Here's to my knowledge about shotguns and bullets being worth something so I can talk about Alastor's death.

First of all the buckshot bullets that were probably used (named as they are intended to take out bucks which if he died by being mistaken for a deer is likely) actually come in one shot as a group of 9 to take out larger prey as per the designs of shotguns. The bullets separate from one another about half a degree every 10 feet or so. For the mark Alastor has, he was shot probably from 10-20 feet. This would do horrific damage to his skull in a mark about the size of someone’s fist at the front but at least one bullet would land where his mark is.

Alastor would not die immediately, but it would blind him immediately and the back of his skull would be missing. Depending on the circumstances around the area, like the season, would also determine what level of consciousness he had because warmer weather promotes blood flow aka kills him way faster.

That type of wound has been survived before with a rifle by a guy in WW1, it blinded him and he never slept again in his 20-30 years of extra life (he went insane) but he lived. With a shotgun it’s not going to and Alastor would lose consciousness in around 15-30 seconds because at least one of those bullets hit all the important things at the center of his brain. If his luck is really shit he might be able to go for a full minute or maybe but less likely two if he somehow doesn’t just go into irreversible shock. He may not fully die for another few minutes after that, so if there was a medic on hand there might have been something to be done (probably not, even these days that wound would be barely survivable let alone the 1930s) but this was the middle of the woods, so that hunter probably just had to watch him die.

Also because of the nature of how bullets work just to ruin Alastor's day a little bit more, the speed of compressed air would start small fires to maximize damage in Alastor’s brain. That part would only worsen with the distance away the hunter was.

Overall for Alastor the best outcome would be to lose consciousness within 15-30 seconds (or nigh-instantly if he landed on a rock or saw the bullet coming and clenched his neck muscles enough to knock himself out yes humans can do that, it feels like a design flaw) and for that consciousness to be pure shock and unable to process the dogs. That outcome does not seem to be what happened.

But no, he probably wouldn't have been able to call for his mother before death, because what remained of his brain would be trying to figure out wtf happened, and even if he somehow figured that out and wasn't in shock, his brain would have taken too much damage to form an actual word.

I imagine he heard a crack in the woods and pissed himself and called for his mommy before the hunter took pity on his ass and shot him

Wh-

What the f-

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HELLO EXCUSE ME WHAT-

Yeah. This is fine. This is great, even! I'm just scrolling around on Tumblr, havin a good time, then I see some asks talking about the new page and I get excited. I riot in my head, even! I squeal with joy because I absolutely adore your art!

Then Sonic pushes Shadow away and my heart breaks in half.

wtf /pos and /lh

I wanna psychoanalyze this so fuccin bad so I'm gonna try my best but everything is so clear and easy to see so idk how obvious this will all be. I'll have a TLDR at the end that will hopefully be shorter idfk

Also before I do that I just wanna say that I absolutely love THOAM and I'm so glad I've been along on such a crazy journey for this long. Love seeing your art evolve throughout the 2 years I've been here!

ok let's get on with it already-

---

Okay so the first thing I noticed is Sonic's demeanor in this entire chapter so far. Sonic wasn't necessarily pissed at Shadow before coming here, (I still fail to remember the name of their location) but he was a bit... He seemed angered to some degree. This obviously has to do with the lack of sleep he's been getting due to his incredibly painful transformation, and uh side note here, transforming on its own would be enough to make someone feel out of sorts. I totally understand why Sonic is acting odd, in this case.

Anyway, the point I'm making is that Shadow has slowly been testing Sonic's patience throughout this and the last chapter. In the last one, Shadow said something incredibly rude and impulsive, which lead to Sonic staying behind in the dorm while Shadow and Chip were getting mawled. He only came back because he knew they were in deep trouble. The hug he got from Shadow didn't really help all that much, even if it was a kind gesture and something the Ultimate Lifeform wouldn't typically do. Because, y'know, it's just a hug. People hug others all the time, and it's not even close to a real apology.

Then Chip stayed behind with Tails. And... Suddenly, Sonic took a complete 180!

