#He might go lower depending on this arc

[nuttyrabbit]

So I decided to put together an IDW Sonic characterization tier list. It got a bit harder than I thought

[valkeakuulas]

Oooo love the idea of writing for the polyam prompts! Could I ask for E1, Fox/Echo/Fives with Fox in the middle with a datapad pls?

I checked at the prompt in question and yesssss, that one's right up in my alley!

One Fox/Echo/Fives fic coming right up! 💙❤💙

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

It was karking late.

Or, depending on how you looked at it, karking early.

Either way, Fox was awake instead of sleeping, and it frustrated him, because for the first time in months, he had his handsome ARC troopers with him.

Sighing, Fox carefully pulled his arm free from beneath the softly snoring Echo to briskly rub his face.

Fives, who was using Fox’s chest as a pillow, was barely jostled by the movement but the man still frowned in his sleep and the arm wrapped around Fox’s waist tightened its hold. Fox couldn’t stop himself from smiling at that and he reached to pet Fives’ hair as an apology. The touch soothed Fives almost instantly, his brows relaxing. The fact that a simple touch from Fox did that made something warm flutter in the Commander’s belly.

Removing himself from between his lovers was a little challenging but Fox had been weaseling himself out of stickier situations for years now. Not that being stuck between Fives and Echo could be called that, not unless they accidentally fell asleep after several rounds of lovemaking.

Fox chuckled briefly at the memory as he slipped out of the dark bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him as he entered the small living room with an even smaller kitchenette.

The apartment was barely the size of a shoebox but it was private, tucked away in the lower levels but close enough for the Guard’s headquarters for Fox to get in there without much of a delay. Officially, it and the rest of the apartments on this floor were owned by some Corellian company but unofficially it belonged to the Coruscant Guard. The rest of the residents that lived in the giant complex paid no attention to the clones that slipped in and out of it, given that the Guard made sure to keep most of the building in working condition.

It was marvellous how many were willing to turn a blind eye when they had running water and no sudden power cuts.

The slats that covered the two narrow windows were half-closed, the meager light they let in painting orange and red stripes on the floor, guiding Fox’s steps as he picked a datapad from the couch. Instead of sitting on it, Fox sat on the floor, grabbing a cushion to stick it under his ass.

Might as well as do something productive, Fox mused as he powered the datapad up, accessing his files.

Fox had barely finished reading his third report when the bedroom door opened.  Lifting his head, Fox expected that either Fives or Echo had gotten up to use the refresher but was surprised when not one but two sleepy, squinty-eyed ARC troopers dragged themselves through the open door.

“Fox? Why aren’t you in bed?” Echo asked huskily with his eyes barely open.

Fox sighed, lowering the datapad. “Why are you up? Go back to bed you two,” Fox told them softly, only to hold back a chuckle at the identical squinty-eyed glares he received from his suggestion.

“Is cold without ya,” Fives muttered as he began listing to his left.

For a second Fox feared he would fall over if not for Echo, whose hand shot out a lot faster than Fox would’ve expected, grabbing the back of Fives’ tank top to keep him upright.

“What he said,” Echo agreed, using his grip to guide Fives to Fox.

Shaking his head, Fox grabbed two more cushions and dropped them on the floor on either side of him. Unsurprisingly, the ARC troopers wasted no time snuggling close the moment they had sat down, the bristles of Fives’ chin tickling Fox’s clavicle when he nuzzled the Commander’s throat.

“You’re going to feel sorry for sleeping here instead of a bed,” Fox pointed out when Echo wrapped himself around his right arm. He merely let go of the datapad so the other man could get comfortable before picking it up again.

“Don’t care,” Echo replied with a yawn, already half-way to sleep again. “We missed you.”

“And we’re not spending another minute without holding you,” Fives added, resting his head on Fox’s shoulder.

The flutter from earlier came back, stronger and warmer, and Fox gave up. “Alright, just remember that in the morning.”

The sleepy hums of agreement had Fox chuckling and turned his head to press a kiss on Echo’s curl before doing the same with Fives.

Squirming a little to get into a more comfortable position with the two heavy bodies all but squishing him, Fox made sure to dim the datapad before continuing. Soon, Fox’s ears caught the dual sounds of soft, even breathing of his lovers, dead to the world once more.

Fox closed his eyes for a second, basking in the warmth and trust, the love he felt for these two men making his heart feel three times larger than it usually was.

When Fox continued with his reading he did so with a soft smile on his face.

[powdermelonkeg]

Worldbuilding

Made a new fantasy world in my spare time today, populated it with fantasy races.

Premise of the story: An elf chef who runs the best restaurant in the area gets his ingredients by diving into the local dungeon. His restaurant is the best not only because of his fantastic cooking skills and quality ingredients, but also because he can serve anybody that comes through his doors; each of the races has different dietary needs and finds different things poisonous, and he can cook for anyone.

One day, he's in the dungeon, and he falls down into a lower level nobody's been to in AGES. Thing is, though, there's a human living there, a biologist who's been studying the dungeon ecology for centuries, and the last human alive—all others were wiped out centuries ago due to a plague, and she's only alive because she's been living in the dungeon.

Main story arc is this guy trying to figure out not just what she can eat, but what she'd LIKE to eat, without killing her in the process.

Yes this is inspired by Dunmeshi. What of it.

Races are:

Humans (extinct)

Elves

Faunlings

Halflings

Orcs

Dwarves

Brounies

Gnomes

Elves

A camouflage species, their colors depend on the environment they're in. A snow elf would be pale white, a wood elf shades of green and brown, a dark elf (as in, lives underground) stone gray with jet black hair, and so on. Knife-point ears. Average height: 5'8"

Diet: Vegetarian, can't process meat at all, regardless of source.

Faunlings

Deer-like people, ranging visually from elves with horns to satyr-like. They're all one species, despite individual variation.

Diet: Opportunistic carnivores, they CAN eat meat, but mostly eat plants; can't process milk or most sugars past infancy. Average height: 4'10"

Halflings

NOT hobbits. They're small people, deathly pale and young-looking in their base form, with nub horns on their heads. Their appearance changes depending on who they live nearest, from their build to their coloration—a halfling living near wood elves might get taller and coppery with pointed ears, while a halfling near faunlings might have furrier legs, dappled shoulders, and longer horns, etc. Average height: varies wildly

Diet: Obligate ovivores, eat almost exclusively eggs when young and need lots of protein. Depending on who they live near, they'll eventually adapt to local cuisine and build up poison tolerance, but forcing that adaptation to go too quickly can send them into shock.

Orcs

Cat eyes and feline fangs, big and muscular. Like elves, they camouflage based on location, but they tend to be more colorful overall. Average height: 6'10"

Diet: Heavily meat-based diet, they eat most meat raw. Highly lactose intolerant, may occasionally eat plants, but can't process grains.

Dwarves

Short and stocky. Dark blueberry purple-blue by default, will temporarily turn pale on parts of their bodies that are exposed to light for a few hours. Sunlight sends them into temporary hibernation and petrification, making them statue-like. On cloudy days, they're lethargic, and on moonlit nights, their skin gets a little harder, with white patches depending on the strength of the moonlight. Average height: 3'9"

Diet: They have a tolerance for poisons that most races would die over, but they can't stand most acids. Citric acid in particular is poisonous to them. Cavern-based diet.

Brounies

THESE are the hobbits. Short and humanlike, with long, fur-tipped tails. Usually monochrome in color scheme, leaf-point ears. Average height: 3'2"

Diet: Can't process plant fibers properly, all plant matter must be cooked to break it down. Mostly raw pescatarian.

Gnomes

Even smaller than brounies, humanlike, with round-edged pointed ears and generally plump bodies. Average height: 2'4"

Diet: Vegan, with HIGH poison tolerance, they actually need some poisons to live. Mushrooms and fruit make up much more of their diet than leaves do.

