#(with more vivisection but don't worry about that)

[radiance1]

Gimmie a Danny and Damian twins au, but not one where they're all gushy gushy and huggy huggy about the fact that they're reunited.

I want one, where they HATE and try to KILL EACH OTHER. Where they're extremely fucked up in their relationship with one another, but can't kill the other because Taila hoped that they could get along.

They spew poison at each other, inflict pain on each other as easy as BREATHING and would leave the other while heavily injured while saying that they could take care of themselves.

I want them to be near mortal-enemies wrapped up in the bodies of two highly-competent and powerful 14 year olds who cannot give a fuck about each other, has a fleeting thought of killing the other on the best of days but doesn't because of their dear mommy Taila.

Then force them to interact with each other after a long period of separation. I don't give a flying FUCK how you manage to do it, perhaps Danny has to run because his parents vivisected him, perhaps the Nasty Burger explosion couldn't be reversed because Clockwork said no and Danny is torn or perhaps Vlad brings him to Gotham for a gala (either redeemed or not redeemed Vlad), etc, etc.

Force these two children who fucking HATE each other under the same roof, make them interact, make them watch each other interact and make comments about it. Maybe even make an unstable Danny try and KILL Damian, but is stopped by the batfam, or maybe make it that Danny can't even bring himself to kill Damian because he's (discounting Talia) the only family he has left.

Maybe even (if you go the Nasty Burger/Dead Fenton fam au) make Danny hate Bruce Wayne's fucking GUTS because this man is trying to replace his dead father (even though Bruce IS his biological father) and hates him even MORE because he looks so similar to Jack's face that he's literally torn whenever he sees him. Make it that he never stays in the same room as Bruce whenever he's not in mask, make it that he tells Bruce TO HIS FACE that he hates the man for trying to replace his dead FUCKING dad and that he will NEVER accept him as one, biologically related or not.

Maybe even make him not like the batfam either just for the fact that they associate with both Bruce and Damian.

(I just remembered about that one post I saw, but BOY is this ramble gonna get even WORSE for dear old Danny. Though this part isn't really necessary could just read the on top bit lol)

Maybe they even find a way to take away his ghost side, and Bruce (With or without Talia) say that it's for the best for him, and Danny? Danny just fucking BREAKS. DOWN. He's full-on crying and screaming at Bruce and maybe has to be held back by the other batkids or not, or maybe he's just fulling on trying to hit Bruce and Bruce either dodges or just takes it.

Saying how fucking DARE he take away his ghost side, that was apart of him and he had NO FUCKING RIGHT to take away something so precious from him. Then Bruce could say that he doesn't need powers, he could be fully if not even more capable as a human.

And Danny just goes "You don't even get it, do you?" And Danny just cries harder because technically that was one the LAST things linking him to his parents. His DEAD parents. Sure, the accident was his fault, but phantom was created because of their portal, in their lab, in their basement.

Even worse if the reveal went RIGHT and they starting accepting how he was half ghost and trying to change their views on ghosts as a whole, only to die. Then, for some guy to just, take away something like that from him?

Maybe Danny would even say that, rip into him about how that was one of the only things linking him to his parents and even if it wasn't he didn't have the fucking right to decide what to do with HIS body.

"You never had to fucking worry about your parents not accepting you, I did. They still loved me regardless, they tried to change for me. But you wouldn't even know what that feels like, would you, you stupid fucking rich boy."

[idk why I typed that part out but just role with it.]

Maybe Bruce tries to sympathize with Danny about his parents, but Danny just doesn't have any fucks left to give about Bruce's life, or anyone else life in Bruce's life at all and just shuts it down or steamrolls over it. At the end of it all Danny is just a crying, shivering wreck and stares down Bruce with eyes full of HATE that tells Bruce one step closer, and he would KILL him.

Maybe then Damian (Either walks in or was there the entire time.) insults Danny over his weakness and depending on his ghost form or something, and Danny just sees fucking RED and jumps on him. No care that he's no longer half ghost, so that he means he could die more easily, no care to anyone else in that room, no care that Talia wanted both of them to get along and not kill each other.

He tries to kill Damian.

He fails miserably, of course, but he still tries. Then tries again and a fucking gain.

Then after all that he just, doesn't come out of his room, or tries to escape and leave Gotham every chance he gets. He never gets far, but he keeps trying, and he never opens up to anyone in the batfam, not even Alfred.

He's just a kid who lost everything he worked so hard for, everything he tried to hide from his biological mother and her assassin league who tried to keep whatever he had left. Now that kid is fueled by nothing but pure, revolting hatred for the people who took even that from him.

Basically like Dark Danny, but way more powerless and fully human.

[Okay that's enough of me rambling.]

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc #dcxdp #danny and damian are twins

[phantom-dc]

Batman had to act quickly.

At first he was happy that Jason had been coming over more, and being more agreeable. When Dick asked about his good mood, Jason admitted he had been seeing someone for a little while now. Bruce had been happy for Jason, worried his rage would prevent him from finding love. But that was before he did some digging.

Daniel Fenton. Son of ghost hunters. That fact had worried Bruce. Did he know about Jason's situation? Was he a threat? He couldn't take any risk, not when it came to his children. Batman was going to have some questions for him.

When he had dropped behind Fenton in the alley, things had gone south quickly. Fenton wasn't afraid of him at all. In fact, he had started to taunt him! B was ashamed to admit, something caused this kid to get under his skin. He threatened to make sure Fenton would regret it if he ever hurt Jason, but then Fenton said something odd:

'Why? It's not like its illegal!' Fenton explained the Ecto-acts and the G.I.W., to B's horror. Appearantly everyone could take away his son and torture him in the most gruesome of ways, and they wouldn't get so much as a slap on the wrist! Fenton had 'reassured' him, saying he was just 'observing' Jason... for now. That had earned him a black eye but Batman had bigger things to deal with. Afraid Jason wouldn't believe him, he made sure Nightwing and Signal kept an eye on Fenton. He wouldn't hurt Jason. Bruce had to call a meeting with the JL and JLD. Once those Acts are gone there will be nothing protecting Fenton from prison. He had to be quick.

Meanwhile 2 dead guys were sitting on their couch, one putting a cold compress on the others black eye. 'So let me get this straight. B found out your parents hunt the dead, he interrogated you because he was worried for me, and you insinuated that you were going to vivisect me?' Danny leaned back into Jason. 'I never said I would. I just said it would be totally legal if I did!' Jason laughed. 'You know he's going to go full Batman on you now, right?' 'I don't care, he made me drop my coffee!'

#batman #danny phantom #dc x dp #dp x dc #jason todd #red hood #danny fenton #dead on main #dp x dc prompt

[avernusreject]

Warning ya'll this is gonna be a long post. But please join my descent into insanity, as I deep dive into the vague wormhole that is the durge betrayal pre bg3 timeline.

Before we start, it’ll help if you have context around the faerun calendar. There are twelve months in total, each having exactly 30 days. Additionally, weeks don’t exist in faerun. Rather months get broken down into chunks of time called tendays, which you guessed is literally just ten days. If that was too straight forward for you, don’t worry, they add in five extra days to the calendar that fall outside of the months (ngl I still have no idea where these are located) to make the full year 365 days. 

At the beginning of the game, the nautiloid crash occurs at 20 Eleasis. Which means, the game starts in the middle of summer. Obviously, the way you play the game is going to influence the speed of events, but for my playthrough I reached moonrise towers around 12 elient (total time being 22 days). When you get to moonrise, in Bathazar’s chamber you can find his journal that explains that Kressa (the crazy necromancer chick) managed to keep durge alive. This entry is dated “two tenday ago”. But in game, that makes no sense because we know that the nautiloid should have crashed around that point. So either Balthazar doesn’t understand how the Faerun calendar works (I mean same, my guy) or we have to change our frame of reference. I think its more likely that the implied frame of reference is the start of the game, 20 Eleasis (since the developers can’t control how fast the player goes). 

If true, durge was saved by Kressa around 1 Eleasis. Her vivisections took place after this in the following days. However, durge is taken away before the end of the following tendays (at least before 10 Eleasis).

Now when you talk to Kressa in the basement of moonrise, she states that she found durge only hours after they had been given the tadpole.

In the fight with Orin, she states that when she attacked durge she carved out a hole for the worm (ignore the Half-Elf part, that's just from the moment Orin turns into durge during the pre-fight convo).

The part that we're missing is when specifically the tadpole was inserted into durge. But given how the game describes just how utterly fucked durge was, there's a high likelyhood that the tadpole was given to durge moments after their fight. Which if true, places Orin's betrayal at 1 Eleasis. Giving us twenty days till the start of the game.

