#Living Books sampler

[oshyfriend]

Man I sure do love those living books pc games.

[forthegothicheroine]

Tanith Lee Recs

Since Tanith Lee deserves to be known for much more than having been plagiarized, I thought I'd share some recommendations. She had a HUGE body of work, and I've seen it suggested that the reason she never became a household name in fantasy and science fiction is that she wrote so many things that were different from each other, rather than staying in one easily labeled niche. I've only begun to make a dent in her catalogue, but here's the stuff I liked the best.

Note: A lot of her stuff can be disturbing, and I can't remember everything well enough to give perfect trigger warnings.

Red as Blood and Redder Than Blood: These fairy tale collections are being talked about now for the title story, but my favorite is The Golden Ladder, an incredibly creepy and hot version of Rapunzel, or perhaps When the Clock Strikes, a horrifying beautiful take on Cinderella.

The Weird Tales of Tanith Lee: As you can see, I love her short stories. These are all the ones published in Weird Tales, which includes some of the above fairy tales (including When the Clock Strikes) but also Arthurian, steampunk and science fiction stories. It's a great sampler of all the things she could do.

Blood 20: One more short story collection! This one is (most of) her vampire stories, so I know you goths will like it! There are things erotic, fantastical and grotesque in here, but to me the most haunting is the tragically mundane The Vampire Lover.

The Secret Books of Paradys: In this series, an alternate history of Paris, bad things happen. Supernatural things, sexual things, horrifying things. And sometimes good things happen, such as a man saved by a Jewish sage an his beautiful daughter who then actually converts to Judaism.

The Secret Books of Venus: I've only read the first entry in this similar series about an alternate world version of Venice, but once again it leaves the reader feeling totally transported to this sometimes sinister, sometimes lovely place where romance and cruelty live next door to each other.

Vivia: This tragic medieval plague-influenced vampire story is maybe the darkest thing of hers I've read, but dear god can she paint a picture with words. Along with The Birthgrave (which I didn't like as much), George RR Martin definitely pulled a lot of Danaerys's story from the title character here.

Islands in the Sky: And now for something completely different- a children's book. I remember finding this at the library as a kid and wanting to cry when it was over, because it gave me an equal sense of wonder and happiness as The Lion the Witch and the Wardobe, which I hadn't known was possible and worried would never happen again.

...but if you're like me, you'll just see which of her books you find at the library and used bookstores. You may not love every single thing, but it will always be interesting!

[wangxianficrecs]

trying to get a moot interested in a new fandom to read wangxian fics! lol but overwhelmed for choice! what would be the top hmmm ten fics you'd recommend as a wangxian sampler pack for someone new to mdzs???

Tough question, because obviously everyone has a different taste! My honest opinion would be recommending actually reading Mo Dao Zu Shi, because it's a great book :D

However, if I had to rec ten stories, I'd probably go for these:

this river runs to you by sundiscus (T, 50k, wangxian, modern with magic, dragons, tender wound tending) | Mojo’s Rec

the kite string and the anchor rope by fleurdeliser (@fleurdeliser​) (M, 38k, sick fic, sick a-yuan, hurt/comfort, canon divergence, angst with a happy ending, wen remnants live, wei wuxian lives) | Mojo's Rec

the soft animal of your body by sysrae (@fozmeadows) (T, 15k, wangxian, modern with magic, hurt/comfort, animal transformation) | Kay's Rec

What We Grew in this Forsaken Place by Admiranda (@admirableadmiranda) (T, 27k, wangxian, modern au, modern with magic, shapeshifter lan wangji, isolation, slice of life, secret identity, strangers to lovers) | Kay's Rec

The River Brought You Here by ChilianXianzi (Not Rated, 11k, wangxian, WWX & original female characters, JC & WWX, canon-divergence, pov outsider, amnesia, past abuse, found family, recovery, permanent injury side effects) | Kay's Rec

Concord by Deastar (@youhideastar) (T, 41k, wangxian, arranged marriage, angst with a happy ending, heavy angst, getting to know each other, mental health issues, falling in love, mutual pining) | Kay's Rec

Just as the Snow Melts by draechaeli (@draechaeli) (T, 66k, wangxian, xuanli, songxiao, everybody lives, canon-divergence, the wens leave the burial mounds and integrate into yiling) | Mojo’s Rec

The Price of Old Wishes by SoManyJacks (E, 67k, wangxian, background xiyao, pov LWJ, depression, eventual happy ending, selective mutism, hurt/comfort, eventual smut, a retelling of the events of the novel from the perspective of LWJ) | Mojo's Rec

And They Have Escaped The Weight of Darkness by cosmicmilktea (T, 10k, Wangxian, canon divergence, amnesia, memory loss, wei wuxian lives, grief/mourning, happy enidng, getting together, domestic bliss) | Mojo's Rec

Deconstruct by flowercity (FaoriE) (T, 11k, Wangxian, canon divergence, soul mates, angst with a happy ending, getting to know each other, cloud recesses study arc) | Mojo's Rec

~*~

Recs sorted in no particular order! And of course, our dear followers are welcome to add their own recs for someone new in the fandom. I hope your friend finds something they enjoy!

~ Kay

[babyouran]

A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family! - what was planned to be a quick, small trip to visit y/n and haruhi soon becomes something bigger as all the members get a peek into the commoner lifestyle

Pairing - fem!reader x host club

Apart of - ouran add in

Currently, seven of the eight Host Club members were standing outside of a run-down, tiny, one-roomed house where the Fujioka residents lived. Vines were overcrowding the fence that stood in front of the cracked home, them growing in unwanted places. The shattered windows allowed a nasty breeze to enter the house, and the grass surrounding it had weeds overgrowing up to the height of Honey’s knees. As if it could not look more disappointing, the once nice weather that seemed to greet them soon turned into darkened clouds that looked as if it were specifically just floating over the Fujioka home. 

Seeing such a dear friend in a depressing space was appalling to the group. Tamaki stood still, his eyes trained directly at the chunk of wood missing at the top of the doorframe, his hands tightly holding onto a box filled with treats. 

"This can't be right," Tamaki muttered.

"Oh Haruhi," Y/N sighed sadly, looking at the rundown place of living. When Haruhi opened the door, her expression differed much from the one they normally saw on her. She had dirt smudged on her cheeks, a sickly pale complexion, and a dizzying stance shown through her discombobulated feet trying to keep her balanced and upright. 

"Hey everyone. Why don't you come in?" Haruhi offered, and she gestured to the inside of the miniature home, where a singular chandelier hung down from the ceiling, emitting a small light to make up the whole home's space. "I know it's not much, but please make yourselves at home. I'll make us some tea." She moved across the dirtied floor, trash filtered about the room, and swung open the rusty cabinetry doors. "Um, I'm sorry, we don't have enough cups, but we do have some bowls.” 

She frantically pulled out most of the dishware available, pouring an oddly dark brownish-green tea into the chipped containers. The group couldn’t help but eye one another in an attempt to stifle their comments of concern and disgust.

"Hey, boss. What's with this place? She lives here?" Hikaru uttered.

"Maybe it's some kind of set, you know, like in the movies?" Kaoru hoped, peering behind a tattered curtain in hopes of finding a mysterious camera.

"I-I hope so!" Tamaki exclaimed, his eyes staring now into the floor, unblinking. 

"Haruhi, you don't have any books," Y/N realized, a gasp leaving her lips as she tried to search in a drawer but to no avail. The book-obsessed young maiden was wrecked at the discovery, similar to how many of the other members were. 

"Psst, Y/n," Tamaki snapped out of his trance, nudging her shoulder. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

"I'll be okay, Tamaki-senpai." Y/N shook her head up and down, wiping away an imaginary tear and taking a slow seat down onto the flattened cushion that lay near the table.

"Calm down, you guys. I bet this is the storeroom. I'm positive Infinite Cosmos is just on the other side of that closet," Tamaki told the twins, turning around on the stained cushion and narrowing his attention to them. 

"Then should we try to open it?" Kaoru tiptoed over to where the door was. 

"Now's not the time!"  

"Right.”

"Since you guys decided to come by at lunchtime, my dad said it would be rude if I didn't offer you something to eat." Haruhi walked near the group, placing the bowls and cups filled with tea in front of them. "We've been fasting for three days to save up money to buy something suited to your taste. But it's all worth it as long as you guys like it.” She put on a fake smile. 

She walked back, hunched towards the kitchen counter where the grocery bag resided, and with gawky fingers, she pulled out an eight-piece sushi sampler, holding it up in the air. 

"It was marked down at the supermarket; how about that?" Haruhi lightly cheered, now placing the platter on the table. The fish looked several days past expiration, the rice was falling from its shape with an odd color, and a disturbing odor was ruminating from the supermarket sushi. 

"Sorry, we came to visit Haru-chan! Don't make us eat it!" Honey yelled, standing up as tall as he could with his hands up in the air as if surrounded by law enforcement. 

"Be strong men; Y/n will be upset if we hurt her friend, and Haruhi has truly suffered for our benefit," Tamaki encouraged the twins, hands shakily reaching across the table to pick up a set of cheap chipped chopsticks. "It's the least we could do.” 

"But sir, I'm not even sure this is fish!" Kaoru argued. 

"Wow! I can't believe it! Isn't this a piece of fancy tuna, and I'm getting to eat it with Y/N?" Haruhi admired the tuna in her hand.

"Oh no," Y/n muttered, taking one of the sushis in between her chopsticks. "This—I think I'm going to be sick," she gagged. 

"No, Y/n, don't eat that; it isn’t fancy tuna!" Tamaki yelled, sitting up quickly in his bed. He sat up with sweat dripping down his forehead, his breathing was labored, and his eyes rapidly scanned around the room. "Just a dream," he sighed, rushing out of the lavish bed, speedily getting ready, and making his way down the grand stairs of his estate. 

"Morning, Master Tamaki," An older woman greets him. "Anything we can do for you?"

"I need to get going; please bring the car around the front at once," he told her, school bag in hand.

"Yes, of course, sir." The driver answered with a curt nod as he went to turn and move out the door.

"I beg your pardon, Master Tamaki, but what would you like for breakfast this morning?" The woman asked.

"I don't want any! I already told you I have to get going!" Tamaki whined, looking as if he were about to stomp his foot in defiance.

