#arachnid!error mentioned

[coffeedrawingandwriting]

Returning the Favor (Moth!Reaper Sans x Reader)

Never walk in the forest alone, was often the warning.

Perhaps so, with the recent release of monsters terrific and horrifying from Mt, Ebott, intelligent yet as wild as the deep legends of the world.

Curiosity isn’t often the issue, but acting upon it? Well, at least you satisfied its siren call.

Warnings: creepy elements, captivity, hypnotism, monsters are sort of like fae in this world, illusions

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"Heh... a graveyard was the last place I expected to see someone to make my heart flutter that wasn't a ghost..."

You should've run at those enchanting words.

But how could you resist your terribly curious mind?

Those alluring black and silver shimmering scales leading through the forest, down the hill, into the deep forest of Mt. Ebott.

Your feet tracked the path with caution, stepping onto mossy ground through craggy trees that threatened to claw at your clothes, seeking and tangling your hair in hanging moss. To your surprise, you found more glittering scales, flimsy and dissolving to the touch when you found them caught among sticky thread...

Glowing neon blue thread.

It positively lit up the area, how anyone coculd not see it, you didn't know... but you pressed on despite the terrible pit of fear beginning to well in your chest.

Faintly, warnings of monsters came to your mind, but you were too far to give up.. and a glance behind showed the way back was hidden by tall spruce and old oak, forbidding as they leered against a stormy sky.

Spiderwebs caught in your hands as you finally stumbled onto withered grass, an open area...

The old Ebott graveyard, long abandoned, but with a legible path back to town and relative safety and light.

Light...

It was dark here, wasn't it. Odd. The sky was relatively clear, yet a sense of gloom and immense loneliness hug over this place of cracked stone, as you stepped forward.

Old withered stems of a gate gave way easily as you stepped into the cemetery.

Patchy grass greeted your eyes, old moss covered gravestones still standing tall and proud. Several even had crumpled or somewhat fresh flowers. Were old relatives of some bygone buried here, remembered only by their grandchildren or great grandchildren?

When would they be forgotten? Or where they already and the flowers were just a goodbye?

You shook your head, trying to dissipate your thoughts.

It never did well to go down that path.

More blue thread caught your eye.

You followed.

The path led you to the back of the cemetery, and as you bend down to glance at the path of scales, something moved... a deep groaning noise.

You froze.

What was that?

Curiosity rose in your mind, yet fear and trepidation gave you pause, analyzing the situation. The gate was still open for an easy escape, you still had service (by some miracle, and you had your trusty fists!

That, and that groan sounded way too close to human for you to ignore it.

Peeking over a gravestone, a giant lump of a shadow stood out among dead bushes. Your ginger approach didn’t alert it, as heavy breathing came from it, the lump twitching.

What caught you off guard was that while it was covered in that alluring blue thread, the shadow seemed to suck up the light, preventing the glow.

You stepped closer.

Its twitching stopped, breath faltering.

It shifted, rolling over, or at least, craning its head to look at you.

A black eye socket met yours, framed by a pristine white skull.

You screeched and stumbled back, tripping and landing on the dirt as it shrank back, two long antenna flicking back from where they had been raised, like semi ears.

It made a face of displeasure, eye sockets crinkled in annoyance.

You caught yourself, stopping even as the breath was forced out of you by your fall.

A silent standoff started, your eyes locked with its. If you could call those black eye sockets eyes. Not a speck of light within, pitch black.

A lengthy silence occurred, before it huffed, turning back over, having apparently deemed you as not a threat.

You stood, brushing yourself off as yiu approached a little, curious.

Your attention had been solely on its face, but now you could notice new things- the shadow wrapped around the body of this creature were wings- moth wings.

Dusty grey and black like blackened dead leaves in the height of winter, speckled with white in some parts. Lower wings were exposed, pale yellow with black striping. Where the shoulder blades would be on the creature was a soft rise like the thorax of a moth, fuzzy grey with a pale cream skull.

A death head moth.

Was this thing a moth man? You didn’t think moth men had skeleton heads, or distinctly human ones like that. Or if there was more than one moth man.

Scales were missing from the wings, making the edges ragged and the main parts shabby.

The thread you noticed before was wrapped cruelly around the creature, purposely, but it was clear if it had been dragged here or not.

Looking at the ground, there was a deep stain to to earth.

What could’ve caught this creature? The thing was at least a foot taller than you were tall.

You cautiously stepped around to face its front, its antenna, thin black things, vibrating as it picked up on the thrumming of your heart.

The bone looked almost fuzzy, and parts of it was ruffled as if dragged mercilessly, scrapes and dents to the delicate bone. Its front was delicate rib cage, with not one pair, but two pairs of arms ending in blackened claws. Its lower part was clad in stained black cloth, wrapped like a kilt with a twine belt.

But once again, black, emotionless eye sockets catch yours, eyeing with you in curiosity. The corners crinkle like living flesh, the bone seeming malleable like skin. In fact, none of the usually daunting angles or planes of a human skull were apparent. Round and smooth, pristine white, no sign of aging, no hint of bereaved flesh or blood.

Its mouth curved up into a dry smile.

"Well, hello, doll."

...

Two thoughts struck your mind.

One, that this giant creature, probably some ancient monster or fae, released from Mt. Ebott, could talk.

The second thought was that of all the things it could've said, it called you a doll.

"I... beg your pardon?" You asked politely.

"Pardon given," it replied in a deep baritone, that totally didn't send a shiver up your spine.

There was a bit of silence, as you tried to wrap your mind around this crazy set of circumstance.

"It's usually polite to introduce one's self," it rumbled, crooking an bone brow as if raising an eyebrow. The versatility of expression astonished you.

"Oh, I'm... wait, how do I know you're not a fae? You could try to steal my name!"

The creature snorted in amusement.

"Doll, would a fae be this handsome?" It smirked.

"... you're not proving anything."

"Huh, tough crowd." It considered for a moment. "Well, I'm a monster, born and bred, even if I've been alive for longer than your short years. My name is Reaper, doll."

Reaper... obviously male from his voice as well. Made sense he was called that, as you caught another glance of the skull marking on his back.

"Are you a mothman?"

He looked almost offended. "Of course not. Those aren't real, but I am. You're more welcome to get a feel to see for yourself." He smiled, fangs revealed as he did.

"I'll pass," you shied away slightly. Another moment of consideration. "I'm Y/N."

"Y/N...." He tested the sound of your name. "A good name, doll."

He moved slightly, his limbs straining against the blue thread. He looked uncomfortable for a moment, his brow furrowing in... fear?

"What happened?" Your question seemed to draw him back to you.

"Oh, this? Just a little tussle with... well, it doesn't matter who with. Only that he's annoying and a killjoy. I was simply approaching him for simple talk and he got offended, so now I'm here... he'll be back soon to finish the job, I'm sure."

You stared at Reaper.

"There's another one of you out here?"

"Oh no, I would never allow that. He's an arachnid. A spider."

You swallowed, throat suddenly dry from fear.

"And... by finish the job?"

"Monsters also prey on monsters, doll. Some of us have developed the morality to stay away from such morbid thoughts, but most... rather keep to how it's always been."

"And prey on humans," you scowled slightly.

"If we do, it's never completely intentionally. Believe me, I much prefer fruit to human, but you do seem like a snack." He winked.

You couldn't resist a slight blush. You weren't sure how to react to any of his flirting, which you assumed it was.

Why would a giant moth monster flirt with you anyway?

Yet, a more pressing matter was at hand. He seemed likeable enough, and you didn't enjoy the thought of him being eaten. So bending down, you gently tested the thread that Reaper was tangled in, wrapped in, you realized.

"Doll, if I couldn't break through it, then you can't," he pointed out. He strained against the webbing to show you.

"What about a knife?" Your pocket knife was safely stashed in a pocket and you began to cut the string, the iron making the thread almost wither. Pausing, you give Reaper a look.

"Iron affects monsters just as much as fae. A single stab of a good iron knife and it turns us into dust if our HP is low enough."

You didn't bother to ask what HP was. Probably not the computer company anyways.

A fifth string broke, and suddenly Reaper sprang up, stretching and flaring his wings, giant things that suddenly wrapped around the two of you, surrounding in a messy cloud of dust and wing scales, his skull nearly touching your head, as his eyes, still devoid of any light, peered into yours.

Antenna unfurled to gently touch your forehead, cheeks, nose, and lips, testing, flitting like gentle paint strokes.

"Why, doll? Monsters and humans don't get along," he rumbled, still not backing away even as you stiffened at his proximity. His hands, all four of them, trailed up to gently rest on your arms, a curiosity to them as he compared how different the two of you were. Four arms, two arms, black eye sockets, your living eyes of color, fuzzy bone, dry skin.

"I don't think anyone deserves to be eaten," you confess nervously.

He laughed, a warm sound.

"Well then, allow me to return the favor by taking back to more... human occupied space."

Your shoulders sag in relief. “Thank you.”

”Don’t thank me yet, doll.” He stepped back and straightened to his full height. You were wrong, he wasn’t a foot, he was probably two feet taller than you, towering over you as he offered a lower arm for you to grip onto, a wing curled around you.

You took it gingerly, following him down the road leading from the graveyard to the city.

”… you seem oddly honorable,” the words slipped out before you could fetter them.

He didn’t seem offended, only chuckling.

“Call it returning the favor,” he replied in a deep murmur, sending another shiver down your spine, heart beating fast as a hand clasps on top of yours.

It felt oddly protective, yet you couldn’t deny the strange sense of comfort you felt with him as he guided you through withered trees and dry grass, till lower slopes turned to more pleasant greenery.

”What were you doing up there anyway?” He asked suddenly.

“Oh, uh… I was hiking when I saw the scales and thread… and I decided to see what it was.”

His smile contorted into one of amusement and slight mock, as he laughed.

“You are a curious one…but… I will say… heh... a graveyard was the last place I expected to see someone to make my heart flutter that wasn't a ghost..."

You almost tripped over your feet. You sputtered for a moment, blushing as he easily caught you, helping you up as he chuckled.

“Easy there doll, you’ll flatter me by falling at my feet.”

“I am not falling at your feet!” You protested.

He only chuckled, but you noticed his hand tightened on yours.

You didn’t comment, but something suddenly seemed off.

The sky was still grey, like at the graveyard, and the green seemed… flat, lacking in life. You looked at your feet.

Moving on gravel road… but there was no sound. No crunch of gravel.

Rather, it sounded like you were stepping on dead leaves and bare dirt.

Your eyes snapped to his face.

“Heh. I told you not to thank me yet.”

Panic bloomed inside as you tried to rip your hand away, but he held tight.

”Believe me, doll, you don’t want to go home. The monster who captured me won’t be happy that you helped me. Again, I’m returning the favor. A life for a life.”

“Let go of me!!” You gasped, struggling against the much stronger monster.

He frowned, moving to grab your body with his other hands, eye sockets lacking any mirth or kindness you had tricked yourself into seeing.

You broke free, rubbing down the slope, as the world shimmered.

You didn’t know where you were.

A large ravine, almost canyon like with multiple outlets and dark corners, taunting you as you ran heedlessly.

“Come now, doll, you can’t get that far,” Reaper called from behind.

A terrified whimper left you, feet pounding the earth, cutting through grass or golden flowers.

You tripped over a branch, landing a few feet from a giant crater.

The entrance to the monster world, as you were taught in school, that no one was permitted to enter. An old fence surrounded the pit, slats missing and posts collapsed.

The rustle of dead leaves startled yiu from your sudden realization as you turned, scrabbling on the ground.

And stilled.

A myriad of color, soft silver and gold merged in a swirl of unfathomable pattern, luring you to peace as you stared with wide eyes. Something brushed your temples, like moth antenna, a soft brush to your lips complementing a feeling of dazed thoughts.

Your eyelids sank, eyes reflecting the colors as your soul fought briefly before succumbing.

Rise.

You stood, not seeing as arms scooped you up, pressed against a firm chest as a chuckle echoed through your skull, something firm yet soft pressed to your head, then your cheek, and your other cheek.

I’ll take care of you, doll.

A falling sensation as the world went black, carried away by a reaper of the forest.

An arachnid stepped out from the shadow of the forest. His mismatched eye lights regarded the pit, knowing that that human would never again exit.

”I warned you that you would fall as well, Reaper,” he near grumbled. Yet a satisfied smile touched his own blackened skull as he skittered off to an abandoned cabin, to tend to his own human. Despite losing a meal and the chance to deal with a meddler, he knew Reaper would not again bother him due to such things as morality of… relocating humans to safer environments, often to his own nest.

In this world, humans often disappeared, most now associated with monster incidents. It was no longer human vs human, but human against a new predator in the food chain.

The only error was oft the reason most assumed monsters would take humans. Monsters were not often empathetic, but most craved the looseness of feeling a human was so willing to give…

And besides…

What was one human to billions?

——————

Hope you enjoyed the story and our little surprise guest!

Thank you for reading!

[bloodandthestars]

・✧ — 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐄

tags: NO SPOILERS!, a part in the HE ATE MY HEART series, antihero fwb! reader, takes place before atsv, little translations this time (fantastic, fuck), of course mdni.

author’s note: hello everyone! thank you for 155 followers?? never thought this would happen, much less me ever posting my work. so thank you for taking a chance on me! i hope you’ll enjoy where I’ll take this (when i figure it out lmao)

EDIT: so I’ve discovered that Miguel doesn’t have a spider sense, so let’s just have him go off of his enhanced senses instead, sorry for the error!

wc: 4.8k previous masterlist

You weren’t exactly knowing of Nueva York’s high elite, other than what you could use to your advantage. They were so high on their pedestals, that they think no one will climb to touch their things. And those that did, hid them within layers of secrets and security. That’s where you come in.

For the right price, anything can be known by anyone. Cooperate coverups, measly affairs, underground operations— you charge triple for anything connected to the government, god forbid. You could retain information that could crumble empires and not bat an eye.

You’ve been working with Miguel for a couple of months now. You weren’t used to working with someone else and well, neither was he. But so far, you had nothing for a cause to keep a knife behind your back.

Weeks went by without another word from the arachnid— at least on the work-related side of things. Behind closed doors was an entirely different story you both knew too well. You didn’t take notice, as he was usually tight-lipped on his plans. That was until you pulled out a hint of what he was doing at your previous job at Oscorp. It was only at your last hookup however that he mentioned a new job for you.

You adjusted the earring back to fit snugly on the jewel and more thoroughly, the mic underneath it. Your eyes scan over your attire when he speaks from behind. “I heard it connect.”

You turn around, seeing his broad backside covered by a formal jacket. He turns around, adjusting the dress shirt’s cuffs underneath. “So it should work fine.”

You hear him, understand the words he tells you, but god how could you ignore the sight in front of you? Your eyes go to what harnesses his shoulders, a cool grey metal sitting atop each one. You see how the fabric compliments the hue of his skin. He left the jacket unbuttoned, allowing your gaze to go down the buttons of his dress shirt. With further observation, you could see how tight they were in holding his body, the curves of his abdomen evident in the fit. He should wear black more often, you thought.

Miguel coughs, and your attention goes to his face, where he sends you a look. You raise your brow at him. “I heard you.”

He hums, adjusting the other cuff. “Didn’t seem like it.”

