#as you can tell I like Forbidden West's mechanics more

[thessalian]

Thess vs Horizon: Forbidden West Prologue

So a few notes from various bits of prologue. I'm not in the eponymous Forbidden West yet, mostly because one of the things I'm finding is that the low-level anxiety of jumping puzzle hits a little different with the fibro. I get tense, and lemme tell you, I feel it these days. So this is going to be a long, long game. But here are the notes from the Horizon: Forbidden West prologue ... more or less spoiler-free.

Ah, stealth kills, I have missed you. And I've very, very nearly hit the first achievement for those already. Not to mention the "knocking components off" achievement. Not there yet, but ... getting there.

In checking whether I'd actually reached any achivements yet, I note that various friends have got a lot farther than me in this game. Fucking fibro.

See ... this whole deal where it guides you on what actions you need to take to climb or grapple or whatever could be seen as annoying? But I honest-to-gods need a reminder if I'm taking it this slow. So it is annoying but it's also really helpful, so thanks for that.

Some of the new designs on these beasties are lit. Still hate being forced into armed confrontation with these things. Just let me hide and shoot them from the next post code over, damnit!

What's this thing? Can I scavenge it? ...Oh. I was supposed to kill Big Beastie with this. Sorry; I prefer precision. kthxbai.

...Well, if that isn't commentary on tech 'geniuses' and their bullshit, and on corporate greed. Also, it's actually a real shame that so many of the effective antagonists of both games have been dead for so very, very long, because they are all so very, very punchable and apparently they haven't worked out hard light hologram technology so I can't literally punch that smirking shithead in the face.

Aloy, you were raised agnostic and found proof of atheism. Varl has not. Chill the fuck out. You're equipped to see things as they are; your people view everything through a religious filter. So long as they're not exiling people or some shit, why do you care if they worship an AI construct?

Aaaaaaaaaaand we're back to Meridian. Cool. Wait, what the fuck now?

So ... why didn't we double-check the Spire before we went heading off on wild goose chases?

SYLENS YOU DICKWAFFLE. (Sorry, Lance Reddick; you gave really, really good dickwaffle.)

Not sure what to make of this "workbench" mechanic. It'll probably be better when I can fast travel to places.

Please, please tell me I can dump some of the vendor trash while I'm in what passes for civilisation in Horizon-world. Please? I have been so good.

Somebody want to please explain to me why those neckbeard arseholes think Aloy's ugly? Okay, sometimes they do not get her best angle in cutscenes, but mostly she's, like ... a realistically beautiful woman. Ah, right - it's the realistically part they object to. They want doe-eyed skinny waifu. Well, they can get stuffed, because I'm already struggling with how she manages to get the less dreadlocked bits of her hair moving like a shampoo commercial when she has no shampoo. Plus, those neckbeards are not exactly looking at the cover of GQ themselves, y'know?

I'm kind of interested in how they've set up this prologue. Both HZD and HFW start us with where Aloy has been and what she's done, but I guess you can't really turn "killed an invasion of war machines" into an easy prologue the way you can "finding a focus and training for Big Event". Plus, the whole thing makes me wonder exactly how many friendly faces from home we're going to have as companions. I mean, I know two - hell, even if I hadn't seen both in trailers, one I've already had as a companion, and when you get that many Oseram scattered around the place, you know who's going to show up in Horizon-world eventually.

No, seriously, let me offload vendor trash I HAVE BEEN SO GOOD.

So I stopped in and around Meridian before having to tell everybody, "Hey, I'm going to the place named in the title of this game because that guy you told me to look for is a dickwaffle but he could conceivably be a helpful dickwaffle if I help him with the problem he willingly dove into head-first by ... well, being a dickwaffle". I am at least supposed to be finding a workbench and hopefully someone I can throw vendor trash at, but I more or less stopped there because I do have some shit to do today. Not much shit right away - I mean, I do have D&D later this evening and we're still running a little earlier than usual because of Daylight Savings being weird this year, but that's still way later - but some shit. Specifically I need to go out for ground cardamom. Look, I need it to make apple pie spice, and all of my cardamom is in pods. Kind of wish that the recipes for apple pie spice I have looked up specified what colour cardamom needs grinding. I guess I'll just hope I get it right. I need this because I'm baking apple bread. I got buttermilk and everything! Also I want to make more apple turnovers and the homemade filling with only cinnamon ... well, it needs something. Maybe apple pie spice instead of just cinnamon is that something. Anyway, also means I need apples. So that means a shopping trip. So I guess I'd best prep for that.

And then home and more video games. Not sure if I'm going to do my shopping / crafting in HFW or if I'm going to go back to the Shadow-Cursed Lands in BG3 so that I can earn a whole lot of easy approval with Astarion and Lae'zel by making big lumpy bag of poison explode. I'll think about it as I do errands, I guess.

#Thess plays video games #Thess liveblogs Horizon Forbidden West #Thess cooks

[dnallohleoj]

I played Horizon Zero Dawn last week and this week I started Forbidden West, and... Zero Dawn was better in every way. Some ways I can't even begin to explain why, but others I know exactly.

There were a couple notable improvements in Forbidden West, mostly in the melee combat system. The introduction of combo attacks and bonus damage accumulating from combo finishers makes close-quarters combat actually fun. It also gives you WAY better transition moves to switch back to ranged as soon as it becomes necessary. It makes combat in and of itself more enjoyable.

And if that were ALL that had been done to combat, I'd probably be willing to write off all the other issues I have, but unfortunately it's downhill from there. Because while open combat is fun, stealth is sometimes necessary and it is worse in just about every way this game.

In Horizon Zero Dawn, you had an eye icon that told you if you were visible and how much noise you were making. Individual enemies then had a yellow circle that would appear above their head if they were on alert, which would fill to red if they spotted you. In Forbidden West, they replaced the eye thing with the enemy alert icon, thereby making it absolutely useless. It no longer tracks how much noise you're making or whether or not you're even visible to your enemies, it just displays reduntant information, showing up yellow if even one enemy is on alert, and red if even just one enemy has seen you. I'd be willing to bet if I didn't play Zero Dawn that'd happen to me more often and I wouldn't even be able to tell you WHY I was spotted, I'd think I was seen from cover, it wouldn't occur to me that someone might hear me. In fact, when you're in the heat of battle, it can even DISTRACT you from the icons above enemies' heads, making it that much harder to quickly identify who's actually seen you.

On top of changes to melee combat and stealth, they also changed how all your ranged weapons work. Tripcasters are now basically useless unless you're willing to leave yourself completely exposed. Ropecasters don't instantly fire anymore, and that took some getting used to (although to be fair, heavy ropecasters in Zero Dawn were OP and this is an appropriate nerf). But even the weapons that are functionally identical, like your bows, now face mechanical alerations from the crafting system, which really only seems to serve as a way to waste resources. You can get a great Hunter's Bow for example and max out its upgrade track but oh shit what's this? this merchant has one just like it but it's better at lv 1 than yours is at lv 4, so you buy it but then oh, shit! this needs the exact same ultra rare resource to upgrade as your last bow except now you don't have any and don't even know if you can trust that you won't be presented with another better bow and come to regret upgrading this one. It's an incredibly frustrating thing to experience when some of the resources don't seem to respawn and others require you to fight machines that could easily two-shot you even at higher levels. Oh, and on top of that, you now have to find a workbench to craft, it can't be done from the menu. Actively removed a QOL feature for no good reason (realism isn't a good reason, we're playing a primitive civilization thousands of years in the future who hunt killer robot dinosaurs with bows and spears.)

Onto things I can't explain, this game's map just... doesn't feel as fun to explore. To me the hallmark of good open world is when they add things like fast travel or mounts to speed up the process, which you only use to avoid covering areas you've already thoroughly explored or to speed past challenges you're not ready for yet on the way to the ones you are ready for. If you're using fast travel/mounts to avoid having to explore as much ground, you've fucked up, the vibes are off on your game. I didn't clear every challenge in Zero Dawn, that'd take forever and I wouldn't have started Forbidden West already, but I found every tallneck and explored every area of the map at least once. In Forbidden West, I don't even WANT to. Maybe it's fatigue from jumping in immediately after beating the first one, but seeing every inch of this map isn't appealing. I don't even have finding the Super Armor to look forward to, that's just an unlockable ability in the skill point menu now, so I'm probably gonna clear story and still have several grayed out areas on my map and I just... won't care.

The story itself is also overall less satisfying this time. It was part of the experience with Zero Dawn, you'd go around collecting boyfriends and a few girlfriends while learning about yourself and the past. But the thing that made that FUN was the discovery. WHAT Aloy finds was usually predictable, they'd project it in advance, but when they actually told you what they were projecting up to that point, it was always so much bigger than I'd imagined. In comparison, Forbidden West's writing just has a more... generic vibe to it. It's just the plot of an open world RPG with no fanfare, no clever projections about what's coming next, no big reveals to even make those projections have a payoff. It's still engaging but it's just not as meaningful. Plus I'm almost through finding the subordinate functions and so far Aloy's only acquired one new boyfriend. The others are just repeats.

It's still a good game but in so many ways it just feels like a step backwards. We got better melee combat at the cost of simple and clean stealth/ranged combat. The crafting system sucks now, stealth sucks now, tripwires suck now. It's all kinda disappointing.

#Horizon Zero Dawn #horizon forbidden west

[nitewrighter]

Aloy for the niche asks?

a song that reminds me of them: Honestly her theme music is so longing and distinctive it feels a little corny to try and frame her with a more contemporary song. But... "Deep Green" by Marika Hackman

what they smell like: Oohh she has got a rind on her, I can tell you that much. Dirt and sweat and blood and metal and greenery and smoke that's only barely kept in check by her plunging through bodies of water. She smells saltier in Forbidden West!

an otp: Oh gosh so many eligible Bachelors and Bachelorettes. I haven't played "Forbidden West" yet but in descending order I like Petra, Varl, Talanah, and Nil.

a notp: It's not a notp but I like Erend just staying permanently unrequited. Like I'm sorry, dude, but that mustache is AWFUL.

favorite platonic/familial relationships: Well, Rost was really her only family and I do like the very deep loneliness inherent in their relationship. But also the ending where you find Elisabet's body really made me feel things.

a headcanon that is popular in the fandom but that i disagree with: I'm not really familiar enough with the fandom's headcanons to say what I disagree with, but I have a personal headcanon that she developed an almost masochistic love for spicy foods from her time in the Sundom because Nora food (and Rost's and her own cooking) is pretty bland by comparison.

the position they sleep in: Curled up on a bedroll under the stars, spear close, back to the fire, staring out into the night, wheels of her mind spinning, but wary to her surroundings.

a crossover au i’d love to see them in: Not really a crossover but I do love HZD AU's in general. It's fun figuring out what tribes people would be in. For Aloy herself I know the wanderer/seeker thing is a big part of her character, but I'd be very interested in a kind of farming/homestead mechanic for the game. It would be cool if she could be the leader of a slowly growing settlement of her own and she can go on little missions to improve the living conditions there for her people. (If Forbidden West has any mechanic like this PLEASE let me know I will go out and buy it right now).

my favorite outfit they’ve ever worn: In HZD, it's Banuk Sickness Eater, in Forbidden West, it's Utaru Gravesinger.

