#(it’s similar to a Pike but smaller)

[clumsiestgiantess]

It’s May and you know what that means! I sketched out a few things from the MerMay AU for the Other-world Universe! First is a reference of mer/satyrian Erica, and the second is the whole page with bonus scenes from the AU! (coming sometime this month)

I’ll probably make all the main Other-world cast MerMay forms at some point even if it never shows up in writing. Human/animal blends are just too fun to draw!

[dangraccoon]

The Bad Batch Head Canons - Nicknames

The Bad Batch x You

Hunter

Platonic, You: this man won’t generally refer to you with much other than your name. He may call you “verd’ika” (private/little soldier) from time to time

Platonic, Him: you call him “sergeant” or “boss”, he tells you not to. This goes on continually, but Hunter doesn’t mind

Romantic, You: he tried a couple different nicknames for you but “sarad” or “sarad’ika” (flower or little flower) is what stuck best

Romantic, Him: if you call this man “hun” he won’t know if it’s a shortened version of Hunter or Honey and honestly he couldn’t be bothered to care; he loves it so much either way. Use his formal title and he absolutely will fuck you asap

Tech

Platonic, You: if you’re only friends, Tech probably won’t have a nickname for you, though he may pick up another batcher’s nickname for you if he thinks you enjoy it

Platonic, Him: if you’re the type to throw around nicknames, he’ll likely be confused but ultimately accepting of nicknames like “bud/buddy”

Romantic, You: this man for sure calls you “darling” and will occasionally use the mando’a “cyar’ika”

Romantic, Him: you are the only person in the universe that can call him “Techie” and he will adore it. If you refer to him as your “boyfriend”/“husband” or as “my man” he will melt immediately. If you call him “lover” he will go absolutely feral for for you

Wrecker

Platonic, You: if you are smaller than Wrecker, he will point it out. He’ll usually call you “little one”, even if you’re not that much smaller than him or a version of your name that’s shortened

Platonic, Him: as a counter to his, you call him “Big Guy” or something similar. It’s definitely giving Pike & Grog vibes

Romantic, You: when he gets feelings for you, he starts to use your actual name more often. He likes the sound of it.

Romantic, Him: you call him “babe” or “baby” and he will fall for you all over again, use his actual name or shorten it to Wreck he will be trying to get into your pants

Echo

Platonic, You: to be completely honest, I think Echo would just call you by your first name, or title if you outrank him

Platonic, Him: Echo already has a short name so he’ll definitely be confused if you start calling him “Eck” but he really likes it when you call him “hun”

Romantic, You: he definitely calls you “dear” in public situations and “sir/ma’am” in private ones

Romantic, Him: this man will respond to just about anything. Like those videos of dogs who will respond to the tone of their owner saying sit instead of the actual word, if you called him “newspaper” his attention would be on you.

Crosshair

Platonic, You: you cannot tell me this man doesn’t call you “babydoll” or “kitten”. That’s not my headcanon, I’m taking it as fact.

Platonic, Him: you like to call him “Crossy” to tick him off. It usually works. If you really want to get under his skin, call him “Hairy” but I cannot guarantee that you’ll see another sunrise

Romantic, You: He’s fond of calling you “darling”, but he’ll also drop the occasional “sugar” if he’s feeling frisky, or “fucker” if he’s had enough of your teasing

Romantic, Him: you can call this man anything you want and he will come running. He seems to prefer “sweetheart” over anything else though. Also he definitely has some kind of authority kink so anything in the realm of “sir/master/daddy” will immediately get you into the bedroom

[crispysnake]

Hey again yall:) here is pt.2 for my Outfit Inspo Boards for my modern au!

Below are the dudes of vm! The gals are over here if you're interested:)

Vax: Of course, I had to make him a balance of emo and slut, and he does so effortlessly. A lot of his flannels and sweaters are stuff he's owned since a little after they ran away, and a lot of his t-shirts (and the sheer ones...slut) and his jewelry are totally, 100% paid for, why do you ask? A little more focused on practicality, what he really cares about are the smaller details, always painting his nails to match Vexs, rings and necklaces from every place they've visited, and later on adding small colourful things to his outfits to match Keyleths (also 100% paid for)

Grog: Similar to his best buddies he prioritizes being comfy, mainly because he is physically active 24/7, his version of dressing nice when they go out is genuinely just a glorified lumberjack outfit, but listen he needs layers because Pike or Keyleth usually ends up stealing his jacket by the end of the night ok??

Percy: an obscene amount of collars and sweaters, let us pretend he doesn't dress how he does in canon and instead talk about how this man has owned that trenchcoat since high school. Jokes aside a lot of his sweaters were his father's and Julius's, some are thrifted courtesy of Keyleth, he just finds them the most comfortable, he likes being covered also she wear he coat. Addintionally he does have a gold pendant necklace that used to be Vespers and he has not taken it off ever.

Scanlan: You know I had to hit him with the button-ups, he's father ok It had to be done. Other than those he specialized in band t-shirts, and almost all of them were ones he bought (or flirted his way into getting) at actual concerts and tours, which are also the same ones Pike regularly steals, if it were anyone else he would be a little more pissed cause those are expensive, but also... its Pike. Later on, when Kaylie is in the picture, he gives her all of his special band tees and talks way too long about the story behind each one.

[cutecuttlefish]

The sword of the day is the naginata.

The Naginata is a Japanese polearm similar to the Chinese guandao or European glaive-guisarme; essentially, swords on sticks. Requiring more specialized training than a simple pike, the naginata was a primary weapon of pre-Sengoku samurai, and still made appearances on the battlefield after that period. During the Edo period, women from samurai courts were often trained in the weapon, using the smaller ko-naginata. In fact, the naginata is still practiced today, and most modern practitioners of naginata-jutsu are women.

