#because i'm gonna pick out some details here eventually

[prettieinpink]

 ♡ PRETTIER HIERARCHY ♡

HAPPY 1.2k+ TO PRETTIEINPINK! Thank you guys for the support, here’s a lil gift from me to you. 

If you don’t want to read all of this, I created a hierarchy of everything you need to do to glow up, right at the end!!! But I recommend reading everything first <3

I’ve been trying to ‘glow up’ like forever, but there was no actual content out there that helped me glow up. Most people sugarcoated, or their lifestyles of glowing up just weren't sustainable for me. So, I created this post for everyone planning to glow up or maximise their prettiness! 

DISCLAIMER – THIS POST IS NOT DETAILED. I wanted to do a simple outline to give you guys an idea of what to do to maximise your pretty. A little help to plan, especially as we enter 2024, but I’ll expand on these individual topics in the future. 

GRADE 1 – HEALTH

Being healthy can make you SO pretty. Being healthy is the foundation. There are other ways to be physically healthy, but after doing these 4 the rest usually fall in place.  Here are some simple ways to become healthier, and then eventually prettier!

HEALTHY EATING.

 I'm not going to go super deep into this, as no diet fits everyone + Please consult with your doctor before taking any extreme advice. Though, I'll tell you a bit of things that helped me !!

Stop drinking soda. Please, it's so unhealthy and it's full of so many sugars. Even the ones that are 0 cal, have weird chemicals that I don't trust. Many more alternatives taste just as good, like coconut water, herbal drinks, smoothies etc! Especially because nowadays most large calories and sugar intakes are from sugary drinks 

Stop restricting, moderate it. I am a big fan of dairy, yoghurt, milk, and cheese, I love it all. However I acknowledge that dairy isn’t the healthiest, so instead I always ensure I'm eating in moderation. E.g I put a tablespoon of shredded cheese in my omelettes instead of a handful. You will enjoy healthy eating so much, but only if you're not restricting. 

Have one serving of fruit, vegetables, or both with each meal. It provides so many good nutrients, makes you fuller and keeps you hydrated. Measure with your palm to ensure you’re eating enough. 

Know that just because one food has fewer calories than the other, does not mean it is the healthiest. I struggled so much with this, especially because many weight loss accounts will mention this, but it is so wrong. White bread has fewer calories than brown bread, but brown bread is higher in nutritional value. 

Plan snacks. Planning snacks for throughout the day, instead of spontaneously eating is so much better. I recommend this for anyone who gets hungry during the day but not enough for a meal (like me!)

Drink more water. Not 1L a day, because it is so much more ideal for you to have a glass of water with each meal + when you feel thirsty. 

Start educating yourself. This is as much as I can tell you, im not a nutritionist or a dietitian but if you plan to ensure that healthy eating becomes your lifestyle, educating yourself is essential!! 

EXERCISING.

Once again, I'm only going to go surface level with this because it is only based on my personal experience + Consult with your doctor before doing anything extreme. 

Start aiming for 5k+ steps. I see a lot of people advertise 10k+ steps as the standard, or what's active, but it's not sustainable If you're a busy person with a sedentary life or a beginner at exercise it is gonna be hard to sustain that. But walking is so good for you and simple too.

Join your local sports! Such a fun way to socialise while still exerting energy. 

If you can't do that for whatever reason, there are many ways to exercise at home. Research and pick a workout that you like and is sustainable. E.g. jump rope, pilates, home exercises, weightlifting, biking

Start standing more, it exerts energy. While very little, it still is very good. 

That's it, but remember to always start small with exercising, and RESEARCH!

BETTER SLEEP

To me, it doesn’t matter how much sleep a person is getting, but much more rather the quality of said sleep. So, here are some tricks and tips to get better at sleeping!!

Investing in a good quality pillow is so good for your sleep, the more comfortable you are, the better + it reduces the chances of poor posture or hump necks 

Research about different sleeping positions, as some positions at night promote back pain, difficulty breathing or poor posture. 

Start sleeping in complete darkness. Remove all sources of light or invest in good light-blocking curtains OR binders. Though, binders seem to be much more effective but are more pricey. If you cannot do either of that, buy a good sleeping mask. 

Sleep in the cold. Your body easily falls asleep if your environment is cold, and you’re less likely to wake up in the middle of the night. 

It is ideal for you to stop using devices an hour or two before bed, but if it is not sustainable for you, wear red blue-light-blocking glasses instead of clear ones. Red ones are more effective. 

Avoid large physical or mental tasks before bed, use that time to unwind and tell your body it's time to go to sleep. 

Avoid napping for longer than 30 minutes, or it can disrupt the sleep you have at night. 

Go to sleep at similar times every day. If you go to sleep earlier or later than this, you will ruin your sleep schedule and feel groggy. 

I expand more here. 

ORAL HEALTH

This is a step many people will neglect, but the most important in my opinion. Your teeth are the only body part that fails to regenerate after a certain age. Here's how I take care of mine!

Brush your teeth for longer. Brushing your teeth should not be a sped-up process, put actual thought into it. 

Start flossing. Floss removes plaque, and reduces the chances of your teeth yellowing! Do this ideally after each meal.

Brush your teeth before you eat. Brushing my teeth is the first thing I do when I wake up because brushing your teeth is supposed to protect your teeth from the food, not wash away your food. 

If you have the means, buy an electric toothbrush, as this gets in the little nooks and crannies that a regular one cannot. 

Use a tongue scraper or your toothbrush to get rid of any bacteria on your tongue. 

Use straws to drink coffee or any heavily coloured drinks. This avoids the premature yellowing of teeth. Make sure you put the straw on the side of your mouth to avoid your teeth. 

Use good mouthwash. A total game-changer, makes your breath fresher and your gums healthier. 

If need be, definitely use a purple teeth serum as a whitening treatment.

GRADE 2: STYLE 

I do not mean literal clothes and style, that's in grade 3. This is all about basic grooming and such. This is 2nd most important, especially if you're somebody who’s never been invested in beauty.

SKINCARE 

Get a basic skincare routine, cleanser and moisturiser.

If you have other skincare concerns e.g. dry skin, hyperpigmentation, acne, or blemishes, invest in a serum. 

Avoid touching your face frequently.

Wash makeup brushes & pillowcases often.

Dermaplaning to help skincare absorb better. 

Use sunscreen!

HAIRCARE

 Invest in a good shampoo and conditioner for your hair type.

Use a good hair oil, it doesn’t have to be for growth, but just for nourishing your scalp

Sleep with a good quality bonnet on.

Find which type of hairbrush works the best on you!

Use warm water to remove product build up and dirt, but use cool water to rinse.

Buy spray suncsreen to put on your scalp during hot weather.

Once again, research. Hair is just too much of a broad topic for me to thoroughly talk about.

EYEBROW & LASHES

Trim your eyebrows regularly to avoid too many stray hairs

Tint your eyebrows and lashes. If you already have dark eyelashes and brows, try a lighter look. I seem to prefer a dark brown look to a black 

Invest in a good lash & brow serum or use any oil

Don't use Vaseline on your eyelashes.

 Limit how much you wear mascara. 

I talk more about this here. 

BODY & HANDS 

Have a daily shower routine which consists of washing, exfoliating and moisturising your skin. 

Using scented products is such a game changer, smelling good is like being a magnet 

Doing manicures, my routine is a cuticle scrub, file, buff, polish, paint then cuticle oil. 

Shave on the areas you want to. Having smooth skin is nice, but to ensure your shave lasts longer, watch a video. 

I post about creating a good shower routine here. 

LIPS

Invest in a good, portable lip balm. I prefer the ones that burn your lips to give it a more fuller effect

Make your lip scrub. Sugar, honey and turmeric are my go-to. Helps remove dead skin.

If you have hyperpigmentation around the lips, use glycolic acid, only a little.

GRADE 3 – FASHION

My favourite grade, because it is so fun and focuses more on the aesthetic side of things. However, they're not essential, which makes it all the more fun!

CLOTHES 

 I have a post about wardrobe essentials here. 

Find out about what season colours you are. This helps with using colours in fashion to enhance. ( if you don't like your colours it is okay, it doesn’t change much if you do not wear them) 

Figuring out your undertone colours for jewellery. 

Figure out what works for your figure. Experiment with necklines, bottom length etc. 

Find out your general style too, what you feel confident in and more assured. 

MAKEUP

Research and only watch tutorials of women who look like you (trust me). 

Dear Peachie has a bunch of videos of how makeup works, for beginners to more advanced artists!

Then make your signature look for every using your knowledge. 

FRAGRANCE 

Invest in a good eau de parfum and eau de toilette. Cheap fragrances suck. 

Invest in a good-scented lotion. My favourite brand is Vaseline.

Using a good nice fabric softener for laundry makes you feel and smell fresh

Using an expensive scented body wash doesn’t matter, invest in a good body lotion. 

HAIR STYLING 

Hairstyles that enhance your face shape, not shield it. 

Having a simple signature look for everyday

Experimenting with your hair is ideal, but if you can't for whatever reason once again research.

GRADE 4 – PERSONALITY

The way you seem to others can make you so much prettier. Fake it till you make it as always~

POSTURE

Having good posture makes you stand out, makes you look prettier and is generally good for your health

Chin is parallel to the floor, shoulders are down and relaxed, rib cage is elevated, pelvis is tucked in, your knees straight and flexed, and the weight on your feet should be in the center.

You can stretch for good posture, there are many videos on this on YouTube.

Ensure your sleeping position is promoting good posture, not poor. 

Buy a back brace to reinforce good posture.

BODY LANGUAGE

Learn how to move your body during conversations to seem more self-respected and confident.

Train your facial expressions for different situations, but especially for taking photos.

There are tons of books and videos on this, won’t expand because this is all about how you want others to perceive you. 

ELOQUENCE

Improve the way you communicate with others. Be fluent and clear to understand 

Expand your vocabulary, know how to substitute words on the spot and make sentences. 

Knowing what to say in like any and every conversation makes people like you more, and the best way to be more eloquent is just practice. 

There are so many good books about this.. read.

GRADE 5 – MIND

Personally, having a good mindset does boost your self-perception of your prettiness + being happier in general makes you more inclined to take care of yourself = being more pretty!!!

MENTAL HEALTH

Start journaling as a way to organise your thoughts and to truly analyse your emotions. There are a lot of journaling prompts on Pinterest and such!

Meditation as a way to clear the mind when needed is so good. There are a bunch more meditations for other purposes though like body image, productivity, focus or just general relaxation.

Go to therapy, or just have at least one person you can talk to when life becomes tough.

Cut back on social media. There's misinformation, trolls and a lot of content that isn't nourishing your mind. 

Get some sun! Simple and doable, but has a huge effect on the body. It can improve the current mood. Wear sunscreen. 

Start learning how to process situations, instead of bypassing the emotions that come with them. 

Start surrounding yourself with like-minded people. Seriously, being around people who are just too different is draining. 

MINDSET

Embrace growth and reject all forms of comfort. Being uncomfortable with something is growth. 

Don’t do things because you ‘have’ to do this, do them because they benefit you and see it in that way. E.g ‘I’m going to clean my room because I deserve a clean place to rest and work’ instead of ‘I have to clean my room’

Become detached. Stop letting everything that happens in your life affect you, start observing instead of consuming. 

Self validates yourself. Tam Kaur did a wonderful video on this that I think everyone should watch.

Stop believing that everything and everyone is out to get you. Your subconscious mind believes this, do not feed it, starve it.

There's a lot to say about mindset, but I recommend watching some mindset YouTubers who explain everything in depth.

and now,,,, here's a ANOTHER gift from lanny because u read her post. And liked it. And reblogged it. And followed her.. pleaseee

[haruchi-slit]

WHEN HE GO LOW, I GO LOWER!!

synopsis⁽⁠⁽⁠ଘ⁠(⁠ ⁠ˊ⁠ᵕ⁠ˋ⁠ ⁠)⁠ଓ⁠⁾⁠⁾:

You saw Satoru making out with a girl in the club and as your revenge you slept with his three friends :)

a/n: DONT MIND THE TITLE IDK WHAT TO NAME THIS BLOG I'M SORRY! Our wifi broke so i wrote this cause i was bored. I'm risking my digital footprint and my dignity (am i?) i personally think this is kind of cringe? cause of the pet names and detailed smuts i was literally laughing while writing this idk if i cooked this shit up or burnt it lmaoo

Warnings!!

Toji, Ryomen and Suguru are, like..26-29 in here..and Satoru is a very,very,very red flag boyfriend here if you're not good with that then shoo away. Grammmatical errors, typographical errors mdni, foursome, raw sex, use of rose toy, fingering, fisting, degrading, praisin, anal, etc.

"Have you seen Satoru's latest post?dang, so you gonna let him hook up with other girls?" Suguru clicked his tongue "tsk, he's a womanizer, you deserve better Y/n" he added as he shoved his phone to you.

"He said he'd change, so c'mon people change don't they?" you chuckled, and slightly tapped Suguru's phone away.

