#Devil's Roost

[carlosyadielstudio]

[brenna]

Anyway, here are my fics in which either Aziraphale and/or Crowley have a vulva. No particular reason, of course, besides that we love to see it. That we love and support every single version of the ineffables in this fandom and lift each other up.

Feel free to add your own or recommend some to spread the love.

In Front of You Like an Open Door

In a Drawer and Out of View

O Come and Behold Him

The Tide Rolling In

Slipped and Fell Into Your Arms

The Devil Wears Tartan

Where You Roost

Make Me Better

Not a Thirst Trap But an Oasis

A Pound of Feathers or a Pound of Flesh

I Could Drive You Crazy

Stairway to the Booth

Art Models Series

[kedreeva]

I went out today and picked up new straw for the pea pens since they're in for the winter (both from cold and because bird flu concerns), and I don't know why, but "bale of straw" is the single scariest thing any of my birds have ever seen every time. New bedding is also extremely scary at first, but the bales... Forget it. They absolutely lose their composure (derogatory) over them.

So this is on me, that I brought in the bales in a garden cart, which I mindlessly placed between me and the garage door. I pulled the first two and put them into the big barn pen, and they actually were pretty good, only the babies climbed the walls trying to get away from the scary monster (thing made of the stuff they walk on literally every single day of their lives). So I thought well, the quarantine quartet are pretty chill, I'll just set this bale in, I shouldn't have to worry about the barn door being open because I'll just be a second.

WRONG.

That was the hay bale devil talking.

I set the bale down just inside the entrance and this action instigated a full on melt down by all four hens, three of which flew directly at me and out the door, wing-buffeting me in the face as they passed. I reached out and batted one of the three down to the floor of the barn, and walked her back into the pen.

I had absolutely no idea where the other two went, so I went over to the neighbors straight out from me and warned them they might see my birds. I spotted one on the walk back, so I called her - and this is actually very impressive, all four of these birds came from my friends in NC and they DO NOT know where they are right now, as they are in an internal quarantine pen with no ground access or view outside - and she saw me walking and flew down to the barn. I called my friends down the street and asked them to come watch her while I got a ladder. Between the three of us, we managed to get her to fly over to the pen door, at which point I climbed the ladder in front of her and just plucked her up with a towel.

We split up to look for the other one, and I eventually found her up a cedar tree in my yard, thankfully low enough that I could touch her with one of the herding poles until she got mad enough to fly down into the woods. We managed to get her cornered, and Jude grabbed her bare handed when she tried to shimmy between Jude's legs to escape. She didn't put up a fight at all, and had tried to lay down on the ground several times, so she was clearly very cold by this point (and no wonder, it's 25F before wind chill and the wind had been picking up this entire time, and she'd been up the tree with her wings splayed and her tail lifted so she wouldn't have been able to keep herself warm). I wrapped her in the towel and carried her back.

I spread the straw around and watched everyone for a little bit before heading in, and I am now a popsicle. I will never be warm again I'm afraid. But at least we got them all back into shelter, and they were all roosted up together when I left. Phew.

Here's the other pen, confused about why I didn't spread their straw around for them (yet, I did after taking a pic).

And exploring!

[daggerfall]

M's Updated New Player Guide for Elder Scrolls Online

I have to simplify a great deal of this information since the intended audience is people brand new to ESO looking to get into it for questing (not pve or pvp), so if anyone thinks bits of this are a little wrong or lacking nuance, please understand it is likely intended. Credentials: trust me.

Top 3 Important things to know before you get started

Character creation: You pick your class during character creation and this can never be changed. Trust me, people miss this. Your race, appearance, and name can all be changed but for a cost (crowns, the in-game micro transaction currency), and little bits of your appearance can be changed with cosmetics that may or may not be free. Any class can quest just fine, some will be better at solo content than others, but don't sweat this. Some classes are also DLC (warden, necromancer, and arcanist). All classes are capable of all roles for the purposes you, a new player wanting to quest, care about. Make the character you want and can stick with, as you will need a Main for purposes of crafting, and crafting knowledge can't transfer to other characters you may make. Also, plan for them to deal damage primarily. Supports are not needed in questing and you'll often be alone anyway - save yourself the pain of killing enemies at a snails pace and invest in damage with a smidge of survival.

Alliances and the Main Quest: The start of the game for new players should always be the base game main quest and your respective alliance's main quest. Unless you started with the expansion that unlocks any race any alliance, your alliance will be tied to your race. Bretons, Orsimer, and Redguards: Daggerfall Covenant. Dunmer, Argonians, Nords: Ebonheart Pact. Altmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit: Aldmeri Dominion. Imperials are DLC but any alliance. This can be changed later for crowns, but only affects what alliance you fight for/against in PvP zones, minor dialogue interactions, certain cosmetics, and which version of certain quests you get during the main quest. The starting city/zone for each alliance is as follows: DC: Daggerfall, Glenumbra. EP: Davon's Watch, Stonefalls. AD: Vulkhel Guard, Auridon. When you leave character creation, you'll be sent through the Coldharbour tutorial and spat out on your starter island (DC: Stros M'Kai. EP: Bleakrock Isle. AD: Khenarthi's Roost). Finish those storylines until you hit your starter city, and the main quest will progress again with meeting the Prophet at the Harborage.

DLC, Chapters, and ESO+: Depending on the version of game you got, you may be pushed or tempted to play the newest DLC (chapter or smaller zone DLC). This is a trap. ZOS advertises the game as play how you want and in any order you want, and any longtime player hates this marketing strat. Functionally, any DLC can be played at any time in ESO, but you will miss certain bits of dialogue and story by playing out of release order. Characters will remember previously meeting you if you play in order, but not out of order. They may drastically change their appearance to the point of the story making no sense if it happened in that wrong order, or even die and reappear with no acknowledgement of their death. If this is your first time playing ESO, I Highly recommend playing everything in the intended release order at least once, and then decide for yourself what stories you think work as independent stories for other characters you wish to play. Don't listen to the devil telling you to play some random dlc because you like dunmer or vampires. Listen to me, some guy on the internet instead.

The intended order is (without listing every single dlc) the Coldharbour main quest and your alliance's main quest at the same time ➡️ Cadwell's Silver and Gold (the other two alliances' main quests) ➡️ Imperial City (PvP zone with a solo storyline, but can be skipped/played at any point) ➡️ Craglorn ➡️ all dlc in release order (including dungeons, zone dlc, and chapters). Dungeons can be done in any order (base game I and II dungeons should be done in the numeric order) up to Wrathstone, which is when year-long story arcs began and included dungeons in the plot, and more returning NPCs appear in dungeons.

The Infamous "ESO DLC flowchart" can advise you the order of when you should play certain storylines (base game and dlc), but it's just the release order and natural flow of the storylines. It updates too often for me to post the image here, but you can easily find it by searching those terms. Another good ESO starter guide I like is this one, that explains which story points to hit and when.

The base game alone is good and contains hundreds of hours of content. Get through the base game's main quests and decide for yourself if you like the game enough to continue on. And if you do want to continue, then the best way to play DLC is to buy the subscription ESO+. Among many other things, the main use for the sub is access to every single DLC in the game* while the sub is active. If you play consistently, you can play through the dlcs faster than it would cost to buy them individually, and you can end your sub whenever you want/need. The sub also gives free crowns each month which can be used to purchase permanent access to specific DLC for if/when you end your sub. Or spend them on a cute outfit. Up to you. You might get addicted to the craft bag in the meantime and keep the sub forever.

*ESO+ does not give access to the newest chapter, until the next one comes out usually a year later.

ALRIGHT big stuff out of the way. More advanced stuff for once you're already in the game and playing now. And some M brand yapping.

Start researching item traits at crafting stations ASAP. The timers for research grow exponentially with each trait, so an early start is good. This is necessary for crafting later on, and everyone should have A crafter (ideally their main for resource reasons)

First I wanna address the final barrier a lot of people have with starting an MMO: the other people. To which I'm going to quote something I have found incredibly therapeutic: I think you guys might be thinking about yourselves too much. There are absolutely ways to avoid interactions with other players - playing in offline mode so people cannot whisper you, and hiding zone/say chat to avoid seeing other players talking - but generally speaking, other players do not care about you or others enough to bother you. The overland is not PvP enabled outside of both players choosing to duel, you're not going to get made fun of for being low level or whatever, and you're not going to get harassing messages just for existing. Others have their own lives and things to do in game. Just play the game and embrace the goofiness of someone's name or how wild their costume looks. Be brave and just Do It. Have fun! Okay? Okay back to the actual advice.

