#bog approved

[thebibog]

I'm in. Iowa

[thebibog]

Oops. One huge cookie

[thebibog]

Why've I got a Zoro tab? Is he lost?

[thebibog]

I drew Shrek in Spanish class

Enjoy

[thebibog]

she thinks it's on...

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

"Laughing stock" can be their ship name ;)

OHHHHH GALAXY BRAIN thats so good omg. LaughingStock my beloved <3

[thebibog]

[ryssabrin]

what gets me about the way most gale girlies seem to interpret gale vs the way larian seems to have wanted his arc to be interpreted is that all of the other core 6 tadpoles have arcs about overcoming an abuser, someone who manipulated them or took advantage of them. they get to find their own agency and make their own choices about what that freedom means to them. but apparently gale's arc is one of fuck-around-and-find-out wizard hubris for which he needs to redeem himself and be humbled? and then larian is surprised that people have a hard time reading it that way? that they don't see him making the ultimate sacrifice at the end of the game to be a good ending for him at all actually?

like i personally like to be exploring nuance and so forth so i do think some of the gale girlies do over-correct on gale and mystra a little too much but i fully understand why they would want to do that and feel protective of him. why wouldn't gale's arc have the same overall themes as the other origin characters? it's just a really strange choice writing wise. larian clearly keeps trying to correct course with patches to make gale's arc look more like what they intended and it just pisses his fans off more.

one of the biggest complaints people have about his act 3 quests is how much the game pushes seeking mystra's forgiveness as the "right" and "good" path. no other character has to do that and larian puts no effort into explaining why mystra should be any different. and they could! they could have gale explain more about their relationship and about how mystra treated him and what agency gale really had with her. the way he talks about her is really only about himself and how bad he feels about it all. there's some brief mentions of him realizing that he was only ever a momentary amusement to her and there really should be more of that! let him unpack it! that would actually be a really cool angle for him because all of the origin characters (other than shadowheart) come in to the story knowing how much they were mistreated and react accordingly. i'd love to see an arc for gale where he slowly (with the pc's help) unpacks how mystra did him dirty and his human ending is about him getting closure rather than redemption.

[zizzy-rie]

Rock Monkies AU - The Family's Reunion

Info on how Quiyue and Xiaotian got reunited with Wukong and Liu'er (mainly Qiuyue's)

The original idea was supposed to be a funny one, with of course lots of tears (of joy). The creator however went "sike! It's all angsty now! :3" and this happened.

We were talking about vines and he got an idea out of it so yea.

Have fun reading

[deathinfeathers]

Look up the definition of squandered potential and you'll find an illustration of this girl.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

yet another little Treat for myself! do i have a problem? maybe!

[sineadrivka]

I'm backpack packback back again!

Here's the big announcement! This is the plan. THE plan. The plan to get me going. The going to get me planning. That's it. The plan. The plan for Kuzco. THAT plan, right? Yeah. Here we go!

Before we go any further, yes, I'm still going to be writing fanfiction, but at a much slower pace; that muse absolutely needs time to recharge. Because of this need to rest that part of me, I've been focusing on returning to streaming and nonfiction content creation. There's so much that I'm doing right now that I don't even want to stop to edit it down for TikTok, since that app has absolutely been stomping on my forward momentum.

So here's what's going on at The Bog Swan Cafe:

I'm on Patreon to share my photography and the stories behind the photos, focusing on my new home of the High Desert the things that people find joy doing up here. There's two tiers of support, with the second including all my Behind The Scenes and an exclusive Q&A livestream.

My Ko-Fi is currently open, where I will be specifically raising money to get my Honda Fit back on the road and transferred over to my new state. Once that goal is met, I'll be raising money for the electrical system for my off-grid home.

I'll be commonly streaming late-night fiber crafting (weaving and crochet) on my Twitch channel, where I will also be streaming how I'm creating my off-grid life. (Off-grid simply means not connected to city utilities and simplifying my life, not being entirely disconnected from the world.)

Any items created on stream for sale can be found on my website, where you'll also be able to see my photography portfolio.

