#i put geiger first

[illiana-mystery]

What r your top 5 Willem characters atm? 👀

Oh, that's a good question. Well, I think I can give you a pretty good answer. 😉 Here's the five I really like so far...

John Geiger (Speed 2: Cruise Control)

Bobby Hicks (The Florida Project)

Leonhard Seppala (Togo)

Paul Smecker (The Boondock Saints)

Joe Cribbens (Dead for a Dollar)

My sixth pick, if asked, would be...

Carson Clay (Mr. Bean's Holiday)

I also have some honorable mentions:

Klaus (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou)

Bud Carter (Bad Country)

John Clark (Clear and Present Danger)

Lionel "Elvis" Cormac (Daybreakers)

Hope that answers your question. 😊

[bayesic-bitch]

Schrodinger: Okay, I think there's an issue with the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. Here's a thought experiment to demonstrate why its understanding of "observations" is problematic. Suppose we put a cat in a box with a sample of uranium, a geiger counter, and a hammer rigged to smash open a box of poison if the geiger counter detects any radiation. After an hour,there's a 50% chance the cat is alive. But according to the Copenhagen interpretation,

Tumblr: I'm gonna cut you off there. That's horrible, I would never do that to a poor defenseless cat. It's so easy to avoid putting a cat in a box with radiation and hammers and poison. You've deliberately constructed an extremely avoidable situation and then asked people to consider it inevitable. Why aren't we asking ourselves what institutions had to fail for the cat to end up in the box in the first place?

Schrodinger: ...

[d20-lesbian]

AFTER AN OVERWHELMING WAVE OF SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT, I'VE DECIDED TO POST THE WILL WOOD ESSAY!!!! it's below the break !!!!

I would like to really quickly state though that this essay is my property, I put a lot of time and effort into this, so please don't claim it as your own !!!! thank you <33

I will be analysing Will Wood’s song ‘Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Marybell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally’. which, for simplicity, most fans refer to as simply ‘Suburbia Overture’. This song is the first on his first solo album entitled ‘The Normal Album’, which came out in July 2020.

This song, in the most general possible terms, is a criticism of modern suburban life, how it is advertised as “the perfect life”, and how this advertising is incredibly false unless you fit the picture perfect standard that these facets of society seem to require.

The song itself is split up into 3 distinct sections, "Greetings from The Marybell Township!", “(Vampire) Culture” and “Love Me, Normally”. I'll be tackling each section one at a time in order to properly break down what each means, what different analogies they use, how they all relate to each other and the intended end result of the song and the message it intends to convey.

Let's begin with 'Greetings from The Marybell Township!'.

This section of the song uses a lot of analogies that compare suburban life to a warzone, the first line of this section being “white picket fences, barbed wire and trenches”. This section also focuses heavily on the concept of the nuclear family, and it often literalises the term and uses analogies based around radiation and nuclear warfare. Such analogies can be found in lines such as “the snap crackle pop of the Geiger, camouflage billboards for lead lined Brookes Brothers”. Now there's a couple of terms that require definitions in this line. The first of course being “the Geiger”. A Geiger counter, which is what this lyric is referring to, is a tool used to measure levels of harmful radiation. This, paired with the concept of billboards advertising “lead-lined Brookes Brothers” when lead is a material used to deflect radiation, and the knowledge that ‘Brookes Brothers’ is an American vintage style clothing brand, this line really paints a picture of a seemingly post apocalyptic/post nuclear war but still consumerist and capitalistic suburban society. The last line in that verse is “buy now or die”, which ties back to the concept of safety equipment being advertised on billboards, while residents of this town have no choice but to buy the products. This all relates back to the hyperconsumerism that plagues our society, and runs particularly rampant in middle to upper middle class neighbourhoods. The very same neighbourhoods that are often referred to as “suburban”

In the second verse of this section there are a lot of hard hitting lyrics that to me really show that this perfect idealised life is far from perfect or even good, so we will work through them one by one because I feel that they all deserve proper analysis.

The first line that i want to point out from that verse is the line “takes a village to fake a whole culture” which is clearly a rip off of the phrase “it takes a village [to raise a child]” but it also references the fact that usually suburban towns are incredibly monotonous in both residents and architecture, and so it takes the collective effort of the entire population of the town to pretend that there is an actual culture to it.

The next few lines I'll speak on all come in quick succession of one another, essentially blending them into one line.

“Your ear to the playground, your eye on the ball, your head in the gutter, your brains on the wall.”

So let's break these down. This line is easily split into 4 distinct phrases, and all of these phrases have a few things in common, which I will point out later.

“Your ear to the playground” is a play on the phrase “ear to the ground” which essentially means that the person with their ‘ear to the ground’ is attempting to carefully gather intel about something. Someone having their ear to the playground simply reinforces the idea of this suburban “paradise” being. Not as paradise-y as one would hope, seeing as the people who use playgrounds most of all are children, so this line is demonstrating that the picture perfect life that this suburban town offers is actually corrupting children so young that they are still on the playground.

The next phrase is “your eye on the ball” isn't a play on anything and is in fact in itself a common phrase. To have your eye on the ball means to be entirely focused in and paying attention to something, and not allowing anything to divert your attention. Given the last line this line very well could be another reference to the corruption of the youth and the idea that their every day play has already been tainted with the hostilities of modern life usually reserved for adults.

Following this is another well known saying “your head in the gutter” which, as most know, someone whos head is ‘in the gutter’ is someone who will see some sort of innuendo or otherwise vulgar/inappropriate meaning in something that was intended to be entirely innocent, leading to others in the interaction telling the perpetrator to ‘get [their] mind out of the gutter’

And finally, in my opinion the most hard hitting phrase in this set, “your brains on the wall” which is clearly in reference to the notion of ending your own life with a shot to the head, which would lead to, well, brains being on the wall. These last 2 phrases come in stark contrast to the seemingly picture perfect life that suburban towns offer and advertise, the concepts of suicide and perversion are not concepts one expects to see or hear when imagining this idealised form of life.

There is one main similarity in each of the 4 phrases, that being that each phrase has some body part being on something else, your ear to the playground, your eye on the ball, your head in the gutter, your brains on the wall. This similarity almost offers a body horror aspect to the song, which when paired with the concept that this is written about a seemingly post nuclear apocalyptic town presents an interesting idea of possible mutation, but i'll be the first to admit that may be a little far fetched. However that's not the only similarity that these 4 phrases share, another is the fact that they are all directly, or only slightly modified versions of already well known phrases, a similarity that is found in many lines over this entire song, through all 3 sections.

I want to analyse a few more lines before we move on to the second section of the song.

This next line comes directly after the previously analysed line, and it goes “home is where the heart is, you ain't homeless, but you’re heartless”

Sticking with the theme of using already existing and commonly used phrases, “home is where the heart is'' is once again a phrase that you could likely find as a cross stitch hung up on the wall of any of the homogenous houses you could likely find in this idealised suburbia. But what Wood is saying in this line is that home is where the heart is, and that while people in this town may not be homeless, they are certainly heartless, meaning that they in fact don't have homes. They have houses. Rows upon rows of houses that all look the exact same in the horrifying monotony that is suburban living.

Following this line is the lyric “it's the safest on the market, but you still gotta watch where you park it”. These lines seem to be in reference to buying a car. The car being the "safest on the market" is likely in reference to the fact that it may have a lot of safety features. But this is immediately negated by the fact that you “still gotta watch where you park it” meaning that the safety features could be a reason that the car gets stolen, rendering all the safety that those features offered useless because in the end it made the car and the owner less safe.

In the third verse of this section, you immediately hear the line “so give me your half-life crisis” which partially is a play on the term ‘mid life crisis’ wherein which one realises that they may have wasted their life up till that point and they're already halfway through, but the use of the term “half-life” instead of ‘mid-life’ is very intentional, as the term “half-life” can also be used to refer to the half-life of an isotope, which is the amount of time that isotope takes to lose half of its radiation, which ties back into the theme of radiation that we see mentioned a lot in this section.

Later in the same verse is the line “if it's true that a snowflake only matters in a blizzard”, which is interesting in a few ways, first, it brings up the idea of a singular individual means nothing on their own and that they only matter when they’re part of something larger or a larger group, but i also think that the use of the terms “snowflake” and “blizzard” instead of something like ‘raindrop’ and ‘storm’ is very intentional in the fact that snowflakes are known for being individual, none are alike, every single one is different. So saying that a snowflake doesn't matter unless it's in a blizzard is yet another hit at individuality, essentially implying that in this town individuality means nothing and is essentially rendered useless.

The final line in this verse is “everybody's all up in my-” repeated thrice, and on the third time the sentence is finished to say “everybody’s all up in my business” and before the word “business” can be finished its overlapped with the beginning of the chorus, the first word of which is a very loud “SUBURBIAAAA!”. I believe this is reminiscent of the fact that in towns like this, everyone cares so much about what everyone else is doing, they’re all so interested in everyone else's business, and i think that sentiment being stated and cut off by the word “Suburbia” is essentially saying that ‘this is the norm, this is just Suburbia, this is how it works around here.’

