#my tumblr followers are like my lab rats to test my posts on before i release them to a population of real people

[pissfartboy]

been watching bob burger

[loki-the-predator]

A guide to writing starters

This blog got quite busy (which I absolutely love) however, I noticed that some people struggle to come up with a starter to call out to my character. When it comes to starters I’m quite picky because I have two ultimate pet-peeves being God-modding and one-liners, and sometimes it can be hard to create something.

Because there are probably many out there who struggle with creating starters I decided to make a little guide on how to create starters along with examples, and why stuff works and why not. This guide can be both used to create open as closed starters.

I’m going to use my character Loki in these examples and I picked a couple of examples that I created for him, and a couple of examples that were handed to him. Yes, I asked those mun’s if I could use them.

So, let’s get to this.

Four foundations

To create a starter you need some foundations. I create my starters mostly on a couple of foundations, listed bellow. Not every foundation has the be used in every starter, you can mix and match but there is one foundation that you almost cannot leave out and that is the first one of this list. The four foundations I use are:

What is my character doing

Scenery

Openings sentence

plot

It sounds simple but let’s take a closer look...

What is my character doing?

This is one of the most important things, and as I said, it’s almost impossible to leave this one out. If you are going to write a starter you should know that whatever your character is doing, it affects the other. On top of that it is very important that you write the actions of your character alone and not the other as well.

You can place small little details on how your character is looking (handsome in a neat suit or bloodied if he just got out of a fight), but also other small things as age, hair, eye color, etc. Just make sure to not barrage the other player with an infinite amount of details because it can get overwhelming, and when characters are in their first meeting you will get there along the way anyway.

An example; gotten from @jester-datshyboi

The young boy, which appeared somewhere around 14-15 walked silent as ever through the dark and gloomy forest. He had absolutely no idea how he got there, or what lead him to the forest, but it was similar to a strong energy pulling him in. He gripped the wooden handle of his butcher knife in his padded pocket, just to comfort himself. He knew whatever beasts would be in this forest couldn’t be harmed by that little dagger no matter what.

In this case it was very important that he stated that his character was a minor, which for a lot of rp-ers changes their behavior towards them (Had I not liked it to rp with a young boy, I could have made him turn away and abandon the post, and because I’m polite I would have contacted the mun to let them know).

Please note how the mun keeps his character's actions to himself. This is very important because what your character does, affects mine even though you have no clue yet how my character is going to respond.

Scenery

A second and very important part of a starter is scenery. It can be abandoned mostly as you will see in the example with ‘openings sentence’, but it makes it more difficult. What do we mean by scenery? Well, any place you can think of. A house, a beach, a forest, a living room, whatever. If it fits and it is a place, you’re good to go.

For my character Loki I have created (like literally in my mind, I made map) a couple of places he resides if I want to create a starter. This way I can create a scenery for someone or can start from my scenery which I know.

An example, written for a Venom I wanted to rp with

Loki walked into the lab eyeing the interior with disgust, the door sliding shut behind him. He really disliked the sterile and white rooms and even more so all the weird machinery and tools.

The God slowly turned on his heel taking in his surroundings, the smell of bleach filling his nostrils. In the middle of the room stood a single chair, the kind where they usually strapped someone into to keep one in control. Glass cabinets were placed along the walls holding various of pots with liquids and there was a trolley with some shining tools placed on them.

Loki wasn’t quite sure what to make of this yet. Would he end up in that chair or someone else? His contract with S.H.I.E.L.D. stated he would not be harmed as long as he worked for the Avengers (even though he didn’t like that one bit and he had been forced to do so), but one could never be sure. There were many who still held a grudge against him and he was certain a couple of them wanted nothing more than the prod and pry at him like some lab-rat.

“What is the meaning of this?” he asked coldly.

I created this scenery with a specific character in mind I was going to reach out to, being Venom. Luckily I knew a little about the character and I knew from the trailers that the creature resided in a lab of some sorts, this gave me some pointers. This scenery is very detailed and I explicitly chose to do so because of the other character. In this case the scenery could play a major role where my character could have been forced to sit down in that chair and suffer the horrors from the alien. Or the other could have made the tools rattle or the cabinets explode, whatever they would have liked.

Openings sentence

So, you have decided what your character is doing and you’ve set a scenery, now he/she/it wants to say something to give the other an opening to make the reply easier. Please note, this is optional as you saw in the first example.

I really cannot tell you what your character should say because it depends on the other rp-er you are interacting with (you probably know that character otherwise you wouldn’t reach out). The most easy thing is to ask a question because it is far easier for the other to answer to a question than a statement, but statements would do fine as well.

If you want some inspiration you can search Tumblr for “rp starters” or “prompts”. You will get an endless lists of things your character can say.

An example, written for a Klaus I wanted to rp with

It had taken him quite some time to track the man. The other was smart, quick and didn’t leave many tracks behind but even the slightest detail was enough for the God to eventually close in on him.

The Trickster was sure that the man - if it was a man that you could call him - was aware that he was being followed. But Loki had his own tricks to cover up his tracks and he was sure they had been dancing around each other for a while now.

He crouched down and ran his index finger through a puddle of blood and rubbed his finger against his thumb, a little green magic coming from the tip of his fingers to test it before he cleaned his fingers with the same magic. Then he gracefully raised to his feet.

A sly smile formed on his lips as he felt a presence behind him. “It is truly a pleasure to meet you,” he said with a velvet voice and turned a little.