Thank you to @thegenderfluidgokenin for helping me write this one! If anyone reading happens to know about weapons, especially African or Chinese weapons, please let me know!

[drstonetrivia]

Ace of Spades

Cards come up a lot in Dr. Stone, such as joker cards, trump cards, or even the whole deck, but the concept of aces, specifically from the spade suit, come up a lot more.

We'll start by considering aces as a whole...

...Or aces in the hole, as Ginro and Suika have been referred to in the past. chapters 107 and 108 have matching ace-related titles thanks to them hiding away on the Perseus. Together, the pair make the double aces that save the day!

For those not familiar with the term, an ace in the hole means "a hidden advantage or resource kept in reserve until needed", which suits the way the Kingdom of Science operates. They wait until the last moment to reveal their plan, to dramatic effect.

If it's not spoiled beforehand, that is.

On the topic of double aces, the poker game that occurs in chapter 144 results in 5 aces being shown at the end.

The doubled card? The ace of spades.

(If you were wondering who had the imposter card, it looks like Senku had it. The size of the middle spade is smaller than the other cards, comparatively.)

So who was the ace? Senku, for winning the game? Ryusui, for getting what he wanted with the casino? Both of them had the ace of spades card, which is generally considered the highest card in the whole deck, but everyone involved in that game is an ace in their own right.

The only one who didn't get what they wanted in that particular instance was Gen, who was frustrated by his loss.

So let's look at one of Gen's ace-related wins: the gambit against Moz on Treasure Island.

Gen's opening move was to distract Moz momentarily using the still-unstabilised drone. The drone here is an ace for two reasons: first, to draw Moz's eye away from Gen so he can sneak closer, and second to make the Kingdom of Science seem more powerful than they actually are.

Gen uses his weak card against Moz, who is the strongest card in the Treasure Island deck.

Gen may have bluffed his way forward, but ultimately Moz never stood a chance against Gen, the man whose entire skill set revolves around manipulating cards...

Being the highest and most valuable card in the deck, the ace of spades isn't immune to superstition. One of the main superstitions marks it as an omen of bad luck.

This seems to follow in Dr Stone too with those associated with the card: Moz's loss against Hyoga, Ryusui's 5 petrifications, Senku's constant bad luck, the fate of the drone, ace pilot Charlotte crashing, Tsukasa's deaths*...

(*I'll get to that last one in a moment)

The other superstition around the card is how the ace of spades became known as the "death card". Military units used to use it as their symbol as it was the highest in the deck, and during the Vietnam war scattering the cards was used as a fear tactic.

The origin of the suit is also military in nature: the design is based on the pike or halberd, two European polearms.

The name itself likely came from the word for sword, similar to Spanish's "espada".

So now we have the final question:

Who in Dr Stone encapsulates the ace of spades card best? Who is simultaneously the strongest, unlucky, surrounded by death and also has roots relating to warfare?

If you guessed Tsukasa, you're right!

He was introduced as the Strongest High School Primate by Taiju, has a sad backstory and is constantly being separated from Mirai, has died twice now and uses an enormous sword wider than a shovel (that sword is the real spade here).

In case you still have doubts, even Stanley agrees! In chapter 189, Stanley's mind conjures up the ace of spades for Tsukasa, along with the ace of hearts for Kohaku and the ace of clubs for Hyoga.

Interestingly, cards with enemy faces printed on them were issued during the Iraq war (most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, if you're curious), so I wonder if this is why Stanley was thinking of them in terms of playing cards...

Also going back to the Vietnam war connection, both the battle in c.188 and the Vietnam war used guerrilla warfare tactics: launching attacks from hiding and using the terrain to your advantage.

In conclusion, the ace of spades repeatedly comes up in Dr Stone, but the only person it truly suits (haha) is none other than Tsukasa Shishio.

[wowthesewomen]

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - crew quarters - La'an Noonien-Singh

re-watching the episodes i notice some things about the crew quarters, and while most have the same layout (except Pike, his are huge, and besides the kitchen and the huge kitchen Island, the man has a fucking fireplace in the middle of the room!) the interior design is quite unique to each character.

Generally, the quarters are an open space (again the captain IS different and seems to have something that can close the bedroom area from the rest).

1- wall with the entrance door to the far right, and to it's left a small kitchenette

2- The opposite wall has two big sets of double windows/port? that go into the cieling separated by a beam that cross the room and kinda serves to visually separated the leaving area from the bedroom one. Said beam is also use to support tables and shelves (depending on the crew member)

3- the other two walls: both have a door (facing each other and the one next to the front door seems to have a pad lock next to it) and some drawers.

La'an, Uhura and Ortega have their bed against the wall near the exit door.

Una and Spock have their leaving/bedroom areas reversed and their beds are against the windows wall opposite to the kitchenette.

La'an must have a interior architecture hobby because hers keeps having some makeovers, that are huge between episode 203 to 209. I'm going to do a post for each character but I'll start with hers.

Entrance to an open space (episode 203)

adds a full mirror in 209

also is that some kind of Bonsai tree? that could go with the other hobie theory for La'an, because hers is the most spartan quarters but we do see some (spartan) green plants around her room, the one above, and this in the kitchenette

And La'an seems to be a tea drinker going by the tea pot and the tea cups set

first change on the quarters is actually this one from episode 104 to 203, the lamps change from those tall/mushroom look alike

to smaller round ones (very similar to Una's) and more green on the table also lots of pottery, on the table and on the shelves .

