#i need an interesting tag for about me stuff

[pinacoladamatata]

blink and you'll miss it moments around skyhold....

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

hope you feel better soon!

I am riddled with ailments, but I stay silly!

[synthaphone]

Allowing myself to go on a tangent about the nearly 26 year old virtual pet website that i am way too invested in.

So today they released the Candy Pteri. While I appreciate what they were trying to do here with it effectively having two designs that you get to choose between (The "Melted Candy Pteri" on the left is a Paint Brush wearable that can be removed to reveal the customizable base pet on the right), I think in this case, they have created two extremely boring designs when they could have easily created one strong design, or hell, even two strong designs if they wanted to do extra work.

Because with this release, we get a base Candy Pteri with no real lineart changes (like the rounded hair tufts and spines on the Candy Zafara), and an alternate design that's just... a drawing of a Marshmallow Peep™???

I would have WAY preferred a base Pteri where they did something like give it a little marshmallow dollop shape on its head and in place of the tail tuft, like my friend @darieyrie suggested. Or they could give it the Peep dot eyes and more rounded features! There's all kinds of ways you could do this concept.

I'd be less frustrated if the Peep wearable had any Pteri traits whatsoever, but its JUST a Peep that's been slightly microwaved. Which is a little funny, but even more than the Toy Poogle is just an iDog, the Candy Pteri does not have any deviation from its base inspiration at all. It's not actually an execution of the concept of "Candy Pteri thats based on a Peep" if there's no Pteri left at all!

(also are they just banking on the Just Born corporation (who make Peeps) never taking any action on this? it kind of goes beyond 'cheeky reference', its EXACTLY their product. I mean, it seems unlikely that they'll notice or bother doing anything if they do, but i don't really know why you'd risk that.) The saving graces of this design, imo, are that the pink and cream color scheme of the base pet IS pleasant (though the lineart and shading treatment aren't really my bag), and some people will enjoy the novelty of having a pet Marshmallow Peep™.

But really this is just the latest of a number of recent outfit and color releases that feel like they don't think people want Neopets. Like. This cardinal outfit that they also released today.

I love the idea of a cardinal Pteri! But this outfit literally takes away every distinguishing trait of the Pteri to make a high effort, nicely rendered, but stylistically incongruous generic cartoon cardinal????? Its not even a Neopet anymore!!! Even if I set aside my personal dislike of the overly rendered style they're using for more and more of the site assets, this wouldn't work with most of the rendering removed either, because it would still be a Pteri in pose and proportions only.

Not every new design and outfit that's come out in the past couple years has these issues and there have been a number I've really liked, and I DO think its great that the quality of the art has improved since the JumpStart era. But I would really appreciate it if the new pet colors in particular were designed a little more thoughtfully, so that they at bare minimum still resemble the species they're supposed to be outside of the rough pose and proportions. It sometimes feels like there isn't a rough draft or workshopping progress for new colors, and the members of the art team just kind of do their own thing and then the very first draft of an idea is what gets polished and released.

The current art direction for the customization aspects of the site just has me feeling like they've decided to throw out years of relatively cohesive art and world design for a strange jumble of ideas that don't really capture the appeal or feeling of Neopets to me.

[joshuamj]

Linktober Day 8. Tunic

[faislittlewhiteraven]

Fais fanfic rambles: Introduction to my 'Selkies by Starlight' ISaT AU

Note: Not to be confused with @looped-140-and-counting / Soren_793's wonderful Selkie AU oneshot series 'The Northern Islanders are Selkies' which was hugely inspiring for this if potentially VERY different in vibe (we got very into talking about cloaks! XD)

Basic premise/summary:

In an alternate version of the precanon adventure, the party lead by Mirabelle to stop the King freezing Vaugarde in time, recruit Siffrin as per usual.

Thing is, Siffrin is a Selkie.

A very skittish selkie without a cloak of their own, who openly wears the cloak of another, and due to Reasons is under the impression that the party know all both of those things and the Implications about them, and for whatever reason have decided to welcome him into their group anyway.

Which er, he's completely wrong about as the party know absolutely nothing.

Mira and Isa like most Vaugardian humans think 'shifters' are just fairytales, Odile knows shapeshifters are real but is only really familiar with how foxes like her father work, and Bonnie is actually able to sense some pretty major things but is a preteen dealing with a lot and hasn't even joined the party yet, so this pretty major misunderstanding is sustained for quite a while...

