#twin-to-twin transfusion

[10bmnews]

Jesy Nelson welcomes twin daughters after emergency surgery for rare pregnancy complication | The Express Tribune

Jesy Nelson, former member of the British girl group Little Mix, has announced the premature birth of twin daughters with her partner, singer Zion Foster. The couple’s daughters, Ocean Jade Nelson-Foster and Story Monroe Nelson-Foster, were born at 31 weeks and five days after Nelson underwent emergency surgery prompted by a rare condition known as twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). Nelson…

[psychopomp-namine]

that protagonist!kako and nozomi!ima post I just reblogged fucked me up so bad. major emotional damage.

thinking about how takumi time leaped for karua and in this au kako would time leap for ima. how takumi decided not to tell nozomi she's karua and kako wouldn't tell ima that she's the sister he was looking for...

the way ima in canon already struggles defining an identity outside of kako that he found joy parading around as sirei and that was the start of him truly separating himself from his role as kako's guardian (cut short because he died AGAIN), and in this au his identity is even more scrambled because he wouldn't even remember kako as the sister he's supposed to protect... head in hands <//////3

kako meeting ima in the second to the last defense academy and he calls her by name and it's the first time he's ever done that, he finally did what she always requested. they're finally equals (they might even become "best friends" because they're the only ones of the same age in the cast). it just had to be under these circumstances

BUT ALSO kako always wanted ima to be free from having to keep her safe and to be his own person, and in a way, isn't this a grand opportunity? if ima is "kirifuji" now he gets to be his own person, he gets to discover what he likes and what he wants and not just be in survival mode 24/7 for her sake. and kako also gets to meet him on equal terms

but it will never be the same

[diazsdimples]

Going Through It™️ with this fucking essay, someone distract me pls 🥲

[soysaucevictim]

Had a discussion with some people about something called situs inversus. It's usually an incidental finding...

Been thinking Gymrat!Pat may have it. Maybe discovered on the medical exam part of getting into the Army (latter a combat medic).

And since the Begotten!Twins are mirror twins... one of them has to have flipped around organs here. Maybe it's Roman (dude got shot in the chest and survived - also with the help of supernatural/angsty shenanigans.)

[thedarkestcrow]

Who is Modri Vladis?

The mysterious character who claims to know Sebastian is calling himself "Modri Vladis" in the new chapter.

It's been suspected that this person could know Sebastian as a demon from once having a contract with him. The tattoo on his neck might be a remnant of a contract sign. However, Sebastian denies to remember him, even to Ciel who he cannot lie to.

But does that truly exclude the possibility of Modri Vladis being one of Sebastian's former contractors?

Modri Vladis seems to remember an encounter with Sebastian for one night which could imply that there had been a very short-timed contract that ended in Sebastian taking Vladis' soul.

Vladis is first shown being connected to an infusion stand so it's likely he's one of Undertaker's more advanced Bizarre Dolls who depends on regular blood transfusions. So if Vladis' body was okay after dying or having his soul being devoured, there is a chance that he could have been made into a Bizarre Doll.

Sebastian claims he doesn't remember him but that does not necessarily mean that they've never met. Maybe with his soul missing, Sebastian truly doesn't "remember" him (like he says). Maybe a contractor is really so insignificant to a demon that they simply forget them after the contract. A human is just a meal to them, especially if that contract only lasted for one night. Who remembers what they ate years ago? Or maybe Sebastian's current form only stores the memories of his current contract. (When Undertaker cut him with his death scythe, he only saw the memories of the time from the contract with Ciel, at least to our knowledge.)

There might also be another possibility. Maybe this idea is a bit far-fetched but bear with me for a bit. ;)

Bizarre Dolls are created by extending their Cinematic Record which stores their memories. Undertaker first started by adding fake records and later added the person's yearning for the future which evolved the Dolls. What if another evolution to this process is to add memories of another person to a Doll's Cinematic Record?

The hotel's manager mentioned the smoking room as a place to share stories of the past and the future, which struck me as a curious detail.

Maybe this hotel is not just a place to gather blood but to collect the memories (i.e. Cinematic Records) for Undertaker to use for his more advanced Bizarre Dolls. In that case, Modri Vladis might have a different body with just the memories of Vladis. And maybe that's why Sebastian doesn't remember him from his looks.

