#i don't have any issues with my current team's kits

[tiangouaway]

on one hand, running around the world in wuwa collecting any and all materials for potential characters i would want to have in the future is fun! on the other hand, i doubt that'll ever happen

[villainousauthor]

Would you plss write something where a villain and hero realize they're soulmates? Thank you<333

Hero grunted in pain as they clutched their abdomen and tried to catch their breath. Their head swam, and their vision blurred as they attempted to gain their bearings. One second, they were in a massive fight against several villains. The next, they found themselves being pushed back through a portal. Supervillain was likely to blame for that, with his ability to warp people anywhere in the world.

Hopefully, their communicator wasn't broken in battle, so they'll be able to send their location to their team. If they could even find it.

They try to stand, and immediately, their vision starts to darken around the edges and their head throbs. With a hiss they fall back to the ground.

"Careful, you probably have a concussion."

Hero cranes their neck to see Villain a few feet away, remarkably less injured and approaching. They don't have any weapons drawn, but still, hero feels their heart lurch.

They open their mouth, trying to speak. "I didn't see you go through the portal.. " Even their voice is laced with pain.

Villain is closer now and stops a few feet away, kneeling so they're at eye level. They seem to be assessing Hero's current state. Probably to see if they can easily finish them off, Hero assumes.

"I came in after you." Villain says nonchalantly, like this is the most obvious thing in the world. They eye the blood currently dripping down Hero's head, and the large gash in their arm.

Hero snort, and their chests aches in protest. "Why, to finish the job? Make sure I don't come back?"

Standing up and getting closer, Villain rolls their eyes.

"No, idiot. One day, if you die, it's not going to be at Supervillain's hands. Or because you bled out in-" Villain looks around at the tall trees, the lack of buildings or signs of civilization. "- the middle of the...pacific northwest? I don't even know where we are." They finish, unsure.

Hero tries to sit up as Villain kneels down again, closer this time. "I don't know either. I lost all my tech, I don't even have a way of contacting my team."

"Lucky for you, my stuff faired much better." Villain says smugly, and Hero wishes they could knock the look off their face. "I'll send my location to my henchmen, and they'll come to get us."

Villain reaches out for their arm, and Hero immediately finds themselves flinching away. Villain's lips press into a thin line.

"I'm not going to kill you, like I said. Unless you want to bleed out before someone arrives, you should let me treat your wounds." Villain's voice is firm as they pull a small first aid kid off their utility belt.

"I'm not going to bled out, it's not that bad." Hero tries to keep a defiant edge to their voice. For all they know, Villain will kill them, probably inject them with some poison or something just to make it easy.

"How bad did you hit your head? Are you blind suddenly? Because it looks pretty damn bad." Villain opens the small kit, showing Hero the contents. "Look, normal first aid crap." Their brows are furrowed, frustrated by Hero's reluctance.

Finally, after several tense seconds, Hero relents. They nod and slump their shoulders, as Villain moves closer now.

"The amount of trust issues you have is ridiculous..." They grumble under their breath as they slowly pull the damaged and blood-soaked sleeve of Hero's uniform back. They get a good look at the deep and long cut. Their frown deepens.

Pulling off their dirty gloves, Villain speaks again as they reach for something else.

"I'm going to have to clean this before I dress it. You might need sutures, though." Grabbing alcohol wipes, they use one hand to hold Hero's arm steady, grabbing their forearm.

Hero immediately hisses and jumps back, wrenching their arm from Villain's grasp.

"Jesus christ! Cleaning it shouldn't hurt that much!" Hero exclaims, even more tense. "What did you do, burn me?" They demand, but then they see Villain's expression. Their eyes are focused on Hero's arm, and their face looks cloudy and unreadable. They don't respond to what Hero said, like they didn't register it.

Hero looks down at their arm, and their eyes widen when they see it. Right on their arm, below the wound is a handprint. A completely different shade than Hero's skin tone, it stands out. A soulmark. Right where Villain grabbed them.

"Oh..." Is all Hero can manage to say in this moment. Villain seems to snap out of their trance and reaches for Hero's arm quickly, wrapping their hand back around where the mark is. It fits perfectly.

"This is...this really...this wasn't here before, right?" Villain asks, even though they saw Hero's completely blank and markless skin moments before. They unknowingly tighten their hold, and Hero yelps, their arm still in pain.

Pulling their hand back like they were burned, Villain finally meets Hero's eyes. "You're..." Villain trails off, shaking their head. They look away, palm to their forehead like they're trying to process this.

Hero feels like the forest floor will open up any minute and swallow them whole. If it weren't for their probable concussion, they're sure they would be taking this a lot harder. It feels like there's a charge around them now, an electrical current, live and dangerous between them.

Finally, Villain swallows and talks. "Let me just...let me just treat your wounds, and we can talk about this later." They manage.

Hero just nods as Villain returns to their first aid kit, ignoring the spark and air of tension now between them.

[willicebattlecatsblog]

pov : willice rants about The Broken Code Jayfeather (SPOILERS FOR THE BROKEN CODE)

It's been a full year now that I decided to re-read every single Warrior Cats books, as a teenager I stopped at OotS, so I re-read all of TPB, TNP, PoT and OotS. I am done with DotC (I have many opinions) and just finished AvoS, so I am starting TBC (currently at book 2).

Clearly the Writing Team™ has big, big issues with how to handle Jayfeather and his personality. Jayfeather was meant te be blunt and to freely voice his anger and concerns with little respects for other feelings sometimes, but he was never meant to be outright mean and antagonistic, was he ?

He went from a personal favorite of mine in PoT and OotS to a very unlikable character in TBC. He actively bullies and isolates Twigkit in AvoS (when he was previously known to be patient with kits??), but I can tolerate this mischaracterization i guess

But TBC Jayfeather ??? I don't know if it's just the Writing Team™ being extremely bad at understanding his character, or if it's the first symptoms of the Onestar disease, but I am kind of scared of how he will evolve in the 4 following books :(((

In the first two books of TBC, Jayfeather can hardly go through a single conversation with / about Shadowsight without straight up insulting him, his intelligence and competences. He had opinions about Willowshine and Kestrelflight, but he would rarely, if ever, straight up disrespect them to their face like that. Now, he actively participates in all the gossip around Shadowsight and characters will say "Jayfeather said Shadowsight is just a featherhead !" because Jay's opinion is that valued and important. (idk the actual English insults, all my books are in French, so you will have to suffer the French horrors sorry guys 😔)

At some point, during a Gathering, Jayfeather just tells everyone that Mothwing doesn't believe in StarClan. In front of the five Clans, the leaders, the deputies, the other warriors, like, everyone. Just because he was personally pissed at her opinion.

Just as a reminder, the Clans are all extremely faithful and the lack of faith has been a plot point several times, showing emphasis on how important it is for all cats to show devotion to StarClan. Medicine cats are literally meant to talk to StarClan. And in general, the Clans are known to be agressive to anyone who doesn't respect StarClan, thinking that if you don't follow StarClan's commands then you don't have any moral values at all.

Another reminder, Mothwing is not only the daughter of Tigerclawstar, she is also an ex rogue. She got her medicine cat title only because her brother created a fake omen, because her status as an ex-rogue made her an outcast in her own Clan. Mothwing has been known to be more vulnerable to isolation than other medicine cats.

So huh, yeah, Jayfeather just put Mothwing, an already vulnerable she-cat, in extreme danger, throwing her under the bus in front of absolutely everyone, including her own leader, her own deputy, most of her clanmates, and most of the other Clans members. Mothwing is shocked, obviously, and quickly says that she does believe StarClan is real, just isn't devoted to them.

The response of the Clans to this revelation is so out of character and disconnected from their agressive violent culture that I had to re-read the whole thing a few times.

The Clans just go "weird flex mothwing, but ok" and go back to their business (business being : questioning why StarClan isn't communicating with them anymore). From what I know, the revelation Jayfeather just made is never going to impact the story ever again because Mothwing gets banished for the crime of being a ShadowClan cat's child. So this whole scene is just there to show that Jayfeather will use precious informations against others if he gets annoyed at them ??? I don't know if this is bad writing or character assassination at this point man😔my po3 jayfeather would never.

None the less, Jayfeather KNEW how dangerous such a revelation could have been. Every single medicine cat, including her own apprentice Willowshine, kept the secret, because they all KNEW it would endanger Mothwing if the Clans discovered the state of her faith. This was literally a plot point in TNP with Leafpool like COME ON WRITING TEAM™ YOU HAVE TO LOCK IN !!!!!

I know this scene is canon (sadly), but this depiction of Jayfeather is just so alien to me. Jayfeather knows what it's like to be different and to be special, why would he insult Shadowsight over and over again when the kid is obviously struggling ? Also Jayfeather has been accused of murder and was on thin ice at some point, he knows what it's like to be accused in front of a whole Gathering, why would he do that to Mothwing out of all cats ???

