#i need to go to the bog

[strawberryamanita]

@Besties looking for inspiration for art, be it drawn or written:

Create about the cranberry bog.

Put your favorite characters or OCs or 'sonas in the cranberry bog. Put yourself in the cranberry bog, even.

Let them experience the cranberry bog. Let them wade in it. Let them take in the Summer Sun above them. Let them feel joy and sorrow and fear and peace and catharsis in the cranberry bog.

Let them harvest some berries from the cranberry bog. Maybe they'll eat them later, maybe they won't, idk if they like cranberries.

But they will experience the bog.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

warlock wizard Wally scribbles... Thinkings! oh and a bonus bard-ish Barnabys in the corner for flavor

outfit ramblings:

first of all that is a Terrible rendition of what Home looks like in my head. i just needed to fill empty space </3

the staff was the toughest part honestly. bc it Had to be paintbrush-themed, but then halfway through scribbling i was like "oh shit. there are only so many ways to draw a paintbrush-wizard-staff and Weevmo already hit it out of the park." so if you're seeing similarities! you're right! i tried to make it as different as i could! there is Inspiration from their marvelous design, however accidental or subconscious! Apologies!

he gets a pointed hood instead of a hat because a) it looks great on him! and b) it has less of a chance of messing up his hair! also c) it helps muddle the difference between Wizard and Warlock. typically hoods have evil/duplicitous connotation - blur the lines! i want his long gloves and forearm wraps to have the same vibe. his neckerchief is a big help in hiding Home's seal!

his layered (loosely apple-themed) capelet (which the hood is attached to) has a nice high collar & hides the details of his loose shirt - eye embroidery! and some flowers on the shoulders but yk, mostly eyes. on one side of the shirt buttons has open eyes, the other side they're closed! there's also one big eye on his back!

his belt buckle is two halves of an apple! he wears tall thigh-high boots w/ low heels to feel Taller! he has a book-holster hooked to the back of his belt, which holds his grimoire! and he has a lil thigh-bag that has been magicked to be Bottomless and warps size! he can fit pretty much anything in there! canvases! paint! apples!

his half-skirt thing (idk what the word for it is!) is really plush, like a quilt - his capelet is the same fabric. soft, cozy. sometimes he'll use the skirt thing as a blanket in a pinch, or as a picnic placemat!

is his outfit a little Complicated? is it annoying to replicate? yes and yes. but im a maximalist at heart and Nothing But The Best for the blorbo <3 layers my beloved <3

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

phillies i really get it. he’s so perfect. like i understand and if i had better taste and more self respect i’d be right there with you because look at him. he’s so silly and dumb. exquisite.

[captainrufflebanger]

Every day I inch closer to changing my DNI rule from 18 to 21 istg

I realize the 2nd Twitter exodus is happening but I do not have time to block every account promoting re8, a MATURE RATED GAME, to minors.

This is also just my blog for everything and I'm a 30-year old woman who likes hitting reblog on posts about sex AND filing taxes. Easy enough not to hit the follow button if that's not for you.

[whaliiwatching]

CRINGE BUT FREE ERA

[incomingalbatross]

Sooo... I just watched Labyrinth, and I remember seeing some posts of yours talking about how it's good and similar to other stories (like OTGW). And in some ways, I see that? But also like.... I need a little help making any sense of it, lol

Sorry, I know this is super random, but I was just curious to find out why you like it and what you see in it, so I thought I'd ask!

Of course, I'm happy to talk about Labyrinth! :) Thank you for the ask!

(Disclaimer that I haven't watched it in a year or two, but I still remember it fairly well.)

In terms of similarity to OTGW: both stories center on a teenage protagonist who is a dreamer, but too caught up in themselves, and to some extent running away from their life. This manifests PARTICULARLY in their neglected and/or rejected responsibility to their younger half-brother. They end up in a liminal, otherworldly space that operates on much more narrative logic than they're used to, and can only save their lives/souls and make it home again by saving said younger brothers first.

Sarah rejects her brother at the beginning of her story, while Wirt abandons his care for Greg near the end, but you can see the similar beats there, right? They're both dealing with normal teenage stress + the stress of parental divorce (probably) and remarriage, and seeing their younger brothers as an emblem of Everything Wrong In Their Lives. In reality, their younger brothers are forcing them to live in reality, where they have duties and connections to other people, and can only find maturity/fulfillment through embracing that.

