#I just forgot to add this particular term to it

[burgiethewriter]

When tumblr's horrible awful bad blocked tags system shows you a post with the person you blog mentioned and it's like "Oh hey [worstie] I thought you were dead"

[py-dreamer]

@furornocturna, @violetjedisylveon

hey! Remember that shadowalkers au wip a while back?

And I mean damn, like what a leap? Amirite?

(Just realized I forgot Mac's pouch, Mei, & Wukong's beads

...oops

Pls forgive me I'm a forgetful klutz and am lazy)

Ok so well this be quite the turnabout from the last sketch um:

I included the shadows on the floor, it is called shadowalkers for a reason, and added the wee faces in them like I did for the first piece

The background was a pain in the ass and I tried a lil something something with the lighting/lens flares. Something similar to the lighting in the piece I did where they're cuddling

Now everyone might say multiply on the layers does miracles but can I just saw 'add glow' and 'glow Dodge' are my new best friends? Srsly they give that damn good zest that it needs

I had so much trouble just doing Mac's face in particular. Like the contrast between the dark scalera and light irises was too much even though I did it before and it worked then-

And like his proportions were way off even though they matched the f*cking sketch which looked fine and they didn't match up with Wukong's at all-

Then his hair looked too big and clunky like a large chunk rather than hair and cause Mk's head was blocking it, I couldn't shade correctly-

AND I WAS STARTING TO BLOODY LOOSE IT I WANTED TO PUNCH THIS LIL BI-

But then I made his head bigger and it all worked out 'u'

Here's the og sketch for comparison:

I will admit though, I am quite happy with how my art style has progressed over time and this just might be one of my best pieces.

Genuinely to any of my old marshiemallows, thanks for sticking around! And I welcome any new marshiemallows joining me on my little art adventure so here's love from a random artist on the internet who appreciates your presence to her wacky ramblings and drawings

Oh and btw, I will start to get more busy so pls relax ur expectations in terms of posting schedules (not that I really had one anyways but regardless-)

That birthday challenge was fun but man did it do a number on me

And especially cause I wanna try to focus more on writing the next chap of mah fic 'When the sun sets forever' on ao3

(Shameless plug but which you should totally check out btw, angsty monkies, time travel, Macaque bullying train, it's so much fun)

Oh! And for my fellow marshiemallows who have frequented the dreamscape a couple of times, not guaranteed and I am a wee noob with absolutely no experience in this very little chance I'll do this and it's mainly to see any interest in it so pls don't expect much-

BUT.

[asherashedwings]

FNF CONNECTED UNIVERSE LINE UP Part 2: The Girlfriends

Yippee, new line up. Didn't have as much trouble on this one either.

Idk how much yapping I'll be doing, since I don't really know how much I have to talk about.

But still

Close ups and yapping under the cut

Alternate Universe Girlfriends

So just like with the Boyfriends, all these Girlfriends are technically all the same person, just from different universes. So I tried some elements of their designs consistent between them all, which stem from my base game Girlfriend design.

Unlike BF, there's a good bit more to talk about with GF since I draw her pretty different compared to her in-game design. The main thing is her more apparent demonic traits, like her horns, tail, and purple splotches. The explanation for this, in universe, is that she doesn't have the full power to cloak herself yet. See, her and her family are "music demons", which gain their power by leeching from music, usually a particular genre. GF hasn't really decided what genre to leech from yet, so she isn't as powerful as she could be. She also has a coat cuz uhhh. Silly. Things like her demonic traits and her coat (Or something of similar shape like a feather boa) would be the things to connect all the AU GFs.

Moving on, we have Herself, who I was looking forward to drawing the moment I started this line up cuz I had just. Such a clear vision of her in my head. Although it was a struggle to put that vision on paper.

It's hard to put the exact vision into words, but it's like having her form become less defined as it goes downwards, until it's just the wispy silhouette of her hair. There's a certain balance you have to strike with the wispy nature of her form and the trademark Girlfriend hair shapes, and that's what ended up being the biggest struggle. Once I figured that out though, it was pretty simple. Shapes were the most important thing since her coloring is pretty monochromatic. Not counting the black, this design only utilizes two different colors, both being shades of red. Her design includes a feather boa instead of a jacket, mainly cuz I completely forgot about that rule when I got to her and the boa was a lot easier to add than a jacket. It also makes an interesting shape I think.

Next is Funkadelix, and she really wasn't too hard. The main thing was giving her traits from my main GF design, which wasn't hard at all. For her horns I referenced her Halloween attire. Her tail too, sorta, but I mainly just referenced the thinness of it.

There isn't all too much to say about MDM. There wasn't a lot to change or add. Main addition was the boa, which was admittedly kinda fun to draw in my style for that AU.

Now onto Mix. If you saw my post yesterday about the doodle/sketch pile for this line up, you might've seen a design concept I did for Mommy Mearest, and that was literally just for Mix's design. Except it was virtually pointless cuz I didn't really include any aspects of my MMM into my Mix design. It's fine though, I think she turned out fine. Might take another pass at her in the future when I ACTUALLY have my MMM design figured out.

Lastly for this section, HD. I actually had quite a bit of fun drawing her. Don't really got much to say about her though. I'm pretty sure she was the first AU GF I gave a boa, so she's the one that started that. It was originally going to be all white, but my good good friend @minxtheeenby suggested it fading into black, and I really like how it turned out.

"Side" GFs

So first is Belladonn (B-Side). I know I wanted her to appear more sophisticated. That's just always how I imagined her, even back well the mod was still a simple recolor remix mod. There's also something so fun about classy characters that are also dangerous. We need more regal women that carry around bats full of nails. I had a lot of trouble nailing (pun not intended) her hair. The main thing that sets it apart from the traditional GF cut is her side bang (idk hair terms, I think that's what it is), but besides that, not much else. So I had to mess with it a bunch to get something I liked.

Amelia's (D-Side) design was pretty straight forward. The main thing was just adding a few more details to spice it up a bit. Which just happened to be buttons on her jacket and lil heart patterns on her knees. I also wanted her to be short. Cuz idk, she gives short vibes. A lil idea for her that isn't showcased here is that I imagine her pigtail buns actually turn into her horns when she is in her demon form. (Bad doodle, but just to show the concept:)

Lizzy (G-Side) was kinda fun to come up with ideas for. Most of her design is taken from the fake teasers for the mod, cuz silly. But because her mom is some sort of light spirit.. thing, I wanted to mix that in somehow too. So that's where the white highlights on her horns, hair, and tail come from, but that's not all it added.

She also has pretty funky eyes, that are somewhat inspired by Shara Ishvalda's eyes

Also, in that doodle, I imagine all of her hair is floating, I just. Didn't feel like drawing her pigtails cuz I mainly wanted to highlight the eye thing.

The New Yorkers

With Shaya, I mainly added a bit of stuff to her outfit, since the original is too simple with my design style. I basically just added a bat wing shape motif to her design. Cuz. Cuz vampire. This is also present in her ear shape cuz I didn't want them to JUST be pointed, cuz I wanted her to stand out a bit more from the demon girls. So different ear shape.

I don't really know how much Azalea (Neo) changed. I know I changed her hair a bit (to further differentiate her from GF) and I altered her top a bit but I THINK that's it. I did change her and her family's lore a bit though. Cuz I made them robots. THATS RIGHT, THIS IS WHO I WAS TALKING ABOUT WHEN I WAS TALKING ABOUT MAKING ONE OF THE GIRLFRIENDS A ROBOT. Azalea's pretty android-esc, but I imagine her parents are just full on robots. I can't wait to design them. But yeah, I imagine Azalea is much more human looking because she just wants to be part of human society and her parents love her so they got her the more human looking body so she could live out her dream. We love supportive parents *explosion emoji* *explosion emoji* *explosion emoji*

Not much to say about Grace. I just gave her a bit of melanin cuz apparently she's mixed. That's all I really changed tho.

I don't think I changed Judith MUCH. Her face is a bit more. Wolf-like? Idk. I also TOTALLY didn't reference Clawdeen Wolf's hair when designing her. Totally not.

Vikki (Minus) is grouped with the New Yorkers cuz. There's only one of her. Unlike the Minus BFs. I just made her a lil more goth, since people literally call her "Goth GF". Also made her hair a bit more blocky. cuz. cuz the minus symbol. Shape *sparkle emoji*

Who the Fuck Knows (Miscellaneous)

So starting with Cherry (Swappin'), in this AU she's actually GF's younger sister. She also already has a music genre to leech from (rap), so she's better at concealing herself. Not much else to say, I did not change her design much.

Nothing much to say about Barbara either, I barely changed her.

Now Astra (Starcatcher) was fun. While I was initially sketching her, I realized that both her alien species and the Alien Hominids have the same style of classic antennae. So I decided "Huh, what if their species are related." So I did that. Not much else to touch on besides that.

