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sh0tanzz · 4 months

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ACKK, do more members as bfs with astrology for riize pls !!!

glad I got this asks bc I can now gloat about my man 😛

sungchan as your boyfriend based on astrology !

(reminder that this for fun and astrology is something I study for a hobby, these are all inferences based off of observations and not exact fact unless I knew him myself !!)

warnings: small mention of sexual innuendo but nothing extremely graphic I'll only do NSFW asks if requested.

I am so in love with his chart.

Virgo Sun: A common trait I see in Virgo suns/risings is that they truly want to be the best optimal versions of themself. They are always finding ways to improve themselves or look/be their best whether its physically or mentally. (This may explain why many virgo sun/rising male idols are into working out, health or self help books. Sungchans interested in all 3 btw😭) But these traits would probably amp up when he's with you, he wouldn't want to slack when it came to his looks or personhood when with you especially since he has so many placements hinting at wanting to seem his best for you. Would want nothing more but to feel appreciated and valued and would give the same to you. He'd help you with relatively anything even if he didn't know much about the task or topic. He'd also ask you a lot of questions (not as much as a virgo mercury would but..) he'd be very interested in quite literally anything you had going on and would try to relate and insert himself in the things you speak about due to his venus.

Cancer Moon: Cancer is at home when it's in the moon so most people with this placement can be very emotional. He'd have to become close to you before fully pursuing anything. He would care about your opinions and validate your feelings. He'd showcase his domestic chore abilities so you'd view him as reliable. Downside is cancer moons have a hard time letting go of hurts so if you accidentally made him feel a type of way he may have a hard time fully letting go. Pretty sensitive to criticism. Would like comfort activities, a bath, a night swim at the beach, watching nostalgic movies, comfort food. I feel like he tries to be all macho and masc when really his emotional subconscious says otherwise 😭

Libra Mercury: Sungchan is his name and flirting is his game. He quite LITERALLY would know what to say to make you giggle and kick your feet. Would probably send goodmorning/night text (With his Leo Venus and Cancer Moon please send one back). Honestly his Virgo sun paired with this Libra mercury makes me feel like he'd gossip like crazyyyy with you. However his Sun and Mercury paired makes me feel like he'd overthink and be indecisive and have to confide in you about his thoughts. Would be good at calming you down and helping you level out your thoughts when you're upset or in a tense situation.

Leo Venus: With his Venus in Leo he'd most definitely brag about you. Even if the relationship had to be kept under wraps he'd soft launch or hint at your existence to others whether it's through wearing something -you- bought him publicly or if staff asked about his week he'd say "I spent time with a REALL GOOD friend of mine". With his virgo sun paired with his leo venus he'd absolutely need praise, it wouldn't just be a want it'd be a NEED for him to hear you compliment+praise him especially on his talents. Honestly the proudness from his venus, the provider energy from his mars..his chart overall points to him just wanting to please/spoil you whilst also getting praise, recognition and attention in return. He'd surprise you with gifts that aren't typical regular gifts they'd hold some heavy value to them (Like an expensive piece of jewelry or the last pair of a specific shoe you wanted that was on sale). The only downsides I see is that he may nag if he feels like you're not taking care of yourself or your business since his Venus makes him see you as an extension of himself and his Virgo sun and Capricorn mars relatively wanting structure and perfection for both you and him. All in all GIVE HIM ATTENTIONNNNNN.

Capricorn Mars: Whew tbh this placement is hot i'm sorry (It's the cap stellium in me.) BUT ANYWAY ! Before the relationship even began once he realized he liked you he had to make his way to you, even if it was a process he HAD to make his way to you. He'd observe you, see if you two seem compatible and once he sees a chance he'd surely make his way to the kill. I feel like this mars paired with his venus shows that he would NOT play about you. He'd quite literally want nobody else to even consider the thought that you could ever give them the attention or time you give him. Would want to be a "provider" in some sense even if you can take care of yourself. Capricorn rules the skeletal structure so he'd compliment and be super into your body's silhouette/shape, it also rules the teeth + skin (bitemarks, harsh hickies), and the knees + joints...let me not continue.

Other Aspects:

Moon/Sun Sextile: Very easygoing since his inner emotions and expression is balanced and in alignment with his ego and outer expression, however it may sometimes lead to him being a little too comfortable at times because confrontation is sometimes needed and he may avoid it (his cap mars may aid with that however)

Moon/Mercury Square: He may have a constant battle between being logical and letting his moods affect his choices and will look to you for help when his mind feels like it's constantly see-sawing, however he might pretend to be stoic before asking you for help :(

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gunsandspaceships · 2 months

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Tony’s Childhood. Part 2.2. Effects: Inner Child

Before this part, be sure to read Part 1 and Part 2.1.

Let’s go back to his sometimes childish behavior: for example, he plays nanoball with Pepper in several scenes in IM2, buys her plush toys, throws things off the countertop and climbs onto it to be higher, and so on…

Some may have noticed that this happens more often in the presence of Pepper, who in some ways acts as his mother figure. And, even more important for understanding this phenomenon, he does this when he is in serious condition: in IM2 he is dying from palladium poisoning, in IM3 he has PTSD.

Note: using the phrase “childish behavior” I do not mean infantilism as a disorder – that’s different, and something that Tony does not have.

So why is he like this?

The answer is simple: he was not allowed to be a child when he was one, and was emotionally neglected, so his normal psychological development was disrupted from an early age, leading to the development of this coping mechanism, and ultimately part of his personality remained in "child mode".

As Howard rushed to prepare Tony to become "the messiah", he discouraged him from normal childhood activities and behavior, even when Tony was 4 years old. His parents were not present in his life emotionally from the beginning, and later they were also not present physically. From the age of 7, Tony lived in conditions that children much older than him usually live in, with those older children, not with peers. His activities there consisted mainly of studying science and technology. He couldn't act like the child he actually was. And in college, when he was still a kid, he was thrown into the community of college students. Not the proper environment for a child.

From his perspective when he recruited Peter in CW he was recruiting a 15-year-old himself, who, in many ways, was already an adult.

However, these misfortunes in the future allowed him to easily find a common language with children like Harley, Peter, and Morgan. His inner child understands them, knows what they want and need, how they think. He does not talk down to them and treats them as equals. He also knows what to get Harley for his help and how to be a great father - because he can see from both perspectives.

Conclusion: Tony was deprived of the opportunity to be a child, which affected his psychological development, leaving him a bit of a child in his adult life. This had its pros and cons, including some difficulty communicating with other adults, but at the same time, it made it easier to communicate with children.

It also gave him a somewhat distorted view of childhood (thinking that other children were just like him - practically little adults), which gradually faded with the experience of caring for a "regular" teenager.

All these features also allowed him to become a wonderful father in contrast to his own.

#tony stark #iron man #marvel #mcu #the avengers #avengers endgame #pepper potts #iron man 3 #iron man 2 #peter parker #captain america civil war #howard stark #morgan stark

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carionto · 26 days

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Pressure and Release

Human: *hmm-ing at a set of dials and gauges*

Alien: What seems to be *translation unit catches up with the information they're displaying* OH MY GOD IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE!!! GET TO THE ESCAPE PODS NOW!!!!

H: Shh, it's fine, I'm just experimenting.

A: OH MY GOD WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE HORRIBLY!

H: Hey! Rude. *turns a dial causing a loud hissing noise* It's just air compressors and hydraulics.

A: *due to not dying, is beginning to relax* Why do you need up to 200 atmospheres running through these systems. We have invented alloy-specific magnetization mechanisms. Please, why do you keep insisting on these volatile and explosive means?

H: *turns the dial up* Because... *releases the pressure again, loud sudden hissing sound again* That's a cool sound.

A: Just because you think something is 'cool' doesn't make it-

H: *interrupts with another air build up and release sound without breaking eye contact*

A: *leaves*

H: *continues to play around*

_________________________________________

Okay, so I wanna get this off my chest. I find myself now for the fourth time starting a fun little activity, doing it for months on end, having a blast, and then almost suddenly dropping it entirely. First time I wrote some short stories or something every day for about six months and put it on deviantart. Then some longer form stuff started cropping in, sort of continuous narratives or whatever, and I stopped. Second was running a open D&D campaign with a persistent world but ever changing party, each session a sort of one-shot with a decision that would impact the whole world and what future sessions would exist. Not even 10 sessions in I felt under pressure to continue and build upon what I had already and just couldn't and stopped. Third was another kind of TTRPG, this time running my own server for Lancer. Again, open one shots, but less connected and I would hopefully get some of the players to want to run their own games within this freeform framework that I directly lifted from a D&D server I was in, even had some of the same people join as players. Few months later, I felt this massive pressure from myself to run games and come up with new scenarios that I just froze up. I cancelled game after game and just eventually abandoned the server and the resources I had made. Fourth time was here on tumblr itself. Back to writing some short form stuff on a fairly regular basis, almost daily for some time even. Had a blast, and then longer form content started creeping in. I thought I wanted to write some stories with an overarching plot and recurring characters and connected storylines, build up and pay off, that sort of thing. Again, I created this massive pressure by myself for myself of myself to do something I apparently can't. I created this sense of expectation of myself "Well, I started this, I should finish it, but where do I go, what do I do, how can I connect this?" And then this self-inflicted pressure got to me, again. And I stopped.

