#Grape Planting Machine

[oh-a-very-toxic-octopus]

Outdoor exhibits at the Norwegian Road Museum.

That tracked dozer was particularly cool to see as I'd just finished reading Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath when we visited. This machine would be about the same age and overall look as the new tractors that took over from the tenant farmers at the start of the book.

The second orange excavator caught our eye, too. Looking at it — animated not by hydraulics but steel cabling, its scoop set the wrong way around, all the tension pulling in the wrong directions — really makes you realise how refined modern machinery is. I wonder how much faster than the workers that old POS really was. Bet it broke constantly.

[mmwm]

INDEPENDENCE DAYS #62

[fatkish]

Hi there, hope you're well! I always love your hybrid stuff, so I wanted to request (BullHybrid!Tengen + CowHybrid!Wives) x CowHybrid!Reader please! HCs for the bunch of them being a proper little herd.

Tengen + Wives x Reader: Hybrid AU

Life had always been good on the Ubuyashiki Farms. Kagaya Ubuyashiki and his wife Amane were the owners of Ubuyashiki Farms, a hybrid farm

Ubuyashiki farms were mostly well known for their wine, jams, dairy and apple products

Many different hybrids lived here and helped the family out by providing them with things like wool, milk, eggs, etc

Many of the male hybrids helped out in the fields, planting and helping care for the grapes, and various berry plants, while the females helped in the apple orchards

Among the hybrids was the Uzui herd. This herd consisted of Tengen Uzui, the stud bull, and his three female cows, Suma, Makio and Hinatsuru

His wives spent a lot of time helping out in the orchards and helping with the production of wine and jams whilst he spent his time helping with the more heavy duty stuff like manual labor

The hybrids are treated well and highly respect the Ubuyashiki family, since they respect them and treat them so well

Tengen and his girls or wives as he call them, have their own little barn that they sleep in, as do all the hybrids

One day, Kagaya called Tengen over and told him that a new hybrid would be arriving at the farm and that he wanted Tengen to help them get settled in

Tengen agreed to help the newcomer get settled, but he was surprised to hear that the new arrival was a hybrid hybrid

To be specific, they were the offspring of a cow and sheep hybrid, meaning they’d produce wool and milk

Such hybrids were rare and Uzui was excited to see one, and he wasn’t disappointed

You arrived on the farm around midday and you were very skittish, and easily spooked

When Tengen went to greet you, you yelped and tried to hide behind the truck that brought you there

You peeked out at him and were extremely nervous but Kagaya came to the rescue

Kagaya introduced himself as well as his wife and welcomed you to the farm

You sheepishly accepted his welcome and you followed Tengen as he showed you around the farm

The previous farm you came from wasn’t able to properly provide care for you since it wasn’t a hybrid based farm

Your wool is of high quality and you spend a lot of time caring for it and grooming it. You also have horns that you have to maintain and shape with special tools that way they don’t grow too long

Eventually you met Tengen’s wives who thought you were just the cutest with your soft fluffy wool

You’ve since become a part of the Uzui herd

Suma loves snuggling with you and cuddling into your wool

Hinatsuru helps you with grooming the wool you can’t reach and helps you care for it

Makio helps you before and after you get sheared, since you get hot and cold easily. And she helps you sand down your horns

Tengen is the one who shears you, he trims up places like between your legs and trims the fur on your ears before shearing your wool off in one big fleece

You’ve come to trust Tengen and since he’s so much larger than you, it’s easier for him to shear you

After you’ve been sheared, Tengen and his wives will cuddle with you at night to help keep you warm with the absence of your wool

Tengen will wrap you in a blanket if you need it and he’ll snuggle you

You’ve taken to working in the winery and you help make jams. You tend to do more indoor work due to your difficulty with handling temperatures

Tengen is also the one who milks all four of you, he does it by hand since the machines scare both you and Suma

When it comes time to breed you, Tengen makes sure to be through with each of his wives and you

Sadly due to the fact that your a mixed hybrid, you’re infertile, but Tengen still breeds with you since it helps with your milk production due to the stimulation and hormones from breeding

Tengen makes sure to look after the four of you and makes sure that each of you are eating and are healthy

When it comes to nighttime, he makes sure that the barn is secure before he returns to the cuddle puddle, as you and Suma call your guys’s bed

[hyperfixat]

could i request the obey me brothers with an mc who is a chemist (slightly mad-scientist-esque)? like an mc who always has Some experiment going on and they get Very Intense about it?

(if you want any extra inspiration, please go watch NileRed on youtube!!!! specifically one of his bromine related videos and/or the making grape soda out of rubber gloves video! hes been a favorite creator of mine for a long time and im a little (a lot) bit enamored with your writing style so im really excited to see how you'd write this!)

– the guy who asked about plant obsessed mc last time

omg,, repeat anon,,, woah, thank you for your support,,, i saw rhis the night you sent it in and i literally had a smile on my face when i was going to bed, thank you so so much..

In all honesty I haven’t been keeping up with the Obey Me + NB lore because I can’t autoskip the gameplay levels, but there are potions and stuff in that universe, right?  Now, I checked NileRed, and played some of their videos in the background; for those unfamiliar an example video title is “Extracting DNA from strawberries and eating it”, so yeah crazy science stuff.  You also requested the brothers, but I did have Solomon introduce the general concept because I feel it would be most lore accurate.

Now we can have a chemist MC, who in the human world worked in a lab or whatever, but then they go to the Devildom and all of a sudden there’s so much more to learn! So much more stuff to make and test!  And, wait wait wait, Solomon did you say potions?

Screw chemistry you’re a full on alchemist at this point.  Where’s the nearest lab safety equipment?

Realistically Lucifer wouldn’t let you have any lab extracurriculars or let them be on your schedule.  You only need to do what you came here for, besides how can he know of your intentions?  For all he can know you’re cooking up some demon-killing madness.

Once you get him to crack or Solomon vouches for you, walkie talkie voice; we’re in.

It’ll start with just the classes and some silent longing on your end, dramatically sighing about how you miss your work back in the human world.  Patience is a virtue because once you worm your way into the demon brother’s hearts, they’ll literally remodel a whole room in the HoL as an ideal lab for you.  Anything you want; beakers, materials, fancy machines, you name it.  

For the brothers, spoiling you in such a way was both a blessing and a curse. Seeing you happy was great, but you spend so much time holed away doing your little experiments… they miss you after a while.

oh my, brainwormmm… imagine needing something from them to make your thing, a gift or otherwise… needed like a feather or some keratin from their horns.  I cannot for the life of me think of something cool or unique to make, but hear me out Love Potions. 

but more ethical, because the whole thing behind them are kinda,, dubious.  SO pre established consent for the part below: it’s only luci because he’s my favorite. 

There’s a soft knock on the door before it cracks open, but you pay it no mind, continuing your intent focus on the bubbling pink liquid on the bunsen burner.  

Lucifer cringes back at the smell as he walks in, sickly sweet and filling the air.  His long strides lead him to your side and he huffs a sigh, “what do you want to try with this batch?”

“A feather,” you say after a moment of deliberation.  “Preferably down.”

With a hum of agreement and a soft woosh one of his large wings spreads for you to take your pick of any of the feathers there.  

“Do you have high hopes this time around?”

“I never have high hopes when it comes to making stuff for you,” you say lightly, filtering your fingers through the soft inner feathers.  He’s immune to almost everything.  “But, higher than usual.”

“I eagerly await your arrival to my chambers, and now I will leave you to it.”

ahh my husband..

and mmmh. Satan could help you find recipes, and if you’re in the mood he’ll commission you for some Anti Lucifer League stuff.

this is definitely not exactly what you wanted, rip hope you like it anyway, also posted from my computer sorry for any odd formating.

[samkat10423]

More SV-Victorian

So, I'm back! Went out-of-town for one of those family vacations. This time, it was a camping trip. Luckily, I was well prepared with a bottle of wine for each day of the trip. Anyway, once I got back, I unwound by working on SV.