"Hold it right there, Master Tamaki! I can't let you leave the house like that. You're still wearing your pajama bottoms and your house slippers," Tamaki rushed upstairs at her comment, coming back down in the proper clothing.

"Thank you, Shima," he thanked, brushing away a strand of hair that got ruffled in the movement and his face a little red from embarrassment. "I'll be going now."

"I hate to be a bother, Master Tamaki, but today is Sunday," she informed. “You don't have to go to school today, sir."

"Oh,” He looked back at her defeat. “Well, why didn't you make me aware of the fact earlier?"

"As your maid, it's my duty to help you. However, I want you to become a fine gentleman. So, you must be able to recognize your own mistakes." She grabbed his back, starting to drag him off. "Since you suddenly have some free time on your hands, why don't we work on your manners?"

"But I have to make a call! Someone bring me a phone!" Tamaki frantically yelled. A maid rushed over with a rotary, which Tamaki quickly took from her grip, spinning around the digits. "Hey Kyoya, there's something I need to talk to you about.”

The weekend granted free time for the girls of the host club to congregate in the ways they wished. With the bright sun shining and heating their exposed skin, Haruhi and Y/n walked back from their venture at the supermarket with warmth in their hearts. It was a most enjoyable time for the wealthier girl, as she had never participated in it. They were chatting amongst themselves until Haruhi’s steps halted when something out of the ordinary came into view—a group of people swarming around some fancy cars. She took a few steps forward to catch a better glimpse, curiosity getting the best of her, and droned out the ramblings of Y/N. 

"Check out that car," a man mentioned, pointing out the obvious while a driver was opening the door to the back seat. To much surprise, some of the fellow host club members emerged. 

"Wow, so this is where Haruhi lives?" Kaoru spoke.

"It's pretty big, huh?" Hikaru added, as both of the twins were thoroughly impressed. 

"Look at all the rooms!" Honey jumped up and down, tugging on Mori’s hand. 

"This building is what you might call an aggregate commoner dwelling," Kyoya told them.

"So that means this isn't just hers?" Hikaru put together residing in a more comfortable and toned-down choice of clothing. Most of the boys wore tops without long sleeves, like Mori and Kyoya’s vest or Honey’s sailor shirt. Tamaki had a light yellow sweater on, and the twins were decked out in red and white tops. Overall, the uniforms were gone, and the street clothes fashion commenced. 

"Yes, her home is only one of these units," he confirmed.

"Kyoya! Why did you bring these idiots with?" Tamaki whined, now actually stomping his feet.

"Kyoya, it was just supposed to be you and me!”

"Well, you see, I knew you didn't dare to come here alone to see Y/n outside of a school setting, so I thought it'd be best if everyone came along," he explained. "Okay, let's all go home; I underestimated our great leader.”

"I'm sorry, don't leave," Tamaki apologized, putting his hands down in defeat.

There was still a bumbling crowd around the vehicles whispering different rumors about why they appeared and just who the host club were. Y/N, who was naturally curious, stopped her ramblings and began to venture to the crowd, taking in their reactions.

"Now don't you forget men!" Tamaki pulled the rest of the group over into a huddle. "This is a casual—we just happened to be in the neighborhood—type of visit. Y/n will be outraged if we disrespect Haruhi, and after all, Haruhi is a member of our club. We will do our best to be respectful and not judge them. Don't say shabby, cramped, and run down when referring to her home," Tamaki warned the group.

Though the girl in question had heard their whole conversation and was heating up with rage, she turned towards the boys and said, "It's too late; just leave!" At the sudden outburst, Y/n rushed over to her friend's side to see the rest of the host club in the distance.  

“Wow, everyone is here!" Y/n beamed, thrilled nature all over her features as she admired the appearances of all of her friends in the same place. 

Similar to fruitflies attracted to something sweet, the boys ventured over near the girls, Honey pushing himself closer to Y/n’s side as he cocked his head up. “You look pretty, N/n-chan!” Even the younger-natured boy could recognize a new spark in Y/n’s character with a new venue and be surrounded by those she cared for.

"Thank you, Honey-senpai," Y/n smiled down at the boy.

Haruhi tugged on Y/n’s wrist, pulling her closer to her. "Now the rest of you, get the hell out of here!"

"Haruhi's so mad, she cursed at us!" Tamaki exclaimed, jumping in fear.

"Was this not a coincidence?” Y/n cocked her head to the side, furrowed eyebrows. 

“No, they planned this without my permission,” Haruhi glanced over to the girl, cheeks a flamed red. Y/n immediately turned to the man of the hour—Tamaki—and watched as he shrieked, cowering behind the twin's frames in fear of upsetting Y/n. 

"Excuse me, Haruhi, but is everything alright?" An older woman went up to her, tapping her shoulder lightly.

"Hi, Miss Land-Lady.”

"These young men are driving such fancy, foreign cars; they're not Yakuza, are they?"

"No, they are not," Haruhi reassured her, shaking her head and stifling a little laugh at the insinuation.

"Do you want me to call the police for you?" She asked, whispering in Haruhi's ear. Tamaki bounced away from his place of hiding and gently placed the woman's palm into his grip.

"Pleased to meet you, madam. My name is Suou; I'm one of Haruhi's friends," he explained, almost sparkling in the sunlight.

"Really? My goodness, well, aren't you just adorable?" The landlady complimented, a total switch in her former demeanor as she was greeted with his presence up close.

"We're just stopping; we didn't mean to cause a scene. I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's no problem," she giggled, moving towards Haruhi. "I'll stop by later with snacks for you and your friends.”

With a loud sigh, Haruhi began the way up the steps leading to her home, an eager group trailing behind. Yet she halted at the door. "Okay, here's the deal; I'm only giving you guys a quick peak," Haruhi explained. “Today was meant to be time for just Y/n and "Today was meant to be time for just Y/N and me.”

"But look, I brought you a gift, Haru-chan!" Honey told her, holding up a box full of delicious sweets, all decorated differently and delicately.

“Those look very good,” Y/n turned towards Haruhi, who was entranced by the expensive goodies. “Maybe it would be fun for us all to be together." She quietly commented, glancing hopefully at her friend. 

"Fine, I guess I'll make some tea," Haruhi caved in, unlocking the door and gesturing the group inside her home.

"What a hovel," Hikaru commented, gaining a flick to the back of his head from Y/N. "Ow!"

"Be nice," She muttered back quietly, following Haruhi in.

"A wood-built two-bedroom unit—that's normal for a commoner family of two," Kyoya voiced, the group looking around the apartment in something mixed with awe and confusion.

"Haruhi's such a pipsqueak; at least we know she won't hit her head on the low ceilings," Kaoru noticed.

"Well, I think it's a super-cute little room!" Honey exclaimed.

"It's nice; I like your fridge color," Y/n admired, nodding repeatdly next to Honey as the two plastered on overexaggerated grins of happiness. 

"You don't have to struggle to compliment it," Haruhi grumbled.

"Hold on. Are we supposed to take off our shoes too?" Honey pointed to Haruhi's shoes that were by the door.

"Please, if you don't mind," she voiced, and the group followed, taking off their shoes.

"Thanks for inviting us in!" The fellow members thanked, walking over to the table.

"This place is quite unpleasant; I think I may have underestimated commoner housing. Okay, we are going to have to squeeze. Y/N, come by me and let's all put our knees to our chests," Tamaki commanded the group. Y/n scurried by the boy at his command, sitting next to him as Mori took up the space on her other side. It was clear that the larger group was cramped in the smaller room, all smushed against one another as Haruhi got the goodies prepared. 

"I'm going to go make us some tea," Haruhi told them as she walked over to her stove.

"Oh! Do you need help?" Y/n slowly stood up, squishing around with the group stuck at her side, but she was yanked back down by Mori pulling her. "Oh!"

"Hey. Here's an idea: why don't you make us this? It's black tea our father bought us as a souvenir from Africa, so try it," Hikaru suggested, and he pulled out the container magically from his side, passing it onto the host. 

"Mori-senpai, are you okay?" Y/n whispered over to him, but the boy just nodded, gently removing his arm away from her upper arm and going forth to look forward. 

"Um sure, no problem," Haruhi accepted the tea, moving over to her kitchen.

"It's best served as milk tea; do you have milk?" Kaoru inquired.

"I think, when was the last time that I bought some milk?" Haruhi thought to herself.

"Stop it; what the hell are you doing?" Tamaki yelled in a whisper. "Don't be so mean to her, you idiots!"

"What do you mean?" The twins asked.

"I know you're trying to embarrass her by asking for that African tea. Look! She has no idea how she's supposed to prepare it! We are trying to keep Y/n hap-" He quickly fake coughed. "Haruhi, trying to keep Haruhi happy and respect her."

"What if she doesn't even have a teapot?" Kaoru added.

"And she's too embarrassed to tell us that she doesn't!" Hikaru assumed. "I'm sorry, Haruhi; you don't have to go to all that trouble." He stuck out his hand, reaching for her.

"What? It's no trouble. Besides, I've already made it," she told him, finishing up pouring it.

"Man, that was a close one, boss," Kaoru sighed.

"We have been reduced by commoners' wisdom," Tamaki told the twins, whispering over to them on his other side, the three boys breathing a sigh of relief at the fact the tea was able to be created. 

"What do you mean, sir?" Hikaru asked.

"Nothing we know to be true in our world holds true here. We have to be careful how we react. One little off-handed remark could break Haruhi's heart, which would get Y/n upset and then break hers too. That means in this fight, the first person to embarrass Haruhi loses," Tamaki told them.

"Well guys, the tea is ready. I'm sorry that not all of the cups match," Haruhi apologized.

"Don't worry about it, Haruhi-chan," Y/n voiced. "I'll even have some tea," she told her.

"You're taking off your mask? Like right now? In front of all of us?" Tamaki started to fire off questions to her. Tamaki leaned in closer, to which Mori reacted by reaching in front of Y/n and pushing his shoulder away a bit in order to give Y/n some room.

"No, not fully.” She huffed quietly, some embarrassment sneaking up into her senses. “I can still cover my mouth with my hand when I'm about to take a sip or a bite of something," she explained, moving a little closer to Mori, away from the peering Tamaki.

"Go on, N/n-chan! You can choose your cake first!" Honey offered.

"I think I'll let Haruhi go first." Y/n looked towards her friend, pushing the box closer across the table. "You are letting us visit in your home.”

"Are you sure, Y/n?"