Jareth and the Beast are also very similar figures, I think; Jareth is a more seductive tempter figure, playing to Sarah's ego and to romance tropes, while the Beast plays with hope and despair. But they are both trickster figures who use bargains -- seeming windows of hope -- to entrap vulnerable mortals (Wirt and Greg, in the Beast's case).

AND. Both Jareth and the Beast are defeated by someone calling them out as empty and powerless! Wirt says, "this is dumb," and demolishes the Beast's entire facade -- he's not keeping souls in the lantern, he's the one dependent on the lantern, and he can't keep Wirt or Greg if they're ready to go home. Sarah's "You have no power over me" has the exact same weight -- it's wrapped up in theatrics of these being Specific Magic Words, but it's the meaning of them that shatters Jareth's power and sends her and Toby home.

In both stories, evil tries very, very hard to convince these kids that they need it. Jareth wraps it up in a lot more complicated temptations -- I'll make you happy, I'll make you powerful, I'll give you glamorous parties and material comfort and everything you ever wanted if you fall down and worship me -- while the Beast sticks to a brute-force message of despair, with the crumbs he offers as all that there is -- "There is only my way." But in both cases, the message is: you need me.

And in both stories the protagonists go: No. I don't need you. I don't need anything from you. In fact, you have nothing to give.

At which point it's revealed that evil needed them. Needed them to buy into its strength, its ability, its substance -- or it doesn't have any. It crumbles away, and they go home.

...So! Those are the big similarities between them, I think, for me? I like Labyrinth, as its own movie, because I like the classic fairy-tale structure of "the fairies/goblins/elves took my loved one because I messed up, and now I gotta get them back the hard way." I love the atmosphere of the Labyrinth and Sarah's friends (though your mileage may definitely vary on this movie, depending on your tolerance for Henson Creations ;P). I love Sarah, who messes up, but who is still plucky and brave and kind through most of her trials! The friendship between her and Hoggle (...a Woodsman parallel?) is my favorite. And while I'm very much in the minority of this fandom in not really feeling Jareth's appeal, as a villain I think David Bowie does an excellent, glittery job. And we get music.

[seaglassdinosaur]

Eternally grateful that Cressida Cowell didn’t involve a romantic subplot in the How To Train Your Dragon series.

[thekimspoblog]

Is the video game really subverting its genre? Are you sure it's not just doing clever things within its genre, because otherwise the game would be boring and unchallenging and say nothing interesting? I'm just saying, it's cool and all that the internet allows horror game fandoms to overflow into eachother, but not EVERY 2 hour video essay needs to be spent breathlessly sucking off the devs. Sometimes a game is just REGULAR difficult and REGULAR high-quality.

Besides RPGs made over a decade ago, what is the thing supposedly subverting? Clearly not other contemporary indie horror games, because there is clearly a convergent ethos forming of cosmic horror and beginners' traps; that's just what the genre looks like nowadays.

[incandescentflower]

Me just sitting here going UGGGHH I have feeelllings what do I dooo with them???

a sign of a good drama

[naamahdarling]

.

[bedforddanes75]

thinking about hozier's "bog man fairycore aesthetic" reputation and Vomiting

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

ah! im already Excelling at fulfilling my new years desires! ft. a new good thing to list:

hot cocoa on snowy mornings!

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

rewatching dead poets society for the first time in 4 years and i had to pause to make this it came to me in a Vision:

[bunny-lily]

My darling, about this post, you should just brag about what you have created so far just because your writing is wonderful.

Sweetheart, oh my gosh ♥♥ you've got my blushing and tucking my hair behind my ear omg, the feeling is absolutely mutual!

Alright, if you insist!~

Tether Me (here on Tumblr and Ao3) is the first multichapter work I've ever actually finished as a whole. I've got so many WIPs, and can lose interest/motivation quickly and easily, so I'm honestly so proud of myself for being able to finish it at all. It's 92k words of my pure heart and soul I poured into it. I really just went off with the symbolism, metaphors, and visualizations of it.