Without Chip around, without Sonic's emotional support buddy, the blue blur is left with all these pent up emotions that he's been refusing to let out for a long time. The last time he cried was days ago when he accidentally attacked Amy, and for us, that was probably like 3-4 years ago at this point. He's hardly had enough time or room to really feel anything, and that leaves him all constipated and icky. Sure, he had to kind of mellow his real feelings when Chip was around because he's just a kid in Sonic's eyes, and when Sonic lashes out it impacts Chip in a bad way. This doesn't mean Sonic feels any better without Chip, because without him, there's no hype man to make him feel better. There are no comforting words or small chit-chats for the road and no pit stops to get snacks... It's just him and Shadow now, and since they're on a pretty important mission to, you know, fix the entire fucking world, there's like no time for breaks.

Combine all this with the fact that Sonic is stuck as a Werehog for this entire chapter, and for the entirety of this specific mission... Yeah, you've got a pretty cranky hedgehog. And here's the sad part in all of this: Sonic doesn't like feeling this angry and this alone, but no one seems to really understand him anymore. Not even Shadow. They don't know what it's like living two whole lives at once, having to go through all this pain and agony for so long and not able to tell a soul. They couldn't possibly comprehend!

So how should he feel when his closest companion makes an effort to understand, even just by a little bit?

---

TL;DR

Sonic is confused and angry at the world. He doesn't understand what to do or how to act, and without Chip's support and unintentional therapy, he's just kinda... Left to his thoughts. Shadow suddenly trying to help after being not very helpful for a while made things even more confusing, and the fact Shadow never told Sonic about the constant nighttime thing... Yeeeeeaaahhh, Sonic's not doing too hot.

Hope this wasn't too long and I hope Tumblr doesn't eat this up due to its length. Thanks so much for reading to the end and thanks for just being you. Because if you didn't exist the world would explode-

<3

NEVER TOO LONG i think others also appreciate the theories ♥

Imagine during the swap with guys. Valerie was reminding her ‘sons’ to use protection and that’s she’s not ready to a grandma. May I Please Ask for their reactions?

YEA

While the boys were settling in this swapped life was when it happened

The faithful terrifying moment

Jack and Malfie were meeting Roxy and Elodie at the park for games and food

Joe and Apple were sitting on the couch chilling while Misty texts Joe much to his semi-annoyance

Then Valerie chuckled at the scene

"Remember boys, I'm still too young to be a grandma. So use protection."

The girls laugh and snicker, no one realizing the boy's reactions

Apple had a moment of process and when it sunk in, his face turned redder than a red hot chili pepper in the summer sun

Malfie felt his hair get lose as he turns a new shade of pink

Jack's voice went dry faster than he could even think

The only one who wasn't reacting as they should was Joe who was too focus on these text messages on AU's Joe's phone

"Yeah yeah we get it, I'll check bike helmets." He mumbled

Nadia howled out laughing hard as Cece chimed in, "What kind of sex are you giving sir!?"

It was then he processed the whole thing

Joe's face was the deepest reddest shade of blush one could have in the room, the laughs of the girls weren't helping at all.

It was late in the night as the boys were heading back to Hightower Hotel when Malachite's phone went off in a video call

Upon answering, before a hello, he was taken aback by a lot of screaming and unable to translate words. Maybe German or French? And...something hitting??

As it turns out, after that moment, the villain recruiter boys decided to lie and hurry Apple and Joe out by saying Misty and Stephanie texted one of them to hang out with them

Upon walking out Nadia came up to the and handed them four condoms and "Use them wisely~"

It wasn't until they're a block away is when the call started

Malfie, red in the face and teary eye, rambles about what happened in bashful mutters and high pitched "omg"s

"Wait? Are there no condoms where you're from?" Asked Vince, jumping back upon hearing the loud NO

"If you don't want a kid you PULL OUT! That's the rule!" Yelled Jack

Joe shutters, "Gross...Gross Gross..." He looks paler than usual (#asexual8ftJoe)

Then AU Joe asked, "What's that banging?"

