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picturespurple-68 · 1 year

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My secret Santa gift for @aph-america I hope you like it! The prompt I chose was sci-fi au and I wanted to practice doing a different way of writing a fic so this is what I came up with.

Rating: Explicit (18+)

Word count: 1,641

From the Research of Alfred F. Jones

These are the notes that I, senior biological researcher, Alfred F. Jones have taken of the newly discovered intelligent alien life forms known as ‘rocerits’. Contact between our species was made about seven months ago when our vessel The Nebula responded to a distress call from a free floating botany ship. In a one-in-a-billion moment, a meteorite had shot through their fuel storage leaving them stranded until we came to help.

Seeing this new biological discovery, my superior Dr.Kirkland and I went about documenting the many physical discrepancies between our species and theirs. Noted major differences were their enormous height (avg. 7’ 7” ft/ 231 cm), large weight (avg. 324 lbs/ 147 kg), lightly pink colored skin, and the strange way their language, for the most part, matched up in tones with the human language Russian.

The purpose of this paper is for supplemental information and further details on their basic biological functions can be found through Dr.Kirkland’s reports. My motivation for writing this is that I wanted to take a more thorough look into the rocerits’ romantic and sexual habits and by my luck, the head botanist, hereby known by the alias “Vanya”, was more than ready to help me gather my information.

Subject

Name: “Vanya”

Human Sex Equivalent: Male

Human Age Equivalent: 24 years old

Height: Unusually short for his species at 6’ 5” ft/196 cm

Weight: 253 lbs/115 kg

Skin Details: A light pastel pink color, similar in texture to humans except much harder to cut/prick

Eyes: Deep purple, the most common type of color for their species

Hair: A silver-white color, almost blonde

Other Physical Descriptors: Thick but pillowy thighs, wide hips, slight pudge around stomach, and no nipples as they do not breastfeed

In just the first few months of meeting, Vanya adjusted to the Earth language Russian and fascinatingly, learned quite a bit of English to be able to carry on the conversations necessary for our research. This is what I’ve recorded from the last couple months of our interactions.

Cooler Body Temperature

From the jump, rocerits do not consume food like the way humans do but instead work like plants by using large bodies of heat/light to convert to energy. Because of this, their bodies are much cooler than ours in order to withstand the heat for longer periods of time and interestingly, it seems that they are highly attracted to the warmth generated by other biological beings, such as humans.

A tip for those sharing a room with a rocerit: if sleeping in separate beds, keep the room warm (72°F/ 22°C minimum) and use a personal fan for yourself. If you’re sharing the same bed, keep the temperature however you want but be prepared to be cuddled by an enormous cool body.

Transcript of a recording taken 07/24/2XXX at 1:13 AM:

[BEGIN LOG]

(There’s the muffled sound of sheets rustling)

Alfred: (Groggily) Well good morning to you too Vanya~

Vanya: (Surprised) O-Oh um…wrong bed sorry–

(Vanya attempts to leave. More rustling happens followed by a yelp and a thudding against the bed)

Alfred: Hey, where do you think you’re going?

Vanya: As I said, I-I just got into the wrong bed…

(No response)

Alfred: Dude if you wanted to cuddle you could’ve just asked.

(No response)

Alfred: C’mere.

(Alfred positions Vanya and himself to be facing each other, legs entwined and bodies pressed flushed)

Alfred: Hmm, so soft and cool~ You’re so nice to hold.

(It’s quiet except for the sound of soft breathing)

Vanya: …So are you.

[END LOG]

Scenting Glands

Rocerits express intimacy first through scenting their partner with pheromones secreted from glands located around their neck and shoulders. Hugs are seen as a more intimate act between each other and in Vanya’s case, he was a big cuddler. Due to a past incident Vanya did not want disclosed to this paper, there was scaring around his neck that affected his ability to scent others. However, to my surprise, it still had such an intense effect on even humans that I practically couldn't even keep my hands off him.

A tip for a quick solution to a horny rocerit: litter their neck and shoulders with hickeys/bite marks to bring them to a fast climax.

Transcript of a recording taken 08/16/2XXX at 7:36 PM:

[BEGIN LOG]

(A chair sound squeaks because Vanya is clinging to Jones’ back over his chair in his office)

Alfred: (Amused) What are you doing?

Vanya: You said you would be done by now.

Alfred: I know, but Artie keeps piling on more information for me to add to this report. Look, how about in an hour ngh–

(The taller man takes a light bite of the exposed skin above Jones’ shirt collar)

Alfred: (Stifling a whine in his throat) D-Dude, I’m almost done. Believe me, I wanna fuck you so bad…just let me finish and save this paragraph.

(In irritation, Vanya pulls Jones away from his desk to sit on his lap in his chair)

Vanya: Humans are impossible creatures, you overwork yourselves, your biology is complicated and messy, (he begins releasing pheromones to entice Jones) and you only respond when I have to take drastic measures.

Alfred: (Shudders from the effects) God, such a needy man! You wanna cum so badly huh? Fine.

(Alfred keeps the man held tightly in his embrace. There’s a small noise of clothing being removed as he takes off Vanya’s scarf to leave a multitude of hickeys around the scarring of his neck. The next several minutes are filled with the sound of lips against skin, Vanya’s moaning, and the chair’s creaking growing louder. When Alfred gives his Adam’s apple a sharp bite, there’s a sudden loud gasp that turns into a low groan. All that’s left heard is the sound of quiet breathing)

Alfred: (Breathing labored) There, are you happy now? My lips feel all numb and tingly.

Vanya: Hmm, now it is your turn~

(He tries to grab at Alfred’s pants but the man bats his hands away)

Alfred: Ah ah ah, come on man, I need to finish this report or Artie’ll put a strike against me. Here, (hands him his room keys) you can clean up in my room and I’ll meet you when I’m done ‘kay?

[END LOG]

Intercourse

With a lack of a digestive system, rocerits do not have a need for a colon or anus. However, reproduction still requires a male and female individual. Female rocerits, like female humans, have a vulva, and males have a penis while their testicles remain inside their cooled bodies. In a fascinating discovery, similar to how all human sexes retain their nipples, rocerit biology also has all sexes retain an orifice between their legs that works in a similar function to a vagina with the exception that males of the species are unable to carry children. With Vanya’s help, I’ve also learned how, evolutionarily, their hole is able to clench down tight onto their partner to ensure that pregnancy happens.

A tip for those in the penetrative position with a rocerit: be absolutely prepared to be connected to your partner for a while as their orgasms last longer than humans.

Transcript of a recording taken 09/04/2XXX at 3:48 PM:

[BEGIN LOG]

(Alfred sits on his knees between Vanya’s spread legs, both are only in their underwear)

Vanya: Why does the recording need to be on now?

Alfred: I told you I need to get this on record for my research!

Vanya: You just want to record us having sex.

Alfred: No! This is purely for educational purposes and will be totally helpful for future interspecies research.

Vanya: (Deadpan) Right. Because nothing is more informational than pornography.

(There's a pause of silence between the two)

Alfred: (Quietly) …Are you cool with it? I can stop the recording if you want.

(Another pause)

Vanya: You are sweet~ (He pulls him down for a kiss) Go on, gather all the “research” you need.

(For a few minutes the sounds of kissing and soft moans are heard. At the rustling of clothing being removed, heavier breathing and the wet noise of Alfred fingering Vanya open fill the room)

Alfred: God, when I bite your shoulder you squeeze my fingers so damn tightly… (Teasingly) Want me to make you cum from just my hand~?

Vanya: Nyet! (Scenting grows) Alfred please…

(Alfred, head hazy, growls and hurries to slam himself inside the older man. The constant squeaking of the bed is soon drowned out by Vanya’s cries and Alfred’s grunting as they build up a fast, desperate rhythm)

Alfred: (Muffled against Vanya’s neck) Shit– So good! So go–ghh!

(After a bit, Vanya lets slip a whine, clinging to the smaller man as he reaches orgasm. Alfred tenses when Vanya involuntarily clenches down, gripping him in a bruising hold and making him cum immediately)

Alfred: Fuck hah–!

(Vanya is still out of it when Alfred comes back to his senses and, unable to pull out, is easily overstimulated)

Alfred: Ivah–Vanya let go, pleeease! (He cums again) Ngh–

(The taller man, exhausted, finally calms down enough to release Alfred with a pleased hum. The younger man is near passing out when he collapses limp onto Vanya as the audio then goes silent)

[END LOG]

After about nine months, we were finally able to fully repair their ship. Passing along planet coordinates, we expect our species to make further contact with each other within the next few years. I thank the rocerits for their cooperation in our data collecting and I specifically expect to continue my work with Vanya for the foreseeable future.

Note: Alfred I am not going to publish what is essentially smut! Stop sending this to my desk!

- Dr. A. Kirkland

#hetalia #hws russia #hws america #wfsn #amerus #ivan braginsky #alfred f jones #rusame exchange #my writing

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moviesludge · 1 year

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what I learned from my time exercising as a 260-280 pound 6'1" guy. I know this is all obvious stuff to most but it really all is as important as they say and sometimes you think you can just do whatever because you never had problems before, but I learned the hard way!

BREATHE - you keep your heartrate down and exercise doable by controlling your breathing. I didn't completely understand how important it was and almost passed out a few times (scary) because I was either unconsciously holding my breath during situps or not inhaling during the right *part* of the exercise, etc. Inhale during the tough part of the exercise!

I've always heard to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, with the emphasis being that the more often air is in your lungs on the inhale, the better (within reason obv). I have found that it doesn't always work when trying to drop my heartrate after heavy exercise. What seems to work best for me is a deep inhale and release followed by a "normal" inhale and release. When I keep doing deep inhales, my heartrate tends to increase. I gotta remember that the intent is to slow the breathing while getting adequate oxygen.

DRINK WATER BEFORE AND AFTER EXERCISING - Being hydrated affects your heartrate. I didn't hydrate enough once and my heartrate just would not come down at all after a workout. I didn't feel necessarily thirsty and started feeling tense and shaky, but once I drank some water, it came down almost immediately.

DONT OVERDO IT - Having a heart/pulse tracking device or fitness band is important. You always want to know where your heartrate is, as well as your levels of heart exertion. Most fitness bands have this broken into 4 or 5 heartrate stages. Even if you feel physically able to do the exercise at max hr, you shouldn't work in your highest exertion level for too long. You may feel discouraged and tempted to push yourself if your heartrate is struggling to do something that you've been able to do comfortably before or regularly before, but you shouldn't! It doesn't matter because there are often OTHER FACTORS AT PLAY. You could be more tired today, it could be hotter or more humid where you're working out, etc. There are other reasons you might not consider and it doesn't necessarily mean you've gotten weaker/more out of shape, so don't worry about it and ease up on the intensity to slow your heartrate down to a reasonable level

STRETCH - Warming up before a workout is important to prepare your muscles for stretching. I typically do treadmill and do calf stretches for 1 minute each.

SALT MANAGEMENT - Too much salt in a meal after a workout makes me tense and "jumpy". Like restless legs and cramps. It causes me trouble sleeping too. I've found that potassium helps. Raisins are a really concentrated form of potassium that cuts into the effects of / helps process salt. Potatoes, yogurt, and bananas work too. You can also take a potassium or magnesium supplement. If I feel a cramp coming on, I take a magnesium tablet and it gets rid of it.

EXPERIMENT - I was doing treadmill 3 days in a row regularly for almost a year and my doc told me I should be resting the day after doing treadmill once. When I finally took his advice, it was harder to exercise because I had let my body rest and it felt like I had to get back into "workout mode" again. But when I exercised 2 consecutive days, it was always easier the second day because I was riding the wave of energy I got from that first round. I don't know if there's something to what he was saying or not, but I found that it doesn't work that well for me. I have been trying different schedules of exercise since taking his advice disrupted my groove. I did 2 days on, 1 day resting, 1 day on, 1 day resting, repeat. Or 3 on 2 off. You gotta find out what works for your fitness and energy levels and the only way to know is experiment.

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emmybeearts · 11 months

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Day 10: Laser

Today we came across an animal with, what I can only describe, as the most improbable hunting strategy I've ever seen. It looked fairly commonplace; A long, bird-like neck ending in a sharp beak and long powerful legs built for high speeds. My initial thought was it would be a rush-down predator, like a predatory cassowary, tearing after any prey slower than itself. I have since learned that my first thoughts were very, very wrong

Lily and I were watching this Frenzied Rumbler from a safe distance away. It was eyeing up a Dune Skipper, a small sail backed reptile-like animal, when a small pack of six more rumblers crested the dunes. I was anticipating, at this point, for the predators to bolt after the dune skipper like a pack of wild dogs, and get to experience more alien hunting tactics first hand. However, all I witnessed was one of the rumber’s open its mouth and then a bright flash of light. Even with every form of protection on the visor in my helmet, it still felt like someone threw sand into my eyes, it was so bright.

By the time I felt like I could see again, I looked to where the dune skipper had been. Past the large shape of green which was etched into my field of vision, I saw the skipper had been toppled off of the rocks. Its body was unmoving and it was now adorned with a blackened, smoking patch of hide. The frenzied rumblers, at this point, all bolted over to the singed corpse at once, and the fastest one simply swallowed it down whole.

I was stumped as to what even happened, let alone how the skipper was killed. I had come to the conclusion that the rumblers were nothing more than lucky opportunists. The dune skipper must have been struck by a freak lightning strike or some other, highly unlikely, natural phenomena. I was willing to accept this theory had I not been a lucky opportunist myself, stumbling across a dead rumbler not too long later.

The animal was killed very recently with no sign of a fight. Tracks of other Frenzied Rumblers lead away from the corpse. I feared a freak electrical storm again, at this point, and became more weary of this desert. However, I wanted to know what happened for sure, and the only way to find out was by emergency field dissection

This was my chance to study these animals closer than I ever have before, and I found plenty of anomalies that set it apart from many other noticlades. The most fascinating of which resides in its modified crop. Convergent with many species of birds on Earth, the crop is used to store and break down food for later use. Many bird species aid in this breakdown by utilizing gastroliths, small stones in their crop which break apart harder to digest food. It appears that this particular rumbler species utilizes gastroliths as well.

However, the crop of frenzied rumblers is highly modified. Its mouth had atrophied to almost non-existence while its crop took up that real estate. Within the crop was a specialized pouch which housed the rumbler's gastrolith of choice, a carefully worn down piece of corundum. Curiously, the gastrolith pouch was also wrapped in a unique organ. A thin rubbery tube filled with a dull blue slurry.

