in (or getting in with her, spooning) and Alex is mostly fine by the time she wakes up.

Casey is a lot more reactive, but she can also tell when she's overwhelmed and knows she's prone to crying, so she'll just try to hide at first. Alex knows she had a rough day at work so she's assuming she'll come over, but she doesn't, and then eventually at some point she gets concerned and checks Casey's location on Life360- Casey's still at the office, and it's nearly eleven, and there's no way she's actually still working. Alex tries to call her and the call is declined after the second ring, which means Casey does still have her phone on her, it's not like she left it in the office- Alex gets in the car with after a little bit of nervous fumbling and hesitation and drives over.

Casey crying is a lot more verbal, not at first but if she's actually sobbing she's talkative, which really freaks Alex out, and she's more inexperienced with dealing with people crying to her. She tries to use her prosecutor skills, because victims and such have cried to her before and she knows how to deal with that to some extent, but Casey crying isn't like that because Alex starts to feel upset by it too, Casey's emotions are almost infectious to her- which is nice when Casey's laughing, but when she's crying it hurts Alex's soul.

At first, Casey cries silently, albeit a little frustrated, rubbing her eyes a lot and sniffling, and if she actually breaks into a more dramatic stage of crying it's quiet for the first couple minutes and then she just starts rambling. Like really, just blurting out whatever words are forming in her head. If it's depressed crying there's self loathing mixed in and if it's angry crying there's a lot of swear words- which is another different between them, because Alex crying is always just out of sheer overwhelmedness, so there's not really much variation in the way she cries, but Casey cries out of different emotions and has altered states due to what emotion caused her to start to break down.

Alex doesn't know how to deal with crying people as I keep stating, so her version of comforting is mostly just trying to respond to all the nonsense Casey's garbling out, and then at some point distracting her with kisses, which Casey is fine with. It does effectively ground her, because it's hard to focus on whatever has you so overwhelmed when Alexandra fucking Cabot is kissing you on the nose and on the cheeks and on the lips if she's feeling a little bolder.

Unlike with Alex, after some degree of comfort Casey can self-soothe herself down the rest of the way, and then she'll explain what made her so upset and talk about how she's going to fix it. Alex thinks it's really admirable how Casey can go from weeping to ambitiously planning how to fix all the wrongs in the world. Casey feels like she's able to conquer everything that she feels so strongly about because she has her girlfriend by her side. It works out nicely.

[ninakoll]

For comics, what is your work process like? How do you get from idea to a finished comic?

HELLOOOO OAAA omg this is a tough nut to crack as im a pretty chaotic writer in that way...... i think it depends whether i'm creating longform or shortform, i actually recently talked abt this elsewhere so i can bring an example based on the sylvanian discourse comic as shortform! long post with sketch pages and thumbnails etc ahead, ill put it under a cut! 🧡🧡

usually i start by jotting down really loose ideas which i do in my native language; ill translate it for you but i sent myself a mad scientist-esque message that went like: "kohaku giggling at his phone, rinne asking what's so funny and kohaku tells them that love assigned them sylvanian families creatures, and shows them. niki's is obvious, everyone agrees. same with kohaku's, plus rinne does pleading face emoji at how cute it is. rinne's critter could get criticism on being uncool? google. himeru's reaction to his own is no way.. himeru is this one and shows a pic on his phone to which everyone is like ..:3 himeru we didn't know you'd thought about this already but himeru just demands everyone to agree with his choice more than aira's. aira later gets a text from kohaku that himeru didn't agree and aira is PISSED"

sdfsdfdklhs so this was my script, as you see the story changed a little while thumbnailing bc i figured out a funnier way to write it; + i cut the scene change for pacing reasons and constrained the ending into one panel with texts on a screen...! then i had to start finding the critters to assign them, i presented my assignments to friends to check if im accurate or out sailing:D:D mwah mwah thank you to my council of love

next step was writing dialogue which i did while sketching the pages super loosely as little thumbnails, i like to get my layouts solidified when thumbnailing too and i usually do my cleanups straight on the scaled up thumbnails. when i write longform i usually thumbnail out more than 6 pages at once to see how the pages flow and write loose mad scientist type scripts chapter by chapter. i rly do miss working on longform comics 😭😭😭 (my webcomic FLFR became abandoned bc i deleted my twitter years ago and realized later that my only way of accessing my webtoons account was thru twitter. customer support said its gone forever so 🇫.)

as you see in this example i rly like to have my text flow and kind of lead the reader's eye thru the action... i think all comic artists have different approaches to certain things but i like loose and dynamic paneling very much; it's so much fun to play around with!! i'm also so so pleased that people noticed in the comic how kohaku was becoming more and more excited and confident with every showing, it was a little difficult to figure out how to make a repetitive and essentially very boring action (someone holding up their phone) work in comic format without feeling copypasted or trite. more thumbnail examples from my sketchbook for the rinniki comic (i like that i wrote notes for myself on top of drawings, like "üldine" to refer to the panel being a wide shot:DD wonderful overlap of storyboarding and comic work!!):

overall i like writing comics since you can add endless details. what makes comics work for me is giving up on being a perfectionist or you will never finish a comic. one finished comic is better than the perfect comic in your head because you'll have the experience and free space in your head to write another comic, instead of the first one stewing in your mind. :D and so on!! be bold, don't be scared to draw ugly, and draw bad comics. and definitely write it with an audience in mind, except the audience is 50 versions of you and what you enjoy/like most!!