Avoid any quest that goes into your journal as a Prologue - delete it right away. Prologues are like introduction/teaser quests for zone DLC and chapters. Doing prologues out of order should also be avoided. Once you're onto playing DLC, there is a prologue for each starting with the Morrowind chapter.

Find the stable master early on and begin "training your horse" each day for 250 gold. Also buy a mount there. It takes 180 real life days to fully complete on each character, but you'll notice the difference with your mounts speed and stamina, and to clarify, inventory means YOUR inventory. That's 60 more inventory slots! And mount training affects all mounts on that character!

Speaking of mount speed - once you reach level 10 on a character, you should do the Cyrodiil tutorial quest (I promise there's no PvP required for this). Use the alliance war tab to queue into a campaign (any works but go for one that isn't all that busy. Under 50 ideally), and complete the tutorial IN FULL. Do not accept the option to skip parts of it because you know what you're doing. You'll reach rank 3 in the assault and support skill lines and gain a few skill points, all while never having to do any actual PvP. Take the first passive in the Assault skill line to gain access to Major Gallop for faster horse speed. You want this on all your characters. Finally, leave Cyrodiil using the wayshrine.

Find the bag merchant in town and spend your gold on maxing out your inventory space when you can afford it. Bankers can also be found in each town and you can store a lot of items in your bank with them FOR FREE. No other player has access to your bank. Your bank space is shared across all of Tamriel and all of your characters as well, to allow for easier item transfer to alts

Back on crafting, don't worry about materials or crafting your own gear for a long time. You pretty much need ESO+ to be a crafter due to the craft bag. Just put on random gear you loot off enemies or get as a reward, and replace it as you level up and outlevel your old gear.

As a quester, you can use any gear and any skills you want - with a few suggestions. Don't use heavy armor as your primary armor type (a few pieces are okay), ice staves, 1 hand and shield, or restoration staves. Those are primarily support armor types and weapons. Also, read your tooltips and skill descriptions, and don't use skills that state they will taunt the enemy. ESO's aggro system works differently than you may expect from other MMOs. Anything else is free game. Though I will advise this isn't Skyrim, and using skills will deal far more damage than spamming "basic attacks", or light and heavy attacks. Stealth archer isn't a thing here, sorry.

DON'T fall for the crown store trying to sell you respec scrolls, werewolf and vampire skill lines, etc. You can redo your skills and attributes at any point for gold in a capital city, other players can give you lycanthropy or vampirism for free upon request. Merchants and banker assistants from the crown store I don't consider a scam. Those are good uses of crowns once you're further into the game.

The build advisor for each class/role is painfully out of date as it hasn't been changed since launch, and entire skills/morphs have changed over the years to be entirely different. With no nuance to avoid it getting complicated, stick to either investing in magic or stamina as your primary resource, and most of your skills costing that same resource. Skills scale their damage with your highest offensive stat, so splitting evenly doesn't do anything besides make your pool bigger, but you can use both stam and mag skills and they will deal similar damage. You just might run out of your "off" resource faster. Light armor benefits magicka users better, medium benefits stamina users better, generally speaking.

And if you mess up your build or change your mind about wanting to play mag or stam, you can respec whenever. There are shrines to respec skill points/morphs and attributes in any base game capital city or chapter big city. It costs gold, scaling with how many skill points you have. Additionally, you can use the free armory station (from the crown store) to save builds and revert back to them for free. A good use for this is to save your generic PvE/questing setup and a second different setup for PvP or playing another role like healer. Currently it saves everything except scribing setups.

Join the Mages Guild and Fighters Guild ASAP in your starter town. Regardless of RP, they have storylines you'll want to complete, as well as skills and passive abilities you may want, and it's better to get a head start on this leveling process. Undaunted is related to dungeons and can be skipped early on, but if you start doing dungeons, make sure you join! It has no respective storyline.

Weapon and class skill lines progress by having those skills on your bar upon gaining experience while On that bar, not with each cast of the skill. Individual skills rank up and can morph into other skills by gaining experience with that skill on your bar. Guild skill lines have their own unique progression requirements - read your tooltips!

Main quest marker icons appear slightly fancier than generic quest markers, and I would advise to avoid taking them out of order. Most main quests will guide you to the next quest giver easily, so if you find yourself going far out of your way, you may be getting lost or starting a different storyline. Blue quest markers are for repeatable daily quests.

Delves are public instances and can be done solo. Public dungeons are public instances and may be able to be soloed depending on skill. Dungeons/group dungeons are for 4 people, not public instances, and you should not try to solo them. Trials are raids for 12 people, not public, and you very much should not attempt to solo them.

Depending on what DLC may have come with your version of the game, you may be pushed to try the various DLC features added with each chapter. This includes psijic order, antiquities, companions, tales of tribute, and scribing. All of these individually (except psijic) can be started/done early without spoiling yourself on future DLC. But there's no real need to rush through getting access/completion of them right away either.

There are daily login rewards that reset each month. Most of them are bad, but it's good to keep up on them for the monthly cosmetic or big reward. Sometimes they give AP which can level the PvP skill lines without PvP, sometimes gold, sometimes crafting materials, could be anything. There are also daily tasks to gain "seals of endeavour", currency that allow you to purchase things that otherwise can only be gambled for in crown crates. Keep up on them, and about twice a year, you can buy the most expensive mounts in the game. Golden Pursuits happen every few weeks/months, with multiple themed tasks to unlock a specific reward.

Add-ons (PC only) are allowed in ESO, mods and macros are not. The application Minion is how most of us download and update our add-ons for various UI and QOL features.

Once you reach level 50 on a character, you start gaining levels in Champion Points, which are shared across all of your characters. Once you hit CP 160, you will stop out-leveling your gear and can start making gear you plan to keep. CP goes up to 3600, but you'll hit the cap on effectiveness around 1500 (role dependent) I think.

The fashion system in ESO is either using the outfit station to apply motifs (purely cosmetic) you've learned to that character to your outfit, or costumes you can get with crowns or other means (questing, collectables, etc). Motifs learned on one character allow any character to use that motif in the outfit station, but only that character can Craft an item in that style.

There is no auction house system. There are guild traders instead - storefronts that guilds bid on weekly to gain ownership of and use for their guild to sell items to other players, for a small cut of the profits. Anyone can buy from them, only guild members can sell. Most of the junk you find in questing is worthless to other players, and most players use add-ons to know the marketplace average worth of any item in game.

Speaking of guilds, joining guilds is a good way to get access to free wayshrine porting for easier movement across Tamriel, and more. Porting to another player is free, even if you're not at a wayshrine. Many guilds also have a "guild hall" (player owned house open to all that has many resources depending on the owner). Plenty of social guilds don't even have serious requirements to join - a lot are aimed at newbies.

If you're looking to just make enough money to get by, you can sell all the random gear you loot to merchants. It will despawn from their inventory with enough time or items being sold. Once you get ESO+ and the craft bag, daily crafting writs is the best way to make easy money with little effort. Get certified in all 7 professions and do your daily crafting writs for about 5k gold per character per day. With enough skill point investment in hirelings that send materials in the mail daily, you never have to spend any gold to do writs.

Thieving is mildly good for making gold, but it has a cap on how much you can sell a day. Sell or launder at outlaws refuges in each city. Thieves guild and dark brotherhood are DLC content so don't look for them in the base game.

Before you start doing dungeons, at any level of difficulty, you should understand how ESO dungeon etiquette works. People here aren't as friendly as final fantasy, but hear me out before you say we're all mean. ESO does an extremely poor job of keeping the casual questers from the sweaty endgamers, and forces them to share the same dungeon queue when they're in that queue for entirely different reasons. Endgamers need transmute crystals quickly, questers just want to see the quest, and each person needs the other to achieve their goal, but you can't do both at the same time. Both are valid reasons to do dungeons. Quests can't be repeated on the same character, so they can't even do the quest with you if they already did it years ago. Quests also give a skill point for completing, which is another valuable endgamer resource. In general, if you plan to use the group finder to find a team for a dungeon, do not expect them to sit around and wait for you to sit through dialogue. At best they will wait for you to spam through it for the quest completion, if you warn them in advance. Randos aren't going to be overly social, even a "hi" at the start may be ignored. It's to be expected, but not intended rudely. If you want to see a dungeon's quest in full, this is the time to find a friend to group with you! It's an MMO! Be social! Many ESO dungeons are unable to be soloed unfortunately, for strange mechanical reasons.

