#have i really never done a 3D duck before??

[shalmonsdraws]

her favorite song is the chicken dance

[atsadi-shenanigans]

FSBE 15 - Somebody Call Chris Hansen

You almost commit violence.

On AO3.

Y’all hit the food and drink. Take a bite of hot stew filled with peppery fish and what you think might be turnips and your eyes roll into the back of your skull. Then you head outside onto a wraparound deck to find water barrels so you can wash mugs and plates and all. Decide to check out this other cleric in the morning, after y’all get some rest.

The rooms is upstairs, off an inner balcony. But it’s as y’all find the stairs that a nasty scent crawls up your nostrils to curdle in your sinuses.

Sulfur. And cherries, for some godforsaken reason.

“Oh no,” Gale says.

You feel Astarion stiffen next to you. But when you look over at him, it ain’t disdain or that cool, guarded look he wears when he’s nervous. It’s…attentive. Alert. But not in a “was that a firecracker or something else fired off out in the parking lot” kinda way, and more like you catching a whiff of good coffee at a distance.

Y’all turn the corner, and there’s a sonuvabitch sitting there.

Raphael the devil sits across what looks a lot like a 3D chessboard. Opposite him is one of the tiefling kids, with a ponytail and an eye patch. It’s the one who bailed y’all out with Jaheira.

“No matter where the knight goes, I’m gonna lose it!” the kid says.

“Then make the sacrifice useful,” Raphael says.

You never actually seen that old catching a predator TV show, but you know the memes, and this right here…

It’s also, weirdly enough, directed at you’uns.

Holy fuck, you hate this fucking guy.

“Look who it is,” the kid says upon noticing y’all. “For once, I save your butts out there, didn’t I? We’re square now, chief.”

 She looks over y’all. Gaze lingers on Wyll the longest. “Say, you don’t play lanceboard do you? It’s my first game.”

“I can’t say I’m well-versed in it,” Wyll says. “Much to the dismay of my father.”

As Gale leans in with a frown. “Oh, he’s laid a fine trap for you, Mol. But it looks to me like his Cyric could be dethroned.”

Ain’t make no sense to you. You’re more a checkers type. Or solitaire. But the man shuffles closer and the kid makes her move. To your surprise, that fuckface in a human suit seems more amused than offended at the intrusion.

And when the kid whoops him, he says, “I was right to make you the offer I did.”

Like a proud papa to his scheming daughter.

You see right through it. The way she beams. The easy grace that devil accepts his loss with. He’s fucking baiting her. Hyping her up to lure her in. Where the fuck is Chris Hansen?

You look to the girl, but she only chews on her lip and hums.

The devil turns to y’all as she leaves. Calls her a blushing apple, and you ain’t never fantasized about punching a man in the dick before this moment. It’s fucking vivid.

Vivid enough you’re apparently broadcasting it, because Lae’zel makes a thoughtful sound while Karlach outright snarls.

“I’m down for it,” she says. “Fuck this fucking creep.”

The devil only gives her an oily smile. Prattles on about choices and shit. Fucker really just loves the sound of his own voice, huh. You’re ready to up and leave, except…Astarion stares at him. Not with wariness but with…

“Now,” Raphael says. And looks Astarion square in the face. “I sense there’s something you want to ask me.”

You don’t mean to whip around. But you do. And the elf ducks away from your gaze to clear his throat.

“I do. I have a…proposal for you,” Astarion says.

“Fangs?” Karlach says.

Shadowheart gives you a questioning glance. But he done caught you with your drawers around your ankles. The fuck does he need from fuckface? He seemed leery before. Said people like that don’t play games unless they know they can win. And considering the last bet he made turned him into a vampire…

“A proposal?” the fuckface says, lighting up like he just got asked out to an all you can eat buffet. You ain’t never punched somebody in the face before, neither. Not with a bare hand. You’d probably break some fingers, but it’d be worth it to wipe that sleaze off his fucking face. “If you hope to taste my blood, little vampling, think again. It burns hotter than wyvern whiskey.”

“This is serious business, devil.” Astarion’s voice has an edge to it, but it’s more than annoyance. The pitch is tight, upset he’s trying to hide, and almost succeeding at if his body weren’t quite a traitor. It stabs you right between the ribs.

“Astarion,” you say. Y’all can leave. Y’all can fight that fuckface. But Astarion don’t even look at you. Just lifts his shoulders and straightens himself.

“My old—well. A long time ago, someone carved something into my back,” he says. “I’d rather like to know what it says.”

Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

The fuck? That’s…you ain’t…

You seen his bare chest, once. He wasn’t wearing a shirt in that clearing. But that ended quick and dirty, and for all you been fooling around lately, y’all have kept dressed. Even if he does deliberately unlace the front of his shirt lower than it needs to be when he’s around you.

You ain’t never touched his back. Barely touched the man’s shoulder or his neck, and only then when he set your hands on him himself.

This time, he does glance to you. Just a flash, expression unreadable.

But the devil is a cunt who catches that. Catches whatever’s on your face, too, before you can button that down.

Mock surprise twists up his own face, the malice twinkling in his eyes. That fucking sonuvabitch. He presses a hand to his cheek. “You haven’t told them? And you’ve kept your clothes on this whole time? How unlike you.”

Fucking clicks his tongue. You’re gonna commit a murder. Gonna crab up a water pitcher and crack him in his smug ass face with it—

The devil lifts his hand. Says, “Don’t be shy.”

Snaps his fingers.

Astarion armor and all his gear shimmers. Flickers. Melts away like morning fog. Leaving him with nothing but his pale skin as you whip around to look the other way.

Not before you see it, though. Long, thick lines of scar tissue. A huge, slashing circle covering most of his back. And worse, the way his eyes widen. Not like when you told him you liked his voice. No, this is fear. Old fear. One he shoves under a huff and what has to be a false, sassy head toss.

“Godsdamnit,” he says.

Does not shy away. His hands twitch, before falling back to his sides. But he just…stands there, bared to the room.

Resigned to it.

You met confident people, before. Hell, this one met you with no shirt when he invited you to a hookup. But you known people who would not flinch being naked in a room of strangers or friends. By on their choice (or high as a kite). And stripping themselves. Most people have bad dreams about this kinda thing. Most people’d at least flinch.

Not him. Not him. He just stands there.

Your pack hits the floor and you tear into it.

“What the fuck, you sick freak?” you snarl.

The devil regards you. Gives a condescending smile (you wanna rip his lips all jagged and nasty from his face). “Don’t pout, little human. This peach went bruised and rotten long before you came along.”

“Give the word and I’ll rip his head off,” Karlach says. Her chest is see-through, ribs a dark outline against the fire raging inside her.

“And deprive your vampling of the answers he seeks? A shame.”

“No,” Astarion says.

Where the fuck is it, why can you find everything but what you’re looking for.

“No, it’s fine,” Astarion says. “I am world-endingly beautiful. It’d be more of a crime not to show it off. So, devil, what say you?”

There! Hands brush soft cloth. You rip the blanket out in a spray of cutlery and tin plates and potion bottles. They thunk all over the floor but you’re already up and turning, keeping your gaze to the ceiling as you hold out your only blanket.

“I,” Astarion says. You bring your gaze down, careful not to look lower than his face. He kinda blinks at you.

Something in you twinges. Something nasty.

It’s his compliment surprise. Only worse. Very much worse.

So you drape the blanket over his shoulders. Only once it touches him does he move to take it and wrap it around himself. Cover himself back up.

You make sure you stand in front of him, between him and the devil. Who watches this all with a kind of glee.

“Such devotion,” the walking corpse who don’t quite know it says. “Hopefully not misplaced.”

“If you don’t get to some kinda motherfucking point—” you start.

“Yes, yes. Those marks are one of great importance to your master, little Astarion. I can give you all the gory details. But of course, you’ll have to do something for me, first.”

Fucking devil bargain. Fucking humiliating Astarion. Making him defend his own humiliation because he can, because he got what Astarion wants. You seen petty cruelty. You been on the end of it plenty.

That fucker is going to die. One way or another, he’s fucking dead.

The devil taps his lips. Says, “Let me think on it and I’ll get back to you.”

“What?” Astarion says. “Get back to me? When?”

“Don’t worry. I’m motivated to help you.”

The fuckface folds himself into a stupid bow and poofs away in a puff of stench cloud. You don’t even try to hide your gag.

“Did he take your armor?” you say to Astarion.

He clutches the blanket stiffly. “I. I’m not sure.”

You nod. Search his face while trying not to be obvious about it, but he’s back to avoiding looking at you. Avoiding looking at everybody. “I’m sure we all got spare gear of that fuckface turns out to be a thief.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” Gale says. “For now, I could use a very stiff drink.”

“Agreed,” Wyll says. “I’ll see what they have. Astarion, you prefer wine, yes?”

“Only if it’s a good vintage.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Karlach glares at the spot the fuckface still stinks up. Takes a deep breath, and blows it out slow as her shoulder vents blast furnace-hot air. “We’re definitely going to kill that fucker, yeah?”

You look at her. She gives a small nod.

“Would y’all mind bunking up with the boys tonight?” you say.

This is finally what draws Astarion’s attention fully to you. With a frown that he shoves down lightning quick. Replaces it with a sly smile. “Oh, a room all to ourselves, my sweet?”

It turns your guts into cold, writhing snakes.

“It would be inefficient to split the part so unequally,” Lae’zel says. “Astarion has an adequate physique. He should not—”

“If we must,” Shadowheart says with a hearty eye roll. All the while clamping a hand onto Lae’zel’s shoulder. “The last thing I want to see is the two of you making disgusting moon eyes at each other while drunk.”

All the religious shit aside, she looks at you. Doesn’t nod, but don’t need to.

“Come on,” you say to Astarion. “I heard they got some kinda bathing situation somewhere in here. I ain’t never seen how y’all do that that ain’t wading into a river.”

[peaskikio2]

Ugh… day 3

By far the hardest day.

Day 3 I ended up moving onto the gauntlets I wanted to make because they’re the most detailed thing Im going to bring into this costume. All the supplies had arrived and I was way too excited to get started on designing them.

The vision I had for these gauntlets was something I had never done before with any of my cosplays, I really want to implement some really cool effects into them, ones that reflect Acid Storm and his abilities.

These gauntlets are probably going to be the most detailed thing about my costume, as far as technology goes… and I’ve never had to dabble with anything more than LEDs… and not even in depth…

I’ve only ever bought remote controlled light buttons that I didn’t have to wire or anything because I have no idea how to do any of that! And I also should mention that I’m TERRIBLE at geometry and math which is like… super important when building a 3D object…

That is why this day had me STRUGGLING.

I had to figure out how exactly I wanted to make these gauntlets look because not only are they going to be the casing of a little battery pack for LEDs, but they’re also going to house a fog machine that’s the length of my entire forearm.

Fortunately I had an idea of how I was going to approach it… unfortunately that tactic did not work.

I had to start with just a base outline of my arm and I needed to figure out the measurements I was looking to achieve, that part was easy, I can measure objects no problem… but I have no idea how to translate that measurement into angles and DEFINITELY NOT CIRCLES.

The point here was to make the gauntlets as close to Acid Storm’s forearms as possible, and this is how it started.

I took the measurements of my wrists first, and attempted to translate that into a circle. Thinking I was a genius and that I had all my numbers correct, I cut out the circle on a piece of cardboard first then realized that it was not the size I needed it to be, it was far too huge. 😭

I tried this TWICE and eventually got frustrated and moved to paper cause cardboard was too much of a pain to cut out with an exacto knife just to try and estimate the size of a circle, which was my next tactic after failing on trying to get an actual mathematic measurement of my wrist.

So I just kept cutting holes into paper purely guessing and just made them to fit the size of my wrist in a snug way…

After that the rest was a piece of cake because I just drew out a bunch of squares which are much easier to match sides with to build the frame of the gauntlets.

I then made little tabs on them with duck tape so I could make a paper version of what I was looking for! I then cut through the tabs to get the individual pieces again and then traced them into foam!

I also made a little container for the big centerpiece of the gauntlets, my fog machine! That way it could sit in a compartment comfortably inside the gauntlet.. after I cut those rectangles out of cardboard, I also transferred them to foam.

With all the shapes cut out, and after a lot of time with gluing, I finally got a design I am proud of…! I did have to alter twice because my measurements were a bit off but it fortunately didn’t ruin the project LOL and I could easily add pieces!

With that being done, I cut out the base where my upper forearm will sit and finished the frame… all I have to do now is just add the two side faces! One will be removable for easier access into the gauntlet should I need to change out the fog machine or battery pack!

So here’s the final result!

Thanks for joining me on 3 day!! I still have so much to do… but! I did take a cool picture of the LEDs I plan to put in them! Hopefully you can see the vision I’m going for!

[paradoxcase]

Sorry for the extended absence. The Riven 2024 remake came out on the 25th, then I went on vacation to see my aunt, then we all got covid from me going through the airport, I spent like a week and a half recovering from covid and eventually finished Riven, and now I've been decompressing a bit from all that by booting up Stardew Valley 1.6 for the first time since it came out. Eventually I will reboot back into linux and finish listening to the other two Locked Tomb audiobooks, maybe I'll do that this weekend.

Here's some Riven remake thoughts under the cut:

I dislike the animated characters compared to the live action from 1997, but I like that they kept most of the original recorded dialog (from what I've seen, I think the only rerecorded dialog was Atrus?), but the animated characters weren't as bad as I was expecting, so I guess there's that. I'm guessing they probably had to do this because they didn't have 3D recordings in 1997 that would have looked good with the free movement during cutscenes and VR?

