#toughening agents

[gudmould]

What are methods of plastic modification? What categories are there!

1. What is modified plastic? On the basis of general plastics and engineering plastics, through physical, chemical, mechanical and other methods, through filling, blending, reinforcement and other processing methods, performance of plastics is improved or functions are added, mechanical properties such as flame retardancy, strength, impact resistance, toughness of plastics are improved and…

[sexy-monster-fucker]

Party Fowl

Loki Laufeyson x Reader

request from @blueemeraldeyes: Can you write a 18+ fic, where Loki is the biggest asshole of all time, rude and mean towards the reader, but she’s the only one who’s nice to him since everyone hates him for some reason😀 And then it’s the birthday of one of the avengers and their reader starts very intimately dancing with Cap or whoever and Loki gets jealous af out of nowhere and started a fight at the party with the reader and kind of hit her in front of everyone blah blah all this stuff doesn’t make any sense but I’m pretty sure you can make sth good out of it haha

a/n: this is my first time writing for Loki even though I've liked him since the first Thor movie. I got this request like almost two years ago sorry y'all.

warnings: 18+, blood, smut, oral (F receiving), fingering, hand job, sex, cream pie

"I don't exactly have the best track record with them, darling," he leaned in your doorway, arms folder over his chest.

You huffed and rolled your eyes, "It's Thor's birthday, it won't hurt you to be there. He is your brother after all."

"Are you forgetting I'm adopted?" he smirked. You were not amused. You stared into the mirror trying to get your makeup just right. The Birthday Party for one of your teammates was more than likely going to be full to the brim with people, seeing as though it was being thrown by Tony Stark. He never failed to impress his guests even when the gathering was just some SHIELD agents and the Avengers.

"Can't you just toughen up and come to your brother's party?" you stood up and put your shoes on, "For me?"

It wasn't until now that he noticed what you were wearing. A beautiful black dress that fell right above your knee. His eyes darted between your face and your body, not sure which one he wanted to look at more. He always thought you were beautiful, but now more than ever he felt his heart skip.

"You look..." he blinked, "I-I'm not going. I would rather rot in a cell on Asgard than spend a single moment with the Avengers."

"You realize I'm an Avenger right?" you walked over to him, placing your hand on his chest. His eyes shifted between your face and the hand on his chest. He really was interested in you. He wanted more than anything to kiss all the makeup off your face.

"You're different," his eyes stared into yours. He looked handsome standing there in front of you. You would've given anything to stay here with him. But you were sick of the tension and neither of you ever making a move on the other. It was growing old.

"But not different enough for you to come hangout with me?" you rolled your eyes. "It's not like we... I don't know what you expect from me, darling. I don't associate with scum from Earth," he rolled his shoulders.

You aren't sure why, but that hurt you. Could be because you thought maybe he liked you. Maybe it's because you like him. Either way that was your last straw.

"Y'know, you don't have to be a dick to me all the time. I'm the only one who treats you as a friend, and all you ever do is talk to me like you don't care. I'm over it, Loki. I don't care if you come to the party. Matter of fact, don't," you pushed passed him.

Loki turned wanting to stop you, but no words forming. You reached his hand out to you, stopping himself from going after you.

~~~

You arrived at the party. It was not as full as you had expected. Mainly just the Avengers and a handful of SHIELD agents. You smiled and chatted slightly with everyone as you made your way to Mr. Stark's bar. Natasha and Bruce stood there, flirting as always. You smiled at Nat, raising your eyebrows at her.

"What?" her cheeks turned a slight pink.

"Nothing," you laughed, "Good to see you two together."

She and Bruce looked at each other and smiled that awkward smile of two people newly entranced with each other. You thought about all the times Loki had looked at you like that. You wondered if you had been too hard on him earlier. He didn't have the best relationship with his brother, let alone all the Avengers.

You had been lost in your thoughts so long that you didn't even notice Natasha and Bruce had walked away. You stood there, arms folded over your chest as you saw practically everyone buddied up. Tony and Pepper, Bucky and Sam, Nat and Bruce, Wanda and Vision, and then you. Alone. It would've been great to have Loki there with you.

You looked up to see Steve Rogers making his way across the room. Captain Rogers joined you as you leaned against the bar. His eyes scanned your body as he gave you the most charming smile. "You look stunning tonight," Steve leaned over and whispered in your ear. You felt your cheeks heat up slightly. Your eyes darted to the Captain, admiring him in his blue button up. "You don't look half bad yourself, Captain," you smiled.

"Where's your boyfriend tonight?" He raised an eyebrow at you. "He isn't my boyfriend," you scoffed.

"Oh? Since when did you break up?"

"We were never anything other than friends."

Steve smirked at you. "Don't look at me like that," you smiled. You both joined each other in small laughter. "He really is missing out, y'know. Any man would be lucky to have you," Steve looked at you with slightly hooded eyes. "That means a lot from you, Steve," you felt your cheeks turn a slight pink.

The music slowed down a little. The couples all began swaying together. Your eyes darted to Steve. "I always loved dancing," he mumbled before turning to smile at you. He extended his hand and you happily accepted.

Loki walked into the room trying to remain hidden. He didn't want to cause a commotion, but he did want to see you. He had even styled his hair and put on a nice black suit hoping to make you as happy as possible. He realized how rude and mean he had been being to you and wanted to make you smile even a little.

But what he saw blinded his good intention with rage. You were pressed up against Captain America swaying back and forth with him. Dancing. It outraged him. He rushed over to you, ripping you from Steve's arms, "Get off her!"

"What the hell," you blurted out confused on who had pulled you away. "Loki?" You felt a lump in your throat. He had his back to you, panting in Steve's face.

"Good to see you, Loki," Steve smiled at him. "Don't touch her ever again," Loki gritted through his teeth. "Look," he put his hand on Loki's shoulder, "You had your chance with her and blew it. We've all seen you both going back and forth for months now, you don't get to claim her when she's finally ready to be with someone else." Loki threw his hand back in and attempt to get Steve's hand off of him, but accidentally hit you in the process.

You stumbled back, grabbing your nose. "Oh my Gods. I am so sorry, Y/N," Loki reached for you, putting his hands on both of your arms. You pulled your hand away from your nose to see blood stained all over your palms. Your eyes widened. "You need to leave, Loki. It never fails for you to cause problems as soon as you get around us," Steve pinched the bridge of his nose as he grabbed Loki and turned him around. "I-I-I didn't mean to hit her," he argued, feeling more rage at Steve than he had before. Steve pushed him out of the way in an attempt to get to you. Loki was furious, grabbing the Captain away from you, "I told you not to touch her." Steve rolled his eyes, "Don't make this harder than it has to be, Loki." "Then stop touching her," Loki gritted as he balled his fist at his side.

You grabbed Loki's hand, "It's okay, let's go so I can get this blood off my face. Thank you, Steve. It was a wonderful dance."

You dragged him out of the party, leading him to the elevator that would take you to your room. The elevator ride was completely silent, but Loki did not release your hand the entire time until you got to your room. He closed the door behind him as you rushed to get into the bathroom. You washed the blood off your face and hands. You were certain some must've gotten on Loki as well.

He stood in the doorway of the bathroom. Distress written on his face. "I am so sorry," he mumbled. "I know you didn't mean it, Loki," you splashed water in your face.

"C'mere," you waved him over to the sink. You grabbed his hand, pushing up his sleeve. You wiped your blood off his hand with a warm towel. "Sorry for getting my blood all over you," you grinned slightly. "It's okay, Y/N," he smiled at you. He never did that. Not like this. There was a silence between you both as you pulled his sleeve back down to the spot it was before. Your hand lingered on his. He admired you.

"I have to tell you something," Loki broke the silence. Your eyes met his. "First, I'm sorry for treating you the way I have. You've done nothing but be kind to me and... I... I am so thankful for that. I am grateful for you, Y/N," his hand went to your cheek, you nuzzled your head against his hand. You rested your eyes feeling closer to Loki than you had ever felt. You felt him shift in front of you. Your eyes opened to see him leaning into you. His lips met yours.

"I want you to be mine, Y/N," he spoke softly before kissing you again. You broke the kiss, "You could've said that sooner, y'know? I didn't have to get my blood all over you to get you to admit your feelings." He smiled and laughed, "I'm sorry."

"You're lucky you're cute," you smiled placing your hands on the sides of his face. You brushed passed him wanting to take off your heals. You sat on the edge of your bed wrestling with the tiny buckle of the heal. Loki stared at you for a moment. "I was going to tell you earlier, but you look... gorgeous. Absolutely stunning, darling," he walked over and helped you get the buckle undone. He kneeled in front of you, taking each shoe off so you did not have to struggle further. "I can't believe you wore a suit to come pick a fight with Steve Rogers," you smiled. He glanced up at you, raising an eyebrow, "Gods always come to impress, love."

Loki hopped onto the bed beside you, laying on his back. You looked over your shoulder admiring the way his hair spread across your sheets. "Like what you see?" he spoke with closed eyes. You felt heat flood to your cheeks and other places. The longer you had looked at him the more irresistible he was growing. "You do look sexy," you bit your lip. That caught his attention. He sprang upright, "Wanna run that past me one more time?"

He leaned in close to your ear, "Let me hear you say it again and I can't promise I won't pin you down right now." Your face flashed red. You turned your head quickly, eyes scanning up and down his body. "Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Laufeyson?" His tongue darted out and wetted his lower lip, eyebrows raised at you. There was a silence as the two of you stared at each other.

"Are we just going to sit here gawking at each other or are you going to let me have you?" Loki placed his hand on your thigh. Heat drizzled all over your body as goose bumps of anticipation scattered your skin. His hand slowly made its way further up your thigh, under your dress. You quickly crashed your lips into his, grabbing his face to pull him closer. "Oh, Loki," you breathed out. "That's what I want to hear, darling," he spoke in-between kisses. His other hand went to your lower back helping to lower your back onto the bed. He crawled on top of you. Looking down on you with a smirk, his hand went to your cheek caressing it, "Undress for me." The zipper on the side of your dress came down with ease. You pulled the dress over your head, laying under him in only your underwear. Dark eyes grazed down your body. "I always imagined what you'd look like under me, and I can say my imagination did not do you justice, my love," he grinned above you.

Your fingertips graze up his chest, grabbing his tie. Catching him off guard as you pulled his by the tie, "I want you, my lord." Cheeks shining red as heat flooded his entire body. Licking his teeth and swallowing the lump in his throat, he chuckled. "I like the sound of that," his pupils were blown. He crawled down your body, planting his face between your legs. His warm breath against your clothed opening sent arousal all throughout your body. His fingers played with the hem of your underwear, hooking his fingers under and removing them. “So pretty and wet for me, darling,” he growled at your opening. Dark eyes looked up at you from between your legs. He flattened his tongue against your opening, licking a stripe up it. You threw your head back with a moan of his name. He continued rhythmically against your opening. You squirmed and moaned under him, his dark eyes staring back at you. You felt the knot low in your stomach building with each lick he placed.

He leaned away, inhaling deeply. You took quick breaths at the loss of stimulation. He straightened his body looking down at you. He began taking off his tie, sweat beamed on his forehead. You watched as he hastily unbuttoned his shirt, taking it and his coat off in one motion. You admired his toned body. He was absolutely gorgeous. You felt a lump in your throat form and your mouth run dry. You had never been this nervous with any of your previous partners. Loki was different, a literal God. He ran his hand through his hair and huffed. One of his hands ran up your thigh, finding its way to your clit. He rubbed soft slow circles, almost as if he was teasing you. You closed your eyes and threw your head back, feeling yourself clinch around nothing. Your body craved for him.

Your small squeaks and moans were sending him over the edge. He was not sure how much longer he could go on. His hard cock was pressing against his dress pants, he could've swore he was dying from the anticipation. But he loved teasing you so much. He would never admit how nervous you made him. You were the first person to ever make him feel this way. His body was so flooded with heat, he had to get undressed. But not before he was done with you.

As he continued the motions on your clit, he slipped a finger inside you. You called out to him, breath escaping your lungs. His face was red. He has wanted to be inside you for so long and here you were bending to his will. He was drunk off his arousal. "You feel so good wrapped around my finger," his breathy voice barely got any words out. Your head was thrown back in pure bliss, you swore you would finish any second. He smirked down at you, "Finish for me, love." You had never thought he was as handsome as he was in this moment. He had you right where he wanted you and you were happy to be there. He pumped his finger and his thumb picked up speed. You could feel yourself right on the edge of bliss. He leaned down to whisper in your ear, "I said finish for me." You felt chills run down your body. He was being so demanding and you could not help but love every second of it. You turned your head to kiss him, feeling that you were about to finish. You called out to him as your walls clinched around him. He felt like he could have came in his pants the second he felt you finish around him. His mouth hung slightly open, heavy breaths leaving him as he stared in awe at you. "You're such a good girl, Y/N," he placed a kiss on your head before leaning to sit on hit legs.

He fumbled with his belt, unable to undo it on the first try. His anticipation was getting the better of him. He needed to be released, he had been fighting the stick member long enough. You sat up and helped him undo the belt. He stared at you with a soft expression, his pupils blown with lust more than ever before. You played with the lining of his pants, making eye contact with him. "What now, Laufeyson?" He swallowed the lump in his throat. You undid the button on his pants causing him to throw his head back with a groan. You slowly unzipped him. He felt like he was going to melt if you continued to tease him. The tip of your finger was slightly tucked into his pant line. You leaned and placed a kiss on his jugular. His lip quivered as a soft moan left him. "P-Please, Y/N," is all he could get out. He grabbed your wrist and guided your hand down his pants. You wrapped your hand around his clothed member, his hand guided you to slowly stroke him. His other hand was placed firmly against your waist.

You removed your hand from him momentarily. He growled in frustration, his eyes squinted shut. You quickly placed your hand back down his pants, this time grabbing his bare member. His eyes shot open and he stared into yours. You stroked him faster than before, he slightly grinded his hips into your hand. His hand left your waist and traveled up your body. It found its place lightly against your throat. He pulled you in for a deep kiss. His tongue intertwined with yours, he moaned into your mouth. "I want to cum inside you," he moaned in between kisses. You nodded, removing your hand from him.

He guided you onto your back, barely breaking the kisses you were sharing. He shimmied his pants off, his underwear going with it. You could not help but marvel at him. He held his cock in his hand, his body was covered in sweat. He stared at you with hooded eyes, slightly stroking himself while admiring your body. He was on top of you now, his cock poking at your opening. "I want you so badly, Y/N," he placed a kiss on your lips. You ran your hands up his chest, "I want you, too." His hand went to help guide himself inside you. He slowly began his way inside you, allowing you to adjust to him. You threw your head back, moaning his name. He began to thrust inside you. He grunted with each motion. "Gods, you feel so fucking good," he was open mouth moaning. You moaned at how good he felt inside you. Your post orgasm body was so sensitive and he was hitting every part just right. He could feel himself about to finish and sped up.

"I'm gonna cum, Y/N," he moaned before crashing his lips into yours. The two of you sloppily kissed as he finished inside you. His rhythm became messy. He was huffing above you, placing kisses on you wherever he could. You rubbed your hands up his back, admiring how muscular he was. "You're absolutely wonderful, Loki," you smiled at him, kissing him lovingly. He smiled a huge toothy grin at you. You swore you had never seen him smile so widely. He rolled over and laid beside you. "In all my years of existing, I have never felt the way I feel right now, Y/N," he looked over at you, "You make me unbelievably happy." He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into his chest. He was so warm and you felt so comfortable with him. He kissed you on top of your head.

"We didn't even tell your brother 'Happy Birthday'," you laughed. Loki groaned, "I believe he will be fine if two people didn't tell him 'Happy Birthday,' love." You ran your fingers up and down his arm. He continued to place small kisses all over your face. You giggled when his kisses made their way down your neck. He pulled you on top of him, wrapping his arms tightly around you. The two of you beyond happy with post-sex glee. "Hopefully next time we do this, you won't have to give me a bloody nose first," you poked at his side. He dragged one of his hands down his face as his cheeks began glowing pink, "Don't remind me. I am so sorry, Y/N." You kissed him, "What a fun story to tell, right, Laufeyson?" He wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you. "It's not fun when you're the one giving the bloody nose," he gritted through his teeth before decorating your face in kisses. Both of you could not help but laugh it off.

You rested your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He rubbed his hand up and down your back. The two of you laid around your room for the rest of the night.