[ratmanzhq]

I just found your steam siblings Au and I am in love with it ! Please forgive me for the many questions I have…

1. Would they sometimes use their other element unintentionally? For example, when Kai gets mad (if Jay flirts with his sister) the water pipes break

2. In Season 4 during the tournament of elements, would Chen only require one of the twins to steal both elements ?

I can imagine that the Ninja would try to keep that a secret but Skylor would figure it out while copying Kai‘s powers

3. Will the twins one day be able to use both powers at the same time ?

4. Season 5, will Nya create this big wave like she did in the final episode of that season or will Kai save everyone (or perhaps they do it together) ?

5.When Kai loses his fire, will that also lead to him losing his and Nyas water power ? And how will that arc with Aspheera affect them both

6. Will Kai be afraid of the ocean until he becomes one with the sea ? It feels like a better conclusion of his story with his fear of the sea ? Imagine he was always afraid of it because it has always called for him. He didn’t know what he was hearing or feeling but it scared him, until he under his destiny ��� ( Am I thinking to mich about it ?!)

If you have read through them all, thanks for that ! I love your art and the au is great. Have a nice day ✌️

Oh man oh man oh man

I'm late, buuut

I like the idea, but in the show, they have to concentrate on using their powers and don't really have accidents like that(not that I remember). But in this AU, it would be funny as hell. Like neither can cook because the water evaporites, pans too hot and burn everything and so on. Only after they master their elements can they cook.

Maybe? That or he has like half of each power and needs both of them to have full fire and water, yknow. Chen would go mad scientist on them.

Well, they would be OP if they had both powers, so maybe not. The drama and steaks would be lowered, but in certain settings, they might. Or they only can use both powers at the same time together?

That whole plot in the season would be sooo different. But I like the idea they do it together as a ☆*Family Bonging*☆ moment.

Depending on if they both have the power or they have one power that zip zap between them like tennis. But I feel like they both have the powers, they can't just use it? So Nay would have fire when Aspirah takes Kais fire and the switch their roles (Kai is water ninja/Nya is fire ninja).

I loooove the idea Kai fears the ocean and then becomes the ocean. Like, it validates his fear?? Kinda?? He loses everything when he's the ocean, even if he did it to protect his Family. But he also accepts his destiny and isn't afraid of the ocean anymore? The drama. The angst. Love it. But hearing the ocean his whole life. Now that's an idea. Like fire powers are from Spijitsu mater Uno and water is from the big ass snake. And maybe that affects them! Fire and water in them in constant conflict Ugh. Love it

Thanx my fellow rat for the qustion

[spider-xan]

Thinking about how there is a pop cultural understanding of Jekyll and Hyde as a morally upstanding scientist who unintentionally creates a formula that gives him an evil split personality that is at war with his good side as if they are two different people sharing a body with two forms depending on who is in control versus the actual concept in the novella where Jekyll is not evil per se, but not a great person, and he intentionally created a formula that would allow him to get away with doing mildly unbecoming to actually evil things he wanted to do even if the end result was not quite what he expected, and Hyde is simply an identity he adopts with a changed appearance and possible lowered inhibitions, and he loves being Hyde until the consequences of his actions catch up to him, in which the problem with the eventual involuntary transformations is that he can't escape being caught and executed for murder.

Anyway, I have been thinking about this in the context of Curt Connors and the Lizard in Spider-Man, and how he is often cited as a classic Jekyll and Hyde character - and I know people mean that in the pop culture sense, but he really does not fit the actual character in the novella at all, unless you count that one three issue arc that ret-conned his entire character in a way that contradicted decades of established characterization and history!

Unlike Jekyll, Connors actually is an unequivocally good person (shaking my head to show I disagree that US military are good people, but that the comics do mean it that way), and he absolutely did not create the formula that turned him into the Lizard with the intention of being able to get away with doing shitty things without consequences - it was genuinely an unexpected effect, and unlike Jekyll's positive feelings about Hyde, he hates being the Lizard and gets no enjoyment out of it, and for good reasons; when he does have regular involuntary transformations later, the horror to him is not that he might be stuck that way and unable to continue escaping justice, but that he's going to hurt or kill people and be separated from his family; whether the Lizard is a split personality or not depends on the writer, but regardless, Curt is genuinely not in control of his actions when he's the Lizard, and when he is, he chooses to do good using the Lizard form; I agree that he's far more comparable to a werewolf archetype than Jekyll and Hyde, at least going by the actual character in the novella.

[plague-of-insomnia]

Kuro First-Person Pronouns: Layla & Al

Unlike English, Japanese has many first-person pronouns ( “I”). These often will give you information about the type of person the character is. Are they very feminine or masculine? Polite or brusque? Young or old? Are they higher or lower in the social hierarchy? How close, psychologically, are they to the listener?

It’s not uncommon for one person to use different pronouns in different situations, and that is sometimes the case in the manga, depending on the character.

These ofc get lost in translation and are something I find very interesting. So this series will go through some of the Black Butler characters and show you which pronoun(s) they tend to use in Japanese and what that says about them as a character.

[More about Japanese pronouns]

•私•僕•俺•儂•自分•我•私•僕•俺•儂•自分•我•

Layla | Al : “レイラ” | オレ*

Used By: Young Girls/Children/Adults wanting to sound cute | Casual or Polite: Casual

Used by: Men | Casual or Polite: Casual

[*Also used by Bard and Doll]

I wasn’t going to do a post on Layla originally, since I can barely even use her real name and not call her merely Lolib*tch for attempting to kill my man, but someone mentioned her and “Al,” the other personality inside her, wondering about their pronouns. I got curious, since I couldn’t remember paying much attention to this ~2 years ago when Bard’s arc started.

Lolib*tch has two personalities inside her: Layla and Al.

Layla seems to be the dominant personality, and it’s possible the body is hers (his?). She’s unique as far as the characters I’ve reviewed for this series so far in that she does not use a personal pronoun at all, but instead consistently uses her own name (レイラ ) when she needs to refer to herself.

In other words, instead of saying, “I killed him,” she’d say, “Layla killed him.” In English, this comes off as annoying and arrogant, which is probably partly why the official translation just used “I,” for her, but it has a very different association in Japanese.

In Japanese, it’s common for very young children who haven’t learned to use personal pronouns to use their name instead. So a young kid might say, “Jake wants drink” in Japanese the same way in English a younger kid might say “Me want drink” or “Want drink” bc they’re still learning how to properly use personal pronouns, too.

Because of this association, though, some girls (especially) will copy this because they feel it makes them sound young and cute, like a little kid. It’s possible Yana wanted to tie into this idea with Layla, while also cleverly disguising that she’s actually only one of the personalities in that body. Because Layla as a loli in a manga wouldn’t come off as odd using such language.

However, once Al is introduced, not only does he get a different font, but his manner of speech is very different, including his pronoun. Like Bard (and Doll), Al consistently uses オレ (ore), a hypermasculine pronoun, and his speech aligns with this.

Al seems like a stark opposite to Layla; she’s small and cutesy, he’s much more brusque and masculine. It isn’t clear whose body it is, and whether or not it’s a male body or not. The collie class appear to be all male, so it’s possible Al is actually the body’s owner and Layla is the transplant; we have no way of knowing now.

Perhaps we will see what happens to them when they’re brought back to the reaper HQ.

•私•僕•俺•儂•自分•我•私•僕•俺•儂•自分•我•

This is part of a series. More to come!

Sebastian | Our Ciel | Bard | Mey Rin | Finny | Lau | Grelle | Undertaker | Real Ciel | Blavat | Doll | Agni | Soma | Snake | Layla & Al

•私•僕•俺•儂•自分•我•私•僕•俺•儂•自分•我•

[ X ]

[spellshite]

Ho there traveler! What news does your Tav bring? Some questions, if I may ask!

