#and some other smaller ones it’s cool what people can do with the medium and what not

[sinnamon-wade]

i like horror, i really do! recently i’ve been getting into more online and analog horror, the story telling can truly be impeccable but sometimes the horror and imagery can be too much for me. i literally can’t watch these videos unless it’s through these explanation videos like i need some kind of barrier between me and the actual horror. even though i like horror my anxiety has me feeling like the monsters are going get me now oof. i’ve been spooked out trying to sleep after watching videos before bed and i have the compulsion to check behind the shower curtain when i use the bathroom and at night i hate looking down the hallway.

i like horror too much to stop so i’m watching all these videos diving deep in these stories i’m just doing my best not keep creepy images in my mind because the second i get a nightmare with some kinda otherworldly monster it’s gonna be it for me 🫣

[oh-no-its-bird]

I would love to read founders konoha from the kids, teens and adults based on their interactions so much.

I just want the kids to be 'huh. Not what I was expecting' and just all the horror stories heard

Give the teens so much 'oh no, that's hot' and it's worse bc you were previously enemies so you could pine over an enemy that wasn't available but now it's a chance.

Adults just bonding over their kids antics. Yes I know it would be more but let them bond over than just fighting, though they can be like 'it was cool/difficult move you pulled'

I THINK THAT IT JUST HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL !!!

Obviously, we see very little of early Konoha as is. And what we do see is all from the perspective of like, those at the very, very top of it, in charge of it all, planning, all that.

THE AMOUNT OF FUCKING "FORBIDDEN ROMANCES" THAT ARE HAPPENING IN THE VILLAGE IS SO REAL THO. LIKE. Ok so u have all these shiobi kids, (many of which are probably wired to be attracted to deadly things, just by virtue of how theyre raised) going from isolated communities where the dating pool consists of arranged marriages and the same guys youve known since u were 5, suddenly thrust into a setting with so many other shinobi kids and clans that it takes actual effort to keep track of. And also you have pre set sterotypes and relationships to go off of just based off of their clan alignment, and all this melodrama about becoming friends (or more) with the people who, a year ago, you were expected to KILL.

And you also have the exact same thing but playing out with allied clans, where some kids are coming to the "rescue" of their allies. I bet some of them like look forward to seeing their allied clan counterparts in whatever monthly or even yearly trips they no doubt beg to be let to go on. Just for the opportunity to see their friends or crushes that one single time a year-- BUT NOW THEY LIVE IN THE SAME VILLAGE !!!

These guys are losing their MINDS

The parents have the most genuine beef between them, even while the children may be louder about it-- but the children's antics are pulling the parents together. Maybe because they need to at least try to set a good example, maybe because they just need someone to be able to share a glance with and go "can you believe this shit?"

I just love thinking ab specifically not even how messy the Uchiha and Senju kids would be living in proximity, but like just tossing in all these different clans from all over.

Bc at first, when its just Senju and Uchiha, its at least straight forward. But then you start mixing in other major clans-- Hyuuga, Nara, and it gets messier. And then the smaller clans are also getting mixed in, Orochi, Hatake, Shiranui, etc. And then more big clans arrive, and even more smaller, and now there are civilians here, and a lot of the younger clan members have never even interacted with a civilian outside of their jobs, and it's just so messy.

What do you do when a battlefield crush is suddenly living only a few minutes away? When you're suddenly seeing them daily? Even potentially going on missions with them? There's going to be so much pigtail pulling and just awful idiot shinobi flirting via mutual harassment

Anyways I firmly believe that there was a major baby boom in the first couple of years of Konoha being founded, many of which were probably idiot teenagers fooling around bc they couldnt manage to go on a mission with an enemy clan member without the crazy tension getting to them, send tweet.

ALSO !!! It would be such a great medium to tackle writing fun clan rumors and stereotypes about clans and also people! I want to see random people gossip about the founders !!!

[syndrossi]

Meanwhile, over in main story land, I'm trying to figure out how I want to approach the broader/longer story.

My original plan was to keep everything in a single fic that just grows absurdly long, where there are arcs, then lulls/timeskips between.

But increasingly I've been thinking about having a hard cut-off for Resonant and having the next story live in its own fic.

Pros of splitting it up:

It's easier to understand what the self-contained arcs are. For Resonant, this would be from the day the twins woke up, until either the end of the Stepstones conclusion, or just before (in which case the Stepstones arc would be its own story). My guess is that this takes us to something between 300-400K words, not sure exactly.

It provides natural breathing room. I can spend some time exploring other AU concepts, or take a break to write the next thing for 2-3 months so that I have a massive buffer like when I first started posting Resonant. (I believe I was midway through ch13 when I started posting it.)

It lets me mark Resonant as complete, which means people who have been putting off reading it because it's a WIP can read it, knowing they're getting a self-contained story.

I can sprinkle in some short stories between the larger stories, which unlocks some interesting POVs or events.

I can write Rhaegar POV for the "next" long story without it being weird to suddenly introduce it after around 200K words.

Cons of splitting it up:

Inevitably gonna lose people when posting something new. Sequels are never as popular as the original.

The timeskips are more delineated, meaning it may be harder to incorporate smaller, meaningful moments in between. For example, Daemon and the twins going on a winter retreat in the Riverlands. Granted, this could be a short/medium story instead, but I always feel weird doing that for things that don't have much of an action plot.

It can be harder to follow/find everything if there are many smaller stories in between the longer ones.

It's really cool to get a work to 500K-1Mil words, and this doesn't allow that.

I have to come up with new titles 😱

Curious if anyone has a strong preference one way or another, and if so, why?

[roukabi]

My objectively correct opinions on a hadestown adaptation

(Explanation under the cut)

For the purposes of this chart, the hypothetical Hadestown adaptation would follow the original Broadway production (2019).

Lawful Good: Out of all animated possibilites, this would be the medium I'd want to see a HT adaptation in purely for its tangibility and underground atmosphere. Stopmo is considered inherently kitsch and a less 'pretty' animation medium in the eyes of the public. Critics only recognize it if a big name is attached (see Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, which won the Golden Globe for its running year). Therefore, there's no real fear of an adaptation like this getting too popular, and a smart director would use this tactile medium to restore the scrappy, raw feel of the Vermont production. Even if the conditions aren't perfect, as long as a studio that isn't Laika or Aardman takes the helm, there's a good chance the average stopmo director can be trusted with the show. Overall, this is my pie-in-the-sky option, though it'll probably never happen.

Neutral Good: The next best thing, and hopefully what we will get. Personal preference would leave lyrics the way they were in the original Broadway version, but I can't always get what I want.

Chaotic Good: A stage puppet version of Hadestown gets created and posted for free on YouTube and it gets, like, 100,000 views. The puppets are wonderful, the stage is great, and the actors are... good. Lots of exciting staging options to be had here. Gets as creatively interesting as possible without losing anything to the scope of a screen or animated fluff. Not really an official adaptation but still pretty cool, right?

Lawful Neutral: Look, I love 2D as much as the next guy, but anything could happen. 2D is functionally limitless in what you can do with it, which sets it apart from other mediums... for better or worse. I fear a lot of directors would go crazy with the visuals and forget to ground Hadestown in its emotional core. I think Cartoon Saloon would get it, though. While not the most top-tier team of directors, their eye for visual storytelling is unmatched. Just look at Screecher's Reach if you don't believe me. If they can bring the same amount of writing prowess to Hadestown as they did The Breadwinner, it could work. 2D is also in high demand from certain audiences (though not all), so it could run the risk of getting dangerously generic to appeal to everybody. To quote Chris Sanders, who'd just finished up work on The Lion King when he said this: "This is either gonna be huge, or it's not gonna work at all."

True Neutral: Sometimes it's best to let some shows stay as they are. Hadestown is one of those shows.

Chaotic Neutral: "indie" has become a subjective term I think, because "indie" ranges from "two people with a string" to "Amazon Prime/Netflix-funded, B-list actor, industry-standard tech with a slightly smaller fanbase". That was definitely not a slight at anyone in particular. There's already some college theatre-esque medleys on YouTube, but those aren't really full adaptations. While there'd be a lot of heart and passion in this project, the limited budget/opportunities would detract from the show's scale, and be a little embarrassing to watch tbh.

Lawful Evil: The Wicked treatment. Or maybe the Illumination treatment? Oh, no. Ew. Don't wanna think about that. 3D appeals to general audiences and gets used by the big companies more, so by that association it gets lumped in with the rest of Hollywood. Not great, overproduced, weird casting choices (related snide: in a show that's cultivated a diverse range of vocals, why on earth were Betty Who and Jordan Fisher casted on Broadway? Besides stuntcasting, of course...). A dishonest portrayal of an honest show. Could be worse, though. I can only see a 3D animated adaptation working if some smaller, non-US studio goes absolutely batshit during visdev. Other than that, 3D is too polished and techy to fit the needs of the show.

Neutral Evil: The only good thing that comes out of this is that most people see AI as a cheap scammy tool, so whatever HT-ness comes out of it will not tarnish Hadestown's name too much. I doubt it'd be taken seriously at all, if anyone would even care to look at it. I don't even think AI bros would touch the anticapitalist 'woke' themes with a ten-foot pole.

Chaotic Evil: remember what I said during the Chaotic Neutral bloc? That was about Viv. I don't care that she technically falls into Lawful Neutral, this is its own circle of hell. It's worse than AI because unlike AI, which is forgettable, Viv's understandings of mythology, gender, and politics are actively, stupidly shallow. Can you imagine what would happen to Eurydice and Persephone? Or the Fates? Could you imagine the sexism? The stereotyping? The song 'Flowers' might as well not exist. Persephone would be painted as a crazy drunk abuser. The negative cultural impact + Viv's rabid fanbase would ruin me forever. This idea has cursed me the moment it popped into my head and if I have to think about it, you do, too. Let's hope it never happens.

[diristine]

Some childhood Glass headcanons to end my day before I sleep! Yknow, one last little gift and hopefully I can post the silly comic tomorrow and then draw more of our beloved psychologist.

WARNING FOR 4231 INSINUATIONS, MENTIONS, AND REFERENCES (none of the s/a mentioned but be aware)

Simon grew up in Massachusetts, his immediate family all have severe Boston accents that he has learned to hide. Except when he’s really pissed then you’ll be able to hear that accent shine through.

His family was pretty anomalous, between Francis having a third pupil in his eye to Simon’s twin having been a medium. All small and easily concealable anomalies, but they were careful to not let too much of it show.

Simon’s twin’s name was Skylar Glass! The two of them used to be identical twins, both blue eyed, blonde hair, freckles all over!

The Glass family was fairly large, though they continued to live in one home all together until the kiddos moved out.