"eee, whatever you say, but don't come crying to us hon..we've already warned you." Ryomen snickered

"Stop with the yadayada and finish this f'me?" you rolled your eyes "besides he's going to take me on a date tonight."

"You're fucking delusional, sweetie" Toji said as he appeared out of nowhere,

"And you fucking scared me" Suguru laughed out.

"Whatever, im going home gonna get ready for me and m'love's date.."

"Yeah, sure whatever just come to us if he fucks up mhm?" Toji chuckled

"i don't care, I'm sure he won't fuck up tho" you responded and bid them goodbye.

You drove back to your house, unlocked your front door and got inside, it's already eight in the evening and Satoru said he'll pick you up at nine, you took a shower, dried your hair, did your hair just how he likes it, did your make up

in the best way possible, you wore your dark blue dress that compliments every curve and dips on your body. It's been a long time since the two of you dated and it's understandable with all the side chicks he's got, you still forgave him after all the things he has done to you. you prepared your bag, you put your lipstick, your card, your keys and of course your rose toy and also a condom in case the two of you get freaky and shit, while doing your make up you got a message from Satoru.

'Toru💙

-Something came up, can we move our date next week?

You hesitated to respond..but as a understanding girlfriend, you agreed of course you would, but because you already have your look and everything you decided to phone Shoko, and asked her to come over and go to the new club..and of course as the best girl, she agreed to come with you.

"Yeahh, im down this week had been fucking rough..i need to let out some steam eventually." she said

"yess, perfect be here at 10 I'll wait for you" you responded.

as you wait for her you scrolled thru your phone while eating the pineapples you cutted earlier cause you thought you and Satoru will have a blast tonight but he, as the damned boyfriend he is, he cancelled it and didn't even told you what "came up" while eating and scrolling on your phone for a while, you heard someone knocked on your door and you knew it was Shoko so you came rushing down to your hall and opened the door,

"Heyy, y/nnn~~" Shoko greets you with a warm smile, as you responded with a hug, "Shall we go now?" you asked "Of course!" she said. The two of you went to the club and wow, literally wow, very fucking ironic.

You saw Satoru in the club, making out with some chicks,

he's so fucked up now.

Shoko saw Satoru and marched towards him and gave him a very hard blow on his stomach, causing him to choke on his saliva.

"Fuck you, and fuck your sidechicks!" She then snatched a random man's drink and spilled it right on top of Satoru's and the girl's head,that left Satoru speechless. When she came back to you she noticed that you were no where to be seen, "Poor woman.." she sighed and tried to find you in the huge crowd in the club but she couldn't spot where you are. As for you, you we're rushing, running away far from the scene, too overwhelmed to stop from running thousands and thousands of thoughts in your mind,

"am I not good enough?, am I ugly?, am l replaceable?-" you snapped back into reality when you bumped into someone,

"Watch where you're going!" the man said, "Oh my god, I'm sorry!" you bowed down and ran to the nearest park.You sat down on the bench and called Ryomen.

"Ryomen, can you pick me up?, it's so loney out here" you sobbed,

"You guys are right he fucked up." you added.

"Aww~, turn on your location I'll pick you up we'll help you relieve your loneliness" Ryomen responded in the other line of the phone.

((⁠ ⁠´⁠◡⁠‿⁠ゝ⁠◡⁠`⁠))

"Ah - i think it won't fit!", You jolted as you tried to fit you fist up to your ass,

"it'll fit hon, keep doing it..how'll you going to handle our dicks?" Toji whispered to your ear before he kissed your forehead. You nodded as you tried to relax your body, you drew your hand to your mouth to lubricate your hand so it'll be easier for you fist to glide thru,

"Good girl, keep doing it baby" Geto gave you a smug smirk as he tweaks your nipples, sucking it occasionally while he presses your rose toy deeper into your clit. Ryomen tucked your loose hair behind your ear. You bit your lower lips, "P- Please" you blurted out.

"Finish your words woman." Suguru sternly responded. "Please- hah!" you were cutted off when Suguru bit you left nipple,

"Please what, woman?"

"H-help me relieve my loneliness, by your c-cocks" you babbled.

"Should we comply to this poor woman's plea?" He asked, Toji and Ryomen, the two men gave you a teasing smirk, Toji lifted you up and laid you flat on your chest, on top of Ryomen facing his cock as he faces your pussy, "ass up" Toji said which you senselessly obeyed, he snapped his hips into your anal hole "mhmm!-" you jolted as he slowly picked up a pace, on the other hand, Ryomen is currently eating you out, spitting at your pussy only for him to suck his saliva back in his mouth, using his hand he spread your folds like damn book and thrusts his godly amazing tongue, he paused

"Honey, do you mind pleasing me?" you shook your head countless times due to the pleasure Ryomen and Toji is inflicting you.

You carefully guided your mouth to his cock

sucking it, gawking it up and down. Ryomen

chuckled sending vibrations to your clit , causing you to arch your back even more, you were a moaning mess, saliva drooling from your mouth, Suguru walked up infront of you

"Can you smile for the camera baby?, sending this to Satoru..gonna show him what he's missing", you paused from sucking Ryomen and looked up to the camera with your beautiful doe eyes and smiled widely, Suguru grabbed your hands and placed it to his cock which you understood and gave him a rub, he paused the recording and placed the phone down, sinful groans, moans and squelching sound filled Suguru's Condo "Sit up baby" Ryomen ordered, Toji pulled out and helped you sit up, you can barely feel your legs, you sat on top of Ryomen he slides his dick in your ass, as Suguru stood between your legs Suguru gave himself a few pumps before putting it in your pussy you loudly groaned "A-ahhgh!" Toji positioned himself beside you and grabbed your head onto his cock giving himself a deep throat, you can feel them twitching you knew that they were close as your pussy runs like waterfalls, spasming and squelching around their cocks. Make up completely ruined, Suguru grabbed his phone again and continued recording,

"B-baby,hngh-! look at the camera...Who's better, us or S-satoru?" you heard him asked as you struggled to babble and spit an answer due to the immense pleasure, "hgh-ah y-y-" you struggled "hmm?" he hummed teasing you. "YOU!" you spat "that's my girl" he smirked "All, a-all of you!" you added, "atta girl" Ryomen said as he quickened his pace, your tits, bouncing uncontrollably, you prepared your hips for your release,you were so close,

"Are you breaking up with him?" Ryomen asked

"Yes, ughh!"

"fuck" Suguru groaned, as he released thick white rope in you, painting your walls white,Ryomen also came after a few seconds, same as Toji.

"You heard her, she's breaking up with you." Toji chuckled as Suguru ended the recording, afterwards he sent it to Satoru.

Ryomen and Suguru pulled their dicks out of you, your pussy completely puffed,red and full of semen, Suguru focused the camera on your cunt that's currently oozing with tons of semen he spread out your folds and focused it on your entrance, clenching and spasming around nothing.

a/n: this took me 8 days to finish, I was procrastinating lmfaoo bye see ya!!🪼

[redroses07]

Random Supernatural Headcanons

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Fem!Reader romantic, Dean Winchester x Fem!Reader platonic, a sprinkle of Destiel added in!

While Sam is your boyfriend, that doesn’t stop you from joining in with Dean to tease him.

We’ve all seen throughout the show how much Dean loves to playfully argue with Sam, and you think it’s hilarious.

“Babe, you have my back on this right?”

“Nah, I’m gonna have to agree with Dean on this one.”

Seeing how pissed he gets makes you and Dean burst into laughter every single time.

Dean is definitely your best friend, and you consider him like a brother.

You and Sam totally argue like an old couple sometimes.

When I say this I mean the two of you rarely have serious arguments.

It's usually over something simple like, "Did you do laundry?" "No, that was your job this week." Sam would respond with a hint of sarcasm, "Actually, if you listened, you would know that it is in fact your turn."

These arguments are usually resolved with a simple, "Could you shut the hell up? I'm trying to relax over here." from Dean.

Both of the Winchester brothers can be very hard headed at times, and you and Castiel use each other as an outlet to complain about this.

Sam and Dean are similar in many ways, even more than you had originally noticed. Hearing Cas talk about his and Dean's relationship helped you pick up on little commonalities they share that you wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

When Sam and Dean argue you and Cas have learned not to interfere because they will eventually work it out in the end. So the two of you just silently, and somewhat awkwardly, stand in the corner and exchange tired glances. (Don't worry though, you both love them unconditionally.)

You Sam, Dean, and Cas have developed a sort of hand signal system for when you're on hunts.

For example when you're fighting a demon or some other monster, holding two fingers up signals you to cause a distraction, and three fingers means "move out of the way, I've got this one."

With how sassy Sam can be I’m a firm believer that he is a major gossiper at heart.

You are definitely his favorite person to gossip/complain to.

You get all the details about who gets on his nerves the most while on hunts, and vice versa.

Sam is normally good with keeping secrets, considering that’s part of his job, but never with you. He has to tell you everything, and even if he didn’t, you know him well enough to tell when he’s hiding something.

Sam also knows you inside and out, and so do Dean and Cas. One of you can always tell when something is up with the other, even if you’re reluctant to talk about it at first.

Found family is definitely the troupe that best describes your relationship with them.

Anyways love you guys and hope you enjoyed! Comments and reblogs are always appreciated!

- Claire ♡

[thebluester2020]

[SDV] Infection AU

Summary: It was supposed to be another day on the farm. You'd wake up, check the mail, feed the animals, maybe even go into town to pick up some new seeds! But...when the wizard suddenly appears at your door to tell you that a mysterious plague had fallen upon Pelican Town and Ridgeside Valley, causing the townspeople to morph into hideous flesh-eating creatures while also emboldening the monsters of the Mines and Ridge to come out and attack all who aren't affected, you and your spouse stand as one of the few who aren't amongst the affected but...how do you both survive such a horrid new reality?

Warning(s): Some explicit character death (I've played Dead Space y'all, I'm not holding back on kids being man-eating monsters), Some good ol' angst, the Farmer really shines as a monster-slayer here, Y'all are gonna hate me for Shane's part and I'm not elaborating on that,

Note(s): I've been CRYING out for someone to make an Infection AU of Stardew ever since I saw it trend for MLP on TikTok. But hey, as they say, want something done? Do it yourself ig. I decided to only include three bachelors because A. I want to make a part 2 sometime since it's way too long as it is tbh and B. I NEED TO MAKE FANART OF THIS AU DUDE. I LOVE ZOMBIES AND DEAD SPACE MONSTERS

MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS DNI

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ

About a week ago, Marlon had told you that an emergency commission had come up, one that was apparently so important that it needed to be put as your main priority over any other commissions you may have had at the moment. At the time, you didn't have a mind to think much of it when he explained the nature of the commission, that it was brought forth to him by an anonymous source. The commission spoke of a monster, one that displayed an "Alpha-like" nature over the rest of the monsters and was far more aggressive than the others.

Since the moment you took on this commission and began searching for this mysterious creature, you had a mind to think that Marlon was finally beginning to lose his sanity as you hadn't once spotted this mysterious creature...at least, until it was too late.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ

Sebastion : "The Long Walk Home"

You couldn't sleep.

You had been tossing and turning in your bed for hours before you finally decided to get up and go to the mines. And the culprit for your sleepless night? The emergency commission that was thrown to you by Marlon around two weeks ago. The fine details of the commission were forgotten by you by now but basically, the older man had went on and on about how this creature was a major threat to not just the region of Stardew Valley but potentially everywhere close to it!

The monster was described to be as big as a fully-grown Pepper Rex. Thankfully it was unable to breathe fire but it came with a different quirk, which was the fact it had a disgusting ooze about its skin. One that was rumored to make you dizzy and eventually burning with rage if you breathed in the smell for too long.

If you were to be honest with yourself, you thought Marlon was exaggerating a little.

And that thought only grew more and more as you continued to search through the deeper levels of the cavern with your poor spouse trailing behind you.

"What's this monster called again?" Sebastion said from behind you.

The two of you had been searching for hours now, looking under every rock and peeking into any crevice you could find in hopes of at least getting some type of hint as to what this creature was and where it may have been. "Don't know," You yawned. "Marlon didn't give me a name, just a description." You said, patting your cheeks to try and keep yourself awake as you started to feel a bout of sleepiness wash over you.

"It's really important and really dangerous as well." You added on before you looked behind you. "You know, you didn't have to come...you know that right, Sebby?"

Your husband flashed you a shy smile. When he had drowsily woken up to the blurry sight of you putting on your boots and clothes, grabbing your weapon from the weapon's rack. He stopped you and insisted on coming along with you. It wouldn't have been his first time venturing into the mines, especially in regards to the deeper levels, and he was good with a sword as well! But, more than anything? If this creature was so dangerous...he couldn't bear the thought of you facing it by yourself, even if he wasn't up to your level in terms of swordsmanship.

He at least wanted to offer support.

"I didn't have to but I wanted to. I won't let my spouse face a boss-level monster alone." The joke made you giggle a little before you stopped in your tracks and sighed.