I didn't like that the camera angle was locked to the cursor at all times, I feel like they could have done what they did in Exile and Uru and had right click unlock the cursor, that system worked perfectly in those games. It got a little odd during the cutscene where Gehn shows you the trap book, since I guess they wanted you to be able to click on the trap book without moving the camera, maybe because moving the camera significantly during the cutscene triggers the cutscene to end? I didn't play with it a lot, so I'm not sure. But during that cutscene, there was a weird thing where the cursor could move freely, but the camera would follow it slightly after a delay, and it was kind of disorienting

I like the new number system. It never really made any sense that the Moiety would be using D'ni numbers in their puzzle to enter Tay, or that Catherine would use D'ni numbers in her personal journal. I think the Rivenese numbers are much better incorporated into the animal puzzle than the D'ni numbers were in 1997, actually, and I like that you still have to figure out the D'ni number system even though it's no longer used in the specific puzzles it was used in in 1997

I really love the new conception of what the domes are, and why they exist, and how you use them to travel between islands. I also kind of like that you can access Prison Island before accessing Age 233, and actually have to access it before solving the animal puzzle

There was so much potential to the remade animal puzzle, but I feel like the actual implementation fell on its face. The lens was perfect for the puzzle, and so was the idea of using it to find the clues and the numbers, and the numbers themselves were perfect for the puzzle, but the clues were just not it. I was not able to make the clue for totem #1 appear in the game, even when following a guide, I suspect the game is just bugged in this particular place. Totem #6 showed me the wrong animal picture for some reason, not sure if this is a one-time glitch or an actual bug, I'll have to check when I replay the game. Totem #3 and #5 both had a moth as their clue, but obviously it's not possible to choose the moth twice, so this was what ultimately lead me to look in a guide. Apparently #3 is the moth, and #5 is for some reason the frog. After completely the whole game I still don't know what the frog had to do with the moth or how I was supposed to say, hmm, yes, a moth, obviously I'm meant to choose the frog for this one. Also, one of the guides I came across described the sunner as a "toucan", like, dude, have you literally ever seen a picture of a toucan, do you for some reason think a toucan is an animal with four flippers and no wings and flat duck bill, what on Earth would cause someone to describe that shape as a "toucan"? Anyway, I think this part of the game definitely could have been better

I'm a bit confused by the redesign of the prison. The in-game text now identifies the prison as being Gehn's former office before he moved to Age 233, and so I guess it was redesigned so that the elevator no longer has bars for that reason. But we still have information in the game that Gehn would go up to interrogate Catherine periodically - I feel like he would have modified the elevator to allow him to use it without releasing her, the way it worked in the 1997 version. Instead, in this version, we have this thing where you have to go through a railing, off the beaten path, all the way out to the Moiety totem, and then climb a series of ladders and parkour across some precariously placed boards to talk to Cathering through the bars on the outside of the prison. The proximity of all this to totem made me initially think that the Moiety were coming out here to talk to her (since the domes are no longer protected with a password and the Moiety know how the solve the fire marbles puzzle according to Catherine, and must therefore also know how to use the domes to travel between islands) and Gehn was unaware of this route. But since it's now the only way up there without freeing her, Gehn must have been using it, too. I really can't see him assembling this whole parkour arena to get up there, he would have at least built a stairway or another elevator or something. During the course of the game, you discover another rift into the star fissure on Temple Island, and it gets patched up with honest-to-god metal plates after a pretty short period of time. When Gehn needs to get stuff built, he seems pretty efficient about it, and I get the feeling that Catherine has been imprisoned for a while now. There's also kind of a odd thing about the elevator - the elevator can't even be called on the first floor without the password, which does make sense if this was Gehn's private office originally. There seems to be another place to enter the code upstairs too, but it's been broken. Naively you might guess that the code was needed to leave the office, too, and that's how Catherine was imprisoned (which is dumb and also a fire hazard, but I think it's actually totally in character for Gehn to create things which are dumb and also a fire hazard), but this doesn't work, since after Catherine leaves the prison you are still able to call the elevator back up so that you can leave after her. So I'm not sure what the broken code entry is supposed to mean, there

I like that we got to see a bit of Tay and Age 233, although there wasn't a lot to do there. I wonder why Gehn had the smaller wooden Moiety totems on Age 233? Seems out of place

I haven't played through all the bad endings, and still have nine locked achievements on Steam. When I eventually get bored of Stardew again, I'll probably go back and 100% it and see the bad ending content

[sunbeamedskies]

Heretic/Writer's Guilt

I had my first ever movie-going experience in a foreign country!!

Ever since the trailer first came out, I knew I wanted to see Heretic really badly. Hugh Grant as the villain? Commentary about spirituality/religion? A24? Sign me the fuck up!

It felt especially fitting to have my first cinematic experience in England be a movie starring Hugh Grant. He is such a legendary British actor, as well as one of the primary reasons American women romanticize British men

This post will contain no spoilers. I will make a part two with spoilers later

There have been moments here and there where I truly remember I am in England and my mind gets blown again. Going to a movie theater and seeing only British ads before the trailers start, coupled with seeing the British-style release dates (day-month-year) which follow every trailer, was one of those moments

Though I had a great time overall, I felt a slight dulling of emotions that used to happen a lot whenever I went out to see movies. It stems from a sadness caused by not writing enough- a variant of writer’s guilt. Lately I’ve been writing some, but have started to feel a bit bad because I’m still not writing regularly enough. Writing novels has been a goal of mine since I was little, and it is the most realistic path for me to someday write movies and shows

Unfortunately these days, it seems like screenplays rarely get made unless you’re already a famous actor or director. Even if a fledgling screenwriter is successful in getting a film made, it’s rare for others of theirs to get picked up often enough to have a steady career. I went back and forth in my head for years wondering if I should pursue being a novelist or screenwriter first. They were both equal dreams of mine, yet I wasn’t trying to actively achieve either. I had written books before (bad ones I wrote as a teenager- but hey! Still full books) and had no experience writing screenplays. I tried writing a couple, but it always felt a bit awkward to not write as many words as I do when writing stories. One day though, something hit me- I noticed that popular authors constantly had their novels adapted into shows and movies, and some were even allowed to write the screenplays for them. I had a lightbulb moment- this is how I can best achieve my dream! Ever since then, my focus has been on novels

I thought my longest partially-written screenplay was 40-50 pages, but I just looked it up and it’s 79! That’s one thing about writer’s guilt- oftentimes writers who are sad they haven’t written on a regular basis in a while have actually done more than they think they have. They write little pieces here and there which add up, forget they spent a few days writing a lot, etc. This screenplay is one I will alter a lot if I ever complete it. It’s nostalgic to read parts of it, though I haven’t read it in full yet. I’ll share a piece of it below, but be warned- this might be too cerebral/highbrow for some of you:

JANINE

(ecstatically)

No way! 3d porn?!  We have to watch it NOW!

CUT TO: 

Janine and Tom are sitting on the couch with 3D glasses on, excitedly watching the movie.  They’re sharing a bowl of popcorn.  There are moaning noises coming from the TV.

JANINE

He’s about to get a boner!

TOM

Watch out!

They both duck in unison.

TOM

Woo! That was a close one. 

JANINE

I never knew dodging boners could be so thrilling!

TOM

I think he’s about to blow!

They both dodge in unison.

I know, I know. There are too many metaphors about politics/climate change/the philosophical landscape of 1600’s Italy to count. I’m sorry if your feeble minds can’t comprehend it all

In all seriousness, this was going to be a silly, raunchy, Judd Apatow-esque romcom. Honestly, I really might rewrite it to be a genre-bender of some kind someday- who knows? There was about a decade where I barely wrote, but re-reading stuff like this reminds me I did write every rare once in a while. I wrote a whole 100,000 word book recently which failed to get me a literary agent, but I now recognize its flaws and plan to edit it heavily soon. It’s also a big turn off for agents to see a 100,000 word non-fantasy book by a potential debut author, so that hurt my odds from the start. But my latest novel is almost done, there are six or seven other novels I’ve written parts of, plus countless other ideas floating around my head. I need to do a better job of reminding myself about how far I’ve come instead of focusing on the negative

I wrote the above scene years ago before the rise of VR porn, by the way. Maybe it’s a sign I really am ahead of my time

Love,

J

[spring24mathdesign]

Project Three: "Sturdy"

When I had read the description of the project and came across "design and create a physical object based on parametric curves," I thought it couldn't (wouldn't!) be done. My mind flipped back to one thing: the 3D printers.

The Final Product

I did not think there would be a time where I learned how to use a 3D printer and with minimal difficulty! I was very surprised to know that the steps to using the 3D printer were not all that complicated. It was just a bunch of back-and-forth between different websites and programs that may have been the busy part.

The First Attempt

As with all projects, there has to be a first try. This was mine! I liked the way that it looked (not that I don't still like it), but I had forgotten a key component which was making sure all the lines connected. You can see that the middle part of the design was not connected to anything that would tether it to the whole product once it printed.

I was happy to find that the design would still work (meaning it could still be together in one "piece") with the supports attached to the curve in the middle. However, the supports weren't on the original graph. So, instead of building off of this design, I decided to start from scratch.

Using the 3D Printer

(The specific printer used may not be the one showcased above)

I was intrigued by the printers ever since we had orientation for the MakerSpace, but I never thought we would get to use them! Having never touched a 3D printer before, I always assumed that there was a lot that went into the process and that it would take a

Very.

Long.

Time.

But thankfully, that wasn't the case for me! There was no coding aside from the work done on Desmos, and while I didn't use Tinkercad to further my design (which I would like to for any future personal projects!), moving from .SVG to .STL to .UFP was not a problem!

The Desmos coding itself was more so a list of ideas that I wanted to try out while attempting to keep everything connected in the design. I figured that I would be able to set my domain for the product when I got to the screenshotting phase, but I ended up using the Lamé Curve as the outer border for the piece.

I had my worries at first about finding the time to print. Unlike the AxiDraw, you couldn't reserve a printer for yourself. Without reservations (which, even with them, the AxiDraw felt like a "first come, first served" deal anyways), I thought that the usage demand would be high and that I would never get the design printed. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was always at least one printer free whenever I walked into the MakerSpace.

Not only that, but my prints were all small, hand-sized projects. Both designs took less than twenty minutes to print! That meant that I could walk into the library with my friends, travel downstairs, set my things down, prep everything in the MakerSpace, set the project to print, leave to eat, and come back to retrieve the finished product before I had to head to my next class! All the struggle with time management surrounding the second project was completely absent with the third project.

In the end, I really enjoyed Project Three! The process was quick and easy, but my only regret is not making something bigger. There were some really cool results that we got to see in class (the gears and duck coaster were some of my personal favorites!), so I wish I had thought to go bigger! Trust that I will be using this knowledge of 3D-printing to create my own personal pieces (I'm looking at you, Epcot Ball).

[characterillustrationoliviap]

Character Illustration: Value Study and 2nd Character

Today we started this class by having a brief recap of what we did on Tuesday lesson. I used this time to rewatch the video on values so that it is fresh in my mind for today's application of values. This video really made me consider how I should use contrast in an illustration. Normally I just colour my whole illustration using the full value scale. I've never really focused on using different scales for fore ground and the mid ground. This is definitely something I want to take into account when we make these next characters. I also think I could try using varying line weights to empathise the character's pose. In my duck from class 1 while the lines were pretty smooth, some were really thick and others were quite thin. Normally a line will be thinner if it closer to the light source. I'm going to try using line weight more in my next character to show the pose better.

We also did a value study today. The aim was to recreate the image using only the 10 shades of grey in the middle. This was the document at the start of the exercise. I had my layers palette open and the brushes palette open. In the layers palette, I double clicked the background to make the image into a layer. I then used the Rectangle Marquee Tool to remove the white on the right side. I then made a layer under this layer. I'll be doing the drawing on the bottom layer. I chose a thick solid brush rather than one with blended edges. I didn't need the colour palette as I'm only using those 10 shades of grey.

I then started making the image. I started by building up the base colours in rough blocks.

I kept adding grey in sections and it started to resemble the image more.

I found this took quite a long time. I was constantly drawing a shape, deciding I didn't like it before re doing it a lot of times. At the start it was quite therapeutic but the longer the task went on I became quite frustrated. But while I was getting fed up I do think this task made me understand the values of an image better. I used a lot of the mid tones and only a very small amount of 1 and 10.

It really started to take shape here and I started making by brush smaller to add smaller details. This was my final result. I'm really pleased with it as i think it looks pretty similar to the eye image. For the next one, I'm doing to try and do this a bit faster. The start of the process was very slow and I think I could have done it faster.

Later I started the other value study. This was the image I was building up to.

I started by getting the base shapes in. I achieved by goal and made this base in a very short amount of time. I didn't worry about making each shape perfect, instead I just did then roughly and edited it as I worked.

I then started adding some smaller sections so it resembles an eye more. I added the actual eye and I think by adding some of the cresses started to make it look older.

At this point I just continued adding the layers of tone. I was frequently doing something and then deciding the shade was too light or dark. I'm finding that at this point the nose is definitely the hardest part for me. It does't have much variation in tone so trying to keep the value range very small while also still trying to create that 3D effect is quite challenging.

This is wear I've got to by the end of the night. I focused on getting the shading in the eye and eyebrow as best as I could as it is the focal point of the image. I think getting these points right will help me when building outwards. It gives me another reference as to how dark a tone should be.

I then decided to simplify the base at the bottom a bit more. It wasn't quite looking like the image

I then worked on the eyebrows and the eye bag. This was the final product. I could have probably built up the tones more but I've found I keep going over and over the same areas. I'm pretty pleased but I think I got a bit carried away when doing the actual eye as it's a bit detailed for a value study.

Overall I really liked doing these value studies. While I really enjoyed doing them, it's helped me understand how I should colour in illustrations I make in the future. The first value study was my favourite compared to the second one. It was quite tedious trying put in all the tones of the wrinkles as there was so many of them and if I went too far it became very detailed and strayed away from the point of the exercise.

We then started making our next character. We only had a few hours to do this so I wanted to go with something fair simple. I ended up looking through animal pictures on the internet and found this image of a fox which I really liked.

I started by splitting this fox into basic shapes and lines so when I sketched it I could use this as a guide. I added a layer on top of the image and called it shapes. I used three circles to represent the main body and then used rectangles for the legs and snout. I used some smaller circles to get the shape of the joints, a curved triangle for the ear and I just sketched the rough shape of the tail. I then drew a lot of marker lines across the image. This will help me aline sections of the body. Like the first leg is in line with the front edge of the middle circle.

Using that combinations of shapes, I started to sketch the rough shape of my fox next to it. This was the rough sketch I ended up with.

I then made another layer and called it outline. I traced over this sketch to get the outline of the fox. I gave the outline a mouth and made the ear lines more obvious.