The piece that threw me for a bit was this piece of the narrator's dialogue when durge examines the pod, stating that durge had no idea how much time had passed.

But the blood in the pod is still fresh enough that Astarion is able to ID it as durge & in another dialogue choice if you examine the blood further the narrator states the blood hasn't been there long enough to rot.

I think this dialogue is more explaining that durge is actively being tortured by Kressa so time feels unending (kressa being the one who put them in the pod to begin with).

I've seen in other posts that Gortash's draft memoir explains that Orin's betrayal occurred during or just around the crowning of the brain (I don't have a screenshot of that unfortunately). But we have to take that with a grain of salt because Gortash is the definition of an unreliable narrator.

Personally, I don't think he's lying though. Orin's betrayal occurred in moonrise and there's really no other reason that Orin and durge would be in moonrise that the game has provided. Not to mention, the warden explains the last time that durge was in moonrise, they never left.

I don't think durge came to moonrise more then once given the fact that the warden, who had clearly been there a while, had no clue who they were. I find it hard to believe their identity would be kept under wraps had they been at moonrise multiple times. Employees have to gossip about something.

I think its likely that Ketheric, Gortash, and Durge tamed the brain in the days leading up to 1 Eleasis (like ~20 to 30 Flamerule).

In summary, the dead three had a Phineas and Ferb summer vacation by deciding to create the cult of the absolute.

And yes if you are wondering this is how I look now.

#the durge timeline makes me want to scream sometimes #the dark urge #durge #bg3 #baldur’s gate 3 #enver gortash #orin #kressa bonedaughter #balthazar #durgetash

[goodluckclove]

On Not Writing

Hi! I'm back. i had a fun two days of doing absolutely nothing writing related, including scrolling this blog. Wife and I played a lot of Valheim. Took a lot of bike rides. Watched Interstellar for the first time - pretty good, kind of silly at the end. It was my first two-day weekend in probably three months, so it was much-needed, hard as it was.

And it got me thinking of some things I wanted to say to the community here. It's especially targeted towards younger writers, of which I used to be one, but I think it can apply to anyone who finds themselves despairing over how much they aren't writing.

Let's imagine you're sitting with me in this coffee shop. It's an overcast Portland morning and I just inadvertently vivisected a croissant. And as we sip our drinks (I ordered a lavender latte), you lament to me. I don't know what to do, Clove. I just haven't been writing!

You know what I say to that?

Good.

This is a new hot take of mine that I, once again, worry about upsetting people with. Because I see a lot of guides here about how to write, or how to write consistently, or how to write through writers block. But I haven't seen a single person talking about the inverse - how to not write. Or - perhaps more accurately - how to exist as a human being separate from your identity as a writer.

This is a problem for me.

Listen - I started young. I was 12 when I wrote my first novella, and 13 when I completed my first novel the next year. Adults in my life were impressed by the big-eyed child writing so many words. They encouraged me. I wrote two more novels, and they continued to encourage me. Because of the potential, right? I could be successful. I could be famous.

People stopped pushing me to try other things. I saw I was getting validation as a writer, so that only pushed me to continue fixating over something I was already enjoying and getting pretty good at. Dad had me writing two thousand words every day, because that's what Stephen King did. At 16 I finished four full-length novels, which everyone thought was really cool and interesting. I was also sporting dual hand braces every day throughout the winter to cope with the carpal tunnel I still struggle with to this day.

There is encouraging a person in their passion. There is also poisoning them with the belief that their self-worth comes from pursuing that passion. This is entirely, absolutely, even more true for younger writers and artists.

I am enraged for the young writer in my heart and in my head. Because they worried about a lot of the same things I see people worry about on here. Oh, if I don't write I'm not a writer! And to an extent they're right, as to be a writer you need to at some point write some stuff.

But here's the fucking thing, Young Clover - a child should not strive for the work ethic of a professional adult. You did not need to write 2k words a day to be a writer. You were a writer as soon as you updated that terrible Invader Zim fanfiction you wrote when you were 10.

And more than that, though, the most important thing to a person should not be their job and aspirations. If you don't write every day, you're still a writer. If you've never written anything, you aren't - and that's fine. You might write something later down the line, or you might not. Either way you are still entitled to exist on the planet and capable of living a full and passionate and wonderful life.

Hear my words: being a writer is not more important than being a human being.

If you aren't writing right now, maybe you're not supposed to be. Maybe you're meant to be nurturing your relationships, or nurturing yourself. Maybe you're supposed to be volunteering. Or meeting new people. Or gaining a new field of knowledge. Or getting really good at making focaccia bread. Or watching every Mark Wahlberg movie.

I don't like to hear this any more than you do. If I was told that I, for some reason, was not allowed to write for the rest of my life, I would be miserable for maybe a long time. After that passed it's my hope that I would move on and do other things, because my worth is not dependent on being a writer. I like doing it. I like being it, and I hope to be one for the rest of my life. But I never want it to be the first thing people see when they look at me. I don't even like bringing it up in conversation with people I don't already know.

So yeah, if you have "writer's block", maybe consider putting down the pickaxe and getting some rest. Step away entirely from the large boulder that stands between you being the next Stephen King or Brandon Sanderson or Teen Dystopia Writer no. 2321. Take a break, and I mean an ACTUAL break, not the kind where you spend the whole time sulking about work.

I am legitimately begging the writers on here to have developed lives and interests outside of writing. I am begging because I do not have that and it has consistently been one of the hardest things of my life.

You prioritize living outside your writing and it will improve the quality of your writing when you get back to it, as it'll allow you a frame of reference that extends beyond our niche industry. Or it might make you realize that, while you enjoy writing, what you really love is ceramics. Or game developing. Or mutual-aid activism. Or the movies of Mark Wahlberg.

It is not your job to treat yourself like you already have a dozen deadlines and an audience teetering on the edge of disappointment. That's ultimately not going to help you. Your job on this earth is to exist fully, for the sake of the universe that wants so desperately to live vicariously through you.

So breathe. Breathe and calm down. You aren't a failure and there's nothing you have to prove. All you have to do today is drink some water and have a nice snack while you look at a cloud.

Please be kind. All of us need to be kinder to each other and to ourselves.

That's all I want to say. I love you dearly. Please let me know if you need anything.

#writeblr #writing community #writers on tumblr #on writing #authors of tumblr #writing #queer writers #actually writing #writing inspiration #writing inspo #writing resources #young writer #creative writing

[a-crumb-of-whump]

Whump Prompts: Recovery

Content: Recovery, murder, abuse, captivity, [implied] past minor whump, restraints, [mentioned] vivisections, branding, conditioning, muzzles, past non con.

Whumpee recovering from the trauma stemming from, not only all the abuse they went through, but the fact that they had to murder their abuser to get away from them.

Whumpee finally getting to experience the outside world for the first time in what feels like forever. Gawking at nature and how pretty everything is, excitedly pointing everything out to Caretaker as they go.

Crying when they see children playing in the park for the first time since their captivity because they had their entire childhood taken from them.

Learning about all the new inventions that came out while they were gone. Caretaker introducing them to mobile phones, that board game they'd been looking forward to playing before, the new gaming consoles, all the music Caretaker saved just because it made them think of Whumpee! It delights Caretaker to know that they get to show it all to Whumpee, after all.

The personality changes that have happened, whether that be due to conditioning/trauma/etc. A stoic whumpee now getting emotional at everything (not just because they're scared or sad - there's also a lot of happy/joyous tears shedded), an aggressive/angry whumpee who is just so loving and filled with adoration for everything, and vice versa.

Learning to break old habits. Realising it's okay to have and express opinions instead of bottling them up, it's okay to walk on their own two feet, it's okay to not want to spend every waking hour restrained because they're "dangerous".

Hating the freedom. Wanting structure and consistency in their life again, wanting no autonomy because it's so scary after years of living without it.

Having to learn to accept their more prominent scars. The outline of where their muzzle always sat around their face, the visible scars from all Whumper's poorly executed surgeries/vivisections (also the low-quality stitching up they did!), the mark from where they were branded.

Whumpees who immediately try (and fail) to go back to who they were before. They don't want to admit that it's not possible - they're in complete denial and end up hurting all their friends and family in the process.

That said, also having to grieve because they've lost the person they were. Does Caretaker secretly grieve with them? Do they miss the person Whumpee was?

The amount of hospital visits and treatments Whumpee needs to get following their return. Bones healing incorrectly, diseases they may have caught, badly infected wounds.