~~~

[END]

[Thank you for reading!  If you are interested in being tagging in any of my writings don’t be afraid to message me!  All tag lists are open!  I have a master taglist and one for each character!]

[rosainta]

Day 4 of Rosain Quivan’s Daily Logs

Started December 10th, 2023 at 8:24PM, Home Finished December 10th, 2023 at 10:45PM, Home Log #4

Author's Notes: Originally, I planned for this short story to be only a two-parter. However, I got so carried away with writing backstory and researching facts about the Siberian Mountains and the USSR that I ended up having enough for two more parts. I hope you don't mind, but hey, at least that means more Heavy and Medic-centred interaction in the future, heehee!

I won't say much more, but I hope you enjoy this history-compliant log, as well as all the little references sprinkled here and there!

Title: King of Hearts (Part Two) Fandom: Team Fortress 2 New Mexico, Badlands, Teufort City, The Cap Point 6:45PM, sometime during the Gravel War

"Well", Heavy begins, "it all starts when I first begin to live in Siberian Mountains with family, after escaping shoot-out in gulag."

Sniper nods, acknowledging the tough living conditions his friend had to endure to provide for his family. If he wasn't so curious about the toughened man's relationship with the team doctor, he would have diverged into another conversation entirely, mostly about survival tips. Ever since he was a child, had always dreamed of living in the mountains one day, just him and his camper van... but that is a story for another day.

"Anyway, our father had just been killed, and we had no money. We could not show face to society, or Soviets would put family back in gulag, so we head to Urals."

"Life was very hard on us, but Heavy had to protect family at all cost. We found small but safe community on far outskirt of Soviet city Magadan, where we meet with kind lady who let us settle in her late husband's house in exchange for manual work and company."

Heavy shifts in his chair and pulls a worn, leather wallet out of his pocket. Flipping through a few cards and other minuscule belongings, he eventually retrieves a small, faded picture.

"Here, this is lady", the robust Russian says softly, holding the photo out for the marksman to see and pointing at an aged figure. "Behind is woman's shoppe. If ever you visit Siberia, you must visit. Is very cozy."

The full image was of a youthful Heavy and his sisters and mother, alongside another woman wearing a red hood and light-brown coat. She seemed to be in her late 40's, but she would most likely be a lot older now, considering the aged quality of the picture. Everyone was smiling happily, with frosty snow cozily blanketing their feet. Behind them was a furnished wooden cabin, with the name "магазин джугджур", which roughly translates to "Jugjur Shop."

"Wow", the bushman half-whispered, "you must owe a lot to her if you kept a shot of her all these years."

Heavy smiles, putting the photo and the wallet back. "Yes, is true. Without her, Heavy and family would have probably frozen to death, or be captured and tortured in another city."

Sniper takes a sip of his martini. "I do have a question, though."

"Go ahead."

"How'd you make sure she wasn't a Soviet? She might'a been a secret agent and turned you in to the police, or maybe even captured you herself?"

"Ah, Heavy had same doubts too at time", he says, tipping the waitress as she brings him his drink.

"Luckily, lady was as anti-Soviet as I was. Her son, who was abroad in Moscow at time, was shot by Soviet officer during civilian massacre. It had ruined her husband, and he had committed suicide only a year after."

"The Soviets had ruined her life and her family, and she hated them with passion that is remarkable for such a nice lady. Maybe it was reason she was so eager to help us when she found out we were refugees."

"Oh. I see. I'm sorry to have brought that up, that must've been hard to recount," Sniper replies silently, slightly stunned and uncomfortable from the sudden change in mood that sprang from his question. Thankfully, Heavy senses his mood and puts his bottle of vodka down next to his martini.

"Do not worry, she is strong woman. Heavy's family takes good care of her, because she is part of us now", the giant says gently.

Sniper worried expression softens to a smile. "That's good to hear, mate."

"Anyway," Heavy continues, "family continues to live in mountains in secret for some time. We hunt bear, and... well, mostly bear, and we cut wood and help run shoppe with lady for a few years before only visiting once a month."

"Is nice, but eventually, family gets bored of seeing snow and killing bear all the time, you know?"

"Ah, yeah," the shartpshooter replies, though he doesn't quite know what to make of that, seeing as he's never done that before. Not minding, Heavy goes on.

"So, one day, Heavy takes family to go out and visit city of Magadan on mother's birthday. At time, I was blinded by boredom, and I did not consider how highly dangerous it was to bring family back to place where we could get imprisoned again."

"But, we were all hungry for something more than food, and it was special occasion after all, so we decided we would hide ourselves with thick coat hood and keep away from guards and populous area."

"At first, we were very excited to be back in a community again. We could see buildings, hear people talking everywhere, smell food that was not killed with fist. But sister Bronislava, who was still quite young at time, was most excited of us all, and she really loved being in city."

"She was always pointing at different stores we pass by, and her laughter when she heard choir boys singing near churches was infectious. However, her most favourite sight of all were boats at the port of Magadan."

"Even when she was very little, Bronislava loved travelling. She read many books on world, and her dream was to visit Paris one day and become pilot. Of course, she knew because of how Russia was at time that this dream could not be possible, but this did not stop her from dreaming."

"So," Heavy says, uncapping his vodka and pouring it into a glass "she was begging for us to go closer to port to see boat. 'Please, brother Misha, let us go on boat and sail!', she would say. But I said no- there were too many guards nearby and we would get caught for sure."

"Aw, can't let a little girl have some fun?," Sniper interrupts, teasing.

"If you don't want to be killed, then no," the towering man replies blatantly.

"Right, sorry, go on," Sniper says quickly, blushing.

"Sister Bronislava would not listen, though, no matter what Heavy or mother or sisters said to her. She would insist and insist, and we had to hold her back at one point so she would not run away herself, but she continued."

"She really wanted to go on the boats. Her whining turned to crying, and her crying turned to screaming, until it was certain a guard would catch us anyway because of how loud she was being. It was miserable and terrifying sight, and Heavy could already feel regret for having endangered and hurt family like this."

"But luckily," Heavy says with a chuckle, "her tantrum did not last very long. Just as family was about to leave and hide from inevitable imprisonment, a very interesting, travelling man tapped my shoulder from behind."

Just as Heavy utters the words, someone really does tap his shoulder. Heavy turns to meet their eyes, and immediately, he grins.

"Eavesdropping again, doktor?", he asks, pulling a chair for him to sit next to him and Sniper.

"Ooh, I simply couldn't resist! Mostly because I can still picture ze face you made when you turned around like a frightened deer", Medic exclaims, laughingly.

Heavy groans and rolls his eyes, whilst his two seatmates look at each other, both surprised and amused.

"The big, tough, scary Heavy, frightened? I'd never imagine such a thing!" Sniper chuckles, clinking his martini glass to cheers with the doctor's fizzing sparkling water.

"It was not as bad as doktor puts it, okay?", Heavy grumbles, eyes averted to their playful gazes. Still, you could tell by the way his face reddened and, again, the way his eyebrows lifted that it was, in fact, as bad as he put it.

"Whatever floats your boat, mein friend", Medic says, no pun intended. Sniper downs his martini in one go, signaling the waitress for another glass.

Wanting to change the subject, the flustered giant gets up to grab a deck of cards on a nearby table. He returns, shuffling the cards in his large, calloused hands.

"Let us continue story over game of cards, yes? I find that it will fit in well with next part."

To be continued in RQDL 5... Credits: Team Fortress 2 by Valve Image source: Team Fortress 2 Written by Rosain Quivan Cross posted on Amino ( Rosain Quivan )

[flayote]

I have a bobcat hide I am attempting to tan. I am using the orange bottle tanning solution. The directions indicate after salting to soak in salt water. Should I have pickled it first?

