#and are a completely different color and also don't fit in with the two previous evolutions at all. HUH????

[front-facing-pokemon]

[adobe-outdesign]

Review on Poltchageist please? it's design is interesting and cute.

(This is the last review request in my inbox—if you guys have requests, send 'em in.)

(Also, important note before we start: Ironically, some leaks regarding the DLC just dropped today. I don't review content until it's officially released, so I will not be discussing any of the leaked information in this review.)

While I don't think I like it more than the Sinistea line, I do like Poltchageist here. I don't actually drink tea much at all and I don't like matcha flavoring much either, so correct me if any of the following information is wrong, but it seems like it's based off of vintage matcha tea caddies. Here's one I dug up on Google that looks very similar, right down to the black patterning and the "face":

At first, I wasn't sure why this was a convergent evo, as it's still tea, just a different flavor. It feels like a convergent to tea would be something like coffee, which looks like tea but isn't. A different flavor of tea seems more like a regional. This also doesn't look that much like the original line; you couldn't accidentally mistake one for the other.

However, I do sort of get what they were getting at—Poltchageist is similar to Polteageist, meaning the line is effectively inversed, which is actually a pretty cool idea. It has the painted-on face of Sinistea, and it's possessing the container itself like Sinsitea does instead of the tea, but the actual body shape being a tea-holding container is all Polteageist. It's basically how Wugtrio looks a lot more different from Dugtrio than Wiglett does to Diglett, just backwards. In that respect, I think it gets away with being a convergent.

That said, I do wish it had different typing. I think it was neat that our previous two convergents had types that were opposites, or at least completely different; maybe this one could've been grass/fairy, or maybe even grass/water.

Anyway, all that conceptual stuff aside, it looks pretty good visually. I like the striking black-and-white palette with the green matcha as an accent color, and I really love those floating matcha powder hands. The matcha scoop(? is that the right word) is also a fun touch. Bonus points for how drippy the face looks, almost like it's crying, and the kintsugi-style repair job on the cracks.

My only nitpicks are that the three dots above the eye feel kind of random, and the hexagonal cut-outs for the hands feel too inorganic—more natural cracks and chips would've been better. Also, I feel like the face could've fit the container more. If you look at Sinistea or even the above caddy, there's a lot of intricate markings that fit the space nicely, while Poltchageist's face feels more slapped on.

Regardless, overall, it's a pretty decent concept and design. I don't like it quite as much as Sinistea and I don't know how badly that line needed something new, but this is fun and definitely unique enough to justify itself.

[cadybear420]

Cadybear's MC Wardrobes: Evie Ayana, OG HSS Book 3. Featuring some edits by me!

How this series goes: With each book, for a MC I'm invested in, I'll assess each of their in-game outfits. How much do I like or dislike the outfit? Is this something that suits my MC's style, or does it make me go "My MC would NOT wear/own this"? And for the outfits that my MC would not wear or own, how would I alter or replace them? I'm not going to use screenshots from the actual game because I can't be arsed. Also I want to use the different sprite expressions to express how my MC would feel about each outfit.

I like to think this is a good opportunity to elaborate on my MCs' dress styles, and show off some edits :D

Now, let's assess the outfits of OG HSS Book 3 and finish off the wardrobe for Evie Ayana! Well, not quite finish off, as I might make some posts for her in-game outfits in HSS:CA, as well as some bonus miscellaneous outfits I came up with myself for other events in the timeline.

Directory for the other parts will be included in the reblogs after I've completed the posts for all books!

Ch 1: "Not-So-Cold Shoulder" Premium Starter Outfit

Evie would actually really love this top. Although she is pretty lukewarm/indifferent on bare-shoulder tops, she would totally wear this one, mainly for the fabric texture. However, I don't think she'd be too keen on the necklace or the skirt, though, as cute as the flower embroidery is.

Verdict: Only partly in Evie's wardrobe. Alter by replacing the skirt and removing the necklace.

Here's what it'd look like more in her style. I might headcanon this as her casual fit for HSS:CA 3.

Ch 1: "Spring Fling" Premium Starter Outfit

And here we have a reverse situation of the previous outfit. Evie would dig the pants, but not so much the top.

Verdict: Only partly in Evie's wardrobe. Alter by replacing the top.

So how about a combination of the two? :3 (Unfortunately the embroidery looked a bit awkward on these pink jeans, so I left it off).

As it is though, I think I'm perfectly happy with using the "Cardi Cute" outfit for her HSS 3 spring casual outfit (or the altered version of the "Bombshell" outfit, but that would mean paying for the original one which I don't quite think is worth the diamonds). Like I said, I might use these altered spring premium outfits for her spring casual outfit in HSS:CA.

Ch 1/2: "World-Class Tour" Premium Outfit

It's not bad, I kind of like the trim design on the skirt. I can definitely see Evie dressing up so as to at least make the Hearst kids' tour fun. Plus, it sort of matches with Aiden's spring casual outfit, being that it's also a light blue button-up and dark blue bottom piece.

Buuuuuut I don't think the skirt is quite her style. It's just a little bit too short, and doesn't really seem "loose and flowy". Plus, she would prefer an outfit with pants for this type of event.

Verdict: Only partly in Evie's wardrobe. Alter by replacing (or lengthening) the skirt.

Here's how it would be if it were closer to Evie's style. Plus, a version where the skirt is closer to Evie's style. I tried to make the pants blue-ish to keep that color scheme match.

Ch 3: Baseball Uniform

Jock girls stay winning <3

Verdict: Technically not in Evie's wardrobe because you have to return uniforms at the end of the season, but the point is, Evie would love wearing it. Keep it as is.

Ch 4: "Light it Up" Premium Outfit for the Mitchell's Beach Party

This is gonna sound crazy, but... aside from maybe the arm bands, Evie actually wouldn't mind wearing this. The romper is really nice-looking color and aesthetic wise and it looks fairly comfy.

While it is arguably a bit revealing– namely, it does violate Evie's "no skirts that go above mid-thigh" rule, she probably would be a little more comfortable breaking that rule with a romper dress rather than a regular dress or skirt. Granted though, she wouldn't really wear rompers very often, so yeah.

Also, the necklaces are adorable. I love moon/star shapes and so does Evie.

However it might be a little bit too extravagant for her tastes for what I feel is a more casual house-based beach party.

Verdict: Actually would be a part of Evie's wardrobe. Move the arm bracelets, but otherwise keep it as is (but save for a different event and possibly go with a different outfit to wear to the party).

Evie in the altered outfit, plus the m!MC's version of the romper outfit. She'd also love to wear the replacement outfit for the pool party outfit from Book 1 (it would also match Aiden's outfit, then again I might give him a new beach party outfit too as well as all the other LIs). She'd also be perfectly happy wearing her regular casual outfit to the pool party like everyone else did.

Ch 7: "Key to my Heart" Premium Outfit for Open Mic Night at the restaurant

It's decent on its own, but I don't think it's really Evie's style. I don't think she'd really vibe with keyhole dresses.

Verdict: Evie would not own this. Keep the bracelets, but replace the rest with either her usual casual outfit or her usual semiformal outfit.

For this sort of event, she'd far prefer to wear the "Make a Statement" semiformal blazer outfit, or just her regular casual outfit like everyone else.

BONUS ROUND: Ch 11: Band Concert Outfit

Looks fly as hell. She'd dig it. But she would also think it's kinda dumb that the guys (and Cameron) all wear long sleeves while the girls all wear short sleeves lol.

Verdict: Part of Evie's wardrobe. Keep it as is (for band!Evie AU) (but also give her a long sleeved version, and save both for other events).

Long sleeved version! Though honestly, I'm not sure Evie would have really had much of a preference. She likes both styles.

Ch 12: "Silver Goddess" Premium Prom Outfit

God damn it. The cloth and color of this dress is so damn pretty! But there's no way in hell Evie would EVER wear a dress with a leg slit. She'd feel like... like the exact opposite of a goddess.

Also, why is it called "Silver" when the game file describes it as lavender? Not that it's even lavender anyways, that's clearly periwinkle.

Verdict: Evie would NOT buy this. Perhaps alter later by closing the leg slit and removing the arm band. But even then, it would not have become a part of her wardrobe due to a certain other premium prom outfit option...

For now, here's that one edit I made previously of Aiden wearing the outfit because I like it better on him <3

Ch 12: "Black Tie" Premium Prom Outfit

*inhales*

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Verdict: Becomes part of Evie's wardrobe and is her official prom outfit for the book. Keep it as is.

Ch 12: "Just Peachy" Free Prom Outfit

It looks pretty nice, I like it much better than the premium prom dress. It's neat and simple, which is something Evie would enjoy wearing. She'd also like the peach color too. Especially considering she likes Aiden's "peach".

Of course, there's no way Evie is giving up that tux. So yeah.

Verdict: Evie would wear this, and it maybe would've become a part of her wardrobe if she didn't already buy the tux for her prom outfit.

Ch 16: "Once a Tiger" Premium Finale Outfit (and carries over to HSS:CA as MC's default outfit for that trilogy if purchased)

Not bad, but why does PB hate putting this MC in tops that are cut below the pants? Also, no thanks to the choker-style necklace.

Verdict: Somewhat part of Evie's wardrobe. Alter by lengthening the top and the necklace.

Here's the outfit more in Evie's style, plus her in the m!MC one because I do think it suits her better either way.

Though in either case, I don't consider it Evie's default outfit for HSS:CA. I'm going to be making a different new set of outfits for that instead, and that will be its own series. Stay tuned.

[djsherriff-responses]

I have a crack/serious theory that dolph is the son of Rex "Power" Colt and Elizabeth Veronica Darling from Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

Both characters are similar to the people who are 'supposedly' dolph's real biological parents in the first episode, see the similarities?

And in the episode where dolph is fighting a fucking army his eyes glow a pinkish purple color in both his robot and human eyes? In the lore blood dragons are the titular hostile creatures in far cry 3: blood dragon, existing only on the nameless island on which the game takes place, blood dragons are believed to be "Living fossils from the early cretaceous period", according to Dr. Elizabeth darling.

The blood of the dragons also possess radiologically-enhancing properties. Colonel Ike sloan's cybernetics were supercharged by drinking their blood. However, pure dragon blood is unpredictable and can have adverse effects, such as those suffered by Dr. Carlyle, who gained increased mental capacity to "hyper-genius levels," but later experienced rapid muscle deterioration and worse, his genitals dropped off his body.

At the end of the game, elizabeth veronica is seen hugging rex, but she opens her eyes, revealing them to be the same color as the dragon's blood.

In trials of the blood dragon it is revealed that she is a blood dragon herself, but in human form. This explains why she hates sloan (the previous villain of the game) for using the blood dragons for harvesting their blood, as well as her glowing purple eyes seen at the end of the game. She reveals to her husband and children that she had left them in order to help her race. However, when she learned of Rex's "death", she took the guise of General Ryback, and secretly manipulated her children into helping her free her species (blood dragons, or dragornians), destroy the CIA, and lay the groundwork for a full-scale blood dragon invasion of the world under the pretense that they are saving the world. She confesses her love for her husband and children, but then gives them an ultimatum: join her cause or die.

In the secret ending rex refuses to help his wife allow her and the blood dragons to take over the world, and defiantly pulls a gun on her, proclaiming his allegiance to his country. Likewise, Dr. Darling pulls out a gun on her husband, but so do their children, with both Roxanne and Slayter each pointing a gun at their parents. Both parents then pull out a second gun on their children while still pointing their first guns at each other, leading to a mexican standoff in the family.

Both roxanne and slayter are confirmed to be half dragornians and have strong and powerful abilities, maybe dolph, the third child is a half dragornian himself?

Hell maybe the woman in dolph's flashbacks could be rex's younger sister or rex's cousin and she never told dolph about the truth.

