Hot Ghouls in your Area ch 9 PREVIEW

In which Jason makes not a single good judgement call.

“Good morning!”

Jason winced and moved the phone a little further from his face. “Is this Doctor Fenton?”

“It's one of them! What can I do ya for?” Jack Fenton boomed, just as bombastic as his newsletter made him seem. Jason knew, deep in his heart, that Jack Fenton was indeed the one who had selected green neon bold for his headings and borders.

Angels wept. Jason scrubbed his palm over his eye. This man had no poetry in his soul. “I, uh, had some questions about a ghost. I've read some of your articles and your most recent published paper on the topic.”

“We love ghosts!” Fenton bellowed. “Ask away!”

“Do you know a ghost called Phantom?” Jason tried.

“...Sure do,” Jack Fenton said. “Whatcha need?”

Jason cleared his throat. “It's somewhat complicated,” he said evasively, because he didn't need these people to know he was the Red Hood. Fuck. He should have either gotten his helmet stored away or not given his real name. Phantom knew his face and that his name was Jason. Any information that got around via Phantom might tie his face to his alter ego. If Phantom said he got married to Jason, the Red Hood, that could lead to the end of the Bat family vigilantism.

“...He cause you trouble, sport?”

Jason let out a slight laugh. “You could say that, though it wasn't really his fault,” he admitted. He cast a paranoid eye out the window to be sure no siblings were creeping on him. “No, it's really more that…” Fuck, he should have planned this better. “Is there any information you can give me about how a human could contact him?”

Not that Jason didn't have a phone number for the guy. But it made him very uncomfortable to have any basic knowledge or way to track Phantom down if he decided to leave Jason to whatever was going on.

“I could probably do that,” Jack Fenton said slowly, now sounding like an entirely different human being. “Say, you wouldn't be Jeremy, would you?”

Jason blinked. “...How did you know?” He went with. Phantom had contact with a human guy named Jeremy? That might be his in.

“Oh, well then, you've definitely got to come over,” Dr. Fenton wheedled. It somehow came across as shifty. “You'll be wanting a whole primer on how the Ghost Zone works, won't ya?”

“That would be immensely helpful,” Jason agreed. “But I'd hate to take up your valuable time.”

“Nonsense!” Fenton bellowed. Jason nearly lost his grip on his phone in surprise. “Come over Jeremy, I'm dying to meetcha!”

So, there was a plan. Jason packed for a day trip and dialed up his travel agent.

“Fuck off,” said Tim. “I'm busy. Christ.”

“I need an airplane ticket and a rental bike,” Jason continued. He tossed his mostly full bag on the sofa and went digging for the socks he knew he had washed the other night. “I'm going to go see some nerds about my impromptu adventure the other day.”

Tim groaned. That was the first Jason had given any hint at all about what had happened to him when he'd been ‘sacrificed.’ “What nerds?” He asked wearily.

Jason grinned into his sock drawer. Gottem. “Why, do you all know each other?” He asked blithely.

CTVT and a weird niche theory I fell down the rabbit hole about - giant transforming retroviruses???

This is a story about how a single line on a wikipedia page sent me down a rabbit hole of finding one scientist's fringe theory that's juuuust plausible enough to make me question everything while almost certainly being absolute fucking bunk.

Some background

So, on parts of tumblr at least we all know about Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumour, aka The Immortal Cancer Dog. For those who don't know, it's a cancer dogs get, usually on their junk, that unlike most other cancers, isn't made up of their own cells. The cells are actually all descended from this one dog or wolf that lived like 11,000 years ago and are, arguably, all technically that one dog. A dog that became a single-celled infectious disease.

We have a wealth of genetic, histological and observational evidence for this. As in, we know it what population of canids it came from, we know it's got a weird chromosomal structure compared to normal dogs, we know it's genetically distinct from the hosts. We also know it's not the only one out there: There's a similar thing in Syrian hamsters and also the famous Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD).

Which made me pause when I was reading something on wikipedia about the devil facial tumour and saw a line mentioning that it was now known to be caused by a giant virus, much like CTVT. Which...huh? Oh I hadn't heard that afore.