He grew up sharing a room with all of the girls until he came out and was allowed to stay with the boys eventually. He took Francis’ old bed as his own.

Simon grew up homeschooled until they figured out he was somehow non-anomalous. Then the kid was sent to public school by his own request, where he joined Theater and found his love for acting and music!

His family cared for chickens, bees, goats, and had a large garden. They lived in a fairly secluded area so all the animals and messes, granted it was a smaller rural area anyways. So nobody minded the eggs the Glass family passed out when their hens laid too many.

He was bullied at school a lot, between being trans and from the “weird family” but he never told anyone. Simon was so desperate for human connection and theater he kept his abuse to himself.

Simon did in fact call the cops on a few parties out of pure spite, and sat on the curb across the road eating popcorn and watching the show. He made sure to stay out of site from the other students so nobody knew it was him who did so. Either way, he only really called the cops on the parties his bullies hosted, it was more fun that way.

His sister died when they were both 9, and Francis ran off with his girlfriend when he was 8. He lost his two closest family members close to the same year. It was the sadness he gained from that which caused him to want to help sad lonely people.

Skylar died of acute Leukemia. Doctors tried to save her, but the cancer progressed too fast. Simon promised to her on her death bed he’d stay alive and do cool stuff so she cant haunt him and see all the cool stuff. Like skydiving.

He was a picky eater as a kid, he’s gotten better as he’s grown but Simon refused to eat his greens.

Simon has always asked a lot of questions as a kiddo!! He was so curious about anything and everything, to where whenever Francis babysat him, he would bother Francis about it. If Francis didn’t answer he’d simply go to Lilly! She was always super nice, with her flowers and hooves and that smile!

He wishes he killed Lilly when he had the chance. So that his cousin didn’t have to become what he is today.

He sometimes got scared at night and crawled into Skylar’s bed to cuddle her or ran to Francis. Simon could always rely on his cousin, who would hold him and tell him stories of stars and magic. He remembers how Francis would make the milky way appear on the ceiling and made the shadows move like puppets across the walls. Simon always felt safe with Francis.

When Francis left, Simon was devastated. He went to the woods, to the park, everywhere. Calling Francis’ name. He kept putting up missing posters well into his teenage years, when he finally stopped. If only he paid closer attention to the occasional passerby, he may have spotted familiar eyes.

Wow. That got depressing. Im not sorry. Not in the slightest.

[subway-boss-jericho]

(threataning with art anon) yes! Rambles! Also you are so incredibly real for imagining all that stuff in different mediums (I have had similar experience) wish I could make a full animated film. That would be So Cool.

And! At one time or another I think I’ve read through the majority of the aus, but you are so right I freaking. Love the Mech AU. And coupled (uncoupled) looks like it would a verrry interesting character study (in like a “I wouldn’t do this but ingo would. Huh” kinda way)

help I’m reading them all again

also! I am here to encourage prattling I love prattling (it gives me more ideas for drawing-)

Hiii hii welcome back thank you for continuing to enable me :D

:D Yayy I'm so thrilled you like them. I never know if people actually think my wild bullshit is interesting or they just follow me for one thing (wheeze) ((Which, to be clear, is still totally fair and valid. No shame)) Of the AUs I've uploaded, I think the one that has gotten disproportionately ignored the worst is Coupled (Uncoupled). I am fucking obsessed with the coupled twins, and you're exactly right on the money there because holy Shit it's Such a character-study-rich situation to put them in. They were my in my top 3 indisputably Favorite AUs for a very long time (along with Steady Tracks and Spirit Keeper as the other two) and while I feel like I'm not super vocal about them they're still extremely high on that metaphorical list.

Realistically I could never actually list my Favorites, for the same reason why I can't really pick favorite pokemon. I like all my AUs for different reasons, so I may like one aspect of a given AU more than a different aspect of a different AU, but actually Ranking them As Favorites would be virtually impossible. Just know that I'm horribly fucking ill about coupled uncoupled more than most of the other smaller ones. Some day I'll vibe check you all so fucking hard with art or animation or writing out of left field that is about them, and then none of yall fucks will ever be normal again /lh /j

Actually. I've been struggling to write a caption for this thing so I can post it for months. Check this out:

I'M SO NORMAL ABOUT THEM.

Slaps top of this guy. He can fit two people's worth of the worst existential socio-emotional crises in him. I love gel pens.

I've decided to keep rambling about whatever the fuck on this topic, but I'm putting a cut here for my sanity:

Anyway! I really did make this AU entirely because I saw a fandom trend and went Whoa! Did we consider The Implications! And then didn't wait for an answer. Considering the implications is actually the Thing I Do the Most as I am writing in general, as any friend of mine can easily confirm. It's how a decent number of my AUs happened. I also have a trend towards either 1. trying to make an AU that doesn't touch on anything I've seen other people doing or 2. is explicitly inspired by what I perceive as trends in the fandom. Coupled Uncoupled is one of the latter, being directly inspired by Diamond Crossing. God I was not normal about diamond crossing. I'm Still Not Normal about diamond crossing.

I'm a HUGE fan of fusion in media, just in general. I don't actually know a whole lot of examples off the top of my head other than steven universe, but fusion as a concept drives me totally crazy. What if you and your friend/best friend/closest ally/rival/enemy/lover/a stranger etc could be the same person through a process so crazy intimate and vulnerable that it forces you to expose your deepest weaknesses, insecurities, emotions and motivations fully and without restraint. Sure I can be normal about that 👍

But yeah coupled uncoupled isn't like, me looking at Diamond Crossing or any other fic for that matter and going "I could do it better/I don't like insert plot point A," it was actually me looking at diamond crossing and going holy FUCK this is the COOLEST SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN. I need to participate in this or I am going to die. Then I came up with a million different ideas of fusion stories I thought would be interesting to tell, identified aforementioned trope of using the b2/w2 DNA splicers as a plot device, and went. ohohohohohohhoohohohoo i could do something silly and fucked up me thinks.

What if fusion was great and cool and awesome and a coping mechanism for a trauma/grief and also not what you thought and also more than you bargained for and also didn't give you the closure you were expecting and ALSO you didn't know how to make it stop.

Fusion as a mistake. Fusion as a regret. Fusion as a character flaw. Fusion as a major conflict (that isn't inherently connoted about?? forms of abuse and toxic relationships?? can we use fusion as a metaphor for other nuanced things too?? pls let me have this /lh)

Anyway their story is extremely complex and just by listing off ^ that I am extremely underselling the level of interwoven conflict and complicated emotional states of all parties involved so please do not misunderstand and think that one of the twins is fucked up and evil. I swear i didn't mischaracterize them that badly 🤣 The main point of the story, just off the top of my head, is actually focused around the theme of vulnerability, conflict resolution, and the strength of relationships founded on communication.

Trying to avoid spoiling The Entire Plot because I really think Coupled (Uncoupled) is going to be my next major fic project but in essence it does get better and this new tool available to them only opens the door for them to be closer than ever before and express care and compassion in new ways unique to them. i might make myself cry if I keep yammering. i care them

God I totally just used your ask as an excuse to go off. I've been doing that every time you send an ask, actually. This is why I love asks. Tysm <3 And I hope you enjoyed reading or if you didn't and TL;DR then basically god i'm so ill about them.

Every day I think about how a friend of mine made an entire animatic for this AU and yet we can't put it anywhere because we both want to remake it digitally. thats going to be one hell of a day when that bombshell drops

Thank you for the ask, and as always thank you for listening!

Coupled (Uncoupled) Masterpost

[ultimateaclrecovery]

Japan Day 11 (from my trip last November, but this is the last one!)

Last day in Tokyo and travel home!

Started the day with some more temple and some cute bridges with a bunch of koi

And then it was mostly shopping for last minute souvenirs and things that are cheaper in Japan. So here are some more fun Disney pictures!

Ended the trip by finally getting the panda cream puffs from stand right by our hotel transit stop, and then it was homeward bound! I celebrated being home by using my new bear shaped pancake maker to keep the cute food going.

What a wonderful trip!

Overly long travel diary (read if bored)

Day 11

Started our day fairly early with free hotel breakfast and then took the train to see tokyos temple. It had a cool pagado and a garden with a bunch of koi but I admit to being a little templed out at this point. We spend the rest of our morning time before the airport shopping. We start at the little stall market by the temple that is just starting to open. I get a bird shaped custard to eat right then 80 yen. And a box set of fun ct character custards to eat later. And a little lantern that I will make a Christmas ornament, best part I get a 500 yen coin so now I have the full set.

We then go to a grocery for snacks and then a don Quito for more snacks and weird things. I get some snacks and some socks for my brothers girlfriend.

Then we go look at fancy tea and dish ware for my bf. He gets a sake set and a tea set and a get a little heart shaped mold for making rice balls. We then go to Tokyo station for ramen and back to the character store so I can get the penguin in a Christmas tree that I’ve been thinking about all week. It’s smaller than I had built it up in my head but it’s still so cute so I get it even tho it is over priced and silly. It’s cute and makes me happy. I look for other things I might want but don’t really find anything.

We then head back out to do more shopping and whatnot at a normal mall. Anthony gets normal things like socks and underwear because they are cheaper here and we find our dads matching Japanese shirts. They are nicer than ones we’ve seen at the souvenir shops. I really want a womens cut shirt but I don’t think they have any. They have some fun womens graphics and I find one I really like but it’s only in large. We realize you can print the designs on different shirts or design your own but can’t quite figure it out. I try asking the guy working there if I can get the one I like in a medium and luckily he knows enough English to figure what I’m asking and sets it all up. I then have to go buy the medium shirt and then get it to printing people. I manage to do it successfully but only because the workers know some English. Although they keep trying to explain things to me in Japanese before giving up and pointing at their English signs or trying use what English they know. I worry as I get printed that maybe I should’ve gotten a small but it’s cotton so it will shrink a little so it should be fine.

We head back to towards the hotel and get vending machine drinks on the way, can’t believe I made it this far without using a vending machine. I use some of what’s left of my ic card for a 180 yen grape Fanta. I love me some things that are purple even tho I don’t normally like pop. I got my ic card down to like 200 yen so I did pretty good job there.

And then it’s off to buy panda custards! They’ve been selling them at the train station nearest our hotel and I’ve wanted them since we’ve got here.

Then collect our bags from the hotel and head to the bigger train station to get tickets for the train to the airport. It’s a special one so can’t just use your ic card.

At the airport we mostly breeze through security except I forgot a tiny water bottle in my backpack from the flight out here oops. And then we go to the liquor store so my bf can get fun liquor and I buy one of the bottle for him since the us it’s only one tax free per person.

