#custom chinese take out boxes

[iww-gnv]

I’m straddling my road bike, carrying two boxes of Chinese dumplings in a paper tote. The DoorDash app tells me I need to sprint my payload across Manhattan – cutting across the Holland Tunnel’s on-ramp – in the next eight minutes. I’m trying out food delivery under New York City’s new minimum wage law on a frigid December afternoon. Before – I was a part-time delivery worker between 2018 and 2020 – an order like this would have paid just a few dollars, making it a frantic rush to finish and move on to the next one. Now the new rules guarantee delivery workers nearly $30 an hour of “trip time”. So I stop at red lights, yield to pedestrians, and though I end up arriving a couple minutes late, I feel surprisingly relaxed. My customer seems pleased, too. But the delivery bosses are already trying to reassert their dominance. Since the law took effect, delivery apps have made it harder for customers to tip. Previously, apps like DoorDash would ask customers to tip their couriers when placing orders, allowing workers to see the total amount before agreeing to take the job. Now, Uber and DoorDash have stopped prompting customers before checkout, and those that still choose to tip can only do so after the delivery has been made, through a button that can be difficult to find.

[illubean]

Can I req an influencer/celebrity Iso x bakery owner reader?

Or just an Iso x bakery owner in general :0 <3

Sugar and Stardust

Characters: Li Zhao "Iso" Yu Type: Fluff, Oneshot, Gn!reader, Normal AU??? like the vp and all that doesn't exist

did I name the bakery after a mlp character? Yes. Yes I did.

Warning: none

Being an idol wasn't as glorious as people made it seem. There were so many factors that lots of people wouldn't be able to handle. There was paparazzi, demanding managers, and crazy fans who sometimes forget their favs are human too.

Needless to say, Li was exhausted after his last tour. He had spent around 4 weeks performing under his stage name Iso, bouncing around countries that we're far from home. But now, he was finally able to relax.

He decided to spend his time off back at his hometown, visiting family and old friends. Iso's birthplace was relatively small compared to the big cities he's grown used to, meaning it was much safer to go out without some disguise. He walked through the market place, looking at all the familiar shops and reminiscing of his younger years.

There were a few street vendors, a convenience store and... wait a minute.

Huh, that place must be new.

Iso stopped, looking up at the sign that read "Sunset Shimmer Bakery" in fancy writing.

I guess I'll give it a try.

Iso entered the bakery and was immediately struck by the scent of freshly baked pastries. He looked around, taking in the warm and cozy atmosphere. There were warm toned lights strung along the ceiling, which gave a much gentler feel compared to bright florescents. The air around him was warm and there were tables with soft cushioned chairs in sort of a gold-yellow hue.

You perked up at the sound of a customer entering and made your way towards the counter from the kitchen.

"Hello, and welcome to Sunset Shimmer Bakery. Are you ready to get an order started or do you need a moment?"

Iso looked up at the source of the voice and his pupils dilatated. In front of them was the most beautiful person he had ever seen, despite being in a flour covered apron.

"I uh- one minute please."

"Alright, I'll be over here when you're ready."

The man stood staring for a moment as you returned to what you had been doing before. Snapping out of his trance, he took some time to assess the sweets in the display case in front of him. There was a plethora of pastries and other sweets, ranging from mini cheesecakes and muffins to more Chinese snacks like custard buns and jiandui (sesame balls).

After a few moments more, he looked up to see you had finished your task and were now waiting on him.

"Are you ready to order?" You asked with a sweet smile. You were just doing your job but god Iso couldn't help but to think you were adorable.

"Yeah, I think I'll take one of those," he said, pointing into the display case."

Somehow, your face seemed to light up even more as you went to open up the case.

"This one is one of my favorites! I like to call it Star-berry Shortcake!"

The pastry was a single serving sized strawberry shortcake, with a tiny bit of gold powder sprinkled over the top with some star sprinkles decorating the top.

You packed up a slice in a box for him before sticking something to the top of it and putting it in a small bag. The man got out his wallet, ready for you to tell him his total before looking up and seeing you holding the bag out to him.

"This one's on the house!"

He was quick to argue, being more than willing to pay you but you just smiled and shook your head with an "I insist".

Iso sighed, taking the bag and then thanking you. He begins to head towards the door before stopping in his tracks and turning back to you.

"By the way...what's your name?"

You let out a soft and angelic laugh before answering "It's Y/n."

The idol nodded before bidding you goodbye once again, making his way back home. Once there, he sat down and pulled his sweet treat out of the bag before reading the note you had stuck to the top.

"I never thought such a big star would walk into my little bakery. Thank you for the visit, Iso <3"

Iso smiles at the note and the little heart you drew in the corner. Setting it aside, he began to eat the cake he just bought- was given. The cake was delicious and seemed to be just as sweet as you had been.

He would have to visit your shop again. If not for the baked goods, then it would be for the cute owner that has piqued his interest.

[lulublack90]

Prompt 2 - Faster

@wolfstarmicrofic August 2, word count 588

Previous part First Jegulus part

“There’s too many of them!” Remus wailed to Sirius as he struggled to get the orders written up and filled. Word had got out of how potent the special brew was and half the university campus was lined up down the street to get a cup. 

“We’re going to run out of coffee beans at this rate!” Sirius huffed as he dragged another 20kg bag back in from the back. “This was meant to last us a whole month, not just a day!” 

“Don’t complain, darling,” Effie cooed as she danced past him, arms stacked high with food orders. Sirius thanked various deities again that they’d concentrated more on the coffee and stuck with a simple menu of hot sandwiches and French pastries.

“Two more cheese toasties please, Dad!” James called through to the kitchen. 

“Right you are, son!” Monty yelled back. 

“We’re going to run out of cheese and bread as well!” Sirius groaned, flinging his head back before he gathered the six coffee orders Remus had just filled and started calling out names. 

He looked around the seating area and then at the door and realised there were a lot of people in a separate queue wanting to eat as well as get a coffee. 

“Okay team, new plan. James in the back is a box with takeaway bags and wrappers in it, go grab them!” He grabbed a newly vacant chair and stood on it. Bracketing his mouth with his hands, he yelled over the cacophony of voices. 

“Valued customers, if anyone is waiting for food and doesn’t want to wait for a table, we are now offering takeaway boxes. Please form a line by the potted plant and someone will be over to take your orders shortly.” It turned out that most of the customers were happy to get a takeaway instead of sitting in. He got Effie in the kitchen with Monty, and together they cracked the orders out faster than he could ever have expected. He kept up with the coffee orders behind Remus and James took the orders from the food side. 

When closing time came, they finished up the last few orders and Remus jumped over his counter to quickly lock the door and turn over the open sign. He came over to where Sirius was laid face down on the floor and sat beside him gently stroking his sweat-soaked curls away from his face.

“Cheese toastie and a cup of coffee?” Remus asked playfully. Sirius didn’t even raise his head, instead, he raised his middle finger. Remus burst out laughing and hauled Sirius up off the floor into his arms. 

“I hope it’s quieter tomorrow,” He groaned into Remus's chest as he nuzzled further in, seeking comfort.

“I’ve ordered Chinese food,” Monty declared as he walked through from the kitchen. 

“Yes, Dad!” James boomed excitedly. 

“Perfect choice, my love,” Effie said as she pecked a kiss on her husband's cheek.

“I love you guys so much,” Sirius was feeling quite overwhelmed by the generosity of his chosen family. 

“Yeah, yeah, hugs and kisses and all that, but this place is a disaster,” Remus poked him in the side. “I bet we can get it cleaned up before food comes.” So reluctantly they all got back to work cleaning everything, ready for the morning. They managed to get everything done before the smiling man on his moped turned up with their favourite dishes. They sat on the floor of the upstairs flat’s living room and tucked into a well-earned meal. 

Next part

[irena-dubrovnaa]

I love Brutalia and I know you've reblogged some of my content before. So do you have any Brutalia headcanons?

ABSOLUTELY!!!

bruce didn't really keep up with popcuture during his time traveling so when he got settled back in gotham he got into the habit of making mixtapes on cassettes, he gave a lot of them to talia when he met her and even made her a few custom ones

talia talks a lot when she gets upset while bruce shuts down, if they're both upset at the same time you'll see talia talking his ear off while bruce lays down and just listens because it makes him feel better

whenever she's in the states she always takes bruce to try different immigrant run and owned restaurants

talia loves food tours and took bruce on one while they were on vacation abroad

talia loves giving massages, she has specific oils she uses while helping bruce with his back injuries because he gets breakouts all over his skin with most essential oils

they are both autistic and so is damian

bruce makes a killer french toast and the smell of it WILL wake talia up out of a sound sleep

talia loves any and every kind of fruit except raspberries so when a fruit salad or parfait or something comes with raspberries she gives them to bruce because she thinks he likes them. he can't stand raspberries but eats them anyway

talia gets chronic migraines with seemingly no triggers so bruce has a dark room for her in the manor, it has adjustable lights and a record player so she can listen to soft music without exposing herself to the blue light of a screen

they absolutely love amusement park dates, talia gets so excited over big roller coasters and bruce spins their cars ridiculously fast on teacup rides, both of which make talia's hair fly everywhere so bruce is always adjusting it for her throughout the day

bruce speaks just as many languages as talia but his accents when speaking chinese dialects are questionable at best

damian got his habit of vocal mimicry from talia and they'll sneak around to different rooms in the manor and mess with bruce by putting on the same voice, he knows it's them but also knows they get a kick out of the first 15 seconds of his initial confusion

they both have boxes of letters from one another from their times apart, some were sent back and forth and others weren't just depending on the state of their relationship at the time

they go dancing, talia loves jazz classes while bruce is partial to tango

they can communicate with their eyes, a whole, fully understood conversation from across a room with 0 words, just 👁👁👀👁👁👀

they both need glasses and love seeing each other wear them but they always wear contacts out of convenience

[sirenjose]

Teahouse Tales Analysis

Translations of the backstory (by Pascal): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L_Lk5zmhuSHJMzS0ERV0jVHb-nWXgddwZJjT8oyJPmM/edit#

Translation of the event (by Pascal): https://docs.google.com/document/d/131Uuz69qVe6wJEOqnAx8LSWSdZyGUutg7kTd1zmNtUs/edit#

Teahouse Tales trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-_qrWTpzbs

Teahouse Tales was the 2nd anniversary event for the Chinese version of the game. The setting for this event is a teahouse run by the owner Lady Thirteen (Michiko). Besides going there to drink tea, secretly the main customers of this teahouse are those who have “committed” something. They come to this teahouse “without direction in life”, “at the end of their rope”, seeking “salvation” and “financial aid”. Lady Thirteen hears out what they have to say, and if she believes them, she may decide to help them. The reason they go to Lady Thirteen is because she controls the town’s “information lifeline” and there’s nothing “she doesn’t know” or “a person she can’t protect”.

To support her she has her assistants Flying Guillotine (Wu Chang) and Sparrow (Norton). Flying Guillotine is a former famed assassin who now serves as her head waiter. He takes orders at the teahouse but also is in charge of “some of the boss’ more fearsome transactions” (meaning he likely kills for her when she needs it).

