#Shy Morale-Booster

[stories-me]

Potential Character for Mrs. Kelsey and Tumblr 4/30/2024:

Cheermole, Shy Morale-Booster:

What she’s from: Gamma World (maybe).

Background:

(Note: I'm not sure what sort of theme park the Performapals are a part of, I just made a guess or something)

In one worldline, a bunch of artificial life-forms were created as “living mascots” for a beloved bunch of theme parks. Called the “Performapals”, their only goal was to help and entertain everyone around them.

One figure created was a rather ironic creature: Cheermole, a being created to keep morale of her fellow Performapals (and others) up. There was just one problem with this: She was painfully shy, and lacking in self-confidence. She spent much of her time hiding underground or attempting to hide behind her pom-poms. She had a few friends, including the greaser-esque Swordfish. Like the others, she revered her creators (the “Makers”), and trusted in their plan for her and her fellow Performapals.

Then, one day, the Big Mistake (known to the Performapals as the “Showstopper”) occurred, and everything changed. Like the others, she remembers where she was and what she was doing on that terrible day (sort of like how a person might remember where he was or what he was doing on 9-11 or during Pearl Harbor): She was involved in a show, and did her best to help keep morale up among those who were helping evacuate the park.

As time wore on and news came in about everything that was happening and people came to the park less and less, Cheermole and her fellow Performapals watched with abject horror and confusion: Why would the Makers (who were seen as wise and benevolent creatures who only wanted what was best for them) allow this? Why would ANY human (who the Performapals saw as kind and gentle creatures that came into their lives to play with them and have fun with them and be entertained by them) commit such madness? Even the wisest among the Performapals had no answers.

At some point, Cheermole had a sobering and worrying thought: What if the Showstopper was some kind of punishment from the Makers? Did they do something wrong? Didn’t they make humans happy anymore? Even as her friends assured her that this wasn’t their fault, she still worried.

To make matters worse, “humans” (at least, they were MOSTLY looking like humans) came… but they weren’t like the humans they were used to. They were mean, and had guns. And then Wilton Dempsey, one of the greatest of the Makers, returned… but something was wrong with him. He began making suggestions for the park. Suggestions that didn’t seem very “fun” in the eyes of the Performapals.

Now, others begin coming, and Cheermole and her fellow Performapals must decide what to do about this situation. Whatever their choice, it will likely be spectacular.

How she is like me:

I’m not exactly SHY, per se, but I don’t always talk at times. Plus, various social situations affect me in various ways. Social situations like Inspire, where people make noise, sometimes, and do things that frustrate me. I do my best to endure, doing things like going somewhere else to calm down.

Kelsey Notes:

As you continue to grow and progress, you become more aware of complex social situations going on in everyday life and in the world

It can be scary when you start to realize that you can’t trust everyone like you used

As you progress, you start to balance out your shyness because you are able to tolerate social situations you weren’t able to handle because you now have better coping skills

Still, at times, having better understanding to how the world works, it can be overwhelming and you can develop anxieties that cause you to question your ability to handle stressful situations

As adults, we deal with rewards and punishments less- we have to face upsetting or disappointing others because of our actions with that being the main consequence of our actions. 

This can make us feel guilty which can moticate us  to make better choices in the future because we don’t want to let anyone down

As you make this transition, catastrophizing can cause our judgement to get clouded and our anxieties to take control

[wvgsvf]

Self-Education shapes who you are, gives you knowledge, and helps you grow as a person. It's not just about getting good grades or landing a job. It's about your entire personal development. From the moment you step into a classroom, you start a journey of self-discovery and growth. Formal schooling provides a structured environment for learning a wide range of subjects and developing social skills. On the other hand, self-study allows you to explore your interests at your own pace, fostering independence and self-motivation.

Let's dive into how education impacts self-growth, both through formal schooling and self-study. From boosting your confidence and broadening your horizons to instilling moral values and healthy habits, the impact of education is profound and far-reaching.

Education and Personality Development

Understanding Personality Development

Education is a big part of figuring out who you are. It helps you recognize your strengths and weaknesses, making you more self-aware. You start to accept yourself for who you are, which boosts your self-image.

One thing you’ll notice is that your confidence grows with education. Remember how nervous you were on your first day of school? Compare that to how you feel now when you tackle a new project. This confidence is essential for personal development.

Schools also teach you how to behave and interact with others. You learn about appropriate behavior and social etiquette, which are key to developing a positive personality.

Key Components of Personality Development

Self-Confidence: A fundamental aspect of personal growth, often bolstered by educational achievements.

Optimism: Education promotes a positive outlook on life.

Respect and Humility: Educational settings instill the importance of treating others with respect.

Role of Education in Providing Knowledge

Broadening Horizons through Knowledge

Think about the times you’ve had deep, meaningful conversations with friends or family. Knowledge makes these discussions possible. Being well-informed not only helps you connect with others but also leaves a lasting positive impression.

Knowledge as a Personality Booster

While politeness and good dress sense are essential, they’re even better when paired with substantial knowledge. Education helps you acquire various skills that are crucial for both personal and professional growth.

Moral Values and Education

Teaching Right from Wrong

Education is also about learning what's right and wrong. It instills a sense of fairness and discourages cheating and dishonesty. Schools teach important moral values that guide you towards ethical behavior.

Overcoming Setbacks

When you face setbacks, education teaches you resilience. You learn to bounce back from failures and maintain integrity and fairness, which leads to long-term success.

Enhancing Confidence through Education

Building Self-Confidence

Remember how shy you used to be? Education helps transform that shyness into confidence. Healthy communication skills fostered in school help you build strong relationships and collaborate effectively.

Practical Confidence-Building Opportunities

Schools provide plenty of chances to interact with peers, which boosts your confidence. Activities like public speaking and group discussions further enhance your self-assurance.

Providing Skills and Experience

Opportunities for Skill Development

Education offers hands-on experiences that are vital for skill development. Showcasing your skills in various settings contributes to your overall personality growth.

Continuous Learning

The Self-educational process encourages you to keep learning. This habit of lifelong learning is essential for adapting to new environments. The practical experiences you gain through education lead to both personal and professional growth.

Teaching Good Behavior and Etiquette

Learning Social Etiquette

Education teaches you how to behave in different social settings. Good communication is a key part of this, helping you navigate various interactions smoothly.

Code of Conduct

Schools emphasize the importance of following a code of conduct, guiding your behavior in different scenarios. Respectful interactions become a natural part of your personality.

Developing Healthy Habits

Importance of Healthy Habits

Self-Education teaches you about cleanliness and hygiene, encouraging a healthy lifestyle. You learn the importance of healthy eating, regular exercise, and other good habits.

Habit Formation

Schools instill healthy habits from an early age. Consistent practice of these habits leads to a healthier and more disciplined lifestyle.

Self-Education: A Path to Continuous Growth

The Importance of Self-Education

Self-education gives you control over your learning journey. It helps fill in the gaps left by formal education, offering a more comprehensive learning experience.

Effective Self-Education Strategies

Set clear learning goals. Use various resources like books, online courses, and communities. Engage in active learning practices like self-testing and practical application. Stay motivated and disciplined, and ensure you find credible and relevant resources.

Benefits of Self-Education

Personal and Professional Growth

Self-education offers the flexibility to learn at your own pace. It's often more affordable than formal education and provides access to a wealth of free or low-cost resources.

Lifelong Learning

Self-education promotes continuous improvement, which is essential for personal and professional development. It helps you adapt to changing environments and stay competitive in the job market.

Conclusion

Education, whether formal or self-directed, plays a pivotal role in personal development and self-growth. It provides knowledge, instills moral values, builds confidence, teaches good behavior, and fosters healthy habits. Self-study offers autonomy and flexibility, encouraging continuous learning and adaptability. Understanding the impact of education on self-growth can help you enhance both your personal and professional life.

[improbable-outset]

𝑬𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈

Frankie Morales x fem!Reader

Word count: 1.8k ⚠️TW: Brief mentions of alcohol Contains: Brief mentions of food (Just coffee but worth mentioning) if I’ve missed any, lmk

Triple Frontier Masterlist | My AO3

A/N: I guess this is inspired by my own personal experience during ‘high school’, I had a private tutor that came into my house (my ma’s friends daughter) she wasn’t a registered teacher or anything, just a university student but definitely helped me get my grades up. ALSO I don’t know much about alcohol, I don’t drink and I never have so if I made any mistakes, save me the embarrassment and tell me 😭.

Summary: Frankie gets a tutor to help with his daughter’s school and homework, however Frankie realises the more you come over, the more he enjoys your company.

The bar buzzed with laughter and shouting alongside with glasses clinking and drinks being poured. Not a very favourable atmosphere for Frankie Morales. He took another swing from the beer, attempting to drown out the background hubbub with three other men he was with. Conversation flowed bouncing from one topic to the next like a ping pong ball, somehow landing on the topic of his daughter. “So, how is Isabella anyways?” Will asked Frankie, looking up from his glass as he took another sip from his beer. “Yeah, she’s doing good.”

“And how’s school going?” It was Santi asking this time. It has been almost a year since Frankie has moved, however it was a mission for him to find a school for Isabella that was close by before the school year started. Now two months into the year, it gave enough time for Isabella to settle in her new school. Or so Frankie thought. A few weeks after starting, Frankie noticed that her classwork and homework effort wasn’t as high as it used to be. Perhaps it was the new teaching system, but nevertheless it still concerned him.

“School is good, I wish I could say the same about her grades though.” Frankie answered, his voice trailing off with every word “Maybe she still needs to get used to the new school” Benny chimed in.

“Look, if you’re worried about her grades I know a family friend that does extra tutoring.” Will tells him “she is working towards her bachelor’s but she is pretty good with helping students, some of the students she taught ended up getting good results.” Frankie perked up a little at the information. It didn’t seem like a bad idea if it meant helping his daughter. “I’ll give you her number and you can think about it.” Will pulled out his phone to open his contacts.

~

The following morning, Frankie went to pick up Isabella from her grandma's house. He quickly glanced at the rear mirror to see her sitting comfortably in her booster seat while watching the window before he fixed his eyes back on the road again. His mind kept circulating on what Will said the night before; sure a tutor will do good but he still had to ask Isabella if she was okay with it. “Mija” he called out which made her break away from her daydream and looked up at Frankie “yes papa?” “I know you’re finding school a little difficult and I can’t always help you with your homework, so will you be okay if a tutor helps you? She’s a friend of uncle Will” Frankie knew his daughter well enough to know that she was incredibly shy with new people, but he trusted Will with this so he knew she would be in good hands. “Hmm okay...” She murmured before looking out of the window again.

Finally arriving home, Isabella took her shoes off and ran up to her room with Frankie following suit and made his way to the kitchen to make the phone call. He scrolled down his contacts on the screen until he found your number he saved from Will. His thumb hovered over the screen for two beats before tapping on your name and the call button. He waited patiently for a response, listening to the ringing as his fingers tapped on the kitchen counter. He didn’t know why he was nervous, sure he's never met this friend and don't know what she sounded like but it can’t be that bad.