What I have known for a while, but couldn't put into words is that I don't want to tell a big long epic story or anything like that. I don't have one of those in me and forcing something like that only makes me shrivel up and run away. I have a world, several in fact, in my mind. Entire continents of a low fantasy character driven political intrigue and drama based world with tons of rules and restrictions, thousands of years of history, strong personalities for the main actors and so many individual scenes with them and the supporting cast, and a timeframe for when the overarching story happens and how it ends. But no story itself. Just scenes. I have a high fiction sci-fi world, again, with very distinct factions and races, most of the details I have written out back when I was a teen in a physical notebook with pen and pencil. Lots of historical points and events, how the races work, their domains if you will, near magical powers I try to explain with plausible science. Tons of specific details. Even drew each of their common symbols, how one of the languages is structured, schematics of how their cities are planned, and details on other planets in the system and how those might be important later. But, not a single individual character or story. Just dry facts. And then we have the loose sci-fi world I've created here. Bunch of different angles and perspectives, some comedic, some more serious, even put Cthulu in there. Many short and mostly self-contained stories and episodes of various humans doing things an exaggerated version of humanity would do. There is potential for a number of expanded and longer form stories here, some I attempted, and as mentioned, what ultimately made me stop. I don't have a book in me, and I don't want to write one. I just like to write little snippets and I want to get myself to accept this idea that, no, it does not need to become more than that. Because every time I start going down a path where it feels like it should be more than a one page thing, I seize up, start thinking that I need to do this, panic when I can't come up with anything, go silent, and give up. It just does not work for my brain. And that's fine.

#humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are space oddities #humans are deathworlders #humanity fuck yeah #carionto #introspection

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idrellegames · 7 months

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As an IF author that does this with a "this is my job" mindset I find it hard to do other things in my day to day because whenever I pick up my phone I feel like I am at work and I feel like I constantly think about my story.

Do you have any tips or advice on how to separate myself from my work and stop thinking about it 24/7?

Thank you!

Having a clear division between work and regular life is really important. I think it can be a little harder to do if developing an IF isn't your full-time gig. If you're working a job or are in school and you're packing IF development on top of it, then it can get really tricky to balance.

I also think that if you're working on a large, long-term project, it's a good and normal part of the writing process to think a lot about your story. Not all writing is done when you are actively writing. Daydreaming about your characters and your story lets you work out different kinks and make new discoveries.

So, you have a couple of choices here. You can reframe IF as your hobby, the thing you do in your free time for fun. Take away the pressure of thinking about it like work. You can pick away at it when the mood strikes, write on your own terms, and if you stop having fun with it, it's okay to slam on the breaks and put it aside until you're ready to come back to it.

But if you want to continue treating it as work or if it is already is your job, then you need to set some boundaries for yourself. This is going to be different for everyone; what works for me might not necessarily work for you. But here are a few things you can try:

Set a schedule. Try to contain the times when you are actively working on your project to within certain regular hours. Set different times for different parts of your job. For example, I only do social media management (tumblr inbox and notifications, Patreon, email, itch etc) during the first couple hours of my morning and then the rest of my work day is for writing and/or coding. I don't get through everything, but it's okay. It's really important for online creators not to fall into the trap of feeling like they have to answer everyone immediately, otherwise you will not get anything done.

If you manage social media for your IF, have separate accounts for your personal stuff and work stuff. I have two tumblr accounts, one that manages this sideblog and the other for personal fandom things. Logging out of my work account and into my personal one means that I'm not seeing notifications from this blog and I'm not tracking Wayfarer stuff. It really helps me keep work as work and downtime as downtime.

Separate your work and downtime spaces. Sometimes it's just as simple as working in one room and relaxing in another. This can be a bit tricky if you only have one device that you work from. I have a PC so I can't move it around, so if I'm using it to game later I try to change up my space (by getting a different chair or changing something else about my set up) so I have some kind of physical difference to trick my brain into going from "work mode" to "relax mode". Sometimes I have to get out of my office entirely in order to get that sense of separation, otherwise I feel like I am constantly at work.

If you're on your phone a lot and you don't really use it to make your IF or have alternatives for writing, get rid of the apps that put you in a work headspace. I got rid of the tumblr mobile app a couple years ago and it was probably the best decision in terms of actually keeping me out of work mode.

Take time off. Give yourself a weekend. Pursue other hobbies, play other games, write things other than your IF. IFs take a very long time to make, you can't go at it 24/7 or you will burn out.

#coding in twine #interactive fiction #interactive novel #twine #resources #answered

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verysmolnerd · 3 months

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Meeting Otto in college

You're not sure where you've seen him before; maybe at the back of a lecture hall or the cafeteria, but you knew he was there. For a man of his size, he was always amazing at blending into the crowd.

A stealthy giant indeed, but you were a person to notice subtleties.

You had to be sitting on the steps with a group of people and one of them pointed him out from everyone else, "Yeah, that's Otto. Dude's already on his way to be valedictorian. I haven't seen him fail a single assignment."

After that it's kind of hard to ignore him from then on out, he's practically seen between classes.

You know he's smart, literally everyone sharing a class with him says he is. But he's not wise nor clever. He's a dork. You know when he's actively near you.

He's a nerd in love, that's a new thing for him. So the shyness level is over 9000.

If you're trying to find a textbook in the library, he's peeking through the shelf. Those thick-framed glasses over those big brown eyes are hard to miss.

If you're at an open lounge meeting with a professor, then he's three or four couches away tutoring some student passing their classes by the skin of their teeth.

You're not sure what to make of this, so some days you just stay in your dorm room for a while, getting your work done; making the plans to get a job right after you get that bachelor's degree in your hand.

That's when Otto realizes that a lot of students come and go, and you might be one of them. Som panic sets in for him.

So he starts to gain the confidence to speak with you with your infrequent presence on campus. Mainly out of fear that he might not see you again.

So, when it comes to partner up for your next chemistry lab, there's Otto Octavius standing right in front of you with a small smile.

As expected, the lab goes without a hitch, but you do everything in your power to make sure that Otto doesn't do all of the work. There had been multiple people bragging that he had raised their grade because they used him for an important lab.

He insisted that he does the work fist, but you were quick to tell him that other students have used him to their advantage; an easy A.

After the lab, you exchange numbers and email. He wanted to ask for it at first, but he hesitated.

He ends up meeting you frequently between classes, asking how they went and listening to you rant about a trashy professor.

He sits next to you in lectures that you share. You help each other with notes.

There are tutoring sessions between the both of you, and it's easy to tell that he already know the material, but he's pretending not to fro you to teach him on it.

Dude speaks the language of science, any sort of jargon within the science community, he speaks it like it's just slang.

That meaning, he can sue out those entry-level professors trying to sound intellectual when they're really on a power trip because they're just an awful person.

He's a teacher's pet, and there are "coffee dates" with one of his professors on the regular.

He's so afraid of making things awkward that he makes it worse when his professors are the third wheel.

It literally takes a professor to pull you aside and flat out say that you need to do something, because the big man has a crush that goes higher than the school's clocktower.

So rater than Otto scheduling a "coffee date" you schedule an event. What you chose was a tad bit unorthodox compared to what Otto was used to, you wanted to have some physical activity to unwind formal the stress. (Wink Wonk)

(He would literally faint at the idea of Sex) You go axe throwing or you you go update to visit a driving range. Then you have dinner with him.

When you brought up the idea, he was about to ask if another professor can come.

You were quick to say, "Threes a crowd." It goes off without a hitch and, but you can see him restrain himself from getting too close to you. he was always at arms distance, nothing more.

So, you take this in your hands once again; you literally take his large hands in your own at some dingy restaurant that nobody really knows about.

This sends him such a shock that eh entire car hide back to campus is completely silent.

He was a gentleman and walked back to the building. He, however, stops you before you could go in.

His face is beet red, as he closes the distance between you.

his kiss is forced and far too puckered, but it's a kiss nonetheless. It was a big jump for him, so his bravery doesn't go unnoticed.

So, you bid him goodnight with a peck on the cheek.

You now have a giant nerd for a boyfriend.

#fanfiction #fanifc #headcannons #doc ock x reader #otto octavius x reader #doctor octopus x reader #doc ock #otto octavius

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undercat-overdog · 16 days

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So I was reading some of your older answers to questions about your fics when I became curious about something. Let’s pretend that there’s an AU where a more corruptible version of ‘Bones’ Celebrimbor accepts Sauron’s proposal to marry and rule with him. What would happen to Sauron if Celebrimbor were to die? (Let’s say in battle fighting for Sauron) Comparing it to Melian’s reaction to leave everything behind after Thingol’s death.

Hey anon! Thank you for the ask, and sorry for my delay in replying.

You know, I was thinking about it a while back and I definitely think there's a tack Sauron could have used that could have led to Celebrimbor's darker side coming through. I thought a bit a while back about how to do that and mostly they wouldn't work as an AU from that particular point in Bones (things like insidious mind control using the One, C being captured and through a mix of stockholm syndrome and wanting to make S's rule less horrible comes to participate - if you're curious about such AUs, simaetha on ao3 has some fantastic fic), but had Sauron framed it as less "let's rule the world together" and more "Gil-galad's not ambitious enough, you are, those less knowledgeable and skilled and smart as us 'wander here untaught', we need to raise them up, even if not all of them like it at first, etc." Basically the appeal he made to the Elves of Eregion in the Silm but upping the imperialism. Because Celebrimbor is prideful and is ambitious and does have a sense of superiority, and I definitely think it could be appealed to more.