Wow this is a really well thought out and put together theory

The only issue is that the manga shows Dolph's mother as an Indian woman, basically confirming the propaganda documentary Eden made to be lies and I honestly doubt that Adi is gonna make a plot twist out of her , especially with the likelihood that season two will be as short as the first season and everything else that's been set up

As much as I would like more kick ass women in this series, revealing Dolph's mother to be a completely different character than what we're told (twice even) would make the spin off manga pointless and even more conflicting with the timeline

Saying that though, we don't yet know who Dolph's father is

And in both show and manga , it's not that subtle that Eden is doing some Eugenics in their system, with Dolph being a prime example of that. The art book even mentions that "Dolph was marked "genetically fit for augmentation"-", meaning that Eden is looking through it's citizens very DNA for it's super soldiers

And someone with dragon blood in them would be valuable, yeah?

Also worth pointing out that in some concept designs, they considered giving Dolph white hair, something that Roxanne and Slayter both have

If season two did explore Dolph's family tree , I think it'd be more likely the show would focus on Dolph's father with his mother being (unfortunately common for her archetype) a foot note. Going with what you brought up ,Dolph's father could be Rex but I'm gonna lean towards Slayter for the fact Slayter actually has dragon blood in him, Rex could still be involved as a a grandfather though

I'm also gonna bet if Rex is related to Dolph (as either father or grandfather) or at least plays a role in season two, he probably knew Sam Fisher. Idk why I just think it'd be fitting and an organic lead way to Dolph talking about and/or meeting his father('s side of the family) with how the last episode ended

[deathwords334]

(Disclaimer: This is not my work. I am in no way affiliated with the artist. I just want to show off artists that I think need more attention. I also don't have anyone I can talk to about the rabbit hole I've gone down that is Good Omens doujins. I will supply links to their social media and where you can find the publications (If available))

Phew there's so much to take pictures of... I even found out that there's Helluva Boss doujins! Maybe I should post some of those too... The issue, though, is the majority of them are R-18. Like... Obviously so. Would that even fly on Tumblr? Hm... Well, now for something completely different!

This is After The Happy Ending by Tsukiko

So Aziraphale and Crowley have officially decided to become a couple! Yay! They have their own home and are living together in domestic bliss! Yay! But... How exactly do you... couple? The two try to figure out how to express their love to each other in the most wholesome way possible.

You read that right, this is not an R-18 book! There is some heated kissing about half way through the book, but a good portion of it is them trying to figure out what kissing and touching is to them. If you've seen that meme of two people trying to kiss with the text 'expected a kiss with tongue'? Ya that's this book!

As I mentioned previously, Tsukiko's art style is very shojo-esque and you can kinda see the evolution of their style when you compare the two books. It's kinda interesting I've never seen this in the books I've collected. Still, it fits the story they're telling. On their Twitter they expressed concern that their style wouldn't fit a more 'serious' tone in comparison to Happily Ever After, but I think they succeeded! Besides, they haven't foregone the comedy. But it is definitely more focused on the two being very ace...

The book is the same size and style as their previous book, so the two look very nice side by side on the shelf. Tsukiko has a way with color too! I don't think I ever pointed that out, but especially here and their next book? It's so pastel and cute and it gives me diabetes!!!

Good news is that this book is still available on their Booth! (Link is above). You do not need any prior knowledge of Happily Ever After to read this. Sure it's a nice through line, but it doesn't make any reference to the previous book! Definitely look it up! They deserve more eyes on their work :3 Also, their most recent book Planet Picnic is up for sale! I'm waiting for my order to ship but from the previews, it's a comedic book of the two exploring space! Also, they are selling a keychain that is super cute and shiny!!

[branmuffins22]

for the toh ask game- 2, 8, 12?

from this ask game:

2. Ramble about your favorite character of all time as much as you want. We're listening

Ohhhh boy. Oh man. Oh geez. You play a dangerous game, starting out with the kicker.

The obvious choice would be Luz, right? because she's like, the perfect main character. Lovable, relatable, flawed, believable (mostly; those fireworks were a bit much), clever, emotional, funny, the list goes on.

But.

However.

I have to go with Vee.

To me, Vee is all those things and more. She's still relatable, but for completely different (some unaddressed by canon, some completely made up by me) reasons. She's the cutest sweetest little shapeshifter we actually got the chance to get to know (sorry Stringbean). She's flawed, she'd completely given up on Luz's return and was ready to throw away whatever parts of her life she didn't jive with, and then even after most of a day of hanging out with her, she was STILL kinda mad at her! She's got confusing emotions and she was able to admit it! She's a tortured and traumatized kid who's trying maybe a bit too hard to put it all behind her, and even her more fantastical struggles are made to make perfect sense in that context. She's clever and observant enough to blend in with humans (and even convince Camila she was Luz for a while), and she was instrumental in solving the rebus. She's funny not just in her sense of humor (which is anywhere from awkward to earnest to dry, all hilarious), but also in the dichotomy of being one of the more "normal" "human" characters in the show, despite not really being either of those things (part of a thought-extinct species, and unique even among others of that species. said species is a kind of magic-eating shape-shifting demon from another realm, and here she is in suburban connecticut, idly learning spanish with her friends).

She's my precious baby blorbo and I love her. She's chubby (I'm chubby), she's awkward around her crush (I'm awkward around my crush (and also in general)), she likes to wear warm colors and big boots (I like to wear warm colors and big boots (not that I have any that fit well enough for daily wear)), she's got a bit of an overbite (I had one when I was young), she is (or, I guess, was?) kinda sorta something like a twin (I'm a twin), her hair is poofy and long (at least in her epilogue design) (my hair is poofy and long), augh, she feels basically tailor-made for me. I'm not exaggerating when I say I learned to love certain parts of myself by loving them first in her.

She's perfect.

also. im gonna rant about her even more in the next bit, sorrynotsorry.

8. Any headcanons? If so, which are your favorite?

Soooo many. Like, enough that I'm writing a whole ass barely-even-canon-divergent AU just to give myself the excuse to explore them. Actually, kinda writing two if you count MatVNN, but it's more of a post-canon affair.

Probably my favorite, though, is Vee being trans (and a bunch of other flavors of queer). I'll admit, a lot of the things that make me like Vee so much are just Sorta Plausible Shit I Came Up With, and chief among them is my trans Vee theory.

So, I'll start with the canon stuff:

Vee is rather unique, even among basilisks. Her tail has 3 fins rather than the other basilisks' 1 or 2 fins, her eyes have a different structure (and more individual colors) than the others', and she has a distinct head and neck that the other basilisks don't have. She's also a lot smaller than the other basilisks: about half the size of III and IV, and even smaller compared to the "greater basilisk" which attacked Hexside (we'll call her the Inspector). In the epilogue, Vee's size doesn't appear to have changed much, if at all (hell, even in her human form, she doesn't look much taller), nor have the sizes of III and IV. The only change any of them appear to have gone through is that Vee has more/longer hair, some of which is a lighter cyan than the previous navy blue, which still remains at her roots and on her ears.

Those are the facts. Now, there could be any number of reasons for her unique traits.

The doylist reason is the easiest: she was designed to look smaller and more humanoid to appear to the audience as more sympathetic. Her strange eyes could just be a bit of fun character design, something to make her stand out on screen. No biggie.

The watsonian reasons are a lot more compelling to me though.

She could very well be quite young for a basilisk. Perhaps their eyes change shape and lose some of their color as they grow up. Perhaps the neck becomes less distinct as they get older. Perhaps even after the 3+ year timeskip before the epilogue, Vee was still prepubescent for a basilisk.

Perhaps the various basilisks are representative of different species within the same family (ex. the Inspector is called a "greater basilisk", but the others are just referred to as "basilisks"), and Vee's unique traits are staples of whatever specific species she is (I first came across this theory in A Blight on Bonesborough, by GeminiAlchemist, and they proposed "fat-tailed basilisk" as the name of Vee's species, mostly for the sake of a gag)

One of the more interesting theories is that she's only half basilisk. I wasn't the one to come up with it, but I don't remember who was, so for that I apologize, but basically, there was a theory going around for a little while after her introduction, that Vee was actually the bastard child of one of the other basilisks and Warden Wrath. The biggest point of evidence was the yellow pupils, a trait only shared between Vee and Wrath, as well as the fact that Wrath was clearly involved in the basilisk project, as shown in Vee's flashbacks in Yesterday's Lie. It's not my favorite theory by any means, but it's a super interesting one, very angsty.

My personal theory, however, and the theory on which I base a few of my other Vee headcanons, is that all the myriad differences between Vee and the other basilisks can be explained away by a simple case of sexual dimorphism in the basilisk species. "Number 5" was simply the only "male" basilisk shown on screen.

Now, what's the evidence for this theory? There is none! As with all the best headcanons, there's no real reason it should be true, but there's ALSO no definitive evidence it isn't true.

So, Number 5 escaped the labs, wandered into the Human Realm, took the form of the only human he'd seen, and spent 3 months at summer camp incidentally trying out being a girl. Turns out, she liked it! So when the time came to give Luz back her identity, Vee made her own new form a girl too.

Now, this headcanon comes with some... caveats? Complications? Sprinkles of realism? I like to imagine some extraneous silly little plot points surrounding this.

Gonna mention 'nads & stuff in purple, so skip past it if you're squeamish about people having body parts or whatever.

When Vee took on Luz's form, she didn't really know what was going on under all those clothes, so she improvised, and kept things as close to her basilisk form as possible. It was partly to conserve magic during the shift, and partly just because she couldn't imagine what to put there. This meant she had a dick, and probably a pretty funny-looking one, too, until she came across a human health textbook and got a better picture of what that whole situation is supposed to look like.

Eventually, during an accident with someone in the Cabin 7 crew (probably standard "woops, didnt realize you were changing in here" shenanigans), someone catches her with her pants down, and she accidentally makes them think Luz is trans. A silly little mixup, definitely no consequences in the future, for sure.

After this, Vee ends up learning about pride flags and their meanings, and starts collecting those things like trading cards. She is staggeringly queer. I tend to think of her as bi/pan/demi-rose, genderqueer, genderfluid (usually on a sliding scale between fem and neutral, but outside that range often enough to be noteworthy), and polyam (in theory, anyways, but even by the epilogue she's still only had one partner, Masha. Granted, she's only maybe 18 by then, so she's got a LOT of time left to try things out), but because that's So Many Labels, she tends to simplify down to Queer. Am I projecting? Yeah, a little. Maybe a lot. So what?

Anyways, when Luz comes back and Vee picks out her own human form, she mostly performs a 1-1 translation from her basilisk form to her human form (matching her standing height, size, approximate face shape, etc), and in so doing, takes on a few typically-masculine characteristics (like a mostly-flat, somewhat-wide chest, bodyfat mostly at her belly, and of course, a (normal, human) dick (most of the time, anyways; she is a shapeshifter, and can do whatever she wants forever)), resulting in her rather androgynous appearance. If her human form is gonna be her, it's gonna reflect her truth: she wasn't always a girl, but she is now. In the epilogue, her human form looks a bit more feminine/less androgynous than before (most notably with wider hips), as if she'd been on HRT for long enough to see some changes.