1) What's your Tav's name, race, class and background?

6) What would the player gradually learn about your Tav in that quest? Would it have relevance to a place / an event / a character / a theme in the in-game campaign?

15) What sort of general decisions would your Tav approve or disapprove of? Are there any particular driving decisions? (ex. saving or raiding the grove, how you handle other companions, dealing with a specific thing they love/hate, etc…)

Cheers~ 🧡

Hello there stranger, and thank you for your questions! Tav and Durges have all something to say~

(asks from here)

1) what's your Tav's name, race, class and background?

Kylech, Asmodeus Tiefling, Illusion Wizard, Entertainer.

Hrodak, Half-Orc, Berserker Barbarian, Haunted One (alt: Outlander)

Xarann, Lolth-sworn Drow, Necromancer Wizard, Haunted One (alt: Urchin)

6) What would the player gradually learn about your Tav in that quest? Would it have relevance to a place / an event / a character / a theme in the in-game campaign?

In Kylech's personal arc, you'll learn how his being cheery and light-hearted is a facade to hide his insecurities, and how he sees himself as just a failed wizard who can use illusion magic only to conjure some trick to entertain people. There's the theme of learning to appreciate oneself and learning that one doesn't have to be powerful to be liked. As for relevant of places and such, you'd learn that he was originally from Elturel but left the city when he was an ambitious young teen who had just figured out he could use magic. And that when the Mind Flayers kidnapped people, it happened while he was travelling with a troupe of artists to Waterdeep for a spectacle (and because he wanted to know the Wizard of Waterdeep).

Xarann's personal arc is about self-discovery and becoming a better version of themselves. He doesn't remember what he was before the tadpole (like all durges), but he grasped hard at the vague memory of his drow life and worship of Lolth. He doesn’t understand the Urge that eats at him: his personal quests are tied to that. Probs would be like "what if Durge was a companion?" kinda thing. You'll later learn that he was of a lower class in Menzoberranzan and then caught and turned into a Bhaalspawn when he was very young.

Hrodak...hm. I think he'd be the one with the hardest personal quests as he mainly embraces the Urge and cares little about who he was before, but there's always the possibility to sway him away from that ofc but won't be easy. But it's possible. And what you learn about him will vary depending on which direction you choose for his personal quest. (I'm still working on his arc as companion tbh)

15) What sort of general decisions would your Tav approve or disapprove of? Are there any particular driving decisions? (ex. saving or raiding the grove, how you handle other companions, dealing with a specific thing they love/hate, etc…)

I might have a mental list of all the approval/disapproval things for all three, but let's try to make it short...kinda?

Kylech: he's chaotic more good than neutral, so there are some things in grey areas that could make you get his approval like successfully deceive/persuade an enemy to let you pass or in general lying your way in/out of situations. There's a long list of things I could list for his approvals (and disapprovals), but I'll try to write only the *main* decisions: side with the Tieflings and help them, if you decide to raid the Grove he will permanently leave after a short dialogue at Goblin Camp where he asks if you're really going to do that... Companion-wise: helping Gale is a big yes, as siding with Karlach and Wyll, if you kill Karlach (either by the river or in the confrontation with Mizora) he'll leave camp. He's okay with helping Astarion against the monster hunter, bonus approval if you pick the "I didn't know you were also racist" dialogue option.

Hrodak: You can get approval raiding the Grove, but he doesn't really care about anything other than killing, so saving the Grove is on the plate bc he can always kill the cultists. It will seem a weird thing but spare Owlbear mother (if he's already in your party) and then make the cub join camp will give you approval, same with Scratch. If you took the evil route, he'd approve of siding with the caravan and killing the Harpers but won't disapprove if you betray the cultists, and ofc letting him kill Isobel at Last Light for a big fat approval buff (and maybe something else if you tried to romance him). Oh and torture Liam and get uh- punished by Abdirak are other approvals, the latter also gives inspiration.

Xarann: he's trying to become a better person, but being a Durge makes him easy to sway. If he joined your party early (either after the crash or around the Blighted Village) he will be strongly against raiding the Grove, but if you pass some checks you could gain the possibility to make him believe it was a means to ends (but will still give you disapproval). Either help him find it or give him the Necromancy of Thay to get a big approval buff. Anything Lolth-related will give you approval (bonus inspiration when you read the Drow Matron text). Choosing the Underdark route will give you approval. Play the Spider's Lyre is another approval. Other things may depend on which direction his personal quest has taken, and for the evil route you have some checks to pass to convince him that embracing the Urge is the right thing to do. There would be a scene where he reveals the Urge in the good route, and you get a lot of disapproval if you downplay/dismiss his concerns.

[raijin-tribe]

✦ Concept Design Work!

Did you know that, in the anime, Freed's Jutsu Shiki has an alphabet? It was created by concept designer, Yoshinori Iwanaga.

In the Fairy Tail Animation Guide Book, he writes,

“I also created new characters for Freed's technique in "Battle of Fairy Tail." I made English capital letters, lower case letters, and numbers based on the ones in the original work. At first, I wasn't planning to go that far, but as I was going to make a certain amount of solid text, I realized that it might end up looking similar depending on the scene. I didn’t want people to say, “Huh? Didn’t I see this before in another scene?” I started to make the numbers, such as four people out, or how many people were left, and I thought it was neat… so I ended up making all of them.”

I only compared the alphabet to a few scenes in the anime, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't really match up with anything directly in the BoFT. Though, some stuff does translate later on in the Oración Seis arc, Tenrou Island, etc. (One of the most notable examples I can think of is when Cana visits Mavis' grave.) But, again, I only looked at a few scenes so maybe I missed something.

It's definitely something to look out for if anyone plans on rewatching Fairy Tail!

Source: Fairy Tail Animation Guide Book [p. 145] Translated Using: DeepL (Disclaimer)

[dragons-ire]

#11 Once Bitten Twice Shy

He took his time selecting the foil off the rack. Deliberated as a means of dragging his feet before holding up the one he usually picked. In the center of the room, his teacher stood with one hand clasped behind their back. Perhaps aware of the ruse, but not commenting on it. Letting their charge take his time.

It wasn’t his weapon of choice - a gentleman’s sidearm, unsuitable for fighting dragons, hadn’t been part of his early weapons training. But, after the injury  - after his back had mended, he’d been forbidden from going back out onto the lines. From all but picking his lance back up.

It was what he had.

He’d grudgingly admit to liking the challenge of it; learning something new. He’d say with less coaxing he enjoyed the time with Ser Erembourc, or at least, had come around to enjoying it. 

Blades drawn, they saluted each other, then began working through drills. Blades tapping the other through a few basic cuts and blocks as a refresher before they got into more serious work.

Breandan put a lancer’s aggression and determination into his bladework. Pushing forward, always trying to advance. Erembourc, as usual, was unfazed. Almost playful, their blocks and counters with a languid quality about them.

A cat, well aware that even a brave mouse is still a mouse in the end.

It didn’t deter their pupil though. Gritting his teeth, Breandan made a forward thrust, Then another. Then - sure he’d seen an opening, lunged into it,

In response, Erembourc picked their feet off the ground and turned backwards into the air.

Something about the arc the older knight made as they somersaulted backwards stopped Breandan in his tracks. He lowered his sword to look in awe  - the athletic feat stirring some distant memory. Something he’d seen similar before in a trio of dragoons that had stayed once overnight while hunting some dangerous quarry. Peppered among the histories and fairy tales he liked to take out of the house’s meager library to read when he had a moment for himself.

A moment later, Erembourc dashed forward so quickly it was impossible to track, much less react to their movement. They knocked him to the stone where he landed, hard. A moment later, there was a blade at his throat.