Of course, Sauron didn't think he needed to hide his eventual plans, though he certainly planned to keep hiding his rather unique biography. He is also hiding his current extra-Eregion activities - he is at this point (c. SA 1200-1500) occasionally traveling around working on his evil empire. I like to imagine he sent back regular letters to Celebrimbor talking about how lovesick he is all the cool, definitely not evil-empire-related stuff he's seeing. Probably some rock samples or pressed flowers. He is being dishonest and deceiving Celebrimbor about a lot of stuff, but he is for the first time open and honest about his true goal in the proposal scene.

Anyways! In the scenario you propose, Sauron would react very, very poorly to Celebrimbor's death. Many people would die horribly. However he felt about Celebrimbor at the time - and I think he would probably end up respecting him less and Celebrimbor becoming somewhat less important in his life, thought certainly still very important - Celebrimbor is his and it is unacceptable that someone (else) hurt him. And elf soulbond! (I do love elf soulbonds.) I think it would cause a lot of pain to Sauron. Emotionally of course, he would be incredibly distraught and bereft, but metaphysically too.

To go to Melian's reaction, there's the interesting question of how she returned to Valinor. She is shapelocked, due to "begetting", but I find it logistically unlikely for her to have left Beleriand physically; I imagine she shed her form, which implies to me some sort of metaphysical change? She is no longer capable of being tied to Thingol physically (maybe a little desperate necro, but Thingol's no longer in that body). Likewise, in a situation where S loses his elf husband, I imagine it would create some sort of 'wound', if you will (and that Melian experienced that). Different in scale and effect than the loss of the One in canon, certainly not permanently incapacitating, but not too different in quality. A part of Sauron was wretched away, leaving a gaping, bleeding wound.

Many people would end up dying, horribly. But Sauron certainly isn't going to Valinor, as Melian did. I imagine the timeline and plot here would draw closer to canon. If the One wasn't already made (and I'm uncertain if a married Sauron could make the One as it is: his soul isn't just his own anymore, there's another soul that's intertwined with it*), I don't know if Sauron would make it, because I'm not sure there's the same incentive as there is in canon, but maybe something like it. But certainly going full on dark lord, Sauron the Great, King of the Earth, as he called himself in canon.**

*as a general rule I prefer 'soul' in writing, but yes, technically eala and fea and the two are different. Sauron has no "true" physical form and is whole without a fana, but Celebrimbor or any other elf are only whole when his fea and hroa/soul and body are together. But for the terms of a marriage bond, they function more or less interchangeably.

**what name he ended up using here is also open to debate. "Sauron the Great" is a title he did use canonically, but does anyone know he is Sauron/Gorthaur in this AU? Maybe not, aside from some Orcs! He's probably going by Annatar in this AU and he might end up keeping it. Well, as one of his names: I imagine he had many in different local languages.

(Also, please don't worry, your asks made me very happy to receive!)

#ask #anonymous #meta #celebrimbor #sauron #shall these bones live #those tags are mostly for internal blog organization as this is very rambly

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invaders-cookbook · 5 months

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Invader's Cookbook #4: Crafting, Consumables, Community Assistance.

Warning: this issue of Invader's Cookbook is only for those who have completed the base game. If you're a new player, using advice from this guide may ruin your natural progression path.

Part 1: Community

As you become better at PvP and it becomes more interesting to you, Elden Ring stops being a PvE game with PvP attached to it, and becomes a PvP game with PvE attached to it. And if you do dueling and invading with any regularity, you will discover that certain resources are way more limited than they should be. Which is fine for a PvE playthrough, but in PvP it becomes a detriment to the variety of the things you can do in any given encounter.

For example, starlight shards is an item that gives you enough Focus Points regeneration that allows sorcery builds to rival melee builds in invasion scenarios. There are only a few dozen of them in the entire game without going to NG+ and they are completely unfarmable.

That is why some players opt to simply duplicate their items via reloading their saves and dropping them to their friends. It is not considered cheating, not by the dedicated PvP community and not by From Software either.

There are a bunch of ways to go about acquiring items.

1. Find a person who plays PvP and who has already acquired all the items

Pretty straightforward. If you don't have such a person, shoot a DM to @huggingtentacles she can usually help.

2. r/PatchesEmporium

Patches Emporium is a community on Reddit where you can place a request for certain items, and if you're willing to fulfill someone else's request, you can successfully gain all the items you need.. Typically they will ask you for a "mule". A mule means transferring their items between characters through your character. You simply pick up the items, and give them back to another character they have. In return they might share some stuff you might want.

3. Join a PvP-focused discord community

You can find plenty of them online, Elden Ring PvP is the most popular one. Plenty of streamers on twitch, big and small, also have similar communities.

Part 2: I got the stuff, what now?

Now you probably have enough crafting materials to craft literally every item in the game in ridiculous amounts. Which is good, you will need them for the following items:

1. Boluses

Boluses to cure status effects are the most important, especially Preserving Boluses that help against Scarlet Rot. Make a bunch of them.

2. Uplifting Aromatics

Finally you can use those perfume bottles for something! Having up to 10 is quite strong. It makes you take 90% less damage on your next hit, as well as gives you a noticeable damage boost. Very important to cross places where you might get ambushed around the corner. You can also use this aromatic to buff mobs in the area!

3. Greases

You can only use greases on weapons with physical affinities: Keen, Heavy, Quality and Standard. Now you are able to replace regular greases with Drawstring Grease, which does significantly more damage, albeit it lasts for a shorter period of time. You can use it quickly mid-combat, highly recommend

4. Everything else

Dried livers, various Pots Cured Meat, Exalted Flesh, Bolts, Arrows, Pickled Turtle Necks, Throwing Daggers, Warming Stones. All of these amazing items are important to use in most PvP activities. Learn to utilise them to their fullest potential.

Part 3: And what about making builds faster?

Through other players you can also acquire weapons and runes. However, you can't acquire weapons that are higher level than the one you have already upgraded on your character. You'll have to upgrade a weapon to a certain level if you want someone to drop you weapons of that level.

A typical fast playthrough to meta level 125-137 would be getting a +10 somber weapon as fast as possible, and then having every other item dropped from another player, then finishing the playthrough with all of that stuff and the appropriate level using the infinite runes you got. (Do you see why I don't recommend this to first time playthroughs? Don't ruin your experience.)

Closing Thoughts

One aspect of Elden Ring PvP that's rarely talked about is how the developers never quite anticipated the amount of PvP some people do. Some items are simply too ridiculous to farm for PvP purposes. Imagine having to farm for half an hour only to waste all of that in one single invasion! Some builds like sorcery simply shoot themselves in the foot by not having vital things like starlight shards.

It's not all bad though. After all, trading items and helping eachother makes for a more meaningful community interaction among players, even if it's purely transactional. In fact, I met many cool players through trading favours like that, and I hope you will as well.

Aren't sure about talking to strangers to get Elden Ring items? Try talking to @huggingtentacles she is always happy to help out new invaders!

#elden ring #elden ring invasions #elden ring pvp #invader's cookbook

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magicspace114 · 1 year

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New faces - pack bonds part 3

Toby was quiet but you could still see a glint of curiosity in their eye as your brother pulled out strange tools from his case. You were worried at first that they'd be scared but if anything, they were in awe.

They sat themselves up a little straighter on the couch and carefully reached for James, stopping when they'd gained his attention before they'd even touched him. "Um, what do these do?" Toby asked, voice quiet but not mumbling.

Your brother's eyes flickered to you before looking back at Toby. "These are some lock picking tools," he explained, picking up a set of lock picks, "these are for manual locks like the one on that door." He pointed to your front door. "For this though, they won't be much help." He looked over his shoulder, "mum said this would be a digital lock."

"Isn't it?" She asked.

"No, digital usually has a combination or something. There isn't anything like that here," James took Toby's hands, turning them over to see if there was anything he could use. "How does this work normally? Do they use a key? A fob?"

"They have a button," Toby said, "it activates the restraints or releases them. The button looks like it's tied to a network of switches that send wireless signals to the restraints."

"Alright," your brother took out a clamp meter and attached it to one of the bands.

"What is that?" Toby asked.

"It's a clamp meter, it can measure any electrical signals in the bands so I can see what I'm working with." James said, not looking up from the screen.

"Will it work with this?" Toby asked, "this tech won't be anything like yours."

"If it's still AC or DC it should be fine," James shrugged, "you may be alien but basic physics should still work, right?"

"I-I guess." Toby nodded.

James hummed and looked at the readings. Remarkably, he was getting them. It looked like it wasn't all too different after all. The problem was, there were no visible wires to cut, seemingly no power source to drain. These were simple, black, metal bands. They were too tight against Toby's wrists to just pull off too, not without hurting the kid.

"I have an idea."

"I'm not going to like it, am I?" You mumbled, knowing James wouldn't have stopped there if it was a good idea.

"It's kinda a 'see what happens' type of deal," James grinned, pulling out a small device. It was like a taser but you know, mostly because he's used it on you, that it was a lot weaker than a regular taser. It was mostly to stun electronics.

It was a homemade device with the odd couple wires sticking out and the grip made by wrapping duct tape around rubber insulation. There was a metal tip that delivered the shock.

Toby looked between you and James as you glared. "Don't you dare," you said.

"Look, we gotta figure out how this works, right? Besides, it's not a dangerous current. It's just a little sting," James said, "see?" He jutted it at you and you shrieked before he even pressed the button.

"James!" You shoved him when he laughed.

"See? It's fiiiine," James looked at Toby, "don't mind her, she's a drama queen." You hit him again on the shoulder.