"Well..." You took out your phone to check the time.

It was going on three in the morning and you had a busy day tomorrow. You had planned to visit the Skull Cavern in search of more iridium as well as buy some more Starfruit seeds from Sandy! "Think we should call it a night? I'm getting sleepy and I want to take a shower."

Your husband's brow rose a little. "You sure? You've been at this commission for around a week now, right? Maybe tonight is when you can finally finish it."

As he sheathed his sword, you snickered teasingly as you pinched his cheek, resulting in the man's cheeks beginning to tint ever so slightly. "I've taken longer on other things, besides, I feel bad making you trail after me. Plus, I don't think it would be a good idea to face a boss level monster while we're both tired as shit, right?"

Sebastion nodded his head in agreement before the two of you started off in the direction of the ladder. He never minded following you, no matter how long it took, in his eyes? Spending even a single millisecond longer around you was much more preferred compared to spending that time all by himself similar to how he did in the basement. But, once the two of you were out of the mines and felt the cool night air on your skin once again...immediately, you felt that something was...off.

When things suddenly became too quiet in the mines, you knew that there was something dangerous in the air.

The same could be applied to the outside. More or less, you don't think you'd ever felt unsafe out in the town but...tonight was different.

So, you slowly unsheathed your sword. "What is it?" Sebastion said.

"Something's not right- GAH!" You suddenly shouted and dropped your weapon when the wizard suddenly appeared in front of you, making you fall to your bum as your chest heaved up and down in fright.

But as you quickly picked up your sword and got up, about to tell the man off. Your words caught in your mouth when you noticed the wizard's appearance. He looked...bloodied and bruised, scratched in some places too. A stark difference from the typically noble and wise air he gave off. "Farmer, are you and your spouse okay?" He quickly asked as he checked you over.

Your eyes widened as he took your arm and looked you over. "W-We're fine..." You answered before he then walked over to Sebastion, looking over him like a worried mother hen. "Why? What's wrong? Why are you bloody?"

"Something's happened," He said. "The townspeople...they're-"

Your blood ran cold. "What happened?" Sebastion asked for the both of you.

"The townspeople-" A shrill yet guttural howl rang out through the air, interrupting the wizard and causing him to suddenly raise his hand before a strange see-through rune appeared out of thin air near the entrance into the mines.

"Why did you-"

"Half of the town is dead," The wizard said, a little bit more quietly this time. "There's some type of...virus going through the air. It's turning the townspeople into twisted versions of themselves."

Your breath caught in your throat as your mind immediately went to the monster you and your husband were just searching for a few minutes ago. "I-Is it...is it related to the-"

"No," You let a sigh of relief. "The virus is related to the Shadow people, however, that creature that you were tasked to kill may have been a variant of them."

A guttural roar from outside made all three of you jump, your heart pounding in your chest as you took Sebastion and tried to lead him to the train cart. "Well then, as fun as it is to talk to you wizard...we need to go-"

"I wouldn't recommend the train cart." He said.

Sebastion looked back. "Why?"

"Because the creatures are fast enough to keep up with a moving train cart."

You clenched your free hand, exhaling through your nose. "Then what do we do?"

"You sneak back to your farmstead. I have placed a barrier around your farm, protecting your animals and eventually you and your spouse's until you return."

"What about the monsters?"

"The barrier seems to have made the area invisible to their eye. So far, they haven't gone near."

Your attention then went to Sebastion as the prospect of sneaking back to your farm to avoid a horde of monster-turned-villagers was...frightening to say the least. Sure, you've had moments in the Mines where you've snuck past monsters and managed to somehow fool ghosts but this? You couldn't help the chill that went throughout your body, especially seeing as your spouse was going to be right there beside you. "Sebastian." You said.

Although he didn't look at you on account of looking down at the ground, his brows furrowed in thought. He at least hummed in acknowledgment of his name. "What are you thinking?" You continued.

"This is dangerous."

You scoffed, that was putting it mildly. "No kidding, but...I'm worried about you. The quickest way back to our farm is past your family's home and-"

Although you didn't continue with your sentence, Sebastion understood what you meant. You were afraid for him, you were afraid for his family and the potential happening that they were...not human anymore. You didn't wish that type of pain upon anyone, especially your husband. And if the both of you needed to take a longer, more dangerous route to hopefully keep his sanity safe. You were willing to make that sacrifice.

Eventually, Sebastion sighed. "I'm fine," He said before fully turning to you. He rubbed his hands up and down your arms. "Right now? You're my most important family, so long as you're safe? I'll live, I'll be okay."

"That's not what I meant-"

"You two," The wizard interjected gruffly. "The night wears on, it grows more dangerous by the minute and I need to try and secure as many more areas as I can. You must leave."

You both nodded in his direction before you looked back at Sebastion. "Ready?"

"No," He dryly chuckled before his hand rested on his weapon. "But, I have your back."

"Good luck you two, I'll make sure to check back in with you both in a few days."

When the wizard disappeared, so did the rune that was on the exit of the cave. Allowing you and Sebastion to quietly tiptoe out of the cave and...out into the silent night.

And by Yoba's name, it was eerie. You wanted to suspect that the Adventurer's Guild would be hustling and bustling by now, maybe Marlon would be attempting to gather as many weapons in a bid for them to be readily available for anyone who would need them. Maybe he'd be trying to make sure Gil was safe but...as you slapped a hand over your mouth to withhold a gasp, you saw the blood splatters on the ground.

Had he...

Sebastion came up behind you to gently shield your eyes away from the sight, gently urging you to keep walking. "C'mon," He whispered as the two of you made your way to the steps where the blood splatters continued to grow in frequency as well as the amount of blood that was shed until...you started to spot oddities with the blood.

On the side, there was purple blood, the stench was terrible. Like cow dung mixed with charcoal. A little further up near the curve of the path next to the bridge that lead over the small stream was a weapon, Marlon's sword no doubt, before more blood splotches started to appear again only...slowly but surely, they morphed into a more purplish color- "Hide," You whisper-yelled as you dragged Sebastion into some bushes the second you heard a deep clicking from up ahead.

Quickly the two of you crouched down, you took up the task of just barely peeking out from behind the bushes to get a good look of what was making the sound until...you saw it.

Easily, it stood as tall as a fully grown Pepper Rex and it walked on four legs like one too.

Its entire form was the shade of a raven's feather and it hulked with muscle lurking underneath its seemingly armored skin. Yet a peculiar detail to note was its lack of a mouth before your eyes trailed down to its paws where claws as long as your forearm lay, bloodied and some even having remnants of skin still stuck to the tips of them.

But...when you looked back at the face of the stalking creature.

Then you noticed the scar over one of its glowing purple eyes.

'Marlon...' You thought as your eyes started to brim with tears.

But the creature- or...Marlon didn't stay around for very long. He only looked side to side with a hiss before it stalked onwards, its thudding footsteps slowly fading away.

You and Sebastion waited a few more minutes until you finally decided it was safe enough to keep moving. Your hearts pounded in your chests as you made your way across the small bridge, each squeaky step setting off an alarm bell within you that screamed out that you were going to get caught any second. But, thankfully, the next long stretch of road was where Robin's home was.

Maybe- "Hey," Sebastion whispered before he pulled you to the side, around a corner where you both were decently hidden from sight.

"Should we stop by my mom's house? Maybe-"

"Of course," You didn't have to be convinced to see inside your in-laws house. Though, for whatever reason Sebastion wanted to, you yourself just wanted to check up on his parents and his half-sister. If everything hadn't gone to complete shit yet then...they'd still be alive and you could take them with the both of you and let them live on your farm.

"We'll need to be careful though." You sighed as your mind flashed back to Marlon, taking out your weapon.

"Y/N, they haven't-"

Your eyes narrowed. "I thought that way too, with Marlon." Sebastion huffed. "I'm keeping the weapon out," You pressed before you resumed taking the lead, your weapon out in front of you as the two of you lightly jogged until you were at Robin's house where...everything seemed to be fine.

Aside from the lights being out that is.

"Maybe they're sleeping?" You said, hopefully.

"We can go in through the garage." Without another word, your husband crouched down and tried to gently open the garage, the harsh squeaking making him and you freeze in your places for a second before he continued a little more until it was high enough for the both of you to squeeze under. But, once the two of you were in you slowly opened the door to the inside of the house.

Still, it was so eerily quiet...like death was waiting just around the corner.

"Get some food from the kitchen, I'll watch-"

"I'm fine," Sebastion said, gesturing to the sword on his hip. "I'll see if there's anything just...please, make sure my mom and sister are okay. Wake them up, anything."

You nodded your head before you walked off and looked around the house.

Your first stop was Sebastion's old room. You slowly creaked open the door and all you saw was nothing, nothing but Sebastion's old things and the smell of growing dust in the air.

So, you turned your attention to upstairs.

All before you stopped the second you heard dripping sounds upon the wooden floor. Your breath caught in your throat and your mouth went dry the second your mind immediately flipped back to Marlon and his monster-turned state, if it could happen to him then...it was obvious it could happen to anyone. But, for the sake of your husband? You prayed to whatever god was listening to you at this moment that his family hadn't experienced a similar fate.

Yet as you followed the noise all the way until you reached the end of the hallway, where you could see Robin and Demetrius' door slightly ajar. You tried to quietly tiptoe your way to the door before your jaw nearly dropped to the floor. An organ hung from the top of the door, the dripping noise being the- the blood...a gorey trail of flesh, blood, and even more intestines trailed all the way to the bed where...there Robin and Demetrius' bodies lay as a monster feasted upon whatever was still left inside of their cracked open stomachs.

What do you tell Sebastion?

Do you even tell him at all?

He couldn't know about this...you saw it in his eyes, the worry and concern he had for his sister and mother.

He'd be beyond heartbroken and you didn't think you had the strength to tell him, not right now when...maybe, j-just maybe you were seeing things. And you, oh so desperately, tried to convince yourself that you didn't see Robin and Demetrius' crops as you slowly continued to back up until you were in the kitchen once more where Sebastion was currently putting different canned foods in a backpack he must've taken out from his room.

"Did you see anything?"

You immediately tried to wash off the horror on your face. "N-Nothing," You stammered. "Just...nothing, it was dark."

As Sebastion slung the backpack over his shoulders, his brow quirked up a little. "Are you sure? You look like you saw something, you can tell me."

You shook your head again, placing your hands on his arms before you gently leaned your forehead into his chest. A heavy sigh escaped your lips as you shook your head. "No...I-I'm fine, I promise. I'm just still- I'm still thinking about e-earlier, M-Marlon and all."

"Oh," He gently rubbed his hand in a circle on your back. "Everything's going to be fine." He said. "We'll always come out on top, okay?"

Although you nodded your head to try and get him to follow you out of the house quicker, you couldn't help but doubt him just a little.

Robin and Demetrius were gone and his sister was turned.

You don't think that image would ever leave your head, those familiar traits of Maru still present despite her warped form. Like how Maru's form still had traces of that familiar purple undershirt she'd wear over her overalls or how there seemed to be cracked pieces of glass on her face, illuminated by the faint light of the moon.

However...one day you'd gain the courage to tell your husband what you really saw, for as you slowly approached the end of the path that led onto the farm.

Your only focus was making sure the two of you survived from now on.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ

Sam : "Pack Starter"

How did the apocalypse start?

A seemingly simple and straightforward question. But in truth? Depending on the person at least, it was rather broad and filled with so many possibilities, all depending on where you were personally from the start.

For some? They may have not first noticed that anything was amiss. Perhaps they were out in the woods taking a hike or maybe at home sleeping, looking at a movie rather than trying to watch the news! It would be a normal day or not until all they saw was...carnage.

Others, their start may have been more brutal. Being out in the city or in a place where a lot of people gathered was a rather "in your face" start to the end of the world. People would be screaming in terror as they ran for their lives, trampling happening at every turn as everyone would quickly turn to making sure they stayed alive and worried about other people last.

Perhaps some would take the new world and quickly decide on doing the essentials.

Rushing for weapon stores and grabbing anything that they could.

Food.

Maybe even to see their families.

All valid but...completely unlike how your introduction to the end of the world was for the apocalypse came to you last. It was peaceful in Pelican Town, about a few hours away from the nearest city! Nothing extreme happened here unless you wanted to count your trips to the Mines, the Skull Cavern, or even Louis and Marnie's not-too-secret relationship.

Of course, that was until tonight happened.

Where you were rushing door to door with Marlon after he woke you up by pounding on your front door and screaming to get up and grab your weapon.

You didn't need to be told the exact details to know that it was bad.

Despite your groggy, freshly awoken state. You made the immediate moves to barricade and secure your farm from whatever threat made Marlon's hair turn grayer than gray, but...when you had spotted one of the monsters outside of your farm. Your memory of your commission flashed back to you, of what you were supposed to do but the monster was as elusive as a slippery fish. The creature seemed to size you up and down almost, all before it slipped away and rushed to terrorize someone else.

