#Pip is a relatively big bird

[zuppizup]

#Pip is a relatively big bird #I guess #the dragon prince #tdp #tdp spoilers #tdp s6 spoilers #fandom crack #its a joke lads 😆

[popculturebuffet]

Monthly Muppets: Bear in The Big Blue House Special (Share, Bear, When You Gotta Go, And a Berry Blue Christmas)

Welcome to big blue house, greetings from this large orangutan man. I'm Jake and this is muppets monthly, my monthly morsel of muppet madness comissioned by my good friend Emma. This months we're doing things a bit diffrently in two ways. The first is that this won't technically be monthly as we're doing TWO for you! This article and a suprise one i'll announce at the end of this one that's a big deal.

Neither however is what was previously announced in my last Monthly Muppets review: Follow That Bird. So for those of you who read these monthly, hopefully at least one of you but if not that's fine too, a quick explination: life happened while I was busy making other plans. And while normally that sets me back work wise and sometimes causes me to cancel reviews outright, here it was a good thing and a rare thing too: Disney actually put a show from the archives on disney+!

This is notable because while EVERY company hoards one or two shows and dosen't put them on streaming wether it's the plug another service, make money on tax writeoffs because their dickheads who somehow make disney look dignified, or

Disney is still one of the leaders in hoarding a decent amount of cartoons and a few other shows for no reason and has released them at a rate of

So when one finally happens, it's an event. Now to me this was neat, but not a huge thing, as while I love any muppet stuff getting published and this show had always seemed decent, I hadn't grown up with it the way many of you probably have and while I watched plenty of Nick JR as a kid even in elementary when nothing was on Cartoon Network, and geninely enjoyed some shows like Blues Clues i'm not ashamed to admit, I just never checked out playhouse Disney.

Emma however grew up with the show, and it was osmething she brought up any time I brought up the fact Disney realyl needs to pry open that vault. So since she pays for these I suggested covering a bunch of episodes, so I could experince the show myself since not being in the target Demo's never stopped me before. She agreed easily, and here we are.

For this I had her pick 4 episodes, since my usual going rate is 5 dollars an episode and since she was picking three (the equilvent of a movie) she got a fourth episode free. So I watched the Season 1 ep Share, Bear, the season 2 ep When You Gotta Go, and the Season 3 two parter a Beary Blue Christmas. What did I think of this very vibrant, mildly weird, show? find out under the cut.

Big Blue House Things

So before I get to the episodes themselves I wanted to break down my impressions on the shows style itself. I would break down it's history but I got VERY little: a little googling turned up nothing, and while the DefunctTV episode for Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was super helpful for that review, the episode for Bear in the Big Blue House, one of the few things I could find, only covered that it was made as part of Playhouse Disney, now Disney Junior's humble beginnings and was it's first big hit, and that the creator of the show wanted to make the show a calm peaceful place, the opposite of what he grew up in. So there you go.

Like most preschool shows, the show sticks to a very tight formula: after the very catchy theme song welcoming us to the blue house and everyone inside it, the titular bear, a kind, gentle fellow played by Noel MacNeal welcomes the viewer.. .then sniffs them

He then does something with one of the four children in his house. Naturally this being a kids show why Ojo the Bear (Vicki Ebner) , PIp and Pop future walter Peter Linz and Tyler Bunch) the twin otters, some sort of horrifying demon in the body of a lemur named Treelo who hangs out with Ojo lest it eat her soul,

Tutter (linz). I did far more thinking than is sane or acceptable on this topic to try and figure out who was actually living here, why they were all here if some of them have relatives, what the fuck Treelo is and if their going to kill me in my sleep while the last one will likely haunt me into madness, I did come up with the answers to

What's Bear's Legal Guardian Status For These Children

Ojo I assume is Bear's daughter, adopted or otherwise, who he shares custody with someone else, as she apparently sleeps over in one episode, so she dosen't apparently live there for whatever reason. Maybe he and her mother divorced, maybe she died and her grandparents take her on weekends, maybe hse does live there and they just played sleepover. I don't know, i'd have to watch more episodes. I"m going with Emma's suggestion for Tutter: that he just came with the house and while he does have a grandma and uncle, they may just not be able to take care of him full time or knew he was squatting in a big blue house, and let Bear adopt him. He is the only one fully confirmed to live in the house, as he has a tiny hole with a tiny toilet and everything. For the twins, I assume Bear simply looks after them: they do have grandparents who show up in the intro for the christmas ep and then in no other part of it and their otter pond is nearbye. My guess is since, according to wikipedia, the two run the town library, they need someone to look after their kids during the day and bear being basically jesus but a bear in both senses of the word, gladly does so. Finally we have Ojo, some ratty squeaky voiced nightmare. Picture elmos voiced but pitched up, on a mountain of cocaine and nigh incomprehinsible. If your not recoling in terror your stronger than I. Ojo I see as kind of like the collector from Owl House: a cosmic entity with the mind of a child. And as such while my reaction to her screeching voice and desire to take all things from everyone is

Bear is trying to raise her right so she dose'nt kill us all one day. He truly is our own personal jesus. Our star jesus given his parents are the sun and the moon. Don't ask questions.

Anyways after that cul de sac…

Back to the Formula

So bear usually visits shadow, a living shadow whose owner.. died I guess? I don't know, but she and bear are close friends and she might have a thing for him given she gives him a smooch in the christmas ep. We'll never know. Shadow usually brings a video for bear, they watch it , and she saunters off. I like shadow a lot being adorable, kind and energetic.

Bear will then get back to the topic/problem of the day, stuff sure does happen, then we end the episode with Bear visiting what I assume to be his mom the Moon as she's known him his whole life. Otherwise it's just creepy. He recaps the episode, they sing an adorable goodbye song and now you knwo the plot. IT's simple and while it got a tad repetitious after four times, though the christmas ep helped with it's serious overarching story, I get that younger kids LOVE repetition as much as Bear loves honey, and that this seris ultimately wasn't aimed at grown men. It's perfectly lovely to watch, having great puppetry, fun characters aside from that thing lurking in the dark waiting to summon it's brothers the lords in black, and beautiful music. It's just aimed at a much younger audience and wasn't made with multidemographic appeal in mind like most cartoons I watched. It was made to edcuate and soothe young children without talking down to them, with a calm wise mentor doing so. It does that excellently. As for what I thought about each episode and what dumb jokes I can make about each episode… let's see

Share, Bear (Season 1)

Share Bear follows Bear as he collapses finding out the tragic bloody history of Bear Sauske's older brother while he prepares to burn the world and Ojo, realizing she can't fix his bloody path, prepares to sacrifice herself ot kill him. Oh wait tha'ts something else i've been consuming. No this one follows the kids as they have various squabbles Bear breaks up through compromise getting them to share. The first is Ojo and Mouthface, the beast of a thousand nightmares, who are arguging as Green Machine wants to consume Snow Bear, Ojo's cuddly toy. Bear uses a game I swore he was making up but didn't, snow bear in the woods, to get them to share.. and to teach Ojo not to consume the innocent I assume.

Next up is Tutter who makes a big sandwich that sure looks good. Bear wants to eat it, but Tutter says no so like the cool dude he is, Bear backs off. Pip and Pop, being two little schemers, do not back off and keep pressuring tutter. Bear, not getting boundaries forces Tutter to share, but agrees to get Pip and Pop to share their apples. As you can see i'm not really fond of this one as while I belivie sharing is nice, sometimes your stuff.. is just your stuff. Like a sandwich that probably took you two hours to make because your a tiny little guy. It's okay to OFFER to share and good too, but you shoudln't force it on someone.

Finally he has to break up a fight between all four as they all want the attic, because to a kid the attic is either spooky as hell and full of crown molding spiders… or the coolest place ever and full of crown molding and spiders. Bear gets them to visit the picnic, all is well, this episode is pretty good. The next two are better but it has a simple lesson it mostly dosen't botch. It is nothing however compared to the next episode which is paticuarlly famous why…?

When You Gotta Go (Season 2)

BECAUSE THIS ONE'S ABOUT THE BATHROOM

… i'm not exaggerating. This one has Bear teaching kids about the potty. They use the term potty more than your average episode of Rugrats. It is everywhere. It's valid for the target audience and done with care, teaching kids not to hold it and that accidents happen to everyone. And look i'm not usually a big toilet humor guy.. but a bear singing about the potty for two minutes broke me. I suppressed a laugh so hard not because I had to but because my mother who works from home (and yes who I live with at 30), was downstairs and can hear it when I laugh loudly as this deserved. There's also Shadows song which is just singing about how good the potty is. This episode wasn't OUTLOUD hilarious but it's hard not to.

Like I said though the aseop is well done and relatable even at 30: Everyone's held it for stupid reasons, everyone had an accident as a kid (and sometimes as an adult when your sick), and it's valid to tell little kids that you NEED to just take a break and pee when you gotta or that if you miss the toilet it happens as long as you tried, and HOW to go about both things. It's not something that really takes a lot of depth and nuance from me to disect, but it's well done tv and I can see why this stuck with emma.

Despite the subject I can't even riff on it TOO much as it meant well and was trying to edcuate kids. Sure hearing that "your mom and dad" had a potty made me giggle like a child, but MOSTLY this episode avoids any sort of weird stuff.

That being said.. there is one thing we have to talk about in detail: Bear's toilet. Now he has a toilet sized for Ojo, for the otters, and one in tutter's mousehole. A little guy toilet. But as far as I can tell the rest of the bathroom is not sized for bear. And bear is well.. bear sized. Like the puppet is a guy in a full body suit. It's how he showed up on many things including hollywood squares, which I will HAVE to review next year as a clip of one ep he was on showed it also featured Macho Man randy savage. I never knew Randy Savage interacted with a muppet, but now I do it's all I can think about.

Point is he's a big boy. At best if he poops in this toilet it's going to cause a disaster that goes down in the history books and my therapists notebook. I get as Emma postulated he's probably too polite to make a fus about it but it's his house. Just install a fourth toilet bear. The cleanup isn't worth it. We all love and worry about you bear! Quit shitting on a toilet too small for you! You deserve better! your raising four children and the spawn of chtulu. GET YORUSELF A GROWN BEAR TOILET.

Or maybe he poops in the woods. I dunno. Solid episode. Could've used one more song.

A Berry Blue Christmas

Our last ep for today is a great one and a Christmas one. Yes it creeps in earlier every year don't it?

This episode got way more serious than I was expecting.. and it's not like say, the bear gets scabies and the kids all have to deal with the ramifications, it's more that it tackles an issue I didn't expect a show for toddlers to tackle, but one i'm glad it does and does so with maturity, grace and civility some shows meant for way older viewers lack on the topic: homelessness.

The episodes center around Jack, an elderly dog who Bear finds howling in the woods and takes in, and who turns out to be of course homeless. It's done well with the kids being confused and shocked and poor tutter being terrified by the idea, even singing a whole song about it complete with an utterly heartwrenching black and white vision of a homless tutter worrying if his friends can find him. Bear assures him of course he'll always have a home here, but it's still sobering and tackles what most kids probably would feel at that age realizing this is a thing that happens and it's horrible.

It's also nice just how much compassion the show has: not suprising, it's a very lovely show, but it shows that someone whose homeless is what they are: just a person without a home struggling to get by and who needs warmth and love. Jack consequently is a good boy, being kind to the kids, and fine they didn't get him a gift as gladly welcoming him into their home, feeding him and including him in thier activities is enough, and he even helps the kids make a present for bear as they didn't know what to get the man who has everything. The story was all out of alien dream plants.

Another thing I can give the show over MANY adult shows tackling the same topic… is that they DON'T just abandon Jack after this episode. While he gets a happy ending, Doc Hog, a local hog I swore was the show gaslighting me when they opened with half a dozen characters we hadn't seen before, many ff whom barely factor into the episode or in the case of tip and tup's grandparents, not at all, adopts him and gives him a home, he dosen't just vanish. Looking into it he shows up at least once next season running the fire station. Most episodes that do an aseop tend to forget the character exists for convivences sake but it took a show aimed at toddlers to realize "Hey people will notice this person vanished".

Jack is also played by David Goetz, aka Gonzo, and I had to look up who as while Goetz uses that voice a decent amount, I didn't know who did it exactly. I did recognize it from this threatning pig who lives rent free in my head though.

The special also welcomes all holiday cultures. While primarily about christmas, like most specials at the time it also covers Hannukah and Kwanza. I honestly miss that and wish more shows would do more than just christmas, with The Ghost and Molly McGee being the only one in recent memory I can think of. If you know more please feel free to tell me. Nothing wrong with christmas, as my usual holiday deluge of reviews will show, it's just said deluge also shows it's the most covered of any holiday and there are others like ramadan that have'nt gotten a special i'm aware of. The songs are both for diffrent holidays and it's nice.

We also have bears own bearcentric tradition the winter berry hunt, a hunt for one berry based on a bear long ago finding only one berry and splitting it. It's also how jack gets a home as the twins use their wish for him because he's a very good boy.

Some final notes the twins ask for millions and millions of clams in the christmas gift asking song. THEY NEED CLAMS, INFINITE CLAMS, CLAMS TO DROWN OUT THE SCREAMS AS THEY BUILD THEIR CLAMOCRACY. THE FUTURE. IS. CLAM.

Also the Goodbye Goodbye song includes, depsite it's joyful tone, homeless tutter and the kids worrying about not having a present for jack. I couldn't stop laughing

Finally we have our ranking as thanks to Letterboxd having this special, I can include it in our list along with the toilet episode since they both had vhses!

So that's goodbye goodbye from me, and i'll see you pretty soon I know… as next time we cover MUPPETS FAMILY CHRISTMAS. Muppets, Seasame Street, Fraggle Rock. All under one roof. Be there and thanks for reading.

#bear in the big blue house #muppets #disney junior #disney channel #disney #Youtube

[hispipsqueak]

Burned

Enji Todoroki x F!Reader - NSFW

A/N: So @cozykozume​ wanted me to name this “Cooling Down the Fire Daddy” so there’s that. Anyways, in case you didn’t know, I LOVE Enji Todoroki....like an extraordinary amount. Which is hilarious, because I started the series hating him but I digress. So here’s one of my favorite things I’ve written and also one of the longest posts because I just...I am just so soft for this man. <3 Pip

WC: 4.5K

TW: unprotected sex, feelings, slight size kink, oral (f receiving), drunk sex, slight angst if you squint, slight authority kink (good girl etc.)

H/N = Hero Name

When you stepped into the meeting that morning you weren't sure what to expect.

"Welcome back!" Midnight's cheery voice cut through the air, her eyes bright. You smiled at her as the rest of your colleagues responded with a variation of greetings and welcome's. You had been on a six month long mission across the globe and arrived back yesterday. Though you were slightly jetlagged, you were ready to throw yourself back in the grind of hero work.

As you took your seat your eyes roamed to the largest figure in the room. Endeavor had stayed silent, his eyes trained on the brief documents in front of him. Hell, you weren't even sure if he had noticed you had returned. Your heart sank slightly.

What did you expect? It had been six months, six long, confusing months since that night of booze and desire. Six months since you had felt his large hands wrapped around your body, his lips pressed against your neck hungrily as you grinded against him.

Fuck. You cut another glance at him. His eyes were narrowed as he read over the papers in front of him and his face was in it's permanent scowl. If he noticed you at all, he was doing a good job hiding it. 

Your thoughts were interrupted by Hawks swaggering in the room. 

"Hey h/n! Long time, no see! How was the mission?" He called out, pulling you into a friendly hug. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Enji shift. 

"Great. Managed to bust the kingpin and shut the entire operation down. Glad to be back though". You smiled back at the winged hero. He nodded, before taking his seat right next to the flame hero.

"Mornin' Endeavor!" his cheery voice rang out.

Enji grumbled a greeting, his eyes not looking up

Eraserhead cleared his throat from the head of the table.

"Let's get started."

You couldn't help zoning out as the dark haired hero discussed the current mission. You forced your eyes to stare at the file in front of you and not the man across from you. You were so focused, you almost didn't hear your name.

"H/N, you will be working with Endeavor."

Your eyes widened, and your head snapped up. You finally dared to look at Enji who's expression hadn't changed. As Eraser concluded the meeting, you steeled your nerves and walked to the flame hero.

"Endeavor, I-"

He cut you off. 

"Train. I will not be dragged down by you because you haven't sparred properly in six months." 

Your demeanor steeled. 

“I wasn’t just partying it up over there. I was working.”

If he cared, it didn’t register on his face. His turquoise eyes were fixed at the spot above you instead of meeting yours. Without another word, he turned to leave. You felt your face grow hot. Determined to not show emotion, you pursed your lips, grabbing your things to head back to your apartment.

---

“Endeavor, you lucky dog.”

Endeavor looked up from the paperwork on his desk with a bored expression.

“What are you talking about Hawks?” His voice was tinged with annoyance as he looked back down to the documents from the intel team.

“Stop pretending you aren’t thrilled to be working with H/N. She’s the BEST, and between you and me, she’s definitely one of the most beautiful heroes.” The blonde faux-whispered, tossing back his head in a chuckle.  Endeavor fixed him with an aggravated stare.

“I have no desire to work with H/N. She has been on a mission for 6 months, so we are at a disadvantage anyway, since I doubt she was actually working all of that time. Especially since her behavior is comparable to yours.”

Hawks cocked a bushy brow.

“Deny it all you want, big guy. Your body language is different when you’re around her. You should ask her out. I’m sure she’d say yes. Some girls like the mean and broody type.”

Smoke emitted from the corner of Endeavor’s desk, where his hand rested. Clearing his throat, he attempted to put it out, but not before the annoying bird hero noticed.

With a smirk, Hawks headed towards the door. 

“Don’t screw this up, Endeavor!”

----

What Hawks didn’t know is Enji had already screwed this up. Before you left, six long months ago, you and Endeavor were on relatively friendly terms. Well as friendly as one can be with the hotheaded flame hero. It was you that convinced him to go out that night with the other pro-heroes. And when the night ended, he had walked you home.

Surprisingly, he could be a gentleman when he wanted to be.

The walk home had been quiet, though you and Enji both had a bit to drink. Emboldened by the alcohol, you finally had turned to him.

“Enji, why do you try to push us away?”

Your boldness surprised him. It wasn’t a surprise he could come off a bit stoic, at best. Yet no one, especially newer heroes, called him out on this behavior. It was just “how he was”. Before he could stop himself he blurted out,

“I don’t wish to hurt people anymore.”

His face heated up and you could see a crimson blush rising up towards his ears. In that moment, you could see a glimpse of Enji, not Endeavor.

This wasn’t to say Enji wasn’t attractive. Yet, him exposing himself, allowing vulnerability? That made your heart jump in your chest. Turning away, you thought about what he meant. You knew his family had been estranged from him, his kids not a frequent presence in his life. You had seen a few gossip magazines detailing how his kids often avoided their childhood home, and you had read about Rei’s hospitalization. You imagined how lonely he must feel, though if there was truth to any of those rumors, you could see why they would be wary.

“This is your home, yes?” 

His voice broke your train of thought. You looked up and realized all too soon the two of you were outside your door. Your hand rested on the door handle and you imagined him sitting in a quiet living room, a house empty.

“Would you like to come in for a bit?” Your voice was squeaky and unsure and you were surprised when he grunted in affirmation. 

Wordlessly he followed you into the apartment. Somehow, without speaking, you could both feel it. The loneliness that bonded you, the freedom of being vulnerable in the dark blanket of the night, these moments allowing you to breathe and just be without expectation and titles. Because here, you weren’t pro-heroes, you were yourselves, seeking the tiny bits of comfort the other could provide. 

