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Cat (ideally, the arch-enemy of Melon's pigeon)

11 (27.5%)

Adopts one of Yay's (SpookyBot's) dogs

3 (7.5%)

A dog of her own (maybe something ironic like a pit bull that has no aggression at all)

4 (10%)

A pet plant (Bubbles' suggestion)

1 (2.5%)

A budgerigar (ideal parrot-kin for a small apartment)

4 (10%)

A head ignuana (tribute to Damn You Willis's character of Joyce Brown)

0 (0%)

Pintsize (AnthroPCs were AI pets at first and Pinty feels his work with Marten is done)

2 (5%)

A hamster, gerbil, chinchilla or some other ground rodent

5 (12.5%)

A goldfish

1 (2.5%)

Something very exotic like a snake or some small reptile/amphibian

1 (2.5%)

Other (please specify in comments)

8 (20%)

Total Members Voted: 39

[OldGoat]

The Emperor Scorpion was my favourite childhood creepy-crawlie!)

Is that the huge, jet black one with the relatively wimpy venom that they use on TV and movies because it looks so scary but is almost harmless to humans?

Yeah, this guy.

[BenRG]

When I was ten years old, all that mattered was that it was big, scary-looking and cool!

[Oenone]

It’s also possible Hannelore thinks she’s “better” because she’s been practicing her self care skills in a context wildly divorced from her daily life. It might be that when she’s presented her old triggers she struggles more. We might see a return of JUICY or her mom, both of which would test her.

Oenone, please correct me if I'm reading it wrong, but the way you cast that first sentence using quotation marks makes it sound to me like you believe Hanners is deluded in her belief that her condition has improved. 

I would argue that if she feels better and is finding it less challenging to negotiate the world around her, she IS better.  If it takes a JUICY or Beatrice level trigger to disrupt her day now, that's still a major improvement.  Her threshold used to be much lower.

I honestly don’t remember why I used quotes. It was probably because ppl upthread were talking about her being cured/“better” when it’s probably more accurate to say that her condition is managed and she’s able to experience better quality of life bc of that.

[Y]

Is that the huge, jet black one with the relatively wimpy venom that they use on TV and movies because it looks so scary but is almost harmless to humans?

Isn't it the bigger the better? At least if Indiana Jones was right. Though this one seems like it can cause quite a bruise with it pincers.

[SpanielBear]

Is that the huge, jet black one with the relatively wimpy venom that they use on TV and movies because it looks so scary but is almost harmless to humans?

Isn't it the bigger the better? At least if Indiana Jones was right. Though this one seems like it can cause quite a bruise with it pincers.

I've always understood the smaller the scorpion, the more deadly the venom. Or at least the smaller varieties are more likely to be the truly poisonous ones.

[Oenone]

Also, re: the idea of Hanners being deluded. It’s weird imo to insinuate I’d say that about an actual human being who was reporting their own mental health state. This is a piece of fiction that’s already explored characters having an unreliable sense of their own mental well-being (see Faye’s insistence she was fine when talking to Dora about her alcoholism and Martens sense of happiness vs complacency) so idk why it’d be weird to have some genre awareness when reading a piece of fiction. People saying and believing they’re fine when that isn’t the case has been a recurring thing here.

[OldGoat]

Isn't it the bigger the better? At least if Indiana Jones was right. Though this one seems like it can cause quite a bruise with it pincers.

That's actually what most of the articles I found using Google said, they rarely use their stings because their pincers are so bad-ass.  Looking at them, I reckon they must not taste very good because if they did, we'd be calling them Forest Lobsters or something like that.

People saying and believing they’re fine when that isn’t the case has been a recurring thing here.

That's because it's a recurring thing in real life.

[SmilingCat]

That's because it's a recurring thing in real life.

Yep, I've made a lot of progress with my depression in the last few years.

I've also got a referral for more therapy coming because after a bad stretch recently I realized that I still wasn't okay.

[OldGoat]

That's because it's a recurring thing in real life.

Yep, I've made a lot of progress with my depression in the last few years.

I've also got a referral for more therapy coming because after a bad stretch recently I realized that I still wasn't okay.