"Drama queen?" Toby tilted their head then turned to you, "you didn't say you were royalty."

James paused then burst out laughing. You rolled your eyes, trying not to smile yourself, "it's just an expression. It means someone's a very dramatic person." James was laughing so much, he was leaning against you for support. You quickly moved and let him fall to the floor.

"Ok, I like this kid," James chuckled, finally starting to calm down, "can we keep him?" Your dad just chuckled in the background until you shot him a look.

"They've probably got parents looking for them," your mother said and the light mood wore off both you and Toby. "We might need to find a way to reunite them somehow."

"No," you said immediately as Toby's breathing picked up.

"May?" Your mother asked.

Toby crawled over to you and small panicked bleats escaped him. You lifted an arm to let them curl into you. "They don't get to call themselves parents." You said stubbornly.

"I can't go back," Toby whined, "I can't-"

"Wow, wow," James said, "calm down mama bear, we won't take him away from you." You gave your brother a look and he gave you a nod back, a serious look falling over his face. He went back to picking at the bands around Toby's arms. "Ok, this might sting a bit but it'll only be for a second, ok?" He looked up and Toby nodded at him.

James shocked the band and suddenly both lit up blue along with the metal collar around Toby's neck. The bands magnetised and pinned his wrists together and two more that were disguised in the fur on their legs pinned his legs together.

Toby shrieked and tripped over themselves, falling off the couch and onto the floor. They fought for their hands, bleating and whining in vain as the electromagnetic force was too strong.

"Wow, hang on." James said, getting down on the floor with Toby but the alien kicked out, propelling themselves along the floor and squirming away.

"Wait," you took your brother's shoulder, keeping him in place.

Toby backed themselves up against the wall and curled their limbs up close. They shivered and squeezed their eyes closed. You approached slowly, coming at them from the side. They didn't acknowledge you as they mumbled to themselves.

"Toby?" You asked, quietly.

Toby let out a quiet bleat and started mumbling to themselves. "S'not my name." You overheard them say in their mindless rambling.

"Tobs," you said, "do you know where you are right now?"

Toby didn't acknowledge you as you crept closer. You caught movement in the corner of your eye and you turned to see your brother fiddling with wires and a large nail. You decided to figure that out later.

"Open your eyes, Toby. Just take a look around. You're safe."

"I-I'm good," Toby said slightly louder than their previous ramblings, "I'm good, I swear. I'll be good." They let out another whine that twisted your heart painfully in your chest.

"You are good, Tobs." You carefully put your hand on the top of their head, in between their horns. Toby flinched initially but when your hand did nothing more but ruffle through their hair, they sunk into the touch. "Open your eyes, it's ok, you're safe with me. It's May. I promise, you're safe."

Toby didn't open their eyes yet, still too scared but they leaned towards you. You shifted your body to be beside them and you pulled them closer, keeping physical contact light but supporting.

Your mother stood up from her seat and sat against the wall perpendicular to you. You watched her move, unable to keep the kicked puppy expression off your face. You felt horrible that there was nothing you could do for the little alien. Your mother started humming.

The hum was soft but audible. It was a lullaby, one you were familiar with. Your mother was always a lovely singer and even after years of not hearing it, the song was just as beautiful as when she'd sung to you after a nightmare. You rubbed circles into Toby's back while she sang.

Your brother snuck close now. On seeing what he had in his hand, you recognised the electromagnet in his hand. It was simple and rather crude considering the tech he was using it against but you could hear a faint buzzing as he got closer with it. He held it up to Toby's collar and the lights dimmed a little before turning back to the usual flashing yellow. Toby's arms fell away from each other and their ankles were also able to separate.

Once they were freed, you pulled Toby onto your lap, picking them up and taking them to another room so they could better calm down.

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#creative writing #writing #humans and aliens #alien oc #human and alien bonding #protective human #trauma

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thebibliosphere · 2 years

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Hey Bibliomom. So I've had CFS/ME for the past 13 years or so, and I've only just been diagnosed. My feelings on being confirmed to have an incurable disorder rather than something that is in my head(and a personal deficit that I am therefore theoretically capable of overcoming) are... Complicated. Can you recommend any support groups/groups for people trying out and reporting on the effects of various treatments? I have been taking LDN for a few months, and I've recently started on bi-weekly b12 shots. I know it's to be expected but I always feel so gutted when a new treatment doesn't just... Fix Me. I'm looking into mestonin, stellate ganglion blocks, and getting my microbiome mapped and altering my diet based on that. It's all so much money and spoons for a complete crap shoot every time. Have any particular treatments worked well for you?

Unfortunately, there is no Fix Me cure for Me/CFS, there’s just things that help and maybe increase your baseline of wellness. Chief among them, resting while in an active flare to avoid PEM (Post Exertion Malaise.). You can do all the fanciest most expensive treatments, but if you’re not resting enough to avoid PEM, you’re just throwing money away.

The jury is still out between my doctors on whether I have ME/CFS. Some say no because I got substantially better after pernicious anemia treatment and that fatigue is a symptom of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and what I have is chronic fatigue, not chronic fatigue syndrome.

Some of my other doctors say that’s just splitting hairs. Especially when we now know I have multiple genetic disorders that were made infinitely worse following viral infections and other physical injuries.

Either way they all agree that avoiding PEM is vital at all costs. This means tailoring my physical rehab to very specifically to not push beyond my limits. If I wake up more tired than usual, I cancel physical therapy that day because going through with it can set me back days, sometimes even weeks.

We’ve also found that stabilizing my neck through physical therapy has been beneficial, as cervical instability and things like tethered cord syndrome have also been linked to ME/CFS (Jennifer Brea is a famous example.)

I’m also being assessed this week by a neuro-eye specialist to see if there’s something wrong with my eyes that a regular eye doctor might miss, just on the off chance that a misalignment is the cause of my chronic migraines, and potentially a lot of fatigue as well.

Other than that I take a crap ton of methylated micronutrients under doctor’s orders because my body struggles with the methylation process, and also I just don’t absorb food properly thanks to the EDS and MCAS, so I’m pretty much always deficient in something. Also making sure I’m properly hydrated at all times helps. It’s amazing how crummy low electrolytes can make you feel, even when you think you are adequately hydrated.

As for groups, I find the r/cfs subreddit helpful. The r/CFSplusADHD has also been helpful, though less active. Other than that I recommend following along with the ME Action Network. They post a lot of research and can be a good way to find other people in similar situations.

And to answer your other question about mast cell stabilizers: I rotate between Cetirizine and Levocetirizine at the moment (both h1 blockers), and also Famotidine (h2) when needed. I don’t find Famotidine as effect as Ranitidine, but unfortunately, Ranitidine is still off the market due to a recall concerning product instability.

I’ve also found Ketotifen (h1 blocker) helps to reduce my fibromyalgia type pain, but unfortunately I don’t tolerate it very well and it makes my migraines worse. Same with Cromolyn Sodium. That one actually brought me out in hives when I tried the oral route, but I suspect the dosage was too high. I tolerate the eye drops though.

I also take a high dose of Vitamin D3 every day under doctor’s orders. That has really helped my mast cell symptoms over the last year. It’s amazing what being low on Vit D can cause to fuck up in your body.

Other than that it’s avoid triggers, avoid stress and get plenty of rest.

I hope that helps.

#chronic health tag

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bonickhausen · 3 months

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KENDO

i guess i'm a kendoka now, for real!

yes, i still need to learn how to tie my kendogi and hakama correctly but HEY, i'm really digging this!

i started practicing kendo back in january- i was looking for some kind of physical activity that did not bore me to death like regular gym exercise did. a friend of mine sent me a video of some dude slashing a bamboo-something with a Very Sharp sword and i thought to myself "hey, that looks neat".

living in the largest city in the southern hemisphere of the planet means that if you're after something, you're probably going to find it without too much trouble. the video i saw was about iaijutsu but because i'm a fucking idiot i thought that was the same thing as kendo and joined one of são paulo's many kendo clubs.

thing is, i really fucking like kendo now. i like the constant effort to try and improve my moves while being surrounded by other people who are also trying to do the same thing. it feels very cooperative.

my mentors told me i was ready to wear these fancy clothes and so i bought them. Kendogi's the upper half and Hakama's the skirt thing. Putting them on is kind of a bitch though and folding them back is an even bigger bitch or maybe i'm just a general failure at folding clothes and putting them on which is a really strange thought: i never thought i'd suck at wearing clothes.

no matter, i'll get the hang of it eventually. it feels good to have finally found a physical activity that i really like.

my cat was watching me the whole time as i was flailing my legs around

great stuff!

#personal #kendo

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totowlff · 1 year

Text

chapter twelve — like susan and lucy

➝ with the pregnancy progressing healthily, cassie decides it's time to tell one of her most trusted people about the baby. unfortunately, she wasn't alone.

➝ word count: 4,8k

➝ warnings: none

10 WEEKS

Your womb is now about the size of an orange. You may find your clothes are tighter and your stomach may be sticking out, but this can be due to changes in your bowel activity rather than your pregnancy.

It was the perfect early summer day as Cassie drove down the M40 from Oxford to London. It seemed like there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, which felt like a rare treat for the UK.

She’d felt a bit hesitant to go to London on one of the few weekends when Toto wouldn’t be at a race until the summer shutdown, but she felt like it was important to maintain her own schedule while she still could, before the latter stages of the pregnancy when she likely wouldn’t want to go anywhere, and before all of her time and energy would be devoted to caring for her child. The child she was having with Toto.

