Carnivàle S02E05

Merry Whump of May - Day 4

“Two birds, one bullet.”

Chess Pieces

Stubborn

Tower

(Original characters/story)

@themerrywhumpofmay

Rex did it without even thinking.

He saw the farmer raise his rifle. Saw the finger tremble. Stockton flinched.

The crack of the gun.

Rex just didn’t think.

He just wanted to protect Stockton, his friend.

Rex raised his hand and pulled the bullet away from Stockton’s head. It flew past his friend and slammed straight into Rex’s guts. A blinding punch of paralyzing pain. 

Yeah, he hadn’t really had the time to stop that too. Oh well. 

Rex heard the wind leave his lungs and he crumpled to the ground. Honestly, the ground was just much more comfortable. The sun was at high noon so he closed his eyes against it, his eyelids red with its heat. 

Someone was shouting. Probably Burden.

They had approached the homestead as carefully as possible. They needed some supplies and were willing to barter with the farmer. But the guy was scared. Rex couldn’t blame him. Bandits were everywhere. And they didn’t really look trustworthy to begin with.

So when Stockton and his big mouth had said something just the tiniest bit sassy, the farmer got a little more nervous than the situation really called for. Rex had tried to talk him down. So did Burden. But of course, Burden wasn’t a people-person. So Burden had made it worse.

Stockton had taken a step closer to the property line. And that was it. The farmer fired.

Thank god he only fired once. Rex didn’t think he could curve another bullet today. His belly hurt too much, every breath he took it felt like someone was digging a shard of glass into his intestines. 

“My fucking ear!” Stockton was wailing.

Rex cracked his eyes when a shadow fell over him. It was Burden.

“Hey.” Rex whispered. “Stockton okay?”

“He’s being a little bitch.” Burden’s eyes looked Rex up and down.

Rex felt a crushing pressure on his wound and a soft keening wail escaped his lips. 

“Sorry.” Burden was pale. Eyes wide. Burden was scared. When had Burden ever been scared? “I’m sorry but I gotta put pressure on it.”

Rex nodded.

Someone said something. Burden turned away, shouting an answer. “The moron fucking moved it. You’ve seen him move things before. He moved the fucking bullet! Happy?”

Rex closed his eyes again against the bright sun. It was a hot day. Why was he so cold?

“Okay, we’re going. Get ready.” Burden had turned back and murmured into Rex’s ear.

Rex nodded. He braced himself.

It wasn’t enough.

Burden’s strong arms slipped behind Rex’s shoulders and under his knees. As soon as he was lifted from the dusty ground, Rex screamed. Everything went quiet. His ears rang.

When Rex opened his eyes again, his head was turned upward. He saw the sun and sky disappear, replaced by the roof of a porch and then a doorway. The cool darkness of a home. He heard Stockton’s voice and the soft sobs of someone else. Stockton was explaining something.

“I’ve got you, Rex.” Burden said softly and Rex felt it. He felt the vibrations of Burden’s words through his chest.

Rex leaned his head against Burden’s shoulder and just tried to breathe through the pain.

“Where can I put him? There a table somewhere?” Burden shouted. 

“In here!”

Rex heard a sweep and the sound of many things hitting the floor. He angled his head downward and saw dozens of chess pieces rolling across the hardwood floor. And then he was laid out on a table, hard and shuddering beneath him. 

Rex eyed the dusty light fixture above him. 

Burden came into view again.

“Hey.” Rex whispered.

Burden tried to smile. “Hey.”

“Stockton okay?” He asked again.

“He’s still a little bitch, but he’s an alive bitch.” Burden sighed. “Pressure again.”

Blinding pain in his gut and Rex’s ears began to ring. Tears slid from his eyes and trailed down his cheeks and into his ears. 

“Ow.” Rex said softly.

Stockton came into view, covered in blood.

Rex reached out and grabbed Stockton’s arm. “You’re hurt.”

“Just my ear.” Stockton turned to show Rex a bloody, dark wound on his ear. A chunk of cartilage was just missing.

“Too bad it wasn’t your mouth.” Burden grumbled. 