#horizon zero dawn #hzd #forbidden west

[oodlyenough]

misc thoughts on horizon forbidden west a trillion years later

huge mixed bag of a game for me. some parts were very interesting, and sometimes i was having a ton of fun, and then other times it felt like an absolute chore to bother continuing. i played the first, i don't know, 3rd of the game on normal mode and was enjoying the level of challenge and then eventually hit a point where i was impatient, switched over to story to push through, and was never able to leave story because i'd start dying immediately

part of this is probably because the of the update gear mechanic which. god. i can't be assed. it is too much work honestly lmao, convoluted, etc. overall it felt like the game added a lot of stuff for the sake of Adding Stuff... and in the process it also nerfed a bunch of my fave weapons from HZD. tripwires and traps are useless now. why would i want something that is way more likely to hurt *me* in battle. why did aloy forget how to whistle. i could barely keep track of valor surge let alone remember stamina and whatever else lol

the story too kept having ups and downs.

-varl/zo was such nonsense LMAO i'm sorry wtf... if varl was going to die why not let him and aloy have their little UST thing up until that point? why introduce a brand new character and be like "after trailing aloy for six months he met zo for two minutes and is in love. Also zo is pregnant :)" come on

-erend don't touch me. get off me. ugh. ew

-the far zenith stuff was so strange... i was interested in the lore but every time one of them turned up it just seemed like a different game was happening, lol. like i know the Point of their design was to look so different from everyone else but it just felt odd to me. when they showed up the first time I was like ????? lmao. In general the Zeniths felt ... like... we spent all this time learning to take out their shields and then we fought 1 of them.

-at first i also thought it was stupid they were literally the same people, immortalized. but it DID give me the opportunity to have tilda, who was easily a high point in the game, so whatever i guess

-tilda! you're crazy. i love you. lmfao. I feel like they underutilized her. I can roll w the obsessive love stuff but wish we'd gotten a bit more... I also felt like the way they set up her betrayal was everyone telling me "She's gonna betray us", to the point that I was expecting her to not do so because that would be more surprising, lmao. Sylens got the actual interesting character turn in that regard

-it felt hard to take any satisfaction in the end of the game's "successes" when the last 20 minutes suddenly introduced Threequel Villain and spent time hyping them up as the next existential threat. if I was supposed to enjoy my victory I didn't really bc I was like "okay and now the next thing..." they wanted some sense of triumph and Community and I didn't really feel that. although I guess I did feel we veered back into climate allegory so... fine... I suppose

-the ending stuff being about Community but not involving any NPCs from HZD except erend was off to me. :/ miss u varl. why isn't talanah here. or petra. or... etc

#horizon forbidden west #hfw spoilers

[jones-friend]

I’ve just finished playing Horizon Forbidden West! This time I did not finish this game. I did not get very far in this game. After the tutorial and after about two side quests I felt myself getting more frustrated than I wanted to be, I’d rented the game from the library and wanted to beat it in about a week. I’m going to say some things that aren’t super positive, so I wanted to start with if you enjoyed the game that’s great! Just bc I didn’t like a game doesn’t mean you can’t. Maybe there’s something outside this opening that really hooks you. Maybe your entire experience was different than mine. Its ok if you feel differently from what I’m about to say. There were also a few changes I liked. I like that bonfires are fast travel points now. Swiping the pad for objectives keeps the HUD clear.

My experience with Horizon Forbidden West was full of the frustrations of modern gaming. NPC’s chastised me for searching rooms or seeking alternate paths in an open world game eager to rush me along the current scripted event, crafting was a nightmare, and the game turned itself inside out when I opened the skill tree screen. To me it was a very telling sign of intent when the quest tab was the fourth one in on the menu.

Early on the game makes you go to a workbench to strap two quest items together. It does this at least twice, the game wants you to get familiar with upgrading at benches. The upgrade system that was just a weapon menu is now locked on specific points in the world: workbenches are the only places you can upgrade your gear. To a degree I like this more, gives me a feeling of gathering resources to come home after a long hunt. My problem is the grindy-ness of the upgrades has been cranked up in this sequel, requiring players to repeatedly hunt small animals that don’t drop useful loot until they drop purple or blue loot. There’s more of that here, with each upgrade node requiring two upgrades and spreading more parts to shoot off among new machines. Its a nightmare to keep track of, and it doesn’t feel good to get it right. The payoff for managing the upgrade system is getting more upgrades. It was the start of the game turning inside out, I’m not upgrading weapons for the field I’m playing the field for upgrades in the workbench menu minigame.

That’s to say nothing of the stash mechanic. You no longer carry everything all at once, after a certain number on each item they’re stored in your stash. Your stash is a separate storage accessed in the overworld. This is frustratingly constrictive, where in the previous game I’d enjoyed keeping materials on hand for hungrier gear I used in HFW I ran out of freezing ammo in the first fight because the rest was in my stash. I did not enjoy that.

Horizon Zero Dawn also had skill trees. Sure. Not every game will make a groundbreaking new level progression system, that’s an unfair expectation. Horizon Forbidden West’s skill trees are a dizzying level of tedium that are a front. It wants to give you the feeling of making a build but it is just an illusion of progression. Enemies scale with perks acquired, it feels like I’m wasting my time fiddling something inside on a hot summer day when I could be outside in the pool.

Then you open the skill tree and its a nightmare. There’s so many branching paths, node requirements, and individual skills to acquire for each one of the skill trees. This is where the game turns itself inside out. The game hands out upgrade parts and skill points at a very brisk pace, to the point where its less intrusive to cash multiple at once. With all the focus on these microprogressions like some mobile game you’re no longer playing the game for the core gameplay loop of fight robots, you’re playing the fight robots game to play the menu stat preparation game of unlocking new nodes and upgrading weapon abilities.

What made my head hurt the most was the ability to respec from the skill tree menu with a button press. For a game that will require me to be at specific Workbenches for upgrades, enforce an inventory/stash mechanic that forces me to points of the map to access my supplies, and encourages me to find bonfires to fast travel: you can pause the game and respec your abilities mid swing of your spear and take them all out of stealth and dump them into warrior. From my understanding there is no respec limit, cost, etc.

I feel they expected the skill tree system to be so obtuse they wanted players to take back misallocated points. Really, my mind mapped out optimal builds for each scenario: dumping all points into stealth until the battle broke out and respecing into melee. Allocate into machine taking and shift when I lose my machine. Typing this at 12:25am, I cannot believe you can respec on the field when none of the other systems allow for that.

Which. There’s one last bit I realized and its when I decided I wasn’t having any more fun. Sneaking through the red grasses I ambushed a baby starter area elk-like creature. My sneak attack only dealt half of its health. So I swung my spear, chipping 1/16th of its health as the initial crit alerted four other machines to my presence and I got ganked.

HFW heavily nerfs Aloy from move speed to stealth to damage dealt. You get suitable damage from progressing in the skill trees, that’s what gives you baselike workable ability. Its a system that punishes flexibility and improvisation paired with a stash system that forces improvisation and flexibility.

I hear full games of HFW are around 32hrs, and if you do all the side quests its 88hrs. HFW spends all its time in the wrong places, it inverses its gameplay loops, and it swears your tedium in hunting 10/10 squirrels for the day will pay off. Its chalk full of systems designed to grind your time away for the sake of Content (TM) and I don’t think its very good. There are much better games you could be giving TLC to, and I’m stunned with the positive reception its received. Maybe I’m just missing something. But when I think abt respec’ing mid swing to optimize from stealth to melee it makes the challenge of the game fall away and all that’s left is how willing am I to file for taxes on my skill trees.

#Horizon forbidden west

[ladyrawthorm]

I’m back!

Hi guys! How’s it going? I owe you a bit of an explanation. I’ve been AWOL for a couple of weeks for a few reasons, some I will explain and some I can’t explain.

As you all know, I’ve been in a funk for a while now. I’ve been dealing with it somewhat successfully. Trying to figure out what it is and how to overcome it. I think I have it figured out, it’s not something I can talk about sadly but, I can talk about how I am dealing with it. Once I figured out what was going on, everything sort of fell like dominoes. The solution at the time was really difficult and not something that can happen quickly. So because I wasn’t really making any progress with my solution I started to feel bad about everything and mean literally everything.

Some of you may know, some of you may not, I usually get up at 5am to go to the gym just for a bit of exercise and to get out of the house (I’m told it’s a good thing to touch grass but I’m not 100% convinced XD). When I couldn’t find a solution to the funk I started feeling really about everything I was doing. What is the point in going to the gym? I’m tired all the time, I have to go to bed at 2030, I never seem to loose any weight. I hate the way I look in the mirror. Am I a good wife to Rawthorm? Is he happy? And it all goes downhill from there. I just didn’t feel like streaming and I was wallowing. I am coming out the other side though. Surprisingly Horizon Forbidden West did help a little. Horizon Zero Dawn is one of my all time favourite games and I had so much fun sharing that playthrough with you that I couldn’t wait to play Horizon Forbidden West and playing it 2 days in a row did just enough to start me off in the right direction. I’ll get there, It’s hard to explain when I can only tell you half a story.

Maybe one day I will be able to tell all but for now, just know, that I am getting better and I don’t think there are going to be any more missing streams without me at least telling you guys beforehand. Speaking of streams, I’ve got some good updates coming.

Lets start with my computer. As you guys know, I’ve slowly been updating my computer for a little while now. All I have left is to update my graphics card and graphics card cooling solution. So here are my new specs and a photo update!