"Fuck," You had whispered after locking the last barn door before your legs carried you back to your home to see if your husband, Sam had waken up yet. "Sam!" You cried out as you slammed the door open, expecting him to still be deeply asleep in your bed, ready to be woken up by you until...he wasn't.

Panic immediately filled your being as a cold sweat broke out on your forehead.

He was just here.

The both of you were cuddled up beside one another until you got up to open the door.

"Sam?" You went to another part of the house, upstairs this time. "Sam!? Sam! Where are you!?" You cried out. As you rushed all around the house like a headless chicken, you felt like a madperson. You were cursing at yourself, you should've checked on him first before anything else! Yet as you tried to slow yourself down and think, consider the options of where he may have gone, your mouth became dry inside of your mouth as you thought of the one place you knew he'd most likely immediately go the second anything went wrong in this town.

Home.

And with your answer, you took the extra few minutes to shuffle into clothes more suited for running rather than your bedtime clothes before you dashed in the direction of town. And when you arrived...the sight of multiple fires and the scent of ash filled your senses as you looked around.

Monsters that resembled four-legged versions of shadow people roamed the cobblestone streets. Howling in triumph as some carried bodies within their large jaws whilst others tried to scratch and claw their way into homes that seemed to be locked and barricaded securely. However, as you quickly crouched behind a bush, a creature stomped its way by.

You got the faintest peek at its claws.

Like daggers, you thought. Sharp enough to cut straight through a tree without even breaking a sweat. And as your eyes continued to tail the creature, it walked through fire without even seeming to let out a noise resembling pain.

The lava katana that you tightly gripped within your palm.

You couldn't help the slight feeling of fear that began to grip you at the thought that a powerful weapon like yours couldn't even think to burn it at the very least.

But, you shook the thought from your head as you pressed forward, sneaking down the same path you would've usually taken to get to Sam's house until you heard a shrill scream, causing you to pick up the pace every so slightly until...your stomach lurched at the sight of blood and innards.

Blood flooded the once heavenly green grass and intestines littered the streets, walls of homes and dangled from the tops of fences. Effectively turning the town into hell on earth until you finally reached the street Sam's home was on, causing you to stand up straight and- "Sam!" You screamed before you could think when you saw him kneeling, his body shaking ever so slightly here and there until you quickly slowed down when...

When you saw Jodi, her ribcage was exposed and cracked open as she was feasted upon a smaller version of the monsters you saw earlier.

Yet...you recognized that yellow and red striped shirt- or at least, the tatters of it that hung off from the creature. Its smaller yet nonetheless sharp claws bloodied as the body of Kent lied not too far away from his wife's.

"S-Sam..." You said gently, almost a whisper as you both tried to get to him first as well as not disturb the monster from its meal. "Honey, l-let's go. Please."

"Vincent..." Those were the first words he uttered, his voice shaky and clearly holding back a sob. "Vincent." He repeated.

This time, the creature looked up with a tilt of its head and a strange insect-like chitter. All before it slowly moved away from its meal and started to stalk towards Sam.

You readied your weapon, your eyes narrowing as you recognized that hunter-like crouch from similar monsters, both in the Mines and the Skull Cavern.

"B-Buddy?" Sam said, hopefully. "Vincent, we can fix this. Y-Y/N can help fix you, they know a lot of things! They can help, we can bring Mom and Dad-" Before you knew it, the monster launched itself towards Sam with a high-pitched snarl, causing you to spring into action and shove Sam aside before you swung your sword.

"NO!" You heard Sam scream from the top of his lungs, your eyes wide and your sword dripping with black blood as the monster hung off the end of your sword for a moment before...it fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Still.

Dead.

"S-Sam." You said once the shock started to wash off from you. "Honey, that-"

Sam answered with a sharp inhale as you could've sworn his normally soft blue eyes turned red when he glared at you, tears streaming down his face before he looked back at the creature. You were about to crouch down and try to comfort your husband, make him see where you were coming from and your reason for doing what you did until...you heard snarls from the distance.

You'd have to put your emotions to the side for a little while longer.

Sam, he was allowed to be upset at you for as long as he needed to until he understood.

And until you both got out of this situation alive.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ

Shane: "Supplies"

It was a hot summer's day today. The sun was beaming down upon you and the cicadas were screaming out for water like they've never had before, but while you would have welcomed the arrival of summer in the past. Nowadays? You couldn't help the sour taste it left inside of your mouth! It was harder to grow stuff, crops were dead and there was no longer a place to readily buy season appropriate seeds.

You had to make weekly rounds back to the old supplies store just to try and keep your family of three, plus the pets alive and that alone was a trip!

The monsters that had arrived a little over a year ago were vicious, hungry creatures that spared no mercy whether or not you were a child or an adult.

Too many times did you toss and turn in your sleep at night when you remembered the scratched up and limbless body of Vincent outside of Sam's house on the night everything started, how he cried and begged for his brother to wake up despite...well...everything.

Since then, you haven't seen Sam in a while.

Or anyone else for that matter.

The town was quiet as there was nothing but abandoned buildings and homes. Everyone had already left a while ago, hoping to escape the monsters and their terror but you- well, your spouse insisted on staying, stating that the two of you had a lot to live for here and that there was no point in moving away from everything you had worked so hard for! And to a certain extent? You agreed with him, your farm and animals provided more than enough food for the both of you.

There was still plenty of supplies to be had so long as you knew where to look and every now and again? When you went to the Mines, you were able to find lost items that helped in fortifying the area around your farm just a little bit more from the creatures!

But then again-

"Y/N," A voice chirped from below. "It's hot."

"It really is, isn't it?" You agreed with a sigh before you took off your sun hat and handed it to Jas. "Maybe this will cool you down? Sorry I don't have anything better Jas," You smiled sheepishly, the little girl only smiling gratefully in return as she proceeded to put on the hat that was far too big for her then.

Then again...Jas was still here.

Marnie died at the beginning of the attack upon the town. When you had defeated the monster, Shane had rushed into the farmstead and found Jas hugging her stuffed animal in the corner crying and wondering where Marnie was, from what he told you. And although the little girl had her moments of sadness...all things considered, she was taking things well.

Her new reality with monsters and not being able to go outside as she pleased anymore, at least, beyond the boundaries of your farm, she was taking it well.

"Alright Jas, c'mon." You crouched down to allow the girl to climb onto your back before you carried her the rest of the way to Pierre's shop. It was both a way of making sure she didn't get tired as well as a way that...if something was here, you'd be able to run as fast as possible without worrying whether or not she was keeping up. But, thankfully, the two of you reached Pierre's abandoned shop without too much of an issue, causing you both to go in through the broken window you've both been using for a while now before you rummaged around the shop.

Although it was easy to take as much as you could from the store and haul it all the way back home, safely avoiding multiple trips off the farm.

You thought it would be good for Jas, now that Vincent was no longer around due to...reasons. It was good for her to get off the farm once in a while with supervision. Not to mention, after you finished your "shopping", the two of you made it a routine to go the beach if you could! Anything to hopefully keep Jas' childhood as intact as it possibly could be.

"What do you want to eat tonight?" You asked after letting out a frustrated sigh after seeing the summer seeds in the back of Pierre's supplies were all crushed.

"Pizza!"

Did you still have tomato seeds? You were growing some in your greenhouse so there wasn't too much of a fear of running out of the produce anytime soon but...

"Alright," You eventually caved in after deeming it not too much of a waste of resources to make the item.

"I think...I think pizza would also make Uncle Shane happy too."

You sucked in your bottom lip at the mention of your husband. Before everything went to hell, you and him were dating, the two of you even discussed getting married at one point! Shane was getting help for his alcohol addiction and was going to therapy regularly! Everything seemed to be going nowhere but up for him and you couldn't be happier, yet...as of lately? He had been in a stump.

There was no more therapy.

No more avenues to find a healthy substitute for drinking.

You'd never seen someone crave the taste of a beer like Shane had and it was only your luck that you had a few forgotten cans in your cellar. It was keeping him sane for now but, you worried for him. You'd have to figure something out quick, for all his hard work to be crushed just because the world decided to end at an inopportune moment...not only would it crush you, you knew deep down that it would silently crush Shane as well.

Yet, you tried shooing those thoughts away from your head as you zipped up your backpack and waved your hand for Jas to follow you. "Good idea Jas," You smiled. "I'll make you and Uncle Shane the best pizza ever!"

.

.

.

You were glad that Jas had gotten distracted by a mother hen and her chicks when the pair of you arrived back to the farm.

You planned to call her back inside when dinner was ready.

But...as you gently closed the front door behind you, your eyes trailing over the path of destruction inside your house. The worse immediately came to mind.

A monster attack possibly, but...there would've been blood and most smashed items rather than just bottles.

Shane wasn't exactly the type to leave your home a mess, he was good at cleaning to the point you joked about him being better at cleaning than yourself!

So, as you flicked on the lights downstairs. There was only one possible answer- "Where is it? Where'd they put 'em?" You could hear Shane mumbling as he searched the corners, nooks, and crannies of the cellar.

The scent of alcohol was heavy in the air as the spilled contents from the kegs were all over the ground. Shane's speech was slurred and as he moved around, not even taking the time to notice your presence, he more so limped like a shot dog than walked! You tried to cool your simmering rage, biting your lip and clenching your fists as you wanted to scream every possible curse word in the book at him.

He destroyed weeks' worth of supplies.

Ruined the house.

Ruined your hard work in this cellar...

All for a drink.

"Shane," You said.

No response.

"Shane." You said again as you slowly began to make your way to him.

Still, he didn't dare to give you a response. Not until you stormed the rest of the way to the man and slapped a hand on his shoulder to get him to pay attention to you. "Shane!" You screamed into his ear, your chest heaving up and down as tears brimmed your eye line."

"H-How could you?! Our- my hard work...everything, why-"

Shane grumbled as he half-hazardly pushed you away. "Where did you put it?"

"What?"

"The rest of the drinks, I need a beer."

"Shane, please." You begged as you followed him around the room, both trying to control your surging temper as well as to get his attention. "Fucking goddamn listen to me!" You roared, your hand grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn around.

"Why, fucking goddamn tell me why you did all this!?"

"I need a drink." He repeated, slower than last time.

"You already tore into my kegs!? How much more do you need?!"

He didn't respond, going back to ignoring you but instead opting to go upstairs.

It seems that the end of the world had taken more from you in this very moment than anything else had in your entire life. Supplies, as well as a partner you thought you'd call your husband one day.

[vitaminseetarot]

PAC Pick a Song - What About You Currently Shines Brightest?

Sup y'all, I'm back in time for the start of Leo season with another pick a card reading! The full moon is coming right up and I will likely do a reading for that as well very shortly, but I already had this done the other day and wanted to get it finally posted after much delay!

Below here are three cards to choose from belonging to the now-obsolete board game DropMix. It was a game connected to an app now unfortunately no longer in service, but it allowed the game to play by having chips in the cards activate a code that would send to a phone app to tally points as well as play music. You could pile the different cards together on a jockey board based on color and basically create your own remixes. You could play or make freestyle music. My basic pack has as many cards as the minor arcana + 4, so I thought these would be fun to bring out and work with for the partygoing Leo energy that's budding this late summer.

1, 2, 3

Pile 1. The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face

Cards: Baroness (Fire, Leo); "I am in touch with my purpose and passion in life"; 7 of Swords, XIX Sun, XVIII Moon

(Okay just a quick note I just gotta let u know that I eventually plan to paint over the Sun card for my only RWS-esque deck because the smiley face creeps me out lol so I put a tiny candle over its haunting face. The Sun is supposed to be a positive card dangit!)

Anyway back to your reading! Right off the bat I feel like you're gonna be shining bright this season no matter how you personally feel about summer, get in the mood and live it up! Light that bonfire. Jump in the pile of autumn leaves. Tap into your senses in the most innocent and playful way. I feel like you shine brightly when you get excited about literally anything in your life, it could be a new brand of coffee or new pair of jeans or something but people like how you react to things. Reminds me of Youtubers who have these funny but authentic personalities as they review random products or whatever.

I feel like you can get so in love with something that you kinda, as the song suggests, "go numb" and let everything else fizzle away from your focus. But the thing to remember is that all those other things are still there even if they don't light you up. It's all about learning to find the sweet spot between really enjoying the moment and being in flow with the best of things while also attending to the gritty details. It doesn't mean you should "go numb" in the other direction by only focusing on practical things. When I see Sun and Moon in the same three card reading I am reminded of Temperance because you're trying to balance two different energies together that are ultimately meant to work together. Manifestation+work, joy+catharsis, reason+instinct, yeah? It's a lot to seesaw back and forth every day but 7 of swords tells me that you find ingenious ways to pull it off. Don't let the shyness snuff the light out, and don't let the egoic sense of duty override your needs.

