#but its actually in the original as well xD

[michanvalentine]

I don’t mean to offend anyone—everyone is free to appreciate what they like. But the comparison comes naturally when I talk about my preferences and what I enjoy in the vampire spawn path rather than the ascendant vampire one.

As I already mentioned in another post, by becoming a full vampire—or rather, a new and 'improved' one-of-a-kind vampire—Astarion, in my opinion, fully embraces his monstrous side and lets go of the remaining human traits in him. So, his way of loving Tav/Durge becomes that of an ascendant vampire, lacking some of the qualities we’re used to in typical relationships. And that’s precisely what I love about the vampire spawn path—the idea of reclaiming life, reconnecting with others, and seeking out all those aspects that once characterized his existence as just another elf (with the necessary exceptions, of course—he’s still a sneaky bloodsucker xD).

I’ve noticed, for example, that Ascendant Astarion has a very strong sense of protection toward Tav/Durge, his vampire spawn. He feels almost obligated to keep Tav/Durge safe—it’s his responsibility. I wonder if he does it as a creator or as a lover. After all, the player completely surrenders to him, gives him everything—even their own life. (Their life, for fuck’s sake! In the end, the ascendant vampire kills Tav/Durge—he takes their life. Sure, he gives them another one, but that doesn’t change the fact that he takes it. And that’s another thing I personally find unacceptable because I fight every day to live. I want to live. My life is everything—it’s precious. The idea of someone taking it from me, just for the sake of control, is unthinkable. Especially when you should love me unconditionally, for who I am and not for who you want me to be. Of course, in an evil playthrough, it makes sense for Tav/Durge to want to become a vampire, but it's not mandatory. And the fact that the relationship can't continue otherwise is a red flag for me—one that I don't even think has to do with Ascendant Astarion's fear of losing Tav/Durge. After all, if they refuse the transformation, he is the one who ends the relationship and "loses" them. But of course, I'm rambling).

Anyway, back to the point—there are even moments where the ascendant vampire reinforces this concept, such as during the second encounter with Araj Oblodra. There, he explicitly states that he will protect Tav/Durge if necessary. Now, I absolutely understand the appeal of this scenario. Really, it seems incredibly romantic. But…

…it’s a concept that hits close to home for me, because of my family history. The responsibility to protect someone belongs to parents. Parents have a duty to protect their children. A fully grown, well-adjusted adult doesn’t need protection, nor should they seek it from someone else—especially not from their partner. I say this resonates with me because, at one time, I expected this from my husband. But in doing so, I placed a responsibility on him that wasn’t actually his. I burdened him with a role that wasn’t his to carry. I had to work through this, understand the mechanism, trace it back to its origin, and dismantle it as best I could—restoring our relationship to the right balance. One of equality. Because automatically, the one being protected is subordinated to the protector.

Now, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t support or stand by each other when needed, of course! The point is that it should be a mutual responsibility, not a one-sided one. And that ties directly back to vampire spawn Astarion, who, the morning after the graveyard scene, explicitly talks about this—about being equal partners. Same rights, same responsibilities. And how, among the various dialogue choices, the developers inserted a little trap: “I’ll always keep you safe so you’ll never need the powers of an ascendant vampire.” Sneaky! I hate that line! Just as spawn Astarion hates it—and rightfully so! If we are equals, if we are true partners, then you should not act as my protector. You should simply stand by my side, damn it! Spawn Astarion is perfectly capable of defending himself—he’s not weak, not small, and most importantly, he’s not a child. He is an adult reclaiming all his rights as an adult. He doesn’t need a babysitter.

Just like I, as a player, don’t need one. And maybe, because of my personal experience, that’s why I don’t find it appealing or romantic that Ascendant Astarion wants to protect me. I don’t need it. I function just fine on my own. I am perfectly capable of defending myself. I worked hard to regain that right and that freedom.

By the way, I’d also love to remind Ascendant Astarion that he didn’t end up in that position by chance. I was the one who guided him there throughout the game. All the more reason he should know that I don’t need protecting—I can kick ass just fine on my own.

[the-edge-of-great]

Are there any other interesting tidbits/changes in the Sonic movie novelization?

I’ll be honest, I didn’t read the first book lol I was really only interested in whether the writers had given Tails more of a backstory (which they did… kinda), so that’s why I read the second. However! I did read reviews online that said the first developed Tom & Sonic’s relationship more than in the movie.

Notable mentions in the 2nd book:

•Sonic 2 takes place 8 months after Sonic 1

• Tails spent many months seemingly looking for Sonic… He built those weapons Maddie & Rachel used at the wedding to account for the “natural disasters, dangerous adversaries, and booby traps” he encountered. (I mean!! That’s a whole tv show in itself!!)

• He also built a gun that atomizes things and he’s afraid of it, but he keeps it in his arsenal as a last resort. The text says that he isn’t sure it should be used, which is so interesting to me.

• I think he originally set out to look for the Master Emerald, but the Miles Electric (not what it's called in this universe but that’s what it is) kept picking up its energy across different planets... and somehow he knew that energy belonged to Sonic?

• Earth is the planet the rest of the galaxy is warned about lol

• Knuckles calls Sonic a Child of Mobius. Tails says that's "the traditional home of our kind".

• Tails is looking to find Sonic before “their enemies” do (weird that they have common enemies when they’ve never met?? WHO has Tails pissed off?????? Paramount!! I need to know!!)

• He was ready and willing to prepare Wade's garage for a siege attack (in exchange for stealing the police cruiser and driving it off a cliff). So, again—who has Tails pissed off?

• Instead of "The Master Emerald? That's just a bedtime story!" "Well, he believes it's real," it's "That's just a bedtime story!" "No, it's real. I should know. I think I’m one of the few still looking for it.” (What if one of his ‘enemies’ is Rouge? 👀)

• Tails runs the red light, and Sonic takes the wheel. Meanwhile, Tails climbs in the backseat of the cruiser to build speed boosters mid-chase 'cause Sonic was complaining they were going too slow xD. (This is where the "Promise? Promise you won't go anywhere?" happens :'))

• Tradition among the echidnas was to do an organ swap to make an alliance. Knuckles just breaks Eggman's hand instead, but that's… a part of the lore now. (edit: this is in my Top 5 favorite things from this book. I can imagine someone pitching this idea & the writer’s room going “what the fuck this is a kids movie” lmao)

• Tails offered to help Sonic in Siberia. No "I'm not a field guy!" protests here!

• Short Tails vs Eggman on the mountain (with very Sonic Raised Tails vibes 🥹; the text even says "Tails mocked the villain, almost like Sonic would have")

• Sonic doesn't believe he can fight Eggman and Knuckles alone after the wedding. Tom actually gives him a pep talk.

• Eggman's full name is Ivo Gerald Robotnik (Is that canon in other sonic medias?? I tried looking it up, but I don't see his name like that anywhere, yet I swear I already knew before I read it… *Is his full name canon, I mean. Ivo Gerald Robotnik.)

• Book Sonic reminds me of Modern Sonic more than his movie counterpart sometimes tbh

• There are multiple holograms of Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails at the start of the robot fight instead of just Tails.

• Maddie and Tom literally run through fire to reach Sonic

• Tails names Super Sonic!

• Instead of summoning a chili dog to prove he's not been corrupted by the Emerald, Sonic makes a fart noise with his armpit that has the "decibel of a bomb blast"

• Sonic recreates the Master Emerald, not Knuckles

• "Gotta go fast!" (when Sonic is running across the ocean to meet Eggman and Knuckles at the temple) and "Way past cool!" (post-battle when Tails introduces Knuckles to the power bump)

[fortune-maiden]

TGCF Revised Ver: Mid Autumn Banquet

Short arc is short and honestly aside from some stuff in the beginning I think most of the changes here are fine. It does feel like it flows better in some parts

The biggest change here is the beginning of the arc:

Originally QR possessed one of the guys he'd kidnapped, then showed up at the Xianle Royal tomb to desecrate it and then XL dragged him home. In this version, he just found a random dude while escaping after the events of the Fangxin arc and possessed him (this was the only kind of person he could possess). Notable changes though: it's said upfront that this dude is a gambler and a drunkard (and that this is the type of person QR hates most because it reminds him of his own dad). And he came crawling to Puqi Shrine to hide from LQQ. XL is still quite savage to him though. Also QR's long rant about how everyone sucks is moved to the end of this scene with him also cursing out the Three Tumors as a group after cursing them out individually. (Also my mtl has him call SWD a 'nouveau riche' instead of blackhearted and I'm very curious if this is an actual change or a translation thing xD)

And now the big rage change. THE PICKLE JAR SCENE IS CUT! Bye bye Pei Ming's final stint as an antagonist, Pei Xiu standing up to his boss/ancestor, and the Wind Master making a fool of him and then cheerfully inviting XL to the mid-autumn banquet. In the revised ver Ling Wen just informs him there's a banquet and he attends (though all the reasons he lists for being unable to refuse are the same)

No Lang Ying in this version so SQX does not mention taking XL to pick him up later.