Case :NZXT H9 flow

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

Mobo: NZXT N7 Z790

Ram: Corsair Domintor DDR5 64GB (4x16GB)

Hard Drives:-

-Samsung MZ1L23T8HBLA 3.5TB

-Samsung SSD 950 EVO 500GB

-Samsung SSD 950 EVO 250GB

Monitors:-

-BENQ G2420HDBL x2

-LG UltraGear 27GN88A

CPU Cooler: Kraken elite 360 RGB

Mouse: Logitech G502 X (White)

Keyboard: Logitech G213 Prodigy

Webcams:-

-Elgato Facecam Pro

-Microsoft LifeCam

Headphones/Mic: Astro A40 with mix amp

Elgato Stream Deck Mk2. (White)

Elgato Stream Deck + (White & Pink)

I’m excited. Hopefully it wont take long to save up. Once I have a new GPU then I will be top spec for a few months. On another note, my H510i PC case is now for sale so that gets me a little money towards a GPU 😊

We had a Thursday stream last week with the release of Horizon Forbidden West and so far it has not disappointed. I’m still getting to grips with a few of the new mechanics but it’s going well. As you can see from my Sunday selfie I was so excited for the game I put on battle paint just for the occasion. As much as I would love to it’s not going to happen for every stream but I felt the occasion warranted a little something extra.

Todays stream of Rainbow Six Siege was awesome. Thanks to everyone who dropped by and played some games with me. It was fantastic. I was carried in every single game and I did not deserve any of the wins I got.

My Horizon Zero Dawn playthrough is still going up on YouTube every Wednesday and I have started streaming on YouTube as well! So every Friday I will be live on YouTube playing Horizon Forbidden West so I wont have to edit any the videos for them to go up there! Win Win :D

I am off from my day job all week next week, so if you guys want to play any games or you see my playing anything on discord, come and hang out with me, lets play some games!

Have a wonderful week next week, Make good choices and I will see you next week!

Lady Rawthorm

xxx

#Twitch #Twitchstreamer #gaming #videogames #varietystreamer #gamergirl #girlgamer #gamer #twitchaffiliate #blog #blogger

[foibles-fables]

Dude now I gotta know the apex machine and beloved sunhawk theories. Perhaps you can give us all some more brain rot? please?? I will beg u 🥺

WOO okay, did some self-soothing via corkboard-stringing and wild gesticulating this morning.

So, there are threats looming in the Forbidden West. Through most of the marketing so far, we've been made incredibly aware of two in particular: the Blight and the superstorms, both indications of the critical stage of the collapse of the terraforming system that began ~20 years prior. Both of these have been in pretty much all of the trailers and other media released so far.

However, it seems that there's an additional threat that hasn't been driven home as much (if at all) in promo material, aside from the list of pre-order goodies: "Apex" machines. You get an Apex Clawstrider Strike piece god I can't WAIT for Strike as a part of a bunch of the pre-order packages.

The qualifier alone says a lot about their potential nature. And where else have we seen tougher versions of known machines like these before? The Sunhawk comic.

This could be is the connection that brings Talanah in particular fully into the HFW plot. According to Annie Kitain, via GameInformer, "You don't need to read the comics because one of our goals is that you are brought up to speed. But if you have, you kind of have that extra knowledge of like, 'Oh, okay, I know what they're talking about and I experienced that part of her journey in the comics, and now see how that plays out in the Forbidden West.'"

Consider: Talanah's already in the West prior to the start of the game, having led an expedition of hunters to help out after hearing that things are ROUGH machine-wise. We can already assume that the "Forbidden" moniker of the West is ceremonial at best, due to Iriv's failed expedition--Carja have been there since (Red Raids) and are there now (Barren Light outpost). Also explains why Talanah isn't with us at start-game, which is where I suspect much of the story trailer is taken from--maybe it's mentioned that Aloy went calling for her in Meridian, but she'd already embarked on her own. (...an emotional concept that leads me to some even more unhinged theorizing, which I might touch upon AT ANOTHER TIME)

It's a relatively easy story to summarize from the end of the comic, as Ben and Annie state is the their goal for character catch-up. A (much more eloquent than I can currently churn out) conversation re: "Aloy! Hey! Been a minute, miss me? Please tell me if you're getting enough sleep? Staying hydrated? Oh, yeah, I left Meridian when a friend wrote to me from the west and told me how bonkers the machine situation is here. Some of it sounded like the new breed we fought together, and you drove home how dangerous they were, so I felt compelled to do something about it."

It makes threefold sense. One, it certainly does continue Talanah's comics journey--changing the purpose of the Hunters Lodge from a trophy case to folks making a real difference, which is a step beyond her ultimate goal in HZD. We find her eventually, help her deal with Apex machines, and she rightfully joins the Crew. It also ties Talanah into a very valid part of the central story--we know from TFW that HEPHAESTUS is still up to his business. Finally, it introduces a cool new gameplay mechanic. Apex machines are a lot tougher to deal with, and maybe start to show up if the player is not a careful hunter. Need to strategize your parts-farming (which is another stated focus of the game) to avoid areas being overrun by these difficult machines. Can't just wreck shit indiscriminately anymore without facing consequences.

Last thing...that shot from the VERY beginning of the story trailer, with Aloy and that Not-Talanah (UNLESS THEY PULLED THE WOOL OVER OUR EYES AND SHE'S DISGUISED TO AVOID REGALLA--) Tenakth figure. The destroyed machines among the Blight in that shot do look black-plated. I think we'll be seeing them, for sure.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. We'll certainly be finding our girl and she'll be as important as Ben and Annie's hints are making her seem. SOON, FOLKS.

#horizon forbidden west #hfw #hfw speculation #talanah khane padish #sunhawk watch 2k22 #i miss my wife tails #can't wait to be heroes together again

[spooks-and-tea]

Entangled (Spencer Reid x femReader) [Ch.7]

Summary: You don’t know how it happened. One moment you were watching Criminal Minds, and the next moment you were literally in the show. Can Spencer be the key to helping you find your way back home?

Warnings: minor character death, mentions of su*cide, bad explanations of quantum mechanics, bad words, sexual situations, the usual criminal minds-type content

A/N: Today I googled if “thirst trap” was a noun. Do me a favor and read this one with your favorite Spencer Reid gif in mind. I’m excited to see what you all think about this one. 

Word Count: 6,174

Chapter 1.  Chapter 2.  Chapter 3.  Chapter 4. Chapter 5.  Chapter 6.  Chapter 7. Chapter 8.  Chapter 9.  Chapter 10.  Chapter 11.

************************************************************************

{smut warning for this chapter} —————————————————— 3 weeks later.

You were frustrated.

Frustrated because living with Spencer Reid was, for lack of a better term, a thirst trap. The show never even touched on this side of him, and you were sure he knew what he was doing.

For 3 weeks you shared his bed and at this point you both had decided that the left side was yours. You'd never found sharing a bed with someone as awkward, it's only awkward when one person acts like it is. Spencer left you sexually frustrated, without fail, every night; that, was awkward.

It started in the mornings when he woke you up with butterfly light kisses on your face, neck, and shoulders. He never went beyond that and if you moaned, it went ignored. You both would take turns showering. You would go first so you could have more time to do your makeup and hair. Spencer went second, and boy-oh-boy, it was a mistake to let that become a habit because he came out of that steamy hot bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist every. single. morning.; hair dripping wet.

You'd catch sight of him as you did your makeup, causing you to do stupid things like smearing your lipstick, drawing your eyeliner wing crooked, and poking your eye with the mascara wand. Sometimes you were doing your hair and burned yourself with a straightener, or snapped a hairband against your hand.

Spencer knew what he was doing, you saw his smirk every time he retreated to his bedroom to dress. You both alternated on who made breakfast, when you did, it was a difficult task. Spencer couldn't keep his hands to himself, holding his arms around your middle as you fried an egg, or as you toasted bread. He would only leave you to make the coffee. Mornings were when Spencer Reid was bold.

During the day, you would drive the both of you to work. He wasn't so obvious there, but somehow he knew the subtle things he did there that got your attention.

When researching, or doing paperwork at your desk, you often had to ask him for help. You weren't technically qualified to even work here. He never seemed to mind, actually he liked to help you. He would lean over your shoulder with both hands around you on the desk and point things out while dipping his head low; nearly whispering words in your ear. He knew his voice got to you. He watched you shudder.

Sometimes you got so worked up you would have to ask him to go over things again. At the roundtable meetings, he would turn to the writing board, explaining whatever about a case, and put his hands in his pockets. This sounds like his normal behavior, but when he did the pocket thing it made his pants a lot tighter and you struggled to keep your eyesight up. You swore he flexed when he did it too. Whenever the discussion would go above your level of education and you zoned out, your eyesight would lower, Spencer would turn around and ask you a question. You'd stammer out some words. Everyone would turn to look at you and away from him, which is when he would smirk mischievously at you.

Days were when Spencer Reid made you feel like working at the BAU wouldn't be so difficult.

At night, he would often order take-out. You both would wind down, sometimes with a movie, sometimes he would put a record on and teach you how to play chess, sometimes you both would sit on his couch as he talked and talked about any topic that he thought you would find interesting. You adored these nights because this is when you really had a chance to learn about Spencer Reid the person, not the character.

Sometimes he would show you an odd item he owned and go into a tangent about its history, it's history related to other history, etc. You could tell he loved it when you told him you could listen to him go on about any subject and never grow tired of it.

Knowing you had trouble sleeping, when you both retired to bed Spencer would hold you, kiss you, and read to you. He had this talent for making any story immersive with just his voice.

Nights were when Spencer Reid made you fall, impossibly, more in love with him.

And the cycle repeated. Yet, he never seemed interested in taking things further than making out on his couch.

Today, you hoped to get him back for the 3 weeks of teasing that was eventually going to leave you with a permanent blush. Of course when you say 'get him back' you don't mean you'll make him do anything he isn't ready for, you were just going to give him a little show. Give him a taste of his own medicine.

It was date night, and while you had been on a few of the basic dinner and movie dates, Spencer promised this one was going to be special and different. You weren't exactly prepared for how "different" it was going to be, but you got the picture when he blindfolded you in the car.

You wore a dress that was form fitting, short, and had a sweetheart neckline that showed off your shoulders and chest. You were pulling all the stops tonight, dark stockings and high heels included. You topped it all off with your favorite perfume.

You knew Spencer was awed as soon as you walked out of his bedroom, which you had forbidden him to enter as you got ready. You also knew he had a thing for your neck and shoulders, so the sweetheart neckline was a showstopper. You just hoped you hadn't overdressed for this surprise date. Spencer was in an outfit that was pretty much just his work clothes. You didn't think he owned much else, so you thought nothing of it.

You got out of the car and he led you through a door. You were inside of a building now, you knew because the air warmed up and your heels echoed. The place was empty and, otherwise, dead silent. You heard Spencer press a button, followed by the familiar sounds of an elevator. "Where are you taking me?" You laughed. You loved surprises and Spencer had seemed pretty excited about this one.

