#I lava you was great but i consider it recent

[odetochildhood]

What was your favorite Pixar short?

Geri's Game (1997) - Released with A Bugs Life

Boundin (2003) - Released with The Incredibles

One Man Band (2005) - Released with Cars

For the Birds (2000) - Released with Monsters Inc

Presto (2008) - Released with WALL-E

Knick Knack (1989) - Released with Finding Nemo

[sayuriuchicha]

Sketch 0

for @crushvsky

Important note: I read the book years ago, when it came out, and after that I never touched it again with a stick. I say this because, in reality, although I remember Coryo, I have forgotten almost everything about his narrative style, and I need to recover it if I want to write. something. However, this rereading will take at least two days. And I don't want to lose the foundations of my master plan to establish a pseudo democracy in Panem.

Note 2: English is not my first language, I have not edited this, I have not reviewed it, and I am dying of sleep.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Coriolanus Snow considered himself a calm, stoic, and elegant person. He, in fact, had made sure to give that appearance to the world and he liked to think that everyone around him considered him that way. He knew it wasn't true, but he would never admit it out loud, that being said, sometimes it was difficult to maintain that calm appearance. It occurred to him, for a moment, that Sejanus Plinth was the most ungrateful thing to ever inhabit Panem (even more so than the districts), Coriolanus Snow had entered a damn Hunger Games arena to save his life, and this idiot instead of thanking Coriolanus and making sure he kept himself alive because his life was now the property of Coriolanus Snow, he was willing to throw that life overboard for… nothing. And now instead of acting like he actually felt guilty for putting Coryo in an awkward position, Sejanus Plinth, the brat from District Two, had dared to put the blame on him.

He could strangle him; in fact, he was considering his chances if he did so. At the same time he was doing his best not to make the confrontation physical, because although the peacekeepers had a complete meal that had allowed him to develop better in recent weeks… The truth is that he was not in as good physical shape as Sejanus Plinth and Sejanus Plinth would beat him if he really wanted to, so he could only try to act calmly and show THAT GREAT IDIOT THAT HIS ACTIONS WERE STUPID!

"Sejanus" he began, trying his best not to speak under his breath and more like a real person, polite and elegant, because being among animals wouldn't make him one too... "Sejanus" he repeated feeling very annoyed "When I said you could take advantage of your money to help others, I never meant... to say this!" He waved his hand around him, doing his best to control his breathing but his temples were throbbing, and an uncontrollable fury was filling him like the burning lava of a volcano about to erupt. He began to walk in circles, while continuing to speak.

"Financing a rebel movement without thinking about the consequences, what the hell were you thinking?" Sejanus opened his mouth, as if to answer him, but Coriolanus had finished listening to him and faced him with a mixture of contempt and resentment etched in his soul… however, he knew that Sejanus needed a firmer version of things and he planned to give it to him… something to think about "have you even thought about the consequences?!” he questioned “No! Not for you, I'm sure you would love to die in the name of right, but what about the rest of district 12? Have you thought about the consequences for them when everything happens? Do you think your money will save them? Think about what your actions will do to them, when the news of the escape reaches them to the capitol and the capitol responds, this place will only receive more repression and more deaths!"

"that's why I do it!" Sejanus responded, also in a shout "The deaths and repression are already here! If we never resist, it will only get worse! At least…"

"At least?!" he asked, his throat hurting for some reason, he couldn't believe Sejanus was so stupid "Do you think the resistance would help at all? It doesn't cost the capitol anything to kill one rebel or a thousand citizens of a district, they don't know the difference and they don't care" He put enough cruelty into those words to get his point across "because They don't consider the people of the districts human, they despise them, you realize!"

Sejanus looked at him, with that right mix of helplessness and resistance so characteristic of him, and Coriolanus had to continue speaking, despite himself.

“The districts right now are over-surveilled, malnourished, ignorant, blinded by fear or resentment! and lacking in information! The simple idea that you think a rebellion that would work right now is stupid. And it's an insult to your intelligence and mine that you think I was talking about this when I told you to use your money to do something good! Right now, the districts can't handle freedom” insisted “They need too many things for it: food, stability, education, not a blind revolt that would only make things worse! Change requires more than money and good intentions, Sejanus.” His voice took on just the right tone of judgment to sound stern and disappointed at the same time. "it requires intelligence, patience, and a real understanding of the situation. Do you really think that doing this will do any good, right now?!"

The silence that responded to him, infuriated him even more, it was as if Sejanus was letting a fool speak, and Coriolanus was not; so, to prove his point and that, in fact, he was more than capable of pointing out a suitable plan …continued speaking while his chest rose and fell with his labored breathing.

Years later, in the privacy of his thoughts, he would think that those words had condemned him forever… and that it was Sejanus Plinth's fault, as always.

"My plan is much more than that," he spoke, trying to sound sure of himself, for some reason, "more than abandoning those who love me for vain and empty promises" he spat resentfully, thinking of Ma Plinth and how Sejanus didn't deserved her. . "I know you don't believe it, but moving up as a peacekeeper can allow for a greater margin of action, one that allows you to rise through the ranks to the position of minister of war if necessary… but any plan needs to be back in the capitol, in your situation… that would be even easier because in five years your father can buy forgiveness for you" he pointed out, thinking about the injustice of that fact, Strabo Plinth could buy forgiveness for a true traitor while he, Coriolanus, had to grovel watching how others occupied the position that by right should belong to him

"but, returning to the margin of action, that would allow to meet like-minded people who could become eyes and ears that report on the situation in the other districts, suitable informants if… " he was getting even angrier, despite himself… realizing that there were actually many more effective paths… he was going to strangle Sejanus… seriously "if you were a great judge of character, which you are not. Not really," he let out the insult, without remorse. "…after returning to the capitol, because it's the seat of power here in Panem, even if you don't like it," he pointed out "As you rise through the militarized force, or if you are lazier under an already firmly positioned authority figure such as Dr. Gaul, you can contact and monitor the allies, enemies and former allies that President Ravinstill betrayed. all who can be help you or can be replaced by younger people who are in line with that ideal, or who, at least, coincide with certain basic features of the same ideal. or people who, even if they don't agree, are power-hungry enough to accept your ideas if it gets them up the ladder"

He stopped talking to get some air... feeling upset, exhausted and with a headache. And his voice gradually became calmer.

"Going back to the elderly... those who will not want to help you initially, can be seduced, threatened or blackmailed, in order to remove Ravinstill from power. And once that is done, move on to a new era… but! All of that can only be achieved with cold blood, calm, and something more than money… it takes strength, respect and the love of people… not sending them to an early grave for small achievements!"

Coriolanus close his eyes he whispered; he wanted to calm down, but he was so difficult when dealing with a person like Sejanus: completely uncontrollable and unwilling to be good for himself.

"If you could understand that, Sejanus; if you understood that, you would be able to see the Capitol government transform into one that truly serves and improves Panem as you dream."

Sejanus did not respond, and Coriolanus opened his eyes to look at him, finding Sejanus's eyes wide and filled with wonder.

"But isn't it too risky?" He asked in a low voice and Coryo despised him wholeheartedly. “Won't you fear for your life when you will have confronted those in power?” he asked, as if he was trying to get at something.

Coriolanus thought it absurd that he feared for his life: he was not a rebel. Still he responded.

“The rewards will be worth it. One would think you would think that way. Significant change does not come without facing risks, Sejanus, but those risks must be calculated and worth it. You need to understand that."

Sejanus nodded, looking at him with bright eyes, as if Coriolanus had somehow hung the stars in the sky.

“I will, Coryo… I will trust you, I will help you. I promise"

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Suprer 107

“Auta, though I regret to be the bearer of bad tidings, I’m afraid I must inform you that our dear friend and comrade Dr. Rota, was recently eliminated.”

“Chugga chugga.”

“I said!  That Doc-tor Ro-ta!  Was eliminated!”

“Chugga chugga chugga”

“I said--!”

*steam hissing*

“Oh, never mind, you ridiculous oaf!”

*vomits lava everywhere*

Maybe it’s just this particular view of the place, but Champa seems to have a much nicer looking home than Beerus.  This is a flashback to the day Frost rejoined Champa’s team.  He brazenly asked for a full pardon for all his crimes if Universe 6 won the tournament, but Champa told him he was in no position to make such requests. 

So Frost tried to sweeten the pot by offering to embarrass and humiliate Universe 7 specifically.  This gets Champa’s attention, as he enjoys taking the piss out of his brother Beerus. 

Speaking of that, I don’t get how Beerus and Champa are twin brothers, and their universes are so similar, but the other pairs of universes don’t seem to share anything in common at all.  Like, Universes 2 and 11 are similarly related, but Helles and Belmod look nothing alike, and it’s not like U2 has a female version of whatever alien Top is. 

Not that I’d want this, I just find it curious.

Back in the present, the Grand Minister gives the Zenos a rundown of how all the teams are currently holding up.  I’m not going to go into that, because I spent a lot of time analyzing the stats back in 2017, and I’m not feeling any great need to go over it again.  For example, at this point in the tournament, U6 and U7 are tied with the most active fighters.  So they’re in the lead, at least for now.  And Universes 4 and 11 only have a few fighters left, so they’re in deep trouble if the time runs out before they can throw out enough opponents. 

It’s interesting to think about the possible scenarios, but none of them are going to happen, and none of them were likely in the first place.  What if there’s a tie?  What if Universe 4 takes the lead and no one can find those last two fighters before the clock runs out?

It’s that Universe 4 thing that bugs Tien.  When their team showed up, there were only eight fighters visible, but Tien could sense the faint presence of two more.  Now, according to the Grand Minister, those two invisible fighters are still active, which could spell big trouble later on.  And he’s not wrong to point this out, there’s a whole episode about it later on, but it doesn’t really cause that much of a problem.

Anyway, Universe 3 wants to study the competition more while there’s still a lot of fighters on the board, so their Supreme Kai orders Maji Kayo to pester the Universe 11 group and pick a fight with Jiren.  The Kai considers Jiren to be a major threat, and he thinks Maji Kayo’s fluid body will make him sturdy enough to survive the encounter and report his findings.  Dyspo jumps in first, though...