The letters they write to their abuser. Whether they actually send them or not is an entirely different story, but what do they say? Do they beg for forgiveness? Do they hurl insults at them? How coherent are their words?

Caretaker not getting to see them for the first few days/weeks because they spend so much of it holed up in their room, trying to forget about what happened. Maybe they're just so happy to finally be alone without having to worry about Whumper turning up and wanting something from them.

Sexually abused whumpees who experience hypersexuality.

Whumpees who become chronically overstimulated by the time they escape because of all the constant noise/bright lights that Whumper had around them.

#whump #whump stuff #whump things #whump thoughts #whump tropes #whump scenarios #whump prompts #whumpee #whumper #caretaker #recovery whump

[nichiperi]

Congrats on 200 followers, Nichi!!! Your work is incredible and I'm happy to see you getting more eyes on it~

For the sketch request, I will take 1 order of Zim vivisecting Dib, please.

THANK YOU!!! Oh boy. Oh man. I got really excited about this one so I made a whole-ass set of stuff for it. (⁠;⁠;⁠;⁠・w・⁠)

Don't worry! Zim made sure to put him back together again. Hehehe. How very generous of him! (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

#he didn't learn squat about organs by doing that btw #he just did it for fun XP #nothing beats a good ol' vivisection am i right boys??? #ANYWAYS #invader zim #dib membrane #zade #tw gore #tw surgery #tw eyestrain #my art

[undiscovered-horizon]

🫀REQUESTS ARE OPEN🫀

Imagine Charles and Erik trying to (unsuccessfully) recruit you for X-men

A/N: this is a draft from THREE YEARS AGO. I was reminded of its existence only because Draft.ai is being taken down and I got an e-mail reminding me to download my files.

The sound of the gun's hammer being pulled back filled the quiet night. The metal weapon glistened in the moonlight. It was held by a trembling hand although it belonged to a man of certainty.

"Who are you?" Charles asked. It was quite visible that he had very little experience with firearms. The shaky muzzle pointed to a figure in the dark. Given his lack of expertise and visible nervousness, there was no chance he could actually shoot them. "What do you want?" he raised his voice.

You shifted slightly. Throwing off the hood covering your face, you turned around to look at him. The silver moon was behind Charles's back and so its light brightened up your tired face. You stared down the barrel of the gun but it elicited no worry from you; it seemed that despite both of you knowing he had no chance of seriously hurting you, neither of you was willing to openly admit that yet.

"Who are you?" he asked again. Although cursed with the ability to control and read minds, he had poor control of his own.

"It would be funnier if I thought you could actually shoot me," you spoke up.

"And what makes you think I won't?" Charles gritted through his teeth.

A dry chuckle escaped your lips. It nearly seemed pathetic how much he tried to put a brave face on but clearly couldn't. Charles knew what you were, of course, and yet he was desperate to imitate the courage that ignorance would have given him. It was one of those cases when lack of knowledge truly was blissful.

"I know you, I've watched you." You slowly moved towards him. The cold wind nipped at your skin." Violence disgusts you. You're curious about who I am, so why would you shoot? Vivisection doesn't seem to be your style."

Charles let out a shaky breath. Seeing as you were unmoved by his poor facade, his nervousness visibly grew. He took his other hand to support the gun. Despite that, the barrel was hardly pointing at you.

"Besides, your gun is loaded with blank bullets. Even a full round won't kill me."

Charles furrowed his eyebrows, clearly surprised that you would somehow know that. At that moment of his confusion, you kicked his wrist and caught the gun. While looking Charles in the eyes, you released the magazine and threw both parts in the mud.

"You were looking for me, I heard," you continued. If you wanted your peace, you had to see this little lark through.

"You heard me?" Charles asked quietly in a breathy tone. It was something new to him - you weren't supposed to know. As far as he knew, it wasn't your power.

A scoff left your mouth. "You really thought your toy works only one way?"

Gravel crunched a few feet behind you - someone else was present under the moonlight. It wasn't something you didn't expect but it made the situation a little more problematic nonetheless. Whatever you needed to do or say to get them off your back, you had to do it quickly and tactfully as now you were outnumbered.

"I came to give you a warning," you said a little louder to make sure that whoever joined this little conversation could hear you too. "Next time you try to reach me, buy yourself a casket. I don't care about any of your 'mutant war' shit."

"But you're one of us," Charles argued. As if you didn't already consider that side of things! "If the government kills mutants, it means you die too. That's why we need any help we can get."

"Moira…Raven…" you counted aloud. Maybe blackmailing wasn't a great tactic but in your position people tend to grab whatever they can lay their hands on. There had to be something to get Charles Xavier to leave you be. "Which one should I talk to first for you to back off?"

"You wouldn't make it," said a voice behind you. Just by its sound, you knew it belonged to none other but Erik Lensherr.

In a matter of seconds, bullets from the magazine you had thrown away earlier, were pulled up and flying towards you. And as if time slowed down, you dodged the bullets. While making a suspiciously perfectly timed move, a light blue light followed your movements with a slight delay - there was an interesting power at your hands.

"Take it as a warning, you two." It was obvious that the diplomatic part of the evening just came to a close. "I just want to be left alone."

Having said those words, you marched away only to disappear among the treeline, becoming one with the darkness of the cold night.

#xmen #x-men #x men #xmen fanfiction #xmen imagine #xmen fanfic #x-men fanfiction #x-men imagine #x-men fanfic #x men fanfiction #x men fanfic #x men imagine #marvel xmen #marvel imagine #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic #xmen movies #x men movies #xmen x reader #x-men x reader #charles xavier fanfiction #charles xavier fanfic #erik lensherr #charles xavier #erik lensherr fanfiction #erik lensherr imagine #erik lensherr fanfic #charles xavier x you #charles xavier x reader #charles xavier imagine

[polyhexian]

Collected thoughts on the Grimwalker Ghost Zone:

Poor Caleb's experience as a dead person is just. Not normal.

Most dead people are gonna keep an eye on their friends, their kids, their grandkids, and MAYBE their great-grandkids. And then there's no direct ties left to worry so much about the living anymore and you can get on with your afterlife.

And then we have Caleb.

So it's like. The average dead person keeps an eye on the living for 100 years after their death, at most. Caleb Wittebane, who's been cloned 200 times in the last four centuries and feels personally responsible for his still-living brother trying to enact a genocide--

In undefined characters-watching-from-the-afterlife scenarios I usually default the watching happening via TV unless stated otherwise. But it's TOH so I'm imagining Caleb slouched on the couch in front of a big crystal ball. He's not alone of course, Evelyn is there, she checks on him often like, uh. hey sweetie. you doing okay?

Caleb: Evie, meet Virtue! HE ONLY LASTED 11 MONTHS

Evelyn: …you know you COULD stop paying attention to--

Caleb: NO I CAN'T

Evelyn: *sigh* No, you can't.

And of course all the Grimwalkers are there, cuz, like. Where else are they gonna go? They barely had lives, wtf are they gonna do with their afterlives? Might as well wait for Belos to croak, they'll figure out what to do next AFTER they've gotten some closure.

So they're all just in this house together. It's the afterlife, stuff just gets provided, and the afterlife saw fit to provide them with a big stupid house. There's plenty of space and the crystal ball somehow gets repaired every time it suffers an anger-induced shattering and the liquor cabinet is always well-stocked.

Caleb's watching the living with the same energy as someone who's been watching a show since its premiere, but then the writing started going downhill and the plot jumped the shark and now they can't STOP watching because they intend to see this through to the bitter and disappointing end. When he first died he was so upset he refused to even THINK about Philip for a decade and just paid attention to his wife and kid. At some point he checked on Philip out of morbid curiosity, which led to morbid realization, which led to him thinking he should check on Philip more. And then there's clones and this Collector kid and Philip is obviously planning SOMETHING and then Evelyn dies of old age but Philip apparently has no intentions of dying anytime soon and then Caleb's KID is dead and Philip is still alive and Caleb's GRANDKIDS are dead but Philip isn't and there's been 20 Grimwalkers so far and Philip shows no signs of stopping either living OR making and killing Grimwalkers and OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING??

When Evelyn dies she's so ready for her reunion with Caleb. "I'm so glad I can finally rest in peace with my beloved--Caleb what are you doing?"

He's standing in front of a conspiracy board like "Philip's spent the last few decades cloning me and killing the clones and I don't like where it's going."

Evelyn: What. WHAT? Philip's ALIVE? I haven't seen him since he killed you, how the fuck has nothing eaten him??