“Just seeing how your clothes fit you.”

He looks up to give you another look, looking back down to the empty hole for his cufflinks. “I don’t know why you have me wearing this…thing.”

You know exactly what he’s talking about. The pieces upon his shoulders went into an abstract shape on his upper back. It was in metallic silver, shining with an alchemy symbol edged into it. You step forward, high shoes making light thumps against his bedroom floor.

“Because you were invited to an elite party. They don’t exactly dress in something as simple as a prom date from eons ago.”

“This is still an operation, don’t you think blending in would be the right call?”

You scoff at the sarcasm in his tone, looking down at the small case of various cuff links. You study each of them as you speak. “Blending in would be a crime to them and only get you noticed more. If you stand out in a crowd who’s trying to do just as much, that’s when you’re in a sea of secrecy.”

Your fingers trail over the different shapes, textures, and images edged into the small accessories. His eyes follow, listening.

“Who are you going as?”

“Myself.”

“So you have to try, but not too hard. As just a scientist, the middle ground is what you aim for.” You hand picks out a silver pair, with triangles cut into its shape. You display them out in your palm to him with your head up to meet his gaze. “I picked out something subtle.“

“This is subtle-?”

You laugh. “Best believe this barely scratches the surface on what they consider formal fashion. With your loathing, it was the best I could do with such a lost cause.”

Miguel looks up from your palm, then down, then back— slowly grabbing the cuffs from you. He goes to put them on, but after watching him fiddle with them for a minute or two, you step closer and let your hands take over. Silence falls over the two of you, both looking down to watch your hands.

“Lost cause, huh?” He mutters in a low tone.

You glance at him, going back to pinning the cuffs. “I only ever see you naked or in high-tech spandex. You’re not exactly giving me a good impression of range.”

The cuff secures the fabrics in a final tug. Your fingertips brush over the veins of his wrist, turning it over when you finish. You look up to him, voice going just as low as his does. “…but this is a good start.”

A small smirk appears on his face and you return it with ease.

You get into the penthouse first, with Miguel arriving a couple of minutes later to not draw suspicion. Whoever was hosting the party obviously had the cash to go all out. There was a champagne tower in the corner of the vast foyer. Guests in another interacted with Alchemax’s latest in augmented reality, giving the company their oohs and ahhs. You could immediately tell that the foyer alone could cost a fortune. It held a high ceiling due to the various floors. Long glass panels gave the guests a fantastic view of Nueva York’s skyline— lit in a technological blue.

You pretend to adjust your earring in the reflection of an extravagant vase, hearing it click to life. “You inside?”

“Mhm.”

You didn’t have to see him to know that his jaw was locked shut. Miguel takes note of the guests who were in small clusters across the space. He recognized a few faces, holding the disdain from his expression for a few others. It bubbles higher when he sees Alchemax chairmen socializing about “How’s security looking?”

You take a glance around the room, huffing. “Three security men in each corner of the room…including at the hall with the stairs. What a tool.”

Miguel huffs, not still hiding his glare into the crowd.

Your lips press together in thought. “Do you remember what you’re supposed to be doing?”

“Surveillance, look for an entry point and-“

“No, what you do during surveillance.”

He frowns, resetting his jaw so that he can resist a groan. “I know what to-“

A man comes up to him, and you can hear his voice faintly through your connection. “My, that is an exquisite piece! Such detail in the marking- Do you mind telling me who the designer is?”

Miguel freezes slightly, dropping his hand from his ear. “I- it’s Vancasa-“

“-Vancada-“ You correct.

“Vancada.” Miguel clears his throat, placing his hands into his pockets. “Excuse me.”

The gentleman raises his brow before looking over his attire one last time, then giving him a cordial nod. Miguel nods back and watches him leave to speak to others. He hears you snicker in his earpiece. “Shut up.”

“I said not a word.”

The arachnid supposed he’d have to play house, much to his dismay.

He was greeted by some of his colleagues, some that he actually tolerated. They all told him the same thing: it would be a death wish to their careers not to take an invite. Miguel hated that such intelligent people were held in the grasp of such corrupt ones, including himself. Eventually, he finds himself at the silver-lit bar at one end of the room. His eyes scan the crowd, finding you. You held a flute of champagne in your hand, letting out a fluttering laugh at what the woman next to you said. He knew you, however. It didn’t come as a surprise to him that you knew how to play with the crowd. Miguel’s eyes eventually wandered, going down the attire that you picked out for yourself to the tiniest detail. The way fabric hugs your figure, a dark blue satin that gives a slight shine. Your features seemed to be highlighted in the interior’s soft lighting. He presses his lips together with a sip of his drink.

“O’Hara!”

He snapped back to reality when two men wave him over. He takes a glance at you before taking another sip of his drink and walking a few short steps.

“Bastava, Mr. Hayward.” He addresses them with a nod. “It’s an honor to be invited to such an event.”

Each of them put out their hands to shake, and he wanted to brittle both of their hands. A firm handshake would just have to do.

“It’s so good to see you again, O’Hara!”

Mr. Hayward motions between Bastava and Miguel. “Is this the one you spoke of? The lead scientist?”

Bastava nods, a smile on display. “Yes!”

He goes around the tall table they gathered at to wrap around Miguel’s broad shoulder. “Cooperate Raiders’ finest scientist in the flesh.” He knocks Miguel playfully. “And he knows how to clean up too!”

The two elites break out into a laugh, Miguel joining in with a forced one. You were right, he was an absolute lost cause. Because if he had it his way, that arm around him would be broken.

Bastava goes back to his side of the table, refilling his glass of vodka while Mr. Hayward sipped at his own whisky. “Good to see you back at the company, O’Hara. The succession rates could never be better.”

He gives them a hard smile. “It’s good to be back.”

Mr. Hayward motions his glass in a brief toast. “May you don’t run into any other mishaps this time around for your continued stay?”

Miguel gives a short toast back. His paranoia may have gotten him over his head a few times, but with the way he emphasized it— it was almost like he was referring to what happened. And with the look Mr. Hayward sends over the glass as he drinks, it almost like he wanted Miguel to know that he is.

“Excuse me.” The two men give him short nods and he parts from the table. The arachnid practically felt bile come up in his throat from his words, taking a gulp of his drink to calm himself. The strong tang sent a kick to his head, shutting his eyes tightly so he could adjust. An exhale slips past his lips while his eyelids softened. He taps quickly into his earpiece. “Checking in.”

You hear him in your ear, getting up from your seat. “See, if I didn’t have to powder myself up, we wouldn’t have this problem of ending such a lovely conversation.”

He can hear formal laughs through the microphone, faintly picking up a “Why? You have nothing to freshen up.”

Miguel did your eye rolling for you. You give the gentleman a smile and thanks. When you excuse yourself, your face falls as soon as you turn around. Miguel catches that, giving him a slight amusement. You see him through the wave of people locking eyes. He was off to the side by an extravagant plant. You walk past, eyes forward, and stop at a mirror next to the hall you both needed to go down. Both of your backs were to each other with distance put between you. You begin patting your face, and clicking your earring in the process. “This place has a lot of rooms to cover.”

Miguel hums. “I figured.”

You continue to pat down your neck. “Did you get anything from speaking to them?”

His jaw sets again. “Nothing of use.”

His brows form a firm line as his senses began to go off. There were eyes on him somewhere. Red eyes cautiously look from side to side, finding a guard staring right at him. Before either can react, a click of glasses averts their gazes to Bastava standing atop a bar stool. A slurred chuckle escapes his lips before clearing his throat. “It’s an honor to have you all here tonight. I wouldn’t have an event going any other way. Now-” His hands flick out. “-Let’s get this music going shall we?”

The crowd cheers. Marble panels on the walls trade themselves out for black ones. With a press of a button, they emit a turquoise light out to the floor. Electronic lines are built into instruments. The crowd murmurs in wonder as they begin to play themselves. People a few at a time begin to stray towards the center of the room.

The arachnid’s sense was still going haywire. Miguel gives the security a glance before coughing into the mic. “When I approach you, just go with it.”

Your face contorted. “What-?”

“Excuse me, miss?“

You turn around to his voice, both of your earpieces shutting down with being in front of each other. You look at him up and down, looking into his eyes on what his game plan was. With his back to the guard, he’s able to dart his eyes in his direction and then back for you to catch on. His hand goes out between you both. “I couldn’t help but watch you the entire night, would you like to dance?”

You look down at his hand, then up at his figure. Your smile of amusement slips into one of formality. Placing your hand in his, you say in a hushed tone. “I would love to.”

Before he turns, he gives you a look, almost as if to tell you to behave. He immediately sensed the amusement under your facade. Miguel’s arm curls around your own, the build of his upper arm brushing against your own. You take your walk to the dance floor with a quick glance to see what others were doing. The music was light, tones of classical filling the air. You follow suit, turning to place a hand on his shoulder. The large of your hand envelopes your hip, snaking your other hand into his. Your eyes were at your feet to follow the steps in your head.

His mouth clicks. “Look at me.”

Your head shoots up in surprise, immediately going to slight your brow.

“Keep your eyes on me and I’ll lead. Think we got eyes on us.”

You take a glance at the room and then back to him. “From where?”

“My left.”

He shifts your dance, going in the motions of steps so you can see who he’s talking about. A guard from his behind looks in your direction from the corner of your eye. You did as the man in front of you asked, only using your peripherals to keep most of your focus on him. Miguel’s eyes are fully on you.

“We’ll have to go down the hall.” You say in a low voice.

His fingers press into your lower back to decrease your space, going along with the front of that he didn’t hear you. As if his senses weren’t already on ten.

“No choice?” He asks.

“Not seeing any other way around it. We’re going to have to get that guy to move.”

“Fantástico.” He mutters sarcastically, switching your perspective around once again with his lead in the dance. You can’t help but take a glance down at both of your feet, realizing just how in sync he is with his steps. “You’re a pretty good dancer.”

His face contorts to confusion, blasphemy even. “You think this is good?”

You shrug. “I’ve met a lot of people with two left feet. Terrible crowd for the club scene.”

Your jest earns you a short huff. “This isn’t even music to really dance to, much less just a step around with feet.”

“Classical is timeless to those who hold onto it. Including snobs with their heads up their ass.”

He grunts with distaste before a pondering moment of silence falls over you both. You watch him take a look at your feet as both of you follow his motions. “Maybe I’ll show you what the real stuff is.”

His mutter allows for something unknown to stir in your chest. The hand that grips his gives him a taunting squeeze. “I challenge you to.”

“To teach you a thing or two?”

Your head tilts. “Who said I couldn’t dance?”

He goes to speak, but your eyes cutting away from him stops him. He notices quickly how you spot something, the cogs slowly turning in your head.

“The one by the hall.”

“Mhm?”

“There’s one way we can get him to move.”

You surprise him by moving in your direction, turning him to your previous position where he faces the holographic instruments. Your eyes watch his face slowly draw his conclusion, looking down at you with an affirming nod.

Once you’ve secured a drink in your hand, you play out the routine of a drunken beauty. You pull out the charming smile a few giggles wandering about your eyes, catch the closest person to the panels and your foot goes behind theirs. And with a swift motion make it all seems like an accident and their drink spills onto the holographic base. It shocks with electricity, causing the crowd to gasp. You let out a dramatic gasp of your own. Miguel was right behind you as he put his hand over his mouth. Bastava quickly notices how the music ends up properly, and it goes on to address the crowd. “People people not to worry, we have mechanics on hand for this!”

His guests give him a small clap. He relishes it in full before turning to your targeted guard and signaling him to get assistance. As the guard leaves, you both look at each other in a quick glance before going into fits of fake giggles. People step back from the panels, creating a cluster of distractions, and the both of you slip down the hall with ease.

As a pair, you take cautious steps down the hallway. Each of your eyes darts left and right, looking for a space that could remotely resemble an office. Miguel was on a determined path, the sooner he could get this done, the sooner he didn't have to feel like he was suffocating.

“Wait-” You stop him. He turns around quickly, looking to the same door you do— noticeably with a keypad right beside it. You both share a look, stepping into the door. Miguel looks over his shoulder to keep watch while you pull that square glass tool from the fabric of your attire. You press a few hologram buttons then face it towards the keypad. It takes a scan of it, lighting with a projection of which numbers had the most fingerprints. The more you could do with that thing, the more curious you were about the arachnid hero.

The keypad clicks with a green light and with a part of your attire in your hand, you open the door. To your surprise the space was normal looking compared to the heights Bastava would go for extravagance. A glass panel wall was behind the desk. To the left were large cabinets, and even enough space for two lounge chairs. Miguel goes to the right at the tech board whirling to life at his presence. All of Alchemax at his fingertips if he wished. His hand itched to take control of it but he had to remain on task, making sure that their fall would be from a higher drop. You catch how he sighs with frustration, turning back to you, and hovering over the computer. “Another drive?”

“Another drive.” He says, practically trying to convince himself.

You eye him up and down, giving him a short nod and turning back to the computer. “You don’t think there’d be any physical files we’d miss?”

Miguel scoffs. “I doubt it.”

Thanks to another scan of fingerprints, your go through two attempts to finally get the password. From there you slide out of the way for Miguel to take over. As he does so, you go to the door to keep watch. Your eyes keep to the crack you let open, ears catching the clicks of the keywords and various sounds. One sounded promising with a BING!

“How long?” You ask with your eyes still on the hallway.

“Twenty minutes.”

“Be fucking for real-”

“Anyone out there?”

“No-”

“-then shut the hell up. I’ll make it go as fast as I can.”

You snicker under your breath. “Shocker.”

You hear him exhale through his nose.

Fifteen minutes pass with smooth sailing. You have yet to see a passerby to the stairs. Miguel keeps his focus on the computer for a long while, leaving you in silence, until his head perks up abruptly. So abruptly, that you whip your head around in his direction. His face scrunches. when you turn your head around, you see what might be the cause: Bastava, coming up the stairs and heading in your direction.

You turn to Miguel. “How long?” His eyes go back to the computer “Five, maybe three minutes?”

You cursed under your breath, your body starting to fill with tension. Your eyes go back out to the crack in the door. Bastava stumbles slightly, but he doesn’t lose his way.

Your tone shifts to urgency. “Miguel-”

“I’m working on it.”

With one more head turn, you see that he’s only three pieces away. You feel your heart drop quickly, shutting the door as quietly and as quickly as possible.

“Shocking-” You don’t finish the curse when something tugs your arm. Your head whips around to get only a split second of Miguel pulling you towards an opened large cabinet. Taking you both inside, he shuts the door just in time for his senses to pick up the click of the keypad.

You control your breathing the best you can after the rush of adrenaline. Your chests graze each other each time you quietly breathe. There’s a stumbling of feet, a chair sliding against the marble floor that causes you two to wince. Miguel recognizes Bastava’s voice. “Hey there, gorgeous…no no, I’m not busy at all. Just want you..to come by…maybe after the party, eh?”

You roll your eyes, turning your head in the direction of the call to hear any sign of a goodbye. Miguel was doing the same, brows furrowing suddenly. As soon as you turn your neck something immediately takes hold of him. His nostrils fill with your scent, something new, he caught. It had to be that or perhaps his senses being on eleven ever since he heard Bastava coming up the steps. He closes his eyes, the scent envelops him whole with a tilt of his head.

