#anyway it's genetics as much as your lifestyle

[bearhugsandshrugs]

everyone saying people who had it rough in life age quicker, i wish i could send you my face and my therapist's notes. my doctor thought i was 25 last week. MY DOCTOR.

i'm 39.

[ovaryacted]

Might be a bit iffy because I don’t know if this leans into the omegaverse thing you mentioned in an earlier ask, but re2r Leon with a puppy kink, being embarrassed about it because he thinks it’s weird and then him and reader just slowly easing into it…fluffy smut I guess???

Idk I just say whatever random shit pops up into my head sometimes😭 (but also just re2 Leon reminds me of a scruffy little dog and I know damn well I’m not the only one) -🐏

MDNI/18+. NSFW.

Hey, ram anon! So the omegaverse is different, involves genetic stuff with mates and the whole alpha, beta, and omega dynamics that people like to explore. Real Wattpad and Tumblr vets know what I'm talking about (that was a crazy time LMAOOOO). BUT, pet play is an actual kink that people have and I think that is what you're describing! Personally, I wasn't a big fan of pet play in a literal sense (because you live and you learn more about stuff so your opinion can change), and now I don't think it's so bad because there are many ways to mess around with kinks as a whole.

If it were up to me, pet play would be very fun, especially involving RE2R Leon. He gives pathetic puppy dog vibes and will always be at his partner's beck and call even if it comes off as embarrassing because he doesn't realize it's a kink that he enjoys. I think for him in particular, the whole dom/sub role exploration is what would get him off with the addition of a lot of praise.

It really starts with the pet names, where Leon would be praised for doing things he didn't think would actually matter. Doing a good job at work? You tell him you're proud of him. He's been doing good keeping up his routine? You remind him how good he is, and how taking care of himself makes you happy. He fucks you the way you want and makes you feel good? You praise him for doing that and call him a good boy for following your orders.

Leon doesn't realize that your ability to just acknowledge his accomplishments no matter how big and small makes him beam from ear to ear. It makes him feel good that you care about his presence in the first place, that you have this much control over his outlook on life. With every statement of validation you give him, he becomes more devoted to you, like a dog who has found their forever home. If he had a tail, it would be wagging from side to side, that's the best way to put it.

But when he finds himself more curious about why he likes your praising so much, he comes to terms with the fact that it's more than just you caring about him. To Leon, you are his escape, you keep him put together and grounded when the world gets to be too overwhelming. You have him wrapped around your finger and you know this, nor is he complaining about this fact anyway, that's what he wants, what he enjoys.

So when you come up with a proposition to help Leon figure out the best way to explore this new dynamic, he follows along, because he assumes you know best. Currently, he rests his head on your lap, your fingers running through his hair and raking through his scalp. It feels nice, better than good, and a rumble of a sigh slips out of him, reminiscent of a purr.

"That feels good baby?", you ask to him, and he can feel the tips of his ears growing hot at just the sound of your voice.

"Yeah, feels nice", he says with his eyes closed. He's trying to bask in your attention, in letting you pet or touch him however you wanted.

"Good. You can stay like that for however long you want", and of course, he's going to stay until he gets his fill. This was only the beginning of an introduction to something Leon would eventually need. Baby steps.

It takes a while to fully ease Leon into this new kink lifestyle. At first, he didn't think you'd be into it, would judge him for liking something out of the ordinary. But you're just as into it as he is, and it progresses the more you test the limits.

Now with his face in between your thighs, he licked at your cunt incessantly, lapping at it like his personal water bowl. Your hand remained in place at his head, holding him against you, and the other was curled around the leash that was connected to his neck. The suggestion of wearing a collar and leash in the bedroom would make some people raise their eyebrows, but not for you. You didn't expect Leon to be so enthusiastic about the idea, but the feeling of being yours was enough to make his body throb.

Leon's knees were planted to the floor as your legs slouched over his shoulders, his hands rubbing on the underside of them and pressing himself closer to where you needed him. The tip of his nose rubbed into your pulsing clit, his tongue caressing your inner walls as they clenched around him. Your hips moved towards his face, feeling him hum against you and whining when you pulled him away from your heat.

"How does that feel honey? Mama knows how to take care of her puppy no?", Leon looked up at you with hazy blue eyes, his tongue lolling against his plump lips and giving you a nod.

"Mhm, so good. Need more...please let me give you more", he nuzzled his face into your inner knee, placing a soft kiss to calm his own desires.

"Good boy. Make me cum and I'll fuck you after, a treat for being so good for me", the praise made Leon's cock twitch against his pelvis, your fingers pulling him back towards your dripping seam with a tug of the leash. He didn't waste any time, whimpering at the taste of your slick filling his mouth once more and his eyes fluttering closed again.

Anything to please his owner, anything to hear you praise him the way he craves. Being owned by you is where he belongs, ready to do whatever you said just so you can tell him he's a good boy, your good boy.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Do you think Riddle is so short because of what his mom made him eat ?

Like only making him get the perfect amount of calories like in his overblot backstory

Maybe it is because his mom is also short? Anyways she doesn't seem tall, also where is his dad.

***PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT speaking as a dietician or a doctor; the information and interpretations presented here are based my own scientific knowledge and research, and apply ONLY to the analysis of a fictional character. This post is NOT meant to be taken as any sort of medical or dietary advice.*** Personally, I'm not of the belief that Riddle is short due to his controlled dietary intake. In very simple terms, calories can be thought of as the fuel you burn to get through activities. While a caloric deficit can contribute to stunting of growth, I don't think this applies to Riddle since he lives a relatively sedentary lifestyle (sitting and studying) and is provided an adequate amount of calories per meal. I want to take a quick moment to dispel the commonly held belief that Mrs. Rosehearts underfeeds Riddle. This seems to sprout from a misinterpretation of a line in 1-25 when she is serving Riddle a birthday meal. Here, she states the exact amount that Riddle must have in order to not overshoot 600 kilocalories. This is led some fans to think that Mrs. Rosehearts restricts Riddle to 600 kilocalories a day, which is just not true. From the dialogue, it is clear that Riddle is granted 600 kilocalories per meal. Assuming 3 meals a day, that means 1800 kilocalories per day, which is very close to the recommended 1745 kilocalories for the average 8-year old boy (not accounting for fluctuations from individual child to individual child). This is a perfectly normal intake, but is appears strange at first glance because very few parents actively calorie count what their child eats to this extent.

Back to the original topic, nutrient intake also contributes to height. (Think of nutrients as the building blocks to a building called your body, and the calories as workers or the 'energy' that assembles the building/your body.) However, that doesn't mean that I think Riddle didn't get enough nutrients; it is possible to have low calorie meals which are nutritious. (For example, athletes may have to follow specialized diets in order to attune their bodies to whatever sport or activity they do. Similarly, Vil crafts a diet for the VDC/SDC squad in book 5 which cuts out junk food, is overall lower in calories, and still provides the group with the energy they need for practice.) Mrs. Rosehearts has dialogue where she describes the nutritional content of the meals she has prepared, which seem to be tailored for brain function. I'm going to assume that those meals also adequately provided for Riddle's other nutritional needs. I don't have reason to believe Mrs. Rosehearts, a doctor and mother who is detail-oriented and hellbent on her child's success, would knowingly and intentionally sabotage his health.

It’s canon that maintaining physical wellbeing makes for a good mage (which is why NRC makes its students take P.E.). Additionally, eating well is said to be one way a mage can make a recovery from blot accumulation. If Riddle were eating poorly and/or was of poor health, that would only mean struggles with concentration and his magic suffering the consequences—and that’s very much counterintuitive to the success that Mrs. Rosehearts envisions for her son.

You don’t need an abundance of calories or nutrients for growth and development. The excess will get stored as adipose tissue/fat or (depending on the nutrient) exit the body as waste. It’s important for a child to be fed well in order to grow properly, but generally if they aren’t malnourished (ie getting less than what they need) then they wouldn’t be stunted.

By in large, genetics is the major deciding factor in height. I believe current studies suggest as much as 60-80% of one's height is predetermined by DNA sequences (although those DNA sequences can be altered by the environment and outside other factors). It could very well be that Riddle is just short because his ancestors had the "short" gene. Looking back at manga images of Riddle's mom from the manga, she doesn't seem that short to me. Even when Mrs. Clover is bowing her head to her, both moms appear to be about the same height (if Mrs. Clover were standing). Maybe Mrs. Clover is a little taller (it's hard to say just staring at the image), but not by a lot. If I had to guess, they seem to be about average height for women. That doesn't mean anything in terms of genetics though, you could be any height and still carry the "short" gene to pass onto your children (the shortness trait just isn't always expressed outwardly.)

If I had to guess, I’d say Riddle is just “naturally” short or drew a bad lot in terms of genetics (since his height seems to be a sore spot for him). He’s about that age where most men will stop growing too (although some do grow well into their late teens and even early twenties).

Regarding Mr. Rosehearts, we haven't seen him yet but he's definitely mentioned a few times! He is said to be a medical mage like his wife and is implied to not have a happy marriage with her (according to Riddle). That's about all we know of him now. Some parental figures just get less focus than the other, and that’s the case for Mr. Rosehearts as well as many others (Mrs. Trappola, Mr. Spade, Mrs. Asim, etc.).

It’s possible that the short gene came from Mr. Rosehearts, but we don’t know for sure since we’ve never gotten so much as a silhouette for him. Again though, he could be tall or average but have an unexpressed short gene. I believe many fans headcanon him as short though, as the King of Hearts in the source material is smaller and meeker than his wifez

[dduane]

I love your young wizards books! There’s an article in the NYTs about “plumes of steam” floating up from the belly of Manhattan and thanks to YW, I know it’s just dragons. ❤️

Thank you!

...And yeah, dragons, absolutely. :) (...Well, these guys, anyway.)

Via the Errantry Concordance: the Fireworm (Lanthanodrax speleotraxis)1

(Also the occasionally occuring “sport” or hypotrophic subspecies, L. speleotraxis ignigastris.) The colloquial name is identical with that used for the marine bristleworm Hermodice carunculata, but the two species otherwise have nothing to do with one another.

The wizardly fireworm is a serious competitor for the title of “North American fauna species that has had its evolution most seriously interfered with by wizardry.”

The original species — just another small reptile, to start with, a member of the suborder Lacertilla and a distant relative of the geckos — was repeatedly mutated by the wizards caught up in the events surrounding the final fate of Afallonë. The most comprehensive change to their structure happened as a side effect of the great aphthonic intervention, the wizardry intended to save as much as possible of the unique Atlantean flora and fauna from the impending destruction of the First Continent. The rafting wizardry which was meant to simply transport a number of species to the newer continents went wrong during the final crisis in many important ways, and rampant wizardry leakage contaminated and disrupted the genetic structures of many of the creatures involved. The fireworm, already susceptible to such disruption because of previous genetic manipulation, suffered far more of it during the transport to the early versions of North America and Europe than any other creature involved in the ancient rafting project.

