#and i'm actually. Noticing some difference in how i build now. i'm actually LEARNING A NEW SKILL for the first time since i was like. 5 lma

[nexus-nebulae]

recently i've been really really trying to put effort into "good enough" instead of "always meeting my too-high expectations for myself" and it's. it's kind of working? my adhd ass is Shocked

[blood-orange-juice]

Inspired by a discord discussion.

I keep seeing characters from snowy places portrayed as unbothered by cold or missing it, and every time I remember that it's completely counterintutive if you didn't grow up in freezing temperatures

So I thought I should write this post.

We are very bothered by cold. We are way more bothered by cold than southerners. Being bothered is what keeps you safe. Warmth is a resource.

There are few lucky people who simply never get cold (mostly guys of endomorph body type) but it's not a given and generally northerners start to complain and wear warm coats at the tiniest hint of cold.

Humans can only adjust up to a certain threshold.

For example, Irish and British winters allow you to ignore weather almost completely (you'll be miserable but you'll probably live), so there's a culture of stoicism, not heating your house above 16-18°C (60-65°F), wearing shorts and sandals (and a Very Big Scarf) when it's snowing and all that.

(I quickly got used to leaving the bathroom window open at 4°C when I was living there. who cares really)

So there's a common misconception that you can do the same with even colder weather.

However, once you are past that adjustment threshold (for most people it takes as little as -5..0°C/23..32°F lasting for more than a month per year) there can be no special built-in resistance to that type of cold (unless you are a yogi or a Taoist monk), instead you learn a bunch of behaviours that help you. You start to preserve warmth religiously.

You also start to differentiate between types of being cold and avoid some of them (some build up over time and it wears you down, so it's best to avoid them entirely). Anything that drops your core temperature (this is noticeable long before you start shivering, shivering is the equivalent of fire alarm) is a huge no. Fingers getting a bit numb from building a snow castle is nothing major though.

It can be hard to unlearn that even if you moved to a warmer place years ago.

Stoic northern characters who have moved to a warmer country are very likely to Complain About The Cold.

They'll start wearing coats at higher temperatures than southerners (because, well, the weather might get worse, or you might stay outside longer than you planned, or move less).

They'll get cold hands more often because their body panics at the tiniest signs of cold and diverts blood to the centre (my first impression of the Irish was how warm everyone was when we shook hands. I'm the same now).

Most will heat their houses to the point where it's possible to walk around in a t-shirt no matter how cold it is outside (those who don't will comment "thank gods that people don't do that in your country, I hated it back home").

They'll whine at +5°C (40°F).

Apart from heavier clothes they'll have a bunch of weird habits like Walking Really Fast when the weather is bad (it's for when you don't want to wear heavier clothes).

They might have a fondness for scarves and good winter shoes (warm shoes and a warm hat are even more important than a warm coat. the lack of hats in fantasy upsets me. scarves are less important but they are pretty).

When locals get surprised they'll reply with "yes, but this is *damp* cold, *dry* cold is different" (it's more complicated than that but this answer usually stops further questions, so we go with that).

It's not like they are actually less cold-resistant, they just take cold more seriously.

At the same time they can be weirdly unbothered by things that freak some of the southerners out because they know how their body deals with low temperatures and which things have no consequences.

(it's not something that you learn from books, it's practical knowledge of what you personally can get away with. for example, I often get completely numb thighs during winter walks, takes an hour to start feeling anything when I get home. but I know it's all right as long as my feet are warm and my core temperature is within normal range)

They also won't suffer consequences when it gets truly cold, while more nonchalant southerners won't notice when they get borderline hypothermic or just cold enough to get sick.

They'll probably consider -30°C (-22°F) exciting. It becomes enjoyable again, because the outside world is now a death zone and there's some macabre fun in resisting it. Oh, and your eyelashes get covered in frost and it looks dope. What's not to like.

Kids will make a point to eat ice cream outside in -30°C (no, they won't get sick from it). I can't explain it, it just works like that.

Generally people from colder countries are not bothered by cold if they can return to a warm place soon enough, it's the prolonged exposure to cold (even mild) they are worried about. Going out for a smoke without a coat is common.

If they are still in a cold country, it's also a bit different from what you expect.

There's a trope of drinking to keep warm. It doesn't work like that. You can drink alcohol to feel warm but not to keep warm and it's an important difference. When it's cold your body's proper response is to constrict blood vessels and to divert blood flow from extremeties to slow down the loss of warmth. Alcohol reverts that.

This means it's perfectly appropriate to drink eggnog or mulled wine at a fair (when you are supposed to get to warmth soon enough, so the illusion of not being cold is not harmful) or hard spirits when you get back from the cold (it will help you warm up faster), but not if you are staying in a cold place. During a hike through winter woods a thermos with sweetened tea and fatty food are your best friends.

Some won't know it and get drunk and frostbitten/hypothermic. People are stupid.

Food gets weird, fats start to seem even tastier than usual. People in Antarctic expeditions are known to crave sticks of butter. In certain weather sandwiches with frozen lard are delicious.

Anything can and will be made into tea.

Some tropes I personally disagree with.

Pain. Pain levels depend on the weather. Cold eases any kind of external pain (cuts or burns) but makes worse anything internal (broken bones, cramps, most headaches).

Hypothermia feels nothing like peacefully falling asleep. It's the most miserable state I've ever experienced, psychological trauma doesn't even come close.

Well, maybe there are people who do fall asleep but other people I've talked to seem to share my experience.

I'm not sure how exactly it works, I think it messes up your self-regulation, since most chemicals in your body require a certain temperature range to work properly. Basically you become Not Yourself. Your emotions go whack (usually it's either extreme self-pity or extreme anger). It feels awful. I hope you never get to experience it.

Most of us don't really miss cold.

Well, some perverts do, but there's a general consensus that cold is awful.

We do miss some things that only happen during cold days though. The stillness and the quiet or how pretty snow looks. How bright the stars are on a clear night. The colour of sunsets and twilight sky when it's freezing.

(in my opinion, the best experience happens around -5°C, it's already pretty but the world is not a death zone yet)

There's also an appreciation of contrast with things that are Not Snow.

Walking from the cold into a greenhouse with orchids.

Watching a blizzard rage outside your window while you sit in warmth with a cup of tea.

Jumping into a lake straight out of a sauna (then going back. do not do that if you have a heart condition).

Fireplaces. Holiday food. Mulled wine. Saffron in pastry.

There's also a lot of beauty in the world that is frozen. I keep stumbling upon the fact no one around me shares these experiences anymore and it saddens me.

The xylophone sound of first ice being broken by a passing boat.

Sea moving under the ice — when it's not too thick it rises and falls like some large animal breathing.

The whale-song-like sounds of ice cracking on large lakes.

There's a very special mood of waiting for first snow. The world is too cold and dark without it and then you wake up one night from the sudden quietness (snow muffles all sounds) and you know it's there even before you look out of the window,

There's the exhiliration of spring. The moment when the wind starts to have a scent — thawing snow smells a bit like watermelons but clearer. Winter smells like nothing at all.

The first tiny yellow flowers in mud. They are our hanami.

(I don't think anyone in Europe truly appreciates spring if they are not from Nordic or Baltic countries)

There's a certain attunement to the scent of ice too.

Like that barely perceptible tingle in the air in late September, long before you can see any ice.

I feel the scent of ice when there's wind from the right part of the Atlantic. No one ever notices but it's there. I love it.

It's nostalgic in a way.

But it's never missing the cold itself for me. For very few people it is, I think.

*

This is, of course, personal perspective and my experience is not universal. I'm a person from continental climate with harsh winters and hot summers and a city dweller with occasional visit to country houses and a tiny bit of mountaineering experience.

An indigenous person from a place with barely any summer or a character from a fantasy everwinter country will probably differ from me.

There are, after all, simply people who genuinely love cold. A lot of them. It is, however, not the default northerner's experience.

But hey, it's still more complex than it's usually written.

*

If you want to read something focused on winter descriptions, there's Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg.

It's hauntingly beautiful prose and the main character is from Greenland.

‘It’s freezing, an extraordinary -18 °C, and it’s snowing, and in the language which is no longer mine, the snow is qanik – big, almost weightless crystals falling in stacks and covering the ground with a layer of pulverized white frost.’

And then there's Moominland Midwinter. I think it gets better when you read it as an adult and it's probably still the best thing I have ever read about winter solstice.

Anyway.

I think we need more good winter stories.

[solarnomoon]

ice ice baby - park sunghoon

the first time you went ice skating you almost fell. thankfully a taller guy was there to catch you. surprise surprise, of course it had to be sunghoon, king of the school, ice prince, whatever.

pairing >>> sunghoon x male reader

tags >>> college au, fluff, strangers to friends to more than friends (lovers?), ice skating, falling, idfk, sunghoon being a little forward

author's note >>> LOL hello i apologize for dying. i realize how much i miss this account and ive just been itching to come back so here i am

you knew coming to the ice rink was a mistake to begin with. i mean, come on, your ass was a fucking ice skating virgin: you'd never been before, so why would you even bother starting now?

alas, your best friend had stayed up all night watching yuzuru hanyu videos and all of a sudden, he felt the urge to begin ice skating, compelling you that it's "a calling" and if you guys didn't "drive to partake in the artistic media form that is ice skating" then you'd "lose the individuality that the human spirit guides us with."