I was struggling with how to introduce the other character to mine because I very much wanted them to meet but their universes differed very much. The sentence in this was the inspiration to build the scenery and Loki’s actions around it. I choose the difficult way in this to start with a statement instead of question.

As you can see there is barely any scenery in here, just a puddle of blood somewhere. I left it open for the other to fill in or not, in this case it really didn’t matter.

Plot

In my opinion is this one of the most difficult things to create especially when your characters aren’t even introduced yet. Usually I don’t put in plot with first meetings, this can wait until characters know each other. Plot is nothing more than a problem or a challenge for a character.

If you really wish to incorporate plot but you can’t come up with something, just google ‘dnd plot generator’. There are tons of websites which give you a random one-liner plot which can be used as inspiration for your rp.

An example, gotten from @dr-stephen-v-strange

So we did some research and apparently you can duplicate or something, so we don’t really know whom to contact or who is trustworthy (Thor is not acting like a reliable source). But we are kinda getting desperate. Mordo has been killing off magic users and with the Sorcerer Supreme gone, we could use someone with a bit more experience than the novices who keep creating portals to random places and then walk through them into walls or falling down hundreds of feet.

Well, I guess it’s pretty clear on what we are going to do even though we haven’t even met; we are going to hunt Mordo!

Another example, gotten from @xsimpletrashx

Lastly I have another example from a starter I got and I’m going to break it down for you a little and put my comments and thoughts in there in bold and you’ll see why.

The plan was simple. Loki had to stay at Stark tower to compensate for the damage he had done during the invasion of New York.

Okay, so I’m being forced to be stuck in a tower? Let’s see where this goes.

The tower has already been repaired and equipped with one of the best security systems in the US.

Scenery, awesome, I can not escape if I wish so.

Not that they needed much security with those enchanted handcuffs around Loki’s wrists anyway. They were separated, not to confine him too much, but still capable of restricting any kind of sorcery and godly strength.

Wait what? You are restricting my character? wha-?

In those cuffs, the trickster was basically human, at least that’s what Thor said.

Ah good, a fail-safe that almost neutralizes all that has been previously stated! If I don’t want to be restricted I can denounce it because Thor said something that could have been a lie. Good!

Tony was delighted when he heard the news, much to his teammates’ dismay. The genius was simply intrigued with things that were… new. The god was new and Tony yearned to know what made said god tick. To learn about his magic and use his thousand years old knowledge to defend the earth, who wouldn’t want that? …maybe he was also pleased to get a little payback for all the people who died during the attack. Well, nobody could blame him for that.

Good, this gives me some information about the other’s character and his motivations (plot).

“For all it’s worth, my dad didn’t give a shit about my problems either but here I am.” Tony joked halfheartedly as he led his new guest into his workshop.

Openings-sentence meant for me. I can respond however I like. Good!

Of course, he was still wary of being around the god without his suit on, handcuffs or not, especially since the last time that happened he got thrown out of the window, but that never stopped him from running his mouth.

More plot and character insight.

This particular example is very tricky because it borders a little on god-modding. Luckily for the both of us Loki has been restricted and whatever not for his past so many times in so many fics that I was willing to roll with it - heck! It even made sense! But had another character - for example Jester from the first example - forced this upon Loki, or had Loki forced this upon another character such as Klaus from the thirds example, than things might have turned out very differently.

What not to do

Well, of course you can do this but as I told at the beginning, god-modding is my ultimate pet-peeve and I know I’m not the only one. For example if you send me this I will not answer:

Loki had been reading a book in the corner when he suddenly heard a voice. “And who might you be?” she inquired, breaking the silence making Loki jump out of his boots by the unexpected sound.

Why I don’t like this? First of all, you are forcing my character to read a book. Good thing he loves his books but maybe he doesn’t want to read at this point, that is a decision for me to make. Then we get some scenery which is incomplete. Where are we? Home? Library? Beach? Just pick a place and try to fit it to your character. Then there is a sentence (which is fine), followed by how my character reacts to breaking that silence. Again, you decided how my character reacts (startled) which goes against the nature of my character because it takes a lot for him to jump out of his boots.

As you can see this starter is short but that doesn’t really matter. Let me give you an example on how you could write this differently.

She walked into the library silently, her footfalls barely disturbing the silence until she noticed the man. “And who might you be?” she inquired, breaking the silence and startling the other occupants of the room.

The difference here is that you kept your actions for yourself and haven’t forced any on mine, he can be doing whatever he wants. You created a scenery (a library and a silent one at that! Yes, could have been that there was a riot going on!) You created an openings-sentence, a question even which gives my character a reason to respond, and you even used some npc’s to create a reaction you EXPECT from my character as well but you didn’t force me.

TL;DR

In any starter just stick to the following things: what is MY character doing or saying? What is the scenery, aka, where is my character and is it logical for the other to be there too? What do I want to say? Can I insert some plot? You can mix and match these in any way you like.

I hope this was useful and if you want to add some things, please let me know. Also, this is my humble opinion on how I create starters and on how I love to see them, there is not rule to play by, my words aren’t chiseled in stone. ;-)

[panticwritten]

Breaking Furnace Book 1: Lockdown

Chapter 6: Family Matters

Table of contents!

All of my writing!

I’ve had to change quite a bit of formatting to post this on tumblr because I am a fiend when it comes to using different fonts and tools and junk in my writing. If you want to read this chapter with its original formatting, you can do so here.

