#and now there's a plague destroying all the food sources

[banukaihelpme]

"portray avad's true feelings and thoughts about his situation without making him sound whiny" challenge.

am i winning yet? no.

[anxiouscr0w]

[ESS Drabble] Find Me In Ruins

Heya! This is a non-canon drabble to go alongside my fic Emotional Support Staff. These can be read separately, but I recommend reading ESS for context

[Spoilers for Chapter 9!] A month after being taken off schedule you’re emailed by Management, and was hit with the dreaded ‘Thank you for your service’ message. You were fired. You avoided the Pizzaplex like your life depended on it, only to come back and find it in ruins. cw: a bit of panic, broken dca, brief descriptions of claustrophobia and a mouldy environment.

The full drabble is here! I'd post the full thing here but it's almost 4k words.

It had been years by now. You were one of the many employees fired during the employee purge at the Pizzaplex, and since then, you had never returned.

You wanted to, a lot actually.

But it was so expensive, needing different passes for different areas, and you wouldn’t be allowed to see the Daycare Attendant at all.

You had religiously avoided the Pizzaplex ever since, even news and gossip about the place. You had moved to a new residence to be closer to college, and besides, you had no reason to go to the area.

You would be lying if you said you didn’t miss the animatronics. You never got closure on the mysterious workings of the Pizzaplex, all the controversies, the virus that plagued some of the robots… Monty’s attack, even. None of these things were answered, both to ex-employees and to the public.

And here you are, jaw on the floor in front of the building.

The whole place is in ruins, a masking shell of an exterior, hiding the crumbling destroyed interior. The car park once so full, is empty and lifeless. There’s no smells of the greasy food inside, the delighted squealing of excited children… nothing.

It stands alone, withholding memories of joy and delight, all left to rot and die.

You climb the rickety wooden structures covering the front entrance, dipping through a broken window. Your only source of light is your phone now, you can’t turn back, not yet.

Would they even still be here? They’re expensive animatronics, top technology. Surely they would have been moved somewhere?

The idea of all the animatronics slumped against a wall, collecting dust in a dingy warehouse somewhere… it hurts your chest.

During your time here, you had been able to hear the occasional skittering and squeaking of rats in the walls. Now, without the catchy music playing over the speakers, you can hear almost too much. Actually, it feels like an invasion of privacy almost. The secrets hidden within the bowels of the Pizzaplex, calling your name, urging you to find out the fates of your friends.

You had stayed away for so long, desperate of the relief from the relentless tugging in the back of your head. It was for the best, surely. You don’t even know if the animatronics would even want to talk to you again, perhaps they wouldn’t be allowed to.

The cracked glass crunches beneath your boots, taking in the rushed graffiti littering what used to be the lobby. The giant golden Freddy statue is nowhere to be seen; the turnstiles half sunken into the ground.

So many memories have faded into the dust that scatters the carcass of the Pizzaplex.

The echoes of your footsteps give away your location to whatever might be hiding within the walls. It’s a labyrinth of twisted entrails, you’re forced to crawl through half-collapsed structures and broken vent systems, you’re not getting out of here without at the very least, a few scrapes and bruises. If you’re lucky and the animatronics are still here, you doubt they made it. Crushed beneath the heavy machinery of the abandoned building.

Your breathing becomes shuddery in the stale air as you think about what may happen if you can’t find your way back.

After hours of trying to find your way, you land on your face in the Daycare, spat out of whatever vent you were in.

There are no lights on, unsurprisingly. No music. No children.

The colours are faded, probably years of dust layering the mats. The plastic of the slides is scratched to bits, parts are seemingly melted.

“Moon?” Your voice sounds impossibly loud through the empty space, no longer dulled by standing support beams and the speakers, nor the hum of constant electricity.

A static sound cuts through the following silence, then a somewhat familiar sight emerges from a play structure.

There they are - The Daycare Attendant.

Broken, shattered, ruined.

Their face is split, filled with cracks and missing faceplate and their endo peeking through. Their fingers no longer tipped with soft silicone, instead pointed metal, almost human-like in appearance. The jester pants you once washed now filthy and torn, and whatever mechanism that caused Sun and Moon’s colours to change is long gone, the patterns blending into each other. One foot is missing under the torn pant leg, displaying some kind of spring mechanism. Their chassis is broken and cracked almost everywhere. They still have their ribbons, but the edges are singed and the bells are missing, even on Moon’s hat. One eye glows a sickly blood red.

“Moon…?” You repeat, trying to desperately swallow back the cry from your throat, your nose and eyes stinging.

He lurches forward, almost like a zombie. A static-filled voice fills your ears.

“Fr-end…” His word cuts out, it’s almost too difficult to hear him.

You immediately run over, halted by the way he stumbles back, wringing his exposed hands nervously. Does he blame you for your firing? Does he think you abandoned him?

“It’s me! I didn’t know if you guys were still here and- and-and-and-” Your sentence trails off into a stammering mess of poorly repressed sobs.

You didn’t even expect to find them here, and you had nothing prepared to say if you happened to stumble across them.

Moon’s faceplate squeaks in complaint as it ticks and spins, the occasional sunray jittering out briefly. He takes a small step forward, dragging his other leg slightly behind. The occasional sunray juts out when he shuffles closer, each ray that you’ve seen are horribly cracked or completely broken, paired with the screeches of rusted mechanisms as they move.

You only worked in the Pizzaplex for about five months before the employee purge, but you still remember crystal clear what they used to be like. The smooth and calm swaying movements of Sun when he talked, the way his rays spun when he was happy… now you don’t even know if his AI is still active after all this time of being in the dark.

You take a deep, shaky breath. “Moon, what… what happened to you?”

Once he’s only a few inches away, he struggles to sit down, his leg sliding out under him until he’s sitting criss-cross. “Fire.”

Another pang of guilt and sadness hits your chest. His optics flicker, flinching back slightly when you reach a hand to his faceplate, eventually leaning forward and allowing your hand to rest at the side of his face. Moon’s faceplate is much colder than you remember.

“Is Sun still… here?” You ask, rubbing some dust from his face.

He pauses, movements twitchy as he reaches a skeleton-like hand to yours. The metal is so cold it almost feels like burning. Their hands are no longer protected by the casings and silicone. His hand rests upon yours, long digits curled to keep hold of you. The empty halls and silent speakers allow you to hear each mechanism, even the movement of his eyes.

“He has not been out for a long time.” He states, brushing a thumb over your hand. “But he is here.” With his other hand, he taps his head with a clawed finger, and repeats his words. “He is here.”

“Oh you two I-I’m so sorry!” You pretty much throw yourself at them, but he allows you to settle in his lap, despite the discomfort of broken jagged pieces poking into your skin. “I got fired, and I didn’t even know–”

Moon shushes you as he would a child. His eyes flicker on and off at times, sometimes to that familiar purple, but he seems to be doing a good job of keeping it back. Whatever virus he had when you worked here, he still has it. And here you are, sitting cradled in his lap.

You don’t think you care, really. After all you did years ago to keep Moon away (or at the very least, a reasonable distance), it feels wrong to stay away any longer.

Rubbing your eyes from tears, you shuffle to sit up properly, hugging him, your head over his shoulder. It takes no time for him to throw his arms around you.

You don’t know how you’re going to get out of the Pizzaplex, you don’t remember which ways you took, but you’re determined.

“I’m gonna get you guys out of here, I swear.” You declare, pulling away and looking into his eyes. “I don’t know how, but I will.”

It takes a bit of effort for him to get to his feet, pulling you up alongside him, looking out into the ruins of the Daycare.

Management wasn’t too stealthy with their mistreatment and neglect of the Daycare Attendant, it shouldn’t be too surprising that, out of all the animatronics, they’re the only ones you’ve found. Despite only knowing them for about five months, you hadn’t realized how much they’d grown on you until you were fired.

“We know… a way.” He says, tilting his faceplate.

“How come you’ve stayed here then…?”

“We had no reason to leave. Now we do.” His smile widens a little on the crescent side of his face. “Hold on.”

You look up at the whirring of the cable, now jittering down until it reaches its target.

---The rest of this drabble is on AO3, where things get silly---

[kudzucataclysm]

a bit more background to the current situation of the world in SE…in which, humanity might as well be living in its last fucking days

In the aftermath of the nuclear exchange, as the nuclear firestorms and volcanic ash from Europe and the US raged across the planet, this caused the planet's populace to move into cities for protection. By the time of the Martian invasion, most governments on Earth were weakened by the storms and environmental/political chaos, which crippled governmental efforts.

The United States itself was the victim of both a minor supervolcano eruption and nuclear exchange that culminated in the collapse of the world order- the western US fell to alien pathogens and radiation while the vast mid portion of the continent was split open and turned into a wasteland. The east is all that remains of proper civilization, but even that’s not untouched; in the aftermath of the nuclear war and the departure of the federal government/authorities, the east devolved into a massive urban civil war that destroyed countless cities, towns, and lives.

Until 5 years later, in which an extraterrestrial civilization from the planet Mars invaded Earth which caught humanity by surprise. The global war (excluding the armies of the US and Europe) that followed only lasted for 5 hours, during which the superscientist Dr. Lupe Altena discovered a way through unknown means to communicate with the Martians directly. The Union of Nations authorized Altena to negotiate peace with the invading extraterrestrials by any means necessary. Altena managed to negotiate peace by "saving" humanity at the cost of sovereignty; life on Earth had suffered greatly, almost 20% of the human population had been killed and much of the planet's wildlife was now endangered - Lupe pointed out that Mars would risk wiping out an entire potential food source if the war went on, which marked the end of the invasion.

“On the behalf of hundreds of national governments, the Union of Nations has ceded the entirety of the planet Earth, with all its states and peoples, to the extraterrestrial invaders from Mars [] The surrender halted a worldwide assault that only yesterday claimed untold numbers of human lives in mere hours...”

“EARTH SURRENDERS.” The Times, December 1965, p. A1

In the days that followed:

Global food supplies plummeted, stockpiles were decimated and supply lines were in limbo. Millions were without food, and an untold number of preventable deaths occurred.

The meteorological phenomena that resulted from Martian deaths wreaked environmental destruction across the planet. “Nuclear firestorms” raged across continents, destroying the environment, infrastructure, crop lands, and killing millions. Mixed with the Yellowstone incident just a few months before, made large sections of the planet uninhabitable for human life.

The alien disease known as “ADP” or “Adirondack Plague” fully emerged in the human population as the Martian infestation worsened. Even more human deaths occurred, including a sharp rise in hostile ADP-mutated creatures.

Human populations moved into cities for protection, abandoning rural areas to be swallowed up by alien wildlife and natural disasters.

15-20% of the human population was presumed killed in those two months of 1962 alone.

Mars rules Earth, but due to the actions of Lupe Altena and Agent Hammond, humanity was spared the worst possible consequences. Earth is now considered a “wildlife management and gamekeeping project” by the Martian government, in order to prevent humans from destroying themselves again. National governments for humanity remain in place, but with less power and authority over their own resources; governments now function more along the lines of a peacekeeping force, keeping citizens in line and ensuring that the Martian overlords can do as they please without interference.

With the eventual assistance of Mars and an international team of superscientists, the Promethean Society, a global coalition of countries (IndoChina, East Africa, etc) managed to wrangle the former United States back into relative order when remnants of the US government before the war was found hidden in the Rocky Mountains and forced to concede to being monitored and exploited by foreign governments. While the midwest had fallen to firestorms and the west to alien pathogens, negotiations were made: Indochina would take the west coast (the Republic of California), the USSR would take Alaska, and the east coast along with the former provinces of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, and Québec would be handed over to the new, smaller government of America; but under the careful eyes of Mars and corporations.

The now Disincorporated United States of America, aka DUSA, aka ‘Medusa’, is a shell of its former self. Under the supervision of Mars and megacorporations, DUSA was rebuilt in the decades to come under foreign occupation and oversight. Cities such as Necropolis Metro, or the NEC, and Las Nevadas however were put under full corporation-military-alien occupation to establish control over its economic bounty.

Necropolis Metro was established as a Zone of Control under the international community and divided into a number of smaller zones controlled by various member countries, but Mars is acknowledged as the true hand of authority and thus rule the entirety of Earth from this city. To police the population of Necropolis the military police and its civilian offshoot, the Peace Officer Unit was founded. Free market capitalism was enforced on the NEC and Las Nevadas, opening the door for foreign workers and companies to come in and do as they please while the poor and marginalized are crushed under the heel of the occupiers.