The reason I've been thinking this is the way that Vladis tries to make Sebastian remember him. He cuts into his wrist and draws his own blood.

It seems like a strange way to make someone remember him. It could be that Vladis' blood was involved in once summoning Sebastian (similar to how the cultists who captured the twins tried to summon a demon by killing children). However, I couldn't help but be reminded that when a shinigami cuts someone with their death scythe, their Cinematic Record is shown. So maybe Vladis was trying to make his memories with Sebastian visible through showing his Cinematic Record?

That didn't happen, though, the knife doesn't look like a death scythe and I'm not sure if someone who isn't a shinigami could even use a death scythe in that way.

Still, whether Vladis is fake or not, Vladis himself seems quite convinced to know Sebastian. And despite Sebastian not remembering him, it seems like he's not absolutely sure that they never met.

So I think it's still possible that there is a past connection between them and I'm really curious to learn more about that.

[prince-less]

THE EGGSPERIMENTS AU MASTERPOST !

This is an au I've been cooking up based on an idea I made a few years ago where Sonic and Tails were chaos energy experiments transformed by Dr. Robotnik!

I plan on making this into a comic at some point, maybe soon.

Here are Sonic, Tails, and Eggman's ref sheets !

My written lore and story is right below the cut !

Eggman discovers a chaos emerald and learns of its physical energy properties. He wants to do a live experiment and so he finds a young Sonic, who isn't fast at this point but is still on his own, and captures him. Eggman starts giving Sonic blood transfusions comprised of blood samples and extracted chaos energy made by taking slivers off of the chaos emerald and liquifying them. It starts changing Sonic, filling him with overwhelming energy that only calms down when he runs, some expelling through the static electricity in his quills.

After a certain amount of time testing, Eggman is brought a proposition. A family of foxes offered up their twin-tailed toddler, wanting rid of him before he grew and brought humiliation to the family for his birth defect. They had heard of a doctor who was in need of unique subjects and so decided it was best they hand him over. Eggman began the treatment of the little fox not long after, and the effects were different, much to Eggman's surprise. The chaos energy was affecting the fox's sense of gravity. He began floating, moving if he was on the moon, and used his tails to propel himself through the air. Eggman had to weigh down his ankles and keep him in a pressurized cell to keep him from sitting on the ceiling.

After awhile, he finally let the two meet, and they immediately hit it off. They were inseparable and would make a fuss when they had to go back to their respective cells. As they hung out they began to wonder if they could go outside, and when they brought it up to Eggman, they were met with an immediate shut down. Sonic argued that they shouldn't be cooped up in his lab for the rest of their lives. They were yelled at and immediately separated to their rooms.

It started coming to a point whrte their testing starting to become more combative rather than reflexive, with Sonic questioning the doctor's motive for their creation, so when the doctor was out one day, he fried the lock of his cells with his energy and did the same to tails, making their way to the doctor's computer. Tails makes his way into it, having quickly gained an affinity for machines and technology through watching the doctor, and they soon find out that they're going to be utilized as some kind of super soldier. Horrified by this news, Sonic decides right then and there that they need to break out. They begin to make a break for it when Eggman returns right as they reach the door. Furious with their insubordination, he calls for his badniks until he's suddenly tazed by Sonic spindashing directly unto him. With Eggman unconscious they run like there's no tomorrow out into the bright, unfamiliar world.

Please send any questions you would like about them, I'd love to talk about them.

So, uh, yeah this is all I have for now ! I love my little eggs <33

Here's some bonus doodles for anybody who read all my ramblings

[northgazaupdates]

Twin girls Rawan and Razan both have thalassemia and other serious medical conditions. These problems require them to receive blood transfusions twice a week. This was difficult but manageable before October 2023, but became nearly impossible after that time. The IOF’s blockade on medical supplies and the massive increase in the number of hospital patients due to the attacks both mean that the girls struggled to receive their treatments.

Then, their home in north Gaza was destroyed. Not having anywhere else to stay, they were forced to flee to Rafah. They continued to receive treatments in Rafah, but this was still extremely difficult, as resources in Rafah were also scarce. The occupation has been attacking Rafah since October, but the attacks have escalated dramatically as the IOF initiates the invasion of Rafah. As the attacks have increased, so has the pressure on Rafah’s hospitals.

