#AND had completed the lab ray map

[followthebluebell]

i regret to inform you all that i am back on my neopets bullshit. you can find me at followthebluebell there too

[luvyurself]

hate you

for @fishsticksloser dity :D I went a little overboard with it but I hope you like it <3

story chosen: there for my final breath

c/w: she/her pronouns, major character death, bad future timeline, babies first angst story, donnie battles with emotions, he’s coping hardcore, kind of rushed (aka I just saw their post about it and got to writing LMAOO)

to set the vibe listen to this teehee:

———

what was a “successful mission” anymore?

was it really successful when a person you loved was killed in battle?

was it really successful when you wake up screaming from nightmares retelling the events of that day? the universe mocking you in its sick and twisted way, in a way that said, “this is your reality, your world.”

“this is your future.”

death was a concept he had to get used to, as unfortunate as it was, it quickly became a common thing he would have to face when the krang invaded new york city.

from when he was a teen, donnie would swear up and down that he emotions were a wast of time, it being the only thing that he genuinely didn’t get. why do we feel random things that change sporadically with no rhyme or reason? a concept so foreign, yet can be so….how to say….comforting.

like that giddy feeling when he completed an invention, the heart pounding in his chest when he rambled on and on to his brothers about a topic for an hour.

the heart melting and wavy smile he would get when she would kiss his cheek every morning.

she was practically his ray of sunshine in the hellscape of the world he came to know. when he would be planning new inventions to take down the krang, she would be massaging his shoulders with her slightly rough hands, a faint reminder of the change she went through.

they would be in the battle field, back to back as they fight against the enemy, then together in the med bay with stupid smiles on their faces as they sloppily put bandaids on their injuries.

she was there to hold him when raph died, humming a soft song as he silently cried into her shoulder, his hand gripping hers in a tight grip. a silent way he expressed it without sobbing out loud. he never cried out loud, her never sobbed so hard until he physically couldn’t cry anymore.

donnie liked it like that.

no matter how unhealthy it was to bottle up the need to let out his emotions, it was always how he moved on, how he could move on.

but not anymore.

not even now.

it wasn’t supposed to happen, he had it all mapped out. even with her on the mission without him, he had eyes on her from inside his lab. the hologram figure of her stared at him as he banged his fist on the table.

“damn it…” he grumbled, rubbing his face in frustration. her voice spoke up, a little bit out of breath, “what? what happened?”

his eyes turned to her, a sharp breath escaping his nose, “there’s practically no way to destroy the place, we can’t do nothing.” he looked over disarray sketches of the technodrome, gritting his teeth in anger, “there’s no way of shutting it down without one of those freaks catching you, I’m calling it off.”

tapping on his arm band to send the information to leo, he heard her soft breathing as she spoke up once more. “what about that?”

he looked up once more, seeing where she was located at. he takes a sharp intake of air once he realizes what it was. “the core! ha! of course the kraang have a core on their ship, that will knock them down a leg greatly!”

he turned his back away from the hologram, “once you come back, we can discuss what we found with the others, that way we can be more prepared.”

“donnie.”

“this will help us gain some sort of advantage with that ship gone.”

“don-“

“have I ever tell you about that keen eye, my love? oh I can practically kiss you through the-“

“DONATELLO!” he nearly flinched at his full name, turning back around to face her, a confused look on his face. “what? you can’t blame me for being excited!”

she was quiet for a moment, clearing her voice to speak. “we can’t wait until another time.” her voice was quieter then usual, her eyes staring down at the floor.

an uneasy feeling began to settle in his stomach, “what do you mean? we don’t have any available resources right now, we can try again tomorrow-“

“tomorrow isn’t promised, donnie.” she said, looking back at the core, and back at him. “we have an opportunity right now, we have to take it.”

he’s quiet for a moment, before he finally got what she was implying. “no. you’re not doing anything.” his voice was serious, brown furrowed as he pointed at her hologram form.

“you will come back right now. that’s an order, that you will follow.” he couldn’t help his heart racing, the horrible feeling coming over him as she gave him a small smile.

she was always stubborn. selfless. an emotion he never understood from her.

“I am forever grateful that I met you in this life, donatello.” she whispered, her hand slipping the communicator off her wrist, “I love you, so much.”

he felt the world fall silent, watching as she muted and dropped the communicator on the floor. his screams falling on deaf ears as he saw her run to the core of the technodrome.

his chest was hurting, his heart was pounding as he quickly grabbed his battle shell. he hated it. he hated it so much. he wanted it to stop.

he transfer the call with her to his wrist tech, at the same time calling for any available assistance on the front lines to stop her.

“I need all available support to the technodrome’s core room, I repeat-“ he quickly flew to where the technodrome is located.

“I need all available support to the-“

BOOM

he’s quickly knocked down from the sky, landing on the ground as he felt the air knocked out of him. he takes a moment to recover before he looked up at the sky, his breath stopping for a moment.

it’s all gone. the technodrome. she had done it. she had destroyed the whole thing. he looked down at his tech, hearing nothing but static from her end.

then he feels nothing. the sounds of the troops unknowingly celebrating become white noise to him as he felt the unwelcome feeling return.

the tears were silent, teeth gritting as his hands dug into his palms. he felt a hand on his shoulder, and jerked violently away from the touch.

“don?” the voice of leo asked quietly, staring at his face. he looked down at his wrist tech, before speaking up once more, “where’s…what happened?”

donnie couldn’t speak. he couldn’t breathe. he couldn’t do anything.

the only thing that came from his lips was a strangled sob. his hand slapping over his lips as he sobbed violently into his hands.

leo held onto him, not saying anything.

and once more, he was stuck with the feeling that he hated. but this time it was worse. way worse.

he wanted to hate her, he wanted to scold her for making him feel this way. she knew he hated to feel this, but yet, she caused him to feel that and more.

it might hurt less, to hate her for what she did.

but he still loved her for everything she ever did.

and he hated to love her for that.

[csprslvt]

teachers aide pt 2.

Chapter 2

Summary: a peaceful class is ruined

Warnings: mentions of drug use, owen is the worst, foul language

It was almost every day now, that you snuck into Ellie’s dorm smoking your worries away. You never seem to get tired of her chill attitude and calming words when you vented about certain little things that bothered you, and she could never grow tired of you. She thought your complaints were humorous, she laughed and smiled at you adoringly. At this point she wasn't hiding her not so little crush at all, but there was a simple boundary of “Don't ask, don't tell” between the two of you. And so, she was yet to confess. Though she wanted to make her feelings known she felt like it was unrequited, and for certain couldn't handle the heartbreak, especially when she saw you for class almost every day. It would be incredibly awkward to confess, be rejected and then see you as her teacher's aide.

So, she would gladly take whatever she could get, and if that meant being your dealer and totally platonic cuddle buddy, she was okay with it. For now, it was enough.

Abby on the other hand, preened for your attention. She became more vocal in class, gentler, kind, she seemed to think she had made you uncomfortable in the past, so she completely kept her remarks under control. She was a little jealous of Ellie, the two of you seemed so close, your conversations were less stiff and to the trained eye, almost familiar. Still, you had an image to keep up, being 22, almost graduating and trying to be taken seriously in a class full of 19–21-year-olds you wanted to make a good impression for your future.

Today in physics, you had a lab, cosmic shower array reconstruction. You were leading the lesson, talking adamantly to the class.

“Okay, the high energy protons and atomic nuclei that move through space with light and speed are called…?”

“Cosmic rays!” the class filled in.

“Correct, today we will be attempting a cosmic ray shower array reconstruction. Now everyone should have their computers ready to go and a notebook. Is anyone missing either of those things?”

Silence.

“Great! Please open the web browser written on the board. After that we will be creating a map grid to represent the site being hit by cosmic rays. If you do not know how to do this, just yell and I’ll come to you.”

No one said a word except for Ellie.

“Y/n, help.” she said with a lazy smile gracing her features. You caught Abby’s eyes on you as you approached Ellie.

“Ellie, you know how to do this.”

“I know how to do it…when I'm sober.” She whispered. You looked around before responding, “If I have to come to class sober, so do you.”

Ellie giggled,” You gonna help me or not?”

Once talking a very high Ellie through creating a map grid, you returned to the front of the lab.

“Anyone else?”

Silence once again.

“Perfect! Now as you can see, the areas hit by cosmic rays are shown by color circles. Is everyone on the same page?”

There were a variety of nods and murmurs in agreement, you smiled, class was going suspiciously smooth so far.

“Now all we have to do is create a graph of the time map versus intensity, after that analyze the data. I will give you all some time to do so, again if you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to ask. I'm here to help!” You smiled reassuringly at no one in particular, you heard a few yes ma'ams and okays in the audience. Owen had not bothered you yet today, so you considered the lab successful so far. After a while you could tell the class was waiting for more instruction with an uprise of off topic conversations.

“Seems like we are all set with that step, agreed?”

No one said otherwise so you continued, Ellie actually seemed very interested in the cosmic rays and was playing around with the placement sites.

“Since we are all familiar with REXTOR software, you'll use that to reconstruct the rays. After that, create a lateral distribution function plot. Examples of which are on the board as are the instructions so you can all take it at your own pace. Lastly, record your observations and we are all set!”

The class seemed happy with the lighter workload, you assigned smaller, more personal lessons than the Professor. It's probably why they listened so well to you. You walked around the lab, helping students who called for you with great patience and smiles. Days like these reminded you of why you loved your job. Everything was going so perfect, too perfect. That was until Owen opened his stupid mouth.

“Abby it's really not that serious, ask her out.” He was supposed to be whispering but he was loud enough to get other students' attention, Abby turned to him and flushed.

“Owen, shut the fuck up!”

“C’mon Abs just do it, or I’ll call her over.”

“Oh my god Owen I swear to god I will fucking beat you ass if you do.”

Mel was in between the two, holding in laughter, you pretended to not hear them.

“I'm doing you a favor… y/n! Over here!”

God fucking damn it Owen.

“Owen shut up oh my god!” Abby immediately faced the other direction, clicking random buttons on her computer as if she was focused.

“Y/n!” Owen spoke loudly, multiple people turned to face you, you internally groaned and walked over to him. You couldn't ignore him now.

“Is something the matter?” You spoke softly, using fake interest.

“Abby has to ask you a question.”

“Oh my god.” Abby mumbled, face totally and utterly red.

You turned to Abby, playing dumb.

“Are you having trouble with the lab?”

The caring, gentle look in your eyes caught Abby off guard. She could stare at you forever; she was completely and totally mesmerized by you.

“Uh..yea! Yea yea uhm I was wondering-”

“She was wondering if she could take you out on a date.” Owen said with a stupid smirk you wanted to slap off his face. You could feel your entire body heating up with embarrassment, Abby's pale skin turned bright peach and glared at Owen, seeming genuinely pissed off.

You took the awkward silence as a cue to walk away. Ellie gave you an amused look, and you hoped she hadn't heard the entire conversation. As well as everyone else in the entire class.

After recovering from the interaction which took about 40 entire minutes, class came to an end. Everyone logged off and Abby was giving Owen the silent treatment while Mel sat there uncomfortably in between them. Just as you were preparing to leave Abby pulled you aside. “Hi, can we talk for a second?” she was fidgeting with her hands, large muscles slightly flexing with every movement.

“Sure!” You said, trying to be welcoming. As the rest of the class cleared the lab Ellie gave you a look. She already knew you would be visiting her again later.

“I'm really sorry about Owen, he's always in people business.”

“Yea, I've noticed, I appreciate the apology.”

“What he said was entirely inappropriate and I'm, like, super pissed at him.” Abby was trying her best to seem genuine, she really did feel like Owen’s behavior was foul.

“Thanks Abby.” You didn't really know what else to say.

“But I would like to take you out, to make up for the humiliation. Just lunch or something, wherever you would like, on me.”

Your eyebrows raised in surprise, “I don't know it that is-”

“If you're questioning it being appropriate or suitable, I would argue that sneaking out of Ellie Williams’ dorm at 6 am is also inappropriate and not suitable.” Abby said jokingly, and you released a smile.

“Okay, just this once Anderson, only if you keep that…6 am exit secret.”

“You have my word.”

[thirdchoiceurl]

Oh cool whats NAA? Also I've heard of using neutrons to treat nuclear waste, but I was never able to find any recent papers on it? Or maybe I wasn't using the correct search terms.

NAA stands for Neutron Activation Analysis. There’s a few varieties, but in our lab we typically do Delayed Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis or DGNAA. We bombard samples with a strong flux of thermal neutrons from the reactor, and the neutrons are absorbed by all manner of atoms in the material. In doing so, the stable nuclei are transmuted into short-lived radioisotopes that then decay via beta emission and emit gamma photons with characteristic energies. By using a scintillator and photomultiplier with an MCA (or the HPGe setup if it’s available (it never is) and we have the nitrogen (we never do)), we can then build a gamma ray spectrum that tells us exactly which trace elements are in the sample and, through cross-section analysis, we can get good measures of exactly how much of each element is present.

It’s an incredibly powerful tool for detecting and characterizing trace elements, with sensitivity several thousand times beyond purely chemical methods. One of the recent experiments we did analysis for involved mapping ancient trade routes in Central America by using pottery shards to identify the characteristic minerals of specific clay deposits and correlating them with how far they had traveled from their origin point. The amount of information that can be found from the atomic fingerprint of an object is astounding.

My pet project (the “refried beans” theory of nuclear waste as some of my buddies call it) is typically referred to as waste transmutation. High-level nuclear waste is produced from the processing of spent fuel, which is laden with highly radioactive fission products that pose a serious danger to anyone who may carelessly handle it in the present or future. While many of these fission products are short-lived and decay almost completely while the fuel waits in the cooling pool of its reactor, some isotopes (especially Caesium-137 and Strontium-90) have half-lives in the range of decades and product abundance above 5%. These nuclides are in the sour spot of maximum danger, with half-lives short enough to be ferociously radioactive even in tiny quantities and long enough that one can’t simply wait for them to decay significantly in a human lifetime.

My project, which is currently a bunch of spreadsheets and slideshows I use to try to convince someone to let me mess around with some highly corrosive extremely radioactive nitric acid salts, involves intercepting the fission product waste after reprocessing separates out the industrially useful heavy radioactinides and placing that waste back into the neutron flux of a reactor or accelerator. In doing so, preliminary simulations show that significant portions of the long-term waste activity can be reduced as the hardy and problematic long-lived isotopes are transmuted into short-lived ephemeral products that decay into stable nuclei in a matter of days rather than centuries.

This process isn’t without its drawbacks and hazards. Waste to be transmuted must be carefully chemically treated to remove elements like Calcium or Chlorine which can absorb neutrons from the beam and become new nuclear waste. Another issue is that the transmutation process makes the waste drastically more radioactive for a brief period of time. No fission product exists can be transmuted directly into a stable isotope, we can only pre-empt their decay. In time, the refried waste and the untreated waste will release the exact same quantity of radiation, and forcing it to undergo centuries’ worth of decay in a matter of weeks will make it extremely hot both physically and metaphorically.

It’s a work in progress.

[hazelsmaze]

Unbelievable

When I first got sick, like back in the days where I was still working and training and reluctantly letting go of my volunteer positions but still holding onto the idea that I just had to find the right doctor, the right test, the right medication, and I would get better and everything would go back to normal, I was so confused by how doctors treated me. I have a PhD. I'm very smart. I'm mostly congenial. I was a GOOD GIRL. And all of a sudden, these people who were my peers, who I could discuss inequity with, who I could chastise for being racist, began treating me as an unreliable narrator, a drug seeker, a malingerer. I crossed some hidden threshold to become a problem. Not even a problem to be solved but a problem to be ignored, someone else's problem, a problem that was annoying but not worth doing anything about. And I felt like it was my fault - was I not pleasant enough? Did I miscommunicate my symptoms? Was I not performing my pain in the right way? So many cases of: well your labs came back normal. Or: what you're describing doesn't line up with we've diagnosed you with. As a rape survivor, I was already primed to disbelieve my body. If people in authority said this wasn't happening to me then it must not be happening to me or I have imagined it or I'm trying to get attention. When I think back on those days, I mostly just feel an overwhelming confusion, as if I had been dropped in a foreign country that looked exactly like my own except no one could understand me, no matter how many words I used or maps I drew or data I charted. At the same time, everyone else acted as if everything was completely normal. I could see dark circles at the corners of my eyes that were new and doctors would literally say they couldn't see anything. Even today, as my armpits continue to swell and deform, as the surface of my belly distends and feels as if it's being ripped open, doctors will say they can feel what I'm talking about but no MRI, no CT, no x-ray can see these extrusions so they don't exist. I don't know how to be in a body that cannot be believed. I literally cannot count the times I've left a doctor's office, only to make it to the bathroom (or if I'm really lucky, my car) before bursting out in tears because they make me feel like I'm wrong, like I'm doing this to myself, like I want to be sick. I'm too sensitive or too crazy or too female. And the lack of curiosity just might kill me. Because if it isn't their peculiar interest, it also isn't their responsibility. But also, I can't go on with theories of my own for fear of sounding like I believe in Dr Google and they won't help me at all. I thought we were partners. I thought curiosity was the way forward. But 90% of the time, if I'm not a passive receptical, they have shut down completely. I wonder if they ever think upon their power and how closely it morphs into an abusive relationship? This is how I got raped in the first place, not speaking up, not wanting to make waves, being a literal child.

[brenpaidhi-blog]

Hell Hath No Fury - Chapter 1

Hell Hath No Fury

BrenPaidhi

Summary:

Leading a double life is complicated when one of those lives is a superhero, two double lives (and two superheros) even more so. Add a third (or is it a fifth) life in the form of an NYPD Lieutenant, and you understand what Trish Walker, Beth Kane and Lt. Rita Ortiz learned some time ago: Life in the big city can be hell.

Copyright © 2022

This work is rated Mature because of some explicit descriptions of sex in Chapters 16, 25, 42 and 44.

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

Notes:

What's in a name? That which we call a rose, blah, blah, blah. It turns out when you have to take fictional cities and translate them into real ones, names are important; at least the real names.

Metropolis is a no-brainer. The Big Apple. Gotham is a bit more problematic. It has been used to refer to NYC, but in the comics it seems to be in New Jersey. For this story, however, I prefer to place it in Chicago since The Windy City stands in for the home of The Dark Knight in the movies. Star City is Seattle (natch), but Central City is a bit more vague so I chose St. Louis for the home of S.T.A.R. labs and the residence of the fastest man on Earth. Other locations will be translated as the need arises. Anyone who has objections to my version of mapping, please suspend your disbelief for the time it takes you to read and, I hope, enjoy this version of reality.