...whatever that means.

at least he paid for you! a win's a win sometimes.

"c'mon y/n, you have to get off the railing at some point!" sunoo calls to you, skating in reverse to watch you. the edge had become your safety net, allowing you to actually move somewhat on the ice. sunoo on the other hand had somehow become a pro within the 15 minutes since you guys arrived, being able to skate forwards, backwards, eyes closed, anything possible. he even started gaining an understanding of how to spin, and was attempting to learn how to execute an axel.

you were still just trying to walk normally, not knowing how to know the difference between skating and walking. "sunoo, unfortunately i cannot let go of this fucking railing or i will die."

the boy just laughs at you, eyes rolling back. "you're exaggerating, just let go for one second!" you watch as he leaves you, gliding along the ice as if it was simply made for him.

building up the confidence, you finally stray away from the railing, letting go of your one protection spell from you upright and you on the floor. as you float along the ice, you feel that sense of freedom that sunoo was pestering you about, and you speed up, the skates on your feet becoming an outlet for your vitality.

but unfortunately, you were not yuzuru hanyu, nor were you kim sunoo. you misplace one foot, causing an imbalance in your body. you knew this was it. in front of all of these people, atleast 4 500 for sure, you were going to literally eat shit and die.

as you begin to fall, you brace for impact and close your eyes, but the collapse never happens, and instead, you feel someone's body holding yours, catching the impending descent to the ice.

"you okay?" the guy asks, and only after he said it was when you opened your eyes and looked up at him. though it takes you a moment, a flash of recognition eventually appeared in your brain. park sunghoon. king of the ice, king of the school. the renowned ice prince, the ice skater that competed in the olympics. "oh, y/n. are you okay?"

"y-yeah, sorry," you cover your face with your hands, muttering under your breath, "oh my god i almost died."

apparently it was in fact, not under your breath, because this gets a snicker out of the man, responding to you, "you did not almost die. maybe fall, but death is too much." he grabs you by the arm and skates you both toward the edge again, allowing you to grasp onto your lifeline once more.

"thank you, sunghoon. i'm sorry again for... i don't know. maybe it was a good thing, now you know that i'm shit at ice skating, i don't know how you do this." you observe him with your full attention now, noticing how he's dressed in a basic outfit with a beanie and headphones as if he knew that this would be a simple activity for him. not only this, but he has sunglasses on, presumably to hide his demeanor: he's kind of a celebrity around here.

"it's alright y/n, i told you already. plus, you're not that bad. you're just... learning." he seems like the last part was an afterthought, and you assume that he was going to say something more negative before changing his wording. "are you here alone?"

"nah, i'm here with sunoo. what about you?"

he flashes a quick smile, lifting his sunglasses to make eye contact with you. when he does, you look at his face closely, and realize he really is as cute as people say. you never really cared to notice him, as to you, he was just some guy that happened to have an expertise in ice skating. seeing him up close, you understand why people could develop crushes: his face was perfectly symmetrical with the only thing varied was the mole on his nose, but he has an extremely aesthetic face. his body was also perfect, broad shoulders with a smaller waist.

huh.

"just here alone. now i'm with you. so not alone." when he smiles, you could see how cute he really is, his fangs on both sides of his teeth accentuate his cuteness, offering a tinge of fierceness if he was focused. you both stare at each other for seconds too long, neither of you wanting to break the gaze. eventually, he looks away, saying to you, "wanna see something cool?" obviously you nod, and you watch as he skates away, accelerating before jumping right into a double axel, landing gracefully before coming right back to you.

you clap quickly, not wanting to let go of the edge for too long, "wow, impressive! i could do that too probably."

"oh yeah, cause you're like the best skater right? i think i've watched your videos before online." he motions a rectangle in front of him like a screen, "y/n l/n, triple axel, into a hydroblade, ending with two flying spins."

you scoff, flicking your wrist in front of him. "you know it bro, real recognizes real."

"for real." he looks at you with a straight face before bursting into laughter. "you're pretty funny you know, i'm surprised we haven't talked much before."

you scratch your head, "well, it's pretty hard when you're just the coolest, bestest, sexiest, beast of a skater." you joke with him.

"you think that of me?" he asks, one fang turning visible as he smirks.

"i was actually talking about me, thank you very much."

he hits his head in faux stupidity, smile not faltering from his face however. "oh, silly me. i should've known, like you said."

"what did i say?"

"real recognizes real." he removes his gaze from you to check his watch quickly before looking back at you. "you know, it's getting pretty late for a guy like you."

you whip your phone our from your back pocket. "sunghoon, it's literally 5:32 in the p.m. i can literally see the sun still."

he laughs awkwardly, "well, still late for a pretty boy like you."

"p-pretty?" you stare at him, wondering whether or not he meant to tell you that or not. "what are you talking about dude?"

"i said what i said. i meant that it's late, the ring closes at 6 today because of some hockey players wanting to run scrims before their tournament," sunghoon explains, leaning on the railing next to you. "i'm probably gonna leave soon anyway, so maybe you and sunoo can join me in getting dinner? if you want of course, i don't know if you have plans already."

"honestly, me and sunoo are supposed to get dinner with just each other, so maybe-" you begin to tell him, but then you notice sunoo talking to his crush on the other side of the ring, and a second later a text from said boy shows up.

[5:34 PM]

ALERT. CODE BLUE.

OK LOWKEY I REALIZE U DONT KNO WHAT THAT MEANS WEVE NEVER DONE CODES ANYWAY ICU TALKING TO SUNGHOON SO GO HANG OUT WITH HIM I WILL HANG OUT WITH MY MANSSSSSS XOXOXOOXO

"-you know what? let's get dinner. sunoo is actually busy all of a sudden." you roll your eyes when you make eye contact with sunoo, him giving you two thumbs up and a cheeky smile as his crush types something down on his phone.

"perfect. i wanted it to just be us. maybe i'll kidnap you and put you in my basement." the confusion on your face must've been evident, because he immediately follows up with "i was kidding. let's just get dinner." with that, he leaves you once again, skating around the rink with a few more tricks before coming back to you, signaling for you to follow him.

you do, getting out of the rink walking along the edge before sitting down next to him. you reach over to untie your laces, before sunghoon ushers you back, simultaneously getting on his knees in front of you, holding your right skate in front of him. "what are you doing?"

"untying your skate, why?"

"i can do it myself, you know?" you look straight into his eyes, tilting your head slightly.

"pretty boys shouldn't have to do anything," he suggests before giving you a little wink, causing you to turn away, not able to meet his eyes after his stupid flirtatious comment.

"w-well, what about you then!"

he removes your skate before moving on to the next one. "oh, so you think i'm a pretty boy huh? good to know." he unlaces your other skate before sitting down next to you, untying his own with haste. it clearly comes from experience, because it's no less than 15 seconds before he's up again, grabbing his sneakers, along with your own to your surprise. "here. so you don't have to get up."

"how do you know what my sneakers look like?"

"i saw you come in."

you lightly hit his shoulder. "so you were watching me the whole time?"

"cute boys deserve attention, wouldn't you say so?"

he goes back down to your feet and signals to put on your sneakers again. "i mean yeah but... you? finding me cute? hard to believe i guess."

"can't be that hard," you allow him to finish tying both shoes before helping him off the ground. you didn't even notice but he also had switched shoes with dexterity, leading you to wonder how much experience he has with these kind of things. "i've been watching you for a while honestly." he waves with his hands in front of you. "not like that, but more of like you're kinda like my school crush in a way."

you can't believe your ears. park sunghoon, king of the school, ice fucking prince, had a hallway school crush on you? y/n l/n. you didn't even feel like you stood out that much, just wanted to get your degree and leave. "school crush? there's just no way." you begin to walk away, not being able to face him without embarrassment flushing your face.

however, he clearly had other plans. "y/n." he grabs your arm, forcing you to look up at him. his eyes bore into yours, keeping you in a trance as you look at his face. "you're one of the cutest guys i've ever seen in my entire life. and i've seen a lot of people in my life already. please, just trust me when i say this."

and that was all the validation you needed. "oh. okay sunghoon. i trust you."

"good boy. now let's go get dinner, alright?"

and with that, he led you to his car to drive to dinner.

maybe the ice prince wasn't so cold after all.

[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

Saw alotta dis so uhh.. Is aether an option by any chance?

The creator had:

Twin blonds

WC: 900~

I actually really like aether, I tend to characterize him as rather wholesome, at least in his traveler form.

I'm sure that traveler aether would be so much shier about his attraction that you would have to start any intimate interaction while abyss aether is more forward with his attraction.

“Thanks for the help traveler, without your help we wouldn't be able to hold the celebration” Aether is famously known across teyvat for how helpful he is, always so eager to take the load off of anyone's shoulders.

“let me give you a reward"

“Hm? Ningguang already gave me the reward” looks at you curiously, maybe there was a mistake while arranging this? After all, the commission was a last second thing.