A cool thing that i notice on Una's scenes (because they were close) is that the Windows have blinds on, you can see on this scene that La'an's are not fully open.

Now the major overdo is from 203 to 209, besides the mirror mentioned above.

1 - more lamps, those vertical ones are new.

2- new wall behind the bed, different design, it seems the draws are gone and that looks like some kind of tree bark and some greens??

3 - the shelve crossing the beam is gone and becomes a one side table/secretary with a new work chair.

Side note: interesting enough and i would say much in character except for the chair next to the "time travel police" everything else faces the exit door, and even that chair she doesn't have her back fully turn back from the door.

4- either different sofa or she changes formation.

5 - the bed is different, use to be above the floor and now has an extra platform on the floor

6 - adds some plant to the vase on the table

7- upper shelve looks the same but changes the lower one and adds a picture (landscape ??)

8- change the stuff on this shelve (Una has a similar hand mirror)

9- adds the digital padlock on the drawer and the drawer designs and numbers are different.

What does her quarters tell me about La'an:

1 - Either La'an loves interior designs or between 203 and 209 she changes to a different quarters.

2- she likes tea

3- she likes pottery

4- not a single think out of place, very spartan

5- not a single book (will see why a reference this when i post the others living quarters)

6- considering that everything else turns to the exit door, i'm guessing she sleeps on her left side and is always on the alert.

7- likes plants? not flowers but plants

8- doesn't have anything that connects her with anyone, not even a pic with Una. the only thing i can think and is very subtle is that she has the same hand mirror and the same round lamps that Una has. She does have a few things that she treasures on safe box (i would love to know the story behind some of them, specially the sea star)

9- her quarters are cold, you can see some kind of blanket on the bed, sofa and both chairs (besides the working one). Again in character with her and her past story.

Next: Una

[fireflysummers]

New potential sticker sheet! This time featuring Princess Tutu!

Oldies are goodies, right?

Image ID:

A 5 x 7 stickersheet with a variety of chibi characters from the anime Princess Tutu. There are nine larger character stickers, and five smaller “filler” stickers.

The characters stickers include 1) Duck, a young woman with blue eyes and strawberry blonde (orange) hair pulled back in a long braid, wearing her civilian clothes of a white top with yellow cuffs, a red pendant, yellow shorts, striped white-and-orange knee-high socks, and orange flat shoes. She wears a startled expression. 2) Princess Kraehe, a young woman with fair skin, red eyes, and black hair, wearing a black ballet dress with a fringe of dark feathers. Behind her, a small stylized wing can be seen. She is striking a ballet pose, with her right arm raised over her head 3) Lilie and Pike as part of the same sticker. Lilie is a young woman with long, curly blonde hair, pulled into high pigtails by large pink ribbons on either side of her head.Pike is a young woman with fair skin, purple eyes, and pinky-purple hair pulled back in a bun. She has asymmetrical bangs that curl off to the left side of her face, and are kept up by a pair of hairclips on the right side. They both wear their school uniform, a gray dress that falls above the knees with a blue stripe at its hem, a gray jacket with puffed sleeves and similar blue striped hems, a white collared shirt beneath, a yellow broach, white cuffed ankle socks, and black heeled shoes. Lilie leans into Pike, one hand raised to her mouth, while Pike stands with arms folded, both wearing looks of mischief. 4.) Mytho, a young man with fair skin, white hair, and gold eyes. He holds both hands to his chest, and wears a blank expression. He wears a long, oversized white shirt that is rolled up to othe elbows, a pair of brown trousers, and no shoes. Behind him, a sword with a swan themed hilt is broken into shards. 5) Princess Tutu, a young woman with fair skin, blue eyes, and short strawberry blonde (orange) hair framed by a white feather headpiece. She wears a complex white ballet dress with pink frills, blue ribbons, and translucent yellow wings, bracelets of round golden beads, pink ballet shoes, a small golden crown, and a necklace with a red ornate pendant. She is striking a ballet pose, with her left arm raised over her head, and her left leg raised so that she balances on the toes of her right foot. 6) Miss Edel, a woman with fair skin and green hair in a complicated style. She wears a brightly colored and complicated dress of white, pale blue and purple, red and gold, with multiple tassels and frills. She wears heavy purple eye shadow and purple lipstick, but has no eyebrows. Her hands are held in front of her, and she wears an impassive expression. 7) Rue, a young woman with fair skin, red eyes, and long black hair worn loose. She wears the same school uniform as Pike and Lilie, and holds her hands in front of her. She wears a pensive expression. 8) Uzura, a small child that shares a simplified version of Miss Edel’s style and color scheme. Of particular note is the little white-and-red drum that is in front of her, and she holds a pair of drumsticks. She has a wide-eyed expression of wonder. 9) Fakir, a young man with fair skin, sharp green eyes, and long, messy black hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. He wears the male variant of the school uniform, a long blue sweater with white stripes at the hems, white trousers, white formal dress shoes, a white shirt beneath with frilled sleeves, and a yellow pendant. He sits with a hostile glare, holding a sheathed sword propped against him.

The filler stickers include 1) A single white feather; 2) Duck in her duck form, a small yellow duck with an orange beak and big blue eyes; 3) A heart shard that takes the form of a small, red crystal; 4) Princess Tutu’s magical necklace, which is an ornate pendant of red and gold, bearing a dragonfly-esque motif; 5) The text “Princess Tutu” set into a golden plaque

[dangerousconnoisseurdonut]

Alliance or Destruction idea

It’s been a long time since I posted an idea here, but I’m watching a video on YouTube on top 30 werewolf movies and it has sparked an idea for a fun bit of Gotham smut. This was inspired by seeing movies like Skinwalkers from 2006 or 2007 (can’t remember) and the Underwolrd franchise, so please be aware of similarities.