Now, I've also got all manner of general Basilisk Biology Headcanons, such as how shapeshifting works (magic is used to perform transformations, and reverting to their natural form doesn't use any; holding a transformation only burns calories, not magic; transformations are holistic, inside-and-out, with the two exceptions being the brain and whatever organ stores collected magic), how magical hunger works (it doesn't quite exist, they're not vampires, eating/draining magic is just a thing they Can do in order to transform, not a thing they Have to do to live; however, when a basilisk is hungry, it begins burning through its magic to stave off malnutrition, causing them to seek out magically dense food (really just magic in general, kinda maladaptive like humans' sugar cravings)), how mass distribution works when they transform (they retain their weight when they take on new forms, which limits their transformed size by how far they can compress/decompress their mass. this is part of why the Inspector was so hungry; they were near the limits of how far they could compress, and burning through calories like crazy to stay that way), their natural habitat (fins on their tails suggest they're at least semi-aquatic, but the fact that they stayed on the Boiling Isles as they fled from Belos suggests that they're not immune to (and thus not native to) the Boiling Sea, therefore I propose that they were native to lakes, the only bodies of water shown not to be boiling all the time. also they use their shapeshifting to change their bouyancy as they dive for mollusks or whatever), reproduction (internal fertilization, followed by egg laying; they can change their physical sex pretty much at will, because they're shapeshifters, but if it's not their "natural" form, it still consumes magic to get into that form and burns extra calories to hold the form; fertilization and pregnancy tends to go quite poorly if a basilisk changes/reverts to a form that doesn't have the proper equipment for whatever child they're currently bearing), and so on (basilisk eyes are adapted for underwater, leaving them relatively nearsighted unless transformed to be otherwise, and they have a short-term photographic memory to make assembling accurate disguises on the fly easier/possible), but I don't really feel the need to go tooooo into detail with all that >.>

12. What do you consider the most memorable scene? Why?

That's a very tough choice, between the graveyard fight in Thanks to Them (Very intense. Very beautiful, very powerful) and the Lumity dance in Enchanting Grom Fright (Very romantic. Very beautiful, very powerful). They both basically defined the fandom brainrot after their respective releases, and unlike the various season finales, there was little else cutting in to interrupt and distract from them. Just tasty, tasty action, one at the breathtaking height of fluff, and the other in the soul-crushing depths of angst.

A close third, to whichever one of those is only second-best, would be the duel for the portal key in Eclipse Lake (Very dramatic. Very beautiful, very powerful). Another big action scene, who'd'a thunk it, and another angsty one, too.

[lepertamar]

Stars That Rise At Dawn 2023 Revised vs 2019 edition differences: Part 1

I'm going to go through this in mostly linear order because I'm not sure of what the best/most useful way of organizing it otherwise is.

This is ftr mostly for the benefit of people who have read the inferior 2018 edition but aren't convinced they want to/would catch everything if they re-read the whole thing again cover-to-cover. Or for people who read both versions and are interested in them. I don't hugely recommend it for people who read only the new edition, because as far as I can tell from chatting with some other people, the changes or deletions are not really for the purpose of pacing or anything like that, where the earlier version's information still stands or illuminates but was cut out solely for narrative purposes. Instead it seems that changes and especially deletions happened because the information in the earlier version was unwanted, incorrect, out of continuity, or flat-out wrong. Which I think is interesting to keep in mind.

So long sequence of passages with changes under the cut. I've put some commentary of my own opinion on a few of the changes, but the author mostly only explains her decisions with and enigmatic 'improving continuity with the rest of the series' so the effects are pretty subjective.

I tried to put small changes/additions of the 2023 revision in bold, and when I extensively quoted the 2018 edition, put it in strikethrough red. (edited to have strikethrough instead of just color for accessibility and clarity)

This part 1 covers the prologue through chapter 14

[eta: Part 2 is here, and Part 3 is here

Prologue: Part of Tamar's pov is changed. The previous version went:

every time she’s felt God near her, They are fire, They are a burning light, They are a thousand voices in unison. Tamar definitely gets along with Them.Probably because she sometimes feels a little like fire herself.

to the less awkwardly forcing of 'liking obviously = similar' to a more resonant:

“and every time she’s felt God’s mind, her want is sharp and harsh and burning. Like God, maybe.”

Later in the prologue, two things are significantly removed: the line "that's not exactly how it works" after Tamar says I want to see You; and when describing Safirah's price "and they even read Tamar's mind. So a price, but things gained as well." Instead it ends, as a completed thought, with “their entire left arm got completely scorched in still-swirling burn marks, was made entirely unusable; but, in that arm, they still, to this day, can feel God’s soul.”

Both of these deletions take out normalizing, qualifying, easily-understandable 'excuses' for Tamar's desire, and also enhance her agency in terms of emphasizing that it's truly, really her act of seeing that blinds her, and that G-d can Be Seen. And after "there's not much else to think except that she likes Them" there is the added line:

“It’s not an explanation, but she might lie to herself if she tried to explain.”

This mirrors Eliya's line several chapters later during her first theurgy lesson:

“I… can’t say. I might lie if I did. Because I don’t know for sure what the answer is, and if I do try to answer, I might say it wrong.”

Chapter 1:

The only change here is to the epigraph: originally "Once Heaven expected, all to come to Me in fire. Now understood desires many." the revision says "Once Heaven expected, all after death to wake to fire. Now understood desires many."

This is most likely to emphasize that this is specifically about the afterlife solely, and has no connection to Tamar's act in the prologue.

Chapter 2:

I also only noticed a change in the epigraph, the original one was completely deleted, and replaced with one that was originally later in the book in a less funny position. Given what we learn of Jibril in book 2, this is incredibly fitting:

“Okay, I admit, in the first few years of Šehhinah I did kind of try to interview the newly-alive humans about how they felt, being alive and human and stuff, and if they were excited or if I could help… apparently that was awkward for them or something. Oh well. —the angel Jibril, A Thousand Open Letters, Just Because”

The original, which was deleted, was:

Most philosophers, especially those who are also Holy, understand that as Heaven is an extension of God, its brightness would be like nothing on Šehhinah other than God's direct manifestations in the Holy themselves. This does much to disprove earliest recorded Stone Age conceptions of Heaven as merely a reward for a life welllived, considering that none would be denied Heaven save those who do not wish to be surrounded with near-painful flaming brilliance, which may indeed be a large number of people…—Remi Akkagal, Introductory Philosophy

I believe this deletion is largely to be a little less blatantly and early-on spelling-out what 'heaven' in this world is to ppl who have other stupid pop-cultural conceptions um the readers, instead allowing them to piece it together over the course of the book. I liked this change although the author is giving readers too much credit lol.

chapter 3: No changes I could find

chapter 4:

the only change I could find was this:

Previous version:

“it might be a bad idea to get you involved. You know, ethically. Especially given that you’re a demon, that might be really bad. Could reflect badly on your people.” “Then again, hampering me to make or not make decisions purely based on the way people might pity me and assume me to have mental problems when they see this”—Hannuša gestures at her yellow eyes, the small black horns on her head—“is itself, I would think, ethically questionable.”

Revised version:

“it might be a bad idea to get you involved. You know, ethically. Especially given that you’re a demon, that might be really bad. Could reflect badly on you.” “Then again, hampering me to make or not make decisions purely based on the way people might pity me and assume me to have childhood trauma when they see this”—Hannuša gestures at her yellow eyes, the small black horns on her head—“is itself, I would think, ethically questionable.”

specifying 'childhood trauma' and taking out 'reflect badly on your people' does more to convey the idea of sehhinah demons being nothing like irl assumptions of what demons are, or common genre conventions of demons.

chapter 5:

I elaborated on the major change in chapter 5 here, and in the interests of making this post shorter, I won't repeat the commentary. But the book Lucifer is reading, and their reaction to it, has been changed to:

“This girl in a coastal town—which I’m pretty sure is fabricated, unless there’s been a sudden increase of coastal towns in the last twenty years or something—is in with the wrong group of people, the ringleader of which basically forces her to be a Holy. It’s pretty contrived how that happens, but it’s believable enough, all things considered. So this girl, you see, she doesn’t actually want to be Holy, and she’s lost the use of both hands, that was her price. And she fucking hates it. So either she lets her awful friend, who’s just lost the use of most of one arm, do everything for her, basically being totally dependent on her, or worse, rely on other Holies, which just isolates her even more from the rest of the world.” Yenatru doesn’t know what to make of that. “I thought you said it was an adventure book.” “Well, I think it’s setting her up to join a crew of pirates.” Yenatru raises his eyebrows. “How does that connect?” “That’s what I was reading to find out,” Lucifer says with a grin. “Definitely my kind of book. I might actually want a copy, assuming this girl doesn’t end up discovering that, oh, no, she actually loves being a Holy, loves being all fucked up by,” Lucifer’s voice was already dripping with disdain, but now she gags almost theatrically, making her opinion even more clear.”

....

“I’ll be around. Seriously. There’s this book about an unwilling Holy possibly becoming a pirate. And the author has more books.”

(This also emphasizes that Lucifer intentionally seeks out content about Holies with relish instead of avoiding it, as long as it's negative and fearmongering)

Chapter 6:

The only change I noticed was the epigraph, again, where the original (an excerpt from a will of someone bequeathing their manifestations to their children) was entirely removed, and replaced with:

“All angel-made manifestations are contaminated. Therefore is the world contaminated, and it is the way of contaminated things to contaminate each other further, a cascade of reactions guaranteed to bring ruin. Instead of any possibility of cleansing, the Fiery One only reaches further, as the greedy among the humans sell themselves for a taste of that corruption. I for one hold out hope that soon the First to Fall will return from his wanderings and deem me worthy of receiving his guidance… —Asriel, Third to Fall, 1032 A.C.”

I absolutely have to comment on this because it is DELIGHTFUL and I laughed out loud. Coming after the previous chapter, which both has the aforementioned book change, and Lucifer bemoaning how much they dislike other Fallen, it both hints at what types of ppl Lucifer might be bitching about (epigraphs from other Fallen throughout the rest of the book and the series indicate that Lucifer is overgeneralizing however), and highlights their hypocrisy about judging them.

Secondly, this means The Stars That Rise At Dawn is the one and only -- the one, and only -- fictional book I've ever encountered that explicitly models an ancient, global, historical and cultural meme: that most christian concepts of the Devil, and of Hell, is explicitly based on Jewish G-d -- the explicit, overwhelming, ubiquitous association with fire, blood dashing and blood marking, and flesh sacrifice by burning of offerings throughout the jewish Tanakh, especially in Exodus, the frightening imagery of fire and brimstone, the conception of G-d as a challenging and frightening figure who makes deals and bargains (covenants, even) with humans. Most especially found in foundational Gnostic theology that explicitly (rather than the implicit and often unintentional coding above that mainstream christian imagery does) identifies Jewish G-d as a false god, the archon and demiurge, who is responsible for creating a fallen, sinful, material world as an intentional prison rather than an incomplete starting point a la grapes without wine, and whom Jews evilly follow and worship, trying to maintain the sinful world rather than escaping to neoplatonic purity of forms, where the True God, the New Testament god who includes Jesus Christ, rules instead. And Stars, instead of buying into it directly or eliding it by forcibly identifying g-d with the christian god, basically says 'yep! sehhinah g-d IS more like jewish g-d who IS more like the christian devil than christian god, and tamar IS more like someone who sold her soul greedily for this-worldly, this-life overreaching curiosity and lust to taste that hellfire! but it is still very very very much undeniably g-d, the creator of the world, the colloquial g-d, the god of the torah, not a reacting or opposing figure. AND IT SLAPS!'