(apologies for the very delayed response, but i wanted to answer in case you or others could still get something out of it)

that orange bottle tanning solution ("deer hunter & trapper's hide tanning formula") is awful both as a product and for the directions it gives, and i strongly advise against using it. based on my and others' experiences with it, i'm not convinced it actually is a tanning agent at all. it's what i started out using as many folks do since it's so readily available and makes the process seem easy, but the results were never good. when i got more experience and went back to rework some of the pelts i used it on- because they always turned out stiff- upon rehydration they started shedding like crazy and when i began thinning them down some, the skin under the surface was reddish and raw- not tanned. most were squirrels so it wasn't a case of them being too greasy or thick skinned for the tan to have worked properly, i followed the instructions exactly and it just did not actually tan them. i've heard similar issues and more countless times from others who have used that orange bottle stuff.

but even if it was a decent tanning agent, the directions it gives you will not result in a proper tan regardless. one of the main issues, as your question implies, is the lack of a pickling step. after the salting stage it tells you to soak the hide in salt water for a few minutes to several hours- presumably the rehydration step- and then thin down the skin. it's pretty much asking for slippage here, instructing you to take a wet, raw skin and spend time trying to thin in down. raw/unpickled skins are very difficult to actually shave down even with a fleshing machine, and you're really not going to be able to be thorough enough on most critters in the timeframe you'd need to be done with it before it begins to slip (especially as a beginner and with no fancy equipment). pickling is a crucial step in the tanning process not only because it breaks down untannable proteins within the skin to prepare it for tanning, but it also toughens up the skin/changes the texture to allow you to shave it much more easily, as well as preserves and stabilizes it so you can spend as much time as you need to on shaving it.

the next major issue with the directions is the lack of a proper degreasing step. fully and completely degreasing the skin is imperative for any tanning agent to work, so you really need to get it right, but the orange bottle does not tell you how. what it tells you to do is wash the hide with dish soap, or if it's a very greasy skin like raccoon or bear, wash it twice. problem is, you could wash a raccoon ten times with dish soap and it's not going to fully degrease that thing- especially if you could only do a rushed shaving job because the instructions put you in a race against time trying to shave a raw skin before it spoils. very lean critters like squirrel or deer can be fine with just a wash in dish soap, but for most furbearers like coyote, fox, mink, opossum, raccoon, etc, that won't cut it. in order to get degreased properly these animals need to be thoroughly shaved, and soaked in a solvent-based taxidermy degreaser. as a surfactant, dish soap is just not effective in dissolving the grease deep within the skin.

you can get a decently preserved pelt with the orange bottle stuff if you follow the proper tanning procedure instead of its instructions (flesh, salt, rehydrate, pickle, shave, degrease, neutralize, apply tan). but at that point if you're already buying the extra supplies to do that you might as well just get the trubond tanning kit instead, which has a very high quality tanning formula and much better instructions. the orange bottle formula itself just not good even when used right. i reworked a squirrel i 'tanned' with the orange bottle by just oiling it with trubond 1000B and the difference in how soft it turned out was night and day. even on its own without the proper tanning process, the trubond worked so much better. i stopped using the orange bottle and never looked back. even with my very limited experience level when i switched, my pelts immediately began turning out SO much better when i used trubond and followed their instructions.

i'm sorry i couldn't help with your bobcat in time! if you happen to see this i would be very curious to know how it turned out

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Trump seems to have fucked himself over again...

In response to the Hillary Clinton email scandal, Trump himself signed a law back in 2018 over the removal and retention of classified documents. That law increased the penalty for the unauthorized removal/retention of classified documents from one year to FIVE years, turning it into a felony offense.

He had 12 to 15 BOXES.

Imagine going to jail over a law you personally signed off on, enforced by a raid that was authorized by the same FBI director you chose, signed by a judge you appointed, and your own Secret Service agents let them in.

A bill which former President Donald Trump signed into law in 2018 could be used to punish him if he's found to have mishandled classified information after leaving office.

FBI agents on Monday raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as part on an investigation into whether Trump wrongly kept hold of classified material after he left office.

Bradley P. Moss, a national-security attorney, told Insider that Trump could face five years in prison if he's found guilty under a national security bill which he signed as President.

The bill, which made changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was signed into law by Trump in January 2018.

It upgraded the seriousness of wrongly moving classified material, turning it from a misdemeanor into a felony — and increasing the maximum punishment from one year to five.

Moss noted that it was passed in the wake of Trump's relentless attacks during the 2016 presidential campaign on Hillary Clinton for allegedly mishandling classified information.

But now it is Trump who is under pressure.

"Trump certainly has legal exposure to Section 1924 given it was classified documents from his spaces in the White House that were removed to Mar-Lago," said Moss.

In a tweet Tuesday in the wake of the FBI raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, Jeff Yarbro, an attorney and Democratic State Senator in Tennessee, pointed out it was Trump who had signed the bill now looming over him.

The National Archives and Records Administration in February said that classified material was found among boxes of things that had been taken from the White House to Mar-a-Lago when he left office.

Legal analyst Glenn Kirchner at the time told MSNBC that the former President was facing a potential "five year felony" in a seeming reference to the law Trump had strengthened in 2018.

At the time, the classified-information measures attracted little attention, with the focus of news coverage being the renewal of sweeping surveillance powers in the bill.

According to an analysis by Moss and other analysts at the Just Security blog, it is one of a number of laws Trump might have violated if he's found to have mishandled classified material.

There are some doubts about whether the bill Trump signed into law could be used to prosecute him, said Moss, as it's unclear whether it applies to former Presidents.

Trump has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in relation, saying that he had fully cooperated with requests from the National Archives and characterizing the raid as a politically motivated.

His aide, Kash Patel, told Breitbart that Trump declassified the material before leaving office under the President's broad powers for deciding what should remain secret.

Moss said "efforts by Trump to declassify records before he left office" were another key issue that could impact whether the measures could be used to prosecute Trump.

Trump's office did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Insider.

[fallershipping]

Return to Sender

(Short Drabble) Nanu is tired of hiding, and Looker is tired of his bullshit. Both of them are in the wrong, and both of them are suffering the same trauma.

A little after midnight, Sushi High Roller’s cacophony of bar ambience was only just now beginning to die down. However, the hiss of hot oil and chatter amongst the tipsy patrons that yet remain is hardly a softer sound. Usually Nanu can tolerate this noise, but tonight he was grumbling curses under his breath as he tried to massage his temple. The lights were of no help either, and he craved the dark solitude of the empty Po Town police station.

But he can’t go ‘home’ quite yet, even after his meeting with Anabel being so short and awkward. She had paid for her portion of the meal when the sun was still high in the sky and departed for who knows where, who cares. Having declined giving her any sort of number or way to contact him, all she left behind was a written note:

‘Happy to see you again! :) - Anabel’

It remained there, untouched. He’ll put it in his pocket. Eventually.

What was he waiting for, anyway? The decision to seek her out again stirred over and over in his mind, but that opportunity to go over important words left unsaid was far gone. Interpol agent 000 wouldn’t have clammed up the way he did. He would have spoken bluntly over just what and how Interpol fucked them both over with. Instead, a tired, bitter, aching old man barely got through a normal conversation that he felt continuously detached from. Anabel’s pitying, disappointed gaze burned a hole into his memory.

He had been working with children for a long while that he had forgotten Anabel was a toughened woman approaching or already in her 30s. He couldn’t remember a voice that wasn’t patronizing, so everything he needed to say to her became trapped in his throat.

The scraping of the bar chair next to him was like a deafening sound in an already loud bar.

There he is.

Nanu took another swig of his whiskey and kept his eyes averted. Usually it is an act of dominance to not be the initiator of confrontation, and yet a part of him felt a new, meek desire to pretend to be senile and incoherent to avoid it entirely.

He only felt Looker’s radiating anger grow hotter next to him.

“Zeroes.” Gotta hand it to the rookie, he can hide the venom in his words with respect so well.

“… Don’t use that name in public.” Nanu croaked out, voice dry from alcohol and lack of use. “Guy’s dead, anyway.”

A curt snort. Nanu’s grip on his drink tightened.

“Clearly.” Looker waved off to the bartender now in front of him, just mouthing out ‘water.’ “Could you’d have been just the least bit nicer to Anabel— she thinks that she’s made you very upset.”

Nanu finally turned a glance to his side, crimson eyes a sullen glare. 

Looker was facing him directly. Back straight. Eyebrows deeply furrowed. A full on scowl directed at his once superior. Gone were the days when this man, though taller, was almost permanently hunched over and puppy-eyed, always hoping to please and to never disappoint. And now, though both sitting down, Nanu felt an unfamiliar, hateful sense of being so miserably small in his presence.

“She’ll get over it. You both should’ve known by now I’m not good company.”

Looker pinched the bridge of his nose. A glass of water was handed over to him in which he returned with a short nod and an inaudible ‘thank you.’ He exhaled, eyes closed, probably digging through his mind to figure out what to say.

Nanu grew impatient.

“Yeah. I didn’t tell her either.” A pause, choosing to lubricate his gullet with more whiskey. “Go on. Fucking mock me for it as if you’re any better. Remind me of what I promised at the Floating Restaurant— won’t change a damn thing.”

Looker stayed quiet. Paradoxical; the alcohol tonight making Nanu the talkative one while Looker was stone cold.

“Of course it won’t.” The detective’s voice was firm and clear. “Because now I know it’s why you left.”

The Kahuna sneered. He raised his glass again, only to roll the ice within it. But Looker was right; Nanu has had plenty of missed opportunities to talk to Anabel during the time he was watching her quickly climb the ranks.

“… Nanu, I’m not here to mock you—”

“You’re a bad liar, 100KR.”

“Not when we both don’t want to hurt her with something so—“

The elder officer finally turned himself fully to face his inferior.

“And surely this ‘bodyguard’ method of yours is keeping her safe, right? Where the fuck is Croagunk? Who the fuck put you back on UB work? Yeah I feel real at ease that Anabel is choosing to work with the guy who apparently can’t keep one thing alive—“

“ENOUGH.”

Looker slammed both his hands on the bar, his glass and ice shivering from the impact. The chair behind him screeched from Looker raising himself to full height. The formal composure he was keeping out of respect was breaking with the redness in his face, his breathing intensified. The light fixture behind his head casted a dark shadow to his expression; provoked, irate. Hurt.

For the longest time, Nanu found a dark comfort seeing the pain behind those dark grey eyes. He wanted his rookie to feel that weight on his shoulders. He wanted him to never forget the dressing down given a decade ago for the catastrophic failure that came with a permanent cost. Nanu’s said words he never, ever truly meant— a slowly constricting, consuming regret that at that time, it felt better to say ‘It should have been you.’ 

But now, the Kahuna looked into his ex-subordinate’s eyes, and he only saw his own reflection staring back.

Looker put a hand to his chest, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. In, and out. Breath shuddering as he sat back down onto his seat. His head hung low in shame after causing a bit of a scene. The rest of the restaurant barely had much of a reaction. Looker swallowed dryly, before remembering his own drink laid before him.

The whiskey wasn’t fairing well in Nanu’s stomach. He turned away from his companion— venting out his grievances just felt disgusting now instead of relieving. It came in flashes: his failed Rocket heist. A partner dying in his arms. Leading his team only to get critically injured en masse from an ambush. Every and all baggage that he dealt by condemning someone else. Someone who he could pretend was a younger Agent 000.

“… Working with Anabel. Made me remember something– about that day.”

“KR—“

“It’s my damn turn to talk, sir.” Looker’s voice, weary as it now was, cut through like daggers. 

The detective continued. “Glutton trashed against the walls, threatening to cause a cave-in after we had left it half blinded. I still remember the roars like scraping metal machinery and glass…”

“By the time my ears stopped ringing, it wasn’t screaming anymore. It couldn’t scream anymore. I found it digging into the corner of the cave, curled up like a Togedemaru when predators won’t leave it alone, and I asked myself for the first time why we were sent with full orders to kill something we’ve never seen before.”

The vision was clear as day ten years later. Nanu recalled a thick smell of iron in the air.

“I-I. I couldn’t do it. I recalled my… Pokémon. I tried signaling a retreat, I considered throwing one of my spare Pokéballs, maybe calling for backup, anything.” 

“KR, I told you to take the shot.”

“And I asked of you to stand down.” Looker interrupted. “While you ordered Krookodile to attack it.”

The beast released a guttural scream. The reptile Pokémon’s claws dug deep into its already wounded skin, and it fled from its hiding spot. An animal cornered will seek out any escape out of desperation. An animal cornered will do anything it can to survive, retreating to something of a familiar, comforting scent.

“… ___. She felt like a safe Wormhole home, Nanu. And we both didn’t know.”

Nanu can’t seem to remember ___’s  face anymore. Or her remains. All that was left were flashes of white and red, and suddenly being at Poni beach; Looker hunched over an unknown purple haired woman that had washed ashore.