This little lot was originally created by that group of simmers who made that Disney world a year or so ago. The original name of the lot was Casey's Corner Store, and it was one of the grocery stores in the Magical Kingdom part of their world world. I got rid of the rabbithole building in a basement, since 1) I use rugs, and 2) I made this into a small wine shop. Then I recolored the whole thing. Originally, it was pink and bright white and reminded me of a bottle of Pepto Bismol that had just exploded. But I liked the building. It fits in well with the rest of the town. Since it is a nectary, I added that tiny vineyard to the side of the building using @grandelama's grape fencing and all of the game's grape plants. I still need to add a few spawners.

Inside, was more of the Pepto-pink - that I got rid of. Other than that, the layout is the same. I just got rid of all their furnishings and placed my own. Same with the tables outside. The only thing I kept were the counters where the cash register is. And viola! It was done! Go, me!

You probably noticed that there are currently no wine bottles in the racks. That's because I build stuff in one town, save the finished lot to my library, then place it in my "play" town. So, there will be bottles eventually.

Then, over where the Roomies used to live in modern SV, I placed this lot. It was built by Kyria for her St. Mary Meade world that she and some others built ages ago. It's her Tennis and Cricket Club.

Well, we don't have cricket in our games, but we do now have functional tennis courts thanks to @riverianepondsims. So a HUGE thank you to her! Anyway, I basically deleted the fake tennis court and fake bleachers that were here in the back of the lot, and placed river's court. Then, where those tables with umbrellas now are, there was that game that came with base-game - pins sims can knock over. Can't remember what it's called, but I already have it in Central Park, so I decided to give my stupid sims something else to do here.

There wasn't much inside - just that bar and 1 table. So, I gave them 2 activities - a poker game, created by @mspoodle1 and that dominos game that came with one of the later EPs. Upstairs there were even less items - a weight machine and treadmill. And since I already have a gym, I deleted them and placed some tables and a buffet. And another lot done!

If you're wondering about all those plants you see in the first 2 pictures, they are from the adjoining lot. It's where that apartment pool used to be. It's a really pretty, little lot. I not sure if it currently has any spawners, but placing some will be all that I do to it.

[nogacheloveka-blog]

The Bad Sanses somehow ended up in the Backrooms. №14

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prev 13

This is the translation of the another post from Russian to English. I understand English, but it is very difficult for me to write in English, so I asked chat GPT to help me. I have corrected some parts, but there still may be mistakes.

There will be no romantic lines in this story. I don't think it's appropriate to introduce romance, the story just isn't about that. Perhaps there will be some hints (I love some pairing and polyamory in the gang), but this work is just a research and hobby for me, a platform for experiments. Killer is just fooling around because he gets an interesting reaction in return.

Well, now I want to experiment with the number of images. I will be adding more relevant illustrations to the text. For now, I'll start with two or three and see how it turns out. I don't think I'll have time to add the gang to all the images, but perhaps in the future, I'll do.

What Error identified as an "exit" turned out to be a broken arcade machine. The power cable was torn and led to a small dirty puddle, one of the walls was scratched with claw marks, as if a wild beast had sharpened its claws on it, and the coin slot was overgrown with moss. But Error was convinced that this thing could serve as a way out of here (he sees more than the others), when they look around. After all, they have just arrived. However, level 25, where the arcade machine presumably led, was a good opportunity to choose their own path ahead (Nightmare was happy to have the chance to predict his own life).

The description of level 23 in the database described the ruins of a past civilization. Engaging in archaeology would not be amiss. Moreover, in addition to items, human organizations hunted for information (Killer understood their curiosity). Old bricks, ruins, a couple of rusty coins, sketches of various architectural styles - the group looked with admiration (except for Error) at their boss, who surprisingly well oriented himself in the value of archaeological finds.

Many of them sometimes forgot that their boss had lived a long life and loved learning new things.

The group's inventory, although it allowed carrying many items, was limited and had already been filled with essential items. They had to choose. Some things were discarded based on data from the Backroom database, some did not represent historical value. Mostly, the subordinates of Nightmare were engaged in the search: Killer brought everything he saw, while Horror enthusiastically searched for edible and medicinal plants.

Dust was the only one who purposefully searched for artifacts. He admired Nightmare's skills and was interested in learning more about history from him. Forest butterflies flocked to him. It even seemed to Dust that they were trying to help him in his search within their capabilities. Perhaps it was his imagination. But he managed to find a couple of interesting frescoes and fragments of some strange tools, which Nightmare identified as "valuable".

Some of the finds resembled musical instruments, some looked like weapons or tools. They seemed damaged, but Killer's attempt to break one of the ancient items failed: they turned out to be surprisingly strong.

Horror found wild grapes and a bunch of snails on them. It took him a couple of days to prepare the snails (each of them knew about snails from the old lady), but the berries tasted good. As if the plant came here not from the forest, but from the plantation. That explained the snails.

Error used strings to catch animals and let Horror cook it. It was just rational. The big guy could cook well. In a way, Horror bought Error's loyalty. For now.

Overall, they stayed in these forests for about two weeks and did not notice any signs of a possible way to get to their home dimension. It seemed that the human settlement was also too far from the place where they were (Enrico could have had a hard time). And everything that people knew, they immediately published on Reddit or the knowledge base, and they had not yet come across any secret communities. The latter was very disappointing Nightmare.

With some caution (the dimension-killer could play a trick on them, but going all the way back was too tedious. They were, after all, Sanses), the group returned to the arcade machine by a shortcut.

It was standing there.

Waiting for them.

Error could not make it work just like that. He saw the executable code for moving to level 25. But the Backrooms did not allow him to change or initiate anything. Fortunately, there was a real thing in front of him. And the code for moving was launched manually. He just needed to reconnect the wires and microchips that would do all the work for him.

Error stuck his hands inside the broken machine and released the threads. They slid inside, weaving through the broken parts. The power source was still working - the cord outside was decoration.

The mechanism seemed complex, but Error only needed to fix what was involved in executing the code. It took some time, but the Destroyer managed to do it. The machine still looked deactivated, and its screen remained dark. But inside, music could be heard, and the coin slot glowed with light bulbs. One of the ancient coins they found managed to squeeze inside. Now they just needed to press a few buttons, simulating the game. Killer happily pounced on the levers and keyboard. After a few actions, Error began to reboot, and Killer got into the game - it seemed that the arcade machine contained some kind of fighting game. It was difficult to orientate oneself by the sounds of battle, but the skeleton got carried away and played until the transfer worked.

They all appeared in the hall, level 25. The second crossroads of the Backrooms. Many arcade machines, billiards, mini-bars, soda machines, ping-pong and other entertainment.

Killer immediately offered to play something. He playfully used his body as a bet.

Nightmare belongs to Jokublog Killer belongs to RahafWabas Dust belongs to Ask-DustTale Horror belongs to Sour-Apple-Studios Error belongs to CrayonQueen Cross belongs to JakeiArtwork

[justkeeponsimming]

Hex has just enough gardening skill to plant most of the crops in her inventory.

She took a gardening class whilst she was at university, thinking it would be a couple of extra, easy credits. Little did she know that her skills would really come in handy for a future business!

Strangely, as per the instructions on her nectar making machine, apples are the main ingredient for most nectar types. All of the grapes she foraged from her family’s farm on Windenburg Island are no use for now!

Luckily, the Sim God has visited the family farm frequently to add to the produce variety. Hex has perfect crops from most of the sim world updates. One day, she’ll have a tree full of perfect apples to make the best quality nectar in all of Chestnut Ridge!

After a long, hot afternoon, Hex finally finishes planting all of her crops. She wipes her arm across her forehead, smearing dust across her face. She makes a note to make a staff bathroom with a shower a priority once the business makes money!