Giant viruses

Ok so giant viruses are a thing and they're fuckin cool. They're a relatively recent discovery and comparatively huge, i.e. bigger than a bunch of bacteria. They were only discovered in 1981 and we still don't know an enormous amount about them but they're big and have large genomes and because of the way viruses are they're not easy to detect unless you're specifically looking for them.

They show up under microscopy (sometimes) and you can find them with genetic probes but you gotta already be looking for them to see that really. Current research though basically says they're more common than we think, just overlooked, and there's software out there that scans through genomic data to find sequences that might indicate their presence. There's even a possibility that one group might be involved in some cases of pneumonia in humans, though I need to stress that that's extremely not confirmed right now.

The "wait, what?" moment

So I mentioned that it was a line in the wiki article for DFTD that had me going "wait, really?", the line in question was this:

A study found evidence for an infectious agent resembling a giant virus that was capable of turning heathy cells into cancer cells. It was found to be a huge retrovirus with similar viruses being found in human and canine cancer cells.

Big If True.

So of course I check the source, which was a 2020 paper by Lusi et al. titled "A transforming giant virus discovered in Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumour: Stray dogs and Tasmanian devils opening the door to a preventive cancer vaccine".

Hang on, CTVT not DFTD? This is where some alarm bells went off because uh, as mentioned at the start, we know a shit ton about CTVT. Including the fact that it's all one specific dog. Which doesn't fit at all with the idea that it's caused by a virus transforming host cells into cancer cells.

So what fucking gives? What is this research that fully overturns decades of pretty conclusive research to the contrary?

Is this another case of Dr Barbara McClintock? Who spent decades being ridiculed by the scientific community over her wild theory that was, in fact, 100% right even if it seemed to fly in the fact of all prior evidence?

Or is this a Dr Donald I. Williamson situation wherein a scientist with appropriate training is just wildly but extremely vehemently wrong?

Can we have more Boxer!Stone x Coach!Reader?

Yes, and we are going to be combining this ask with this one:

boxer!stone finding out about coach!reader's past he knew that his coach was a really well known boxer a few years ago, even before stone started, he just didn't know why his coach stopped, since reader always shrugged and laughed it off how would stone react if he found out that reader got forcefully taken out of all rings because he's gay? some pics of him got leaked where he was seen with some random guys and the media got pissed. cause how could a man like reader like other guys??????

Stone walked over to your office, knocked on the door, and didn't even wait for a reply before entering. He saw you sitting at your desk, frowning at him as he entered.

He normally would've apologized for barging in, but instead he made his way over to your desk and threw down the news articles he printed out about your "scandal" all those years ago onto said desk. "Is this why you told me you don't like me back?" he asked, seething internally for you and for the situation you had been put in.

You pursed your lips and nodded, unable to deny it. "Look, I can't risk losing my star boxer and more importantly, I couldn't live with myself if your career ended because of me," you replied, standing up from your desk. You walked closer to him. "You deserve better than how I was treated and I can't... I can't take you down with me just because I like you, Stone."

"It's Vikram to you," he interjected, full of rage that was in no way directed to you. "And I don't care about the so-called scandal or what the media thinks of me."

"You say that now, Vikram, but you'll change your mind." Your tongue burned with his real name and you found yourself liking the way it sounded coming from you. "You told me once that boxing was a way for you to adjust to civilian life, that you replaced it with the military because you were looking for a purpose. Vikram, your boxing career is your entire life."

Stone stepped closer to you, leaning down and forward until his nose brushed against yours. "I don't care about my career," he murmured, his voice softer and full of love. "As long you'll still have me if I lose my career and never see the inside of a ring again, I will always choose you. You over my career, my fans, even over me."

"Tell me you'd chose me too, please." His brown eyes searched your eyes, searching for the love he knew you had to have for him. He couldn't have been so wrong about you. "I could be without reputation and fame, as long as I have you. Tell me I have you."

You were silent for a while before you cracked. You couldn't deny that he made your heart race, that the kiss you two shared all those weeks ago plagued your mind and dreams. You loved him, you didn't know when you fell in love with him, but you loved him.