“What are you wearing?”

The question snaps your head his way in an instant. You look him up and down. “Under-?”

“Your fragrance.” He said with a hard tone. You question if there was restraint in his voice. Your eyes linger on him before answering. “It’s new…picked it up for tonight.”

He hums quietly. Scarlet eyes still bore into your being even when you turn to listen for Bastava. The chairman was still on the phone. Something still along the lines of convincing someone to come over— Miguel couldn’t process his words, much less comprehend them. He was tuning his words out and into your heartbeat instead. His felt like it was quickening to your pace— a light thump loose of the threads of adrenaline.

You turn your head back, startled at how his eyes look. They were almost…carnal…in a way that you only knew how.

Your tongue swipes over your bottom lip, causing him to let out a low “Don’t.”

He catches your eyes in a heated gaze. It didn’t help how close you both were. He wouldn’t have to move much to wrap around you. Your breath quickens, latching onto the sight of his parted lips. He does the same with yours, breath even heavier.

Bastava’s tone picks up. “Well, what can I do to convince you, baby? Just because we aren’t public doesn’t mean…” He scoffs with abrasiveness. “…Yes, it doesn’t matter- we’ve gone over this-”

He’s in an argument now, you know that much from that point. Everything goes in and out with your focus shifting entirely on Miguel. His eyes go lower, not to your lips anymore, but to your neck. His tongue suddenly felt *dry*, nose taking inhale after inhale of you and taking him further down the rabbit hole. Your eyes never leave him when an arm sneaks around your lower back to pull you into his body. You meet his head to line it with your own. With each of your breathing tickling the other’s face, you feel how worked he is.

Your breath hitches when he shoves his face into your neck. His air is hot against your skin, sending shivers down your spine. Your hand goes to the back of his head in case you slip. His feet shuffle mere centimeters to place his other hand on the wall by your head.

“Carajo..” He mutters against you, head flooded by your scent. Now that he was fully surrounded by it, his senses soothed— barely, but enough to not raise suspicion. Your heartbeat was picking up, thumping inside his head. You feel something wet graze your neck in a slow lick, making you inhale tightly.

You’re trying to listen out for the man outside but it was growing difficult with the way Miguel was nosing your neck, as if there was any space left he had to get rid of. Every now and then, his lips brush against your neck and makes you shift under him. The hand on your back adds pressure.

“Thought you could handle me.”

“I can handle you just…” You let out a shaky exhale. “…fine.”

Miguel’s huff turns into a muffled sigh.

“…See that wasn’t so hard, cupcake. You get your sweet little ass over here after the party…Eleven…bye.”

You hear Bastava take a large gulp then sigh. A few steps go past you, making you both hold your breath. The steps stop for a few minutes then fade off to the other side of the room. You hear the door open and then shut, but you knew better than to rush out. You steady your breathing to become background noise to Miguel’s senses. He could still hear your heart calming and now, the steps of the chairman’s dress shoes echoing down his vast hall. He only eases when he knows Bastava is going down the stairs. “We’re good.”

He turns his head to be met with your nose brushed against his. Your eyes were big looking into his own. He knew you were wondering what the hell came over him. The one thing you did know was that all of what he was doing wasn’t to start anything but to give himself restraint.

Miguel swallows before you both leave the cabinet without another word.

Leaving the scene felt like the easiest part of the whole night. You two pretend to giggle drunkenly together back into the foyer, just in time to for Bastava to close the night. You slip into the leaving crowd to waddle alongside them. And since you felt eyes on you, you knew Miguel wasn’t too far behind.

You look out at Neuva’s brightly colored building from your passenger window. The car was heavy with silence, you could practically feel the weight of it right in the pit of your stomach. His hand on your thigh *certainly* didn’t help. The arachnid kept his eyes on the road, only keeping focus by kneading your flesh. Miguel glances at you through the interior mirror. Your lips were slightly obscured as you rested your chin in your palms but he could imagine them all the same.

Taking notice of the scenery, your exit flies past you at a moment’s notice.

“Not going back to my-?”

“No.”

You turn to catch his eyes in the mirror, quiet in both of your stares. Your lids lower. “…work-related?”

He turns his gaze back to the road and squeezes your thigh in his grip.

“…No.”

taglist: @manchuria @mezzke @rea-zxv @vvitcxen @pooiooi @jowtaro @deputy-videogamer @vegas-writing-den @m150-50up @simplysolo @timotheesrealgf @thecityofspareparts @miguelsfangs (dunno why it won’t let me tag you guys, trying to figure it out!)

[ask-aurachnid]

Spider-Verse: Part I

Word Count: 2883 Warnings: N/A

Something weird is happening, which is interesting, because Frankie’s bar for what qualifies as weird is incredibly high. From radioactive spiders to animal themed villains, to half the universe turning to dust and temporal anomalies opening across the city, Frankie wouldn’t say they’ve seen it all, but they’ve definitely come close. Still, when a glowing portal opens on the ceiling of their apartment just minutes after their return from an exhausting fight with Green Goblin, it still manages to surprise them.

The gravity it creates is intense, and no amount of webbing shot at the floors and walls can stop it from pulling them in. They barely even manage to pull their mask back over their head before the portal closes, stealing their room from view. 

The feeling of being sucked through a portal is the most bizarre sensation Frankie has ever experienced. It’s like touching a live wire with the way their spider-sense screams. Their body contorts through space time like candy on a pulling machine. They can’t help but yell the whole way, their voice contorting along with their flesh and bones until their journey ends. 

Aurachnid flies, screaming, out of the portal too fast to do anything except slam, face first, into a massive LED billboard before falling to the ground. Ow. 

They take a moment to get air back in their lungs before they begin the process of pulling their bruised body off the cement. All the while, New Yorkers edge around them without sparing a glance. Typical. Once they’re finally upright, Frankie pauses to take in their surroundings. It looks like Times Square, but it feels like something is wrong with their eyes. There has to be. The colors are too saturated, the texture of everything is all wrong, and it gives the appearance of a lagging frame rate. Is that storefront colored with Ben Day dots as a paint job, or did I land inside a comic book?

“JUDOS, where am I?” Frankie asks. 

“Error: JUDOS Offline.”

Before they can get any more confused, a voice speaks from somewhere above them, far too young to be any deity Frankie knows of. 

“Apparently Peni’s formula wasn’t as exact as she thought.” 

Aurachnid looks up to see… Spider-Man? He doesn’t look quite like the Spider-Man Frankie used to know. His suit is mostly black but with red accents and a logo that look spray painted. Not to mention, he looks… cartoonish. His mask lenses are comically large and, instead of telescoping, the edges seem to shift with his expression. His proportions are fine at a glance, but as Frankie continues to look at him, they notice how his head seems a little large, and his wrist and ankles dramatically small. The strange frame rate also seems to apply to his movements as he hops down to stand in front of Frankie. 

As he touches down, Frankie’s spider-sense crawls up their spine and reverberates like mic feedback through their jaw. It’s only done that once before, when Frankie met Peter for the first time. 

“What’s wrong with my eyes?” Gods only know why that is the first thing out of their mouth. “Where am I? Why do you look like Spider-Man but weird?”

Spider-Man(?) laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. “This is probably a bit of a shock, but you’re in another dimension. Some universes have different appearances and physics than others. And I am Spider-Man, at least, the Spider-Man of this dimension. Nice to meet you.”

Another dimension? 

Aurachnid.exe has stopped responding. Restart? Y/N

“Yeah, I’ll integrate that into my belief system. They call me Aurachnid,” Frankie says, holding out a hand to shake. 

Spider-Man shakes their hand, tilting his head in a way that makes Frankie think that he might be younger than them. “Just Arachnid? No hyphenation? You would not believe how particular some spiders are about that.”

Frankie sighs, “No, not Arachnid. Aurachnid. With an A-U-R like ‘aura?’” 

Spider-Man looks confused.

“Never mind. Okay, so I’m in another dimension. How do I get back?”

“That… is a good question,” he says. “You aren’t who I was expecting to come through the portal.”

“That’s comforting,” Frankie deadpans. 

“I need to contact a friend. Hopefully, she should be able to send you back to where you belong.”

“Then lead the way, Spidey.”

That’s how Aurachnid ends up following a strange Spider-Man out of Manhattan and into Queens. Is it the smartest move? Probably not, but it’s not like Frankie has any other way to get home. So, following the weird, cartoon Spider-Man it is. 

⦰⦰

It becomes obvious to Frankie as they follow Spider-Man, that he probably hasn't been at this very long. At the very least, he doesn't have any sort of tricking background. His web slinging technique is stiff, and, once they get out of the Manhattan skyscrapers into the low brownstones of Queens, he loses a lot of forward momentum. Frankie, on the other hand, has no issue springing from one streetlamp to another, even without the aid of their webbing. 

Eventually, the both of them come to an unassuming house, if not for the incredible amount of red and blue Spider-Man memorabilia piled on the front steps. The black-clad Spider-Man knocks politely on the door before swinging it open. 

"Hey Mrs. Parker!" he calls out, stepping inside with familiarity despite him greeting the owner with an honorific. 

Honestly, Frankie had been wondering if his secret identity was someone they knew, but if “Mrs. Parker” is actually May Parker, then they can safely say that this spider is not Peter Parker. 

At the sound of her name, Mrs. Parker walks out of the kitchen, into the living room where Spider-Man and Aurachnid are standing, drying her hands with a floral dish towel. She’s a fair bit older than the May Parker that Frankie knew, but she has a kind face, and she smiles at Spider-Man before raising an eyebrow at the strange spider behind him.

“Hey, kiddo. I was going to ask you how school was, but it seems there’s something more important going on. Who’s this?”

Spider-Man’s mask makes a surprised expression as he turns to gesture at them. “This is Arachnid-with-an-A-U-R. We accidentally brought them to this dimension, so we were heading down to the lair to use the computer. I just wanted to say hi, first.”

Under the mask, Frankie rolls their eyes at the way Spider-Man introduces them. "It's a portmanteau. Arachnid and Aura. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," they say, reaching out to shake her hand.

"And so polite. You should keep this one around, kiddo," Mrs. Parker jokes with the boy. "Head on down to the lair. I'll bring down some cookies if you're both still around when they're done, but you should get Aurachnid home before they start glitching." 

"Before I start what?" Frankie asks, but Spider-Man starts pulling them out the back door instead of giving an answer. 

In the backyard is a small shed. If this is what Spider-Man meant by "lair," then Frankie is going to be so disappointed. 

Spider-Man grabs a key from somewhere and sticks it in the padlock hanging from the door. At which point, the backyard is flooded with red light as a giant spider logo appears on the door, and instead of swinging outwards, the doors retract into the walls revealing an empty chrome room the appropriate size for an simple shed. 

Spider-Man steps into the room and turns around to look back at Frankie, still standing in the grass. Frankie recognizes the body language from years of living in a city full of tall buildings. Their dads' apartment building has one and their current building has one (though they usually take the fire escape). Frankie knows an elevator when they see one. 

No fucking way. 

"There's no way Queens is zoned for this," Frankie comments, stepping inside. 

Spider-Man just laughs as the doors slide shut and the floor starts to descend. Just the floor.

"Oh, this is definitely an OSHA violation."

There's not even a railing, as the elevator descends out of the short shaft and into an impossibly open space. When Spider-Man said ‘lair’ he meant it. The space is at least three stories tall, with huge, raised platforms, and things suspended from the ceiling by web-like cabling. There’s a god damned Jeep, of all things, and a row of glass cases housing more than a dozen variant spider-suits. Almost everything in the space adheres to the red-blue color scheme, which is a little strange, since this Spider-Man is wearing black and red.

“Dude! What in Hades even is this place? I have two suits that I keep in a bin under my bed, and I can’t even drive, let alone afford a spider-mobile,” Frankie gapes. When they look back at Spider-Man, he’s taken off his mask. Underneath is a young, dark-skinned boy with a grin on his face, but his expression goes solemn before he responds. 

“It’s not actually mine. It all belonged to the previous Spider-Man, Peter Parker. He was killed about eight months ago. Kingpin was using a particle accelerator to try and bring back his wife and kid, but instead Goblin messed it up and brought a trapped of spider-people here. One of them was the one who was supposed to come through the portal, but instead we got you,” he explains with a shrug. “I’m Miles, by the way. Miles Morales.”

Figuring they’re definitely safe from prying eyes, Frankie takes off their own mask, shaking out their hair. “Nice to meet you, Miles. My name’s Frankie Stevens. Trust me, I know a thing or two about dead Peter Parkers.”

Miles raises an eyebrow. “Really?”

Frankie nods. “Yeah. It’s been about a year and a half for me. There was this… alien, I guess? He got his hands on a few artifacts from the creation of the universe, which when combined, allowed him to turn half of all sentient life into dust. He killed trillions, including Peter, May, and both of my dads. I had to get myself emancipated so I could stay in New York.”

“I’m sorry, that must have sucked.”

Frankie shrugs, “Yeah, but what can you do?”

The elevator comes to rest at the end of a narrow walkway connected to the biggest platform in the lair. On one side is the row of glass cases housing what Frankie now realizes are the late Spider-Man’s suits, and on the other side, is the weirdest computer that Frankie has ever seen. Actually, there’s no computer that Frankie can see, but there’s a huge swivel chair, a large array of keyboards and input devices, and a ridiculous monitor array. There’s roughly eight of them, which is already too many, each roughly the size of a standard flat-screen TV, but it’s hard to say, since most of them aren’t even squares. In fact, the central monitor is a hexagon, surrounded by smaller triangle and trapezoid monitors. It makes the engineer in Frankie want to tear their hair out. 

Miles, however, acts like it’s completely normal, pushing the chair aside so he can stand over the keyboard. The screens come to life, and Miles clicks a few things until a girl’s face takes up most of the screen. 

“Hey Peni!” Miles greets. “How are things on your end?”

Peni somehow looks even more bizarre than the weird visuals of this universe, with her impossibly large eyes and exaggerated proportions giving her the appearance of an anime character. She smiles when she sees Miles, but her expression quickly sours into a pout. 

“The good news is that neither of our realities are collapsing,” she answers. “But the device didn’t work at all. So now I’m practically starting from scratch.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Miles says, grabbing Frankie’s arm and pulling them in front of the monitors, presumably putting them in view of the camera. 

Frankie waves, awkwardly.

“This is Frankie, they came through the portal instead. So, I’d say you’re on the right track.”

Peni blinks in surprise a few times, before her eyes shift to focus on something else. She blows up a wad of bubble gum while she squints at whatever she’s studying. “Wait, I picked up an entirely different person? How did that happen?”

“I would also like to know that. Also, Mrs. Parker mentioned ‘glitching.’ Is that something I should be concerned about?”

“Hopefully not. Glitching is a specific form of cellular decay that affects people who travel outside of their own dimension,” Peni answers. “The formula I used which landed you where you are was supposed to fix that issue. Since glitching is caused when different realities’ atoms interact inside a single object or organism, making sure your atoms don’t change should be the key to preventing glitching. So, since you don’t have the same visual style of Miles, I think that part probably worked like it was supposed to. Though it might have been more complicated if you were from a dimension with different physics or one with a different number of dimensions.”

“Well, at least I have that going for me,” Frankie mutters. 