We stop by at another store just to see and I find the cutest howls moving castle tote bag. It’s a little over priced (ghibli plus airport) but it’s the cutest tote bag I’ve seen here so I get it.

I then get ice cream with my remaining, non souvenir coins.

The flight is uneventful and then his parents give us a ride back to his place my first time meeting them which is a little overwhelming after traveling for so long. I take a 20 dollar lyft back from his place and then it’s home sweet. I crank my heat back up to normal and start to unpack.

General thoughts.

The toilets here can be so fancy. Minus the one public restroom one just in the street that was just the hole in the ground. But any western toilets have bidets and a lot of them are fancy enough to lift up their kids when you walk into the room. My favorite tho is the public restrooms with little speakers that can play water music at the push of a button. Anthony thinks this is to cover the sounds of peeing or pooping but I think the rushing water is also to help you go.

[antimony-medusa]

*Climbs up on my soap box again, flipchart presentation in hand*

Hello. I promise this is the last time I'll do this (for this exchange). But let's do ONE MORE TIME.

Fic in a Box! Really cool 18+ fandom exchange that's running now, and I am here to lure you into signing up. You can sign up to until the end of the 3rd (midnight EDT).

What makes this fandom special is four things things

it's a 10k exhange, which is why you have until mid-october to get it done.

you can opt into WILD mediums for your fic— dress up game! poetry! fanvid! in-world reddit posts! spreadsheets! Check out the tag set for the full list, it's honestly hundreds of medium options. You're not guaranteed to get any of the mediums you opt into, but it's a possibility! You can even contact the mods to ask to match on a specific medium if you really want to make a ship schematic, or write a triple drabble, or draw a propaganda poster.

Instead of requesting your fic focus on a relationship, there are also Worldbuilding tags you can request. For QSMP, the WB tags are WB: Any (QSMP | Quackity SMP), WB: Egg Revivals (QSMP), WB: Egg/Code Connection (QSMP), WB: Federation Kidnappings & Cryosleep (QSMP). You could request or offer a fic (or art!) that focuses on any of those!

This part is optional, but you can take your 10k, and go to the mods, and request that you Swap some of your assignment, so instead of 10k for UsernameWaterglass, you have 4k for UsernameWaterglass, 3k for UsernameTissueBox, and 3k for UsernameCinnamonRoll. (Really creative usernames there, drawn from the items around me.) And then you still hit 10k on your gift, but in the form of multiple smaller gifts!

The mods don't promise that you'll definitely get a swap, but the more people in the exchange requesting swaps, the more likely it gets. So that is why I'm here now, looking at you with pleading eyes! I want to do some QSMP swaps, but we only have 4 people signed up for QSMP, and we don't have a huge amount of overlap in characters, so some people are still not matchable. I want us to drop some banger fics into the tag and make everybody go OOOOOOO that looks fun why didn't I sign up for FIAB, and then they weep and wail with joy while reading our fics.

Y'know, normal things to want.

Anyways, you can see the tagset for all the possible tags you can offer and request here (hence why there's ship tags on this post), and you can see all the QSMP sign-ups here, and the event blog and rules are here, and you can sign up yourself here! If you are a multi-mcyt fan, we also have DSMP, Hermitcraft, Life Series, SMPEarth in the tag set, and there are literally over a thosuand other fandoms. We even have a MCYT FIAB discord where you can ask questions and compare notes!

I leave you with some highlights from the QSMP requests so far.

*locks onto you with with a powerful magnet to drag you into exchange* JOIN US.

[encyclopika]

Animal Crossing Fish - Explained #242

Brought to you by a marine biologist and a rockfish with a message...

CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!

Today I bring you another rockfish. In 2022, I covered the Dark-Banded Rockfish. Today, I cover the Black Rockfish!

The Black Rockfish (Sebastes melanops) appeared in ACPC in December 2022 and has been an uncommon staple of Saltwater Shores ever since. In real life, Black Rockfish are found in the North Pacific, from California, US, and following the continental shelf north around through the Aluetian Islands and to Japan. They like structured habitat, like rocks, in case that wasn't apparent from the common name, but they also sometimes like to hang out at the surface. They're a medium-size fish that feeds on smaller fish and crustaceans.

Picture from prisonerrockcharters.com

When I was trying to think of what topic to cover for the Black Rockfish today, I thought...well, first, rockfish are sorta boring? Although they look like a "bass", they are scorpaenids, or scorpionfish, meaning their closest relatives in AC are the zebra turkeyfish, the red lionfish, the weedy stingfish, the lumpfish, and uh...the other rockfish we covered. They do have venomous spines, just like other scorpionfish, but their venom is extremely mild, so they're not even as cool as their relatives in that department. They really don't have anything special going on, except that they can live for a long time, almost 50 years! But uh, we already covered that, too.

But rockfish are often the targets of fisheries! So I figured I could get into some spiel about seafood or fishing but...I've done a lot of that. I've talked about why eating local fish and seafood is best for your health, the environment, and your community; I talked about IUU (Illegal, Unregulated, Unreported) fishing; I talked about Sustainability; I talked about contamination; I talked about what fisheries even *are*; I've talked about aquaculture twice, and probably more.

Sorry, not sorry - it's what my life is about as a marine biologist in fisheries! But aside from commercial fishing, recreational fishing is also really important and actually good for you in a few ways. First, it's worth mentioning that recreational fisheries are managed the same way as commercial fisheries (in the US, I can't speak for other countries), and they have "bag limits" (how many of a species someone can keep in a day or week), open and closed seasons, and size limits just like the commercial guys do. Hunting and fishing aren't evil - you can actually hunt or fish with, or in the benefit of, the environment. Black rockfish itself is plentiful, with a robust population, are fun to fish for, they're managed well, and can be large enough to feed a family a very healthy dinner.

From riptidefish.com - this guy has two big black rockfish!

However, it's worth noting and accepting that as fun and healthy as fishing is for people - getting outside and doing an activity like fishing is good for your brain and the sunlight is great, too - it goes without saying that it isn't for the fish itself. I'm one to say, if you hunt it, then you should eat it - I'm for the sport if the sport will then feed someone in return. But that's enough pandering - many people do catch-and-release fishing which is purely for the sport, and, if done correctly, the "return" part is meant to happen quickly so the fish can get back to its life after basically getting abducted by aliens. But, that's not always the case for all species.

For some fish species, coming to the surface is a death sentence. As I explained when I covered the abyssal tank in our museum tour, deep sea animals are so understudied because they are not adapted to see the light of day or, more accurately, to be under low pressure. The deeper you go underwater, the more the water squeezes you from all sides. That's why things like, for example, a submarine or your underwater camera, have a depth rating. At some point, the water will crush you. (You know about this if you followed the story about the millionaires who tried to go see the Titanic in their makeshift submarine? Yeah - the water literally will crush you.)

For fish, like the Black Rockfish, moving from different depths takes time as they acclimate themselves during ascent or descent using their swim bladders, which is a gas-filled organ they use for bouyancy. The gases in the swim bladder come from the fish's blood through some really interesting but complicated forces of physics and chemistry. For the purposes of this post, just know these animals have a very sophisticated pool floatie inside of them that helps them go up and down in the water. Reeling them up from depth on a hook is way too fast, and they get what is called barotrauma.

I won't share any pictures of what barotrauma can look like, because it's sad, but it can include their swim bladders expanding so much from the release of pressure that it damages their other organs, or ruptures. Throwing them back into the water willy-nilly isn't really going to save them from that - some will float at the surface as easy pickings for predators, others may swim away but then succumb to their injuries later. There are some devices that can "re-pressure" your fish by returning them to the depth they were captured. These are called "descending devices", and they're catching on in the sport fishing community. Before those devices were invented, many fishermen would puncture the swim bladder if it was extended out of the fish's mouth (which can happen, which is why I'm not sharing a picture of it) with the thought that then the extra gas can then be expelled. DON'T FUCKING DO THIS.

Barotrauma doesn't happen to every fish; this is typical of fish that 1) are coming up from depth (about 30ft/10m or more) too quickly and 2) don't have a vent for their swim bladder. For number 2, we have spoken about fish that have vents from the esophagus to the swim bladder, allowing these fish to gulp air at the surface if they so desire, and also "burp" it out. Fish have all sorts of adaptations of the swim bladder to do this, including the tetrapod lungs. Some have special organs to utilize oxygen in the air, like we talked about a long time ago with the snakehead and betta. You'll notice those air-breathing abilities are mostly seen in freshwater fish - oceanic fish don't really have to worry about their habitat disappearing on a regular basis and so many have lost the connection between their swim bladder and esophagus. However, they, and the cartilagenous fish (sharks and rays) who don't have swim bladders, may still have pressure-induced effects that aren't so obvious as they are in fish with swim bladders. So the message is - if you fish, it might be best to plan on fish dinner that night.

And there you have it. Looks like I found something to talk about after all!

[pixel7777]

By Starlight

Read here below or on AO3.

💫✨Astarion thought slaying a giant floating brain would be the hardest part of saving Baldur’s Gate—turns out navigating a life without sunlight may be the bigger challenge. Trapped behind shutters again after his time in the sun, he’s certain the future holds nothing but darkness… until Juniper lures him out under a canopy of stars. In this midnight world of whispered constellations and teasing kisses, Astarion just might discover that not all light has to burn.💫✨

This is a fluffy, romantic one-shot with a healthy dose of medium-smuttiness. Like Rainy Day Reading, this cozy romance features Juniper as Tav, but they can be read in either order.

Your replies and reblogs mean the world to me!

Astarion paced the confines of his shuttered room at the Elfsong, each turn bringing him past another closed window. His fingers traced the wood grain of one tightly closed shutter, remembering how different it had felt mere days ago when sunlight had been a gift rather than a death sentence.

He'd sprawled in meadows, letting golden warmth soak into his skin. Tilted his face up to catch morning light filtering through leaves. Walked boldly down streets at high noon. A vampire who could walk in daylight.

Now the sun tracked across the sky beyond his walls, and he tracked it right back, marking its passage by the shifting angles of light that crept through the tiniest gaps in the shutters. Each gleam was a reminder of what he'd lost. What he'd chosen to lose, if he was being honest with himself—which he tried to avoid whenever possible.

The room felt smaller with each circuit. Strange how the loss of something could take up so much space. The walls pressed in, the ceiling hung low, and the air grew stale with the ghosts of memories he couldn't quite shake. Sunlight on water. The way shadows danced on forest paths at dawn. The particular way Juniper's hair caught the light at sunset, turning to living flame.