Chapter 7-9: no changes I noticed

Chapter 10:

The previous epigraph is moved to chapter 2, and is replaced here with:

“There are surviving legends from pre-Askannite times of a block of ice, already clearly unique and therefore Theurgic given the tropical climate, in which one can see a girl, sleeping. The block itself has been lost since the volcanic eruption, making it difficult to ascertain whether the sleeping girl is, in fact, the Theurgist who made it, perhaps in her own coffin, or even as some once suggested, alive and waiting to wake…     —Iśja the Seafarer, Qallit the Recordkeeper, et al, Surveys of Manifestations of the Western Coast”

Chapter 11: no changes I noticed

Chapter 12:

The epigraph about the first holy in history has been entirely deleted, and replaced with:

“Raziel is unique among angels in taking a form most similar to a serpent, although of course no natural serpent has wings let alone so many… —Eli Rashina, A Brief History of Angels”

THIS IS SO DELIGHTFUL. This is almost certainly a reference simultaneously to the serpent in eden, the concept of winged serpents as a likely possible form for seraphim in some jewish angelology, and the Sefer Raziel haMalakh

I can make a guess that for the most part, the original epigraph here was removed because it was a bit unpleasantly Set and Neat as a story of deliberate awareness where all the agency rested on g-d, and had a slightly irritating to me framework, rather than anything that matches either Tamar's experience or the ideas that come up in the next two books.

Later in the chapter, the very artificial line "it’s almost too bad that adults almost never become demons. If they could, that’d at least round out this circle of betrayal." is removed.

Chapter 13: no changes I remember

Chapter 14: The epigraph about the (rather prosaic overview of) angels' making of the world is taken out, replaced by the epigraph with sa-shira's poem greeting g-d, which was previously on chapter 15.

I elaborated on one of the major changes to the text of chapter 14 in the same post I linked regarding the change to chapter 5. The linked change to chapter 14 is that after asking about Tamar, Lucifer adds:

“No chance it was like that book I read? Kidnapped by a childhood friend, forced to do it?” Lucifer’s voice sounds disconcertingly hopeful. “I don’t think it was that,” Yenatru says.”

I also commented, and in a subsequent reblog chain got an absolute Eyeful of how hard and thickly people will project what they already think instead of being capable of absorbing new or unexpected information, on a minor change in the chapter:

Old version:

“Nope,” she says. “Well, except for my replacement, Metatron he’s the same way almost exactly except that he matches the gender of whoever he’s talking to in presentation”

New version:

“Nope,” she says. “Well, except for that guy who calls himself ‘The Adversary,’ a Fallen, he’s the same way almost exactly except that he matches the gender of whoever he’s talking to in presentation”

I thought that the reason for this change was because it's a lot funnier, or because replacements were no longer canon, but as you can see in this utterly fascinating reblog chain, clearly even my paranoia-addled rock-bottom expectations were too high. Despite the fact that this passage comes almost immediately after a discussion of the Covenant and resurrection:

“But… we don’t know what’s going to happen then.” “Don’t we?” Lucifer tilts her head a little. “Everyone’s life serves as an argument for what they want after the Resurrection. That’s what”—she looks like she has to force the next word out, closing her eyes and swallowing hard—“God decided on. And honestly, despite everything, I can respect that. Fuck, I do respect that.” “Then why do you act like you think you know?” “I’ve been alive for a while. Seen people live, known some closely. Our lives argue for us, and I’ve seen thousands of years of those arguments.” “But no one agrees.” Lucifer laughs. “Exactly. Or, almost exactly. Part of what I’m getting at is that there’ll be a lot. There’ll be—well, hey, my life gets to be an argument too, actually. I mean, especially given that I’m half the reason the Covenant was made at all.”

and despite how G-D IS THE ONE WHO DECIDED AND IS DOING THE COVENANT, based on THEIR OWN REALIZATIONS AND CHANGES IN IDEAS AND ACKNOWLEDGED MISTAKES, despite the fact this happened 6,000 years ago and is foundational boringly basic theology about the world and G-d, despite the fact that the very first epigraph in the book is the text of the covenant where g-d is saying your lives will argue for you, despite Eliya's statement of the very obvious in-universe "lucifer and lilith proved god’s expectations wrong", and that the whole point of the covenant was about how g-d changes Their mind/learns from Their mistakes, and hannusa's (eye-rollingly explicit, i thought!) "god supports lucifer plenty you know" comment, all of this new information about this new different fantasy world evaporated and made no dent even to a person who is genuinely demonstrably smart!!!!!!

this is just absolutely FASCINATING in terms of how massive an avalanche of entrenched projection this book is apparently laboring against, despite its casual, slice-of-life-manga-esque tone. I always knew this general ~subject was extremely loaded with preexisting connotations and expectations and therefore really really hard for people (even jews) to not project the american pop-christian pickle juice they've been swimming in since birth on, but I did underestimate regardless. So if I'm being a little pendantic in this meta, please forgive me lol, I have to adjust my expectations for anyone and everyone else, even if I know and respect you, much MUCH lower than I thought I did.

I'll get to part 2 and hopefully all the rest of the chapters tomorrow.

[sunburstkisser]

How do you make your mlp screenshot edits? They always look so good!

Hi Scribbly :3

This is gonna be really long so I'm putting it under a readmore 😭😭 Apologies in advanced, I hope it doesn't sound convoluted skhjdg

I use Procreate and my own brushes, but you can use whatever program and brushes you feel fit :3 I used to use Ibis Paint for my screenshot edits before I concocted my perfect edit brushes on Procreate khdjg

SO! I start by picking a screenshot that I like that has two ponies in the shot. One of which is my FO of choice, and a mare-shaped pony beside him (I like using a mare-shape for my sonas as opposed to a stallion shape 😭 Anyone can pick whatever body shape they'd like, though, you can always take pony shapes that you like out of other screenshots and edit them to your liking to trace over, too! @/cosmiccherri has a uniquely shaped ponysona so they use screenshots taken from other episodes for theirs and they always look so good!!)

If I can, I find a couple more screenshots that show more background! So I can cut the background out and paste it to cover the other pony. It's okay if it doesn't completely cover, though, I go over it with brush lines and additional textures so it's as seamless as I can get it. I'm kind of a stickler for having my edits and art be perfect, so I always look for ways to use brushes to my advantage especially with trickier backgrounds.

Personally I erase as much of the other pony as I can, so I can reuse the piece bc I know I never stick with one ponysona for longer than a month 😭 /lh It's just handy for me if I ever wanna see each ponysona I go through with my FOs :3

After I get the pony erased as much as I can, I lower the opacity on the background layer so the previous pony is showing a little bit so I can trace over their body, sketch in my mane + tail style, and tweak his expression to one that I like. I also make my ponysona chubbier than the standard mare shape bc I'm not a Skinny Minnie 😭 Once I've got my sketch out, I turn the opacity back up on my background layer and lower the opacity on my sketch layer. I trace a line on the FO pony to check my line thickness, edit it to my liking, and then start lining my sketch with black. You can use whatever color you'd like, I just use black bc it's the easiest for me to see my lines- I like to separate parts on different layers, especially the eyes and hair. MLP eyes are always lined in black! Once the pony is lined, I go through and start erasing lines that end in open spaces, like the chin, shoulders and flank, ear, mouth, etc. so they end in tapers. I also erase a little bit on overlapping lines in the mane and tail, I think it makes them look sharper and more streamlined :3

Once my lineart is completely finished, I color in the pony however I'd like. MLP:FIM always has at least one leg shaded, if not two, and they're always the legs furthest from the viewer. That's one of my favorite parts to shade, and I always use a grey-ish purple

Around this area, but you can use whatever you feel is good :3! I turn the shading layer into a multiply layer, and the opacity is also turned down to 25%

After coloring in my ponysona, I color in the lineart! MLP's colored lineart is one of my favorite things in the show, and I LOVE picking the colors to use. They're always slightly darker than your pony's coat colors, and manes tend to use one or two colors for lineart despite some manes having lots of colors. Rainbow Dash's mane even uses the blue in her colors as the lineart color! It's super interesting tbh, I love the colored lineart- Don't forget to shade the lining on the shaded parts, too! Same grey-purple shading color you used on the legs, turned down to 25% on a multiply layer

That should be everything! I like to make a copy of the original screenshot, merge the background layer onto the copy, copy that so I can merge my ponysona onto it, and at the very end there should be three images left, as well as the sketch layer :3 You don't have to copy everything I do to a T, that's all just my process of editing screenshots 😭

[melanielocke]

Book recommendations: Retellings part 2

As I said in my previous book recommendations about retellings, there were far too many to put into one post, so I made a second also featuring retelling. Remember how the first one featured a sapphic Sleeping Beauty retelling? This post features two sapphic sleeping beauty retellings. And yet the three different sapphic sleeping beauty retellings are all very different and unique stories.

I'll start with Briar girls, the first of the sleeping beauty retellings

This one is not well known, I think, but I did enjoy it and it's sapphic. I'm honestly not sure if the characters are people of color but the author is.

Lena was cursed before she was born, and her touch is deadly. Interestingly, there's another book on his list that starts with the same premise. Lena has lived in fear and isolation her entire life and because of a mistake she recently moved to a new village. In the village, people are disappearing into the forest called the Silence and sometimes go back having gone mad. One night, Miranda appears from the forest, a girl from Gather, a city in the Silence where magic exists. She's on a quest to defeat the tyrannical rulers of the city, and offers to help Lena break her curse in exchange for help against the tyrannical rulers. To defeat these rulers, they'd need to wake the sleeping princess, which is where the sleeping beauty part comes in. This is a less traditional retelling, the major characters don't really follow the sleeping beauty characters, but the sleeping princess is a pretty major plot line.

Also by this author: Shatter the Sky duology

The Bone Spindle is the second sleeping beauty retelling, and follows two main characters in the first book.

Fi is a treasure hunter who loves books, ancient ruins, and mysteries. She goes on adventures alongside her sometimes partner Shane, a tough warrior axe lesbian.

During their explorations of old ruins, Fi pricks her finger on the bone spindle, which connects her to the ancient sleeping prince Briar Rose. Now she has no choice but to go on a quest to find and wake the prince, with magic, witch hunters and bad exes trying to stop her. And there's a mysterious witch that shows up sometimes, but they can't trust, and Shane might just end up falling in love with her.

This is the first in a trilogy, with book 2 coming out in February, and I'll have to reread book 1 before book 2 comes out because I don't remember enough. I think there's a cw for past abusive relationship for Fi, with the ex playing a big role in one section of the book.

Now for something completely different, Pride by Ibi Zoboi

This is a contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in a modern day afro latine community.

Zuri Benitez lives in "the hood", but the neighborhood she knows is rapidly gentrifying. The newest inhabitants are the Darcy family, a wealthy Black family with two teenage sons. Darius Darcy is this book's version of mr. Darcy, whereas his brother Ainsley is based on Mr. Bingley. Zuri instantly hates the Darcies, even as her older sister Janae is falling for Ainsley, but she and Darius are forced to find common ground.

This book is a hate to lovers romance, especially Zuri really hates Darius at first, but also deals with themes like gentrification and cultural identity. I loved how all the different P&P characters appear in this one and how many plot points are adapted to fit a modern day afro latine story.

Next up is Dark and Deepest Red by Anna Marie McLemore

In the Netherlands we have a big theme park called the Efteling which is based around stories and primarily fairytales. The oldest part is the fairytale forest, which has buildings and talking and moving statues and puppets depicting various fairytales. As a child, I loved the dancing red shoes, which is based on a fairytale that I didn't know at the time, but is about a girl who puts on red shoes and then can't take them off and is forced to keep dancing.

This book is a retelling of that fairytale. It is split up in two parts, one set in modern US and one set in Strasbourg in 1518.

In 1518, a strange sickness starts affecting the women of Strasbourg. A dancing plague that forces women to dance until they drop dead. Lala is a Roma woman hiding her cultural heritage in a time where it was legal to kill Roma. In public, she goes by the name Lavinia and explains her darker features by telling people she has Italian heritage. When the plague worsens and rumors of witchcraft arise, Lala becomes a suspect.

In the modern day story, Rosella comes from a latine family of shoe makers known for their red shoes. When she puts on a pair of red shoes, she can't take them off again. The only person who could help her is Emil, a Roma boy whose ancestors were blamed for dancing the plague in Strasbourg.