“I know that, I meant a more personal reward, only if you wanted” finally noticing the innuendo he swallows hard, swiftly looking over at paimon to find her swallowing canapes and desserts but seemingly the time he spent thinking about it made you think it was a refusal “oh, well, nevermind, let's enjoy the party” you pass bye him towards the entrance but he stops you, a firm hand around your arm.

“I didn't mean it like I don't want, I just… Didn't expect it, I guess” seeing him so cute you can't help yourself and lean forward, your lips half open, an invitation that he soon takes.

A while later you both appear in the party, alibis pointing to each other being somewhere different.

“didnt expect you to come here so soon” as you open the door you see the prince standing in the middle of your room, an almost indistinguishable shape amongst the shadows.

“I would say the same. I would have expected you to stay in the party for a while longer, your grace”

Your hands signal a burgundy splatter on the top “drunkard's accidents. I came to clean myself” you walk the the wardrobe, pulling another tunic from there “I also saw a hydro mage in the garden from one of the second floor windows and guessed your would be here or arrive soon”

He sighs sitting down on your bed “I held some hope they would be more careful with this mission but seems I was wrong. I hoped I would be able to talk with you when you came after the party”

“almost everyone is drunk and I greeted everyone important, I can spare some minutes"

“I will make sure to use them wisely then”

“Won't you even tell me where your lover is from?” Nahida is sitting criss-cross playing stacking cubes with the blond children, a set of twins.

“I’m sorry but I won't” you see her shoulders slouch while she builds a block tower with the twins, almost disappointed.

“Could it be kaveh? They are blond like him” she pops up an idea, seeing how fixated the girl twin was with building the tallest column and how the boy was focus.

“Fine, will tell you he isn't from Sumeru” even if she seemed bummed out about it at least she sighed and stretched her legs.

“Well… technically his mom is fontanian now so maybe...”

“It's not kaveh.”

“Finee”

“Such energetic toddlers” Raiden watches from the top of the stairs, two eleven month olds trying to learn how to walk and repetitively failing and rising to try again.

“Yes, I had to get a nanny for each if them, whenever I left them in their playpen at least one would sneak out and start crawling around, I was worried they would try to go up the stairs and hurt themselves”

“Ah!” The boy yelps as he manages to stand up for a second but falls down after attempting his first step. Before he starts wailing his sister pats his back.

“ I will miss him” Nahida pouts, her eyes almost glassing over. The twins had reunited at last and left, not without giving all a hug, yours being particularly long and specially melancholic.

“You know” you say as you put your hand on her head, the archons standing alongside you “we will have something to remind us of him” she looks up at you curiously with her wet eyes.

“indeed, the changes they produced in our nations won't be easily forgotten and we will be able to remember him because of it”

“That might be true, zhongli, but I meant something else, something that will grow alongside us” nobody said a word, the meaning totally understood by all of them. Nahida hugs your leg and zhongli rests a hand on your shoulder blade.

“Prince did you manage to make the purest grace to agre with our plan and make the nations surrender?” a cryo mage speaks the next morning, rubbing his hands together.

“I didn't manage to cramp that in, when their grace wasn't present people started looking for them”

“I understand…” even if he wanted to doubt him what he did in that while he knew that wouldn't end nicely for him.

“Aetherrr”paimon whines over his shoulder, tugging the loose hairs behind his ears “we spent 20 minutes looking at toys”

“I want to give nice and thoughtful gifts to their grace's children” aether ignores her, still wondering if buying more furniture for their dollhouse or a Natlan sport ball. Both of them play doll house and football but which would be best?

“Just give them whatever, I doubt anyone would spend so much thinking about their gift. Just because they are twins and you are a twin doesn't mean you share any special link”

“yeah, you are right” it's not because of that reason that he is so focused but at least it works as a common excuse of seeing himself and his lost sister in them.

“Now will you hurry?”

“Haha, no”

[rhaenerystargaryen]

I love your Daemon works and I love some angst too. Would you be willing to write a continuation to "Can't scape me" where Daemon meets the girl from his past again and she's unmarried, but trained like Arya Stark and became wealthy and famous in Essos and Dorne because of her prowess and instead of being sad she's like "Wow, I dodged a bullet. Could've ended up as a sad little wife in King's Landing while my husband partied with prostitutes, but instead I'm independent and happy." I would love to see Daemon's reaction to that, especially if she refuses to fight for team Black or team Green because she knows it's suicide and just goes her merry way and watches house Targaryen implode while eating dates on her Essossi villa 😅. Feel free to ignore it if it's too specific I just love Daemon, but also love to kick him a bit too much 😅.

i escaped you (can't escape me pt. 2)

pairing: daemon targaryen x fem!reader

synopsis: daemon comes to you after the events of harrenhal, seeking help.

warnings: angst, cussing/adult language, mentions of sexual relations

wc: 1,018

a/n: gagged daemon fr

part 1 here

it had been a long time since you'd seen daemon targaryen. heard of though is a different story. rumors spread like wildfire so of course you'd heard about how his life seemed to be going to shit. first wife dead, second also dead, and third might soon join them if she didn't play her cards right. people like daemon seem to bring suffer wherever they go but you've come a long way from the orphaned girl of king's landing that once was his.

at seventeen you boarded a ship to essos and never looked back. after your failed marriage to daemon you refused to live that kind of life with anyone in king's landing. having no family to care where you went and did, no one seemed to notice your disappearance. thinking about what your life could have been used to pain you. now you realize that most of the girls who were once like you are miserable and resentful as they married lords who would rather frequent the whore house than warm their own bed.

essos had served you good the first couple of years. of course you had to work twice as hard to prove your worth as a woman but with the help of an older gentleman who had taken you in, the art of swordsmanship became your most outstanding feature. it all started when he caught you stealing.

you didn't realize that when you actually did land in essos you'd have to learn how to make a life for yourself. stealing seemed like the easiest option but you were grateful the blacksmith that caught you also didn't cut off your hand. yet after his passing, you realized there was nothing left to do but go and show off your talent.

travels were made through pentos, dorne, and braavos competing in local tourneys and building a name for yourself. you had earned yourself the name "the cruel dread" as you were merciless and often left your opponents begging for their life. it was safe to say that the life you had created was better than the one that could've been.

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

it was a cloudly day in pentos. an odd occurrence from the constant rays of sunshine that frequented the skies. you sat on your balcony, eating dates, and reading the latest news of westeros. suddenly a knock came crashing down on your door, disrupting your peace.

you set your book down and approached the door. upon arrival you opened it only to be met with your most trusted knight, ser quincy.

"my lady," he spoke.

"what may be the problem, ser quincy?" your arms crossed and eyebrows raised exuded the fact that you were annoyed at his disruption.

"you have a vistor."

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

as you walked down the steps of your villa, you recognized the familiar face waiting for you.

"my lady, i present to you king consort daemon tar-" you were quick to cut quincy off.

"i know who he is," you stood eyeing daemon then turned to your knights, "you may be excused," but daemon's did not budge, "you too," you urged them.

"i'll be alright, go on," he told his knights.

as they left the room, no words were spoken between the two of you. how dare daemon show up in your house after everything that had gone down since then?

"y/n-"

"what is it that you could possibly want?" you cut him off.

"y/n, i just want to say how sorry i am for how things went down last time i saw you. i never meant to hurt you," daemon moved closer to you.

"you are twenty years too late, daemon. i have moved on with my life as have you. there is no need to come all the way here and issue me a formal apology," your voice firm unlike his.

"if i could but request your time, i have something would like to discuss with you,"

you scoffed and looked away, "you are not welcome here, daemon. i know exactly what is it is you're going to ask me for and my answer is no," you started to walk away but he rushed to block your path.

"daemon-" his hands gripped your arms in an attempt to get you to look at him.

"why are you so quick to reject me? i have not forgotten the love we used to have for each other..." his voice was calmer, softer than before.

"keyword is 'used to' daemon," you sighed, "look, i don't know what you have roped yourself into this time but my answer remains," you looked into his eyes.

"is this because of rhaenyra?" he asked.

you knew that this was his attempt in trying to rile you up. scoffing you pushed his arms off you, "this has nothing to do with rhaenyra, daemon but this has everything to do with you."

"you've become quite the skilled warrior, y/n...why not put those efforts into some real exercise instead of bullshit tourneys!" he yelled.

"because daemon! when you left, those tourneys were all i had! to make a name for myself!" your chest heaved as his attempt to push you over the edge finally worked, "you have no idea what its like...to lose everything...to lose everyone. at least when you return back to dragonstone you'll have your wife and your children," you had tears in your waterline and daemon tried stepping closer to console you but you merely pushed him away.

"we could have had that, y/n..." he spoke quietly.

"but we didn't," you wiped your tears, "now you must leave before i call my knights. i don't want unnecessary bloodshed," you spoke.

daemon's face showed pure agony. did he really think things would be this easy? he might have been feeling disappointed but he made you this way. knowing he'll probably go back and tell everyone how the most skilled fighter in essos was just a "heartless cunt" angered you but if you were to show it then he'd be served right. the only thing you could do was sit back, and watch house targaryen burn.

[hollowtones]

ayy monhun fan! what are you thinkin of what we've seen of wilds so far?