XL recognizes LW's male form right away in the revision, while in the original he only caught on after seeing PM & SWD next to her. Also snip goes the bit about the Three Tumors praising each other and SQX calling them fakers.

The audio drama adds some cute dialogue here about LW not wanting to go to the hot springs with PM and SWD telling her to go with him and pretend PM doesn't exist. I love it a lot. (also this is SWD’s first line of dialogue in the AD haha)

LW/PM going 'Instant karma' to SWD after he made fun of them is cut. Awww

Idk if it's a translation thing but the price for stopping the mid-autumn play was possibly reduced from 100k to 10k merits - most likely a translation thing because it’s still 100k in the AD

Oh? Looks like the XL's play in the Mid Autumn Festival is called "The Strange Tale of Flower and Night" and SQX notes that it must have been written by one of his new believers...and XL then notes that his only believers are the poor villagers in Puqi Village. There is no mention of the Banyue merchants here like in the original.The play is still about Banyue though

Which leads to the consequence of cutting the pickle jar scene. SWD asks after Little Pei and PM says he washed his hands of him (I guess they had their talk offscreen?) SQX proceeds to mock him for not disciplining PX properly and brings up the past incident with his subordinate and the Rain Master, which makes PM uncomfortable (he has no reaction to SQX defending Banyue in the original) SWD scolds him as before (honestly SQX does feel a little ruder in this ver since she's bringing up the one topic PM doesn't like) (possibly also a translation thing, but SWD explicitly calls PM SQX's elder in the mtl which is cute) (mtl is also much nicer to SWD when it comes to *that* line)

The Rain Master convo that originally took place during the pickle jar scene happens here. Its also noted here that YSH silently allowed XL to borrow water for Yong'an 800 years ago (since he didn't exactly ask in this version) Also notably SQX reveals right away that the Rain Master was the last ruler of Yushi, and Pei Ming was a general of Xuli and XL realizes their history. In the original we don't learn this until Mt Tonglu.

And now for an annoying characterization cut because it's been a while. Originally when XL & SQX discuss PX's exile they have a moment of nodding about the Human Realm wearing one down over time. In the original there's an added bit about how XL is nodding unconsciously while SQX's nod is exaggerated. There's no flourish in the revision and I am annoyed because this is a key difference between the two of them. SQX says these things but doesn't fully understand them yet...

(While I'm sad about the pickle jar scene, I will admit moving this dialogue makes the scene flow better here. Originally we went right from SWD scolding SQX to the lantern battle. It was actually pretty abrupt...)

After SQX receives her ranking, other officials note that LQQ would have normally been ranked there. But he became depressed after the events of the Fangxin Guoshi arc and wasn't focusing on his duties :( Originally, he's only mentioned as being less popular than QYZ despite ascending earlier

Since SQX doesn't need to take XL to Lang Ying in this version, she goes to drag her brother away from his friends.

Also snipped is Feng Xin giving XL a congratulations. Poor Feng Xin :(

And then XL goes home and the scene with QR is more or less the same.

Very small changes overall and most of the characterization is in tact. Save for Pei Xiu's.

RIP Pei Xiu. I still love you.

[maryse127]

Channel hopping just to find one that's broadcasting Spiderman No Way Home and Into the Spiderverse back to back and uhm. Guess I am not sleeping early tonight XD

[giulliadella]

Bill Cipher's anatomy UPDATE!

Alex Hirsch is going to kill me one day.

So, for those who don't know, I'm the weirdo who did speculative biology of Bill Cipher, mostly as a fun exercise. I'm a biologist after all.

And now, on the stream, Alex Hirsch brought me the unused Bill's anatomy drawing from his book. I lost my mind:

So, now, I can tell you what my spec bio got right and what I got wrong and I can expand on the anatomy a bit!

Btw, this is going to have a NSFW part. I am VERY serious about that. Also, warning for anatomy drawings I guess.

WHAT I GOT CORRECT:

Bill Cipher is an invertebrate! He has a hydroskeleton, which he calls "arm juice", not bones. SUCK ARM JUICE YOU PERSON WHO SENT ME THAT ASK, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

And he's also segmented, although he has more segments than I saw. This isn't unusual, internal structures often keep the segmentation that external structures lost. I was very correct about his exoskeleton splitting in the middle to form a front and back plate and that his limbs protrude through the gap.

His skin is black! It's funny how many people needed to tell me that he's wearing gloves. No he's not!

I accidentally got right that he has a liver. I thought "this dumbass eats and drinks so much shit, if he didn't have a liver he'd be dead by now" and I was right. Considering the size of his liver, I was also right about him being a carnivore (or mostly carnivore). Carnivores have large livers because livers are used to process proteins and for uric acid cycle. Since carnivores consume lots of protein, they need a large liver.

His stomach is in the center! I didn't explain on my previous post why I placed it there, but it actually makes a lot of sense. The center of an equilateral triangle is its "mass center", so if an animal looks like a triangle, it would make a lot of sense that its stomach would be there, so that the extra mass from the meal wouldn't tilt its balance.

I also got right that his intestines are in his lowest segment and his brain in the topmost.

WHAT I GOT WRONG:

The entire reproductive system. It's MUCH freakier than expected!

Bill has ears! They are on the sides of his head. They aren't really ears, just tympanal membranes. They are located where Brett is trying his darndest XD

The hat is probably not a part of Bill's body. He used it as storage for extra organs during Weirdmageddon, Holy Moses on a Motorbike! However, if it IS a part of his body, then it could be used as fat storage.

He has 20 lashes. I would have never guessed. They could still be used to sample scent, a lot of animals have scent sampling tentacles.

His feet! He probably has velcro-like structure on them, like geckos. This could mean that Bill could glue himself to walls and walk on them if he wanted to. Little insect motherfucker.

He has a singular anus! And it's between his legs. Do with that information what you want.

AAAAND UPDATES!

I can finally show you Bill's entire digestive system! I couldn't do that in my original post, since I couldn't figure out what would go after the small intestine. Alex Hirsch has cleared that up for me and also, I think Bill uses some form of Malpighian tubules-like structures for urine excretion.

And, now... The reproductive system. AKA, the fun zone and creative juices.

NSFW!

Bill Cipher is a fucking freak, but maybe that isn't entirely his fault. It's in the genes of Euclydeans as species. (His love for BDSM isn't though. "He's got it all figured out", as Ford said.)

So, in case you don't know what a vagina dentata is, it was like an occult belief that women can grow teeth out of their vaginas. Bill Cipher's genitals look like a fucking vagina dentata. So that's why he thinks that teeth are hot - they grow out of his reproductive system.

Now, those aren't really teeth. They look like sharp-edged fleshy protrusions that Euclydeans probably use to tighten the grip during mating. It could probably be used for stimulation as well. That's why Bill doesn't like his sides being touched - the genitals are inside, but rubbing them feels violating.

Euclydeans are most likely one of those species who use pain to sexually stimulate their partners. It's not that uncommon on Earth either (don't look up reptile hemipenes, especially not turtles) and for creatures that are covered in smooth exoskeleton, some piercing action would be highly beneficial for transferring seminal fluid.

This also gives us the option of Bill Cipher being a biological female, who has a vagina with those weird teeth-like protrusions. However, it is entirely possible that males also have similar genitals. Bill calls his thing that's dripping "creative juice", so maybe it is seminal fluid? In either case, it's very freaky, but it fits him so well.

This also means that male Euclydeans most likely don't have a real copulatory organ, or, maybe, they do, but the female has to "bite it off" during mating to absorb the sperm. If they don't have the copulatory organ, they do it like birds, with just pumping, but unlike birds, they hold onto each other's thing with flesh teeth.

I am going to hell for making this art, but you are going with me for seeing it:

It also occurred to me that, since I believe Euclydeans use their bricks to produce sound... they would probably be loud. Fanfic authors, you know what to do.

@mitsu-the-witch you requested this, now live with it. I am going to burn my degree.

[victorluvsalice]

New for December 2024:

Smiler: [texting Victor and Alice] you guys have GOT to come to the next holiday movie night

Victor: [texting] Isn't it Thirteen's night next? I'm not really a fan of holiday horror.

Alice: [texting] I might come, but it really depends on the movie she's picked.

Smiler: [texting] no no no she gave up the night because Galactica found something SO WEIRD we have to share it with you

Smiler: [texting] it's called HOT FROSTY

Alice: [texting] ...it's called what now

Smiler: [texting] it's about a widow who brings somebody's snow sculpture of a hot dude to life by accident and he teaches her how to love again

Victor: [texting] ...this a PARODY of a Hallmark film, right?

Alice: [texting] Honestly just the title sounds like the porn parody version of a Hallmark.

Smiler: [texting] I mean I don't think it takes itself too seriously but it's a real movie and PG-13 at most I'm pretty sure

Smiler: [texting] you two in?

Victor: [texting] Yes, I have to see this.

Alice: [texting] I'll make more marshmallow snowmen we can devour while watching this nonsense.

Smiler: [texting] Make sure they have abs.