Tootsie belongs to @minxtheeenby and is part of their Sunday Night Snackin' AU. I drew her with her wings and tail out, which aren't usually out, but uh. Silly.

Belletrix didn't really change as much as I was expecting her too. The main thing was just. Making her an imp that could exist in the Hellaverse. Which was pretty easy. And then I just made shit up when it came to her outfit cuz it was kinda hard what was going on with that in the first place.

Next is Gabriella, YIPPEE. So she's the GF from Plants vs. Rappers. Vastly different appearance wise though, cuz, yknow. Can't have her look too similar to GF. And just like I did with Dennis, I decided to base her on another zombie from Neon Mixtape Tour: The Glitter Zombie

Idk, I thought it'd be cutie patootie. And it was. I really like how she turned out. I got lazy when it came to her flag, I did not feel like drawing that shit.

Last but not least is Ashley, the GF from my own AU. Which does not have a name. Idk, it's mainly just an excuse for me to draw anthro Monster Hunter monsters. But yeah, she's an intersex Leostra (Gender neutral term for the Teostra/Lunastra species that @sleepymushrxxm came up with) and I love her.

That's all I got. Gonna hopefully start working on the Pico's here soon.

[matenr0u]

Oblivion, the Riku Keyblade: Translation

Oblivion/Bygone Memories

過ぎ去りし思い出Sugisarishi Omoide

Here’s my entry point for a bit of a deep dive into the ‘Riku Keyblade’. I have a few points jotted down about Oblivion, since it’s one of my favourite keyblades, but I’ll start with the name of it.

First it’s important to establish that despite being the Riku Keyblade, it’s actually symbolic of not just Riku alone but specifically Sora’s relationship with him. As the series progresses it gains a level of importance to other characters too, but being a Sora enjoyer I tend to regard Roxas and Xion like two little hamsters that escaped their pen and need to be stuffed back in, so I’m not sure if I’ll overly talk about them.

On to the name: I like the sound of the already established translation, ‘Passing Memories’, but I find ‘Passing’ is a word much too vague compared to ‘Bygone Memories’, so as a personal preference I’ll refer to it with my own interpretation unless someone more fluent in Japanese demonstrates another name that rolls more easily off the tongue.

Anyway, let’s get into the meat of this thing and how I reached this conclusion.

EN: Oblivion

JP: 過ぎ去りし思い出Sugisarishi Omoide

過ぎ去りし = Sugisarishi = Bygone/Long ago/Departed

思い出 = Omoide = Memory/Memories 

過ぎ = Too much/Passed/Past

去りし = Gone

Bygone Memories

Generally you can think of the meaning like, ‘a keyblade representing our shared memories of the distant past.’

Another interpretation more specific to the breakdown of their relationship could be, ‘our fond memories which have been left by the wayside.’

An example of how this phrase is typically used: 

過ぎ去りし日の思い出 

Memories of bygone days

I wonder if the keyblade’s name is a contraction of this phrase.

I don’t get the feeling that 過ぎ去りし思い出/Sugisarishi Omoide implies literally confused/forgotten memories as much as the EN name Oblivion does; moreso a nostalgic, or melancholy, reflection on good times between two people which occurred long ago.

I think both the EN and JP names can be interpreted to suit Sora and Riku’s connection to this Keyblade well, but there’s some nuance I’d like to get into.

忘却 Bokyaku is the term used in the JP name for Castle Oblivion — 忘却の城/Bokyaku no Shiro (Castle of Oblivion) — this word translates much more literally to Oblivion, a state of confusion or having forgot, than 過ぎ去りし/Sugisarishi, which is more like ‘long since passed/departed’. 

For this reason I get the idea that the keyblade was named Oblivion in EN because it sounds badass, still gets the point across, and goes well with Oathkeeper (which also has some liberties taken in the translation, presumably because that too sounds cooler to a western audience*).

There is a similar example within Kingdom Hearts’ usage of the word ‘memories’, too. In contrast to 記憶/kioku which is used for Memory’s Skyscraper — and sounds closer to, plainly, ‘one’s own memory/recollection’ —, the term 思い出/omoide usually denotes a memory or memories shared between people. It has a much more reminiscent tone of fond memories (or, perhaps, a particular memory?) shared with another, which fits well with the purpose of this keyblade and adds a bit of nuance that the EN name Oblivion lacks.

*You can also see this reflected in KHIII Oblivion’s default shotlock, named ‘Bladefury Eclipse’ in EN and ドーンエクリプス/Dawn Eclipse in JP. The JP name is much more meaningful to Sora and Riku and it’s a shame this was cast aside for cool points. ‘Dawn’ is written right there in kana, why didn’t they use it?

Meanwhile the shotlock ステラインセプション/Stellar Inception — which is shared with its sister keyblade Oathkeeper — remains identical in EN and JP.

I have Thoughts about the item required to obtain Oblivion in KHIII, known as Proof of Times Past in EN, but for now I’ll offer a simple translation.

EN: Proof of Times Past

JP: 過ぎ去りし証 Sugisarishi Akashi

Certificate of the Bygone

Or, ‘Evidence of Long Ago’

This one checks out, but some EN players seem confused about this certificate being called Times Past while the keyblade is called Oblivion. Hopefully my translation notes on the JP name shed some light on it.

And the item description:

EN: “A certificate awarded to those who have endured the most difficult trial of them all.”

JP: 「険しい戦いを制した者に贈られる証」

`Kewashii tatakai o seishita mono ni okurareru akashi'

“A certificate awarded to those who have overcome an insurmountable battle.”

Not much to add here either, but as a game dev myself I really enjoy the tiny gameplay detail of Sora literally being rewarded with Bygone Memories for pushing through ‘an extremely difficult conflict’— if you’re familiar with other Sora & Riku centric KH analyses, you can probably see where I’m going with this, so I’ll save that tangent for another day.

That about wraps up this part.

A final note for those who subscribe to the necklace theory: Bygone Memory — as in, a singular fond memory shared between two people long ago that may have since been cast aside, is an equally valid translation of the JP name.

This is just a fun little rant into the void, if I missed anything or made any mistakes, feel free to add on to it.

[ronearoundblindly]

Can I get a U for Mr. Ransom Drysdale? 👀

From this ask game and no particular version of him I've written. Just general headcanon. Also, pretty straightforward in terms of it's not very dirty to explain...

U - Underwear

Boxer briefs, hands down. Simple, stretchy, convenient, and comfy. They must, however, have the designer label on the waistband. Absolute MUST, I tell ya.

I'd say he doesn't care about the quality, but that's not totally it? He does not care how long each pair of underwear last, even if he paid like $100 a pop. Did they have the designer name or logo or design where someone could see it if he lifted his arms enough? Then great, here's his credit card. He'll take ten.

Thank you for asking!

oh, OH, OH! I reread the prompt and forgot to add what sort of underwear he'd like on someone else!! JK that bit will go under the cut... [short]

He likes the idea/look of lace but finds it fiddly. Ran doesn't want to have to be delicate with it. He likes straps on things so he can pull and maneuver you around. No preference as to leather or satin or whatever, just straps.

Biiiiiig fan of the crotchless lingerie, that guy. Easy access and he's not concerned with never seeing it again because he ripped something.

Also doesn't enjoy the mouth-feel of lace. He's okay with lace in pictures or outer garments/layers, but he doesn't want to feel like he's flossing when his mouth is on your nipples...or...you know...

One of those photoshoots? The ones where you're in a lot of different lingerie and looking like a pinup? Yeah, throw all the lace you want in there. Just make sure the photographer gives you the negatives or deletes HER copies, because it will be a 'her' or you're not doing it.

[Main Masterlist; The Root of All Ransom Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

Did I...Did I just manage to write something about Ransom without using a single f-bomb????

Call the squad, gang. Ro ded.

[celticcrossanon]

BRF Reading - 14th of February, 2024

This is speculation only

Cards drawn on the 14th of February, 2024

Question: What is the palace doing about the sussex.com website?

Edited to add in a new picture with the correct cards on it - I forgot the Eight of Swords originally

Interpretation: There is something new being planned to deal with the Harkles.

Card One: The Page of Cups

This card shows Narcissus staring at his reflection in a pool of water. The energy of this card is saying 'Narcissist' to me. The palace knows they are dealing with at least one (if not two) narcissists, and they are planning their response accordingly.

In a more general sense, pages are messages and Cups are emotions, so this card could be referring to the headlines in todays papers about the Harkles not respecting their agreement with the late Queen.

Card Two: The Five of Swords in reverse

The Five of Swords is about conflict and not being able to win for losing. It is also my card about doing your duty.

In the reverse, this card tells me that the palace has finally realised that Harry and his wife are not going to do their duty and they are not going to abide by the terms of any agreements made by them. The Harkles will keep on creating conflict and drama until they get what they want or until their reputations are so damaged that even they realise it.