I love this author's writing, and have read two other books by them, both of which are magical realism. I think this one might count as magical realism too. Not all the strange events and magical happenings are explained in the end, so that might leave readers unsatisfied, but I think it was a conscious choice here. At its root, this is a story about racism, both in the 1500s and modern day. I also really liked that Lala's love interest Alifair is a trans boy who lives in the 1500s. Alifair is sort of adopted by Lala's aunt, whom Lala also lives with, so if you don't like those kinds of relationships, I wouldn't recommend this one.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust starts out a bit similar to Briar Girls

The protagonist, Soraya, was cursed and her touch is deadly. This book has been mentioned as sleeping beauty inspired, which would give us a fourth sapphic sleeping beauty retelling, but very loosely, and I couldn't really see it. It is, however, a retelling of a few stories from the Shahnameh, the Persian book of kings.

Soraya is the princess of Atashar and twin sister of the Shah, but she has spent her life in isolation, scared that she might hurt someone by accident if they came too close.

When her mother was young, she found a girl trapped in a net, and freed the girl. Then she encountered a div, a demon who told her she'd just freed his prisoner and as a punishment he would curse her daughter.

When the Shah's army captures a demon, Soraya sees an opportunity to find out if there's a way to break her curse, and learn more about why she is the way she is.

She makes some decisions that lead her to paths she never could have imagined, discovers the truth behind what really happened to her, and that her curse might really be a gift.

This story is about loneliness, and the early part especially feels heavy with how lonely Soraya is, and how much her curse weighs on her. Her complicated relationship with her mother, who may not have told her the truth about her curse, was very interesting and I loved Parvaneh, the div girl who was captured by army.

Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas is a retelling of Peter Pan, set in a small coastal town in I think Oregon

Five years ago, Wendy Darling and her brothers disappeared. Several months later, Wendy turned up again with no memory of what happened to her, but her brothers stay gone. Now, children start disappearing and it might be connected to what happened to Wendy.

One night, she almost runs over an unconscious boy who turns out to be Peter Pan, a boy she told stories about but never realized was real. Peter tells her he needs Wendy's help to find the missing children, or they might disappear forever like her brothers.

This was an interesting take on Peter Pan, focusing primarily on Wendy and Peter Pan, with Peter's shadow as an antagonist. Wendy was a soft but strong main character, and I think the trauma of losing her brothers and not knowing what had happened was handled very well with lots of care and compassion.

Also by this author: The Sunbearer Trials, Cemetery Boys, both of which I covered before

The last book on this list is In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens

Prince Tal has spent most of his life hiding away in the palace to keep his forbidden magic secret. At sixteen, he finally gets to go out on a coming of age tour across the kingdom. After two days, they discover a burning ship abandoned on the sea, and on it a prisoner.

Tal instantly feels a connection to the boy, Athlen, but not longer after his rescue Athlen jumps into the sea and disappears. But a few days later he runs into Athlen again on land, very much alive. Then Tal is kidnapped by pirates holding him for ransom, and Athlen migh be his best chance of escaping.

This is a romantic fantasy retelling of the little mermaid, with Tal as the prince from the fairytale. It's not very long and the world could have been more developed, but the focus is mostly on the adventure and romance between Tal and Athlen.

Also by this author: So this is Ever After, which I covered in retellings part 1

Upcoming: Spell Bound, which will be about rival magicians with an m/nb romance, coming april 2023

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @bottomdelioncourt @ikissedsmithparker

[daychanelyt]

Since your daring little act has gone pitifully stale, and not a single user bats an eye to bring it upon themselves to inquire about your series that dragged on for quite a while, I'll be of assistance to hopefully spark up the crowd. I DID enjoy being a part of this rollercoaster of a ride afterall. Though, quite dismayed I missed it's final stead.

If any you wish to share, what spiked your interests to finish this projects?

What were your initial plans? Did all of this still fit your vision, or not at all?

How was the creation of these characters been discussed? Who the heaven's unholy wrath are those other two we'd completely forgotten about?

How drastically were the characters changed from what you originally wanted them to be? Did you like these alterations or no?

How was the dreaded fire and brimstone that is dealing with the ungodly wrath of the lunatic anons, and their targeted negativity?

Do you think that the story presented is clear, or have you still left some doors open, mysteries still left unsolved, or lingering? Waiting to be sought out?

Now then, that's all that I can think of to get you started, dear. Have a nice day, delicious friend.

Ok- please don't eat me.

Q1

Uhm- I mean if I left it like that it would be bad to be left forgotten. ( also I'll be sure to have the whole story in the log soon dw.

Q2

Some of them did end somewhat How I wanted them to. And I'm honestly glad I stuck to my guns on these ones. But no- my original concept was dead on the ground as stated before.

Q3

I created them by discussing it with a person who was going to make my original designs ( Carrot Cake ). No not Designs. More like I made the original idea and then they gave me some feedback once we both knew we won't be able to continue this contact. Then came in Meranti and Ring Ring. Ring Ring was the one to ask me general questions while Meranti was the one doing the detective-like searches into my characters. In the end it was mostly my own belief and designer choices. ( I stole the idea of Carrots Fighting glove earrings idea.(With his permission of course) )

Q4

The two you forgot about and the thing Tommy kept bringing up in the Ending was L and 32. If I ever do an Epilogue you can bet I'll end this one off finally if not then assume they were fine ever after.

Q5

Oh very... VERY different. At first I thought I could make camo suits! Ha! Very funny. Tommy's designer was going to evolve with him but that was scrapped after I realized I was unable to draw his signature hat. G-Man was going to be more business than casual that he ended up with. Coomer was going to have a pattern shirt as well as normal coloring in the computer;( everyone else came after this designe ). Benrey was the same from the beginning to the end. Darnold was the same as well once I nailed down the style. Gordon I did not make as said and Barney and Boper were both made from a memory I had of them. ( Gnomes are drawn from a reference and The dogs are dog images but Sunkist is pixelated. )

Q6

It was fun to answer their chaos with my own. Though The Old Goat came out of nowhere. I made Bubby to fit the tale of the turtle yet he ended up not fitting anything in the end. Pushing him to be his own bad guy instead of following one path. The Internet Alcohol saga was also funny. I think it was a great time overall.

Q7

There is one mystery I know 100% no one solved yet. Though my description of the series in the previous ask was somewhat revealing. Also the L and 32 mystery was not solved at all, left to stay in place. Though I know some of you already know the ending anyway.

[paperbagsandwich]

previous anon again!

Honestly what you said about toyhouse is a mood. I'm the same I thought oo this will be great and useful then I just forget to pot anything or any of my ocs on it!

Its still awesome that you have ocs with different fav foods! I give all my ocs fav foods because it gives a lil bit of extra life to a character! Plus its fun to see what fits!

im a sucker for cottagecore but if you are into a different aesthetic please share (only if you are comfortable to) what it is!!

Gosh i love seeing all those fun and cool monster designs!! They are so lovely and fun and I adore the shapes and how ypu draw the weight on the different styles of anatomy each monster form has!! (I adore big monsters, like i love it when they are gruff and intimidating but they look so soft and cuddly!! Im also a lil bit a fan of body horror monsters...but my top two are werewolves and harpies, harpies that arent just basic human body with wings but like Sophie's dream from howls moving castle like monsters and giant bird body with clawed thumbs on the end of the wings. I have my own werewolf oc and harpy ocs and they just make me v happy.)

Sorry this was so lengthy!!

Yeah, I procrastinate HARD when I have to write information for my characters even though I LOVE sharing stuff about them with my friends.

I don't know why that's the case? Like my brain completely forgets what I had of them. And there's also the fear of not getting to every character/every version of a character.

Plus there's the fact that I don't really have a concrete story about them because I have so many AUs I've come with them!! 😭😭

There's so much HFKSHSKSGS

Yeah, I really love those type of details because it really does bring so much out of a character and it makes them feel real.

I love to give my characters small facts, like Darnell is good at playing the trumpet, Roslyn [and also Darnell] is good at singing, Roslyn was the one that got Darnell to be affectionate because in the beginning of their relationship, he wasn't really a touching type, he was more of action, but now he loves to hug and kiss his girlfriend and being extra sappy!!

Things like that is what I get too attached to with my characters!!! 😭😭💕💕💕💕

My type of aesthetic is more of time period. Mostly things from 50s-80s. Those type of stuff are very pleasing because the style and color, they're just so fun looking and there's so much you can do with a setting that takes place there.

Like I made a Rockabilly AU about monsters vs Greasers and I had so much fun writing that with my friends and I should really get back to that.

I also love the Western aesthetic too. It's that Texan in me, I can not help it... plus you can do so much with that concept... for adding fucking monsters in it, bapy, WWWOOOOO--

Also, AAAAHHH, THANK YOU!!!

But yey, I LOVE big hulking monsters so much, they're so much fun to draw!!!

And, AAAAAAAAAAHHH, I LOVE HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE SO MUCH!!! It inspired Darnell's bird form design!!!

and while the other two doodles of him aren't really harpies [I called it his centaur form], I really do love the vibe of harpies too!!!

Also, I would LOVE to hear about your werewolf and harpy OCs if that's okay with you, of course!!!

[niuttuc]

New “budget” Commander cards: March of the Machine Edition: Multicolor

Alright, this is gonna be a long one. For the sake of brevity (ah!) I'll only touch on multicolor cards that are at most two colors, since three+ color cards are much, much narrower in regards to which decks can even play them in the first place.

Also, a lot of these cards are legends. I will be discussing them as part of the 99, if you want to build dedicated commander decks around them, you can also do that, but then their evaluations can shift dramatically both from them being built around completely and consistently available.

As before, all the cards included here are $2 or less at time of writing.

Not quite a Young Pyromancer, but the extra flexibility of triggering others more or getting a 2 powered token can make the two worth it in spellslinger decks that aim bigger, either through cost reduction or a control strategy.

The home for this is obvious, though I'm including it to point out the fact its restrictions are separate for every single permanent you control, so proliferate effects or mass counter granting will grow this tramply friend very, very fast in counter decks.

Ramp for you and card draw for everyone, on an on-curve body. It might struggle to find homes due to the need to attack, but hey, it's a Parleying Pirate.

Sadly, this card works with Flash but not instants. Still, a great engine for any deck that's heavy on (primarily) flying creatures, be it birds, angels or sphinges.

That's a LOT of power, rewards for going both wide and tall, and can trigger immediately since it doesn't need to attack itself. This will make you very scary at the table as a curve topper.

Two artifact tokens for four power and toughness a turn that attack well, if you have the synergy or mana to take advantage of it, the new Glissa doesn't disappoint! Once again a bit different from her previous iterations, but that's fine!

While this is no Snapcaster Mage for competitive formats, in commander where efficiency is less central and you have multiple opponents, the flying 3/1 body and most importantly the ability to cast spells from any opponent's graveyard as well as your own makes this Faerie a very attractive candidate. Whether you need a wrath, a targeted removal, ramp, a regrowth, or maybe even something meaner like an extra turn spell or an overrun, you'll often get your pick and get access to effects outside your colors!

Immediate value, and a powerful back that gives you all the options in the world, some ramp, and is relatively easy to get to. If you have enough enchantments that the front side will reliably function, I don't think there's many decks that WOULDN'T at least be ok with running this.

A lot of value on that front side in commander that's essentially a 3-for-0 that fills graveyard. It's not too hard to flip into a reanimation spell from any graveyard, which makes this very interesting and self-fueling. However, be wary of filling other people's graveyard, I'd prefer this in a deck that already wants to be doing that.

Once again, the decks that want this are self-explanatory. If you have targets for the tutor, either in aura voltron or in a deck with a few Gods, and an heavy enough enchantment theme that the back is desirable, and access to both blue and white, this is a stellar pick for those specific decks.