"Go on, we're rich; we eat this kind of stuff all the time," Kaoru (horribly) reassured her.

"I'll take this one then," She pointed to a vanilla piece with strawberries decorating the top, taking it on her plate and soon munching upon it.

"I'll take this chocolate one," Y/n giddily lifted it up, pushing her fork through the cake and swiftly bringing it to her lips. She used her other hand to pull down the mask and push it past her lips, all while still hiding it from the majority's view. "This is so good," she mumbled. The only ones who could catch a peak were Tamaki, who had already seen the view in its full motion, and Mori with lighter cheeks than normal. 

"She's so cute!" The twins and Tamaki commented, watching her eat and forgetting about themselves. For many club members, it was a great confusion as to why the mask was always a common appearance in her outfits, but one that Kyoya had warned them about in the beginning—a backstory lying within. 

"Here, Y/n, take this chocolate piece on top of my cake; you like chocolate, right?" Mori picked it up with his fork and placed it on her plate.

"Yeah, I do!" She looked happily at him, taking the piece and soon moving it towards her mouth. "Thank you, Mori-senpai," He just shrugged but moved over closer and rested an arm behind her, leaning on it as he took in the subtle views of Y/n’s lips munching onto the dessert. It was shocking to Mori how much seeing the oral part of one's face could totally make an appearance.

"Why didn't we think of that?" Hikaru yelled, anime tears falling from his, Kaoru, and Tamaki's eyes.

"I should have been sharing chocolate with her," Tamaki whined.

"Why'd we let him trick us?!" Kaoru wondered sadly.

"Eating all that cake sure wet my appetite," Honey sighed.

"Yeah, isn't it lunchtime about now?" Hikaru realized. 

"Well then, what's for lunch?" Four of the members asked the tired girl.

"Mori-senpai," Y/n nudged his shoulder a little, gaining his attention. "Do you think Haruhi is okay with all of us? I mean, this was all unannounced, and we are now asking her to do all these things; I don't want to upset my friend," she worried, looking at him.

"She's okay; you are a good friend. Don't worry," He patted her head once, the calloused fingers resting in the different buds of hair on the top of her head. His fingers ever so slightly nudged their way beneath the hair before a noise snapped him out of his thoughts. 

"Well, if that's what you want," Haruhi began. Mori speedily removed his hand from such a position and focused his attention back onto the table. "I do have a friend who runs a nice little sushi shop nearby. So I can just give him a call; his stuff is pretty high quality."

Tamaki looked at her weirdly, grabbing a piece of paper and scribbling on it soon enough, handing it to her with a very suspicious expression.

"Be careful, Haruhi; just because the sushi's packaging says 'premium' doesn't mean that it's high quality," she read out loud. "I'm not stupid; I could figure that out on my own." She turned to him.

"How could you do that to me? Daddy even tried to look casual and not embarrass you like Y/n would have wanted.” To which the girl mentioned just shared a glare with her friend. 

"I'd really like it if you made us something for lunch, Haru-chan," Honey voiced happily.

"No, Honey-senpai!" Hikaru yelled.

"How could you ask that of her?!" Kaoru added.

"Don't upset her; try to restrain yourself!" Tamaki commented.

"I guess I could whip something up, but it's going to take me some time," Haruhi told Honey.

"We can wait," Y/n piped up. "I can also help you cook; I know a few things." She mumbled, standing up but getting fingers wrapped around her wrist once again. "I promise i'm not that bad Mori-senpai," She laughed and he removed his fingers, watching her walk away. "It's the least I could do."

"Why didn't we think of that?" the twins whined.

"This means that we will be able to taste Y/n's cooking," Tamaki said.

"I'm going to have to go to the supermarket again," Haruhi sighed.

"We're coming with you!" The twins spoke.

"Me too, me too!" Honey agreed, Y/n nodding her head eagerly, now the whole group in a place where they were wanting to go with.

"Yay! Commoners' supermarket! Commoners' supermarket!"

"This is going to be fun!" Honey yelled, running after Mori as they began to pile out of the room. Yet quickly Haruhi noticed the disappearance of two prominent members. 

"Well, that's it, So much for having the day off." She peaked through the other room, seeing Y/n and Tamaki by her mother's shrine. "Hey senpai, Y/n, are you guys coming?"

"We are; I just thought it would be good to pay our respects," Y/n told her. "She's pretty, like you, Haruhi. I'll meet you outside." She stood up, going out of the apartment where the other members waited.

"Your mother, she seems smart," Tamaki turned towards Haruhi; nonetheless, with the different circumstances of the girl joining the group, friendships were flourishing all around and especially between the blonde and secret girl. 

"Yeah, she was a lawyer," Haruhi informed him, a small smile drifting onto her lips.

"I bet she was a great one, I can tell. Trust me, you can't fool these eyes, Haruhi." Tamaki spoke very softly, his once more energetic demeanor toned down to share respect toward an important woman in his friend's life. 

"I'm not so sure about that senpai," Haruhi deadpanned. "She really was a great lawyer.” And with her comment, the girl got up, waiting for Tamaki to walk out with her, but as soon as he stood, a mysterious banana peel came into view, where the male slipped, falling on top of Haruhi. His hands held up his upper frame, just looming over her as he took in her features for any injuries. 

"Are you okay Haruhi?"

"I'm fine, but you're kind of heavy," she huffed.

"I'm home, Haruhi! Hey, why'd you leave the door open?" Her father walked in, spinning around in their dress.

"Welcome home, dad," Haruhi muttered, her father's eyes laid on the man on top of their daughter. "So dad, how was work?" 

Tamaki started to freak out, his mind running with thoughts about how they would react, how Y/n would react, and that the man standing at the door was truly Haruhi's father.

Haruhi's father walked over, throwing Tamaki off into the wall. "I'm sorry, I hated having to leave you home alone last night. You must have been lonely,"

"That sound, he hit really hard," Haruhi’s eyes widened at the fear of her fathers strength and the undoubted pain her club mate must be in.

"Ah, my arm has been bothering me; I sure could use a cup of hot tea,"

"Hot tea? I'll get it for you. Haruhi, your father wants hot tea; do you use firewood to boil it?" Tamaki started to rush all around the place.

"Oh, look at that; I've seem to come across a little pest. Would you like to tell me why you're addressing my daughter with such informality, young man?" Haruhi's father questioned, yanking on the young man's shirt to pull him back near him.

"Hey, is everything okay here, boss?" Hikaru poked his head through the door, the rest of the club behind him.

"Check it out; the person we passed downstairs is Haruhi's father," Kaoru realized.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, help me out here," Tamaki begged, lying on the floor.

"It's nice to meet you, Haruhi's dad. We're good friends of your daughter's, the Hitachiin brothers," they introduced, stepping on Tamaki to reach the man.

"So you are a crossdresser, aren't you?" Kaoru questioned.

"You're the first real corssdresser we've ever seen!" Hikaru told them.

"Sorry about him; he's a lady's man, if you know what I mean."

"He's a pheromone machine. In fact, I bet he's fooled around with more ladies than you can count," Kaoru explained with great exclamation, both of the twins highlighting the negative behaviors of their club leader. 

"He likes to fool around, huh?" An irk mark appeared on Ranka's face.

"I'm not a lady's man! I don't like your daughter; I only like a different girl. I'm being completely honest here; I care about Haruhi like she's my own daughter, same with Y/n!" The man stood up, flaring his hands all about. It was clear to Haruhi’s father that the blonde was no true threat, and thus he retreated his more intimating demeanor with the other members. 

"I get it; you must be the host club I've heard so much about!" Haruhi's father realized. "You certainly are a fine-looking bunch of men and a very pretty woman." He turned to Y/n, pawing at her hair. "I'm not sure which of you men I like most; all of you just call me Ranka? It's the professional name I use."

"Professional name? You mean like a stage name?" Honey asked.

"Exactly like that, Mitsukuni," Ranka smiled at him.

"Hold on. How did you know my name, sir?"

"You two are third years, Haninozuka Mitzukuni and Morionzuka Takashi." Ranka looked towards them. "You twins are first years and so is Takahashi Y/n; you are in the same class as Haruhi as well."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were Haruhi's father," Y/n apologized, bowing over and over in her seat. "You're so gorgeous and I was so inconsiderate; I should have done research to be prepared-"

"Don't worry, sweetie, I have heard a lot about you already!" She smiled.

"So Haruhi has told you about us?" Hikaru asked.

"No, just Takahashi, but Kyoya has told me about you two over the phone.”

"You truly are an amazing person, Ranka." The rest of the group looked oddly at this Kyoya, who plastered on a grateful grin. "We have been entrusted with the care of his special daughter; it's only natural that we introduce ourselves and give him periodic reports. Ordinarily that would be your job, wouldn't it?" Kyoya looked over at the shy Tamaki, who faced away—knees to his chest—from the others.

"I'm impressed the club has such a capable president!" Ranka admired. At the unknown notion that her father was communicating with Kyoya for a long period of time, his daughter jumped in anger at being left out of the light. She angrily packed up her purse and stood walking towards the door. "Haruhi, where are you going?"

"The supermarket, alright?" She rested her hand at the doorknob and looked back at Y/n. "I have to go shopping; Y/n is coming with, and the rest of you will stay here; try to behave yourselves.”

Y/n jumped up, waving goodbye to the group and rushing after Haruhi.

"Thank you, Haruhi!" She thanked, a small blush appearing on the said girl's cheeks.

"It-it's nothing; let's just get going." She stuttered, taking Y/n's hand and dragging her out of the door.

"Wait! We wanted to go to a commoners supermarket," Hikaru called out.

"I wouldn't bother; once she has made her mind up, she'll never change it!" Ranka lightly chuckled. She then explained how Haruhi has made most of the decisions on her own, like when she transferred to Ouran High School.

"I hope you boys know I'm thankful for you, and Y/n, since she met you, she seems happier. She's enjoying herself; wouldn't you think so, Suou Tamaki?" Ranka turned to the boy, who was now in a closet, basking in his sadness as mushrooms popped up around. 

"You know who I am?"

"Of course, I've heard a thing or two about when Haruhi was trying to get Y/n to join the group," Ranka smiled. "You're the one that didn't realize Haruhi was a girl until the last moment. You're clueless, aren't you? Pretty pathetic. Now that we've gotten all the introductions out of the way, how would you boys like to have a little fun?"

