#i haven't foraged for years

[minetteskvareninova]

You people don’t have those little books that you carry around with you on mushroom hunts, specifically so you can minimize the risk of getting poisoned?!

i don't think i ever shared this on here but one of my biggest cultural shocks when i moved to the west was that people don't forage mushrooms here. i was talking about it with some of my british friends and they expressed concern about the activity, saying that in the uk some mushrooms are inedible and can result in deadly food poisoning to which i said: well yeah? same in eastern europe, people do die because of that sometimes.

which unfortunately cut the conversation but i think if you are not willing to bet your life on your mushroom expertise then what is your time on earth even about

[birt-art]

Made a new D&D character, she's a forest gnome rogue on rumspringa called Howard (she/her)

[blujayonthewing]

'lemme just do a little preliminary research before bed for that trip I wanna do, nothing too deep I don't wanna stay up too late' but the research involves SEVERAL OVERLAPPING AND LONG-DORMANT SPECIAL INTERESTS AT THE SAME TIME

[sirgidget]

when i was fourteen the guy i was dating told me he would win the hunger games hands down and i told him he was wrong. he was like "well i know karate" and i went "so do i and i don't think i'd win" and then proceeded to ask him if he had a bunch of other skills that he simply did not have and told him that that meant he'd probably lose and i'm not saying that's why we broke up but i'm also not not saying that

[artemisiatridentata]

roommate has covid (again) (I hopefully dodged it bc I've been out on a work trip all week but still). I apparently got assigned awhile ago to lead next week's work trip but today is the first I heard about it so I'm scrambling to prepare everything on time. a covid conscious person I connected w/ online is coming to visit tomorrow and I'm stressed bc I have to get a bunch of work done before then and also I hope the vibe is cool in-person and that we can be friends! also none of my coworkers have said they can cover my shift tomorrow even though I put the request in the group chat weeks ago and I cover their shifts whenever I can. i am on day 32 of a 41 day stretch of working every single day with only two days off including 9/5 and tomorrow (IF one of my coworkers steps up...) . and then my next day off, in October, isn't even really a day off because I have to drive 4 hours round trip to the nearest city to get an MRI to see whether or not my recently diagnosed genetic disorder has given me internal cysts or tumors. I am hanging on by a thread haha

[fishofthewoods]

I see a lot of people clowning on the people of Pelican Town for not repairing the community center themselves or clowning on Lewis for embezzling and. like. Those criticisms aren't entirely unfair. But I think instead of coming at it from a perspective of "why can't the townspeople do this" we should be asking "why and how can the farmer do this?"

Like. Think about it. The farmer arrives in Stardew Valley on the first day of spring. By the first day they're obviously different. By day five the spirits of the forest who haven't been seen by the townsfolk in years or generations are speaking to them. By the second week they've developed a rapport with the wizard that lives outside town.

In the spring they go foraging and find more than even Linus, who's spent so many years learning the ways of the valley. Maybe he knows, when he sees them walking back home. Maybe he looks at them and understands that they're different, chosen somehow.

In the summer they fish in the lakes and the ocean for hours on end, catching fish that even Willy's only ever heard of, fish that he thought were the stuff of legend. They pull up giants from the deep and mutated monstrosities from the sewers.

In the fall, their crops grow incredibly immense; pumpkins twice as tall as a person, big enough that someone could live inside. The farmer cuts it down with an axe without even batting an eye. Does Lewis wonder, when he checks the collection bin that night and finds it full to the brim with pumpkin flesh? What does he think? Does he even leave the money? Does he have the funds to pay the farmer millions of dollars for the massive amounts of wine they sell? Or is it someone--something--else entirely?

In the winter, the farmer delves into the mines. No one in Pelican Town has been down there in decades. No one in living memory has been to the bottom. The farmer gets there within the season. They return to the surface with stories of dwarven ruins and shadow people, stories they only tell to Vincent and Jas, whose retellings will be dismissed by the adults as flights of fancy. People walking by the entrance to the mines sometimes hear the farmer in there, speaking in a language no one can understand. Something speaks back.

The farmer speaks to the the wizard. They speak to the spirit of a bear inside a centuries-old stone. They speak to the shadow people and the dwarves, ancient enemies, and they try to mend the rift. They speak to the Junimos, ancient spirits of the forest and the river and the mountain. They taste the nectar of the stardrops and speak to the valley itself. They change Pelican Town, and they change the valley. Things are waking up.

And what does Evelyn think? She's the oldest person in the valley; she was here when the farmer's grandfather was young. (How old *is* she, anyway? She never seems to age. She doesn't remember the year she was born.) Does she see the farmer and think of their grandfather? Does she try to remember if he was like this too, strange and wild and given the gifts of the forest?

And does their grandfather haunt the valley? He haunts the farm, still there even after his death; his body died somewhere else, but his spirit could never stay away for long. Does Abigail, using her ouija board on a stormy night, almost drop the planchette when she realizes it's moving on its own? Does Shane, walking to work long before anyone else leaves their house, catch glimpses of a wispy figure floating through the town? Does the farmer know their grandfather came back to the place they both love so much?