The 1970s were spent rebuilding, quoted as being “hell”, under Operation Furnace and a new outbreak of ADP that killed tens of thousands of children nationwide. The 80s experienced a minor economic boom that helped the entire country recover, but that didn’t last; in 1995 the economy was sent into a severe recession due to laissez-faire economic practices. In 2005 the DUSA is still in this recession with no end in sight.

As of 2005, the NEC is under the control of 3 foreign entities: the Union of Nations, the five companies collectively known as HYDRA, and Mars. The companies, aka HYDRA, mainly oversee South Gate NEC* while the UN oversees North Gate NEC* but HYDRA keeps its own private militaries stationed there as well. Mars is the ultimate authority and has final control of the NEC, but acts more in a supervisor role than actual administration/governance. DUSA has its own government monitored by other global leaders, but is ultimately under control by Mars as well.

At this point, just assume that Mars rules everything, and that won’t be changing anytime soon…

[zvaigzdelasas]

On May 11, 2004, then-President George W. Bush signed Executive Order 13338, which classified the Syrian government's conduct as a national emergency. Eighteen years and three presidents later, President Joe Biden opted to continue with that classification. In a letter to Congress, Biden explained his decision, arguing that the Syrian government endangers both Americans and Syrians.

Biden's move came at a time of escalating strife in Syria. More than a decade into its ongoing civil war, the country is plagued by hyper-inflation, near-ubiquitous poverty, and chronic energy shortages. The Syrian pound is trading at a rate of over 4,000 to the U.S. dollar. It has lost nearly 99 percent of its relative value since the war began. The human costs of this economic turmoil are staggering. Around 90 percent of Syrians now live in poverty. More than 80 percent are food insecure. A similar percentage lack sustained access to electricity, with many households enjoying just one hour of power per day. The situation is dire, to put it mildly. [...]

Biden appears to see the Syrian government as the prime cause of these overlapping crises. In his letter, he condemns the Syrian "regime's brutality and repression" and blames it for Syria's instability. What's curiously missing from the president's letter is a discussion of the role his country has played in destroying Syria.

Since 2020, the United States has imposed brutal sanctions on the Levantine state. Codified in the infamous Caesar Act, these measures target anyone who "engages in a significant transaction" with the Syrian government. This effectively precludes the international community from helping public officials in Syria rebuild essential services and infrastructure. So it's no surprise that experts at the United Nations and non-partisan Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust both attest to the damage done to innocent civilians by U.S. sanctions and demand that they be lifted.

While thoroughly destructive in their own right, sanctions are nonetheless just one part of America's broader assault on Syria. Early in the war, and with the United States' blessing, Turkish-backed militias stole the capital equipment of at least 1,000 Aleppo factories. They then sold that equipment in Turkey. This destroyed a major part of Syria's productive capacities, leaving its economy in tatters.

Further, America's occupying troops and their Kurdish partners in eastern Syria have commandeered Syrian wheat and petroleum. They've also stolen major sources of water and electricity by taking and controlling the Euphrates Dam. Add to that 56 years of U.S.-backed Israeli occupation in the Golan Heights, and more recently, Turkish occupation of the agricultural north. All of this would be enough to decimate any country, even with the best of governments at the helm. But there's more. We must also consider the relentless bombing campaign on Syria that President Biden has continued—albeit, to a lesser extent than his predecessor[s].

These are crucial factors that ought to feature in any discussion of Syria's woes. [...] American officials must address the complicity of their own government. Anything less is not just hypocritical but deceptive too.

While Biden is quick to blame the Assad government, he glosses over the myriad American interventions that predictably led to Syria's current struggles. This is disingenuous. If Biden truly cared about Syria, he would work to end sanctions and military occupation. He would also take steps to assist Syria in regaining its sovereignty and getting restitution for the theft of its capital and natural resources.

Despite promises of progressivism and denunciations of forever wars, Biden seems committed to the same imperialist follies as past presidents. With Americans increasingly weary of military adventurism, this may prove costly in 2024.

pretty surprising to see something like this from Newsweek (Aug 2022)

[samsvenn]

𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐀𝐮

Reader is a pathovoratus. Pathovoratuses are a rare species that aren’t human but aren’t biologically vampires either. While they do share a comparable feeding process to vampires and they do appear human, Pathovoratuses are extremely distant relatives to vampires and plant parasites, and have one-fifth of their DNA structure, but can not be considered one. 

This species dates back all the way to the 1700s. Their only food source is suffering and pain so, to feed, they must inflict/cause those two negative emotions to arise in people. Unlike vampires, they don’t bite to feed. Instead, like a plant in photosynthesis, they absorb that energy through the pores in their skin. 

Pathovoratuses have an uncanny sixth sense for feelings of attachment because they can literally smell it. The stronger the bond with the food, the sweeter the scent becomes. The scent of attachment smells different to each pathovoratus, but it’s communally agreed upon that the sweeter the attachment, the more delicious the day of suffering will be. 

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭?

Pathovoratuses are creatures that are forced to be social. They have to think fast yet effectively on their feet. Typically, a pathovoratus will join a social gathering that forces people to interact with one another. Building trust is important to a pathovoratus because the moment the victim is hurt/heartbroken because of their actions, their suffering becomes a full-on feast for the pathovoratus to devour. 

These social gatherings include schools, volunteering to be in a dorm, workplaces, and more. 

For a pathovoratus to thrive, they have to be emotionally and mentally manipulative. The better they cultivate that, the better their chances of survival. There is no such thing as a pathovoratus who’s a saint and there is no such thing as a ‘good’ pathovoratus. 

The most kindness a pathovoratus can extend is deciding you’re not going to be their food, period. 

Their feeding process isn't as convenient as a vampire's because they have to build a relationship with their victims, only to destroy it afterward like a satisfied, grinning child. On average, it takes weeks, minimum, for the devouring part to actually happen.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲?

They’re not. There are no official sightings nor testaments that they do exist in the human world and the demon world. To say that “You know- I think someone just absorbed my suffering just now-” is such a ridiculous notion that the Pathovoratus species are treated as a far-fetched legend, similar to the Boogeyman and Bloody Mary. 

There is a person who does believe their existence: Karlheinz because duh it’s Karlheinz

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠?

The victim spirals into a state of temporary emotional numbness which can either result in them using self-destructive coping mechanisms or ending up in a comatose state. It depends on how far and deep-rooted the hurt goes. Pathovoratuses don’t necessarily kill because killing precious mules cuts down their food resources depending on how dense the area’s total population food is.  

Pathovoratus usually end up vacating the area and moving to a new one - repeating the cycle all over again; meeting new people, gaining their trust and sympathy, breaking them emotionally, and then leaving quickly. 

𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬

A sixth sense for attachment - as stated previously.

Superior sense of smell - as stated previously.

Enhanced durability - It’s possible for them to die, but it has to be done via starvation. Their bodies are built for adaptability, not malnutrition. 

Intricate, conscious control of facial muscles - their face is treated like a mask they can puppeteer. It’s a genetic mutation caused by their feeding spores spreading throughout their entire skin, plaguing it like a numbing bacteria. 

asks open for the pathovoratus au!

[jacensolodjo]

So I came across a thing a bit ago. About how now that Russia has invaded Ukraine we were going to “lie about the Holodomor again as some kind of impetus for why Ukraine is the victim”. Shit like that. You know, “The Holodomor is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that PROVES ukrainians are nazis” is something that just never gets old huh?

What is your proof? Tell me, oh moron of hammer and sickle. “Fraud, Famine, and Fascism by Tottle, duh!” Ah, yes! One whole book! Versus a little less than a dozen in English with more being written all the time! To say nothing of books in Ukrainian and all the proof and books in Russian. You are very intelligent! What does Tottle say about the Holodomor? “The word itself was created to echo the Holocaust” ah yes. Heaven fucking forbid two words sound similar! (No but really, every commie I’ve seen deny the Holodomor quotes Tottle’s book. Whereas you’ve got Black Book of Communism, Harvest of Sorrow, Bloodland, etc., being used by anti-commies. I dunno about you but having fewer sources does not look great; even more so if it’s one whole book you got going for you) Do you know what the word actually comes from? Holod is Ukrainian for ‘hunger’, mor is Ukrainian for ‘plague’. Holodomor the whole word translated is ‘death by hunger’. Ergo, not actually descended from ‘Holocaust’.

Other super intelligent opinions include “you can’t control a populace through hunger/starvation”. Explain to me how starvation works. Explain to me how you don’t know how the human body reacts to starvation without telling me you have no fucking clue how the human body reacts to starvation. Ironic, honestly, because commies don’t fucking know how agriculture works so how would they know how starvation does? Experiment: try not eating for 3 days or even 24 hours and see how you feel. I know when I hit even like 12 hours my mood takes a hit and i start feeling a little weak. Once you hit 3 days, though, you start getting pretty fucking weak. Especially if you’re already at a disadvantage such as diabetes or whatever else that relies on you having proper blood sugar. This is why Judaism and Islam are both insistent that you NOT fast if you have a medical reason in which it would do you real harm not to eat all day. Go for 5 days and you’re getting really fucking malleable and desperate to do whatever you’re told if you’re promised food in return. Mr. Tottle disagrees. I wonder how often he toddled off to the fridge in a day. How if he went a few hours without food how hungry he found himself to be. But then, the Holodomor was not interested in control of the populace of Ukraine it was interested in the eradication of the people of Ukraine. Or so we evil anti-commies who are also antisemites claim.

You realize every fucking argument you come up with is used for Holocaust denial right? All the way down to ‘Soviet citizens would have KNOWN’. Because surprise! They DID know! They were the ones letting the food rot! They were the ones shooting toddlers for daring to pick up a tiny little thing of wheat off the ground! They SAW Ukrainians dying of hunger in the streets and did nothing. Or worse, remarked about how they deserved to die, they were clearly in the way of the glorious Soviet nation’s ability to grow and thrive in the global stage! The only ones starving were the ones guilty of sabotage. How do toddlers commit sabotage? I don’t know! But then I’m not a commie. There are former commies who wrote for the Black Book of Communism who admit how easy it was for them to believe the lies about sabotage, about the ‘evil kulaks’. Other former commies mention how they would throw elderly people out into the snow without so much as a shirt. How they shot preteens over a potato.  All because they really did believe these people were the enemy, were out to destroy the glorious Soviet Union. Because of a fucking potato. 

The man who coined the word genocide lists the Holodomor in his examples of what he means by genocide. But that isn’t enough, is it? Oh no. But Mr. Tottle is the absolute truth of all things Holodomor. 

If Tottle was so fucking sure he was right why did he deny to comment during the 1988 commission to research the validity of the Holodomor being real and to what extent was its damage? I dunno, if it were me I’d jump at the chance to expand my theory further in such an official capacity. Now, maybe he said no for other reasons. But let’s be real. When someone declines to comment or respond, that usually means they have nothing they are confident enough to put on such a public record. Easy to write a book and publish it (especially if you self-publish). Not so easy to have your comments put down in an official capacity. Your book may be relegated to obscurity but anyone who does research of archives will find your comments from an official commission.

Let’s look back a bit further. A year prior to this commission, Robert Conquest published his Harvest of Sorrow. How humiliating must it be for someone with such a tiny book (Fraud, Famine, and Fascism) to go up against the mighty tome of Harvest of Sorrow that in fact uses official Soviet archives just as you claim to use. Except with better record keeping, apparently and far more interviews. 167 pages vs. 412. I mean yes, admittedly, page count doesn’t always mean better content. But if you read the two, one stands out as better written and researched and it ain’t the smaller book.

Tottle also apparently completely missed the existence of Gareth Jones, preferring instead to attack William Randolph Hearst (and Thomas Walker). An easier target, I suppose, given Gareth was murdered (most likely, anyway his death has never been ‘solved’ but many believe it was due to him putting the word out about the Holodomor). Instead he focused on Thomas Walker, a man who is in fact considered to be a Soviet plant exactly to discredit William Randolph Hearst as well as bury Gareth Jones’ articles. Helped in this endeavor by a Louis Fischer. No anti-commie worth their salt claims Walker as a trusted source. Only Gareth Jones. So why Tottle decided to focus entirely on Walker is, quite frankly, a little sad. But again, perhaps an easier target than a man who is considered to have been murdered for his Holodomor whistle blowing. 