I've been sharing a few photos on my Facebook page and Instagram, which are, you guessed it, both called "BogSwanCafe." (I'm too tired to fight with another couple of hyperlinks, and these are easy to find!)

Yes, we have a Discord! It has many channels, and they're all focused around mental health, fandoms, and poking the creative muses. No Bigots, No AntiScience, No Bullying.

I have had a long two years trying to keep my nose above the surface and frankly, I'm tired of treading water. I want to focus on and engage with the good things that people are celebrating around me, and share that joy with others. The world we live in is already full of grimdark bullshit, and I will no longer be perpetuating that narrative when I can help show folks the glimmers.

So come follow me on these platforms, join the Patreon and Discord, and I look forward to seeing what everyone else has been getting up to over the last few years!

[thebibog]

They hate garkrai

I wonder why game freak removed this feature…

[leupagus]

Guys I Might Have Three Nickels

I've been watching "Agatha Christie's Marple" for the past few days and it's pretty good! Marple adaptations all tend to have a better caliber of actors than a lot of bog-standard mystery shows (looking at you, "Madame Blanc"), and while Joan Hickson's Marple is right up there with David Suchet's Poirot and Jeremy Brett's Holmes as "literally can never be beaten, these are the best anyone's done it," both Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie do a fantastic job as Miss Marple.

Then I got to "The Secret of Chimneys," Season 5 episode 2

and guys

Guys

So there's a murder of a viscount, like there is, and this detective Finch rolls up and immediately spots Miss Marple (in her NIGHTIE! standing at the window like some kind of hussy, honestly Jane) and doffs his cap to her with that little smile that makes you go, "huh."

At this point I've watched a couple dozen Miss Marple episodes where she goes through detectives like wildfire and this guy's supposed to be a "*guru*" so I'm expecting some battle of the egos or something and like, Stephen Dillane is great! But bleh, I might have to skip this one.

Then my dude asks Miss Marple to SHOW HIM THE BODY, with a pleased little smile at her as she goes "uhhhhhhhh but my knitting?" (He even does that thing where you use someone's honorific and wait for them to give you their name, and that's when I was like "ohhh this bitch knows exactly who she is.") What follows is what I can only describe as a meet-cute in the secret passageway where the viscount was shot (and in fact the body is STILL THERE) and where Miss Marple literally asks the police equivalent of "is there a Mrs Finch" and he looks at her like this:

At which point I'm like "ohhh my dude not only knows who she is, he deliberately came here without a sergeant so he could draft her," and sure enough he just starts...handing her pieces of evidence like "hey babe can you decipher this note for me thanks love you" while Miss Marple is like, "this approval and camaraderie coming from a cop... not sure if want."

Next is a series of romantic strolls through the gardens while they discuss murder, during which Finch reveals his undying love I mean his research into Miss Marple and the "dozen case files" of her previous exploits that he's collected like some deranged fanboy. Miss Marple responds to this by BLUSHING LIKE A SCHOOLGIRL and stammering about how pish tosh it's nothing really, and I couldn't find a gif of it but he's staring at her like this:

Yeah I bet u r tempted

He also makes a half-hearted attempt at negging her "amateur sleuth" status, only to then immediately assure her that he makes like, so much money being a big fancy detective and can keep her in all the yarn and garden seed she could ever desire.

There's also a late-night tryst at the compost pile right after Finch has been (mildly) poisoned and Miss Marple is like "men are so weak" as she roots through the garbage for clues.

Not how he wanted their first date to go D:

The next morning there's another murder which: bummer, but also allows the two of them to read love letters together and for Finch to give Miss Marple the following look as she explains how secret assignations among lovers can "quicken the ardor":

Miss Marple then goes onto solve the murders and btw hands over the priceless diamond that's been literally missing for two literal decades that she found in her spare time. The entire scene features Finch looking at her like this:

After the dust settles, Finch and Miss Marple have a lovely moment where he calls himself "another one of your casualties," then super casually mentions that he's probably going to have to go on assignment to use the diamond in a daring international espionage case and I can't decide if he's asking Miss Marple to go with him or simply trying to show her that he is cool and smart and would make an excellent wife, but either way the episode ends with her turning him down and Jane, we need to talk about your priorities.