“Aha!” Peni cheers, seemingly finding something helpful. “I’ve got it! The formula I used for the device was meant to lock onto the strongest signal, in range, from someone with radioactive spider DNA. Since I was standing right next to it, I assumed that it would lock onto me, but according to these readings, I am far from the strongest signal. That honor goes to our new friend Frankie here. The coordinates they originated from were emitting a much stronger signal until after I activated the device. Now your current coordinates are releasing the same strength signal.”

“So, what does that mean?” Miles asks.

“It means that Frankie has the strongest signal by far in the nearby multiverse! With their help, mapping out the nearby web and finding the others would be a sinch! Just a few hours in each universe would be enough for me to get readings and begin deciphering the data within multiversal signatures, instead of just relying on strength. Frankie could act like barium in an x-ray machine, or a really clever signal relay!”

Frankie likes to think that they’re pretty smart. They got into NTSI. They graduated in the 90th percentile of their high school. They reverse engineered a passable version of Peter’s web fluid and they designed a much-improved version of his web-shooters. The point being, Frankie is intelligent, but honestly? They’re only grasping about half of what Peni is saying. 

Why them, specifically? If the multiverse is truly infinite, then there are infinite versions of Frankie. Why do none of them have a signal as strong as the one Frankie is apparently emitting? The whole thing is incredibly baffling.

“So, what do you say?” Miles asks, hopeful.

“I mean, I’m not against it,” Frankie says, “but I’m just curious what that would entail. I’ve got responsibilities in my own reality that I need to stay on top of.”

“You shouldn’t be missing from your own universe for more than a day, probably less. Hopefully, I’d be able to warn you about the portal opening ahead of time, and I’d definitely be able to send you back when I finish my readings. You’d just have to hang out in whatever universe I send you to in the meantime, and tell me what’s there, afterwards.”

“Ah, what the hell,” Frankie shrugs. “Sign me up. I’ll be your multiverse pinball or whatever. ‘Sounds like fun.”

Peni beams at them through the screen. “Ah, arigatōgozaimasu! With your help, we’ll find the others in no time!”

“No problem, I’m always happy to help,” they reply. “So, what now?”

“Well, I got plenty of readings from Mile’s universe last time I was there. Today was just supposed to test if the device worked, which it does. So, you don’t need to stay there any longer. I could send you home now, if you want.”

“Damn, I was kinda hoping to be here for Mrs. Parker’s cookies, but yeah, you should probably send me back. I have a lot of homework to do before fall break.” 

“Understood! Just a couple seconds to calibrate everything…” Peni trails off in concentration. “And here we go!”

Frankie pulls on their mask as an ominous, technicolor portal bubbles into existence a few feet away. Thankfully, this one lacks the extreme gravitational field of the first.

“See you around!” they say, giving a playful salute before letting themself fall backwards into the hole between realities. 

The feeling is just as strange as the first time, indescribable and intense, but surprisingly painless save for the screaming of their spider-sense. Their flesh and bones contort like Silly Putty, as they are pulled back towards their home dimension. And, after a few, incredibly anxious moments, the crisscrossing webs of the multiverse give way to an overcast New York skyline. 

Frankie tumbles, flailing, out of the portal, and there’s no time to right themself before they slam into the rooftop of their apartment building and flip ass over tea kettle. When they finally come to a real stop, they’re covered in bruises, and more than a little sore, but they’re back where they belong.

[kahran042]

Encyclopedia Brown thoughts: book 22

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Slippery Salamander

General:

This book is dedicated to the memory of Rebecca Blackwell, who died before her second birthday. :,(

The Case of the Slippery Salamander:

What, no references to Idaville's banks and delicatessens? :)

Maybe it's just me, but a reptile/amphibian exhibit seems more suited to a zoo than an aquarium. Making matters worse is the fact that The Case of Bugs’s Zebra establishes that Idaville has a zoo.

Now I'm imagining a case where someone steals a $300 ferret from a pet store, and is given away when he claims to be an expert on "ferrets and other rodents."

The Case of the Banana Burglar:

I wonder if Bugs willingly signed up for Art in the Park out of a genuine interest in art, if he signed up to make trouble, or if his parents made him sign up.

I love Bugs' chutzpah here with his "All I've eaten today is a lousy banana" remark. ^_^

Does Monsieur LeBlanc have a real name, or is his first name Monsieur?

If I were Pablo, I wouldn't want my job back, considering how much of an asshole Monsieur LeBlanc is.

The Case of the Dead Cockroach:

Scorpions are arachnids, so they probably shouldn't be competing in an insect race.

Um, @brownencyclopedia, you know that the roach is Bugs' freakin' pet, right? Sure, he's just using it to frame Encyclopedia for killing it, but still. :P

I've never seen a real roach, but if I did, I don't think I'd be learning anything about how they look when they die... of natural causes, that is. ;)

The Case of the Roman-Numeral Robber:

Charlie is ten, and he doesn't know what Roman numerals are? o_O

Whatever happened with the real Roman-Numeral Robber? Personally, I would have had Mr. von Martin turn out to have been the Roman-Numeral Robber all along.

Uh, Sobol, you do know that jewelers presumably know how to use Roman numerals correctly when not making watches, right? After all, even watches with IIII in place of IV don’t have VIIII in place of IX.

In addition to watches, tower clocks also usually use IIII instead of IV. Just thought I'd mention it.

The Case of the Runaway Judge:

A rose grower from Bloomington... yes, yes, very clever, I'm sure.

By "garden mazes," do they mean hedge mazes or something else?

Awfully convenient that Roberta Garnet happened to be the winner... or did Ms. Wedgwood just pick her because she could easily encode her name? I can't seen her being able to encode, say, Karyn Meyers or Alexander Findlay so easily.

The Case of the Peacock's Egg:

So, is it Wilford who doesn't know that peacocks don't lay eggs, or does he just assume his customers won't? I'm leaning toward the latter.

The Case of the Umpire's Error:

Interesting how both teams have alliterative names. I hope that Idaville is only the "Indians" because Sobol couldn't think of anything else that started with I.

That being said, I'd probably be rooting for the Porpoises, if only because I like dolphins.

On a related note, is there really any difference between a porpoise and a dolphin?

If I were an umpire, I wouldn't want to be polite to a crowd that were being total assbutts to me. But that's probably why I'm not an umpire.

The Case of the Calculating Kid:

It really doesn't seem to me that Encyclopedia and Sally randomly ducked into the convention center, but that they knew that the boat and fishing show had set up there and decided to go there to beat the heat.

"Yacht" is a funny word. Sorry, just had to bring it up.

Shells and More Shells isn't just a "company that sold seashells". For one thing, they aren't a company, but just a booth, and they also sell shell-decorated objects. That being said, the name does sound kind of fakey, so I would be suspicious of them, although not for the reasons that @brownencyclopedia is.

Amazing Grace is kind of a stupid name for a yacht, IMHO. What's worse is that Sobol had come up with at least two cooler yacht names - Coral Reef (The Case of the Pirated Yacht) and Defiance (The Case of the Blond Wig) - before this.

"These are" Mr. and Mrs. Hinton, not "This is," dammit! And Chief Brown is supposed to be smart?

What kind of tricks can you play with a calculator?

Lucky that Kent was able to recognize the face of the Shells and More Shells guy. I probably wouldn't be able to, not would I have had the presence of mind to enter "577345" into my calculator to finger my kidnapper. So I like this kid!

Seriously, though, "Shells and More Shells" sounds only slightly more believable than "Alkali Products Incorporated" from The Great Brain Reforms.

The Case of the Presidential Auction:

I’m sorry, but Gwendolyn doesn’t seem any different from Winslow Brant. Why is it wrong for her to do basically the same thing as him? Is it because Winslow is Encyclopedia’s friend, or because Gwendolyn is a teenager?

It should be Harry S Truman, without the period, because his middle name was just the letter S.

The Case of the Stolen Surfboard:

Final appearance of Benny Breslin, and good riddance.

Is this the same heat wave from The Case of the Calculating Kid?

Todd and Garth Breslin return, with the exact same description as in their first appearance. -_-

Why doesn't the lifeguard get a name if Benny knows him?

[borisvonshweet]

Creepy InfoDump

(I Copy Pasted this stuff from discord lol) So, Creepy is like... And owl and Arachnid mix with the way spider can Contort Spider's body. giving spider the ability to fit into any place and be comfortable there. the reason i say owl is because Spider can twist Spider's head a full 360 degrees, or 180 if Spider decides to look at you from behind. which gives for some screams which spider loves So I've Separated the two Versions of Creepy as Canon Creepy, and FunPop!Creepy. (FunPop is the Au that I have decided to call like these wholesome interaction between all out oc's) So Canon Creepy still Love Chaos and Discord but differently, Chaos, Discord and the misfortune of others is a better way to put it. FunPop!Creepy Is very nice and kind, They still makes chaos, but its through pranks, getting stuck Tw: i know a few people are sensitive to this junk soo spoiler Bottling up emotions ,Breakdowns, aggression towards self, and anything related to such so I have mentioned before that creepy has trouble expressing anything that is negative since spider is made to bring happiness, so that all spider thinks spider's supposed to do. But if spider dose this for too long spider withh just shut down in a really bad way, often taking it out on spider's self often reapeating to spider's self that "If he smiles through it spider will be better". Obviously spider never shows this since his mindset is screwed thanks to being turned into something ment for people's happiness. not many people have seen his breakdowns other than spider's "brother" Ven and jack. spider's breakdowns can be intense, often he either cries for hours on end, bashes spider's head into a wall till he knocks out or just laying down and staring at a wall not moving. spider dose this in spider's little webcave spider made in an unfinished part of the factory. Creepy has a pullstring like woody, spider dosen't know it.. until spider gets it caugut while free falling which which confuses the hell outta creepy like.... ????? i have a pullstring??? since when Alright alright, so the creepy crawly doll was sold along side many other dolls as a Halloween exclusive huggy, being based slightly after beetle juice, the rejected doll was quickly taken of shelves due to unknown reasons. Creepy as a creature is chaotic and discord inducing feind which is driven by the scared screams and laughter they get from scaring people or player. Creepy's body is found unconscious underneath a few of the reject bodies that where moved in order to get skitter and coinky out. Creepy is an antagonist and will follow the player, constantly trying to trap them in the webs they create, as well as generally sabotageing their attempts to get to the flower. His main scene comes in after you box huggy. He will jump down from the catwalk the box was on and begin chasing the player and the 2 reject huggies inti the flower, once again the last vhs tape is inside the flower instead of outside on the catwalks Random Creepy knows how to moon walk Creepy can fit in anyplace and will fall asleep in anyplace so sometimes you'll find him in a jar, or in a really uncomfortable position that he is just chilling in Creepy smells like Buttered Popcorn, and butterscotch as well as a little bit or burnt flesh tis be faint but you know still there. legit you hug creepy and spider smells like a movie theater Creepy can't wear shoes or like socks cause spider just loose the ability to walk because spider can't feel the ground and spider finds it weird. But spider will wear socks for a photo Creepy's feet pawbs are velcro, it's hands are magnets. Factory error. it can't walk on carpet or it just gets stuck Creepy love chin scritchies as well as being brushed Creepy's Tonge is like really long and i mean l o n g it wraps around the inside of his head like a wood pecker. like you have a glass of water a foot away from creepy and he's feeling lazy he'll grab it with his toungue O Creepy's Personality is complete hogwash. cause i havent really finalized it. but i know spider is fun loving and a

prankster, spider is really bad with expressing negitive emotions so spider often resorts to jokes and pranks. Huggy is probally the only person that Spider has ever broken down around. Spider just clung to Huggy while sobbing uncontrollably. normally they would climb up into the vents and crawl to an unfinished area of the factory that no one but spider knows about. Spider hide it with webs. Creepy also has some issues with texture. Spider cant touch metal that has a certain finish otherwise they will Creepy.exe has stopped responding and just stand there. take em a bit untill they come back. Creepy when spider's bored will just sit down, spider's eyes will get bit, and spider will start cooing like a racoon ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0TiFZA68ZU (like this) o Creepy's Favorite food are crepes specifically when they are made like this

creepy really likes icing baked goods. makes em all spooky. spider is good at making chocolate bats Creepy as well, I F you get on the topic of their special intrest oh boi you're gonna get a very excited spooder and a lot of rambling So creepy wasn't always a huggy, spider was once a human teenaged by the name of Marshal Marshal is just, Issues. He has a lazy eye and his teeth stick outta his mouth bullies are common because they just had to pick on him for his looks so ye his mentality isn't the best So some general things, marshal is tall pale and skinny, use he/They pronouns and has a more gothic sence of style. He has a bunch of physical and mental issues that just make marshal marshal. Some main physical issues are his jagged teeth, lazy eye (which he keeps covered sifh hair or an eyepatch) And the fact that he can't really walk well without crutches. more mental junk TW causes talks about disorders and junk so gonna be spoilded so course with all this junk comes being picked on. Few choice words that really gets to marsh, freak, crippled kid. Crooked leggs lead to major self esteem issues. So much so that there have. Been timez where he has gone to school without his crutches. Long story short he collapsed after 2nd and had to be taken to the infirmary and on worse occasions the hospital. Course Jacob got on his ass about it. Marsh has very mild PTSD from being in and outta forster care. He flinches alot to sudden touch, sudden movements, sudden loud noises (exploding eggs are fine) marsh stims a l o t, weather it be for positive resons, negitive resons or just being bored in General he stims. Most of the time its fiddling with his scarf, running his hands through his hair. Making small noise and flappy hands. Most of the time he only dose thjs around people he knows since people new to him find jt weird ( (You've made it to the end of the Creepy Master post, Congrats, If you couldn't tell, Favortism)

[dappercritter]

ATOM Vol.1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us! An Honest Review

I have long waited for the chance to read William Cope’s (AKA @tyrantisterror​) giant monster mash passion project, and as of last Christmas I finally had my chance. The first volume of The Atomic Time of Monsters (AKA A.T.O.M.), Tyrantis Walks Among Us! is every bit the big fun love letter to classic giant monster movies from across both sides of the Pacific that the author has touted on his blog many times. However, although there is a lot of love that evidently went into this story, and plenty of fun to be read, I would not say it’s the best kaiju story I have ever seen, in print or otherwise. Of course, to expect perfection from anything is unfair, but it’s not perfection I’m looking for: it’s consistency. Consistency, particularly of ideas and presentation, has been one of the kaiju (the ever popular Japanese name for “strange/giant monster”) genre’s biggest problems since it first began—be it keeping worldbuilding consistent with themes, or keeping the quality of one shot of the giant juxtaposed monsters consistent with another. Sadly, readers will find that Tyrantis Walks Among Us, for all it’s charms and bravado, suffers from similar inconsistencies.

 The premise of the first entry in the A.T.O.M. series follows many well-worn tropes from the standard giant-size creature: set in an offshoot of postwar 50’s world, a mysterious earthquake linked to nuclear testing has revealed a subterranean lost world filled with mysterious radioactive crystals and (what else) giant monsters to the world. As the menagerie of prehistoric creatures make their way across the surface, gobbling up and/or stomping on the unlucky extras in their path, the government scrambles to gain control of the unprecedented situation, sending in scientists, men in black, and the military. The heroes of the story are the sole scientist smart enough to understand the gravity of the situation, their intrepid band of friends, and the good giant monsters who befriend the humans while fighting off the bad monsters to protect their world. Opposing them are crooked government men who refuse to listen to reason and more menacing monsters driven by hunger or simple malevolence. What follows is a mash-up of almost everything giant monster movies prior are made of: giant monster fights, quirky humans bouncing off each other while trying to stop corrupt governments from worsening the situation, discovering strange lost worlds and encountering the creatures that inhabit them, and even encounters with alien and robot monsters.