Cue the AUs' main focus being on the resulting party dynamic shifts as more and more canon divergence due to Sif's 'selkie stuff' (both cute and serious) comes into play, the party slowly realising something is up, and all of it hitting an eruption point right around the time of the 4th Orb/the loss of Siffrin's eye...

Some key world building notes: (Note: very summarised from my docs. I have like 20k+ words on this stuff XD)

The Island - Probably the most drastically different thing from canon here, the Island was not forgotten or erased here. Rather it is hidden away and permanently shrouded in Wish Craft generated fog from 'those without cloaks'. Side note: Sif is still unable to return home and continues to have some very plot critical memory problems but those are due to unrelated issues, which means yay I get to have Sif talk 'home culture' with the others in this =D Also idk why the King is freezing Vaugarde still. I've got a few ideas I'm not sure about and he's not in focus enough for it to even matter really, but random suggestions -especially those with possible selkie motivations- would be very much appreciated.

Selkie powers in my setting - Went into something of a deep dive regarding selkie folklore for this and did you know they have an absolute ton of seer/oracle based stuff going on?

From selkie being summoned by their human lovers shedding seven tears into the ocean, to a selkie man telling a former lover that he and their child will die at the hands by her genuinely good and loving future husband, to a selkie woman forseeing her fisherman husband about to die out in a storm just in time for her to swim over there and rescue him, etc.

So... Yeah. This AU has a lot of plot relevant sensory/seer stuff going on as well as the standard seal shapeshifter stuff (Islander selkie traditionally believe it to be the Universe talking with them, in the same way Wish Craft is talking to the Universe), and going off all the stuff I read decided it'd be most fitting if the general rule for how it all works is: - Selkie always passively have a bit of it going on (aka Sif's canon 'you sense someone nearby' stuff) which like most things can be enhanced with Craft use a bit. - Near perfect understanding of all 'connected' bodies of water (aka they know EXACTLY where the tasty fish are/will be and can probably get a general sense of location for most people on a boat) - Potentially get strong 'visions of the future' and/or instincts on what they need to do to avert an outcome when it comes to loved ones being in danger/distress.

They also maybe get to pull very fast, high power Wish Craft 'curses'/miracles' at idk, the cost of something major like their cloak or lives (mostly based off of the The Legend of Kópakonan where the whole island of Kalsoy was cursed with death by a selkie in retaliation for her husband and children being murdered) but not super attached to this idea past it being in 'seal shifter' stories in-setting.

Other non humans in setting and regional differences in shifters - Pretty much only selkie and selkie issues are in focus here, but just as a general thing, all non humans in setting are shapeshifters and originated from human ancestors who went crazy with the the Body Craft and/or used Wish Craft in some way.

Ka Bue in particular has a ton of them since yokai, with their origins being various sects/clans back in the warring eras going so nuts with trying to weaponize Body Craft (super soldiers, enhanced life spans, infiltration, exploiting attraction to furries, etc), that after some particularly high profile incidents (for an idea plz see: Kiyohime, Tamamo no Mae, Kachi-kachi Yama) and 'Body Craft misuse leading to shut down of the brain/vital organs' being the most common cause of death for 10+ years once peace time was established, eventually Ka Bue's authorities set their foot down and banned Body Craft altogether.

Currently the shifter population in Ka Bue is around 30% of the population, shifters are required to have ID regarding their forms (or potential forms if they're merely 'half'), and it's considered distasteful for a shifter to be in non human form outside of private settings/necessity and even ruder to ask a shifter about their non human forms if they haven't brought the topic up yet first (kinda like seeing/asking about someone's underwear or something XD).

