#i will pick and choose elements that i like and ignore the ones i don't. does it make sense? no. do i care? also no.

[summerroseart]

Have some li'l guys. Some goobers. 💜

Made a few small alterations to the redesigns I already did, plus a bunch more characters ✨️

Buy me a ko-fi? 🫣

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[hoofpeet]

is there any reason why you choose to build hoofology’s world the way you do? with the sort of sporadic posts I mean. that each incrementally focus on specific characters or the world itself, or just some random spattering of biology or design choices. I actually really like the way you do it even though I’m pretty sure it’s unintentional, it feels like looking through old newspapers or picking up a picture book from when you were a kid, if that makes sense? It’s more of “you can get a general idea for it very fast, but the deeper intricacies are yours to find”. I think back to your valentine flavored energy drink post a lot as a way for couples who aren’t the same breed(?) to go on dates if one’s nocturnal and vice versa. I love your work lots and lots and lots and think the way you go about everything is gorgeous. Hoofology as a whole has a very “uncomfortably comfortable” feeling to it. Like I’m visiting a grandparents house that I was at all the time when I was a kid but haven’t been to in over a decade.

Because I enjoy stories where the worldbuilding is something you can sort of choose how much you engage with; it's more of a suggestion that you can choose to ignore, but does add some fun to the story if you work to piece everything together. That probably came from watching Adventure time as a kid and being really obsessed with vague hints as to it being set in a post-apocalypse world, with background elements that suggest worldbuilding but never fully hand an explanation to the audience.

The other big inspiration for worldbuilding probably comes from Ghibli films; I feel like ghibli characters always feel very believably at home in their surroundings. Someone is generally already familiar with their surroundings, so they don't act like their own world is particularly extraordinary/unusual. I think the two big examples for what I mean would be princess mononoke and Nausicaa- where the characters are more concerned with looking forward and living their lives while somewhat ignoring the worlbuilding around them- because it's already familiar knowledge to them.. It's like watching landscapes pass by from the car window but still being focused on driving

--I also like stories where the characters themselves also don't fully know what's going on with the world around them. Most of the events/forces at work that shape the world Hoofology is set in are completely unknowable to both the characters and readers. Don't have many good examples of this but like- settings with a lot of ruins and such

[qsmp-yaoi-island]

I'll say the admins' decision that purgatory 2 is as canon "as the ccs want it to be" is awful and going to cause so many problems.

I think it's perfectly fine to have CCs choose to be out of character for their own lore because then they don't have to commit to rp all the time, but you absolutely cannot do this with the MAIN plot of the story. One of the main reasons is that not everyone will pick and choose what's the same as canon.

A perfect example is just a few days ago, Phil was involved in a main story point of protecting Luffy who escaped. Luffy told Phil that he was looking for Tubbo/Bagi, and of course, because Phil was not informed of anything going on, he told them that they went back to purgatory. Even though Bagi and Tubbo said their purgatory isn't canon. So now imagine Phil is panicking about Luffy not finding the people he's looking for only for tubbo or bagi to show up randomly and confuse the plot even more.

I will say that I don't really care about how the story should be perfectly consistent because I know that's impossible, but it's more about how it's ruining the rp choices of others. Phil did such incredible rp stressing over how everyone left for purgatory again, but for them to show back up without a care or explanation? Undermines all of his emotions and effort into making it feel real.

Another point is how it's effecting the CCs efforts for consistency. Tubbo gets kidnapped IN FRONT OF HIS FRIENDS EYES, but logs in the next day and gets attacked by a code. So now you face the confusion of either believing he was taken and how that effected the characters rp around him, or believe that the code is back as a main story element. You can't believe both because they directly contradict eachother, so you end up wasting a good plot point for another. For example, Fit has canon separation anxiety and seeing tubbo go missing in front of him could have made for good character development.

Baghera was asked to stay off the server for the past few weeks because the admins had lore planned out for her. She expressed that she missed being on and seeing her friends but trusted in the admins that her return would be worth it to wait for. So some characters are allowed back and immediately cause inconsistenties but some people have to wait? It sucks for CCs like Baghera, Slime, and Pol who express how they want to get back on but are committed to their lore. But I also can't entirely blame the people who came back from purg2, even though I do think its a bad rp choice on their part, because the admins specifically told them they could.

