#holy shit i am SO SORRY this is so long

[chainsawworld]

She is literally so pretty who gave her the right

[thegreatyin]

How did you manage to handle not one, but FOUR separate accounts in fl? I recently made the account for my HD little guy but having to do the tutorial again just seems miserable

there's... weirdly several answers to that question, actually??

a HUGE part of it is due to the way FL is structured. the 10-minute action timer is a core part of the game on a fundamental level, and the fact that i can very easily run out of stuff to do on one character and thus have an excuse to quickly and easily swap to another is just... convenient? satisfying? i'm not entirely sure how to explain it. the fact that i can make progress even while i am fundamentally simultaneously Not Making Progress is like pure dopamine for my freak insane awful little brain. there's just something really pleasing about spending all of my actions pursuing The Goal Of The Day™ on one account before casually swapping to another and doing the same without feeling like i'm wasting time or acting to the first account's explicit detriment. the downtime helps! the recharge time helps! the structure really really works!!

i'm technically only actively playing three, maybe two accounts minimum. the only reason the fourth (the one that'll be my future BaL playthrough) currently exists at all is so i can get his earlygame completely out of the way now and not have to waste time running through it all later, when what i actually want to do is play the ambition i've made myself wait a full year to play. and also getting free goodies as seasonal stuff happens,, something something surprise tools to help us later. the only two accounts i'd say i'm really "actively playing" at the moment are caeru and lark- and of the two, lark takes the most priority, since his ambition is the one i'm currently pursuing in earnest. for a couple months now- despite being My Main FL Character- the scoundrel has actually been pretty inactive on a gameplay front outside of the occasional progression in TLC and discordance content. purely by virtue of having Very little left to do outside of Very long-term grinds and vanities. they're in their "now what?" "now you can start playing the game" era. they've graduated to previous protagonist background cameo in a sequel anime series. they're like the yin FLPC equivalent of red at the top of mount silver. they're Literally just vibing rn. i only keep posting about them regardless because i'm insane and i will never ever ever ever ever let that bat go. but yeah, big TLDR, outside of doing the bare minimum to keep making waves/notability up every week, i'm not actually spending that much time on accounts i'm not currently actively interested in playing. and that accounts for way more gaming spoons than you might think.

i have a virtually lifelong history of playing MMOs, especially and specifically world of warcraft. i was born in the endless grind for useless video game pixel vanities and/or bragging rights. molded by it. you all have merely adapted to doing the same piece of content a pointlessly excessive amount of times for literally no reason besides whimsy and folly. me? i've done my time. i've served my sentence. i've spent weeks doing the original burning crusade netherwing dailies. i've devoted days to running praetorium over and over and over again, back-to-back, nonstop, long before square enix cut it in half and made it NOT take at minimum an hour and a half per run. i've perfected my silverwastes + auric basin goldfarming strategies. i've (almost) crafted dragonwrath tarecgosa's rest. i've killed the sha of anger so many times its dying scream of agony is embedded into the very fabric of my being. ""only"" doing making your name content four times over? that is nothing to me. it means nothing to me. it is so infinitesimal i can do the persuasive seduction quests in my sleep. it's not a matter of handling misery, or having the capacity, or even sighing as i remember the brass embassy raid segment of the watchful questline seriously i don't know why i keep forgetting that exists or what even is my problem with it i just am so consistently mildly inconvenienced by it and its highly specific resource requirements and it is the worst thing ever. maybe i'm just so used to the scoundrel's near-infinite money and troves of disposable items that i've completely forgotten what being poor is like. despite having done that step 3 fucking times now. ahem. anyway. i have transcended the feeble mortal bindings of my resistant-to-grinding flesh and ascended to a higher plane of enlightenment, they may call me insane but they will be the ones left laughing when they see what that "insanity" has wrought, i've usurped them, i've usurped them all-

hacks and coughs and awkwardly clears my throat. i mean. uh. um. Ahem.

the empress' court artistry + tales of the university nerfs helped too.

[human-encounters-diary]

Day 12

I apologize for the rather abrupt ending of the last record, as circumstances became rather frantic after the recorded incidents. I will apply my best efforts to summarize the following events shortly. After the human volunteered to perform the repair of the damaged outer hover engine, a rather heated discussion broke loose, concerning the risks and other possible solutions to the current situation. The Vitrichl decided that the human should perform the repair, as long as it was proved that her chance of survival was high enough. Several tests were performed, and all of them concluded that the human had a surprisingly good chance at surviving the excursion, although it was unclear whether she would return unharmed, as there was simply not enough information known about Terrans.

The Vitrichl ordered for a group of personally selected mechanics and scientists of the crew to supervise the excursion over the video recording of the space suit the human would be wearing. I was assigned as a part of this group. The human itself, inexplicably, remained incredibly calm, seemingly not grasping the gravity of the situation at hand. Despite my best efforts to make her aware of the responsibility she was assigned, she remained unresponsive. "I am applying my best efforts to make you aware of the risk you are taking.", I stated, trailing after her. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I read the safety thingy, like, three times. And basically the entire board team will be there to guide me through the entire process and tell me exactly what to do. I'll basically not even have to think myself." "I would appreciate it if you did not neglect your thought process during such an important task." "Of course I won't actually stop thinking, it's just a way of speaking. Anyway, you'll have the entire video footage from my suit and as long as the suit remains intact, I should be fine.", Quinn continued. "Still, the probability that the system fails and you do not return…" "Is low enough.", Quinn cut me off.

"Listen, you oughta stop worrying. I might know nothing about alien technology, but this crew knows about it. And, to our luck, I'll have direct contact to them the entire time." She stepped into her assorted suit, machines around her closing and tying everything into place. Eventually, a helmet was lowered onto her head, the reflective surface hiding her face. She extended her right arm, lowering all her fingers except for the first and biggest one, which she pointed upwards. I could not decipher the purpose of this gesture, and as I could not see her facial expression, I was not able put any of my previous knowledge of humans to use.