In the reverse, the conflict meaning of the Five of Swords is supposed to go to reconciliation and remorse, and making amends. I don't get that energy from this card. What I do get is the energy of the Five of Swords intensified - revenge, anger, aiming to win and take back what they see as theirs at all costs, and this energy is coming from the Harkles. All their talk of reconciliation is just a front so they can manipulate people to get what they want.

The general public can see this, hence why the Harkles can't win for losing. The good news is that it seems like the palace can finally see this as well. One of the meanings of the reversed Five of Swords is cutting your losses, and the palace may finally be at a stage where they are prepared to do this.

Card Three: The Ace of Cups

This is the card of a new relationship, a new beginning in love, pregnancy/children, or a reconciliation in a relationship.

I am not getting reconciliation/we are sorry/we want to mend bridges energy from this card.

I am getting children energy from this card.

I drew a clarifier for this card, and it was the Ace of Wands in reverse. The Ace of Wands is a phallic symbol, so when it appears in reverse that card is telling me that this is about the issue of the Harkle children and their parentage - in particular, who is their father,

The Ace of Wands in reverse can also mean blocks and delays. I think the investigation into the Harkle children is being or has been delayed.

The Ace of Wands in reverse can also mean not having any energy, which is exactly the reading I am getting on the King at the moment, and I can't blame him for that - cancer treatment is exhausting.

I think - and I could be wrong - that the royal family is relying on the news about the children to remove the Harkles and their poison from the orbit of the BRF. They are simply enduring the Harkles's spite and malice until they have the information to wipe the Harkles off the face of the earth, reputation wise. I could be wrong about this, but I can't think of what else that "children - not the father" energy could mean.

Card Four: The Eight of Swords

This is a card of stress. The BRF is currently feeling very stressed about the Harkles and their antics. I get an energy of bracing for more stress in the week to come with the Harkles in Canada.

There is a message in the card for the BRF. The Eight of Swords is about being trapped mentally. One of the ways out of the trap is to change your thinking and to change your expectations of others. This is the message to the BRF - change the way you think about the Harkles. Stop caring about what happens to Harry. Stop falling for his emotional manipulations. Stop expecting him to act with any type of honour or decency. Remove emotions, step aside and think about this logically and strategically (two words associated with the suit of Swords). Stop wringing your hands and start fighting the war with the aim to win (and flatten the opposition).

Underlying Energy: The Ace of Swords

This card indicates a new way of thinking, new ideas, and new strategies. It says that the BRF is finally starting to see Harry and Meghan clearly and to make their plans accordingly, relying on hard facts and their behaviour in the past as a guide to their behaviour in the future.

With the King out of the way/sidelined by his cancer treatment, we may finally see a logical strategy for dealing with the Harkles coming out of the palace (no offence to the King, but he is not a logical thinker, especially when he is dealing with family members).

Conclusion:

At the moment, the palace is relying on emotional messages to deal with the Harkles. They seem to be waiting for news to be released about the parentage of the Harkle children, which they expect to put the Harkles out of commission. This news has been delayed and they are enduring until it can be released.

However, it appears that the idea that the Harkles are one or two narcissists and must be dealt with as such, and that they can not be trusted to do anything that they say they will do, has finally made its way into plans for the Harkles, and a new strategy is being developed with those concepts firmly in mind. I don't know when we will see this strategy being implemented, but I am so fed up with this situation that I hope it happens soon and that it is effective.

[yuurivoice]

with the new reveal in the the L+F episode, there have been some small timeline issues within the fandom’s understanding, which makes me curious

would you ever consider making some sort of online timeline (such as within carrd or another website making site) in order to avoid confusion?

I've been considering my options there. Having some sort of evergreen post SOMEWHERE at the minimum would be great.

My real goal is to have all of that sort of info on the channel proper, and have it logical and easy to find. I have some thoughts on how to accomplish that.

Situations like this one in particular are special cases because typically I circumvent the confusion by writing it into the script and adding clarity that way. But, cliffhanger. So even though within the next minute or two of the next episode you'd have all of that information..........we're looking at like...weeks or a month away from that actually happening for the audience.

I think where I fucked up this time was that I didn't really consider how we've had issues in Auron's content as well where it's been so long since the establishing of the context, they forget that like...certain events have happened in a specific timespan, and what events then happened after the fact. Currently, Lost & Found is the furthest ahead chronologically, in the Spring-ish of the new year that follows the events of BS3 + Auron's Escape series. It's not unreasonable for folks to have forgotten specifics like that because it has taken literally years for me to get here, so if I had really thought about it, I would have given a little more to work off of and re-establish some of that information.

But, fun fact......I decided to do this particular reveal on a whim. It felt right. I wasn't sure WHAT to do with the audio itself, I knew we'd see Casper's car for the first time, and I thought that Charlie couldn't actually be that dumb. Certainly not if he had enough time to start thinking too much about things. Then I was like......ya know? What if I just...did a little more than I thought I'd be doing with this audio.

There are quite a few bandaids that need to be pulled in terms of reveals and connections leading into Shattered. Felt like the right time for this one, and raise the stakes for everyone by marrying these two particular threads.

I've struggled particularly with how to convey that Auron hasn't been peachy between Christmas and Spring-ish times. I thought about diving right in but realized that people could be thrown off. I thought about adding some context on the front end of Shattered, but we're not quite there yet.

And while the hardcores have caught onto the brief, viney threads that connect Charlie to Auron at this time, being more deliberate about it right now at this time feels good.

I am very amused at the general reaction. So amused, that I wrote the bulk of the next episode last night right after the premiere, because this is too good not to capitalize on. lol

Edit: Forgot to add that I'm aiming to have my timeline solution in place for the Echoes of Evalas drop because we're going to run into the same exact issue with Evalas things. EoE takes place around Shattered in the timeline, but various Evalas spinoffs are years prior. So it's paramount that there is some sort of resource to point people towards. I've been thinking about creating a "Guide to YuuriVoice" playlist that would have a fresh channel trailer, series synopsis, broader timeline clarification, and whatever else might be needed that I can think of. I just need something to be finished for me to go ahead and get that rolling.

[smoshsfavoritepizzaplace]

Good to know that I'm not alone with my 2018/2019 observations!

I do wonder what happened in 2017 tho because Shayne acted... well, weirdly. And especially around Courtney. He's typically pretty chill with people (even Olivia), so it's pretty notable when he feels tense around someone.

Btw, I already sent a similar ask a few minutes ago but I'm not sure if it went through. If it did, feel free to ignore this.

(the same timeline anon)

Other ask sent in by anon: Hey, you already managed to answer my ask about year 2017 so please, ignore the previous ask concerning it. :)

I’m still answering this because I just realized something I could add to it. When I mentioned that Anthony left in 2017, I 100% forgot that Shayne said when he left, he was fresh out of a breakup and he was, I think he said, in autopilot during that time. I believe he’s also mentioned that whenever he is upset, he tends to shut down so I’m sure he was pretty I don’t wanna say angry, but more in a “not so great” mood since I think it was a longer term relationship. As someone who also shuts down when I’m sad/upset, I shut out almost everything/everyone, so I completely understand. Why was it so noticeable with Courtney in particular? Well in my personal experience, I shut down from people I’m closest to even more, so even if they weren’t head over heels for each other during that time, you can still acknowledge they were really good friends. So I think it’s easier to pretend to be all happy go lucky with people you’re cool with but the closer you two are, it’s most noticeable. Not saying he wasn’t/isn’t friends w/ the squad but since they’re married now, even it was platonic, they obviously had a different kind of friendship with one another. I hope this makes sense lol

[amysubmits]

Have you ever found yourself in a heated argument with your dominant partner? If so, how do you navigate this situation, especially when rules might be involved? For instance, if you accidentally lash out or swear during an argument, what would be the protocol? Additionally, what's your perspective on swearing in general within the dynamic? Is it acceptable as long as it's not directed at the dominant partner? Lastly, if one partner struggles with quitting smoking despite efforts, is it fair to enforce a no-smoking rule with potential consequences, or how else could this challenge be addressed within the relationship?

Sorry for the delay on this, I forgot about it until another ask came in that made me check my inbox on here. I have childhood trauma that basically caused me to get detached from the 'fight' trauma response. I have a really hard time getting myself to feel primary anger for similar reasons. When others are heated (even strangers) it causes me to shut down and fawn (the trauma response). So, I've never really gotten into a back-and-forth heated argument. The most I've ever done before 'shutting down' is about 3 snips. For example, I snip at him, he snips back, I snip again and then shut down if he snips back. We've never had an argument get more heated than that as I just shut down and freeze or fawn. In general, I think the questions you're asking are totally dependent on the relationship and what has been agreed to. In my opinion, if you're anywhere close to arguing, you should be in a "meta-talk" meaning you are not seeing the sub as having less authority in that particular conversation. Some couples have a policy where someone has to announce or request a meta-talk, others will just say if we're talking about certain topics (including our dynamic) then those conversations are being had as equals in authority regardless of whether we've specifically announced or requested a meta-talk or not.