Finally, the worst part is how it demeans the story being told. Imagine after purgatory 2 ends all the people coming back could talk about the hell they went through, the people they met, the fate of Cellbit and Baghera. But instead Bad's "1/4" came back and immediately told Pomme he saw Baghera. Isn't that lame? Doesn't that feel like a waste of good exposition? Hell even Foolish was there and just chose to ignore it because, hey, there's no canon reason he should know that!

That's the problem now is that no one knows what to tell eachother anymore, because it will only be inconsistent with what others are saying or doing. The stories is slowly losing its integrity because it's doesn't know what is important to take seriously anymore. Should you worry about the code attacks? I don't know, it happened to someone who wasn't even technically there. Hey I saw this missing person but I'm also supposed to be missing too, so should you even believe me?

It's confusing, it messy, and it will absolutely ruin story lines down the road.

I love the story of the QSMP. It's what drew me into the server and made me love it ever since, and to see it get pushed aside for a competitive event really sucks. With the way the server has been so rp and lore dependent for the last nine months, it just feels so strange for it to not be the focus anymore. Purgatory was fun, Purgatory 2 looks even better, but I would not trade them for the fandom toxicity, story inconsistency, or divided attention on gameplay it created.

I know with time the story will pick up again, people will return, and it'll be well throught out and planned again. I just think it's important to be critical of these decisions now so they don't get repeated in the future. If there ever is a Purgatory 3 or some other event, all I would hope for is that it has a clear and defined plot revelvancy so you don't have to scramble to tie up all the loose ends later.

[teamoon7]

🇺🇸: So, I was still a little unsure about my original ladybug redesign, so I tried to make some alternatives with other changes and options.

In the second Image, there are 6 different items that I'm not sure which options I should pick: shirt (purple), sleeve length (orange), 'belly'/torso (green), gloves (blue) (connect or not to the arm, like 1 and 4), shorts (yellow) and boots (red). Which one do you prefer from each of these items? (Ps.: the already "built up" combinations are not variations I already "estabilished"! I just put some options together at random so it was easier to visualize them, but you can say any combination you want. I'm also not sure if I'm keeping the sleeves of the shirts and shorts with the golden details, but I'm already certain I'll keep the parts that show the sewing). (Ps.2: I didn't include the cape just so it was easier to see all the different parts, but I didn't remove it from the costume, it's still there).

The first pic is my favorite combination, but I also like shirt 5, belly/torso 3 and glove 1...

My main problems with the first version were mainly the upper part of the body (shirt and torso), but I also wasn't very happy neither with the original boots, nor with the way the shorts were "glued" to the costume. About the gloves, although I like the og black and simple gloves (to represent a ladybug's paws), I saw someone (unfortunately forgot who it was :/ ) saying that they found it important for ladybug to have red hands because of the scenes of her and chat doing "pound it", since is has focus on their hands, I thought it was an interesting concept and tried to change a little bit so I could keep the gloves, but with red details on them. (Ps.: the gloves are not exactly above the spots in the arms, so please ignore the glove position because it will not cover the spots). Although I like the gloves with darker shades of red, I don't think it is an 'harmonious' choice if that's the only part of the clothes that has that shade (if I don't choose torso 5).

Anyway, if you want you can also suggest any other changes (like "I like glove 1, but without the golden accents) in general!! Also, even if I decide my favorite parts in this one I'll definitely do at least a third redesign hahaha (since there's a specific element I want to include on the costume in general, but I'm still unsure of how I'm doing/including it)

🇧🇷: Então, eu ainda tava um pouco incerta sobre meu redesign original da Ladybug, então pensei em fazer algumas alternativas com outras mudanças.

Na segunda imagem, tem 6 itens diferentes que eu estou em dúvida entre quais opções escolher: blusa (roxo), tamanho da manga (laranja), 'barriga'/torso (verde), luva (azul) (Modelo com ou sem relevo), short (amarelo) e bota (vermelho). Quais vocês preferem de cada um desses itens? (Obs: os trajes "montados" não são as variações que eu já estabeleci! Só coloquei algumas opções juntas aleatoriamente pra ficar mais fácil de visualizar, porém podem falar qualquer combinação que vocês quiserem. Também não tenho certeza se vou manter as "mangas" das blusas e shorts com os detalhes dourados, mas a costura é de certeza que vou manter).(Obs2: só não coloquei a capa pra ficar mais fácil de visualizar, mas ela ainda está na roupa).