Mr. Qi takes interest in the farmer. He's different, too; in a different way, maybe, but the principles are the same. They're both exceptional, and no matter what Qi says about it being hard work and dedication, they both know the truth: the world bends around the both of them, changing to fit their needs. Most people aren't visited by fairies or witches. Most people don't have meteorites crash in their yard. Most people couldn't chop down trees all day without a break or speak to bears and mice and frogs.

The farmer is different. The rules of the world don't work for them the way they work for everyone else. The farmer goes fishing and finds the stuff of fairy tales. The farmer goes mining and fights shadow beasts and flying snakes. The farmer looks at paths the townspeople walk every day and finds buried in the dirt relics of lost civilizations.

The farmer is a violent, irrepressible miracle, chosen by the valley and destined to return to it someday. Even if they'd never received the letter, they would've come home.

They always come home eventually.

[assignedmale]

I'm on the verge of quitting everything. I've been crying all day. I'm tired of putting up a candid face when social media is scr*wing over trans creators or only showing my art to anti-trans suicide-baiters. Even though this has been my most productive year ever, in terms of online content, I get comments practically every day about how rarely people get to see my posts in their feed.

Since last winter's natural disaster, we haven't been able to afford groceries. We haven't had hot water since March. I've been late on student loans and car payments for months. Orders are late and I feel like I'm failing everyone.

On top of that, I'm still regularizing my situation in this country, and in that context, I just received a letter telling me that as a self-employed artist, I'm obligated to put a monthly $700 in a private retirement fund (and pay the 21 months backlog since I officially started paying taxes here). The only other options are to quit art or go back to Canada.

I've talked in the past few months about the necessity for the survival of this project to double the amount of subscribers on patreon. Each time, social media killed the reach of these posts. I'm not expecting this one to do better. However, it has never been more urgent. There needs to be about 200 new subs or I might be forced to shut it all down. I'm really scared and I wish this wasn't the only way.

You got some choices, although they are being updated more or less regularly - keeping Assigned Male Comics free and easily available on social media remains my priority : Assigned Male Comics patreon A Frog in the Bog (foraging and DIY) patreon Pastel Sexy Times (nsfw) patreon Candycore Comics patreon

Paypal : @assignedmale

I'm sure you all got so much on your plate, and you could do without the series of woes that have afflicted our family this year. Thank you for reading through this and for your constant support, even if it's just through leaving comments - it does help. It's my privilege to create these comics, and I hope to do it as long as you will allow me.

xx Sophie

[youshouldseemeinadeerstalker]

I bought 5 games for 21 monetary units today. How was everyone eases day?

[originalleftist]

Many people, maybe most people, now know, intellectually, that birds are dinosaurs.

But I don't think most people really feel it. Have really internalized it. Even I haven't, completely. The idea of dinosaurs as big extinct lizards is too deeply-ingrained.

But birds are dinosaurs. Not related to dinosaurs. Not descended from dinosaurs. Scientifically speaking, they. are. dinosaurs.

There are between 9,000 and 11, 000+ known species of dinosaurs alive today.

There are over 50 billion individual dinosaurs alive on Earth today.

You can go into a pet store and buy a dinosaur.

You can see dinosaurs at the zoo, or on a farm, or in your backyard.

People grow dinosaurs on farms.

We eat dinosaurs stuffed with potatoes and gravy and pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We eat them battered and fried for a snack.

There are dinosaurs ("fire starter" birds) that use fire as a tool by spreading burning twigs.

Dinosaurs have been in space.

You can go to a local park and see dinosaurs swimming in the creek with their hatchlings.

You can go to the beach and see them scavenging by the seaside.

Some people might think that this makes dinosaurs more boring and mundane.

Of course, it doesn't change the nature of things at all, beyond how we perceive them- but so far as how we perceive them is concerned, I think it makes birds, and the world, more amazing.

I've probably posted about this before, but there was a moment last summer, when I was on vacation, and I went walking on the beach to a spot where I knew eagles often nested, hoping to get some photos. And I did. There was a big bald eagle, sitting way up in a tall evergreen tree, looking down at the beach. And below it, on the beach, there were groups of crows and geese foraging in the shallow pools and seaweed and shells on the beach, at the foot of the trees. And it hit me that it felt just like a scene out of one of my old childhood dinosaur books. Maybe a herd of Iguanodon, foraging on an ancient beach, as a predator watched them from the forest, preparing to strike (there's a site much like that, Dinosaur Ridge in Colorado, not far from the town where I lived as a child, where dinosaur tracks are preserved in stone, covering a hillside, showing the actual movements of actual animals that lived tens of millions of years ago).

And it gave me hope. Because after 150 million years, they're still here. Changed, certainly (they wouldn't have survived otherwise), but still here, despite mass extinctions, climate change, asteroid impacts, and even the continents moving and changing shape.

And if they survived, maybe we will too.

It also gives me more appreciation for the horror of environmental destruction and extinction. Humans have wiped out species of birds.

We could be the thing that finally makes the dinosaurs go extinct.