"I choose you, you have me," you said after a while of silence. Your hands reached upwards, cupping his scarred cheeks. "I love you, Vikram."

Stone felt a weight lifting off his shoulder, relief flooding through his body. He leaned in more and kissed you, making sparks go off in his body. He had completely melted into you, you holding him up by just holding onto him.

Eventually, you two had to pull away for air and you smirked. "Come on, you have a big match coming up. We have to train," you said, letting your hands fall from his face. Your smirk widened. "You're going to be a good boy for me and train, aren't you?"

Stone nodded so fast you were concerned he had gotten whiplash from it. "Yes, I will. Promise," he replied, eagerly waddling like a penguin out of the office.

You chuckled at the sight of him and followed him out of the office to help him train for the upcoming match. You didn't regret your decision to be with him, not anymore.

Reblogs are welcomed & appreciated! Asks are open, feel free to pop in and talk or request something! (SFW requests only, please and thank you)

Yall, its time to ramble about visual/environmental storytelling cause this is silly article is driving me insane.

I won't argue for if the game should have had more constant and involved cutscenes like Robobot or Star Allies, but what I will say is that this game is VERY rich in story through the world design. The Forgotten Land as opposed to say the Land of the Sky in TD or the entire galaxy of Star Allies is like, DROWNING in writing and narrative. It builds so much mystery and intrigue through the theming of every world and even individual levels, with exploring both how the people of the land originally lived and how it's being reclaimed by nature and the animals.

I think the closest things maybe is Robobot and Halcandra in RTDL, the former having great little designs that key you into WHAT Haltmann is doing and what makes it so toxic. Halcandra though is the ultimate grand-daddy, the contrast between it and the Lor, and Egg Engines and Dangerous Dinner is full of theming and clues about the nature and history of the planet. AND THAT IS STORY, THAT IS WRITING! Especially when compared to say Star Allies, where most of the levels of the levels are just ye average Kirby themed fluff with little to say about the Jamba or the state they've left the galaxy in. But when you play through the casino levels of Robobot, as well as delightful theming and level design, you see that Haltmann is erecting literally the most predatory entertainment centers imaginable. When you step off the sleek futuristic Lor into the scrapyards and wastes of Halcandra, you get fun intimidating final worlds, and a good grasp on *why* the people who made the Lor aren't around anymore, and may even start questioning why Magolor made such a great fuss of dragging you to this horrible place. Music is also deeply important to this storytelling. Each of the factories/towers erected in ever world of Robobot's theme is a remix usually of themes related to older mechanical levels, subtly clueing you into where Haltmann go their technology from. Outside the Lor rather than the comfortable motif of Green Greens is this almost comically suspicious and disoriented theme once you're stuck on Halcandra and returning to Magolor with more doubts about his words. The final level inside of the volcano house a theme that is teasing the twist to come, and the theme for fighting Landia before the big reveal is less triumphant, and more majestic and pensive. Possibly trying to evoke more hesitance than confidence, even if most people wouldn't catch on to that on a first run.

But the cooler thing, is that while Robobot has this cool theming at key levels, and RtDL does at the end, this type of shit is pervasive ALL throughout Forgotten Land. Every world and nearly every level is a unique, well thought-out set piece! You get to see abandoned towns, cities, malls, stores, factories, resorts, and an amusement park, each which serves as more than just a fun location, but a clear picture of the world and the state its in. This intent is made clearer through the music and tone that goes out of its way to not highlight the destruction of these areas but their beauty, wonder, and mystery through the eyes of an clueless animals and our favorite pink alien. The abandoned Alivel Malls theme is a track as upbeat and peppy as what must've played over it's speakers in it's hayday, because the hustle and bustle breathed back into it by the animals and Kirby just exploring this mysterious complex is just as lively. The theme of the Everbay Coast is peaceful and sunny despite the Holine ruins because it's as part of the scenery to the animals and Kirby as the picturesque palms and sands. And Wondaria!!!!!!!!! OMG WONDARIA WHERE TO EVEN BEGIN WITH EVERY FUCKING LEVEL AND THEME IN WONDARIA!!! THIS IS WHY I CAN'T TAKE THAT CLAIM SERIOUSLY - y'know when I cried at Forgotten Land? In world 3. Not because of a cutscene or a line of dialogue, but just from the sheer emotion the setting evoked in me. The sweet, laid-back, starry-eyed wonder that it expressed from Kirby mixed with my own sense of nostalgia being aware of what that place was, and how beautiful it was to see it rediscovered and adored by Kirby and the animals of the Forgotten Land. It evokes such a strong feeling of bittersweetness, of existential dread comforted by the knowledge that the simple joys and memories we create places like amusement parks to share will continue on as long as there is life in the world. And unlike some of my musings about past games, this was explicitly intentional. What truly brought the tears to my eyes was remembering an interview where the devs were explaining how they were trying to keep the tone light and Kumazaki said specifically they wanted to evoke peace and beauty rather than loss.