One more note: You fill find several sections of dialogue that are not in English. Those sections are linked to their English translation. Those of you who are reading on a PC can simply hover your mouse over the section to see the translation. If you are reading from a mobile device just press and hold the link to see the translation.

I include song lyrics in several chapters. Those songs are important since they help convey what the characters are feeling, and some of them may be familiar to you. Where I could I have included links to the songs themselves, and I encourage any reader to click the link, listen, and enjoy.

Patricia Walker, Hellcat, Kyle Richmond and Nighthawk are the intellectual property of Marvel Comics.

Elizabeth Kane, Alice, Julia Pennyworth and Carmine Falcone are the intellectual property of DC Comics.

Rita Ortiz, John Irvine, Joe Slovak and Ray Quinn are the intellectual property of Steven Bochco Productions and 20th Century Fox Television

This is a work of non-commercial fan fiction and not intended for, or to be used for, commercial purpose.

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

Chapter 1: Don't look a gift horse...

Trish positioned the final ice pack on her right knee and wrapped it with an elastic bandage, just like she had the other two.

She lay back on her bed, inhaled deeply and slowly, eyes closed, and enjoyed the complete lack of motion for several seconds.

She did not open her eyes as she spoke.

"Alexa set a fifteen-minute timer."

"Fifteen minutes," the female voice replied, "starting now."

The bed was not the only piece of furniture in the one-room studio apartment. There was a chair, an end table, and a small desk. Trish could visualize the entire apartment and its contents without opening her eyes. It would take her less than a minute to list all the other contents of the small room. One place setting, one set of silverware, and two glasses, all bought from Goodwill, like the small table lamp, the Degas print of a dancer mounted on the wall just above her head, and the two framed photos of the couple that anyone who visited here would assume were the parents of Kathy Rambler, the woman who had signed the apartment lease, whose name was displayed through the cellophane windows on the envelopes that sat on a counter in the small kitchen.

If that hypothetical someone were to observe the woman, clad only in underwear and a tank top, who lay beneath the framed print of a woman dancing on pointe, the woman with ice packs on her right knee, left shoulder, and left wrist, and bruises on her right rib cage and shoulder, there would be no mistaking the figure of an elite dancer, unless they were to mistake it for the figure of an elite gymnast or an elite fighter. Any and all of those were true, even though it had been years since the woman lying still with her eyes closed had put on a pair of pointe shoes or taped her wrists to protect them during her sixty-second bar routine.

Trish's eyes opened at the sound of her timer expiring.

"Alexa, stop."

Trish knew she should get up, put the ice packs back in the freezer, clean her suit, and take a shower before leaving this small refuge for the slightly larger one three floors up. She should at least get up and close the window she had used as her entrance thirty minutes ago, but she lacked the will to move.

Fuck it, I might just sleep here tonight,  she thought.

She had done it before when the aches and pains reached a certain point and only responded to bourbon and ibuprofen. For those occasions, she kept a dark wig and a pair of sunglasses in the apartment, just in case anyone saw her leave and wondered why Trish Walker was coming out of Kathy Rambler's apartment. She could always say that Kathy was her girlfriend, but that opened her up to invitations for both of them and excuses why Kathy could not attend.

Sorry, my fictional alter ego has a prior engagement kicking the living shit out of the New York underworld tomorrow night.

Trish's eyes settled on the goldenrod ( it's not yellow, dammit, how many fucking times do I have to tell you? ) ballistic hyper mesh formfitting suit which lay where she had dropped it on the floor. She knew the blood would easily wash off. But the sweat-soaked absorbent liner was already beginning to smell up the apartment with that combined vinegar and ammonia smell that told her she was eating more protein than her body could metabolize.

She was thirty-seven years old as of one week ago. Trish knew she couldn't keep acting like she was still in her twenties, but her body was very good at reminding her when she forgot. Her natural ability to heal much quicker than the average person, which had helped her through her dancing, gymnastics, and fighting phases, had slowed down but was still there, as were her natural physical abilities.

"You have a gift," Kay had said to her one day after class at SAB, "I have been doing this long enough that I know a star when I see one. You have a bright future ahead of you."

That was only days before 911, back when the world was different. Before Hellcat was even a thought in her mind.

"If you go down this road, you don't get to come back afterward," Hank had said a few months afterward when she had convinced him that she was committed to a future that Kay had not predicted for Trish.

"None of us get to go back. There's no back to go back to."

"That made almost no sense," he said.

"Fuck you."

Hank's smile was all the answer she needed.

Trish looked towards the kitchen, where she kept the bourbon and ibuprofen. The suit lay on the floor halfway in between.

"Dammit," she groaned as she rolled to her side and sat up.

[danielle-n-knapp-4]

Artificial Intelligence in the Medical Field

Artificial Intelligence in the Medical Field

It is now the year 2024, if you need to see a doctor you can do it over the phone or via video chat, or even talk to a computer and have that diagnosis you. Alexander Ávila a 23 year old created a video discussing how he thought he had autism, he went online and found a credible source that gave him a test to complete and sent him his results. He in fact did have autism. Which is wonderful for him but what happens when AI (Artificial Intelligence) gets deeper into the medical field?         During the 2020 pandemic, which we all loved so much, whenever you thought you might have covid or just felt sick in general, you would go get tested. For some people including myself, would use Dr. Google or another app to help narrow down what you might have. During Covid an app called K health was created. This app allows you to put in your symptoms and a computer (AI) which will ask you questions and based on the symptoms you give them they can narrow down to what you might have. The founder of the app created it so that “if you wake up in the middle of the night with a stomach ache or are on vacation and your kid gets a fever, you shouldn’t have to wait to get care.” Which is reasonable except for when someone like myself, who has a nervous system disorder, clicks in their symptoms, and gets told that they at the age of 20 are having a heart attack when in reality it’s just the disorder they have acting up and me not knowing it. 

Now getting diagnosed with something on an app isn’t always that bad but they can sometimes get it wrong. And when it comes to telling the difference between the flu, a cold and covid is not something most people will be extremely concerned about. But what if you get 

admitted to the hospital and need to get a scan done (MRI, CAT, CT, X-ray…ect.,) and AI is the one reading it and not a living person? For those who don’t know but when you get a scan done a person with a medical degree in radiology reads your scan. AI however is being trained to read these scans. The reasoning for this is AI can review the scans quicker than the radiology and doctors. I understand it can be frustrating to have to sit and wait for a doctor to come tell you your results. However, computers are not trained for everything, meaning that just like humans they can get things wrong. So even if AI reads your scans someone (hopefully) will still have to read them and make sure the computer was correct, so is it faster? 

Now AI is not a horrible thing, AI can help physicians and nurses and medical staff by altering them to high or low lab values when documenting, telling you if you are how many people in a city, state, country have a disease by tracing and AI making a map a lot faster than humans can. I’m just discussing the drawbacks of implementing AI. With that said AI will not cost anyone their jobs because ultimately, we still must double check it’s work but we could get some stuff done faster. The main drawbacks are data collection, algorithm development, Ethical concerns, social corners, clinical implantation concerns, biased and discriminatory algorithms. Let's start with data collection, and DeepMind is an AI for healthcare rolled out by google in 2018, they needed 1.6 million patients to just create that. Which means that to have AI help in the medical field they would need at least that many people to be willing to allow their medical data to be used. And I say allow because everything in the medical field requires consent. The next big one I would like to discuss is biased and discriminatory algorithms, in the healthcare system with AI. People are trained to be as unbiased as possible while in nursing school, medical school, so on and so forth. AI would also have to be trained to not be biased but would also have to be trained to know that people of one sex are more likely to get cardiovascular disease, and some races are more likely to develop heart disease, but it would have to be an unbiased training. Sounds a lot like a double negative, you can't be bias, but you need to know that a person of African American descent is more likely to develop heart disease, while a person of European decent is more likely to develop problem with the circulatory system but can’t assume that is what the person has before you know all the information. 

There is a future for AI in the medical system. There are benefits to AI, although I personally do not want it more involved in healthcare due to potential compilations. They talk about how AI will be an assistant to those working in the hospital or doctor’s office. At a local hospital they are using a system that automatically adjusts your iv pumps to run according to the amount of medicine in the bag. But they have been having problems due to integrating them, it takes time and if the nurse is more worried about if the pump hooked or synced to the computer then they could be missing out on information with their patient and miss learning new critical data. Which I think raises questions about the ethical practice and safety of the patients. Now before I end, I want to just add a myth that has been busted about AI in the healthcare system. AI will replace clinicians, in fact clinicians will not be replaced and can hopefully use AI to help advance their ability to care. Meaning, AI will be integrated in a way that will allow for your doctor to better assess what is happening to you, an explain of this is when a nurse documents something and a range is low or high it will notify the nurse and doctor instantly to allow them to determine why it is high or low and the best route for care. There is another myth about programming that says you don’t need to officially program the computer but need to teach the computer which is what google has done. So, is AI really that helpful and should it really be allowed in the healthcare system?

[night-gay]

Into the Anthill pt 8 - Staying Useful To The Team

Things were changing fast for the Avengers and Hank was really starting to feel insecure about his place on the team. Goliath wasn’t the only strong one with Hercules around, Ant-Man wasn’t the only small one with Wasp around, and after Jan became a multi-millionaire Hank couldn’t even be a breadwinner. So, between going back and forth between alter-egos, Hank turned to his role as the team’s smart-guy to stand out.

Maybe he could build some sort of AI to help him? I bet that would totally work.

🐜🐜🐜

Avengers vol 1 #41-44

Hank had the Dragon Man android delivered to his lab to study up on robotics. Diablo promptly appeared to take it back, also snatching Hank & Jan as part of his plan to have Hank help him recreate his life elixir and control a new army of Dragon Men. Using a map they got from Mr. Fantastic, the Avengers headed to Diablo’s lair in Transylvania with Hercules tagging along. Cap showed up independently to help while Herc tossed the Dragon Man into some lava.

Jan’s attorney visited Avengers Mansion to tell her that since she turned 23 a few days ago she could finally claim the full sum of her inheritance from her late father, raising her net worth by about 3 million (26.7 million if you adjust for inflation). Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Hercules took off to rescue Black Widow and got captured by the Red Guardian so the rest of the Avengers headed out to save them. Black Widow was there to destroy some dangerous tech for Nick Fury so she helped out once she had completed her objective.

Avengers Annual #1

Mandarin assembled a new lineup of the Masters of Evil and every Avenger (minus Hulk and Rick Jones) split into teams to take them down. The matchups were as follows: 

Goliath, Wasp, & Iron Man vs Power Man & Swordsman

Scarlet Witch & Hercules vs Enchantress & Executioner

Hawkeye & Thor vs Living Laser & Ultimo

Captain America & Quicksilver vs Mandarin

Once everyone had finished up their business and gathered at Mandarin’s base he fired his “hate ray” to force every Avenger to attack whoever they were standing closest to. Since Jan was closest to Mandarin she knocked him out and the day was saved.

Avengers vol 1 #45-52

At a public ceremony to honor the Avengers in New York they announced Hercules had been granted membership. They had planned to do the same for Black Widow, but she decided to retire for the time being. When the Super Adaptoid attacked the ceremony Hank got it to shrink to fight him & Jan at ant size while the civilians got away. Once it returned to full size the team tricked it into using every copied power at once to short it out.

Now that Hank wasn’t the strongest Avenger anymore he decided to rededicate himself to being Ant-Man to stay useful to the team. Jan hired a chauffeur that turned out to be The Human Top (now calling himself Whirlwind and still out to kill Hank once and for all). He bested Hank and Jan in combat yet again, but Pietro stopped him and disarmed the bomb he’d left behind. Soon after, Hank left for a trip to Las Vegas with Jan and her chauffeur (who is still Whirlwind in disguise). 

Then Hercules left for Olympus, Cap quit to pursue a normal life, and Magneto abducted Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch to force them to rejoin his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Now only 3 Avengers strong, the team luckily got help from the new Black Knight and tracked down Magneto’s lair. After a staged incident at the UN where Wanda was shot, Pietro officially quit the team and took her with him. After failing to stop them, Hank discovered that he could no longer grow beyond his standard size due to strain on his body, forcing him to abandon his work as Goliath and just be Ant-Man.

With only Ant-Man, Wasp, and Hawkeye left on the team The Collector had no trouble capturing them. Thor, who he’d caught earlier and placed under his thrall, brought Iron Man for his Avengers collection as well. Jan escaped the pod and Hank returned to Goliath size again to defend her. At the end of the issue, as Thor and Iron Man were leaving again, Cap called and suggested adding his ally Black Panther to the team. The decision was unanimous and Black Panther promptly helped them stop Grim Reaper.

Minor/Cameo appearances from this period:

Tales of Suspense vol 1 #92

[millennialneopian]

Sunday, April 17, 2022

Neopets dot com was telling my heathen ass that I should be in church this Easter Sunday considering the luck they gave me on my dailies. Woof! That was a lot of misses. However, my neocapitalism (not the correct use of this word) paid off…

Avatars

This avatar definitely fell into the unattainable category when I was younger. Who the hell had one million neopoints to fuck around with?? I’m really happy with this one. Number 213!

Lab Ray

Long ago, when the lab ray was affordable and I had no idea what pets I wanted, I was zapping the shit out of a couple of my pets. For funsies! (See post about my freshly minted Pirate Wocky.) One of those bebes started life as a Lupe, and my fucking kingdom now to get him back to Lupedom. He’s on the back burner for dreamies because I could, in fact, zap him into existence. Meanwhile, I get to cycle through neat zaps like these…

… and keep cranking through. (He was previously an Ice Meerca, which would be cool if I wasn’t deeply committed to this boy being a Baby Lupe.) All of this is to say how desperately I need the last map piece so these zaps can be given to someone who wants them. Did I already mention I have, like, four WN (well, I think they’re WN) pets on my side waiting to be zapped and gifted? Just bite the bullet, dude, and buy that last map piece…

This also wouldn’t be an issue if I would cough up the real-life cash to add an additional pet slot. Ha! I know in my heart that I probably will sometime in the future - undoubtedly after I finish my current batch of dreamies - but I have a tendency to get ahead of myself, so I’m trying to play it cool.

Festival of Neggs, Day 5

Sticking to Neovia today! Too bad I don’t think there was a damn button from the Negg Festival page to return to Neovia.

Oh! A chance at another book! Hell yeah, baby…

God fucking dammit, Dave. But underneath my disappointment, is that more plot I see? I hope so.

Side Lab Ray

Did I wait until today’s FC results to decide if I would go ahead and buy the last lab map piece for my side account?

Did I also say that I was incredibly impulsive? Sometimes you’re just sitting here, doing your best impression of internet in the early 2000s because you’re playing a web-based game on an iPad that literally runs slower than my giant fucking Gateway from 20 years ago, and the desire to zap an MSPP Poogle to gift to someone just overcomes you.

(I did not get an MSPP zap on my first zap. Can you imagine?)

But, hey! I’ve completed my first wishlist on JN! Hooray! I can get that shit out of there and return focus on some paint brushes and books.

Food Club

I write these updates as they happen throughout the day because it would be impossible for me to remember everything that happens if I wrote them all at once. Catch me choking on my words above that my luck was piss poor:

Look at that fucking combination. Hit the max on FC and got tossed an extra 25K in a random event. Christ above. FC evens itself out eventually. Several bad days leading to one of the best ones I’ve had in two months. Hallelujah.

Random Events

Including the beauty above…

[henrikanderssonart]

Havmanden, The Merman 2021

Online work for GIBCA

57°46'18.0"N, 11°40'29.0"E are the longitude- and latitude coordinates of the wreck of the Danish frigate Havmanden. In Kjällöfjord, slightly north of Björkö, in the northern Gothenburg archipelago, is the uninhabited island Risö, on which I am standing facing north-northwest. On the horizon, I can see Carlstens fortress in Marstrand, with its characteristic shape of a cylinder on a block. Boats pass through the waterway in a north-south direction. I cannot remember how many times I have sailed this route along the coast heading north. Not once have I reflected upon what lies hidden here, at the bottom of the sea. I lower my gaze from the horizon and face the islet situated half a cable length from the peninsula where I am standing. Between me and the islet, somewhere on the ocean floor, is where it lies: The Danish West India Company’s ship Havmanden that ran aground in 1683.

 I prepare myself to dive. From the navigational chart, I conclude that it is about 5-10 meters to the bottom. A depth I should manage to free dive, i.e. to dive without air from tubes. From the smooth Bohuslän rock, I slip into the water and put on my fins, I spit into the swim mask, gently rubbing and rinsing it with salt water to avoid misting on the glass. I wind the film forward in my Nikonos underwater camera, lift my feet from the bottom, and allow myself to float into the strait between the islands. The wetsuit provides me with buoyancy, despite my lead weight belt. I follow the cliff’s extension towards deeper waters. Tufts of seaweed and algae sway in the waves. Sunlight is refracted into rays upon meeting the water and here, close by the surface, the colours of the plants are clearly reflected. I stay close to the surface and swim farther away from land. The bottom disappears into a cloudy haze in tune with sloping downwards, and soon enough I see nothing more than a cyano-coloured soup of organic material and sediment dissolved in the water. The sea of Kattegatt now completely encloses me. I breathe through the snorkel and decide to dive. I take a few deep breaths and finally hold it. I turn in a forward somersault until I am upside down vertically in the water. In a swim stroke, I grab hold of the water and pull myself down. I can feel my feet in the air above the water surface, but soon enough they are also submerged. My journey down is reduced by the buoyancy of my body and wetsuit and I kick with my legs to continue. Soon enough, I have become neutrally buoyant, my density is equal to that of the water, I am neither sinking nor rising. One last kick with my legs and I can feel that I am now sinking by myself. The pressure of the water has compressed the oxygen in my body so that I am negatively buoyant. I continue down but I can still not see the bottom.

 The story of Havmanden is multifaceted and complex, with resonance in this day and age. It needs to be told in the entirety of events that resulted in the Danish frigate ending up at the bottom of the sea outside of Gothenburg. My dive is an attempt to evoke an image and a position from an underwater environment, from which a historical horizon can emerge.

During the 17th century, Denmark, as well as Sweden, attempted to advance their positions in the evolving colonial era. At the core was the so-called triangular trade, where plantations in America produced raw materials for Europe. The production was based on slave labour carried out by people kidnapped from the African continent. Slave trade and slave labour was exchanged for profit and technological development in Europe.

 Denmark and the Danish West India Company had taken control over the Swedish slave fort Carolusborg (Cape Coast Castle) in Ghana and established other forts along the west coast of Africa in order to bring people across the Atlantic to be sold. Sweden was initially unsuccessful with its colonial expansion and Denmark had a hard time establishing and keeping its colony St. Thomas in the West Indies in order. A life with hardship or death awaited the ones that were forced there.

