#Guide of Canon

[norinenglish]

Team Rancher - Guide of Canon - Tango Episode 2

Notes on the episode below the cut

Guide of Canon: Team Rancher

Tango's Episode 1 - Tango's Episode 2 - Tango's Episode 3 - Tango's Episode 4 - Tango's Episode 5.

Tango’s Episode 2: TREACHERY AT THE RANCH!

The episode opens with Tango inside their base. As he opens the door Jimmy claims, “We’re back at the ranch!” while goat horns are heard in the background. 

“Welcome home, honey! How are we, team rancher?”

“It’s good to be back.” 

“Yes, and already the horns with the mocking continues as always.”

“It’s happening today, I’m getting one today!”

“This is the quest, yeah. Horns will be acquired.”

*

Tango shows Jimmy the secret chest full of goodies (mostly food, leather, wood, wheat and seeds) below the regular ones. Jimmy is excited about it. He repeats “Stop it!” while laughing with happy disbelief as Tango nods proudly. “We ain’t just a ranch.”

“We ain’t hungry anymore!”

“Oh my gosh! You’re a genius!”

“Yeah, I did a little work with the cow, the moo-moos and the chick-chicks downstairs, so we’re good.”

*

They still don’t have enough iron to be fully clothed, so they decide to make leather armours and they laugh at how poor they look. They consider upgrading the ranch, with the wall and an archway entrance, a lookout tower. 

“Tango, you told me you weren’t a builder…”

“I’m not! I’m not!”

“Let me tell you, everyone in my comment section was like, ‘what, you know who you’re playing with?’ and I was like, ‘let me just look at his latest- ah! there it is.”

“Oh, nooooo.”

“So uh… Yes, you will make a watchtower on top of that box, thank you very much.” Tango is protesting a bit, so he adds, “You will!”

“Fine!”

*

They decides to breed goats to get the horns. Ren stumbles upon the ranch. He wanted to steal a few cows (he brought a boat with him for it) 

“Welcome to Team Rancher!” Tango tells him as he puts a sign saying just that on top of the newly made archway. 

Ren asks for a tour. Jimmy gets him inside and creeps him out (in good humour) by saying, “Well, this is the ranch. This is where you step through these doors and… you don’t go home. You’re at the ranch now.” They all have a good laugh.

They offer an exchange to Ren, two goats for two cows. 

*

While with one goat, Tango sees Jimmy with several from far away, and Scott coming to talk to Jimmy. “Oh, no, he’s getting hassled over there!”

*

Jimmy wants Scar’s horse for the ranch. Scar refuses and leaves. 

*

They make the pen for the goat. Martyn comes and gloats about the fact that he has a horn and they don’t. They struggle a long time to get one. Pearl helps them get some. It’s sing. Jimmy gets the first one, sounds it and immediately says: “We need one more for Tango.” They sound it together and scream with excitement. They praise and thank Pearl. 

They sound the horns and people answer in the distance.

“I like how ours is different as well.”

*

They cover the goat pen with dirt. 

“This is what the ranch is all about: we’re saving animals. Our next thing will be stealing horses- I mean- uh… Capturing horses.”

*

Tango visits Bdubs building his house. 

“Have you been with Jimmy at all today?”

“Oh, the whole time!” Tango shows him “the fruit of their labour” and sounds the horn. “We’re setting up Team Rancher, you should stop by.”

*

Tango mines a little and gets a few iron ingots. “I need more. I need stuff for tools and I need stuff for Jimmy.”

*

At the Panda Reserve, Scar tries to get Tango to trade him his horn, then to try to get Jimmy to not have his horn anymore “We just take it away for like a few minutes from him”. 

Tango doesn’t understand the second part and gives his own horn to Scar. 

“No, we gotta get his!”

“Oh! Oh, I can’t get his,” he says immediately.

He doesn’t want to get Jimmy and run away. “It’s not very team-like.” He still seems to agree to do it, though.

*

Tango chats with Scott about cows, then about Pearl and being paired.

“She’s fully unhinged, like- off the rails”

“I love it, I love it.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you were the one getting- uh…”

“Probably not. But I’m the one who killed my partner, so.. So I got one coming.”

“That’s fair. You seem reasonable. It’s just a shame you got paired up with Jimmy.”

“Yeah, well, we do what we can, you know.” Tango doesn’t seem aggravated by the idea of being paired with Jimmy. 

He sounds the horn and Scott apologizes for not being able to answer it (they agreed on the server to ignore Jimmy’s horn on purpose). Tango doesn’t mind. “I understand, that’s Team Rancher,” he says simply. 

“This is why- I mean, I feel bad for you and your ranch partner.”

“I just got flocked* down by you inner vendettas, yeah.”

“Yeah, it’s the curse of Jimmy. That’s the real curse this time. Last season was the boogeyman curse, whoever got Jimmy this time was the Jimmy curse.”

“Yeah, yeah. This is great,” Tango says before promptly changing the subject.

*

Tango gets an iron ingot from Cleo with his bad advice stand before upgrading his “box of birch sadness”. Etho comes by the ranch and they chat about the Deep Dark. Tango laments about Jimmy being down there. Etho says he got peer pressured into it. 

They trade chicken for iron. Tango bargains for more. 

“I gotta provide for my teammate who’s in leather.”

While the talk, the sing horn sounds in the distance. Tango responds and says, “There’s my buddy. He’s coming home.”

*

“Jimmy! Jimmy, we need to have a discussion here!”

“Tango-”

“You’re risking your yellow life.”

“I can explain.”

“Uh, hu.”

“I can explain alright.”

Tango takes a deep mafia voice and makes a movie reference? “You got some ‘splaining to do, Bessie.”

“Peer pressure. That’s the explanation.”

*

“It’s looking lovely over here.”

“Oh you notice my super beautiful tower?” Tango is still being self-deprecating but Jimmy is genuinely happy with the build. 

“It’s fine!”

“I’m enhancing the organic shape and, you know-”

“It’s amazing.”

“-monotone block palette, yes, yes.”

The tower is crooked and looks like a foot. Tango is proud of it. 

*

Later at Grian and Scar’s bases, Tango says he’s trying to get the horn from Jimmy for Scar. 

*

They decide to add an R to the foot tower. 

*

Cleo comes distracting them. They go to Scar’s panda enclosure “a good couple’s retreat.” Jimmy steals Scar’s horse. Tango hadn’t planned for it (he claims so at least), he leaves when Scar and Grian gets angry. 

“Where are you my friend, you expert rancher! I’ve never been more proud of anyone in my life.”

“Victory horns, there it is!”

The horse is in the goat pen that is otherwise empty. They realize the goats are gone. They think Cleo run a distraction for Martyn. They are mad. 

“Hey Martyn! You suck!”

*

They fume and talk about the event. Jimmy asks about Tango and Scar whispering together (about the horn). Tango brushes it away as him being a distraction for the horse stealing. Jimmy doesn’t seem convinced but doesn’t insist. “If you say so, okay, okay.”

*

They go have a word with Cleo. Scotts advocates for Cleo (but he’s the one who killed the goats.) Tango is crossed. While they talk they see the base being on fire and run back to the ranch.

Tango is already fuming before they get there: “Ohhhhh, he’s gonna die!” 

“The ranch is on fire!”