Caleb: Btw meet Caleb 2, Hunter, Hunter 2, Hunter 3, and Nameless Vivisection Experiment (he's working on a name).

Assorted Grimwalkers: *awkward wave?*

Evelyn: CALEB WHAT?

Caleb's just like, Evie, you have no idea how glad I am you fell off Philip's radar, we're lucky all he did was steal my corpse. I'm being completely serious, unfortunately.

And then the Grimwalkers start coming and they don't stop coming, and they're just stuck in this together because what ELSE are they gonna do? Caleb staring at the crystal ball like "This is Hell. The Puritans were right. Hell exists, and this is it." Evelyn's like "Hell isn't a place, dear. It's just a situation. Our neighbors are resting in so much peace, they'd probably think they're in your Heaven if they knew what that was!"

Everyone isn't watching at all times, cuz that'd be ridiculous. It's kinda like when you're having a party for a sports game, not everyone's paying attention to the TV. You'll have people hanging out chatting and eating and chilling and then there are the people who are intensely paying attention to the game.

Caleb's the one intensely paying attention. Everyone else kinda pops up like "so is he dead yet? is he close to being dead yet? no? bummer. who's this? nice to meet you Virtue. 11 months? yikes"

And it's not like it's just them! It's the afterlife, everyone else who's ever died is perfectly capable of dropping by for a visit. Not that many people do, because the Grimwalker Ghost Zone has a bit of a…reputation. Like. Those people are NOT having a normal afterlife. Let's just. Leave them be.

Sometimes the Witteclaw kid comes to visit. Hi Mom! Hi various tragic brother/uncles (brouncles?) who are literally and figuratively younger than me! Oh, hey new guy, welcome! 11 months? Yikes. Hope you're settling in alright! Mom, what state should I expect Dad to be in when I go say hi? Last time he was manically planning which part of his brother he was going to punch first upon arrival. Ah, depressive episode? Got it, I'll be gentle.

Evelyn's family come to visit like yeesh you and Caleb are still paying attention to the living? It's been like. 400 years. No one stays this invested this long.

Caleb, gesturing at the CB: MY BROTHER IS STILL ALIVE AND IS LITERALLY BEATING A CLONE OF ME AT THIS VERY MOMENT

Relatives: Okay but have you considered, like. getting over it.

They're not even wrong. Continuing to watch the living for this long is, like, the same energy as keeping tabs on your high school friends that you haven't spoken to in 30 years. This isn't healthy. You need better hobbies. Okay it's KIND OF understandable since Caleb's brother and clones are involved, but like. You realize this is entirely optional, right?

Evelyn: Caleb, honey, please, you PROMISED we could have dinner with my parents tonight.

Caleb: ENOCH JUST KILLED A BIRD WITH HER BARE HANDS

Evelyn: We've all killed birds with our bare hands, darling. Come put your shoes on.

When Tell pops up he turns out to be just as invested as Caleb is, on account of the wife and kid situation. So Caleb actually has consistent company for 15 years while they both basically live through the same hell.

Tell walks into the kitchen for a beer and finds Caleb face-down on the floor and Tell's like "what's up man" and Caleb's like "Virtue died" and Tell is like "isn't he like eleven months" and Caleb just nods and Tell's like "cool I'm gonna go meet him" and just leaves Caleb on the floor. Caleb's like "wait didn't you hate him" and Tell's like "yeah but I mean. he doesn't know that."

At some point someone tells Virtue "Y'know Tell literally hated you" (Miles? my money's on Miles) and it starts a whole sibling fight that Evelyn has to break up.

"MILES SAID TELL HATED ME!"

"I didn't hate you I just hated the idea of you! It wasn't personal!"

"Yeah he was always really smug when another Grimwalker would rot in the ground."

"MILES DON'T TELL HIM THAT!"

Caitlyn and Dust die and Dust is like "what is WRONG with your daughter?" and Tell is like "ouch, but fair" and Virtue's like "she probably gets her penchant for not caring about Grimwalkers FROM HER DAD" and Tell is like "HEY." At this rate Caleb's gonna be the first dead person to have an aneurysm.

Evelyn's just glad to have Caitlyn around. Sure, she's dealing with the shock of her death after over a decade of dissociating, but Evelyn's just like FINALLY, someone who isn't a Grimwalker, and she's family to boot!

Caitlyn: Wait, family? I guess you look like a Clawthorne but I've never heard of you. How are we related?

Evelyn: Haha well I'm your many-great-grandma who Belos had very personal beef with 400 years ago and I may or may not be the reason why he decided to enact his sick game of house with you. I would say I'm sorry but literally none of this is my fault.

Caitlyn: Oh my god.

Evelyn: Haha yeah watching you and Enoch over the last 12 years has been extremely horrifying on a deeply personal level. What's your favorite alcohol? I promise we have it.

When Enoch dies Tell's like "well it was nice hanging out Caleb, thanks for all the screaming sessions, I'm gonna go get some quality time with my dead family now, peace" and Caleb's just like haha cool. fine. GLAD YOU CAN FINALLY REST IN PEACE, TELL. how many of my bones are left? there's no way this can continue after they're all used up, right? They're down to a ribcage and he's counting down the ribs.

Jasper dies and gets greeted by Tell who's like "howdy, normally our ortet would greet you but he's a little busy dealing with emotions right now"--*muffled screaming down the hall*--"so it was decided I'd be the best one to explain things since we've got some things in common." Jasper's kinda dazed like "uh…I didn't really think anyone was gonna greet me" and Tell's like "HAHA YEAH none of us ever do."

Jasper becomes just as invested as Caleb is and Tell used to be, because Hunter. So Caleb has a new bingewatching buddy! Yay?

Belos: *about to punish Hunter*

Caleb: *dragging Jasper away* Y'know what, you don't need to see this, let's go outside and get some air or something--

Evelyn: WHAT'S THAT, CALEB? YOU THINK IT'S GOOD TO TAKE A BREAK FROM WATCHING THINGS THAT UNNECESSARILY TRAUMATIZE YOU??

At some point Manny Noceda shows up, all cheerful and polite on the doorstep like "Hi! I heard there might be some people here who're watching someone who's involved in my daughter's life? She kinda stumbled into your world, see, and I was thinking--"

Evelyn's just blocking the doorway staring at him like "Listen. Before I let you in here. I NEED to make sure you understand the centuries of bullshit you're about to step into."

"Haha yeah I get it, family drama sure is--"

"SIR NO YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS."

Manny thinks he understands what he's getting into. Manny does NOT understand what he's getting into. Manny takes it in stride and enjoys these people's company anyway. Evelyn is happy to have another person around who she can count on to not be a constant mess. Manny/Evelyn BFFs 4afterlyfe.

Of course Manny also now has a VERY in-depth understanding of the 4-century clusterfuck Luz has gotten tangled up in and that is. Kinda anxiety-inducing. But like, he's pretty sure she's got this! That's his daughter! She's genre savvy, she'll be alright! Even if this situation is…way more horrifying than he realized at first.

His own dead relatives call him up like "Hey Manny! How's the watch party going? Luz still in that weird fantasy world she discovered? She having fun living out her own personal adventure story?"

Manny thinks about that time last week when Caleb and several Grimwalkers got drunk and tried to make a definitive list of the Top 5 Worst Things Belos Has Done and half of the entries were 3-way ties and there were WAY too many Honorary Mentions, and he just forces a grin and goes "Yep! Luz is doing great! She's having a blast! My new friends are super cool!"

"Oh, that's great! Could we meet th--"

"NO."

Manny tries to find things to do with his weird new friends but like. He's a 21st century sci-fi nerd. He has no idea how to relate to 400-year-old witches. But he thinks, well, I lived in New England, and Caleb lived in New England. So he's like "hey do you guys wanna do Thanksgiving together?"

Thanksgiving wasn't an official holiday until the 1800s, but Caleb knows what a feast of thanksgiving is, it's even a Puritan-approved party (ie the Pilgrims) that they'd do when they wanted to show God their gratitude! So he's just like, Manny. WTF. This is NOT the time.

Manny: Well, I mean, we're halfway through October so now's the time to start planning--

Caleb, gesturing to Belos gooping on various woodland critters: YOU THINK THIS IS WORTHY OF GIVING THANKS FOR???

By the time Luz becomes relevant, EVERYONE has started watching religiously. This is like. The final minutes of the big sports game. The series finale of their lives. But after Belos is dead (and summarily punched by everyone) most of the Grimwalkers stop paying any attention to the CB at all. Like. There's nothing else tying them to the living now. Whew. Cool. Vengeance is had! No need to pay attention to the living world ever again!