As you entered the apartment, the silence between you intensified. Your stomach was buzzing with nerves and as you looked up at him, you could feel the anticipation of who would break first. His hands found your hips and pulled you towards him, and soon his lips were on yours. He tasted like the scotch he had been drinking, warm and rich. His hands were hot where they met your skin, and you pressed closer in his embrace. Rough stubble scratched at your skin and you kissed him deeper, desperately wanting to let him in and lose yourself in him at the same time.

Your back pressed against the wall, and his fingers grazed the bottom of your shirt. Breathlessly you finally broke apart. Looking in each other's eyes, you unbuttoned your shirt, fingers trembling in anticipation. He took this as his cue to pull off his own, and you admired his strong muscles, littered with scars. You could feel his eyes roam your body as you undid the last button, leaving you in a simple bra and pants. His hands, hands that could throw buildings and fight villains, were gentle against your skin, slowly running over your belly to the edge of your bra. When you didn’t protest, he tugged at the clasps, letting it fall off your shoulders to the floor.

He pressed hungry kisses to your shoulder, slowly working his way down. His touches were gentle, as if you would break if he wasn’t careful and his mind raced, wanting to explore every inch of you. A soft moan escaped your lips as he nipped at your neck. Enji’s body tensed, and his grip tightened as he kissed lower, desperate to hear more of your sweet noises. 

His pants were painfully tight now, and you seemed to understand, because he could feel your small fingers working the latch on his belt, tugging his slacks down and exposing the tent in his boxers. He let out a low groan as your fingers wrapped around his clothed cock. Enji was a lot bigger than anyone in general, though he never really thought about it until now, when your hand was struggling to wrap completely around his thick member. 

 Maneuvering his hands from your hips, he cupped your breasts, pressing aching kisses to them. He sucked bruises into your skin, and bit back a groan as your fingers found their way under his waistband. Enji wrapped his arms around your waist, lifting you up, and you nodded to the general area of the bedroom. Nudging the door open, he gently rested you on the bed. Sliding your pants over your hips, leaving you exposed, a thin pair of black panties being the only barrier between the redhead and your sex.

His hands gripped your things, parting you open and he placed a soft kiss on your belly. He worked his way lower, hooking his fingers under your waistband and dragging the material over your curves before tossing it off the bed. Tracing over your soft mound with his finger, he pushed open the lips of your cunt. Like a man starved, he buried his face in your pussy, his tongue devouring your slick.

Your hands gripped his red hair and he groaned into you. Pulling your legs over his shoulders, he fucked you on his tongue, before sucking your throbbing clit between his lips. Eyes rolling back, your breathy moans filled the apartment. You felt yourself climbing higher and higher, so close to euphoria as you grinded on his face.

“Fuck...delicious.” He growled into your cunt. His fingers gripped your thighs, almost painfully and the vibrations of his voice pushed you over the edge. Your thighs squeezed around his head and your back arched off the soft bed as you cried out his name. He continued his assault on your cunt, slurping down your juices as your fingers tugged his locks, gasping at the overstimulation. Still, Enji continued to drown himself in you, your sweet taste like nectar of the gods. He wanted so much more of you, to stay here for hours, pulling orgasm after orgasm out of you. He could feel the muscles in your thighs tense as you came again, your body trembling from the impact.

Pulling away, he kissed your lips, the taste of you on his tongue. Your tongues entwined, as your arms wrapped around his neck, feeling the muscles of his upper back flex. Too soon and yet not fast enough he broke away, positioning himself between your legs, his massive frame towering over you. His hands rested on the bed on opposite sides of your face as he looked down at your body. Your lips were puffy from his kiss, parted slightly. Your eyes were glassy, half-lidded and hungry for more. You met his gaze and inhaled, giving him the slightest nod. He lined his cock up with your entrance, gently pushing the head in. You gasped at the stretch, and after a moment rocked your hips, spurring him to continue. Easing his cock in, he gritted his teeth at how tight your cunt wrapped around him. His hands moved to your hips as he pulled himself out of you, leaving the tip in before thrusting back into you.

Gripping your hips, he bounced you on his cock easily. Moans fell from your mouth, stuttering each time he bottomed out in you. One hand left your hip and gripped the headboard as his heavy balls smacked against your ass. Enji groaned as your legs wrapped around his waist, forcing him deeper. The headboard creaked under his force as he pounded into you, your moans of his name spurring him on, making him want to give you all of him. Your small hand ran over his chest, the dark hair soft under your fingers as you dug your nails in his skin. You felt overwhelmingly full, his thick cock filling every crevice inside you.

Enji’s fiery eyes roamed  your body, watching as your breasts bounced with each thrust. He could practically see the bulge in your belly from his cock and as lewd as the scene was, there was something so beautiful about you in the throes of passion. His name dripped from your lips like a mantra and he could feel the desire, the want that you carried, begging him to give you everything he had. Your fingers danced across his muscles, a touch so intimate. A touch he hadn’t felt in years.

With a crack, the wooden headboard began to splinter as Enji unloaded into you with a shout. Your body felt heavy as he shot white ropes of cum deep inside you, some spilling out around his cock and onto your sheets. With a final groan, he stilled, slowly sliding his softening cock out of you and collapsing next to you on the bed.

It was silent, except for the sounds of both of you breathing hard, your chests rising and falling in tandem. Enji could hear his heart thumping wildly and he turned to look at you. Your eyes were closed, breathing labored but slow and you sleepily turned towards him, laying your head on his massive bicep. 

The next morning, he was gone. The only evidence that the night had even happened was the crack that ran across your headboard and the glass of water on your night stand. Enji avoided you during hero meetings, always somehow on a busy patrol when you called, his assistant taking your message, yet again until you gave up trying.

When the months-long mission was offered to you, you accepted it without hesitation. Enji didn’t attempt to say goodbye.

-----

Now, Enji was torn. 

There was no getting out of this. He thought about reaching out to Eraserhead to ask about working alone, though he knew the sleepy hero would ask questions he didn’t want to get into. Enji furrowed his brow as he swung again at the punching bag in front of him, taken to training in his private outdoor home gym rather than the regular hero gyms to avoid you, though you hadn’t made any more attempts to speak to him.

He jabbed at the bag. This was ridiculous. He was a pro-hero. Allowing this to interfere with his work made him weak, and Endeavor was not weak. 

He wasn’t weak.

Enji threw a few more punches, shaking the sweat off as he reached for the bottle of water behind him. 

“Enji.”

He stiffened.

“Enji Todoroki, I don’t know why you are ignoring me or what I did to you, but we need to talk about what happened.” Your voice was clear, stronger than it was the day of the meeting.

He took a swig from his water bottle, biding his time. Finally turning around, he faced you. You were in a simple t-shirt and track pants, probably coming from a workout yourself. Your eyes were ablaze, demanding to get answers. Enji felt a stabbing pain in his chest as he compared the image of you now, to the image of you from that night.

“I have nothing to say. We will work on this mission, and be civil to each other. That’s all.” Enji attempted to push past you and you turned on your heel.

“You know what? Fine. You want to pretend you didn’t feel anything that night? That meant nothing to you whatsoever? Was it just to hook up, get your dick wet and leave? Because you didn’t need me for that.” Your tone was angry but Enji could hear the hurt in your statements. Facing you, he glared down.

“What do you want from me? To be your boyfriend? I’m not that man. Try Hawks, he’s into that sort of nonsense. I don’t need or want this trouble in my life anymore.” Enji’s voice was hard, the tone he used for villains or the press. You searched his face, seeking the man from that night. Enji, not Endeavor.

You thought over his words. “Enji...what are you so afraid of?”

The tone of your voice shifted. Softer, easier. He remembered how he felt when you begged for him, when you showed your desire for him through each touch and kiss. He finally looked into your eyes, eyes so full of earnest curiosity. Why couldn’t you just make this easy? He swallowed hard.

Fat droplets of water splashed onto his arms, and no sooner did he notice that the sky opened up, sheets of rain pouring over the two of you. Without thinking, he gripped your hand tugging you to the house. Even though it wasn’t a far journey, you were both soaked, and he could see you shivering. Grabbing a towel from the linen closet, he wrapped it around your shoulders. You murmured a thanks, standing awkwardly in his doorway.

He reached for your hand, leading you to the laundry room. Your hands were small in his and he tried to not focus on his heartbeat that pounded in his ears. 

“Wait here.” He grunted, leaving to grab clothes for both of you. He grabbed one of his, then thought better and dug around for anything Fuyumi or Rei may have left. No luck. He sighed, returning to the room where you were sitting on top of the washer.

Thrusting the clothes into your hands, he left to give you some privacy to change as he pulled on his clothes. A few minutes later he heard you giggling. You stepped out, drowning in his way too big shirt. The shirt extended nearly to your knees. The sweatpants he gave you were sliding off your hips and he glimpsed your thighs as you attempted to pull them up. Shrugging, you let them fall to the floor, your legs exposed.

“Sorry, but I don’t think they will stay on. Luckily, your shirt hides everything important.” You said, looking down. Enji mentally disagreed, since any inch of skin he could see would be burned into his brain forever.

Tossing both your clothes into the washer, he set the timer and then it was silent. You spoke first.

“I thought I did something wrong.”

Enji turned to you, Your gaze was fixed on the washing machine, though your eyes looked distant. You continued.

“I thought maybe you thought it was a drunken mistake.”

“I wasn’t drunk.”

You turned. Enji’s cerulean eyes were downcast at the laminate flooring. You opened your mouth to speak but he cut you off.

“I’m not good at this. I’m not stupid, I know the rumors about my family that people say. They aren’t all lies. I did fuck it up. I did a lot of bad, terrible things and pushed them away. Rei, and the kids...they didn’t deserve any of the pain I caused them.”

His shoulders sagged, the weight of his past overtaking him. “I did, I do love them. But I understand why they had to leave.” He sat on the small couch in the corner.

Enji felt your hand cover his, your thumb rubbing circles over his knuckles. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.

“Enji...doing shitty things doesn’t make you a shitty person. You can’t punish yourself forever.” Your voice was soft, soothing. Enji finally met your eyes.

“I’ve already fucked that up. I fucked this up. I don’t want to hurt people I care about anymore. It’s easier this way.”

You wrapped your arms around him. The two of you made quite a sight, the smaller figure cradling the large man. You stood in front of him and he let himself relax into you, his head resting on your chest. He could smell your scent, warm and comforting, even under his shirt. Your fingers grazed his hair, holding him to you. Enji thought of the nights where he lay in bed, allowing himself to imagine your body next to him. 

He was tired of being strong.

“Enji...I can’t say everything will be perfect. But punishing yourself before it starts isn’t going to do anything but cause more pain.”

He could feel your heartbeat, a steady rhythm that matched his breathing. He was aware of his hands around your body, your soft strokes in his hair. He thought about how it would feel to have your touches, hold you in his arms every day, every night.

Enji allowed himself to fall.

He raised his head, his lips meeting yours. With each kiss he silently told you his hopes, his fears, and his apologies. In turn, you gave him comfort and acceptance. He pulled you onto his lap, so you were straddling him, kissing you hard to make up for the months of missed opportunities. 

You kissed for what felt like forever, never wanting to stop. His hands slid down your back and across your thighs, going under your shirt. 

“You look so good in this. Wanna see this more often.” He whispered, a smirk on his face. You giggled and he had the desire to hear all of your beautiful sounds. In time, he reminded himself.

“Enji, are you flirting with me?” You teased and he pulled you close in another kiss. His hands wandered across your soft skin and he could feel the hardened peaks of your nipples through the thin cotton of the shirt. He kissed down your jaw, and your fingers grasped at his hair, causing him to groan into your neck.

“You tease me so much, Y/N.” He growled out as you grinded on his lap. You could feel his cock stir through his joggers, and you felt yourself growing wetter on his lap. He pulled your shirt up to your waist, exposing your thin panties to him. He could feel your arousal through the fabric and ran his thumb down the dark spot over your cunt. You let out a soft whimper and his eyes blazed with hunger.

 Pulling your shirt above your tits, he took one in his mouth, sucking harshly. He grazed your nipple with his teeth, causing your back to arch. He switched sides, his tongue swirling around the sensitive bud. Your hips rocked against his bulge, more prominent now and he pulled away from your chest.

“I want you Enji.” Your voice was soft and seductive, and Enji felt your words go straight to his cock. Picking you up, he carried you to his room. The lights were dim and you didn’t have time to look around before he dropped you on the bed, pushing your legs apart and lapping at your cunt through your drenched panties.

“Already so excited, sweet girl. Taste so good for me.” Enji murmured into your pussy, pressing kisses and bites to your thighs. You whined, attempting to push down your panties and he laughed, a low chuckle that rumbled in his chest. 

“So eager, aren’t you?” 

You pouted at him. “It’s been too long and I’ve missed you so much.”

Enji was grateful for the dark room hiding the blush that spread across his face. He busied himself by dragging your panties down at an agonizingly slow pace, taking the time to admire your legs, his fingers skimming the skin causing shivers to go down your spine. Enji turned to take in the scene. Your body, draped across the sheets, mouth parted, eyes full of want staring up at him, silently begging for him. He had pictured this many times, many sleepless nights, but the reality was so much better.

“So beautiful.”  HIs voice was quiet, and his heart thumped wildly. He was nervous, even though he had already been with you once before. This time felt so raw, so much more real. He wanted to be with you in every way he could, in any way you would let him and he could tell you wanted the same.

As he pulled off his shirt, your hands slid into the waistband of his pants, grazing over the head of his throbbing cock. He groaned as your fingers slid over the sensitive head, smearing precum down the shaft. You pushed down the rest of his clothes and he kneeled between your legs. Both of you were quiet, and you could feel the excitement in the air of doing this, being with each other completely. It was vulnerable, it was scary, but he trusted you to be there when he fell. And in turn, you trusted him to be yours.

Pushing into you, your breath hitched. He felt your body clamp down on him, and he slowed, easing his way in. Your nails dug into the skin of his biceps and you gasped as he bottomed out in you.

Pressing his forehead to yours, he searched your eyes for discomfort. Instead you gazed at him with complete adoration, bright eyes completely infatuated.

“You’re perfect, Enji.” Your voice was quiet and breathy, but clear. In response he pressed a harsh kiss to your mouth, trying to explain every emotion he felt, words he couldn’t say just yet. As you kissed, he rocked into you, his thick cock dragging against your walls. Your soft moans were swallowed by his kisses, and the stinging marks left on his arms only drove him crazier. He fucked into you faster, feeling your tight cunt squeezing around him, wanting so badly to stay inside you forever.

Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead, and the room was filled with your sweet sounds, interspersed with his praises.

“Taking me so well. Such a good girl. Fuck, so beautiful.” Enji gasped out, his high imminent. Each thrust had you seeing stars and you felt like your body was floating. Moving his hands from the sheets, he slid over your clit, teasing your body. You clenched around him.

“Fuck, right there,don’t stop!” You gasped out, grasping at the bedsheets, your back arching off to meet his thrusts. Enji complied, his rhythm speeding up as he toyed with your clit and you cried out, your body squeezing his cock like a vice. You gushed around his cock, and he fucked into you faster, feeling his body heat up. With a groan he slammed into you, holding you down as he spilled into you. His hips stuttered as he filled you with every drop, and soon the room was filled with panting as both of you struggled to catch your breath.

Easing out of you, he grabbed a towel, cleaning you up before collapsing next to you. You were both quiet and you were reminded of the time before. Nervous, you turned to him and made eye contact.

“Are you staying this time?” Your voice was small and Enji saw your fingers threading the sheets, nervously.

“It’s my house.” He responded seriously. Caught off guard, you burst into laughter. He watched you amused. You looked gorgeous and he would never get used to the sound of your laughter filling the house that had been quiet for too long.

Catching your breath, you turned back to him.

“What I mean is...do you want to do this? Together?”

Enji looked at the bed that was no longer empty, felt the life and warmth that filled the house, exuding from you just being there and entwined his hand with yours.

“Yes.”

#enji todoroki #enji todoroki x reader #endeavor smut #endeavor x reader #mha smut

[solsticexolos]

Incubation Guide

Brought to you by Equinox Giants Farm

I am currently waiting for my latest hatch to finish, so I figured I’d write up a little incubation guide for anyone curious. I’ve only been hatching my own chicks since 2018, but have used both locally purchased eggs, shipped eggs, and eggs from my own flock and have learned a thing or two so far.

I’ll add more illustrations later!

This guide is specifically about artificial incubation, not natural incubation using a broody hen. 

While broody hens seem to be the very best at hatching eggs successfully, there are several reasons why we instead use artificial incubators:

Cleanliness

No worrying about the hen/bedding passing any parasites or disease to the chicks as they hatch

Quantity

Hens are very limited in how many eggs they can set at a time, incubators can hold anywhere from 3 to 400, depending on the size/style.

More Eggs

When a hen is allowed to go broody she will stop laying. By collecting her eggs, we discourage her going broody which means she produces more, and doesn’t go through the labor of brooding.

Chick Safety

Not all hens that go broody will be good mothers. I’ve seen my fair share of very, very bad broodies who were inconsistent in their setting, or plain out killed their own chicks.

However, we’re not terribly good at replicating nature’s incubator even with all of our modern technology. A hen doesn’t need a thermometer, hydrometer, or turning rack because she has the necessary heat, humidity, and movement built-in already. So when we’re incubating artificially, we need these tools in order to attempt to mimic a broody hen as well as possible.

We know now that there are certain parameters that seem to be the best for encouraging good development and hatching:

Temperature: 99.5°F / 37.5°C Humidity: 40-55% for days 1-18 | 65-75% for days 19-21 (until everyone has hatched)

Temperature is simply warmth, without it the eggs fail to develop and the embryo dies. Too much heat will also kill the embryo. There’s a little wiggle room either way, but trying to maintain right around 99.5°F, only deviating around 0.5°F either way is important. A little too cool, and chicks will be slow to hatch and be mistakenly presumed dead. A little too hot, and chicks may hatch early and not have fully absorbed their yolk, often resulting in death.

Incubators achieve the proper temperature typically via a built-in thermostat set to 99.5°F, though some allow you to adjust this as some species of birds need slightly different temperatures. The heating element itself is hotter than that, because it needs to fill the entire space of the incubator with air warmed to 99.5°F. There are two different styles of heating in an incubator:

Still Air

Still air, as most cheap/older incubators are, simply heats. The heating element needs to get fairly hot to maintain the temperature in the incubator, and there are usually hot and cold spots throughout it.

Circulated Air

This is undoubtedly the superior incubator style. A fan is built in, which pushes the hot air from the heater around the entire incubator. This means it all stays one, consistent temperature.

When looking for an incubator, always try to go with one that circulates the air, as you’ll have more consistent, and better results than a still-air incubator.

Humidity is the relative, ambient humidity inside of the incubator- the amount of moisture in the air. Humidity is extremely important, as it needs to be low enough that moisture evaporates from within the egg. This allows the air-space in the egg to grow and fill with oxygen, so that when the chick is ready to hatch but not yet out of the egg, they have something to breath. If the humidity is too high, then the chick will drown before hatching. It also cannot be too low, as the chick needs plenty of room to move and grow in the egg, and it needs to have enough moisture to keep the membrane inside the egg from drying out and suffocating the chick.

When a hen is brooding, she periodically gets off of her nest to go eat and drink, maybe take a nice dirt bath, and this allows moisture to rapidly escape from the eggs before she gets back on. In an incubator we do things differently, and instead maintain a constant relative humidity until “lock down.” 