Do you have any opinions on this ? Do you think this is just normal Jayfeather behavior, or do you think it is the Writing Team struggling to grasp Jay's personality ? I would like to know what you feel about that because from all the fandom discourse I did read, no one ever talked about how flabbergasting Jayfeather's behavior would be

In conclusion the real impostor is jayfeather

[the-owl-tree]

Tbf the unborn fetus having souls thing has been a thing since the new team started writing the books when they put brightstream’s unborn kittens in starclan and there has been a lot of subtle and unsubtle pro-life propaganda their whole run as authors (retconning Squirrelflight’s infertility and making the desire to have kits a focal point of her super edition, parts of the Sister’s treatment, Sparkpelt being demonized for her ppd, the fact that every prominent female character still living has had kittens bar twigbranch and frostdawn and twig not wanting kittens was made a big deal and frost was literally fucking spayed, Bristlefrost dying dreaming of babies, the amount of motherhood focus). Not to say there was none to be found in Vicky’s books, but I definitely feel like the new team upped the frequency and intensity. I think there are ways to spin the twin soul situation that don’t come across as pro-life (though I think they’d have issues in other regards) but taking into account the current author’s track record it’s absolutely a valid worry to think that the angle they’re going to take with this will feel like weird pro-life propaganda. The new team’s relationship with female characters is extremely creepy and regressive to an extent that Vicky, for all her many problems, particularly in areas of abusive or dangerous relationships, never quite was and I absolutely believe they will do the same to Moonpaw and her twin

I'm definitely not arguing there's no reason to be concerned, especially with every example you gave and how often I talk about those problems on this blog (though I definitely disagree with the old team vs. new team, that stuff was present throughout to an uncomfortable degree) - I just don't think this is the storyline where they could make a compelling case.

Like I just don't know how they could spin "Two zygotes fuse and it ends up with one of them becoming a 'sinister voice' in the others head" into a completely pro-life narrative. I'm not arguing there aren't themes or any politically charged statements behind the choice, as I admittedly aggressively argued beforehand, but just that out of all my concerns so far....it's kind of on the backburner.

I get it, totally do! But it's been one chapter and I don't wanna rile people up until we get more info on where this is going.

[sleepyfan-blog]

Pattern Recognition

Author’s Note: this is the second part of mer-Sirass fic!  Previous.

Next

Tagged: @egrets-not-regrets @kit-williams @bleedingichorhearts @the-pure-angel 

Warnings: mention of illness and parasites (fish variety) 

Summary: Sirass figures out the cause of the sick reef.

Sirass glared down at his bonded, arms folded over his chest as he looks down at you “And why do you not want me to come with you while you are inspecting the sickened reef?”

You sigh and remind him “You can read through the data that we've recorded, collate it and find connections between different incidents much faster than any of the rest of our team. That and… The Reef and the fish and other sea life who depend on it are getting much sicker over the past several months. The number of parasites and sheer variety of them is unlike anything any of us have ever seen. I… I know that you have an incredible immune system and that your armor somehow helps you to survive the depths of space… But-” you reach out and lightly touch the grumpy Iron Warrior's hand with one of your own, squeezing gently “I worry about you. We don't know the source behind these sicknesses. I would feel awful if You came down with something while helping me with this issue.”

“What about you? I know that you've told me that aquatic diseases can't affect you, and that threatened aquatic parasites are unable to penetrate through your swimming gear, but I want to be there to protect you. Besides, despite my many excellent skills, data processing is best left to-” Sirass grumbled before he stopped talking mid-sentence, as a horrified expression appeared on his face.

He swum through the air as fast as he could, large form blurring for several moments as he picked up a damaged piece of diving equipment. His fingers shook a little as he inspected it, face pale and expression unreadable “Do you know how this happened?”

“Yes, Doctor Alenfil had to do an emergency evac to the surface a couple of hours ago after his equipment started malfunctioning out of nowhere. I saw him do the double check myself. He said he was mobbed by dark green creatures that burbled and cackled - two of them sparked electricity and they tried to bite him. Luckily he was able to scare them off by hitting them with his shark baton… Are you okay, Sirass?”

Sirass let out a series of probable-curse words in his native tongue. He darted over to the table and sketched out the rough shape of a strange looking little monster. It has many pointed teeth and three too many eyes for your taste, and small, thin tails “Did they look similar to this?” Heasked, tone urgent and eyes wide.

“I'll have to check with Parris, but from his description, yes.” You respond, alarmed by how distressed Sirass was. You take a snapshot of the picture and text your colleague, who was currently being treated for the bends, having had to go up to the surface to avoid drowning after his oxygen tank had been bitten through. Less than a minute later, you had your answer. It was a simple one word answer, which you passed onto Sirass. “Yes, that's what attacked him, why?”

“Fuck fuck fuck! This is far more dangerous than I first thought. You need to quarantine that reef and the surrounding lands for at least 8 miles in every direction. Fuck! Why didn't I see this sooner?” Sirass growls, swimming back and forth in the air in agitation. “... I'll need to contact the chapter masters. They're likely going to get the Salamanders involved.”

You blink in confusion, asking “we do have the Reef and the surrounding waters condoned off. Why eight miles specifically? What's going on? Who are the Salamanders? What is a chapter master? Sirass! Please talk to me.”

“Eight is a number sacred to the worshippers of decay and disease. I should have known weeks ago this was their doing. Chapter Masters lead the major pods. Like captain's, but on a much larger scale. Salamanders can and will set anything on fire. Which is what we'll need to do.. and where is that… Where is Pollux? He is a Son of Dorn, but will know the danger of the situation and help me in calling for the necessary people.”

“Hold on! No one is setting anything on fire! worshippers of what now?” You were delighted to get confirmation that the different pods of Astartes did in fact communicate with one another more than the occasional snarling hiss exchange with the bright yellow and black astartes who was partners with Doctor Smithson, another member of your conservation team. You still didn’T know who Dorn - nor Perturabo - was. Neither wanted to elaborate. “How would belief cause destruction?”

“... I will explain when I can, my heart. But this is too dangerous, too urgent to pause for explanations. That reef and all those afflicted animals will need to be killed and burnt. To avoid further contamination. As will all of the samples taken. The risk to everyone is too high, even if the samples are kept in lab conditions for study. This is no mere illness in the waters caused by simple waste, temperature or salinity changes. It's far worse. More sinister and deliberate.” Sirass warned before yellowing at the top of his lungs “POLLUX YOU UGLY YELLOW BASTARD! WE HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM!”

Seconds later Pollux entered the room, scowling. So did most of the conservation team, all looking puzzled. The Imperial fist asked impatiently “What is it now, Iron Warrior?”

“Doctor Alenfil was nearly killed by a Nurgling when it bit through his air tank.” Sirass stated.

Pollux swore explosively in a dozen languages, as he started reaching for his helmet. “This is catastrophic! We should coordinate on who is calling which chapter master.”

“You speak with the Carrion-Worshippers, and I'll handle the Chaos-aligned.” Sirass suggested.

“He is not- you know what? I'm not getting into an argument with you over his holiness, not when we have a budding Garden of Blight on our hands.” Pollux hissed.  Both astartes swam off together, voices tense and unhappy.

The rest of the conservation team descend on you, and you answer their questions to the best of your abilities.

[pibiiiii]

Splatoon questions!! (by @weedceI8bit on twt)

Took this from here. Template is here if you wanna do it too! Tag me in pls :)

u know the drill qrt ur answers ok lets go -> feel free to skip any questions or skip around

whats your in game name/splashtag ? Pibi#1929! My Splashtag currently looks like this, soon to be upgraded with the 4★ Nautilus and Big Man badge!

do you play as an inkling or octoling ? Octoling, because of the lore and Surfcurl hairstyle :) Inklings will always have a special place in my heart from the earlier games though.

whats your multiplayer lvl ? + whats your favorite game mode ? Don't bully mee... 34. Favourite game mode has to be Anarchy Battles (Open only with my friends), with Salmon Run being a close second!

whats your anarchy rank ? do you play competitively if so what division are you in ? S+ rn. I tried to play comp, but it wasn't for me. Turns out what I actually wanted wasn't to play competitively, but to have a team!

whats your main/favorite weapon ? The Nautilus 47! I hope we get a new kit, because Point Sensor is NOT it.

what weapon class do you play ? Not actually Splatlings lmao, Naut is special to me because of its charge hold. The other classes I like are Wipers, Dualies and some Shooters!

do you dress for gear abilities or style ? Both!! I worked very hard on grinding viable abilities onto my favourite fit haha

favorite ranked mode ? This is difficult. Clam Blitz has gotten kind of fun, even in soloq which is crazy! Rainmaker is also pretty neat.

favorite hero mode ? Obviously RotM. It might be a little too by-the-book of Octo Expansion (which isn't a hero mode), but it's still the best by quite a bit.

favorite ink color/ink color combos ? Here they are!!

what splatoon game did you start on ? and or when did you start playing ? Splatoon 2, but quite late unfortunately. I picked it up just before the Final Fest!