This has made it more and more difficult for Razan and Rawan to receive their necessary blood transfusions. These transfusions are absolutely necessary for their health. All of this is on top of the immediate danger in which they live—the danger of ongoing aerial bombardment, and the danger of the impending invasion.

Their father Arafat is trying to raise funds to evacuate their family to Egypt so that Rawan and Razan will be able to receive reliable and adequate healthcare in a safe environment. Their fund has had very, very few donations, and the fees they need to pay are quite high. Please support their campaign in any way you can. If you cannot donate, please reblog this post, the posts on Arafat’s blog @arfaaa3t, and repost this link.

[hello-eden]

dead on main #3

destabilized Ellie and Dan are Jason and Danny's kids except Jason gives his permission to help stabilize the two when he's dead and when he's resurrected he has no memories of it.

 Danny and Jason met while he was dead and had a teenage puppy crush sort of thing. The two of them had a lot of things going on with one still being a vigilante in their town and one being recently murdered, So they never really were able to get together before Jason was resurrected. The two of them are from different dimensions and only meet due to the fact that the ghost zone is every Dimension afterlife. 

There is a bad reaction from Vlad finding out that Danny used someone else's DNA to stabilize the kids, Which leads to a very Reckless fight that leads to his parents finding out that the kids are halfas. The parents don't know that he is also halfa so they try to cure the kids. Danny flees To the ghost zone specifically to frostbite to make sure the kids are okay. While he's there Clockwork decides that was the best time to basically tell Danny that Jason's resurrected in his home dimension and that is probably best if he settles down there. Of course because Clockwork is still a menace before Danny goes through the portal he says that Jason does not have his memories of being dead and then pushes him through. Danny sets up his life there with Ellie and Dan.

Plot twist Danny ends up being neighbors to Roy in Star City. Danny is a trans single father of twins that appears to have run away from home due to bad situation. With all the Vigilante scars that Danny has it's a reasonable conclusion for him to suspect an abusive home.

Danny babysits Lian when Roy has missions and Roy babysits Ellie and Dan When Danny does work.  of course not always do their schedules so occasionally they have to call in another babysitter and when that fails we have the Red Hood himself. the unknown father of the twins( not really twins) and the Godfather of the other child( yes I made him The Godfather).

 Danny doesn't instantly recognize him due to the very obvious change. Two of them meet a couple of times through Roy. Danny usually just accidentally stopping in at a bad time before Roy introduces them together and Danny hears his name.

Danny does not tell him that he's the father of the children because one he was dead which means he's going to have to explain what he was doing while he was dead. and two because Clockwork told him he had his memories erased. Danny of course has a lot of feelings about this and Jason instantly gets a crush. Jason occasionally babysits the kids when the regular babysitter isn't working Nor can watch each other's kids because of schedules.

A situation happens with Ellie where she needs to go to the hospital and Jason brings her. this leads to an emergency blood transfusion. The transfusion goes badly and isn't working so Jason asks if his blood will work. It works perfectly. Jason questions for a little bit. Danny, whose phone was broken in  a villain attack two days ago and hasn't gotten replaced, shows up at the hospital after finally being contacted. Jason questioned him a little bit  Danny freaks out a lot which raises Jason's alarms quite High. When Danny's getting some food for Elle and talking to doctors Jason does a DNA test. Jason gets the results a week later when Ellie's finally back home which reveals he is the father. He has a lot of questions about this.

[cameronsbabydoll]

hitler is kinda iconic ngl like we need to bring him back fr

i’m sure your some pathetic fucking loser but i feel the need to educate some of you guys.

here are some stories / stuff from the concentration camps i think you should read before saying shit like this

“Prisoners worked 10 hours a day in inhumane conditions, and it was usually heavy work. In the Husum Aussenkommando, for instance, they dug anti-tank ditches in heavy, sodden marshland. Others worked in weapon factories, mines, shipyards, building sites or on the railways. Numerous statements describe their ‘almost complet”

“Thygesen recalled: ‘once, I found a dog’s tooth in a sausage’. He said the soup was made of water and waste meat (‘udder, lungs, horse muzzle’) and turnips”

“Looked after by French doctors Prof Gabriel Florence and Dr René Quenouille and Dutch orderlies Dirk Deutekom and Anton Hölzel, the children were subjected to abject experiments in a barrack called ‘Sonderabteilung Heißmeyer’ (Heissmeyer Special Unit). Heissmeyer cut small incisions under their arms and rubbed TB in. He also used lung probes to inject the disease more deeply. Florence tried to kill off the TB bacilli by boiling them before the children were injected, but they all fell ill”