[13-ontheshore-26]

ᡣ𐭩 stardew valley ᡣ𐭩you finally make a move on harvey ᡣ𐭩

cw: makeout scene which hopefully is well written, given this being the first time in years I wrote one.

a/n: so this is the first fanfic I've written on tumblr...please be gentle with me ᡣ𐭩 if there are any requests you have, feel free to ask them in the inbox :-P

he isn't used to people interacting with him, let alone flirting with him

so regardless of all of the coffee and pickles you give him...he's going to think it's just your way of being a good friend

so you decide it's only right of you to up the games

it starts with small touches, brushing your hand against his arm as you pass by each other in the hallways

and yes he turns red, but other than that nothing changes! so. it's time to pull out the big moves

"Harve-ey! The farmer's here to see you," Maru calls back to the clinic when you walk in with a jar of pickles and a wave. You flush in response to her call-out and the fact that you're so transparent in your reasons behind the visits. A clatter, almost like metal instruments falling onto a floor, and a flustered hum follows. Maru winks at you and turns her stare back to her computer as Harvey pushes through the double doors to the lobby.

He's flushed, pink where his mustache doesn't obscure his cheeks. The stethoscope around his neck is hanging askew, alongside his tie. He seems startled to see you, as if you haven't been coming in near every day, with a gift or simply to talk between patients. Suddenly, a smile breaks out on his face and he waves quickly at you.

"Farmer! I didn't expect to see you today-" Maru scoffs and both of you cast her a quick glance till she covers it up with a cough.

"So-o, what brings you in today? Did you head back down into the mines? Please tell me you didn't-" Your laughter cuts him off and he turns pinker, though no one thought that was possible.

"I found horseradish in the woods a few days ago. Thought some pickled ones would brighten the workday." You give him a lopsided smile and hold out the jar which you held on top of your head. Harvey's eyes brightened at the sight of it and he reached out to steady it, cradling it in his arms. He looks up, beaming at you.

"This is so nice of you! Thank you!" Harvey looks down at the jar in his arms and you watch his mustache twitch as his smile grows bigger. Then he looks up at you, eyes wide behind the frames of his glasses.

"Oh but-" You tilt your head at him as he pauses and hold back a smile at the way his eyebrows quirk together at your movement. "You've given me so many of these these recent months...I don't want you to lose out on any profit because you're giving them all to me or anything." The feeling of sighing noisily is almost too hard to overcome — how much clearer could you be? At this point, there was only one reason behind foraging: him! You hold it back, however; you know how anxious Harvey gets and you're not trying to risk the tenuous friendship between you both by showing any kind of frustration with him.

Maru has no such qualms though and lets out another noisy scoff, not bothering to hide this one behind coughing when you two both look at her. Instead, she rises up and gathers her laptop, muttering something about going to cross-check some samples in the back. After reaching the door though, she turns and looks at you meaningfully, only moving to the back when you return her look with a grimace.

You refocus back onto Harvey and, taking a breath, reach forward to lay one of your hands on top of his cradling the jar. His breath catches and you feel his eyes locked on the way your hand holds his. You wait until his eyes slide back up to meet yours where you smile at him gently, speaking quietly.

"Harvey. You know that these pickles are only being made for you, right?" You cannot hold back your smile as his eyebrows raise, dislodging his glasses so slightly and making them slide down his nose. You rarely get to see the doctor this dishevelled and really, you're savoring it as best as you can.

"W-what do you mean by that? Oh Yoba, please do not feel obligated to make these all for me, oh dear I feel so bad-" Harvey's rambling is cut off when the hand holding his moves, taking the jar and moving it to rest on the counter. You return your hands to his, holding them in a firm, rough grasp.

"Harvey, honey," The pet name slips out, but you cannot bring yourself to regret it when Harvey, startled, goes red at the sound. "You are not putting me out by letting me make pickles for you. I like making pickles to give you. Harvey, Yoba, I like you." The flush returns to you as your confession holds in the air between you two. However, you cannot bring yourself to be upset by yourself letting it slip as you watch his cheeks turn red and his pupils dilate behind his glasses.

"Oh, I didn't-well I didn't actually think." Harvey's voice cracks while he stands there, tongue-tied, hands slightly trembling after your confession. You smile at him softly, slightly aware of the fact that this might be the softest you've smiled or looked at anyone who was standing in front of you.

"Harvey, honey. It's not something to stress yourself over. I like you, so I do not want to push you into anything-" Your voice is so low, it's easy to hear when Harvey speaks over you.

"No! No, that's not what I meant. I like you, so much. It's why it's just hard to realize that you-" He flushes. "You like me. It's not something that I'm used to you know? It's just...unexpected."

You barely hold back a coo at the way he tries to avoid your eyes, but the way he still squeezes your hands quickly warms all inside you. However, the way that your hands raise to cup his flushed face brings his eyes back to yours, the smile rising across your face is too strong to be hidden.

"Harvey, darling, I could not like you more. And if it takes me saying that constantly to get you to accept it, I'd gladly accept the challenge." The way he tenses in your hold almost makes you nervous, but then you see the way he drops a telling look to your lips. Your smile grows even bigger.

"Now, how about you come over for dinner? I'm not the greatest cook, but there will be wine and my cat would love to meet you."

Harvey nods a little wildly and you cannot help the way your fingers brush against and over his cheek in response. He catches a rogue breath.

You return your gaze from where your fingers graze his cheek to his eyes and see the question in his. You smile slightly and he cannot stop the way his lips fall slightly apart.

Leaning into him, the way he leans in to meet you — it's something you know you will not be forgetting anytime soon.