I guess if I really only had Tottle’s book as a source for my beliefs I’d be a bit desperate for him to be right. Also Tottle’s book basically repeats over and over and over again. Chapters change but the shit he says is the same just written in different ways; it isn’t even new info in new chapters! Dude has a real hard-on for this Thomas Walker fellow. He’s just so convinced Walker and Hearst are devils incarnate. I’m not saying William Randolph Hearst was a stand-up guy. But I am saying he isn’t nearly the boogeyman Tottle wants him to be. But Tottle honestly reads like one of those people who is convinced Mothman is real and is desperate for you to believe that Mothman is real, too. Otherwise what is he doing with his life? I mean the man’s Wikipedia entry is like a whole 3 paragraphs. If this man were a trusted source I would expect a little bit more about him than being a Canadian with holodomor denial leanings. But then, I guess that feeds into commie belief too. It’s just the evil anti-commies, the anti-semites, trying to bury the truth Tottle was trying to tell us by keeping this man’s existence on the downlow. Gosh it’s fun to be a conspiracy theorist about conspiracy theorists. 

And lastly, how the FUCK do we get ‘antisemitic’ out of ‘holodomor happened’? I guess cause some Jews were commies. That Marx was a Jew so therefore it’s antisemitic to be anticommunist. I’ve made that post before. Being against something created by a Jewish person is not inherently antisemitic. If you are against it BECAUSE of who created it, sure. There is nothing really connecting Holodomor to antisemitism in the way of ‘Jews did it’. If anything, the Holodomor also affected Jews as a higher rate. So pray tell, how is saying Holodomor happened antisemitic? I’d say it’s the other way around. Denying the Holodomor is antisemitic. You ignore the Jewish victims. No one who isn’t y’know a fucking nazi blames Jews for the Holodomor. I have never seen anyone so much as begin to imply it. All I have seen is Holocaust deniers instead pointing at the Holodomor as a ‘real event’ as opposed to the Holocaust. They’re not affiliated with me. They cannot share my table. 

If you deny the Holodomor just cause some nazis said jews did it and thus ukrainians are nazis because they also say the Holodomor happened, your logic is bad and you should feel bad. Should we consider all vegetarians to be mass murdering fuckheads because a mass murdering fuckhead was a vegetarian? Are you against smoking? Maybe you shouldn’t be because same mass murdering fuckhead was against smoking. That is what your logic sounds like. 

[thetruthbehindtheemotions]

Envy

I am that feeling of anguish, or even anger, towards what others have and I do not. I am also considered a feeling of frustration and resentment. I am the feeling that eats away at the good things that grow in your backyard, or rather, within you. Many refer to me as the demon that nests in the body. But in reality, I am the demon that nests in the eyes. I don't like ugly things, but beautiful things. And the result is that when something beautiful grows in your backyard, it is touched by the eye where the worm resides, and that good feeling immediately withers, rots, and disappears. Still don't know who I am? I am Envy, the demon that lodges in your eyes.

I am a very intriguing feeling. Although all of you experience me, no one likes to admit when they are feeling me. After all, I am a controversial feeling, aren't I? I indicate that something positive triggers something negative.

Well, in a broad sense, or even complementary, I was generated millennia ago when Cain killed Abel. I believe you all already know this story, right? Well, when God rejected Cain's offering and subsequently accepted Abel's, Cain became envious, enraged, and that's when I emerged. As I said before, I am the demon that lodges in your eyes, and that's how I followed Cain. I settled inside him and like a plague, I corroded him from within, turning all the love he felt for his brother into anger and hatred. That's how I am, I am a destructive, acidic feeling that feeds on every good thing that exists within you until nothing is left. That is why I am considered one of the seven deadly sins. I am considered a sin because an envious person completely ignores their own blessings and prioritizes someone else's status over their own growth.

Since then, I have been living the path of Life, always looking for someone whom I can blind and make them my source of entertainment. I confess that many times I felt bad for turning a considerably happy person into a cold, proud, and selfish individual. Ah! This reminds me of the time I met my husband. It was years ago when I was once again looking for someone to have fun with when I saw him for the first time. Handsome as never before, there he was, Pride. It was as if we were made for each other. Our involvement was inevitable, and before I knew it, we were married and had our little Egoism crawling around the house. For a period of time, we were a family, happy, in our own way. However, since Egoism left us to pursue his life with Passion, which subsequently made him suffer and distanced him even further from us, Pride and I are no longer the same.

We live in constant conflict in our home, accusing each other of having failed in the upbringing of our child. Because of all this unhappiness, nowadays I don't care about anything or anyone anymore. I no longer feel remorse for destroying friendships, relationships, or whatever it may be. Because that's how I am, I am the plague that blinds your eyes, preventing you from seeing the fullness of life.

I am one of the most difficult feelings for humans to accept because most of the time, I am unconscious. This happens because I form very early in their lives. Envy arises in the first months of life in the relationship with those who feed them!

When they want more food and consequently don't have it, they cannot tolerate frustration and become angry at those who have food. And with envy of them, we want to destroy them, right?

As you can see, I am a primitive, poorly developed feeling. And to my utter frustration, I am based on the feeling of inferiority.

Now I will tell you something. This is the basis of envy: overvaluing others and emptying oneself. Thus, the desire to empty the other arises so that everything becomes equal and we don't remain alone. According to some people, I can arise within you in four specific ways:

1 - Firstly, an individual looks at an object, situation, or trait of someone that they immediately admire. They understand the importance of that trait for themselves. In other words, they see, admire, and desire.

2 - In the next moment, they make a comparison between what the other person has and what they themselves don't have. They become aware of a lack of something within themselves because they already discriminate against themselves. Here, cognitive processes are important.

3 - Then comes the third moment of envy, which is the perception - and at the same time, the shame - of a lack in oneself that was admired and valued in the other person. The realization also arises that what they desired is impossible for them to obtain.

4 - Finally, we reach the fourth and last phase: Envy is triggered by the perception of a lack within the individual. This insufficiency leads them to attack and consequentlyharbor negative feelings towards the person they envy. They may resent them, wish for their downfall, or even try to undermine their success.

Envy is a complex and deeply ingrained emotion that can have detrimental effects on both individuals and relationships. It can lead to feelings of insecurity, low self-esteem, and a constant need for comparison. It can also create a toxic and competitive atmosphere where individuals are constantly trying to outdo each other.

Overcoming envy requires self-reflection and a shift in mindset. It involves recognizing and appreciating one's own strengths and accomplishments, rather than focusing on what others have. It also involves practicing gratitude and finding contentment in one's own life, rather than constantly striving for what others possess.

Ultimately, envy is a human emotion that everyone experiences to some degree. It is important to acknowledge and understand it, but also to actively work towards overcoming its negative effects. By cultivating self-acceptance, gratitude, and a healthy sense of self-worth, individuals can free themselves from the grip of envy and find greater happiness and fulfillment in their own lives.

"Envy consumes the envious one like rust consumes iron."

Antisthenes

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

Inveja

Eu sou aquele sentimento de angustia, ou até mesmo raiva, perante o que os outros têm e eu não. Também sou considerada um sentimento de frustração e rancor. Eu sou o sentimento que vai comendo por dentro as coisas boas que crescem no seu quintal, ou melhor, no seu interior. Muitos se referem a mim como o demônio que faz ninhos no corpo. Mas na verdade eu sou o demônio que faz ninhos nos olhos. Não gosto de coisas feias, mas sim de coisas bonitas. E o resultado é que, quando uma coisa bonita cresce em seu quintal é tocada pelo olho onde mora o verme e aquele sentimento bom, imediatamente murcha, apodrece e some. Ainda não sabem quem sou eu? Eu sou a Inveja, o demônio que se aloja em seus olhos.

Eu sou um sentimento muito intrigante. Apesar de todos vocês o experimentarem, ninguém gosta de reconhecer quando o está sentindo. Afinal, sou um sentimento controverso, não? Indico que algo positivo desperta algo negativo.

Bom, em um sentido amplo, ou até mesmo complementar, eu fui gerada há milênios atrás, quando Caim matou Abel. Acredito que todos vocês já conheçam essa historia, certo? Pois bem, quando Deus rejeitou a oferta de Caim e posteriormente aceitou a de Abel, Caim se viu enciumado, enraivecido e foi ali que eu surgi. Como eu já havia dito, eu sou o demônio que se aloja em seus olhos e foi assim que seguei Caim. Instalei-me em seu interior e como uma praga, fui lhe corroendo por dentro e fazendo tudo o amor que sentia pelo irmão se transformar em raiva e ódio. Eu sou assim, sou um sentimento destrutivo, ácido, que se alimenta de cada uma das coisas boas que existe em seu interior até não restar nada. Por isso sou considerada um dos 7 pecados capitais. Sou considerada pecado porque uma pessoa invejosa ignora por completo suas próprias bênçãos e prioriza o status de outra pessoa no lugar do próprio crescimento.

Desde então vivo pelo caminho da Vida, sempre a procura de alguém a quem eu possa cegar e fazer dela minha forma de diversão. Confesso que muitas das vezes me senti mal por estar fazendo de uma pessoa, consideravelmente feliz, se tornar uma pessoa fria, orgulhosa e egoista. Ah! Isso me lembra da época em que conheci meu marido. Foi há anos atrás, estava mais uma vez em busca de alguém para me divertir quando o vi pela primeira vez. Lindo como nunca, lá estava ele, o Orgulho. Era como se fôssemos nascidos um para o outro. Nosso envolvimento foi inevitável e quando me dei conta, já estávamos casados e com nosso pequeno Egoismo engatinhando pela casa. Durante um período de tempo fomos uma familia, felizes, a nossa maneira mais fomos. Porém, desde que o Egoísmo nos abandonou para seguir sua vida com a Paixão, que posteriormente o fez sofrer e o distanciou ainda mais de nós, eu e o Orgulho já não somos mais os mesmos.

Vivemos em constante confronto em nossa casa, um acusando o outro de ter errado na educação de nosso filho. Por causa disso, de toda essa infelicidade, que hoje em dia não ligo para mais nada e nem ninguém. Não sinto mais remorso em destruir amizades, namoros, ou seja lá o que for. Porque eu sou assim, sou a praga que venda os seus olhos os impedindo de enxergarem a plenitude da vida.

Eu sou um dos sentimentos mais difíceis de serem aceitos pelo ser humano, pois na maioria das vezes sou inconsciente. Isto ocorre porque eu me formo muito cedo em suas vidas. A Inveja surge nos primeiros meses de vida na relação com quem os alimenta!

Quando querem mais alimento e consequentemente não têm, não toleram a frustração, ficam com raiva de quem tem alimento. E com inveja dele, queremos destrui-lo, certo?

Como podem constatar, eu sou um sentimento primitivo, pouco elaborado. E para minha total frustração, estou baseada no sentimento de inferioridade.

Agora vou lhes contar uma coisa. Está é a base da inveja: supervalorizar os outros e esvaziar a si mesmo. Assim, nasce o desejo de esvaziar o outro para que tudo fique igual e não fiquemos sós. Segundo algumas pessoas, eu posso surgir em seu interior de quatro formas especificas:

1 - Primeiramente, um individuo olha um objeto, situação ou traço de alguém que imediatamente admira. Compreende a importância daquele traço para ele. Ou seja, vê, admira e deseja.

2 - No momento seguinte, faz uma comparação entre o que o outro tem e o que o individuo não tem. Ele toma consciência de uma falta de uma coisa sua porque já o discrimina. Aqui o processo cognitivo é importante.

3 - Aí se dá o terceiro momento da inveja, que é a percepção - e ao mesmo tempo a vergonha - de uma falta nele que foi admirado e valorizado no outro. Surge aí, também, a constatação de que aquilo que desejou, é impossível de ser obtido por ele.

4 - Logo estamos na quarta e última fase: A inveja é disparada pela percepção de uma falta no individuo. Essa insuficiência faz com que ataque e consequentemente espolie o objeto invejado para fazer desaparecer a diferença que foi percebida.

