#stuff like soda is a bit easier to find usually

[everysongineverykey]

begging people to realize that the back warehouse of a grocery store is not a second, secret grocery store that has everything you need plus some extra secret items the first grocery store does not have

[kissorkill16]

Toxic Friends: A Hello Neighbor Fanfic

By JJ

Summary: Finch and Delroy going from toxic to real.

(P.S., half inspired by @fazbearedits !)

If there were people you'd least expect to be friends, it'd be Finch and Delroy.

They weren't exactly best friends, they were second best friends, sure. They only got along because of their shared hatred for weirdos like Nicky Roth or Aaron Peterson.

And because Aaron scared them to death most of the time.

They surprisingly got along really well. They talked, sometimes ate lunch together, and they'd meet in some places in town to just hang out when they haven't seen each other in a while. Finch would always bring snacks.

"You got the stuff?", Delroy asked her one time they met at the dog park.

"Pfft, do I have the stuff? Hell yeah I got the stuff.", said Finch.

She pulled from her bag two boxes of sugar baked cookies and a small pack of soda.

"HELL YEAH!", Delroy shouted in excitement.

As they sat down at a park bench and chatted with each other, the conversation slowly started to turn a little...shaky.

"Dude, I can't keep bringing snacks for you.", said Finch, "If I do, you'll end up on that one show "My 600 Pound Life"."

Delroy looked at her like she just grew a tail, "What's wrong with being fat? Am I not allowed to be proud of who I am?"

"Not if who you are is a fucking whale."

Regardless, Delroy kept eating. But later, he couldn't help but realize that maybe Finch was right. He was getting a little bit too big.

So he started eating only half of his lunch and drink whenever it was time for lunch.

Another thing that Finch found weird about Delroy was that he never hung out with guys. Sure, he had friends who were girls, but not one friend of his was just...a guy.

"Are you gay or something?", she asked him once as they walked home together.

"No.", he said immediately, then he looked at her, confused. "Why?"

"Because for as long as I've known you, you've never had a guy friend.", replied Finch. "You're always hanging out with me and my friends."

Delroy couldn't help but roll his eyes, "So? You hang out with girls all the time, but I don't call you a lesbian."

Now it was Finch's turn to roll her eyes.

"Look, I just find girls easier to get along with. I live with my auntie after all, and we're inseparable.", said Delroy. "Also, I do have a guy friend. He -"

"Dog doesn't count. He's a pet, not a friend."

"He's man's best friend!"

As time continued to pass, their friendship stayed that way.

One time, Delroy found Finch crying by herself on a bench. When he went over to her, she jumped up and backed away.

"Easy, girl. It's just me.", he said. But that didn't calm Finch down.

"What're you doing here, dude?", she asked, a little snappier than usual. "I just saw you crying, so I'm here to comfort you and listen to the reason why you're being such a sad sack."

"None of your freaking business, dude!"

The girl scout got up and walked away, leaving her friend standing at the bench completely baffled.

When he went to go talk to her dad about it, he told him that Finch had been really moody and upset ever since she left Lucy's funeral. Delroy immediately understood.

Since Finch and Lucy were cousins, Delroy understood that she had a right to be upset.

But she'd been dead for over a decade now, and it didn't excuse why she was still more of a bitch than usual.

He thought maybe he needed some time away from her, so when the new girl, Trinity asked him to come along with her and her friend to the abandoned Golden Apple Amusement Park, he immediately agreed.

But when Finch cornered him to ask him about it, all hell could've broken loose in that moment.

"Why're you hanging out with Trinity?", she asked.

"Because I want to.", replied Delroy, "I might hang out with girls a whole bunch, but I can't spend every second with the same ones. I wanna make some friends of my own."

"But why with her?", the girl scout pointed at Trinity, who was getting something from her locker. "She's almost as crazy as Nutty Nicky. Not too long ago, she ran away from the lunch lady after she cut a piece of turkey."

Delroy rolled his eyes, "So? Maybe she's vegan, I don't know."

Finch felt like punching herself or him in the face, "Delroy, what's worse is that she's part of the freaking Inventor's Club! That's a nerd herd right there! You can't be seen hanging out with those geeks, or you'll end up like them."

Before Finch could rant on more, Delroy just turned around and walked away from his friend.

Finch kicked the locker in anger. "God!", she nearly yelled.

As time went by, Finch could only watch as her so-called friend hung out more with the Inventor's Club, with Nutty Nicky. What's worse is that he seemed to be enjoying it.

Even when her friends talked to him at lunch saying that they couldn't hang out with him anymore because he was hanging out with nerds, he couldn't care less.

It really drove the girl scout up the wall.

One night, Finch just got out of the shower, then she got a call on her phone. She dried herself off and quickly answered, and she so badly wished she hadn't when she heard who it was.

"Finch.", Delroy spoke through the phone, "Do you have time to talk?"

"Wouldn't you rather talk to one of your nerd friends?", asked Finch, "Plus, I'm busy. So whatever you have to say, say it fast."

"Dog got run over by a truck."

Finch nearly dropped the phone, but she continued to listen to Delroy rant about his dead dog.

"It's not fair, man!", he cried, "This is some - UGH! HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND!"

Finch rolled her eyes, "Delroy, he was a dog!", she said. "Get over it, you can always get a new dog."

"NO I CAN'T! DOG WAS SPECIAL!"

"Oh my God, you're so freaking impossible sometimes!"

"What is wrong with you?!", Delroy asked through the phone. "I tried comforting you when Lucy died, and you fucking pushed me away. Now that someone I love is dead, you can't show the tiniest bit of sympathy?! I can always get a new dog, but you can't get a new cousin!"

Before he could say more, Finch hung up the phone and threw it on her bed in anger. She got dressed and stormed out of her room, thinking that maybe some fresh air would help her clear her mind.

More time passed, from the newspaper article incident, to the broken camera, then Finch being forced to apologize to Nicky by the Inventor's Club.

Finch's friends told her that she wasn't allowed to be seen with them anymore, and Finch was absolutely destroyed. When Delroy confronted her about it, all hell broke loose at that moment.

"How's it feel to get a taste of your own medicine, hm?", he asked. "Shut up.", said Finch.

"No, Finch. You shut up.", said Delroy. "You're just experiencing how I felt after everything you put me through. And it hurts, doesn't it?"

The girl scout scoffed, "Could you blame me though? You were hanging out with the geek freaks! Especially Nutty Nicky! You don't even like him!"

"He's fun to talk to. Or at least he was until you and everyone else in the school fucked him up for no reason other than to be assholes!"

Finch tugged at her bangs in frustration, "I honestly don't see how you and I have stayed friends for so long without killing each other."

"I wondered that every day of our half friendship.", said Delroy. "And I'm not sure I want to be friends with you anymore. You make fun of my weight, my choice in friends, and you didn't offer me a sliver of comfort when Dog died. I'm done being friends with you, Finch. Have fun being a lonely nobody."

Then he walked away, leaving Finch to herself.

But as more time passed, Nicky had managed to convince Finch to join the Inventor's Club, and to convince the gang to give her another chance to be better. Everyone reluctantly agreed, and Finch had made some good progress.

She was being nicer, and she didn't talk behind anyone's back anymore. What's even better was that she didn't call Nicky "Sick Nick" or "Nutty Nicky" anymore.

Then slowly, her and Delroy's friendship had mended.

They weren't really back to where they were previously before they joined the club, but they tolerated each other enough to where they could talk to each other like real friends. Even lightly teasing each other here and there.

"Didn't think you'd find yourself here of all places, did you?", Delroy asked his girl scout friend as the gang ate their lunch together.

"No.", replied Finch, "But I'm glad I did. And I'm glad we're on good terms now."

"Ha. Yeah, me too, girl scout."

[rosystuff525]

Caregiver Mihawk + Regressor Buggy.

Im having a many a thoughts rn

Many many

~~~~~

~*+*~

~~~~~

• Buggy regresses to around 9-14

• He mostly does it when he’s feeling helpless more than anything. (I might explain more later idk)

•Mihawk found out when one night he was just going about through the part of the cross guild base only accessible to the three founders and then just so happened to see buggy playing with some toys while some “childish” clothes or other having forgotten to close the door.

•ensue an awkward silence staring at eachother before buggy practically shot himself at the door to shut it.

•obviously Mihawk knew exactly what this was. He dealt with Zoro and Perona for two fuckin years

•he’s just glad that finding out about this went a lot smoother than when he accidentally found Zoro regressed for the first time (that was…very rough.)

•he did come in with a threat to the clown. An easier one than his usual threats as to not startle the poor clown

•as he stepped in he just saw the clown there , terrified.

•but the clown was more terrified when Mihawk started to walk towards him….calmly. With an almost…caring look

•oh god he was actually going to die what the hell

•he closed his eyes in anticipation for the punch , the slap, the hit , the mockery. Anything!

•but instead he felt a hand placed in his shoulder

“Your hair is a bit messy..may I help fix it up for you?”

•Buggy opeaned his eyes to see that still tender look in his eyes. It made him feel…safe

•buggy never minded not having someone with him while he regressed. He sometimes found it a bit sad but usually found it pretty freeing! He could do whatever he wants with no grownups to tell him what to do! Like a real captain!

• but in this moment it was just….real nice.

• the two spend some time talking up until Buggy gets too huffy talking about “logic stuff or whatever”

•they’ve agreed Mihawk will only care for him when Buggy’s feeling too lonely or too fragile. Other than that he can just go about his duties

•though….mihawk does stay in his general area. If buggy is in his backstage room , Mihawk is stalking around the area unbeknownst to the clown.

•he knows it can be very scary if someone comes in while you’re regressed that you didn’t want around. The amount of times Perona screeched like a madman when he accidentally found her in playing with her sown dress up dolls

•one of Mihawks favourite activities to do for buggy is to do his hair for him. Allows him to show he cares and is there for buggy with no words and buggy still gets to play or read or anything

• if someone were to try find buggy while he’s regressed Mihawk would put on that ‘I’m beating buggy’s ass rn’ vibe and say he’s having a ‘private meeting with that ‘jaded joyless jester.’

•buggy is just sat on the floor behind the door holding back his giggling and smiling because he knows that meeting is just him showing off his elaborate juggling skills yet again and running through the entire line up of make up stories inside his head