“… Do you know how many we’ve successfully contained after the new Task Force?” Looker traced a number on the bar table with his pointer finger, “Twenty-three. Twenty-three out of twenty-three recorded breaches. Sometimes the chase is delayed, but every mission has ended in success. We are ordered to kill or contain— whichever is the most possible. I thought I would… Have had to kill every single one that came through the rift. That this was the only way after how wrong I was before. To keep the Chief–to keep everyone alive.”

Looker inhaled deeply. “I never wanted to return to Beast work, even more so when I saw Anabel again as my boss… It was not until the Ultra Ball hit the ground with a final locking ‘click’ that she said something that vindicated what I felt so long ago– they were only scared, wild animals; only dangerous when provoked beyond their limit.”

There was a prevailing bitter taste in Nanu’s mouth, whether it be the whiskey or having bitten the inside of his mouth from clenching his teeth so hard. Despite everything he had said or felt before, he cannot deny how much Looker has remained one of the only Interpol names deemed trustworthy. He holds his error as an ever looming burden, yet greatly relies on him to always do the right thing. He scolds the younger agent for overcomplicating and stumbling over a very difficult situation pertaining to Anabel’s secret Faller status, yet the elder retiree had abandoned both Looker and Anabel to handle that on their own. Not like he couldn't make a decision on whether allowing someone to continue to passionately work for an agency that used someone like her before, or tell her just how lost and alone she is with no one to help and absolutely no way to travel home. Keep it hidden how much one is risking their life or give them absolutely no life left to live for: Nanu chose to run.

It was clear that the Chief and Detective have been excelling far beyond these tired old bones, especially at the tail end of his service. On a better day, one not spent drowning in self pity, he’d admit to being proud.

“... I will never be proud of how much I’ve failed, sir. Croagunk has passed away.”

Nanu turned once more to his younger colleague. He wanted to say something, yet nothing came from him. Looker didn't look in his direction once; the man was adjusting his coat and finishing his glass. The detective stood up from the bar, nodding another thank you to the bartender and returning his chair to its place underneath the counter.

“… I’m going to tell Anabel everything, the higher ups be damned, and when I do,” He straightened the wrinkles in his duster coat, “You’ll be responsible for yourself, and tell her exactly why we didn’t hear from you for years.”

“Fuck off, KR…”

“Have a good night, Zeroes.”

Looker turned on his heel and walked out the doorway out into the cool Alolan night. All Nanu saw was the back of the man’s head. He groaned, running his hand through his fully grey hair, staying at his seat for a good long while as the ice melted in both glasses.

Whiskey left unfinished, he placed enough money on the table right beside Anabel’s leftover note, and finally left for the rundown station he called home.

[squid-ink-symphony]

hey i saw a post where you were talking about ships.. Uh.

callie x agent 3.

discuss.

please..

we need all the exposure we can get there are 5 of us.

we are very lonely.

NO BUT LIKE I LOVE THIS SHIP

ALONG WITH 4 X MARIE

LIKE IVE SEEN CALLIE AND AGENT 3 ART BEFORE AND ITS LITERALLY SO GOOD

i didnt wanna mention idol x agent ships in my post cuz sometimes ppl get all defensive about it like "erm well actually the agent is canonically a child and-" shut up. shut. up. they are whatever age you want them to be. they are literally a self insert for the player. plenty of ppl have agent ocs who are adults. it just varies from person to person and their headcanons.

but then i got an ask (that i already deleted) accusing me of being a proshipper bcuz apparently 3 x neo 3 is problematic bcuz its "power imbalance?" and like.. ig yeah that could be an issue irl w ur boss taking advantage of u. but like..... thats.... clearly not what im talking about???

so may as well discuss idol x agent ships as well lol

3 x callie is like. top tier. its so good. like you just know 3 and callie would goof around together. especially the splat 1 version of 3??? like their dynamic would be top tier. and i just know 3 would whisper stuff to callie and they would giggle about it and refuse to tell anyone else what they are laughing about. and i am always a rarepair enjoyer. like. its so good. (i ship callie x marina x pearl so you know im masochistic when it comes to my ships)

AND 4 X MARIE??? i know this one is a bit more well known but i love it. i dont know if i would ship my main agent 4 with my main interpretation of marie, but like another version of them? yes. it works so well. marie is literally in love w 4.

BUT OK ANOTHER RAREPAIR: 4 x callie. i know everyone loves 3 x 8 cuz blah blah 8 beat up mind controlled 3. but ??? 4 beat up mind controlled callie and we got NOTHING from the fandom. im mostly a 4 x 8 shipper at heart but this is another one i rlly like. i just know 4 would try to show off by picking smth heavy up or doing some cool trick only to fail miserably. and callie would be able to do it first try.

and i have even more opinions on different idol ships and combos but uhh thats for another day when someone wants to listen to my ramblings lol

anyway in conclusion i love rarepairs and pretty much every splat ship so yeah feel free to talk to me about them any time. i love figuring out character dynamics and all that. also everyone has such good designs everyone looks good together. also just like. non romantic pairs as well. like ppl who have sibling dynamics. ppl who are clearly in a qpr. ppl who are besties. apprentice and mentor dynamics. i just think every splat character is so interesting on their own that pretty much every combination is top tier. and like. things dont have to mutually exclusive when it comes to relationships. im a multipshipper.

and i think the same goes for other dynamics. like in my mind one version of neo 3 and 3, 3 sees neo like a younger sibling and spoils them and doent want what happened to 3 to happen to neo. in another version 3 sees neo like a younger version of them and tries to toughen them up and neo sees it as unfair and there is angst while 3 has to confront everything they went thru and if it was even fair for them to have gone thru it. cuz in their mind ofc its ok to do this to neo, its what 3 did to become the way they are. in another version they are just besties. in another version they are dating. in another version they have a competitive love/hate relationship and argue a lot about whos better.

LIKE THINGS DONT HAVE TO JUST BE ONE WAY!! i like exploring different stuff and seeing everyones takes on them!!!!!

so yeah come talk to me about splat characters im very normal i swear :)))

[talesfromsiteredacted]

SCP: Some Cooling, Please?

It figures. Hottest day of the year, and the AC in the staff wing conks out. As a result, everybody's sweating, but not because of our residents. Griping about the weather is something of a hobby around here. Here's some of the most... interesting complaints.

Dr. Sherman: "It's so hot, I'm surprised the Red Ice isn't melting."

Dr. Mann: "It stays this hot, I'm sleeping in the morgue."

Dr. Gears: "Normally, I'd complain about you running amok in the altogether, Dr. Bright. Today, though... I must admit it seems more bearable."

Dr. Iceberg: "I'll be in the site meat freezer, to prevent me melting like a shaved ice on Waikiki Beach. Do not follow me."

Researcher Al Rahaad: "I swear, you people would not last an hour in the deserts back home. It's only about 55°C. Toughen up."

963: "Dr. Gears revoked my Antartic transfer. He said I deserve to suffer for what I said to Dr. Altmann."

Dr. Cimmerian: "What do you mean the Ethics Committee vetoed my suggestion of asking 343 to cool us off? A waste of his time? Trivial comforts? I'm pretty sure all I need to do to reheat my coffee would be to simply set it on my desk!"

Dr. Clef: "My shotgun melted. Normally, I'd suspect it was Bixbied."

Agent Strelnikov: "Request permission to conduct training exercises with water pistols, sir. It will improve both aim and morale."

Dr. Iceberg, again: "In the unholy name of the Scarlet King's jockstrap, STOP TRYING TO HUG ME ALREADY! Just because everyone says I'm one cold bastard they don't mean it literally! Get off!"

Dr. Marius: "I don't give a damn about the bodies. What's the pool temperature like?"

Agent Thompson: "I just got out of the shower. I want to crawl back in after setting it to near icewater."

Dr. Glass: "035 isn't the only one around here melting."

Final note: I have noticed a considerable uptick in visits to ice-based anomalies. Excluding the Carnivorous Snowman, no one is that crazy here yet. After a full week of this heat, all bets are off.

[cyphertripping]

omg this is very exciting!! your writing is very nice!! 🥺 could you maybe do a pre-relationship Fade x fem!reader where the reader is clearly fond of her but Fade is a little suspicious/wondering if it's in her head bc people aren't usually that nice to her bc of all the stuff that happened? i think my girl deserves some softness in her life :/

also while i'm here, are you really open to doing character x character prompts? oooo

so true!! cat girl deserves all the nice things :)) also, yes im 100% down to do character x character my brain is currently valo brain rot!

Tea Break (Fade x f!reader)

Word Count: 699

Fluff

After it was announced to the team that Fade would be joining, needless to say the reaction was tepid at best. The atmosphere at the base which had been tense the past months with all the dossiers had hardly lifted. 

As much as Fade wanted to act like it didn’t bother her— after all, she’d wanted them to be scared of her— but it was… difficult. 

Being ignored, she could understand. She was used to that— being a shadow, the others not wanting to even meet her eye. 

But after awhile, it settled into the familiar dull ache of loneliness. The others were always cordial and cooperative on missions, but after when the toughened facade for battle was dropped, she’d watch Jett joking with Phoenix, or Neon’s loud laugh that filled the plane, and feel alone. 

The only person who treated her somewhat normally was Cypher, whom she’d come to a tentative agreement with through the interrogation, and strangely… you

From the research she’d done, you’re one of the newer agents. Perhaps that’s why you don’t hold the same reservations about her— you hadn’t been as integral in the protocol so Fade hadn’t targeted you as much. It seemed you were friendly with all of the other agents, yet you were often on your own.

She would see you in the community kitchen. It seemed you enjoyed baking and making food in general— that was how you bonded with the other agents.

One day, Fade was heading to the kitchen after her workout for a snack and found you there. You turned around and beamed— not something she had expected at all

“Just the person I was looking for!” you smile. It turns sheepish, “um, would you like to have some tea? The leaves just started steeping.”

Fade nods silently, almost hesitant. The two of you begin chatting, mostly you talking about anything and Fade nodding, a neutral expression on her face. It’s empty conversation— not about anything in particular. Her workout, you complaining about Yoru always flashing you around corners. It’s… actually really nice. Bit by bit, she feels her guard receding.

Soon the tea is done steeping and you pour it out into two sizable mugs and the two of you sit down. The warm mug clinks against her rings and she looks down at the steaming liquid— black tea, her favorite. Suddenly it feels easier to look down at the mug than at you. 

You shift in your seat a bit, awkward. Fade is honestly an intimidating person, not just from what the other agents had said and the information she had released, but she was just so cool.

You consider yourself not the most extroverted person. You enjoyed your hobbies and work in the Valorant protocol, but talking was never always easy. The way Fade commanded herself on the battlefield and around others filled you with awe. She just seemed always in control, though a bit sad.

That’s why you’d had the thought to make some tea. You knew Fade liked to come into the kitchen around mid-morning for a post-workout snack and, well, nothing cheered someone up like a bit of home. While Fade was always brewing some sort of coffee, you’d hoped perhaps she’d like something different, that showed your thoughts about her—

Well, not like that sort of thoughts. You flush slightly and realize it’s been quiet for some time. Oh god, were you making this awkward?

Fade sips the tea. The strong flavor washes over her, a hint of citrus and sugar in the blend. It was like home. She blinks fast, suddenly aware of burning in her eyes. 

“It’s good,” she says.

You feel like she’s still on guard a bit. Your worry at your lip, hoping desperately that your gesture hasn’t made her uncomfortable. 

“Hey,” you start, awkward. “I just… I’m happy you joined the protocol. I never feel scared going into site when I know your eyes are watching.”

Fade’s expression softens. “Thank you, canım (my dear).”

She hadn’t been sure of what to make of you, what your intentions had been. But when she looks at you, there’s no fear, no shadows. It’s just… you. You’re radiant.

Fade smiles.

[talia-rumlow]

My Saviour (Rumlow X Reader) Chapter Fiftysix - Not You, Agent!

Get Ready to get your heart ripped out! Trigger Warning!

The weekend is fantastic. Just you and Rumlow, in bed, good food, tons of sex, hugs, kisses, he is so romantic. And he takes extremely good care of you. When Sunday comes, you're almost sad to go to work again the next day. You could just stay here forever. But work calls. Literally, when Pierce calls Rumlow, Sunday evening to let you know that it's time for your training in water. You've been dreading this. That heavy uniform of yours. You're pretty good at swimming. Mastering all the different techniques. But with those clothes it will be hard, no matter how well trained you are.

Rumlow uses the remaining time you have left to teach you different techniques to keep yourself afloat. You listen to him, and although he makes you feel a little bit better, you're still nervous for this water training thing.