Starting in this chapter, some of the formatting really starts to matter between the original document and the limits of what I can do on here. It doesn’t matter as much until the other four books, but I’m just gonna mention that I’m kind of disappointed in how limiting tumblr is. If you have a chance, I would seriously suggest checking the document.

You can leave comments by highlighting specific text and clicking the bubble that appears to the side!

Super neat.

Remember that this is a daydream taking place in the Escape From Furnace universe, so keep that in mind if you haven’t read EFF.

In this chapter, the POV starts to fracture because Connor and this Sawyer obviously experience this world very differently. So we get a bit of Connor’s point of view!

Yet another reminder, though, that all of this is a daydream pulling many characters and settings from existing media. I don’t claim that any of the characters (other than Sawyer, Connor, and Dominic) are mine.

Mostly because of the new character introduced in this chapter.

Word count: 4832

Possible triggers in this chapter:

Dissociation

Emotional manipulation

Hallucinations

Implied human experimentation

Unreality

Feel free to message me if I’m missing any.

Chapter 7 will be up on February 23rd at 7pm PST.

If you like what I do here, maybe consider buying me a Ko-fi or checking out my Patreon! I love being able to put so much out for free, but this would be a great way to show support and also see cool new content!

~-S-~

“What a sight you are.” Cross’s voice, thin and harried, falls into the cell as his figure comes into focus. “It hasn’t even been a day.”

It’s not a rat.

This is worse.

I try to hide how unsteady I am, wrinkling my nose at him. I can’t find the words to go with the distain, though, leaving me silent in a hole in the ground.

He turns away, gesturing irritably at me before walking out of sight. A blacksuit, taking his place above me, reaches in. I grasp his hand, knowing that this is a peace offering from the soldier to me.

Otherwise he’d have dragged me out by my throat.

Back on solid ground, my legs groan at the sudden expectation of use. So focused on staying upright, I hardly notice when the suit starts forward with a tight grip on my upper arm.

I look up from my tingling feet just in time to see the warden push past the plastic flaps into the infirmary. I falter, my knees deciding they would rather not. My escort doesn’t stop, though, pulling me along with a tighter grip. I resign myself to my fate, regaining my balance as we pass through the flaps.

Hospital beds line both sides of the long room. These cots, hidden by stained curtains, contain the future of Furnace. New specimens, on their way to becoming good little soldiers. From behind the curtains, the occasional shriek of laughter jumps out at us, and I do my best not to flinch when this happens.

The blacksuit speeds up and makes a beeline for the exit on the opposite side of the room. The three wheezers inside watch us as we cross the room. I try not to look at them, holding my breath until we exit on the other end of the cots.

I don’t look into the surgery amphitheatres lining the long hallways beyond, focusing instead on the doors to the incinerator straight ahead. We turn right at the three-way junction and shortly arrive at a familiar door.

Cross faces me for the first time since we started walking, but he doesn’t look at me. Instead, he addresses the soldier at my side.

“Go. Finish your patrol,” he says crisply. 

The blacksuit nods and turns back the way we came. I catch him shoot me a wink behind Cross’s back. I grimace and rub my arm where I was held, trying to return blood flow to my tingling fingers.

Cross says nothing more, giving me no hint as to our destination. He unlocks the door and pushes through. Though he doesn’t check to make sure I follow, I stay close behind him.

I don’t need to hear the eerie music winding through the room to know where we are.

The wheezers, those not hard at work in the rooms we’ve passed, loiter in their cells. Ghostly wailing from the ancient gramophone in the center of the room sends a shiver down my spine, and I can’t help but look at the withered doctors.

Cross hisses a warning at me, but I ignore him. The wheezers see me as nothing more than an inmate now, but they all remain in their cells. They would work on the warden if they got the chance, and would even sooner have me under the knife. 

Neither of us slow until the door closes behind us on the other side.

“Where are we going?” I ask, stopping. 

Nothing back here is friendly to a being without nectar. That could very well be his intention, though I doubt he wants to kill me so soon.

But that could just be wishful thinking.

He doesn’t seem to notice that he’s left me behind until he nearly turns a corner without me.

He snarls, though the sound cuts off in an instant. In an astounding show of patience, he stops and pinpoints me with a glare I can only describe as withering.

“We have business to discuss, yes?” he snaps, his grimace briefly flipping into an ambiguous smile. 

My unease grows with his phrasing, but I follow without another word.

I try to remember the map of the compound, something I’ve worked hard to forget. What lies beyond the wheezer’s cells? There are testing chambers here, and the zoo, but I can’t place anything else in the complex warren of halls.

We turn another corner and I see the last doorway in the corridor. It’s another shock-door like the one in the yard. It swings open before we reach it, and I recognize the room beyond at a glance.

It’s the lab. 

I don’t know why he would bring me here, but I already know that nothing he has to say will be worth the trouble. He’s too far gone, and I know better than to believe his lies.

I pause just inside, jumping when the door closes again. Throughout the room are evenly spaced metal tables cluttered with papers and various devices. The whole space is about the size of a small warehouse. Doors line the four walls, leading to other rooms like this, practical testing labs, and storage closets.

There’s a perfect replica of this complex in the Cube, where Jay now lives. It was on Furnace’s island the last time I saw the real thing, replacing the hackneyed laboratories the island used to have.

After I finally killed Alfred Furnace permanently, Connor, Jay, and I created a new blend of nectar here. It feels like an eternity by Cube standards, though it hasn’t even been a year.