“I don’t want to smother him”, Cassie thought to herself, shaking her head, like the physical action of doing so would reorder her scattered thoughts. “We’re not together, not really. But, it’s like all I want to do is spend time with him”.

In an effort to distract herself from the urge to drive over to Bedwells Heath and spend the weekend with Toto, probably talking about the things they needed to buy for the baby, she’d called her sister, Helena, to see if she could pay her a visit.

Plus, she hadn’t told Helena about the baby yet, and desperately wanted to tell someone, and Helena was all too happy to have her over.

— Jack is going to be gone all weekend, he’s going to Zurich on business. It’ll just be me and Tommy, and we definitely need to catch up.

Tommy was Cassie’s four-year old nephew, Icarus, but his parents addressed him by his middle name, Thomas, and usually called him Tommy. Helena had chosen his name in line with the family’s tradition of using names from classical literature, but after the boy was born, she and Jack had a long discussion about his nickname possibly being “Icky”, which might make the poor boy’s life difficult in school.

“I’m not sure why they didn’t think of that beforehand”, Cassie remembered thinking, shortly after they’d decided on his name.

As she drove past a field full of grazing sheep, her mind drifted back to two days ago, when she and Toto met for their regular chat over coffee at the factory. In Cassie’s case, she’d begrudgingly made the switch to non-caffeinated herbal tea.

It had been almost a month since Cassie found out that she was expecting, and she and Toto were the only people that knew — aside from Cassie’s doctor and the Mercedes board chairman Ola Källenius, who Toto couldn’t resist telling during one of Ola’s visits to Brackley because Toto was too excited to contain himself.

She was fit to burst with excitement and wanted to tell everyone she saw, but she felt like she needed to wait a bit longer because she was nervous about telling anyone. She knew it was normal to wait until the end of the first trimester for most women to disclose the news, but it was all Cassie wanted to talk about and it was taking a great deal of restraint to not say anything yet.

“But if I say anything and something happens”, she thought. She felt like she would jinx it if she told someone too early.

— Are you okay? — Toto asked her, causing Cassie to snap out of her thoughts. He had been talking about his upcoming trip to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and Cassie must have let her mind wander again. It seemed to be happening quite a bit, but her doctor told her to expect some brain fog in the first trimester.

— Hm? Oh, yes, just thinking.

— What were you thinking about? — Toto asked.

— Just about how I haven’t told anyone about, uh, the news yet. It’s almost all I can think about, but you’re the only one I can talk to about it.

— Ah, I feel the same way. It was hell at the race in Montreal last week, all of the reporters asking questions about Lewis beating Ayrton’s number of poles, but all I wanted to talk about was — he dropped his voice and leaned in a bit — The fact that I will be a father soon.

— I mean, at least you got to tell someone — Cassie teased. She’d been a little miffed when she found out that Toto had told the man who was, more or less, his boss, but she couldn’t be too upset about the gifts Ola had sent them — Who am I even going to tell? Victoria?

— No, but you could tell… Er, what about your aunt? What was her name — Toto combed his fingers nervously through his hair as he tried to remember — Uh, don’t tell me… Not Sylvia, right?

— Sybil? — Cassie said, incredulous. She laughed a little, and shook her head in disbelief — God, no. I love the woman dearly, she’s been more of a mother to me than my own mother, but the problem is that she’s an incorrigible gossip, and if she finds out, everyone in West Sussex will know, including my actual mother. But, I could tell my sister, I suppose. We’ve always been close, which I consider to be nothing short of a miracle. We were like Susan and Lucy growing up… You know, from the Chronicles of Narnia?

She noticed the way Toto’s facial expression turned confused.

— I… Actually haven’t read that book, I don’t think. I will take your word for it. You have a sister and a brother, right? — Toto asked, taking the last drink of his coffee.

— Yes, that’s right. My brother is named Jason. We are… Not close, not really. He’s had… Um, the same mindset as my father, about, well, everything. The problem is that Jason’s wife is a lovely woman, and she likes me, and his three daughters, my nieces, adore me, which I think annoys him a bit, like he’s afraid I’ll corrupt them, or something — Cassie giggled.

— Family is certainly complicated — Toto said, nodding sagely. He glanced at his watch, and then said — I have to get back to my office, I have a meeting with… Someone, but I can’t remember who. I guess I’ll find out when I get upstairs.

He shrugged, and smiled as he stood up from his chair, offering Cassie his hand to help her stand up, despite her having no difficulty doing so on her own.

— But remind me to tell you about my mother and her sister, my aunt, sometime, you will probably relate — he added, before saying goodbye and going back to his office.

Cassie watched carefully for the exit for Great West Road she needed to take, as she always seemed to miss it because of traffic around Heathrow. Sometimes she didn’t notice she’d missed her exit until she crossed the Thames, meaning she’d gone too far south.

She made it to Pimlico without incident, and admired the seemingly endless rows of grand white townhouses that lined the streets. It was a gorgeous day. The sky was bright blue, and the smogs of summer hadn’t started yet. Cassie took her time walking to her sister’s building, taking it all in. It was a charming neighborhood, and she could see why her sister and her husband decided to settle here, but at the same time, she was happy that she and Toto didn’t live in London instead. Oxford was a large enough city for her tastes, and she liked being somewhere that wasn’t constantly congested with people.

She rang her sister’s doorbell when she arrived at the correct building, and a few moments later, the smiling face of a four year old boy appeared in the glass.

— Auntie! — the boy squealed, as he pulled the wooden door open.

— Tommy! — Cassie said, kneeling down to give the boy a hug and a kiss — You’re getting so big!

A moment later, her sister appeared in the doorway.

— Cassie! — she said, pulling Cassie into a hug and giving Cassie a customary, but still fond, kiss on the cheek in greeting — So good of you to come. Come in, come in, I’ve made tea already.

Cassie took a moment to take her shoes off in the doorway, as listening as Tommy chattered away about how he had watched Lewis’ last race and how he told one of his friends at preschool about how his auntie worked with Lewis Hamilton. Cassie didn’t have the heart to tell him that she only worked with the drivers on rare occasions, as she didn’t travel to the races, but Lewis was kind enough and invested enough attention in the staff at both Brackley and Brixworth that didn’t travel to races that he’d given Cassie a few items he’d signed, specifically to give to her nephew, like a cap and a miniature replica helmet.

Cassie followed her sister into the townhouse’s drawing room, where afternoon tea was set out. Cassie was relieved to see that her sister didn’t go to the trouble of using her nice china just for her. She was using a modest, everyday set, that was a shade of gray that matched perfectly with the townhome’s modern, monochrome decor. Her sister had set out some biscuits and the standard cucumber tea sandwiches. Cassie smiled as she sat down and watched her sister pour her son some milk with a small splash of tea, and offered her some. — Milk and two sugars, still?

— Ah… Yes — Cassie said, accepting the proffered cup. She didn’t start drinking it right away, opting to take a biscuit first. As she took a bit of it, Cassie took a moment to look at her sister and her nephew, wondering what sort of features her baby would get.

Would she inherit the narrow, pointed nose that Cassie, her sister, and her nephew had gotten from Andromeda, or would she get Toto’s wider nose that crinkled when he smiled? Would she get the narrow jaw and almost pointed chin she got from her father, or Toto’s square, strong jawline? Cassie’s nephew got his father’s pale eyes, but Cassie and Toto both had dark eyes. But, Cassie thought, would they be shaped like his intense, hooded stare, or her eyes that were turned slightly upward at their corners? Would their baby inherit the warmth of his skin tone that tanned readily during the warmer months, or would she be pale and prone to freckles and sunburn like Cassie was? Would she get Cassie’s red hair? It was unlikely, Cassie had decided, since she’s not even sure what side of the family she inherited it from. Jason and Helena both had light blonde hair as children that grew out to a medium blonde, like Albert had before his hair went completely white at a relatively early age.

— So — Helena said, settling down in her chair and spreading her napkin out on her lap — What’s new with you? It’s been a while since we last talked. You must be busy with race season fully underway, but I’m sure you don’t want to talk about work on your day off. Any promising prospects lately, in the romance department? The last I heard about was the French restaurant man, what was his name again?

Cassie took a moment to think, remembering the disastrous date that started her on this odyssey to childbirth. So much had changed since then, but how could she explain it all to Helena?

— Um… I actually don’t even remember the guy’s name — Cassie said, with a small giggle — That was the last date I went on, but he was a real treat. Did I tell you that he told me he expected me to quit my job? On the first date! I do confess to making a bit of a scene in the restaurant when I left, but I don’t regret it.

Helena laughed.

— I’m sorry, Cass. I’m sure there’s someone good out there waiting for you.

— Well, it’s funny that you should mention that, because…

Cassie was interrupted by the sound of the townhouse’s doorbell ringing through to the sitting room they were in.

Helena’s brow wrinkled in confusion, as she looked at Cassie.

— Mum, who’s that? — Tommy asked, looking up at his mother.

— I don’t know, Tommy. I wasn’t expecting anyone else today. Excuse me while I go check. Tommy, stay here and tell your auntie all about your riding lesson yesterday.