It's obvious to deduce the rumblers are hunters from their body plan as well as from what I was able to observe, however, it seems that they are actually omnivorous. From the contents of its stomach, I was able to find partially digested carpet algae, a vividly bioluminescent algae species that lights up the multitude of caves found in this desert. My initial thought was it may be supplementing its diet, but I was able to conclude the slurry in the crop tube was derived from this algae. It’s apparent the rumbler has a means of breaking down the algae in its crop and isolating the bioluminescent cells for its own use, hence the blue slurry.

The chemical process of breaking down food, however, also breaks down the ruby it utilizes as a gastrolith. Not only was there a higher concentration of aluminum oxide in its digestive tract, there was also an abundance of chromium. While this may be toxic to most species here, the frenzied rumbler has a means of filtering and regurgitating the waste chromium. However, rather than simply discarding the excess, the rumblers store it in its crop. More specifically, the chromium waste was found lining the walls of the gastrolith pouch.

Now here's where things get interesting. Throughout this animal's evolutionary history, there is a good chance the majority of these features would help it find a mate. Perhaps all separately, perhaps one new feature after the next. Utilizing bioluminescent cells from a unique plant may have created a stunning light show to impress a female, increasing the likelihood of passing down the bioluminescent ability. A bright red stone would also suffice in attracting a mate, if you have the means of expelling the poison. This would also give them the added benefit of filling their mouth with a mirror-like film of chromium, which could be seen as very attractive. While all of these things may have simply been tricks to wow a partner in the past, they all came together to create a biological weapon like I've never seen.

The ruby rolled around in the rumbler’s crop, breaking down its food like the drum of a steam roller. This gave the ruby an almost perfectly cylindrical shape. The cylinder of ruby then rests comfortably in its gastrolith pouch which has been coated in a mirror-like layer of chromium-mixed mucus. An extra layer of chromium is then expunged to cover the end cap of ruby in a thin, partially mirrored film.

Finally come the light coils. These are the thin tubes filled with bioluminescent cells taken from algae that coil around the gastrolith pouch. Most of the time, The coils are inert, unless the animal is hunting. When it spots prey, the frenzied rumbler opens its mouth exposing its crop and the mirror-capped ruby. It then uses the electrocytes in its melon to charge the light coils. The carpet algae naturally glows incredibly bright, but the rumbler has packed the light coils exclusively with the algae’s highly concentrated bioluminescent cells. This produces a blinding flash of light, pumping the ruby with intensely high energy. The mirrored pouch then oscillates the light of the ruby’s fluorescents creating a rudimentary biological pulse laser with which the animal fires at anything it deems to be food.

The frenzied rumbler is a truly terrifying predator. It's the only animal I know that can strike its prey at, literally, the speed of light. As far as i can tell, there is no defense against one once you're on its menu. They are fast, strong, and impossibly dangerous. All this can be learned with the right insight and a quick field dissection. As for the cause of death for this particular rumbler? It had the toxic spines of a juvenile dune skipper lodged in the lining of its stomach.

[End Transcription]

#Myart #creature design #character design #scifi art #aliens #scifibruary 2022 #repost

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vio1315 · 1 year

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Oh right

I keep meaning to do a life update

Because long time followers remember when I posted a lot of personal struggles on here and I like never follow up on that stuff

And have since stopped posting personal stories as often whoops

Honestly I don’t remember everything I left as a loose thread that could be ‘is she okay’ so basically:

>Yes I am okay

>Most the stuff I was having trouble with happened like 5+ years ago now

>I am still pretty shut in, but I have a good job and I do go out once a week technically

>Much more mentally stable, I don’t really get the sort of empty feelings I used to anymore

>Every day I am unsure if I am like 🤖 to other people, or if I live normally. But I have unworked a lot of the emotional repression stuff I was doing subconsciously, and have gained a capacity for the ‘feeling of love’ (since love isn’t really a feeling, but you know the feeling I mean). Idk if I never experienced it before, but if I did it was Extremely rare compared to now. I certainly had devotion, but idk

It’s like ‘oh my prayers were answered on this topic again :0 ‘

I think I am pretty content generally, but I still don’t have happy feelings or fun feelings that often on my own, but this is super normal for me and doesn’t bother me the way the ‘void feelings’ did. It just vibing

>I did get a few extra sensory issues, probably from being shut in, but nothing that makes it any harder to go out. I should go out more still, but not many ideas of where to go for now

>I lost touch with the rest of my rl friends more or less (ﾟ⊿ﾟ) I went through a big thing of making myself not burn bridges and then like 4 months later they stopped contacting me anyways. I haven’t really felt any issue about it so have been leaving it be, but I guess I’ll crack that case back open if it ever starts to feel like a big thing that needs to be done

>My family is doing pretty well : )

>Story stuuffffff. I went through about a year of work to make my to do list better, so now I can focus on writing, sort of. And hopefully I can finish my script for TTF in good time now after the Big Delay of relaying the foundation and needing to get life in order. It will take a Long time because I insist on doing all 10 arcs before starting to draw it, so like... I still am mostly gonna be quiet on the topic for awhile

>Life plans? Nope, never. I still live very in the present, so I will just continue my job till I get fired probably and try my best to keep using my free time well. Or start

>Nobody wonders about this but I swear to you, vitamins/supplements make me sick every time I take them. Like literally sick. Like with germs and things. How????? How???? They had nothing in common between the three diff supplements, but each time I started I would get sick for like 2 weeks or a month ??? But I will keep trying to see if this is actually happening because ??? How ????

>Oh yeah, I am trying to get my health better and actually gained much weight 🥳 maybe someday exercise too, but I wanna tighten daily schedule first

>I am looking at some other mental disorders where I think ‘do I have that???’ But just for the sake of communication. I still don’t really need medication to manage the strange stuff. Coping mechanisms generally work pretty good for me, and learning to weed out bad ones and so on. I haven’t felt ANXIOUS in a bit now, and idk maybe not as often. I know I was like a year or two ago, but it goes down every year overall.

Lots of things that used to make me anxious just don’t so much anymore

That’s everything I can really think of right now

Life is basically good overall for me.

Health is good for me, though I still need to work on actually doing things to be good to my body.

Socializing is pretty good in the forms I do it, but I still need to go out more to prevent my brain from getting weird about ‘sounds and feelings I can’t control’ and all

Fam : )

Everything is chill actually. I basically vent here less now just because I have more opportunity to vent directly to people when there’s a need to wjdnejd but I don’t think anything major comes up that often

But also my emotional memory is really low hwjdnwjd like I know for a fact a year or two ago there was a month where I was super unwell and stressed, but legit idk what that felt like, I just know it happened

So maybe the frequency Could be similar, but I wouldn’t know it 🤔 but certainly less major events happen, and that’s good with me

Just an update cuz I realize it’s easy to vent and all, but when things resolve, it’s less interesting to talk about, so you leave people hanging unintentionally, since posting directly on here barely feels like talking to anyone anyways, super easy to let that go

I am not a private person honestly, so hope this doesn’t seem weird to anyone widjsjdn

#Vio's Personal #Yaaaa boooiiiii #I didn’t mention faith progress stuff because I don’t think I talked a lot about that before :0 #But I have been less fearful for a long time now which is bueno #But I am still lazy so #and also my ability to comprehend what I read I have realized is Bad #So need to learn how to study and such #But that will be oookaaaaay probably #My issue is if you show me videos where people explain things #I will find something about the person where I can’t stand them #is how it keeps goimg #but videos are my best format alas #but that’s just a ramble so anyways

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jcmarchi · 6 months

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The Last of Us Part II Remastered Preview - A Hands-On Breakdown Of The Remaster's No Return Roguelite Mode - Game Informer

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/the-last-of-us-part-ii-remastered-preview-a-hands-on-breakdown-of-the-remasters-no-return-roguelite-mode-game-informer/

The Last of Us Part II Remastered Preview - A Hands-On Breakdown Of The Remaster's No Return Roguelite Mode - Game Informer

Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, The Last of Us Part II is getting the big remaster treatment in January, over three years after it was released for PlayStation 4. This updated version leverages the PlayStation 5’s hardware with graphical bells and whistles like native 4K resolution, improved textures, and unlocked framerate. It also adds new interactive goodies, such as developer commentary and previously unplayable lost levels. But the centerpiece of the package’s new offerings is a new mode called No Return.

In this new roguelite adventure, players choose from one of 10 playable characters, from main stars like Ellie, Abby, and Joel to previously unplayable faces like Tommy, Dina, and Lev, to battle a randomized series of combat encounters. I traveled to Sony Interactive Entertainment’s office in San Mateo, California, to play several rounds of No Return and speak to the director of The Last of Us Part II Remastered, Matthew Gallant, to learn how and why Naughty Dog implemented this surprising addition.

My initial assumption was that No Return was an idea intended for the original release of The Last of Us Part II that didn’t make the cut. However, Gallant states the mode was conceived after Naughty Dog decided to update the sequel. “We’re like, okay, we knew we were going to be doing this next-gen upgrade and offering the PS5 improvements and the fidelity and the performance mode, haptics, and all that really great stuff,” says Gallant. “That was for sure going to be in The Last of Us Part II Remastered, but then we were thinking, ‘What else would be really great? What would surprise people, delight people, give them something to make this a really robust offering?’”

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Naughty Dog wanted something that took advantage of the game’s exceptional combat that had the same high stakes as The Last of Us Part II’s Grounded difficulty, in which players must restart the entire game if they die just once. It also wanted to challenge players to constantly change their tactics and behaviors; Gallant believes many players settled into their chosen playstyles and loadouts once they got deep into the story campaign. The run-based, randomized blueprint of the roguelite became the clear answer. “We thought that this roguelike mode [would] be a really great way to surprise players, get them thinking on their feet again, throw them into situations where they might be uncomfortable having to react or to plan on the fly,” says Gallant.

Upon starting a new run, I choose one of two available characters: Ellie or Abby. Each character has a playstyle and specialized traits. Ellie is classified as “Balanced,” meaning she’s well-rounded, while her three traits are gaining 50 percent more supplements, the ability to craft Molotovs (other characters must unlock this recipe), and two upgrade branches. Abby is a Brawler, meaning she hits harder, and her traits include a health regen that restores HP each time she performs a melee attack. Dina excels at crafting, based on how she’s able to repair the WLF radio in the story. Lev, who I unlock later, is stealth-focused, so he’s automatically equipped with his powerful and silent bow. His sister Yara’s trait allows Lev to accompany her as an AI companion at the expense of starting with only a basic firearm, meaning her upgrade path is longer by default.

I choose Ellie, and my run begins in the hideaway. This HQ takes different forms location-wise and has a workbench to upgrade weapons and a trading post to purchase new guns and tools from a randomized selection, which changes upon each visit. If you’re unhappy with what the trading post currently offers, you can reroll the selection by spending a small amount of currency. I begin with a pistol, a knife, and a couple of health packs. A corkboard displays the current run, a branching web of levels represented by Polaroid photographs that display any stipulations.

The first level’s match is Assault, which tasks me with defeating three waves of enemies. I can go loud, but I choose to pick them off quietly, my preferred tactic in the story campaign. I’m reminded of how good the combat feels after being away from it for three years. The action is brutal, and I find myself wincing all over again at the sickening sound effects as I pierce throats with my knife or cave in someone’s skull with a bat. And yes, human enemies still scream out the names of their fallen comrades (“No! Mike!”) in agony upon discovering my handiwork.

The Last of Us Part II’s unsettlingly grounded depiction of violence is juxtaposed by No Return’s more video game-y elements. Abby’s health regen trait means that health symbols explode out of enemies when she strikes them. Level modifiers can be goofy, such as one that makes all enemies invisible, detectable only by using listen mode, or by shining your flashlight to cast their shadows. Gallant, who worked on Part II’s combat in the original game, says Naughty Dog always valued keeping things grounded when it came to the series combat, but No Return’s non-canonical nature presented the opportunity for them to cut loose and get wild.

“We know our combat mechanics are really fun, we know our gameplay is really fun, [and we’re] trying to give that its own space to be fun and not quite as heavy as the main story,” says Gallant.

Between killing enemies, which range from human factions such as the WLF, Seraphites, and Rattlers to various types of infected, I scour the zones for crafting ingredients. Resource chests, which are highlighted with an indicator and appear in different places throughout a level, offer larger rewards for those brave enough to reach them.

After working my way through the web of zones, I eventually reach the endpoint: a boss battle. I’m pitted against a giant Bloater (along with a few Clickers), and, to my embarrassment, I’m killed after only a few minutes. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to exact my revenge, though it wouldn’t be a guarantee that I could. Other bosses could appear instead, such as a Seraphite Elite or a Rattler Captain, which are new encounters not seen in the campaign.

My death means having to start a whole new run. It’s disheartening, but at least I know my path won’t unfold the same as before. Levels occasionally have mods such as adding a thick fog that makes it harder to spot enemies (and, in turn, concealing you better) or causing hazardous pustules of spores to rain from the sky. Sometimes, tripwires will be placed all over the arena. Some levels provide an AI companion to lend a hand. Using Ellie, I play one mission that pairs me with Dina for some tag team play. Other mission types include Hunted, which throws a never-ending barrage of enemies at players with the goal of surviving until the time limit expires. Certain levels have their nature obscured and labeled as mystery zones, meaning you have no idea what you’ll get until you play them.

“If you don’t make it out of the situation…knowing that the game’s going [to] be just rolling this entirely new random run at you, it’s going [to] be rolling all these new challenges, new combinations of stuff that you wouldn’t have expected,” says Gallant. “So [it] just makes coming back to the combat and running into new situations and new combinations just really exciting and really fun.”

A list of challenges provides additional objectives, and completing these unlocks new characters, outfits, mods, weapons, recipes, and more. For example, I unlock Lev by completing two levels as Abby. I also unlock Gambits, a feature that introduces a riskier set of challenges once per encounter for much greater rewards. Naughty Dog has ensured that No Return is regularly evolving and expanding the more time players put into it, which helps keep it fresh for the long haul.

A multitude of difficulty options means No Return can be as easy or hard as players make it. A Custom Run option even allows players to tailor their runs by choosing what mods, perks, and match types appear. Gallant believes that this flexibility in how players can mold No Return, along with the opportunity to play as fan-favorite characters, most of which were not playable before, offers enticing hooks to draw in fans who don’t traditionally play roguelites.

As a fan of The Last of Us Part II and roguelites in general, No Return is a fun blend of the two ideas that feels like a better fit than I expected. The evolving challenge, fun mods, and the tension of losing an entire run due to one mistake squeeze more juice out of the already enjoyable combat. Most of all, it offers an entertaining and substantial dessert to the meaty main course of the campaign (which Gallant recommends playing before jumping into No Return). I’m not sure if I’m ready to endure The Last of Us Part II’s emotionally taxing narrative again, so I’m glad No Return lets me enjoy the gameplay side of things without that stress.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered launches on January 19 for PlayStation 5.