Of all the things he'd sacrificed to be free of Cazador and his cycle of abuse, this loss bit deepest. The sun had been more than light—it had been possibility. Promise. Proof that he could be something other than what his master had made him. He pressed his palm flat against the shutter, feeling the heat radiating through the wood.

A soft knock pulled him from his brooding. The door opened just enough for Juniper to slip through, bringing a rush of cooler air from the hall with her.

"Thought I'd find you wearing holes in the floorboards." She crossed the room in quick steps and pressed against him, all warmth and softness and the lingering scent of summer air in her copper hair. Her arms wrapped around his waist as she tucked her face against his chest, unbothered by his lack of heartbeat or the cool temperature of his skin.

"June." He buried his nose in her hair, breathing in the mix of herbs from her components pouch and the particular scent that was uniquely her. His fingers found their way to the intricate braids that kept her hair from her face, tracing the familiar patterns. "Come to rescue me, my love?"

She tilted her head back, amber eyes catching what little light filtered through the shutters. Freckles scattered across her bronze skin, and a smile played at the corners of her mouth. The smile that meant she had plans.

"Maybe." She stretched up to kiss him, brief but tender.

"What are you plotting?" He caught her chin between his fingers. "You've got that look."

"What look?" Her eyes widened with exaggerated innocence.

"The one that means I'm about to be dragged into some sort of adventure." He traced the scar that ran from her temple to jaw. "Come on, darling. Out with it."

"First, tell me about your day." She caught his hand and pressed a kiss to his palm. "You seem tense."

"Tense? No, merely contemplating murder." He dropped onto the bed with a dramatic flourish. "Do you know how many people have come knocking today with their absolutely brilliant ideas for curing vampirism?"

"More than yesterday?"

"Four. Four different people convinced they had the solution. One suggested exposure therapy—just small doses of sunlight to build up immunity." He rolled his eyes. "Because that's exactly how burning to ash works. You just need to grow accustomed to it."

Juniper settled beside him, running fingers through his hair.  He leaned into her touch, and she obligingly scratched at his scalp lightly. "That's especially creative."

"Oh, it gets better. When they're not trying to cure me, they're begging for help with absolutely vital missions that just happen to take place at high noon in the middle of the market square." He caught her hand, pressing it against his cheek. "Unless someone needs help clearing rats from a cellar or tracking criminals through the sewers, I'm rather useless now."

"You're not—"

"Although," he interrupted with a smirk, "at least I have an excellent excuse to dodge those tedious council meetings. How many did you suffer through today?"

"Three." She groaned. "The trade guild wants to rename a street after us."

"Wonderful. Perhaps they'll choose one of the underground passages. Then I might actually see it."

"They could move the meetings to after dark," Juniper mused, still running her fingers through his hair. "Though I can't decide if that would be kind or cruel."

Astarion paused, caught between his instinctive deflection and the honest uncertainty churning beneath. The thought of sitting through endless discussions about emergency grain shipments and street repairs made him want to claw his own eyes out. And yet—the idea that he couldn't attend even if he wanted to stung in an entirely different way.

He traced the edge of her sleeve, following the embroidered pattern. "I'm not entirely sure myself, darling."

"Well then." She caught his wandering hand, twining their fingers together. "I'll keep your nights free. That way I can enjoy them with you." Her eyes darted to the window, and a smile spread across her face. "Speaking of which..."

Astarion followed her gaze to the shutters. The deadly glow that had seeped through the cracks had faded to nothing. When had the sun set? He'd been so caught up in their conversation he'd missed the moment darkness claimed the sky.

Juniper rose, tugging at his hand. "Come on."

"Are you finally going to tell me what you're plotting?" He allowed her to pull him to his feet, studying the mysterious smile playing across her lips.

"You'll see." She backed toward the door, drawing him after her with their linked hands.

"That's not an answer, darling."

Her only response was that infuriating smile as she led him from the room.

***

The night air carried hints of summer flowers and fresh-cut hay from the Rivington fields. Astarion kept pace with Juniper as she led him up yet another winding path. The slope had grown steeper, and while his vampiric grace meant he hardly noticed the climb, he noted with amusement how Juniper's breath came faster.

"You know," he drawled, "when you suggested we go for a walk, I rather thought you meant through the city. Not halfway to Baldur's Gate's apparently secret mountain range."

"We're almost there." She adjusted the mysterious pack on her shoulder. The same pack she'd refused to let him examine or carry, claiming it would "ruin the surprise."

"You said that ten minutes ago, darling." He caught her hand, pulling her to a stop. "And twenty minutes before that. And when we crossed the bridge. And—"

She stretched up to silence him with a kiss, then danced away with a laugh that echoed across the hillside. "Race you to the top?"

"That would require knowing where the top is." But he found himself grinning despite his protests, watching her practically skip up the path ahead of him. Her copper braids caught the starlight, and her enthusiasm was irritatingly infectious. "Besides, I thought the point was to walk together."

"Then stop dawdling and walk faster."

"I do not dawdle."

"You're dawdling right now." She paused, turning to face him with hands on her hips. The starlight caught her profile, illuminating her smile. "Come on. Just around this bend. I promise."

"Your promises are becoming less trustworthy by the minute." But he quickened his pace to catch up, reaching to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Though I suppose the view isn't entirely terrible."

She caught his hand and squeezed it. "Just wait. It gets better."

Around the bend, as promised, the hillside opened onto a natural terrace overlooking the city. Baldur's Gate sprawled below them, its countless lanterns and torches creating rivers of light that mimicked the actual Chionthar beside it. The moon hung low and full, casting silver reflections across the water that danced and shifted with each ripple.

"Ta-da!" Juniper spread her arms wide, clearly delighted with herself. "Best view in the city. Well, outside the city. Technically."

"It's lovely." He made sure to inject warmth into the words, though they felt hollow in his throat. The view was objectively beautiful, he supposed, but it only emphasized how separate he felt from it all—the city full of life below, the people going about their business, planning their days around sun and schedules that no longer applied to him.

"I found it yesterday during that endless meeting about grain shipments." Juniper began unpacking her mysterious bag, pulling out a blanket and spreading it on the grass. "I needed some air, went wandering, and just... stumbled on this spot. Immediately thought of you."

He arched an eyebrow. "Did you now? And here I thought I was more the type to inspire thoughts of fancy parties than of pastoral hillsides."

"You're full of surprises." She patted the blanket beside her. "Come on, sit with me."

He settled beside her with practiced grace, though his thoughts kept circling back to the council meeting she'd mentioned. Another gathering he couldn't attend, another way he couldn't help. The city's recovery efforts happened largely during daylight hours, when he was trapped inside like some fairytale monster.

But Juniper was beaming at him, clearly proud of her discovery, and he refused to dim that smile. He stretched out on the blanket, propping himself up on one elbow. "Well then, dear heart. Now that you have me at your mercy on this remarkably remote hilltop, what did you have in mind?"

Juniper's knowing look cut through his pretense. Of course she saw right through him—she always did. But instead of pressing the issue, she reached back into her pack.

"First, treats." She produced a dark bottle with a worn label he recognized instantly. His fingers itched to examine it closer.

"Is that—" He plucked the bottle from her hands. "A '32 Shadowspire? However did you get your hands on this?"

"I have my ways." She pulled out two delicate glasses and a small cloth-wrapped bundle that proved to contain dried fruit and nuts for herself. "Though I admit I may have exploited our new fame a teensy bit to get a wine merchant to track it down."

The cork came free with a satisfying pop. The rich aroma hit him immediately—notes of blackberry and something deeper, earthier. He poured generously, passing her glass first.

"To the view?" she suggested.

"To clever wood elves who know exactly what their vampires like." He clinked his glass against hers, savoring the way the wine caught the starlight.

The vintage was everything he remembered, though he hadn't tasted it since... well, since before Cazador. He let the complex flavors roll across his tongue while Juniper nibbled at her snacks, both of them watching the city lights shimmer below. The silence should have been peaceful, but he couldn't quite settle into it. Every moment without purpose felt like time slipping away, even now.

"Alright then." He said. "That was 'first.' What's second on this mysterious agenda of yours? And why did it require such an extensive trek?"

"You're quite impatient for someone with eternity ahead of them," Juniper said, reaching for her pack again.

The words hit like—no, they just hit. He took another sip of wine to cover his reaction, but of course she noticed. She always noticed.

"Astarion..." She paused in her rummaging, those amber eyes finding his in the dark.

"Don't." He waved the wine glass dismissively. "I'm perfectly aware of the irony."

She pulled something brass and cylindrical from her pack—a telescope, he realized, though not one he'd seen before. More items followed: a stand, several charts, and what looked like a sextant.

"I didn't know you had all this," he said, watching her efficient movements as she began setting up the equipment.

"Left with my mentor when we were snatched. Finally had time to collect it yesterday." She adjusted the telescope's position. "This spot's perfect—far enough from the city lights, clear view of the eastern sky."

"Ah." He traced the rim of his glass. "I see where this is going. A metaphorical lesson about finding beauty in darkness? Really, darling, I appreciate the effort, but—"

"No." The firmness in her voice caught him off guard. She set down the chart she'd been unrolling and fixed him with a steady look. "This isn't a lesson. This isn't me managing you. This is me, an astronomer, wanting to share something I love with someone I love."

Her words caught him short. Mentor? Astronomer? He blinked, wine glass forgotten in his hand as pieces clicked into place—her fascination with the stars during their travels, the way she'd always known which direction they were heading, even those moments he'd caught her sketching what he'd assumed were abstract patterns in her journal.

"I..." The admission stuck in his throat. "I didn't know you were an astronomer."

"Well, apprentice astronomer." She continued adjusting the telescope's base. "Though Bogsy—that's my mentor—says I've more than earned the title proper by now."

Shame crept through him as he realized that in all their time together, through battles and romance novels and everything between, he'd never once asked what she'd done before the nautiloid. He'd been so caught up in his own drama, his own past, that he'd failed to learn this fundamental part of who she was.

"I should have asked," he said quietly. "About your life before. What you studied, what you loved. I've been rather self-absorbed, haven't I?"

Juniper's hands stilled on the telescope. She turned to face him, her expression softening. "We were rather busy with the whole 'saving the world' thing, if you recall. And tadpoles. And your former master trying to kill us. It wasn't exactly conducive to casual getting-to-know-you chats."

"Still." He reached for her hand, running his thumb across her knuckles. "I should have asked."

"I could have just told you." She squeezed his fingers. "If it had been important at the time. But it wasn't. What mattered was surviving, and we did that. Now we have time for all the rest."

Something shifted in his chest as he looked at her—not just his lover or his savior, but this whole person with depths he was only beginning to discover. Perhaps this night wasn't about coddling him after all. Perhaps it was simply about learning each other, properly this time.