Sparrow is her second waiter. His role is to gather information and act as a “silver tongue” (based on the trailer), as he is “a master in the slick and sly, skilled in observation and indirect questioning, digging out and analyzing information amidst merrymaking”.

People go there to drink tea, but the teahouse also secretly gives aid to those who’ve committed crimes and come asking for help from Lady Thirteen. Lady Thirteen knows everything, as she controls the town’s information lifeline. Regarding her helpers, Flying Guillotine helps Lady Thirteen maintain order and eliminate potential problems, while Sparrow is in charge of gathering information. The player comes to the teahouse because they need her help with the photo album they have (of all their memories of the Manor). In return for helping with the photo album, Lady Thirteen asks the player to  do a job for her: check gift boxes for poisonous gifts and help identify a traitor planning a “rebellion” against her.

One note about this event is that, depending on the choices you make during the event (based on the answers you give to questions you’re asked), you can get 1 of 2 endings: one where you side with Flying Guillotine, and the other where you side with Lady Thirteen.

After reading through the events and both endings several times, I believe there is for the most part only 1 timeline, with the events being given to us out of order and scattered about. The 2 endings aren’t mutually exclusive (Lady Thirteen’s ending occurs some time before Flying Guillotine’s ending). Each little bit of the event we get helps to fill a hole in the story we read in “Bone-Eating Gift”.

Bone-Eating Gift begins with Lady Thirteen having the player help her out by checking for poisonous gifts in return for assisting with their photo album. On Day 2, the player asks Lady Thirteen why she picked them to help her. She explains it’s because they are a “no-strings attached” outsider. They’re fresh, not familiar with anyone or anything at the teahouse, unbiased (at least for now), and only care about getting the photo album, thus making them the most suitable person to find the traitor for her. It also may be possible she has the player checking giftboxes as a way of testing the reaction of others at the teahouse (to further help her discover who the traitor is). The very next day, as a result of their talk with Lady Thirteen, it’s mentioned that the people at the Teahouse look at the player differently, while Sparrow and Jade Dew (Emily) notably keeping their distance from the player.

Day 4 has the player mention to Lady Thirteen that she should pay attention to Sparrow, because he’s been “acting odd” recently. This question makes Lady Thirteen unhappy, as she gives the player a “distasteful” look, before stating “He has remained by my side for a long time; He will not betray me”. The day after, the player is talking to Flying Guillotine who warns the player about Lady Thirteen and about how they should be careful about trusting her, before pointing out a window “at the child kneeling in the cold, wet snow”.

On Day 6, it’s mentioned today is Lady Thirteen’s birthday, and Sparrow thinks it’s a good day for lighting fireworks. The player asks if he’ll wish Lady Thirteen a happy birthday, but he says “No need, she just needs to know I’m here”.

The final day of Bone-Eating Gift brings up the fact Lady Thirteen is investigating Silver Steed (Freddy). She also gives the player their photo album before telling them “you and I both have what we want; and with this, you have my thanks”.

In the ending where you side with Flying Guillotine, we learn from Jade Dew about Flying Guillotine’s past, and why he wants revenge on Lady Thirteen. “The noble son of aristocrats studying abroad, who suffered until his family was broken and people had died. And every last part of it was because of Lady Thirteen; because of her ‘trade’”. Later, with the help of the player (they don’t really seem to directly help out. They just seem to support Flying Guillotine and not help Lady Thirteen) and Jade Dew, who gives Flying Guillotine a gun, Flying Guillotine kills Lady Thirteen.

In the ending where you side with Lady Thirteen, it starts with Bohea (Mike) asking Sparrow about where to put some goods, though they freeze when the player enters the room. Sparrow tells the player not to worry (about what he was doing), but when the player asks if they were doing some kind of business, he smiles and “put up a finger and shushed: ‘You must keep this private’”. After this (at this time, it’s said that the player is watching fireworks), it’s said that the player gets Sparrow in trouble: “I knew of business, but not how to do it, and I got discovered; Sparrow was punished for it”. The player feels guilty for getting him punished, but Sparrow tells them not to feel bad, “Lady Thirteen is my biggest benefactor. This job really is my responsibility, too” and says just to stand by their side next time.

Later, Sparrow tells the player not to sleep in “because of unnecessary questions” before saying they should go deliver refreshments to Lady Thirteen. Right after, he says “I believe she might be in danger” (the “Drops of water leaking from the roof ran down his neck” might actually be sweat, potentially to show he’s nervous). With Lady Thirteen, we find her with Silver Steed (Freddy), who’s apparently been beaten and dealt with harshly. Sparrow at this time is described as indifferent to him and what’s going on.  Lady Thirteen says she’s trusted Silver Steed, but apparently he’s “gone and palmed off” Lady Thirteen’s goods, which is the reason for his current miserable state. She takes a stack of deeds from Sparrow, before saying to Silver Steed, “These are all your worldly possessions. Oh, not only that, but I just remembered. Your wife is newly pregnant, isn’t she?”. This apparently breaks Silver Steed and makes him freak out. He says he’ll talk, but before he finishes speaking, he’s shot and killed.

Now that I’ve summarized all of that, let me talk about what I think happened.

I’ll start with the beginning of Lady Thirteen’s ending, where the player finds Sparrow and Bohea talking about goods of some sort that Sparrows says is a “private” matter. Sparrow’s actions and behavior in this scene, especially since he doesn’t explain himself and he’s already been keeping his distance from the player, should be the reason why the player brings up to Lady Thirteen that Sparrow is acting “odd” and that she should keep an eye on him. The reason why they tell Lady Thirteen to be wary of him stems from Lady Thirteen assigning the player to help her identify the “traitor” at the teahouse.

Regarding the goods that Sparrow and Bohea had been handling, I believe these goods were for Lady Thirteen’s birthday. The reason why it was “private” is likely because he was trying to plan a party for her without her knowing. That’s why he didn’t want to tell the player what he was doing. It also fits considering soon after these events we hear about Lady Thirteen’s birthday. Things Unfortunately, things don’t go well for Sparrow and his plan after the player tells Lady Thirteen that Sparrow is suspicious, as this leads to him being “punished”.

Remember that one day mentioned a child kneeling out in the snow?  

That was Sparrow.

Poor Sparrow is betrayed by the player and punished by Lady Thirteen all because he was trying to plan a surprise birthday party for Lady Thirteen.

This is likely why he tells the player he isn’t going to wish Lady Thirteen a happy birthday, and why her simply knowing he is here is good enough. He had just been punished by Lady Thirteen due to being suspected of being the traitor because of the player’s comments about him. We know Sparrow isn’t the traitor as he’s described as being completely loyal to Lady Thirteen. Lady Thirteen reflects these same feelings about Sparrow when she talks about him. Even though Lady Thirteen knows he would never betray her and that he isn’t the traitor, she is forced to punish him anyways to keep up appearances for the real traitor, to seem unbiased and on guard. Sparrow, because he is so loyal, accepts this and appears unbothered, with his only desire to help her out however he can. If Sparrow were to wish her happy birthday right after his punishment, it would ruin the image she’s trying to display to everyone and hinder her attempts to find the real traitor.

From her “distasteful” expression we know she was just as unhappy about having to punish him, but also aware that she now didn’t have a choice.

This scene explains the part when it says the player was “discovered” (aka they made a mistake) and Sparrow was punished. The mistake was the player suggesting that Sparrow was the traitor because they thought Sparrow was suspicious from whatever he was doing with the goods. The punishment was where we see Sparrow (the “child”) kneeling out in the cold ice and snow. Bohea was likely helping Sparrow out because he is the kind of person who wants to make people “smile” and “a rowdy crowd always makes him forget his fears”. Mike is a happy person who likes having fun, so it’s not surprising he'd be willing to help Sparrow plan a birthday party.

Switching now to Flying Guillotine’s ending, the beginning of this ending, where Flying Guillotine asks for the player’s help to get his revenge, occurs before Lady Thirteen’s birthday. One part I want to discuss is when Flying Guillotine says “Silver Steed has been discovered”. This comes after Lady Thirteen finishes her “speech” at her birthday celebration (and after Jade Dew gives Flying Guillotine a gun). Silver Steed being “discovered” should refer to the scene during lady Thirteen’s ending, where she kills Silver Steed for betraying her. This may refer to Silver Steed’s body being discovered from the Lady Thirteen ending, when he is killed for betraying her.

Silver Steed was also mentioned at the end of “Bone-eating Gift” on Day 7, which is the same scene Lady Thirteen gives the player the photo album and says “you and I both have what we want”. If Lady Thirteen has what she wants, this should refer to her goal of discovering the traitor, and relate to the “business” she is said to have with Silver Steed that day. Therefore, this implies that Bone-Eating Gift Day 7 happens before Lady Thirteen’s ending, after which is Flying Guillotine’s ending. This also implies the player didn’t leave immediately after getting the photo album, potentially staying at least long enough for the Lady Thirteen’s birthday.

So Silver Steed is killed before Lady Thirteen’s speech and before Flying Guillotine kills Lady Thirteen. If these 2 scenes happen near in time to each other, this could also mean that when Sparrow says he thinks Lady Thirteen is in “danger”, he’s sensing Flying Guillotine is getting reading to carry out his revenge and kill Lady Thirteen. This could also mean those “fireworks” were for Lady Thirteen’s party, and the “refreshments” he was brining to her were also from the party.

If Sparrow was at least in the previous scene when Silver Steed is killed, that means he is still alive and somewhere at the party. But the fact that we don’t hear about him at all afterwards, or anywhere in Flying Guillotine’s ending. I don’t think Flying Guillotine would’ve killed Sparrow. His only target was Lady Thirteen, the one he deemed guilty of killing his family, so he could fulfill his revenge. I don’t think he would’ve done anything to Sparrow once he accomplished what he wanted to do. But from there, we don’t really know what happens to Sparrow after Lady Thirteen is killed.

It's also possible, based on Silver Steed’s description (“What can compare? The gold clutched in your hand; is there anything more valuable?”) plus Freddy’s background that Silver Steed may have been involved if not mostly responsible for whatever led to Flying Guillotine’s family dying. It’s mentioned that Lady Thirteen’s “trade” is what caused it to happen. And if you compare this and the outcome to Freddy’s background, where he tricks Leo to buy a debt-ridden factory so he could take Martha from him and eliminate Leo (not to mention Leo and Martha both die, while Emma is orphaned), it fits really well with what happens to Lady Thirteen. Leo would be like Flying Guillotine’s family, regarding them getting a bad trade and getting killed as a result, with Flying Guillotine being similar to Emma since he, like Emma, is all alone now (Sparrow is similarly left all alone like Emma after Lady Thirteen is killed). Silver Steed being taken out by Lady Thirteen could relate to Freddy being taken out by Leo in the diaries.

From various bits during the event, I think Lady Thirteen may have known about Flying Guillotine and his desire to kill her for revenge. She likely knew why as well, which may have been part of the reason she had Silver Steed killed. She should’ve known about the “trade” that got his family killed, and if she finally learned that Silver Steed was the “traitor” that got them murdered,  she likely wanted to eliminate him as a way to try to get revenge for Flying Guillotine’s family. Lady Thirteen is also continuously mentioned to know everything. Therefore, there’s a chance she knew Flying Guillotine was coming to kill her. She may have even let him do it. Maybe it was another way to make it up to him (help him end his suffering over his family’s death by letting him carry out his revenge).