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michaelnguyendotme · 9 months

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In this series of "Extreme Ads Makeover", I will be tearing down ads of Natural Made ads and have them completely remodeled to have better targeting and ROI. About Nature Made Nature Made is a leading dietary supplement brand in the United States. It was founded in 1971 and is the #1 Pharmacist Recommended Vitamin and Supplement brand in nine product segments. Nature Made products are manufactured in the United States and are verified by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), an independent third party that verifies products that meet stringent quality criteria for purity and potency. About Nature Made's marketing agency The current marketing agency for Nature Made is Leo Burnett Chicago. They have been the agency of record for Nature Made since 2021. Leo Burnett is a global advertising agency with offices in over 90 countries. They have a long history of working with major brands, including Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Nike. In 2023, Leo Burnett Chicago created a new marketing campaign for Nature Made called "The Start of Something Great." The campaign features a 30-second ad spot that showcases the ways vitamins can impact day-to-day activities, like time spent with loved ones. The ad spot has been running on TV, online, and in print. About Michael Nguyen - CEO of Produce Results Agency, aka the "Extreme Ads Makeover" Host Since 1999, Produce Results Agency has helped clients double assets from $5ooM to $1B and generated 4000% ROI for a regional bank turning their $66K marketing budget to $2.8M in revenue. In this post, I will perform an ad audit on Nature Made ads, analyze what's missing from the ads, come up with new ads, and eventually validate those new ads by running paid traffic on my own dime to see how new ads perform. I am using Meta Ads in this case study but the same principle applies to other mediums such as Google, Youtube, Programmatic Ads, and short forms. Table of Content 1. Ads Audit 2. Gaps Analysis 3. Ads Makeover 4. Validate New Ads 5. Insights/Takeaways 6. Next Steps Ads Audit Promoted Product: Magnesium Gummy Landing page: https://www.naturemade.com/products/magnesium-citrate-gummies Facebook Ads: The Nature Made team created one ad set to promote. Ad set #1 (see link) Analysis I am disappointed to see the lack of effort in promoting the Magnesium Gummy from Nature Made when there is only one control ad. Here are the disadvantages when having only one control ad: Lack of A/B Testing Limited Insights: With only one ad, you won't be able to perform A/B tests, which are essential for determining what aspects of the ad are working and what aren't. Targeting Limitations Missed Opportunities for Segmentation: Different ad sets can target different customer segments. A single ad may not be as effective across all segments, missing out on some potentially lucrative opportunities. Reduced Personalization: Multiple ad sets allow you to customize messages based on user behavior, geography, or other demographics. A single ad will be less personalized and potentially less effective (more on this below when I do an ad makeover) Creativity and Message Fatigue Ad Fatigue: Over time, the same ad is likely to become less effective as users get tired of seeing it. Multiple ad sets can help mitigate this effect. Limited Creative Testing: Having multiple ads allows for testing different creative elements like headlines, images, and call-to-actions. A single ad limits this flexibility. Risk Management Higher Risk: If your one ad doesn't perform well, you don't have other ad sets to fall back on. This all-or-nothing approach can be riskier. Budget Allocation: With multiple ad sets, you can allocate more budget to higher-performing ads. A single ad does not offer this flexibility. Optimization Challenges Limited Learning: If your single ad isn't performing well, it's harder to pinpoint what exactly is going wrong. Multiple ad sets can provide you with more data, making it easier to optimize.

Inability to Leverage Platform Algorithms: Many advertising platforms use machine learning algorithms to automatically allocate budget to the best-performing ads in a campaign. With just one ad, you can't take advantage of this feature. Data and Analytics Limited Data for Analytics: Having only one ad will provide you less data, reducing the reliability and validity of your performance metrics. Gaps Analysis The Landing Page (see link ) Audience avatar: I don't know exactly what the avatar Nature Made is targeting for this offer. By analyzing the landing page, here's what I think the avatar Nature Made is targeting: Meet Emily, a 35-year-old working professional who is health-conscious but has a hectic lifestyle that makes it challenging to maintain a balanced diet. She's gluten-sensitive and prefers natural products. Emily is already on medication for a minor health condition and is cautious about adding new supplements to her regimen. She's been advised by her healthcare provider to increase her Magnesium intake. Emily loves fruity flavors and hates swallowing pills, making her the perfect candidate for Nature Made® High Absorption Magnesium Citrate Gummies. Unlike the approach I used to analyze Chase Bank, for Nature Made, I think their landing page is quite decent. Any additional improvement can lead to a marginal result. Meanwhile, a huge improvement can be made from the ad creatives. As a result, I'll use my 9 analysis models to come up with 9 different ad angles. Ads Makeover Here's the disease that most marketing agencies and businesses running paid ads: "They think they've tested 20 ads but they really just tested 2 ads 10 different times." The best analogy for this is if you play the game "Battleship". Battleship is a strategy-type guessing game for two players. It is played on ruled grids (paper or board) on which each player's fleet of warships are marked. The locations of the fleets are concealed from the other players. Players alternate turns calling "shots" at the other player's ships, and the objective of the game is to destroy the opposing player's fleet. Using the context of the Battleship game, the fact that you just tested 2 ads 10 different times is like you are calling "shots" for the same spot 10 different times at the other player's ships. The lack of ideas for ad angles is making your ads dull and boring and ultimately leads to ad fatigue. Using a combination of the following analysis models (aka "b Model #1 - Relationships Most ads are about something you sell (aka magnesium) or some really obvious problem related to the keyword (magnesium). By using different relationship types, you can unlock new ad hooks that make your ads more interesting. Here are 6 relationship layers with which you can pair. Your customer (avatar) You (the advertiser/vendor) (aka. Nature Made) A thing that your customer loves A thing that your customer hates Your customer's worst enemy Your customer's best friend Model #2 - Imagery Each person has a unique way to process information. Some are visual, some are auditory or kinesthetic. If you only relied on visual ways to write ads, you would be missing out on other types of customers who are auditory and/or kinesthetic. Three imagery categories: Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Model #3 - Emotions Fact-based ads without emotions are dry, boring, and run into the risk of losing interest fast. Ads with emotional treatment are more versatile and relatable because they activate feelings like anger, joy, surprise, etc. In addition, I will throw in vices such as sloth, greed, envy, lust, and so on to take another level deep on the emotional scale. Besides vices, there are possible virtues that human beings are drawn to such as love, ambition, compassion, honesty, etc, and are eligible to use in ads. Model #4 - Types of Statements The English language comes with many types of statements such as questions, condition statements (if/then), declaration statements,

etc. By interchangeably sub out different statement types, new ads become interesting instead of the most commonly used declaration statement. Model #5 - Time Human beings react differently in different contexts of time such as past, present, and future. For example, some people may feel regretable over their past and motivated for the future yet to come. Similarly, when the offer or the ad deploys the language of time, it arouses different emotions. Model #6 - Towards/Away From As you realize, we are driven toward the things that give us pleasure and go away from things that cause us pain. Similarly to ads, construct them in a way that brings out the most pleasures or helps prospects get away from pain. Model #7 - Future The future model involves different ways of discussing the future and how you describe it. We are always looking out for indicators of "winter is coming" as survival mode. That's why we are drawn to predictions, warnings, or threats so that we can plan accordingly. For ads, you just do the same by adding an element of "future" to trigger the feeling of "winter is coming". Model #8 - Capability The capability model is a way of talking about either your customer or yourself or your products and services. Brainstorming your product/service capability in positive and negative ways reveals another interesting angle for the ads by writing ads in (Can, Can't, Will, Won't, True, False, etc). Model #9 - Levels of Identity The "levels of identity" model is very sophisticated, and it's very useful because there are different levels at which a product affects people. For ex, the Nature Made - Magnesium Gummy product can be appealed to customers whose identity is to live a healthy lifestyle. They want the benefits from consuming Magnesium because the gummy help s them continue to reinforce their identity. In other context of Skill for ex, if they were knowledge workers, they would need Magnesium gummy to maintain or gain an edge in their skill sets to get the financial rewards. Here are different levels of identity: - Identity - who they are - Beliefs - what they think - Skills - what they're capable of - Behavior - what they do - Environment - where they are Model #10 - Proof Needless to say, proof is a powerful force to draw more attention and sales when properly used. Sadly, most businesses leverage less than 50% of the power of proof and how to use it in different ways to create an edge. You can use the following proof elements to build credibility such as: - The powerful demonstration - Results in advance - High Profile Clients - Track Record - Powerful Associations - Celebrity - Unique Mechanism - Case studies - Research - Media mentions - Number of followers Model #11 - Numbers Ever heard phrases like "Strength in numbers" or "Numbers don't lie"? Find a way to quantify by numbers in your ads and they will create authority power because numbers paint a picture in the prospects' minds rather than vague quantifiers such as "a lot", "many". Model #12 - Language Devices Similar to model #4 (type of statements), you can use multiple language devices such as bullet points, simile, humor, famous quotes, and lyrics to diversify the "look & feel" of the ads. By combining multiple language devices, new ads become richer and have more depth. Model #13 - Names Finding a way to associate, pair, compliment, and rhyme with existing names from reputable sources such as movies, icons, brands, actors & actresses, songs, TV shows, etc infuses new ads with new-found authority and a breath of newness. Model #14 - Locations Similar to using names above (#13), locations including (landmarks, cities, countries, fictional, and metaphysics) bring a similar punch of power and authority and a level of mystique to your ads. Model #15 - Direct Marketing Offers Direct marketing elements such as (guarantees, free samples, deadlines, no obligation,

etc.) generate a surge in adrenaline that can lead to actions. Model #16 - Ad structure In this model, the ad structure will be reconstructed in multiple permutations such as verb/noun/adjective swapping, using quotes, dashes, symbols, capitalization, etc. When ads are gone through this model, they appear different visually and comprehensively. Model #17 - Shame Shame is one of the powerful emotions that very few know how to tap into because shame isn't obvious and takes time to research and understand. For example, when the ads mention moral guilt (shameful act committed due to bad moral character) blame (what customers got blamed for), or feelings of defeat (who/what customer lost the battle with?). I hope you can see how powerful it is to incorporate shame into ads and make ads more alive and connected. Next is the fun part where i am going to do a makeover on Nature Made's existing Magnesium Gummy ad by coming up with 6 new ads. Headline Options "Unlock Wellness On-the-Go with Nature Made® Magnesium Gummies!" "No Time for Pills? Try Nature Made® Magnesium Gummies!" "Elevate Your Health Without Slowing Down!" "Nature Made®: The Busy Professional's Secret to Balanced Health!" "Get Your Daily Dose of Relaxation, No Pills Required!" "Say Goodbye to Stress, the Nature Made® Way!" "Tired of Being Defeated by Pills? Take Control with Nature Made®!" "Don't Let Your Health Routine Make You Angry—Switch to Nature Made® Gummies!" "Envious of Easy Wellness Routines? Make Them Green with Nature Made®!" Body Copy Options Body Copy 1 We get it. You're a busy professional juggling a lot but still committed to your health. Meet Nature Made® Magnesium Citrate Gummies, your new best friend in wellness. Imagine the relief of not having to swallow another pill, but instead, savoring a delicious mixed berry gummy that's gluten-free and all-natural. Feel the joy and anticipation as you elevate your health without compromising your lifestyle. "Why didn't I find this sooner?" you'll ask. Act now and secure this game-changer for your health regimen. Recommended by pharmacists and approved by healthcare providers. Limited offer: Subscribe and save 10% + Free Shipping! Models Applied: Relationships, Imagery (Visual, Kinesthetic), Emotions (Joy, Anticipation), Statements, Time (Present, Future), Towards/Away From (Desire), Future (Promise), Capability (Can), Proof (Credibility, Social Proof), Numbers (50% off), Language Devices (Questions), Direct Marketing Offers (% Discount). Body Copy 2 Are you tired of the pill-swallowing routine? Nature Made® Magnesium Citrate Gummies are here to revolutionize your health journey. Visualize a stress-free life, powered by these delicious, gluten-free gummies. Feel the ecstasy of making a smart choice that aligns with your values and lifestyle. "A small change for a big impact," says our satisfied customer Jane. Hurry, offer ends soon! Models Applied: Relationships, Imagery (Visual), Emotions (Ecstasy), Types of Statements (Quotation), Time (Present), Towards/Away From (Desire), Future (Warning), Capability (Are), Proof (Personal Endorsement), Numbers (Ends soon), Language Devices (Quotation), Direct Marketing Offers (Deadline). Body Copy 3 Imagine a world where your health supplements don't feel like a chore. That's what Nature Made® Magnesium Citrate Gummies offer. Listen to the sound of stress melting away as you chew these fruity, gluten-free delights. Feel the courage and determination to take on the day, every day. "It's like a mini-vacation in a bottle," says wellness guru Sarah. Act now, and we'll throw in a free consultation with a healthcare professional. Models Applied: Relationships, Imagery (Auditory), Emotions (Courage, Determination), Types of Statements (Quotation), Time (Present), Towards/Away From (Both), Future (Promise), Capability (Will), Proof (Personal Endorsement, Credibility), Numbers (Free), Language Devices (Quotation), Direct Marketing Offers (Consultati