LIKE THIS IS WRITING! This is storytelling, this is intention. It's just subtle, but not at all unimportant, and it ties into the more overarching plot. It raises the question constantly of where the people went that is answered by Forgo, and expresses the dichotomy between the simple innocence of the animals compared to the ambitions of the people who abandoned them and that is now possessing their leader. It creates stakes for Elfilis and Forgo's intentions to destroy everything so beautiful and pure about the current world, but as it absolves the current world of guilt, it puts into perspective JUST HOW LONG Forgo must have been locked away that things changed so much. And as softly as the exploits of the original people are portrayed by the game, knowing their treatment of Eliflis and Forgo as a thing of entertainment and tool for innovation is sickening placed in contrast with it. Like back to Wondaria, the way it shows how much space travel must have pervaded the imagination and escapism of the people either before or after Forgo's arrival is insanely smart. And it gives me chills in the best way seeing Kirby run around images of cartoon aliens from a civilization who would never meet him. Of Kirby, Elfilin, and Bandana sticking their head into a cardboard cutout of an astronaut meeting an alien, with the text "wish you were here" above in a script they don't even understand. A SCRIPT THE WRITERS MADE FOR THIS GAME SO THAT THEY COULD ADD MESSAGES LIKE THAT INTO THE WORLD FOR KEEN PLAYERS TO NOTICE AND MAKE CONNECTIONS. Like it's insane. The dedication the Hal Labs has to stuff like this is maddening! It's so sweet and heartfelt and crafty, I'm so pissed off how little respect it gets because people don't understand visual storytelling!!!!! Saying Forgotten Land is light on story is preposterous, it might just be one of the most finely crafted stories the series has had to date, and is just a really solid piece of science fantasy writing in general honestly. It is packed with environmental storytelling that drives me Up The Fucking Wall, Man.

forgive any incomprehensibility but the notion that the world can be cleanly split between the two immutable categories of 'the neurotypical' and 'the neurodiverse' ignores the reality that any person can at any point for any reason be arbitrarily 'diagnosed' by a 'professional' and shuttled between categories with no regard for the notions of 'accurate traits' or 'specific symptoms'. nice dichotomy what lies outside of it? you understand me?

Traintober Day 8: Bird

“Two birds on a wire One tries to fly away And the other watches him close from that wire He says he wants to as well But he is a liar

I'll believe it all There's nothing I won't understand

I'll believe (I'll believe) it all I won't let go of your hand”

Two birds on a wire totally fits Stanley x Kyle/OrangeChai angst: Out of both, only one survives, broken and with clipped wings….

I…I like to believe that Kyle still attempts to communicate with Stanley, not just with the fireflies but perhaps other ways? I’ve been rereading stories of people’s loved ones coming back to them in the form of animals and I know for sure Kyle would come back to him to keep him company, slowly help him heal and give a sense of security..