In contrast the Vaugarde, Mwudu and Porteria region is extremely shifter sparce, with most of its original shifter population being the result of various Universe worshipping peoples (mostly small groups, like greek mystery cults) deciding to use a big Wish Craft ritual as some sort of religious rite and becoming shifters as a side effect of their primary Wish (usually stuff like 'we wish for us and our descendants to be one with You and the sea/air' or 'may we Change with the phases of the holy moon' etc) which granted them some pretty neat skills but also tended to come with some 'potentially nasty' drawbacks attached (see: selkie and swan maidens with their cloaks, werewolves Changing in both body and mind etc) Which er, lead to some issues born of lack of knowledge about this stuff, later some very nasty anti shifter sentiment in the region, and then around... IDK 200 to 300 years ago or so ended up exploding into violence and other very nasty things, with most shifters able to do so fleeing the region, and those that couldn't either enduring horrible conditions until they could escape/died or went deep into hiding, with the Island's Country being founded by the two later groups who used Wish Craft to hide their new home, erase awareness of their existence from their enemies (a short term, fully intentionally 'forgetting' blast centered specifically around shifters), and developed a LOT of culture and traditions regarding when, who and what can be told to 'outsiders' about themselves, Wish Craft, etc in order to keep their people safe.

There are shifters living in present in Vaugarde of course (anti shifter sentiment died back a LOT after most people stopped thinking they were real, and most modern day Change Believers are more likely to view these 'totally fictional/allegorical' beings as children/messengers of the Change God rather than 'evil demons who stole power by tearing apart the Change God's cloak for themselves and thus have to be hunted down and made to repent' propaganda take that was everywhere back then) but numbers actually living outside the Island as opposed to merely visiting remain low, since either the shifters know their history and stick firmly to their 'stay secret' traditions or quickly pick up on how oddly unknown shifters are around these parts and decide to err on the side of caution... Also 'trust worthy' humans who do learn about them (usually northern coastal folk, gee wonder why) tend to help cover them up so... Yeah =D

---

And... Yeah!

This is hella long as is, so will stop here and ramble about the actual 'how this all affects our beloved Sif and Co plot and culture wise' stuff that is the actual meat of the AU in another post later, but hope this made for an interesting/idea provoking read, know that I have no issue with anyone using any of this for their own works (just please, don't use the 'Selkies under starlight' same story name unless it's actually a fanfic/fanart of my 'hopefully soon has a chapter/one shot up' fic/Ao3 series of the same name so people don't get confused), and I would love to chatter with you about any thoughts/questions you might have so...

Wishing you a good day =D

(sighes in relief finally getting this post finished after literal months. Pheeeeww~)

[mishy-mashy]

Got my hands on a Ultra Analysis BNHA book from a library

Some points I liked (I focused more on 1B since they don't get a lot of attention)

1B once had a Tetsutetsu BBQ. They heated him up and cooked food on him. He proceeds to ruin it when he declares his sweat is the salt to their food

Yui is canonically the prettiest first-year

Mineta has no sex appeal at all, but he thinks being a hero will make him lucky

Class B does respect Monoma. He's sharp-minded, witty, and has a way with words

Monoma sometimes wanders into 1A's dorm just to throw down a mean speech, and heads back to 1B

Juzo probably isn't helping Monoma's confrontations with 1A, since he just always asks him why he can't say it to their faces whenever Monoma complains about them

Shiozaki tries to be polite even in a fight

Pony hosts anime parties, so 1B knows a lot about anime. Vice-versa, they teach her Japanese, and everything nasty is Monoma's fault

Tokage was a gyaru

Tsuburuaba, Kaibara, and Kuroiro get worked up whenever they talk about girls

Manga likes Kenranzaki

Awase's family runs a small factory. He also restrains Monoma whenever Kendo isn't available

1B likes hearing Rin say "Aiyah", so he does it for them

Kamakiri is obsessed with cutting into things

Class B's play was really successful

Tamaki is scared of Kirishima's energy

1C was planning a send-off party for Shinsou for his upcoming hero transfer. They didn't doubt he would make it, ever since the Sports Festival

Shishikura (meatball Shiketsu boy) might've chosen Shiketsu because he likes the uniform's hat

Nakagame and Yo are dating

Tsuyu's family gets to spend a lot of time together now, since their parents' busy jobs have calmed down

Tsubasa (devil wing kid in Midoriya's memories) suspiciously lost touch with Midoriya and Bakugo in middle school (his Wiki page confirms Garaki - his grandfather - turned him into a Nomu)

Torino likes goofy gags. This rubs off on All Might (ex. when Midoriya thought he died when Torino fell with ketchup. People don't know whether to laugh or be concerned)

Nighteye has yellow streaks in his hair as a homage to All Might

Nezu likes worming into tight, dark places, so he likes Aizawa's scarf. They went into detail, describing why Nezu likes it, such as material to crawling in, etc.