Except Jasper, of course, who figures he's just gonna watch Hunter by himself.

And then Caleb collapses next to him on the couch with snacks like "sup" and Jasper's like "oh, you uh, you wanna keep watching with me?" and Caleb's like "I suffered through four centuries of this, what's one more? and after watching every season of my brother's bullshit Grimwalker Trauma And Murder Show, I deserve to watch one of you live a decent life in the infinitely happier sequel series"

Manny's like "Yeah I'll stick around too, it looks like Luz is gonna be spending a LOT of time in your world and I'm really gonna need people to explain things to me. Anyway, I know this is a little late, but things have calmed down now and we have time since it's still just the START of November, so…Thanksgiving?"

And Caleb looks at Hunter, alive and free on the CB, and then glances out the window where Enoch is kicking the shit out of Belos in the backyard, and says, "Alright, yes, a celebration is in order. This is indeed worthy of thanksgiving."

"Oh, awesome! Uh…important question, what kind of cranberry sauce do you like?"

"What the fuck is cranberry sauce?"

JFJEJAJJFJRJWIFF ABSOLUTELY LOSING IT OVER ALL OF THIS

I feel like miles is back there too if only because he and Enoch are nasty little rude children and friends because of it.

Also don't forget flapjack AND hawk hunter are there. Flapjack sitting on Caleb's head and pulling his hair until he passes him a piece of popcorn or a peanut. All of them going completely apeshit for hunters first kiss. Camila appreciation club. Jasper and Manny both delighted by the fact Camila being mother to their child makes them like. Fathers in law? Mutuals? Proxy???? Something. there's a kinship there and it's funny. Hunter carves waffles and flapjack gets so excited he flies into the TV and knocks himself out

[korpuskat]

Y'know what'd be fucked up?

Oh my god this is so long nahshajajs I'm sorry I couldn't help it- Also mild tw for character death but also not really?? They're sort of dead but sort of aren't because I'm not committing to that grief

Human consciousness being transferred into an omnic body

Like on the surface it seems nice, longer lifespan, body that probably doesn't ache, and since everything is mechanical there's probably an easy fix for whatever pain you might feel

But it'd also probably take a mental toll on most people, everything is different, possibly even "wrong", human minds weren't made to be transferred to metal frames, and that's if you know what's happened to you, but if you don't? Immediately 10 times worse

Just imagine it, Ramattra's human lover is abducted, and no matter how he searches he can't find a single clue about their current location, it worries him sick. They're somewhere, afraid, hurting, a part of him hopes they're alone, or better yet that they ran away, but he knows he can't ever assume that.

And one day, as if handed to him on a silver platter, he finds their location.

It's a dark place, claustrophobic and damp, it makes him uneasy, even more so the thought that this is where his lover was being held

He's too late, or so he thinks when he sees an omnic staring at his lovers unmoving body, hooked up to countless amounts of machinery. The omnic is acting odd, poking the human body, touching their own face before bringing their hand in front of their face, rotating it slowly, clenching and unclenching their hand, after that their hands drop down on their stomach, their shoulder move up and down heavily, as if trying to breathe

All of that takes less than a few seconds to notice, then, he notices something much more terrifying

His lover isn't breathing

Chaos, confusion, flashing lights from shots fired, complete and utter discord fills the room, the cowering omnic before him tries to explain something that he's far too enraged to listen to, and what enrages him even more is that they manage to escape

He unhooks his lover from the machine, only now noting the other vivisection table next to them, and a monitor next to him starts to flash, in his grief he doesn't think of it, much too occupied to notice, or more so piece together the story of his surroundings

His lover is dead, but only in their flesh, but their mind still lives, in a cold, metallic body, something that terrifies them

And yet the thought of not being able to explain themselves terrifies them even more

I'm only here for Ramattra yet now I want to turn this into a full fledged oc. I know nothing about Overwatch lore

AAAAH okay first sorry this took so long to answer jfdhsgsd

PLEASE CONTINUE WRITING THIS???? Ramattra being infuriated with his partner who he doesn't recognize is breaking my heart.

#kat answers

[mhbcaps]

What's the deal with Sanctuary?

Sanctuary has always been described as enigmatic - their past is questionable, their motives foggy. I've said myself that they should probably be in prison. However, this is (eventually) about the screenshots I take of them.

Sanctuary has a dark past. Actually, I don't even think I'd call it that - they had a relatively normal upbringing, failed family business, parents divorced, yada yada. It's their 20s that got very dark very fast. Being a Scav let Sanctuary become the worst version of themself that they'd suppressed for years, let them give in to their intrusive thoughts instead of fighting it. They aren't without empathy - hell, it was their guilt over scaring their mother and sisters that made them leave the Scavengers - but maybe that's even more frightening. Did they just enjoy picking people apart? Were they fully aware that it was human beings being laid out on their table? The answer is yes and yes.

But don't worry. They're not a Scav anymore. They don't keep up with those old habits. ...At least not the murder and body harvesting. They do still dabble in drugs, and illegal cyberware, and questionable medical care, but c'mon, what ripperdoc doesn't? (Their unhinged sex life is irrelevant.)

Anyway, where this is about my VP involving them is that they still harbor very vivid, elaborate fantasies about vivisection, blood and gore, all that good(?) stuff. The most fucked up version of a medical kink. If they could get away with it without hurting innocent people, without making their own family afraid, they would. (And in case someone's mind went there: no, Sanctuary has never sexually assaulted any person, living or dead. They indulge their weird little fantasies alone or with their partner's (usually Joey) consent.)

A good rule of thumb is that if I post pics of Sanctuary with gore or death and Sanctuary has black hair and no cyberarm in the shots, that's canon. That's something they did while they were a Scav. If they have their signature long purple hair and their cyberarm, that's a fantasy. That's an intrusive thought of theirs that I decided to illustrate. Their self control is out of this world. They don't kill people anymore.

Sanctuary is a slippery fish. The audience and I know that they have all these fucked up thoughts and a disturbing past, but most people in-world don't. Most of their friends know they were formerly a Scav, but not the extent of their activities, much less how they felt about it. Really it's a wonder they have any friends at all - they're funny, and smart, and they make you feel seen, but their humor is deadpan and morbid and it's easy to be intimidated, even scared by their attention. Those bigass glowing eyes aren't exactly comforting.

But they care about their friends, and they go shopping and listen to the radio and pet stray cats. They're still a person. Just not necessarily a good one.

#thinking about Sanctuary on the clock #$18 an hour to rotate them in my mind #long post #sanctuary

[halfagone]

Terrifying thought I just had:

So, you know how so much og the Phandom likes to envision Danny as a Baby Eldritch Horror? What if, in order to truly claim his birthright as Full Eldritch Entity, Danny has to complete his own Rite of Ascension?

Every Ancient had to go through it. They all stare at him grimly, as they tell him of their own journeys into what it means to truly BE the world around you, to discard mortal flesh and seep into the cracks between planes.

Some were simple.

They were the lucky ones.

Undergrowth stares into the distance as he remembers the time he spent as a murderous little flower, hell-bent on destruction (he had to play Flowey in Undertale :D)

Clockwork refuses to speak of his own journey, and won't tell Danny anything about what's in store for the Hero of Amity Park (I imagine he's somewhere around 19 in this). Just that he should keep in mind his lessons with Pandora, and that not all is as it seems.

As Danny prepares to take his own journey, he hopes his own is also straightforward and simple to pass.

Little does he know, the Beasts of Yharnam howl for his blood. If only he knew the fate that awaited him, deep I the embrace of beast hood and the Blood, and the Nightmare beyond.

(Aka, I suddenly had a need to put poor Danny through The Horrors. Except, instead of with the usual Vivisection and near second death, by throwing him into Bloodborne and make him have to do the secret baby slug ending. He'll be fine, don't worry :)

It'll make him stronger, change his form into something More. But the harrowing Journey will linger in his mind. The warnings of what happens when Eldritch Gods start thinking of Humanity as their playthings, rather than curious children of stardust and ephemeral light to be cared for and gently guided.

I also kinda want him to adopt Gascoigne's two daughters, as a sort of promise to the old man that, if he was the one to put him down, he'll step up and make sure his girls are safe and sound. Ellie laughs her ass off when she meets her two new sisters.)