In Europe and Asia, the fireworm had fewer natural enemies, and grew and changed in ways which would otherwise have been impossible. Further mutations due to the accumulation of wizardly overlays in the more populated parts of Europe led to the rise of the offshoot species Draco, the “true dragons” which became famous in Europe’s medieval period for being killed by knights. (It should be made clear that most of these casualties were members of the species Draco ectenis, the lindworm or wingless dragon, an omnivore by habit and cave-dweller by preference. Even the most heavily armored knights had a terrible batting average against Draco draco europaeis, the cliff-dwelling, strictly carnivorous winged dragon, which regarded knights merely as a somewhat-seasonal comestible delicacy with a crunchy outside and a yummy inside.)

But in North America, where many “rafted” species with wizardly components survived for the next few millennia after the fall of Atlantis, the fireworm kept for some time its original Atlantean form — that of a small carnivorous reptile with a tendency to burp flammable gas as a defense mechanism when frightened or upset. (No carbon-based dragon, true or false, breathes fire: but even the smallest ones can ignite it on exhalation in one of a number of ways, usually involving chemical or enzymatic reactions.)

However, unfortunately for the fireworm, its main Atlantean natural enemy the “king-weasel” (Macrogulo gulo, long extinct and survived only by its far less assertive “family” relative Gulo gulo, the wolverine) succeeded in establishing itself in North America as it had not been able to do in Europe because of the presence of the great crested cockatrice (Cerastus baseliensis) or northern cockatrice (Cerastus scotodasos). The king-weasel nearly succeeded in exterminating the fireworm. Only the smallest members of the family survived by changing their normal above-ground habitats for an underground lifestyle into which the king-weasels would not follow them.

After some millennia spent living and rebuilding their gene pools in the natural caves of the East, the fireworms moved into the manufactured caves and underground spaces of the great East Coast and Midwest cities. (No fireworm species live west of the Rockies. Possibly due to uncomfortable genetic memories secondary to the fall of Afallonë, they will not stay in earthquake-active zones.) Regardless of what ConEd tells you, fireworms are the proximate cause of the steam New Yorkers see coming up from under the streets in all weathers — the more steam, the larger the fireworm.

They are some of the most exothermic of all Earth-based life forms, when well-fed, and the very biggest ones can prosper down in the tunnels in even the coldest weather. When exposed to further wizardry leakage, as sometimes happens in the neighborhood of worldgate complexes, the oldest and most experienced fireworms can over time acquire some telepathic and empathic abilities.2 This enables them to force the smaller fireworms, and even members of some other species, to do their will — shepherding food into their ambit, or otherwise serving their needs. For this reason, smart wizards stay out of places where the older and larger fireworms can be found, unless the needs of errantry drive them there.

Fireworms are also the ultimate source of all the stories about “alligators in the sewers.” There is a certain ironic humor to this, as wizards know there wouldn’t be nearly so many stories if the things in the sewers were only alligators.

(See also: Eldest, the: Twelve, Song of the.) (SYWTBAW)

1The taxonomy of the western European fireworm is somewhat confused. The Bestiarium Ignotum classified the fireworm as Lanthanotrops micrognotus, but this did not take into account the internal differences between the Lanthanotrops and Lanthanodrax families — possibly understandable, since Linnaeus was unable to find a dead specimen to dissect, and trapping a live one was at that point out of the question. The Acta Parabiologica‘s revised classification group places the fireworm among the various members of family Hemerothalcus, with the “true dragons” of the Draco species.

2 Because of the already-fragile state of their DNA, such exposure over prolonged periods can also result in memory loss and other neurological problems, as seems to have been the case with the Eldest in SYWTBAW.

[primordial-shade]

Gorgon partner headcanons

Right right right right

Ok ok So Gorgons.

I have a personal headcannon for these guys. I will say they are descended from the original 3 Gorgon sisters.

They have snakes for hair, scaled skin, walk on two legs that can shift into a massive snake tail.

Can be male or female, do have the ‘paralysing stare’ but unlike their divine ancestors it only stuns for a short period of time, paralysing the attacker rather than turning them to stone.

They can also control it thanks to a third, transparent, eyelid

They come in numerous colour patterns and live mostly in warm environments around the Mediterranean sea. In fact there are hidden villages on Gorgons hidden.

Live very Modern-Ancient Greece. But more feminism, lots more feminism. They ancestors were all women by the way.

How were the species born? By the three original Gorgons mating with humans or through divine parthenogenesis.

Anyway to help genetics, and because they are all related, Gorgons tend to mate with humans and no matter gender they can sire or carry eggs. Any child will also be a gorgon.

Now that I have gotten my hypothesising out of the way, onto the stuff.

SFW:

At first Gorgons are not extremely physically affectionate. In fact you may be hard pressed to even know if they like you at first. But do not be fooled! Their hard outer shells hold extremely squishy insides.

They are probably internally going absolutely fucking crazy over you. Overthinking every move they make, each interactions they have with you.

Outside face: -.-

Inside: Ok ok, be cool. The pretty human is talking to you- gods their eyes are beautiful, should I tell them? No that would be weird! Maybe I can mention it in a roundabout day- Oh.My.Gods they called my scales PRETTY!!!!!! MARRY ME YOU GORGEOUS HUMAN!

Yeah poor little guys are messes, they are quite reserves as a species.

Very much on the gift-giving and acts of service way of showing affection. But more along the way that if you mention needing something done they’ll do it. Like if you mention you have an issue with your car they’ll fic it or arrange for it to be fixed the same hour. Also very much on the spectrum of if you mention you like something they will make sure you have it every day. Use this power wisely.

Most Gorgons you meet will also have large vegetable and fruit gardens and also some form of animal. As a species a big part of their courting to be able to feed and provide for their mate. They also live in a part of the world great for crops.

They also build their homes partly into the earth. These homes are highly decorated and built with the intention for the Gorgons lifestyle. Whether its just for themselves, just for partners, or for future families. Homes also tend to be connected underground, making multigenerational neighbourhoods.

Once you actually enter into a relationship with a Gorgon things rev up.

Gift giving leans away from more practical to more indulgent, as do acts of service. They also slowly become more communicative about their emotions. Its still rather laconic but they’ll say emotionally devastating shit that will rock your world outta the fucking blue.

Like shit you’ll be washing up the dishes after dinner and they’ll turn to you and say some shit like “I am descended from the divine, and even I feel myself go mad from the beauty of your smile.” And then will turn back and begin drying the fucking dishes like nothing happened.

Meanwhile your ass is standing there having had your shit rocked on a spectral level and your deciding whether to cry, kiss them or make them see stars right then and there.

ALSO! Also also also. Snakes for hair.

These guys have snakes for hair that are semi-independent. I sort of debate on them being extensions of their gorgons mind but being individual in a sort of way.

These little guys are key to their Gorgons emotions. The hair will give it away peeps.

Whilst they will stay relatively neutral before a relationship properly occurs the snakes will pay more attention to you than anyone else.

Once the relationship begins the little snakes will be all over you. Hissing and nudging and kissing your face little snakey kisses when you’re close.

And gods if you pet them?? Good luck getting your hand back babe, the snakes are keeping it, pets forever.

Also as your Gorgon gets more comfortable with initiating physical contact it will be hard for them to stop bless them. They’ll probably use the old adage of ‘but baby I’m cold blooded!!’ to eek out more cuddle time.

Also in the cold months they will stick to you like glue. It doesn’t get freezing in the Mediterranean but the poor babies are cold blooded. Any unnecessary trips outside are vetoed and they make more use of the Thermal Hot springs they usually build their towns around.

They will damn near climb into your clothes if a breeze hits them. They don’t like the cold >:(

NSFW

Iiiiiittttttss Sexy time!

Hahaha lets go.

First lets talk About the paralysing stare, because if you want they can and will use that as a part of sex.

You’ll be conscious, and you’ll be able to blink, but besides that your are paralysed baby.

Its kind of an ingrained kink in the species. Shows a deep bond of trust between a mortal mate and their gorgon. It also scratches that ‘predator’ urge in the backs of their heads.

Having you so pretty and still, letting them do whatever they want to you, letting them move and control you like a good little doll. It gets them so fucking horny.

They’ll love a bit of kinky hide and seek as well. Tracking you by the scent of your arousal in the dark, tongue licking at the air, tasting your arousal as they track you, hissing every fantasy of what they’ll do to you when they find you…

And when they do, they’ll fuck you on the spot, taking you hard and fast until you’re a gibbering mess, only then they’ll drag your limp and shivering body back to their nest.

Yeah you won’t be leaving for a while, but what bliss guys, what fucking bliss.

In bed they’re all over you, long scaly tail trapping your legs as hey take you, licking the sweat from your skin and moaning about your beauty. About your pretty pussy/cock/ass and how good you feel.

You run so much warmer than them, everything feels so hot and wet and they adore you, relishing in your warmth. They wanna stay permanently inside you/you inside them so they can keep experiencing your warmth.

They also will bite you a little bit, just a little. No they’re not venomous baby, please just let them bury their fangs into you, they promise it’ll feel so good.

Also, if you do want kids, they will make that happen. Both male and females can lay and carry eggs. The moment you say you want a baby with them they are ready to load you up with eggs, filling you so prettily and making sure you’re fully and happy.

[olderthannetfic]

Hi feederism/ed anon here, i'm just curious about what ethics are considered here, i'm not sure why 'its not a concern bcz things are worse and insignificant' is being said when my claim isn't the opposite or to rally against it but i get covering bases. I think binge eating and food addiction is disordered eating. Anyways with anorexia someone entering the fetish world will enable their ed and same with feederism, imo. Ofcourse everything can be ideally done in a safe way and we need to afford more agency to the people and provide frameworks. Perhaps also you don't see a lot of these my 600lb like shows, obvs very minor cases but i would assume anyone would regret destroying their health due to getting into it eventually and my issue is where does the responsibility for the feeder come in.

--

I don't think you see just how much baggage that ask was laden with.

Literally why do you care?

And I don't mean "Why do you care that people harm themselves?" I mean "Why do you care when it's about food and not the rest of the time?"

Tons of kink practices can be dangerous if done the wrong way or done to extreme. All kinksters have a responsibility to think about their actions and make conscious choices.

People with emotional problems of all kinds can get worse in kink spaces. Or better. It depends on the person and is not my business or responsibility as a rando who doesn't even know them.

The feeder is not more responsible than the feed-ee or whatever they're called. If it's a consensual BDSM thing, they both chose it, and they both accepted the dangers.

Why are you treating this as a victim and someone in charge?

Also, frankly, we don't know if a given person gaining a bunch of weight through kink practices is actually all that unhealthy. We know that high weights are associated with bad health outcomes, but they're often a product of an underlying health condition. Sometimes, they're a sign of a sedentary lifestyle, which we know to be massively unhealthy.

Do I think it's probably unhealthy? Sure, but I drink alcohol, and I drink far more tea than the recommended daily level of caffeine. Lots of people do unhealthy things that are part of their culture or that they personally enjoy.