The second your lips touch, a sigh leaves the two of you. He nearly melts into you and you tighten your grasp on his jaw. The kiss begins almost annoyingly chaste, but when you touch your tongue to the seam of his soft lips, they part immediately. You lick into his mouth the second he lets you in, his mouth sweet enough to have you addicted already. The way he presses against you as one hand travels to hold the back of his head sends any thoughts into a swirl.

Then, a click of one of the clinic's far doors brings the two of you back to earth. You draw back, incredibly reluctantly. The way Harvey chases your lips nearly sends you back to him, but you draw in a heavy, steadying breath and drop your hands to his waist. You lean back to create some space between you two; however, you cannot bring yourself to separate your hands from his waist.

The click of shoes grows closer and you can tell when Maru returns to the lobby of the clinic, between the hush of the opening door and the quick intake of breath once she takes in your positions. She mumbles something and swiftly returns to the back, letting the door thud behind her.

You giggle at Harvey's face, embarrassment taking over his face. The expression is so incredibly endearing you cannot help yourself from leaning in again to press a soft kiss to his lips, slowly pulling back.

The grin you send Harvey, now red-cheeked and red-lipped, is quite satisfied, and the way he rolls his eyes makes you laugh once again.

"So-" You rub your thumbs over his sides. "I'll see you at dinner tonight?"

The smile spreading across his face makes it even harder to stop yourself from leaving the clinic. However, you know if you go back, neither you nor the doctor will get any work done during the day.

It is only the idea of having him all to yourself, in your home, beside you, which makes it slightly easier to leave the town behind you.

divider is @c-heriis

[volturissideslut]

What if the Humans adopt a child just to see what’s so special about humans and why the Cullens like them so much, not knowing how troublesome a 8 year old can be?

𝖁𝖔𝖑𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖎

strap in because this is going to be one hell of a ride (also I'm assuming asker meant volturi adopt a chaotic human child)

Aro, ever the curious one, cannot even fathom why dear Carlisle cares so much for these... creatures

And it's been like over 3000 years since he was human and he can't really remember much about living

It would also help if it would stop making Marcus be such a miserable slab of stone, and perhaps even Caius could do with a new toy

It just seemed like destiny when an 8 year old child strayed from the feeding group one day, too entertained by chasing a fat tabby cat that had jumped the wall to the garden

Whatever parent or guardian that came with seemingly hadn't noticed - not that they were alive long enough too

And, of course, Felix was the one to deliver the child to Master Aro considering he's the only one with a modium of decorum or respect for life in the castle

Any of the other guards would have eaten you on sight to be honest (they wouldn't in the future but you're just some random human child right now, they don't care about you yet)

Aro takes one look at you're little form, sticky fingers; muddy knees; grazed elbows; a leaf in your hair

Perfect

They're keeping you

easy, right?

wrong

Why is a overexcited yet hysterical human child such a lovable inconvenience, you may ask

well

1) none of them can fully keep track of you're emotions,why are children so confusing???

2) they can't fully keep track of your whereabout either

"HOW ON EARTH DID YOU GET OF THE ROOF YOU HEATHEN CHILD" - Caius probably

3) they know nothing, and I mean nothing, about humans. Expect them to ask the secratery for help next time you're sobbing, only to find out you're hungry because they haven't fed you a proper meal in days thinking you'd forage for it yourself

I swear Marcus is the only one who is knowledgeable, despite how small it is

"the child requires sustinence again" - Jane, fed up of this shit

4) they're used to the traumatic stuff of vampire life, you are not, they don't realise that

poor kid is gonna be so traumatised, by the age of 10 killing someone over cereal seems socially acceptable

At least Caius actually has a soft spot for you, otherwise you'd be dead dead by now

Marcus reads you bedtime stories

Aro wants you to grow up appreciating everything he does, there are many 'daddy/daughter dates' where he takes you to see plays, musicals, concerts, or whatever that he deems suitable

Caius pretends to be impressed with your drawings and fakes excitement at whatever lego monstrosity you've made

Alec shows you the world, taking you around on his days off to Scotland, Brazil, India or wherever you randomly point to on a map

Felix let's you use his cloak as a blanket when he's not using it, you like to play with it and use it for dens and pillow forts (it can also be used as one of those massive fabric parachute tent bubble thingys the class played with in nursery/FS1/kindergarten and hid under (you know what I'm talking about))

Demitri let's you win at hide and seek despite his gift letting him know where you are at all times. He is also not above pretending to play to keep you out the way and quiet for a solid five minutes before you come out giggling saying you won again

Jane will capture butterflies and set them free with you because she knows you love them and you also love to chase them

The queen's are always dressing you up like a doll and doing your hair, they basically get a list from the secratery of everything humans need (food, water, socialising etc) and fulfil those needs for you

The secratery is the only one who actually knows what you want and need most times, being human herself. The kings are seriously considering turning her instead of just killing her you your sake

And God forbid anyone touches their precious baby, you've grown on them and they'd burn the world for you in an instant

[thydungeongal]

Fantasy Adventure Games part 2

You know what, there's still a lot of trad stuff that I haven't even touched out there, and I would be remiss if I didn't feature some of the other, newer entries into the field. This is a continuation of this post.