Many hundreds of years ago, Jim Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth were not only friends, but also secret lovers who knew they could never be open about their love. Things got even worse when, one night while they were meeting, they didn’t notice the full moon in the sky and came across another meeting, though not one of lovers. They are a werewolf and a vampire, trying to destroy one another, as their species always try to do.

In the ensuing struggle, both creatures are killed, but not before the vampire bites Alfred and the werewolf bites Jim, infecting the lovers with enemy DNA. They are found by the Vampire’s Court and taken in, though once they determine Jim’s bite is a werewolf bite and not a vampire bite. Alfred manages to enlist help from Leslie Thompkins to free Jim as he hasn’t done any harm to the vampires and doesn’t deserve to die. The pair manage it and Jim manages to flee, where he is accepted by the pack of the deceased werewolf.

Years go by in the blink of an eye for the immortal lovers who do all they can to look perfect to the elders of their species, so they can be left alone and meet where they can. Things get easier when Alfred becomes a Master Vampire and Jim becomes an Alpha Werewolf who manages to wrangle some land for themselves in Gotham. By the time it’s revealed the pair are still lovers despite being genetic enemies, Head Vampire Kathryn Monroe and Alpha Theo Galavan want to kill them, but they each have their own Court and Pack who will fight to protect their heads.

Jim has a number of wolves who are loyal to him, like Harvey Dent, Harvey Bullock, Sarah Essen, Alvarez, Harper, but his top wolves are Jerome Valeska, Jonathan Crane, Bridgit Pike, Ivy Pepper, and Oswald Cobblepot, all of whom delight in their bloodlust almost as much as Galavan, and are more than ready to burn him if he touches the Alpha who saved them from their abusive families (here, Gertrude died much earlier and, after Elijah found out he had a son, naturally took care of him, but Oswald was hated by his step-mother and siblings. Once Elijah was poisoned, Grace, Charles, and Sasha were even more cruel, until Jim saved him).

Alfred’s Court is smaller, but no less deadly with people like Lee who agreed that the rivalry was stupid when Jim and Alfred were proof the two could get along, and there was also Jeremiah Valeska (who was injured the night Jerome became a werewolf and, by some twist of fate, Jeremiah received a blood transfer from a vampire instead of a human; fellow vampire Hugo Strange was curious as to what would happen and Alfred tore his head off soon after), his partner Ecco, Jervis Tetch, Victor Fries, Victor Zsasz, and Sofia Falcone (the Falcone’s were born werewolves but had a history of occasionally producing a ‘dud’. Sofia was this ‘dud’ when she didn’t transform when she was 13 and was cast out. She deliberately sought out Alfred to turn her instead, which he did when she turned 21).

Things are pretty calm between the respective Court and Pack until Sofia gets news from her wolf brother about a child who has been born in Gotham and will be either the doom or salvation of werewolves and vampires. Their DNA is unique in the fact that it can handle the virus of both lycanthropy and vampirism at the same time; a hybrid. On their 18th birthday, if they are bitten by a vampire, then every werewolf on Earth will die. If they are bitten by a werewolf, then every vampire will die. But, if they are bitten by both species when they turn 18, then not only will both species live, but they shall live in harmony.

Mario warns her that there are those on both sides that either want to claim this child or have it killed to protect their species. Some even want to kill it just to avoid the idea of living in harmony with their ‘enemies’. They don’t know the name of the child or even what year it was born; the prophecy merely said that the child was in Gotham, implying that the child has already been born, instead of will be born. The two species go through all the hospital records they can find, hoping to see if they can smell anything different about this prophecy child.

Neither species has any luck finding the child, which leads Kathryn and Galavan to suggest killing all the children, but Alfred and Jim fight back against this idea as that would be over 200,000 deaths (this is based off of the fact that there reportedly almost 210,000 babies born in New York City in 2020); not only would it be monstrous, but it would almost surely expose them to the world. The threat of exposure brings the other packs and courts away from the idea of infanticide and they all agree to keep watch for this prophecy child.

Things are quiet for the next 17 and a half years, until Bridgit, Ecco, Sofia, Lee, and Ivy’s human friend, Selina Kyle, brings a new friend to one of their girls nights out; Bryce Wayne. The quintet of supernatural ladies think nothing of this girl until one guy tries to hit on Ivy and, when he refuses to take no for an answer, going so far as to hit Ivy, Bryce responds by beating the guy up, impressing the werewolves. After the guy is knocked out, Lee helps Bryce stand up and she notices an odd birthmark; what looks like a crescent moon cradling what looks like a vampire’s bite wound.

Later, when Lee tells Alfred and Jim about the mark, they question how the hunters missed Bryce, prompting Jerome and Jeremiah to reveal that Martha had great trouble with her pregnancy, right up until she had to give premature birth to her baby girl and the doctors were reluctant to make any official documentation until there was more of a guarantee the child would live. Furthermore, apparently the hunters focused more on male children like Brant Jones and Tommy Elliot instead of females like Grace Blomdahl or Bryce Wayne.

What cements the idea that Bryce is the prophecy child is when Jonathan and Fries do some calculations and realize that the night of Bryce’s 18th birthday will be a total lunar eclipse, complete with a blood moon. Alfred and Jim know the orphaned girl is the only chance they have at being together without others trying to tear them apart, and have the members of their Pack/Courts befriend the girl and keep her safe, with the Master Vampire and Alpha Werewolf digging into their seldom used magical abilities, and seducing Bryce through her dreams so that, when the time comes, she won’t resist them.