Cross strides through the lab, to a desk I remember Jay practically living at. They have the original in their lab, I think, as a reminder. More memories, more regret. I don’t know what Cross is playing at, and the uncertainty has me on edge.

“Come here,” Cross says, pulling a drawer open.

I comply, though I come to a stop a good distance behind him, next to one of the tables. I scan the papers littering the surface, waiting for him to cut to the chase.

Specimen M017

D1-03-08-2016

Steady feed of N3.22, strength increase, no memory change. Little to be done in this state, no potential at this stage. Observe 24h, move to stage two

Broke free of restraints 3h after start of test, muscle improvement rate higher than anticipated. Quickly returned to gurney under instruction of 82

Sedate after Z102 grew weary of his struggle 

D2-04-08-2016

30cc N4.14 every 6h accompanied by time in screening room. Test each hour for  

Another, blank, paper covers the rest. N3.22 is my nectar—it’s startling enough to know Cross is using it—but what’s N4.14? I nearly reach out to shift the paper but think better of it. Cross is right here, and I still wouldn’t put it past him to kill me if I take a wrong step.

Cross turns to face me just as I’m looking back to him. He offers me a golden tube, his too-wide grin locking the air in my throat when I snatch it out of his hand. 

He brushes past me while I examine the familiar object.

It’s about the size of a PEZ dispenser, the edges smooth and rounded. My own reflection in the metal startles me, a grimy kid with hollow eyes. It hasn’t even been two days.

I run a finger over a divot near one end, then dig a nail under it to pop the cylinder open.

“Where did you get this?”

I don’t turn to look at him when I ask, allowing the dark tablets to roll into my palm. The colored flecks within them wink at me in the fluorescent light. I’ve seen these before, a gift from Connor in my last run.

It’s nectar. 

Condensed into a solid pill, each tablet contains enough of the ancient evil to change a person forever. 

Well. Forever with a few exceptions.

Looking at them awakes a longing in the back of my mind that turns my stomach. They’re right there, and it would be so easy to use them. I could end this right now, couldn’t I?

Lightheaded, I roll the multi-hued pills back where they belong and close it.

The golden tube clenched in my fist, I turn back to face Cross. He watches me intently, eyes narrowed. He’s out of his goddamn mind, handing this kind of power right to me. 

I ask him again, where he got it.

“You have a habit of leaving things lying around.” My grip on the container tightens. “You may choose at anytime to return where you belong.”

~-S-~

I lay in darkness, curled in a ball on the cool stone. The golden container rests in the palm of my hand. I thought about leaving it in the lab, but there wouldn’t have been a point. Now I won’t be helpless if I’m attacked.

“Helpless?”

I curl in tighter, tired of the cold echoes of the hallucinations. Between the nectar and the dark, I’m not surprised I’m hearing things.

“Didn’t you ask for this?”

I close my eyes, though that does nothing. The silent voice sighs. The edges of the figure grow sharper and they move into my line of sight.

It’s Jay. They aren’t really here, I know that, but they still pinpoint me with narrowed eyes, their arms crossed. I don’t think they’ve actually worn that lab coat since I was really fifteen, but if that’s the way my mind decided to conjure them up I don’t have much room to argue.

“Look, I don’t want to be here, either. You called up the universe and you walked through the door.”

“I know.” My voice, barely a breath, doesn’t seem to reach them.

“And now it’s not just you suffering, is it? You could have struggled alone, or found Cross in the Cube, but no.” They shake their head, sighing. “You told Connor it would be fun, got him to convince the others—your friends—to let go of the peace they found. You brought everyone back.”

“I know.” I say it louder this time

“But that was never it, was it? You never came here to have fun. This isn’t a celebration, and deep down you didn’t expect it to be.” They pace back out of view. “This is about Cross, right? He likely wouldn’t have shown his face again for months. You just couldn’t leave well enough alone.”

“I know!” I shriek, the sound tearing at my throat and deadened by the cell. I find myself sitting upright, but when I turn to confront the spectre it’s gone.

I deserve that.

I lean back against the side of the cell, sliding back to the floor. Running my fingers through my hair, I stare into the darkness. I don’t know how long I’ve been down here, and by now I can’t concentrate enough to leave.

With a sigh, I drop my hands to my sides, knocking the pill capsule into the wall. I pick it up and turn it over. I might not want to lose this.

Knowing that I have nectar so easily accessible makes me uneasy. Before I can think about it too hard, I press it against my right arm, mirroring the placement of my key on the left. 

It takes a few minutes, forcing my frazzled mind to make the right connections, but I conceal it under the skin. I flex my arm a few times to make sure it isn’t in the way of anything and find no problems.

I slide further down, laying on my back. For once, my fatigue catches up with me and allows me to sleep in no time at all.

♥♥♥C♥♥♥

In the day they’ve been gone, I haven’t heard more from Sawyer. There have been flashes, fear and regret, and a fading image of Jay, but nothing of substance. I’d like to think I would know if they were in trouble.

Then again, I thought they knew better than to sacrifice themself.

I sigh, dropping another handful of what passes for food here through the grinder. I feel Dominic watching me, but I don’t look up. Instead, I lift a foul glob of mystery meat from the crate beside me and deposit it into the processor.

“They’ll be fine.”

I glance over at Donovan, who also has his eyes on me.