“I hope he doesn’t like his building!”

“We kill him.”

They panic and try to put the fire out but it’s too late. Tango shoots him with a bow as Scar flees. They take burning damage and scream and laugh and run everywhere. 

The rage is starting to build up. The boat boy comes to help. Martyn, Scott and Cleo are also here.

Tango chats, “IT’S BBQ PANDA TIME. SO TASTY.”

Tango is grunting and yelling about having flashbacks from Last Life.

Jimmy comes in his face and tells him to snap out of it. “Look, the R survived.”

The neighbourhood watch is trying to egg Tango on to burn the pandas. Tango wants to do something bigger. Jimmy is trying to calm him down. “Tango, Let’s think about this! Don’t go straight over, we gotta talk it through.” Jimmy tells him to listen to the horn. Despite everyone else saying otherwise, Tango immediately uses sing. 

“This is horrible! There’s holes! It’s Swiss cheese ranch!”

[bonefall]

Herb Guide: Deaf Warriors and Hearing Disabilities

UPDATE 1: Added more harshness to the lipreading section based on initial feedback; minor rewording of some lines!

A reference for Warrior Cats fans creating characters with hearing loss, blending human advice with cat biology, written for an in-universe perspective on living with and managing such disabilities.

AKA Bonefall casts Spell of Stop Being Weird About Snowkit on all amoebas in 500 mile radius

[ID: A headshot of three cats, a brown tabby with a shredded ear (Strikestone), a solid white cat with blue eyes (Stonewing), and a gray cat with a mane (Dovewing).]

In the five Clans, hearing loss is both one of the most common sensory disabilities, and one of the most intense to adapt to. Through any mix of simple infections, birth abnormalities, or even just getting older, any given Clan can expect at least 1 in 4 of its cats to have some form of hearing loss.

Hearing loss is any impaired ability to hear, defined as not being able to hear noises under 20 decibels. Deafness is "profound" hearing loss, which means their hearing STARTS at a noise that is 81 decibels (ex: motorcycle, middle-distant clap of thunder) or louder. Most deaf people can still hear slightly, but sound is "muffled" and they can only hear VERY loud noises.

Hearing loss = Any impaired ability to hear. Normal hearing is 20 DB or lower.

Hard of Hearing (HOH) = Mild to severe hearing loss; starts between 21 DB and 95 DB.

Deaf = Profound hearing loss at 95 DB or higher; a clap of thunder is a quiet whisper.

MOST hearing loss will affect one ear more strongly than the other, and the cat will be HOH. The vast majority of cats with a hearing disability will still be able to understand their Clanmates, if they're just spoken to louder and more clearly. Cats who are born deaf (congenital deafness), however, tend to have profound hearing loss which affects their ability to understand speech.

Cats rely on their hearing and sense of smell much more strongly than they do on their eyesight. With hearing that's 4x more sensitive than a human's and can differentiate between 1/10th of a pitch, a Clan's healer would recognize hearing loss as a disability long before humans would even notice a problem.

Since hearing loss starts with the high-pitch noises that prey makes, like squeaks and chirps, hearing loss is a major reason for a senior warrior to begin to consider retirement. However, with proper support and accommodation, ANY warrior could adapt to this disability; Especially cats born deaf and younger HOH warriors with lots of time to re-learn.

This guide covers;

Common Causes

Traits and Challenges of Hearing Loss

Communication: Signs, lipreading, and more

Unique Challenges Clan-by-Clan

Sources are linked in a separate post, here, and linked again at the very bottom!

(note: this guide doesn't cover devices of any kind, but one of many reasons why cochlear implants are controversial is because an implant will destroy that remaining hearing. They aren't hearing aids; hearing aids amplify sound. Aids and implants are two different things)

Common Causes

There are DOZENS of ways to destroy the incredibly sensitive ears of a cat. ANY infection or injury can lead to permanent damage. That can include,

Injury gone sour, from battle, hunting, accidents, etc

Concussion, or a hard enough blow to the ear

Ear Mites, especially if the cat can't stop scratching it

Swimming in cold or dirty river water

Fungal or bacterial infections

Allergies, which can lead to sinus infections. Even an infection in the mouth or throat can spread to the ear!

There doesn't even need to be an infection. Around the ages of 7 - 11, a senior warrior may begin to gradually lose their hearing. Sometimes, through genetic factors or degenerative disease within the ear, an even younger warrior will lose it for "no reason."

It just happens, and it's incredibly common. They will usually begin to notice it when they stop being able to hear and hunt small rodents, because hearing loss will start with high-pitched noises.

Healers can do very little about this, besides attempting to clean any wax out of the ear canal with flax oil and a dab (such as moss, wool, or cloth). There are SO many ways for it to happen and so little in the way of treatments, that it's practically inevitable.

The majority of hearing loss is from infection or disease, but the most predictable way to see deafness in the Clans is in kits born white with blue eyes. In fact, ALL pure white cats are more prone to being born deaf!

Pure white without blue eyes: 17% to 22%

White with a single blue eye: 40% (and usually on the side of the blue eye)

White with two blue eyes: 65% to 85%

In an afflicted kit, the inner ear will rapidly degenerate. They typically lose most of their hearing by their 4th day, and will only be able to faintly hear extremely loud noises.

Of course, there's also various other birth defects that can result in deaf and HOH kits, even if they aren't white with blue eyes. The ear canal and hearing organs can just not form correctly! Any kit could be born with hearing loss, and they can have any type!

If the loss came from injury or severe infection, chronic pain in the inner ear is also common. Nothing can be done about this besides painkillers such as poppy seeds. This condition is rare in born-deaf cats.

Most cats with hearing loss will also permanently hear a repetitive, single-note sound. For most it's a faint, tinny "ring," but others can hear hissing, crackling, or humming in high or low pitch.

At first, this constant noise can be distracting or even debilitating, preventing them from focusing or sleeping, until... you just get used to it.

There is no way to turn the noise off. It can get worse or better, but it's forever. Sleeping and not being stressed out will help, but over time, they typically learn to tune it out. Being reminded of it is usually annoying, just like when someone reminds you about manual breathing.

(We call this condition tinnitus. It is up to you what you would like your cats to call it, the same way they refer to pneumonia as greencough. Tinnitus is a LOT broader than this little snippet, but this is not a guide about tinnitus, this is about hearing loss)

So to summarize that,

There's a billiondy-million ways to damage one's hearing.

Losing your hearing from age or disease usually results in being hard of hearing (HOH) as opposed to deaf, and is likely to affect one ear more than the other.

It starts with high-pitched noises like rodent squeaks.

Cats born white with blue eyes have a massive chance of being born deaf; their inner ear degenerates.

But, any kit could be born with any type of hearing loss, not just deafness.

Most cats with hearing loss will hear a distracting, repetitive noise. They just learn to tune it out.

Traits and Challenges of Hearing Loss

Hearing impaired cats are LOUD.

Even warriors who have mild hearing loss will often end up speaking much louder so they can hear themselves, or not notice the sounds they're making as they shift around in their nests, scuffle sand at the dirtplace, or trample through crunchy leaf litter.

If one of their ears is better than the other, they'll usually try to stand with their "good side" facing any speakers or other sources of noise. They might appear to be constantly standing at an angle, with their head turned towards the sound. It might be so second nature that they don't realize they're doing it.