The human underwent several further safety checks, before the medicals decided it would be appropriate to start the mission at that time. The task of the human was first to simply observe the entire damage, in order to confirm that our monitors grasped the entire extent of the damage. Furthermore, she should, under our supervision and precise instructions, reverse the worst damage she could and, at best, reverse the engine into a working state. The human was transferred into the duct from where all outerboard missions that did not require any larger equipment where started. As soon as the door opened and the human stepped into the void, medicals and scientists scrambled to examine her vitals. "Vitals are steady", a medical informed. Wrin pressed several keys on the control board, establishing the communication line between Quinn's suit and the SIIR Noxos. "Okay, Quinn, how do you feel?", Wrin, who was, for their standards, surprisingly sober, spoke into the communication tool. "Well, I feel like I've just drank a shit ton of water and then gone onto a roller coaster one too many times. Besides that, wow", Quinn's voice sounded from the other end. "Alright, I'm just going to pretend I understood any of that. So, give us a bit to get the suit camera sorted and then you can go on.", Wrin drawled, pressing a few more keys on one of the monitors. As the technicians confirmed a stable signal, Wrin began to guide Quinn into the direction of the damaged engine.

The human's vitals remained stable as she approached the engine in question. As instructed, the human began a scan of the area through her suit, linking the results directly into the main control quarters. Through the analyzation of the information, the technicians were able to confirm that there was no worse damage than our previous scans had recorded.

The human began to work on the engine. She removed the outer layer of metal within a few moments, which was almost fully demolished. As she worked towards middle of the structure, I observed her every step. She moved coordinated and careful, as if frightened that the engine might implode if she didn't (which was, admittedly, a rather real threath). Eventually, she removed a piece of charred metal, exposing an accumulation of cables. Wrin straightened as I took the communication tool from them and spoke into it: "Quinn, these cables are of high importance. Would you be able to reach the brown cable and remove it from its place? As careful as possible.", I added. Despite my, in my eyes, rather clear instructions, the human continued to reach towards a completely wrong cable. "Human", I interjected. "I do not mean to be insensitive, but that is not the cable I was referring to." "Huh? But that one's brown?", the human responded, tone signaling possible confusion, although I could not be sure, as her face was still hidden. "Human-", I started once again, thinking of the most polite way to phrase the following statement, but I could not finish, as Wrin pushed me away rather aggressively before taking the communication tool themselves. "Quinn, the mechanic‘s referring to the second cable from the far right.", Wrin eludicated. "…but that one's Magenta!", Quinn protested further. "Not to the mechanic. Different eyes, different colour perception.", Wrin quipped. Quinn said something indiscernably quiet, before continuing, carefully following Wrin's instructions. As these records' purpose is to observe human behaviour, I will not go into much detail describing the repair. If you wish to obtain more precise information about the details of this particular repair, I suggest you visit the archives, in which we keep all records of repairs, routine check-ups and everything else regarding the state of the ship, to gain a further insight.

The human proceeded the repair, although another thing of note happened rather towards the end: After the human had reconnected several wires and added a new protective layer on the engine's surface, the technicians tested whether or not the engine would start, obviously after the human had moved to a safe distance. The technicians started the engine at its highest setting, but with no success. No sound emitted from the engine. "Wait, let me try something.", the human sounded over the communication line. In spite of any common sense, the human moved closer towards the engine. The human inspected the engine, before suddenly, for some to me inexplicable reason, hitting the engine repeatedly with the flatter side of her hand. "Alright, try again." "Human Quinn, it is imperative that you move out of the immediate proximity of the engine.", I stated, but the human refused. "No, I wanna try something." "Human, it is-" "On one, come on, guys.", Quinn cut me off. "Start the engine on one." Against better judgement, the technicians began to prepare another start of the engine. "Okay, ready? Three, two, one, go!", besides my best efforts to stop them, the technicians started the engine at the exact time as Quinn hit its outer layer again. Fortunately, the engine did start. Unfortunately, the stuttering start of the engine produced a pressure wave that catapulted the Terran away from it. Eventually, her body was stopped by the cable attached to form a connection between the space suit that the human was wearing, and the SIIR Noxos. The body of the human did not move. Wrin, seemingly concerned, spoke into the communication line. "Quinn?" It took a few moments before we received any kind of answer, the silence filled with a slight buzzing sound. Then we registered the human's voice over the line. At first, the human only produced several sounds, possibly signaling pain. Then: "Well, I'm never doing that again." A pause. "Did it work? Is the engine stable?" "The engine is running. I wouldn't call it stable, but it will get us far enough.", one of the technicians informed.

Silence.

"Alright, Quinn, we‘re going to pull you back into the ship. Try not to move too much and uh…don‘t die.", Wrin spoke up.

"I can do that."

As the retraction program was started, I, accompanied by Wrin proceeded towards the intertravel duct. The human arrived shortly afterwards.

The suit seemed to be unharmed, a good sign, but its owner did not.

As a robotic arm removed the helmet and started to disassemble the suit, the human stumbled out. Stumbling, that was not a good sign. The human’s complexion was even paler than its naturally bright shade. And the skin of her face seemed to have a slight green undertone. Had it always been there? I could not recall. Perhaps their skin changed colours, similar to Wrin‘s species?

I was brought away from these suspicions, as the human opened her mouth and released a brown-green, odd-smelling fluid out of her mouth and onto the floor. This couldn‘t be normal, could it?

The human was immediately referred into the, for a ship and crew this size admittedly rather small, hospital wing. The medicals are currently observing and recording any interesting observations regarding the human‘s body. Unfortunately, while the medicals are treating Quinn to the best of their ability, it is difficult, as there is so little known about humans.

Although, perhaps this way I will receive more information regarding the anatomy of humans.

I will continue to record the recovery and the state of the human.

[idyllic-affections]

good morning. neuvillette with a dragon!child!reader who, once everything blows over in fontaine, goes to find furina and gives her the biggest hug. they've known her for a very long time. and many times, perhaps she almost, almost cracked to them... but her resolve stood strong every time, and she would backtrack with a laugh and some dramatic flair.

while they can't understand how badly she must have suffered, because they aren't human and their mind is not so fragile, they can at least imagine it. and they can't help but think that maybe she doesn't want to be alone right now; she's been alone for five hundred years. if she wants to be left alone... that's fine, and they know she'll tell them that, but at the very least, as one of her best friends (perhaps her very best one), should they not go check on her?

idk i'm going to play her story quest today probably so i will return with more thoughts!