The stained nozzle in his hand sends the mess out the other end of the grinder splattering into an oversized pot. He’s hardly paying attention to it. He doesn’t need to, after so much time spent here.

I clench a fist, wincing at the squelch of a soft tomato in my hand. I drop it in the grinder, scowling.

“They shouldn’t be down there. That’s my fault,” I mutter, wiping my hand on my front. “Your turn, Nick.”

Dominic kicks at my leg as he takes my place at the sink, grumbling. I flash a smile in response to his hostile glare, which wilts after a moment. Little victories.

Donovan chuckles, flicking a bit of raw slop my way. I swat the air negligently, redirecting the attack back into the pot with a point of energy.

“No fair!” Donovan grins, but he doesn’t attempt it again. After a moment, he looks back to the pot and his smile fades. “He’d’ve dragged them down eventually. Kevin had it comin’, anyway.”

I nod, averting my eyes.

Hm.

“You’re out of control. We can’t do any of this without them, so you’d better think carefully before you try to pull shit like that again!”

“Whatchu gonna do about it, Sawyer?”

I took the bait without thinking.

“If it’s a fight you want, I promise you won’t win this one,” I hissed, fists clenched at my sides. He still didn’t back down, so I took it a step further. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep this plan on track. You’re making yourself a real nuisance, Kevin.”

He took a fraction of a step back, and I was ready to call it a win. Looking at the boy’s bloody lip, I wished Sawyer had decided to knock him down a peg after all.

At the thought of them, a wire seemed to arc between us.

… an absolute prick.

I turned to them, about to agree, but their face stopped me in my tracks.

Evident tracks of tears cut through the dirt and blood on their cheeks. Anguish, regret, and hurt rode the wire on the tail of the thought before the connection shattered again. Their eyes, shining in the low light with unshed tears, weren’t on Kevin.

This is my fault.

I shake my head, shooing the memory away. 

I covertly check the other two, and neither of them seem to have noticed my absent behavior. At the very least, they don’t acknowledge it. Dominic is almost out of crap to shove in the grinder, though, so I cross the kitchen to kneel next to the remaining crates.

My temper, it seems, is another new thing I’ll need to get used to.

The next thing I remember is the siren and a pounding in my head. From what I’ve seen, Kevin came off worse in the fight. He got what he wanted, though, riling me up like that.

We shouldn’t even be here. I made some promises I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep, and I’ll have to face up to that when it’s over. We followed them into hell again.

If I’d said no, would we even be here?

Would they have come alone?

I kick the crate a little harder than necessary, knocking it against the counter and making Dominic jump.

“Christ, Connor. Chill out, alright?”

I shrug, leaning against the counter. 

“After this one, we should grab some gloves. We don’t have much time left.”

♥♥♥C♥♥♥

I drop onto my bunk, muscles aching. They had me chipping today, the manual labor made worse by my poor sleep. Dominic climbs up into his own bed, groaning.

“I dunno how much more of this I can take.”

He’s just being dramatic, so I don’t answer. I stretch and lay back, ready to do absolutely nothing until Sawyer comes back through the door. If I’m going to rest, though, I might as well make use of it.

I let my eyes close and roll out of bed without the baggage of my body.

I look back at the bed and grimace at the bruise poking out from under my hairline. Maybe we should set some boundaries for friendly fire from now on. Might keep me from killing Kevin, at least.

I turn away and take the time to go the long way.

Down the stairs, lending any blacksuits I pass some energy to get through their shift, I step. The sound of the world around me echoes and warps, not quite reaching this step out of reality. I rarely give myself the chance to feel the edge of the In-Between like this, normally too focused when I step into it.

In the yard, I pause at the bottom of the stairs to survey the yard.

The only one of our group out here is Kevin. He’s too busy cheating at cards to make too much trouble while I’m gone.

Turning away, I walk through the shock doors leading to the compound. The second door, at the end of a short corridor spits me out in a small control room. If Sawyer wasn’t so set on doing this the right way, the escape would be so much easier.

We could break the defenses from here, we could be out by now.

I pause at a bank of monitors, resting a hand on the shoulder of the blacksuit drowsing at his post. A single jolt of energy has him sitting straight up. These guys really need to start getting some rest. 

I pat his shoulder, smiling when he turns to see no one here.

In an instant I stand in a room nearly a half mile under the main prison. I walk along the empty corridor, musing.

The blacksuits, too, have a life back home. I asked them, and most of them didn’t seem to like the idea of coming here. Then Karl, a friend in the Scouts, talked to them and they were all for it.

I doubt that would have been necessary, in the end, but it makes things easier. I wonder what he said to them.

I stop at the hatches leading to solitary confinement.

Six of them, fitted into the stone of the floor, and only one remains occupied. The tense energy beneath my feet is strong enough to tell me which cell Sawyer’s in, and I drop down to check on them.

It’s dark, so dark I’m surprised they had the strength to come see me at all. I kneel down and grope out until my fingers touch their skin.

In a gentle sigh, a soft glow spreads from the contact on their arm until I can see their sleeping face. They don’t wake up, only shifting under my hand.

The tracks of more tears lay under their eyes, a divot remaining between their brows even in sleep. They curl tighter, like a pill bug, and I smile.

“You’re sleeping better here than I am these days,” I tease, voice low. “That’s new.”

I reach out, brushing their hair away from their eyes. The tension in their body eases, and their brow smooths. I smile, taking in their light, and stand. The glow slowly drains from them until I stand in darkness once again.