Will their plans work and keep Bryce safe? Will Bryce succumb to Alfred and Jim’s charms? Does anyone think this idea might be worth something more than the space it grew in my smut farm brain?

Likes are appreciated but reblogs let other people see this and possibly give me their opinions, thank you for sticking it out to the bottom of this rather long post.

[hmslusitania]

MOST CURRENT EDITING DRAFT NOVEMBER 22 ??? looks fun and scary?? <3

Blessings on your hearth, home, and any fluffy animals (surfacing neutral) you might love.

It is absolutely not scary, my folder for that story is just a Nightmare of Multiple Drafts and Editions lol. Its proper name is as yet undecided, but have the opening scene of this particular original work:

“Fun fact!” Kit shouted, hurdling over a fern that was almost as tall as she was and then vaulting the fallen log on the other side. She didn’t stumble, so she counted it as a win.

The sound of stampeding hooves got closer.

“Fun fact - skinny jeans? Not made for sprinting!”

“Just keep running!” Rhiannon yelled back. “Worry about your poor wardrobe choices later!”

Do track and field, her social worker had said. It’ll keep you out of trouble, her social worker had said.

Somehow, Kit didn’t think this was what she’d had in mind.

Kit kept running.

“Poor wardrobe choices?” Kit demanded, scrambling over the gnarled and massive root systems of the trees around them. They weren’t trees like Kit had ever seen trees before. She imagined California redwoods might be similar, except these weren’t evergreen. They were massive and stately, their deciduous leaves turning gold with the season, and the root caught against the knees of her jeans and left her bleeding. So much for none of this being real. “I’m sorry I didn’t realise my afternoon was going to be spent sprinting through a magical forest!”

If the situation had been less dire, if there hadn’t been a cavalry chasing them with spears or pikes or whatever, Kit felt sure Rhiannon would’ve paused to pick up one of the head-sized acorns and hurled it at her. As it was, there was a cavalry chasing them with spears or pikes or whatever, and Rhiannon did not.

“Halt! In the name of the emperor!”

Kit glanced at Rhiannon, who looked terrified enough that she felt less ashamed of her own fear.

Kit leapt through a smaller fern — this one only as tall as, say, a Honda Civic — and skidded to a stop. Their pell-mell sprint from the horsemen and the emperor’s sacred shrine had driven them directly to the edge of a ravine. It was too far across to jump to the other side, and too deep to survive the fall into the white-crested river down below.

“What do we do?” Rhiannon demanded, turning to Kit, eyes full of desperation. Kit was impressed she was willing to look away from the men with swords. The cavalry had them surrounded on all sides, and their choices were clear — surrender or jump.

“In the name of the emperor!” the leader of the cavalry said again, dismounting his horse. He was a tall man, but at least part of the height had to come from his honest-to-god plate mail armour. It shone in the autumnal sunlight filtering through the yellow leaves above them and sparkled with fanciful golden insets in the otherwise silver metal. It was almost pretty, but it was definitely not a good sign.

“What emperor?” Rhiannon asked, which Kit thought might be a less relevant question than “why are you chasing us?”

On the other hand, Rhiannon’s confusion gave the cavalry leader pause. That, or the fact there were two strangely dressed young women questioning him was simply baffling to a man with a beard that pointy and resplendent.

“You have breached the sacred shrine!” the cavalry leader said. “You will stand trial for your crimes and then you will be hanged!”

There was a beat of silence after his words, and then Kit grabbed Rhiannon’s arm.

“I figured out what we’re supposed to do,” she said.

“What?” Rhiannon asked. They both took a step backwards as the guard approached them with manacles. Kit had never seen manacles outside a movie before. Handcuffs? Maybe. Manacles? No.

The edge of the ravine crumbled slightly under Kit’s heel. She could hear the river rushing below them - far, far below.

“Jump!”

Please come ask me about my wips

[spidermilkshake]

Ancardia's Unusual Animals--the Longgui (or Dragon-turtle)

Classification: Beast (chelonian)

Habitat: Deep bodies of fresh water, especially in the Drakalors, Akimmia, and Tvearban lakes.

            The Longgui—known in Commontongue as the “Dragon-turtle”—is among the largest extant reptiles in Ancardia and definitely the largest chelonian currently living in this world. Longgui are massive, long-lived, and highly intelligent and cryptic in their habits very similar to the two true dragon species, and while aquatic they are generally not strong swimmers due to their incredibly heavy bodies and will usually simply walk along the bottoms of lakes, large rivers, and estuaries, nearing shore every several hours in order to take breaths. The average longgui has a head measuring a meter in length and a carapace about 4.6 meters long by 3 meters wide. Due to the horns and protruding scale structures on this creature’s head it lacks the ability to withdraw its head into its shell, but this in no way diminishes the longgui’s ability to protect itself. Much like true dragons, dragon-turtles are very arcanely gifted and possess a natural capacity to summon bursts of fire, cold, and lightning in self-defense. As a result, the longgui have no natural predators and their population is mostly controlled by their dramatically slow rate of breeding, limitations in food supply, and a number of isopod and roundworm parasites which can weaken and slow dragon-turtles enough to further reduce their reproduction rate.