Hex won’t have time to visit the New Appaloosa Nectary until after her wedding. She snaps some photos of her progress and sends them to her criminal contact, Gabriella Avila. Hopefully the progress of her business will show how dedicated she is to opening up new opportunities for the Llama Gang!

[eating-the-inedible]

Here is a list of the inedibles that will be in this bracket

Lava

Orbeez

Orange Joe (fictional "beverage" that's a combination of orange juice and coffee)

Doll shoes

Dirt

Pen caps

Mercury

Watermelon tourmaline

Comet/scouring powder

Moss

Paper towels

Play-Doh

Drywall

Marbles

CD

DVD

Dice

Kinetic Sand

Coins 

Fiberglass insulation

3DS Stylus

Plastic Bottle Cap

Chapstick

Babybell Cheese Wax

Paper

Bouncy ball

Human meat

Venus (planet)

Cascade dishwasher pods

Acrylic Paint

Magnets

Molten glass

Pens

Sea glass

Silica gel packet

Leaves

Cocoa butter lotion

Antifreeze

Pencil Toppers, the lil eraser things

Sand

Tumbled amethyst

Rubber Ducks

The rubber balls from the game Cranium Cariboo

Polly pocket clothes

Poison Dart Frog

Snow

0.1 uF Film Capacitor

The sun

Metal

Eraser

Tide pods

Phone charger wire

Those free wooden pencils you get at ikea (just the wood shell not the lead)

Liquid nitrogen

Aquarium gravel

the weird science juice in the beakers in those stock images

Origami star

Styrofoam cup

Sticky note

Collar of shirt

This submission form

Plastic straws

Glow sticks

Oil paintings

Candle wax

Glass

Nickel sulfate solution/Nickel plating solution

Silicone wristbands

Seatbelt

The wax paper under your Poutine

Forearm (doesn't have to be one's own)

Asbestos

Candy wrapper

“Okay so technically this is edible but I’ve had urges to just take a huge bite out of certain sea creatures before. Like just a chunk from an orca or dolphin or great white or seal, etc.”

“Those stupid wooden spoons”

Furbies

Scotch tape

Artificial grapes (the wax/plastic ones for display)

phone

THE FLESH OF MY ENEMIES

Crystals

Fire

The goo inside  Stretch Armstrong

Headphone wire

Raw steak

Art

Small colorful rubber bands 

Tinfoil

Pencil lead

Cattails (the plant)

Foamy soap

Liquid soap

Bar soap

Flourite

Shiny rocks

Grass

A hunk of random fish swimming by

A live goldfish

Toothpaste

Styrofoam

Price Tag Fasteners

The moon

Pool noodles

Smol frog

Destroying angel mushroom

the smoke coming out of the grain refineries two Mike's out of Gary, Indiana, Usa

Popsicle sticks

Cardboard

My hat

The tiny rocks in school playgrounds

Gasoline

Blue laundry detergent

Spray foam insulation

Battery corrosion

Fiber optic cables

Packing peanuts

Your mother

Pond water

Dry ice

Alkali metals

Chocolate shampoo

Ping pong ball

Bricks, like the stuff you'd build with. Minecraft bricks even, if you want

Hoodie drawstrings

Horse treats

Chalk

Copper (II) Sulphate Water / Blue Science Rock + Blue Science Juice

Ink

Floam

Fabric Paint

Oil paint

that one art piece of the banana taped to the wall

the hotdog somebody encased in resin

“the thin lego plates not the base plates but like the lego piece thats like 2x8 and they kinda look like hershey chocolate bar pieces”

One of those little hamsters

Model magic

Battery Acid (the drink)

manchineel apple

Rubber band ball

The lava lamp liquid

Blood

Rosin

Wax apples

That cake decoration that came with your slice and you're like 90% sure it's not edible... but what if ?

Soap bubble

Lush cosmetics' products

Plushies

Strawberry Shortcake's dolls with scented hair

Wood

Glue

Salt lamp

People who think children are not worth their consideration

Tarmac

Shampoo

Pennies

Poisonous berries

Chunky soft yarn

Crayons 

Rock

“whatever the Chuck E Cheese Ticket Muncher Machine is eating (it's not the tickets) (or the sound itself but that's neither a solid nor a liquid so this is just kind of holding hands with the hypothetical ticket muncher food)”

Snow globe liquid

Chisel tip whiteboard marker

Raw dough

Raw fuckin cactus. alive

Grape agate

Car seat

Succulents

Keys

Lock pick

Scrub daddy

Molten sugar 

Allergens

Lightning bolts

“Bark dust. Like the dirt/bark dust that's under the bark chips on a playground. Not the chips themselves. The dust.”

Clear deodorant

Apple earbud wires

Eggshells

Squinkies

Hello kitty sweatshirt zipper

Preshredded mozzarella cheese

Scrap metal

Rose

All of the rocks at a crystal shop

Origami polyhedron model

Bubbles mixture

Cupcake liners

Hair gel

Curtain rods

Incense sticks

Incense cones

Metal thing that attaches eraser to pencil

Windshield wiper fluid

Plastic pencil grips

Wooden ice cream spoon

Book

Tree

The liquid in levels

Vanilla extract

Aroace flag

Coil incense

California state testing “next question” button

Spackle

Forbidden coal iron french fries

Garage doors that look like chocolate bars

Plastic takeout box

Velvet

Weird anime girl hair

Freezable gel ice pack

Clouds

Necklace chains

Nail polish

Pencil Shavings

Pool floats

Bao Dumpling

Spray deodorant

0.1 uF Ceramic Capacitor

Vanillish (Pokémon)

Fondant

Really fancy pillars

Computers

Favorite song

Tumblr

“THE LITTLE ORBS IN THE MOUSE (aka trackballs)”

“Any cutesy anime character like Chopper or Pikachu”

Wooden fan blades

Balsa wood sticks

Those blankets that look like tortillas

Microwave

Milk and golden honey softsoap

Batteries

1x2 lego pieces

Light bulbs

Slightly melted lounge chair

Cork (the material)

Pineapple coke

Fingernails 

Sparkly lipgloss

Race Car Tire Marble

Gold trophies

Konjac sponge

Shirt

Mandy the Slayer / Orange Spyderco Dragonfly Knife

Malachite

Heater

Glasses Temples

Typewriter keys

EVA foam

Airplane

Sword

Crumbs in the couch

Children

My wife's arm/shoulder

Records

Yellow ACE bandages

Neon Signs

Scented candles

[unidentifiedfuckingthing]

say more about "brain surgery tools and fixtures"

o well idk if theres that much to say about the tools and fixtures themselves but its obviously a similarly high stakes industry to aircraft & my gfs plant has just been having a lot of production & qa horrors recently lol. her plant produces all kinds of shit, bone screws and shit like that but also actual tools that go in your brain and the parts that hold it to your head or your spine, using cnc lathes & mills to make like EXTREMELY precision metal parts, like, if you run the machine at the wrong room temperature it'll go out of tolerance kind of precision. if you know the "surgery on a grape" robot thats the kind of thing im referencing. and this isnt a brag this is objective: my gf is like an actual machine savant. like horse whisperer shit. but recently she found out that a coworker was like either intentionally or just highly negligently making extremely bad parts, and then writing over all of the cmm data with a copy and paste of, specifically, her parts' measurements, sometimes even including leaving her name stamped on it, and had been doing this for every single part he made for like 6 months, & when she brought it to management they didnt want to do anything about it because this guy churning out scrap was keeping their "production volume" "passable". and like, Lower Stakes shit like incompletely deburring bone screws is the kind of thing that can give you blood infections and make you reject hardware, and actual brain & spine surgery parts failing can mean things like, for instance, driving a tool all the way through someones brain, and thats the kind of shit this guy was passing. a few years ago somebody got lobotomized by a tool failing that was made in another cell in this specific plant, so like, its not like this is an imaginary risk. and he was wrecking machines like multiple times every week so badly that she had to take like 6 hours replacing components on and recalibrating those machines instead of producing parts. he also was maybe trying to steal large volumes of blanks & scrap to resell. in the end he got fired for screaming at his boss