Malfie turned the phone to show Apple hitting his head at the wall

As it turned out, Apple maaay or may not have accidentally pictured the image of that with two girls in his life

After the swap was done, the boys had a weird feeling still. Curious of you will but also "wtf was that whole thing"

Jack couldn't look at his Queen and her King after AU Jack made a jokey comment of "I'm sure they're active so there has to be condoms in your world"

As for Apple-

Snow stiffed some giggles as Apple finished telling her his small rant

"It's so thin, what if it breaks?!"

The two lay on each other's sides nude and covered in bed sheets as the nigh owls hoot in the outside world

Snow smile and snuggled close to him, "It's a interesting inversion though. Imagine how many pregnancy will be stopped if we had something like that here."

Apple chuckled at her words, "Perhaps but it's still such a odd concept.."

"Even more odd than us like this?"

Apple turn and look at her face, flush and soft eyed.

He reached a hand up and softly rubbed her face before he brought his lips to the crown of her head

Then the maiden asked, "Do you still have it? Maybe it's stronger than it looks"

man i hate that whole “we know more about space than the ocean!!” thing for so many reasons

1. on an emotional level. why are you pitting two bad bitches against one another? why must you try to make one or the other seem more mysterious/scary and thus more interesting? can’t we be equally in awe over both?

2. on a rational level. we do not know much more about space?? in terms of raw amount of Things then sure maybe that’s true but i feel like we can set up a percentage here. space is fucking huge, people. i cannot explain in words just how big it is and the number itself is unfathomably large. i cannot underscore this enough. so i think setting up a known:unknown ratio would make our knowledge of outer space equally as low as the ocean, if not even less. so if you were to try to make one more mysterious than the other, like, i think ignoring this crucial aspect is a bit unfair

3. this isn’t even touching on the fact that like. the NATURE of unknown things is also wildly fucking different. the ocean, while unknown, is on our own planet - that gives a certain familiarity to anything that we DO NOT have about space. even if we find some absolutely weird shit in the ocean its still going to be like, inherently tied to us by nature of sharing a planet. but outer space has no guarantee of anything. literally we do not fucking know what is out there and we are also limited by physical access. it’s reasonable to assume that as time goes on technology will improve to make deep ocean exploration and research more viable. and the same can be said of space too but i think like, eventually being able to map the entire ocean floor, is a lot different than “being able to visit a nearby planet” in that there is still an entire damn universe out there that we will, honestly, never be able to explore or see for ourselves. if we have any possibility at all of interstellar travel it will require HUGE, nigh miraculous, leaps in technology that deep ocean exploration does not require lol. nevermind that this is just for nearby stars - i honestly do not think we will ever be capable of interstellar travel to much larger distances like across the milky way, not even in the most optimistic of scenarios, nevermind INTERGALATIC travel. the very laws of physics are against us here. so what im saying is that its reasonable to assume that within the next 100 or so years we will be able to physically explore the deep ocean much better than we can now, but literally never in even a billion years will we be able to physically explore deep space. so the scale of what “unknown” even entails is vastly different here

4. now i acknowledge i am biased here as an astronomer LOL so this has come across as very anti deep ocean. but like . despite all of this. again, why must we pit them against each other? i think it’s asinine to try to compare something that exists in our backyard to something that we are literally bound by the laws of physics to never be able to reach - but that doesn’t mean that like, the value of research is any less? can we not just explore for knowledge’s sake? why must we try to make the deep ocean out to be better than deep space in order to justify further research and exploration? i truly hate this phenomenon that we cant just research things for research sake, there must be some sort of justification for it, either by the trickle down technological boon it provides to society as a whole or by appealing to how “cool” it is. it’s fucked up. basing research on these standards instead of just the pursuit of knowledge makes the direction of research privy to outsider decisions (the government, non-expert public opinion, etc) instead of the experts themselves deciding the best path of future research. and it just betrays the nature of science i feel like. i think that people who dedicate their entire lives to 100 species of nigh identical bugs contribute just as much to the advancement of science and human collective knowledge as cosmologists who dedicate their lives to modeling the evolution of the universe. literally all research is important and should be valued inherently instead of just what people outside of the field deems “cool”. so tl;dr, pitting the deep ocean vs deep space against each other in order to make the ocean seem “cooler” to justify research into it is just the absolute wrong approach here. they are fundamentally incomparable and they shouldnt have to be compared in order to explain either one’s value to scientific research