Also, you need to know your role before queueing, and that includes knowing how to actually deal damage as a damage dealer. You don't need to be amazing, but please don't just spam light attacks. Don't queue as a tank unless you actually understand the basics of ESO tanking, same for healing. Look into resources online for beginner builds. If you don't want to learn your role or how to git gud, then I'm sorry but doing dungeons with strangers is not for you then. It's a team effort, and their time should be respected too.

Related, if you get to the point of wanting to try the trials (which do technically have a repeatable quest), normal difficulty is less scary than you may fear, but still requires coordination and a group. Ideally you come above 160cp in full sets of gear and a basic understanding of your role. Checking Craglorn zone chat or the in-game group finder for normal PUG (pick-up group, just sorta grabbing anyone that wants to come, versus an organized run) trials is the best way to find a group without using discord or joining a guild. But I do recommend finding a social guild that does casual normal runs! Just please read if they're doing normal runs or vet hardmodes runs, or if they want specific classes/roles. And of course respect the raid lead's requests and requirements

Be cautious looking for advice regarding builds. The top result when searching for a solo build is not necessarily the best build - it is the most Search Optimized build. And it's most likely intended for crazy strats like soloing vet dlc hardmodes dungeons for views. You do not need any of that!!! You at most need to learn how to block, roll dodge, interrupt, sneak, and walk out of damaging areas. When you hit cp 160, all you need is gear at your level, start looking to complete set bonuses, and some kind of self heal.

For your purposes of leveling, you should not need to grind out levels. You get various buffs as you level that scale your damage to the enemies around you within the base game. You shouldn't race to level 50 or CP 160 on your first go-around. Enjoy being a baby. You will hate the game if you spend your first hundred hours listening to sweatlords telling you that you need to pay them to level you to 50, and then pay them to make you gear.

I am willing to offer specific advice in dms or asks if people have build questions, but I prefer to not use Tumblr for this. Join my friends discord server in my About Me (pinned) if you want detailed answers!

This isn't meant to be the most strictly followed list of all time, but things that I end up inevitably telling people or wish I had learned sooner. It's meant more as something to refer back to and to gently guide you in the right direction, as well as get you in the right mindset for character creation when planning a character you'll play for Years of quests.

[malfiora]

Good Enough

Bruce probably wasn't meant to hear it, but his heart squeezes all the same. His fingers clutch at his chest and his throat works around the lump suddenly lodged in it.

"I'll have to ask my dad," Dick had said. The words belong to another child, one Bruce has never met. But that voice – its tone, its warmth, its certainty – is Dick. Undeniably, unmistakably Dick. He's talking to one of his teachers (Mr. Mather, he recalls only because he had to deal with Dick's insistence that his biology teacher be called Ms. Sciencer for weeks) and he grins when he spots Bruce stalled by the door. "Oh, speak of the devil."

Bruce stumbles his way through a conversation about Dick's exceptional grades and aptitude for abstract concepts and how he has real potential as a mathlete, but his brain is humming with wordless excitement at the word "dad" and eager to hear it tickle the air again. He floats on that feeling all the way home, even elongating their return to tell Alfred to pull over at that fast food joint Dick likes, the one with the milkshakes.

And then he crashes. Dick disappears into his room to allegedly do homework (Bruce is eighty-five percent sure he's actually hopping onto his computer to IM Barbara Gordon), and with him vanishes the warmth of being considered a father. Left in its wake is a coldness injecting nausea into his gut.

He can't be a – he doesn't know how to – when did Dick even – and why him? The past three years flash by in reverse: Dick dancing through a spray of bullets, tears streaming from Dick's mask as he watched Batman fall from a snapped line just like they did, Dick standing proudly before a mirror in his brand new costume, a gleam of murderous intent staring up at him, a broken boy swallowed up in an EMT's blanket while his world lay shattered at his feet. What has he done? How could he think that drawing this bright kid into his dark roost was a good idea? And now Dick thinks of him as a father figure – it's too late to go back, isn't it?

He isn't John Grayson, will never be, doesn't want to try. He hears the whispers among polite society speculating why he won't adopt Dick, but none of them come close to the truth. It's rooted in fear (inaction always is). Fear that he'll be seen as the fraud he is, and then Dick will leave and regret ever calling him "dad."

He's not even Thomas Wayne, not for lack of trying. His memories of the man are faded around the edges but he knows he devoted himself completely to any and all that he loved: his career, his wife, his son. Thomas Wayne didn't do anything by halves. But Bruce Wayne is constantly torn – one foot planted in civilian domesticity fumbling his way through raising a child, the other firm in Gotham's underbelly hellbent on redeeming the damned while keeping his kid partner safe from the danger that he throws him into in the first place.

"Sir," Alfred calls, his voice soft. "If you're done drilling a hole through the carpet with your eyes, I've put tea on."

Bruce blinks and looks up at Alfred. "Tea sounds great, Alfred."

He plods after Alfred and into the tearoom. Alfred deftly sets out cups, saucers, and bowls of cream and sugar before pouring the fresh brew. Bruce murmurs a "thanks" before sipping his. Alfred lowers himself into the seat opposite his at the small table.

"Master Dick seems to be doing well at the Academy," Alfred says. "I can't imagine that that caused your dour mood."

Those who call Batman the world's greatest detective just haven't met Alfred. "Dick called me 'dad' today," he explains calmly. "Not to my face. I overheard him say it to his teacher."

Alfred hums. "Could mean nothing."

That's...true. Dick may have used the term as shorthand. "Dad" is easier to say than "legal guardian" and more specific and personal than "Bruce." It could have been a Freudian slip, Dick's mind supplying him with a cognitive shortcut subconsciously. Bruce sets his tea down and stares into the liquid.

"Or," Alfred presses on (Bruce hates the way his heart lifts a little), "he is starting to see you – us – as his family." Alfred sips and watches him.

"That's what I'm afraid of," he admits after a while. "Alfred, I'm not – Dick deserves so much better than –"

When it's clear that Bruce won't finish the sentence, Alfred clears his throat gently. "If I may, I'd like to share a secret with you." Bruce nods. "There was a time that I considered leaving you."

Bruce's eyes widen. "What?"

Alfred nods. "I thought that after your parents, I was the last person who should raise a child, especially one who needed his world put back together. Surely the Kanes would have made better surrogates. Perhaps a foster if a suitable one could be found." He smirked. "I almost considered the Queens before that awful accident."

The blood is rushing in Bruce's ears. Alfred, his most loyal and longest friend, had wanted to leave him? "What changed?"

Alfred takes another sip, contemplates. "I don't think anything has. Everyday I wonder if I made the right choice. If I am being selfish staying in your life simply because I love you too much to let you go."

Again, Bruce's chest squeezes. Alfred, his Alfred, has the exact same fear. That somehow he'll fail his charge, will lose him. And all this time, Bruce has never considered going anywhere, can't imagine his life without Alfred in it. Maybe – is that how Dick feels? That Bruce is his? God, if that's true then...then Bruce as he is just has to be good enough. Because he's not going to let Dick go.

"My son," he says, testing the word. It tastes sweeter than the tea on his tongue.

[gensordraws]

Heyooo, also here to appreciate the artist. Hehe ❤️

Absolutely adore your mammon art and overall style! Your and Devil's roost's Mam fan art shaped my everyday life perception of him. :D💚 i now stan the Mammon with hoodies and being a gamer style (with Mammon still being an absolutely sassy menace) and can't unthink him being like that now... so I am including that in my fanfiction, too.

I'm curious... what's under the hat??👀 what's your take on that??🃏

Thank you! I appreciate that! Yeah I’ve been thinking a lot about what could be under his hat, I honestly think it’s nothing but his other eyes are there just closed and short hair (and yes I’m implying mammon has fur)

[thevindicativevordan]

What are you thoughts about Monolith getting closed and Wonder Woman game being cancelled?

I am beyond fucking angry right now.

What the actual fuck is wrong with WB? How do you botch this? Making a Wonder Woman game should be the easiest fucking thing in the world. You can rip off the Batman Arkham, Shadow of Mordor, God of War, Devil May Cry games or even something like Assassin's Creed Odyssey! Unlike Superman where I at least can see how flight could be a problem, Wonder Woman is the easiest super powered character to make a game from. What the hell happened? How did they make a mess of this? And to kill Monolith over this, what the hell?!?