This idea that fatness is uniquely and dramatically unhealthy is very silly.

The kink being rare doesn't make it more or less healthy. That wasn't the point. The point is that because it is rare, you focusing on this is suspicious in the extreme. Why this and not something else?

I don't watch a lot of reality TV, but do most of those My 600 LB Life stars actually get fat through kink?! And if they don't, then why are you making this connection?

On another note, do you actually understand anything about how bodies work? If I entered into some sort of feeder relationship, I'd have to also be bedridden to gain that kind of weight. Genetically, my body just doesn't want to be all that heavy. I fidget it off. Not down to a super skinny size, but down to about my current size. I could gain 50 Lbs, no problem. I could not gain 200 Lbs without a decade and major mobility changes prior to the weight. Even if people are doing this kink IRL, how much are they actually packing on? I don't know, and it seems like you don't either. How can we talk realistically about the dangers if we don't even know what the RL kink community looks like?

If your issue is "I want to be a feeder, but I think I'd be harming my partner", then say so.

Otherwise, this sounds like someone who has watched too much sensationalist media about how fatness is the devil.

[heraldofcrow]

Okay, now it is YOUR turn to talk about what your Laurence's (eventual?) vices/flaws are! There is a general theme of Laurence having good intentions but growing corrupt, but at the same time something's always unique and all. I reckon yours is an impulsive and arrogant asshole of sorts, but what else / how can it be elaborated?

OH INDEED.

Fucking Kotya lmao

Ok, so…I drew this pic literally to answer these asks, because I figured a portrait of young Laurence looking all ✨ambitious✨ would suit the whole thing, so here.

Free art for u

I am now recieving reports that he looks like Light Yagami from Deathnote even though I have only seen a few pictures of Light in my life and I also totally drew inspiration for this design from a totally different character but ANYWAY

Lol. Ok, now for the headcanons!

My Laurence is pretty straightforward. He has rich kid with a chronic illness syndrome. That’s it. Bam. (I’m kdding. Kind of).

In all seriousness, from day one I saw Laurence as someone that was born into wealth and into a different lifestyle from most people. That’s why the “he’s from Cainhurst” thing was perfect for me, because yeah, of course he is. He comes off like that. (I’ll get to the chronic illness thing).

I’m not just going on some “billionaires can be careless individuals that wreck people’s lives because they can’t fathom being poor or desperate or barred from certain privileges” rant…but I am acknowledging what I see as one of Laurence’s biggest issues, and that’s…well…he’s too reckless with human life. I don’t even think it’s entirely sinister or intentional, but he simply doesn’t get it. He thinks he can treat the world like a lab experiment and everything will be just fine.

(This is also why I think Micolash was more deprived as a child, because he’s sacrificial with human life in a more deliberate way. He’s desperate as hell and is willing to brutalize countless people to reach the top. That urge and drive to even reach a higher plane just screams “lack” to me. Micolash wanted to claw his way out of the slums, but I won’t go into that now and if anyone dares suggest I am saying that less privileged people are more cutthroat, I am NOT. This applies to a very specific type of bastard ffs 💀).

Oh and, since we are not just going over flaws in light of me answering both your asks, I will give more detail on my headcanons for Laurie’s background. After all, it also ties into the flaws discussion.

—

Bakckground 🔱

So. For some background context, I headcanon that Laurence’s father was, in fact, That Guy we always point out (Beltran) on the portraits and for the same reasons you do.

Credit to you for the reference obviously, but that pendant…the Cainhurst/Yharnam/Healing Church links…well, yeah. We know.

Anyway, so Beltran was a pretty famous Cainhurst academic professor and research expert on the Pthumerian genetics of the Cains in particular. (When I say I think Cainhurst was full of experimental scholars around the time Byrgenwerth was founded, I am dead serious. I SWEAR IT MAKES SENSE. Byrgenwerth and Cainhurst. Two sides of the same coin, my friend.)

Anyway, Beltran was married to a non-royal but wealthy lady from Hemwick that descended from a Loranite family that happened to be full of priests and seers. Yippeee!

This couple’s only child was Laurence, and he was raised in their oh-so-fancy rich lifestyle where the father was constantly being invited to snobby scholarly events and the mother was holding tea-centered socials in their lavish mansion parlors. Like ya do.

I picture Laurence growing up trying to fit in with his parents’ lifestyle like this:

Lmao, so long story short…it wasn’t his thing. He didn’t quite vibe with the snobby richies he grew up with.

In fact, I like the idea that he absolutely hated his parents’ high class world and felt that they expected too much from him. He was too restricted and stifled. They expected him to be them. His mother was strict, disapproving and nagging; his father was absent-minded and a bit too focused on his life’s work, which, when he wasn’t lost in, was the only thing he tried to connect with Laurence on.

“You should be a great scholar too, Laurence!! Uh hur hur.”

This is where Laurence started to rebel and go his own route, while also developing plenty of complexes along the way (of course). He would be a better academic, better influential figure, better leader, better plutocratic socialite, etc., oh yes. His parents would see.

He had all the makings of these things too, because despite bucking against his childhood influences, he was ,quite frankly, obsessed with enriching study, scientific pursuit, old mythologies and religions, etc.. He loved the world of academia. He was fond of the ancient tales of glorious heroes and scholars that changed the world for the better, and he often fancied himself one of those “types.”

I even like the idea that he discovered the (Bloodborne equivalent) tale of of Saint Laurence the Martyr and saw it as a sign that he was destined for greatness. He tended to reference lofty epics and historical novels in everyday discussion to add a sense of meaning and grandeur to everything. He didn’t want to live a common, mundane life. He wanted to live a glorious one.

And one of the key contributing factors to this mindset Laurence had was his own chronic illness.

Now, this is my favorite thing to headcanon actually because it fits so well??

As a child, Laurence developed early on what I consider to be Cystic Fibrosis, and had horrible lung issues for most of his life. When he was young, the doctors told him and his parents that his life expectancy was likely to be about 30 years. (In the real world, this was actually the life expectancy not too long ago).

Knowing this, and being disappointed in his doctors for not providing any sort of cure, was the catalyst for half of Laurence’s ambitions. He only had so much time to live life, and he was determined to leave his mark on the world…and maybe also find a cure. Yasss bestie!!

—

Byrgenwerth 🍎

Laurence’s parents sent him off to Byrgenwerth at 16 to gain an intense and long-term education from Yharnam’s leading scholars. He went with Ludwig, a childhood friend.

A bit on my Laurence/Ludwig headcanon to add context:

The two had both grown up somewhere near Hemwick, and while Laurence lived in a more isolated, wealthy world, Ludwig was a sturdy farm boy that had helped to keep his family’s ranch afloat after losing their larger fortune. While they had come from Cainhurst in previous generations, family chains of bad habits and broken ties led to a lower class lifestyle for Ludwig’s parents.

Laurence personally knew that Ludwig was a primary caretaker for his parents and many siblings. He was a good, loyal kid, and it was through him that Laurence learned empathy for people with less fortune than himself. I mean, Ludwig would drag Laurence around to visit neighbors and even donate to those that were struggling with money like it was nothing, and I think this is where Laurence started to “feel” for the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, his arrogant streak also tainted it with a sense of, “See! Look how good of a person I am!”

(I think Ludwig did have an impact on him though, so it was always a mix of self-righteousness and a genuine desire to help others. He would have also admired Ludwig and secretly envied his…dead-honest heart for those in need).

Ok. Going back to the storyline, and considering this bond that Laurence and Ludwig shared, here we have them at Byrgenwerth. Laurence was already planning his great ascension into glory and sleepy Ludwig is just happy to be there with his friend and to have been lucky enough to even attend by the graces of a family friend. Yipeee!

My Laurence was at his most fiery and impetuous at Byrgenwerth as a young teen/young adult. He was passionate, talkative, charismatic, fierce, etc., and he made quick work of getting to know everyone in the school right away. They couldn’t escape him. To Laurence, every other student was a potential ally and “part” in the epic tale of his life.

(This was also when Laurence and Ludwig met Gehrman, who was basically Byrgenwerth’s most well-known “security guard” when it came to warding off beasts or general supernatural weirdness. Gehrman was this odd, older kid in his 20s with an insane skillset. He was already an infamous hunter and Laurence greatly admired his bravery. He and Ludwig sought out the antisocial weirdo that was always hiding in the woods and adopted him into their friend group. Aaaand that’s where all the trouble began lol).

Soon, everyone in Byrgenwerth held some kind of connection to Laurence. Rom, Micolash, Maria, Caryll, Damian, Yurie, etc., and they all had their own thoughts and feelings on the brash auburn scholar. He was a handful to be sure. In a way, Ludwig was the only one that could ever “hold Laurence back” a bit, but only in a very brotherly, good-natured manner.

That’s the thing too; people liked Laurence a lot. He was popular, but they could also hate him or grow tired of him. He knew how to be charming and how to talk others up by pointing out their strengths, but then he could turn around and be so arrogant, self-centered, and envious that it would irk his audience.

They wanted to be apart of the grand tale he was telling them that he planned to weave, but they also wanted him to just shut up sometimes; if that makes sense. He was a bit of an endearing, irritating, egoist with a lot of outward appeal and an inward intrigue.

His true friends also knew that he was secretly very insecure around people he didn’t trust or know, and would be vulnerable on occasion with those he did trust. That bit of heart he could show is what proved to his friends that he wasn’t actually a total impulsive snob. He cared. He just also wanted to prove himself to the world and literally everyone in it.

“I swear, you guys don’t realize how important I am to the modern age yet!!”

After years of studying and researching his beloved histories and mythologies, he began to take an interest in medical science, archeology, and the mysterious history Yharnam had with Pthumerians.

His illness also grew worse as his thirties approached. He began to study directly under Provost Willem, and that’s when the board was set with all the right pieces.

—

The Church and Research Hall 💉

Ah, here we go.

I think, for obvious reasons at this point, Laurence’s interest in the ancient records of the Pthumerians and their superhuman traits was to be expected. It was exactly what he was looking for.

Divine blood? A link between gods and men? Ascension? It all seemed like the earth-shattering discoveries he had dreamt of all his life; it seemed like the dream of changing the world for the better, making an impact, and even the subtle hope of finding a cure for chronic illness. Needless to say, Laurence was fixated. Willem was right there with him.

Laurence was an assistant professor to Willem by that point and they began to experiment with all of our lovely blood and eyes in the Research Hall. I love the thought you have expressed before about testing antidotes during that stage as well; something Laurence would have been interested in.

Laurence, with all his bright ideas, was the one to suggest a Church as a way to distribute and test their research. Willem agreed, and that’s where our beta Healing Church began. Laurence wasn’t really a religious person himself, but Yharnam thrived on it and he was smart enough to know that religious authority was absolutely an asset, one that he could peacefully utilize to spread his influence and agendas.

He knew Yharnam had always believed in the Great Ones, and discovering a holy medium to use as proof of their interference was everything they needed.