What's your perspective on swearing in general within the dynamic? We are small town midwestern people who were raised by rednecks. My family is made up of a lot of truckers, factory workers, etc and they swear a lot. I remember being shocked as a kid when I got old enough to realize that "mother fucker" and "cock sucker" had more meaning than I had realized when I was little (which was to basically just think they were made-up words that mean something similar to 'damn it')...but I knew those terms for YEARS before I was old enough to know anything about sex. I don't use the more crude phrases like that (at least not with any regularity), but CD doesn't care if I swear. It's just normal to us for adults to swear in casual settings. so, swearing has never been involved in our dynamic in any way. I wouldn't want to swear AT him in a disrespectful way (like calling him names or insulting him) but that's just about respect it's not specific to swearing or not.

Lastly, if one partner struggles with quitting smoking despite efforts, is it fair to enforce a no-smoking rule with potential consequences, or how else could this challenge be addressed within the relationship?

I personally think it's best to avoid using D/s to try to resolve addiction issues or mental health issues. Smoking is certainly an addiction, often physically AND emotionally. I would not suggest addressing it with consequences as that's likely to add in guilt which can just make the situation even heavier emotionally than it already is. If you're going to do anything with it D/s wise, perhaps some sort of reward system for when they are doing well, or supporting them with alternative coping methods. For example, if they know that they have a spike of desire to smoke when they feel stressed, you could implement some sort of routine for what they do when they notice their stress spiking, like texting you to let you know that they're in need of emotional support and encouragement or something.

[blackjackkent]

I didn't notice before that the little altar where Jaheira's timeless body spell is sitting has a big carving of a deer behind it. That's a nice touch.

Interestingly, I don't think Rakha really has a sense of what this is about. Her understanding of magic is very instinctual and comes from witnessing spells in practice and the way different things interact with the Weave. This sort of notation would not mean much to her - which is good, because it means it makes sense for her to ask Jaheira about it, curious as ever.

And hey! It's time for a completely unrelated dialogue that I forgot Rakha hadn't had yet!

"The cub speaks."

"Cub?"

Jaheira blinks, and then laughs ruefully. "Huh," she says, with an air that indicates she did not entirely expect the word to have come out until it already had. "Not so much a term of age or affection," she goes on, "as simple old habit. You object?"

(A/N: This is kinda fun. :P Hector had not yet met Jaheira's kids when he had this conversation with her. Rakha has a somewhat different perspective."

Rakha thinks this over. She has heard Karlach use nicknames for people, including herself, so this isn't particularly puzzling - but she is surprised, nevertheless. Partly because she simply wasn't expecting it - and partly because she has already heard Jaheira use the term... to the children upstairs.

Not a term of age or affection... This is, Rakha realizes with abrupt clarity, a lie. And the reality of that fact leaves her off-balance.

I do not deserve these things. These bits of trust, these kind gestures.

Then again... Minsc is like her. And Jaheira values him this way - and more.

"I've been called worse things," she says gruffly after a long pause.

Jaheira's eyes narrow with a flash of humor. "And will be agaqin - but now I shall mutter them under my breath out of respect."

-----

"I found a strange scroll in your sanctuary," Rakha tells her after a while, feeling a sudden pressing need to change the subject. Magic is easier for her to talk about than... whatever that was. "Something about a timeless body."

Jaheira sighs dramatically. "The threat of spanking never kept the children from poking through my things," she says dryly. "Why should it deter you?" A pause; she looks past Rakha at the scroll on the table. "It is a ritual. Or it describes one at least. Practiced by druids of certain esoteric circles. If they be learned and powerful enough, the practitioner of this ritual might slow their aging. Extend their life well beyond its natural reach."

A frown tugs her mouth down at the corners. "In greener days I might have been strong enough to do it. I might be yet, with the right preparations..."

(A/N: I stand by my existing and developing headcanons about this in my particular Jaheira timeline. She initially started looking into this ritual with the intention of extending Rasaad's lifespan - and incorporated both existing druidic tradition and Rasaad's own Timeless Body feature as a monk into it. She was successful enough to give him more years - but not by any stretch enough for him to live to match her, or to see Rion grow up. And now he's dead, and the ritual's only remaining use, should she manage to complete it, is for her to continue to fight and work and struggle indefinitely, forever. This is a sorer subject, in this scenario, than she makes it out to be in game.)

Rakha, of course, is immediately fascinated by this description. She doesn't really care about the practical elements of extended lifespan or living forever - she just wants to hear about the magic. "So you plan to do it?"

Jaheira looks away. "I make no plans," she mutters. "Only contingencies." She flinches, seeing some censure in Rakha's face that is not actually there. "Do not look at me like that," she adds sharply. "I have been content to see the span of my natural years, a privilege far too few in this world can claim. I do not speak of clinging to life for its own sake. I just... look back on that life's work, and I wonder... is it done?"

She paces a few steps back and forth in front of Rakha. "The Dead Three plague the world still. The city still falls prey to small minds like Gortash, or lost souls like Orin. It is every Harper's hope to be a light that drives out darkness..." She trails off. Her eyes flick to one of the storage cases at the far end of the room. "But I've lived long enough to see so many of those lights burn out, while the shadows cling stubbornly on."

One of her fists clenches at her side. "Knowing that - isn't it our duty to burn on if we can? To fight for as long as we are able?"

Rakha blinks, unsure how to respond to this - but Minsc, without hesitation, steps into the silence.

"Minsc does not understand the question. You will live forever, Jaheira," he says earnestly.

(A/N: Oh my GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. 😭 )

Jaheira barks a sardonic laugh. "Of course I will, berserker," she says dryly. "And you will sprout soft and golden locks from that shining skull."

Rakha hesitates. This whole conversation feels a little beyond her, all but the mechanics of the magic in question. But she takes a stab at it. "It's only natural to want more life," she says slowly. Certainly those she have killed have always struggled desperately to live... she remembers flashes of thousands of murders and the battling of her victims... they play in her dreams every night.

Jaheira looks at her sideways, then nods. "Of course," she says thoughtfully. "It is our way. Just as it is death's way to meet us along the path, gently oblivious to whatever it is we *want.*"

She sighs, turning to look at the scroll again. "I spent most of my life fighting those who tried to escape their end," she goes on, more to herself than to Rakha. "Ketheric, Irenicus, Sarevok... that is not company I would like to keep. In truth, I had put this ritual from my mind, until Last Light."

Her jaw works at the sudden unpleasant memories. "Trapped in that darkness, I turned to my research again. What if I was a little stronger? As fast as I once had been?" Her gaze flicks to Rakha. "Then you came, and made the question moot. But I kept this. Just in case, I told myself. A final resort. Perhaps you were not the savior you seemed. I had learned better than to think of life as some simple tale, after all. There is no guarantee of happy endings, or true heroes."

She huffs a heavy breath out. "I believe that still. But when I look on all we have achieved since, I wonder... perhaps it is not heroes we need. Only people who are willing to try. I do not know what manner of story that makes, but I do know that without an ending it would be no story at all."

She walks to the makeshift altar, places a hand on the opened scroll, then slowly and methodically rolls it back up. "So I will accept mine, when and however it comes. As for this city's story, well..."

She glances over her shoulder at Rakha with a faint smile. "Well, that is entirely your problem now, cub."

Trust again. Trust. It always comes back to trust, to that which Jaheira and Wyll and Minsc and Lae'zel and all the others offer her in spite of how little she deserves it. But this is a new level altogether.

If I die, I die, Jaheira is saying, because you will carry on.

Rakha swallows. She does not know if she can believe that - and yet it is so clear that Jaheira does, even after watching her thrash against the bloodlust in her brain, sprawled in her bunk night after night after night. "I'm... honored you think of me that way," she says hoarsely. The words feel slightly stuck in her throat.

Jaheira snorts. "Hah. Do not thank me for slinging a weight around your neck. I might start to feel bad." She shrugs, watching Rakha's expression intently. "I do mean what I say. But I am also a Harper; in every honeyed word there is a hook."

A pause, and then she smirks. "But I do not plan on going anywhere just yet. And besides... you still have a tadpole in your skull. You are almost certainly going to die first."

Somehow that's the first thing she's said that Rakha can wholeheartedly agree with.