favorite piece of gear ? Can't say. I just love how there's so many good ones to choose from lmao

what was your most memorable splatfest ? Final Fest, because it was my first (lmao 😅) and because of its awesome stage and dialogue!

any kits you want to come back to splatoon 3 ? Nautilus 79, duh. I have no other strong opinions! xD

what is your favorite weapon/kit in all of splatoon ? I want to say Nautilus 79 but I enjoyed a lot more kits so I really can't say. Gonna skip this question.

how many hours do you have on splatoon 3 or 2 ? Not that much xD. 125 hrs in 2, 155 hrs right now in 3. I don't spend that much time playing the game, but I spend way more obsessing over it haha

any buffs/nerfs you think are needed ? Splash's pinpoint accuracy. It's kinda screwed up the meta 😅. Not sure if it counts as a buff/nerf, but the stages HAVE to be improved. No more corridors! More flanks! More cover! More dynamic terrain! It would solve the issue with chargers without nerfing them and make the game 100x more fun.

have you read coroika aka the splatoon manga ? Yes! I haven't read the latest Splatoon 3 installment, but I'll get to it soon! Coroika fans hmu ;)

rank the splatoon games + oe best to worst Not sure how to compare an entire Splatoon game with just the Octo Expansion, but I went in terms of ✨general experience ✨: 1. Splatoon 3 - Current pinnacle of the franchise. Can't wait for Side Order, if it tops OE then it'll be the true best Splatoon game! 2. Octo Expansion - Best single player experience. Off the Hook are AMAZING. 3. Splatoon 2 - Without OE, this is still a solid game that I enjoyed a lot :) 3 definitely improves on it, though, in small ways and big ways. 4. Splatoon 1 - I haven't played it, so I'm not saying it's the worst, this is just for me. Obviously set up the foundation of an awesome series!

favorite splatoon ship ? Not really a shipper but anyone who DOESN'T ship Pearl and Marina is silly.

favorite idol group ? As above, Off the Hook :) Literally screaming for Side Order I can not stop the inner turmoil I will only be released when it comes out haha.

any splat tubers you watch ? do you have a favorite ? There are some pretty niche ones I like, but my all-time favourite is Jaymoji! Super fun to watch and his content is always interesting.

favorite splatband ? ABXY/Chirpy Chirps, but I absolutely love all the new ones that are being added!

favorite splatoon song ? Blitz It by ABXY :) Also 3MIX, Hide and Sleek, and most of the Salmon Run music!

any 4 or 5 star weapons ? Splatana Wiper, Stamper and Nautilus 47!

favorite stage ? aesthetically or to play on I have no idea, but Inkblot is good on any mode! Brinewater Springs might be my favourite aesthetically.

whats your signature piece of gear or fit ? The fit from before! I also love the Takoroka Nylon Vintage though.

do you own any splatoon amiibos ? Just the Green Squid one officially. I'm gonna get Big Man though!! (And I have bin files for Pearl and the Splatoon 3 Octoling Boy, but shhh.)

favorite splatoon game ? 3, silly!

are you autistic and or adhdtism ? Not diagnosed with either, but I love how accepting the Splatoon 3 community is of neurodivergent peeps :)

favorite agent ? Agent 8!! I hope Side Order is about them :) They have amazing lore that the other agents just don't, unfortunately.

[kyogre-blue]

hello. if i remember correctly, on your alt genshin account you only use tall males, right? so i was wondering what kind of team combos do you use? which one is your favourite so far? and which tall male character is your favourite from a gameplay pov?

Yes, that's right. It's tall men, Traveler (harem master), and Qiqi (for who am I to separate a man and his child).

The team combos question is a very problematic one, honestly. I'll give the simpler answer at the start, since then I will go on for a very long time (as always).

Currently, the way I deal with Abyss is C1R1 Neuvillette on one side with Zhongli for defense, Anemo traveler for dealing with any strays, and one flex for just some kind of element that can be both swirled and used for Neuvillette's third stack. I do intend to eventually put Childe in the last slot, for his +1 NA passive, Hydro resonance and energy from Fav. Then I'll probably rotate as Zhongli > Childe burst > Traveler swirl with VV > Neuvillette goes to town, and then repeat.

The other side is Burgeon with Ayato on-field driver, Thoma, C2 Baizhu, and Kaveh flex whose job is to use 4 piece Exile and R5 Fav greatsword for energy management. Because both Baizhu and Ayato have rather wonky elemental application, it's not a great team, but it's generally workable and the rotation is surprisingly doable for me (Baizhu skill > Ayato burst > Thoma skill/burst > Baizhu skill/burst/skill > Kaveh skill/burst > Ayato skill for six seconds > restart).

Before getting Neuvillette, I used a temporary team of Diluc + Kaeya melt. But the damage was underwhelming for a variety of reasons, and it was very easy to mess up. Diluc melt really expects you to use Bennett and a second cryo to work.

Of the characters I don't have yet, probably the only untapped viable team options would be with Wriothesley. He might be able to freeze with Ayato burst off field or to do some kind of burn melt, but I am really iffy about the elemental application side and would need to actually try it to see.

Talking about this more generally, tall male characters make team building extremely difficult.

On the men currently in the game, literally more than half are purely on-field DPS, with 0 off-field or support capability. That's Diluc, Childe, Itto, Alhaitham, Kaveh, Neuvillette, and Wriothesley, 7 out of 12.

Of the remaining five, Zhongli and Baizhu are almost entirely defensive, with very little buffing or personal damage. Thoma is similar except if used for Burgeon. Ayato's burst has spotty elemental application and low damage, and Kaeya's burst has ICD and extremely limited range. (It's an actual problem if used with Ayato in freeze, for example, or with Neuvillette.)

Genshin's team building generally works via 3-4 team members being support or off-field dps, so you can imagine this is a massive problem, since the men just flat out do not have two teams' worth of off field anything. Even in my intended two teams, Childe and Kaveh are basically just using their weapon/artifact effects and ignoring their actual kits.

And there is also the issue that tall men have literally 0 electro or anemo options, outside Traveler being slotted in. I find switching traveler's element to be massively annoying, so I want to stick with just one, and that one happens to be Anemo because her grouping ability is actually really useful for small mobs in overworld and some domains, plus VV is a generically useful set in most cases. Additionally, Electro Traveler was a nightmare the one time I tried it.

This means that I both lose out on Dendro Traveler (who is basically the game's second best off-field dendro option), and also that Quicken, Hyperbloom, or Physical are just not available. This immediately undercuts Alhaitham's potential, since he's designed to play with electro reactions. Itto is in the same boat, since he's designed to play with Gorou and mono geo. Childe is basically a Xiangling enabler, Diluc needs to be carried by top tier supports to be viable, and Wriothesley is... well, he's possible, but I don't like fisticuffs characters in Genshin.

This is all a long way to say that Neuvillette was a god-sent for this account because he is such a one man solution to a massive amount of problems. Since this man can solo things, his team doesn't even matter. It's perfect. This is why I went so hard on him. I plan to get C2 eventually as well.

That said, I don't find Newville particularly interesting to actually play as. He's just convenient.

My favorite... is hard to say. On my alt, I generally play as Traveler. I like the grouping on the Anemo skill, it's actually pretty fun. On my main, I play mostly as Childe in overworld (though never Abyss). I like the flexibility of a bow but also having the melee stance. And in overworld, things tend to die fast enough that the cooldown on skill is not a big concern. So it would probably be one of those two.

[beetheschool-marm]

Patch Update v1.107.112 - May 28th, 2024

Happy Patch Day everyone!! (yes, a little late getting it out but out nonetheless 😉 )

The patch today is meant to fix some bugs and prepare for the new kits - Riviera Retreat and Cozy Bistro Kits, which will become available on May 30th!

As usual, we don't know what affect this will have on mods, so on the side of caution:

BACKUP ALL YOUR SAVES AND REMOVE YOUR MODS (THIS INCLUDES CUSTOM CONTENT) UNTIL CREATORS HAVE CONFIRMED UPDATES OR CLEARED FOR THE PATCH.

! UPDATE YOUR GAME !  You can delay your patch by turning off automatic updates and putting the Origin/EA App in offline mode until your favourite mods have been confirmed as working or updated. We will, however, only support Version 1.106.124 of the game for up to a week to allow mod creators time to update their mods accordingly. After that, we will insist you update to Version 1.107.112 for further support.

Please be sure you are following the proper troubleshooting steps via this support link in Zerbu's Announcement Channel: #announcements

Any issues regarding mod breakage should be posted in the #mod-support channel for Zerbu's general mods and the #mod-constructor-support channel for MC4/MC5. Be sure to post in the right channel to avoid any confusion or miscommunication among the support staff.

Current Status of Zerbu's Mods: Unknown - As updates happen, they will be reported in the ⁠#announcements channel on Zerbu's Discord as well as on my Patreon. Keep an eye out!

PLEASE NOTE: Do not tag Zerbu for any mod-related issues or "Is it updated/going to be updated" inquiries. The support staff is here to help in any way that we can and if we need to engage Zerbu on any matter, we will be sure to do so. As updates are provided, they will be posted in the #announcements channel. Continue to check back for updates.