And to his credit, Maji Kayo makes short work of Dyspo, even threatening to cut off his ears.  So this guy’s a pretty big deal, and he’s a sick fuck on top of that.

Jiren still takes him out like he’s nothing, though.  One punch, and Jiren doesn’t even connect.  The shockwave alone is enough to knock Maji Kayo out of the ring.

Meanwhile, Frost sees a chance to make good on his promise to Champa and targets Master Roshi, who’s still weak from his efforts earlier.

So Roshi goes for another Mafuba attack, since it worked so well on Dercori earlier. 

But Frost is stronger, I think, and the stronger your opponent, the harder it is to execute the Mafuba, which is probably why Roshi misses the bottle.  Frost escapes, but this ordeal has given him an idea...

First, Frost spots Vegeta, and shoots at him drawing him in.  Vegeta’s all-too eager to throw out Frost.  And Frost wants revenge from their last encounter.  He claims to have gotten weaker since they last met, which I took at face value when I first watched this episode, but now it’s clear to me that he’s bluffing.  Hit said Frost had improved his power while living as a fugitive, so it never made sense to me that he would claim to have gotten soft in this one.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter, because Auta Magetta shows up to even the odds.  Also he has molten rocks welded onto his metal ears, so Vegeta can’t insult him into submission.  I’m not sure if Frost knew Auta was coming or he planned this ahead of time, or it just worked out.  But he threatens to double team Vegeta, and he’s very keen on making sure Roshi can hear that.

So Roshi takes the bait and tries to use the Mafuba on Frost again, but this time Frost is ready for it, and he reverses the attack and redirects it at Vegeta. 

Roshi quickly smashes the bottle he was planning to use for this, but Frost doesn’t need it, because he grabbed the other bottle Roshi had set up from the previous attempt.  So he puts Vegeta in and stoppers him up. 

Roshi is horrified to learn he’s been tricked into taking out one of his team’s best fighters, but there’s nothing he can do about it.  Frost shoots him a few times, and all Roshi can do is fire a tiny ki burst, which misses Frost completely. 

But Roshi wasn’t trying to hit Frost, he was aiming at the bottle, and when Frost isn’t looking he steers the ki sparkle back around and it blasts off the cap.  Uh-oh.

Vegeta gets out and he’s piiiii-iiiissed!  First thing he does is zap the crap off of Magetta’s ears and calls him a bunch of mean names.  Then he goes after Frost.

But Frost makes a big dust cloud and runs away.  I’m pretty sure Vegeta could still find him, but whatever.  Vegeta shoves Magetta off the stage and then tells Roshi to jump off too, since he’s too worn out to continue.  Roshi doesn’t like it, but he knows Vegeta is right.  If he hadn’t been so eager to keep fighting, he wouldn’t have played so easily into Frost’s hands.

Beerus still gives them all shit in the bleachers. 

Also, Ribrianne is fighting Goku in this episode, but not much actually gets done with this.  They’ll keep going at it next time, though.

Until then, here’s KISS with “100,000 Years”.

[theharpermovieblog]

#HARPERSMOVIECOLLECTION

2023

I re-watched Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984)

Due to watching Indy 4 recently, and the extreme disappointment that movie makes me feel, I thought I'd rewatch the adventure that was my childhood favorite.

Indiana Jones goes against the Thugee cult to reclaim the shankara stones and free child slaves.

(Disclaimer: Yes, this movie has some problematic elements, but at no point does the film intentionally slander or attack other cultures.)

This is considered the worst of the original trilogy. I personally don't think it's worse, just different. It's an Indiana Jones Horror film and because of that some people don't like it.

It is a dark film. Indiana Jones impales a man and hangs another man before we even really know what's going on in the movie lol. And it gets a lot darker after that. But holy shit those darker horror elements are amazing. From removing a man's heart from his chest, to lava pits, to blood drinking and mind control, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is among the wildest American movies to come out of the 1980's.

Another reason some people criticize the film is the female lead. Raiders of the Lost Ark gave us a strong capable female character, that was hard drinking and a bit of a fighter. In this film Cate Capshaw's Willie Scott is a bit of a princess. Worried about her nails and hair more than putting up a fight. But this doesn't exactly make her weak. She is a strong willed character who overcomes certain fears and even spits in the face of danger at one point. Just because she doesn't throw a punch doesn't mean she isn't strong.

She also provides comedic relief in the film, and I'm always happy to see a comedic role be played by a female, because women are funny and it proves certain stereotypes wrong.

When all is said and done, this darker, more brutal, Indiana Jones film works incredibly well. From it's opening Dance Sequence to it's plane crash, to it's horror segments, mine cart race, and bridge fight, this movie never stops, and it delivers one of the wildest and greatest adventures ever put on film.

It certainly is the odd one out of the original trilogy, but that's not a bad thing. It branches out away from Christian mysticism and explores a different belief system with a similar respect. It walks the line of what a PG-13 movie can get away with. It provides endless action. It's just fucking great.

It's not my favorite Indy adventure these days, but I get why it was when I was a kid. Action/Adventure/Horror/The coolest fucking dude on the planet. What kid wouldn't love it?

And, any adult who doesn't love it doesn't enjoy cool things and you should stop being their friend.

[erigold13261]

F in the chat for your awful day at work (hey a bit of an unreality mention but… how do the curses cheer you up after a bad day at work?)

Internet died last night before I could answer this (another F in the chat for me lol).

But anyway, them just being here to listen to me complain is definitely a major way they help me.

Mahito likes to shit talk with me about the coworkers/customers I've dealt with and even insists to hurt them for me (thank Mahito, but no lol). Otherwise he's just chilling with me and making light of the situation, even trying to distract me with games and stuff.

Depending on if I am overheating or freezing, Jogo and Dagon take turns being near me. Dagon is absolutely great at sucking all the heat out of my body, they are just an ocean of coldness lol. And obviously just being near Jogo keeps me nice and warm (thankfully I am not really tall/big because I will sit between his legs with him hugging me from behind so that he can warm up my back after me standing all day). Heck even just having Jogo hug me and Dagon put their hand on my forehead is just an amazing feeling of hot and cold.

Then there is my beloved Hanami who tries to do so much for me! One of the first things she will do for me is bring me a bouquet of her cursed energy flowers that really helps with calming me down and getting rid of headaches (especially if she took the time to make them into a flower crown for me! I love it when she makes those and even when she picks out colors she knows I love like purples!).

She'll also try to cook me some food before I get home, but considering that all the curses don't need to eat, none of them are really good at it. At least if they mess up, Dagon will eat anything that is beyond my ability to eat lol (she has gotten better at cooking though, her just making sure I have a warm bowl of fresh rice or noodles is honestly enough for me).

Her or Mahito will sometimes just rub my back as well, because recently I've been having shit back problems from standing for hours at work without much support or ability to sit down (especially if I don't get my breaks because of staffing issues, that's a whole other issue at work I need to address more with my managers). Mahito is honestly better at back rubs but the fact that Hanami is trying still makes me feel really good!

What sucks when trying to fall asleep though is that Hanami is probably the worst to sleep with considering her body is more like a shell than it is something soft like "flesh" compared to the other curses. Being able to put a pillow between us when I am leaning against her or sitting on her lap is definitely needed, but sleeping with Hanami is so difficult (plus she is huge and my bed is pretty small).

So instead Hanami will sit on my floor and rub my head (my hair is too short to be played with since I cut it recently, but before she was playing with my hair as I slept).

The other curses try to sleep with me, but Dagon has a similar size issue, and Jogo can't lay down fully without possibly leaking some cursed lava (magma?) into my bed. So the only one I really end up sleeping with a lot of the time is Mahito as he will shift his body into the most comfortable position for me to sleep with.

So yea, they all do what they can to make me feel better, which usually works. Really just having them around to listen to me rant about shit is the best.

[anarchy-and-piglins]

Piglin Holiday ideas!!!

The nether doesn't really have seasons like the overworld. Not lengthening nights or long summer days. But that doesn't mean the nether is stagnant.

The Lava pools have tides! Not controlled by the moon, but by some other slow eternal force. Once a year the tides are low, and they reveal the hidden treasures that were below their burning flow. They reveal gold and ancient ore and pockets of goodies.

Piglins have a big scavenger hunt to find the most goodies. It's great fun! There IS a reward to finding more than any other person, but that's not what most people focus on. Partners work together and the gold they find is believed to tie them together forever. The more rare items you find, the stronger the bond. And partners make extravagent jewelry to gift each, each piece incredibly special. This isn't necessarily romantic, but it is a common time for romantic partners to propose. But its just as common for friends and family members to search for gold together during this celebration.

When the tides begin to rise again, the piglins gather for a great party in their villages. They wear all the pieces they have made with their finest clothes. They give small tokens of affection to those they love, but didn't go scavenging with. They remember the years past and look forward to the year to come.

Another thing that changes in the nether! The Hoglin Migrations!

Not long before the Tide Season, Hoglins will migrate and will group in large numbers. The adults in a piglin village will all work together to take down as many hoglin as possible. The work is spread evenly, and the spoils are given out equally as well.

However, the meat is not for the individual to eat.

This is a holiday of forgiveness. Anyone that you wish to apologize to, for reasons big or small, you bring them the hoglin meat. It is to show that you know you hurt them, and would give even something precious to be forgiven in their eyes. If the person takes it, it means they forgive you. And you share the meal together. If they do not, you leave the meat out on the netherack to rot. To show that the relationship between you has rotted beyond saving. It's not rare for the meat to be refused, but it usually isn't for small things. Sometimes, a piglin KNOWS that they will be refused, but apologies do not require a person's forgiveness to be necessary.

Anyway, piglin holiday ideas!!!

Oh these are so delightful!!!!

If I can add one of my own, since I was inspired by your lava tides idea (which is excellent btw). I headcanon that piglin funeral rites include lowering the body and a few specific worldly possessions of the deceased piglin into the lava. So maybe when the tides are at their highest, a remembrance holiday would take place?

However, this is not a drab or sad affair. Death is viewed very differently in the Nether. Grief is a celebration of life!

So during this holiday, all work is stopped - no more hunting, trading or building - and piglins will instead eat, drink, dance and enjoy themselves. There's also a focus on recounting memories and telling stories about the deceased. At the end of the festivities, the sounder will often drop offerings to their dead loved ones into the lava. Stuff like food or small gold trinkets.