After the final chorus of this section, in the final verse, you'll find the line “chameleon peacocks are talk of the town” which particularly interests me because if you know anything about chameleons or peacocks you’d find that they seem incredibly different as animals. Chameleons blend into their environment in order to stay safe, whereas peacocks are known for parading around bright colours to make themselves look better, but if you think about it the term “chameleon peacock” actually makes a lot of sense, a person who blends into their surroundings in order to make themselves look good. This sentiment seems to perfectly describe the homogeneity of the people that live in these perfect towns, they're all the same, they blend in with one another in order to make themselves look good, or perfect.

Another line heard shortly afterwards is the phrase “he cums radiation”, rather vulgar, I grant you, but it's important because it is yet another literalisation of the phrase ‘nuclear family’. It could also be a reference to the general toxicity of this societal norm.

The final line in this section of the song is “the dog bites the postman, as basement eyes dream of a night at the drive-in, with an AR-15”. Which is another use of juxtaposition, intended to cause a kind of whiplash in the listener and reinforce the idea that while in this place there is scenarios that would happen in a hollywood movie esque picture perfect neighbourhood, like the dog biting the postman, there's also horrors that lurk below the surface. (although clearly not TOO far below.)

Now let’s move on to the second part, ‘(Vampire) Culture’.

If you listen to the song, you’ll immediately be able to recognise where 'Greetings from The Marybell Township!' ends and ‘(Vampire) Culture’ begins, due to the insane juxtaposition between the two. Where 'Greetings from The Marybell Township!' is soft and sort of reminiscent of the 1950’s, ‘(Vampire) Culture’ is loud, jarring and grotesque, complemented with much raspier and strained sounding vocals compared to 'Greetings from The Marybell Township!' ’s soft and melodic ones. The tone for this section of the song is immediately set with much more graphic lyrics, the very first line of this section (after the opening scream) is “i dropped my eyeballs in the bonfire, we fucked on a bed of nails” which absolutely sets the scene for how different this section will be to the previous.

This song immediately jumps into using cannibalism as a metaphor, with the first line after the jump start opener being “I caught kuru from your sister, and I'm laughing in jail”. While this line is written to sound like the concept of catching an STD from an act of adultery, Kuru is actually a disease only found in human brain tissue, meaning that you can only contract this disease by eating a human brain, and what's one of the symptoms for this disease? Uncontrollable laughter.

This use of cannibalism as a metaphor is used again immediately after in the line “smell those screaming teenage sweetbreads on that 4th of July grill”, ‘sweetbread’ is the term used to refer to the pancreas and thymus gland of an animal, usually a lamb, but in this particular case it is in reference to the human teenagers that supposedly lived in The Marybell Township, or a least they did before they were dissected, cooked and served at a neighbourhood 4th of July barbeque hosted by the same people that were once referred to as their neighbours.

This line adds an interesting level of patriotism to the song and criticism of how America utilises patriotism and their love for their country as means to justify harming the youth, however a 4th of July neighbourhood barbeque is also commonly associated with white picket fence gated community America, which ties us back to the base criticism of that style of life and how it is seen as the “proper” and “perfect” way to live.

These cannibalistic sentiments are followed up with the line “smile and wave boys, kiss the cook, live laugh and love, please pass the pills.” which brings us back to the repeated use of commonly known sayings being taken directly or modified only slightly to remind the listener of the setting were in, that being a seemingly 1950’s era tight knit neighbourhood.

Phrases like “live laugh [and] love” or “kiss the cook” are both phrases that could easily be seen in a setting like this, especially “kiss the cook”, as this is a phrase commonly associated with aprons worn by grillmasters at neighbourhood barbeques, not unlike the cannibalistic 4th of July barbeque that this particular neighbourhood seems to be hosting.

These phrases being immediately followed up with a sentiment such as “please pass the pills” serves to entirely undermine the pleasantries that, until a moment ago, seemed to be plastered all over the faces of the people living in this fictional town that Wood has created. I think that final phrase brings the listener back to the realisation that not all is right here, quite the opposite in fact, and drags them from their momentary paradise.

Circling back very quickly to the phrase “smile and wave”. I felt the need to point out that this phrase has been used for centuries as a way to say “stop talking and act normal” which once again reinforces that these people are pretending to be something they’re not in order to fit in.

We enter the next verse with the repeated phrase “it's only culture”, after that line is repeated three times we hear “sulfur, smoke and soot”, which could either be a reference to how dirty and disgusting the ‘culture’ is, or it could be a different way of saying that this culture and the people participating are going to hell, as per the common phrase ‘fire and brimstone’ and the fact that sulfur is another way of saying brimstone, and smoke and soot are both byproducts of fire.

The last line of this verse and the first line of the chorus blend into each other, so I’ll speak on them both.

First, the last line of the verse. It goes “you cocked and sucked your lack of empathy, pulled the trigger with your foot to prove you've got-”

Putting aside the clear innuendo, this line refers to the idea of ending one's own life with a long shotgun. According to the media, by the time the gun is cocked and the barrel is in your mouth, you're not able to pull the trigger with your hands due to the length of the barrel. This line instead presents the solution of pulling the trigger with your foot to end your life.

So this person “cocked and sucked” the gun (cocked the gun and put the barrel in their mouth) before pulling the trigger with their foot to prove they’ve got-

And here's where the verse blends into the chorus.

Because the first line only consists of one word.

“Blood”.

The person who was shooting themselves with a shotgun only to prove that they bleed. Which is where the title of this section comes in. “(Vampire) Culture”. This section seeks to portray either the people in this culture or, the more likely option, the culture itself, as metaphorical vampires, who aim to destroy those around them. This knowledge makes the next line “didn't they want your blood, so why apologise for being blue and cold” make a lot more sense. After all, if these culture vampires have drained you of your blood, is it not their fault that you’re now “blue and cold”, as bodies tend to be if they lack blood flow. However, if you look at synonyms for the words “blue” and “cold”, you could also interpret this phrase as meaning “sad and apathetic”.

A sad and apathetic person doesn't seem to be the kind of person this ‘culture’ seeks to enlist however, and so one who is “blue and cold” is shunned as an outsider.

What Wood is getting at is that if this culture is the one who made you sad and apathetic, then you should not apologise to it for being so.

The next verse is short, and like the previous one, also blends into the chorus in the same way, by having the last line of the verse cut off right where the chorus would finish the sentence with the word “blood”. However in this verse, there's an interesting line. “It's only culture and it's more afraid of you than you are of it”, which is a sentiment usually used by adults to attempt to subdue a child's fear of something, usually insects. However it's interesting in the fact that it brings up the idea that this culture that has caused so much damage and harm is actually incredibly fragile, and would, in theory be very afraid of the concept of the individual, because if this ‘culture’ is only being held together by the silent agreeance that everyone will simply pretend, then the idea that there is people who refuse throws the whole idea into jeopardy.

This line is followed up however, by the line that blends it into the chorus. “Go on drink that-”, clearly intended to be finished by the first line of the chorus, making the full line, “go on drink that blood”.

This line is in reference to the phrase “drink the kool-aid” which essentially means to pledge your undying loyalty to something, a concept, a person, a god, etc. and it derives from an infamous mass cult suicide where over 900 people drank poisoned Kool-Aid and subsequently died for the cult. It is not a far cry to believe that this event and this phrase is what the line is referring to, as it's something that Wood has referenced in other songs, so it only makes sense to believe that this is what he means here.

After that chorus we move on to the bridge, which begins by listing 3 pairs of names, all famous or semi famous, and each pair being similar in one right but opposite in another, the line goes as follows; “were you Nabokov to a Sallinger, were you Jung to Freud or Dass to a Leary”, so let's break down these pairs one by one.

First “Nabokov to a Sallinger”, these names belong to Vladimir Nabokov and J.D. Sallinger, both authors who wrote famous books that both surround the theme of innocence, but in very different ways. Nabokov’s book “Lolita” is a story told from the perspective of a grown man about his sexual obsession and attraction to a little girl, and his desire to ruin her innocence, exploring the theme of innocence in a grotesque and frankly horrifying way, which is in stark contrast to Sallinger’s book “The Catcher in the Rye”, which explores the topic of innocence through the main characters desire to preserve their little sisters innocence, and in that desire displays hesitancy at the idea of sex themself. Both books explore the topic of innocence, however while one seeks to preserve it, the other seeks to destroy it, two sides of the same coin.

The next pairing is “Jung to Freud”, meaning Carl Gustav Jung and his mentor Sigmund Freud, who once again are similar in one right, but opposite in another. Jung and Freud both had theories on the nature of the human mind, but where Jungs was all about the concept of spirituality and how that ties into the collective unconscious, Freud's approach was much more focused on the individual unconscious and the concept of sexuality.

The final pairing is “Dass to a Leary”. both psychologists, both at the forefront of the ‘Harvard Psilocybin Project’ (before they both got dismissed from harvard entirely following controversies around the project) Richard Alpert and Timothy Leary were both psychologists and eventually authors who studied the effects of psychedelic drugs on the human mind, and while they were co workers they ended up with pretty conflicting views. Dr. Richard Alpert, who apparently ‘died’ and was ‘reborn’ as spiritual guide Ram Dass, centred his teachings heavily around the concept of living in the moment, (in fact his best selling book, written in 1971 was titled ‘Be Here Now’) and he believed that psychedelic drugs were not needed and that a permanent version of the same effects could be achieved through meditation. Whereas Dr. Timothy Leary advocated heavily for the use of psychedelics, believing that LSD specifically had great potential for therapeutic psychiatric use.