“You let your guard down.” They peered down at him, orange eyes unblinking. “You weren’t looking.”

“Ser.” Breandan lifted his hands in the yield. “Sorry, Ser.”

One gauntleted hand lowered to help him up. He got to his feet, taking a moment. Dusting off his limbs. Stretching his back with a faint wince. Bending to retrieve his blade.

“Again?” Erembourc asked as they stepped back. Again, unhurried, giving him the time he needed to refocus.

“...aye.” Breandan mumbled. His teeth worried his lower lip in thought. Already trying to devise a new strategy  - he could easily get something like a dragonfly out of the air with a weapon. Was proven against wyverns and lesser scalekin.

A person seemed like it might be somewhere between the two.

“....couldyoushowmehowtodothat?” The question came out unbidden in one quick breath. The flush at the tips of his ears the punctuation; suddenly embarrassed by the hint of eagerness in his tone bordering on desperation

“Maybe.” Erembourc replied, the scarred corner of their mouth turning up just slightly. “Depends on how well you practice.”

They saluted each other again, and began anew.

@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

[onehundredandeleventropicalfish]

Do you know when Delight became Delirium? Was it before humanity? Before the War in Heaven? After?

i certainly have some strong guesses and rough ranges to throw at this question, yes! and i'll include all temporal landmarks i'm aware of while we're at it

i will also say that delirium didn't become delirium overnight, she has said that a couple times in the comic, it was a gradual shift. but for a general sense of when she was going through this, here's what i got:

for our upper bound here, i'm looking to dream's chapter of endless nights. we know delight was still delight by the time the first mortals started existing, because delight introduces herself to killalla. and you might say well that one was a given, bc the endless can only exist because of the life in the universe, but immortals existed quite a bit before mortals! sure, some gods and similar are dependent on the cultures that spawned them, but celestial bodies and dimensions and stardust are all people in this universe. almost everything that has an existence has a consciousness, and they'd already gone through quite a bit of their lives before mortals came along

this chapter also shows us the personification of the human sun! who is the youngest star at the gathering. since we know our sun is about 4.5 billion years old, that's a wide upper bound but in the context of the entire universe, it is at least a concrete upper bound! delirium happened less than 4.5 billion years ago

and that gives us the answer to one of your questions (at least assuming we're talking about lucifer's fall and the creation of hell) - because lucifer gives us a date on that one

if she was still delight 4.5 billion years ago, she was delight 10 billion years ago, and thus yep delight would have been the endless that witnessed lucifer's fall

and speaking of beings who witnessed lucifer's fall, we have an event that hits del's change directly - dream's imprisonment and the creation of his helm (and therefore his sigil)

dream calls on delight to help, and she tells him she can't, she's changing

so what do we know about this one? well, dream describes the endless as all very young, he specifically notes that he was taken by surprise within his own palace, and the dream we know today would never be caught off guard like that in his own seat of power

and since we just covered that dream is at least 10 billion years old, bc he remembers lucifer before the fall, if he's describing himself as young? it's definitely a lot closer to 4.5 billion years ago than it is to the modern day

i think for this reason it's probable that delirium was already delirium by the time humans came along, since that's in the measly millions

(i'm also not sure if there's any examples of dream with his helm that would help prove that one way or the other? but since he gets his sigil after this, we know that delirium was delirium whenever you see dream with his helm)

(he had his ruby when she was delight though, he created that very early on and we see him with it)

(we also know because of this scene that delirium already existed by the time alianora's skerry was created, i don't think that's ever given a time? but game of you is the arc i've looked at the least, so people are welcome to correct me on that)

for our lower bound, the concrete time we know delirium definitely existed by - orpheus. delirium (mania) is at his wedding

as far as a quick google gets me, the earliest account of the story of orpheus and eurydice is about 2500 years ago. it's definitely possible the orpheus of the comics lived quite a bit before that, but since we're aiming for a lower bound, lets say the story started circulating near immediately bc dream is dream, and thus delirium was definitely delirium by around 500BC

(this, along with the fact that the endless' clothing choices are often extremely anachronistic, is why i'm not taking this particular page of her last day as delight as indicative of a specific date - bc this clothing would be after 500BC on earth)

i also, just for interests sake, have one more event that we can place delirium at, which is the funeral for the original despair

that's pretty clearly destiny dream death destruction delirium desire, from left to right, and del has her shaved head

this doesn't actually help placing a date, because the necropolis is implied to be a place slightly out of time (much like the shifting places of the dreaming, or world's end tavern), and the endless certainly are (the destruction that left in the 1990s passes through the necropolis on his way elsewhere and becomes part of a story where everyone else is wearing roughly 17th century clothing), but it's a good landmark in relation to where the other endless were at

so yeah, to summarise, if anyone can nail it down in a tighter range than 4500000000BC and 500BC, feel free to add onto this post! bc as far as i know not much story happens in that timeframe that involves del at all

but yes, she was still delight when lucifer fell, no, she was probably delirium by the time humanity came along, and all the endless are old as fuck

[macgyvermedical]

Abduction + Memory + Time + Fireworks + Dispersal thank goodness they didn't do seven seasons of this naming convention...

Okay folks, even though this aired quite a while ago I just now watched it, so I'm just now writing about it.

Awl - X-Ray + Penny - Duct Tape + Jack - CD + Hoagie Foil - Guts + Fuel + Hope - Wilderness + Training + Survival - Father + Bride + Betrayal - Lidar + Rogues + Duty - Nightmares - Seeds + Permafrost + Feather - Friends + Enemies + Border - Mason + Cable + Choices - Bitter Harvest - Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck - Tesla + Bell + Edison + Mac - Golden Lancehead + Venom + Pole Vault + Blood + Baggage

In conclusion to the nanotracker story arc, Mac and Riley go missing for over 24 hours. When they reappear, not only have they no memory of the previous day, but video footage shows them obeying dozens of commands, including one to fight each other and one to fire a weapon at a mannequin (though based on a line Mac says later, this horrifyingly might not have been the original version of this scene).

Vowing not to allow their bodies to be used against their will again, Mac and Riley decide to undergo a potentially dangerous treatment- exposing the nanites to high concentrations of oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber.

Just because mind control nanites are still pretty science fiction, this post will mostly be about hyperbaric medicine.

Hyperbaric Chambers:

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment is a type of treatment that uses high pressure and high oxygen concentrations to treat a variety of illnesses and injuries. These include things like non-healing wounds, crush injuries, carbon monoxide poisoning, cyanide poisoning, severe infections, and delayed radiation injuries.

A patient is placed into a chamber like the one above (though there are also larger chambers that can accommodate multiple people). Oxygen or medical air is then forced into the chamber, increasing the pressure to the prescribed depth. Depths vary depending on patient needs and the capabilities of the chamber, but can be anywhere from 1.4 atmospheres to over 6 atmospheres.

The high pressure and high oxygen concentration in the hyperbaric chamber allows oxygen to dissolve directly into the blood plasma. This helps higher concentrations of oxygen get to parts of the body that may not have the best circulation (non-healing wounds, crush injuries), give a boost of oxygen to parts of the body that need it (severe infections, delayed radiation injuries), or provide oxygen when the hemoglobin can't carry it (carbon monoxide poisoning, cyanide poisoning). The high pressure helps reduce the size of errant bubbles in the blood stream as well, which can treat the symptoms of air embolism and decompression sickness. The pressure is then gradually reduced to allow the bubbles to dissolve without severe pain.

Oxygen Toxicity:

In the episode, Mac and Riley require very high concentrations of oxygen in their blood in order to poison the nanites. Like any medical treatment, there are risks to hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Most of them have to do with air pockets in the body. These include barotrauma cause by bubbles under tooth fillings, in the sinus cavities, and the air in the inner ear which can expand and contract, causing pain. They can also include oxygen toxicity, which can be lung-related (burning pain, cough, difficulty breathing), or nervous system related (seizures).