Finally after three rings you picked up the call, relief washing over him “Hello?” Frankie relaxed a little after hearing how smooth your voice before introducing himself and confirming it was you. “Ah! Yes, Mr Morales, Will mentioned about you calling me. Is this about your daughter needing extra help?” At least he didn't have to explain himself. “Yes, yes it is about Isabella” he confirmed before you continued “Alright well, I’ll only be available on weekends so what time do you think will be convenient for you?” Frankie took a moment to think before answering. “How about Saturday at 1?” “That sounds good to me.” That settled it then. “Okay, I'll see you on Saturday!” Frankie mentally notes before hanging up.

~

Saturday finally arrived and Isabella had her homework books ready in her bedroom while waiting for you. A moment later the doorbell rang. Frankie got up from the couch and answered the door to reveal you beaming at him. “Mr Morales, it's nice to finally meet you!” you said as you stuck out your hand for him. Frankie felt his ears heating up and gulped, attempting to calm his racing heart before he shook your awaiting hand. “It's nice to meet you too, come in” he opened the door wider and gestered you inside. “Was it difficult coming here?” Frankie asked with concern in his voice; he didn't want to burden you if you lived too far. “No, only a 20 minute bus ride.”

You removed your shoes and noticed Isabella peeking out of the living room doorway “it might take a bit of time for her to warm up to you” Frankie informed you and your smile didn't falter at all “that's alright I've met a lot of kids that are shy at first.” you crouched down to reach her level “hi, you must be Isabella, I’ll be helping you with your school work, shall we get started?” Isabella nodded meekly in response before leading you upstairs to her room where her school books were. In the meantime Frankie went into the living room and picked up a book to read. The house was quiet with your muffled voice alongside Isabella’s in the background.

After two hours, Frankie heard your footsteps coming downstairs; he got up from his seat and walked towards you. “So how was everything?” Frankie asked as you put your shoes on “She was struggling a little with her maths homework and with her spellings, so next week I'll be bringing a textbook with practice questions so she can gain her confidence in the topic. Hopefully it will help her.” “Thank you for your time.” Frankie opened the door for you and you waved before you made your way back.

The following week, you arrived as scheduled with the textbook in hand as promised. You let Frankie flick through the book, explaining the topics in the book as well as the practice question. Your voice was soothing and angelic, Frakie could listen to you all day. You made your way to Isabella’s room for her lesson. Frankie stayed in his room which was opposite Isabella’s; it felt a little wrong to stay in his room instead of downstairs in the living room just so he could get closer to hearing your voice but part of him couldn’t help himself.

It was almost the end of Isabella’s tutoring and Frankie made his way to the kitchen to brew himself a coffee. A few minutes passed and you were downstairs, waiting for him near the front door. “So how was today?” Frankie asked you, “I’m seeing some improvements today from last time, she has a better understanding of the topic now so the practice questions were definitely helpful. Hopefully next week we'll work on her spelling.” You reached for your shoes and Frankie felt a sinking feeling inside his stomach. “Do you have anywhere to go after this?” he asked, shocked with himself.

What are you doing?

You paused to think before you spoke. “No actually, today's slots are empty so I don't have any plans” Before he could process his thoughts any further, his mouth blurted out “do you want to stay for a coffee?” he could hear the blood rushing in his ear and the silence strangled him as he studied your face, trying to read your expression while the nutty aroma of the freshly brewed coffee lingered in the air. You gave a nervous grin “Oh I don't want to intrude…” “Y-your not intruding I promise, I’m brewing the coffee right now and some company would be nice…” Frankie stammered, the few seconds of confidence that came out of nowhere vanished just as quickly as it came. Your nervous expression turned into a full smile and Frankie felt his heart rate accelerating. “Well alright, thank you Mr Morales”

“Please, just call me Frankie”

~

A few months has past and Frankie has been seeing Isabella’s confidence growing and her school work improving. It was a Friday morning and Isabella was getting ready for school. She skipped her way into the kitchen, her school book in her hand with the page open “papa look…” she pointed at the score on top of the page with a toothy grin, “I got 10/10 on my maths homework all by myself!” she held out the page for Frankie to see; Frankie smiled proudly “I’m so proud of you mija, so those extra tutoring helped?” “Yeah, she's really nice and she helped me a lot.” That was a relief to hear, Frankie is going to have to thank Will after.

~

Summer was just around the corner which meant the academic year was almost coming to an end. Isabella has just completed another tutoring lesson with you and you waited near the front door as usual. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement in Isabella’s school work just the other day, she was showing me her score on her spelling test.” Frankie gushed and you were pleased. “I'm glad to hear that Frankie” You grinned making his stomach flutter, he loved the way his name rolled out of your tongue. There was a silence which made him wonder what would happen after. “So do you think she'll be needing any more help?” He asked you. “Well it's up to you to think if she’ll need it. I think she's doing pretty well now on her own and getting the extra help might be a waste of money” you were right, there was no point getting the extra help if Isabella didn't need it.

He was glad that his daughter was doing well but a little disheartened that he won't see you again. He hated the fact that he had multiple chances to maybe, just maybe, ask you out. Perhaps now would be a good time. “Look uh-” he swallowed, trying to moisten his throat that became dry all of a sudden, “since you won’t need to help Isabella now, I was wondering… if you would like to go out to dinner with just the two of us next week?” You gave a small smile and tilted your head to the side slightly with amusement. “Are you asking me out on a date?” Frankie’s heart throbbed in his chest “Do you want it to be a date?” You let out a giggle “Sure, pick me up at 7?”

I don’t know what possessed me to write this but feedback is always appreciated.

[tiffdawg]

Some Kind of Magic | A Frankie Morales x Reader Story

Part Three of the Summer Sunlight Series

Pairing: Frankie Morales x Reader (fem; no y/n)

Word Count: 1.1k

Rating: T | Warnings: family fluff, allusions to baby making.

Request: @b0n-chann​ requested 68 (you didn’t have to ask) and 80 (is your seatbelt on?) from this list with Frankie for the 500 Celebration. Thank you for the request my love! 

A/N: I was hoping to have something more substantial to share this weekend but apparently all I have in me is some super soft Frankie fluff. This is from a request for my 500 follower celebration eight months ago... which took an embarrassingly long time to fulfill. It follows One Summer Night and Golden Hour which you can find on my masterlist.

Read on AO3

My Masterlist

... . ...

Some Kind of Magic

Beams of golden sunlight broke through the canopy of leaves to light the forest floor. With bubbling laughter, your precocious daughter danced between them, always careful not to disturb the seedlings along the trail. Despite the uphill hike to the river where you’d enjoyed a picnic lunch earlier that afternoon, she was as energetic as ever. Of course, her father had carried her on his back most of the trek up. The man was defenseless against her pouty lips and big brown eyes that matched his own.

As you glanced over at Frankie, you found a dreamy smile on his handsome face as he watched Celia play. In a silent gesture meant to convey that you felt the exact same way, you squeezed his hand, still firmly clasped in yours even after miles of walking.

“That little girl is magic,” he said quietly before turning to you with a soft look, “just like you.”

 “I think she takes after you,” you countered. Frankie pulled you closer and pressed a quick kiss to your smile. 

“She’s the best of both of us,” he reasoned. There was a mischievous spark in his eyes when he added, “we made a good kid.” 

“Yeah, we did,” you agreed enthusiastically. You’d loved Frankie before you’d ever so much as kissed him. In the last decade following that first kiss one summer long ago, your relationship proved steady and sturdy and full of love. You made a good team as partners and as parents. It was no wonder you had such a great kid. 

Ahead of you, Celia’s curiosity got the better of her and she knelt to inspect something on the trail. Bear, the fluffy Burmese Mountain Dog you and Celia had found at a shelter and surprised Frankie with a few months ago on his birthday, stopped beside her. The dog was never far behind her as he was the little girl’s best friend and fiercest protector. A moment later, the two came sprinting back toward you.

“¡Papá, mira!” she called to Frankie as she jumped into his outstretched arms. He groaned as he hoisted her up so that her weight rested on his hip. The four-year-old seemed to grow every day right before your eyes and you had a hard time believing she wasn’t a baby anymore.

“What did you find?” he asked.

With a toothy grin, she proudly showed him the heart-shaped rock sitting in the palm of her hand. “It’s for you.”

“I’ll keep it forever,” Frankie promised as he smiled lovingly at his daughter. She tucked her head into the crook of his neck, and you knew it was a matter of moments before she’d finally fall fast asleep. Judging by the way Frankie held her, you also knew he wouldn’t mind carrying her the rest of the way. With as quickly as time passed and as fast as she seemed to grow, it wouldn’t be long until he’d be unable to hold her like that. It was a bittersweet thought. One that made your heart ache with premature nostalgia and reminded you to enjoy every moment the three of you had together.

And the sight of Frankie and your daughter bathed in the light of late afternoon was nothing short of a perfect moment. It was almost too good to be true but something so wonderfully real.

… . …

After loading up the back of your crossover – a family car Frankie insisted you have the moment you mentioned the idea of trading in your old sedan shortly after you found out that you were pregnant – you helped Bear inside and climbed in the driver’s seat. As you belted yourself in, you caught sight of Frankie setting your sleeping daughter carefully into her new booster seat. You paused for a moment just to watch because as mundane as it might’ve seemed to anyone else, it was a sight that always melted your heart.

“There you go little lady,” he said quietly.

 Not even half awake, Celia responded with a mumbled “I love you, papá.”

“I love you too, mija,” he said as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Ever the worried father, almost as soon as he was settled in the passenger seat, Frankie turned and double checked her seatbelt. He also spared a quick glance at the dog, also securely belted and already fast asleep with his head in Celia’s lap. And then his eyes found yours. “Is your seatbelt on?” he asked like always.

 “Yes, Francisco,” you answered with a smile and a playful roll of your eyes. “You don’t have to ask.” 

“Of course I do,” he muttered, looking slightly offended. “Gotta keep my family safe.” 

It was a familiar sentiment, but it warmed your heart all the same. So, after you shifted the gear into drive, you rested your hand on top of his, your fingers slotting together perfectly. As you headed west toward the sunset, you smiled to yourself as you felt the cool metal of his wedding band against your skin.

It was a quiet journey down the mountainside with only the intermittent static of the radio, still out of range, between songs and Bear’s soft snores breaking the silence. When you stopped at the first intersection in miles, Frankie turned to you with that shy grin you loved so much. “This might’ve been my favorite anniversary yet.”

“You say that every year,” you teased.

“And each year is better than the last,” he replied emphatically, his brows raising above his wide eyes.

“I know,” you sighed happily. “Can you believe we’ve been married five years already?”

His only response was to lean over the center console and kiss you soundly. A kiss you returned with equal fervor. “I love you even more than I did five years ago,” he said with astonishment lacing his voice when you finally parted. “I didn’t think that was possible.” 

“I know what you mean,” you said as you scratched at his scruff on his cheek. You noted a few new gray spots fondly. “I love you too.”

““So,” he started carefully. You followed his gaze back to Celia. “How about one more?”

“Hmm,” you pretended to ponder the question the two of you had been debating for months. “Our family hike might be over, but the anniversary celebrations don’t have to end just yet. How about we start tonight?”

His eyes darkened as he grinned wolfishly at you. “I can’t fucking wait.”