“Mister, I am so sorry.” The farmer’s tear-stained face came into view. “I’ve never shot anyone before, it’s just some people have been showing up lately and-”

“It’s okay.” Rex tried to speak around the pain. He swallowed hard. “It’s okay, what’s your name?”

“Oh, Ed.” The farmer named Ed wiped his eyes on a handkerchief. “Eddie Lang.”

Rex held out a hand to Ed, only just now noticed his own fingers were covered in blood. “Nice to meet you Mr. Lang. I’m Rex. These are my friends Burden Chatham and Stockton T. Hunt.”

Ed Lang hesitated a moment then took Rex’s hand warmly. “Just Ed is fine. It’s nice to meet you. I am so so sorry I shot you, Mr. Rex.”

“Not a bother, Ed.” Rex’s eyes were drawn to a fallen castle chess piece on the table beside him. “I’m sorry we interrupted your chess game.”

Ed sniffed and smiled a little. “Oh, I was just playing against myself. It passes the time.”

“I haven’t had a good game of chess in years.” Rex wheezed.

“Alright.” Burden growled. “Enough. Mr. Lang- Ed, got any medical supplies? Better yet, there a doctor nearby?”

“Next farm over.” Ed answered. “Checked in with her a week ago, she takes supplies and pills as payment for services.”

“We can make that work.” Burden’s hand left Rex’s wound. “Stockton, pressure.”

“Right, yes, sorry.” Stockton winced when he looked at the damage to Rex’s guts. He went pale and then green.

“Don’t throw up on me.” Rex begged. “Please.”

“I won’t.” Stockton reassured him. “It’s the least I can do for my savior.” Rex rolled his eyes. “Sorry about your ear.”

“Don’t worry about it. Gives me character.” Stockton grinned. 

Rex smiled. 

Burden reappeared, speaking to Stockton. “We’re going to get the doctor. Ed says to watch his aunt. Thirty minutes tops.” 

Burden leaned close to Rex, putting a hand to Rex’s cheek. His fingers were rough and warm. “Can you hang on thirty minutes?” Burden murmured.

Rex nodded, looking into Burden’s eyes, the only kind and soft part of Burden.

Burden nodded too. Then disappeared.

The house fell silent. 

Stockton frowned. “What aunt?”

“Me.” Came a soft voice from across the room. 

Stockton screamed, jostling his hand against Rex’s wound. So Rex screamed. 

Stockton whirled around and Rex turned his head as best as he could.

There sat a wizened old lady, perched in an armchair with a tv tray in front of her. Several playing cards were laid out on the tray in a pattern.

“Pardon us, ma’am.” Rex nodded as best as he could considering the angle. “I would stand and introduce myself but-”

“You may have heard, I’m Stockton, this is Rex.” Stockton cut in. “Have you been sitting there the whole time.”

“The whole time.” Ed’s aunt repeated. “I’m Hazel Lang.” Her wrinkled mouth twisted into a smile. “I’m surprised Ed shot you.” She looked to Rex.

“Me too.” Rex grunted. 

“Two birds, one bullet.” She commented.

Rex didn’t dare laugh, but it was a little funny. “Playing solitaire, Miss Lang.” 

“Tarot.” She replied. 

“Neato.” Stockton said.

“Should I do a reading for you?” She asked. 

Rex thought for a moment. “Can’t think of a better opportunity, honestly. Read away.”

Both Hazel and Stockton worked to keep Rex alert and responding as Hazel Lang explained shuffling the deck. Rex clumsily cut it with his bloody fingers. And then she began the reading. 

Hazel laid out three cards on the table beside Rex’s head. “This is a basic reading, son: past, present, and future.”

“Okay.” Rex blinked and tried to keep everything in focus. 

They had changed out towels for his wound a few times. Rex had lost count. Each time Stockton went to grab another he’d looked more and more worried. 

Hazel flipped the first one. 

“What’s it?” Rex slurred.

“The Devil.”

He lost time as Hazel explained that this was his past.

That made sense. 

The second one was flipped. “This is the present. The Ten of Swords.”

“Can… I see?”

Miss Hazel held the card out. A man lay on the ground, pierced by many swords. 

“That…that sums it up.” He sighed and closed his eyes. 