While Cassie never was swept up in the family’s passion for equestrian sports, Helena took to it immediately. She developed a passion for riding Dressage, and spent most of her time and energy on it growing up. Cassie knew enough about the sport to know that Helena had a passion and a natural gift for the sport that she herself was lacking. Helena cleaned up in competitions in her youth and continued competing into her teenage years and early adulthood. She competed at events all over the world and also competed on the first team — the most prestigious one — during all three of her years at Cambridge, telling Cassie that it was nice to have some “more relaxed events to do”. Just after graduating from college, Helena was named as a reserve rider for the Great Britain dressage squad for the London Olympics.

Cassie didn’t think she’d ever seen either of her parents so proud and happy, certainly not at anything Cassie had done. Helena intended to have another go at making the Olympic team properly for the 2016 games, but she’d gotten married and had a baby two years before then, and “temporarily retired” from competition. Now, she taught high-level riding lessons at an elite stable in Wimbledon, and made frequent trips down to West Sussex to help out at their father’s barn.

Cassie only half-listened as Tommy talked about the pony he got to ride at his most recent lesson, a Palomino named Jammie Dodger, which was his favorite one of the barn’s lesson ponies, because Jammie Dodgers were his favorite biscuit. She was distracted, wondering what was taking her sister so long to return. She was growing a bit concerned.

— Stay here for a moment, Tom Tom. I’m going to see what’s keeping your mum — Cassie said as she took the napkin off of her lap and stood up. She heard snatches of hushed conversation between Helena and another woman coming from Helena’s foyer as she practically tiptoed down the hall.

— Um, I’m sorry, it’s just not a good time. I just wish you’d called first, I have…

— Well, I thought I’d surprise you. I had to be in London today for…

— I know, but…

— I just wanted to stop by and see…

She knew that other voice. She knew who had come by to visit, apparently unexpectedly, who Helena was talking to. Her blood ran cold in her stomach, making her feel nauseous. She was prone to nausea these days, but this kind of sick feeling had nothing to do with her pregnancy or the part of a tea biscuit she’d eaten, but everything to do with who was at the door. She wasn’t sure what to do. She could slink her way back into the sitting room and wait for her sister to see the uninvited guest away, stay in the hallway and continue trying to eavesdrop, or she could confront the visitor head-on, and let things happen as they may.

The choice was made for her, though, by an energetic four-year-old tearing down the hallway in a loud, thumping sprint.

— Gran! — he yelled, catching sight of the woman in the foyer.

— Tommy! — Andromeda squealed, kneeling down to give the boy a big hug. Cassie was relieved that Andromeda hadn’t seemed to notice her yet, but Tommy blew her cover — How is my little man?

— I’m good, gran! Auntie Cassie is here too! — the boy said, cheerfully.

— Oh, is she? — Andromeda said, trying to sound pleasant, despite a distinct squeak in her voice.

Cassie silently cursed the boy, but her frustration was fleeting — he wasn’t aware of the fact that Cassie and the members of her family that weren’t her sister had such a volatile relationship, especially because the last big fallout Cassie and her parents had took place long before Tommy was even born.

Cassie took a moment to steel herself before rounding the corner into the foyer, trying to make sure the expression on her face looked as neutral-to-pleasant as possible.

— Hello, mother — she said, quietly.

Andromeda stood back up straight, and Cassie tried not to stare as she looked her mother up and down. It had been years since they’d been in the same room together, but she mostly looked the same as she remembered. Her dark, wavy hair was cut into an elegant bob and swept away from her face, exactly like she’d styled it for the entirety of Cassie’s life. Her jaw was set, and her thin, carefully-plucked eyebrows were raised. There were streaks of gray emerging at her temples that made her look even more imperious than she usually did. She was wearing a pressed navy blue cotton shift dress and a light gray blazer, with a pair of slingback kitten heels to match.

She was wearing her wedding ring, and a matched set of simple platinum jewelry — a ring, necklace, and bracelet, all from Cartier, if Cassie had to guess, as that had long been Andromeda’s “everyday wear” jewelry of choice. On her thin, elegant wrist, Andromeda wore a vintage Cartier Tank watch that had belonged to Cassie’s grandmother that Andromeda had worn daily since she’d inherited it.

Her nails were manicured to perfection and painted the same shade they’d always been — Essie’s “Ballet Slipper”, which she started wearing years ago because it was an apparent favorite of Queen Elizabeth’s. Cassie balled her hands into fists in a subconscious effort to hide her fingernails, which were currently unpolished and chewed on, as she hadn’t gotten them done in a while. She’d been a nail-biter since childhood, and it was a terrible habit she’d never been able to break.

— Cassandra — Andromeda said, her voice terse — It’s… Ah, good to see you. I hope you’re doing well, with… Whatever it is you’re doing.

— Helena didn’t tell me you were coming today — Cassie said, wondering if she sounded as nervous as she felt. She shot her sister a pleading glance that she hoped Andromeda wouldn’t pick up on.

— I didn’t — Helena started, but Andromeda cut her off.

— Well, it was an unplanned visit. I had to come do some errands on Oxford Street, and I had to pick up something for your father on Savile Row, so, I thought I’d stop by on my way back to see my daughter and grandson. I didn’t realize it would be a… Problem. Speaking of Oxford, is that where you are, still? — she said, leveling her icy gaze at Cassie.

— Yes. Still in Oxford, still working for Mercedes in Northants.

— And still single, I presume? — Andromeda asked, narrowing her eyes. Cassie felt a wave of annoyance ripple across the back of her scalp in pinpricks, but now it was her turn to be cut off as she opened her mouth to respond.

— This is a lovely catch-up — Helena said, abruptly — But I’d prefer we do this somewhere other than my foyer. Cassie and I were just sitting down to tea. Care to join us in the sitting room, mum?”

Andromeda seemed a bit disarmed by the offer, but acquiesced.

— Right this way, then — Helena said, grasping her son’s hand and leading the two other women down the hallway in somewhat of an awkward procession.

Cassie sat back down in her chair and watched as her sister hurriedly set out another place setting for their mother. Helena, then, poured her mother’s tea, making it just the way Andromeda had always preferred it — no sugar, no milk.

— Thank you, my sunshine — Andromeda said to Helena — Now, I believe Cassandra was about to answer my question before we came and sat down.

— We don't have to talk about that — Helena said. Cassandra knew exactly what her younger sister was doing, because she had been doing it since they were teenagers. She was trying to be some sort of referee, a moderator, a buffer between Cassie and their mother. Cassie felt terrible about Helena likely feeling like she had to play this role, but she loved her sister for it.

— No, it’s okay, Helena. You asked as well, before mum arrived. And you’ll be pleased to know that there is someone.

— Really? — Andromeda said, raising her eyebrows — You found someone that can tolerate all of your little… Quirks? At your age, I’m surprised you hadn’t given up trying, I was expecting you to say you’d decided to follow in Sybil’s footsteps and dedicate your life to spinsterhood.

For a moment, it felt like all of the air had left the room. It would have been deadly quiet if not for Tommy noisily scraping his fork against his sandwich plate, trying to spear a piece of cucumber sandwich that Helena had cut up for him.

Cassie could feel white-hot anger rising in her chest. She intentionally clenched her teeth together in a herculean effort to keep her mouth shut and not say the things she desperately wished to say.

— Mother — Helena said, sternly.

— What? She’s in her mid-thirties, it’s not like she’ll be able to have children or anything by now, even if she does find someone who can put up with her.

Without knowing it, Andromeda had tripped the detonator on what was left of Cassie’s restraint. She felt just like she did in that French restaurant with… What was his name? Paul? Peter? There was no reason to maintain any sort of politeness, not if her mother was going to speak to her that way.

— Actually, mum, I was about to tell Helena the good news before you arrived, uninvited — she watched as Andromeda scowled — So, since you’re here, I suppose I’ll share with both of you at the same time. I am seeing someone, in fact, and just over a month ago, we found out that I’m pregnant.

The room filled with noise in an instant, as Cassie could hear the clatter of Andromeda’s teacup falling out of her hands and onto the tabletop in surprise, sending tea sloshing out of the cup and down the front of Andromeda’s dress.

Helena gasped and shrieked with joy as she bolted out of her chair to embrace her sister. Even as she hugged Helena back, she didn’t take her eyes off of Andromeda, who looked crestfallen as she tried to blot the tea off of the front of her dress with her napkin.

— I’m so happy for you — Helena said, pressing a kiss to her sister’s cheek.

— There’s a baby in your tummy? — her nephew asked — Is it a girl or a boy? I hope it’s a boy so I have someone else to play with other than Phoebe, Thalia, and Ariadne.

Cassie laughed at her nephew.

— No promises, Tom Tom, we don’t know yet.

Her sister released Cassie from her clumsy embrace and sat back down in her chair.

— I had no idea, I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend. Tell me everything, what’s his name? What does he do?

Cassie tried to think of how to explain it all. She was aware that “the CEO of my company and I have become close friends over the past few years, and entered into a co-parenting agreement with him being the sperm donor for an IVF conception that failed, so we conceived naturally after I had an emotional breakdown, and now I’m in love with him, but my feelings are not reciprocal, so I will spend the rest of my life breaking my own heart to be close to him and make him happy”, was a bit of a mouthful, as well as being difficult to explain.

— His name is To… um, Christian. He’s in finance, and we’ve known each other for a few years — Cassie said, trying to be as simple and vague as possible, while still answering at least one of her sister’s questions. She certainly wasn’t lying, until she said — He loves me, and I love him very much.

Andromeda appeared to be frozen in her seat, slack-jawed in horror as she watched Cassie stand up and pick her purse up from where it was hanging on the back of her chair.