[victorluvsalice]

-->Okay, that’s enough Build/Buy shenanigans – time to actually get the trio DOING stuff! Smiler got sent to the new barn basement to put away their nectar, clean the maker, then squash up some more grapes, while I told Alice to lick herself clean and finish up her delicate bracelet and Victor to clean up the pet poop on the back porch and then head upstairs to bed. XD After taking a moment to check the calendar (and to cancel the pop-up holiday “Neighborhood Brawl” as it just isn’t my scene), I checked in on Alice – she not only finished her bracelet at “excellent” quality, she also developed a Like for Gemology in the process! Right after pinching her finger working the wire, so you know she was serious. :p I got her a Crystal Charging Grid and put her new bracelet out there to charge (it has the crystal that reduces negative moodlets faster, so we want it charged up), then had her go and stop Shock from eating chicken feed. Fortunately, one scolding is all it took for Shock to finally learn that she shouldn’t eat trash, and she and Alice had an adorable bonding moment right afterward. Awwww~ It’s nice when the pets actually behave!

Anyway – after opening up the MySim capsule she picked up a couple of sessions ago (just another Chef Gino; I promptly sold it), I had Alice scavenge (she found a couple of common upgrade parts) then head to bed to top up her energy. Smiler, meanwhile, after finishing up their nectar, got put on “make mechanisms” duty for a bit because I’m still working toward that Servo, damn it. Once they were done with that, they fed Toothy the cowplant, repaired a broken water collector, recycled the resultant trash pile (plus some more wraith wax) and played with Shadow…

--->And then 5 AM rolled around, and the farm chores could begin in earnest! I woke Victor up to tend to his greenhouse – only to discover he had spoiled food in his inventory and instead sent him to take care of that (and clean out the fridge too while he was at it). Smiler, as usual, got put on chicken duty, spreading a little feed and cleaning the coop, while Alice got sent to harvest the prairie grass in Moory’s pen (finding a hematite crystal – the kind that makes your Sim functionally immortal when charged – and a bottle of energy nectar in the process; the latter went into the aging racks downstairs). Victor rewarded himself for a good clean-up job with a Minty Mocha cupcake breakfast, then I had him get in his “gardening” outfit and sent him into the greenhouse to plant some fresh oversized crops and tend the garden. Alice moved on from taking care of the prairie grass to taking care of Moory (the cow needed a thorough clean today), while Smiler did a quick sort of the trash (gotta get those recyclables) before heading back to the chickens to chat with them and gather the eggs (three normal ones, two hatchable ones – the latter got sold as I’m not interested in more chickens at the moment). I then had Smiler join Victor in the greenhouse to apply some super vitality fertilizer to the new oversized crops, while Alice cleaned out Moory’s shed –

-->And then, out by the recycle machine, transformed into a werewolf! Because it had been a little while since she hung out in Beast form, and I figured it was about time she did some werewolf stuff. Like marking her territory in the front yard. XD I was THEN going to have her do some more scavenging and the like –

[renstears]

1𝐒𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, 2𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 — 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐒, 𝐈

𝐩𝐫𝗼𝗺𝐩𝐭: “𝐲𝗼𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝗼𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝗼𝐰 𝗺𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬, 𝐲𝗼𝐮 𝐝𝗼𝐧’𝐭”, “𝐢 𝐤𝐧𝗼𝐰 𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠”, “𝐲𝗼𝐮 𝐠𝗼𝐭 𝗺𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝗼𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬?”

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐭𝗼𝐬, 𝗺!𝗺𝐜

𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝗼𝐫𝐲: 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝗼 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭, 𝐫𝗼𝗺𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐛𝐥𝗼𝗼𝐝, 𝗼𝗼𝐜!𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐭𝗼𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲

𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝗼𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝗺𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝗼𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐝𝗼𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐲 (~‾▿‾)~ 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝗼, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝗼𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 1 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐲𝐲 𝐭𝗼𝗼 𝐥𝗼𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐞𝐡𝐡𝐰𝐛𝐰𝐯𝐬𝐯𝐯𝐳𝐠

For the first time, he experienced the warmth of the sun. His emerald eyes swiveled around his surroundings.

A small, dark room contrasting the bright light shining through the window down upon his form. The heavy scent of lavender filled his nostrils with the plants flowing out from the creaks of the floorboards. Multi-colored glass bottles with different labels were stocked on every shelf; most were half-full or nearly finished. Weaved baskets were sitting on the window sills with some of them left unfinished and untouched for what seemed like ages. The ceiling was adorned with grape vines as the branches twisted in all directions to completely cover up the top part of the room.

He inhaled the smell and regretted it immediately when a piercing pain shot through his throat.

Slowly, but surely, he raised his slender hand to his view and blinked several times. The male looked down at his attire and touched the soft, white fabric that covered his chest and lower parts. It seemed as though he was wearing a white tunic and pants. He brought his knees to his chest with his orbs traveling to the clock that was hanging on the wall. His fingers rapped on his patella whenever the machine made a tick sound.

A sigh released from his dried lips as his head dipped down with his eyelids fluttering shut. He felt as if something was lacking, but what was it? His mind racked ideas to form possibilities, but it was only empty and clear, but he didn’t retort to anger immediately, rather, he only drowned himself in the heat of the sun and the music the clock created.

“Another day another pain—what the fuck—”

The viridescent orbs peeked through the gap of his knees and focused on the figure before him. He stood frozen in their spot with a bag full of red fruits hooked through his arm with his mouth wide open from shock and exasperation.

The person had strands of h/c hair that complimented his e/c pupils that shone with concern and horror when he saw the gradient-haired male. He wore a white shirt and simple black pants that went past his waist along with dark shoes. Around his shoulders was an inky-hooded coat that covered nearly most of his appearance, preventing the green-eyed male from seeing more of the person’s face.

A tense silence embedded between them. Both didn’t say a single word as they continued to stare at each other; one was in absolute shock and the other simply held curiosity. The male could see a bead of sweat rolling down the person’s face and didn’t point it out about it.

“Apologies for my language,” said the person and took a step towards him gingerly, “But may I ask how you got into my residence?”

His eyes nictated and opened his parched lips to respond, “I do not know.”

“E-Excuse me…?”

“I don’t seem to have the faintest idea where I am or what I am.”

“I see,” nodded the said male, “Do you not know what species you may be? A demon or a mythical creature perhaps?”

“I do not seem to have a clue.”

“Ah…may I know your name?”

The unknown man started to pick on the strands of his tunic and stopped looking at the male, “I do not have one.”

Though he could not see it because of the hood, he could tell the male furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“Then what do people call you?” he asked; bit by bit, he started to make his way towards the enigmatic stranger.

The sound of the strands snapping on his tunic filled the room. His eyes still fixated on it and took a while to answer the male’s question.

“Nothing.”

That word explained everything he felt and thought. He doesn’t know why he’s here. He doesn’t know how he got here. He feels empty and he does not know why. Everything was too new and confusing for him.

The h/c haired male took a seat next to the gradient-haired and raised his hand nervously which made the other raise a curious brow. He felt something touching on…whatever he felt and flashed a bemused expression. It didn’t feel uncomfortable, so he allowed the male to continue doing whatever he was doing and waited patiently for him to speak. He then felt a hand tussling his hair and he automatically nestled on the person’s palm—enjoying the pleasant sensation taking over his chest.

“I’ll call you…” started the person but trailed off, “Barbatos?”

“Why ‘Barbatos’?” he asked and tilted his head.

“Please do not ask, an image appeared in my mind and now I can’t seem to get rid of it,” the h/c haired said grimly, “Oh and did you ever notice a pair of boned-wings on your temples?”

“Pardon…?”