I then looked at some grey values of how I could colour the fox.I think the first one was a bit too low in contrast. The second one was better but I don't like the dark patch that lead onto the leg. I think it would look better without it and I could add it as a shadow in another layer. I removed the patch in the third one and I like it a lot more.

I then added base colours onto a new layer. I also reshaped a new parts of the outline like the paws so that they were more recognisable as paws, not stumps.

I then made a new layer called shadows and added some shadows onto the fox's back to show the density and texture of the fur. I'll probably add some more shadows but I really wanted to get those in to show the different shades in the fur.

I then added an eye but I didn't really like it. The character has no clear personality or obvious emotions. I chose to redo the eyes in a more cartoonish style. I wanted to make it look like it was bulging at something the fox is chasing. I also decided I wanted to have the mouth of the fox open. I had the tongue of the fox hanging out like it is drooling after what it is chasing.

I then added some of the pinkish colour into the ears so help balance the character a bit more.

I then drew some sausages in using the wacom tablet so that the fox was chasing something.

This is my final character. I don't really love it but I think its ok. I knew I wanted to have him chasing something but I really wasn't sure as to what. If I was to redo this I would definitely come up with a more interesting background story so give me some ideas for the character's physical appearance.

[smoqueen]

let me disarm the loaded part of this question before answering

i am one of those people that would rather play 3d over 2d any day, but that doesn’t make them necessarily inferior. i personally believe that they are, and i think 2d fighters are extremely slow to evolve. heres the read more

for one, 3d fighters are typically significantly slower paced. not just the rounds/matches themselves but also the moves you do. a jab in tekken is 10 frames. a jab in street fighter is 3. i’ve always preferred the pace of gameplay in 3d.

something i like about that means that i actually have an opportunity to fucking react to things. how are you supposed to react to a 5 frame move in SF? in tekken i can sometimes even duck throws on reaction, which vary between 14, 12, and 10 frames. 

for two, characters in 3d fighting games usually have WAY MORE MOVES than 2d counterparts. take ryu in SF - he has normals on 6 buttons, special moves (with ex versions, different versions for light/med/heavy etc). in tekken, negan has a shitload of moves attached to 1 (which represents the left hand). ryu might have ~50 total, and a lot of moves ‘repeat’ themselves, whereas a tekken character (especially older ones) might have like 200 or more. and they’ll have VASTLY different properties

oh wait let me explain notation. not all 3d games are like this, but in tekken, it’s 1, 2, 3 and 4, representing left hand, right hand, left leg, right leg. i love this system already, very intuitive. i prefer it to 6 button fighters, it makes more sense to me.

button combinations like 1+2 represent using both hands.

(in soul calibur, it’s A, B, K and G, meaning horizontal, vertical, kick and guard. it’s simpler for a lot of reasons, but also very intuitive in its own way. obviously you want to step out of the way of vertical moves!)

THE ADDITION of the extra dimension makes the game very deep for a variety of reasons. for one, stages have actual differences - in 2d games most stages really aren’t different at all besides visually. some might have wall breaks or different distances but that’s it. Tekken stages (and other 3ds) have different layouts, different shapes, wall/floor/balcony breaks are common, etc, and it usually contributes a LOT to how a matchup or game plays. (there are also no-wall infinite stages.)

but besides stages, being able to sidestep left or right obviously affects gameplay dramatically. in street fighter if they think im going to pressure them in the corner with jabs, mids, overheads, whatever, we HAVE TO fight in the corner. in tekken...they can find, or create, an opening to sidestep OUT of the corner. or sidestep the jab itself! slip left and you can punish me for trying to hit you.

which is a lot more like real fighting (i have done martial arts for a lot of my life)

you’ll hear a lot of people call tekken ‘one of, if not the, hardest fighting games.’ there was a picture floating around someone posted where a guy posted all his top ranks in fighting games and all his tournament wins, but in tekken he was only blue rank and couldnt get to emperor/tekken king/tekken god etc.

in tekken there’s always something to improve and you learn from every session. one session early on, i distinctly remember -- if i need to sidestep left against another negan while close-up, i should be sidestepping right in longer neutral, so that i have ROOM on my left. it’s just a kind of spatial reasoning concept that would never come up ever in a 2d 

the massive movelists and the massive amount of options EVERY character has available to them to DEAL with the massive movelist makes the game deep, hard and fun.

3d games like tekken typically have a lot of the things that a casual actually WANTS out of a fighting game, that 2d games typically don’t. character customization is an example.

ive already rambled for way too long so send more asks about fighting games

[entryno17]

this has been done to death but i absolutely LOVE making pokemon teams for characters lol. i might make a sequel with more? these were just the first to come to mind. check under the cut for little explanations for each team!

ALPHYS —

rotom: it’s a ghost that possesses electronic appliances... she probably had it become mow rotom to impress asgore at some point, presenting it as a smart lawnmower. asgore just seemed horrified by it.

klefki: based on how she gives your phone a keychain, idk. she keeps collectible anime charms on it (it hates this)

sylveon: she named it mewmew!

porygon2: in whatever this universe this is, alphys made porygon. it was an amazing scientific achievement, but mostly she just wanted to make some funny 3D ducks. she’s working on a software upgrade to enhance its abilities for potential research—strangely, alphys remembers already programming an upgrade for it, but she can’t find the code anywhere. she assumes it was lost to data corruption.

arctozolt: it’s so cold.

type: null: it’s an amalgamation of all known pokemon types. it went berserk, and alphys didn’t really know what to do... it’s stuck in cryogenic stasis somewhere in the true lab.

GASTER —

porygon-z: it was supposed to be able to travel between dimensions, which turned out to be a horrible idea. gaster ended up keeping it—even though its brain is corrupted, it’s still a good buddy.

unown: before shattering, gaster researched the electromagnetic waves that unown use to communicate. the unown responded uniquely whenever he spoke wingdings, and they tended to suddenly pop up wherever he went. one day, they started spelling out strange things around him...

mr. rime: gaster’s partner pokemon. he’s had it basically his whole life. it’s his goofy friend! right now though, it’s just kinda tap dancing in a state of perpetual nonexistence. it’s keeping him company, at least.

bad EGG: from bulbapedia, “Bad Eggs are not really Pokémon Eggs, and may possibly never have been, but instead the default message returned by the game if the checksum is wrong.” i just needed to share that sentence somewhere because it’s fucking horrifying. this bad EGG spawned when gaster attempted to create something incompatible with the workings of reality—who knows what it was supposed to be. he can’t get rid of it, and it seems to be in an infinite loop of hatching: every so often, it hatches into another egg. it’s kind of annoying, so he sorta just... gave it to someone.

missingno. : gaster’s missingno. most commonly appears in its aerodactyl form, but it will randomly oscillate between forms. unlike the other glitch pokemon, this one seems to have some sentience. it likes to play fetch with gaster’s detached limbs. 

??????????: gaster actually has all 65,097 of these things. it was the first glitch pokemon he found; they started appearing a bit before he fell into the CORE. he attempted to study them, but the seemingly endless variations made it impossible, and their intangibility didn’t help either. (fun fact: ten question marks is the only glitch pokemon with a pokedex entry!)

SANS —

shedinja: it’s an empty shell with only 1 HP, so shedinja and sans have a lot in common. since it’s literally just a soulless husk, sans doesn’t need to worry about feeding it or doing anything with it, really. it seems content ominously hovering over his head.

mr. mime (galar): sans doesn’t really own this mr. mime; it just showed up one day and started following him around. it seems to enjoy the cold of snowdin and it likes performing comedy routines with him, so they’re buddies.

PAPYRUS —

mime jr. : though he’s training a team to fight alongside him in the royal guard, papyrus’s pokemon aren’t exactly amazing in battle... his mime jr. loves to mimic him; it takes delight in papyrus’s highly animated, expressive nature. it usually sits on papyrus’s shoulder and mimes whatever he’s doing. he still hasn’t got it to battle even once. it also likes to mimic sans’s mr. mime—papyrus thinks it’s a horrible influence.

ralts: ralts are said to appear around positive, cheerful people, and papyrus fits that description pretty well. idea taken from this post, go read it it’s cute.

growlithe: most growlithe are fiercely loyal and obedient, but papyrus’s... isn’t. he adopted it after it was found to be unfit for the royal guard during training, and he’s determined to one day evolve it into a majestic, powerful arcanine. right now though, its main interests include rolling in the snow and stealing bones from papyrus’s attacks.

cubone: papyrus found this cubone sitting alone in the snow, shivering and crying. he couldn’t leave it alone, so it became part of his team. he spends less time training it and more time comforting it. his growlithe likes to chase it around, trying to take its bone club. it’s all pretty chaotic; papyrus tries his best to keep them in order but it’s definitely a challenge. still, he refuses to give up on either of them!

tyrogue: this pokemon thrives under strict training regimens; since papyrus is so committed to training, it fits right in. it’s definitely the most cooperative of his team but it’s still very weak. he encourages it every day, and it’s definitely—albeit slowly—getting stronger!

eternatus:

it’s his special attack!

[rosesvioletshardy]

can we do it? - billy /four - prologue

my billy fic is finally here! it took me a while to figure what i wanted it to be called so i’m sorry it too a long time for this to be posted.

i really hope you all like this fic and i apologize if it’s not as good as my other fic

summary: one team. seven people. two lovers. things are about to get crazy and zero and four don’t know if they can do it with everything that’s going on

masterlist

# of words: 2943

warnings: mentions of blood, death, flirting ??, 

inbox me or message me if you want to be added to the taglist for this series

--

“Took you long enough”

��Well sorry we were being chased throughout italy possibly in the brightest car possible thanks to six” one told her not liking her attitude as he tried to look over to see if anyone was coming

zero quickly got into the car managing to fit into the back squished next to two other women as five was trying conduct surgery on two

“it would’ve gone better if one didn’t act like a fucking dick to the lawyer”

“well he wasn’t cooperating so we had to go to plan b”

“I thought me hacking into the servers was plan b?”

“well that was plan c if plan b didn’t work”

“for fucks sake”

The girl had rolled her eyes already knowing that everything has gone to shit and that something or someone will most likely be hurt in the end, except for two where it wasn’t her fault. 

Zero that was her number. She was the first to be recruited after almost being arrested for hacking into the servers to expose some of the wealthiest people of all time for what they have done that the country was keeping quiet about. She was given the option to do something better for the world and she took it. The only downside was she would have to leave her life behind. That meant faking her death and leaving her twin brother, her parents, and her friends behind. She didn’t like the idea at first but she weighed out all her options and realized that she would do more good in the world if people didn’t know who she was anymore. They ruled her death out as suicide and the hardest part of it all was having to watch her family and friends bury an empty coffin six feet under the ground.

Now she was in Italy, a mission she thought would probably go great and all until it all went to shit. she had been sitting near the lawyers office waiting for her signal to hack into the lawyers but one had different plans afterwards when told no

“Please tell me she’s stopped bleeding? I’d like to keep this car clean and pristine, and hopefully keep it” six asked looking into his rearview mirror

“That’s impossible five is trying her hardest to get the bullet out but it isn’t working. Have you seen how surgeries go? I’m sure there’s going to be blood everywhere. Also you’re not keeping the car, you’re going to need to get rid of it”

“we’re going to need a hospital” five said

“it’s getting a little intense in here don’t you think?” one asked everyone causing the women to glare at him

“Where did the other guys come from?” two asked loading her gun

“i told you down from the room you and one were in. they haven’t updated their shit in a long time they must’ve added new rooms” 

“i was talking to one”

“i was covering the door. You were shot from a window”

Zero couldn’t focus on whatever else was happening and decided to look for the other members of her team before putting herself back into the conversation

“It’s true. That lawyer has had guards since he graduated and began working. I fucking told you guys this already.” “Well some people don’t listen” two grits through her teeth

“All that matters is that we got this phone, zero here. Do your little penelope garcia hacker thing”

Zero took the phone from him and began doing her thing. When she plugged his phone into her laptop, she began typing away to try and unlock it. It was too encrypted for her though she had managed to get past the first part of the security system that was keeping her locked out. What she didn’t know was that she also need an eye verification and pictures wouldn’t do it justice unless she had a program that can easily make a 3d model of it

“Please tell me one of you have a device that can make a 3D eye because i truly need it to get past the second part of this wack ass security system” zero had asked not tearing her eyes away from her laptop

“No but we do have something better” two told her trying to ignore the pain she was going through 

“Hey six, you wanna you know, drive faster? Because i think they got us” one asked him sarcastically as more guards pulled up next to them

“Yeah hold on to something” six told them pressing on the gas causing them to almost collide with the busy traffic ahead of  almost crashing and causing multiple crashes and explosions

“i feel like i’m going to throw up” zero said holding her head and trying to convince herself she’s fine

“Me too.”

“What the fuck did you guys do in there anyways? Why are you covered in blood?”

“The head, neck, and face are very vascular so it’s a lot of blood.” “We know basic anatomy one”

“Are you telling me you killed a mafia guy? In italy?” zero asked him leaning over the seat ready to kill him

“I didn’t. Two did. Anyways you should know what his client did”

“I do, I'm the one who told you his shit.”

“Everyone just shut up for one second there’s a BMW chasing us” five yelled

“Is now a bad time to tell you that we have a helicopter on our tail but don’t worry i’m trying to intercept their signal with some Italian children’s tv”

Six continued to drive, while one kept looking out the window praying to god that the mission doesn’t end entirely more fucked up than it already is. Two was under intense amount of pain as five kept digging into her to find the bullet that was inside her 

“Can i just take a moment to thank you? There is nothing else I’d rather being doing with my life”

“I don’t care”

“Hey be nice. If it weren’t for you we wouldn’t be in this shit show right now” five said not looking up

Six made a turn that caused him to think fast and steer the wheel and almost hit a truck that drove against them before it hit one of the BMW that was chasing them. They continued their course on trying to get away before six had almost hit a group of nuns who didn’t so easily forgive him and then hitting a pedestrian on accident claiming he had the right of way. Five was getting annoyed with him while she tried to fix two and zero closed her eyes to prevent herself from throwing up. She was good at reading and driving but in this case, a high speed car chase, it wasn’t agreeing with her and felt like everything she had since being in italy was going to come up from her

“Nice call on the Day-Glo green. It blends right into the Italian architecture”

“Is it too flashy? You don’t like the color?”