Numa luta secreta e constante, aquele que se sente insuficiente tenta esconder sua vergonha de ser incapaz. Assim, procura evitar qualquer situação que o faça sentir mais humilhado, ele ataca antes de ser atacado. Isto é, ele compete sozinho. A competição é um hábito do invejoso, pois ele tem dificuldade de receber ajuda, fazer junto e cooperar. Essa foi uma lição que aprendi ao longo desses milhares de anos. Eu sempre estive competindo sozinha, não contra o mundo, mas sim contra a mim mesma. Sempre achei que o que eu tirava dos outros me beneficiava, mas eu estava enganada. Em vez de me beneficiar, eu só estava alimentando cada vez mais o vazio que sentia, e ainda sinto, por não ter sido uma boa mãe e uma boa esposa.

Se prestarem atenção na qualidade dos objetos, pessoas ou situação pela qual sentem inveja poderão compreender melhor o porquê de se sentirem incapazes de conquistar. Neste sentido, a inveja é um espelho que revela uma parte de quem são, onde estão e para onde querem ir. Saber onde querem ir é a condição básica para sair da imobilidade. Por isso, se aprenderem a reconhecer os padrões emocionais que sustentam sua inveja, poderão torná-la um método eficiente para diagnosticar suas faltas, ou melhor, nossas faltas. Desta forma, poderão transformar a inveja numa força inspiradora de conscientização, no lugar de um sentimento apenas desagradável.

Talvez não possam modificar nada ao seu redor. Mas, se pararem para aprenderem com seus sentimentos negativos, poderão mudar as suas atitudes mentais e atrair o novo para suas vidas.

"A inveja consome o invejoso como a ferrugem, o ferro."

Antístenes

[vees-strangeworld-omniverse]

ARGONUS MYTHOS: the foxes, the crow and the man

(NOTE: descriptions copy-pasted from DA where i normally/originally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

[this is actually a continuation of my treehound breeds post. the original deviantart piece has a short folktale to it, but it already was getting long by tumblr standards so i decided to give it's own posts]

__________

[........]since the original post contained a story (dubbed "the foxes, the crow and the man"), i guess i could expand upon that story as well:

   a long, long time ago, there existed a family of grey foxes: a mother, a father, and their three kits. food was plentiful, water was clean, and the woods was thriving. all was good, until one particular winter day.

   a wildfire had started. the woodland was on fire, as what few animals that stay during winter fled to escape. many did not make it out alive, and many would perish, leaving nothing but charred bones and ashes. the foxes got lucky; their den was deep, and it protected them from the flames and smoke. when they emerged, the woodlands that once provided them with all they needed was now nothing more than a ashened wasteland. and because it takes such a long time for woodlands to heal from such a natural disaster, they had no choice but to leave the place they once called "home".    for seven days, they searched for a new place. however, it seemed like the wastelands stretched for what seemed like forever. every animal that even managed to survive saw the predators coming from miles, and would run away before they could even sneak up on them. the only thing that seemed to keep them alive was the river that they followed; knowing that the running water would at least quench whatever thirst they had.

   it wasn't until one day that the mother and father were out hunting, when she spotted a crow. it was the mother that, somehow, managed to catch the crow and was about to kill it. however, instead of pleading for their life, the crow told them that he knew their situation, but if they spared him he could show them a place where there was food. this seemed to stall the two just enough for the corvid to explain.

   as it turns out, like most of the animals they tried catching, the crow saw them before they saw him. however, unlike most who ran away, he knew that he could help them, as he too was in their same situation ever since the fires have destroyed his home. however, during his travels to find food and shelter, he found that over the mountains was a valley, containing woodlands that remained untouched by the fires.    inside this last healthy piece of woodlands, there was what initially looked like a camp. a small "village", with small, hairless creatures no bigger than he was. these creatures had been a food source for many; with their food scraps and the vermin that plagued the place, it was a perfect place to call home, at least just temporarily.

   normally, many prey items would lie in order to escape beccome food, but by this point the foxes were so desperate that they spared the crow from becoming food. they made a deal with the crow: the crow would guide them to the village, but under the condition that he'd remain in the jaws of one of the parents so he cant fly away should he be lying. surprisingly, the crow agreed, as he hopped into the jaws of the father.

   on the way there, the crow told the fox family about these strange creatures. according to the crow, they seemingly "came from the stars", and they too came to this world looking for a place to call home. these creatures were small enough to ride on the backs of turkeys, farmed rabbits like sheep, ate dandelions and bugs for lunch, and would hunt a single elk to feed an entire village for a whole month. they managed to save miles worth of woodlands, leaving a space for wildlife (and in turn prey) to take refuge while the rest of the woods healed. the crow explained that these creature wielded weapon, but as long as you don't attack them, they wont attack you.    the foxes were still suspicious and skeptical, but they continued to follow the crows direction. the crow told them of the various obstacles that would be in their way; he'd tell them the safer shortcuts, and if there weren't safer shortcuts, he'd tell them the best way to get past the obstacles. all the while, he told them to keep following the river; the river leads to the valley.

   eventually, they reached the very mountains with a valley on the other side. and to the foxes shock, there was indeed a valley on the other side, with woodlands and a village right in the middle. the crow was finally released from the father's jaws, as they followed the crow to the village.    of course it still was winter, so the valley had yet to turn green with grass and leaves. however, even as they drew closer to the village, they could smell the food. eventually, however, they reached the village. as they begin to finally set up a den near a fallen log, the crow flew off into the village and brought back table scraps. it might not have been the tastiest, but having been struggling to find food for weeks on end during winter, they were more than grateful for some kind of nourishment.

   for a while, the followed the crow's rules when it came to hunting within the village; hunt at night, only eat vermin and food scraps, and don't attack the creatures and the animals they kept. however, as winter turned to spring, and springs to summer, something special began to happen.    the creatures began to feed the foxes themselves. it started when the mother was tossed af piece of jackrabbit, to which she cautiously took. however, as another family of grey foxes entered the village to set out home, these "humans" would continue to feed the foxes. eventually, however, the foxes had gotten used to being fed by them. even as the spring and summer ruled around, many of the foxes continued to be fed by the human since it was almost a guaranteed food source.    and eventually, they began to befriend the humans. they would end up working with and protecting each other; foxes would herd rabbits, hunt game, and keep their new owners safe from "smaller" predators. in turn, the humans would take care of them, play with them, and keep them safe from the larger predators.

and yeah, that's the folktale on how gray foxes became treehounds. didn't expect it to go on for that long, but then again i have way too much time on my hands, so why not...

[samsurr022]

Pest Control Abbotsford | Megapestcontrol.com

Do I Have A Mouse Problem?

Loads of evident animal droppings, irritable scratching noises all through the night and from hollow spaces such as walls and attics, gnawed furniture, plastic, and materials like shoes, and the most important and obvious one, sightings of one or more mice in your house are all signs of a Mouse Control Abbotsford infestation.

While these heinous creatures might be beneficial to the environment and the ecosystem, it is still a terrible nuisance to have them roaming around your house and making it into their territory. After all, they did set up camp at your humble abode because they found suitable living conditions and easy, consistent availability of food in the first place.

This is why you need to contact Mouse Control Langley ASAP before things get out of hand and the mice end up causing some serious harm.

How Dangerous Is A Mouse Problem?

Now, what Abbotsford Mouse Removal needs you to know, is that if not controlled soon, a mouse infestation can leave you to face terrible consequences.

These consequences include:

Mice chewing on electrical wires and products; creating fatal risks of fire hazards.

They carry diseases, their urine can spread diseases. Especially since they are known for spreading deadly diseases such as The Great Black Plague, Salmonella, and the Hantavirus.

They can contaminate food with the feces they might leave behind in the kitchen, or on or near the food in your house, and through the revolting parasites, they carry.

They ruin and destroy your home’s structures by constantly scratching, gnawing, chewing, and creating nests wherever they find suitable.

They build their nests from soft materials in your house. Mice will use shoes, clothes, books, shredded paper, and essentially any soft material to build their nests, hence, damaging more of your property.

Therefore, seek out professional help from exterminators the moment you see a mouse in your house, especially during day time, or notice any other signs mentioned above. The reason seeing a mouse during the day is a serious thing is because mice are barely active during the day; they only come out at night. So, seeing one during the day would mean that, unfortunately, there are way too many mice in your house, (particularly since they multiply quickly too).

Why Do I Have A Mouse Problem?

Mice are animals that are constantly looking for places where they can find food and shelter. It doesn’t necessarily mean that your house is unclean if a mouse infestation arises, but it mostly is the case. Unsanitary locations attract mice.

Other than that, easy openings and access points also encourage them to barge into your home as if it’s their own. Cracks in the foundation, windows, roof, or doors; all are easy places for a mouse to enter through. They need very little space to enter.

They also feel welcomed if they see any garbage, food, or water sources lying around your house. Bird feeders or your pet’s food and water bowls are also viable factors for mice to infest your house. Remember, the more unsanitary, the more the risk of a mouse infestation.

[tonkicollective]

Elex wiki slug beast

#Elex wiki slug beast windows 10

Advertised as beneficial to all citizens, it was in reality a contingency plan in order to save the Board and corporations from annihilation. The Board, knowing it could never sustain the population and maintain their power in the current situation, decided to implement a Lifetime Employment Program. The Stranger takes command of the ship Unreliable and soon becomes embroiled in a vast conspiracy that threatens to destroy the Halcyon colony. The Stranger can either help MSI regain their strength or unite with the semi-anarchist organization, the Iconoclasts.Ī rogue scientist named Phineas Vernon Welles discovers the Hope, rescuing the Stranger from the Hope and sending them to Terra 2. This corporation, mainly their CEO Sanjar Nandi, was trying to recover their place in the Board by implicating another company in their illicit activities on the planet declared off limits by the Board. However, one corporation took advantage of the chaos and remained on Monarch, re-branding themselves as Monarch Stellar Industries. With the terraforming process triggering uncontrolled mutations in the local flora and fauna, the Board was forced to abandon the planet, leaving it a lawless and dangerous place where only criminals and monsters dwelled. Alas, the animosity between Edgewater and the Deserters prevented the cure from being spread among the town's population.Īnother problem for the Board was their first failed colonization attempt on the planet Terra 1, now known as Monarch. However, those who chose to leave the town and became Deserters, lead by a woman named Adelaide McDevitt, found a way to grow crops on Terra 2's soil using ground-up human remains as fertilizer, and discovered a way to fight the disease. With the only food source within the town's walls being the locally-produced canned saltuna, the population started to develop symptoms of the plague. To make matters worse, malnutrition caused a new disease, commonly known as the plague, to spread among the citizens of the Spacer's Choice-owned town of Edgewater. This suppressant was supposed to be used in a form of tooth paste and would allegedly allow to reduce the amount of resources that people consume, thus winning time form the scientists to devise a more permanent solution. To counter this, the Board commissioned their chief scientists to develop any means necessary, such as powerful appetite suppressant, derived from raptidons. The main problem being slow and subtle starvation of the entire population due to Earth food being too low in nutrients. Despite the assurances of the Board, life in the colony is far from perfect. Thirty-five years later, the colony is in fact on the verge of complete collapse. The Hope is moved into orbit over the ice planet Typhon and its existence covered up. Since Halcyon was colonized through other means, the Hope is unexpectedly found adrift with its colonists unable to be revived and the Halcyon Holdings Corporate Board decided to abandon the colonists. During its journey, the ship's skip drive malfunctions and it is forced to continue using its sublight engines, extending the trip from ten years to sixty. The Stranger, also known as "the unknown variable", is a passenger aboard the colony ship Hope, which is bound for the distant Halcyon system, wholly owned and operated by corporations. The game takes place in the year 2355 in the Halcyon System. As a result, Theodore Roosevelt never succeeded McKinley as President and large business trusts were never broken up, leading to a hyper-corporate, class centric society dominated by the power of mega-corporations and robber barons, which by the distant future, have begun to colonize space. The Outer Worlds is set in an alternate timeline, with the point of divergence beginning when United States President William McKinley was not assassinated by Leon Czolgosz in 1901. A Nintendo Switch version was also released on June 5, 2020.