“That’s a dollar!” Celia called from the backseat.

“I thought you were sleeping!” Frankie feigned exasperation with an exaggerated sigh. Celia’s amused giggles were absolutely infectious.

... . ...

Thank you so much for reading!

... . ...

Forever Tags: @leo-moon​ @readsalot73​ @frietiemeloen​ @huliabitch​ @jerusomeeno​ @benedrylcumbersnatch @b0n-chann​ @scapricciatello​ @liadamerondjarin​ @pedropasscals​ @paintballkid711​ @mistermiraclee​ @honeyand-roses​ @mxsamwilson​ @themilkface​ @mylifeliterally​ @mskitty79 @rosiefridayrogersunday​ @perropascal​ @giselatropicana​ @roxypeanut​ @divineangelix​ @sarahjkl82-blog​ @kylerr @aerolanya​ @artsymaddie​ @linkpk88​ @antisocialshipper​ @toastytaurus @321-lets-go​ @kesskirata @gredandfeorgesgirl​ @lou-la-lou​ @helga1031​ @ktmadden86​ @lesbianlena @mtjoi​ @pedropascaldice​ @swimmingsloths​ @lovelyasfcuk​ @technicallykawaiisoul​ @cinewhore​ @ali-cide​ @reidocognito​ @metaphorical-love-for-a-car​ @iamskyereads​ @magpie-to-the-morning​ @stardust-galaxies​ @melaniermblt​ @jenrebloggingfics​ @gondowan​

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[the-wereraven]

AAaaah maybe Candy Crab, Cappuccino Dracotaur and and Durio info? :)

Oohhh 3 eh? Very well XD

Candy Crab

Was the first Cookie that his brother came out as trans to

When he was but a toddler, he used to ride around with Vampire on his wheelchair, and sometimes fell asleep during the ride

His desire to make candy came from when his cousin, Dungeness, shared with him a piece of lemon candy

He's trying out ballet :D

One of his mum, Sally Lightfoot Crab, does his hair

Cookies are mad that he's wearing dress because he looks BETTER THAN THEM-

-

Cappuccino Dracotaur

Climby little gremlin

They're Parfeadia's unofficial morale booster, just a little hug or smile from this tiny boi and a student will feel motivated!

When Longan is in dragon form, Cappi loves to tug on his whiskers, much to his slight pain

On the other hand, Cappi would chew on Latte's hair if she isn't looking

Please don't give them coffee, or sugar, they'll never sleep if you do

They would 110% jump face first into snow, there are many pictures Latte has of them doing it

-

Durio Dragon

She's very shy about it, but she can sing, and used to sing to Rammy when the hatchling couldn't sleep

Her favourite fruit is, to no surprise, durian

I can't draw it, but she thicc

She has a lot of body warmth, and as a result her friends like to cuddle up to her during colder weather

Her voice is a bit raspy due to excessive fire breathing in her younger days, surprise surprise, sulphurous flames aren't great for the throat

Her scales are incredibly hard, and she is able to tank a lot of hits before her scales could get significantly damaged

Should she choose to go on a rampage, civilization is done for

[dahliadear]

Okay, hear me out:

(Spoilers for Mass Effect 2/Shadow Broker DLC???)

So if you’ve played the Shadow Broker DLC I’m sure you’ve found the dossiers. The one I’m most interested in is Tali’s:

The way the logs work is oldest to newest info, starting with the beginning of ME2. We can place this on the timeline as being after her loyalty quest because of this line:

-Downloaded education vid, “Dealing with Loss”

being placed after some soft/hardware installs for Haelstrom which was the beginning of the game; this line is implied to relate to the passing of her father. But wait--what’s this, later!?

Whoa there! Alright it starts out innocent enough: human body language, probably useful on a human ship; “Fleet and Flotilla,” a popular Quarian musical about interspecies romance--particularly Quarian-Turian. Nerve-Stim Pro? Let’s take a closer look at what that is.

Here’s a conversation we can overhear on Illium. The Turian is trying quite hard to cheer the Quarian up after a failed date, one even gets the impression that he’s rather into her, but she might not feel the same way. He tries to sneakily ask her out as a morale booster, which she brushes off by saying she has--that’s right--Nerve-Stim Pro. The discussion suddenly takes a turn for the “private” and they abruptly stop talking within earshot. Hmm, suspicious...

Here’s Tali’s own input on the program:

I’ve seen some people imply that she’s using the program to, shall we say, “practice self-care.” That doesn’t sound right to me--here she’s implying that it’s even used for sexual relations. And what would she need a very particular Immunoboost for??? We could chalk that up to the fact that dossiers don’t update in real-time, and this is reflecting a potential romance state, but none of the other characters have romance dossiers. This is further supported by the fact that, when you speak with Tali after her loyalty mission, she says this to Shepard:

Regardless of Shepard’s gender. Well that is MIGHTY interesting. Right, maybe she’s referring to intimacy void of sexuality. She did say it counts for family members too, so perhaps she says this to FemShep purely innocently--after all, FemShep can also say “I feel the same way, but you don’t have to prove anything to me,” and we do not get the same stammered confession from Tali that MaleShep does... But that doesn’t explain why she’s fidgeting with human courtship/mating ritual vids, and Nerve-Stim Pro. Or why she installed the Deluxe edition right after her Imunnoboost.

So why can’t FemShep romance Tali? Hmm. I’m not sure, since Bioware doesn’t tend to shy away from the sexuality conversation. Alright, fair enough, we don’t get ALL rejections for ALL combinations, but we have plenty of awkward conversations: protesting to Liara that you’re both women, Jack saying she’s not a member of the “girls’ club” (whatever that means), Cass in DAI telling you she’s not interested... It happens. Particularly in wlw relationships in BW. But it’s not like either of you even mention it, much less someone getting to turn the other down. Maybe she changed her mind about attraction to human women. Maybe the human courtship vids misled her into believing that humans were majority heterosexual. therefore FemShep wouldn’t be interested in her and she lost the nerve to confess. There’s probably a million unexplored reasons for why this could be, but right now, all signs are pointing to Tali initially being romantically/sexually interested in (or at the very least curious about) Shepard, no matter your gender.

In conclusion:

When FemShep romances Garrus, and he and Tali start getting... flirty... in ME3... Tali is trying to finesse her way into a polycule.

[museaway]

Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of calls for fic readers to leave comments, and while I absolutely agree that leaving feedback is good practice and everyone should do it, we need to nix this idea that a reader is obligated to leave the kind of feedback authors want (or any at all). 

Bear with me. 

Fandom is a gift economy. Instead of services for money, we exchange fanworks for a response. Reader response comes largely in two forms because of AO3: comments and kudos. Receiving these can be a huge morale booster for authors. A lack of feedback from readers can make you feel like you’re writing in a void. Sometimes writers stop writing because they don’t feel it’s worth their time, or they find fandoms where feedback is more plentiful. A single meaningful comment can change that. Seriously. Someone liked a fic enough they figured out how to leave multiple kudos? That author is going to have a great day. 

Beyond supporting their writing, leaving feedback on an author’s work can also lead to friendship if a reader and a writer hit it off. And if the reader also creates stuff, a writer might even check it out (that shouldn’t be your motivation for leaving feedback and please don’t advertise your own stuff in a comment — that would be pretty rude — but it’s a neat side effect). 

So feedback is important. Feedback feeds the fandom economy by validating writers’ time, and in turn, those writers will probably churn out more fic. (Not surprisingly, positive feedback is considered the most valuable since it contributes to good feelings, and happy writers are usually happy to keep writing.) It’s also polite to thank someone for a gift. Just like you might send a thank you if someone sent you a birthday present, if you enjoyed a fic you read, consider pressing that kudos button or dropping a comment. For most fic writers, that interaction is the only reward they get in exchange for the time they put into writing. 

But no reader is obligated to leave feedback any more than a writer is obligated to write fic. To put it another way, writers are not entitled to a reader’s feedback any more than readers are entitled to a writer’s fic. If readers may not demand what authors write about or how often we publish new chapters, then authors may not demand certain types of feedback from readers (or any). The gift concept goes both ways. A gift is given willingly, without the expectation of anything in return, even a thank you. 

Don’t get me wrong. It’s rude not to acknowledge a gift, but there can be no obligation in the giving of one, otherwise it wasn’t a gift in the first place. Did you ever receive a “gift” with expectations attached? Tacky. Same concept.

Most fic writers I know adore feedback. It’s natural to hope for it and feels terrible when you don’t receive it, but if we turn commenting into a chore, I honestly think we’ll see less of it. So if you want to encourage feedback, let readers know you’d love to know their thoughts. Reply if they leave you a message. That’s all we can do. 

I do wonder if some people might feel shy about commenting or not know what to say. If you fall into this category, know that there is nothing wrong with saying simply “Loved this” or “Thank you for sharing.” You do not have to write an essay. And for anyone who would like to support an author but wants to avoid comments for any reason, here are some alternatives:

Leave kudos. There is nothing wrong with only leaving kudos. You don’t need an AO3 account to do this. Just click the button and your kudos will be given anonymously.

Share the fic with your friends. If the author made a post on their social media, maybe reblog or retweet it. 

Respond to an author’s fic post on social media with a brief message or an emoji. (I’ve been told some authors don’t really like feedback on Twitter, but I’m really happy if someone will talk to me in public.)

Make them something. If you are an artist and you loved a fic, but you don’t know how to express that, maybe doodle something from it. Do you make podfics? Record a chapter. I can almost guarantee the author will scream out of excitement.

Subscribe to the author’s AO3 account or follow them on social for updates

Also: It’s 100% okay to leave comments on older fic or to leave comments on multiple fics. Absolutely no author will find this weird. You’re not bothering them. 

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Empires on the Horizon IV

Jason is a CEO: Part IV

Here’s my masterlist for the next part and my other stuff 

new beginnings

look fragile

like glass

but when grabbed

sparkle

like diamonds

-badpoetry

“Good morning Mr Grace,” Grover Underwood smiled from his usual spot behind the coffee machine.

“Morning, how are you?”

“Much happier for seeing you less like someone kicked your puppy,” He gave Jason a knowing look.

“How?”

“There are some things the brain cannot hide, matters of the heart are often one of them.”

He didn’t really have any reply to that, so he gave the man an awkward smile and shrugged.

“Your usual then?”

“Yes please, and an iced coffee for Hazel.”

“Ah where is the darling this morning?”

“She’s coming into the office later, something about needing to go home first? She must have stayed at a friend’s place.”

Grover raised a dark brow, “Mhmm and where is your driver this morning? I noticed you drove yourself in today.”

“Uh I think Frank took the day off,” He frowned trying to piece the conversation he’d had with his friend in his sleep-deprived brain.

“Oh interesting,” Grover’s chocolate brown eyes twinkled in amusement, but before Jason could question him a warm cup was being shoved into his hand and he was being ushered away to wait for the iced coffee.