Fun fact, it was inspired by literally one scene from the genshin lunar festival event earlier this year

Lift a Pen and Rewrite the Ending was the first fic I posted! It's originally a gift for @bunny584, just something fluffy and wholesome with pianist!Satoru ♥ I've actually gone through and edited it a bit to polish it up! I managed to write that in the span of...overnight lmao, from midnight to about 6 am roughly

Satoru, who... is also something just fluffy and wholesome. I had this one tiny idea of "Satoru, who is just so smitten with you" and it kinda spiraled out from there. Also, the amount of notes I got on it over the span of like 2 - 3 days really blew me out of the water, did not expect to wake up and check my tumblr just to see 200+ notifications, oops.

Thank you for encouraging me to ramble a bit about my lil babies <3 I've got a bunch of ideas in the works, and even looking back at the work I've already posted, I can see that I'm improving by the day.

Proud of myself :)

(P.S. I'm stealing that Sugu pic oh my god my heart, I'm in love ♥♥)

[samipekoe]

I have to say, I don't fully understand the ship since I haven't finished DM yet, but you certainly make it look appealing at the very least. Thank you for sharing your passions, and please continue to do so!

🥲 THANK YOU... I'll continue to publicly mutter to myself about larcille...!!!!

[padmerrie]

Muscle Memory (Bookends AU) [1.2K; AO3]

Summary: Minato takes a break from the campaign grind with a sleeping Naruto in tow and stumbles upon his three former students.

ᓚᘏᗢ    ᓚᘏᗢ    ᓚᘏᗢ    

“One.  Two.  Three!” 

Obito, Kakashi, and Rin dropped their sticks into the water and raced to the other side of the bridge.  They braced themselves against the railing, eyes fixed on the river below, their collective breath held in anticipation, waiting.  Watching.

Three sticks appeared, one stick slightly ahead of the other two.

Obito glared at Kakashi.

“You keep dropping yours early,” he snapped.  On his other side, Rin laughed.  

“He’s not dropping it early, Obito.  It’s just luck.”

“Call it whatever you want,” Obito grumbled.  He hopped off the bottom railing and jabbed a thumb to his chest.  “I’m picking the sticks this time.”   

Kakashi made a noncommittal sound, still watching their sticks being swept downstream.  “Rin picked them out last time.”

Obito waved him off with a disgruntled noise, not looking back as he jogged off to retrieve three new sticks from the river’s shore.  

“My, what have I stumbled upon?  An after school physics lesson?”

Rin and Kakashi turned to find their favorite teacher strolling towards them pushing a baby carriage. 

“Minato-sensei!” Rin exclaimed happily.  Her eyes lit up as they landed on the carriage, but Minato pressed a finger to his lips before she could open her mouth again.

“He’s sleeping.  It’s new,” he added with a tired but not unhappy chuckle.  He beckoned them over with a wave of his hand.  Rin was by Minato’s side in an instant.  She gave a delighted gasp, then looked up and waved to Kakashi.  

“Get over here!” she hissed in a whisper. 

Kakashi sighed and dropped off the railing, slipping his hands in his pockets and walking over to them with all the urgency of a tortoise crossing a road.  He hovered by Rin’s shoulder and peered into the bassinet.  It was a sight indeed - mostly because this was possibly the first time Kakashi had ever seen Naruto asleep.

“I’m surprised to see you out, sensei,” Rin said, keeping her voice soft.  “The only time we see you these days is on campaign signs.”  

“Oh those,” Minato chuckled, looking away embarrassed.  “It’s a little much.  Even Kushina said she’s tired of seeing my face everywhere.”

“I saw you on TV yesterday,” Rin continued.  Her lips quirked to the side.  “The camera loves you, sensei.”

Minato’s cheeks flushed.  “I’m glad you think so, but I’ll admit, the feeling is pretty one-sided.  I’ll be glad when this campaign is over next month.  Win or lose.”

“We miss you at school.”

“I miss you all too.  And I miss teaching.  But I truly believe I can do more as governor.  Not just for my students, but for all of Konoha.”  

“What will you do if you lose, sensei?” Rin asked.  Kakashi tch-ed in disapproval, but Minato only smiled. 