on). Body Copy 4 Are you ready to defy the odds and take control of your health? With Nature Made® Magnesium Citrate Gummies, you can. Feel the love and compassion we've poured into creating a gluten-free, all-natural supplement just for you. "This is the future of health supplements," declares Dr. Smith. Don't miss out; your future self will thank you. Models Applied: Relationships, Imagery (Kinesthetic), Emotions (Love, Compassion), Types of Statements (Declaration), Time (Present, Future), Towards/Away From (Both), Future (Promise), Capability (Can), Proof (Credibility), Numbers (None), Language Devices (Declaration), Direct Marketing Offers (None). Body Copy 5 How would you like to turn your daily health routine into a delightful experience? Nature Made® Magnesium Citrate Gummies make it possible. Savor the mixed berry flavor as you chew your way to better health. Feel the joy and generosity in every bite. "It's a game-changer," says Emily, another satisfied customer. Limited offer: Subscribe and save 10% + Free Shipping! Models Applied: Relationships, Imagery (Visual, Kinesthetic), Emotions (Joy, Generosity), Types of Statements (Questions), Time (Present), Towards/Away From (Desire), Future (Promise), Capability (Make), Proof (Personal Endorsement), Numbers (30-day), Language Devices (Questions), Direct Marketing Offers (Money-back guarantee). Body Copy 6 What if you could get all the Magnesium you need without adding another pill to your day? Nature Made® Magnesium Citrate Gummies are your answer. Picture this: A gluten-free, all-natural gummy that fits seamlessly into your busy life. Feel the anticipation and elegance as you uncap the bottle. "It's not just a supplement; it's a lifestyle," says health expert Mark. Subscribe and save 10% + Free Shipping! Models Applied: Relationships, Imagery (Visual), Emotions (Anticipation, Elegance), Types of Statements (Questions), Time (Present), Towards/Away From (Desire), Future (Promise), Capability (Could), Proof (Personal Endorsement), Numbers (20%), Language Devices (Questions), Direct Marketing Offers (% Discount). Body Copy 7 If you're sick of the tragic defeat of swallowing pills, it's time for a change. Nature Made® Magnesium Citrate Gummies are the real deal. Feel the anger turn into defiance as you take control of your health. "Don't get played by pills," warns fitness coach Mike. Act now, or forever hold your peace! Models Applied: Relationships, Emotions (Anger, Defiance), Types of Statements (Condition), Time (Present), Towards/Away From (Both), Future (Warning), Capability (None), Proof (None), Numbers (None), Language Devices (Slang, Tragedy), Shame (Defeat). Body Copy 8 If you're disgusted by the synthetic junk in most supplements, we've got your back. Nature Made® Magnesium Citrate Gummies are as natural as they come. Feel the disgust turn into defiance as you say no to artificiality. "Don't let fake stuff mess with you," warns nutritionist Lisa. Time's ticking, so make your move! Models Applied: Relationships, Emotions (Disgust, Defiance), Types of Statements (Condition), Time (Present), Towards/Away From (Both), Future (Warning), Capability (None), Proof (None), Numbers (None), Language Devices (Slang), Shame (Defeat). Body Copy 9 If you're envious of people who effortlessly maintain their health, your time has come. Nature Made® Magnesium Citrate Gummies are the game-changer you've been waiting for. Feel the envy turn into defiance as you level up your wellness game. "Don't get left in the dust," warns health influencer Tom. Miss this, and you'll regret it! Models Applied: Relationships, Emotions (Envy, Defiance), Types of Statements (Condition), Time (Present), Towards/Away From (Both), Future (Warning), Capability (None), Proof (None), Numbers (None), Language Devices (Slang), Shame (Defeat). Validate New Ads This is where the rubber meets the road as I am going to validate ad concepts from the previous step by running paid traffic to see which ad concepts would resonate most with the custom

ers. Here's how I set the adset on Facebook Budget: $10 Lifetime Product/Service: Magnesium Gummy Targeted audience: Target with interest in Nature Made (who else is better than prospects already interested in Nature Made?) Placement: News Feed Optimization: Optimized for Traffic Here are all the 9 ads being launched. Fast-forwarding 24 hours to let the ads run. Here's the results Campaign Numbers: Ad budget: $12.71 Total Impressions: 1,845 Total Reach: 1,637 Total Clicks: 44 Cost Per Click (CPC): $0.29 CTR (all): 2.38% Ad results Winning Ad: While impression & reach are important, I value "result" (or link click) more than impression because the impression is more passive than an action taken by the user (click). Angle: If you're sick of the tragic defeat of swallowing pills, it's time for a change Headline: "Tired of Being Defeated by Pills? Take Control with Nature Made®!" Total Impressions: 506 (27% of the campaign's total impressions) Total Reach: 557 (accounts for 34% of the campaign's total reach) Total Clicks: 10 (accounts for 23% of the overall campaign's clicks) Cost Per Click (CPC): $0.37 (28% higher than the campaign's CPC) CTR: 1.8% (21% lower than the campaign's CTR) Top 3 Ads 1st Place with Headline #7: "Tired of Being Defeated by Pills? Take Control with Nature Made®!" Models Applied: Relationships, Emotions (Anger, Defiance), Types of Statements (Condition), Time (Present), Towards/Away From (Both), Future (Warning), Capability (None), Proof (None), Numbers (None), Language Devices (Slang, Tragedy), Shame (Defeat). 2nd Place with Headline #6: "Say Goodbye to Stress, the Nature Made® Way!" Models Applied: Relationships, Imagery (Visual), Emotions (Anticipation, Elegance), Types of Statements (Questions), Time (Present), Towards/Away From (Desire), Future (Promise), Capability (Could), Proof (Personal Endorsement), Numbers (20%), Language Devices (Questions), Direct Marketing Offers (% Discount). 3rd Place with Headline: "Envious of Easy Wellness Routines? Make Them Green with Nature Made®!" Models Applied: Relationships, Emotions (Envy, Defiance), Types of Statements (Condition), Time (Present), Towards/Away From (Both), Future (Warning), Capability (None), Proof (None), Numbers (None), Language Devices (Slang), Shame (Defeat). What-If Revenue Impact Analysis What If Nature Made went ahead and ran another campaign based on what i suggested below, what would be the revenue impact? Let's make some assumptions: The conversion rate is 1% (given the normal conversion rate of 2%) The price of a subscription for one bottle of Magnesium Citrate Gummies is $20.33 Double down on the winning ad by increasing the number of clicks on winning ads to 10,000 clicks (Cost = 10,000 clicks x $0.37 = $3,700) Let's calculate the potential revenues Assuming a buyer would stay subscribed for an average of 3 months. At 1% conversion rate (the industry standard is 2%), 10,000 x 1% = 100 buyers signed up Revenue = 100 x $20.33/mo x 3 months = $6,099 ROI = 64.83% ($6,099- $3,700) / $3,700 At 0.1% conversion rate, 10,000 x 0.1% = 10 merchants signed up Revenue = 10 x $20.33/mo x 3 months = $601 ROI = -84% Takeaways/Insights So in this thorough case study, I extensively analyze, examine, and audit Nature Made's ads relating to the Magnesium Gummies, then come up with new ad ideas based on 17 analysis "lenses", and finally validate ad ideas by running them through paid FB traffic to determine the winning ad. Use bundling to increase the AOV instead of one bottle. For ex, Nature Made can offer a bundle of 3 bottles or 6 bottles. My assumption is the buyer can stay subscribed for 3 months. With my Churn Buster Kit system, we can stretch the longevity to 20-50%. Having only one control ad can seriously underpe

rform your entire campaign because of the lack of A/B Testing, targeting limitations, ad fatigue, risk management, and optimization challenges. Having multiple analysis "lenses" is the foundation to come up with ad ideas addressing customers' needs, wants, objections, pains, and frustrations. Without additional analysis "lenses", you are more likely to get "stuck" with boring and mediocre "features & benefits" angle. Ideas & creatives are the name of the game. As you notice the top 3 winning ads, I introduced a "Shame" element in those ads to bring up the "defeat" emotion (a very complex emotion) as an angle. The result speaks for itself that those 3 ads are winners I'd recommend Nature Made create more ad angles for each of their products. The path of "Extreme Ads Makeover" doesn't stop and should be continuously evolving with the market. Next Step Double down on the winning ad and amp up the budget on it because I've done the homework for you, all you need is to increase the ad budget. I share with you the 17 proprietary models I used to create ad ideas. While those 17 models appear easy for me because I've used them to generate thousands of ad ideas, for you, generating ideas may not come easily. That's why I want to introduce the... "Done For You" Package So "Michael, I am a 7-figure business owner and already run paid ads. I need your help to run through the same process you are doing during your Extreme Ads Makeover and help me optimize my ads to extract more juices. What's the process to work with you?" Call/text me 214-734-0685 to schedule a paid Half-Day Consulting Day where we'll cover the following: Explain your current situation, what's working, and where you feel there is room for improvement. Discuss the vision of your business: You can't get to where you want to go without taking an inventory of where you are. We discuss your situation. Discuss obstacles: Until we have clarity on our obstacles, we can't put together a game plan to overcome them. We have an honest discussion of what's in your way Come up with action plans. Then and only then - if it fits - we'll start the engagement. https://michaelnguyen.me/extreme-ads-makeover-natural-made/?feed_id=310&_unique_id=64f4c93647c50

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xtruss · 1 year

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What Happens to Your Body When You Take a Multivitamin Every Day

Adding daily multivitamins to the supplement stash is a popular path to take on the journey to better health and wellness. But should you?

— Gaby McPherson, M.S., RDN, LDN | Reviewed By Dietitian Maria Laura Haddad-Garcia | January 15, 2023

Eating a healthy diet is the ultimate path to optimal nutrition. For those who may fall short on critical nutrients, multivitamins and multivitamin-mineral supplements (MVM) provide a means to fill in the gaps. According to the National Institutes of Health, one-third of Americans include MVMs in their wellness routine.

According to the Nutrition Business Journal's Supplement Business Report 2022, the U.S. market for dietary supplements, including vitamins, minerals or both, grew to $59.9 billion in 2021. Popular kitchen-cabinet staples are vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids. Yet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MVMs are the top supplement choice for all age groups. MVMs earned $8 billion in sales, 37% of total dietary supplement sales in 2020, per the NIH.

While many brands promote MVMs for energy, athletic performance and immunity, general health and disease prevention are the primary reasons people take them routinely, per a 2017 review published in Nutrition. A regular eating pattern full of whole grains, lean protein, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds may make a MVM unnecessary. Keep reading to learn more about multivitamins and what happens to your body when taking a multivitamin daily.

What Is a Multivitamin?

Multivitamin mineral supplements are dietary supplements that contain unique combinations of vitamins, minerals or both, with each nutrient helping to meet a dietary need. Available in various forms such as capsules, gummies and liquid, MVMs are usually taken once a day, though some may recommend multiple daily dosages. While the average person looks to multivitamins to get ahead of their health, other groups may be at high risk for poor nutrition and have a greater need for them. "For most people, a multivitamin isn't necessary, but for some, like older adults, people who are experiencing low appetite or difficulty eating a balanced diet, from an illness or even pregnancy, a multivitamin can help fill in nutrition gaps," says Kelsey Lorencz, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist at Graciously Nourished.

What Happens When You Take It Every Day

You May Have Better Immune Function: Zinc, vitamin C and vitamin D play significant roles in maintaining a healthy immune function. Lacking these nutrients makes it harder for your body to fight illnesses. That's because zinc and vitamin C deficiencies can cause oxidative stress, which happens when antioxidants and free radicals in the body are off their balance, leading to inflammation and disease. Vitamin C is more than a vitamin; it's also an antioxidant that helps remove harmful free radicals that can wreak havoc on immune health.

In a small 2020 study published in Nutrients, 42 older adults were randomly placed into two groups, with 21 in one group receiving a MVM and the other 21 receiving a placebo. After 12 weeks, the researchers found that MVM supplementation improved blood levels of zinc and vitamin C; however, there weren't any improvements in markers of immune function.

Moreover, vitamin D is often studied for its benefits in regulating gut function, per a 2020 article published in the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology. When lacking, it can cause inflammation, potentially driving chronic diseases. The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans specifically label vitamin D as a nutrient of public health concern, since recommended intakes can be challenging to achieve.

You Might Experience Gastrointestinal Symptoms

Taking your daily multivitamin could cause tummy troubles, depending on the levels of nutrients it possesses. "If you are taking [multivitamins] in large doses and your body doesn't need the extra, you may experience mild side effects such as nausea or stomach upset," says Melissa Mitri, M.S., RD, of Melissa Mitri Nutrition.

In a multivitamin, the following vitamins and minerals could create gastrointestinal symptoms in high doses.

Iron: Diarrhea, Nausea, Vomiting and Constipation

Magnesium: Diarrhea, Nausea, Abdominal Cramps

Vitamin C: Diarrhea, Nausea, Abdominal Cramps

Zinc: Nausea, Gastric Distress, Vomiting and Loss of Appetite

Calcium: Constipation

If you're planning to take a multivitamin, Mitri recommends looking for nutrients close to 100% of the RDA. Sticking to multivitamin brands that don't overload you with nutrients is key to lessening stomach upset.

You May Boost Your Energy Levels

"People who begin to supplement with a multivitamin and have a specific deficiency may feel a difference in their energy level, but it's not guaranteed," says Mitri. A 2020 study published in Nutrition & Metabolism investigated MVM supplementation in 82 healthy, active adults, with 40 receiving a placebo and 42 receiving a MVM. After one month, they found MVM increased carbohydrate breakdown in males after 10 minutes of exercise and increased energy expenditure. Females taking MVMs reported reduced stress and lower mental tiredness; after 30 minutes of exercise, they were less physically tired. Furthermore, some deficiencies, such as iron deficiency, can drop your energy levels, causing you to feel sluggish and tired. This study also saw higher ferritin (a measure of iron stores) levels after supplementing with MVM for a month.

You Might Have A Healthier Pregnancy

Prenatal vitamins are MVMs that help support the developing baby's cells, tissues and organs. Folic acid, iron, DHA, choline and iodine, vital nutrients every pregnancy needs, are found in many prenatal vitamins. Birth-givers and babies are at a high risk of nutrient deficiencies, and about 28% of pregnancies become iron deficient in the last trimester. Data, such as a 2021 publication in Nutrients, supports that MVM supplementation in pregnancy may reduce the chances of pregnancy complications such as anemia, intellectual disability, gestational diabetes, autism and neural tube defects. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology encourages taking prenatal vitamins before and during pregnancy.

You May Be Less Anxious

The unfortunate reality is that mental health issues are rising today. The good news is that more research continues to emerge on how nutrition can positively influence psychological challenges. A 2019 study published in Current Developments in Nutrition randomized 66 college students into two groups, a placebo group and an MVM group. After 30 days, the group taking a daily MVM experienced a significant drop in anxiety. An additional 2021 study of 30 people with anxiety, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, found that high doses of vitamin D effectively improved anxiety symptoms.

You Might Have Sharper Brain Function

According to the National Institute on Aging, forgetfulness, poor focus and trouble learning are typical signs of aging. Emerging research suggests multivitamins may help counteract these challenges by sharpening your brain function. A 2022 study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia split 2,602 adults into three groups. One group took a 500-milligram cocoa extract supplement, one took a placebo, and the last took an MVM. After following all groups for three years, researchers found that daily MVM supplementation improved brainpower through executive function. Executive function aids in memory, attention, planning and focus. No significant differences were seen in the cocoa and placebo groups.

What to Look for in a Multivitamin

Always speak with your health care provider before starting a new supplement. They have a better idea of your medical history and health needs to help you make the best choice for yourself. Before adding more vitamins to your supplement stash, here are some things to consider.