Piglets born on this day are considered blessed and will be named after a recently deceased sounder member with piglins believing the child is looked after by them.

[crystalcow]

𝑆𝑎𝑝𝑛𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑//𝑆𝑎𝑝𝑛𝑎𝑝 𝑝𝑡 3

Masterlist // part one // part two

Sapnap x reader !p !child reader

Pronouns used: none specified!

Warnings: swearing, death, betrayal

•⊱✿•✿⊰•⊱✿•✿⊰•⊱✿•✿⊰•⊱✿•✿⊰•⊱✿•✿⊰

╔.���️.═════════╗

Being sapnaps child will include..

╚═════════.▪️.╝

𝐏𝗼𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥

Apparently the castle got attacked

George was killed by the one and only technoblade

You haven’t personally met the man but you respected him

After all he is a legend

But he killed George

So you were dragged with sapnap when he got pinged on his coms

Dream and George were arguing on the prime path

The sight somewhat terrified you

They were supposed to be best friends?

Dream is the strongest person on the server

George was supposed to be the most unproblematic and protected person

For some reason Quackity was also there

Hiding in the corner of Tommy’s house

“You don’t give a shit about us”

Those words brought some hurt to you as they left sapnaps mouth

“Of course I care about you! I just want to keep him safe.”

The three most important men in your life

The dream team, and ultimate trio the friendship that could never crack! The ones who raised you to be who you are

They were falling apart

“George is no longer king!”

Quackity was just eating all of the drama

Damn duck

“I’ve done so much for you, I hope you don’t forget.”

“Like what?” “I helped you raise a child Sap, a damn child.”

That pissed the both of you off

As if you didn’t just recently spend a whole day with him

None the less your whole life

Being drawn into wars, multiple actually

Practically being drawn to death

“Don’t you bring them into this Dream.”

“Eret is now king again, he can actually rule this place.”

“I was the best king this server ever had!”

So there it happened

The crown was snatched off of George’s head and you were dragged along with it

“Don’t worry, we can start our own place!”

“El rapids it is”

𝐄𝐥 𝐑𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐬

You were 100% skeptical about all of this

You didn’t trust that this would be good

I mean how could you

Everything that someone starts on the server

Dies, explodes, nukes, or straight up fails

So instead you went down to Lmanburg for the day!

You went to Nikkis bakery to get something to eat

She was glad to give you a couple snacks for the road

So while you were walking around the new area you spotted dream

“Where you heading off to?”

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

You both eyed each other weirdly

“Aren’t you supposed to hate me?”

You just laughed

Ofcourse you were upset

But you were also bored

“And?” “Come on let’s go see tommy”

So you agreed and carelessly followed the green man

You missed Tommy, after not having seen him for a bit

Fucking hell you needed friends

But when you got there

“Why the fuck is everything gone!”

You ran around the now blown up area

The tents were destroyed and signs were thrown around

Then you noticed the large pillar

You instantly ran to dream, begging him to give you a pearl

He was upset himself he lost his leech

So you threw the pearl up thankfully landing on the pillar

Looking around to see if there was any way he could’ve survived

But you accidentally tripped

And lost your first life

𝐘/𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝗼𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝗼𝗼 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 ♡︎♥︎♥︎

𝐏𝐫𝗼𝐩𝗼𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐬

You woke up screaming in your bed

The three lines on your wrist now faded into two

Sapnap came rushing in holding you lose to him

You tried not to but you cried a little

This was your first time loosing a life..

And you didn’t even mean too!

“Your never fucking leaving me again.”

Karl came in with Quackity following after

Karl just like snatched you away from sapnap and just held you

That man was ready to go back in time and reverse that from ever happening

Trust me he will if you ever loose another life

So after that everyone kept a close eye on you

That was until one day you were with your dad

You both were at your old house just chilling around

Before he handed you two velvet boxes

You were in awe of the two rings that sat in them

Who the fuck paid for these??

“I’m going to purpose.”

You almost dropped the boxes

“What?”

Sapnap just kept smiling

“You really like em huh” “Yeah flame, I love them.”

So you just hugged him

Internally freaking the fuck out

What would this mean???

Three dads? What if they wanted another child! Oh hell no

So you all stood in el rapids

Candles were spread around the top of the grassy hill

There were flowers blooming from every direction and lanterns set afloat

It looked mystical

You watched as sapnap got down on one knee

Karl was in shock, tears streaming down his eyes

Quackity looked love struck, looking into sapnaps eyes with total adoration

So when they said yes your dad called you and the other two just hugged you

“I’m guessing they said yes” you laughed

“Yeah they did!”

You couldn’t help but be happy

Your dad finally found some happiness

Even tho life was going to shit

If you won’t be there

He’ll have them

𝐋𝗺𝐚𝐧𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝗺

Oh wait shit did someone spot tommy?

There was supposed to be a festival today

So you went to go check it out

Maybe throw a ball at the furry

“Go fetch!” You shouted at fundy

Yeah he was not happy and just threw you the finger

“Hey N/n is Dream coming?”

You were excited that Tubbo was actually talking to you again

“Huh? Oh yeah I think” “Great thanks”

And back to the disappointment

So you walked over to get a pretzel or some shit

And then heard everyone making a commotion

There he was, Dream walking in (angry) with full netherite armor

Damn dude respect some tradition

“Tommy blew up the fucking community house”

Did someone say tommy?

Oh you were ready to kill that bastard

Hell if Dream didn’t you most definitely will

So you followed everyone to the community house

Yeah you were ready to fucking cry

One of your homes, the place you’d always confide in since you were little

Where dream and George both helped raise you

Now blown to shreds

“What the fuck”

They were talking about Tubbo giving up the discs

Oh we are not going through that shit all over again

And this time the odds are most definitely not in your favor

Then tommy appeared half invisible

“YOU FUCKING DICKHEAD I THOUGHT YOU DIED YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT”

You litterly stabbed him, having to be held back by Quackity

“Alright hot shot, lets let them have their argument”

Tommy sent you an apologetic look already on the verge of tears

“Tubbo your not seriously considering this”

Then it hit everyone

“The discs were worth more then you ever were!”

Oh yeah we’re you already pissed off at tommy?

Yeah

And he just made it worse

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY TO TUBBO YOU SHIT HEAD”

Yeah you didn’t take pretending to be dead very lightly

Oh shit why was techno there

never mind, Lmanburg will be gone by tomorrow

No point killing tommy yet

Whos side were you on?

Neither. You litterly went into that battle feild and killed some shit

That was until multiple pieces of tnt landed ontop of your head

And that’s where you lost your second life

Shit

𝐘/𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐰 𝐮𝐩 ♡︎♡︎♥︎ ⚠︎︎ᴏɴᴇ ʟɪғᴇ ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴɪɴɢ

𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝗼𝐧

This time when you won’t up it didn’t feel as bad

But you still screamed

A rush of a heartburn and scars employed on your body

The second line now faded into one

Shit

You were only 16-17 and on one life??

Die young the better

You waited out in your bed until the end of the fight

Death alerts and messages drowning out your communicator

But you had no energy what so ever

Until it all went quiet

You tried your damn best to get out of bed and walked to the damaged Lmanburg

There were people crying

Others were severely hurt

Then there were those who were perfectly fine

The whole place was a crater

Lmanburg.. the place of agony and depths of your pain

Now it’s finally gone

What the hell are you gonna do now?

Quackity spotted you calling out for Sapnap

You felt like you were gonna be crushed under their hold

“I’m gonna fucking kill dream.” You heard Quackity mutter

Sapnap felt like a bad father

Who lets their kids die twice?

(Cough cough Wilbur and dream)

Then suddenly things switched around

You were walking around with a bloodied nose and black eyed Tommy

Yeah you did a number on him

But it’s okay since he was your best friend

And there was a sign inside his house

“Wednesday you and Tubbo. Bring no one or anything, lets settle this once and for all”

The final disc war

“Tommy you can’t go” “I’m going N/n, he has my discs.”

So you like cried a little bit lined up on the prime path

Giving the two probably the last hugs they’ll ever get

Prime you really didn’t want to loose them

So you ran straight to church prime

Litterly begging Master Oolong that they won’t die

“Please please please spare them. Pogchamp.”

(Please this is all jokes and old references don’t cancel me)

You got a blast message from punz on your comms with cords

“Come here. bring your best armor”

So you did so running to the nearest ender chest

If walking means saving tommy and Tubbo, it’s somewhat worth it

Sapnap made sure you didn’t leave his side as you traveled around the nether

even tho you could literally swim in the lava

So just to piss him off

You jumped in

The sigh of relief this man

Yeah he’s gotten a little more paranoid for you

But it’s okay since it’s in love

You looked around the weird black stone room

There were two giant photos of the discs

And everything was made out of the same material

No design what so ever

Tommy and Tubbo ran to you like you were gonna protect them

“Dream why” you asked as he was incased in the blocks

Down on his last life

Just like you

‘I’m sorry’ he mouthed to you

Why was he apologizing to you?

Hasn’t he hurt everyone here

You looked around the different items

Tracing the outline of the item frames

Gasping in shock as you a cage with your name on it next to badboyhalo

“Tell em what you told me! How you blew up the community house!”

Your neck spun around faster then an owl doing that 360 thing

You picked up your ace seriously read to slash his head off

“Wait wait! Lets put him in the prison.”

So they took him off

And it pained you to see it

You trusted that man for a very long time

Nothing stays the same on the Dream Smp

•⊱✿•✿⊰•⊱✿•✿⊰•⊱✿•✿⊰•⊱✿•✿⊰•⊱✿•✿⊰

TUMBLR WOULDNT LET ME WRITE MORE KMS. So yes I’m sorry but there will have to be a part FOUR. I just wanted to finish this-

As always! Ask or request anything and ask if you want to be on a tag list :))

[beaskaa]

Yoooo! Your axolotl!dream design is really cool 😄 I'm really looking forward to the other part(s) to be drawn!

I think it's a really clever design and headcanon - you can even tie the staying hydrated part back into the lore, because Dream jumped into the cauldron a lot when he was visited to "splash."