[aibouart]

admittedly, i am afraid to talk about this, but have wanted to for a long while. i don't see a lot of people discuss this kind of thing, but i decided to do so for the me who was struggling and didn't know. also i have no idea where i am going with this and it's very late for me rn so here's a whole ass ramble on vent art. and also a bit more on how it's impacting how i view my art, now. i am terribly sorry if it's not very cohesive, my thoughts on it aren't yet cohesive either WOOPS

i wanted to talk a bit about how vent art really impacted my mental health, and how the idea that art needs some kind of meaning to have meaning really has been weighing on me lately (i know this is a concept i am assigning to my work and is not actually the norm/standard expectation of others consuming art. but it IS a sentiment i have seen enough that does impact me).

i want to specify, obviously i am not saying vent art is bad.

nor that doing vent pieces, or vent blogs, will ultimately result in what i went through for a number of years. rather, that this did happen to me, and there is a near impossible chance i am a unique case in any experience i will ever have. if you do vent art and it helps you, that's good! im not judging anyone for anything here. if your experience does not match my own, that's what it's like to be human~. i am not invalidating anyone on purpose by sharing my own experience. sorry for the insane disclaimer but it will eat me alive if i go to sleep thinking "what if they think x cuz i didn't say y and think im a terrible person"

---

i used to do vent art frequently (you won't find much on here as it was uploaded to a personal at the time). anytime i felt down or had a line of dialogue in my head making me feel bad in a way, i would draw for it. but the way i had interacted with it was really unhealthy. it became a terrible feedback loop where i'd feel bad, draw how i felt bad, look at the art, and ruminate even more on how i felt bad, until it spiralled so out of control i would lose touch with reality and get lost entirely in feeling like garbage.

i would just get so lost in the cycle with vent art that it would make my mental space worse and worse, and i would use the vent art as a negative confirmation bias. the words that hurt me i wrote down and anytime i looked again, they would hurt me again. but i would keep looking, and i would keep drawing.

i have always used art as an outlet, but for some reason the way vent art impacted me was unhealthy. it wasn't a good outlet. and it took me years to cut ties with it. i relied on vent art for a long time, but it took a lot of introspection and thinking to realise it wasn't the release i thought it was. and it was hard to let go, too.

i haven't touched the blog in a few months, now. i haven't done much vent art at all since then and genuinely, i've been doing SOOO much better. i no longer ruminate nearly as much as i had done so, i no longer get caught in a feedback loop that lasts for days to weeks. i still feel like garbage like people tend to do, but i don't put myself in a cycle over it anymore. i have gone back to it a few times in moments of desperation, but what used to be every week/every few weeks is now once a month maybe. and not to the extent at all (i would oftentimes post ~20 images in one night, before).

but i keep thinking about how, while the way i had done vent art was bad for my mental health, i keep feeling that just because i do sparkly cute and happy drawings, now, or drawings with no real meaning, that my art has nothing beyond face value... i do like a lot of my vent art. i think their compositions, or hidden messages and meanings, or colour use, was interesting.

but it wasn't worth the price for me.

so i am a bit caught in an in-between, here. my favourite form of art is the expression of love-you liked something so much, you dedicated time to draw it. and yet i cannot ascribe that to my own work very often. i think that man i wish i could make art with some kind of deeper meaning, that speaks to people, that's more than just pretty colours or shiny shading or a character everyone likes, or a character i like. but i just... don't know if it's for me.

ultimately, i could develop a healthy relationship with expressing and exploring negative emotions or experiences through art, but... do i want to? do i have to? do i need to? is it not enough to just draw something because... i like it..?

of course, the answer is yes, draw what you want, draw how you want, it's your art. but i am still trying to come to terms with that idea. i dont want to be seen as some shallow artist who just draws what's cute and pretty because they can and it's all they can think of, but like what if that's just what i like to draw??

in the end, that alone is good enough, drawing because you like to, because it's fun, because you like the thing you're dedicating time to creating for. it's just hard to grapple with after discarding a type of art that i felt was the only way i drew "for real".

anyways i am sorry this is soooo fucking long, and for all the clarifications (IM STILL NOT SAYING VENT ART BAD AND EVERYONE WILL DO WHAT I DID!! Dx) and the fact i had no real point here (probably)

anyways i will continue to draw what i want because i like to, as i have always been.

[adhbombus]

I love the running gag that’s Norm just does some crazy shit and then Doof is like a “damn really? I gotta read that instruction manual “and norms like “Yes you should.:)”

[crystallizsch]

shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up

I AM GOING TO WALK INTO THE OCEAN IS THAT A FUCKING FLOWY DRESS/SKIRT/WHATEVER IT IS??????

JAMIL WHAT THE FUCK I NEED HIS FULL OUTFIT WHAT IS GOING ON THERE

[esosage]

Had an infinetly better idea for the minecraft movie. (Wether its a good idea or not is debatable, but i feel its infinetly better than what we got.)

So the plot centers around 2 characters: a mother and her daughter. The daughter is well into her teen's now and is obssessed with the game minecraft to the point where its taken over her whole life. Every second she gets, she spends it playing minecraft. She spends it building her world, and escapeing a rather bleak reality.

She doesnt have freinds, her school sucks, the world feels like its going to shit due to financal struggles with her family, and she feels lost and helpless. It doesnt help that her relationship with her mother has strained due to her dads death. And minecraft gives her a break from all that. A way to tune everything else out from her life, and just chill out for once. And it gets to the point where she's dependent on it, where she needs it in order to get through the day.

It doesnt help either that her dad was the one who introduced her to the game. He grew up with the game in his preteens/teens and thusly wanted his daughter to get that experience aswell. Every weekend, the two would spend hours playing it, and its how they really bonded. So when he died, it became her way of mourning him, of remembering him. But that mourning quickly spiraled out of control as every hour she spends, is playing that game. Something that doesnt sit right with her mom.