Now, moving on with the lore implications that we have discovered about Byrgenwerth and the Church having been united at one point, AND the subsequent schism having been more of an internal divergence within that union rather than the precedent to a direct, dramatic academic/religious split…let’s jump ahead a bit…

Post-Fishing Hamlet and Byrgenwerth schism Laurence was someone a little more cold and cutthroat. He was still impulsive, but his spitfire characteristics were tamer, more subdued…he had taken up the authority of the Healing Church, reluctantly separated from Willem, and dealt with the aftermath of the Fishing Hamlet—something he absolutely felt guilt over, but was too afraid to acknowledge. He hid everything. All that mattered was what the blood could give him.

There was also a new burning drive in his heart upon reaching his thirties, which he had never expected to see. The blood had seemingly lessened the effects of his Fibrosis and acted as a temporary cure. It was his salvation and the salvation of Yharnam. Totally. 100%

Nothing will go wrong.

—

Yharnam’s Downfall 🩸

We know how things went down from here, but Laurence by this point was, I guess you could say, at his lowest and worst. The mistakes he had made in his earlier years with the Hamlet, the Schism, and the Research Hall were catching up to him, and as Yharnam began to gradually grow worse under the blood ministration, Laurence grew worse with it.

In the public eye, he was a gracious and holy figure that distributed alms and medicines to those in need, who endlessly made promises he probably wouldn’t keep, but everyone that believed him would be dead before they even understood that. Behind closed doors, things were different.

He was harsher with his colleagues, heavily depressed, and more desperate than ever. His illness was like a reoccurring nightmare; something that reared its ugly head in the worst moments and sent him into darker, more hellish states of mind. He suppressed it every time, taking more and more blood to heal himself, but he wasn’t stupid. (I think?)

He knew that the blood wasn’t working the way he thought it was supposed to. It was temporary, brief, fleeting…and if anything, it affected his pscyhe for the worse. He was becoming more paranoid, more withdrawn and bitter. Like a solitary beast. (Omg foreshadowing!)

Most of his old friends either left him, betrayed him directly, or simply tolerated him from that point on. Gehrman was too miserable in those days to draw close to anyone, and Ludwig himself was sinking deeper into self-loathing and disillusionment. Willem was gone, Rom was doing Rom things, Yurie and Caryll were gone…Micolash had become somewhat of a monster, and Maria was strongly opposed to most of what Laurence stood for.

He had lost most of the old ties that had saturated his Byrgenwerth days, and needless to say, it took its toll. This is when Brador came into the picture, but you remember that whole headcanon I’m sure ;)

This is when all bets were off. Laurence was angry, grieved, condemned, and vengeful. Bro went ballistic.

He ordered the Cainhurst massacre, he allowed more unethical experiments in the Church walls, he tolerated the mistreatment of certain people groups in Yharnam, and eventually he oversaw the burning of Old Yharnam. He hid most of his sins too, hiring assassins and spies to take care of any prying eyes.

This was the ruthless, cruel Laurence that the fandom loves, but I don’t personally see him as having been gloating or laughing through it. I think he was giving himself to hatred and self-hatred, abusing his public image to allow a certain amount of “justified” mercilessness. I also can absolutely see him being paranoid out of his mind.

His former desires to appear as a heroic figure were twisted into these evil decisions as Vicar, but there was also a side to his determination that was fueled by the notion of “If this world is going to be so unfair and unkind, I’ll wrest order from it, I’ll bring us to glory if it kills us.”

This was his true downfall. BAD LAURENCE. BAD.

The End 🔥

Yharnam was ruined.

Broken down, defeated, and heartsick…Laurence had lost everything. Cainhurst was gone, Hemwick lay in ruins, Old Yharnam’s people were given to the plague, and every old friend Laurence had known had fallen into darkness. Ludwig was dead, Maria was dead, Willem was in a vegetative state, Rom had ascended, Caryll was dead, and Micolash had lost his mind in Yahar’gul.

I also have this theory that not long before the time of his transformation, Laurence discovered that his mother had been living in Cainhurst when the massacre had taken place. His father had died years earlier, and he had not exactly been devastated considering he barely knew the man, but Laurence’s mother, for all of her cold-heartedness, had been a relevant presence in his life. Knowing that he had been the cause of her death threw him into despair and even further regret.

His sickness also finally came through despite all the blood consumption. Blood itself was something Laurence began to regularly cough up as his lungs ruptured. He was going to die soon and he knew it. He was also possibly on the verge of something worse. The bestial taints of his flesh were omens he could not ignore.

That’s when Laurence finally shattered and accepted his fate. He had achieved…a lot. None of it good. Brador pitilessly remarked that nobody would consider him a good man even after his death, and Laurence lamented the dream he once had of dying in a sacrificial, heroic death in flames like the ancient Saint Laurence had done.

The greatest sacrifice he could make was to die, and spare the world from any further ruin, Brador said. He would never be a saint, but he could still die a martyr’s death. An ironic, perverse variation of one.

Laurence’s final action was to summon the Moon in a last-ditch effort to gain Flora’s help, to help the heart-broken Gehrman bring Maria back, to plead for mercy and freedom from the curse of beasts. Laurence promised Gehrman that they would fix everything, that it would all be made well if the Hunt continued. Gehrman believed in Laurence and the promise, but the latter did not. He knew it was over.

The Moon descended, Gehrman vanished into the Dream, Old Yharnam burned, and Laurence turned at last, accepting his demise. Brador finished him off with fire and blood, beheading him afterwards and wearing his scalp as a twisted symbol forever after. Laurence was in his fifties and had truly died a grand martyr’s death. He got everything he wanted. Yipeee!

—

THERE I DID IT! Damn, I am glad you made me do this, because even though I always really liked Laurence, I never quite loved him. I hadn’t done the character deep-dive yet, but this?? This did it.

I love the reckless, spitfire teen/young adult Laurence of Byrgenwerth, the kid that wanted so badly to prove himself to the world and change things for the better, who wanted to trump his own lifelong illness, and who wanted to be better than the people that raised him. He was arrogant yes, but he was admirable to others in his sheer force of will to succeed and conquer life. I love the idea that he wanted his life to be like an epic, full of heroism and sacrifice.

I don’t think he ever initially used people, and I don’t think he lacked empathy. He had learned it from his friends and from simply observing the world. Yes, he was insecure and envious of others that seemed better than him, but he also vocally expressed genuine support and encouragement on their behalf. They were characters in the story too! They had valuable parts to play! (Oh the irony).

Yes, he was careless with human life. He was simply ignorant as a youth because of his upbringing wherein the “elite” were the ones that decided the fate of others. That carelessness turned sinister only in his later years when he began to lose sympathy for the world. Yes, he made a grave mistake in that.

But there was always remorse. Laurence’s heart was not buried. He regretted every needless death, every failed experiment. He may not have admitted it until just before his death, but he was never entirely without shame. Guilt wasn’t something the heroes in his favorite tales were supposed to feel.

I love all of the symbolism that can permeate his character as well. Blood in health and illness, the forbidden fruit that is dangled to lure men into beasthood, the antlers he carries as a beast, which are symbolic of a glorious crown in most interpretations, etc..

Just how he burns with hellfire, wearing this ironic crown, a sign of his perfectly orchestrated downfall. It’s beautiful.

I love him. You made me love him by writing about him. Congrats lol. Hope this answered all your questions about his flaws and the headcanons!!

Au revoir!

[majorpepperidge]

Hiii, it's me. The writing anon. Come to ramble about more Pen. Heeho.

SO-

As one can guess based on my self-imposed title, I like to write and in turn means I like to very normally (okay not really) delve into characters and how they tick. So Pen has been a fun case of reading his dialogue and not knowing if I wanna punch him or like the fact there are cracks of being genuine. That said, I wanna like discuses two of Pen's piece of dialogue that make me scream at pathea for not doing more with this.

Dining, asked about his favorite things: "We're supposed to use teachings of the Light to solve issues, not weapons, so I prefer not to own anything that could hurt anyone. Although, not everyone in the local Church agrees with my stance..."

Rejected, but the player is married: "You are teasing me, no? Do you not already have a family? Protect your loved ones, do not dare break that trust!"

I'm screaming internally because something about these just adds so much to Pen? The fact that Pen, the guy who claims he has many lovers, who gets giddy when the player divorces their spouse and asks how good it felt and more, point blank goes "Do not break your family's trust". Something about that just gets the gears a whirling. It makes me wonder if Pen comes from a broken family and or something similar. I know people have given their own headcanons, saying Pen is the emperor of Duvos's son for example. So that just gets the gears turning but also that dining dialogue. Pen, tthe man who CANONICALL OWNS A RELIC OF DESCTRUCTION SAYS HE PREFERS NOT TO OWN ANYTHING THAT COULD HURT HIM-I???

It honestly makes me wonder if Pen, prior to the player coming to Sandrock, was already cracking. Maybe playing the role of enforcer for the church and seeing what the church taught made him start questioning stuff or he being outside of Duvos's toxic mindset and more started making him question everything, only shoved deeper into what he was taught as a child in Duvos by Matilda.

Anyway! Food for thought.

Sidenote: Love how Pen offers to just deck Yan for the player, that's sweet of him fhdjkf

I've never heard the 'son of Duvos Emperor' headcanon, that seems a bit...well, it ain't for me. Personally I think he was purely a genetic experiment/test-tube baby and was treated as such; lacking in a lot of love growing up and essentially told to 'fight for Duvos or be left to rot' (I'm not entirely privy to Duvos' setting/lifestyle, but I'd imagine it's p close to the Garlean Empire of FFXIV, so that's kinda what I'm basing a lot of this on lmao).

Everything abt his life up to Sandrock has been fighting, learning a very skewed history of the world, being trained in deception, etc etc. But then coming to Sandrock and having a lot of those preconceptions shattered slowly but surely and making him second-guess some things. To me, it feels like there's no love lost between Pen and the Empire as a whole; but he doesn't know anything but being loyal to it. All it takes is someone treating him genuinely and not being put-off by his loud persona for those cracks in belief to quicken. But he can't take back what he's done, ofc. So there's the main crisis, for him it'd be 'What's the point? I may want this but I can't escape Duvos' but snap him out of that and you're gonna have The Most Loyal Man Ever cuz now you're his entire world, oops!

[impostorsshow]

I'm thinking about my 7 year old oc again

My "little" rant is below the read more so I don't clog up your feed and there's descriptions for the art with a bit more information in the alt text thingy. I add alt text with personal comments to most of my posts but I saw a post somewhere saying most people don't even realize the feature exists, so I'm just. I'm stating it here it exists I use it

While Jessica was experimented on by an entire institute, there was one main person overseeing the experiment, and that was the guy up there. The original experiment was to see what happened when you combined animal DNA with human DNA, since in this fake world genetic science is a bit farther than ours today, and this particular facility had successfully given animals different attributes, such as a rat gills and and chicken a tail like that of a cat. Despite both those creatures dying within hours, this corrupt motherfucker decided to try and get a human subject, and Jessica's family needed the money. Thankfully, not only did the test of giving her dog dna [idfk I'm a cat person give me a break on the breeds] worked, it turned out she was much harder to kill, and had not grown as expected from a 14 year old girl who's going through puberty and in turn growth spurts.