The goal is for the egg to lose about 12% of its weight between day 0 and day 18. If you don’t have a hydrometer, then you can weigh the eggs once a week to make sure they’re losing weight (moisture!) appropriately. I also highly advise you buy a hydrometer, even if your incubator has one built in, to make sure it is correct.

Generally 40-50% humidity from day one until day 18 is right what the eggs need to lose the correct amount of moisture without losing too much.

After day 18 you need to raise the humidity to 65-75% humidity. This is important to allow chicks to hatch, it keeps the membranes in the egg wet enough that it’s flexible and easy for the chick to tear through. Too dry and they can’t tear it and end up “shrink-wrapped,” too wet and the chick can drown.

In incubators we control humidity via water. Most incubators have trays of some sort built in that you fill with water to increase humidity. It’s much easier to raise humidity in the incubator than lower it, generally. Lowering it involves opening pre-installed vents to allow more moisture to escape, or even siphoning water out of the incubator.

If the humidity won’t go high enough, then you may need to cover some vent holes, or add an additional cup of water/sponge to the incubator to increase it.

Some models make this easier than others, naturally. The higher-end incubators even have a built in water-pump that adds or removes water as needed to manage the humidity you set it to. 

Some folks have success with a method they call dry incubating. This means they don’t add any water to the incubator, and instead just rely on the room’s ambient humidity, only increasing once it’s time for lock-down. Success with this method is highly variable based on your own environment. I had extremely poor luck with it, but it’s worth trying if you’re having issues.

Turning of the eggs is something that is, oddly, debated among poultry fanciers. Turning eggs keeps the embryo from sticking to the side of the egg, which could result in poor or failed development. It is also said to “exercise” the fetus, encouraging movement. Hens turn eggs whenever they adjust their position and wiggle. The fact that hens do this naturally is generally a good indication that it’s good and necessary for healthy embryo development. 

Most modern incubators now come equipped with an automatic turner. I have one that turns every 6 hours, and the other turns every 2 hours. I haven’t noticed that either does better than the other in terms of how frequently eggs should be turned. Generally eggs that have been shipped does best with limited turning (4 times a day or so.) 

If your incubator does not have a turner, then you’ll have to hand turn the eggs. This gets tedious fast, so I really advise going with an automatic turner. Last June I had to hand-turn a batch of turkey eggs for 26 days, and it was honestly annoying as heck, haha. When hand-turning you’ll want to write an “X” on one side so you can tell which eggs need to be turned. Try to turn them at least 4 times a day if you can. 

The turning system, other than floor-space, is the main contributor to how many eggs an incubator can hold. Some have individual slots that one egg goes into, others have a row/rack that you line the eggs up in. Some rotate via tilting, some rotate the more natural way by rolling them. Companies claim that rolling is more natural and therefore a more successful method. I haven’t actually heard a difference in hatch rate or chick health with either method of turning.

On day 18 for chicks, or 25 for turkeys (etc), stop turning the eggs. Remove the turner if applicable. This is lock-down.

Lock-down is the term we use for the time period during which the fetuses are getting into position to hatch. This is when you can see the eggs wiggling on their own as the chick moves itself to prepare. Once in position, they usually stop moving, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t notice the eggs moving. We stop turning here so that the chicks can stay in the right position.

Once the chicks are in the right position, they will pierce the inner membrane in the egg, where the air-cell is. They will start breathing in this air, and you may start hearing very quiet peeping. This is called internal pipping. That little air cell is not very big, so they must rapidly start working to put a hole in the shell itself, called external pipping. This is a ridiculous amount of work for the tiny things, they have very limited space, and must pierce through a thick calcium structure while trying not to run out of air. Chicks are actually equipped with two important tools to do this: an egg tooth, which is an extra horny growth on the end of the beak that’s for breaking through the egg, and an extra neck muscle that allows them to use more force and rotate their neck in order to pip and unzip (hatch.)

Once pipped, the chick will take a long break. They have just used up a lot of energy in making that opening, and now they need to rest. They have not finished developing to hatch yet, so do NOT try to assist in hatching unless it’s been 48 hours since they initially pipped with no progress.

The egg yolk has not yet been fully absorbed by this point. See, the egg white provides most of the growing nutrients for young chicks, while the yolk gets absorbed into them later on when they need those nutrients to hatch and emerge, then be safe and wait for their siblings to finish hatching. If the yolk has not finished absorbing, they risk rupturing it and dying. 

Anywhere from 10 minutes to 24+ hours after pipping the chick will begin to hatch. This process is called unzipping by many. They’ll move around the edge of the air-cell within the egg, going from the pip, around the egg, and back to the pip. Then they give a mighty push, and spring free of the egg.

Upon freshly hatching the chick will be pretty useless. They’ve never used legs before, are breathing air, seeing things, smelling things- it’s all very overwhelming! They’ll flail and flop around quite a bit, moving their legs and working blood into their limbs while they work on coordinating. They will likely roll onto their backs a few times, but don’t be alarmed by this, it’s all part of the process. You’ll probably notice a few things:

There is often a fresh poop in the egg, baby’s first poop, in fact!

There is a red spot that looks like a wound on the rump under the vent. This is the naval, where the yolk has been absorbed. Keep an eye on this area to make sure it doesn’t get pecked, and that it heals up cleanly in a few days. 

The chick’s head may look a little lumpy and weird initially. Birth is weird. It should normalize in a few hours.

The chick will take several hours to fluff up. By the time they’re dry, they are usually running around a bit (mostly stumbling) and talking quite a bit, but mostly sleeping. 

Wait until all of the chicks have hatched and are dried before opening the incubator. Opening it early can rapidly rob the incubator of moisture, and result in chicks trying to hatch getting stuck in their shells. 

When everyone who is going to hatch has hatched and they are all dry, it’s time to move them into the pre-prepared brooder. 

While day 21 is usually when chicks hatch, that’s the average and not the rule. Leave eggs until day 25 to be safe. After that you can toss them, though I suggest performing an egg necropsy first to see if you can identify what caused the problem. 

After hatching is complete, you must clean the incubator. Use a chlorine/bleach solution and let it air dry, then rinse with clean water and dry. Cleaning is extremely important in preventing bacterial infections in future hatches. In fact it is required by the NPIP Program in the USA.

This post is real long now, so I will end it here, but I’ll make a follow up about incubator errors, hatching errors, and so on! If you have any questions or additions, feel free to ask!

#chickenblr #birblr #petblr #farmblr #incubation #chickens #poultry #turkeys

[celeste-clearwater-06]

Imagine Teaching the hobbits how to swim...

Little swimming headcanons for out little hobbit boys! Let's just assume they dropped in from Middle Earth at some point for an AU!

Frodo

Unsurprisingly, Frodo was very nervous

Because DUH hobbits can't swim!

It's how he lost his parents after all

However, with some gentle coaxing, you had finally managed to get him in the water

Frodo insisted that he wore floaties like a little toddler

Which was absolutely adorable-

He stayed relatively calm whenever he had his wittle hands around your arm

And finally when he got to the point where his feet didn't touch the bottom of the pool

He

Completely

LOST

IT

Frodo was flailing his arms around and splashing like crazy

He got so stressed and started crying

You were trying to help hold him still and finally pulled him above the water, and he saw that it was just a little above your waist

You had to hold him up by his hips while he practiced strokes and fought against the water

And thankfully after a while of trying

And failing

The ringing bearer soon became a decent swimmer!

It wasn't really his favorite activity in the world

But he would probably agree if you asked him

And frodo would get exhausted so fast

He would probably take a nap on the way home

Frodo could never say no to you :>

Samwise

Oh Sam

Poor Sam

He tried to seem happy and calm when he was walking down the steps of the pool, but his little hobbit legs were shaking with terror

And why wouldn't he be?

HE had almost drowned after chasing Frodo halfway through the lake back on their journey

However, you were undeniably patient with him

Sam was a lot less panicky than Frodo when he got to the "deep end" (which was actually only 4 feet tall)

Although he was still struggling for breath above the water

You held out an arm for him to grab onto and moved it along the surface of the water as he kicked his hairy feet

Sam had never been used to much physical activity

Maybe this is just me, but I think sam would prefer wearing a swim shirt and trunks because he's afraid he'll get sunburned very easily

And swimming drained him so fast, so you rewarded him with a nice big lunch afterwards

Overall, Sam was a very good swimmer, although it took him a bit longer than the others to learn how

11/10

Very sweet hobbit boi

Merry

Ah yes

Meriadoc Brandybuck

A troublemaker

He was used to running through the creek and catching frogs or wading past Brandywine River with Pippin, so water wasn't foreign to him

Merry seemed a lot more proud and brave than the others

He wouldn't admit that he was a pretty awful swimmer, and every time he sunk beneath the water, he would bob back up without a hitch, spluttering the chlorine water from his mouth

He also found it quite enjoyable to splash you in the face

And then you would threaten to let go of him and he'd quickly apologize and knock it off

Also, I'd like to think that Merry is up for just relaxing in a floaty or something if he's in a good mood

YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER TAUGHT HIM HOW TO PLAY CHICKEN

Every time you taken the hobbits to the beach or a place to swim

"WHO WANTS TO PLAY CHICKEN?!"

Only because he's ROWDY and being below the water hardly phases him

And everyone immediately yells

"NO"

Though I can't really say the same for the others...

Surprisingly, when it comes to swimming, Merry is much crazier than Pippin

Which is saying A LOT

And it's also scary how well he can use a water gun-

like...

Very well...

Pippin

Pippin was all talk

That is until he jumped in

You tried to tell him he would probably need help

"Are you sure Pip?"

"Aye, I'll be fine! I am a Took after all!"

His little chest was all puffed out and then he cannonballed into the 5 foot (1 and 1/2 meter) end

And that's when he freaked out

Poor Pip was shrieking and doggy paddling and you had to lift him above the water just like Frodo

He was embarrassed to say the least

But still, you had helped him every step swim of the way

And for some reason, he has this... fascination with goggles

I think it's because he likes to see the bottom of the pool and what's going on underneath him for some reassurance

But all the time

"Have you seen my goggles?"

"Where are my goggles?"

"Sorry Merry, these are my goggles."

He also likes to use them to go under the water and scare the others by grabbing their feet and legs

And if you ever went to the beach, Pippin would be a GOD at making sandcastles

He would try and recreate Gondor-

He loves when you give him piggyback rides in the water 🥺

Way too many splashes fights, but you always end up winning because of your comparably sizeable arms.

Pip would be just fine with wearing swim trunks/ swim shorts

And also, like Merry, he is terrifyingly good at using water guns

swimming is his favorite thing to do besides eat, and it keeps him distracted for a while

In the long run, Pippin still has a lot to learn, but you know he'll turn out to be an excellent swimmer

Bilbo

Bilbo HATES swimming

He just hates getting wet

If he ever went with you, he'd hardly get his ankles past the water

Usually, you'd have to carry him in while he protests

And he'd never go in past his neck

Bilbo would always freak out if something other than sand or the bottom of a pool touched his feet

One time he swore there was a fish in the pool after your foot brushed past his own

And like Sam, he definitely likes wearing a swimming shirt unless he's tanning/sunbathing

He is SUCH a drama queen, and would much rather sit in a floaty than swim around

*cue sunglasses and cocktail*

However, he doesn't hate all of the beach

He always wants to collect cool shells and rocks with you 🥺👉👈

And once he discovers something called a metal detector, he HAS to get one so he can find treasures!

He also likes holding your hand and walking down the shoreline wif you or watching the sunset

And he HATES seagulls as well

He just wants to enjoy his quiet dinner by the ocean/lake/pond etc.

And those "silly birds" come down and harass him

Being at the pool has also particularly bothered him if there were little kids there

"Too much splashing for me. I'd rather sit in peace and enjoy my drink thankyouverymuch 😡"

And on occasion, Bilbo will swim, though he's not the best at it

He'll wrap his hands around your shoulders and let you swim around while he kicks his feet

Also, I feel like he would HATE the smell of sunscreen??

I don't know, maybe it would make him gag or something 😂

Also terrified of getting water in his very sensitive ears

Also likes to sunbathe, but would have to use a lot of sunscreen

Sassy Baggins

6/10 when swimming, but is usually very enjoyable company

Overall Headcanons For Hobbits (Bonus)

I have a feeling that the hobbits would burn in the sun pretty easily, especially in a sun that's not as gentle as the one in the shire

So lots of sunscreen for sure

Their big feet would definitely be beneficial when swimming

And they would all have a problem with brushing out their curly hair after swimming at a pool with chlorine

Which you would happily help them with

I think it's safe to say each of them are equally amazed to see how long you can hold your breath and touch the bottom of the pool and open your eyes underwater if the conditions seem fit

They all look like little toddlers when they swim around but that's okay because you're like a proud hobbit mother and it's the cutest thing ever

Their ears are also extremely sensitive, so it's important to try and keep their heads above the water as much as possible (though Merry and Pippin have many protests against it)

And they would all get tired very quick since swimming is a tiring activity for anyone

Okay...

Just imagine seeing a little group of Hobbits trailing behind you, or one or tel holding your hand and wearing sunglasses and bucket hats as you walk to the pool or beach

Or seeing all of the little hobbit bois wrapped up in towels and yawning while you walk home 😖🥺

Or their thick curly hair sticking to their faces and over their eye because of the water

And taking nice long naps after eating a filling lunch 🥺

I think swimming with them would just be an absolute blast and blessing

#bilbo baggins x reader #pippin took x reader #frodo baggins #frodo+x+reader #pippin took #merry brandybuck #merry brandybuck x reader #xreader #headcanon #swimming #summer #samwise gamgee #samwise x reader #bilbo baggins #imagine #the hobbit #lotr #peter jackson

[katsen13]

An interesting day at work

I went into work and my co-worker told me about a bird’s nest that fell from our roof that held two baby swallows. She called the Department of Natural Resources about what to do. They said the mama would come back and take care of them as long as they weren’t on the ground, so my co-worker had grabbed a big Tupperware container and scooped up as much as the nest as she could and put it in there, then put the baby birds in it. She grabbed a high chair from the breakfast area and put it in the corner of the building underneath where the nest had been and put the box of birdies on top of it so they were off the ground. They told her to not feed them anything and wait until morning. They said if there was bird poop in the container then, their mom had come back and fed them, and if there wasn’t, to call back and they would give us a number to a bird rehabilitation center near us. She told me this and left a note in our blue book at the front desk for whoever worked the next morning. (The blue book is a big notebook we write notes from our shift that the other shifts should know about, things like guest complaints, late checkouts, any items we need to order, etc.) Now two things: 1, I had only gotten about 4 hours of sleep the day before and 2, my boss called and asked if I could stay an extra hour because she had visited a relative in the hospital and was driving back from Ohio.

Now fast forward to the morning. I went out and checked on the babies toward the end of my shift and to my dismay there was no bird poop, so I went in and called the number my co-worker left for the Department of Natural Resources. They gave me the number for a center about 20 minutes from my work. I called them and left a message. My boss came in then to relieve me. She already knew about the birds because she was there when they were found. I told her about the center and gave her the number I had for them. Literally as I was giving it to her, they called me back and asked for a picture of the babies. I sent the picture and waited. Just as I was getting ready to leave, they called me back and said they would be happy to take the chicks, however they were too understaffed so they don’t do rescues. That meant someone would have to take the babies to them. I updated my boss and we both agreed to try and find someone who could take them.

While all this was going on I texted my dad and told him about the baby birds. He called my mom and said he would take the babies to the center when he got out of work if nobody else could. I said ok and let my boss know and we both agreed to keep looking for someone who could take them sooner because we had no idea how long it had been since the babies had been fed.

My mom, knowing how I get when I’m helping an animal, especially baby ones, knew I wasn’t going to go to sleep until I knew the chicks were taken care of, so she said we could take them together if I helped load up the kids in the car. So off we went and I explained to the kids that they needed to be very quiet because we were going to get some baby birds and if they were loud, that could scare them. I have never heard the kids be so quiet in a car or anywhere and I probably never will again.

When I got back to get the chicks, lo and behold, there was now poop in the container. I tried calling the center but I just got the tone like the phone wasn’t hung up. After talking with my mom, we decided it’d be better to take them because the container was in a very open area and the chicks’ nest wasn’t the only one on our roof, so the poop could’ve come from another bird flying around. On our way to the center, I looked them up again to make sure I had the correct number and address. I had the right number so I called them again but still got no answer.

My mom drove while I read off the directions. There were a lot of one block turns and we had never been in this area, so we missed a few. The more turns we missed, the more exasperated my mom got. We were arguing when suddenly a loud chirp came from the box on my lap, startling me. I looked down and saw one of the chicks looking up at me. My mom and I looked at each other and I apologized to the chicks for the noise. Any time we started arguing again, we would hear a loud, irritated chirp from the box. After a few missed turns and passing the place completely, we finally found the center. It was a grey, stone building about 4 feet farther back from the road than the surrounding houses and was shaded by a bunch of trees and foliage around it. I got out, box of birdies in hand, and waited outside the building, per a sign on their door. The sign said to call and let them know you had arrived. I tried calling them again with the same results. Thankfully, a woman was already outside waiting for an update on a bird she had dropped off. When someone came out to talk to her, I told them why I was there and they took the chicks. After giving them a quick look over, a man came out and told me that the chicks were being fed and after confirming with my boss that she hadn’t fed them while I was gone, he said the best thing to do would be to take them back and re-nest them. Needless to say my mom was not pleased. So we went back to my work and I dropped the chicks off where they were and went home to make them a new nest. I took an old container we had and poked holes in the bottom like the man had said and put grass and leaves in there and went back to work. When I got there, I grabbed a bit of the old nest and put it in with the new nest, so the chicks would still have some of their mom’s feathers with them. I put the chicks in the new nest and stood back to admire my grassy-plasticy nest mess in all its glory. This whole time there were two guys sitting on the curb across the parking lot smoking and watching me with a mix of curiosity and bafflement.

I was worried about the chicks because the roof was three stories up and didn’t provide shade with where the sun was, so I went inside and got an old towel to drape partially over the high chair. When I came back out, to my surprise there was only one chick in the nest, smack dab in the middle of the nest with its wings stretched out and looking up at me with what I can only describe as a annoyance. I looked around at didn’t see the second one. Just when I was getting ready to give up, I saw something out of the corner of my eye behind the high chair. Sure enough, the other chick was there. I moved the high chair out a bit to get it, and it hopped back under it. I moved the chair back and it hopped off the curb. So here I am, chasing this baby swallow around the parking lot and the two guys are sitting there watching me in disbelief. One of them called to it a little hesitantly and I’m 90% sure he had no idea what I was chasing but was trying to be helpful. I finally managed to scoop it up and I explained to the two guys that the nest fell and we were taking care of them. I returned the chick to its nest and went home.

When I went in to work last night, I asked my co-worker how the babies were doing. She said they kept falling out of the container I put them in and that it was too small. I told her that was about then size the center had recommended I use and she said she thinks the babies were just trying to fly but they weren’t quite ready yet. I checked on them during my shift and to my delight there was bird poop in the new container, something I never expected to be happy about seeing.

I have today and the next few days off and I haven’t called work and asked about the chicks, but if anyone is interested, I’ll post updates as I get them. Sorry for the long post!

Tl;dr: We found a nest of baby swallows that fell at my work so I called and took them to a rehabilitation center just to be told to take them back and re-nest them.

The babies. I named them Pip and Squeak.

#personal post #baby birds #baby animals

[the-a-j-universe]

Alright, cool. I finally have a guaranteed length of time that should be long enough to go through all of these, so let’s do this. I know the plan was to have me address each ask one at a time but that didn’t work out lol so I’m just doing it all at once. I’m also turning it into a post so anyone who wants to can follow along with my journey.