Laundry List

Patch Notes

Broken/Updated Mods AHQ Thread

Scarlet's Broken/Updated Mods List

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the above, please post your questions or concerns in the #general channel and a staff member will be along to respond as one becomes available.

Remember: We will not support pirated games so be sure to update your game promptly in order to receive the most effective support!!

SIDE NOTE: We are continuing to look for new team members, specifically to help in the #mod-constructor-support channel. If you are interested, DM @School-Marm Bee on Zerbu's Discord to indicate your interest!!

Thank you and happy simming!

Bee The SchoolMarm

For further support on any of Zerbu's other mods, you can visit the #mod-support channel on Zerbu's Discord server or in the #sims4-cc-mod-support channel (for free members) and #pateron-afterschool-help channel (for paid members) on my Discord server - Bee's Corner - which you will receive a special role based on your membership tier. I do offer full support on Zerbu’s mods and will provide minimal/limited support on general mods (by other creators).

[shinxeysartgallery]

I see your pfp is if dr starline 👀 what’s your opinion if the idw comics?

Overall love them. They're not perfect by any means, but I do quite enjoy reading them. Putting the opinion under the cut, because it'll likely be a bit long. lol

-The storylines in general are decent. Some of the arcs are kinda meh, but as a whole it's fine to me. But there's a few such as the arc that spanned from Issues #37-40. It started off great, but the ending sucked. Also that massive art quality downgrade in one of the issues. 😬 And while it was an overall decent arc, I feel like the Metal Virus saga went on a lot longer than it needed to. I have other tiny gripes from a story standpoint, such as how Sonic's amnesia as a result of the end of the Metal Virus saga was handled, but despite those, I still think the series as a whole is fine. I did really love several of the arcs, the first three that come to mind being the Tangle & Whisper miniseries, the Bad Guys miniseries, and the arc spanning from Issues #45-47.

-I LOVE the new characters introduced in IDW. As you can probably tell from my current icon, Dr. Starline is probably my favorite new addition, but I also really love Tangle, Whisper, Jewel, and especially Belle, too! Even though their arc isn't complete for me to give a full, proper opinion on either of them, I really love what we've seen of Surge and Kit, too.

-On the subject of character, that's kinda a mixed bag for me. Some characters were done well or better than their game incarnations, but others sucked. For example, Amy I think was improved upon. I loved seeing her character arc throughout the games slowly make her more and more independent, and this was like an upgrade to that, which is pretty epic. Hot take, but I also think the Deadly Six are another set that was improved upon. I still don't really like them that much as characters, but I liked the way they were written in IDW. In Lost World, they were all pretty flat with one personality trait (Zomom is fat, Zazz is stupid, Zeena is the girl, etc), but they actually had some sort of personality beyond that in IDW, and I honestly really liked it. Even though he's been constantly shoehorned into everything since Lost World, I'd even argue that this made Zavok the most tolerable of them all. However, there's other characterizations that I didn't like, the two most glaring being Shadow and Sonic himself. I REALLY hate how Shadow has been portrayed recently. The last main series game where he was still himself was Sonic '06, so that's been almost 20 years now, which is really sad. There's been a few spinoff titles after '06 where Shadow has been fine, (Sonic Chronicles and the two Rivals titles, just to name two), but those get kinda ignored. Love the game or hate it, I really love how Shadow was portrayed in Chronicles in particular, especially how there's one cutscene where he outrights refers to Omega as his friend. I really wish we could have interactions between Team Dark like that again, but knowing how SEGA has been lately, it's not likely. The current version of Shadow is basically "hurr durr I am edgy also friends suck and I don't have nor need them >:(((" and IDW has been kinda reflecting that personality, which is really disappointing. I still like Shadow, but I hope someday we can have his old self back. lmao keep dreaming, right? As for Sonic, to put it bluntly, he's an asshole. I'd say he's not quite as bad as current game Sonic with some of his bs, but still... Not really a big fan of how he behaves sometimes in the comics, but he's still more tolerable than what they did to Shadow. And most times, he's fine, imo, it's just those certain moments with him.

As for everyone else I can think of (like Eggman, the Chaotix, Silver, Knuckles, Blaze, etc), they all act fairly close to how they normally did in the games, so they're all fine to me, too. They all stay closer to the source material, so I like that.

So in conclusion, I like the comics, but I also know they're flawed just like everything else is.

[violentshine]

I posted 1,642 times in 2021

432 posts created (26%)

1210 posts reblogged (74%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 2.8 posts.

I added 1,341 tags in 2021

#reblog - 656 posts

#warrior cats - 197 posts

#donations - 98 posts

#medic fireheart au - 75 posts

#waca au - 60 posts

#firestar - 56 posts

#darkstripe - 52 posts

#squirrelflight - 51 posts

#beloved - 49 posts

#dovewing - 47 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#tigerclaw cant have deadfoot still alive so he tells darkstripe to kill him- once he does tiger'll have a secure spot as leader of windclan

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

AUS

A couple of my waca aus

Mapleshade trains Hollyleaf

(After running into the tunnels, Hollyleaf finds-or is found by- Mapleshade who offers her help in getting revenge)

Sweetgrass (tagged; windclan princess au)

(Princess joins Windclan as a kit and renamed Sweetkit)

"Time Travel" AU or is it this link

(After the events of the Great Battle, those who died during it finds themselves in their old territory- not only are they not in Starclan (or just don't exist anymore)- things are very different, some cats who weren't alive before are now and some play very important roles later on)

Smudge: Skyclan savior

(Smudge doesn't want to bother his very busy Thunderclan leader friend so he goes on a mission brought to him by some ghost cat to restore a clan. Wonder how that goes)

Skyclan was always there

(What if Skyclan was still a clan? There was just no way of communicating with those in the forest territory- or perhaps that was on purpose)

Ravenpaw & Dustpaw both witness Redtail's murder

(pretty self explanatory)

Not-so-lawfully good Firestar

(Maybe being not only Thunderclan's sole savior, but every clan in the forest PLUS being given the chance to restore an entire ancient clan did something to this fire furred cat's ego..just a bit...a smidge if you will)

Sandstorm is the fire that saves the clans

(I uhm,, never made a post about this ? I swear i did,,,anyway it's also p self explanatory)

Smoke leads The Kin alongside her son, Darktail

(i would have had no issue with darktail being evil IF IT WERENT FOR HIM HAVING DADDY ISSUES? that is so boring. let a cat be evil just because they want to. but if you want to go that route so be it erins. Smoke and Darktail team up to take down the clans, Smoke feels betrayed, she heard so many great stories about the clans, about her,,m-mat,,,ugh onewhisker's achievements and how *he* was a great cat just to be turned away when in a time of need. so uhh they plan to destroy the clans...idk how they got to that idea but they do and u can read whatever mess i wrote in the og post)

Hawkfrost :)

(i basically just give Hawkfrost more of a character.)

Warrior Cinderpelt (because she deserves it)

(Cinderpaw still gets hit by a car but the person takes her away to get help. Like a month later or smth, she comes back to Thunderclan, recovered and ready to get back to her training)

The Blazing Star Au (medic fireheart au) tagged as; (old) #medic fireheart au (current) #the blazing star au

(When given the opportunity to join Thunderclan, Rusty tells Bluestar about the visions he receives and her and Spottedleaf decide on training him as a medicine cat)

Ivyfooled AU (tagged as; ivyfooled au)

(pls just read the linked post i cannot summarize it right now)

---

If you ever want to send an ask about any of these, please do <3 i love talking about them

or even give prompts for more 👀 perhaps,,,

52 notes • Posted 2021-07-27 19:57:43 GMT

#4

imagine if a) tigerheart kept his og golden tabby description and b) he was given a "golden" prefix instead of "tiger"

58 notes • Posted 2021-08-22 06:03:20 GMT

#3

"dovewing design that have floppy ears" "dovewing design that have curled ears"

give me dovewing designs that have an extra pair of ears

65 notes • Posted 2021-11-18 01:56:07 GMT

#2

each time someone says something along the lines of how graystripe & mistystar should be dead by now, a moon is added to their life

80 notes • Posted 2021-10-12 03:24:40 GMT

#1

i know it's all about context n all but leopardstar wishing for stonefur to kill darkstripe is so funny

like i already imagine that leopardstar & darkstripe do not get along like at all (wlw & mlm hostility) and that was just the icing to the cake

106 notes • Posted 2021-08-15 04:33:11 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[csykora]

i don't know if you know the answer, but if you do, would you mind explaining why some Russian names are always transliterated the same way (like Никита to Nikita), but some very much aren't? i've seen Evgeni, Evgeny, Evgenii, Yevgeni, and Yevgeny - is one 'more right' than the others?

Thanks for asking! You’re right, there’s some whacky variation in the League right now, and it’s something I’ve been wanting to talk about for a while.

(I’m going to focus on North American English speakers: if you’re not, sorry! The basics should still apply and make sense.)