According to the human called ‘Mc’, he explained to Barbatos that he was supposed to do an experiment on summoning the dead back alive but instead that led him to create the one and only Barbatos, a demon with unknown abilities. Mc wasn’t miffed of the fact his experiment failed; rather, he was much more fascinated at his new creation. On most days, he would politely ask the demon if he could do some tests; such as doing regular human acts or seeing how his body is different from humans. If the dual-haired male ever felt uncomfortable, he was allowed to speak out loud about it, which will make Mc stop and apologize before returning to his notebook as he aggressively writes in the newfound information.

Barbatos had no opinions or comments when he spawned into existence. His regular routine was to wake up from a spare room Mc had gifted him, eat food and explore the human’s house or area that surrounds it. He had taken a liking to gardening when Mc watered the plants one afternoon and ever since then he was the one that expanded the flower garden. The gradient-haired demon would continue to learn several things from the human as weeks went by. He didn’t dare to investigate any further out of the close area of the house as he knew he would only get lost and danger would come after him.

On several occasions, he couldn’t help but let curiosity take over him. This led him to cause disasters such as almost burning the entire kitchen down and cooking the most taste-sickening food ever. He learnt from his mistakes with the help of Mc, but from there he would randomly pick up any books he finds lying in the house and would read it. Some of the information was helpful, especially the time when he casted a water spell when the human accidentally caused an explosion in the attic, much to the h/c haired’s surprise. It’s safe to say that Mc then started to teach Barbatos spells and tricks like a teacher, but even that didn’t necessarily make Barbatos feel any connection between the two. He felt rather detached from the human; he himself didn’t know why, but he allowed this side of himself to be indulged. Barbatos rarely felt any attachment towards anyone if anything at all. The activities he does are just for him trying to stay entertained as he gets disinterested in most things. Once he does something and learns his mistake, he already perfected it after one failed attempt.

Which is what he was doing now, he was now writing a summary of a thick book he read 20 minutes ago. He was rather more restless on that day and for the past few hours he locked himself in his room mindlessly writing a random story that came into his mind or summaries of books he read before. There was a pile of cracked pens near him with strings of ink running down the table, but he didn’t mind it. He let himself bask in the sun’s rays and listened to the birds chirping nearby.

A knock interrupted his quietude, he pushed the paper away from him and failed to remove the ink from his hands before getting the door.

There stood the h/c haired human with his signature, soft smile, but an alarmed expression painted across his face when he saw the condition of Barbatos’ hands. Deep gashes littered on his hands that made him wince just by looking at them. Splotches of ink dirtied his palms and fingers with some of the substance seeping into his untreated wounds. Mc did know that Barbatos was immune to feeling pain, but when he received wounds, it would heal itself immediately which didn’t worry the human too much.

Immediately, he took his hands into his own and eyed the ink and the injuries with his eyebrows only furrowing more and more as every second passed by. Seeing the injuries, Mc dreaded how many moments Barbatos didn’t take care of himself and didn’t inform him anything about it. Were there certain times the demon couldn’t automatically heal himself? If so, how does it work? Can he not heal himself at the most random times? Or were there specific dates that his healing abilities were not activated?

“Who did this?” asked Mc and glanced at Barbatos.

“Myself,” he replied calmly and gently tried to remove his hands from the human but he refused to do so, “I tried to pick the roses today; however, I was idiotic to not realize that I wasn’t wearing any gloves.”

Mc released a sigh that was caged in his chest, “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“My apologies,” said Barbatos, trying to take his hands away but Mc didn’t budge, “Please let go of my hands this instant.”

“Forgive me, but I cannot let you do that,” said Mc, “Just for this once, you’ll have to feel uncomfortable as this is mandatory.”

His emerald eyes narrowed at the shorter male, “And what would you do if I refused to do so? You realize by now that I am physically and mentally more stronger than you, yes?”

The h/c haired blinked rapidly and pursed his lips. What Barbatos said was entirely true, but how can he just not treat his gashes? Does he even realize that infected injuries will break his immune system bit by bit? Or was he too arrogant and thought he could handle such wounds? Demons were much more interesting than Mc had realized.

“Then please stay here,” said Mc and curtly nodded at the bed in the corner, “And I beg you not to do any drastic activities that will only open your injuries more.”

Barbatos wretched his hands away from the human with much more force, but did what the human said and sat on his bed, tapping his foot impatiently on the floor with a rather tired expression. After a few minutes, he heard footsteps approaching his room as he opened his eyes.

Mc had a small suitcase in hand along with a notepad in his other. He sat next to the demon and opened the bag, which contained various medicine and healing potions. He gestured to Barbatos to show him his hands, to which he did so without saying a word, and used a cloth to clean off the ink off his hands before applying ointment over the wounds. The two didn’t say a single word; one was too concentrated on healing the injuries and the other just didn’t feel the need to speak.

His eyes snapped wide when he felt the human’s lips pressed against his clothed palms after the other bandaged his hands. The gradient-haired demon blinked dumbly at the gentle physical contact and proceeded to gawk at Mc.

Mc noticed this immediately, “Ah, sorry if I made you uncomfortable again. Force of habit. I used to do this with my siblings’ injuries whenever they got hurt.”

“…What did you just do a few seconds ago…?”

“It’s a kiss. I just kissed your injuries. ‘Tis all.”

“‘Kiss’…?”

“It’s when one puts their lips against something,” explained Mc.

“I see…” frowned the demon and retracted his hands, “Why would one do this ‘kiss’?”

The human raised an eyebrow, “I’m not sure why you’re so deep about such a topic, but there’s many reasons why one kisses. Most commonly one does it to show their love towards their lover or family. Others do it for no reason other than to amuse themselves and there’s others that kiss another as a sign of warning.”

“…”

Mc mentally smacked himself for forgetting the reason why he came to see Barbatos. He was so worried about the demon’s health that the exciting news strayed off his mind.

“Ah I completely forgot,” he groaned and covered half of his face with his hand, “I should inform you something. It is more of an invitation, actually.”

Barbatos finally stopped inspecting the spot where the human pecked his hand and drew his attention towards him.

“Since we don’t actually spend time together other than doing experiments and lessons, I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the market this week and look for a place we can dine in. I thought this could be a great experience for the both of us. Of course, if you’re not feeling up to it, you can stay at home.”

“…”

work by @coquetteky (only on Tumblr), prompts by @nightprompts

[talesfromsiteredacted]

Random Things SCP 076-2 Has Said in His Sleep: Lovingly Compiled by Iris and Rabbit

As Abel's sisters, it is our sacred duty to embarass our dear brother. It's not well known, as few people really want to hang out with him long term, that he talks in his sleep. That being said, as his sisters we have access to secrets no one else knows. We present the following gems, if you can figure out what the hell he was talking about please let us know. There is no context, only babbling. And maybe a bit of drooling. Enjoy.

"Everyone asks 'Why, Abel?', no one asks 'How Abel?' Abel needs a hug. And vodka."

"Mr. Deeds, my largest sword."

"Dimitri... are you sure? But... with fairy floss?"

"Grape. Why is it grape?"

"No, I do not want your butter, Dr. Bright."

"Ow. Why did you hit me, Mr. Fluffington?"

"Who. Moved. My. Plushie?" (very angry voice)

"Where is my butt?"

"Terrible. Simply terrible." A pause. "Another."

"Why are my sheep blue?"

"Iris... your hair. When did it turn so green?" (Iris has, for the record, never dyed her hair, period)

"Tis but a flesh wound... Come back here, Bright! I'm going to bite your knees off!"

"So pretty. But cold."

"Agent Strelnikof, your trousers are open."

"Yes, I would like an ice cream."

"What? In there? No, I do not think I will."

"My sisters can kick your sisters' asses."

"More cow." A pause. "Too much cow."

"Why are you eating my leg? I need that."

"I think I will pass on that hug, 049. No offense."

"Why are there 6 levers yet only 4 directions on this thing?"

"Call off the floor cleaning machine, it's no match for me!"

"Where the hells did the zamboni come from?"