Collapsing into a chair, he pushed his glasses up his nose and wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck. Winter was beautiful but gods it was cold. He glanced around the café taking in the familiar forest green walls and dark wood floors. There was no sun streaming through the windows today so the gold accents on the tables were dulled and dark, like hidden bronze. He traced his fingers around the edge of his cup, losing himself in the motion, in the feeling of heat on his cold fingers, in the small gusts of wind against his cheeks as the door opened and closed, in the noise of a bustling store, in the–

“Hello Jason,”

“Luke,” He took a deep breath, “Fuck off.”

“Aw don’t be like that,” He sniggered.

“Please Luke, I don’t have the energy for this right now,” Exhaustion was a thousand-ton weight on his bones.

“That’s your problem Jason you never wanted to take things head on. It was always let’s wait for this, let’s get their opinion first, let’s just give it a couple weeks. You could have had the world begging at your fingertips if you just went for what you wanted.”

“Are you done?”

Luke’s responding laugh was malicious, “You are so-“

“Leave.” His voice was stone.

His ex-boyfriend scoffed, “Pathetic.”

Jason watched as the face he had been so in love with sneered at him, the scar running down a pale cheek twisting into malice. His soul ached for what could have been, it burned for what now was. It always surprised him how drained he felt after every interaction with Luke- like crashing down from a potent high. Being with Luke was a high, was euphoria and hope and sin. What the fuck went wrong? 

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

“Talk to me,”

“Why do you insist on answering the phone like you’re some sort of mafia boss?” His sister grumbled.

“Hello to you too Thalia,”

“I just wanted to let you know that I’ve set you up on a date tonight. Six-thirty at Sun and Songs.”

He groaned, “No. I am not in the mood.”

“Jason Grace,” She started; he could feel a rant coming on, “You cannot stop living your life because you have a wanker of an ex-boyfriend. You have been in a slump since Luke and it is affecting you in ways you’re too scared to admit.”

“It is not affecting me,” He was tired of having this fight, “I literally dated Piper for like three months.”

“Mhm and were you happy? Did you put all you could into the relationship?” She didn’t wait for his response, “No, you may have been a little happier, but you weren’t you. So you will go on this date tonight and in five years when we’re planning your wedding you better be thanking me in your speech.”

“Gods Thals,” He snorted, “We haven’t even gone on the date yet and you’re already planning a wedding?”

“Wait does that mean you agree to it?” She squealed through the phone.

“Yes loser,” He held in a laugh, “I’ll go on the date. But if it doesn’t work out you drop all of this. No more setting me up, no more interfering.”

“Yes sir. Now, how work’s going?”

“Besides the fact that Project Hestia is on hold because of this stupid contract everything is good.”

“Isn’t your fancy lawyer lady sorting it out?” She muttered.

“Reyna is a great lawyer and you know it.”

“Yea but she’s also my ex-girlfriend so I get to be a little resentful.”

He snorted at that, “Of course, and how are you?”

“I’m good. The Conservatory is still standing so I can’t be doing too many things wrong.”

“Didn’t you guys get cheetah cubs this weekend?”

“Oh Jase!” His sister cried, “They are just the absolute cutest things. Did you know cheetahs are so shy that some conservationists and wild-life biologists recommend giving them emotional support puppies?”

“So what you guys got puppies and cubs?”

“We haven’t got the puppies yet; they’re only arriving this week.”

“Well send me pictures when they’re together, maybe I’ll have them framed and hung around the office as a morale booster.”

She laughed, the sound crackly through the speaker, “Will do little bro. Listen I have to go but call me tomorrow to tell me about the date.”

“Wait!” He yelled, ignoring the weird looks from the café patrons as he walked out, “What’s her name?”

“Zoe.”

***

Jason was nervous. That was the only explanation for his shaky hands and the zoo of creatures in his stomach. He had gotten to Suns and Songs fifteen minutes early with a lavender and daisy bouquet in hand. The restaurant his sister had reserved was nothing short of incredible. Dark maroon draped over each table, and opulent candelabras sat in the center, lit only if the table was occupied. Glass and crystal chandeliers swung slowly from the high wooden beams, catching on the light and making a kaleidoscope of the room. Even the way the air smelt was decadent here. Like wood smoke and perfume, some hint of chocolate, maybe. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he wanted to bottle the scent and bathe himself in it. Trying not to be suspicious he took another deep breath in; it calmed his nerves if nothing else.

“Mr Grace?” someone put a soft hand on his shoulder, “Your guest,”

He thanked the waitress, getting up to greet his date and pull out her chair. He tried to muffle his gasp when he finally turned to her. She was stunning. Midnight skin contrasting elegantly with the pastel yellow dress she wore. Braids intertwined with glittering strands; it cast a pale silver halo around her head. Small hoop earrings glinted as she moved, and the bracelets at her wrist clinked gently when they shook hands.

“Hi, Jason Grace,” He smiled.

“Zoe Nightshade.” She flashed beautiful white teeth.

He handed her the flowers, “You look unbelievable.” He truly was in awe of her.

“Thank you,” Her smile was soft, but her voice was crisp and direct, “And these are gorgeous.”

“Would you like to order drinks?”

They scanned the menu quickly; Zoe ordered a cocktail he hadn’t heard of and he ordered the first thing he saw that didn’t have tequila in it.

“So,” He asked, and then cringed at himself internally. Starting any conversation with so was bound to make it awkward.

He cleared his throat, “How do you know Thalia?”

“We work together at the Conservatory. I moved here a couple months ago because I got transferred from the wildlife center in Germany.”

Jason didn’t know what but something about her voice made his insides melt. She said everything so undiplomatically– like if it wasn’t a fact it wasn’t worth uttering.

“Oh that’s cool. What do you do?”

“I’m a veterinarian. You?”

“Well I was a structural engineer but somehow over the years I got roped into being a town and regional planner.”

She frowned, tilting her head assessingly, “You did not finish your engineering degree?”

“Oh no I finished and got my masters in structural but then I started my company and I realised I needed other qualifications to run it the way I wanted to so I had to go back and get a degree in urban and regional planning. By the end I felt like I had been studying since the dawn of time.”

She laughed at that, and a look of surprise crossed her face, as if it was as unexpected to her as it was to him. “I know how you feel. I love animals and I’m passionate about my work but when I was done studying, I vowed never to go back. Studying for seven years after school and then trying to do it all over again feels like a one-way ticket to the end of the road.”

He mirrored her smile, “How did you get into veterinary sciences anyway?”

“My father was always busy, and my sisters were… interested in anything that could make them more beautiful, or richer. So I was pretty alone for most of my childhood. At some stage I convinced my father to get me a dog, Ladon. We were inseparable. But he got hurt when this man,“ She said it with such disgust he almost flinched. “This man hurt him. Kicked Little Ladon out the way when he was just trying to say hello. We had to take him to the vet, and I remember them being so sweet and kind to my dog and I knew I wanted to be exactly like that when I grew up.”

“Any chance you know where this man is so we can kick his ass?”

She laughed, raspy and bursting, “Don’t worry little eleven-year-old me kicked Mr Alcides as hard as I could in the shins.”

“Good,” he nodded with conviction, “He deserved more but you found your passion so there is some balance.”

She hid her grin behind a sip from her drink.

“Sir, ma’am,” Their waitress stepped to their table, “Would you like to order?”

Hours later, cheeks flushed from the liquor, laughing over Thalia’s antics and their shared need for structure, they finally decided to call the dinner to an end.

“The focaccia was to die for,” Zoe groaned, patting her stomach.

“Honestly, I may have to marry the pasta.” He sighed contentedly.

She giggled, and he knew it was a rare thing for her because her face caught that surprised look again.

“Want to grab dessert?”

“Oh gods no,” She shook her head in alarm, and then frowned as the realisation of what that meant washed through her.

“I had a really great time tonight,” He started softly.

“Do you want to walk to the park? We can stop and have gelato?” Her dark eyes were full of nervous hope.

He blinked at her, a little shocked she wanted to continue the date, “I thought you didn’t want dessert?” He teased.

“Maybe the walk will burn off some of these calories and i’ll have space for a little ice-cream.” She scunched her nose.

He knew the gelato was just an excuse, so with a grin that lit up his whole face he grabbed her hand and nodded, “Let’s do it Miss Nightshade.”

Her face glowed with relief and enthusiasm as they tucked their chairs in and exited the restaurant.

“Tell me about your family. How come you weren’t interested in the rich side of life like your sisters?”

“I guess being the youngest kind of made it all seem pointless. I had seen what happened when their vanity became malicious and I didn’t ever want to turn into something I couldn’t recognise. I went to stay with my Aunt Diana through high school. She owned a bird sanctuary. That’s where I interned in my college years.”

“Wow,” He looked down to her, awe evident in his face, “And it didn’t bother you to be so far away from your father and sisters?”

“Honestly, I’m not even sure they noticed when I left.” She shrugged, “It was a long time ago. I really only see them for family functions now.”

“And your aunt?”

“She still has the bird sanctuary, but she mostly works in the background now. My cousins, Bianca and Phoebe, run it full time.”

“Do you miss it? Were you guys close?”

“Much closer than my sisters and I. I do miss them, but I definitely can’t say I miss the sanctuary. Some of those birds were evil.”

Just then a loud squawk came from above them. She scowled at the sky, “I’m talking about you Auretta.”

He tried to hold in a laugh but Zoe stuck out her tongue childishly and they both bent over in laughter.

“Maybe we shouldn’t hurl insults while we’re out in the open.” He managed to gasp.

“Good thing the gelato shop is right there.” She grinned, grabbing his hand and sprinting towards the small, illuminated store at the end of the cobbled street. Her dress shimmered, moved like rays of light. She looked like a star.

“Come on,” She yelled, tugging at his hand harder.

‘Alright, alright,” He snapped out of his admiration and let her lead him into the shop.

“Hi, what can I get you?”

“Want to share?”

“Sure, you choose,” He waved a hand towards the abundance of flavours behind the glass.

“Please can we have one scoop of chocolate, one scoop of vanilla and,” Her brow furrowed as she scanned the tags, “And one scoop of cookie crumble.”

“Why did I think you were a sorbet girl?”

“Sorbet in the summer, anything else for the rest of the year.” She said matter of factly.

He nodded solemnly, “Yes makes sense.”

She swatted his arm, grabbing the cone from the lady with a thank you, “Gods I feel like a teenager again,”

“I know what you mean,” Her excitement was infectious.

“I have to ask,” She swallowed a chunk of cookie crumble, “What on earth were you thinking when you decided to eat a stapler?”

Jason groaned, “Why did Thalia tell you that? She swore she wouldn’t tell anyone and if asked I would say I fell off my bike or something.”

Zoe giggled, “Come on, spill.”

“Okay, first of all I was two,” He sighed, embarrassment heating his cheeks, “And it was shiny, and it made a cool clicking noise, and I wanted to know what it tasted like.”

“I can just picture a little Jason crawling onto the kitchen counter and trying to bite down on a stapler.” She teased.

“Yes well now I have this scar,” He pointed to his upper lip, rolling his eyes.

“Battle scars. Very worthy.”

He shoved at her shoulder lightly and they dissolved into laughter once more.

It was almost midnight by the time he had dropped her off at home and stepped into his apartment. He looked at his phone to see a couple work messages, and something from Hazel– things he could reply to in the morning he decided, tugging off his tie and discarding his clothes as he walked to his room. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow, his phone still glaringly bright and open on the chat with his sister.