“I’m sorry I let this happen,” I say, then climb back out of the cell.

“... cognize him from the outside. This should be interesting.”

I jerk upright, catching sight of Warden Cross just before he walks right through me.

He stops dead, and I turn to watch him peer over his shoulder to look directly at me. He stares long enough for me to snap out of it and start edging around him.

“Sir?”

He turns back to the blacksuit at his side, then resumes his track down the hall. “Yes, this new inmate will certainly make some waves.”

New inmate?

I stare after him, and he takes the turn leading to the elevator. He’s heading up to greet a new inmate.

This feels wrong.

Something brushes against my face back in my cell, and I snap back to my body with a choked gasp.

I sit up, and a piece of paper drifts into my lap.

What. 

I haven’t seen paper, real paper, in years. Tentatively, I lift it.

It’s a normal 8x11 sheet of paper. The thought of Sawyer and all of their notes scattered throughout the Room tugs at the corners of my lips. It’s warm, as if it just came off a printer. At first, when I turn it over, I think it’s blank, but then I catch sight of a note scribbled near the bottom.

Connor I tried to stop it. Sorry. Get rid of it before you get to the compound, yeah?

I swing out of bed, letting the note fall to the ground. Dominic calls out to me, but I’m already on my way out. The air rushes from my lungs when I hit the rail outside. I watch the line of the elevator shaft, not looking away when Dominic joins me.

“What is it?” he asks, but I wave him away. The sound of the elevator drumming down the shaft keeps him from trying again.

Chatter from the yard dies down, then a single shout of glee comes from Kevin. Him and his cronies leap from their seats, while some others drift to the circle in the center of the yard or toward their own cells.

After a long grumble from behind the screen hanging above the doors, the elevator settles and slides open. A single boy walks out, and it takes me a minute to recognize him.

A mane of dark hair flies wildly, nearly unrecognizable without the horns that ordinarily sprout from his head. I scowl down at him, and from the entrance of the elevator he turns a placid smile directly on me.

It’s not nearly as unsettling with those human teeth.

I scoff, backing away. The Skulls can tear him apart for all I care. I return to my cell, dropping back onto my bed and lifting the paper once again.

“Was that—”

“Yeah.” I trace the letters with a finger. “But look—”

He drops onto the bunk next to me, peering at the paper. “From Sawyer?”

“I don’t know.” I stare at the word ‘sorry,’ trying to fit a plan around this. trying to identify the handwriting “I don’t think so.”

“Maybe they’ll know, then.”

Oh, god, no. The last thing we need is another complication in this plan of theirs.

I turn to him, shaking my head. “No, you can’t tell them about this. Keep it between us, alright?”

His brows furrow, and he looks up from the note to regard me. He doesn’t answer at first, eyes flicking back down to the paper.

The siren wails from below. Cross is coming up to welcome the new arrival.

Dominic stands, peering through the bars at the freakshow below. He’s been here for nearly six months, and I can see the strain it’s putting on him. 

At least he can leave the cell here. The precarious leeway Sawyer gave him keeps him free in the Cube, out of the cell blocks where he wouldn’t have that luxury. I doubt he wants to threaten that with a secret.

While I know they wouldn’t throw him back there for this, I can respect that.

I sigh, folding the note and slipping it beneath my pillow under the shriek of a second siren and the pneumatic sigh of opening doors.

“Fine.” 

I look up, surprised to find Dominic watching me. A hardness dwells in his pale eyes that I haven’t seen in years. All trace of his timid facade has vanished, replaced by a stance akin to that of his father.

That memory will follow him around forever, it’s no wonder he tries to hide it.

I nod, and he turns back to watch the prison.

I watch as, before my eyes, his shoulders droop and he falls back into the frightened persona he’s held since he returned to the Cube. I’ve underestimated him. There’s more there than he wants anyone to see, and I wonder how much else he’s hiding.

~-S-~

Warmth fills the room, blotting out something bad. I can’t put my finger on what it was, the horrible thing hidden by the warm light. It’s the sun on my cheeks, a gentle breeze following it.

I sigh, content.

There’s a sound, rough and out of place, and I tilt my head in response.

The illusion shatters when a real light hits my face.

I curl into a nervous, shaking ball. I shout, but even I don’t understand what I’m trying to say. It leaves my throat raw and aching, tearing the last of the calming dream away. 

But nothing follows the light infiltrating my cell.

Slowly, I unfurl myself into a sitting position and peer at the hole in the ceiling with shaded eyes.

The sun, huh?

My eyes sting, struggling to make out the dark shape above me. They wait patiently, and by the time I reach my hand out to be pulled up by the blacksuit, I can see again.

He doesn’t give me a chance to pause or look around before gripping my arm and leading me down the hall. It takes a minute for the hallway to stop spinning, so I’m certain he’s the only thing keeping me upright.

My dry mouth gives away my dehydration, and I nearly laugh aloud. Always forgetting something.

“So, two nights already?” I croak, eyes on the floor. I’m already banged up enough without losing my footing.

“You shouldn’t talk down here,” he says. Short, clipped tones, a vast change from the late-night visit. I keep my mouth shut for the rest of the walk.

We enter the room containing the elevator in no time, and the blacksuit guarding the shaft directs a wave at the two of us. They’re gonna get me killed if the inmates see them treating me like this.

After an awkward wait, the elevator doors open and we board. The instant they close again, my mouth opens.

“Are Cross’s tests on the new kids working?”