Choose Nutrients You May Lack

Depending on your lifestyle or health issues, you may be fully aware of the nutrients you lack. Vegetarians and vegans are prone to deficiencies in iron and vitamin B12. "Pay attention to the specific nutrients you may fall short on. Many people can use a daily boost of nutrients like vitamin D and iron. If these nutrients are a concern for you, make sure your multivitamin has vitamin D3, the most absorbable type, and contains iron since not all multivitamins do. Or, take an iron supplement separately as prescribed by your doctor," says Lorencz.

Stick to Certified Supplements with Safe Ingredients

Some supplements may contain contaminants like heavy metals. To avoid tainted supplements, look for signs on the label that they have been verified. "When choosing a multivitamin, look for the USP or NSF third-party seal of approval on the bottle. This ensures the product contains what it said it does and is held to the highest quality standards," says Mitri. You can also narrow your search by avoiding supplements that give an oversupply of nutrients. "Look for ingredients that meet as close to 100% of the RDA for that nutrient as possible and are free from additives and fillers," Mitri adds.

The Bottom Line

What happens to your body when you take a multivitamin every day could vary from renewed energy to more brainpower. While the research on multivitamins continues, daily multivitamins may not benefit everyone. The truth is that multivitamins may offer little benefit if you're a healthy eater. Eating a wide variety of healthy foods is the first-line approach to supplying your body with the nutrition essentials. Talk to your medical provider about supplementation options if you have a poor appetite, digestion problems, food allergies or a new pregnancy.

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vythanis · 1 year

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30 Days of Character Development: Abilities

Where did they learn their abilities? Vy’thanis has always had an innate ability to shape stone. From a very early age, he was coaxing river rocks into rabbits or cliff chips into flowers. He learned quickly that expending that kind of aether was draining and he taught himself how to carve stone manually with sharper, harder rocks and softer ones. At fourteen, he apprenticed to the Miner’s Guild in Ul’dah, where he came in contact with actual stone-carvers and gemcutters who taught him how to properly shape stone. He now relies on his innate shaping magic sparingly and just for refining shapes into their final form. He learned to read from the merchant he found - and apprenticed to - when he was thirteen and running from Wood Wailers in the North Shroud. He learned origami from his friend Aeluan in Shirogane. As a combatant, he had some training in thaumaturgy from the Thaumaturge’s Guild in Ul’dah, but his attempts at red magery have been self-taught from books and experimentation.

If they have an income, where does it come from? Vyth’s income is primarily from stones he mines and cuts himself, though he’s been known to supplement his income as the occasional caravan guard.

Do they have a job? Do they like it? How do they feel about their co-workers? His job is primarily as a merchant and trader in Ul’dah, with regular travel around Eorzea - though he typically avoids the Shroud. He enjoys his job, and is glad for a complete lack of co-workers; he likes to be independent. That said, he does work with others in the Miner’s Guild and the merchant associations and he usually gets along well with them because of his ready smile and friendly demeanor.

#character development

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buckner94sharp · 2 years

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Exercise Suggestions That May Help You Stay Better And Healthier

You might not be over weight or undernourished, but that in no way implies that you're fit. Learn what you don't learn about health and fitness in the text message under. The guidelines in the following paragraphs will convert yourself on to many distinct techniques will accomplish your greatest aim being match. Herb a garden of your own. Beginning the garden requires plenty of difficult actual function. It needs digging, weeding, and quite a lot of squatting downward inside the debris. It's certainly one of many hobbies and interests you can do around that residence that will in fact aid you in getting in good shape. Have a swift checkup performed by a medical expert before signing up for almost any scuba classes. Whilst finding out how to scuba plunge can be quite a exciting and fun strategy, ensure your respiratory system happen to be in shape to manage it before you decide to waste materials your hard earned money on one thing so costly. 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Keep your tongue strongly in the roof top of the mouth when doing stay-ups. This helps retain the head directly and reduces strain on the throat. Slender by no means indicates in shape, so don't make the blunder of believing you're suit simply because you're not noticeably unfit. Accurate physical fitness will come via a proper diet and lots of perseverance. When you adhere to the suggestions you've study inside the above textual content, you can be on the right path to completely learning to be a match specific.

#ull #go #plum

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ieattaperecorders · 3 years

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let me just say that I am in LOVE with your post-canon concept, I've practically accepted it as my own canon at this point. it's got the best of both worlds: the tragedy of our jmart dying as mysteries, and the hopefulness of the two of them being able to live on (sort of) after the apocalypse. and how it still sets the scene to allow most characters to meet despite the fact the institute doesn't exist? ugh it's so good. I'm excited to see anything else you produce for it!

thecreepybunny:

please please please please make your post canon au into a fic please please please i love it so much i need to know where it goes

I’m not planning to really write a full on fic for it, (but anyone who wants to write/post/make content etc for it is more than welcome to!) If you want some closure on where this concept might go, here’s my take:

After the convention, Jon, Martin, Melanie and Georgie form an unofficial club based on the mystery.

Slowly, as more tapes are restored, more of the canon story is revealed to the four of them. But it’s all very strange and out of order. Chunks of random statements and supplemental notes are thrown in alongside tense confrontations at gunpoint. It’s confusing on several levels.

The four of them try to research places and hunt down people who seem to be involved, with mixed success. Some people they can’t find at all. Others are easy enough to find, but have no interest in going any deeper with it. The only three who show any real interest are Sasha James, Jane Prentiss, and to a lesser extent Oliver Banks (who works in the same new age shop as Jane.)

(Yes the worm woman is one of the most active participants in this search, and no Tim isn’t. It’s just what makes sense to me with their respective lives and personalities.)

It eventually becomes a little group that’s ostensibly centered around this one paranormal subject, but is kind of just a nice social circle. Melanie and Georgie really hit it off and eventually start dating. Martin gets a lot out of having an actual friend group, and it gets Jon out seeing people more, which he likes.

(Maybe Tim pokes his head in here and there for the social aspect, because I like Tim.)

They slowly piece what seems like more of a coherent story together, getting plenty of things wrong and reacting amusingly and/or painfully to various developments.

Obviously Jon and Martin fall for each other over time. But neither of them can stop thinking about the bodies and what it all means. Time travel is still the prevailing theory in the group, and it’s hard not to wonder if this is their future. Both of them have too much anxiety about the possibilities and about each other and themselves to act on their feelings.

It’s less of a “mutual pining because I don’t think the other person likes me” situation, more of a “mutual pining because we both have a thing for each other but we’re terrified of the idea of us dating for existential reasons” one.

Eventually the group has assembled audio clips that piece together about a quarter of the canon story, but there’s very little tape left (a lot was completely burnt up or otherwise missing.)

By this point, they’ve passed the hat and gotten the remaining tape at some weird paranormal auction. Georgie and Melanie use their connections to get some equipment, Oliver and Jane learn tricks for restoring magnetic tape.

Eventually, Oliver calls both Jon and Martin up and asks them to meet at his flat. When they arrive he gives them a single cassette and a handheld tape player. Explains he’s finished restoring all the remaining audio, and he made a copy especially for them. He’s very vague but says that it’s pretty heavy, and he wants them to be the first in the group to hear it.

(Yes it’s Oliver who gives them this tape, specifically for maximum doom-prophet appropriateness.)

They leave feeling ill at ease . . . they’d have expected Oliver to be excited about something like this, but he’d seemed grim and uncertain when he handed over the tape. They make some excuse to listen to it later, say they’ll take care of some errands or something then go back to one of their places and listen afterwards, so they can give it their full attention.

They run their errands and oh, look, there’s a street festival or something why don’t they just go look at that definitely not as an excuse to put off listening to the tape they’re afraid to listen to, etc, etc. The day goes by with them going from one distraction to another. Moments of enjoying each other’s company laced with the anxiety they’re both pushing down.

Eventually they end up in a park. The sun’s going down. It’s getting harder and harder to put this off.

Martin points out they could just get rid of it. Throw it in a bin and walk away. Jon points out that Oliver will doubtlessly still share it with the others, and whatever’s on there will be hard to avoid forever. They sit for a while in silence. Finally, Martin’s like -- well, if we’re going to do this, let’s do this.

He’s about to hit play when Jon reaches out and grabs his hand, stopping it before he can press the button. He talks about how strange and frightening and wonderful the months since they met have been, and about not wanting to let fear rule him anymore. About how whatever is on that tape, or in their future, he wants them to face it together.

Music swells, kiss, etc. They both press play together.

IT’S THE ENTIRETY OF MAG 200, FROM START TO FINISH. KER-PRANKED!

In one fell swoop they learn 1) it isn’t time travel 2) what caused all the nightmarish events they heard about on those tapes 3) that those same forces are now in their universe 4) that their alternate selves brought them there, and 5) the emotionally heartwrenching end those alternate selves reached.

They look at one another, and grip each others hands tightly. They look up at the night sky, which suddenly seems deeper, darker, and more foreboding than it ever has before.

And for a moment, both of them swear it’s looking back.

#harbingers au #tma harbingers au #tma spoilers #tma finale #tma #atlas-of-galaxies #thecreepybunny

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katzkinder · 3 years

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London Bridge Is Falling Down

Envy Pair version of my Counting Sheep series! Himiko is my headcanon for the name of Mikuni's mother. Since Mikuni's name contains the character for "kingdom," I thought this name belonging to an ancient queen suited his mother well.

Mikuni is annoying.

That’s something Jeje has always known, ever since Mikuni was a child, ever since the first time he saw him, bounding around his mother’s skirts and throwing himself into Lily’s arms to be held and cuddled and fawned over while Jeje had slunk back to the cellars. Himiko had been so bright, back then, the rot of Envy not yet showing in a visible way, that tiny baby that would grow into his brother’s Eve gurgling happily in her arms.

Jeje was the one who had found him. Himiko had wept when she saw him, all the anger and hate leaving her at once, vanishing as if it never existed when she laid her eyes on the fragile little bundle, swaddled in soft fabrics with little gloves on his impossibly tiny hands. She had sobbed all the harder when she took the crying child from him, her hands shaking while she cradled him close, useless apologies spilling from her pretty lips. The body of the babe’s mother had rapidly been growing cold on the carpet, and little Misono… Would remember none of it.

(Jeje remembered all of it, though. He doesn’t think a single moment will ever fade from his mind, no matter how many eons pass)

As Mikuni had grown, with Jeje watching over him as a silent, imposing, guardian angel, always behind the boy’s mother while she had read bedtime stories to him, always so aware of those bright, bright, too bright eyes, Jeje had also become aware of a number of other things, and those things remained true into adulthood. Mikuni has all of his mother’s gorgeous looks (and some from his father, but admitting as such is just asking to be choked), her stubborn brightness, her sharp tongue and wit, but more than any of that...

Mikuni is annoying.

...Because he never listens to what’s good for him. Just like his mother before him, he had taken Jeje despite his warnings, and some bitter, sick part of Jeje had wanted him to. The same part of him that had given in to Himiko herself.

But, well, he’d always known Mikuni never listened, too.

He wonders if Lily knows, though he doubts that he’s aware, of those golden afternoons when Mikuni would sneak down to his hiding place and find him lurking near the boilers, the excited, terrified whispers of Lily’s children, his human children, chasing after the young heir as he confidently hopped down, step by step, into the “monster’s” lair.

They had talked. About nothing. About everything. Well, actually, Mikuni had talked, seemingly not caring that Jeje never said much back, incredible and beautiful and… Well, there was a reason everyone called Mikuni brilliant.

Jeje knew better, though.

***

The most annoying thing about Mikuni, in his opinion, is not how loud he is. It’s not his contrariness, or his capriciousness, or his constant, gnawing curiosity causing him to make mischief.

The most annoying thing about Mikuni was how badly he wanted people to think he was naturally good at everything.

See, Mikuni was smart. Jeje would give him that. But he was also very stupid. It wasn’t as if he lacked common sense, though sometimes Jeje wondered, but it was like Mikuni wanted people to resent him.

More than anyone Jeje had ever met, his Eve was a hard worker. Someone who hated owing others a single damn thing. It was that useless pride and sense of responsibility for things that couldn’t possibly be Mikuni’s fault, things Jeje suspected, no matter how much he denied it, Mikuni had learned, had internalized, from his father and from Lily, that was why Jeje refused to call Mikuni brilliant like everyone else.

...But he did shine. Like a candle in a darkened room. Like a beacon. Warm, and inviting, someone to warm himself beside, even knowing that that flame would burn him up, just like a moth.

The question was... Who would that flame melt into nothing first?

Jeje would be damned twice over if he let it be his Eve.

Turning away from way he had been watching the other man work late hours, hunched over Nod’s ledgers and planners and Mikuni’s own personal notebooks, where his pen scratched across the surfaces of each calculating profits, expenses, bills, new products and designs and promotions and planning trips, Jeje silently makes his way to their kitchen.

Burning the midnight oil just means you won’t have any left when you truly need it.

A snort, reaching for their cabinets. Of course, that’s what Mikuni had him for.

***

He’s gotten very good at brewing tea. Jeje isn’t much of a chef at all, but living with Mikuni for so long, it was practically guaranteed he’d learn to at least make a semi-decent cup, and thank god he had. He would have truly killed Mikuni by now if he hadn’t, he swears, the man is just as persnickety about his tea as Lily is with his coffee.

...He’s also gained a new appreciation for the stuff, but maybe that comes with the territory of spending hours upon hours listening to Mikuni’s one sided argument about the best ways to drink it. It’s hard not to be impressed with all the little details that goes into brewing what’s considered a perfect cup (by Mikuni’s standards, anyway), and even harder still to not feel a fondness for something that draws such genuine passion out of his once charge, now equal.

...It’s such an odd thought. He knows what people think. That Mikuni has always had a stranglehold on him. That Mikuni has always been in charge. That Mikuni has always been someone… Grown up.

Again. Jeje knows better.

He sets the temperature on their electric kettle, one purchased on one of their many visits to the British Isles, sits at their kitchen table, and waits. Thinks.

Mikuni has been grown up for a long time now. And he will continue to grow, and people will continue to think, no matter Jeje’s efforts, that he is a no good, conniving schemer who would sacrifice them all on a wish and a prayer and something like a maybe.

And, well, perhaps they aren’t wrong. Perhaps Jeje is a fool. But if he’s a fool, he’s a court jester, and as court jester he will make absolutely certain this time that the king does not make his mistakes without someone there to make fun of him for it, even if only behind closed doors, even if only between the two of them.

To everyone else, he is a dictator’s executioner, and that’s fine with him. Everyone else doesn’t matter.