Now, her and her mom were never too close: her mom was always working after all, so she never got to spend too much time with her. But things got a lot worse once the dad died. Because truthully, the mom and the dad were in a failing marriage. They were in debt, a lot of debt, due to hospital bill's, and the mom knew the money she earned wouldn't be enough to pay it all off. so, she wanted the dad to get a job. But since the daughter was pretty young at the time, the father didnt want to because then there wouldnt be anyone at home to take care of her, (since he knew they couldnt afford a babysitter.)

But in the mothers mind, it wouldnt matter if there was noone at home to take care of her because it was better than the alternative: haveing to sell the house or the car in order to be able to pay off their debts on time.

This argument highliting their very different viewpoints when it came to their family: The father being more focused on the happiness and wellbeing of the family, while the mother was more focused with keeping their family afloat.

But the arguments about their debt wouldnt matter when the father started to get sicker and sicker. Of course, the mother insisted that he go to the hospital to get it checked out, but he refused. They couldnt afford another hospital visit, so if he did go, then he deffinetly wouldnt be able to stay home anymore to care for their daughter.

Although, despite his protests, he was eventually forced to go by the mother when he could barely walk anymore. Which led to him getting diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. Something, they didnt have the money to treat.

It was during that time when the daughter really got her obsession with minecraft. It wasnt as bad as when the dad passed, but there is deffinetly when it took its hold. She'd play it when she heard her parents screaming at eachother in the living room, she'd play it for hours just to take her mind off of her dads diagnosis, and she'd sob to herself when she walked through their world after he had passed. To her, playing it made her feel like he was still there, like she was back to when she was a little kid, and everything seemed to hopefull. She doesnt have to worry wether or not they'll have food on the table, or if she'll have to eat lunch by herself at school, or even if she'll have a house by the end of the year, she can just relax and play minecraft. Leading to her driffting apart from her mother, as she spent less time with her, and more time playing the game. Something the mother really never got.

To the mother, the game wasnt important, it was just some damn pixels on a screen. She doesnt get the signifigence it holds to her daughter. How can it matter more, then haveing dinner together? Or going to hang out together when she got the time? Or just being together in general? She gets that she wasnt there that often, but surely that shouldnt lead to her daughter placeing some damn, stupid, video game over her!

Id imagine that they'd have some arguments over this at the beggining of the movie. Showcasing how despite her best attempts to bond with her daughter, she just cant get through to her. This leads to a scene which highlightes just how deep this rift has gone.

In a fit of rage at another dissconnected response through the door, the mother barges in and demands a conversation, something the daughter avoids. She doesnt want to have a conversation afterall, she just wants to go back to playing minecraft after a particuallarly shitty day. Of course the mother yells at her about it, how this stupid game has taken over her life. But the daughter doesnt care, insisting its fine and to just leave her alone already. This sparks the mothers anger, leading her to call it insignifigent, which in turn, sparks the daughters anger. With her saying: "well its far more better than being with you!"

One shouting match later and the mother decides that if she cant get through to her babygirl because of this stupid game, then she'll just get rid of it! And in the heat of the moment, she trashes the computer. (Now, wether this is what ends up transporting to the game, or is the catalyist to what forces them to have to go into the game in order to fix things doesnt matter. The important point here is, its there rift that forces them to go into minecraft.)

Now, an important thing to point out is that neither of them are in the right. Yes the daughters obssession is unhealthy, but the mother refuses to try and see how much this game matters to her and why.

And resolving these problems is the whole plot of the movie, minecraft being the needed setting and catalyst for them to do so.

The daughter needs to learn to move on and heal from her dads death, and to let go of her obssession with minecraft, and the mother needs to actually try to understand her daughter. Up until this point, she's only been trying to bond with the daughter she used to know, not the one thats infront of her. And she needs to accept that things are different, her daughter has changed, and she needs to support the one that she has right now.

Now, i dont have solid idea for their time in minecraft, but i do have specific points:

Maybe the thing driving into this world, is that its slowly being corrupted because of what the mother did, and now they have to fight the great evil that has been released. (Its herobrine, im self indulgent like that.)

Now, in order to defeat herobrine they have to bring back his twin: steve. Though its deffinetly tough getting there, with them being kinda carried by the daughters technical knowledge, since she deffinetly has over 10,000 hours invested in this game.

This roadtrip lets them bond a little and grow to appreciate eachother more, of course, theyre bickering at the start of it, but decide that they really need to bash their heads together if they want to sort things out.

I feel like a lot of the early bonding would be from the daughter teaching the mother the ropes of the game. Like how to mine wood, how to make a crafting table, and what mobs are freindly and which to avoid.

An early joke in the first act, would be the mom trying to craft a wooden pickaxe by only useing wooden planks and the daughter internally dying inside from cringe. So much so that she visibly recoils from the unholy act.

I'd also imagine that they'd pick up a dog on the way which the daughter obsesses over. She ends nameing him alphredo, because of his white coat. The mom does not like the dog, thinking the name is stupid and that they're a distraction, but eventually grows very attached to alphredo.

Speaking of distractions, this is where the mother really comes in handy: keeping both her and the daughter on track. Naturally, from being in her favorite game, the daughter wants to do everything! She wants to punch wood, go to the nether, build a house, but they dont have time for that. Plus, they are on hardcore mode.

Another way the mother helps out is that she ends up haveing to do a lot of the physical labor, because despite being in a game, they still have human bodies (even if theyre blocky now) and being a gamer does not bode well for the daughters physical capabilities. As for why the mother has a lot of physical strength, i think the explination would be that she used to be an professional bodybuilder/boxer before she met and married the dad. Something the daughter had zero clue about before the mom mentions which is a conversation that i think would go before like this:

*the daughter pants from exaughstion at punching trees down. Takeing a moment to catch her breath before glancing over to the mom, who hasnt even broke a sweat yet.*

...

"how are you-"

"I was a proffesional boxer in my 20s."

*more silence.*

"You.-... theres no shot."