Oh but fucking Rocksteady gets another chance because they're pivoting back to making more Batslop! Can't wait for the geniuses who made SS to try and recapture the Arkham success.

https://x.com/GailSimone/status/1894473404000211172

Simone is going to spill the beans later today, I'm expecting a story of executive interference and incompetence. My heart goes out to WW fans, outside of the comics they have nothing to look forward to. Only game starring WW in the works now is fucking Injustice 3 where she and Superman are character assassinated Nazis so NRS can dick ride Batman and Harley Quinn. Paradise Lost has zero forward movement and Gunn's claims of trying to get a WW cartoon made are laughable given he said that two years ago and yet there's no announcement of one being in dev despite other characters getting shows. No DCU WW movie is in the works and there's no sign of anything Wondy coming any time soon.

More generally who the hell still thinks we are going to get any DCU games? Who the fuck is even going to make them? They will either be mobile shit or cancelled. We are never fucking getting non-Batman games from WB ever, Marvel is set to dominate the gaming sphere while DC retreats. Gunn's DCU is hinging on getting everyone to like Superman while the only game in the works featuring him is one where he and Wondy are child murderers who get beat up by Batgod with the aid of his NSA spybot! DC has been shitting on their characters for decades to prop up Batgod and now the chickens are coming home to roost. Fuck this company man.

Edit: https://x.com/happehmr/status/1894475074792468977?s=46&t=tcqjHDbt487sLx_4UoiJsQ

They fucking killed Monolith just to make their balance sheets look better?!? Fucking Harley Quinn and her Wacky Pals flopping is why we aren’t getting a WW game AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA FUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKKK

[rathayibacter]

last day to buy all four Charcuterie zines for $15!

Charcuterie's a zine series I use to collect various odds and ends of my design work together, revising and cleaning up old projects and bundling them all together. it's a really fun collection to look through, as you can see how my skills and sensibilities as a game designer and writer changed and grew over time. in fact, under the break, let's talk about everything contained within this bundle!

GAMES SWEAT, TEARS, BLOOD: a 200-word rpg where you play out the climactic final duel of a long and tangled story Terrible Tweens: a game about monster kids getting into trouble on Halloween night Terrible Tweens 2nd Edition: a revised version that emphasizes the dynamic of fitting in vs standing out the devil's after both of us: a horror game for two players about trying to survive in the aftermath of a mysterious disaster Double-Bro-Seven: a cooperative game about guiding a drunk secret agent through a series of objectives The Problem of Evils: supervillains debate the definition of evil in the final stages of their master plan Bird & Breakfast: go on vacation to a small beach city populated by birds you are an earthworm who aspires to kill god: self-explanatory you are an earthworm who aspires to kill god 2nd edition: gets even bigger and more absurd INITIATIVE: a little combat system where your place in initiative order is also your location in space Explicit Course: an exquisite corpse-inspired silent ttrpg where nobody's quite sure what's going on A17-Q Declassified: members of an SCP-style secret organization who never find anything cool Maybe One Day, It'll Be Enough: war gods at the end of time dig graves and complain about each other Wizard Yard Sale: enchant household objects and sell them to each other (business card game) Adversary: become the twist villain of a different game (business card game) Pact: summon demons for fun and profit (business card game) Bid for Control: spend money to influence the narrative (business card game) Digit Labyrinth: do math! (business card game) More About The Spaces Between Notes: tell a collaborative story together that stretches to the end of time (business card game)

SHORT STORIES beginnings: an alternative creation myth, following a god who methodically smiths every particle in the universe by hand Archimedes the Wonder Horse: a summary of a boy and his horse movie from another world, where it's discovered that the horse can solve arbitrary math problems The Evergreen Luxury Hotel and Day Spa (est 2031): the single employee of a luxury resort is placed in a time loop each day to ensure everything goes perfectly Three Gifts: a short story about prophecy and a chosen one who refuses to go along with the status quo

POETRY Breaking Fresh Snow: a mindful walk home in the dark Pop Quiz: a three-part poem about identity The Tower of Revelations: the process of searching for Truth There's Two Kinds of Magic: a false dichotomy reveals something honest Taking Inventory: keeping track of everything 77: opening your chest up and seeing what roosts inside A Flower Halfway in Bloom: a wizard dreams of a strange, broken world Procedure: instructions and commentary on surgically extracting a human soul The Stars Weren't Out: glimpse the shape of the world Resolutions: a reminder to myself

[theflagscene]

15 Day BL Challenge (part 4)

54. If you ever stumbled across a BL/GL actor in real life, who would you prefer it NOT to be?

Gun.

Now hear me out, I love Gun. Anyone who has spent longer than five minutes on my Tumblr would know that I absolutely adore Gun. He’s insanely talented, unfairly beautiful, so beautiful. Like I hate him (affectionate) for being as beautiful as he is lol.

But I mean, you don’t need to having been a Babii for long to know that what Gun wants, Gun gets. Watch any season of Safe House that he’s in and that man rules the roost, he is considered like a damn deity at GMMTV because he’s been in the industry for so long and has been winning awards since he was a child. He just has this air about him that is like: don’t cross me because I could ruin you.

Which I absolutely respect in a person, I love me a petty bitch, I just like them over there, away from me lol! I feel like I would be extremely intimidated by Gun, even though the guy would only come up to like my second rib, I would still be so very very intimidated. He plays into the cutesy baby look that he has because it fits his personality, the guy is obsessed with Disney cartoons, like he’s clearly got a whimsical side. But mention his actual age or get too comfortable with Off, and he will threaten your damn life lmao! He once threatened to choke Jennie with her own necklace during an interview because she wanted to know if anyone online shipped her with Off. She was flabbergasted and then jokingly said she was scared, while Off was just like: yeah, that’s Gun for ya.

Also, once during an English speaking interview Tay was asked to describe Off and Gun using one English word each and the word he chose for Gun was devil. He and the interviewer started laughing but he doubled down and was like; ‘he really is the devil!’ And you know what? I’m inclined to believe him. Gun seems like the one person that you do not want to get onto his shitlist because if you do, you might never get off of it.

That being said, while I would be extremely intimidated by him. I do love that he’s petty bitch, I just prefer to love him from afar 😂

[ratsoh-writes]

Maybe do an updated version of the introvert vs. extrovert list ask in masterlist 2, but with all the skeles?

Alright. *breaks fingers* let’s do this!!

Introverts: honey basil red rust lord mutt coffee butler gold Pluto Helios peaches ram pitch moose quill harpy papaya sails Alden barin saga snipe slim pop tempo green lens cricket tinker partner rowdy

Extroverts: papyrus Star willow lilac edge noir mal cash charm sugar sparks lush sir Flambe pesto Jupiter orion barley crow roost mango fisher Jasper Finn hook captain silex Ollivander arwin Hilda bruiser butch boss rhythm vibrato gears zen thistle yarrow

Ambiverts: sans oak wine salt pepper weasel atlas Artemis rancher cider maple Pearl ace G compass taffy pudding stitches shield

Longer answers: under the cut cause it’s a long fkn list

Sans: he truly is fine with or without company. Simply put sans is just too lazy to care. While he does value his privacy, that’s more in the lines of what his thoughts are. Sans doesn’t give out his true intentions easily. And he can keep being a secretive little jokester in the privacy of his own home, or surrounded by friends. It doesn’t make a difference to him.

Papyrus (and willow): papyrus loves people! He thrives on being surrounded by other happy faces. When he’s alone too long, his more anxious thoughts start turning creep in, so having friends or just any people around is always preferable.

Star (and lilac): he’s an extrovert cause it’s a lot easier to have fun with others than by yourself. Daily tasks just don’t hit as hard without commentary from other people to fill the silence. Star hates silence lol

Honey (and basil): he’s an introvert cause people are scary. It takes a while for him to get comfortable. Therefore it’s just easier to have his me time by himself.

Red (and rust): introvert. He doesn’t like people. And he’s territorial and likes his space. There’s really nothing deep to it

Edge (and noir): extrovert. The best work is done with a proper team and edge prefers his allies around him. He’s learned over the years that just life is simply more.. enjoyable with others, even if they sometimes hold him back he feels

Oak: while he and sans are both ambiverts, it’s for entirely different reasons. Oak simply can’t be introverted. It’s not safe for him to be along long times with his memory. And his perception of time is trash, so he gets nervous if he’s alone too long. But at the same time he would really rather not be always surrounded you know?