Plus, a cat with hearing loss in only one ear will lose their hearing's "distance perception," the ability to pinpoint a sound's location. EXACTLY like how losing the sight in one eye causes the loss of "depth perception," they will have difficulty telling how far away a noise actually is.

Warriors who lose their hearing later in life typically have years of experience in knowing how prey behaves and what sorts of actions make noise; but cats born deaf have to be taught this.

Instead, born-deaf cats tend to associate "sound" with "vibration." Echoes, rumbles, and the sensation of their own humming or laughter can feel very pleasurable. Their whiskers are so sensitive that they can even feel drafts of air from someone speaking in front of them! Because of that, cats with impaired hearing do better with low, rumbling "sounds" rather than high-pitched ones; even when they can't hear either. They can feel lower pitched noises.

(NOTE: Decibels are the measurement of volume, and Hertz are the measurement of pitch. These are different things, NOT interchangeable. HIGH pitch and LOW volume are lost first.)

This is why hunting is so difficult when cats begin to lose their hearing. Their sense of smell and sight can be perfectly intact, but a lot of how a cat hunts is in listening for delicate little sounds and balancing them in both ears to figure out prey's exact location. So, when a cat is learning to hunt without their hearing, they have to rely on their other senses and keep their whiskers low, dusting the ground with their chops and front paws, in hopes of their quarry making a vibration they can feel.

IMPORTANT: Don't forget that cats have carpal whiskers! They are short whiskers on the front paws of a cat, used primarily for "grappling" with other cats and struggling prey. They are less sensitive than facial whiskers, but still very useful for a hearing impaired warrior.

"Dusting," keeping the face low, is still more effective than relying entirely on "Sweeping" movements with the paws.

The younger the cat is, the more time they will have to practice and master this. Cats born deaf, who have never relied on hearing before, are usually better hunters than older warriors learning completely new techniques.

But. Clan cats aren't the only danger in the forest.

A warrior who is deaf or hard-of-hearing will not hear danger approaching, and is easy to sneak up on. Even if they keep themselves completely quiet, an intelligent fox or an enemy warrior can launch an unexpected attack on their unsuspecting target. The wilderness is dangerous, and it's not feasible to keep one's whiskers pressed to the ground at all times, even if vibrations did carry far enough to detect such danger before it's too late.

So, it would be recommended for warriors with hearing loss to not wander too far without a hearing Clanmate capable of alerting them to sounds.

They also will have a VERY difficult time acting as part of a "battalion," in large-scale battles.

In fights with dozens of entangled warriors, while they're focused on fighting the cat in front of them, they will have a hard time hearing commands. Even if well-trained in visual cues like tail signs, deaf and HOH warriors might fail to respond to yowled orders like, "RETREAT" or "SECURE THE ENTRANCE."

Even if the warrior isn't fully deaf, battles are loud and chaotic! It's very likely that such orders would get lost in the clamor of hissing and screeching cats, if the cat has any difficulties with hearing at all.

In summary,

Cats with hearing disabilities are loud.

Hearing loss in one ear will cause the loss of distance perception, and they will often stand at an angle with their good ear facing the noise.

If they were born deaf, they have to learn what makes noise.

Highly tactile, they tend to rely on whisker-sense to "replace" their hearing.

Keeping their facial whiskers low to feel for vibration, "dusting," is a very useful technique.

"Sweeping" with the carpal whiskers is also useful, but less so than "dusting."

They are in increased danger from things sneaking up on them, and shouldn't go anywhere unsafe without a buddy.

Following battle commands in large-scale battles will be difficult or nearly impossible, making them bad "team players."

Communication: Signing, lipreading, and more

(psst! @twiigbranch has a free-to-use version of pawspeak if you credit them!)

Since the majority of these cats lost their ability to hear later in life, most warriors with hearing loss will speak "normally." By "normally," that means they will talk the same way they did their whole lives, just louder so they can hear themselves better.

Over many years, they may begin to stop enunciating their words, 'slurring' their sentences, and their pitch may be a little off. Even then, it's rare that a Clanmate would be able to "tell" they have hearing loss just from their cadence.

But, meanwhile, cats who are born deaf will have a very complicated journey with speech.

It's PIVOTAL for the kit's development that the family and the Clan takes an interest in trying to communicate with them. Deaf children often become isolated from communities that don't seem to care about them, the same way any other alienated child would. This can result in trauma, lack of self-confidence, and behavioral issues.

Even if your project doesn't have Pawspeak (or doesn't have it yet!), kittens WILL find ways to communicate with their family and Clan. Sign language can evolve organically from home signs, unique gestures that will rise for a deaf child to speak with their family. BUT, the sooner they're introduced to a true sign language, the better they will be able to communicate.

Sign languages can also die naturally, simply fading away if the next few generations don't keep them alive. It's possible for the Clans to have gone through a few, over the years!

(Note: Sign languages are full languages, not just "physical versions" of a spoken one. American Sign Language and British Sign Language are from totally different families, even further from each other than English and Russian!)

It is also possible for cats born fully deaf, who have never heard words, to learn how to speak verbally... but, this takes a LOT more time and effort than using a sign language.

Teaching a deaf warrior how to say words is not quick, or easy, and is a very physical process. It involves a lot of dedicated practice time back-and-forth, with the apprentice placing their paw on their mentor's throat to feel their voice, and being coached on how to mimic the exact inflections of every word. It can be very repetitive, and very boring.

Even with lots of training, speakers born deaf have a noticeable "accent." They pronounce consonants better than they do vowels (aeiou), and often lack tone and inflection. Each warrior is an individual, and using a speaking voice is a skill some will be better at using than others.

Lipreading is very difficult. Most warriors born deaf will never learn how to do this, or even want to, as it takes an immense amount of time, effort, and tutoring. It will be more common for cats with more moderate hearing loss, especially if they lost their hearing later in life.

These are REQUIRED for a proper lip reading;

Clear view of the face. If the speaker is too far away, moving around, covers their mouth, stands in a dark place, or has their back turned, their lips can't be read. There are many ways that the view of the face could be obstructed.

Slow, clear speaking. If they're talking too quickly and mumbling their words, it will be extremely difficult to catch all of what they said. A better lip reader will be able to read faster.

Mental awareness. A cat who is tired to exhaustion, unable to focus, or not expecting to be spoken to will not be able to process what's being said. Lipreading is an action that takes brainpower.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: A single speaker, not overlapping with others. Lip reading is nearly useless during clanwide arguments. If there's tons of cats talking over each other, shouting out and interrupting, responding to unseen lips in the crowd, or even if an important speaker is just at a bad angle for the deaf warrior's line of sight to catch, they will not be able to catch everything.

Lipreading is also an action that takes focus. If the cat is tired, unable to concentrate, or isn't expecting to have to read lips, they won't be able to process what words the mouth was forming. It works best one-on-one, in clear lighting, looking straight ahead at the speaker... and even then, the BEST lipreader might only catch 40% to 50% of the words said.

So, it's truly reading. Interpretation. It isn't straightforward like language is. From, "I see a herd of deer, all of them are bucks" they might only catch, "...a... deer... of them... bucks." They will have to guess the meaning based on context!