His eyes drift to Mikuni’s favorite cup, one made of glass and painted with delicate, swooping strokes of gold, with lilies and a taupe lacquer surrounding all but a window through which one could admire the lovely colors of their favored drink. He takes it into his hands, so much larger than this tiny cup, and finds himself smiling as he turns the joint birthday gift from the Lust pair over and around, admires those intricate, fancy details that speak of quality and knowing down to the letter exactly what Mikuni’s tastes are.

Well.

Almost everyone.

***

The teapot has been warmed, the kettle filled with mineral water and piping hot, and by the time Jeje finishes steeping the loose leaf tea, their little kitchen clock, kitschy and cute and shaped like a cartoon chicken hatching from an egg, reads 2:17 in the morning.

Jeje picks up the cup, the container of melatonin supplements Mikuni has taken since he was twenty at his Servamp’s behest, and carefully carries both back to where he knows the other man will still be completely absorbed in his work.

True to form, Mikuni is still at it. The predictability of his late night, sleepless habits, of his need to do something with his time, makes Jeje’s frown deepen, ever so slightly.

He wishes Mikuni would just rest. Close his eyes, not do anything, just lie there and let Jeje guard him, just be still, be quiet, like did when he was a child.

… He knows better than to think a mind as stubborn and that moves as fast as his Eve’s could ever achieve that, but he can dream. He can also just sicc the Lust pair on him.

That’ll put him to bed real fast.

“What’re you grinning about over there?”

He startles, not having expected Mikuni to acknowledge his presence, and nearly sloshes hot chamomile with lavender onto the pretty little matching saucer that accompanied the cup. It’s a miracle it didn’t fall over completely. Jeje lets out a breath, so quiet it’s inaudible, and curses himself for forgetting that Mikuni can see him right now.

Then again, even if he was wearing his mask, Mikuni would have seen right through him.

He always does.

His Eve is watching him still, waiting for him to move, and then his eyes flick down to what Jeje has in his hands. His lips twist.

Jeje ignores it and continues to make his way over to where Mikuni had been peacefully working. They don’t speak a word to one another, and no sooner than Jeje sets his cargo down, he’s going back the way he came, knowing it’s useless to try and ply Mikuni with words or favors.

The man is annoying in his stubbornness, too.

He hears a sniff behind him, the scratch of pen on paper once more, but it isn’t long before that little noise stops again. A sigh. Jeje chances peering around the doorframe, smiling, just a tad, as a clearly frustrated Mikuni slaps his pen down onto the counter and picks up his cup, no doubt tempted by the smell of his favorite night time blend.

A swallow. Two.

Mikuni unscrews the lid on the melatonin gummies. Pops a couple into his mouth. Chews, and swallows. The tension leaves his shoulders. He allows himself to savor the warmth in his hands.

Jeje leaves him be and heads upstairs to their room, knowing Mikuni now won’t be far behind.

“Jeje,” Mikuni calls after him, voice soft in that way it sometimes, ever so rarely gets, so quiet Jeje almost misses it. “... You still really suck at this.”

Mikuni is annoying.

#kat's katerwauling #servamp #jekuni #servamp jeje #mikuni alicein #pawprints #it's done!#it's late but it's done!

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magnetictapedatastorage · 3 years

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Cataclysmic Certainty

What if the last two people left in the zombie apocalypse were a vampire and a human? 1k words, two women that are endlessly uneasy.

Day 77:

It rained all day, so I drove slowly. I pulled over early to watch the sun go down. When I was sure it was gone, I woke her up. She was hungry. I didn't want to go to sleep, but the rain on the metal roof, the clean-smelling sheets, and the pitch darkness from the taped-over windows did me in.

"You're not eating enough," she told me. "Are you trying to lose weight?"

"I'm trying to stretch our supplies, I don't know how long this stash will last."

She looked at me oddly.

"I can see the logic in that, but I can secure more dry goods quite easily."

It was true, the undead- or rather, the other kind of undead- weren't much danger to her. The only real threat for her was starvation, so keeping me alive was a top priority.

"Well, if you're offering…"

"Of course," she said smoothly.

"I'd love some shredded raw coconut, if there's any that's still good. It looks sort of like grated cheese, and in stores it should be in the refrigerated section near the fruit. I don't think any houses will have it though."

"Got it, what else?"

I thought for a moment. "More D batteries for the hotplate, and whatever washing powder you found last time, because these sheets smell amazing."

---------

Day 101:

She asked if I wanted to waste the day with her in the dark. I agreed, because there was no good reason not to.

The summer heat was only slightly deflected by the van's white paint job. The absolute darkness was disorienting, not that there was much space to get lost.

‐--------------

Day 346:

Winter has stretched on into infinity. The days are short and simple, she helps me, I also help her, but not as much. We live very high up in a building, and I eat something there isn't a word for. Sometimes it tastes like salt, sometimes pennies, sometimes cinnamon. She invented it, said it was the way to ward off disease. My joints stopped aching, whereas in the fall they creaked whenever I moved, so I believe her.

She spends the long nights reading next to me, and every time I open my eyes- a sort of reverse blink- she is finishing another chapter in one of those heavy textbooks. She is learning so much.

"How long have we been here?" I asked her, wondering how many hours I'd been sleeping in a nest of destroyed office chair cushions.

"It'll be a month tomorrow," she tells me. "How are you feeling?"

I stared at her, unable to form words. She stared back, not coldly, but not with sympathy either. Finally, I ventured to answer. "I'm… confused. How has it been a month?"

She bookmarks a worn copy of Advances in Renewables (4th ed.), to come closer. "You've been sleeping a lot lately."

"Oh." I still wasn't quite getting it. "Why? I mean- why am I… I don't remember changing my sleep schedule."

She finally softened a bit. "Remember in the summer, where I was spending 15 hours a day locked in a box? Not that I blame you- it was the best we could do at the time- this is sort of like that. I've been making the most of this season, staying awake 20 hours at a time, but that requires rather a lot of energy. Namely, yours. You haven't been awake for more than 4 hours a day this week."

"Oh," I repeated myself, feeling my body tilt with vertigo when I sat up from the nest. "Is that…?" I wanted to say healthy, but that would be a rude question. All blood loss is unhealthy, after all. "That level of, uh- that can't be good for my lifespan, if I'm knocked out from blood loss…" I stared at nothing, scrabbling through the basic math, while single digits slipped through my fingers, "...20 hours a day. Wouldn't I remember going into shock?" Aside from the instinctive terror of the first minute or so, feeding only became truly unbearable if she took far too much. We'd done experiments, at the hospital, after she'd cleared it out from the zombie infestation. I'd agreed at the time, but the instinct to fight seemingly-certain doom had been strong. There had been a deep bruise across my chest where she'd held me still- it'd looked like one of those seatbelt burns from a serious car crash.

"That's not what's happening, I wouldn't do that to you for no reason," she insisted. "This is different. I-" she stuttered, a rare event. "I started giving you something, to help you. You were constantly bored because you couldn't see without sunlight and you hated the food and you made so much noise when I was trying to think… one of the pharmacies was really well stocked… so I tried to make it better for you. I tried to make it harder to notice the things that made you upset."

I was… I should have been horrified, clearly. It was exactly what I'd been too afraid to think about in the spring: she'd lock me up as a mindless blood-keg. I had a hard time working up the energy to fear her. And damn if she wasn't good at seeming like the good guy.

"It's nothing harmful, really, nothing even all that strong, just a first-generation antihistamine, over-the-counter, it just helps you sleep more, that's all," she explained breathlessly.

"How much?"

"Any time you ate, I've been giving you two capsules in your food. Sometimes, if you were waking up and I didn't want to be distracted, I'd just put them in your mouth before you were all the way awake."

Something was seriously wrong. "That's a lot of pills," I said vaguely.

"I know, but I didn't want to risk using something stronger."

Day 347:

"How long have we been here?"

"3 days," she answered quietly.

I blinked at her, about to argue, but decided she must be right.

"I had the strangest dream."

"Eat, then you can tell me all about it," she said, pushing a bowl of something at me. She was engrossed in an intimidatingly thick manual about wind turbine construction.

"Sort of a nightmare, actually," I mumbled between bites.

She hummed in acknowledgement.

Something hard had been mixed in, but I didn't bother picking it out to inspect it. Probably vegetable marrow or crushed Tums or some other odd supplement she decided would be necessary. It was the least I could do to follow the diet she wanted me to have. She was, after all, the breadwinner. I just happened to be the bread.

#my writing #vampires #loose/freeform but still decent imo #first person #loosely inspired by CDDA

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bimswritings · 3 years

Text

This Is Our Way

Ch.1

Summary: What happens when you make the mistake of thinking you can steel from a Mandalorian? You land yourself and job and a plethora of adventures and emotion you could never even dream of. The question is; where will those emotions lead.

Warnings: Typical canon violence, NSFW implications and scenes later on

You can also read it on my Ao3 account.

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Clouds. Dark, impenetrable, depressing grey clouds are what greet you as soon as your eyes open, just like they have every day for years during your existence on the scrappy planet of Corellia. Home to the most desperate and cruel criminals, along with the enslaved and weak civilians and captives. All mixed in with your average day citizen trying to get by.

A great place to live.

The sound of tie-fighters overhead is what first woke you, screaming as they made their morning flight overhead, acting as an ever present reminder of the Empire's presence and signaling the start of your day. Bones and joints crack in sync as you push yourself up, rubbing your eyes and crawling from the busted old weapons crate that acted as a poor supplement for a bed. Its lid laid discarded to the side, allowing the cool night air of one of the only dry nights of the month to flow in while you slept. The hard metal lining was barely tolerable, even when padded with the few scraps of fabric you had managed to snag over the years, but it was sturdy and the lid provided great protection from the ever present rain on the overcast planet.

Taking care not to trip while climbing from the enclosed space, you stumble out onto the main section of the roof and stare over the city as you stretch, trying not to cringe as certain bones popped back into place painfully. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and not even the fresh breeze that floated in from the sea could make it any more appealing.

Boring, industrial buildings stretched as far as the eye could see in varying colors of black and steel, hardly standing out against the horizon of equally dull colors only punctuated by the occasional crism Empire flag. In the middle of it all was the only decently maintained and sizable buildings on the planet, where the majority of ships for the Empire were produced. It was thanks to the presence of that one building that there was even an economy here, keeping it from turning into a more dreary and wet version of Tatooine, the outlandish world it was. The sight was enough to make your stomach churn, but had nothing on the aching pain that radiated from the organ and had you mind wondering when you had eaten last. Three, four days maybe? It didn’t matter. However long it was, the meager scraps you had managed to find behind the restaurant district of the wealthy were but a distant memory. It was this very hunger that drove you from your safe space, forcing you to climb down the pipes lining the outside of the building you resided on.

The metal creaked and groaned in protest under your weight, but you didn’t give it a second though, knowing there was nothing to worry about. You had been climbing along these fixtures for years, nimble hands and feet finding the smallest of purchases as you move along with ease.

When the ground was close enough you dropped, rolling through the impact to your feet and taking shelter behind an abandoned stall as you momentarily stumbled, vision swimming and black dots dancing before you. Force, you really need to get something to eat soon. Rainwater could only fill your stomach for so long before it lost its abilities to hold you over.

Peering around the corner, your eyes scanned the narrow alleyway, looking for any sign of stormtroopers or other rough characters that would cause trouble. You were never much of a fighter, but today especially was a day you were feeling particularly weak.

‘Alright. All I need to do is slip out, grab a couple of credits, and get back. It should be fine as long as I don’t run into-’

“Well well well. Look what we have here.” Leon’s voice spoke from behind, making you cringe and berate yourself for not being more careful. This was the last thing you needed to deal with, and Leon’s sickly smooth voice only served to grate on your nerves more as you turned to face him and his three lackeys, identifying them as Sho, Everett, and Corin.None as dangerous, but all as bad tempered as their leader.

Glacial blue eyes stared from pale skin beneath his shock of blond hair, a combo that drew ladies like flies to him. Pair that with pearly white teeth and he could have been a poster boy for some prep school on Coruscant. If not for the tattooed arms and green vest that held the insignia of a ranicore tooth, marking him as one of Sozin’s many street enforcers. His kind was the one you hated most. Cocky guys who thought that just because they were someone in some gang they had power over everyone else, not giving a second thought to those they hurt, be it man, women, or child. As long as they got a nice cut at the end of the day they were fine. Despite your hate for them, by all means joining a gang was the best way to survive here. It promised food, shelter, and constant work. All you had to do was give up your own self respect and humanity in return.

“The little Jawa had finally come out from her fortress. Tell me,” He smirked as the others formed a loose circle around you, effectively caging you in. “Get anything good lately.”

You wanted to spit at him, slap that stupid smirk off his face and leave him to go crying back to his boss. But you didn’t. Instead, you took a more casual, defensive stance, ready to get away the moment you had the chance. Slapping a fake smile on your face, you cocked an eyebrow in mock teasing.

“Please. If I had anything of interest I’m sure you of all people would know.” You were getting more nervous now, keenly aware of how close Sho was getting to your current position. Far too close for your liking.

“And with the patrols increased and punishments cracking down, things have gotten harder.''

“True, but I just never know what those sticky fingers of yours may manage to pick up. Your skill has a reputation after all.” His eyes skimmed over your body, not even trying to hide the way he was practically undressing you. The slimy bastard had been pining after you for years, ever since he had watched you lift a number of things from a trooper when you were both just young teenagers. He claimed it was for your skills but it didn’t take a genius to see he was looking for something more. “Maybe you could give me a live demonstration some time.”

And there it was.

You said nothing, only pushing yourself further against the cool metal of the wall behind you in an attempt to create some sort of distance in between you. Your stomach, the traitor it was, decided that it would be the best time to voice its own opinion, letting out a loud growl of protest that didn't go unheard.

Leon’s face took on a mask of concern and sympathy, and you might have fallen for it had you not known any better. His tone took on a softer, more whispery tone, like he was speaking to a stray feline. Not that far off if you thought about it.

“You look hungry. Why don’t you come back with me. I can get everything squared away with Sozin, and I promise, I’ll take real good care of you.”

His hand extended out in invitation, strong fingers that had ended the lives of so many gently relaxed, the other crossing behind his back in a mock gentleman pose, as if he even knew what being a decent guy even started with.

“C’mon. Think about it. No more empty stomachs or fighting for every scrap. You’d even have a nice bed to lay in at the end of the day. No more sleeping on the filthy streets.”

Scoffing, you summoned the last of your confidence, brushing past him and ignoring his invitation. “I’d rather take the streets than your blood soaked sheets any day.”