I’m also gonna copy/paste the text of the other asks instead of screen capping them because copy/pasting is faster lol.

I’m gonna put a pic of each one here, give my thoughts, maybe a goofy rating (I dunno), and then pick my favorite. Just so y’all know.

* Tanawy's entry n.1 in the Dragon Quest monster showcase: the all-time classic Slime. When asked to design the Slime like the standard goop monster they usually were, Toriyama said "no" and a legend was born, now cute slimes are more popular than the disgusting goop depiction. Its cousins and variants are numerous and some are very different from one another so as a bonus here the criminally underutilized Mottle Slime and its evolution the Mottle King Slime.

See, I don’t even need to look this one up. Here it is:

But let’s be real, you guys didn’t need to see an image of this dude either. I love this thing. I never went through a period where I thought of the grosser oldschool slimes. This thing has always been what’s come to my mind when I here the word in an RPG context. Which, considering my zero experience with DQ, really speaks to this thing’s popularity. I am actually going to remove this one from consideration, though, for that reason. I just have too much of a bias towards it. I know it too well, and all variations seem to be equally great. It’s a 10/10, though. Truly iconic.

Get the rest after the cut!

* Tanawy's entry n.2: Originally a boss monster, here is the Golem. While not the sharpest tool in the shed, these brick-made guys can be quite loyal, with a child-like personality, downright adorable (I will never forget you Goldirox) but their strenght in battle must not be underestimated. And since St. Valentinus is around the corner here a Chocolate Golem variant as a gift. Friendship chocolate mind you, from a dude to another 😄

I like this guy. He reminds me of a couple oldschool Yugioh cards. They’re all bad cards, but I’m nostalgic for them so that help’s this guy’s chances. I don’t know that I buy him as a threatening boss, though. He seems more like he’d be your big stone pal.

The chocolate variant is absolutely adorable.

8.5/10 overall for both.

* Tanawy's entry n.3: Here are two members of the Machine Family, first the Killing Machine. These relentless hunters are merciless and they are constantly upgrading, so models with different modifications are plenty. They even come with garden sprinkles. Then there is the Mecha-mynah, who puts a different spin on the mechanical Cuckoo-bird motif. Careful these guys have razor-sharp wings and they selfdestruct when cornered.

Alright, not so much for the second one, but the Killing Machine also reminds me of, like, a half dozen Yugioh monsters. Did Kazuki Takahashi just like ripping this franchise off or something? Either way, these are both good designs, but they don’t really work for me that much. They’re a little...plain? I guess? I guess I like my machine creatures rougher and with more detail. 7/10.

* Tanawy's entry n.4: Next are my deepest fears (exaggeration) if they were real; the Waspion, half wasp half scorpion, and the Claw Hammer, Half hammerhead shark half metal scolopendra, all nightmare. Continuing with the caravan of creepiness, here is the Bona Constrictor, just get it away from me. This next one, when i saw it for the first time i yelled "WTF is That?!" here is the Ulcer, a walking awful pile of rotting flesh.

I am NOT a fan of the Ulcer. That thing’s ugly, and not even in a fun way. 0/10.

I like these other guys, though:

The Waspion is literally just Gligar from Pokemon, but aside from that I like animal/creature mash-ups. And the Claw Hammer is a pretty unique one. 9/10 for the whole lot.

* Tanawy's entry n.5: Beef or chicken? Why choose when you can have both? Here is a heavyweight of the Bird Family the taurine Bullfinch. But dont forget your vegetables, or else they might turn into these Plant family monsters, the eggplant Woebergine, the bellpeppers Capsichum and the cucumber Cruelcumber. Also, meet the Peahooter, these guys pelts their targets with arrows taking advantage of their higher ground.

Okay, we’ve got another mash-up creature here in the form of the Bullfinch, but I’m not feeling this one as much. It’s worth, like, a 6.5/10, maybe. The Woebergine and the Peahooter are both pretty interesting. The Peahooter is kinda cute in a weird way and the Woebergine is delightfully derpy. They both deserve approaching an 8/10. I’m not really feeling the Capsichum at all though. They get a 5 or a 6/10.

* Tanawy's entry n.6: Who doesn't like a good dog? Well maybe not these guys from the Beast family: the Chainine who will ensnare their preys with their collars, the Putrefido, who is no longer alive, the Abracadabrador, who will eat your bones, the Crocodog, a levitating (yes this thing floats in the air) dog-crocodile hybrid and finally the Jackal Ripper (long lost relative of Wolverine or just imitator? More at 11 on the news)

Hey now. That’s not really fair to the other entries. Every one of these dudes:

Is a very GOOD BOI. I think I like the Abracadabrador the least. He’s a little too un-dog-like compared to the others. 6.5/10. The Chainine and the Putrfido are both the perfect blend of cute and weird. I like them a lot. They get 7.5/10. Jackal Ripper is a badass 8/10. He’d be cooler if he was wearing jeans. I LOVE the Crocodog, though. 10/10. Perfect. He just looks like a friend, but he also looks like he could kill my enemies. Which is what I like in a monster.

* Tanawy's entry n.7: Here is a taste of Japan with the Boppin’ badger, the most Tanuki-like monster you will ever meet; Then these guys don't need consent to give everyone within their reach a smooch, here is the Lips. Also, beware of these horses of the underworld, the Equinox where they probably hangout with these other lovely fellows, the Hellspawn. Speaking of which here is the demon Teeny Sanguini. Cute eh? Not when it evolves in the Bloody Manguini. Thankfully not everyone of them does that.

Okay, you can’t fool me. That first one is just a regular animal.

Jokes aside, though, I’m not really feeling this bunch unfortunately. The Hellspawn just reminds me too much of mutant can Steven, the Lips is a little boring, and the Equinox, while I like the wordplay in its name, and while it’s cool in principal, is too busy. I’m just not feeling the designs of these guys overall. 4 or 5/10 for the whole lot. Though the Teeny Sanguini is closer to a 5 than a 4.

* Tanawy's entry n.8: There are two species of monsters, the Pips and their cousins the Conks, who constatly imitate the classic classes of the humans, like warriors or priests, but this time the little rascals have gone a little farther and here they are copying the DQ8 4 main heroes in the Trodainian Conklave, the DQ4 heroes in the Zenithian Conklave, the hero of DQ1 and the 3 heroes of DQ2 in the Alefgardian Conklave and the hero of DQ3 with 3 other companions in the Aliahanian Conklave. Cute.

Okay, I love the idea of these things. They’re cute, they fit right in with the general aesthetic of the franchise, and they have a ton of personality. I’m not gonna post pics of all of them because there’re so many, but they deserve ~9/10 collectively. They’re very good.

* Tanawy's entry n.9: Not enough dragons? So here's three: what do you get mixing a T-rex, a dragon and a vicious axeman? An Hacksaurus that's what! Then the Drakulard. Don't be fooled by their mole these portly fellows mean business. Another chubby dragon, the Jargon: dragonic masters of the clay containers, these guys URNed their right to use jar puns and they will make sure you remenber it, even if they have to crack your pot.

Okay now these are more what I was thinking when I heard the title Dragon Quest.

I like the Hacksaurus the best outta them. He just looks nice. They’re all good, though. They fit the art style perfectly, and resemble each other just enough that you buy them all being related creatures. 8/10 overall, though the Hacksaurus is a little above the others, with the Jargon being a barely at the bottom of the barrel. Or the jar I guess.

* Tanawy's entry n.10: The only story entry in this showcase, because just look at him, it's the only DQ big baddie (at least in english) to actually call themselves "the Demon Lord" It's Orgodemir, specifically it's true form which is the first photo you find in the gallery at almost end-page. Let me just tell you this, Orgodemir is a d*ck of the highest level. The brain it's actually an eyelid for a giant eye by the way. Happy Nightmares.

HAHAHAHA. I know there are other forms for this guy, and this is probably not the reaction that anyone who played the game would have, but I just can’t take this guy seriously. He looks like Edward Cullen with bat wings. HAHAHA. 8/10 ‘cause it made me laugh.

* Tanawy's entry n.11: And lastly, in a category i like to call "I can't belive these are real", its the Funky Ferret; yes he and his cousins do exactly what the image shows. And the almost copyright-infinging Owlbear, yes they did not even try to distance themself from D&D with this one (ok they have a variant but is not saying much). There were others in the last category, but since they REALLY did not age gracefully to the modern standards of "acceptable" i prefered not show them.

I love Owlbears, they’re just such iconic fantasy monsters at this point, so he gets a solid 8/10 rating by default. It’s a pretty original take, too, focusing on the cuteness potential of the creature over the badass potential. I like that.

The Funky Ferret, though...

With a name like that this guy coulda been so cool. But he’s just a pretty generic design blended with a fart joke. What a bummer. 3/10.

And there we have it. Probably not exactly what you were thinking but I hope you like it. I don’t hate any of these guys. Some are more boring than others, but there’s something neat about each of them. I like the ones that take badass ideas and make them cute while remaining intimidating best out of all of them, and I think the Crocodog does this best with the Hacksaurus as the runner up. Crocodog is definitely my favorite of these, though. He gets the Best Good Boi award of Bestness.

Orgodemir gets an award, too, though, the “made AJ spit out his rum and Coke laughing” award. It’s not the most coveted, but it’s something.

I know this is a long one, and y’all may not want to reblog, but what do any of my followers think of these funky dudes? Leave a comment on this post or reblog with your answer in the tags!

#long post #my dumb thoughts #dragon quest #monster showcase #trademark

[drferox]

WHY you shouldn’t feed these 10 foods to your dog

Dogs might think they’re human, but their physiology is not like ours. Humans might eat a wide variety of foods with little concern, but there are some very common human foods which you should not feed to your canine companion. You’ve probably seen the foods on this list before, but this is WHY these foods should not be fed to dogs.

Chocolate, Theobromine and Caffeine:

Everybody’s heard that chocolate is bad for dogs, and it’s true. Chocolate contains a compound called Theobromine. Theobromine is a type of compound called a methylxanthine, and another methylxanthine you might be more familiar with is caffeine. We know quite a lot about these compounds, as humans use them both medicinally and recreationally. The long version is that they all inhibit phosphodiesterase and antagonise adenosine receptors. The short version is that they increase muscle activity, including the heart, and stimulate the central nervous system.

This presents as dogs that have fast and irregular heart rates, high body temperatures and increased muscle activity that can progress to seizures.

It takes a reasonable amount of chocolate to poison a dog. One M&M isn’t going  to do it. For a 35kg dog it’s going to take at least 3500mg of theobromine, which is about 5kg of typical milk chocolate. But only 1.2kg of dark chocolate or 600g of cooking chocolate, which is possible.

A 10kg dog needs much less. 1.5kg of milk chocolate would do it, which is only about 3  large Easter Bunnies, or 300g of dark chocolate, which is one packet from the cooking isle.

Chocolate is super tasty, dogs will absolutely gorge themselves on all chocolate available, so it’s not too difficult to poison smaller dogs with it.

And even if you get the dog through the toxicity, the high fat content of chocolate can go on to cause other gastrointestinal problems.

Onions & Garlic:

Yes, I said onions AND garlic. All allium species contain the same potentially toxic compounds, whether raw or cooked. That goes for spring onions too, it’s just really difficult to convince a dog to eat enough of them to be poisoned. These plants cause a Heinz body anaemia by inducing oxidative damage to the surface of the red blood cells, and for some reason breeds of Japanese origin like the Akita and Shiba Inu seem particularly prone to this toxicity.

It usually takes 10 to 15g per kg of body weight to poison a dog, but those breeds can be affected by as little as 5g per kilo. So for a big, 35kg dog, that’s about three medium sized onions.

Poisoning can happen all in one go, or it can happen by eating small amounts over a longer period of time, which is why it’s infuriating to see garlic being suggested as a natural remedy for things.

Bad cases will have to be treated with a blood transfusion as there is no direct antidote. And for interest, there are other things that can cause Heinz body anaemia too, like zinc.

Macadamia nuts:

You know how everything in Australia has a reputation for being deadly? Well the Macadamia is the one native Australian plant that has successfully become a mainstream agricultural crop. And it’s poisonous to dogs. Legitimately, for some weird reason Macadamia nuts cause progressive paralysis in dogs. We don’t know what the active toxin is, but we do know it’s present in both raw and cooked nuts, and as little as 5 nuts can cause paralysis in a 20kg dog. Sometimes the dogs develop vomiting and joint swelling in addition to paralysis, but most recover well with supportive treatment.

Grapes, Raisins and Sultanas:

This is another weird toxin when it comes to dogs, and it’s especially weird in that we don’t know what the toxic compound actually is. Grapes, raisins, sultanas and foods that contain them can cause idiosyncratic (unpredictable) reactions which result in kidney failure by ischaemic injury (lack of blood flow). It’s completely unpredictable which dogs will develop the reaction, and it’s independent of dose with as little at 10 grapes causing the toxicity.

In addition to being unpredictable, you really don’t want to mess around with it. Grape toxicity when it happens has approximately a 50% mortality rate.

Yeast dough:

A dog can absolutely eat cooked bread, but raw dough with yeast in it to make it rise presents some interesting problems. First is that the fermenting yeast produces ethanol, which can be toxic on its own. Second is that the yeast can and will continue to ferment inside the dog’s stomach where it’s nice and warm. This produces more ethanol, but can also cause bloating and the sticky dough is very difficult to remove by vomiting.

Chewing gum and Xylitol:

Xylitol is a sugar substitute used in many ‘sugar free’ products, of which chewing gum is the most common, but more and more foods contain it these days. It’s found naturally in many plants such as berries, but ingesting a large amount of it, about 75mg per kg, will cause profound hypoglycemia. Larger doses can also cause liver failure, and it’s only about 50:50 whether treated dogs will survive that. Dogs with hypoglycemia can look drunk with symptoms like vomiting and difficulty walking.

For a 35kg dog, 10 to 15 pieces of sugar free gum could cause this toxicity, and they will happily eat the entire packet if given the chance.

Alcohol (ethanol):

While humans indulge in this recreational plant toxin, we have spent a considerable amount of our history adapting to its use and some human populations have evolved a higher tolerance than others. Dogs have not done this, but they will consume it either in alcoholic beverages that humans give them for a laugh, or by consuming rotting fruit that’s fallen off trees. Yeast dough can contain it too.

Signs are more or less what you would expect for a drunk dog - sleepy and wobbly, but can progress to low body temperature, metabolic acidosis and some will stop breathing.

The median lethal dose of alcohol for a dog is about 1 standard drink for 2kg of body weight, orally. That’s an average, but some dogs will be more severely affected than others, and complications can still occur at lower doses.

And remember, wine is made from grapes, which can and will cause unpredictable kidney failure, so that’s an extra No.

Stone Fruit:

The flesh of fruits like apricots, peaches and cherries are fine to feed in moderation, but it’s the large seed inside the fruit that causes most of the problems. These seeds do contain cyanide if cracked open, but the more common problem we see is not a toxicity, but gastrointestinal obstruction.

Some of these seeds are small enough to swallow, but large enough to cause a blockage either at the pylorus, where the stomach empties into the intestine, or in the small intestine itself. This will obviously vary with the size of the pip and the size of the dog. A cherry pit isn’t going to cause much drama, and a large dog like a labrador might poop out a series of peach pips, but a small dog like a terrier may not be so lucky.

Avocado:

Avocados deserve a special mention because not only are they a stone fruit with a large stone that would cause an obstruction in most dogs if eaten, the flesh of the fruit also contains a toxin caused persin. Persin is very toxic to some species of birds and herbivores and will cause inflammation, swelling and cardiac arrhythmias. In dogs, it would be unlikely to see more than vomiting from this toxin. However, avocado is also relatively high in fat for a fruit, and fatty foods are also not ideal to feed most dogs and cats.

Fatty Foods:

The most common reason for me to see gastroenteritis in the vet clinic is a dog eating too much fatty food, but it will also potentially cause pancreatitis and that’s even more of a concern. We can tolerate dogs with some diarrhoea or a single vomit after eating something unusual - even humans do that sometimes - but pancreatitis will cause significant pain as well as nausea, and can progress to sepsis, disseminated intravascular coagulation, diabetes or death.

Dogs vary in terms of how much fat they can handle in their diet, with some being much more sensitive than others, and this sensitivity usually increases with age. For most dogs, moderation is the key, not gorging on fatty scraps that the humans didn’t want to eat or barbeque leftovers.

So now you know why these foods aren’t recommended for dogs. We’re not just saying it for no reason, even for the unexpected ones like grapes and macadamias.

This post was sponsored by Fluffy on Patreon. Thank you so much for your ongoing support.

#veterinarian #vet #pet care #dogs #dog #poison study #toxicology #feeding pets #human food

[whitegrain84-blog]

Fat Freezing Solihull

What Is Fat Freezing?

Content

how Much Time Will My Facelift Last For?

Fat Freezing At courthouse clinics.

Going residence After Your facelift surgical Treatment.

What Is The recuperation refine After removing Benign Skin lesion?

Blast With Cold Water.

We can question what modern-day workplace/organizational functions will see similar change over time, as today's specialisms end up being tomorrow's very common abilities had by every person. The jargon 'big cheese' is a fine instance of language from a far-away or completely international society finding its means right into contemporary life as well as communications, in which the users have really awareness or admiration of its various social origins.

for How Long Will My Facelift Last For?

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This sensation is flawlessly normal, and it shows that the collagen-building procedure is beginning.

During pregnancy scans, low-frequency sound waves (in between 3 - 7.5 MHz) are released by an ultrasound gadget over the mother's bump.

Ultrasound modern technology involves the use of sound wave frequencies.

Fat Freezing At courthouse centers.

Similar to slowcoach, slowpoke's rhyming top quality strengthened fostering right into common speech as well as continuing usage. People like to state things that journey off the tongue easily as well as, in such a way, musically or poetically. slapdash - reckless, untidy - haphazard initially implied wearing slippers or loosened shoes, from the earlier expression 'slip-shoe'. The careless/untidy significance of messy is derived from 'down-at-heel' or worn shoes, which was the first use the expression in the feeling or low quality. The very early reckless definition of slipshod referred to shabby appearance. A lot more recently the expression's significance has actually expanded also to negligent actions or efforts.

How many times can you do Cryolipolysis?

More than one session may be needed to achieve a person's desired results. If more than one treatment sessions is needed, the next session can't be performed until 6 to 8 weeks after the first session. This is because it can take this long for damaged fat cells to be eliminated from the body.

The publishing do with the idea that an old Italian expression 'a tredici' significance 'at thirteen' may be connected with the origins. offer the pip/get the pip - make unwell or unpleasant or irritated - Pip is a disease affecting birds qualified by mucous in the mouth as well as throat. The expression appears initially to have actually shown up in the 1800s, however given its much older origins could conveniently have actually been in use prior to then. Remarkably while the pip expression describes the bird illness, the roots of the meaning actually take us full-circle back to human wellness.

Going home After Your facelift surgery.

bated breath/baited breath - distressed, pregnant - the former spelling was the original version of the expression, but the term is currently often erroneously corrupted to the latter 'baited' in modern-day use, which mistakenly recommends a various origin. Lots of people appear now to infer a significance of the breath being metaphorically 'baited' as opposed to the initial non-metaphorical initial significance, which simply described the breath being interrupted, or quit. The expression shows up in Shakespeare's The Vendor Of Venice, which dates its origin as 16th century or earlier. The word bate is a reduced kind of abate, both lugging the same definition, and initially appeared in the 1300s, before which the past stressful types were baten and abaten. transform it up - quit it, stopped talking, no chance, stop doing that, I do not think you, etc - Cassells Vernacular Dictionary recommends the 'turn it up' expression equates to 'quit doing that' which the very first usage was as early as the 1600s.