The NHL follows the International Ice Hockey Federations 2011 standard for transcription of Russian names. Probably.

The NHL is a loose confederation of franchises. Historically, it’s been up to each team what they wrote on their Russian players’ jerseys. A lot of their creations were more artistic than phonetically accurate, but the surname would stay pretty consistent for PR and jersey purposes. First names were a free for all, with the team and official NHL media or licensed materials like video games all spelling them differently.

It’s still technically up to teams, but since 2011 the League is pushing a little harder to pick one spelling and stick with it across all media, and to have the spelling reflect how the name should be said.

Any Russian player who came over before 2011 is grandfathered in as whatever spelling they were assigned at the time, for PR reasons. (Like Craig MacTavish being the only one on the ice without a helmet, but less horrible.) Anyone who debuts in the League today should, theoretically, be assigned a spelling that follows the new rules.  

The IIHF transcription standard has three basic principles:

Sound-emulating: Yevgeni instead of Evgeny

Simplicity: Yevgeni instead of Yevgeny, Alexander instead of Aleksandr

Consistency: same spelling for same name (and different spelling for different names)

Sound-emulating  

What does Russian sound like?

This is one of my recital pieces, Tchaikovsky’s Moy geni, moy angel. Music is a great snapshot of the sounds that a language likes to use, particularly the vowels. Listening here, you’re going to hear a lot of “eh” and “ooh”, a lot of soft schwa sounds, and no “ae” or “oh”—the only long vowel is “ee”. You might pick up an odd nasal quality to a lot of those sounds, as if the singer is actually say, “yeh” or “yoo”.

Russian has different phonemes than North American English. A phoneme is “any of the speech sounds which are perceived to be a single distinctive sound in the language. An example is the English phoneme /k/, which occurs in words such as cat, kit, scat, skit.” There are a couple Russian consonants that seem to give English-speakers trouble (most obviously Ж in hockey fandom. The (Y)evgeni(i)ys just have to go and confuse North Americans more by also calling each other Женя, “Zhenya”, which fans often try to say with a G or a J sound. It’s pronounced like the S in “pleasure” or “treasure.”) But mostly, it’s all about the vowels, which don’t line up with English spelling or pronunciation very neatly.

In North American schools your teacher probably talked about how English has long and short vowel sounds.

And Y does double duty, as a mystery vowel and a consonant that can jump in before or after other vowels.

You’re not really going to hear any long vowel sounds in Russian, except for ē. Instead, Russian has hard and soft vowels:

The hard vowels are close to English short vowels. The matching soft vowel is pronounced pretty much the same but you glide into them with a “y” sound.

So Э and E are  “ĕ” and “yĕ.”  

O and ё are “ŏ” and “yŏ.” 

(Standard Russian speakers splinch O and A (“ŏ” and “ă”) into a schwa sound, a phenomenon called аканье/akanye.)

And so on.

The exception is Ы and и, who are both shifty characters. Ы drifts between ĕ and ĭ,  and и moves between ĭ and the long e sound.

(“и” also happens to mean “and.” You’ll hear hockey players, especially Kuznetsov, make a sort of horrible high-pitched eeeee sound all the time in interviews. That’s Russian Hockey Player for “…uh….” )

й is the Cyrillic character for the Y-consonant sound after a vowel, as in “Moй/Moy”. The symbols ь and Ъ can also appear on their own, and they palatalize the consonant before (adding a sort of Y twist to the end of it), or explicitly forbid you from doing that. This sound is rendered with a J or a Y after the consonant in different Russian transliteration systems. The IIHF uses Y.

So when we get transliterating, we’re going to have to have Ys all up in everything.

Евгений 

This is where the many Yevgenis come in. 

Every Евгений is best said as “Yev-gen-ee-y.” (I’d say it kind of ends in a little Y twist, but that’s because it’s kind of easier to say and a Cyrillic spelling artifact. You say “Yevgeneeee” or “Yevgenee-y” depending on your natural voice and how quickly you’re speaking.)

You don’t necessarily say the first syllable with a heavy Y like “yeah,” but the glide has to be there. “Eh-vgen-ee” would be an entirely different name, spelled Эвгений. And Э just isn’t a very popular sound in Russian: only 2 male names start with it. Maybe there’re some hipster parents out there naming their son Эвгений right now to annoy people, but otherwise, no.

Simplicity

Since Y is playing an important role in the basic vowels, we don’t really want to use it to represent the long e sound the way it sometimes does in English.

So “Yevgeni” is preferred over “Yevgeny” or “Yevgeniy.” Yevgeniy is the most technically accurate, but let’s be honest, North Americans are going to pronounce them all the same and the second two are just way too much Y.

The one time you will see reliably Ys standing alone is in patronymics. Yevgeni Kuznetsov’s father is also named Yevgeni, so his full, intensely boring name is Евгений Евгеньевич. “Yevgeneey Yevgen-ee-e-vich” is not exactly a delight to have to say. The suffix -евич/-evich means something, so you don’t change the letters in there, but you can drop the last vowel of the first name and palatalize the last consonant, making it into an easier “nyuh” sound. So it becomes “Yevgenyuh-evich,” which we can transliterate as Yevgenyevich. 

With a name like “Aleksandr,” the IIHF standard says go ahead and spell it as the familiar “Alexander,” because you’re gonna pronounce the two the say anyway.

Consistency

So every Евгений whose name is pronounced the same way should be spelled the same way—and players whose names are pronounced differently…should be spelled differently.

Семён и Сёмин

The IIHF standards were introduced after feedback from Russian players, most directly Semyon Varlamov.

By 2011 the NHL had officially spelled Varlamov’s given name, Семён, as:

Simeon

Semyen

Simyan

Simyon

Semin

and of course, Semen.

Ah, cross-cultural respect.

Listen, the fact it’s Varlamov makes that feel just. But it was being done randomly to everyone. 

And it was especially on the nose because Varlamov was on the same team as  Александр Сёмин—Alexander Semin.

Semin’s surname, Сёмин, is pronounced something like “Syaw-min”. (Akanye turns it into an A-sound, which is how his nickname, Сёмa, is pretty much pronounced “Sam,” rather than the way North American fans probably read it when they see “Sema.”) Under IIHF rules, his current KHL jersey is spelled SYOMIN.

But when he entered the NHL someone said, “That sure looks like an e to me,” and wrote down “S-E-M-I-N” Few years later that same spelling wizard looked at Семён (pronounced “Sim-yawn”) and said, “Man, I got this.”

Team officials, media, fans, even their teammates read the Latin spellings, naturally assumed their names were pronounced the same way, and went around calling both of them the same thing. Someone yells something that sounds like “semen” in the locker room, or on the ice in the middle of a game, and both of them have to turn around.

Semyon addressed the pronunciation with media, pointed out the confusion with his own teammate, filed paperwork to officially change the spelling (because he had to do that, the League had functionally taken away his name), and contacted the IIHF to ask them to step in, which they did.

(Semin did…nothing, because he would literally rather turn into a snow leopard and run away to nap in the sunshine and eat flowers and squirrels and live in the forest forever than talk to an official. So his name is still spelled SEMIN.)

More “Right”

Pronunciation isn’t a moral issue. As we grow up, our mouths learn to shape the phonemes we’re using all the time and our brains trim away the nerve connections for making sounds we don’t need. Some of us can learn some of those back, and some of us can’t, and we certainly can’t learn very well if we don’t have examples and help.

And it is strikingly hard to find that for Russian in North America.

Until the ’90s, management and especially announcers had no way to hear names pronounced before they had to try to spell or say them because there was no real cultural exchange between North America and the USSR: no TV, no radio, no way to hear the voices of Russian people except briefly on the ice. Miracle had Al Michaels recreate his goal calls because at the time he’d only had a hasty list of the Soviet line-up that he begged off the officials, and he took a wild swing at Vyacheslav Fetisov. A decade later Fetisov came to America and we were able to hear him speak and learn his name.

It’s unimaginable now, but when Ovechkin was drafted, many broadcasters were calling him “Alexander ov-itch-kin,” not “Oh-veh-chkin.” Because they actually did do their homework: they were trying to listen to Russian-language broadcasters and recreate their pronunciation. If you hear a Russian speaker say it, the middle vowel does sound a lot more like an I than a drawling North American “eh.” But then we all said it a thousand times a day and our mouths settled into sounds that are comfortable for us.

Which is fine, we’re not in any way Wrong for calling him “Oh-veh-chkin.” Just saying a Russian person’s name differently than native speakers say it isn’t a horrible thing. (‘Native speakers’ of every language fight each other all the time, too.) What matters is respect: trying our best to transliterate and pronounce a name shows that we’re listening to that person and we’re valuing them.

I think it says something that it’s still hard to hear any Russian in North America, it’s still hard to learn these names, and so we still say them in a very North American way.  Even if we’re not the ones making it, the Russian voice still mostly exists in our consciousness as a joke.

Sometimes that joke feeds into innocent not-quite-accuracies. And sometimes like with the Se(i)(y)(o)mi(y)(o)ns, it feeds something that feels a little…less of us.