The initial trailer they dropped months ago was pretty cool. "World" is my least favourite game that I've played (even thought I liked it a lot!!), and 90% of why I felt that way was "this is the first time they're making a game of this scale / scope / direction", so it's exciting to see them make a successor to it now that they're not also learning how to make a game like it from the bottom-up & not also building the tech side of it from scratch.

Big desert environments have me excited!!!! I love the way these games do deserts. I'm always dreaming of Val Habar. I love the colour palette they're using for this area. Big fan of Yoshi being a new mechanic. In general I'm noticing a lot of things in "Wilds" that feel like a really cool mix of ideas from "World" and "Rise" in a way that feels a little more grounded. It's cool that they're bringing back a buddy you can ride around on & control. I wonder if they'll let Yoshi fight with you. I don't remember if they showed that off already. Getting to hotswap between 2 weapons without having to run back to base camp feels like a big deal that I haven't really wrapped my head around yet.

The focus mode thing seems fine. More granular control over aiming sometimes seems neat, & the footage we've seen makes it feel like positioning & animation commitment are still a part of it, which I like. Expanding part-breaking into "opening wounds that take more damage & enable special attacks" seems cool! (There was a similar-ish tenderizing mechanic with the Clutch Claw in "Iceborne", and I fuckin hated using it. Loved the idea of it at first. Having to do this whole separate action that interrupted the flow of the fight in a weird way to enable more damage felt awful after a while!! And they designed all the fights around the fact that you have it & use it! So I'm glad they're seemingly taking what I liked about it & chucking out the rest, haha.) I remember there was some hubbub about focus existing at all when news was first dropping. Some people were mad about it? I feel like this happens every time they announce a new Monster Hunter. They reveal a new feature, and a couple guys crawl out of the woodwork to go "THEY HAVE MADE THE VIDEO GAME PITIFUL AND EASIER - THIS IS THE DEATH OF THE FRANCHISE!" The franchise has died every game since the first one, by my count. (They end up buying the game anyway, of course.) I hope they put out a demo soon, though. I wanna get my hands on it & see how it works in the middle of a fight to see how I actually feel about it.

Weapon & armour design so far has been great. Happy about that. The bits of NPC designs we've seen have been cool. I don't really like the smith's look very much. Which makes me sad because I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be Little Miss Forge. LOL

When they first showed the game off I remember thinking "yeah, that's cool, I'm looking forward to this, but it's coming out Next Year & we're not even halfway done with 2024." Well now we're almost two thirds of the way through the year. And they keep dropping gameplay trailers. And they look hype as fuck!! And now I'm feeling more impatient!!! I wanna try this shit out soon!!! I wonder if they'll drop a public demo after Gamescom or something. I wonder if my computer could even run it...

I liked the way Hunting Horn played in "Rise" but it's cool to see the more traditional recitals back. (But faster!! And with new combo paths!!) I think I've spent a cumulative hour or two watching that horn trailer over and over again for little details. The funny bubble reminds me of bead of resonance but it seems like it might also be some kind of AoE team buff? It could also just be extra damage like bead was. But I loved bead. So I'll take it. Being a Hunting Horn fan is accepting that you'll be playing an entirely different weapon in every subsequent game, so I suppose I fuss less about whether or not it plays like any one specific game. But mannnnnn it looks cool as hell this time around.

[sirfrogsworth]

The Curse of Artistic Vision

I think being an artist comes down to developing an image in your head and then feeling compelled to manifest it. Sometimes you are able to improve upon that image in your head. Or you end up with something different that you like better.

But sometimes, for various reasons, you can't quite make that image a reality. And I don't know if other artists feel this way, but it feels like heartbreak every time. Not quite on the level of an incident of human decoupling, but it definitely sticks with you for a long time.

Sometimes I am limited by the current state of my skillset. I just haven't learned enough and gained enough experience to take a photo like the one in my brain.

And sometimes I am limited by my body, which puts huge restrictions on the amount of energy I can dedicate to crafting a photo.

I feel my knowledge and experience has never been at the level I am currently at. I think I have the *potential* to shoot just about anything I can imagine. Which is a cool feeling. I also feel like my image editing and manipulation skills are at the highest they have ever been. Which means anything I can't do in-camera, I can achieve in Lightroom and Photoshop.

But I just don't have a lot of energy to capture photos right now. And I am very limited by how much physical effort I can dedicate to the photographic process. Which is very frustrating. I'm hoping if I build a new studio in the house that will help a lot.

In the meantime, I have this library of images I took before 2017. Many of them I was not able to achieve my artistic vision.

But... I came close.

Which means on many of these old images I can use my editing skills of today to achieve what I could not back then.

And so I have started a huge re-edit project where I go back and realize my images as I wanted them to be.

I had this idea for an image of someone in the middle of a dark forest in an open field reading a book and the only illumination was a lamp that seemed to be plugged into nothing. It popped into my head and it just seemed like a cool photo to create.

In July of 2016, my friend Ryan was visiting and we decided to try it. We even rented a big fancy 50 megapixel camera for a few days. I had never used a professional level camera and it was my birthday and I wanted that experience.

I even had this cool idea to hide a flash in the lamp so it would look like it was illuminated.

The resulting image was not anything like I had in my head. And for some reason, I edited it super bright, and you can barely even notice the cool lampshade flash trick. If you lower the exposure of the RAW file there is a well-defined circle of light in the grass, but it is hard to see in the 2016 edit.

Where is the dark background? Why didn't I underexpose the background to make it look like night or sunset? I knew how to do that back then. I totally could have crafted the photo in my head at that time.

But then I noticed I only took like 8 photos of this scene. And I *always* overshoot. I took 300 photos of a bridge recently.

Then I remembered what happened. We moved a giant rocking chair, a lamp, and lighting equipment to the middle of my neighbor's yard and by the time I was ready to take the photo, I was about to pass out. I believe it was very hot as well.

And so the above was the best I could do under that circumstance. My body limited my artistic vision. And this has been bothering me for years. Sometimes I will think back on this photo and how cool it looked in my head and I will feel that heartbreak again.

When I look at the RAW file... it is actually much better than my edited image.

Which makes me curious why I made it so damn bright. My best theory is I had a monitor that was slowly dying and I didn't realize how dim it got because our eyes are so good at adjusting, and it's possible all of my images from that era were overly bright because I was overcompensating for a dying display.

That fancy camera (Canon 5DS R) was a dream to work with. And having so many extra megapixels to play with is such a joy. People say you don't need more megapixels these days, but when you are doing high level image manipulation, having as much information as possible makes it a lot easier. Especially when making complex selections.

So, I've got a good start. I have a lot of pixels to play with. I was almost certain I could manifest my vision with modern knowledge and tools.

I'll start with the baseline edit in Lightroom. I'm not going to worry about the sky, as that will need to be swapped for my nighttime aesthetic.

The circle of light was there! It was just hiding in my bright exposure. So that's neat. And when you lower the exposure of the background, the lampshade trick presents itself as well.

At this point I was getting excited because I could see the potential. I just had to find the right sky. This one looks perfect.

Okay, it is time for the big reveal.

Did I finally get this image out of my brain and into reality?

I DID!

I don't know if people will like this or find it artistically interesting, but Ryan and I were both very happy with the new version.

Also, I think Ryan's purple shoes really steal the show.

Though I had one idea that was never in my head originally.

Should I try it?

I still haven't decided on the fireflies yet, but Ryan and Katrina like them.

I can't state how nice it was to work on a 50 megapixel photo from a full frame sensor coming from a 10 year old camera with 4 stops less dynamic range and 24 megapixels.

This is zoomed in to 100%!

And the image doesn't even get soft at 300%.

Sorry, I got caught up in the megapixels.

And there is one detail you'll probably never notice unless I point it out, but I completely rebuilt the lampshade because I overexposed it.

I always say small details add up to big results. Plus I had to use some creative problem solving to figure out how to recreate a lampshade and I always enjoy that part of the process—where you don't know how to do something and then you figure it out. Very satisfying.

In any case, my brain feels better now. I feel like I was able to settle something that has been bothering me for ages. And I am grateful I was able to realize my artistic vision—even if it took 8 years.

Here is the before and after. It's fun to switch back and forth.

On to the next photo. And it may involve a furry little orange friend.

[thelostgirl21]

Okay, I felt like this post (by @panur & @underthebluerain) deserved some visuals, so people could really understand and truly appreciate just how dramatic the difference in body sizes and shapes between these two gorgeous, absolutely lovely men, is!

And just how skilled the costume design team is, on the show, when it comes to giving the illusion that a character is much smaller (in Jaskier's case) or much larger (in Radovid's case), than their actors actually are.

There was an incredible post, a while back, that really explained how those wizards work their magic!

And it's utterly fascinating!!! Seriously, if you haven't read all of that yet, I highly suggest you go and take a look!

But yeah, when you look at the way their clothes have been designed this season, there's definitely been some attempt to make Jaskier look generally smaller than Joey Batey really is, while making Radovid look generally bigger than Hugh Skinner really is, too.