During the “Sixth Tale”, it mentions Lady Thirteen has a photograph of everyone from the teahouse. The idea of a “family” is important to her. “On Lady Thirteen’s face hung a smile. ‘Not a single victory happens without relying on those by your side’”. Based on this, it’s possible that Lady Thirteen cared about Flying Guillotine as well, even though she likely knew he wanted her dead, and maybe that was part of the reason why she may have let him kill her (it depends on how involved she really was in his family’s death, and thus maybe she wanted to make up for her mistake).

To Lady Thirteen, the real “traitor” was likely Silver Steed, and she got what she wanted by killing him, but she likely also knew Flying Guillotine was the one who wanted to murder her for revenge. If she knew her death was coming, maybe she tried to send Sparrow away. Unfortunately, it’s probably more likely that Sparrow was around when she died, especially with how loyal he was to her and how much he cared about her. He may have even ended up having to watch his adopted mother get murdered right before his eyes.

I’m going to talk about Lady Thirteen a little bit.

In the backstory for Teahouse tales, it’s mentioned this teahouse is located in a Chinatown in Europe. This goes with Lady Thirteen’s skin description which describes her as a “foreign beauty”, referencing how Lady Thirteen isn’t from Europe. Her design notes also specifically refer to her as a “Far Eastern beauty”. This matches with her backstory, as we know she’s from Japan. Specifically, from her 1st deduction, her hometown was likely Eversleeping Town.

Michiko’s Deduction 1

Hometown: This is the last stop for our ancestors and the starting point for our journey.

A diary: Before entering, I called it Forever Sleep Town. Those moving objects really catch your eye on in those quiet, sleepy streets.

Sometime after this, 1 of her backstories from her release references she became the “best dancer in Yoshiwara”. Based on deduction 3 (and her backstory), we know she meets Miles at a banquet, after which they get married and he takes her back to his hometown. Considering Mr. Donnelly is at Lakeside, and Lakeside is near the manor, this likely confirms Miles’ hometown was in England. This fits with how the teahouse was stated to be in Europe and how Lady Thirteen is referred to as a foreigner.

Going back to the design notes for Lady Thirteen, it specifies that the purpose for her teahouse is for her own survival as well as to “protect those like her, her compatriots staying abroad, defenseless, while also collecting valuable information to exchange”. Lady Thirteen was far from home, all on her own, without any friends or support. She initially created this teahouse as a way to ensure she could make ends meet and ensure she could survive. But she began meeting others like her, who were potentially people also from the far east, and she sympathized with them due to her own circumstances. That’s when she decided to utilize the teahouse as a method to gather information, which she could use to help those that came to her for aid (meaning she likely used the info both for the sake of knowledge to help those wanting salvation, but also to improve her own finances which she could then give to those asking for financial help).

Due to being on her own in a foreign land from the far east, she had to become vicious to endure the foreign environment. This fits with her skin description, which talks about “the only way” to keep herself safe was by using other people: “For a beautiful woman who lived in a foreign country, perhaps the only way for her to keep herself safe... is to obtain sufficient leverage on people. Lady Thirteen always said, ‘Kindness alone withers the roses. Only the valuable nutrients will keep roses alive’”.

She wanted to ensure she wouldn’t get trampled upon by those who’d look down on her for who she was, and as a result of constantly socializing and working with people who aren’t always truthful or don’t always have the best intentions. As we see in her design notes, “in the world of Chinatown, no man dares overthrow her dynasty”. Lady Thirteen succeeded in building up her image as a “venomous woman, all snake fangs and scorpion’s sting”, “flirtatious”, “a manipulator, one who kills decisively”, “unyielding”, “clever and resourceful, ruthless, but never losing her kindness”. This allowed her “dynasty” to be protected for some amount of time.

Until Flying Guillotine starts planning his revenge.

If Lady Thirteen was killed due to Flying Guillotine wrongly believing she was the reason his entire family died, this could relate back to Michiko’s backstory. In her backstory, Miles’ father Mr. Donnelly really hates Michiko (similar to how Flying Guillotine really hates Lady Thirteen). After Miles has to leave for India on a business trip (he’s an army officer according to Michiko’s backstory), Mr. Donnely uses that chance to murder Michiko and then hide her body. When Miles returns, his father lies and insists that Michiko had eloped with a servant and stole some of the family’s property, though Miles doesn’t believe this. This can parallel the rumor that Lady Thirteen was the reason all of Flying Guillotine’s family had died.

Speaking of Lady Thirteen being killed, I want to briefly discuss the snake hairpin that she has in her hair in the Teahouse Tales poster.

The reason I want to draw attention to it comes from how this same hairpin can be seen during the Teahouse Tales trailer alongside Flying Guillotine.

The hairpin appearing next to Flying Guillotine while talking about a “conspiracy” to “end an era” is meant to further represent how Flying Guillotine is the one starting a “rebellion” and planning to assassinate Lady Thirteen.

We know Flying Guillotine was indeed forming a “rebellion” based on the various mentions of all those he is likely working. The first and most obvious is Jade Dew from his ending, who is literally the one to give him the gun and comments “looks like the plan was a success” with a “cheery smile”. Then there’s potentially Silver Steed (even though he may have been the one actually responsible for Flying Guillotine’s family dying, it’s possible Flying Guillotine didn’t know this, and it’s possible Silver Steed intended to betray him later) and Lantsang, who Flying Guillotine tells the player to find for him and let her know “Silver Steed has been discovered”.

This hairpin being used to symbolize her being killed also parallels Michiko’s backstory. Specifically, it fits with her deduction 5, which mentions a “hatpin”, which was likely the object Mr. Donnelly used to kill Michiko after Miles had left for India.

Michiko’s Deduction 5

Feelings: This is a completely different kingdom. The women wear exaggerated hats.

Buckle Hatpin: A delicate butterfly hatpin. It is 6 inches long and has a very sharp tip.

This seems to be confirmed by her deduction 9, which once again references the hatpin at the same time as mentioning a “grudge” and how “he must know”.

Michiko’s Deduction 9

Grudge: Unrequited love, endless complaints.

A diary: He really doesn't know anything? No, that hatpin... he must know. He has to know.

On to comparing Sparrow to Norton.

A one-word summary about Sparrow is that he is a good boy that’s completely loyal to Lady Thirteen.

Yes, Sparrow does watch Lady Thirteen kill people and isn’t bothered by it, but for the most part otherwise, he is a good kid. At the very least, Sparrow never kills anyone himself, and everything he does is for Lady Thirteen. Yes, she’s said to be ruthless, but it also mentions during the “Second Tale” (from the anecdotes or “Tales Proven” according to the translation) that she is still capable of mercy: “A beauty who kills decisively and ruthlessly, but in her hidden depths one catches a glimpse of rare mercy”. Therefore I don’t think she’s completely evil, which is backed up by her design notes which state: “ever and resourceful, ruthless but never losing her kindness, in the eyes of the people, she had long surpassed such descriptors as good and evil”. As such, I don’t think Sparrow would be completely evil either for following her. In any case, Sparrow being a good boy could parallel how Norton really is, despite how he seems in his deductions. At the very least, it could be referring to how he used to be before his parents died and/or before he went to the 13 mines. He, like Sparrow, never directly killed anyone, though his actions (or lack of action in the case of Sparrow at the teahouse) due lead to people dying.

Sparrow is also described as loyal. This can combine with how he’s described in that “Second Tale” I mentioned earlier: “Sparrow may be a master of cunning, but to those he cherishes, he is sincere and pure”. To me, that sounds like Norton is the kind of person who has a small, but close-knit group of friends (kind of like the ones introverts have) vs. other people who are more the type to have large groups of friends. Him being sincere and pure to those he cares about can also be a mirror for Norton and how he is. We might be able to see this with Ronald and Inference in Golden Rose Theater. Ronald, like Norton and how he acts in his official tweet responses, isn’t the type to really form relationships. He is mostly a loner that pushes people away when they try to get too close, and tends to avoid social interactions whenever he can. But Ronald apparently does see Inference as a friend (and he is mentioned to really trust the Detective and describes him as one of the only 2 “good” people in his mind).

There’s also the strong bond between Sparrow and Lady Thirteen. This could be a hint towards how Norton felt about his parents before they died. That may also maybe explain why he is so extreme in his deductions and acts the way he does, because losing them hurt him so badly. Just like how much it likely hurt for Sparrow when he found Lady Thirteen dead, and just like Ronald felt when he had to deal with the death of his father.

The fact Sparrow and Ronald both lose a parental figure may help imply Norton himself lost his parents at an early age. The fact Lady Thirteen and Ronald’s father were both betrayed and essentially murdered, and it was by someone they were close to, could hint towards what happened to Norton’s parents. Someone close to them, that they trusted, betrayed them and got them killed. The only person we know related to Norton’s parents is Benny. If Benny is essentially represented by Scrooge in Golden Theater and Marshall in Season 10 Essence 1 (the essence with Andrew’s Desolate Sands skin, specifically based on the description for Gold Digger in the Chinese version), not to mention what we know about Benny and his strong desire of “returning to the mine” to find gold, it could be a way of hinting that Benny caused Norton’s parents to get killed for a reason related to that and/or to his greed.

Sparrow is constantly described as being smart: with how he constantly watches the player (being on guard until he finds out more about them, and/or just making sure to watch out for Lady Thirteen to guarantee the player doesn’t do anything to harm her), how he’s described as having “day-to-day sharpness and slick wit”, being called a “master of cunning”, being the one in charge of gathering information, etc… This links to Norton being quite smart himself. It’s related to his willingness to learn, his desire to improve his skill and ability, eagerness to learn new techniques, etc… That was why in the letters of recommendation he’s mentioned to not stay with any one employer or place for very long. He’s getting different experiences, so he’d learn more things and be better at his job (and at mining). Then there’s also how he had to be incredibly smart and talented to be able to utilize magnetic prospecting after Norton changed from being a miner to a geological prospector (after getting the meteorite chunks which he made into his magnets)

The fact Sparrow looks innocent and childlike, but in fact uses this advantage to gather information (make people drop their guard with him, get them willing to talk to him or talk more than they would otherwise) is similar to how Ronald in the Golden Rose Theater gathers information as well (to use against Scrooge so he can get revenge and also so he can become the owner). This relates to how Norton is a good actor. He’s good at pretending, getting people to see him a certain way, and good at hiding his true intentions and how he’s really like (someone who doesn’t like social interaction or making relationships, a loner, someone desperate to change his fate, etc…). The character relations page even references this when it talks about how Norton trying to gather information from the old miners in hospice and how he managed to swindle Benny of the list of 13 mines.

Finally, there’s also how Sparrow is described as “listless” during the scene Lady Thirteen kills Silver Steed.