You were right. We’re going on a second date.

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

Grover is like some other worldy deity that spews life lessons every time they meet and i am so here for it! Anyway what y’all saying??? How are we feeling?

Tags (if you want to be added to/ taken off the tag list just let me know, all my channels of communication are open):

@lesbian-peanuts

@leydiangelo

@queen-of-demons-and-hell

@msdrpreist

@sparkythunderstorm

@nishlicious-01

@lucyisblue​

[fluxedbuds]

Do you think you could do something similar with Nano? Just vomit about their character development?? I'd pay to read it

People asking me to rant about character’s psyches is a dream come true goddamn

Nano’s given me some trouble in figuring her out for sure- she’s not as horribly transparent as Lalna- but I’ve realized one of her biggest themes could be considered to be family.

Think about it, this is a lady who was literally found in the Nether with no concept of her past, possibly not even having one, and the FIRST person she met who wasn’t made of flux and straw BLEW HER UP. You can see how she’d be wanting for some familial bonds in her life- she wasn’t even given the choice to abandon her blood family, if she even HAS one instead of being, like, an elemental construct or something. Still not sure whats up with that tbh but thats a different post.

Through this lense, it makes sense that a being calling itself ‘Mother’ would have such an easy time getting to her, and makes it WAY sadder! By FB2, Nano seems to have lost nearly all her resistance and resentment against Mother.

And Five! Oh my god, Five!! She wants to be sisters! She wants a family, and Five basically only ever hated her due to Lalnable doing that thing shitty awful parents do where they compare their kids and make them compete to be valued at all. And they’re gonna be great goddamn sisters, and I’m so happy for them, and aaaaaaaaaaaaaa! It’s not really a dynamic I considered before FB4, but it’s such a good one, and such a good end/near end point of both their arcs. Theres probably a post I could make here about Lalnable unlearning the same sort of comparison obsession that he taught himself and then took to batshit levels but eh

Now if you’ve been following me for like, any amount of time, you’re probably aware that I stick firmly to the take of Lalna and Nano having a platonic relationship, and a lot of my explanations are going to be coming from that perspective. I just really don’t think these two could possibly stand each other in a romantic relationship, Nano would literally kill Lalna two weeks in with minimal regret. OKAY BACK ON TOPIC-

My point is! I’ve made jokes about Lalna being a proud PTA dad before, but he really does talk about Nano in that way, and besides it being adorable, it’s also something Nano desperately craves. She literally kills Death on her own, with no backup, just to make Lalna proud of her. And he is!! He thinks Nano is the coolest shit on earth and he’s not shy about it. Nano has a lot of self doubt in her abilities to be on Lalna’s level, so that kind of unconditional supportiveness makes my heart cry. Lalna fills the role of father/older brother figure without being someone Nano feels scared of, or feels she can’t disagree with. They argue like, all the time! This is why you Do Not Separate Them! Sure, Nano keeps Lalna’s inability to comprehend morals in check most of the time, but Nano could easily kill the entire server if she didn’t have something to lose. She gives up on her revenge quest against Sjin because she doesn’t need that form of validation to feel okay anymore. And because they bullied him a bit but you know she was gunning for more than that at first.

And all this makes the end of FB4 even more Fucking Ouch than it already is, because not only is she sacrificing herself for her best friend, there’s a little bit of that feeling of inferiority left. Feeling like Lalna is more important in the end, that this is the best thing she can do with her life now. And I HATE IT because that’s so wildly untrue and Lalna would’ve done anything to have things be different. I really, really hope, if they make another season, Nano realizes how important she is to Lalna

Honestly, her friendship with Lomadia is really good too, although it’s not very much a part of the FB canon. Monster Hunters is a very cute series, and learning witchery from THE goddamn owl witch has gotta be a confidence booster for anyone. It’s something I want to give more focus in PIP, even though it’s not about the Buddies.

In summary, Nano has problems believing she’s capable of anything but Lalna loves her anyways, and she’s also the ultimate example of the found family trope

[septic-dr-schneep]

A Stranger Is Just A Friend

“Now, Jack...” Henrik began gently, squeezing his friend’s hand, “I know that you are very tired and you must rest soon, but Chase is here with someone we would like you to see. Are you okay for that?” When Jack managed a nod, the doctor peeked over his shoulder and gestured for them to come closer. “Here, you two, do not be shy.”

Whoever Jack had been expecting to drop by for a visit -- Felix? Mark? One of his other friends? -- he stopped up short when Chase approached with his arm around a smaller Ego, dressed sharply but looking nervous and fidgety. Jack’s brows furrowed as he glanced between them uncertainly.

“It’s okay,” Chase murmured, nudging him a little, as he would one of his kids when they hid behind his leg. “Say hi.”

Squaring his shoulders, the younger Ego inhaled deeply to steel himself. “Hello, Master McLoughlin. Jameson Jackson, at your service.” His confidence wavered just a moment at the way Jack startled at his speech slide, but now that he was prattling on, he couldn’t stop. “I’m afraid this is how I communicate; I’ve no voice, so I manage through signs. I -- I, ah -- The others have told me quite a lot about you, many incredible, wonderful things and I’ve been dearly looking forward to meeting you and becoming your friend, if it would be your will.”

Jack blinked rapidly, still looking bewildered, and Jameson felt his palms starting to sweat. He should stop, he should stop now before he botched everything up! “I was born in the year 1916 and brought here to your future -- Or rather, I was created on October 31st of the year 2017. I’m aware of your, ah...strongest affiliations with that date but I assure you, I swear to you I do not side with Antisepticeye! I loathe that monster just as much as the rest of you. More than anything, I wish to prove that I side with you, with your community -- ” He froze, shrinking a little when Jack turned his head away. “Sir?”

“Chase...” he breathed almost inaudibly, grimacing as he licked his lips to moisten them. It was the first time his voice had found traction today. “Can you vouch for him?”

“JJ is everything he says he is,” Chase agreed firmly, no hesitation. Jack couldn’t help but be a little impressed at the protectiveness in his voice, and the relief in JJ’s face didn’t escape his notice when he added, “He’s a son to me.”

“Jamie does much for us. He is the morale booster we did not know we need,” Henrik chimed in.

The creator paused, processing. “...Okay. That’s enough proof, then. Um. Henrik, c-could you bring over a couple more chairs?” JJ perked up hopefully and Jack forced a small smile. “I wanna know more.”

[olehistorian]

The story of how a shy young Princess Elizabeth became a beacon of hope for a nation and ultimately a legendary queen is revealed in the new documentary film The Queen at War set to air on PBS in May.

Seventy-five years after the end of the war in Europe, The Queen at War offers a fascinating look at how Princess Elizabeth — just 13 years old when World War II broke out — was set on her life’s path to become a legendary monarch. Together with sister Margaret, the young princesses became symbols of hope for a nation wracked by a horrific war, the terrors of the Blitz and the relocation of over a million children. By 1945, Elizabeth had been transformed from a shy girl into a confident young woman and proved her mettle as a driver and mechanic in the women’s branch of the army. She was also already in love with the handsome naval officer she would one day marry. Told through the reminiscences of friends, including Lady Glenconner; royal biographers Christopher Warwick, Robert Lacey, Jane Dismore and Hugh Vickers; and others, the documentary features rare footage of the Queen’s war years culled from private and public collections.

Narrated by Phyllis Logan (“Downton Abbey”), The Queen at War premieres Tuesday, May 5, 2020, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, pbs.org and the PBS App.

The longest-reigning monarch in British history — and the only current head of state to have served in the military during World War II — Queen Elizabeth’s life and character were shaped by the challenges of war. Like many other English children, she was often separated from her parents, sent to ride out the frequent bombings in the relative safety of the countryside. She too lost a family member when her uncle George, the Duke of Kent, was killed and her own parents survived a Nazi bombing of Buckingham Palace.

Like her fellow citizens, Elizabeth was determined to help the war effort. Speaking to the country on the radio, performing in fundraising pantomimes and serving in the military, the Princess led by example. Royal biographer Christopher Warwick says this was “a morale booster to the nation because they could see the King’s eldest daughter, Princess Elizabeth, their future sovereign, doing what others were doing, what everyone else was doing — playing her part.”

The war years also saw the blossoming of Elizabeth’s enduring love story. Just two months before the outbreak of war in September 1939, the 13-year-old met a handsome 18-year-old naval cadet during a family tour of the Royal Naval College. Instantly smitten, the two wrote to each other throughout the war, during Phillip’s military service. “Whatever it meant to her personally, it gave her this same sense of identity with so many other British women during the war,” says royal biographer Robert Lacey. “Their man — husband, fiancé, boyfriend — was away, risking his life, which Phillip did.”

[shouto-centric]

Um hi! I hope you are having a lovey day! I was wondering if I could request bakugou, shinso, and kiri with an s/o who’s very scared of needles (shots) and they ask them to go with them to get their booster shots for school? Thank you!!

Bakugou Katsuki 

Bakugou feigns annoyance to maintain his reputation if his classmates happen to be in the same vicinity when you asked him to come for moral support. He greatly dislikes the constant teasings about him being the “doting boyfriend”, so you can understand why he begrudgingly accepts your request when there’s an audience present. Although he makes up for it by allowing you to squeeze the ever-living-life out of his hand and treating you to delicious crepes afterward. 

Shinsou Hitoshi 

For some reason, Shinsou acts surprised when you asked him to come with you to get your booster shots since he didn’t expect you to be afraid of needles. When you suddenly shy away from the topic, he quirks a half-smile and playfully tousles your hair assuring you that he’ll be there and he’s more than happy to accompany you. He takes your hand in his when you’re in the process of receiving the shot even when you don’t ask for it because he figured that you were too nervous to say anything. 

Kirishima Eijirou 

Kirishima blinks at you wide-eyed for a moment, then proceeds to (unintentionally) announce to everyone in the room that you’re afraid of needles in a rather exaggerated and questioning manner. He didn’t mean to make a big deal out of it but he just loves learning all the tiny bits about you, and he’s more than elated that you chose him because it indicates that you trusted him enough to help you overcome one of your fears. He distracts you with his enthusiasm and comforting words when it’s time for you to receive your shot.

[incorrigiblyhuman]

—    BASICS :      DR.  LEONARD  HORATIO  MCCOY.

▸     IS    YOUR    MUSE    TALL    /    SHORT    /    AVERAGE ? :    average  at  5′10″,  but  he  slouches  and  leans  a  lot  so  he  tends  to  look  smaller  than  he  is.

▸   ARE    THEY    OKAY    WITH    THEIR    HEIGHT ? :    shoot,  yeah.   he  found  out   partway  through  the  first  five  years  that  he’s  a  micrometer  taller  than  jim  kirk  and  he’s  been damn  pleased  about  it  ever  since.

▸  WHAT’S    THEIR    HAIR    LIKE ? :    chestnut  brown,  kept  short  and  trim,  and  downright  silky.   the  only  part  he  really  styles  is  the  sideburns,  which  are  neat  little  points.