He doesn’t respond at first. The elevator starts upward, the steady grinding nearly overpowering his words when he speaks.

“I don’t know. He only tells his ‘loyal soldiers’ anything.” His mouth forms a thin line, the usual shark-like grin gone. ���Be careful who you trust.”

I nod, and the rest of the ride continues in silence. 

It isn’t as long as I remember it being. I almost lose my balance when it stops. When the doors open, I step out without prompting. The suit behind the control panel nods at me and chats with my escort.

I flinch when a siren calls out. I missed the warning from the one behind the desk. I think I recover quickly, striding with my guide into the adjoining space as confidently as possible. 

I have to try and seem unshaken, which will be hard to do when I’m seeing spots.

I might as well still be in the hole, back with the hallucinations and darkness. The light in a dream that couldn’t have been there, that shouldn’t have been able to break through the blanket of nectar in the air.

None of it makes sense.

The second siren rings, opening the second door to allow me back into general population. The red stone of the yard, the jeering inmates, the stuffy air, the near-blinding lights, all on top of my thirst and sensitive eyes has my head spinning again.

I end up stumbling along instead of walking with the blacksuit. When he finally lets me go at the edge of the crowd of inmates within the yellow circle, I feel vulnerable and unsteady.

“Whoa, you ain’t looking too hot.”

The familiar voice hits like a slap to the face. 

A hand rests on my shoulder, steadying me, but I swat it away, stumbling away from the source. I bump into someone and look up to see Connor watching the owner of this voice impassively at my side. 

He leans down to whisper in my ear.

“Blacksuits brought him in just after work. He’s been throwing his weight around, but...” He continues, but I’m not listening.

I’m still processing. I’m processing the grinning boy waiting for me to recover. I’m processing his undeniably human skin. His eyes track me as I sway, and I know I can’t deal with this right now.

There’s only one thing I can do.

I collapse to avoid a confrontation with Gamzee Makara, an asshole I’ve been dodging confrontations with for nearly four years.

[drferox]

20 questions with Dr Ferox #4

It’s that time of the week again where I try to shrink my inbox by answering 20 of your questions all in one go. This seems to be working well, and I must thank everyone who has endeavored to use the search function this week. I’ve tried to tag folks, but if you’ve sent in anonymous questions you’ll have to read through and look to see if you’ve been answered.

A lovely, understanding anonymous said: Have you ever had players in your DnD group not get along? Also, if you ever feel stressed out about the number of asks, don't feel like you have to immediately respond to us. It's a blog, we get it. Nobody is waiting on a time-sensitive diagnosis from a blog (or at least they fuckin shouldn't be), and we can wait. Prioritize yourself, we're a bunch of randos asking about dog food on the Internet.

Well, nobody should be waiting for a time sensitive diagnosis from any vet blog any more. I’d hoped I’d been clear enough by now why it’s not appropriate to ask specific veterinary advice from myself, or any other vetblrs on here.

But yes, I have had players in my D&D groups not get along, but I had enough players to keep them separate most of the time. Dungeons & Dragon is supposed to be fun, it’s a game, so it’s meant to be fun. Aside from other skills you learn playing roleplaying games, managing a group of people is definitely one you pick up. Humans are human, we don’t all get along all of the time.

@kabjl asked: Would it be theoretically possible to have a viable hybrid offspring of a house cat and a wild large cat like a lion or tiger?

Unlikely. House cats belong to the Felinae subfamily and lions and tigers belong to the Pantherinae subfamily. While Pantherinae species can hybridize (eg tiger and lion) and Felinae species can hybridize (eg domestic cat with anything), the offspring are usually infertile. I don’t think it’s possible for a Felinae X Pantherinae hybrid to be viable.

@a-floral-ghost asked: What's your favorite animal name you've come across? Mine is a cat named Chuck

Hmm, that’s a interesting question. There are no many pets and names to try to remember. I must profess a fondness for Pat the Cat.

@curiouspinecones said: What is the best and worst pet name you've come across? I work in a pathology lab within a vet practice and I quite like when patients have really human names (Dave the cat is always a good one). The worst has to a Labrador called "Daddy", that is totally not okay...

Again, an interesting question. There are lots of names that are unoriginal and boring, but it’s the straight up racist names that I don’t like.

Anonymous asked: Hi! I read somewhere on tumblr that because of the cat's particular tastebuds, they can't taste sweet things. If that's true, does that also mean they can't smell sweet things, since taste and smell go hand-in-hand? Question tax: Came for the dog breed facts, stayed for the vet stories and knowledge.

Well, none of us actually smell sweet. You can smell things you associate with sweet foods by learning, but you’re not smelling ‘sweet’ as such.

Another Anonymous said: Have you ever met a hamster? I know we're not allowed to have them in Australia, but I'm curious about whether you've been exposed to one during the process of learning vet medicine. I know I feel odd about never having seen a hamster in real life, since it's such a common pet elsewhere...

I’ve never seen a hamster in the flesh. They’re not legal in Australia, neither are gerbils of chinchillas. I have seen one on an animal handling video though.

@fox-noodle said: I forgot the question tax, my apologies! My rat Apollo is almost 2 1/2 and recently went to the vet for what I thought were tumours, but are actually testicles. They only started showing a few months ago, I've now separated him and he has two male buddies now. Is this common in rats? I've only ever heard of something similar (cryptochoridism) in dogs, could that be what he has? Question tax- came for the interesting euthanasia posts (its helped me a lot), stayed for the interesting vet stories

Can’t say I have. That’s a very long delay for that rat to develop testes, and I’d have to wonder if it’s intersex in some way.