I know nothing about Bloodbourne but you got me on the Eldritch Entity Danny, that headcanon/concept is just YEEEEESSSS

Although I can see Danny adopting a pair of siblings - welcome to the horrors of an embarrassing, terrifying Eldritch father, kids :D

#halfagone replies

[titleknown]

KAIJUNE NEO: NEON TYGER

My name isn't really important. Well, not important to anyone reading this anyway.

Just know I was a homeless girl, and it was still better than the house I ran from. I once lived in a place that literally fell apart the moment I had to run from a police sweep. One time I got bitten by a water moccasin and had to bite the flesh of the wound out to keep it from spreading.

Not fun. But, then it happened. Like a Star of Bethlehem I saw it and like a falling star it hit me, and it... spoke to me. And it changed me, on the inside.

The men in the green suits took me right after. Compound was nicer than the streets. MREs were better than dumpster-burgers. Could have done without the interrogations. Or the tests. Or the fact that I couldn't leave. Or that they didn't treat me like a human being. I think they never asked my name. There's a lot of things I could've done without, really.

But it was there inside me. Speaking without words. It showed me things. Things beyond our mortal ken, from spaces before and beyond, only now beginning to show their face.

I'd seen inklings, bits of those things emerging, but that big picture, that huge, cosmic scope. It talked to me. It didn't want to talk to them. Said their hearts were too tainted or something. It's hard to paraphrase something that doesn't talk in words.

And then, one day, I got out. I think the men in the green coats said something about vivisection before it happened, something about "failure to co-operate." and the It didn't like that.

So for the first time, it changed me. I don't know how to describe it. Like, its that speaking-without-words thing, I think it'd sound like a porno if I tried. It was... visceral, powerful, amazing. I'll say that much.

And wouldn't you know it, something else broke out too when I did. Poor thing. there's a lot of pain in there. I'd feel sorry for it if it didn't want me and everyone else dead. Still kinda do, can't blame 'em.

I suppose I'm now some kind of messiah-thing, it calls itself a Space Queen, though it says it's a rough translation. Oh yeah, it's learning to talk with words. Given some time. It's not good at it, but it's nice to have a friend in my life.

It lets me wander around the globe, doing what I can, which is more than I thought but less than it'd hope, changing back to me-me to keep my head down. You can kinda tell it's changging me on the outside a bit, I think it called it "syncopation," it's mostly in the eyes.

I don't really need to eat anymore at least, so that helps if I'm getting the folks around me a burger I don't need. There's a lot of bad amongst the street-folk I'll admit, but there's a lot of good, and that's what keeps me going, I think that's what keeps it going too.

It's taught me to broadcast too. So, if you got lucky enough to see this before the men in the green suits come, now you know about the giant lady you keep seeing on the news punching bugs n such. Don't worry, they ain't got shit to track me. They ain't got shit to cage me.

If you see me up close, know I see you. I like you, mostly. But then run because you don't want to get in the middle of what I'm trying to pulsar at, or whatever the hell it calls it...

-Unknown radio/television broadcast, recieved by 50 million listeners in the area of Las Vegas, Nevada

----------------------

So, we have our Ultraman stand-in, Neon Tyger, named after the song by The Killers, which again, did inspire a lot of the tone of the story as well as the name.

I will add, while calling her a "space messiah" was meant as a bit of glibness on her part, akin to calling Superman Space Moses, friend of the blog @partlysmith did point out that does fit really well with Tsuburaya's whole thing of Christian symbolism with Ultraman, and I kinda realized after that the additional idea of her living amongst the homeless and marginalized while doing good is another parallel to good ol Oily Josh.

So yay, I was accidentally more clever than I thought!

Ability Notes: You know Ultraman? Basically, she does Ultraman stuff, albeit more Jack Kirby/70s psychedelic genre fiction + neon-related of course.

Bonus Trivia: The species of the "it" has different names depending on what gender of lifeform they're bonded with, Cosmic Men for male, Space Queens for female, and a whole host of esoteric ones for the other genders.

Also, the Cosmic Men have in fact shown up briefly once before in my work, and they're meant to be inspired by spacesuits, in the same way Ultraman is inspired by Grey Aliens!

And, in that grand (exceedingly late) Kaijune tradition, this character and all related narrative elements are under a CC-BY 4.0 license, as long as I, Thomas F Johnson, am credited as their creator.  

#my art #my writing #kaiju #kaijune #creature design #ultraman #sculpture #diorama #photomanipulation #kaijune 2023

[clickerflight]

Whump Week: Your blood looks so pretty

@week-of-whump

Masterlist

Part 3

This one is actually a plot point that I've explored a lot in previous whump challenges, and will continue to explore.

Content: Semi-immortal whumpee, creepy whumper, vivisection, permanent scarring, restrained, blood, mention of skinning for just a moment, healing factor training, self mutilation (whumper), acid in wounds, stress position, healing wrong (I guess?

Let me know if I missed anything cause this one's dark

........................................

Matsu stared into the light above the table he was tied to before looking over at the wall, watching the swirls of colors that somewhat blinded him. It was the most interesting thing he'd had to do for the past few hours. He didn't know why he was here, or what the man who brought him to this place wanted from him, but he was trapped here and he couldn't escape. 

He thought back on the man. There had been something very wrong about him. Matsu wanted to say he was of fae descent, but it was hard to say. The man was bent over and knotted, and he almost seemed to be missing parts. He certainly was missing his sanity if the look in his eyes was anything to go by. 

Matsu heard the door open and he lifted his head from the table to see what was going on. The mad man was back, hunched over and grinning. 

"Hello," the man crooned and it sent shivers down Matsu's back. There was something very wrong about this man, but the half mer couldn't quite place what. "Are you ready to get started?"

"About as ready as I was three hours ago," Matsu said mockingly. "What's this all about, old man?"

"Old?" the mad man said, tipping his head. "If you need to call me anything, you can call me Yarrow. Or, no. You are quite special to me so I should have a special name to you. How about Hailey?"

Matsu wrinkled his nose. "What's going on here?"

"Ooooh, yes. I'm a scientist, you see, and I have some interest in you as it pertains to the research I'm currently conducting. How much do you know about healing factors?"

Hailey waited for a reply and Matsu finally gave in. "Some people have it, some don't. It's usually genetic and can often lead to cancer."

"Smart boy," Hailey said, clapping his hands. There was a pop and a cart full of medical grade tools appeared beside the table. Matsu eyed the knives and rib cutters nervously as Hailey said, "Now, sometimes there is someone who comes along with a trainable healing factor. A healing factor that becomes quicker and more powerful with time to the point that they nearly achieve immortality. So, why don't you guess at why you're here."

Matsu snapped his attention back to Hailey, eyes wide. "I don't have a healing factor, what do you mean?"

"Oh, yes you do. It's hard to spot because it's not trained up yet, but I tested some samples and it's true. Since you haven't had to heal all that often it hasn't presented itself as a healing factor yet. Don't worry. We'll be changing that," he said, picking up a syringe and a knife. 

"W-wait, no. There's been a mistake, I-"

The syringe plunged into Matsu's thigh hard enough that he could feel it unloading. He pressed his head to the table, dizzy as whatever was injected made its effects known immediately. Or maybe that was just the shock. 

Hailey got to work cutting open Matsu's clothing with a zeal that could only be seen on a child's face on Christmas morning.

"I'm going to make you perfect," Hailey whispered before neatly skinning Matsu's collar bones. 

...............................................

Matsu panted, blinking hard against the light above. He didn't know how long he'd been here. It felt like years. It had to have been years. Hailey stood over him, watching as muscle tissue mended before his eyes. 

"You've made quite the progress for the short time I’ve had you. I think you have a talent for this," Hailey commented. Matsu heaved a sob, trying not to think about how he could feel the skin that was supposed to be along the front of his torso folded down across his sides. 

Haily jabbed something into his torso, spreading his ribs to reach in and touch something. An entirely foreign sensation wormed through Matsu's body and he squirmed despite the intense pain jolting through him. 

Hailey reached in deeper and Matsu sobbed, feeling him touch the inside of his back. The pain was unbearable. It was like nothing he could describe. The pain along where he had been vivisected was like lines of fire. Pins in the flaps fastened them to the flesh of his arms, making the folded muscles cramp as they were forced to the sides unnaturally. 

He could see the flaps of skin and muscle twitching as he flinched, trying to get away from the invasive touches. 

Hailey continued to stroke Matsu's spine, a strange look on his face, like he was awakening to something. 

He pulled his blood covered hand out of Matsu and looked at his subject's face. He reached out, still in a daze. Matsu flinched, sobbing without restraint as Hailey painted Matsu's face with his own blood. 