How many things does your spell need to do? This removes three different permanent types at no card disadvantage (either you get to draw or a GIANT CREATURE), or can just be a surprise beater that's hard to block. There's no need for specific themes here, they can fit just fine anywhere if you want them to.

A Kithkin! Being able to blink any nonland every turn is actually quite a strong effect, though there will be extra hoops to jump through. The requirement to tap means you'll want your deck to have just that one more reason to play it, not just random blink decks. Ideally, to tap her the turn she comes down for some immediate value. She really, really likes vehicles, because then you can tap her down at instant-speed to get literally any nonland permanent out of the way of a targeted removal or board wipe, and she can even target herself for that! If you play her, I highly, highly, highly recommend vehicles with ETB abilities, for example Imposter Mech in specific, as a clone vehicle she can crew by herself AND that can get you any opponent's etb effects whenever you blink it itself.

Reanimating any nonland whenever you cast an artifact or legend, for free, is VERY abusable and powerful, even for just a turn. They will need specific decks, ones that have a stocked graveyard and either enough artifacts or legends to trigger them, but in those decks, they're a must-kill threat.

Commander's color identity rules don't make Pollux here a favor by requiring having a green-white deck. With that said, if your ramp, fixing or color balance is able to support the cost, I hear Wurmcoil Engine is a pretty nice magic the gathering card. Of course, in hydra tribal, even better, but also if you have a deck with clones, clones of the back of Polukranos here will see each other die to trigger multiple times for a geometric amount of hydras. And if the legend rule is active, they even come with a convenient way to die on arrival!

The mana cost is a bit rough on five, but the modularity is there. Flying and haste means you're getting immediate value and you'll have somewhere to connect, and the first strike means the last mode will add to the combat damage your non-first striking creatures will deal this turn, all with some extra options on there, and not even specifying combat damage if you want to have fun pinging after-combat. If you go wide in rakdos, I could see this acting as a surprise finisher that's still a very decent value piece before you're set up.

Merfolk Looter is still a decent card, it allows you to see more cards, avoiding non-games and providing you more option. Rona is better than that in so many ways it's not funny, so much so it's easy to get lost in the extra words on there. You don't need to be built around her with legends or pestilence effects for her to be a very solid option, just having a merfolk looter that prevents you from early attacks by being a 1/3 would legitimately be enough, but then you also get a late game threat and some extra free looting when you cast your commander.

For sacrifice outlets, you generally want them to not cost any mana and be available at instant-speed. None of that matters, because this turns every single sacrifice into a card draw, repeatedly, which, with the singular exception of Yawgmoth, a $15+ card from Modern Horizons that's not remotely fair, always costs at least two mana. And this can sacrifice artifacts too, which means all those treasures are fair game to turn into card draw! This is an incredibly powerful uncommon I would play in any rakdos aristocrats or treasure deck, budget or no budget, and so easy to overlook.

March of the Multitudes was a mythic that's still a very popular choice for token decks in its colors. Losing the instant-speed does hurt, but you get an extra bodies and your tokens hit twice as hard and can't be easily blocked. If you're planning on going wide in Boros, I think that's a no-brainer, even if you're not the convoke deck this came in.

Gnshhagghkkapphribbit.

[photogirl894]

"IronStar"

Chapter 1

"Starlight"

A "Fairy Tail" fanfic

Pairing: Gajeel x fem OC

A/N: A new fic from me for "Fairy Tail", one of my favorite animes ever!! 🥰 My hubby and I have been rewatching the show and I've had it on the brain quite a bit, hence how this came about!

A couple notes: I'm not gonna do what I normally do with my OC fics and try and insert them into canon events cuz...Fairy Tail has a LOT to follow. It's gonna be kind of its own thing with maybe a few couple canon events being referenced (I would say this is probably post Tenrou Island/the seven year time jump) I don't know how long this fic will go, but hopefully for quite a while 😊 I'm just gonna say this right now: I LOVE Gajeel so freaking much 😍😍

Also, the magic my OC uses is all made up by me and might not completely follow any sort of "magic rules" from the show, so I apologize in advance 😅

Otherwise, I hope you all enjoy!! 💜

Taglist: @l-lend , @rosechi , @the-bad-batch-baroness , @angrypaperearthquake-tbbb-main

》 Chapter 2

All chapters

Explanation: A new face arrives in Magnolia in search of Fairy Tail, but not before running into one of its members.

Another beautiful, sunny day shined down on the fair city of Magnolia in the country of Fiore. In the streets strolled a newcomer to the city: a young woman with pale skin and long, curly hair that was turquoise in color; half of it fell loose down her back while the other half was pulled up into two fun buns on the top sides of her head. Her light blue eyes scanned the city as she continued walking through the streets, taking in the buildings and booths opened for the day. She wore a dressy shirt of different shades of purple with short, ruffly sleeves, white pants and ankle-high purple boots. Around her neck, she wore a dark purple bandana scarf. She had never been to Magnolia before, but she was a woman on a mission.

To find the Wizard guild of Fairy Tail.

She had heard a lot of great things about this guild and she was in search of one. She needed a better place to go; hopefully somewhere she could fit in. She too was a Wizard, but her previous home was not somewhere she felt she belonged. It was time for a change and maybe Fairy Tail, if they were willing to give her a chance, would be a great place to start over.

Being lost in her own thoughts and in awe of the city around her, she didn’t see the person in front of her and accidentally ran into them, stumbling backwards after the impact.

A deep, gruff voice spoke to her, "Whoa! Careful where you're goin', kid." He spoke to her more with caution than with anger.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention," the girl said.

She took in the stranger's appearance before her and he was unlike anyone she'd ever seen before. He was younger; probably a couple years older than her, tall, had very long and spiky black hair and wore a black, sleeveless top that looked like an overcoat with tattered ends, tan trousers and black boots. On his shoulder was a dark green fur mantle and around his neck was a black scarf. Then on his hands were brown leather, fingerless gloves. What was most peculiar about him were two key details: his piercing red eyes and the silver studs he had on his face and body. He had them along the edges of his ears, three studs above each eye in place of eyebrows, two on both sides of the bridge of his nose, two in his chin and four on the underside of each forearm. He had what almost seemed like a permanent scowl on his face. She'd never seen anyone as intimidating as him before. Yet he didn't appear threatening, which was a good sign, at least. Just more caught off guard than anything.

He eyed her curiously, but then just stated, "It's no big deal. Just be careful."

The girl gave him a nod and without another word took off in the direction of her quarry.

A few more minutes passed until she came up a hill and then she saw it: the towering building with the name "Fairy Tail" over the entrance and the flag of the fairy emblem hanging above the open doors. There it was, the place she'd been searching for.

"This is it. I almost can't believe I'm here," she said aloud in awe. Then she took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "All right...here goes nothing."

Steeling herself, she walked through the open doors and was met with a wall of noise from a huge crowd of people hanging out in the guild hall. Human men and women of different varieties were spread out about the room. Some big, some small, some young, some older. She spotted two spiky-haired boys arguing and getting close to fighting over in a corner; one with pink hair and the other with black hair. Two girls were watching them, a blonde and a bluenette. There was also...a cat? The girl swore she saw a blue cat standing on a table nearby them. In seconds, the two boys were throwing fists and the girl kept walking over to the bar area.

Behind the bar was a beautiful woman with long white hair with a small ponytail at the front. When she saw the girl coming, she greeted her with a bright smile and said with a high-pitched voice, "Hello there! Welcome to Fairy Tail! What can I do for you?"

The turquoise-haired girl sat on a barstool and told the woman, "Hi, I was hoping to talk to the Master of Fairy Tail. Is he here?"

The bar woman answered, "I'm so sorry, Master is away right now, but he'll be back soon. Maybe I can help you." She held out a hand to the girl. "I'm Mirajane, but you can call me Mira. I'm one of highest-ranking Wizards here."

The girl shook her hand. "I'm Genna. I just came here hoping to maybe join Fairy Tail. I'm a Wizard, too, and I've heard a lot of things about this guild: some good and some crazy and I thought it sounded like my kind of place."

There was a loud crash behind her and she jumped in surprise, seeing the two fighting boys having destroyed one of the tables.

"Will you two cut it out? We just fixed the tables!" cried out one of the onlookers.

Ignoring them, the pink-haired one cried out, "You want a piece of me, brain freeze? I'll take you down right now!"

The other boy spat back, "In your dreams, hot shot!"

Genna turned back to Mira, who simply said with a grin on her face, "Yeah, I'm sure the crazy things you've heard aren't too far off. We're a rowdy bunch, as you can see."

"No kidding. Is that normal?" inquired Genna, gesturing to the wrestling boys behind her.

With a giggle, Mira answered, "Oh yes. Natsu and Gray fight each other almost every day, but they do care about each other deep down. They just don't want to admit it."

Genna chuckled, amused.

"You said you're a Wizard, too. What magic do you use?" then asked Mira.

Just as Genna was about to answer, someone sat down a couple seats away from her and a man's gravely voice said, "Hey Mira, mind pourin' one for me?"

"Sure thing!" Mira obliged, turning her back for a moment.

Genna turned to look and was shocked at who saw she saw.

It was the red-eyed, long-haired man with the studs that she’d run into on the street.

"Oh my gosh! It's you!" she exclaimed.

The man looked at her and grinned slyly, leaning his arm on the bar. "Well, well...fancy runnin' into you here, kid," he said.

It was then she noticed the Fairy Tail emblem on his left shoulder, which she didn't see the first time. "You're a Fairy Tail Wizard?" she questioned, stunned at seeing him there.

"Sure am. What's it to ya?" he asked, still grinning as Mira handed him a drink.

"I just didn't notice your mark when I ran into you. I had no idea," she replied.

"You two have already met?" inquired Mira.

After taking a sip, the guy answered her, "Yeah, she wasn't watchin' where she was goin' and ran right into me."

Shyly, Genna said back, "I said I was sorry."

"You got a name, kid?" he asked.

"I'm Genna Whitesun," she answered.

Satisfied with that answer, he aimed his thumb at his chest and responded, "Gajeel Redfox. Or Black Steel Gajeel."

Her eyebrows rose up and she looked impressed with quite a name.

"He's one of our resident Dragonslayer Wizards," Mira added.

Genna's eyes went wide. "You're a Dragonslayer? No way!" she cried out.

"Indeed and he's an exceptional one at that."

There was a second deep male voice that suddenly came from behind Gajeel and another cat came into view, but he had white wings on his back and landed on the bar next to Gajeel. The cat was small, black with round ears, a scar by his left eye and wearing pants.

With a small cry, she exclaimed, "You can talk?"

While the cat folded his arms across his chest and smiled, Gajeel told her, "This is my cat, Pantherlily. All of us Dragonslayers have one."

"We're called Exceeds," said Pantherlily.

"Fascinating!" she said back. Though, in her mind, she was secretly fawning over how adorable he was.

"So what're ya doing here at Fairy Tail?" Gajeel questioned Genna.

Mira answered for her with glee, "She's looking to maybe join the guild." Then she looked to Genna and spoke up curiously, "Genna, you never got to answer my question. What sort of magic do you use?"

Beaming proudly, she stated, "I use Starlight Magic."

Gajeel's studded eyebrows went up. "Ain't ever heard of that kind of magic."

"It's super rare," said Mira. "I'd love to see what you can do."

Feeling confident, Genna stood up from her stool and brought her hands up in front of her, touching her fingertips together. "Starlight Magic Art," she stated, conjuring a shimmering, iridescent magic circle. "Aurora Borealis!"

She thrust out her hands in front of her and in the air over the crowd appeared a sparkling wave of colors that looked like a river of stars. Everyone inside stopped what they were doing and looked up in wonder at the amazing display above their heads, crying out in astonishment. Then all eyes turned to the source of the lights as it dissipated, meaning everyone was now looking at Genna.

