Oh, d'arvit

I’m just your problem AU

3000 years ago, Meliodas and Elizabeth were still courting each other in secret. Meliodas has just recently brought up that he’s been considering betraying the demon race and joining stigma and Elizabeth is ecstatic! So ecstatic she told mael all about their plans, which ludociel overheard and immediately went to tell the supreme deity

to say that SD is livid is putting it lightly. She needed to put an end to this as soon as possible. Luckily she hadn’t started physically mating with the demon scum or else she would have destroyed them in the spot. She just needed to find away to split them apart without them wanting to get back together, that will kill all remaining feelings and allow them to destroy each other without remorse.

Unfortunately the Supreme Diety was expert in this. While the Demon King was more about brute force and physical violence, the Supreme Diety was more about emotional and mental manipulation, pushing someone’s mind to the brink and watching them break into tiny pieces, it didn’t matter who she was hurting as long she gets the desired outcome, which in this case is a Holy War.

Maybe she threatens to harm Meliodas if Elizabeth doesn’t break it off. So she sends her off with strict instructions on how to do it, and curses her to never be able to tell Meliodas what she had told Elizabeth and that she’ll never be able tell Meliodas that she actually loved him. (She can tell other people but as soon as she tries to tell Meliodas or if Meliodas is near the words physically can’t come out)

That night she met up with Meliodas, he looked really happy to see her of course and had been planning to give her gift that he made. Seeing him this happy made her heart feel like it’s about to shatter into pieces, Elizabeth didn’t want to do this to him but she was terrified of what her mother would do him if she didn’t do this.

I’m sure what Elizabeth tells him exactly but it’s something along the lines of that she never actually loved him and that she was just using him to get information on the demon race and she no longer has any need for him now that he was considering joining stigma. It’s even made worse when it turns out that the Supreme Diety sent Ludociel to attack Meliodas.

Meliodas hadn’t moved since Elizabeth told him these things, he was in such emotional turmoil that he didn’t register Ludociel coming at him from behind and had gotten blasted into the nearby forest. Luckily Zeldris had followed his elder brother being suspicious about what he was up to and witnessed everything, so he jumps in to blast Ludociel into a nearby mountain. He hoists his brother up putting one Meliodas’s arms over his shoulder before aiming a vicious glare at Elizabeth, asking her if she got some sort sick pleasure from tricking and embarrassing his elder brother.

It’s… one hell of a breakup to say the least. Elizabeth will never forget the devistating look of betrayal on her now ex-lover’s face as he left with his brother. As soon as he’s gone, Elizabeth falls to her knees and screams out in grief and agony.

Meliodas returns to the demon realm with Zeldris, who’s side eyeing his elder brother in worry. He was eerily silent, his eyes were overshadowed by his hair so he couldn’t decipher what he was thinking. When Meliodas gets to his room, he silently closes the door and starts throwing everything in a rampage. It ends with Meliodas about to destroy the courtship feather she gave him, but he couldn’t do it. Tears start to pour down his face, backs up against the door, sinks onto the floor and clutches his hair sobbing.

He stays in his room for days, then the commandments under orders from the demon king go to get him out. They’re pretty nervous to go in there cuz they heard a little about what happened from Zeldris, so they’re pretty confident that if they go in there it’s gonna be hell to pay. But before they can even knock, Meliodas cracks open the door, he asks what they want in a dull tone, his voice is also hoarse. They tell him and he just says that he’s not going to see his father that day. His hair’s a mess, he has dark bags under his eyes which are red and puffy, tear tracks are still on his face. He looks like a wreck basically.

They give him a breakup pep talk, this is the first time Meliodas has ever gotten his heart broken and he doesn’t know how to stop these horrible feelings, so they encourage him to channel his heartbroken sadness and anger into getting revenge on the goddess who tricked and betrayed him. This is what kicks off the holy war with the Goddess Race wanting to eradicate the Demon Race and the Demon Race wanting vengeance on their prince’s behalf, all according to the Supreme Diety’s plan.

The Demon King is honestly a little impressed.

Unfortunately Elizabeth has to regretfully to kill Meliodas in battle because she can’t stand to see her former lover like this, so consumed by rage and grief, grief that she caused, so she puts him out of his misery.

“I’m sorry Meliodas, I’m so sorry.” Elizabeth chokes out as she stabs out his hearts one by one, tears were streaming down her cheeks as she aimed her lance for the last one. She made eye contact with Meliodas, staring deep into his green eyes one last time, eyes that glared at her in hatred. “Please forgive me.”

Meliodas growls at her, looking at her beautiful face covered in grime and blood, his blood. He felt some of her tears drop on his face, tears of pity probably, tears of guilt, why else would she cry for him, she never loved him after all. “I hate you Elizabeth.”

She sobs, “…I know.” Elizabeth brings her lance down and the dim light in his eyes goes out.

Elizabeth is stricken with grief and anger, anger directed at her mother. Elizabeth challenges her mother, wanting revenge for her lost lover, she loses her life and gets cursed in the process, a curse of immortality.

The holy war ends with the demon race locked away in the seal and the goddess race losing their physical bodies.

3,000 years pass and Elizabeth is the leader of the seven deadly sins, the sin of wrath. The demon race gets released from the seal of eternal darkness and Melascula does her whole resurrection thing, but she finds a very familiar soul, a soul she hasn’t seen in over 3,000 years and Melascula thinks it’s about time that he gets his revenge on a certain annoying goddess and her friends.

Unfortunately, just like Elaine, this particular demon was brought back with his anger and regrets amplified to the point where it’s a life force. And that means he’s emotionally unstable and the only keeping him going is the need for revenge against the goddess that tricked him, to make her suffer as much as he did.

Meanwhile Elizabeth and the sins were on Hawks mom heading for the land of the druids when she senses a magical energy that she hasn’t sensed in a long time, but it couldn’t be, he-he was dead, he was supposed to be dead!!! As soon as they got to the land of the druids she ran into one of the smaller caves, and gazed in horror at the broken glass coffin in the centre.

It was empty

She runs back outside to the others.

“Elizabeth, what wro-“

“He- he’s gone!”

“Woah, woah, woah, calm down, who’s gone?”

“It’s him, he’s gone!!! I- I went to check on his body and I found his glass gasket shattered and his body nowhere to be found!”

Both Druid chiefs pale. After Elizabeth woke up after being killed by the supreme diety she found her former lover’s body next to her and brought his body to the land of the druids. She then healed and preserved his body with magic so that it would never rot, sealing it in an unbreakable glass coffin or at least …unbreakable until now.

Merlin was also uncharacteristically speechless, he wasn’t alive, he shouldn’t be alive…could he be?

Elizabeth explains to the rest of the sins that the person she was talking about was an incredibly powerful demon, and if he was alive right now all Britannia was in terrible danger.

A voice came up from behind her.

“Wow Ellie, is that how your going your gonna introduce me to your new friends? one might think your trying to give them impression of me.”

Her blood froze.

“But considering that it’s, well, you I shouldn’t be that surprised. I mean you’re right of course but it still hurts.”

King raises his spirit spear at the strange short man who appeared out of nowhere, it was obvious that his power level was off the scale, it was even more obvious that he was a demon of some kind possibly one of the Ten Commandments but his magic felt off like it was twisted somehow, whatever it was it had all his instincts yelling at him to run.

“Captain, just who the hell is this guy?!”

“…”

Elizabeth slowly turns around and looks into the green eyes of someone she hadn’t seen in over 3,000 years, the man she loved, the man she killed.

“Hello…Meliodas.”

Meliodas tilts his head to the side, meeting her gaze evenly with lifeless eyes filled to the brim with hatred as he smirked up at the former love of his life.

“Hello Elizabeth.”

“M-Meliodas… listen, I-“ Elizabeth begins, trying to desperately calm the raging demon. Meliodas scoffs, snarling at her,

“…I’m so sorry, Meliodas you have believe me.”

“…”

Meliodas let out a scream of rage, punched her through a pillar and followed after her, his eyes a pitch black.

It was truly a terrifying sight to see two demigods going at it, though it was a thing of note that Elizabeth was onthe defence while Meliodas was on the offence going at her like a wild animal all while yelling at her in anger. However the most worrying thing about this was that itwas clear to the sins that Elizabeth was clearly holdingback and with all the damage she sustained sheshould’ve invigorated herself by now, it was almost like…she was letting him get those hits in, but why???

“Do you know how pain and suffering you put me through?!”

Another hit

“How much torture the demon king put me through when he found out that you tricked me?!!”

Another hit

“Meliodas please stop-”

“Shut. Up, I don’t wanna hear anything you have to say to me, not now, not ever!”

“Please just listen to me dammit!!”

He laughs, it sounded so wrong to hear something sobitter and twisted come out of his mouth.

“Why in the ever loving fuck should I do that, what are gonna do? lie to me again, why wouldn’t you? You’ve had a lot of practice!”

“That’s the thing, I didn’t lie to y-”

“Liar!!!”

He slams her into the ground, leaving a huge crater where she landed.

“Did you know that part of me that died the day you told me that everything was a lie, everything you ever told me was a lie!!“

“Melio-”

“I said SHUT UP!!!”

Meliodas slams her into a wall, holding her by her throat making her gasp for air. His eyes crazed and unfocused, tears were streaming down his face.

“YOU-YOU MADE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU, YOU MADE ME CARE ABOUT YOU, JUST SO YOU COULD RIP MY HEART OUT LIKE IT WAS NOTHING, LIKE-LIKE I MEANT NOTHING.”

“…Meliodas, I-ack!!!“

He tightens his grip on her throat even as his hands started to shake.

The others ran to Elizabeth’s aid but she hoarsely yelled at them to stay the hell back, before staring at her ex-lover, assessing his unfocused eyes and his laboured breathes before loosening her grip on his arm, letting her arms drop to the side.

“Then kill me.”

“…What?“

“If that’s how you feel about me, then kill me. You'llfinally get even with me, and you can let this go, if my death is what it takes I’ll gladly die.”

There were screams of protests from her teammates while Meliodas looks at her calculating.

“…No.”

“Wha-why no?!”

“It wouldn’t really be getting even if I just killed you point blank, no I want you to suffer just as I have.”

He pulls her close to his face.

“Starting with what you did to my daughter.”

Note: Meliodas doesn’t know Merlin is still alive cuz after the breakup, Meliodas goes to where they were hiding Merlin and found the place destroyed and assumed that Elizabeth had told the supreme Diety where they were hiding her and that supreme Diety then had had Merlin captured and killed.

He didn’t know that Elizabeth had actually warned Merlin beforehand and she was already teleported far away by the time the goddess got there

“Y-your daughter!? Meliodas, she’s still-“

Meliodas’s eyes turned green as soon as he clasped eyes on his supposed long lost daughter, gazing at her in shock and disbelief, it couldn’t actually be-

“Melascula!?”

Elizabeth narrows her eyes in Meliodas’s direction as she heals herself. She had sensed sinister magical signiture (heh it rhymes) in his broken glass coffin but she didn’t actually think it was Melascula’s magic until Meliodas first appeared, but she needed to get closer.

And unfortunately that meant letting him beat the crap out her for ten minutes.

She knew that in this state he would most likely kill her, and that if he did there was a high chance of the spell around him being broken. Though it would’ve been inconvenient, due to the curse of immortality bestowed so lovingly on Elizabeth by her mother, she would’ve been back after a few week at most.

Albeit more dead inside, but alive nonetheless.

Luckily, Elizabeth had come up with a much better and simpler plan.

After apologising to Zenari and Jenna, she picks up Meliodas bridal style and leaves the Druid Lands with the rest of the sins. Elizabeth places Meliodas on her bed in the house on top of Hawk’s mom (in this au, Elizabeth didn’t start start a bar on top of Hawk’s mom, instead it was just a two story house, it doesn’t become an actual bar until later) she takes a moment to look at Meliodas’s disgruntled sleeping face, even in his sleep he was still so angry…

Gilthunder knocks on the door. “Lady Elizabeth, do you need any of us to do anything?”

She smiles warmly at him, “yes actually, could you get Hendrickson for me?”

He nods and returns with Hendrickson. “Thanks Gil and could you go downstairs and tell everyone else not to disturb us?”

Gil leaves and closes the door, Hendrickson shuffles a bit uncomfortable as he tries to avoid directly looking at the unconscious demon on the bed.

“You, um, needed me, Lady Elizabeth?”

“Yes. I need you to use ‘purge’ on Meliodas while I hold him down.”

“Wait-what?!!”

Elizabeth sighs, “Im the only one here strong enough to hold him down and your the only other person here other than myself who knows how to use the purge spell.”

“B-but won’t that kill him? he is a demon.”

“No, ‘Purge’ isn’t able to separate the soul of demon of his rank, you’re only going to be flushing out the side effects of the spell that brought him back to life.”

“…are you certain about this?”

“…not really. Buuut this is the only solution I could come up with on short notice.” Well it wasn’t the only solution but Hendrickson didn’t need to know that.

Elizabeth ties Meliodas’s arms and legs up with chains, they wouldn’t hold for long but they’d have to do. She pushes the away from the wall and holds Meliodas’s shoulders down from behind the bedpost. After Hendrickson stares at her silently for a few seconds he hesitantly makes his way towards Meliodas.

Just as he was about to touch him, Meliodas’s eyes snap open, green and lifeless. Hendrickson jumps back just as Meliodas snarls at him and started to struggle, yelling profanities. He easily breaks the chains on his arms, but just as he was about to sit up else , Elizabeth jumps onto the bed and pins his arms above his head as he screamed hurtful yet justified things in her direction.

“HENDRICKSON NOW!!”

Hendrickson rushes over and puts his hand on the raging demon’s head.

“PURGE!!!!”

There was a blinding flash of light. Meliodas screaming slowly quieted down, Elizabeth could see that there was some light coming back into his eyes as he breathing calmed down.

They were all quiet as Meliodas stared at the goddess above him before glaring at her flatly.

“Get. Off.”

Well, at least he was okay.