"You'll know in 60 seconds." He answered, helping you get inside the elevator. As you stood, waiting, he wrapped his arm around you and started to tap on your shoulder. You knew this was his nervous fidgeting.

Did he not know you would be happy no matter where he took you? Except, maybe, a large body of water. You trusted that he would never let you near one again.

The elevator chimed and you heard the doors open. Spencer helped you through, walking you through another door. This is when he stopped you. He stood behind you and gently untied the blindfold, which was actually just a tie of his. Your eyes adjusted to the lights.

"What are we doing here?" You laughed, turning around.

Poor Spencer looked beyond nervous, nearly bouncing with energy. You just didn't understand why he took you to the BAU when you were there nearly every day. This wasn't the best typical date spot in town.

"I-um." He swallowed. "When you got here you told me, in your old life, you wanted to be an actress and you were going to audition for Criminal Minds. I know it was your favorite tv show and you missed out on all of that when you woke up here." He reached down into his desk and pulled out a booklet of green papers.

"You didn't get a chance to prove yourself as an actress, so I-I thought, since we have the real thing here, and you have me-" He gave you the booklet and you flipped it open, eyes going wide. "We could act out a scene together." Spencer eyed you, waiting for a reaction.

"Spencer this is- I don't have the words. You wrote a Criminal Minds script?"

Spencer nodded, pursing his lips.

"We don't have to do it, I just thought-"

"No! No Spence, it-it's perfect." You smiled and flipped through the pages. "Tell me the synopsis."

Spencer cleared his throat. "Agent Y/N and Agent Reid have to work after hours. I think that's all you need to know; it's simple, and not very long."

"I like simple."

"Good." Spencer smiled and kissed your cheek. You blushed at his confidence.

"Don't you have a script?"

"Eidetic memory." He tapped his temple.

"Ah. Right. Shall we begin?" You bit your lip, excited.

"Sure, do you want to count down and say 'action'?"

You nodded.

"3, 2, 1, action!"

Your eyes glanced back and forth to the script as you played out the scene.

Spencer sat at his desk, shuffling through papers.

"Dr. Reid." You strolled over and sat at the edge of his desk. He looked up.

"Explain to me again how our unsub was able to pull off all of this in one night." It wasn't in the script, but you crossed your legs making the skirt of your dress pull up until it was absurdly short. You silently prayed Hotch wasn't hiding out in his office working after hours. This would look like the beginning of a fanfiction porn plot.

Spencer twirled his pencil, flicking his eyes down when he thought you were looking at the script.

"Actually I don't think our unsub was acting alone. Remember the box of ticket stubs located at the first hideout? Those were momentos; kept in pairs. I believe we're dealing with 2 unsubs, a couple."

"Star-crossed lovers- a new age Bonnie and Clyde." You pretended to think it over.

Spencer nodded and stood up, walking up to a board he must have set up before leaving work.

"Based on the geographical locations of the crime scenes and hide outs, we can see that they're making their way west."

"Will they cross state lines?" You walked up next to him.

"There's a high probability they will, yes."

"Can we confidently say that one is the aggressor and one is just tagging along?"

"Yes, in cases with couples like these, typically the male is the aggressor. For example, Bonnie and Clyde. Clyde had a history of committing crimes long before he met Bonnie. She only became a criminal after they became a couple."

"But why would the unsub's partner go along with these killings willingly?"

Spencer turned to look at you.

"Love. History says Bonnie fell in love with Clyde and that's why she stuck by him as his partner; though he was a terrible criminal. He made multiple failed attempts at robbing banks. Clyde actually wrecked their car at one point, nearly killing her with these 3rd degree burns that nearly lost her a leg. She was also struck by bullets multiple times, but still she stayed by his side. We know he loved her too because a smart, or ruthless, criminal would have left her behind after the leg injury. Clyde carried her around; sometimes she limped. She couldn't properly walk for the rest of her short life."

"Devotion, idolization, justification. These unsubs are recreating the Bonnie and Clyde crimes. I can't agree that it's love that drives them, though."

"Why is that?"

"When you love someone, you want what's best for them. You'd never put them in harms way. If Clyde really loved Bonnie, he would have never taken her along with their gang in the first place."

Spencer slowly nodded, eyes scanning the map.

"I suppose a better word for their relationship would be 'obsession.'"

"If you were in the male unsub's position, what would you do, Dr. Reid?"

"I'd protect her." He looks at you again. "I'd turn myself in, admit that everything was my wrongdoing."

"Hmm," you hummed.

"Have you ever been in love, Agent Y/N? You seem to know a lot on the subject."

"Yes, in fact. I have."

"May I ask with whom?" He smiled, slyly. Some script, he was baiting you.

"Yes. If you promise me we can take a break from this. We've been working all night. You promised me dinner, Dr. Reid." You poked his chest.

"I didn't think all this talk of murder would work up much of an appetite." He laughed.

"We've worked here long enough, catching murderers is normal. " You smoothed your hand up his chest, this action was definitely not in the script. Spencer's eyes narrowed.

"We could raid the snacks in the break room, then get right back to work." He recited.

"We could," your words and actions no longer followed the script. "-Or we can stay here."

"Why would we stay here?" That wasn't his line. He was playing along; he was intrigued.

You held up your phone and scrolled through your music until you found something old and romantic. You pressed play and set it on your desk.

"Dance with me Doctor." You held out your hand to Spencer. It was your turn to do the cheesy romantic gesture.

He blushed, taking your hand. He was trying to figure out if you were going to return to the script or not.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and he placed his hands on your waist. You made sure to press your chest closely to his. He was much taller than you and you devilishly knew, as he looked down, he would get an eyeful.

You danced through the first song. "Dr. Reid I have to admit something." You said breathily as you both swayed.

"Yes?" He swallowed, thickly.

"I've liked you for a very long time now."

"Have you?"

"Mmhmm. Do you not feel me watching you as you work across from me? Do you not hear my intake of breath every time you lean over my shoulder and whisper case information in my ear? Do you not see the way I bite my pens when I feel your eyes on me? I've wanted you for a long time now, Dr. Reid."

"Really?" His eyes trailed lower for a moment. You played with the hairs at the back of his neck.

"Yes, in fact, I'm sure that I'm in love with you."

"I-I love you too Y/N." He finally broke character.

"You do? How much? Will you show me?" You kept up the sultry act.

He nodded and drew his hand up to your cheek. He ran his thumb along your bottom lip before slowly leaning in.

Just before his lips were going to meet yours he paused, your noses barely touching. "I would, but I do owe you dinner."

You held your breath, more prepared for dessert than dinner.

He pulled away, but not before nonchalantly brushing his hand that was placed on your waist, over your ass. You bit your lip, not wanting to give away the goosebumps it gave you. He had never been so obvious.

"Dinner then, Dr. Reid?"

"Right this way, madame."

You took his hand, giggling at his courteous behavior. You expected him to lead you out, but instead he led you to the roundtable room. What else did this man have planned? And how the hell did he convince Hotch to approve of this?

"It's nothing fancy, but-" He opened the door to reveal the room dimly lit by candles. A tablecloth covered the table and two seats were placed next to each other in front of it. A bottle of wine, some glasses, and two plates sat in front of the chairs. A main dish sat in the middle, covered by a cloche.

"Spencer, how did you set this up?" You broke your sultry character.

He pulled out your chair for you before sitting in his own.

"Garcia was staying late, she practically volunteered. She left just before we arrived," he explained.

"I'm having a romantic dinner date in the roundtable room. What even is my life?" You mumbled to yourself.

Spencer laughed, uncovering the food plate. He served a spicy grilled salmon and side-salad that had Garcia's jalapeño-infused cooking written all over it. You reminded yourself to thank her at work.

As Spencer served the food, you poured the wine.

You took the first bite, moaning at the flavor. It went well with the expensive wine.

You giggled at how red Spencer's face became as he ate the spicy food.

"Thank you for this, Spence. This is honestly the best date I've ever been on." You sipped your wine.

"You've said that after all of our dates." He grinned.

"That's because you always outdo yourself, and we've only been on 4. How can you possibly top this?"

"I'll think of something."

"No, next time is my turn. I'm romancing you." You pointed.

"We'll see about that."

You both finished your food and cleaned up. Placing most of it into the break room.

You felt warm and cuddly from the wine, you hugged Spencer close to you as you made your way out of the building.

"Did you mean it?" Spencer asked as he drove you both home to his place.

"Mean what?"

"You pine for me at work." He smirked.

"I did not say that!" You blushed, furiously. "I do NOT pine for you."

"Then what would you call it?" You thought for a moment, slyly smiling to yourself as you thought of an answer.

You placed your hand on Spencer's thigh. "I crave you, I ache for you, I touch myself at the thought of you." You spoke breathily, doing your best impression of a sexy Marilyn Monroe.

Spencer nearly slammed his foot on the breaks, looking at you wide-eyed. You'd never been this bold before.

"These last 3 weeks of living with you, I've gone to sleep next to you every night thinking of what your hands, wrapped around me, would feel like if they just trailed a little bit lower." This wasn't a lie. To emphasize, you trailed your hand on him, lower, to his thigh. He gasped and gripped the wheel.

"I-I've wanted you too, Y/N," Spencer stammered; his knuckles going pale. Luckily, you had already arrived at his apartment in one piece.

"Then why don't you do something about it?" You asked, getting out of the car before he could answer. You moved your hips as you walked, smiling to yourself. You'd never felt this confident, sexy, and wanted before.

Spencer caught up with you when you reached his door, struggling to unlock it. You walked in first, stopping in front of his bedroom door and turning around.

"The first night I slept here you told me you wanted to take care of me." You said as you dropped your purse on a nearby table. You turned around to see Spencer was carefully watching your every movement; hanging on to your every word.

"Do you still want to take care of me, Spencer?" You asked. This was an invitation, he could turn you down if he wanted to.

You watched him kick off his shoes at the door and remove his jacket. He walked towards you and threw it behind you, onto the couch.

"Yes, I do." He placed his hands on your hips, lightly tracing.

Your hands roamed up his chest and over his shoulders.

"Then I'm all yours." You whispered. You were honestly curious to see if he would take initiative.

Spencer leaned in, kissing you softly. He pulled back and you felt his heavy breathes on your tingling lips.

He slowly inched his hand up your back as he chased your lips again, still keeping the pressure soft.

He trailed his tongue along your lips and you granted him access, meeting in the middle, not escalating the slow pace at all. Meanwhile, he pulled the zipper of your dress down. His slow movements made your head spin in anticipation. You couldn't hold back your soft sigh when he trailed his hand flat up your bare back.