Dogs with cryptochidism have testes, they just haven’t descended into the scrotum. They never descend into the scrotum, sometimes they’re stuck in the abdomen and sometimes they’re in the groin, so I don’t think it’s the same process at work. Sorry I can’t be more help.

@rebanndon said: I've read in an article or two, that for active dog breeds like border collies leaving them entire until 18 months of age is a way to reduce the risk of cruciate ligament tears because the bone is able to fill out? There's little/no proof behind the claim reproductive hormomes are linked to aiding ligament growth.  So, in your experience do you see more cruciate cases in active desexed dogs or active entire dogs? Or simply no link at all and desexing should just be done at 6 months regardless?

I’ve written a fairy in-depth article on age of desexing here.

There propably is a benefit in delaying desexing for larger breeds overall, but for most small breeds 6 months still seems about right.

Anonymous said: Isnt't it bad to declaw a cat? Since they are digitigrade doesn't removing the claws hurt their bone structure?

... Yes. That wasn’t up for debate. I’ve discussed this here.

Unobservant Anonymous said: Do you have any advice for a cat with a herniated spinal disk? QoL is still good, he's a happy boy who sometimes has trouble lifting up his back legs and needs stairs up couches and to litterbox. Eats, drinks, purrs and seeks attenion like a champ but sometimes when he grooms himself that it looks like he's got a pinched nerve and has discomfort / spasms reaching for his back feet. Vet has been seen, on cosequin every other dayvand daily gentle stretches. Anything else I can do?

Hey, so, from a legal and ethical perspective I can’t give you specific veterinary advice about a cat that is not one of my direct patients. It’s dangerous and unethical to do so. But go talk to your vet, Cosequin is a joint supplement, not pain relief, there are at least three different medications you could consider.

Anonymous said: Oh my god, you're allergic to bunnies? I want to be a vet too, and so am I XD glad to see I'm not the only one lmao

Yup, allergic to rabbits, rye grass, and dogs (sort of). And nuts, which makes the mixed boxes of chocolates gifted to the clinic very interesting.

Anonymous asked: Working as a veterinarian, do you ever get the urge to adopt the pets in the shelter?

Not from shelters, I just don’t go near them any more. Stray kittens in the vet clinic though are another matter...

Anonymous said: About the uncomfortable animals thing- I was referring to where you said primates are in the  uncanny valley

Lots of vets have certain animals, or breeds of animals, that they just don’t want to deal with. For me, primates make me uncomfortable. Not because they’re creepy, but because they’re clever and I can’t reliably know how clever they are, and whether what we’re doing with them is ethical.

I also don’t intend to go treat horses every again, and I know lots of vets that are averse to large animal practice or outright phobic of birds.

Yet Another Anonymous said: Hey! I'm wondering if you get much experience with our Aussie staghounds (enough to write a breed evaluation on them)? Or if not, maybe just a bit about the general hunting-type Australian dogs? (staghounds, bull arabs, and the many many similar mixes). Question tax: came because I'd always wanted to be a vet and I LOVE anatomy, stayed for the awesome info and even more wonderful stories.

I haven’t seen any staghounds down here, but I’m pretty South and suburban now, not really a much of a hunting culture around here. You can find the Bull arab post here, but are welcome to use the search function for any other breeds of interest.

@orgasmicplushtoy asked: Can you do a write up on small munsterlanders? If not that's okay.

I actually had to look up the three Munsterlander dogs I’ve seen, because I didn’t know ‘large’ and ‘small’ munsterlanders were totally different breeds.

Turns out all three I’ve seen are large ones, over 30kg each. Short version: They all got cancer.

Anonymous asked: Do you see any Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs at your practice? For some reason we see a lot at our clinic and though some of them are fine- they have earned the moniker "Sketchy Swiss." As in: I have to muzzle a 6 month old Swiss puppy because it barks, growls, and lunges at me while I try to TPR. Several of the ones we see have been diagnosed with Wobbler syndrome and various other orthopedic issues. Just curious if you've had similar experiences. Thanks- love your posts!

Sorry, no. They’re quite big and not popular here, I don’t think I’ve ever come across them. Large breeds in general are less common. 

Anonymous said: I don't suppose you've done any evaluations on working cocker spaniels/sprocker/Russian spaniels?

Nope, not yet. There’s 30 waiting in the queue for me to get to them. I have said before though that I’m not answering breed posts that asked for more than one breed in the same post. It just gets too long, confusing and messy if I do. Besides, it’s rather cheeky to ask for more than one in one question, isn’t it?

Another Anonymous said: If you enjoy a little wildlife voyeurism, there are about a half dozen bird cams linked on Cornell's "All About Birds" webpage, and the owls have owlets. There's not really a question here. You have a stressful job, and I thought you might enjoy wasting some time watching the bird feeder or trying to see the baby owls under mum's fluffy owl butt.

Thanks for the thought, I’m sure some followers will find it useful. Personally I try to relax without animal things. I find it helpful to seek out activities that engage different parts of my brain compared to what work does.

@slowdown-its-a-science said: Please give us lots of updates on Trash Bag

I’m sure I will.

@herebelife said: Ps did you read the article about the bilby triplets? Bilby triplets!

I hadn’t, but I have now and will share them with you.