"Why didn't he tell me? I had no idea Kyoya-senpai has been calling my dad and giving him updates," Haruhi expressed tiredly.

"He might have felt it was important, I mean, he just wants to be involved in your life, it's easy to tell how much he loves you." Y/n patted her shoulder and then pulled her into a side hug. "You have to admit you're an independent person; it's not a bad thing, but sometimes other people want in too.”

"Yeah," she grinned, looking at Y/n. "You're also independent yourself, you know? Worse than me." She nudged her shoulder back, causing Y/n to laugh.

The rest of the Host Club members stayed back with Ranka, all sneakily looking at Y/n and Haruhi. Ranka wore a long coat, glasses, and a scarf to better hide their appearance as the rest of the boys followed along, hiding behind different objects and podiums.

"So we're going to follow them to the supermarket?" The twins questioned.

"This is what you meant by 'fun'?" Kyoya asked.

"Yes! I call it the stalking game." She threw them back a thumbs up, covering her face at the moment.

"What an attractive group of young men!" A woman whispered to another.

"In all honesty, I have a completely selfish reason for bringing you out with me. I want to be seen with a bunch of cute boys!" Ranka exclaimed, taking her glasses off and showing off her face.

At the supermarket, they watched Haruhi look at vegetables with Y/n at her side.

"OO! Haruhi, what about these vegetables?" She held up some lettuce. "Do you need this? Wait,  it doesn't look as nice as the lettuce in the salads at my home." Y/n stuck a finger to her chin, looking at the vegetable oddly.

"I doubt it is; yours is most likely grown in your garden," Haruhi laughed. "I could still use it for something else; feel free to put it in the basket."

"Thank you, Haruhi! Shopping is kind of fun."

"You don't go shopping?"

"Nope, I've only been to a store a few times, including our journey here earlier today," Y/n told her, wandering off to look at some coffee and bringing it back. 

“Do you really think it is necessary to follow her around like this?” Tamaki and Ranka peeked out from behind an aisle filled with different canned goods. “Are you that worried about her?”

“As you know, Haruhi lost her mother at a young age, and afterwards she took on all of the chores and shopping by herself. I decided to start following her whenever she would leave the house; maybe I’m just being overprotective?” Ranka sighed, patting her cheeks in deep thought. “I worry about her all the time; I’m the only one who can protect her, you know? Either she does not know how to depend on others or refuses to. She’s always been so independent and so strong. And she has this uncanny ability to affect others without even realising it.”

“That’s true; I’ve seen it." The president stared off, agreeing with the parental figure. He watched the two girls, Y/n nudging along the shoulder of Haruhi as they giggled off about something. They were finding pure, simple enjoyment in the task, truly enjoying one another's company. 

The girls didn't notice Honey, who was being pushed by Mori in the back, or the twins looking around themselves. "Hey Tamaki-senpai, what are you doing here?" Y/n turned around to look at the man.

"I followed you guys here so I could carry your shopping basket; you know how Daddy loves accessories." He awkwardly chuckled, ripping the basket away from her hands.

"Tamaki! What should we make?" Y/n grabbed him, dragging him over to a new section. "Isn't it so amazing how this place is set up and all the foods?” The girl excitedly took a turn of her head back to her female friend, “Haruhi! Come over and look with us!”

He looked down at her, admiring her, quiet for a moment before snapping out of his thoughts and joining in the conversation. "Yeah, we should make a stewpot, ones with lots of meat but no chrysanthemums," Tamaki told them.

"Does that sound okay, Haruhi? I'll help you make it!" Y/n beamed, looking at Haruhi intently.

"That's fine.”

"Here, Tamaki, take some chrysanthemum! You're favorite!" Ranka put more into his bowl, piling it up on top of the stew. "Y/n, you adorable girl, take some extra meat!”

"Ah, thank you, Ranka!" She grinned cheerily underneath her mask. "We did a good job." Y/n looked over at Haruhi, lifting up a spoonful of some of the stew to her lips. 

"Yeah, we did,” a soft hum left the girls lips before opening them up wider to take in the tasteful flavors of the stew. Ranka looked at her daughter, engaging with the other girl happily. It was clear that a certain host member of the group brought out more vibrant emotions from their daughter, and to admire the simple experience between the two girls caused his soul to shine a little brighter. 

Ranka laughed to herself, picking up a spoonful from their own bowl, "Alright, Haruhi, dear, try some of mine!”

next chapter - Big Brother is a Prince!

[simdertalia]

🎵 ACNH Music Stuff Set - Part 1 🎵

My lovely patrons wanted to have this set split into 2 parts so that some of it could be posted today, so here it is!

Sims 4, base game compatible (Piano is functional & requires City Living, as it uses the keyboard as its base). 48 items 💗

Always suggested: bb.objects ON, it makes placing items much easier. For further placement tweaking, check out the TOOL mod.

Set contains: -Amp (large, medium & practice sizes, functional music players, can be stacked) | 8 swatches each | 1202 poly each -Analog Reel 1 & 2 | 3 swatches each | 372 & 714 poly -Book Stand | 4 swatches | 1176 poly -Cello | 3 swatches | 1205 poly -Clarinet | 1 swatch | 1078 poly -Clarinet on Stand | 1 swatch | 1200 poly -Drum Set | 10 swatches | 2398 poly -Effects Rack | 10 swatches | 1222 poly -Floor Monitor (functional music player, can be stacked) | 1 swatch | 1191 poly -Guitar Bag | 5 swatches | 412 poly -Headphones | 11 swatches | 1172 poly -Headphones (wireless) | 11 swatches | 866 poly -Marimba | 1 swatch | 2352 poly -Metronome 1 & 2 (clicker out and in) | 5 swatches | 1168 poly -Mix Master Table Decluttered | 10 swatches | 314 poly -Ocarina | 2 swatches | 514 poly -Pan Flute | 1 swatch | 1042 poly -PA System for Floor (functional music player) | 1 swatch | 826 poly -Pedal Board | 3 swatches for body, 3 swatches with "light on" 6 swatches total | 1202 poly -Percussion Mallet | 1 swatch | 258 poly -Phonograph (functional music player) | 2 swatches | 1092 poly -Piano Bench Seat (is a chair) | 10 swatches | 1214 poly -Piano: Upright (functional, requires City Living) | 2 swatches | 2176 poly -Portable Record Player (functional music player) | 7 swatches | 1217 poly -Record Box | 16 swatches | 1146 poly -Sampler | 8 swatches | 820 poly -Sax: Alto & Tenor (2 items) | 1 swatch each | 1062 poly -Sax: Alto & Tenor on Stand | 1 swatch each | 1184 poly -Sign Dueling Pianos | 6 swatches | 222 poly -Snare Drum | 4 swatches | 706 poly -Snare Drum on Stand | 4 swatches | 1202 poly each -Stool (seat) | 4 swatches | 1072 poly -Tambourine (table & wall decor, 2 items) | 1 swatch each | 602 poly -Thumb Piano | 5 swatches | 1190 poly -Timpani | 4 swatches | 2394 poly -Timpani Single 1 | 4 swatches | 1270 poly -Timpani Single 2 | 4 swatches | 1124 poly -Tools | 2 swatches | 1200 poly -Trumpet | 2 swatches | 1094 poly -Trumpet on Stand | 2 swatches | 1192 poly -Wooden Fish | 3 swatches | 942 poly

Type “acnh music" into the search query in build mode to find quickly. You can always find items like this, just begin typing  the title and it will appear.

As always, please let me know if you have any issues!

📁 Download all or pick & choose (SFS, No Ads): HERE

📁 Alt Mega Download (still no ads): HERE

📁 Download on Patreon

Will be public on June 1st, 2024 💗Midnight CET

Happy Simming! ✨ Some of my sets are early access. If you like my work, please consider supporting me (all support helps me with managing my chronic pain/illness):

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Thank you for reblogging ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

@sssvitlanz  @maxismatchccworld @mmoutfitters  @coffee-cc-finds  @itsjessicaccfinds  @gamommypeach  @stargazer-sims-finds  @khelga68  @suricringe  @vaporwavesims  @mystictrance15 @moonglitchccfinds @xlost-in-wonderlandx @jbthedisabledvet

Other Instrument Downloads & Related: -Theramin -Gong & Bamboo Drum -Ukulele -Harp -Festivale Drum -Pipe Organ -Street Organ -PA System on Stand -Radios

-Music Tag

The rest of my CC

[tunastime]

A Moment Called Forever

waves my hands about! this is the first chapter (ish) of the docsuma SEN fic for my au I created for Stretching Endless Night!! it is. eventual docsuma! but I wanted to go into detail about who xisuma and his crew were before the Prometheus, before tango met jimmy, and before ethubs had their near fatal mission :3 so here it is! yaay!!

Xisuma pilots a ship known as the HSS Moonrise. His career begins--and nearly ends--with the crew and missions aboard during the first five years of his captain's career. Doc, the right hand to a captain far too young to be piloting, rebuilds himself from the ground up alongside the crew of a ship that's become family. At the same time, he watches his captain grow and change and root himself firmly into his life. Or: Doc and Xisuma watch their lives change and reflect each other. Or: how the Prometheus station came to be, and how its Admiral, alongside his captains, help it blossom. (2414 words)

Stationed ELMSC-14, stardate 2204.60. Deployed: Cpt. Xisuma V. LtCmd. Doc M., LtCmd. Cleo Z., Lt. Slip G., Lt. Mumbo J., Lt. Tango T. Stationed: Lt. Biffa T.

Conditions: visibility, 50km, clear, winds NW 2km. Communications established. Radar operational. Pinging team leader.

Xisuma shuts the screen on his visor, blocking out the binary suns and washing the world in shade and orange grids. Elm is devoid of surface life, long since uninhabited by the companies that had mined underground. In front of him stretches orange-red sand and large, smooth cliffs. It reminds him a lot of pictures of Earth—deserts and mesas with the sun high ahead of them. Tango’s voice crackles to life, then smoothes out as he speaks.

“So what’re we lookin’ for, X?”

X turns his head, glancing back at Tango a pace behind him. To Tango’s left is Mumbo, with a bag slung across his chest, much like Xisuma. Tango hefts the core sampler further up onto his back—likely less from the weight and more to keep balanced. 

“Anything,” Xisuma answers truthfully. “Like you both know, this place was abandoned ages ago. Anything we can find to either prove it’s worth using or prove it’s good to leave is good for HASA.”