He smoothed his hands over your shoulders, making your sleeves fall down your arms. Your dress piled to the floor.

He grew more aggressive with his kissing as he ran his hands over your body. He groaned as he lightly squeezed your ass and you yearned to hear him do it again.

You undid his tie, tossing it over your shoulder, followed by his vest. He trailed his kisses down your neck, nipping at the sensitive skin. You gasped, your eyes rolling back for a moment. The stubble on his chin and the warmth of his breath left red hot marks of desire on your skin. You somehow managed to unbutton his shirt and toss it to the floor.

You pulled him closer, wanting to feel his skin against yours. This was a far cry from the night he held you, half-nude, to save your life. Though, you felt like if he didn't touch your neglected core soon, you would die.

You lowered your arms feeling the skin of his chest. No, Spencer Reid did not have abs, but he didn't need them, he was sexy in his own way.

"Bedroom." He mumbled between wet kisses that were definitely going to leave behind marks.

You stepped out of your heels and he moved his hands behind your thighs. He coaxed you to jump and you wrapped your legs around his waist. He returned his attention to your lips, kissing you deeper. He stumbled to his room. You fought the urge to laugh at his clumsy movements. The movements of his tongue against yours made you almost instantly forget.

He tossed you onto the bed and you bounced. You giggled and bit your lip; watching him stand at the edge. He trailed his eyes over your body, licking his lips as he took off his belt and work pants.

Your heartbeat raced and your core pulsed as you anticipated his next move.

"You're beautiful, Y/N. I-I want to remember you like this." He knelt in front of your legs on the bed, taking in the image of you sprawled out and heavily breathing, wanting only for him.

"I want to remember you too." You replied, propping yourself up on your elbows to look at him. His neck and torso were a blushing rosy red, sweat was already forming. His chest rose and fell as he caught his own breath. His hair was already ruined, but you wanted to see just how ruined it could look.

"I truly think you're the most gorgeous man I've ever seen, Spencer," you sounded breathless.

His blushed skin deepened red.

Obviously, he was used to being the 'pretty boy' of the crew, but no one had called him gorgeous and looked at him like he was the statue of David come to life.

Spencer crawled up your body, you opened your legs so he could come closer.

A gasp, followed by a loud moan, escaped your lips as he leveraged more of his weight on top of you. You could feel him, hardening against your core, through the fabric that still separated you. He placed open-mouthed kisses up your neck until he reached your lips.

You honestly did not expect him to take so much initiative.

He coaxed opened your mouth and trialed the tip of his tongue under yours, oddly making you shudder. Where did he learn a sneaky move like that?

You couldn't help yourself, you pulled his hair a little; not enough to hurt. He moaned, his hips moving forward of their own accord. Your back arched and your head fell back at the contact it gave your swollen clit.

"Spencer," you grunted through your teeth, eyes squeezing shut. He must have liked your reaction, because he shifted his hips forward again. He was going to drive you insane.

"Yes?" He bit his lip.

"Please, I need you." You wanted to cry. You needed him to hold you closer. You needed him to pin you down. You needed him inside you. You needed to feel him everywhere. You needed him to love you. You needed him to stay and never leave you. You needed him in every way. His eyes glazed over your face, you felt like he could read your every thought.

"I know, I need you too. Just wait a little longer. I want to make this last." He whispered.

He reached behind you and unhooked your bra, gently bringing the straps over your shoulders. He broke eye contact and brought his right hand up; tracing over your nipple. Both of you breathed a little heavier as it peaked at his ministrations. He leaned his head down and- He's going to be the end of me. I'm actually going to implode.

His lips wrapped around your nipple. He twirled his tongue around and lightly grazed his teeth over the sensitive bud.

His other hand moved to knead and softly pinch your left breast. You felt him, warm and throbbing against your core, he was enjoying this as much as you were. He turned his attentions back and forth between each breast.

"Fuck, Spence-Spencer I- you- that feels so good." Your sentences grew incoherent. You tugged and raked your hand through his hair, your other hand grasping the bedsheets just to remind yourself that you weren't floating on a cloud or something.

The coffee and woodsy-vanilla that surrounded you made you forget your own name. Your whole body was warm and covered by Spencer's; it made you feel safe. Nothing could ever hurt you here. You wanted more. You couldn't stand any more of this torture. After 3 weeks of teasing, and many years alone, you were beyond horny, almost primally so.

He continued pinching, licking, nipping and sucking at your nipples. An excruciatingly good combination. You trailed your fingertips down his abdomen, his stomach flexing as you trailed lower. You skipped the teasing and slipped your hand under his waistband. Your fingertips stroking his softest skin.

"Mmm. I thought I said to wait," he grunted, his voice deepening as his hips bucked against your touch. He took your wandering hand and held it against your other one; holding them down over your head.

Is Spencer dominant in the bedroom? No, he couldn't be-

"Fuck. I-I can't- I can't wait. Please, Spencer." You gasped, hooking your legs around him for more contact where you needed it most. He smiled wide as if you had just complimented him.

Spencer reached his other hand down and held your hips to the bed. He kept eye contact. His eyes were dark and full of lust; something you'd never seen on him before, but he wore the look well.

He moved his hand on your hip away and your arms jerked against his hold as you felt it return, lower. His finger traced down your slit through your panties. You were soaking for him and you knew he could feel it.

He hooked his fingers over your panties and slid them off, leaving you exposed to the cold air. You hissed at the sensation.

God, will the teasing ever end?

"You should see yourself, so ready, begging for me." Spencer smirked. He was using his secret weapon, which he already knew drove you crazy. His voice.

"I wonder just how desperate I can make you become." He lowered his head to circle his tongue over your left nipple. His fingers circled and slid along your slit.

"Can I make you cum without touching you?" He stopped touching you, leaving your body buzzing with anticipation.

"Can I make you cum with just my voice?" He whispered in your ear. Your back arched, yup he could definitely pull that off.

"Answer me," he ordered, keeping his tone soft, but domineering.

"Yes!" You cried out, lost in all the senses he was assaulting. You'd never wanted someone so much in your life.

He looked in your eyes, you were almost afraid of what that genius brain of his was thinking.

"Spencer!" You screamed as he began to rub quick circles over your throbbing clit. It was too much, too fast.

"I'm going to have you tonight, don't worry, but I want to see you cum first," he whispered; moving one hand to move your hair behind your ear.

"Cum for me."

You were so close already, he didn't have to ask twice. Your body convulsed and your back arched as you cried out his name. He watched you, mouth open and breathing softly against your face. You felt hot tears well up as he didn't stop his circling motions. Wave after wave of pleasure worked up your spine. You would've been blinded by it if you didn't keep your eyes on his.

You were lost in him, everything was Spencer Reid.

Your body finally relaxed and he stopped. He moved his hand lower and dipped a single digit into you. The evidence of what he had made you do was clear.

He arched his finger, easily adding another. Your body, still sensitive, began to respond to him again. He crooked his fingers in and out, seeking out the spot he knew would make you scream his name again.

Your legs began to shake.

"Spencer. I-I'm close again. I need you please- just- please. I need to feel you inside me. I need you closer." A tear fell down your cheek. This time he listened. He removed the last piece of fabric separating you two. He held your ankle, moving your legs.

"Should I-" He began.

"I-I have an IUD and I'm clean. If you're good, then we're good," you stuttered. You weren't sure if you were even forming full sentences, but you were confident his Phd's would help him figure it out.

Spencer understood and nodded, bracing himself above you.

He suddenly stopped and leaned down to kiss you.

"I know I say it a lot, but I love you, Y/N," he spoke.

"I love you so so much, Spence."

He lined himself up and slowly pressed into you. The dull pain was practically non-existent from the amount of teasing he had just put you through.

Your legs shook as he bottomed out. Spencer groaned, dropping his forehead to rest against yours. His hair hiding your view of the outside world.

You could feel the effect you were having on his body; his arms shook on either side of you.

He gave you time to adjust and time for himself to catch his breath. Then he lifted his head and delicately kissed you.

"Fuck. You feel so good Y/N," he whispered. It was truly a rarity to hear Spencer Reid cuss, and you can't say it didn't get you going.

He slowly lifted his hips then brought them against you; filling you again. Connecting with you as close as he physically could.

He lazily thrusted as your body grew more and more welcoming to him. He filled you up so well. You tightened around him briefly to feel more.

A growl formed at the back of his throat. "If you keep doing that I'm not going to last long." He reached down to squeeze your thigh and lift your leg higher.

Your eyes rolled back as he managed to thrust deeper into you.

He picked up his speed.

At this angle, every thrust made him brush against your clit. He must've known this, he began circling his hips with each thrust inside of you.

He lay his palm flat against your pelvis, feeling himself brushing against your cervix.

You were a mess of incoherent moans at this point. He lowered his head to your neck and you heard him grunting in your ear with each thrust. You began to meet his hips with yours, making him move faster. He changed direction slightly and brushed up against your deepest bundle of nerves. Your back arched and he gasped.

He slid his arm under you, keeping you arched in that angle. He lifted his head to watch you.

"Ah. Spencer, I'm- Ah I'm close." You nearly sang his praises with your high pitched moans.

You raked your nails over his back. "Me too." He reached down and circled his thumb over your clit, applying a pulsing pressure.

Your jaw fell open and your brows furrowed as you moaned his name. He dropped his head to your neck again and you kissed his jawline. You watched his shoulders tense, loving the sight of his back arching and his muscles flexing under your hands. Someday you hoped to trace and connect all the small freckles there.

He doubled-down his efforts, jackhammering into you. Your vision blurred and the last thing you remembered was that coffee and woodsy-vanilla scent as he pushed you over the edge again. You came without warning, holding him against you like a lifeline tethering you to reality.

You felt him twitch inside of you, your body tightening around him. His hips stuttered. He came just as suddenly; coating your inner walls and moaning your name.

He thrusted a few more times, your orgasm still coming in shockwaves. He didn't stop until your body had milked him dry.

His body shook with aftershocks and he nearly collapsed all of his weight on top of you. You felt him breathing, hot, against your neck. You were in no better shape, eyes half lidded and covered in sweat. You traced your nails between Spencer's shoulder blades. His overworked muscles twitched in response.

"Wow," was all you could manage to say.

Spencer groaned and lifted his head, his hair matted, going every which way. You raked your fingers through his hair, moving it back and out of his eyes.

"Worth the wait?" He asked.

You rested your palm on his cheek and pulled him down to kiss you. He kissed you as sensually as someone out of breath and exhausted could manage, and he didn't stop kissing you. You had to pull away first, beginning to feel the mess between your legs.

"Shower?" You suggested.