Recovery Girl has to travel around Japan regularly to help people with her Quirk (as in, she uses her Quirk to help them. Healing Quirks are SO rare)

Hojo, Tabe, and Sestuno are kept in the same jail, so at least they're not separated

[beargregor]

Chef greg delivery just for you. it's a wonder I hadn't bearified him yet, he's my fave greg too 🔪

gays literally only want one thing (to be chopped up and eaten by a depressed man) and it's fucking disgusting

[edenfire]

“I know first kisses aren’t always as magical as the movies make them look,” Kyle was saying, “but I don’t want to mess up. I mean, what if—” Then Kenny was standing in front of him, cupping his face in both his hands. He kissed Kyle gently, chastely, right on the mouth. Kyle barely had time to reciprocate, moving totally on instinct, before Kenny pulled back. “There,” he’d said. “Now you’ll always look back and know that you first kiss was, A, with a good kisser…” He waggled his eyebrows at Kyle, who stuttered in response. Kenny’s smile softened. “And, B, with someone who loves you.”

came across my old comic i drew back in 2021 and was feeling nostalgic for my favorite k2 fic, Mysterion Begins by indirectkissesiniceland, and decided to color it <3

this fic is amazing and im always thinking about it years later, so please please read it if you haven't yet <3 <3 <3

[fiapple]

i'm getting towards the end of the skypeia arc, & i'd like to say just how much i adore the way the female strawhats have been treated.

just... every aspect of how the way their characters have been previously contextualized influences the story-line is treated with a masterful amount of consideration. we're given so many layers to both of them that enrich not only their characters specifically, but the arc, and the one piece world as a whole. without nami & robin having their specific skills, and their specific values, without those being built upon, the story would have come to a halt.

you could not have skypeia without nami & robin being who they are as individuals. not just because they never would've gotten there without nami, but also because the way these women think is itself foundational to the machinations of the arc as a whole.

to be totally upfront, if you think any other strawhats were more central to the skypeia arc than nami & robin were you are full-on fucking lying to yourself.

[lightbulb-warning]

so has anyone figured out WHY there is the Need To Share our Artworks™ or is it just the vibes and our Soul apparently

[thy-lovelylionheart]

me after watching one (1) single video about Mike Wheeler & internalized homophobia/biphobia: wow okay whoa one second hold on I get it, I get it now, hold on I need a minute wow okay okay no you’re right wait—

[spaciebabie]

unamed is a "failed" (really they only failed b/c they were unable to be controlled) biological weapon and dahlia is a military girlie who has started to be disillusioned w/what she's actually fighting for (its nothing: spoilers) and it comes to a head when her squadron is tasked with terminating this "biological weapon" that has somehow evaded the government for years and killed a good portion of their soldiers. everyone is super vague about it, they tell the squadron (minus the leader) basically what they need to know and nothing more. its a biological weapon. it can kill you. it has killed before. it has the ability to rip chunks of concrete off of buildings and destroy entire blocks of city. you must kill it.

now dahlia is scared for her life. shaking in her military boots, she knows shes a good soldier, but is she fit for this? shes not the best around and she doesnt try to be, there are others who fill that position for her, but after this? she could become a military hero. it makes her stomach curl up in a knot b/c she already was considering quitting because of the shit shes seen. maybe this was a sign that she should actually quit

but she doesnt

and thats the best/worst mistake of her life.

they get out to where this biologican weapon has made a "home" for itself and its run down, stinky, dirty, just the worst possible place any living thing can...well live.

so thats immediately a red flag for her! but, she has orders to follow.

they get all stationed up. they're going to ambush this thing and put it down like a dog. its a bit sad she thinks to herself as she sets up the rifle for use. shes the one tasked with sniping this thing when it emerges. her squad mates all light up the in ear radio with testing testing...bravado to delta barking out various military speak. shes not really paying attention. shes just thinking about the "biological weapon" that had the misfortune of being born into this world.