Feel free to disregard, but if you want some angst ideas:

- the harsh conditions of the cell cause Dream to start shedding his slime coat = he looks really patchy and his skin starts to get messed up since he can't get back to the correct conditions to regrow/renew the coat

(which you are already kinda doing with the melty look in the last panel of the recent comic)

- axolotls are supposed to be in cool/almost cold water, so the heat from the lava causes major problems not just to his skin, but heats up the water he has access to and causes problems that way as well (can't cool down at all, everything and everywhere is warm/hot)

- axolotls have also been reported to have eaten their shed slime coats... and potatoes (any vegetable) aren't a food source for axolotls, since they are predators and don't really have teeth/can't chew their prey... mild body-horror elements? If you're comfortable with that -- since it's Minecraft Logic™️ and your version of Dream is a hybrid, maybe the diet restrictions change a bit?

Info from: https://axolotlnerd.com/axolotls-shed-skin/

"(...) they will shed their slime coat, not their skin. And that is an indicator that there is something wrong with the water or the conditions in the tank."

"Other tank mates might cause a lot of stress for your axolotl. As they are relatively territorial beings (...)"

High stress = "(...) will result in them not eating, hiding a lot, and shedding their slime coat."

"Axolotls aren’t supposed to shed naturally, and it only happens when there is something off with the water, or if the stress levels are too high."

"(...) look for other signals of distress, which might include unwillingness to eat, apathy or lethargy, unusual behavior, floating in the water, and the overall unwell feeling."

Got a bit excited on the info dump, but maybe some of it will be useful?

Have a great morning/noon/night! 😄

Omg Yes

I love this ask so much. I know little about axolotls, and even if I try to read about them, I’m still very limited, so asks like this are a god blessing. There was a lot of information that I didn’t know! And you even mentioned your source *bless you*

First at all, thank you for pointing out that lore bit, I didn’t make the connection before, so that make me delighted to see canon elements working with that headcanon.

Considering your angsty ideas:

the harsh conditions of the cell cause Dream to start shedding his slime coat

Great point, I will 100% adopt that. A visible consequence of the living hell that is his cell. I did some google research to see what an axolotl shedding looks like (and poor little creature) so I can see how I can incorporate that in the future.

Now I wonder how that must feel to hug Axolotl!Dream. He must be slightly slippery and gooey

The heat from the lava causes major problems not just to his skin, but heats up the water he has access to and causes problems that way as well

Yeah, that make sense! Even if he can avoid drying out, he’ll still be in a constant state of hyperthermia, that will lead to healths problems (sleepless, uneasiness, lose of appetite, headache…) . With time, I see his organism adapt to the hotter habitat and he will be slowly getting better (but surely with lifelong consequences).

axolotls have also been reported to have eaten their shed slime coats... and potatoes (any vegetable) aren't a food source for axolotls, since they are predators and don't really have teeth/can't chew their prey... mild body-horror elements?

I feel fine with drawing that (him eating his own flesh pog), but can’t say if I will, I’m not inspired at the moment! You raise a good point about his diet. Hum… I think he does have teeth (from his human side, maybe retractable teeth like toothless from « how to train your dragon »? That could be cool) and have an omnivore diet (with a preference for seafood, he could last with only eating fish). So clearly having to eat only potato is less than optimal (as for everyone actually) so he definitely grow sick and weak because of them too. That would lead to Prison axolotl!Dream being pretty underweight :(

Btw that how I see his character, but I fine with other interpretation !

Also I want to point the « relatively territorial beings » it work well to explain Axolotl!Dream drives to destroy L’Manberg

« Look for other signals of distress, which might include unwillingness to eat, apathy or lethargy, unusual behavior, floating in the water, and the overall unwell feeling." THE ANGST it’s perfect.

Thank you so much for taking the time of writing this, it was really useful and clever! You definitely give me ideas and boost my motivation <3

[americankimchi]

@wuekka replied to your post “i have the last kenobi episode pulled up i just...”:

Are you serious? The whole show has been about Obi-wan believing he destroyed Anakin and doesn't want to kill him even though he tries to convince himself he should, the show is him getting catharsis from that. It would have been so unsatisfying if it ended just Obi-wan under rocks, nothing between them wouldn't have been solved. :D

alrighty now that the episode’s over i can talk abt this :3

i’m not saying that the conversation between vader and obi wan shouldn’t have happened, i’m saying that the order in which the events occurred was mismanaged.

obi wan murmurs to himself and to vader that he acknowledges that anakin is truly dead, coming to terms with the fact that anakin as he knew him was killed alongside the rest of the jedi during the fall of the republic. the creature standing before him now is no longer anakin, but vader. that conversation was good because it provided closure and an explanation as to why obi wan said the things he did in a new hope, even going so far as to explain why obi wan calls him “darth”. he clearly splits the two in his head as two separate entities

HOWEVER, him just walking away from vader makes no sense in the context of the greater galaxy as a whole. obi wan walked away from anakin on mustafar because he genuinely thought he’d killed him. considering the fact that anakin was getting incinerated alive by the lava + had his limbs cut off, it makes sense why he thought he couldn’t survive his wounds and left him there. he couldn’t deliver the killing blow, but he very much did consider anakin to be dying when he walked away

but right now? vader’s got trouble breathing, but his body as it is is fully intact, an imperial destroyer is within orbit, he has presumably the ability to contact them for extraction, and if not, his own ship is still there. we didn’t see him collapse due to his wounds or asphyxiation, so he’s having trouble moving but he’s not down for the count. why then does obi wan leave him if he KNOWS that vader poses a massive threat to not just him but the rest of the galaxy at large??? he even knows about the existence of leia in connection to him, providing him a clear link back to bail who is already suspect for having such a strong connection to the jedi pre-empire. why give him more ammunition?

it would’ve made more sense for vader and obi wan to have had that conversation, resume the fight, except vader gets a boost of power from his towering hatred and shoves obi wan down the ravine and collapses it over on top of him. obi wan, recently freed from his overwhelming guilt towards anakin and remembering his duty and love for anakin’s children, finds the strength to overcome his wounds and escape from being buried alive. it also allows for vader to leave, smug in his victory, providing us an explanation as to why the two of them were both alive in a new hope. the way that the confrontation was framed in episode 6 had a great finality to it, and it was final in the sense that it was an end for anakin and obi wan’s pre-empire friendship, but there’s no WAY he would’ve let obi wan just walk away like that. and why doesn’t the destroyer fire immediately upon noticing the dropship leave orbit??? even to prevent it from jumping to hyperspace????

if vader left, it would give obi wan the window of time needed to escape, and highlight the arrogance that was inherent to anakin and now vader. we can even say vader spots obi wan’s escaping ship from the bridge of the destroyer moments before it enters hyperspace, alerting him to the fact that he has, once again, failed to best his old master.

so i wasn’t saying that that scene wasn’t crucial to obi wan and vader cementing themselves as their respective roles in the OT, i’m saying it doesn’t make sense for it to have happened the way that it did. honestly if you just shuffled the scenes around it would’ve probably scanned better. vader saying that he killed anakin, but ending with him gloating over obi wan’s failure and calling him master one last time as one final nod to the fact that no matter how hard vader tries to deny it, some small part of anakin exists.

ESPECIALLY since it would’ve paralleled the flashback sequences in episode 5, where padawan anakin is smug in his assured victory until obi wan deftly snatches it out of his fingers again.

the way it actually went down in ep 6 just doesn’t make sense to me

[trihardent]

SO OBSESSED with how if we define honour as A) a willingness to go into battle, B) being honest and C) keeping to your word/ obligations that it perfectly maps onto The Red Army, who have honour, and their enemies, who don't.

FURTHER MORE

IF WE VIEW THE ENTIRE TEXT THROUGH THE LENS OF HONOUR VS DISHONOUR, IMPULSES BETRAYAL IS MORE CLEARLY FORESHADOWED, THE REASON WHY THE RED ARMY MADE SO MANY ENEMIES IS THEMATICALLY EXPLAINED, AND IT EVEN ADDS ANOTHER ELEMENT OF GREATNESS TO THE RENCHANTING DUOS CHARACTER GROWTH.

OK. First off. Renchanting Duo. Because its super quickneasy to explain, & I'm trying rlly hard to keep interest for as long as possible b4 ppls eyes glaze over at the wall of text.

Ren and Martyn's character arcs are to respectively, A) learn to be willing to stick up for your self, & B) learning to dedicate yourself* to others. So, they both become more honourable. And, as A DIRECT RESULT of BECOMING MORE HONOURABLE, REN MAKES SCAR HIS ENEMY. LEADING TO THE RED ARMY, THE ORGANIZATION REPRESENTING HONOUR, FORMING.

SO, WE LITERALLY SEE THEIR CHARACTER GROWTH CREATE THE SERVERS BIGGEST FACTION, WHICH IS BASED ON THE VALUES THEY HELPED EACH OTHER LEARN.

*screams*

*Dedicating oneself to others is not necessarily an inherent gain of honour like Ren's Arc is, but the looking at Martyn's behaviour we see how dedicating himself to Renchanting stopped him from really falling into dishonourable behaviour [see: his early penchant for heists]

OK. Second. Impulse's betrayal. There are a lot of moments where Impulse is shown to be less honourable than the others, him saying he'd give his life for Ren and then backing away the moment an actual arrow is shot, all the half truthing and dodging blame and sucking up to everyone.

As the thesis states, Red Army = Honour. If you're honourable, youre in, if youre dishonourable, youre out. So if you're skirting the line of dishonour, yet claiming to be honourable.......... You're foreshadowing :)

But. MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE MOMENT. What could be called the actual betrayal, Impulse leading the Red Army away from Dogwarts so the Crastle can trap it.

OK LIKE. Impulse has already been shown to be semi-dishonourable, and because the Red Army stand for honour, thats already foreshadowing that he's a traitor when he joins up. But. BUT. THE WAY HE BETRAYS THEM is one of THE MOST DISHONOURABLE THINGS HE COULD DO. LET'S TALLY UP MY MOST RECENT INVENTION, THE HONOUR POINTS SHALL WE?