•because I love smart buggy Mihawk even does simple experiments like a baking soda volcano to satiate Buggy’s need. He knows buggy is safe in the lab and still incredibly intelligent but just in case he accidentally gets too giddy with the dangerous chemicals he keeps it mellow

~~~~~~~~~~

I like them..very very much….evil snickering…sinister….truly sinister…

Also what if one day Crocodile accidentally found them…..oh no :[

Can’t think yet if he’d be a caregiver or a flip or an age regressor…or if he’s be a cunt and not like this stuff idkk

Idk why I’m typing like this rn I’m feelin silly :]

[sky4cherry]

TALK ABT SODAPOP PATRICK CURTIS PLEASE AND THANK YOU 🫶🫶🫶

he has been my favourite fictional character since i was 8 years old guys i just,,,,. he is so special

guys come on now he’s definitely got adhd

he’s got a very sweet tooth!! he doesn’t think his cakes taste that bad at all but pony will never eat them, and darry doesn’t have the heart to tell him it tastes FOUL

he’s a very big crier!! he cares very deeply about everyone in his life so i do think he’s the type of person who cries when he sees someone he loves crying, and he usually ends up crying more than the other person

in my heart of hearts i see him seeking out a lot of meaningless flings after sandy left him, purely because he has this moment of “oh shit is it me? am i ugly or something?”

pony and darry have to sit him down and go “no honey you’re actually disgustingly handsome”

he doesn’t drink alcohol after one specific night where two-bit got him drunk on the most back alley stuff, and he couldn’t stop throwing up and crying,, darry nearly kicked him out for the night

i think he’s probably quite drawn to films because he can follow the story along easier when it’s visual,, so i think his room is full of film posters

he and dally will go back and forth insulting each other and then it’s just like over ?? dally says he’s trying to teach soda how to be more intimidating, while soda just thinks it’s funny

he skips work a lot before and after his lunch break to go sit in two-bit’s car at school and have lunch with the greasers, especially because steve’s still in school so he gets pretty bored hearing the other dx employees telling the same stories over and over

this is so self indulgent and from a fic i’m writing, but darry let soda keep their parents’ wedding rings and their mother’s engagement ring, because he knows that if anyone’s gonna find someone to give them to, it’ll be soda

he wears his mom’s rings on a chain around his neck because he’s pretty scared he’s gonna lose them

he’s such an animal person,, steve gets to work and soda’s always squatting on the ground with some kind of stray animal

he knows pony thinks he’s super cool, and he doesn’t want to ruin his brother’s vision, so he talks a big game in front of the gang

darry kinda lets him off when soda doesn’t go to work, because he knows soda finds it really difficult and overwhelming sometimes

he has been known to, and will continue to, give pretty girls their stuff for free at work, which annoys steve so bad because he knows HE’S the one who’s gonna have to do the inventory check and explain why so much stuff is missing

someone pls ask me about him visiting darry at college because there’s too much to go into in this post but i think about it every day in a really sad and tragic way

[popculturebuffet]

Sam and Max The Devil's Playhouse Retrospective: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy lagomorphs and welcome back to my look at Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse! Last time our heroes saved the world again, found psychic powers, got ominus foreshadowing max was gonna die, and I got to bask in the fact the Soda Poppers are fucking dead

But found out Bluster Blaster is now missing from most of this game

Still The Penal Zone left a great impression a truly sterling first chapter in this final bow for now for sam and max.

And i'm happy to say the Tomb of Sammun-Mak continues this hot streak. It's another excellent, deeply hilarious chapter, once again proving to be the best of the previous two chapters; big set pieces that look fantastic mixed with comedy that's still dark but less overtly cruel than Beyond Time and Space. I mean there's still some messed up stuff but it feels less nasty.

The Tomb of Sammun-Mak is a format bender, following our heroes as they use one of the toys to astral project/watch film reels of their ancestors, Sameth and Maximus, the spooky scary skeletons we found last time. TTOSM cleverly uses this to shake up the formula: instead of a three act structure, with the third being some sort of big flashy finale with limited options, you go back and forth between each reel as you find out new info that helps you past another one. It's a fun structure: While more linear than usual, as generally there's only so much you can do before you have to swap reels, the structure makes it easier to play. It's a bit disorenting at first as what's in your inventory at the time depends on the reel, but eventually your brain adjusts and it's fun to, like last time work backwords to get an item you had earlier. I needed a guide once or twice and if you liked the challenge of an adventure game this chapter may be for you, but as someone just here for the story and one liners, I was fine with it and Tomb is now one of my faviorite chapters. So step under the cut to see more reasons why.

Tomb picks up exactly where we left off, something that looking ahead at the wiki for the endings of the next few chapters (Just the endings, I still like a little suprise for what spoilers I don't have), is a trend. It seems Devil's Playhouse takes place over only a few hours, maybe 12 at most. Beyond Time and Space flirted wtih this a bit with the ending of chapter three and the last two taking place over a few hours but otherwise there tended to be an in universe gap of about a month.

This change also fits in with Devil Playhouse's other big change, one i'd heard about but really sinks in here: the story is heavily seralized: while each chapter has it's own distinct rythum and antagonist from the looks of it, it's one big story that happens in rapid succession. It reminds me of say Legend of Vox Machina: it's episodic, instead of just being one big story put into chunks, but ther'es an ongoing arc the whole time and each episode largely leads into the next. The previous two games did have it all tie together, but it was looser; someone was clearly behind the hypnotisim plot in Save the World but our heroes being who they are don't really look into it till the last minute, while in Beyond Time and Space there's hints hell is involved in the first chapter, but you don't really get a sense how this ties together till the big reveal and even then it feels a bit reachier. Here from what I know without over spoiling myself, each chapter builds on the previous ones in some way, both in the overaching plot of the toys and in who the villians are. This chapter in paticular hints at chapter 3's antagonist and introduces chapters 4. I won't say which is which or who in facse you haven't played them.

Our heroes are also caught up in it a lot faster, as each chapter is someone after their toys and sam for his ability to use them. There's a bigger sense of urgency as while our heroes are still themselves, their more directly in the line of fire rather than waiting out some big nebulous plot they have to solve at the end. While the previous two games aren't bad, I like this structure a lot better, as it gets the plot going, allows it to breathe more, whlie still delivering a satsifying episodic experince. I play these monthly (Or if I get behind as in this case two this month) so I get the best of both worlds: the cozy comforts of the remaster with the feel someone would have playing it on it's own and waiting about a month for the next one.

So onto our adventure. Max is aghast at the skeletons as he thinks Sam killed him. Which... given everything max does if Sam did Kill max he was either about to fire all the nukes at once or took the last piece of Meesta Pizza.

Either way Sam quickly points out this is a clue (complete with note) and not them. It's their relatives Sameth and Maximus, from 1901, with the note leading them to a nearbye projector with some reels. The duo fight over this because with the office down they can't fight over the phone as easily. Gotta keep those reflexes up.

This accidently reveals that the Projector is the Astral Projector, one of the toys of power. It allows them to live through their ancestors pasts. Though it comes with a caveat that explains why all the reel swapping: They only have information they've learned as they don't fully gain their ancestors memories. It's inconsitant as they do remmeber what's on the reel but i'll let it slide for being a solid way to do this out of order.

That said we'll be covering these in full chronological order rather than jumping around jumping around get up get up and get down. The reasons are simple: It's easier on me and my brain which is about what you'd expect

And it's easier on yours as it's a bit more coherent to just cover the story as it happens.

So with that in mind

REEL 1: THE CHALLENGE OF THE SPUNX!

First of Spunx. Given the series we're in they probably knew that was a sex thing these days as i'm pretty sure using spunk as a jizz metaphor was a thing back then. Or i'm just a dirty weirdo. Both things can be true.

Our adventure begins with Sam and Max attending a theater exibition from Monsuier Paperwhite. Paperwhite apparently comes back somehow, and is notable for being the only character in these flashbacks to have a completely new model. Every other character is either a mole, who I suspect were made the ancient guardians of the devil's toybox to make more characters easier as they can just copy harry's model and put new clothes on it, or from Beyond Time and Space. Paperwhite is offering two free tickets to sunny egypt to anyone intrested. A pitty he's about 27 years too early for any joestars to stash those away for later use. To get them they have to pass the CHALLENGE OF THE SPHUNX, which looks like a hippo and is a repica of the real thing.

I love the pulp feel of this one, those sort of adventure stories like Scrooge Mc Duck, Indiana Jones and Tintin. The globetrotting adventure, mysterious characters and period trappings are just so fun and it's a perfect fit for sam and max. Especially since the embodiment of Noir used to live next door to them.

Anyways, the other guests are a Mole in a Babuska and Santa himself as Nicholas J Kringle. While santa was a bit of an ass in the finale to ice station santa, here he's a robber baron monster who barely pays his elf workers and has them living in little arctic circle, the local elf ghetto. A sentence that's actually said and is the kind of thing that makes covering these games so damn fun.

Kringle heard there were toys involved, as Paperwhite has one of the toys of power, the Can o Nuts. I'll let a known expert explain this classic prank

But here Maximus can fit himself and whoever inside. Naturally to even the odds since Maximus like Max has THE POWER and can at the very least move the Spunx tounge by standing on it, Santa has one of his elves Yoink the can and run off. While we're here we can pick up some of Santa's Cookies, a sunday funnies page written in hyreoglyps and by distracting santa, an adress.

So it's off to Little Arctic Circle just south fo the theater and in present day the street our heroes live on. We see the Mole Woman has some Beef with the elves as she goes back to her house as our heroes ask and answer an age old question

So we go to talk to the Elves but their petty little assholes. They also don't want to unionize but in fairness i'm pretty sure Santa's unionbusting would be horrifying as it was holly jolly. I mean this was back when horsewhipping an employee for unionzing was probably legal.

They won't give us the can unless we give them a great toy idea since Kringle wanted the can but didn't you know... leave the ehater to fetch it from them. Before we give it to em we talk to the mole woman. SHe's cursing their leader slushy as it turns out mole people have magical curse powers. WHo knew? This is handy knoweldge for later. She came to this country ahead of her family who are stuck back in the old country.. being egypt despite the russian accent. Anyways she translates the glyps for us, which is literally just saying what the glyph looks like, and some comics which wax about how wacky it is to cut cucumber lengthwise. Being sam and max this will be importnat later.

For now we give the Elves our idea... this is about an hour later in game but we give them the idea for a toy biplane, it'll make sense later and with that they refuse to pry it off their friends head and make the mistake of pissing Sameth and Maximus off.. which like their decsendants is only a recipie for broken bones and scapulas. At least Slushie can regenerate.

With that we can complete the riddle! and have a toy of power! hot choclate! Completing it is standing on the creatures tounge, giving it an offering (the cookies), saying the glyph then enterting the gate using the can o beans. With that our heroes win two tickets to sunny egypt!

Reel 2: The Train to Egypt/In the Tomb

The title changes depending on your progress. The first scene is mostly just there to introduce a major supporting character and provide an obstacle to easily clearing this chapter so you get the swap gimmick down.

Our heroes are on the train to Egypt when they end up with a stoaway: Baby Amelia Earhart! She's a little rapscalion who wants to journey with us. Sameth and Maximus aren't like their succesors and have no use for kid sidekicks/surrogate daughters and tell her to go screw but when their tickets blow away they have bigger issues. You sing her a shut up laden version of cry of the valkryies to make her sleep, something picked up from the next reel, and use the can to avoid being ticketed.