A primeira imagem é minha combinação favorita, mas também gosto da blusa 5, da barriga 3 e da luva 1...

Meus problemas principais eram principalmente na blusa de cima e na parte superior do torço, mas também não fiquei tão satisfeita com a bota original e nem com a forma como o short era "colado" na roupa. Sobre a luva, por mais que eu goste das luvas simples pretas (pra representar as patas de uma joaninha), vi uma pessoa comentando que acha importante as mãos da ladybug serem vermelhas por causa das cenas dela e do chat noir fazendo o "zerou" que têm foco nas mãos deles (infelizmente esqueci quem foi que falou isso :/ ), achei um conceito interessante e tentei mudar um pouco pra manter as luvas porém com detalhes vermelhos nelas. (Obs: as luvas não estão realmente grudadas nas bolinhas do braço, então ignorem as luvas posicionadas em cima das bolinhas). Por mais que goste das luvas com tons mais escuros de vermelho, não sei se fica muito harmônico aquele ser o único local da roupa com aquele tom de vermelho se não for escolher a opção 5 de barriga/torso.

Enfim, se quiserem também podem sugerir qualquer outra mudança (como "gosto da luva 1 porém sem o dourado") no geral!! Mesmo que eu decida minhas favoritas nesse aqui eu com certeza ainda vou no mínimo fazer um terceiro redesign hashushs (até porque tem um elemento específico que quero incluir nas roupas num geral mas que ainda não decidi como fazer)

[asexualandalwaysshipping]

My personal gripe when it comes to shipping culture isn't just when people choose to hate on other ships that aren't their otp, but when they choose to be purposely obtuse as to why people may ship a certain pair despite the "ethics" of the relationship. "But that relationship is so inappropriate!" It's the same issue where people just assume because you interact with a certain piece of media, it must mean you support everything that media portrays, as though critical thinking doesn't exist anymore.

I just saw a post where someone was going on about how they don't understand how people can ship catwin because of the age difference and power dynamic and called people who shipped them "weird." That's just such an unfair conclusion, considering the show itself does not attempt to hide the fact that there is supposed to be clear chemistry and attraction between Edwin and the Cat King. So you're going to criticize people for literally responding the way the writers intended? It's not as though this person doesn't actually understand why people ship catwin — they just wanted to frame it as though people either purposely ignore the supposed "age difference" or support power imbalances when it's obvious catwin appeals to people because of the dynamic the characters have with each other. The attraction towards Catwin isn't centered on the power imbalance at all — it's about the character's interactions and the way one complements the other.

If we're looking at a more controversial ship, Sebaciel has much more problematic elements to it, with Ciel being a literal child. But it's not as though you can't understand why it's a ship when the author is so obvious about how the relationship is meant to be suggestive. The ship has aspects to it beyond the pedophilia. It's not as though people who ship Sebaciel support everything about it, but the chemistry between Sebastian and Ciel, which again, is purposefully placed there, has appeal.

I personally, am not a supporter of Zutara. For me, it just seems like too obvious of a pairing what with fire always being associated with water and all. But not just that, I just don't like the idea of a relationship based on forgiving and falling in love with someone who had an active role in the terrorizing of your people. Zuko literally threatens Katara's village in the first episode. Yes, he's redeems himself and I do like him as a character, but for me, it's difficult to ignore when considering him as a love interest for Katara. But I'm not going around calling all Zutura shippers problematic for shipping these two, because I have enough sense to know why people ship them. It's a classic enemies to lovers. They clearly care for each other. There are parallels in their individual personal journeys that complement each other. I get it.

It's just really ignorant to act as though a ship has to be completely unproblematic in order to justify the support or to only see a ship for its most offensive aspects. Different fandoms hold different standards, and we tend to cherry-pick what we support in order to push our own agendas/ships, so not only is hating on ships unnecessary, it's hypocritical.