It’s been 16 years* and we’re still turning their names, one of the few personal things they were able to bring with them to the foreign world of North America, into dick jokes. It’s hardly the worst insult in the world or in the NHL: making each others’ names into dick jokes is hockey players’ primary sport. It’s just that the foundation of the joke is, “I actually didn’t take the time to listen to you say your own name,” and that makes it seem small of us. And it seems smaller after they made repeated requests and took legal action to ask for their names back, and we’ve not only kept doing it, most of us don’t know or remember that they asked us to stop.

some very much aren’t

It’s worth remembering Russians still make up a small percentage of the NHL, and most of the active Russian NHLers came over before 2011.The Russian voice in North American hockey is still small. So the spelling of Russian names is still controlled by North Americans NHL officials, and it’s a small and wild pool of possible spellings. Change comes slowly, if it comes at all.

Most of the new prospects’ surnames do seem to have been effectively standardized, but I’m not really sure where future Yevgenis stand at this point in the NHL. Евгений Свечников is the newest I know of: under IIHF rules he’s Yevgeni Svechnikov, but it seems he’s still being spelled “Evgeny” in the NHL. Because it’s such a common name and several Yevgeni-spelled-Evgenys have been high-profile players, we’re all already used to seeing Evgeni and Evgeny, and NHL officials might easily choose to keep using them for PR reasons.

This was fun! somebody ask me about nicknames or patronymics or the Czechs next, please. I need to keep expanding my embarrassing tabloid glitterbomb vocabulary.

[softvoicemonty]

Waste Deep Chapter 9: "-orn T- Plunge"

Dibbuk felt like she hadn't slept in days. It had only been four hours, but with the Tar-Khal metabolism it might as well have been nineteen. Team 5 was currently hurtling down the yellow line on their way to do a patrol on level 3. Selby was acting as the scout in Harvels absence. This wasn't too out of the ordinary on it's own but there was one other detail they hadn't known about. 

Captain Lier was sat next to Dibbuk, fully kitted out and humming absent mindedly. His suit must have been of a much older make than any of their own. Iron bands and rivets reminding her of an ancient diving suit she'd seen in a book once. He wore the same doughboy style helmet that Harvel used instead of the standard issue like the rest of the teams. Unfortunately Dibbuk herself could never find one that fit in the first place

Harvel had found his wedged between the wall of a pipe and a fatburg on level two a year ago. the words "-orn T- Plunge" had been painted on the side. If the dents on the visor of Liers were any indication he'd had his for quite a bit longer.  The dark green enamel looked like it had worn away years ago. 

"Sir, why the old helmet? What're the dents from?" Selby asked, nodding towards the bowl shaped headgear.

"Mmm? Oh, a couple of the little shits got me on the ground and tried to gnaw my head off, got caught on the visor. S' exactly what they're designed for. They also keep the drippings off your face, and in a pinch you can make soup in it. Three birds one stone Klagbender." Lier responded, rapping his knuckles along the steel.  

"Used to make beans in mine." Don added from across the cart. He had a far off nostalgic look in his eyes.

"Don't remind me." Lier jabbed back.

"Why don't we still use them?" Wicksomme asked, taking off and inspecting his own helmet.

"Budget cuts kid! Only thing ours'll stop is a warriors shitter." Don responded, taking a long swig from what looked like a newly purchased flask.

"Not in front of me Donny. Remember?" Leir grumbled, shooting Don a stern look. 

  "Oi! You can't tell what's in here. Could be milk for all you know." Don barked, pouting a bit as he slid the flask back into his pocket. 

"Keep it down Don, we're coming up on the dock." Mary growled, the sound of hard tapping coming from the touch pad in front of her. She seemed even more agitated than normal Dibbuk noted.

They slowed to a stop, the breaks giving a slight whine as they scraped against the calipers. They opened the hatch and exited onto a tiny dock jutting out from an inflow pipe on the far wall. Dibbuk had been to this part of level three about nine months ago. Mary had been pretty pissed off that time as well. 

The sewers got older and more dilapidated the further towards the center of the city you went. At this point you were dealing with sytems nearly a hundred and fifty years old. Fifty miles further and you'd be practicing archeology instead of engineering.

Lier pulled out a datapad from a satchel on his shoulder as he approached the entrance to the pipe. The rest of the team hung back a bit, Wicksomme admiring the sheer drop underneath them. Red lights extended downwards along a set of stairs that led off into the darkness below. 

"How high up are we?" Wicksomme wondered aloud, peeking over the edge.

"Well, I'd wager the lights are about twenty feet apart. I stopped counting them when I got to thirty, so at least six hundred? Maybe more?" Selby answered, kicking a previously spent shell off the side of the platform. Dibbuk never heard it hit the water. "Probably more." Selby finished.

"No worries Wicky. If you fall off you'll die quick enough. Heheh." Don said, giving Wicksomme a slap on the shoulder as he walked by. The way the young man stiffened up this must not have been much of a comfort. 

Dibbuk softly sidled up to Mary. She was leaning up against a railing, watching Lier as she chewed on her thumbnail. She'd seen Mary angry before, nothing new there, but it had always seemed like a radiating anger. Not the laser focused hatred she was seeing now. 

"Mary? Are you alright? Somethings wrong isn't it?" Dibbuk asked, keeping her voice down. 

"Everything. Everything is wrong. I don't like this place. Leir won't tell us anything. It's all wrong Dibbuk." Mary answered through gritted teeth. Though Dibbuk couldn't be sure, it smelled like she was sober.

'Fucking Lier. Fucking Don. Fucking old ass pipes. Horseshit, utter horseshit.' 

'There it is again. That damn voice.' Dibbuk thought, glancing around. It seemed to reverberate around in the corners of her mind. She didn't know why it was happening. It was obviously not the eyes with a voice, but it definitely sounded like it. 

It had happened at the grocers earlier that day as well. She'd been walking away from from the fruit bar aisle with four cases of Buunchal bars and out of nowhere she'd heard it again. 'Shit, she always comes in on Wednesdays. Maybe I can stock them again before Mr. Till gets mad at me.' She'd looked up to see a teenager in a blue apron staring at her from halfway across the store. 

There was no mistaking it now. She was hearing peoples thoughts. This wouldn't have been half bad if she had any desire to listen to them. Could she control it or was it random like drawing lots? 

'Why'd it have to be me? Was it the eyes with the voice? Ugh, I already don't like this. What if whatever tried to kill Harvel is inside my head now? It might try me next.' Dibbuk thought, gazing out into the darkness extending infinitely away from the dock. 

"Valez! Quit daydreaming, we're moving." Lier shouted, pulling her out of her head. He was pointing to the staircase, the rest of the team already following his lead. Dibbuk got in line behind Mary, who was still cursing under her breath.

They passed pipe after pipe, light after light as they descended the ancient iron stairs. Selby's assessment had been about three hundred feet off. By the time Lier stopped them Dibbuk could hear Wicksommes labored breathing over the constant roar of falling midden collecting beneath them. They must have been close to the bottom, the rising spray filling Dibbuks nostrils.

"Klagbender! You're with me on point. We've gotten reports of a burg down the L32a inflow. According to team 3 their last patrol didn't turn anything up, but that was a month ago. We're on a three month rotation down here but a sensor about three miles in picked something up yesterday." Lier announced as they made their way into the mouth of the pipe.

"You're telling us a fatburg got big enough to set off one of the oldest sensors in our network in a month?" Mary scoffed, shooting Don an incredulous look. Don was just staring down the pipe as if he hadn't heard a word.

"No Merel. I'm telling you something got big enough in a month to set off the sensor. As you know these old pipes don't have our fancy spectrometers like the newer additions. I can't tell you what we're going to find. But, we are going to find it." Lier answered, sliding the datapad back into it's satchel.

Before another word could be said, Lier about faced and began sauntering down the pipe. Don immediately followed suit. The team exchanged reserved glances, uncertainty taking hold for a moment. "You heard the Captain! Get a move on!" Don shouted, not bothering to turn around. Without another thought or hesitation Dibbuk and the rest of the team fell into step. 

Selby jogged to catch up to Lier, Don trailing a bit behind them. They walked for nearly an hour in complete silence, the sloshing of their boots rhythmically reverberating off the curved walls. Dibbuk watched as Lier and Selbys red tinted flash lights continuously scanned the pipeline ahead.

The two men had barely disappeared around a bend in the pipe when Mary swiftly grabbed the back of Dons suit nearly pulling him off his feet. "Keep quiet. You know more than you're letting on. Fucking spill it." She growled, shoving him up against the pipe wall. 

"Guh, what? What are you on about? I dunno nothin' Mena, swear." Don sputtered, coughing and rubbing his throat. 

"Don't you fucking 'Mena' me Don. If Lier is going to get us all killed I'd like to know. I have people waiting for me at home. Little people. You damn well know that. Beans. Spill 'em. Now." Mary half whispered, teeth gritted. She had produced a knife, the point held against the pocket containing Dons flask.