Spencer swallowed and nodded. "Shower."

It was a task to get there, but you both managed, and it was worth it when the water hit you. The mess between your legs washed away. Spencer held your waist and looked at you like you were the most important thing in the world.

"I love you." He stated, as you began to wash your hair. You stilled for a moment, taking everything in. If it wasn't for Spencer's reassuring touch, this would all feel like a dream.

"I love you too." You smiled, reaching up to kiss him; he leaned down and met you halfway.

When both of you were cleaned and dried, Spencer gave you one of his shirts to wear to bed. You couldn't help how giddy the gesture made you feel. He wanted to see you in his shirt.

You joined him in bed. Tonight, you were both too exhausted for him to read to you. His post-sex voice also had the sexiest scratchiness to it and you didn't want to go to bed horny another night.

"Tonight was perfect, Spencer," you whispered against his chest, noting his uncharacteristic silence.

"It was." He agreed, playing with your hair.

"How am I supposed to keep my hands to myself at work tomorrow when I know what you're capable of?" You happily traced his skin.

Spencer laughed, his chest rumbling under you.

"Hey, at least you don't have an eidetic memory. I can picture every second, clear as day." He mumbled, brushing his fingers along your neck.

"Mmm, as long as I'm not the only one that has to suffer tomorrow." You yawned, growing tired.

"No, I promise you, we'll both have to suffer tomorrow."

You fell asleep in his arms, absolutely full of love for Spencer Reid.

************************************************************************

You were exhausted, barely coming to, when you felt the bed dip. Arms slid under you and lifted you.

Spencer, ever the romantic; carrying you to the kitchen for breakfast so you wouldn't have to walk.

You felt yourself slip out of consciousness again, cuddling up to his chest. You knew you were safe in his arms. He would never drop you.

When you finally came to, you rubbed your tired eyes.

You stretched, feeling the couch cushions underneath your legs. You yawned and opened your eyes, expecting the sight of smoke as Spencer usually burned the toast.

Except the ceiling above you held cracks and lit a blue hue reflected by a television.

Your eyes widened as they landed on a television screen.

The Criminal Minds intro was playing.

You were in your old apartment.

"No." You whispered.

"No. No. No. NO." This had to be a nightmare.

You jumped up, stumbling over the coffee table legs.

You ran around your tiny apartment, looking for any sign of Spencer. Then you heard his voice.

It was him, on the tv. An episode of Criminal Minds was airing, and you felt farther away from him than you ever had before. You fell to the floor next to your coffee table.

You watched Spencer Reid on tv in tears, knowing it wasn't your Spencer Reid, and you had no idea how to get back to him.

Next Chapter

#spencer reid fic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid #cm #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds fic #drama #fanfiction #romance #spencer reid x reader

[brentfashionhistory]

Clary Salandy Is Keeping The History of Carnival Alive

Arts & Culture - Reform The Funk - August 31st 2020 

Clary Salandy is one of the founders of Mahogany Carnival Design set up in 1989 by her and her husband, Michael Ramdeen aka Speedy. As the name would suggest, the company designs Carnival costumes, in the art form of “Mas Making” and they are known for their larger than life designs. The pair are both native to Trinidad and are designers in their own right; Clary studied at The Wimbledon School of Art and worked at Central St Martin’s in London, whilst Speedy studied Structural Engineering. They set up shop in Harlesden, North West London in 1996 and have been there ever since. “We’re very inspired by the art form and so we do everything we can to be as innovative as we can in our ideas [and] techniques.

That's what Speedy is really excellent at, he’s an amazing engineer.” Mahogany's costumes are known for their extravagance and large scale, with costumes being up to 15 ft tall with all kinds of tricky mechanisms such as opening and closing, whilst being agile enough to be worn and maneuvered.“He’s very good at that sort of thing, he loves working like that and I love giving him complicated things to do. My work comes with lightness, with movement”, in the 50s they would use wire to make the costumes but foam was the material of the 70’s. “Now we use foam and fiberglass [so it’s] lighter. Costumes became different because of that”.

The Carnival costumes we see today are typically less structured, and consist mostly of feathers and beautiful adornments, this is known in the Caribbean as Pretty Mas. “One of the things about Carnival is it's about being free so I don't have the right to tell someone what their freedom looks like [but] I would not do it myself because I have read my history”. Clary wrote her dissertation on the ‘History of Trinidad Carnival’ and fully realised the dark history of Carnival which seems so distant to the jubilation we see on the streets of London come Bank Holiday August.

Carnival in the Caribbean began as an act of liberation. Originally, a religious festivity, an act of jolly and feasting before lent, when the traditions were brought to the Caribbean during the time of slavery and colonism, Black people were forbidden from taking part. Following the emancipation from slavery, Black people took to the street in celebration and masqueraded, renacting the horrors that they faced during their enslavement. “They had characters, with speeches, monologues and all kinds of things, it was really fascinating, but made it really clear to me, how lucky I am to be born when I was born, and I needed to pay homage to those people, and Carnival isn't about fun it was about collaboration of those people, that’s the point”.

“The first Carnival was the Carnival of Fire, they had a festival called Canboulay”. When fires broke out on plantations, the enslaved were forced into the fields to rescue the surrounding canes before they were burned and ruined. This act was reenacted at the first carnival, known as the Cannes Brûlées, meaning burnt canes in French, which later became known as Canboulay. The British authorities who ruled Trinidad at this time wanted to squash the expression of Black people on the island as well as any trace of African influence and in 1881, Canboulay was banned, leading to riots between Black People and British police.

Of course, the origin of Notting Hill Carnival is not worlds apart from this. Following the destruction of World War II, hundreds of thousands of Commonwealth citizens, many of these from the Caribbean, were invited to Britain to work; on their arrival, they were met with racial hostility and intolerance. Not only were many right wing political parties openly promoting anti-immigration and white dominance, but there was ongoing violence from the Teddy Boys, a group of white working class youth, notorious for their racism towards Black migrants in Notting Hill. In August 1958, what is now known as the Notting Hill Race Riots began. Mobs of up to 400 white people stormed the Caribbean residents of the area, with petrol bombs, milk bottles being used as missiles, iron bars and butchers knives. These acts of terror persisted continuously for one week.

As a direct response, Claudia Jones, who is often referred to as the mother of Notting Hill Carnival, organised events to celebrate Caribbean culture in the face of the hate from the white racists. A "Caribbean Carnival" was held on 30 January 1959 in St Pancras Town Hall. In 1966 Notting Hill Carnival was born. Clary is extremely educated on the origins of Carnival and is passionate about keeping these stories alive. “That is the thing that’s really important about Carnival and the role we all have to play in carnival. How can I ignore that?''.

Clary shows me a headdress she designed, with a spiral of eyes that represent the many that have been murdered in cold blood. From Kelso Cochrane (1959), to Stephen Lawrence (1993), to George Floyd (2020). Clary has a political voice within her work, something that is not that common in today’s Carnival band leaders. “Some bands are led by somebody that's a band leader, they're not an artist… an artist, has a different approach. A band leader isn't creative, he’s an organiser, he's an administrator, he’ll go and find a designer somewhere and that's where the fun becomes more [important]”.

When Mahogany was set up, there was prevalence around the art form of Carnival design; “you could get a grant of £400 from the arts council, there was a system that was set up for young designers and a development course where you could go and learn how to make a backpack”. This dedication of the art is something that Clary would love to see put back in the future of Carnival.

There have of course been a number of changes to Notting Hill Carnival since Clary’s early days. Not only were the bands much smaller, with perhaps 7 people per section and 30 people in a band but it was much more Caribbean led and dominated by Caribbean Culture. Whilst that influence still exists it has definitely become more London centric. Clary also recalls the spectacularity of Childrens Day, the parade that takes place on Sunday. “Childrens day used to be fantastic, lots of children [and] schools participating. There are schools participating now but not like they did before”. It's Important to pass on the history and traditions of Carnival to the next generation, she says and has been orchestrating carnival design workshops even prior to the creation of Mahogany. “We’re being creative and teaching young people [and] making sure we’re putting a strong message out”.

The hard work has paid off with the work and dedication of Mahogany Carnival Designs being recognised and appreciated all over the world. So much so that when I ask Clary what her proudest moment is, she struggles to pin one down “Oh my gosh!”, she exclaims, “that’s a hard question”. On a personal level, it’s seeing the next generation, her grandchildren, taking part in Carnival in costume, continuing down the customs. On a career level, she manages to narrow it down to two: performing in front of Buckingham Palace for the Olympics Handover Ceremony, “in front of the freaking queen!” and the Millennium Celebration in Singapore. “Could you imagine? We’re the finale in Singapore at their Millennium Celebration Parade! That’s a lovely affirmation of liking our stuff”.

Follow Mahogany Carnival on Twitter here and Instagram @mahoganycarnival.

Virtual Notting Hill Carnival is streaming at www.nhcarnival.org

Credits: Written by Rochelle Thomas / Photography: Derrick Kakembo  Set Design:  Amelia Tavenner .

Photographs taken on the Leica SL2.

https://www.reformthefunk.com/features/clary-salandy-is-keeping-the-history-of-carnival-alive

#carnival #nottinghill #nottinghill carnival #carnival arts #costume #costume design #design #fashion #dancers #culture #performance #mahogany #mahogany arts #arts #arts and culture #harlesden #brent #london

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Do you know of any fics where Kurt and Blaine have to sneak about because they can’t be together/parents don’t approve/they arnt out or something along those lines? I just want to see then sneaking off and maybe getting caught or something like that! Thankyou!!

You should definitely check out our Teacher/Student tag for a bunch of sneaking around. HERE is the master post of fics where someone catches them in the act. - HKVoyage

A Noble’s Journey by thentheyhadsex

The night after Kurt, Crown Prince of Turano, finds out he’s to be married to seal a treaty, he feels that his life is over. He always thought he would marry for love, not to make peace with their eastern neighbors. But his plan to escape takes a turn for the worse, and in the woods he finds something he was never expecting.

Note: You can download this fic here. 

~~~~~

Westerville Abbey Verse by @hkvoyage

Blaine is the second son of the earl of Westerville, and is considered the spare heir. After his 18th birthday, he attends the London Season to fulfill his duty of finding a wife. He soon realizes he is more attracted to the new footman. Kurt, who has just arrived at Westerville Abbey to work alongside his father, becomes equally as smitten with the earl’s youngest son. Will Blaine and Kurt be able to overcome their class differences in 1910s England? Will their forbidden love survive WW1? A Downton Abbey inspired historical Klaine AU.