[influenzalake]

You can Bake!? - Jon Kent x Reader

Reader loves to bake, Jon loves to eat! (And he loves her!!) a match made in heaven. now if only reader would see that too!

femelle reader / she her used / TW: topic of food / 1300 words

- - - 

Sigh, there she is again. Walking up the steps to his house with something that smells AMAZING in her hands.  He can hear her footsteps, but dares not to spoil the surprise. What can it be this time? Chocolate? Red Velvet? Cake or cookies? Only one way to find out. The anticipation is killing him as Y/N hasn't even rang the doorbell yet. He tries not to act too excited, but the minute her finger pushes the button, Jon is (literally) flying down the staircase. He opens the door before the ring tone can finish (oops) and welcomes in his best friend ever. Who looks perfect, as ever. Okay maybe he has feelings beyond just friendship, okay maybe definitely. Jon tries to play it cool, just a coincidence that he was walking past the door the moment Y/N pressed the bell. Smooth Jon, Smooth. Jon?     Jon?

He snaps out of his inner dialogue to see Y/N staring back up at him.

"Uhm..   may I come in?" 

Dang it! She was just standing there waiting for me this whole time! Jon you big oaf! C'mon man we gotta do better if-

"Of course sweetie, come on in.", his mom says. "Jon honey move over-" and lightly pushes him to the side to invite his longtime friend and obvious crush in the house. 

Jonathan is barely recovering from his first daydream daze, but goes along with whatever his mom said. Lois Lane to the rescue, again. 

She gives him one more push to follow after Y/N, but not without a quick "Look alive Loverboy!", as she goes to the family room to retrieve Clark. 

He finds Y/N in the kitchen setting down her latest creation. She unwraps the foil and looks around for 

"Ooh what is it this time Y/N? It smells so good!" 

Y/N pipes up with joy, "Blueberry Lemon Cakes! They're one of my newest recipes I was trying out. I didn't know if I wanted to add some extra vanilla or-"

And there she goes. Jon has no idea what she's talking about but wow keep going Y/N. With her sweet voice, shining appearance, and even sweeter smells Jon is in sensory overload. A big rumble snaps him out. Wait, was that him? 

"Oh my goodness you must be hungry! And here I am just rambling off let me get the spatula- OH I forgot! Shoot, I'll be right back"

"wait, no. don't go." he wants to say, but the words don't come out. His eyes chase her figure and she hurries out of the house. 

Meanwhile his parents walk in with knowing expressions, well- his dad has his eyes completely locked on the cakes but equally knowing nonetheless.  

Not a word is said, but the message is clear. Mama Kent and Papa Kent have some work to do. Looks like Clark has a phone call to make. 

"Here I am!", Y/N reenters with her special baking spatula passed down from generation.

 "Now let's get this party started!"

Y/N carefully cuts the cakes into delectable bites and passes them out. She waits expecting full reviews and criticisms, knowing she can get the best out of a family of star studded journalists and hearty Kryptonians. Y/N loves sharing her baked goods and with the quality of her baking, the Kents have granted her an all access permanent pass. Y/N is incredibly skilled in her craft and has built a long term loyal tasting panel. She even brings treats for Krypto! All safe and homemade of course. The Kents adore Y/N, but one Kent in particular has feelings that are more than just platonic. 

Jonathan Kent has it bad, but she has it all! With her beauty, kindness, her skills, her love to share, and she is invested in her hobbies! Jon wants to be open with his feelings, but doesn't want to lose or mess up what they have. What if she never comes over to visit again! He wouldn't just miss out on her awesome baking, but one of his best friends. He has other friends of course, but this isn't like Damian, Dick, or his brother Conner. He cares for Y/N in a totally different way. 

He loves the way she laughs when she beats him at video games, he loves the way she can talk for hours about anything she likes, he loves when he invites her for a day at the park with Krypto. She's always so good with him! Yet, now she's gone. The gift has been passed out and Y/N went back home. Jon feels a bittersweet taste not in his mouth, but in his heart. 

This happens every time. Every time Y/N comes, she has to go. 

This is how Jon found out his feelings were more than the usual. He doesn't just love her for her qualities or how she gives him food or whatever. He just loves... HER. He is always thinking about her. Here or not. Planned or unplanned he wants to see her and be with her. 

Clark comes back to the family room after washing dishes to find his son, looking outside, moping in the same spot he was in as Y/N's car pulled out of the driveway. 

Yeah, it's time to make a phone call. 

* * * 

About 2 weeks later, Y/N gets a text on her phone. 

"Hi Y/N, this is Clark. Kansas City is playing this Friday and we're going to have a get together, would you like to join?"

"Sounds fun! I'll be there :)"

Friday comes around and the house is full of hustle and bustle! Ma Kent and Pa Kent are here, and Conner brought Krypto! (Good thing you brought some dog cookies!)

This time, you brought your tried and true recipe. Orange White Chocolate Chip cookies. Made with real oranges! 

You greet everyone and settle in. You start a nice chat with Ma and Pa about your recent academics and Conner asks how work is going. Krypto gives you kisses and sits down between Lois and Clark. 

During halftime, Clark speaks up, 

"Jonno, why don't you get the dessert from the kitchen?" 

"Okay, dad."

When Jon comes back, you are not prepared for what you see and smell. 

A full platter of intricately designed peanut butter cookies. 

Your surprise only doubles when the platter is set down and consumed rapidly, and Conner goes

"Wow Jon, these are good! Great job!"

and his family "MMmM"s in agreement with faces full of cookies. 

You are taken back by this! JON CAN BAKE? AND HE DIDNT TELL YOU!? You feel taken back and betrayed!  Oh the humanity and kryptonian! How could he hide this from you? Why did he his this from you??

You turn to Jon with a multitude of questions when you see his face as confused as you are, but he's probably just daydreaming again. 

"Jon, you made these???", you ask

You can only hear the TV and Krypto panting before Conner elbows Jon,

"uh Yeah! Yes. Yes I did."

Cardinal sin of the Kent family, to lie- but Clark feels like this falsehood can be forgiven. He asked Ma, Pa, and Conner to come over and they're all in on it. Ma actually baked the cookies, but now Jon has something to bond with Y/N over. No more looking out through the window! His son has a chance to get closer to the girl he loves, he'd better not lose it! 

"Jon, they're delicious! You have to give me the recipe. Or maybe we can bake together some time!"

...

...

Another elbow from Conner later, 

"Yes!  Yeah Yes I'd love to"

"Cool, we can be baking buddies!"

And all the Kents feel like they just hit a touchdown. 

As the game plays on and the Y/N keep munching, Jon can't help the stupid smile plastered on his face. 

His heart is fluttering, but thankfully only his brother and father can hear it. 

[roserysttrpggarden]

Hi there~! So If you haven't heard, Wotc has put out another unearthed arcana for One DND, 5.5, whatever its being called. In it came two new subclasses. The Brawler Fighter and The Path of The World Tree Barbarian, both of which I am not a fan of, but the world tree barbarian struck a nerve for me in particular cause it feels like WOTC has no idea what the subclass is supposed to be. So lets go over it

Vitality of the Roots is all the world tree barbarian gets at 3rd-level, it reads:

When you activate your Rage, you regain a number of Hit Points equal to your Barbarian level. At the start of each of your turns while your Rage is active, you can choose another creature within 10 feet of yourself to gain Temporary Hit Points. To determine the number of Temporary Hit Points, roll a number of d6s equal to your Rage Damage bonus, and add them together. If any of these Temporary Hit Points remain when your Rage ends, they vanish.

Okay cool, this is going to be a support barbarian, that isn't really a thing outside of maybe storm herald, cool feature right? Well let's get into the next feature, Branches of the Tree:

While your Rage is active, whenever a creature you can see ends its turn within 20 feet of you, you can use your Reaction to summon spectral branches of the World Tree around it. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your Proficiency Bonus + your Strength modifier) or be teleported to an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet of yourself or in the nearest unoccupied space you can see. The space the target teleports to must be on a surface or liquid that can support it; otherwise, the target doesn’t teleport.

Now we're a controller style barbarian? The features alright but idk, it feels weird going from healing to control, lets check the next ability, Battering Roots:

Tendrils of the World Tree extend from your melee weapons. While you wield any melee weapon, your reach with that weapon increases by 10 feet, and when you hit with it, you can activate the Push or Topple property even if you’re using another Mastery property with that weapon

In case you forgot, the push property allows you to well, push enemies, and topple allows you to knock people prone, it's alright-if not particularly synergistic with the previous feature, but maybe they can bring it back with the capstone. Travel through the Tree:

As an action, you touch a Huge or larger tree or a Teleportation Circle to create a link through the World Tree to a Teleportation Circle somewhere else on the same world or on another plane of existence. When you do so, you can specify a target destination in general terms, such as the City of Brass on the Elemental Plane of Fire, and you and up to five willing creatures within 30 feet of you appear at the Teleportation Circle closest to that destination. If a Teleportation Circle is too small to hold all the creatures you transported, they appear in the unoccupied spaces closest to the circle.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest. If you’ve run out of uses of this feature, you can expend five uses of your Rage, choosing to activate this feature

instead of Rage.