(Look into a mirror. Quickly chant "Red right wrong" three times. Do you see how similar your lips look to form those words when you're not trying to clearly enunciate them? That's what lipreaders deal with.)

So, while there are other options, a sign language is absolutely the best choice if possible in your setting. Especially for cats who were deaf from birth, sign language is the ideal solution.

VERY IMPORTANT TIPS FOR WRITING A HEARING DISABILITY:

Please avoid them speaking with broken grammar, in third person, or with overly simplistic vocabulary, as if they are a toddler or a caveman. If a deaf cat is taught to speak, they will also learn grammar. BAD: "Examplefur go hunt. Me catch mouse good." OK: "I'm going hunting. I'm good at catching mice."

They will not suddenly "forget" how to speak if they lose their hearing, unless they have another condition such as brain injury.

Lip reading is inferior to signing.

They cannot perfectly catch every single word spoken in all conversations via lipreading, especially when the speaker isn't making an effort to include them, or it's during a disorganized group argument.

In ideal conditions, 30% to 40% of the words spoken will be picked up, and the reader will "fill in" the missing vocab with guesswork.

Teaching a deaf cat to speak verbally is a dedicated process, not something they easily "pick up."

Cats born deaf will almost never pick up lipreading, it is more common in milder forms of hearing loss.

Showing hearing clanmates making an effort to include hearing-impaired warriors, like doing translations or just making sure they understood everything, is massively appreciated.

A good culture around hearing loss is the best thing in the entire world for these cats. Support, respect, and acceptance are sincerely the most important factor in how well a hearing impaired warrior adapts with their disability.

So with that in mind, let's also explore the unique challenges in the terrains and culture of each Clan.

Unique Challenges Clan-by-Clan

Because of the nature of this disability, certain Clans are going to be more difficult for a hearing impaired warrior to function independently in, both in terms of environmental hazards and of culture.

Deaf and HOH warriors will not hear the sounds they're making if they step on noisy terrain or accidentally rustle nearby plants. Some enemies also rely more on stealth to attack their targets than others, and some territories will provide more places for prey and predators to hide. Water-related hazards will naturally cause there to be MORE disabled cats in some Clans more than others, which could mean that there will be less stigma and better community.

Environment means a lot to a cat with hearing loss!

RiverClan

Because this Clan is notorious for swimming in the river, they would have a massively higher rate of hearing loss (and scent loss) than other Clans; ESPECIALLY in late autumn and winter. This also means their healers would be MUCH more experienced with treating ear problems in general; but that's a subject for another guide!

(to answer a stray question before I eventually make that guide: RiverClan can make primitive earplugs out of beeswax to protect their hearing, but may need to trade with ThunderClan to acquire that.)

The important thing to note is that compared to other Clans, RiverClan has the highest rate of having HOH warriors. This means that there would be better support systems for hearing loss than in other Clans, and a cultural "bank" of techniques and knowledge to be shared.

They still have the same proportion of kittens born deaf compared to other Clans, but apprentices without hearing in RiverClan would have a bigger pool (heh!) of mentors who have experience with accommodating their disability.

Plus, you don't need to hear fish to catch them. While they'd still have issues hunting water voles and other wetland-loving rodents, fishers aren't at a significant disadvantage when it comes to providing food to the Clan.

Advantages--

High concentration of cats with similar disabilities provides community, and influences the broader culture to be more accommodating

Healers would have lots of experience with the injuries and illnesses that lead to hearing loss, leading to better treatment

Hearing is not necessary for catching fish, and thus has almost no bearing on how skilled a hunter would be.

Mentors would have better techniques for teaching deaf apprentices

Disadvantages--

Will not hear drowning cats. If you drop into that water you're on your own, bucko

Winter will be even harder than usual, when the river freezes over and fishing becomes more difficult.

Overall, RiverClan is THE best Clan for a deaf cat to be part of.

WindClan

With wide open spaces and lots of hills that offer a good vantage point, sight and vigilance is much more important for survival in a moorland than hearing. There's even an advantage to Pawspeak here; you can communicate from across the open moor without screaming out your location to all the prey!

On top of that, moorland has low-laying vegetation. It isn't a grassland, or filled with splashing water, or covered in crunchy leaf litter. There's not a lot of things TO accidentally make noise on, unless the warrior is trying to hide in a gorse or common heather bush, and WindClan is notorious for relying on speed over stealth anyway.

The one drawback to being a deaf moor-runner is that they will not hear baying hounds. Dogs are extremely common in moorland, either as sheep herders or as companions to human hunters shooting grouses. That said, the fact that hounds are the ONLY big predator they'll need to worry about immediately makes WindClan's moor safer than any woodland territory.

Badgers, boars, and foxes hate open spaces like moorland. It's just dogs that are a big concern, and hawks for smaller cats. There are very few "sneaky" predators in this area; most rely on speed.

So being a moor-runner is one of the best jobs that a warrior with hearing loss could have in the Clans... but the minute that they start to have problems listening to any orders, a tunneler should stop working underground immediately.

Deaf apprentices should be excused from their mandatory tunnel training, except to learn how to do evacuation drills.

There is no light underground. Even if they're capable of creating rushlights or are willing to sacrifice glowworms, that light will be dim at best, and could snuff out at any moment. Communication will become impossible with a deaf cat, and even moderate hearing loss will endanger any warrior who gets separated from their team.

If something as drastic as a cave-in or a flooding happens, they will be in extreme danger. They can't be properly warned unless they're pushed by a fellow digger, and they will not be able to notice anything that isn't rumbling. If they DO end up getting trapped under rubble, they will not hear a rescue party calling their name.

It's not just themselves they have to worry about, either. Not being able to warn or coordinate with their excavation team will put ALL of them in danger.

Advantages--

Moorland requires sharper eyes than ears to begin with.

Lack of ambush predators makes this territory particularly safe without hearing.

Quiet terrain makes sneaking less neccesary in the first place

Pawspeak is especially useful across wide distances

Disadvantages--

Hounds are still a massive danger; they could get very close before they're noticed, if they're upwind.

Will not receive a warning cry in case of any hawks or approaching predators.

Tunneling would be profoundly dangerous with a hearing disability; should be heavily discouraged.

Overall rating is that this is the second best Clan for a cat with hearing loss. RiverClan's sense of community still gives them the top seat imo, but if the attitudes of their Clanmates are good, WindClan's moor is an easy territory to adapt to.

ShadowClan

This one is going to depend on what version of ShadowClan the Erins feel like writing that day, or which one you've chosen for your own project. Do they live in a dry pine forest? Or a wetland?

If you're using the idea that ShadowClan lives in a dry pine forest, especially if your project exists in Britain where spruces, firs, and larches are non-native and thus the territory is a timber plantation, refer to the new growth section in ThunderClan below.

I do not abide by that idea, because Aengus the Prize Winning Hog did not emerge from a cranberry bog for me to disrespect him in this way <3 love ur local wetland <3

(quick note: a swamp is a wooded wetland, a marsh is an open wetland, a bog is acidic, and a fen is neutral/alkaline. Wetland is the general term here.)

Wetlands are rich with soggy ground, muck, and microbe-ridden stillwater. Though ShadowClan cats don't swim for fun, they would end up with more ear infections than most Clans through accidentally falling into the swamp. It's likely that they have the second-highest rate of hearing loss in the 5 Clans, but still significantly below RiverClan.