Mumbo sighs. 

“Wow,” he says. “Y’know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen soil this orange before.”

“I’ve never seen soil,” Tango jokes, voice dipping as he elbows Mumbo. Mumbo snorts, shoving him sideways.

“We get it, robo-man.”

Tango scoffs—or makes a noise that sounds just like it.

“Android! First of all!” he huffs. Xisuma sees him fold his arms when he glances back. “Anyway—the red comes from enriched iron deposits in the sediment. Partially magnesium as well.”

Below his visor, Xisuma grins.

“Says the man who’s never seen soils,” he pipes up. Mumbo laughs.

“Just because I’ve never seen ‘em doesn’t mean I didn’t learn everything I know from skimming Biff’s books,” Tango says. 

“You’ve got a point,” X says. He hears Tango agree with him, something that crackles into obscurity as Cleo’s voice rings clear through the communicator.

“Xisuma,” she says.

“Go ahead,”

“Hey—” Cleo starts. “We’ve not found anything over here yet, and we’re about a kilometer or so from the first dig point. Should we keep going?”

“Affirmative, Cleo,” Xisuma says. “You all can keep going—we’re about 800 meters from ours, so we’ll stop here before we move onto the next one.”

Tango jogs to walk at his side, pulling up his projection of Elm’s surface. Laid out in a flat grid, Xisuma can see their current point, a small blip on the screen, and the location they’re trying to reach, a larger, solid shape behind the next crest. He leans into Tango’s space to glance at the map, and Tango bumps their shoulders together. Leaning back, smile on his face, Xisuma says:

“I want to get at least two done each today before we get back to the ship. That only leaves three total for tomorrow, and it’s more than likely we’ll be able to extrapolate one from orbit.”

“Heard,” Cleo says. “We’ll let you know if we find anything interesting, yeah?”

“Please do!” X chirps. “That’s the whole point of us being out here.”

Doc’s voice breaks through the communicator as he laughs. 

“Aye, aye, Captain,” he says. X snorts, shaking his head.

“Be safe out there, you lot—” he laughs. “Cleo, Slip, Doc—”

“Why me?” Doc cuts through. 

“Accident prone,” Tango supplies. 

Xisuma laughs, waving his hand. 

“Okay, okay,” he says, trying to quell the conversation. “Let us know if you find anything of note, or if we can help you at all after our two digs. We’ve got about 3 kilometers total today, so we may have a little less further to go than you.”

“Will do, Captain,” Cleo says. “Thanks, X.”

“Sure thing.”

Xisuma hums to himself, amused, as Cleo’s transmission ends. The three, Tango, Xisuma, Mumbo, walk in a line along the orange rock and sand, following the path of the map and Tango’s guidance. Tango steps ahead of Xisuma, curled over the map, shoulders hunched as he walks. He walks with the surety of someone who can see nearly everything around him, without interference or blindspots. He follows the bob of Tango’s head, caught in the yellow shimmer of his overlay as they walk. They make it up a rise and partway down into a valley. The sand kicks up behind them, swirling and settling as they go. Their bootprints in the rock and dirt are obscured as soon as they’re made.

The valley sits in a low between two other large faces, though the area itself is raised high above the ground. The rocky plateau dips and curves, creating large holes in the rock, smooth hills, and flat rises. If Xisuma were to walk a kilometer out to the west, he could see where the cliff face drops into the depression below, a sunken crater from mining operations in the years prior.

After a few minutes, Tango slows to pause, turning to look back at the two behind him. Though Xisuma can barely see his bright, neon eyes from behind the visor, he can tell when he meets eyes with both of them, nodding. Xisuma tilts his head.

“Here?” he asks.

Tango nods.

“Looks like it from our map, here,” he says, holding it out for X to look at. The blip of red against the screen is right over their geographical point for their first dig. Xisuma nods, then, unclipping his data pad from his hip and beginning to note down their surroundings.

“I’ll start field conditions while you two start the sample,” he says. “You remember what we’re looking for?”

“How could I forget?” Tango pipes up, patting his helmet with his glove. Xisuma snorts. He’s not sure it picks up through their linked comms, but he’s sure the shake of his head gets his notion across.

“Let Mumbo help you, alright?” he says. Tango shoots him a thumbs up. 

Mumbo unhooks the drill machine from Tango’s bag, setting the chunky piece of equipment into the dirt. The two begin the process of setting up the sample drill together, lifting the bulky box to release the feet, straightening it to level. Xisuma turns away from them, staring out across the orange sand and yellow sky, still instinctively shielding his face from the binary suns. He can see across the valley and to another crest, the wide slopes bright orange and gold in the early day light. From behind his visor, Xisuma smiles, laughing to himself.

The conditions are clear, low wind, cold. It’s not a planet that ever housed life on the surface, so the frigid conditions aren’t an issue. X is certain something likely could survive, human, humanoid, or otherwise, but nothing ever did that anyone saw. He was hopeful that it remained that way, though no scan of the surface and ten feet under gave anything away. He marks down what he could classify the soil as by sight, but the soil tests would have to confirm what he knew once they got back to the ship. When he turns back to Mumbo and Tango, Tango is crouched by the core-sampler, watching it dig into the sand and rock, and Mumbo is sitting against a rock, staring at the orange sky. He makes his way back over, setting the data pad back on his hip.

“Workin’ fine?” he asks.

Mumbo nods, giving him a thumbs up.

“Working great,” he says. “Looks like it’ll be about fifteen minutes until we get a complete sample, and we can start analysis while we’re hiking to the next point.”

X nods.

“Tango,” he asks. Tango’s head perks up. “Where is the next data point?��

“Good question,” Tango starts. He unlatches his communicator, pulling up the map projection. “It looks like about a kilometer. To the northeast, so we might meet Cleo, Doc, and Slip on the way, if they haven’t reached their second waypoint. Theirs is due north of ours.”

Xisuma nods.

“About a thirty minute walk?” he asks. Tango nods. 

“Just about.”

“Fantastic.”

For a long moment, Xisuma watches the core-sampler rotate slowly. He watches the percentages rise and fall as Tango starts to talk about what he expects the composition of the soil will be. Mumbo pipes up at some point, adding to the bidding, though the two quickly lapse into chatter about the next project they might receive. Where Mumbo specialized in many of the ship’s electronic components, Tango had quickly caught on, in their nearly two and a half, if not three, years together, to how the major functions of the ship worked. He could make repairs quicker than the rest of the team, especially in orbit. There was more EVA time recorded by Tango than any other member of the crew—with no need for oxygen, and with sun exposure being his only real worry, Tango could work quickly outside in minimal conditions. In fact, if Xisuma hadn’t been worried about wind and UV damage, Tango probably wouldn’t have donned a suit for this mission. But he did, and he stood looking small against the orange sand.

As the drill lifts the sample into one of its chambers, Tango begins the shutdown process. He and Mumbo lift the legs into the machine, boxing it together and reattaching the carrying strap. Dusting off the surface, Tango slings it over one shoulder, resettling it on his back.

“Alright,” Xisuma says cheerily. “Are you all ready?”

There’s a beat between when Xisuma finishes speaking and when Tango goes to answer. In that beat, no more than a second, there’s a high-pitched ringing in Xisuma’s ears. He squeezes his eyes shut. And in the less-than-a-second afterward, the air and ground wobbles, and something, not even two kilometers away, explodes. 

Xisuma ducks on instinct, stumbling as the sound and air hits him. He hears Mumbo’s voice through the communicator—what he thinks is Mumbo’s, because he doesn’t hear anything else until the ringing fades and he rights himself. He whips around, trying to find the source of the explosion, searching for anything, really, to make things make sense, to place a face to the sound, sharp and still stinging his ears. He sees a plume of sand and smoke in the distance. The back of his mouth suddenly feels very, very dry.

“Tango—” he shouts. “Mumbo, are you two—”

“Fine!” Mumbo says. “Tango’s fine, too—”

“‘M right here, what—”

“An explosion?” Xisuma manages. “I dunno—”

Xisuma chokes on his next breath as he tries to force the words out. His hand comes to his wrist, fiddling with his communicator.

“That wasn’t that far—” Tango starts.

“Cleo,” Xisuma starts, paging his lieutenant. “Cleo, Doc, Slip, are you three all alright?”

“Xisuma—” Cleo says, words crackling. The crackling never fades, though, like she’s caught in static. Her words come choppy through the haze. “Something just—we hit something—”

“Cleo, what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Cleo manages. Her voice is wobbily. “Something we dug up—my vision’s busted, I-I can’t find Slip and Doc—”

Xisuma freezes. Very quickly, all of his joints go cold, down to his wrist and fingertips. He swallows hard, forcing down the heartbeat in his throat and pulling in a breath of oxygen too sharp and too cold.

“Tango,” he starts, voice leveling. Static surfaces and fades in his visor, the remnant of heat and dust washing over them as he tastes the tang of filtered air in his mouth. “Comm Biffa and tell him to bring the ship as close as he can to the second extraction point—” he turns, facing the two of them. “It has a bigger trauma kit on board. If someone’s suit got damaged it’s not gonna last long.”

“Okay,” Tango manages, taking a step back. Xisuma watches him fiddle with the transponder on his wrist before he sees his name blink from his HUD as he switches channels.

“Mumbo how far is their extraction point from here?” Xisuma asks, recalling the projection of the map of their portion of Elm. He can see the faint blip of Cleo’s transponder across the terrain.

“It’s—maybe a few kilometers. It’s not far? I think—I think it’s not far. I—” Mumbo stutters. “Yeah. Why?”

“Biffa won’t make it in time—” Xisuma says, tightening the straps for his bag, the data pad at his side. He brings up the overlay for both the extraction points and the dig locations. “I mean—he can get to you, but I need someone on board who knows how to set up the trauma kit, and that’s you, Mumbo. And I need someone to make sure we don’t damage the sample.”

“Do you think you’ll make it in time?” Mumbo asks.

“I—I have to, don’t I? I need you and Tango to stay here.”

“Woah—” Tango starts. “Captain, I—that’s a huge risk—”

“Tango,” Xisuma starts. “Lieutenant, I need someone with Mumbo, you’re the only one who can co-navigate with Biffa out of the two of you, and I need Mumbo in medical. And someone has to fetch the sample. Can I trust you to do that, Tango?”

“Yes—yessir.”

“Good—what’s Biffa’s ETA?”