In the episode, Mac suffers the latter type of complication when he has a seizure at 3.5 atmospheres. Seizures are a very rare complication (about 0.7 out of 10,000 treatments will result in a seizure), but oxygen toxicity does lower the seizure threshold. This means that for someone with a pre-existing seizure disorder or another reason they might have a seizure (low blood sugar, certain drugs, fever in children, etc...) they are more likely to have a seizure during a treatment.

Mac also was more likely to have oxygen toxicity than the typical person undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy. See, when a person is "at depth" in a chamber, they have a mask they can wear to give them room air (about 21% oxygen) at periodic intervals in order to prevent oxygen toxicity. Since the goal was to give Mac oxygen toxicity to kill the nanites, they likely forewent this precaution, which might have made it a lot more likely he would have had pulmonary complications or seizures.

The Bends:

Because he was in the chamber when he had the seizure, they decompress him and get him out of the chamber. It seems to take only seconds, even though they do hang a lantern on it by saying something to the effect of "we can't decompress him too quickly or he'll get the bends and then we'll never get him back!" (I'd quote it exactly but they took the episode off of Paramount+).

In reality, it would have taken at least an hour to adequately decompress him. If they needed to get him out as fast as they did, they'd need to re-compress him or he really would get the bends (though the bends is usually delayed by 15 minutes to 12 hours, so they'd have some time to get him back to depth). Here is a recommended re-compression table (18 MSW is the same as 1.8 atmospheres):

Has someone written that fic? Cause I need the fic where they have to break it to Mac that he has to go back into the chamber.

Anyway, this was a short one, but I hope you all learned something!

[underratedandoverit]

your colors

~1,5k words

orangekip (orange cassidy/kip sabian)

set in the belt corruption arc/immortal fears. its just fluff. slightly touches on some deeper stuff in the au canon but its like nothing lol. they are just cute cause i had a need. also no i did not proofread this i am tipsy (sorry)

@midnightpretenders0 as promised 💜

on ao3

-------------

Humming quietly to himself, Kip watched as the black coat of paint slowly covered his nails one by one, with shift and precise brush movements. He had practiced this enough times by now to know how to do it effectively and without being too messy, and he was honestly really happy about his handiwork. Nail polish was one of the easiest things for him to bring back to his daily look after he started to recover and the hand jitters stopped being so frequent, funnily enough.

He was very fond of the black color, though Kip wasn’t opposed to trying out more if given the chance. He had talked to Penelope about it, her helping him with choosing brands and picking colors she thought might fit him, eventually getting him to a rather large selection to choose from depending what he was feeling when it was time for a repaint. Still, he most often defaulted to black, occasionally dark red, as those made him felt most like himself, them being his signature colors more or less.

Kip’s eyes rose up from his work as he heard the balcony door being clicked open, with a smile on his face he watched the blond walking out to the morning air with two cups of coffee in his hands. Cassidy had probably noticed that Kip was awake way earlier than him, which wasn’t anything unusual considering his odd sleep habits and schedule right now. But despite still feeling a bit off about everything, Kip wanted to be on the road with him for a bit. It had been too long since he had been able to spend time together with Cassidy, and this was the only way right now that they were able to do it.

As he lowered the cups on the table, Cassidy took a seat on the chair opposite from Kip, watching the hands he had rested on the table as he waited for the nail polish to settle and dry. He had seen Kip do this a few times now, but something about it just fascinated him every single time. Cassidy wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but something about seeing him with nail polish intrigued him. Maybe it was the fact that it was like a gate back to what used to have been, that it was a true sight of normalcy for him, for Kip.

“They look nice,” he finally stated, watching as Kip beamed back at him. Considering the neat work he could do on his nails, even with his non-dominant hand, it was still slightly odd for Cassidy to see the slightly uneven eyeliner the man was sporting. Kip was definitely back into taking better care of the way he looked, taking what little steps he could to go back to the normal of before, and Cassidy was definitely happy about that. But the unevenness of everything was still slightly throwing him off.

“Black really suits you.”

Kip looked down at his nails, nodding his head a little. “Yeah… Though I would love to try more colors some day.”

Cassidy followed up with a nod of his own before reaching for one of the coffee cups, lifting it up to meet with his lips. Kip observed him from under his brows, watching as Cassidy’s eyes traveled from him to the view beyond the balcony railing. It was rare to see the man without his sunglasses, but Kip was glad he was allowed such a pretty view this early in the morning. He was definitely privileged in the way he was able to see all of this, but Kip didn’t complain. He did enjoy watching those blue, still slightly sleepy eyes in the morning sun especially.

The longer he looked at Cassidy, the more a thought rose itself in the back of his mind. Kip kept glancing down to his own nails, then looking back at the other man seemingly paying him no mind, just enjoying the quiet morning moment with him on the balcony. Kip wasn’t sure how he was going to ask him about it, but the longer he kept looking at Cassidy and especially that hand that was holding the coffee cup right next to his face, the more the urge to do something about it took him over.

Finally, Kip pushed himself up from his seat, gathering a rather questioning look from Cassidy at the sudden movement.

“I’ll be right back.”

Cassidy nodded slowly, but Kip was already gone by the time he was done with the gesture. He wasn’t entirely sure what the Brit’s deal was, but he wasn’t going to question it. He had learned to let Kip do his thing mostly uninterrupted, at least as long as it all seemed harmful, to try to help ease him back into daily life and being comfortable with himself and being around others. Other times it worked just fine, sometimes Cassidy had to intervene, but he had learned to just let Kip try and see what came out of it. And these kinds of sudden bursts of activity and inspiration weren’t anything unusual for him, Cassidy was fairly certain he had been like this before too, so seeing him return to that kind of behavior of really wanting to do something or act on things was more than welcome in his books.

Soon Kip returned to the balcony, this time getting a slightly bit questioning look from Cassidy as he watched Kip lower more bottles of nail polish on the table. His eyes traveled from the already black painted nails of the other man to the new bottles, orange and light blue, slightly confused about what he was planning on doing.

Cassidy growing even more so confused as Kip reached a hand towards him.

“Gimme your hand.”

Cassidy hesitated for a moment, but eventually obliged as Kip didn’t seem to let him deny him. He swapped the coffee cup from one hand to another, slowly offering the now free hand towards Kip. The man took it with much enthusiasm, gently lowering it to the table before reaching for one of the nail polish bottles, twisting the top of it open.

Cassidy just watched him, allowing Kip to do his thing. He had to admit that he had never worn nail polish before, and feeling the slightly sticky and cold substance even through his nails was a rather weird feeling. The brush was in very capable hands though he had to admit, as Kip barely painted outside of the nail, working very carefully to make sure his work was perfect. Cassidy observed as he painted every other nail light blue and every other orange, before motioning for his other hand to do the same.

He had no reason to say no. Something about watching Kip work so effortlessly and with such focus was fascinating to him, and it had honestly been so long since Cassidy had last seen him be like this that he couldn’t help but to watch him, stare at him, as Kip focused so hard on making sure the paint job was even and as close to perfect as possible. Cassidy had seen Kip do this plenty of times on himself, but there was something else about him working on someone else. The usual perfectionist was there, sure, but maybe it was the clear extra love and care he was putting on this job that made it seem even more adorable than Cassidy already thought it was.

As Kip finished his work, he finally looked back up at Cassidy, trying to get a reading from his face. The man hadn’t resisted or barely moved during the process and Kip had been so focused on getting everything perfect that it had been hard to say what he had been thinking so far. Cassidy was looking at his hands, from the distance, clearly observing, but he remained silent. And yet, Kip could see the little smile tucking from the corner of his lips on the usually so stoic face, that he was already counting it as a victory.