"Well then, darling astronomer." He gestured to the telescope with his free hand. "Show me what you love about the stars."

Juniper bent over the telescope, making minute adjustments while muttering about alignments and angles. Her enthusiasm was endearing, even if Astarion remained skeptical about staring at dots in the sky.

"There." She straightened, gesturing him closer. "Look just above the horizon. See that bright cluster? That's Mystra's Star Circle—though some call it the Cold Crown."

He leaned in, peering through the brass cylinder. The 'dots' resolved into startlingly clear points of light, arranged in what he had to admit was a rather striking circular pattern.

"Quite pretty," he allowed, taking up his glass of wine again.

"Here." She pulled out one of her charts, pointing to an intricate drawing. "The ancient elves saw it as a perfect circle of stars representing magic itself. But the humans who settled here saw a crown of ice, claiming it marked the sovereignty of the North."

"Ah, yes. Humans. Always so eager to claim ownership of things that existed long before them." He shifted to allow her access to the telescope. "Rather like vampires in that way, I suppose."

She bumped his shoulder playfully. "Speaking of different perspectives—look there." She pointed to another formation. "The Bedine tribes call that one Urwath the Sand Snake, but up here we know it as Auroth the Ice Snake. Same stars, completely different stories."

"Different stories to justify the same arbitrary collection of lights?" But even as he said it, he found his gaze tracing the serpentine curve of stars. There was something compelling about the pattern, he had to admit.

"Not arbitrary." Juniper's voice took on a teacher's patience. "These patterns helped people navigate, track seasons, know when to plant crops. The stories made the patterns memorable, but the patterns themselves?" She gestured upward. "They're as real as you and me. We just... choose which ones matter to us. Which ones help us make sense of our world."

He considered this as she showed him more constellations—the Eyes of the Watching Woman with its twin daggers pointing west, the Arrows of the Gods marking true east. Practical tools wrapped in poetry, mathematics dressed in myth. There was something almost... comforting about it. All these different peoples looking up at the same stars, finding their own meanings, their own ways forward.

"Your mentor taught you all this?" he asked, watching her trace the patterns with evident joy.

"Bogsy taught me the mathematics and navigation." She smiled. "But the stories? Those I collected everywhere I could. Every culture has their own way of reading the stars, their own maps written in light against the darkness."

"It's all very poetic." Astarion traced the rim of his wine glass. "Different perspectives, making our own meaning—I do appreciate the metaphor, darling, even if it's a touch obvious."

"Oh?" Juniper's eyebrow arched as she adjusted the telescope. "And what metaphor would that be?"

"That we all chart our own course through the darkness?" He gestured expansively at the sky. "Find our own way forward despite limitations? Really, love, it's hardly subtle."

"Mmm." She straightened, moonlight silvering the edges of her copper hair. "And here I thought I was showing you something about myself."

That brought him up short. "What do you mean?"

"Figure it out." Her amber eyes sparkled with mischief. "Though I might need proper motivation to confirm if you're right."

"Proper motivation?" He set down his glass again, already reaching for her. "How terribly demanding."

"Kisses." She tapped her lips. "Payment required for answers."

"Well, if you insist." He pulled her close, savoring how the starlight caught in her hair, how her warmth pressed against his cool skin. Her lips met his, soft and sweet with wine, and he found himself forgetting about metaphors entirely.

When they parted, she smiled up at him. "Want to guess again?"

"I think I need more inspiration first." He caught her lips once more, delighting in her quiet laugh against his mouth.

The stars wheeled overhead, forgotten for the moment as he lost himself in the way moonlight painted silver patterns across her skin, how her pulse jumped beneath his fingers when he traced the line of her throat. Perhaps there were worse ways to spend an evening than letting his clever astronomer lead him on a merry chase.

Juniper pulled back from the kiss, pressing a finger to his lips when he tried to follow. "Ah-ah. You've paid for your hint. Time to collect."

"Cruel woman." But he settled back, watching her straighten her braids with practiced fingers. "Very well, enlighten me."

"Think about it." She tapped his nose playfully. "How long does it take to master a field of study? To learn not just the mathematics, but the stories, the seasonal changes, the countless variations in stellar positions?"

"Oh, I see where this is going." He smirked. "Spent your nights with your nose buried in dusty tomes, did you? How terribly academic. I already knew you were scholarly, my love."

She snorted. "Books are lovely, but you can't learn the stars from pages alone." She gestured at their surroundings—the blanket, the telescope, the perfect view of the night sky. "This was my classroom."

The realization hit him. All those hours of observation would have required... "Nights," he said slowly. "Endless nights on hilltops just like this one."

"There you go." Her smile widened. "Turns out you're not the only creature of darkness here."

Memories clicked into place—how she'd yawn through mornings at camp, how she'd stay awake long after others had retired.

"That's why you were always such a terror in the mornings." He laughed. "Here I thought you were just contrary."

"Contrary too," she admitted. "But mostly just used to keeping astronomer's hours. The stars don't shine at noon, after all. What I'm trying to say is all of this isn't just a metaphor for finding purpose in the dark.  My life's purpose was actually—" Juniper punctuated her words with light kisses, "—literally, happily in the dark."

Astarion shifted on the blanket, trying to sort through the implications. "That's all very well for you, darling. You chose this path. Some of us didn't have that luxury."

"Exactly." Juniper's fingers found his, intertwining. "I chose to build a life in darkness because that's where I found what I loved. And now you have choices too."

"Do I?" The words came out sharper than he intended. "The sun's not exactly negotiable anymore."

"No." She squeezed his hand. "But how you spend your days and nights is. And if you're determined to spend your days lying around bemoaning what you've lost while I'm trying to share these incredible nights with you—" She gestured at the star-scattered sky above them. "Well, that might make things a bit challenging."

He started to protest, but she pressed on.

"Not impossible." Her voice softened. "I'd rearrange my whole schedule if that's what you needed. Stay up days, sleep through the nights, whatever it takes. You know I would."

"I know." And he did know, which made it worse somehow. She'd turn her whole world inside out for him without complaint.

"But maybe—" Her thumb traced patterns on his palm. "Maybe you could consider how perfectly suited we already are? Night owl astronomer, creature of the night..." She bumped his shoulder playfully. "Almost like it was written in the stars."

"That was terrible." But he found himself fighting a smile. "Absolutely dreadful. I can't believe you said that with a straight face."

Astarion set his wine glass carefully on a flat patch of grass and lay back on the blanket, letting out a long breath. The night sky stretched above him, endless and glittering. He found Mystra's Star Circle first—the perfect ring of stars near the horizon. From there, his gaze traced the sinuous curve of Auroth the Ice Snake, then the twin points of the Eyes of the Watching Woman.

But beyond the named patterns, beyond the stories and meanings humans and elves had layered onto them, the sheer scope of it caught at something in his chest. Countless points of light scattered across infinite darkness. He'd spent two centuries with his eyes fixed on the ground, focused on survival and servitude. He'd forgotten how to look up.

The blanket shifted as Juniper settled beside him, close enough that he could feel her warmth but far enough that he had space to think. He appreciated that about her—how she knew when to press and when to wait.

Finally, he turned his head to look at her. She was already watching him, a soft smile playing at her lips. But instead of the gentle lesson he expected, she sighed.

"I don't have it all figured out either, you know." She plucked at a loose thread on the blanket. "I miss this—the quiet nights, the mathematics and the beauty. But everything's different now. The city needs so much rebuilding, and everyone wants the heroes of Baldur's Gate to be part of it, and I just..." She gestured vaguely at the sky. "I don't know how to balance it. My old life, my new responsibilities. What I want versus what others need from me."

Astarion propped himself up on an elbow, studying her profile in the starlight. "I thought you had it all planned out."

"Gods, no." She laughed, but it held an edge of uncertainty. "I'm making it up as I go, same as you. Just... trying to find my way through it all."

Her admission struck something loose in his chest. All this time he'd thought she was trying to fix him, to show him some grand solution. But here she was, just as lost as he was, sharing her own uncertainties beneath the vast sky.

"So this isn't some elaborate lesson after all?" He gestured at the telescope, the charts, the whole setup. "Just... sharing the confusion?"

"Well." She rolled onto her side to face him, eyes bright with starlight. "I thought maybe we could figure it out together. You're quite good at navigating tricky situations, after all. Even if your methods sometimes involve more stabbing than strictly necessary."

"I'll have you know my methods are perfectly calibrated." He traced the line of her jaw with one finger. "Though I suppose having a skilled navigator might help avoid some of the stabbing."

"That's me." Her smile turned playful. "Your guiding star."

"Terrible." He tapped her nose. "Absolutely dreadful, again. I may have to reconsider this entire relationship."

"Oh, speaking of stars..." She caught his hand, suddenly shy. "Do you know what your name means?"

"Astarion?" He raised an eyebrow. "Some pretentious elvish nonsense, I imagine."

"Little star." Her cheeks darkened. "When you first introduced yourself, I had this ridiculous moment where it felt like... I don't know. Fate?" She buried her face in his shoulder. "Which is absurd, because I don't believe in fate. But I do believe in romance."

"Little star?" He blinked, centuries of identity shifting slightly. "All this time, and I never knew."

"Mhmm." She peeked up at him. "Fitting, isn't it? Me, the astronomer, finding my own personal star?"

The raw honesty in her voice caught him off guard. Here she was, offering not solutions but partnership, not answers but companionship in the questions. And somehow that felt more valuable than any grand revelation.

Astarion traced the curve of her cheek, marveling at how her skin blushed beneath his touch. "Well, if we're sharing terrible puns—and I can't believe you've reduced me to this—perhaps you're my guiding star as well."

Her eyes widened, and he hurried on before the moment could become too earnest. "After all, you've got quite the collection of stars yourself." He traced a pattern of freckles across her cheekbone. "See here? Clearly this is 'The Smug Astronomer.'"

"Is it now?" Her lips quirked.

"Oh yes." His finger danced across her skin, connecting another cluster near her temple. "And this one is obviously 'The Thoroughly Besotted Elf.' Though perhaps that's more a reflection on the observer than the stars themselves."

She laughed, the sound vibrating against his fingertips. "And what's this one?" She touched her own cheek, just below her eye.

"Ah, that—" He replaced her fingers with his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the scattered freckles. "That's 'The Astronomer's Blush.' See how it's starting to show up now?"

Her breath caught as he traced another constellation with his mouth, following the path down her jaw. "And this one?"

"'The Path to Temptation,'" he murmured against her skin. "Very important for navigation purposes."

Her eyes darkened, pupils wide in the starlight. "Is that so?"