Anyway yada yada she broke out find out she's immortal whatever. Other notes :

She has a brother. I forgot his name but he did have a name, and was later submitted to the facility before her family found out she was missing at the age of 19 and survived, but he gained a compromised immune system and I might give him mobility aids. His color scheme is mainly green and yellow and I always think of those aesthetic pictures of the shoreline when I think of him. Jessica meeting her brother [now technically 23] is a very big help to her recovery, and while her brother is accepted and loved in their home town, Jessica can't bring herself to come back and usually asks him to visit her on the edge of town or at her house, usually bringing along friends. Eventually the main scientist dies by her hands and she covers it up ["cmon gromit, we have to hide the body! There's not cheese and crackers in hell, gromit!" /ref], and a few years later the facility is shut down due to malpractice and Jessica slowly starts to actually visit the town and her parents. They never have the same relationship they used to, but her parents are just happy she's safe and sound and being taken care of.

Jessica will eventually outlive Flora and inherit her belongings, as Flora lived alone her entire life, her photography career and later Jessica being more than enough to make her happy. Jess would start managing her social media when she got older, and never had the heart to delete anything, inviting her distant family to the funeral and arranging for her to be buried in the woods near her home. She's still visibly 14, and would simply live later with her brother in Floras old home and take care of it the best she could. Her story is about moving forward, and as such, you could say she has an infinite epilogue, rather than my other ocs who never get an ending, and the ones that do are frozen at the very end of it, not meant to go any further.

Jessica isnt meant to be aroace, but I heavily imply it because her never aging causes complications, and this isn't really a vampire example. She and her brother are the only one of their kind, and her brother is still destined to fall at some point, aging slowed dramatically rather than completely stopped. I used to consider giving her a love interest for hours on end, but eventually her being 14 would interrupt it and I just gave up. Flora however, is aroace, sex adverse and is the reason she chose the lifestyle she did.

Speaking of Flora, dispite living in the middle of nowhere in the woods, she's quite the extrovert. She loves nature, and used to be a wildlife ranger before her photography career took off, and often travels around the world to capture wildlife. When she found Jessica and found out she had run away from home, and didn't ask any questions after until they had more trust built up between them, simply providing shelter and care that eventually became a permanent roommate situation. She slowly worked up to taking jobs around the world again, but now that Flora had someone to come back home to, she booked her flights to make sure she could be home as much as possible. I think if Jessica was a normal girl and somehow found her way to Flora, they would spend weeks in Paris and Britain together, Flora never leaving Jessica behind on her trips. Unfortunately, werewolf science experiments would never get past TSA.

I don't know if I've ever said this but hey I'll say it again she used to have actual wolf dna, hence werewolf, hence Jessica Winterwolf, but I learned to draw wolf ears from gacha life and I genuinely didn't know what to do about it and couldn't think of another way of drawing them without them looking like cat ears, so I just made them floppy like a pug. Also Winterwolf is because winter is Jessica's favorite season.

Similarly with Jessica's ears originally being gacha life, I actually conceptualized her fully for the first time with a designed I liked in there, and one of the bits that stuck was the fact that she has crescent shaped pupils that are a lavender shade.

Her existence was heavily inspired by a series named "Harrowed Past" which has now been taken down by the creator, but the characters still live on, you can probably find it if you search up "pip and twitch thedragonhat" which I think is who made it?? Oh well I'll edit the post later if I'm wrong. Twitch was actually the first piece of art/fanart I ever made with the purpose of getting better at art, and I really wish i still had it, but I can't even find a picture i took of it or anything. Unfortunately, the character is really hard to find since his name is shared with the giant streaming site Twitch. I haven't watched the guys stuff in a long while but I think he uses twitch as his main vtuber for streaming nowadays which is cool.

[amphiptere-art]

Amphs demons.

I will note. This can go for most things in a locked door also. It is more of a general understanding, than a specific mythos for my DCA stuff.

So let's get this started. One of these days I really got to make a locked door post. Or at least a locked door God's post. Because there's a lot I'm going to be referencing in accordance with that. So if you get a little lost about me talking about a specific god, That's my fault.

First let's talk about demons appearances.

Demons and fay are actually categorized under the same umbrella for me. So technically demons can look like Faye. As much as faye and look like demons. The biggest difference between the two is that faye usually embody a meaning. Demons actually do actions for humans.

Now of course this doesn't mean there isn't a general look. I'm just saying they realistically could look like anything. Demons usually take on the shape of either an animal, or a uniquely morphed human. Scales, feathers, runic symbols, and even unique items can shape a demon. Many demon epithets based on their looks. Actually have nothing to do with their powers.

Demon diets and lifestyles.

Many demons lifestyles I will go through more detail in the categories. As it does change somewhat. Although for most demons it is a general look similar to human lifestyle. They usually have a home, with appliances, a place to sleep, and a place for hygiene. They can go walk out into a town and buy food and other things. It is not that different. Although there is of course natural wildlife demons can hunt.

Demon diet is usually just your standard form of meat or veggies. Most are omnivorous. Although there are some that are confined to a carnivorous or herbivorous diet. They usually hunt the more animal like demons about hell. Although there are those that are forced to have unique diets. This can include something as simple as only being able to eat fruits, do something like a cannibalistic forced diet.

Usually these cannibalistic diets pause the demon to take on a unique style of life. Contract like demons Will usually make a contract that will ease and even benefit that style. While others will take to seeking out specific shop owners with demons of their specific diet. Many do not judge those with a cannibalistic style. As it is legitimately a genetic trait. They are not the minority, and some demons think it is a natural way to cleanse their numbers as infinite creatures.

Now let's get into different types of demons, and their powers respectively.

Contract type demons.

There are two types of ways a demon could make themselves useful to a human. Which is either through actions, or through magic. While most demons lean one way or the other depending on what the human wishes. Technically anything could be done through an action or magic. Although depending on what it is could cause terrible actions if you do not consider it.

Consider if you asked to be taller. While a magic type demon could do that easily. An action type demon would probably rip your legs off and do something terrible to make you taller. Make sure you summon the right type of demon for the job.

While most demons won't accept a contract that they cannot fulfill. There are still chances some malicious demons will go through it anyways. But most demons split upon this line. One based on more magical type wishes. The other based on wishes that are easier done physically.

Now this doesn't mean that action demons don't have magic. Usually they just struggle with it. And in some rare cases it can cause them pain. Doesn't mean that magic is not available to them. It's usually just not worth trouble. Much like how a magic demon can also do physical stuff. But it's just not worth the trouble when you have magic

Now I'm just going to go through a list of deals you can make. Remember either one could do the same. It's usually just better to do it with one demon over the other. I will try and emphasize this with 🐈 for action demons, and 🐈‍⬛ for magic demons.

What type of deals you can make with demons.

We've already split demons into the category of action and magic. But we can split a little bit further.

Physical augmentation. 🐈‍⬛

Actions of blood. 🐈

Seeking knowledge. 🐈‍⬛

Giving of items. 🐈

Scapegoat actions. 🐈

Control-based. 🐈‍⬛

Splitting of power. 🐈‍⬛

Affairs of the heart. 🐈‍⬛🐈

Many of these categories can be split into smaller pieces.

Physical augmentation

It is basically as the title describes. Some sort of physical augmentation. This could be-

Getting taller

Having more strength

Better voice

Better sight

Better agility

Claws

Wings

Etc. this is better used by magic type demons. Although if you wish to improve your body through more legitimate means. You can seek out an action demon. Although you better make sure they will teach you, instead of rip you apart.

Actions of blood.

Actions of blood have a lot more variety. Although almost all of them involve the spilling of blood in one way or another.

Aggressive actions of revenge.

Massacre of a certain party.

Death to a certain being.

Killing of their own demonic kin.

Receiving a certain body part.

Harvesting of blood and bodies.

Tattoos.

Ect. Many action type demons take these jobs. As while a magic type demon could make somebody disappear. Many more wish to see the actual violence. Which is the main part of this entire category. Violence. Any sort of violence.

Seeking of knowledge.

Speaking of knowledge is of course self-explanatory. As it is gaining knowledge or wisdom through any means.

Gaining knowledge in a certain subject.

All the answers to a certain test.

Knowing the true events of an event

Knowledge of magical practices.

Etc. this category actually has some overlap with the item giving category. As magic demons can instantly give the knowledge. While action demons have to go out and get it. Although some, if they have it, Will verbally tell.

Giving of items.

Giving of items also usually includes access to areas. As it is the manification of a physical want.

Gaining a book or tome.

Access to a certain place.

Summoning of items.

Giving of items.

Manifestation of a certain structure.

Giving of money.

Ect. Action demons usually use the giving of items as a way to plunder their claws into other categories. Although this category still has some use for magic type demons. As it is usually easier to magic a house than to build it.

Scapegoat actions

Scapegoat actions just means to do something into humans place. Which could be a myriad of things.

Robbing a store for them.

Allowing them to cheat.

Taking there spot in jail.

Staying back in a situation so they can go and explore.

Taking their sins.

Ect. These are usually some of the most non-villainous acts a demon can perform other than physical augmentation. They are not blood demons, so they do not go out to kill for humans. But anything else is fair game. This category can sometimes bleed into the item giving category. As robberies are the easiest way for action demons to get items.

Control based.

These usually include control of some sort. Whether that is brainwashing, or putting somebody in a higher position.

Brainwashing somebody.

Brainwashing an entire city.

Trapping their demonic companions for multiple free contracts.

Helping somebody get to a higher military rank.

Helping somebody get to a higher political rank.

Changing somebody from mid-class to high class.

Ect. Control based demon can usually lead to cult like activity. As it is often that somebody wishes to be higher than their peers. Action demons can sometimes help with this category. Although it can be as long and as strenuous as any real life scenario. This is usually dealt with by magic demons. As it is quick and easy for them.

Splitting of power.

This usually pertains to gaining similar abilities to the demon in question. Which leads to some variety.

Getting a demons at supernatural strength

Getting a demons supernatural sight

Getting a demon's scales and claws

Getting a demons physical appearance.

Getting a demon's magical capabilities

Ect. As we can see, these demons can almost make humans demons themselves. This can also lead to cult like activity. As a simple act of having demon like abilities usually puts you in a higher position. Although many people who do it this way, mean to do something more forceful with those powers.

Affairs of the heart.

This usually has anything to do with love and the pleasure of sex.

Making somebody fall in love with you

Becoming a partner.

Making somebody fertile.

Improving there's lovers "action in bed".

Enhancing ones children.

Enhancing one's partner.

Ect. They're also is a good amount of physical augmentation heart demons can do. Although they are simply merely the same as the physical augmentation demons. This has a wide variety of uses. Action demons and magic demons will help people in these categories. Action demons in particular will sometimes take their lover's place without the contractors know.