Alice: [texting] Will do!

--

Smiler: [putting a frog-wearing-a-Christmas-hat ornament on their yellow tree]

Victor: [watching, chuckles] You have such fun ornaments. I really like them.

Alice: Mmmm -- every one of them is so you.

Smiler: Well, some of them are technically so my parents, but we have pretty similar tastes, so... [grinning] Hey, we should do a little ornament trading! Like, you can bring some of your ornaments here to put on my tree, and I can do the same for you guys!

Victor: [holding up a hand] Oh, no, I w-wouldn't dare. The only o-ornaments I have right now are some my p-parents got me, and they're extremely delicate glass. I'd be t-terrified that one would break! I w-wouldn't want you to get hurt, and I definitely w-wouldn't want Mother knowing that I'd broken one. [wincing] N-not after the last time...

Alice: [patting his arm] And on my end, while it's a nice thought, I don't have any Christmas ornaments. All my family's ornaments burned up in the fire, and I wasn't in a good state to get any of my own until recently. And, well...celebrating Christmas was never a priority for me before now. I don't even have a tree at mine.

Smiler: [staring at them] ...

Alice: Uh-oh. I recognize that look. That's the "I am once again shocked and appalled by the wretched state of your lives" look.

Victor: [smiling nervously] It's fine, Smiler, I-I get a lot of enjoyment out of your tree --

Smiler: [firmly] We. Are going. Shopping.

--

Smiler: [approaches Victor wearing a mistletoe headband and taps him on the shoulder]

Victor: [turns around, sees the mistletoe, smiles and bends down to kiss Smiler]

Alice: [arrives on the scene mid-kiss and watches them for a moment]

Smiler: [spots her as they break the kiss] Oh, hey Alice! Just fulfilling tradition!

Victor: It's very important to observe these things you know.

Alice: [nods, smiling] I do know. [looks at Smiler and their mistletoe -- and then suddenly leans in and kisses them too]

Smiler: ?!

Victor: [blinking]

Alice: [pulls away and shrugs] Tradition -- plus, I mean, as per Nanny, we're already kind of fucking, so...

Smiler: [snorts]

Victor: [blushing] Do we have to keep bringing that up...

Valicer Not-Incorrect Quotes, Christmas Edition

Victor: [knocking on Smiler's door with Alice] Smiler? Are you ready to go?

Smiler: [flings opens the door, sporting a bright yellow Santa hat, sparkly red and green eye makeup, a yellow sweater with purple snowflakes, and black pants featuring embroidered red and green light strings with real flashing lights in them] Hello, my lovelies! I bring the spirit of the season with me!

Alice: ...the spirit of the season is making my eyes bleed.

Smiler: That's an important Christmas tradition, let's go.

--

Victor: [enters Smiler's living room area to find them setting up a bright yellow Christmas tree] ...

Smiler: [looks over] What's up?

Victor: ...you really -- of course you do, why would I assume you'd have a green Christmas tree.

Smiler: Yeah, do I look like Thirteen? Now help me get this thing into the stand, it's being difficult.

--

Smiler: [arriving back at the trio's house post-everyone moving in together] Hey! I'm back!

Alice: [emerging from the kitchen to greet them] Welcome home -- Victor's currently making sure the gingerbread doesn't burn, but he'll be --

Alice: [pause, sniffs the air]

Alice: [knowingly] Ah. Peppermint latte season then?

Smiler: We had a special promotion so I'm probably going to smell like this until Easter, yeah.

--

Smiler: [noodling around on their drum set] Hey, you guys want to hear me play my special version of "Little Drummer Boy?"

Victor: Sure. [sits down on the couch]

Alice: [joining him] If you'd be so kind.

Smiler: My pleasure! [starts playing the familiar rhythm as they sing the song]

Victor & Alice: [listening attentively, smiling]

Smiler: [singing in time with their drum beats] ~I played my drum for Him pa-rum-pum-pum-pum; I played my best for Him, pa-rum-pum-pum~

Smiler: [segues into a solo that -- sounds rather different from the traditional pa-rum-pum-pum-pum beat]

Alice: [raises an eyebrow]

Victor: [looks confused -- and then something clicks, and he groans into his hands] Oh, you didn't...

Alice: ?

Victor: [singing along to the beat] ~Never gonna run around, and desert you~

Alice: [immediately whipping around to glare at Smiler]

Smiler: [big shit-eating grin] If Victor can make a classical piano version --

--

Emily: [coming into Galactica's living room, with Victoria, Victor, Alice, and Smiler in her wake] Hello all! We're here! We brought snacks!

Galactica: [getting up from the couch where she was sitting with Oblivion, Rita, and Thirteen] Hi! Thanks for coming!

Thirteen: [also getting up] Whatcha got?

Victoria: [proudly showing off a bunch of marshmallow snowmen with things like pretzel arms and licorice scarves] I found how to make them online -- aren't they cute?

Galactica: Awww, they're adorable.

Oblivion: Perfect -- we're doing Hallmark tonight.

Thirteen: [beaming] Yeah, I can't wait to get out the hot chocolate and drown Frosty.

Victoria: [stares at her with wide eyes]

Thirteen: What?

Victoria: [sternly, holding the tray protectively against herself] No.

Victor: [puzzled] Victoria, that was literally a serving suggestion on the site you found them on.

Victoria: No.

Alice: We brought them to be eaten. That was the whole point.

Victoria: I will fight you all to protect these snowmen.

Smiler: I love how you think that is a deterrent with my friends.

Rita: [cracking her knuckles with a grin] Yeah, bring it on.

--

[the trio are listening to "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" on the radio]

Smiler: Would you like to know a fun fact about this song?

Alice: Hit us.

Smiler: Okay, so, while the short itself is narrated by Boris Karloff, this song isn't sung by him -- instead it's sung by a guy named Thurl Ravenscroft.

Victor: ...Well, I don't think I can ever complain about my middle name again. Who names their child Thurl?

Smiler: That bit I don't know, but do you know what Thurl's most famous voice acting role is?

Alice: I do not, but I suspect it's something gothic.

Smiler: Nope -- Tony the Tiger. As in Frosted Flakes's Tony.

Alice: What.

Victor: Really??

Smiler: Yup! And, thanks to one of the most popular tumblr blogs commenting that it sounds like Tony's breakup song to The Grinch, and someone else then drawing that -- well, there's now a Tony/Grinch fandom.

Alice: [laughing] Oh my God.

Victor: [also laughing] This is why tumblr is the most bizarre place on the internet. How do you get a weirder ship than that?

Smiler: [beaming] Well, there's Batman -- as Bruce Wayne -- being the side piece of Miss Piggy and Kermit. Also found on tumblr!

Victor: [shaking his head] I shouldn't have asked.

Alice: At this point, to get stranger, someone's going to have to throw together some random video game character, a stop-motion puppet, and a roller coaster.

Smiler: Trust me, I'm sure somebody's done that.

--

[dokidokitsuna]

GameSwap!AU

Just a random idea I had: what if Magolor and Hyness traded games with each other? Like, their character/personality remains the same, only now they each have the other’s roles and goals. I thought it would be fun~

-So making Magolor the main antagonist of Star Allies would be a trip; I feel it would change the whole ambiance of the game…probably in a detrimental way, from a gamedev point of view. You don’t really wanna put the super cute and charming new character with the most memorable heel-turn in the series…at the center of the “nostalgia” game. ^^; With the return of the Helpers and a dozen familiar faces cameoing as Dream Friends, Magolor’s theatrics would be too much of a distraction.

But whatever, let’s say we put him in anyway: now Magolor is the leader of Jambastion, trying to resurrect a god of emptiness and despair. I predict he snaps immediately. XD

I just think handing that kind of leadership role to an obviously power-hungry character like Mago would grow worms in his brain incredibly quickly. ^^; That isn’t to say that he’d do the cuckoo-4-coco-puffs schtick that Hyness does– I think instead he would be a sort of annoying “chuunibyou” character; constantly popping up to ramble about being Void Termina’s chosen one, destined to succeed because he’s the specialest and bestest ever, so you might as well give up now.

And he’d give off this completely unserious vibe like, “...Are you just making this up? Is this god you’re trying to resurrect actually real; or are you just a very lonely, understimulated, disturbed little egg…?”

And then by the end of the game we realize that he *wasn’t* making it up, and as he starts abusing the Mage Sisters (who probably hate working for him to begin with...) and rapidly becomes a real threat, suddenly we’re forced to take him seriously. ^^; We’ll rescue him from Void Termina’s innards anyway, though, because we’re nice, and similarly to his true character arc; he’ll probably realize that he got in over his head and beg to be saved.