A few examples (with my extremely humble interpretation / things that have grabbed my eye when I look at their costumes. Please bear in mind that I am but an humble fan with no experience in costume design, so there's probably tons of stuff I've missed, and/or I might have misinterpreted some of those designers' intent):

Then, of course, there's Radovid's cloak that just... triples his size or something!

So, when you look at them side by side with their clothes on (even without the cloak), there really doesn't seem to be such a huge difference in body size and shape between the two.

Why are they so pretty though?

Like yeah, you do get the sense that Radovid might be a bit leaner, and that he has a longer torso, perhaps, but it's not THAT dramatic of a difference...

As soon as you get them out of their costumes, however...

On that last gif, you can really see that Joey's roughly the same height as Henry Cavill, and get the sense that he'd probably fit really well in a Witcher's armor, too!

Technically, their heights are listed as: - Henry Cavill: 1,85cm (6 ft 7/8 in) - Hugh Skinner: 1,83cm (6 ft) - Joey Batey 1,82cm (5 ft 11 5/8 in)

So, Joey's like 1 1/8" smaller than Henry and 3/8" smaller than Hugh.

Since I'm ½" taller than my own partner and virtually never realize it, I doubt they'd notice that 3/8" difference between them.

But yeah, one of the really funny "side effects" of costume designers being so good at their job is when you somehow manage to forget about it while watching the show and then this happens:

and your brain needs a moment to re-calibrate its settings because you're like "Right! Buff bard! Right... 6 feet tall really strong looking damsel in distress that keeps complaining Geralt could break him like a twig, when it would be something closer to splitting a log!"

Makes you wonder if people in Jaskier's family are just... naturally muscular or something (lots of fast-twitch muscle fibers?!)?

Because, while Joey is apparently into climbing, kick boxing, swimming, fencing, medieval sword fighting, etc.

Jaskier complained about needing to walk down the path of a mountain on his own, because his fancy boots kept sliding.

He does a lot of traveling and walking, sure... But that doesn't really help you develop your upper body / pectorals / arms, etc. in such a way!

Unless he just... likes the way those muscles aesthetically look on him?

You know, I really wouldn't put it past him, now that I think about it...

Over the years, Jaskier has just developed his very own calisthenics workout routine to build and maintain his looks, but feels the need to hide it.

Because "body fitness" is not exactly a popular discipline on the Continent at that time.

People tend to train to learn how to fight, or develop muscle mass while working the land or their craft, not because "they like the way those muscles look on them when taking their clothes off!"

So, Jaskier wears clothes that hide his actual body shape, since he's afraid that, if people saw and noticed how built he really is, then they'd just assume he knows how to fight and defend himself, when he doesn't.

People might stop shoving him out of harm's way, pulling him behind them to stand between him and the danger, coming to his rescue, etc.

And, since Jaskier's whole ongoing survival sort of depends on people spontaneously stepping in to save his sorry arse, well...

In the bedroom, however, the added bit of upper body strength and endurance does wonder when you want to be able to fuck someone against a wall while keeping their feet off the ground (for example).

Being able to lift and carry more than your own weight definitely has its advantages...

As Radovid has no doubt found out...

And, if the prince turned out to be a bit lighter and easier to carry around than Jaskier was initially expecting him to be, you definitely won't hear him complaining, either!

Although, I must admit that part of me also likes the idea that they might have been able to accurately "size each other up", so to speak.

Radovid's just there looking at all the lines and proportions on Jaskier's pants and shirt, while figuring out where his shoulders and arms actually stop underneath; being both fascinated by the actual size of Jaskier's body, and the choice of clothing design that's making him look much smaller than he appears to be (if his calculations are, indeed, correct)...

While Jaskier's just looking at all those layers covering Radovid, while attempting to get a rough estimate of the total naked weight underneath, and for how long he could keep him lifted... Hypothetically... For science...

But even there, there's a huge difference between knowing those clothes are playing with your perceptions and briefly getting a mental glimpse of what you think might be closer to the truth... And actually gazing upon or getting your hands all over said truth!

Because sincerely, no amount of me trying to look at this while attempting to make abstraction of the whole illusion created by the clothing design:

is successfully going to be able to make me see this:

Hence why I tend to forget about it, and need a moment to re-calibrate almost every single time Jaskier winds up getting shirtless!

Seriously, just look at the bottom gif of him shirtless, then at the top where he's got his clothes on a few times, one after the other, and try to tell me that you're able to visualize where all of that body at the bottom is managing to fit in there at the top!

It's like part of it literally went missing!

So, even if Radovid had managed to guess that Jaskier was a lot buffer than his choice of clothing was letting on, and vice versa, I'm thinking they'd still have been in for quite a bit of a surprise when they actually got each other's clothes removed!

Therefore, that headcanon would still work, regardless of Jaskier and Radovid having guessed that each of them used their clothes to make themselves appear less threatening, or more imposing than they really are.

[ofdirtandbones]

I have no idea who to ask and seeing as you seem to be similar to me in some aspects, i thought u would be the best choice

Do you have any recommendations on how to stop being on the internet so much and connect more with nature? I love nature I love being in it but I'm constantly stuck either to my phone or computer, never fully appreciating it. I have no idea what to do

Long post ahead ! Sorry lol Man I've deleted all social media except tumblr. I use it on my computer mostly and I've put a thirty minutes time limit, only usuable between 6pm and 11pm on my phone. That way I can still see art, pretty pictures, funny posts... But I don't spend much time on my phone. It took me SO LONG to get to this point. I had to build up so much anger towards social media, the way they are made to steal all your time and ruin your attention span, and how much of a negative impact they had in my life. I use to spend just so much time on instagram,,, The first thing I did was put a lock on it. It was sooo hard at first but eventually I started barely using it when it was unlocked for the day. I managed to start reading again. And I mean reading multiple hours a day. Sometimes the whole day when I felt really bad and couldn't leave the house. Traded my screen time for when I was like,,, in the bathroom or waiting for something etc,,, for duolingo ! Since I still had the urge to pick up my phone and duolingo takes so much energy haha Doing something that isn't really enjoyable (and is actually useful) everytime I picked up my phone eventually made it much less interesting. You will not miss out on anything ! I know how scary it is but I promise, you won't be disconnected from the world. It's really the contrary tbh. You won't be disconnected from your friends either ! Ask them to contact you through whatsapp or whatever. That was my main fear and it turned out fine, so so so so fine. There are still ways to get news, without being constantly bombarded by them. Healthy ways that your body can actually handle. For the connecting to nature more part, it's very easy in my city but I don't know what it's like in yours,,, If you can access nature easily and can walk for a while then I say go explore ! Take pictures of bugs, plants, mushrooms,,, Can you take a friend with you ? If nature isn't accessible for you, good news ! It's everywhere. You'll find plant growing through cracks on the sidewalk, birds everywhere, bugs wherever it's possible for them to live,,, You'll start noticing them quickly ! Can you identify them ? If you don't have books that can help you or field guides, there are ones in public libraries. Once you id something, read about it ! And the pure joy once you've identified something, read about it, and you see it again ! The feeling is incredibly similar to friendship ! It became familiar, it became a friend, you feel warm inside everytime you two meet. See what naturalist non profit associations are near you ! Do they offer free acitvities ? Can you join them, volunteer,,, Yesterday I participated to an activity at night where we went to a spot with a lot of bats, learned about them, and then listened to them with a batbox ! All for free. I do activities like that a few times a week and learn a lot ! Another tip is touch grass, literally. Put your fingers in the dirt, smell it eat it, go lay down under a tree, no phone allowed. Hear the wind go through it. You aren't very different from it. You're both nature, both alive, aware of your surroundings, breathing, eating, and a whole ecosystem just by yourself. Your tree can also becoma a friend. Keep plants inside if possible ! Take care of them, learn about them. If only you knew how many plants I've killed before understanding how to take care of them,,, Now I have over thirty plants,,, hard ones to keep too ! It's also extremely easy to keep pill bugs as pets and takes up very very little space. So rewarding to see them eat and multiply ! Read books about nature ! I know this can be hard,,, I don't mean just informative books ! Anything will help you feel closer to it. I love poetry for example ! Very short, impactful emotionally ! I hope my rambles will be able to help you in some way ksgfqgq I just woke up.

[mychlapci]

rapid fire cybertronian headcannons go

I like to think that while cybertronians look and act mostly humanoid they also do some not human things that make humans go "oh yeah, alien"

for example i think that every couple thousand years cybertronians shed their armor like some sort of bug or shrimp to get rid of damaged plating and their repair nanites go into overdrive to build new ones. during that period bots will nibble on metal to get material. a shed can also trigger early if a bot gets regularly roughed up or if they changed alt-modes recently. this could lead to a potencial hilarious situation where there's no fighting for like a week sometime after bots and cons arrived on earth since both groups got new alt-modes which triggered a mass shedding and noone wants to fight while they're squishy and itchy. que human friend coming into the autobot base and while talking to their bot friend a piece of the bot's armor just falls off. so of course human freaks out because they think their friend is dying while the bot is confused and going like "why are you screaming i'm just shedding. wdym humans don't do that?" or mabye the human comes in during the everyone is mostly shed phase and going "why r yall nakey" either way that thay humans learn cybertronians are space shrimp.

another headcannon i have is that just chilling in places in alt-mode is the cybertronian equivalent of a cat loaf. cybertronians also purr by idling their engine (obviously) and keep the joints in their hands from going stiff by making biscuits.

cybertronian sight is primarily their sensors (like sharks) with optics being a secondary sight organ and mostly just provide aditional information so taking out a cybertronians optics would do nothing but take out their sensors and they're blind as a bat because of their poor eyesight. i also like how in tfp everyone has unique optics

they can also speak with their mouth closed or without moving it since a voicebox is more like a speaker than vocal cords. moving their mouth just helps with adjusting volume or making sound clearer.