That should have been it, and it would have been for anyone else on just a code of respect among those here. But Leon wasn’t known for taking no for an answer. Before you could even make it three steps his hand closed on your elbow, bringing you back closer to him. Despite all you twisting and pulling, his superior strength kept you close, breath fanning your skin as he spoke.

“Listen here, I’ve been more than kind in my advances. A saint some may even say, so you’re not going to walk away from me, understand? No your going to come back and-”

“Hey!” A shout from the end of the alleyway interrupted him, drawing all your attention as the squadron of storm troopers rounded the corner to the alley, falling in line behind their captain.”You there! What’s going on?”

At the sight of the local law enforcement and their blasters, Leon’s grip loosened a fraction. Just the smallest amount really, but enough for you to be able to slip from his grip and between Sho and Corin before they could stop you. You ignored the shouting of the officer, sprinting in the opposite direction and around the corner into the main streets of Corellia.

‘Good luck trying to find me now.’ You smirked, pulling your hood up to conceal your face as you effortlessly blended into the crowd, becoming just one of the thousands of faces that traveled through as you continued on your way. Now it was time for the real work to begin.

Just as with the seasons, your own hunting grounds changed, ever rotating through the different sectors in order to keep law enforcement off your tail. It was one of the first lessons you had ever learned; never hunt in the same spot for more than a few weeks.

Today was a fresh start in the port district, leaving an abundance of new and unaware targets. It was a popular place for travelers as well, who were especially naive, but even with that you knew today would be a challenge. It hadn’t been a lie when you told Leon that the troopers were cracking down. More patrols and increased severity of punishments had started to begin in order to ‘cut down the crime’, as your senator put it. Fat chance of that though, as one could argue that Corellia ran on crime. Still, the effort put forth was really putting the pressure on smaller people like you, who were just trying to survive, not to mention the street vendors and shop owners had installed their own new security measures in place, leading to an unfavorable combo that led to your current weak and hungry state. So you were here, looking for some oblivious fool to cop a few credits off from your perch just outside the mechanics.

As your eyes scanned the crowd, looking for visible money holders or those with liftable jewelry and other items, you saw him. He was hard to miss actually. The beskar he wore from head to toe shone proudly even without the light of the sun hidden above, speaking of its own durability and care shown by the owner. Alongside him was a pod, closed, and most likely carrying whatever supplies he had picked up from the market. The brown cape around his shoulders did nothing to hide the gun scross his broad back, nor the dozens of smaller weapons strapped to his person.

He stood tall above the crowd, most parting like water around a stone to avoid him, and it was no wonder. Even you had heard the stories about the Mandalorians. Fierce warriors and fighters who could track their prey to the ends of the galaxy. They were the best bounty hunters and hired guns on the market. You had been witness to more than one lowlife being pulled from their seat in the cantina by his kind, kicking and begging to no avail as they were carried away, dead or alive.

Teeth gnawing on inside of your cheek, you debated with yourself. On one hand, he was a high risk target, undoubtedly being used to these kinds of places and the people who lived here. Stealing from him would earn you a blaster shot to the head if caught, that is, if he were feeling merciful enough not to crush every bone in your body. But then, he was a bounty hunter. They always carried a lot of credits, and ones worth more at that. One swipe from him could set you up for days, if not weeks! He was also the only target you had seen open worth any value the entire day, and you weren’t sure you could go much longer without food.

You debated with yourself, going back and forth as you watched him grow closer to where you sat. If you didn’t make a decision soon you would lose your chance all together.

As if detecting your hesitance, your body made the decision for you, loosening another growl from its depths, prompting you forward and before you knew it you were on the move. Pulling a small guide book from your pocket, you pretended to be grossly interested in the useless thing, eyes moving to falsely skim the words as you carefully adjusted your path closer to his, threading between the crowd with as much ease as he cut through it.

The moments before were tense, each step leaving you feeling more electrified as adrenaline coursed through your body, only feeding your blind confidence as you counted down.

‘6..5...3..2..1….Now’

You pretended to stumble, tripping on your own feet as naturally as you would walk, veering from your course and bumping into the armored man. You winced slightly as your shoulder made contact with the metal, which made your grunt of pain that much more believable and distracting while your hands got to work. Like all bounty hunters, he kept his money in front of him, just slightly to the left of his leg. A tactic to prevent pickpockets like you that frequented the scenes they often found themselves in. Smart, but you had gotten used to this tactic before, and it was a simple swipe of your hand as it quickly entered and retreated the pouch, fingers closed around an unknown number of credits, all within a fraction of a second as you mumbled apologies, raising your opposite hand in distraction as your other moved to pocket your catch.

As soon as your own fingers left the pouch, you knew you were in trouble. Years of being on the streets had taught you when you had the upper hand in a situation or not, whether you were the predator or prey. In that moment, that small fraction of a moment, you went from poised victor to the most demure of prey.

And the man in front of you was the hunter.

His hand, even quicker than your own, moved to latch onto the retreating limb. The very one holding the credits you had thought had been yours.

Head snapping up to meet his, you were faced with an unfeeling gaze in the form of silver surrounding a small ‘t’ of inky darkness that prevented you from seeing his face. You tried to pull away, only to have his stern grip tighten even more, the leather of his glove squeaking in symphony along with the crackling of the joint. Yet you still refused to drop the credits, stubbornly holding onto them out of spite and fear. If he hadn’t seen them yet, there was no way he could indefinitely prove you had taken anything from him, though the way he focused on it told you he already knew the truth.

Kriffing hell. Why had you even thought this would be a good idea. He was a Mandalorian, and in your hunger driven brain you had somehow managed to convince yourself it would actually work. Well congratulations, you had the credits, but now you were as good as dead. If he didn’t decide to deal out his own justice and kill you then and there, surely he would turn you over to the stormtrooper.

The skin on your back tingles and warmed at the thought, memories of public whippings flashing in the back of your mind and doubling your heart rate and raising your panic even more.

Maybe you could still get out of this though. He was a man, as far as you could tell anyways, and all men were susceptible to one thing, hardened warrior or not. You could distract him, try to get a trade or compromise in return for forgetting about the situation. If not him then the clones. Maker knows they were always willing to pass up small crimes every once in a while in exchange for a way to sate their horniness. Though you had never tried the practice yourself, you had heard of numerous others getting off the hook that way. How hard could it be?

Your thoughts were interrupted by movement, bringing you back from your blind panic of plotting how to get out of this. The Mandalorian had tilted his head, t-visor still trained on your face as he observed you. Those around you were all too eager to ignore the situation, walking past with explicitly diverted eyes as they went about their business. The hand not holding yours moved, making you flinch back but with nowhere to go as he kept you trained in place. It moved towards your face and you braced, eyes scrunched and ready for the impact of a palm or fist making contact.

Yet, it never came.

Instead, the soft worn leather gently pressed against your face, fingers gently running along the curve of your cheek, highlighting the bone that protruded with hunger. The occasional scrape of his beskar along the skin makes you shudder, but if he even notices he doesn’t say anything, only continuing to stare as his hand tips your face every which way for him to examine. Then he just...let go. Without another word he had dropped his hands, stepping around and continuing on his original path, leaving you behind him, frozen in place and in a state of shock.

You could have stood there for any measure of time, be it seconds or minutes. Your brain was too busy trying to process what had just happened to even think about anything else. It was only when someone rudely bumped into you, almost knocking you to the ground, that you finally snapped out of it, and suddenly you were running. Feet pounding the uneven ground as you gained speed, faces flew past as little more than blurs as you continued to put more space between you and your should-have-been attacker. If it had been any other time you might have been proud of the speed you had, the burning in your lungs of little significance. Not even when you had seen Leon once again did you blink, blowing past as he called out and tried to grab you.

Before you knew it you were rounding the alley back to your little home, leaping more than climbing up the pipes with record speed as your feet barely touched the rickety metal. You practically dove into your little crate of a home, pulling the lid and locking yourself in darkness as you tried to sooth your pulse, taking deep breaths that did little to help. Absentmindedly, you began humming to yourself. A song so out of tune and unrecognizable it would have made a wookie weep, but it was what you needed as you pressed the burning and sticky skin of your forehead against the cool metal of the wall.

Eventually, after countless repetitions or the short tune, you managed to steady yourself, bringing enough sense back to realize you were still holding onto the credits from before, which were now gripped tightly in your hand. Enough to the point where the skin had turned a pearly white and your fingers hurt to move as you slowly unclenched them, revealing angry marks and even places where the rectangular currency had bit deep enough into the skin to draw blood. But oh what a beautiful sight it was.

One hundred credits laid in your fist, clustered together in a jumble of varying amounts and different kinds, but a total amount of one hundred. You normally only got this after a week of extremely successful hunting in the summer months. The sight of it now was enough to make you cry.

Despite the urge to go and get food from the nearest vendor, you knew better than to go out right away. For all you knew he had only let you go just to follow you back to your base, probably thinking he could turn you into the stormtroopers for a bigger ransom than what he lost, or loot your own place for anything you had stored up. Jokes on him if that was the plan, because he would only get back what you took from him.

The thought stayed stuck in the front of your mind, forcing you to stay tucked in your hiding space for the remainder of the day and keeping you awake through the night. Every little sound made you jump, convinced that you would once again find yourself at the receiving end of his burning gaze, the helmet he wore only masking his expression and leaving your fate uncertain. He never showed though, never ripped the lid off your container or dragged you out into the open.

By the time you managed to fall asleep, your body finally running out of its immense supply of adrenaline, the city itself had just begun to awaken below to the wee hours of the morning, and the fighters had just begun their morning rounds once again.

‘Maybe...maybe just a few hours of sleep.’ You thought to yourself, burrowing down into your small nest of blankets. What could be the harm?

Well, apparently a lot.

You had woken up in a panic, cracking the lid to see that the sky had already gone dark once again. Swearing to yourself, you emerged once again like a Nightshrike from its cave. Foregoing any normal rituals, you allowed your body to stretch itself as you moved, hustling from rooftop to rooftop, something you only did under the cover of night. The last thing you need is someone seeing you and discovering your home up top. You would never be able to get any peace after that.

You were in a rush though, and the thought of wasting a day of work didn’t bother you nearly as much as the thought of your favorite shop closing. With the amount of credits you had now, you wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while, so the only thought you had while the dim lights of the city flicked to life below was getting there as soon as possible. Who knows, maybe you’d even have enough to treat yourself to some fruit, an expensive and rare treat for anyone on the planet.

Skidding to a stop just before the end of the row, your eyes lit up at the sight of the shop still open, clearly readying to close. Shimmying back down to increasingly deserted streets, you were already drooling at the thought of biting into something and not having to wonder what it would taste like. No more than ten minutes later you were leaving, pockets now full of brick bread as the owner locked the doors behind you.

The plan was to only eat half of one on your way back, the nutrient rich and dense pastries giving you enough energy for the day in a single bite, but not even halfway back you found yourself licking the crumbs from your fingertips, hardly holding back from grabbing one of the four remaining loafs. Instead you reached into the opposite side and grabbed the meiloorun fruit you had managed to snag.

Now this was the main event.

Sinking your teeth into the soft skin, you nearly groaned as its taste exploded on your tongue, making your taste buds dance and sing as the sweetness became so intense it almost hurt. You still loved it.

Your stomach was full for the first time in forever, almost foreign as you had begun to forget the feeling. Juice dribbled down your chin as you continued on your way home, making a deliciously sticky mess to be wiped away and cleaned by your lips, intent on not letting a single morsel go to waste.

Thankfully the trip back was less eventful than your previous outing, helping instill an eerie yet calming silence over the city and prompting you to take your time.

You always enjoyed it up here on the roofs. Hardly anyone came up, not many having the same confidence and agility possessed by you and few others, and there was an ever present breeze up here that didn’t quite reach the lower levels. Not to mention the view it gave, which was one of the main reasons you had chosen a roof as your spot for a base camp. If only you could see the stars, but alas, the sight was as rare as greenery here, leaving it up to your own imagination to construct an array of bright lights on the top of your crypt.

Finishing the fruit, you paused at the edge of the building before your own. Small lights danced in the darkness, the occasional lamp illuminating a hustling figure and the street walkers that lined the corners of streets, calling to anyone in sight. The occasional search light of a patrol ship would shin above the buildings as it made its rounds over the city.

‘Must be looking for someone’ you mused, turning back to return home. No reason to get caught out tonight, especially when you were looking at a few days of relaxation.

As you turned, a familiar flash caught your eye, triggering a new taught panic response. You could hardly believe your eyes, rubbing them extra hard just to make sure you were seeing things right. But alas the sight before you neglected to change, unfortunately not a trick of the eye like you had hoped it was, and the Mandalorian you had thought you escaped the previous day continued walking down the dark alley.

You began to sweat backing away from the edge and further out of his line of sight, trying to still keep him in yours as you peered back over and tracked his progress as he got closer.

‘Kriff. I should have known he would want his money back.’

Panicking, you began going over all the escape routes near you. Ones through city street and sewers that would be much too small for him to fit through. Though, if he had tracked you here then chances were he would be able to find you wherever you went. This really wasn’t good. You might not even be able to go collect what meager possessions you had back in your box.

Then, materializing out of the darkness as if he were made of it himself, was Leon. He stepped into the path of the Mandalorian like he had no fear and, knowing how stupid he was, you thought he might actually not have any for the bounty hunter. But why would he when he was the primary enforcer for Sozin and still had his own backup, the three from earlier.

“Hey there.” He spoke in a voice that promised nothing but trouble, hands casually resting in pockets that undoubtedly concealed a weapon of some sorts. "I've been meaning to have a talk with you. The shiny Mandalorian warrior everyone is talking about."

This, you thought, was not good.

#the mandalorian #din djarin #mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian x reader #din dijarin #din dijarin x reader #x reader #star wars #fanfiction #star wars x reader #baby yoga #grogu #mando #mando x reader #boba fett #star wars fanfiction #the mandolarian

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mellifluousoctopus · 3 years

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I decided to make a character analysis post about my observations of the tv show and what i know about the comics. I’ve bolded my main points.

abuse TW, canon incest mentioned

On Diego

Diego is often mischaracterized as gruff, insensitive, resentful of all his family, abrasive and rude. Especially towards Vanya. But in reality he’s big softie, although a less emotional one than Luther. Diego hides his feelings and vents them in other ways. No matter how visibly present they are, his has a disdain for his emotions. Maybe because they are so present. He feels very strongly. (anger and love being a very easily seen example) Reginald is cold and calculating and emotion is a blindness on the battle field as well as a liability to be manipulated by Reginald and by others. Diego hates his emotions not only to appear competent in his fathers eyes but to also hide from Reginald’s wrath. No doubt that boxing and vigilantism are whats keeping him from going insane.