Elizabeth is quick to follow his request, holding her breathe. Will he try to kill her again!? Meliodas takes a moment to steel himself before carefully pulling himself up into a sitting position, hiding his wrists delicately as he just… breathes. Without the darkness and rage fueling him he finds himself at a loss on what to do, unable to even face his murderer.

Elizabeth was frozen, and found herself trying to scramble together some kind of excuse to have him stay longer, at least long enough for her to break this stupid damn curse that prevents her from telling him her side of the story.

Thank you so much Mother…Bitch

Luckily Hendrickson jumped into the conversation just before she said something stupid.

“Sir Meliodas, was it? As the Druid that cured you of your ailment, I would recommend that you not make any hasty decisions while your still recovering, especially when considering that this particular ailment effected your mental state and put you through a lot of emotional as well as physical strain.”

Meliodas stared at the human for a few moments, Elizabeth hands start to shake slightly so she hides them behind her back.

“…Also consider the fact that Lady Merlin will be thoroughly upset if you died again after just getting you back.”

“…fine.”

“Huh?”

“I said that I’ll wait, if that’s what you think is best…doesn’t mean that I’ll change my mind though…”

Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief, causing Meliodas’s eyes to flick to to her for a split second, narrowing at her suspiciously.

“Alright I’ll make to let everyone know and I’ll…leave you two alone.” Hendrickson quickly exits the room closing the door behind him.

There’s an uncomfortable silence in the room as Elizabeth unlocked the chains around Meliodas’s ankles. Elizabeth didn’t think that Meliodas was up for talking right now, he had been through a lot in the past few hours.

Elizabeth gets off the floor and dusts off her skirt, “well I’m just going downstairs, please rest as much as you can and if you need anything just ask Hendrickson.”

Just as she makes for the door Meliodas pipes up.

“I meant everything said by the way.”

“Huh?”

“…while I was under Melascula’s spell I said a lot of things to you and I wanted you to know that I meant every word.”

Elizabeth walked outside pausing just outside the room before turning round and smiling at him sadly.

“I know.”

And quietly closed the door.

north-sta

p a i n

There’s a crack version under the cut.

When Elizabeth comes down she’s immediately met with questions, especially in regards to the fact she apparently killed the demon prince and started the Holy War! Because of the curse she can’t tell them what happened, not really, but she explains the events as Meliodas knows them,

“…there’s actually a lot more to it, but I’m not able to tell anyone that. There’s a curse preventing me from speaking the full truth of the matter. Just… know that what I did was to protect him.”

The room was silent as she said this, could their Elizabeth really do something so cruel???

“But right now we shouldn’t lose focus, what happened in the last few hours doesn’t change our main objectives: finding Diane, finding Escanor and finding a way defeat the ten commandments.”

She gently knocks again,

…holy shit

Holy Shit

Holy fucking shit

Her eyes snap open at the familiar voice and she find herself staring into the angry green eyes of her ex.

“And I thought demons were late sleepers. Get the fuck up, Bloody Ellie. You got some explaining to do.”

With that the demon walked into the dining room where the rest of the sins were. With a grunt, Elizabeth followed. Meliodas was leaning against the wall, separate from the other sins except for Merlin who leaned next to him.

“Um…”

“Merlin… convinced me… to let you tell your side of the story. I’m only gonna listen this once, but if I don’t like what you say I’m kicking your ass, bitch!”

Oh… oh! Merlin you little sneak!!!

“Okay… let’s start with… um… how do I put it… I’m cursed! So… so if I tried to tell anyone the truth about what happened… especially you… my voice would be stolen. I-I-I’ve been trying to find a way around it so I can finally tell you that I never ever meant what I said back then but I couldn’t tell you and and…”

“That is the biggest sack of Indura shit I’ve ever heard…”

Elizabeth looked at Meliodas’s unimpressed face helplessly, what else was she supposed to say, there was nothing else she could say.

She was honestly expecting to have at least a few days to prepare a suitable explanation knowing just how stubborn her ex can be at times.what she hadn’t been prepared for was being confronted like this as soon as she woke up and without her morning coffee.

Almost as if on cue, King slid her some coffee in her favourite mug, she gave him a grateful look as took a long sip. Ah now that hit the spot.

Meliodas however was getting impatient, “well if that’s all you wanted to say, then this has been a colossal waste of my time.” He starts to leave, when Elizabeth calls out for him.

“Meliodas wait, I’m not finished yet!”

“Then spit it out already!” He snarls at her.

“Well I CAN’T!” Elizabeth snaps raising her voice slightly.

Everyone jumps at her tone of voice, it was surprising considering she had been the equivalent to a doormat throughout this entire situation. She took a calming breath as she quietly took another sip of her coffee, in all honesty she was just as frustrated with her predicament as Meliodas was with her, so it kind of struck a nerve with Meliodas’s clear yet understandable disbelief.

She placed down her cup,”Sorry…Gowther can you come over here please?”

Gowther nods and stands next her.

“As I was saying, because of the curse that I’m under I’m unfortunately unable to tell you what you what actually happened, but I can show you what happened.”

Meliodas raises an skeptical eyebrow at this, “…okay, go on.”

Elizabeth gestures to the doll standing next to her, “well Gowther here came to me yesterday with a suggestion after heard about my situation. They suggested that they just broadcast my memories to you so you can see what happened, it’ll also be more convenient because I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t believe my words even if I could say them.”

Meliodas growls but doesn’t disagree with her words.

“Well, what are you waiting for then?”

“I-I didn’t actually expect you to agree to do this so quickly and uh…” she sighs, given up on rescue of her sentence and gestures for Gowther to do the procedure.

“Note-the side effects may induce some nausea-“

“We’ll be fine, I’ll just heal any of you who feel ill.”

Everyone nods

Gowther lifts up a glowing pink finger, “Broadcast!”

They all felt a sting in their necks as it all faded to black. When they next opened their eyes they found themselves in a beautiful meadow surrounded by tall trees, in the middle they saw two familiar figures sitting and laughing, there was no space between them and they’re hands were intertwined.

It was a demon and Goddess.

It’s Meliodas and Elizabeth, the both of them happier and than anyone has ever seen. They were flying, dancing really, as they laughed and chased each other through the sky, never once letting go of the other hand intertwined with theirs. They watch as the two land, panting as they grin before nuzzling noses. Diane let out a soft “aw” at the sight.

“Ellie…” Meliodas’ memory says, green eyes watching the beauty before him.

“Hm?”

“I’ve been… thinking of what you said. About the war, our parents… and you’re right. It… it’s never gonna end. Not unless someone stops it. Unless we stop it.”

Elizabeth let’s out a gasp, eyes sparkling as she turned to the demon,

“So… you’re gonna…”

“M-maybe. I can’t just easily leave like you can, I have my pack to think of… my brother… but I might be able to… to join your alliance.”

“Mel that’s…that’s amazing!!!“

The sins for their part are confused and a little heartbroken to realize that… these truly did love each other. You could see it in their eyes. But… if that’s the case… why did Elizabeth break Meliodas’ heart the way she did and claim it to be a lie? They find out when the next scene shows Elizabeth returning to the Celestial Realm only to be called to her mother’s chambers maybe twenty minutes after arriving.

They viewed past Elizabeth try to compose herself as she stood outside her mothers chambers, they heard her thoughts, she didn’t know why her mother was calling for her, battle plans perhaps?

She enters the room allowing the sins to view the stark white room where a gigantic figure sat on an enormous throne. She wore a long white dress and had long glowing white hair that resembled Elizabeth’s, they couldn’t make out any of her facial features because they were obscured by a blinding white light. Despite all the brightness each one of them got a chill up their spines, yelling them to kneel and submit. Whoever the figure was, she was powerful.

Howser pipes up shaking as he starts to sink to the floor, “Uh L-Lady Elizabeth, who is that?!!”

Even if it was just a memory this mystery figure was so powerful that most of them were kneeling to the ground in submission out of pure instinct, they couldn’t stop! Present Elizabeth however was still standing. Tightening her fists, she glares at the figure in silent fury and defiance as if trying to make her turn to ash on the spot. This was the last person she wanted to see today.

“That is the Supreme Diety.” Meliodas says crossing his arms and glaring up this person. The demon was standing as well, clearly not affected by this figures powerful aura, in fact he seemed a bit hostile.

“She’s also my mother.” Elizabeth says not taking her eyes of the bitch who gave birth to her for a second.

Past Elizabeth however knelt like everyone else before her mother’s throne. “You wished to see me mother?”

“Yes I did, we have very important matters to discuss here today.” Her voice was soft yet there was a cold edge to it.

Elizabeth raises her head. “Is it about the war efforts, because Ludociel has some plans that he like you to-“

Her mothers voice hardened, ”Elizabeth what did I tell about speaking out of turn?!”

“Sorry mother!” Elizabeth immediately answers looking back down at the floor. It was odd to see their strong captain be so…submissive, even Meliodas felt uncomfortable, he didn’t show it though of course.

“Speaking of which, it’s about time I crack down on your childish disobedience.” Elizabeth peaked up at her mother in slight confusion.

“What…childish disobedience?”

“Despite how discreet you think you are my dear daughter, you seemed to have neglected the fact that I do have eyes and ears everywhere.”

They can see Elizabeth tense up slightly at that.

“M-Mother I don’t-“

“It seems that you are slower than I originally thought, we will work on that as soon as you put an end to this foolishness.”

“I-“

“I’m referring to the relationship you have with that demon scum of a prince, Meliodas and you are to put an end to your courtship as soon as possible.”

Meliodas’s eyes widened slightly while past Elizabeth froze and then shot to her feet.

“Mother please I-“

“I don’t want nor need to hear any explanation from you, this has gone on for long enough! How on earth you were able to keep this from me for this long is a mystery to me but this stops now-“

They can see Past Elizabeth’s start to overshadow her terror, “Mother-“

“You are so lucky that you haven’t yet mated with that beast, he could have defiled you purity! Infected our light with his darkness! That is the only reason why I hadn’t struck you both were you stood when I learned of this-“

“Wah-Our light?!! Mother will you just-“

This continued, the supreme deity putting down and yelling at her daughter, while Elizabeth was trying in vain to speak to her mother, her anger slowly boiling over.

“MOTHER I LOVE MELIODAS, NOTHING IS EVER GONNA CHANGE THAT, SO DONT YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE HES SOME SORT OF DISGUSTING CREATURE!!!”

Meliodas eyes were the size of discs at this confession, did- did she really…?

The room goes cold.

“…you foolish child, you dare talk to your ruler that way??!!”

The deity smacks her daughter across the room, resulting in a sickening crack being heard as the younger goddess cried out in pain,

“I ought to have you killed for that! Better yet, I’ll ensure that beast you are so fond of suffers a fate worst than death and force you to watch! Perhaps that will teach you to respect your god!”

Elizabeth struggles on to her hands and knees, looking up at her mother in fear, “Mother please don’t, you can punish me in whatever way you see fit but please, please have mercy on him!” She begged

The supreme Diety stared contemplatively at her daughter’s shaking and pathetic form for a moment, before she smirked cruelly and shrinks to the size of a human. In this form her face was visible showing off her face as extremely similar to Elizabeth’s except less expressive and kind, but more regal and cold.

She walked over and knelt on one knee in front of Elizabeth, she tilted her daughters face up towards and caressed it gentlyin an almost motherly manor. “Don’t worry my daughter I will not do anything to harm your…lover.”

Elizabeth looks shocked and so did the sins, was she really going to be merciful? Present Elizabeth however tensed knowing what was coming.

“A-are you being serious mother?!”

The Supreme Diety laughs, it was bone chilling “Of course my dear Elizabeth, I will not lift even a finger to hurt the one oh so close to your heart…”

She smiles cruelly.

“…but you will.”

animalarte

A hurricane of emotions made the memory glitchy. Flash scenes appeared in front of them: Random pictures of Ellie crying her eyes out, screaming in emotional pain.

Pieces of their conversation and Mel’s betrayed expression in the moment his hearts were broken.

Then a flash of light took him out, and followed a blaze of dark flames, Ludociel and Zeldris having intervened.

When Ellie took him out of his misery, Mel’s exausted eyes gazing at her as the life flew out of them.

One more, of Ellie confronting her mother for what she’d made her do, and loosing her life to the Supreme Daity.

But never ever dying, nor forgetting. The pain never ceased. She found his lover’s body and healed it. Took it somewhere time wouldn’t affect it. And eventually, he got back. One sentence buried deep in her ears to her heart.

“I LOATHE YOU”

Suddenly, the memory vanished. Mel was grabbing Gowther by the neck, and though the puppet didn’t feel it, his darkness and authority as a royal sopped any magical process in him. His hands were trembling.

-H… how horrible- Sobbed Diane, taking her hands to her face. King put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, but he was having trouble not crying himself.

-Cap'tn…- Said Ban, not knowing what to say. He’d always respected Elizabeth fir her courage and her generosity. He never thought she’d have lost so much.

-See Meliodas? I never meant to hurt you. I… My mother…- She finally looked up, to meet the demon’s watery eyes. His brows were raised in amazement, his eyes full of worry and pain. Pain for what aje’d gone through.

He let go of Gowther (who came to himself once he was released) and walked in front of her. They stared into each other’s eyes for a minute. She allowed herself something she hadn’t though possible for a long time. Hope for acceptance.

Then, Mel’s eyes cleared in that beacutiful green. His mark dissappeared from his forehead as he spread his arms around her. Ellie gave back the hug, burying her face on his shoulder.

The Sins and the rest present were staring, nut they didn’t care. Mel put his hands to the sides of her face and pulled her closer until their noses and foreheads were touching.

-I never thought… I never saw how much pain you were in- He whispered, his voice shaking. They pulled away just so they could see each other’s eyes again, and they smiled at each other, the rip between them finally mending itself.

Or at least, for a beautiful little moment.

Mel almost fell backwards, his face filled with sudden pain. Sweat fell across his face, every breath harder.

-Meliodas!!- Screamed Ellie, grabbing him to keeo him on his feet. She quickly activated her curative magic, but it didn’t work.