-Hyness in Return to Dreamland would be interesting…primarily because he doesn’t seem like the ‘manipulator’ type to me. I think he’d be more of an ‘absentminded professor’ type: enthusiastic and silly but in an awkward, understated way. He’d just come right out and tell us he wants help to find the Master Crown, but he’d present it as a mysterious object of limitless possibilities that we should ALSO be interested in…y’know, just for curiosity’s sake. Conveniently leaving out the fact that he’s taking it for himself, and he’s more than just curious– he already knows exactly what he wants to do with it. ^^;

And similarly to *his* true character arc…I think Hyness would go all in. ‘_’ No hesitation, no regrets; he’d dive right into Mistilteinn’s clutches and become its twisted avatar, forcing us to literally carve him out of there if we want to stop him. This would probably call for a much tougher boss fight, with a more serious ambiance– none of Magolor Soul’s cutesy juggling; let’s aim for something more like Zero’s eyeball exploding out of his face, but in 3D~. Or all the horrific stuff Fecto Elfilis had going on, since we have the benefit of hindsight. XD

As for the end…this may hurt some folks, but I think it would make sense for Hyness to die, like the devs originally planned for Magolor before they decided to have mercy on him. The thing is, without the Mage-Sisters to highlight Hyness’ changes in behavior, there’s not as much to gain from redeeming him…maybe that’ll be part of his character arc too; seeking to become the instrument of the Master Crown because he has nothing and no one else. This version of Hyness still has his empty heart, devoid of care, but without Void Termina to pledge himself to, the tree-demon is the best he can do. ^^; And with a little fleshing-out of his backstory before he goes (perhaps a chance to learn more about the magic vs. science users…?) he could make a good tragic antagonist, the first of his kind in the series.

-...Seeing as RtDL was supposed to be like a fresh start for the Kirby series, though, all this lore and sadness would be a little heavy for that concept…from a gamedev point of view, I would reject the idea. But if we did go with it, I shudder to think how it would influence the rest of the games to follow…perhaps the franchise would actually have taken the grimdark turn that people like to think it has. ^^ Which would be cool to see, admittedly.

[simmerianne93]

[Simmerianne93]Portrait_poses_18

 ---------

Hello everyone! How are you today? Are you enjoying the sims and the sims 2 or are you still playing the sims 4 above all? haha unfortunatelly I can't afford any of them haha so it'll have to wait, but I hope you are having a pretty good time!!

Here you have another "Memories" posepack!! Or that's what I would have called it if I were naming my packs with proper names xD but as I'm basic, this is a new "Portrait" posepack for you and your pixel families to create memories for the wall.

I was going to bring this pack on the 30th, to end January, but I decided to wait a couple of days because of the rerelease thing and all the hype. And actually, this was a pack that i was planning for december as part of the family collab but I was short of time and I couldn't do them.

Anyway, my idea now on is to bring one family portrait pack each month (or each two months), 'cause I received more ideas than expected when asking for them for the collab... I want to make all the suggestions (and my own ideas as well) 'cause I feel like there are a lot of "basic" poses with 1 or 2 children... sometimes 3... but variations are kind of missing.... so lets see how it goes and if I can make all the poses you suggested...

The poses that I made this time I made them for my own use... If you follow me on bsky (and even if you don't) you may know by now that I'm playing the events with my simself, and she already have a fam... I was looking poses for 2 toddlers and 1 infant / 2 children and 1 toddler to make some memories befor the little ones grow up... and I couldn't find ANY... so... it was time to work on them... and this is what i got.... now you have a family posepack for those cases when you have twins and then an unexpected (or not XD) infant... haha

Althought... now my simself is having a 4th child xD so maybe I'll need to make another pack with 2 children, 1 toddler and 1 infant.... it never ends.... hahahaha maybe that's the pack I''ll bring at the end of this month....

And... talking about the month... its february.... and you know what it means, isn't it?.... VALENTINE POSES!! I have a few ideas in mind... and I hope I can make them all... keep in touch to have all the next packs!! I don't know if I'll be able to share the "coming soon post" but I'm telling you already that there's a few interesting packs coming this month!!

Thank you for always being there!!

Enjoy these poses!!!

Dag, dag!!

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What is on it?

2 Trio poses (one with 2 toddlers and 1 infant/ one with 2 children and 1 toddler)

5 Groupal poses for 5 sims (2 adults, 2 toddlers and 1 infant)

5 Groupal poses for 5 sims (2 adults, 2children and 1 toddler)

--- What do you need?

Andrew poses player.

Teleport any sim by Scumbumbo or Mccc by deaderpool.

Invisible infant mat replacement  by mcrudd  (OPTIONAL FOR INFANTS WHO HAVEN'T LEARN HOW TO SIT YET)

"The hipster hugger" sofa from Basegame (or any 3sits-sofa or 2sits-sofa, tho it can glitch a little bit depending on wich sofa you choose and depending on the pose)

a double bed (I used a bed from Seasons EP but the poses may work with others)

a dinning chair (I used one from Cat and dogs EP but the pose may work with others)

———

Instructions in the original post.

——

TOU

Do not claim my creations as your own.

Do not re-upload or modify my creations.

Do not make money of my creations.

Do not include my creations in Mods folders to download.

Please follow my Term Of Use.

——

Download it now here — [FREE FOR EVERYONE]

——————

If you want to support me:  Patreon | Ko-fi

All my poses overview: Pinterest |  Wix | Tumblr

More in-game preview pics of all my poses: Instagram

My socials: Twitter | BlueSky | Instagram | Tumblr

Lives and videos: Youtube

——————

I really hope you like them and I will say in advance: Thank you so much for using them.

@ts4-poses

--

[factual-fantasy]

24 Asks! Thank you! :}} 🐷

I don't think I'm understanding.. I cant turn my FNAF AU designs into full on OCs, (Original Characters) because.. well Freddy Fazbear and the gang are NOT my original characters. I just made my own AU (Alternate Universe) for them and redesigned them.

Unless that's not what you meant..? I'm sorry for misunderstanding you if that's the case <:(

(In response to this post)

I'm keeping it in mind.. I gotta get to the root of the problem and figure out what needs to be replaced. Once I can figure that out I'll probably set one up 🥹🙏��

Well imagine if you were in his shoes. You are transported to some kind of unknown world. And absolutely no one arounds you speaks the same language as you.

Sneep has no way of knowing this is a digital plane. He has no idea if the people around him are real or not, he cant remember his name and no one can explain to him why that is. His body looks different, he feels different, no one around him looks to be a human.. just imagine how scary that is. Not having the comfort of things being explained to you in this situation. Not having the comfort of someone telling you "everything will be okay".

Yeah, I'd lose my mind pretty quick too 💀

@ardent-38

XD No worries! And yeah I started playing Warframe for the first time these past few days. Its been fun so far, Mag being my favorite. (She's the only frame I have <XDD)

I have my eyes out for Titania Prime, Trinity Prime, Mag prime and Mirage Prime. I'm thinking Titania might be my new favorite if I can snag one!

This game is fun, but the longer I play it? The more I miss OG Overwatch 😅 I tried playing TF2 again today and it just isn't the same 😔💔

@chromchill

I am new, but my favorite frame so far is Mag, because she's the only one I have <XDD

But I've got my eyes out for Titania Prime.. and judging by her abilities, she might just become my new favorite 👀👀

@chickenmilk120

What I really would like is just more interactions and comments with my artwork <:( I get bummed when I put a lot of effort into something only to get 3 comments in the end...

I have not <:(( but I've heard many good things about those games! :00

AAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DDD That's all very kind of you to say! :}}

And as for Cici and Gerald, you can find their origin comic here! :00

@lordvonbunnyv

Yes please 🥺🥺🙏🙏🙏

@quillsinkwell

Awe! :DD Thank you! They did have a certain charm to them didn't they? :}}

They would have been much better off drawing that mattress character I swear XDD

@neo-metalscottic (Referencing this post)

Hello! So far my tablet is still alive. Although I'm looking into getting my laptop checked out and maybe replacing somethings... 😔

And it was fun to draw Bibi again! I should really draw the fam more often <XD

Not sure what resolutions they'd have.. but one of mine is to be cured of this condition. Or at least get to a point where I can actually function normally again. There's a lot of things planned for 2025 and if I don't get better soon? I'm gonna miss out on all of it. 💔

Yeah, my head just used to be a normal scribble. But now its become a full on blob hasn't it? <XD

There's 2 reasons for this. 1 being that I have been battling some very limiting health conditions for about 8 months now. So drawing my sona all goopy and sickly is to represent how I've felt through this trial 🥲🥲

But the second reason isn't so bad. That being that its just fun to draw my sona like that XD

@bored-animator

Indeed I have! Deltarune too! Just search up "undertale or "deltarune" in my blogs search bar and you're sure to find a lot of it! :))

Thank you so much!! :DD And sure! Send me any game recommendations you'd like! :}}}

@ramiel-hourglass

Thank you so much! :DD But no need to go to the dumpster! <:(( I'll make you something to eat instead, yeah? :)

I use FireAlpaca. And I used to use the pencil brush for line art and the pen for coloring. But lately I've been using the little pixel brush for sketching and line art :00

(This thingy 👇)

I saw it, and I don't really know how to feel about the blue shelled Koopa.. it feels kinda weird to see a Mario kart item brought to life suddenly 😅

I gotta think of stuff to do wither her... 😓😓

First thing that came to mind was Roxanne from FNAF: Security Breach <XDD

@howaboutsomeketchul

Idk how they would celebrate Christmas, since they might not have a good way to gauge the passage of time..