OOoh i am a “transformers shed” believer. For maintenance, or because of age, or because of injuries, i think it has many factors...

I don’t think they’d be squishy underneath, though I think that they have some silicone components that jiggle, but having raw wires and circuitry revealed is already a pretty vulnerable state to be in. (tbh I am also very fond of the thought of cybertronians being able to just remove their armour and parts of their plating on a whim… it’s rare for them to do it, but i think it could be very intimate. I will stop before i delve into places we cannot delve in this week ok)

I am absolutely down for the “optics are only a secondary sensory organ” thing bc honestly i believe that too. I actually imagine that whatever you notice on a bot’s head first, chevron, horns, finials, etc. etc. are actually most sensitive to all kinds of input, like EM fields, vibrations, sound and even light, and i know it’s not canon but i like to imagine that depriving a bot of their horns/chevron/antenna blinds them more than taking out both their optics possibly could. Not to mention, they probably have “eyes” on different parts of their bodies, as in, they can register visual input with their headlight, their rearview mirror and side mirrors. Their optics are actually very weak and taking out their sensors renders them incapable of most things.

Now what i had never considered was transformers doing biscuits to keep their joints flexible. That means medics would have to do extra biscuits so that their joints are at their best. I am now thinking about Drift coming back to their habsuite after a long day on the bridge and Ratchet’s just dozing off after an equally long shift in the med-bay, kneading the pillows happily. I am obsessed. Drift probably joins in bc as a swordsman, he has to keep his hands flexible as well. And them they’re purring their engines bc they’re comfy… aaaaah okay that’s adorable

[simplydannie]

Fanfic about Poppy, Viva, and Velvet?

Great minds think alike! I had another friend request a little something between Poppy, Viva, and Velvet! @fairytypingg

Poppy and Viva friends with Velvet seems kinda out place, especially with Velvet's character being the way it is. But I think the little happiness that Poppy and Viva bring might be just the thing to help her.

We Got You

"IM FINE! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE VENEER!" Velvet marched into her suit, and shut the door. "Vels!" Her brother attempted to run in after her, but the door was locked. He jiggled the knob, "Vels, please, talk to me."....Silence. She had been on edge recently, well, not recently, more like when they got out of prison...actually...when they were in prison. Veneer had made every attempt to talk to her, to have her open up to him about things that were going, about their next steps together....but she's completely shut him out. With a heavy sigh, Veneer retreated.

"The twins were set to call Vacay Island their home for the next couple of months. Bruce and Brandy have allowed them to work and live in one of the suits. Veneer enjoyed it, he felt like he was finally doing something right, something good. Velvet felt different. So many emotions were building inside of her, so many questions that needed answers. What would happen to them when they were done with their community service? Where would they live? The Trolls didn't really care for them. She hated how Veneer was always after them, always seeking their approval. They were always judging them she knew, but they didn't know it, they didn't know anything.... Velvet noticed...It was the first thing she noticed: Veneer was sick again. "Hey Vellie!" Velvet rolled her eyes at the sound of an annoying little Troll...Poppy. She just ignored her, just like she always would. She continued to clean he tables at the resort. "You know I'm going to get you to hang out with me and Viva! We're always looking to add another sister." The little Troll chimed. "I don't want a sister." Velvet said coldly. Another annoying voice piped up next to Poppy. "Uh, of course you do! Who wouldn't want a sister!" Viva exclaimed. "I have a brother. I'm good. Now can you PLEASE leave me alone." Velvet's tone was flat. Poppy tilted her head as she took a good look at the Rageon....Sadness, worry, fatigue...That's what Poppy saw. Velvet was trying to hold everything together, Poppy knew there was something beneath the service that was really troubling her. She opened her mouth to say something... "Hey guys!" Veneer came in holding a tray. He sported a dark blue vest with a black rolled up sleeve button up underneath. Black skinny pants were worn beneath his torso. "Guess whose the new waiter around here?" He did a full turn to show off his new look. "Meow! Vels doesn't your brother look so handsome!" Viva chimed. "Ugh." The Rageon rolled her eyes as she moved on to the next table. Veneer followed her hesitantly. "You know, we get off at the same time. Oh! Let's go snorkling before it gets dark!" A smile spread across his face. Poppy looked at Velvet to study her response. The Rageon's expression was left unchanged. "Seriously, you're asking again? " She replied without turning to look at him. "Go get the drinks to serve! Or you're fired." With a defeated look, Veneer retreated into the kitchen. Velvet could feel the eyes of the two small Trolls piercing her from behind.

"Why don't you ever want to hang out with him? Us, I guess I understand. But he's your brother. I'd give every chance to always be with Poppy." Viva explained. Velvet remained silent. Viva turned to her sister, hoping for some support.

"Velvet, is something else going on? I don't mean to always pry, but I always hear Veneer trying to open up to you...You just seem to...always shut him out. You know you....you can talk to me...You can talk to Viva! Girl to girl." Poppy tried her best to express her feelings of concern for the Rageon. One thing she learned about being queen, was how to read people, how to know when someone was sad, afraid, holding back.

"What goes on with me is none of your business. I just want to do my time and get out of here..."

CRASH!

The three girls turned their heads towards the sound of breaking glass coming from the kitchen. Velvet was the first to run in: Veneer was on the floor, struggling to get up, broken glass all around him.

"Vennie!" Viva attempted to go to his aid.

"Stay away!" Velvet was the first to his side.

"My bad!" He attempted a smile. "I-I slipped." Liar, Velvet mused. She could see the weakness in his arms and legs, how they went limp, how he struggled to find his strength to stand.

"Don't lie to me, Ven." She demanded. Her brother fell silent as she struggled to help him to his feet...his legs continuing to give out.

"How can we help you? Vellie, please tell us what to do." Poppy begged.

"YOU CAN LEAVE US ALONE!" Velvet screamed. She latched one of Veneer's arm over her should, struggling, she began to lead him away towards their suit.

"Vels!" Viva called out after her. But the Rageon ignored any kindness and any help that was thrown her way. A feeling fell at the pit of Viva's stomach as she watched the twins march off. "Poppy, I can't help but feel that something is wrong...Something is terribly wrong."

"I know Viv....me too." Poppy stretched and reached for Viva's hand.

Poppy and Viva continued to replay that moment in the kitchen throughout the rest of the day. They couldn't think right, couldn't eat. Velvet was always tough in the surface, but something told them, deep down, there was a little girl crying for help, crying for an answer to all their problems.

How would they know? Because they were that little girl at one point. Viva leading the group of surviving Trolls after the Bergen attack, living 20 years thinking she had lost her family. And Poppy...She made it seem like being queen was all cupcakes and rainbows, but she learned that it wasn't, but she knew her kingdom couldn't see her weak...she had to always be strong no matter what she felt. They wanted to tell Velvet that it was okay to be vulnerable sometimes...but how could they? She'd always close them off.

Poppy was headed off to the rooms of the resort that were specifically for Trolls. She had a warm tea in hand to help her calm her nerves and thoughts. That's when Viva came running down the hall.

"Poppy! Hurry come here!"

Without a second thought, Poppy dropped her tea and followed her sister.

Viva lead her outside the door of a suit. Inside, they could hear the sobs, the small little cries. Poppy held her hand over her mouth as her heart broke.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"I....I saw Vellie walk out of her suit. I followed her hoping she'd want to talk. She walked in here...That's when I heard the cries." Viva responded with saddened eyes. The Troll sisters took a moment before making up their mind. Nodding to each other, they pushed open the door that was luckily left slightly open.

The cries grow louder as they walked inside the suit. All lights were off, the only thing illuminating the room was the moonlight shining through the window. The girls followed the sound....That's when they found Velvet hunched in a corner.

She held her knees tight, her face buried in them. Her shoulders shuddered with every cry she made...

"Vels." Poppy whispered as she made her way to the Rageon.

"Go away..." Velvet said in between her cries.

"No! That's enough of you trying to push us away!" Viva said sternly. She made her way up to Velvet's knees, placing a small hand on her fingers. "Talk to us. Please."

"We want to be your friend Velvet. We've wanted to be your friend since you guys arrived to us." Poppy explained.

"I don't want friends."

"Maybe you think so now....but you DO need people who care for you. You have your brother, and we want to be there for you too." Viva said.

Upon the mention of Veneer, Velvet's cries grew severe. Poppy and Viva enclosed around her, laying their hands on her, embracing her as much as they could.

"Velvet....please." Poppy pleaded once more as she embrace the Rageon in her small arms. They allowed silence to pass between them, they allowed Velvet to just be vulnerable....to cry. This was something she had held in for so long...