            Longgui live for an average of 400 years, or until their parasite load eventually overcomes them with anemia and weakness from considerable age. While longgui grow continuously throughout their lives, most of even the giants of the species over 300 years old do not exceed 10 meters in carapace length. Their metabolism as adults in incredibly slow as well, and longgui have been known to sit on barely-submerged sandbars for more than 48 hours at a time doing very little but stretching up for air. About once every decade, a longgui becomes capable of breeding, and if lucky two fertile longgui will be able to make multiple mile journeys to find each other and dig out a suitable nesting site in marshland, lagoon, or natural oxbow lakesides. Longgui nests are constructed of layers of sand or soil and rotten vegetation, the mound often being several meters high and deep, and the longgui will lay approximately 10-12 eggs within. Only about half of these eggs will be fertilized, the rest acting as decoys should any predators burrow far enough into the nest. Longgui parents will generally leave their nests alone, but if interrupted in laying eggs have been known to become highly aggressive. After incubating for several months, the surviving eggs will hatch into juveniles roughly the size of a pie tin; this is the only time in a dragon-turtle’s life cycle where they are vulnerable to predation, and they must hurry to deeper water to avoid creatures like grizzly bears, dire wolves, owlbears, and sabrecats. Once in the water, they graze waterplants and hunt small crustaceans and molluscs in order to grow rapidly in their first few years, avoiding aquatic predators like bull sharks, large catfishes and pike, and the mishipeshu or bunyip (a close relative of the true dragons). Once they reach a carapace length of a meter or more their hard, sharp-edged shells protect them from any more consistent threat of predation, and their ability to use offensive magic protects them far further.

            In the event of an elder longgui dying, a great many carrion birds and carnivorous animals flock to the area to scavenge the multiple-ton carcass, much like the lakeside equivalent of a whalefall. Humanoids also flock to the area, particularly alchemists after rare material derived from longgui and craftsmen after the dense and sturdy shell and horns left behind by the majority of scavenging beasts. Alchemists seek the smaller scales present on the legs, tail, and facial area, and must arrive at the carcass quickly before various birds and rodents make off with these pieces. Armor-crafters have been known to use the shell portions to create unparalleled shields and cuirasses, particularly Hill Giants and Frost Giants.

[kevinandbernice]

Well not much to report today I’m afraid. We checked out our room at 1030 but not collecting the rental car from the airport until 4pm. We went across the road to have a look around Pikes Place Market as Bern had not had a look around. We the headed off 7 blocks to The Cheesecake Factory for a light pasta lunch and a purchase of their cheesecake. It would be rude not to. After grabbing a drink we walked back to our hotel

It was then time for me to go and collect the rental car. I left around 2pm, and I had to catch the train to the airport terminal then get the Car Rental bus to the Rental Depot. Thankfully no queue at the desk so sorted out quickly and off to get the car. This time it was a Chevrolet Trax, which did seem a bit smaller than our last car, the Ford Escape, but when I queried it was told it was an intermediate SUV. Set of for the hotel to pick up Bern with sat nav saying I would get there at 4.01pm, 1 minute later than I had said I would be. Out of the depot and onto the Interstate Highway when a warning light came on and there was a loud rattle from the back when I went over a bump. To be honest it was a bit of a shed! Not having this thought so turned around and back to the rental depot. Spoke with a woman whose grasp of English was not great, but she took the car back and looked for a new one for me. I mentioned that the Ford Escape had seemed bigger so had she got one of those or similar. She turned the screen around and gave me a choice of 4. Not knowing the models I just picked one expecting it to be similar in size but when I got to it it was a massive 4x4 SUV with a pick-up bit at the back. I went to a different booth and found an American guy with a better command of English and explained. He said the car she had given me was about 5 grades above what I should have had and also a luxury model so he sorted me out a Toyota RAV4 which was almost new a a perfect size. Off I goes again and eventually get back to Bern at 5pm. Whilst I was going through this ordeal Bern was sat in the public area of the hotel reading her book - see first 2 pictures. Then it was load up the car and off to our next hotel, thankfully only about 35 miles away.

The other photo 4 photos that Bern took when we went to the Smith Tower on Sunday

[the-firebird69]

This is the car and what he's saying is to make a body and so forth and some rims and tires that look a lot like this are exactly like it and to use a lawn mower chassis it's modified and a little more motor to save money on the prototypes there's a couple things will be motivational firstly the Mac proper had you eating s*** to kill you more luck and some others mostly to poison the aquifer for everyone to make people stupid. Second the lawn mowers where your joy and you rode them around they don't do s*** you can make a couple versions one that's super light has nothing in it but a light seat and console nothing in the rest of the car just the car and the motor in the frame and you can do that when you have like the 20 horsepower that's 35 but it would be a great idea and it would go very fast and if you can get the dot or registration you can easily use it on the road they're going to put the stats up I don't have them right here

Hera

We do have the statistics that they're going to announce them

Zues

We have a couple people who made them no they made similar. Someone took a lawn mower and made a Corvette but it's not the new ones I think those are the c8 it was a c7 which is the it looks like a C2 race car it's more boxes in the prior Corvettes and they made that and put it onto a lawn mower it had a roof on it it still has it somewhere and it's small fairly small it's about the size of a fit no the wheelbase is 3 inches longer than it fit but the compartment is small and you'd have to be a small person it still looks like a regular car if you have a small person in it and he says to someone it's a boxing Mike Pike type Corvette and someone built one and they're searching everywhere and they can't find the guy and just said Brad might know so asking him and he said look you pests I don't know about it and I can build one so are some peaks inn says it has to be wine but you can you can lengthen it and it's a better car for it right now because it's easier to make it longer so Brad said that's a good idea and you started to try and make one out of a lawn mower and she's I'm doing approved for theorem 35 or 45 horsepower will propel that thing so damn fast with that shell then there's another shell of course so he went ahead and start doing it but we had one made and I'm getting the numbers and the guy summit the guys have it

And yes we're having a summit today

Thor Freya

Good.