-Why is it not working?!- Her voice was full of panick, the others closing around her.

-Father, what’s going on? What’s wrong?- Shouted Merlín, having trouble keeping her voice calm.

Mel took several deep breaths, trying to gather enough air to speak.

-That damn curse. It brought me back with anger. Now without it, I’ll…- He coughed the last words. His weight finally too much for Ellie, she put him on the ground, still desperatly trying to heal him.

-You… don’t hate me anymore?- She asked, her eyes fixed on the demon’s suffered expression.

-No I… Don’t you?… I didn’t realize… what you were going through… blamed you… you should be… mad at me… for not trusting you- He let out weakly. Ellie shook her head, tears falling on the demon.

-No, I could never… I can’t blame you. I won’t. But, please… don’t leave me again- Her whole body was glowing now with effort. The others had to cover their eyes from the intense white light.

(It’s totally cool if you join as well 😊)

“…why didn’t you tell me Ellie? Why didn’t…any of you tell me that the holy war started again?”

Ok I’ve been trying to think of the best way for TC Meliodas to meet Dadatrus and I can’t think of anything so I’m passing this along to the resident dadatrus expert @sullina

sullina

I’m wracking my brains and here’s what I’m getting:

#nanatsu no taizai #do czytania #fanfic #bestjeanistmonster #elizabeth liones #meliodas #długie

(Sorry I have a very short attention span lol)

katsumatsu4 reblogged

nebluus

wastelesscrafts

celestriakle asked:

Upsizing clothes! There are a million upcycling tutorials for clothes that are too big, but so few on how to make too small clothes you still love bigger!

wastelesscrafts answered:

Thank you for your suggestion! We all go through weight fluctuations in life, so it stands to reason our clothes should be able to fluctuate with us.

Resizing your clothes used to be a very common practice before the advent of fast fashion. Fast fashion sizing is extremely flawed, especially when it comes to plus size fashion, and we're stuck with a lot of vanity sizing, so it's a good skill to have regardless of whether you're looking to mend something old or buy something new.

How to upsize clothes:

Introduction:

There are many different ways to make a garment larger. The following list is not exhaustive, just a few ideas to get you started.

Grading patterns:

If you're making your own clothes, it's always useful to know how to modify a sewing pattern. The easiest way to adjust a pre-existing pattern to your size is slash and spread grading. First, you need to define which spots on the pattern need extra space. You then cut your pattern in that spot, and slide the resulting pattern pieces away from each other until you've got the size you need. Use paper to fill in the gaps. To ensure the resulting pattern makes for well-fitting clothes, make a mock-up and add, move, or remove darts where necessary to adapt it to your body type.

The image below shows potential slashing lines on pattern blocks for an AFAB body. Unfortunately this was the only diagram I could find, but know that other types of patterns use similar line placements. Each line is a spot that allows you to add extra space. To read more about this process, check out the corresponding article by Threads Magazine.

To make your clothes easier to let out in the future, make sure to provide ample seam allowance when cutting out your pattern pieces. This surplus fabric has several different uses, including giving you some wiggle room for when you need to size up your garment.

Now, let's take a look at pre-made garments.

Lengthening clothes:

A garment that's too short on you is easy to modify. Just add more material!

If it's a skirt or a dress, add ruffles to the bottom. Ruffles are easy to make by hand or with a sewing machine. You could also add lace, or wear the item with an underskirt.

For pants, let down your hem or sew on a new cuff. If this isn't enough, maybe consider turning your trousers into capri pants or shorts.

As for shirts, sewing an extra layer to the bottom edge is the easiest way to go, too. You could even combine two shirts into one to get an extra long shirt.

Another option is to cut your item in two and insert extra fabric between your separated garment parts.

Letting out seams/darts:

Remember how we made sure to have ample seam allowance earlier? When a garment has surplus fabric in the seams and you only need a little extra space, you can undo the seams of your garment and sew them back together again, this time with a smaller seam allowance than before. The Spruce Crafts has a pretty good tutorial on how to let out seams. You won't be able to make major size changes using this technique, but if you only need a few centimetres, this is a good way to go.

A lot of garments also have darts. Darts are fabric folds that are sewn down in strategic places to help the fabric follow the body's curves. If a dart doesn't fit you the way you want it to, then unpick the dart and try on the garment. Either leave the dart open, or pin the dart in place however you want it, then take off the garment again and sew the dart back together.

Be careful not to rip the fabric when using a seam ripper. Also note that removing entire darts may change the garment's fit.

You can also add custom darts to achieve a better fit, but that's a topic for another time.

Adding extra fabric to your garment:

If we need to add more room than seam allowance or darts can provide us with, we need to add extra material. Remember those slashing lines we looked at earlier? If you're working with a pre-existing garment rather than a pattern, those are the perfect places to chop up your clothes and add in extra fabric.

Check your sewing stash for fabric that's similar in weight and material to your original garment, or go thrift shopping for an item you could use to upsize your garment. Long skirts and maxi dresses are a great source of fabric for alterations like these!

Lace inserts are also a fun choice to add some room, and if you're working with a knit item, you could even knit or crochet your own custom insert.

Define the area where you want to add extra fabric on your item, and measure how much you need. Draw a straight line on your garment with chalk/soap. Make sure the line doesn't cross any important structural or functional parts of your garment like darts or button holes: refer to the slashing diagram we saw earlier if you're not sure what spot to pick. Cut the line open (or unpick the seam if it's situated on a seam), and add in your extra fabric. Finish off your new seams so they don't unravel later on, and you're done!

You can add straight strips of fabric for extra width or length, or you could use flared panels or even godets to make your item flair out.

Want to see this technique in action? Check out this video by Break n Remake:

Some ideas:

This Pinterest user cut a straight line down the front of a t-shirt and inserted a lace panel to add extra width in the front of the garment.

Busy Geemaw cut open the side seams of a shirt and used flared panels to add some extra width in the bust and hip area.

This person added a panel to the sides of a pair of jeans to give them more space in the hip area. You could easily use a long straight panel or a panel that flares at the bottom to resize the entire garment instead of just the hips, or use a wide piece of elastic for extra stretch.

This person added a godet in the back of their shirt in order to get more space in the back.

Blue Corduroy enlarged a pair of shorts by opening up the side seams and adding in strips of fabric.

You don't need to resize the entire garment if you don't want to. For example, One Brown Mom turned this ankle-length skirt with a too small waistband into a well-fitting knee-length skirt by taking advantage of the skirt's flared shape.

#długie #medical tips #trans #na przyszłość

Conclusion:

Throughout our lives, our weight will fluctuate and our bodies will change. There's no shame in this: it's just a fact of life. Therefore, knowing how to upsize an item that is too small for you is a useful skill to learn.

If you want more inspiration, check out these projects by Confessions of a Refashionista, One Brown Mom, and Thriftanista in the City.

sew-birb

This is a brilliant post! One note on seam rippers (which look like this and cost next to nothing)

Once you have opened up the seam a little with the sharp pointy bit, flip the seam ripper over and insert the ball-point end into the seam. This will make it a million times less likely that you will tear the fabric.

(It only took me 15 years of using one and making frustrating little rips either side of the seam before I thought "I wonder what will happen if I do this...")

#długie #ubrania

katsumatsu4 reblogged

jess-the-vampire

mueritos

hiya! I figured id make an informational post about the little things ive noticed about being on testosterone that I found weren’t talked about a lot when I was starting my transition and even before when I was doing my research. I think that trans sexual health is an extremely important part of trans peoples lives (and that doesnt necessarily mean sex) seeing as the physical changes that happen during transition are often foreign to us. Sexual health keeps us healthy and comfortable in our bodies, so do your best to stay attentive to your body’s changes! As always, consult your doctor if you feel the need to. These are only tips ive learned from transitioning myself and from my doctor when I asked about certain things.

PATREON

frompawntoqueen

Fucking tumblr our here really trying to teach the world things

Hey this isn’t necessarily something for HRT. But rather for top surgery for those considering it, most every surgeon and endocrinologist I’ve met (save for the ones I’m working with currently) doesn’t mention this and trans dudes who have gone through top surgery sometimes don’t even know about it, but your ti🅱️🅱️ies? They make hormones. Lots of them. When you get top surgery you’re removing a primary maker of hormones from your body and it’ll throw you through a loop, and for anywhere from a few days to a couple months after the surgery your hormones are gonna be WACK. This will usually cause a post-surgery depression that a lot of trans men sometimes confuse with regret for taking this step in their transition and it’ll throw them into an identity crisis, so for those planning on taking that step, just remember that weird ass sadness you’re gonna feel is just your hormones being like “hey wHAT the FUCK” and you made the right decision for you!!

aevios

Can confirm that bottom growth is a real and painful thing. If you’re the kind of person who wears skinny jeans regularly (looking at u fashionable goth/punk trans ppl), here’s a tip for your first few months of T: don’t.

Bottom growth will be overly sensitive and stick out of the hood more than usual, and anytime the inside of ur jeans rubs against it it will a) hurt and b) make u horny.

This can be a problem in general, but especially if u have bottom dysphoria and being reminded of ur junk can make u dysphoric, and/or if ur ace like me and being horny can be a very confusing and annoying experience (I know this is not every aces experience but I had never really had a sex drive or arousal before T and it was very distressing at first. Still ace tho)

Oh also: microdosing can be great for slowing changes and letting ur body adapt more gradually (It can be very helpful for more gradual and natural sounding voice changes), however, it will not let you avoid certain changes entirely. Microdosing will not prevent bottom growth from happening, or any other changes you may want to avoid. Unfortunately what changes you get are genetic and there is no way to pick and chose which you get. A lower dose of T can make it go more slowly to help you get used to it more gradually or so that if there are changes you really want to avoid you can try and stop before those advance too far, but it can’t prevent changes from happening entirely, certainly not specific ones. And certainly not bottom growth, which is one of the first changes to start and one of the least reversible.

(I don’t say this because I think that was what op was trying to say abt microdosing at all btw, I’m just trying to clarify because I remember when I started T and was researching low dose T, I saw some people on online forums hoping it would allow them to avoid bottom growth for example, and it won’t, so I wanted to clear that up)

Also re: top surgery, the first time I saw my chest post-op my brain flipped and I got so dizzy I nearly passed out. This is also relatively normal and okay. I think my brain just kind of freaked out seeing my body so different from what we were used to and also oh yeah with a big scar running across it. Its okay, that doesn’t mean you regret it either. I think sometimes ur brain just needs a minute to catch up and realize ‘oh wait this isn’t a traumatic injury this is what my chest is supposed to look like’. Once I had seen my chest a few times and let my brain get used to it I was absolutely thrilled and loved it (and still do). I also had a panic attack the night before my surgery because I was afraid of the anesthesia. Again, doesnt mean I made the wrong decision.

I think a lot of trans ppl don’t know that surgery can just be an emotionally intense experience, and yeah can also mess with ur hormones a bit (another consequence of both hormonal stuff and the stress of surgery is I got really bad acne for awhile after surgery) and so you might feel all kinds of weird or stressed directly before or after. It’s okay. Make sure u have supportive ppl around u to take care of u, and wait until ur body has had a bit of time to heal and renormalize before u start panicing over if u made the right choice or not. You’ll probably be sleeping for most of the first week anyway. Give ur body and ur nerves a break for a bit.

bamfbooks

I learned so very much from this. I’ve seen posts talking about MtF transition and the hormone weirdness that causes, but this is the first FtM one I’ve seen.

katsumatsu4 reblogged

pkmndaisuki

xbuster

Marvel movies have completely eliminated the concept of practical effects from the movie-watching public’s consciousness

Not just practical effects just like. Basic set design lol

wemblingfool

How… How do they think sci-fi was done before CGI?

seldo

Really badly? Do you remember sci-fi before CGI? It was shit. And don’t say Star Wars because they went back and fixed that with CGI later.

fantastic-nonsense

*big sigh* *puts head in hands* heathens who’ve never watched pre-MCU sci-fi movies OR the unedited Star Wars movies, my beloathed

So first of all, most people agree that the majority of the “CGI fixes” in the Star Wars original trilogy (excluding minor visual/sound effects like lightsaber colors and blaster sounds) are unececssary, extremely conspicuous, and/or bad. This is not news to literally anyone older than about 20 who has consumed Star Wars content on any level. There are quite literally two very famous ‘despecialized’ fan projects explicitly dedicated to un-doing all of the shitty “fixed” CGI effects while simultaneously restoring the OT in HD.

And yes, I do, in fact, remember sci-fi special effects before CGI was the foundational cornerstone of moviemaking. It was not, in fact, shit:

Also, ironically I can show you by….*gasp* using fucking Star Wars, of all things. Welcome to the Tatooine pod race set of The Phantom Menace, which was not, as popularly believed, CGI’d but was instead a fully-built miniature set:

Yes, they built the entire set as a minature, built life-sized pod racers for the actors, then spliced the two together using digital effects. Yes, they did such a fantastic job that people think the entire set and scene sequence was basically completely CGI’d to this day. You’re fucking welcome for undervaluing the time, effort, and talents of set designers by implying that set design and practical effects inherently mean things will look like shit.

CGI also ages really poorly. What you think looks incredibly realistic now is going to look terrible in a few years. Just look at the original vs remastered Star Trek. They “restored” Star Trek around 2006 and replaced a lot of the practical effects with CGI, and maybe it looked ok in 2006, but it looks so bad and fake now.

You can see a video comparison for one episode here: https://youtu.be/ruPVTPCavdM

In the 60s they built a whole model of the Enterprise, complete with blinking lights and beautifully sculpted/painted details. It looks stunning! Then they replaced it with that horribly smooth and fake looking cgi ship.

Just look at this beauty

You can see the model at the Air and Space Museum in DC

Unfortunately the remastered version is the only version available to stream, but you can still find DVDs with the original effect.

karadin

made in 1968 and still stunning 2001 A Space Odyssey

GIF by maekar76

GIF by celine-song

GIF by scoop16

the designers worked with engineers at NASA to make realistic futuristic special effects using models and matte paintings no computer effects at all! - and incidentally inspired David Bowie to write Space Oddity, later performed in space by astronaut Chris Hadfield

randomslasher

GIF by laughing-on-the-internet

GIF by samuelljackson

GIF by vahkarianmoved

GIF by junkfoodcinemas

The CGI of the original Jurassic Park may not be aging well (though arguably still better than some), but the practical effects will always look stunning.