Many Wild Adventures Later our heroes have ditched Baby Amelia Eardhart and head into the tomb. They find the chest.. but also find Grandpa Mole, who sets up a security hex. We can't touch the chest so we explore a bit. We find an old familiar face in a diffrent phase of his life: Jurgen! Pre vamparisim. Kinda. He was cursed to be one but you have to be bitten by one for it to stick. He was trapped in the wall and wants our help getting out. Obviously this is a trap but it's something our heroes really can't get out of.

So manuvering around the corridors we find a bust and remove it freeling jurgen.. and trapping us. Jurgen leaves having acomplished nothing and not even getting the box, for now. Which is on brand for him. Thankfully whlle the two guardian figures in the wall we're now trapped in are less than sympathetic they are willing to let us leave for a good joke. Specifically cucumber being cut lengthwise. Which.. honestlyw hile not ha ha funny is something kinda nuts to do.

So our heroes are free and soon head to the west hall where we find the dad, who sounds like harry moleman. He apparently isn't but gotta flip them assets. He has a chamber of death which I genuinely thought might slice you good.. but turns out nope the guiltine won't hit you at all. For now. You find his daughter Nefertiti, who he's scaring all the boys away from with his powerful sexo rejexo curse that repels the opposite sex. Apparently Molemen don't know queer people exist, which tracks.

We need to get past her as her giant Asp

Which also ate the next toy of power (?), Charlie Hotep. He's a ventriloquist dummy that allows you to throw your voice! Fool your freinds! Fun at parties! Thankfully we get in the asp by using the can o nuts, a solution I had to look up. What is with this game and "assuming the player will figure out the animal does things". At least this time it eating the puppet is a clue and not "the pidgeon will do the thing you just have to belivieeeeee"

So now with Charlie we can fool Nefertiti's dad into thinking she has a crush on sam and max.

Though in fariness tormenting a tweenage girl and getting her father to curse us by basically making him think we might be pedophiles is still a long ways away from "sending an innocent child to hell for fun and profit". It's more funny than awful as it more pisses off a moody tweenager for two seconds and gets us cursed to complete a puzzle more than it actually. .HURTS anyone. We'll save actually hurting her feelings for next time.

For our hubris though in addition to the needed sexo rejexo, Max gets turned into.. A COW! which sameth takes with patience and dignity

It's a great gag. You also get a great reaction or two if you use stuff on him before Maximus changes back. So onward to the rest of the puzzle. On the right sid eis grandpa mole and baby amelia earhart, who escaped and is pissed at our heroes for running the fuck away from their unwanted sidekick and plans to loot the tomb .Grandpa Mole wants a grandkid to talk to since his actual grandchild no longer likes him. So we simply need to use sexo rejexo and a nearbye sarcophogas to blast the small child into the weird old man

Thankfully he's not a pedophile, and is a good sport and lets us roam around. Sadly this new friendship has to be ruined as we need his curse to complete the puzzle after looting some rune blocks. So we riffle through his brouchers, possible vacations as everyone says grandpa needs a break, and ask about Stuutgart. Being a xenophobic weirdo , he curses us for that with a bad luck curse. This means the guillotine will actually work now and thanks to a tip from kev I knew to toss the idol from earlier in. It's now a twofer and both halves go into indentionts near the guardian mural, causing them to bend. We go back into the painting, use the new bridge, and fuck up grandpa's curse runes. Also his curse seems to be the only one tha tneeds an elaborate set of runes. Maybe they evolved.

With that we can grab the devil's toybox and end this reel.

REEL 3: THE JOURNEY HOME

After escaping a gun toting santa

We arrive back on the train only to find the trunk we put the Devil's Toybox in is empty! So it's a mystery on a train. Man this serial has everything: a fun act one in a theater with an old timey showcase, an anceint tomb to raid, and a train mystery. I do love a good story set on a train so this reel had me.

It's also a lot of fun. The overworld is a bit of a pain in the ass to get around as you can't run for some reason despite how small it is and train is a straight line so to get anywhere you usually have to backtrack. Which would be fine but without being able to run it makes this segment slower

Thankfully the rest is a lot of fun as everyone so far is in attendence, forwhadowing what's to come. The Mole Dad and Neferiti are on their way back, with Mole Dad a little sore at first you stole his priceless treasure, but admits it was for the best and loosing it means he can join his wife in the new world. His dad is taking that well deserved vacation.. to see the Sphynx. But hey his duty was guarding one small room of it and now he can look over all of it. I mean it's still not very big but hey.

Next door is Jurgen, who won't let you inspect his room filled with vampire stuff and with throw you out. And who also wants to call evens on the whole "betraying you and trying to trap you forever thing" kay. I am really happy to see Jurgen again and while he's not as funny as his previous two apperances, he dosen't have his hilarious 2000's rave kid astetc since it's a century too early for that, it's nice just to see him again.

Also on board are Kringle, whose hiding in his cabin and won't come out, and his elves. Slushie is looking a bit... vampish but insists he's fine. He dosen't even crav eblood that much. He does need a subject to test that toy you pitched. Thankfully Baby Amelia Earhard has both forgven the boys mostly and sold a ton of her plundered loot to get herself her own cabin.

So to get further we need to get that toy test. Thankfully the sexo rejxo curse works wonders. We simply use charlie again, which both lets us check out the moleman's luggage. As it turns out he has the vampire reverse curse inside, the way to cure Jurgen before he turns.

The curse violently throws people around, and thus pushes baby amelia erdhardt into slushie. I.. I really wish there weren't so many puzzles that involve shoving a child into an old man but that's where were at. Thankfully the elves just show her their toy biplane, which of course is a hit with the future ace aviator.

So the next bit's a bit complex, mostly beause of all the back and forth. We grab a glass from Santa for.. reasons that will horrify you in a moment. Then we see Neferitti give a love note to jurgen, having a massive crush on him while he's intrested in is getting the reverse curse off her dad. So we have to piss her off again and her dad, telling him about the crush as responsible adults

So he casts a sexo rejexo curse on Jurgen, and a mad Nefertiti turns Maximus back into a cow. Sameth's chiller this time and er.. mliks his little buddy

I didn't need this, you didn't need this, even shippers didn't need this. It's fun to Ship Sam and Max together. Not so much their relatives both due to the horrifying incesty implicatoins and just the fact that even if this were sam and max, maybe don't.. mlik each other. At least as a cow. Other way's fine. This just feels.. wrong. Why is it saved the world is the only game that didn't give me cow based nightmares.

So we then feed the milk to santa with cookies, and put the can o nuts on the tray to sneak in, and suprise him. We raid his trunk to find .. it empty. He DID try to steal it but someone stole it from him.

So after getting thrown out we deal with Jurgen. Nefertiti is tounge tied, tounge tied, whenever he's around. Whenever he's in town boy. So we make up the words for her making him think the curse is in a sarcophogas we found under some luggage earlier. Then it's as simple as telling Slushie to go see santa , a meeting he dosen't make as he has to stop for a quick bite on the way. With that we've ruined Jurgen's life, but get to loot his room to find nothing.

Turns out it wasn't any of our rogues gallery but BABY AMELIA ERDHARDT!

To the team's credit this twist.. actually works. The prevoius two reels , which are usually finished before this one, set up how much our heroes tossed the kid around and neglected her, so her betraying them to try and take the toybox for herself works perfectly, while still being just out of left field enough, ther'es no foreshadowing besides our heroes being dicks, to be funny. The way our heroes beat her is also funny.. they just.. use the curse a third time and knock a baby off a train, which somehow isn't the worst thing our heroes have done today. Or even in the top 10. It is hilarious though.

So that leads us to our finale

REEL 4: THE BIG REWARD!

So sam's gotta go wag the dog so to speak, and tells Max not to keep watching while he's away. Max... watches it anyway which Sam shoudl've seen coming but ey.

So our heroes recap their adventures for a lovely audience Paperwhite's gathered.. then we get to the inevitble betryal you probably saw coming from this setup. Paperwhite plans to use the box to summon Yog Sogoth! though weirdly while the other toys levittate impressively , stealing our can o nuts... charlie just.. falls to the floor. Hrmmm.

Paperwhite puts sam over a vat of man eating ants that's been there the whole time. That's not a joke it was there in act one, well setup chekov's gun. I just didn't need to mention it till sam's dangled over them. You can just do what paperwhite wants, and summon Yog Soggoth, his lord and master. And... it eats you because it eats the summoner. it's why he bothered getting someone with the poewr and having them die for him. Thankfully this reel is multiple choice so Max distracts our big bad while Sam uses the newspaper to flame a rope to knock charlie near max, who uses him to lure Paperwhite to the circle.. then mime him saying the words. it's a clever finale and one that does away with our villian who will come back which dosen't suprise me: besides the new model there's also the simple fact last time, I assume a man wasn't dead from an axe to the head and turned out to be entirely right. Death does not happen easy in this universe and even then you can just come back as a ghost as Mama Bosco showed us.

We then get a cutscene showing us what happened to Samteth and Maximus, they took the box to the mole family, who agree to guard it... only for their protection spell to go haywire. Since Maximus is afraid of being a cow again he accidedntly bolts into the way, Sameth tries to save him. .and they die. The moles leave their bones behind and the toybox, to be found by the mole cult later. It's honestly way sadder than I expected. Still funny with how quickly the moles move on from it, but it's a tragic sacricie. It's also a bit of a more coherent story than normal setting up WHY the box is wher eit was found and why max has powers: they were passed on.

So Sam comes back to berate Max.. only to find.. his brain missing. And it's creepier than I expected to, the detail on his debrained body is neat and really creepy and it's unsettling how the top of his head just... flops open.

So with that cliffhanger we end this chapter. It was a delight as you can tell, is one of the best and if you haven't played the game yet please, please please go do so. Thanks for reading

NEXT TIME: Sam goes noir! Max is left a brain in a jar! Reality bends in half! Fun for all ages!

[chronic-ed]

THE DREADED DAY HAS COME, AND I HAVE RUN OUT OF QUEUED DRINK REVIEWS. NOW, I WILL BE POSTING THEM AS I DRINK THEM, WHICH WILL BE MUCH LESS FREQUENT

TO ADD SOME LIGHT TO THIS SAD OCCASION, I WILL BE SHOWING YOU HOW TO MAKE MY SPECIAL TEA, AND TALKING A BIT ABOUT IT, AS MAKING AND CONSUMING IT WAS A REGULAR RITUAL FOR ME FOR QUITE SOME TIME. THIS WILL BE A LONG POST

FIRST, YOU'RE GOING TO ACQUIRE YOUR TEA. 25 BAGS. THE BRAND DOES NOT MUCH MATTER, NOR DOES THE FLAVOUR; IT SIMPLY NEEDS TO BE BLACK TEA. ORANGE PEKOE OR ENGLISH BREAKFAST ARE PREFERABLE SOLELY BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF NON-TEA INGREDIENTS LIKE SOME BLENDS DO. THOUGH I HAVE SOME EARL GREY HERE BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT I HAD ON HAND

NEEDLESS TO SAY, YOU'LL BE BETTER OFF IF YOU CAN GET TEA BAGS FOR FREE FROM SOME MANNER OF SOURCE--I HAD SUCH A SUPPLY WHEN I DRANK THIS REGULARLY. THE NEXT STEP IS TO OPEN THEM ALL AND DUMP OUT THE CONTENTS, LEAVING YOU WITH THE RAW TEA AND NO BAGS

IF YOU HAVE LOOSELEAF TEA RATHER THAN TEA BAGS, THIS AMOUNT OF TEA COMES OUT TO ABOUT 51 GRAMS

NEXT, YOU ARE GOING TO WANT TO BRING 1.2 LITRES OF WATER TO A BOIL. YOU CAN USE YOUR INSTRUMENT OF CHOICE FOR THIS. I STARTED OFF MAKING THIS USING NOTHING BUT AN ELECTRIC KETTLE, SO I KNOW THAT WORKS, THOUGH IT IS TEDIOUS TO CLEAN. IT IS MUCH EASIER TO USE A POT ON A STOVE OR HOTPLATE. ONCE THE WATER IS ROILING, DUMP IN YOUR TEA AND STIR IT IN

DEPENDING ON THE HEAT YOU HAVE GOING AND THE SIZE OF YOUR POT (OR KETTLE), THIS WILL LIKELY TRY TO FOAM AND BOIL OVER. STIR AND ADJUST HEAT AS NECESSARY; YOU WANT IT AS HOT AS YOU CAN GET IT AND KEEP IT

IF YOU ARE MAKING THIS IN AN ELECTRIC KETTLE, YOU'LL WANT TO BOIL IT SOMEWHERE IN THE RANGE OF 25-30 MINUTES. MAKING IT IN A POT ON A STOVETOP MEANS YOU'RE DEALING WITH GREATER HEAT AND MORE EXPOSED SURFACE FOR EVAPORATION, SO YOU MAY NEED TO ACCOUNT FOR THAT AND BRING IT DOWN TO AROUND THE 20 MINUTE MARK. TEST THINGS OUT USING YOUR PARTICULAR SETUP TO FIND THE SWEET SPOT

NOW WE NEED TO REMOVE THE SOLIDS. YOU COULD USE A STRAINER FOR THIS, BUT I NEVER HAVE. INSTEAD, I DECANT. GET A BOWL/POT/CUP/OTHER MANNER OF CONTAINER AND POUR OFF ALL THE LIQUID. SQUEEZE THE TEA SOLIDS TO EXTRACT AS MUCH OF IT AS POSSIBLE. DON'T WORRY IF SOME OF THE TEA GETS INTO THE LIQUID, YOU CAN JUST DECANT AGAIN TO ACCOUNT FOR IT