Just search "team fortress 2" in my blogs search bar and you're sure to find most of it! :)

While I see what you're cooking, I don't think my Caine would create a Momigoo NPC for the fast food adventure <:/

The thing that upsets Gummigoo isn't just that his mom isn't real necessarily, its that his memories of her aren't real too. He remembers all these experiences with this person but the memories aren't real...

And the whole reason why Caine let the brothers stay was because he hoped it would help Pomni adjust to the circus. Just like Bella did for Gangle. Bringing up NPCs or things from the Gators adventure could upset or confuse them so Caine wouldn't want to risk it. <:(

@wolfie-777

Merry Christmas and a Happy new year! :DD Sorry for the late reply <XD

@cartoon-fan

Oh I get a lot stolen from those other fandoms too. Octonauts has just been the most frustrating. Constant tracings, theft, copycats, disrespect, its was nuts.

I don't think I'll post Octonauts again anytime soon. I've just had enough of the constant pushing of my boundaries and the boat loads of all kinds of theft.

[gemsofgreece]

Hello! Do you (and other Greeks) find "Hellenic polytheism" an acceptable term for the religion worshipping the ancient Greek gods? If not, what would you want people to call it instead? I feel strongly that I would not be able to change my belief itself, but I definitely want to be respectful in what I call it and my other actions

Hellenic Polytheism should be fine. You can introduce yourself as a Hellenic Polytheist.

People have a bit of a hard time with this hell of terms (get it? he he), so I am gonna create a mini-lexicon. It's not targeted to you in specific to use all these, it's just for whoever is interested to clear this up in their minds.

A very hellenic lexicon

Hellás = 1) the official term for Greece and the only one ever used by Greeks themselves (there is no equivalent of "Greece" in Greek), 2) a historical ancient region in central mainland Greece where southeast Epirus and southwestern Thessaly meet and where a lot of Achilles' soldiers supposedly originated from, 3) the administrative region of central mainland Greece during the Byzantine Empire

Hellenic = anything Greek (like you may say "this is an american movie", that's why you can use hellenic polytheism, because it means "greek religion of many gods"). And by anything Greek, we mean ANYTHING. Care to know what the "Greek Orthodox Church" is called in Greek?

You guessed it! Hellenic Orthodox Church...! So you see, how when foreigners say some things like "i'm hellenic, hellene, hellenist" like "what hellenic are you? coffee? bank? Christian?" You know?

Hellen = the mythological progenitor of the Greeks according to Hesiod. Not to be confused with Helen.

Héllene = a Greek by descent, nationality and / or ethnicity. And if we are being totally accurate, it's a Greek male. I don't actually know how it is pronounced in English but ideally keep the last e silent. (By the way we do not pronounce that h in the beginning in all these words for the last 1500 years or so.... just saying.)

Héllenes = the Greeks, just men or mixed. The last e is NOT silent.

English does not have gendered nouns but Greek does so technically there is a seperate word for Greek women but I don't know if this is transferable to English. If we could do it in theory and by following the trasliteration style of the Hellene, it should be something like:

*Hellenís / Hellenidae or Hellenides = Greek woman / women*

Hopefully this explains why random foreigners identifying as "Hellenes" is exremely problematic.

Helladic = pertaining to the geography and territory of Hellas and whatever happens strictly within its borders

Hellenisation = spread of Greek influence and culture, it is also used for cases of Greek assimilation in ancient times

Hellenistic = 1) something being characterized by particular Greek influence, 2) referring to the era after the Classical period and before the Roman period

Hellenicá = 1) the Greek language, 2) (infrequent) Greek matters, documented topics about the Greeks

Hellenism = The complete Greek culture, civilization and nationhood, the essence of being Greek.

Hellenist = 1) a specialist in the study of Greek language, literature, culture, or history, or an admirer of the Greek culture and civilization, 2) a person who adopted the Greek customs, language and culture during the Hellenistic period, 3) now, the English Wiktionary also adds the "a follower and practitioner of Hellenic religion" <- which one of the two??? XD, clearly following the trend of western classicist circles. In the Greek Wiktionary for the same exact term (Ελληνιστής) that last interpretation does not exist and I can guarantee you it is officially rejected. Here's why: the suffixes -ist and -ism (as well as all suffixes here) are suffixes of Greek origin and they signify that someone is something or is passionate and dedicated to something on the superlative or very very earnestly, essentially. So when someone says they are a hellenist, they are supposed to be dedicated or charmed by anything that makes something hellenic, not to be professional cherry pickers. Of course, everyone is allowed their preferences, however you can't be interested in a super specific / niche thing like a religion mostly practiced 2000-3500 years ago and simultaneously show complete disregard and ignorance on literally everything else about this civilization, history and its living people and call yourself a hellenist. It tears the word apart. By the way this is not targeted at you. You are here asking about it, wanting to do the right thing. I am referring to this thing happening in this forum that @alatismeni-theitsa 's Anon was complaining about; they obsess over the ancient religion and they hate everything Greek post the AD mark. That's not being a Hellenist. That's not a Hellenism forum. That's the exact opposite in fact. Very few people can correctly claim the term "hellenist".

BONUS: Philhellene is kind of synonym to "hellenist" and it means "friend / lover of the Hellenes and all things hellenic". But again it can surely be misused. Not all self-proclaimed Philhellenes were ones indeed. Some, like Lord Byron, were Philhellenes through and through, on the other hand.

Of course, one definitely does not have to go through what Lord Byron and other great Philhellenes of the 19th century went through to prove they are a Hellenist or a Philhellene! My point is that very very few people can correctly claim the identity of a Philhellene or a Hellenist.

Therefore, "Hellenic polytheist" is just fine.

[neerathebrightstar]

neera!!! i saw the ask regarding the fact that u wish to write a fanfic inspired off of my series and the only comment i can give is hell yeah !! please do, i literally love you and your rambles; they're very interesting and niche, and every time i post something, i do a little happy dance whenever i see your comments in the section, so please don't even hesitate to ask <33

I was thinking of two fanfics i could write based on your work. I would credit you of course and if you want i can perhaps message you privately about any changes to your story that i might make so you would feel comfortable with how i well kinda interpret your work.

1) One fanfic I had in mind is y/n is sent to an alternative universe, before bruce even adopted Dick early on in his batman career. It would be very battinson coded universe cause I am a sucker for that pathetic man. I don’t really have much of a plot written out but I plan on making y/n appear randomly in different stages of their life in well Battinson’s life. Like one chapter will be Batman before Robin and y/n disappear to their original universe and the next maybe Batman with Robin. This is just a small idea but I was toying already with something like that before i found your fanfic and I just think the neglected reader trope will fit there nicely.

2) The second fanfic I had in mind is kinda fucked up to be honest xD. In this universe things will play out similarly to your fanfic if you give me permission to do it but I plan on making Gotham an aware and thinking entity. Like some kind of eldritch horror was living in the place where gotham is before it was built and because people refer to gotham as she/her (truly lady with her knight lmao) that entity will base its looks on the way people perceive them (or her really). So my plan is to make reader a child of a witch that knew of the existence of gotham spirit, maybe she could connect with them or something (I’m not entirely sure yet) and because of that they can talk with them too, have some powers related to them cause they are a product of two people „Gotham” loves the most. I don’t really have any kind of plot whatsoever for this just a few ideas but i would really like to write it but i also don’t want to steal your work

If anyone wants me to i will be happy to talk about those ideas more before i sit and write an actual chapter.

[twstfanblog]

*~Mother's Day, Damn it~*

A/N: Hello all and a happy Mother's Day! Decided to queue this up since I knew I was gonna be hyper-busy the weekend and would honestly forget to post it XD Warnings: Mentions and vague descriptions of pregnancy and childbirth Pairings: YuuxMalleusxAzulxJamil, Mentioned Silver/Sebek, Mentioned Vil/Rook, Mentioned Riddle/Floyd Word Count: 4.3K

MALLEUS

Yuu made sure to apologize to Malleus once the egg was out. Well, once the egg was out, they had a quick bath, and regained mental awareness after a spontaneous three-hour nap. It wasn't their intention to interrupt his birthday party with their water breaking (they really hoped the seemingly ancient as dirt carpet survived it). Yuu didn't remember much from the egg birth. Apparently, Grandmother Draconia had made one of her rare appearances, walking into the room as though Yuu wasn't screaming on their knees and slamming the ornate headboard into the wall in an act of misplaced frustration. 

Lilia said she brought them fruit-flavored ice chips, which was very sweet.

Once they woke up, everyone had kept a good few feet away as they congratulated them on a successful birth. (Malleus told them later that night that Yuu had some…vividly creative threats made in their heat of maternal agony. One of which Malleus refused to repeat, only stating it made him physically leave the castle grounds for his own safety).