Listless means: having or showing little or no interest in anything; languid; spiritless; indifferent. I think this may be a good description for how Norton normally is, especially if you think about some of the tweet responses he gives that are a bit darker than his other, happier ones. It could also relate to how Norton is after the accident. He was traumatized by the entire thing, to the point he desperately wants to avoid the “darkness of the mine” and changes his job to geological prospector just to keep from having to go back into the mines. He’s guilty over the deaths of the miners (which his Soul Catcher skin hints at, as well as how in at least 1 of his tweet responses he mentions “don’t forget” in regards to the Golden Cave), which is why he’s somewhat self-destructive (the fact he smiles when you down him in game, meaning he seems to be happy about possibly dying or suffering). Basically, the accident really changed him, leaving him in a state you could describe as “spiritless” or “indifferent”.

These descriptions can apply to Norton in general too. He essentially doesn’t really care about anyone, which also relates to how he pushes people away, avoids social interactions, and is pretty much “indifferent” and shows “no interest” in a lot of things, except for himself and changing his fate.

To go to Sparrow’s skin description, it states how he’s never been shown kindness. This sounds similar to what we see in the Famitsu article. This article talks about how, before Norton went to the 13 mines, people were intimidated by him and how hard he worked to escape his fate. Then it goes into how, after the accident, people didn’t comfort him and actually avoided him, despite how he was currently in the hospital recovering from the injuries he received as result of the accident. Then there’s how Norton is a miner. They were treated horribly back in those days (essentially just like slaves) and working conditions were incredibly bad (there was a really high chance of dying on the job, and owners didn’t care about spending money on protections, health, or safety). Not to mention they were pretty much paid next to nothing, so Norton, especially since his parents had died and left him alone, was really poor. Basically, Norton has lived a tough life just like Sparrow.

About the other parts of the skin description, Sparrow having to blend into the adults’ world relates to Norton having to grow up (and mature) quickly after his parents died. With them gone (and at an early age too), he had to learn to take care of himself. He had to get a job to get food and some shelter, and as a miner he also had to deal with horrible conditions, a horrible environment, and horrible people. And all of this he had to do on his own.

Regarding Sparrow learning to disguise himself, this goes back to Norton (and Ronald) being “actors”. They pretend. They act a certain way around people and they don’t really show their true selves (not to mention they keep people away mostly, while Ronald literally wears a mask). Based on Sparrow’s description, learning to disguise himself seems to have been necessary for his survival (the same way Lady Thirteen had to according to her design notes), so its likely that Norton had to learn to do the same for the same reason.

Moving on to another thing I want to take note of, for Sparrow’s skin, I want to mention how his magnets actually have a message written on them.

The left one is “smooth sailing”. This is an idiom that means “to have a pleasant journey”.

The right one is “may you invite fortune and become more and more treasure”. This is another idiom that means “we wish you success and riches”.

Both are the sorts of things Sparrow would wish for himself (and for Lady Thirteen).

For the first one about “smooth sailing”, this relates to one of his deductions that talks about not being unlucky forever. Smooth sailing can also relate to Norton’s goal, to change his fate and have a more “pleasant journey” than the one he currently has. Pleasant meaning he doesn’t need to work at a job where he’s paid extremely little despite working so much, where he has to risk his life everyday surrounded by people who only care about themselves, and working for employers who only care about money and not at all for their employees. A journey where he doesn’t need to worry about whether he’ll live to see tomorrow or have enough food on his table.

For the second idiom that says “may you invite fortune and become more and more treasure”, this obviously relates to what Norton wants, meaning his desire to change his fate and acquire wealth. It could also specifically relate to how the 13th mine is his last hope and to his wish to find gold there.

Another note about Sparrow’s lion hat is that (in Chinese) it might be a symbol for driving away evil or bad energy/spirits, famines, and plagues. Basically, it protects people and things from threats and harm (or from spiritual influences), and may also bring good fortune.

A symbol for driving away evil (spirits) could relate to Norton and him being affected by the meteorite. The good fortune bit again relates to Norton’s desire to change his fate and acquire wealth. For Sparrow, this might mean he’s hoping to protect Lady Thirteen, kind of like how in that one part of Lady Thirteen’s ending he comments on Lady Thirteen being in danger. This could also mean that Norton is good at noticing things and has good instincts.

The very last thing I’ll point out to go with Sparrow being loyal to Lady Thirteen is how we can see in one of the posters for the event that Norton signed his name on a contract (of sale I think?).

This could be the scene when Sparrow first joined Lady Thirteen. It could be a way for Sparrow to prove his loyalty. It may also relate to how Lady Thirteen essentially adopted Sparrow (after she found him, whenever that was).

[kazukazuhas]

hii, I hope you are doing well. if you are taking requests, can you write something reader x ninja. where it's the reader's birthday, and they do small affectionate things to celebrate her? it can be hcs or a small drabble. it's actually my birthday, so this prompt would be perfect. thank youuu✨️

˗ˏˋ ꒰ 💌 ꒱ birthday edition, ninja┊ ˚➶ ｡˚ ☁️

  ୧ ⎯⎯ SYNOPSIS ;; what do the ninja do on your birthday? [feat. the ninja and pixal + three extra ]

  ୧ ⎯⎯ WARNINGS ;; profanity ;; written incredibly platonic ;; some silly goofy things ;; reader leans female but majority gender neutral ;; some slight angst

  ୧ ⎯⎯ NOTES ;; happy belated birthday <33 fun fact, it was also my dog's birthday. also, kai being so big brother and excited to celebrate someone's birthday is so true

  ୧ ⎯⎯ ZANE JULIEN

#✧ zane told everyone the night before (after you vanished for a while) that it was your birthday today. but with the way he so casual woke up on your birthday, at the usual times he did and everything, it took you a good minute to realise, hey. i'm old today.

#✧ and being the wonderful nindroid he was he made you several little trinkets, from a little charm of your element to several badges of things you like– because, well you're the only ninja missing them on your gi (he and jay made them for everyone and disrupted them on each person's birthday). but the moment he saw cole scheming something, zane held back on gifting it to you.

#✧ so to make up for it, he turned into a brother (kai probably coded it into him) and showed you small affections through the day. ruffling your hair, patting you on the back, hugging, everything. not that he doesn't on a daily basis, he's a little less expressive normally.

  ୧ ⎯⎯ COLE BROOKSTONE

#✧ he remembered it was your birthday, yes but the hard part was what to get you. he opted for something easy and simple, cake. and because he had so often bought cake (for himself a lot of the time), you didn't quite suspect him getting it for you when you saw the box in the fridge, pushed to the back. cole got you a small one in your favourite flavour and colour, with “happy birthday, [name]” written in cursive on the top in your gi's colour. the sun had barely risen at the time when he got it.

#✧ that was when it hit him, whilr driving back home from the store, that they should have a small party at night. so to be a substitute for now giving you a gift throughout the day, he decided to (harmlessly) use dad jokes on you. (and it's the bad ones to.)

#✧ when you finally show up for morning training, he's the first (after zane) to wish you. engulfing you in the warmest and biggest dad hug of the damn century with the silliness jokes and laughter as he wishes you.

  ୧ ⎯⎯ KAI JIANG

[ HEADCANNON ;; kai is half indian (maya's side) and half chinese (ray's side). and if you ever met an indian, if it's not real gold or diamond– then what you doing?? ]

#✧ nya held him back for the while —swapping with zane to hug you herself— everyone was wishing you; because he was going to brother hug knock you out. (figuratively, literally: he was not going to let anyone wish you because he'd be too hyper to function properly, like usual on someone's birthday.)

#✧ something something he definitely bought you gold jewelry, something simple like earrings, a nose ring or a simple necklace. and kai spent no worry to have expensive it would be to get it custom made, he literally had it made like a whole half year and and a few months in advance before your birthday.

#✧ but since cole had the plan of the party, he substituted to annoying your guts instead of gifting you the jewelry. safe to say that it was your villain origin story...

  ୧ ⎯⎯ NYA JIANG

[ HEADCANNON ;; nya is half indian (maya's side) and half chinese (ray's side). ]

#✧ the moment she hugged you, she might have broken your back–

#✧ like kai, she got you some jewelry custom made for you, a matching set with what he got but it's distinct enough to be something she got you and stand on its own. she had to made towards the end of the previous year when she, zane and pixal go to buy everyone's gifts for the next year.

#✧ but for the time being, she and lloyd at some point (he was too because it pay back for last year when they did the same thing for a while week before and after his birthday) were helping you hide away from kai and cole being absolute menaces to your sanity. but it's all in good fun, shows it gonna be a good day.

  ୧ ⎯⎯ JAY WALKER

#✧ one of the two people that forgot it was your birthday, despite the fact he was finishing up the whole ass bike for a whole ass year was quite literally your birthday gift. jay didn't have a very good memory (it doesn't even come near to rivaling wu's though) and when he did realise, boy appeared next to you immediately while apologizing for forgetting and wishing you. he may have short circuited a little when he used his element to speed himself up so he could hightail it from the junkyard to the monastery.

#✧ on the topic of the gift, he was working on it at his parents' junkyard instead at the monastery because it was so much easier to hide it in the junkyard. throw some tarps and cover it up with some junk and you got it.

#✧ but being the loving brother he is, he sat back and watched you wreck your brains over the terrible dad jokes and annoying shit kai was pulling, stepping in to annoy you even more at some point before he disappeared to go and get the damn bike.

  ୧ ⎯⎯ LLOYD M. GARMADON

#✧ he forgot, but it was expected. he never really cared for birthdays —darkley's never celebrated him and they only matter when he joined the ninja— and he has the worst memory —caused by his seasons worth of trauma— so the moment he remembered, he pulled you to the side and apologized for wishing you so late (that being towards midday) and not getting you a gift (that is a LIE. he hoards so much that he definitely has a gift to give, no matter the occasion.)

#✧ teams up with nya to protect you from kai and cole because it's his revenge for last year (september is his hell, because of his birthday), though it is after he finds an acceptable gift to give you. he figures one of his trillion handmade bracelets (a coping mechanism) can work so he finds a little box and wrapping paper in someone's room and stuffs the paper in the box and puts the bracelet on it and asks nya to keep it with her.

#✧ is the most little shit ever, helping you prank the hell out of kai, cole and occasionally jay back. from dropping water on them to scaring the hell out of them and all the stops. at some point, he drags you and nya to play video games while they get reprimanded by wu. (being wu's gets him out of a trouble.)

  ୧ ⎯⎯ PIXAL

#✧ girl showed up a little earlier than the time of the party with a whole ass basket of snacks and foods she thought you'd like. hands it to you and when you return from hiding it from lloyd, she drags you out and takes you out on her samurai x mech for a bit, flying around the city with you in the mech's hands, nya tagged along on the mech's back.

#✧ she big sister's you so sweetly, talking about all of the random shit with nya. it's honestly a cute experience, and really homely and nostalgic of back when you were with your friends as a kid and before you became a ninja.

#✧ takes you to above ninjago city, on the top of borg tower and then to the quieter streets by the port where they took you out to eat at some stall (like an all girl thing.)

  ୧ ⎯⎯ WU

#✧ his gift was literally just no training– but in all seriousness, he had a small something to gift to you. he usually gifts the same thing to everyone, but it is personalized to each person. and no one still knows what he's gifted them, so, it's a mystery. (lloyd is praying it's not some clue to the next conflict.)