Where do you lose fat first?

Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.

According to Bartlett's, the expression 'As well seek as needle in a bottle of hay' appears partially III, phase 10. ' Container' is an old word for a package of hay, drawn from the French word botte, suggesting package. Maker (thesaurus and also revisions) lists the full expression - 'searching for a needle in a container of hay' which tells us that the term was first used in this form, and also was later adapted during the 1900s right into the contemporary type. Mum has nothing to do with mother - it's just a phonetic spelling and figurative word to symbolize shutting one's mouth, so as not to utter a sound. The very same logical onomatopoeic derivation likely produced the words mumble, murmur and mumps. Equally as in modern-day times, war-time governments after that squandered no possibility to overemphasize dangers as well as risks, so as to infuse respect amongst, and also to maintain authority over, the masses. So there you have it - mum's words - probably a product of federal government spin.

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The 'rock pip' would seem to be a distortion/confusion of merely providing or obtaining the pip, possibly because of misconstruing the definition of pip in this context. Words pip in this expression has absolutely nothing to make with rocks or fruit. The pituitary gland is located in the brain and is in charge of specific bodily functions, however in the late midlifes, around 1500s, it was thought to control the circulation of mucous or phlegm to the nose. Phlegm had actually long been thought to be among the crucial 4 'humours' establishing life equilibrium as well as individuality. So while the present expression was based initially on a bird disease, the origins paradoxically associate with critical concepts of human wellness. Variants still found in NZ and also Australia from the early 1900s include 'half-pie', and 'pie' suggesting excellent or professional at something.

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Regretfully this extremely attractive alternative/additional derivation of 'take the mick/micky' appears not to be sustained by any type of main resources or referrals. If anyone can refer me to a trusted referral please allow me understand, up until such time the Micky Bliss cockney poetry theory stays one of the most popularly supported origin. The loon bird's name entered into English from a various origin, Scandinavia, in the 1800s, as well as perhaps had a bigger impact in the US on the expressions crazy as a loon, as well as also drunk as a loon. The extremely demeaning slang loony bin, describing a mental residence, initially appeared around 1910.

Nowadays, in spite of still being practically right according to English thesaurus, resolving a mixed team of individuals as 'promiscuous' would certainly not be a really appropriate use the word. pernickety/persnickety/pernickerty/ persnickerty - fussy, fussy, fastidious - pernickety seems currently to be one of the most typical modern-day kind of this odd word. https://cameragrain52.webgarden.at/kategorien/cameragrain52-s-blog/111cryo happen most likely because no clear derivation exists, providing no noticeable recommendation indicate anchor a spelling or pronunciation.

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Buck stems from thaler, which is an old German word for a coin, from earlier Reduced German 'dahler', whose important origin word 'dahl' means valley. Dahler, later on becoming thaler, is a 500-year-old acronym of Joachimsthaler, an early Bohemian/German silver coin. Words Joachimsthaler actually described something from 'Joachim's Thal'. This was Joachim's Valley, which now equates to Jáchymov, a medical spa town in NW Bohemia in the Czech Republic, near the border to Germany.

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The word seems first to have been recorded in between in Jamieson's Dictionary of the Scottish Language, in the form of pernickitie, as an expansion of a Scottish word pernicky, which is probably a better idea to its origins. This is all speculation in the lack of trusted recorded beginnings.

On which point a combination of the words certain and picky might have been a factor, particularly when you take into consideration the earlier pernicky form. Chances implying the different possibilities of competitors, as used in betting, was very first tape-recorded in English in 1574 according to Chambers, so making use of the 'can't chances it' expression could understandably be very old certainly. Cassells and also other reliable jargon sources state that 'take the mick' is cockney poetry vernacular, c. 1950s, from 'Micky Happiness', rhyming with 'take the piss'. No-one seems to understand who Micky Happiness was, which maybe shows a little weakness in the derivation. Conversely, and also perhaps in addition in the direction of the adoption of the expression, a much less widely known opportunity is that 'mick' in this sense is a reducing of the word 'micturation', which is a clinical term for urination.

Partridge claims first recorded about 1830, yet implies the expression can have remained in use from possibly the 1600s. This is definitely feasible considering that board meant table in older times, which is the association with card games played on a table. It was formerly bord, traceable to Old Saxon, also indicating guard, consistent with comparable international words going back to the earliest beginnings of European language.

This table sense of board also offered us the board as related to a board of supervisors as well as the boardroom. slowpoke - sluggish person or employee - slowpoke is USA slang first taped in print according to Chambers. Possibly from cowpoke - the word originally utilized to explain the guys who pushed cattle onto abattoir trains. Poke stood for the photo of job, being based upon an usual work task of the times, as did punch.

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This to a specific degree clarifies why a lot of English words with French origins occur in way of living and also social language. Incidentally words French, to explain people or things of France and also the language itself, has existed in English in its modern form because concerning 1200, prior to which it was 'Frensch', and also earlier in Old English 'frencisc'. This stemmed from Old High German frenkisc as well as frenqisc, from and straight related to the Franks, the very early Germanic individuals who dominated the Romans in Gaul around the fifth century. The name of the Frank people is additionally the origin of the word France as well as the Franc currency. The most attractive theory for the best beginning of the word Frank is that it originates from a comparable word for a spear or lance, which was the favoured tool of the Frankish tribes. whatever floats your watercraft - if it makes you happy/it's your decision/it's your selection (although I do not necessarily concur as well as I do not care anyway) - a reasonably modern-day expression from the late 20th century with strangely little known origins.

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In the late 1400s, silver ounce coins were produced from silver extracted at Joachim's Valley, Bohemia, by a regionally commanding household, the Matters of Schlick. These early local European coins, called 'Joachimsthaler', reduced to 'thaler', were common coinage because region, which would certainly nowadays extend into Germany. The top quality as well as credibility of the 'Joachimsthaler' coins consequently caused the 'thaler' term to spread out as well as be utilized for even more main generic variations of the coins in Germany, as well as elsewhere also. Later on, from the 1580s, the term was likewise used in its adjusted 'buck' type as a name for the Spanish peso (also called 'item of 8'). Clergy as well as clerics and staffs were consequently amongst one of the most able and highly respected and valued of all 'employees'.

For such a well-used and popular expression the details of beginnings are strangely sparse, and also an usually not referenced in any way by the normal expressions as well as etymology resources. Other ideas refer to possible relate to card games, in which turning up a card would expose something concealed, or mark the end of a flow of play. It's specifically hard to guess regarding the beginnings due to the fact that the word 'turn' has many different definitions, especially when combined with other very adaptable words. If you can include anything to aid identfy when and also where and exactly how the 'transform it up' expression developed please contact us. The original phrasing was 'tide nor time tarrieth no male' (' tarrieth' implying 'awaits'). taxi/taxicab - fare-charging car, although taxi can be a fare-charging boat - taxi as well as taxicab are words which we have a tendency to consider approved without believing what the derivation could be.

In fact the beginning of taxi is the French 'taximetre' and also German equivalent 'taxameter', incorporating taxi/taxa and metre/meter. Taximeter appeared in English around 1898, at which time its use was transferring from horse-drawn carriages to automobile. Taxicab is an abbreviation of another French word cabriolet, which came into English in the 1700s, and also it shows up in the full French taxicab equivalent 'taximetre cabriolet'. Taxicab showed up in English indicating a steed drawn carriage in 1826, a vapor engine in 1859, as well as a motor vehicle in 1899. Chambers recommends that the French taximetre is in fact originated from the German taxameter, which interestingly generated an earlier the same but brief English term taxameter taped in 1894, related to horsedrawn taxis. sweep the board - win everything - based on the allegory of winning all the cards or cash stake in a game of cards.

Mojo possibly derives from African-American language, describing an amulet or witchcraft charm, and also is close to the word 'moco', indicating withccraft, utilized by the Gullah of the US South Carolina shore as well as islands. Words and the definition were popularised by the 1956 blues song Obtained My Mojo Working, initially made popular by Muddy Waters' 1957 recording, as well as ultimately covered by almost all blues musicians since then. The term gave the origin for the word mobster, implying mobster, which showed up in American English in the early 1900s. Hitch made use of in the feeling is American from the 1880s although the basic drawback significance of move by pulling or jerking is Old English from the 1400s hytchen, and prior, icchen definition move from 1200.

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[yellow-car]

How penny got back together with Micah

Chapter 1

Penny

Buzz, buzzz my phone vibrates in my pocket, but I don’t even look to see who it is. Everything’s too crazy right now to concentrate on anything but what’s right in front of me. Simon is in my lap. “he’s dead.” Simon says “the mage is dead.” oh Simon, I wish I could say the words to make it ok. He’s looks such a mess. The tail drooping on the floor, well I guess its his tail now. I don’t think now is the time to ask about the tail. His wing flaps into my face, obscuring my view. His wings are such a beautiful red colour. I stroke one of them gently. I’m not even going near thoughts of the mage and who technically killed him.

After a bit Simon gets up and covers the mage with his jacket. He looks so alone standing there. Baz gets up and hugs him. Wait, Simon and Baz are hugging. I didn’t know Baz did physical contact. They begin whispering to each other. “It’s all alright love.” Baz finally says, the tone unmistakeable. Oh. I guess they are a couple now. OH, WAIT that’s why he jumped out the car to go to Baz’s. For some reason this doesn’t surprise me. Too much has happened, everything feels too much like a blur. I’m too zoned out.

Finally, I realise I should probably contact some responsible adults. So, send a little bird to my mum. She arrives in a fluster, Mum always arrives in a fluster her skin slightly flushed with the effort of whatever spell got her over here. She instantly takes charge. Freezing the mages body, starting the clean up the mess and “Penny go home.” She commands, “but MUM!” I glace over and the lump of Simon and Baz. She sees me looking, “They’ll be fine, I’ll offer Simon a room at ours but I’m sure he will find other accommodation” she says smiling fondly. I’ll give it to my mum, she may always need to be in charge, but she knows exactly what’s going on. I am quite tired. “Fine.” I quickly go over to the Simon-Baz lump. “Guys I’m going home. I’ll see you both soon, ok” there’s a mummer of acknowledgment from inside the lump so I turn away. “Wait.” I turn around, Simon has emerged and envelopes me in a hug. Tear stains still shiny on his cheeks. His eyes blotchy. I ruffle his hair fondly. “see you soon” he echoes. A There’s no place like home and I’m back in the hallway of my house. It’s been a while since I’ve been here, though it was only this morning that I found Simon in my garden. I go straight up to my bedroom and collapse. I’m ready to sleep for about 3 days.

Chapter 2

I wake up with a start. It’s the middle of the night, I suppose I shouldn’t have gone to bed so early. I go down to the kitchen and grab some chocolate. I’m still in my clothes so then I go and change into some pyjamas. In doing so I find my phone in my back pocket. I switch it on, Wow that’s a lot of messages. Most of them are the Watford group chat talking about yesterday. One is from Simon “Hey, I’m staying at Baz’s for a few days. I’ll come visit you whenever you want.” I type back a reply “Come now if you want.”

The last message is from Micah. “Hey Pen, we haven’t spoken in a while, you keep not replying to my messages, is something wrong” Well things have been pretty hectic. I start to formulate a response, chewing on a strand of my purple hair. Then I realise I’ve got nothing to say. Everything was so complicated, and I really can’t be bothered to relive it all.

Simon has replied to my message “Well we can’t sleep either. Sure, meet in ur Wendy house. is it ok if I bring Baz?” I smile I’ve got a feeling those two are going to be glued by the hip for a while yet. “Yeah that’s fine.” I reply and throw my phone back on my bed. I put on a thick duffel coat and slip my purple ring into my pocket. Better prepared for anything. Then I creep to the back door and gingerly open it. ah the Wendy house. The one dad got me for my birthday when I was like 5. During his research, he got a lot of normal magazines. In one of them was the advert for a brand new Wendy house. I saw it and fell in love immediately. When Simon came to my house it was the first thing he was drawn to. So that where we would hang out ever since, it was an unforeseen advantage that we could avoid my mums judging glare in the process.

I tiptoe out onto the grass. My bare feet soaked through. A flickering light is already on in the Wendy house and secret whispers catch on the breeze. “No Baz, we can’t penny will get here soon.” A protested reply makes it way to me and it stings in a way I never expected. And I take a deep breath and look up to the sky. But the stars are twinkling like they’re in a romance novel, where I’m a side character. Only there to have an opinion on the relationship and to burst in at opportune moments which makes the readers ship it more. I can feel a wad in my throat, but I push it down. And I walk round the back of the Wendy house. We don’t really all fit in it anymore. But on the side opposite the house there’s a small dry circle, with a shelter over it. This is where we normally hang out.

“hey” I greet them. Noting dishevelled Simon and dressed down Baz. (I know ‘dressed down’ doesn’t sound like a big thing. But you’ve got to remember Baz always dressed like he’s about to go to a fancy dinner.) “hey penny” says Simon, Baz mummering along. There’s not nearly enough height to stand but there are a few beanbags covering the ground . I sink into one. There’re a few moments of silence as no one knows where to begin.

“So how long has this been a thing.” I gesture at them vaguely and note Simons blush and the faint tint of red on Baz’s pale face. “Umm, well, you know” Simon mumbles, the words spilling over each other.

“Well since this guy kissed me in the middle of a burning forest.” Baz says ‘matter of fact’ ly . I see him noting Simons face turning into a firework of red and pink, and he pulls his wings over his face. Baz smiles so gently I have to remind myself that this is Baz. He turns to me “So you figured it out, how did you do it?” the sarcasm a shield against a negative opinion I could have against this. I smile reassuringly “Well maybe this means Simon will stop stalking you.” Baz starts to laugh then stops. We all stop, as we realise this is not a casual sleepover. This is the peace before the storm.

“What if there’s a war?” Simon asks us. Neither of us answer. Simon is relatively new to the mage world. We have both grown up with the complicated politics of the families. We both know how little it would take to start a war. And we both know, we would be on opposite sides. We both mummer some half-hearted thing with the basic message of “We will be fine.” I doubt Simon believes it, but he nods anyway. Shortly after this me and Baz make our excuses and I go back to bed.

Chapter 3

I wake up, and for a second the feeling of hopelessness is not there. But then I remember, and it crawls back in.

I wander downstairs to find the kitchen is a state. Priya is watching some pink tv program in the corner, and dads trying to get Pacey to clean the kitchen. I don’t think he’s winning. I groggily poor myself a bowl of the weird sugary cereal that no one ever eats from the cupboard. I guess mum is still out. “Dad.” I mumble. He turns around “Hey, you’re awake.” I smile faintly not quite awake enough to formulate a response. Its weird to see him out of his office, I guess work has been put on the back foot for the time being.

“what’s going on?” I ask,

“The council are meeting tomorrow, they are asking around for witnesses today. Do you want me to say that you are too tired?” Dad replies. I consider this for a second, ill have to relive the whole thing in front of a coven of stuck up witches who will be inclined to disbelieve me because of my age. I’m about to disagree, but what about Simon. Ugh I have to go, they’ll grind him into mincemeat.

“No! I’ll do it” I say, a little louder then I meant. Dad looks at me strangely but doesn’t say anything. I grab my bowl and start to move towards my bedroom. “what does mum say about food in your bedroom?” Dad interjects. “mums not here.” I reply and quickly move out to avoid hearing the direct command to come back. At the stop of the stairs I peak into pips room. He’s sat legs spread on his train carboard playing with his figures. I could get him some breakfast, mum would certainly thank me, and I’d win sister of the year award, but I have just suffered some serious trauma, maybe next time. I collapse on my bed and begin stuffing cereal in my mind. I pull out my phone and scroll through my notifications. Dad believes in mindful eating, but I like to make better use of my time by catching up with the world at the same time. “wow there’s been a tiger escape, I should tell Micah” I pull out my phone to text him and... oh, I forgot. I twiddle my thumbs for a second. Nope.

I can’t just ignore his last message and start with the tiger thing. He’s going to have questions. Micah’s not the best with deep chats. We met about 5 years ago and we haven’t really had any deep chats. Its not like we aren’t close, but we do stuff together. We follow my dad round when he’s doing his experiments and then we get bored and sneak to the park and play on the swings. We tease each other like crazy, always wanting to be the one who is right. The other sometimes challenging points just for the sake of it. I’ve never talked about my feelings with him. Well he has talked a little about the fact we both like each other but even that was awkward as hell. But never any of my other feelings. If I’m sad in the middle of the night, because the night is just getting to me. I wouldn’t text Micah, I’d text Simon. He would bring me softly back to reality by a mixture of finding out the real reason I was upset and make me laugh by taking my typos literally.

Everyone just assumes Micah and I will end up together. I have to. But then everyone assumed Simon and Agatha would end up together and that’s not happening. I wonder the point and which they knew they weren’t getting back together. Maybe I shouldn’t base my relationship with Micah on Simon and Agatha’s one. But I can’t help it. Whenever I was unsure about Micah and I, where we were going and whether anything was going to come of it. I’d look at them and how well they were doing. And I’d trust in them.

Its weird to watch Simon be so in love with someone else. We gone through everything together. Out lives in perfect symmetry. Does this mean I will find someone else? Or will me and Simons lives desync

Chapter 4

Simon

Its weird staying in Baz’s house. Its so suited to his family and their general vibe of “if you do anything wrong we will kill you in your sleep.” I jump every time ‘not Baz’ walks into the room. They are weirdly accepting about me living here. As in they haven’t mentioned that fact yet but there’s an extra seat laid out on the dinner table. I considered showing Baz the Addams family to explain my point, but I think he would just get offended. We haven’t talked that much or done stuff that any couple would do if they were left in a completely lockable room. Baz hasn’t brought it up, I’m guessing out of respect for me. I want to do this stuff, but only to feel like a normal teenager. I’m so zoned out I can’t feel anything. I’ve got no urges or sadness or pain. I’ve just got nothing.

Baz is trying to be a supportive boyfriend by leading the conversation to me talking it out. It’s weird watching Baz try to be supportive, he’s doing well then occasionally he just has a what am I doing? moments where his old ‘I’m so cool’ self-switches back on. It normally only results in a falter in his voice. But I normally end up snickering, which as Baz says, ‘doesn’t help’.

My laughter normally moves the conversation onto another topic, which I know Baz is uncomfortable with. But I came back after the chat at penny’s a teary mess. I dried my face enough to convince Baz to go to sleep. Then I as soon as I heard his heavy breathing. I cried into the sofa bed until I was so tired, I just passed out. I woke up the next morning and felt nothing. The nothing hasn’t shifted since then. Mostly we’ve just been hiding in Baz’s room. He occasionally goes and asks for the news. He’s being using this to catch up on his homework. Nerd. I’ve been mostly watching him do this and staring into space until Baz stops me. The families met 3 days after that day. They appointed a new head master (penny’s mum) and so far, haven’t started any wars. Baz says “everyone’s so shocked about what happened, they don’t have the mental energy to start a pointless fight” the whole magical community is pulling together. Too bad I’ve been left on the side. The families have agreed to hold off further inquiries of the Mage’s death until school resumes.

School. How am I supposed to go back? How am I supposed to go back to my classes and pretend everything’s normal? Its not like there’s much more learning to do. It’s all just “Here’s the next course for you.” or “here’s a job we think you should get”. I don’t want to go to a magical collage. I want to go to a normal collage. Where I can study what I want. Not the limited this magic or that magic. Wait... I don’t have magic anymore. Oh, I forgot. I probably won’t be allowed back into Watford, what would the point in going back be… therapy? Hmpf, I mean I did destroy about 20 magical houses and most of the school. Why is that kinda a relief?