I want to talk fantasy.

GIF by cinema-phantom

This shot was achieved with splicing and green screen.

GIF by time-means-nothing-for-me

This wild-looking shot (and similar manipulations) was famously achieved by having a professional juggler in a duplicate of Bowie’s jacket and gloves sitting behind him, basically with Bowie in his lap, doing the handwork while Bowie kept his arms behind the juggler. You may have seen a game based on this on Whose Line Is It Anyway.

GIF by inafarawaykingdomrol

This? Wires! Splicing! THE CGI TO DO THIS DIDN’T EXIST YET! (The juggler is hidden under the cape. If there’s a scene where he’s wearing a cape, that’s actually probably why.)

GIF by thebowieologist

And this? This heartstopping shot?

This does appear to be from the version with CGI—

—CGI THAT WAS USED TO ERASE THE SHADOW FROM THE PRACTICAL EFFECT.

The shot itself hasn’t changed. The lift itself was done with wires and Bowie was given some propulsion with an air cannon so he could make that turn at speed. A minor amount of CGI was used in the 30th anniversary to “touch up” the work done in 1986, and one of the things they did was to remove a shadow on the wall from one of the wires.

How about this?

GIF by 60s-heartshaped-chevrolet

You don’t know it, but you’re looking at a practical effect. In real life, the Ruby Slippers are almost orange. That luxe, rich ruby color showed up on the film as black when the shoes were the correct color, so the costumers adjusted the actual costume to give the color they wanted.

GIF by witchinghour

A MODEL OF A HOUSE SHOT INSIDE A NYLON STOCKING ATTACHED TO A FAN.

GIF by ernestsewell

MAN IN A COSTUME.

HORSES DUSTED WITH COLORED GELATIN.

GIF by dailyflicks

And this? This is where it would’ve been useful to have CGI. Margaret Hamilton got really badly burned on the steam doing one of her entrance/exits, and ended up in the hospital. THIS is what you use CGI for.

You come into my house and insult practical effects?

I’ll just finish off by reminding you THIS IS ONE, TOO.

GIF by cinemotionpicture

ruffboijuliaburnsides

That last one, iirc, was there was a double in a sepia-toned costume, and the interior door and wall there was painted brown, so when it was lit and shot it all appeared to still be in the sepia tone of the Kansas scenes, and part of why Dorothy stepped back out of the frame was so the double and Judy Garland (in the proper blue-and-white costume) could swap.

#this is also a purely personal opinion but aged practical effects are charming #in a way that aged cgi is not (via @glorious-spoon)

You are correct. The double’s name, by the way, was Bobbi Koshay.

faejilly

vinceaddams

There are also a lot of backgrounds that are matte paintings!

Lord of The Rings used some incredible miniature sets too.

flameraven

The real reason CGI has taken over is not because it creates better effects (although it is very useful!) but because it’s cheaper. The practical effects artists have union protections. CGI artists don’t.

#długie #special effects #star wars

katsumatsu4 reblogged

pkmndaisuki

falsedetective

my grandparents have to lock their car doors when they go to sunday mass because people have been breaking in to unlocked cars and leaving entire piles of zucchini

falsedetective

i feel like i should’ve added more context when i posted this. my grandparents live in a rural area where farmers and casual gardeners alike are, at this point in the year, suddenly being hit with unexpectedly abundant zucchini crops. there aren’t just some random vandals leaving zucchinis in people’s cars for the hell of it, this is the work of some very exasperated, probably very elderly, folks who have more zucchini than they know what to do with

thegreenwolf

Yep. You can also expect to find a bag of zucchini on your porch.

abwatt

My grandfather once found his neighbor stealing his tomatoes out of his garden at three in the morning. Red-handed, with a basket of the nearly-ripened ones. He thought he was going to find gophers or something, but no, here’s Henry, taking his tomatoes. The best ones.

There was a long pause between them.

My grandfather (allegedly) said, “Henry… it’s OK. You can take some tomatoes if you want them.”

Henry sighed in relief.

“But,” my grandfather said, “you have to take two zucchini for every tomato.”

There was another long silence. “That’s a harsh bargain, John,” said Henry. “But I accept. I’ll tell Joe up the street, too.”

My grandfather said, “Tell Joe he needs to take three.”

ladypandacat

a friend of my dad’s came by in the middle of the night, he seemed very nervous when my dad answered the door. he wouldn’t come inside but he leaned in and whispered to my dad in spanish, “i have some fresh grapes for you.” and then this happened:

the melon was a special bonus.

MY DREAM

dragoneyes

A friend of mine lives in a rural area and he has been surrounded by zucchini for most of May, June, and July.

At one point he was so done with the whole zucchini madness that he came to classes actively begging people to “Please please please!! Take some my family’s damned zucchini!! I’ve been eating zucchini for weeks!! I’m going insane!!!”

kynthaworld

Having grown up in a rural area and having come home to zucchini on the front step or in the mailbox, i find it highly amusing the OP had to clarify. I’m sitting here nodding “yup.”

costumersupportdept

I have a friend with a garden in Oregon who literally made Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies and sent them to me in Indiana. I texted her back “I SEE WHAT YOU’RE DOING HERE”

ash-of-the-loam

I’m waiting for the day when someone will hear about my background in Botany and ask me for advice on what someone who’s just wanting to start exploring planting vegetables should try.

I know fuckall about gardening because my background is wild plants and not agriculture, but I’m gonna tell them

“Zucchini. Definitely try Zucchini. Just plant plenty of them and you’ll get a decent sized crop! They’re very rewarding to grow.”

It may be a bit of a long game, but I’ll enjoy their screams of despair from across the void as they realize that they will eat zucchini forever

deadmomjokes

This is NOT an exaggeration, guys. Zucchini (and most squashes, really) will outgrow you so fast. Let our tale be a caution– or an encouragement, whichever. You decide as you hear the story of Squish.

When we were so broke we had to choose between gas and store-bought-food (I think I was about 10?), we had a garden so we could eat regularly (we also had chickens and pigs and hunted, but that’s beside this point). One summer, we planted 6 rows of yellow squash and 6 rows of zucchini. Each row probably had 10, maybe 12 plants in it. We created this giant squash-block in our garden plot so it was all right there together in the middle, and the needier plants like tomatoes were on the outside of the whole plot. We thought we were clever, til the first crop started coming in.

The outside two rows of each squash, yellow and zucchini, were normal. High yield, of course (because squash), but standard size for both summer squash and Italian zucchini. The inner 8 rows, however, created this hybrid monstrosity that we called Squish. It was pretty– a nice swirly yellow and green combination that made it clear the squash and zucchini had interbred.

Squish became a living nightmare for us. Something about the hybridization caused them to forget how to stop growing, or at least how to grow at a normal rate because those suckers were longer than my dad’s forearm, and bigger around than my (albeit child-sized) thighs. They didn’t get all hard and nasty on the inside, either, for some reason, like most squash will at that size. And they just kept coming. I don’t even remember seeing that many flowers, but every day we were pulling upwards of 20lbs of Squish out of the garden, only for there to be more the next day, or sometimes by the end of the day if we harvested in the morning. I don’t know where they were hiding, but it was like some sort of squash portal had opened into our yard and started crapping out Frankenstein’s Squashes.

At first, it was great. We could eat all we wanted and not worry about rationing it. But the growing season in Arkansas is long, and we had incredible weather that summer, so those darn things kept alternating flowers and fruit. Pull off a few Squish, new flowers budded out, and they ripened super-fast in the heat. We were absolutely swimming in Squish, because they were so big that even gorging on them meant only 1 or 2 got eaten per meal. (I think I recall using a few particularly enormous ones as swords for a duel with my sister, if that says anything about their size. I cannot overemphasize how absolutely, heinously gigantic they were. You probably don’t believe me but I am not kidding. Those things were bigger than a newborn by several many inches and a couple pounds.)

We had (luckily) a big deep freezer, and someone gifted us a bunch of freezer ziploc bags, so we started chopping them up and freezing them as we pulled them off. We ran out of bags real fast, so we caved and bought a ton more. We filled that deep freezer near to bursting. It was probably 3-4 feet deep, (as I remember barely coming up to the edge of it), and at least 4-5 feet long, about 2.5 feet across, and we filled it to the top with Squish. And that’s while we’re eating fresh ones every day with dinner! But still more Squish came before the first frost, so we started packing the fridge. And my grandma’s freezer. And my grandma’s fridge. And feeding them to the pigs and chickens. And giving them away at church.

Do you realize how big a deal it is that people who were so broke that they had to choose between gas and the power bill were GIVING AWAY FOOD??? That’s how much gosh darn Squish we had. And little did I know, but apparently, my dad HATES squash. He only planted them because they were a cheap, quick source of food and my mom loved squashes. And he got stuck with the folly of his decisions. For over a year.

Yep. We had Squish in the freezer for over a year. Eating it regularly. It lasted for over a year. A family of 5, plus often feeding my grandmother, we ate off a single garden’s haul for over a year. Of just the Squish. I tell you, if we’d had a farmer’s market back then, that Squish could probably have single-handedly lifted us out of poverty. Well, maybe not, but you get the idea.

We never planted both again, probably because my dad would have combusted out of rage if he’d ever seen another Squish in his life. But man those were the days for thems of us what loved squash.

So survival tip: If you need an absolute crapton of food, plant you a row of yellow squash and a row of zucchini, and keep that pattern going for as many rows as you like. You too can drown in Squish and love it.

vibropulse

Oh wow.

The last story is well worth the read. It might be long but I found it absolutely delightful! Thank you for sharing your childhood Squish gardening adventures!

thunderandthugnificence

Meanwhile, people are starving to death.

gothvegas

Ands What do you expect poor rural farmers who just have excess zucchini to do about that exactly? Mail them to Africa?

elodieunderglass

I was just talking to a friend today about gardening and she said “I’ll plant zucchini for this project.”

“Oh dear… what’s your damage control plan?”

“Oh,” she said, intuiting what I meant. “Eating the blossoms. Love stuffed blossoms. Pumpkin, squash, zucchini. It keeps the crop down, and you get lots of mileage out of them. You keep a mixed crop that way, too. Plus, people don’t always welcome gifts of zucchini, but they find gifts of blossoms exciting.”

This struck me as absolutely game-changing.

lizardlicks

My problem is that I legitimately love zucchini. “Lizard,” you ask, “why is that a problem? Just eat the zucchini!” The problem is that in the middle of the growing season, there will be a point where I physically can not consume enough zucchini to keep up with what the plants are producing. It does not matter how much I chop, freeze, fry, bake, etc– there will always be a point where I have more zucchini than I have time in the day to do something with that zucchini.

But eventually it runs out. Like summer, it’s as intense as it is fleeting and come November I want for some zucchini fried with onions. By January, when I’m planning out the spring garden, there’s always that thought, that voice of hubris whispering in my ear… “maybe I should grow more zucchini?”

Children, it is a trap.

elidyce

Stories like this are why, despite my absolute passion for zucchini, I have never tried to grow them. I have more than one chronic illness. I will not have the strength to fight this fight, I know it.

#funny #długie

katsumatsu4 reblogged

jess-the-vampire

astrolavas

OKAY. MESSY THEORY TIME CUZ LIKE my brain is workinggggg right now. puzzle pieces are being puzzle-pieced together. elaborate thoughts are being elaborately THUNK. so bear with me-

(toh spoilers warning)

so apparently, the two brothers were both “lured into a realm of evil by a witch”

ONE OF THE BROTHERS was philip (and POSSIBLY belos), that we do know. the other one? he had a bird, kinda similar to a red cardinal, and oh, looked exactly like hunter.

when you look at cravats and the overall outfits, then the dude who looks like hunter (the nose, the face shape, the tuft of hair) IS the dude with the bird, who in turn looks like hunter’s palisman. SO philip’s brother was most likely li'l rascal’s original owner

now, as for PHILIP, the dude DOES kinda look like belos????? the nose, the hair, the hair tuft, the jaw shape, the Suspiciously Small Ear… Yeah?? ig???

so if belos IS philip (cuz he surely ain’t the other one based on just his features) then it’s possible that sth happened to his brother and THAT’s what made him averse to wild magic (or that there was some drama inbetween, sth happened, yadda yadda, the curse, who knows, etc. final effect the same)

(the only thing that makes me hmmm about specifically belos being philip is cuz their voice actors are different. so?? is it just what philip sounds like in his “journal videos” but didn’t sound like that irl, or did his voice/body change over the years, or did he body-swap, or is belos NOT philip? or is he partly philip? or is he just Related to philip, similarly as hunter is related to philip’s brother? well, we’ll see)

been also wondering if maybe philip’s brother was amongst his companions who didn’t make it out of eclipse lake cuz of fool’s blood, esp since precisely One of philip’s companions had the exact same shoes as him….. but hmm dunno feels like he’d be more dramatic abt the accident in the journal if his brother had died (even though he never writes abt the fact that he even HAS a brother which is.. ok, sus), or (if he’s belos) he would be more careful abt hunter going there, and also that’s not rly enough of a “wild magic catastrophe” that’d make him HATE it, y’know? (or maybe, if it HAD happened like this, philip’s brother made it through one of the eclipse lake’s portals in time?? who tf knows)

SO ANYWAY, it’s possible that hunter is either 1) a descendant of the brother, or even the brother’s son (if the human had managed to live that long, somehow?? but that’d explain the “uncle” title of belos, if he’s philip), which would make him part-human, WHICH would explain perfectly why he can’t do natural magic;