i started my first longform comic in high school and idk how but i managed to finish it, it's not a great comic, but i'm proud that it's done and it taught me a lot. same for FLFR which i hope i can rewrite/redraw some day since it's a story i still want to tell and the characters are rly near and dear to my heart, but i think i totally got burnt out from juggling work, comics and things going on in my life at the time :( surprisingly i also enjoyed working on a comic project where the client wrote the script and had character designs ready but mainly because the client's script writing style was similar to mine which at times was like "idk they fight and something funny happens here"

thank you for this ask!! everyone start drawing comics NOWW 👊💥

[mudstoneabyss]

another thing I'm thinking about. never got the complaint about tonetags being bad or useless because people have to memorize it and can misunderstand what it's short for like. yep it's abbreviations. that happens with them. do you also get mad when you see someone use an acronym you don't know the meaning

[lunarharp]

played dragon age 2...just simple scribbles

[sunshine-and-her-ikevil-stuff]

*thinking about the villains' tragic fates*

You know, their routes never really talk too much about their fates and how it effects them mentally. Or how the MC feels about it, and dealing with the fear and angst of it with the slight exception of William's route

*eyes widen*

... I think I know what the sequels are gonna be about

[icewindandboringhorror]

"We can get through this by working together, reach out to your friends, community is all we have, a social network will be your security in the world, now is the time to lean on others!"

I do agree, and it's scientifically sound (pretty sure there is data about how people with better social networks live longer and etc) but also....augh..... what about the severe social issues, difficulty to leave the house, physical issues which lead to like zero socialization energy a majority of the time, etc. etc. Social support can be a replacement for structural support, but.. I guess I just wish it didn't have to be. Community is extremely difficult to build, even moreso if you're someone who has issues with social cues or group conversations or even just being around others in the first place. And blah, nuance, of course I'm just complaining or maybe being too negative or maybe misunderstanding, but, I hardly have the energy to brush my hair once every 2 months.. how am I supposed to maintain a wide social network and be active in a Community and Join Groups lol... sometimes it kind of feels like "er.. well if thats my only option then...... ruh roh". It's overwhelming

[faggling]

I love taking care of people omggg 😍😍😍

[llatimeria]

processed some trauma i think

[kingofmyborrowedheart]

As someone who wants to go into journalism specifically focused on features/profiles, it irritates me to no end how actually good and engaging questions about a subject’s work (that they are currently promoting!!) will get sacrificed for a question that’s based around a meme/doesn’t have any real connection to their work and that they have heard repeatedly.

[noperopesaredope]

Me: *Writes a whole post about how it would be so cool to see Curly use morse code to communicate post-crash while still on the Tulpar and how that would alter his role in the story (even if it might not fit thematically in canon, AUs and fanfics still exist for a reason)*

This Post: "Morse Code"

Me:

You. You get me.

yeah i'm mad

[cowgirlboy]

just found out about acquired neurodivergency/how c/ptsd can behave like neurodivergency what the fuckkk

[themindelectricdemo4]

ITS REALLY FUNNY TO BELIEVE ANYTHING I DO IS TO IMPRESS ANYONE BECAUSE IT ONLY ANNOYS PEOPLE & I KNEW THAT GOING IN BECAUSE I PREFER BEING HAPPIER BEING MYSELF THAN PRETENDING TO BE SOMETHING IM NOT

[sirfrogsworth]

Do you remember that Aussie sword guy who used to talk about medieval weapons?

And, like, he seemed pretty good at talking about swords and shit. He seemed to have a good grasp of the history and tactics. He'd analyze movie weapons for their realism and that was fun. He did demonstrations with real weapons. For a time I really looked forward to his videos popping up in my feed.

He seemed like a harmless sword-fighting aficionado.

But then I guess he wanted to spread his wings. So he started down an anti-woke path. Giving questionable critiques about media and feminism. He started defending boob armor by showing historical examples even though most of those were decorative and not battle ready like in the games.

Then he admitted he was a fan of The Daily Wire.

And that was disappointing.

I missed him nerding out about swords, ya know?

Well, Shad decided to spread his wings again.

He has become...

*bad French accent* An artiste.

You see, he types words into a little box. Then a little robot does a google image search and steals a bunch of art. Then that robot reconfigures that art to be nearly indistinguishable from the source material. Well... aside from the occasional artist watermark.

Whoops!

A.I. art is very difficult. Sometimes when you type words into the box you get a woman with 5 lopsided anime tiddies. Or 20 fingers on one hand. It takes time and effort and experience to type in the perfect magic words so that you get something close to your imagination that doesn't belong in some sort of Lovecraftian horror ripoff.

For example, check out this cool "pirate hat" I asked A.I. to place on my head.

Clearly, I am not skilled enough at typing words into a box to get a proper pirate hat.

It. Is. Not. Easy.

I heard someone say you have to type things in a box for 10,000 hours before you start getting truly masterful generations.

I mean, you can't type "marathon runners" and expect that to actually work.

THIS REQUIRES SKILL, PEOPLE.

And I am a lowly amateur. I can only dream of becoming the box-typist Shad has honed himself into.

The thing is... Shad is very upset.

He is upset that you don't like his "art" and he is ready to die on this hill.

So... before he croaks on a mound of bullshit, he has something to show you. He has created something truly brilliant and when you see it, he is convinced you will validate his considerable efforts.

Before I show you his "Not. Easy." artistic masterpiece I'd like you to sit with what he has said for a second.

Ruminate in the verbiage.

Process the ideas and points of view presented.

Digest his plea for you to accept and love his hard won battle after typing words into a box to manifest his imaginings.

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Have you sat?

Ruminated?

Processed?

Digested?

Okay, here it is...