 In 1682, a new Governor, Jörgen Iversen, was appointed to oversee St. Thomas and take control over the activities on the island. In the autumn of the same year, the Danish West India Company, with the support of King Christian V of Denmark, equips the ship Havmanden. The aim of the journey was to transport Danish convicts to St. Thomas and then continue sailing to the west coast of Africa to acquire slaves. Thereafter they were to return to the West Indies with the slaves and then redirect back towards Denmark. Onboard the outward journey was material to build institutions on the island, as well as the 120 convicts that were to be forced to work in the Caribbean. Twenty of them were women convicted of prostitution. It is this captive workforce who, for some months, will come to rattle the hierarchies in the Danish trans-Atlantic trade. On January 20 when the ship is in the English Channel, the prisoners, together with the sailors, make a mutiny. The Governor, the Captain, and five other officials are arrested and killed by being thrown into the sea. When the mutineers seize the ship, they sail to the Azores and release the prisoners. The remaining mutineers plan to sail to Ireland to sell the ship, but conflicts amongst them result in some of the mutineers taking the chance to save their own skin and sail back home to Copenhagen. At the end of March, when the ship enters the Kattegatt, they are struck by a westerly storm and the ship is pushed towards the Swedish coast. The ship manages to pass through the tight passage between the islands Hälso-Källö-Hyppeln to then drop ship anchor in an emergency before running aground at Risö.

 The alderman at Marstrand has the five mutineers arrested and taken back to Copenhagen. There they are executed by being tortured and beheaded.

 During this time, mutiny was not unusual. However, the mutiny on Havmanden is well-documented and can be read according to the organization of means of production as well as the brutality that Europe’s elite based their prosperity upon. In his thesis, Mutiny in the Danish Atlantic World, Johan Heinsen makes note that there existed a dissonance within the European colonial project, and this was manifested in a conflict such as the mutiny on Havmanden. There are three established ways to understand and analyze mutiny. Firstly, mutiny can be understood from a sort of neurosensory perspective, where the lack of food, water, and heat results in a reaction, a kind of auto impulse, to accommodate basic needs. Secondly,

seafaring per se is an extremely ritualistic place that follows the narrative of a theatrical act of sorts. If the narrative changes, the crew can there and then, consider themselves entitled to seize control of the ship. Thirdly, as a more materialistic reading, mutiny can be based upon a conflict between those who own and rule and those whose labour is being exploited. In this case, the mutiny is justified as the ship should belong to those whose labour the voyage is based upon. All three ways to gain an understanding of mutiny can be applied to Havmanden.

 Heinsen also introduces dissonance as a fourth reading of the mutiny, where a conflict arises between the speaker and the hearer. Shipping environments are places governed by sound, as visibility in open seas is filled with emptiness. When Governor Iversen attempts to calm the crew with speech, the subordinates hear something else. They know that within one year on St. Thomas they will most likely die from hard labour, starvation, and illnesses. Whatever the Governor says, this is what they hear.

 The sea and underwater environment is in itself a place where cognitive dissonance becomes visible. Places that have nothing to do with each other are tied together through the expansiveness of sea, and within this translocation, profits arise, although they are values created at the expense of another. The sea is also a dangerous place where people cannot live. It is a site for the imagination and dreams, but also death.

 The so-called discovery of the New World appears to also have led to some unconscious psychological convulsions in the explorers, whose symptoms are represented in works such as Atlantica (1677) by Olof Rudebeck the Elder. In his text, which is a work of propaganda on the Swedish Empire, Rudebeck explains the origin of Sweden through the myth of Atlantis. Rudebeck sets out to prove that all the world’s knowledge originates in the utopia Plato refers to as Atlantis which would be identical with Sweden. His historical works were dismissed by his contemporaries from the outset as being far too imaginative, but Rudebeck’s preoccupation with historical chronology can be read through the discovery of a New World. After Columbus disembarks in the New World, in one instance Europe becomes the Old World.

A work such as Atlantica can be understood as a symptom of a dynamic that arises between new and old territories, giving rise to speculation about who is entitled to the New World.

 The camera in my hand is based on the underwater camera that photographer and adventurer Jacques -Yves Costeau developed when he popularised and medialised the underwater environment in the 50s and 60s. With his research vessel Calypso, he undertook several journeys and created films that became commercial successes, such as Le Monde du Silence (The Silent World) from 1956. In the film, we follow the work aboard Calypso, which is not only a moving diving platform on an undefined sea but also a floating photo lab for still and moving photography. In one passage, Costeau describes the overall intention with the mission, whilst also studying the graph from an echo sounder which, through electroacoustics, maps the depth of the ocean below the vessel. Costeau explains that an echo often appears, as though there is something very large thousands of metres down that has yet to be explained.

Costeau arranges for cameras to be lowered down into the dark to photograph whatever may be down there, and despite the film being developed on-board, he finds no answers. The void appears to be the driving force.

 In another scene, the crew is engaged in following a group of whales. Unfortunately enough, Calypso accidentally collides with a whale calf, which is seriously injured. The crew, who feel obliged to kill the injured animal, bring out with ill-concealed delight, the harpoon cannon and kill the calf. What follows is a particularly strange scene, which swiftly tells us something about the unconsciousness of the crew. A group of sharks is attracted to the dead whale and begins to eat at the dead body. Initially, the crew becomes interested in studying the sharks, but suddenly their curiosity turns into fury. In a rage, they go after the sharks that are quite close to the surface, and with hooks, axes, and sledgehammers kill shark after shark. I wonder what it is in this specific homosocial environment that brings forth such affective actions? The sea, the emptiness, the violence - is it the scientists' critical distance and judgment that enables a verdict over the non-human sharks?

 Now I sense the bottom. The pressure on my eardrums increases and I have to equalise by pressing air through my nose into my ears. The ocean floor is smooth with some vegetation. Since my time here is restricted to my ability to conserve the oxygen I have in my body, I have decided to photograph straight ahead and indiscriminately. I simply wind up the film and continuously press down the shutter. The camera has been preset, and I now photograph as much as I can.

 Then, suddenly, a structure manifests itself. It is two dark lines that criss-cross over the ocean floor. A straight angle is rarely natural. When I come closer I see what it is: two rectangular piles of square stones are sunk into the sand. It can be nothing other than bricks. This is what remains from Havmanden. For 338 years they have rested at the bottom of the sea whilst the shipwreck rotted away.

The bricks filled two functions on Havmanden. Firstly, as a ballast to stabilise the ship whilst sailing. Secondly, once the frigate had arrived on St. Thomas, they were intended to become buildings from which the colony was to be ruled and administered. For a few seconds, I hover over the objects and view them through the glass of the mask. The mask and camera provide me with a sort of optical privilege that is based on the distance between myself and the stones, and between me and history. At the same time, I cannot stop but feel a sense of closeness, we share the same enclosing substance, the sea.

 The stones hardly have any vegetation on them, which surprises me. I have a hard time determining their colour as the light of longer wavelengths, such as red and yellow, cannot probe this depth which blue-green can. Everything turns a cyan-colour yet I am convinced that these are not red bricks but yellow-brown. It is said they have the same origin as the bricks in the house Charlottenburg in Copenhagen, where The Royal Art Academy can be found.

 The oxygen in my body is running out and the carbon dioxide induces an intense longing to breathe. I stop myself from the impulse to touch one of the stones, as they are subject to the Antiquities Act. Instead, I turn towards the surface and the sun that breaches through the waves. I kick with my feet, find some momentum, and in an instance I am back in the summer coastal landscape. Yet before I can breathe I have to blow the water of Kattegatt out of my snorkel and mouth.

 A few weeks later, when I have immersed the film into developing chemicals and then allowed it to dry, I have the opportunity to, at a distance, view the event through the negatives on my light table. It turns out that I have not managed to capture a single sharp image of the wreck of Havmanden. It appears that I have either not held the camera still enough or managed to set the sharpness. Somewhat downcast in spirit I put the negatives aside before recalling Captain Cousteau’s expedition to photograph ghost echoes in the depths of the sea and I decide to look through the images one more time, as if perhaps, there might be something there. I seem to have taken some pictures straight out which, when I scan the images, appears to be nothing more than a tone of blue-green. However, I bring up the contrast and I can then see a refraction running vertically across the image. It is sunlight refracted in the water surface and hits what is called backscatter in the water, and therefore it becomes prominent. The last image from the dive is taken at the same time as I turn away from the bottom and swim upwards, it is photographed straight towards the sun from the wreck. The film on the light table is in itself a surface that lets through light and through it another membrane appears. It is the boundary between air and water that, through the forms of the waves, creates a series of lenses that generate light beams. Just as the film mediates between that at which a given moment has taken place, with certain specific requirements, the sea surface appears to create a boundary between different states. This dividing line can be likened to photography’s making of disparities, which appears to elicit both distress and possibilities, ultimately introducing a crisis. I recall one final scene from The Silent World where Cousteau says the imperative sentence “Sometimes a marine biologist must use dynamite on a coral reef”, meaning that in order to scientifically count how many fish there are in a coral reef he must explode dynamite to kill them all – taking photographs is not accurate enough. The explosion in this scene resembles a miniature version of the French nuclear test from the Mururora atoll in the Pacific during the 1960s. Cousteau acknowledges what he is doing as an act of vandalism, but also states that this needs to be done in the name of science. This type of reasoning can be understood through theorist Ariella Azoulay´s text Unlearning decisive moments of Photography, where she links the colonial ideology of the imperial right to take photographs to the imperial right to destroy existing worlds and the right to manufacture a new world.

As it turns out the realm of the underwater is not silent at all, but rather a world of dissonance.

[dontasktheradiodemon]

Clonium Heist (4/3/2021)

Alastor and Telly @usedhearts sneak into one of Vox’s facilities to steal a bunch of fuel, copy all the computer files, trash the place, and frame another overlord for the crime.

It’s the first major job they’ve pulled together, it goes flawlessly, and they’re a bit giddy.

Sir Pentious

It was a dark and stormy night-- No, no it wasn't, it was just dark, unlike most nights in Pentagram City, what with the light pollution. But they were currently far enough away from downtown for the shadows to be extra deep.

Telly, dressed in a black turtleneck and with Hattie shifted into a woolen cap like robbers wear-- you've seen movies, slithered low to the ground, holding up his binoculars to scan the lab's perimeter fencing. He nodded and lowered them, letting them hang around his neck.

"Alright. Let's portal inside. You remember the plan, yes?" He looked at Alastor, expression serious. It was Serious Time now.

Alastor

Alastor’s expression, of course, was grinning—but it was a very serious grin. He crouched down next to Telly and slipped a reassuring arm around his shoulder. “Of course. Don’t you worry.” A quick peck on the cheek—since it would probably be their last opportunity for a while—and then with one flourish he changed his own dark clothes into a facsimile guard uniform and simultaneously opened up a small portal. An enthralled shadow invisible in the darkness passed through first, ducked back out to tap Alastor—coast is clear—and he opened up the portal fully. “Let’s.” He stood, taking Telly’s hand. And through they went, this portal so short he could cross through it to the other side with one large footstep.

Sir Pentious

It was definitely an odd feeling, slithering through such a short portal, but Telly was getting more and more used to Hentai's strange dimension. It no longer made him sick, at least. Once inside, Telly slithered against the wall, sticking to it.

"First, guard outpost. Let's go see which one you'll be wearing the face of, love." And he was off-- boy, could he move fast when he wanted to! Better keep up Alastor.

Alastor

Alastor has to hustle to keep up. For a split second his heart leaps into his throat as he remembers too late how his shoes tap, before he also remembers that he just switched to the much quieter rubber treads of guard boots. It is, predictably, dark, but the glow of his eyes is just enough for him to see by.

Step one completed.

Sir Pentious

Telly stopped just outside the office, the typical sounds of a bored night guard sounding from inside. He looked at Alastor, and gestured with his head-- Alastor had the gun after all. And wasn't the one who was a giant, very suspicious snake.

Alastor

For a moment, Alastor was sorely tempted to pull out his acting skills—waltz in acting all friendly, claim to be new on the job, say he was told he was supposed to get his standard issue equipment from the closet, could the senior guard help him, then freeze him and leave him in the closet, nice and tidy...

But no. Pull out an elaborate routine like that, and once the guard thawed tomorrow he would be able to describe Alastor. Alas. Well, there’d probably be enough chances later. For now, his part was the servant who killed the Duke of Cornwall.

He rapped his knuckles lightly on the door—the more he acted like he belonged here, the less suspicious and alert the guard inside would be—then opened the door. The guard didn’t even glance up from his phone. “Hey—“

Before the guard could finish his greeting, Alastor silently leveled the freeze ray at the back of his head and iced him.

He tilted his head invitingly to Telly—all clear, come in—then spun the guard’s chair around to see who they’d gotten.

Sir Pentious

And in Telly slithered, closing and locking the door behind him. He smiled at Alastor, going to the wall of monitors, plugging in a small device. He tapped away at the console, concentrated on his task before chuckling.

"I have the current locations of the other three guards. Two on the floor just below us, and the third down on the next one down. I'll start looping the camera footage for the rest of the night and then wipe everything that came before, so that there'll be no trace of your interference on it. Confirmed that the Clonium X is on the third basement level, computer banks are on the first.

"We go down to get the Clonium first, you send that through to Hentai to hold on to, then we go after the computers. Once the Clonium is taken, though, free range to cause as much chaos and steal as much as we can. Just make sure to grab diamonds, and lots of them."

He turned to smirk at Alastor again. "You ready to freeze some guards and steal some shit?"

Alastor

He eyed the guard’s badge through the ice. “Alas, poor Joel,” he muttered, then wheeled the chair away from the main guard station so that anyone who opened the door would hide the guard behind it. If anyone came in looking for Joel, they might think he’d stepped out and shut the door without noticing him.

“And you’re sure Vox won’t be able to trace all of this camera fiddling back to you?” Forgive him, he worries. He steps back to eye Joel critically, and then turns into a passable replica of him.

Sir Pentious

"Absolutely certain. I'm not doing anything that any run of the mill hacker would be able to do. The security software is laughable, to be honest. Because Vox is overconfident, as always." He made a face, and then shrugged.

And then he turned, and blinked a second, before he remembered that Alastor turned into the guard. "I must say, Joel is not a looker."

Telly took one more moment to look over his work, double checking. "Alright, we're set. Lets head to the stairs."

Alastor

“He probably doesn’t understand how the software works himself,” Alastor muttered. Damn fool could *ride* electricity, but Alastor would bet anything that Vox didn’t understand the technology that made it go, only how to sell it.

Alastor smirked at the guard. “He certainly doesn’t *looker ‘round* when someone comes in!” He had to quickly hush his studio audience. None of that, now. Take the rest of the night off. “Let’s.” He fished his personal pencil-written map out of his pocket—he’d never been very good at keeping a mental map—and headed out.

Sir Pentious

Telly no longer stuck to the wall, slithering right in the middle of the hall, back straight in his usual posture. No more need to be super sneaky now that the cameras were looped.

"Maybe I should hold the map, so you can man the Freeze Gun, just in case one of the guards surprise us?"

Alastor

“No no, I’ve got it, see.” When he finished unfolding it, it was just two standard-sized pieces of paper, one floor on each side: ground and three basements, only the important routes and rooms. “One handed.” He hefted the gun in his other hand, see, no problem. “Anyway, you’re not the one who needs it.”

Sir Pentious

Telly chuckled a little. "Alright, good then." He slithered a bit longer, taking the turns naturally, like he knew the ins and outs of his place by heart. He'd probably memorized the route.

And there were the stairs! He grinned and picked up his pace, grabbing the door to throw it open. "Down to the third basement level first, and then we make our way back up." He nodded, Very Seriously.

Alastor

Alastor nodded back, Equally Seriously. He stood near the door, waiting for Telly to open it, ready to shoot if anyone happened to be on the other side.

Sir Pentious

And open it goes!......To an empty stairwell. Phew, no surprises yet. Telly slithered inside and held the door open for Alastor.

"Alright, down we go."

Alastor

“Thank you!” He’ll take the lead. Just in case. “So, where were the other three guards when you last checked?”

Sir Pentious

"Two were on basement level one, and the third was on basement level two. There were none on basement three, but the one on level two may be down there by now, so we'll just have to be careful." He kept his voice down still-- best to keep a hold on his volume, just in case.

Alastor

“Best if he *is* down there and we can take him out before we start trashing things,” Alastor muttered. “If the guards hear noise and sound the alarm before we find and freeze them all...” This building was built like a fortress in the same way that it was armed like Fort Knox; which was to say, it wasn’t at all. Alastor wouldn’t be surprised if it was flimsy enough that causing damage in the third basement level might be heard in the first.

Sir Pentious

"True! And we won't start the chaos until going back up to the second basement anyway. So if we can take down the single guard, and then the pair is on second, we can take them down too. And then we're in the clear."

Telly had a good grip on the handrail of the stairs, his face scrunching as he slithered down the stairs. It was always an uncomfortable feeling, that.

Alastor

Poor thing. IIf Alastor didn’t need to conserve his energy, he’d have temporarily turned the stairs into a ramp for Telly. (Add “replace all stairs with ramps” to their to-do list of arbitrary changes Telly could make to Hell that would personally convenience him and irritate almost everyone else.) As it was, though... Well, maybe on the way out.

For now, here was the third basement. Alastor opened the door this time, checking for a guard.

Sir Pentious

Telly followed through the door, eyes on high alert. His non-existant ears strained to hear anything like footsteps in the silence. He nodded to Alastor and started to slither down the hall toward their destination.

Until he heard the telltale sound of guard boots, and the beam of a flashlight from around the next corner. He pressed himself against the wall, flattening himself to blend into the darkness, and nodded to Alastor to go on.

Alastor

Oh, here they go. No cover in the hallway; Alastor decided he probably couldn’t get off a shot before the guard spotted him and startled. So he tucked away his map, lowered his gun, made no effort to disguise his footsteps, and—pulling out his best acting skills—called out, “Hey,” in a near-perfect replica of Joel’s voice. He raised his hand to wave as the other guard turned the corner.

“Joel?” The guard was puzzled, but unguarded. “Why’d you leave the—”

Stage magician trick #1: if you’re waving with one hand, nobody pays attention to what you’re doing with the other. Alastor shot the freeze ray without raising it.

Sir Pentious

The zap, and there the guard was, frozen solid! Good job, Alastor, impeccable aim. Telly removed himself from the wall, and slithered over, poking at the frozen demon for a moment.