The lush, thick ferns and reeds provide lots of cover to the notoriously stealthy Clan, but to a warrior who can't hear, this terrain is loud and frustrating. The squish of mud under your paws and the rustle of undergrowth is very hard to adapt to if you can't hear it. ShadowClan's prey of birds, frogs, and water-rodents will respond to any accidental noises by fleeing, quickly, making hunting difficult.

Plus, ShadowClan doesn't rely on one, large, deep, stony body of water like RiverClan does, which seems to be sedimentary rock and open marsh all around. Predators are lurking everywhere in wooded swamps, and could sneak up on a warrior who can't hear them. Foxes, badgers, and boars are a danger in this territory.

All that said; ShadowClan still doesn't seem to rely on just rodents. They eat a lot of amphibians and reptiles, which are not hunted by sound. Most of the techniques they use to catch them can just be taught verbatim to a deaf apprentice, or continue to be used the same way by a warrior who has lost their hearing.

Advantages--

Concentration of warriors with hearing loss from falling into dirty water may provide community and support.

Has a good selection of prey that doesn't rely on listening to be hunted effectively.

Disadvantages--

Swamps, wooded wetlands, are dangerous and attract predators.

Lush foliage and soupy ground make moving quietly difficult for a deaf warrior; but not as difficult as leaf litter.

So, this Clan would be firmly middle-of-the-line in terms of its accessibility to a cat with hearing loss. It would depend a lot on how you plan to approach ShadowClan in your own project; such as if you plan to build out more campbound activities, see them as being social or antisocial with their Clanmates, and what kind of territory you choose for them to have.

SkyClan

As of the time of writing this guide in 2023, when the only decent description of SkyClan's new territory is from a single chapter of Squirrelflight's Hope, it's very difficult to figure out what sorts of terrain challenges a warrior with hearing loss would face at the lake.

Hopefully I can come back and update this later!

But it's most likely is that they have a diverse, varied territory, involving the climbing of steep hills and gorges. Even at the "gorge" territory, a lot of hunting would need to take place outside of the rocky parts of the ravine, in the sparse woodlands and countrysides nearby.

For hunting on sparse woodland, see the advice for ThunderClan. Most hunting in British countrysides is going to look very similar to WindClan's open fields, so refer up there for that.

Because of how close they are to humans, both in the Gorge and at the Lake, it's HIGHLY recommended that warriors with hearing loss avoid twolegplaces. ESPECIALLY towns. Between cars, crowds, and grabbing hands, these places are already dangerous (and sensory hell) for warriors with great hearing, but outright lethal for a hearing impaired cat who won't hear these things coming.

So while the majority of the Clan is jack-of-all-trades and regularly mixes up the particular terrain they hunt in, this is going to be harder for hearing impaired warriors. They have to invent brand new, unique techniques for ALL of these different environments, some of them more difficult than others. Because of that, it will naturally be easiest for a deaf warrior to "specialize" in a particular type of terrain.

This could result in some pretty intense feelings of alienation, as their hearing Clanmates regularly mix what sorts of places they tackle. Without even intending to, they could end up making the warrior feel very left out!

In terms of the culture though, SkyClan seems notoriously accommodating. Between the part-time-kittypet daylight warriors and the way they invented an entirely new mediator role for a cat who didn't enjoy hunting and fighting, it would likely be one of the BEST Clans in terms of supporting a hearing impaired warrior, even in spite of having a "standard" rate of hearing loss since their territory is not particularly wet.

So, it's very likely that they would WANT to fix the fact they've accidentally made their Clanmate excluded, and seek solutions that work for everyone. If any Clan besides RiverClan had a Pawspeak interpreter translating Leafstar's words, it would probably be these guys lmao

Advantages--

Varied terrain means there will be at least a few places that aren't too hard for them to adapt to

Sparse woods, open fields, and even gorges, the three most common terrain types, are at worst decent for a deaf cat to hunt in.

VERY accommodating culture, the absolute best outside of the Clans with a high hearing loss percentage.

Disadvantages--

Generalist training, where every warrior handles vastly different terrain types, will exponentially increase how much training a hearing-impaired warrior must learn.

Being unable to join with their Clanmates in hunting across the entire territory could feel isolating

Rating: Close to top tier, but variable. It's going to depend somewhat on the personality of the warrior. While SkyClan will likely make a big effort to include them, the reality of needing to learn several sets of parallel skills and the way they might feel like an "outsider" for specializing could cause extra distress. Especially for a warrior losing their hearing later in life.

ThunderClan

Because of their collaborative culture and hunting style, described as snobbish and bossy by other Clans, it's very likely that ThunderClan would struggle the most with a specific type of ableism. Since they value group cohesion, it follows they may force Assimilation onto a disabled warrior rather than Accommodation.

As mentioned earlier, Pawspeak is the best thing for the comfort of a deaf warrior... but it might not occur to this Clan to encourage the majority of the Clan to adapt to a minority of warriors.

But it gets worse. Forests are AWFUL terrain to hunt in if you can't hear. Imagine walking in a field with a bunch of invisible landmines, and if you step on one, it broadcasts your EXACT location.

It's difficult to tell if your mouse is running away because you crunched a leaf and made a sound... or because a bird in a tree SAW you and is now raising up an alarm cry. If you can't actually hear what the noise was that scared your lunch away, you might blame yourself for being clumsy as a fox barrels towards you!

When it comes to forests, there are significant differences between an old growth forest and a new growth forest. BOTH of them are going to be extremely difficult for a disabled warrior to adapt to, but old growth is harder.

OLD GROWTH

In both, ground litter is a challenge, but especially so in an old growth British forest. Natural forests there are primarily mixed oak, which drop twigs, leaves, and acorns all over the ground.

These areas are bountiful, productive, and brimming with life. Both in terms of prey and predators. The varied canopy of natural, mixed-age trees allows sunlight to filter through and create an "understorey," providing lots of food and cover to lots of different animals. Unfortunately, foliage is not a deaf warrior's friend.

As previously mentioned, a mix of areas for animals to hide in and a surrounding of rattling plant life is the worst possible combination for a cat who can't hear. Worse, hunting rodents depends massively on hearing them through the leaf litter, thanks to those high-pitched chirps and squeaks which are the first thing to vanish when a cat loses their hearing.

This would be so bad that it's likely ThunderClan "works" its youngest members much harder than its seniors, assigning apprentices and young warriors to significantly more hunting patrols. Since hearing loss is so common that it's practically inevitable, and the security of a Clan allows these wild cats to live to such old ages, it would be "common sense" to ThunderClan to structure things this way.

Old growth patches are practically food pantries for Clan cats, but hearing impaired warriors will have a HELLISH time trying to hunt in them.

NEW GROWTH

When a forest is new and all of the trees in a stand are about the same age, they create a uniform canopy. Like a continuous tent. This means they're so effective at blocking out sunlight that there's virtually no understorey.

No understorey means no food. Or very little food. But it also means no cover. And, usually, significantly less leaf litter. This is because in Britain, most of these types of forests are non-native conifers. Sitka spruce and douglas fir are the two biggest offenders-- and that's significant because nothing here has evolved to EAT the products of those trees.