If you feel like sometimes you have to sneak away to find time to enjoy what makes you shine from the inside, I'm getting guidance for the collective to simply learn how to share a little bit of what you're doing while balancing it with the part of you that wants to protect your creative ideas and work on them. Again, there's a message here about balance. You don't have to spill everything about your life to the first person who asks, but at the same time there will be people who benefit from your fiery energy. Your interests and talents deserve to take up some space, pile 1. I think this pile just shines in general even if you're not always aware of it, even if it's incredibly subtle. It's in the little things.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰

Pile 2. Evanescence - Bring Me to Life

Shield (Fire, Sagittarius); "I attract relationship in harmony with my authentic self"; 5 of Cups, 10 of Pentacles, 9 of Pentacles

This pile could be going through some awakening period right now. I know, I know, it may sound cliché with "wake me up inside" as the lyrics, but it occurred to me that the Shield in your card is like this old energy that has been barricading you from material experiences. Like this is a pile who's really already been in the thick of the brambles and is wanting to come out. The Sagittarius arrow sign is in my mind like a flare set off from deep in the woods as if to say, "hey! I'm over here, come find me!" It's being let off in the sky in the hopes of rekindling some sort of lost connection to something, could be a person or to a certain goal. You currently shine brightest when it comes to relating to others, and seeking out positive relationships.

It could be that you've gone through some disrupting experiences that have encouraged you to wall off to self heal. This may have taken a long period of time to work through. I feel that you're moving into a part of the thicket where more light is pouring in from the outside, that you're near the end of a long isolating tunnel. You're entering a phase of your life where you're ready to have connections that feel more solid and real, rather than fairweather friendships. You're looking for sustainability, for people to have some sense of loyalty with. People with whom you can truly enjoy the abundance of life. The main issue is that grief and isolation can becomes habits that we may need to temper with in order to allow the new. Forgive yourself when you still feel the need to retreat even as you begin to stand out more. Depending on how long it's been, it can be quite an adjustment.

Maybe abundance is coming a little slow here, as the green color here is blocky. But it's rich like emerald, so once it's found, things will transform in your life radically. It's saying that even if you identify as an introvert, there is still "treasure" to be found in building new relationships. It could be totally virtual. But you shine from making the most out of the opportunities that your current or as of yet undiscovered relationships have to offer. You have a lot to offer others as well. I do get a strong teaching role from this pile. Maybe you've thought about going into teaching. I think your students would see you as sensitive and resourceful.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰

Pile 3. LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It

Marigold (Water, Scorpio); "I am wise and wonderful"; 6 of Pentacles, 2 of Pentacles, 10 of Cups

Your reading is so clear to me, you shine brightest when you are fully present in the moment and loving what you're doing and who you're being. I don't think this pile likes to waste any time lol. I think you've had some hard experiences that have taught you how to value the time and resources you have, especially when you give this energy way generously. And I get the sense that you're learning how to manage both the philanthropy side of things with the personal fulfillment side. You're learning that one does not necessarily require the sacrifice of another. Compromise, maybe, but not at a net loss. You can give without overextending the hand, you can seek out bliss in life without taking it away from others.

This is not a common trait to shine in, pile 3. It's a mature place to shine, but not always easy to develop. It's required a lot from you right from the beginning. There were probably some things you had to let go to make it all work before. But it doesn't always have to be that way. Your ability to rise above the situation, brush the dust off your coat and move forward is what makes you shine. Although I'll say this: even if it looks like all is going well, you're still allowed to feel whatever grief is stored up inside you. It's part of moving past it in order to make the most out of the present.

Some of these experiences may have had something to do with your sense of confidence, your body image, how your present yourself to others, self-expression, and I'm also getting pretty privilege as a topic. Self worth over buying the right kind of things too… I think you're letting your hair down finally. You're letting some outdated ideas about your image go, you shine when you declare yourself to be beautiful and sexy "just because". Why does there need to be a reason? Some people might tell you that you, in particular, aren't "allowed" to feel good in your own skin and clothes. Some may get threatened by your confidence. But it's because that's where you shine and it's up to them to adjust their vision. Tell em to make an optometrist appointment if they can't handle seeing your presentation.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰

This reading has not been evaluated by the FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or infection. Please ask your physician before going online.

2023, Vitaminsee Tarot ™

[dear-mrs-otome]

Would you please share crumbs of Jude's event? 👉👈

Yeah yeah! This goes for my other anon who was asking too...I won't go into any detail because I'm positive someone out there will do a much better job of translating but here's the super quick and dirty version, literally just copying what I was screeching to friends. see what i did there

Basically, Kate gets herself accidentally drugged shielding some woman when she and Jude are on a mission dealing with human traffickers, and she's high as fuck on this aphrodisiac stuff, just no brain cells left only horknee. Roger says she's just gotta wait it out and that someone should keep an eye on her overnight to make sure no bad side effects happen, and of course he volunteers.

Jude: he's just gonna try and get a piece -.-

Roger's like AS WOULD ANY OF US HERE and Jude's level of legit out loud just saying I'M SURROUNDED BY THE DREGS OF SOCIETY had me rolling.

Anyway, much to his surprise Kate picks him to be her monitor and he eventually gets exasperated with her not even being able to walk right, he's like I'm not standing here all night holding you up binch. You'll feel better if you just come, so here's my hand - go wild rubbing yourself on some fingers to get off.

He keeps giving her shit about her being pitiful and stuff but he never touches her anywhere else and only over her clothes as she comes a couple of times, and Kate finally implies that's why she picked him, because she knew he'd never take advantage of someone in her state. Jude teases her about how convenient it is to be able to blame all this sluttery on the drugs but he gets very serious (SOFT FACE ALERT) and tells her he's just yanking her chain - he knows she's not the sort of girl to give herself away so easily.

It's hilarious but also weirdly gentlemanly, and he helps her mentally get through it by commiserating with her rage that some guy is out there manufacturing this horrible stuff and putting women through what she's suffering through, and he basically says hang in there and after this is over how about you and I make sure we track down that fucker and give him hell 😈

There's a pretty amusing scene after the night ends, some time later when they HAVE caught the guy, and Kate's celebrating. Jude's confiscated all the aphrodisiac and taken over the supply lines, and Kate asks what he's gonna do with it, and he tells her he's gonna sell it. She's like WHAT but he very logically explains that if he doesn't, someone else will step up to make something possibly even worse, so he'll dilute it and control distribution safely (ostensibly to hopefully keep it safer) ((Jude for legalized marijuana amirite))

But then the shithead offers to sell her some with a sly grin and Kate's just difjfjfjdjd No NO THANK YOU

Jude: you sure? You SEEMED like you were enjoying yourself ;) leaving Kate just -.- And then he's basically like, eh i wouldn't mind being with you I guess your O face ain't so bad and poor Kate is left kind of like he's joking right? RIGHT? because if he isn't god help me and my poor heart

ANYWAYS...like I said, it was all kind of very twistedly chivalrous, and it really reinforced again that Jude's a dick but an equal opportunity one, he's never a dick to Kate because she's a woman. He drinks his respect juice, especially for exploited ladies it seems, even if he shows it strangely at times.

[cassiesdevblog]

I Don't Wanna Know Anything!!!!!

Don't try to teach me anything!! I don't want to know any of it! ...Why?

Because this terrifies me...

...and this doesn't!!

So don't tell me anything! .....Except what I actually need to know!

I want to zero in on the Binding of Isaac's seemingly lackadaisical approach to teaching players. This is a game loaded with hundreds and hundreds of different items with various effects, and the biggest effort it makes toward explaining what any of them do is never more than one short line of text, which is sometimes more of a catchphrase than an item description

This is enough for some people to call Isaac a "wiki game," and many will say you should just download the mod that puts a detailed description in the corner of the screen before you pick up an item, but I'm here to make the case against that

As a new player trying to get into Dead Cells (the game I pictured above with the detailed item descriptions), I found it overwhelming to try and digest all the information given to me every time I found a new item. The deluge of stats and attributes made it all feel super important, like I was already being expected to carefully consider every morsel of info while I was still trying to get to grips with the basic controls and movement. I'm sure some people are into that kind of thing, but I dropped the game fast

And I think the big question here is: would I need all this information to have fun?

Isaac's answer would be a firm no!!! You can pick the game up, not understand half the items you find, and have a blast anyway. Most of the time though, you'll have enough of an idea of what something does just by the short blurb of a description that you can make effective use of it without needing all the details

I think it would be awful if the game had the item descriptions mod (pictured above) preloaded by default. I'd like to think I'd just say "I'm not reading all that" if I found it overwhelming, but it's hard to ignore juicy, helpful information. After all, the player's job is to win, and it's the designer's job to make that process engaging

Not only that, but Isaac's approach actually removes the decision making from the process entirely for new players, because it doesn't give you any information until you pick the item up. If you waltz into an item room and see something you've never seen before, are you just not gonna pick it up? No, of course you just take it, and if you regret it later, that'll stick in your mind and you'll remember it next time. As you play, you'll gradually build your knowledge of what each item does, and eventually the game will be full of interesting decisions because of it

The short, catchy "item descriptions" are perfect for this purpose. It's easy for them to get stuck in your brain so they can help jog your memory next time you see the item. After playing enough, I've found myself reciting the ones I remember in my head before even picking an item up

It's a system that works great for all kinds of players, because the game is already fun even when you know nothing (plus, it's fun to discover what items do organically!), but you can reach new heights of strategy by naturally building a well of knowledge as you play, usually without even trying to

...Alrighty, so that's all nice and ideal, but what if players just crack open the wiki anyway and drag out the pace and volume of information waaaaaaay more than they would by downloading the item descriptions mod?

Well... I think that's fun too actually! If you're willing to go to the effort to go to the wiki and type in the name of every item you see before you pick it up, it's probably because you're super engaged with the game and you're in the mood to gather knowledge so you can make super informed decisions

Speaking personally, I sometimes do play with the wiki open if I'm in the right mood for it. But even then, I only actually look something up if I really want that extra advantage. The slight inconvenience of having to type into a search bar means I don't overdo it and suck the fun out of it. Rather, I generally only use it when I'm in the sort of mood where I find it fun!

Isaac is able to match so many people's moods and levels of experience by sparing the details and encouraging curiosity, discovery, and long-term accumulation of information, rather than trying to make sure you know everything upfront. I kind of think this is at least half of the game's secret sauce...!!! Seriously!

So if you ask me, the next time you want to tell your player something, you should ask yourself:

Do they need to know this to have fun?

(btw me and my friends just finished a whole ass game go play it)

[thedomesticanthropologist]

Hey there! I'm trying to think about how Tav and the party are taking care of the githyanki egg, pre and post hatching. What could they even feed a baby while camping on the road??

I have had this for so long! thank you for your patience. I had to research Gith eggs, only to find specific details about Githyanki eggs are not provided in official D&D lore.

So, Im gonna go off of a few things. It looks thick as hell, and requires some kind of special conditions to hatch? the best we can tell, they are incubated while sitting in acid. In game, the only way to get it to hatch without giving it up is to have it in Laezels inventory at the very end of the game. So Im assuming it sits in stasis and after all is said and done, she hatches it (outside the Astral Plane, as their eggs cannot hatch in the Astral)

In this ask, Id say it would require that the Gith at Rosymorn were right, and this egg only needed "a little more time", and perhaps it began the hatching process already in the acid when Laezel takes it.

A day after leaving the Monastary and getting to the Shadowlands, the egg hatches and Xan is born! Which horrifies EVERYONE in the party! No one expected this, it shouldn't have been possible considering the conditions. Everyone discusses trying to bring Xan back to the monastery, but at this point they cant really turn back and they already know that those Gith might not be friends.

Over two terrifying days, everyone experiences Parenthood. Newborn gith eat (????) but lets assume it can be provided.

Though Laezel has stated in game that she does not want to make children, she canonically rises to the occasion if Xan is with her after the game, so Im going to say she becomes immediately protective. This is her kin, her race, and no one is more qualified to understand what to do than her... except, a baby is MUCH different than your average Gith, and so she cant really do this alone.

Gale and Wyll would rise to the occasion in the caring-for-Laezel department. She can't sleep, but refuses to let anyone else hold the child for the first little while. So Gale brings her meals, and Wyll tries to take over her chores, which she rages against while claiming that she can do it all herself.

When she finally blacks out from trying to do everything alone, the companions pick up Xan and take turns rocking him and cleaning him and cuddling him- there is so much danger in the Shadowlands that none of them can outright refuse to help, because its all hands on deck for all tasks on rotation, and with Laezel finally sleeping, someone has to hold the baby.

Astarion holds "it" at an arms length and has a staring contest with him until someone takes pity and removes the child from his reluctant care.

Karlach gets so excited to help and is very entertaining, playing games and cooing and giggling with Xan- but she cant pick her up.

Shadowheart eventually finds a way to take over caring for Laezel, and when that happens,

Wyll is really the winner here. Hes got that baby strapped to him in an expert swaddle wrap. He figures out how to feed the kid while fighting off a stray shadow creature with his other hand. He kisses the baby on the head every 5 minutes.