DISPOSE OF THE SQUEEZED SOLIDS AND RINSE THE POT, THEN USE IT FOR A SECOND AND POSSIBLY THIRD DECANTATION, AS NEEDED. DEPENDING ON YOUR HEAT AND BOIL TIME, YOU MAY WIND UP WITH ANY AMOUNT OF FLUID FROM ~240ML TO ~700ML. I USUALLY WOUND UP WITH AROUND 480ML, BUT MY SETUP HAS CHANGED, AND DIFFERENCES IN POT SIZE AND HEAT AND WHATEVER ELSE HAS LEFT THIS PARTICULAR BREW ON THE HIGHER END

NOW, THE FINAL STEP: TAKE A SMALL AMOUNT OF BAKING SODA, ABOUT A NICKEL-SIZED PILE, AND STIR IT INTO THE TEA. THIS WILL HELP BREAK DOWN SOME OF THE TANNIN AND PREVENT NAUSEA

THE TEA IS NOW COMPLETE. CONSUMPTION IS A WHOLE PROCESS TO ITSELF. YOU ARE GOING TO NEED THESE THINGS:

GOOD TUNES. I RECOMMEND ANY WORKS BY GUERILLA TOSS

A CUP OF WATER, TO CLEANSE THE MOUTH

A CUP OF SWEET BEVERAGE. CHOOSE ACCORDING TO YOUR OWN PREFERENCE: I TEND TOWARDS JUICE BOXES

THE TEA YOU'VE JUST MADE

PUT ON THE MUSIC, AND DRINK A SIP OF TEA. SWALLOW WITHOUT BREATHING IN THROUGH YOUR NOSE, AND RINSE YOUR MOUTH WITH TWO SIPS OF WATER. THEN, TAKE A SIP OF THE SWEET BEVERAGE BEFORE BREATHING AGAIN. REPEAT THIS PROCESS UNTIL THE TEA IS CONSUMED. THIS USUALLY TOOK ME 20-40 MINUTES. TYPICALLY, I WOULD ONLY DRINK HALF TO TWO-THIRDS OF THE TEA PRODUCED IN A BREW, AND SAVE THE REST FOR LATER (ALSO, THIS STUFF WILL STAIN FABRIC. KEEP A NAPKIN HANDY TO WIPE YOUR MOUTH AND DEAL WITH ANY DRIPS OR SPILLS THAT MIGHT OCCUR)

THIS IS A WAY OF CONSUMING CAFFEINE THAT AFFORDS IT RESPECT. I USED TO PARTAKE IN THIS LITTLE RITUAL AT EITHER BREAKFAST OR LUNCH ON ANY DAY WHERE I WANTED TO SPEND THE WHOLE DAY WRITING OR DRAWING OR WHATEVER ELSE, AND IT WOULD BE QUITE EFFECTIVE I RECALL EARLY ON, DURING ONE OF THE FIRST FEW TIMES I DRANK IT, I DECIDED TO LEARN HOW TO SEW STUFFED ANIMALS. I HAD NO EXPERIENCE IN SUCH A THING, BUT JUST WENT FOR IT, AND MADE A DELIGHTFULLY CRUDE LITTLE CREATURE OUT OF A RAG, STUFFED WITH TORN UP LATEX GLOVES. I STILL HAVE HIM, AND USE HIM AS A PIN CUSHION

BUT THOSE EFFECTS HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH ANYTHING SPECIFIC TO THE TEA. WELL, MAYBE A LITTLE, BUT THE REAL REASON FOR IT IS THAT, AT THE TIME, THIS WAS MY SOLE SOURCE OF CAFFEINE--APART FROM THE MINUSCULE AMOUNTS IN PEPSI OR A MUG OF REGULAR OL' STEEPED TEA, THAT IS. I DIDN'T DRINK ENERGY DRINKS OR COFFEE (AND STILL DON'T DRINK THE LATTER), SO THE ONLY TIME I INGESTED CAFFEINE WAS AFTER GOING THROUGH THIS LONG PROCESS, WHEREIN MY GOAL IN MIND WAS TO BE PRODUCTIVE AFTER COMPLETING IT I HAVE LOST SUCH REVERENCE, WHICH MEANS THAT NOW, I CAN DRINK THIS TEA AND TYPICALLY DO NOTHING WITH ITS POWER. I HAVE LOST SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL, BUT I DO THINK THAT, ONE DAY, I WILL REGAIN IT. AT SOME POINT, I'LL STOP DRINKING ENERGY DRINKS, AND WITH IT WILL GO 99% OF MY CAFFEINE CONSUMPTION. THEN, AFTER SOME TIME SPENT IN SUCH A STATE, MY SOUL WILL BE PURIFIED, AND I WILL BE READY TO PROSTRATE MYSELF BEFORE THE TEA ONCE AGAIN AT WHICH POINT, THIS BLOG WILL BE ENTIRELY DEAD, BUT ALL THINGS IN LIFE ARE TRANSITORY

[themarginalthinker]

Take a fuckin sip, babes (or...don't. probably don't)

David: David's a maudlin drunk. He usually prefers stronger booze, but not something that will totally knock you on your ass with just a couple shots. Gin, sometimes whiskey. He doesn't prefer the taste of beer when he's actually drinking, and he's not usually looking to get drunk in the first place because as mentioned, he's a weepy drunk. Granted, it takes him a bit to get there, and he mostly comes off as really quiet when he does. The depressive thoughts just come easier, and he can't stop them as easily. David is also the least likely to 'party' for that reason. Oh, he's there for drinks...just not the kind that comes in a bottle, usually.

Dwayne: Sleepy drunk. Dwayne likes mellower flavors, things that you can actually taste what's in them other than 'it tastes of awful'. He may actually be something of a wine drinker among the pack, but will settle for hard ciders and (pricier) beers. Again, if he's going to be drinking and subsequently falling the fuck asleep, he might as well enjoy the ride down. It's not uncommon on nights where they drink to find Dwayne slowly sinking further and further into the couch until he's just passed out. Not black-out. Just. Fucking sleeping. Perfect dad of a man.

Paul: eesh. Paul is, unfortunately, an angry drunk. He gets it from his father, and it's also why he'd prefer not to drink, but smoke. Paul's vices come in rolled paper and brewed teas and only occasionally pills or syringes. When he does drink, however, when the spirits are high and the host of the random beach party the Boys are crashing is offering, he'll take pretty hard stuff. It tastes bad, but like his old man used to mutter, 'he's not drinking for the taste'. Paul can usually be kept 'up' as long as the company is good and the distractions are engrossing, but if you let him sit for too long, or if you tick him off when he's been drinking, a very, very nasty side of him will come out.

Marko: Giggly drunk! Marko gets a few shots in him and wooo!! He's gone, babes. Marko also has the least tolerance among the group - he can stay on his feet for just as long, but he gets drunk fast. He prefers sweet party drinks and cocktails, schnaps, fishbowls, hard soda and lemonade. And once he's had it, if he likes you (and even if he doesn't just for the kicks) he'll be alllll over you. Anything you say is funny, and anything he says in return is doubly so. This can also transition into...ahem. Other feelings if he takes a shine to you and the night goes on. Marko is, aside from Dwayne, the easiest one to get on with when drinking, as long as you don't mind him ignoring all boundaries of physical space.

[mamamittens]

Been thinking about that hitman au with Thatch, Izou, and Nikia (god I need a damn ship name lmao)

Wondering how far the yandere traits should go. I've already stated I won't get super dark with it, but that's still a lot of room for dubious behavior. Stalking and the like before he even decides he won't murder her.

I'll need to plan it out so there's a bit of meat to the story with the tension of Thatch struggling to decide how to kill her before realizing he'd rather she live in his arms.

Thought it would be interesting if his whole compulsion to murder with food is based on a sort of warped romantic idea of people enjoying his food so much they'd be willing to die. Usually not even realizing anything is wrong until it's too late and they've already passed away. Not likely a fan of the brutal, allergic reactions and visceral agony of more deadly poisons. Prefers peaceful, smiling deaths but isn't afraid to be vicious if he hates the target.

Killing this way brings a wave of satisfaction he rarely finds elsewhere, which is why he's so willing to drag out the 'courting' stage of his kills. Dedicating many weeks to crafting the perfect final dinner.

Perhaps he breaks into her apartment to see what her usual fare is and is a bit... Thrown that it's not very healthy. Not total garbage necessarily. No tv dinners, but basic sandwich stuff, snacks, ramen, soda, and cans of spaghetios.

The spaghetios wound him more than the rest somehow.

Tells him nothing of her actual preferences cause he gets how hard it is to cook whole meals regularly when you didn't already. He remembers college! But he justifies little test run meals as building up to the best dinner she'll ever have the pleasure of eating.

Takes some careful watching to discover where her real preferences lie, she's more polite than most of his usual victims and won't insult his food to his face. It gets easier when he just asks her straight up what she likes and he feels lightheaded at how giddy he is. It's going to be so sweet! She'll look so lovely after all the work he puts into the meals!

Naturally, all this watching means he starts to identify those minute expressions that initially led him to believe she was at best, very apathetic about everything(an even better challenge!) and at worst incredibly bitchy(more satisfying to finish the job!). He starts to notice her little, polite smile as it deepens the more fond she gets of him. The startled looks in her tense lips and widened eyes. Embarrassed glances away with wobbly smiles. It feels like he's peeling away the layers of a stranger to find an endearing, lovely (lonely) woman he wants to know more about.

There's challenges but as time goes on, he finds himself forgetting about murdering her. There's no way he's already satisfied with the glimpses of her life en-meshing with his! His only choice is to continue! Until he realizes how badly he wants to keep her alive and with him.

Then he pulls Izou in as a check in and testing the waters. They share so much with each other and he knows Izou would like the company if nothing else. Satisfied beyond words when Izou confirms the instinctive attraction.

Of course, between the two of them, success was only a matter of time.

Shame after all that she gets spooked and runs to clear her head.

There's nothing to clear up! They're hired hitmen with murderous compulsions but she's very safe in their arms! They swear!

Perhaps a nice, long vacation together will help break up the ice their unexpected reveal created.

Thatch is devastated when she's hesitant about his food and switches to stuff easier to forcefeed if it goes on too long. He won't let her starve, no matter what her fears are. She'll learn to trust him again. And Izou hates how nervous she looks at his tender care. Time intimately tending to her is the best solution he has. Eventually, she can't be scared anymore.

She'll learn they'd never hurt her. Just as they'd never let her go.

[lets-donate-a-kidney]

My first steps to donating a kidney

1) I went to the National Kidney Registry website, read all their pages, and thought for a bit.

(I’d suggest going through these folks if you’re in the USA; they made it easier for me to find a transplant center and can help reimburse you for time you take off work to donate.)

2) I registered as a possible donor on the NKR website. Registering doesn’t mean you are a donor now, you can cancel at any time. It just starts the process.

(More below!)

3) The NKR sent me a BIG online questionnaire about my medical history. And my family’s medical history. It took about an hour, but wasn’t too bad.

4) After submitting the questionnaire, the NKR asked me to schedule a basic screening at a Quest Diagnostics lab, and helped me locate one nearby.

5) Quest labs are usually attached to pharmacies; I went to one at a Walmart.  At the Quest lab they took a blood sample and urine sample.

6) A few days later the Quest lab told me the preliminary screening looked good, so the next step was to find a nearby transplant center on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. This hospital would be where I got detailed tests like a CT scan and EKG, and ultimately, it’ll be where I undergo surgery. More on this in a future post!

What it was like:

I didn’t have to pay for any of this. The USA has very clear rules that organ donors are not responsible for any costs associated with organ transplants. No health insurance needed, either.

The NKR held my hand and made it easy to know where to go, and what to do.

I got a lot of emails from NKR and Quest Diagnostics. No physical paperwork needed.

I did have to go in person to the Quest Lab and the transplant center for screening. Since I live in a large city, it was easy to find one of each within driving distance. If you’re in a smaller town you might have a longer trip ahead, or you might need to arrange transportation if you can’t drive.

What was the hardest part?

The blood sample! I have tiny veins that are hard to stick a needle into, so the phlebotomist at Quest made me drink a whole water bottle and wait an extra 30 minutes. Drink plenty of water (not soda or coffee) if you make an appointment.

If you’re afraid of needles or the sight of blood, this part might be tricky. I suggest listening to music or watching videos on your phone to distract yourself.

It can also feel awkward to give a urine sample. You go into a private bathroom alone, pee in a cup, clean up with a disinfectant wipe and wash your hands, and leave the cup in the room afterward.

You kind of have accept the awkwardness. It’s not gross to the healthcare workers; they see it every day, and they already know you pee. You and they are both here to help somebody who’s sick, and that makes a few minutes of awkwardness worthwhile.

Other tips for donors

You won’t get in trouble if your blood or urine has traces of drugs in it. Healthcare providers cannot report you to the police. And they won’t judge you; they see that stuff all the time. But it is helpful to stay sober for 24 hours before you give a sample so that the doctors have more accurate info about your health.

Check your email regularly, including your spam folder. You can set a filter with the keywords “kidney” and “donor” so all those emails go into a single folder. There’s a lot of information and this makes it easier to keep track of.

You can opt out of the process at any time. Completing the steps above does not obligate you to actually donate.

[biological-catastrophe]

its My Blog i answer all the asks if i want

honestly im doing this bc im mildly bored DFLSKJDF and dont have much time before band

1. Art programs you have but don't use

I draw using Procreate 99.9% of the time. But I also have Sketchbook, Pixel Studio, Rough Animator, and FlipaClip on my iPad. On my computer I have Paint Tool SAI and Krita.

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

Forward 100%, but left is easier then right.

3. What ideas come from when you were little

Animations, of any kind. I was really into animation memes back when I really was drawing and drew a shit ton, and I got a lot of inspo from that!