After all, the dove has many symbols as someone in mourning is often viewed as a visitation from the deceased loved one. The person in mourning senses a message of hope or encouragement from their deceased loved one.…

guys what do you MEAN the series was meant to continue in argentina

i hate you tropeification of irene adler i hate you one-dimensional sexy smart lady characters meant to "captivate" the male detective and titillate the straight men watching rather than be interesting characters i hate you modern transformation of a proto-feminist icon into a shorthand for "smart love interest" i hate you trend of making a female character into a love interest for no good reason i hate you complete misunderstanding of irene adler as a character

BOOM, OC. Casey Thompson, son of Lady Luck and Mr. Misfortune

"Oooh, this fight would make a great picture"

"CASEY, YOUR HAIR IS ON FIRE AND THIS IS A HERO-VILLAIN FIGHT, GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE"

"Mmm... I'm sure I'll be fine"

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

So, Casey Thompson, 20-year-old journalist, photographer, trans man, college student in engineering, someone who anonymously works with hackers to expose corrupt heroes or government, AO3 writer, go to kidnapping victim of the villains, adopted little brother of Ryan Thompson, or Velocity, and son of Lady Luck and Mr. Misfortune. Interesting life am I right?

WARNING FOR THIS BACKSTORY CAR CRASH AND DEATH (damn, dark turn frfr), IF YOU DONT WANT TO READ THE CAR CRASH THING, SKIP TO THE RED TEXT (dunno if this is actually needed, but just in case!)

So, Casey was the son of Lady Luck and Mr. Misfortune, unfortunately, misfortune struck, Lady Luck and Mr. Misfortune went out on a date, leaving 5 year old Casey at home, sadly, his parents never came back, as Mr. Misfortune was at the wheel, driving back home, when they crashed into a truck, Mr. Misfortune died on impact, Lady Luck was fortunate enough to survive, but she didn't want to leave her husband, she hoped to get her husband out of the car, hoping he was alive, but then the car blew up, so yeah.

Alright, no more car crash thing, just backstory

Casey was at home the entire time, just playing with his toys with the babysitter, April, when the police came to tell casey the news, at first Casey thought they were joking, after all, it was a bright sunny day, he was just playing with his toys, having a great time, wouldnt the day be rainy, stormy, sad if they died? But after a while, they got casey to believe them, Casey cried, of course. Since Casey has no close biological family members, he was sent to an orphanage, after a few months, he got adopted by the Ryan's family

lil bit of backstory for Ryan, Ryans parents died when Ryan was really little, like 1 year old, so now Ryan lives with his grandparents,

It took a while for them to get used to each other, especially with Casey being really nervous, but after a while, Ryan and Casey are really close,

Now that the backstory is over, here are some stuff about Casey!

First of all, Casey is a photographer and journalist because its one of his interests, but also because he doesn't know / remember much of his parents, but he does have a picture album of them that they left behind, so now, he wants to journal and photo everything to make sure nothing ever gets forgotten,

Caseys pictures and journalising do give him a bit of fame, Casey has like, a news thing (idk what to call it), blog (???), and he post stuff, giving a little backstory on how he got the picture, then telling what happened, and the people watching him just love it, how Casey is one of the very few people (in fact the only person) who takes close up pictures of hero-villain fight, and journals them, since yknow, those who tried it probably are at the hospital or six feet under, but Casey, being a child of Lady Luck, leaves unscathed,

Casey, being a child of Lady Luck and Mr. Misfortune, has great luck and bad luck, and it doesn't cancel out, for example, maybe he misses the bus a lot of times, or maybe whenever he guesses on questions he's right

Anyways, with Casey being in engineering, he does know code, and being a journalist and photographer would make him a great person to expose corrupt heroes! Knowing how to do interviews, being good at researching, and being able to capture corrupt heroes being corrupt on camera. So now, he works with hackers to expose corrupt and evil heroes in the system, anonymously, see, most heroes don't believe the hackers, called VigilNet, despite the evidence, thinking they're villains that are lying, since they trust their fellow heroes, and to be fair, these heroes are good actors, and the VigilNet group could get hunted by the corrupt heroes, or imprisoned by the other heroes if they knew their identity, so Casey goes anonymously by the name "DataShutter", Casey doesn't tell Ryan about this though, since Ryan is one of the heroes,

Casey is just, the closest self-insert i have, like, he's me, but with more confidence, so you're going to see a lot of traits like mine,

Anyways, Casey has an AO3 account, cause i think its funny that he still updates, but apologizes profusely for being late for like, a few hours (he has a strict schedule for himself), and then giving the most jaw-dropping, shocking, concerning, horrifying, death-defying, story ever, that its even a miracle he was able to even write