All of these pairings and examples utilise the concept of duality and speak on how every coin has two sides, which can easily be tied back to the idea that the picture perfect suburban life is just one side of the coin. This idea is then reinforced by the next line, “were you mother, daughter, subject and author?”, The use of the word ‘and’ here shows that it's possible to be two sides of the same coin at once, just like how this town, which is perfect on one side of the coin, is still terrible on the other side of the coin. The line is stating that it's possible to be both at once.

The very last line in this section is; “you don't make the rules, you just write them down and do it by the book you throw around”. This line combines a few relatively well known phrases. The first being of course ‘i don’t make the rules’, which can have two distinct meanings. The first is to express a kind of sympathy for someone being punished, and the second is to absolve yourself of the blame for that person being punished, a sort of ‘don't shoot the messenger’ situation.

The ‘rules’ that are likely being referred to here are the societal norms and expectations forced upon people who reside in these towns, the standard for ‘perfection’.

However, following this sentiment up with the phrase “you just write them down” is essentially saying that while it's not the fault of the people in these towns, they didn't create the norms, they still enforce them. They expect everything to be in line and perfect at all times, they follow these ‘rules’ to a T, and they shun and punish anyone who doesn't fit the standard and/or refuses to follow these ‘rules’, which is where the line “do it by the book you throw around” comes in, doing something ‘by the book’ means to follow rules strictly and to the letter, nothing out of line, and to throw the book at someone means to punish them as severely as possible, usually used in the legal sense to mean punishing someone for their crime as severely as the law will allow. So in all, the lyric “you don't make the rules, you just write them down and do it by the book you throw around” ends up meaning ‘you didn't create these norms but you still enforce them by following them to an absolute T and punishing anyone who doesn't.’

With that we enter the third and final section of the song, entitled ‘Love Me, Normally’, a title it shares with another song on the album, but of course this song is partially meant to serve as an overture for the whole album, meaning it shares some similar lyrics with lyrics from other songs on the album, so sharing a title isn't all that surprising.

The first lyric in this section is “do you know the difference between blazing trails and slash and burn?” which is another instance of duality in this song. Trailblazing or being a trailblazer means doing something no one has done before, paving the way for other people to follow in your footsteps, it comes from the literal act of creating a trail in the woods for people to follow, usually by creating notches in trees or setting small fires, hence ‘blazer’, as blaze is another word for a fire. However “slash and burn” is a method of deforestation that involves cutting down and burning a section of forest to create a field. Both examples include using fire to change something, but where one is seen as progress and positive, the other is negative, and seen as a means of destruction. Once again, two sides of the same coin, innovation and destruction.

This is followed up with the line “going against the grain and catching splinters”, which is a line i particularly like because while it is something that literally can happen, if you run your hand along wood in the opposite direction to the grain, you're more likely to get a splinter because you're essentially pushing your hand against the chips of wood, but it also is another metaphor for the dangers of not being the same. Going against the grain in this instance means daring to be different, not going the same way everyone else is going but instead the opposite of that, and in this example splinters are the consequences one would face for being different, especially in a setting like this perfect town, where everyone is the exact same as everyone else.

A little bit later you hear the line “well Lot he had his lot in life, Job his job and i guess you’ll too, and die”.

Lot and Job are both figures found in the Bible, whose names both share spelling with common English words, but are pronounced slightly differently.

Job, from the Book of Job, was a man that was tested by God, made to suffer to test his loyalty, his ‘job’ was to believe unendingly in God and see Him as always correct no matter what.

Lot, from the Book of Genesis, was a man who went through a lot, and the phrase ‘my lot in life’ is a phrase commonly used by people to write off/explain why they don't have it as good as others, they say it's simply their ‘lot in life’.

The end of this line “i guess you’ll too, and die” i believe refers to the fact that everyone will have their own job and their own lot in life, and then everyone in the end will die.

This theory is solidified by the fact that the next line is “The Lord looked down and said ‘hey, you're only mortal’” which is a play off of the phrase ‘you're only human’. Wood himself said that the phrase ‘you're only human’ has always felt weird to him, he says, “cause like, of course I am, aren’t we all? How is that fact supposed to help? I still feel bad. What does being human mean to you?”. He follows this up by saying that the idea of God saying "hey, you're only mortal" offers the same kind of sentiment, but in a “cosmically condescending” sort of way.

The following line reads “giveth and taketh away, till things come out a certain way, leave you wondering when they might go back to normal… leave you wondering why they can't have just been normal”.

This line presents a sort of hopelessness in the realisation that things are constantly changing, nothing is any more ‘normal’ than anything else, there's no such thing as ‘normal’, which is an overarching theme found throughout the album. Once again bringing back the fact that for all intents and purposes this song is an overture for the rest of the album.

To conclude, ‘Suburbia Overture’ is, in my opinion, one of the greatest criticisms of suburban, middle class, gated community, nuclear family life i've ever seen, it highlights the problems in that life and showcases how this kind of lifestyle in its incredibly rigid and restrictive standards is incredibly harmful to the very concept of individuality, because the expectations and unspoken rules set in communities like this and the widespread idea of forced normality seeks to crush any individuality before it even has a chance to blossom.

The use of metaphors and phrases that are well known and are likely to be seen in settings such as this gated community suburban town that Wood has created really paint a subconscious picture of what this community looks like, the use of duality, how every story has another side, and how nothing that is seemingly perfect from the outside is actually perfect on the inside.

Will Wood is an incredible lyricist and the fact that he was able to cram so much symbolism and such a powerful message into a song just over 6 minutes long is genuinely incredible.

Thank you for listening to my/reading my autistic hyper fixated rambling, i hope i didn't melt your brain too badly <3

[plutoswritingplanet]

Hand That Feeds (Cooper Howard/The Ghoul x Female!Reader) pt.3

a/n: decided not to include smut just yet, it didn't feel right considering the story, next time i promise we'll f the raisin

Warnings: Blood and Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Smoking Cigs

Summary: The camp gets attacked, and as such, important changes are forced to develop. Cross-Posted on AO3

Pt. 1, Pt. 2

Old. He feels old. 

His age is like a thief in the night, it creeps up on him, slowly, before sinking its teeth right into his bones. There are centuries to his name now, and still, he doesn't learn from his mistakes. It's him chasing a woman, that has gotten him in this mess in the first place, and now he's doing the same damned thing. That's the only explanation, why he lets you get away with as much as he does. 

Here you sit, curled into yourself, his lasso secured tightly around you, your hands raised towards your face. He watches with confliction, as you put a cigarette up to your lips, the bud lighting your features for just a moment, before a cloud of smoke escapes into the dark night.  It's a deep, heavy inhale, your chest expands. He can feel the lasso move under his grip, and he flexes his fingers against it.

He's never seen anyone smoke in such an elegant manner, not after the bombs anyway. This regal air, a natural sort of poise, intrigues him beyond any reason. How did the Wasteland not destroy all this grace, how are you untouched by the roughness of this world, is beyond him. He tries to categorize everything he knows about you, all the small tidbits of information he has gathered through the short time you've been travelling together. Still, nothing explains this strange nature of you, and Cooper leans back, the sound of your Geiger meter spiking every time he moves. 

Cooper reaches into his pocket and takes out a pack of cigarettes, your cigarettes. Feeling your gaze on him, he takes one and lights it against the small fire you both got going. Well, in all fairness, it was you that started the fire, while your captor watched you struggle, keeping his leash on you. 

Those strange little power trips seemed to be one of his favorite games. He wouldn't be the first man that got off on power you've met, but he was definitely the most annoying. Your throat still burns slightly from the smoke, as you throw him a displeased look. 

The nicotine is barely noticeable to him, like a grain of sugar in a very large chocolate cake. In his case, the cake is made of every drug possible to find in the Wasteland. 

Still, Cooper tastes the pre-war chemicals with a strange sense of melancholy. It makes him remember, again, and he closes his eyes as he exhales the smoke, not bothering to smother a low groan of pleasure. Your eyebrows jump to your forehead, but you compose yourself quickly, throwing your burning bud into the fire. 

The events of the previous night are still vivid in your mind. His fingers flexing against your tongue. His knee between your legs, close but not close enough. Perhaps he wasn't the only one getting off on this uneven relationship, but you were not about to admit it, even to yourself.

- So - your voice is rough from the smoke, and you swallow around a lump in your throat - Where are you taking me?

He doesn't answer for a long while, just enjoying his cigarette, your cigarette. And he seems to be enjoying it very much, more than what's considered proper. Honestly, with the way he's been groaning, you wouldn't be surprised if he came on the spot just from the smoke. The thought makes your cheeks redden, and you chastise yourself for even thinking in that general direction, again. Has it really been that long?

- Shady Sands - smoke pushes past his teeth, surprisingly intact for a Ghoul.    - For real?

- Yup - another drag, you watch his chest expand under his coat - Shady Fucking Sands.

Your head slumps down, as you turn your gaze back to the fire. Hunger creeps up on you, and with your hands tied, you reach over to an Iguana on a stick roasting over the flames. Your tongue burns from the heat, but as soon as the chewy meat hits your stomach, you're ready to sing to the heaven's. 