In ThunderClan, Tallpines is an example of this, but this type of terrain could pop up anywhere that's seen massive destruction.

No understorey to feed prey, no products of the trees which native animals can eat, a silent floor covered in pine needles which offer no hiding places, almost chilling uniformity of the strange trees in evenly-spaced rows...

All of this to say that there's an irony here, that the hearing impaired warrior will be best at hunting in the most barren parts of the forest.

There's much less things to trip up on, or rustle. Prey can be plainly seen out in the open. Gray squirrels are the most significant prey that can utilize these areas, and they DO make a hearty meal for a Clan cat. Additionally, these areas are particularly silent because they're so barren, which might make them seem "creepy" to hearing warriors, but that wouldn't bother a deaf warrior one bit!

Advantages--

Cultural sentiment of "all for one; one for all" may lead to more dedication from the Clan as a whole in connecting to the hearing impaired cat

Which could be a blessing or a curse, depending on the individual warrior's feelings.

Ability to work efficiently in the most barren parts of the forest

Disadvantages--

Cultural emphasis on collaboration in group hunting likely leads to deaf cats being encouraged to adapt to the patrol rather than their own strengths.

May result in more emphasis on teaching lip reading and 'speech therapy,' rather than the adoption or implementation of Pawspeak.

Very difficult to stay quiet in a forest if you can't hear the crunch of leaf litter and twigs.

Lots of cover means random bullshit can spring out from any corner; abundance of ambush predators.

Cover also means there's a lot of places for prey to hide, and hearing can't be used to pinpoint the location.

Lots of rodent prey, which relies on hearing high-pitched noise to catch.

Rating: F MINUS, SEE ME AFTER CLASS. By FAR the worst Clan for a warrior with hearing loss to be part of, for both practical reasons, AND cultural reasons. Awful awful awful, absolutely abysmal, failing grade. Dark Souls for deaf cats

Though remember! This part of the guide is a suggestion. You do not need to include ableism in your own projects if you do not want to, and I hope with the information that you now have, you know how to better avoid it!

"Sources?"

Right this way~

[hinamie]

congrats on your recovery n all yuuji but unfortunately for you I thought the scars were cool >:/

[warren-keplers-funk-band]

every time i want to be absolutely ruined, i just think about the fact that, despite being only five seasons, in-universe bbc's merlin spanned over a period of ten years.

ten years during which merlin dressed and undressed arthur every day. took care of his armour. stood and fastened the clasps when arthur was going out to battle. what imaginably could be more quietly intimate than that?

ten years during which merlin withstood being underestimated, withstood all that he had done for arthur being unacknowledged, just so he could stay by his side.

ten years during which the most powerful magical being in albion chose to stay by arthur's side as his manservant, and his friend. destiny be damned.

that utter devotion, loyalty to each other? arthur's reciprocated loyalty to and love for merlin despite the fact that, in his mind, he was just a human servant who hadn't saved his life nearly half as much as in reality?

I'M DEAD. BOWLED OVER. IN RUINS.

[cobaltfluff]

sasuga my ace detective mind-reading soulmate, I knew I could trust you

[captain-krow-drozdov]

Everyone Except For Siffrin Is Looping Au Except Someone Wishes That Siffrin Knew Everything There Was To Know About The Loops And Subsequently Accidently Replaces Their Non-Looping Siffrin With Post Game Canon Siffrin And They Only Find Out Cause Siffrin Gets The Memory Of Back In The Fucking Building Again.

[dicipher]

I think an interesting idea- considering some people argue that there isn't much romance in homicipher, is that this game IS full of love, just not traditional kinds. Variety! Woo!

"Unconditional love, simply put, is love without strings attached. It's love you offer freely. You don't base it on what someone does for you in return. You simply love them and want nothing more than their happiness."

"Someone is said to be suffering from delusional love disorder when they feel that that their feelings of love are reciprocated, despite glaring evidence of this being not true. People with delusional love disorder often feel that other people are in love with them."

"A love-hate relationship means that you hold both positive and negative feelings toward something. In the case of relationships, a person with a love-hate relationship with their partner both loves and hates something(s) about said relationship. These feelings can be both simultaneous or alternating — someone might go from loving to hating their partner very quickly, or experience a complicated mix of both at all times."

"One-sided love, also known as unrequited love, occurs when one person has romantic feelings for another who does not reciprocate those feelings. This situation can arise in various contexts, including friendships, crushes, or even long-term relationships where one partner may not feel the same way." (Note: this refers to the player's love, not his)

"Caring, on the other hand, can be seen as a broader concept that encompasses concern, empathy, and a willingness to support and help someone. While love is often seen as a more intense and emotional state, caring can be a more practical and action-oriented expression of concern for someone's welfare." (Note: custodial as in, in charge of someone. Like a caretaker, parent, etc)

"Ludus is playful, noncommittal love. Ludus covers things like flirting, seduction, and casual sex. Ludus means “play” or “game” in Latin, and that pretty much explains what ludus is: love as a game. When it comes to ludus, a person is not looking for a committed relationship."

"Conditional love is often characterized by the idea that affection and support are given based on specific conditions being met (eg, behavior, achievements, or circumstances)." (Note: Gap's love is ironically, transactional)

"Platonic love is a type of love in which sexual desire or romantic features are nonexistent or have been suppressed, sublimated, or purgated, but it means more than simple friendship" (extra: "Self-love is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and spiritual growth. Self-love means having a high regard for your own well-being and happiness. Self-love means taking care of your own needs and not sacrificing your well-being to please others."

"Childish/child-like love is blind. It buys love and doesn't hesitate to manipulate in order to do so. Childish love tends to control and hang onto and therefore doesn't set us or the people we love free." "Selfish love in a relationship is when one prioritizes their own desires and needs over their partner's. It often involves manipulating or expecting the relationship to cater primarily to one's own comfort and goals."

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 167

Honestly, Danny is having such a good time right now. He gets to travel with Ellie, explore space, just have fun. Plus his secondary protector-instincts are having soothed despite him not technically doing any hero-ing anymore. Really his sister had the right idea when she decided she wanted to become a doctor, this is honestly a blast.

And if someone does end up passing away, well, Ellie is always happy to help soothe their spirit and guide them to the Realms where they can reach their respective afterlife. Or become a ghost. 

They are completely oblivious to the fact that there are now legends and entire temples dedicated to them now. Apparently accidental ascension is in fact a thing, as Dan later laughs at them about. 

[gyooza]

was so focused on her wearing ekko's coat that I didn't notice the little isha on her waist 🥲

[taeiris]

stranger things season 5 is gonna start with the voice of a little boy, singing a familiar song…

and then we see will, singing. THEN we see the demogorgon taking him to the library, everything in between the scenes we know— that we haven’t seen, deleted scenes or new scenes idc.

season 5 is gonna start at the point between will getting to the library and joyce and hopper finding him, what we didn’t see. we get a close look at a tease of how the connection between him and vecna specifically began

and then he wakes up. present s5 time, title card intro begins and the first episode of the final season of stranger things starts.

im CALLING IT BABY!