"I do love the effect of that, could make for a lovely way to incarcerate dissenters to my rule." He grinned, turning to wink at Alastor. "We can just leave him here for now, the pair are likely still above. But let's not waste time."

And he's off slithering again, hands behind his back.

Alastor

“We’ll have to find a way to make it more permanent.” He eyed the guard thoughtfully as they passed, then caught up with Telly. “Or maybe not. Maybe stick them in cages around the palace and time it so that they thaw out at noon each day to scream for a few seconds before they’re automatically re-frozen. We could install a freeze ray sprinkler system.” He winked back.

Sir Pentious

Telly laughed, and then cleared his throat, lowering from a cackle to a soft chuckling. "Yes, that does sound fun. I was going to say that it would be a simple thing to keep the temperatures low enough that they simply wouldn't thaw, but I think I like your idea better."

They reached the door to the storage room and Telly nodded. "Alright, love, once we're inside, it's your show. You ready?" He held out his hands to take the freeze gun from him, just for now.

Alastor

“Died ready.” He handed over the gun and, just for effect, cracked his knuckles. Throwing in a few snapping twig sound effects for good measure.

Sir Pentious

Telly held the gun in one hand, and with the other, he tossed open the door, slithering through first. He looked around, making sure no one was inside-- and no one was, just as he'd thought.

And then his attention turned to the Clonium X. He let out a soft wolf whistle, his mouth twitching into a smirk.

"Look at all that, beautiful, isn't it?" It was definitely something. In a big stack, a pyaramid of bars, it glowed faintly purple in the darkness, pulsing almost as if it were alive. "With even half of this, I could power my cloning machine for centuries to come. Good thing we're taking all of it, hm?"

He turned to grin at Alastor.

Alastor

Alastor beamed back. “It most certainly is! We’re going to have to find some places to split up the cache, don’t you think?”

For now, though, it was enough to move it all to the airship. Alastor stepped forward, head tilting as he connected to his terrifying tentacled friend. A portal opened over the stack, and dozens of little tentacles reached through, quickly picking up the bars, one per tentacle. He was checking for any that looked or felt different, or for any small odd devices hidden in among them; Vox’s security had been pretty poor so far, but the last thing they needed was to find out too late that he’d hidden a tracking device amongst the bars.

Sir Pentious

They would be clear of any sort of tracking or security devices-- it seemed that Vox was far too confident in himself and his reputation, not even bothering to tag ONE bar. But hey, all the better for them.

Telly held the gun casually, watching Alastor work, tail strategically placed behind him to let him sit if he needed to after.

Alastor

And so, all go through. Easy peasy. Not nearly as straining as some of his longer and more instruction-heavy collaborations, but when he turned and saw Telly had left a seat for him, he gladly sank back onto it. “Where’s that goodie bag you brought?” He wasn’t starving, but he could stand to take the edge off his hunger.

Sir Pentious

Telly already has the satchel open, and he's going to grab that big bag of jerky to hand to Alastor. "Right here, love. Venison. I asked Charlie to snag me some of the stuff that Leclerq dried from when he killed that massive elk."

He grinned.

Alastor

“And it’s a *delicious* elk! I’ve still got some of it frozen.” He ate a big handful of jerky. “I ought to make something with it. I’ve never made my venison pasta for you, have I? I should do that, it’s delicious!”

Sir Pentious

"I'd love to try your venison pasta. There's yet to be a dish you've made me I've disliked." He stared at Alastor with those adoring eyes-- even if he DID look like Joel the Security Guard currently.

"How long do you need? We should start moving up soon."

Alastor

“You flatter me!” It wasn’t a complaint. Enjoy being gazed at adoringly by Joel in return.

“I’m fine to go now.” As much as he’d love to get comfortable on Telly’s coils. Another handful of jerky and he reluctantly pushed himself to his feet and offered the bag back.

Sir Pentious

Telly took it and tucked it back into the bag. He handed the freeze gun back to Alastor, and headed toward the door, peeking out before sliding out. He held the door for Alastor after, keeping a good look out.

"Back to the stairs and then we can head up to the second floor. Find the guards, hopefully, and the.....it's time for chaos." He grinned wide.

Alastor

"*I can't wait.*" There was a dangerous edge to the eagerness in Alastor's voice. "Is there anything else on this one we want to grab for the hell of it?"

Sir Pentious

Telly paused to think and then shook his head. "Not that I can recall, but let's peek in another room and see what they have! Just in case!"

He hiss-laughed and slithered toward the nearest door, and cautiously opened it. He glanced around and let out a little hum of consideration.

"Alastor, come look at this...." He opened the door wider, showing a room just full of what looked like brass. Just bars and bars of melted down brass. "Why do you think Vox is holding on to _this_ much brass?"

Alastor

Alastor looked at the bars thoughtfully. "He wants to start Hell's biggest brass band?" He smiled impishly.

Sir Pentious

Telly snorted and rolled his eyes (all of them). "Yes, I'm sure that's why. Now I'm curious though, let's look at a couple more rooms."

He closed the door and slithered to another, opening it with less caution than the last.

"Alastor, _look_." His brow was now creased with confusion. "This one's got.....iron? Steel? Also in bar form....what in Hell is Vox doing with these?"

Alastor

Alastor shrugged, mystified. "Driving up the price by hoarding it? Stockpiling it to produce some trite new consumer electronic?" He mulled it over a moment longer. "... Whatever he's planning, what do you say we throw a wrench in it?"

Sir Pentious

Telly's baffled expression shifted to a smug smile, and he looked down at Alastor.

"I think we're on the same wavelength, dear. Yes, let's." He blinked a bit. "How so?"

Alastor

"By moving the heavy metal concert from *his* venue to *ours.* I can't check every bar for bugs tonight, but I've got a safe spot in my universe where we can dump the lot and then check them later." Even if the fuel hadn't been bugged—well, this was Vox, and Alastor wasn't taking chances with Telly's safety.

Sir Pentious

"Oh yes, an excellent idea. I wonder if he's got a stockpile of gold and silver as well--" He paused, a thought occurring to him.

"It might raise questions if _all_ of the metals were to disappear at once, Vergil doesn't have enough manpower at his disposal to get all of that. It's fesible that he could get all the Clonium, but all _this_ too? It's simply too much for his operation. We can't take it." His face scrunched, and then smoothed into a smile.

"Or at least not _all_ of it. Take maybe.....The top fifth? There's more than enough here for that amount to go unnoticed, especially if Vox's record keeping is as shoddy as his security. Yes, that should work, the top fifth of each stack...."

Alastor

"Top fifth." He eyed the stack. "All right..." His eyes dissolved into red static as he called up Hentai again.

This time the transport took much less time. He could simply open a portal beneath the layer of bricks he wanted to take, and Hentai was only needed to keep them from crashing catastrophically to the ground on the other side.

Sir Pentious

While Alastor worked, Telly got the bag of jerky out again, digging a handful out to offer as soon as he was done.

Alastor

As soon as he snapped out of it, he was looking around for Telly. "Where's—? Oh! Thank you." He beat Alastor to it. Alastor gratefully took the snacks. "We should hit this place again sometime for the rest. Imagine what we could make with it!"

Sir Pentious

"After we hit it, Vox is sure to amp up security, that or move everything somewhere else. So, perhaps, when things are more on the up and up and we don't have to pin it on someone else." He snickered.

"Let's hit the other rooms quick and then head up like planned."

Alastor

"A fine plan! Maybe we'll find that stash of gold and silver!" Off they go!

Sir Pentious

They do indeed find a stash of gold, and one of silver! And some copper, and various other metals. A total, with the Clonium, of at least 10 different metals. They snatch the top fifth of each stack and then it's time to head for the stares.

Before they do, though, Telly stopped at the frozen guard, a smirk on his face. He very casually pushed him with one claw, sending him teetering and then crashing to the ground, shattering the poor guard into a thousand pieces.

"That was just as satisfying as I thought it would be!" He said, trying to contain his cackle to a mere chuckle. "Come on, we have chaos to commit!!"

Alastor

Alastor watched with an utterly gleeful grin on his face. “He’s going to have a hard time pulling back together after *that!*” He pulled open the door to the stairway, after you. “Next one, I want to smash.”

Sir Pentious

"Well, there are two more to freeze! Next one's yours, my love." He rumbled with the cobra purr, and then his face scrunched as he started the disgustingly arduous task of slithering back _up_ the stairs.

"I want to find whoever invented stairs and beat them to double death."

Alastor

“Now, there’s a good question—why *didn’t* we stick with ramps? Humanity had to have been introduced to them first—we’ve walked all over hills, those are basically natural ramps.” He offered Telly a hand. Sorry 4 ur suffering. “We can ban stairs.”

Sir Pentious

He took Alastor's hand, if only to squeeze it while slithering up these Lucifer-damned stairs. Luckily, they only had one flight to go up currently, the other one could wait.

"Alright, be on high alert, we're looking for the other two guards first, and then once they're taken care of, it's time for chaos." He grinned and then carefully opened the door, peeking out. No sign of the guards yet. He slithered into the R&D floor, glancing around.

"Though, if you see something interesting, just feel free to grab it."

Alastor

“And what are your standards for ‘interesting’?” The doors were less heavy-duty on this level. Alastor opened one; just a lot of desks so far. Didn’t meet *his* standards for interesting.

Sir Pentious

"Oh, any sort of tech that looks strange, honestly. I'll be able to figure out what they are when we get home, no time to do that now." He chuckled and peeked through another door. Hm, nothing there.

But that's when hurried footsteps sounded at the other end of the hall. Telly, working fast, slithered into the room and shut the door most of the way, hiding himself to let Alastor deal with the guards.

Alastor

That was much too fast for a regular patrol, they knew something was up. No time to pull out his usual act. Best to give them as little info to try to report later once they thawed.

And there they were, both of them together. At least it’d be quick. “Joel, is that you?” “We heard voices, who—”

Alastor raised his freeze ray and shot the one on the left.

Sir Pentious

The one on the right yelped at the sight, immediately trying to turn tail and run-- only to run into a tail instead. He tripped and fell on his face, and Telly wrapped his leg just to hold him there. He could do that much without revealing himself. It wouldn't take long for Alastor to come take care of this one too.

Alastor

Alastor bit back a laugh as he jogged up to the fallen guard, waited for Telly to let him loose, and shot him in the back. “Some guards blockhead hires, huh?” He brought his boot down heavily on the guard’s head, smashing it into ice shards. “Hopefully he won’t remember ‘Joel’ wielding a freeze ray, that’d confuse our framing efforts a bit. You’re supposed to not remember the last few seconds before you get knocked out, right? I heard that on a radio program once.”

Sir Pentious

"I think you did more than just knock him out, Alastor. I think being smashed into icy chunks is more than enough to scramble their brains." Telly slithered out of the room and lifted the substantial part of his tail, bringing it down like a hammer on the rest of the fallen guard. Pieces of him flew in all directions, and Telly let out a full blown cackle.

"Now, let's ransack and cause chaos! Make sure to use that gun as much as you see fit, Alastor, we need to make sure there's ice all over!"

Alastor

Oh! Oh my. That was kind of hot. Give him a moment, his heart’s doing a little flip.

“Ransacking and chaos it is!” He swiped the other frozen guard’s legs out from under him, watched with satisfaction as the guard cracked into several pieces on impact with the ground, then smashed them into a few more. “One winter wonderland, coming right up.” He iced a portion of the floor, tried to slide along it, and found he didn’t get very far in guard boots. He poofed them off and slid along in his socks, firing randomly through an open door as he passed.

Sir Pentious

Telly shivered as the ice cooled the air, but he was prepared! He pressed a small button inside the sleeve of his turtleneck, and it began to buzz softly as it heated. As long as his core temperature didn't drop, he'd be fine. He slithered after Alastor, throwing open doors with wild abandon, looking for interesting things to take.

He found a few things that he stuffed into his bag, before wildly thrashing each room he was in, causing as much destruction as possible, cackling all the while. This was the _fun part._

Alastor

There was something *deeply* satisfying about freezing some office equipment and chucking it through computer screens—and then freezing the ruined computers. “What ugly things.” He kicked over a flat screen (he had the boots back on) and turned to roll his eyes at Telly. “Have you ever seen a computer that wasn’t ugly? I’ve seen a couple of custom jobs, but that’s it. I remember when electronics were art pieces! Nowadays you’re expected to stare at these things eight hours a day, and yet...” Ooh, this desk had a rubber duck on it. Why did it have a rubber duck? Alastor stole it.

Sir Pentious

"I don't know! They want everything 'sleek' and 'modern' but it just looks ugly! There's no style in it!" He shook his head, swinging his tail to shatter a frozen section of wall.

"I think that's good for this level, yes? Let's head up to the next floor and get the data, then we can shatter Joel and get the Hell out of here!"

Alastor

“They want ‘sleek and modern’? Then they ought to go for—oh, what’s it getting called these days—‘art deco,’ I think it is now? All glass and steel! Sharp angles and smooth curves! It doesn’t get more sleek and modern than that, and on top of that it’s stylish! As! Hell!” He punctuated the declaration with three wild shots. “‘Sleek and modern’ my tail. They’re just too cheap to decorate and think beveling a few corners will hide that.” He offered his elbow to Telly. Shall they?

Sir Pentious

Telly took his arm, beaming down at him. "Yes, that would make things more interesting! But alas, we seem to be two of the only demons with a modicum of _taste_, darling."

He slithered into the stairwell and then started up, face screwing up again. "You know, you don't need to be Joel anymore! The guards and cameras are incapacitated!"

Alastor

“Call me paranoid. What if those last two hit some kind of panic button when they heard strange voices?” He iced the stairs ahead of them, adding a couple of layers until it was more of a slope. Tada! A handy ramp. Isn’t he clever?

He took one step on the slope and almost lost his footing. Okay, he’s half clever. He clung to the handrail, it’s fine, he’s fine.

Sir Pentious

Telly just casually hefted Alastor into his arms, holding him bridal style as he slithered up the slope. Oh, chilly. He shivered a bit.

"Wouldn't you be able to hear or sense it, it they did?"

Alastor

Feeling Telly shiver against him immediately made Alastor’s stomach turn. Oh right, Telly was naked from the waist down. “You must be freezing in here.” He slid an arm around Telly’s back, don’t mind getting hugged by Joel. When they reached the next landing, Alastor got back to his feet and summoned up a quilt with erratic asymmetrical blocks and decorative stitching to sling around Telly’s shoulders. There. Better.

“I’ve got the broadcasting tower turned down as far as it can go right now, in case of anything he’s got listening for my frequency.” (It’s him, he’s the broadcasting tower.) “If the guards used something that broadcasts on a high frequency—like, say, a cell phone—they might be able to get a signal out without my hearing.”

Sir Pentious

"Ah, I see. Well then, good thing we just have to get the data and then slag everything else in the office area, and we're free and clear." Telly tied the corners of the blanket around his neck, smirking as he did.

"How do I look? Dashing?" He snickered and slithered over to the first door, throwing it open to get to one of the computers. He booted it up and plugged in a small hard drive, clacking away.

"Alright, downloading everything on their internal servers. Should just take a couple minutes, and then we can destroy everything and go."

Alastor

“Incredibly dashing. Like a movie villain preparing to steal the national treasury.” His expression was unusually soft as he spoke, though. Don’t worry about it, just the cold getting to him.

He leaned over Telly’s shoulder to watch him work. “And you’re *sure* V#x isn’t going to be able to detect what you’re doing here?” Asking for the thousandth time...

Sir Pentious

"No. At least, because we're not going to leave anything intact for them to trace. Vox has smart people working for him, but even they're not smart enough to piece together a hard drive from a slagged computer." He shrugged, and turned to smile at him, though there was a brief bwaugh at the sight of Joel's face.

"Alright, almost....there!" He smiled and unplugged the drive, tucking it into his satchel. With one large sweep, he swung his tail around and used it to completely smash the station, giving a few extra slaps to make sure it was in pieces.

"Now freeze it! And then to the server room. We'll destroy those and then the rest of the computers in the other rooms. Then we're free and clear!"

Alastor

Another stomp for good measure, then a solid coating of ice over all the components, and Alastor followed Telly to the other rooms. “You know, sometimes Vaggie or Charlie will complain about the hotel computer freezing. Somehow I doubt they meant like this!”

Sir Pentious

Telly laughed, nodding at him. "Oh, certainly. You know, if they'd like an upgrade, I'm sure I could whip up something better than whatever they're currently using."

He shrugged, going through another door too the server room. Telly tapped his chin a moment. "Darling, could you get me a baseball bat? I suddenly feel the urge to take up a career in baseball!!"

Alastor

“Oh, you don’t need to waste your time on the hotel’s computer.” A dismissive gesture. “If they wanted a better one, they could get their own. The princess can certainly afford it.”

He saw where this was going. He liked where it was going. He pulled out a bat and held it out to Telly. It’s got a bunch of nails sticking out of it. Why does Alastor have that bat already.

Sir Pentious

Telly took the bat with a grin, holding it up in the classic batter's stance.

"Pentell Tinely readies himself at the plate....The pitcher winds up....And!!" He swung with all his might (which was actually a LOT) and smacked the nearest server, the machine sputtering sparks as it fell and toppled into its neighbor, creating a literal domino effect of toppling servers.

"And it's a home run! The crowd goes WILD!!"

Alastor

Alastor’s invisible audience goes wild. Listen to that cheering. Babe Ruth couldn’t hype them up that much.

“What a swing! It’s sailing straight over the crowd’s heads! It’s headed for the fence! It’s going—going—GONE, ladies and gentlemen! Yessirree, that ball is out of the park!”

Sir Pentious

Telly cackled as he began to go to town on the rest of the servers, beating them all to scrap. "And now he's beating the other players to death! It's a massacre! Oh the humanity!!"

Alastor

“We’ve never seen a game like *this* before! But there’s nothing in the rule books against murder! Why, at this rate, the visiting team won’t have enough players to cover every position!” Alastor followed behind Telly, casually icing any servers that looked sufficiently trashed.

Sir Pentious

He was huffing now, puffing, and blowing these houses down-- with the bat. Every server, he made sure to obliterate into nothing but bits of plastic and metal. Once satisfied with his work, he turned the bat upside down and leaned on it.

"Phew! That was something. My arms will be sore tomorrow, I bet." He straightened, and offered the bat back to Alastor. "Alright, ready to go?"

He blinked and let out a little 'oh!'. "We almost forgot to smash Joel! Let's make sure to get him on the way out."

Alastor

Alastor took the bat and twirled it. “Let’s! Although I can just *imagine* him trying to explain to his bosses why he’s the only guard that wasn’t smashed to pieces.” He grinned viciously. “But no, better not to leave any loose ends.”