yet another innocent life ruined by the government. and better yet the same entity that created this life is going to end it. that truth is more bitter than the blackest coffee in the world. and after this, dahlia says, shes going to finally quit. she thinks about what form this biological weapon could have taken. some kind of big cat? maybe a wolf or dog (she knew they were experiementing with those). maybe some unorthodox animal like a cow maybe a chicken (she didnt know why chicken experimentation was kept under such strict wraps but whatever. the military is weird.) or ape. really, there were no limits. the big guys did what they wanted. and then one of her squad mates gives the signal that the weapon has left its chambers and headed into the main area. dahlia sniffs (its freezing out here), steadies her breathing, and coils her finger around the trigger...she waits for the target to enter the view of her scope and...

its a person.

its a whole ass living breathing person. a skinny, malnourished looking one at that. they're effectively wearing rags, their dark skin is ashen, their cheekbones protrude from their face, it looks like they havent had a good bath in awhile, and dahlia falters. her breath hitches. she removes her finger from the trigger. surely this isnt the weapon they're speaking of. this guy looked like they could barely pick up a spoon. so she radios her squad leader who had seen a picture of the thing and is like, "hey i think there's a civilian out here" leader is like, "okay we'll check it out hold your fire". a moment passes. the civillian is still just kind of standing there not doing anything. looking around absent mindedly. kicking rocks. interesting. when they catch the real bioweapon she's gonna go down there and help this person out. get them some clothes, a bath, and-

"there are no civilians around solider, free to shoot" what. surely she must be mistaken. and so she asks again. and is met with the same response. so she asks more clearly, "is the bioweapon a person?" there's a beat of hesitation before the leader confirms that yes, that poor looking fellow below is actually what they were sent here to kill.

but she doesnt have time to register what that means or throw down her weapon because the ground is suddenly ripped from under her.

[bigmammallama5]

So a thought I've been having for a few weeks now of kryptonians and mild colour blindness. Like, if they lived under a red sun, and predominantly lived there, they probably had *some* colour blindness, right?? I mean, i guess they couldve been genetically engineered for that to like. Not happen but then I'd be petitioning for them to have a wayyy wilder sense of sight and perception of colours. Anyway it also led to mild colourblind kara thoughts and her arguing with everyone about it djdjdkf

rip you just opened one of my special interest barrels and im supposed to be working LMAO

Ok honestly I've wondered about that too bc if Krypton is a red sun planet and they supposedly had flora and fauna before the war that inevitably collapsed the planet, it would be adapted to that darker "sweet spot" for life to grow. Like would the plants be darker (blacks, deep greens, purples, reds?) and would the animals and kryptonians have altered vision and metabolism to make up for the lack of light? Like would we be seeing more bioluminescence (let kara glow in the dark, it would be funny)? Would they have better low light vision and even dark vision? Would they have heightened hearing or even echolocation?

It is canon that kryptonians started growing clones of themselves to use as basically free extra parts to extend their lives during the golden age (i may be getting a few details wrong here, it's been a minute since i looked at my notes and stuff) (The reason the civil war began is bc anti-clone kryptonians wanted to prove that those bodies were real people (and they did! bodily and mental autonomy for the win!).). SO it is very plausible that there was more genetic engineering to benefit their race and their existence on this red sun planet since most of the population was using this technology as opposed to natural birth. That would make a more interesting take on Kara's senses and powers on a yellow sun planet since she was supposedly conceived in one of these tubes (kal/clark was the first kryptonian in generations to be created (lol) the "old" way bc he had the luck of his parents loving each other and not solely together for political purposes via the matricomp).

Also it would just lead to some really cool ways to play with her powers, give a different way to play with her heat vision and x-ray vision (even her hearing), and kick off a huge social media hubub when Supergirl accidentally reveals that she's weirdly color blind.

[a-couple-of-notes]

hey sorry i wanna talk some more about no one mourns the wicked.

when glinda's introduced, her first celebratory lines slide into a question:

Isn't it nice to know that good will conquer evil, the truth we all believe'll by and by outlive a lie for you and - [I]?

and in a song full of double meanings, glinda isn't asking that question (only) to the ozians. she's asking it to elphaba, who has always been that other half of "you and i." even though glinda has promised not to reveal the truth, she's still hoping that it will come to light someday for her and elphaba. and it's also a heartbreaking call-forward to defying gravity, because just like that moment where glinda almost gets on the broom, there can't be a "you and i" here--it's cut off by the world they exist in.