~~~~~

Tell, Teach, Involve by lurkdusoleil

Blaine is a young prince who has been sheltered his whole life. He knows nothing about his body or sex. But when it cannot be ignored any longer, a tutor is brought in to teach him the ways of pleasure. (GKM fill)

~~~~~

Gilded Cage by canarian

In the winter of 1895, Blaine Anderson, the son of a wealthy doctor, and Kurt Hummel, the son of a middle class mechanic, cross paths at a luxury hotel in the quiet seaside town of St. Augustine, Florida. With everyone and everything working to keep them apart, can they find a way to be together?

~~~~~

Blaine & Kurt by @rumchocolatesouflee-blog

A story of forbidden love between Blaine and Kurt. Could only their deaths mend the poisonous relationship between McKinley and Dalton? Based off of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

~~~~~

West Side Klaine by IFoundYouJustineTime

AU Based on West Side Story: The Hummel-Hudson brothers lead a gang who rule West Lima City. However, their authority is about to be challenged by an old rival gang lead by a cocky newcomer named Blaine Anderson. Then love turns their world upside down.

~~~~~

It Felt So Wrong, It Felt So Right by orphan_account

The night before the beginning of his Junior year, Kurt has sex with a handsome stranger. You can imagine his horror when he finds out that the before-mentioned stranger is his new English teacher, but this doesn’t stop Kurt from wanting him. Let the game begin.

#klaine #klaine fanfic #klaine fanfiction #fic finder #anonymous #forbidden love #caught in the act #caught having sex

[vyrerus]

Shadowbringers Hot Takes - Inspired by Bioandrunaway

So, here I am at work again instead of playing Shadowbringers ugh. I have completed the main story, and since I can’t stop listening to the music/craving the game, I figured I’d write my version of @bioandrunaway thing she’s been doin’ with reacting to each part of the expansion that stands out. Spoilers under the cut, this post will only go as far as the events of Northern Kholusia i.e. up the level 79 dungeon/trial.

Oh we’re gonna explore the trench near the Syrcus Tower huh. Ok Tataru.

Damn my wild curiosity. Only an honest death will cure me now!

Bye Tataru! Guess you don’t get to table top striptease Elezen boys this expansion o/

This expansion is going to kick me in the teeth several times with Haurchefant references, isn’t it?

Hey, why did I reach out for that dude’s crystal? I hate that guy. I kicked his ass so hard like 3 years ago.

Huh everything here is purple, and of course, the first inhabitant of this place I meet is a drunk wanderer. Haven’t had a Dark Night in 100 years? Well, I’m on Dark Knight right now, I think I’ve got you covered.

I didn’t have him covered. ALSO STEP OFF SYPHA, GO BACK TO CASTLEVANIA YOU STUPID HAWTIE!

Crystal Exarch huh? Dude, I recognize your lips. I RECOGNIZE YOUR FUCKING LIPS! It’s just fucking G’raha Tia, and I swear to god if I’m wrong about this, then who the fuck has identical lips to his semi unique ass MIqote face.

Crystarium is nice... except for the map being almost Yuhtunga Jungle levels of shit tier.

Also does the Crystal Exarch have a crystal dick? Asking for science.

Gotta meet the twins first huh? *immediately b-line for Alisae* What? What?! She’s best waifu!

I guess your sidequest was interesting too Alphinaud. I bet I fight that fat fuck for the 77 or 79 dungeon or some shit. Definitely seems like the antagonist for this world.

Soylent Meol is made of people, calling it now.

I’m going to have to kill the jester bitches, aren’t I?

Mrs. Chai is so pure. I guess that’s good fat people rep? I wonder if Mr. Chai was mad that Alphinaud drew her fat as she was.

Alphinaud really could make a living as an artist.

Kholusia seems really down trodden. I also keep calling it Felusia like from Star Wars, despite Felusia from Star Wars being more akin to Il Mheg. i hope the mysterious northern half makes up for the lackluster south half.

Got the twins, now we gotta save some town huh?

First dungeon is DOPE! First two bosses were Sin Eaters from Alibae’s quest. Sorry Tesleen :( FINAL BOSS IS AWESOME SHB BOSS MUSIC IS AWESOME! Also I miss convalesence and awareness.

Sypha(Lyna) told me that I took a shower in the light. Guess I know what’s on her mind we she’s staring at me with her big bunny eyes.

Night time now, all the people are in wonder. Most of them have never seen the night sky. 

Eulmore ANGREEEEEEEEEE

Crystal Dicksarch has balls of crystal.

Oh hi again Ardbert. You gonna act like we’re chums now, despite trying to split my face in half with your axe on several occasions?

Oh no, Eulmore kidnapped... Minfilia?

There have been like a dozen Minfilias? What?!

Ooh, I’m a tower guard now. Finally, I can be as majestic as the tower guards from Dragon Age 1 who help you slay the Ogre at the top of the tower.

Eulmorons are chump change. Wait, who’s this discount Mulan extra? Wait, I had 90k HP and was kicking his ass, he couldn’t touch me... and I still have 40k HP left, and I’m regening 9k HP a tic, how is this even close to over old man?

Thanks Thancred, this sure is reminiscent of that time when you saved me in Heavensward from Ardbert.

Crystal Dicksarch just cock slapped Ran Jit, and Ran Jit didn’t much care for that.

IL MHEG! YEEHAW! SO PRETTY SO MUCH HARP IN THE MUSIC OMG, ALIBAE I’M SORRY BUT URIANGER PICKED THE PERFECT PLACE TO LIVE! I WANT TO MOVE IN WITH HIM!

Toad in a tux. Always take your time on the bridge crossing, there’s no need to sprint.

Heh they tried to drown me, unaware of my ability to not need air underwater.

Dog Fae spirit people. Neat!

Gotta get the last magic mcguffin from a big fat ass Amaro who just so happens to be Ardbert’s old mount. He says our souls look the same. I’m sure that won’t come up again and is hinting on nothing strongly.

Titania boss fight is one half beauty, on half nightmare. 

Feo Ul is the new Titania, and she is a boss bitch! Gonna show those Eulmorons why it was a bad idea to come to Urianger’s neck of the woods.

You are Emet Selch huh? This point probably happened earlier, but it’s all jumbled for me now. Anyway, Emet, honey, baby, doll, tell me something I don’t know, ok?

Oh he likes to chat between CSes, neat.

We’re off to see the wizard the wonderful wizard of Raktika!

Yshtola, what the fuck? Oh, I’ll have to forgive you, because of course you can’t be wrong. Whatever. I wonder how much life she’s got left to live, what with Matoya telling us her life was shorter for her forbidden magic use.

An Emet said, “Fuck this shit I’m out.”

Dark Cult #1 seems pretty nice

Dark Cult #2 is not as nice.

Ronka rhymes with Tonka. I DEMAND A RONKA TRUCK

Eulmorons back at it again. I’m pretty sure if they’d just let me kill Ran Jit now, it would save us a whole load of trouble, but alas, it’s not in this juncture of the script.

Murals! Were they painted by Bob Ross?

Yshtola go down the hole

Ran Jit go down the hole

Wouldn’t it have been kinda funny if Emet Selch gave her Ascian robes instead of the ones she had been wearing? I totally see him as the type to dig on others’ fashion choices. Also how much shorter is her life now?

Qitana Rivel is a fun dungeon. Bardam’s Mettle was better though, but hey most of the armor outta the rivel seems glammable!

See, nothing bad’s gonna happy Yshtola, you dummy! (of course, something bad is gonna happen. They have yet to let Yshtola be wrong about something)

Ok, two lightwarden’s left, but where oh where could they be? Guess we better rule out the obvious one that is Vauthry. Couldn’t possibly be him right? Guy who uses Soul Eaters for pillows, and enslaves the minds of others. I mean, we could save ourselves a lotta hassle if we just take military action to Eulmore... but alas, it’s not at this juncture of the script either!

TO THE DESERT! WE GOTTA GET “MINFILIA” Minfilia’s powers!

Oh we’ll have to go on the west side huh? Ok. 

So uh, why go to all this trouble the ride the trolley? Why not just follow the track and blow the gate open? Ah well, guess we gotta beat up and then befriend some plucky miner fellows and bring hope back to the land while we’re at it.

Oh this was all so they could reference Minerfilia. Oh and so we could bore Emet Selch. That’s ok, he’s dicks out for the Crystal Dicksarch anyway.

Jesus Christ, I think I’ve been fighting Discount Shan Yu for almost as long as the A3S fight was back in Gordias Savage. Aaaaaand... he’s still not dead. 

Thancred, if you die, I will use a phoenix down on you, just so I can kill you again.

“Minorfilia” got Minerfilia’s undefined powers, but now her eyes are grey and her hair is red! AND THEY EVEN GAVE HER A NEW NAME! Ryne it is then, you precious cinnabon.

She can now see Sin Eaters and Lightwarden aether, neat. Oh it’s underground huh? In the mine that was mentioned earlier huh. OK! 

Heh I haven’t seen this mechanic since Alexander Prime. THe Heavensward references are out in the sun!

Oooh that’s a spicy meatball, and I’ve got GERD at this point yuck. Yshtola be like, I TOLD YA, DIDN’T I TELL YA? But it’s ok, just hang on, Urianger said he had something up his sleeve.

Finally we’re taking the fight to Eulmore!

Huh all the people are attacking us in the name of Vauthry and they’re moving like zombies. Well, no big deal if we do kill them, but I guess we gotta be goodie goodies.

Oh, would you look at that,  Meol is made of mutated people. WITH GOT CITAN UZUKI’D IN SOYLENT GREEN REFERENCE

And finally, Ran Jit is... incapacitated? is he actually dead? I hope so. I’ll have to come back and find out later I suppose.

Vauthry appears to be a stress eater, but oh hey, there it is. He’s also a Soul Eater. 

More Talos shenanigans. BOOM ELEVATOR!

We did all that and there was a secret town up here with a secret tunnel to and from the bottom all along. Well, at least we rallied the Eulmorons out of their indolence.

LALI HO! Do female dwarves have beards? In some of the CSes with Ardbert, I’m pretty sure their WHM looked Dwarven and had a beard...

Dude the Crystal Dicksarch can cover and cast flare while wielding a WHM cane. What a fucking bad ass, why does he even need me?

“This idea is absurd, it’d take all of the people of Norvarandt just to have a chance of pulling it off!” WoL and crew respond by getting everyon ein Norvarandt. “Well uhh, shit I guess we’ll give it a go. Damn. Who the fuck are you people?” I’m with you on this one Mr. Chai. Who the fuck am I? ALPHINAUD AND ASSISTANTS MOTHALOVAH!