- Listen, YN. I have some stuff I have to take care off. But I'll try to be there for you. OK?

You give him a hug. He holds you close.

- That makes me feel a little better. But what if I sink?

Rumlow plants a kiss on your forehead.

- We've all been there. Rollins will be there. He'll help you, if something happens.

- Good to know...

When you go to bed on Sunday, you're beyond nervous. So it takes a while before you fall asleep. Listening to Rumlows calm breathing. Looking at him when he sleeps. God how lucky you are. To have him by your side.

-------------------------------------------------

You rush into the water training area. You're late. You look at the time.. not that late. Only about ten minutes. Shit. You know how Pierce feels about being on time. And you weren't wrong. He stands there, arms folded over his chest. Looking at you when you enter.

- Sorry, sorry. I know I'm late. I'm so sorry.

Pierce clears his throat.

- Well, Miss. YLN. Now that you're here we should get started we don't have all day.

Rollins takes a step towards you.

- Cut her som slack, Pierce! It's only been ten minutes.

- Slack? If this was an actual fight. We both could have been dead by now, due to her inability to follow simple orders!

- I know! I know Mr. Pierce. I... I just had to take care of something. I'm really sorry!

Pierce gives your gearbelt to Rollins, and he helps you to get it on.

- Next tine you need to take CARE of things Miss. YLN make sure you do that on your own time. So you don't waste mine!

It doesn't seem like he likes you very much. But maybe this is just how he is. To toughen you up. And as long as Rollins in there, you feel kinda safe.

Rollins jumps into the water. Stands on some kind of platform. The water only reaches up to his hips. He's taller than you, so the water would probably reach your stomach at least. You jump in. Yep. Your gearbelt is below water level. But, at least you can stand up.

- Remember, YN. Use my size against me. Just like I've taught you before. Winning has nothing to do with size. It has everything to do with...?

Rollins looks at you.

- Speed and precision.

- You need to be tactical. The water will slow you down. But it will also slow me down. The only difference is that the first one to get the upper hand, wins. If I pin you under water, you will eventually drown.

You swallow. Look at Rollins. God, you hope you'll never end up in a situation where you actually have to use this.

- Miss. YLN. Ready?

Pierce looks down at you. You give him a nod, then turn your focus back to Rollins.

- Go!

Rollins reaches out for your foot, you easily see his attack, and move so he can't reach it. Before quickly turning back against him, grabbing his arm, and throwing him over your shoulder. Placing your foot on his stomach when he hits the platform floor. Quickly removing it again, so he can stand up.

You turn towards Pierce. His face totally emotionless. Did he not like that you overpowered Rollins this easy.

- See, Pierce I told you, she's a fast learner!

Rollins drags his hand through his wet hair as he speaks to Pierce.

- Nah. You're being to soft on her. Give it your best shot, and she'll go down like a twig!

- I wouldn't count on it.

Rollins says, before totally out of the blue launches towards you. You block his attack yet again. Twisting his arm behind his back, and pushing his face into the water. Before you just as quickly release him.

Rollins turns towards Pierce again.

- She has been trained by the best. She knows her stuff. You should see how she's handling knives. Rumlow taught her well.

- Kives huh?

Pierce keeps looking at you. You don't care one bit for his emotionless face. But at least you showed him that you know how to fight.

- Fine that's it for today. I guess you have some skills Agent YLN!

This is the first time today he called you Agent. And you don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Rollins get's out of the water, before helping you up. Pierce is still just standing there looking at you. You start to remove your gearbelt.

- Keep that on Agent!

Pierces voice is harder than usual. He turns to Rollins.

- Lt. Rollins. You're dismissed!

Rollins turns to leave, and you follow.

- Not you, Agent!

Pierce's determined voice behind you. Rollins looks at you. You feel that he's trying to say something to you with his look. But you can't understand what. He gives you a sharp nod, before he quickly leaves.

You slowly turn towards Pierce. You've never been alone with him before. Not even when he put you in jail. There was still those other agents there. And now. His whole appearance makes you really uncomfortable.

- So, you know your way around knifes?

You swallow. What are you supposed to answer?

- Well. Br... Lt. Rumlow taught me well. As Lt. Rollins said.

Pierce picks up a knife from a table. Presents it to you.

- Then let's see how good you really are!

Then he tosses the knife on to the platform. You look at it.

- What are you waiting for Agent? Get down there and pick it up! In a fight you should keep your weapons on you at all times.

You know that you shouldn't disobey Pierce. But you don't know what he wants with this. And you don't feel safe, with Rollins gone.

- Agent!

Pierce almost screams to you.

You make a split decition to jump in the water to get the knife. You jump on to the platform, before leaning down, under water to pick it up. As soon as you get the knife in your hand, a sound is coming from the platform. You can't quite place it, it's muffled because of the water.

Suddenly the floor of the platform gives in under you. You have nothing to stand on anymore. And you can feel the gearbelt pulling you under water. You desperately trying to get up to the surface. But your gear is too heavy. You try to cut it off with the knife. But because you're panicking you cut yourself, causing you to drop the knife. You open your eyes, looking up to the surface of the water. Pierce just stands there watching you sink.

Oh God! You're not gonna die today. Not like this. Not now. Everything is finally coming together in your life. Not now. Not like this. You use your remaining energy to try to swim towards the surface. But there's no use. Your lungs feels like they're about to explode. You can't hold your breath anymore.

You take a breath, filling your lunges with water causing you to calf, more water in your lunges. No. No. No. No.

This is it! You have so much left to do in this life. So much to say to Brock. So much to experience with him. You can feel the energy leaving your body, and everything around you goes pitch black....

@nekoannie-chan @late-to-the-party-81 @there-goes-thefighter @bat-mar @here4thefanfics

Check out the My Saviour Masterlist HERE!

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[lailyn]

MTH 2022 Auction Fill

@marveltrumpshate auction fill for @arabesqueangel

A Face In The Crowd (Chapter 1/3)

Summary:

Embarking on missions to track down errant Loki Variants is a dangerous endeavour, one that has landed Loki in the care of Doctor Strange, TVA's very own medical expert, time and time again.

To say that their engagement got off to a rocky start would be an understatement.

"I don’t want you getting any ideas. The infirmary is just as secure as anywhere else here at the TVA."

"Just what do you think I'm going to do, Mobius?" Loki asked in exasperation. “Please, give me ideas. I don’t have near enough in my head already.”

"Loki, I mean it. Don't get on his nerves. He can make your life very easy, or very difficult," Mobius warned. "Both our lives, actually."

"What absolutely unnecessary advice," Loki said. "When am I ever not on my best behaviour?"

"You really want me to answer that?" Mobius deadpanned. 

"Yes," Loki crossed his arms petulantly. "In writing."

Mobius shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"If this guy is so unpleasant, why are we going to him in the first place?"

“You gotta ask?” Mobius pointed at Loki's blood-soaked sleeve. "You're bleeding all over the floor. And that is a brand-new jacket."

"If I had my magic, this would have healed ages ago," Loki huffed, fingering the cut gingerly.

"But you don't have your magic, do you?” Mobius challenged. “Besides, Vincent’s real pedantic about seeing the new Variants and giving them the all clear before sending them out into the field."

"Why bother?" Loki muttered. “You’re going to do away with us all in the end.”

"It's standard procedure. I can't have you drop dead from an undiagnosed heart condition or something and jeopardise the mission." 

Loki's nose crinkled. "Have I ever done that before?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Mobius said. “Once or twice.”

"You can't be serious."

"It's the truth. I remember one time, it was smallpox that did you in." Mobius shuddered at the memory. "It really wasn't pretty."

“Oh dear, oh dear.”

______________________________________________

“Agent Mobius! What have you brought for me today?" 

A tall man dressed in a white coat waltzed through the sterile orange doors. There was no mistaking the glee in his steps. "You caught a rather big fish, I hear." 

"News travels fast," Mobius said dryly. "Vincent, meet Loki. Loki, meet Vincent Strange."

The man with the frosty eyes smiled. His striking good looks made him appear even more aloof. "Doctor Vincent Strange. For now. Haven't had the chance to get acquainted with each other, have we?"

Mobius snorted. "Somehow I can see that happening in no time. He's a bit clumsy, this one."

"Perfect," Vincent purred, flashing his perfect teeth in a grin as wide as it was false. "My favourite kind of variant."

"Let's see what we have, shall we?” Vincent patted the stool next to him. "Sit yourself down right here."

Loki reluctantly did as he was told. 

"Take your jacket off," Vincent ordered.

No sooner had Loki shrugged the offending garment off than the doctor started poking and prodding at the oozing cut on his forearm. "Now that is a beautiful wound. Clean edges, satisfyingly deep…and my, my, I haven't had a wound bed this pristine in a while. Did you inflict this on yourself?"

Loki wrenched his arm away. “Is this man for real?”

A strong hand snaked around Loki’s wrist and tugged it back down hard. “I didn’t say I was done with you, sweetheart.”

“Sweet - oh for the love of - Mobius, just kill me,” Loki begged.

“That’s what you always say,” Vincent sighed. “Still you lot refuse to die the most.”

“Strange,” Mobius warned.

"Oh, we're not talking about that, are we?" The man's eyebrows shot up to meet his hairline. "When is this one from? Fresh from the fall?"

"A bit further down the timeline, but he's still a little raw."

"I'm sure your stint at the TVA will toughen you up in no time."

“I’m simply dying with anticipation,” Loki said, voice dripping with acid. 

Mobius clucked his tongue. “Yeah, he’s a bit mouthy, this one.”

“Aren’t they all? Except for the last Loki you brought me. Now she was all mouth...literally.” Vincent chuckled at what Loki suspected was an inside joke, judging by the way Mobius allowed himself a faint smile.

“Oh, but this one - he had his muzzle on for quite some time too.” Vincent held Loki's chin in a pincer grip and turned his patient’s head from side to side. “I can see the marks.”

“Just long enough for us to collar him. Didn’t see the point of putting it back on,” Mobius explained. “We kinda needed him to talk.”

"You're my favourite analyst, you know that?" Vincent said. "You handle your assets beautifully."

"Can't let the goods get too damaged," Mobius said modestly.

"Of course, of course. But these Lokis, they’re ten a penny these days." Vincent's piercing gaze roamed Loki's face in naked fascination. "How long are you going to last, I wonder?"

"I hope that's a rhetorical question, Strange," Mobius said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, looking uncomfortable all of a sudden. "You know that's above my pay grade."

Vincent tsk-tsked. “What’s taking you so long, Mobius? You need to climb up that ladder and climb it fast while you’ve still got Renslayer wrapped around your little finger.”

Mobius turned red. “I don’t - she and I - we’re not like that.”

"It's alright, Mobius,” Vincent interrupted him mid-sputter. “I can handle it from here."

"Are you sure?" Mobius asked sceptically. "Protocol says - "

"He doesn't pose any real danger," Vincent said mildly. "Look at him. He's harmless."

If the remark was meant to invoke a rise out of Loki, it fell short of the mark. To his credit, the former second prince of Asgard weathered the scrutiny with a poise that almost made Mobius proud. 

"Yes, Mobius. No harm will come to the good doctor," Loki promised. "Not today." 

"Did you hear that, Agent Mobius?" Vincent asked. "Best attend to your business and leave me to mine."

Mobius doubted it was the smartest thing to do, leaving the two men to their own devices, but what choice did he have? "I won't be long."

"Isn't that up to Judge Renslayer to decide?" Vincent asked impishly. "Tell her I will have the report on L1130 on her desk by the end of the day. And I will have to report you too for using the merchandise before proper inspection."

"Tell her yourself, jerk."

As soon as Mobius left, Vincent's wolfish smile sharpened. "He likes me. He just doesn't show it." 

Loki remained mute. 

"He likes you, that's for sure. I wonder why." Vincent tilted his head quizzically. "Why are you special? Why didn't they prune you?"

"Am I to answer any of those questions?" Loki asked politely.

"Oh, please don't. I was talking to myself and I don't like interruptions."

"My apologies."

"But it is indeed a curious thing. Do excuse me for saying this, but you're super ordinary," Vincent said critically. "Relatively speaking, of course."

"Met many Lokis, have you?" 

"I'm not complaining. You're easier to fix than most variants that pass through these doors,” Vincent said. “Your pieces are still in one piece. Mostly.”