[volfoss]

it is beyond infuriating how anne rice seems to insist on marius being a positive force in anyone's life ever. like she can't fully commit to exploring the fact he groomed armand and has repeatedly taken away his consent for what marius thinks is best (take the end of TVA as an example) and just kind of flatly puts it in the narrative. there's not really much interest in how these horrific events make marius come across as the worst because EVERYONE loves him. for gods sake, lestat learns from armand exactly what marius did to him in TVL and then proceeds to go find marius and be super friendly to him in the same fucking book. even armand and pandora, two of the people who have MORE than enough right to hate him, do not. it doesnt feel like shes trying to explore the toxicity of the abusive dynamic he traps them in, it just is there. and like yeah ofc the toxic vampire romance series but i think that this should be handled with more care. and it is not ever really framed in a way that she is interested in exploring how marius should easily be one of the most horrific characters in this series because it kind of feels like sa/rape/grooming/other things of that sort are just put there to further plot and not to really get the respect that they deserve in a medium.

[the---hermit]

@la-galaxie-langblr tagged me to talk about what I do on bad mental health days! As they said in their own post it is very much a work in progress, and it also changes depending on why it's a bad mental health day and whatever I have to also do as a human adult with responsibilities, but there's certainly things that help.

I am an hyper-aware person so I know quite well how I work and what I need, and I am also very aware that many people don't work like me, so let's address right away the thing I know a lot of people might not consider a good starting point. When I am having a bad mental health day or I have to deal with the horrors of emotions in general I tend to isolate myself. Yes it's not always healthy to do so, but that is usually something that I need right at the beginning. I have an awful time opening up with people, doing to requires so much energy for me, so I usually do that once I have worked some stuff out for myself, or once I am calmer and feel less stressed. Talking to friends whether it is to rant about whatever is going on in your life, or to look for distraction if that's what you need is an amazing resource that I appreciate with all my hearth but for me that is the last stage of dealing with something. The main thing I need when I am dealing with something is to have my own quiet place and to be there alone. That allows me to relax as much as I possibly can, so that then I can deal with things.

Usually the first stages of dealing with a bad mental health day in general is to use distractions to get off my shoulders some emotional overwhelm. Playing musing is the number one thing I do, it just makes me feel so much better, it's a great and easy way to let go of stress. Depending on how much mental energy I have I might look for distraction in other hobbies, like listening to a podcast or reading.

Once I feel like I have let go of some emotions and so I can actually focus on whatever is going on, my logical side kicks in and I start analizing the situation. This is a completly automatical thing for me, it's in my nature to dissect and analize everything, and almost a decade of therapy has made me quite good at analizing these situations. I try to figure out what I am feeling if I have a lot of tangled emotions (and I am terrible at this in particular because yours truly uselessly tries to make feelings as logical as possible which, spoiler, is impossible, so don't be like me), and then I try to look at the reaons I might feel a certain way. At that point I just try to figure out what are my options, which means what can I actually do to deal with the situation? Am I feeling emotionally overwhelmed because of something external I can deal with? If the answer is yes, no matter how much emotional stuff I have going on I deal with the thing, because I know that getting the thing out of my head is going to make things 80% better at least. If it's not something I can deal with, I usually sit with my feelings until I feel like I have enough emotional energy to talk it though with someone else.

As I have mentioned I need to consider very well when I talk with people because it can sometimes feel more overwhelming than just sitting with my feelings. But usually I can do that once I have dealt with everything by myself for a bit. Then sharing it with someone like a friend is usually the last step to let go of things.

Other random things that help me are going on walks in nature, when I have enough energy to do that. Or do manual tasks. Whether it is crocheting, drawing, reorganizing my books. Anything that requires me to focus on something physical does wonders. It helps me to shut off my brain for a bit so that I am not completly overwhelmed by emotions, and usually after a while I get to a point where I can actually deal with things.

I am definitely forgetting about something lmao. In general I need quiet time to deal with things, and it is fundamental for me to feel like I can take my time and space to deal with things. That is the one thing people around me have thankfully figured out, which means that if someone notices that something is going on with me that know that the best course of action is not to force me to talk, instead they just give me my space and time and tell me that when I am ready I have their support. I am very grateful for that.

I am tagging @oneardentstudybuddy, @just-a-cup-of-anxietea and @selkiestudies!