I'm so with you, Brother.  Winston Churchill called it his "black dog."  Time and again he thought he'd run it off but the son-of-a-bitch kept on coming back.

[Dandi Andi]

"When you have a junkyard dog snapping at your heels, the best thing to do is to turn around and kick it in the chops."

I've got a few coping mechanisms. I find a place where I can scream and not be a nuisance and curse very loudly until I sober up. I go to the park and scream at the ducks (they deserve it... probably). I listen to Punjabi folk metal...

Doesn't always work, though. Sometimes you have to call in reinforcements.

Godspeed, my fellow depression warriors.

[SpanielBear]

"When you have a junkyard dog snapping at your heels, the best thing to do is to turn around and kick it in the chops."

I've got a few coping mechanisms. I find a place where I can scream and not be a nuisance and curse very loudly until I sober up. I go to the park and scream at the ducks (they deserve it... probably). I listen to Punjabi folk metal...

Doesn't always work, though. Sometimes you have to call in reinforcements.

Godspeed, my fellow depression warriors.

Oh my god, yes all the folk metal (okay probably not all) but especially these guys!

[Oenone]

People saying and believing they’re fine when that isn’t the case has been a recurring thing here.

That's because it's a recurring thing in real life.

Absolutely! That’s why I was surprised someone commented on my use of quotes. Whether I meant it bc of Jeph’s writing style or because of the realities of living with a chronic illness, I still agree with past!Oenone lol

[Stoon]

"When you have a junkyard dog snapping at your heels, the best thing to do is to turn around and kick it in the chops."

I've got a few coping mechanisms. I find a place where I can scream and not be a nuisance and curse very loudly until I sober up. I go to the park and scream at the ducks (they deserve it... probably). I listen to Punjabi folk metal...

Doesn't always work, though. Sometimes you have to call in reinforcements.

Godspeed, my fellow depression warriors.

From Mongolia:

[Is it cold in here?]

Hanner's dad is super-wealthy in his own right.  I don't think Hanner's mom can really hold anything over her head to get her to play ball with her.  If they reconcile, it'll be on Hanner's terms, not her mom's.

All that, and also Station would not let her slide into poverty.

[Gyrre]

Is that the huge, jet black one with the relatively wimpy venom that they use on TV and movies because it looks so scary but is almost harmless to humans?

Isn't it the bigger the better? At least if Indiana Jones was right. Though this one seems like it can cause quite a bruise with it pincers.

I've always understood the smaller the scorpion, the more deadly the venom. Or at least the smaller varieties are more likely to be the truly poisonous ones.

They're only poisonous if you eat the stinger.

I've been stung by one the size of my pinky, but it was likely a dry sting as it only hurt a little and nothing else happened. Found the little dude in the Flint Hills of all places. It was a mostly dark grey, with a ruddy orange face, underside, and forelimbs.

[Mr_Rose]

It’s not really the size of the scorpion (though the smaller ones do tend to be disproportionately venomous) but the size of the tail/stinger relative to the claws. Big claws and little sting is more likely to be less venomous, or at least have less dangerous venom.
Basically if it looks like it can rip something the same size as it to shreds with its claws, that’s usually what it will be doing rather than stinging things; in which case the sting is mostly a defence against larger predators and more likely to be painful rather than deadly.
If it’s the other way around the sting is going to be the primary weapon and could well be quite dangerous and even deadly.

Also, scorpions come in all sizes and are still Arthropods, so they have multiple life stages with moults in between, which makes a positive identification really difficult since whatever just stung you could be an adult or an early stage of something else or anywhere in between.

[pwhodges]

Just for fun - photos taken on a private game reserve in South Africa.  Our friend picked this not quite hand-sized specimen up briefly; it seemed very peaceful.  First photo by natural light, second under a UV lamp:

(click to show/hide)

[jwhouk]

By the bye, and really doesn't fit anywhere else, but: if Marten would be looking to move closer back to home in California, but doesn't want to deal with the headache of living in California, there's a job at ASU that he might be overqualified for.

[Thrudd]

It's probably a phobia, unrelated to how much damage they can do.

Maybe he at one point watched Phase IV and the scorpion scene still terrifies him?