Mal: extrovert obviously. Come on, this gossip queen can be nothing else! After all you need many friends in order to get good tea~

Cash: he loves his besties, and causing chaos is always better in groups. You need people to take the blame with you after all lol. Cash prefers having company, mostly of very close friends, but he’ll take others too. He’s pretty extroverted

Lord: he’s a total introvert. He’s only happy to be around a small handful of special people all day, and even then he still needs breaks from them periodically lol

Mutt: he was an extrovert before his LV sickness, but his inability to connect has made him loose his taste for always wanting companionship, so he’s more introvert these days. Unless it’s the right person that is…

Wine: he quite likes lazy days alone, but he equally loves outings with groups. Wine just lets the day take him wherever it may go with no real preference. So ambivert

Coffee: total introvert. He doesn’t like people, and when he is actually in the mood to socialize, it’s for a very limited time frame lol.

Pluto: he’s such a little introvert. He has to get himself psyched up for a day beforehand first when he knows he’ll be in a group larger than four for a few hours. Pluto is perfectly happy spending his days researching alone instead

Jupiter: sports are better with teammates so 100% extrovert.

Orion: his lazy devil may care personality is deceiving. Orion thrives in company, he craves interaction. He’s the guy who will look at a complete stranger and go up to them to get their life story. Total extrovert

Atlas is an ambivert because while he can enjoy company, he doesn’t necessarily need it. He just needs adventure and gossip. It doesn’t have to come from a face to face source, but it doesn’t have to be alone to be enjoyable either

Helios: while he has a great stage face, that’s all it is, a fake face. Helios never liked the spotlight, it’s just another thing he endures so he can stay in the fight. He’d much rather be chilling alone in his Snuggie than dealing with people all the time

Artemis: she’d have been extroverted if she hadn’t been shut away in a hospital room for most of her life. Artemis is used to being alone, but she also loves interaction

Charm: he hates being alone with his thoughts. The brain is cold and hard, other peoples beds are soft and warm~ extrovert

Sugar: he just loves everybody! Of course he wants to hang out!! Total extrovert. If anyone argues otherwise they don’t know sugar at all

Sparks: I could repeat sugars answer and you have sparks pretty much. He loves everyone! Extrovert!

Salt: he’s ambivert as he likes people, but he likes his own space too. He needs a healthy balance of both to feel fulfilled

Lush: he’s a tragic extrovert. Lush craves companionship and company, but finds it very hard to make said friends that fufills that. So he pretends it doesn’t matter when it very much does. Please be friends with him!

Pepper: he’s incredibly picky about the company he keeps, and honestly doesn’t care if that means a few days alone or not. Pepper can entertain himself. But he does throughly love hanging out whenever with the ones he deems worthy. Ambivert

Sir: he’s a nosy bugger and likes being around every one so he can know what’s going on at all times. Sir is a great extrovert!

Weasel: he doesn’t really care if he’s causing chaos with friends, or just chilling alone. There are many ways weasel keeps himself entertained. He’s pretty independent. Ambivert

Butler: he tolerates large groups if he likes the people in them, but it doesn’t stop him from craving that sweet sweet alone time. He’s a social introvert.

Gold: while he does love being with friends, his social battery is way smaller than he acts it is actually. You can tell golds getting tired the more he flirts. He’s secretly hoping he can get this interaction over with so he can go back and work on his outfits

Flambe: all eyes on him ladies and gentleman~ extrovert lol. He loves attention too much not to be

Pesto: like Flambe, pesto craves attention and validation. And he wants it from lots of friends. He’s not in a place where he can feel that again, but he’s getting there. Extrovert

Peaches: he’s perfectly happy with just his trees, and family. But even with a large family, he knows he’ll get all his me time during his work in the orchid. He’s a sweet introvert

Rancher: he’s top goal driven to be introvert or extrovert. He doesn’t care if he’s alone or together with people, as long as he’s achieving the thing he wants to do right now!

Cider: he prizes peace, but peace can come in a group just as much as when it’s just him. Cider is used to a cramped large family, so being surrounded doesn’t bother him. But he’s also perfectly fine alone for a while. He’s definitely ambivert

Barley: he’s so extroverted he literally feels itchy if he’s been alone too long lol. Barley jokes that he’s allergic to solitude

Ram: things are just easier to understand when it’s just him. Ram does prize his alone time and peace. So introverted.

Pitch is easily the most introverted skeleton on this list. He’d be just fine socially if the only three people left in the world were him, Ram and maybe a nice gal/guy for ram lol.

Moose: he’s pretty introverted. While he does like outings, he wants to plan ahead for them. Or else he feels very drained afterwards. It is what it is

Maple: as long as a chainsaw is involved, maple doesn’t care if he’s alone or with 100 people. People that know chainsaw safety that is lol. He’s ambivert

Quill: he’s so introverted it hurts. Groups larger than 3 drain him so fast. He even needs breaks from best friends occasionally

Crow: he’s totally extroverted! Crow thinks people make everything so much more interesting! Yes he would like to hear about your day! Give him all those details!!

Roost: he’s a ladies man~ and a lads man~ and a platonic but flirty chill dude/dudettes guy! Roost just likes fun banter and prefers it over none at all. He’s pretty extroverted

Harpy: she truly doesn’t care if she does everything by herself, or if she has competent partners around her. In her main social life she’s seen as ambivert, but personally she feels as if she leans more towards introverted. While she puts up a good farce, she does just feel.. better alone. More calm.

Mango: she feels more secure surrounded by people she likes, preferably humans but she has monster friends too who’ve earned her trust! Mango is definitely extroverted!

Papaya: he’s more on the introverted side of the spectrum. Papaya is friendly and kind, but he simply just needs a dose of peace and quiet every day to function.

Fisher: his favorite activity in life is playfully tormenting others, and since that requires other people to work, extrovert it is~

Jasper: intellectually he knows he’s a walking dumpster fire if left to his own devices so Jasper constantly seeks out company from buddies. And he does like it lol. So he’s very extroverted

Finn: he quite literally took a job in the royal guard, then as a scout master cause it involves working with other people! Finn loves people and loves helping them! He’s extroverted for sure!

Sails: his ideal day is just him, his dog and a nice day out on his boat in the ocean. Nobody needing anything from him. Sails knows he’s an introvert and is cool with this about himself

Hook: he gets lonely easily, and seeks out lots of companionship and drama cause of it. Hooks always been extroverted because of this. It’s why he’s so happy on the ship with all his crew mates

Captain has honestly never had a life where he was alone. In his old au he shared a ship with many others, and now he captains a navy vessel with a crew on his own. He’d feel quite off if he ever did find himself alone. Captain is definitely extroverted

Pearl quite likes her relaxing me time, but she has no issues pleasing the masses as well as a princess. The spotlight on her is heavy but not exhausting. She’s a good ambivert.

Silex: this man is so extroverted lol. He wants to meet every one and see it all!!! It’s hard to imagine him as anything else

Alden: he’s happiest when it’s just him in his art studio. No distractions. Alden is for sure introverted even though he comes across as one of the more friendly skeletons

Ollivander: the reason his bank is so successful is because in part of how personable Ollie is! Ollivander is an extroverted fellow, and that friendly helpful face he puts on at work is very much genuine. Unless you aren’t paying your debts that is~

Hilda: she’s so obviously extroverted lol. And sucks for her since she was raised in a family of quiet polite high class introverts lol. Hilda felt pretty repressed growing up, leading to the over the top personality she has these days

Saga: she’s very much introverted. Saga is happy to just be left to her books for the rest of her life. But she will tolerate polite companions for a bit each day

Barin: he’s introverted, always has been. But his duties require him to manage a lot of people. So Barin powers through like he does with everything else in life. He really really values what little alone time he does have though

Arwin: he’s the extroverted life of the party! Arwin is a fan of having many fans and wears his posse like a badge of honor lol

Snipe: he hates people. And he probably hates you too. So don’t bother him. Introverted

Bruiser: he loves meeting his favorite people. And things are simply just too boring without them! So bruiser is very extroverted. He’s a needy friend lol

Butch: in order to kick *ss and take names, there needs to be *ss to kick and names to take, so for the sake of all his crazy shenanigans, butch must be extroverted lol

Boss: he craves companionship despite his best efforts to pretend he doesn’t. Boss feels quite lonely when he finds himself with nothing to do. Hence why he bosses his brothers around so much. He’s extroverted

Ace: causing chaos with (or against) others is fun~ causing chaos alone is also fun~ ace is a true ambivert

Slim: he’d rather hurl than have to be around people all the time. And his best friendships are more than often done through a screen. Slim is introverted all the way

Pop: he’s a very friendly and random introvert! He comes across as a quirky socialite though when- oh where did he go? Did he ditch every one again?