He makes a secret (-1) plan with the Crastle folks to betray the Red Army (-1) so he can prove his loyalty to them (+1). Impulse is to lure them away(-1) so Tango can set a trap(-1). When he gets there, he convinces the Red Army INSTEAD of going into battle (-2) that THEY SHOULD START LYING (-2) and SPREADING FAKE NEWS (-2) across the server. Before having an absolute spy moment where he gives the secret go signal (-1) for the Crastle to, need I remind you, do something very dishonourable. Which! He manages to lie (-1) about after so he can get his stuff!!!!!!!!

-11 honour points!

So. His first explicit mission to betray the Red Army has him not only flagrantly breaking every ideal they stand for at least twice over, but ALSO CORRUPTING the Red Army into going against their own principles.

cool.

Finally. Their Enemies. Strategically, making so many enemies was pretty failcringe. THEMATICALLY though, THEMATICALLY. Good stuff. basically just a list of all the ways you could consider their enemies dishounarble by the criteria I laid out in the beginning. I've officially talked about all the Very important stuff so formatting is minimal from here on out.

Desert Duo: Scar's literal defining trait throughout the series was being seen as untrustworthy and exactly 0 people believing he was gonna follow through on any deal he made ever. Also, cue @/red-rose-gown's post about most of Scar's kills being while his enemies were facing away and the one that wasn't was because he was backing away. Scar basically never took an honest fight with anyone until the final duel w/ Grian, it was all running away and traps and hiding and distractions for him. Speaking of Grian, the trap king himself. Need I say anymore? Probably, but this has been sitting in my drafts for a month now.

Flower Husbands: Scott "Well He Doesn't Know I'm a Liar Yet" Smajor who just wanted to retire, and not go into battle. Not an honour move bro. Shout outs to the Daisy fiasco*, dishonour on you, dishonour on your husband, dishonour on your cow. Obviously Mr. "I don't wanna kill anyone" Gaming, who was planning on hiding the entire rest of the game also does not count as honourable.

ALSO the thing that made them official enemies was not wanting to go into possible danger ala Jimmy being freaked out over the idea of a sacrifice.

Crastle: A)Their whole thing was combat avoidance by hiding in the castle. 2.1) Bdubs hiding from the red army after they killed Cleo and Tango, 2.2) Bdubs disavowing Cleo after she was permakilled in front of him because he was scared of the red army, C.a) llama thievery C.b) roof burnage, no matter its target, is lowkey dishonourable, 4) the helmet stunt was literally a way for Bdubs to kill Etho without having to actually fight him.

Joel: See, the Daisy fiasco, the wall burning, the missile launch, the betrayal of the Red Army, I feel like this ones pretty self explanatory.

Tango: Double agentry, and The lava game was a way to murder people without combat, so dishonour. dishonourrrr. that not a real word to me rn thanks for reading this entire thing <3

[zeta-in-de-walls]

Tommy’s attachments

You know, Tommy’s character really does get so very, very attached to things so easily! They bring him a lot of happiness. And a lot of pain too. I wanted to make a list of some of the many things on the server Tommy values, and why. I’m not including the people, but many of the things are precious purely because of the people and memories they evoke. 

-His music discs, Cat, Mellohi and also Blocks. He likes them because of their sentimentality, how they were the first discs he owned and listened to. (And blocks the one he listened to with Jschlatt.) They have no value to anyone else. The only reason anyone would want them is to use them against Tommy! And he has to keep them locked away in his ender chest at all times, but brings them out as much as he can to listen to them!

-His bench, where he listens to music + the sunset. Where he goes at the end of every war. Once Tommy spent a whole stream just clearing the view with Fundy. Towards the end, they got an ask, suggesting they just move the bench a bit - as that’d be easier. No! The spot’s just as important. It’s home to so many memories and its got a lovely view of the sunset by a cliff edge. It’s a travesty that things get built there purely to block Tommy’s view, spoiling it. 

-Ninja’s house. It’s a pretty ugly building, complete with ill-fitting doors and yet Tommy is very defensive of it and he does repair it. Usually Tommy hates ugly buildings on his land as he likes to keep it a nice open space with lots of flowers. This building is an exception as its a memory of a really fun stream and one of Tommy’s coolest collabs. Ninja’s gone but his memory lives on in that house. (That’s also why Tommy offering it to Connor to live in was such a nice gesture.)

-The cuck shed. Tommy loved the stream he did with Jschlatt, who was his idol. This was even more special than ninja’s house, especially as jschlatt got banned from the server, seemingly forever. When Dream blew up Tommy’s base in the L’Manburg war, Tommy just requested they leave the cuck shed alone. He wanted it to remain undamaged. The rest of the damage? Upsetting but whatever. The cuck shed? That was precious and he was hurt that they’d do it even after he’d asked them to spare it. 

-The L’Mantree. When war was kicking off and Tommy was supposed to prepare, you know what the biggest thing he did was? Get obsidian to place around the L’Mantree to keep it safe no matter what happened. It was a symbol of the beginning, of the one tree that stood from the beginning of the SMP even after all their wars and how much everything had changed. After L’Manburg was blown up, he asked everyone to meet him there, to rally around it as a symbol of hope. That some things can remain pure and untouched. 

-Henry. His cow. This cow wouldn’t leave him alone as he first built his holiday home which was meant to be a good, more peaceful spot. He ended up basically building his house around Henry and quickly grew attached to the friendly cow. I think Henry got kidnapped about 3 times, by Quackity, by Dream and then by Sapnap, who accidentally killed him after Henry had been around for like 2 months. Tommy was devastated, building a grave for him and naming his holiday home after Henry the cow. Did you know? A few days after Henry died, Tommy walked into his base to find a cow called Ghost Henry (Tommy was upset by it and quickly killed it). The other server members just loved to remind him of his loss... 

-Mushroom Henry. Tommy had conflicted feelings of a cow named after Henry but he recognised it was a really nice gesture and soon grew fond of it and how it as a good source of food in exile. When Dream blew up Logstedshire, he made a special effort to kill Mushroom Henry in front of Tommy, right after Tommy had been laughing at it cutely spinning in a corner. 

-Juorse. Another pet. Tommy missed having a pet and went to find another. He soon discovered this horse and was thrilled at its awesome jumping ability. Upon discovering it was very slow, Tommy decided that didn’t matter at all - this wasn’t a war horse, it was a friend horse, great for walking down the prime path. Tommy even chose Jourse its own theme music. Guess how long it took for the horse to get kidnapped? Like a day or two... Sapnap soon killed it when Tommy refused to trade him back Mars, Sapnap’s fish. 

-Definitely Not Penis. Dream’s Crossbow. The legacy to Not Penis which was lost when Dream fell in lava. Tommy had been on the wrong side of these weapons many a time. In the railway war, Tommy stole this weapon off dream, along with his armour and sword. He tried to convince Dream to trade the stuff back in return for a music disc. Tommy considered the crossbow as the item of the most value with its distinct name, feeling like it had history. In the end he traded the stuff back for Spirit, the remains of Dream’s very first pet. After Tommy got banished, Dream gifted his crossbow to Tommy, who was extremely touched by the gesture - more fond of the crossbow than that the netherite armour and stack of gapples that Dream had also gifted him - the crossbow was special and he tried to show it off to Wilbur repeatedly. Dream, finally his friend and on his side! It’s not often he’s given presents of such value. Tommy lost it in the war, but Tubbo had secretly picked it up and gave it to Tommy before they confronted Dream in the disc saga finale, and Tommy was overjoyed. (He died and lost it a few days ago sadly.) 

-The axe of peace. Techno’s axe. Tommy really looked up to Techno and one of the first things they did on the server was take Antfrost hostage for fun. Techno used the axe of peace, saying a hit from it could cause memory loss. It’s Techno’s oldest weapon. While staying at Techno’s house, Tommy helped him get it back from Tubbo and Ranboo. A day later, Techno gifted it to him to Tommy’s pleasure - he was very in awe of the weapon. Tommy holds onto to it when he switches sides. Tommy loves wielding it, even making a point to kill Dream with it before locking him in prison.

-The drug van. One of his happiest memories on the server was making drugs with Wilbur. This van soon became the centre of L’Manburg. The actual van got blown up many times but the simple memory of it stood strong. That’s why the night before confronting Dream, he remade a version of it inside his house, the part with the tables and the brewing stands. Tommy and Wilbur, the good ol days before things went bad.

-’Your Tubbo’ compass. Ghostbur gave it to him. It pointed to Tubbo and Tommy never wanted to forget how much Tubbo meant to him as he dearly missed him in Exile. Tommy carried it with him into Doomsday, where it got lost, but it didn’t matter so much as he had Tubbo back for real.

-Chirp, Wait, Stal and Pigstep. While they’re not as special as his main music discs, Tommy loves all music discs (except 11 and 13). Chirp in particular is the first music disc anyone ever gave Tommy. (It only took them 5 months xD) Tommy was very grateful to Bad for this, saying he now considered the two of them friends and he played Chirp a lot throughout his exile, finally playing it once more in the aftermath of Doomsday. Wait was gifted by Techno and it’s CC!Tommy’s favourite C418 disc. Tommy loves Pigstep too as its rare and was also gifted to him and he likes trying to rap to it. Tubbo let him keep Stal, supposedly the first one on the server which they found on the stream with Lani, Tubbo’s sister. 

-Tommy’s base. No matter how full of holes and how much everyone else moves out, Tommy loves his house. It’s so very his. It’s been pranked and griefed many times but Tommy doesn’t care. He always repairs it and even became nostalgic for it in the old days when it was made mostly out of dirt rather than smooth stone. He never wants to move out. And his value of it makes it really feel like the centre of the server. 

-The prime path. He loves walking down it, ideally without armour on. He frequently repairs it and tends to it. (In exile he also became very attached to his prime log). 

-The Dream SMP as a whole. This is an interesting one but Tommy has recently just been absolutely appreciating the server. He frequently brings up how it looks, and how much he cares about it. He’s so very attached to it, loves living in it - especially after being exiled more than once and always wants it to be a great place. That’s part of why he’s so concerned with the egg. And he claimed he wanted his hotel to be a new landmark after how buildings like the community house got destroyed. 

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this week #64

Honeyland, the only film ever to be nominated for Oscars in the two categories, for Best Foreign Film and for Best Documentary Feature. A story of an old beekeeper of wild bees, who lives alone in a remote Macedonian village with her bed-ridden mother. 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes - Best film of the week.