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

My Avali character, she's so pretty and smol but she is a PAIN to draw...

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

On here I only really post stuff with Zee I think ? But I usually post all serious art (so excluding doodles unless I'm really proud of them)

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

I don't know, I guess my dreams? Well I don't dream a lot, it's mostly nightmares, but sometimes I'll still get inspo. Also a lot of my older characters were based on my issues, such as self esteem issues, imposters syndrome, depression, etc etc.

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

Painting. I sometimes paint, only really for crafts though. It's not really my thing, but god some people are FANTASTIC.

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

I've planned lots of little games I wanted to do with my OCs. I wouldn't really say I lost interest in the long term. I'd like to still do them someday, but right now I don't know. But I have a whole game with a mechanic thats based on karma and doing right and wrong..? I'm kinda excited, maybe in the future it will be good!

9. What are your file name conventions

I don't draw on my computer often, but usually its just '(character name)' and then a number, or a quick thing of the scene. But I have most OC art on my computer, properly sorted into files.

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

Scarves, which I only really learned drawing Zee (and one fanart I drew of Shin ljkdf). Also earrings if that counts

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

Youtube is usually what I listen to. My favorite is horror games.

12. Easiest part of body to draw

Head and hair (not the face lol just the head) and legs. I don't know why SDLKJ

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

I used to really admire Roxxie (@ RoxxieKitsune on twitter), and I've kinda fallen out but I still really admire her work and style

14. Any favorite motifs

I don't draw near enough to have one LJKDSF

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

Desk, home or at my dorm. Or in class if I'm that bored LDSKJDS but no I can't lay in bed and draw...

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

Uh I don't know...? I don't really think I'm good at anything LKJDSF

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

Not usually, but sometimes I'll have a snack like chips or some soda/water.

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

Ahahaha uh well. I mostly draw digital now, my drawing tablet for my computer has a bent charger but I fixed it enough to work LSDKJ. Also my iPad recently got a crack on the screen (it fell off the music stand at band D: ) and when I took art class last semester I broke a bit of smaller stuff like charcoal and pastels...

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

Flowers. I suck at them, but they're fun to draw! And galaxies, I've painted them before and they were fun.

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

I kinda enjoy backgrounds? I'm picky and lazy but when I have the motivation I do enjoy it, and trying to make the actual focus of the art fit in the background.

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

I love how San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk by Monet looks. In fact, I recreated it for an art project (we had to use pastels and only 3 colors plus black and white to recreate a famous painting. It was a lot of fun) and I just love the texture on it.

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

I stretch all my fingers and wrists. I don't know, I do the same thing before playing clarinet lkdjf

23. Do you use different layer modes

Oh all the god damn time. I LIVE for them. Overlay and Add are some of my favorites, but I tend to use Multiply the most

24. Do your references include stock images

Sometimes. Most of the time its like official photos taken for reference, or drawn references.

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

I don't know, I don't think my art has been compared to a lot..?

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

I mean once I drew the antagonist of my story and everyone I showed it to simped for them. Which, valid I guess, but damnljkdksl

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

Haha no I don't warm up... I don't draw enough anyways for it DSKLJ

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

I participated in artfight a few years ago! But thats about it... I think once I develop my art more I'd like to participate in zines

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

Honestly I get inspired from everything but I would say edits? Even if they may be seen as 'cringe' sometimes, I love the effort put into them. I've done similar things before and damn is it DIFFICULT, you have to appreciate it.

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

A few years ago I drew two pieces for goretober and honestly? I'm still really proud of them. One was for dissection and the other was for burn or something and the second one is really simple but I love it so much.

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game

Didn't see a lot of artist ask games, wanted to make a silly one.

(I wrote this while sick out of my mind last year and it's been collecting dust in my drafts, I might as well let it run free) 1. Art programs you have but don't use

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

3. What ideas come from when you were little

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

9. What are your file name conventions

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

12. Easiest part of body to draw

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

14. Any favorite motifs

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

23. Do you use different layer modes

24. Do your references include stock images

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

[the-firebird69]

We do have a couple projects to come off the kickoff and we have some companies are trying to take over and some primer concerns that have come to us and we do have a way of purchasing things yes

##pets there's tons of them they need proper care as they need temporary housing they need a large homeless pet place everywhere it used to be them and now a human beings are having a tough time you found it being nice to pets makes people nicer but they use it as power but that's what they want to do it for and we have a group that's for me to do it and our son and daughter believe in it

##homeless shelters pantries and eateries that works on a voucher or you can use food stamps or homeless places their kitchens soup kitchens and we're making a lot of them our son and daughter have an idea that families don't have a lot of money and they can come in and they might have some and they can donate if they can or people can come in and eat there and donate and the food will be cheaper to begin with it would have suggested meal prices for instance if you were to get a double Whopper fries and a medium drink of actually filtered water and soda stuff in it it would cost you about $8 if you go there it will cost about $2.50 and people will usually pay that even people who are homeless and they shouldn't but that's you know for people who don't have the money and that's a true soup kitchen meatloaf and that would be a dinner would be three dollars pot roast the same money so you see it's very Hardy food and it's worth it if you're homeless you coming in and announce that your homeless and some families can eat there for months and they shouldn't have to they'll have offices next door not in the eatery and these are massive massive places that we are going to put in and he's calling Uncle Phil and he says I don't want it because Trump is an a****** and there isn't support there that says so what you want to do is get involved in other businesses like crappies he says he doesn't want to do it because the name and her son and daughter say that we're already roped into it and Big Joe and those are businesses that are startups we have a lot of businesses that are Kathy style no they're cafeteria style we don't have a lot there's a few not too many and he wants to know which ones and there's a lot of fast food ones so we're going to talk to him some in some way and it's trying to get involved he's former military there is an organization it's not the salvation army there is one from the military and they feed homeless military people and he's thinking they could feed more than that and it's true that he would try and recruit his buddies so now he's interested and he wants to help and we want to help him get going we have a lot of food and the prices usually have to people pay the price requested some pay less and it's a donation system and we need people for the services too it's a lot job place in your people will get placed it's a way to find people a lot of people who are homeless as you can attest to have a lot of experience I've been around they know the ins and outs of things and they fall in pretty far but they have knowledge about how things work and they're getting thrown away and getting lost hey Mac proper want that they want them to go down the drain.

#pets are directly connected to these people these two go hand in hand helping the pets might put these people out a little bit but we have to so we want the people who are put out to try and help the pets at the place where we're helping them it's more of a part-time job it's easier there's a whole bunch of them some of them are sick and the wildlife refuge for a real one not one way your visit and our son and daughter have the idea it's actually in a movie and people like it there's a couple other ideas but this homeless place is needed now and right now. People need to be fed and soda pets so do pets

**we visited the exchange today and there are probably about 300,000 people trying to get in and we were in already waiting it early and we made it purchased a lot of stock and came out on top so few companies were going to publish in a moment

Thor Freya

Olympus

##homeless shelters starts today too and we're looking for employees of all of it our people sometimes fall through the cracks if you seen our son and daughter well really our son got in trouble and she is helping it was horrible it's a terrible place to be even at the top it's a problem on Earth so we do need you to assist and sign on

[jackrrabbit]

cooking at 3am /// Osamu x f!Reader

Request: Imagine cooking together with Osamu at 3am because neither of you could sleep (or because ‘Samu got the midnight munchies lol). You don’t have anything specific in mind; you’re just playing around and feeding each other little bits of what you make.

A/N: bruh you said munchies and my mind said [[ h i g h o s a m u ]] sorry this went in a kinda different direction? but still fun 3am cooking project vibes :P

Tag/warnings: fluff, light drug use (weed), you and Atsumu are lowkey Bros™️, Osamu's kinda baby 🤧

Osamu’s not good at smoking.

He doesn’t really know how to inhale—you know, hold it in his lungs so it can soak in or whatever—and when he does, he coughs. Except he tries to repress the coughs. Even if he wants to hide it, he’s always close enough to you that you can feel his chest moving from trying not to cough when he takes a hit.

And also, like every baby smoker, he can’t really tell when it’s kicking in until he’s off the deep end.

“Can you feel it yet?”

“No.”

You shoot Osamu a glance where he’s sitting on the ground in front of the couch, watching a nature documentary on Atsumu’s TV with a glazed-over look on his face. “You sure? Your eyes are super red.”

“I can’t feel it. Give it—“ He holds out his hand and honestly you’re pretty sure he’s had plenty, but it’s Atsumu’s vape so who cares. You hand it over and Osamu holds it up to his mouth and sucks, eyes fluttering closed as the light on the side of the Pax glows yellow.

God, he looks hot when he does that. Something about a hot guy smoking, yeah? Actually, no. Something about your hot boyfriend smoking.

Except 'Samu holds his breath a second too long and you can see the urge to cough hit him… Wait for it, you think to yourself, and a second later he hacks and wheezes the vapor out in a wispy cloud that reflects silver against the semi-dark. You coo in sympathy and pat his back. “Want some water?”

Osamu shakes his head, hand over his mouth to stop the coughing. On the tv, David Attenborough talks about penguin courtship rituals and Atsumu (who’s been draped on the couch next to you for the past few hours) gives a light little sigh in his sleep. You check the time. 3am. Bedtime. Too bad you and 'Samu are both too high to drive home…whoops. Guess you’re spending the night at Atsumu’s place.

Osamu rubs his bloodshot eyes like they’re itchy, which they probably are. “Hey, can we— uhh… Do we have pancakes.”

“Pancakes, babe? You mean the ones you made for breakfast?”

“Yeah, there’s leftovers…I made you extra and you didn’t want them.” He twists around and gives you an incredibly dirty look, like this is something you did on purpose to hurt his feelings. “If you don’t want them I’m going to eat them.”

“Wait, 'Samu—“ But Osamu's already getting up off the floor to wander over to the next room. You debate pausing the show—it’s a really good scene—but you leave it going for Atsumu's sake because you’re pretty sure the narration is the only thing keeping him asleep. He’s kinda drooling on your shoulder and you have to push him off to go follow your boyfriend to the kitchen.

“What is all this stuff? Ugh…” Osamu's pawing through the fridge. There’s a lot of crinkling, plastic sounds—you catch a glimpse inside and all of the shelves are stacked up with plastic bags and styrofoam containers.