Anyway I've already written 2K about the subsequent 10-year epistolary romance these two have following this episode because I make poor choices.

[naamahdarling]

My burger made me cry.

A Bog Blessing, calling back to the beginning of the nickname "Dried Pickle Man."

I will take it as a sign that he is with me still, and approves of my dubious choices.

The babies look like you, buddy. Keep them or not, I'll take good care of them while they're here.

[doctorbunny]

The Jackalope Guide [spoilers for both novels]

I skimmed through the first manga, second novel, side S/W and my memories so hopefully I've not forgotten anything important [text version under cut]

Jackalopes of MILGRAM:

Novel 1

Female/described as having a "woman's voice"

Uses atashi/アタシ pronoun (pretty bog standard feminine pronoun)

Goes by "Jacka"

Requests Es call her a jackalope and not a rabbit [note: there is a Jp equivalent of the phrase "flying pig" 亀毛兎角 kimoutokaku "turtles with fur, rabbits with horns" referring to something impossible, this phrase may be linked to jackalopes]

Newer at her job (compared to other Jackalopes in the series)

Works from a branch office of MILGRAM HQ (reports back to her boss remotely via big TV)

Sadist who enjoys human bloodshed (at one point even giving a stressed out Nervous a box cutter to self harm with, just like the kind she used to use, so Sumi could see who )

Likes organising MILGRAMs with "aesthetic" (IE all of Sumi's prisoners being involved in her death)

In order to prevent information being spoiled too early uses powers to stop the prisoners breathing until they stop trying to talk

Accidentally allows Twoside to give away information too early, spoiling her own MILGRAM

Her and her MILGRAM considered failures (punishable by purging)

Her 'vessel' is chained up by another jackalope (probably youtube jackalope) at the end of the novel then purged but the person was able to escape (because she was in the Branch Office)

Current location/situation unknown (but said to be alive)

Novel 2

Male/described as having a "young man's voice"

Uses jibun/自分 pronoun (slightly unusual as a main pronoun feels kind of soldier-like)

Also goes by "Jacka"

Has run many successful MILGRAMs in the past (allowed to take risks like Torch being the Es of Novel 2)

Works at MILGRAM HQ

Takes smoke breaks after trials

Talks to boss during smoke breaks

Boss is probably Youtube Jackalope

Hates bloodshed and doesn't care about the aesthetics or drama of a MILGRAM

When Tatsumi tried to kill Torch, Jacka retaliates by using his powers to take control of Tatsumi's body and make him strangle himself

He stops when Tatsumi passes out/Torch says he doesn't want Tatsumi to die, but if not for Torch, Jacka would've killed him

Hates his job/boss

Relieved to hear that Jacka1 escaped purging

Despite working at milgram for many years, did not know there was a branch office

At the end of the novel he defects from MILGRAM, forming a collaboration with Torch and showing/taking him through the secret exit

Asks Torch how he'd feel if someone he loved was judged guilty by MILGRAM (possibly implied to be something that happened to him?)

Youtube

Male/"Speaks arrogantly"

Uses Ore-sama/オレ様 (comically self important)

Internal monologue in Side W/S uses watashi/私 (significantly less arrogant)

Only goes by Jackalope

Insulted if you call him a rabbit

Appears at the end of the first novel to punish Jacka/judge Sumi

Appears during second novel's post-trial smoke breaks (human form in milgram HQ)

Was the one to approve Torch being a guard even though he didn't think it was a good idea

Hates smoking and asks Jacka2 to not do it

Highly values the aesthetic/elegance of a MILGRAM

Wants a "pure" milgram with the fewest possible distractions in the judgement of sin

Used the same kind of memory erasure on Es that Jacka1 used on everyone

Believes Es needs to trust him for MILGRAM to work

Probably responsible for Es' barrier (the 'hypnosis' lines up with other jackalope's mind/body controlling)

Views end of 2nd novel as the worst event in milgram history

Cooks the food for the prisoners (sheds lots of fur)