— Now, I’m going to head back home before it gets too late. Thank you for the invitation and the tea, it was so good to see you again. Come to Oxford soon, we’ll get together.

She hugged her sister goodbye, and gave Tommy an affectionate pinch to the cheek.

— And you too, Tom Tom. Next time, I’ll bring you some of the new driver cards we have for this season.

— I’ll walk you out — Helena said.

When they got to the door, Cassie turned to her sister.

— I’m sorry about throwing that grenade and leaving, and thank you for trying to moderate today. I had a lovely time, aside from the obvious. I’ll call you later and tell you everything — she promised, giving her sister a polite kiss on the cheek.

— It’s nothing. I know how things can be with you and mum. Drive safe, and congratulations, once more. Keep me up to date on your progress, and don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything.

When Cassie got back to her car and sat down in the drivers’ seat, she sighed deeply before turning the ignition over, the afternoon playing back in her head. She had intended to tell her sister, but certainly not like she had. She let her mind go blank as she navigated back to the M40, concentrating on trying not to miss her exits. Once she was back on the familiar highway, she felt herself starting to cry a little.

She regretted that her relationship with her mother was such that she announced her pregnancy only to shock her, as a form of petty revenge for Andromeda’s snide comments about her age and relationship status. It was not the kind of relationship a mother and daughter should have — Andromeda should have been overjoyed to hear about the fact that another grandchild was on the way, but it was nothing Cassie wasn’t used to by now.

“At least I know my child will never have a conversation like that with me”, Cassie thought. She was sure of that. She was sure of the fact that she would love her child unconditionally, no matter what her interests were or what kind of life she chose to live when she was older.

She was sad, too, about the fact that she lied about Toto to Andromeda and Helena. She loved him, there was no doubt about that, but she knew that Toto didn’t love her back.

Growing up, her parents — her father, mostly — told her that she was difficult, that she was frustrating, that it was hard to love her. “Nobody likes a know-it-all”, was one of her father’s pet phrases with her. Maybe, without realizing it, she’d internalized that, and after her disastrous relationship with Callum, when he started telling her she was too outspoken or hard-headed, and that she was “too much”, she saw it as confirmation, and didn’t try to find anyone again for a long time after that ended. As she thought about it, she realized that, maybe if Toto didn’t love her back, he’d never see the parts of her that made her too difficult to love for anyone that had tried to before.

As her thoughts turned to Toto, she stopped crying. She called him, having her car’s stereo system dial his number without a second thought, almost as if it was a reflex. She thought about hanging up as she listened to the outgoing call ringing to his number, but he picked up before she could manage.

— Hi — he said. His voice sounded warm and fond — Are you still in London?

— No, just on my way back — Cassie said, trying to not smile so much that Toto could hear it in her voice — Just on the M40 now, about forty minutes out.

— How was it? Did you tell your sister the news?

— Well, my mother showed up…

— Oh no. So, you…

— So, yes, I told her the news. Both of them, at the same time.

Toto chuckled, which made Cassie smile. He had such a nice laugh.

— I’m sure that went well.

Cassie laughed.

— It went about as well as you'd expect.

— Well, I’m just making myself some dinner, if you haven’t eaten yet, I’d be happy to make some for you, if you want to come over and tell me all about it?

A warmth spread through Cassie’s chest, pushing out all of the tightness and sadness she was feeling just moments ago. She may have a lifetime ahead of breaking her own heart to make Toto happy, but these moments — where she could feel happy, too — were well worth the pain.

— I’d love to. I’ll be there soon.

#toto wolff #f1 x oc #formula 1 x oc #toto wolff x oc #formula one x oc #formula 1 fic #formula 1 fanfic #formula one fic #f1 fic #f1 fanfic #collab #wlffog

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arctic-shard · 11 months

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Outer Child, chapter 1

( Trying something different, gang. After drawing that silly picture of 035 and 049 as toddlers, the idea wouldn’t let go. ‘[Character] gets turned into a kid’ is generally a fluff trope, but I do enjoy taking fluff tropes and playing them serious. Also it’s a low-stakes exercise to get back into writing regularly again. This is probably just going to be short chapters since I plan on just banging it out without thinking too hard. )

Outer Child, chapter 1

Warnings: none

Words: 750~

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"The Serpent's Hand had discovered an anomalous object," said Dr Colin Combs, the researcher currently studying SCP-049 and related phenomena. "Which our people took from them. Then the Serpents Hand sent their own strike force to get it back."

Dr Victoria West, these days contained as SCP-049-3, knew there had been an attack three nights before. The alarms had gone off but the trouble hadn't reached Light Containment. This was the first time she was getting any details, even when she asked.

She stood beside Combs, in the observation room of a small testing chamber, hidden from the entities inside by a one-way mirror. The chamber was divided in half by a transparent barrier, 049 on one side and 035 on the other. They were ignoring each other - 049 seated on the floor, glancing about nervously while 035 danced around, singing to itself.

Victoria said nothing. Combs cleared his throat and continued. "In the confusion, 035 breached containment. It then went to breach 049. We don't know if they planned to find you next or just attack the Serpent's Hand agents."

It was probably the only reason the Foundation tolerated Victoria's relationship with 049 and 035 at all - it kept 035 somewhat under control. Regular visits with 049 and Victoria kept 035 and less inclined to mayhem, and when it did breach, it wouldn't cause lasting harm to Foundation personnel. Victoria had no control over 035, it just knew that it had to compromise if it wanted her to love it. She had to make her own compromises as well.

She didn't look away from the testing chamber. "And then?"

"035 and 049 ended up in the middle of a skirmish between our agents and the Serpent's Hand," Combs continued. "The object the Serpent's Hand were trying to steal back from us activated, catching three of our agents, four of theirs, 035, and 049 in its effect. The affected humans were taken to another Site to try to help them."

Now Victoria looked over at Combs. "Why wasn't I told earlier?"

"Because you're not a Foundation researcher anymore," Combs reminded her flatly. Becoming anomalous wasn't an automatic firing, but an intimate relationship with an SCP entity was. Victoria hadn't intended for things to go so far with 049 when she started talking to him afterhours, but they had, and later 035 invited itself along because it and 049 were, as 049 put it once, bound and together. She'd ended up marrying them both, sort of, because she'd come to realise she needed them both, and they'd needed her.

Except now, both of Victoria's spouses had been anomalously transformed into toddlers.

"We ran some tests," said Combs as Victoria returned her attention to the two small entities. "Physically, 049 still has a keratin mask and his robes are part of his body and all his other unusual traits are there, and 035 is an exoskeletal other-dimensional alien filled with black goo. However, their effects are weakened - 049's touch no longer kills, it just causes unconsciousness. He might still sense the Pestilence - he would start crying around some people for no discernable reason. 035's acid can't burn, it's about as dangerous as lemon juice now. They seem to think like the three-year-olds they appear to be. We haven't been able to get much information out of them because, well, they're toddlers and they don't trust us."

"The only reason I was told of this was because the Foundation wants me to try to interview them," said Victoria. "You hope they'll remember me enough to trust me."

"Yes. 049 seemed to accept me as a safe adult more than he did the others, but we don't have a connection."

"I don't know how to deal with children, Combs." Victoria had the maternal instincts of a witch in a gingerbread house.

"But you do know how to deal with 049 and 035."

This time she rounded on the man fully. "I am - was? - married to them, Combs! And now they're goddamn toddlers! That's weird even by Foundation standards!"

Combs took a step back - he'd never developed the unflappable poker face most researchers had. "Look at it this way - do you trust anyone else to look after them properly?"

That pulled Victoria up short. She'd been a Foundation researcher for twenty years before being fired. She knew how the Foundation operated and she wasn't going to leave her anomalies to them while they were helpless.

#scp-035 #scp-049 #scp oc #dr victoria west #it's a transformation rather than a regression #science and details later #picking on the serpent's hand instead of the chaos insurgency today #scpfic: outer child

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mask131 · 9 months

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Fragments of fright (1)

To begin with this series, I'll go easy. More precisely I will look into my childhood book and compile everything I can find about archetypal Halloween/European monsters. Why? Well because before delving into the more complex or informed ideas of what vampires, werewolves, witches are, we need to remember how these monsters were simplified and synthetize by popular culture, and how we as kid, receive them through monster encyclopedia for kids or youth books about supernatural beings.

So here is the compilation of what several of my "books about monsters" contained:

The werewolf

The werewolf looks like a perfectly ordinary human being by daylight. At most, you can recognize a werewolf by little physical signs: a werewolf in human form will have very hairy hands, feet and back ; they will have a hoarse voice, reddish nails, ears placed nearer to the back of their head than regular people, or their eyebrows will join themselves above their nose. They are often solitary beings, living at the edge of society.

During nights of full moon, the person will start howling. Their teeth will grow, a muzzle will appear, claws will burst out of their fingers, their body will be covered in fur... And soon they will become a powerful, agile, ferocious and cunning animal. A werewolf.

Werewolves can look like a great wolf, or a cross between a human and a wolf (wolf's head and tail, human hands and feet but hairy and clawed). They can walk on all fours like a beast, or on two legs like a human. Some claim that werewolves only keep one thing of their humanity during full moon nights: their voice. A werewolf only has one desire: to attack, to bite, to rip apart. They hunt all night long in packs throughout the forests, slaughtering and devouring all those they come across. Werewolves attack and devour as much animals as humans, and while they often attack adults, they are not above ripping children to pieces.