Spirits and Dead.

Almost all demons can access the dead and their spirits. Although any demon that tells you they can resurrect them is a liar. Demons cannot resurrect the dead. If you have been sleeping with a resurrected past lover, It is likely the demon itself, or a puppeted corpse concealed by a spell.

While some demons might consider themselves exclusively Resurrection or soul-speaking demons. That is not a proper category. As all demons can grant you with due to their connection to the realm of death. Although these "Resurrection demons" are noticeably better at it.

Contracts and how they function for demons.

All of the aforementioned deals above. Of course have positive reinforcements as to why demons would do them. This small section will conclude what those contracts do for demons. And how a demon doesn't die if they are not contracted enough.

First of all contracts seem to work as a form of a paycheck. While this paycheck could be in food, luxuries, or homes. It is usually transferred into a type of demonic currency. Which can be used to gain those other items through paying. Demon society is relatively close to ours. As I've only talked about contract demons. That might seem not so. But there are other types of demons that do other things.

Now it is undeterminable how much money is the baseline. I can say with confidence though, but the more a specific contract demon category is utilized by humans. Increases in how much money. For example, scapegoat type demons are rather popular. And so they have some of the highest paychecks.

No of course there is the question of how a demon supplies themselves if they do not get contracts. Luckily they seem to have a buffer system. As a demon is given some sort of paycheck by the end of each month. It is some sort of general average of what other demons in their category made. Which can be good or bad depending on how popular the category is.

Humans themselves can give tips. Although it is not in the form of the demonic currency. Instead it is usually physical. Demons will often take appliances. Some demons take blood. As it is a form of energy to demons. Blood sacrifices are usually used to just get a light bulb to work. A similar thing happens with bodies.

Now let's get onto those other demons I spoke of.

Mischief type demons.

This is another category that interact with humans commonly. Although usually not for their benefit. Mischief type is what most humans call them. The demons themselves like to be called Unseelie. Which yes, these are the demons mostly associated with Faye.

You can split these demon sometimes by Cryptid, Unseelie, and Haunting.

Mischief type demons can take many forms. Although many of these are considered supernatural. Ghosts, trolls, poltergeist, kelpies, vampires, werewolves, demon fairies, etc. in all honesty, there is too many to list. Just know that with confidence, any supernatural creature that usually has it bad story behind it. Is likely a mischief demon.

This also includes most aggressive ghosts. A quiet haunting is usually not a mischief demon. It is things like poltergeist to like ghosts that are these demons. Also many ruckus making ghosts are these demons. Actual ghosts usually mean no harm towards family's living in their area. Although it is not unknown for ghosts to want a room to themselves. Mischief demons parading as ghosts though. Will cause the most ruckus and aggressive acts throughout a household. Usually concluding with the whole house being condemned for being "hunted".

The physical look of these demons of course heavily verifies. Usually you can split it unsteadily down the middle between The physical ones and the invisible ones. Physical ones will take on any shape available. Vampires disguise themselves as humans, a kelpie looks like a horse with seaweed, They can be impeccably tiny little evil things. The invisible ones are of course, invisible. They share about the same variety as many demons in their home realm. The only difference is that usually they can fit in a human house.

Powers again have a wide range. Things like vampires and werewolves are like a disease. Sharing their power in a forceful way. Many of the more faye like demons are good at magic. Using it in any way possible. There are those that are more animalistic. Such like the kelpie. Where it's hunting method is just unsettling. They're of course are those that just want to cause trouble. Whether that be a troll using their physical bulk. For the many invisible demons who levitate around and cause a ruckus. Many of these demons also usually have control over the Earth and illusions. Making crooked looking trees.

Keeper demons.

Keeper demons are the ones that actually stay in hell. While there was one more category that does sometimes interact with human realm. That usually is not of their choice. Keeper demons stay at home. And have many duties.

Now unlike many stories. Demons actually don't enjoy their jobs of beating the damned. Although it is not all bad. There are of course many people who deserve any punishments. Many of these Killers. Many others do not tho. The religion that usually sends people to hell usually has spiculous rules. Causing many people who are dealers or smokers who are good people to be sent hells way. Hell luckily has the keeper demons that make their new life much more fun.

While the name keeper demon feels people with the sense of being stuck. Which they are. Most keeper demons act like normal humans. Many of these demons have more luxury to smoke and draw bets due to not holding a strict religion of their own. Many are just people. There are carpenters, dressers, cooks, and any other human job you can usually imagine. There isn't much in a justice system. As usually their demonic rules are seemingly enforced through other means. But otherwise it is relatively the same.

They only difference is that there are two specific keeper demons that are separate from the rest. These are usually known as guardians and tormentors.

Guardians of course are usually guards. They are the closest things to angels demons will probably have. An example of one of these demons is Cerberus. Although he only ruled for an age and retired. Others have taken up their place. There's usually a guardian for every human region. Sometimes it gets specific down to the state. While they are few, They are very strong. At any demon that wishes to challenge them will surely regret it.

Guardians also usually keep souls in. And this includes demons themselves. As while you might state that demons go to the human world through contracts all the time. That is untrue. They are usually tethered by the human. If the human dies or if the deal is done. Demons will teleport straight back. I mischief demons aren't really there. They're in this weird in between gate that allows them to interact but not get in trouble. Any demon that actually makes it out of the confines of hell is hunted by the guardians.

Then there of course the tormentors. Tormentors are explanatory. If you were imagining some deep red being with horns tugging on a fiery whip as what you expected most demons look like. That is what these are. Tormentor demons handle the people that demons themselves decide as evil. These sections are usually hidden and deep. Tormentor demons is the most legal job a demon can get. Many do not like it though. So the gnashing teeth of a tormentor demon is usually not a disguise.

Wild guardian and tormentor demons have higher powers. Usually respectively in strength, magic, and the ability to see things many other demons won't. Running keep your demons just have an average amount of magic and an average amount of strength. Imagine a world made of apprentice wizards. What is the extent of most keeper demons. Enough to live a naturally supernatural life, what's similar enough you wouldn't feel out of place in their home.

Many souls actually turn into keeper demons. Wild souls can choose to restrain themselves to their ghostly human looks. They can become a demon whatever they please. And yes they can become a specific demon. Most choose keepers because they have no external rules or weird circumstances. There's a reason most keeper demons are standard.

Animalistic demons.

Animalistic demons are our last category. These demons usually do not have any magic. Can be summoned but not contracted. And of course unintelligent. Although one type of animalistic demon is smarter.

Animalistic demons are usually animals. Supernatural and strange looking yes, but just animals. There is one demon in this category that isn't quite just animalistic. Although they aren't as smart as many on the list.

These demons are imps. The only reason they are considered in the animalistic category is because of their natural urges. Imps can write and talk. Although it is basic. They unfortunately do not think about hygiene or cleanliness. They can often act like animals running a muck. They have a pack like nature. And hunt much more than other demons. The best correlation is like a chimp. They can be extremely smart if taught. But it is simply not their nature.

Every other demon in this section though is not intelligent enough. There are usually allegories to the human world. Birds, dogs, cats, horses, you name it. There's usually a demon equivalent. Hellhounds are of course the ones many know. Although that is simply just a fancy term for a demon dog. Although do not confine yourself to a quadruped stance. An animalistic demon can look just as human like as any other. The only difference is their mind.

This concludes everything I can think of.

Remember demons easily fit in among faye. And I myself as a creator see them as one of the same. The only difference is that demons are usually the more malicious type. There's a reason the mischief type category was so bare bones in its explanation. There are simply too many things I consider demons underneath. As I just correlate demons with the bad mythological creatures.

Hope you guys like this rundown.

[amporella]

Facts about Kyle & Diabetes

ANYWAY, THE POST I MEANT TO MAKE:

I don’t think the specific effects of diabetes in daily life are all that widely known, so here are some notes/facts you might find interesting if you’re planning on writing a Kyle POV and canon/realism is important to you:

- Kyle’s specific type of diabetes is never mentioned in Cherokee Hair Tampons, but it’s highly likely that he has type 1. Type 1 diabetes is a (theorized) genetic condition that usually presents early in life, while type 2 is more lifestyle related. 

- Sheila mentions that Kyle has been diabetic all his life, implying it appeared at a fairly young age. Type 1 diabetes appears at two noticeable peaks - 4 to 7 and 10 to 14 years old - so it’s likely that Kyle’s diabetes developed between the ages of 4 to 7. Maybe even on the younger end of that?

- In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas produces little to no insulin. Because of this, EVERY PERSON with type 1 diabetes must take insulin on a daily basis.

- The bolus secretion is the insulin your body releases at mealtimes, and the basal secretion is the small amount of insulin that’s always in a non-diabetic’s blood. Basal secretion is the only necessary type of insulin, and some diabetics choose to only take basal insulin. Basal insulin constantly brings down high resting blood glucose levels, while bolus insulin is much more powerful but much more short lived. It’s what you’d take at mealtimes/in moments of extremely high blood sugar.

- Speaking of types of insulin, there are multiple types a diabetic might take:

Rapid-acting: takes effect within 15 minutes and is typically taken at mealtime. Mimics the bolus secretion.

Regular/short-acting: takes effect between 30 minutes to an hour. Is also taken at mealtime, but lasts longer than rapid-acting insulin. Also mimics the bolus secretion.

Intermediate-acting: lasts for 10-16 hours and is typically taken twice a day. Imitates the basal secretion.

Long-acting: lasts for 20-24 hours and is typically taken once a day, but some might take it twice a day for better control of their blood sugar. Mimics the basal secretion.

Pre-mixed insulin: combines two other types of insulin.

Basal-bolus insulin therapy: A treatment in which the diabetic takes a combination of basal and bolus insulins throughout the day. Allows for diabetics to not have to eat meals at specific times of day.

- Dosages for insulin are specific from person to person, and are often finicky and require frequent adjustments.

- Insulin CANNOT be taken as a pill. Type 1 diabetics can only take insulin through daily injections or through an insulin pump.

- There are four main areas a diabetic will inject insulin: the abdomen, the back of the arm, the thighs, and the hips/butt. Injections into the abdomen will absorb the fastest, followed by the arms, thighs, and hips.

- Insulin is designed to be injected into the subcutaneous tissue layer; ie, the layer directly under the skin. Injecting it into muscle will cause it to absorb significantly slower.

- Constantly using the same injection site will cause the body to develop a resistance/scar tissue, and insulin will be absorbed slower. It’s important to rotate insulin injection sites every so often.

- Heat and exercise also both effect insulin absorption; heat opens up the blood vessels and allows for insulin to be absorbed faster, and leg exercise increases the rate of absorption in the legs (but slows it slightly in the abdomen!). However, physical activity only increases insulin absorption in rapid-acting and regular/short-acting insulins.