We did make one it's his idea says I want to do the scenic car but we might as well do this one and see you guys since your stuff and it is we like to lean look the cigars all that stuff. So we made the car and we put it on a 45 chassis with a it's like a 75 differential but with the 45 gearbox and we put it together it looks like a mini Corvette and it looks very cool and it looks like a nice car our son would probably like to drive it it's not teensy by comparison it's almost the size of the BMW the small James bondwin not the new movie but it's the old one that's a convertible and it's a little smaller a little lower it's really intense looking and you would not think it went fast we put the exhaust and we put the top end we have to and it would not meet dot without it and we put the tires and rims but really super cooling is required you have to super cool it you have to cool it like madness or a little overheat in just an hour it's not made for that kind of driving but super cool that it's not a problem you just put a humongous radiator in and that size radiator you can get from any mid-size sedan all year they're everywhere everywhere and you can cool your transmission with a separate one those things are everywhere it's from small cars compact cars no Sub compact and they're every single place you look in life. We use the fiberglass hull it's carbon reinforce and it's dirty I'll just come out nice and solid we had to put a cage in it's a light cage but it's an alloy it doesn't cost that much you can buy the material online. It's very hard to bend and you have to know what you're doing. It's tubing. And we can make a kid that you just fit together and weld is easier ways than the click thing not really you have to click it somehow and you can twist and lock for those things are pain and they waste money we were thinking about it and it's not a bad way to do it it does cinch it in there nice and tight so we might do that so we were looking at the system of his and you screw it all together or you clip it or snap it and it's pretty much right on you put it on the car and you can check it if it doesn't move much we built a few and several of them work better than others mostly they all work 100% And we said why don't people do this and we looked and some people do it but for different applications and we knew what we could do we use the best one so far we like bolting it together cuz it goes where it should because we have precise measurements on the equipment and it cuts where you want it so he wants us to build one of those and a few others with this frame cage we're going to and you extend it out and stuff with the cage material and you can it's not that great it would save time and stuff now so it's not necessary then but really want them to don't want them to so we put it together and it's meant for two people it's a smaller car that's all there's a couple cars like it the boxster was like it the cobra. You get in it and it looks cool it actually looks better than the full size one because it looks too simple to be that shape in size and you turn it on it sounds awesome because the pipes are made to sound awesome and it sounds like a Porsche and Asians will love this thing and they have some super cars they can make out of these lawn mowers and we have statistics:

0-60 mph and it doesn't in about 3.5 seconds

Quarter mile it's about 8 seconds it's a little light in the middle and area

Top speed, 180 mph. No kidding that's fast for a car he's regular cars that come out compact and stuff some compact rental cars can only go about 150 180 is fast the new lotus it's a small one that everyone loves and says it's super hot it was about 190 sure you can put a different motor in if you can find one and that car would probably go extremely fast was it just a Japanese motor and this is another idea Japanese car motor and you would have to really work at it no you can make it a standard transmission that you have in it and use the rear end from the car it probably about 250 miles per hour

What we want to do is challenge you to a race and he says we have to drive around. And take the car out and see if anybody has anything like it with the lawn mower tranny and differential and motor we want to race because you people always say you can go faster and we don't think so he says to drive around the old Harley plant with it it's a good idea

Frank Castle hardcastle we hv places in the midwest we can do that

I'm going to prove this idea and put in the pipe I want it done in the next few days so we have to find a crew that's ready to do it

Thor Freya

We have it and we have people ready to do it and have them send it

Zues yah me too Hera

Olympus we're going to get going on this and we're challenging into a race yeah that means you any of you that can do it Trump always has a big mouth why don't we challenge him he might not do it at all and get pushed out so we're extending the challenge to your realm it's a lawn mower with 45 horsepower and you have to use the engine motor and transmission the rest is up to you and chassis so that's what we're saying you don't show up to the race eventually will say where then you lose by default and will show us winning

[drewzeitlin]

What is a Zebrafish? What is their story?

Just hit the play button above to find out what a zebrafish is and what is the story of those 2 zebrafish in that cross-stitch design.

What is a Zebrafish

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today, I am delighted to introduce you to the zebrafish. These small creatures, native to Southeast Asia, have captivated scientists and enthusiasts alike.

Zebrafish, typically 2.5 to 4 centimeters long, are named for their distinctive horizontal stripes. They thrive in shallow streams, rivers, and rice paddies, adapting well to various environmental conditions.

Despite their size, zebrafish are agile predators, feeding on small invertebrates, insect larvae, and smaller fish. Their sharp vision and hunting skills allow them to capture prey precisely. However, they must evade larger fish, birds, and aquatic mammals, relying on their speed and agility.

In laboratories, zebrafish are invaluable for research. Their transparent embryos provide a clear view of early development, aiding studies on organ formation and tissue regeneration. Additionally, about 70% of their genes are similar to human genes, making them crucial for studying human diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disorders.

What is their story?

What do you see in this cross-stich design? Let us tell you the  the stirring tale of Zara and Ziggy, two zebrafish embark on an unforgettable journey through the depths of the water. Their bond of friendship, tested by adversity, remains unbreakable as they face the relentless pursuit of predatory pikes and navigate treacherous currents. 

Along the way, they confront their own shortcomings and mistakes, finding redemption through acts of courage and selflessness. Through trials and triumphs, they undergo a profound process of personal growth and maturity, emerging stronger and more resilient than ever before. 

Their journey serves as a powerful reminder of the transformative power of friendship, resilience, and the human spirit. As they return home, embraced by their community, Zara and Ziggy stand as living testaments to the indomitable strength of the human heart.