"So pretty," he murmured. "So, so pretty. I'm never going to let you die."

......................................

Matsu was on his feet, arms chained above his head. He stared vacantly at the ground, shivering. He'd been through three vivisections, and there wasn't even a mark on his torso to prove it. Hailey had even opened up Matsu's head and everything had already healed back up even though it had taken place only three days ago. Matsu had no idea what the mad scientist would do next. Scoop out his eyeballs? rip off his fingers to see if they grow back? He already did so to his fingernails, and they'd grown back within the hour. 

Matsu ran his thumb over his nails, shivering more. He wished the others would find him soon. The only thing keeping him sane anymore was imagining Kira helping him down, flirting with him the whole time while Anisha and Laurance pounded Hailey into a little pile of goo. 

Matsu closed his eyes. They wouldn't leave him here, right? Even if their emotional bonds failed somehow, he was still their healer. Still their distance fighter. He was still Kira's husband. 

When he heard the door open, his legs gave out from fear and he hung in the chains, shivering uncontrollably. 

The chain's lowered until he could kneel upright, his arms still stretched out far above his head. 

"I wonder how much it would take to scar you," Hailey said, as though it were an intriguing thought. 

"No," Matsu groaned, closing his eyes against the very idea. "Please, mercy. Please. Whatever I did, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, it was nothing you did," Hailey said, pouring something over his blade which sizzled when it hit the ground. "Just what you are."

"Why are you doing this!" Matsu screeched, struggling to get out of the chains, but even if he broke his hands he wouldn't be able to escape them. 

"To make you perfect. You're not the only one, you know. Here. Hold this and I'll show you."

Hailey stabbed the acid-covered knife into Matsu's shoulder, the burning whiting out Matsu's vision. When he could see again, acclimating slightly to the pain, Hailey had turned around and removed his lab coat. There were burns and scars all over his back, including two large ones where wings used to be. 

He looked over his shoulder at Matsu and grinned. "I've been perfecting myself too, you see."

Matsu couldn't even comprehend what that was supposed to mean, but that became the least of his problems as Hailey buttoned on his coat again, pulling the knife out of Matsu. 

The half mer gritted his teeth. He could still feel the acid burning him, but where it had burned itself out he could feel it healing. 

Hailey reapplied the acid and got to work. 

He carved a line from Matsu's left collar bone down to his ribs on the right. And he did it again, and again, and again. Matsu shook, unable to curl in on himself to protect himself. He screamed the first few times, and then his voice gave out, only allowing him hoarse cries, and eventually just a shallow burbling that Hailey seemed to really enjoy. Hailey poured the acid directly into the wound, everything dribbling down Matsu's front and melting his flesh. He shoved something into the wound to keep the skin from closing and, after taking a moment to paint Matsu's face with a mixture of blood and acid, he left, whistling as he went. 

..................................

Matsu didn't remember much after that. What he did know was he had a horrific scar across his chest. 

"Matsu? Matsu? Can you hear me?"

Matsu opened his eyes. He was laying on the floor, his arms bound behind his back. He didn't remember getting there. 

Laurance crouched over him, looking him over. 

"Laur....." Matsu wheezed. His voice was still mostly gone, more from exhaustion than damage. His voice couldn’t be damaged anymore. Laurance pulled Matsu into his lap, cutting away the restraints with a practiced flick of his knife. 

"We've got you, okay. Who did this to you? This place is abandoned."

Matsu blinked hard, raising his hand to his face. He was losing seconds with each blink, too tired to think straight. His hand. His hand felt wrong. He tried to lift his pointer finger, but something moved wrong in his wrist and his ring finger lifted. He stared at it for a moment before moving each finger, trying to figure out why it was wrong. 

"Matsu?"

"He..... he connected my tendons wrong," he whispered. "Why.... why would....when…" 

Laurance held Matsu close as the man broke down into small, raspy, whimpering sobs.

Part 4

@whumpsday

#semi-immortal whumpee #creepy whumper #mention of skinning #healing factor #vivisection #scarring #restrained #blood #self mutilation #acid whump #whump #whump challenge #whump week #week-of-whump #poor Matsu #he's going through it today #whump art #stress position

[batpham-discord-highlights]

Jazz Drake: Part Four or Four

source: #ghosts-and-bats channel

tw: gory dreams

1, 2, 3, 4

A

Jazz's guilt manifests in spending as much time with him as she can

And making sure someone else she trusts is with him if she isn't

She stress cooks now

A habit picked up from Alfred

There's two of them

When Jason returns, he doesn't quite understand who this little girl is and why she spends so much time with Alfred

Then Alfred finally introduces them, made difficult by her avoiding Jason

And she's like: my big brother may have forgiven you but I sure haven't

Because to Jazz, Tim has been her whole world for so long

And Jason could've taken that from her

AK

Y'know

How did jazz die?

A

Hmmm

Truck-kun

AK

Was thinking angst but if that's how u wanna go about it xd

A

Except the driver was possessed by a ghost

Or wait

It possessed the truck

AK

I was thinking Danny dissec and jazz find out and maybe she trips and explodes the portal or smth

A

I mean, that works too

AK

Bc horrifying prophetic dreams are aesthetic

A

Oh?

AK

Prophetic is not the right word

Like she is very very overprotective, but she doesn't exactly know why (no complete memories maybe?)

Tw Gorey dreams? And she sometimes will have dreams of another life, of someone familiar and they always end with scream of pain and strange green liquid, and blood

A

Are you making Drake!Jazz a meta? Or is this memory returning?

AK

Memories returning

A

Ah, I see

AK

Slow memory return is very interesting to me

Can cause many an issue

A

What kind of issues are you thinking of?

AK

Paranoia, signs of PTSD with no discernable cause

Bc they don't know whats going on, batfam cannot fix it

Or try to help

A

Did she witness any of Danny's vivisection? Any of the evidence of it happening?

Because issues with medical tables/scalpels/other medical equipment would be very interesting

AK

Honestly up to you

I would like it if she did

And considering that she's wanting to be a doctor

A

I agree

It would make learning surgery very difficult

And even Damian calls her a wimp for it she just absolutely breaks down

Because like, she's young and under stress and Damian hits where it hurts

AK

Are u applying the "not all memories are there" thing?

Bc like just not knowing what ur scared of can be pretty terrifying

A

Yes

She just sees the table with the equipment and has a full-blown panic attack

Bonus points if there's a dummy already cut open

Everyone else is in the cave too

And they're all worried about her

Even Damian, reluctantly

AK

She doesn't quite remember the face, or the name, but she knows it was familiar

Blood/hallucination And she stares at the table. The lighting is suddenly garish and green, and there is a Boyd on the table. Green and red drip quietly, and the face she cannot describe is staring at her, mouth open in a scream

A

Yup

Some good ol angst

Does Danny and Jazz meeting spark their memories more?

AK

Yes it does :4

Jazz gets all her memories back

Danny gets a headrush and promptly faints

A

Jazz immediately goes into protective crisis mode

Everyone is so confused about why Jazz got attached so quickly

AK

They're like twins, attached at the hip

A

Tim and Duke are a little jealous

AK

Danny has exceedingly good aim but is physically weak and faints like no tomorrow

Danny: what kills me makes me stronger

An

Danny no-

A

Duke, Jazz, Everyone: nO

Jazz gives Dick many stinky side-eyes at the beginning of their relationship

He is absolutely delighted to have a baby sister

She's upset that Dick supported Tim becoming Robin

It's not until she blows up at him and they sit down and talk about it together that she realizes he didn't really want Tim to be Robin either

He just knew he wouldn't be able to stop him and was doing his best to keep him safe by teaching him

SM

Just what I was going to say

A

Yeah

They realize that they have a lot in common

(big shocker)

And she starts seeing him as another brother after the fifth time he takes her out for ice cream

And he is unspeakably grateful that she isn't going to be fighting on the streets at night

She's small and sweet and soft and innocent right now

And he wants to protect her, let her stay that way as long as it's safe to

Alfred mostly keeps her off of comms, especially on bad nights

And she stopped watching the news after the fifth time she freaked herself out about Tim not coming home

Jazz and Cass adore each other

Spoiler doesn't really meet Jazz until Cass invites Steph over to hang out during the day time

And then there's this awkward "that's my brother's ex"/"that's my ex's little sister" moment

But after that the three of them get along like a house on fire

And while Alfred would do most of her training

It would be a cold day in hell when Babs didn't make sure each of Her Girls are computer competent

And Jazz has been one of Hers since Dick introduced them

#ghosts and bats channel #batman #danny phantom #danny fenton #jazz fenton #tim drake #duke thomas #alfred pennyworth #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #damian al ghul #cassandra wayne #cassandra cain #damian wayne #steph brown #stephanie brown #tw gore #ptsd #tw dissection

[atundratoadstool]

Hello there! Thank you for sharing so much amazing information abt Dracula! Tbh your posts are making me nostalgic for literature classes, and that is HIGH praise coming from me (points to blog title).