"W- wha?-"

"Theres no way, that you were a professional boxer, and i didnt know about it!"

"I- patricia i litterally have several gold metals at ho-"

"GOLD MEDLE-... shut the fuck up, you are lying."

"Lying?-"

"Theres no way you have a single gold medal- you are LYING!"

"We have a whole shelf for them at home-"

"Blah, blah, blah, blah! I cant hear you; thats absolute bullshit." *the daughter plugs her ears with her fingers.*

"Oh come on- right now?"

"Yes right now! If there was damn shelf, i would have seen it already!"

"Oh like you get out of your room enough to do that-"

"IM SORRY! i cant seem to hear youre ABSOLUTE SLANDER right now!"

*cue the mom trying to talk, while the daughter yells "la la la la la la" and breifly interjecting over her.*

Id also imagine theres a scene where the daughter struggles to kill the sheep, because now they actually seem alive and its eating her alive. Also, it would probobly go something like this:

"Mmh... can we please eat something else! I dont can't do it!"

"Honey, we dont have time to make a farm, you're going to have to kill the sheep."

"But hes so cute!"

"Dear, it is litterally just a bunch of pixels clumped together."

"Well its a very adorable bunch of pixels, that leans up for head patts every time i get close, okay!"

"Its either the sheep or us right now love! Because we have about 8 minutes before our hunger bar drops-"

"Okay fine!"

*the daughter turns twards the sheep, sword raised above her head, as tears form in her eyes.*

"Im so sorry truffles."

Oh, my god, it has been less than a minute and you have already NAMED IT?-"

"Its big, its fluffy, and it has beady little eyes, of COURSE i named it!"

"Patricia-"

"Shut up! Im already doing it."

Now both of those would be scenes before steve comes along because it strengthens their relationship before the metaphorical sledgehammer steve brings crashing down on them. Why is steve like a sledgehammer you may ask? Well its because he looks exactly like the dad. And also kind of acts like him too.

Steve is essentially going to be a tool plot wise to further advance the mothers ark. To push the mother to understand her daughter more, or at least try to. To get her to recognize where she fucked up, and try ot fix it. Because while she is hard headed, she loved the dad. She obsolutely did, and although she never showed it much to the daughter, due to being bogged down with responsibility, she was devistated after his death. Which leads to another character flaw of her's: haveing a hard time showing emotion. After the dad died, for the first couple of years, the mother closed herself off. Of course she was greiving in private, but she kept a brave face for her daughter, didnt want her to see just how much shit they were really in. Of course, the daughters not stupid, she saw through some of the charade, but it left her with the impression that the dads death didnt really affect the mother which is the farthest from the truth. It doesnt help that the mother still tries to keep up this brave face even afterwards, which just perpetuates it.

Steve, looking like the father, forces her to really confront and bring out that vulnerable part of herself. That vulnerable part, that never really moved on from the dads death, who still misses him. That tender part, that nearly sobs at the sight of him again.

That tender part, the part that missed him and never quite moved on after so many years, is what makes her a lot less stubborn to steves suggestions. Sure, she was a lot more stubborn before, but that was before he died, before she had to suffer through the loss, and experience what life was like withought him. And that experience, those years of mourning and stress, and wishing she had just let him have his wau just a bit more before the end, makes her a lot more receptive to steves ideas. And eventually, makes her admit that "yeah, she was in the wrong in some ways. And yeah, she couldve handled everything a whole lot better."

And it also preps her to try more. To make a lasting change and effort for her daughter in the third act. I think at the end of the second act, before they go toe to toe with herobrine, she has a heart to heart with steve, talking about how unsure she is as a mother. How scared she is. Of how she feels like she's loseing her baby. And steve reasures her, saying that while she didnt do the best from the sounds of it, she did what she could. And now, that she knows what her problem is, she can fix it. To make things right, and try better this time.. to do better by her daughter. I think he also would explain the daughters point of view to her aswell, since he would have deffinetly spent a lot of time talking with her aswell up to this point. And him explaining the daughters point of view would nudge her in the right direction of trying to understand her current daughter better. Not the past one, not the one that was 8 years old, but the current one that she has. Of course, shes still resistant somewhat, still doesnt fully get it, but she's deffinetly on her way there

But steve wouldnt just forward the mothers ark aswell, it would also push forward the daughters ark... just not in the right direction. Because at seeing steve (who practically is her dad) in the game, her favorite game, a game thats been the only highlight of her life until now... she has to wonder... why leave? If everything she wants is in here.. why cant she stay? Now, its never said outloud but its deffinetly an implyed thought between every scene between her and steve. Where she slowly stops treating him like steve, and more like her dad. Until the point where she slips up, and just straight up calls him by her dads name.

Now, steve isnt the dad, he doesnt have his memorys. But he certainly does look and sound like him, and to a degree, he acts like him.. and thats more than enough for the daughter to start confuseing him with the real thing. (Something that will come up later.)

Also, side note, im not wure if it will be in the second act or in the third act.. but the dog, alphredo, thats been with them since the begining will die eventually. This is mainly to get the mother to really understand how much this game is important to her daughter, and why it is. Because its not only the daughter thats greiving the dog, but the mother as well. Because despite it being just a clump of pixels, it was important to them. They spent time with it, played with it, bonded with it. And oh, this is why this game is so important to her daughter. Its not just the time spent, its the memories too. Sure its a game, but the emotions put into it were real. The time they spent together, how much theyve bonded because of it, that was real. And looking back, and remembering the times she would come home to her husband and her daughter laughing up a storm in the living room as they bonded over this stupid game, that mattered. And regardless of if she doesn't get it, or if it seems silly, its signifigent to her daughter and thats what matters most. Its her daughters care for it, that should make it important to her aswell.

This moment, is what gets her to change her approch, and actually try to understand the girl infront of her. To actually try to talk with her. (Even if it might be a little too late.)

Remember what i said said about the daughter wanting to stay in the game comeing up later?... and remember the part where i mentioned that steve and herobrines were twins. Yeah, thats the main point in the third act.