Rhythm: dancing is simply more fun with a partner so rhythm must be extroverted! Besides you need a mob to make a flash mob lol

Tempo: he’s very much introverted. After all he need solitude in order to make the compositions he loves! And he’s happiest when he’s creating

Vibrato: it’s a good thing he’s extroverted with how much he’s on stage! He loves his fans so much! And the paparazzi, and his bodyguards who keep him from the paparazzi lol

Lens: even without his paranoia, lens has always been more on the introverted side. There’s certain people he trusts enough to be fine around whenever, but anyone else is very tiring for him emotionally. It takes lens a long time to open up

Cricket: he’s introverted as well, a bit of a surprising fact for anyone who often sees him with cash and mal. Cricket likes his alone time at the junkyard. Only best friends can drag him away from it lol

G: he’s ambivert for sure. G does quite like being surrounded by people, but there’s something equally alluring with exploring life on his own too. He’s a go with the flow guy. Whatever fits better with that days plans works fine

Green: while socializing is enjoyable, green needs time to recoup and heal from it. He thinks very hard when he’s with people and even if he likes them and what they do together, he’s simply just tired afterwards. So introverted

Gears: he’s extroverted, but just barely. Gears can be alone for ages when he’s caught in creating a new trinket, but when he’s away from that (and lucid after he gets out of the inventors haze lol) he craves companionship! He wants to chat! To hang out! To be doted on lol

Compass: he’s a true ambivert. He’s happy playing and exploring on his own, but if someone wants to join he’s perfectly chill with adding them. No fuss. It’s not that deep for him

Zen: he’s an extroverted boy! Zen is just so curious about people. He wants to hear their stories! Plus it pleases the little host inside of him to have lots of others around!

Shield: hes ambiverted. While shield enjoys company, he also enjoys his independence quite a bit. Shield likes toeing the line between popular social guy and cool independent lone wolf. Why confine yourself to one label when you can have both?

Taffy: she doesn’t care for quantity of friends, just the quality. And if that means she’s alone sometime, well that doesn’t bother her. Taffy is a good ambivert

Pudding comes off as extroverted pretty easily, but she’s quite ambiverted really. Most of her social butterfly mask is just that, a mask. She enjoys the play bit doesn’t need it to feel fulfilled

Partner: he’s more introverted. And it reflects in what he does when he’s off the clock. When partner isn’t playing his part as sheriff, he takes a lot of time alone to himself

Rowdy never really got to explore himself socially as a child, so he’s trying very hard right now to come across as social open and adventurous. He’s been realizing over time though that he really just wants to be left to himself for most of the time. Adventure is only fun when it’s scheduled in with plenty of me time breaks in between. He’s an introvert

Stitches: he’s happy nerding out with friends, or nerding out alone! Online forums are a thing too. Stitches doesn’t need lots of companionship to be happy although it is fun. He’s ambivert.

Tinker: anyone who knows this monster can just smell the introvert oozing out of him lol. He crochets all day alone and loves it that way

Thistle: he’s extroverted! In fact he gets jittery if he’s been alone too long. He starts feeling unsafe. Loneliness is scary man

Yarrow: yarrow too is more extroverted for sure. Being raised in a coven all about family inclusion and stuff kinda leaves you no choice lol. He’s cool with it though

[kedreeva]

Hi! 😁 I might soon have the chance to have a garden and I've always wanted to have a few chickens, and I've started some online reasearch about keeping chickens but since you're an expert and I don't trust some of the online sources, do you have any tips for absolute beginners? 😅

I do! You can have a garden, or you can have chickens, but the two are diametrically opposed forces that do not coexist peacefully without fully enclosing one or the other. Chickens can and will obliterate gardens and landscaping if they have access to it, including absolutely destroying mulch patches by helping you spread it all over the yard.

I'll put the rest under a cut ^_^

When you acquire chickens, don't get them from a hatchery, get them from a small breeder you've looked into and spoken with about their actual birds. Hatcheries have poor quality animals, so while you may be getting a "black copper marans," they're not gonna necessarily look very nice, and they're almost certainly not going to lay that nice, deep chocolate marans are known for.

Vs straight from one of the bigger hatcheries pages, photos of their eggs:

You also are NOT going to get the breed qualities of any given breed except maybe some of the production breeds. For example, a Jersey Giant from a reputable breeder will get up to 10-13lbs, which is as big or bigger than my peafowl. Same with Brahmas and Cochins. Hatchery stock you will be lucky to see 6-8lbs, and people are OFTEN disappointed about this kind of thing. Silkies, as another example, can look WILDLY different from a hatchery vs a private breeder. A show quality silkie is a puffball:

Hatcheries also pull skeevy moves like calling easter eggers (mutts that lay blue, green, pink, brown, or white eggs) "americanas" hoping that you mistake it for "ameraucana" the pure breed that lays stark blue eggs. Then they charge you ameraucana prices (like, $25/chick) when they should be charging more like $3-5 a chick. They'll do things like call a marans/barred rock mix a "mystic marans" as if it's a new color morph of a marans chicken instead of a mixed breed mutt they invented to be able to sex their chicks at hatch easier. People get these guys expecting MARANS eggs, and they get tan barred rock eggs. Same can go for temperament and behaviors. You go anywhere that has a group of chicken owners and ask them what their favorite breed is, you will get a range of answers with reasons like "my X is so sweet" while the next person will go "mine's the devil" and if you ask, 9 times out of 10, it's hatchery stock birds. Well bred private breeders often have MUCH more stable temperaments.

vs hatchery stock

Getting from a private breeder also lets you get eggs, which can help you dodge a LOT of disease bullets. There's very little that transfers through the egg, strangely, and some of that is transferred on the surface of the eggs (like mycoplasma) so a quick santizing dip before incubation gets rid of that. I know that hatching them yourself is more of a hassle, but so is losing your flock to newcomers that came in with something entirely avoidable if you'd hatched instead. If your breeder is NPIP certified, they're getting tested for the major egg-traveling problem (pullorum) and a dip will take care of most anything else unless you're super SUPER unlucky.

Lastly on acquisitions, be prepared to get roosters. If you can't have roosters, be prepared to get them processed for yourself for food, or let the roosters go to food homes. Please please please please. There are so many, many excess roosters. They cannot all go to homes. The rooster to hen ratio in a flock is like 1:9. The rooster to hen ratio in hatching is nearly 1:1. Let someone make use of them. EVEN if you order from a hatchery, and order all pullets, they can make mistakes and send rooster babies. It's not a guarantee! Have a plan in advance! Mentally prepare yourself! Don't be one of Those People making posts in local groups about how you don't want/can't have this rooster but also no one else can eat it either. Chickens are a lot of things. Sometimes food is one of those things.

BEFORE actually acquiring the chickens, locate a vet that will see them. You are GOING to have an issue at some point in their lives, and that's not the time to start looking for a vet, that's the time to already have a vet on hand. In fact if you can support a yearly wellness check on at least one of the birds to test for communicable illnesses (like mycoplasma) and have a good relationship with your vet in advance, that's even better.

As for care, if you plan to contain the chickens, the minimum recommendation for a backyard coop and run varies wildly. For stress purposes, most chickens will find 4 feet of floor space per bird inside the coop adequate, accompanied by 10 square feet of space in a run per bird. Unlike peafowl, it doesn't matter how big the run is, the chickens will be turning the entire thing to bare soil, which is one of the reasons most people don't keep both in the same pens. I literally attempted to keep 2 standard chickens in a 1200 foot pen and they systematically went about destroying everything they could get to.

Most layer feeds are 16% protein; most layer feeds are also /production/ layer feeds, meant to feed production breeds in a space where they get NO other feed except this. If you plan to feed anything other than layer feed to them, like treats or whole foods or scratch grains, then you need to find a higher protein feed for them, because most treats are lower protein than layer feed. Avoid anything produced by Purina or Dumor (which is purina but TSC brand), except MAYBE the organic dumor 5-grain scratch grain, it's well-known as one of the worst quality fowl feeds out there. Check out your local mill and see if they have any options that are better than the big box farm stores. Kalmbach makes good feeds, as does Belstra.