He will try to deny it but his father’s teachings have big bearing of who he is now. The duty of the strong to protect the weak, vigilantism, striving to to hone and train your powers and body so that you are useful a better hero. These are ideals that Diego has taken from his upbringing and we see him live by even so much as to abandon all reason and try to save a doomed man at the price of the timeline. This devotion to the teachings of his father despite Diego’s resent of him, is an ironic circle of his father’s manipulation that birth his hero complex.

He does everything that Reginald instilled in them with the same subconscious motive. He is in confliction with his own emotions and his own motivation. Diego’s strive to be something in his fathers eyes as compared to Luther, who was seemingly given extra attention and praise. As Vanya wrote in her book, they were all starved for attention, but Diego was in such close proximity to Luther, that the extra weight attention that Luther had was in stark contrast to Reginald’s neglect. This explains both his obsession with the numbering system and his connection with Grace. In an attempt to be noticed by his father and to prove himself upon comparison to Number One. Diego pushed himself harder and harder towards more and and more impossible standards of what he thought would achieve his father’s love. But Reginald has no love and Diego broke. He began to resent Reginald and what he believed was a rank system. Before the dinner we find that Diego still believes that number is associated with rank. He appoints them as Team Zero, because the number one/number two bullshit would divide them in the face of Reginald. There is no proof that any of the others believed in the rank system.( Luther obvious believes that he is the leader, but in no way does he use his false authority as a palanquin over the other others.)

Grace supplemented Diego the attention that he lacked from his father. To all the children she was fair, gentle, calm, and understanding. She was a guiding hand and beacon of love in a cold and isolating household. To Diego she was salvation. A chance at be given love and support that he so obviously was missing. Grace probably spent more time with Diego. Both from the boy’s own choosing and from the duties given to her by Reginald, A cold, commandeering, traditionalist. Diego’s stuttered was stamped out of him out of him by all means. While corrections and punishment would come at anytime, Diego’s real speech therapy most likely given out by Grace, who is the only governess the children the remember and is seen reciting tips to him when he struggled. This extra attention validated Diego and strengthened his connection with Grace. This connection opened his eyes a bit faster to Reginald’s narcissism. Grace is Diego’s mother, she is the only thing in his life that provides unconditional love. He has seen her beyond Reginald’s programming. Seen her think and feel. Shes a person him. A person that Reginald mistreats as severely as he does the children. He treats her like an object despite her humanity and she is oblivious to Reginald’s abuse of her and the others. It makes him hate Reginald even more. Grace’s treatment is confirmation of Reginald’s. He wants to save her, but until he can he will hate Reginald for her.

As I’ve said before Luther, Diego, and Allison were the golden trio, the jocks, the children which Reginald placed most of his attention as they were the first 3 and therefore the three most manipulable. Like Luther, Diego’s emotions and his powers (which require Reginald’s shaping to be a more than average threat) earned him the title of second useful.

Diego was the third wheel among the 3. When he first began training Diego was most likely like Luther. Eager to learn, eager to help, however he was most likely motivated by fitting his father’s expectation. Later on trying to exceed his fathers expectations in order to compete with Luther. Luther was his rubric, but as it become more and more frustrating to become equal to him in his father’s eyes as well as more and more apparent that Grace was tool rather than a person Diego began to hate Reginald. Luther refused to see their father’s cruelty and Diego began questioning authority as result of this blindness. He saw Allison in a similar light. At this point she was self absorbed denier according to Diego and both Luther and Allison’s relationship (they were not subtle) reduced them to moon-eyed freaks. further fueling Diego’s self isolation and defiance.

Saving Klaus is saving people. To Diego, Klaus is a civilian that should not be. They are a victim much like Grace and their(Diego and Klaus’) siblings are to Reginald, but they have the ability to do more. Klaus is representive of Diego’s frustration with the inabilty to respond to the academy’s greater purpose.

Diego shed tears on his missing brother, but there were few good memories behind it. Five is a self assured asshole, he’s pretentious and spends little time with the siblings (except maybe with Vanya). He’s also able get to dads attention with little effort which Diego wants. His powers allow him shortcuts too. Diego was bound to be jealous and feel slighted. Diego does not instigate competition with Five because Five does not bathe in the attention nor acknowledge it. Diego also thinks the attention is less of something he compete with as such attention comes from the meeting of minds.

Ben was a great friend. They had quiet and limited friendship, though as there was a rift between their motivations. As much as both hated how they were used by Reginald, Diego focused on Reginald and his experiments rather than the powers and crime fighting (which was where Ben directed his ire) but they had great times.As we know Ben and Diego played at least one prank on Allison as children however it is implied that this was a common occurrence. These pranks could have been a form of rebellion or simple play by them that didn’t involve their powers or Reginald. I’ve chosen to believe that Ben was actually a large part of these pranks creating them and doing a lot of heavy work with them, and that Diego was the enabler, willing to help, and coming up with wackier and wackier ideas. Luther, Allison, and Five were the likely targets because they were the ones that refused to have fun on their own time, or chose to eat out of Reginald’s palm.

A lot of people think that Diego hates Vanya, for some reason. He doesn’t. He loves her. She’s his (little) sister. She sweet and timid. And she’s an innocent and a bystander to the teams greater responsibility to the innocent. When Hazel and Cha-Cha broke in, Diego is mad at Vanya for being there. Not because she’s there but because she is unable to protect herself. She has no training and she is at very very dangerous site. She is still his (little) sister and he still is obsessed with protecting the innocent. The reason people think he hates her is he feels betrayed by her. He is short and sharp, but that’s his defense. It keeps her away and keeps him from showing any other emotions. To him, she first banked on their trauma. Not only is this grossly upsetting and violating. Having all your scars presented in a public sphere is wrong especially without your consent, especially when you refuse to be vulnerable. The book is also dramatic from Diego’s point of view. Diego shuts down any extra emotion that isn’t rage. In his mind Vanya should have dealt with it and kept dirty laundry unaired or at least have been direct in her grievances, especially since she had nothing to complain about. He (and the others) believed that Vanya had it the easiest. She has no training, she was not put in the ways of violence, he believes she was never subjected to experiment. She is ordinary. She has no greater responsibility. She should be fine. His distrust is granted and validated in the second season. Born of further betrayal and fear. Vanya has gone against Diego’s raison d‘etre, she has also wiped out entirety of earth and after years of underestimating her. Shock and distrust, (but not despise) are bound to arise.

#diego hargreeves #the kraken #tua #The umbrella academy #character analysis #analysis #ik this is super over due #the one on #luther #is already out #reginald hargreeves #grace hargreeves

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thetomorrowshow · 4 years

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Slower Than Words Ch. 22

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Hey all! It’s good to be back! The break was much-needed, but I’ve missed interacting with y’all. Have a relatively calm chapter!

cw: food

Weeks passed, and Patton realized that lip-reading was harder than he thought it would be. Patton practiced every single day, studying the diagrams in the book and taking down notes on everything. Remus had at first practiced with him by saying a phrase and having Patton guess, but they had quickly realized that it was too advanced at this stage. Now, Remus held up a notecard with a phrase or word and said it. After going through five different different notecards, Remus would start over again without displaying the notecards. This helped Patton grasp it much quicker, and he had advanced to picking up several words that his therapists spoke in everyday conversation.

Sometimes, when he felt really excited, Patton would mimic the diagrams in the mirror, making the mouth movements for his own name, Remus's name, and Virgil's name. He already knew what his own name looked like, he found—he'd been unknowingly able to recognize it for years.

Patton always had the same translator at his doctor and therapy appointments, so he asked her a few questions about lip-reading and speaking. The woman was able to answer, usually, but there was rarely any time to get into a conversation. The woman did recommend some online resources and teachers for learning to speak, which Patton passed along to Remus. Patton didn't really understand the whole online thing yet. Virgil had tried to explain it several times, but it didn't make a lot of sense. Where did all of the information come from? Who put it there, ready for everyone to use? How was it usable?

Patton had learned how to use the internet in basic terms. He knew how to look for something in specific on Google, and he knew that Youtube was a thing because Remus liked showing him videos from it. Youtube had captions, unlike the television. Patton had found himself watching a lot of comedy videos, sometimes writing down the best jokes from them. He had a cheap blue notebook that he wrote the jokes and his notes in, and he kept it under his bed, like he used to do with his journal back ho—back at the cult.

Patton had researched the cult briefly on the internet, but had quickly become upset at seeing his own face on the cover of one of the articles that popped up. He'd closed it after seeing that several of the scientists, as well as the two prophets, were facing legal charges. That was all he'd needed to know.

Well, not really all. He'd been looking for any mention of Virgil. The one he'd read had mentioned him briefly, if not by name, and was now written in Patton's notebook: Investigations began after the appearance of two young men, both of whom required immediate medical care.

One was Remus. The other had to be Virgil. That meant Virgil was alive somewhere. Patton wondered if Virgil too was reading the articles, seeing that Patton was out, wondering how to find him.

Gosh, Patton missed him.

Right now, Patton was following along with a video on tongue movements for forming different letters. He wasn't sure that he was getting the S quite right, he'd have to ask Remus later. He took a few more notes on how to do it, then folded his notebook closed and took Father's laptop off incognito. Remus had taught him how to turn on and off incognito mode with a little wink, and now Patton used it almost every time he was on the laptop, which was only while Father was at his second job. For some reason, Patton felt that he wouldn't be allowed to do this.

He was just in time out of Father's room for Remus to get home from work, shooting him a fingergun (Virgil used to do those all the time) before throwing himself onto the couch. Patton longed to shake his shoulder, ask him for help practicing, but Remus was always tired right after work. Patton wasn't sure what he did, only that he was trying to find something else that paid better, so sometimes he would be out for hours after he was supposed to be home looking for a new job.

Patton slid into his room, flicking the light switch to turn it off. He rarely sat in his room with the light on, it made him uncomfortable. It almost felt as though someone was watching, though he knew that it was just a response developed from a traumatic situation, as his therapist had told him.

He'd barely been in his room for thirty seconds when Remus wandered in. He gestured to his mouth, and Patton watched carefully as he spoke.

“You - - - - to eat pr - - - - -.”

“One more time?” Patton signed. Remus repeated himself, but Patton still didn't pick it all up, so he asked Remus to sign it.

“You need to eat protein,” Remus signed slowly. “Diet time.”

Patton wasn't particularly hungry, but a part of regaining his body mass and retraining his body to eat normally was eating six or seven small, 'enriching' meals instead of three big ones. Remus was right, Patton realized as he checked the clock—it was time for his protein supplement, a meal usually made up of beef jerky and peanuts. Yay.

The weeks turned into months, and Remus decided that it was time for Patton to get some real world practice. Sure, he'd been going to therapy and all, but those folks rarely talked to him. It was time to play to Logan's weaknesses.

He brought it up over dinner one night, when Patton had already gone to bed. It rubbed him the wrong way that Logan sent him to bed instead of letting him stay up and talk to his pops, who had only been home for ten minutes. Sure, Pat had a schedule or whatever, and he had to follow it to stay healthy, but it should be his own decision. Still, there was nothing Remus could do about it. Except maybe this.

“So, when's your next day off?”

Logan shrugged. “I believe I have the morning of next Wednesday off, but that's all for next week. Why?”

Remus twirled his fork through the cheap macaroni and cheese, pretending to not be too interested in the outcome. “Just thinkin'. Pat's almost out of books again, we should probably make a trip to the library.”

Logan smiled softly at the suggestion—or maybe at Patton's name. There was no telling with the man.

“And his therapist's been saying he needs to go to a new place for enrichment or something like that. Wouldn't—”

Logan's face had already shuttered. “Absolutely out of the question. I cannot—”

“Lo, he really wants to,” Remus pleaded, letting his fork fall to the table. “He's gotta get out of this house. And what better place than a quiet library, where it's easy to watch him and sometimes there's a cop hanging out?”

“Remus, I—I can't,” Logan said, his face still stone, but now his eyes had grown sad. “I cannot, in good conscience, allow Patton to be in an unsafe environment. If I lost him again. . . .”

“You won't,” Remus cajoled. “I'll come too, watch him be safe. Just imagine how much he'll love it! Father-son bonding and all that crap!”

Logan looked down at his plate, clearly thinking deeply. Remus could almost see him weighing the options in his head. Internally, his heart rabbited, but externally Remus was the picture of calm. Hopefully. Maybe. He was probably not, but he could dream.

“I'll consider it,” Logan said eventually. “You are correct in assuming that the library is a place I would very much like to share with him. Tomorrow after tutoring Andy I will stop at the library and inquire after safety precautions. By Monday, I will have my decision.”

Remus leaned back, picking his fork up again. That was as close as he was going to get Logan tonight. If he continued to push it, Logan would completely shut down the conversation and then there'd be no chance of getting Pat out of the apartment.

They'd been watching a stupid black-and-white movie a week or three ago, and one of the characters had said a line that Patton had obviously related to. Remus had looked over to see tears brimming after the old man on screen said, “I thought I was supposed to be getting fresh air. So far, I've been in a train and a room, and a car and a room, and a room and a room.”

That probably really sucked for Patton. Remus went stir-crazy in this tiny apartment, and he was able to leave whenever he wanted. Patton left three times a week, and went straight to his appointments and then straight home. One of his doctors had actually just switched over to doing virtual appointments, so Pat was only leaving twice a week now. Kid had to be going insane.

Patton felt a bit like he was going insane.

He marked a tally in his notebook every day, one for each day that he had been out without Virgil. It sort of was a continuation of his tallies in the cell, but he couldn't remember where he had left off, so he had just started anew.

He had just filled a second page of tally marks. It had been months since he'd escaped, even longer since he'd seen Virgil. Every time Remus tried to tell him that everything was going to be okay, or Father told him that everything was okay, Patton felt anger simmer in his stomach. It was not okay, it couldn't be okay, it would never be okay without Virgil. Even if he had to be trapped in this horrible apartment for years, it would be wonderful with Virgil by his side.

Every day, he followed the same schedule. Therapy exercises, meals at precise times, lip-reading studies, regular reading, bed at ten PM. It was terrible.

He couldn't help but feel excited, though. He was leaving, at least for a little bit! Father had asked him if he wanted to go to the library with him tomorrow, and Patton had thought his heart was going to drop out of his chest. Both Father and Virgil had told him about libraries, and how beautiful they were, and how many books were always there.

Patton was finally going to a new place, and it was the library. All of the anger he'd been feeling over the past weeks had washed away, replaced only with anticipation. Even with Father there, this had to be the best thing to happen in months.

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