Yeah, the capstone is basically a ribbon feature. I guess it'd be really good if you're playing in a multiversal campaign but otherwise, this feels really bad as a capstone. Like you go through the effort of getting your barbarian up to 14th-level (Btw, most campaigns at most go to 10-11th level, even WOTC's own adventures do this) just to use teleportation circle. Overall, while I love the idea of a controller barbarian (Especially since most barb subclasses focus on enhancing existing barbarian things, mainly tanking and striking) but the world tree barbarian just feels like a weird mess. So I decided to make my own version.

My version of the world tree barbarian is now focused around creating rifts in reality, which act as alternative positions the barbarian can attack from, say you have a band of goblins that are 30 feet away from you, but your rift is right next to them, you can choose to attack from the rifts position rather than your own, I choose to keep the pushing and pulling via Branches of the planes, the original capstone I converted into a 10th-level ribbon. And the capstone allows you to have two portals active at once, along with swapping places with existing rifts. Admitively i'm feeling a bit lukewarm on the subclass atm, but let me know if I did a good job, or if I made the worst subclass of all time.

That's about all I got for today, I might do more subclass reworks in the future so keep an eye out for that, for now I wish you farewell from the garden. Stay cool and make some homebrew.

[mitsu-of-the-moon]

Turtle pile, but this time with a good ending

Ok so. Disclaimer. This is my first fic ever and its about @somerandomdudelmao rottmnt AU. (this shows how much I am into this AU, it's seriously a masterpiece)

I was thinking about the arc just before all the turtles (past and future) reunited... and I had an idea of how the turtles would react to a sick Future!Donnie.

anyways, here it is!

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

After coming back to life in another time branch, bringing back his brothers from the apocalypse and concluding that death is fixable, Donnie forgot that he is not actually omnipotent, God or a perfectly oiled machine.

This grounding truth became obvious when one evening, while he was working on the time-machine, his movements became sloppier, and a pounding headache started to grow from the sides of his head. The irrational part of his brain (a very little part of his brain to be honest) brought him back to his time branch, in those days in which the symptoms of the krang infection started manifesting. But no, he shook his head as if to obliterate that stupid irrational thought. It’s not possible that the krang infection remained in his body, both Barry and Mikey confirmed it.

Now, he just had to hide it from the rest of his brothers, which could be quite a challenge given the fact that they now lived all together and there isn’t an active apocalypse that is trying to kill them at any moment to distract them. Nice.

 Thankfully CJ was spending the night with their younger versions and April.

But really, it wasn’t that bad, after running a few quick tests on himself he found that the reason of his unwellness lied in the fact that his body became accustomed to the terraformed New York’s weather… aka as dry as the fucking Sahara Desert. Right now, in the normal New York it’s almost winter and let’s just say that the sewers’ humidity index is a tad bit higher than what he is used to…

Suppressing a few coughs, the softshell decided that it’s time to go to catch a few hours of sleep. He stood up from his chair, missing the heat and pressure it provided against his shell. Galileo… he hasn’t worn his battleshell in ages.  I have to add it to the list of things to do; now it’s not the right time. He lethargically made his way to his bed and carelessly flopped down. It was in that moment that he realized just how tired he was, his eyes burned from looking at his computer’s screen too much, his head was now throbbing in a very piercing way and all his body felt heavy. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was utterly exhausted he would have noticed a big red figure looking at him from the doorway of the lab.

When Leo woke up after a long and (finally) continuous 8 hours of sleep, he wasn’t feeling as relaxed as he thought. The slider looked at the time twice to confirm the amount of hours he actually slept, but not even a truckload of confidence could erase the deep feeling of anxiety in his gut. The anxiety wasn’t unusual; it was a feeling that he had to come to terms with during the difficult times of the apocalypse. What bugged him was that he hadn’t felt this particular type of anxiety for almost two years. The twin sense. But Donnie was ok; he was the one that brought him, Mikey and Raph to safety, he wasn’t frail like the last time he saw him, he didn’t have eyebags that were darker than the night sky. He. Is. Ok.

Groaning, he decided that it was time to get up, at least to shake off his irrational thoughts and to see with his own eyes that his brother was indeed fine and healthy. When Leo arrived in the kitchen he was met with the mouthwatering smell of Mikey’s pancakes. God he didn’t even realize how much he missed them. Raph was already at the table  eating the pancakes, he smiled at the view, he would have never thought this moment could ever be possible, but here we are.

“Hey, Mr sensei? You done staring? Do you want the pancakes or not?”. The box turtle was leaning on the stove, his air put up in a bun, on one hand he had a spatula, on the other a ladle with some pancake batter in it.

“Good mornig hermanos! Michael, my dearest brother, right now, to my eye, you are an angel that has just blessed my day. I would die for just one piece of your pancake”. His orange brother chuckled and poured the mix in the pan. “No more dying, please. I’ll make as many as you want; go sit down”.

The slider made his way to the table, sitting in front of his older brother. He looked around, trying to find some trace of his twin.

“Has Donald already eaten?”

He knew that the answer was going to be negative; Donnie has always been a night owl, never too eager to wake up early in the morning. What he didn’t expect was his red and big brother to freeze mid bite.

“You ok big guy?”

Sensing the mood shift, Mikey approached them, putting a comforting hand over the snapper’s left shoulder. “You know you can talk to us Raphie” he smiled.

Raph sighed putting down the fork and placing his right hand over Mikey’s.

“I know… I just…” He sighed again, this time looking directly at Leo. Were those worry lines on his brother forehead? “'Look, I’ll bite the bullet or whatever. I have been having trouble sleeping, you know, with all the ‘I haven’t slept in more than 5 years' situation, and it’s fine! It really is! I know that it’s difficult to adjust, but I kind of liked my old routine. Back in the apocalypse I used to patrol the base and make sure you all were ok… it was the least I could do”.  The snapper lowered his gaze, frowning deeply. “The only person that Raph had some trouble looking after was Donnie… at the time I didn’t realize it, but at some point, he started to lock the lab the night… I guess that was when he started getting sick.”

That was a stab in the chest for all of them. No one had noticed their brother’s decaying health; it took Casey to physically make contact with Donatello’s ribs to get them to open their eyes at the situation. Leo didn’t particularly enjoy thinking about how irresponsible of a leader, of a brother, he had been... everything could have been avoided if he just thought about doing periodic checkups on his brother, it wasn’t that absurd, but he overestimated the softshell’s capabilities of taking care of himself. Right now, though, his twin sense was screaming at him, and he had a feeling that Raph wasn’t just expressing his feelings in a little breakky therapist session. “Raph… look at me.” He searched his big brother’s eyes. Black eyes met black eyes. Red bandana met red stripes.

“What’s wrong?”

“Tonight, I heard Donnie cough. Badly.”

In that moment, Leo’s heart shattered.

After  a few freezing seconds that felt like ages the cold dread was broken by Mike, bless his heart, he really was an angel.

“let’s not worry too much about what we still don’t know. This place is quite dusty, it could have been that, right? We’ll let him sleep it off and in a few we are going to check on him.” The mystic warrior squeezed his brig brother’s finger (his hand was too big).

Leo looked at his little brother, one could have been fooled by his light smile, but that smile wasn’t reaching his eyes, and his hand was gripping too much Raph’s finger.

 The slider took a deep breath, he had to say it, to voice it in some way or he was going to go crazy.

“Do you guys think it could b-“

A loud crash interrupted him mid-sentence. Raph stood up immediately “It came from the lab!”.  Mikey started levitating, his eyes becoming that fluorescent hue of orange and began to sprint-fly towards the lab, followed closely by his brothers. They soon arrived at the lab which, thanks to Draxum’s interior design sense, didn’t have heavy metal doors that are extremely difficult to open.

“DONNIE?!”

Mikey’s scream was like an arrow to their chest, a waterfall of panic washed over Leo. Why didn’t he go to his twin sooner? Why didn’t he dare to check his brother? Why couldn’t he learn from his mistakes?

The lab was still dark, the only source of light were a few LED lights that Donnie started installing to the time machine and the original green/yellow lights. In the shadows only one thing cold be distinguished, their brother’s body on the floor, next to his lab chair.

“shit shit shi- Raph turn on the lights!”

The slider reached next to the softshell Mikey, he had a hand on his forehead, he was trembling slightly, his eyes had come back to their natural color. “L-Leo… He won’t wake up! I-I tried to call him, but he doesn’t respond “.