Sir Pentious

"Yes, that would be hilarious!" Telly snickered as he slithered, heading back towards the stairs. Just one more flight, Pentell, you can do it. Be strong for ~~mother~~ Alastor.

Alastor

Better not ice it this time, but Alastor’s arm was still available if Telly wanted it. “Then to go swim in a sea of stolen fuel! Not to boast prematurely, but oh, what a spectacular job we’ve done, haven’t we!” He was practically skipping up the stairs. “And this is only the beginning!”

Sir Pentious

"Oh yes, we still need to make certain to drop some of the Clonium at Vergil's. You can do that remotely, can't you? I know the coordinates for it." He will gladly take the offered arm and slither his way up those final steps. Ah, there we go, no more stairs.

He slithered through the halls, back to the security office, and entered. "My darling, did you want to do the honors?"

Alastor

“Not a problem!” He’d need somebody to peek through to make sure the coast was clear, but there shouldn’t be any problems with that.

He shut the door to reveal Joel behind it, still frozen with his head bowed toward his phone. “With the greatest pleasure.” He planted one foot on the chair seat to keep it steady. “You know, I’ve always been *fascinated* by stories of doppelgängers destroying their originals. Something about it is simply... Oh, I don’t know. There’s art in there somewhere.” He raised the bat, lined it up with Joel’s head as carefully as a golfer taking aim, and then swung it in a long, graceful arc. Joel’s head shattered into icy shards that pelted the wall.

Sir Pentious

Telly gave a nice golf clap at that masterful swing, before putting an arm around Alastor's waist. "Now turn back, I want a kiss before we go. Should be able to just portal out, yes?"

Alastor

Without answering, he shifted back into his own appearance and turned in Telly’s embrace to kiss him. Alastor had been waiting for this moment since Telly first smashed a guard. His ruthless, vicious, gorgeous supervillain.

Sir Pentious

Arms wrapping around Alastor, Telly pulled him closer, turning his head to deepen the kiss. He nipped at his lip, a hand coming up to cup his cheek, and he pulled back panting.

"Let's get home. Mission successful." He grinned and kissed Alastor again.

Alastor

“*Mmh.*” He opened a portal next to them and tugged Telly in without breaking the kiss. Celebration time—

No, no. Planting evidence. *Then* celebration.

Sir Pentious

He continued the kiss, even through the strange stomach flipping Hentai's dimension gave him, and landed with a thud back on the airship. Telly broke it then to stroke Alastor's face.

"Where did you stash the Clonium X?"

Alastor

“Over there.” A vague gesture. He’d deposited both the fuel and themselves in the airship’s storage. “How much are we sacrificing?”

Sir Pentious

"A third should be enough to make it seem like he sold off the rest. And we can dump two thirds of the diamonds as well. That should be more than enough to convince Vox."

Alastor

“Pity,” Alastor sighed. A few tentacles separated about a third of the pile from the rest, and Alastor gestured. “Care to add the rest?”

Sir Pentious

Telly dug the diamonds from his bag-- a nice large sack of them-- and sifted through. He set a couple handfuls on the ground, and then tied up the bag to toss onto the pile of Clonium to be sent.

"There, that should do it."

Alastor

And in a few seconds the pile was gone—off to bring down Vox’s wrath on some other innocent overlord. Farewell.

And Alastor could turn all his attention to Telly.

Sir Pentious

Telly was more than ready for him, already there, against him, cupping his face to kiss again. And then he was laughing against his lips.

"WE DID IT!!" He laughed louder, that typical Pentious fare, and picked Alastor up to spin him around.

"WE DID IT!!!!!!"

Alastor

“We di—!” He was being SPUN. He held on tight, laughing giddily as well. He didn’t stop clinging when his feet were back on the ground, only leaning harder against Telly. “Brilliantly schemed and flawlessly executed, Sir Pentious! And just *think* of all we can do next!”

Sir Pentious

"OH YES, THERE'S SO MUCH!! WITH THE EGG PRODUCTION NOW--" He stopped mid sentence, rushing over to the Clonium to grab a bar and then slithering as fast as his tail could take him.

"ALASTOR! CALL THE EGGS TO THE CLONING CHAMBER!! WE NEED TO GET PRODUCTION STARTED ASAP!!"

Alastor

“Yes yes, of course!” He hurried after Telly, summoning up his microphone to feed his voice through the ship’s PA system: “**All hands to the cloning chamber! It’s time to make you lot some little brothers.**”

Sir Pentious

Telly arrived to the Eggs streaming in, he counted them up-- yes, all 19, good.

"I NEED #9 FRONT AND CENTER, THE REST OF YOU, TO THE STORAGE ROOM! MOVE ALL THE CLONIUM X INTO THIS CHAMBER!" The Eggs gave an affirmative cry and rushed off, #9 stepping up as requested.

"INTO THE CHAMBER, NINE! YOU KNOW THE DRILL BY NOW!"

"Yes, Sir, Mister Bossman!!" The Egg cried, climbing in. Telly placed the Clonium into its slot and pressed a few buttons. The tube that held #9 slide shut with a pneumatic THOOMP and the machine began to whir to life.

Telly slithered back, looking up at it with manic glee-- and it began to spit Egg Bois out of the tube at the end. The came out fully dressed, and steaming, and Telly slithered over to the first one to pop out.

"YOU ARE TO STAY HERE AND INFORM THE REST OF YOUR BRETHERN THAT COME OUT OF THE MACHINE TO HELP THE OTHERS MOVING THE CLONIUM X! AND ONCE THE MACHINE IS DONE WITH ITS CURRENT BAR, REFILL IT! THINK YOU CAN HANDLE THAT, NUMBER...." He trailed off, quickly spinning to Egg to see his number. "NUMBER 390?"

"Oh of course, Mr. Bossman! I've got it all handled!! You can count on me!" 390 saluted and Telly nodded, slithering back over Alastor.

"Alright, that's that. We can finally go celebrate our victory now." He leaned close to flick his tongue against Alastor's cheek.

Alastor

He watched in amazement as eggs began popping out—just like that! So fast! No warmup, no assembly time, just instant eggs. “You could put every chicken farmer in Hell out of business with this thing.”

Sir Pentious

Telly looked back at his machine and puffed proudly. "Yes, I _could_ but why bother? My Eggs are more useful than just as food!"

He slid his hand into Alastor's, twining their fingers as he began to slither back towards the other end of the airship, where his bedroom lay.

"Let's let it work. You and I have some celebrating to do." He purred.

Alastor

“Right, yes...” Don’t mind him if he turns to watch the machine over his shoulder as Telly leads him away. Isn’t that something. “I can’t believe I’m doing burglary jobs with the smartest man in Hell.”

Sir Pentious

Telly laughed. "I can't believe I'm doing burglary jobs with the Radio Demon!"

He turned towards Alastor and pulled him close, kissing him hard.

Alastor

When Telly said it like *that,* it almost made him sound like somebody important.

Alastor leaned into the kiss hungrily, all teeth and tongue. He was going to burn down Hell with this man and he couldn't wait.

[promptsausandshit]

Picture this; #378

A Month of Location Prompts;

(Note; While the goal is to do one a day, please go at your own pace, this is for fun after all!)

1.  An underground bouncy castle party, with some very interesting dancers and very loud music.

2.  Find three photos of completely different locations and use them as reference to create one location, take note of anything standout features or unique landmarks in particular.

3.  You have been invited to the Experimental School for Inventors, the school grounds can be located suspended over a large river and requires either nautical or aerial entry, we apologise for any potential projectiles that may hinder your arrival.

4.  A black and neon themed pub, all pieces of furniture are black with bright coloured patterns, decorations or accents, even the wall paintings are the same.

5.  Organise several items into a pile then use the outline created as the silhouette for a mountain based city.

6.  An apartment that has been split down the middle, one half is near pristine while the other is littered and crowded with innumerable items.

7.  At the bottom of a drained lake surrounded by dried mud is a statue that seems to be reaching upwards to where the lakes surface would have been. There are stones positioned around this statue in an unnatural pattern.

8.  A place of worship built entirely of recycled glass, metal, rock, wood and plastic from several other long destroyed places of worship. The floor is a mosaic of colour in celebration of being rebuilt from the ashes.

9.  The middle of a kite festival, hundreds of kites in the air and picnic blankets all around, the breeze is just right and the suns rays bake the earth.

10.  The back of a secret lab has a room with nothing in it but a half constructed inactive android that has a chain leading from it’s back to a bolt on the wall, one hand of the android is behind it’s back clutching something tightly.

11.  The Galactic Court House, the judicial panel has twenty seats of different themes to signify where each judge hails from, the jury seated above the court with a layer of glass between them. The room is mainly of a smooth polished silver material, cushioned seating is coloured according to the role in court, the Galactic Pledge is carved into the back wall in all prevailing languages.

12.  A small shelter made from a tarp attached to a three wheeled car, surrounded by moss, trees and mountains during a stormy night.

13.  Holographic park that has projections of people walking through it, these projections change periodically to reflect a different time period for both entertainment and education purposes.

14.  Look for a diagram of an insects wing, enlarge it. Now view it as the pathways of a forest and decide what caused these paths.

15. Within the branches of a tree is a few hammocks and fairy lights, baskets with pulley systems filled with books, food and other trinkets are adjacent to each hammock. 

16.  A shimmering lake with many small rowing boats tied to a board walk, these little boats are painted to resemble teacups. In the centre of the lake is a bowl like rock filled with marbles.

17.  Desert landscape where parts of the sand are a shimmering pink colour, rocky structures carved by the wind peek out of the ever changing dunes and the snakes have ancient script on their scales.

18.  Welcome to The Grand Library of Memoirs, where only journals, diaries and personal logs are stored, the history of peoples lives and thoughts. All books are categorised by last name and sectioned off by century. The ceiling is a large clock.

19.  Within a forest in the depths of winter, all around is shades of white and ash with the exception of red berries and lines of red carved into several trees.

20.  A tennis court long overgrown and covered in graffiti, some ribbons tied to the fencing around it. There are several posters and pieces of litter scattered on the ground.

21.  The typical office setting except the interior designer had some strange obsession with frogs.

22.  A memorable spot from your past but scaled to the size of a giant, the average person no larger than a squirrel.

23.  Your typical ideal flower shop, blooms of all colours lovingly arranged and labelled, located right next to the gateway to the underworld.

24.  Entering a company building that has been built between two cliffs, the walls are solid and shimmery while the roof is completely made out of glass, each floor part of a large atrium to allow the light through. In the centre is a themed water fountain with many coins left at the bottom.

25.  An art gallery that only has gloves on display, some even pinned to the walls where paintings used to be.

26.  Place three drops of ink or pain on paper, then either blow on or tip the paper at different angles. The lines left are now paths and roads of a map, create different locations and terrains for these paths then have your characters navigate this map.

27.  At the top of a mountain surrounded in mist is a shrine decorated with copper leaves and carvings of various creatures.

28.  The middle of a toy store, the floor is decorated with see-through solid plastic that has hundreds of different small toys and figures inside, in several areas are small huddles of pillows, cuddly toys and other soft things as rest areas and drones with toy passengers attached fly around the store.

29.  A large swimming centre with several grand attractions, the colour theme is dark and cool to appeal to its main customer base; supernatural and mythical beings.

30.  A cosy room with a lightly burning fireplace, in front of it is a plump sofa that has clearly been patched up in a few places, the window has its shutters closed and locked, a slightly chipped but well loved teas set it placed on a table beside it and thread and yard weaves through the rafters above.

31.  Far inland stands a large lighthouse, the inside walls covered in ruins and ancient script and the stair case metal railings twist and curl into wave like patterns.

Completion Bonus!;

Do a one shot or a sketch for something you love that you haven’t had the chance to do for a while! Or read one chapter of an unfinished story! Or watch one episode or movie of that thing you like! Satisfy whatever urge you have right now, you have all the time in the world for this so relax and treat yourself, you did great!

[multiverseforger]

Mister Mind came to Earth during World War II, drawn by its radio broadcasts; he especially loved Edgar Bergen's dummy Charlie McCarthy. Upon learning that his beloved Charlie was not real, he decided to conquer the world instead. To this end, he formed the first Monster Society of Evil, which was merely a shadow of what was to come. He gathered known villains like Dummy, Mister Who, Nyola, Oom the Mighty, and Ramulus to make up the Monster Society of Evil. They succeeded in capturing Hawkgirl. Not long after its founding, the other villains tried to kill him and Mister Mind retreated to Earth-S. Without his leadership, the team was quickly defeated in battle by the All-Star Squadron.[7]

Captain Marvel Adventures: "The Monster Society of Evil" (Earth-S)Edit

As a side-effect of the reality-altering Crisis on Infinite Earths, Mister Mind arrived in the universe of Earth-S (where Fawcett's former characters dwelled) sometime around 1846 (it was mentioned in this story that he had been working on a weapon for 97 years). His brilliant intellect, telepathic powers, and ruthlessness allowed him to conquer much of space, establishing bases on many different worlds as well as varied locations on Earth. He recruited supervillains, armies, and entire alien species to aid him in his attempt to conquer the Earth, and first relayed his information from the planetoid Punkus via radio. He began his reign of terror on Earth in 1943, boasting that he and the Monster Society of Evil would give Captain Marvel "nightmares from now on". This formed the basis of the plot for "The Monster Society of Evil" serial in Captain Marvel Adventures #22–46 (March 1943 to May 1945). Mind was not revealed as a worm until Captain Marvel Adventures #26.

Mind had many and varied plans to conquer Earth, and to destroy Captain Marvel and/or his teenaged alter-ego, Billy Batson. But Captain Marvel stopped all of Mind's plans, dismantled all of his resources, and arrested, frightened away, or accidentally killed all of his henchmen. Reverse cliffhangers were used in the Monster Society stories, such as Mister Mind about to be crushed under a careless heel or about to be crushed in a paper roller. Finally, a desperate Mister Mind attacked Captain Marvel's alter ego Billy Batson with ether and left him unconscious. But he then realized that without his henchmen, he was practically helpless and unable to kill him. Captain Marvel soon captured the world's wickedest worm and had him tried and executed for killing 186,744 people.

Shazam!: Return of the SocietyEdit

Shazam! #2 was Mister Mind's first appearance in a DC comic, and depicted his return to villainy. Although he had been sentenced to death in the electric chair, Mister Mind's alien physiology proved resistant to the high voltage, and he entered a state of suspended animation that was mistaken for death. On the verge of being stuffed for display in a museum, he awakened, hypnotized the taxidermist into creating a duplicate, and escaped.

Shortly after Captain Marvel's own return from suspended animation, he countered Mister Mind trying to destroy the country with an expanding balloon-like weapon in St. Louis. With intelligence from a reformed Herkimer, Marvel succeeds in thwarting Mind's plan and capturing the worm.[8]

Several future issues of Shazam! depict Mister Mind attempting to recruit new henchmen and reform the Monster Society of Evil, at one point even recruiting a displaced Lex Luthor from Earth-One.[9] The Monster Society of Evil was briefly reformed in Shazam! #14 (September–October 1974).

An escaped Mister Mind, hungry for revenge, assembled a new, smaller group which included Doctor Sivana, his evil children Georgia and Sivana Jr, and Ibac. They attempted to attack the Marvel Family - Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. - with a death ray that created "dream" monsters using first evil thoughts and later the nightmares of Uncle Marvel. The Marvels end up defeating the Monster Society by convincing Uncle Marvel to dream up "dream" versions of the Marvels to fight the monsters.

World's Finest Comics: The Monster Society Strikes BackEdit

Mister Mind reformed his Monster Society of Evil one last time in the classic continuity, in World's Finest Comics #264–267 (August–September 1980 to February–March 1981). Almost the entire Marvel Family had to unite in order to stop them—Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., and the three Lieutenant Marvels: Tall Marvel, Fat Marvel, and Hill Marvel. Their wicked plans were wide-ranging, beginning with an assault on Egypt, expanding to a scheme to reverse the entire Earth's topography, Oggar raising an evil army from the sands and dusts of Egypt for Black Adam to lead, and conquering hundreds of planets and using them to build an army of spaceships. Their plans culminated in a massive assault on the Rock of Eternity, home of the Marvels' benefactor, the wizard Shazam.

World's FunnestEdit

In the Elseworlds story Superman & Batman: World's Funnest (November 2000), the two near-omnipotent imps Mister Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite engage in a tremendous duel that destroys many planes of reality. One of these appears to be a version of Earth-S. During their time there, they run into a version of the Monster Society of Evil that is slightly different from any other, featuring many of Captain Marvel's enemies. Mxyzptlk easily destroys them (with a tentacled beast labeled Mr. Mxyzptlk's Anti-Social Monster) when they begin to annoy him, along with the rest of the universe; however, by the end of the book, all is returned to what it was.

Post-CrisisEdit

Shazam! A New BeginningEdit

Mister Mind's return to the DC Universe in wake of Crisis was first hinted at in Roy Thomas' Shazam! A New Beginning. It closed with a defeated Dr. Sivana hiding out and drinking tequila in a Mexican dive bar. He ponders how he will defeat Captain Marvel when he sees a worm in the bottle and has the idea of using it as a weapon against the hero.

Thomas' idea of Mister Mind being a mutated tequila worm was not followed up on and he was given a different origin in his next appearance.

The Power of Shazam!Edit

Mister Mind was fully re-introduced into the DC Universe in Jerry Ordway's The Power of Shazam! series in 1996. Mind was one of a race of millions of mind-controlling worms from the planet Venus, who had plans to invade and take over the Earth, which they claim to have once ruled around the Ice Age. Appointed as the go-ahead agent, Mind arrived on Earth during World War II, by means of an indestructible green Venusian space suit, but was captured by Bulletman, Starman, and Green Lantern Abin Sur before enacting his plan. Mind eventually escaped, stowing away on the Magellan space probe, and decades later forced Doctor Sivana to join forces with him, needing Sivana's scientific prowess to facilitate the Venusian worms' plans. He took control of the wealthy Sinclair Batson in order to finance those plans.

The worms' plans to invade the Earth were thwarted by Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel, who succeeded in killing all of the worms by sending them into deep space where they froze, save for Mister Mind, whom they placed in the custody of Sergeant Steel and the Department of Metahuman Affairs. Mind eventually escapes, takes over Steel's mind, and programs the robot Mister Atom, another Marvel Family villain in Steel's custody, to destroy the town of Fairfield, where Billy Batson (Captain Marvel) and Mary Bromfield (Mary Marvel) lived with their adopted parents. After Mister Atom's nuclear blast destroys the city and kills nearly all of its residents, the Marvels arrive in Washington, DC seeking revenge. Mister Mind's plot to set off a nuclear holocaust included using clones of himself to take over the minds of several regular American citizens, who were to make their ways to nuclear bomb facilities and initiate a nuclear holocaust. However, Mind's plan was foiled by the Marvel Family and Green Lanterns Kyle Rayner and Hal Jordan.