Baz comes back into the room with scones. Cherry scones. I smile and pull myself off the sofa to give my boyfriend a hug. He tenses for a second but then returns it. A single tear falls down my cheek.

Chapter 5

Penny

I’ve been hiding in my room for the most of what is technically Winter break. Mum occasionally walks in gives me a judgy look and the suggests I do some exercise. Sometimes she mixes it up and suggests I do some homework. I mean she’s the head teacher now, so I suppose its technically her duty. Luckily recently she’s been out most of the time she’s been out sorting out Watford so there will actually be a school to go to back to. Not that I can imagine going back. Too much has changed.

I could never do sport oh god. I wonder where he’s buried damm it I told you mind we are not thinking about this. Did they even bury him or just dump his body somewhere? Tears fall down my cheeks and I curl into ball. Penny tell someone. The gentle part of my mind whispers. “How can I?” I say out loud. “Whatever I say would be incriminating, it would either prove that I killed him or if it goes the other one it could prove I sympathise with him?” a sob breaks through. A deep hearty sob echoes through me. “I could tell Simon… but how could I put this burden on him, it was his dad. He deserves to be sad more than I do.” Oh, I said I killed him. Did I? I cast a Simon says a spell that would have uniquely worked. But Simon said the words. He didn’t really do it on purpose though. I can’t do it. I can’t go back to school. I just.. I just want to move on. To the next bit, next bit? Collage. Wow, that’s a way off. Collage. I get out my laptop, my face sticky with tears. And begin to Google.

Simon

Its snowing outside. I only noticed because of the screaming children probably building snowmen. I’m lying on the sofa at the edge of the room as it feels weird to lie on Baz’s bed and my wings are too tender to lie on the floor. Why can’t they just leave me alone? Baz comes into the room, from god knows where. “hey,” he says softly, “you want to go outside?” I turn away. “no.” Baz’s shoulders slump. “Simon, come on. You have to go outside sometime.”

“no” he walks round to where my face is. “Come on! Its snow, snow fight, snowmen. You’re Simon snow. Its should be your element.” I turn around slowly (as still getting used to the wings) so I don’t have to face him. Because if I have to look into his eyes any longer then I’ll probably give in. “Simonnnn” he says it, so each syllable vibrates through his voice. I curl into a ball, my wings shielding my face. He creaks closer and puts his hand on my back between my wings. It should feel electric, like it did in the middle of the forest. But like everything else since the event. It just feels like a hand on my back. He stands there for a while with his hand on my back. Then he sighs, walks over to his bed, and throws a blanket over me. Then he sets down something on the table next to the sofa. I hear the thud as he closes the front door.

I look up tears blotting my vision and there above my head, on a porcelain plate that looks grand enough to be at a royal dinner, is a cherry scone. I pull my head back into my ball. But the smell overwhelms me. I look up again and reach to touch it, I brush my finger on the jam. I lick my finger, mmmmm. I slowly uncurl and sit up. Blood rushing to my head blackening out my vision for a second. My wing slams into the sofa edge “shit” oww. I rub my wing, feeling its smooth texture, surprising for something that looks like it belongs to the devil. I instantly feel bad and give my wing a consoling pat. I smile at how silly I’m being. I take a bite of the scone, mmmmmm. I take another one.

It’s gone all too quickly, and I rub my finger on the plate trying to get more of the taste. Come on there’s got to be a little more. I experimentally touch the plate with my tongue and I hear a low laugh from the entrance.

Its Baz, snow-covered and his eyes are full of something I don’t recognise. I put the plate on the side. I stand up, careful this time not too whack my wings or tail on anything. “Baz, how am I going to go back to school? I have no magic. And I destroyed a lot of magical properties, what if they kick me out? Where will I go? Will I just become a science experiment?” he stands there for a moment, carefully considering his words. “Well first off, they’re not going to kick you out. You’re Simon snow, you saved us all. But putting that aside. Who says you have to go back to school?” I look at him in confusion. Not go back to school. But where would I go, what would I do. I could go to normal school, I could study whatever I wanted. “hmmm, that’s not actually a bad idea” I say

Baz walks over to his desk and picks up his laptop. He sits down with me and we start to go through the internet for subjects and courses I would like to do.

Chapter 6

Simon

“baz,baz!” I call. Baz comes running into the room. His face worried. His frown softens when he sees what I actually shouted him for. I’m floating about a cm off the floor, my wings moving steadily back and forth. I’d been practising for like a week. Something to take my mind off all of it. Baz hadn’t really paid much attention to my attempts. He was so happy that I was actually doing something, he hadn’t bothered to work out what I was doing.

He still looks a little worried, coming to stand close enough that he could catch me. But far enough away that he doesn’t get wacked by wing. I sigh a little bit, always the protector. I wish he would worry about me less and actually spend some time on himself. We hadn’t yet gotten around to the ‘things a couple could do with a completely lockable door.’ I wasn’t sure how to start. All the other times we’d done that stuff it had been completely spontaneous and rushed as we were both pretty sure the world was going to end soon. I’ll ask penny.

We are going to see her later, as soon as I stop hovering. We’ve talked on text and she agrees with me about going back to school. That it would be an awful idea. We are having a war meeting to prepare before we officially announce that we are not going back. Baz is not coming.

I swoop over to Baz and land in his arms. He doesn’t see the romance and puts me down gently. Worry in his eyes. Penny better have a solution for this.

Penny

I hear the knock on the door and run down so I can answer it before anyone else gets there. “Simon!” I smile, he looks at me in disbelief. He looks scruffier then I remember. “you knew I was coming why do you sound surprised.” He says mockingly. I hug him. Then we retreat to my room: set up with beanbags and snacks. He sinks into one, then winces. And strokes something that I can’t see. Oh, his wings, I forgot. “your wings?” I ask, he looks up “oh yeah, Baz spelled them with something, so I didn’t start any Satanist groups on my way over.” I nod, not knowing what to say. He sounds better. I mean I think I’m better. Who knew binge eating and sleeping was a cure.

There’s a pause. Thing to say, thing to say, ahh what do I say? We both laugh awkwardly. “shall we get started them” Simon says, gesturing to his laptop. “oh yeah” we start to google in silence. the awkwardness confuses me. Its Simon, why do I feel so awkward? But slowly we begin to talk. First with what we would choose as our subjects. Then slowly the awkwardness fades away.

“oooooh” Simon squeals, “I’ve found it, I know where we should go.” I lean over to his bean bag. Its perfect. It offers the subjects we want to do, in fact they are its speciality. And its beautiful, so beautiful. It’s got the country side whilst being in a pretty big city. So, the accommodation will be cheap. “ok, now we look at flats.” Simon says. Would we be sharing? Should I ask? But he’ll think I’m assuming that we will. What if he doesn’t want to? Simon turns back to his computer. And I’m left staring at him. Trying to come up with a way to ask him subtly. He looks up “what?”

I swallow hard. “so, we share flat?” I ask stammering halfway through. He looks confused, “DUH,” his face softens. “the whole point of this plan is to share a fla… Pen? What’s going on?” he asks quite rightly as tears are currently streaming down my face.

I lean further into my beanbag, pulling my glasses off to wipe away the tear damage. “Penny?” I turn to face him. “I can’t Simon, you’ve already got too much going on, its stupid anyway.” He smiles, “you know seeing my mindset not in me is quite eye opening.” What? “never mind. Penny tell me. I understand, and honestly I need a break from my own worries.”

After about a 5-minute struggle where I make sure he’s actually ready to hear what bothering me. I tell him. And he doesn’t laugh, tell me its stupid. He sits down hard on the floor next to me his face serious. “I don’t know either, but honestly at this point I don’t think it matters. We both did what we had to.” I counter this, but he has solid concrete arguments. And like a time-lapse we both stand up and sit down and pace around the room. Till the beanbags have been full discarded and we both lie legs up in the air on my bed.

“I’m worried about me and Baz” he says quietly. What? But I thought they were so solid. I let him continue, “he’s so worried about me.” Simon sighs “I know, I’m so glad he was there. But I’ve got it now. its hard to get back to the way we were before. We don’t do any of the stuff a couple should do in a fully lockable room…” I snigger. Then put my hand over my mouth. Oops.

“sorry, its still weird that you guys are together. I mean I saw it coming, I definitely saw it coming. But I never thought you guys would actually do anything about it.” Simons foot gently kicks mine. And we are temporarily engaged in a mini foot war. “I think you need a change of scenery, you’ve only got a few week before Baz goes back to school. A day trip or something.” I say “ooooh, you could take him on a date, it would be so romantic.” I heave myself up, needing to jump with excitement. Simon sits up, a flicker of a grin on his face. “maybe, I mean I’d have to ask him. I don’t think he’s that great with surprises.”

“Simon, I think a surprise is exactly what he needs”

It takes me about 10 mins to persuade him. Then he finally gets on the train of being excited about it.

Chapter 7

Simon

Maybe he hasn’t found the note yet. Maybe he has found and it and decided not to come, maybe he’s angry. Maybe he doesn’t want to date anymore. Maybe he...

“The famous Simon snow doing a romantic gesture, this i never thought I’d see” I look up, and Baz is smiling down at me. “Hey,” I say lost for words, although we’ve basically lived together for 3 weeks. But a constantly crying Simon is not the best conversationalist. He sits down and im aware of the bustling of the restaurant. Closing around in around us.

A waiter arrives, asks for our orders then leaves. Still silence, baz reaches out his hand and grabs onto mine. “Hey,” he says gently, “ Snow. Why are you doing this? Not that I appreciate it and wonderfully romantic, but why?“ I smile sadly up at him, “because of that,” His eyebrows raise.

“Baz, you’ve been so supportive the past 3 weeks. But I can breathe again. I’ve reached the surface just need to paddle to stay afloat. You aren’t my therapist. We are snowbaz we make out furiously in a forest on fire. I want to be a couple again.”

Baz looks at me for a second in concern, and I’m so scared that he’s just going to walk away, or manage the quickest break up ever.

He stands up quickly starts to walk towards the bathroom but at the last minute grabs my hand. He pulls me into a stall and kisses me hard. Wow this is not how I saw this going down. I kiss him back and back and back. “Wait our food.” I say pulling away, he smiles as he pulls away and ruffles my hair. “come on then let’s get the food.” He says shaking his head.

“You never responded to my speech.”

“Was that not a response?”

“I mean it was great...” i begin to fluster

“I agree, but” he breathes heavily “you need a therapist. Not me but you need one.”

“Okay I nod” so happy he’s not broken up with me I don’t really think about what he’s said. Food awaits

Chapter 8

Penny

I walk faster and faster, not daring to stop, not letting myself anywhere I could see memories would strike. Watford, I’m back. I pound on the mage’s door, mum’s door. “Come in.”

I plod through the door, breathing hard. “penny?” she asks looking concerned. “mum, I had to come here to see you. To tell you, I’m not coming back here. Once is enough, I know you love this school and you’d love to have me as your model student, but I can’t mum I can’t. It’s so suffocating, Simons not coming back either. We’d rather plan ahead not look back. And I know you’ll be sad and disappointed and...”

“oh penny,” mum pulls me into a hug, “seems like with all this work going on we haven’t had a chance to catch up. Let me start by saying, running a school is stressful and hard work and you are independent and strong, and you don’t need to prove anything to me.”

“what’s been going on with the school?”

“Well you won’t believe it, first the builder took a week, you won’t believe how long it takes builders and...”

Chapter 9

I lie on my new bed, flat out on my back. Breathing in slowly, eyes closed. I can’t believe I’m finally here. I’m now basically a grown up, I can’t believe Simon and I now have to feed ourselves. I’ve got my first attempt at cooking tonight. Surprisingly Premal has been helping me. I suppose his protective brother instincts finally kicked in after walking in after the mage died.

I subconsciously scroll through on my messages, my finger lands on Micah’s name. And I hurt and don’t really know why. I want to text him, but I don’t know the words. I try googling something but google doesn’t have the answer to all of the problem. I can hear chatter in the hall, probably Simon and baz. Ok I’m going to text him.

One word, two letters. “hi” I throw my phone on the bed and try to forget. I should start studying, “Simon, have you seen my crystal ball.” I feel a buzz in my pocket and despite the anxiety of him maybe rejecting me, I smile. And it doesn’t feel too weird.

[aion-rsa]

Doctor Who’s Best Comfort-Viewing Episodes

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I mean, it’s not like absolutely everything is terrible right now, but certainly a lot of things are and we could all do with a break. As a result, here’s a list of Doctor Who stories – one chosen per Doctor – that I put on for comfort. Sometimes you need something familiar and well-worn to unwind with.

This list is very much subjective, some of it is down to which Doctor Who videos I could afford when I was 10. These stories work for me and it’s unlikely they will work completely for someone else. Also worth mentioning is that this list is incomplete; these are not the only stories I watch for comfort, and indeed sometimes that’s not the reason I watch these stories.

First Doctor: ‘The Aztecs’

‘The Aztecs’ is a great example of Doctor Who that can be both familiar, endearing and brutal. In this story Barbara is mistaken for the goddess Yetaxa, and attempts to use her influence to stop the practice of human sacrifice. The Doctor rails against changing history, the High Priest plots to reveal Barbara’s ploy. To escape, Ian has to fight to the death, Susan has to avoid an arranged marriage, and the Doctor has to pretend to romance an Aztec woman who might have the key to letting them reach the TARDIS again. It’s all very morally murky yet comes away feeling generous.

A lot of the characters are flawed and interesting. You understand their motives even if you don’t agree with them. The original TARDIS crew, who have hit their stride now, are included in this. The Aztecs are shown to both practice human sacrifice and meet writer John Lucarotti’s description of ‘a highly civilised and cultured race’.

It’s also a well-made show, and if anything the improved picture quality has been cruel to Barry Newberry’s backdrops – not for lack of detail, but for picking out the folds in the material. With the script doing the same for the characters, ‘The Aztecs’ shows us that comforting does not have to equal light.

Second Doctor: ‘The Macra Terror’

There’s something counterintuitive about choosing a Troughton story with almost no existing pictures because so much of his performance is visual. However, having first experienced a lot of Troughton stories as audio there’s still a lot to admire in his expressive vocal performance.

Also something potentially counterintuitive here is that I’m picking a story outside of the Base Under Siege format that dominated Season 5, which for many people is their platonic ideal of Doctor Who. However I feel that this does a great disservice to a subgenre I’m going to call ‘Weird Troughton’, defined by being an outlier from the series format or featuring Troughton still working out the role (so ‘The Highlanders’, despite being a historical with no science-fiction elements, counts because Troughton is still trying out strange and fun things with the character). ‘The Underwater Menace’ is ridiculous and I love it anyway, David Whittaker very much ploughs his own furrow, and ‘The Mind Robber’ raises the possibility that Doctor Who is a self-aware entity. ‘The Macra Terror’, now available as an animation, is for me one of the best pieces of drama produced from this group, managing to be sinister, fun and have giant crab monsters in it.

It’s an angry take on uniformity, jingoism and control and feels very current. The Second Doctor’s response to having his clothes cleaned and hair combed in accordance with colony beauty standards is great. Ben’s brainwashing gives Michael Craze a chance to show his range, and by choosing not to play it in a zombie or fugue state it’s all the more chilling. Plus, and I can’t stress this enough, giant crabs.

Third Doctor: ‘The Sea Devils’

‘The Sea Devils’ is a sequel to ‘The Silurians’, Malcolm Hulke’s story of prehistoric lizard people who were the dominant species on Earth before humanity. That story was a more considered, intense tale, whereas this is more of a romp with depth. With aquatic lizards instead of underground ones, it also features the Navy rather than UNIT, and the Navy is credited with assisting the production.

Possibly because of this collaboration Jon Pertwee (formerly of the Naval Intelligence Division during World War Two) is clearly having a great time. Otherwise the tropes of the era (the Master, the military, meddling civil servants, Jo Grant gets to be resourceful and plucky, six episodes that could have been done in four) are all present and correct and ready to be argued at. It’s extremely comfortable, and directed with pace and energy by Michael E. Briant (he also knows when to slow down: the submarine attack, for example, where the sailors arm themselves and get into position, watching in horror and confusion as the door melts in front of them).

Hulke injects just enough detail into the characters to bring them to life, with the cast rising to the challenge. Colonel Trenchard, for example, feels like someone you could hear at a golf club complaining about immigration. The final two episodes dispense with any notion of depth and instead we get a big ol’ fight scene where the Navy gets to show off its machinery and the stunt team gets to show off its flips and falls.

This story also features an experimental synth score and a swordfight between the Doctor and the Master where one of them stops for sandwiches. The Pertwee era is pitched incredibly astutely. Sure, it’s absolute nonsense, but it’s amiable nonsense with teeth.

Fourth Doctor: ‘The Ribos Operation’

‘The Ribos Operation’ (or, as it should be known ‘The Best Fourth Doctor Story’) kicks off The Key to Time arc by systematically undermining the entire concept. The Doctor is given a mission by the White Guardian (ostensibly nicer than the Black Guardian but with a hint of unease to him), to find six pieces of The Key to Time and restore balance to the universe. The Doctor is given a new companion, a recent Time Lord academy graduate with all the book knowledge but no experience of the universe.

Robert Holmes’ script is layered, funny, and treads a perfect balance between anger and (unexpectedly) kindness. It hides its subtleties with engaging dialogue and characters, all played with the right levels of bombast. And such characters! Garron and Unstoffe, one of several Doctor analogues (he’s a big, booming and charismatic conman, with Unstoffe as his game but questioning companion who brings compassion that Garron can’t) are rightly regarded as the standouts, but it’s also worth noting the Graff Vynda K: a villain of the piece, a prissy warlord full of self-importance but never heard of before or since, a backwater despot bullying his way across a tiny corner of the universe. The Doctor’s solution to a vainglorious, self-mythologising monster? To blow him up. An interesting response on a number of levels.

There’s nothing wrong with this story. It’s superbly constructed and well-made. It’s a perfect anti-epic, and the only story I’ve rewatched on DVD as often as I did VHS.

Fifth Doctor: ‘Enlightenment’

A wondrous peak in Eighties Doctor Who, starting as a cerebral science-fiction adventure before morphing into a cerebral science-fiction adventure that’s camp as tits.

You may recall Craig Ferguson’s description of Doctor Who as ‘the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism’. ‘Enlightenment’ is a great example of this, with the romantic image of seafaring ships sailing through space corrupted by both the aloof officers and the Black Guardian’s influence. The Guardians here are ostensibly still representations of order and chaos, but mostly they’re ‘nice old man with bird on head’ and ‘ridiculous hyuk hyuking villain with bird on head’. The officer class are made up of Eternals – a race of godlike immortal beings who created this space race for entertainment – a great concept invented by writer Barbara Clegg after witnessing her rich relatives interact with her poorer ones at a family gathering.

The Doctor, through his intellect and faith in his companion, removes the corrupting forces. It’s not clear what happens to the surviving ships after the race is finished, but imagine finding one abandoned in space. It’s such a strong image in a story full of them. Clegg’s writing is full of great concepts and characterisation, including some excellent work with the regulars that makes them feel much more like real people than usual.

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Sixth Doctor: ‘The Mark of the Rani’

In which Time Lady the Rani experiments in a north-eastern mining town, causing violence to erupt.

First of all there’s the score, which is still of its time but feels distinctive due to its more tranquil ambient feel. It doesn’t sound dissimilar to The Microgram, someone who travels round the North East of England recording ambient noises and playing synths over them. There’s even one recorded at Beamish, which completes the loop here.