[bioethicists]

hii! i saw your tags on the post about calculus and im really curious what you meant about calculus helping you better understand what it means to be a person, if you feel like elaborating!!

lmaooo ty for enabling me but please forgive me in advance this is by far my most meta theory + it's definitely a drug fueled one

basically, one of the foundational aspects of my view of the world + knowledge production (this is p standard anthropologist shit, to be clear, not something unique to me) is that our understanding of the 'real' is culturally constructed + the boundaries which separate one thing from another are illusions, not unquestionable facts. this isn't some insidious, horrible project we need to abandon- it's often necessary in order to communicate + function. for example, a hand- people designated what constitutes a hand because they had to in order to communicate effectively + accomplish important functions like healing, creating clothing, etc. (you can see how this becomes standard anthropology shit bcuz anthropologists look at how different groups of people construct these "truths" differently, entirely uninterested in the project of deciding which groups of people are "right")

but 1) "hands" as we understand them- the borders we draw around what is + is not one, for instance- are products of collective cultural understanding. the concept of the 'hand' does not exist as separate from the arm or more broad than the fingers until we designate it as such. 2) the "hand" is fundamentally inseparable from the arm, which is inseparable from the body, which is inseparable from the world etc. everything is a part of everything else + we are choosing to refer to it in isolation out of utility, not because it can truly be separated from everything else. obviously a hand is 'real' in that it impacts the world around us, but the idea of what it is has been created + now the fact that this idea was created (not obvious or innate) is forgotten, ignored, or obscured.

this might seem kind of obvious/pedantic because i picked a deliberately easy example (i think nietzsche used the example of a flower, which now that i think about it might have been a better choice on my part), but a lot of harm in science + the greater world is caused by the deliberate or unintentional ignoring that everything, even 'scientific fact', is produced via these pretend separations. this doesn't mean that the separations don't produce meaningful, useful things! it just means acknowledging that those things are a product of specific cultural understandings + relationships + not unquestionably superior or definitively settled. lefty ppl may be familiar with viewing some things through this lens, like race, gender, class, the state, but most ppl hold a belief that some things are Real + culture's influence on these things is supplementary + not defining of our understandings of what those things are.

euclid writes in "the elements", probably the most influential geometry text of all time, "a point is that which has no part". a point is meaningless until it comes into contact with other points. the paradox of geometry becomes, how does a constellation of nothingness (points) become something? how do we come to understand that something as having an identity + properties all its own, distinctive from other somethings? when euclid is writing this, he is absolutely reveling in this, as math was once a deeply philosophical pursuit intrinsically tied to metaphysics. calculus illustrates this particularly poignantly because calculus primarily deals in derivatives.

a derivative takes a series of points + turns them into one point (which can then be combined with other points + turned into another point again, ad infinitum). take a speeding car- "velocity" (you can just think of this as speed) is the first derivative of the position of an object with respect to time. it is a single point (60 mph, for example) which encapsulates a bunch of different points- the position of the car at 1sec, 2 sec, 3 sec, 4 sec etc. obviously, creating this point can be extremely useful, but all this number represents is a collection of observations or "points"- it is a 'real' thing which is comprised of a bunch of other 'real' things but it only holds meaning in the way that it captures the relationship between things. a derivative takes movement + renders it static, but its very identity as a derivative prevents us from looking away from the fact that it is a manufactured stasis + that underneath/within the derivative, a great deal of movement/change is occurring. the thousands of instances which created that derivative are not hidden by the derivative, they constitute it.

so, on a philosophical level, i see calculus as this act of moving between unstable, constructed relationships between things, treating them as still objects as far as that is necessary or useful, but never forgetting what lies beneath them. this goes hand in hand with my fondness for dialectics in knowledge production (please note that a lot of Hegelian scholars would vehemently disagree with me on this), actor-network theory, rhizomes/striation. it underlies my theological views, my academic work, my relationship to my body (rejection of cartesian dualism), my views on the spiritual/paranormal, basically everything in my life. everything is in constant relationship with everything else + only exists as far as it is defined by these relationships (which is a delightful paradox; that which has no part only becomes real through interfacing with other things which have no part) + naming these relations is identifying a temporary/narrow snapshot, not identifying or even creating a "truth". science/academic knowledge's insistence on maintaining a monopoly on the "real" (where science is a linear march towards increasing Truth + eventually we will "know" everything, towards the secular + modernity) is deeply destructive. looking at knowledge production/metaphysics as a practice of calculus allows me to move through the world understanding that everything is constructed without losing the ability to act or formulate thought + to generate academic work with this in mind.

[radioactivepeasant]

Snippets: Free Day Thursday

Adopted Dadmas: Dadmas versus Haven

The red light was blinking on Jak’s talk-box again. Damas was no fool, he knew that meant someone was spying through the floating comm -- or attempting to. Doubtless, the eavesdropper thought they were being very subtle, keeping silent whenever adults were present. As if they believed Jak would keep their presence a secret. As if they believed he would never tell.