🍿      

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, a magical Ghibli Studio adaptation based on an ancient Japanese folklore story from the 9th century. It tells of a moon princess discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. The last film directed by Isao Takahata, with music by Joe Hisaishi.

🍿      

Helvetica, a 2007 documentary about the ubiquitous Swiss typeface, in connection with the 50 years since it was introduced. For the 15 anniversary of the movie, it is now shown for free at the link above. What does the font say about graphic designers who use it?

🍿      

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, My first Russ Meyer. John Waters said, "This Is, beyond a doubt, the best movie ever made. It is possibly better than any film that will be made in the future." But I’m not sure about this strange, low-budget sexploitation tale of sex, violence, and fast cars. With the exceptional Tura Satana, and her go-go dancer friends out on a killing spree in the California desert. Pure kitsch. (Photo Above).

🍿      

Los Angeles X 2:

🎦🎦🎦 Los Angeles Plays Itself, a lengthy, meandering 2003 video essay by film professor Thom Anderson, about how local filmmakers presented LA in their films through history. Many salient points about representation, with hundreds of clips from all genre movies. His interpretations are often nonsensical or incomprehensive (to me). After living there for decades, it’s nice seeing landmarks and locals that are not as ‘famous’ as some others. . 

🎦🎦🎦 L.A. Confidential, stylish adaptation of James Ellroy’s neo-noir about police corruption in 1953, part of his LA quartet, and headed by 3 Australian actors. But did any of this corruption end? Of course not.

🍿      

From Andrew Saladino, AKA The Royal Ocean Film Society on YouTube, the essay How Alfonso Cuaron directs a one-shot.

Also, Why Molly's Game is Aaron Sorkin's Weakest Film.

I will check out his many other interesting shorts!

🍿      

I don’t care for spy/action heroes, and only seen a few of the James Bond films through the years. So I only watched Spectre, because it was mentioned in the above Cuaron essay as a misdirected long shot. And indeed, the long opening shot is technically-spectacular, but thematically and emotionally empty - just like the rest of the movie. The fantasies of narcissist teenager boys about beautiful women, guns and adventures are great, if you like that kind of a thing. At least it included eye candy Léa Seydoux -

...You shouldn’t stare -

- Well you shouldn’t look like this..  

🍿      

Most innovative animation shorts:

🎦🎦🎦 Double King, by the amazing Felix Colgrave.

🎦🎦🎦 Staying Positive in the Apocalypse, by Drue Langlois. (From).

🍿      

I used to like some of the early Pixar original shorts, some of which had certain quality that was presented in 6 or 10 minutes (Presto, Day & Night, La Luna, Lava, etc.) So I looked for some of the recent shorts they are producing, but they were disappointing,mostly ‘product-extension’-type bonbons: Ciao, Allberto, 22 Vs. Earth, Burrow, Lamp Life...

Out was slightly more interesting, as it presented an unapologetic gay couple coming out to one of the young men’s parents. However, considering Disney’s real political stand, it feels hypocritical & corporately hollow.

- - - - -

(My complete movie list is here)

[fvckyouimaprophet]

lights low, flames high

5x11 alternate ending where tabitha and betty "vibe" while they're on shrooms, and by vibe i mean make out | read on ao3

The music bounces off the bunker walls—small and insulated as it is—and melts into Betty until she’s not sure where it ends and she begins. Then again, she supposes the shrooms are partly to blame. She’s never been good at relinquishing control, and Jessica’s words loop in her head. Let the trip take you wherever it may go. She’s certain that the budding anxiety in the pit of her stomach is not what Jessica meant. It doesn’t help that the last time she was drugged— 

Her nails dig into her palm, cutting off that thought. Deep breaths.

“What is this?”

Tabitha’s question makes her jump—the thought of anyone else in the room long out of Betty’s mind.

“What?”

“This music.”

“Oh, it’s from Hair,” Betty says.

“That’s that anti-Vietnam musical?” Her lips betray her, quirking upwards in amusement, but nonetheless, Tabitha sways along with it and drags her finger along the edge of the table.

“Most of my musical theatre knowledge comes from Kevin,” Betty admits. She closes her eyes and runs her fingers along the bed. So many memories for a hole in the ground—and mistakes too.

She pushes the thought out of her mind and focuses instead on the feel of the fabric and the pilled polyester of the pillow cover. Its touch is strangely satisfying and absorbing.

“Can I lay down too?” Tabitha asks, and Betty blinks her eyes open and back into focus as the room swims around her—the red of the lava lamp making the walls look aflame. Betty nods her head before she recalls the spare mattress and hobbles up.

“Wait, I have a better idea.” She tugs at the edge of the mattress, but her grip slips and tugs the bedsheet off instead. It’s hard to focus with her body floating, and she stumbles backward.

“Careful!” 

Before Betty can fall into the table, Tabitha places a hand on each of Betty’s arms and steadies her with a light squeeze. As unexpected as it is, the sudden warmth of someone beside her feels nice, and her breath catches in her throat. With Tabitha this close, Betty notices—not for the first time—the scene of her perfume. It’s oddly comforting, if unfamiliar. She breathes in slowly, careful not to give herself away.

“Thanks,” Betty says, and when she turns around, Tabitha’s hands drop. The sudden lack of contact is inexplicably disappointing, but her mind can’t focus enough to linger on it. The music swells around them, swallowing them both, judging by the look on Tabitha’s face.

“What were you trying to do?” Tabitha asks.

“There’s a spare mattress. We can just move them to the floor if I can just…” She tugs at the mattress again, careful this time not to grip it by the bedsheet. And when it starts to budge, she grins.

“Let me help.”

They make quick work of pushing the table to the side and getting the mattresses to the floor, especially considering how much of a chore it is to move at all. It’s not the most graceful she’s ever been, but here in the comfort of the bunker, there’s little to worry about. 

And the shrooms—Betty has to begrudgingly admit they make things a little softer at the edges. The moment Betty thinks she’s grasped a thought, it's out of reach. With everything that’s happened with Polly and the chaos of Charles and Chic, it’s a relief to be floating, untethered.

“You know this music isn’t half-bad, but I don’t know how Jessica had time to prepare it when we weren’t paying attention,” Tabitha says, and Betty rolls on her side to face her.

“I still can’t believe she drugged us. And then left us here with some music like that makes it all okay!”

They look at each other, the intensity of Jessica’s actions washing over them before Tabitha bursts out laughing. “I have to admit, this isn’t how I imagined spending my night, but it’s not so bad. You’re not the wet blanket Jughead made you out to be.”

The words linger between them for a second, Jughead’s name harsh and unforgiving.

“I shouldn’t have brought him up,” Tabitha quickly adds.

“It’s fine,” Betty says and is surprised by the fact that she means it. The silence draws out for another moment, and Tabitha rolls over onto her side as well. With their mattresses on top of one another, it means that Tabitha’s face is inches apart from hers. 

It’s an intimacy Betty’s nearly forgotten. Glen hardly counts; half the time, Betty doesn’t remember him—which says something considering his role in recent events. And her training hasn’t lent itself to many new friendships. But now, with Tabitha so close that Betty can smell the artificial sweetness of a strawberry milkshake on her breath, it feels reassuring.

“What do you think of Riverdale so far?” Betty asks.

Tabitha laughs and puts a hand under her head, propping it up. “I’ve… never seen a place quite like it.”

“That’s one way of putting it.”

“What’s yours?”

“Haunted. Or… Sometimes I wonder what I’m fighting for. I grew up here, and I have all these memories, but it feels like I’m holding onto something that’ll never exist. I used to think the town would heal itself—that the bad things that happened were the exception, but I’m not so sure I think that anymore. When it was just Jason and Mr. Blossom, that felt like an anomaly. But then it turned out my dad was a serial killer and Veronica’s was a power-hungry egomaniac, and Jughead’s mom came to town and rallied the Ghoulies to sell Jingle Jangle, and—”

“Jughead’s mom did what?” Tabitha asks and stares, horrified and wide-eyed.

The absurdity of it all hits Betty until she can’t help but smile. “Oh yeah. And that’s hardly the highlights reel.” Her filter’s too far gone to stop herself, so she adds, “You know, we set her drug lab on fire.”

Tabitha shakes her head and laughs in disbelief. “Holy shit.”

“And I haven’t even told you about the cult, or the creepy video store that sold pornos and illegally filmed sex tapes.”

“My grandfather told me some stories—mostly about Hiram and Veronica, for obvious reasons.” She hangs her free hand over the mattress, close to Betty, and Betty glances down, distracted by it. “And hey, maybe you’re right that this place is cursed, but I gotta believe in it. I’ve invested everything into Pop's, and as fucked up as Riverdale is, I don’t think it’s a lost cause. And I don’t think you’d have chosen to stay here if you thought that either.”

Betty bites her tongue, ignoring the automatic urge to argue. “Maybe,” she says, but her voice doesn’t sound entirely believable, even to her own ears.

Tabitha reaches out prods Betty’s shoulder with her two fingers—light and teasing. “I can practically see the effort it’s taking you not to disagree.”

There’s no use lying. The shrooms have made sure any knack she has for it is out of reach. “Sorry.”

“It’s a little rude, but I suppose I can find it in my heart to forgive you.” She smirks at Betty, and it strikes Betty that Tabitha must be as at ease as she feels. The Flesh Failures—her favorite song from the soundtrack—starts to play, and Betty adjusts herself, dropping her hand just slightly until her fingers touch Tabitha’s.

It’s silly perhaps. But she can’t stop the thought of Tabitha’s hands on her arms from flickering through her mind. It’s been so long since she’s found a touch that she hasn’t wanted to pull away from but, instead, lean into. She waits for Tabitha to move her hand back to her mattress, but she doesn’t. The realization takes a second to settle in as Betty watches, her stomach tightening in anticipation.

When she glances up, Tabitha is staring at her.

“I can—” Betty starts, pulling her hand back, but Tabitha reaches out, her fingers hooking around Betty’s to stop her.

“You don’t need to.”

Her world feels fuzzy around the edges, and Betty can’t stop herself as she lets out a breathy oh. The sound of her own heart rises over the music, and she’s suddenly aware of how hot the room is. Next to her, Tabitha inhales sharply through her nose and leans in.