- That's an awfully long way for a bunch of caps - you note, between quick bites of your food - What was my bounty? Five hundred?

The last time you've checked, it was something around that number. Not too shabby, but not worryingly big either. Just enough to keep you on your toes for any desperate newcomers, but not enough to warrant attention from anyone actually dangerous. The Ghoul, as desperate as he looked back at the bar, started to look more and more like a professional, every second you've spent with him. There was something in the way he walked, the way his eyes stayed vigilant and aware, that screamed danger. Still, for five hundred caps, times must've really been hard on him.

- Try ten thousand.

A piece of meat lodges itself into your throat as you inhale with surprise. As soon as it happens, you cough it out, and it flies back into the fire, leaving you heaving with tears in your eyes. 

- How much?! - you demand, hands trying to massage the pain in your chest. 

The Ghoul smirks, taps the brim of his hat with his gun, which he kept trained on you for over three days now. 

- Had I known I'm worth that much, I'd turn myself over a long time ago - you murmur, and the Ghoul shoots you a mirthless laugh.

- Thought you ran a charity, Healer - he spits your name out like the worst of slurs, and with half a mind you wonder why it bothers him so much. 

Still, his words hit a little bit too close to home, and you turn to your skewer, chewing in silence, until he gives you a wordless permission to sleep.  Tugging your messenger bag under your head, you listen to the various liquids sloshing inside, your Geiger meter cracking away on your hand. The Ghoul stands up to put out the fire, as cold was better than anyone finding you in the wilderness. Then, he sits down, a short distance from your curled up form. 

You can feel him, even if you can't see him, and with tired arms, you tug your robe closer around your body. 

- I try to be good - you whisper into the night, into the hot coals of the bonfire, into his unyielding indifference.

- You ain't gotta explain yourself to me, sweetheart - he answers in a low voice, and it's the nicest thing you've heard him say, since you've met him. 

***

The raiders come at night, as they always do.

You're still halfway into deep sleep when the first shot rings out. The bullet lodges itself into the ground right in front of you, dirt exploding across your face. It doesn't wake you at first, confusion and remnants of some distant dream muddling your senses. 

The Ghoul springs to action with record speed, and before you can truly react, he shoots three shots in the direction of the tree line. That's when you jump to your feet, ears ringing and head swimming with confusion. 

A man in a tattered blouse falls to the ground, right next to the small fire pit, ash flying into the air. You can see his blood seeping into the coals, but before you can react, The Ghoul grabs you by the shoulder, all but throwing you behind him, as he levels his gun in front of him. 

The ringing in your ears mixes with the wild beating of your heart, as you try to wrestle the panic into submission. The Ghoul's tattered coat whips itself across your ankles, and you've never wanted to be free of your binds as much as in this moment.

Silence. Complete, and utter silence engulfs the two of you, and you grab onto the bounty hunter's arm to steady yourself. His head turns in your direction for just a second. Eyes lock together, something flickers across his face, but it's gone before you can even begin to decipher the expression. 

- I'll check the parameter - he grumbles, and walks towards the closest tree. 

At first you don't even know how to voice your protest, as he all but ties you to the tree, securing his lasso, and consequently cutting off any means for you to escape. Like a wild dog, you're left there, watching him turn away in favor of walking into the trees. 

Panic rises in your gut, as you tug on the rope.

- Hey! - you whisper-yell after him, eyes searching for any more attackers - Don't you dare leave me here!

But he's already walking away, keeping himself low, his rifle tight in hand. A couple of steps into the tree line and he blends completely with the surroundings, like he belongs there, amongst the trees. Chest heaving, you double the efforts of freeing yourself, the rope digging painfully into your wrists.

Frustration quickly overcomes fear, and you kick out, the ash from the bonfire swirling around you like a cloud.

Then, a twig breaks somewhere behind you, and your blood freezes in your veins. 

***

Cooper moves through trees like he's one with the southern wind. 

His coat shuffles around his ankles, as he presses further into the tree line, more bothered by the small attack than he would like to admit. 

The bullet almost hit you. In the head no less. Ten thousand caps, gone in a second

He allowed himself to close his eyes for just a moment, barely a second, and it was all it took. When has he become so sloppy, he couldn't tell, but he supposed it had something to do with the way you looked like, when sleeping. 

So at peace, like this hard ground was the most comfortable bed in the world. Your cheek squished into your messenger bag, as if it was the softest of pillows. He wondered, what warranted such trust, such peace of mind, that you fell into deep sleep almost as soon as you closed your eyes. 

Did you really trust him that much?

A dangerous idea, he thinks. An idea he might've entertained centuries back, when he still had a nose and didn't look out onto this hell of a world through layers upon layers of cynicism. Still, your curled form tugged on something, some shadow of his former self, that he needed to squash sooner, rather than later. 

He was getting too damn old for this. 

Cooper finds the raiders camp in a matter of minutes. Two sleeping bags, a bunch of empty bottles and, to Cooper's dark amusement, a half-eaten human leg. 

So, not just raiders, but fiends as well. 

Cooper kicks at one of the sleeping bags, his eyes searching for anything of use. And that's when his mind catches up.

He hears your scream tear through air.

His head whips back, hat almost falling. 

A shot rings out.

Ten thousand fucking caps. He's an idiot, an old idiot. 

Cooper starts to run, branches snapping under his boots as he cuts through the trees with surprising agility. Another scream, raw and gut wrenching, and he can almost see your bloodied body twitching under the second fiend. The one he didn't get. 

Rifle first, he all but barrels into the clearing, for a split second not knowing what he's looking at. 

Because yes, there is a bloodied body in the camp, it's face barely resembling human features with the way it's been brutally eviscerated. But it's not yours. Too thin, too male, too hardened. 

That's when he sees you. Curled against the tree, where he tied you down and left you. Your hands are gripping some large stone, blood drips from your fingers, down to your arms. Your shoulders are moving, up and down, in a steady rhythm of deep, heaving breaths, and for a second, Cooper allows himself to feel relief. 

You don't even look at him, still holding onto the rock, nails biting into it's surface, and he can't clearly see your face, but he can see the blood. Your Geiger meter crackles, as he comes closer, kicking at the dead fiend, just to be sure. 

- We gotta get moving, there might be more of those fu-

His words die in his throat, because suddenly, something collides with staggering force onto his body. Landing on his back, he immediately lifts his arms up, to shield himself from bloodied fists, slamming into his chest, into his head, wherever they can reach. 

- You left me! - your voice sounds like a wounded animal - You motherfucker! Why did you leave me?!

There is no real force backing your punches, all your strength apparently drained by what you did to fiend just moments ago.. They do become quite irritating, and Cooper wrangles your, still bound, hands until he has your by the wrist. And that's when he sees you. Finally, truly sees you.

You're hunched over him, straddling his waist, hair whipping around your head like some deranged angel's halo. Features twisted into a mixture between fury and anguish, your face is red, sticky with drying blood. 

Beautiful, tragically beautiful, Cooper thinks, and this time doesn't chastise himself for it. 

- Why did you...?! - your voice cracks like a broken mirror - You're the one killing people, not me. I'm not... I've never...

Cooper fights through your spasming muscles, as slowly, your anger dissipates, leaving nothing but tears, which are now creating pathways down your cheeks. Finally, he understands. Your poise, your elegance, the gentleness in every movement. 

You've never killed anyone. Never taken a life. 

Unknowingly, he has made you into a killer. 

Shoulders sag against his hold, as you slump into him. He feels you, the length of your torso on his, your shallow breathing warming his shirt. And he lets you rest, lets you curl into him like he isn't worse than both of those fiends combined. Like he hasn't just put you through this hell, hasn't tied you up, dragged you through God knows where. 

- He... - you choke out, and Cooper curses at the way his hands slide around your back to hold you closer, tighter - He tried to...

- I know - he doesn't know what has possessed him, but he comforts you just the same - I know, sweet thing. I'm sorry.

Tears fall heavy onto his collarbone, as you let yourself be held. And he holds on with everything he has, deciding that perhaps, you both have some time left. Fingers trace the pattern of your curved spine, the dips between your shoulderblades. He dares not move lower, even though perhaps he wants to. Perhaps he would take advantage of this situation and try to find out just how much he can get away with. But some missplaced feeling of decency wrangles itself onto the surface, swallowing down all the murder, and the lies, and all the horribly depraved things he has thought about, while keeping you hostage. 

 It takes some minutes for you to calm down, and when you do, he pulls you up. Not the usual tug of the rope you're both used to, but a gentle hand in your hand, helping you steady yourself against him. The warmth of your body is all but a memory now, and he clings to it for just a moment longer, a souvenir for later. 

The silence is heavy with unsaid words, with actions that will have disastrous consequences. But as he unties you from the tree, as you look over at the bloodied body of the fiend, he finds that there are no words left to be said. 

So you swing your messenger bag over your arm, and let him lead you further into the Wasteland. No longer yourself, no longer the Healer, but something else entirely. 

[xhxhxhx]

I'm trying to write these earlier in the day.

I used to put off writing until I finished the smaller, more tractable tasks I set for myself. But by the time I finished the little things, I had no energy for writing.