She just smiled and looked back at Gajeel and Mira. "That's just more for show," she told them. "There's more I can do in terms of combat and other abilities."

Gajeel had never seen such a dazzling show of magic and it was a sight to behold. The stars that hung in the air almost to seemed reflect in her eyes and he was almost literally starstruck for a very brief moment. This girl was something else. He couldn't help but wonder what else her magic could do.

However, in seconds, people were already clamoring over to her, wondering who she was, where she came from and how she did her cool trick. Then, to her surprise, the pink-haired young man pushed through and put himself between her and the other people.

"Hey, back off, everybody!" he yelled with great force. "Don't be crowding the new girl! Get back before I send you flying!"

That seemed to deter the crowd and they all dispersed and moved away. That certainly wasn’t what Genna had been expecting.

Then the young man turned around and said with perhaps the largest smile ever, "Sorry about all that. We just get pretty excited around here. I haven't seen you here before. I'm Natsu. Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

She couldn't help but smile back at his contagious enthusiasm and told him, "I'm Genna. I'm happy to be here."

Getting a better look at Natsu, she saw he only wore a black vest with gold trim over his torso, a skirt-like garment that matched the vest over white puffy pants with black ties at the bottom and sandals. Then around his neck we wore a white scale-patterned scarf.

"Are you looking to join our guild? We may be a big guild already, but we still always have room for more," Natsu declared.

Timidly, she answered him, "I mean...I'd like to, but I'm waiting to talk to the Master first."

"What are you waiting on Gramps for? After what you just did, I'd say you've got what it takes to be a member of Fairy Tail," he boldly stated.

Then Gajeel said in response to him, "Yeah, but last I checked, you're not the Guild Master around here, Salamander, so you don't get to make those decisions."

Natsu immediately whipped around in his direction and asked with a growl, "Okay, you wanna go, too, Gajeel? I can still voice my opinion if I want to."

"Wow, Natsu really can go from zero to a hundred in nothing flat," Genna thought, perplexed.

Then the blue cat she'd seen earlier came over, also with wings sprouting him his back and he cried out in a tiny voice, looking at Genna, "Wow, those lights were so pretty!"

He was followed by the blonde girl and the black-haired boy who Genna now realized was Gray, whom Mira had mentioned. He only wore black pants and that was it; he had no shirt on and his blue fairy emblem was on his chest. The blonde had on a white sleeveless top with blue accents, a mini-skirt of a matching shade of blue with a belt and knee-high black boots. She had a half pulled back ponytail tied with a blue ribbon. On her belt was a small leather pouch that Genna could see a couple keys poking out of and also a whip.

Gray spoke first, saying in a cool voice, "That was really something."

"Seriously! That almost reminded me of my celestial magic," spoke the blonde.

"That explains the keys," thought Genna.

Then the girl lifted a hand and said in greeting, "Hi, I'm Lucy." Then she pointed to Gray and then the blue cat. "This is Gray and this is Happy."

"Aye, sir!" exclaimed Happy.

Genna giggled. Were all Exceeds this cute?

Mira then told them, "This is Genna. She's looking to join the guild."

"Great! We could use some more girl power around here," said Lucy.

With a smirk, Genna replied, "Well, here's hoping I make it in."

"Oh, you will. Master Makarov hardly ever turns anyone away," stated Happy.

"Gramps believes that everyone deserves a place to belong and if Fairy Tail is where they wanna be, then that's enough for him," said Gray.

Then Mira put in, "Well, he might still have her take on a job first to make sure she's up to the task."

"I'll do whatever I need to," said Genna.

"Heh, famous last words," said Gajeel through a small scoff.

Genna stole a look at him and saw he was smirking at her. There didn't seem to be any malicious intent behind his words, but there was definitely some ribbing come from him for sure.

He kept going, "You say things like that, the old man might give you the hardest job on the board."

"If that's what he wants to do, then I'll do it," she replied.

"You've got moxy, kid," he said back.

Natsu slammed a fist into the palm of his other hand and let out an good-natured snicker. "I believe in you, Genna. You're gonna do great."

Touched at his support, Genna told him, "Thank you for your faith in me, Natsu."

He then added, "Whatever Gramps decides to have you do when he gets back, you'll show him you've got what it takes to be a Wizard of Fairy Tail."

"Is that so?"

An older voice spoke from behind Natsu and he jumped in surprise. There behind him was a very small old man. He was bald with tufts of white hair pointing out from behind his ears, a white mustache and wearing a white coat with fur lining. Next to him was a taller woman wearing silver armor with a blue skirt and her hair was long and a beautiful crimson color. She had a sharp and stoic look on her face.

"There you are. Welcome back, Master and Erza," said Mira gladly.

Genna looked at the old man. This was Master Makarov, Fairy Tail's leader? She never imagined he would be so tiny, but there was certainly a fierceness she could see in his eyes.

He looked up at her, as well, his interest piqued at the new face before him. "You wish to join our guild, young lady?" he asked her.

Nodding, she replied with a steady tone, "Yes, sir. I'm Genna Whitesun; I've been looking for a new guild and I thought Fairy Tail would be a good place for me."

"I see," he said. Then his mustache curled up slightly as he grinned. "Well, we're always happy to welcome new members. Though, not just anyone can enter Fairy Tail without first proving themselves in some way. I did see the display of Starlight Magic you just showed as we were approaching outside. Quite impressive, but we'll need more than that."

"Understood. I'll do whatever you'd like me to do. I want to prove that I'm worthy of the Fairy Tail name," she said, giving him a bow of her head.

The armored woman, Erza, grinned with amusement and laid a hand on her hip. "She's a determined one," she commented to the Master, her voice a touch deeper than Mira's or Lucy's and with a velvety tone to it. "What do you think, Master? What task shall we give her to test her mettle?"

"She could fight you, Scarlet," suggested Gajeel smugly.

"Are you kidding? We don’t want to scare the girl away," Gray rebuttaled.

"Actually, I have just the job in mind; one that I've just received," stated Makarov. "There have been reports of possible dark creatures lurking in the forest outside of Magnolia and even along Akane Beach. These creatures, whatever they are, are causing mass panic among the people and must be dealt with."

That sounded like the perfect job for a Starlight Magic Wizard in Genna's mind. "I can do that, no problem!" she declared.

"All right, that's the spirit!" cheered Natsu.

Gajeel snickered again. "Not sure if that's the kind of job you should do alone, kid," he commented to Genna. "You don't wanna get in over your head too quick or you're gonna fall flat."

"He's right," agreed Erza. "With this sort of job, you'll need someone to accompany you...and since he's shown great concern for your safety, Gajeel will go with you."

Taken by surprise by that remark, he spit out the sip of his drink, splashing Pantherlily in the process. "What?" he cried out.

"You had that coming, Gajeel," Pantherlily jabbed at him, shaking the excess drink off of him.

"Oh...okay," Genna relented, also caught off guard.

She wasn't displeased by Erza's order, but it just wasn't what she was expecting. Gajeel was a hard book to read thus far. He wasn't being mean to her; he was sarcastic and a tease, for sure, but he also wasn't exactly going out of his way to be nice. He was somewhere in between and it was interesting to her. The others; Mira, Pantherlily, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Happy and Erza were all more than kind and welcoming to her, but Gajeel...he seemed indifferent. Just who exactly was he? Well, if he was gonna be going with her on this mission, maybe she'd get to find out.

Before Gajeel could further protest, Makarov chimed in, a pleased look on his face, "It's settled then. Gajeel and Genna will head out as soon as possible and deal with the dark creatures terrorizing the forest. I wish you the best of luck, young lady, and we look forward to your return."

Smiling giddily, Genna said with gratitude, "Thank you, Master Makarov. I won't let you down."

"You're gonna do great, Genna! Can't wait for you to get back," said Lucy, giving her an encouraging thumbs up and a wink.

"Go knock 'em dead," added Gray.

"Thanks, guys," Genna replied.

At the bar, Gajeel downed rest of his drink and groaned heavily as he set the cup down. "Ugh...well, this oughta be good," he complained to Pantherlily.

"You brought this on yourself, my friend," the Exceed refuted. "You had to make a comment to her."

"Hey, if I'm going, then you're in this with me, Lily," Gajeel replied, annoyed.

"I'm already aware of that," Lily responded.

There was movement out of the corner of Gajeel's eye and he turned to see Genna standing there.

"I guess it looks like you and I will be working together," she said to him, a hint of shyness in her voice. "I don't want to be a hindrance, but I appreciate the help. I'm currently staying at a hotel in town. I can go get some of my things from there and meet you back here. Does that sound good?"

"Fine by me," he replied flatly.

"Great. I'll be back soon," she said and quickly took off.

He watched her run out of the guild hall, seemingly unsure about how to feel about the whole situation. He was a seasoned Wizard who didn't always like associating the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed newbies of the guild who seem to think they can take on the world. He'd been through his fair share of trials and hardships already that hardly anyone else would understand. Newer wizards had no idea what they were getting themselves into and he didn't have the time or the energy to deal with them. Now, he was getting stuck with this new girl on a job. She was eager, definitely, but he didn't seem as bothered by her. Yet, anyway. She couldn't be that much younger than he was and she seemed more mature than some other new Wizards that had come to Fairy Tail. He wasn't annoyed with her and instead, just felt the urge to be teasing and smug with her; have a little fun and mess with her a bit, which didn't happen often.

He said to Lily, who was still standing on the bar and also watching Genna leave, "This job's gonna be interesting."

"I agree. She's got drive and spirit...she'll make a perfect addition to Fairy Tail," Lily stated.

As she ran through the streets to her hotel, Genna couldn't stop smiling with elation and slight disbelief at everything that had just happened.

"I can't believe it," she said to herself. "I've got my first job already. It's finally happening. I'm getting my chance." Her eyes lifted up to the sky. "Just you wait, Father. I'll prove you wrong. I'll show what I'm made of to everyone and I'll become a Wizard of Fairy Tail! You'll see!"

[glareandgrowl]

The Oposstag V2.0- Part 2: The Head!

Before I start showing my process, I just want to give a quick shoutout to all the Skullies, Skulldogs and other skull masked furries that came before me and posted tutorials, because they were all super helpful in visualizing and completing my mask! Even if I did entirely different methods... SKS Props specifically (on youtube) for their tutorial on EVA foam masks, with free PDF patterns!

Now onto the making!

My previous attempts at the Oposstag mask, beginning as an old wendigo halloween costume, the easiest method I found for creating long snouts that are lightweight and sturdy has been none other than cardstock paper and hot glue!

I first started with a plastic mask that I trimmed down and made a baldcap out of ducttape and cellophane (a staple of this journey).

As you can see, the process doesn't look very good at the beginning. But have faith!

See? It all works out with a lot of planning and patterns! With the loadbearing strip in the middle, I was able to essentially make one half of a pattern and then copy it to the other side for a nice even mask! (the holes in the side are a surprise for later ;)

I was a bit worried when making the base that the mask seemed incredibly long, but when compared to my old Oposstag version, they're actually exactly the same size! Unintentionally!

The jaw gave me a bit of trouble, however, because I was trying to make the structure (which is still paper) look as realistic to my reference (which in this case was a coyote skull I brought with me. Eventually I just had to realize and copy what I did with the top part, which is thinking in hollow 3D structures and making them out of paper. Much like making a cube by cutting and gluing shapes, the same applies for the hollow portions of the lower jaw.

I don't have any photos of the process, since it was, in all honesty the hardest part of the costume to make. But I do have some of the teeth!

By this point I had patterened and covered the head and jaw with a thin layer of craft foam. (I had to create new patterns and do a lot of guesswork since I threw away the old paper patterns I had used ((FORESHADOWING)) and it was a bit of a pain...)