52Edit

Mister Mind played an integral role in DC's year-long 2006-2007 weekly comic, 52, although the importance of his role in the series was revealed gradually over time and involved the concepts of time travel and temporal paradoxes.

The day following the end of the Infinite Crisis event, Dr. Sivana discovers Mister Mind lying in a crater in the desert and pockets him, sealing him in a specimen jar and taking it back to his laboratory to prevent him from interfering with his plans to take over the world.[10] Sivana bombards Mind with particles of Suspendium, a time-altering element introduced in the 1970s Shazam! title. Although Sivana is then kidnapped by Intergang and forced to join their Science Squad, the Suspendium induces Mister Mind's delayed metamorphosis. As Sivana is dragged off, Mind observes a televised memorial for the heroes lost in the Infinite Crisis, and takes particular note of Skeets, the robotic companion of the time-traveling superhero Booster Gold.[11] With his metamorphosis beginning, Mind proceeds to weave a cocoon around himself, which doubles as a matter transporter that he uses to beam himself inside Skeets in Dr. Magnus' lab,[12][13] intending to use the robot as a "cradle" where he can spend the following year gestating and completing his transformation.

Destroying Skeets from within, Mind adopts his identity and makes plans to consume the Multiverse, which had returned to existence as a result of Infinite Crisis. Discovering that Rip Hunter is aware of his plans, Mind, as Skeets, attempts to hunt him down and draw him out, to no avail. Eventually, he discovers Hunter hiding in the bottle city of Kandor, but when Hunter turns the Phantom Zone projector on him, Mind overpowers it and "eats" the Phantom Zone itself. At the end of the year, Mind tracks Hunter and Booster down to the lab of T. O. Morrow, intent on acquiring the head of the Red Tornado, whose computerized brain has mapped the Multiverse.[14] There, Mind's gestation completes and he emerges from within Skeets in a monstrous imago form known as a "Hyperfly". Now, instead of feeding on the brainwaves of individuals, he feeds on space-time itself and decides to devour the entire Multiverse.[15] Booster and Hunter flee back in time to the moment of the Multiverse's birth, with the now-gigantic Mind in pursuit, following them from universe to universe, all 52 of them, where he consumes portions of each world's history, altering their timelines and creating 52 new, distinct Earths.[16] Mind is lured back to Hunter's lab, where he shrinks in size and becomes trapped within Skeets' Suspendium-lined shell.[17] Booster hurls Mind backwards through time, where the Suspendium reverts Mind back to his larval form, and lands on the day after the end of Infinite Crisis, where he is found by Dr. Sivana and sealed in the jar. The remaining 52 seconds of time are used to bind him in a time loop.[18]

Also during the series, unrelated to Mind's activities, a new incarnation of the Monster Society was formed, consisting of the Four Horsemen of Apokolips, creatures engineered by Intergang's Science Squad (including Sivana). Of particular note is Sobek, a humanoid crocodile not unlike the beings who were members of the Pre-Crisis Monster Society. This Monster Society attacked the Black Marvel Family for not joining the Freedom of Power treaty, and killed Isis and Osiris, only to be destroyed by Black Adam, save for Death, who flees. In his hunt for Death, Black Adam destroys the nation of Bialya, before defeating the final Horseman, torturing it for information, and killing it.[19]

Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil (2007)Edit

A new Captain Marvel prestige format four-issue limited series from DC Comics, Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith (creator of Bone) began publication on February 7, 2007. Smith's Shazam! miniseries, in the works since 2003, is a more traditional take on the character, returning Captain Marvel to his roots with a story set outside of the DC Universe. In this version, Mister Mind resembles a small snake, with a more threatening face sans glasses, while wearing a modern style communicator headset. Many different monsters are shown in the Society, with the Crocodile-Men being replaced with the Alligator-Men.

The New 52Edit

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Mister Mind makes his first appearance after Doctor Sivana's alliance with Black Adam fails. Sivana heads to the Rock of Eternity, where he cannot get in because of a magical shield. He cries out for someone to help him save his family, saying that while science has failed them, magic could save them. Sivana then discovers a caterpillar-like creature trapped in a bottle within the Rock. The creature claims that people call him "Mister Mind" and makes note that he and Doctor Sivana shall be the "best of friends".[20]

DC RebirthEdit

Mister Mind returns in the new Shazam! series during the "DC Rebirth," still in an alliance with Sivana. Residing inside of Sivana's ear, Mister Mind has Sivana go to a doctor's office in order to cut out the tongue of a "medicine man" as it is needed for a spell. It is revealed that Mister Mind's real name is Maxivermis Mind and is believed to have originated from the Wildlands, one of the seven realms in the Magiclands. Believed to originally be a simple bookworm, Mister Mind suffered abuse as a child and tried for years to break into the Library of Eternity. He eventually succeeded and after absorbing all the knowledge and power of countless spells, he returned to the Wildlands and took his revenge on those who he believed had wronged him. Achieving his revenge, he set his sights on the Council of Eternity. He managed to work his way inside the Council and it took the combined might of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury, and ! to contain Mister Mind, but he was able to cause the death of Solomon. Mind's goal is to consume and control all the power of the Magiclands.[21]

Mister Mind and Doctor Sivana plan to head to the Monsterlands in order to build the Monster Society of Evil from its inhabitants. As King Kid fights the Shazam Family in Philadelphia, Doctor Sivana and Mister Mind are directed to a boat by Dummy who cannot accompany them since he cannot deal with water. When they arrive at the Dungeon of Eternity, Mister Mind states that the inmates of the Dungeon of Eternity were gathered from all over the Magiclands and imprisoned for challenging the Council of Wizards. In addition, Mister Mind stated that the Monsterlands used to be called the Gods' Realm until the day of Black Adam's betrayal which led them to strip the gods of their powers and close the doors to the Magiclands. They find a small prison containing Superboy-Prime in the Monsterlands as Superboy-Prime states that he can hear what Mister Mind is saying. Mister Mind and Doctor Sivana begin their plans to free the Monster Society of Evil from the Dungeon of Eternity.[22]

Mister Mind senses the fight between the Shazam Family and Mamaragan as he instructs Doctor Sivana to stab his magical eye with a dagger which starts to melt the doors to the cells holding the Monster Society of Evil. Then Mister Mind started to control C.C. revealing to Billy that he is using him as a host and not Doctor Sivana. Mister Mind states to the Shazam Family that he plans to use C.C. to unite the Magiclands under his rule. He then proceeds to summon the Monster Society of Evil leaving Dummy behind who is tricked by Superboy-Prime into freeing him.[23] Shazam faces off against a Mister Mind-controlled C.C. Batson while the others fight the Monster Society of Evil. During the fight, Scapegoat and Red Queen ask when they are going to get a turn. Mister Mind states that they will get their chance when the Magiclands are united.

Mister Mind states to Shazam that it took him and Doctor Sivana awhile to find C.C. Batson. When Doctor Sivana uses a spell on Victor and Rosa Vasquez to get what Mister Mind wants, Shazam asks what that is. Speaking through C.C., Mister Mind states that he wants what Mamaragan and his Council of Wizards denied him years ago....access to the magic of the Seven Magiclands. When Tawky Tawny tries to help Shazam, Mister Mind has C.C. turn him into a cub. Then he has Doctor Sivana summon the Book of Champions from the Rock of Eternity. Mister Mind then has Shazam read the spells on the pages in exchange for sparing Victor and Rosa. Complying with Mister Mind, Shazam reads "Seven lands. Seven wars. Seven locks. Seven doors. Magic realms hidden now, show yourself to the Champion and with one final word, the spell is complete! SHAZAM!"

This causes all the doorways to the Seven Magiclands to be unlocked and obliterated. Using a spell from the Book of Champions, Shazam shrinks himself with the Subtraxerim spell and enters C.C.'s head to confront Mister Mind.[24] Shazam confronts Mister Mind inside C.C.'s head and engages him in a magic battle. To prevent Mister Mind from casting spells, Shazam punches his talkbox enough to emit energy that knocks out the Monster Society of Evil. After using the Corpus Magnum spell to grow, Shazam works to undo Mister Mind's spell only for Superboy-Prime to interfere. He was able to undo the spell after he and Black Adam defeated Superboy-Prime.[25]

[sepublic]

Bruiser

           Arguably the peak and pinnacle of the Nynrah Ghosts’ bio-engineering, the Bruiser is one of the most expensive and deadliest bioweapons to date. A towering, pale humanoid, the Bruiser is a biomechanical creature, made directly in a lab and equipped with a variety of hi-tech weapons, as well as enhancement systems, the intelligence to handle complex machinery, and the relentless determination to accomplish any task.

           The Bruiser’s primary genetic template comes from the fossilized remains of an inhuman creature, unearthed from an undisclosed location in Xia. Curious as to the life that once inhabited the bones they found, the Nynrah Ghosts succeeded in extracting the fossil’s DNA and managed to replicate it within a lab. Years of perfecting the gene sequence and re-completing it ensued, followed by countless prototypes and clones, many of whom died due to unforeseen faults in their biology.

           Eventually, the Nynrah Ghosts succeeded in perfecting this line of bioweapon –nicknamed the ‘Bruiser’- by making it biomechanical. The additional of mechanical enhancements, as well as machines, computer chips, and programming, helped to stabilize the Bruiser’s condition. Complex systems regulated hormones and serums at the proper level, while robotic implants helped to not only stabilize the Bruiser, but even enhance its current arsenal. Finally, a combination of pre-programmed organic brain, fused with a computer chip, ensured that the Bruiser was totally obedient.

           Since its launch, many more Bruisers have been made and cloned, with slight variations. Due to the massive costs in creating one, the Bruisers are among the most expensive of bioweapons; But for many experienced customers, it is a worthwhile investment.

           The Bruiser is a towering humanoid with pale, stitched-together skin. Its face looks vaguely reptilian, even if it lacks scales, and the skin around its mouth has been pulled back, receding to bare its gums and teeth. The typical Bruiser unit has a mechanical ‘eye’ grafted onto the side of its head, to act as its primary means of sight; This mechanical eye is equipped with thermal, infrared, X-ray, etc., forms of vision, and can zoom in on targets from far away. The scoped-eye is connected to a cybernetic cranial casing, fused to the back of the Bruiser’s head; This heavily-armored casing contains both its biological brain, as well as its advanced computer chip. Should a Bruiser’s mechanical eye be compromised, it can also tear open one of the stitches on the other side of its head, to reveal an organic eye that is less powerful, but sufficient nevertheless.

           Bruisers usually wear a combination of a leather spock/apron, as well as metal armor. Across their chest, shoulders, and legs are silver, mechanical implants and grafts, designed to increase the durability and muscular strength of the Bruiser. In what areas of skin that are haphazardly not covered by their armor or apron, the swollen, purple veins of a Bruiser can be seen pulsing and throbbing. Raw power, hormones, and various other serums designed to enhance a Bruiser’s combat potential are coursing through its body 24/7.

           Grafted to the back of a Bruiser is a mechanical harness, from which it can unfold as well as aim forward a powerful ranged weapon; Some models include a rail-gun, while others equip a Disk Launcher or a gatling gun. These shoulder-weapons are typically equipped with a laser-sight to improve on the Bruiser’s accuracy. The shoulder-weapon of a Bruiser retracts and folds back when not in use; In addition, the Bruiser’s mechanical harness on its back can be used to store additional items, including grenades, energy-webs, and other weapons.

           Heavily-encasing a Bruiser’s forearms are silver gauntlets, which are connected by internal wires and tubing to the rest of the system that regulates its bloodflow. The hand of a Bruiser has four fingers, among them being opposable thumbs; The Bruiser can wield complex machinery and weapons to an extent; It can operate a rocket launcher, for example, but it has no skill when it comes to using a computer. Regardless, the Bruiser is among the peak of bioweapons with its hand-eye coordination and cognitive development.

          It can understand relatively complex orders, strategize, adapt to new situations, improvise solutions, and even speak to an extent; Although the extent of a Bruiser’s speech is usually a simple word, here and there. Combat data and maneuvers are programmed into the minds of all Bruisers. While its mental capacity is ultimately inferior to the typical human’s, the Bruiser compensates for its mental deficiencies through its great power.

           The body of a Bruiser is incredibly powerful, with its strength far exceeding that of any human or Vahki. It can lift entire vehicles over its head, and the grip of a Bruiser can easily crush the bodies of whatever victim it is up against. Bruisers can withstand heavy fire-power and are flame-resistant for the most part. Perhaps most terrifying of all is a Bruiser’s endurance; Bruisers can maintain a powerful sprint for extended durations of time, longer than the capabilities of any human. Combined with their raw strength and uncanny ability to form internal ‘maps’ of an area, a Bruiser can easily charge through the walls of buildings to chase after targets non-stop.

           Once assigned a target to assassinate, a Bruiser will not stop until they are dead. It will continually chase after their assignment as the ultimate pursuer, utilizing any weaponry and means possible. There is no such thing as collateral to the Bruiser in its hunt, and it will gladly destroy itself to accomplish its mission. Of course, orders by the owner can specify the Bruiser to value self-preservation as well; But generally speaking, it is unlikely the Bruiser will even be threatened much to begin with. With its incredible tracking skills, a Bruiser can chase targets across entire districts in its relentless pursuit. It can also function perfectly well as a bodyguard.

           The colors of a Bruiser can sometimes vary; Their skin is always a pale, sickly white, but the color of their outfits and eyes range. These choices are purely aesthetical mind you, and have zero bearing on the actual effectiveness of a Bruiser; It is merely done as a way of keeping track of and differentiating units. Additionally, when one buys a Bruiser, it is also included with a special containment pod that helps to preserve and keep it in stasis between missions, while also nourishing the Bruiser.

           Amidst its many terrifying abilities and skillset, the Bruiser also has one more trick up its sleeve; Should it be somehow pushed to its limit, with its protective implants and restraints damaged… The Bruiser can discard some of its implants, which also serve the additional function of being a power limiter. Once it does this, the Bruiser will begin to transform; Its musculature will increase even more as it becomes more top-heavy and hunch-backed. The Bruiser’s gauntlets will fall apart, allowing its forearms to grow and extend unhindered; Its forearms will huge and massive, with giant claws. Once transformed, a Bruiser’s arms and hands will become long enough to drag across the floor, like a gorilla. Additionally, the Bruiser’s legs transform into a more powerful, digitigrade structure; Even as its flattened toes become wider and longer. In some cases, a Bruiser will even begin to grow an additional eye, although this new eye may not fully develop.

           This form is called the Super Bruiser; It is the final, ultimate pinnacle of a Bruiser’s ability. In this form, the Super Bruiser’s power increases twofold, and more, as it becomes much faster and capable of leaping great distances in massive bounds. The Super Bruiser becomes more animalistic, and will more frequently move on all-fours. Its jumps become much higher, and the Super Bruiser can easily rend through enemies as its healing abilities go into overdrive. However, this form comes at a cost; The body of a Super Bruiser has a huge metabolism, one that cannot be supported for long. After a few hours of transformation, a Super Bruiser’s body, unable to support its enormous life-processes, will begin to collapse in on itself as the creature exhausts itself to death, unable to sustain the demands of its hyper-active functions.

           The body of a Super Bruiser better reflects the original creature that all Bruisers were cloned from. There is a theory running amongst some Nynrah Ghosts that the ‘Bruiser Progenitor’ may have relied on Life energy to fuel its powerful abilities; And without Life energy, this progenitor’s clones cannot sustain their bodies and have to rely on a more subdued, restrained form to survive, lest they rapidly exhaust themselves to death. If the Nynrah Ghosts were able to properly incorporate Life energy into their Bruisers –with the potential help of the Brotherhood of Makuta- they may be able to create Super Bruisers that can actually sustain their powerful forms for extended periods of time; Truly, a chilling concept.

           [I’ll be blunt- A Bruiser is Krekka, if he was also Nemesis from Resident Evil and had the dude’s mannerisms.]

[darkpoisonouslove]

Winx Club Season 1 Thoughts (4kids)

I decided to start rewatching Winx Club since there were strong nostalgia feels and I am getting more and more sucked into this fandom, so might as well just rewatch everything and pay close attention to it, right? So here are my thoughts (this gets very long so they are under a cut):

1x01:

- Okay, so we got classical “ordinary person learns that they’re not so ordinary” here. It’s a little weird how Bloom’s powers just activated out of nowhere but it could be because she came in contact with a magical threat that provoked her powers to awaken so no complaints here. It was actually very brave of her to try to help Stella, seeing how she didn’t know she had powers.

- Kiko is our little bunny buffoon - no complaints here either.

- Stella being so confident in Bloom’s powers and so encouraging was really cute. The friendship between them probably was a little rushed since they knew practically nothing about each other but whatever.

- Bloom’s parents were pretty chill with finding out their daughter was a fairy. Edit: Okay, that was covered in one of the later episodes. I do like that Bloom told Mike and Vanessa exactly what was going on and didn’t try to hide the truth from them (*cough* like she’ll be doing in a certain live-action series *cough*). And they were actually very supportive about it and didn’t try to stop her! Awww! All the family feels!

- I hated Brandon and Sky’s ruse back then and I hate it now. At least they’re good at it and know how to actually keep it up.

1x02:

- Unlike Bloom and Stella who couldn’t even last an entire episode. It was cute how much Stella wanted to help Bloom, though.

- Beware Stella, the Destroyer of Labs. I wonder if she ever managed to create that new shade of pink.

- Griselda is so savage. And Faragonda is there like flowers and sunshine. XD

- I have to say that the line about not getting caught by the witches of Cloud Tower may seem funny at first but it actually bothers me. It bothers me because the teachers know that the witches would torture and abuse any fairies they come across but nobody is taking steps to prevent that. Why is that allowed? It is terrible, although, I have to admit, realistic since the education system is shit and nobody does anything actually helpful to prevent bullying. Still, it is a problem and I really don’t like the way it is portrayed on the show. It’s like “Yeah, they might scar you for life but it will be your own damn fault even though we are the adults and we clearly can’t be bothered to do shit!” And don’t tell me there isn’t anything to be done. If there were negative repercussions towards Cloud Tower as a school when their students misbehaved, I doubt Griffin would allow as much of that as she does now.

- OMG, Flora’s idea to save the forests is so awesome. I would so love me some talking plants. You don’t have to talk to yourself when you have a plant to have a conversation with!