So, once again, staying with very trad fantasy games:

Dragonbane by the Free League. An English translation of the latest edition of the classic Swedish fantasy RPG Drakar och Demoner, Dragonbane is a very traditional fantasy roleplaying game whose design is clearly heavily informed by RuneQuest but in its latest incarnation also owes a lot to the game structure popularized by D&D 3e (a game that still informs a lot of game design to this day). Dragonbane is, at its core, a skill-based, no-levels fantasy game, but that still has classes of a sort to grant structure to character creation and advancement. Its playstyle has been dubbed "mirth and mayhem" by its creators, and it emphasizes quick resolution and a sense of randomness. The presentation is also top notch, with art by Swedish fantasy artist Johan Egerkrans.

Forbidden Lands by the Free League. Another game published by the Free League, Forbidden Lands is a classic fantasy RPG with a focus on sandbox play and exploration in a strange, scary world. Forbidden Lands uses a variant of the Year Zero engine from Free League's Mutant: Year Zero games, a type of d6 dice pool system. With out-of-the-box mechanics for exploration, foraging, negotiations, and hunting, as well as running one's own stronghold, the real star of the show is the ready-made sandbox setting that comes with the game, begging to be explored.

Against the Darkmaster by Open Ended Games. The creators of Rolemaster, mentioned in the previous post, for a brief moment held the license to the Middle-earth setting of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium and produced a slightly lighter version of Rolemaster to support playing in that setting, titled Middle-earth Roleplaying, or MERP for short. While the game is now long gone, it is still fondly remembered, and in 2019 Against the Darkmaster, a game that is essentially a tribute to MERP made by long-time fans of the game, was Kickstarted. Against the Darkmaster, or VsD for short, is a game in the heritage of Rolemaster, but with inspirations taken from modern RPGs, including the officially licensed modern LotR RPG The One Ring (which is another soft recommend from yours truly). VsD is a gritty and dark traditional RPG that seeks to empower its players to play out stories of a fellowship of heroes struggling against the forces of darkness, very much in the genre of Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance, and the Chronicles of Prydain. If you want crunchy, epic fantasy with a hint of darkness, this one's for you.

Fantasy Hero by Hero Games. A fantasy adaptation of the HERO System, the system that powers the classic superhero RPG Champions, Fantasy Hero is the closest thing I have found to an engine for running a fantasy immersive sim. The core philosophy of the HERO System is that its open-ended power creation system can be used to build anything, and Fantasy Hero directs that energy towards empowering fantasy adventures. The HERO System is very crunchy, almost like a TTRPG physics engine, and it's a dream come true for a certain type of gamer. Heck, I've personally considered using it to run a fantasy sim campaign where spell research is conducted through the power creation system. It's so cool. There is a one-book version of Fantasy Hero out there, called Fantasy Hero Complete, but word on the street is that the better way to run it is using the Hero System 6th Edition rules with the Fantasy Hero 6th Edition genre supplement on top.

Earthdawn by FASA. Once officially tied to the fantasy cyberpunk RPG Shadowrun as its mythic past, due to ownership issues Earthdawn is better understood as its own, standalone game without any ties to Shadowrun these days (and even in the past the actual ties were minimal). Earthdawn casts the player characters as magically empowered individuals who direct their magic into various disciplines, so that a Warrior in Earthdawn isn't simply someone who fights: they are someone who utilizes magic to subtly empower their fighting ability. Earthdawn is very much kin to RuneQuest in how it ties its game system to its world's underlying metaphysics, while being more in line with your traditional dwarves and elves and wizards fantasy. The setting of the game is post-apocalyptic fantasy, with a demonic scourge having recently ravaged the land and people for the first time stepping out of their magically sealed vaults to explore the world. In addition to Earthdawn fourth edition, there is an alternate, simpler version of Earthdawn titled "Age of Legend," which uses an extremely simplified system based on dice results of "Yes, and..." and "No, but..." style prompts. The fourth edition released by FASA is a very traditional, crunchy RPG.

Talislanta by various. Talislanta is a classic fantasy RPG set in an extremely unique fantasy setting that promises ABSOLUTELY NO ELVES. Talislanta is a very unique vision of a fantasy RPG with a very idiosyncratic setting, unique metaphysics, weird sights, and extremely easy to learn yet deep system. The system is very simple, with a basic d20+modifiers resolution mechanic, with varying degrees of success built in, and this system is used for absolutely everything, including combat, skill resolution, and magic. Speaking of magic, Talislanta's magic system is based heavily on keywords and schools, with magic-users being potentially able to produce almost any kind of magical effect the player can imagine under the keyword system, but with certain types of magic simply being more fit to certain purposes and some types of magic not being able to produce certain specific magical effects. What's more, legacy editions of the game are available online for free.

Anyway, that's enough for now.

[sidswritingblog]

twst (undisclosed) au

jade leech x gn!reader

a/n: i have specific inspo for this au but i don't wanna give away the plot if i continue with it. i literally haven't even scratched the surface of my idea and i lowkey hate this but i'm tired and had to put something out there 🫠 there's barely any jade in this beginning part so i'm sorry in advance

tags: gn!reader (pronouns unspecified), sfw, little bit of pining, mushrooms written by someone who doesn't know mushrooms, kinda boring, sorry

regardless of shitty quality, DO NOT FEED THIS TO AI or i will hunt you down and be very angry at you

1,456 words

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Climbing a mountain is not one of your regular chores as a farmer.