Damas tore a circle of flatbread into pieces and used them to scoop a mixture of cooked peppers onto his plate. He pretended not to notice the talk-box hovering next to Jak’s elbow in a terrible attempt at stealth, instead choosing to engage Daxter in a conversation. He was determined to get the kid apprenticed to the head of the merchant guild one way or another. Daxter had a head for business and trade that Jak, simply put, did not. He nodded along when his friend talked, but privately Damas thought it would do Daxter good to be around adults who could encourage his interests.

Periodically, Jak cast swift glances at his talk-box during the meal. He seemed like he was expecting someone to speak at any moment -- or more like he was expecting orders of some kind. His shoulders were tense, and he was shoveling down food much too quickly, like he thought he wasn't going to have time to finish it.

"Slow down, young one. The shrimp isn't going anywhere, and neither are you," Damas admonished.

Jak didn't slow down much, but he did start chewing a little more thoroughly. Small victories. Still, he looked tired, and on-edge. Had Ashelin or the sage been badgering him again when no one was around?

The initial idea had been to lay a trap. To feign ignorance and bait the spy into speaking aloud, thus forcing Unpleasant Diplomatic Discussions with Haven's motley assortment of would-be leaders. But just now, Damas decided, the health and wellbeing of his son took precedence over strategy. And he still had the element of surprise, anyway.

"Talk-boxes off at the table, Jak," he announced, gesturing directly to the lens watching them, "This is a meal, not a media interview."

The boy flinched and looked guilty. He had no reason to; he'd been open with Damas about the demands for labor since he first returned from Haven. But then, he'd been groomed from such a young age to believe that bad things happened because he didn't work hard enough for his "friends". Perhaps he still feared retaliation for establishing healthy boundaries? Better to confront the issue head-on then, Damas decided.

"If your uninvited watcher has an emergency, they are free to petition me directly," he said, leveling a stern glare at the talk-box. "On their own time, not yours. Come on, switch it off."

Someone made a muffled sound, barely picked up by the talk-box's speaker. It seemed they were not expecting to be so casually acknowledged.

"Jak-!" the watcher tried to protest, but Jak reached for the power button.

"Right. Sorry, Pa."

Once the light had faded from the little camera, Damas nodded, satisfied. He picked up a shallow bowl with tomango in it and held it out to Jak.

"Here. You need the vitamins."

Begrudgingly, Jak took two slices, then a third when Daxter gave him The Look across the table.

The ottsel cleared his throat meaningfully.

"Pal, you gotta get better at telling those people no. They can't hurtcha!"

Jak hunched over his plate, frowning.

"I know," he muttered sullenly. "I- I do know that, okay? They just don't listen!"

Daxter sighed and his ears drooped. "Yeah...I know. Old Greenstuff only hears what he wants to hear. Always has."

With a frustrated groan, Jak rubbed his eyes. "After everything he's done, I shouldn't be having trouble cutting Samos off. Why do I keep going back?!"

"He's familiar," Daxter admitted, and not without a touch of loathing. "He was all we knew for like, our whole lives. I hate him -- I'll always hate him -- but I get being afraid to lose that last connection to Sandover."

"....yeah." Jak winced. "I um...I think you're right. It's just. It's hard."

"I know, pal."

"And he knows I have two artifacts that go with those weird pillars in the forest!" Jak continued, "What do I do when he starts asking why I haven't brought them?"

"You end the call," Damas interrupted firmly, "or you give the line to an older Wastelander. Collecting those relics serves the interests of our people, and our people will be working in teams to locate them."

Perhaps this was Jak’s fight as much as anyone else's -- this Daystar and its coming threat -- but Damas was reluctant to involve him. Wasn't losing one son bad enough? He'd never survive losing a second one!

Besides, even someone as talented at sneaking into hidden places as Jak couldn't infiltrate places locked by the Seal of Mar. Whatever the Grand Council of Haven wanted with the catacombs, it was a matter for Damas to deal with, not the boys.

Jak picked at his tomango slices almost glumly. Whether it was his own struggles with setting boundaries that bothered him, or Damas’s advice for dealing with future calls, no one knew. But Daxter and Damas both knew that Jak wouldn't keep it bottled up for long. Sure enough, after a couple minutes of mangling his food without eating it, Jak finally looked up.