#✧ he's laughing with zane as he watches his students annoying you, at some point he playfully reprimands them before letting them go to set up the party after pixal and nya take you out for a while, helping them sort the banner pixal brought with her for the party that read “happy birthday [name]!”.

#✧ he's watching over them with his brother and sister-in-law beside him as the boys mess around and set up the little party.

  ୧ ⎯⎯ GARMADON

[ for plot purposes, he's sensei g. not lord nor emperor g. ]

#✧ man is having a ball while watching the boys annoy you, he dropped in once (multiple times) to casually slide in some embarrassing comment and single-handed wiping everyone out by turning them red. he's here for a fun time and apparently a long one too. but he's a sweet old guy who just showing affection for his uh- nth child.

#✧ garmadon, being the dad he is, most likely got you something silly that you and him have an inside joke on (he has atleast one inside joke with all the ninja and pixal). he had gotten it a long while before your birthday, that or he got his hands on something that you were dying to get but either it sold out or was no longer being made.

#✧ when he wished you, he probably pulled you into a hug that dad's give (safe and comforting, warm and protective, all at once) and tells you how proud he is of you, that you're still around and breathing, pushing on and how much he loves and cares for you.

the wind felt nice; despite the night breeze being so cold, it felt good against your skin as you sat securely in the samurai x mech's hands, listening to pixal and nya ramble as the nindroid flew you three in back to the monastery. the lights were dim in the courtyard and the only light was from inside, not to mention it was quiet– too quiet...

“guys– it's too quiet,” you mumble back to the ladies wking beside you, stopping as you pull the water ninja's sleeve to get their attention. nya shoots you a firm look, noting it herself while pixal looks around before looking at you.

she shakes her head slowly, “my scanners say there is no danger.”

reluctantly you nod, but trusting in her eyes and judgment. they both continue walking in, nya taking your hand in hers gently and tugging you along softly as she smiles warmly with comforting eyes. “there's nothing to worry about, don't worry, okay?”

“..okay.”

you walk in beside nya, tensing the moment someone covers you eyes and everywhere darkens for a moment before the light returns and pixal's squeezing your shoulders lightly.

“surprise!” they all say as everyone beams at you. there's curly ribbons in your colours (your gi and favourite colours mixed in them), the banner looks beautiful, there's little presents in different boxes behind the small cake. you swear you're about to cry when you realise that hey, this is for you.

it's been hell, and no one's actually celebrated their birthday for a hell of a long time before the conflict and missions you held as the ninja; ninjago's protectors. you say quiet for a moment to properly register it, the fact you're alive and loved. it a sweet feeling, giddy.

“thanks guys,” you say after a while, hugging pixal, who's hugging you from behind, back with an appreciation tone and smile. “thank you guys so much.”

“c'mon, kai, light the candles; we have one more embarrassing thing to do. and there's sing happy birthday,” jay laughs pulling you over to the cake, with a comforting smile, as he sits you down in front of it.

oh fuck. you're screwed now.

  ୧ ⎯⎯ MORRO WU

[ for plot purposes, this is in the past before morro died. he fleed the monastery and found another elemental master and you two stuck together, meaning he's alive to atleast see his teenage to adulthood years, depends on your age. you're the same age ]

#✧ morro is probably the only one who doesn't get you a gift, but he wishes you surprisingly heartfelt. it's the one time he hugs you and says something soft and sweet– the complete opposite of him normally.

#✧ your birthday is the one day that he and you goof off on. you're jumping into a lake together and play fighting together, stealing sweets and some food and he's sneakily taken a cupcake and candle to celebrate you a little bit. he probably steals a necklace or bracelet he thinks you might like and gifts you it.

#✧ overall, it's really sweet the way he worries for you and actually celebrates your birthday, taking out his time to give you something worth remembering unlike the other days and his own birthday (one of which he refuses to celebrate, and you respect his wish despite being who started the birthday cupcake tradition and upholding it every year.)

  ୧ ⎯⎯ NOTES ;; morro unfortunately gets no drabble– i wrote too much already. this was the first time i wrote for anyone but lloyd and morro's part is my favourite!

  ୧ ⎯⎯ TAGLIST ;; @spoopy-fish-writes // @spoops-inliyue ;; @decaffeinatedcloudkryptonite // @shaantiofher ;; @sunangelstears ;; @comicbookweirdo ;; @candy-letsbereal42

˗ˏˋ ꒰ 💌 ꒱ kazukazuhas copr. 2023 darling┊ ˚➶ ｡˚ ☁️

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

Best and worst of both worlds (part 3)

TW: nothing much in this chapter, maybe aside from a bit of university horrors (ie. exams etc)

votz below

part 4

You ended up avoiding the library at all costs. You don't know if you could face Yves after that first cringeworthy meeting.

You worked your ass off for the exams, yet you simultaneously felt like you haven't prepared for it at all. Today's your last paper.

And you left the hall with a thousand-yard stare, it was the most atrocious one yet. You just hope that the university got burnt down and you will just get your degree instantly. No use in crying over spilt milk.

Might as well use the angst to fuel yourself for an entire day off... cleaning your room. You neglected your hygiene and the clutter buildup during exams, you can barely see the floor anymore.

You muttered curses under your breath as you walked to the bus stop. Instead of darkness, it's the blazing late afternoon sun beating down on you.

Maybe you deserve a little treat. The bus goes to a nearby cheap Chinese takeaway that has a rating of 1.8 stars out of 5 online. That's the most luxurious thing you can afford at the moment and god knows you need a little reward to keep you going.

You grunted as you stood up, feeling the pressure in your knees as you haul your infinitely heavy backpack onto your shoulders.

You entered the bus, it's fairly empty. You sat on a seat and placed your load beside you. Sighing in relief as you get to relax for a bit until your next stop.

You begin to ponder as the bus leaves for its next destination. You definitely have a crush on Yves, who wouldn't? But you think he's too out of your league, trying to go after him will end in heartbreak or rejection. Plus, you can't afford to fail, you're not from a very financially comfortable background in the first place. Yves will only serve as a lethal distraction to you.

You gnaw on your fingernails. But Yves is no doubt attractive, it's just a shame that you're not of equal standing. You don't trust yourself to win him over, he will tolerate you at best, despise you for being a creep at worst.

And you think that his flirtatious tendencies are just part of him. He probably does this to everyone, or he's doing this to you because it's funny to see you squirm.

You frowned, this is not a viable relationship for you at all. No matter how badly you want it to be, it's not going to end well. So you vow to avoid the library as much as you can. If you must go, you have to try to limit any interactions with him and leave immediately after you're done with your business.

You pressed the buzzer to the next stop.

--

It's finally your turn to customize your very own takeaway box. You chose the cheapest possible option, it was hard because there were so many choices to make. The lady over the counter told you to hurry up as you're holding the line.

Once you're done, you fished the loose change from your pocket, only to see that you just have enough for one meal. Better than not enough, you have to make this meal last until tomorrow.

You had to wait in line again to pay at the register. Maybe you should have gone home and enjoyed some instant noodles, this is such a pain in the ass to even get. You have to suffer under the sweltering heat in a hole in the wall restaurant, you can't imagine being the employees here.

"Your meal's been paid for." The cashier monotonously informed you.

Huh?

"Take your meal and move." She bluntly gestured you to leave, handing you your styrofoam container. She paid no attention to you as she went on to collect the money of another customer.

You scratched your head. It's been paid for? Well that's nice, you wonder who was kind enough to do so.

As you inspect the contents of your takeaway and become baffled as to why there's suddenly more items, you notice a shadow looming over you.

You snapped your head up and felt your heart sink down to your stomach.

"Hello." He smiled, giving you an awkward wave before brushing his shaggy brown hair back. "Fancy meetin' you here."

He looks so much better not covered in his own vomit. The stranger is wearing a high Vis jacket that's been stained by wall paint. His sleeves were dusty and he had some dirt smears on his boots.

You greeted him too. You asked if he was the one who paid for your lunch. He nodded.

"Thanks for saving me that night. I wouldn't be here without you." Your eyes landed on his free hand which is subconsciously cradling his side.

You asked him about his rib. He lets out chuckle, telling you it's fine.

"How are your exams?"

Oh.

He remembered. That isn't good.

You said that it's bad. But you will live. You said you have to go, and expressed your gratitude towards him for taking care of lunch.

"Where to? Let me give you a ride." He offered, readying his car keys in his hands.

You said that it's not needed, you don't want to take up more of his time. And it's also because you don't trust this man.

"No, really. I'll take you where you want to go. It's blazin' outside and I have air conditioning in my car. I'm done workin' for the day too."

Now that sounds exponentially enticing.

You have a feeling that he isn't going to leave you alone no matter how many times you reject him. And with your braincells fried from your exams, your safety instincts were dulled. All you want to do is eat now.

He must have noticed your growling stomach. Because he offered to eat in his car first, the driving can wait.

--

"Hungry, huh?" He commented as he watches you scarf down your order. Including the extra meat and vegetables that Montgomery requested to be added to yours. He barely gets a couple spoons of his chicken fried rice in, and you're already done with half of yours.

You nodded. Focusing on shovelling in as much food as you could.

"You don't usually get to eat much, do ya?"

You shook your head. Not noticing the look of pity on his face.

You enjoyed having the cool wind blowing on you, for once this summer, you didn't have to sweat like a pig. You wished that he could have cleaned his car up a bit though. It was a mess, the entire back seat was basically unusable. His car looked beaten up and rusty on the outside.

You and him ate in silence after that. If you weren't starving, you would have tried getting out of the car due to its crippling awkwardness. You think he's uncomfortable in the quietness too, but it's the opposite. He found peace and the constant loneliness he feels isn't around to bother him today. He just enjoys your presence, even though he doesn't know your real name.

Unbeknownst to you, Montgomery thinks you shared a special connection with him. Two lost souls trying to find their footing in this world, facing problems that are different yet similar. Neither of you are perfect, but you're not like the rest of the people he met who were apathetic and sickeningly artificial. You are real. You have a personality that you struggle to hide, just like him.

Montgomery's delusions and desperation have made him think you were meant to be with him- a godsend. You just can't see it yet, but he is perfect for you. And he's going to be patient and persistent, he doesn't want to scare you off.

"Oh- you're done." He noted as you closed your box and put it on your lap. You wiped your mouth using the sleeve of your shirt. He grimaced at the grease stain.

"I have napkins right here!" He pointed at the dented tissue box tucked under his radio. You're surprised that this bothered him when the state of his car and the conditions of his work were inherently dirty.

You shrugged and took a big gulp of the soda Montgomery bought for you.

You burped in your hand and muttered an "excuse me". He asked if you're full, you nodded in response.

"Well, I'm glad you're fed. Is there anything else I could get ya? Ice cream? Pie? Some cake?"

You said no, you have to go somewhere.

He closed his styrofoam container and tossed it to the back. He gripped his steering wheel and positioned his feet on the pedal.

"Where to?" Montgomery stared at you expectedly.

You took a moment to think and weigh your options.

[blueberry-lemon]

I hesitate to post this because I know it reads like an ungrateful humblebrag, but...it's funny how when I work on creative projects, I always want a little bit more creative control.