OR 2) it’s possible that hunter rly IS a clone, except not belos’ but the brother’s. but how would that work? and would that rly make hunter a grimwalker? AND how would that work with the “witchy ears but a clone of a human” situation? (unless the ears are pointy just cuz he is a grimwalker/made of magic, like maybe it’s a characteristic trait just like his pink/red eyes. and then maybe he doesn’t have magic cuz he’s still like. a clone of a Human, or cuz grimwalkers just don’t have it, or cuz sth went wrong with galderstones while making him????) (also ADDITION but one of the listed ingredients for a grimwalker is a “bone of ortet.” the definition of ortet goes as follows: “the original plant from which the members of a clone have descended, created through rooted cuttings, grafting, or tissue culture” which is basically a botanical term but. it sure DOES sound like, in this case, bone of the original individual’s (AKA philip’s brother’s) could be somehow used to create their clone (AKA hunter). just… a Possibility)

aaand yeah, then there’s also the question of WHY belos would do all that at all

because basically, we still don’t know WHY belos needs hunter. he keeps saying that “the titan has big plans” for him and it’d be “such a hassle” to replace him. so. WHAT ARE THE PLANS?? what could they POSSIBLY be, like????? what is gonna happen on the day of unity? if belos is philip, does he need his brother (OR just his clone/descendant) to do some kinda ritual on the day of unity? or does he want to bring back his brother, using hunter as a vessel? or???? literally WHAT does belos want with hunter????? get a JOB stay away from him

(also a BIG stretch but lol was wondering why the crows were circling specifically only philip’s statue like that. so i googled it (for funsies) and apparently crows are a symbol of: transformation, life mysteries, magic, alchemy…… and lowkey the emperor’s coven IS bird/crow-themed too so hm) (probably a coincidence tho lol)

but yea, no idea what happened to the brother lol. IF belos is philip, then narratively it’d make sense if sth happened with him and wild magic, that would make belos/philip start hating it. but also the portal WORKED and there are their statues in the human realm and a book abt them going to the realm so maybe he just left for good? except then why didn’t philip? and then how did the curse come to being? like what HAPPENED (we don’t know, we don’t have enough info)

SO LIKE. THERE’S….. LOTS of context we’re missing so this is all taken from scraps and will only start making sense once we get more hints but like njxkjjkxs i dunno man, i’m looking i’m thinking i am thinking 👀👀

astrolavas

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKKFUCK FUCK

astrolavas

OKAY……… I HAVE. COLLECTED MYSELF. let’s GO, time to re-analize that theory from august ⬆️, given that we now have…… WAY more information. like WAY more. holy SHIT

(massive spoilers for elsewhere and elsewhen incoming)

(AND I MEAN THAT, LIKE, IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE NEW EPISODE, RUN. MASSIVE SPOILERS INCOMING)

(LAST WARNING OKAY OKAY)

(also. js this is gonna be long lmao)

okay, so! to start it off, well, there’s no doubt about belos being philip anymore, for one. I MEANNNNN OH BOY. OH BOY. should i even give evidence of that, since it’s like….. very much explicit lmao??? like it’s literally not a theory anymore, it’s LITERALLY CANON. WE WON…………… (i think i am still gonna talk abt the “evidence” of that, just to have it allll nicely sorted out in one place, y’know? lol)

SO… may i just say.. i LOVEEEEE LOVE LOVE how this reveal was done????? first we see philip, just being kind of “bullied” by some guys, and it’s like. huh…. IS that belos???? or is it NOT? it’s SO VAGUE, he looks like he Could be belos, but not quite, enough to also possibly be a completely different person. there’s this line tho; “ask you friend there (philip) what happened to our brother and his palisman” (UH…….. yeah nothing good, pal). and then philip’s seemingly still… not bad, right, although he sounds a little suspicious, but doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary. BUT THEN WE’RE HIT WITH THIS LINEEEE OH BOY. and it’s automatically like 👁️💡

“the confidence, the compliments… he says everything you want to hear. it feels uncomfortably familiar”

we know EXACTLY someone who fits that description, and we’re already suspecting this guy of being that guy. but like, it’s nothing explicit, right? it’s just another hint to add to the collection i guess. BUT THENNNNNNNN OH MY GOD. ALL THIS?????? ALL THIS HITS US. AND IT’S LIKE OH DAMN IT’S HAPPENING

so. a few things to unpack, um. first of all, a SACRIFICE.

he mentions it later on as well:

SO… we know he needs sacrifices. and that he’d ALREADY SACRIFICED people. the question remains: WHAT does he need them for? like that must all be a part of his preparation for the day of unity but, HOW EXACTLY? how do sacrifices help?? why do you need them???

also lol uh.

………….like.. wbk but…….. it’s not looking good, fellas.

SO… moving on, uh…

so, now we know that basically every single instance of him “tragically losing companions” is just. him consciously bringing them to their death and using them as sacrifice. SURE. SURE. GREAT. UH-HUH. (murder implications aside, that’s SOOO funny. dude’s like “lost my poor companions and came out as the only one alive once again 🥀🥀 rip. so sad. crying for them. 🕊️🥀 these poor souls.” WHAT A FAKE BITCH LMAO. writing it all in cursive and drawing little flowery ornaments around too, like 💀💀💀 MOTHERFUCKER, YOU LED THEM TO THEIR DEATH. that’s so funny and messed up lol wtf)

so, going back to that screencap above, from “eclipse lake”:

we definitely know what actually happened to his “companions” now and, if one of them really WAS his brother, then.. we know why exactly he hadn’t even mentioned him before or sound very sad about it. (cuz he killed him. it’s cuz he killed him. possibly.) (unless he didn’t, just yet, but sth MUST’VE happened)

we’ve also got this:

philip doodled… his and his brother’s profiles over a map of eclipse lake? wHY would he do that, if nothing had happened there??? and then he quickly snatched it away from luz. liiikeeeeee……….. okaaayy (NOT EVEN MENTIONING THE FACT THAT.. THE BROTHER’S PROFILE IS, AGAIN, LITERALLY JUST HUNTER. like we know obviously but GOD, it’s so in our faces at this point it’s so obvious)

also, à propos companions being led to their deaths…

this screencap from philip’s journal at the beginning of the episode?

that’s LITERALLY lilith and luz. they were in the journal before we even knew they’d meet philip, that’s such a good foreshadowing omg

now, going back to the chronological philip/belos reveal:

well. much to unpack…..

i cannot get over just how much….. belos he is in this scene. like, obviously, cuz he is belos. but the way his attitude and tone change the moment he knows he’s been discovered??? cuz he knows there’s no reason to pretend anymore?? it’s sooo viscerally disquieting, and just so in character. Belos (derogatory)

okay, so he found it. found what, though? what is that little round moon mirror??????

okay so. obviously it’s related to the day of unity. but HOW? how does a round piece of glass help him??? is it… a calendar that shows when the day of unity might happen? is it a way to communicate with the collector? like? what is that?

also “it doesn’t matter. i just need to live long enough to see this through.” the. the curse doesn’t matter???? WHAT can be so important, that belos literally doesn’t care what happens to him afterwards, just that he lives long enough to see his plan come through? merging the human and demon realm? getting rid of magic? carrying out the titan’s wishes? WHY does he care so much, what the hell is his end goal?

also the collector. we know very little abt who that actually is, but we know they’re related to: the day of unity somehow, eda’s curse/the owl beast, whatever belos is planning, and, most likely, they might be the only person (person????) who truly knows belos’ plan, from start to finish. (i mean, obviously hunter doesn’t know. no one else in the coven seems to either. so… yeah)

EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM IS SO VAGUE I SWEARRRRR. WHO ARE YOU? WHAT IS YOUR DEAL?

also, about the day of unity; as of the last week’s episode, we got THIS little speech: “Together, we are perfecting the coven system as the Titan intended. The day of unity will be in exactly one month, when the tide is at its lowest and the moon obscures the sun. At that time, we will journey to the head of the isles, and there, the worthy shall inherit a utopia free of wild magic.” so….. yeah. ominous much.

so. an eclipse. the day of unity will happen in a month, during an eclipse, and when the tide is at its lowest. (”king’s tide” episode btw, AKA the finale. fear)

and it will probably happen sooooomewhere around this location, from the last episode; the head of the titan. (a sacred place, apparently) it’ll be an eclipse specifically over the titan’s head.

i’ve been wondering about one thing, though. why would belos wait SOOO many years for the day of unity? realized something.

you know how long it takes for an eclipse to happen again, at the Same Exact Location? 375 years. 375 YEARS. if we assume it’s 2020 present time in the owl house, THEN 375 YEARS AGO WOULD FALL ON YEAR 1645.

and we know that luz’s town was founded in 1635, most likely by the wittebane brothers (cuz statues and the golden bird logo), therefore they must’ve gone over to the demon realm sometime between 1635 and 1660.

SO… WHAT IF they went over to the demon realm precisely on that day, 375 years ago? It may even be why they could. what if that specific day, a solar eclipse over the titan’s head, is when the “curtain” between the realms is weaker? AND that is also why a month from now is the only day the day of unity can happen. BECAUSE THE CIRCUMSTANCES NEEDED FOR IT HAPPEN ONLY EVERY 375 YEARS. AND THE LAST TIME THAT WAS THE CASE WAS WHEN PHILIP AND HIS BROTHER CAME TO THE REALM. like????? that’d work, that’d make sense.

^ now, this image…… makes me, hm, the emphasis on the coven marks makes me very, very suspicious; seeing as they’re basically belos’ invention, and literally forcefully permanently block most of your magic. (”the way titan intended” i guess), and they’re gonna be….. very obviously important, as shown on the holographic fresco. do not like that.

so, THIS part of belos’ speech makes me the Most worried: “the worthy shall inherit a utopia free of wild magic.” What does it mean, the “worthy”??? People who have no access to the wild magic, people who are in covens? People who are in the emperor’s coven specifically? Someone else? And are there sacrifices involved (again. lol)? Or a sacrifice, singular (if that’s the case then at least we know who that is. oof. pain)? What does inheriting a utopia free of wild magic mean; that there’ll be no more wild magic in the realm, or that they’ll be able to go to a new place with no wild magic, or that the human and demon realms will actually merge, thus cutting off the functioning of glyph/wild magic…… or… sth completely different? i literally have no idea but uhhhhhh. yeah. yup. ye.

SO ANYWAY. let’s go back to the episode itself for a quick sec

you know how the only thing that was “hmmmm” about belos being philip was his nose, ears and voice? WELL.

WE KNOW WHY HIS NOSE LOOKS THE WAY IT DOES AND IT’S LITERALLY THANKS TO LILITH PUNCHING HIM IN THE FACE LMAOOOOO QUEEN.

his ears and voice, i’m guessing, are just the by-product of his “curse”, or rather what he’s doing to himself, by drawing glyphs on himself and ingesting palismen. i mean, we literally see his voice change from his “philip” voice into belos’ voice at the end of the episode. SO YUP. YUPPP.

another thing. we DID see a stonesleeper, just as expected, so now the only grimwalker ingredient that hasn’t been outright explored/mentioned is… the bone of ortet (and, again, the botanical term of ortet? basically the source, the original “plant” from which the members of a clone have descended. the original. “ortus” in latin: the source, ancestry, beginning. so yup.) (by the way, the sole fact that the stonesleepers lived many many millenia earlier, but somehow one is there in philip’s time…… available for.. y’know, stuff…….. very sus)

also, one interesting thing i’ve noticed is this:

when philip talks abt wild magic, abt how he acquired glyphs, he says that it’s almost as if the world wanted to hide them from him. but luz? i feel like it definitely wasn’t like that for her. she stumbled across her first glyph by an accident, literally said that “magic was a gift from the island”

the world doesn’t want to hide glyphs from luz, so???? is it because she’s actually more attuned to it; that she observes what the world wants to tell her, while philip doesn’t? or does the world consciously not want to give any glyphs to philip, cuz it knows his intentions are bad?

BUT ANOTHER THING!

let’s talk about clawthornes. the clawthorne famileyyyy

the clawthorne clan was once known for their palisman-making skills.

the clawthornes are also a very bird-themed family.

we also have no idea what philip’s brother was doing during his time on the boiling isles.

so…………… well, there are multiple different possibilities.

let’s start off with pointing out that we know that the other wittebane had a palisman; a bird. a cardinal. precisely flapjack, most definitely. (one could argue that flapjack could’ve been anyone else’s and the brother might’ve had a different palisman but nO, i refuse to believe that, he was flapjack’s original owner for sure, for sure. we know, from hunter’s palisman observations audio, that absolutely no witch knows what a flapjack is; only humans do. therefore…. flapjack must’ve been named by a human, AKA by philip’s brother, with certainty. that’s like. a full-on confirmation lol)

now, you know what’s nice in stories? contrasttttttt. contrast’s nice. when you’ve got two brothers, both in a similar situation, it’s pretty much a given that they’re gonna take differing stances about something, walk different paths.

obviously, philip decided to do all of……………. That. (learn glyphs, draw glyphs on himself, curse himself as a consequence……. y’know, sacrifice people… hate wild magic and all witches, have some kinda weird-ass dangerous plan that spans across centuries and consists of sacrificing people…… just. normal stuff. completely standard.) (rather poor life choices if you ask me)

now……. it would make sense if his brother went in an opposite direction. although that could be anything, LITERALLY anything (cuz, again, we have NO information abt the brother. absolutely none, as of now) but, like… okay, we’re entering a complete realm of pure speculation here, but what if he liked wild magic, or at least didn’t hate it as much as philip did? what if one of them took up glyphs, while the other one tried doing magic through a palisman? what if he warmed up to wild magic, while the other one grew to hate it for what it did to him?

and what if… a clawthorne helped him carve his palisman? we know they’ve been known as great palisman carvers, for generations…. this wouldn’t be mentioned if it wasn’t somehow relevant to the plot. also…