“And the future. Oh.” Hazel Lang fell silent. 

Stockton asked. “Is that one bad?”

“Generally.” Hazel answered.

“Give it to me… s-straight, Miss Lang.” Rex opened his eyes. Colors were blurring together. 

“The Tower.” The elder pronounced.

The front door banged open. Rex heard Burden’s voice from far away.

“Sounds ‘bout right.” And Rex fell into darkness.

Whumpril 2023 Day 18: “Take me instead.”

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Prodigal Son 1x11 - Malcolm is stabbed by John Watkins

TW: MEDWHUMP/MEDICAL LANGUAGE

Hi everyone! @whumpetywhumpwhump here- I noticed there doesn't seem to be an official Medwhump May running this year, so I'm running one myself :)

I appreciate it's pretty late in the game to be releasing prompts, but I was waiting to see whether the official page was going to post anything before deciding to start mine. Hopefully a few of you would like to get involved (even if it is short notice lol)

RULES!

No AI-generated content

Please tag this account if you post your challenge submissions on Tumblr and use the tag 'medwhump may' (as in the tags of this post)

For completionists, all 31 days must be completed (using either the daily prompt or an alt prompt)

When creating content for chronic illnesses and seizures, PLEASE USE THE RELEVANT WHUMP TAGS INSTEAD OF THE GENERAL TAGS. e.g 'seizure whump' rather than just 'seizures'. This avoids important tags being flooded with whump fics

Have fun!

I will update these rules if necessary! Happy whumping!

Please reblog this to get the word out :)

Whumpay - Day 6

Main Challenge - Mad Science - Russian Roulette Mini Challenge 6 -Torture - False Execution Original Work - Down in Goldonna

Alana hugged Ziggy tightly. It was over. Thank goodness. They could go home for the night and get some sleep. But she felt something strange; Ziggy’s hand was reaching around her waist. Alana drew back a little. And Ziggy almost skipped away from her embrace.

He waved something at her. In the dim light of the nearby streetlights, Alana saw a soft and supple sheen. She reached to her belt. Her revolver! Ziggy had her revolver.

As he stepped back he stopped in a pool of light. His grin was broad and crooked. And his eyes- Alana’s stomach dropped. She felt the blood drain from her face.

His eyes were black. Ziggy was possessed. But how? And by who?

“Ziggy?” Alana called out to him, hoping she was mistaken, hoping this was some sort of prank.

“Ziggy’s taking a nap right now. He’s so tired.” The Thing said with Ziggy’s voice. It stretched with his body and ran Its hands over Ziggy’s chest and waist. “I’m in the driver’s seat for a little bit.”

Alana fixed her eyes upon the revolver and darted forward. This Thing may be in control of Ziggy, but it also had Ziggy’s weaknesses. Ziggy was underweight. Ziggy was unconditioned.

The Thing danced back, grin growing wider somehow.

“Ah, ah.” It chided.

Instead of pointing the revolver at Alana it pressed the barrel to Ziggy’s temple. “Don’t do anything stupid.” It warned. “Or I will kill him.”

“You wouldn’t.” Alana raised her hands to show she wasn’t going to try anything else.

Alana’s mind raced. How could any being possess Ziggy without his permission? Was this even possible? And then, everything fell into place. “You’re the shadow he talks about. I’ve seen you before, hovering over him. What is your name?”

The Thing opened up the cylinder of the revolver and began removing the rounds. Alana couldn’t see exactly what he was doing in the patchwork darkness.

“A name?” It chuckled. “Why should I have a name?” It tossed a handful of rounds over Ziggy’s shoulder.

“How did you do this? Did he let you in?”

It spun the revolver’s cylinder back into place. It placed the barrel of the gun back to Ziggy’s temple again. “I’m tired of this.” It whined with Ziggy’s voice.

Alana felt her hands begin to shake. “Wait, please don’t-”

“I’ve removed all the rounds except for one.” Using Ziggy’s legs, it walked forward, towards Alana and into another pool of light. Its black eyes glittered in Ziggy’s pale face. “Let’s play a little game.”