The teeth were made of a mix in moldable plastic pellets and foam clay, which I also used on the rest of the mask to give it texture, fill in gaps and bulk up a few areas. Along with constantly closing the mouth to ensure the teeth all fit together naturally, (a problem I had with the last mask) this part was fairly easy!

The surprise was the holes were for the fangs.

The horns were also made with foam clay and textured to look like deer antlers! I skewered some wire through the base of the head and hot glued it to hell and back. Those bad boys aren't coming off anytime soon.

After that, I sanded down some edges the best I could and slathered him in a thick coat of bone-colored paint and called it a day!

(highlighting in white and shading with a mid brown color)

The ears are just some 2 inch upholstry foam I cut down to size and glued to the head.

Now comes the foreshadowing.... Since all that was left to do was put the fur on, I had the idea of making the ears a two toned of the silver/grey of Oposstag's body, and the black fur of his arms and legs. Needless to say after I had made a pattern, cut them out of fur and was beginning to handsew, I made the mistake of throwing away the ear pattern. Only to then find out the fluff hid all details of the ears and made them look far too big compared to the size of my head. So... with regret and dissapointment, I had to retry with some black elastic fabric to try and get it right.

Well... the thing about elastic is that it's really hard to work with, and it also shows hot glue extremely easily. I had no pattern to work with (and with a refusal to make another one because of the difficulties) I had to work with what I had, and cover up the glue marks with some of the black fur I had used previously...

In good news! The other neck fur turned out fantastic!

Sure I had to cover my head in cellophane and tape it all up to get a good pattern, but it worked! and it fits great!

The back has a zipper thats covered with a small mohawk-like strip of black fur attached with velcro, hes got a removable tongue, a working jaw, and light eyes!

Here's a lil thing I posted to my insta to show off everything!

If you want more up-to-date updates on my suit, or just whatever else im doing, I post a lot to my stories there! @/faux__paux (two underscores)

[geometricalien]

Long ago, in ancient Japan, there was a small village with one specific tradition.

Every 25 years, a young man at the age of 25 years old must be sacrificed to the god who protects the village in order to keep its peace & prosperity.

This year, there are 3 young men who fit the criteria: Fukuda, Kawahara & Furihata.

So the village chief orders each of them to pick out a thin wooden stick. And of course, poor Furihata draws the short end of the stick.

So he cries. His friends & family try to comfort him, but eventually, they cry too. None of them are ready to be separated from Furihata forever.

And he's definitely not ready to leave them. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

There are so many things he still wants to do with them.

But he knows those are just wishful thinking now.

The village chief takes Furihata's hand & gently guides him to be prepared.

On the night of the sacrifice, Furihata is presented in the most expensive get-up he's ever worn.

The shirt is white, unbuttoned & sheer made of gossamer silk. The pants are from charmeuse satin, fully opaque & also white. Completing his look are a small gold chain necklace & 2 pairs of gold cuffs for bracelets.

The chief's men bring Furihata to the altar, where they chain him from the wrists & ankles.

Then the chief chants a prayer, his men & the villagers soon following him.

Strong winds begin to blow throughout the whole village, followed by loud thunders.

By the time the last & loudest thunder strikes, Furihata is nowhere to be found.

Not on the altar, nor among the villagers.

He's completely gone.

The first thing Furihata notices when he's awake is softness.

He looks around his surroundings. It's entirely different from what his previous situation were.

Now he finds himself in the grandest & most luxurious bedroom he's ever seen. Royal red sheets on a four-poster bed with matching colored pillows & curtains, complete with gold tassels for decoration. The bed itself is positioned on the top of a dais, adding to its majestic feel. There are two ornate nightstands between the bed. A gold chandelier hangs from the ceiling, reinforcing whoever owns this room must be someone of great importance.

But one thing Furihata notices is that he still wears his get-up from the sacrifice ritual at his village.

Suddenly, a loud bang thunders across the room, startling Furihata.

There, he notices a figure who's about the same height as him. And he's the most handsome man Furihata has ever seen. With bright, spiky crimson hair & mismatched eyes, gold for his left pupil & red for his right, his appearance is rather striking.

But there's a dangerous glint in the man's eyes, which promises disastrous consequences for those who disobey him.

The man looks at Furihata, finally realizing his presence. Furihata is frozen at place by the man's sharp gaze, rooting him in his spot. He can't move his body, no matter how much he wants to. It's like he's petrified.

The man slowly smirks at Furihata, a hungry look in his mismatched eyes. He licks his lips, eager to start "playing" with his new toy.

"Well, it appears their offering is quite the treat. Let's begin our game, shall we?"

And that's the story of how Furihata's first night of passion - which eventually becomes regular passionate nights - with the god Akashi begins...

goooooooooooooddddddd okay okay okay first things first this highkey reminds me of a kagehina sacrifice/god fanfic by Esselle - Somewhere to Belong! love that fic- if you like kagehina and haven't read it yet, go read it

i'd be so down for an akafuri fic with this! however, i don't think i'm able to contribute(?) anything? the similarity between this and the fic i mentioned is too strong so i'm just circling back to the fic and getting nowhere

what made the fic so good is that it's tailored for kagehina. kageyama's wish, his insecurity, hinata is the sun god and he is the embodiment of the sun.

i wanna see this prompt tailored for akafuri. what is akashi the god of? why does he need these sacrifices? what happens to them? why were the 3 you mentioned the only ones who fit the requirements- what are the sacrificial requirements? is it an honor to be chosen? horrific? do they stay with akashi forever? do they die after some amount of time? are there other sacrifices there competing for akashi's favor- or is it just furihata? how does furihata being chosen affect akashi? does it affect him at all? what is furihata's feelings towards akashi? what does he want? to go back home? to stay with akashi?

i'll just say, my instinct is to weave some thematic elements from beauty and the beast as well as the mythos of hades & persephone. and since you're describing bokushi (we can rock with only bokushi) i think akashi could be the god of war and part of this story is furihata being elevated and granted the title of god of peace.

working off of my last sentence, i feel two directions: 1) the sacrifices are ways for the village to ward off war or/and 2) the sacrifices are ways to boost their militia (think a spartan village)

if you think more about this prompt, i would love to hear it! i love god aus so.freaking.much

thank you for the ask, hope you have a great day!

[specialability]

2022 listening

I don't usually do this, but I'm going to make a music of 2022 list. It's funny, my spotify top 100 and my actual music app (musicolet for android, highly recommend) are very different so there's no point in posting either of them. There were a lot of individual songs, but I am still the kind of person who listens to albums from back to front. Going roughly from most recent to least...

spotify playlist (I tried to make a bandcamp playlist but it wouldn't work. :( if the album is available on bandcamp there is a link in the text)

Redcar les adorables etoiles by Christine and the Queens

I found Christine through the COLORS music channel on youtube. She is apparently a mega-star in France but I don't know how many people have heard of her over here. She sings in both English and French with a David Bowie / Annie Lennox electropop + funk style that I adore. Her previous album "La vita nuova" was full of quite sad raw lyrics, but the theme of this album is more romance. "My birdman" gets stuck in my head regularly.

Andor Original Soundtrack (Vol.1-3) by Nicholas Britell

I could gush all day about this show, but the soundtrack alone is very very good. Deep orchestral stuff with lots of hidden motifs and themes. Sometimes soundtracks for very good shows, which fit the show perfectly, are meh on their own, but this one really holds up. It's worth saying: none of the usual star wars themes or references appear in this album at all. If you listen to the main title theme in Vol. 1 and like it you will probably like the whole thing.

Awakening:Sleeping by MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS

A Japanese band that I believe had one or two anime songs at least a decade ago and has since became more indie. I was super happy to buy all their albums on bandcamp after having pirated them a decade or more ago. They started out with shoegaze / heavy alt rock instrumental, balls to the wall fast guitar and drums, added more vocals and went a bit more pop with their 2018 album No New World and have come back to a happy balance of both. "No need ft. Keita Ebina" is a great sample of the raw feeling that I love from them that feels like they're just on the edge of going out of control.

Profound Mysteries I-III by Royksopp

Royksopp said they were going to retire and I was sad I'd never see them in concert. Then they came back and released a ton of songs and went on tour but it's covid. Infuriating! But seriously it's kind of scary how some of these tracks are so Royksopp they could have been tracks from an album that came out years ago. There's definitely some more pop-y tracks and less of the hard electronica I really like, but there is a range of styles throughout. If I had to pick one it might be "Impossible" with old collaborator Alison Goldfrapp on lyrics.

Palaces by Flume

I discovered Flume only relatively recently despite him being completely in my taste (dance / house). His 2016 album Skin is almost wall to wall bangers and this 2022 album is similarly packed with tracks that can totally stand on their own. I was listening to "Say Nothing (ft. MAY-A)" on repeat for a while.

Be Here Soon by iamamiwhoami

Another artist I'm kinda shocked I haven't run into before. This is a video concept album so it's worth watching the videos on youtube to get the full experience. Her 2014 album Blue, which was also a video album, got indie-famous and Be Here Soon feels very much like a natural maturing from that. In the genre of "female singer-songwriters with idiosyncratic voices and not scared to get weird" an obvious comparison being Kate Bush or Bjork. "Zeven" is catchy while also (seemingly) being about OCD.

Pang by Caroline Polachek

I think she is pretty famous by now, but I first came across her via her cover of Breathless by the Corrs. She has a strong pop voice with a bit of that "weird girl" edge that keeps it interesting. And, of course since this is me, quite a bit of synth/electronica. This came out in 2019 but I only listened to it this year so it counts. She has a new album coming out in 2023 which a bunch of singles have already come out for. She also did a song with Flume up there in Palaces called "Siren". "Hit me where it hurts" is the one I was listening to on repeat.

The Green Knight Original Soundtrack by Daniel Hart

The movie was kinda eh, but back in January I got a lot of mileage out of this album. I feel like I don't know enough about medieval music to say whether it's truly historically accurate, but choral Christmas hymns sound different when sung in middle English with a slightly ominous tone and sparse strings in the background. There are some tracks that seem Jóhann Jóhannsson inspired like "Rest them Bones".

YESTERDAYS PAIN / CUT THE ANCHOR by LORN

Man I love LORN. Every single track he puts out is an instant classic for me. This mini-album is only three tracks but I could listen to it over and over. Music for when out walking on a cold dark night. Atmospheric dark electronica. Random snatches of lyrics. Depression music. "YESTERDAY'S PAIN" is so dense it will suck you in.

Dawn FM by The Weeknd

I don't think listing this is going to get me any hipster points, but I just really like his music. It is very clear where his influences lie and since I love electronic music and synth-pop too it's all good. I also appreciate that the album has a theme of decay and death that runs through all the music videos as well. The "Take My Breath" extended remix on Youtube is my favourite track.

Shin Megami Tensei V Original Soundtrack by Tsukasa Masuko, Shoji Meguro, Ryota Kozuka, Toshiki Konishi

Have I gushed about this game enough? No? Well here's something interesting I didn't notice until after I played Shin Megami Tensei 1, but the first CD in the album is string orchestra remakes of the original game's also amazingly excellent soundtrack. An old school synth sensibility, a mix of electronic and orchestral, atmospheric, dark and the occasional fast rock piece like the Da'at Battle theme, which you listen to a zillion times in the game and yet it still gets me pumped up. If you know me you know I love Etrian Odyssey's soundtracks by Yuzo Koshiro and I think this album is up there with those for me. "Spiral" by Ryota Kozuka is the track for the last area of the game and it is appropriately overwhelming and lofty. When I got into the area I seriously stopped and listened to it for a while because it blew me away.

Some bonus:

Nova/Moth by Burial + Four Tet

Looking at your pager by KH

Cybercism by OGRE