#Elex wiki slug beast windows 10

The game was released on the Epic Store, Windows 10 store, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One (as well as Xbox Game Pass) on October 25, 2019, with the Steam release to follow in 2020. Outer Worlds, as a result, is heavily inspired by the Fallout franchise with many elements being ported over. The game's development is spearheaded by Fallout creators Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky. Development on Outer Worlds began sometime prior to Microsoft's acquisition of Obsidian Entertainment in 2018 Private Division had also managed to secure publishing rights before the buyout.

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

no like. think about it. eclipse was created because his people were defeated and a dying species already, and they came to earth to hopefully restore the black arms SO THEY DONT FUCKING DIE LMAO??? and he doesn't instantly go apeshit like even though he was created to destroy shadow and is plagued by being made in his image aka not his own person (cough shadow cough metal sonic) but he asks shadow to join him. against his orders btw. and then tries to mind control shadow to cooperate instead of just like, y'know, killing him. basically begging for an ally.

then later on eclipse gets thrown to earth with the eggs as he literally begs to help back home (because unlike literally other black/dark arm antagonist he ACTUALLY fucking cares about his species' survival). oh then black death fucking dies and so does the eye so eclipse is furious and also hurt (very reasonable that's his dad basically?!?)

to make matters worse, in the crash landing only 4 of the hatchlings survived. 4. yeah that's a real strong generation guys like ??? he's distraught he's so relieved when he finds survivors just look:

like??? look how pure he is i'm so mad about it:

he's literally just this young dude thrown into existence to save his dying people, and then disobeys orders to try and make sure everyone he knows is safe and happy BUT THEN ALSO BEFRIENDS THE GUY HE'S SUPPOSED TO KILL NOT ONCE BUT TWICE BC HE DOES IT AGAIN LATER AND WANTS A DAMN FAMILY MEMBER??? EVEN AFTER SHADOW & CO KILLED HIS DAD???

like. some people might argue "well he still wants to harvest the earth" uh yeah because food? He'll do anything to protect his people that's not inherently wrong just help the dude by giving him a different source because using earth is all he knows? sure he's the only black arms with free will (lmao in your face shadow) but he tried to ask for shadow's help numerous times and that fucker denied him. like. SHADOW. MY DUDE. YOU ARE MAKING AN ENEMY HERE. HELP ECLIPSE RESTORE HIS (ACTUALLY BOTH OF YOUR) ENDANGERED SPECIES/ALIEN RACE WITHOUT IT HURTING ANYONE SO EVERYONE WINS???

i think shadow should have said yes but worked with eclipse to find sustainable food for the black arms that wouldn't hurt others so they could get an ally and a family member out of it. imagine eclipse ruling the black arms which restores them to full power??? AND THEN THEYRE REALLY STRONG ALLIES IN CASE OTHER THREATS COME ALONG LIKE IMAGINE SEASON 3 OF SONIC X BUT SORTA LIKE 06 WITH A VIBE OF SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG 2 WHERE AT ONE POINTS HE CALLS ON ECLIPSE (revealing the now prosperous colony) TO HELP ASSIST SONIC & CO??? AND IT WORKS???

oh my god. since they're potentially not forced to stick around earth for food they could explore the galaxies. why couldn't the black arms eventually SOS shadow because these extremely advanced aliens are wrecking their shit and stealing everything and draining them because these dudes are basically gods and shadow is like "okay i'll get help" because these godly aliens will eventually find earth. oh turns out these are the babylonians! yeah! like they found the REAL babylon (planet) not just the measly scavenger ship that crashed to earth and caused all that riders crap + gave us the babylon rogues.

why. why couldn't we have this. SEGA i'm so disappointed this is why i used to never bring up archie because while i admit i haven't reread the comics in years and thus the nostalgia and bias might have warped my memory of events... eclipse deserved better. we could have had really cool allies but instead they went with a second black arms genocide. grrrrrr

[hypergryph]

My egg eating dragons were born out of necessity- Dragons who had just been at war now facing famine that could destroy the clan once and for all.

Pyrus (Guardian) decided that she wasn't going to let her clan die, and convinced her mate Darkrage (Mirror) to eat some of the dragon eggs when there was an abundance of eggs being left to rot, and not enough prey to go around.

They did disguise the eggs as different forms of Beastclan eggs to start with- because at this time no other dragon in the clan would've gone with this plan, even if it was for survival. But eventually the clan was too hungry and too grateful for any food at all to focus on what they were being fed.

Eventually the eggs begin to run low as well but there are still a few dragons that nobody would miss out there...

I haven't decided if this will allow my dragons any sort of power, or if this has horrible changes in their elemental breath attacks and such, but I did only start writing lore 2 weeks ago

Pyrus being a guardian, the species known for protecting their charges, and Darkrage being a Mirror, a species originating from plague and who value survival through suffering, are very notable points of interest here... They're protecting the thing they value in a crisis of survival, and the Egg Eating might seem like a good fix to a pair like that.

The famine circumstances *almost* justify them considering dragon eggs as a food source. It's do or die, and morality gets very fuzzy when your clan is so desperate for food that they're starving to death around you...but then Pyrus and Darkrage go and lie to their clanmates about it, which is very telling. They believe they know best, and don't trust/respect their clanmates enough to tell them the truth.

It's that special brand of unhealthy leadership that so many people fall into: Heads of families lying to their children, team leaders trying to improve their teammates through underhanded tricks, friends or SO's hiding grievances through lies instead of communicating and working things out. Good leaders respect, trust, and serve their followers, and realize that they're equal as peers even if not in their role. It's a damn shame to see irl, but man does it make for some delicious character flaws in fiction.

Oof, and that last implication about a few dragons being around that nobody would miss?? Absolutely CHILLING...

Eggs are one thing...but other dragons? Massive Cooking Companions-esque vibe you've got there.

This is very impressive for 2 weeks(though, there's most likely more at the time of writing this). If you're alright with it, I'd love to read what you've come up with since submitting this!

Thank you for sharing!

[balkanradfem]

I've been reading 'Less is More' book, and it talks about feudal revolution and how it ended feudalism; it goes into describing what horror feudalism unleashed on the lands, because they weren't farmed in a nature-friendly ways, but devastated and exploited for profit. The fertility wasn't being given back to the land, instead, the land became impoverished, infertile and damaged by the large-scale farming practices. The workers rebelled, and after being hit by the plague, became very few in numbers, which then made them a very scarce resource, and gave them bargaining power over the nobles. After they successfully won back the land, they started taking care of it, regenerating the soil, creating a healthy and mutual relationship with nature. They only got a job if they wanted extra income, because they were able to live off of the land, and they could work little hours, for wages they bargained for.

I've been trying to figure out what is a good way out of capitalism, and I got similar answers; rely on the land to survive, be unwilling to work a job until you have absolute freedom over your hours and bargaining power over your wages, refuse to participate in a system that survives off of draining natural resources. This, however, sounds impossible; capitalism has already made us dependant on it to the point where our lifestyles fall apart without it, our resources disappear, our conveniences all rely on it, it's become our life support, and it happened incredibly fast. 50 years back, humanity didn't have 70% of conveniences it has now, however we all already feel we cannot live without it. Why is that so?

A big part of it is loss of the land, and all of the knowledge related to living off of the land. Even a few generations ago, people knew how to survive with their own piece of land, today, most of people don't have land, not even their own living space. We're cut off from both resources and knowledge that would allow us to leave capitalism. We're struggling only to survive, we're enduring astonishing amounts of stress only to secure basic resources, and to keep ourselves afloat. Even when it became obvious that capitalism is unstable, that most of what is being produced and sold has been a product of slave labour, that it's impoverishing us just as it does the land, even when it caused severe mental crises to people, even now when we know capitalistic growth will damage our planet to the point of extinction of huge parts of humanity and animals, all we can do is try to stay alive, not seeing how to change any of it, because all of our lives depend on it still going.

According to the book, the soil used for food production is already so severely damaged, it will no longer be possible to exploit it for long; the bug population and the soil critters have decreased by 70-90%, and crop production will soon be falling back by 10, 20, 30% a year. This is extremely bad news for people who rely on capitalism to provide food, especially those who already live in the food desserts, cut off from supplies, cut off from the land or knowledge to produce some on their own.

Capitalism is attempting to settle things down with 'green' revolution, as if new technology would be able to regenerate the land or force more resources out of it; that's impossible. The land can only give so much, and capitalism doesn't give anything back. As long as capitalism grows, the land will become more and more obsolete. Even the existence of cities causes mass amount of land to be impoverished by single-crop coverings, massive machines that don't hesitate to destroy the soil life, not to mention the land mass being covered in asphalt and cement, allowing nothing to grow.

So, now I'm interested, let's say you all get a piece of land, and you have some budget, not a big one, not enough to buy any big machines, but you can get some tools and building materials and seeds, and you have to survive from it. What would you do first? Would you know how to find water source and how to make it safe for drinking? Could you figure out how to build or cook or plant? What would you build? What would you plant? What would be your priorities with it? And not to make it impossible, let's say you do have a place to sleep and food for the first year, and you do have a community ready to help you out.

And I'm asking this both as a thought practice, and as a person who will probably do this, and isn't completely sure how to go about it, even tho my mind is screaming 'plant perennials, think of everything else later!'.

Even if this kind of situation might sound scary, and is certainly less convenient than capitalism, remember that people did this for thousands of years. And it's made so much easier today by new gardening no-dig practices, with vast variety of new foods we can grow, with all this information about nature available to us – but rarely shared, rarely something we're directed towards.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Democrats, health care monopolies, and market failures

As the US health care system reels under shortages and capacity issues, Matt Stoller reminds us that the brittleness of the US health care supply chain predates covid, and is directly attributable to monopolization, and its handmaiden, corruption.

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/the-villains-behind-our-medical-supply

As Stoller writes, the last decade has seen the health care industry plagued by shortages of basics: “from saline to epinephrine to chemotherapeutic agents to antibiotics, to sterilized water.”

The FDA has maintained a drug shortages advisory page for years, long before covid hit, with doctors prescribing less-familiar, more error-prone meds to patients because the standard-of-care drugs were unavailable.

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/drug-shortages

Now, obviously covid exacerbated this situation, and in response, a lot of manufacturing has shifted back onshore — but it’s not really helping. It turns out that the same system that created the brittleness in health supplies is now maintaining it.

Stoller identifies Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) as a key culprit. GPOs originated as hospital buying clubs, consolidated catalogs of medical supplies available at discount prices. But as the buyers and the sellers grew more monopolized, GPOs took on a sinister role.

It started in 1987, when lobbyists convinced Congress to weaken the anti-kickback laws that had kept GPOs honest. Freed from a prohibition on taking bribes, GPO buyers began to source hospital supplies based on the size of the “commission” rather than value for money.

This is chokepoint capitalism at its finest. The GPOs were the only way to reach the majority of the market for health supplies, and they would only carry your merchandise if you paid them commissions.

This is what Amazon does: charge “advertising fees” and “fulfillment by Amazon” surcharges from sellers on its platform to appear higher in search results, which can climb to over 50%.

Likewise, it’s how Spotify operates, extracting high fees from labels to be featured on playlists and in “radio” streams.

It’s what monopolistic grocers do to food manufacturers, too.

This is one of the dynamics by which monopolism spreads. In order to keep prices low while bribing GPOs, medical manufacturers had to merge (eliminating competition), outsource (lowering labor costs), lower quality, and eliminate buffers and other slack in the system.

Amazon wins over its customers by promising them low prices and free shipping. GPOs win over hospitals by sharing their bribes with top administrators. Monopoly produces monopoly, and monopoly begets corruption.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-does-the-law-against-kickbacks-not-apply-your-hospital-1525731707

Which is why covid’s onshoring of manufacturing has not alleviated the supply-chain problems in the health sector. We can make stuff onshore, sure, but hospitals will only buy it through GPOs.

But GPOs will only carry it if it is priced competitively with stuff from Asian sweatshops, and if the bribes are also competitive. It’s not like onshore manufacturers can shop around, either.

GPOs underwent a wave of mergers in the 1990s, so four companies control 90% of US hospitals’ $300b in annual spending. Monopoly begets monopoly.

What’s more, by spreading bribes to hospital administrators, GPOs eliminated the need to keep prices down.

Instead, the final price represents an equilibrium between hospital administrators’ greed for kickbacks and hospital management’s willingness to pay.