Finally, when the Gith come in the night to warn everyone, maybe they have to take Xan with them, with the promise that Laezel may re-aquire him when all is safe (or as is the other option, he may go to live in the Astral Realm at a Gith monastery)

[aceghosts]

WIP Thursday

Hey everyone! I've been tagged by @nightbloodbix, @socially-awkward-skeleton, @cassietrn, @katsigian, @captastra, @marivenah, and possibly others that I'm forgetting.

Tagging (Opt In/Out): @bbrocklesnar, @carlosoliveiraa, @captmactavish, @alexxmason, @clicheantagonist, @theelderhazelnut, @direwombat, @strangefable, @amalkavian, @voidika, @cloudofbutterflies92, and anyone else who would like to participate.

I have more snippets from Rooney's CP2077 universe for you, including those listed in this poll. (Not gonna lie, I'm kinda surprised that Rooney's family won, lol.) I'm gonna start with two slightly depressing snippets, and then I also have two small fluffy snippets.

First, let's kick off with the winner of the poll, a snippet from the oneshot about Rooney's family. Also, I have to give a strong warning for this entire fic in general. In Mass Effect, Rooney's background is colonist, which means you are essentially left the sole survivor of your colony after being attacked by batarians. In their AU, Rooney's entire town is attacked by bandits, leaving Rooney the sole survivor. This fic is going to deal with distressing topics. If you need to skip it when I post, please do so. I will also have more detailed warnings when I post the final version of the fic.

As for this snippet, I do want to give a trigger warning that Rooney is not in a good mental state and is very much struggling:

The week that Rooney’s family died is always the worst week of the year. Rooney’s normally unflinching, steady demeanor turns brittle. Their mood is an ever vicious cycle of grief looping into tv-static like numbness, which eventually loops back into a grief that threatens to swallow them whole. Their sleep schedule goes to hell, ghosts haunting them in their dreams. Even in their waking hours, the ghosts still haunt them, always there. Nothing holds any interest for them, and they feel a slight sense of nausea, picking at their meals. The weight of a broken promise weighs heavily on their shoulders, and Rooney feels like they’re drowning underneath it all, exhausted of fighting the tide. All they want to do is hide in their room underneath blankets until the storm passes, when they are finally able grip onto some sense of normality. Most years, they power through, only taking the day of their family’s death off. Their usual ritual is to spend the day alone, writing unsent letters to the ghosts they carry with them. This year is different. The grief hits harder, a dark, black cloud hanging over them. It feels so hard to breathe, to exist. Their limbs feel weighed down, each movement more difficult than the last. They feel so numb to it all, to the whole point of their existence. Perhaps, it’s because they died and now know death intimately. Maybe, it’s the fact they’re stuck in this Arasaka facility, amongst enemies and isolated from their comrades. Maybe, it’s that small glimpse of what they saw between life and death. And then, there is Yorinobu, Rooney’s only friend in this lonely place. They’ve been avoiding him all week, unwilling to let him see them like this. He doesn’t have to know, and Rooney doesn’t want him to think less of them. The grief will pass like it always does, and Rooney will be fine. …Right?

(Also, due to this fic winning, you're probably going to get Rooney and Yorinobu's second meeting first as this fic references that fic.)

Second snippet is from the Relic Malfunction fic. The Relic Malfunction fic is dealing with Yorinobu finding out about Rooney having the Relic in their head and the ending of CP2077. Here is the snippet:

V nods, tears running down their face. “I’m so sorry. I should have-.” “Yes,” Yorinobu cuts in, his tone brutal, “You should be the one dying in their place.” Vik opens his mouth to protect V, but someone else beats him to it. “Yori, stop it. This isn’t V’s fault. If you need to be angry at someone, be angry at me.” Everyone turns to Shepard, awake and alert. Yorinobu sits back down, his hand coming up to cup their cheek. “Rooney, is that-?” “It’s me,” They reassure him, pressing a kiss to the inside of his palm, “Silverhand hasn’t taken over yet.”

And lastly, here are two small snippet from some short fluffy fics. This first one is from a fic inspired by a tumblr post (and is essentially Rooney and Yorinobu shamelessly flirting with one another):

Giving him a curious look, Rooney says, “You have that look again.” “What look?” He asks, shooting them a charming smile. “The one where you’re planning something.” “Possibly,” Yorinobu shrugs, as Rooney continues, their hands coming down to the lapels of his jacket. He shivers underneath their touch. With a heavy sigh, Yorinobu starts, “It is such a shame I am going to this party alone. I wish I had-.” “No,” Rooney replies, a response that would sound curt and brutal to most. Yet, he notices the way the corner of their mouth twitches upward, the humor in their eyes.

This second one is from a prompt:

“Delighted?” They quip, still playing with Yorinobu’s hair. He laughs. “Alexandre and Marion adored you. I thought they were going to ignore me all night.” Rooney remembers how Alexandre and Marion lit up at the sight of Rooney, both getting out of their chairs to greet them. Marion gave them a tight hug, telling Rooney how good it was to see them again. Alexandre gave them a firm handshake, but they couldn’t miss the way he looked at them with incredible fondness and a misty look in his eyes. When Yorinobu and Rooney sat down, Alexandre and Marion overwhelmed Rooney with questions about what Rooney had been doing since they left the Arasaka facility. “I thought the same,” Although Rooney couldn’t be too frustrated, when every time they looked over at Yorinobu, he was watching them a slightly smitten smile on his face, content to let Rooney talk, “I really missed Alexandre and Marion too.”

[areyougonnabe]

Explain the Scott/Shackleton/Wilson drama. Be as detailed as you’d like.

omfg. okay. well. here we go, it will be very long, but if you want even more detail, please check out the book i sourced most of this from, shackleton's forgotten expedition by beau riffenburgh!

EPISODE 1: THE DISCOVERY EXPEDITION

in 1901, ROBERT FALCON SCOTT leads the first major british expedition to the antarctic since 1839

hired onto this expedition: doctor and naturalist EDWARD "BILL" WILSON and merchant navy lieutenant ERNEST SHACKLETON

what you must know about bill wilson is that he was an absolute dreamboat and paragon who emitted some kind of insane pheromone which made every man he met debilitatingly obsessed with him. i'm not kidding

anyway shackleton and bill immediately hit it off. shackles would wake bill up when there was an especially beautiful sunrise that he could paint, they would read poetry together, and when the ship wintered over, they would spent hours every day together working on the expedition newspaper, the South Polar Times - shackleton as editor/writer and wilson as artist. 

less immediately than shackles and wilson's bond, scott and wilson were also growing closer. in the middle of winter, wilson wrote to his wife that "although Shackleton is still my best friend, the Captain and I understand one another better than anyone else on the ship, I think."

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN

EPISODE 2: THE SOUTHERN JOURNEY

scott asked wilson if he would go with him on the planned sledge journey to reach the south pole. wilson is like omg :3333 yeah sure but we probably need three people. scott chose shackleton as their third, knowing that's who wilson also would have picked—because of wilson's friendship with him, but also because shackleton Really Really wanted to go. 

so! off they go!!!!!! they have dogs who they don't know how to drive and skis that they don't know how to use and not nearly enough rations which aren't nearly nutritious enough. lmao. this is gonna go great 

besties it does not go great. 

by the time the support party turned back and the trio continued on, they had become exhausted, impatient, and hungry. 

scott and shackleton began to grate against each other, the differences in their personalities coming to the fore: shackleton romantic and improvisatory, scott practical and deliberate. they came from vastly different worlds: shackleton from the merchant navy and scott from the royal navy, and had very different approaches to discipline and leadership.

at some point around then, an Incident occurred. what that Incident was is not clear: reports differ, but it's likely that a verbal argument was had, insults were thrown, and honor was wounded. 

despite that, the march had to continue. but things became even more difficult as the men began to show signs of physical deterioration. most importantly, shackleton was beginning to be undoubtedly affected by scurvy. 

they turned for home at 82º17'S, which was a furthest south record but still a disappointment to the men. 

trying to get back home before the winter weather arrived was A Bad Time. shackleton was getting worse, both scott and wilson were affected too, but shackleton was by far the weakest of the three, possibly not just due to scurvy but also pain and shortness of breath from the heart condition that would eventually kill him 20 years later. 

contrary to popular opinion he was not "pulled on the sledge all the way home" - he usually staggered along beside it, behind it, or pathfinding out in front of it while the other two men hauled. 

but, while shackleton was out of hearing, wilson and scott were able to talk between themselves. according to some interpretations, this is when they formed the bond of friendship that would last until their deaths. 

by the time they reached the final depot, shackleton seemed to have improved, but a blizzard hit and he worsened again. at one point wilson didn't think he would last the night: but he pulled through, recovering to the point that he could lead the way again as they made the final dash for the ship. 

anyway. after they get back. despite the fact that [lpoe shackles voice] THEY ALL HAD SCURVY, scott pulls an utter asshole power move and forcibly invalids shackleton home on the relief ship. he basically is like you can't sit with us. 

shackleton was nearly recovered! scott was doing worse than him at this point (1month after they got back) AND YET. reportedly scott said that "if he does not go back sick he will go back in disgrace." YIKES

and it's even worse if you know that scott pulled strings to get bill's poor medical record disregarded in order to get him approved for the expedition!!!!!!!!!

EPISODE 3: THE BREAKUP

ok this is probably the most complicated part so i will have to simplify it a bit. 

but basically after the indignity of getting yeeted from the discovery expedition, shackles made it his goal to lead his own expedition and get to the south pole without scott. 

as he began planning the expedition, it became clear that scott was ALSO planning another expedition south, to finish what he'd started.

the clash was immediate and also incredibly stupid. essentially, scott wanted shackleton to pinky promise that under no circumstances would his independent expedition make any use of McMurdo Sound, the Great Barrier, or any of the land previously explored and charted during the Discovery expedition, because scott perceived it as "his domain." 

and shackleton knew this was stupid so he was like "i mean lol maybe w/e" but scott could not abide by the idea that shackleton was trying to scoop him out of his rightful claim to the pole as some sort of revenge for invaliding him home. 

in order to make scott see sense, shackles passed along his response first to bill wilson. but this was a mistake, because bill was firmly on scott's side. he told shackleton that he'd better do as scott says and stay out of mcmurdo sound. and shackleton was like............ ok i'll just go a little bit to the east then. 

and bill was like THATS NOT GOOD ENOUGH :))) and he and scott together were pushing for shackleton to give up rights to the entire "Ross Quarter" of antarctica. by this point bill had agreed to go south with scott on his planned expedition, but was still playing the mediator between him and shackles. 

anyway, together scott and wilson basically bullied shackleton into signing an agreement saying he would not go to the places that scott did not want him to go Unless He Absolutely Had To.

but guess what lol

he absolutely had to :))))

due to ice conditions, the Nimrod Expedition was forced to set up shop on Cape Evans, on Ross Island just a few miles north of where Discovery had wintered. 

and it's not that shackles was happy about this: he felt he was going back on his word. he wrote that "I felt each mile that I went to the west was a horror to me." 

EPISODE 4: AFTERMATH

despite shackleton having truly done his best to abide by his agreement with scott and wilson, the fact that he did end up reaching a new Furthest South—a mere 97 miles from the pole—from the region in which scott considered "his" was the final straw.

wilson and shackleton met when he returned and it seemed that their bond, so strong and close in the early days of the discovery expedition, had been sundered forever.

ok i have to post this whole quote bc its insane

"I wish to God you had done any mortal thing in the whole world rather than break the promise you had made... My opinion as you know was that you ought to have thrown up the whole show, that, you said was out of the question. But why in the name of fortune did you promise to do the second best thing, & then do the very worst!"

DUDE WTF??????

and then wilson goes on to write that he has "broken with [Shackleton] completely" and that he considers shackleton a "regular wrong'un" with "limited and rather low down ambitions" :///

meanwhile shackleton and scott had to go on being cordial to each other in public but definitely were known to dislike each other, coming to further minor blows about another planned shackleton expedition (which ended up being the Mawson expedition) 

and during the terra nova expedition scott, wilson, and the rest of the polar party followed shackleton's precise route across the barrier, up the beardmore glacier and the polar plateau towards the pole. scott obsessively compared shackleton's dates and distances to his own on the way south, determined to beat him and achieve those final 97 miles. 

which he did.

and then in March 1912 scott and wilson literally Die In Each Other's Arms. 

and shackleton was like . well what WAS shackleton like. GREAT QUESTION. WE DON'T KNOW :) bc he didn't talk about it. literally not a word!!!

IN CONCLUSION

scott and shackleton are sometimes depicted as straightforwardly rivals, which is sort of true, but the truth of the trio situation with bill at the heart of it all makes it so much more complicated and fascinating!!!!!! LONG LIVE THE TOXIC POLYCULE

[the-dumpster-fire-of-life]

(Hey! This was a request on my wattpad so here ya go!)

EKKO, VI, CAITLYN & VIKTORS S/O HAVING AMNESIA

EKKO

he doesn't know how it happened or why

He just gets angry though

Not at you, at himself and the universe

How could this happen to you?

And why you out of everyone?