“Heissmeyer had regular X-rays performed to monitor the progress of the disease, and had their armpit lymph nodes surgically removed for examination”

“Hitler planned to collect thousands of Jewish artifacts and build a "museum of an extinct race" when the war was over”

“Nazi doctor Josef Mengele (known as the Angel of Death) did numerous "operations" on these children. In one of them, he tried to create siamese twins by sewing two children together”

“Mengele injected adrenaline into children's eyes in an attempt to change eye color and to study environmental influences”

“A third group, primarily twin children, who would serve as involuntary guinea pigs for his spurious and ghastly human experiments, were delivered to well-supplied barracks where Mengele conducted grisly and often fatal surgical experiments in a pseudoscientific quest to uncover the secrets of genetics”

“One witness described how Josef Mengele ripped an infant from its mother`s womb, then hurled it into an oven because it wasn`t a twin as he had hoped. A third witness recounted how Mengele kept hundreds of human eyes pinned to his lab wall ''like a collection of butterflies”.

“He performed experiments such as unnecessary amputation of limbs. He intentionally infected a twin with typhus or another disease and transfused the blood of the infected twin into the other. Many of his subjects died while undergoing these procedures. After an experiment was complete, the twins were sometimes killed and their bodies dissected. Miklós Nyiszli, a prisoner doctor at Auschwitz, recalled one occasion where Mengele personally killed fourteen twins in one night through a chloroform injection to the heart. If one twin died of disease, Mengele killed the other so that comparative reports could be prepared after death.”

“Although gynecology was not his specialty, Mengele conducted experiments on pregnant women. He had them infected with typhoid in order to determine whether their children would be born with the infection too.”

2. Freezing Experiments (Dachau)

Aimed at helping German pilots survive crashes into cold water.

Victims (mostly political prisoners) were immersed in ice water for hours or left naked outdoors in sub-zero temperatures.

Some were revived by hot water, boiling baths, or even body heat from women, others died slowly from hypothermia.

Many suffered permanent injury or death, and survivors were often re-experimented on.

3. Mustard Gas and Chemical Burns (Auschwitz, Ravensbrück)

Victims were deliberately burned with mustard gas or other chemicals to test treatments.

Wounds were deliberately infected with bacteria, dirt, or glass shards to simulate battlefield injuries.

Survivors often suffered from chronic pain, disfigurement, and lifelong disability.

4. Sterilization and Reproductive Experiments

Nazis wanted to eliminate those they deemed “unfit” from the gene pool.

Forced sterilizations were conducted through radiation, surgery, and chemical injections — often without anesthesia.

Gypsy women were especially targeted. Many were mutilated or killed.

5. High-Altitude Experiments

Victims were placed in low-pressure chambers to simulate high altitudes.

They suffered convulsions, brain damage, and death from lack of oxygen.

The Nazis claimed these were to help Luftwaffe pilots — but they were entirely unethical and deadly.

6. Pharmaceutical Testing

Drugs and poisons were tested on unwilling subjects.

Victims were deliberately infected with typhus, malaria, tuberculosis, etc.

Some were injected with poison and then dissected while alive to study effects.

I have the papers of my great grandfather stories:

[lexdelioncourt]

Why has it only recently occurred to me that the WHOLE POINT of the DM chapter is that Daniel is having dreams/visions of the twins because he's been drinking Armand's blood?? Every day I'm more convinced that that "levodopa transfusion" had some of that sweet vampire blood in it 😑

The first dream he has with Armand in it happens right after the transfusion, I'm just saying' 🤷‍♀️

[quarterlifekitty]

So this post by @/glossysoap really got into my brain and I’m thinking. Soap is the kind of guy who will take anything as proof that you’re soulmates if he takes a look at you and decides he likes you.

cw: the man being delusional, stalkery, and worst of all…. A really bad catholic. Also maybe a teeny bit of fauxcest

Soap being obsessed over you sharing a birthday— saying it means you’re basically twins. And you know, they sometimes say that star crossed lovers are reborn as twins….

Any form of blood transfusion, organ transplant, or skin graft. It must mean something that his body just accepted a part of yours like it was always there.