We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story

Welcome to the 'highglossfinish' room. Jalaperilo: yo! Knock Out: Hello there! Jalaperilo: been a while since i dropped by Jalaperilo: omg, I was JUST listening to Sawbones! Knock Out: But how good to have you! Jalaperilo: find the clip where justin looses it when sydnee uses the word 'exquisit' in medical terminology Knock Out: Do you have a link by any chance? Jalaperilo: Sawbones. If you wanna be disguisted by human medical history, its the go to podcast thenightetc: Fun fact, it creeps me the hell out when someone keeps saying my name. Jalaperilo: hahah Knock Out: I love the sound of my own name, but that's just me and anything pertaining to myself.

thenightetc: ...Okay, this IS pretty funny Jalaperilo: I'm with thenight. it annoys me if i hear my name too much Jalaperilo: it means people want things from me thenightetc: Yeah. thenightetc: It's... smarmy. thenightetc: In the worst way. Jalaperilo: yup thenightetc: So what are we watching?  Good movie or movie to mock? Knock Out: Pure mockery! Jalaperilo: julia child?? Knock Out: Oh yes. Jalaperilo: nice thenightetc: Oh, boy! thenightetc: *could do with some mocking after today* thenightetc: Worms aren't that elastic Jalaperilo: birds also dont have quiffs thenightetc: ...Is this... a sequel? Knock Out: No, thankfully. Knock Out: "Yes. But technically speaking, ain't you?" thenightetc: Haha, did they give the t-rex herbivore teeth? Jalaperilo: true Jalaperilo: did they come from dinosaurs or just pteradons? Knock Out: Oh, pterosaurs aren't dinosaurs. Breakdown is adamant on that one. Jalaperilo: pteranodon* Jalaperilo: i know Jalaperilo: i didt know if birds came from dinosaurs or just pteranodons Knock Out: That's another thing this movie likes to drive home. Some organics eat meat and that's terrible. thenightetc: Only if the meat has a face!  Which, uh, in this movie apparently it does, going by the worm and the fish. Knock Out: Oh! They came from dinosaurs, apparently. thenightetc: oh my god thenightetc: What--what's in that stuff Knock Out: Nothing good. Jalaperilo: if only it was that easy to make Grimlock docile lol Knock Out: If someone did that to Grimlock, I'm fairly sure it would constitute a crime. thenightetc: Ahhhh, so it's okay to eat meat that somebody ELSE killed. Knock Out: But not okay to be a massive animal and step on things by accident. Jalaperilo: people need to remember that its ok to decide to not eat meat, but it WAS the reason we evolved to be so cognizent as a species Jalaperilo: no its not Knock Out: Smart enough to make up their own minds, but not smart enough to know what lunch is. Knock Out: Or what children are. thenightetc: This, uh, seems very morally dubious. thenightetc: Just go ahead and create some people because some kids want to meet them Knock Out: Why create some people when you can kidnap them? thenightetc: Wellllll, they were just animals before.  He made them INTO people. Zephra85: OMG I saw the description on the tumblr post and and immedietely knew Zephra85: 'OMG WE'RE BACK' Zephra85: Also hi everyone! Knock Out: Welcome to the disaster, Zephra human! thenightetc: Hi! Jalaperilo: yo yo Zephra85: I was obsessed with this movie a sa child thenightetc: That seems like an incredibly extra way to make a sandwich Zephra85: go big or go home thenightetc: Oh, yeah, just stick your hand right in his mouth.  