Betty’s hit with a brief moment of clarity just before they kiss. It cuts through her, all the emotions she’s kept curled inside spilling out. They wrap around her as the song starts to wind down, and their lips meet. It’s tentative and gentle, careful to give Betty room to move back if she wants.

But she’s tired of overthinking. Her body aches from near-sleepless nights punctuated by nightmares. All she knows is that Tabitha’s lips feel soft and inviting, and, for once, she isn’t going to question it. Betty leans in, sinking into the kiss as she reaches out and wraps her fingers around Tabitha’s shirt.

Tabitha cups Betty's jaw, and the feel of her skin against hers is electric. Betty’s eyes close, and a small whine leaves her lips as she tries to steady herself against the rush of blood in her head and the dip in her stomach. The high is still riding full force, amplifying each little movement they make, and it’s all too much.

Betty pulls back, breathing deeply and quivering.

“You okay?” Tabitha asks. She squeezes Betty’s hand as her brow furrows with concern.

“Yeah, I—” Betty struggles to find the right words, so she just nods her head and concentrates on her breathing until she settles into her body once more.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have done that,” Tabitha says, although she doesn’t look like she quite believes it.

“This,” Betty says, motioning to herself, “has nothing to do with you kissing me. Or, if it does, it’s in a good way.” A cautious grin spreads across her face. “Can’t say I saw that coming from you, though.”

“Well, you should know better than to underestimate me.” Tabitha grins back.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The sound of the needle in the runout groove fills the silence, and Betty sucks in a sharp breath before pulling herself up with some difficulty, aware of how heavy her body feels. The mattresses, even just on the floor, look appealing.

“How do you feel about sleeping?” Tabitha asks, echoing Betty’s thoughts.

“I feel great about it.” Betty steps over to the record player, lifting the needle up and turning it off before making her way back. She half-falls as she sprawls back out.

Against the scratchy fabric of the mattress, her body feels weightless. It doesn’t take long for her to start to drift. She focuses on the sound of Tabitha breathing beside her until her mind starts to wander half toward dreams.

Just on the precipice of sleep, a hand brushes against hers, warm and familiar. Betty smiles, and the dreams overtake her.

[crusherthedoctor]

Can we have some unpopular Sonic opinions?

I tried to cram in a lot, so I hope this satisfies you. :P I tried to stick to the ones that I haven't brought up quite as often, since by this point, we all know that I think IDW's storytelling is dire, SA2's story is overrated, X Eggman is an embarrassing portrayal (at least from season 2 onwards), Blaze shouldn't be handcuffed to Silver, Shadow's backstory had issues with or without the Black Arms, Neo Metal Sonic looks silly, etc. But anyway, here we go:

- Knuckles may be tricky to incorporate into plots that don't relate to Angel Island, but making him obsessed with his duties is no better than having him forget about Angel Island entirely.

- I like Marine, and never found her annoying. Oh, I understood what they were trying to do with her, but I honestly wasn't put off by her, and found her Aussie lingo more endearing if anything. Since her debut was during the period in my life where where I couldn't stand Sonic himself, I instead thought he was irritating (and hypocritical) for getting annoyed with her for doing shit he would often be guilty of.

- Silver is just as guilty of being shoehorned into games and plots as the Deadly Six are. Having more fans than the latter is irrelevant, since we're still talking about a character who constantly has to time travel in order to be present.

- Speaking of Silver, if he has to stick around, please do something different with him. They've pulled the doomed future routine multiple times now, and it's been boring every single time. I wasn't interested when it involved Iblis. I wasn't interested when it involved Knuckles drinking the edgy Kool Aid. I wasn't interested when it involved a council of dumbasses... give it a rest already.

- The Tails Doll can work as a mildly creepy thing, with maybe more to it than meets the eye when it's time for a boss fight or what have you. But the memes about him stealing your soul are just dumb, and I thought it was dumb even back in my teenage youth.

- “Eggman is supposed to be clownish!” Yeah, well he's also meant to be a genuine villain with a 300 IQ. These qualities don't have to be mutually exclusive.

- “Sonic is supposed to have attitude!” Yeah, well that's not the same thing as being an absolute cunt. Sonic was only ever meant to come off as having an edge compared to Mario. He was never meant to be a GTA-tier protagonist.

- Rouge is not a villain, and never was a villain. Literally the whole point of her role in SA2 was to reveal that she was working against Eggman and Shadow the whole time, albeit using sneakier tactics to do so. You'd think all those people who exult SA2's story would remember this, but apparently not. She barely even qualifies as an anti-hero, since aside from stealing the Master Emerald, she rarely does anything morally questionable otherwise. She's got a lot more good in her than people give her credit for.

- Captain Whisker is a better Eggman Nega than the actual Eggman Nega. And as far as robot characters in this franchise go, Johnny's design is pretty underrated.

- I don't like Iblis or Mephiles, but I DO like Solaris, and it annoys me that it was out of focus for most of the story due to all the time spent on its less interesting halves. Had they kept the backstory with the Duke and his experiments, and worked from there, I think they could have provided an interesting contrast with Chaos (since Solaris can also qualify as a monster with a sympathetic backstory) instead of recycling the surface level schtick.

- Black Doom may technically be just as bad as Mephiles, Nega, Scourge, Mimic, etc, since he's yet another villain with one-note characterization and fucked over Eggman. But because he never gained a disproportionate fandom, he doesn't annoy me to the same extent. It's easier to ignore him by comparison, and his Dr. Claw voice and face shaped like a lady's delicate part make him enjoyable to mock.

- Likewise, while Lyric is also on the same level as these other villains, it's easier to dismiss him because I was never invested in the Boom games anyway, and being an obvious alternate universe (compared to Sonic X or IDW, which retain the Modern designs and plot elements), it never had an effect on the main series. I also unironically like his design, and if nothing else, at least this snake didn't start a hypnotism fetish across the internet.

- Sally - and the rest of the Freedom Fighters for that matter - have had their importance in the franchise severely inflated. They may have been lucky to be the face of popular media (SatAM and Archie), but they're not these magnificent entities that the game characters are but a speck of dust in comparison to. Having a “legacy” doesn't make them more entitled to shit than any other character, old or new.

- Conceptually, the treasure hunting gameplay is one of the better alternate gameplay styles IMO. But it was let down in SA2 by its one track minded radar (the levels may have been big, but I don't think that would have been an issue on its own if the radar was better). If they brought it back and made it more like SA1's treasure hunting, I'd be all for it, although it would probably be better suited for a spinoff title.

- This goes for a lot of games, but when it comes to 2D, I prefer sprites over models. Not that the Rush models are bad (though the ones in Chronicles sure as fuck are), but the sprites in Mania and the Advance trilogy are just so charming and full of character.

- I actually like Marble Zone. Yeah, the level design is a bit blocky, but I love the concept of an underground temple prison, mixed with lava elements in a zone that otherwise isn't a traditional volcano level.

- I also like Sandopolis Zone. Again, completely understand why it's not the most popular zone around, but I've been a sucker for the Ancient Egyptian aesthetic since childhood (you can thank Crash 3 for that), and Act 1 is visually stunning.

- I prefer the JP soundtrack for Sonic CD over the US version overall... but I also prefer Sonic Boom over You Can Do Anything.

- SA2's soundtrack isn't bad by any means - I love Rouge's tracks, and The Last Scene is one of my favourite pieces of music - but as far as variety goes, it's a step down from SA1's soundtrack.

- If Sonic X-Treme had been released, it probably would have been unenjoyable and confusing. Whatever your thoughts on SA1, it was probably the better option between the two as far as Sonic's first legitimate translation into 3D goes.

- I have no qualms with Modern Sonic and the other Modern designs and characters, but I also fully acknowledge that changing gears from Adventure onwards - and doing it with a great amount of fanfare - was always going to create one of the biggest divides in the fandom, and fans shouldn't act surprised that this happened. The fact that they felt the need to hype up a new design and direction in the first place (compared to Mario, who has mostly been the same since the beginning, with only the occasional minor change with little fanfare) also indicates that they weren't confident enough in Sonic and his universe being the way it was, which often gets ignored by all the “SEGA have no confidence!!!” complaints you see with their recent games.

- Unleashed did not deserve the incredibly harsh reviews it received back in the day... but it doesn't deserve its current sacred cow status either. It had more effort put into it than '06 to be sure, and I can respect that, but much of it was misguided effort, and even if you like the Werehog, you have to admit that the idea came at the absolute worst time. The intro cutscene may be awesome, as is the Egg Dragoon fight, but 2% doesn't make up the entire game. Chip was also quite annoying, and I wasn't particularly sad when he pressed F in the chat at the end.

- On the other hand, while Colours definitely has its shortcomings, and people have every right to criticse those shortcomings, a lot of its most vocal detractors tend to have a stick up their arse about the game because people actually enjoyed it, and it had a gimmick that people actually liked. Yes, it may have been the first game to have those writers everyone hates, but then SA1 was the first game to give the characters alternate gameplay styles and have other villains upstage Eggman, so...

- Forces is absolutely not on the level of '06. It's nowhere close. A game being flawed does not make it the next '06, clickbait YouTubers. Or should I say, the game they want to retroactively apply '06's reception to, since they've been trying hard to magically retcon '06's own quality...

- To echo @beevean, ALL of the 3D stories have their issues. SA1 is probably the most well-rounded of them on the whole, but even that one isn't perfect.

- To echo another opinion, although I do love SA1, I'm not crazy over the idea of a remake, and would prefer them to just take Sonic's gameplay from SA1 and work from there. Because with a remake, you're stuck in a hard spot: Do you keep it the way it is bar the expected graphical upgrades, and risk accusations of not doing anything to actually improve the experience? Or do you try to address past criticisms, and risk the wrath of the fans who will inevitably go on a #NotMyAdventure crusade about it? What people fail to consider is that the Crash and Spyro remakes were accepted gracefully because their original iterations were still unanimously beloved for the most part, whereas SA1 - and especially SA2 - have always been divisive, and have only gotten moreso over the years.

- People take their preferences for the character's voice actors too seriously. I have my own favourites like anyone else, but I don't make a big deal out of it.