"You didn't tell me you were sending other people to look for the relics I told you about."

It was almost a question and almost a complaint.

"No, I didn't," Damas acknowledged, and sipped his tea. "The topic hadn't come up between us yet. Is there something about it that concerns you?"

Jak had difficulty putting his thoughts into words. He started and stopped three times before muttering, "It's dangerous. What if someone gets hurt and I'm not there?"

"What if someone doesn't get hurt and you're not there?" Damas countered. He leaned an elbow on the table and gestured to himself almost self-deprecatingly. "Age does not grace the Spargan who is careless, nor are many years added to the foolish. Do not worry so much about people who were hunting metalheads for sport before you were even born, son."

"Admittedly," said Daxter, "We're still getting used to the concepts of adults who can actually fight their own battles. Am I complaining? Only when they decide it's "Take Your Ottsel To Work Day". But even I still go into jobs expecting to have to save everyone's butts at some point."

"Justified with the monks." Jak pointed a piece of tomango at his best friend.

"Yeah, justified with Mime Club."

Damas threaded his fingers together under his chin and watched the boys a moment.

"How about this," he offered, "If an artifact is located but not yet retrieved, I will give you the option of participating in the mission. Or, you can wait until everything has been gathered, and we will go to the pillars together."

For a moment, Jak brightened. Then he looked pensive again. "What if there's trouble? I mean. I was never really- I never claimed Haven, but they act like I belonged to them. What if me bringing another nation into their forest makes trouble for Spargus?"

"Hmph. Perhaps it is better to settle this now, rather than engage in hypotheticals."

Damas held out one hand.

"Give me your talk-box."

Jak narrowed his eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"Not your concern."

"Papá...." somehow Jak managed to sound both suspicious and scolding.

Damas remained unmoved. "Hand it over, boy."

Reluctantly, Jak did so. He cringed when the device powered on, and Keira's voice poured out.

"Jak? Are you okay? Daddy came in fussing about someone interfering with- you're not Jak! Where's my friend?!"

By the mortified expression on his son's face, Damas guessed this was the sage's daughter. The childhood friend Jak still sort of had a crush on.

"Tell your father to stop harassing my son," Damas said shortly. "Especially during hours set aside for family meals. Was he raised in a barn? In fact, ask him that for me."

"Pa, no!" Jak hissed, making a futile grab for the talk-box.

"Your son?! Who are you? Who- hey, Daddy, c'mere. You know this guy? He says he's Jak’s dad!" Keira became muffled for a moment, stepping away from her own device to drag her father over. "Why's this guy think you're harassing Jak? We've only called him twice since he left. Right?"

"Insisting he keeps his comm on at all times so that you can all monitor every moment of his day is not an acceptable use of Federation communication lines," Damas cut in. "I shouldn't have to tell you that spying on the nation of Spargus in such a way could be taken as an act of war."

"This-! This is bigger than Haven or the Wastelands!" Samos sounded flustered- even a bit nervous. "Surely you understand the claim destiny has upon Ja-"

Damas made a dismissive sound in his throat, cutting the sage off. "Pah. Destiny. I should think the recent Praxis regime and my own continued existence would be enough to call concepts such as destiny into question. As it stands, my claim on Jak supersedes "destiny" -- or more accurately, you."

"The fate of the planet hangs in the balance!" Samos cried, though somewhat subdued compared to his usual confidence. "Can't you see that?! Don't be so bullheaded, Jak is needed-"

Jak recognized the glint in the king’s eyes as mischief. Daxter looked a little too eager to see where this was going. Jak resisted the urge to cover his face in embarrassment. Why and oh why did Keira have to be the one to answer the line?!

"Oh? Are you planning to challenge me for custody of my son?" Damas bared his teeth in an unfriendly smile. "Please, by all means! The Arena is ready whenever you are."

"Pa!" Jak gripped the sides of his head and stared at the man. "Not in front of Keira!"

"Look, old man-" Damas ignored Daxter's delighted cackle. "This planet will survive through united efforts, not by sitting back and hoping one boy alone will get the job done. Now, if Haven wishes to negotiate a temporary alliance to get this done sooner, there is no one stopping them from requesting a meeting with the Wasteland Federation. In the meantime, the Federation intends to continue preventing the apocalypse with or without your participation."