Life’s just been so boring lately—not that you’re complaining; “bored” is leagues better than famished and starving—but you’ve been thirsting for a little more enrichment than feeding livestock and mucking stables can offer. So naturally, when you went into town a few days ago to sell some of your produce, you scanned Sam’s shop for anything that could spice up your life.

Funny-looking dolls, uniquely flavoured snacks, eye-catching accessories… Sam always had such interesting items in stock, but you couldn’t imagine being amused with any of them for more than a couple days, a week at most. You hummed to yourself before clearing your throat.

“Hey, Sam?” you peeked around the stacked shelves and racks to look for him at the front of the shop. He popped out from beneath the front counter like some sort of life-sized jack-in-the-box.

“Find anything that piques your interest, Imp?” he asked back while glancing at you, simultaneously working on pricing some new trinkets that came in. (The grind never stops, even when he’s serving a customer.)

“Well…” You hated to admit your dissatisfaction so bluntly, but Sam’s a thick-skinned friend of yours; he can take it. “No, actually. Do you have anything new?”

And of course Sam had something new in stock—something perfect. You should’ve never doubted his service. So that day, you left town having sold all your produce, with a pocketful of bronze coins, a skip in your step, and a small pocketbook in hand that you traded for two dozen eggs.

A Guide to Identifying and Foraging Wild Edible Mushrooms: Pocket Edition.

So here you are, hiking up the mountain by your farm that you never once explored in all your years living here. To be fair, you never really had much of a reason to, until now. Now, you have a wealth of information on edible and medicinal wonders of nature in the palm of your hand. Now, you’re aware of the wondrous, not-meat-yet-meaty chunks of yumminess within your reach.

You gasp. Literally. Within. Your. Reach. After verifying with your prized pocketguide, you pluck the stubby white growth from the side of a fallen log. Pleurotus ostreatus. An oyster mushroom. You have yourself an oyster mushroom, and now the world is your oyster.

In your mushroom-finding excitement, you fail to notice the heterochromatic eyes witnessing your discovery from behind a tree.

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Over the next week, you balance out the mundaneness of farm life with the joy of mushroom foraging. So far, you’ve harvested resinous polypore—Ischnoderma resinosum—and lion’s mane—Hericium erinaceus—on top of the oyster mushrooms you initially found. You’re thrilled!

But still, despite your newfound source of joy, you can’t help but wish you didn’t have to work so much on the farm. As you savour a bite of your breakfast omelette made with leftover lion’s mane mushrooms, you dare think to yourself: Sevens, you wished you could have a helping hand. Then you would only have to work half as much, and you’d have twice as much time to go look for mushrooms.

You turn your gaze beyond your open dutch door to the rich mountain nearby.

And then a demon pops out of fucking nowhere to block the view.

“AHHHH!!!” you shriek, before clapping a hand over your mouth. Oh, you realise. It’s not a demon. Just some freakishly tall guy trespassing on your farm. Dressed in a tattered linen tunic and breeches, his ratty clothing doesn’t seem to suit him. With hair the vivid colour of the clear sea, striking heterochromatic eyes, and a razor-sharp jawline, you can’t fathom what he’s doing here. Nor can you imagine why he’s dressed like he’d been washed up ashore. The only accessory that does suit his beauty is the teal earring dangling from his left ear.

“Hello,” the beautiful demon/trespasser man greets politely.

“Hi,” you reply awkwardly. “Can I help you?”

“Well, yes,” he replies, smiling without teeth as he brings his hand to his chest. “I would like to help you on your farm.”

You hum to hide your surprise. Not because his request is startling, though it is very bold, especially for only just having met each other. You’re instead shocked by how quickly your wish seemed to be granted. Maybe he is a demon. But you’ll nevertheless entertain his haphazard job application.

“Hmm. What’s your name?” you ask.

“Ah, right. My name is Jade,” the demon answers with his smooth-ass voice. “My apologies for neglecting to introduce myself sooner.”

You give him your name in return. Jade smiles again. It’s almost unsettling.

“I’ll warn you that it’s a lot of work, Jade. And I can’t give you much more than food and lodging in return. You still interested?”

“Yes.”

You rack your brain for any more upfront reasons that would dissuade Jade from working for you.

“And in terms of food…” you start, “You’re alright eating mushrooms?”

Jade stares at you, eyes wide. Is he blushing?

“You’d feed me your mushrooms?” he whispers.

Ah, so he’s not a fan. Disappointing. Still, you answer.

“Breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” you reply. “Not by themselves, of cour—“

“When may I start?” Jade cuts you off.

“Wha?”

“Working here, for you. When may I start?”

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Succinctly put, Jade isn’t a demon. In fact, you’d go as far to say that Jade is an angel. A gentlemanly, mushroom-loving angel. Two months in, he does more than his fair share of work on the farm and eats whatever you cook. Often, despite already having laboured in the burning hot sun, doing the heavy lifting that he insisted you shouldn’t do, Jade helps you in the kitchen.

Like he is now. Actually, this time, he’s doing most of the cooking as you wash the dishes and cooking utensils.

A few weeks ago, Jade practically begged you to bring him on one of your hikes. If it was anybody else who asked, you wouldn’t have agreed. But you had to admit: you’re fond of Jade.