Now, though, I find I don't have the energy for the little things if I start writing too late in the day. If I start writing late enough, I don't have the energy to exercise.

It's 10:15 a.m. Let's see if I can't finish this with energy to spare.

I.

I write to you from San Francisco, a small town on the Pacific Coast of California, servicing a patchwork of commuter suburbs around what we call the "San Francisco Bay Area."

Back in the 1950s, they called the City "Baghdad by the Bay," after its profound ethnic and religious divides, low-intensity urban warfare, and decrepit public infrastructure.

It's awful. Even here in the Green Zone.

II.

Americans like to say that San Francisco has a "Mediterranean" climate. And it's true that it has a Köppen climate classification of Csb, which we call a "warm-summer Mediterranean climate."

Köppen is a three-tier classification scheme. It designates climates by three-letter labels, with each letter dividing the world into finer and finer categories.

The first Köppen letter divides the world into five parts, each designated by the first five letters of the alphabet: tropical A; arid B; temperate C; cold D; and polar E.

Four of the five letters separate the world into mutually-exclusive categories by mean temperatures in the hottest and coldest months, making for a neat algorithm.

If it's above 10ºC in the coldest month, it's tropical A, else:

If it's above 0ºC in the coldest month, it's temperate C, else:

If it's above 10ºC in the hottest month, it's cold D, else:

If it's below 10ºC in the hottest month, it's polar E.

Arid B is an irregularity. It's based on a precipitation threshold, not mean monthly temperatures. It's also hard to characterize in a single phrase, since it varies with the seasonality of the precipitation. It's higher if the precipitation comes in warm months.

But never mind that. It's not arid in San Francisco. That's part of the problem.

In San Francisco's Csb, C stands for temperate, s for dry summer, and b for warm summer.

Temperate means it averages above 10ºC in the hottest month and between 0ºC and 18ºC in its coldest; dry summer means it gets less than 40 mm of precipitation in its driest month; and warm summer means it averages below 22ºC in the hottest month, but above 10ºC for more than four months each year.

Now, is that Mediterranean? It's not obvious to me that it is. Let's go to the map.

III.

Here's beautiful California, in all its climatic variation, courtesy of our friends at the Köppen-Geiger Explorer:

Let's start in the Los Angeles basin, along the borderlands between the yellow and sienna towards the bottom of the map.

Los Angeles divides into three primary climate regions, which provide a useful key to the California experience.

The coast of western Los Angeles, from Santa Monica down to Palos Verdes, and continuing along the coast of Orange County to the south, is a cold, semi-arid steppe, or Bsk.

It's a climate it shares with Colorado Springs, the Texas panhandle, and a swathe of the Eurasian steppe lands, from Crimea to Volgograd to Inner Mongolia.

South and central Los Angeles, south of the 10, but extending northeast to a frontier in Culver City, Mid-Wilshire, and Koreatown, and south through Anaheim and Garden Grove to Irvine, is a hot, semi-arid steppe, or Bsh.

It's a climate it shares with Gaza, the West Bank of the Jordan, Mosul, the Zagros foothills of Khuzestan, Amritsar, and the northern, or Turkish, part of Cyprus.

North of that, extending from downtown across the mountains into the San Fernando Valley, and east across the river to El Monte, Pomona, and Rancho Cucamonga, is the last part of Los Angeles, the hot-summer Mediterranean, or Csa.

This climate, the climate of Glendale and Pasadena, of Burbank and Sherman Oaks, of Van Nuys, Encino, and Calabasas, is what I think of as the actual Mediterranean climate.

Because it's the climate of the actual Mediterranean.

It's a climate it shares with Athens and Rome, Syracuse and Tunis, Jerusalem and Jaffa, Florence and Naples, but not, significantly, a climate it shares with San Francisco.

Because it's too warm for the city by the Bay.

IV.

Now let's look north, to the Golden Gate.

Here you can see that the Bay Area is, as you might have guessed, a homogeneous and indistinct stain on the map of California.

Does it have semiarid steppe lands? No. Does it have hot summers? No. From the South Bay to the Valley, from the West Side to the East Side, everyone has the same climate, and nobody's very happy.

San Francisco shares a climate with Oakland which shares a climate with Mountain View which shares a climate with Sausalito which shares a climate with San Jose which shares a climate with Berkeley and Richmond. It's a climate that stretches, like an open sore, down to Santa Cruz and Monterey.

It's all the same fucking climate.

It's called, as you may recall, the warm-summer Mediterranean climate, or Csb. Not hot summer. Not the summer of Glendale or Pasadena. No. A warm summer.

How warm is a warm summer? Is that a Mediterranean kind of summer? Is that the kind of summer you get in the south of France or the Greek islands? Well, no.

You know who else has a warm summer?

Fucking Galicia, that's who. The Parnassus Mountains. Mount fucking Lebanon.

You know who else has this fucking climate?

The Pacific fucking Northwest. Because it's cold and wet there. Just like San Francisco.

VI.

San Francisco: It's cold and damp!

I fucking hate it.

[nullifier]

0_0 was real inspired by @0046incognito 's recent animation & decided "hey. you know it would be pretty funny to put rocais in this" so she's in it now #I LOVE ROBOTS !!!1 Tried emulating the style for the first one then went in with my more regular sorta linework on the destroyed image

?How does she work?:

"Radi" [I haven't come up with a better name rn] is a Nuclear Power Plant Submersible Technician, you know those pools they put the uranium in to boil water to create power? She lives in the nuclear reactor pool. She was entirely designed to never leave these pools and is perfectly designed for the environment: her hard plastic casing, while normally inert, when introduced to the boiling hot pools becomes more flexible, thus allowing her movement [plus the plastic over time absorbs the fuckin radiation or whatever and starts glowing epically]. Cause she's ALWAYS underwater she has no mouth, but has a Geiger counter on her chest that she can project her voice through if needed. She can't "hear" either, the only way management is able to relay instruction to her is use of special walkie-talkies Specifically for talking to Her and whoever else is also on the line. Totally water-cooled, no fans. She's charged using "rectenna" antenna technology [something something, turning radiation/heat/waves into DC power] Normally rectennas have very limited capabilities because it requires a ton of ambient energy to be able to draw from, but Exclusively for use in these pools she's able to draw enough energy to keep charge. This makes her both dependent on the pool for her cooling, and the radiation of the plant to keep charge [she can't leave!!! =D]

> After the plant ceases operation, the pools become cold so she has to remove her plastic casing. She's running on fumes since the ambient radiation will eventually run out. I imagine she has some desperate attempt to flood the place and escape to anywhere to find SOME source of radiation, maybe the toxic waste containment...

sketches as well =) 92 is the uranium number + her face is the radiation symbol

[therobotmonster]

What do you say to the one who killed Ceasar?

Corruption? Infighting? Communications breakdowns?

That aint' how it happened and that ain't how it is.

Pass me a sarsaparilla and I'll tell you how it happened and how it is.

After stamping westward like the vicious cattle they carried as their symbol, Caesar's Legion found New Vegas their downfall. Their martial prowess and seemingly endless numbers found in that place their nemesis, in the classical sense.

They found the Courier.

They didn't know what they found at first. The initial wound was shocking but not unthinkable. Vulpes Inculta went out to make an example of a local settlement called Nipton and never came back. The scouts that went looking for him found a their staging camp slaughtered. Landmines had been put in their sleeping bags. Their watchman was found in pieces.

Every scrap of clothing and equipment was gone. So it was chalked up to raiders. Patrols increased and the Legion moved on.

The loss of Vulpes Inculta's forces was a tiny cut, but a tiny cut can kill if infection sets in. The slaves at Cottonwood cove escaped, though no one could explain how. The Great Khans turned on Ceasar's Legion, somehow seeing through the Legion's plan for them. The prison break that kept the NCR off-balance just... stopped.

Weeks later, the forces at Cottonwood Cove sickened. By the time they found out their camp was contaminated with nuclear waste they were already dead. Their abhorrence of technology meant they had neither the Geiger counters nor the radaway to save themselves.

Prepared caravaners found Aurelius of Phoenix's wasted corpse, bald, covered in radiation burns, withered to a radioactive husk. He was staring up at one of the locals he'd ordered crucified. On his desk was a note saying "I did this. Signed, the Courier. XXXOOO" right next to a pile of human waste with Aurelius's helmet on it.

Enraged, Edward Sallow, the man calling himself Caesar, sent his assassins after the Courier. A squad of four, his second finest men. Then his finest four men. Then his third finest, and his forth. He'd sent his fifth squad before the one of them, the second batch, was found. They were stripped naked, their sun-baked corpses posed humiliatingly in acts of mock-coitus.

The scouts reported dutifully that the squad leader was found sitting atop his own head. The scouts didn't think their commanders needed to know how far down he was sitting.

Sallow watched the reports come in as this phantom cut through his men not with ruthless efficiency, but what appeared to be intentional ruthless inefficiency. The Courier wandered lazily from Legion outpost to Legion outpost without regard to strategy. The NCR would fight with a plan that could be anticipated. They wanted territory, they wanted resources.

As far as Sallow could tell, the Courier just wanted him to suffer.