“I thought,” Kip finally spoke up, as if trying to justify his work after the silence grew too unbearable for him to handle, Cassidy finally looking directly back at him, “You might like your signature colors too. They suit you.”

Cassidy nodded, watching a smile rise up on Kip’s lips. “I think they’re great. Thanks.”

Ever so blunt, but Kip knew he meant it. He stood up, gathered the nail polish bottles in one hand, stopping by the table for a moment as he leaned down, pressing a quick little kiss on Cassidy’s forehead.

“Now don’t move for a while, they need to dry,” he stated, watching as the blond nodded back at him before Kip disappeared back inside the hotel room briefly, in the time he was gone leaving Cassidy to wonder how in the world was he going to finish drinking his coffee though.

[thesorcerersapprentice]

✦ V A L E R I A N O ✦ CHARACTER PROFILE

Valeriano is the main antagonist in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Under the cut, you’ll find his complete profile and plotted arc! *I will update this page as I come up with new details.

TW: Discussions of Trauma, Abuse & Sadism TAG LIST: (ask to be + or - ) @the-finch-address @achilleanmafia @fearofahumanplanet @winterninja-fr  @avrablake​ @iced-ginger-tea​ @wildswrites​​ @tate-lin​ @outpost51 @d3mon-ology @hippiewrites @threeking @lexiklecksi

I D - CARD 

✦  Full Name: Valeriano (Meaning: ”healthy & strong.” In this case, his name is a red-herring. He’s no longer either of these things but tries to keep up the pretence) Marulanda (Meaning: “of the moors”). ✦  Age: 95 ✦  Sex & Gender: Male/Cisgender Man ✦  Sexuality: Bisexual ✦  Physical Description: Valeriano’s eyes have clouded over as a result of age-induced macular degeneration. He receives weekly treatments to preserve his vision, but it’s fading quickly (he can read print if it's enormous). He has very fine white hair and a receding hairline; a square jaw; an attractive, albeit wrinkled, face with a hooked nose; and a deep, handsome laugh. In his old age, he’s become top-heavy, with a protruding belly balanced upon stilt-like (but sturdy) legs. He walks with the assistance of a walking stick and shuffles rather than strides. ✦  Occupation: Master Sorcerer ✦  Unofficial Titles: King of Scorpions, The Dragon, Cunning One.

PERSONALITY

✦  Generous v. Stingy: Valeriano is known to host lavish parties, shower his courtiers with luxurious gifts, and donate substantial funds to various social programs in the city. The idea that he’s a generous person is very important to him, and he is often overtaken by emotionally ecstatic fantasies of his own benevolence (for example, if he walks by an orphanage, he may erupt into tears and heartfelt promises to adopt a child). However, his generosity is selective and limited. In other words, no matter how earnest he feels in the moment, the truth is he’s never going to adopt an orphan. He just likes toying with the idea that he might and being praised for it. He only gives gifts to people (or organizations) he expects to reap some benefit from later. The higher the person’s status, the more luxurious the gift, and the more public the generosity. The lower the person’s status, the less likely he is to lift a finger. He is also known to regret his acts of generosity, which, depending on the status of the person/organization involved, can result in him sending someone to retrieve the gift for him. Additionally, on the rare occasions that he does acquiesce to a request from an individual/organization, they can be sure to receive less than what was requested (again, especially if they’re lower in the pecking order). ✦  Reasonable vs. Mercurial: Valeriano is a brilliant man. He is measured, intelligent and precise. Nothing gets by him. His intellectual gifts are matched only by his social intelligence. He has a sixth sense for navigating (and manipulating) other people; he knows whose feet to step on and whose to avoid. This is the secret to his success and the reason he’s managed to stay in power for so long. However, his measured, astute demeanour is underscored by a quick, ferocious temper that lurks just below the surface. If questioned or criticized, Valeriano will explode. He is susceptible to accusations of stinginess and loathes being out-shone. Even the slightest annoyance will make him rage on a bad day. Everyone in his inner circle is terrified of pissing him off, as these outbursts can and do lead to confiscation of land and titles and, in extreme cases, to executions (he famously exiled his own family after his son/daughter criticized him and was rumoured to have been within an inch of having them killed). The court walks on eggshells. ✦  Sensitive vs. Sadistic: Valeriano’s ability to empathize contributes to his success. He is approachable, able to understand emotionally complex situations, and has a gift for putting people at ease. He knows right from wrong, can recognize injustice, and can sympathise with the affected parties. In other words, he has a functioning moral compass. However, he derives satisfaction from seeing and inflicting pain (of being the author of injustice.) He demeans, humiliates, intimidates, bullies and belittles to his heart’s content. In fact, he’s what Kant would call a “radical evil” character: a person who knows the morally correct thing to do but chooses to do the wrong thing. The pleasure Valeriano derives from picking the morally deplorable course of action is heightened by his ability to fully empathize with his victim (is it, therefore, a sort of self-harm, I wonder? An externalized form of self-loathing and catharsis?) His sadistic side has also led him to lead a secret BDSM life, where he sometimes plays the penitent and sometimes the punisher. His intelligence makes him exceptionally gifted at spontaneous degrading speeches. ✦  Charming vs. Insecure: Valeriano is charming and dangerously so. It’s almost impossible not to like him. When he addresses you, he makes you feel that you’re old friends, that you’re in on the joke, that you’ve been in on the joke for years. He has a slightly naughty, boyish smile, even in old age, which is particularly attractive, and he’s always up for a little (relatively) harmless misbehaviour (hallucinogenics, wild parties, etc.). When he’s not giving orders, he trips and fumbles over his words in a disarming and endearing manner. However, behind his confident, socially apt (even vulnerable?) facade, he’s deeply insecure. He can’t stand not being the centre of attention and has a desperate need to feel admired at all times (which is why he is more charming towards younger adults since they’re less likely to have the experience and wherewithal to judge him). The slightest criticism, disagreement, or perceived slight can set him off, which makes working with him very difficult (he has to be the one who initiates conversations around how things might be improved and even then, the speaker has to tread very carefully). Valeriano is also envious, petty, and somewhat paranoid. He likes sycophants, as long as they’re clever about it (if someone tries to suck up to him too obviously, he’ll fuck them over).

AESTHETIC:

✦  Personal Style: A boho maximalist to the core, 90-year-old Valeriano dresses to impress, confound and mesmerize. That means multiple rock-star-style rings on each hand; multiple tattoos, including a tarantula tattoo either on his forearm or hand (I haven't fully decided yet); scarlet, velvet dressing gowns in the morning; an assortment of carved and engraved walking sticks for every purpose (including some NSFW walking sticks which I will not discuss here for reasons lol); oversized, black fur evening coats; an infinitude of embroidered robes of various deep colours (also used as evening coats); designer sunglasses; handmade shoes (particularly, suede & velvet imperial loafers. His favourite pair are red, and almost all of them have red lacquered soles); an assortment of tailored suits (corduroy, velvet, wool); silk and wool scarfs; silk handkerchiefs (which he tucks into his front blazer pocket for added style); multiple shawls, including woollen ruanas; and, white t-shirts for when he's staying home or feeling casual. Basically, cross The Last Lovers Left Alive, Crowley from Good Omens, and Steve Tyler from Aerosmith with David Attenborough, and you're starting to get the vibe. Valeriano is always the best-dressed man in the room, and his signature opulent style serves to reinforce his social status. He's your cool granddad from hell. (*Appropriated from this post) ✦  Interior Design: A messy and compulsive collector. Think Brambly Hedge... from hell; a cottage core for demons, if you will; stuffed animals in various horrifying poses, carpets layered upon carpets layered upon carpets, tables overflowing with trinkets, an infinitude of ticking contraptions, walls of every colour, paintings depicting torture set alongside pastoral landscapes, etc, etc. Nevertheless, Valeriano wasn't always this way. Like Altaluna, he once preferred sparse environments, only over-decorating specific rooms in his home as 'stage sets' to further his political, social and economic goals. However, with age, his eyesight and hearing have deteriorated significantly; by the time The Sorcerer's Apprentice begins, he barely notices the chaos, or if he notices it, he doesn't notice it enough to be overwhelmed. This doesn't mean that his gifts have been lessened by any means, only that his methods of access have changed slightly (more on this in an upcoming post on the magic system, maybe). Finally, it's important to note that Valeriano's living space is cluttered because he's looking for something; a great majority of the objects littered around the house are his failed attempts at finding it.  (*Appropriated from this post)