▸ DO    THEY    SPEND    A    LOT    OF    TIME    ON    THEIR    HAIR     /    GROOMING ? :    nah,  it  lies  neat  all  on  its  own,  he  doesn’t  usually  comb  it  with  anything  other  than  his  hands.   which  is  why,  after  away  missions  on  windy  planets,  he  always  looks  a  little  more  haggard  than  most  folks,  because  his  hair  goes  everywhere  and  sticks  up  all  over  the  place.

▸  DOES   YOUR   MUSE   CARE   ABOUT   THEIR   APPEARANCE   /   WHAT    OTHERS    THINK ? :    not  really.   outside  of  regulation  uniforms  and  all  that  jazz,  he  considers  his  work  to  be  his  primary  focus;  he’s  a  doctor,  dammit,  not  a  beauty  queen.   that  said,  grey  hairs  are  a  bit  of  a  sticking  point  for  him,  and  if  he  sees  a  few  he’ll  take  a  little  more  time  in  the  morning  to  smooth  them  down  and  out  of  sight;  they  always  make  him  think  about  how  old  his  daughter  must  be  now  if  he’s  going  grey.

—    PREFERENCES.

INDOORS    OR    OUTDOORS ? ▸   outdoors,  he  loves  to  bask  in  the  sunlight  or  nap  in  the  shade  of  a  nice  tree.   fresh  air  does  a  man  good. RAIN    OR    SUNSHINE ? ▸   sunshine. FOREST    OR    BEACH ? ▸   beach,  but  a  little  ways  up  from  the  water. PRECIOUS    METALS     OR    GEMS ? ▸   both,  honestly.   he  knows  a  lot  about  the  symbolism  of  gemstones  and  would  choose  those  as  a  gift  before  anything  silver  and  gold,  but  most  of  the  objects  he  values  ---  his  wedding  band,  for  one  ---  are  made  of  precious  metals. FLOWERS   OR   PERFUMES ? ▸   flowers.   he  loves  the  natural  world. PERSONALITY    OR    APPEARANCE ? ▸   personality.   you  can  dress  up  a  shit  as  pretty  as  you  like,  but  it  won’t  change  the  smell. BEING    ALONE    OR    BEING    IN    A    CROWD ? ▸   being  in  a  crowd.   he’s  a  lonely  man  with  a  head  full  of  unhappy  thoughts  and  memories,  he  greatly  prefers  being  surrounded  by  friends  and  familiar  faces,  or  idle  chatter  from  strangers. ORDER   OR    ANARCHY ? ▸   somewhere  closer  to  order  but  a  bit  of  both;  as  much  as  he’d  love  to  have  some  peace  and  quiet  where  everybody’s  playing  nice  and  doing  what  they’re  told,  sometimes  a  little  anarchy  is  necessary  for  the  good  of  society.   or  the  soul. PAINFUL    TRUTHS    OR     WHITE    LIES ? ▸   painful truths. SCIENCE   OR    MAGIC ? ▸   science,  goddammit,  he’s  had  enough  of  magic.   (  but  if  you’re  listening,  god,  maybe  just  leave  a  few  miracles  at  the  door.  ) PEACE    OR    CONFLICT ? ▸   peace.   but  some  friendly  conflict  here  and  there  ain’t  amiss. NIGHT    OR    DAY ? ▸   day,  preferably  sunny  and  warm. DUSK    OR    DAWN ? ▸   dusk,  right  when  the  first  stars  come  out. WARMTH    OR    COLD ? ▸   warmth. MANY   ACQUAINTANCES    OR    A    FEW   CLOSE   FRIENDS ? ▸   a  few  close  friends,  but  why  not  both? READING    OR    PLAYING    A    GAME ? ▸   reading,  he  likes  to  unwind  with  some  new  ideas.

—    QUESTIONNAIRE.

▸      WHAT    ARE    SOME    OF    YOUR    MUSE’S    BAD    HABITS ? :    he  has  a  tendency  to  unknowingly  substitute  aggression  for  passion  in  conversations,  and  lash  out  at  perceived  slights  before  knowing  all  the  facts.   he  thinks  with  his  heart  more  than  his  head,  which  leads  to  a  lot  of  social  gaffes  and  interpersonal  conflicts.   his  sleep  schedule  is  completely  erratic,  even  more  so  when  there’s  a  problem  that  needs  solving  or  a  patient  who  needs  treating.   also,  he  chews  on  his  stylus  pens  when  he’s  mulling  over  reports,  and  it  drives  the  nursing  staff  up  the  wall.

▸   HAS    YOUR    MUSE    LOST    ANYONE    CLOSE    TO    THEM ?      HOW    HAS    IT    AFFECTED THEM ? :    he  blames  himself  every  day  for  the  death  of  his  father.   it  makes  it  difficult  for  him  to  face  his  mother  in  person  whenever  he  gets  shore  leave  back  on  earth,  because  whenever  he  sees  her  smile  at  him  it  reminds  him  of  how  she  looked  at  the  funeral,  and  the  expression  on  her  face  when  they  both  read  about  the  discovery  of  the  cure  at  the  same  time,  sitting  at  the  same  dinner  table,  and  looked  up  at  each  other.   it’s  the  event  he  thinks  of  whenever  he  has  doubts  about  his  abilities  as  a  doctor,  whenever  he’s  facing  someone  in  agonizing  pain  ---  but,  conversely,  it’s  also  the  memory  that  drives  him  whenever  he’s  facing  down  an  illness  that  no  one  has  ever  seen  before,  a  problem  that  seems  to  have  no  solution,  whenever  the  odds  seem  to  be  against  him.   it’s  the  memory  that  makes  him  insist  that  there  has  to  be  an  answer,  and  the  memory  that  drives  him  to  find  it.

▸   WHAT    ARE    SOME    FOND    MEMORIES    YOUR    MUSE    HAS ? :    playing  cowboys  with  his  cousins  at  the  annual  family  picnic,  listening  to  his  dad  play  guitar  on  the  porch,  joanna’s  first  birthday,  his  time  spent  with  nancy,  quiet  nights  in  the  ship’s  observation  lounge  watching  his  friends  beat  the  hell  out  of  each  other  in  three - dimensional  chess.

▸   IS    IT    EASY    FOR    YOUR    MUSE    TO    KILL ? :    no.   not  at  all.   he  avoids  it  entirely  unless  given  no  choice.

▸   WHAT’S    IT    LIKE    WHEN    YOUR    MUSE    BREAKS    DOWN ? :    self - loathing,  self - deprecating,  self - doubting,  tearful  and  messy  and  just  collapsing  in  on  himself  in  a  spiral  of  depression  and  a  lifetime  of  regrets.   it  doesn’t  matter  what’s  brought  on  the  breakdown,  the  past  is  where  his  mind  always  goes  to.   when  he’s  in  a  bad  mood,  everyone  around  him  knows  it,  so  he  usually  shuts  himself  up  in  his  room  and  gets  very,  very  drunk  to  let  it  all  out  in  privacy;  he  doesn’t  like  to  break  down  in  front  of  other  people,  because  what  kind  of  a  morale  booster  is  it  to  see  the  man  who’s  in  charge  of  taking  care  of  you  bursting  into  tears  over  his  fourth  glass  of  whiskey?

▸  IS    YOUR    MUSE    CAPABLE    OF  TRUSTING  SOMEONE WITH  THEIR LIFE ? :    yes,  and  aboard  the  enterprise  he  does,  frequently.   he’s  very  selective  about  where  he  places  his  trust,  and  doesn’t  often  extend  it  fully  to  anyone,  but  he  trusts  james  t.  kirk  absolutely,  and  in  life - or - death  situations,  he'll  follow  anyone  who  thinks  they  can  get  everyone  out  in  one  piece.

▸ WHAT’S  YOUR  MUSE  LIKE  WHEN  THEY’RE  IN LOVE ? :    soft.   he’s  a  deeply  caring  and  compassionate  man,  his  sharp  edges  and  blunt  nature  are  shields  that  he  puts  up  to  keep  people  from  taking  advantage  of  that  kindness  or  just  hurting  him  in  general;  once  those  walls  go  down,  he  is  constant  touches  and  secretive  smiles  across  the  room  and  shocking  smoothness  and  bringing  coffee  before  you’ve  even  thought  to  ask  for  it.   leonard  mccoy  is  a  shirt - off - his - back  kinda  guy,  lets  you  steal  his  sweaters  with  only  token  grumblings,  memorizes  your  schedule  so  he  knows  when  to  surprise  you  with  dinner,  gets  shy  being  thanked  for  his  affection  and  says  it  was  nothing.   everyone  around  him  knows  when  he’s  in  love,  because  he  just  glows  with  warmth  and  compassion  and  generosity.   and  it  also  helps  that  he'll  talk  endlessly  about  the  person  he’s  in  love  with  without  any  prompting.

TAGGED  BY:  stolen  from  @sagaiisms​ TAGGING:  anyone  who  wants  to!

[aboleth-eye]

Wondrous Items for Your Campaigns!

Designed by @garbage-boy-sass-man​!  

“The Sweet Blade! a slender elegant blade with bee and flower designs on it. on the blade hilt, you can open it and pour 1 whole cup of honey from it every 6 hours. a yummy treat for each adventure! maybe heals 1d4?”

I love natural designs in weapons, and can imagine this resembling a furled calla lily or honeysuckle vine, unfurling to bestow a sweet nectar.  The honey could definitely heal minor damage maybe two or three times a day.  If we make it a relic or more powerful item, perhaps when attuned to the wielder it could summon a swarm of honeybees for a few rounds?

Ring of Emotional Reception!  “a magic mood ring that accurately describes OTHERS emotional state when worn, but in a voice to match. angry mood, angry voice, sad mood, sad voice, etc ”

I like this idea for a magical ring.  Mostly because of the chaos it could bring to diplomatic and social interactions with NPCs and antagonists.  Imagine a small ring that looks like a satelite dish, picking up the innermost emotions of whomever you aim it at.

Cloak of Couture! “a fashion cloak. use as a bonus action, will always seem to be the most fashionable worn clothing at every event “

Perhaps when used against nobles or royalty this cloak grants you a bonus to Diplomacy or Intimidation?  It might not actually be the most fashionable in the culture, but perhaps it stands out as such a unique piece that people fear and respect you for wearing it?

“a brooch that tells where the nearest dog is and how much they want to be pet.”

Dear gods this is amazing; I just wish I had a good name for it  This could let dog-obsessed players and characters immerse themselves in the world a bit better.  Also, thinking as a scheming DM, it could be used to sense other “doggos” and if they want to be friends.  E.g. you sense some non-happy doggos coming up the hill, its a pack of hungry wolves.

If anyone has a name for this amazing item, comment or reply to this post!

More Wondrous Garbage below the cut!  We hope you enjoy these items and use them in your own campaigns!  

Want to submit your own ideas for D&D magic items?  Send in your own ideas with #wondrous-garbage!

Necklace of Positive Thoughts/Amulet of Affirmation! “when worn, will always say something positive to boost your morale. "you really are looking nice this morning" "you are wonderful just the way you are" "you will always be appreciated, at least by me!"

I can think of quite a few roleplayers’ characters who could use this confidence booster.  Shy or unsure characters could use this as a swift action once per hour to give them a bonus against fear effects, or as a morale bonus on a single action.