You yawn and hop up to sit on the kitchen island. “Takeout? I don’t think he cooks.” Atsumu's going to get a lecture tomorrow for keeping 2-week-old Indian food in his fridge. God knows you heard it way too many times before you and Osamu moved in together. You don’t envy 'Tsumu.

Osamu sits down in front of the fridge, fumbles with a drawer, and pulls out a bag of moldy grapes. “Gross…who lives like this…”

You snicker into your hand.

“I can’t find the pancakes.” 'Samu's pulling the plastic drawers all the way out now, setting them down on the floor as he inspects the contents of the fridge.

“They’re not here.”

“You ate them?”

“No, I— Hey, put those back in,” you tell him helplessly as he shuts the door of the fridge, ignoring all the leftover food he took out. Yeah, half of it was probably off anyway, but Atsumu's gonna be pissed if he wakes up and there’s takeout going bad all over his kitchen floor.

“You threw away my pancakes?” Now the look on Osamu's face is utter betrayal. He stands up off the floor and glares sulkily at you. “I made those for you…”

“I didn’t throw them away, they’re—“ You hold back a laugh and wish you had your phone on you (where did it go?) so you could take a picture. He’s so cute when he smokes. “—they’re at home.”

“At home?”

“Yep, at home. The place where you and me live, remember?”

“Oh.” Osamu pauses, reaches out absently to grab the edge of your sleeve. You’re wearing one of his hoodies. “We’re not at home?”

“Nope. We’re at Atsumu's place,” you tell him through a giggle.

He plays with your sleeve, contemplating. “Why?”

“Because we’re out of weed and he said he’d smoke us out. And we like hanging out with him.”

“Oh. We do?”

“Yes.”

“…’Kay.” It takes Osamu a second to accept this, but then he nods seriously. “(Y/N), I'm hungry.”

“I know. What do you want to eat? You could probably have any of that stuff, I don’t think he’ll miss it.”

'Samu thinks about it for a moment, scanning the array of takeout containers spread out across the kitchen floor. “I want pancakes.”

“The pancakes are at home, remember?”

“Yeah…” Osamu flips over his grip on your sleeve and traces his thumb down the lines in your palm. “I could make some?”

More pancakes? “I don’t think 'Tsumu has eggs, babe. Or flour. Or…baking soda?” You’re not really sure what ingredients go into pancakes. Whatever cooking skills you possessed pre-Osamu have deteriorated significantly since you moved in together and he took over any and all food preparation for your household.

He pouts at this, and his hair is a little messed up, and he’s so pretty that you can’t stand how much you like him in that second. Mine mine mine, something in the back of your brain says. He’s mine.

You reach up and Osamu obediently ducks his head down so you can smooth his hair back into place and fix the bits that are flipping over his part. “Is there anything else you want to eat?”

“Onigiri.”

“Oh…” Well, at least Atsumu probably has rice. “Sure. Ok. That’s your specialty.”

“I want ya to make it for me.”

“What?” You frown and pull your hand out of his. “You know my cooking sucks.”

“No it doesn’t. (Y/N)’s food’s the best.”

“You own an onigiri shop, come on—“

“Please?”

One of his bangs falls back in his eyes and without thinking you reach up to put it in place. “Okay, fine. But you can’t complain about it if it’s not good.”

He smiles and you want to blush. “Yes! I promise.”

So you do it for him. Even though you’re high too. You measure some rice and water into the rice cooker (Osamu has to give you pointers on how much of each to put in) and you scrounge around Atsumu's depressingly bare kitchen for a few sheets of seaweed and some easy fillings. Osamu pulls a stool up to the island counter and rests his chin on his hands so he can watch you with a bleary look of adoration on his face.

It takes you…maybe half an hour to be done? It’s hard to gauge time when you’re high. You and 'Samu both jump when the rice cooker finishes and plays the little rice cooker song, which will remain stuck in your head for the foreseeable future. 'Samu hums it in a loop while you shape the rice into lopsided triangles and wrap the nori around it.

“Here,” you tell him when you set the plate down in front of him. He looks entirely too happy to be eating your mediocre food for someone who literally does this for a living, but who cares.

He picks one, takes a bite, swallows. And blinks.

“What do you think?” you ask in spite of yourself.

“Umm…salty,” Osamu says.

You grab one to try yourself and it’s salty. Like, ocean salty. Yuck. “I told you it would be bad,” you complain, trying to tug the plate away but Osamu grabs it and pulls it back.

“Noooo…it’s good,” he lies, although his face is giving him away. Still, he takes another bite and chews enthusiastically.

“Shut up.” You tug a little harder but Osamu doesn’t let go.

He swallows, pulls a face, and takes another one. “So good. I love it.”

“Shut up. You sound so fake. You’re going to get sick if you eat that.” You keep pulling, but he insists on pretending it’s edible so you admit defeat and help him finish the onigiri off. God, they’re awful. But he keeps eating and so you do too.

When you’re done, your mouth feels dry as fuck and you want to sleep almost as much as you want to drink about a gallon of water. “Is it bedtime yet?” 'Samu asks, wiping his mouth and then rubbing his eyes again.

The clock over the oven says it’s past 4. “Yes. It’s bedtime.”

“Wait—we’re…we’re not at home, right? We’re at 'Tsumu's?”

“Mhm.”

“I prolly drove here…I dunno if I can drive now,” Osamu tells you slowly, like he’s apologizing. “I think I'm kinda high.”

“Oh yeah?” You hold your laugh back and put your hands up on his cheeks. “How do you feel?”

“Dizzy. Blurry? Like…you’re in slow-motion.” His hands come up to layer over yours. “You’re pretty in slow-mo.”

“Prettier than usual?”

Osamu closes his eyes, scrunching them up to think and then looking over your face intently. “Same amount, just slower. So it’s easier to see.”

“That so?” You slip your hands around to drape over his shoulders and get up on your tiptoes to give him a little kiss on the cheek, because he’s earned it. “You know what, I think I'm kinda high too. I think we’re going to have to have a sleepover.”

“On the couch? S’not big enough for us both.”

“You can sleep with 'Tsumu in his bed…or I guess you could sleep on the ground?”

'Samu's mouth twists and his brows draw together. You can practically hear the gears in his mind turning while he considers alternatives. “Can we share the bed?”

“I think Atsumu's gonna want it. It’s his house.”

“But he’s already sleeping.”

True, you can hear Atsumu snoring lightly from the living room underneath David Attenborough’s description of endangered falcons in the Philippine rainforest. You should really wake him up—matter of fact, you should really clean up the kitchen because it’s a huge mess—but 'Samu's already pulling you away. And you’re so sleepy.

“He’s going to be pissed tomorrow,” you tell Osamu through a yawn, but you let him steer you in the direction of Atsumu's bedroom, holding your hand.

“Don’t care…I hate sleeping without you.”

“Yeah,” you say, and you squeeze his hand and he looks back at you like you’re the literal best thing in the entire universe—and you decide you should get him high more often. “Same.”

[whumpster-fire]

What if The Abyss Was Real?

I haven’t done a dumb “Applying real-world physics to fantasy settings thought experiment shitpost” in a while, I feel like doing one for Made In Abyss.

Okay so long story short, The Abyss, from the manga/anime Made In Abyss, is a really big hole in the ground. Specifically, it’s a circular chasm with an unknown depth estimated to be at least 20,000 meters, but there’s a magical curse that causes any human being attempting to ascend to get sick, with symptoms getting worse the lower you’re trying to ascend from, and if you go too deep you’ll die if you try to return.

Gee... sounds a little bit like Decompression Sickness, doesn’t it? So now I’m curious: would the increased atmospheric pressure in The Abyss be dangerous even if there was no magical curse?

To get this out of the way: a 20-kilometer deep hole can’t exist on Earth in real life - not because lava would come out, because continental crust is usually thicker than that (although the Abyss is on an island in the middle of the ocean so it might be getting into the mantle), but because rocks aren’t strong enough and the immense weight combined with the effects of erosion would cause it to collapse and fill itself in after a while. If there was a hole that deep, the bottom would probably be unsurvivably hot because of a combination of geothermal heat and Adiabatic Lapse (i.e. for the same reason high altitudes are really cold, a really low negative altitude would be extremely hot because any descending air mass will be compressed by the increasing pressure and when you compress air it gets hotter).

But assuming fantasy physics do keep the rocks stable and the temperature normal-ish, would the atmospheric pressure make the Abyss deadly to return from / descend into?

Let’s find out!

High pressure is a hazard divers in the ocean have to contend with, and much like in the Abyss, descending is relatively safe but ascending is the tricky part. It’s very hard to actually crush someone with pressure because the pressure inside and outside your body tends to equalize since we’re mostly made up of non-rigid liquid... gel... stuff. If you rapidly take that pressure away though, you get nasty effects like the solubility of gases in blood decreasing, causing gas to come out of solution and form bubbles which fuck your everything up. This is generally not a worry when going to high altitude because normal atmospheric pressure is only equivalent to about 10 meters of water, but if you go from a highly pressurized atmosphere to normal pressure too fast you can be in danger. In fact, decompression sickness was originally identified in bridge construction workers working in pressurized work chambers called caissons.

So could the Abyss cause that?

Well... the pressure gradient in a column of air is a bit different from in a column of water. In any fluid the rate of pressure change with depth is equal to the weight density of the fluid. In water, this means the rate of change is linear, approximately 1 atmosphere per 10 meters of depth, because liquids are incompressible and their density doesn’t change much with pressure. In air it’s a different story. The pressure change is much slower because gases are less dense than liquids, but it’s nonlinear, because air is compressible - the deeper you go the higher the pressure gets, and the higher the pressure gets the denser the air becomes, and the higher air density means the pressure increases faster. In fact, the pressure grows or decays exponentially with changing altitude!

This can be modeled with a “constant” called the Scale Height - the height it takes for the pressure to change by a factor of e. Scarequotes around “constant” because it isn’t: air density is a function of temperature as well as pressure, and like I said temperature isn’t constant with altitude. It also varies with molecular weight, and therefore with air composition, and therefore with humidity - humid air is lighter than dry air.

Luckily the Abyss has a constant-ish temperature (ish. The 4th layer’s really hot, the 5th is cold, but it’s not like it’s going from antarctic winter to boiling). What about humidity? Well... the thing is, the vapor pressure of water, and therefore the maximum possible partial pressure of water vapor in air at 100% humidity, is a function of temperature, but as the pressure increases that partial pressure becomes a smaller and smaller percentage of the total pressure. Even at the surface, the air won’t be more than 5% water vapor unless it gets above 30 *C, and only about 2% at 20 *C. So the effect of humidity should be pretty small.

So let’s assume we can approximate the air in the Abyss as dry air at... 27 *C because that’s 300 Kelvins and makes my math easier. That’s pretty warm, but the 4th Layer, Giant’s Goblets, is hot, humid, and really big vertically so it probably skews the average upward a bit. This gives us a scale height of about 8800 meters.

So what are the conditions like?

1st Layer: Edge of the Abyss. Depth: 0 meters. Pressure: 100% sea level.

I think the boundary between the city of Orth and the Abyss proper is around sea level? This is just normal air, with no health hazard to humans.

2nd Layer - Forest Of Temptation: Depth: 1350 meters. Pressure: 115% sea level.

So far so good. The air at the bottom of the first layer is a little thicker and contains a little more oxygen, so you might actual feel better going down there. Someone returning to the surface after an extended period of acclimation to the air down there might get mild altitude sickness.

 2nd Layer - The Inverted Forest: Depth: 2600 meters. Pressure: 135% sea level.

The pressure is know about the same as you’d experience at the bottom of a typical public swimming pool. Be careful to equalize your ears! The pressure difference between here and the surface is the same as between the surface and around 3500 meters above sea level, which is pretty darn high! The inverted forest itself and Ozen’s observation camp is probably a bit higher up than this so the pressure’s a bit lower, if somebody rapidly went all the way up to the surface after living down there for months they might get significant altitude sickness?

3rd Layer - The Great Fault: Depth: 2600-7000 meters. Pressure: 135-220% sea level.

This is a pretty tall layer, and by the time you reach the bottom the air is more than twice as thick as at the surface! This also means the updrafts hit extra hard because all aerodynamic forces - lift and drag - are amplified with the greater air density. A falling object’s terminal velocity is around 70% what it is at sea level. If somebody decided to skydive directly to the Giant’s Goblet, they’d still need a parachute but they could use a parachute of about half the area and still make a safe landing - if they weren’t eaten by the giant flying monsters or crashed into the cliff face by the winds.