[ruporas]

can’t talk about it

[ID: Black and white comic of Vash and Wolfwood from Trigun Maximum. The comic starts with the sounds "thud, thud, click". Vash, mid-action of peeling an apple, turns to the sound, noticing who it was that entered, and says, "Oh, Wolfwood, you're back." He resumes back to his apple in the next panel as he speaks, "Where'd you go? You snuck out of bed quickly this morning..." Wolfwood's hand then enters the panel, hovering over Vash's cheek and Vash looks up as Wolfwood asks, "Can I?" Vash responds, "Not going to talk about it?" while using a hand to gently hold Wolfwood's hovering hand and presses a kiss to his inner palm.

Vash then gets up fully, setting down the knife down on the table and the apple onto a plate, He leans into Wolfwood as Wolfwood explains, "Had to meet someone. Nothing interesting to talk about." Vash kisses Wolfwood's left cheek and a hand moves to cup his other cheek while muttering, "You're being vague." Wolfwood says neutrally, "If yer really that curious, keep askin'. We  can talk about that instead of doing this." Vash leans back and responds, "Let's talk after, since... You look so tired."

The panel pans to a close up of Wolfwood's downcast eyes, bags heavy underneath his eyes. He doesn't allow Vash to sit in that moment for long though, then saying, "Yer not helping, Spikey. Being all slow with it... I could fall asleep right now." He moves his hand to start unclasping Vash's coat, starting from his collar. Vash with red cheeks, responds briskly, "Oh, shut up. I'm worried about you. I can't be worried?"

The final shot shows Wolfwood's back to the viewer while Vash's softened expression can be seen as he holds gently onto the side of Wolfwood's face and a hand firm on his waist. Wolfwood responds, "I'm fine, seriously," pausing for a moment before continuing, "Is it okay to still..?" Vash responds, "Yeah, it's okay."

The next image is a shot from later that night after the previous comic. Vash and Wolfwood are now in bed, half naked. Wolfwood's buries his face into Vash's chest, his arms wrapped around him, while Vash is petting at his hair. Vash reminds him, "Hey. You said we'd talk about it." Wolfwood pauses for a moment before piping up, "In the morning? I'm sleepy." Vash says, "Okay..."

The next two pages start from the morning after. Wolfwood is already fully awake, pulling on his outer jacket as he says to Vash, whos' still bundled in his blankets, "Breakfast is on the table. Make sure to eat it. I'm going to grab some things in town and then we're leavin'. Got it?" Vash says, "Mh." Wolfwood responds, "Good. See ya in a bit." The dialogue starts to shift into Vash's inner thoughts now, as he gets up and eats toast, thinking, "Wait. Weren't we supposed to... talk about it?" The next shot then shows him fully up, meeting Wolfwood in town. He carries a half worried expression with him while Wolfwood slides on his glasses for him. A quick panel shows Wolfwood's tired expression from the night before and quickly juxtaposes with Wolfwood in front of him who's smiling gently, the shades covering his eye bags. Wolfwood asks him, "Still not awake yet?" Vash pauses, his thoughts stirring, thinking, "Oh. I guess I was getting ahead of myself... thinking you owe me that kind of honesty." He smiles at Wolfwood and responds, "I'm awake!" His thoughts continue, "Maybe one day, you'd trust me enough to share your burdens."

The final image shows Wolfwood pulling at Vash's cheek and Vash complains, "Owwwww why..." Wolfwood quickly says, "You were thinking something stupid, right? It's all over yer face." Vash mutters, "Nooo, I wasn't..." END ID]

[norinenglish]

Team Rancher - Guide of Canon - Tango Episode 1

I rewatched Double Life to take notes to help me with canon-compliant fics and decided to share it here so it could help others. The notes are after the cut. They are EXTENSIVE.

I plan on posting everything from Tango's POV at least. Might do more in the future.

Guide of Canon: Team Rancher Tango's Episode 1 - Tango's Episode 2 - Tango's Episode 3 - Tango's Episode 4 - Tango's Episode 5.

Tango's Episode 1: What a start!

Intro: Tango narrates, “We are soul-linked to another player. If one of us takes damage, we both take damage. We share a health bar. And if one of us dies, we both die. So let’s hope we get soul-bound to someone good.” 

*

He refers to his soulmate before meeting them as, “If my partner just plummeted off a cliff, I’m dead.” ; “My teammate just took damage”; “Imma go try and find my partner” and refers to people as being linked. 

*

Tango takes the test with Scott, Grian and  BigB on the Goat Mountain. Later he finds Bdubs in a ravin (Bdubs already found his soulmate but tells Tango to try anyway.) Cleo comes into the conversation and spank-tests Tango.

* 

He goes into the cave without a shield. While he fights two zombies and a spider, a creeper falls on his head and explodes. He screams “Nooo!” for a long time before and after respawning on top of a birch tree. 

Jimmy respawns after a second and immediately says, a tad angrily, “What happened, Tango?”

“Hi, hi. I’m so sorry,” Tango says, instant regrets in his voice.

“Take me through it, what’s happened there?”

“There was some caving, and then there might have been about seven zombies and a spider and,” Tango says as a goat bumps into Jimmy, “you’re being butted!”

Tango descends from the tree. “And then I was focusing on the army approaching me for one direction and uh yeah the old creeper from behind. I'm so sorry!”

“Oh my gosh. Alright, let’s meet up in a bit. I need to go get my stuff before it despawns.”

“I don’t even know where I was, I just lost everything, yeah. I’ve no idea where I was.”

“Oh, my gosh!”

“This is less than good. I have no idea…”

“DUDE!”

“Well, let’s go. This is extra bad.”

“I need to, wait, I need to- Where was my bit.”

Tango seems ready to follow Jimmy, while Jimmy is panicking about his things.

“We’re just wandering around, like panicking in circles and OH NO!”

Jimmy laughs at Tango’s over-dramatising the panics he feels. It seems to calm him a bit. They get on top of the tree (to see their surroundings better?). Tango apologizes again.

“No don’t be sorry, it’s gonna happen-”

“At least we know-”

“I feel like I’m gonna die in the future and you’re gonna have to take the punishment of it.”

Before Jimmy finishes his sentence, Tango is already reassuring him, saying: “That’s fine, that’s fine.”

*

They decide to start again collecting supplies. Tango is still hang up over their death.

“I feel horrible that I died, but I feel worse that I just took you down with me!”

“No, it’s gonna happen all the time! It’s gonna happen all the time today.” (probably referencing other duo dying like this.)

They hear a horn in the distance and Tango remembers that he lost his. 

“YOU HAD A HORN?”

“I was horn boy! And now it’s gone.”

They hide a chest inside of a tree they call a safety box. Tango puts a stick in it.

“At least we don’t have to bother trying to find who our soulmate is.”

“And honestly, how many people had you met before that? I had met like 7 or 8 people.”

*

Jimmy goes to find his stuff. Tango retraces his steps and gets supplies. They settle on the edge of the ravine/river across Cleo and Scott. They talk about their plans with Tango gets rid of the grass and Jimmy jumps around.

“What are you thinking of building?” 

“I think just like a big shack for both of us to.. you know.”

“To shack up in. I like it, yeah.”

“And then we can get a little farm outside and we need to plant some seeds.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it.” They start cutting the trees. “And then, maybe we can both go on an adventure. Either way, I’ll go get sheep and you get cows-I think that’s the best.”

“I am on board with this plan.”

“I’m not good with building at all, Tango, so, uh.”