Possibly counterintuitive, but stick with a smaller waterer over a larger waterer. You can keep a larger one around for if you go away for the weekend or something to make it easier on a sitter, but a smaller waterer like a 5-quart or gallon waterer will be easier to clean and make sure that you're giving fresh water more often, plus avoiding mosquitoes growing in it. Waterers can slime up really easily in the summer, so just be prepared to give it a quick swish clean every time you change the water out. Smaller waterers also make it easier to give them medication if you have something that goes in the water, especially since a lot of the water medications are "make fresh daily." Personally I don't bother with heated water bases anymore in the winter, I just have enough waterers to exchange them for a fresh one a couple times daily, while the old one thaws inside the back door on some plastic. The galvanized ones you have to use with the heated bases always got gross fast, with rust and discoloration and the stopper in the bottom always dried out and eventually cracked over the summer when we weren't using them.

Try to avoid straw bedding unless you REALLY trust the source. Straw is mostly for livestock, not poultry. It cannot catch the droppings of poultry the way shavings or sand or other beddings do, meaning the wet gunk drops to the floor under it and/or collects into grossness. It also molds easily, can carry in field parasites (since it's not treated the way shavings are often kiln fired before packaging), and breaks down into shards. I'm not saying you can't ever use it for any reason (I use it in some fashion, and have for over a decade, but not exclusively, and I trust my source, we've never gotten mites or anything, and I'm very careful about which bales I pick out), but if you have a choice, go for the wood substrates, or even for sand. A lot of people put sand in their runs because they can then rake it like kitty litter.

Look into what plants chickens can't have, and check your yard over thoroughly for them before adding chickens. Things like lilac bushes are toxic to them. Tomato and potato plants are nightshades so while they can have the fruits, the leaves and stems can be toxic. Stuff like that.

Lastly.... if anyone ever makes a claim about what something does for a chicken (example: diatomaceous earth, apple cider vinegar, pumpkin seeds, oregano, red pepper flakes, lavender, etc are all things I've seen people claim do all sorts of things from worming birds to curing respiratory infections), ask them for their source. If it's a blog post, ask them for a scientific article. If they can't provide it and you can't find one that backs up what they're saying, maybe reconsider the value of that particular advice. The thing is, the BIG production companies are VERY invested in finding cheap or organic or tricky ways to do WHATEVER it is (treat endo/ectoparasites, treat illness, make bigger or more eggs, change egg yolk color, etc), and they pour money into trying to figure out which old wives tales actually work and which ones don't. And if they haven't been able to prove it to a point where they'll spend money on it as a solution, then chances are REALLY GOOD that it's not a solution at all actually.

Things like how to clean coops, what feeds to get, what items to use for care, where to source birds, behavioral information etc, that's all stuff you can ask advice on in general public spaces. You'll still get a range of answers, and some of them will be garbage answers, but hardly any of them will do harm to your animals to do or not do. Like, for example, you can use a big waterer or a small waterer, as long as it's clean. You can vary coop and run size and still be fine. You don't have to feed exactly what someone else is feeding for your birds to be fine. You're probably going to try a few breeds before you find the one(s) you like best.

But when it comes to medical info or any kind of "treatment" type stuff? Consult a vet and/or at least look for scientific papers.

And lastly.... chicken math is Real, yo. However many chickens you think you want to get, plan on having the space for double that amount so you don't gotta rebuild anything when you ultimately decide wait, you need a couple more. The bigger space won't hurt them if you don't get more, but it'll be so much easier on you if you do ;)

[kennedyslvr]

TENNESSEE WHISKEY, STRAWBERRY WINE — CHAPTER 11 (AO3)

coming up in this chapter we got: rodeo, and the first intro to some familiar faces from our girlies past (who are totally gonna be the main characters for a future sequel and threequel to this series.) idk i just wanted to write claire and chris as rodeo stars 😭

anyway—hope everyone had a good weekend. with a new week brings new exciting chapters, and i am so PUMPPEDD for the chapters im posting this week, for both fics. one fic is ending, but another is just getting started, folks!

go to ao3 to read the full chapter! 🤍 also: trigger warning for a panic attack. i tried my best to write it accurately, as our main man leon has a bit of trauma to contend with. if you don't want to read this chapter or wish to skip over the scene, i don't mind it.

My hands ball into fists as I storm away from the truck, my breath burning in my lungs as my heart races. Bile rises in my throat, my vision blurring and my blood rushing like a river of lava through my veins, making my ears ring as I tune out the sound of the surrounding rodeo that I’m currently blazing a trail through in an effort to get as far away from my truck—and her—as physically possible.

I can still feel the warmth of her skin on my lips, the way her pulse had rapidly fluttered across her fingers as I held onto her like a goddamn anchor, losing myself for a split second and ruining everything I had spent years carefully constructing. That solid wall that kept my emotions at bay had come crashing down around me, all because she took my fucking hand and looked at me like that.

And I had gone over that line and caressed her hand like I was some kind of lover. Kissed it like we were anything more than what we currently are—and I didn't even know what we were. I think she might have thought we were friends, I thought so too. I want to be her friend—but I can't trust myself around her. I can't trust my body around her.

I need to get a grip on myself soon, or else I’m going to start running down a path I can't get off of. She’s a kid—but she isn’t. But she might as well be, seeing as we have a twenty year age gap. The thought makes me shudder, an itch crawling down my spine like a skittering bug.

The smell of hot dogs cooking on a roller grill brings me back to reality. I’m standing in the middle of the busiest section of the whole rodeo—the carnival, where kids scream over rides and candy floss and tired parents mull behind on dragging feet. Vendors holler out to hungry patrons, and the barrage of sounds and smells is overwhelming. A voice crackles over the tannoy above my head. “Okay, folks! In ten minutes we begin the bronco event!”

Suddenly I’m right back in that chute again fourteen years ago. My vision goes spotty as I stumble to a nearby bench and flop down heavily. I breathe out slowly, fanning out my black and blue flannel that clings to me like a second skin thanks to this heat—and this sudden panic attack certainly isn't going to help me much either.

Riding on El Diablo, folks, is rider number 27—Leon Kennedy!

The crowd cheers behind me in the present, and I clench my hands tighter against my jeans. My nails scrape against the rough denim, digging in as I’m lost within that memory in the past, unable to crawl my way back out as a low grunt of pain burns within my throat. My shoulder is killing me, and my heart seems to want to break out of my chest and run away from me.

Now, El Diablo is exactly like his namesake—a real mighty devil. Don’t let his scrappy little size fool you—he will have you off before you even take a breath, folks. But, this rider here thinks he can tame this beast—and I think he can do it too.

I never should have gotten on that horse. He had been a last minute addition given to me because my main horse—Roost, the wild Mustang that had been gifted to me as an eighteenth birthday present by my folks—had broken his leg right before the big show. I drew the shortest straw and was given El Diablo, and I thought I could do it.

My hands are sweating something fierce now, and I keep rubbing them on my jeans as my breathing grows more and more labored. My throat constricts around a swallow as my ears ring like church bells, drowning out the roar of the crowd watching the current show and forcing me to tune into the crowd that was there that fateful day.

The chute had opened at the drone of the klaxon and I flew out as quickly as I always did. I thought I had done everything right. I had my grip the same exact way as always, maintained my balance and control as well as I always did. But before I knew it, suddenly the horse wasn’t under me anymore.

Ouch! He’s gone, folks—Leon Kennedy is gone. God damn that looks nasty—get the med team out there!

My shoulder aches with the memory, throbbing like it had done when I had first broken it. I grit my teeth, pressing the heel of my hand against the pain that rages through me. The bumpy scar tissue beneath the fabric of my shirt feels morose against my fingertips, those phantom staples from the stitches rubbing against my shirt. Tears burn behind my eyelids, pressure building in the base of my skull and rippling all the way up my head, drowning me in this throbbing sensation that doesn't seem to want to stop.

[echoarts03]

Crackship Alert!

I got into this fucking ship after following Devil's Roost's art posts on Twitter about some things that happened in their RP server, and then a user did a dub over the entirety of the comic with their boyfriend and I lost my SHIT laughing XD

I wish I drew more, but I was all out of ideas by the time I finished these two. If you guys have any ideas I'd love to hear em, but for now, you get this! XD

Don't steal my art or repost it on other platforms, or I WILL break your knees.

[violant-apologia]

The Airs of Pilgrim's Dawn

a randomiser quality: 38 little snippets from life in my silver city

0-4: A gust of smog from the East.

5-9: A jade figurine is thrown from a window, smashing into fragments onto the cobbles.