BEEG YOSHI

Bad ass dungeon! Cool ass bosses!

Eww I have to fight Vauthry now. Eww.

Dick move Emet, DIck Move. 

#FFXIV #Shadowbringers #Spoilers under the cut #you were warned!

[cannabisrefugee-esq]

(via 8th Anniversary of Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. A 3/11 Post. PS. Radiation Causes Inflammation and Autoimmune Disease.)

Cannabis Refugee, Esq.

March 11, 2019

Today is the 8th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.  On this day 8 years ago, 3/11/11, Japan experienced a 9.1 earthquake and resulting tsunami that destroyed a large portion of the eastern seaboard and caused at least 4 nuclear reactors to melt down, irradiating the facility and surrounding landscape with nuclear fuel.  There were multiple detonations at the site in the following days which spewed nuclear fuel rods into the air, water and soil.  The contamination of the Pacific ocean as well as the air at the coastline of Japan quickly spread around the world particularly the northern hemisphere.  Obviously, the Hawaiian islands and the west coast of North America including Canada, the United States and Mexico were hit soonest and hardest.  This official model of the path of the contamination plume is taken from NOAA’s website here. NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (the US government).  Of course, since the nuclear material has yet to be effectively contained on site and likely never will be, the plume coming out of Japan has never stopped.  It has been an ongoing circulating plume starting anew and aggregating every single day via ocean currents and the atmospheric jetstream for 8 years by now.

Most people and especially most sick people do not have the energy or even the cognition needed to thoroughly research this event and to come to rational conclusions about it including the potential and actual effects on our health and lives.  There is also an active and lavishly funded propaganda campaign that’s been running on us in full force since the event intended to cover up both its occurrence in the first place and its completely predictable effects on the environment and in turn on our planet’s biomass (read: food, pets and ourselves) in the second.   So there’s that.

It is my observation that propaganda is particularly effective against sick people and their carers knowing the truth about the nature and prognosis of disease where Big Pharma has managed to convince everyone that if we just swallow more and different poison that it will somehow make us feel better and not-poisoned and people believe it!  Perhaps especially Americans seem unusually susceptible to patriarchal propaganda and ignorant about anything health-related and combined with our cultural death taboo and extreme patriarchal conditioning we worship Western medical (male) authority and accept its lies even when it is in direct opposition to our lived experience.  That is the purpose and effect of propaganda afterall.  American corporate interests pay billions of dollars annually to inundate Americans and others with pro-corporate propaganda (otherwise known as advertising) because they know it works.

Likewise, we have all been fed a line where the harms of male-made nuclear radiation have been known for decades and yet we have accepted “treatment” including diagnostic testing with male-made nuclear isotopes in the form of “nuclear medicine” for just as long and we are not expected to recognize the sleight of hand there and most of us do not recognize it until it’s too late if we recognize it at all.  For example, cancer patients receiving so-called radiation therapy where radiation is known to cause cancer and which treatment actually does cause severe iatrogenic illness and injury requiring additional interventions and so on.  Predictably, when these irradiated cancer patients almost universally end up dying anyway they are said to have died from the original cancer and “complications” of the cancer and perhaps helped along by the “side effects” of the medications.  We are not allowed to consider that it was actually Western nuclear medicine that killed them and tortured them viciously up to the end.

The disaster at Fukushima is of particular import to readers of this blog and all chronically ill people everywhere because male-made radiation is known to trigger and/or exacerbate chronic inflammatory conditions and autoimmune disease.  A cursory review of the medical literature bears this out even though most people do not realize a correlation exists.  I didn’t know about it until I started researching radiation enteritis as a possible explanation for my own gastrointestinal condition where my dickless medical team were content with telling me the cause of Crohn’s disease is unknown.  Anecdotally, while I was mostly able to control my GI symptoms for some 20 years using diet and supplements, I became increasingly ill after the Fukushima event as did other AI patients I know.  By the fall of 2012 I was no longer able to control my symptoms no matter what I did and began a rapid descent into the hell of incurable and progressive disease.  Here, in an article entitled “Radiation-induced inflammation and autoimmune diseases” we see that a causal link is accepted where people irradiated through nuclear accidents develop autoimmune thyroid disease and diabetes even though the exact mechanism by which radiation causes these diseases is not yet known.

Especially radical feminists are aware by now that due to men’s lies including so-called national security, biased accounts of history, corporate and other patriarchal propaganda campaigns and the like, our own history is mostly unknowable to us.  We are unable to access the information we need to put the pieces together and the information we do have is unverifiable by male or scientific standards and therefore, our theories exist at the level of conspiracy theory (repackaged today as so-called “fake news”).  Of course, the very existence of patriarchy is an unverifiable conspiracy theory/fake news to most people despite its obvious existence (patriarchy means that all relevant power lies in men’s hands with only token female representation in areas of military, economic, regulatory, academic, sci-medical powers and so on which is verifiably true but regarded as an unverifiable conspiracy theory anyway).  We are used to this.

We, more than anyone, must seek out information where and when we can and then mostly rely on our own discernment as “verification” in order to save precious time and to come to rational conclusions about our reality and our lives.  We must come to rational conclusions if we are to act in our own best interests and under patriarchy this is exactly what women are forbidden to do.  As a shortcut, I recommend the work of the Nuclear Proctologist aka Canadian anti-nuke activist Dana Durnford to those who want to understand what happened at Fukushima on 3/11/11 and what the literal and figurative fallout of that event has been and is likely to be, particularly the related effects on our own health.   The above video link is to his 8th Anniversary Livestream which will begin at 2:30pm Pacific Standard Time today (in about 10 minutes from now) which I recommend people watch and then use their discernment to come to rational conclusions about what happened that day and about how it is expected to — and demonstrably has — affected us, particularly our health.  Thank you for reading.

#fukushima #radiation #nuclear medicine #nuclear meltdown #chemotherapy #fake news #conspiracy #radical feminism #autoimmune disease #crohn's disease #chronic illness #advertising #social media #cancer #inflammation #sick #ecological disaster

[cerastes]

@fangusklot Ishida Tetsuo, AKA Bug Cop AKA The Bastard is from the video game Forbidden Siren, brought to the west as Siren. It’s one of my favorite games ever and, alongside Baroque, a game that had an immensely deep influence in my tastes.

Forbidden Siren is a game by Keiichiro Toyama, the man that created Silent Hill, so you know what kind of deal you’re getting into. It’s a survival horror game for the PS2 in which you control a number of characters throughout their romp in the village of Hanuda. Everyone is there for their own reasons, such as one character, the “protagonist”, let’s say, being there because he’s a fanatic of the occult and wanted to see Hanuda, as it was involved in a supposedly supernatural scandal that made the headlines. It was a harmless visit, except, he ended up witnessing a legitimate, sinister ritual, and it all goes downhill from there.

This game has some very peculiar aspects to it, with the most prominent being its main gameplay mechanic: Sightjacking. As the name implies, Sightjacking lets you see through the eyes of someone else. Someone else, or something else. As you try to survive your escape from Hanuda, you become cursed by the Red Water, and one of the side effects this has is to be able to send your consciousness towards others to see what they see. Hanuda is full to the brim with far more cursed villagers, known as the Shibito, who have pale or blue skin, cry blood, and are fully immortal. It doesn’t matter what you do to a Shibito, you never can kill one, you can disable them at most, and before long, they’ll be up to pursue you again. With Sightjacking, you can see what the enemy sees, and as such plan your escape carefully, or, if you were spotted, you can confirm if that enemy is still looking for you, knows where you are, or has given up. Shibito follow their routines from when they were human, but attack you on sight. Some Shibito, however, are particularly stained with the curse, and have mutated further. There’s plenty, PLENTY of varieties, all with their own fun twists and abilities, and boy oh BOY, some of them are downright chilling.

Ishida Tetsuo is one such advanced Shibito: He used to be a sake-loving cop known for drinking a lot, but due to the curse, he’s turned into bug man. He can fly with his wings and shoot at you with his service revolver.

It’s an extremely dark game, and it’s very confusing: When you pick a character, you are also given the date and time in which you are using them, and you get to see as these many characters go through their own obstacles, sometimes aiding other playable characters directly or indirectly through actions in their stages. And sometimes, well, your playable characters meet rather grizzly ends... And later, you see them as Shibito, thanks to the curse. It has pretty deep lore, and one of my favorite parts of it [SPOILERS, IN CASE YOU INTEND TO PLAY IT] is that the curse is actually derived because Hanuda was going through a terrible famine many, many years ago, when suddenly, as things would have it, an alien god crashed near the shore. The villagers, starving to death and desperate, saw this creature, just assumed it was some weird deep sea life form, and ate it. This super ultra cursed them, and the “curse”, more of a cosmic virus than anything, with consequences lasting even to this day. I also love the sheer attention to detail it has, such as a certain character, halfway through her stage, suddenly stops being attacked by the Shibito. You think it’s a bug or just weird, and then, when you reach the end of the level, it’s revealed that this particular character had begun succumbing to the worst parts of the curse, and was basically already Shibito by the time you lead her back to her home, much to the horror of her parents, who see her face pale and crying literal bloody tears of joy. It’s fucking good. Later, you find the whole family went Shibito, with her likely killing them into it. And then, there’s the plot of the priest and the doctor, twins separated when they were little, which is too long and too fucked up to put into brief words, but basically, MAN THIS IS FUCKING COOL, at some point, the doctor kills the priest, wears his clothes, and the next time the game tells you you are using the priest, it’s the doctor you’re actually using, and your only way of knowing this is if you paid attention to some special events you can only see by Sightjacking them as another character while they are on a stage but not as the playable characters, and realizing that the doctor is going to kill him, as well as his inventory, despite being the priest, is that of the doctor, including his iconic weapon, a hammer. Its just full of really fucking cool and blink-it-and-you-miss-it stuff like that AAAA[SPOILERS END HERE].

It’s a marvelous game and while I know it’s not perfect in gameplay, it truly, truly sent shivers down my spine and filled my head with aspirations and inspiration. I love this game with all of my heart. It’s a game that truly made me fear the enemies in it, especially endgame. You go from basic villagers to twisted monstrosities to, in one particularly hard level, two Shibito so twisted and corrupted by the curse that every single bone on their body has twisted in some form, they go on all fours while making a fucking noise, and they know where you are at all times because they are psychics, meaning you need to spend the whole level Sightjacking them now and then to know where they are in the stage in relation to you, lest they ambush you and kill the shit out of you. That level got me extremely nervous and it’s one of my fondest memories, trying to not get scared shitless with my stepbro as we played through it.

#fangusklot