“SIX WATCH THE FUCK OUT”

“BABY, BABY BABY!”

“PUPPIES” everyone yelled out at once as six swerved around almost hitting a few dogs, a woman and her baby, and other civilians as they all ran away. They continued the chase until this time someone on a motorcycle started to chase them

“Oh no he’s got a gun”

“Move, zero duck” two told the two women with her and she started to shoot

“She okay?” one asked about two current state

“She’s lost a shit ton of blood”

“This isn’t a shit ton”

“I am the judge of what’s shit ton. You see? Blood. Red.” five told her showing the bloody rags from trying to stop the bleeding

“I can hear it pumping out, please staunch it or whatever you call it” one asked as soon as blood squirted onto five’s face and two yelling in pain. As it happened everyone groaned in disgust as zero tried to move her stuff away to prevent anything from getting messed up. She had managed to dig up more information about the generals and what they were planning to do. Zero continued to listen to her team's bickering as six tried to avoid hitting people on Vespa's. 

“I’m starting to feel it” six said swerving and making a turn

“I’m feeling fucking carsick. Now i know how zero feels”

Zero smiled to herself as she got up a map of the city to hide themselves in for a bit so she can continue in peace using the eye two had cut out 

“One for four?”

“Yeah, go for four”

“We need you”

“‘course you need me. I’m here”

“Remind me where the fuck is “here”?” six asked looking around

““Here” here. Like here?”

“Specificity please?” one said annoyed 

Zero had looked out the window and found where he was talking about 

“Here. right fucking here!” he yelled out to the sky 

“He’s at the top of the Duomo” 

“Top of the Duomo, like we talked about. Look up” four and zero had said at the same time. This caused everyone to look at her with a questioning look

“What he said it in the meeting after one said for him to do his thing and plus i saw someone on top of it and he’s the only person insane enough to do that shit”

“Exactly sweetheart” he said smirking as she turned red as one looked through the rearview mirror

Six continued to drive seeing as they were being chased leaving four behind and having to detour. Zero never understood four and how he wasn’t scared doing stuff like that. She never really got to have a proper conversation with him before too.

“So some good news and bad news. I’ve managed to change the channels so instead of watching us being chased and shit, but the helicopters are still onto us”

“Well this will be a day for the history books”

“Hey guys. ‘M coming north. Down on Via de..Via de... There’s so many fucking vias in Italy”

“Should’ve brushed up on your Italian architecture before deciding to climb it” zero told him

“Well maybe you could give me a layout of Italy and i’ll show what i know” 

“Uh guys i know you’re horny and all but now’s not exactly the time” one told them as four and zero turned red not meaning for it to sound that dirty

The group had managed to go the wrong way and miss four again leaving him behind causing them to think of another plan quick

“Round the corner. That’s it, keep coming, keep coming.” he said before cutting the rope and letting the poles let loose

“One i’m going to need that fucking eye now if you want this shit!” zero had yelled

One grabbed the eye out of his pocket and put it in view so everyone could see it. Six groaned in disgust

“Who knew the optic nerve was so long? Surprised his asshole didn’t come with it. This isn’t going to work. Pull over” he said as six hit something causing it to leave one’s fingers before giving it to zero

“He’s right there’s an empty alley up on this next turn” zero yelled

As soon as the eye left one’s fingers it landed under six’s feet causing him to yell 

“Don’t you fucking squish it!”

“Fucking grab it!”

“You squish it, the mission’s over!” zero yelled. It wasn’t entirely true seeing how she could somehow manipulate it but she needed the real thing. Four overheard everything and all the yelling and commented on how everything was stressful

“can you guys just stop arguing, we need to get this shit done”

“tell that to six and his driving that caused the eye to fall”

Six pulled over to the alley and one handed the eye over to zero waiting for her to download everything from the phone into the computer.

“Who’s eye is that?”

“It’s the lawyers”

“Did you scoop it out or-”

“God, no! I didn’t scoop it out, two did” one told him as two hit her head against the door in pain

“Almost there. Don’t worry.”

“All of rovach’s transmissions are going to lead us straight to the four generals in less than 30 seconds now.”

“I’m getting lightheaded”

“You’re not the one holding it” zero had said glaring at him

“guys? cops are looking right at us” five warned looking back

“Don’t you dare move your foot off that brake or i swear to god”

As the information finished downloading and zero had thrown the eye back to one and yelled at six to go while trying to read about the four generals and where they could find them

“Zero, please tell me you can lose that police chopper?” four asked

“On it. While we’re at it, one? Now’s a good time to get three”

At this point four had started to leave again to find three, who was sitting in a truck trying to learn Italian waiting for his cue. six and zero worked together to try to lose the chopper. They both had a plan in mind but they knew one wasn’t going to like it. As six continued to drive, they began shooting at the team again causing one to yell at two to shoot. Two was already frustrated seeing that she was getting operated on and trying to shoot back wasn’t comfortable especially if she had to turn around. How they were all still alive was beyond zero’s thoughts right now.

“I’ve got a plan but i don’t think you’re going to like it.” zero said ducking avoiding bullets that were going through the car at the moment

“anything’s better than this right now” one told her back

“Well it involves the Uffizi”

“Fuck, no”

‘Yeah, the museum next to where we got those mochaccinos” six interrupted knowing what zero thought of

“I remember the mochaccinos! i’m saying fuck, no!” one yelled back at the both of them

They ignored what one had told them and went into the direction of the Uffizi as six turned the radio on to calm down. One didn’t appreciate it though and ripped the radio and threw it out. At this point everyone’s blood pressure had risen and they were all bound to do meditation soon if they didn’t calm down. as they entered the Uffizi entrance they knew that their faces were going to be on the news everywhere if they didn’t work fast so zero could erase everything.

“You said whatever i needed to do, right? so, i’m just gonna do it.” six said backing up before putting it back in drive

“i can’t believe i died for this shit”

“i’m not exactly that religious so if anyone needs me i’m going to be praying” zero said trying keep her vomit down

Six had driven into the museum, trying to avoid all the statues and art while having way too much fun. He managed to destroy a few statues and  Zero was holding onto the door praying that she will get to have an Italian getaway or just any getaway that didn’t involve them ruining anything. when she opened her eyes, she found them in front of the statue of David. they drove off as soon as three called them to tell them about two black suburban's coming their way and four telling them he’s going to them on his skateboard before hitting them with a grenade and six commenting that they’ve got a superhero on the squad. 

Entering what looked like under a bridge, zero knew this would end here as two yelled at one about not having anymore bullets in French

“i don’t speak that” one said scared

“shit’s about to get crazy” six commented

“NOW?!? I’m conducting surgery!” five yelled 

“i’m trying to lose a thousand cars”

“She’s going to die, you know?”

“you can live for days with a gunshot wound in the stomach. She’ll be fine”

Five had started to yell at one in Spanish as soon as he said that asking if he was suddenly the doctor

“I don’t speak that either”

“Two ran out of bullets and five was asking are you suddenly a doctor”

“Yeah thanks for the input Duolingo. Up top!” one yelled at zero and six as he hit another guy with the car

Five went back to being quiet as zero looked over to see that she had gotten the bullet out of two. “Oh that feels so much better”

six continued to drive as one praised his driving before they were getting shot at in the front making it impossible to see. they had pushed the windshield out of the way before six stepped on the brake causing them to swerve and get hit. when they had opened their eyes and tried to calm their breaths, they saw that six had been impaled by a rod. zero felt sick to her stomach and climbed out of the car before the rest got out. Three and four had stopped as well before they saw zero on the ground crying and shaking before seeing what happened. 

“where’s-” four asked before seeing six’s state and going back to help five and two

one picked zero up and tried to carry her body to where the others were. he knew how much six meant to her and made sure he was somewhere he would feel at peace no matter how he was.

“c’mon, do this for him. he wouldn’t want to see you like this” one whispered to her making sure no one heard him

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales 2017 - The Shorts! (Part 2)

For completion's sake, let's look at the remaining DuckTales 2017 shorts as of this writing.

A few more shorts have come out since the big batch of shorts from before. Unfortunately, none of them are mini-adventures split up into segments like The World's Slowest Death-Trap or Dewey Dew-Night. However, as mentioned before, I should still bring these up for completion's sake. I did leave out the Top 4s and the Marshmello "Fly" music video, but that's because the former is self-explanatory and the latter is just cool and well animated. Let's go!

Theme Song Takeovers

There were two of these for DuckTales 2017. One of them is with everyone's favorite incompetent pilot, Launchpad McQuack. It does it in an interesting way: he's not taking over the Theme Song despite the title, he just wandered into it. He does have to act the part, not only singing his own version of the theme song, as he's certainly not one to memorize any lyrics beyond the Darkwing Duck theme, but he's desperately trying to catch up with everyone else in the best way he can. I like this feeling that this is what he was doing during the parts where he was off-screen. It has a pretty weird ending, too. As good as this one is, it is only of slightly lower quality than the next one. There may be a reason for that: because it was actually used in the show itself.

The other one is Glomgold's Theme Song Takeover, where he sings his own version of the DuckTales theme song all about himself and how much Scrooge stinks. One of the lines is "Scrooge stinks, Scrooge stinks, Scrooge stinks." Highlights include the first part being in the style of his infamous blueprints, the stylistically bad 3D render of him as a muscleman, and him running out of budget for the last part to where he had to use popsicle sticks and paper. It's no wonder that the theme song was used in the episode called "GlomTales!". Watch the internet version, too, it has a few extra scenes, including a scene where Glomgold curses copyright law.

Random Rings

DuckTales 2017 characters appeared twice in this series, and by characters, I mean just Launchpad. He sure was meant to be the breakout character. The first is a little chat between him and Big Hero 6's Baymax after he accidentally calls him instead of a pizza place. Baymax tries his best to be Launchpad's personal healthcare companion and tries to help him after Launchpad gets a bump in his head, not knowing he's referring to the head of the Sunchaser he just crashed, and Launchpad misinterprets his suggestion of using frozen peas as a recommendation of what to eat. It's about what one might expect from the not-too-bright character and a robot, but it does not last long enough to where it would be annoying. It's only a minute.

The other one involves Launchpad trying to call "Mr McD" only for him to accidentally call Cricket from the show Big City Greens. I should note that the vast majority of the segments involve this show, most of them involving Cricket, the show's lead character and trouble-maker. This does have a significant difference from the other one: Launchpad almost manages to realize he probably should not be talking to some random kid, only for that random kid to try to take advantage of him after he mentions the giant gemstone his plane is carrying. There's a different joke here other than Launchpad does not have a lot in the brains department, and I can appreciate this one a little bit more. I will admit: it is possible I would have appreciated this even more if I actually watched Big City Greens, but that is not this short's fault.

I should note that these shorts are also perfect for those who want to know what DuckTales 2017 would look like in Adobe Flash. Just wanted to point that out.

Chibi Tiny Tales

Chibi Tiny Tales was a series of cutesy little cartoons based on Disney Channel shows, itself loosely based on a series of shorts made for Big Hero 6. These are all simple concepts done in a very quick, no dialogue, gag-a-second way, all done in a pseudo-anime style as implied by the word "chibi", complete with the face faults they were not allowed to do on the real show. It's a little funny that they didn't make any Chibi Tiny Tales for DuckTales, a show with the word "Tales" in it, until the time the very last episodes of DuckTales 2017 were airing.

The first one has Scrooge McDuck, the nephews, and Donald raiding a tomb for some treasure. The second one has Magica and Glomgold trying to steal the Number One Dime while Scrooge is reading the paper. The third has Launchpad and Webby go on a quest for the ultimate burrito. All of these follow a similar pattern of them getting into different situations throughout the minute-long short. It is very Looney Tunes, funnily enough. There really isn't anything to say about these. They're cutesy, they are only sort of witty, but they do not overstay their welcome either. Much like the DuckFails shorts, I can imagine enjoying these during commercial breaks, and they are the perfect length for them.

This Duckburg Life

This isn't a short, but there is nowhere else to talk about this.

The newest addition to DuckTales 2017's canon is a parody of NPR's This American Life, and our Ira Glass equivalent is Huey Duck. The first episode, titled "Adventure Calls", is about Huey listening to Launchpad's answering machine, which ends up being filled with various calls. The vast majority of them are about an adventure involving Dewey and Louie getting kidnapped by the Beagle Boys. The Beagle Boys did not really make a major appearance in Season 3 beyond Ma Beagle in "The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck!", so this could be an apology for that. Eventually, this adventure gets into the strange when they find the Hand of Hammurabi hidden in the stash of treasures the Beagle Boys stole, and they end up getting teleported to Tibet and then another dimension. While all of this is happening, Big Time Beagle is trying his hardest to be a threatening kidnapper despite losing the people he was kidnapping.

Even without the images, it still feels like DuckTales 2017 in a different format. It uses the podcast format very well, with the sponsor featuring Webby and Scrooge and Donald Duck reading the credits like it's one of those "support for" segments on NPR, and it would be neat to see where this goes. Even if one wants to know how this would look animated, the YouTube video that has this does have an image that shows off some imagery that fills in some of what people might want to know. For example, yes, the Hand of Hammurabi does look like the Infinity Gauntlet. Oh, and it's important to note that it's likely this podcast takes place before "The Last Adventure!". I am not going to say why that is, and maybe that might change with future episodes.

And that's it for now. This Saturday, the least best.

← The Last Adventure! 🦆 The Least Best! →

[kirishwima]

I don't know if your requests are open (If they are not, you can ignore and delete this ask), but could please write RFA + Saeran and V reacting to MC neglecting them for work? Like she's super busy inviting party guests and isn't giving them enough attention, so they are all pouty about it? Thank you!! I love your writing ♥️

heyo! this is rly cute and honestly...given MC’s responsibilities it’s absoloutely normal she’d neglect them a bit for the party heheh

since you specified pronouns I’ll be using she/her for MC!

Let’s assume this is the second party the RFA is hosting ever since MC joined-so it’d be the first time the RFA can see her work up close, and since it’ll be a bigger event than the first party, the pressure is even higher!