“It just cannae be a coincidence, hen. It means we’ve got somethin’ special, ye ken?”

Your coffee orders get swapped at a cafe. Means he has to buy you a pastry for your trouble— the way he saw your face scrunch at how insanely sweet his order was.

You’re seated next to each other on a long haul flight. Fate as determined by the fickle gods of the commercial airline industry. He puts his hand on your thigh when you fall asleep.

You contact a wrong number, and he’s on the other end. Block button isn’t fast enough— he’s memorized your number, and that makes finding you easy.

And I see him as the type of guy who was raised Catholic, but only ever brings it up when it might benefit him. That him finding you, your crossing paths this way, that’s all a part of his plan 😌 the lord works in mysterious ways, yeah? It can be right scary, huh? Better not to go against it, though.

[bonefall]

i dont think people are upset that the erins "weren't creative" enough with Moonpaw, they're upset that she's just. not a chimera. thats just a longhaired tortie and they justified it with chimerism. which is extremely insensitive because chimerism is a real medical thing that can cause issues in every species, including humans for those that dont know, and thats like. a big thing.

like, yay some disability rep (depending on how they write it. it wont be good. ughh) but like. its not going to be considered a disability when it can be in some cases. they are just going to say "ohh shes so special!!" like some people say with autism in this age (the infantilization of it) and its gonna be. weirdddd

anyways. sorry for ranting in your inbox.

Hey. Woah. THIS is insensitive and I don't know where you're getting this from. NONE of the three types of natural chimerism are a disability and it is extremely rare that fusion chimerism leads to medical complications.

Do not spread misinformation about a genetic condition because you're annoyed about the writing team confusing a common tortie fur pattern with chimerism. THEIR mistake is ultimately harmless. What YOU'RE doing is stigmatizing.

Quite frankly, after seeing a bunch of posts and receiving several asks about this, I don't think half of the people who are getting mad actually know anything about chimeras. I sure as fuck hope it's just ignorance, and that you aren't out here trying to call the state of being intersex a disability.

But I can fix ignorance. No need to assume malice. I will explain what chimerism is, and why you should stop going around implying it "causes issues in every species."

Chimerism is when a single individual is comprised of cells from two or more fully fertilized zygotes. There are two BROAD types of chimerism;

Artifical

Natural

Artifical chimeras are common with the advent of modern medicine. Ever had a blood transfusion? Organ transplant? You are a chimera. Or at least were for a while.

THIS can lead to complications and can cause disability, but it's not what Moonpaw is. She would be a type of natural chimera, which in and of itself has THREE subtypes;

Micro chimerism

Blood chimerism

Fusion chimerism

Microchimerism is so common that I could make a Your Mom joke out of it. It's caused by the passage of cells between the fetus and placenta during pregnancy. Everyone who has ever been pregnant is a microchimera.

While it can lead to complications, it can also be beneficial. Pregnancy could be considered a type of temporary disability, but no one would expect disability rep from every character who had ever given birth.

Blood chimeras are common in species whose twins typically share a placenta, such as cows and marmosets, but very rare in animals like humans and cats which usually don't. It occurs when tissue between two twins is exchanged through the umbilical chord. This type of chimera often ends up with a mixed bloodtype, hence the name.

This is the cause of freemartinism in cattle, when fraternal cow twins cause a sister to share her brother's hormones and act more like a bull. A type of intersex condition, not a disability-- so I sure HOPE you aren't trying to imply THIS should be "disability rep."

And even in the other case, would you automatically expect disability rep from a character that has two blood types?? No. Just like you wouldn't automatically expect disability rep from every character that had ever been pregnant, or every character who had ever needed a blood transfusion

And lastly, the one that Moonpaw ACTUALLY is. A fusion chimera. These are created when two fully fertilized zygotes fuse into a single individual.

These are extremely rare because you can't usually TELL when an individual is a chimera. There is no obvious physical difference between the "halves," with some cases of doctors insisting that patches are just weird birthmarks. They live their entire lives with normal health problems like non-chimeras. It mostly causes complications when DNA testing results in a false negative-- because the offspring of a fusion chimera occasionally end up being their genetic nespring.

Or, the two "halves" are male and female, causing gonadal differences. These people aren't disabled, there's nothing wrong with their bodies, but they're subjected to unneccesary cosmetic surgeries as children because they are intersex.