"But... the fish!"

"Rubber baby buggy bumpers."

"Rabbit... why is the snowman chasing us?"

"Oh no... not you again!"

"So... 682... want to go scare the pants off Bright?" Chuckling. "He'll never see us in our clown suits. Heh."

"The cake is true. The ice cream is a lie. But... the cake is not good."

"Just find a nice pile of blankets and come cuddle with me. Trust me, better to sleep than face... that."

"Why is the plant biting me?"

"Who stole my sweetroll?"

And last but not least...

"Dr. Clef... please put your clothes back on. I'm not your type."

[middletone]

Introduction Post

Spring – Year 1: Week 1- Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4

Summer – Year 1: Week 1- Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4

Current Goals:

Fast-track Blue Chickens

Fishing Level 10

Weekly Summary: Leander’s connection with the Valley grows! The Valley saw fit to gift our farmer with a Track Jacket, which was graciously accepted even if the color clashes slightly with Leander’s hair. Once again the Fae saw fit to bless the crops of Aurora Fields, allowing for an additional round of crops before strawberry season.

Though we were unable to defeated Abigail at the Egg Festival, Leander can take solace in other victories. Through perseverance & Willy’s guidance Leander has all but mastered the art of fishing, now being able to harvest roe from some of his catches.

A week of gentle progression and small accomplishments.

Daily summary & donation checklists under the cut; mod list in the Introduction post.

Day 08:

Spent most of the day clearing the farm as it was a bad luck day

Found a Track Jacket in a tree; not sure it fits Leander’s vibe since it’s like creamsicle orange, but it’s like… illegal? to not wear shirts you find randomly??? Maybe it’ll grow on me

Egg for Shane

Completed the Linus trash cut scene.

Not applicable here, but as an aside: This is like the worst cut scene to get in multiplayer because it triggers so late in the day and time doesn’t stop in COOP. You can’t just skip it since your decision affects Friendship with Linus & I almost always end up passing out lol

Cleared Cindersap Forest before heading to bed

Day 09:

Cleared trees near coop so seeds wouldn’t drop in grass growing area

Cracked 3 geodes: 2 rocks & a Limestone; lackluster finds, thanks Clint

Made donations to the Museum & Community Center

The 200 Fiber for the Forest bundle is tough since weeds don’t always have drops. I only just managed to get enough after clearing Cindersap Woods and most of the farm

Still better than the Sticky bundle

Cleared some of the farm before heading to bed

Received a visit from the Fairy! That’s twice in 9 days‽ Truly we have been blessed by the Valley

Day 10:

Received the Furnace Blueprint from Clint; this will be useful eventually

Spent the day fishing; treasure: magma geode, rice shoots

Kept the “art o’ fishing” alive by catching 2 largemouth bass for Willy

Gave Vincent cookies for his birthday

Received 12 carrot seeds from Mayor Lewis’ ticket machine

Did some foraging before heading to bed

Hit Farming level 2 & Fishing level 7

Day 11:

Found & returned Robin’s axe

Spent the day fishing; treasure: iron ore, deluxe bait, bait, diamond, fire quartz

Cleared some of the farm before heading to bed

Hit Foraging level 3

Day 12:

Nothing good at the Traveling Cart

Wanted a book from the Bookseller, but was unable to gather enough funds (books are expensive!)

Spent the day fishing; treasure: Bone Flute, Rusty Cog, gold ore, geodes

Fished up & read Jewels of the Sea; fishing chests now have a chance to yield roe

Foraged some before heading to bed

Hit Fishing level 8

Day 13:

Prepared for strawberries! Felt comfortable committing to 60 bushes with our basic watering can and unincreased energy bar

Egg Festival! Purchased my strawberry seeds, a decorative banner, & a seasonal plant. Found 8 eggs and was, therefore, unable to defeat Abigail; we’ll get her next year

Planted and finished watering our strawberries before heading to bed; 20 planted with Speed-Gro from the Community Center & another 40 without

Day 14:

Did not have enough funds to purchase the book I wanted from the Traveling Cart

Gave Haley a daffodil for her birthday

Egg for Shane

Spent the day fishing; treasure: Amphibian Fossil, fish roe

Cleared some of the farm before heading to bed

Donations:

Community Center - Crafts Room 1/6:

4/4 Spring Foraging: Wild Horseradish, Daffodil, Leek, Spring Onion

0/3 Summer Foraging: Grape, Spice Berry, Sweet Pea

0/4 Fall Foraging: Common Mushroom, Wild Plum, Hazelnut, Blackberry

0/4 Winter Foraging: Crystal Fruit, Snow Yam, Crocus, Holly

1/5 Exotic Foraging: Coconut, Cactus Fruit, Cave Carrot, Red Mushroom, Purple Mushroom, Maple Syrup, Oak Resin, Pine Tar, Morel

2/3 Forest: Moss (10), Fiber (200), Maple Seed (10)

Community Center - Pantry 1/6:

4/4 Spring Crops: Parsnip, Green Bean, Cauliflower, Potato

0/4 Summer Crops: Hot Pepper, Blueberry, Melon, Summer Squash

0/4 Fall Crops: Corn, Eggplant, Pumpkin, Yam

0/1 Rare Crops: Ancient Fruit, Sweet Gem Berry

2/4 Garden: Tulip, Summer Spangle, Fairy Rose, Blue Jazz, Sunflower

0/4 Brewer’s: Mead, Wine, Juice, Pale Ale, Green Tea

Community Center - Fish Tank 0/6:

2/4 River Fish: Sunfish, Catfish, Shad, Tiger Trout

3/4 Lake Fish: Largemouth Bass, Carp, Bullhead, Sturgeon

1/4 Ocean Fish: Sardine, Tuna, Red Snapper, Tilapia

2/3 Night Fishing: Walleye, Bream, Eel

2/5 Crab Pot: Lobster, Crayfish, Crab, Cockle, Mussel, Shrimp, Snail, Periwinkle, Oyster, Clam

0/2 Master Fisher’s: Lava Eel, Scorpion Carp, Octopus, Blobfish

Community Center - Boiler Room 0/3:

0/4 Geologist’s: Quartz, Earth Crystal, Frozen Tear, Fire Quartz

0/5 Treasure Hunter’s: Amethyst, Topaz, Emerald, Diamond, Ruby, Aquamarine

0/3 Engineer’s: Iridium Ore, Battery Pack, Refined Quartz (5)

Museum - Artifacts 3/42:

Dwarf Scroll I, Dwarf Scroll II, Dwarf Scroll III, Dwarf Scroll IV, Chipped Amphora, Arrowhead, Ancient Doll, Elvish Jewelry, Chewing Stick, Ornamental Fan, Dinosaur Egg, Rare Disc, Ancient Sword, Rusty Spoon, Rusty Spur, Rusty Cog, Chicken Statue, Ancient Seed, Prehistoric Tool, Dried Starfish, Anchor, Glass Shards, Bone Flute, Prehistoric Handaxe, Dwarvish Helm, Dwarf Gadget, Ancient Drum, Golden Mask, Golden Relic, Strange Doll, Prehistoric Scapula, Prehistoric Tibia, Prehistoric Skull, Skeletal Hand, Prehistoric Rib, Prehistoric Vertebra, Skeletal Tail, Nautilus Fossil, Amphibian Fossil, Palm Fossil, Trilobite

Museum – Minerals 1/53:

Emerald, Aquamarine, Ruby, Amethyst, Topaz, Jade, Diamond, Prismatic Shard, Quartz, Fire Quartz, Frozen Tear, Earth Crystal, Alamite, Bixite, Baryte, Aerinite, Calcite, Dolomite, Esperite, Fluorapatite, Geminite, Helvite, Jamborite, Jagoite, Kyanite, Lunarite, Malachite, Neptunite, Lemon Stone, Nekoite, Orpiment, Petrified Slime, Thunder Egg, Pyrite, Ocean Stone, Ghost Crystal, Tigerseye, Jasper, Opal, Fire Opal, Celestine, Marble, Sandstone, Granite, Basalt, Limestone, Soapstone, Hematite, Mudstone, Obsidian, Slate, Fairy Stone, Star Shards

[bigmack2go]

Their apartment is small. But it’s cozy and, honestly, they don’t need more. They’re on the second floor and when you come into theres the kitchen to your left and to your right there’s a little door in the wall to a sort of storrage room and next to it the entrance to the living room. Up ahead are two doors to the bedroom and the office. In between there’s the toilet and the bathroom. The hallway has a wooden drawer with a mirror above and the living room and the bedroom are connected by a little balcony with a door on each end.