Nelson's occupation ended in a hail of molotov cocktails and sniper fire. The plot to destroy the monorail ended on the knuckles of a Brotherhood scribe's power fist. As to Dry Wells, and the massive Legion Reinforcements there?

The mushroom cloud rendered a scouts' report moot.

No one really believed that Sallow was stupid enough to invite the courier to his camp. According to the legend, however, that's what he did, thinking he could sway the Courier to his own side with promises of power and wealth.

The legend goes on that the Courier and a vengeful NCR ranger walked in through the gates as welcome guests, only to murder the forces there to the last man. Sallow died, they say, begging. The Courier butchered him with his honor guard's machete, just like the livestock he chose as his symbol.

Sallow, it seems, had been right about what the Courier wanted.

That's pure myth-making, of course. The idea that an itinerant hero hopped up on chems and a vengeful NCR sniper could kill their way through an entire, alerted camp on their own is absurd, power armor or not. It was an obvious coup by Legate Lannius that he blamed on the Courier. It did him little good, as he ruled the Legion for mere weeks before the second battle of Hoover Dam.

Barely literate raiders in football pads and machetes do not fare well against against Vertibirds and Securitrons, it turns out.

They say that it ended there. With the heads chopped off the proverbial brahmin, the Legion crumbled from a collapse of leadership and operational control, with rival raiders, the NCR, and slave uprisings killing their 'empire' via a thousand cuts. That's the official story.

That's a bigger pile of crap than the one on the Aurelius's desk. The cut that killed the Legion was Nipton and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The few survivors of the Legion's Hoover Dam forces thought the Courier would stay in their neon kingdom.

They did not.

They marched East, the Courier and their warriors: Arcade Ganon the Doctor of the Apocalypse, Lily the Nightkin who they call Shadow of Death, the Ghoul Gunslinger Raul who never misses, the Sniper Boone who never forgives, Veronica the fallen scribe, and Rose Cassidy? She's just plain ornery. They marched with a squad of twenty Securitrons at their back and an army of silent, deadly ghosts.

They marched through Arizona, severing Pheonix from settlement after settlement, starving the great bull before descending upon it. When Pheonix fell, they didn't stop. I know because that's how I'm free today. I know how Ceasar's Legion died. I saw one of its deaths with my own eyes in my own village.

When each Legion settlement falls, as the red-bull banners burn atop the naked corpses of those legionaries who make the same mistake Vulpes Inculta made so long ago and far away, the captured slavers that call themselves an empire are gathered in a line leading to the Courier's tent.

Each one is brought, in turn, to the Courier. They stand, a growling half-robot dog at their left hand, a laser-wielding eyebot at their right, as the ex-legionary is commanded to kneel. They obey, as the command comes from behind them. There stands Boone, a gun once belonging to Joshua Graham in his right hand.

There's a moment of silence. Just as the first beads of sweat begin to roll down the prisoner's face, the courier pulls up not a machete, nor a gun, but a simple wooden sign.

"Say it." The courier says-

-and listens for the wrong answer.

[missdrummond]

Album 77 initial reaction 2

*spoilers*

First off it looks like the kidos are mad and honestly that feels like a good sign I'm going to like this episode. Serious Jay is one of my favorite types of episode. Also didn't know they had a ship name for them. I guess it makes sense that kids would ship them but like... anyway what does "I thought he really liked her mean?"

Begins the episode:

All right, I'm hyped! Let's go!

Sky? Wait no that's the news kid

The bushes?

No! No! No x14 Jay! Jay No! .... I'm calling it now if it's written by Abigail Geiger this episode is going to be great but if it's not I'm in for pain.

Ok two things

1 if Jay has actually been making her pay for ice cream... no that hasn't happened... that can't have happened. It's a joke... all I'll say is it better be a joke

2 I mean they have been kinda friends. They're at least good acquaintances. Don't get me wrong I completely understand if she want to stop being friends but with some of the previous episodes the did actually have some form of friendship. Not GOOD friends but still.

Poor Zoey

MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE YOU DON’T TREAT HER LIKE A FRIEND

yay good Whit

Buddy no. Also haven't we done part of this episode with Jay before? The listening thing was part of The Friend Formula, right? Although he wasn't the one learning the lesson in that episode...

this is going to be a room of consequence episode isn't it?

Called it

No way! Why is it literally the same as his last adventure, I love it

They're doing it...

16% oof

"But I pretend to because you're Zoey's 2nd best friend" Jay no!

No waaaaay! There actually doing it!

Jay had braces?

there have been a lot of Jay-no-s sprinkled through out this. And a lot of other various excited noises

Isn't that the place some kid died!!!! (A Lesson from Mike)

Your Friends!!!!! Friends "your friends know what's best for you" oof

No! No, Jay, No!

It's me. I'm the audience. Not really, I'm kidding, but...

WHAT ABOUT WHAT I WANT EXACTLY

We're getting close! He can do this, he can learn. I hear the despair of consequences now all we need is growth

"He might be able to tolerate you" Burnnnnn!

He's getting it x2 :0 is he crying?

you can do this AiO. We can stick this landing

I LISTEN first!

this is all great but it feels weird that Mr. Whittaker is technically putting it into her mouth. Feels kinda gross. He really needs to talk to the real Zoe. IT'S NOT A JOKE! 😭 you really need to talk to the real Zoe

OK... I'm not upset it's in the episode as it is an important element, but I'm not sure if she wasn't clear. She might not have been I'll check the episodes but honestly even if she was I'm not sure Jay was ready to listen up until this point. He needed something to put things in perspective.

Noooooo! They didn't... They pulled an Isaac the True Friends?!?!? I take all back this episode is perfect. No! Yes!

The apology!

He's crying, I'm crying, well not crying but definitely screaming. Thank you Abigail! You did it you actually did it!

I mean I guess that verse ties to the lesson but I might have set it up better

YEAH it was written by Abigail Geiger! If she wasn't my favorite writer before this she sure is now! Ack! Oy!

I really hope those kids talk to their parents and their parents are cool because they completely missed the point of the episode poor things.

This episode was amazing! I'm so happy!

[satelliteofsin]

What are some of the things you love most in Godzilla films? Like human characters? Monster fights? Comedy? Horror? Action? That kinda thing

hmmmm... well i'm really fond of the human drama in Shin and Minus One, because it's really well done, but i'm just fond of Godzilla for autism reasons, and by that I mean. I don't know what it is but the character and like. the film legacy fascinates me. part of it is also like. it's usefulness as a way to view a cultures reaction to trauma (theres that post that went around online saying Spiderman is how the US view radioactivity vs Godzilla is how the Japanese view it). the inherent horror of Godzilla is a big part of it for me, since ever since i was little i never found giant monster movies scary, just kinda. goofy. but the horror i find most fascinating is the radiation part. there's a scene in Godzilla (1954), in the wake of Godzilla's first rampage through Tokyo, i believe, where we are shown through the remains of a hospital, and our protagonists put a geiger counter up to a childs face and it starts ticking like crazy. and that's when it hits. you can tell me what you want about Meltdown Goji and whatever your favourite scene is, but that's the one that sticks with me

[andrewsshenanigans]

put a stop to these horrors (don't it's fun)

also a bit of a design update for one of my fellas, it was supposed to be JUST the Geiger counter at first but I added stripes too

and a new ref for one of my original iterators (the third one i ever made i think)

How she has changed...

[leorawright]

how about talon the junkers and genii being with S/o who is like pyro from tf2 and maybe s/o let the use there flamethrower or axe

Yay fandom mix! (This does go past my character limit so I removed Doomfist so I could have 9 characters)

Overwatch with friend who is like Pyro from Tf2

Reaper

Reaper doesn't show his face as well so he understands and doesn't push the reasons for your mask

If you let him use your flamethrower be prepared to have the entire battlefield burnt to the ground

He also doesn't mind that your voice is a little muffled because he prefers it when others don't hear you two's conversations

Sombra

She doesn't have any information on you and that's what intrigues her about you

She wants to know everything about you and then she realizes that she enjoys your company

Letting Sombra use either your axe or you flamethrower is an inherently bad idea... do it

If you have an extra mask Sombra will beg to try it on

Widowmaker

She won't push the secrecy around you she's not Sombra after all

She'll decline using your flamethrower or axe as she prefers using her rifle

She does think the fire is pretty

She might struggle hearing you at first due to your muffled voice but she gets use to it

Moira

Never give this women a flamethrower or an axe she will commit war crimes

Moira very much wants to see whats under your mask but she'll (grumply) let you keep your secrets

Your muffled voice isn't a problem unlike others she understands you perfectly

Sigma

This man adores you

He likes how you have secrets and he'd never ask you to spill them

He's interested in your flamethrower and if he ever uses it it's mainly going to be flicking it on and off because he likes seeing the little flame

If you give him a Balloonicorn he'll love you forever

Junkrat

You two are soulmates it is done

Junkrat is a Pyro maniac and your fire just draws him in

Letting him use your flamethrower or you using it near him might blow the two of you up if you're not careful

Like Sigma, if you give him a Balloonicorn he'll die from happiness

Roadhog

He wears a mask all the time as well so you two are secret buddies

Roadhog enjoys having someone nearby that is a bit calmer than Junkrat a.k.a you

Using your axe is probably a great choice of weapon for him since he can put a lot of power behind his swings

Junker Queen

You are her favorite person (no offense to Geiger or Meri yes offense to Junkrat)

She's honored if you let her use your flamethrower but she's already got Carnage so she doesn't need your axe

Your muffled voice is something she struggles to hear so she might lean down to hear you better

Genji

You are chaos and Genji is more of a balancing factor in this relationship

He does adore you and all your strange qualities though

He'll politely decline using your axe or flamethrower since he has his sword

Genji does like the secrecy behind your mask and never pries you to take it off

[zirawrites]

Can you do a fallout 4 companions react to a sole survivor who be put back into cryo, whether it be it by a weapon (the cryolator) or into a machine (like the vault tech pods) temporarily and dealing with it and the aftermath? I can just imagine a sole survivor would be terrified to be put back and lose another lifetime again against their will

Sole’s pre-war immune system was too weak for the new world. The smallest click on a geiger counter had them downing RadAway. They needed a stimpack for every rusty cut or the scar immediately scabbed over with mysterious hives. But when they developed a rare abnormality in their chest, the only cure was slowing -- or stopping -- their heartbeat for what the doctor affectionately called a factory reset. And the only cryopod capable of curing Sole was the one they stepped inside over 200 years ago.