YOOSUNG:

* He thinks MC is so cool and professional! Seiing her ducked over her laptop conducting e-mails and correspondance, frequently talking with caters and other necessary personel for the party to accommodate guests-he’s so happy his girlfriend is so efficient and smart!

* He does his best to help MC-bringing her snacks whilst she works, tries to be quieter as she works-no more yelling into his microphone whilst playing LOLOL lol, he’s just a supportive boyfriend all in all

* But as the day of the party approaches, MC is distant, the stress overtaking her as she focuses on her tasks.

* Yoosung tries to be understanding but-but then at night he waited for hours for MC to come to bed so he can cuddle her and sleep but she stayed up so late! And this is coming from Yoosung of all people!

* He couldn’t help it-the next morning he was Mr. Pouty McFrown.

* We’re talking full  blown exaggerated frown, with puffed cheeks and all. It was impossible for MC not to notice, even as she’d ducked her head onto her phone since early morning, replying yet to another e-mail of a guest asking for impossible tasks and questions.

* “What-what’s wrong?” she asked with a giggle as Yoosung leaned down in front of her, squishing his cheeks between his palms. She ruffled his hair, which only made him groan in disappointment.

* MC had to prod him a lot to answer, eventually switching from her teasing “Whaaat? Yoosungie, tell me what’s wrong~” to poking at his sides, earning little huffs of laughter as he tried to keep himself from laughing at the tickling sensation.

* She took advantage of that, tickling his sides until he couldn’t hold his frown any longer, laughing to the point of tears-neither of them realised when they ended up on the kitchen floor, MC on top of Yoosung as he pushed her hands away from his sides.

* They took a moment, looking to each other with fond smiles before Yoosung sighed in defeat. 

* “MC-you love me right?” he asked, his cheeks red.

* “Wha-of course I do! Why would you even ask me that?” MC felt almost offended at the question, prodding Yoosung with her gaze to talk.

* “Just-you’ve been so distant! I waited up for you to come to bed yesterday and you never did! I can’t-I don’t sleep that well if we don’t cuddle” he admitted with a pout. 

* MC had no retort to that. She simply leaned down, kissing him as she promised to pay more attention to him.

* And she’s never missed another night time cuddle session ever, ever again.

ZEN:

* You’d think he’d be really understanding, that he’d be sure to give MC the space and time she needs to work.

* But oh, you’d be very, very wrong-for Zen, the kinght, is in fact the biggest attention ho in the whole entire world.

* He will count the SECONDS between each hug and kiss from MC. And if it exceeds what he deems okay, he WILL come and demand those kisses for himself, work be damned.

* Is MC sitting on the couch with her phone, answering e-mails? Zen will plop himself onto the couch, shuffle beneath her hands and prop his chin on her chest beneath her phone with a pout.

* “Baby~ Where’s my afternoon kisses? Are you more interested in your phone than in me?” he’d teasingly ask, and well, it’s impossible to not lean down and kiss his ridiculous pout in moments like this.

* Jokes aside he’d be as helpful as he could, reminding MC to take frequent breaks and go to bed on time. He’d never admit he can’t sleep without holding her close but well-that’d be the truth.

* The days leading up to the party, MC would take her laptop with her even to bed, working on last-minute details that took all of her concentration-even Zen posing beside her, waggling his eyebrows did nothing to break her concentration

* Kudos to you MC because none of us could never-

* He’d have to take drastic measures-tackling her to give her cheeks, her nose, all of her face really peppered with little kisses, blowing a rasberry on her neck for good measure until she’s laughing and paying attention to him at long last so he can sneakily take the laptop away from her to properly lean over her and kiss her.

* Zen WILL get his cuddles and kisses. 

*Technology: 0, Zen: 1

JAEHEE:

* She’s a fellow workaholic so she completely understands MC’s need to focus-she’s the most supportive girlfriend, bringing MC coffee as she works, rubbing her shoulders if she’s been hunched over her computer for too long.

* Granted, once being an avid office worker herself, Jaehee knows when enough is enough, having MC take frequent breaks and eat proper meals. No neglecting self-care when Baehee’s around, nuh-uh!

* That being said, she’ll never really pout because MC isn’t giving her attention-even if she’s dying for a hug she’d never admit it, too embarassed to say so out loud.

* Until one night that is, 2 days before the party where MC is so focused on the flurry of last-minute e-mails the guests have sent, that she’s completely zoned in to her work, not noticing when the clock went well past-midnight.

* At first Jaehee quietly sat besides MC, working on some spreadsheets for the coffee shop, when she noticed the time-and how MC didn’t even look up even once, not even when Jaehee called out to her.

* “MC-” she started, “MC it’s late. Let’s go to bed.”

* MC simply shook her head, not even looking up. “You can go to bed first baby, I’ll join you later.”

* “MC-let’s both go to bed.”

* “Jaehee-”

* “I-” Jaehee started, looking away from MC who’d finally looked up from her work. “I can’t sleep-I can’t sleep without you. I suppose I’m too used to you beside me and...”

* She needn’t continue. MC was up in an instant, tugging Jaehee to their bedroom.

* This is as close to endearing as Jaehee will allow herself to be, and MC is NOT about to let this cuteness go to waste! Work can wait until the morning. 

JUMIN:

* He too is a known work-a-holic, and is actually great help when it comes to the party-he knows how to help MC maneuver around fussy guests and little mishaps, helping her plan it all to perfect detail.

* He’s not too upset at first when MC neglects him, focused more on the party than on him-in fact he’s very happy she’s so diligent, proud to call her his wife.

* As time went on however, Jumin felt more and more antsy-not even petting Elizabeth the 3d was enough, he still felt this odd, MC-shaped emptiness. 

* One evening he sat on the couch with MC beside him, her chin tucked onto her knees as she looked to her phone with an intense ferocity, typing away at yet another email.

* “Hm” Jumin hummed, “I find this rather odd.”

* “Hm? What’s odd?” MC asked, not looking up from her phone.

* Jumin sat there, looking to his glass of wine. “It’s been 13 hours and 45 minutes since the last time you’ve kissed me. This is odd-no, moreso, this is inexcusable. We must fix this immediatly.”

* MC grinned, putting down her phone as she shifted closer to Jumin.

* “And how do you propose we fix this?” she asked, her smirk a menace as she leaned closer to Jumin.

* “I can think of a few ways-shall I propose them to you?”

* MC was a breath away from his lips.

* “Please do.”

SEVEN/LUCIEL/SAEYOUNG:

* Sure he’s a goof, but he loves how diligent MC is, and respects her hard work so much-he’d hate to be the one to break her focus!

* So instead he quietly works away as MC sits besides him, typing with a flurry on her laptop, enough so that Saeyoung can’t help but wince sometimes as she pushes the keyboard buttons so hard it feels like she has a personal vendetta against them.

* He honestly never noticed how the hours flew by-and feeling her warmth next to him even in silence helped him get more work done than he ever managed to complete in one sitting without the presence of madam Vanderwood behind him lol

* But when he noticed that MC hasn’t even shifted her eyes away from her laptop for even a moment he knew he had to make her take a break. He’d hate if she ended up like him-what if her eyesight worsened? Or her neck got stiff because she’s hunched over that laptop?

* “Baby~ my honey bunny~ luz de mi vida~ moje med~ habibi~” he’d called out to her in every language he knew (only not really-he still has a couple more he’s saving for special occasions lol), only to be met with a frown and a raised brow from MC as she shifter her attention to him.

* “I love you!” he beamed, and ok, it’s impossible to stay mad at that cute smile-so MC simply rolled her eyes with a small grin. 

*“Mm, love you too-now let me get back to work Sae” she asked, but before she could shift her attention back to her computer, Saeyoung moved from his chair in a flush, dashing onto the couch she’d been sitting at, exchanging the laptop on her lap with-well, with himself.

* Sitting pretty on MC’s lap he wrapped his arms around her like a koala, nuzzling his face into her neck.

* “You’ve been neglecting your hero too much don’t you think? You’ve worked hard enough for today, now take your 707 to bed!”

* “Saeyoung-” MC started with a sigh “You’re heavy. I can’t lift you.”

* That made Saeyoung’s eye twinkle with mischief, a look MC was far too used to; before she could even utter ‘oh no’, Saeyoung got up, and with one smooth move, he had MC in his arms, holding her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

* “You can’t lift me, but I can lift you! And trust me I’ll be using that to it’s full~ advantage!” he grinned as he walked to the stairs with MC in tow. “Now off to bed we go!”

* Through his antics MC learnt to read between the lines; ‘im worried’, ‘you need rest’. How could she resist him when he’d been looking out for her in his own special way?

* So she let him take care of her, let him hold her by the waist as he slept with his face smooshed onto her back-and well, the guests could wait a few hours more before she answered to their pleas, now couldn’t they?

V/JIHYUN:

* Yes, it’s V, yes he’s super sweet, yes he’d be supportive of MC and her work-but let’s not forget that V is the leader of the RFA. He recognises how important MC’s role is, because he’s the one that gave her that role in the first place.

* He holds responsibility over her actions, so he’s the last person who’d try and distract her from her work. No, instead he’s twice as helpful, checking through every necessary thing with her, helping her answer demands from fussy guests, sharing some of the burden of calling and planning flower arrangements, catering and so forth. He’s the leader, and he’ll act like it, especially now that he can focus his undivided attention to the RFA.

* Sure, he misses lounging around with MC, being able to simply hold her close whilst watching old black and white movies, but that could wait.

* They’d transformed the living room into a make-shift office, papers scattered around the glass coffee table, MC sitting in front of the couch on the wooden floor with her laptop on the table-’it helps me stay focused’ she explained, and Jihyun didn’t argue it, merely brought some chair cushions to place on the floor so she could sit more comfortably.

* They’re the kind of silly couple that’d overwork themselves until they hear their stomachs growl, a reminder that they hadn’t eaten since morning and it’s now dark outside.

* With an awkward look to each other they’d laugh and take a break to cook something, still discussing the party even as they ate.

* Still, Jihyun would do his best to take care of MC’s health through it all, reminding her to drink water and eat well, even as he forgot to do so himself-but luckily MC did the same for him, and slowly they managed to fall into an easy rhythm of working and taking care of one another.

* At night as they lay in bed, MC is still typing away at her phone in the dark, checking her calendar and writing down any remidners needed for tomorrow’s work.

* In that moment, that’s when loneliness struck Jihyun. Laying besides her on his back, tilting his head to see her sitting cross legged on the bed, he pouted, stretching out his arm to poke MC on the thigh. 

* She simply responded with a grunt, her hair covering her face as she leaned over her phone. His frown deepening, Jihyun poked her again, and again until she turned to him with a questioning look.

* Jihyun didn’t say anything-merely extended his arms towards her making grabby fingers and exaggerating his pout until MC yielded with a laugh, putting her phone on the night stand to turn and huddle close onto Jihyun’s chest, hearing his relaxed sigh as she fit into his embrace.

* “Mm, that’s better” he whispered, trailing his fingers over her back, “I’d never want to distract you from your work-I’m thankful you’re putting in so much effort for the RFA but...I missed you” he admitted, earnign courage from the darkness of the room, the quietness saved from the hustle of the city outside.

* “I’ve been next to you the whole day baby” MC laughed, but Jihyun shook his head.

* He tugged her up to his face, kissed the tip of her nose, her lips. “Like this” he whispered, “I missed you like this.”

* He’s not a very vocal man when it comes to his emotions-so for him to reach the point of saying such a thing...well, MC has to make it up to him sOMEHOW. *wink wonk*

* And she did. *wink wonk intensifies*

SAERAN/RAY/UNKNOWN:

* It’s his first party as an official member of the RFA too, and he’s...honestly he just might be more stressed than MC lol.

* He’ll try his best not to show it, instead constantly asking MC if she needs any help, to the point that she had to shush him once as she made yet another typo in an email because of the distraction.

* So Saeran simply let her work on the couch as he sat beside her, fiddling with his own phone. He even opened up the RFA messenger a couple times, asking if anyone else needed any help-he knew that something deep in him was just trying to make up for all the things he’s done to hurt the RFA, a guilt that manifested itslef into over-willingness to help, but he couldn’t help it, needing to do something to prove himself.

* He rationally knew there’s no need to feel this guilt-after all in the end he’s the one that managed to help the RFA, finding his brother and saving the guests from Mint Eye’s plan in the party last year, but well, this and that are two different things.

* Either way, he felt furstrated, and looking at MC’s concentrated face didn’t help.

* So instead he decided to help in his own little ways; hiding away in the kitchen for a couple hours only to return with a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies and warm tea, a fresh cut rose from the garden in one hand to leave like a little offering in front of MC; but she didn’t so much as look up from her laptop, too focused on her work.

* Saeran frowned, but didn’t try to distract her-instead he quietly put the cookies, tea and rose on the table, moving away before MC could so much as turn to look at him-though he doubted she would, too zoned in to even hear the clatter happening besides her.

* She only noticed a couple hours later, after the tea went cold, as she realised dusk had set, pink hues overtaking the sky-had she been working for so long? And Saeran, where is he-oh.

* On the arm chair next to the couch lay Saeran, his head tucked on his chin, resting on one side of the armchair with his eyes shut-only then did she turn and notice the cookies, the tea-the rose carefully placed behind her laptop...did he do all this for her?

* Gingerly MC got up, tiptoed around Saeran to pull out a blanket to cover him-the action must’ve roused him though, as his eyes fluttered open, catching MC as she unfolded the blanket.

* She smiled apologetically at him. “Sorry-I didn’t mean to wake you.”

* “And I didn’t mean to fall asleep” he said with a shake of his head, slowly moving to stretch as he extended his arms. 

* He noticed the pink sky, nodding to the balcony door. “Wanna take in some fresh air?”

* MC nodded, quietly following Saeran out to the balcony, grabbing a cookie from the plate first.

* She stood beside him as he leaned onto the railings, taking in the beauty of their little home-grown garden below, the chirping of birds in trees as they settled for the night to come. 

* MC cut the cookie in half, offering one part to him as she took a bite out of the other half.

* “I-I’m sorry, I never even noticed you made these. They’re delicious Saeran, thank you” she smiled.