It's safe! Jalaperilo: I had never heard of this until like 20 minutes ago Knock Out: Smart enough to handle this, remember. thenightetc: Honestly, he's lucky he didn't just drive straight into the river... ocean? Lusey: -peeks in- Knock Out: Hello there! Zephra85: Yo Lusey: hello! this movie is so dumb I love it Zephra85: The 90's had a lot of scenes with kids handling construction cranes Lusey: he's not even a t-rex thenightetc: EXHIBIT?! Jalaperilo: there she is! thenightetc: exCUSE me? Lusey: they gonna kill and stuff 'em Zephra85: Yes because this is clearly less conspicuous Lusey: "hey babe" I wish I had this kid's confidence wtf thenightetc: wtf indeed Jalaperilo: what was it about the 80's and 90's where it was a streetwise orphan boy and the red head up town girl? Zephra85: objectively this movie is probably bad but I have so much love and nostalgia for it idgaf thenightetc: Jesus christ, that place is huge.  They must be freakin millionaires Lusey: yup Lusey: but yeah this movie sucks but the last villain scene is spooky Zephra85: oh god seriously Lusey: wont say why or how but Lusey: hoo boy Lusey: it made up for so much Zephra85: it's so subtle but holy *** it's wild at the same time thenightetc: oh yeah, nobody'lll notice THAT Zephra85: things like this can only happen in New York 'cause they're so jadded Knock Out: Eugh. thenightetc: oh my god thenightetc: Why this Jalaperilo: way too young to be a debutante Zephra85: they got things to do and places to go they can't let bs like dinosaurs or aliens get in their way Lusey: what's that parent's problem Knock Out: You should wish for less rats in the subway, little human. Lusey: that child is like 5 and you ruined her life Zephra85: parenting at its finest Zephra85: Having fun with human tech and connections, Knock Out? Knock Out: Endless fun. Knock Out: Hmm, is the picture quality suffering too much? Lusey: see wtf lady Lusey: let her believe thenightetc: Nah, it's fine thenightetc: oh nO Lusey: that's right Lusey: musical thenightetc: I wasn't prepared thenightetc: "things to chew"  kinda sounds like he wants to eat everyone Knock Out: Killing spree ending, just once! Zephra85: (jams out 'cause f*** it all she loves this song) thenightetc: Well, there WAS Little Shop of Horrors. Knock Out: Hmm, true. Knock Out: SMART. ENOUGH. TO HANDLE THIS. thenightetc: ...And there he goes explicitly saying he wants to eat a human Lusey: I think he's implying they'd be gross. but still haha Lusey: seriously who'd run away from TALKING dinosaurs thenightetc: "that's the guy who was foreshadowed!" Jalaperilo: bring back julia child Jalaperilo: lost my green Lusey: I think I gotta head out actually. connection is shot on my end. but enjoy bad dinos Knock Out: An attempt will be made. Have a good night! Zephra85: Bye! Jalaperilo: I'm heading out as well. Its 2am here and I have to be up at 9 thenightetc: Goodnight! Knock Out: Goodnight! Jalaperilo: nighty night Night! Zephra85: 'Nigh! Zephra85: *night Zephra85: man that little girl and her mom get around FAST Zephra85: also the mom's recovered rather well from her freak out before Knock Out: Scrap. So close. thenightetc: "Keep coming or maybe stay away" thenightetc: Dontgonearthe Castle thenightetc: No, idiot, they just left because they're adults and didn't feel like beating up a twelve-year-old thenightetc: Hahahahha thenightetc: Crushing their stupid dreams thenightetc: Is he literally the devil Knock Out: This is normal. thenightetc: Oh, totally Zephra85: not suspecious at all nope thenightetc: Why did SHE sign it Knock Out: "Naughty boys delight" Zephra85: Bah looks like I gotta ditch too, the bf wants the good laptop thenightetc: Pffff, minors can't sign contracts. thenightetc: Though, I guess he's the devil, so Zephra85: 'Night everybody! Thanks for the stream, Knock Out! Knock Out: Goodnight! Glad you could pop in! Zephra85: Oh, and since Breakdown never checks his tumblr anymore, can you tell him happy birthday for me? Knock Out: Will do! Zephra85: Alrighty I'm gone ENJOY CREEPY CIRCUS DINOSAURS GUYS Knock Out: Looks like it's just you and me, night human. thenightetc: I guess that guy's actions