Cait: Cait was drained of all her usual aggression, instead replacing the emotion with gentle sincerity that soothed Sole’s nerves like a cool balm. She knew stressing Sole with her own anxieties wasn’t good for their health, and so she only spoke encouragement as Sole stepped into the cryopod. “I’ll be right here when ya wake, love.” The last thing Sole saw was her hand pressed against the glass. When they eventually awoke, Cait was attentive and full of vulgar stories to cheer them up. She even teased that if Sole hadn’t made it she called dibs on their Pip-Boy.

Codsworth: He was the biggest mess of anyone as Sole was loaded into the cryopod. “As General Atomic’s finest machinery, I have impeccable memory sir/mum.” His voice modulator shook worse than his rattling metal body. “It feels like only yesterday you were sent to this vault. Please come back to me again.” Sole felt too bad for Codsworth to think about their own fear. When they awoke, Codsworth was the first to pry and prod at them during their health exam.

Curie: “Do not worry, Sole. Vault Tec’s cryostasis capsules use the safest technology available.” Curie hurried alongside Sole as they approached the cryopod. She hugged the stacks of notes and textbooks she’d been reading on the subject to her chest. “It will only feel like just a moment. Well, I suppose you already know. But this time, you have friends waiting for you on the other side.” When Sole awoke, Curie was just as diligent in assisting with their recovery -- both physically and mentally -- as any other doctor.

Danse: Danse hardly trusted pre-war technology, let alone something from the wretched Vault Tec. However, he wasn’t about to fill Sole’s head with his conspiracies and ravings about the unsavory corporation. And Sole probably agreed with him anyways. Instead, Danse stayed positive and told Sole they would be perfectly safe. It felt an awful lot like lying, but Danse didn’t want to stress Sole further. When Sole emerged from the cryopod, Danse made sure they got adequate mental health treatment for what he assumed would be a tumultuous time for their PTSD.

Deacon: “Did anyone order a vault dweller on the rocks?” Deacon tried to keep Sole’s spirits high with his usual jokes and antics. But when his joviality started to come off as being uncaring, Deacon pulled Sole aside to assure them that everything would be fine. The doctors and scientists knew what they were doing, and he’d stay near the cryopod for as long as it took for Sole to get better. Just as he watched them emerge from the vault, Deacon would have their back from inside. After Sole was released from cryostasis, Deacon was back to his joking self, even claiming Sole talked in their sleep while frozen.

Hancock: Hancock found the entire idea of cryostasis interesting. The adventure of being frozen felt like taking a chem and knowing you’d be ghoulified. Sole didn’t share his sentiments. Instead of dwelling on the whole getting re-frozen aspect, Hancock distracted Sole with a night out. The two drank and sang off-key at the Third Rail, and even rolled into the vault hungover. When Sole emerged from the cryopod, Hancock made sure to stay both gentle and sober towards them in case they needed to talk.

MacCready: “I can’t imagine what you’re going through.” The thought of Sole afraid of anything made MacCready’s stomach churn. He would never tell Sole to tough it out or pretend they were fine with going back into cryostasis. Instead, MacCready lets Sole vent about their fears up until the day they go inside the pod. Once Sole is thawed, MacCready takes their mind off it with a day shopping in Diamond City. He even buys Sole some of Takahashi’s noodles, which was touching because MacCready never shares his caps.

Preston: Preston double, triple and quadruple-checked with Sole’s doctors that the cryostasis would be safe. Didn’t they know how triggering this would be for Sole? Didn’t they care? Regardless, Preston made sure that Sole knew he would be there every step of the way. He was the last person Sole saw while being frozen, and the first when they were thawed. Preston let Sole vent to him about the horrible memories the entire procedure dredged up. He knew what it was like to be pushed beyond his limits with no one to catch him.

Piper: Piper was a little disappointed Sole wouldn’t let her cover the story for the paper, but was still very supportive of Sole throughout the process. Vault Tec reminded her too much of the Institute for Piper to be anything but nervous for her friend. When Sole was taken from the cryopod, Piper personally vetted anyone who came to visit her favorite companion. “Can never be too careful, Blue,” she explained. “The Institute had you once. I’m not letting them take you again.” Piper also donates stacks of old newspapers for Sole to read while recovering.

Nick: “You’re the bravest of us all, kid,” Nick Valentine assured. “If anyone can get back in that pod, it’s you.” Perhaps Nick coddled Sole through the process, but he didn’t care. If Sole wanted to cry, he lent his shoulder. If they needed to vent, he lent his ear. When Sole eventually emerged, Nick was patient with Sole’s emotional outbursts. He struggled with hard memories, too. And always wanted someone to be just as kind with him.

X6-88: “I still think this technology is too archaic for your intended use with it. If you gave the Institute a few years, we could develop something much safer.” Sole reminded X6 that they didn’t have a few years, so the courser did everything to make the ordeal easier on them. He needed the future leader of the Institute at their best. When Sole woke up, he was quick to make sure they were properly fed and tended to by doctors.

[preservationofnormalcy]

Hah! I just found this transcript from the archives. This was all declassified for the extranormal community in the 90s after some Radiant Heart deacons showed up on a wizard talk show before we could stop it.

The following document was assembled from an audio recording and agent recollections during an operation that took place January 2nd, 1950, wherein Agents Saxon and De Boer attended a “revival” religious meeting held by Extranormal Beliefs Group “First National Church of the Radiant Heart” in the guise of reporters from the local newspaper. Elizabeth De Boer is an accomplished psychic medium in Office employ, and Saxon is employed as Security.

===============

[The revival meeting takes place in a large tent, such as that used for a circus. A few hundred people or more are assembled inside. Benches are arranged in three “wings” surrounding a central stage. It was noted after the fact that this resembles the “trefoil”.]

[De Boer] Is it on?

[Saxon] Yes, ma’am.

[Background noise and chatter from the assembled congregants.]

[D] What do you think so far, Saxon?

[S] They put me in mind of my cousins.

[D] Why?

[S] I’m from the hills, ma’am. ‘Round Tennessee way. My family’s church are all snake handlers.

[D] And how do you feel about them?

[S] Pity, mostly.

[D] Because they’re religious?

[S] On account of my uncle dying from the snakebite, ma’am.

[D] Mmm.

[S] Speaking of, how’s the Geiger?

[D] We won’t keel over tomorrow, if that’s what you’re asking. 

[S] But it’s still going off, ma’am?

[D] Chambers said the ███████ would protect us.

[S] Not that I distrust Miss Chambers, ma’am, but a man gets a little nervous when he sees a Geiger counter spinning.

[A rising noise from the crowd quiets them. Clapping and singing commence as Pastor Mayweather himself rises onto the stage, waving, smiling, and grabbing an offered microphone.]

[Mayweather] Thank you, Brother Mark. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, you know why we’re here tonight. Don’t we?

[The crowd murmurs agreement.]

[M] We are here in communion, ladies and gentlemen, we are here to give HONOR to the one that unites us, gives us life and POWER, and BRINGS us together both here and in the next life, can I get an amen?

[A chorus of ‘amens’ rises from the crowd. Mayweather continues to speak as he paces back and forth across the stage.]

[S] He’s navigating the stage real well. I thought he was supposed to be blind?

[D] They said he doesn’t have eyes. In our line of work, I wouldn’t assume those mean the same thing. Besides, he’s probably faked it.

[M] --and you are HERE, ladies and gentlemen, to witness a miracle. Am I right? I got to speak about something here folks, let me speak before we bring on our new friend. Do you feel it, folks?

[Shouts of agreement.]

[M] Oh I feel it too. That glow, that warmth. Can you feel it, soaking your body, wrapping your very DNA in radiant love, rebuilding you? Of course you can, family. Of course you can. Brother Mark, can you-- yes, thank you Brother Mark. Folks, this is Emily. 

[A young girl is wheeled onto the stage in a wheelchair. She is shy, but looking up at Mayweather with awe.]

[M] Young Emily here had polio. She has been blighted by that dreadful disease and can no longer walk. Isn’t that right? [E] Yes, Pastor.