 What makes the seemingly formulaic Tyrantis Walks Among Us! stand out is it’s personality. The first volume of ATOM is an affectionate homage, but it’s also a something of a send-up and evolution of the giant monster movie. Not only is every giant monster trope treated with a mix of earnest excitement and tongue-in-cheek wit, embracing both the inherent impressiveness and absurdity of the subgenre in the same breadth (including more than a few references to a selection of giant monster films past, some more subtle than others), with a heaping helping of satirical edge in it’s depiction on atomic era America. Elevating this satirical edge is the colourful human cast, whose personalities, talents, and backstories make them some of the most memorable civilians you’ll ever see in a kaiju series while also giving the story its political punch. Dr. Mina Lerna, the human protagonist and paleontologist turned local giant monster expert, who grapples with sexism and ignorance in her quest to make her voice heard—a voice which is telling everyone to stop trying to kill every monster they see and listen to reason—and come out of her shell; Henry Robertson, an African-American reporter for the United Nations News Organization (a cheeky homage to the oft-maligned American cut of the original King Kong vs. Godzilla) who, with Dr. Lerna’s help fights back against the racial bias trying to keep him quiet to offer current and true coverage of the protagonist’s quest to unlock the mysterious of the kaiju; as well as Gwen Valentine, a spunky homage to activist actresses such as Marylin Monroe in her prime, who after being rescued from certain death in a monster-inhabited cavern, offers some much-needed close friendship, good publicity, and funds to Dr. Lerna and their cause. The more villainous humans opposing them also present some amusement and self-awarness, such as the mysterious vindictive government agent J.C. Clark who prioritizes secret government agendas over transparency and honesty, or “Doctor Brick Rockwell,” a machismo meathead straight out of a camp American monster movie who barely passes for a scientist hired as a talking head to perpetuate willful ignorance—as well as sexism—for the government amidst the monster situation.

Of course, this IS a giant monster story and the kaiju side of the cast deserves special mention as well. Despite being deriving from the all-too familiar archetypes you could expect from giant monsters (i.e. dinosaurs, insects, spiders, and reptiles on a giant scale), the monsters A.T.O.M. stand out from the crowd thanks to their colourful characteristics. The majority of which are “Retrosaurs”: alternate history based dinosaurs that evolved from Loricata, a group of ancient reptiles that included the first crocodylians, as opposed to birds and more or less resemble the terrible lizards as they were depicted in older illustrations such as those created by Charles R. Knight. Chief among them is the star monster, Tyrantis, a standard giant green fire-breathing dinosaur but with an out-and-out heroic complex and a goofy side, showing compassion for his fellow monster and human companions, as well as having a tendency to greet new friends and foes by boisterously charging into battle. Joining him are Tyrantra, a even more impressive red-hued female of Tyrantis’s genus, the tyrannopyrodon (i.e. the fire-breath-enabled Retrosaur equivalent to tyrannosaurs); Gorgolisk, a gigantic frilled serpentine creature who serves as the steadfast guardian of the Earth and the mysterious inhabitants of its hollow earth; and Bobo, a big pink and blue quasi-arachnid with a soft heart and a surprisingly playful disposition. The monsters opposing them are no slouches either, such as Ahuul, a ravenous pterosaur-like Retrosaur who takes sadistic delight in swooping down on smaller prey; Myrmidants, a swarm of gigantic fire ants who fight for their colony with equal parts duty and ferocity; and The Terror, a blue-tinted rival Retro  Tyrant who—without giving anything away—only becomes more of a monster as the story continues. Special mention also goes to a giant scorpion, a giant mothman-themed invader, a deadly duo of a giant wasp and mantis, and an entire island of Retrosaurs of almost every species.

 However, as previously stated, for all it’s charming characters and progressive political statements, the first volume of A.T.O.M., like its forebearers, sadly falls prey to the issue of inconsistencies. Everything from the writing itself to the logic of this world suffers from occasional dips in quality to outright plot holes. The first and most noticeable is the abundance of grammatical errors, and while the majority of the novel is tightly written in very sense of the word, I couldn’t help but notice that every few pages there was incorrect punctuation or a misspelled word, which gave a somewhat rushed impression. Another oddity is the sexuality of Dr. Lerna who develops an affectionate attraction to Ms. Valentine, despite the author confirming in a post on the author’s blog made several years before the novels completion, claiming Lerna was aro-ace (found here)—this is more of a metatextual nitpick and if the author made her an asexual lesbian, it’s still quite a progressive choice in that it offers that minority some representation shows ace folk can still pursue romantic relationships—however, it still can’t help but think think it would have been just as valuable to give aro-ace people some representation as well, rather than seemingly backpedalling on a prior statement on a character’s sexuality. Another distraction is how the story seems to be at odds with itself over anthropomorphizing the monsters, where in some scenes they are written with fairly animalistic traits in mind, wherein others they treated as if they were almost cartoon characters. (e.g. Tyrantis breaks into caveman speak in a postscript picture to advertise some more other novels—relatively harmless but jarring nonetheless.) But the most bothersome inconsistencies by far are concerned with the science of the novel. Specifically, despite possessing a narrative that pushes for embracing science and learning, throughout the novel there are numerous instances where outdated biological and paleontological theories are treated as scientific truths, such as when Bobo’s inability to swim is chalked up to the old misconception that spiders breath through their skin and would drown when but in water. But the most damning example would have to be the Retrosaurs, who despite originating from a completely different evolutionary line, largely resemble past media depictions of dinosaurs more than anything else, inaccuracies at all. It could have been fascinating to explore how familiar species such as ornithopods and sauropods would appear if they were derived from ancient archosaurs (i.e. the grand group from which crocodilians originate). This discrepancies between artistic license and science makes it hard to tell just how much of the author’s intent for the origins of these alternative dinosaurs was driven more by a desire to replicate the aesthetic of prior depictions of prehistoric creatures and movie monsters than a wholly original exploration in speculative biology.

 As critical as may be, I do not want to completely discount the author’s efforts. I enjoyed the first entry in the adventures of the mighty Tyrantis and the impeccable Dr. Lerna from start to finish. As a wholly affectionate parody of the great giant monster subgenre, it’s almost everything I could have wanted it to be! What’s more, I would like to see the ATOM series reach its full potential. However, due the author’s attitudes towards modern science and tendency towards error, I don’t know if this series will ever reach that potential. Tyrantis Walks Among Us! is good as a creative comical take on the classic kaiju story with a progressive sociopolitical punch, but as a scientifically conscious evolution of the genre that birthed it, it falls as flat as the tail of a Retrosaur, and it seems it will stay that way—sticking close to the ground and only occasionally swinging upwards.

[rankakiu]

Thoughts of the Droid: Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Hello, people from Tumblr! How has life treated you? As always, I hope very well. On this occasion, I bring to you my opinions and review of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the most recent delivery of the arachnid hero and the latest Marvel Studios movie to close its third phase.

WARNING: NOT SPOILER-FREE. Read at your own risk

Going fully into the review: What did I think of the movie? Short answer: good, but you also feel that Marvel Studios wants to stay in their comfort zone. Now let's analyze the movie in more detail.

Characters: To my personal taste, I must admit that I now like Tom Holland's interpretation of Peter Parker / Spider-Man better. Now in this movie, I could feel that he was doing much more justice to his character. Perhaps it is because of the circumstances surrounding the character in this movie and the conflict he has to deal with to prove again that he is a worthy superhero.

The film offers a human drama in Peter Parker's character, which fortunately feels neither too melodramatic nor too dark. We are introduced to a Peter Parker coping with many things: his return to a world, which during his absence has changed, trying to adapt as best he can. His role as a superhero, and as the world considers him the successor of Tony Stark make him feel an overwhelming weight on his shoulders and above all, tries to carry the death of his mentor Stark. Peter only wishes, even for a few moments, to live a normal life, outside his heroic alter ego. Which, for me, represents a point in our lives where we have to mature if we want to survive in this world. It's like the transition from a teenager to an adult.

As for the villain on duty, Quentin Beck / Mysterio, he is a decent villain, but he could honestly give more potential, if not for the fact that the Marvel Studios made (once again) the mistake of relating the villain of turn with Tony Stark. Apparently, about six villains were not enough. In his favor, the performance offered by Jake Gyllenhaal is quite good and he gives everything of himself so that the villain feels like a real threat, which he achieves by far. It is also interesting to note that he seeks in some way to have the world at his feet, with the illusion of being a new superhero for a new era. His goal is solidly set and I will say it again: he could give more if they had not connected him with Tony Stark.

From the rest of the cast (especially Peter's classmates) uh ... his presence is too much and too much. I honestly do not consider them irritating or annoying characters, but they are only there to fill scenes and provide funny moments (which most work) but nothing more. You are not interested in their lives if they disappear or die. There is nothing interesting in them and I think the film could contribute much more with these characters.

History: Good and entertaining, but with certain problems. If you ask me, most of the story works pretty well. What fails are certain key moments that make the film really feel that Marvel Studios does not want to leave its comfort zone.

I'll start with the point that I think is the most controversial: Peter Parker giving the EDITH glasses to Quentin Beck. And let's be honest, it's a very stupid mistake from Peter. I understand that he is young and has hardly been acquiring experience in the world of superheroes. The problem is that he gives a weapon to a subject he barely knows. If, for example, Mysterio and Spider-Man had had a relationship of trust that would take about a year, then there would be no problem, since there Mysterio earned Spider-Man's trust for longer and would have resulted in betrayal and more painful disappointment in passing. Instead, Peter delivers these lenses when he had been meeting Quentin for a few days (at most a week). On the other hand, at first Quentin's chemistry with Peter as a mentor and student are truly fascinating and wonderfully well written. Where we have a mentor who seeks to give the best possible advice to his adolescent disciple, understanding better than anyone else the situation that Peter is going through. Unfortunately, at the time that Quentin reveals himself as the antagonist, this built chemistry is thrown away.

As I mentioned in the previous point, having related the villain with Tony Stark resulted in an error as well. First, we already have many villains from previous movies related to him. Secondly, it feels forced and taken out of nowhere that Quentin seeks a kind of revenge with Stark. According to his own words, Stark fired him from his industries "for being unstable." Could you explain it further, please? But no, the story makes the character just mention this fact and never delve further, they never show us what really happened so Quentin wanted to be a villain.

Another aspect to criticize is that I think it would have been much more attractive to see that Mysterio really belonged to an alternate Earth and was a hero and mentor to Spider-Man. I mean, in comics many times you have seen Earths and parallel dimensions where villains are heroes and vice versa. Which brings me to another point: they don't show a real consequence of the time travel the Avengers made to defeat Thanos. In many franchises that use this argument, one or more consequences of making such trips are ALWAYS shown, and in films like Terminator or anime like Dragon Ball Z, they have proved it by far.

To end this point, if there were good parts in the story, one of the most notable in my opinion was the first post-credit scene, where Mysterio, using his artistic and illusional skills, has made a video where he incriminates Spider-Man and moreover reveals his identity to the world. Undoubtedly a very exciting point and that opens the door to countless possibilities to exploit within a future story. I find it curious that in this fake video, Mysterio makes himself look like a martyr and Spider-Man, a kind of villain who only wants to remain as the number one hero, regardless of who should trample. By the way, a successful move to have J.K. Simmons repeating his role of J. Jonah Jameson. It was certainly a pleasant surprise to see him there.

Visuals and special effects: Simply amazing, as always. Definitely, the special effects have shone this time, and as proof of this, we have the Elementals, powerful and formidable creatures, composed of the elements of nature. For example, Hydro-Man really looked like a creature made of water at all times. Although of course, we must remember that these creatures are a hologram created by highly technological drones. Similarly, Spider-Man's costumes, as well as Mysterio's have fabulous designs and quite pleasing to the eye.

Action: extremely overflowing. is an action full of adrenaline and very appropriate for our arachnid hero, being also an action full of dynamism, where we see him give pirouettes, jumps, swinging through the air, helped by his cobwebs to get out of any situation. And while it may seem at first glance that the action of the final battle is exaggerated, in my personal opinion, I did not feel that way. Indeed, we saw thousands of armed drones, but the trick here was to put only tens of them in the action so that it didn't feel very overwhelming. I firmly believe that the action is perfectly accomplished and choreographed in detail to make the viewer feel that he is in a Spider-Man film.

In conclusion, Spider-Man: Far From Home, is a good movie to hang out or to see our favorite arachnid hero again on screen. However, despite having many good points, somehow, the bad ones, although few, stand out and that manages to partially overshadow the potential that this film had. It is not a bad film, it is a film that unfortunately shows the vice not only of Marvel Studios but of an entire industry: they are safe because it is more comfortable and they do not take enormous risks that were taken from yesteryear. For now, I give this movie 3 of 5 arachnid suits. A slightly awkward closure to the third phase, but leaving the door open to a fourth phase that can dazzle.

Greetings

Rankakiu

[sophie-summer]

Don’t Fade Away

Book: Endless Summer

Pairing: Jake x MC (Sophie)

Warning: Death of a charapter and angst in general

Words:  3000+

Author’s Note: It’s 2 in the morning, so please excuse any grammar error or whatever thing that doesn’t make sense I can’t think clearly rn. Enjoy it! (or not)

The wound on her leg hadn’t stopped bleeding.

At first, she had barely felt the unpleasant brush of cold metal cutting through her skin, but as she tried to take another step the pain spread from her thigh to the rest of her leg and she couldn’t stand.

The wound wasn’t only deep, who had thrown the blade knew very well what was doing, because somehow the blade must have cut much more than just muscle, maybe a pair of tendons or some nerve. Despite the pain, no matter how hard she tried, some parts of her leg just didn’t obey, not to mention the blood that continued spurting. And it hurt, it hurt so much she could hardly stay conscious, the slightest movement sent a series of painful spasms that radiated all over her body.

She clenched her teeth in preparation for the next when she crawled into some skeletal trees to hide, which was made more difficult by the blade she held tightly in her hand. She used the last of her strength to hide behind a particularly large trunk and collapsed against it.

With shaking hands, trembling breathing and sweaty forehead, she closed her eyes and focused on anything other than pain. The coldness of the snow that penetrated her clothes, the stillness of the dormant forest, the hardness of the bark against her back, the safety that gave her the blade’s metal in her hand. She took a couple of tremulous breaths repeatedly until she could breathe normally.

Her hiding place wasn’t very elaborate, it was rather a pathetic attempt not to stay in the same place, because the trace of blood she had left betrayed her location in an obvious way. But at least, she would have a little more time when, whoever was chasing her, would find her.

She looked down, the white snow under her leg had been dyed in a red circle that grew wider, and even she knew if she lost more blood she wouldn’t last long. Her head had already begun to feel light, she couldn’t afford to waste a second more.

She almost threw up when she tore her pants to see the wound. The side of her thigh had become a jumble of torn flesh. In that exact moment she knew she wouldn’t walk normally again if she recovered from that.