Ring of Life Affirmation! “always notes fun things that are better than death. "flowers in bloom, so pretty" "fresh baked bread, warm and soft" "soft tide noises, relaxing" "a cozy crackling fireplace to sit in front of" "the sound of pages"  “

There are a ton of dark things in certain areas of D&D.  Effects like cone of despair, characters witnessing deaths, grimdark campaign settings, etc.  People get attached to their characters’ mental states and don’t wish to see them self-destruct.  Whether from external forces or digesting the dark roleplay settings around them.  Some players and characters could definitely use this item to vocalize good things in their lives.  I really like this item for how it could give the D&D experience peace of mind.

“Pouch of Charity! a pouch that produces something minor to help someone else. some bread for someone who has no food, a gold coin to buy someone something, a small bottle of water, tissue, a small image of a cute cat to cheer someone up, etc. “

You have excellent ideas to help players invest themselves in good ways!  I love this idea, especially since it is designed to offer small charity that will mean something.  In my experience, characters and players sometimes feel at a loss to engage with sad and unhappy game interactions.  Since D&D is designed to fulfill desires, this wondrous item could offer people a chance to know exactly what to do to help.

Boots of Embarrassment/Minor Grace! “prevents the wearer from embarrassing themselves by tripping and falling awkwardly, slipping on ice, stumble on a stone, etc. “

These sound great as a starter magic item.  Unlike other D&D items that would do something like boost Dexterity or Reflex saving throws, I think that this could be an affordable item: once a day the wearer gets advantage or a bonus on a single Reflex saving throw due to difficult terrain (like ice or mountains).

[talenlee]

MTG: It's Not Gacha

I try not to shoot from the hip on matters like these.

I try not, generally speaking, to do long-form articles about important topics where the subject matter is high impact and there are well-intentioned people who look uninformed to me. It's a sure-fire way of wading into a complex situation where I contribute no actual value, just noise.

Plus, this is the intersection of Magic: the Gathering, game development, and human incentive systems, which I'm sorry to say I'm rapidly doing things that make me kind of expert on, even if I shy from being considered an expert. There's a whole gulf of information between where I sit and where a lot of other voices on the matter sit, which can make me feel like I'm either talking over them (because they don't know what they're talking about, and don't realise that) or that I'm getting into an extremely contentious fight (because they know what they're talking about, and are presenting falsehoods and do not care).

Still, it's April, it's my month, you're here on my blog so sit down, shut up, and learn why every time people compare Gacha to Magic: the Gathering I roll my eyes so hard it makes my skull ache.

Differences of Scale

In any given Magic: The Gathering set in a modern printing, there are about sixty rares, and twenty-three mythic rares. Mythic rares happen about once every eight packs. So, if you want one mythic rare, and you want to pop boosters for it for a chance to get it, you hypothetically need to pop 184 boosters to have a 'statistical chance' to get the mythic rare you want, or about a .5% chance to get that mythic rare.

Now, again, let's set aside just how bad an idea this is. Let's just say this is how you're going to do it. Pop boosters until you get the card and you get a .5% chance, give or take some rounding.

Gacha games obviously vary, and those games use a host of variable systems to make your chances more or less reliable, so it's hard to say what those chances are on average for their rarest stuff, but some games - some very popular and very well liked Gacha games, Gacha games I've seen my friends playing have rates for their rarest pulls during fortnight-long events at .007%.

Not 7%. Not .7%. .007%.

Magic: The Gathering's rarest game objects by the worst method of obtaining them can be hundreds of times easier to get. And these Gachas offer paid boosters at roughly the same prices as Magic boosters too!

Which honestly doesn't matter, because Gacha games and Magic purchases aren't comparable in this way because of...

Differences of Ownership

Magic Cards are physical objects. When you pop a booster, you don't get a bunch of digital stuff on a drive, you get actual physical devices, objects that are exchangeable, and tradable. You might find that other people want what's from your boosters, and that stuff is yours to trade away. You can even sell it for money. Is it worthless? It's probably not worth a lot, because value concentrates around the best cards in any given set, but the point is this stuff is yours and you can make choices about that.

In Gacha games, by default, there's no trading mechanism, and why should there be? There's no reason for you to be able to play swapsies with these digital items. Heck, from the perspective of the company doing it, trades are probably really annoying to implement.

Since the cards are a physical object, and unregulated, you can trade them with other people, and there are even stores that exist, and those stores have a reason to want to maintain a stable business, so you can take your cards to them, and sell them to them and they'll get you involved in the business of trading and playing the game. They get more money over time if you keep coming to them, so their motivation to rip you off isn't exactly strong.

And these stores will sell you specific cards you want.

Let's use that idea of you gunning for a specific Mythic Rare by popping boosters. Let's use the most expensive mythic from Guilds of Ravnica as an example, Arclight Phoenix.

As of the time I write this, Arclight Phoenix is $30 on Starcity Games, and it is out of stock at that price. The demand for this sucker is pretty high and the card is pretty good. Don't worry about why, it doesn't matter. The point is, you can have this card for the price of 5 boosters, which beats the snot out of buying 184 boosters to hope and crack it (at a rate of around $1,104).

Now, yes, that is pretty pricey, and we'll get to that later, but the point is, this card is good but expensive and in an external market, there's a way to get it that costs you way less. Gacha doesn't typically have a secondary market (though we'll get to Artifact later).

Do I recommend you go out and buy a playset of Arclight Phoenixes? No, not really. This is not a card you should be buying as your first point of investment in Magic: The Gathering and there's no urgent need for you to have it right now unless you have some really weird priorities. The 'default way' of playing Magic: the Gathering isn't going to ask you to have an Arclight Phoenix.

There are other, even more expensive cards out there, and we'll get to that later.

For now, though, the introduction of this secondary market is important, because of...

Differences In Distribution

Know who makes money off Gacha purchases? The company that runs the game. They spend some of that money on running servers (which are often in-house), they spend some of that money on developing new services for their game, and they spend some of that money on promotion and advertising and all that stuff, but the root purchase goes straight to the company, and that company then decides how they spend it.

Know who makes the most money off a Magic: The Gathering booster? Well, based on current industry metrics, the people who drive the trucks transporting those boosters around. Around 50% of board and card game purchases are made up of transport and distribution costs. Some of the booster sales go to the store where you bought them, and they purchased the boosters off Wizards, but between Wizards and the game stores, there's the distributors, who pay a large percentage of their costs in getting the objects around the world.

I swear with corporate diagrams like this I'm surprised I'm defending these people

Now, Wizards still make a profit on Magic: the Gathering, because lots of people buy boosters, and supplemental products. But the people getting paid for Magic: the Gathering includes a host of people who aren't Wizards. Boosters go up and down based on the cost of paper, disposal methods, localisation teams, and a lot of what's going on involves a number of intermediary businesses, and changes in those businesses has impacts on Wizards.

Now, this isn't to say that Wizards have a more moral position than anyone else, but it changes the relationship between Wizards on the profit-per-sale and the demands on what a booster is worth. Because if a Gacha game sets a price for a booster, that's how much they get. That means from their perspective, they get a lot more profit per-booster, and therefore, they have a very direct reason to want you to buy lots of boosters. Wizards want you to buy a lot of boosters too, and ideally, they'd like you to buy more. But if you buy twenty boosters trying for one card, you're not paying them twenty booster's worth of money. You're paying that to your local store, to transport, and distributors, and printers.

And that secondary market? The explosive rares like Arclight Phoenix? That's not valuable from Wizards' perspective, not really.

See, the secondary market is typically driven by a few forces. One is a few chase formats like Vintage and Commander where players will often spend a disproportionate amount on cards that seem weird to everyone else, but which largely don't matter, and don't drive play or attendance. One of them is casual appeal (and we'll get to that). Then there's tournament success, where players will buy cards to build constructed decks that are likely to win in constructed formats.

But remember, Wizards make money on the boosters. They don't make money on the sale of the Arclight Phoenixes that have already been popped. Those sales go to a secondary seller. If a card becomes too valuable, what happens is, stores start popping boxes of product in large volumes to get the chase card, and sell that chase card at the highest rate they can.

Booster boxes have fixed value from Wizards' perspective; they sell them for (about) $100, and retailers pay less for them, for about 36 boosters. That means that any given mythic should show up once every six boxes... which means if a card becomes worth (say) $100 on its own, card stores are better off opening boxes and selling all the singles in them. This puts a ceiling on the possible prices of a mythic rare, and that means the rest of the cards in that box wind up being 'free.'

We've seen this happen, by the way. Wizards deliberately started putting in chase cards in a few sets to push down the prices of other rares and it resulted in some very good, reliable cards selling very cheaply and that made the formats they were good in very accessable. It was a cool thing.

But again: Wizards don't control the secondary market. They don't run these stores. They don't profit off them, they profit off the sales of boosters. From their perspective, what changes the amount of money they make is not single overpowered cards, but lots of people playing the game a lot. They want you to engage with the secondary market by coming to the store more and playing more, not so they can scoop up some kind of kickback for buying Arclight Phoenixes, but because you playing the game makes it more likely other people will play the game with you, and you'll all buy boosters, because boosters are fun and cool.

By the way, this is why I side-eye Artifact. Because the people who make that game have that game's secondary market, which gives them an incentive to make people turn over their collections often so they can collect the fees.

Differences of Purpose

All this talk of Boosters and math makes my head hurt anyway, because it acts as if Boosters are how you get the Magic cards you want, which they're not. Boosters are not a tool for getting cards. If they were, they'd be garbage at it. You saw those odds, .5%? Hundreds of dollars to get a card that may be at best, worth, what, $30?

Boosters are boosters. Boosters are made, and designed to be a game-complete unit on their own.

There's a way to play Magic: The Gathering called Booster draft. It is one of the two easiest to approach tournament formats that exist, and it is a format full of creature math and building tight decks, and it both rewards very specific skill, and strives to sort out for random good or bad luck.

What you do in Booster Draft is you get three boosters - that's usually the price of entry, by the way, just the cost of three boosters. You open the first booster, take one card, and pass the rest on. The player to your side did the same thing, and now you have a different booster, minus one card, to choose from, and so on. This is a great format, it's a good way to build skill, and it's a good way to build a collection. If you want to play tournament magic, this is absolutely one of your best starting points.

Some of the articles harping on this point used the entry point for formats called Legacy and Vintage as their data points. This is pure crap. Those formats are functionally vestigial. Wizards are not looking to recruit players into playing Vintage or Legacy, because those formats are both fundamentally constricted (the number of cards) and entirely secondary (Wizards have promised not to print the cards that define those formats ever again).

Oh, and because this is my month, fuck it, here, let's get really petty: I see you, Person I Don't Even Remember The Name Of, complaining about the high prices of Legacy sideboard card Moat keeping him from playing Legacy competitively, and therefore, a sign of how much of a bad game Magic: The Gathering is and how problematically exploitative it was. I see you passing off the high cost of a bad format as a proof of Magic: The Gathering's tournament scene being inaccessible.