✦  Misc Moodboards: Young Valeriano Moodboard / General Moodboard

RELATIONSHIPS

ALTALUNA Great-Niece | Ambivalent Love-Hate Dynamic At the novel’s start, Altaluna is a stranger to Valeriano. She’s not her father, so there’s no nasty history to navigate with her (or so he thinks), but she’s still family, which allows him to view her as an extension of himself (abstractly as his legacy). The fact that she’s young and inexperienced plays in her favour because he doesn’t perceive her as a threat. He sees himself in her, loves her and resents her for her youth, for her brilliance, for the fact that she’s here for his power (even if it’s at his invitation). CUCUFATE Experiment | Ambivalent Indifferent-Disgusted Dynamic Description to come.

INSPIRATION

✦ Edgar Allan Poe’s Imp of The Perverse: This short story tells the tale of a man gripped by the so-called "imp of the perverse," a self-destructive tendency to do exactly what he shouldn't precisely because he knows he shouldn't do it. A large number of Poe's characters take this tendency to the extreme. Valeriano does so to a lesser degree. Like Poe's characters, he enjoys doing the wrong thing because it's wrong, but, unlike them, he won't put his life or his career at risk to satisfy this urge. So, who ends up suffering from Valeriano's perversity? Easy. Only those people who have the misfortune of being beneath him on the socio-economic ladder i.e. only those incapable of defending themselves against him.  ✦ Logan Roy from Succession (TV): The difference is that Logan doesn’t seem approachable to me, and I’m not sure if he’s capable of empathy. He’s a lot more square than Valeriano, who is, in my opinion, also a more perverse character. Logan is a reptile, but Valeriano is warm-blooded. Once you’ve understood that Logan is utterly incapable of human feeling, you can pretty much see through all his behaviour (as Shiv and her brothers do). That’s not the case with Valeriano, who is sometimes genuinely kind, generous, soft and sympathetic. He is a ‘Jackal and Hyde’ personality. For this reason, he’s far less predictable than Logan. Nonetheless, they’re very alike in other respects; they’re both ruthless, cutthroat, greedy, grandiose, ego-centric master manipulators. ✦ King Lear from the play of that name by Shakespeare (Literature): Like King Lear, Valeriano is facing his death and is slowly losing his mind. Like King Lear, Valeriano has a Cordelia, a young protogé he spurned, then embraced (Altaluna). Unlike King Lear, Valeriano doesn’t experience a complete change of heart because, unlike King Lear, Valeriano is morally perverse.

✦ Joseph Campbell, The Hero with A Thousand Faces: “The figure of the tyrant-monster is known to the mythologies, folk traditions, legends, and even nightmares, of the world; and his characteristics are everywhere essentially the same. He is the hoarder of the general benefit. He is the monster avid for the greedy rights of ‘my and mine.’ The havoc wrought by him is described in mythology and fairy tale as being universal throughout his domain. This maybe no more than his household, his own tortured psyche, or the lives that he blights with the touch of his friendship and assistance; or it may amount to the extent of his civilization. The inflated ego of the tyrant is a curse to himself and his world- no matter how affairs may seem to prosper. Self-terrorized, fear-haunted, alert at every hand to meet and battle back the anticipated aggressions of his environment, which are primarily the reflections of the uncontrollable impulses to acquisition within himself, the giant of self-achieved independence is the world’s messenger of disaster, even though, in his mind, he may entertain himself with human intentions. Wherever he sets his hand there is a cry (if not from the housetops, then -more miserably- within every heart): a cry from the redeeming hero, the carrier of the shining blade, whose blow, whose touch, whose existence, will liberate the land.”

© 2023 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. All rights reserved.

[team-heavenly]

And Now‚ An Interlude

…Also known as: I just finished playing through the Sky Peak arc and Oh My God, the chapter is going to be such a mountain (har har) of labor to pull together that I’m tossing out some crumbs in the meantime 😅

This may or may not be something I do going forward. It really depends on 1) how long it’ll take me to play through the game and do all the prep work‚ and 2) if I have anything interesting or noteworthy happen on the days that are non-plot related and purely explorations or job requests. If I do make more of these‚ they won’t be linked in my pinned post because it’s not really important enough for that. Think of it as little tidbits of treasure left for you to find!

Another reason I decided to whip this up: I needed more storage space before climbing Sky Peak and I was kind of close to leveling up in team rank from Gold to Diamond? So I knocked out four days of missions to make that happen. (Theoretically it might have taken only three‚ but I fell 20 points short on the third day 🤡)

Now‚ with that little disclaimer out of the way…

We recruited the God of Time.

…Okay‚ not really LOL. Just one of his species. But honestly‚ for a level 12, he was not that bad at all:

His abilities were Frisk and Rough Skin‚ the latter inflicting 1/2 the damage dealt by physical attacks. Which partially explains this heartstopping dynamic during the final battle of main. (But I still have no idea why Seed Flare‚ a special move‚ made Teresa get the counter.)

Now‚ I don’t recall exactly if I picked this up in a dungeon or if it was a reward for a job‚ but one way or another I got my hands on Volt Tackle‚ and boy when I say it was tempting—

That’s eight stars of power‚ y’all. And both of our gals could learn the move.

But… well‚ the more I thought about it‚ the more I wasn’t certain it made sense. As a refresher‚ here are Andrea and Teresa’s current moves:

Andrea: Blizzard‚ Smokescreen‚ Octazooka‚ Mach Punch

Teresa: Mud Slap‚ Dizzy Punch‚ Chatter‚ Seed Flare

Let’s break that down:

Blizzard and Octazooka are both decently strong to begin with and benefit from STAB. Blizzard has a 3+ boost in power from Ginseng. And‚ as we know‚ it’s been a godsend for the absurd amount of monster houses in these dungeons.

Mach Punch (functionally the same as Quick Attack) has been too dang useful with the two tile range. You saw what happened the one time I tried to go without one. Maybe it’s a different story now that we’re a lot stronger‚ but…

Similarly‚ Smokescreen and the Whiffer status is way too OP‚ and a key part of more than a few victories in boss fights.

Dizzy Punch and Chatter also have STAB and both have the chance to confuse‚ which again can make or break survival in certain situations.

Mud Slap... Okay yeah this is a weak move‚ but the drop in accuracy with successive hits can really make a difference. This also has a 3+ Ginseng power boost‚ so it’s not like it’s infeasible. Plus I don’t want to throw those ginseng boosts away if I delete the move.

Which leaves us with… Seed Flare:

Same amount of power as Volt Tackle‚ only one star lower in accuracy‚ and no recoil. And sure‚ both Andrea and Teresa have the Rapid Healer IQ skill‚ but I’ve had too many close calls with unexpectedly hard hitting moves for me to be comfortable with recoil damage.

So‚ regretfully… into Blastoise Storage the TM went. Maybe another day.

Just casually throwing in one of the Seven Treasures as a reward for an Outlaw Job. (I already have this one so I didn’t take it.)