- Spying on some witches sounds like a good idea, Bloom. Except don’t get caught maybe. (Okay, I am not being fair here. She didn’t know that what Darcy did was possible.)

- But damn, Darcy’s powers are so cool! I actually liked the “fight” with the Trix. And we saw all their transformations for the first time. It was cool.

- Well, at least they didn’t throw her out of Alfea. That would’ve been a shame. And they’re quickly becoming friends. Apparently, the girls decided they were okay with not being told the truth. I would’ve loved to see that conversation but still.

1x03:

- Stella is being supportive... until she is not anymore. Stella has these sudden mood shifts but she is being a ray of sunshine most of the time.

- Faragonda is married? But why do they call her “Miss” then? It makes no sense. Btw why does Griselda look like she’s having the worst time of her life while Faragonda is announcing the ball? I mean, I know she’s not big on fun but that looks a little bit over the top.

- Griffin kinda pulled an ala Maleficent routine.

- How is it that Bloom always gets into trouble? And because she couldn’t find a pair of scissors.

- Damn, Darcy with that magic again! I love her! Also, Icy can dematerialize walls? That is so cool! (pun unintended)

- Bloom’s powers conveniently showed up. I was gonna complain that it was unrealistic for freshman fairies to be defeating senior witches but then I realized that they didn’t actually defeat them. In 1x02 Stella teleported them out of harm’s way and in 1x03 the Trix disappeared in order to go after Stella’s ring so it’s actually fine.

- I feel sorry for that duckling. Icy is being so cruel to it in next eps. And they just put it there as plot device. It was used more than once to give away the Trix’s presence to Winx.

1x04:

- Gotta love how Bloom is the only one besides Flora who can hear the voice of nature. At least they allowed Flora to hear it as well because if it had been only Bloom who was able to hear it, I would’ve thrown a fit.

- Tecna has done her homework. I love how she figured out the ship was taken out by an attack from the outside. I’m actually starting to like her.

- Classical Riven, all grumpy and ungrateful. Though, he and Brandon actually did manage to call a truce so... I guess that worked out well. I love that the Specialists were shown working together as a team as well as bickering. It helps build some relationship between them and that is sorely needed.

- Damn, the Trix just vanished an entire troll. I love how powerful they are!

- Okay, but... that abbreviation Stella suggested to be their group name that consisted from the first letters of their names? Was that subtle shade being thrown at W.I.T.C.H? Bc you know, “we’re too good to use their initials as a name, we can actually come up with a title”.

1x05:

- Spell for making good decisions? Really? Um... okay. Whatever. (that is so lame) But hey, at least we got those kitchen scenes that were absolutely hilarious! XD

- Okay, how did no one realize that that wasn’t actually Stella? Proves my point that they don’t actually know each other that well and that  the whole friendship was rushed.

- So I have more to bitch about Bloom and her “leadership” here but I will actually save it.

- At least they managed to save Stella. (Question, though. Why was she in her everyday clothes if they caught her at the date? She went out with the dress. Did the animators forget about that?) The hug with Bloom was cute. And Stella was being all brave, telling them to keep the ring instead of begging them to save her. I think she will make a better queen than everyone realizes.

1x06:

- Starlight is the purest source of magic? Oh, hey, I didn’t know that! But if that is true why is Stella not more powerful than Bloom? I am a little confused as to what happened since it was pretty much explained as in the Big Bang created the Great Dragon that later created the magical universe. But where do the stars and magic fit in that? Also, I had not noticed up until this point that Faragonda says “she” when she talks about the Great Dragon. That’s cool. Also also, here’s a plot hole for ya - Faragonda said that the Great Dragon is just a myth and so is the Dragon Fire and that was when she was alone in her office. But season 3 later gives us the Company of Light storyline which contradicts that since Faragonda knew Marion who had the Dragon Fire personally. It is so much fun when you don’t have your backstory covered before you dive in. Leaves so many opportunities for plot holes for you to fall into and the writers are diving headfirst into this one.

- Breaking in Cloud Tower. When they were explicitly warned to stay away from the witches. Sounds like a good idea, right? At least they have a map and aren’t totally unprepared.

- Tecna totally rocked in this episode. She memorized the whole map and seemed to be strategic about everything and had a plan (which was about the best idea any one of them has had ever since the beginning of the show). And she did protect them all! I am really starting to like her a lot. I wasn’t even annoyed by her constant nagging to leave because that was a good idea. (Btw totally a side question but how did Tecna know which room was the Trix’ from the map? Did she also hack the computer system of Cloud Tower (that I doubt exists, considering Griselda was checking which fairies were arriving manually and their names were just taped on the doors in their dorms instead of something more computerized so it’s probably the same with Cloud Tower?)

- And Griffin had to go and try to kill them. Great idea! And when Faragonda goes to search for them after she realizes that they’re missing, what was Griffin going to tell her (I’m presuming that Faragonda would find a way to locate them or at least figure out where they’d last been)? “Nope, never seen them. Not even once. Well, except for that time I killed them but that’s totally irrelevant here.” Amazing logic! I know they broke into her school, but damn, she could’ve dialed it back a little.

- I had completely forgotten about Daphne. It took me a while to figure out what the hell was going on when she started talking to Bloom.

- And Bloom’s sudden and inexplicable desire to know about the Dragon Fire is executed in a way I am not really a fan of. I mean, you know what the fuck is up when you’ve already watched the show but on your first go that would probably just seem very random (even if she was insisting it was so that they could figure out what the witches wanted).

- It was so unfair for Winx to get punished without even being heard out. I’m mad on their behalf because yes, it does matter why they did what they did. Is no one going to tell Faragonda and Griselda about the theft of the ring? (Or the way it happened for that matter? Stella could have died.) That is a royal symbol and it got stolen. Why is no one talking about this? (on the show I mean.)

1x07:

- That punishment was harsh. But they proved they can handle themselves even without their powers. Who needs magic when you have cleaning supplies, am I right? XD

- OMG, Tecna, you don’t need computer or guidance to figure out a mop and a bucket of water. And Flora just standing there and watching Tecna completely misunderstanding the cleaning supplies and their usage and laughing about it? She’s not as innocent as she seems.

- How do the Trix know about the Dragon Fire if Faragonda herself thought it was only a myth? And where the hell did those crystals come from? I mean, I’m not complaining. Have you seen them? They totally rock. But I’m just curious.

- Winx really did a number on the Trix this time. And Faragonda and Griselda came back in the right moment. Though, I can’t get over the fact that she has zero idea what the fuck is going on between her students and the witches (not that anyone tells her shit but still). Now they went overboard? What about three episodes ago when they tried to kill Stella? And they’re making sure they’re not breaking the rules but who the fuck makes sure these girls are safe? Because they’ve been in more trouble from the beginning of the school year than a person gets into for their entire high school run.

- Did Faragonda take away the Trix’s powers too? Well, she should’ve left them powerless. It would’ve saved everyone a lot of headaches.

1x08:

- Fuck, this talk about Stella and Musa’s family situations is making me want to cry. I can’t see through the tears in my eyes. Help!

- I always loved this episode (1x08). But damn, why is Riven hitting on Bloom? Pls, stop! But at least she really ripped into him and then poured water on him which, frankly, he deserved. I mean, I like him as a character but he was way out of line talking to them like that.

- I love that Stella was being supportive with Brandon when Riven was trying to embarrass him. She didn’t care if he’d failed, only that he was okay. That was really cute!

- So the whole plan hangs on whether Knut can sell the Timmy vibe? Which he is not really doing all that well. Great job! This only worked because Bloom is not paying attention. Which I will cut her some slack for because of the whole thing with Daphne and then Riven.

- I feel like the writers do know how to build suspense, though, and I really appreciate that.

- I like Riven x Musa but I also like Riven x Darcy. When you forget that she was actually using him... and she put a spell on him. Ugh... Why is this so problematic? And also never addressed? Not to mention that Darcy totally did not look up any spells prior to that so she must have known it beforehand, and considering Icy and Stormy’s words, I think it is safe to assume she’s done this before... which is not okay.

- But on the plus side, she knows how to ride a hoverbike! I like that!

- Well, it did end in tears so job well done I guess. I am still having problems with Griffin’s behavior here. “Break some hearts, break some bones”? Umm, what? Can you not? (Also, sidenote, but Griffin’s remark about the celebration struck me as annoying tbh. I know she’s a witch but she has a family too. Can we, please, drop this idea that witches can’t love, thanks?)

1x09:

- Wow, this is the most interesting episode so far.

- Stella really got spelled there. And in the end with the oppositus spell. That part was really random, though. Was it simply because they needed Musa to run off to town?

- Aw, Faragonda hugging Bloom so readily was really cute! What the heck did she mean about the dark forces, though? Was that... Was that somehow caused by the Ancestral Witches? Because I am pretty sure the Trix had nothing to do with it. What the hell is going on?

- I wanna know about the First Witches! Tell me moooore!!! At least we know about Daphne now.

- Okay, this time the Trix and the other witches were gonna kick Winx and the Specialists’ asses. That was some awesome battle, though. I liked it so much. Real action. Plus, they got to show off their powers!

- Darcy’s powers are so awesome!!! (I’m sorry but I love her and I have to gush.)

- Now the Trix know about the Dragon Fire. (I love those damn crystals; they look so good!). It’s starting to get real. But let’s backtrack for a second here. They wrecked the place where there were fighting, not to mention the blinding light from Bloom’s powers and yet, somehow nobody knows what happened there? What? Why tf don’t Griffin and Faragonda know about that? I am pretty sure they wrecked multiple cars there so why is nobody filing complaints and tracking the fight back to them?

1x10:

- “Puppy dog to Stiletto.” I AM DYING!!! And the way they are showing how the communication between them runs through Darcy’s psychic channel is so cool! I love it!

- It’s the Magical Reality Chamber... Ugh. I am not really thrilled about that.

- And Palladium is busy Palladiuming here. I can’t help this thought but why is his design so different in season 1 from his design later on? What happened to him? (Obvious glow up but I mean why?)

- Tecna’s sass is killing me. I am so loving it!

- Oh, thank goodness Kiko is okay!

- What the hell happened to the Dragon Fire? Did it just decide to pack its bags and leave? How did it get away from the Whisperian Crystals? Also, if Faragonda and Palladium were watching how Bloom was doing, why didn’t they say anything about the Trix? Did they not see them? If they did, why didn’t they do shit about it? I am pretty sure what they did is very against the rules. So what the hell is up with that?

1x11:

- Okay, I totes agree with Bloom. Yeah, Flora messed up with all the plants but they legit let her go live in a swamp. Wtf, guys?!?!?! You’re her friends. You shouldn’t let that happen!

- Awww, they went with her! Okay, we’re good! (And even Stella went even though her shoes got ruined!) Also, Flora’s inventions are really cool. Baby can save the entire universe on her own and protect nature with her inventions.

- The nymphs are so cute!!! Not to mention well adapted! They can fly, breathe air and live underwater. Damn!

- Stella is finally hearing the voice of nature. Or whatever it is that is sending her that vibe that something is off.

- Why wasn’t Tecna affected by the mist (or whatever it was)? She was breathing the same air as them and all the rest were getting sleepy even before she put down her mask (whatever). So why was she not affected at all? (I’m not trying to poke holes into the plot, the plot is poking my eyes out with its holes.)

- An evil willow. Well, you don’t see that every day.

- Tecna’s apology was very Tecna and very cute.

1x12:

- Awwww, they agreed to help Stella with the beauty pageant because she was so passionate about it. That’s some real friendship!!! Also, I love how concerned they were with making sure she was going to pass the test. Sometimes the only thing that can make you study is indeed someone else forcing you to. So props to them for taking the time to make sure she was handling her classes.

- Lol, the Trix are at it again. But what did they do with Lucy? She looks like a completely different person. Also, they used a lot of magic there (and their reactions to how well it was working were just hilarious). And here I go again with my ranting. Why didn’t the contest have someone to make sure the participants weren’t using magic since that was against the rules? The Trix used so much magic and no one would be the wiser if not for Bloom’s spell. Other contestants could have used magic as well and no one would have been able to tell. It’s just not believable.

- Stella won the pageant and passed her test. Now that’s impressive!

1x13:

- That episode with Bloom and her parents made me cry, wtf! That was really emotional. I don’t get one thing, though. If she knew she was adopted, why didn’t she try to look for her birth parents even before that? Wasn’t she curious why they’d given her up? And why did she not think of them when she learned she had magic? I think it is logical after learning that you have magic and knowing that you are adopted to go “Hey, perhaps I inherited this from my birth parents”.

- At least Winx were very supportive about it. (I am a bit unsure why Bloom didn’t make the connection about Daphne when Mike told her he’d heard a voice when he’d found her. I mean, she also heard a voice (guiding her out of a fire no less) so why didn’t she wonder at least if perhaps that hadn’t been Daphne that talked to Mike?)

1x14:

- I just noticed this but remember how Bloom is complaining that she always has to go first at tests because they do alphabetical order? Isn’t Amaryl in the same class? She was with them during Wizgiz’s quiz (wait, that’s next episode) and when Palladium had them listening to the voice of nature. But then with the magical reality chamber and this exercise with Faragonda Bloom’s going first even though Amaryl should go before her.

- Omg, Sky is fangirling so hard! And he’s on for breaking into Cloud Tower. I have a feeling that is the worst idea but I know they’re gonna do it anyway so...

- So Griffin’s entire family consists of witches? Cool. And of course, her fave spell is a revenge one. Why am I not surprised? XD

- I feel so bad for Mirta. Everyone laughed at her. But she should’ve known that was coming and she should’ve chosen a different spell to describe. Actually, scratch that. She was brave enough to be herself and did not conform to what was expected of her so props to her for that! Though, the witches’ reaction suggests that having friends is something to laugh at which just... isn’t true??? Like, everyone needs a friend once in a while. I can’t stand it when kids shows make the villains these heartless, soulless people who feel no emotion whatsoever. Would it kill you to make a villain that actually acts like a person?

- Wtf, Lucy? That was nasty as hell. And does she really think that the Trix are going to hang out with her?

- The Trix’s plan is truly horrible. But I have to admit it’s a good plan. Seriously though, the poor duckling! Honestly, how is it still alive? They made an entire troll disappear but they can’t get rid of one little duckling? Does that mean that they didn't actually want to kill it (bc lbr they could've easily killed it if they wanted to)?

- At least Sky would’ve tried to comfort Bloom if she hadn’t pushed him away. (Question, though. Why didn’t Griffin learn they were in the library? Last time Winx were there she immediately knew. (It is probably a good thing, though, because she probably would’ve tried to kill Bloom... Again.))

- Awww, Bloom and Mirta friendship adorableness ensues!!!

- I loved the way Winx all used their powers to find Bloom! And Musa getting that sound wave reading that she then transferred to Tecna? Awesome! I wish we could get more extraordinary usage of magic like that! (in the later seasons I mean)

- Kiko and the duckling fighting is some peak comedy right there.

- Oh no, poor Mirta (again; dammit this episode!). But at least she’s among friends now.

1x15:

- That’s some drama with the test (understandable). And that’s some more drama with the answers.

- Bloom was a little pushy in that scene with Faragonda who was clearly exhausted from the spell but I’ll cut her some slack because of the circumstances.

- Was that a pixie that was flying outside of Alfea?

- Flora is getting angry over here. Honestly, she’s really surprising me. I remember her as this goody-two-shoes but the only reason she hasn’t really snapped so far is because something always happens before she can. If you really look at her expressions, you can see that she gets mad as often as the other characters. I actually kind of like that because it shows she’s simply doing her best to be nice all the time and she also has limits but she’s actually working on keeping herself in check. It makes her more interesting.

- Why is everyone so bad at sneaking around?

- That lesson about inner transformation was interesting. Definitely something to think about. (I’ll tell you what’s for sure, though. Amaryl probably wasn’t transformed at all by the temptation. She is just a bitch like that. (It’s all she’s shown so far.))

- Stella legit picked up her teacher and then dropped him LMFAO!

1x16:

- I really love how the Trix are casting so many spells and developing their skills. In this season they actually worked for what they were after and did not receive everything on a silver platter. It makes me actually like them even though they are as evil as ever.

- Poor Stella! That monster caused her to dream about her biggest demons. And poor baby is afraid nobody likes her. Awww! :/ I am legit crying over here again, dammit!

- Damn, the monster is growing as it feeds on their nightmares! And Musa and Tecna’s nightmares were horrible. Poor babies! They did have a good plan for catching it, though... kinda. (It was a good thing they managed to contact Mirta and she told them what it was at least.)

- Well, it was about damn time Faragonda showed up! That monster has been roaming her school for two nights now. And it’s not so sneaky and quiet either. Not to mention the enormous amount of dark energy it must have brought in the school. How did none of the teachers notice it sooner? Like, seriously, it was there for two nights, the girls were screaming, loudly, they fought it in their room, they fought it in the corridor, they fought it in the yard, it knocked down Musa and Tecna, the Trix showed up and froze Stella and Flora, the gargoyle caught Bloom and Faragonda showed up ONLY THEN? Are you kidding me? Took you for-fucking-ever! And on top of it Winx started apologizing they hadn’t been able to handle it on their own instead of being angry that the school is not doing enough to protect them. None of the shit that has happened to them since the beginning of the season should have been allowed, and yet, somehow it keeps happening.

- So Griffin didn’t care that they wrecked havoc but that they got caught while doing it? Nice. I love it how she just decided to magic a gigantic projection of her head and use it to kick the Trix out instead of going out in the rain. Power move!

- And now the Trix are hella mad. This is getting intense.

1x17:

- Well, Sky isn’t handling this well. And Diaspro is coming which means trouble. It’s not going well! (I can’t stress this enough. God, I really hate this episode.)

- Wait, so Timmy knows about the switch up between Brandon and Sky? I mean, if he knows why Diaspro’s visit is a problem, then he must know about that as well, right? Which means that Riven is the only one in the group that doesn’t know. Well, that doesn’t look too good. I mean, it was good for them they hadn’t told him but it might explain why he never felt like a part of the group. They were keeping things from him.

- That chat between Griffin and Faragonda escalated quickly. And damn, they turned a man into a goat? I mean, I expect that from Griffin, but Faragonda? I did not see this coming. Also, the dialogue was horrible. It’s pure exposition. Both of them know what happened. Why are they going over it? And it was just information without any added commentary from either of them which made it pointless and sort of an info dump. I’m cringing just listening to it.

- Okay, but Griffin’s seat was 26 G and Faragonda’s was 26 F. I mean, come on! It actually made sense for them to be seated together (and with Saladin too) tho since they’re the headmistresses of the schools.