In that article, you said that Legacy was a 'financially rewarding' tournament environment and all I could think is are you kidding me and my balls. There is going to be one Magicfest in 2019 that's Legacy. There were four Limited Magicfests in February alone. If you fail to get rich playing Legacy, it's not because of the price of Moats, buddy.

Differences of Data

Wizards markets Magic. They want you to think it's cool and buy it. They do this by making the game serve a whole variety of communities, with different axes of art, gameplay, expression and culture. Straight up, I am 100% certain that for all the moral footing of making Magic more inclusive and pushing to get more queer and millenial people into their market, is because there are people in that age range with money.

Yet because Magic is a product on cardboard that has to be mailed around the world, if they want to make art for a card they hope you, specifically, will like, they have to decide that months in advance, pay for the artwork, get it out there, and hope that you find it and hope it makes you want to buy their products. And they have to make that decision knowing that they're putting this stuff out there for a lot of people, and what product they release, even in varied bits, is going to be trying to appeal to a very big audience with a lot of different people in it. They can't make the game display Tity Witches for one player and make it show Tity Witches Waving Flags Saying Trans Rights for another.

Meanwhile, Gacha games weaponise the data gathering of your phone.

This isn't a controversial issue, by the way. This isn't some secret sleazy practice that some companies do, but the majority of Gacha game makers think, no, we are noble and honourable and would never. It is fundamental to these games that run out of your phone that they are absolutely gathering all the data they can on you, and they are setting up algorithms to tailor that game experience to you on your phone so that your version of the game is as psychologically satisfying as possible.

Some of these games go so far as to subtly change the success sound on a Gacha pull until they find the one you'll consistantly listen to all the way through. And why shouldn't they? There's nothing stopping them from doing these intensely creepy things. They're not just selling you an object they've made, they're marketing an experience to you to get you into their platform so you will keep giving them money. It's straight up platform capitalism, and it's so different from the studies that show that 'the moment you open a booster is exciting.'

Now, this is not a fixed point. After all, there's no reason to believe that if Wizards of the Coast could take the thumbprint reactions off your phone to the types of Magic card that you liked best, they wouldn't do that, because they are still a company. But they're trying to make something in a different way, and they can't tailor their product to your unique psychological responses.

Differences of Access

Fact is, if Wizards shut down tomorrow, every single card you own (with the exception of Urza's Head) would work. They would work fine. If they banned your favourite card tomorrow, there is nothing they can do to make you stop using that card.

Because all of this talk about tournament formats and secondary markets is ignoring the single most common Magic format. It's called Casual, and the cards legal in it are 'what I own.'

Players, broadly speaking, play Magic without a central authority, without tournament structures, without net decks, without an eye towards the next stage of the pro tour and without anyone able to stop them. And this is the biggest thing with Magic: The Gathering that sets it apart from Gacha games and why the comparison between Magic and its ludicrous secondary market as a booster purchasing motivator, in that none of those things are necessary to play the game in the vast, vast majority of ways the game is played.

Is any of this to say that Magic: the Gathering is a perfectly moral game system? No, not insofar as it's a capitalist system. It's connected to and rewards Hasbro, who do shady shit, and it's in the same company that makes 5th Edition D&D, which has both uplifted and tried to defend (in the past) the actions of utter monsters (Mike Mearls Retire Binch), even as it now tries to make amends.

Does it reward gambling in children? Not really, I don't think. Even if it does, that's a different conversation, and maybe one we can have. But it's hard to have that conversation when there are these other, much more bullshit conversations happening, like the conversation that wants to compare Magic: The Gathering having a Legacy format and Fate: Grand Order asking you to spend five thousand dollars in a week to get a character wearing a sexy bikini.

Don't worry, if you've made these comparisons. It's okay. This is a topic where there's a lot of complicated things going on, and it's hard to know them all. One commenter on my twitter feed remarked that when it comes to Magic it's either a topic you know nothing about or something you have a mini-PhD on, and yeah, I guess that's where I'm coming at this from.

This isn't even the thing that pisses me off the most about the conversation around Magic: the Gathering.

After all, some business assholes have taken to comparing Magic: The Gathering to bitcoin.

[bluupxels]

An Eeveelution (Japanese: ブイズ Vuis) is a term used for the current group of eight Pokémon that evolve from Eevee. It is a portmanteau of the words “Eevee” and “evolution”. Its definition may be extended to include Eevee itself.

★ a 9 generation legacy challenge for ts3 ★ see the ts4 version here!

by popular demand again the eevee legacy.....for sims 3!! bc ts3 has so much stuff it was easier to find things that fit each eeveelution (like psychics and fairies). i wont be doing it in ts3 but if you want to tag it as #eevee legacy, so i can see! again these are just guidelines as this challenge originated as me just having fun with gameplay. enjoy!

i have every pack and don’t know what traits and stuff come with what pack so they’ll all be there!

Eevee (Japanese: イーブイ Eievui) is a Normal-type Pokémon introduced in Generation I.

Eevee has a friendly aura about it that just makes everyone love it. They are cheerful and caring, their smile is infectious making everyone around them happy too. Family is very important to Eevee and they make sure that they’re partner and children are well cared for. Food is an Eevee’s kryptonite, from berries to sweets to leafy greens, they will eat it all. But above all else, Eevee is just about the cutest patoot there is.

Traits: Friendly ★ Excitable ★ Family-Oriented ★ Good ★ Natural Cook

LTW: Culinary Librarian

Career: Culinary

Meet your soulmate, get married, live happily ever after

Have at least 5 kids (adoptions included)

Master cooking skill

Be best friends with at least 3 of your kids (don’t have to be BFFs)

Vaporeon (Japanese: シャワーズ Showers) is a Water-type Pokémonintroduced in Generation I.

Just small fish in a big pond. Vaporeon is a gentle soul. If they could swim all day they could, in the ocean, a pool, even the bath tub! Wherever there’s water, there’s a Vaporeon. Vaporeon can be very shy and wary of people not in their family or immediate circle. It may take a while to build up trust but in the end it’s totally worth it. It’s also said that Vaporeon can detect when it will rain…

Traits: Loves the Outdoors ★ Shy ★ Loves to Swim ★ Angler ★ *random trait

LTW: Deep Sea Diver

Career: Scuba Diver (make money from selling stuff found while diving)

Can only bathe in the bath tub

Master scuba diving + fishing skill

If in Isla Paridiso: get to the Uncharted Island

Become a mermaid (optional but encouraged)

Jolteon (Japanese: サンダース Thunders) is an Electric-type Pokémonintroduced in Generation I.

It’s electric! Boogey-woogey! Jolteon can be quite excitable and will often burnout after a long day of excitement. They love to tinker with electricity and can typically be found around TVs, computers, and even refrigerators. Jolteon may seem intimidating but friends and family come first and they will protect them at all costs. Just be careful when hugging one, you may get a little shock.

Traits: Excitable ★ Computer Whiz ★ Eccentric ★ Hydrophobic ★ *random trait

LTW: The Tinkerer

Career: Bot Arena (Mechanic branch)

Fully upgrade at least 3 electronics

Master laser-rhythm-a-con skill

Buy a VR system

Collect all metals, smelted

Flareon (Japanese: ブースター Booster) is a Fire-type Pokémon introduced in Generation I.

Is it hot in here? Or is it just me? Flareon puts up a literal firewall between itself and others, once they open up you’ve earned their trust. Flareon will flare up if intimidated and pounce without a second thought if they feel threatened. They will protect those close to them with utmost priority and often put others before themselves. Flareon can be selfless but they have a strong moral compass and will heed to that before all else. Be careful, you wouldn’t want to feel their wrath.

Traits: Hot-Headed ★ Daredevil ★ Loves the Heat ★ Nurturing ★ *random trait

LTW: Firefighter Super Hero

Career: Firefighter

Master fitness skill

Have a lifelong BFF

Get the Immune to Heat reward

Only the heir can put out fires

Espeon (Japanese: エーフィ Eifie) is a Psychic-type Pokémon introduced in Generation II.

Perhaps the most mysterious of them all. Espeon is as dangerous as it is beautiful. They can predict other people’s movements and actions with ease and often use this to their advantage. Appearances are important to Espeon and they will do anything to maintain it. They can seem frigid but will protect their family with their life. Be aware of what you think around an Espeon, because they can and will find out.

Traits: Snob ★ Genius ★ Perfectionist ★ Disciplined ★ *random trait

LTW: Master of Mysticism

Career: Fortune Teller

Master charisma + martial arts skill

Find a sunstone

Be/become a witch

Be good friends with at least 1 ghost

Umbreon (Japanese: ブラッキー Blacky) is a Dark-type Pokémon introduced in Generation II.

A creature of the night. Umbreon lurks in the shadows, waiting for unsuspecting prey. They aren’t purely evil per say but they always seem to have ulterior motives. Umbreon is a force to be reckoned with and being on their bad side is not recommended. That being said they do have a heart that glows as bright as the rings on it’s body. Just try not to trip over one at night.

Traits: Night Owl ★ Brooding ★ Evil ★ Rebellious ★ *random trait

LTW: Turn the Town

Career: Criminal (Evil branch)

Be/become a vampire 

Master martial arts skill

Find a moonstone

Get into at least 4 fights

Leafeon (Japanese: リーフィア Leafia) is a Grass-type Pokémon introduced in Generation IV.

Remember to eat your greens kids! Leafeon is just here to relax. They don’t like altercations and prefer the pacifist route. Just because they don’t like to fight doesn’t mean they can’t. Leafeon’s sharp leaves will make short work of enemies letting them continue on their day in peace. Surrounded by plants is where Leafeon is happiest. Some people say they smell like freshly cut grass.

Traits: Loves the Outdoors ★ Green Thumb ★ Vegetarian ★ Good ★ *random trait

LTW: The Perfect Garden

Career: Gardener (can only earn money from selling plants)

Heir cannot be a vampire!

Master gardening skill

Have a garden with every plant in game (optional)

Have at least 20 different plants inside and outside the house

Glaceon (Japanese: グレイシア Glacia) is an Ice-type Pokémon introduced in Generation IV.

Don’t forget a jacket! Glaceon comes off as cold but like it’s counterparts, they are very loyal and loving towards family and friends. They have a creative eye and love to surround themselves with beautiful paintings and sculptures (preferably ice although crystals do quite nicely). The cold never bothered me anyway.

Traits: Artistic ★ Materialistic ★ Diva ★ Loves the Cold ★ *random trait

LTW: Home Design Hotshot

Career: Architect

Master painting + sculpting skill

Complete the Ice Personality skill challenge

Purchase the Immune to Cold reward

Own at least 10 sculptures

Sylveon (Japanese: ニンフィア Nymphia) is a Fairy-type Pokémon introduced in Generation VI.

Too good for this world. Sylveon is the embodiment of love. They have a calming aura that affects everyone around them. They will try to resolve any problem with kind words and a smile, if that fails (which it rarely does) they will pounce. Sylveon believes there is still good in everyone and hopes that others see it too. They also love to dance.

Traits: Friendly ★ Flirty ★ Charismatic ★ Family-Oriented ★ *random trait

Aspiration: Magic Maker

Career: Acrobat

Have at least 4 kids (adoptions count)

Be/become a fairy

Have all children sign up for ballet

Have no enemies or negative relationships