EDA’S DAD’S PALISMAN???? that is a yellow cardinal. it must mean SOMETHING. and furthermore,

this……….. the scars’ placements mirroring each other. THIS MEANS SOMETHING. THIS MEANS SOMETHING. (and before anyone asks, no, i don’t think eda’s dad is philip’s brother xsnksjksksjk first of all, he’s a normal witch, second of all wittebane brothers came to the demon realm in the 17th century and the dude’s like in his 60′s/70′s, he was NOT alive back then lmaoo and also he doesn’t look like the wittebane brother, save for the nose slightly ig) BUT i do think the parallel implies something; maybe it represents the two different sides? maybe it hints at clawthornes’ connection to philip’s brother, and to whatever happened to him? maybe it’s abt something completely different?? literally NO idea.

now, there is a theory that philip’s brother might be even a clawthorne ancestor, but hmmmm. hm. I HONESTLY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO THINK ABT THIS ONE, CHIEF. because there is some stuff that could foreshadow it, so i can see how that’s possible, i mean the brothers were there for a LONG time lol, and the cardinal, and the scars, and the fact that the portal door was found in the clawthornes’ backyard, and the fact that philip’s brother had a palisman (and could very much be a palisman specialist) when clawthornes were supposedly palisman-carving specialists. so i could see that happening; him just, i dunno, chilling and deciding to settle down or sth like that LMAO

BUT ALSO….. the brother could also just know clawthornes. BECAUSE THE THING THAT MAKES ME LIKE ????? when it comes to that previous specific speculation is: hunter. because there is no way that he’s just a descendant of philip’s brother actually; he looks identical to him. down to the HAIRCUT and the HAIR TUFT and EVERY facial feature, like that’s HIM. and, especially with some of the stuff that we got in this ep, it’s just… LIKE, i just do not see any possible family line that could lead down to him. there just wouldn’t this much resemblance between him and philip’s brother (i mean, he’d literally be an ancestor of hunter going back 300 years, may i remind you. not even parents in toh have this much resemblance to their children, so being a literal reflection of your great-great-great-great-great-grandpa? not very likely. not very likely at all.) and also, if that was the case, then there wouldn’t be this much mystery surrounding the brother. like they’re not showing his face for a very good reason, y’know. so that’s a no for being a descendant. being a descendant of philip’s brother AND the clawthornes? that makes me doubtful even more, cuz. they all have super strong magic. hunter is completely powerless. they’re all fine and alive and accounted for. hunter’s family, on the other hand, is either dead (as he probably thinks) or may not have even ever existed (the most likely truthful option). so, yeah. he’s not the brother’s descendant no matter how you look at it.

the only way the wittebane/clawthorne thing could work would be if the brother really did settle down at first but then something still happened to him (well, the “something” being death. he’d… pretty certainly have to die in order to be cloned). but then why would he even be going on all these missions with philip (assuming that he was at eclipse lake), if he had a family? like. i dunno, i dunno, the timeline is super confusing in this atm so. eh, we’ll see. (like, i’d say he might’ve just been good acquaintances with a clawthorne, and that’d already explain the portal door being near the clawthornes’ house and his (theorized) interest in palismen. but, again, we just don’t know anything about him lmao there are too many possible factors)

BUT… YEAH, actually let’s ignore that for a second and jump right into another thing real quick.

first, lemme just get the book in here once again, just to have allll the info and hints in one place.

now, let’s take a look at this, from philip’s hideout in this episode:

THAAAAAAT’S. A LOT. THAT’S A LOT.

so…… i don’t think this needs much explaining, uh. that’s.. that’s philip preparing to make a grimwalker. most definitely.

the eyes…….. get me…… they’re both so CLEARLYYY emphasized on both drawings. but also the anatomical diagram? the little pointers? sth that looks like (selkidomus) scales pointing at the figure? sth that may be a galdorstone (the heart & power ingredient) pointing right to the heart? yeah. yeah.

also the little selkidomus illustration on the right? very cool.

so, philip’s been busyyyyyyy (creating a clone of his brother).

there’s just one thing that makes me hm, and that is: bones.

obviously, we know that we need specifically the bones of the person that we want to clone (”bone of ortet”, y’know. and i mean, you need to get that original dna material from somewhere, they can’t just be random bones, right?) so…. are these bones, right there on the table, philip’s brother’s bones? or….. not yet?

i mean, we might guess that the dude is probably already dead in the “elsewhere and elsewhen” time, judging solely by the fact that philip seems to have almost everything ready to make a grimwalker, and also by philip’s little mysterious drawing on the eclipse lake and his reaction to luz asking abt it.

but also.

you see the hand in the foreground, with a tag on its finger? makes me wonder. especially since there is also a tag attached to the ribs on the table.

did he try experimenting with other people’s bones first, before trying to clone his brother? did he want to do some research first, before even trying? did he need them for sth else? was he buying dead bodies? was he just tagging them to know whose they are (and getting the dead bodies.. himself? i mean, he DOES have the means like. uh lol he sacrifices people)? or are all the bones from just one person? LIKKEEEEE. THAT’S BONES. HE HAS PEOPLE’S BONES IN HIS HIDEOUT. OKAY. much to think abt

but… okay, moving on. now, another thing that gets me is: hunter is sixteen. he was born (or.. “created” i guess) in the 21st century. SO WHYYYY was philip already working on all of this stuff in the 17th century? why was he collecting the ingredients so soon? like, i guess it’d make sense if he waited this long with creating hunter because he wanted to wait for the day of unity, but? THEN, WHY DID HE START SO SOON? was he going to do it sooner but then realized he needs to wait? did collecting allll the ingredients just take so long, and he knew it would? did he just want to prepare in advance or sth lol. did he try before and failed? does the process of preparing a grimwalker actually take much much longer? like….. ????

but yeah, uh. we’re gonna find out soon. (and hunter is probably gonna find out soon too, in “hollow mind”. and…. man, he is NOT gonna take it well OOF. fear)

(enjoying his last smug moments before he finds out sth completely life-altering. damn 🙏 press F)

anyway, another thing:

the portal door.

from philip’s journal, it seems that he simply built the door, that’s it. but, as we all know, we cannot trust philip’s journal. he’s an extremely unreliable narrator LMAO.

i think, for one, his brother definitely must’ve played a big part in constructing the door. i mean, it’s basically a given; luz in her bonus diary audio literally wonders if philip had someone someone help him, like that’s PEAK foreshadowing. the answer is YES, HE HAD.

but okay, okay, here’s the thing. from philip’s (unreliable) journal, it obviously looks like he was building the portal all of the time; and yet, in “elsewhere and elsewhen” he didn’t seem to be even mildly interested in it, or maybe even in getting back home at all. he just seemed entirely focused on his evil little plan lol, as if he’d completely abandoned the portal door. (and like, why didn’t he seem to care too much about the portal door then, but now it’s like such a big part of what he cares about? what changed?)

…however, we KNOW the door has been finished in the end, and made completely functional (and abandoned in clawthornes’ backyard… huh). so, how did it happen? did philip find some time to actually finish the door? or did the brother finish (or maybe even mostly construct) the door? but if we assume the door wasn’t finished by “elsewhere and elsewhen”, and that the brother was dead, then…. something’s not adding up. BESIDES, WHY was the door found (barely) buried behind clawthornes’ house??? no one who knew what this thing does would ever just leave it. so????? how did it HAPPEN?

and, here’s another thing, if the portal door had been finished, then someone must’ve used it, and waaay before eda did. so, who was that? did belos travel back to the human realm, then decided to go back to the boiling isles, in order to proceed with his day of unity/creating a grimwalker plan? did the brother travel back to the human realm, and then……. come back (would make sense if he built an actual life that he liked in the demon realm but also huh.. hm)? like, how was the portal door used???? it also makes me wonder abt how the two brothers were apparently “lured into a realm of evil by a real witch, never to be seen again” (so… they were never seen again? but somehow it’s known that they went over to the demon realm? like, were there witnesses? HOW WOULD THEY KNOW THAT if they never came back?)

okay, now………. another thing that i’m curious about. so, when did the whole “titan” business start?

we know that belos can “communicate” with the titan, and that he’s supposedly carrying out the titan’s will. so, was he already speaking to the titan before the events of “elsewhere and elsewhen”? was focusing on this other project of his, finding the collector and all that, the titan’s idea? did he randomly start “hearing” the titan, or did doing whatever he did to himself (drawing glyphs on his arms and all that) cause that? or sth else? or did he start hearing the titan/seeing visions/whatever it is that actually happens only after finding the collector? (i mean, he already seems to be planning something akin to the day of unity in the episode but if implementing the coven system was the titan’s idea, then we know that hasn’t happened until recently. but in the background of philip’s hideout we also see his white-and-golden robe (at least some kinda initial design of it), so maybe he was already preparing to “go out and speak to the people in the name of the titan” or sth like that? maybe the people didn’t like him and his ideas at first (rightfully so), therefore he only succeeded recently, but had tried for a long, long time? hm.)

now, because there’s a fact that we know for sure: belos literally hates wild magic, he despises witches. thinks they’re below him. doesn’t consider them as equal to him, or as good/smart as him. and that’s definitely been his stance long before he even met luz and lilith. the hatred’s been there for years, if not decades. the question is: why? did he come to the isles and, right away, decided that wild magic just wasn’t for him, that he hated it? or did something happen, that made him averse to wild magic? is it just because he cursed himself by drawing glyphs on his hands so he blames the existence of wild magic and witches for it? did he have a bad experience with a witch (maybe the witch that led them to the realm? maybe a witch that lied to him abt something?), or did sth… different happen?

okay, so, here’s the thing. we have no idea what happened to the brother, right? we can guess he’s dead, but how? what led to it? what exactly happened? well, even though we don’t know, we can theorize.

so, one of the possibilities is that philip just killed him, like he did all his other companions, possibly at eclipse lake. i mean, that’d especially make sense if the brother was revealed to be pro-magic; if he liked wild magic and witches, and opposed whatever philip was planning to do. because if someone tried to stop philip… i wouldn’t be suprised if he was willing to go as far as to just get rid of them, even his own brother. so…. yup. that’s one.

the second possibility, as to how he kicked the bucket, is that it really was wild magic’s fault, maybe. after all, belos DID tell hunter that their family “is gone because of wild magic”, whatever that means. so i guess it is possible that something might’ve happened, a complete accident, that resulted in the brother’s death, and belos hates wild magic specifically because of that. however…….. he’s not a very objective person, is he? like. if he himself killed someone because they liked wild magic, i’m guessing he could still say that it was wild magic’s fault. so… lol. taking his words with a grain of salt here.

like, it’d also depend on what their relationship was like. did he actually care about his brother, therefore didn’t want him to die? because in that case, he could definitely spiral if that happened, especially if his brother had died/had been hurt cuz of wild magic. and if he didn’t care, if he’d grown to hate him, then…… well, you know, he could’ve done anything. SO. ANYTHING GOES, TRULY.

also, i’m curious as to whether he’d recognized luz and lilith the first time he saw them (as belos). like, in this moment right here,

did he know who luz was right away? did he only then realize that the witch that he’d met 300 years earlier was actually human? and, drafting lilith, did he already know that her future version will meet him in the past? LIKE. when did he KNOW? (also, at least now we know why he said he was looking forward to meeting luz in the last week’s episode. cuz, to him, “elsewhere and elsewhen” was when he met her. but then how did he know that she’d “meet philip” soon, or that she hadn’t done that yet???? like….. hm.)

ANYWAY…….. LOTS OF THOUGHTS. LOTS OF GUESSING. LOTS OF QUESTION MARKS. i could probably go on cuz xnjksnks brainrot. BUT THIS POST IS ALREADY WAY TOO LONG SO…….. YEAH. YEAH. that’s it for now lol

#the owl house #emperor belos #długie

katsumatsu4 reblogged

humming-fly

specialpotforinstantnoodles

JOSH FIGHT BATTLE ROYALE 2021

In case you missed the stream - here s an early brief recap and some highlights of the Josh Fight Battle Royale 2021 aka Josh Swain Battle aka Josh vs Josh vs Josh vs Josh vs Josh...

yes it did, in fact, happen. i know, holy shit. the Fight took place on April 24th, 2021 A.D. at 12:00 PM local time at Air Park Green Area, 4500 NW 45th St, Lincoln, NE, 68524.

a lot of people came.

the plan was the following: first the Swainbowl to decide on who gets to keep the name of The Josh Swain, the one and only; then followed by the All Josh Fight to determine the Final Josh. the joshes and others were asked to bring pool noodles. Josh Swain's Josh Battle Royale was declared a non violent event aside from the upcoming bureaucratic horrors of legal name changes.

notable attendees:

(the og josh swain (as of yet) wearing a josh swain t-shirt; roman josh; joshua skywalker; my personal favourite: josh wick duel wielding a pair of drills with pool noodles attached; spiderman josh and spiderman josh jr.; an undisclosed number of ghillie suit joshes; cape josh; little josh; and many others)

+ genuine professional media coverage!! journalists from channel 8 and channel nebraska were present at the joshpit

cheerleaders, supportive bystanders and other josh-lovers:

the fights:

josh on josh violence part 1:

only one other josh swain attended. in a brutal 4-round game of rock-paper-scissors the og josh swain managed to defend his name and pride. Select_Name (formerly josh swain) was removed from the battlefield

josh on josh violence part 2:

hail the chaos!! hail the bloodshed!! several dozens of bloodthirsty joshes came together in the final battle for the title of Ultimate Josh. only one can win, only one can remain. every josh for himself.

the coronation:

so?? who is he?? the josh who truly earned his name??

happy unjoshening to every former josh and all hail the king of josh: The Little Josh. a few words of wisdom spoken after the coronation:

other notable additions:

the josh sewer aka the pit for the defeated:

Let it be known, by all men in the state on Nebraska and around the World, that on this field in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty one, a gentleman named Josh Swain defended his birth name heroically againist inferior men who bore that same moniker and against too cowardly to attend the said battle. Below are those who bore witness to it.

the fundraiser:

the "Help pay legal fees for Josh Swain's to change their name" fund organized by the og josh swain has raised more than $8k as of now and will be accepting donations for the next five days (till april 30) in case you would like to contribute. all proceeds go to the Children's Hospital & Medical Center Foundation which provides medical care to children across the state of Nebraska.