Because if steve looks like the dad, and herobrine is steve's twin.. then guess what herobrine looks like? The dad. Which makes fighting him even harder for both the mother and the daughter.. especially for the daughter.

Now i dont know when he would do this, but eventually everything will come to a climax where herobrine tries to make a deal with the daughter: he'll let her stay in this perfect, ideal world forever... if she lets him do what he wants to do. And the cherry on top is, he does this, while pretending to be her father.

(Now depending on the plot, the dog dying might come before or after this, not sure, but either way it happens close to this scene.)

Now, her accepting isnt the part im super sure about, but either way it ends in the mother having to talk her down or out of it.

Originally, she keeps that strong face, tries to be logical about it, to reason with her.. trying to employ the most steadfast logic she can think of, but her daughter seems set. Especially when the face of her father is begging her to do so.. and it seems like the whole deal is about to go through, until... the mother apologieses. It comes out of nowhere, a two letter sentance that the daughter has never heard the other utter to her before. And it gets her to pause.

The mother takes that as a sign that she should continue.

For this moment, she casts logic asside and just decides to level with her. To be honest for once. To tell her how she's feeling and to just be.. human with her. Being completly honest, she wants this, she wants to stay here so bad too. She misses her husband so bad. She wants to stay with him so bad. To hug him one last time, but she knows its not real. No matter how much she wants it to be, her husband is dead and theres nothing that will change that.

This prompts the daughter to open up to her aswell, even if its a little bit at first, the crack is enough, and soon wnough the two of them have what they've needee for so long now:

A conversation.

Not screaming at eachother, not hurried dissmisles. Or half hearted attempts at trying to return things to "how they used to be." But a full on, genuine, heart to heart.

And thats enough to get the daughter to step down. And focuse on defeating herobrine with her mother.

Im thinking as a way of closeing out the daughters unhealthy obsession with minecraft, the world gets deleted. Getting rid of years of memorys, sure, but also setting up a way to make new one's, as at the very end the daughter comes home to see the mother on the couch with two laptops out in the livingroom for them to play minecraft together on. Or course the daughters obsession isnt fully gone, and its something they'll still need to work on, but theyre not going through it alone. As shown by the mother trying to bond and understand the daughter by the end, by engaging with her in her hobby.

Also, they made a memorial for alphredo in the kitchen, and are looking to buy a dog that looks kinda of like him... when they have the money of course, since they still arnt out of debt just yet.

They didnt get a perfect ending, they're still going through a rough patch, but they're going to make it through it together now.

For the credits, i'd imagine it be pictures of adventures through minecraft, but also some drawings of the mother haveing the daughter to try out new hobbies. (Knitting, running, boxing, and other stuff)

Further proof of them trying to get the daughter better copeing habbits would be at the end credit scene where shes either practicing one, reserching how to improve her copeing mechanisms, or engaging in a new hobby at the end, before her mom calls her over. She hasnt been in her moms room in a while, (from spending most of her time playing minecraft) so its a lot different from what she remembers. But she's more floored by the wall full of gold medals and trophies that her mom finnally gets to show off to her, like she promised.

Anyhow, thats just my take on how i'd do a minecraft movie. Obviously its not the most fleshed out idea, more like a rough draft that i wrote up as i went a long. But i feel like its infinetly better than whatever we're getting, so i thought i'd put it out there.

Also, i wrote all of this in one sitting, so sorry if it doesnt flow well, or parts dont make sense, or theres grammer errors. Its late, and i do not have time to reread it. Apologies. Anyways, feel free to give critisism, critique is welcome, i'd love to see other peoples take on this and how they'd improve on it, or what they'd add to it. Or maybe what they'd do differently. Who knows. Also, if you need me to elaborate on something, feel free to ask.

[lucky-clover-gazette]

vent

did not expect kissing and realizing i’m lowkey dating a guy to send me down an existential spiral of reminding me that i have only one life to live and then i am going to die without living any other different lives

[pokemoncaretips]

On the extinction of Hisiuan forms: An essay by Professor Ridgemond Alder, 1965

[Note from the OP: this essay was written long before the recent space time distortions began reintroducing the Hisiuan forms. I found it in an old magazine and thought you'd find it interesting.]

Pokemon! They live with us, work with us, battle with us. Our lives are defined by these strange and often mysterious creatures. But especially in Sinnoh, this was not always the case. Once they were creatures we regarded with fear and uncertainty, monsters in the dark. Until the invention of the pokeball, when capturing and interacting with them became much simpler, many people in the past lived in dread of them.

This may in part also have been due to the climate in that time, which was far harsher. The summers were short and the winters long and deeply bitter. Food was often hard to come by, and there was much competition.

This harsh climate influenced the development of strange new forms of pokemon that no longer exist today. The development and later extinction of these forms is a fascinating subject.

For most, the reason for their disappearance was quite simple. A slow steady process of gradual climate change rendered them needless. Around the publication of the first pokedex, temperature records were already indicating a slight but steady increase in local temperatures.

The noble and beautiful wyrdeer was among these climate casualties. Its dense coat of fur kept it warm in the thick snow, but it struggled in warm temperatures. As the snowline retreated, it became a better use of resources for stantler to remain unevolved.

Ursaluna went the same way. Warmer temperatures slowly dried up some of the swamps it lived in, making it harder to seek out the peat that fuelled its evolution. The encroaching forests, however, were perfect ursaring territory, and this later evolution stage was left behind.

Liligant was adapted to glide on iced over lakes. As temperatures warmed and sunlight became more available, these locations became less available. Though it might have gone extinct due to habitat loss, the liligant was thrown an unexpected lifeline. As humans became more trusting, a few petilils were taken to Unova by traders. In the warmer location, it evolved in a new, unexpected way, and was able to find a niche for itself.

Melting snow means more water, and the iron rich water of ancient Hisui became more diluted, leading to the softer goodra variant of modern times. In Sinnoh, this led to it becoming more vulnerable, and as such it is not found here today.

The ancient growlithe carried a stone typing as well, caused by the then-frequent volcanic activity at the time, as well as a thick, dense coat to guard against cold snaps. As this died off, the growlithe adapted to the change, a process aided by domestication as the Sinnoh people, warming up to pokemon, realized growlithe were a particularly devoted partner.