Say it. SAY IT. INTERSEX. I N T E R S E X. IM GRABBING YOU BY THE SHIRT AND SHAKING YOU THEY ARE INTERSEX.

Can some intersex conditions cause disabilities? YES. Are intersex conditions inherently disabilities? NO. Even when you're discussing infertility as a disability, tread VERY CAREFULLY because intersex people are fighting very hard to lift the stigma over their bodies.

Speak with care. Do not equate being intersex with being disabled. They are two different things.

You can be both and sometimes one could contribute to the other, but BEING intersex IS NOT a disability.

VERY rarely, even MORE rare than standard chimeras which are already very very rare and massively underreported because they are so unremarkable, a fusion chimera will happen LATE in utero. THIS can contribute to a chronic autoimmune condition where the cells reject each other, which is a disability.

And by rare I mean one case. Literally one. Of the 50 reported fusion chimeras in the review I'm referencing, Taylor Muhl was the only one with this. 4 were discovered via congenital abnormalities (unknown if connected to the chimerism b/c they were only tested because something was already wrong), 17 had fertility issues, and the remaining 28 didn't report immune conditions or birth defects but INTERSEXUALITY.

ANOTHER condition is often lumped in with chimerism, by people who do not know what chimerism is, which is mosaicism. Mosaicism, when there are two different sets of genes resulting from the same zygote, is NOT chimerism. MOSAICISM can be a cause of disability. CHIMERISM is usually not.

(Read the review in depth, as it includes mosaic cases for the sake of completion.)

They can both be fertilization errors, but are not the same thing. Follow me, I'm only going to woefully simplify a complicated topic once,

CHIMERA = Two zygotes in one body

MOSAIC = Two bodies in one zygote

CHIMERA = usually fine

MOSAIC = usually bad

And the last possible places you could be getting the idea that chimerism "causes disability" from, to my knowledge, is 1. This study that says the loss of a twin in early pregnancy increases the chance of congenital defects in the survivors (has barely anything to do with chimerism, this link is tangential, vanishing twin syndrome does not necessarily mean it was absorbed by its sibling)

Or, 2, this study of several animals where they correlated rates of benign tumors to % of chimerism based on SPECIES. BLOOD chimeras. It's COWS AND MARMOSETS AGAIN. The study ITSELF calls for further targeted research of chimerism cause of susceptibility to cancer.

It couldn't even link new growths or malignant tumors to chimerism in the mammals of its study. WE'RE mammals.

Correlation does not equal causation. Statistics 101.

So no. That's not "a big thing." Chimerism is fine, they're just very likely to be intersex if they're a fusion chimera of a male and a female zygote. Do not imply intersexuality is a disability. Please get mad about the actual ableism in the series, not the team being clueless about tortie patterns.

Also everyone say you're sorry to intersex Moonpaw. I better see you people making intersex Moonpaw pride flag edits as penance IMMEDIATELY.

UPDATE: Anon apologized! Growth! I still think this is an important post, especially in the context of the wider fandom conversation, so I'm leaving it as-is. Please feel free to reblog.

UPDATE 2: Clarification on infertility as a disability because I didn't word myself very well in one section!

[diazsdimples]

3 years of studying about babies and pregnancy and it has only NOW clicked that babies with higher blood flow have more amniotic fluid cause they produce more urine and therefore have more pee to swim in. Pregnancy is so fucking cool man

[icantbelieveitsnotbutler]

The Purpose of the F.O.L. Orphanage

Manga spoilers under the cut.

While the primary purpose of the music hall and the manor and sanatorium infiltrated by Mey-Rin and Bard seem to be blood-collection, the F.O.L. Orphanage was established for experimentation. I believe the goals of those experiments could be involved in the resolution the current arc and the fate of both Ciels.

R!Ciel, along with the other 'stars', is the culmination of Undertaker's work in reanimation: he is indistinguishable from a living human, apart from his dependence on blood transfusions. The existence of the F.O.L. orphanage implies that Undertaker thinks there's room for improvement. Reducing or even eliminating his dolls' reliance on blood would allow them to be more independent and protect them from consequences of having their supply cut off.

The orphanage doesn't accept all orphans, only those whose personalities and other attributes match the star whose blood type they share. They are cared for and educated in a manner that causes them to mimick the lifestyles lived by their 'star' counterparts: r!Ciel the child earl, Doll the athletic circus performer, Polaris the butler, and Layla (Vega), who we meet as a nurse, but who is trained in martial arts and housework.