10-14: A preacher and a tracklayer stand at a street corner, chatting about the lack of weather.

15-19: A tracklayer walks down the street with a pushchair, laughing at her infant’s babbling.

20-24: The most recent Hour of Dance lasted all night. Limbs are still sore, but there is a sense of solidarity in the city.

25-29: The Burrow-Church is bright and looming.

30-33: A ginger tom slinks into a nearby alley.

34-37: Urchins run through the street, flicking pigments at one another. Their graffiti is left half-complete on a high wall.

38-41: A mechanical failure: this street’s red night lamps haven’t turned off. The buildings are illuminated in a sleepy orange-pink.

42-45: The whistle of a locomotive. A tracklayer reacts with a grumble — her partner with a nostalgic sigh.

46-49: A couple of gendarmes patrol a street, chatting amicably as they go. Pilgrim’s Dawn may have fewer laws than London, but what is sacred must still be protected.

50-52: A particularly forceful drum beat startles a group of pigeons from their roost. They mingle with bats in the cavern air.

53-55: A spirifer (is that the right term, where spirifage is not a crime?) bows to a passerby, trenchcoat clinking as he does so.

56-58: A stall offers ‘REAL HADDOCK PIES’ – though they smell like Evenlode angler.

59-61: The smell of roses and sulphur is thick today.

62-64: Yet another frieze is carefully carried up to the Burrow-Church. Theology, it seems, is an active process.

65-67: A young bohemian reads poetry on a street corner. The imagery is beautiful, but his delivery could use work.

68-70: An effort is made to align phonograph music with the earthen drum beats. ‘Close enough’ is achieved, and a small dance floor forms on the street corner.

71-73: A tracklayer’s hanging garden falls as he tends it. Porcelain, roses and soil scatter over the cobbles.

74-76: A fire breaks out – the accompanying screams are only of tourists.

77: There are no door knockers in Pilgrim’s Dawn.

78-79: A Starved Man lumbers through the streets. Dancers swerve to avoid him, snatches of suspicion visible from within their pirouettes.

80-81: ‘The Bun: A hairstyle for the working man!’ a poster proclaims.

82-83: A green-eyed devil sighs as he watches a couple dance. One tries to spin away from her partner but stumbles – she falls into his arms, laughing.

84-85: A pair of Clay Men tango slowly in a crowd; their quavers are the others’ semibreves.

86-87: A rat lingers by a carving of your face. It scratches its back using your nose.

88-89: A rose-scholar looks over a balcony at the dancers below, jots down notes of their movements.

90: Morning prayers: north, east, south, up, down.

91: The sound of the sea – not the zee, the real thing – seems to emanate from the south.

92: A young deacon tries to explain what a ‘Judgement’ is to a curious Clay Man. It’s clear that she doesn't entirely understand the concept herself.

93: A fox? No, just your imagination.

94: ‘My daughter!’ cries a tracklayer, eyes wild and regretful. ‘No, I—’ And then he snaps back to himself.

95: An Infernal Tourist protests – the Rose Giveth Its Verses to Devils – but the tracklayers dance on, heedless.

96: A black, shuttered palanquin is borne through the streets by two weathered Clay Men. There are whispers – surely not the Empress? … Another royal? – but nobody impedes their progress.

97: A dolorous devil stalks the streets. He tries to keep to the sparse shadows and startles at dancers of the Terpsichore.

98: Trumpets at the gates; a regiment of devils pass through on their way to the Burrow-Church.

99: A bulky figure in a glittering cloak sweeps through the streets. Insults are hurled in its wake.

100: The ever-present drumming has a lazy, contented quality to it today. Is the Drummer… happy?

[horizon-verizon]

Alicent is the quintessential example of what not to do as a parent. In the book, it’s pretty damned clear that she sees her children as pawns and that she certainly doesn’t think that Aegon would make an effective ruler, just that she would make use of him to gain power through him.

Oh, sure, she gives the lip-service that she fears for her children’s lives along with her own and yada yada yada…. but at the end of the day, Rhaenyra and Daemon only went tribal on their asses after Aemond murdered Lucerys, unprovoked, during a diplomatic mission. They were more than happy to leave them be and use soft power to defend Rhaenyra’s birthright. Alicent has no one but herself and her own side to blame for the gloves coming off after Lucerys’ murder.

As it is, if you were to compare Rhaenyra to someone else who almost had his own birthright/power taken from him by grasping social climbers (even if not exactly the same situation), may I present Tywin Lannister and how he dealt with the Reynes and Tarbecks after his weak-willed and people pleaser father (similar to Viserys) let them have the run of the roost. Spoiler: those houses no longer exist.

In short: Rhaenyra was a saint in how she dealt with Alicent, given that Tywin would’ve killed every last Hightower down to the last child.

Sure, maybe you can say that Alicent did believe that Rhaenyra would do it because that’s what she would’ve done in her shoes or she knew that most of her colleagues would’ve happily defenestrated her long ago, but that says more about her than about Rhaenyra. As it is, I’m not so charitable and I’m more keen interpret it more as a propaganda rat-fucking campaign, since for all that they painted Daemon as the devil and Rhaenyra as “Maegor with teats,” they certainly dealt with the Hightowers with kid-gloves prior to Lucerys’ murder.

Okay, so in bk!Alicent's defense, though it is not as severe and obvious as with Rhaenyra, Alicent does get written with a short hand: her body used to compare against Rhaenyra; how she's barely mentioned after the Dance apart from her going a little crazy (George, like w/Rhaenyra, could have given us maids/lady-in-waiting/direct journals that show observations of Alicent at this time as well as her feelings abt things before she ever even married Viserys); etc. And if you grow up thinking and seeing women who become lady/Queen consorts, birthing males, and looking forward to the "reward" of power through that male...you see why Alicent's bothered. Many of us would be bothered at the very least even if we disliked and were a little honest with ourselves abt how none of it is fair...bc it was never meant be "fair" that you, a woman, can only get some agency or having a certain sort of power by being heirs or being a part of the family itself. Or putting yourself at risk of death or chronic illness to birth children for a man who may not and is not obligated to care about your wellbeing.

Doesn't mean that she didn't genuinely LOVE all her kids; it's a twisted sort of thing and becomes more so the deeper they all got into the war. We see her wail at Aegon's death. How she curses Rhaenyra for Helaena even though that's not her fault. Alicent's problem is that she decided to go after a child that would grow up to possibly be an issue, thinking that she is the exception, and refusing--esp by the end with how she died--to accept her own culpability in her kids' death. All of which comes from pride rather than a lack of love.

Once again, I am not saying she was "correct" or in the right, bc she was not. Morally nor politically. But the feeling of having been "duped" is both valid, understandable, and likely real for her. For nothing else, it's admirable that she wasn't a shrinking violet and saw through her desires or took things into her own hands when she saw it needed to be for her own ambitions. I don't like her and I wouldn't if I were in this world and had to be around her (even if I had to grow up in such an environment I doubt I'd be so religious and sincerely traditional, I never believed in God and would want to read anything and thus comes across knowledge of there being different religions across the world...so...) and I like to think that I'd also judge her heavy for how she moves with her kids and pitting them against Rhaenyra, but I also think that I would see her thoughts even more bc that would be my reality as well.

Rhaenyra was a saint in how she dealt with Alicent, given that Tywin would’ve killed every last Hightower down to the last child.

I mean, Tywin wasn't the brother of the Reynes and Tarbecks and didn't face a possible accusation of being a kinslayer. I see your point, but I think this particular thing doesn't quite have the same stakes as for the circumstances pre-Dance. Rhaenyra being a woman, even if she weren't their sister, would still face a lot more censure if she pulled a Tywin Rains of Castamere bc she'd be ridiculed for doing what men are licensed to in any sort of war effort even as Gyldayn and Corlys both have canonically looked at her askance for not going to the Battle of Rook's Rest herself...even with how Aegon nearly died. just as people did to empress Matilda. And the accusations of cruelty, of course.

Also, (pre-Dance, since you speak of pre-Dance...post and during-Dance Alicent is a different thing) Alicent cautioned Aegon from going all out and killing Rhaenyra in "The Blacks and the Greens". Why? the taboo of kinslaying. She also criticized Aemond for killing Luke not bc she liked or respected either him or his mother but because it embroiled them into both a war and cast them as the power grabbing, undeserving party who potentially angered the god as well as ensured any of them could be killed before she could "prove" and intimidate Rhaenyra with a show of support for her sons that really was never going to come but she didn't seemingly believe that so....