With the retreating snowline, many ice types found their homes smaller. The placid and docile Hisiuan avalugg in particular struggled with the lack of space, and slowly faded away. Some may have migrated to other places, as avalugg in Kalos and Paldea occasionally are seen with slight Hisuian features.

With the warming of the waters, many water types found lives easier. Basculegion was said to take on the spirits of the basculin that failed their harsh journey upstream. As this became a simpler task, the basculegion became rarer and rarer, fading from the records as its species thrived. However, changing river routes meant the basculin gradually adjusted its habitat, and it is now very rarely found in Sinnoh.

Warmer waters meant more food, and the local quilfish needed to rely on its poison less, slowly become, if not less aggressive, than at least less actively dangerous. The overquil, however, faded into ancient legend.

Voltorb is a strange case. The pokemon had always been a mimic, hiding amongst apricorn fruits, but as pokeballs modernised, over time the voltorb changed with it. This is the only Hisuian form that can sometimes rarely be found today in deep forests, still lurking in the branches of ancient apricorn trees.

The braviary is an interesting case. An all male pokemon, it relied on females of the same egg group to pass on its line. A small population is believed to have been blown over in a storm into the high mountain areas. Though it readily adapted to the harsh cold, its options were limited. It was already in decline when the pokedex was published, and is believed to have gone extinct in the wild soon after soon after.

Of all of these pokemon, perhaps the closest to a true extinction was the sad case of the Hisuian sneasel. Described as mischievous but shy, this little pokemon lived quiet lives on the high mountains. When people became more adapted to pokemon, there was of course, early trading, even if said trade relied on ships. However, we didn't know at the time the potential risks involved in bringing new pokemon to other environments. This was a lesson the Johtonian sneasel would teach us harshly. Aggressive and pushy, it simply outcompeted the native variant. Though some modern sneasels occasionally show markings indicating cross breeding took place, the Hisuian sneasel only exists in a few taxidermized specimens. Though now we understand and try to be much more careful with our trading, we paid a high price for it.

A strange extinction was the matter of the kleavor. A sub-evolution of the scyther, it required a particular mineral called black augerite. As development expanded, people realized that kleavor made excellent lumberjacks, and demand for this mineral spiked. However, it was never common, and gradually ran out. The only black augerite remaining is a shard weighing 18 grams. A scyther needed at least a pound of it to evolve. The kleavor line became functionally extinct despite the many specimens roaming logging camps, a pokemon line in hospice care, beloved by the logging workers it lived with and yet inexorably doomed. The last one, a male by the name of chippy, passed away in 1905 in his sleep, having lived nearly ten years past his species average lifetime.

A number of old starter pokemon also found their way there, though these are now no longer found in the wild.

The samurott was changed by the harsh environments, becoming colder and more ruthless. As temperatures warmed and water types became more common, it was out-competed. And as people began to look for native water types to use as a starter, it fell out of fashion as piplup became the main water type for young children.

The decidueye is a slightly more mysterious case. It's hypothesised that it shifted from ghost to fighting as its secondary typing due to the different foliage. Though it could fade into the dense greenery of Alola, the autumn leaves made the Alolan form stand out. It became a better strategy to shift to an autumnal palette and be more willing to stand your ground against the myriad aggressors. The decidueye never really thrived in Sinnoh. At heart it was always a more tropical pokemon, and though there were reports of the odd ancient decidueye roaming the Sinnoh woods like ancient ronin, these reports gradually faded, the last confirmed one in 1942 of a rather elderly one seen on a nature hike.

Typhlosion was a stark contrast to other pokemon of the time, being known and trusted by humans even in those backwards times. It was common to find them in temples and graveyards. Ancient writings describe it as "A beaste moste melancholic in nature, walking the steppes of the ancient rites with moste infinite grace and care." The Hisiuan typhlosion was somewhat coddled compared to most, adapted to a life in warm temples. As the ancient Celestica people faded from history, it struggled on for some time in the care of local tribes, but ultimately its elderly became too many and its hatchlings too few to sustain the population. The Johto typlosion, meanwhile, being often kept for battling, remained close to the original wild form, and thrived.

Of all the pokemon of ancient Sinnoh, none was more notorious than the ancient zoroark. And here I may sound strange, but their extinction was a blessing. Zoroark were born of malice. Every time one starved in the cold, every time a zorua pup was caught in the garden and killed by panicked locals, every rock thrown and torch lit, a zoroark was born. They were a living indictment of our ancient sins. As time went on and we learned and grew, the population of zoroarks began to dwindle, hate and malice fading slowly as the world turned on. Such bitterness was what was binding them to this earth. It is believed that within a century of the publication of the first pokedex, the Hisuian zoroark was extinct, free of the anger and grief that kept them walking the earth. Their extinction brought about the end of the dark ages, the end of a time when pokemon were monsters living on the fringes. As we walked forwards to the future, some things were left behind.

For worse and for better.

[blushy-tigerrr]

vent in tags sorry

cw: mention of loss

[lordisitmine]

THOUGH THE NIGHT BE DARK, CHAPTER 14: LIES OF OMISSION

AO3 | FicFan

Summary:

It was then that Lizzy became fully aware of the ill-advised impulsivity of what she had done. Somehow, she had not fully expected to be believed, and now that she was, there was no way out of saying what she had ostensibly wanted so badly to say. And now, she realised with some dismay, she had not decided just what she wanted to say in the first place.

Chapter Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content Chapter Word Count: approx. 13,700 words

[overalledfrog]

"put your head on my shoulders, whisper in my ear."

[hlvrai-stuck-together]

He's late.

It's the big day, and he's already fucking it up. Awesome. Leave it to Gordon to continuously make everything harder for everyone around him.

Under stress, panicking, and annoyed to hell and back, he pushed the cart into the beam. As soon as the crystal touched the laser, it sparked, electricity zapping out across the large chamber. Smoke started to rise from the machine, and the creak of radiation filled the air.