When morning comes, and the sun rises up, the werewolf will turn back into a human being. The person will find themselves naked in the wilderness, with no memory of the crimes they committed during the night, weakened by their night's adventure, and with no appetite whatsoever.

There are many ways to become a werewolf. Some peope were cursed by a witch ; others were "infected" by being bitten by another werewolf ; a third group became a werewolf by making a deal with the devil. You can become a werewolf by eating the flesh of a wolf ; by wearing a piece of clothing made of wolf skin ; or by drinking water out of the puddles formed by the wolf's paw-prints.

Silver is the only way to truly fight a werewolf, as this metal burns their flesh. Shooting at a werewolf with silver bullets will either break the curse and return them to their human state, or (if shooting straight at the heart) kill them. Any blade made of silver will also harm or kill a werewolf. A silver cage will very easily trap a werewolf. It is said that one way to break the werewolf's curse is to make sure they do not eat human flesh for nine years in a row.

The vampire

Vampires used to be regular human beings, but after their death they accessed a form of "half-life". Neither dead nor alive, they now spend their days in their coffins or their graves, and get out at night to feed on the blood of living beings, to restore their strength, rejuvenate their body, and gain supernatural powers.

You can recognize a vampire by a lot of physical traits. Vampires, due to lacking blood in their body and only being active at night, are very pale, with a very white skin. They have sharp teeth, especially their canine, which they plunge into their victim's neck to drink their blood. Vampire are said to usually wear black clothes - and the popular image of a vampire, inspired by Dracula, is the one of an aristocratic figure in evening-wear, leaving his half-ruined castle dressed in a tailored outfit and black-and-red cape. Other physical traits of vampires can include long and sharp nails, hair inside the hands, a very bad breath (due to their diet of blood), or the presence of only one nostril.

Vampires have the ability to hypnotize their victim, so that in the following morning they do not recall the vampire's attack. Day after day the victim wastes away as the vampire feeds on them: their skin grows paler and whiter, and they hide from the sun. When they finally die, emptied of all their blood, they will turn into vampires themselves.

Vampires have many supernatural ways to escape those that try to attack or hunt them. For example they can turn into animals, usually transforming into a bat or a wolf. They can also turn themselves into mist, which allows them to enter their victim's house by the tiniest openings. Some vampires can move abnormaly fast, almost teleporting themselves from one place to another ; while others are so strong they easily lift the tombstone blocking their grave, or carry it under their arm while walking outside the cemetery. Vampires are, finally, said to be able to communicate with animals.

There are many ways to fight a vampire. Vampires only leave their lair at night, because they either hate the sunlight, or the sun can actually destroy them. Vampires do not like mirrors because they allow humans to identify them: vampires lack reflections. (Some joke that this is why vampires have bad hair or are badly dressed). Vampires can be fought by holy items or symbols belonging to the Christian religion: holy water burns them, and a crucifix will repel them. The icons of saints also work. Vampires refuse to enter or stay in a room with garlic in it - they hate its smell. In a similar way, vampires cannot stand certain flowers: regular roses, briar roses and hawthorn flowers are their banes. But to kill a vampire, there are only three ways.

Fire. Burning a vampire is sure to kill it: preferably burn the vampire while he is in his coffin, sleeping during the day.

Beheading: A decapitated vampire is a dead vampire (but beware, the head can still bite a few seconds after it was detached from the body)

A wooden stake: A wooden stake through a vampire's heart is sure to kill it.

The ghost

A ghost is the spirit of a dead person that, after their death, did not left earth. They stayed among living human beings. A ghost usually haunts either the place where they lived, or the place where they died. If they were a criminal, they might have been cursed to haunt the place of their crime - the ghosts of criminals are often seen wearing chains. The ghosts of kings, queens, princes and princesses often haunt their castles.

Ghosts usually appear with the same shape they had when they were alive, but extremely pale, or sometimes translucid/transparent. The typical image of the "bedsheet" ghost is also technically true, as it is a deformation of a type of ghost that appears wrapped in the burial shroud they were buried into. Ghosts can also bear the marks of their death upon them: the ghost of a hanged man will have his neck crooked with a noose around it, whereas the ghost of a beheaded person will carry their head under their arm.

Some ghosts are benevolent, consider themselves part of the family of their descendants, and can "guard" the places they used to live in. But other ghosts are malevolent - or rather, they do not like being disturbed , and cannot stand to share their house or "domain" with living beings. These ghosts typically do a lot of things to make the house they haunt as creepy and unhabitable as possible. Typical signs of a haunting include: strange apparitions that pass through walls ; cold air flowing below a bedroom's door ; staircases and walls creaking ; floors squeaking ; doors slamming in the middle of the night ; strange howls and wails with no clear origins ; objects moving by themselves ; disturbances in lights and with telephones...

While some believe there is nothing you can do to fight a ghost except leave the place they haunt ; others believe you can make a ghost disappear by asking it "In Heaven's name/in God's name, what do you want?".

Outside of "fixed" ghosts in haunted houses and old castles, there are also "travelling" ghosts: many are the tales about ghost-ships filled with spectral sailors or pirates, floating across the sea ; or ghost-carriages and ghost-coaches, pulled by spectral horses, roaming through the streets.

The bogeyman (or rather the croque-mitaine)

Unfortunately, on all my children-aimed books, only one speaks of the "croque-mitaine", the French version of the "bogeyman". And it is a version that softens the figure a LOT but it will be a start until we get into more adult texts.

The croque-mitaine is a type of giant (or a very large man) whose job is to teach a lesson to naughty children. Frightening looking, dressed all in black, he can be called or summoned by parents who are exhausted by a capricious, disobedient, unruly, bratty child. The croque-mitaine will arrive and put the child in a big bag : no need to hide, the bogeyman knows every hiding place, and always can find the child he is supposed to take away. Once the child in his the croque-mitaine's bag, he takes them to his dark and creepy house - somehow always near the town or city the child lives in. Taking the child out of the bag, the croque-mitaine will lock them inside his basement, filled with rats, shadows, hairy spiders, and other nasty thing. Once the children is scared enough that he begs for forgiveness and promises to be good, the croque-mitaine gives the kid back to their parents. Until next time...

The witch

Witches are present everywhere in fairytales and folktales. They are wicked women, typically appearing as old and ugly women. A witch's traditional appearance is the one of a hag with a hunched back, a hook nose and crooked chin, long pointy nails, wild hair, warts, a tattered dress, and a pointy hat. However one should beware: witches can change their appearance. They can appear young and beautiful, or turn themselves into animals (such as black cats).

Witches always have with them a broom - this is their magical broomstick, that allows them to fly through the air. While in popular culture it is the broomstck itself that is magic and allows its owner to fly, in folkloric tales, a witch actually needs a special ointment to fly. Before climbing onto the broom, the witch will need to cover her entire body this product, a mixture of soot, toad's saliva, bat's blood and various plants.

Witches have various and many magical powers, that they use for evil intents. They will cause storm, hail and rains to destroy the crops. They cast curses into people - turning beauty into ugliness, or human beings into animals. Living in small cabins hidden in the depths of the woods, they brew evil potions or violent poisons in a large cauldron, before selling them to unscrupulous people. Witches keep their recipes and magical incantations within grimoires, books filled with mysterious inscriptions that stay obscure to those that do not practice witchcraft. Witches usually have as companions "negative" animals, such as black cats, crows, toads, owls or rats.

It is said that there are however good witches - usually less ugly than their wicked counterpart, and who use their powers to do good. Whereas the wicked witch curse people, the good witch protects houses against evil spells ; where the wicked witch turns people into animals, the good witch heals them with strangely-flavored brews ; where the wicked witch sells poisons, the good witch sells love potions ; where the wicked witch helps robbers , thieves and pirates find treasures to steal, the good witch helps parents find their children lost in the woods. Good witches are said to either be kin with fairies, or to be wicked witches that, overtaken with regrets and remorse, decided to do good.

However, despite the existence of good witches, the wicked ones are far more famous: the two most famous of them belong to the fairytales of the brothers Grimm. They are the hag of "Hänsel and Gretel", who lures children with a gingerbread house before cooking and eating them ; and the witch-queen of "Snow-White", who tries to murder her stepdaughter with a poisoned apple because she is jealous of her beauty.

In the Middle-Ages, it was believed that witches gathered several times a year, during a great nocturnal ceremony presided by the devil hmself: it was the witches' sabbath. These unholy feasts were held in remote and discreet locations, such as cemeteries, and there witches danced and feasted and exchanged recipes, congratulating each other on their curses and creating new spells together.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, there were great witch-hunts organized throughout Europe, where numerous women were accused of being witches and persecuted as such. Some of them were actually recognized as witches by people, but as good witches, as they usually were folk-healers: but they were accused of having obtained their supernatural powers by the Devil, and thus of being the Devil's servants. As the hunts grew, people started to accuse and persecute women for almost any kind of reason possible: everything could make you a "witch" in people's eyes. If you had a strange behavior, you were a witch. If you collected unusual plants, you were a witch. If you were too ugly, you were a witch. If you were too pretty, you were a witch. Many of the accused ended up burned at the stake. A particularly horrible type of trial, to prove if a woman was a witch, required the woman to have her hands and feet tied together, before she was thrown in a river. Given people believed witches were lighter than water, if the woman floated, she was a witch for sure. If she drowned... she was innocent, but it was too late for her.

#fragments of fright #witches #witch #werewolves #werewolf #european folklore #vampires #vampire #ghosts #ghost #european horror

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