True to his words, Vincent spent the next few minutes diligently cleaning the wound and suturing it with a deftness that bespoke decades of experience. He asked no questions about whom or what had inflicted the wound; it was clearly of no import to him.

The orchestral music in the background had died down, giving way to the dramatic tremolos of a familiar, haunting tune. A baritone soared and swelled above the trickling piano, rich and full. 

It was beautiful. Loki hated everything about it. How Vincent could hear anything through his stethoscope with all the noise was anyone's guess.

Loki tried to distract himself by focusing on his breathing. The stainless steel diaphragm burned like a thousand insects crawling underneath his skin.

But the song…the more time they spent not talking, the louder it became.

"Why do you listen to this drivel?" Loki asked, when he could stand the cacophony no longer.

Vincent did not answer immediately.

"It relaxes me," he said, once he had finished listening to Loki's chest. "What's the matter? I thought you, of all people, would appreciate my choice in music."

"Why would you think that?"

"The night you blinded that poor man in Stuttgart. The orchestra was playing this very piece."

"I don't remember it," Loki said flatly.

"I didn't expect you to," the doctor said with a shrug. "Selective amnesia is quite prevalent among you Variants."

Vincent pulled off his gloves and shoved his hands into his lab coat pockets, but not before Loki caught sight of the fine scars running down the back of the long, tapered fingers. 

As disfigured as they were, there was no mistaking the grace in them. They were a pianist’s hands, that much Loki could tell. “Do you play?”

Silence ensued. 

“What happened to your hands?” Loki pressed. 

Still Vincent said nothing.

Emboldened by the lack of response from the suddenly reticent man, Loki leaned forward eagerly.

“You taunt me, yet you deny me conversation. So much for a warm welcome, Doctor.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise my hospitality has left something to be desired,” Vincent said sarcastically. “Would you like me to bring out some tea?”

“I wouldn't be opposed to that idea. Nor would I mind something a little more merry.” Loki made a face. “Schubert’s brilliant but his sonatas grew too despondent toward the end.”

“He died too young, left the world wanting for more."

"By contrast, live too long and you risk the world cursing your existence."

Either Loki’s relentless questions had angered him, or something in the song had triggered the doctor, as it did Loki. 

"Lucky for you the world has very poor memory,” Vincent said sharply. “History will forget you soon enough, Loki Laufeyson."

Loki lunged but Vincent was ready. One second, Loki had the doctor thrust against the wall, the very next, he was contorted on the floor, spasming in agony.

“I am Doctor Vincent Strange of the TVA.” 

Vincent towered over the writhing form. He retrieved his hand from his pocket and opened his fist, revealing the Time Twister in his grasp. “I am not your friend. I don't make small talk. And I certainly do not serve tea." 

He crouched down, studying the veins in Loki’s neck as they swelled, engorged from his prisoner’s vain effort to dislodge the time displacement collar. "You…are Der Leiermann.” 

“What?” 

“A sad, wretched man tinkering with his hurdy-gurdy at the very edge of the world, but no one wants to hear him. No one wants to look at him." 

Vincent bent to whisper in Loki’s ear. “Not even the dogs."

Tears blurred Loki's vision, hot and stinging.

Kill me. 

“Your life is in my hands. You are at my mercy. Do we understand each other?”

“Go to Hel,” Loki spat furiously.

Vincent's frozen demeanour cracked. A sad smile glimmered through, softening his features. "You poor thing.”

He thumbed the wetness dewing along Loki’s lashes and flicked the tears away. 

"Hell can't fit the both of us," he said gently. "And right now, you're in it."

Loki struggled against his invisible bonds but no matter how he roared and screamed and prayed, it went unheard. 

Schubert's Winterreise played on, sombre and never ending.

TBC

[sydnycvwrtes]

congratulations on getting an agent! that’s amazing 🎉 do you mind sharing your querying journey (what was it all like? when you started, how many queries you sent, how many full requests, and other stats? things you expected about querying? things you didn’t expect? lessons you learned? etc?)? just whatever you feel like sharing 😊

Yes!

So tbh I feel like I both had an easier but longer journey. I didn't send too too many queries (in contrast to some folks) but I was querying for a long time. I started when I was 18 for reference, so I queried for almost four years exactly (3 years and 352 days lol) but I took long pauses to overhaul the novel between query batches based on any feed back I'd gotten. I sent queries in batches of 4-6 and didn't send more until I'd gotten responses from everyone from one batch.

So:

33 queries sent (I resent edited queries to the same agents 4 times which feels a little 🧍🏿‍♀️)

6 partial requests (quick bit of advice: different agents have different specific ways they want you submit. It might be annoying to reformat everything, but just do it)

4 full requests (and let me tell you, when I sent fulls to "famous" agents, I was waiting for upwards of half a year, which can also account for the time gap)

1 offer of rep (woohoo!!!!) from an agent I feel really understands my vision for the book, and will be a great representative for me when sub time comes. For revisions, I'm not having to change any plot points, just explain a little bit more stuff so they're not too grueling. Plus I write super fast and that helps lol.

I think querying for so long definitely toughened me up. I was really expecting for the first agent I queried, who I considered a dream agent at the time, to adore my book, sign me immediately, and offer no critiques before we went on sub for three seconds and scored a billion dollar deal (and I queried her TWICE because I was just that hooked up on it lmao). As you can see, that didn't happen. I got some rejections after months, and some after only a few hours. And at the begining? Oh they HURT. They hurt BAD.

And then you get another and another and another, and the sting lessens over time.

I became a lot better at being critical of myself, which I feel like is the most important skill in querying- understanding that you are going to have to make heavy edits, kill your darlings, and just overall refine you book in ways you didn't see before. Even the version I sent to the agent I signed with was far from perfect, and I'm making revisions. And that's okay. It's a step to getting published.

It... Was hard. I had a friend tell me it was just not the right time for my book and to shelve it. I think that hurt more than a rejection. But I knew I wanted to be an author, and I knew I wanted to tell these character's stories, so I just kept working. I rewrote my book more times than I can count since I started writing it at 15. It's just all a very long process, and you have to be patient, and you have to KNOW that this is what you want to do and you're going to do it.

Last weird little tidbits of advice:

I had one person read a very old copy of my book. I had no beta readers. I never hired an editor. Don't do what I did. Beta readers can help you so so much. If you can find someone willing, have them help you!!!

Query that agent! I almost didn't query my agent because they said they were a fan of beautiful prose, and I didn't think I had that. But, after mustering the courage, I finally did and look what happened. Just send the query!! The worst they can say is no!!

If you get personalized feedback from a rejection, that is still really helpful. My book is better now mostly because of my rejection feedback because it was all telling me the exact thing to work on. For me, the writing was fine, but I tended to under-explain things. I got that feedback.... A lot. And I was able to fix it and eventually get an agent (woo!)

(even though my revisions are still centered around explaining oops-)

Anyway, I hope this was helpful! I hope I was able to give you a pretty good picture of my querying time! It was... Definately something!

[paulinawoodpecker]

The mean queen Bees made the Triple Team cry for hurting their feelings

@jakkiisthatboy2

Tiffany: there you are again!

Tiffany: Mr fat fascist, naive mysterious woman and useless agent…

Tad: will you stop calling us that?

Tiffany: never…

Blair: what are you going to now? I thought you were going to go to the gym to lose weight…

Tad: *anime crying face* but I’m good looking!

Blair: you really need to toughen your upset stomach up.

Tad: *squishes his belly softly*

Ying: and for what about the useless agent? Have you ever arrested anyone?

Ramirez: what no?!

Ying: oh yeah…

Ying: what kind of a gent are you if you don’t have any badge…

Ramirez: 😨

Ramirez: *sobs*

Andrea: and what’s with the mysterious stuff?

Victoria: it’s my duty!

Andrea: well it’s kind of useless you know. No one even is interested in that anymore…

Victoria: what?

Victoria: *sobs*

Tiffany: and for you fat fascist, if you have no power, then what was wrong with you!

Tad: please I can explain…

Victoria: tad. Don’t listen to her!

Ramirez: she’ll make you worse.

Tiffany: but what about the treasure you have…

Tad: how did you know that?

Tiffany: because you showed them your gift, did you?

Tiffany: does it represent…mummy?

Tad: 😨

Tad: 🥺

Tiffany: and what are you going to do now?

Tiffany: VOMIT MAN!

Tad: *sheds tears*

Tiffany: come on ladies…

Tiffany: I warned you…

Tiffany: I told you…

Tiffany: maybe I’m right..

Tiffany: you’re nothing all this time…

The mean queen bees: *leaves*

Tad: *broke down loud and hard*

The triple team: *hugs each other and broke down*

Tiffany: I won…

Tiffany: I made the triple team cry…

Tiffany: and I made tad cry for the fourth time. Good luck with your fifth one toad…

[flamingjets]

Rhaenyra knew where to look for Daemon after he had disappeared from the castle. She could feel him in her soul and she was always drawn to him. After the attack on the castle and his daughters and her sons were injured and learning about the Prince that was destined and seeing her get injured something broke inside him. Rhaenyra just knew she would find him by the ocean but wasn’t expecting to see the sight in front of her.

Daemon was lying on the sand wet from the waist down after it appears he threw himself into the ocean and collapsed. He was laying next to his sword sticking out of the sand next him as he glared at the sky. He turned his head when he heard her walking toward him.

“Just as everyone expects from Uncle Daemon. Having a dramatic fit, getting all pissy and having nothing to show for his outburst.” Rhaenyra laughed as she kicked sand at him watching him lean up bracing himself on his elbows looking up her with a half a grin that quickens her breathe. “I wasn’t being dramatic and I figured I’d rather go by dragon fire that by drowning in a cold ocean. And you would miss me.” He laughed even though it didn’t make it to his eyes. Rhaenyra knew he was in pain but they both were. Daemon just chose the stupid way to deal and she chose to toughen up as always.

“Do you realize how much it hurts that I have to always be the strong one. The tough one. The one who can’t show my pain or fear or show that every second I’m getting a knife thrown at me I can’t break?! Alicent made me keep it in for fear if I let go for a split second I’m a dead woman walking and I’m going to have a knife sticking out of my gut, back or my throat slit?” Rhaenyra angrily spit at Daemon as he always had the outburst being the exiled Prince but always talked his way back and could be free. Currently only thing keeping her alive is the fact her father is still alive, barely, keeping Alicent from taking her head. “I finally got out of there knowing it was the only way to fight back, keep myself and my children alive. The only place I knew I would be safe and have a fighting chance was too find you because I kne you would protect me and my family. Help me face the storm.” She was shaking from her anger as she just watched him pick himself up off the sand and stand in front of her. Fire burning in his eyes.

“Do you know what it’s like knowing that the one person I yearned for and even asked to marry from my asshole brother was to wed you?! I was exiled because of it. The night of your wedding I wanted to take you away and almost did and then criston the cunt picked a fight.” Daemon angrily threw back at her breathing hard. He hated knowing she felt broken and attack from all sides. If he could he would go burn every person who hurt her with dragon fire and feed the bodies to his dragon from fun. “I spent 10 years with laenra and I love my children and cared for her since I couldn’t be with you. I felt my fire slowly dying knowing I couldn’t be with you and she knew it and I couldn’t hide it from her. I would burn everyone in kings landing to ash for what they did to you!” Daemon spit with anger as he turned away from her taking a breathe but twirling back toward her afraid she might disappear from site.

“We both have our pains and fears to deal with Daemon. We both dealt with them out of protecting our children. But you are the one I trust most to help keep them safe from those who want nothing more than to put their heads on a spike along with mine.” She turned and started to walk down the beach as Daemon walk in step with her. “You ar safe here Princess. No one will harm you here again.” As he said it he knew he could be lying due to the fact they were both attacked her by agents sent by Alicent and her father to kill Rhaenyra and her children. Seeing her get hurt along with her children and his made his blood boil as he took out the men responsible for the pain.

They silently walked down the beach comfortable in each other’s presence as always and he could help but glance at her from the corner of his eye watching the wind blow through her silver hair and her dress blowing around her legs in the wind. It was a sight to behold that still made his blood burn with lust for her. And seeing her again brought back all those feelings making hm feel alive. From the corner of her eye she watched Daemon as he walked beside her and after ten years he still got her blood burning and remembering the night in the brothel when he first kissed her. She was still angry he left but damn she still wants him to pull her close and claim her mouth with his.