But now, as Yuu relaxed in a patch of rare sunlight with their egg baby, they felt content. Luckily, their egg wasn't as massive as Malleus's was. Though it had seemed to grow to said size as the months went by. An oil-like black, the shell shined iridescent in the light. The reflective surface was broken up by thin matte black webbing that increased in numbers as time went on. Grandmother Draconia had remarked the few times she'd seen the egg that she had never seen one with such neat growth marks, the pattern almost mimicking broken glass.

Though Yuu had their concerns, (they didn't have magic and dragon eggs needed family magic to hatch) their loved ones were more than willing to pitch in. Malleus, of course, gave the egg magic daily in the form of cuddling and kissing it before and after going about his royal duties. Lilia had given a few sprinkles of his limited magic, whispering blessings and sweet dreams to the youngling inside. Sebek nearly cried himself sick when Yuu offered to let him bestow the egg with his magic, he was one of the godfathers after all (A fact that made Sebek actually cry and hug Yuu tight enough to crack their back). Silver, as the other godfather in question, was more than happy to give his niece or nephew his magic in the form of naptime cuddles.

Even Azul and Jamil had made their way to the valley. Both to visit and to give their donation of magic to the egg. Though they had busy schedules with their own post-graduation lives, Malleus had convinced them to stay a few weeks past their original departure date. If he had to set a harbor on fire to do it, that didn't mean anything.

In the present, a strong gust tiled the egg from its upright position and onto its side in the lush patch of grass. Yuu watched in mild amazement as the egg did what it normally did, wiggling on its side for a few moments before rolling itself back to its starting position. Their child had become insanely active, a fact that Malleus and Yuu took great pleasure in. Nightly, they'd sit on opposite sides of their massive bed and call out to the egg to see who it'd roll toward (Yuu was only a little bitter that they were barely winning).

“Baby. Baby~.” Yuu laughed, watching the egg wiggle around in what could only be called joy at the sound of their voice.

But, their laughter was cut off at the soft sound of something cracking.

They looked at the egg with laser focus, the egg itself had gone deathly still as though the crack had startled them as well. Soon the egg gave another powerful wiggle, a hairline crack forming against the shell.

“...” Yuu turned toward the castle, panic clear in their voice as they screamed, “MALLEUS!”

Malleus had appeared like a bolt of lightning, eyes glowing and ready to kill whoever posed a threat to his mate and child. Only to have his attention pulled to the sound of shell cracking and Yuu's panicked question of “Do I help them!?”

Soon they were back in the castle, the wiggling and cracking egg placed on the ceremonial hatching altar. Malleus held Yuu in his arms, trying to keep them calm as they fought their own need to help their child hatch. Silver, Sebek, and Lilia had appeared after hearing all the noise. While Sebek shouted encouragement to the hatching fae, Silver tried to get his husband to stop yelling at the egg. Lilia was doing his grandfatherly duty of filming everything.

Finally, the cracks along the egg met. From the top, a small purple-tinted dragon poked their head through the opening, fighting against the remaining shell fiercely until they were able to crawl out. They squeaked, almost trying to roar at them with their wings flared out.

Lilia cooed, making sure to capture the scale pattern on the squeaking dragon's forehead, “A little girl! She's much smaller than I-”

The egg tilted on the altar, another small dragon crawling its way from the opening their sister had left. Stepping out and looking around the room unaware of the edge to the altar. Silver had rushed forward, catching the teal-tinted infant before they hit the ground. He held the squeaking dragon in both his hands, unneeded from how small he was but wanting to grip him securely, as he placed him back on the altar, “I...twins? Can there be twins?”

The shock was barely settling in when more cracking echoed in the room. From the bottom of the egg, another head poked out. A frustrated green-tinted dragon flapping their uncoordinated wings to remove leftover yolk. This one was much more tired than his siblings, once free from the egg he had huffed and laid down on the altar.

…

Yuu tilted their head back, giving themselves a high five before moving out of a stunned Malleus's limp arms, “Secured the fuck out of this bloodline! Babies! Babies~!” They gathered the chirping dragon infants into their arms, each of them growing overjoyed to finally be with the voice they always knew.

June 13th, a great blessing was gifted to Briar Valley. Three healthy and powerful heirs born in record time. The country had celebrated for weeks in joy and in blessing of the three new members of the royal family. May Malgona, Malathew, and Malicent Draconia-Crewel live long and be loved.

AZUL

Yuu had fallen pregnant again not long after the triplets' first birthday and it was all Azul's fault. A successful opening weekend of his lounge had made the cecaelian's mood all too happy and frisky. Azul, in a flustered state, claimed that wanting to mate when resources were bountiful was basic biology and he wasn't going to apologize. Jamil started the argument that Azul had done such a thing on purpose to push back his and Yuu's wedding, since Malleus's wedding planning was taken over by grandmother Draconia, and Azul didn't want to marry Yuu until he had a sizable amount of money in his savings for reasons.

While the two bickered, Yuu and Malleus marveled over the ultrasound of a tiny pea-shaped blob.

Malleus would have easily housed Yuu for their pregnancy again; What better place for an expecting mother to be than waited on hand and foot in royal luxury? An idea that Azul surprisingly vetoed, bringing up the fact the triplets would not leave Yuu any time to relax as the one-year-olds had a 6th sense for when their mother was trying to so much as sit.

“They'd run her more ragged than the pregnancy would in the first place…”

While Jamil offered, they all knew Yuu would decline; Since Jamil was currently staying in the Scalding Sands, prepping with his family (and Kalim) for their now pushed-back wedding. Yuu would not last long in the desert normally, asking them to do it while pregnant was cruel and unusual punishment.

So Yuu and Azul made their way to the Sunshine Lands where he had actually inherited a sizable beachfront property from his grandmother. How and why the elder cecaelian had even got her hands on land property, she wouldn't say. But the seaside villa Azul had built on the land was perfect, having a hand in every design aspect right down to the adorable ocean-themed nursery.

And while Yuu's pregnancy tracked along nicely, Azul's sleep schedule and mental well-being had suffered.

Malleus had rarely complained of Yuu during their first pregnancy, but now that Azul was dealing with them first hand he wondered if Malleus was simply…unbothered by the absurdity that escaped Yuu's mouth. The fae had asked how Azul was dealing with Yuu's ‘strange cravings’ during a visit. Jamil had rolled his eyes and jokingly asked if Yuu wanted pickles or ice cream during their pregnancy with the triplets. And Malleus answered she had wanted to drink molten metals, gnaw on gemstones, and wanted to eat a very specific map that was made when his grandmother was a child.

Jamil, having been around more pregnant women than the average person in his life,  stated that was…normal…ish. Pregnancy cravings could tilt to the material if the body felt it was lacking nutrients. So Azul was prepared. He had supplement potions of all kinds, he's looked up the most common pregnancy cravings; he had pickles purchased by the barrel and ice cream by the freezer load on standby. Hell, he stocked up on a non-toxic clay that was safe to digest. If Yuu asked him to, he'd crush up shells and pearls into fine dust to mix into their food and drinks to satisfy their cravings.

Instead, he was awakened almost like clockwork every night to make some type of horrific food combination that Yuu insisted would be amazing.

Ground beef and banana smoothies, corn on the cob with a cherry compote and mustard dipping sauce, chocolate-covered pan-fried shrimp. One night they simply asked for a whole, raw artichoke. He watched them eat it like it was an apple and fall back asleep as though they hadn't mentally scarred him in a matter of four minutes.

Azul could put his foot down, he could deny them these hellish cravings clearly caused by some type of demon masquerading as a baby in his date-mate's womb. But whenever he did, Yuu's eyes would fill with tears; sobbing and crying that Azul didn't love them OR the baby.

So Azul would get out of bed and make them their cursed offering. His pride as a chef was strong, but he couldn't last long against his dear pearl's tears…

But, demonic cravings aside, Yuu's pregnancy was progressing as normal. Azul would spend his evenings from the lounge resting gently on his date-mate's stomach and cooing at the tiny being waiting to be born. He had theorized their little girl was in a merform that matched his own; it would explain how they were able to kick him no matter where he kissed on Yuu's stomach. With only a month to go, his child would be the perfect belated birthday present.

Then three days before said birthday, Yuu was rushed to the hospital against their will, once again. The past few weeks they had been plagued with random bouts of false contractions. Each time Azul would panic and rush his pregnant love to their chosen hospital and demand they be looked over. The doctors would humor him, he was an up-and-coming influential member of their community after all. But, Yuu quickly grew annoyed with it, to the point they'd started hiding and waiting for the contractions to stop before even telling Azul they had them.

But now they were back in the hospital, Yuu pacing their examination room as Azul gently grilled the doctor.

“I understand that they're common, but this has been happening for weeks. Is there another test we can do or a specialist we can refer to?”

“Well, Mr. Ashengrotto, as head of labor and delivery and your personally chosen doctor, probably not.”

Yuu sighed, still walking around the room with a hand over their stomach, “Azul, just drop it. I wanna go home and-”

The sound of water hitting the tile floor made them all freeze. Yuu looked down, seeing the ‘water’ had come from them and soaking into the edge of the maxi skirt they were wearing.