- 20-40% of type 1 diabetics choose to use an insulin pump instead of using injections. Insulin pumps and injections are equally effective, but insulin pumps come with the risk of the pump failing to perform. People with insulin pumps still need to check their blood sugar, and pumps vs injections really just come down to a matter of choice. It is entirely feasible for Kyle to go with either.

- Some diabetics check their blood sugar using finger sticks, and others check it using a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system. CGM systems check glucose levels every ~10 minutes, and the glucose sensor must be moved to a different area every 1-2 weeks. People using CGM systems still need occasional finger pricks for reliability.

- Young adults with type 1 diabetes are more prone to developing excess body weight than non-diabetic young adults.

- Poor muscle health is a complication of diabetes, even in very active people. Overactivity in people with diabetes may reduce metabolism and accelerate the rate of developing disability. Exercise is important to help reduce excess weight gain, but diabetics shouldn’t exercise beyond the recommended amount.

- A kidney transplant alone (like the one Kyle got in Cherokee Hair Tampons) is not a cure for diabetes; a pancreas transplant is the only way to fully cure it. However, pancreas transplants are typically reserved for people with very significant complications. 

And huge thanks to @girl-kendallroy for adding the following information!!

- 100-150 is typically the goal range for blood sugar, below 100 is low, 150-200 is moderate, and 200-250 is high. Correction insulin/water is given when blood sugar is considered high, which is also when high blood sugar symptoms start to show.

- Type 1 diabetics are prone to low blood sugar seizures, as well as other diseases and autoimmune disorders. As a result, they undergo routine testing for thyroid issues, celiac disease, and other organ functions (such as kidney, liver, and eye).

IN CONCLUSION: Not all of this is relevant on a day to day basis, but a lot of it is, and if you plan on writing a Kyle POV that encompasses multiple scenes/lasts for a long period of time, the above information may be worth considering if realism in fic is up your alley! 

SOURCES:

https://diabetes.org/healthy-living/medication-treatments/insulin-other-injectables/insulin-pumps-relief-and-choice

https://www.uptodate.com/contents/blood-glucose-monitoring-in-diabetes-beyond-the-basics

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180418092042.htm

https://bmcendocrdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12902-022-01062-y

https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/type-1-diabetes/type-1-diabetes-insulin

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/316616#what-is-basal-bolus-insulin-therapy

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/619237/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7609903/#:~:text=Physical%20exercise%20increases%20the%20rate,in%20older%20long%2Dacting%20insulins.

https://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/affects-insulin-absorption/

[brilapse]

HEP C UPDATE

So update. Second bloodwork came back and it was actually confirmed my body fought it off itself?????? Apparently that can happen.

What happened is my fiance tested positive for it first, we had bloodwork done the same time, mine came back like inconclusive or something- apparently the blood taken wasn’t good or something (they did take it from my hand as I was having a panic attack during and had a HARD time and my veins were closing and not flowing any blood at times- it took like 5 mins for 4 vials ☠️) SO. My dr was like “ok- well, we’ll have you do a second round of bloodwork but it’s safe to say you have it too- your fiance has it and your symptoms- it would be rare So we sent off the paperwork to have treatment covered for both of us pre-emptively

But yeah!! my dr just called me back yesterday. APPARENTLY I’m clear. Apparently I DID have it, I was exposed but I was part of the like 10-20% of people that their body fought it off?!????

I was like!! AWESOME. GREAT NEWS. But wait- WHY THE HELL AM I SICK AF ALL THE TIME THEN? AND HAVE BEEN FOR LIKE 3 YEARS?

Welp. The bombshell then dropped.

My white blood cell count is high and they are abnormally shaped. Along with my symptoms- and how it’s been consistently getting higher over the past few years- she sounded EXTREMELY worried. She also is a doctor and probably knows more by looking at those blood results than she’s saying. She started asking about any lumps and bumps I’ve noticed. I said no not really? She then asked me to come in so she can physically check me. I went in. She felt around and stuff and when she got to my neck/ shoulder area she stopped and then felt for a long time around and said she thinks she felt something around there. I felt and you had to press kind of deeper but I felt it too. I was like is that a muscle or body part or something maybe? She said “no- but I’m not sure, sometimes you can feel things that aren’t there and maybe be a build up of fat And skin or something- she used a term but apparently that’s more common in older people. Anyways. With my symptoms she was like ok well, I’m sending you for an X-ray right away

AND

I’m being referred to a hematologist….. like stat. Which scares me. In Canada, you wait a while to see a specialist, but I’m going in pretty much immediately.

I asked her straight up and she said well it could be a “simple” infection of some sort other than hep c (because they can tell my body fought it off and when, and these high wbc count is unrelated - well, directly unrelated, apparently people with hep c or who have had it are more at risk for non hodgkins lymphoma….. my symptoms do match up with that

But they also match up with leukaemia. Or MS. Or lupus. It could be an auto immune disorder. Genetic disorder. Cancer. Or some sort of infection- which is the least scary. An auto immune disorder, depending on which one, can be dealt with. Lifestyle changes, etc, can help me live a better life without being sick all the time. But if it’s a bad genetic disorder or a blood cancer or something…. God.

I just….. my symptoms and that lump BY MY GOD DAMN LYMPHNODES. And her getting me in right away to a hematologist and X-rays and shit… it’s just…. doesn’t look good to me. I know realistically I can’t assume it’s anything like cancer at this point, yes it COULD be but it also could be an infection or auto immune and then a smaller fatty deposit in my neck could explain the lump, and it’s just a coincidence I also have a fatty deposit. But I just. I just. What the fuck are the odds with all my symptoms, the fact I had hep c but my body fought it off, and ppl with hep c can get non Hodgkin’s lymphoma and the lump there. WHAT ARE THE ODDS ITS NOT THAT? That’d be pretty low would it not

Fuck. Be careful what you wish for I guess. I’ve been suicidal for so long but never wanted to be “selfish” and do it and often had thoughts wishing for an illness or crash or something to take me out so I wouldn’t be doing that to anyone so YEAH I GUESS MAYBE UTS COMING TRUE lmaoooo ☠️

Sorry that last part was bleak but idk I’m just… in a weird state of mind until I KNOW for sure and damn I really hate uncertainty.

ALSO REALLY GLAD SHES MY DR NOW. My other family dr for the past few years… Jesus. When my dr now asked like “did no one ever mention to you about the high wbc? Because it looks like it was slightly high but just kept getting slightly higher and higher, but then you had a gap of like 2-3years until recently.” And I was like lol nope. But yeah, apparently approx 5 and a half years ago when I moved back here, from like 2018-2021 I had my bloodwork done with my family dr a few times, like once a year. And each time, it showed that. That it was slightly higher and then a slightly higher the next time and then the next time but my most recent one, it’s like high high. Like there’s a scale and she said before it might of not been enough to suspect anything but the fact that it was getting higher and higher each time should have been an indicator. But yeah, this time, it’s like above the count or something that’s considered HIGH- like illness, something is wrong, high. Before, it was always below that like cut off number on the wbc scale or whatever BUT AGAIN IT WAS SLOWLY GOING UP AND UP, YES IT WAS TECHNICALLY BELOW BUT COMMON. It didn’t stagnate or go back down in 3/4 years!!!

So yeah… that’s that I guess.

I’ll keep you all updated.

[seosamhh]

Is the song virtual insanity about the game bioshock? Or what?

Now it's obvs not

But let me indluge

The line

"When things are big that should be small" is a reference to how the City of Rapture itself is freakishly big. Like a underwater city should be a couple houses. Not a empire underneath the Alantic.

"Who can tell what magic spells we'll be doin' for us?" What other new Plasmids will be invented?

"And nothin's gonna change the way we live

'Cause we can always take, but never give"

This is a reference to how a An-Cap Objectivist soceity is going to create a endless circle of the Rich having complete controll of everyone else by everyone. looking out for themselves

"And now that things are changing for the worse, see" is a reference to the Rapture Civil War, I.e Andrew Ryan and his goons Vs Fontaine /||Atlas||

"Whoa, it's a crazy world we're livin' in

And I just can't see that half of us immersed in sin"

Rapture is a pretty crazy idea,

Most of the Raptuians (people who live in Rapture) are people attracted to the Sin lifestyle I.e lust, greed. Not to mention how the whole city is a junkie for ADAM.

"Futures made of virtual insanity, now

Always seem to be governed by this love we have

For useless twisting of our new technology"

The progress of technology of Rapture isn't needed. You don't need to be able to light a bonfire with your pinkie, but andrew Ryan will let you anyway aslong as you cough up enough cash.

Oh, now there is no sound

For we all live underground"

They're underwater , they can't hear stuff from the ocean as well.

This also could be a reference to how Sander Cohan has a monopoly on art, New "Sound" can't be created , and since they're underwater the "Sound" procuded is just a echo of Cohan's. But i might be reading too much into it.

"And now every mother can choose the colour

Of her child, that's not nature's " there are ads claming that Ryan industries can change your race through genetic modfication.

"Well, that's what they said yesterday

There's nothin' left to do but pray

I think it's time I found a new religion"

Relgion is banned in Rapture, not to mention how they don't have acces anymore this also could be a reference to the Fruit Cult in Arcadia , where they worship Wine.

"Oh, there's nothin' so bad

As a man-made man" that is exactly who Andrew Ryan is.

Hey there! Thanks for reading :)

I understand this is very niche LOL

[wooahaes]

i genuinely don’t know whether it’s intentional or not, but i don’t think writers realize it’s very much not the win they think it is when they write a plus size protagonist who’s looked down upon because of their weight and then they “win” over those people by losing all of it and therefore now being seen as attractive/fuckable.

like. it’s not a win. there are people who can never lose that weight, or people who can’t lose it easily. it’s not always as simple as a diet change and getting more exercise in when some people have genetics working against them, or when they have disabilities that prevent them from making those lifestyle changes. it’s not a win, it’s just a shitty message of “oh, people don’t like you? change yourself (but we’re gonna reframe it so YOU seem better for doing it)” that gets old really fucking fast. stop pretending that you care about people’s health when health is not a prerequisite for loving someone, let alone fucking respecting them.

it never feels like it gets framed as a character making a choice for themself, but something that they “must” do in order to be accepted by others. harassing someone to change themself and them deciding to do it isn’t someone making a choice, it’s just bullying them until they give in. it’s shitty to pretend that a plus size protag actively made a decision “to better themself” (esp when it’s not always that simple) when it wasn’t.

and it’s worse if they have a love interest who only loves them after they lose the weight. like. do i need to explain why this is shitty because i can and i will. i’ve seen a few instances of where the protag was losing weight but the LI liked them beforehand and that’s fine? it’s a little more obvious that they like protag for them rather than what they look like. but it’s always gross when those feelings seem to heavily get implied to be a result of said transformation.

this isn’t to say weight loss stories don’t have their place at all? like. sure, fuck, write one if you want, but stop making it seem like the protagonist’s idea after they’ve been relentlessly bullied by other people into changing themself. it’s fine to have a protagonist look at themself in the mirror and decide they want to change what they see and take the proper, healthy steps to do it. there is literally nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight if that’s what YOU want to do. whether that’s because you feel like your health is at risk (sometimes it is! sometimes you need to lose weight because of your health! that’s not a fact i’m denying at all--i just want it to be clear that it’s not always that simple or easy for people to do, especially if they’re poor and work a lot), or just because you want to slim down--that’s fine? i just don’t think it should be a decision made because you want to please everyone else. what’s the point in making everyone else happy if you’re miserable the entire time?

just stop using a fat protag’s weight loss as a “gotcha!” moment. it feels gross as hell to have a fat protag lose all of their weight and hold it above others as some sort of superiority thing.

anyway blah blah daisy’s pissed about the way plus size characters get portrayed again, just fucking respect people and stop acting like you care about someone’s health when you don’t fucking know them.