Gordon took a few steps back, looking up at it in horror. Shit, they did it too fast, didn't they? They could hear their coworkers screaming behind them, but their attention was locked on the giant machine.

The security guard who'd followed him in suddenly vanished from his peripheral. Gordon looked away for just a moment to try and find him again- there! Standing on top of the platform where the controls were, there was the "non-human" guy who'd been following him all day. The radiation beams were shooting right next to him, ohh fuck he was going to die up there.

"Get off the top of the- you're gonna wanna be on the floor, what if the fuckin' rafters fall?!" they shouted up at him. "You gotta-"

With a flash of light, the test's sample started glowing an intense, neon green color, cutting Gordon off. He threw his hands up over his eyes, catching a glimpse of the chat as he did so. He couldn't make out any of the words, but he could see that people were speaking in all caps now. He yelled a swear at the pain.

He spun around to look at the window, shouting for help, only to watch helplessly as one of the other scientists overseeing the project launched himself down into the chamber. He shouted in fear, running around in panic before seemingly tripping over his own feet and knocking himself out on the floor.

The guard was just fuckin' gone by now. He must have gotten trapped in the beam or something, there was no way to tell and no time to find his body. The crystal started rocking in the cart, and with each shift there came another explosion, with atoms crashing into each other and splitting in ways that should not have been possible with humanity's current tools. Gordon could only look up at it, frozen in fear.

With one final shift of the crystal, it shattered. With it went the whole experiment, lighting the entire room up in harsh green. Gordon threw his hands up in front of him, screaming as his world was changed forever.

Then... nothing.

Gordon blinked a few times, looking around themself at the pitch blackness that had enveloped his world. He couldn't even see himself in it.

...Was he dead?

No, that couldn't have been right. He was still breathing, right? That had to count for something.

He squinted into the dark, trying to see anything. As his eyes adjusted, he swore he could see faint lines of green running lengthwise down his vision. Whether that was caused by the bright light of radiation or if that was actually SOMETHING, he couldn't tell yet.

He opened his mouth to yell, but instead of screaming out into the dark like he'd planned, he let out a simple, friendly greeting.

"Howdy."

No one answered him.

As his eyes continued to adjust, he began to make out what the lines were- numbers. They were lines and lines of numbers, wrapping all around him.

...Where was he?

"Howdy," he continued to call out. "Howdy. Howdy. Howdy. Howdy."

Still, no answer.

The world around him began to flash, green as the radiation from the test gone wrong. Gordon spun around, trying to find the source of it. The numbers lit up under the flashing lights- illuminated by shots of lightning- ones and zeros.

It was the same light from the Resonance Cascade. Aw fuck, was he still in the test chamber? Shit, he had to wake up, he was going to get hit.

He struggled to move, only to realize there was a pull on his arm. Looking towards it, he could see green strings attached, pulling him nowhere and in five different directions at once. It hurt, oh GOD it hurt, but no amount of pulling was freeing him. He pushed against it with his left hand, his free hand, and no avail. Nothing.

Before he could do much else, the strings yanked, and with this tug went his hand. He screamed in pain and surprise, everything going dark again, but only briefly.

He was in the garbage compactor. His hand was gone.

He wanted to stop, but something compelled him forward. He wanted to lay down and go back to sleep, but something wouldn't let him. He wanted to give up. Something in him made him grit his teeth.

He kept going through Black Mesa, lead on by Tommy this time. He wanted to collapse. Something forced his legs forward.

He kept getting kicked back down when he tried to climb out of the water, the clone's heels relentless. He yelled for Tommy, trying in vain to pull himself out. He only could with Tommy's help.

His friend was caught up in the tide of clones, too, and was quickly shoved away from Gordon. The shots from his gun continued to echo through the room, adding to Gordon's massive headache.

"I've unleashed the power of all 300 clones," Dr Coomer's voice boomed from somewhere. It was near impossible to tell if he was far away or close by with all the noise. Gordon's head swiveled quickly, trying to pinpoint where the hell he was.

"There's an entrance in your suit, Gordon, AND I WANT IN."

There! He was shoving his own clones aside, slowly making his way closer. He had the look of a crazed man about him, eyes too wide, grin too large. He was shaking, too, like he was high on adrenaline.

Green lines were starting to creep along the walls, down down down like a watercolor painting. Gordon squeezed their eyes shut, shouting Tommy's name.

He was backed into a corner, swarmed by clones as the real- main?- Coomer crept closer and closer. "I've been outside Black Mesa, Dr Freeman. There's nothing there. But you..." He shoved his way in front of Gordon, grabbing his stub of an arm. "I KNOW there's a world in your dreams, AND I NEED TO GO THERE."

Gordon screamed.

Berdey shot up, startled out of xeir nightmare. Fuck... nightmare. At least it wasn't real.

Just to be sure, they pinched themself. Yep. That hurt.

They flopped back down on the bed with a sigh. Gordon could never escape these, either- of COURSE Berdey would inherit them from him. Couldn't catch a break, in this life or the next.

It was still dark under the door, implying the darkness outside, too. Night. Well, they didn't wanna go back to sleep, not after that.

Looking at xeir left hand, they saw no new messages aside from the "goodnight"s that had been there before they drifted off.

They didn't wanna get up, but they also wanted to check on Coomer, just to make sure he was okay. Gordon had never managed to figure out what the fuck he'd meant by the whole "world in your dreams" thing. His dreams were a nightmare. Literally this time around. Why would Coomer want to go there?

It was anxiety talking. Coomer hadn't brought it up in a long time. Maybe he'd finally gotten over it. Besides, he didn't exactly want to see him right now.

With a sigh, he laid back down. It was gonna be a long night.

[kaelidascope]

Midnight Menagerie Chapter 4 is LIVE

RACERS!

START

YOUR

ENGINES!!

Please be mindful of the content warnings! Some of the content in this chapter is insanely dark, and may not be comfortable for some readers. Please take care and do not make yourself read if it becomes too much or triggering <3

[kuromi-hoemie]

last rb stressed me out lowkey akakska i had an ex like that and it became a self fulfilling prophecy kinda thing..