"He's sick." Velvet finally spoke. "Veneer is sick again....and I don't have the money to help him." The Trolls looked at each other, a horrified expression in their eyes...This is what she had been hiding for so long.

"...I wish you had said something sooner." Viva exclaimed as she continued to hug her.

"Why? There's nothing you can do."

"How do you know? Vellie, you only know your little world, the world inside Rageous. You have no idea how big the world is....and you have no idea how many options there can be to help your brother." Poppy joined Viva on Velvet's knees, together they lifted the Rageons head so she could look at them. "We care for Vennie as much as you do....We want to help you."

"Please, Vellie. We know how it feels like. We know how it feel's to try and have it together! You don't have to go through this alone. Let us be there for you. We got you." Viva added.

Through teary eyes, Velvet glanced back and forth between the two sisters...There was no lie in their voices. She could see they were looking at her not with pity, but with genuine concern. Velvet really never allowed for anyone to see her vulnerable...especially her brother. She always wanted to be the tough one, the strong one...but maybe with these girls she could be. Velvet hugged her knees tighter...

"....okay...." She said softly. No more words were exchanged, no more words needed to be exchanged. Viva and Poppy drew closer to Velvet, this time hugging her face, hoping that she could feel their love and care for her.

They had her.

[drkmgs]

Tyler's Sibling

Wednesday Addams x Reader Galpin

Story type: multiple chapters

Warning: Sibling issue, scar arm, trauma, paint blood...

I know it's been a while... I'm sorry...

previous chapter

After you lost consciousness at the Weathervane, your father strictly advised you to stay home and not to go to work. You have been resting in your room, thinking about what happened three weeks ago. You had a Zoom meeting with your doctor discussing nonsense theories as to what and why it happened. It was clear that these professionals also don't have the answers.

It would be nice if you had at least one friend, but who would befriend you? You were too normal for an outcast and too weird for a normie. Your brother doesn't care about you. He has his own demons and problems to solve. Your father is far too busy, and if he was home, him and Tyler would just bite each other's heads off.

You sighed as you sat up on your bed and looked out the window. You got startled when a hand knocked on your window. Hesitantly, you opened it and let the hand enter. He signed you a thank you and continued with how different your reaction was compared to your brother. You learned that the hand's name is Thing, and he is one of the Addams.

You talked to him like a person, which Thing actually appreciated. You and Thing were so immersed with your conversation that it was almost time for him to go, and Thing had to return to Nevermore. You let him out the window and asked him if he could come back to keep you company. He did a little nod and crawled away.

Not long after, you saw a figure sneaking around the house. You got up, exited your room, and made your way downstairs. You jumped a little when you hear the back door rattle. You slowly made your way to the door, grabbing a pan on the way. You were ready to hit the intruder when you realized it was just your brother. Sneaking back inside the house.

"Woah! Woah!" He said and took the pan out of your hand. "Where were you, and why are you sneaking into the house? Dad is not home yet." You took a step back, letting him close the door. He passed by you, and that's when you noticed the suit he was holding. Your eyebrows furrowed. "Wednesday asked me to be her date for the Rave'N." He held up the suit and ran upstairs, probably to get ready.

Your head went into spiral. She asked him? So, why did she kiss you? Was it to clear her head? Was she confused? You and Tyler do look similar, but you were certain she said she came for you that night. Thinking too much made you dizzy. With the help of the furniture around you, you got yourself back to your room. You dropped yourself onto the bed, curling inside your warm blanket, which helped you fall into sleep.

You got woken up by an extreme pain. You screamed on top of your lungs. Gripping on your arm. Sheriff Galpin burst into your room, already trying to soothe you. Then his phone rang through the house, and he gently lay you back down on your pillow. By now, you were breathing heavily, trying to calm yourself.

"Y/N. I need you to come with me. Come on." He said as soon as he hung up the phone. He made you sit up and put one of your jackets on you and then warped you with one of your blankets. You're still clinging on to your arm as if it's going to fall off, and it does feel like it. Once he was finished, he gathered everything he needed and guided you towards the truck, and let you sit by the passenger side. He made sure you were wearing your seatbelt and then drove away.

At some point, you did register where you're headed. Once you past the metal gates, you knew you're at the Nevermore grounds. In your dizzy visions, you could see teenagers running out of the building, covered in blood? Your Dad said something, but your brain didn't register any of it. All you could do was watch him exit the vehicle and storms inside the school.

As soon as he was gone inside, you saw Wednesday covered in blood running past the truck into the woods. You looked around for a hot minute to see if your brother was following her, but no sign of him. You unbuckled your seatbealt and jumped out the truck, following Wednesday.

You called after her in between hissing at the pain shooting through your arm. "Would you stop for a minute?!" You shouted, and that made the girl stop. "Care to explain what is happening? and why are you covered in blood?" You exhaled heavily from chasing her. "It's not blood. It's paint, and right now is not the time. We need to find Eugene!" "The bee boy?" With that, both of you continued to run deeper into the woods. "Eugene!" Wednesday called out, and not even a second both of you hear him. "Wednesday!" The closer you get to him, the pain in your arm grows.

You were just a couple of meters away from him when you heard a screeching scream. Wednesday ran towards the direction, you just behind her, for some reason, you keep looking behind you and bumped into Wednesday. As soon as you turned around and saw Eugene's body, you dropped to the ground.

Everything went black.

[but-a-humble-goon]

Hey, I had a thought about Cassandra.

I haven't read any of her comics, only read the Batgirls one with the three batgirls going on their own side with that artstyle I love so much for some reason.

I know the fact that Cass speaks, and how, tend to change a lot between comics and all, and I don't know the exact lore, but I thought a bit deeper about it all from what I know.

Cain never taught Cass how to speak, right? She grew up with fighting and understanding the body as her only way to convey anything from her brain to the world. (even if she obviously learnt to understand other languages)

But languages shape how your brain understand and interact with the world. It is most noticable when someone talk a language they didn't grew speaking, there's those little mishaps or confusion of meaning and use for words that are said to be equivalent, and that's because you have to relearn a way to see and understand things.

I'd say it's even more obvious when the structure of the language changes, I don't speak any sign language, but I know how some things work, and you don't describe things the same way with it as you would with a spoken language. You have to translate the meaning because of that.

Now, to go back to Cass, she didn't grew up with either of those, at least from what I know. Her language is Body. Her mind shaped itself and its understanding of things through her and others' body. How do you translate that?

Like, she doesn't say things, she can see how others' body feel by looking at them, so she express her feeling through her body. If Cass were to want to express an emotion,her mind would first and foremost express it through her body, and that's not words, that's feelings, and your body can reflect so much mors complicated feelings than words.

My point is, if Cass was to learn her first spoken language while in her teens, it would be really hard for her to express herself in a way that is understandable. Bodies reflect intent with specific muscles, while you need to build a sentence. I know fanon make her learn ASL, which is logical from a vocal cords point of view because she never trained it to speak, but that would still make communication hard, because sign languages are still not body language.

I don't know if I get the idea across, but Cass' whole understanding of the world was built around the way bodies work, and it probably holds for animals too, which are just different, sometimes similar, body languages.

It is so intersting! You can only guess how they would understand the world!

But also, would hinder them so much in their communication. Once, if she ever, get past the training to not express any feeling, you would have someone who express anything with movement, postures, specific muscle being tensed or not. Someone one who is constantly seeing how others feel because no one knows how to prevent their bodies from having feeling.

You're on the same level as an empath as long as you can see their bodies. hiding your body allows you to not be truthful about your feeling...

I fee like I'm not going anywhere with this, but the implication over how one would share anything is wide.

It's actually addressed directly at the end of her solo book that for her it's not as easy as just learning a second language, it's a hardware problem. Her brain is so specialized for body language that it lacks the structure to even process written or verbal languages the way a typical brain can. While she can learn, it will always be much more difficult for her than anyone else.

Also the thing that makes her way of communicating unique is that it's sort of "read only." As in, since it's about reading subconscious body language signals there's no real way to consciously express yourself with it. That's part of why she's all about the arts (dancing, drawing etc) because she's never had ways to express herself properly before and words obviously don't work for her.

[fandoms-in-law]

QPR Desires

Summary: When Steve encountered the term QPR it became his dream, including his best friends. Some reflection shows him how much of a dream that was as he lets go the people he'd placed into it.

Authors Notes: This started as me saying goodbye to a similar dream, so it's an au with no Upside Down cause it didn't fit to leave that in.

/\/\

Hearing the term had been a dream, begun a dream for Steve. A QPR sounded perfect as well as familiar; an echo of friendships he had or once had all in a phrase.

Then he mentioned it and saw no willingness, slightly tested it and found no joy so he re-examined the friendships.

In memories he saw his dream, small habits and rituals teasing the line of a qpr back from when they were kids and part of him yearned for that time. Except the recent memories painted a different picture, worse, harsher. It showed very different people held together by history and a Tommy and Carol he couldn't include in his dreams. They weren't his: not his friends or his QPR. They were barely likable when he thought over how they acted.