[M] Emily, are you here to accept the blessing of our saviour, our light, our POWER and warmth, the Split Atom? 

[E] (tearing up) Yes, Pastor.

[Mayweather puts his hand on her forehead and leans down toward her.]

[M] Sister Emily, will you place your faith in the Glow, the holy radiation, and be PURIFIED by ions, down to the subatomic level, Miss Emily--

[E] Yes, Pastor!

[The lights in the tent flicker and a low hum fills the area. The counter on the silent Geiger counter in De Boer’s longcoat rises.]

[S] What’s he doing….

[M] Sister Emily, by the POWER and AUTHORITY invested in me, we will REMAKE you. We will split one atom, one holy exercise in unlocking the secrets of the universe and we WILL burn away this damage, we WILL heal your damaged nerves--

[The crowd’s cheering rises to a fever pitch. The lights flicker faster and a green glow emanates from Mayweather’s hand. He continues his invocation, and many in the crowd join him, chanting, cheering, reciting scripture.]

[M] BE HEALED, Sister Emily, be HEALED!

[There is silence, and then a crackling energy. Briefly, green light can be seen behind Mayweather’s sunglasses. As the lights come back up, Mayweather holds out his hand.]

[M] Sister Emily, will you rise in the name of the Glow?

[After some hesitation, Emily pulls herself out of her chair. To her amazement, she can stand shakily on her feet. The crowd erupts in cheers and praises.]

[S] Wow. That’s--

[D] Chicanery. Hogwash. 

[S] The girl seemed--

[D] A plant. An actor. Flicker the lights, flash a green flashlight onto the speaker. It’s a show to sell their radiation quackery.

[Mayweather dabs his forehead with a handkerchief as Emily is led off the stage.]

[M] Isn’t that a miracle, ladies and gentlemen. Isn’t that wonderful. We know where our power comes from, don’t we? From the Radiance, from the Great Ionization. Folks, we have another thing to show. Brother Gregory, fetch the- thank you, Brother Gregory.

[A deacon brings a Geiger counter and sets it on the stage on a table. Mayweather stands behind the table, his hand over the counter.]

[M] Ladies and gentlemen….ladies and gentlemen, we are GATHERED here tonight in the name of the Split Atom, I said in the NAME of the SPLIT ATOM to call up the spirit of Sister Josie, isn't that right? Yes family, Sister Josie passed on into the Glow two months ago but her holy atomic soul has lingered to GUIDE us into the holy Glow ourselves. 

[He raises his hand, palm outward, and the crowd goes silent. Saxon notes that De Boer leans forward to watch.]

[M] Sister Josie….are you here? Are you here with us?

[The Geiger counter is silent for a moment, then crackles to life. De Boer clutches her forehead.]

[S] Ma’am? Do we--are you okay?

[D] Yes, yes, just. Keep the recording going, Saxon.

[M] Sister Josie, is that you? Two clicks for yes, one for no.

[The Geiger squeals twice, and Mayweather smiles. The crowd gasps and murmurs.]

[M] Ain’t that something, folks? Ain’t that something? Sister Josie, can you bless us tonight? Bless us with your Radiance? 

[The counter goes haywire, squealing and clicking loudly. De Boer leans on one of the bleachers for support, gritting her teeth.]

[M] Can you feel her, folks? Can you FEEL her ionized spirit coursing through each and every one of us gathered here?

[D] We need to go. I need to leave.

[S] Yes, uh. Alright, ma’am, let’s--

[The sound of the crowd dies down as they leave the tent.]

[S] ….what, uh. Did you hear something?

[D] Yes, I….hold on.

[De Boer takes a moment to compose herself.]

[D] Screaming. 

[S] What?

[D] It was just screaming. Just….screaming. Turn the recording off. We need to get the ERTF involved.

[xerith-42]

Got Vincent headcanons to share with the class?

Your recent post is making me think about him lol

I love thinking about Vincent!!! He's one of my favorite guys to think about!!! Here's a few headcanons regarding one of my favorite little guys!!

* Vincent really likes spicy food. This was the truth before he became a shadow knight, and was only amplified afterwards. I'm serious you know that one friend who brags about eating a Carolina Reaper one time? That's a weaker version of Vincent, he will pick the spiciest pepper Ru'aun has to offer off the tree and eat it whole like it is nothing

* His favorite past time is fucking with Cadenza. She understands quite a bit about Shadow Knights and how odd they can be, but Vincent really turns it up to 11 and is just as weird as possible around her. He was weird as hell before he got raised into undeath, the necromancy only made him worse.

* I once described Vylad as the type of mf to talk to you about a niche subject for ten minutes only to admit that was all lies, and Vincent is very similar. He loves telling Cadenza random facts and she responds "Is that real??" And his response is usually a shrug and a "Could be." much to her chagrin.

* Vincent and Cadenza first met about two years after everyone disappeared, purely by chance as it were. Cadenza was in O'Khasis to inform the Lord there that her father had fallen and she would be taking his place. While she was there she stopped at a bar to drink her worries away, where she met Vincent. Vincent had actually met Lord Hayden once before, and while he didn't take a particular liking to him, something about Cadenza stood out

* In an attempt to get to know her he offered to buy her a few drinks. As a result, Cadenza drank him under the table and the two spilled secrets to each other over the empty bar almost the entire night.

* It was the most fun Vincent had in over a decade.

* Vincent is a musician, he's literally been alive for 100 years of course he's a musician. But not any ordinary musical instrument, no, this man has to be different. He has to be unique. He plays the Zither, this weird fucking string instrument I found on Wikipedia!

* Vincent could not teach you how to play this thing. He learned it so long ago that he is running purely on muscle memory whenever he whips out this bad boy

* He also doesn't really read sheet music anymore, mostly because it can be really hard to come by. He's much more of a play by ear kinda guy.

* Just as Cadenza used to dance to Laurance's songs, Vincent learned to play for Cadenza when she was getting too stressed and needed something to pull her away from work for a bit. A good song usually works.

* It was also Vincent that helped her with her first designs of combining fashion and armor

* Overall Vincent and Cadenza bounce ideas off of each other quite often, sometimes literally as they toss around balled up pieces of paper to one another on long nights, and would likely refer to one another as muses

* We fools would classify it best as queerplatonic besties

* This does mean people have thought they were dating, but that's never been the case

* Vincent is gay as hell

* There's kind of an otherworldliness that people can pick up from Vincent. Nothing distinct, nothing they can put a finger on, but the vibes are just... Not off, but a little to the left.

* I know these don't exist in Ru'aun, but if you pointed a Geiger counter at Vincent it would show him as slightly radioactive

That's the best thing I've written this entire post, cutting it off here because I will never write something more true to Vincent's being than that

[knitting-dopamine]

Well, it's finally complete! Biggest thanks as always to my wonderful husband who was always encouraging and enthusiastic (and took some great photos imo). And thanks to my family who was willing to buy me a cardigan quantity of the exact yarn I asked for as my birthday present.

It's taken me over a year to complete this project, the most complex one I've ever taken on. There were multiple points where I was worried I was putting in all this work for something that wasn't going to fit me or look good but I'm in love with it. I love the structure the cables give this cardigan, I love the color, I even love the buttons I ended up choosing (mother of pearl).

Lots of firsts here: first cardigan, first piecewise construction, first waist shaping. Just goes to show that if you love a project but you're worried you don't have the skills to make it, you should really just go for it!

Pattern: Geiger by Norah Gaughan

Yarn: Cascade BFL in Avocado

[overwatchfics]

Can you write how junkerqueen would have a crush on fem!reader? like how would she realize and how would she handle it? thanks!

Junker Queen Crush HCs

For someone so powerful and headstrong, she's baffled when she comes to the startling realization that she has a crush on you

For once a fear of rejection is present in her mind and she feels nervous even though you've been a good friend to her for a while

She tried kicking you out of Junker town

She is the equivalent of this post

Eventually Geiger and Meri caught on to it, it was fairly obvious she didn't want to fight or kill you and you didn't exactly pose a threat, so they put 2 and 2 together.

They tell their queen to grow a pair and ask you out or talk to you about it. Geiger can't really talk, but he was insistently nodding at Meri's suggestions.

Odessa realized her being a nervous gay wreck was going to get her nowhere and so the woo-ing process begins

She decides to be the brass idiot to try and beat up a bunch of criminals in front of you to get your attention

Meri face palms, but notices your stare lingering on her form much longer than it should

Odessa doesn't really muster up the courage to confess until on a raiding party, you get injured pretty badly and she takes charge and takes care of you

Living out in the wasteland for majority of her life left her with survival skills so first aid for her is not too much of a biggie for her

She realizes in mending your wounds, that you're a variable that could easily disappear in her life.

Odessa knew she needed to speak up about her feelings and so she did

She held your smaller hand in her and spoke earnestly about her feelings for you over the past couple months

You interrupt her with a kiss and squeeze her hand

She's dumbstruck, blinks once, blinks twice "No way..."

she pulls you in to her arms and kisses you on the forehead, cheeks and takes her time when she reaches the lips

She only says one word after

Rad

A/N: Sorry I took so long, I've been super busy working 3 jobs and full-time college student.

Requests: CLOSED