As i said, Casey's a go to kidnapping victim for the villains, its kind of a running joke now (don't worry the villains are nice to him, its a wholesome universe after all [i say after i wrote the backstory of caseys parents {hmm, wait a minute, since Casey was adopted by Ryan's grandparents, does that technically make casey Ryan's uncle???} ]), Casey is a good acquaintance with the villains (that are willing to talk to him other than for interviews), and even interviews them while being kidnapped or currently kidnapped,

Casey has very little fear and self preservation, mostly because of his luck, with him almost never getting hurt, he just believes he'll never get hurt, which leads to him getting into dangerous situations without him being scared,

Also, Casey is a bad cook at meals that require a lot from him, like chopping onions after preheating the over while letting the soup boil? How about he just jump into the line of fire in a fight, thank you very much, so pretty much, whenever he cooks something big, it takes longer cause he focuses on one thing at a time. He also has a hard time driving, basically, multitasking is not his thing, like, he can cook pancakes well, cause he only has to focus on one thing at a time, but making him cook multiple pancakes at the same time, on different pans, and he has to focus on all of them at once? Off the table.

Casey also knows sign language, this is because sometimes, he just loses the will to talk, like maybe he just isn't feeling it, or he isn't feeling comfortable talking to a person, or he's really nervous to the point he loses his voice (same, but i don't know sign language). Also, while he does feel emotion, most of the time, he has a blank face, like, he could be really happy, but his face doesn't show it, this made birthdays hell for him at presents time, cause people thought he was ungrateful and faking it (same frfr),

Casey also has a really strong writing love, like, put him in a room with a notebook and pens (he really loves pens btw, loves getting them as gifts, same with notebooks), and he'll be happy just writing away, (same)

Also, a little thing, but casey avoids rolling his eyes cause he cringes, cause back then he thought eye rolling was like, rolling their eyes in a circle, until someone told him about it, and he avoids rolling his eyes now cause he just remembers those times that he thought eye rolling was like that (same here lol), he also didn't know that the chicken crossing the road was a suicide joke (Which i also didn't know, and the true joke kinda shocked me cause i only found out last year). Caseys eyes often wander even during conversation, and when he does remember to look people in the eye, he has like, a thousand yard stare where you feel like he isn't looking at you (i noticed i had like a thousand yard stare at pictures, and honestly, its pretty funny),

Casey also sometimes does little schedules for himself, like "at the morning i wake up at eight, take a bath for 30 minutes, eat for another 30 minutes, do my photography work and journal work at 9 to 3, and don't stop to make writing faster, then write my fanfiction after work then release the chapter on Saturday" (i do the same)

Also, whenever hes stressed or bored he eats an apple, (i like apples, what can i say, and it does calm me down, and they're yummy).

Sometimes people think hes being sarcastic, with his blank face and his tone sometimes being flat, so despite casey being sincere, can come off as rude, sarcastic or insincere.

Caseys really nice, though, kind of dumb (like, he has a hard time with instructions and finding stuff despite it being in front of him,) and gullible since he's really trusting. his trust is kinda weird, like he wont trust one person and trust another person with his life, but yeah, he trust people a lot. (SAME)

little doodles about figuring out more about your mental illness after YEARS of a diagnosis!!! boy am i glad i figured it out i just wish it happened before i went on a whole arc about it!

Building next to me made the news :/

Cats: finally got all the cats in my colony fixed. Keeping an eye out for any new ones just in case, but im so excited right now.

OMG !!!! BESTIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am smiling so hard rn this is the best news !!!! first of all congratulations and thank you for taking good care of these cats instead of turning a blind eye. we need more people who are willing to actually put in the work like this ! its always so refreshing to see :)

...

also thinking about a conversation about cheating i had earlier with someone who definitely should just break up with her girlfriend

betty cooper, an empath: i think there’s a darkness in me, jug or achie

literally why why whyyyy did they describe him like that. lots of weird descriptions in this article but that one is so?? many ways to describe chris. that one is not my immediate reaction. (x)