* Saeran returned her smile with his own, brighter than the setting sun behind him. He clasped his hands around MC’s extended one, pushing it back to her chest. “I made them for you-I know you missed lunch so at least eating a snack could help you keep your energy levels up-um, I didn’t want to distract you but I wanted to help so...”

* MC shook her head, leaning up to place a kiss to the corner of Saeran’s lips, relishing in the pink blush on his cheeks, his nose.

* “You’re helping just by being besides me, thank you. I promise you this will be the best RFA party yet-I want you to enjoy it.”

* Seran’s smile grew wide. He looked to the woman he loved, the half cookie held near her chest, his heart fluttering.

* “I will. So long as you’re there with me, I will.”

* Anyway the moral of this story is IF YOUR BOYFRIEND MAKES YOU COOKIES DON’T IGNORE HIM. GIVE HIM A SMOOCH!!!! A SMOOCH MC!!!!!

-send me mystic messenger headcanons for character reactions-

-masterpost-

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Kissing Dead Pearls (Part 10)

He could never find her, no matter how hard he tried. No one could find her and no one ever did. Not until she wanted them too.

“It’s just a dumb game Azula!” Zuko would always declared. “Who cares if you always win.” He did and she knew it. They all cared and they were all jealous.

She always had the best hiding spots and she owed it partially to her teeny build; she could scramble into places that none of her friends, save for Toph, could fit in. To some extent, she still can, but not as many as she could as a child.

That day she had tucked herself into a particularly tight wedge nestled in the cove. During their play, nothing was off limits, every crevice and orifice was fair game. Though they mostly avoided the cave in the cove because it was too dark and too wet.

Azula had always been more adventurous, more darling, and, in childhood, more reckless and less careful. She shambled up a large rock, it was slick and wet and she was almost certain that she would fall and give away her hiding spot with a large splash. Luck was on her side, she managed to cling on and reach the top. From there she climbed her way into the wedge and waited, listening to the waves lapping against the sandstone and the steady drip drop of the moisture leaking from the cave ceiling. She could feel slimy seaweed sloughing down her arm and she stuck her tongue out in disgust. But she would endure it for the sake of her victory streak.

A few minutes turn into ten and then ten into fifteen before she heard Sokka and Zuko declare they gave up. Their voices were distant. It took another five before Katara made her declaration.

Azula’s smugness turned to pure dread in an instant. It is the instant that she tried to pull herself out of the wedge. It was an all encompassing terror when she found that the hole in the wall was too small for even she afterall. She remembers how her stomach had sank. How another ten minutes went by and then another. A feeling of suffocation and helplessness as she tried fruitlessly to back out of the crevice. An effort that only became more worthless as the panic had set in more.

Soon it had been an hour and then two before it finally occurred to her that she should cry or, at least, scream. She intended to only scream once, but that had opened the floodgates to all out bawling.

That was all she had needed to do. “I found you!” Sokka declared smugly. She had never been more relieved to lose a game.

Hakoda’s voice was the next that she’d heard, a soothing and soft one instructing her to stop crying for a moment and to relax her body as much as possible and then to suck in her belly and duck her head as close to the floor as she could.

Strong hands wrapped around her ankles and pulled. She’d heard Ursa whimpering softly. She was given a few bone jerking tugs before her body had come free. Her knees were skinned and her cheeks and elbows scrapped. Ozai had passed her to Ursa who’d held her nearly as tightly as the cave had and caressed her hair.

She hadn’t gotten in trouble that night, they were too relieved for that, but she had earned a reputation for constant childhood accidents and mishaps.

.oOo.

She doesn’t want to go home, she wants to go anywhere but home. But the longer she delays, the madder he is going to get. Katara knows this. She usually doesn’t like to be touched, but this time she lets Katara rub her back while she sits with her elbows digging into her thighs and her face buried in her hands.

Hakoda is just as aware as Katara. “If you need to stay here until he sobers up, you can take Sokka’s bed. I know that he won’t mind.”

Azula nods despite her apprehension. She hasn’t been in his room since he’d disappeared. She isn’t sure that she can take it, not tonight. Not when her mental state is already in the beginning stages of immense turmoil.

“You don’t mind the sofa, do you, Zuko?” The man asks.

“Couch is fine.” She hears his reply from down the hall.

She puts her hand on the doorknob but can’t bring herself to turn it. She gives a slight jolt at the sound of footsteps. “It was hard for me at first, too.” Katara confesses. “But it isn’t so bad after that.”

Azula takes a deep breath and twists the knob. The door falls open and she is greeted by a familiar ambiance. His walls are painted deep blue, he hasn’t bothered to take down the ocean life wall stickers that he’d put up as a kid. In fact he still has a few stuffed sharks and jellyfish strewn about in the corner. But he has also acquired several surfboards to hang on the wall--strictly decorative. And from the ceiling hang a collection of shark teeth and a few fishbones.

The floor has as much clutter as she remembers; a stack of knocked over reggaeton and reggae albums lies at the foot of his bed near a collection of sport-themed DVD’s. Clothes, mostly socks and aloha shirts, are cast randomly about the floor and drape over a chair by a desk.

The desk teems with other trinkets; a few bobble heads, 3D photo crystals depicting jelly fish, some unopened snack bars, and a few poorly done drawings along with pencils among other things. She then finds the pictures. There is one of just he and Katara holding fishing poles. Next to that is one of their family at the grand opening of their food joint. And next to that… Her stomach flutters and her eyes prickle. He has his arm around her, flashing the camera a goofy grin. He wears the most ridiculous pineapple shaped sunglasses and a straw hat. She remembers him forcing her to wear an even more ridiculous clownfish hat and a cheap rainbow lei.

Her tear finally escapes when she sees the next photo. She doesn’t remember it having been taken. Which is probably because she is asleep in the photo. Asleep and clutching a stuffed stingray. The same one she’d had since she was a child and her parents took she and Zuko to the aquarium. She is certain that Zuko still has his stuffed turtle.

She wishes that Sokka were home, if only to kick his ass for sneaking that picture. “He really liked that one.” Katara nods to that picture.

“Yeah…” she trails off quietly. “I’m sure he did.”

“I’ll leave you alone?”

Azula nods.

“I’ll send Zuko to get you when dinner is ready.”

She nods once more.

She waits until Katara leaves to make her way to Sokka’s bed. Her lower lip trembles as she climbs into it and bunches herself into a ball. It smells like him. In some way, being tangled in his blankets is like being swaddled in his arms. But it lacks the warmth that he had. In the privacy of the room she cries more openly. For the loss of Sokka. For the loss of her mother. For the loss of her father as he used to be.

She cries for her failed attempt. For her inability to even search for Sokka. For the abuse she’d taken and for the abuse she was about to take as soon as she inevitably faced her father. He was going to reek of alcohol and testosterone.

Her eyes are dry again and she has managed to catch an hour or so of sleep when she hears the knock. “The food is ready. It smells wonderful too.” Zuko calls.

“You can meet me at the table, Zuzu.” Groggily, Azula pulls herself up. She runs her hands over her face. She knows that her makeup is smeared and her hair is tousled. It doesn’t really matter, she has no one to impress right now.

She makes her way to the kitchen and pulls out a chair. Kya offers her a loving smile and her belly flutters again. That smile reminds her too much of her mothers for her to not have to bite the inside of her lip to keep tears at bay. She is being much too sentimental tonight.

“I’m sorry that you’re having such a rough night, sweetheart.” Kya cups her hand over Azula’s.

She doesn’t seem to take much offense at Azula’s lack of an answer. She eats in silence, listening to the other four make mundane conversation mostly about shows and how the restaurant repairs are coming along. She picks at her food, not really tasting it at all. It isn’t that the food isn’t rich and scrumptious, more so that her taste buds have dulled and her appetite has fled to make room for a feeling of sorrow.

There comes a knock, a heavy knock. Azula’s stomach plummets and the rest of her appetite is sapped away.

“I think that it is better if you return home.” Hakoda fills the doorway.

“I need to talk to her.” Ozai insists. She listens for a slur.

“We are in the middle of dinner.”

“I can wait.” She doesn’t need to see him to know that he his crossing his arms.

“After dinner we have other plans.”

“The discussion will not be long.” She hears no slur and she isn’t sure if this is more or less worrisome.  She wonders if she should just get it over with. With a deep breath she stands.

“Azula…” Zuko starts. She pulls her wrist out of his grasp and makes her way to the door. Her eyes are dim and as impassive as she can will them to be.

Hakoda seems to go tense.

“Father.” She greets as dimly as her eyes.

The man looks her over and rubs his hand over his face again. “I didn’t come to the beach to fight with you.”

“But you still did it.” She mumbles, absently massaging her bruised wrists. His eyes follow her hand and find the purple-yellow. She thinks that he might have winced. She slips that hand into her pocket. “What do you want.”

He holds out an ice pack, “just to talk with you.”

“We can talk when you’re sober.” She replies with as much coldness as the pack he holds out. She retreats back into the house.

They are three of Sokka’s favorite romantic comedies in, and she still can’t get Ozai out of her mind. She wishes that Sokka could be there to watch the movies with them.

.oOo.

Being back in the lighthouse is dreadful. She knew that Hakoda and Kya couldn’t let them stay forever. Though they offered to take them back if Ozai laid a hand on either of them. Her father isn’t home yet, but this is much worse than him having waited by the door. The anxiety of waiting for him to finally arrive is getting to she and Zuko both.

Zuko spends the better portion of the day pacing around the lighthouse. She is more subdued, taking up the demeanor of a death row inmate, with a silent resignation of her fate.

The door falls open and Zuko jolts. Azula grips the edge of her chair as Ozai’s footfalls echo. “Both of you!” He calls. Zuko freezes where he stands, his body locks. Azula can feel her mind ebbing away. It has been a long time since her mind has gone distant and impassive, but it is her only defense. “Come down and have a seat.”

Zuko catches her hand as she numbly lets her feet take over. “Azula, don’t.” She shakes her head. “Better to get it over with.”

Zuko follows her down the spiral staircase. Ozai sits at the table, waiting. Feeling slightly wobbly, she takes her own seat. Zuko remains standing and a distance away from the table. When it comes to father, he might just be smarter than she.

Their father takes a deep breath, sets a stack of papers onto the table, and pushes them towards her. She quietly scans them over.

“What are those for?” Zuko asks.

She meets Ozai’s stare and he nods. “They’re...AA forms, Zuzu.”

“Khozen wouldn’t pour me another glass until I went.” He grumbles.

“How long have you been attending?” Zuko asks.

“Just a few days now.”

“Is that where you were on Monday?” Azula asks, suddenly feeling as though she had been the aggressor on the beach that day.

He pinches the bridge of his nose before confessing, “no, I was at the bar.”

“So much for, Khozen not pouring you another glass…” Zuko grumbles.

“I went to AA and he poured me a glass as he said he would.” Ozai shrugs.

“Have fun sharing that story at your next meeting.” Zuko crosses his arms. “Is that all you wanted?”

“Not quite.” Ozai replies. “I want you to take that boat that the two of you bough and return it…”

“I’m going to find Sokka.” Azula hisses. “I…”

“What you are going to do, Azula, is return that boat.” He pauses. “That money was your college fund, was it not?”

Azula flushes.

“And Zuko’s...and a good portion of our lighthouse fund.”

Her lower lip quivers.

“You are going to return that boat. Khozen’s will do us just fine and it will cost us much less.”

Azula looks up from the table. “Khonzen’s boat?”

“He used to be a pirate. He and I struck a deal. If I...succeed with this,” he gestures to the packets, “he will lend me the boat free of charge and we can go and search for answers together.” He pauses. “I lost your mother, I’m not about to let the two of you sail away without me. Understood.”

Tears well in her eyes again, but this time they are born of a different emotion. Hope, she realizes. She nods, “yes, father.”

“Does that sound fair to you?”

Frankly, she thinks that, for once, her father might be getting the short end of the deal. But then, getting clean isn’t such a terrible fate. “It does.”

“Does that sound fair to both of you?”

Zuko shifts his weight, never uncrossing his arms. “I guess.” Azula can’t blame him for his skepticism.

“Can you wait a little longer?” He asks. “Maybe help Katara and her family with La-bsters and have you surf tournaments with Chan? And then we can go out to sea.”

“Can I bring Katara?” Zuko asks.

“That is up to Hakoda and Kya.”

Azula doesn’t particularly want to delay, but the offer on the table shows more promise than spending her college fund and taking an impulsive, grief-driven expedition. “I can wait a little longer.”

[italianfish]

Here’s some things that I’ve overheard recently

- Michael Jackson part 1, before he came around

- That’s a sexy gauge

- We have cones in our eyes??? *Turns to friend* Show me your eyes.

- What’s ROYGBIV? Is that a person?

- I put the jewish inside of him

- The air in my house is polluted with sleeping pills

- One day someone will react to my gay jokes

- One day someone brought a tub of ice cream out of their backpack in the middle of class

- Hey Francis (Talking to a blow up alien)

- Why do you like assholes

- Aladdin doesn’t have nipples

- Support your own god damn neck!

- I saw my friend in the bathroom and he gave me orange juice

- FORM THE EQUATOR!!!

- Yes, indeed my good sir

- Sharing your wealth is the way to become poor

- I’m sorry I don’t have calcium in my body

- Why the pancreas?!

- I watched this show and these characters exploded and it was my favorite show

- Someone is going to lose a pancreas

- A: Don’t lose your pancreas B: I’ll try to hold onto it

- She knew how to multiply! And I was like “You’re only three!”

- Come on Moser, hitting the nut won’t do anything

- I work with a prostitute

- I love crunchy pancakes

- You are a big neon doof

- Look I can spit, I’m cool now

- ‘Ay! Trout!

- In her free time she did her taxes

- Hey! You like Raisin Bran?

- If you get a rooster you’ll be hungry, unless you eat him

- It smells like Hawaii

- If A claims he’s a god and Jesus says he’s the son of god... Does that mean Jesus is A’s son?

- We managed to convince our sub that this was a film and lit class so we watched infinity war all period

- A- So let’s keep the duck B- It’s a vulture...

- Did you just call me fuzzy?

- I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on

- He looks like a punk rock jazz drummer

- A- British! British! B- I HAVE A NAME!

- Stop putting your dog in the oven!

- Did you expect it to be that good of a cactus?