Alana tried to keep her voice calm. “We don’t have to do this-”

“Oh, I think we do. You don’t seem to understand who’s in charge here.”

“Ziggy is your vessel! Why kill your vessel?”

“Everytime you answer incorrectly, I pull the trigger. It’s a one-in-six chance, right?”

“Please, don’t-!”

The hammer clicked. Empty chamber.

Alana could not breathe. She could not breathe. She wanted to scream. Her friend was about to die in front of her.

“One-in-six chance, right?” It asked again.

“Y-yes.” Alana grated out, holding back a sob. “One-in-six chance.”

“Good. Now, who is in charge here?”

“What?”

Another click. Another empty chamber.

Alana heard herself wail and bit it back, trying to get her breathing under control.

“Alana,” It came real close to her, so close she could smell the shampoo Ziggy used in his hair. “Who’s in charge right now?” It whispered with Ziggy’s soft voice.

“Y-you.”

“Good. When I need something from you, what will you do?”

“I’ll do it, I’ll do what you want.”

“That’s right. You are so good at this, Alana.”

“Fuck you!” Alana sobbed. Her legs were shaking beneath her.

Another click.

“That wasn’t very nice.” It sighed.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“And when Ziggy wakes up, what are you going to tell him happened here?”

Alana hesitated.

Another click. Another chance. Time was slipping through her fingers.

“I’m sorry! Please! Stop! I’ll tell him what you want, whatever you want!”

“You’ll tell him he fainted. You won’t mention me.”

“I’ll tell him he fainted-!”

Another click. Oh god. One left.

“I won’t mention you!”

Ziggy’s body suddenly went limp, and as though in slow motion, he fell backwards to the grassy ground. The revolver bounced out of his hand. Alana rushed up and grabbed the gun then knelt beside Ziggy. She patted his cheek.

“Ziggy!” Alana choked out. “Ziggy, wake up.”

She opened up the cylinder and looked at the six chambers.

His eyes opened slowly. Focused on her. “Alana?”

There were no rounds in the gun at all.

“Yeah, it’s me. Are you okay? You fainted.”

The gun had been empty.

“I fainted? Why are you crying?”

Hey!! How do I get into making gifs? Any tips for a beginner? I literally know nothing about it just that the I'd like to start. Also is not having photoshop a big obstacle?

Hi there! Yeah I can give you some tips to get started! Keep in mind I use windows to make my gifs and not a mac.

So to get into gifmaking you don't need to have photoshop. If you find that you enjoy making gifs I do recommend you look into getting photoshop (and there are ways of getting it without paying *raises pirate flag*) but to start there are several online programs you can use.

Here's a few that i've used before I learned how to do it in photoshop:

photopea

ezgif

giphy

imgflip

makeagif

This is an excellent tutorial to using photopea to make gifs

Each one of those will allow you make a basic gif. For complex coloring, sharpening, layouts, typography, blending, etc you'll want to upgrade to using photoshop because the quality is just way better and you can do so much more but when you're just wanting to get start all of these websites are great places to learn.

I also recommend learning how to take screencaps because I find it's a lot easier to make gifsets using screencaps than it is to try and screen record, cut, and upload videos.

My recommendation for screencapping is KMPlayer. It's a video player that you download to your computer and has a very easy way to save screencaps. Then you can just upload the jpgs into whatever program you're using to make gifs.

I made a basic gif making tutorial using photoshop and kmplayer here if you want to take a look at it.

Basic gifmaking steps:

Get your video. You can download it through pirating sites or use dvds or screen record. I download from sites like soap2day.to.

Take screen caps of the specific scene you want to gif OR cut your video to just the scene you want

Upload either clip or jpgs into the chosen program

Set the speed

Do any trimming of the scene and/or cropping the sides you want to do

If your program allows you (some don't) you can sharpen it, brighten the colors, add text

Then just save it as a .gif

Some other things:

The higher quality video, the better quality gif. 1080 is better than 720. Try to get a nice quality video if you can

Some websites will have a watermark on it that can't be removed so keep that in mind. Another reason why I prefer using photoshop.

Try to keep the gif either the same speed as the episode or just a little slower. Too fast isn't good.