Like all corruption, GPOs are a way to concentrate gains (bribes to GPOs and hospital buyers) and diffuse losses (lower quality goods at higher prices made by workers earning lower wages in a system that periodically seizes up due to shortages).

The worst is yet to come. Because this system concentrates production in facilities where maintenance, redundancy and fail-safes are neglected in order to maximize the funds available for bribes, it is vulnerable to even mild shocks.

This is how America ran out of saline (AKA salt water!): Baxter cornered the market for it, shut down production everywhere except Puerto Rico where labor was cheap, and then had no contingency plans for when a hurricane hit the island.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-does-the-law-against-kickbacks-not-apply-your-hospital-1525731707

There are more shocks to come, and America is systemically vulnerable to them. Its lawmakers and regulators have not reined in this dangerous corruption — instead, they’ve abetted it. Take Obama’s FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz — he now lobbies for GPOs!

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_comments/2017/12/00222-142618.pdf

That may finally be changing — the Biden admin has specifically targeted single-source goods and GPO monopolies in its analysis of America’s resiliency problems.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/100-day-supply-chain-review-report.pdf

But before you get too optimistic, recall that centrist Dems are masters of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Take the issue of dental care, a dysfunctional area even by US standards.

Denying dental care is a cruel and senseless policy. And yet all forms of US health insurance either under-cover dental work, or fail to cover it at all. 65% of Medicare recipients don’t have any dental coverage.

Even people who do have dental coverage find it woefully inadequate. Getting two crowns under our family’s dental coverage — the “gold-plated” coverage offered by a blue-chip employer — costs $2,500 over the insurance maximum.

No wonder Americans wryly call their teeth “luxury bones” — the part of your body that health-care treats as optional, despite the serious consequences for health, wellbeing, employment and self-esteem caused by poor dentistry.

It’s a particularly American disease: one of Luke O’Neil’s readers describes being reduced to tears by the realization that his Taiwanese dentristry bill would only come to $20 — for “3 visits + surgery + medication + 3D x-rays”.

https://luke.substack.com/p/the-american-healthcare-system-damages

It’s not like the Dems don’t know this. They’re even promising to do something about it. They’ve proposed extending dental coverage to Medicare…in seven years.

As O’Neil says, “This is almost the platonic ideal of Some Democrat Shit. These people need help. Our plan is to give it to them well over half a decade from now. It makes no sense. They don’t even seem to want to reap the immediate political benefits of such a move!”

Centrism destroys politicians’ time-sense as Harold Meyerson writes for The American Prospect: “Child care subsidies are set to phase in over six years. Medicare negotiation with pharmaceutical companies over prescription drug prices won’t begin until 2025.”

https://prospect.org/politics/liberalism-and-time/

“As to the bipartisan infrastructure legislation, one admittedly conservative estimate has it that no more than $20 billion will be spent by the end of 2022.”

This is a party that is hoping to win midterms in 2022, remember.

There was a time when progressivism was impatient: Medicare was up and running in less than a year, in 1965. Today, we are faced with urgent crises — a looming irreversible climate emergency among them — and we have no time for this foot-dragging.

Neither do the families who’ll lose teeth or suffer debilitating chronic infections — to say nothing of the patients who will suffer needlessly or even die as a result of monopolistic shortages. The best time to act on this was a decade ago. The second best time is now.

Image: Nitram242 (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/25165196@N08/7082538687/

CC BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[fontasticcrablettes]

I remember coming across a fic where Flynn travels to a dark future in which the Empire is a dictatorship and Yuri became evil and one of its enforcers (long story). Can you a imagine a scenario where post-game Yuri travels to a bad future where everything Brave Vesperia worked for ended up making things worse, his friends died or became shadows of themselves, and Flynn became like Alexei because Yuri "died" or that Yuri ended up doing something that pushed Flynn in that direction.

Oh, I know what fic you're talking about! I didn't finish because I got distracted, but it's a very entertaining premise.

I've also written something loosely similar to your idea in For Want of a Nail, which shows a bad-end version of the game in which Yuri died as a kid, Flynn was raised by Alexei and everything is terrible.

But I love the premise of time-travelling to a bad future! What if when Yuri takes out the Adephagos, something goes wrong. He's wielding a huge mass of energy all swirling around and changing the world, and somehow, it vaporizes him and sends him into the future. To everyone else, though, it appears that he's died. So they return home from Tarqaron having defeated the Adephagos but losing Yuri, making it very bittersweet.

And after that, it all sort of crumbles. Keeping Brave Vesperia going without Yuri is too sad, Karol and Judith drift apart. Rita throws herself into her work, blaming herself for the conversion going wrong and maybe if she'd planned better, Yuri would still be here. Flynn becomes even more of a workaholic than usual as a way to distract himself.

Maybe things get really rough after losing blastia. Suddenly, monster attacks on settlements skyrocket. Injuries and illnesses that were traditionally cured with healing artes have no cure. Farms that were protected by barriers are now hard to keep monsters out of, and way more expensive to hire guards for the farmers, leading to food prices shooting up. No more aque blastia means sources of clean water become less readily available, especially in poorer areas, and waterborne illnesses run rampant.

And the thing is, all of them knew this was what they were in for, at least partially, but after Yuri died it all just felt more overwhelming than they were ready for. The farther they get from the Adephagos, the harder it is to remember how dire the situation was when they're currently staring plague and famine in the face. The rest of the populace forgets too, especially those who didn't even understand the situation to begin with, and come to resent Brave Vesperia for bringing this upon them.

Flynn is, of course, determined to steer the Empire through the crisis. He feels extra responsible, because he agreed to the plan to destroy the Adephagos so it's his responsibility to fix it. He starts down the same path Alexei did - of wanting to save the Empire while growing increasingly disillusioned with the Council and every other civilian he has to work with. Yuri isn't there to pull him back, and every step toward authoritarianism he takes justifies the next so that it will all be worth it in the end.

Tensions are high all over the world, and war breaks out between the Union and the Empire for control of scarce resources. The party members are split even further apart, with Estelle, Rita, and Flynn living in the Empire while Karol, Judith, and Raven live in Dahngrest. Flynn declares martial law and assumes absolute control of the Empire, stating that he only intends to wield this power for the duration of the crisis, but crises keep piling up and it's been a few years now.

And this is the future Yuri shows up in. He wakes up in the ruins of Tarqaron, thinking he's been missing for a couple of hours - when it's actually been ten years. So he goes strolling to the nearest town and gets hit by this reality. His goal is get the hell out of here and go home, where he hopes that he can warn people like Flynn, Ioder, and Harry what to expect and avoid this future, but there's no readily apparent means of going home and in the meantime he wants to at least find and help his friends.

[knchins]

The Sacrificial Lamb - Chisaki Kai

Summary: The Vampire Chisaki has been searching everywhere for the one, but when he finally finds her she is taken by the League of Villains. He strikes a deal with them in order to get her back.

Pairing: Vampire!Overhaul x Fem!Human!Reader

Rating: E+

Word Count: 6.7k

Server Collab: BNHAREM - Fantasy AU

Warnings: Virgin/Virginity Kink, Blood, Extreme Dubcon, Mysophobia, Kidnapping, Implied Sexual Slavery, Noncon Choking, Biting, Pelvic Examination, Virginity Testing, Mentioned Necrophilia, Marking, Bondage/Restraints, Hair Pulling, Condom Usage, Overstimulation, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Cunnilingus, Mild Aftercare

Notes: Please heed the warnings listed above. I classify this as a dark fic and want readers to take care while reading. <3 My first ever collab with this server and I’m super hype about it! I hope you enjoy!

All over the world, over the past few decades, vampirism had spread across the land like a rampant disease. Once mortal humans were turned into eternal monsters with powers unique only to their kind. The media tended to call them quirks, hoping that a lighthearted term would quell the fear of what the gifts truly were. An abomination, a curse among mankind, and weapons of mass destruction. 

Of course, there were a select few (really, a rare few these days) that used their vampirism for good. They fed only on donated blood, vowed never to take human life, and even protected mortals against others of their kind that were not as righteous as they were. Truly it was a world made up of heroes, villains, and powerless bystanders that were often victims. 

In relation to eternity, Chisaki Kai was rather young. He had only spent his life as a gifted fanged menace for about two decades now, but that didn’t make things any easier. Chisaki has had mysophobia for as long as he could remember. It plagued him as a human long before he was turned by the former leader of the Shie Hassaikai. 

Vampirism had always been nothing but a curse to him. While it was true that his quirk was extremely powerful and was capable of great destruction, the fact that he had to drink blood in order to survive was pure hell. The only blood he could bring himself to consume was that of young virgins, those who had never been tainted with drugs, alcohol, or even sex. 

Members of Shie Hassaikai would kidnap victims for him, but Kai would never feed on them outright. No, touching their commoner skin with his mouth just seemed completely out of the question. He very rarely sank his teeth into anyone. Instead he’d keep them captive, draining a few pints every few weeks until eventually bleeding them dry when he grew bored of them. 

The blood would be stored and consumed as needed by their leader, a small portion of it would be meshed with grapes and fermented into wine. A delicacy that many vampires enjoyed and was graded on both the source and taste. Naturally he only drank that of the highest grade as that ensured there were few (if any) impurities. 

The issue Chisaki was starting to face however was that his food source was dwindling. In this day and age it was difficult to find people that haven't spent time poisoning their bodies. Everyone seemed to enjoy living in filth and he really just did not understand. He was half tempted to start breeding his own livestock to drain, but that would just be too costly at this point. The organization was struggling to get back on top, and while he was a fearsome and ruthless leader, there were still connections that needed to be made. 

As of now he had a...tentative (but tumultuous) relationship with a group of vampires that liked to call themselves the League of Villains. The leader, Shigaraki Tomura, wanted to be equal to Kai however Kai felt that he was equal to no one. He was above all of them, his power to destroy or create on a whim was better than anyone quirk that the league could offer. Negotiations were still being made and every time they took one step forward, they seemed to take two steps back. 

Shigaraki was about the same age as he was and he too was capable of mass destruction. If the two worked together, they could bring down all of Tokyo with ease. Perhaps this would help with Chisaki’s lack of food situation. With the entire city under his thumb he could easily create some sort of facility to house and breed the purest of humans. He’d no longer have to limit himself as he did now. 

Presently he was waiting to hear back from his most faithful underling and assistant, Kurono. He was out looking for what would be Chisaki’s next meal, though it had been a few hours since he departed. When his phone began to chime, he half expected to hear that he had been unsuccessful in finding someone to suit his boss’s tastes. However, it was quite the opposite. 

“I have found a girl you would no doubt enjoy.” Kurono said in a cold tone that portrayed no noticeable emotion. “However, there is a situation.” 

Chisaki was almost always cool headed. He very rarely lost his temper, though when he did it could be quite murderous. “What is it?” He asked monotonously. 

“The League of Villains has taken her for themselves.” He said, and while true he could just find someone else. He had a feeling that his boss would particularly love the sweet little thing he had found. “I believe she may be the one.” 

The One. Chisaki had been searching high and low for a delicate creature to treat as his live in blood source. One that he would control one hundred percent. What she ate, what she wore, when she slept. He had so many plans for this one woman, if she were to ever be found. Hearing that Kurono may have found the one and had lost her to none other than that foul Shigaraki was almost enough to boil his black blood. Almost. 

“She’s pure?” He asked cryptically, though he knew that if she had been selected already then Kurono had already vetted that information himself. He heard his subordinate give him a quick affirmative. Chisaki let his thoughts process for a moment longer, “come back. I will call Tomura and see what he has to say for himself.” 

Clearly this was a ploy to get Chisaki to formally align with him. That much was obvious. However without seeing the girl first it may as well be pointless. He’d need to look over her with a fine toothed comb to determine whether or not she was indeed the one he could make his blood bride or not. A human companion for him to divulge in at any time. If Kurono knew him as well as the thought he did, then he would be correct in thinking that she was special enough to keep around. 

He ended the call with Kurono and looked for the number he had for the league of villains. He pressed it, letting the phone dial the numbers itself before waiting for an answer. A moment later, an annoying but familiar voice cut in. “Overhaul. I was wondering when you’d call.” There was clear devious intent that made Chisaki question again what he could possibly be up to. “I have something I think you’ll just love to sink your teeth into.” 