- I relate to Squidward so much

- He was like the dad that left to get cigarettes and never came back

- We’re literally following Marty Mcfly

- My elbows are funky fresh

- A- You shank em’ B- No! That is the exact opposite of a solution!

- Unicorns caused global warming

- A- No balls in class! B- But we’re in health

- The crazy chellos are back

- See! I do have friends!

- It’s a train, a train of love

- A- Why do they keep getting rid of the babies? B- I don’t know, abortion

- You have to earn the bucket hat

- My friend brought in 7 bucket hats

- Hide the forks!

- The turtles tried to cross the road once

- I’m scared of turtles

- So does everyone just carry a sword around in their back pocket?

- When you’re fishing, anyone in a bucket hat has authority

- She has cheese on her hook!

- Are your knee pits moist?

- Why are you molesting me with water

- I was born vaccinated

- I was born to be a little spoon

- Why do I look like a hispanic man

- Can I tickle your knee pits?

- You’re going to get eaten by the ocean

- A- You’re a hot mess B- Hey! At least I’m hot!

- They’ve developed a handshake! Isn’t this a problem?!

- We’re in the OG thirteen colonies

- A- I’m not used to seeing those big grassy structures B- You mean trees?!

- My name is bagged milk

- You only drink bagged milk once, in Canada

- It’s not expensive, you’re just poor

- I forgot I’m a lady

- That’s you after I poop

- I want to be Brazilian

- I figured out what the voice was! They’re playing Bingo

- A- Do “coo coo” B- CAW

- It’s probably in a nice aisle, aisle 9

- So inside the bag there are 3 more bags full of milk

- Mom we got the bagged milk

- He told me I looked like Nicholas Cage

- Her bio says inhale the kale

- I feel like an easy bake oven

- The bags just like, left

- But what about the unicorns

- Look at that potato! That looks free!

- Everyone! Find a piece of metal and lick it

- I’m the toilet man

- Go fetch me grapes

- All girls want to molest this

- He ate a whole pancake out of an Applebee’s dumpster

- Why did he eat turf

- I’m on a mission to find dairy products

- I was going to go to school and pretend to be a witch

- Remember when you put the lotion in my mouth and I drank it?

- We’re playing quarter baseball

- Pretend you’re sleeping

- The ultimate frisbee association

- My mom picked me up from school so I could go to ultimate frisbee practice

- They got a $2000 grant for a barely existing ultimate frisbee team

- She’s ultra mom

- The dodgeball guy called my friend a walrus

- We did a dramatic reading of an adult novel

- He was buying materials to make a whip

- Grate her down like a piece of cheese

- We sat in a circle and named our most Jewish quality

- 4 is the cosmic number

- I hate being a fertile woman

- Excuse me I’m Jewish

- Surprise disco duet

- I shook like 7 tents

- She’s the strings teacher, we keep her in the basement

- Whenever we finished a test and we said “I’m done” he would say “I’m done! You’re finished!” his last name was Done

- I thought the fire hydrant was a turkey

- I asked him if his password was like an anniversary or something and he said “It’s the date of my grandparents death”

- He gives us weekly quantum physics lectures

- Bruh! That looks like a lunchbox!

- No offense but this guy would make out with a floorboard

- You seem like the kind of person to kiss a floorboard

- You sound exactly like my pediatrician

- Lots of poop, no sock

- She’s not doing her work, she’s looking at Peppa pig

- Yo neighbor, I need some sugar

- White moms are really easy to scare

- Even though it’s part of Asia, ITS NOT

- Why was there a hanging waffle?!

- I got complimented on my croissant

- You can sell your liver

- Bernie Sanders reminds me of a muppet

- WHY IS THERE A HELICOPTER IN THE KITCHEN!!!!

- What are you going to do? Hunt squirrels?

- *A bunch of AP students shouting “Linguini”*

- I got bitten by an iguana in Aruba

- We got an actor to join the hammock group chat

- Say goodbye to your ovaries

- I’m half a butt cheek away from death

- Are you one of those people who puts ice cream and pop tarts in a blender

- Yo! You got any shoes I can eat???

- That’s how you segregate your trail mix???

- He has a six pack of ribs

- I’m so done with books about African children

- Do homies kiss

- I’m here for the num nums

- Don’t touch my pizza you savage!!!

- HURRY UP AND MEDITATE

- What are you for Halloween? Jewish?

- Do ducks have tails

- He was the one that broke the constitution

- Oh god now there’s Hitler on my paper

- God given right of ruling... Manifest destiny in China

- Do you shampoo your eyebrows

- This isn’t Bayblade!

- Bob Ross wasn’t an artist, he was an art therapist

- If anyone on the team is a jellyfish, it’s definitely Brandon

- It’s your fault that I’m not going to college!

- I’m having spinach for dinner! I’m so excited!

- I locked him in his toolbox

- Let’s rent a midget for a day and we can throw him against a wall

- I know how to utilize money, but do I know how to utilize it well, that’s another question

- Man, that place needs a Chick-fil-a, and I’m going to make it

- We should have the purge in school one day

- If you’re weird enough, people won’t want to rape you

- Flex seal it with tape

- Oh yeah, I got vinegar all over my sweatshirt

- Don’t say “Have a good day”, because I’m not having a good day

- Well maybe someday you’ll have cancer

- What’s up guys, I’m from Richie’s pizza, and today I’ll be showing you my body count

- An obo sounds like a clarinet with Down syndrome

- I DONT HAVE ANY MARINARA SAUSCE ON ME RIGHT NOW

- WE WILL SMUGGLE OUR KIDS TO AMERICA

- I’m the jolly black giant

- You pissed off a priest

- If we get a lot of money, I can take her boyfriend to prom

- Ted Bundy would share a lot of ideas with you

- They’re doing a milk experiment... But with marinara

- A- That’s not a color! B- But it’s on a crayon!

- Hey what’s up cheese goblin

- I’m letting my toes breathe

- I’m just saying, tinfoil doesn’t taste that bad

- YOURE EATING IT YOU UNGRATEFUL SWINE

- When I was away were you in my house? Because it’s happened before

- How do you say I have scoliosis in Italian?

- I’m gonna give give birth to a duck, right here, right now

- Are you comparing a 3D printed violin to genocide

- I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE

- Brother from another mother, TELL ME ABOUT THAT

- I’m a vulture, just vulturing

- I’m going on a field trip to the sewage treatment plant on my birthday

- You’re making my vagina angry

- Competitive Just Dance team

- Oh no there’s spaghetti falling out of my pockets!

- (Yoda impression) Take anger out on minorities I must

- I can turn off the lights and you’d still be white

[galacticbugman]

Colorado Fun! Summer 2019 Part 1: Prehistoric Adventures

Greetings from Colorado! It was sure a wild trek I took a few weeks ago. It was so cool to visit some of the old hot spots and the new places. This was a photo of me taken at one of my favorite Dinosaur Museums. This place is called the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center. It has a lot of cool things in it. It may be a small little place but it has quite the collection. Here I am behind a model of a Megalodon’s Jaws. These suckers got huge. They wouldn’t have to bite just to swallow you whole. I am so tiny compared to this set of Shark Chompers. It was kind of freaky yet cool. I got a lot of neat photos so lets get started. Just a warning you will be hearing and reading a lot of Jurassic Park related stuff in this posting. 

Okay so you know I can’t pass up a Jurassic Park post it is one of my favorite movies of all time. This one is at the same place as the Meg jaws. This poster I am next to is an authentic original Jurassic Park (1993) Poster. I have all the movies and now the original books. Jurassic Park has had a big impact on my life and I enjoy the whole series. The movies are great and the books are even better. I have been a big fan and no trip to a Dinosaur museum is never complete without some references to classic Dinosaur films from the Sliver Screen. Did you notice my clothes? I thought you did. Yep I wore my Jurassic Park button down and my Jurassic World Raptor shirt for this trek. I went all out and even wore my fossilized Shark Tooth Necklace. I always have a theme when I got to certain places or at least I try to. 

On the other side of the theater area they have another authentic poster from my favorite JP movie in the series. This is an original poster from The Lost World: Jurassic Park which came out in 1997. This was so cool to see posters from the two best Jurassic Park films ever created. I really enjoy finding Jurassic Park based things. I just crazy about stuff like this. I really enjoy the novels that Michael Crichton wrote back in the 90s as well as the movies. I like both types of media and I know that when this movie came out many fans of the book were pretty outraged by the movie not being like the book like we saw with the first movie which did follow pretty close to the book with a few plot differences and things. Jurassic Park for me is one thing I really enjoyed growing up with I have some of the Toys, a Jurassic Park bed sheet set, all of the movies that does include the Jurassic World stuff. I have the Lego Jurassic World Video Game for the Nintendo 3DS, I have played countless Jurassic Park games including the Rampage Edition, the NES Jurassic Park game, the SNES game, I have played the demo for Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, I have played Jurassic Park Builder for Android, Jurassic World the Game, and Jurassic World: Alive. i even have the Jurassic Park: Danger board game. I am just a huge fan of this and have several shirts and things that I wear pretty often. I wasn’t able to watch the films until I was older. I was I was about ten or eleven when I was finally able to watch the films. Ever since I was able to watch them my mind was blown and I became an instant fan. Of course I did collect  the toys way before I saw the movies I have several that I might post in post of their own in a collection of my collectibles that I have collected over the years of being a huge fan of many things. Still a pretty cool find in one of the coolest museums on the planet. 

One of the coolest things about this museum is that they have the third Largest Tyrannosaurus-Rex. It used to be the second almost topping Sue; but in recent years there is another one that has been discovered to be even taller than Sue. Still this monster is one of my favorite dinosaurs and has always been my favorite since I was kid and it is one of my favorites in the Jurassic Park franchise. Tyrannosaurus-Rex was not really an active hunter but more of a scavenger. It’s teeth are kind of dulled out and only used for ripping and swallowing whole instead of chewing. What is the deal with the tiny little stubby arms you ask? It has been up for debate for years but some thing that they played a part in the mating ritual of this species but we are not too sure about that. It is just speculation which paleontology is all about. Still a fantastic and giant creature from the last Cretaceous period. 

 One of my favorite shark fossils is this one. This is an almost complete spinal region and skull of a shark. It maybe the only one in existence so far as we know. This is kind of a really interesting rarity. As we know Shark skeletons are made of cartilage and it often breaks down and deteriorates after a while but in this is one of those rare fossils of cartilage. It is kind of neat and this shark may looks small but it is pretty large. The photos don’t really do it justice than experiencing these fossils in person. Lets look at another cool fossil shall we. 

What is this weird creature? Is it an alien? Well it is from a time very different from our own. This is the Giant Ground Sloth and my brother and I saw this guy being put together on a display stand. This is one of the weirdest creatures. You may have heard of the Horse Apple or Bois De’ Arc tree. Well the horse apple was a favorite food of this species as well as the mammoths that lived here thousands of years ago. This one was pretty young and just a little taller than me. I am about 5′ 9″ and these guys could get up to ten foot tall so this guy was not even close to being done growing. This guy is kind of a weird dumpy animal but it is quite interesting to look at. It was kind of cool to see all kinds of extinct animals other than Dinosaurs. There was a bunch of neat stuff at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. 

As a huge Jurassic Park fan I couldn’t help but notice this skull hanging in the prehistoric wing of the museum. You may recognize it from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. This guy is the Stygimoloch AKA Stiggy in Jurassic Park. Sorry to bust your bubble on these guys but they can’t actually ram each other or solid brick wall. These guys would shatter their skulls if they were to do that. These guys may have used their heads to amplify noise or to show off for the ladies. These guys are still pretty cool to look at. I saw this and was instantly familiar with it. Stiggy is one of my favorite Jurassic World Dinosaurs for the chaos at the auction scene when we was running about causing panic and confusion to buy Owen Grady some time. This was one of the coolest fossils in their collection. This is the first one of these I have seen in any museum collection. 

A cool battle scene between an Allosaurus and a Stegosaurus. You might think of a Stegosaurus to have a pretty good defense due to those big thick bony plates; however this is simply not the case. The plates are actually very thin and were possibly only used for mating purposes. This made the plates more like a blood filled cookie. Still they did have their famous weapon the Thagomizer which was used as a weapon and could really do some damage. I will never forget the scene in The Lost World: Jurassic Park when Sarah Harding gets attacked by the family heard after her camera messes up when she is photographing the baby causing it to sent of an alarm call. Stegosaurus is a huge dinosaur and will always be one of my favorites. Fun Fact: In the first Jurassic Park novel by Michael Crichton instead of using a sick triceratops like they did in the film it was actually a sick Stegosaurus that Dr. Harding was caring for when the Toyota Land Cruisers came up to that point on the tour. That was one of the biggest differences in media but the same thing was going on with both animals in both forms of media.   

A close up of a Stegosaurus Thagomizer. 

A cool Hadrosaur fossil that was also at the Denver Museum. They had a lot of cool fossils but I didn’t get a chance to photograph them all. There was just too much and so little time to see the whole museum but heck it was really cool to see some of the Jurassic Park superstars in this museum. Hardrosaurus was not in Jurassic Park but this was one of the first dinosaurs I ever learned about. These guys are also known as Duck-bills for their goofy looking mouths. Dinosaurs had some of the coolest features from weird headgear, to weird mouth shapes, to their wild arsenal of weapons. Even in the time of the dinosaurs biological warfare was very weird. 

A rather cool replica I got on the trip was this cast of a Raptor claw. I am a huge Raptor fan and adding one of these to my collection was really cool. My collection is now in a nice display cabinet with some of my Jurassic Park toys in the mix just to make it more interesting. Fossils are just one of my favorite things to collect and even though this is a fake it is still a nice edition to my educational collections and too I got it reminded me of Alan Grant’s Raptor Claw from Jurassic Park (1993) and I am a huge JP Raptor fan. I will be doing a top ten Jurassic Park Dinosaurs post soon to show you what my top 10 pics are after the trip photos. So stay tuned more animals and stuff to show you from Colorado as my Colorado trip review continues. 