That's all I got for now! If you have any other questions please feel free ask! I'd be happy to help with anything!

webcam acquired (old one broke) now I can finally be a camboy (see my therapist again)

Merry Whump of May - Day 8

“Did you read the fine print?”

Circle

Blinded

Field

(original characters/story)

@themerrywhumpofmay

“It’s the only way to know what happened here.” Rex shed his jacket and tossed it on the ground. The sun beat down upon them, searing and merciless. The cicadas sang and sang. With every weak breath of wind, the grass around them sighed and fluttered. The field was empty save for Rex, Stockton, Burden, and the last survivor. 

Rex rolled up his sleeves. “Stay back, all of you, until it’s done.”

“And how will we know when it’s done?” Stockton picked up Rex’s jacket.

Rex didn’t answer and walked towards the last survivor.

Tied to a stake in the middle of the field was a young woman. Was, a young woman. She had died three days ago and laid in the hot sun until now, and it showed. Rex had tracked her down and arrived too late. Always too late. 

The last survivor rasped and stood on unsteady legs as Rex approached. He needed to know what she knew. Tears stung Rex’s eyes as he drew closer. 

“I’m sorry.” He whispered. “I’m really sorry. We tried. We tried.”

The last survivor’s skin was bloated and dark with pooled blood. Where there were once eyes, dark, crusted sockets stared out at Rex. Rex looked up and saw the vultures responsible still circling overhead. Every so often, one flew close enough to noonday sun to blot it out. A shadow covering the field. Ragged and brief. 

Rex knelt as close as he dared. 

He had searched the minds of humans before and had become good at it. It was easy to read people, to open up their minds and read their innermost thoughts. But reading the dead? Something about it turned his stomach. It wasn’t the putrid flesh before him, or clicking teeth, but the act of uniting his mind with the dead.

Rex hadn’t told Stockton or Burden, but he wasn’t sure that it wouldn’t kill him. 

But he had promised to try. This last survivor, survivor no more, had known something important to their cause. And he owed it to her to try. He had to try.

Rex took the dead woman’s face in his hands and gently pushed the limp hair away from her sightless eyes. She tried to bite him. The bloody foam that oozed from her mouth and nose ran over his fingers, lukewarm and slimy. The stake and her bound arms held her back. Rex closed his eyes. The sun was harsh above and behind his eyelids he saw only red.

The last survivor rasped and gurgled. 

Rex took a deep breath. He began to read.

A moment. 

He began to scream.

The ground vibrated, shuddering and shaking. Waves in the field. A flock of birds flee, black dots against the pale, hot sky. The grass around Rex and the last survivor begins to die. It shriveled. It turned black. A circle of rotting darkness. Then, nothing. Only death.

Rex felt someone stroking his hair.

“You’re safe.” It was Burden’s voice. And Burden’s hand.

The rotting smell of the corpse still lingered in Rex’s senses, but Burden’s scent was chasing it away. 

Rex shifted a little. His muscles ached and his limbs shook with the effort. His head was resting on someone’s lap. Probably Burden.

“You’re safe?” Rex rasped. His throat was dry and sticky. He coughed.

“Yeah. Stocky’s getting you water. Hang on.”

Rex opened his eyes and saw nothing.

His heart clenched. 

Rex closed his eyes again, braced himself, and opened them. Nothing.

“Uh, Burden?” Rex reached out towards the hand in his hair. He gripped Burden’s rough, calloused fingers. 

“Yeah?”

“I can't see.”

Rex felt Burden become still and tense. Then Burden squeezed Rex’s hand.

A sigh. “Did you not read the fine print on those powers you got?”

Rex’s laugh was shaky. He felt a tear slip from the corner of his eye and trail down his cheek, pooling in his ear. “No, not really. Didn’t come with a manual, you know?”

“It'll come back.”

“Maybe. But I got the information. She saw where they went.” Rex didn’t think too hard about what he had seen when reading the dead woman. He had gotten what they needed and that was that.

Burden pulled Rex a little closer. “You shouldn’t have done this.” Burden spoke into Rex’s hair, his breath warm on Rex’s scalp.

Rex closed his eyes. He didn’t need them open.