"Now, now, hold on now. No need to do anything drastic." Don said, panic spreading across his face. She wasn't going to kill him, but losing his precious thisky was almost as severe a consequence as far as he was concerned. 

"Well?" Mary asked, pressing the knife ever so slightly harder. 

"Alright, alright! look, Lier knows there's something down here. He didn't tell me what it was, I don't think he even knows. All I know is that this ain't the first time we seen it. But, hey, let me go yeah? We're falling behind. You know he'll notice." Don pleaded, slowly pushing her hand with the knife away from his side.

"You'd best not be lying to me. I don't think you want to know what'll happen if you are." Mary said, standing up and sliding the knife back into the sheath on her thigh. 

"Hey, c'mon. Let's get moving." Dibbuk interjected, nodding towards the bend in the tunnel. Mary gave a final lunge towards Don, who, to his credit, didn't move a muscle. As Mary walked away Don stood up and shook himself off. 

"Can you believe that kid?" Don asked Wicksomme, attempting to brush off the encounter. 

"Honestly? Kinda." Wicksomme replied as he shuffled off towards where Dibbuk and Mary were making their way towards the bend. 

Don, having wiped himself the rest of the way off, looked down at his flask pocket. He slid his hand into it and felt around. "Damn. Too close." He muttered, poking his finger out through the fresh hole Marys knife had left. 

[leam1983]

On Spring Cleaning

Cleaning your surfaces is probably something you think of at least once a week. Food prep and dining areas? As often as you eat, ideally.

Well, I just got it into my stupid head to clean my computer - and not just the "open the side panel and diffidently spritz some compressed air in a few cracks" kind. Nope, my post-supper project involved unseating my cooler and fans, unseating and cleaning my RAM sticks and re-applying thermal paste. I've had it all done for me before, and doing it on my own is the sort of test of patience I hadn't expected. Being a geek with motor control issues sucks, it looks like you're not up for handling your own hardware to standard hardcore types when the one thing that's at fault is your nervous system.

See, my conscious mind understands that unscrewing my CPU cooler isn't complicated: you take the big-ass Cooler Master screwdriver that takes up valuable space in your kit and is never used otherwise, and slip it through the provided holes in the aluminum block. You unscrew and have a brief moment of panic as you forget that they're captive and held to the assembly by helpful springs. You remove the backplate and double-check to make sure you've unplugged the CPU fan array before gently lifting the massive chonker out of your puny ITX case. An ITX case that is as sexy as it was when you first conceived of the build, but that you've taken to loathe with a burning passion.

That's in theory. In practice, my hands shake like the back of my mind is thinking I'm going through a game of Operation using a board that's cost me several thousand smackeroonis, which makes me miss screw contacts. I'm so focused on precision that decent haptics vacate the premises, and I'm forced to abandon my gutted PC for five minutes to get my fingers to stop twitching. My thumbs lock up, and I'm left looking to the TechTuber scene with simmering rage, because their hands just fucking work and mine can't if any sort of precision-related expectation enters the premises.

The sort of run that takes people like me who understand the needed tasks and have decent hands (unlike me) would typically last one, maybe two hours.

It's half-past-nine up here in White Walker territory, and I've been at this for three hours. I'm technically done - I'm just venting for a few minutes before I put my plate glass panel back on - which I've also cleaned using a copious dose of Windex. My backyards neighbours were a little surprised to see me hang X-mount brackets and a machined block (minus coolers) on a throwaway dollar-store cutting board for the purposes of a scrub-and-soak. I've also got the blisters to prove I bled in order to try and fully remove my three Noctua fans' blade arrays from their mounts, to give them a good electronics-free scrub. I'll probably keep the keyboard as a Sunday afternoon project; I'm just looking to dust the caps, clean out the base and re-seat everything. Not exactly a keyboard lube type, and my disability all but guarantees I'd never get the real feel of Gateron Reds or Cherry MX Blues. I use a white Razer keyboard of which I've completely forgotten the overcompensatory moniker; it's technically designed for people who, I don't know, telekinetically coax the keys into depressing themselves or whatever, but Team Cerebral Palsy bottoms the shit out of every 'board it touches, yo!

I've got my typing method, my WPM is average, but I can't type if I can't sound like I'm typing a Really Angry Post in the socials. The keyboard aficionados get weak in the knees at the thought of discrete "thoccs", to refer to key presses, while I'm happiest when I sound like I'm trying to torture an old Model M half to death.

The main downside, of course, is that about a third of the dust that was formerly inside my computer is now outside of it. And everywhere else. My living space now looks like a vampire's disaffected lair, if said vampire really stopped blending in during the current decade and woke up in 2053 trying to post TikToks while the rest of Humanity humble-brags its dystopic misery in order to fuel the techno-gods' obsession with alternative currencies and back-of-the-napkin Transhumanism.

Speaking of, did you hear about Elon fucking Musk telling Putin to put up his dukes on Twitter?

What a world, man. What a weird, sad, cringeworthy and occasionally awe-inspiring world we live in...

[agl03]

I know you said no one else on the team should get powers, but do you think Fitz could become a superhero with his new skills developed from the Framework? I would like to see that, but I don't want the writers glamorizing what happened to Fitz in the Framework. Also, it would help build up the secret warriors without having to create new characters at the cost of our older characters' screen time. I rather not see AOS suffer again from the problems that plagued its third season.

Hi Anon,

I don’t, as always my opinion and if you like that Headcanon you can run with it.

Fitz doesn’t need a super power, he already has them in his own way.  His mind, engineering, his genius, his compassion, his loyalty, and his tech are what sets him apart (and Jemma) on the team.  Their roles as scientists are just as crucial as the ‘fighters’ are.   

I also don’t see Fitz wanting anything to do with anything AIDA used him to create in the Framework.  He is haunted by the screams of the people the Doctor put in it.   Then there was the issue that it was something that used the nasty energy of the Darkhold.  I don’t want that near any of the characters.

One of the main premises of the shows is not all heroes have powers.  The powers are an asset but often its not the powers alone that save the day, its the entire team working together with their respective skill sets.  

I’m all about the characters growing, I like seeing that Fitzsimmons have grown beyond the lab and become more capable in the field, but I still want them to be the scientists I feel in love with.  I want them working on solutions together.  

As a mother it makes me so happy, that while there are lots of wonderful positive role model female butt kicking characters on the show.   Her favorites are the scientists and as such have spurred her into taking a great interest in the subject.  She got a lab kit for Christmas that she loves and she pretends to be Jemma doing Science Experiments and reads books on Space and the planets for fun.  

Should the show decide to rebuild the Secret Warriors again there are plenty of characters from the comics for them to pull from and no need to adapt the current cast.   Daisy and Elena are in place.  Mack has always had that bit of Stonewalls role since Season 3.  Flint is coming into the mix next week.  But right now I’m not seeing it going there.

[bullwrinkledmagnum]

Easy Self Test for females

My suspected natural mother (genetic) says she's never had kids.

So this is rather odd. But i had always had milk come out of my nipples since for a long time. Since the 90s. So i know i had been previously pregnant (now in 2019 and for a few years) when i first remember this And i had an adverse emotional reaction.

Its understood, scientifically through research you cannot have breast milk without having a baby.

This article states 20-25% of people can.

I believe this is a cover-up to make you shut up and stay out of the way.

Someone told me it was oil like i had weird zits inside my nipples... Or on the edge.

Whatever it worked. I had to avoid the emotions of my children dying or being taken away because I would have killed myself. I couldn't handle knowing and doing nothing about it.

I feel this is a risky post.

1. I dont tell you and you never know or you never believe you do have a kid

2. You find out you probably did and can't handle it.

So. I am going to believe the world is mentally stable and strong and post it

Now before you decide to check, maybe you should get yourself a DNA test kit for Christmas -- Ancestry.com is currently allowing. My Heritage is cheapest but anyone can see your DNA. 23andme you can hide it from the public but the militaries have access (limited just to match they dont download it) and DNA4U is a private currently not on the market company as they have never been and will not be soon as all their resources are going to this crisis.

https://www.crigenetics.com/index-v-3

Is also participating in allowing access.

My Heritage allows any company's DNA to be uploaded to their system for free.

However. Genetic information will not be available without paying.

So you can get any test really and then upload it. Check they allow you to download the raw DNA. Most do as it is your own information.

Doing this will allow you peace of mind. If you have breast milk then you won't worry of they overlook you in returning your child. You will be one step ahead.

I know this is super difficult.

It's kinda stressful for me to write it, knowing I am opening a Pandora's Box.

Remember to seek counseling if you need. Look online for free resources. Talk to a friend. Keep busy.

Now

To test all you have to do is squeeze the tip of your nipples. There will be colostrum. It will look like a dirty oil.

It can be a dark gray to a yellow to a clear color.

If you "clean" your ducts regularly, like daily but don't express the milk, you can have seperated milk, a thick white. Bright white spongy material. This can also come out of your armpits. Which can be confused as deodorant or may be deodorant.