‘The Mark of the Rani’ is set in Killingworth, north of Newcastle, and technically so are the accents. They sound like someone went round RADA asking ‘Has anyone heard the song “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” by PJ and *checks notes* Duncan?’

This slightly askew version of reality fits Pip and Jane Baker’s version of Doctor Who. Their debut script for the show establishes their style of endearingly serious batshit nonsense (landmines that turn people into plants, leading to the immortal line ‘The tree won’t harm you’). It’s like their stories are written by Wallace with minimal input from Gromit.  

As a result ‘Mark of the Rani’ stands out amidst the aggressive stories surrounding it. It can be taken as merely enjoyably daft, but it’s also got some substance to it. Pip and Jane clearly remember Doctor Who as being the kind of show where the Doctor and his companion got on, so Peri is subjected to less arguing and is even defended (admittedly in terms of utility) by the Doctor.

The Rani is actually a character here, as opposed to her other appearances where she is simply A Villain In Doctor Who, and her presence immediately reduces Anthony Ainley’s Master to a supporting comic relief character. This suits him. When you’re standing in a field caked in shit pretending to be a scarecrow and laughing at passers-by for not noticing you clearly we can’t take you seriously anymore, so at least this story doesn’t pretend he’s a credible threat.

So on the one hand it’s daft, silly fun, but on the other it’s a mid-Eighties story featuring a chemist torturing Northern miners for her own gain. Guess what degree Margaret Thatcher graduated from Oxford with?

Speaking of Thatcher:

Seventh Doctor: ‘The Happiness Patrol’

Within Doctor Who fandom, no one has ever said ‘Oh you don’t like the McCoy era? I’m sorry, you never mentioned it’, and ‘The Happiness Patrol’ revels in all the things its detractors hate about the era. It’s intentionally camp and uses symbolism rather than demanding to be taken literally, like a more confident version of Season 24. The Kandy Man is rightly noted as (visually) a Bertie Bassett parody, played as the ludicrous creature he undoubtedly is.

Knowing that it is restricted in what it can show in terms of violence, the show had now worked out how to be ostensibly child-friendly and incredibly morbid, hence the screeching sweetie-creature, the Day-Glo ray-guns, and the guy who gets drowned in a vat of jam. When you’re three and have never seen Doctor Who before the Kandy Man is downright terrifying, this bizarre monster who twists and turns and screams. This was my first experience of Doctor Who and, appropriately enough, it scared the hell out of me.

As an adult, I find it’s a pleasing return to the ‘Weird Troughton’ stories of the Sixties, the ones where the Doctor was an unassuming but powerful anarchic figure. Here we have a variation of this, where the Doctor has been trying to explore the universe but finds it full of monsters, and starts doing something about it.

Before Season 26 attempted something approaching realism, this story suits Ace and the Seventh Doctor who both feel like Children’s TV archetypes who have grown tired of their roles. Ace’s CBBC leanings (with crap swearing and Blue Peter badges) fits into this heightened reality better than she does a less tonally certain story (like ‘Battlefield’). ‘The Happiness Patrol’ feels like a combination of the different approaches of the McCoy era, a best of album with a life of its own.

Eighth Doctor: ‘Night of the Doctor’

This is specifically because of the circumstances of broadcast, although it’s also a melancholy meta-commentary on the show’s cancellation and wilderness years in which Paul McGann gets to demand ‘Bring me knitting’.

It’s not merely the return of McGann to the onscreen role of the Eighth Doctor after 17 years, it’s that this was kept a surprise until the mini-episode was released in the build-up to the 50th anniversary special. It was such a treat, and I still remember the email I sent to the site’s TV editor when I watched it for Den of Geek. It read ‘OH MY F***ING GOD’ and was sent while the episode was paused just after the word ‘expecting’.

And so I told my friends. I know people watched this in work meetings on their phones under the table. It’s associated with a lot of feelings, not least building excitement. This one is connected very clearly to a moment of shared joy.

Ninth Doctor: ‘The End of the World’

While ‘Rose’ is rightly adulated as bringing Doctor Who back to a large prime time audience, ‘The End of the World’ had a different job to do. Viewing figures went down for this episode after over 10 million people watched the series opener, but went up again after this, suggesting positive word of mouth from this episode, consolidating the success of ‘Rose’.

The production team were aiming to use this episode to show off how Doctor Who could look in 2005, with hundreds of CGI shots and dozens of aliens gathered together. It also showed the new Doctor’s emotional distance, in that his idea of showing off to his new companion is to take her to see her planet getting destroyed.

We also get, in a late addition to the script, Russell T. Davies’ knack for making the alien familiar with the character of Raffalo (‘You’re a plumber?’) who is almost immediately killed, further demonstrating RTD’s knack for knowing which character’s death will have the most impact (and if you’ve not read his novelisation of ‘Rose’ you really should if just for Clive’s death in prose form. Honestly it’s incredible).

‘The End of the World’ is a comforting reminder of the nascent excitement surrounding the 2005 series, that feeling of turbulence that eventually settled because of the strength of these early episodes.

 Tenth Doctor: ‘The Fires of Pompeii’

The episode itself has a soothsay-off between Metella and Lucius to set up a plot point and the series arc, and the first TARDIS trip for Donna as a full-time companion. You immediately get to see the strengths that Catherine Tate is going to bring to the series, not merely her comic and dramatic ability but the way Donna is able to stop the Tenth Doctor from his worst impulses, and by bluntly dismissing the notion of fixed points in history meaning just allowing bad things to happen. This is, for me, the best episode in the first half of Series 4 by a long way.

Sure, there’s a colossal death toll here which is far from comforting, but as ever nostalgia and context plays a huge part here. This was an episode broadcast on the night of our fan club’s night out, a phase of my fandom that turned me from someone who liked Doctor Who in primary school into an adult fan. This has, overall, been worth it. So what this story reminds me of is, following on from ‘The End of the World’s establishing the series, is the initial excitement and patterns of Russell T. Davies’ series where he set up some key words or phrases early on and fandom tried to work out their significance, resulting in the heady days of someone saying Norman Lovett was going to play Davros in ‘The Parting of the Ways’ on IMDb.

Eleventh Doctor: ‘A Christmas Carol’

Quite a few contenders here, but I’ve gone with my favourite Christmas Special because these episodes are often Doctor Who at its broadest, suitable for the half-cut who dwell in food-comas. This episode is one of the last of these stories, before the Christmas Specials became steeped in the main continuity of the series. It’s also a great example of the childlike impulsiveness of Matt Smith’s Doctor before he became more of a teenager in Series 6. It’s great fun and the riffing on Dickens lands really strongly for people like me, who often respond more to a strong realisation of an idea than they do pathos.

This story is designed to be comfortable and succeeds by establishing what a Steven Moffat Christmas Special will look like: lots of time-travel, obviously, but also a big budget version of ‘The Happiness Patrol’s daring the audience to find it too ridiculous. As a result we get a remix of A Christmas Carol featuring flying sharks pacified by a mezzo-soprano, with the joy of these disparate elements coming together through that most underrated of Moffat staples – a grumpy old man learning to let go while being dragged through the sky by animals who usually lack the power of flight.

Twelfth Doctor: ‘Mummy on the Orient Express’

With Capaldi realising his initially abrasive take on the character was too much, this story relieved the tension that had been building with the Doctor’s behaviour, allowing him to explain himself and setting up the arc that culminates in ‘Hell Bent’.

Once this was broadcast I breathed a sigh of relief. Despite wanting it not to be the case I’d had to reach for the positives in the Capaldi era thus far; with the exception of ‘Listen’ the stories had felt like treading water until ‘Kill the Moon’ split the room. Even if you don’t like it (and I mostly don’t) that was the first story that felt like it was trying something different and paved the way for the increased complexity of the Twelfth Doctor’s character. Ultimately what the show needed at this point was a run of good stories, and – appreciating some people don’t get on with ‘Forest of the Night’ (and I mostly do) – this was the start of a really strong run.

‘Mummy on the Orient Express’ is a mash up of concepts that Doctor Who excels at, with an enjoyably horrific Mummy and the actual countdown to its victims’ demises contributing to making each death count. This is harder than it looks, the balance between violence and pathos taking into account the family audience, but the combination of ideas really makes them land as brutal without gore. By putting the Doctor through this writer Jamie Mathieson manages to explain his apparent heartlessness as weariness at making tough choices, but being unable to resist getting into situations that require them. The path is now clear from here to the heights of ‘Hell Bent’ and ‘The Doctor Falls’.

Thirteenth Doctor: ‘It Takes You Away’

Obviously there are fewer Jodie Whittaker fewer stories to choose from, and for me it has to be one from Series 11 because that felt like a palette cleanser for an approach to Doctor Who that never manifested. For all its ups and downs, limiting continuity references and focus on new characters or threats felt like a good move. Certainly the guest writers all provided solid stories, and while the series didn’t soar for me it felt like a good platform to improve from, which is partly why Series 12 was so disappointing (it felt like it addressed problems that weren’t there, ignoring the ones that were).

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‘It Takes You Away’ is frequently surprising, offering a simple blunt horror of loss (the childlike refrain of the title, the fear of absence) combined with endearingly outlandish performances by the actor Kevin Eldon and a sentient universe manifesting as a talking frog. It allowed Jodie Whittaker a rare success in negotiating her way out of a situation, and progressed the character arc of the series with Ryan and Graham’s changing relationship. It’s obviously imperfect (ideally, Hanne’s Dad’s manipulative behaviour would be properly addressed) but it’s also imaginative, moving, and weird, and these are three things I really want Doctor Who to be.

Share your go-to Doctor Who comfort viewing episodes below.

The post Doctor Who’s Best Comfort-Viewing Episodes appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Sadly this really attractive alternative/additional derivation of 'take the mick/micky' appears not to be supported by any type of main resources or referrals. If anyone can refer me to a reputable referral please let me recognize, until such time the Micky Happiness cockney poetry theory continues to be the most popularly sustained beginning. The loon bird's name came into English from a different root, Scandinavia, in the 1800s, and also arguably had a larger impact in the United States on the expressions insane as a loon, as well as also intoxicated as a crazy. The highly derogatory slang maniacal bin, referring to a mental home, initially showed up around 1910.

Nowadays, regardless of still being practically appropriate according to English dictionaries, resolving a combined group of individuals as 'promiscuous' would certainly not be a really suitable use of the word. pernickety/persnickety/pernickerty/ persnickerty - fussy, particular, fastidious - pernickety seems currently to be one of the most typical contemporary kind of this odd word. hifu Luton happen possibly because no clear derivation exists, providing no obvious reference indicate secure a punctuation or pronunciation.

Are CoolSculpting results permanent?

CoolSculpting is clinically proven to produce permanent results. Once the treated fat cells have been frozen through cryolipolysis, they die. The body's natural reaction is to remove these dead fat cells through its natural elimination process.

Dollar derives from thaler, which is an old German word for a coin, from earlier Reduced German 'dahler', whose vital root word 'dahl' implies valley. Dahler, later ending up being thaler, is a 500-year-old abbreviation of Joachimsthaler, a very early Bohemian/German silver coin. Words Joachimsthaler essentially referred to something from 'Joachim's Thal'. This was Joachim's Valley, which currently corresponds to Jáchymov, a spa community in NW Bohemia in the Czech Republic, near the border to Germany.

Does fat freezing work on stomach?

Share on Pinterest Researchers have found CoolSculpting to be relatively effective. Research generally points towards CoolSculpting being a relatively safe and effective treatment for removing some areas of fat. A 2015 review published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery analyzed 19 previous studies of cryolipolysis.

The word appears initially to have been recorded in between in Jamieson's Dictionary of the Scottish Language, in the type of pernickitie, as an extension of a Scottish word pernicky, which is probably a better clue to its beginnings. This is all conjecture in the lack of trustworthy recorded beginnings.

On which aim a combination of words particular as well as picky may have been an element, specifically when you consider the earlier pernicky type. Odds implying the various chances of challengers, as used in betting, was very first recorded in English in 1574 according to Chambers, so making use of the 'can't probabilities it' expression might conceivably be very old certainly. Cassells and also other credible jargon sources say that 'take the mick' is cockney rhyming vernacular, c. 1950s, from 'Micky Happiness', rhyming with 'take the piss'. No-one appears to know who Micky Happiness was, which maybe shows a little weak point in the derivation. Conversely, and also maybe in addition in the direction of the fostering of the expression, a much less well-known possibility is that 'mick' in this sense is a reducing of the word 'micturation', which is a clinical term for urination.

Partridge states initially recorded regarding 1830, but implies the expression might have been in use from perhaps the 1600s. This is absolutely possible because board meant table in older times, which is the association with card games used a table. It was formerly bord, traceable to Old Saxon, also implying guard, regular with comparable international words dating back to the earliest beginnings of European language.

This table sense of board also gave us the board as related to a board of directors and the boardroom. slowpoke - slow individual or employee - slowpoke is USA jargon initially tape-recorded in print according to Chambers. Probably from cowpoke - words initially used to describe the males that pushed cattle onto slaughterhouse trains. Poke represented the photo of work, being based on an usual work activity of the times, as did punch.

Blast With Cold Water.

This to a particular level explains why a lot of English words with French beginnings occur in way of living and social language. Incidentally the word French, to define people or points of France and the language itself, has actually existed in English in its modern-day form since concerning 1200, before which it was 'Frensch', and also earlier in Old English 'frencisc'. This stemmed from Old High German frenkisc and also frenqisc, from as well as directly related to the Franks, the very early Germanic individuals that overcame the Romans in Gaul around the 5th century. The name of the Frank people is also the origin of the word France and the Franc currency. The most enticing concept for the ultimate beginning of words Frank is that it comes from a comparable word for a spear or lance, which was the favoured weapon of the Frankish people. whatever drifts your boat - if it makes you happy/it's your decision/it's your choice (although I don't always agree and I uncommitted anyway) - a fairly contemporary expression from the late 20th century with oddly unknown origins.

Do you poop when you die?

The body may release stool from the rectum, urine from the bladder, or saliva from the mouth. This happens as the body's muscles relax. Rigor mortis , a stiffening of the body muscles, will develop in the hours after death.

In the late 1400s, silver ounce coins were minted from silver extracted at Joachim's Valley, Bohemia, by a regionally powerful household, the Matters of Schlick. These early local European coins, called 'Joachimsthaler', shortened to 'thaler', were basic silver in that area, which would nowadays expand into Germany. The high quality and also online reputation of the 'Joachimsthaler' coins consequently triggered the 'thaler' term to spread and also be made use of for more main generic variations of the coins in Germany, as well as elsewhere also. Later on, from the 1580s, the term was likewise utilized in its adapted 'buck' type as a name for the Spanish peso (also called 'piece of 8'). Clergy and clerics as well as clerks were as a result among one of the most able as well as extremely valued and valued of all 'workers'.

For such a well-used and also well-known expression the information of origins are oddly thin, as well as an usually not referenced in any way by the common expressions as well as etymology resources. Other recommendations describe feasible links with card video games, in which showing up a card would expose something hidden, or mark completion of a flow of play. It's specifically challenging to hypothesize concerning the origins due to the fact that the word 'turn' has a lot of different significances, specifically when combined with other very versatile words. If you can include anything to assist identfy when and also where as well as exactly how the 'turn it up' expression developed please contact us. The original wording was 'trend nor time tarrieth no male' (' tarrieth' suggesting 'waits on'). taxi/taxicab - fare-charging automobile, although taxi can be a fare-charging boat - taxi and also taxicab are words which we have a tendency to take for granted without thinking what the derivation could be.

areas Of The Body treated With Fat Freezing.

Actually the origin of taxi is the French 'taximetre' and also German comparable 'taxameter', integrating taxi/taxa and also metre/meter. Taximeter appeared in English around 1898, at which time its usage was moving from horse-drawn carriages to automobile. Taxi is an abbreviation of an additional French word cabriolet, which came into English in the 1700s, and also it appears in the complete French taxicab equivalent 'taximetre cabriolet'. Cab appeared in English meaning a steed drawn carriage in 1826, a steam locomotive in 1859, and an electric motor automobile in 1899. Chambers suggests that the French taximetre is really originated from the German taxameter, which surprisingly triggered an earlier similar but short-lived English term taxameter videotaped in 1894, applied to horsedrawn taxicabs. move the board - win everything - based on the metaphor of winning all the cards or money risk in a game of cards.

Mojo probably derives from African-American language, describing an amulet or witchcraft beauty, and also is close to the word 'moco', meaning withccraft, made use of by the Gullah of the United States South Carolina shore and islands. Words as well as the significance were popularised by the 1956 blues track Got My Mojo Working, first made famous by Muddy Seas' 1957 recording, as well as subsequently covered by just about all blues musicians ever since. The term provided the beginning for words mobster, suggesting gangster, which showed up in American English in the early 1900s. Hitch utilized in the feeling is American from the 1880s although the general hitch significance of action by pulling or jerking is Old English from the 1400s hytchen, as well as prior, icchen meaning action from 1200.

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[paladinsheadcanons]

Headcanons with Pip and Cassie friendship? I think they have a cute, very platonic relationship.

I love cute close platonic relationships. :D -Mod Inara

-Pip and Cassie were pretty friendly with each other straight from the start, given that both of them are relatively similar in terms of being able to get along with people. Cassie’s still the more friendly and social one, and would be the one to suggest hang outs and such more. They usually visit the more secluded parts of towns together, thanks to Pip’s interests in weird trinkets which can only be found there. Some of them creep Cassie out a little, but she finds most of them interesting. (Also, Pip doesn’t like crowds to Cassie makes sure to avoid such areas.)

-They once accidentally brought back a semi-cursed box containing a very tiny but malicious demon that tried to eat Pip and Zigs (it failed). Androxus decided to be dramatic and Ult the thing. Seris threw the box into the Abyss. There was a ban on bringing any weird things to the base from then on. Doesn’t mean Pip and Cassie don’t sneak some weird stuff in every now and again. Evie is in on it most of the time by the way. Shenanigans happen. 

-Pip was initially nervous around Zigs, since he sometimes liked to nip at Pip’s ears which was something Pip didn’t like at all. He didn’t say anything about it and often played it off as a joke, but when Zigs did it while he was in a bad mood, Cassie found out and made sure to get Zigs to stop. They then had a talk about being more honest with each other about the little things that upset them. Eventually Pip was able to feel comfortable enough with Zigs to let the bird sit next to him while working in his lab. Cassie was very pleased.

-They occasionally go to the beach together with a few other Paladins (Lex, Sha Lin, Kinessa, Fernando, and Talus - usually). Pip hates salt water because of his fur and likes to play in the sand instead (he’s based off a fennec fox so...). If everyone else wants to get in the water, Cassie would go have fun with Pip and they would do random stuff like build sandcastles, dig trenches to sit in, or bury each other in the sand. 

-Cassie likes to joke about how Pip is like a baby brother to her even though they’re around the same age in human years. She knows he doesn’t take it as offense, so she likes to tease him about it sometimes. Pip normally has a lot of sarcastic and witty retorts in response, but when he doesn’t, he plays along and joking calls Cassie his “big sis” and it turns into a overly dramatic skit between the both of them. When they get to this stage, they go on until they both just can’t hold their laughter back anymore.  