Kai didn’t appreciate the joke. Shigaraki knew very well that Kai didn’t drink directly from humans. He drank blood through plastic straws because he didn’t even want his lips to touch it unless he wanted to break out in hives. “What do you want for her?” Kai asked, getting straight to the point. “I have plenty that you could have.” 

It was true. Shigaraiki needed to bolster his numbers and with Kai’s help then he could easily achieve that goal.All he needed to supersede the arduous negotiations between them was a little leverage. Leverage Tomura now had in his possession. “You know what I want, Chisaki.” Shigaraki said in the smug voice that grated the yakuza leader’s last nerve. 

But what Shigaraki wanted most was to have Chisaki and his gang of men to work under him. To have control over the small legion of vampires that was ruled by Chisaki’s hand. Of course, Kai could always agree to the negotiation and cut ties as soon as he had what he wanted (if she was indeed the one). Though there was no telling for sure of that now. 

“I’ll need to inspect her first. Bring her to the compound for a thorough examination.” He instructed hoping that Shigaraki would at least agree to that. “Do not touch her with those filthy hands of yours until then. If you defile her then the deal will be off.” 

Shigaraki tutted into the receiver of the phone, “So picky. You want to see this little wallflower so badly? Alright, I’ll bring her in an hour. Be ready for us then, would you? Maybe have some of the delicious blood wine of yours ready to celebrate our long awaited union. Until then I’ll have all of my people keep their roaming fingers to themselves. Does that sound like a suitable arrangement?” 

Chisaki sat back in his chair. While Shigaraki couldn’t truly be trusted, he saw no other choice than to agree to this. “One hour. Don’t be late.” He hung up before the petulant man could say anything else, He let out a long sigh before standing. He had a lot of preparations to do before his visitors arrived. 

An hour later, Chisaki had just picked out one of his finer bottles of wine when a subordinate brought in his guests. Shigaraki was alone with a girl bound in rope standing next to him. She had a cloth gag tied around her mouth to keep her from talking, something Chisaki thought was a little barbaric but it wasn’t that surprising given who her captor was. 

Despite her bindings, he could already tell just how beautiful she was and more than that she smelled absolutely divine. Chisaki felt his mouth water, hunger panging in his stomach. This visceral reaction was incredibly rare for him. The urge to sink his fangs into the tender flesh of her delicate neck roared in his brain, yet he did his best to silence it. Outwardly his masked face remained the same, though his mouth twitched into an unseen smile. 

He held his hand out, but Tomura hesitated before handing over the rope leash. “You break our deal then I’ll snap her pretty little neck. Got it?” He asked, putting a gloved hand on the back of her neck and squeezing lightly for emphasis. Chisaki’s eyes narrowed, already he knew that no one would ever be taking her away from him. Shigaraki just didn’t know who he was dealing with. 

“If she passes the examination, then we will have a deal.” Chisaki reminded him, “if I find that she is unclean, then you can do what you wish with her. I do not care.” Though the words came out bitter and assured, deep down he knew that that was untrue. Something about her was so captivating already. He didn’t want to dwell on the possibility of her not being the one. Kurono had seemed so sure of himself when they spoke last. 

The young yakuza leader led his potential pet into a back room that was made specifically for examining humans. He had it built shortly after he took over in order to sort out his cattle in any way he saw fit. 

After ushering her inside, he cut on the harsh bright lights that nearly blinded her. Shigaraki chose to perch on a stool in the corner while Chisaki untied the ropes that bound the girl’s arms and then the gag. He let the thick braids fall unceremoniously to the floor, noticing how she shook with each brush of his fingertips. Scared already? Well, they always did taste better when they had adrenaline coursing through their veins. 

“Take off your clothes and get on the table.” He ordered, watching her eyes dart to a table adorned with stirrups. It was similar to one you might find at a gynecologist's office. With much hesitation, his new subject began to disrobe. Her clothes puddled around her feet as she grew more and more embarrassed with each less layer covering her sensitive skin. An odd heat was pooling between her legs as she clenched her thighs together.

Chisaki was taken off guard by her arousal. He had been assured that she was a virgin, however if stipping down before two vampires was turning her on then certainly that wasn’t the case. Both he and Shigaraki could smell the slick that was accumulating within her folds. His sharp eyes cut to the snickering vampire in the corner who was nothing but amused by this turn of events. 

After she finished undressing, she climbed up onto the steel table that had minimal cushioning. Chisaki changed his gloves out to a fresh pair, wanting to make sure that any dirt he found wasn’t something that had already been on the ones he had been wearing previously. A fresh slate was needed for this examination. 

“Put your feet in the stirrups.” He said coldly, his doubts beginning to overwhelm him internally, though his face did not show it. Even if it did, the lower half was still obstructed by his black face mask. How could this girl possibly be the one if she enjoyed disrobing in front of two murderous vampires? Was she one of those that got off on fantasizing about creatures of the night? The thought disgusted him. 

Her knees were shaking, causing the metal arms of the stirrups to rattle. Even curiouser she was this nervous while also being excited? What a peculiar creature indeed. 

His eyes swept over her seemingly frail mortal body. There were no bruises, no cuts. There wasn’t even a scar on the flesh he could see. Hair was all neatly landscaped. Her outward appearance was up to par with his wishes, but it was time to check the inside of her to make sure. 

Chisaki gently spread the moistened folds to see if that thin sliver of tissue was still intact. While true, it wasn’t uncommon for girls to rupture their hymen through activities other than sex, he still found it to be a great indicator. If it was torn then he would have to check another way. 

To the vampire’s pleasure, there was the tiny half moon membrane just a centimeter into the vaginal canal. This was all he needed to see in order to believe that she was, in fact, a virgin and that he wouldn’t need to probe any further in order to find any inconsistencies that disputed that fact. 

He delicately checked over the rest of her sex, searching for any indication that she wasn’t as pure as she seemed to be. Again he was thoroughly pleased to find none. He took a step away from her, walking around the table to closer examine her nude form. His sharp eyes moved over every last inch of visible skin, trying to detect any kind of abnormal marking or sign of dirt or grime. 

The stirrups were still rattling with the tremors of her lower limbs, a tinny sound that bounced off the walls of the small room. Her eyes were shut tightly, afraid to look at the man looming over her. What the two villains in the room didn’t know was that she had been saving herself specifically for this sort of situation. Since she came of age she longed to be some vampire’s little fuck toy to use and abuse. Despite her pure body, her mind was anything but. Upon learning of the League of Villain’s intentions with her, she hadn’t been able to stop the grotesquely loud thumping of her heart within her chest. 

She didn’t know exactly who the vampire they referred to as Overhaul was, but she could tell that he was especially gifted and powerful. The way he commanded a room was enough to make her weak in the knees. She kept herself meticulously well kept and it seemed as though all her work had been for something much greater than she could have ever anticipated. 

“Put your legs down and roll over.” He ordered in that monotonous and apathetic voice that only made her shutter even more. She obliged, removing her feet from the pads of the stirrups and rolling onto her stomach after scooting back up onto the steel table a little more so that she could be more comfortable. 

Shigaraki was watching with mild intrigue. He had never seen Chisaki look over a potential meal before. It was quite entertaining how thought out his observations appeared to be. 

He inspected the areas that he could not see before, again finding nothing out of the ordinary. He even inspected her hair, looking for any signs of lice or debris. Nothing. Every item on the list within his mind checked off one by one. She was intact. She was clean. She was pure. And she would be his and his alone. 

Chisaki left her side to order an underling to bring him a fresh clean robe for her to wear. In the corner of the room was a glass shower that he instructed her to go to in order for her to scrub herself down even further. He assured her that when she was finished he would have something for her to put on and to not worry about the rags she had been wearing. 

After she had stepped into the clear shower and began to wash as per his instructions, Chisaki made his way to a nearby sink. He removed the gloves that had been soiled with her arousal and threw them in the bin to his right before scrubbing his hands clean and putting on a new pair. Once he was finished he made his way back to Shigaraki. “We have a deal.” He said plainly, not wanting to show how very important this girl was to him now. If he let on how great of a find this truly was, then there was no telling what his adversary would ask for in return. So far the exchange they had worked out was simple enough. He didn’t need for it to become any more complicated. 

He couldn’t see the twisted grin on Shigaraki’s face due to the false hand mask obscuring it, however he could tell that it was there simply due to the way the seated man’s eyes creased with sick glee. “Let us toast to this new alliance then.” Shigaraki drawled as he stood from the wooden stool he had been sitting on. 

Kurono stepped in to deal with the little lamb that was his boss’s new plaything as the two leaders left for the kitchen where Chisaki had prepped the dry blood wine. A servant poured them both a glass of the viscous burgundy liquid before handing it to them with a slight bow. 

Both men removed the masks they were wearing, through they stood a good six feet apart. Chisaki was not about to breath in whatever sin Shigaraki exhaled. It was the first time Tomura had seen his full face and immediately thought that he looked even younger than he was. He waited for Chisaki to drink the wine first to make sure it hadn’t been tainted. 

Chisaki took the first sip with an apathetic look on his face. Only once he had swallowed did Shigaraki follow suit. Both of them revelled in the bitter and metallic taste. Only once the glasses were half empty was a word spoken. “We will be making our next move soon.” Shigaraki said, “make sure you and your men are ready for my command.” 

“Don’t worry about us not being ready.” He replied simply, “we are always prepared for anything.” 

Shigaraki chose not to comment, knowing that there was an allusion to his own gang’s sometimes lack of preparedness. It could be hard controlling a group of particularly talented vampires. While he too had great power and they did listen to him, some of his subordinates could get out of control at times. 

He threw back the rest of his wine, letting it flood his senses for a moment as it ran down his throat. He replaced the white hand over his face before standing. “And Chisaki, do not forget my warning. If you do not hold up your end of the bargain, then that delicious specimen will be all mine and your dick won’t be the only one that has been buried into that cute little cunt of hers.” 

Chisaki finished his own glass before slipping the black cloth back over his mouth and nose. His eyes were fixated on his new partner, clearly irate to the thought of someone else having his new most beloved pet. He said nothing, letting his gaze say it all as Shigaraki took his leave finally, wanting to get out before his welcome was possibly overstayed. They’d talk more about the future of their alliance later. Now it was time for Chisaki to see just how great of a gift had just been bestowed upon him. 

By now she was finished with her shower and Kurono had showed her to her new living quarters where she had been locked inside. Inside it looked similar to a medium sized hotel room. She had her own private bathroom, a closet full of clothes that certainly weren’t hers before but would be hers from now on. A full bed that was made with soft sheets and a thick duvet. The only thing she would have liked was a window, however there was nothing to suggest that she was even on the ground floor. It was much more plausible that she had been taken underground instead. 

She was wearing nothing but a silk robe and the man who had brought her here had told her not to put anything on that his boss would be there in a moment. She took a seat on the foot of the bed, wondering if this was to be her life from now on. A slave to a vampire. Would it be everything she had ever dreamed of? If it wasn’t...would there be any way to escape? She had a sickening feeling that her fate was sealed either way. She could either please her new master or die at his hands. There were no other alternatives. 

Being a living blood bag was not a conventional kink to say the least. Maybe it would be enough to keep her alive in this turbulent world. 

The door opened and the leader of the Shie Hassaikai walked into the room, closing it behind her. His golden olive-toned eyes were fixated onto her, a thin inhale caused the black cloth mask to momentarily press against his nostrils. Hunger throbbed in his stomach and he felt himself aching to do something that he never dreamt of doing. Saliva pooled into his mouth as his gaze fixated on the untouched skin of her neck. He could see her pulse fluttering in her jugular, strong and healthy. 

He was pleased to find her in the white robe he had chosen for her. An obvious symbol of what she was to him. The sacrificial lamb. Fuck, he’d drain every lost drop of that sweet innocent life force without a second thought. Sure he had come to make her his but his sudden need to feed was definitely making that difficult. Of course he could still do that even if she were dead. Though a compliant corpse wasn’t quite as much fun. 

He shrugged off his green jacket, setting it on the back of a nearby chair. “What is your name?” He asked, though he already had the intent of giving her a new name already. He still wanted to know what it was. 