But why should the lifestyle of a blood donor matter, as long as they're healthy? The blood is either compatible or not. Perhaps if the donor is more like the bizarre doll, the the time between transfusions could be extended, or organs could be transplanted that eliminate the need for transfusions altogether. But these experiments are not testing the physical compatibility of the children with their corresponding 'stars.'

Undertaker is trying to find donors with appropriate "radiances." But what is radiance? The above translation is misleading; more accurately, it would say "The closer the body and mind (of the children) get to (those of) the 'stars,' the more appropriate the radiance will become."

The factor the orphanage is trying to control, 心身, is the combined body and mind. They are hoping this will affect the きらめき, the radiance, of the children and make them more "appropriate." This radiance is in fact the soul.

In the end, I believe there is no way to make the bizarre dolls as perfect as living humans, and Undertaker has learned this through his experiments. The bodies cannot sustain themselves. However, if another person's soul is similar enough, or could be shaped to be, perhaps the cinematic record of the deceased person could replace or be spliced together with the record of the living donor.

The children who reach their 'fledgling day' and whose bodies Finny and co. discovered in jars might be failed transfers/splices. Layla, who acts like an adult despite appearing as a child and whose body seems to be inhabited by two souls (Layla and Al), might be a successful splice.

I believe that Undertaker's ultimate goal is to find an appropriate host for r!Ciel. Conveniently, he has a twin who is so similar to him that people are unable to tell them apart. If these theories are correct, Undertaker could be planning to splice them while o!Ciel is still alive, or put r!Ciel's soul/cinematic record in o!Ciel's body after Sebastian takes his soul.

[takemetomyfragiledreams]

DamiTim 7.…to shut them up.

Have a side of Banshee!Tim with your order

Tim does not get hurt. This is a truth that Damian has carried since a child; since he was held in cold arms and whispered stories he couldn't yet understand; since he saw Tim materialize and rematerialize out of view. Tim is a creature of death. He can kill and revive in a single breath.

It has never occurred to Damian before that he would not simply do so again. It has never occurred to Damian that it hurts him to see them hurt.

It is why he is so thoroughly rocked when, that night, instead of a blade going through his stomach, it goes through Tim's instead.

There's a banshee scream that blows the foe away, bleeding from eyes, nose and mouth; Damian cannot focus on it. He cannot see anything other than the black of Tim's blood beginning to stain his suit.

He must say something over coms as he scoops Tim up, because Nightwing and Wraith cover them immediately when he retreats.

There are words in his ears as he swings through the night but he does not register them. It's not until they're in a safe house and he's yanking the zipper to Tim's suit down that he starts hearing anything at all.

"I need to take the knife out," he tells Tim. The blood is cold on his hands, like the rest of Tim, and it does not help the nausea in his gut. Damian has long since been desensitized to gore but in this moment it does not feel like it.

The knife comes loose. He packs the wound and finds himself at a loss.

"Do you need stitches? I do not know how healing works for you."

"Damian," Tim tries.

"How do you replace your blood? Will a normal transfusion work?"

"Damian," he tries again, taking his face between his hands.

Damian resists as he runs through what he knows of beings like Tim. It is frustratingly little.

"I'll call Zatanna--" his words are stolen as Tim presses a firm kiss to his mouth. It takes a second for his brain to reboot, to process this new event. It's then that he finally realizes he's shaking; how shameful.

"There," Tim says gently, gloved fingertips running over Damian's suddenly wet cheeks. "It's alright, baby bat. I'll be fine."

"You took a killing blow for me," Damian croaks out. "Why?"

"I guess I grow weary of watching you die, knowing I could stop it before it even happens."

"But your blood--"

"It'll replenish. I'll just need to go hunting to regain my energy."

He settles some at the knowledge. "Do not do that again."

Tim smiles a ghastly sort of smile, eyes twin pits of shadow. "No promises."

[tinfoil-jones]

Gravity Falls: For Your Own Good, Ch. 2

Summary: A few years after moving to Gravity Falls and having his lab built, Stanford Pines happens upon his estranged twin brother, Stanley. He mentally prepared himself to be suffocated by his brothers neediness all over again - what he wasn't prepared for was Stanley walking right past him like he didn't even notice him.