Raph returned and put his big hand on Mikey’s shell and began making circling movements to try and soothe him, but his eyes were glues to his other little brother unconscious body.  In the meantime, Leo had already taken on his role of medic, assessing the pulse and the breathing, noticing also the deep dark eyebags. He sighed in frustration; Donnie wasn’t  going to get out of this easily. “He definitely has a fever, but other than that I can’t say anything more…”  

The first thing that Donnie noticed was that his shell was cold. On a more accurate analysis, he found out that all his body was cold. Cold and sore to be more specific. Mh… he would rate this nap a solid 1/10. Wait. Nap? He didn’t remember falling asleep and his bed surely wasn’t this cold. As he slowly regained consciousness he became aware of other sensations and stimuli, like the pounding headache in his temples, dry throat and someone who was touching him. Right now the feeling wasn’t particularly appreciated.

“ghh- cough- cough”

Where was he??

“ie? Yo- th us? Donnie??”

A rough hand was positioned on his forehead. Ew it’s sticky. Gross.

“Leo?”

He slowly opened his eyes, his retina adjusting to the blinding lights in his lab. His lab? Wait the last thing he remembered was getting up to go rest, he was starting to feel shitty and- Ohh fuck.

“yeah, ‘oh fuck’. Donnie, it’s quite important, look at me.” He directed his gaze towards the source of the voice, to his left. Leo was on his knees, worry lines dug into his forehead. Behind him there were his brothers, both of them had similar expressions on their faces.

“Donald?” oh right, focus.

“yeah?” God, his voice was raspy.

“Do you think you can get up on you own?”

He really really really (3 reallys) hoped so. “I- yeah I think so”. The softshell began to get on his elbows, ignoring the blinding pain on his back and how much his vision was swaying. He couldn’t ask for Leo’s help. Not right now, because now thing are different, he is fine, he isn’t weak, frail or uncapable of doing the most basic things, like getting up or walking aided by a stick, like an old men. He had it, he fixed it. He managed to sit upright, his vision went black just for a few seconds as his body was trying to adjust to the change of position. When his vision returned normal, his eyes were met with a comforting and warm light which definitely wasn’t coming from the lightbulbs of the lab, it was coming from Mikey’s ninpo. His mystic brother was so gentle that he didn’t even realize that he was floating mid air.

“wait Micheal, I can walk, I swear”

He heard a few scoffs, coming from different directions.

“yeah, keep telling yourself that. Dummy.”

The warming feeling of his brother’s ninpo was a bit too comforting and sleep felt like a good idea.

“Donnie please try not to fall asleep”. This was Raph, he used his ‘big and responsible brother voice’, oh how much he missed that.

“mh, just resting my eyes”

Suddenly he flopped on the big couch in the ‘livingroom’. Mikey was in front of him, a frown of worry on his face. “Leo, I’m going to use my ninpo a bit harder now, I think you should stand back a little.”

Leo actually listened to Mikey, his gaze though didn’t leave the softshell. Raph looked worryingly at Mikey “Are you sure you are going to be alright?”

Mikey raised his arms towards Donnie, “Don’t worry big guy! A little Krang research didn’t aver hurt no one!”

Wait, Krang? It was in that moment, that Donnie realized that his brother thought that he was still infected. That he was still sick and weak. His brother was going to risk overusing his ninpo on a little cold.

“No wait Mikey!” Cough cough. “It’s not the Krang, I’m sure of it!” another cough.

Leo walked closer to the couch, positioning in front of him, his eyer on fire. “Donnie don’t be stupid. You couldn’t see it coming the first time, so why would you predict it now? Why wouldn’t we check after finding you unconscious?! We can’t lose you AGAIN Donnie! You can’t fix everything! And even if you can, sometimes prevent is better than cure!” His brother’s eyes began to water. “I can’t keep losing you… please let us check”.

Raph reached the slider and put a big hand on Donnie’s shoulder, “Leo’s right Donnie… we can’t be so sure, things are already too complicated right now, let us be sure about at least one thing, let us do it. Let Mikey check.”

The box turtle turned to him with a  bright smile, “It’s going to be quick, trust me”

Cold shivers run through the softshell’s body, and resulted in a shiver. “promise me that if you start feeling that something is off you are going to stop.”

All his brothers looked at him with an unreadable expression.

“Said the turtle who fainted, probably because of exhaustion.” Ok fair enough.

“touché”

The process was actually quite quick. As soon as Leo and Raph took a few steps back Mikey began to glow (he never got tired of seeing it), and when his little brother took his hands a hot sensation ran through his body, banishing the shivers from just a few seconds earlier.

After a few minutes the warm feeling was already gone, replaced by the sewer’s humidity.

Mikey smiled at his brothers “Donnie was right, there is no Krang.”

“told you so” cough cough.

A general sigh of relief could be heard from all of them.

“it’s this place’s fault, it’s too cold and humid compared to what we were used to.”

Leo flopped on the couch, right next to him and punched him on the shoulder. “Oh no! It’s totally your fault! You have again neglected your health like the workaholic you are! You can’t keep doing it!”

Mikey sat on the floor in front of them, “Leo… why don’t we argue later? Dr Delicate touch is going to pay a vist for sure,” he looked at Donnie, who was looking like he could fall asleep in any moment. “why don’t we make a turtle pile? It’s been ages”.

A turtle pile. Everyone remembered the last time they did it. That time Raph was a robot with a metallic and cold voice. Donnie was as frail as a stick, he was so weak that he couldn’t even sit.

But this time it was different.

Raph was real.

Donnie was just under the weather.

Death is fixable.

They are ok.

They are together.

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

the End. Comments and suggestions are always welcome!!

[shebeafancyflapjack]

Gotta vent my frustrations with that finale because holy fuck. If you don't want negativity then don't click the cut.

So far I've been praising this series for drifting away from one of my biggest gripes with the show and that's the oversaturation of romantic couples over found family and friendships. That hasn't been much of an issue this series, I've loved all the little moments of comradery, for example how it was Isaac and Sam who came to talk to Hetty after her reveal rather than Trevor, as well as Sas bonding with Jay even if just for that one episode. I liked Flower's polyamory being brought up again and had hopes it wouldn't just be mocked again....we'll get to that.

But then this last episode decided to leave me with such a vile taste in my mouth I dunno if I'm gonna bother watching more.

First off I'm not a big Isaac and Nigel shipper so it's not like I'm super devastated they didn't get married but I thought they were cute enough. I praised the show before about having an on screen gay couple as opposed to the typical tragic bury your gays of Caphavers, even if they didn't have nearly as much chemistry as the couple who have three scenes together.

But now Nisaac is dead, or on a respite (OK that made me giggle), and we didn't even get to see them have their emotional talk, just have Isaac sum it up afterwards. The show had an opportunity for a really heartbreaking moment with just the two of them but instead we were left with "He took it well". And Isaac has been dragged into the mud which, I'll admit, was incredibly cathartic on behalf of the basement ghosts and Nancy in particular.

Honestly it's the Thor/Flower/Nancy stuff that angers me the most and had it not been there then I might not have brought up what happened with Nisaac, but it just adds into the whole "queerphobic" narrative by having your mlm couple split while the mlw couple admits their love and another random mlw couple gets their wedding (one half of which is a horrible character). I knew the throuple thing wasn't going to be long term but....why bring it in at all? Just to mock poly people? Why not just have Flower say she needed space to think before being with Thor again? Why the need to mock Nancy as the "disposable unconventionally attractive" third wheel?

As for Flower...talk about character assassination. So last week she's all "how dare you be so cruel to Nancy?" and in the premier the basement ghosts are saying how kind she was to them - now she's abandoning Nancy in the basement and doesn't care that Nisaac didn't invite them - yet Carol was there?! Flower is the only other queer main ghost besides Isaac yet her wlw relationships are treated as jokes of her being a "silly hippy" and apparently she wasn't into Nancy at all? That's that for the only wlw rep in the show I guess. It doesn't help that Thor and Flower have zero chemistry imo.

I'm not gonna pretend the main guys in the BBC show treated the plague ghosts that great but at least they were invited upstairs to watch the panto. Again the thing with Patience was the only saving grace and I like that the guys had no idea she would do that so they're not painted as evil.

As for Pete's subplot, I actually did like Donna and was glad she didn't turn out to be some femme fatal like she was coming off as. But again, we have yet another mlw romantic subplot - when instead we could have had Pete with his daughter and her family and having the same dilemma of if he wanted to disappear there or return to his new 'home'.

Not to mention how irrelevant Sam and Jay felt to the point I forgot they were even there. All previous finales have had some sort of stakes going on with them whether it be the floor collapsing or the fake cousin, but here they were barely spectators.

I think worst of all, it just wasn't that funny. Often I can forgive a comedy's writing so long as it still makes me laugh but I got nothing from this other than disgust. Maybe my feelings will cool by the time S4 rolls around but I can't see myself wanting more of this show.

[karlachismylife]

Would you be sooo kind to recommend a beginner russian learner some russian songs 🥺 They're what motivated me to start learning to be honest I love the music 🔥

UPD. I FORGOT TO ADD ATLANTIDA PROJECT BUT I'M ACTUALLY OBSESSED WITH THEM.