“I wish still all those years ago that night at my wedding feast you would of stolen me away and brought me here to make me your wife Daemon but I can’t live in the past. Seeing you again and being here brought all those feeling back and I won’t fight them. But if you have changed I’d understand. I might be different then what you remember as the tough princess who is fierce , reckless and will never back down from a fight. Are you still the rogue prince I wanted to badly or not?” Rhaenyra stopped and turned to Daemon. Fearful of the answer he might give as he stopped bent his head without looking at her. She wants him more then ever yet bracing for her to run away or reject her once again. She turns toward the ocean grazing out to see bracing herself for a storm.

Daemon looks at Rhaenyra as her back is toward him as she grazes at the ocean. How dare she even think he doesn’t lust for her or want her?! The moment he saw her the only thing he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and claim her for himself. The years haven’t dismissed that fire but only made it burn hotter. He took a deep breathe and walked in front of her blocking her view of the ocean as she stared into his eyes. “The fire in my blood burns only for you Rhaenyra. The moment I saw you again made it burn brighter and hotter than dragons fire. You are tougher than when you were a younger girl all those years ago. People will fear you, Alicent should fear the power you have. You make my heart beat like it’s about to stop and I want you as you are. All of you.” Daemon reach for her as he gripped her neck as she brought her head to rest against his as she gripped his collar letting her fingers slip beneath. He looked into her eyes and then down to her mouth and without a heart beat more he claimed her lips with his as the yearning and passion they have had for each other is put into that kiss. He wrapped his arm around her pulling her close as her hands gripped his neck and tangling into his hair and she pulled him closer.

They stopped to take a breathe as they looking into each other’s eyes as they both smiles happy for the first time in years. For only a second but it seemed like a thousand years his patience broke and he kissed her again as she clung to him not wanting to let go. They weren’t going to let each other go. Too much time as already been lost and now was the time to make up for it. He still had a very big apology to make for leaving her in the brothel.

[catboii]

← Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 → Full Thread

[Day ####]

It’s been several days since there were any markable concerns. No breaches, no alerts, no deaths on the clock... Everything has been running smoothly. As it should. 

The Overseer of the current area leads their Agents through the corridors, writing up directives for the daily observations and handing them to the respective Agent.

The Anomalies here are usually very quiet, although sometimes, one of them will just sort of- change… Wake up… And then they completely flip. You can’t trust them. Sometimes Agents have underestimated what seemed like a normal inanimate object, like the hairbrush that hypnotises people, pulling them with psychic tendrils into its room, so that they'll brush their hair with it, then two weeks later they'll wake up from a coma; or a small animal, like the mouse that turned out to eat concrete and burrowed out by nibbling around the steel reinforcements before anyone noticed. There was so much paperwork...

Most of the chambers look the same, bland, metallic grey inside and out, the only difference being the cautionary and instructional stickers of varying sizes, shapes and colours, on the corridor-side of their doors. Some have more than others, and some seem to tell a story. 'No eye contact', 'No turning your back', 'No auditory interaction', 'Unconfirmed: Inanimate', etc; the list could be endless as more instructions are being discovered and printed every day, although it's not a fast process as the braille needs to be sized and punched correctly. Whenever something is Suspected, they use a medium sized Yellow sticker, with a dashed border for the colourblind. If something is confirmed, then it’s a larger sized Red sticker with a bold border. There are the occasional smaller, Green stickers, with a wavy line as a border; this makes them look more whimsical and friendly, although doesn’t mean that whatever is being contained is safe, just that the action is ‘safe’, such as 'Safe: Eye contact', 'Safe: Slow movement', 'Safe: Liquid exposure'. As it’s quite difficult to confirm that something truly is ‘safe’, there aren’t as many Green stickers as the others, and they’re easy to peel off, in case something turns out to not actually be safe... There are alot of Yellow stickers through the halls, as it’s all too easy to have an unconfirmed suspicion, rather than to prove that something is safe or not. 

After a few Agents are sent on their assignments, the Overseer leads the remaining toward another bland silver door, with the usual square viewing window and several Yellow stickers: the expected, and potentially obvious instructions when approaching any wild animal, ‘maybe don’t touch or feed this thing, it might bite, but we’re not sure’. There are also some White and, some rarer, Black stickers though. The White stickers are confirmed guidelines, Agents normally call the neat little sections of White stickers Biogs, as they’re a bit like summaries, and you need a better name than ‘what do their Whites say?’ when discussing cases with your peers. The Black stickers, however, are important notes to keep in mind if you have to go into the room. These are always very specific, but usually a little cryptic, as if their info is on a need to know basis. Which it sort of is, as they only get explained to you if you’re the one going in. 

Most Anomalies in this section have the White 'Does not eat' sticker, as they’re inanimate objects (less of an instruction, just an observation that it doesn’t need to be fed, although someone must have tried, to be able to confirm it, which summons amusing images of Agents trying to coax mysterious Diaries or amulets to nibble on some fruit or a raw steak), but this one also has this sticker, and it appears to be some kind of small animal. Trying to peer through the door window, Agent 23 thinks it looks like a crow sitting in the middle of the floor, although there are too many layers of thick, toughened glass to get a clear view from this distance. There also appears to be a large, Red, octagonal sticker ,right beside the White one that looks like the 'Do not approach' instruction, based on the size and shape, but it’s covered by a Black sticker frantically scribbled over with what looks like black sharpie? As if someone was trying to take it back, but didn’t have the right sticker to hand. The white text is still easily readable, and says 'Caution level C-3'. The Caution level 'C' stickers are reserved for the Anomalies that have shown cannibalistic traits, which is a rabbit hole of a definition when you consider that these Anomalies aren’t human, and eating other animals is a perfectly normal carnivore activity… for animals. 

But why would a creature that doesn’t eat, according to that White sticker, show interest in eating other creatures..? 

Moreover, the level is a scale, like 1:1 or 1:10 in scale models. 'C-1' is for creatures that will attack and/or eat other creatures the same size as them, 'C-0.5' would mean creatures half their size, etc. So 'C-3' means that it’s 'shown an interest' in attacking and eating something three times its own size. Which, based on how small it is, doesn’t sound too worrisome. And besides, this must have been observed before it was put into containment...

As the Overseer looks over the paperwork left hooked on the door, a couple of the Agents peer through to the chamber. There are three interlock doors, which seems excessive for such a small creature. Two is perfectly fine for most of the other, larger Anomalies. Besides, the extra door space takes away some of the chamber space, leaving it alot smaller, even if the creature inside isn’t very big itself. There aren’t any perches or furniture inside, nothing for enrichment. There are also two chairs outside the doors, one either side, when there are usually just two. Only one is the metal kind with the little document shelf under the seat though, the other doesn’t look like it belongs here, more like it’d been dragged from somewhere else, possibly a staff room on another floor, since the ones on this floor are cushioned. 

“Alright,” the Overseer starts confidently, “have any of you had any experience with this Anomaly?” Two of the six Agents raise their hands, one being Agent 23, a low level Agent who'd been working at the Facility for three years so far. “Perfect. Now please lower your hand if any of those experiences have been negative in any way, if you have verbally expressed any negative thoughts around this doorway, or if you may have been overheard disciplining another Anomaly or member of staff in this hallway, at all”, they slightly raise their voice at the end, as if to emphasise how important this was. Agent 23 keeps her hand raised, but she couldn’t see why any of the staff would do anything like that; however, the other Agent had already lowered his hand, but Agent 23 wasn’t sure at which point of the statement. The Overseer looks down at the clipboard, ‘uh-huh’s to themself a few times, then hangs it back on the designated hook. “Alright. You may lower your hand now. The rest of you, I trust you have jobs to do, you’re dismissed. Agent 23, I’ll instruct you on your tasks for the next…” they pause, as if thinking, “week. If all goes well”. 

The instructions sound like the usual, to observe the Anomaly through the cameras and the door windows, to record everything on the sheet every hour. Although there are also extra, lined sheets to fill in if the Anomaly tries to communicate. Any sign of intelligence should be recorded. It's been reported to react to the verbal greetings given by the Agents through the intercom, and if someone gets close to the glass, sometimes it seems to be looking toward the door. The Overseer has instructed 23 to actually try to get it to respond this time, however she can. If it looks like it’s reacting to the intercom, to continue talking, to see if it’s just the noise, or if it’s the actual speech it recognises. There are the odd notes in the ‘Guide’ that say that it has been observed to obey basic commands such as ‘step away from the door’, ‘stand still’ and such like. 

All of the initial pages in the observation log seem to have been crudely torn out, then the first intact pages have nothing written on them aside from the first boxes having mention of observations being difficult, due to the Anomaly being ‘outside’. 23 decides this must mean before it was put into containment, and was just being observed; because if it had breached containment, then there would be far more paperwork, and more Red stickers on the door. Breachers normally went to a far more secure floor several stories lower, and had their own guards stationed at every checkpoint. The pages documenting the last month or so are all basically uneventful, and nothing of note jumps out at her. 

As 23 turns on the intercom to read the obligatory greeting statement, there’s a slight electrical crackle-buzz as the speaker turns on, and a red LED indicator light at the bottom lights up. The small, crow-like creature turns its head toward the soft sound, its eyes dull and reflectionless, staring slightly off from the main door camera, as the intercom speaker is about a foot underneath. “Greetings. I’m Agent 23,” she begins, trying to sound casual, though professional, as if she doesn’t feel the least bit silly trying to talk to a bird, who probably doesn’t understand anything she’s saying, “I’ll be observing you today. I’ll be here for-” she briefly flicks her eyes down from the monitor to check her notes, quickly counting the start to finish times in her head, “Six hours. Please go about your business as normal.” She lets go of the intercom button, and it makes that same quiet crackle, then silence resumes. 

The creature keeps staring toward the speaker for a moment, then, as 23 observes as instructed, she thinks it glances up to the main camera, but it keeps turning, openly facing one of the side cameras, just staring toward it for what feels like the longest moment. 23 starts to wonder if it can somehow see her, and that its watching her, so she makes a little waving motion with her hand at the monitor to see if it'll react… But then it turns to face the back wall, away from the three cameras pointing toward it, and stays facing that direction.

The rest of the day is relatively uneventful, another Agent nearby makes a breakthrough when they say they got a recording of an inanimate object moving, and they furiously scribble in their observational notes. 23’s ward just sits there, once or twice taking a few slow steps toward one side of the room, a few hours later going to the other side. 

Once it’s time to finish up, she stands, stretching her arms above her head, making a little squeak noise through her nose as her spine pops, and when she turns toward the intercom, she notices the creature on the camera monitor, looking toward the door. Perhaps it could see her shadow move? She pauses briefly before pressing the intercom, there’s no movement at the buzz this time, not even a twitch. “This is Agent 23. I have concluded today’s observations. I will be returning tomorrow. Thankyou for your cooperation.”

[twdmusicboxmystery]

FTWD 8x01: Remember What They Took From You

For the next 3 days or so I'll be doing our analysis of FTWD, episode 1 of season 8. @galadrieljones was the first to do a writeup, so I'll post her thoughts first so the conversation makes sense. ;D Enjoy!

@galadrieljones:

Mainly what I want to share are some parallels with Slabtown. There were a lot of them, and they were very pointed to me. There are also parallels to some other TWD episodes, mainly A, Say Yes, and Conquer.

There are lots of odd medical things in this episode. When Morgan is being “processed,” they let him listen to a baby crying on the monitor. He asks what they are doing to her, and the man on the intercom says, “They’re drawing blood to make sure she doesn’t get sick. To make sure she doesn’t get other children sick.” They also frequently draw blood from Madison, like once a week, while she’s incarcerated.

At some point later in the episode, while they’re taking Mo/Wren back to PADRE, Shrike (which is the name of the female guard/agent/villain with the short curly hair), tells Morgan that “He (Padre) has invested too much in that girl to let her cross paths with [Morgan] again.”

She’s very young and not a fighter yet. She’s really a good fighter but she’s got a lot of toughening up to do. It’s unclear what’s been “invested” in her. I think there’s probably something going on with immunity treatments here, and that’s why they need kids, because it’s going to be easiest to implement this treatment while the immune system is still premature.

The kids seem take survival skills and combat strategy classes; however, my guess is this is a smoke screen for something else. They’re apparently training the kids to survive on “the mainland,” but Madison mentions at some point like, what do you need to train a bunch of kids for? Can’t be anything good. Speaking of screens, the adults seem to wear these screen masks a lot, while the kids only wear them when they’re fighting.