make a little more sense in light of the news that he's the devil's brother. Knock Out: This one seems slightly more invested in whether dinosaurs live or die. Knock Out: If only from a business perspective. thenightetc: This got creepy fast, though Knock Out: What disturbs me is that they don't seem willing or able to just grab the children and run. Knock Out: Wasn't that literally the point of A Clockwork Orange? thenightetc: Yes, I mean, maybe they're too squeamish for fresh meat now, but... thenightetc: Seems like they could also grab the contract and destroy it. Knock Out: They're barely intelligent enough to function and physically incapable of defying rules. What could possibly go wrong? thenightetc: Nothing, clearly. Knock Out: I can see why the "legitimate circus" fired him. thenightetc: "Evil" Knock Out: Nice of him to let them stick around for pancakes, though. thenightetc: "oh no, consequences!" Knock Out: "And that's terrible for some reason." thenightetc: Oh, so he IS using some real demons.  I was going to say. Knock Out: They can't seem to decide whether he's using real demons or if the fact that he isn't using real demons is bad. thenightetc: I guess it's a mix? Knock Out: Apparently. thenightetc: Real demons, and poor saps who were dumb enough to sign contracts with Literally The Devil. thenightetc: Not reassuring! Knock Out: Now see, this would have made more sense with that whole deleted chunk about a crow pecking out his eye. thenightetc: Why is everyone freaking out and trying to run, though?  It's clearly a show. Knock Out: The humans in this movie have proved to be overexcitable. thenightetc: Aw, c'mon, what would eating this guy ruin. thenightetc: What if he just ate his arm or something; he can live without that. Knock Out: Just bite off his shins. thenightetc: Little bit off the top. Knock Out: He'll never miss it. thenightetc: And neither will anyone else. Nickel: Ooh. Not a bad lookin' ship, there. Knock Out: Such a waste of a good ship. thenightetc: Why this Knock Out: You are infants. Nickel: õ-õ Nickel: ô_ô Knock Out: Spoiler alert: We never learn what the surprise was. thenightetc: ô_ô indeed. Nickel: I'm not sure I want to... Knock Out: Why didn't he do this ages ago and get a job at a circus where his act will actually fit in? thenightetc: Who knows? thenightetc: ...Did HE not have a magical contract? thenightetc: WELL then. Nickel: Well, now I know the humans have their own version of scraplets... Knock Out: Julia Child, you ruined everything. Stop talking. thenightetc: Something about "reveal the miracle of yourselves" doesn't sound right. Nickel: KID. GET BACK BEHIND THE ROPES. THEYRE THERE FER A REASON Knock Out: Dear Unicron. thenightetc: ... Nickel: what blatant disregard fa boundaries. Knock Out: Crowd a room with children and teach them to keep secrets from their parents. Knock Out: Without ever changing outfits. Nickel: Who took all of those pictures. thenightetc: The devil's brother? Knock Out: The old man on the ship. The families don't know about them. thenightetc: That was a trip from start to finish. Nickel: I'd apologize fa comin in so late, but I feel like I really dodged a bullet, there. Knock Out: You have no idea. Knock Out: Why couldn't we have had this version of the song? Nickel: they had ta save tha best bit fa last, I suppose? Knock Out: Point. Nickel: I know I just got here, but I needa run a quick errand. Are ya endin' things here, Doc? or do ya have more plans? Knock Out: I think we'll wrap it up here for tonight. Patient reports beckon, sadly. Nickel: Lord almighty, I feel ya. thenightetc: Awww.  Well, it was fun!  Thanks for the stream. :) Knock Out: Thank you for the commentary! Nickel: Thanks indeed. (-w-) Knock Out: Good night, everyone! thenightetc: Goodnight!