And yet on A Dance of Fire and Ice, a game in which I've been given nearly limitless creative control on the art, characters, lore, story, and presentation (AND has an audience of players who like it)... I don't know what to do and haven't been able to make firm decisions.

There's a few reasons for this I think:

1. I started work on it as a month-long game jam way back in 2015, with limited skills and scrambling to pick what the art direction and theme should be before the deadline.

2. I didn't really understand until now what the structure, format, expectations, and constraints were. I envisioned the game more as an experimental, off-kilter artsy thing. I had intended to give every level a "surreal punchline" kind of like WarioWare. But over time we gave up on that.

I also originally intended the game to not have characters, not have anything resembling character animation or life in it, essentially being a dead and static world. But now I'm trying to undo those old decisions bc it is boring and stale.

If I were working on a visual novel, or card game, or 2D platformer, or TV episode storyboard, I would understand easily what the format and expectations are. There's already an established structure for what those things are. Rhythm game about 2 orbiting circles? A little more open.

If I had known how many years we were going to keep working on the game, I would've set up a guiding pattern for how to create more levels and characters for it. Instead, I only thought of something a few years into the game being out (using Chinese Zodiac animals as the theme.)

3. Because development on the game has been out in the public for about 10 years now, we've changed our mind about a lot of old decisions and now it will take a considerable amount of effort for me to go back and re-do, re-draw, re-establish the art direction and lore.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game, compare this video of a level I worked on in 2015 versus this video of a level I worked on in 2023. 

In the first video, the appearance of a memorial statue of a pig sitting on the throne at the end was supposed to be the “surreal punchline.” The level looks like the ruins of some sort of Jack and the Beanstalk sky kingdom, you’re expected to see maybe a Giant or a human at the end, instead the king was literally a pig.

In the second video you can see that by this time we’ve changed course and decided that all the characters in the game will be animals and robot animals anyway. Now the cast of animals is literally “on the game’s box art.” So there’s no reason for the reveal of a pig statue to be a punchline in the old level.

Also, as you can see, there are now characters that move around the screen, which was something I didn’t intend to do when making the old levels and establishing the “lore” of the worlds all being dead and static.

4. I'm envious of (but happy to see) fan work. Ordinarily this would just be fanart and fan speculation, but because our games have Custom Level Editors, fans can literally "do the job better than I can" and show how they would do it, which have been impressive. I regret the old choices I made.

Maybe it's just a "grass is greener" kind of mentality. It's easy to want more creative control on projects where you don't have it. When you are given a big project and you DO have to make it all up from scratch, you kind of find yourself wishing there was a template or a directive or the path could be laid out for you.

[eepybogboy]

did a round of eye swaps this weekend! it's the most ive done all at once, and i gotta say, i do not recommend it. by the time i got new eyes in these four, my hands were begging me to stop, so poor Priscilla sat eyeless for a while. but I'm really happy with the results!

let me walk you through the process a bit.

i used this guide to help decide which eyes i wanted to use.

this all started because i wanted Daria's eyes for Zooey.

Daria's eyes don't match her color scheme at all, and this has always bothered me about her. they stand out too much, and its jarring. but that minty blue and pale pink are Zooey's colors exactly, it would complete her alien vibe perfectly.

but, unfortunately, Zooey and Daria have different eye chips. Daria has the Twins eye chip, which has four pegs to keep it in place in the socket, and Zooey has the newer B2 chip, which has only two prongs. i was worried that Daria's eyes wouldnt fit in Zooey's head, so i prepared a backup donor: Simone.

Simone has the CNY eye chip, first introduced in Lily Cheng, the Special Edition doll for the Chinese New Year in 2022. this eye mold is more similar to the B2 eyes since it also has only two prongs, so if Daria's eyes didnt sit right in Zooey, these might be a better fit. the colors arent as perfect, but it could work.

except that Darias eyes fit Zooey perfectly. she looks so cute! now her eyebrows are even more out of place, but I'll get to that later.

i had already taken out Simone's eyes to compare the two, so she was given Zooey's eyes.

i was blown away by how incredible she looks! so soft and sweet. i was fond of her before, but she's crawled up into my top ten faves with this one alteration.

now, i was going to give those eyes to Daria, but they obviously belong to Simone now. Daria still needs brown eyes though, so i brought out a more fitting donor for her: Priscilla. she has the same color eyes as Zooey, but in the Twins eye chip.

perfect for ms. Daria, much more natural. it's just what she needed.

now, i wasn't intending to bring Minnie into this, but her eyes are a bit unusually dark, and i had Simone's eyes sitting there.. and well. i already had the hair dryer out.

honestly? a serve. she has B2 eyes originally, like Zooey, so the lashes are Just under her eyelid but they still fit her sculpt pretty well.

at this point, my hands were aching, and i had worn a blister into my thumb, so i had to take a break. Pris was going into the stock box anyway, so there was no pressure to finish her, but the next day i came back and gave her Minnie's eyes for safekeeping.

she looks a little sleepy, but overall pretty cute. she probably won't stay this way because she's going into the potential custom pile, but its fine for now.

look at these four and how perfect they are!! Zooey and Daria came out exactly how i planned, but i am still so shook by how beautiful Simone is now. i just cant stop looking at her.

I'll be reblogging to add more photos, including side by side comparisons to the stock photos since tungle will only let me post 10 pictures at a time

[lost-khione]

Some Halloween headcanons for ARR

Dawn Faction

Koga

Gets invited to Halloween parties

Likes that he can attend them without having to wear a suit

He dresses up and covers his face with a mask so people don't recognize him easily

To his annoyance, Toichiro can still recognize him

Asks his maid to pack some candies for the kids who would swing by his house

Kuya

Lets his wings out on full display since people would just think it's his costume

People stare because it looks so realistic (it is real *wink wink*)

Kids would ask to touch it to which he promptly replies, "No"

Kids have to shout to wake him up since he is usually found sleeping on the veranda instead of handing out the treats at Koga's house

Aoi

Goes all out with his cooking to make sure there are a variety of sweets they can hand out

He tries to make Western sweets since it is a Western holiday - he also puts his art skills to use by designing them

Asks Yura to taste test for him. He is grateful to Yura despite his grumbling when Yura asks for more

Also decorates Raccord to give it the Halloween vibe

"Oji-san, lend me a hand!"

Ginnojo

Also packs candies at his shop

Kuro helps him out with the packing

He displays books with spooky stories since they seem to be popular during this time

"Do I really have to wear this?"

Gets this soft look on his face when he hands out treats

Yura

Volunteers to help with packing candies at Raccord since he's got nothing better to do.

Works as the taste tester when Aoi tries to recreate Western sweets.

"Pray, Sir Aoi, this "cookie" tastes good! Can I have some more?"

Eats more than the candies that he packed.

On Halloween, he takes on his child form, dresses up and lines up with the kids to ask for treats.

Twilight Faction

Toichiro

Also gets invited to Halloween parties

Dresses up like a prince

Likes to annoy Koga since he can easily recognize him

Sticks to Koga since these types of parties do not require them to make their rounds

Still as polite as he can usually be when people approach him

Shizuki

Babysits Kogare since Kogare visits on Halloween

Packs candies with Kogare

"Kogare, hide your ears and tail." To which Kogare replies, "But why is Kuya-san allowed to show his wings?!"

The one who hands out the treats at Toichiro's manor since Kogare also makes his rounds to other houses

Kuro

Helps out at Raccord and Kusanagi Books during candy packing

Also joins in on the fun when Aoi has new sweet samples

Performs in front of Raccord and Kusanagi Books on Halloween

He does it for the promotion of their Halloween show later that night

"If you like what you see, watch the show of Lorenzi Circus Troupe tonight and be whisked away to a night filled with mystery!"

Oji

Always seems to be busy 'entertaining' his customers so he barely helps Aoi with packing candies

He thought he could get away with not wearing a costume so the Raccord gang had to force him to wear something for Halloween

"Aoi-chan, 1 pack of candy for the young lady here"

Gaku

Also helps out at Raccord since Yura is there

Makes tiny trinkets like jack-in-the-box and Chinese finger trap and drops them randomly inside the candy packs

Heaps wasabi on top of the sweets so he can eat the same thing as Yura

Holds back his laughter when he sees the children find themselves trapped in the Chinese finger trap.

"Do you need help with that?"

[chuckeroo777]

Chuck's Backpack Hero Mods

So, I've obviously been hyper-fixating on Dungeon Meshi lately, but that isn't all I do. For the past year, I've been making mods for my current favorite game: Backpack Hero!

My collection of mods! Look here if you want to check out any of these mods for yourself!

So in this post, I thought it would be fun to go over all my mods, and share some of my favorite details.

Chuck's Bionicle Mod: contains 245 items

Naturally, my first mod was a Bionicle mod. I love Bionicle. While I did a lot of custom spritework for this mod, shout out to Danska's Bionicle Builder, which is what I used for the masks and set-accurate weapons.

The mod's main gimmick is loot boxes! You can find mask packs, and equipment packs which can be opened for random items from the corresponding set wave. If you're real lucky, you may even find a bulk parts pack, which contains random equipment packs!

Nearly every set is represented, and a wide assortment of items from MNOG and VNOG are included too. As my first pack, the balancing was pretty spotty at first, but a few updates have fixed the more egregious examples. Did you know it took me 6 months to realize that the nektann robots had accidentally been set to unfindable?

Chuck's Plants vs Zombies Mod: contains 654 items??? (probably cut that down to like, ~350ish, since packets don't really count as a separate item)

My second mod, and hoo boy is it a doozy. Probably my favorite mod, this mod has a ton of work put into it, containing every plant from the orginal game, PvZ 2, and chinese PvZ 2. Thats a lot of plants!

The main gimmick of this mod is plant packets. Instead of finding plants as loot, you get packets, which grow over time. Once enough encounters occur with it in your pack, it grows into the plant.

But plants aren't the only thing in this pack. There is also a suite of zombie equipment, which grows stronger based on how many plants you have. Not to mention watering cans, pinatas, guppies, and other essentials to help fuel your botanical battle pack!

Chuck's Bloons Mod: Contains 134 items (again, effective number is a lot lower due to upgrades)

Ah yes, my bloons mod. This is probably my least favorite mod, simple because of how jank it is.

Basically, monkey's grow more powerful based on how many bloons they pop. As they reach thresholds, they get upgraded. However, spriting and programming so many upgrades gets rather tedious. This, combined with the fact that playing with the mod is rather feast or famine makes me not particularly fond.

Getting enough bloons can be tricky if you don't find one of the generators, and some monkeys are just way more useful than others, since due to the effort required, fully upgraded monkeys are mostly an endless mode thing, and some of them just don't scale into endless very well.

That being said, most of the monkeys are at least okay at a base level, so in casual play, they are decent, if not exciting.

Also, the monkey loot packs being barrels makes me giggle.

Chuck's Random Items Mod: contains 10 items

A simple little pack containing a few endless focused items. Originally meant for random ideas, but the next mod ended up taking that role.

Some neat examples include the white manastone, which acts as fuel for the vanilla black manastone, the sticky token, which acts as both energy and duct tape, at the cost of gimping defense, and the Fatum Ruptor, my signature sword.