She told it to him, voice wavering with anticipation. Was tonight the night she’d finally experience sex for the first time? The thought alone had her gushing again and the smell caused Chisaki to quirk an eyebrow with curiosity. He had only asked her her name, why did that make her so aroused? 

He loosened his tie before taking it off completely, “Take off your robe.” He ordered as he stepped closer to the bed. She stood up and untied it from around her waist, letting it fall open before she shrugged it off of her shoulders. The white silk fell to the floor and immediately her hands moved to cross over her exposed chest in order to attempt some form of modesty. Even though he had already stripped her and examined her most intimate parts, it was still awkward to simply be nude in front of her new master. She did have some morals afterall. 

Chisaki grabbed her arms and unfolded them before forcing them behind her back. He wrapped the fabric of his tie around her wrists tightly before weaving a knot into the bindings to keep her from getting out of it. Her shoulders pulled to accommodate the new position, causing her chest to lift and breasts to bounce in protest of his sudden and rough movements. 

He observed the wince of pain that crossed her face and the look caused his cock to twitch inside of his pants, begging to be freed. “If you struggle too much, Angel, it’s only going to hurt you more in the long run.” He said, voice edged with a thinly veiled threat. She immediately stopped pulling at the tie and became still before him, eyes too afraid to look at his face as she felt the skin of her cheeks heat painfully with embarrassment. 

He took off his shirt and unbuckled his belt, trying to decide whether or not he wanted to wrap it around her fragile throat. If he did so then he’d been obscured from possibly savoring it for himself, though the thought of that caused a sudden wave of nausea. His stomach urged him to tear open the flesh of her jugular while his brain protested at the mess it would make. 

Chisaki decided to remove the black mask from his face and placed it on a nearby table where it would not get soiled. He heard her inhale sharply at the sight of his unblocked face. He was much more handsome than she had originally thought, and while all vampires had some denotation of enhanced beauty, his was truly magnificent. 

His mouth opened and she saw the glinting white fangs inside of it. Both the canines and lateral incisors were pointed sharp, though the later was a fraction shorter than the other. Truly he could reduce her into nothing in seconds if he wanted to, all with the quick use of his dangerous mouth. She couldn’t help another wave of slick from coating her sex at the thought of what all he could do with it. 

He didn’t bother to take off his pants just yet as he leaned in to gently sniff the flesh of her throat right above the pulse point. She felt a droplet of something wet hit her collarbone and instantly she knew it was saliva. 

“P-Please,” She stuttered for him, “bite me.” She practically moaned the order and he growled at the distastefulness of it. He didn’t want her so willing. Not for the first time. He wanted this to hurt. She heard the small hiss that came out from between his teeth, felt the small puff of air against her neck. Instantly she knew she had made a mistake as his gloved hand wrapped around her throat and began to squeeze. 

She gasped for air, typing to break free from her ties once more but was unsuccessful once again. Her vision blurred around the edges, dark black spots blobbing before her eyes randomly as she struggled for air. Now this was a sight for sore eyes, Chisaki thought. He could easily see the life in her eyes fighting to stay lit. If he held his grip for a few more minutes then she’d lose consciousness completely. Even longer and she’d die. 

He released his hold on her suddenly and she inhaled sharply and painfully. Her lungs expanded fully as she gulped in the clean crisp air of the room. The vampire watched her closely, looking for any sign of long lasting damage. He didn’t even need to command her to not say another word. She got the point loud and clear by his actions alone. 

It was then that he decided that it was better off if he marked her as his own. While it wasn’t a very common practice (his cattle literally got branded with an iron in the shape of the family’s crest), it was something that vampires did to protect humans that they were particularly fond of. While fondness wasn’t the right choice of words here, he did want it to be known that she was for him and him only. 

The best part is that it would hurt. He wanted it to hurt, through fear he could have complete subordination. He wanted a helpless lamb, not a conniving wolf. The only downside was that it would require him to bite her. Though truthfully he could use his quirk to do it, he knew it wouldn’t have quite the same effect. 

Without warning, Kai suddenly sank his teeth into her shoulder, around her right collarbone. His sharpened fangs easily tore through the soft flesh, sweet rich blood pouring into his mouth as she let out the most deliciously pained cry. She tried to shy away from him, tried to get him off, but his hold was vice. 

Pain ripped through her entire body, not just her shoulder. Some sort of dark magic was pulling at her skin, making it hot with fever. Her forehead broke out into a sweat as large tears rolled down her cheeks and onto her neck. She had never known such pain before and she thought she may pass out at any moment. 

He was pulling the blood from her, making her feel lightheaded and almost weightless. The taste was almost too much for him. The thought of just taking every last drop flooding into his mind at such an alarming rate that he was almost unable to stop himself from pulling away at last. Her eyes connected with his bloody mouth, a thick trail of blood seeping down his chin and dripping down onto her bare chest. 

Unfortunately for her he could not use his healing quirk on this particular wound. He needed it to heal naturally in order for the mark to leave a scar. If he healed it completely then it would be all for naught. 

He quickly disappeared into the private bathroom and scrubbed his face and lips clean, though wasting even a drop of her blood made him rage. The good thing about humans was that they could produce more. It wasn’t a finite source. He had to remind himself of that as he willed the hives that had crept up his neck to disappear. Nausea turned his newly full stomach. A glance in the mirror at his now clean face caused the urge to vomit to recede. He grabbed a hand towel and some medical supplies. He had to take good care of his little lamb if he wanted her to last. 

Once back in the bedroom he began to clean the wound. Thankfully the blood hadn’t made it to the bedspread. He cleaned the wound with a surprising amount of gentleness, being sure not to hurt her as he bandaged it up with gauze and medical tape. Once the square of white material was firmly in place he took off his clothes and retreated back into the bathroom to wash his hands. 

After drying them he returned into the bedroom to see her looking at him, her legs quaking beneath her shuddering frame. “Lay down on your stomach,” He said monotonously, watching as she struggled to get onto the bed without the use of her arms and lay down for him. Chisaki put on a new pair of gloves and grabbed a condom from the box that had been placed in the room. They had been specially made to hold up during the certain amount of zeal he tended to have in the bedroom, though he rarely found a specimen good enough for his tastes. Typically after he soiled them he discarded them, but this time would be different. Now she was marked, the skin of her shoulder still burning with pain. 

Chisaki dropped his pants and underwear, watching her thighs continue to shake. “Up on your knees.” He instructed and she did just that, keeping her chest on the mattress with her arms tied behind her back. The view was absolutely magnificent. Her wet folds now on display for him, the tiny whines that came from her throat. How could a virgin be so fucking needy? He didn’t know and didn’t care, somehow her being more willing than he expected was a good thing. Going in dry could be painful and he detested the stickiness of lube. 

He rolled the condom onto his hard cock, a thrill tingling up his spine at the thought of what he was about to do. He’d fix her up nice and good after working her over. Even if she was aroused, this was still going to hurt. 

He positioned his tip at her entrance, looking over her shuddering form. Honestly he had never seen such a beautiful site before. All the virgins he’d taken before were nothing like this one. He kept one gloved hand on her lower back while his other guided his twitching member into her. 

He wasn’t slow or gentle. In fact, he pushed his way in with brute force, knowing that it would be ripping that delicate hymen of hers. He could smell the blood spilling onto the bed and once more his mouth filled with saliva. His little lamb cried out in pain because there was no pleasure to be had here yet. It was much too soon for that. 

Chisaki held back a curse at how tight she was, her pussy clamping down on his cock in a vice grip that had him wanting to blow his load already. He did allow her a moment to adjust to the new feeling of him stretching her out, though it wasn’t long before he dragged himself out and slammed back into her once more. 

Another cry of pain, she wanted to beg him to stop and give her time. Let her get acclimated more before he moved, but she feared what kind of punishment she might receive for such an outburst. Her cries though were music to his ears and he wouldn’t let up, not when he could hear that precious sound over and over again. 

The pain didn’t last forever. Not like she had feared it might. Which each powerful thrust it dulled more and more, until her screams of agony became moans of pleasure. Chisaki wasn’t sure which he liked more, they were both so sweet in their own way. Feeling her body relax, her walls loosening ever so slightly so that it was easier for him to move, did make the act much more enjoyable. He could increase his pace, pounding into her with relentless force that had her toes curling with delight. 

She felt an odd pressurized sensation welling in the pit of her abdomen. It was so foreign and tense that she was at first worried something may be wrong with her. Chisaki grabbed a fistfull of her hair and yanked it backwards, pain searing into her scalp as her walls tightened around him enough to make him let out a groan. 

He pulled her upwards more by her locks, making it so he was entering her at a new angle, one that had her feeling dizzy with ecstasy. The coil tightened even more and she felt like she was going to shatter into pieces if he didn’t stop. One more good thrust and it snapped completely, her first orgasm blossoming and overtaking her in waves. Her already dripping cunt flooded around him and the feeling of her juices on his upper thighs had him breaking out all over again.

Chisaki let out a grunt at the feeling of her coming undone around him. Her walls pulsating and fluttering had him unable to hold back as he hit his peak. His thrusts became incredibly shallow and without rhythm as he pumped white cum into the latex condom. 

He released his hold on her hair, making her fall forward onto her face. She was in too much of a state of bliss to move as she caught her breath. He slowly pulled out of her, allowing her hips to fall onto the bed next. He observed the mix of blood and cum that dripped down her legs and onto the bedspread. Again the sight and smell of the ruby liquid was too much for him to hold back from. Besides, his little angel did so good for him. She deserved a little treat too for taking his dick so well for the first time. 

He untied the tie in order to give her shoulders a break, though they hung limply as she was still dazed from the ordeal. He gently guided her to roll over onto her back, letting her get into a comfortable position as he moved his face between her legs. His nose was practically inside her as he inhaled her natural perfume, his tongue licking at the droplets of blood on her lips. His little lamb shuddered, too tired to make any sort of noise. She was still so incredibly sensitive that his probing tongue had tears leaking from her eyes. 

Chisaki devoured every drop of spilled blood that hadn’t made it to the duvet. Tiny nips of his teeth over her femoral artery had a new wave of arousal building within her. She had no idea that she could feel so much at once. It was maddening already and only became worse when his mouth latched onto her engorged clit suddenly and sucked powerfully. 

She let out a weak cry of protest, the overstimulation simply too much. How could someone want something and not want it so much at the same time? There was an ache between her legs from how much he had stretched out her innocent little hole and now his tongue swirling around her clit had her seeing stars. 

Unable to stop herself, she rutted her hips against him, whimpering through her tears as his eyes snapped up to watch her squirm. Two gloved fingers snaked their way into her pussy, curling with her natural curve before coming back out. He repeated the process, forming a speedy rhythm of fingers and tongue until she was screaming for more. More, more, please, and she was cumming again in no time at all. 

Chisaki removed himself from her, disappearing into the bathroom to clean up his face and take off his soiled gloves and condom. He washed his hands and penis though the hives were still taking over the edges of his face. He’d have to take a full on shower after he was done cleaning her up. 

He came back out with a warm wet towel and a dry one. First he placed a hand on her belly, using his quirk to heal her lower half so that she would no longer be in any pain. He also took the time to repair her hymen so he could deflower her all over again sometime soon. 

Her heavy breathing slowed as the pain dissipated. Though exhaustion was setting in, his delicate healing touch had her feeling warm. He wiped her clean, drying her off before discarding the dirty towels. “Can you sit up, Angel?” He asked in a soft voice that she had no idea he was even capable of. “I need to replace the duvet.” 

She nodded, scrambling to the head of the bed so that he could pull the bloody blanket out from under her. “Get under the sheets.” He said, though it was an order it didn’t sound as cold as his previous orders had. She managed to get under the silken sheets, eyes growing heavy as she rested her head on the pillow. She had been too scared to sleep since she’d been captured by the other gang of vampires. Now the events of the day were making it very difficult to keep her eyes open. 

Chisaki grabbed a spare blanket from the closet and put it over her so that she would not be cold. He observed her tired, frail face. “Sleep, little lamb. I’ll have food waiting for you when you wake.” 

She didn’t even have the energy to nod, simply falling into a much needed state of slumber before he could say anything else. As he observed her, Chisaki couldn’t help but think to himself that Kurono had been right. She was definitely the one.

Mobile Masterlist || Request Rules || Collab Masterlist

Tag List: @dabi-hates-fish​, @hawksward​