4th Layer - The Goblet of Giants: Depth: 7000+ meters. Pressure: 220%+ sea level.

The top of the Goblet of Giants is humid and swelteringly hot. While the humid air doesn’t actually contain more water vapor than humid air of the same temperature at sea level, there’s still more air to absorb and conduct heat. The human body might have trouble cooling itself under these conditions, and delvers could succumb to heatstroke very easily. I’m not sure if the body would just adapt to this much oxygen and get rid of red blood cells en masse, so altitude sickness might not get that much worse.

Cooking under these conditions would be strange, because the ambient pressure is now higher than the pressure inside a pressure cooker. Riko would probably have to use specialized recipes to account for water boiling at over 120 *C and the environment basically being a pressure cooker even if you’re just trying to grill something.

4th Layer - Garden of the Flowers of Resilience: Depth: 9,000 meters. Pressure: 278% sea level. The air’s still getting thicker and thicker. The pressure is equivalent to being 18 meters underwater. Decompression sickness might now be a risk if you rapidly ascended to the surface via a gondola. Without a gondola, there’s no way anyone could climb that rapidly. You will not bleed out of every orifice.

5th Layer - Sea of Corpses: Depth: 12,000 meters. Pressure: 390% sea level.

Time to enter the dark, icy depths! The pressure down here is high. A typical car tire is a little over 2 bars above ambient or 3 bars absolute, so if you brought an inflated car tire down here it would be deflated by the pressure. A soda can would also have gone flat long before this depth. The air is now cold, but probably still humid from the sea and water platform thingies all around. This is a dangerous environment because the thick air cools things like human bodies very effectively, creating an elevated risk of hypothermia and frostbite! The Sea of Corpses is a pretty apt name: swimming or diving in this water could turn deadly very fast.

5th Layer - Ido Front: Depth: 13,000 meters. Pressure: 435% sea level.

This is the point of no return! Ido Front’s near the bottom of the 5th layer but apparently the real boundary is below “sea level” a bit. The curse of the 5th layer is loss of senses and hallucinations... which is actually kind of accurate except for the part where you have to ascend to be affected. The pressure down here is close to the limit for recreational scuba diving because breathing air at such high pressures can lead to Nitrogen Narcosis, and delvers would suffer from slowed reactions and reduced mental acuity. However, it’s not severe enough to cause real hallucinations at this depth, at least at the exposure durations for divers.

6th Layer - Capital of the Unreturned: Depth: 13,000 meters. Pressure: 435% sea level. You... can still return from this depth. Divers do it all the time. They have to take decompression stops around every 10 meters - or 1 atmosphere. To create a 1 atmosphere pressure change Bondrewd’s Happy Fun Time Elevator would have to drop its victims to nearly 15,000 meters, near the bottom of this layer and rocket them back up to Ido Front in a few minutes. Even then this is the safe practice because people were sometimes getting sick and occasionally dying. So uhh... myth busted I guess?

7th Layer - The Final Maelstrom: Depth: 15,500 meters. Pressure: 580% sea level.

By this depth, the partial pressure of oxygen should be reaching 1.2 bars assuming the air is mixed with surface air somehow. Oxygen toxicity is now a major concern: the safety limit for exposure duration at this partial pressure of oxygen is about 3-1/2 hours, much shorter than how long a delver would be down there. The true Curse of the Abyss is now setting in, as the amount of oxygen in the air damages the central nervous system, causing seizures. At greater depths than this the high atmospheric pressure would quickly incapacitate and kill a delver. Sufficient breathing gas to descend this far probably couldn’t be carried in large enough quantities to survive navigating whatever the hell is down there.

Interestingly the depth of the 7th Layer actually more or less corresponds to the real-life limits of human physiology, and if there was a chasm this deep in the real world, we would be just as unable to explore the deepest depths without the benefit of modern technology.

[gottawriteanegoortwo]

Visitation - November 2020

A full year since your first visitation, you find yourself getting ready to meet Yancy in a different place in the prison. One hour. One ‘date’. How would it go?

Word Count: 1,949

-

Even if visiting Happy Trails Penitentiary once a month was a regular event at this point for you, it didn’t dismiss the butterflies that were fluttering in the pit of your stomach as you arrived with a rucksack. This, in a way, was the first ‘date’ with Yancy since you started your romantic relationship. Finding love as part of a volunteer project was not part of the plan, but now you couldn’t see this any other way. The letters that were sent back and forth were kept together in a folder in your room where they would be safe. A year let you see the little things that happened through Yancy’s writing: how it became easier to write letters that spanned several pages, how Yancy’s handwriting grew a little neater as the months passed, how he continued using the notebook paper and stationery you gave him. You were sure he could see the same in you. Maybe he’d notice the way you spoke more about your life (the good and the bad), or how you put care into your letters, even going as far as adding some doodles in the hope it’d make him smile.

You were in love, and there was no denying that.

The receptionist gave a knowing smile as she explained how conjugal visits went while a guard checked the contents of your bag. How obvious were the nerves, despite the fact it was the same thing as usual? There was a small apartment-like setup in a quiet wing of the prison. It consisted of an open space living room-kitchen combo, a bathroom, and a bedroom that would be locked (it was reserved for families that had to travel long distances for conjugal visits). The rules were rattled off: you and your possessions would be searched to ensure nothing suspicious was inside, cleanliness would be crucial, you would receive a half-hour warning, among other things.

“An’ above all, I don’t wanna hear y’all were up to any funny business.” The Warden’s sudden appearance made you jump. “I know you two’re fine, upstanding youths, but if I catch a peep of trouble, there’ll be a firm warnin’ given. I know that’s not gonna be th’ case!” He slapped your shoulder with an amused chuckle, and it took all your might to bottle up a wince. “I wanna wish ya luck. We’ve been running this here volunteer project for over ten years now, and this is only th’ second time a volunteer and prisoner started datin’. I’m happy for the both of ya. You’ve done more good for Yancy than anyone else. C’mon, I’ll bring ya down.”

-

As you were led to the conjugal room, Warden Murder-Slaughter began telling you how he noticed Yancy’s improved mood over recent weeks. The greaser had been working on bettering himself and engaging with classes. He had a reason to do these things thanks to you, the Warden surmised. He looked like he was going to say something else, but decided against it. You were suspicious at first, but you quickly realised you were approaching an open door. A voice could be heard from inside giving a warning of some sort, before an aggravated “Youse don’t need to remind me of this for the fifth time!” was snapped in return. 

“Sounds like Yancy made it here first,” the Warden laughed as he pushed the door open. “An’ I’m sure he’s gonna be on his best behaviour. It’s a special day, right?” He smirked at Yancy, who was standing beside a coffee table. The prisoner’s response was a grumble and a hand rubbing the back of his neck. “We’ll leave ya alone. C’mon Smith.” The guard nodded and followed after the Warden, closing the door and leaving you two alone.

Even if Yancy was in his normal prisoner outfit, it looked brighter than before. Was it specially cleaned, or was it a new one just for the occasion? Then again, you had dressed up beyond your normal visitation clothes. Before anything could be said, you put your bag down and charged into his arms for a hug. It was immediately reciprocated as he pulled you close to his chest. It was better than any of the brief hugs you shared in greeting during previous visitation sessions. It was almost like you were home. A strange sentiment to feel, but it was the best comparison you could think of. He smelled like soap, with a faint lingering of smoke; and his embrace was warm.

“It’s good to see youse too.” Yancy eventually broke the silence, reluctantly pulling back just far enough to see your face. “Youse look perfect today. Can’t believe this is actually happening…” A thought that had crossed your mind many times today. It was likely why neither of you wanted to break the hug, but Yancy was the one who made the brave decision to end it so he could lift a small package wrapped haphazardly in toilet paper.

“I, uh, didn’t have no wrapping paper.” You insisted it was fine, and ripped it apart to reveal a grey prison cap. “I’ve been savin’ up money I’ve earned while working the cleaning shifts, and I know it ain’t much but I wanted to show that I do care an’ -” As he rambled, you unfolded the cap and put it on before kissing him on the cheek to cut him off. “O-oh. Looks good on youse. Thought it was better than something like a shirt. Huh? Oh, yeah. We can buy all sorts of little things like this in commissary. But youse gotta save up if youse don’t have a trust fund.” It did explain why he previously resorted to chocolate bars. You made a note to ask about that at reception afterward. For now, you plucked your bag off the ground and offered him a large bottle of soda.

“Fuck yeah, you remembered! Did youse get the chips too?” Your answer was to pull the snack out and playfully shake it. “Hold on, I seen bowls and glasses!”

-

Snacks and drinks were shared as you two curled up on the couch and chatted. It was definitely a better setting than the visitation room. Without anyone watching you, both of you could relax and be completely at ease. The only distraction was the half-hour warning, and that’s when you noticed Yancy seemed to close up a little. You playfully poked his side and pointed out that another conjugal visit could be arranged once the staff see today went well, but Yancy gave a quick shake of his head. He bit the inside of his cheek and glanced aside like he was trying to build confidence. Instead of encouraging him to talk, you took one of his hands in yours and squeezed it softly.

“Sorry. I ain’t trying to ruin the day. I just… Thought this would be easier than it is.” You were quick to assure him that it was okay, and he should take his time. It was appreciated. Yancy forced himself to take a slow breath before looking at you. 

“I love youse. I have for months. I know that’s a bit stupid since we’ve been sorta dating most of the year, but I means it. And I wanna do what I can to show I’m serious ‘bout this. This ain’t no little fling, or me being nice to not hurt youse’s feelings. I love you, really. So I, well…” Another slow breath was taken to motivate himself. “I wanna apply for parole. You don’t deserve a boyfriend locked up in prison. I wanna be a better person for youse, the man youse should be with. It ain’t gonna be easy, an’ it’s gonna take a year or so to get things going but… If youse is okay with waiting, then I’ll do everything I can to prove I can try - try and be a good guy.” You felt your heart stumble over itself in surprise. You had been told a year ago how Yancy was a prisoner that would be happy to rot behind bars. Looking at him now, you couldn’t help but smile and promise you’d help in any way you could. “I just need to knows that you’ll be there. I had nothing worth living for out there before I met you and - and while life is pretty great in here, I wanna see your world.”

You hugged him tight. It was all you could do. His arms were around you in a flash as his breathing turned slightly shaky. No matter what, you’d be there every step of the way. He wouldn’t be alone when parole was granted. You’d be there, and you’d introduce him to your own friends and family. He’d have people who wanted to help him by his side.

“Even if I’ve killed people?” You countered whether he had the urge to kill anyone now. “No! ‘Course not! I’m not some creep who loves that kinda thing!” That was enough for you to support him, a fact that had Yancy pause in realisation.

“I ain’t a nice guy. I get angry pretty easily. I don’t know a lotta stuff, an’ I ain’t good at learning things.” Points, you argued, that weren’t important enough to end a relationship. Yancy was human. No one was perfect. 

“Youse is gonna get some weird looks, dating a guy like me.” You could hear resignation in his voice at that. He was trying to talk himself out of this, not try and scare you off. Reinforcing the hug was your immediate response. No matter what, you’d be there. No one can truly look down on a man who is trying to do better.

“Y’know youse ain’t gonna be able to move out of the state, yeah? Not without a lotta paperwork.” At last, you broke into a giggle and insisted moving out of state was less important than living somewhere with Yancy there too. That was enough to help the doubts lift as Yancy laughed. “Yeah… I’d like that. You an’ me… It’d be nice, I bet.”