“Oh, I was hoping you would say you were! You’re not the builder? Oh no!”

“Wait, are you not the builder?” Jimmy asks with good humour in his voice.

“I’m not a builder, no! Oh well, we live in a dirt hut.” [laughs]

“We might be in trouble here.”

*

Jimmy leaves to get animals and mine. Bdubs comes to chat. “You found your soulmate.”

“The hard way.”

Seeing Jimmy get the [Not Today Thank You] achievement, Tango says “Jimmy’s down there, he must be dying i should probably help him” and goes into mine with him. Jimmy asks about Tango having a shield, worried about their safety.

“We may have to…. beg.”

“Yeah, I am OK with this… strategy, yeah.”

Tango gives him his boots because Jimmy has no piece of armour and Tango also has pants. “Because if you die, I die, so.” “We’ll share whatever we got, it’s pitiful, but…”

*

Jimmy leaves to beg for iron while Tango starts to build their “super ugly house”. Tango tells him to keep an eye out for animals of any kind - preferably chicken.

“My man said he couldn’t build.”

“Ha! It’s a box, it’s a box! It’s not much!” while laughing.

Tango makes fun of his build with good humour, but Jimmy gives him genuine compliments. Jimmy reveals the bucket of water he got and Tango praises him: “Look at you! You go on a mission and you come back with goods. This is what I like to see. This is what I like in a partner. Well done.”

Tango keeps insulting his house building but Jimmy answers with “I love it.”

When it’s done, Tango places placing the single bed and says: “It’s a humble start.”

“It is, it is! It’s all we need right now.” “It actually looks great. I think you’ve done a great job here.” 

Tango laughs awkwardly and a tad in a self-deprecating way.  

“I’m not just saying it! I think you’ve done a great job!”

“This is the ugliest house ever-”

*

They have three eggs and Jimmy throws them in a hole they made for their chicken operation under the house. The last one hatches and they cheer. 

*

They leave on a quest for chicken (and maybe “future begging”). Tango finds some and escorts them back home. “Come on little guy, you’re destined for greatness, let’s go!”

*

Etho and Joel come by and they chat.

Joel asks, “Is Jimmy- Is Jimmy… OK?” 

It is ambiguous what he’s really asking about. Tango takes it as an inquiry about what Jimmy’s doing. “Well- he’s out. We went out hunting chicken and I’m back and I already brought back three chickens and he’s brought back none.”

They chat a bit more about horns and how stupid trying to build on the pillager outpost is before they leave. 

“If you see Jimmy, tell him we have chickens!”

*

Tango takes care of the chicken operation when he hears Jimmy calling for him. 

“Tango? Hum… Where are you?”

“I’m in the house,” Tango responds right before he opens the door to see Jimmy back, multiple cows in his tow. “OH! YOU’RE AMAZING!”

They praise each other on their respective luck with animals.

“We’re good for something!”

“We’re ranchers. Team rancher!”

Jimmy makes a side room for the cows and Tango takes care of the chickens again but they escape in the basement. “I might not be cut out for this ranchin’ thing.”

*

They want to have goat horns. Jimmy offers him the option to stay in the base or to try and find Grian with him. Tango chooses to go into the caves to get iron because they’re pretty naked, but acquiring a horn is “imperative to team rancher”. 

Tango changes his mind quickly though and decides to go beg instead of digging. He finds BigB, Ren, Cleo and Scott. Begging fails. They discuss bases. 

Scott says, after looking at Jimmy and Tango’s: “You are paired with Jimmy. It’s as good as it gets.”

“Here’s the thing. We teamed up and we were like ‘this is a good spot for a base’ and we kind of looked at each other we just assumed the other person knew how to build they were like ‘nope’ ahah.”

They see Jimmy on a bridge with Joel and Etho and Tango thinks he’s being cornered so he leaves to go help Jimmy. We don’t see whether he gets to them or not.

*

Tango ends up in Impulse and Bdubs’s house. 

Impulse, when Tango asks him about being with Bdubs, responds: “Feels pretty good. My partner’s great, he doesn’t die.” At this point, it’s a jab aimed at Tango, rather than at Jimmy.

Tango comes home at night starving and unable to sprint, screaming “HELP!”. Jimmy escorts him inside.

Joel comes by to steal wheat and makes fun of them for not having proper armour. Jimmy tries a different approach and asks him to take his shirt off but gets axed in the face. Joel gives them a few potatoes because he feels bad and leaves. Jimmy apologizes for trying the new approach but Tango doesn’t mind, he’s hung over the fact that Joel was stealing their crops. They continue tending to the field because they are starving. The episode ends.

[friday-is-unfunny]

If Hitchhiker's Guide was WOKE!!!!!!!

The Hitchhiker's GAY to the GAYlaxy

Arthur DEInt

aFORDable Housing Prefect

THEYphod SHEblebrox

Trillian is exactly the same but she actually has a role in the story and keeps her book-accurate appearance

Marvin the Paranoid ANDROGYNE

[loosethreadsofyoursoul]

going on the supernatural tour™️ this week, hope they have some canon destiel

[whumble-beeee]

You Look So Much Prettier This Way

Poor Stan. What will you do to get out of this predicament, I wonder?

What will you do when fighting back isn't even an option?

Stan sat stunned. He couldn't speak. He couldn't scream for help, he couldn't complain, he couldn't quip, he couldn't stand, he couldn't struggle, hell, he could barely even move.

He wanted to cry.

His face hurt from where they punched him. His neck hurt from where they grabbed him. His entire body hurt from where they'd manhandled him to the ground and pinned him down and tied him up, choking him, punching him if he dared flinch, or god forbid he struggled against their grasp.

And after all that excessive tying, the rope that scratched against his tender skin and pressed in on his ribcage in a suffocating embrace.

They'd gotten out the duct tape. His heart stuttered, eyes wide. He started to scream, he kicked out at them.

Big mistake. As soon as they finished they mortifying ordeal of wrapping his mouth in layer after layer of duct tape, they slammed him down onto his back and hoisted his legs into the air, bent them into the most odd position, and by the time Stan realized that had still more rope, they were already wrapping it around his ankles and his thighs.

Over and over.

He tried to scream. They kicked him. He screamed some more into the duct tape gag. More blows. Tears. It didn't stop. He couldn't even curl in on himself to protect his soft underbelly.

Then they plopped him on the floor.

Surrounded him.

Appraised him, hungry eyes searching over his body.

Stan couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

The one he thought to be the leader stepped foreward.

Knelt in front of him, cupped Stan's cheek in their hand.

Stan could barely even find the strength to jerk away, and when he did, they just grabbed his collar and yanked him back, made him stare right into their ruthless shark-like eyes. And there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop them.

"You look so much prettier this way," they lulled. "I wonder if your friends will agree when they come to find you."

* * * * * * * *

Whumptober 2024 | Day 7 | The Bee's Whumptober Masterlist

Stan is an OC that belongs to The (Un)Official Guide to Hero-Keeping!

Whumptober Taglist: @whumperofworlds | @whumptober-archive | @regular-whump-sfx

(If you wanna be added or subtracted from the taglist, don't be afraid to ask!)

[petricorah]

lee from the tea shop boutta get it (wip) [id in alt]

edit: completed illustration here