Luckily for her, Grace had also lent her a scarf along with the clothes she had given her earlier, so she would be able to stop the hemorrhage. She had to bite her lip to prevent a scream from coming out her mouth when she tied it over the cut. The bleeding didn’t stop, but it was reduced considerably. Immediately, she took a handful of snow and placed it there, at first the sting made her swear under her breath in all the ways she knew, but the cold helped numb the pain little by little, it still hurt like hell and she couldn’t move her leg yet, but it helped.

At that time, it would have been nice to have Michelle close by, she would have done a better job than her, but when they ran away from the troop of Arachnid soldiers, they had all split up once everyone took a different direction. She only prayed to God the others were in better conditions than her.

Her head laid on the tree. Things didn’t look good at all. She had stopped the bleeding and had half-hidden, but in case her persecutor didn’t find her, there was the fact that she couldn’t move anywhere without the help of someone else. The cold could easily kill her before the wound on her leg.

Perhaps it was the loss of blood what made her hallucinate, but the vapor that formed with her exhalations suddenly stopped shortly after leaving her mouth, as if an invisible wall prevented it from following its course, and the air around her seemed to have become warmer. She closed her eyes, letting herself be carried away by the sensation. Maybe I’m already dying, she thought, this doesn’t feel so bad after all.

“It seems you’re still alive.”

Her eyes opened instantly and her grip tightened around the blade. Although in front of her there was nothing but the same snowy landscape, she was sure the voice hadn’t been product of her imagination, it had sounded too real, too close.

She leaned her weight on one hand to separate herself from the trunk, the feeling of warmth intensified when she did. She watched more closely, the space rippled and contoured in front of her, like happened in a hot day, but that had a more human form. She didn’t have to think twice. Forgetting the pain, the cold and the desperation, her instincts and a surge of adrenaline hit her when she swung the blade in its direction.

It stopped in the middle of the blow, it was torn from her hands and then disappear as soon as it left her hand.

“Don’t you dare use my own blade against me girl.” It was the same voice again.

Sophie kept her eyes fixed on where it came from, looking for the same ripples as before. Her eyes widened when in its place a person materialized out of nothing.

She wore a suit similar to the other Arachnid soldiers, only that hers was more sophisticated. She had a blade in each hand, her blood dull the brightness of one of them and the metal of the other appeared to capture every ray of sun that filtered through the clouds.

“You’re Wolf’s new entertainment.” She took a step closer. “Lundgren told us to keep you all alive, so I can’t kill you. But,” the smile she showed her made a chill run down Sophie’s spine. “Maybe I’ll let him watch a little while I play with you.” She raised her voice and then said. “What do you say Jake?”

Hearing his name made a mixture of relief and fear paralyze her heart. Since she had to leave him to Lundgren, she had begged everything that existed in the world for him to escape and she desperately wanted him to be fine. She knew he would, she didn’t doubt him. However, Jake was stupid enough to risk his life looking for her instead of running away.

It was true Rourke needed them alive for whatever he had planned, but Lundgren was also behind him. Jake had been hiding with very important information that could send him straight to jail if it was made public. Of all of them, Jake was the one who had more to lose.

Terror had every part of her body frozen. Her level of anxiety hadn’t been so high even when she feared for her life, but then it was Jake’s that was at stake. She was already half dead after all, she wouldn’t have minded if he had left and left her behind because that meant he would be safe.

“Come on Jake, this’ll be more fun if you’re here.” The soldier looked around for some hint of him.

Not content with the result, she knelt next to Sophie and slid a gloved finger down her leg without touching the wound, yet it had been very painful and whatever she was going to do next wouldn’t be much more pleasant. She tried to push her hand away, but in her condition even that was too much for her.

“Leave her Jeanine, this is between you and me.” His voice froze time. It was him. Jake was there.

In her heart, she had harbored the little hope he wasn’t there, that it had only been a dirty lie of that woman to make her suffer more. And as long as she didn’t see Jake she could still believe it, but that was no longer an alternative.

“Damn Jake! Get out of here!” She clenched her eyes.

“I told you I ain’t leaving this island without you, Princess.”

Irremediably her eyes were drawn to him. He was standing a couple of meters away from them. He had a few bruises on his jaw, his hair was a complete mess and his jacket had been replaced by one of the Arachnid soldiers, but he was fine. Though she didn’t want him to be there, his presence made her feel safe instantaneously.

When their eyes met, hers were filled with pain, anguish and fear, his with relief, worry and determination.

“Let’s see if you can keep that promise.”

The Arachnid soldier got up and follow pressed some buttons in the center of her suit before disappearing again. Jake looked as bewildered as she when she saw her appear, only it took him less time to recover than it took her.

Instead of approaching Sophie as they would have wanted, Jake remained alert right where he was, waiting for the attack he knew was coming and he didn’t have to wait too much. Her first hit could have been worse, but then she wasn’t trying to kill him just yet, first she had to play with him.

It was difficult to follow a fight in which she only saw one of the fighters, especially when Jake was the one who received the worst part. At first, he hadn’t been able to avoid any of her attacks, the edge of the invisible blades were attacking again and again implacably, each one of the cuts opened in his skin was proof of that.

Despite the fact Jake had been running away for too long, he was a trained soldier, somewhat out of shape, but he still was. And he knew the situation he was in, it was obvious she had the greatest advantage, but that she was invisible didn’t imply her tracks on the snow and the vapor that formed with her breathing were also invisible. Besides, they had been part of the same unit for a long time, and if there was anyone who knew the way she fought and how she moved, that was Jake. So after having spent a few painful minutes, he found a way to avoid most of them, and little by little things matched a lot.

Sophie looked all helpless from where she was. She wanted to do something desperately, anything would have been better than just staying on the ground and observing what was happening, but she was nothing more than a burden. She just wanted to close her eyes and let herself go through the darkness until she fell asleep, but the intensity of the pain kept her conscious enough to know that it wouldn’t be good.

They kept fighting and, at a certain point, that woman, Jeanine, was visible again she wasn’t sure why, but once the advantage was lost, things became simpler for Jake.

They had already spread too much and both were reaching their limit. Jake knew her strength was her agility and speed, in fast battles or when she had the element of surprise there was no better person for the job than her, but in prolonged fights, resistance was always her problem. Jake was clear about what he should do, he had waited patiently for that exact moment.

Among the equipment he had taken from the soldier from which he had escaped, there was also a weapon, and since he had seen Fiddler next to Sophie his hands hadn’t stopped shaking. He had wanted to use it immediately, but having done it would have been stupid given the distance there was between them, those suits were designed specifically for that kind of situation, a bullet if it wasn’t in the right place wouldn’t make a single scratch. To do what he needed he had to be much closer.

When he saw her disappear things got complicated, but soon after he managed to ruin the device that allowed her to be invisible, however that was only a part it. He had had to wait, until she was tired and her reflexes were slow. Once the moment arrived and she was close enough, he didn’t doubt a single second in pulling the trigger. The last thing he saw of her was hatred and satisfaction shining in her eyes.  

At first, when the shot echoed in her ears, Sophie feared Jake was the one who received it and her eyes stayed fixed on him until she saw the soldier fall against the ground and her lifeless body stained the snow in the same way her own blood did. But even so, she didn’t relax and just continued watching, as if waiting for their fragile victory wasn’t real or perhaps, it was more fleeting than she had expected.

Her attention got drawn back to Jake as he slowly turned to her. It was impossible not to feel safe when her eyes met his smile, she even found the strength to bend her own lips in response. Her eyelids were already beginning to flutter heavily and finally she could stop resisting sleep and rest, because whatever happened Jake would be with her.

Jake began to walk the distance between them, but a few steps from her, he fell heavily on his knees. She knew something was wrong, his breathing had become more labored and the handle of what appeared to be a knife protruded from a part of his chest where there should be nothing. But with the curtain that interposed her conscience she couldn’t understand what was wrong in that situation. It wasn’t until she saw the blood she understood it. Jake wasn’t only hurt, he was dying.

What at first, she thought was a simple knife was actually one of Fiddler’s swords crossing Jake’s chest from side to side. Then as realization hit her a pain different from her leg spread in her chest, worse than broken glass circulating in her veins and tearing everything apart.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the distance, but she couldn’t have cared less about who was approaching.

They kept their eyes fixed on each other, with the clear pain drawn in them. What she most wanted at that precise moment was to be in his arms, if Jake was going to die right in front of her eyes, she wanted to die with him, it wouldn’t take her too long to follow the same path of all taking. And despite the fact the distance that separated them was insignificant, none of them could cover it.

“Run away Princess.” It was the last thing his lips ever pronounced before falling to the ground.

“I’m not going anywhere you idiot.”

Tears didn’t come to her eyes because she had no more to be shed. And her body refused to move from the place she was. All she could do was let out the sobs that kept crawling up her throat. She closed her eyes and prayed for tears to fill them, at least in that way the pain could come out in some way and stop crushing everything inside her chest.

The footsteps sounded closer and closer until two familiar figures appeared in her field of vision. She recognized Michelle and Craig immediately. She could see from leagues they were scared and had been running for a while, but showed no sign of having been in a fight, both were fine. Fortunately, it seemed that they hadn’t come across any of Lundgren’s soldiers.

Michelle’s face paled at the sight of blood and the bodies of Jake and Fiddler lying on the floor, while Craig at her side only managed to gasp, though from his expression it was obvious he was about to throw up. Michelle took a couple of deep breaths before regaining her composure and then approached Jake. When kneeling next to him, Sophie focused her attention on Craig, she didn’t need to see the confirmation in her friend’s face of something she already knew. But then Craig noticed her in her hiding place among the trees and his eyes were full of something she didn’t want to face. So she chose to concentrate on her leg instead.

She heard them approach, but she refused to look at them, and it wasn’t so difficult, after all there was no energy left to lift her head.

Life was so ironic sometimes. Long ago if cutting her leg would have made the pain stop, she would have done it gladly, but then that same pain was what kept at bay the despair, fear and anguish that unleashed in her chest every time she thought about Jake.

A hand settled delicately on her shoulder. The touch was soft and gentle, the kind that was meant to comfort. Sophie felt the last pieces of her that was still intact crack. Right after, Michelle set out to check the wound and changed the scarf for some proper bandages.

“Sophie, we have to get you out of here.”

Only then, hearing those words, she dared to look at her. In Michelle’s eyes shone the tears she couldn’t shed.

She just shook her head. She had been pretty sure the only possible fate for her was death, she had prepared for everything, everything except for someone to rescue her, and anyway it wasn’t as if she wanted to be helped.

“The others found a safe place, we have to go.” She repeated gently.

“Go away without me.” Just saying those words hurt her.

“Do you think Jake gave his life for you to die?”

Sophie clenched her teeth. There was no softness in those words, and though she knew Michelle was right, she just couldn’t. How was she supposed to continue with the emptiness in her chest?

Michelle kept waiting and realizing she wouldn’t get any reaction from Sophie, she stood up.

“If you think we’re just going to leave and let you bleed to death, you’re crazy. We’ve already lost enough friends. Craig, help me lift her.”

“No! Please don’t do this,” She pleaded. “I can’t leave him.”

If she could, she would have twisted and fought like never before, but all she could do was beg them to leave her while they ignored her and Craig lifted her carefully.

When they started to move away, she felt as if a part of her soul was suddenly snatched away. And so, the unconsciousness received her, sobbing as Jake’s body faded away into the distance.

[joybrayden]

Step by step instructions to Optimize Your Digital Marketing Strategy in SEO

By this point, you're most likely acquainted with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You handle the ideas and comprehend that it's a significant aspect of any business' online achievement. In any case, where you may run into some difficulty is realizing how to best use SEO.  On the off chance that this portrays you, don't stress, you're not the only one. Numerous organizations battle to appropriately join and adjust their SEO endeavors inside their general advanced promoting procedure. Since this issue is so ordinary, we've made a guide that you can use to change your methodology and position your computerized promoting efforts for progress.

 Need to figure out how to improve your computerized showcasing technique in SEO? At that point read on.

 The most effective method to Optimize Your Digital Marketing Strategy in SEO

 In contrast to nuerous different subjects, SEO improvement is a greater amount of science than a workmanship. While the innovative side is imperative—especially with regards to top notch content—there are clear advances you can take to improve your inquiry rankings and bring more clients into the highest point of your business channel.  The ultimate objective of your SEO improvement endeavors is to arrive at the highest point of Google's first outcomes page since that is the place most web traffic goes. As iMPACT notes, "Sites on the top get 42% of the traffic; the second gets 11% and third just gets 8%. In this way, it plainly demonstrates why your site should be on top."  However, it's not just about getting more snaps. Web optimization driven rankings additionally help your image increment its:

Reach

 Validity

 Authority

 Deals

 Name acknowledgment

 Watchwords – The Kings and Queens of SEO

 In spite of the fact that making top notch content is a basic piece of your advanced promoting system, with regards to SEO, catchphrases despite everything outweigh everything else. In any case, the correct way to deal with SEO isn't centered around stuffing in however many catchphrases as could reasonably be expected, it's tied in with finding the correct objective watchwords—those that your site can rank for.  Be that as it may, how would you distinguish the correct watchwords and afterward execute upon that data? By following three significant advances:  Play out a contender investigation – To play out a contender examination, you can utilize the SEO instrument MOZ to take a gander at your site's Domain Authority. MOZ utilizes a scale going from 0-100. The higher the number, the more legitimate Google believes you to be. You can utilize this to think about your site's positioning against rivals and afterward distinguish high volume catchphrases or new crowd openings.

 Construct a significant catchphrase map – Once you've figured out what positions and what doesn't, you'll have to manufacture an important watchword map, which will fill in as the outline for your substance and site's general structure. You can find watchwords with great pursuit volume and perfect catchphrase trouble utilizing apparatuses, for example, SEMrush, Google Adwords, or Ahrefs. When this is finished, you can outline out by:

 Gathering watchwords that address a similar point or question

 Making potential URLs and container watchwords underneath them

 Utilizing the watchword containers to make potential URLs as well as substance

 Streamline on-page content – Now that you can work out substance that uses the best possible catchphrases, you'll have to work on advancing your website pages for the two clients and web crawlers. On location advancement steps you can take include:

 Include target catchphrases inside the initial 100 words

 Give the blog entry title a H1 tag

 Give subheadings H2 labels

 Keep catchphrase recurrence high (without watchword stuffing)

 Use outside (outbound) and inner connections

 Advance URLs for SEO

 tilize one of a kind watchword rich meta portrayals

 Separate the substance for simple intelligibility

 Content Matters

 Google's center crucial to answer the client's pursuits by furnishing the client with the most applicable, helpful, and state-of-the-art content conceivable. Effective substance isn't about essentially collecting clicks. The objective is to allure page guests to remain on the page and afterward persuade them to continue returning for progressively content.

 Crowd commitment is the situation.

 In spite of the fact that they may appear in conflict, SEO and substance promoting are interconnected supplements that ought to and can be synergized. Thus, regardless of whether it's your blog pages, web duplicate, or some other type of composed substance, each piece should:  Give helpful data (backboned by look into and sound sources), present it in a connecting with and absorbable configuration, and tailor informing to your image and its voice. Have a very much idea out deals message that tends to the intended interest group's essential torment focuses just as their ideal results.  Incorporate important catchphrases that answer search inquiries identified with your image.  End with a source of inspiration (CTA) that impels the peruser forward to the subsequent stage in the business channel.