…

“Fuck.”

Hours later, Yuu was in a hospital bed and Azul was still on the phone with his mother pacing outside of the room. The mer panicking over the potential health risks of a month early birth and where he could have gone wrong in his prenatal care and how he was a failure-

Yuu spoke calmly into their phone, watching Azul pace past their window again, “Yeah, no. He’s still in the hall crying…I don’t know! The doctor hadn’t said anything was wrong the past few checkups…No, Jamil, I didn’t ingest poison…Why would he give me poison!? Why would I be craving poisons!?...Wanting to drink metal is different.”

Azul had returned to the room after a nurse talked him through his breakdown, sitting at Yuu’s bedside and helping them through the labor pains. He walked them around the room, screened calls from their worried friends and family, and even managed to magic up the fabled fruit-flavored ice chips Yuu had started to demand as the labor continued. Two days before Azul’s birthday the doctor had finally stated Yuu was dilated enough to try their preferred birthing position. With Azul’s hand vice gripped in their own, a few hours into the afternoon, they felt a pressure suddenly rush out of them. The standby nurse quickly swooped in to make sure the baby was fully out and taken to be properly weighed.

Yuu and Azul both sigh in relief at the sound of their little girl wailing her head off. Azul felt tears coming to his eyes seeing she had been birthed in merform, much bigger than any normal mer child but that was to be expected when she had a personal grotto to grow and feed in for eight months; lovingly tucked away to be pampered and protected. He took in his daughter’s form with a tender eye; pale purple skin that ombred into chubby black and speckled tentacles that wiggled around fiercely. A head of stark white hair with delicate newborn curls. Gurgled cries only stopping when the nurse placed her onto an exhausted Yuu’s chest. The infant following her instincts; curling into her mother for warmth and safety, tentacles wrapping around Yuu's arm as an anchor and finally calming.

The doctor smiled at the happy family, both parents cooing over their baby. They moved to exit the room to allow them space to bond, giving Yuu one last glance to ensure there was no ripping that needed immediate attention. The smile on their face quickly fell. At a moment of silence, they moved back to position and gave Yuu a pat on their calf, “Okay! Round two!”

“...” Yuu lifted their head from the pillow, their grip on Azul’s hand somehow getting tighter, “I'm sorry…what?” The loving light of a mother quickly faded into a focused rage.

“...The…There’s a second baby-”

“A second what!?”

Azul struggled to escape Yuu’s hold, feeling his bones trying to liquefy to slip out of what his instincts were screaming was a death trap, “Darling? My pearl? Let go, please let go of my hand-”

“No! I’m gonna eat your fucking arm! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THERE’S A SECOND-”

February 22nd, Yuu uploaded a photo welcoming Charysa and Scylar Ashengrotto-Crewel into the world. Yuu smiled in bed with two identical cecaelian infants curled against each arm, one of them blinking open a dark blue eye to stare at the camera. Azul sitting at their bedside with one of his arms in a sling and bandages wrapping his fingers together. To this day he stands firm on his twins being the best early birthday present he ever received, and all they cost him was a broken hand and a dislocated shoulder.

(Yuu happily called the Leech twins once their arms were free, telling them they could stop fighting over who the godfather was to be since they could now both be the godfather to a baby).

JAMIL

Jamil and Yuu’s wedding was gorgeous.

Kalim took the fact it was a party for extended family and friends and turned his party planning skills to a whole new level, footing the bill and offering whatever venue the Asim family had at their disposal for the event. Jamil tried to deny his friend’s generous offers, but his mother shot him down so hard he physically felt the impact. He and Yuu had the final say in any decision of course, but against his mother’s cold unmoving stare and Kalim’s small suns for pupils filled with hope, Jamil crumbled often. He wanted to hate the end result, but it was honestly something out of a dream. And his favorite part was his bride.

Yuu’s lehenga was made from the finest red silk, embroidered with enchanted gold thread and precious beads that shimmered in the light. Henna was painstakingly painted on their hands and feet in ornate and fine patterns, their hair and make-up done by a personal beautician of one of the Asim wives, Finally they were coated in ruby-encrusted gold jewelry straight from the royal family's treasury that Kalim had gained permission to borrow from. Yuu was presented to him and he felt like he had found an oasis of paradise, no longer searching for a diamond in the rough as the sands had produced a perfectly cut and shining turquoise into his hands. A vision of beauty and now legally his wife.

So though it was only a month after Yuu had birthed Chrasya and Scylar, barely two weeks after their wedding night, they had learned Yuu had gotten pregnant again, much to their displeasure. Jamil’s mother was boosting at hearing the news, stating that her efforts of sneaking a yellow sapphire into their marriage bed had been the trick to such a fast pregnancy (Apparently, she claims that’s how she was blessed with Najma so soon after having Jamil). Now freshly re-impregnated, Azul and Malleus stated that Jamil should be the main one to care for Yuu as they had for their own children's respective pregnancies.

A challenge he accepted with only mild annoyance.

One of Kalim’s many wedding presents to his dear friends had been a townhouse located in a capital city of the Shaftlands. It was placed within a gated community with plenty of resident-only amenities, it was even a ten-minute walk from the downtown area. A perfect location to keep his pregnant, troublesome adventurous wife safe, yet close enough to events to keep them both entertained. One surprise meeting at the local farmer’s market later, Vil and Rook had become frequent visitors along with Azul, Malleus, and their other children to their townhouse home. However, the older Pomfiore duo had stopped visiting at the end of August as they were finally welcoming their own bundle of joy. 

A fact that Yuu quickly pointed out as a reason to visit Vil instead.

“I’m allowed to hold his baby. I’m pregnant and basically the blood sister he never wanted.”

“I’ll be honest, from how Rook’s been describing Vil's hyper possessiveness since they brought Finley home, he may actually fight you if you go over there.”

“I'm pregnant, I can do what I want.”

“Yuu, he will body slam you. Stop trying to put your shoes on.”

Once again, the pregnancy was smooth with frequent checkups and clean bills of health. Jamil remained hyper-vigilant during each clinic visit. Demanding the doctor do two or three extra ultrasounds from multiple angles, paying out of pocket for each surplus check. Only one baby was shown on the screen each pass, but Jamil never lowered his guard. Yuu had two pregnancies prior and a total of three surprise babies that managed to slip by completely undetected. Though everything pointed to one baby, that meant little to Jamil from past experience.

Even at their over-the-top baby shower, once again with Kalim as the head of the planning community, he didn’t stop his double-checking. As the triplets and the twins shoved their tiny hands into a cake to show the bright blue frosting inside, Jamil had gripped Kalim by the collar off to the side and demanded to know if the sex reveal had anything pointing to a second child. Kalim had sworn that nothing had stated there was anything out of the ordinary. Jamil had released him, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose before remarking he couldn't handle another kid. It had already taken him so long to pick Kalim as the godfather, he wasn't sure if he could pick a second person ( Kalim burst into tears at hearing Jamil had chosen him as his son's godfather. Picking Jamil clean off his feet in a hug that ended in them both falling into the pool).

Now, on New Year’s Eve, Jamil and Yuu made their way to Vil and Rook’s snowy mansion to attend their party. They had shown up a few hours early, Yuu shoving Vil out of their way once the blonde star had opened the door. Vil scowled as Yuu quickly waddled deeper into the house to coo over a four-month-old Finley, raising an eyebrow at Jamil, “And you say they're easier to handle pregnant?”

Jamil shrugged, slipping the bag of last-minute groceries Vil had asked him to bring from his shoulder and into Vil’s waiting hands, “I can placate them with food and physical affection. They sleep at least 11 hours a day and at some point running becomes a chore to them. I have half a mind to knock them up again the second this one is out.”

“They’d kill you.”

“They can’t do anything reckless or stupid when pregnant, it’s a dream come true.”

By the late evening, the party had calmed from the large soiree it started as to an intimate get-together of the original NRC group. Children were put to bed upstairs while the adults all talked and caught up with personal lives. Yuu had excused themselves to the bathroom, Kalim taking the opportunity to ask Jamil if he was doing ok.

“You’ve been bouncing your leg all night…”

Jamil sighed, leaning forward and placing his nose and mouth into his clasped hands, “...” He pulled his mouth from his hands, “Something is going to happen.”

Vil rolls his eyes, pouring himself another glass of champagne, “Honestly.”

Riddle hummed from his place under Floyd’s arm, fighting off his drunken sleepiness to soothe his former classmate's concerns, “Jamil…from what I’ve been told, Yuu’s had perfect screenings, you’ve kept them on a strict prenatal diet, and you only have two more weeks until their due date. I believe you are as they say…in the clear.”

“That means nothing when Yuu is involved and you know it.”

Malleus chuckles, stroking a hand through Jamil’s loose hair, “I don’t think there’s any need for concern. Yuu hasn’t had any strange cravings this pregnancy, nor early contractions. I agree with Riddle on you managing to conquer these dreaded ‘surprise pregnancy’ events we’ve been having.”