Steve still wanted a QPR, wanted that closeness with someone without the push for sex or kisses but had no idea how to ask for it, if he even managed to find someone that might like him enough to agree. So he didn't try, let the kids he once babysat befriend him and bug him for lifts or trips and focused on surviving alone.

"Steve? Why'd you ghost us man? Last month it was like a message every week planning for our trip home while term is out and then nothing? The hell is going on with you?" Tommy asked, appearing on the other side of the counter as he worked. He must have been stood there a while since Steve had been on break and could see Robin across the shop clearing some tables.

Steve shrugged, saying nothing beyond the script and gesturing towards the ice cream.

"No, I want to know what is with the silence? Don't I get a goodbye, a fuck off, an explanation over why you've decided to just drop us like bad meat?" Tommy pushed, leaning over the counter and staying close even at the dismissive glare that usually shut him up.

"I did some thinking and couldn't find any reason to like you or be your friend that didn't begin with 'well five years ago Tommy was a decent human being' so assumed with all that fun you boast over having at college you wouldn't care. Was right too since it took me being in front of you for anything to be said if you'd even noticed the silence before now. What ice cream can I get you to digest with that explanation?" He gestured at the ice cream selection again, keeping the dismissive expression on his face but stepping twice back from the counter to prepare for Tommy's attempt to manhandle him or start a fight. Over his shoulder Steve could see Robin straighten and start to come over, an expression he'd not seen her wear before on her face.

Tommy scoffed, trying to grab him but unable to reach. "You think you're too good for me? Fuck off. I'm better than you."

"No, your dad is a manager because your brother managed to build a business and you are only learning business because you're too scared to try liking one singular thing daddy doesn't decide for you. I actually got out from that pattern and get to decide things for myself. That includes not wasting time with hot headed arseholes flaunting power they haven't got. Make an order or I'll have to ask you to leave."

At Steve's words Tommy pushed on the counter as if to jump over it to get at him but was held back by Robin's hand darting out to catch his collar. "Security have been called. Assaulting or threatening our staff is a ban-able offence even if charges aren't submitted. Do not return to scoops ahoy. We'll have the formal ban sent out to you soon." She stated, somehow dodging the hands flailing back at her and the kicks that made Tommy look like a toddler throwing a tantrum more than a man restrained by his collar.

"You can't do that!" Tommy yelled at her, but didn't argue more as the security had actually shown up in record time. He did turn back to Steve to continue yelling, "You don't get to abandon us, Harrington! We're we're abandoning you! Why would we want to spend time with a washed up nobody anyway?"

Steve didn't reply and from the glare Robin split between him and Tommy he was pretty sure any attempt to would be interrupted.

They stood silently for a few minutes until the security were out of sight.

“Thanks for that, Robin.” Steve muttered, moving over to the till as he spotted Erica Sinclair coming in.

“No thanks needed. Hagan has always been an ass. I’m just glad to have the power to do that to him now.” Her grin was cruel but Steve didn’t feel threatened by it as he had a few times since getting his job. “What happened to complaining about being stuck here? You’ve done that all summer.”

Steve huffed, barely pausing to get the taster spoon Erica requested. “Still am, but it’s pretty good being stuck.”

As he fetched the tasters Erica requested, definitely taking advantage of the store policy, Robin disappeared. It wasn’t a busy time so he didn’t mind or hurry to look for her once the kid finally actually brought a cone.

“You surprised me, Harrington. Maybe we can become friends properly.” She said, coming back to the counter, nodding her head back to the window to the staff room.

There on her board meant to tease him was a ‘You Rule’ tally and Steve could only grin. “Been trying to befriend you for a while now, Buckley. Glad you’re starting to see what a great friend I could be.”

“Give me the chance to put more assholes in there place and we’ll see how this goes.” She laughed before they both had to focus on serving customers.

Perhaps a QPR with his childhood friends was only ever going to be a fruitless dream; Perhaps he had looked for friends in the wrong places before, but now Steve was sure that however close he might become with his co-worker, he’d at least started trying to befriend someone decent.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Been like, really into Gods, myths ect and I'm fully aware that Reaper and Grimm are based on the two sides of "Death" in Greek Mythology, Grimm symbolising the gentler side of death with Reaper being the gross, disturbing side of the brother's work. It's debatable what Gods actually symbolise these two halves- Thanatos, some people argue Hades, hell, even Persephone is on the roster considering how little we can scavenge up about her, but one thing that's for certain is that Hades is the most well-known "Death" god, whether it be reaping or sowing such events. So based off this, we can conclude that offering such things that one would to Hades and Thanatos would be a safe bet, and funnily enough, most of the well-known offerings are stuff crows like.

Stones, dark jems such as monkstone, coins, and candles.

Fruits and herbs, one of the most on the nose fruits being pomegranates.

Incense choises are commonly winter scents, or just ones that have little scent overall

Flowers, food and from what I could scavenge meat?, pinned butterflies or butterfly wings.

Horns, bones, clean remains of what was once alive. CLEAN is a keyword, don't bother offering it if it's a mess of bone, blood 'nd stuff.

An odd one mostly directed at Grimm I'd assume is offering up small bugs about to die to the alter being used and letting them die peacfully and naturally. A being of calm death prefers such an ending for things around them.

Uh anyways yeah. I can imagine Dust having a rotating alter offerings using a (longer) list like this one.. or maybe he knows it all off by heart. I don't know. GOD I LOVE DUST AND THE REAPERTALE BROTHERS. Death's beloved priest(ess). Sighhhhh <3

Ugh I love thinking about any type of religion or religious practices the utmv may or may not engage in or believe in. Especially when we consider there’s an entire au about the Greek pantheon, and could even be different aus where the characters are gods and goddesses of other pantheons like the Celtic or Kemetism (Color 💕) or Slavic.

Considering I remember hearing somewhere that Murder knows how to set traps (can’t remember for sure), he could make use of any animals he catches for food by repurposing their bones and meat for offerings—after throughly cleaning them of course. And I wonder if he puts any of the coins to use by maybe whatever G he finds in aus that have went through Genocides or are just abandoned.

And maybe Murder, if able, keeps a little journal detailing his journey with Death. Like a correspondence—a back and forth with the gods of Death, learning to understand the ways They communicate to figure how preferred offerings and maybe even any preferences for devotional acts? And I can imagine Murder brings Them lots and lots of flowers, perhaps of the deadly and poisonous variety despite Death’s protests.

And maybe when he’s with Nightmare, he doesn’t have any big or extravagant altars for both safety and convenience, but he does have like a little portable alter in those little mint tins. He places drawings of Death’s likenings, coins, flower petals, bits of bone in there and carries it around everywhere.

Perhaps he makes up for the inability to openly worship in a noticeable way by wearing jewelry of those specific gemstones—even though Death very likely doesn’t have any issues with how he worships now. They’d prefer if he remains safe first and foremost.

But imagine once he gets free and is in the Omega Timeline, able to have a second chance and a new start at life, he rather excitedly and eagerly starts building up a bigger altar to Death and They are very excited for him and just proud of him and all his hard work and progress.

{ @yourlocaltrasheater }

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hey, I'm wondering how much foreshadowing is too much? After drafting it all out, I can't help but foreshadow eveything in the beginning of the story, almost like dumping all the lore in the start, but with foreshadows. I don't know if I should limit the foreshadows, add them for a later and relevant time, or keep them where they are.

Worried About Too Much Foreshadowing

So... lore isn't something you would usually foreshadow in a story, unless that lore can only be hinted at because it's building up to some sort of big reveal later in the story.

Foreshadowing is used to subtly hint at things to come. It's used to stimulate curiosity in the reader and to build suspense in the story. Lore, on the other hand, is usually a part of your story's world building. Elements of your story's world building or lore may need to be foreshadowed, but not all of it.

Lore can be built into the story at points when it is relevant or makes sense. For example, if part of the world's lore is the existence of old gods vs new gods, you could have a character visiting an older relative who still worships the old gods, which gives you an opportunity to explore both. Now, let's say it's going to later turn out that your character is actually a demigod who is the child of an old god and a human woman--who is not actually the woman the character thinks is their mother--and maybe the older relative is well aware of this. You could use this scene to foreshadow the significance of the god in question. For example, perhaps your character could be perusing the older relative's altar, which contains different figurines of the old gods. Maybe--because the older relative knows the significance of this certain god--they have a little shrine built to them. Maybe your character notices this and the older relative smiles as your character examines the alter. "Feel an affinity for god xyz, do you?" the old woman says with a crooked smile. And that's all it has to be in that scene. The woman's crooked smile indicates that she's amused by the character's interest in that particular god. She knows something they don't know, but it's so light your character--and even the reader--can shrug it off for now. It's only later on, once it's revealed that this particular god is your character's father, that the character and the reader can look back on moments like that and connect the dots. That's what makes it foreshadowing. :)

So, how do you know if you have too much foreshadowing? Well, remember, you're not trying to give away the whole big thing before it actually happens. You're just dropping occasional "dots," because again, you're not trying to lead the reader to the conclusion on your own... you want them to remain clueless until they get to the reveal, but once they get there, you want them to suddenly remember all those "dots," connect them, and say, "DUH! Why didn't I realize this before???"

I hope that helps!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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