- So Erendor went to Red Fountain too? I mean, of course he did. But please, who is buying the crap that Samara is a philanthropist? She is obviously a big snob and you can tell that just by looking at her.

- Politics is being brought to you by Musa.

- Too bad for Bloom that both Icy and Diaspro are horrible and she thought Diaspro was Icy. Smart call with the press idea, though. Also, Diaspro’s magic is actually really cool! It is unique and I really like it!

- And Riven and Sky don’t have it together either. Everyone is acting like they’re five years old in this episode. Also, I love how Saladin just blamed the whole thing on Bloom when Sky and Riven also had a big role in ruining the entire celebration. But of course, Bloom is the only one guilty here and Winx are getting punished again. At least, this time they told their teachers it wasn’t completely their fault. But what good did it do anyway?

1x18:

- Omg, Bloom, no! You can’t leave and just... leave your friends. Ugggggh, this is too sad!!! (And kind of annoying me because they told her they wanted her there and they were all together in this. Though, on the other hand I understand because guilt is something that you have to deal with yourself and only you can get over it no matter how many reassurances you get from outside.) But awwww, they all looked so cute when they were just chilling together while everyone was doing their own thing. True friendship!

- I am so with Stella on this one. Bloom’s their friend and they have to go get her back no matter what.

- Btw Griselda’s glasses can’t be functional at all. I mean look at them. The two lenses are so far apart, wtf?

- Go to hell, Icy! Earth is cool!

- Mitzy is so annoying. I would’ve used my powers on her a long time ago if I were Bloom. So props to her for (mostly) keeping her cool.

- Oooh, Bloom finally learned who she is (and ooh, we’re getting backstory!). And... she lost her powers. The way they just ripped the Dragon Fire out of her was terrible. It makes me hurt!

1x19:

- Stella is such a good friend! I love her!!!

- Oof, that battle between the Trix and Griffin. Griffin was so done with them when she was dusting herself off. And awww, she cares about her witches! That was so cute!!! Ediltrude and Zarathustra flying out of the window wasn’t cute, though.

- Stella is not being helpful with her “it might be the end of the world”. And Griselda’s mood seemed to flip pretty quickly from angry to concerned. Also, Faragonda with her “I believe we learn things when we’re ready to” may not have made the best decision. If Bloom had known, it could have been different. Not to mention that in the previous episode she told Winx she’d take care of Bloom when she refused to let them go after her but I didn’t see anyone taking care of anything. If Stella hadn’t gone to take her back, she may not have found her way back. What are you, guys, doing?

- Why does Cloud Tower have functioning dungeons, again? Also, who decided it was a good idea to keep the book for summoning the Army of Decay in Cloud Tower? I know you need the Dragon Fire to summon it and they thought that was gone, but still.

- I am so over the name of the spells. English words with Latin suffixes? I mean, really? Couldn’t actually come up with something better? (I wasn’t going to rant about that but they keep doing it.)

- I can’t decide if the Army of Decay is a good name or not. I think I like it, though. Either way, it seems to be a big deal since all the teachers looked scared as hell.

- Ah, the scene with Riven was painful. I really liked it, though. They got to show off their new powers and be nasty.

- Definitely a cool name. And an even cooler concept!

- The Trix were such great villains in season 1, though. They truly were menacing and were actually pretty powerful. And look at how creepy they are! I love!

- Does somebody want to tell me why Faragonda (and Griselda) weren’t helping the fairies fight the monsters like Palladium and Wizgiz were? Yeah, they need to keep communicating with Red Fountain but, like, isn’t there a more efficient way to do that that won’t keep the headmistress who is the most powerful person in the school from fighting?

- I like that Sky decided to stay and fight even if it meant dying.

1x20:

- Oh, look, the magical reality chamber can apparently be used as a teleportation device. Hmm, interesting.

- Darcy talking to the Army of Decay as if they’re little puppies was the funniest thing ever!

- Poor Knut (and the duckling). But at least he’s helping as much as he can! And he cares about his mom! Awwwww!

- Omg, I have for some reason been left with the impression that Saladin was a calm person but in the few moments he’s had so far he’s been raging far more than he’s been calm. And he did have a point about not trusting Knut but, jeez, can you calm down? Also, “everyone who survives passes the semester”. Oh yeah? How very generous of you. However, the semester is the least of your problems rn.

- If the Trix know that Winx are on Sparks, why don’t they attack Alfea?

- We finally saw a little of what Saladin can do. I think it’s weird that he’s a magic user when his school doesn’t teach magic. Can he fight without his magic? I mean, he probably can, but let us see it goddammit! I still liked the magic use, though!

- Ooooh, Icy unleashed some power there. Also, was she able to control the dragons because of the Dragon Fire? How are non-magical dragons related to the Great Dragon?

- Yeah, Stella is transformed and watching Bloom fall down a chasm and she’s asking “What do we do?” Fly down to fucking get her maybe? I don’t know.

1x21:

- How does Bloom remember the palace on Sparks if she was a baby back then? And it’s too quick for it to become “her palace”.

- Stella and Tecna took a Mathematics and Magic class together? Aww, that’s so cute! (Even if Stella slept through most of it.)

- Oh, look, Daphne showed up! When is she gonna tell Bloom that she’s her sister?

- I loved all the magical stuff here! The way they combined their powers and the attacks they used were super cool and felt really unique! Where did that go in the later seasons?

- Awww, Stella and Brandon are “friends”!!! Cool!

- Brandon is doing his best as Sky’s wingman! And he succeeded! Now if they can only fix the magical mess as easily as the romantic one!

1x22:

- Omg, Stella being so ready to help Knut is one of my favorite things! I can’t help but feel like this side of her was lost a little bit in favor of the more bitchy one in later seasons and I’m so sad.

- The entire Universe is in danger but girls will be girls and get all excited at the news of their new guests in the face of the boys.

- Going in without a plan is not the best idea. And that was such a positive reaction we got from Tecna.

- Stella is ready to go out with Brendon! That’s really cute!

- The Trix wrote “rule everyone” in their admission letters and Griffin still accepted them? What the actual hell was she thinking?!?!?!

- So Icy also comes from a lineage of witches?

- It was really cute that Griffin actually cared about Riven. So she’s only being a bitch to fairies then?

- Since when can the Army of Decay turn you into rot by touching you? I mean, they said that and a minute later Codatorta punched one of the monsters but he was fine. Contradictory much?

- So Riven just turned into the Red Fountain living instruction manual the way he was reciting all those things? Also, jumping out of windows is probably not the best action to undertake. Not that he had any other options left.

- Is Faragonda leading the battle? I thought Saladin would command the Specialists but it seems that she’s the one who’s giving all the orders. That is so cool!

- So much for sneaking in Cloud Tower.

- Awww, Riven saved the day and apologized for screwing up earlier! Plus, he showed how competent he is. All of that was so awesome and probably my fave part of the episode.

1x23:

- Tecna and Timmy, though! XD If they weren’t being attacked, that calculations talk would’ve practically been a date!

- Griffin just blasted the Trix like that! Damn! And she was legit glowing with magic! That was so awesome!!! She was so mad, I can’t. And that spell she put on them to trap them seemed to be very sophisticated, having in mind how many motions it needed to get activated.

- Did Griffin just compliment the fairies? Oh, I see, when they sneak in Cloud Tower under her supervision, she tries to kill them, but when they sneak in Cloud Tower while it’s under the Trix’s control, it’s brave. Nice logic we got here.

- Griffin, Faragonda and Saladin stand for the three points of magic? What does that mean? I mean, in terms of magic. What can the three of them do when they combine their powers?

- Btw why the hell would they need to enter the portal in alphabetical order? That was just so random, not to mention inconvenient.

1x24:

- What is it with witches and turning people into goats? Speaking of Ediltrude, where the hell are she and Zarathustra? They weren’t shown to be with Griffin and her students.

- Wait, I’m confused. Are they suggesting that the Trix are direct descendants of the Ancestresses and that’s why their parents never showed up? Because they don’t have parents? What the hell is going on?

- I like the idea that the monsters keep reforming because it really makes sense considering what they’re made of. And it is so epic! I am so here for this battle!

- I kinda feel Bloom’s worries about her magic being the only special thing about her, though we all have to give her credit for the fact that she keeps beating monsters with a stick. XD What was it? Her Earth powers? Do we all have those? I haven’t tried it yet.

- Wow, Faragonda and Griffin’s combined magic was so powerful! I love it!

- Awww, that Brandon and Stella moment that turned into the Specialists and Winx moment was so cute!!! But poor baby Stella. She just wants love and her parents’ divorce is really hurting her. (Also, that remark about her being the one to protect Brandon was cool! You go, girl!)

- The monsters attacked again. And just when they were ready to take the fight to the Trix, gdi! I have to say that I am actually wondering what Griffin meant by taking out the roots. I suppose she didn’t mean kill the Trix which is interesting to me. Considering Griffin’s general behavior and background, I’d say it is safe to assume that murder is not past her. But she never tried to really hurt the Trix even when she knew how serious of a threat they posed to the entire universe.

- Musa’s attack was so awesome! They got really powerful during that year they spent in Alfea. (Perhaps it would’ve been good to actually see them learn the new magic they seemed to have mastered but anyway, it is still cool.)

- That combined magic of all the fairies and witches was so epic! And I love the way it was done. With Faragonda and Griffin acting like a bridge between the light magic of the fairies and the dark magic of the witches. It was really cool!

- Magix sort of looks like Pompeii. Is that how people look when they’re turned to rot?

1x25:

- That was some very unladylike way of sitting that the Trix pulled there.

- Omg, Riven’s confession of his feelings towards Musa was so awkward, I can’t!

- Well, it was obvious that Bloom’s powers were still in her. First, that always happens on TV shows. And second, after the Trix stole the Dragon Fire from her she was still in her fairy form so... yeah. And I really hate the whole thing because I get what they were trying to do but it is so frustrating to know that they had to go through all this shit (they almost died! Multiple times!) only for it to turn out that her powers were inside her all along. It’s just... disappointing!

- Why don’t Stormy and Darcy know about the Invisible Road? And why the hell is there even such a thing? So that enemies can sneak up on you and attack you? The possible uses of that road do not balance out the danger it puts them in so why does it even exist?

- Lol, Codatorta beating Saladin in that game was a cool moment. I honestly expected him to lose because he looked distracted but it turned out it was the other way around.

- Faragonda and Griffin really know each other well. Though, I don’t think that Griffin was very happy about that. What I’m more interested in, though, is how they heard the Army of Decay. It still seemed pretty far away so I think it was their magic that enabled them to hear it. That’s totally awesome and I approve!

1x26:

- So Faragonda IS leading the battle! That’s so awesome on so many accounts. But the most notable is that that means she must have experience with battle strategy in order to pull this off (Well, of course she does, considering the whole action with the Company of Light that must have gone down)! I’m gonna scream here!!!

- Winx joining Bloom to help her against the Trix and the boys teaming up while discussing their love life was honestly the best. Riven and Sky are working together, I cannot believe it! It’s so cool!

- Okay, but even without the Dragon Fire Darcy and Stormy should still be stronger than Winx since they’re seniors. And yet, they seem to be losing. And kind of easily at that. And I’m not really sure what happened. Did Winx’s convergence turn Stormy’s attack on them?

- Is it only me or does it look like Bloom’s teleporting? (Also, props to the animators for only making Bloom’s powers look like a dragon to show who really controls the power, but they do lose points for making Icy and Stormy’s powers take the shape of a dragon as well in earlier moments.)

- Why did Stormy and Darcy’s monsters disappear when they were defeated if all the Dragon Fire was in Icy? That makes no sense.

- I love it how Bloom just carried Icy back like it was no biggie.

- Oh, no! Griffin is blaming herself for what happened (well, she was a little guilty but still). Opening a Bed & Breakfast? Wait, what? Did I hear right? That was so weird.

- Knut is so adorable! And Stella is so supportive of him! I love!

- Well, Lucy is just being a bitch.

- “We don’t do prom. We crash prom. So enjoy it. This will be the one year we won’t try to ruin it.” XD That was such an awesome line!!!

- So Griffin is the one who sent the Trix to wherever she sent them. Why are they still her responsibility if she expelled them? Shouldn’t she consult Faragonda and Saladin as to what to do with them? Or like... the Council? (Also, Griffin’s face when Saladin mentioned them was priceless. She is so done with them and I fully understand.)

- Why did the duckling go with Icy? It came to Alfea with Knut because it was scared of her. What happened?

- Even Griselda is having fun. That’s nice!

This was kind of... epic! Plot is perhaps not the strongest point of the Winx Club writers but they definitely know how to build tension. The season is a little weird in terms of time constraints in-verse but it was very enjoyable to watch! The powers and moves that they had were really awesome and actually rather original which I am very pleasantly surprised by. The season had some very strong moments and I really liked what they did, especially with the final episodes. I actually really loved it and I don’t think it is just the nostalgia talking here.

[fnobadgifs]

Strap in bois this one’s got a doozy of a description.

Equestrian Invasion of Earth (animated map)

This is a gif of my dream alternate universe where ponies invade Earth x3 Each frame represents one week of the war.

The basic idea is as follows:

Princess Twilight has develops a spell that allows travel to other worlds. She is eager to try it out herself, but her guards insist it is too dangerous, and convince her to let them travel as scouts instead. What they find is Earth, a planet of shocking violence, cruelty and misery, imposed by a cruel ruling species - humans.

When the scouts return home, the public are outraged by the news. The usually peaceful nation of Equestria erupts into demonstrations calling for war. After months of ponies, led by Secret Agent Bon-Bon, scouting the planet in secret, with the use of invisibility spells and communication with local animals, the ponies uncover the locations of all Earth's major military basis, and all of humanity's major weaknesses - the biggest ones being their division into smaller nations and over-reliance on electricity.

The princesses of Equestria then reveal themselves, causing a massive magical firestorm covering the entire surface of the moon to demonstrate their power, before issuing an ultimatum to all governments on Earth, which they are given 14 days to agree to. The conditions are as follows:    > All wars are to be stopped within 12 months    > The punishments for animal abuse are to be increased to equal those for human abuse within 12 months    > Sport hunting, commercial animal testing and factory farming are to be banned within 12 months    > The use of fossil fuels is to be completely phased out within 5 years    > Adequate food, clean water and medical assitance are to be provided to all humans and domesticated animals within 5 years

The ponies give assurance that they will assist in any way necessary to achieve the goals of the ultimatum, however only Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland and Bhutan agree to the conditions. With no other options, the princesses officially declare war on the remainder of humanity.

Within the first 2 hours of the war, all major military bases and power stations are hit by extreme weather events. Access to nuclear weapons is cut off by floodwater, military buildings are flattened by tornadoes and the world's electricity grid is shut down. Communication cables in the ocean are torn apart and massive maelstroms and hurricanes prevent boats or planes from leaving ports. The ponies take care to minimise the damage to civilian areas, and areas with high populations of wild animals.

With human governments in complete disarray, the ponies quickly storm major coastal cities and centres of power, capturing Beijing, Shanghai, New York, Washington DC, London, Paris, Berlin and Rio De Janeiro in a week, before the military can respond.

The ponies then sweep into sparsely populated inland areas such as the Amazon rainforest, where animals vastly outnumber humans. Animal communicators like Fluttershy are used to convince the animals to join the pony forces and sweep across continents, cutting off road and rail networks across North America, Central Asia and South America over the next 2 weeks. During this time, the ponies also take control of eastern India and more of continental Europe, before their armies can regroup.

By the 4th week of the war, the humans have finally begun to gather some form of organised resistance, however without international communications, the resistance is uncoordinated and exists only in isolated pockets. Resistance in Europe is crushed, opening the Middle East for attack. Too caught up in internal conflicts to fight against the ponies, the Middle East falls rapidly. North Korea's large but primitive army is also easily overcome by pony forces. The significantly stronger US resistance is also pushed back into the Northwest, Canada and Alaska.

By week 6, pony forces in Asia and Europe have united, and Equestrian forces in North and South America have also reached each other. Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas are completely pony-controlled by this point. The ponies consolidate their rule across their territories and bring in new supplies, while beginning invasions of North Africa and Japan.

By week 8, only small pockets of human resistance remain in western Russia, Australia and New Zealand, areas the ponies previously avoided due to geographical difficulty (in Russia's case) and lack of strategic significance (in the case of the later two). Russia's army has begun rebuilding its military bases by this point and is putting up fierce resistance, but it is simply no match for magic and the sheer numbers of animals the ponies have recruited.

In the 10th week of the war, in the Battle of Moscow, the last human resitance surrenders. The ponies assume control of the Earth and declare their captured territories "The Equestrian Planetary Kingdom of Earth" or "EPK". Most of the ponies return home, with magic-infused animals and a few pony guards left to keep the peace. All human weapons are destroyed, power is restored, and human media networks, businesses and governments are taken over by ponies.

Countries that agreed to the ultimatum are allowed to keep their independence and are not invaded by the ponies, however their borders are heavily guarded and they are required to demilitarise.

Lyra Heartstrings is declared 'Princess of Earth' and, along with her companion Bon-Bon (who led the scouting teams before the war), she goes about mending relations between ponies and humans, mainly through the use of free food handouts and internet access, and begins working on enacting the conditions opposed by the ultimatum.

The conditions are met on time, largely through the use of magic and sheer force, and although initially hostile, the human population gradually calms down, though obesity has become even more of an issue due to all the chocolate handouts.

Eventually, after 10 years, Lyra's approval rating surpasses 50% among humans, and 90% among intelligent animals. Periodic uprisings still take place in the Middle East, Russia and the southern United States, due to social conservatism and devotion to religions which state animals are inferior, but due to the human lack of weapons they are quickly and fairly peacefully silenced. Across the world, living standards, happiness levels and literacy rates reach an all time high.

Many of the pony guards that remained on Earth have had children, and a significant pony population exists on Earth, largely concentrated in major cities such as New York, Berlin, Beijing and Tokyo.

With her new-found public support, Lyra begins to enact more reforms - she outlaws discrimination based on race, gender and sexuality; she ends the meat industry entirely and develops lab-grown meat; and she builds shielding to protect the Earth from potential meteorite impacts, gamma ray bursts and solar storms. Earth under the EPK's rule becomes a thriving community of humans, ponies and animals.

Encouraged by the success of the Earth campaign, the princesses of Equestria decide to gradually explore the multiverse further (using Earth as a base of operations to prevent hostile aliens entering Equestria). They find many more planets like Earth and reform them, building an eternal, multiversal pony empire, devoted to maintaining peace, fairness, and friendship across all the known universes.

That’s...a lot to take in. What I’m wondering is how the more rapey of the brony population would be handled. You know the one’s I’m talking about.