Rook nodded, humming as he stood from his chair to pat Jamil’s shoulder, “Worry not, monsieur multi! You’ve been so vigilant in monitoring your bébé’s status that I don’t believe the poor boy could hope to kick without you knowing about it.”

Yuu walked back into the room, a hand braced under their stomach and the other pointing behind them toward the bathroom, “Hey remember how I went to the bathroom?”

…

Jamil’s eyes moved from looking directly ahead of him to glancing at Yuu, “Yes…what about it?”

“So I thought, I was just actively peeing; which is why I went. Turns out, Aha…my water broke.”

…

Everyone had watched in a shared muted silence as Jamil picked Yuu into his arms and basically threw them into the back of their car, peeling out of the mansion’s driveway in a barely contained manic episode. They had sheepishly continued the party for an hour, midnight barely two hours away before Vil texted Jamil and Yuu, asking if they had safely reached a hospital.

Azul and Malleus crowded around the phone when Vil let out a delighted scream. Jamil had responded by sending a single photo of Yuu in a hospital bed still in their party dress, a bundle of blue blankets in their arms. While Malleus and Lilia had playfully lamented the loss of another January birthday boy, Cater had remarked how Yuu looked to be fighting back the urge to either laugh or fling the baby out of their grasp.

Jamil texted back, ‘We checked into the hospital, Yuu laid on the bed, and he just fucking came out.’

The doctor and nurses had to be called in, no one expecting Yuu to have birthed so quickly since the ink on their forms had barely dried. Luckily, the baby had no health issues, fully formed with feathery wisps of black hair and giving loud cries to show his airways were clear. Once he was placed into their arms, Yuu had jokingly asked the peaceful infant what had been so important that he needed to be born two weeks ahead of schedule in less than an hour. A joke question that the baby had seemingly answered by blinking open his little coal-colored eyes, opening his tiny mouth and burping. With that single act, he closed his eyes and nuzzled back into his mother’s embrace to sleep.

…

“Jamil, get this motherfucker away from me-”

Two hours before the new year, December 31st, Jamil Jr. (J.J) Viper-Crewel decided he was ready to be born.

(“I didn’t agree to that name. We had, like, twelve names picked out, why are you giving him my name?”

“Jamil. Look at him. This is just you, what the fuck else am I supposed to call him?”)

[kupofdoodles]

octotober 2024: (friend)ship

!!!NOT ACTUALLY A SHIP!!! i dont do shipping XD

well technically its both ship (do gups count as ships) and friendship so u r probs wondering "WAT THE IS HAPPENING?" fair

i saw the concept art for the gup b, and the original gup b design (in the only lonely monster book) and i made a headcanon that kwazii asked tweak if he could customize it, and tweak went ALL OUT for kwazii!!

basically this img is tweak showing kwazii the designs she has planned so he can choose which 1 he lieks best concept arts below

also pointing out the gup e

(i tried drawing one of the hammerhead shark designs but i couldnt T_T)

[luna-rainbow]

RE: People giving Bucky a hard time over his "I'm invisble, I'm turning into you.." line being "selfish" That whole scene is Bucky displaying behaviour consistent with depression or traumatic stress. He's drinking by himself in an isolated area, isolating himself from social situations by not sitting with the ohers - he doesn't initiate the convo with Steve and he's apparently smoking. Although a lot of people did that then we didn't see any sign of him smoking before? Not that I recall anyway. And I don't believe he was jealous of a woman paying attention to Steve instead of him or "taking" Steve from him. Bucky's a true friend (I'm not a shipper full stop): and true friends aren't possessive nor do they take issue with you spending time with others or flirting with the same person as them.

I think Bucky was simply testing himself. He wanted to see if he could still muster the confidence and charm to convince a lady to dance with him which he'd probably never had any problems doing before. Its the first time he initiates a conversation the entire scene.

When it didn't work was when he knew there was something wrong. I don't think it was just the super-soldier serum. It's interesting that after that Steve is really the only person he interacts/talks to having been very sociable and outgoing before. Some people have also noted that his tone of voice chances as well, he seems to speak less often, more softly and his tone is quieter. So maybe "I'm turning into you" is actually a kind of role-reversal. Bucky is now the quiet, less confident, introverted one and the one who has been victimized (and is about to be again by HYDRA). Kind of interesting as well that the serum now means Steve is taller than him too.

Poor Bucky. Cut him a break and give that man a hug. And a cookie. A cookie can't hurt.

Hey nonnie, I'm not sure who's been giving Bucky a hard time over the "I'm invisible" speech but I'm glad I haven't seen it XD

I had a meta a while ago about that particular line. It's not a fixed headcanon by any means, I was just running with the flow of Bucky's thoughts to see how he might have ended up in that moment.

And yeah, I agree, I think he was in a very vulnerable place at that time. Not just what he went through during imprisonment, but he's also traumatised by what he's seen so far in the war, and now someone who matters very much to him is in danger (Steve) and he can't do anything about it. I'm basing my projections on what Sebastian had said about Bucky in the "let's hear it for Captain America" scene -- that no, he wasn't jealous of Steve in that moment, he was just horrified he wouldn't be able to protect him anymore. He's torn between admiring Steve for the courage, and the very realistic fears of seeing Steve come to harm, but he also knows Steve too well to talk him out of it. So he's not in the best headspace in that moment.

I do want to gently disagree in that jealousy in a friendship doesn't make it less pure or less good, it's simply a very human response to what is at its heart a fear of abandonment. Even if you logically understand that you need to let your friend have other relationships, you can still feel jealous if that eats up time you'd normally have with your friend, and apprehensive about what else you might lose. It's what you do with those emotions that defines your morality. This is why a lot of fans say that Bucky has had a villain origin story but has come out the other end a hero -- he's gone through an arc of loss and fear and jealousy, but come out the other side still staunchly Steve's friend, and that's a heroic arc.

As always I think Sebastian did a fantastic job with Bucky. The change in Bucky pre-war and post-war is considerable.

His voice is lower and coarser, his mannerisms are much more "schooled" rather than boyish, it screams less bravado and more of a quiet assurance, and that frown never lifts from his brows. But yeah, a lot of that is battle-hardened professionalism, but I think a lot of that is also Sebastian factoring in Bucky's mental health. And his eyes are on Steve a lot more even when they're not conversing -- shipping angle aside, Steve is his commanding officer, and my other thought is that...his eyes are always on Steve because the danger to Steve is much higher now, and he's always made it his personal mission to make sure Steve's going to be okay.

(I mean there's also a lot we can say, or has been said, about that particular scene in terms of male writers writing female love interest badly, but that's an entirely different topic)

[phantom-of-the-ruckus]

Just some lonely man and his crows

-

I just recently found out that Jon actually has two crows named "Craw" and "Nightmare" (Kudos to Mistress of Fear for the info!), so as the Crow and Raven lover that I am, I had to sketch Jonathan and his birbs.

I did try to use the cell shading, which I have improved, but certainly it shows it is still out of my comfort zone hahaha.

I did base of his design of some of the comic looks and Maxwell as I kinda did shoot myself in the foot by not drawing my version of Jonathan first, but oh well XD. Likewise, I did want to keep him Ginger as outside The Dark Knight (aka my intro to Jonathan) is the iconic Batman the Animated series. I prefer his S2 design, but i enjoyed his episodes but I wished he was on more.

Anyway, here's the drawing without effects

And the bare colors!

I did originally thought about drawing him in a funny incorrect quote I found, but it might go into another day, although I finally got the idea for Jonathan x my OC (Elizabeth) drawing too. I can't 100% guarantee I'll get this done as I am a very busy buzz person (who does get hit with depresso mood swings, but I'll do my best)

Aaah yeepers, i forgot to link the post hahaha its this ONE

Once again, kudos to @jonathan-cranes-mistress-of-fear for the post and the many info about Jon! Please check Moffy's blog out and give lots of love, and fear toxin! Haha

Thank you so much for liking and reblogging my stuff, it brings a huge smile to my face and helps me a lot!

As you can tell, I am very chatty on my posts, but I am a quiet ball when it comes to dms, although they're always free XD.

[sabrerine911]

Finishing the year with another Wyll appreciation comic!

(wyll was getting a lot of dumb hate on him on a BG3 group im in so I felt the need to make another one of these XD)

Wyll and his 2 barbarian besties Karlach and Beth Ravencoft (BG3)- planning to color this

So, quite a few people joined my FB art page of a sudden and I have to say Im thankful for that. Yesterday when I politely requested to be credited by someone that posted my art on their FB group I got a bunch of folk telling me(gonna amalgamate all of them, sadly actual words) that Im a pedantic dick that is not grateful that my art is liked and does not have its signature removed, didnt help that the original poster was very dismissive and just told me that if I want to be credited I should post the art myself...unfortunately I'm a sensible person so all of those did sting, but Im grateful for all the old and new love Ive been getting on my stuff and Im hoping you enjoy it further down the line, if not, well thanks for passing by! Always appreciated

Lets say I was VERY motivated to post something wholesome to cheer myself up XD