He loved you and I think he somehow blames himself

He'll try to hell and back to get your memories back

He's heartbroken when you woke up and asked the dreaded question

"Who are you?"

He felt like his entire heart cracked and his stomach just dropped

It was you but not you at the same time

You didn't remember him or anything

He tries to help you or be around you without being sad but its hard

He'll help you around and help you with things you struggle with

Eventually when you get better at things he'll be happy

Still sad though

One way he tried to help you regain your memories would be showing you places and things

He would tell you stories from when you guys were kids, how you met

How you got together, about your family

Anything really, just hoping you would remember

Hell, he told you about Powder, your childhood best friend he never spoke of

Benzo, Vander, Vi, Mylo, Claggor, anyone he tries to help you remember them

It hurt though more than anything when he showed you a picture of y'all on your first date

He told the whole story, getting so in detail and deep into it

But when he looked up, you looked sad, confused and apolgised because...you just couldn't recall anything

He felt his heart crack even more, if possible

He starts losing some hope but refuses to fully give up

And one day he just finds you and you look so happy

He was confused until you told him you remembered everything

It was after you found a gift he had given you when you guys were kids

It was accompanied by a photo of you two as kids

It felt like everything snapped into place

He swore he felt like he was about to pass out

He hugged you so tight you felt like you were about to pass out

Shed some tears shamelessly

He was so happy he had you back

Please never scare him like that again

VI

She was extremely confused

When you woke up and asked her 

"Who are you?"

She thought it was a joke

Kept telling you

"I'm Vi, you're girlfriend?"

She felt like her world crashed down

She only had you left, you couldn't just lose your memory just like that

When she found out for sure you had amnesia, she had no clue what to do

One thing she wanted to do was comfort you

But you didn't know who she was

And that crushed her, you had been stuck by the hip since you were young

Everything felt wrong without having you by her side

She helps you with things, doesn't want you to get worse

She gets to know you as you are now

It's painful more than comforting

You don't remember her, how you met, your friends or anything

She feels like something is always missing

She subconsciously does things that remind her of you or sometimes forgets you have amnesia

And when she remembers it feels like she heard that dreaded question over and over in her head

And one day she was just sitting around and you came running over

You then hugged her, she of course hugged you back but she was confused

Until you told her you were you again

She froze for a second before practically picking you off your feet entirely

She felt like crying out of relief

She had you back

And you in whole

She felt whole again, please, never ever do that again

CAITLYN

She's shocked

She's scared at the same time

Could you get worse? Could something else happen to you?

"Who are you?"

Her smile slowly faded from her face as she held your hand after you had woken up

She had waited hours or even days or weeks for you to wake up

She thought she would feel over the moon but you looked at her confused

Like you had never met her before

And it rocked her to her core

As the doctor explained you had amnesia she had to leave the room for a bit

Not gonna lie, she cried

It felt like you had died and someone had replaced you

She wanted to hug you but was afraid you would be uncomfortable

When she helped you, she reminded you of things you used to do or things you guys loved doing together

She then would look at your face as you just looked confused

It felt like her world went quiet all over again

You didn't remember things you always used to do

Or places you went or dates

It felt like someone was in your body or your memory haunted her

It overwhelmed her

And it wasn't on purpose, but she ended up avoiding you entirely

Felt guilty when she realized it but it was to painful

One day you were somewhere you guys loved

Maybe the park, a cafe you frequented or a library

It felt like everything snapped in and the memories flooded in

You went running to her and when you found her you cried

She thought you were hurt and forgot about the amnesia for a minute

You kept blurting out random things but she just got that you remembered

And she remembered the amnesia, but you remembered now

She felt so relieved

She almost cried right there and then

She did cry

She was probably on the job

But who cares?

She hugged you back so tight

She made a promise to herself never to lose you again

And to protect you so that it never happened again

VIKTOR

He didn't want to believe it

He had health issues himself

But for you to have this happen to you?

No

You didn't deserve that

Wanted to crawl into a hole right there and then when you woke up

"Who are you?"

Your question rang in his ear every second of every day after it happened

He avoided you, he didn't even know it though 

he spent all his time in the lab once again

You never really saw him after that day when the doctor told you both you had amnesia

He grew more determined over time to maybe find something to help you remember

He wanted you back

It was like you were a shell of yourself

You weren't you, the person he loved and the one that helped him through everything

He was so fucking desperate to get you back

He even resorted to finding Singed once again

Eventually he was in the lab one day and you came barreling in the door

He jumped as you hugged him

You blurted out you remembered

He froze and stood still, even when he began to cry

You even checked on him to see if he was okay

He didn't answer, he just hugged you back and cried silently into your shoulder

He had you back

You weren't gone forever

He didn't lose you

[jovenshires]

hi katie jovenshires im a big fan. if ur ok with sharing, what ships are in the botb au and what are the vibes for each 👀

thank you so much!! <3<3<3

hmm i've been thinking about this and i think i'm only deadset on spommy, ianthony, kolivia, and amangela as far as like. my canon goes. not sure what if any other ships im gonna include... ive gone back and forth with shaymien and shaynse too but not sure!!

but, i will say, for the most part the edits are mostly left up to interpretation so you can all decide whatever ships you want really!! (or if you don't want any ships at all that's cool too <3) like i've said to me the botbau is a little collaborative barbie world that we can all make whatever we want out of. like i told someone the other day - if you wanna write a fic or make an edit or something for this and it doesn't exactly line up with what i might write or think ab the au... PLEASE go for it. it is out there, public domain now, do with it what you will. and i will love and eat it up no matter what!!

as for the vibes in MY head, i will throw them under the cut so this post doesn't get too long KFNLKNKFNF

spommy: i've covered this a little before here so if you want the full version check that out but BASICALLY spommy is kind of rivals-to-friends-to-lovers except tommy has an Extremely one-sided beef and spencer just thinks he's cool and wants to be buds. eventually spencer wins him over and then... uh oh! love! once again skimmin some details that, if i ever Write A Fic for it, will be spoilers. but that’s the idea you know

ianthony: taking this directly from my dms to lilac but basically. ianthony botbau my beloveds....... to relearn how to co-pilot something with someone that should come so second-hand to you but you're both different people now but your feelings carry through anyway for who they were and are and will be........ yeah theyre everything to me. in a way it's a mirror to life/what actually happened to them with smosh (art imitates life) but the divorce era was even MORE famous because they're like a household name so it was a lot more pressure. idk yet if they were together beforehand and then broke up and now they're getting BACK together or if they had unresolved feelings they never dealt with and now they're struggling to reconcile them with their renewed friendship AND reunited band/the fame that comes from that... but either way they are Messy. im obsessed.

kolivia: kolivia in this au fascinates me because in my head keith is kind of known for being a player and fucking around but i think he stopped that Ages ago because. these two are basically dating. like they don't put a label on it and it's not public and i don't even know if THEY know how in love they are. but they live together. they sleep together "just to blow off steam" (come on now). they don't date other people. everyone can see it but them type beat. olivia's like "he's not my boyfriend" and then picks up the phone and is like "hi baby do you want chinese for dinner" NDLFKNANKSFLN like they are exclusive and they have deep feelings for each other but they are both so deeply in denial that they swear they're not dating. they have realistically been in a relationship for like five years.

amangela: RIVALS TO LOVERS AGAINNNN i have talked about this one a Lot with baflegacy bc like. they are my roman empire. at least these two have met on multiple occasions and actually fought with each other - they keep meeting at gigs/in bars and bickering. angela "clearly abba is the best band ever" giarratana and amanda "WHAT about fleetwood mac you DUMB ASS" lehan-canto. like they meet a bunch and EVERY time they end up bickering. meanwhile angela keeps seeing thirst traps of amanda on tiktok and being like "why are all the lesbians obsessed with her she SUCKS" and chanse and arasha, who have heard this three million times, are like "yeah okay buddy whatever helps you sleep at night." meanwhile amanda is living her bliss <3 and then they realize they're both in battle of the bands and uh oh! things come to a head!

[hauntedwizardmoment]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

PLEASE I LOVE ALL YOUR WORK SO MUCH ANYTHING YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT

HI i'm sorry this took forever but i needed to figure out what i wanted to talk about and i think im gonna expand on peregrine and jace's + porter and ghorza's whole deal in it's a three-way call and he knows nothing

my initial concept for this fic was just straight-up the one day where we did a ton of posting about starbreaker cheating on their partners with each other, and then the image of jace having an absent husband who he cheats on sprung forth fully-formed like athena from zeus' forehead.

i needed to pick somebody to be his absent husband and figure out why they were absent. i landed on an OC from blood and turpentine for his husband (peregrine is kind of my go-to Guy To Get Mad At because i made him up specifically to suck and be jace's shitty ex, so in this timeline he is jace's shitty husband). and the concept of "jace gave up an adventuring career for his relationship" because thats the kind of thing that happens a lot irl (happened to my friend who got married right out of high school actually!!) and it's smth that would definitely build a lot of resentment for my version of pre-shatterstar jace who really values his autonomy and self-determination

i also wanted to get across the feeling of "there was once a LOT of love here, but it's gone now" so i tried to figure out what were some qualities that would make jace fall in love with someone, then find ways that those qualities would evolve into something repulsive. i landed on protective and doting (he likes feeling desired! he likes feeling like someone has his back!) and turned those into patronizing and cloying (now his freedom is being restricted and he's being treated like some little purse dog).

i think something that jace really struggles with in his relationship is feeling excluded from peregrine's life; he's an adventurer, he's out on the road all the time, he's not allowed to share details of his missions with jace due to [handwavey council of chosen rules], he can't even text jace from his work phone because that's for Business Only. jace's main motivation for his affair is feeling seen and held by someone, and being part of something bigger than himself. it's why he wanted to adventure full-time after graduating, and it's why in this timeline you see him still getting set up to be part of porter's plan.

peregrine is a good fighter, he's very protective of his whole party, but he's fundamentally a very scared and insecure person. the idea of losing jace terrifies him so much that he begs him to quit his job and retire to elmville/play housewife forever. he's scared that his relationship will fall apart if he doesn't provide, so he takes any mission the council sends his way. he worries that jace will get hurt while working at aguefort so he gets him magic items (a ring and cloak of protection) and doesnt want to see him working at aguefort (he graduated from there, he knows the school's reputation). he views all of these as his noble sacrifices. and when jace doesn't show him enough appreciation for making said sacrifices, or god forbid implies that he's unsatisfied, he gets upset and throws them in his face (his job pays for the house), minimizes jace's own work (says jace 'plays around' with spell components, as if they arent part of his Literal Job as a sorcery teacher), and is generally a HUGE dick about it.

re. ghorza, she's actually a PC from a campaign i was in, played by one of my irl friends lia who has let me talk her ear off about toxic yaoi as of late. the way lia played her was as a very buff viking barbarian who is also into philosophy and poetry and has a Sensitive Side, and eventually she abandons her initial goal of conquest to help liberate the kingdom our PCs were saving. i didn't get into her and porter's relationship a ton because this fic was very jace-centric BUT i do picture her and porter as having an open relationship. she knows about jace and has been angling for a threesome, but porter correctly identified that jace would freak out at the whole "i have a wife" thing so he lies to jace about that. what she truly doesn't know about is the groundwork for porter's plan, because porter doesn't want someone equally matched with him in strength as a minion, he wants someone easier to push around, and jace fits the bill.

[rubykgrant]

(Sharing my short Grimmons Proposal story again, I had fun writing it, and I still like reading it~)

Grif knew EXACTLY what his boyfriend was up to.

It was obvious.

Well, maybe he didn't know each little detail, but Grif definitely knew Simmons was planning something, and there was really only one thing it could be.

The 20 year anniversary of the day Simmons asked him what they had jokingly come to call "the big question" was happening soon. In just a few months, actually. Grif hadn't kept track of that date, because it was just another day in Blood Gulch; it wasn't the first day they arrived, it also wasn't even the day they met (which had happened earlier in training). “The big question” day only became special later, after that stupid conversation turned into a repeating theme when they talked, and eventually turned into something important between the two of them during the whole evil-look-alikes incident. Grif remembered the conversation very well, but not the date.

Simmons had tipped his hand earlier this year by bringing it up himself. He tried to sound casual, like ho-hum, it has just been two whole decades since "the big question", isn't that funny, hahaha...

Yeah, pretty damn funny. Just like it was funny that the two of them had been dating for a few years now, even moving into their own apartment together, and while some people might not think it was a long time, the fact was Grif and Simmons had actually "been together" for... a while. An expansive while. They had also shared several experiences in their time together that were certainly unconventional in terms of typical romance, but had none the less bonded them together in undeniably deep ways. You don't have to spend time awkwardly trying to get to know somebody when they've been stuck to you like glue for YEARS. No more wasting time with a slow-burn, they were in a relationship speed-run (well, not really; they were just finally having fun doing all kinds of couple-things). It was absolutely hilarious that here they were, boyfriends at last, and had a specific anniversary coming up... one they called "the big question". What ELSE did people call "the big question"? Amusing, indeed.