From your countless conversations, you learned that Jade lost both his parents to vicious pirates when they were at sea, leaving behind Jade and his brother, Floyd. Jade also told you that he has a funny friend named Azul. The way Jade reminisces about Floyd and Azul is endearing (and also makes the latter seem really pathetic, to be honest), and you can tell he really loves them since he’d left his home to make a better life for the three.

Despite his rough past, he’s perfect. Hardworking, strong, smart, observant, dependable, beautiful, sweet… You could list hundreds if not thousands of things you love about him. The hard part is keeping your praises to yourself, keeping them from spewing out your mouth every time you’re in his presence.

Jade always does as you wish when you ask. But your one deepest wish is selfish, something you can’t ask of him.

You wish he’d never leave your side.

“Dinner’s ready,” Jade gently announces to you, disrupting your internal pining monologue. You can see his closed-eye smile directed at you from the corner of your eye, and you feel your heartbeat quicken.

You grab two bowls from the cupboard and pass them to Jade’s waiting hand. His fingers brush yours in the process, and you have to stop yourself from flinching away. Don’t be suspicious! Act normal! Stop being a pathetic sap!

“Oya, you’re quite red.” Ugh, dammit, blush! “Are you feeling unwell?”

Jade reaches his right hand toward your forehead, which you quickly bat away.

“Am I? I feel fine,” you assure, hoping you sound natural enough. You feel your face warm even more.

“Are you sure?” Jade scrutinizes your flushed face, mere inches between you. “You really are quite red.”

Now, as sweet as he is, Jade loves teasing. Even though he doesn’t like you back—not that he knows of your crush on him—he still plays with you. And your poor heart by association.

You turn away from Jade like a petty child refusing to eat their vegetables. The bastard follows your face with his own as you turn.

“Fufufu,” he chuckles, “you really are quite adorable, aren’t you?”

Your eyes bulge in surprise before you instinctively shield your probably-tomato-red face with your hand.

“Oh,” Jade sighs with a smile, retreating to his personal bubble of space. “How I wish to never leave your side.”

Those words promptly open the floodgates to your endless praises for Jade. Ultimately, in tears, you end up confessing your undying love. In response, Jade smiles at you, wider than you’ve ever seen, eyes half-lidded. He’s so beautiful.

So much for keeping your feelings under wraps.

[queen-lance]

hey! i was wondering if you had any recs for getting into new gods comics? i’ve been wanting to for a while but have been struggling to find good reading guides haha! and i know i need to be prepared by the time ram v’s series drops😔🙏🙏

Hi! I'm obsessed with the New Gods right now, but it's a pretty new fandom to me. I had read New Gods by Kirby a few years ago, but I had never gone fully deep in the comics like now, soooo I haven't read EVERYTHING yet, but let's go

Well, the place to start is with the King of Comics himself: Jack Kirby's Fourth World. So we have:

- New Gods (1971)

- Mister Miracle (1971)

- Forever People (1971)

They're all fantastic and I really love them

If you're a completionist, you can also read Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133-148

There's also the graphic novel Hunger Gods. It's not really canon (the next writers ignore what happens there), but it's part of Kirby's Fourth World and worth checking out

Everything aside of Kirby is... Controversial, to say the least

We have

- Justice League International (1987): Honestly one of the comics I'm the most fond of. It's not really a New Gods story, but it's worth checking out if you want more of them

- Forever People: I haven't actually read this one cause I wanted to jump to Orion and Scott & Barda, but it's pretty short (only 6 issues) so you could check it out. I know I will in the future

- Cosmic Odyssey: An interesting story, but... I really don't like its take on Orion and other characters

- New Gods (1989): Basically continues Cosmic Odyssey. Again, there's some interesting concepts, but... I don't like it. Maybe you will! But it was just frustrating to me

- Mister Miracle (1989): I like it! The first issues by DeMatteis have the same vibe of the JLI and it's pretty fun. The rest of the series is more inconsistent, but overall worth checking it out

- New Gods (1995): I'm enjoying it so far!

- JLA (1997): This is entirely skipable cause they're not the focus, but I like it as a story if you're REALLY craving for more

- Orion (2000): I haven't read it yet, but everyone says it's great. I can definitely @ you later when I get there 🫡

- Mister Miracle (2017): This is THE most controversial one. It's by Tom King, a guy who I'm not the biggest fan of (see: ex CIA in 2003). I think it's definitely worth checking out if you're into his writing style cause it's honestly one of his best works, but his Orion and Lightray are simply terrible. His Scott and Barda are good tho so...? Eh 🤷‍♀️

- Barda (2024) by Ngozi Ukazu: My biggest recommendation. It's just so good!!!!!!

There's also Final Crisis. Plus plenty of comics I know basically nothing about, like Seven Soliders: Mister Miracle or Bug! The Adventures of Forager

I honestly think if you read Kirby's Fourth World, you'll already be prepared for Ram V's The New Gods

So good luck and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

[midwesternvibes]

This one is currently winning on my little motivation poll so here we go

SEPERATED LEO AU!!! (because we don't have enough of those already lol)

Link to original post

So, I wanna talk more about how they all refound each other (link to how they met here)

Just to recap, Big Mama has Mikey, Draxum has Raph, and Splinter has Donnie. Big Mama's in her Nexus Hotel, Draxum is in NYC with a cloaking broach, and Splinter's in the ever iconic sewers.