Chuck's Pack of Mediocre Items: contains 109 items

This is a fun one. Basically, when modding, one tends to make things stronger than vanilla. So I challenged myself to make a pack with intentionally weak, but useful items. That doesn't mean it's bad, just lacks a lot of the raw power my other mods have.

As such, it is my recommendation for if you want a more vanilla style pack. Some of these items are literally just vanilla items with a twist. Such as the glove of knife. Just the one. Glove of knives was OP anyway.

Plenty of cheeky little references in here too. Like the candy cane horns which fill you with rage, or the pristine blade which fractures into one of ten different variants.

Chuck's Terraria Mod: contains 111 items

Ah yes, my favorite Minecraft clone. This pack has a little of everything. You got arrows, spears, tomes of ichor based magic, what's not to love?

If you're really lucky, you might find a crate containing items from my second and third favorite mods, Thorium and Calamity. (Sorry guys, you aren't even close to beating Magic Storage in the top spot.)

This pack also has few item type gimmicks I think are cool. Spears can only be used once per turn, but they have strong AOE attacks. Bullets are arrows that can also be used only once per turn. And then there is the copper shortsword. If you swing it 999 times, something cool might happen.

Chuck's Stick Ranger Mod: 174 items

Anyone else remember this game? Man, Stick Ranger was awesome. Pity they never made a sequel. Anyway, this pack contains a wide assortment of items, including 16 weapons from each class, except angel and gunner. Gunner only gets 8. Angel gets... 34???

Yeah, I like rings. I gave them a cool mechanic where they buff other adjacent rings, like a variant of Satchel's hammers. So of course I included a ton of them.

Also, the imperial crown used to hold the record for the laggiest item I ever made, but engine optimizations has made it actually viable to use. Hooray! Much like the game it comes from, the crown massively boosts the threat enemies pose, but greatly rewards you for it.

Chuck's Neo-Battledome Mod: contains 130 items

To be perfectly honest, I never got past the level of duel-wielding scarab rings before I got banned due to my account getting hacked. Hasn't stopped me from obsessively keeping up with battledome weapon releases, even if they're currently releasing, like, three a year.

That's right, did you ever play Neopets and wished you could wield the Darigan Sword of Death? Or really wanted to own a Weird Scarab, even though it was an impossible to find yet completely ineffectual item? Well, now you can do the next best thing!

Chuck's Elder Scrolls Mod: contains 59 items

Ah, Skyrim. My first M rated game. Which I bought without my parents' permission. Honestly, get rid of those terrible blood splatters, and the strangely mild swearing, and it would pass for T. (Seriously, how do Skyrim and Stick of Truth have the same rating???)

Anyway, this mod contains items from not just skyrim, but oblivion and morrowind too. And maybe even an item or two from arena and daggerfall if you're nice.

If you collect 24 Stones of Barenziah, absolutely nothing happens. Just like in Skyrim.

Chuck's MSPA Mod: contains 49 items

Ah yes. Homestuck. I'd say it's pretty good. Shame it ended at act 7. Anyway, here's some items to shove in your sylladex backpack. Lots of Problem Sleuth items too. Those are probably a bit less polarizing.

Probably best to swiftly move along.

Chuck's Enchanting Crystals Mod: contains 18 items

A small, but simple pack. These crystals can be used to add permanent buffs to your items. The more powerful ones contain downsides though, so be careful.

Chuck's RPG Classes Mod: contains 68 items (Only 9 of which are actually findable, lol)

One of my most popular mods, this adds essences which boost various play-styles. They start off weak, but as you kill enemies, they level up! When leveling up, they branch into two options, with six of the base essences each having four different final forms.

Let me give you a hint. If you're using this, or any of my mods with upgrading items, I won't get mad if you use debug mode to check what items will do when they grow up.

Chuck's Card Slinger Mod: contains 88 items

Ask any Backpack Hero player who the worst playable character is, and we'll all agree. It's Tote. So here's a mod to try and make her more fun. Excuse the use of the thumbnail instead of a pack of items. Carvings are a pain to screenshot.

This mod contains carvings for Tote based on a variety of card games, like Hearthstone, Eternal, MtG, Inscryption, and more! Seriously, some of these are obscure as heck. Like the ones from my own card game that I have never shown off publicly.

Generally fitting into a discard-light setup, the minion cards attack each turn, but get discarded if you get attacked too many times. There are also self-discarding spells, and cards which buff your other cards.

Crown of Possibilities is my favorite TCG card of all time, and you can't change my mind.

Chuck's Mod of Loathing: contains 36 items

Couldn't really get into Kingdom of Loathing, but dang if West of Loathing and Shadows over Loathing aren't amazing games.

Anyway, items in this pack are neat, but I may have created the worst item ever in the Spittoon. It hurts you when used, but gives treasure! Most of the treasure is awful. There is only one good item in its pool. And it's a damn good one. So there I go. Reaching into every spittoon I find, taking ten damage for no reason, hoping to get lucky. If that doesn't capture the essence of the spittoon, I don't know what will.

Chuck's Backpack Battles Mod: contains 47 items

Ah yes, my third favorite backpack based game.

Some pretty neat mechanics in this mod. The versitile dagger and thirsting blade both have a mechanic where after using them for a while, they upgrade into a random crafted version. The gems also upgrade over time.

I also added some dragon eggs. I thought they were really swell. How swell? Well...

Chuck's Dragon Eggs Mod: contains 641 items!!! (Like the PvZ mod, cut that roughly in half.)

Originally based on Dragon Cave, I had to take it down and rework it with my own original sprite art. I'd say it turned out pretty good.

This mod contains eggs which hatch after a while into dragons. It is mainly focused on Pouchette, who can find the full selection, but the others can find a more limited selection too. (Except Tote. Tote never gets to have fun. Except when she finds a Darigan Sword of Death.)

I had a lot of fun figuring out the flavor for this mod. There are a ton of different dragon types, each with it's own type of effect. Tarasques are defensive, drakes have power in numbers, bug dragons are totally a real thing, and weren't the result of running out of unique body plans...

Chuck's Randomly Generated Mod: contains 38 items

Exactly what it says on the tin. I set up a random table, rolled two effects, a trigger, and a character, then made an item inspired by the results.

Chuck's Hyperrealistic Mod: contains 15 items

Gonna be honest, this one's a shitpost.

Chuck's Undertale Mod: contains 92 items

This was a fun pack to work on. I love Undertale and Deltarune, so I certainly wasn't lacking inspiration. Most of the equipment and consumables are in there, along with plenty of memes. I got you're stopsigns, a punchcard that provides massive value if you know how to exploit it, maybe even a Prunsel if you're good.

My favorite item has to be the cell phone. Each battle, you receive a random call, providing a small benefit. You might get Undyne slapping spaghetti against the receiver, you might get Papyrus complaining about spike regulations, you might get [half price baloney], you never know!

Chuck's Dredmor Mod: contains 36 items

Ever played Dungeons of Dredmor? It's very silly. And hard. I've never won a run.

Anyway, here's some random items from that game cause I felt like it. What more do you want?

Chuck's Dungeon Dice Mod: contains 52 items (more like 7 lol)

Contains items which randomize their effects at the start of each battle. Pretty cool.

Anyway, those are my mods. Enjoy a screenshot of the nonsense you can get up to with all my mods active.

Hope you enjoyed reading, and maybe enjoy playing with them!

Stay tuned for my next mod, based on Chips Challenge! This may or may not be a joke.

[wshv2]

Marinette

so she's till the mc but like one of the mc's though she is still important to the plot. first her backstory, she is half-french and half-chinese but she is more connected to her chinese heritage. Sabine spoke a bit of mandarin at home so mari knows it a bit even though she isn't fully fluent. She went to china multiple times and met her relatives but isn't very close with them.

she was born in paris and lived there, but she did once go to china and for half a year in 5th grade maybe? that was because her grandparents were sick so her mother visited them.

second her personality, she's kind and maybe a bit too kind because she always trusts people alot but they take advantage of that secretly. she doesn't pay much attention to her surroundings because she has a lot on her mind like school, bakery, designing so she's clumsy and because of this she usually has at least one bandage on her body and even have this box in her room full of cute, pretty bandages and even some in her purse.

third her appearance, her hair is black and she has blue eyes, her hair is usually in space buns or ponytails.

she has alot of responsibilties, not much growing up but when she reached highschool she got tons of things to do. she has to help around the bakery as it is the most famous bakery in paris so ofc there is alot of customers. usually in weekends or after school she delivers orders and work in the counter. she also loves fashion so she draws alot of designs and makes them. most of her clothes are made by her and she even makes some for her friends if they ask for it. she's smart in school ig she does get good grades alot but also kinda average.

when she got miraculous her responsibilities increased and she didn't have much time to do designs so she stopped doing that. she's usually out fighting akumas after class so her parents got kinda mad at her for not helping them. also it was hard for her to continue babysitting manon, she still did it ofc but wasnt available most of the time.

so because of this she was mad at hawkmoth for releasing so much akumas. she was sad at first because she's too busy but then she suddenly got angry and became more motivated to defeat hawkmoth. she then worked with the other heros to track hawkmoth and in the end found out his identity.

then they all just try to accept the fact that Gabriel is hawkmoth and comforted Adrien alot. also by they i mean Marinette, Adrien, Alya, Nino, Chloe, Luka and Kagami. after accepting it they will find a way to get his miraculous. while doing that they also figured that Nathalie is mayura. Thats all for now, i'll make another post about mostly ladybug.

if anybody read this then thank you!!!!! <3

[a-s-levynn]

JOOO you used to sell swords?? That's so cool!!! If you feel like reminiscing and using this as an opportunity to tell everyone about that very awsome sounding job, I would love to hear about it :D if not just take this as me being a tumblr mutual who wants to be your friend now even more 😂 swords are so cooool

I sure did! Oooh my god. You have no ide what sort of pandora's box you've opened. I love talking weaponry. I also spent an unreasonably long time trying to dig up old pics.

So i snatched this unreal job by a total accident. During uni, a friend of a friend of mine were preparing to go to study abroad for a few months and needed a temporary replacement. And when we met for the first time, half jokingly asked if i liked swords. Yes, yes i do find all kinds of blades incredibly sexy thank you very much. And not a lot of time later i was sitting behind the counter. And stayed there for roughly three years.

It was a sword and decorational weaponry shop. I mean it still is. But i may talk about it past tense because i'm not there anymore. 😭 We had like functional swords and daggers for HEMA and other traditional stuff. Lots and lots of katanas and a few wakizashis and tantos for martial arts or just for decour. We even had like the long ones.. what are they called.. odachi and nodachi! And that sort of spear like a guandao, naginata. There were khukri knives as well. Modern knives.. A lot of stuff. And then decorational stuff from movies, anime or video games for just to put on a wall or elevate a cosplay.

Even decorational fire arms up until modern stuff. Altho fire arms where strictly decorational items, manufactures in ways that they were safe and unchangable into usable stuff. And a fewfigures, jewellery and some tarot cards and some other nick-nacks that fit the theme.

I don't have access to my drives at the moment but i found some old pictures.