Astarion traced another pattern down her throat, savoring how her pulse jumped beneath his lips. "This constellation here leads to particularly fascinating discoveries." His fingers found the top button of her blouse. "May I continue my astronomical survey?"

"For science?" Juniper's laugh vibrated against his mouth.

"Naturally." He undid the first button, pressing a kiss to the newly exposed skin. "I find myself suddenly and intensely dedicated to your field of study."

Her fingers tangled in his hair as he worked his way down, marking each button with a kiss. "And what do you call this formation?"

"'The Path of Bounty.'" He spread her blouse open, revealing more scattered freckles across bronze skin. "Though this—" He traced a cluster above her breast. "This is clearly 'The Vampire's Downfall.'"

"Dramatic." But her voice hitched as he followed the pattern with his tongue.

"You inspire drama, darling." His own shirt joined hers on the blanket. "Besides, isn't astronomy all about grand cosmic events?"

Her warm hands traced patterns of their own across his chest. "Speaking of cosmic events—" She pressed a kiss over where his heart should beat. "I believe I've discovered a new celestial body."

"Have you now?" He arched into her touch.

"Mhmm." Her lips mapped a path across his skin. "Very pale. Highly attractive. Possibly explosive."

"Explosive?" He caught her hands, rolling them so she lay beneath him against the blanket. "I'll show you explosive."

Starlight silvered her skin as he traced more constellations across her body, each discovery marked with kisses and increasingly ridiculous names until all their clothes were heaped on the grass and June dissolved into helpless laughter beneath his hands.

Astarion trailed kisses over her abdomen, pausing to savor the way she squirmed under his lips. His hands mapped her hips, her thighs, then up again to that fascinating bunch of freckles near her shoulder.

"Those are definitely stars." He peered closer at her breasts and waggled his eyebrows, considering the constellation. "Perhaps 'The Guideposts'?"

"For your wayward hands, you mean?"

His hands happily obliged.

His mouth lingered at the center of the "constellation," marking it with a kiss. "Or perhaps 'The Lost Navigator.' One can never have enough backups."

"More like 'The Determined Navigator Who Will Throttle You If You Don't Get Back to Business.'" Her free hand tangled in his hair, guiding him back to the path he'd begun to chart between her breasts.

"Mmm, perhaps 'The Bossy Astrologer'?" He complied, tracing his way down with lips and tongue. "Or 'The Astronomer Afraid of a Little Healthy Competition from Some Very Talented Freckles.'"

Her sharp laugh turned into a moan as his tongue flickered over one nipple, then the other. "You realize that's not a freckle, right?"

"Absolutely." He hummed against her skin, breath teasing her already hardened peak. "A little off-theme, but I won't hold that against you."

Her fingers tightened in his hair as he drew her nipple into his mouth and tugged gently with his teeth. When he looked up, her amber eyes burned with heat, and he recognized the challenge in her smile.

He shifted his attention lower, mapping the contours of her body with his tongue, hands, and lips. Astarion brushed her inner thigh with a soft kiss, then another. Juniper's breath quickened, and he caught her hips with gentle pressure, urging her to open for him. She complied, and he savored the way her muscles relaxed under his touch. Lower, and lower still, until his cheek brushed her inner thigh and his breath ghosted over damp folds.

Juniper's sharp intake of breath told him she anticipated what was to come. But he teased her with deliberate slowness, savoring the way her skin pebbled with gooseflesh as he trailed featherlight kisses along her thighs, grazing the edges of her desire but never quite giving her what she wanted.

"Astarion, please—" Her voice came out half-plea, half-laugh as he pressed a kiss to her hipbone.

"Right here?" He nuzzled the spot just beside her pulse point, lips but not yet his tongue. "Or perhaps I should explore a bit more."

"You are really testing my patience." But her laugh held no sting as his fingers slipped between her lips, parting her softly. His fingertips traced teasing patterns, light enough that she could barely feel the touch, until her muscles quivered with anticipation. Only then did he finally lower his mouth to taste her.

Her warmth filled his senses as he slipped his tongue between her folds, tasting her sweetness and reveling in her sharp gasp. She tasted like the night—dew and starlight and some essence that was purely Juniper, a warm, alive Juniper-ness that he'd begun to recognize and crave.

He reached up and twined his fingers with hers, pressing her hand to the blanket as he delved deeper, mapping her with lips and tongue and fingers until she was moving against him with breathless urgency. She was all heat and wetness and the kind of want that made his chest tight with something more complex than desire.

Her back arched, pressing herself to his mouth. Then, with a soft laugh, June rolled them over until he lay beneath her. Cool night air whispered over his skin, contrasting with the warmth of her body as she straddled him.

"Now, not-so-little star of mine, your explorations bear fruit," she whispered, positioning herself over him. Then she sank down, taking him inside with a slow, deliberate slide. "Mm.  For both of us."

She stilled above him, amber eyes sparking with laughter and something softer. Her braids tumbled forward, framing her face as she moved tentatively at first, testing the rhythm. Then with more certainty as she found her pace.

Astarion could only stare up at her, struck by the warm copper of her skin in the starlight. She glowed with life, a living, breathing star that had chosen to orbit him. Here, in the dark, she radiated a light that had nothing to do with day or night. Her warm hands caressed his chest as she smiled down at him.

And suddenly Astarion saw the truth of it—Juniper, his own private sun shining against the night sky—not the celestial body that burned his skin, but one that shone with a light meant only for him. One that illuminated all the shadowed corners of his heart with a gentle radiance that drove the darkness back.

She moved above him, filling his senses with the sound of her breath, the scent of her skin, the wet tightness wrapped around him. Her warmth surrounded him, a life force that pulled him inexorably toward it, claiming a part of him for herself without asking and without apology.

His hands found her hips, marking the rhythm of her movements. She gasped as he lifted her, shifting to take her weight back further on his thighs and giving him more leverage to move with her as he sat up and wrapped one arm around her. His mouth found the sensitive spot beneath her ear, tasting the rapid beat of her pulse as she rocked against him.

Juniper's fingers threaded through his hair, tilting his head back to expose his throat. Her lips traced a path downward, tongue flicking against his adam's apple as she found his pulse point, marking it with featherlight nips that sent shivers through him.

Then her mouth was on his, tongue stroking and withdrawing in time with her hips as she rode him with deliberate slowness. Her soft moan vibrated against his lips, a sensation that sent pleasure spiraling through him, tight and coiled and waiting to be unleashed.

"Are you stargazing again?" Her voice held the barest edge of challenge as she pulled back to meet his gaze, eyes bright with mischief.

Astarion shifted his grip to her hips, guiding her as she rose and fell, taking him deep. "Perhaps I wanted to see this view for a little longer." His tongue traced the edge of her ear, delighting in her sharp intake of breath. "Soak in the constellation you're revealing."

"Oh?" The corner of her lip quirked. "And what formation do you see, Little Star?"

"Something in between..." He trailed kisses down her throat, savoring the scatter of freckles beneath his lips. "The Very Convincing Reason to Stay Awake All Night and..." He bit gently at the soft skin over her collarbone. "Absolutely Dreadful Puns."

"Dreadful?" She shivered as his mouth closed over one nipple. "Or—ah—absolutely delightful?"

"There is no delightful," he managed, sliding his mouth back up to hers for a thorough kiss. Then, pulling back, he rolled them over once more until he hovered over her, the muscles of her thighs straining against his hips. "Only the unbearable, the excruciating—"

"The what?" But her challenge melted into a moan as he began to move with purpose, aiming to strike every pleasure point she'd shown him.

"The endless litany of ways I could take you apart," he whispered, teeth grazing her ear. "Thoroughly."

Her nails bit into his shoulders as he increased the pace, moving with urgent strokes that sent pleasure rippling through him. Above him, Juniper's eyes squeezed shut, turning her expression into a mask of pleasure. Her breath hitched, and he knew she was close—could feel it in the rapid pulse of blood through her veins, the tautness of her muscles, the slick heat of her body around him.

And somewhere in the starlit darkness, his own peak crested. His vision glittered at the edges, the world narrowing to Juniper beneath him, the infinite night sky, and the helpless, openhearted joy that stretched between them. He dragged her hips up to meet his final thrust, spilling himself into her with a strangled groan.

Juniper's body tightened around him, milking every last shudder from him as her own pleasure overtook her. Her head tossed back, hair spilling across the blanket and revealing her throat, bared and vulnerable to the night sky.

He lowered his mouth to the spot where her pulse beat frantically, nipping gently as he savored the delicate taste of satisfaction.  Astarion gave her more of his weight like he knew she loved after having him.  She wrapped legs and arms around to hold him tight to her as he softened inside her and her breathing slowed.

Astarion rested his forehead against June's collarbone, letting the quiet night wrap around them. Her fingers traced idle patterns on his back—probably more constellations. The thought made him smile against her skin.

"I'll still miss it sometimes," he admitted softly. "The sun. Watching it rise over the city. The way it turned everything golden."

Her hand stilled for a moment, then resumed its gentle path. "Of course you will."

No platitudes. No promises to fix it. Just understanding, warm and steady as her touch.

"But this..." He lifted his head to study her face in the starlight. "Perhaps there are different kinds of light worth discovering."

"We'll find them together." She touched his cheek. "All the hidden treasures of the dark. The secret beauty of midnight gardens. Dawn seen from the safety of shelter." Her thumb brushed his lips. "And when we can't find beauty, we'll make our own."

He caught her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. "Is that what this was about? Convincing me to share the night with you?"

"Partly." She smiled. "But mostly I wanted to spend time with you. The rest..." She gestured at the glittering sky. "That's just bonus material for future reference."

"Future reference?"

"Mhmm. For all the nights ahead of us." Her eyes sparkled. "There are so many constellations I haven't shown you yet."

The simple certainty in her voice—that there would be more nights, more discoveries, more moments like this—loosened something in his chest. He might never walk in sunlight again, but here was June, offering him a different kind of illumination. Not a replacement for what he'd lost, but something new. Something theirs.

Above them, the real stars continued their eternal dance, but Astarion found he preferred reading the constellations written across Juniper's skin. Those were the only stars he needed to guide him home.

[wetcatspellcaster]

22, 27, and 76 (for pieces!) for the get to know your fanfic author asks :)

22. Are there certain types of writing you won't do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc.)

Hmmm.... I think 'won't' is a strong word, as there are things 3 years ago I thought would 'never' do and I've now done them, so I guess never say never is now the rule of the day.

But in terms of things I'm currently not comfortable with craft-wise... I think 'dead dove' is a big one. I read dead dove, but as I'm writing from a point of 'what do i find fun?' and unfortunately life is to rough rn for me to want to fully dive into life being awful in fiction too. plus, we need to get some more vanilla-smut writing credentials before we go into deeper waters.

in terms of style, present-tense ain't for me. neither is 2nd person currently. don't like sci-fi. don't like killing of characters in my comfort medium.