“He—with takeoff sequence, he’ll be able to make it here in 35 minutes.”

“That’s good,” Xisuma manages. “That’s all we can ask for—we can work with that, can’t we?”

He laughs. It’s thin and weak, but Mumbo lets out a heh in response that washes over his nerves like a salve. He swallows, trying to get the dry feeling out of his mouth. He turns toward the plume of smoke for a moment, eyes flicking back to the group.

“X,” Tango says. “Be careful.”

Right. Okay. Xisuma shudders out a sigh. It’s more of a whistle, really, through the helmet. He does it because he thinks he can feel bile rising in his throat, and he’d really not like to get sick with no way of cleaning anything out.Something small in his abdomen curls up, tight and heavy. In that same moment, he sets his jaw. His vision is clouded with the heavy orange overlay, cutting through the rise of smoke that’s just started to cloud his vision. Turning back to Tango, he nods firmly.

“Tango—”

“I have comm until you get back,” Tango says, nodding back at him.

“Yes—” Xisuma starts. “Good luck. Good luck.” 

Stepping backward, Xisuma feels a cold rush through his body. Then he turns, fully, toward the smoke.

[aheckinmess]

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

(Part 17 to The Snowball Effect)

Read on AO3.

Tags: Enji Todoroki, Endeavor, Female Reader, Reader Has an Ice Quirk, Endeavor x Reader, Enji Todoroki x Reader, MHA Christmas Special, Spending Time with Friends/Family, Toshinori Yagi, Shinya Kamihara, All Might, Edgeshot, Original Female Character(s), A Lot of Warm Fuzzies in Here

Word Count: 1,205 words

Summary: After getting over a cold, you and Enji arrange for a babysitter so you can both take a well-deserved break while you go visit your friends at a Christmas party.

Playlist: The Snowball Effect

December 17

“I took the liberty of calling Tokei to watch the kids this evening so you and I can catch a break.” Enji tells you over a cup of tea. “I figure you need it especially after being sick.”

“That’s very sweet of you, Enchan. What are we going to do? I take it you’ve made plans?” You poke out your tongue as you mark the stitch in your current crochet project.

“Well, we do have the Christmas party tonight with Toshinori and Sayuri, remember?”

“Oh, shoot. Is that tonight? I forgot all about it! I’ll go out and get some gifts.”

His hand palms your shoulder to pause you before you can even sit up. 

“Relax, my flame, I’ve got it all taken care of. You were sick and I didn’t expect you to remember.”

His thoughtfulness drains the tension from your muscles as you smile and lean against his side. The couch sinks with the added weight of your worry before you turn to rest your head on Enji’s comfy thigh. 

“What did you get them, then?”

“It’ll just be Toshinori, Sayuri, Hana, and Shinya. I got a present for everyone. You know how much Toshinori likes America – I got him a package of American postcards with a barbecue sauce sampler.” He pauses. “You’re from America. Why is that a thing?”

“Barbecue samplers? Oh, sweetheart, that’s an easy go-to for gift giving! There’s always a barbecue going on in the United States.” You chuckle, pulling his massive hand into yours to idly trace pictures into his skin.

“Hm, well, I guess it’s good that I got him something traditional. He’ll like that.” Enji decides, before continuing on his rundown. “I got Sayuri an embroidery kit. Hasn’t she mentioned needing more patterns?”

“Oh, yes! She’ll love that. I’m a little jealous; you might win over her heart and I’ll have to beat her off of you for that.” You tease.

“As if the embroidery kit would be able to pry her from Toshinori in the first place.” Enji snorts. “Hana was the easiest. I just bought her a small collection of books from her wishlist.”

“Define small.” 

“Oh, hush. It’s not a lot. I didn’t want anyone to think we were favoring them, so it’s just five or so.” He ruffles your hair.

You swipe at his hand playfully when he purposefully flips half of your wavy locks over your eyes. He flicks your forehead on principle with a laugh.

“Last is Shinya. What about him?”

“I got him a sushi making kit. He enjoys cooking and was just talking about making an attempt at putting together his own Edgeshot sushi roll.” Enji shrugs. “Like I said, I have the presents handled.”

“Color me impressed.” You giggle.

“You say that as if I would have planned to go without any.”

“I never doubted you; only worried that you might have forgotten.”

. . . . .

When you step up to the threshold of Toshinori’s house and get ushered in, you chuckle with Sayuri about how well the boys get along. Toshinori claps Enji on the back and by the time they reach the living area, they’re already smiling and exchanging pleasantries. Every day you wait with buzzing anticipation for Enji to learn that his best friend is none other than All Might himself. Not because it’ll piss him off, oh no, but the look on Enji’s face is one you don’t want to miss.

Maybe you’ll frame the picture of his expression when it finally happens.

As Shinya and Hana join the crowd a few minutes later, Sayuri seems to read your thoughtful expression.

“I still say he’s just gonna haul back and punch him on principle.” She snickers.

“I mean, it’s Enji’s own fault. How many other men does he know that are blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and seven feet tall?” You whisper back.

“Who are we talking about?” Hana suddenly squirms her way between the two of you with a smirk that’s up to no good. 

“We’re talking about how loud Toshi is in bed and if Enji can top it.” Sayuri winks. “Or should I say, our dearest ice queen can top him.”

“All I’m saying is Shinya’s a ninja in the streets and a monster in the sheets.” Hana wiggles her eyebrows, before sneaking back towards the kitchen as we drop our jaws.

Of course, you both trail after her, doubled over in mirth.

“Have you finished Christmas shopping, Hana-chan?” You ask when you’re composed. “We’ve only got eight more days.”  

“I really should have it done, but you know I always end up finishing shopping last minute.” She sighs. “Shinya can be so hard to buy for, sometimes.”

“Tell me about it.” You groan. “I’m just lucky inspiration struck me at the mall for Enji.” 

“You didn’t tell me you bought Enji’s big gift already! Now I feel bad that I haven’t gotten Toshi’s!” Sayuri whines, flopping her head on your shoulder.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. I can go help you find something if you’d like.”

“You don’t have to feel obligated, but I’ll never turn down time with my bestie!” She laughs. “Besides, you have to tell us! What did you get him?”

“Yes, tell us what you got him.” Enji’s deep timbre rumbles from behind, making you jolt and smack his arm. “What? I want to know.”

“And you will…on Christmas!” 

“I think she means it.” Toshinori pops in behind him, earning a smack from Sayuri. “What? You ladies always sneak in on our conversations. Why can’t we be one of the girls for the night?” 

“Because you’re just doing it because you want to know your presents!” We all cry in unison.

You hear Shinya’s sigh before he materializes out of thin air in the middle of the group.

“Guilty as charged.”

Enji smirks at you, blue eyes burning with loving adoration that forces a smile on your rosy cheeks – you can’t help but kiss him. The other two couples in the room have the same idea. 

“Well, if we can’t know what our actual Christmas presents are…might as well start this party with the presents we got for each other this evening.” Toshinori decides.

Despite the dopamine rush of receiving some new headphones, the real magic forms after the gift exchange. In the middle of a pile of presents and soft decorative lights hanging from the banisters, the warm glow permeating your heart has nothing to do with presents and everything to do with the people surrounding you.

With a smile, you lean on Enji’s shoulder while Toshinori heralds a funny story about his awkward first kiss with Sayuri. Hana follows up with her own embarrassing tale of the time she nearly sprained her ankle on her first date with Shinya. You conclude with an egregious anecdote about the time Enji left you sitting at a hero gala alone because he’d been needed at the last minute for an emergency villain attack.

At the end of it all? The six of you raise a glass to true friends and true loves.

You meet Enji’s gaze as the bubbly champagne touches your lips, thanking God for blessing you with a man who’s both, and friends who won’t let you forget it.

Day 18

Credit to @saradika-graphics for the holiday banner! Thank you so much!

[pagan-stitches]

This sampler was made after I mis-typed “love it” several times in a DM with @msgraveyarddirt and we decided that “live it” was actually an excellent motto and she joked that it would make an awesome sampler. Little did she know that I would tuck that idea away and that sampler would travel across the Atlantic a year or so later for her birthday.

I used motifs from Charted Peasant Designs from Saxon Transylvania edited and introduced by Heinz Edgar Kiewe, 1964 (personal library).

Notes from the book on the patterns:

Pattern #1: “Fleur de lys” border, procession of (Italian?) stags, tree of life (16th century)

Pattern #2: peacocks and the trinity of paradise, Michaelmas daisy (aster grandiflora), “S” scroll (symbol of social medicine)

Pattern #3: tree of life a trinity, flower: Campanula carpatica (19th century)

Pattern #4: star of Bethlehem (quaternity cross), Flower (chamomile = emblem of health)

In addition to the version I did for the sampler I’ve included a photo of the the first item I embroidered with this pattern, a “dress” that I use on my Morana doll throughout the year. These are probably some of the tiniest stitches I’ve ever done.

Pattern #5: poppy flower (papaver) (17th century)

[chriskotthoff]

Lets Talk About Battletech

Felt like gushing about the one sci-fi series that I have always nerded out over, so lets talk about big stompy robot and one of the last bastions of the real-robot mecha sub-genre in this cyberpunk world we now live in.  

My introduction to Battletech was the Animated series that aired for one season in 1994. It was far from the best cartoon, mostly serving as a meme generator for the current fandom. Exo-Squad was on their second season by that time and had superior animation and story telling but there was something about Battletech that kept me and my friends talking about it. That something was the Battletech universes itself. As flawed as the cartoon was, it did a great job summing up the Inner Sphere in it’s 60 second intro. The show leaves out a lot but if it’s mission was a simple introduction, sampler to the much broader Battletech Universe, mission accomplished.

After the cartoon ended, my buddies found the Battletech novel series at the local book store, that lead us to find the Battletech 3rd edition table top game and in 1995, Activsion published MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat. After that, I was unapologetic Battletech nerd.

What was it that made me fall in love with the game? Allot of little things. The ‘Mechs that took center stage in Battletech had wight, they looked and felt like combat machines. Each Battlemech looks purpose built for war, walking weapon platforms that would crush foes under foot given the chance. The stories themselves are not award winning but most are relatable. Each conflict has petty beginning and costly consequences. Few things are black and white, war itself was the enemy but was also celebrated. Each character had their own self serving motivations rather than some altruistic idea, be it seeking honor and glory or avenging their home planet lost to conflict. It wasn’t ultra-bleak like 40K but it was acknowledging there is little black and white in war, just allot of gray. You are piloting a towering killing machine and winning sometimes means just getting back alive after you run out of ammo, your armor has been shredded and the other mechs are hunting you down.