- And with fandom voice actors, they usually focus too much on doing a basic impression of their preferred official voice actor, and not enough on the acting. So you end up getting a lot of fan voices who sound like decent impressions of Ryan Drummond or Jason Griffith on the surface, but they sound utterly empty beyond that impression, because there's no oomph or depth to the actual emotions. They think about the actor rather than the character, when it should really be the other way around.

- The thing with Ian Flynn is that he is capable of telling a decent story, and he can portray some characters well. But he's proven time and time again that everything will go off the rails if he's given too much freedom (ironic, given how quick he is to point the finger at mandates when something goes wrong).

- Ian Flynn and Shiro Maekawa are not the only people in the world who are allowed to write for Sonic. I understand that one should be cautious when seeking out new writing talent, but for all the fandom's accusations of playing it safe, they sure aren't in a rush to experiment outside of their own comfort zone.

- And of course, the big one: You don't fix the franchise's current problems by crawling back to its previous problems. It's much more helpful and constructive to discuss the good and bad alike with each of the games. Less “THIS GOOD, MODERN BAD”, and more “This could work, but maybe without that part...”

[naturecpw]

The Lost History of Yellowstone Debunking the myth that the great national park was a wilderness untouched by humans By Richard Grant; Photographs by Andrew Geiger

After 14 summers excavating in Yellowstone National Park, Doug MacDonald has a simple rule of thumb. “Pretty much anywhere you’d want to pitch a tent, there are artifacts,” he says, holding up a 3,000-year-old obsidian projectile point that his team has just dug out of the ground. “Like us, Native Americans liked to camp on flat ground, close to water, with a beautiful view.”

We’re standing on a rise near the Yellowstone River, or the Elk River as most Native American tribes called it. A thin wet snow is falling in late June, and a few scattered bison are grazing in the sagebrush across the river. Apart from the road running through it, the valley probably looks much as it did 30 centuries ago, when someone chipped away at this small piece of black glassy stone until it was lethally sharp and symmetrical, then fastened it to a straightened shaft of wood and hurled it at bison with a spear-throwing tool, or atlatl.

“The big myth about Yellowstone is that it’s a pristine wilderness untouched by humanity,” says MacDonald. “Native Americans were hunting and gathering here for at least 11,000 years. They were pushed out by the government after the park was established. The Army was brought in to keep them out, and the public was told that Native Americans were never here in the first place because they were afraid of the geysers.”

MacDonald is slim, clean-cut, in his early 50s. Originally from central Maine, he is a professor of anthropology at the University of Montana and the author of a recent book, Before Yellowstone: Native American Archaeology in the National Park. Drawing on his own extensive discoveries in the field, the work of previous archaeologists, the historical record and Native American oral traditions, MacDonald provides an essential account of Yellowstone’s human past. Tobin Roop, chief of cultural resources at Yellowstone, says, “As an archaeologist, working in partnership with the park, MacDonald has really opened up our understanding of the nuances and complexities of the prehistory.”

MacDonald sees his work, in part, as a moral necessity. “This is a story that was deliberately covered up and it needs to be told,” he says. “Most visitors to the park have no idea that hunter-gatherers were an integral part of this landscape for thousands of years.”

In the last three decades, the National Park Service has made substantial efforts to research and explain the Native American history and prehistory of Yellowstone, but the virgin-wilderness myth is still promoted in the brochure that every visitor receives at the park entrance: “When you watch animals in Yellowstone, you glimpse the world as it was before humans.” Asked if he considers that sentence absurd, or offensive to Native Americans, MacDonald answers with a wry smile. “Let’s just say the marketing hasn’t caught up with the research,” he says. “Humans have been in Yellowstone since the time of mammoths and mastodons.”

Shane Doyle, a research associate at Montana State University and a member of the Apsaalooke (Crow) Nation, burst out laughing when I read him that sentence from the brochure. But his laughter had an edge to it. “The park is a slap in the face to Native people,” he said. “There is almost no mention of the dispossession and violence that happened. We have essentially been erased from the park, and that leads to a lot of hard feelings, although we do love to go to Yellowstone and reminisce about our ancestors living there in a good way.”

* * *

On the road between the Norris Geyser Basin and Mammoth Hot Springs is a massive outcrop of dark volcanic rock known as Obsidian Cliff, closed to the public to prevent pilfering. This was the most important source in North America for high-quality obsidian, a type of volcanic glass that forms when lava cools rapidly. It yields the sharpest edge of any natural substance on earth, ten times sharper than a razor blade, and Native Americans prized it for making knives, hide-scraping tools, projectile points for spears and atlatl darts, and, after the invention of the bow and arrow 1,500 years ago, for arrowheads.

For the first people who explored the high geothermal Yellowstone plateau—the first to see Old Faithful and the other scenic wonders—Obsidian Cliff was a crucial discovery and perhaps the best reason to keep coming back. In that era, after the rapid melting of half-mile-thick glaciers that had covered the landscape, Yellowstone was a daunting place to visit. Winters were longer and harsher than they are today, and summers were wet and soggy with flooded valleys, dangerous rivers and a superabundance of mosquitoes.

MacDonald made one of the most exciting finds of his career in 2013 on the South Arm of Yellowstone Lake: a broken obsidian projectile point with a flake removed from its base in a telltale fashion. It was a Clovis point, approximately 11,000 years old and made by the earliest visitors to Yellowstone. The Clovis people (named after Clovis, New Mexico, where their distinctive, fluted points were first discovered in 1929) were hardy, fur-clad, highly successful hunters. Their prey included woolly mammoths, mastodons and other animals that would become extinct, including a bison twice the size of our modern species.

The Clovis point that MacDonald’s team spotted on the beach is one of only two ever found in the park, suggesting that the Clovis people were infrequent visitors. They preferred the lower elevation plains of present-day Wyoming and Montana, where the weather was milder and large herds of megafauna supported them for 1,000 years or more. MacDonald thinks a few bands of Clovis people lived in the valleys below the Yellowstone plateau. They would come up occasionally in the summer to harvest plants and hunt and get more obsidian.

“Native Americans were the first hard-rock miners in Wyoming and it was arduous work,” says MacDonald. “We’ve found more than 50 quarry sites on Obsidian Cliff, and some of them are chest-deep pits where they dug down to get to the good obsidian, probably using the scapular blade of an elk. Obsidian comes in a cobble [sizable lump]. You have to dig that out of the ground, then break it apart and start knapping the smaller pieces. We found literally millions of obsidian flakes on the cliff, and we see them all over the park, wherever people were sitting in camp making tools.”

Each obsidian flow has its own distinctive chemical signature, which can be identified by X-ray fluorescence, a technique developed in the 1960s. Artifacts made of Yellowstone obsidian from Obsidian Cliff have been found all over the Rockies and the Great Plains, in Alberta, and as far east as Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario. Clearly it was a valuable commodity and widely traded.

On the Scioto River south of Columbus, Ohio, archaeologists identified 300 pounds of Yellowstone obsidian in mounds built by the Hopewell people 2,000 years ago. It’s possible the obsidian was traded there by intermediaries, but MacDonald and some other archaeologists believe that groups of Hopewell made the 4,000-mile round trip, by foot and canoe, to bring back the precious stone.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lost-history-yellowstone-180976518/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[heatherwitch]

Hi Mouse! I was wondering if you had any thoughts on treating a room that just feels, off. My home office is supposed to be my most productive area, but I can't stand staying in there and I can't figure out why. Even when clean it feels cramped, even though it's the same size as the front bedroom which feels very light and airy. It also has the same size window facing the same direction, but I swear less slight gets in in the office. I'd really like to make it a working space. Thanks!

Hello! Yes I do, I recently went through this process with my bedroom a couple months ago, despite keeping it tidy, cleansed and warded something felt off. What I did was a very deep/thorough cleaning and cleansing (and bedroom specific), I’ll share what I did but do what’s realistic for you!

What I did recently:

(Summary at bottom)

The first thing I did was remove nearly everything. I knew I like the layout of the furniture so those stayed, but every item I moved into my living room. Things like curtains and blankets I either washed or aired out in the sunshine for a bit. If you’re not sure about the layout I’d recommend removing everything and starting with a blank slate.

I then swept + mopped my floor, removed any cobwebs I missed in routine cleaning, washed down my walls, washed my window, dusted my shelves and made my bed with freshly cleaned bedding.

I redid my wards and cleansed the space.

After that I went through all the items and decided what I wanted to keep vs. donate/gift to someone else. I also noticed what energies I was getting from them, this was an excellent way to figure out what was contributing to the off feeling in my space (there were a few things I got rid of/released because of their energies). I smoke cleansed every single item before placing it back in my bedroom.

Be intentional with where you put things + adding things that create good energy. Layout can influence this, and so can have items you love or items you feel give off a certain energy (I put crystals, plants and altars/devotional spaces in different spots in my bedroom, for example).

I did a second cleansing + blessing when everything was how I liked it to finish it off, and haven’t had any off energy in the space since then!

To summarize:

Remove what you can from the space, giving you a blank slate.

Deep clean, take care to get the spaces you often miss.

Cleanse and ward while it feels like a blank slate.

Figure out what you want to put back in the space, see what energies you’re getting from them and cleanse as needed.

Layout and items can help bring desired energy, be intentional with it.

A second cleansing and/or blessing to finish it off never hurts!

A few random tips:

Sometimes air flow can help make a space feel better, if the area doesn’t have a window that opens or if it gets stuffy, consider adding a fan of some sort. (Even a small one that sits on a desk can help).

Scents can also help, I like using wax melters and different scents for different things. Reed diffusers are also great! Or a room spray.

If it feels like there’s less lighting, consider getting an additional light source. May also be a good place to add something like a salt lamp (or lava lamp). Sometimes having something that lights up can make the space feel brighter, even if it doesn’t actually provide illumination.

I find the tidier a space is, the more energetically pleasing it is. Even if you need the room for storage as well, try to keep it out of sight/organized.

If the energy still feels a bit off, consider making some sort of energy trap/filter. (Bowl of salt, salt lamp, negativity absorbing buddy, a witch bottle of sorts, etc.)

Don’t forget to have fun with the space! Add some decorations, make it feel like a space that you belong in and feel happy in. Might be a fun time to get a new plant that stays there or to check out your local thrift shop to see if any decor catches your eye (when applicable around covid).

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