#josh fight #funny #długie

Still thinking about the Josh Fight. Don't let this be forgotten

katsumatsu4 reblogged

epicdogymoment

So I found this caterpillar on my way to class

We’re bros

I named him chicken nugget

Aaaa he’s turning a duller color… I hope he’s alright

So apparently chicken nugget is a spicebush swallowtail and they turn yellow before they pupate. He was making little silk things everywhere Bruh this caterpie is going to evolve to metapod today my boy isn’t messing around

update hes entirely yellow now

i made him a tube room

hes crawlin all over the place checking it out

its happening

False alarm he moved a bit This guy

??? caterpie doesnt evolve into kakuna

whats he doing

its happening part 2 For Real This Time

chicken nugget using those advanced tactics balancing my man doesnt do anything halfway

i put on some tunez for him so he can get into the metamorphazone

sorry for keeping you all in suspense but chicken nugget is doing fine and he has a cool hat now

hes been chillin like this for a couple days

hes been in cocoon for 10 days now 🎉🐛🎉

let me know how he’s doing soon

HES BUSTIN OUT

im going to sleep, chicken nugget is snoozin and ill check up on him as soon as i wake up

hope he doesnt party too hard

🐛 💤 💤

hes gone goth hes in his emoteen stage

CHICKEN NUGGET IS A CHICKEN WING NOW BABY WE HAVE LIFTOFF!!!!!

hes’s in a bigger container than the one in the pic now but im gonna let my home boy find his way in the world after he gets used to his wings a little bit

this kid doesnt have a bad angle dang

https://youtu.be/TwpFUQzvRp0

there he goes he’s free and im so proud and a little sad

this was an incredible experience

(thats my family oohing and ahhing in the background)

I’ve seen yall reblog the unfinished ones SO MUCH that I’m getting pissed, anyway here’s the full chicken nugget saga.

Awesome! Hope you’re happy somewhere, Chicken Nugget!

magical-game

I have missed this post so much! Let’s all celebrate Chicken Nugget!

frivolousphantasies

do you guys realize that,,,, chicken nugget is one of those butterflies that is perfectly half female and half male?? nugget’s left wing is typical of a female spice bush swallowtail and the right wing is typical of a male

a gender role smashing icon

I wondered why the wings looked different

Incredible

intersex icon

He’s a bilateral gnandromorph!!

WE STAN?????

chicken nugget said intersex rights

This whole post is wonderful, but I think a lot of people don’t realise just how rare bilateral gynandromorphs are. Research has shown that only approximately 1 in 6,000 butterflies is a bilateral gynandromorph! So thanks so much @oddity-txt for sharing this wonderful being with us!

World Heritage Post

shinypenguinpizza

Absolutely blessed post

#animals #owady #długie

katsumatsu4 reblogged

cruciatusforeplay

my best OC is Brad Wayne, Bruce’s illegitimate biological child via a totally normal woman he had a fling with when he was younger and didn’t stay in touch with

Brad grew up a totally normal kid, went to college, joined a frat, and decided to get in touch with Bruce, who now has an awkward situation on his hands

now the other Batkids have to deal with fucking Brad Wayne, whose normalacy is absolutely insufferable… he tells Dick to try yoga and suggests that Tim will sleep better if he gets more exercise… Bruce goes out of town and Brad decides it’s time to throw a house party with his frat friends

he’s so good

All of Brad’s Bat-siblings are absolutely unprepared to deal with him. They can’t handle it. They can’t even hate him properly, even Damien, because he’s just… he’s not even… he’s just Some Guy™️!

They’re all braced for the inevitable reveal that he’s a villain, an imposter, or an interloper there to usurp the Wayne fortune or spy on Batman. They have all sorts of plans to foil his schemes and the only thing they’re not able to prepare for is the fact that he’s just. Brad. He’s not a bad guy, but he’s not a saint, either—his problems are just so mundane, so ordinary.

They TRY to understand what his life is like, but how are they supposed to relate to someone who doesn’t text back because he’s hungover or his phone died, not because he’s tied up in a death trap somewhere being menaced by someone in a Halloween costume?

No one’s ever tried to ritually sacrifice him before and it shows.

luckyladylily

Does he know they are the batfam? Or does he just think it is so cool that his dad has adopted all these kids that needed a home?

Oh he has no idea. Brad didn’t grow up in Gotham and isn’t really familiar with its culture, so he thinks it’s an ordinary city with ordinary problems (presumably there’s still a concept of ‘ordinary’ in the DCU).

When someone tries to tell him he laughs it off. Maybe one of his friends asks him about the popular rumor that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but he’s never even contemplated the possibility. Later he’s trying to coax Dick into playing beer pong and loudly tells the story to party guests as a funny anecdote. He thinks the whole concept of Batman is hilarious. Maybe he makes up stories about seeing Batman to impress his family and make himself sound cool.

jamisings

Eventually though some bad guy who wants a huge ransom is going to kidnap Brad. What happens then? Does Batman call in a favor to one of the other members of the Justice League or does Damien go out and rescue his brother and tell him he’s the most useless of all his brothers because he’s so ordinary? Because you know if anyone is going to blab it’s going to be Damien.

Brad gets kidnapped and Steph and/or Cass rescue him in costume.

Later, in Wayne Manor, he tells his family all about how the Batgirls were totally flirting with him and how he managed to take out a few of the bad guys all by himself.

Brad Wayne: “Hey, do you guys think Batman fucks? Like, you think he has ever gotten laid?”

Dick, stiffly: “Um. Yes. I think so.”

Brad: “Really? Guy sounds like a turbo-virgin to me. I mean, he fights crime in a fursuit! Come on!”

Tim: “I have it on reasonable authority that Batman fucks. Unfortunately.”

Steph: “Hey, Damian. Penny for your thoughts?”

tassjis

Frat Kid Brad Wayne

Brad: “Bro do you remember what Robin used to wear, back when we were kids? With like, those little feathery booty shorts?”

Dick: “Scaled. Not feathery. He wore an armored leotard.”

Brad: “Nah, man, they were totally feathery! ‘Cause robins have feathers. I never really understood that—why would Batman’s sidekick be themed after a songbird? Robins aren’t scary. They don’t fight crime, and they don’t come out at night. Why not ‘Batboy’ or ‘Owlkid’ or something?”

Dick: “I’m pretty sure Robin’s schtick was based off Robin Hood the outlaw, not the bird. That’s why he wore green, and had a uniform cleverly blending medieval costumery with, uh, acrobatic attire.”

Brad: “Whatever. I’m just saying, it was weird.”

Dick: “Not really? Look up classic strongman costumes and historical illustrations of Robin Hood. Or Google Jules Leotard.”

Brad: “But the bare legs! The pixie boots! Why would Batman let him wear that? It’s creepy.”

Dick: “It wasn’t! Look. It was a different time. In context, that costume was obviously heroic. Besides, he was a little kid. I’m sure he’d wear something different now.”

Jason: “Yeah, but didn’t he keep wearing the short pants until he was old enough to vote? I’m pretty sure I remember that Robin wearing the pixie boots through college… he must have spent a fortune getting his legs waxed. I think I’d die before I’d do that.”

Dick: “This is Gotham. People do weirder things all the time.”

Brad: “Haven’t there been a lot of Robins? What happens to them? Do they die and Batman just hopes no one will notice when they’re replaced?”

Dick: “I—”

Jason: “I think that’s exactly what happens. He’s probably got a whole cellar full of dead Robins.”

What do you think would happen when he saw Jason’s gun collection? Cause Brad would at some point want to see where his adult siblings live and Jason probably just leaves his guns on whatever surface is clean. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s one in the fridge from when he went to get a beer last night. And Brad already suspicious just opens up the fridge and there’s a loaded gun and maybe a granade just staring at him when he goes to grab Jason a beer.

Honestly? I doubt he’d think much of it. He’d probably assume Jason was some kind of stockpiler with an extreme paranoid political bent, which are all too common, and suggest that he get a gun locker or twenty for safety—imagine if Damian were to come over, and there were unsecured guns, just think! You hear sad stories about little kids finding guns and playing with them all the time.

down-sizing-redux

“Look, bro, I’m all for your second amendment rights. My LB in TKE wound up leading the campus conservative club, and we still hang. But, like, I worry about Damien and Tim, y'know? Shit happens when kids clown around.”

nitghowl1600

Brad is my new favorite batkid everyone else can leave.

Brad, wandering out of the shower: “Wassup, T-man? You lose a fight to poison ivy or something?”

Tim, frozen in surprise: “H-how did… how did you know?”

Brad: “I’d know those blisters anywhere! My roommate freshman year had to go on steroids, he got it so bad. All over his ass. Almost got him kicked off the team ‘cause no one believed him until he dropped trou right on the field. Ever tried Tecnu Gel?”

arisuamichan

But does the Tecnu Gel help tim? Does brad have seemingly random health items in his medicine chest bc “you never know what might happen to you?” have his frat bros gotten hurt doing stupid things and did those events lead brad to be like “I got a splint and some Advil in my car hang tight!” @glumshoe

#dc #batman #bruce wayne #batfamily #brad wayne #tassjis #batsiblings #siblings #tim drake #dick grayson #jason todd #damian wayne #długie #art

I want to say yes just because the idea of Tecnu being useful against supervillains is very funny to me.

I imagine Brad is very familiar with sports injuries and alcohol poisoning, in ways that actually prove helpful to the Bat clan with surprising regularity. Maybe one of the guys gets the shit beaten out of him and tries to hide it, but Brad notices how stiff he is and is like, “I got you bro! Sit down, I’ll rub your back. No homo. I mean, unless you’re gay, that’s cool too, I mean hell, I’ve fooled around a bit with the team and I think I might be bi, but you’re still my bro even if you’re adopted, so nah. Haha damn dude, your shoulders are gnarly. You gotta stretch that shit!”

Also I just like the idea of him referring to The Joker as “Pennywise” by mistake.

libraford

Fratman.

katsumatsu4 reblogged

satisfactoryanswer123

gofancyninjaworld

Meta: What rough beast slouches to be born?

Right, webcomic chapter 125 has raised quite a few questions about cyborgs and I purposely left it aside. Until now. I’m sorry for the length, but I’m only allowed one ‘readmore’. :(

What we knew

Many moons ago for us, 9 or so weeks ago for them, Genos showed up at Saitama’s doorstep like a refugee from another world, telling a tale of destroyed towns, rampaging cyborgs, and desperate revenge quests. It’s seemed rather far-fetched, particularly as not much has happened on that front. Over the course of the story, we’ve had little bits of independent corroboration about the veracity of his story. The town that he was born in was definitely erased from the map. Yes, a cyborg is wanted in connection with the incident.

But where is that guy? Does it have anything to do with the powered suit-flogging cyborgs seen early on the series? Does it have anything to do with the ‘glimpse behind the scenes’ chapter the manga offered us with Drive Knight (but no context as to how that glimpse fitted into the wider story)? Come to that, where are all the cyborgs?

To start with, there are a lot of cyborgs of various sorts in OPM. Quite a few moons ago, I wrote a bit about them, drawing a distinction between those who used parts to replace lost function and those who looked at it as a change of identity: “Is the Organization a Claw Analogue?”

Chapter 125 has been surprisingly good about confirming some of what I surmised about cyborgs, but it’s brought some very good additional information! On we go!

There are cyborgs; and then there are Cyborgs

Our ambassador through the world of cyborgs is new Neo Hero recruit Koko (Solitude), who modified his body for the world of cyborg fighting, only he was a little too successful and no one would bet on him. We see him scanning various people and passing commentary on them.

The first to give him serious pause is Webigaza, who lost six months of life to getting her body modifications done – no wonder she’s pissed off that her rival has self-destructed in the interim.

Koko is shaken by her having 71% of her body modified.

obsessive determination is terrifying to look at

Percentage body modification of the sort Koko is used to seeing, 30% maximum, you can do right here right here and now. It’s equivalent to losing a leg and most of the other. Here and now, we can also do brain implants to control tremors or fits or some neurological conditions, replace part of the heart, spine fusions, quite a few bits and pieces. The sort of modifications Koko is used to seeing are very functional ones that make sense for someone looking to get an edge in fighting for money. They’re also along the lines of what we’ve seen with One-Shotter or Death Gatling.

If you lose and replace all four limbs, that’s 50% of your body modified. While quadruple amputees unfortunately exist IRL, I don’t know if anyone has had the kind of money, physical fitness and pure grit to do that. Nevertheless it’s not technically impossible. 60% sounds about right before you’re now looking at breaking into the more vital parts of your body. The point at which the risk involved just can’t be justified in terms of restoring function or health. I’m emphasising that because I’m going to come back to this point. He’s shaken because modifications that extensive aren’t about simply gaining an edge; they’re being willing to exchange serious bodily harm for serious power. It says a lot about who Webigaza is.

Within the Hero Association, I think we do know a hero round about that 60% mark. Jet Nice Guy comes to mind. He sports an armored exterior, powerful artificial limbs (which will need internal reinforcement to not just rip up his body), but his innards are all human. After the way he started to bleed out after Nyan slashed him, I realised that the reason it looked like intestines when the Deep Sea King ripped him open is because they were… >.< Sorry, dude.

the worst of both worlds – too modified to have an easy life, still too weak to deal with the real monsters that exist

Scary enough, but then the security staff come in to stop the kerfuffle that Koko and his buddy, Mars Leo, were causing. Koko scanned them and was stunned into horror:

as disciplined and ruthless a pair of killers as you could never hope to lay eyes on. Definitely not frothing at the mouth, these two!

These two have modified themselves so extensively they’re almost inhuman. 94, 95% body modification is equivalent to having only 3.5 - 4.2 kg of live mass left assuming an original live mass of 70 kg. And, if the similar naming convention didn’t tip you off to it, it’s around the sort of hyper-extensive modification we see Genos having. [See under the readmore for a first-principles estimation I did a long time ago.] Maybe Drive Knight too if he’s a cyborg. What kind of power have they exchanged their human bodies for? What kind of people are willing to do that to themselves? Koko is very sure that he does NOT want to know.