Also‚ who’s Magnezone?? Our cop is Spinarak‚ duh!

The names of the Zero Isles have been revealed!

Great Copse = Zero Isle North

Clean Earthworks = Zero Isle East

Brilliant Landmark = Zero Isle West

Sad Camp = Zero Isle South

I’ll be frank‚ I’m probably never going to these dungeons because they aren’t part of the story and the job requests are usually insane. But hey‚ now we know!

We also picked up this exclusive item! Between this and the North Torc (Rock type moves restore HP instead of dealing damage)‚ Andrea is becoming GOATed. Now if only I could get back that five star healing item for Teresa :(

What’s this?! It’s Wrestler Walrein with a steel chair!

And that’s all I got for now. The goal is to get the Sky Peak chapter out in the next week or so, so look forward to that! And many thanks for your patience.

~Mod May

[raviposting]

Decided to do a reading roundup, inspired by @batmanisagatewaydrug​ ‘s own one here! Posted uhhhh like two and a half weeks after January but hey, it’s my blog and my roundup. 

January Stats  Books Read: 30-31, depending on how I rank one book Average Rating: 3.49 Top Genre: Mystery  My storygraph if you wanna follow me and see my reviews (though I’ll link them for each book in the ratings) :) 

This month I read a ton of books but none of them really hit for me - not to say these books were bad (well. Some were LMAO), just probably not the proper time for me to read them lmao. All the books will be listed under the cut (some with comments) but here were the ones that really stood out! 

Standouts: 

As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson: 4.75/5 This was the end of the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy and GOD what a great series! I’m not going to sit here and pretend this is high art but there’s this special something in this series that makes me love it SO much. Is it Ravi Singh? It might be Ravi Singh. It’s probably Ravi Singh. 

The Wonder State by Sara Flannery Murphy: 4.5/5 I don’t wanna spoil this one because it’s an ARC but I was so pleasantly surrpised by this book. I just think it fucks.

The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera: 4.5/5 The first book made me sob like a baby and this one did make me cry I admit it. :’) While the first book is probably always going to have the biggest place in my heart, this was a fantastic read, and I LOVE that he went back to show us the very first Death Day and how it impacted the first person who was ever called for it. I definitely have more questions on the actual process so if he wants to pull back even further to the creation of the concept I’d gladly take it lmaooo

The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: 4/5 So this is why I’m at 30-31 books - I read The Ultimate Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy that has all five books in the same book; since I finished the first book in January I’ll go add it here and it was just *chef’s kiss*. Zany, funny, I finally get that damn “the answer to life is 42″ joke. For some reason I’d die for Arthur Dent. Etcetera. 

All Other Books: 

Non-Fiction:  I didn’t have a number scale for two of them; I felt a little bit weird rating both of them, so I’ve just linked my reviews instead!

The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac Shakur: Review

Spare by Prince Harry: 3.25/5 Sometimes he has points but good lord the privilege was ;aklfj;lafka;;flakj bro can we stop defending the monarchy lol

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: 4/5 I don’t know why but I thouhgt these were fiction until I actually went to go check out the book lmaoo

Naturally Tan by Tan France: 3.75/5

If You Tell: a True Story of Murder, Family, Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood by Gregg Olsen: Review

Fiction: 

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: 3.25/5 I know, I know, I’m sorry. Just wasn’t really for me. 

This Spell Can’t Last by Isabel Sterling: 3/5 It’s a short prequel book for a series I really had fun with called These Witches Won’t Burn! The prequel was fine. I wouldn’t suggest you pick it up without knowing the series but yeah

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley: 3/5 I’m kinda surprised I rated it that high in hindsight lmao

Gaslight by J.E. Rowney: 2.5/5

Paper Planes by Jennie Wood with Dozerdraws: 2.75/5 (the art was lovely though)

The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda with Alison Watts (translator): 3.6-3.75/5

Burn the Negative by Josh Winning: 3.5/5

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman: 3/5 (again, sorry lmao)

Not By Blood by Chris Narozny: 3/5 

Miss Muriel and Other Stories by Ann Petry: 3.5/5 I think I need to stop reading short stories because they’re always at around a 3 and it’s just not always a fair rating. Some stories I absolutely LOVE. Others? Ehhhh not so much. 

Why Are You Like This? by Meg Adams: 4/5 

It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover: 3.75/5 tbh, I think the more I think about the book the lower I’m going to rate it, but for now I’ll keep this original rating

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion: 3.75/5

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen: 4.75/5 Beautiful art as well <3

The Private Apartments by Idman Nur Omar: 3.5/5

I Know What You Did by Cayce Osborne: 2.75/5

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll: 3.75/5

Trouble in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon: 3/5

The Last Man by Vince Flynn: 2/5

All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover: 3.5/5 This couple needed hardcore therapy and most importantly a divorce 

The Devil’s Music by Nathan Page: 3.75/5

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder: 3/5

[xikyuu]

hey for no reason in particular can you send me some dallas references :3 either picrews or written descriptions or something

gnawing at the bars of my enclosure UH YEAH YEAHYEHAYEHA I CAN faoms at the mouth—

picrews of dally. ill dm photos of people’s at that look similar instead of showing bc i dont know the artists names 😭 same w the picrews but,.. yeah

one of those is from gacha life but shhh

a general written describes uhhh lemme look in my notes for this:

before we start imma just say that bc dallas is a self-insert, their general appearance before all the magic n lore n stuff kicks in,, he looks like me! which is something ive done when i got better self-esteem honestly. so i could dm a few photos of myself and you could tweak them around however you like

red/ginger hair. length and style depends on what stage of life hes at. if its wilds/walls/rebellion, its gonna be short but like.. shoulder-length short bc hair-styling was a big thing in kismá culture & also he likes it. after-death? it changes bc he can shape-shift but normally its long-ish and in a ponytail. not anime-long, like normal realistically long, maybe touches the middle or lower half of his back. sometimes there might be a white streak or several from stress that he doesnt get rid of

yellow/gold eyes

if he’s in his Guide/cryptid form, he also has multiple Eyes all over his body and wings (face examples in picrews, wing examples would be watcher!grian art, body examples could be tamari from song reckless battery burns).

there may also be Eyes floating around him in a halo if he actives those powers.. not common though

the more common halo! just a fancy spiky golden one tbh. not a boring circle, no he can shape-shift!! it can look so special and cool!!!

6 wings + the ear wings. thats the basic amount in the cryptid form but he can also yk. shape-shift. theyre normally angel wings but he will change them to different bird wings to fit in. they were originally going to he osprey wings but i decided to change it to angel wings which are really jist white wings.

cryptid form also has a demon tail thats gold bc its cool

many many scars even when disguised as human. he feels more connected to his past and his humanity that way.

he wears a bronze compass necklace that has lore implications from the wilds arc and the copperhead “gang”. i have this necklace if you wanna see the photo.

bc he can shape-shift, he can open up piercing holes and close them easily. however he only prefers piercings in his ears. most of the times its just the normal ear piercings,,, 2 of them like how some people get so he can have a pair of dangly earrings and them studs for complementary

for clothing, he normally wears a tight black undershirt for the pressure bc its a habit and relieves anxiety. like a weighted blanket. reminds him of a bulletproof vest.

he wears cargo pants often bc he likes pockets. its good to have pockets yes. you need to carry around stuff in case something happens.

he will also wear flow-y clothing sometimes like a big t-shirt or maybe a skirt if he feels pretty good that day. he loves dresses but sometimes has issues actually wearing them

loves wearing necklaces and bracelets,, especially when they jangle. reminds him of home. rings,,, they feel weird between his fingers so if he gets one as a gift, he’ll wear it on a chain instead.

i could send clothing examples if you want if you need more

hope that helps idk aaa