[zaph1337]

Monster Hunter Rating 41: Black Diablos, the Tyrantess of the Desert

So far, all of the monsters introduced in MHG have been subspecies--genetically distinct offshoots of other monsters. Now, however, we talk about a monster variant; that is, a monster that has been changed from its base form through non-genetic means (and yes, I’m aware that I used variant and subspecies interchangeably in previous reviews, I’m gonna try and not do that going forward). This variant is actually one I’ve brought up before: the Black Diablos!

(How it appears in Monster Hunter Freedom 1)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate)

Appearance: Now that I’ve actually played a Monster Hunter game, I can safely say that I was right about Diablos being less comical in a fight, but they’re actually not all that goofy to begin with. I didn’t really grasp the wide variety of monster designs in the series, so I didn’t appreciate the creativity here as much as I should have. The tail’s cool, which I already kind of believed back when I wrote the Diablos review, but the face isn’t as silly as I thought it was; the fact that they didn’t give it fangs to sell that this is an herbivorous dragon doesn’t just make sense, but also makes Diablos’ face look disturbingly equine while still being draconic. The horns and tusks aren’t bad, either, and really convey a feeling of power, while the ceratopsian frill makes for a unique silhouette, especially when seen from the front. And that’s all regular Diablos! Black Diablos take everything I said and emphasize it through their color scheme, making them look way more menacing than normal. 7/10.

Behavior/Lore: As I mentioned in my Diablos review, Black Diablos are female members of the species during breeding season, and with the rush of accompanying hormones comes heightened aggression, to the point where they’ll even take on Elder Dragons, despite being outmatched. The hormones are also likely what triggers the color change, which serves as a warning to other monsters that the Black Diablos is liable to put them in the ground if they come anywhere near the horned wyvern. This goes for male Diablos, too, and with the greater size of female Diablos, as well as the strength boost they get when they become Black Diablos, it is incredibly important that males can impress them; failure to do so results in being chased away, or maybe even worse.

Oddly enough, the sight of hunters riles up Black Diablos more than monsters do, implying that they recognize the greater threat hunters pose to them and their potential parenthood. Another odd detail is that some Black Diablos don’t immediately turn back to normal after becoming pregnant, despite there seemingly being no reason for the hormones relating to heat to still be produced; if I had to guess, this is to ensure that no monsters attack them and endanger their developing babies. Finally, though it’s been confirmed that Black Diablos aren’t genetically different from the normal variety, the Hunter’s Guild tends to treat them as a subspecies anyway due to prior misconceptions. Why they don’t get their act together I don’t know.

While its par for the course for subspecies and presumably variants to be more aggressive than normal, I have to admit it makes sense here; breeding season is an incredibly important time for animals, and ensuring that you can drive off any threats to your ability to pass on your genes is vital. Plus, I never actually felt like I had to point out that Black Diablos have similar lifestyles to the normal kind, something that is likely due to them being a variant and not a subspecies brought about to maintain that monster’s ecological niche in a harsher environment. That being said, there’s really not much more they bring to the table besides “this is what happens to them during heat,” so I’ll give them the same score I gave Diablos: 6/10.

Abilities: So, I gave Diablos crap for not having anything besides burrowing and brute force, and y’know what? I stand by that. Sure, I can now say for myself that Diablos are really freaking tough, but that doesn’t make their abilities interesting, and this is a subjective review, not one meant to judge how effective a monster is at doing things. All of this is to say that unfortunately, Black Diablos fall into the exact same boat. Because they’re temporary variants, they have no abilities the normal kind doesn’t, making them literally just stronger and tougher Diablos (the latter is due to their black hide being tougher than normal). On one hand, this is entirely excusable, so I’m not docking them points for unoriginality. On the other hand, it means they’re just as uninteresting in this field as normal Diablos are. 4/10.

Equipment: The standard Diablos equipment has a rough, craggy feel that befits a monster of the desert, and the Black Diablos’ color complements this very well. Before we get to the kind of weapons I’m talking about, though, I want to show off a weapon using parts from both kinds of Diablos: a Great Sword from MHF2 called... the Sword of the Diablos.

Look, it’s not inaccurate, but that doesn’t mean it’s good.

The game describes this as “[a]n Axe made from two types of Diablos. One hit splits earth and crushes mountains.” It’s interesting how this isn’t a case of a weapon being neatly split into two halves representing each monster, as both sides have traces of the other on them; it gives me a feeling of “transition,” which makes sense for a temporary variant. I can’t find out what the symbols mean, but for all I know, they don’t correspond to a real language. Onto the more Black Diablos-themed weapons, here’s a Switch Axe from multiple games called the Axe of Thanatos:

See what I mean about the colors and texture? They give this weapon an almost volcanic vibe, which doesn’t exactly fit Black Diablos, but it’s still cool. Interestingly, the games say the Axe “[has] the soul of a black tyrant. Its wielder's heart is consumed by bloodlust.“ This corruptive quality was previously only seen on Fatalis’ gear (as far as I can remember), and while I originally attributed this case to the lingering, aggression-inducing hormones of the Black Diablos, I reread the description and saw that it claims the Black Diablos’ soul is in the weapon--something that’s claimed in descriptions from multiple games. I don’t know if this is hyperbole or not, and maybe my initial theory is correct if the weapon does have an affect on the user (not that you can tell in-game), but it;s something to think about. Finally, I don’t have a terribly silly weapon to show you, but here’s one with a funny name--a Heavy Bowgun from multiple games called Nero’s Blazooka (no, that’s not a typo):

I like how the horns are still attached to a frill, and the tail-end of the gun being themed after the literal tail is also cool. Here’s the weird part, though: the description from MH4U says the design was “made by a man obsessed with vengeance” and that “[hi]s story has been lost to time.” That’s a seemingly random detail, and a confusing one, at that; assuming the “Nero” mentioned in the weapon’s name is a reference to the Roman emperor--which makes sense, given that Diablos are described as “tyrants”--does this imply that the MH world had an equivalent to him, and that he invented this Bowgun? Given that history has nothing else to say about him, we’ll likely never know.

As for the armor sets, they were...complicated to get pictures of. The only pictures I could really find on the wiki separated the men’s sets from the women’s, and I don’t like having them separate in the review itself since it takes up so much space. In the end, I’ve decided to show the women’s Blademaster armor and the men’s Gunner armor, both renders from FrontierGen (which I assume is short for Frontier G Genuine). Let’s start with the Blademaster set:

Well, it’s certainly Black Diablos armor--the spikes and horns make that evident on their own. The eyes on the chest are a nice touch, but overall, this just looks really heavy and hard to move in--which I guess fits Diablos perfectly, now that I think about it. Here’s the Gunner armor:

Well, that’s a shift. Okay, mostly as the helmet’s concerned, it is, but still! I don’t know what that helmet has to do with Black Diablos, but at least it looks cool. I am a bit bemused at how the left half of the armor is just loaded with Black Diablos parts; this thing looks super unbalanced, and the right side’s lack of comparable protection seems impractical. That being said, it’s not like it makes a gameplay difference, and the armor as a whole looks cool (well, apart from the elf shoes).

I was already a fan of how the normal Diablos equipment looked (for the most part, anyway), and the addition of a darker color scheme appeals to me even more. Sure, the armor looks bulky and impractical, but it’s a fantasy game, so what do you expect? Realism is kinda low on the docket, and the monster the armor’s made from already looks hefty. As for the weapons, they have surprisingly interesting lore! Most of them have connections with rage and bloodlust, which fits a monster that’s an even more aggressive form of an already ornery one. I’m giving these an 8/10.

Final Thoughts and Tally: It’s funny; despite my opinion of Diablos changing since I started playing Rise, and with how I like the Black Diablos more in certain aspects, I’m still pretty ambivalent to it. I just don’t think brute force is very interesting, especially in a world where monsters can wield the elements. Still, Black Diablos leaves an impression, and that impression is “do NOT screw with me.” 6/10.

[hundredblooms]

💕

hi dani!! since you didn't specify which source i chose t.rigun :] t.rigun has four iterations currently: t.rigun/t.rigun m.aximum (the original manga), the 98' anime, b.adlands r.umble (early 2000s movie) and t.rigun s.tampede (reboot that started airing in january this year). most of the lore for this insert comes from t.rimax so please avert your eyes if you don't want general t.rimax spoilers. there's also mentions of human experimentation and specific spoilers for w.olfwood's backstory. everything proper is under the cut!!

alrighty so eli grew up with l.ivio and w.olfwood at ms. melanie's orphanage on jenora rock. this was a pretty uneventful time outside of w.olfwood getting yoinked by the e.yes of m.ichael. when they were about. waves hand vaguely. 13?? they were kidnapped by the g.ung-h.o g.uns and officially put into the ranks. pretty much everyone in that group has been genetically modified, and eli was no different-they were modified for some physical strength and overall resilience, but in particular regeneration. there's a special regeneration serum that instantaneously heals wounds that w.olfwood uses several times throughout the series- eli doesn't need that serum to heal. their body does it on its own.

anyways. they spend the next seven or eight years working for the gung-ho guns. somewhere in those seven or eight years they encounter the infamous v.ash the s.tampede for the first time when they're tasked with killing him. there's a whole thing in the manga where each of the gung-ho-guns goes after v.ash and he has to defeat them and collect coins- this whole meet ugly happens long before that. while v.ash is a pacifist by nature he's scarily proficient in combat, so he has this reputation for being ruthless and cold-hearted because of that (also because his twin brother is responsible for a lot of things that v.ash gets blamed for). so it's impressive when eli, this 5'3" (160 cm.) can of genetically modified whoop-ass manages to almost kill him. they don't - obviously, or we wouldn't have t.rigun at all - but instead agree to spare him and carry him into a nearby town for medical attention.

after that encounter, they defect from the gung-ho guns and switch trades from a contract killer to a traveling medic. it's a while before they see v.ash again because he lives a nomadic lifestyle too, but when they do encounter him again they're out of water and trying not to die of dehydration. he returns the favor of mercy by giving them the rest of his water and treating them to a meal in town (they were heading towards the same one, coincidentally) and they agree to travel with him. the rest i can't exactly elaborate on because that's going into MORE spoilers but read/watch trigun please it's so good-