[kronk-is-launchpad]

Here in the Garden (Chap. 1)

Summary:  Della Duck didn't think of the possible consequences of leaving her unhatched eggs. Nor did she think of the pain she'd cause to her 3 yr old daughter. Donald takes the triplets in a fit of emotions, but doesn't think to take his only niece. After being forced to give up searching for Della, Scrooge now devotes all his time & affection to his youngest niece. Elliot has grown up unaware that she has brothers, and now that very fact is holding her up by the thread.

MASTERLIST

[DuckTales 2017]

[DuckTales OC insert]

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elliot was at a meeting with Scrooge & the 'penny pinchers', bored out of her mind. Though surprisingly, she'd rather be no where else. Scrooge is the only person she could trust, and she didn't plan on that changing anytime soon.

   On the limo ride back Scrooge was telling Elliot about how annoying Glomgold was, and she responded with the usual "hm" And "huh". As the gate pulled into view, she could see a station wagon. LaunchPad lurched to a stop, sending Scrooge & Elliot out their seats. Scrooge got up, mad as ever.

"Why aren't we movin?!" He shouted.

Scrooge immediately moves over LaunchPad to honk the horn and get out the limo.

"Ay!!" He yelled angrily, "Jettison that jallopy from my driveway this instance you deadbeat!!"

A familiar duck exits the station wagon and walks towards Scrooge. They meet halfway, glaring at each other with sheathed anger.

"Donald Duck." Scrooge seethed.

"Uncle Scrooge." Donald responded.

Elliot's eyes widen, and she slowly gets out the limo.

"Dona?" Elliot called out quietly, tears starting to fill her eyes.

"Ellie?" Donald whispered, taking a step towards her.

Scrooge cuts Donald off, glaring at him with the fierceness of a beast.

"JETTISON THAT JALOPY FROM MY DRIVEWAY THIS INSTANT YA DEADBEAT!!" Scrooge growled loudly, annunciating each word with a poke of his cane.

The two duck spiraled off into a pointless argument as Elliot shifts her attention to the 3 kids in the car who were filled with excitements. They were clearly triplets, with different color-coded outfits to distinguish one from the other. The one duckling wore a red polo shirt with a baseball cap to match. The duckling to the right wore a green hoodie, and to the left was a duckling in a light blue long-sleeve with a darker blue t-shirt over it.

'Dona had kids?' she wondered, 'did he really forget about me?'

She gets shaken out her thoughts by Scrooge's yelling.

"YOU'RRREEEE WELCOME!!" he taunted loudly, but then realizing what had happened, "wait what?"

Donald huddles the triplets out of the station wagon, and over to Scrooge.

"Huey, Dewy, Louie," he introduced, "meet Scrooge McDuck."

The ducklings looked like they were about to burst from the intensity.

"Remember," Donald warned, "no tricks, no lies, no trouble."

"Yes Uncle Donald," the ducklings responded in-sync.

"I wasn't talking to you," Donald corrected, his eyes narrowing at Scrooge, who returned the favor.

After Donald drove away the 4 ducks start heading back to the car, sending Elliot into panic.

'What do I do?!' She thought nervously, 'I don't know these kids?!'

Then the limo door opened.

"EEEEEEEEEEEE!" Huey squealed, "it's you!"

"It's me?" Elliot questioned nervously.

"THE Elliot McDuck is my Aunt!" He screamed, "this is the greatest day of my life!"

 Huey jumped up & down outside the limo,  giddy with glee. The other 2 looked at the teen with curiosity & amazement. Scrooge ushers the triplets into the limo, and Huey immediately start bombarding the young duck with questions.

"How do you create such innovative designs for your prosthetics? What 3D printer do you use for the models? Do you build them here or at the McDuck bin? How much work do you get done in a day?"

Before Elliot could answer, Scrooge was already blocking the red clad duckling.

"Leave the lass alone," Scrooge grumbled.

"No Coo, it's quite alright," Elliot interrupted, "curiosity brings discoveries.

I think of what people need in a prosthetic, and strive to make it happen. I don't 3D print as of now, but I do have a small lab in McDuck Manor for making models though the prototypes & final products are made in the McDuck laboratory. I can get a sketch & model in a 9-5 work day, but I do take days off to cool down. I hope I've answered all your questions."

Huey looked at the teen in awe, writing down everything she said. The limo lurched to a stop, causing the triplets to fall out of their seats. The partition rolled down to reveal LaunchPad.

"You're all home now Mr.McDee," he announced, "have a great day Elli!"

"Much appreciated LaunchPad," Elliot thanked as she exited the vehicle.

 She bolts to the door, Mrs. Beakly opening it automatically as she disappeared inside. Scrooge followed, walking normally. Once Scrooge made it through, the door is slammed shut on the triplets for a few seconds, before quickly being opened by Mrs. Beakly.

- - - - - -

'I didn't know Donald had kids,' Elliot thought as she made her way through the house, 'Did he really forget about me so easily?'

 She reached the garage, a wave of emotions fell over her. Seeing the souvenirs brought an old feeling of naivety, but it also brought tears to her eyes. Seeing all that happened while she was stuck to a garden with no social interactions outside of a butler. While lost in thought, she didn't notice 4 ducklings sneak in. As she ponders an old painting she hears a loud gong. She whips her head to see Webby being chased by a headless horse.

"*gasp* Ms. McDuck?" Webby blurted, "what are you doin in here?"

Before Elliot could counter there was another gong. The girls turn to see a ghost pirate chasing the triplets. Elliot runs past them, grabbing the kids and hiding.

"What are you 4 doing here?!" She shouted, "this isn't a playground!"

"We were bored!" Dewey responds frantically, "how was I supposed to know there were ghost pirates!?"

"And if we hear one more gong, an unspeakable evil will be set loose!" She screams.

"Not if I can help it!" Elliot growled, getting up.

She runs out, grabbing a sword and jumping on top of boxes.

"Hey Dorky Jones!" She shouted, catching the pirate's attention, "Where'd you get that hat? Party City?"

 The ghost let out a screech as it flew toward the teen at lightning speed. Elliot quickly dodges, flipping over the undead attacker and landing gracefully behind him. The pirate grabbed a glowing sword, ready to fight. Before either could charge a heavily accented voice rang out.

"What in Dismal Downs is going on here?!"

The 4 young ducks sheepishly turn to the elder one, as Elliot smiled nervously.

"Why good noon Coo!" Elliot greeted hurriedly, "What brings you here to garage?"

"Garage!?"

Before Scrooge could tear into the 5 ducks, another screech ripped itself free from the beak of Elli's opponent. Elliot quickly parries the glowing sword that was speeding towards her. She deflected it up, but the sword quickly turned itself around and was back to speeding at her face full-force.

"Aw phooey," she muttered tirelessly as she parried the endless attacks from the sword, getting pushed away from the group more and more.

"Could *pant* really use-woah! SOME HELP!" The teen shouted as the swipes got faster.

"The sword won't stop till it hits its target!" Webby shouted from the side lines as Scrooge is facing the ghost pirate and its new partner, the headless man horse.

'What do I do? What do I do?' Elliot thought frantically as she was growing tired from the persistent saber.

She could feel a lightbulb go off in her head.

'Ah-hA, That's it!'

After a final deflect she drops her sword, her stare calculated and confident as the sword was speeding back at her.

"Ms. McDuck what are you doing?!" Huey screeched out in terror as he covers his younger brothers eyes.

"Trust me!" The teen called out, her gaze still on the sword.

Just as the blade was about to impale her she quickly side stepped, ripping her sleeve and drawing a small amount of blood. The sword stopped glowing, dropping immediately. Elliot returns to the others to find the headless horse and ghost pirate gone.

"Now what are you all doing in the ga-rage?!" The Scotsman shouted, slamming his cane to the ground.

"So it IS a garage!" Huey exclaimed.

"B-but what about all this treasure?" Webby asked desperately, "The garden hose of destiny, Montezuma's stack of old magazines?"

It takes the energetic duck a moment to realize her words, and she slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"Unbelievable..." Scrooge growled, "I invite you into my home-"

"You locked us in a room!" Louie countered angrily.

"You did whAt?" Elliot cried out in disbelief.

" I gave them marbles!" Scrooge shouted back."

"All we wanted to do was spend time with you." Huey explained.

"Well now you have," Scrooge grumbled, "and look at the mess it's got me."

"I guess family's nothing but trouble," Dewey muttered aloud, "right Scrooge?"

Elliot watched as Scrooge's face contorted into an anger she never saw often. She took a step towards her angered parental.

"Everybody out." He growled.

"Coo let's just calm down for a min-"

"OUT!" He screeched, hitting the gong with his cane.

Everyone gawked at the action, some covering their beaks in shock.

"Oh what are you gaping at?"Scrooge asked, "the curse is only activated if you ring the gong three times, and-and you already hit it two times didn't you?"

Then the statue started to crack.

The stone crumbled away to reveal a slithery golden dragon. It broke through the roof, letting out a mighty roar.

"Pixiu, the Gold-Hunting Dragon," Webby muttered out.

"Gold hunting? Sounds great!" Louie commented.

"Not when you're Duckburg's single largest owner of gold!" Huey exclaimed.

"Aah! Me money bin!" Scrooge screeched in horror as he grabbed the dragon's tail, "Elliot! Take them inside!"

Elliot watched in awe as her legal guardian gets yanked into the sky. After minutes of shock pass, Webby starts to walk out of the garage with a mission.

"Where are you going?" Dewey called out.

"I'm gonna go eat a hamburger." Webby stated confidently.

"We're in!" Shouted the triplet

"Anything for Coo." Elliot said, joining the quartet.

"Cool!" Webby squealed, "and to be clear, I'm gonna go catch the dragon. The hamburger was a metaphor from before."

"Yeah, yeah, no, we get it. We get it." Dewy responded, "But how are we gonna get up there?"

Launchpad pops in out of nowhere, scaring the living daylights out the teen.

"I'm a pilot," He informed, an excited smile on his face.

"Well what are we wait for? To the Sunchaser!" Elliot shouted as they all ran to the large plane.

They quickly board the aircraft, Elliot buckling up the kids. She barely sits down when launchpad lurched the Sunchaser into the sky. Elliot struggles to look over her shoulder.

"You guys doing alright?" She calls out.

She here's a shaky chorus of "yeah!"s, along with one "We're gonna die!".

"Yeah they're fine," Elliot muttered reassuringly to herself.

Once the plane steadied enough Elliot hopped out of her seat and over to the kids, unbuckling them.

"Ok listen up team," Elliot commanded, "we need to form a chain to grab Scrooge. I'll be second in line while three of you support me. Who's grabbing him?"

"Step aside comrades," Dewey instructed, stepping out from the group, "I was born for this."

They all get in a line, linking arms with each other. The plane is becoming more unstable as they approach the flailing Scotsman.

"Launchpad now!" Elliot ordered, tightening her grip on Dewey's hand.

Launchpad opens the hatch, the air almost vacuuming Dewey out if not the duck-made chain. Dewey reaches out just as Scrooge looses grip on the golden dragon, grabbing the old duck's arm.

"Now heave!" the teen shouted over the thrashing winds.

The 5 ducks pull with all their might, dragging the Scotsman into the plane.

"I thought I told you to go to your-" Scrooge was cut off by Dewey.

"No time. We gotta work fast." He turns to the pink duck, "Webby, how do we stop it?

"It's mystical, so we need a mystical device," Webby stated, "like an oblivion mirror, or a medusa gauntlet, or-"

"Like this?" Louie suggested, pulling the gauntlet out of his pocket.

Everyone stares at the youngest duck, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"What? I was gonna give it back," He assured horribly, "Now, how do we get him down there?"

"Garden hose of destiny!" Huey chanted, pulling the makeshift rope out of thin air, "Launchpad, we need to swing him out. Nosedive towards the bin and get ready to pull up!"

"Yes, sir, random kid I just met!" Launchpad responded enthusiastically as the kids tied Scrooge to the makeshift rope.

"Any questions?" Dewey asked.

"Since when is Launchpad a pilot?" Scrooge questions as the hatch opens up again.

Elliot puts her hand on the Scotsman's should.

"Have a nice trip Coo," she said jokingly before pushing him out of the plane, "see you next fall!"

Launchpad nosedives towards the money bin, pulling up at the last moment and swinging Scrooge towards the mythical beast. Scrooge grips onto the tail with his gauntlet clad hand, reveling in his victory.

"You guys, our family is awesome!" Dewey cheered as they all held on to the garden hose of destiny.

The golden dragon upon realizing its predicament, started to thrash about, catapulting Scrooge high into the air. The ducks (minus Elliot) watched in horror as the Scotsman was free falling in the air.

"Ah for old times sake," Elliot mumbled before leaping out of the plane in a swan dive.

She caught up with Scrooge, who she gave a mischievous smirk to.

"See you in the gold," she shouted smugly, "old man!"

She accelerates past an offended Scrooge and dives gracefully into the money bin, the latter following suit. She comes up up for air, laying back onto the cold hard cash as faint cheering can be heard in the background. The cheering doesn't last for long as she then hears a loud crash. She lurches out of the bin along with Scrooge to help the kids.

—————————

"In the short time I've known you," Scrooge stared angrily, "you've wrecked my home and my money bin, unleashed several ancient evils, and almost got me killed, twice!"

"Four times if you count...each..monster...as an...individual..time," Huey corrects nervously.

Scrooge stomps in front of the 4 kids, Elliot gasping lightly as he does. Then in a turn of events he let's out a boisterous laugh.

"That was incredible! When you pulled me into the airplane and said 'No time!' And who would have thought of a Medusa Gauntlet?! Brilliant! Oh, and then you swung me out and pulled up just in time and..." Scrooge gets up, "You kids are nothing but trouble! Curse me kilts, have I missed trouble! I suppose I'll have to keep an eye on you to teach you how to get into trouble properly."

Scrooge pulls out his golden flip phone as the kids look excitedly at him.

"You mean?" Dewey questioned hopefully.

"Beakley! Clear my schedule!" Scrooge commanded into the flip phone, "I'm taking the wee ones on a field trip."

He hangs up the phone, turning to the other ducks.

"Now," He says devilishly, "let's go find the lost city of Atlantis!"

The Ducks cheered out a great big yeah.

"And no one tell your uncle Donald!" Scrooge adds.

The Ducks cheer even louder.

"Wait who is that?" Launchpad asks.