The walkers are all teeming with this mossy green stuff. It grows all out of them, like roots and all. I don't know if that's just because they're in the middle of a marsh, and so this is just what happens. They shove this green goo stuff in the walkers' mouths before fighting the kids. It's like some sort of muzzle. Like they knock the teeth out of the walkers and then shove in this green goo. I think it's to protect the kids but also the green goo is very reminiscent of both the green chlorine gas and the green acid that burns Amanda's face off in Davon.

All of the children and the adults seem to have bird names in PADRE. Oreole, Lark, Nightingale, Wren, Shrike. This is obviously so interesting. Birds in a bird cage.

Also the villain chick, her name is Shrike. Shrikes are a kind of predatory bird. Their genus, called "Lanius" is derived from the Latin word for "butcher," and some shrikes are called "butcherbirds" for the way they kill their prey: "Shrikes are known for their habit of catching insects and small vertebrates and impaling them on thorns, branches, the spikes on barbed-wire fences, or any available sharp point. This helps them to tear the flesh into smaller, more conveniently sized fragments, and serves as a cache so that the shrike can return to the uneaten portions at a later time." This is why they're called "butchers." Bizarre, never heard of them.

Lark is Madison's name. Larks have a lot of symbolism. They symbolize Christ in the Bible.

There were so many parallels with Madison and Beth. The first being that Madison keeps trying desperately to kill herself. After she gets ahold of the sledgehammer from Mo, she breaks the glass window and tries to cut her own throat with it, re: 18mi Out. While Madison is incarcerated, too, there's a lot of weird Slabtown parallelism. I have visuals lol. Shrike reminds me of Dawn. She's "caring" but in this creepy villain way. Like, she seems like she cares. She treats Madison with care and respect, but she's also authoritarian and extremely cold, a lot like Dawn. There's an emphasis on Madison's food tray, which is oddly sitting on her toilet. She won't eat. Shrike tells her they have ways of making her eat. It very much reminded me of Dawn urging Beth to eat at Grady.

Madison is also parallel to Joan. Shrike is adamant that PADRE won't let her die, no matter how much she wants to.

Mo keeps having flashbacks to Grace singing. She retrieves her latent memories after she hears the song. I had this thought about Judith meeting Beth, and finally remembering her when she hears Beth sing one of the songs she used to sing.

Mo also has lots in common with Beth, as well as Judith. She wears the Beth braid. She wields a mini-sledge hammer in the end, just like Judith wielding the mini-katana. Also, this is more specific: She keeps getting her foot stuck. She gets it stuck in the quicksand of the marsh two times. Just like Beth getting her foot stuck in that fox trap.

Honestly the episode had so many little parallels like this, I'm certain I missed some, so I’m looking forward to your notes as well. It seems to definitely be drawing us backward. We keep getting closer and closer to Grady with every turn.

Another visual parallel. In the house boat, Morgan and Madison sit on a couch with a blanket that has a southwest Navajo style blanket. It's almost the same exact pattern as Daryl's poncho. (I made another visual)

Also, notice the weird giant mosquito hanging from the ceiling. Another reference to drawing blood, aka: bloodletting.

Ofc the episode "Bloodletting" is all about Rick transfusing his own blood into Carl. In the episode, T-Dog also has a nasty infection. Bloodletting also means "the violent killing or wounding of people in a war or conflict." It can also mean "bitter division or quarreling within an organization." All of these things are relevant in PADRE.

I think that after the WB coda, and learning about the research they were doing in France (Jenner refers to it as their "latest study"), there is something going on with the circulatory system and how they're attempting to treat the virus. I'm very curious though about the connection between the Teams in France and the US.

I have a feeling that after correspondence in France was cut off from the US, which was fairly early on, like a month or so into the outbreak, France went completely rogue, and most of the scientists there were jailed, killed, or outlawed. This is what whatever has been going on in Ohio is extremely important. The Primrose Team was in Toledo, and so my extreme speculation is that the CRM extended a hand to the Primrose Team and exchanged protection for research. I think they immediately diversified what was going on and started to implement research facilities in different places around the country.

The first was at Grady, and the second was at PADRE. Remember PADRE was some sort of protocol initially, which Alicia discovered via Will who had used to work for a Senator in Texas. But just like with everything else, I feel that whatever PADRE was supposed to be, just like Grady, it was turned into something else in the years following the Fall.

In 8.1 of Fear, there's mention of Galveston. It seems like probably PADRE is off the coast of Galveston, on an island, home to the Galveston National Laboratory, which is a Biosafety Level 4 facility where they do research on exotic viruses. Remember when Jenner mentions "weaponized ebola" in season 1? That's the kind of thing they keep at the Galveston National Laboratory. It's ofc very curious, that both Grady and PADRE are in proximity to virology labs.

What's weird though is that there's nothing like this in Ohio, as far as I can tell. HEre's a list of the locations for Biosafety Level 4 laboratories in the US. There are some very "coincidental" locations here: Fort Collins, CO Atlanta, GA Manhattan, KS Bethesda, MD Fort Derick, MD Boston, MA Hamilton, MT Galveston, TX San Antonio, TX Richmond, VA

Anyway, every time this show gets bigger so do the mysteries surrounding Wildfire. I'm really looking forward to Daryl's spin-off. For the record, there IS a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory in the suburbs outside of Paris.

I also want to point out that the Biosafety 4 lab in Fort Collins, CO, which has affiliations with Colorado State University, is referenced in The Last of Us. Joel is trying to get Ellie there, where they're doing research for a cure, but by the time they get there, it's already been abandoned and overrun by research monkeys.

So this is a lasting trope in scifi adjacent zombie apocalypse texts

Anyway, I think this is all of my notes. I'm really excited for this season of Fear, because I think we're going to learn some extremely cool stuff about cure research, wildfire, and what was going on at Grady. Mo also has an injury/scar on her wrist, which felt like another callback to Beth. We don't really learn how she got it yet in episode 1, only that she got it while they were trying to escape. Would be interesting if it's a bite.

One last thing I noticed was that PADRE seems to be kind of a small organization. The character named Dove tells Mo that when she first escaped, Madison took out "a dozen guards" and equated this to half of PADRE. Madison also escapes with her and Mo in two seconds during a shift change.

This organization could easily be taken down based on the surface level, sort of like the Commonwealth, but I think it has deep ties to the CRM, which will make it very difficult to deal with. At one point, at the end, when they show up on boats to take Mo back, Madison asks where the hell they're getting gasoline. That's clearly meant to tip us off toward the CRM providing them with supplies.

Madison also is incarcerated in some sort of hyperbaric chamber. Shrike basically laughs it off when Madison tries to shoot herself in the beginning, because obviously bringing live ammo and shooting a gun in a hyperbaric chamber would be like a bomb going off.

I think PADRE is some sort of a "mercenary group," connected but not actively monitored by CRM soldiers. There may be hidden agents of course, like we suspect was going on at the CW, and also with the Reapers. PADRE is also apparently one single man. They refer to PADRE as a "him" multiple times. Perhaps the man on the intercom? The man behind the curtain.

Apparently, Madison almost killed him during her initial escape with Mo and Morgan.

OH crap, I have one more visual. (SORRY lol) The parallels with the carnival, the ferris wheel, A, Conquer, and Say Yes. Rick's death fake-out, wheels of fortune foreshadowing a major twist of fate, also the carnival as a place of innocence, families, kids.

@wdway:

Morgan being interrogated. Two things that really caught my attention, the black lamp with a very bright white light. It's very reminiscent of the black lamps and light that we see around Beth at Grady.

The little walkie-talkie on the table that almost looks like a child's monitor, looks an awful lot like the little device that (my mind has gone totally blank the leader of Commonwealth was it Milton) whatever her name was it is so similar to one that she used but we only saw it one time. It left me with the thought that that's what she used when communicating with the CRM. One of the things I want to go back and compare but haven't yet.

Little Moe/Wren her braid also reminded me of the Beth's braid. A while back I was checking out what a braid could stand for and was referred to the Bible, three strands of a rope is all but unbreakable, so much stronger than a single strand. It's also a nod to the Trinity.

Two impressions I got when I saw Wren fully dressed in this battle suit. First it reminded me of the Tin men from The Wizard of Oz. The second was, I don't know the name of it but a famous (I want to say Italian opera) with a clown. And then when I saw the clown head in the opening credit art and at the carnival site it just emphasized this outfit to me.

You spoke of the what I think looks like a giant large tea strainer face mask. There were times when I'm was thinking that it really does not give a lot of protection from bites and then the thought occurred to me and I'm just going to throw out the thought that it's not so much protection from getting a bite to the face but possibly if someone were to turn they could not bite because of the mask.

Something that you did not mention that I thought might have some significance was Wren's cap. That she threw at at Madison. I thought that finding that cap might help in finding them but there wasn't any more attention brought to it. I can't help but wonder the significance because everything has significance. In the little class setting we see children in different color caps, white, orange gray. Wren's was gray. The color of Beth's sweater and Rick's t-shirt in Coda. A color I always think of is neither white or black but something in between, shades of gray.

The houseboat was such a call back to Rick and Aaron finding the houseboat. They were being watched by one of the hipsters.

They spoke of Madison almost killing "him" and it occurred to me that him might actually be H.I.M. just like Padre is P.A.D.E.

That's all I have for now. I'm anxious to read @twdmusicboxmystery's thoughts and then rewatch with new insight.

@galadrieljones:

Awesome thoughts. I love that note about the cap. I remember it happening but I didn’t think about the fact that all the kids are wearing those hats you’re totally right.

On the “tea diffuser masks” (lol) I thought about something similar, like maybe they were protecting the wearers from something more than bites, like something to do with all the plants growing off the walkers, like if there’s a danger with the virus infecting the plants and then transmitting off pollen or seeds or something. Would be interesting if it had something to do with being protective against the wearer turning, as it would imply that the turn happens so fast, there’s potentially no time to put them down before it happens.

@wday:

I really like the idea of the person possibly turning so quickly. That had not occurred to me. But that would make total sense wouldn't it. We could be looking at a very rapid variance type change. A couple of other things that neither you or I initially mentioned. The color orange which is typical for a prison jumpsuit in real life but orange is also part of the color scheme of the CRM.

Silas's and Rick's jacket has a orange stripe on the sleeve. The other thing is of course the logo printed on the back of the orange jumpsuits are of wings which will always remind people of Daryl's angel wings. I just thought about Beth was the Songbird of the prison. And of course Daryl's personal song bird in Alone.

@galadrieljones:

Good point on the orange CRM bands. I hadn’t thought of that. Or the prison inmates outfits but ofc that brings us back to season 4 again. Hitchhikers could be escaping inmates. (I’m pretty sure it’s Carol who sees this sign and I always thought of her as like a hitchhiker, hitching a ride on another timeline. That’s a digression but still lol.) Also the wings are probably supposed to be “bird wings,” but they look like angel wings and that’s purposeful. Wren/Mo is referred to as a fledgling. My guess is they graduate from the jumpsuits when they’re ready to “fly.”

The way the symbolism is working at PADRE is really thoughtful. I really thought that was one of the best episodes of Fear.l we’ve ever gotten. When Mo heard Grace’s song on the Walkman and suddenly remembered being an infant with the headphones on, I teared up. The thought of giving up my child because I truly thought that’s what would be best and then my child being without me and losing memories was a lot to handle. The little girl actress is also really good! She has me convinced. A lot of energy.

@wdway:

I think we saw the Inmate no picking up hitchhiker sign during the Maggie, Sasha and Bob segment or it might have been the Glenn, Tara, Abe and Co, one. We only saw Carol in Inmates when she appeared to the girls and Tyrese. Did we see that inmate hitchhiking sign when Rick was returning back to the prison at the end of Indifference? I know we saw a pack of dogs. Kind of makes you wonder if that was foreshadowing of the dogs we would see in Them. Oh, I'm going down side tunnels, sorry.

@galadrieljonesjones:

Hmm you might be right. I thought Carol saw it in a flashback in the beginning of The Grove but I could definitely be wrong.

Oh yeah those dogs. That is such an interesting moment. But wait I am thinking of Consumed.

I’m all mixed up with my Carol episodes lol.

@wdway:

Mixed up about episodes? I can't possibly know why, there were only like 20 of them, right. Sarcasm.

@galadrieljonesjones:

LOL. Either way I’m sticking with Carol as a timeline hitchhiker