Okay so this was the second showroom, i can't find picture of the old one, i liked that one better but there was a location change and this one is smaller, less packed. But still the important parts are there. These pictures are about 3 years old as well at this point.

Please note the little knight with the megaphone in the corner on the monitor. I designed that one. Precious friend shaped little dude.

This picture is Ezio's dagger from Assassin's Creed. It's not dirty just freshly out of the shipping box, swimming in grease to protect it from rusting. This one was a functional piece. The handle seems wide but it's not disproportionate, only my hands are small.

But we had like.. i dunno sabers of many kinds..and chinese swords with rigid blades to those weird but really fun floppy ones as well.

That green wall belonged to the old showroom my beloved 😭

Also there were pieces of armour and all. Not just full but chainmails and roman style, shields. Bows and Crossbows. Basically everything.

And like besides the selling and online customer service stuff, i did a lot of polishing, i probably enjoyed that the most. Of course the heavier damage or problems were handled by proper craftsmen but a simple polishing job? Gimme! -insert grubby hands- I'm gonna spend half a day on it but you gonna see yourself in it. Like this below. The left side is still unpolished, all foggy, but see the right? You can see the red shirt guy pretty good already. This helmet was so pretty after i was finished with it. I was so proud. 😭

And then there were some modern stuff. With these i also did the smaller mechanical epairs like a jammed spring or a loose trigger and the like.

This beretta was the first i took apart but i conquered it like a champ 😂 I was asking my boss if i could give it a try and he said as long as i don't break any additional parts go a head. Needless to say the second little guy landed in my lap without any question.

And there were so many other little highlights. I loved so many of the customers. I loved talking about their stuff or just listening to their stories. Uhh i miss it so much i can't even begin.

[starsworldd]

☀️readings☀️

i have been studying astrology for roughly 4 years now and still am!

as far as tarot goes, i’ve been doing tarot for about a year now and have grown a pretty strong liking to it :) lots of my astrologer friends and other friends of mine have told me im very accurate so feel free to give one of my readings a try!

anyone who can prove (by sending screenshots) of them listening to either domino 1 or domino 2 each for 25+ listens or has listened to both songs combined for 25+ listens gets a 10% discount on any reading. here’s the link tree

status: open

natal chart reading - $75 -> £58.05 -> 114.40 AUD

-> 534.20 Chinese Yuan

solar return reading - $80 -> £61.92 -> 122.00 AUD -> 569.82 Chinese Yuan

lunar return reading - $70 -> £54.18 -> 106.70 AUD -> 498.60 Chinese Yuan

planet/angle* persona chart reading - $75 -> £15.70 -> 114.40 AUD -> 534.20 Chinese Yuan

planetary return reading - $80 -> £61.92 -> 122.00 AUD -> 569.82 Chinese Yuan

chiron/juno/groom/briede persona chart reading - $70 -> £54.18 -> 106.70 AUD -> 498.60 Chinese Yuan

custom reading - $15 -> £11.70 -> 22.90 AUD -> 106.85 Chinese Yuan per planet/asteroid/angle* (including aspects to each planet/asteroid)

tarot reading (1 question) - $45 -> £34.90 -> 68.60 AUD -> 320.52 Chinese Yuan (see pdf example below)

* - angle meaning asc/dsc/ic/mc points

just an important note i interpret all charts using whole signs and traditional rulership

how to request a reading: dm me! and then i’ll give you my cash app preferably, or another alternate payment option if that doesn’t work, (tip button can also be used as alternate payment method)

format of reading: astrology readings pdf example here

and then here’s the tarot version

reviews: 1 2 3 4 5

time of receiving reading: about 2-4 weeks

please email me with questions and/or suggestions! (starsworldastro@gmail.com)

if you liked your reading feel free to give feedback via email or dms!

❤️masterlist <3❤️

GIVE VISIBLE CREDITS (not posted at the very bottom of a caption) IF YOU REWORD/POST SOMETHING OF MINE

DO NOT DM ME FOR PERSONAL CHART QUESTIONS! wait in my submissions box line like everybody else has to. DMs for booking readings ONLY. If you ask me for several aspects of a chart, i will not answer. try to limit the questions to 2-3 per submission.

i have a lot of submissions (and counting) so it may take awhile to get to your request! but i am slowly working my way through each request so please be patient🥰

go listen to domino 1 and 2 by iamsagsssssss (out on all platforms)

[siriannatan]

Empires Arknights AU - Scott fWhip

Is it an excuse to ramble about one of my favourite games? Maybeeeee… {: <3<3<3

Slightly lore-dumpy explanation of stuff (can probably be skipped):

Arknights - tower defence gatcha

Lungmen - mobile, modern Chinese/Japanesee style city

Liberi - bird people {reference}

Lung - asian style dragon {reference} people as oposed to draco {reference}

Ægir - fish people {reference}

Leithanien - Arknights Germany

Victoria - Arknights UK

Wei - leader of Lungmen

Lin's - old Lin, or Rat King is kinda the godfather of Lungmen underworld, his {granddaughter} is to take over after him

Penguin Logistics - a logistics company with an actual penguin for a boss

Siracusa - Arknights Italy, full of wolf-people, minus Vatican, that's Laterano, totally separate place with Sankta - angels with guns

L.G.D. - Lungmen Guard Departmen, kind of Lungmen police

Hoshiguma - member of the Special Service of Lungmen Guard Department {reference}

Ch'en - Special Inspection Unit Chief, L.G.D. {reference}

Scott was having a great day. Yes, he spent most of it in his high-rise office. Taking in appointments, and making phone calls. But at least today no one pulled out a gun on him. Just the thought of the few rude 'customers' was enough to have the Liberi's feathers ruffled. With a sigh, he calmed down and glanced at the clock. Nicely made, imported from Leithanien. He had some fond memories of a brief stay there in his youth. Not that it was that long ago.

He was starting to wonder how long he should stay, waiting for his last guest when his door swung open. An angry Lung, dressed in rather traditional Lungmen garb. Ginger hair tied in a long braid. Scott kind of hated it. Blue eyes narrowed in a glare that the Liberi met with a polite smile.

"Punctual as always, Mr fWhip," he greeted with his best 'Victorian', as fWhip called it, smile.

"Don't give me that, why did you send assassins after me this time?" he asked, taking most of the couch opposite of Scot's desk.

"I simply didn't want you to ignore my invitation, unlike the last time I sent one," Scott's smile faltered slightly. fWhip could be damn annoying. Unfortunately, he was Lungmen's best when it came to explosives and Scott's... business often needed them. "Would you like some tea? I recently received a shipment of Victoria's finest," he offered, the legal part of his business was all about trade. Less legal... also imports but of things Mr Wei would approve. Lin's certainly did like him.

"Sure, why not," the Lung huffed. He did keep his eye on Scott as he made the two cups. "You still insist on dressing like a Victorian," he huffed. For some reason, he was really against Scott's suits.

"Well, that's where I'm from after all," Scott shrugged. And Victorian clothes were comfier for him. He did not mention that.

"What did you get me to come here for? And be glad I didn't report you to Madam Ch'en. She's not let you go no matter how much Lin's like you," he huffed. Ever loyal to Wei. How boring.

"Right to the business," Scott shook his head. "Maybe I just wanted to share a cup of tea with a friend?"

fWhip laughed at that. "Yeah right. What do you want?"

Scott sighed. How Lung of fWhip. "I need help locating a certain box for an acquaintance. Miss Ling brought him here so it's kind of important. But relics are not quite my cup of tea, but then I remembered a friend who has a nice collection," he said, giving up on playing with fWhip.

"Acquaintance? Lin Yühsia? Now that's interesting," fWhip mused. 

"Mhm. I have no idea where she found an Ægir here," not that it was all that interesting to him.

"Why didn't she just go to Penguin Logistics? I'm sure they could find it easily."

"Maybe she needed some more... finesse?" Scott offered with a giggle. "They are certainly fun but I think the Ægir she dragged here would drop dead after just seeing them," he giggled setting a teacup in front of fWhip. Victorian make, of course, just to annoy him further.

"Maybe, but really... Did it have to be damn Siracusans you send? They're a pain to deal with," fWhip huffed, taking a sip. He said nothing so it had to be good.

"You're still here so not that bad," Scott did not regret sending assassins after fWhip. It always got him to his office. "So how about we leave the box for tomorrow, and spend the rest of today on..." he said as he settled next to fWhip, "...me apologising to you?" he finished, one hand resting on fWhip's thigh.

"Fine, but you have a lot to apologise for, I had to talk to L.G.D.'s  Madam Hoshiguma, I don't want to repeat that anytime soon..." fWhip sighed as he finished his tea. It was always fun to hear him indirectly complain about his height.

[irismfrost]

July 17 - Fulbright Commission and Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines

We started our morning bright and early at 9:30am. We were off to the Fulbright Center. Fulbright is a foundation for international exchange. They give scholarship to help people live and learn in different countries around the world. They have 49 binational Fulbright Commissions and 100+ US Embassies in 160 countries. They are part of the reason why our trip to Taiwan was able to happen. They offer post-grad opportunities like graduate programs and teaching programs. They will even help you learn Chinese in the first part of your courses if you choose to take graduate classes in Taiwan. Though it may not be what I’m looking for, it is really cool program that I’m sure many people would get a lot out of. I’m glad that there is an organization out there dedicated to helping the world become a little more connected. The Fulbright Commission also provided a nice bento box lunch. It was a delicious, filling meal with all the essential components. I have been having a hard time getting enough food, water, and sleep. It is something I already struggle with, but there is just so much going on here all the time that I don’t prioritize the way I could be and living the way I am currently is not sustainable. Iris is locking in. 

We also visited the Museum dedicated to the native people here in Taiwan. There is a trace of native peoples who began to travel around and inhabit the islands throughout the Pacific. Of course this was over thousands of years, but that is how people first settled on Taiwan over 400k years ago. They found ways to use their diverse and rich environment to their advantage, similarly to the Native Americans. A couple groups even used slate to construct their houses, protecting them from tsunamis, the heat in the summer, and the cold in the winter. I haven't ever seen slate used like that. They stacked the slate by offsetting the layers to create a strong build; they must’ve been some pretty smart people. 

Reflection

In today’s reflection, I’d like to focus on the Native Taiwanese people who arrived here thousands of years before it was “discovered” by the Portuguese in 1544 and colonized by the Dutch in 1624. Since then, the natives in Taiwan have been forced to assimilate to so many different cultures, losing their own in the process. Within the last century, the people of Taiwan have had to become Japanese: speaking Japanese, adhering to Japanese customs, believing Japanese belief systems, and fighting for the Japanese. Same during the multiple stents of Chinese rule. Recently, the Taiwanese government has made efforts to revive the ancient Taiwanese cultures, in part by creating museums like this one. There are 16 tribes in Taiwan, but they live in more secluded areas. We may get a glimpse into their lives at some point during our excursions, but will never be able to immerse ourselves in their lives. 

I also want to compare the forceful assimilation of the Taiwanese to the forceful removal/ assimilation of the Native Americans by the United States. The beauty native groups like these around the world has been lost to most of the world and only exists in small areas. Only now, is the modern world shining a light on their history and revealing the curtain of monstrosities that the larger powers committed against them.