[warsofasoiaf]

I know that medieval armies didn't have a the most formal organization, but typically how was command broken down in the ranks? Like how many men did a Serjent command (if it was a thing), or did men in a retinue really only follow "their" lords command? I get that I'm asking a pretty broad topic here, so to narrow it down maybe 12 or 13th century would be easier (and more likely to have sources I guess).

Here's a list of roughly how many soldiers would be in a lord's command from around 1300-1380 in England.

A conroi of knights was roughly ten or so, mostly by free association, while a mesnie was the household retainers, these were both smaller and informal, where only one degree of command was needed - the retainer or the senior knight. When things got a little more formalized, that's when you started to see the lance fournies which could range depending on country and era. The Burgundian three-man lance had a man-at-arms, a lower-ranking coutilier, and a valet, and that was reorganized into the nine-man lance in 1471: man-at-arms, coutilier, page, three mounted archers, three footmen with pike, crossbow, and arquebus. In Brittany, the three-man structure was formal, but various men would supplement with juzarmier pole-weapon soldiers and archers. The French lance fournies could be the man-at-arms heavy cavalry soldier complete with squire, the coutilier light cavalry soldier, two or three archers. The analogous Polish kopia would be similar, anywhere from a three-man team of knight, lower-ranked soldier, and squire to a twelve-man squad of knight, squire, sergeant, archers, and footmen, with accompanying servants. These lances would be assembled into a battle, and those would vary wildly depending on how many noble officers were available and the size of the army. These would then be assembled into three guards, the vanguard, the middle guard, and rear guard.

The highly-organized and effectively commanded Mongols relied on a decimal system of organization, with their arban ten-man unit, a zuun of ten arban, a mingghan of ten zuun, and a tumen of ten mingghan. While multiple tumen (typically three) were organized on a campaign, in practice, the tumen was the typical theater unit, unsurprising since food and fodder for 10,000 is already difficult and so they send other tumen to other regions to complete objectives - and more frequently than not tumen were understaffed and understrength.

For your own writing, I'd suggest using either three, five, or ten depending on the era and personal preference - because they're small enough that you can do character work. But if you're looking for period accuracy, you'll have to vary up, because that's what they did back then - so it's a question of accuracy versus accessibility.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

ooohh a farmers market au?? that's v keyleth, any other hcs on it?:)

for sure!

All of them are around 17-18 so it makes sense that they still live with their parents.

Vax starts working for the Ashari every weekend so he can make some extra cash on top of stealing and Vex's job. He never notices, but Keyleth always slips some of her tips into his.

Vex doesn't know about the stealing or about the farmer's market or Keyleth until a few days before their eighteenth birthday when Vax tells her that they don't need to stress about finding an apartment just now because he knows a place they can earn their keep at for a while.

Of course she's confused, but she trusts him so they pack their bags and at midnight, they sneak out of the house and just Kiki and Vax planned, she's parked on the road, lights off in her rusty pickup truck. They toss their bags in the back (now Vex understands why they were able to pack so much extra) and drive to Ashari Farms and Gardens

In exchange for their work, they get food and a drafty room in the farmhouse. But it's so wonderful, and just like Vax expected, Vex enjoys some of the work, but she enjoys saving money even more

Vex found Trinket in a similar way to canon (but he's a dog) she saw his mom get killed and brought him back to the house where she helped care for him and raised him as a farm dog

Around four months later in the dead of winter, a man wanders onto the land covered in blood and torn clothes, catatonic. Of course Korrin brings him inside and gets him a bath and food and dry clothes, but he doesn't speak. He won't for a while.

Pike, Grog, and Scanlan are their neighbors who have a slightly smaller farm, mostly grains and they exchange goods with the Ashari sometimes. Scanlan also performs at the market occasionally.

[utilitycaster]

odd observation, you've mentioned before abt how fandom tends to treat Laura's characters a certain way, and i was thinking abt how in a lot of fanart both jester and Imogen are often drawn as smaller, chubby or plus sized, and Imogen in particular has her skin darkened or often is pictured with glasses. there's nothing wrong with that but it's sooo much rarer with other characters. i occasionally see fearne with tan skin but never more than a little voluptuous. even a more burly yasha is rarer than a chubby jester. you basically never see it with male characters. like the preference of fanon over canon is a lot more obvious for some reason.

I haven't seen a ton with Imogen's skin darkened, tbh, but yeah the trend of drawing Jester and Imogen as both very short and very chubby is like...as with the glasses, if you wanted to destigmatize something (glasses/fat people) then why are you all drawing it exactly one way, why does she literally look like she's twelve much of the time when the infantilization of fat adults (or adults wearing big round glasses) is literally part of the problem, and also why was the justification for drawing Jester as plus size often given as "well she's got 16 STR" but Yasha, Pike, and Fy'ra Rai aren't drawn that way (and Imogen has a negative strength score). Like, people managed to understand that Vax and Vex have a relatively similar build but Vax's strength score is literally double Vex's; I am once again inclined to start some kind of program in which people who lift (me) take artists to a lifting gym so they can see what the fuck 16 strength looks like (hint: literally anything other than extremely underweight).

On one level it's very irritating because I like these characters and the constant infantilizing is so contrary to what's shown onscreen, but on another level it's just like...boring and uncreative. It's not quite like when people write Caleb as using tons of wildly inaccurate German terms of endearment, because there's often a palpable dislike for Laura's characters except as a vaguely sentient body pillow for their favorite character among people who do this, whereas I think people doing that to Caleb tended to actually like him, but it's close: instead of the character I actually enjoy and want to see art/fic of, it's a shitty OC largely derived from fanon and it's not even good fanon.

That said there is plenty of good art of Imogen, and I try to reblog the stuff I like, and the same goes for Jester - if you think a trend sucks, support the people who buck that trend and make things you like.