27. What is your most and least favourite part of writing?

most favourite: it's posting. listen, I love most parts of the writing/drafting process - when I'm in my docs, I'm having fun just for me. but putting it out in the world is a different kind of serotonin: not only do I get to feel as if the thing I've done is complete, but I also get to see other people's reactions to it. I love the polished completionist feeling, and I love all my readers takes on things, so-

least favourite: I like a lot of parts of the writing process, my current sticking point is when I reach a checkpoint in my outline and then I have to pause and think through what comes next. my outlines typically have big plot points I'm aiming towards and then smaller sections that are up in the air. When I get to one of those smaller sections and actually have to Think Good, which can often pause the writing process, I get a bit frustrated/sad.

76. Did you have any ideas that didn't make the final cut of Pieces Still Stuck in Your Teeth?

it feels weird to say now, but the first outline of pieces was actually more of a Indiana Jones-style race for a magical artefact that Rosalie thought would cure ascension. Rosalie and her team were trying to get it to save Astarion, Astarion was trying to head her off at the pass. It was more of a D&D quest-style narrative.

but then I realised that the quest structure required a lot of travelling that wasn't fun to write, and denied me a lot of cool vampire set pieces, by dragging Astarion out of his fancy mansion etc. Gothic stuff seems to often revolve around interior spaces, not exterior ones. so I changed it all lmao.

all this to say, the final scene of that outline was the same as the final spike/buffy scene of s7. magic artefact, underground cave, sunlight, etc. ifykyk.

(he came back though, i'm not evil).

writers asks!

[spentimental]

I’m doing the Alphabet Superset challenge by Struthless on Youtube. It’s roughly 30 weeks long, with a week dedicated to each letter of the alphabet. The point is to share your art for other people to see. The challenge involves setting parameters and restrictions for yourself so you end up with a cohesive group of works. I really like the way Struthless designed the challenge. It’s actually a lot easier to make art when you put yourself in a stylish box instead of saying, “Just make something! Anything!” Plus it gives you room to try out a medium or style for a while with a clear end date so you can say, “I tried it and it’s not for me, but it was fun” or “I want to do this forever! I’m so glad I tried it!” I found the style constraint section of the worksheet to be the easiest part. I love clear rules and expectations and have some aesthetics I’ve been wanting to try out. As for the theme (this is where you get your words for each letter of the alphabet)… In high school, I scoured wikipedia for every species of animal that had an article with a picture. I collected roughly 3000 images to use as references for a world building project I was ravenous about at the time. I also considered doing plants (desert plants in particular) because I’ve “collected” a bunch of those as well. Really, I just wanted an excuse to reference sea slugs. Picking the medium was a whole other matter. It took me nearly the whole week to decide what the heck I was going to make. The challenge is very flexible on the definition of art. It’s not just drawing or painting. There will be people baking, making podcasts… Yesterday I saw a wooden automaton/kinetic sculpture! So cool! I’m what is known as a “hobby hopper,” although I’d like to stick to one long enough to master it or at least finish something. I whittled my options down to “something I am comfortable doing/know how to do-” enough to know that I could do one a week. Basically, digital illustration or 3D modeling. I almost chose to do 3D modeling to make renders of collectible figurines. Thing is, I don’t know jack about lighting or textures in Blender. I went to the bookstore to find my mom a birthday present and saw a pack of Alice in Wonderland playing cards. Thank goodness! Turns out I like putting myself into smaller and smaller boxes until I can fit into a pack of cards. So that’s what I’m doing. Each week, I’m going to illustrate a character based on an animal. The format will resemble a playing card. They will be rendered in a frutiger aero style, wearing 1960s inspired fashion. The guide I’m using to pick my palette is actually for home decor. I’m so excited about this challenge! I’m looking forward to April so I can start all over again with something completely different.

~If you see what I make and like it, I will be posting on Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and the Struthless Discord under Spentimental. Follow me wherever you like to spend time.

[roboska-lv]

Important notice about how long it's going to take

A while. It's going to take years. My plan is to hopefully finish it by the end of college (year 13) max, and considering I'm currently in my final year of high school (year 11) I think that's a reasonable time as I have 4 acts planned and I'm not sure how long the other 3 acts are play time wise as I've only focused on act 1, and that's going to be around 1/2 hour play time for a single route. In total the game will be around 2 and a bit hours for the pacifist route (the neutral and merciless route only have 3 acts and the 4th act is all 3D). The main reasons why it's going to take so long is that:

Like I said earlier, I'm in school and have to do GCSEs and A-Levels (which are a really big deal).

I have rushed games before and I'm dissatisfied with their quality. I refuse to rush games ever since (Sci-Fi RaiRoboska!? looking at youuuu).

Drawing all the assets takes time. That's my biggest road block. This isn't a pixel art typical 2D RPG where I could just make tiles and reuse them, all the backgrounds and objects have to be drawn for that place and nowhere else for it to look right in that style. Take for example this road:

Sure, the style is quite simple, but even this took a good couple hours. All the layout planning, lineart, colour, lighting adds up. Don't get me started on the animations.

4. I have 2 medium sized games planned to make in-between as well as a few small game jam games. This variety also helps with point 5 while making myself more well known in the indie game industry.

5. I don't want to spend every minute of my free time working on it as I'm terrified of burning myself out and losing motivation. I also don't want to end up like Yandere Dev by working on this for almost a decade only to produce a demo, but I don't think "The Sapphic Princess" is going to be too long of a game and considering there's just me, I think I can handle it. Speaking of which...

I don't trust people enough to hire others to help me. I'm very controlling and I want it to be exactly how I in-vision it. Also I find doing it all fun but if it gets too overwhelming then I may consider it but only as a last resort.

The 2 medium sized games that I have planned is a visual novel DDLC fangame that won't take too long to make (most of the time will be in writing as Dialogic is a great godot plugin and would make all the coding a breeze), and a Yandere Simulator "fangame" (more like a different interpretation from a horror game fan who actually knows how to write and design characters). I've gone into more detail about these on my main blog as linked above. The second one is quite big but not as big as my current plan of LV. Essentially this is my main project and those are short term projects, if that makes sense.

My plan is to release this on itch.io and Steam for around £3. I don't want to make it too high as it can be beaten in about 2 hours on the neutral route (ignoring the other 2 routes) but I also don't want to make it too low as I want to feel compensated for all the work I've put into, putting into and will put into. I may also make a Playstation version but don't count on it as I only have a PS4 and I don't feel like it's worthy due to it's short run time (but physical copies would be cool...maybe as a game compilation though). I'll get some people to beta test it in the future and ask what they think would be a good price.

I made this blog when I had a smaller idea for this game. Now that is not the case. I'll post updates whenever I feel like I have something worth updating about but I don't want to spoil it too much.

That's all for now. - PearlHikara

[survey--s]

533.

What can you smell right now?    My scented candle, which apparently smells like “smoked roses”.

What was the last thing you bought online?   A cooling blanket and some air freshener for my car.

If you drink coffee, when was the last time you went a day without having one?   Whenever I had that horrendous flu/bug thing - it must have been back in February, I think?

Do you have any appointments coming up?   I have two jobs to do in a couple of hours. I have to go and feed Monty and then pop in on Charley the cat.

Do you put appointments in your phone’s calendar app to remember them?   Yeah.

Will you be visiting anyone’s house in the next week or so?   Yeah, my job involves going in/out of people’s houses lol. I also see my in-laws most days as they look after the dog for us while we work.

Have you ever been to a petting zoo? What animals did you pet?   Yeah, loads of times - goats, lambs, pigs, calves, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, chicks, ducklings - all sorts.

What was the last movie you saw in theatres?   I haven’t been to the movies since before COVID lol.

Do you know anyone who has done a PhD?   Yeah, quite a few people.

How many unread emails are in your inbox right now?   Zero, I check/delete my e-mails as they come in.

What four apps do you keep on the home bar on your iPhone? (Sorry, I’m not sure if Android has an equivalent!) Phone, Spotify, Safari, Messages.

Have you ever used Tumblr? Do you still use it today?   No, this is all a figment of your imagination.

Are you tired right now?   A little bit, but not full-on exhausted or anything like that.

What’s your favourite day of the week and why?   It depends on the week and what I have planned, but generally weekends are the best for obvious reasons lol.

How far away is the nearest major city?   About two hours away.

Do you own an electric kettle?   Sure.

Are your eyebrows wispy or bushy?   Both lol.

Have you ever lost your wallet or purse? Did you have to replace a bunch of things?   I’ve lost my bank card a few times but I just froze it via the app and ordered a new one.

Where are you right now? Describe the room or place to me.   I’m in the living room as it’s bloody roasting outside. There are windows at each end - the front door is at one end, the kitchen door at the other and the upstairs door on far left as you come in. The walls are painted a mix of red and grey, the carpets are grey and so is the sofa, with red blankets/cushions to match the walls. All the furniture is white. There are fairylights all around the room and a scented candle burning above the fireplace.

Do you prefer big dogs or small dogs?   Medium sized dogs - around 15-25kg is perfect for me. Anything bigger and they’re generally too strong for me to handle safely, and any smaller and they’re just not really my thing, I guess.

Are you good at understanding heavy accents? Which accents would you say you’re the best at understanding?   For the most part I manage fine. I guess British accents.

Have you ever played on a real life pinball machine, or just on the computer?   Both.

Do you have a lot of word documents or notes on your computer?   No, I don’t think there any saved on here actually.

What’s your favourite Ben & Jerry’s flavour?   I’m not a fan of Ben & Jerry’s anymore. I loved it as a teenager but now it all tastes really sweet and artificial,.

Have you ever been to a school reunion? How was it?   No, and I have no interest in going to one.

How many nights a week do you generally cook at home?   I eat at home pretty much every night but I don’t always cook.

What colour are the street signs in your neighbourhood? Are they the same all over town or do they vary?   Like, the signs with street names on them? White with black lettering. That’s the same everywhere in the UK.

Do you have good grammar and punctuation skills?   Yes.

Have you ever tried vegan chicken? Did you like it? Yeah, I used to love Quorn stuff but now it makes me sick lol.

[loudbanananerd]

Your Guide to Buying TikTok Followers in AUD the Right Way

One of the hottest apps in the world is TikTok. People of all ages use it to watch and share entertaining videos. If you aim to become famous on TikTok or grow your profile faster, buying followers will lend a helping hand. In this guide, we discuss everything in simple language on how to successfully buy TikTok followers in AUD. We will also discuss the process of TikTok likes in Australia, which will help you gain more exposure for your videos.