As with any community built around a war game, you do run into occasional jerks you need to block but I found most of my interaction with fellow Battletech fans to be good ones. Some of my most cherish from my childhood was playing the table top with my school yard friends or talking about that stupid cartoon. Made new friends simple sharing Battletech fan art and still enjoy talking about Battlemechs with my current social group when I can.  

Coming full circle; If that stupid, stupid cartoon can teach us anything, don’t be petty. It’s far easier to make enemies than allies and in this world of gray, do the right thing when you can… that and Nicolai Malthus was an ass... sorry Jade Falcon fans but you know why he’s the meme. 

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 1/30/2024

a good 60% of my brain is screaming in unemployment terror at all times so these will be somewhat abbreviated until that situation resolves itself

listening

sleeping on the ceiling by friday pilots club. this is a song by a five-piece alt-rock band from chicago that could EASILY open for mid-aughts fall out boy. i would like to think it is from the point of view of a freshly-turned vampire. listen this slot isn't about the best song i heard this week it's about the one that got stuck in my head the most

Hey, I swear I'm okay Honey, I been sleepin' on the ceiling all day Yes way, like hey I swear I feel great Looky, looky, love the feeling of being okay Yes way

spotify.

reading

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the Amulet of Power by Mike Resnick. it was in a dollar book bin and i got it as a joke gift for a friend. mike resnick is a remarkably prolific writer who's done a lot of tie-ins. i don't have anything particularly notable to say about his star wars books but they are a sort of minimum viable product? they feel star warsy and don't annoy me on every page.

this book was published in 2003 and treats the people of the Nile delta and their beliefs with all the delicacy you might expect from a 2003 video game tie in novel. i do think the twist is being telegraphed way too hard. perhaps i should say instead of sending a telegram mr resnick has simply set the telegraph office ablaze as a signal fire. the titular triangle-pointed woman herself ms croft is VERY insistent she's just as good as the boys. this is pretty on par for my experience of 2003 empowering womens' feminism AND my experience in a male-dominated field so i can't really ding it too hard? aside from the racism, in the notably racism-free fields of archaeology and video games and archaeology video games, this book is aging a little strangely overall. i do not know if i will finish it before i mail it out to my friend, but despite its sins it is a very fast read.

watching

watched the four dungeon meshi episodes. it's cute! ProzD was an unexpected delight! it made me want to make something fancy for dinner but alas i still have to go food shopping!

some posts on my dash were talking about how the episode with the mollusks inside the living armor really got them hooked and i have to agree. i also saw the full potential of the show's speculative biology unspooling before me. i don't know if i currently have the brainwidth for the manga but it is going on my reading list for after i finish berserk. which is kind of like saying i'm going to watch chopped after i finish up hannibal

playing

forgot i had an original gen switch, given to me through a complex series in a complex series of friend barters back in uhhhh late '21? early '22? i got through 3/4 of the divine beasts the first time around and then could not crack the camel. it was well past time to create a new switch profile so i could start a new game without losing the old one.

omg twinnsssssssss

i did forget how goddamn big the map is. i have just now unlocked the camera and the memory quests, i have not really. done much more than basic tutorial and beginning of game stuff.

making

anxiously junebugging between a whole bunch of shit. finally figured out the correct charger/extension cord setup for my bedroom. replaced all the fluorescent lightbulbs and took them to be recycled. fixed the hall door enough so it latches closed and an irritated cat can't claw it open. tidied up the balcony and patio and repotted the surviving houseplants.

in textile news, started this cross stitch. this is a Bless This Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy Star Wars themed sampler, i have made two as gifts and had to throw out a mostly-completed one i made for me bc of the moths. but i now know exactly where this will go in this apartment and i already have the frame and i bought all the floss pre-being fired, so might as well? the real bitch of the situation here is backstitching the buildings. it's so start and stop. it's so much tan. i talked about this on the weekly siblingchat facetime and now my brother has requested one lmao. that's his christmas gift settled. i suppose.

i had somehow forgotten how loadbearing textile crimes are for me. i haven't done much of anything since the moth debacle, and that was almost two years ago. last night i found some suspicious holes in a camisole and i'm really really hoping it's just cat claws and not moths or carpet beetles or any other fun things that eat clothes.

[bulletpointspodcast]

Episode 97 - 1000xRESIST

How annoying would it be if we just copy and pasted the word "resist" one thousand times here? Pretty annoying!

Ed, Reid, and Yussef are joined by special guest Jacob Geller, all of us dressed in colour coded bodysuits, to discuss Sunset Visitor's 1000xRESIST this episode.

You can find more of Jacob's work over on his YouTube channel and the podcast Something Rotten. You can also check out his book, How a Game Lives, over here.

For more Bullet Points, check out our website. And, if you’re able to support us on Patreon,  $5 or more per month gets you access to bunch of exclusive podcasts. We have Recall of Duty, where we’re talking about every Call of Duty game, Violent Shapes, where Ed and Reid discuss each of Remedy Entertainment’s games, and The Industry Minute, the show designed to give you totally important, 100% serious business news from game journalism insiders. That same tier also comes with the entirety of Lucky 13, where Yussef and Reid discuss Final Fantasy XIII and Blood of Friendship, a now-concluded series where Reid and Astrid Rose talked about every Kingdom Hearts game in excruciating detail. The first episodes of these shows (and a fancy E3 2019 Industry Minute spectacular) are available for free at these links if you want a sampler. Also, Ed, Reid, and Astrid wrote and edited a book of essays on the Metal Gear Solid series called Okay, Hero, which  is available digitally right here.    

Bullet Points, along with Bad End, is also part of the Superculture Network. Check out the network’s site, follow it on Twitter, or listen to our most recent collaborative project, a podcast on Berserk called Idea of Evil, by clicking on over here.

[fashionbooksmilano]

Textile Folk Art

Design, Techniques and Inspiration in Mixed-Media Textile

Anne Kelly

Batsford, London 2018, 128 pages, 22x28,3cm, ISBN 9781849944588

euro 39,50

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

From samplers and quilts in Europe, to tribal and nomadic cloth further afield in Mongolia and China, folk and traditional designs have played a crucial part in the development of textile art and craft. In this book, Anne Kelly explores the traditional motifs used in textile folk art and shows you how contemporary textile artists use these in their work today. The beautifully illustrated guide is also packed with helpful step-by-step projects that demonstrate how to apply folk motifs to your own work.

Drawing inspiration from the Far East to Scandinavia, artists and designers have often used folk art to influence their work. Beginning with the chapter 'Samplers in Stitch', Anne looks into handmade momentoes and souvenirs created in the UK and USA. Samplers as statement pieces are also explored and are contextualised within the role of women and children recording their personal histories and lives. 'Nordic Notes' then looks at Scandinavian traditional textile art, and how modern screen printing and embroidery have been used by contemporary makers. 'Silk Road' looks at the influence of nomadic cultures and textiles, including yurts in Mongolia and Miao folklore in China. Projects on how to make felt, pouched and jewellery are also covered. Lastly, 'Trees of Life' looks the motif of the tree in a variety of cultures. Anne also looks at traditional techniques from South Asia and how to create your own 'Family Tree' using photo transfers and appliqué. Featuring step-by-step projects as well as work from contemporary artists and makers throughout, this practical and beautiful guide shows how practitioners of all kinds can draw from folk art for making and inspiration.

06/01/24

[richardmurrayhumblr]

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

​

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

​

THE SERIES

The 4 Pages 16 Bars: A Visual Mixtape trade paperback series is a celebration of where true diversity exists in this industry. It is a living historical document, the gold standard of independent works from creators of color. It is a sampler for potential fans to enjoy our intellectual properties. It is a showcase for existing and upcoming talent and a source guide for those fans to purchase our books.

The first volume dropped in June 2015 with subsequent volumes released in Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016 and Fall 2018. We had three very successful Kickstarters for Volumes 6, 7 and 8, which were released in Spring 2021, Summer 2021, and Spring 2022. The ninth volume coincided with the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop in 2023. We’re looking for content that will make up Volume 10 of the longest running anthology series featuring independent works from creators of color.

​

CRITERIA

This is what we are looking for: EXCERPTS FROM EXISTING COMIC BOOKS, GRAPHIC NOVELS, E-COMICS WEBCOMICS AND COMIC STRIPS

Minimum of four pages (or comic strips) of a property that has been published or will be published within the next six months.

ILLUSTRATION AND/OR FINE ART

Minimum of four images, maximum of eight images for our gallery spotlight sections. Renditions of characters from popular culture (i.e. Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Star Trek, anime or any other licensed properties) WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

​

NO AI-GENERATED IMAGES WILL BE ACCEPTED.

ARTICLES, POEMS OR PROSE

We are looking for articles that speak to the history of creators and/or characters of color in comics. These articles are not advertisements, but more so academic explorations of the sequential art medium and popular culture. Maximum of 1500 words.

We are also looking for short stories, poems or excerpts of speculative fiction. Poem submissions have a maximum limit of five entries. Short stories have a maximum of 2500 words. Excerpts from speculative fiction have a maximum of five pages.

GENRE

We are open to all subgenres of speculative fiction. Superheroes, Sci-Fi, Westerns, Horror, Humor, Fantasy… We like it all! It just has to have soul, flavor and people of color should be the focus either “in front of the camera” (characters and concepts) or “behind the scenes” (creative teams). The works in previous volumes are from creators who are Black, white, Asian, LGBTQ, local and global. Our main concerns are QUALITY and AUTHENTICITY.

We are looking for COMPLETED works. Things that already exist. You shouldn’t have to create new work to be included in this project. We’re looking for creators who have taken destiny in their own hands. What we are looking for is the next level; creators who have unique viewpoints and vision. We are looking for creators who continue to move the needle.

With that said, the anthology is basically PG-13. 4 Pages 16 Bars has been taught in universities and resides in libraries. So no gratuitous nudity, gore, etc. If you are questioning the taste level of your work, chances are it is not appropriate for the anthology.

​

BUSINESS

All who are selected must have a professional written biography, minimum of 200 words, for inclusion into the anthology.

All who are selected must have a WEBSITE (not just a social media page) for people to view, purchase products and/or procure services.