“Exactly what I said I’d do when I announced my candidacy.”  Minato looked between Rin and Kakashi.  “No one is handed a road map to achieving their dreams, so one must conclude that there is no one right way to get there.  I don’t have to be governor to make Konoha a better place.” 

Kakashi, still studying Naruto from a distance, said, “You’re going to win, sensei.” 

Minato’s expression softened much in the way it had when he looked in the carriage.  He laid a hand on Kakashi’s shoulder.  “I hope you’re right.”

There was a clattering of noise and all three turned to see Obito standing at the end of the bridge, a pile of sticks lying forgotten at his feet.  

“Minato-sensei!” 

A squalling howl cracked through the air, no build-up, no warning.  Everyone’s eyes snapped to the baby carriage.  

“Nice job,” Kakashi said, frowning peevishly at Obito.  “You woke Naruto up.”  

“It’s ok, Kakashi,” Minato said unperturbed.  “It was going to happen sooner or later.  A butterfly could wake him up.”  He reached into the carriage and lifted Naruto into the air and cradled him to his chest, bouncing him gently and cooing sweet nothings until his cries faded to a more tolerable squabbling. 

“We were just talking about the election,” Rin told Obito as he joined them.  His face lit up.

“I saw you on TV yesterday!”

“Not you too,” Minato lamented, color returning to his cheeks. 

“I sure did!  You kicked those old geezers’ asses in the debate!”

From over Naruto’s head, Minato hit his former student with a stern look.  “Those old geezers have names, Obito.”

“My Gramps can’t stand Danzo,” Obito went on like he hadn’t heard him.  “And he says the only thing Hiruzen Sarutobi should have authority over this late in his life is his burial plot.” 

“Oh!”  Minato’s expression froze in a state of shock.  “Well, that’s, uh,” he stammered, struggling to find an appropriate response.  “I-I appreciate their vote.” 

Kakashi caught Rin’s eye and murmured, “Spoken like a true politician.”  She smiled at him as Obito shook his head emphatically.

“Oh, they’re not voting for you.  Madara says if Danzo’s egomania doesn’t run this province into the ground, then your idealism will.  I guess that leaves Sarutobi…” Obito trailed off thoughtfully.  “I bet Gramps is counting on him dying during his tenure.”

Minato stared.  

“Hashirama says if this doesn’t work out, you should consider recording audiobooks.  He said he could listen to your voice all day.  Just not your politics.”

“Oh my.  That’s…”  Minato looked around at the three of them, flustered for words before abruptly saying, “Would anyone like to hold Naruto?” 

There was a resounding YES from at least two of his former students. 

Kakashi watched as his friends fought for custody of Naruto, neither one content with simply holding Naruto for a minute and letting go.  Naruto didn’t seem bothered in the slightest being the object of their power struggle.  He babbled senselessly, regardless, his earlier tears long since dried.  There was only one thing that would call for a ceasefire. 

“No,” Kakashi said narrowly.  This was directed at Rin who, despite Kakashi’s clear refusal, only took an undeterred step into his orbit.

“Just for a minute,” she insisted.  “Trust me.”

Kakashi’s hands might as well have been sewn into his pant’s pockets.  He stared defiantly down his nose at the squirming baby in Rin’s arms, all squishy and pink and foreign.  Even though he’d had numerous encounters with him, every interaction felt like the first, which was to say that the experience never ceased to make him uncomfortable.     

Kakashi’s eyes flicked back up to Rin, still watching him.  The shroud of carefully constructed aloofness that he wore like a second skin slipped a little.  He sighed, and held out his arms. 

And then Kakashi couldn’t feel them. 

The only thing he felt was the unfathomable weight of a very small, very real human life cradled to his chest.  Being a baby, Naruto possessed the misfortune of being both easily breakable and highly unpredictable.  While Kakashi didn’t hold this against him - he was a baby - these were two qualities that Kakashi did not care for.  He would have very much liked to hand him back to Rin, but a steadying hand on his shoulder held the urge back.  

Kakashi looked up over his shoulder and watched Minato watching Naruto.  His expression was so familiar that it nudged a memory out of place.  He turned away.  Feeling hadn’t returned to his arms, but he held Naruto a little tighter all the same.