How To Buy TikTok Followers In AUD?

Buying TikTok followers in AUD means you spend money (in AUD) to have more people follow your TikTok. The followers may be actual users or fake accounts of high quality. When they follow you, your follower count increases, and your account appears more prevalent.

You don't have to wait for people to discover you independently. You give your account a little nudge so others notice you instead.

Why Do People Want More Followers on TikTok?

Followers are like fans. The more followers you get, the more eyeballs on your videos. TikTok follower: Many followers in a TikTok profile lead people to think that the account is cool, interesting, or popular. They do that, and that inspires others to follow.

Individuals strive for an increase in followers because:

Look popular

Get more likes and comments

Get chances to work with brands or companies

Reach more people with their videos

How Buying TikTok Followers Can Help You

Purchasing followers is a quick means of gaining attention. When you have a new account or an account with slow growth, buying followers can make it look more active. This is the magic number of likes; the more people who see your profile, the more likely you are to follow it.

More followers can also help you get on TikTok's "For You" page, which millions of users scroll through and where they can see your videos.

How to Buy TikTok Followers the Right Way?

There are right and wrong ways to get followers. It is safe and allows for the natural growth of your account. Here are some tips:

Pick a reliable site that provides you with authentic and quality followers.

You're not allowed to share your password with anyone.

Choose smaller or medium packages to make them more presentable.

Enable the slow delivery option so that followers will come one by one.

Post your videos, even though you already bought your followers.

What Are Real Followers and Fake Followers?

Real followers are human beings who may view your videos and like or comment. Fake followers are either bots or ghost accounts that don't engage.

Why Real Followers Are Superior:

This makes your account appear more human

They can interact with your videos

They don't disappear quickly

TikTok could vanish or delete fake followers, so always try to get authentic accounts.

Is Buying TikTok Followers in AUD Safe?

So yes, it is safe (if you do it correctly, of course). Your account will be acceptable if it's a reputable service that sends you real followers over time and never asks you for your password. Many people purchase followers just to kick-start and grow their page.

But if you buy from harmful websites, you will get fake followers, or your account will look suspicious.

How to Select a Reputable Website for Purchasing Followers

Not all websites are safe. To come across a good one, seek the following items:

Real-user positive reviews

Clear pricing in AUD

No password required

Option to buy likes, too

Excellent customer service that helps you in case of a problem

If you do a little research beforehand, you can ensure that your money is well spent.

Tips for Getting TikTok Likes in Australia to Make You More Popular

TikTok likes in Australia are also crucial, apart from followers. Videos with a lot of likes appear more popular. They are more likely to be viewed and passed on to friends.

Likes can help your video:

Get shown to more people

Appear on the "For You" page

Get more comments and views

So, if you buy followers, you should also buy likes for your best videos.

Why Followers and Likes Work Better Together

Once you have a certain number of followers, your account is powerful. Buying likes beautifies your videos. When you have both, people are more likely to trust and follow your page.

They may think it is fake if they check your profile and find thousands of followers with a handful of likes. But if both your follower count and your likes are high, it reads authentic and impressive.

What Happens After Purchasing TikTok Followers

When you purchase TikTok followers in AUD, the rest is history. Your follower count will start to rise. It could take a few minutes or a few hours to happen. Most services deliver slowly to keep it looking natural.

It will also make your profile look more active and attract more potential followers, as they will notice that you already have fans.

Will TikTok Ban Me For Buying Followers?

As long as you use safe, honest services, TikTok usually doesn't ban accounts for using follow-to-purchase. The only danger is using cheap services that send fake followers too quickly.

To avoid problems:

Always choose slow delivery

Keep posting your videos

Try not to purchase thousands of followers in a single sitting

TikTok wants creators to stay safe and have fun, so grow mindfully and don't cut corners.

How to Stay Engaged With New Followers

Followers are only the first step. You want to satisfy them enough to watch your clips and stay on your channel. Here's how:

Be Persistent in posting for a few days a week.

Make videos that are funny, helpful, or just fun

Test out trending songs and challenges

Ask questions or do duets

Be a friendly Reply to Comments

They'll also promote you as long as your content is fitting.

Who can take advantage of purchasing TikTok Followers AUD?

A lot of different people use this approach:

Kids and teens who desire to increase growth

New creators reaching out for attention

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Singers, dancers, and artists

All TikTok users who want to appear more popular

This is a little trick to enhance your online image and begin your trip towards success.

Best Ways to Boost Your TikTok Growth After Buying Followers

Don't stop after you buy followers. So keep working on your content and implement other growth hacks like:

Using the right hashtags

The best times to post (evenings or weekends)

Joining in on TikTok trends

Cross-promoting on other platforms such as Instagram, YouTube

Making videos with friends or other TikTokers

You will grow faster and better when you combine real work with assistance from followers.

Things to Watch Out for When Purchasing Followers

So, what are the common pitfalls people fall into?

Purchasing too many followers at once

Using free or scammy websites

You are not posting any new videos after buying

Expecting to become famous with no sacrifice

Steer clear of these blunders, and your TikTok experience will be  smoother and more enjoyable!

How Much Does It Cost to Buy TikTok Followers in AUD?

The prices vary based on the website and categories of followers. Here is a simple example:

100 followers = around AUD 4

500 followers = around $10

1000 followers = around $16

Some websites offer discounts when you order more. Always shine a spotlight on prices and reviews before spending.

Conclusion

If you're looking to buy TikTok followers AUD so you can grow faster, look popular, and get more and more people to notice your content, here are some places to do that. It's a safe and innovative way to enhance your account if you use a trusted website and take the proper steps.

Remember to keep posting good videos, interact with your followers, and get tiktok likes in Australia to make your videos shine more. Combine all this, and you can build a firm, entertaining TikTok profile that people would love to follow.

FAQs

What is the risk in purchasing TikTok followers AUD?

Yes, as long as you go with a reputable company that delivers actual followers and doesn't request your password.

How long does it take to obtain the followers?

Most services deliver the followers in a few hours, sometimes 1-2 days, to make it natural.

Do you also provide TikTok likes in Australia?

Yes! You might be able to purchase likes for your clips to make them seem prominent and accessible to a larger audience.

My followers will never leave?

Real followers typically retweet, like , or unfollow. Please continue to share good videos to keep their interest.

Do I have to stop posting after buying followers?

No! Keep posting regularly. It keeps your new followers stuck around and leads to more growth.

[nimblermortal]

The Archaeology of Shamanism Redux: Part 2

Now with pictures, because I can't imagine how I could convey to you how cool/believable this is without pictures.

Chapter 5: 'Solar-headed' petroglyphs of central Asia (Andrzej Radowski)

So there's these rock paintings in central Asia, right. They've got ballooning big heads with rays coming out of 'em. What could they be? They're pictured with much smaller human figures. Sun gods, check, done!

Except.

They're not just drawn on flat rocks. Sometimes they use cracks in the rock, and very obviously are interacting with those cracks.

wtf is up with that! That's definitely intentional! That is using your medium! (To clarify, it's a horse - the left side is the hindquarters and a fat tail, the right side is the hobby horse head.) It's clearly going through some sort of metamorphosis. And this horse ain't the only one.

There's this guy, diving into the crack. (Note his legs on the right, then crack and he just kinda explodes.)

wtf is up with that?

Well, cracks are often seen as liminal places where (shamans) can enter other worlds. In some areas cracks are used for burials - liminal spaces between the living and the dead, with grave goods (or even infant bones) shoved into the crack. Even the Greeks were about entering the underworld through caves. So, hypothesis, maybe this dude is entering another world. Maybe he's a shaman, and the explosion of his head is meant as indicative of the shamanic state, the feeling of entering the spirit world or of expanding into it unbounded by physical form (this is me getting poetic here). (Also I skipped a section on the importance of horses because it wasn't what made me go woah. What made me go woah was...)

So if we've got the idea of these sun-headed fellows representing altered states of consciousness (kind of the defining thing for shamanic activity) then you get to start asking: what altered states? And here is where we get into entoptic imagery.

So this guy, on the left, his head is exploding. And it's exploding in a way that kinda looks like it could be related to the pictures on the right, yeah? It's not perfect, but come on, you've seen the uh either limitations or stylistic elements we're dealing with here, it's credible. Those guys on the right are not rock art. Those guys on the right are migraine illusions. They are things your brain throws into your vision when you are in the altered state of a migraine.

So, are shamans anybody who has a migraine? Or do you have some special drugs that make you experience migraines? Maybe! I don't know! I'm a nerd who doesn't do drugs! I've read enough tumblr to know that it's possible for people with neurodivergence or etc to be told this isn't a problem, it's a special gift that makes you able to X, and I could see how that same attitude could permeate human history.

There's some additional entoptic imagery featured as shapes people hallucinate vs rock art, and then there's this guy:

Chile! Arizona! Kyrgyzstan! These places were not talking to each other. And maybe this is just a common thing to doodle in your elementary school notebooks, but if that's the case why put it in rock art? If we're considering the significance of this not just as art but as a potentially useful created object (see: South African chapter in the first redux), what function does it serve?

The fellow had a bit more to say, but this was the section that blew my mind. (ha. visual imagery.) The relevant non-archaeological texts were:

-Horowitz, M.J. (1975) 'Hallucinations: an information-processing approach), in R.K. Siegel and L.J. West (eds) Hallucinations: Behaviour, Experience, and Theory, New York: John Wley and Sons. -Richards, W. (1971) 'The fortification illusions of migraines,' Scientific American 224(5): 88-96

Chapter 6: The materiality of shamanism as a world-view (Peter Jordan)

This guy has an advantage in that his shaman folks are still alive. They preserved their traditions through, among other things, the fortunate circumstance of being ruthlessly exploited for furs. The higher the tax, the more time you have to spend in the woods away from population centers hunting animals. Whether there's racism or not, you have a de facto apartheid (Jordan's phrase) keeping this tradition away from the missionaries and technological development.

These guys are super into hanging things from trees. To be flippant about it. They have seasonal settlement areas, and then sort of... sacred grove areas near the forest where they hunt, where they can go and do ritual for good hunts. This ritual includes hanging white cloth from trees, but also skins of sacrificed animals, or carving bears into cedar trees, or carving specific pieces out of the trees, making them into a doll that symbolizes a marriage, being carried with the married couple for the duration of the marriage until the woman dies, and then being returned to the exact same tree and laid at its feet for disintegration and feeding back into the tree. So that's cool!

The other point Jordan is making is that shamans here are an integrated part of society, and that everyone participates in the spiritual culture - it's not locked behind a shamanic paywall.