DEADLINES

COMICS AND ILLUSTRATION: March 15, 2025.

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ARTICLES, SHORT STORIES AND PROSE: March 15, 2025.

​

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

All art must be 300dpi (print resolution)

​

All art must be sent in either .JPG, .TIF or .PDF formats

​

All comic book, graphic novel and E-comic submissions MUST BE 6.625” X 10.25” (full-bleed 6.875” X 10.5”)

Comic book, graphic novel and E-comic submissions must be a MINIMUM OF FOUR PAGES AND A COVER IMAGE WITHOUT text (i.e. logos, subtitles, company identification, etc.)

​

All prose, articles, short stories and poems must be sent in a Word document (.doc, .docx) or shared through Google Drive for document conversion.

​

If interested, send us samples of your submission through our CONTACT page or our e-mail address info@griotenterprises.com for consideration. Best of luck!

#rmaalbc

[statecryptids]

My big New Year’s resolution was to get back to working on my WIPs, particularly my Field Guide to Saturn project. But designing a whole book is kind of mentally overwhelming, especially with my dumbass ADHD-brain. So I’m easing back into it with a few smaller creature designs. Part of my plan is that in sequel books the main characters, Hyacinth and Jess, will go on to explore life on other alien worlds.  This gives me an opportunity to play around with all the cool planetary stuff I’ve learned about while doing research for my planetarium shows. 

So here’s a short dispatch from Jess.

The Black Widow Binary she mentions is based off a real pulsar binary system called PSR J1311-3430.

 To my Little Orange Fly,

Sorry it’s been a couple weeks. Been so busy with research. Plus, the gamma and radio waves coming off the pulsar make it impossible to send transmission unless we fly the ship a couple light-years away.

 So, once again we’ve found life where we thought it couldn’t exist. You’d think we’d learn by now. Though, I mean, this star system is way more extreme than any place this expedition has visited before.

It’s called a Black Widow Binary.  One of the stars, Oiwa, is a pulsar shooting jets of radiation from its poles. The other, Iyemon, is a red dwarf being ripped apart by those jets. Iyemon is also tidally locked to Oiwa, so one face is always towards the pulsar and the other is always looking out at space. The stars are so close to each other that they complete a full orbit in just 106 minutes.   In addition, all the material that Oiwa is blasting off Iyemon has built up into a ring of energized dust surrounding both stars.

Well, needless to say , this system is saturated with deadly gamma rays and superheated star-debris. So of course we weren’t expecting to find any life here. And yet, life has found a way.

Dr Madura dubbed these organisms Phaethons after the son of the Greek god Helios. She wanted to make that their genus name too, but the name’s already taken by an Earth bird (she’s super salty about that, by the way), so instead she chose Lucidevorator. Which still sounds pretty cool to me.

Phaethons range in size from microscopic to about as long as an open hand.  They live in huge schools on the side of Iyemon facing away from its companion. The environment is cooler here (relatively speaking) and shielded from the worst of the pulsar’s blasts. They feed on the energized material in the ring using both photosynthesis and a kind of chemosynthesis where they directly consume the energized dust. We haven’t yet been able to do a detailed anatomical study on any Phaethons yet because they will literally disintegrate if taken out of their high-heat, high radiation environment. Though the habitat engineers are currently working on an enclosure to safely house them.  

Despite that durability, Phaethons can be killed by direct exposure to the pulsar’s radiation jets if they drift out of Iyemon’s protective shadow. This happens regularly judging by the huge clots of burnt Phaethon corpses our ship’s sampler has scooped out of the ring.  Most of the bodies show signs of decay and Dr Madura thinks that there might be resilient microbes living in the ring that are snacking on the constant supply of crispy-fried Phaethons.

That’s all I’ve got for now. How’s your star system looking? Find any new life yet? Send me some photos so I can draw them, okay? Miss you so much.

Your Brave Explorer,

Jess

(By the way “Little Orange Fly” and “Brave Explorer” are their cute, dumb couples’ nicknames for each other.)

References

deWilde, Cruz. (2014, February 20). PSR J1311-3430 “Black Widow” Pulsar Animations. NASA Visualization Studio. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11215

NASA Goddard. (2014, February 20). NASA | A Black Widow Pulsar Consumes Its Mate [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgI3w4SOAik

Sutter, Paul. (2023, April 10). New Kind of Pulsar May Explain How Mysterious ‘Black Widow” Systems Evolve. Space.com. https://www.space.com/new-pulsar-explain-black-widow-binary-star-system

[reubenyeoart]

State of the Thing: December

Heyo everyone, it's nearly the end of 2023, and what a wild ride it was. A return to full-time freelancing, as well as several new clients and pushing past my comfort zone with some of this year's new works. With the start of a new year coming, I figured this calls for a long-from article rather than the usual "Commissions for the month" post.

So, on the topic of commissions, due to several reasons (which will be brought up further down) I will be very busy in December, and as such will be offering 2 Rendered-style slots for the month of December! Since it also happens to be Black Friday, prices will be as follows if you book your slot from 24/11/2023 - 27/11/2023:

If you book your slot from 28/11/2023 - 01/12/2023, prices will be as follows:

For commission details, as well as terms and conditions and contact info: Here

Now, as for the dates that I won't be available for contact regarding work:

09/12/2023

I will be attending Singapore Comic Con 2023, and I'll be cosplaying Tighnari from Genshin Impact, so if you're in the area during that day, I don't know; say a friendly hello! I won't bite, and I might have a small gift to hand out.

15/12/2023 - 23/12/2023

My friends and I will be heading to Japan for a holiday trip during this period, so I will be not available for contact during this period. You can send email requests for commissions, but I may not be able to reply until I've returned.

25/12/2023 and 31/12/2023

Since these are the days where my friends, family, and I commemorate Christmas and New Year's Eve, I will not be available for contact during these days as well.

Now, let's talk about 2024; it's no surprise that 2023 wasn't the most fantastic in terms of earning my keep, what with the worsening state of the economy, the increasing efforts of social media to strangle the reach of creators, as well as the ongoing threat of unscrupulous users of AI. In light of all this, I've been thinking of a few possible things I could do to bring more to the table:

Streaming?

A few people have expressed interest in seeing my workflow, and so I was thinking of possibly streaming for 1-2 hours while I work on art. I'll be doing a few trial streams in January 2024 at different time zones to gauge interest, and if it pans out well, I'll iron out the kinks regarding the times when I'll stream, with possible expansions to content.

Restructuring of Ko-Fi subscriptions

Since my Ko-Fi Subcriptions haven't been gaining a lot of traction, I've been thinking about offering more stuff to entice others to join in. The $1 tier will remain the same, but there will be adjustments to the $3 tier and an additional $5 tier with addtional rewards (with updated branding to reflect the changes), and the changes will apply in January 2024.

The updated tiers and rewards will be as follows:

$1 (Wanderer -> Sampler)

Access to subscriber/donation only content

$3 (Traveller -> Purveyor)

Access to subscriber/donation only content

Downloads of high-res versions of artwork

Access to subscriber-only Discord subserver

$5 (New tier: Brewer)

Access to subscriber/donation only content

Downloads of high-res versions of artwork

Downloads of .psd files of artwork

Access to subscriber-only Discord subserver

This is only a preliminary description of the changes, and offerings may be adjusted within the coming year, including possible expansion of content with the aforementioned streaming.

Possible Price Adjustments

Since Singapore has been increasing Goods and Service Taxes to 9%, and most services (Paypal, website hosting, cloud storage) upping operation costs to compensate, it may be time to increase prices for commissions. I'll formulate an updated rate based on the current trend of living wages, and will probably announce the updated prices during the March commission announcement (at end of February).

And that's all that I should be covering for this article; if you read through the entire thing, thank you for your patience, and I'll see you all (hopefully) in the coming year!

Cheers! -Reuben (@ReubenYeoArt)

[xx-lemon-drop-xx]

Hello! I hope I’m not too late for the character matchups. My name is Ana Raluca but most people call me Ana, although I like to be called both Ana and Raluca.

For likes, I enjoy reading(especially Agatha Christie novels or mystery novels); museums(I could spend hours wandering through them); spending time in bookstores; walking around the city(especially at night. The city is absolutely gorgeous at night); hanging out with my friends; making sweets(and eating them); traveling; watching YouTube videos; history; languages; occasionally practicing my piano skills; sweets; learning new things; singing; listening to music; helping people; making treats with my mother; summer; occasionally writing poetry and making stories up in my head. My hobbies are the same as my likes(for the most part, cause generally when I have free time I do whatever I feel like doing).

As for the dislikes, I hate being late(and when others are late); I failing(or losing); taking low grades; forgetting to do things(here homework is included); lying(I find lying useless and hurtful. I don’t see why people do it); arrogant people; know-it-alls; liars; jerks; bullies; mathematics; Physical Education class; romance novels or movies(I just think that most of them are so cliche it’s annoying); the cold; radishes; having debt(I don’t like knowing that I owe something to someone). These are my likes and dislikes(or at least the majority of them)

As for characters I don’t like, I absolutely don’t like Leona. My favourite characters from TWST Wonderland are Azul and Riddle.

I am looking forward to see with which character from Twisted Wonderland you will match me.

Hello Ana! (Sorry this took so long btw) I paid you with Malleus!

Calculating, quiet and oftentimes alone, our left out gargoyle lover shares quite a few hobbies with you. From history to sweets to museums he shows a plethora of different hobbies and knowledge knowledgeable to share with others. Mainly above that he values good genuine companionship. Malleus shows a distaste in being left out and uninvited and though he's not a quick learner for technology, you'll show him the ropes, won't you?

Malleus would absolutely love to go to museums with you and out on long walks during the night. It seems he'll never find a dull moment with you. You like books? Well, Diasomnia has quite the selection from a huge library. Malleus being royalty likely knows how to play a musical instrument of the kind, so he'd love to play a tune with you. Malleus has lived several years, so he's likely tried everything more than once aside from having friends and technology type things.

As for snacking, Malleus may not know how to bake as well as others, but he can be quite the sampler as long as you are willing to join him. Malleus would certainly be the type to play with your hair or hold you whilst you write down poetry, or hum a familiar tune with you under his breath. Malleus would certainly treat you like a Queen.

"Well, child of man. I certainly find myself more enamored by you day by day. Tell me, would you fancy a walk?"

Character Matchups can be found here