The last minutes were spent close together, talking about what the parole process was (you had to look it up online) and what would need to be done. It was a promising start to have Yancy feeling more confident. As he joked about how he’d challenge the parole board to a fist fight to prove his worth, you realised that it was something he did want to do. In a way, it was like you gave him the strength to look beyond the prison walls and wonder about the world that had turned its back on him years ago.

But before you could climb off the couch to get ready to leave, Yancy took your hand to keep you sitting. He looked you in the eye with a soft smile spreading on his lips. “Before we go, I, uh… I wanna do something first.” You trusted him, so you nodded to give permission. His free hand rested on your cheek as he leaned close and kissed you. It was gentle and brief, yet there was a trace of ‘thank you’ in the action. “We never properly kissed before now. Got a little carried away with all that chit-chat.” You grinned and returned the gesture. The love you had was mixed with excitement. A step had been made in the relationship, making it more official than before. 

“Love you.”

A year can bring so many things, good and bad. Even when one year ends, the next can bring about its own excitement. It might be a long road ahead, but you were ready to take it on every step of the way.

---

---

And that’s a wrap! One full year of visitations! I did have fun working on this, but I’m glad to be finished. It’s entirely your decision how things go from here, but I’m sure it will be a happy ending.

Should you ever feel like reading the entire series in one go, head on over to my AO3, where I have it all ready and waiting!

[killing-game-vibes]

Leon and Kazuichi comforting their S/O with social anxiety!

Nonnie asked: "Hihi Mod Z! Can I request leon and kazuichi comforting an s/o with social anxiety? Thank you!!"

Oh gosh! Another writing request! I'll have to admit, I have social anxiety as well. I hope I can write this accurately though, many people with social anxiety have different... Symptoms of it, you could say. Anyway, I find Leon really underrated, so thank you for allowing me to write him <3

- Mod Zero

Leon Kuwata:

▹ He found you crying in bed after the two of you went to the store. Leon knew this stuff happened, but you were crying harder than usual. He went over to your blanket-covered body and kneeled on the floor, his head level to yours.

"Hey... Babe, you alright?" He asked softly, uncovering your head from the darkness and caressing your cheek as tears slowly fell down.

Wiping some tears, you responded, "Y-yeah, I'm f-fine." You avoided his stare but you knew that he would keep prying.

"I know you aren't. Did something happen again?" He pressed his face closer to you and you shielded yourself by covering your face with the blanket again.

Now, he sat next to you, his hand on your shoulder (well, what he thought was your shoulder). Sighing, he smiled, "Listen, you don't have to tell me that your social anxiety has been hitting you left and right. I can tell. From when you started shaking at the cashier, to now."

Uncovering a little bit, you looked at him. Leon looked sincere and was trying his best. You could tell. He wasn't a massive comforter, but you can see that he was trying his best. "Hey, if you aren't comfortable... I can just order the groceries instead of going-"

"N-No!" You called out unexpectedly, some more guilt sinking in. "Y-You can go, I'm fine by myself. I'll just slow you down, you know how I am with other people. It would be faster if you went alone."

Some silence was the response Leon gave. He took a deep breath and finally found something to say, "Y/N. I am not leaving you here by yourself. I love you so much and you shouldn't feel like you are a burden. You have social anxiety, it's all in your head. People are not judging you." He tried not to scream, taking a comforting approach.

He stood up and headed towards the door. Sitting up, you dried your tears with the blanket to see where he was going. The baseball star stopped in the doorframe and looked back at you who was shaking a little.

Smiling, he answered your question that didn't even leave your mouth, "Don't worry, I'm not leaving. I'm getting some water for you."

Waiting patiently in the bed, he came back after some time. Kneeling beside you again, he handed you a glass of water which you drank. Your tears came into a slow halt, but a halt nonetheless.

"I love you, I hate seeing you like this." He rubbed his neck, thinking about what more to say, "Ya know, if you want, you can always tug on my clothes. Without saying anything, you can tug on it and I can speak for you if you don't want to."

You smiled carefully and whispered, "Thank you, but you don't have to do that-"

"It's fine!" He said, his smile not going away, "You don't have to force yourself to talk out in public or talking to someone new! I always have your back Y/N, don't forget that..." He put his hand on your cheek.

And you nodded, knowing that Leon would do anything for you if it made you feel better and knowing...

That he would push it until you said yes. Might as well not waste time right? "Now, don't we have more g-groceries to buy?"

"I already ordered them," Leon giggled and hugged you while jumping onto the bed with you. You two cuddled for the rest of the day, eating snacks and watching all of your favorite shows and movies. He could get the groceries outside later, you were more important right now.

(Leon *cries*)

Kazuichi Soda:

▹ Tears were falling, you were shaking, and he was unaware of those things until today. He was fixing up some cars to gain money and you were there trying to get his attention... But that didn't really work out. Everyone else was admiring his work and forming a crowd around the car, but there you were trying to get him from the back.

You didn't know what to do really. There were so many people that you didn't know of and some were shouting. All that your brain inputted was: "They were all talking about you, judging you, and telling your boyfriend of how tragic you are".

You ran to the back of the shop where a closet was. It would be the original spot where Kazuichi first kissed you as well, so it made you feel a bit at ease, but all your worry and anxiety wouldn't go away.

You started muttering things to try and calm down, "It's okay, Kaz loves you, they won't believe them," things like so.

In the end? It didn't work. It tore you just thinking that they actually were talking about you and all you could do was hope that the mechanic wouldn't believe them. Soon you did the thing that your Anxiety Therapist (yes that's a thing) recommended. The rules of 3-3-3 for anxiety. You first labeled three things you saw: Mop, Bucket, Door. Then you found three sounds: Clanking of machinery, people talking, a bird chirping. After, you moved three parts of your body: Your finger, your foot, your neck. It helped you regain at least some consciousness that this feeling was temporary.

You kept repeating the process, which somehow wasn't working as much as it used to. Your tears still fell and it pricked your eyes.

"Y-Y/N?" A voice called out. As the light shone back onto your face, you weren't aware of how long you had been in there. Maybe a few minutes? An hour? As you peeked out at the sky behind the person who opened the closet, the stars were already out. Hours. You had been in there for hours.

Then your sight adjusted to the person. Pink hair, a worried expression, mustard yellow jumpsuit, sharp teeth? Kazuichi, your boyfriend was the one staring at you.

"K-Kaz~" You started to sob, exiting the closet and going to hug him, however, your legs became numb so you fell onto him. It caused a bit of commotion, but Kazuichi didn't mind, you were the only thing in his mind right now.

"What's wrong? Did something happen? D-Did one of those people Akane brought here insult you?!" He interrogated you, quite concerned, but all you could do was cry in his arms.

As he sat up, you still leaning on him, he started patting your back and whispering little good things about yourself, "You are amazing Y/N," "Whatever they said is not true," "I love you so much,"

It made you stop crying until you were just having trouble breathing normally. "C-Can you tell me what happened?" As you looked up, you saw that he was partially crying as well, revealing that seeing you like this was painful for him.

Might as well explain what happened right? Explaining how you felt, Kazuichi listened to you, every single word you said was inputted into his brain.

"Social anxiety huh?" He stared at you kindly, "You know you could have told me earlier. It could have made it so much easier for you."

When the two of you stood up and dusted your bottoms, he smiled, "I'm always there for you, ya know Y/N? And I can assure you that they didn't say anything mean about you. I love you so much, and if they ever did say anything about you, I would defend you, saying all the wonderful things about you!"

Seeing him this protective over you made you smile back. As his warm body embraced yours, you melted into his arms, your face stuffing itself into his chest, some tears getting absorbed into his shirt. "Also, please don't hide like that again... I spent hours looking for you, it scared me almost to death!" He chuckled.

Walking away from the shop, you two went to go get some ice-cream and candy... And he did all the talking for you as you held his hand and gave him what you wanted. You were glad you had a boyfriend like him.

[imaginesandinserts]

Sorry that I’m sending so many of these. I just have so many questions... But does Reader ever go to Aaron for legal advise and/or a second opinion? Since he was a prosecutor and all... What side of the bed does he sleep on? Boxers or Briefs? Sparkling or non-sparkling water? Lastly, does Reader ever take Aaron to go lingerie shopping? Does she let him pick something out? And what kind of role play, if any do they participate in? Hope you’re well and I really love your writing ❤️

Literally, please do not ever apologize. I LIVE for these. Quite literally I get so much enjoyment out of thinking these through and answering them. Send me everything!

*SPOILER ALERT for Irreverent*

Legal Advice: Not really, but only because she has lawyers that she pays to handle all of that stuff and it is not stuff she wants to bother Aaron with. It is also not really his expertise - she mostly has run-ins with estate and tax law and she has a team to handle any of that. But, for example, when the papers were drawn up stating that she would be Jack's legal guardian in the event of Aaron's untimely death, Aaron drew up those papers himself and she signed them blindly. She definitely trusts him and his lawyer skills despite poking fun at him "losing his touch" as often as she does. He's also still technically licensed because you never know when someone on the team needs a lawyer at 2AM. As for Aaron's particular brand of legal advice and his experience as a prosecutor, lets just say that there will come a time soon when she has a need for it.

Bed: He sleeps on the right, she sleeps on the left when they're home in their own bed. However, if they're in a hotel he sleeps on whichever side is closer to the door because that's Aaron. He'll put himself between her and potential danger at all times.

Water: Usually non-sparkling because working out and it's just easier to come by. However, she grew up with bottles of Perrier stocked at all times, so she'll drink that too if it is there. It's more of a mood thing rather than a strict preference. Jack weirdly loves sparkling water - he calls it the fizzy water and is far too happy taking a bottle of Perrier to school as his treat. Aaron and her are okay with it because at least it isn't soda.

Lingerie Shopping: So they don't really go shopping together often between traveling for work and Jack. A lot of their shopping is done online. They've gone a couple of times but Aaron isn't really the shopping type. Just never been something he really enjoys and she knows he'd rather do something else besides carry all of her bags. She'll have more fun doing that with the girls anyways. However, yes to the lingerie shopping because that is pretty much the only time she'll ask him to go and he'll go very willingly. They find Jack a sitter and fully abuse the Only One Person in the Fitting Room at a Time rule. He gets final approval on any outfits because they're mostly for him. Because of this, most of her sets are light pink and dark green because those are his favorite colors on her. She ordered a limited edition Agent Provocateur white piece once and she looked so thoroughly bridal he nearly proposed then but thought it might send the wrong message to propose while she's dressed in skimpy lingerie. Mind you, this was only around six months in and even he has the sense to know that maybe that was a bit too soon. 

I have an upcoming WIP drabble for Aaron's birthday that will expand on this whole idea a bit more.

Role Play: Their rule is "anything and everything once". They don't have a go to thing and are sort of working off of a nonexistent list based on whatever sparks either of their interest. They've done all the basic stuff - student/teacher, strangers at a bar, doctor/patient, etc. They're both switches because Aaron also sometimes likes being mindless and have someone else be in control. I think we saw that she's definitely capable of that via the John chapter, but with Aaron it needs to be pre-discussed so she can get in the right mindset. It doesn't come as naturally to her with him because their earlier dynamic was very much boss/employee so it takes some effort on her part to do it, but she can. They've both enjoyed being on either side of it. I think for roleplay/kinks a better question is what they won't do. They tried bondage once but she had a bit of a mini panic attack. They've both been tied up by Unsubs before so it kind of ruins it. Also nothing with knives or bloodplay because again, hits a little too close to home because of their jobs.