Grif might not be a genius, but he isn't stupid. He knows what Simmons is planning.

Now he just has to beat him to the punch.

In fact... tonight wasn't particularly important. As far as he knew, nothing significant or sentimental had happened with them in their past on this date. Oh, this was gonna be perfect... Simmons wouldn't see it coming.

"Hey, darling..." Grif poked his head into the bedroom. Simmons was sitting in the chair by his desk, typing away on his computer. "You busy?"

"Not especially, sweet-heart..." somehow the two of them had both decided to start using extra-cute lovey-dovey pet-names for each other, in tones that were both sarcastic and yet still genuine. It was the little thrill of knowing how stupid they sounded, but also knowing they really meant it, that made it so fun. "Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking about going out and getting a pizza... " nobody eats pizza as a proposal meal. This was going to be the ultimate fake-out.

"Pizza sounds good... you want to eat at the place, or bring it back here?"

"Maybe we pick it up, but then go eat it somewhere... how about the picnic spot, near the beach?" it was casual, but also just a little bit romantic... because yes, Grif was a softy. As much as he wanted to trick Simmons, he also wanted it to be something nice that would turn into a pleasant memory later. Their first real date together had ended with a walk on the beach, an important moment for both of them. It would be even MORE important after tonight. "We could get ice cream on the way back,"

"Yeah, that actually sounds pretty good. OK, you go call the pizza place, let me save what I'm doing and get ready. I'll be out in a minute..." Simmons smiled at him before turning back to the computer.

Grif waited until he was out of the room to start grinning, doing a little victory fist-pump. Maybe he really WAS a genius!

After calling ahead to get a medium pizza with pepperoni/mushrooms/olives, two sodas, some cheesy garlic bread, and even a salad (because he knows what his boyfriend will want), Grif grabs the keys and waits by the door. Simmons comes out of the bedroom, pulling a jacket on, and the two of them leave- holding hands.

For an impulsive decision, this was working out even better than Grif had hoped; it isn't dark out yet, but the sun was starting to dip. By the time they got the food and made it through the city to the picnic area, they'd be right in the middle of a picture-perfect sunset. For once luck is on his side, because one of their favorite songs comes on the radio as they drive, putting them both in a good mood as they sing along. Everything was going smoothly... but it wasn't "special", nothing to make Simmons suspect what was coming his way. Just a regular evening...

Once they have the food in the car and start going toward the beach, Simmons automatically breaks off little bits of cheesy bread to pop into Grif's mouth (so he doesn't take his hands off the wheel as he drives). This is just routine for them any time Grif is driving and they have food in the car, but Grif is sometimes overtaken by how touching this is... so casual, but also very intimate... Simmons does a lot of little things like that for him. Actually, Grif does a lot of little things for Simmons, too... maybe even a few things he doesn't notice, but just come naturally when they're together. God DAMN, Grif loves him.

Nobody else is here; just a large empty parking lot on top of a cliff, several picnic tables, and a guardrail that overlooks the beach. The air outside was still warm, but the ocean below was sending out a rush of coolness. It felt good here. It smelled good, too. Thanks to that sunset, it also looked good.

Grif had to be careful now, if he let himself get all caught up in the romantic atmosphere, he wouldn't be able to surprise Simmons properly. This was just a casual evening, no big deal. Keep it together, Grif…

They took the food over to the railing. They ate, sipped their sodas, and talked... there came a moment when they both watched the sun on the horizon of the sea blink out, golden streaks vanishing from the waves, but the sky still filled with soft light. Grif glances at Simmons then, sees how peaceful he looks, and Grif knows; right now.

"Hey... I've got a question for you," this was going to be amazing. This was going to be incredible. Simmons was probably going to be a little upset with him at first for ruining whatever surprise that had been planned for the anniversary, but oh well. What was he going to do? Say "no"? Grif can’t even picture that as an option.

"That's a funny coincidence, I've got a question for you too," Simmons says, leaning away from the railing and digging around for something in his jacket pocket. "Will you marry me, Dexter Grif?"

WHAT.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED.

WHAT IN THE HELL JUST HAPPENED.

Grif looks down, and sees that Simmons is holding up a little box in his hand. The kind of little box you keep jewelry in. Jewelry like rings.

"Simmons... what the f- how did you... why do you have that!?"

"Open it," Simmons tells him in a happy little squeak.

"No wait, how do you already- it isn't the anniversary yet! I thought that you were waiting- I thought you were planning something for-" Grif keeps sputtering, caught between anger and shock and delight.

"Open it," Simmons repeats, practically shaking with excitement.

Grif finally does, slowly and carefully...

There are two rings in the box. On looks like gold with a stripe of dark red running through the length of the band. The other is dark red with a stripe of gold.

"I knew you'd probably figure out what I was up to..." Simmons smirks at Grif, very satisfied with how sneaky and crafty he's been. "And besides, once I had the rings made, I was too excited to keep waiting... so I decided, I would hold on to them and let YOU try to ask ME... this was a double-bluff! I expected you to try and fake me out by popping the question on a casual, regular date, and I've been bringing these with me every time we did anything for the last few months!"

Simmons reaches out with his other hand, placing it gently on the side of Grif's face (the side that has the patch of skin that came from Simmons), and gently tilts Grif's chin up to look him in the eyes.

"So, do you have an answer for me? Or is this going to be another one of life's great mysteries?"

Grif tries to think of a come-back, a clever one-liner, something that could qualify as witty banter... and he can't. It was like he had fireworks going off in his brain. Little bursts of joy and sparks of happiness that have destroyed his ability to be a sarcastic smart-mouth. He's even starting to cry. This was all Simmons' fault...

Simmons, who always had to get one-up on Grif. Simmons, who was such an arrogant attention-seeker he had to turn a marriage proposal into a game of psychological warfare. Simmons, who couldn't let anybody else have the spot-light. Simmons, who was so annoying, and bossy, and anxious, and cute, and considerate, and sweet, and adorable, and funny, and entertaining, and clever, and smart and dozens of other lovey-dovey words.

Simmons, the man Grif loved.

What was Grif going to do? Say “no”? That isn’t even an option.

"Yes... I want to marry you, Dick Simmons,"

Grif keeps one hand over the box with the rings as Simmons pulls him close, bringing them together for a kiss. At this point, he's crying too... and as it goes on, they have to pause to gasp for air because they're also laughing; kissing, and crying, and laughing. Once it seems like they can finally breathe, Grif looks at the rings again.

He knows which one is for him; the gold with the dark red stripe. He puts it on, and then slips the dark red one with the gold band onto Simmons’ finger. Gold and dark red... orange and maroon~

[vyuntspakhkite-l-darling]

Less of an infodump than me just rambling but I'm just gonna. Here. Have this.

Selvarem is probably my favorite place I've worldbuilt tbh. I've been working on it for years, even before I created the world it exists in- it came from a roleplay group I used to have with my friends. It also used to be called Silvarum, which is a straight up Latin word which means 'of the forest.' You'll never guess what kind of biome is most prevalent here.

I've started developing a conlang which is the dominant language here, it mostly has the grammatical structure of Latin and a phonetic system that I'll detail out whenever I make a post about the language.

It has a warm, wet climate, mainly covered in rainforests or rocky beaches along the coasts. It's fairly average sized, but it has a larger population than one would expect because of the way the infrastructure is there, with most of the population living in houses that were built in the trees while things like stores and service buildings were on the forest floor.

For the first few hundred years it's an independent state, Selvarem is pretty well respected, even though their culture is thought of as a little strange. The reason that it broke off from the larger kingdom is used to be a part of was because a large group of the population that followed the Senesi religion took advantage of instability during a leadership change and negotiated for land.

The government is based around Senesi principles, which all pretty much boil down to being balanced. There aren't a lot of specific things that the religion forbids, and it doesn't really care about a person being 'good,' more so just that they don't go too extremely either way. This idea of balance ended up isolating them, though, when the rest of the world went into an expansionist era, with many governments joining to form large empires. Selvarem got left behind with this, and in most other countries, Selvesh people began to be viewed as 'primitive' and this weird sort of fear around them started to spread even though they were literally not bothering anyone. This did affect them (and other places) a lot though, because they stopped importing and exporting goods as much as possible.

(Side note, the reason they were seen as primitive was mostly because of the fact that they remained very connected to nature, and it was seen as weird that their houses were built in the trees. People claimed that this was them 'regressing' back towards the arboreal felines the dominant species on this planet evolved from. Despite the belief that they were primitive, though, Selvarem's technology far surpasses that of other countries, and this remains the case throughout most of history, especially when it comes to medicine.)

For a while Selvarem stayed isolated, up until the expansionist era stopped because all these huge empires were starting to experience lots of conflict and people getting upset with those in power and wanting to have more power over themselves. They ended up kind of reentering communication with other places when the Freedom Army started to gain traction, seeing that this was one of the first rebellions that had potential to actually go somewhere , and an opportunity to make an ally. They sent troops to aid in the efforts, and though they do face some difficulty communicating because of language barriers and a lot of getting picked on, they play an important roll in the eventual success of the rebellion and through this, they're able to open up communication and trade with a few other states as well.

But yeah in Biting the Bullet I'm going to have a lot of fun being mean to these poor Selvesh soldiers <3

[foxgonyoom]

Ok I have a theory about how Macaque and Wukong's friendship-crumble went down and I wanna get it out before the S4 special airs in case it reveals what happened.

I'm not entirely sure on the specific details, but I think I have pretty good theory of what happened in general.

Alright so

Azure Lion: "However, fate had one more cruel twist for us."

Azure Lion: "Sun Wukong now yielded to an agent of the Celestial Host, another warrior for the oppressors."

(Episode 8 of Season 4, The Brotherhood)

I think the start of the betrayal happened when Wukong was discovered to have "yielded" to the Celestial Realm. (I say yielded in air quotes cause I'm not entirely sure how that whole situation came about, only that the Brotherhood interpreted it as a betrayal).

Peng: "Wukong is a traitor, he'll end us the first chance he gets!"

Macaque: "I just think we should consider other options-"

(Episode 5 of Season 4, Court of the Yellow Robed Demon)

As shown in Episode 5 of Season 4, the Brotherhood were quick to believe that Wukong had betrayed them, and would dispose of them as soon as possible, so they wanted to strike him down first before he could get the chance to do so to them. Macaque, however, seemed to be hesitant. Whether this was him still having some faith in Wukong or him not wanting to get smashed into dust by Wukong or some weird mixture of the two I'm not sure, but there is one thing I'm sure of:

Azure Lion: "My former brother was sent to destroy us and all we had built. It was with their combined power that we were cut down, imprisoned within the scroll, left to the mercy of the Celestial Court."

(Episode 8 of Season 4, The Brotherhood)

Macaque was not present when the Brotherhood fought the Pilgrims. Meaning he'd left the Brotherhood of his own volition.

(As for the betrayal with the Brotherhood, I think the Brotherhood actually did the betraying here. Recall how Tang overheard their plan to trap Monkey King in the scroll? That was before they themselves had been sealed in it. My guess is that they tried to enact their plan, but it failed, and they ended up sealed in the scroll instead.)

But anyway, back to Macaque.

My guess is that he heard about the Brotherhood being sealed in the scroll later on, or perhaps even witnessed a part of the debacle himself (spectating from the shadows of course), and couldn't believe that Wukong would actually do that to his sworn brothers.

So he went to go spy on Wukong and the Pilgrims.

And he'd see them being good friends.

And he'd get really mad.

These were the people that Wukong had betrayed his sworn brothers for? Did he replace his sworn brothers? Did Wukong replace Macaque?

And basically emotions boil over and up and Macaque decides "I'm gonna fucking kill that human."

And so when Sanzang was alone, Macaque shapeshifted into Wukong and tried to kill the monk.

Only for Wukong to stop him.

And they fight.

(Episode 4 of Season 3, The Winning Side)

Eventually, Wukong strikes Macaque to the ground, and this moment occurs.

But notice how Macaque is facing away from Wukong?

He knows Wukong is behind him, but he can't actually see Wukong.

Furthermore, look at Macaque's scarred eye:

(Episode 9 of Season 1, Macaque)

That is not a wound that is left by being struck by a staff.

So what if the following occurred:

Macaque is laying on the ground, facing away from Wukong.

Wukong, instead of finishing him off, instead leaves, feeling betrayed because someone who was once his best friend had tried to kill his new friends, and had stolen his identity.

And knowing Wukong's speed, he's over the horizon before a single second can pass.

But Macaque still thinks that Wukong is behind him.

And as the shadow monkey picks himself up off the floor, he notices the shadow of something looming over him from behind.

Thinking it's Wukong, Macaque stares in confusion as the shadow raises it's staff, though one end of the weapon remains within the figure's shadow.

"Wukon-?"

A searing pain as he's stabbed through the head, the end of the weapon coming out of his right eye, though he can't quite see it. All he knows is that his once best friend had just killed him.

He dies, and the murderer pulls their now bloody spear out of his head.