#pip #cassie #zigs #paladins #paladins champions of the realm #paladins headcanons

[purkinje-effect]

The Purkinje Effect, 9

Table of Contents

Galen fluttered his eyelids with a groan, and sat up. He was no longer wearing the jumpsuit, now in just his boxer-briefs. After a moment awake, his recollection prodded him of having broken his arm, but he looked around in the dim light. An upper-story room, with a few mannequins scattered around. He couldn’t remember where he was, let alone how he’d gotten there. The last thing he remembered was glowing neon signs. Had the super mutant encounters been a nightmare? He sat up on the stained, near-primordial mattress he lay upon and looked himself over, finding no injuries, though his right upper arm was a bit scarred up. No, it had happened--but how long had he been here, for his arm to have healed up so well? Beside the bed was a metal plate with a sweet roll and a can of pork and beans, as well as his lighter and pack of cigarettes. From how they were arranged, he knew he hadn’t placed them there. His Pip-Boy was still on his left arm.

Ignoring the meal, he flicked out a smoke from the pack and laid back on the mattress once he got it smoldering, staring at the ceiling while he puffed at it vacantly. There was a good breeze in the room. Who’d brought him here, and where were they? He glanced around the room, lit by a lantern in the far corner. There was hardly anything up here, save a bookshelf with some miscellany stacked on it. Yet, the door was wide open. Whoever it was, didn’t have him prisoner. He’d hoped to at least locate a pair of pants, but found little in the way of any clothing. Getting up to pace while he finished the other half of his cigarette, he looked out the window.

The view framed by tattered yellow curtains, his brow slacked at remembering finally where he’d ended up. He was directly above the small plaza where he’d passed out. The neon signs had led him there. The ghoul guardians still milled about, a pair of them chatting privately close to the door to the plaza. Occasionally they got loud enough to at least be indiscernible. Off to his right as he leaned on the sill was a large red-brick building, several stories tall, with white-edged windows. It looked in itself quite important, if not striking. Swallowing the butt when he got to it, he realized his vault suit had been folded up beside him, and he slipped into it. Though barefoot, he was no longer in his underwear, and he felt enough reassured of the kind of place he’d found himself, to venture down the single-plank wooden stairs.

“Oh, you’re alive,” he heard a pleasant voice call out as he descended, responding to the creaking steps. “Take it you slept well.”

As his field of vision dipped under the ceiling, he stumbled at first glance in the low incandescent light, and nearly missed a few steps without a banister to catch himself. Another ghoul. There were so many of them here.

“Can’t handle a friendly face?” she mused dryly, walking away from her front counter to approach him. With her hair up in a messy bun, the ghoul with a heart-shaped face and pitch-black scleras wore a three-piece tan suit, and stood taller than Galen.

“Can’t say I knew, ah, that kind of a face could be friendly,” he replied as tactfully as he could figure, wiping the sorry off his face. “Glad it’s a friendly one. Been a strict deficit of those as of late.”

“Well, you’re not screaming. That’s a delightful first impression,” she grinned. “We’re more common than you think, though I don’t believe the same could be said of, well.” She gestured, intimating his tactlessness for sake of irony.

“There’s more of us, promise. Kinda obvious I ain’t from around here, huh? Uh. You the one who did first aid on me?”

“You sang a swan song on Goodneighbor’s steps. I was the closest one with Stimpacks.”

“Ugh, don’t mention swans,” he wheezed, his face scrunching in emotional exhaustion.

“So that’s what happened to you,” she deduced. “Yeah, it’s real obvious you’re not from these parts. Festive coloration aside, everyone in these parts knows to steer clear of Boston Common.”

“Honestly, that thing wasn’t what roughed me up the worst,” he confessed, crouching on the stairs with a sheepish glance toward her. “I’d gotten in a fight with a smaller one right before that. It’s what broke my arm in the first place. Running from the Swan only compounded the injury. ...Thanks, by the way.”

“Name’s Daisy,” she replied. “Did you notice the food I left you upstairs? Noticed you were out of food supplies. Hope y’don’t mind that I took the liberty of inspecting what you had on your person while you were out cold. Promise it’s all where you left it. Had to make sure we weren’t taking in some lousy raider. You understand.”

“...I did notice.” He shifted where he sat, a bit grateful the stairwell was relatively dark by comparison to the rest of the store. “Appreciate the gesture, but ah... how t’put it... S’not what I eat.” He pointed vaguely to the pepper mill on the counter next to her, not even sure how to quantify his nutritional needs anymore.

“Are you used to being able to afford to be picky about how your food’s seasoned?” She snatched it up and wagged it at him. “It’s empty, I’ll have you know.”

“No, I was... more sayin’ that the shaker itself is more appetizin’ than the bread and beans. My stomach and I have been havin’ trouble agreeing on what I should and shouldn’t be eating.”

“--I’m sorry, did you say what your name was?”

“Didn’t.”

A silence.

“Well, I’ve got a section of my stock endearingly labeled Is It Food or Not? if you’ve got your curiosity about you. You’ve got to eat if you’re going to patch up right.”

“I’d gladly take the shaker, if you’ll have it.” He didn’t budge from his place to browse for himself. “Where are my things, by the way? Don’t much like walking around here wearing this.”

“I’ve got a working washing machine, if you’ll believe it. Since the plumbing’s rotten in this area, you’ve got to put the water in it yourself, but I figure you’d prefer the comfort of your own clothes not plastered up in whatever that pink slop was. Just hope it doesn’t stain my machine for good, heh.” Daisy handed him the pepper mill, then walked up to the front corner of the store, under the stairs. “It’s almost dry.”

A chill jolted through Galen, to hear his blood was so badly staining that she hadn’t thought it was blood.

“This is a pretty sturdy settlement.” He verbally sidestepped, fidgeting with the mill to dismantle it. With the crank and screws in his mouth, he mumbled, “to have the electricity to run all those signs, and appliances to boot. How much bigger is this place?”

“Goodneighbor isn’t all too big, but we’ve got plenty of sizable generators. It’s a modest place, with enough amenities--and defenses--to make it home for more than a few misfits and outcasts.” She grinned strangely, watching him swallow the barrel of the mill. “You weren’t kidding. Don’t choke, kid.”

He forced a breath through his nostrils once he’d gotten it down. “--Not a kid.”

“Sorry to break it to you, but there’s a couple hundred years between me and the twenty-somethings like you running around here. You’re a kid to me.”

“I.” He couldn’t not stare. “Seems neither of us looks their age,” he chuckled, mildly distressed. “I get the impression you’re trying to tell me you were around before everything was blasted to kingdom come.”

“Had a front seat. It’s how I got my immaculate complexion. I look good for 220, though, don’t I?”

He sat there for a moment, awed, until the math worked itself out in his head.

“You would’ve only been, what, ten then? Don’t ghouls stop aging when they turn?” He bit his lip furtively. “I’m not about to go about guessing an upstanding young lady’s age, but you’ve got to be at least as old as me if you literally witnessed the bombs.”

“...Either you are the most well-preserved ghoul I’ve ever met, or you’re the second-best bullshitter in Goodneighbor. You’re a smart one, though. The kids in this town have never seen my sour side, and they know to keep it that way.”

“Heh, really, though, Miss Daisy. I’ve gotta make all this hospitality up to you when I’m fit for it. And because I can see it in your face’t your curiosity is chewing you alive--I was nineteen when my family evacuated to the vault I’m from. One of my worst recurring nightmares is an action replay of running down the gorge from our junkyard, trying to make it in time. Half the time the nightmare tells it that the vault was nothing more’n a cave with a safe door lockin’ us in from the outside.” He laughed quietly. “Not sure why I told you that. I haven’t met an above-grounder yet that didn’t go ballistic at the mere possibility that I’m way older than I look.”

“Didn’t want to ask about your Pipboy,” she started, half-beginning to actually believe him. “Most folks I’ve met with one weren’t given it.” She sensed the reason he didn’t have on the suit for what it meant to him, but didn’t voice that he’d confirmed her assumptions with his dream retelling.

“A little bird told me we got a newbie here in Goodneighbor,” a third voice interjected, low and breathy, “but I didn’t expect a vaultie.” When Galen looked up, yet another ghoul stood before them, donning a red colonial frock cinched at the waist with the Commonwealth flag and cavalier boots. Putting a finger to his tricorner cap in a welcoming nod, he teased, “Good morning.”

Galen simply sat there a moment, blank.

“...I must a hit my head real hard on the pavement.”

#fallout 4 fanfic #fo4 fanfic #fallout 4 oc #fo4 oc #fallout 4 #geek #the purkinje effect #daisy #goodneighbor #hancock

[hsrsports]

Antonio Felix da Costa seals 2019/20 Formula E title in Berlin - Click on link to subscribe my channel https://ift.tt/34vXvMA Facebook - https://ift.tt/2Vjiyz6 Twitter - https://twitter.com/HsrSports Pinterest - https://ift.tt/2ywdZIH Tumblr - https://ift.tt/2z5qwmL Blog - https://ift.tt/2VlBDRu #Motor_Sports #Formula1 #MotoGP Follow us on 11th Aug 2020 10:57 am Da Costa and DS Techeetah have wrapped-up the 2019/20 Formula E drivers’ and teams’ titles with two races to spare. DS Techeetah’s António Félix da Costa has won the 2019/20 Formula E championship after completing Round 9 in 2nd place. His teammate Jean-Éric Vergne won the race (the fourth of six in Berlin) to help DS Techeetah wrap-up the Teams’ championship as well. ·         Da Costa wins the Formula E championship with two races to spare ·         Round 9 win elevates Vergne to 2nd in the championship ·         Lynn bags his first points finish for Mahindra Racing Vergne scores his first win of the season DS Techeetah made clever use of strategy, swapping its drivers’ positions twice to fend off the threat from Nissan. While running 1st and 2nd, Vergne and da Costa were unable to really pull away from the Nissan duo of Oliver Rowland and Sébastien Buemi. Crucially, the DS Techeetah cars were also running with one percent less usable energy than the Nissan cars. On lap 13, the team ordered da Costa to swap places with Vergne and attack, giving him some buffer to the Nissans. They were once again ordered to switch places on Lap 30 as they sought to optimise their remaining energy. Nissan decided to use the same tactic, asking Rowland to move aside for Buemi, who had an energy advantage at the time. However, Vergne and Da Costa were able to resist the pressure from Buemi to hand Techeetah a 1-2 finish. With this, last season’s champion Vergne has secured his first Formula E win this season. The result also sees him make big gains in the championship as he jumps from 9th to 2nd place in the overall standings. Mercedes’ Nyck de Vries pipped Rowland to 4th place on the very last lap. They were followed by Audi’s Lucas di Grassi, Jaguar’s Mitch Evans and Porsche’s André Lotterer in 6th, 7th and 8th place, respectively. Da Costa crowned Formula E champion A 2nd-place finish was enough for Da Costa to seal the championship with two races to spare. In a season where most drivers have struggled to maintain consistency, the Portuguese driver consistently secured good results. In fact, he won four of the last five rounds. “This team knew what I could do even when I was finishing nowhere, and they brought me back. A massive thanks to my teammate Jean-Éric Vergne too. He’s a hard competitor but he has helped me out a lot and it’s also thanks to him that I was able to be so quick straight away in this team,” he said after the race. “We had a game-plan and we executed it perfectly today.” Lynn secures his first points for Mahindra Alex Lynn had a tough task at hand for the six-race finale in Berlin . The British racer was drafted in to replace Pascal Wehrlein at Mahindra Racing mid-season and had to adapt to a new car in a relatively short amount of time. Despite securing some impressive results in qualifying, a strong race result has evaded him so far. But he did manage to pick up his first points for the Indian team with a 9th-place finish, despite battling dash display issues in the closing stages of the race. His teammate, Jérôme d’Ambrosio crossed the chequered flag in 15th place. The final two races of the 2019/20 Formula E season will take place on August 12 and 13. These final two rounds will use a new circuit configuration of the Tempelhof Airport track featuring tighter, twistier middle and final sectors. Berlin E-Prix (Round 9) results: Pos Driver Team Car Gap 1 Jean-Éric Vergne DS Techeetah DS 46m24.803s 2 António Félix da Costa DS Techeetah DS 0.497s 3 Sébastien Buemi Nissan e.dams Nissan 1.392s 4 Nyck de Vries Mercedes Mercedes 3.791s 5 Oliver Rowland Nissan e.dams Nissan 5.018s 6 Lucas di Grassi Audi Audi 9.805s 7 Mitch Evans Jaguar Jaguar 14.814s 8 André Lotterer Porsche Porsche 15.755s 9 Alex Lynn Mahindra Mahindra 21.001s 10 Felipe Massa Venturi Mercedes 22.809s 11 Sam Bird Virgin Audi 22.911s 12 Stoffel Vandoorne Mercedes Mercedes 23.388s 13 Alexander Sims BMW BMW 23.575s 14 Edoardo Mortara Venturi Mercedes 23.889s 15 Jérôme d'Ambrosio Mahindra Mahindra 23.914s 16 Rene Rast Audi Audi 24.381s 1..

#Sports

[allthetribbles]

Pt 2 The Dark One's Woods

March 16, 2019; OIS Game Notes

{{ Pt 2 The Dark One's Woods }}

Characters; Livia, Ryan, Te'ani, Alan. NPC – the scientist Laird

Within the forest, the team became misdirected. Despite knowing we weren't that far in, the forest extends as far as we can tell and it is quite... creepy. It is dark and the trees seem to be drawing closer to the path. It is extremely quiet - no birds, animals, nor wind. With Alan's arcane sight spell, there is residue of magic heavily in the roots of the trees, tapering as it goes higher.

Going further into the forest trying to find our bearings, we come across a shack on our right that definitely wasn't there before. It's a dilapidated one-story rancher that looks to have been built within the last 100 years. The door isn't locked; looking with arcane sight is a dead zone - can't see inside it. Looking with regular sight, it appears to be a mudroom that is in better condition than the outside leads to believe.

When Liv enters the home there is an unpleasant tingle down her back; looking at her hands everything looks a bit off, but can't pin down HOW. When Alan crosses the tingling threshold, when he attempts to turn arcane sight spell "on" it doesn't work. Jim doesn't feel anything - Te'ani does feel tingling.

Inside the home is is fairly typical. There is a relatively new bookshelf full of books and papers and a table full of maps. The maps are dated back two centuries and other maps showing older things (3-5 centuries before western civilization began colonization). All of them are centered around the west coast area - very specifically a section 100 miles around Seattle, focused on where we are. The older the maps, the bigger the circle. The newest map is from around 15 years ago, current location is circled "here."

Alan goes through the books and looseleaf papers, finding references to Shub'Niggaroth. One of the books has been heavily thumbs through and dog-earred has references to Dark One. Te'ani mentions "the black goat of the woods" and its black blood that has mutagenetic properties. Things like trees, plants, and animals become highly aggressive when mutated; there is probably a Dark One somewhere in the woods and is at the center of what is going on.

We take everything.

The bed looks like it's been used within the last week or two - around the time Laird disappeared. Nearby is a notebook that starts off well-written, detailing about how he bought the location on the rumours that a great evil was buried inside a "Dead Zone." Dead Zones are incredibly rare, much like a reverse Bermuda Triangle where supernatural entities and events can't occur. The longer the notebook goes on, the sloppier the writing becomes; it's almost illegible at the end.

We then met the scientist Laird... who appeared as if he'd had better days. He was quite disheveled, wearing a white smock streaked with blood and currently missing a shoe. He seems to be suffering from malnutrition, and something definitely seems wrong with his mind. It is wandering a bit more than it should. (The trees are on the move, I can hear them rumbling. "It" is moving. Not sure what "it" is; follow the trees and you'll find it. Don't burn them, it just makes them mad.)

Against all odds, it seems that it is getting dark again, and following Laird's advice, we decide to bunker down. During the night, Laird sleeps like a log while the things around the cabin keep the agents awake. Something that sounds like fingernails on the side of the cabin, clawing on the room, and the flapping of BIG leathery wings.

Come morning, when we exit the cabin, vines have wrapped around Jim's armour on its legs and torso. The trees are a lot closer than we remember, crowding to the house itself. Footprints are in the ground nearby that are dinnerplate sized.

Leaving the cabin behind, we start walking to attempt to exit. After several hours, it is decided to tether Liv to fly above the forest and gain bearings. Taking the wire, going up is a bit difficult as the trees are actively trying to prevent her from leaving. Once above the canopy, taking video - there is forest as far as the eyes can see. (“Trees, trees, everywhere, and not ones to burn.”)

Laird is the one that notices a path that looks to be the size of an animal trail leading off into the woods... unfortunately, dinnerplate sized footprints lead right into the area. Alan attempts to use arcane sight again, but reveals the same as before - the purple corruption is centered on the roots of the trees and tapers up.

The further we head down the path, the darker it gets. As the undergrowth grows closer, noises come from the trees and night falls faster. A swarm of things comes down the path and attacks - they end up being gigantic beetles 3-6 inches long. Lighting them on fire, the ichor from the beetles begin to burn and evaporate.

Further down the path we come across six mutated creatures - four human sized, two eight to nine foot tall. Ryan takes them out with his power armour, leaving behind piles of black, bubbling goo. At the end of the path is the opening of a cave that is streaming the black goo.

Entering the cave, the sides of the tunnel are covered with the black ichor. Murals - really old murals - are painted on the side that depict things like trees eating people (pictures were taken with the pip). About 30-40 feet in, the cave system opens up. It is easy to follow because the ichor is flowing at the edge of the cave tunnel, flowing against gravity.

The deeper we go, the thicker the goo becomes. Skeletons of creatures are embedded in the goo, hard to tell if they were ever human because they're twisted beyond recognition. At the end of the tunnel it just... ends. There is no "source" of the corruption, but the black goo is oozing from the wall. Burning the goo makes a thick, black smoke that evaporates the ichor. Once the flames stop, it eventually oozes again.

Ryan uses his armour to blast a hole in the cave wall to reveal a hidden cavern filled with a lake of black goo. At the center is a gigantic (around 80 foot) tree with tall black branches reaching into the earth above.

Realizing that we can't get a good shot off from where we are, we decide to escort Laird further into the cavern for him to hopefully get a shot off with his gun. Ryan's chargebeam sears the trunk as we escort Laird closer through the mutated swarms. Between Te'ani and Alan directing where the shots should land and which mobs of magical mutated monsters to level, we are able to get him close enough to get a shot off.

By the chronometers, it has only been about ten minutes. Laird shoots the gun; a beam of yellow light tethering the tree to him... and he falls over dead. The gun comes to a rest at Te'ani's feet. The giant tree, the Dark one starts screaming in a high pitched whining as the monster things start thrashing on the ground. The black ichor starts to flow back into the lake as the limbs attached to the ceiling attempt to break free. As it thrashes in pain, it ignites into a fireball and when the sensors have cleared, there is only the charred remains of the Dark One left. The black ichor is gone and the libms have turned to gray ash.

Te'ani takes the gun carefully, while it is debated who will take back Laird's body. Liv decides to take it with gravikenesis and almost pounds him into the ceiling because it weighs almost nothing/ maybe 3-40 lbs because his life force has been drained out.

Returning is easy, the black blood is gone, radio chatter is back up and the trees are all normal... well, mostly. Most look normal, but there are some that are falling into pieces and gray ash due to the corruption burning away. Walking about a mile and we're out of the woods again.

Surprisingly another OIS team is on the scene.... and informs us that we've been gone a week.

??? A WEEK ???

Returning to the office, we debriefed the Director on the situation and handed over the gun to be locked up out of the light of day.

- DM SUMMARY -

The OIS group managed to survive the Dark One forest of fear, watched as the trees closed in and bled and monstrous mutated creatures attacked. Eventually they came to a cave, followed it down deep under ground, blew a hole and found a captured Dark One young and managed to kill it with the pistol Laird had created.

#ctech #ois #game notes #liv grasse #cthulutech