Oh boy, comrade, I wish you were a tad bit clearer in what you're looking for, cuz we here have all kinds of music! So forgive me in advance for projecting my quesionable music taste onto you.

(first I'll yap a bit, and then I'll give a list of songs below so you can find them on whatever platform you use)

I have already spoken about Siberan punk and postpunk and so-called doomer music on this blog, which crossover to some extent (mostly through Кино and Виктор Цой). They capure quite a unique vibe and tend to have not the most complicated lyrics in terms of vocabulary, so those might be good choices to start with if you're not that far into the language yet. Кино, Гражданская Оборона, Янка Дягилева, Король и Шут are my personal preferences (yes everyone can call me a poser, I grew up on completely different music so I'm only now reconnecting with that scene), so I'll give you some of their songs, but I also encourage you to dig through their discographies.

A separate section for artists I'm not really listening to very often (might have a single song in my playlist), but they have that weird taste of Russian/post-soviet doom in them: Bones of Grace, Буерак, Петля Пристрастия, Порнофильмы, раздор!

There is a culturally rich genre of bard music, which migt be a little more complicated for understanding, but this is a big part of what I grew up with: people gathering with guitars at someone's home (often the kitchen, which is generally an important space in post-soviet culture as a result of people living in communal apartments, when several families shared one apartment, so the kitchen was the common space and it was free to chat late at night when kids were asleep in the rooms, and also perception of the kitchen as the place you were the least likely to be overheard and reported to the authorities for saying the wrong thing. also I think it was the place people were able to smoke freely in the apartment) and playing and singing together. There is rarely anything besides a guitar and vocals in this music, and I offer you Булат Окуджава, Борис Гребенщиков (otherwise known as БГ or his band Аквариум), Владимир Высоцкий, Михаил Щербаков, Татьяна и Сергей Никитины, Олег Медведев, Зоя Ященко (or her band Белая Гвардия), also a lesser known (?) Йовин, also bard, but more modern I guess. And honestly I probably forgot a lot of them in the moment. I will list songs that first come to mind for me personally, but this is something you definitely should research on your own and watch out for the vocab since poetry is the main part of these.

We also have Мельница with modern folk and Flёur for a more whimsical yearning mood, Green Apelsin same story.

A separate mention for my very modern loves Дайте танк (!) who are a little bit of a guilty pleasure and have a mix of doom and nostalgia to them and IC3PEAK who are very much a favourite target of the police for obvious reasons (check out their music videos too).

NEARLY FORGOT but what Russian queer didn't have a moment to t.A.T.u.? Yeah, their history is problematic, but I truly believe that there exists a separate genre of Russian lesbian yearning music and that's mainly them. And also some very not queer songs that just hit like that. And yeah, t.A.T.u. had some songs released in English, but it will NEVER hurt even half as bad as the original versions.

There are genres I did not touch on at all despite listening to them quite a lot, so if you are looking for another genre, hit me up again! Although I will admt, despite the importance of rap (and underground rap in particular, including rap battles, scene in current cultural and political landscape, I can't really enjoy it and thus don't know shit about it).

And after all that uninformative yapping (wish I had the energy to write proper short bios on every artist) here's a list of songs in the order of artists as I named them here. If there's more than one by one artist, first one is probably (not always) their most famous, others my personal choice, sometimes they're the same, sometimes I only give one. Let's go

Кино - Звезда по имени Солнце Кино - Перемен Кино - Апрель Гражданская Оборона - Всё идёт по плану Гражданская Оборона - Моя оборона Гражданская Оборона - Отряд не заметил потери бойца Янка Дягилева - По трамвайным рельсам Янка Дягилева - Особый резон Король и Шут - Лесник Король и Шут - Кода Bones of Grace - Сержант Boness of Grace - Кожа Буерак - Культ тела Петля Пристрастия - Груз Порнофильмы - Это пройдёт раздор! - Восток (Иуда) Булат Окуджава - Ваше благородие, госпожа удача Аквариум (Борис Гребенщиков) - Никита Рязанский Аквариум (Борис Гребенщиков) - Поезд в огне Аквариум (Борис Гребенщиков) - Губернатор Владимир Высоцкий - Охота на волков Владимир Высоцкий - Скалолазка Владимир Высоцкий - Шахматная корона Михаил Щербаков - Трубач Михаил Щербаков - Баб-эль-Мандебский пролив Михаил Щербаков - Волхонка Татьяна и Сергей Никитины - Я спросил у ясеня Олег Медведев - Изумрудный город Олег Медведев - Марш небесных связистов Олег Медведев - Страна лимонных корочек Зоя Ященко (or her band Белая Гвардия) - Белая гвардия Зоя Ященко (or her band Белая Гвардия) - Голубая стрела Йовин - Корсары Мельница - Дорога сна Мельница - Зов крови Flёur - Формалин Green Apelsin - Проклятье русалки Дайте танк (!) - Маленький Дайте танк (!) - Друг IC3PEAK - Смерти больше нет IC3PEAK - Dead but pretty t.A.T.u. - Нас не догонят t.A.T.u. - Я сошла с ума

I hope some of these will give you what you seek, also thank you for giving me an excse to yap about music. Much love from my cold (not really) Russian heart!

[quibbs126]

Heck I don’t actually remember if Pure Vanilla/Dark Cacao was a request or if it was something I just planned to do on my own. I know it started out as my own idea, but sometimes that happens and then before I get to doing it, someone requests it and I just make it a request, and I don’t remember if that happened here

But regardless, this was a drawing I made of the idea for a purecacao fankid on it’s own, and I’m posting it as such

Now you’ll notice that this isn’t my usual format. This is because this isn’t her official design, it’s just that last night, I had this idea for a design of her as a young child with Dark Cacaoian clothing, and so I just wanted to make a quick doodle to show you

It was just going to be that picture in the middle, as it’s more sketchy and rough, and clearly not how I usually do these fankid requests. However when I finished, I realized that I made her too small. See, if I may explain some things, for my poorly drawn comics and other things that use that particular brush (it’s the Narinder Pencil if you want to know), and I don’t like enlarging pictures drawn with it because the lines get all blurry and it loses its texture. Prior to the Charcoal Cheese comic, for my poorly drawn comics I tended to enlarge the sketch to fit the screen, and then I’d completely redraw the lines. But here, I had already colored the whole thing, plus it was multiple layers to redraw, so I didn’t want to. But I couldn’t just crop down the canvas to fit it because my square canvases are already 500x500 pixels, they’re very small (and also I think the small size might account for why they may not show up in the best quality, but I’ve been using this size for over 2 years and I’m set with it, and I feel like changing would be too much effort). And I feel like making it even smaller would just tank the quality even more

Though to be honest, I’m glad I made a second version with my proper sketching process, as I was better able to figure out her colors and design

Speaking of her design, yeah this is sort of what I’m thinking for her look, at least in terms of hair, dough and eye color. She’s not gonna keep the braid though, that’s just a kid thing

I feel like maybe I should give her streaks, but I’m not sure where to put them or what color

Also I realize that I forgot to put KitKats on her design. I wasn’t planning to originally since this is a little kid’s outfit, but also in some of the artbook drawings, young Dark Choco had small Oreo shoulderpads, so maybe she should have something similar. I had an idea for her wearing tiny KitKat shoulderpads, but I forgot them. Ah well

Hmm, does she look like a purecacao kid? I’m looking at her and I feel like she looks more like her own character than related to them. Maybe it’s the lack of streaks

Oh yeah, and one more thing I want to add, I’ve decided she’s a post-canon kid, as in Pure Vanilla and Dark Cacao got together after the events of the Dark Flour War and canon in general. The story in my head goes that Dark Cacao developed feelings for Pure Vanilla, but was hesitant to tell him about it, maybe because he’s socially awkward and wasn’t sure how to, maybe because Pure Vanilla and White Lily had something going on and he didn’t want to stir up drama between them. But regardless, Dark Cacao felt that it wasn’t so much of a big deal since they were immortal, he could tell him when he felt it was right. But then the Dark Flour War happened and Pure Vanilla seemingly died, with Dark Cacao never telling him how he felt. But then years later, Pure Vanilla came back, and while Dark Cacao was of course overjoyed, it also caused him to realize that even being immortal, they don’t have all the time in the world, and he needed to tell Pure Vanilla how he felt, and so during the events of Odyssey, he confessed to Pure Vanilla, and then likely sometime after Dark Enchantress’s defeat, they got together, and later had this girl

Also this means she has a (probably) 30+ year older brother in Dark Choco, but it’s all good

I feel bad just keeping her unnamed, but I don’t know what to call her. *sigh*

Any suggestions?

But yeah, I just wanted to show y’all this idea. Don’t know when I’ll be finishing her, but I’ll draw her officially at some point