When he tells you who he is, believe him

That’s dating advice often given to ladies overlooking obvious red flags but it goes with great force in OPM. ONE has characters tell us who they are early on, even if it doesn’t mean anything to us for a long time.

And he’s had Genos be a particularly straightforward and truthful character. He doesn’t always interpret things correctly, but he says it exactly as he sees it. Looking at the way the high percentage cyborgs we’ve met thus far either be very inhuman looking or completely disguised as regular human beings, he’s chosen an appearance that puts both his humanity and mechanical nature on display.

Something that the chapter has brought up that I’ve kept saying to people on the Discord and on Reddit: there is no medically justifiable reason for Genos to have a body as modified as he does. Which Genos TELLS US for fuck’s sake. His giant wall of text is a synopsis, no more and no less.

When he says that “…I asked Professor Kuseno to perform a procedure to modify my body. Then I was reborn as a cyborg for justice…” (Viz) “…I begged Dr Stench (sic) to transform me into a cyborg and I was reborn as a cyborg who fights for justice…” (Boon scanslations, who copied verbatim whoever did the webcomic version). It’s nothing to do with health. Feel free to have whatever headcanons you like, but please don’t confuse them with the story.

But it doesn’t end there. I look at Destro and Erimin and realise that there’s another perfectly truthful statement that’s been staring us in the face.

Genos knows. Why would he ask a mechanical engineer who uses a wearable battle suit and pilots armed drones to modify his body, let alone modify it to such an insane degree? Because he knows that Dr Kuseno knows how to build cyborgs like the one who destroyed his town.

We don’t know if Destro and Erimin have any responsibility for the destroyed town, but someone of their ilk does. Which brings us to a third nakedly truthful statement. When Genos talks of not believing that he could be defeated by anything other than the rampaging cyborg, he’s not anticipating winning because he’s suicidal. It’s because he’s aware that if he’s throwing rock, so too is his enemy: mutual annihilation is the best he can hope for.

At least until he met Saitama. And started to hope for not mutual destruction, but victory (check the difference in chapter 108 of the webcomic).

a world away from the attitude of mutually-assured destruction he started with.

Stepping away from the text a bit, it casts a different light on why he’s been so desperate to learn from Saitama. Learning Saitama’s secret is his balance-breaker. He wants something other than rock, that is guaranteed to smash whatever rock his enemy might throw. But that’s not all there is. As Garou said, once he discovered Blue Fire’s flamethrower, once you know how a freakish weapon works, you know it. Any edge a new weapon might give Genos is liable to be studied and replicated (see how quickly Dr Kuseno was able to reverse engineer and adapt the principles of G-4′s curving energy beams). But Saitama’s strength is unphysical: no matter how closely you inspect his body, you can never relate the physicality of Saitama’s body to the power he can generate. That unphysicality, that’s what Genos wants too. It also puts in context why he’s been so fascinated by psychic power and wants to learn it if at all possible.

neat trick, I’ll take two! Genos dodging G4′s beams in chapter 38, and putting the principle of them to good use in chapter 120

And finally, since in his world, knowledge is literally power, it gives yet another layered reason Genos is so determined to keep anyone else from becoming Saitama’s disciple. If they learn his secret too, then the advantage he seeks will be lost. (that it doesn’t work quite that way for Saitama is a fact for us to enjoy and for him to find out).

Nothing is as scary as a human being

Nothing is as scary as a human being is one of the things that Reigen says to Tome on occasion. It’s in full force in OPM. Monsters may be strong, but they all live in the now. Only a human being could have put together the Monster Association. When it comes to cyborgs, their abilities may be inhuman but their thoughts, imaginations, morals and appetites are all 100% human. It’s a terrifying combination.

There’s something I missed when I likened The Organization to a Claw Analogue. In Mob Psycho 100, the protagonists are children and they’re fighting an organisation made up of over-grown children – adults who have refused to grow up. In One-Punch Man, the protagonists are adults and the bad humans in the story are very much adults too. With calculated cruelty and depravity to match. When The Organization bares its claws for real, this is going to get so brutal.

If Genos has not been standing still, then neither has his enemy. From the manga, even if we hold Drive Knight blameless and independent of all this mess, his besting Nyan told us that cyborgs can indeed come crazy-strong and highlighted how much more work Genos had yet to do. It also highlighted how very clever and calculating cyborgs can be – well, they’re human, duh! If I was worried for his prospects then, in the webcomic, Genos is nowhere near as psychologically, physically or emotionally ready as his manga version is. And the guys who look to be his enemies aren’t going to be cutting him any slack. They’re very real. They’re not mad. And they’re closer than he ever imagined.

Fighting monsters is barely adequate preparation for whatever it is that’s to come.

Whenever Genos gets dragged into whatever it is those cyborgs are up to – or runs into it, since he claims he’s still hunting the rampaging cyborg – ‘rough’ doesn’t begin to describe it.

#długie #one punch man #genos

katsumatsu4 reblogged

girlbossfranziskavonkarma

aa screenshot compilation

you guys are so picky… here

lindleland

contributing to the pile

digital-magus

Are…these are edits, right? I want to say these are edits, but I’ve learned enough about Ace Attorney to know not to underestimate its weirdness…

geeneelee

One of them is someone exploiting DLC for comedy, but they’re all unedited lmao

hikari-kaitou

aceattorneyheritageposts

Ace Attorney Heritage Post

sunnyskies281

If I may add…

#ace attorney #długie

katsumatsu4 reblogged

epicdogymoment

gendernewtral

*missing the charging port on my phone* don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it

mortimermcmirestinks

my two favourite things about this

everyone knows what this is
the scene was an adaptation of a scene from the original novel where instead of a charging port on a phone, it’s a winding key in a pocketwatch. I like to imagine people having this exact same kind of thought when they missed the watch keyhole 100 years ago

thegreatspacehobo

*person from the 1800's missing the pocket watch keyhole* don't think about it don't think about it don't think about it

OKAY HERE’S THE THING ABOUT THE FUCKING POCKET WATCH.

Pocket watch keys were not disposably easy to get. You couldn’t walk into any Her Majesty’s Royal Station of the Petrol and have a rack of them waiting for you. They had to be purchased from a watchmaker, and by virtue of being literally part of a piece of jewelry, they were not cheap. That’s why a lot of contemporary drawings of the period will show the key hanging on the watch chain, and also why you’d want to take a great deal of care with using one—bend it and your watch is useless until you can get to a watchmaker. Likewise, the watch itself would be delicate. They were items for the well-to-do. One reason watches were carried outside, on the front of the body, was to protect them from being thrown around in your pocket with keys and coins. (Being in front protected from pickpockets and also let people see you were wealthy enough to own a fancy watch. Think of it as similar to the person who carries the absolute latest iPhone…without a case on it.) Yes, they were sturdy by modern standards—a 150-year-old pocket watch may still run and keep accurate time, if you can find a jeweler to maintain it for you!—but that doesn’t mean they were super-tough. They WERE, however, made of metal—brass or pewter for the less-moneyed element, silver or gold for the gentleman—and thus not easy to scratch if you weren’t really jamming the key in there. MOVING ON!

During this period, how you looked and presented yourself was ridiculously important and narrow; you can walk into a gas station for a new charger and be like “yeah I got drunk last night and forget whose car I left mine in” and the clerk will be like “oh that’s a mood,” but try going to a watchmaker and saying “ah yes, I tried to wind my watch after a bottle of wine” and you’re going to get SUCH A SIDE-EYE. Your reputation will go right down the gutter and along with it, your family’s; note how many times in contemporary Victorian literature you see people saying stuff like “he’s well-bred” or “from a fine family background.” Reputation was everything and it was incredibly fragile.

So when Holmes looks at Watson’s watch, what he sees is: a piece of expensive jewelry shot to shit by being carelessly thrown in a pants pocket rather than a watch-pocket, which would have held the watch firm and protected it from other metal objects. The watch also was not worn on the waistcoat in absence of a watch-pocket, implying its owner did not give a damn how he looked—UNTHINKABLE for a Victorian gentleman. Why not? Well, either he’d have to be a wild eccentric or suffering from a terrible illness. The main way to treat things like Parkinson’s at the time was “politely ignore it until it’s impossible to ignore, and then the person will take to his bed, and then he will die.” Watson’s brother was likely not an eccentric—even an eccentric would have taken care of a delicate piece of custom machinery—therefore he was probably ill. But his illness hadn’t prevented him from going out and about—hence the dinged-up appearance of the watch. A man who was bedridden would have kept the watch on his bedside table.

So we have a sick man who’s still able to get up and about, and he’s pawned this watch not once, not twice, but four times. Remember what I said before about reputation? Today shows like Pawn Stars have done a lot to destigmatize pawnshops, but in Victorian times they were…not looked on kindly. They meant you’d had Some Kind Of Misfortune and Needed Money, and to the Victorian mind, you’d probably Brought It On Yourself, which meant you’d been doing something Quite Disgraceful. (Notice the only two appearances of a pawnshop in the ACD canon are “The Pawnbroker’s Assistant,” in which said assistant is a criminal mastermind and the pawnbroker himself a greedy idiot, and the story of Watson’s watch.)

So: a damaged piece of expensive jewelry that’s only moderately easy to damage; spends frequent time in places of ill-repute; sick, but mobile; never mentioned by Watson, and thus likely embarrassing.

The man is a drunk.

The modern version doesn’t fall apart because lots of things cause hand tremors. The modern version falls apart because IT’S EXTREMELY EASY TO SCRATCH PLASTIC AND CHARGING CORDS ARE A CHEAP, COMMON ITEM.

There. I’ve wanted to get that off my chest for AGES.

isitqueertho

Ngl you got it off MY chest too, I feel much better

#ciekawe #długie #acd canon #sherlock holmes

Oh good.

People don’t realize—and apparently Moftiss either didn’t know or ignored—how much of the original Holmes works specifically because of the era it was written in. Indeed, that’s why so many of the stories written in the Edwardian era are still set in Victorian times. The strict rules around clothing and class were being broken down to the point they could no longer reliably be used.

Like, modern case in point, in A Case Of Identity Holmes pegs a woman as being short-sighted, and also vain, because he can see the indents of her glasses on either side of her nose: she needs glasses but refuses to wear them in public. He’s right on the money with the glasses indents, I can look in my own mirror and confirm—but in 2022, the indents with a lack of glasses could indicate anything from “I’m wearing contacts” to “I just had lasik and the indents haven’t faded yet” to “multiple prescriptions are more common these days and I only need glasses to read.” He could be relatively certain of his deduction in 1892 because lasik and contacts didn’t exist yet, and while I think reading glasses did, they also weren’t all that common. (Witness the fact that Holmes himself could really have used a pair!) But now? Useless data.

Adapting Holmes for the modern day can easily be done, you just have to use some fucking THOUGHT to get around the fact that we live in a very different world than Conan Doyle did.

katsumatsu4 reblogged

humming-fly

most damaging idea of the 21st century: the conviction of vast numbers of people that human history will end within our lifetimes

climate change represents world-altering tragedy if unchecked, but not even in the worst-case scenario does it mean “literally everyone dies”

yet so many people have jumped already to “it’s over, the world is going to end, we can do nothing about it” and are just paralyzingly cynical. How do I explain that the power to imagine a future is essential for creating it

you know the thing where trauma can cause you to just. not expect to live much longer so when you get to 30 you don’t know what to do because you thought you’d be dead by 25

That is happening to all of us right now on a society-wide scale

A lot of people are like. REALLY angry at me for suggesting that “be depressed and do nothing” isn’t necessarily the only response to climate change.

this, this, this, this, this, this, and like, 700 other sources will tell you that most of the effects of climate change will be reversible even if we pass the ‘threshold’ of a 1.5 degrees Celsius increase in global temperature

BUT. Even if the worst happens, it will be important to be doing things other than wallowing in misery???

I’m not trying to be callous but for people living today it’s wildly unlikely for the results to be “literally immediate death.”

People will get displaced from their homes by rising sea levels. We have like, years, probably decades, before that happens. It seems so fucked up to decide that we should do nothing, because we’ve already decided they’re going to die anyway????

If a bunch of us are going to die, why not die trying to help each other? Why not try to make sure fewer people die? Why not do something that might reduce someone’s suffering or give them food or clean water or a place to sleep?

I don’t know how to explain to you that people need socks during the apocalypse

starship-goldfish

Important.

Literally even in the most severe, cynical, and immediate predictions made by scientists rapid climate change is far away from now. If it does happen it’ll take effect over the span of a decade or so, no a day.

And there’s still hope! Did you know the hole in the ozone layer is closing? It was actually caused by one specific chemical that’s been banned. A lot of endangered wildlife populations are growing because of so many efforts to protect them. Many mining companies are being prevented from mining in our remaining clean waters and forests. We have all the technology we need to reverse this crisis, it’s just a matter of implementing it.

It will be ok. Things are improving. People are getting on board. Don’t lose hope while we still have a chance to use it.

My mom was just reminding me earlier about Copper Hill, Tennessee, which I encourage y'all to look up

In the 1980’s, the area was absolutely devastated by copper mining, to the point that the land had a “Martian” appearance. It was utterly devoid of vegetation and wildlife. No trees, no grass, no frogs, nothing.

I own a historical fiction book, A Bird on Water Street, about how the area was restored. The astonishing thing about this place is that people were able to fix the damage.

In a lot of ways in the 80’s and 90’s, many species and environments were successfully saved from the brink of disaster.

Does anyone remember DDT? As the above poster said above, CFC’s contributing to the ozone hole? Do y'all remember how saturated the 1970’s were with lead and asbestos and all sorts of toxic shit? Getting specific chemicals banned or working to save specific species DOES HELP.

I’m begging everyone to research conservation projects going on near them, like, in or near their hometown. The state of Kentucky very successfully reintroduced elk to the mountains after they went extinct there. There are examples like this everywhere.

Things look bad and they’re scary but they would be a lot worse if the people before us hadn’t worked their asses off trying to preserve the world for us. People are out there working hard to save the world right now.

There is still time.