Rating: M for language, violence, and adult implications

Preface: Dialogue only, but some actions will be annotated for clarity. Cross-Posted on AO3 Here

Prev - Next

CH.2

"Don’t get me wrong, I stand in solidarity with all assortments of criminals, felons, and anyone who sticks it to the man, but damn do I hate being the man who gets stuck."

"This is for your own good."

"You're not the first kidnapper to tell me that.”

“...We’ll touch on that later. How are you feeling?” 

“Like I’ve been kidnapped by some delusional maniac.”

“...I meant physically. How are you handling your stitches?”

“They’re slightly better than the last set of shady back alley stitches I got. I thought you said you weren’t a medical doctor?”

“My fields of study are wide and varied, of course I’ve covered some basic medical topics.”

*Ford tosses a book titled ‘Battlefield Medicine and Emergency Blood Transfusions For Dummies’ into a drawer and closes it*

“Where are we, anyways?”

“We’re still in Gravity Falls, but in my research facility in the woods; right now we’re in my below-ground level lab. You’re in one of the containment cells I use for cryptids, monsters, and anomalies.”

“So, what, you're some kinda mad scientist? Are you gonna do some depraved experiments on me?”

“No, you’re staying there until you heal, and you admit you’re lying.”

“Lying about what, specifically? It’s a long list.”

“Lying about not knowing who I am. You’re only doing this so you can pretend you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“That does sound like something I’d do. Did I sell you something that blew up or gave you a rash?”

“What-? No! You know what you did. Stop playing this ���Not what he seems’ card, Stanley-.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?”

“It’s your name.”

“Is it?”

“...What do you think your name is?”

“Stan.”

“And...?”

“And what?”

“Your surname. What's your surname?”

“Malone.”

“That’s your fake name this time? Stanley Malone?”

“Just Stan. I guess Stan might be short for Stanley? I don't think too hard about it.”

“It is short for Stanley. It can only be short for Stanley or Stanford and the latters already taken.”

“My ex used to joke around that my name must be Staniel... Heh, Rick you asshole.”

“Malone- Mr. Mystery, or whatever fake identity you’re using this time, it isn’t going to work on me. You’re a liar, Stanley Pines. And you’re staying in that cell until you admit it.”

“Ok, I’m a liar. Now let me out.”

“...No.”

---

“Last year Ma tried to call me and update me on whatever antics you were pulling at the time. I always hung up before she could try to get me invested. Is that what this is about? Are you angry I didn’t bail you out of whatever trouble you were in?”

“Last year’s a blur, PhD. But there’s nothing I did that a second mad scientist could have possibly helped me with.”

“I’m not a- second?”

“Sure you’re not a mad scientist, sure. You just have an evil basement sub-lab in the middle of some creepy woods. And you conveniently already had a prison cell with a one-way forcefield ready. And there’s a jar with eyeballs in it on your counter. A normal, sane scientist has all of these things.”

“Don’t patronize me, Stanley. I told you my specialty is anomalies. Of course I’d have a containment unit for anything human sized or greater.”

“And would a not-mad scientist miss their brother so much they go around knocking out and kidnapping the first person who looks like him?”

“I did not miss you-.”

“What happened to him, anyways? Did he die or something and this is how you're coping?”

“That- that isn’t funny Stanley!”

“And you’re a barrel of laughs yourself.”

*Ford gets up and approaches the cell, before reaching into his trench coat and pulling something out to show him*

“I don’t hate you, if that’s why you’re pulling this stunt. I still have this. I’m still mad, I haven’t forgiven you, but I never hated you.”

“Gee that’d be such a nice sentiment if I knew what the hell you’re talking about, and what that picture’s supposed to be.”

“It’s us when we were children.”

“Huh. Guess you do have an identical twin.”

“And that boat is the Stan O’War, we found it as boys and tried to fix it up. You always talked about sailing the world one day, and dragging me with you.”

“No thanks. I hate the ocean.”

“... What?”

“The ocean creeps me out, Doc. Really, any big enough body of water. They swallow you up, and you disappear. I wouldn’t sail the ocean, and I wouldn’t take some maniac like you with me.”

“... You’re not lying.”

“About not liking the ocean, or you being crazy as fuck? Because both are 100% no bullsh-”

“You… Truly don’t remember, you’ve lost your memory. Stanley, you have amnesia.”

To be continued...