Albert got to furnish it all. They agreed he has the best taste. Basically, Spot keeps it clean, Al keeps it pretty and Race keeps it existing.

The living room is cozy. Its small and full of pillows. And stuff. Next to the entry a the dinnertable is set into the room with the short side at the wall. They barely use it because its allways full of paperwork. Race’s paperwork because he’s the one who handles their finances since he’s the only one who’s sort of good with maths. It usually has a pink rose in a vase on it. They have a tiny, blue couch that barely fits a person, a cozy corner with one of those hanging thingys and a little wooden rustical table which is where they eat instead. Theres a lot of fairylights and hanging plants in that room. Spots electric guitar is in the corner that he doesn’t even know how to play. Its white. They have a little liquor cabinet with fancy glasses and a carafe. However they mostly use it for cofee and stuff. The second part is full of discs for the recordplayer thats on a little white chair on the opposite of the room. Speaking of chairs; they are very mismatched. Race uses a barstool, Albert has an office chair and Spot has a folding chair. They also have a hamburger “pillow” for Race and an armchair that only Spot is allowed to use. Albert has a beanbag. Theres also a little yellow pillow chair in the corner. A lamp stands next to the sofa and there’s a cat-tree behind it. They also have a little birdcage hanging around there but it’s always open so the bird can fly out whenever it wants. It’s not actually their bird but it flew in there one day and completely freaked then out. It took them a while to get it back out and it just showed up on their balcony again the next day. It kept coming back and they’ve grown quite fond of it. The cat and the dig get along with it too. They call it tweety because they don’t own a single creative cell in their body. They have a lot of candles and the three bigger christals that don’t fot in the shelf are on the windowsill, the dinnertable and the drawer that the TV stands on. Above the TV theres a little ikea shelf with another plant on top. Thats also where the rest of Racer’s christal-collection is. A little salt lamp accenting it. On top of the shelf there’s each of their childhood stuffed animal: Race had a simple teddy bear, Alberts was a bunny and Spot had a little spotted dog. Albert also has his guitar on the wall here.

Their kitchen is something else. Spots coffee machine is his whole pride and joy and its also the only place in there thats sort if clean around. You can barely move in there and no one knows how they find stuff in there, but they somehow do. Davey fainted the first time he saw it. That place is fucking loaded. With the most random stuff too. And when i say random i mean random. Most of they stuff they don’t even know where they got it from or, honestly, that they even have. That may or may not be related to the fact that half of it isn’t even theirs. It sort of replaces a storage room. Dont get me wrong; they have a storage room. Right next to their door to be exactly. But they also have a kitchen so theres that. They have two refrigerators for whatever reason. Both are always either so full they barely close or empty to the last crumb. The only thing thats never missing is grapes. They love grapes. And they always have grapes at all costs. Their toaster is really fancy and their microwave is one of those that looks like an old TV. They have a sort of concerning mug collection. Albert is only allowed to use the kitchen when they’re having chilli and Race is banned completely. It took them two years of procrastinating to clean it until they cave up and just accepted that this is just how it is. They have one of those old stoves that works with gas and actual flames.

They haven’t even installed a lamb in their office. Its just a single light bulb. They have a wall with fairy lights and photos, polaroids and memories. On another walk the have their future plans; a world map with all the cities they wanna travel to ine day and a globus on the drawer at that wall with little flags on it, possible baby-names, designs for a house to move in, rings they would want should Poly-Marrige become legal one day and hotels to stay at for their next vaccination. Their office is also where the rats live, the cat and the dog also each have their bed there and the cat has another (bigger) cat-tree.

Their bedroom is a bit more modern compared to the livingroom. At the corner to the window they have a little piano with a little soft chair. Albert loves watching Race and/or Spot play. Above the piano is another shelf with one part full of perfumes, bodysprays and Deodorants. Underneath is a big canvas of a coffee bean and the dresser next to it. The bed is opposite that wall; the far wall to the door on the windows side. Two nightstands that you may or may jot find their three champagne classes on in the morning infront theres a ting white polstererd bank. Above the bed is an LED sign reading “sex” in plain letters, they generally have a lot of led’s. A standing shelf parts their bed from a little sofa sort of thing thats right opposite the door. They have a hanging chair and some more beanbags and pillowchairs in there. The wall that’s on the end to the office has a mirror and a little table for them to get ready. Between the piano and the bed, under the window theres the cats bed and Alberts longboard hangs above the couch like a trophy. The room has a lot of plants because let me tell you, three men sleeping in one room starts to smell fast. They also have a little wooden table with a single candle on it that they never lit once because its really fancy. That table also has lights in it as to make the rustical look maych the rest if the room.

The balcony is small, even smaller than the bathroom. Its full of fairylights and they somehow made it into a little lounge. There’s another place for tweety to sit and kets be honest, Race probably hang up a “Jazz Cafe” sign. It’s perfect to view mannhattan and the brooklyn bridge.

[harvestmoonauntie]

@theforgottenvalley calls for more Pete x Cliff content and I SHALL ANSWER -- hope you like this! <3

----

I noticed him at the church, first. A lean, silent man with bangs long enough to hide dark eyes behind, and a tunic draped shut over leggings and dusty, worn traveler's boots. His back was straight but his shoulders hunched inward and his head tilted down, making him look like one of the barn owls that lurked in the branches of the trees of the mountain at night, how they held their bodies completely still and yet their wings, folded just barely at their sides, were ready to spill open any moment. He looked like a bird of prey, the moment before they sight their mark and drop low and fast to catch it.

There is a man who is waiting for something.

Talking to him at first was like trying to coax words from such a bird. The priest whispered a request for me to befriend the man with the name like falling (Cliff), but even without that, I would have been interested, drawn to him. We were both strangers to this small, tight-knit town, both of us travelers in our ways.

I, too, was a long way from home, though I was trying to make something grow out of ground my grandfather had abandoned several seasons past. He was a gruff and quiet man who'd liked me because I was a quiet and serious boy, because we could sit together on his farm and look out across placid grass and feel content, peaceful, still together. And when he'd died, he'd left his land to me, thinking I would be the best in all our family to appreciate it. But I didn't know, especially in those early spring days, how much I could live on the fruits of such hard, long labor, how I could keep myself alive, much less a plant, a dog, a calf. There were mornings, those first few weeks, when I woke up at dawn and stared at my tiny house, so small it didn't even have a kitchen, and thought about calling it quits. About selling the land, or letting it fall back into the weeds it so clearly yearned for.

So there was something I found soothing in Cliff, in his tendency to silence, the melancholy he pulled around him like a blanket of his own. I stopped by the church whenever I was in town, picking up seeds from the supermarket or grabbing something to eat at the inn. The people of Mineral Town were kind, sociable, but sometimes they made me feel overwhelmed and prodded with too much warmth, from the server at the inn with her chipper machine-gun questions to the gossipy winery merchant who missed her daughter so much she grabbed at any chance to fill the air with chatter instead of her grief. They were kind, and I know they meant well. They just had so much to talk about, things about running the farm that made me feel like more of an outsider than I already was, and I ended up slinking out with an awkward laugh and a nudge at the rim of my cap like some sort of misplaced cowboy.