Now if you are brave. Rub your armpits daily for a week. And check your nipples for expression.

The milk ducts are located in the arm pits also. And down through the breasts.

Feel free to massage your boobs but if you don't feel comfortable, do your armpits.

If after a week nothing comes out you have not had children. Most likely.

I suspect that many will have children in China. So please if you can, get a DNA kit.

If you cannot afford to. My Heritage will set up a system to give them to you free of charge. The system needs to be made and i will notify you. But you may write in as of now if you would like. But if you get a non valid response try again. There's many customer service people and they will need to be notified.

By January they should be together on this. So write in and title it "human trafficking"

They will make a system available ASAP. So its a special team you contact but for now know you may get an idiot and then just start over.

This is actually developing news so...

I'm sorry. I truly am.

Some people have had breasts and tissue removed due to cancer. It is Likley you had a clogged milk duct and doctors removed it. And called it cancer.

So if you have suffered from breast cancer, its Likley you have had given birth.

I'm extremely sorry.

They tried to do that to me when I was 13. But my dad fought them.

He told me over and over "you don't have cancer and don't let anyone Tell you and if They do, tell me and i will kill them. Or call the police if i am not home"

So i believe that most cancers are a lie. That cancer doesn't exist.

That does not mean people have suffered.

I am sorry you have been a victim.

I know this is horrible news right before Christmas.

I choose to tell you now because I know you're busy thinking about how to make people happy with gifts and etc and your focus is on,Christmas.

So please continue to focus on Christmas and allow this to be a business issue that will become personal when you have the answers you need.

This is a later issue that you will need to prepare for. Combined with the now issue of family and friends.

Soon you will have family and friends around you and you may xhoose to,express you may be a victim. A 22 year old. No kids. Rarely or never had sex but has breast milk.

I thought i was a virgin until i was 18!!! I had kids at 10!! A bunch!!!

So I KNOW this information can be bad.

This is why I choose to expose it now.

Because at Christmas even if I'm in the dumps, I can either pick myself up Or be glad i know an actual reason I'm so sad feeling!

So please don't let the anger exist in you. Use that energy to research. Pound out some dough for the holidays. A King's cake perhaps with a baby hidden in.

That can make you sad but also make you feel, you know what? It Is Gonna Be Ok.

So it is an item on the task list that you put away until later.

I say this because you want to know Who they are. Where they are. What has happened to them.

Don't.

Do not do that.

They will tell you.

Focus on you.

Remember you are good enough to be loved.

Remember to brush your teeth -- crest will make them brighter white but can turn them brown if you dont get every dip and tilt. Colgate is good at not doing that.

Do laundry.

Take care of You and Your family you habe now. Yoir friends.

That is what you habe now. Enjoy this last time without Yoir kids. Because right now they're at a free baby sitters. And always have been.

So enjoy Yoir time off from being a mom to a bunch more people.

We are doing the best we can to find them and give them to you.

So you do the best you can in being happy to see them.

Thank you.

And i am sorry if you are someone like me. But one day it will get better.

[acecavenger]

Hi :3 Don't think I've picked on you yet, or at least not recently. Let's fix that >:3 Questions 1-150

Aerllette you monster

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? @cenizacaer (dont tell her gf)2. Are you outgoing or shy? depends on the situation, but mostly shy3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? My friends, again. But if i do go to RTX London then my friends in the EU!!!4. Are you easy to get along with? I guess so5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? Ceni and @gh0stmach1ne helped me when i got drunk on the 4th...6. What kind of people are you attracted to? Honestly red heads 7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? Dunno8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? my female friends?9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? A little yea...10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? Ceni11. What does the most recent text that you sent say? my mom asking if i want lunch or not 12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? Peace Sign, Armed and Ready, I May Fall remix, Deadend in Tokyo, Somebody to Love13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? YES14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? eh15. What good thing happened this summer? RTX201716. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Sure17. Do you think there is life on other planets? probably18. Do you still talk to your first crush? nope19. Do you like bubble baths? havent had one in YEARS20. Do you like your neighbors? nope21. What are you bad habits? stay up late and sleeping til 3pm22. Where would you like to travel? BACK TO AUSTIN 23. Do you have trust issues? kinda24. Favorite part of your daily routine? going back to sleep25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? my chest/torso 26. What do you do when you wake up? do back to sleep27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? i jsut wish i wasnt so fucking pale28. Who are you most comfortable around? my friends29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? no30. Do you ever want to get married? im not i not position to answer that rn31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail? ive tried32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with? uhh gal gadot and scarjo33. Spell your name with your chin. Z,mdsx34. Do you play sports? What sports? i swam(i know the irony)35. Would you rather live without TV or music? TV, i need music36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? yep37. What do you say during awkward silences? “SOOOOOO how bout that sports team?”38. Describe your dream girl/guy? someone i can see a future with would would also like to cosplays otps at cons with 39. What are your favorite stores to shop in? Best Buy40. What do you want to do after high school? forget about highschool41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? sure42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean? im thinking of what to say 43. Do you smile at strangers? from time to time 44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? SPAAAAACE45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? food 46. What are you paranoid about? my future47. Have you ever been high? nope48. Have you ever been drunk? oh yeah49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? not  really 50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? black51. Ever wished you were someone else? occasionally 52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? i wish i was just a bit more motivated to do things 53. Favourite makeup brand? dont wear any54. Favourite store? Amazon55. Favourite blog? mine :P56. Favourite colour? blue 57. Favourite food? shrimp58. Last thing you ate? a sandwich59. First thing you ate this morning? ..a sandwich 60. Ever won a competition? For what? uh, swimming 61. Been suspended/expelled? For what? ...fighting...62. Been arrested? For what? nope63. Ever been in love? yep64. Tell us the story of your first kiss? welp, we were interrupted by a homeless man asking change for the bus...65. Are you hungry right now? nope66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends? yes67. Facebook or Twitter? twitter68. Twitter or Tumblr? tumblr 69. Are you watching tv right now? kinda70. Names of your bestfriends? sami, keira, sakura, kelso, kit, 71. Craving something? What? LIBERATION 72. What colour are your towels? blue 72. How many pillows do you sleep with? two73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? no74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? the one yang plush75. Favourite animal? shark76. What colour is your underwear? red77. Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate 78. Favourite ice cream flavour? mint chocolate chip79. What colour shirt are you wearing? navy blue 80. What colour pants? black81. Favourite tv show? mythbusters 82. Favourite movie? guardians of the galaxy vol 283. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? neither 84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street? jump street85. Favourite character from Mean Girls? never saw it86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo? nemo87. First person you talked to today? mom88. Last person you talked to today? mom89. Name a person you hate? Isaac 90. Name a person you love? Sami91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? yes92. In a fight with someone? yes93. How many sweatpants do you have? 394. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have? 4-595. Last movie you watched? Wonder Woamn96. Favourite actress? Gal Gadot 97. Favourite actor? Chris Prat 98. Do you tan a lot? no99. Have any pets? yes 100. How are you feeling? exhausted 101. Do you type fast? nope102. Do you regret anything from your past? yes 103. Can you spell well? noep104. Do you miss anyone from your past? yes105. Ever been to a bonfire party? once 106. Ever broken someone’s heart? i hope not107. Have you ever been on a horse? yes108. What should you be doing? showering 109. Is something irritating you right now? yes 110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? yea111. Do you have trust issues? kinda 112. Who was the last person you cried in front of? ... my friends bc im not gonna see most of them for awhile 113. What was your childhood nickname? my uncle called me Ally Cat, idk why114. Have you ever been out of your province/state? yes115. Do you play the Wii? not anymore 116. Are you listening to music right now? nope117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? yes118. Do you like Chinese food? yes 119. Favourite book? Son of Neptune120. Are you afraid of the dark? a little121. Are you mean? i try not to be 122. Is cheating ever okay? never 123. Can you keep white shoes clean? no124. Do you believe in love at first sight? maybe, ive never experienced it..125. Do you believe in true love? maybe126. Are you currently bored? yes127. What makes you happy? anime128. Would you change your name? maybe129. What your zodiac sign? aquarius 130. Do you like subway? ye131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? tell them i acknowledge their feels, but dont want to ruin the friendship that we have if something go wrong if we date 132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? didnt i answer this?133. Favourite lyrics right now? “OUT OF MY WAY CAUSE IM ARMED AND REAAAAADY”134. Can you count to one million? nah135. Dumbest lie you ever told? “its for a friend”136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? closed137. How tall are you? 6′3″138. Curly or Straight hair? uh139. Brunette or Blonde? blonde(bc yang)140. Summer or Winter? winter141. Night or Day? night 142. Favourite month? July bc RTX143. Are you a vegetarian? nope144. Dark, milk or white chocolate? dark145. Tea or Coffee? neither 146. Was today a good day? its ok 147. Mars or Snickers? snickers 148. What’s your favourite quote? “Keep Moving Forward”149. Do you believe in ghosts? kinda 150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? “PLUS........ULTRAAAAAAA”