Anyway, I'm really grappling with Jack Seward's character right now as I (re)read ahead in Dracula. I like him a lot, especially early on, but his treatment of Renfield is, shall we say, not quite up to the ethical standards of the modern day, and the way Jack talks about him gets uhhh, pretty fuckin uncomfy, as I know you're aware ("pet lunatic," indeed)!

In this vein, I'm curious to know more about the history of psychiatry at the time, both the actual practice and the public perception thereof, so I can begin to tease out how much of his behavior was accepted practice, vs how much was Bram Stoker's PERCEPTION of accepted practice, vs how much was, in fact, intended to not look Super Great to contemporary readers (and thus, among other things, contribute to the hints at Jack's own possible mental deterioration, as well as to his rather overly "cerebral" personality).

As far as I can tell, this is something you've studied in some depth, so I was wondering if you could recommend any resources? Preferably free or easily accessible ones, since I don't have logins for any academic institutions or anything.

Please feel free to take your time answering this btw, I know it might be a tall order and I can be patient! I also understand if you just don't have time or energy, so no worries if you can't get to it.

Thank you either way!

[Spoilers and content warning: Discussions of Seward and Renfield later in the text; mentions of vivisection and psychiatric abuse]

Answering this somewhat late, as I have--in fact--had a lot of things draining my time and energy. As always, I'll open with a caveat that it's been a while since Dracula was my primary research topic, so new and exciting insights into Jack Seward may have cropped up since I was last writing about him.

I by no means have a comprehensive understanding of nineteenth-century psychiatry, although combing my tags and my website will turn up some of the specific research I did for little details concerning Dracula (I discussed things a little bit here) . However, I will say that one of the better hints--in my opinion--as to Stoker's intentions for Seward and his perceptions of medical ethics is the extent to which Seward (and later Van Helsing) parrot statements made by Bram Stoker's brother William Thornley Stoker, who was--among other things--a brain surgeon, a visiting physician at St. Patrick's Hospital (a public asylum) in Dublin, and the inspector for Ireland under the vivisection act. There are elements of Dracula pretty clearly lifted from Thornley's articles, and without spoiling too much, R. M. Renfield appears to have had several elements of his character borrowed from an actual case study on one of Thornley's patients (available here, but be warned it has a major spoiler for later events).

We have every indication that Stoker was on good terms with Thornley and respected his medical knowledge (Thornley provided Stoker with notes as to medical procedures in the text), and I feel the choicest bit of Thornleyism we get in the text is a later moment where Seward, in what strikes me as an absolutely chilling passage, compares is plans for Renfield to vivisectionist experiments:

It would almost be worth while to complete the experiment. It might be done if there were only a sufficient cause. Men sneered at vivisection, and yet look at its results to-day! Why not advance science in its most difficult and vital aspect – the knowledge of the brain? Had I even the secret of one such mind – did I hold the key to the fancy of even one lunatic – I might advance my own branch of science to a pitch compared with which Burdon-Sanderson's physiology or Ferrier's brain-knowledge would be as nothing. If only there were a sufficient cause!

This echoes Thornley's pro-vivisectionist sentiments in the aforementioned case study, where he says:

To what, I ask, do I owe the knowledge on which this judgement was founded? Largely to the humane and benevolent investigationsof those biologist who weak, credulous, or mistaken people are actively pelting with the verbal filth of prejudice and ignorance--people who would prefer that this man, formed the image of his Maker, should die, rather than their feeble sentiment be offended by a painless experiment on an ape.

HOWEVER, it is also worth noting here that both Seward and Thornley specify the necessity of an overriding cause, and it is highly debatable whether Seward has one. Thornley elsewhere in his writing takes an anti-vivisectionist stance when it comes to procedures he deems to be unnecessary:

"[…] the arguments of want of necessity and cruelty apply to most, or all, of the experiments in illustration of lectures. Such demonstrations cannot but be demoralising to the young men and women who witness their performance. They seem to me an offense against humanity. (from this 1907 report)

The big question I have here, to my mind, is whether we should read Seward's treatment of Renfield as having "a sufficient cause," and I think how you answer this question will inform your understanding as to where Stoker probably stood with regards to Jack's ethics as a character and whether he intended us to read Jack as unnerving (although, as any 21st century literary scholar, I must offer a quick nod to the author being dead and Jack's creepiness not being contingent on Stoker's intentions for him).

If you want to take a deep dive into the sources with which I was most familiar back when I was fiddling with this argument and penning my unified theory of Seward, Renfield, and Dracula, I will link to my own masters thesis on the matter, which should have a pretty decent biography with regards to the works I consulted when I last really thought through this conundrum.

#Bram Stoker #Dracula #Dracula Daily #Jack Seward #R. M. Renfield #William Thornley Stoker #grad school life

[professionallydeadinside]

I'm sorry in advance because I have this horrible habit where I'll have something I really want to talk about but I'm too ashamed(?) to talk about it to anyone so I'll send it in an anonymous ask to somebody who I don't really even talk to. OK MY BATMAN OC (you don't need to know a lot about batman for this [I don't think] don't worry) he is still in the works but his name is Wilhelm Bjørnson. He came to Gotham when he was 14 as a foreign exchange student from Norway for a schooling project for gifted/exceptional students in the foster care system, which he entered after his parents committed a double "suicide".

He was a big big big history buff, specifically from the 14th -17th century but set that aside to pursue what he was raised to be a "safer and more stable" career than a historian, a doctor. He excelled in his studies but this also re opened his fascination with, to put it bluntly, blood and guts. Over the years this fascination grew into more of an obsession as he'd see how a living body of a lab rat could handle the malpractices used in history, more specifically ones used during the bubonic plague. And this is where I start to get ashamed. In med school, he meets Dr. Jonathan Crane (a.k.a. Scarecrow, a doctor/college professor obsessed with fear who attempts to cure humanity of unnecessary anxieties and phobias via and intense fear hallucinogen. His experiments are shut down due to malpractice so he becomes bitter and uses his drug, or toxin, to terrify Gothamites and make them see all of their greatest fears rather than to help people. Back to Wilhelm.).

Him and Crane become almost a mentor/apprentice relationship as Crane shows him that he can use human subjects to further his research as long as it's "in the name of science", like he does. Wilhelm takes this about as well as you'd imagine and begins to see how a body reacts to things such as leeches being intentionally attached or blood letting on a minor scale and even the occasional vivisection after exposure to a disease. When Wilhelm graduates and becomes a real doctor he's forced to put down his hobby. It's maddening for him. He reverts back to animals he finds in alleys to hold him over, but when he sees on the news that his ex professor and dear friend, Dr. Crane, has been arrested for gassing the narrows and sending them all into hysterics, he's pushed past his breaking point. He pays Crane's apartment a visit and borrows some fear toxin from him, which he uses on some guards to break Crane out of Arkham. After that he begs Crane to, once again, let him be his understudy.

Crane says yes after some convincing and he makes himself a costume consisting of a crow-like plague doctor mask (I know it's inaccurate to the time period, I like to imagine that because of his friendship and loyalty to Crane he uses it anyways because it strikes more fear into victims and also plays off of his crow theme) and an all - black outfit to match that I won't go into detail with. Wilhelm takes up the persona of Night Terror, the dedicated and loving companion to Scarecrow. He assists in Scarecrow's plots for mass hysteria and, when given the chance, enjoys singling out his own victims to purposefully infect and then use extremely outdated medical procedures on. Eventually, he and Scarecrow sort of accidentally adopt a son together that is also an oc of mine if you'd like to hear about him to lol sorry for this long thing

ANON I FEEL THAT SO HARD ACTUALLY WAKJFGH Sometimes if I want to talk about an oc I'm kinda embarrassed about I type out a message as if I'm talking to someone and just send it to myself wasdfggf

ANYWAY- I love him!!!! I love the plague doctor costume and also how he basically begs Crane to let him apprentice because he wants to experiment on people again asdfghhgfd And hell yeah tell me about this kid they kinda adopt I wanna hear about him too!!

#i have a discord chat that's just me that is full of references and also half ass character ideas wasdfgjhgf #answered