Cliff was different from the others in Mineral Town. He didn't hate the silence, could bear it while still letting me talk about the things that interested me in the farm. Not the output of the turnips (still bad) or the destruction of the giant boulders everywhere (how did those even get there?), but things like, I saw that big owl in the barn again, when I was letting my sheep out this morning, or I found these wild grapes up on the mountain, do you want to try some? I learned that his eyes were actually a gray-blue, only that his mood seemed to darken them when he got lost in his thoughts, and so I made a game of catching him in those dark moments, bringing him back out again with a story or a joke. He liked the grapes so I brought him a bottle of wine now and then, and he began to look up for me when the church door swung open.

I could see the moment he recognized me one morning when I came in to see him. I caught how he tilted his head, how his back straightened, how his mouth curled and his eyes brightened the moment he opened his mouth to say my name.

No one had ever looked at me like that before: like I was something to cling to. To aim for.

The weeks went, and by the end of summer I saw him every day, brought him something to snack on as an excuse to see him. But I joked that I never saw him eating, so I needed to be sure he got some food, and it made my heart stutter that he didn't correct me so much as chuckle, shuffle the conversation away. He was so gaunt, sometimes, in the moments he thought I wasn't looking at him, the melancholy that lingered still in deepening bags under his eyes, in thinning cheeks. I never asked him where he'd come from before this town; he didn't want me to ask, and so I didn't. But something did haunt him. I could nearly see it in a haze around him, after we'd been talking for hours and I'd walked him back to the inn, him leaning a shoulder against the door frame, me with a hand lifted halfway to the hedge, like any moment we would be turning away and moving on, lingering, unwilling to be the first to go.

He told me over all those conversations, all those weeks, all that I needed to know about him, the important things. He'd left a life behind. He was looking for something new to do, some new life now that his old one could not be.

I had known him so little. I had known so little of him. But I wanted to brush away the darkness from his eyes, brush away the ghosts from his past. I wanted to open my arms wide enough to hold all of him safe, to give all of him a home.

The weather turned toward autumn, the leaves to copper and gold, and Cliff seemed somehow shakier in the cooler air. He tried not to show it, but I could read the worry in how his shoulders curled, and Carter told me one evening, in a hushed tone, that he thought Cliff might be leaving town. Something about running out of money. Something about liking it here too much to stay. He had seemed upset when he left the church that night. "A shame he missed you," the priest said, and I wasn't sure where the punctuation went -- a shame. He missed you.

I froze in the doorway. I could barely breathe. It was one of the few evenings I made it to the church after Cliff had started his walk home, though I'd hoped to catch him; the winery owner had stopped me on my walk today, asked me if I would come by the next day to help out with a festival. To bring a friend, if I wanted, if only to have someone to help pass the laborious time.

I couldn't breathe.

Turning, without thinking, I ran across town in the autumn twilight, the weather just cool enough to make the wind feel cutting, and shot toward the inn. I kept thinking of birds, how still they seemed just before they lunged, how his whole face lifted up to sunshine when I could keep him here with me, out of his memories, out of his past, here in the moment of bursting wild berries and sweet wine and... And I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to look too closely yet at what I had begun to rely on. At what I had begun to want.

More time, I needed more time.

There, I saw him: Cliff, walking toward the door, his shoulders turned inward, head down, darkness clouding his eyes and his thoughts heavy as fog around him. He looked up to the door, reaching for the handle, and that moment in the lamplight, I could see him leaving like the sun leaves in winter, see him standing on a dock, see him folding himself smaller and smaller.

I called his name and he stopped, turned. For the first time in weeks, his expression was still shadowed, gloomy. "Hey, Pete," he said, and he sounded tired. "How are you doing?" He smiled at me like he could swallow the weariness down enough that I wouldn't see.

"Cliff." My heart juttered like a rock rolling to a stop, jumpy from the run, from how Carter's whispered concerns had set my pulse pounding at the thought of him leaving. I had to get him to stay. I needed...

"I need more time," I blurted, the words spilling out in a tumble, a dive, the gravity of one word pulling the next out faster. "Carter, uh, he mentioned, money, you might need money, and, I need more but more help because Duke, Duke's got a festival, tomorrow, a festival tomorrow, and you could help me, I could really, really use your help tomorrow, I need your help, with it, tomorrow, at least tomorrow, if you could stay, at least for tomorrow..."

Cliff was staring at me, mouth agape, his eyes so wide as I babbled that I cut myself off with a half-wild laugh. "I... Might need you to tell me that again," he said slowly, chuckling too, reaching out to put a hand on my shoulder until I could finally catch my breath.

"Tomorrow," I said at last. "Tomorrow, there's an event at the winery, and Duke needs some extra help. Would you come with me? I think there's some pay at the end of it. And..." A lump rose in my throat, cutting off my sentence like a scythe until I cleared it with a cough. "I'd like it, if you could stay in town. At least a little longer."

That was all I could manage, trying not to study his expression, trying not to peer at him as closely as I wanted to. I didn't want him to feel examined, pressured, so I waited, looking off toward my farm, to the sky, to the creeping darkness.

"I...would like to stay," Cliff said at last. I looked back at him, and he was watching me closely, a strange expression on his face. Like he was bracing himself for something.

What are you waiting for?

"In Mineral Town," he went on, a blush warming his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll, uh, I'll do the thing at the winery with you. Thank you. That sounds... Nice."

And the next day, it was -- we met and worked well into the dusk, and when Duke came out with his boisterous laughter and glasses of wine, Cliff blushed and laughed at the compliments he got, from Duke and from Manna, too, who kept talking about how much help Cliff had been, how they needed someone reliable around here. He had a look to him like a sheepdog startled to realize he had found a flock around him, and when he met my eyes across the vineyard, he was beaming.

We have had more time. Duke and Manna gave Cliff a permanent job that would let him stay in town as long as he wanted, and he took it, and learned the quiet peace of coaxing life out of ground more inclined to overgrowth; of coaxing joy from loss when the sun is low and there's a glass of his own wine before bed. He brightened, lost the bags under his eyes, though sometimes still the melancholy will settle around him for a while. He stayed, and I make him food and baked goods in a house large enough for a kitchen. A house that grew enough for both of us to stay. We could have all the time we wanted here.

There's a local tradition I've heard of, as the winter deepens to spring. To the end of my first year here. To the end of the first year of knowing Cliff. It's to do with a wild bird, this tradition, and a feather, as a sign of a journey you want to take together.

He's been mentioning that I am in his thoughts lately. That I inspire him to do his best.

Today, I'll ask him if he's thought about where he wants to end up. And if he wants, if he would think of ending up with me.

[restlesssinner]

Listen I was already annoyed when every online picture search became bombarded by a bunch of machine learning websites stealing traffic from the artists’ whose work they blended into a visual ejaculation devoid of artistic intent but now that they’ve started popping up as top results on websites designed to showcase the portfolios of actual human artists it’s turned google images into a game of spot the robot.

So I played along.

A) Joker often has a flower pinned to his breast pocket, which a robot interpreted as a tiny watermelon, b/c all plants are the same

B) Why are his ears so long? Does the bot think babies are the same as imps? Did it think bobble heads are made by projecting a flat face onto a beach ball? Who knows

C) The computer forgot what clown it was making and started drawing pennywise

D) There is not a single comic book I know where Joker grows ponytail stumps just to dye them red, so I’m going to assume to many people drew pennywise x joker fanart after Epic Rap Battles paired them up

E) I’d be impressed if anyone could name this species of flowers. My best guess is that is a bouquet of grapes

F) Let’s be honest it’s always those horrid “Snyder-cut Steppenwolf” hands that give those art pieces away

I’m not saying machine art should be banned from existing but it should be presented honestly and within the right context, to people who consent to being shown an emotionless computer’s lucid dream. It would be like googling images of George Clooney and the results being mostly pictures of a handful of George Clooney impersonators from Vegas