 Interior Linking and SEO Outreach

 One of the components that space authority measures is the amount and nature of connections going to and from a page. In this way, when others connect to your page, or you incorporate connects to your different pages, you support both of their hunt rankings. As indicated by Forbes:

 Google utilizes connections to discover what content on your site is identified with the inquiry and the estimation of that content. Building a decent inward connecting framework will control the bot when it slithers your site. The bot follows these connections to render pages and decide why they are pertinent to the query item — what are the connections between each page, and which page is progressively significant on your site?

 In light of that, there are two inner connecting systems you should work out:

 Spread connection value – Per Moz, "Once informally alluded to as "interface juice," is an internet searcher positioning component dependent on the possibility that specific connections pass worth and authority starting with one page then onto the next." For best Digital Marketing Companies in Phoenix outcomes, it's significant that you spread out connection value from page to page so each page has interface juice.

 Sustain the low-hanging natural product – There are effectively feasible connections that don't really hold a similar incentive as great connections, however merit adding all through to improve your general interior connecting endeavors. Models may include:

 Cross-connecting with your other organization sites or online journals

 Social profile connects regardless of whether they are "no follow"

 Nearby professional resources

 Public statements

 Social offer/makes reference to

 Component Markup

 Otherwise called diagram markup, this is a more up to date type of improvement inside a computerized advertising system. Also, on the grounds that it's so new, component markup is underutilized.

 In any case, what's going on here?

 It's code added to your site that helps web crawlers pull increasingly valuable data for searchers. Component markups lets you mention to Google what your site information implies and not exactly what it says. For online business sites, item outlines can appear:

 The star rating

 The item cost

 Stock status

 The entirety of this data and more can be remembered for the list items (rich scraps). This gives you more web crawler land, and prompts higher navigate rates (CTR).

 In the event that you locate this intriguing, you can utilize schema.org to increase components and help you in your SEO endeavors.

 Maintain a strategic distance from Technical Issues

 On the off chance that your foundation has any SEO specialized issues, it can keep the site from appearing in web crawlers. Despite the fact that there are a large group of potential issues—both of all shapes and sizes—that you should be keeping watch for, a portion of the more typical issues are:

 Copy page titles

 Missing page titles, meta depictions, and H1 labels

 404s and connections to diverted URLs

Read Also:-   Best mobile marketing strategies to follow in 2020 

 To keep away from specialized issues, there are a few stages you can take, including:

 Examining crawlability

 Discovering what pages Google has really listed

 Compelling Google to list your site utilizing Search Console

 Checking for Errors in Search Console

 Robots.txt and Sitemap.xml

 Robots.txt documents are one of the essential ways you can coordinate a web index—revealing to it where it's permitted and not permitted to go. Its code advises Google what pages ought to get slithered and recorded, and which shouldn't (AKA stamped noindex). A few CMS's have worked in sitemaps with fundamental usefulness to deal with this, yet in the event that you use WordPress, you should go to Yoast SEO for more data.

 In a misrepresentation, Robots.txt are content records that Google's web index insects read, and that stick to a severe organization. Since it's an immediate line of correspondence to the "creepy crawlies" that are connecting with your site, only one mistake can contrarily affect your whole stage. As indicated by Yoast, "Web crawlers file the web by Digital Marketing Companies in Nashville spidering pages, following connects to go from website A to webpage B to webpage C, etc. Before an internet searcher arachnids any page on a space it hasn't experienced previously, it will open that area's robots.txt document, which tells the web search tool which URLs on that website it's permitted to record."  The point: Robots.txt records are your site's watchmen, coordinating Google when its bugs are choosing what to file.

 Canonicals

 Authoritative labels are an approach to advise web indexes that a particular URL fills in as the page's lord duplicate. By utilizing authoritative labels, you can help keep copy or indistinguishable substance from appearing on a few URLs. The following are some accepted procedures to follow:

 Canonicalizing the landing page

 Utilizing sanctioned labels that are self-referential

 Spot-checking dynamic sanctioned labels

 Staying away from blended signs

 Canonicalizing cross-area copies

 Being cautious when you canonicalize close copy pages

 Streamlining Your Digital Marketing Strategy in SEO

 On the off chance that you will likely position higher on SERPs, draw in your crowd, and drive them further down the business channel, upgrading your advanced showcasing technique for SEO is a fundamental move you should make. Fortunately there are simple advances you can follow to guarantee that your site is upgraded. From using catchphrases, delivering great substance, to interior connecting, these are only a couple SEO choices available to you.

[cutemonstercare]

12 Differences Between Spiders And Tarantulas

To some, the differences and similarities between spiders and tarantulas are of little consequence. The only bit of information they cling to is the fear they feel when they see either. But as an avid tarantula lover and owner of four, I needed to know more.

So, what is the difference between a spider and a tarantula? All tarantulas are spiders, but not all spiders are tarantulas. Tarantulas are usually large, always covered in hairs, and they are hunters that pounce on their prey, unlike spiders that spin webs.

Being the largest spider in the world, the Goliath birdeater tarantula is the leader of the family and is only beaten for the record by the giant Huntsman spider due to its elongated legs.

If I imagine a fight between these two colossal spiders, my money would be on the Goliath birdeater as it has a weight advantage, weighing in at 170g.

Another fascinating defense mechanism tarantulas have is flicking the sharp hairs on their abdomen or legs at their enemy. Ouch! If you want to know more about the fascinating characteristics of tarantulas and true spiders, read on.

Seven Differences between True Spiders and Tarantulas

Before we have a look at the differences between spiders and tarantulas, let’s first see what they have in common.

Below is a list of the similarities between mygalomorphs – an infraorder of spiders to which tarantulas belong – and araneomorphae (true spiders).

Eight legs

Fangs

Venom glands (although not all)

Spinnerets

Silk spinning

Two body regions

Male palpi

1. Tarantulas are older

Tarantulas are old-timer arachnids and have been around longer than true spiders.

2. Size

Tarantulas are larger than most other spiders. The average leg span, measured from the front leg to the rear left leg, is between 4.5 to 11 inches. They can weigh anything from 28.3 to 85 grams.

3. Temperature needs

True spiders can tolerate colder temperatures than tarantulas, which prefer warmer climates. Since they contain a type of antifreeze in their bodies, true spiders can withstand temperatures of 41° Fahrenheit; they go dormant until the weather warms up again.

Debunking a Myth: Spiders do not go indoors when it gets cold; they are perfectly fine to stay outside all year round.

4. Their hair and what they use it for

Certain spiders will have hair, but tarantulas are always hairy. Some of these hairs, also called setae, have evolved to be used to defend themselves.

Termed urticating hairs, tarantulas kick these ‘barbed’ hairs off of their abdomen or legs, irritating the victim, and in some instances, even killing small animals.

True spiders don’t possess this defense mechanism, which is okay, they are petrifying enough without it for most people, don’t you agree?

5. Hunting style

Tarantulas don’t spin a web to catch their prey as true spiders do, but they do spin silk. Where other spiders have six spinnerets, tarantulas only have two, and one is barely visible.

But to make up for having less of these silk-exuding tubes, some tarantulas have silk-producing glands in their feet.

Tarantulas will use silk to line the walls of their burrows, spin a ‘door’ to the burrow to keep predators out or use it as a tripwire that will either alert them to unwanted visitors or that dinner has arrived.

Interesting fact: Web-building spiders have very poor eyesight.

6. Claws and grip

Tarantulas and true spiders have two claws at the tip of each leg – except in the case of Orb Weaver members, they have three and use one as a type of thumb.

Spiders use these claws to grip surfaces and to climb their web – but tarantulas have an advantage; they have densely hairy feet that give them extra grip, something they badly need considering their size.

If you look at a tarantula foot under an electron microscope, you will see a footpad with bristles covered in hundreds of thousands of small hairs called setules.

If that is not cool enough, to scale up slippery surfaces, tarantulas will retract their claws, just like a cat, and use only these hairy feet to ascent.

7. Their fangs are different

Tarantulas have strong jaws and fangs. Their fangs are parallel and face downward – think of Dracula – meaning they can only bite top down. When not in use, tarantulas tuck their fangs under their bodies.

True spiders, on the other hand, have fangs that face each other and will swing to the side and open up when they are ready to strike. A true spider’s fangs are much more flexible.

8. Lungs

Spiders only have one book lung; tarantulas have two lungs.

9. Some spiders are vegan?!

Tarantulas are meat-eaters through and through, but some spiders prefer a plant-based diet. Shocking, I know.

10. Venom and deadliness

While most true spiders are harmless, some do have deadly bites. There are 30 spiders of the non-tarantula variety that are deadly to humans. This includes the notorious Australia’s Funnel Web spider, Brazilian Wandering spider, Widow spider, and Brown Recluse spider.

Their venom is a cocktail of peptides, proteins, sugars, and other substances and maybe a neurotoxic or cytotoxic.

A spider bite(arachnidism) that is neurotoxic affects the nervous system of prey animals and humans; cytotoxin is used to liquefy their meals, but in humans, it may cause blisters and lesions.

Lucky for us, we’re not living in the old ages anymore, and antivenin and effective medical care has reduced the number of deaths from spider bites significantly.

Interesting fact: Neurotoxic venom kills quicker than cytotoxic venom. Black Widows and Redback Spiders are known for neurotoxic venom, and Recluse spiders have necrotizing cytotoxic venom.

Tarantulas are harmless when it comes to venom; the bite of a new world tarantula has been said to be similar to a bee sting. Old world tarantulas, however, do pack more punch, and their bites can involve swelling, pain, and even nausea.

Although there aren’t a lot of studies on the potency of tarantula venom, research is currently being done on its pharmaceutical use to treat pain and epilepsy.

Interesting fact: Mature male tarantulas may have more potent venom since they have to travel far and wide to find females and will inevitably face large predators along the way.

Of course, it doesn’t matter how mild a true spider or tarantula’s venom is, there is always the chance of an infection or allergic reaction, so best to avoid it altogether!

11. Eyes and vision

True spiders usually have eight eyes, some can have six or less, and others may be completely blind! Tarantulas always have eight eyes, and studies have shown that arboreal tarantulas have better vision than terrestrial or fossorial tarantulas.

However, what we know about their vision is limited to light, shadows, and motion.

Of all spiders, jumping spiders have remarkable vision and are said to be able to see the craters on the moon? Say what? How is that even possible?

Well, the two large eyes in the center of their forehead pick up details and color, and thanks to specific filters, these spiders can see more colors than we can.

The second pair of eyes perceive motion, and this indicates to the spider where it should look, and the function of the third pair is yet unknown!

Fun fact: Jumping spiders can chase a laser like cats.

12. The lifespan of Tarantulas vs The lifespan or True Spiders

If cared for properly, pet tarantulas will easily outlive your cat or dog. Female tarantulas have a longer lifespan, with some growing to be 30 years old. Sadly, most males only live for seven years.

Even though tarantulas have longer lives compared to true spiders, the oldest spider in the world was not a tarantula but a female Armored Trapdoor spider. She was 43 years old when she died in 2016. (Source)

This, however, was a particular case as spiders other than tarantulas aren’t usually kept as pets, leaving them to fend for themselves in nature and face predators of various sizes.

In general, the life expectancy of most true spiders is between two and three years, but some true spiders, like the Australian Funnel Web spider, for example, can live up to 25 years.

Females tend to live longer because they don’t have to travel around to find a mate, lessening their encounters with predators.

It’s a hard life if you’re a male spider; you search far and wide for your spidermate, face threatening situations, and after seeing your companion, there’s a high possibility you will get cannibalized. Shame man.

Best Tarantulas to Keep as Pets

With over more than 800 tarantula species, you’re spoilt for choice. But before you get yourself the most aggressive tarantula possible, for example, the ill-tempered Cobalt Blue, start with the more docile ground dwellers and burrowers mentioned below.

Mexican Red Knee

Chilean Rose

Costa Rican Zebra

Mexican Redleg

Honduran Curly Hair

Pink Zebra Beauty

Pink Toe

Brazilian Black

Mexican Red Rump

Desert Blonde

Best True Spiders to Keep as Pets

If you’re not a fan of owning a big hairy tarantula but still want a spider as a pet, you’re in for a journey of trial and error.

Although there are some basic care needs to keep spiders alive, there are subtle differences in the requirements that must be met to keep your spider happy and not just breathing.

And considering that owning spiders other than tarantulas are not common, there isn’t a lot of information on keeping such pets.

That being said, the two most common true spiders that are kept as pets are wolf spiders and jumping spiders.

Now, after reading just how remarkable jumping spiders are, I am keen to get one myself. But good grief, caring for such a small creature, must be even more nerve-wracking than looking after a Goliath birdeater.

What if Spinderella escapes from her tiniest of enclosures, I would be heartbroken!

When it comes to wolf spiders, you might be confused in thinking that this is a type of tarantula, and yes, some of the species do look a lot like tarantulas.

However, they’re from the araneomorphae infraorder, making them true spiders.

Wolf spiders are very unassuming; it will take a lot, and I mean really threatening a wolf spider for them to strike.

That makes them the ideal true spider pet, and since they are much bigger than the tiny jumping spider, you’ll have an easier time enjoying your pet, as you will actually be able to see it!

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

SpaceX, Game of Thrones & Anthem

In this latest marvellous and riveting episode we are going to first travel into the cold, quiet and overcrowded outer space. That’s right, we are going into earth orbit and visiting the ISS (International Space Station) where Space X has just docked the new Dragon Capsule. This is the next step in a flight to the moon in 2023, still trying to get a ticket if anyone has one. The capsule was only a test with a dummy aboard, and no, not Trump. Next up is the fast approaching final season of Game of Thrones – season 8 – with what is looking like a record breaking battle scene that took weeks to film. This is expected to be more epic than Helms Deep, even the extended edition. Then we look at the fact that Anthem is hard crashing consoles and systems around the world. Cue the music “Queen – Another One Bites The Dust.” That’s right folks, EA has struck again, and this time it gets personal with systems and consoles being bricked by this latest screw up. There is mention of compensation floating around, so hopefully word will spread before too many systems are wrecked. Then we have the games of the week, the weekly shout outs, birthdays, remembrances and events of interest from this week in history. As always we would welcome any feedback, suggestions or whatever. Until next week, stay safe, look out for each other and stay hydrated.