Big Mama is actually a very kind mother to Mikey! She loves her little baby, and especially loves how he has her beloved Lou's smile. She spoils him to death and lets them express himself however she'd like. (If you haven't picked up on it yet, Mikey is genderfluid in this au and generally presents as a feminine man) Mikey absolutely adores skirts and zip-up hoodies, and usually wears a very bright suit top with a big orange ball gown skirt to formal events that Big Mama matches at Mikey's whims (I cannot draw for the life of me so if anyone is willing to draw this for me I will work out some kind of trade with you if you'd like 🙏)

But yeah, Big Mama does not let her fight in the Nexus, and has even toned down the brutality of the Nexus due to Mikey's pleading. There aren't any more lethal fights and she rarely makes binding, lifelong contracts because it made her baby upset to see all the sad and scared people.

They are a very cute duo and both genuinely love each other very much

Then there's Draxum amd Raph! Draxum luckily snagged two cloaking broaches before his lab exploded and slapped them on both him and his 2 year old son before heading up to the surface. The two of them then got a apartment in the.....*shuddder*........human world. Draxum tries to hide them in mostly secret, only leaving the house for groceries and necessities, but eventually realizes that poor Raphie is very lonely.

This is made so much worse when he meets the little girl downstairs and wants so desperately to follow her to school after their playdates.........Draxum finally caves.

With the help of Mr. and Mrs. O'Neil, he enrolls Raphie in the same Kindergarden as April and lets him finally go to school after years of homeschooling. Raphie struggles with the transition a bit, but eventually he gets the hang of it and thrives! Draxum encourages him to join as many clubs as he can (without getting overwhelmed of course) and is his biggest fan.

Once Draxum is able to settle down, he's actually a huge soccer mom and goes to all of Raphie's events, he gets totally embarrassed sometimes. Draxum and the O'Neils are really good friends and try to have dinner at least once a week

But once again, a very happy family! They struggle to show it sometimes, but they truly love each other and only want what's best for each other

Then we have Donnie and Splinter! Splinter was mutated with the DNA from his pet rat that he picked up on his travels with Big Mama and Draxum to get the turtles, and he was only able to grab Donnie and retreat to the sewers before Draxum's while lab collapsed. He, along with the other two, belive his partners and other children to be dead, so he never goes searching for them. Instead, he raises his son in the sewers on his own, foraging for all that they need just like in canon.

However, their sewer home is PREEEEEEEETY nice, since Donnie doesn't really doesn't have anything better to do other than make their home as nice as possible. He's has all major appliances working since he was 6 and only makes improvements from there. He also has his little pet project, but Splinter doesn't know about that yet!!!!

Speaking of Splinter, he varies pretty dramatically from canon. He's a lot less depressed because he had a much better experience with the yokai world and doesn't feel nearly as ashamed to BE a yokai (or yokai-adjacent) and keeps himself in much better shape, helping him with the dysmorphia that he does have. Overall, Splinter's doing pretty well, and he's a pretty attentive parent overall!

He was able to access some of his funds from his Lou Jitsu days and pays for Donnie to go to online school, and by the time Donnie meets up with the rest of his family at 11, he's halfway through high school work and has plans to go on to college so that he can start building up his tech empire by the time he's 18

But yeah, yet again, a overall happy parent/child relationship!

(Then there's Leo. All the angst had to go somewhere, right???)

Moving on! Now, the adults all lived separately with each of their respective kid, but when Raphie was about 8, he got really sick. Like, really really sick. Draxum went to as many human doctors that he could trust, but none of them were able to figure out what was wrong with his baby. He finally musters up the courage to go down to the Hidden City, and finds out that Raphie has Mystic Overload Syndrome. While he's running around trying to find stuff to help his little boy (he's so affectionate guys), Raphie sneaks out! He starts running around the Hidden City unbroached, and he feels truly seen for the first time in his life.

While running around, he literally runs into another turtle yokai, one who's dressed in expensive orange clothes...........

This post got REALLY long, so stay tuned for more! Next post will probably be how Draxum and Big Mama finally met, and then how Splinter and Donnie come into play!

(Don't worry about Leo this isn't about him he's fine)

First // Previous // Next

(Also stay tuned for the name reveal of the AU!

[thrashkink-coven]

Do you have any advice for getting back into witchcraft after not really doing it for a while?

I haven't really practiced for a year because of an awful situation that happened. I tried to get back into practicing a few months ago but it got super overwhelming trying to get back into it so I stopped.

Thank you in advance

After a while of not practicing the first thing I usually like to do is study. If there’s a book I’ve been eyeing for a while, reading it usually leads to me finding something new to try. Recently for me it was a book on talisman making, through which I ended up writing a spell and doing a ritual. I feel the most witchy when I’m writing spells.

Sometimes doing a mini tarot reading will get me back on track to. Just one or two cards telling me what I could be focusing on. Usually Lucifer or Hermes will give me some direction.

Foraging is also an activity that activates the witchy parts of my brain. Just going out into your environment and finding herbs or materials you can use for spell craft. Be sure to give back to the environments you take from.

Sometimes it’s as small as lighting a candle and saying a prayer or burning some incense. Reserving a bit of time out of my day to sit at or clean my altar and listen to music or journal. Even when I’m not writing spells I like to journal about my day, my goals and plans. Chatting with and leaving my deities offerings always gets me back into the mood.