EPISODE NOTES:

SpaceX Docking - https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/hard-capture-is-complete-spacex-capsule-docks-with-international-space-station/news-story/570efb7ec61650520a5ccef2732229db

Game of Thrones Season 8 - https://bgr.com/2019/03/04/game-of-thrones-season-8-spoilers-the-battle-of-winterfell-detailed/

Anthem shuts consoles down - https://twistedvoxel.com/anthem-full-system-level-crashes-refund/

Games Currently playing

Buck

– Skyrim - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - https://store.steampowered.com/app/72850/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim/

DJ

– Apex Legends - https://www.ea.com/games/apex-legends

Professor

– Tetris 99 - https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/tetris-99-switch

Other topics Discussed

Soyuz (Russian spacecraft)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_(spacecraft)

Soyuz Space Crew Launch Failure 2018

- https://www.space.com/42117-soyuz-abort-crew-launch-failure-2018-coverage.html

Trump congratulating SpaceX

- https://www.space.com/trump-hails-spacex-crew-dragon-success.html

Trump’s Apple Blunder

                - https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/donald-trump-makes-awkward-blunder-with-apple-ceos-name/video/971ea09386b95981d3cfe0c6396000f8?nk=566c96d427a8dc7faa082c6bd4a1a92c-1551954567

- https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/06/president-trump-calls-apple-ceo-tim-apple-instead-of-tim-cook.html

NASA leadership

- https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-leadership/

Delta-v (change in velocity)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-v

US Army’s No Kill AI Public Relations move

- https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/03/us-army-assures-public-that-robot-tank-system-adheres-to-ai-murder-policy/

Blue Origin Grasshopper rockets

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshopper_(rocket)

- https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/24/9793220/blue-origin-vs-spacex-rocket-landing-jeff-bezos-elon-musk

Space industry in South Australia

- https://www.spaceconnectonline.com.au/launch/2116-south-australia-uniting-space-industry-for-crc

How Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen are related

- https://www.thisisinsider.com/game-of-thrones-jon-snow-and-daenerys-targaryen-related-aunt-nephew-2017-3

Walking 10,000 steps per day

- https://www.livescience.com/43956-walking-10000-steps-healthy.html

Comparisons between Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Battle of Helm’s Deep and Games of Thrones Battle of Winterfell

- http://www.darkhorizons.com/thrones-final-battle-to-outdo-helms-deep/

Mass Effect 3 (2012 video game)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect_3

Brain Bug (Starship Troopers Arachnid)

- https://starshiptroopers.fandom.com/wiki/Brain_Bug

Windows 98 rollover bug

- https://www.cnet.com/news/date-rollover-bug-in-windows-98/

Anthem Demo problems

- https://www.polygon.com/2019/1/27/18199405/anthem-vip-demo-down-bioware-fix-infinite-loading-errors-pc-ps4-xbox-one

Uhtred (Last Kingdom character)

- https://the-last-kingdom.fandom.com/wiki/Uhtred

Hidden chamber found under the Great Pyramid of Giza 

- https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/scientists-discover-hidden-chamber-in-the-great-pyramid-of-giza/news-story/d6afdc5ca473b80f9eee689b19b1f3e1

Shoutouts

4 Mar 2019 - Playstation 2 turns 19 - https://www.siliconera.com/2019/03/04/playstation-2-celebrates-its-19th-birthday-today-what-were-your-favorite-ps2-games/

4 Mar 2019 – John Candy died 25 years ago - https://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/9202816-john-candy-s-enduring-legacy-25-years-after-his-death/

5 Mar 1558 - Smoking tobacco introduced into Europe by Spanish physician Francisco Fernandes - http://www.stevenlberg.info/today/1876

5 Mar 1953 - Mass Murderer Stalin Goes to His Grave - https://www.onthisday.com/articles/mass-murderer-stalin-goes-to-his-grave

Remembrances

4 Mar 2019 – Luke Perry, American actor who played as Dylan McKay on the TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. He also starred as Fred Andrews on the CW series Riverdale and had guest roles on notable shows such as Criminal Minds, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Simpsons, and Will & Grace. He died of a stroke at 52 in Burbank, California - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Perry

4 Mar 2019 - Christopher Alan Pallies, American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, King Kong Bundy. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Bundy wrestled in the main event of WrestleMania 2 in 1986, facing Hulk Hogan in a steel cage match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. While there is no official cause of death, he died in Glassboro, New Jersey at 61 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_Bundy

4 Mar 2019 – Keith Flint, English vocalist and dancer most associated with the electronic dance act The Prodigy. Starting out as a dancer, he became the frontman of the group and performed on the group's two UK number one singles, "Firestarter" and "Breathe" both released in 1996. He took his own life at 49 in Great Dunmow, Essex - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Flint

5 Mar 1827 - Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta, Italianphysicist,chemist, and a pioneer of electricity and power, who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and the discoverer of methane. He invented the Voltaic pile in 1799, and reported the results of his experiments in 1800 in a two-part letter to the President of the Royal Society. With this invention Volta proved that electricity could be generated chemically and debunked the prevalent theory that electricity was generated solely by living beings. Volta's invention sparked a great amount of scientific excitement and led others to conduct similar experiments which eventually led to the development of the field of electrochemistry. The SI unit of electric potential is named in his honour as the volt. He died at 82 in Como, Lombardy-Venetia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Volta

Famous Birthdays

5 Mar 1910 - Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese inventor and businessman born in Imperial Japanese Taiwan who founded Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd.. He is known as the inventor of instant noodles and the creator of the brands, Top Ramen and Cup Noodles. Born in Japanese Taiwan, Empire of Japan (now Puzi,Chiayi County,Taiwan,Republic of China) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momofuku_Ando

5 Mar 1934 - Daniel Kahneman,Israeli-American psychologist and economist notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, as well as behavioural economics, for which he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (shared with Vernon L. Smith). His empirical findings challenge the assumption of human rationality prevailing in modern economic theory. Born in Mandatory Palestine -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman

5 Mar 1974 – Eva Mendes, American actress, model and businesswoman. Her acting career began in the late 1990s, with a series of roles in B films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) and Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000). Mendes's performance in Training Day (2001) marked a turning point in her career, and led to parts in the commercially successful films 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and Hitch (2005), the latter of which made her one of the first minority actors to play the lead in a mainstream romantic comedy. She starred in Ghost Rider (2007) and The Spirit (2008), both film adaptations of comics, and ventured into more dramatic territory with We Own the Night (2007), Bad Lieutenant (2009), Last Night (2010), and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012). Mendes has appeared in several music videos for artists like Will Smith, and has also been an ambassador for brands, including Calvin Klein,Cartier,Reebok,Pantene shampoo, Morgan, and Peek & Cloppenburg. She has designed for New York & Company and is the creative director of CIRCA Beauty, a makeup line sold at Walgreens. Born in Miami, Florida - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Mendes

6 Mar 1966 - Alan Davies, English stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He has played the title role in the BBC mystery drama series Jonathan Creek since 1997, and has been the only permanent panellist on the BBC panel show QI since 2003, outlasting hosts Stephen Fry (2003–16) and Sandi Toksvig (2016–present) who took over after Fry's exit. Born in Loughton, Essex - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Davies

Events of Interest

5 Mar 1872 – George Westinghouse Jr patents the railway air brake.

                                -http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/p/120861/1378079.aspx

                                -http://www.patent-invent.com/air_brake_patent.html 

                                -http://www.freepatentsonline.com/124405.pdf

5 Mar 1904 - Nikola Tesla describes the process of the ball lightning formation in Electrical World and Engineer - https://www.wired.com/2010/03/0305tesla-ball-lightning/

5 Mar 1975 - Homebrew Computer Club is established in a Silicon Valley garage. From its ranks will emerge industry pioneers like Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and hacker John Draper, aka Captain Crunch.

                - https://www.wired.com/2009/03/march-5-1975-a-whiff-of-homebrew-excites-the-valley-2/

                - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_Computer_Club

5 Mar 1979 – NASA’s Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to Jupiter coming within 172,000 miles of the planet’s surface. - https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/edn-moments/4408335/Voyager-1-makes-closest-approach-to-Jupiter--March-5-1979

5 Mar 1981 – The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research and would go on to sell over 1.5 million units around the world. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX81

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

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How the game around sports is changing

S hobby in non-cricket sports activities gains ground in India, broadcasters and advertisers are trying to maximize their profits. A record, Rise of Indian Sports Leagues by using the manner of BARC India breaks down the viewership pie to help recognize how the sport around sports is converting.

While cricket although dominates the Indian sports activities viewership pie, the contribution of various sports is now over 20 consistent with cent (2016) eighty consistent with the cent of the viewership contribution comes from surely six residences — Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Indian Super League (ISL), Rio Olympics 2016, Kabaddi World Cup 2016, Premier Badminton League, and Hockey India League PKL is the maximum well-known property with a percentage of sixty-one in step with cent, accompanied by using the use of ISL at 16 in keeping with cent Hockey India League has the lowest viewership interior these kinds of homes

Kabaddi has the very exceptional Impressions further to reach amongst visitors, PKL leads located by Kabaddi World Cup 2016 For ISL, at the same time as the viewer base of the assets is low, it has extraordinarily high stickiness among its viewers The three most famous residences, PKL, Kabaddi World Cup 2016 and ISL, all have a higher girl viewership compared to the other properties Kabaddi additionally has the very best contribution from the younger age-groups: four-14 years and 15-30 years, among all properties Football has the best contribution by using the 51+ age organization among all properties Kabaddi is observed the maximum in AP/Telangana, observed by Maharashtra/Goa and Karnataka. Within that, the percentage of Maharashtra/Goa in PKL is plenty higher than for Kabaddi World Cup 2016 ISL has most viewership in the soccer loopy markets of Kerala, West Bengal, and Assam/North East/Sikkim. Interestingly, that is the only belongings which do not have a high viewership in Maharashtra/Goa Rio Olympics 2016 has the maximum viewership spread throughout multiple markets Premier Badminton League has the maximum viewership in Assam/North East/Sikkim market. Hockey India League has the highest viewership in Punjab/Haryana/Chandigarh/HP/J&K marketplace

New Queen Board Game Could Inspire Other Bands To Create Similar Products

The maximum well-known board game in the world has been in the news recently, although for 2 absolutely one-of-a-kind motives. The first occasion regarded the assertion that the organization had determined to alternate a number of the game portions.

In the new edition, the set can be sold without the boot, wheelbarrow, and thimble, three of the traditional recreation portions. In their location might be a penguin, a rubber ducky, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

A few days later, the game made information inside the track international.

The band who once turned into deemed as greater popular than The Beatles, Queen, has created a similar board sports base on their profession.

The design strains the exclusive degrees of Queen’s history, starting from their formation inside the late sixties through the dying of front man Freddie Mercury in 1996. The game portions also mirror the band’s profession, beginning with a hammer that represents the unmarried “Hammer To Fall” from the album called The Works. Other pieces encompass Brian May’s unique guitar, the robot from the cover of the News of the World album, a vacuum cleaner that remembers the traditional video for “I Want To Break Free” and a bicycle that indicates the destroy hit “Bicycle Race” from the Jazz album.

Following the lead set by using the group that gave us “Bohemian Rhapsody” alongside numerous enduring hits, other bands might determine to create a similar board game reflecting their careers. These items would very probably emerge as prized possessions for tens of millions of nostalgic enthusiasts.

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey

The surviving individuals of The Who should oversee a board sport primarily based on their history. The squares may want to include a “Detour” to mark the original name of the institution, in addition, to take members through highlights such as the rock opera Tommy, the epic Quadrophenia, the classic Who’s Next album, and eventually their induction into the Rock Hall of Fame.

Like the Queen set, the Who game might have pieces associated with their notable hits. A squeeze container may want to represent that Top Ten unmarried from Who By Numbers, and a miniature bus may mirror their sixties anthem “Magic Bus.” Other pieces must consist of a pinball system for “Pinball Wizard” from Tommy, a “Bell Boy” for the fan favorite from Quadrophenia, and a spider for bassist John Entwistle’s music approximately the arachnid named Boris.

Most bands with a storied history so long as that of the Who should create a recreation much like the one Queen will make to be had in May. It might not only be a thrilling venture, however very possibly result in a revived appreciation for their music.

A Quick Look at Chiropractic Sports Medicine

The whole idea of recovery the frame without relying on the surgical operation or medicinal drug is pretty practical and worth thinking about. One of the most used forms of treatment these days is chiropractic. Sadly, most of the people believe that chiropractic care is restricted to the remedy of lower back and neck ache. In this publish, we are able to explain the blessings of chiropractic sports activities medication.

What’s Chiropractic Sports Medicine?

Sports Chiropractic, also known as chiropractic sports activities medicinal drug, is an evolving and budding branch of chiropractic, which aims at improving the overall performance of athletes of different sports. This particular branch of chiropractic know-how is the first-rate boon for athletes and others who are or need to be a bodily match. Besides recovery and stopping musculoskeletal injuries, sports chiropractic facilitates in improving common performance, persistence, agility and strength. Chiropractic care has been around for masses of years, however, it was in 1980 that a chiropractor began running with America Olympic scientific team. Ever seeing that then, using chiropractic care and recuperation in sports activities has simplest multiplied. Today, maximum of the professional groups have an in-house chiropractor that their athletes have at their disposal.

Understanding The Role of Sports Chiropractors

The task of a sports chiropractor is a specialized one. They regularly depend upon specialized recovery techniques alongside other varieties of non-invasive remedies for his or her customers, together with bloodless laser remedy and spinal decompression. Sports chiropractors are predicted to have in-depth expertise and expertise of different not unusual sports-related injuries. For athletes, chiropractors use a ‘fingers-on’ approach for every harm to the high-quality possible quantity, without using capsules or drugs. In intense instances, an athlete may additionally want both therapeutic remedies and chiropractic restoration, and for such conditions, a sports activities chiropractor may additionally endorse other sorts of recuperation and care, as nicely. If you are bodily active, touring a sports activities chiropractor may be useful in many approaches.

What Else Is There to Know?

Before you go to a chiropractor, you need to know their regions of knowledge. As mentioned, sports activities chiropractors are recognized for his or her understanding of injuries and commonplace problems related to numerous sports. On your first go to, the concerned team of workers will ask some questions and different factors associated with education, very well look at you and in all likelihood obtain diagnostics before rendering or suggesting a treatment plan. Look for clinics which are acknowledged for their remedy and can offer different sorts of opportunity remedy. Usually, sports teams do hire their chiropractors one by one, but if you are an athlete and want greater than simply well know care, you can seek advice from a professional independently.

Signs That Your Spouse is Changing Their Mind About the Divorce

I frequently write about saving marriages that many belief is irretrievably broken. Sometimes, humans write me and ask how they are able to tell if their spouse is converting their minds approximately the divorce. They need to understand if certain behaviors that they are starting to see are precise signs and symptoms or if they’re simply seeing what they want to look. In the subsequent article, I’ll tell you what you should be doing if you’re trying to trade your partner’s thoughts approximately the divorce and additionally what signs and symptoms to look for that imply that the plan is operating.

First, Do You Have The Right Plan To Change His Mind?

Before I inform you the symptoms to search for, I’d like to go over a few things that I’ve determined to be very powerful in turning things round. First off, it’s so vital which you understand that something plan you’re the use of must not be eliciting terrible feelings. Many spouses will make the error of looking to play “hardball,” or to “call his bluff.” This conduct most effective pushes your spouse in addition away.

I also see human beings go to the other intense as they become nearly subservient to their spouse

Making desperate guarantees that things are going to be unique, seeking to engage their partner or pushing their buttons, or gambling the guilt or pity playing cards. All these things do is make you seem less than desirable and push your spouse to want to escape as soon as they possibly can.

It’s ways better to focus at the fantastic. Yes, I recognize that little or no might also appear advantageous proper now, however it is vital to act “as if” it already has. It’s vital that your spouse is aware of which you recognize their feelings and want them to be happy. Explain which you’d like to help them to obtain this – whether or not that consists of you or now not.