"You are?" Keira cut in over her father again, sounding genuinely curious. "You mean there's more people who can get into ruins?"

Jak got up and moved to the head of the table. Damas moved the talk-box out of his reach preemptively, but Jak made no move to grab it.

"That's their whole thing, turns out. You know Krew? Yeah, everything he sold you, he bought from Wastelanders. Even the defunct power cells."

The slightly warped image of Keira on the screen flickered as she leaned closer.

"Seriously?! I could've cut out the middleman and just worked with them all this time?! Ughhhhh. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess. You want to show them my research from the palace library?"

Behind her, Samos jumped. "The what?! Keira, the library was destroyed with the rest of the palace!"

"The building collapsed, sure," Keira retorted, "But the data cores are still mostly intact in there. If you don’t mind crawling through some tight places and bringing lots of Scout Flies, it's a cinch to get the files for Vin."

Samos looked apoplectic. "Keira! That's far too dangerous for you!"

His daughter rolled her eyes. "What? Jak and Daxter can do it but I can't? Don't you trust me?"

Damas stifled a chuckle and elbowed Jak. "I like this one," he whispered. "Invite her to Spargus sometime."

Jak wished the floor would swallow him.

[the-daily-slasher]

The Butcher's Daughter [pt.1]

This is a multi-part slow burn with Thomas Hewitt cause I needed something to write on my off day. There will be spice at some point, and of course: general trigger warnings. Don’t like 18+ scenes/horror/blood/ etc.? That’s ok, just don’t read this one, friend. It will be rather upsetting to you.

Time-Line and Continuity: Sticks mainly to the reboot duology: Texas Chainsaw (2003) and Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning (2006). This story takes place pre-1969. The story will have elements of Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning (2006) and Texas Chainsaw (2003 Remake). The story takes place in the abandoned town seen in those movies, but is an hour drive outside of Harlow, Texas (as seen in Texas Chainsaw 3D) for purposes of plot.

Summary: After your mother's death, your father, driven down a bottle with grief, loses his butcher shop to creditors. Wanting to escape his debts, he chooses to move back to his hometown. Not wanting to lose your last family member and being hopeful of a new start, you go with him. It's a ghost town, but he appreciates the solitude and it allows for enough space to start a small cattle farm. He's happy his old drinking buddy Charlie Hewitt is still in town. His mother, Luda Mae is very happy to have 'neighbors' down the road and feels motherly towards the girl, hoping to take her under her wing. She also can't help but think of the potential for her boy to finally have the chance at a friend.

Note: Reader age is unspecified but reader is of age. I keep hair/skin/body descriptions vague [without sacrificing quality of writing] so everyone can see themselves in the story.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"This place is really out there." You say. Your father is taking his turn driving the old pick-up out to his hometown.

"Use to be farmers out here. Lots of space, no one in your business that you don't want there. You'll like it." He says, hoping you weren't regretting joining him. Though you had lost your job when the family business went under, you didn't have to come with him. "Besides, after a couple weeks I should be able to get a farm hand or two. You could move to Harlow or go finish that degree you were working on."

You smile. "A farm hand out here?" You look out over the dry fields of what used to be sunflowers.

"Sure." You dad says, a playful grin on his face, "I'm sure there's an armadillo or two that could use a steady job." The two of you laugh a little to ignore the weighted reality -- your father needed your help to make this work and there was no way you would be able to avoid the creditors if you moved anywhere else. You told him many times this was your choice, that you wanted to help, but you knew you really had no other option. At least not at the moment.

Your father was not a good man and was not often plagued by guilt for his actions, but he cared for you. The two of you spend the rest of the ride talking about the old house your father had inherited from his parents when they passed away. It's a classic farmhouse layout, a full upstairs you'll get all to yourself. A wraparound porch would be the perfect place to sit outside and watch the sunset. You knew he was painting a picture that was too good to be true, but he seemed happy.

It's mid-afternoon by the time you're pulling into the dusty drive of the house. It's far from the road and the yard surrounding is green and overgrown. The fence around the house has fallen down in several places and remnants of a vegetable and herb garden have grown unchecked and un-weeded in the back of the house.

You help your dad take boxes into the house, taking your things upstairs and your father's things into the bedroom on the ground floor. The house was big but needed cleaning. Everything was covered in a thin layer of sand-like dust and it was obvious no one had been in the house for years.

In the process of getting everything out of the truck, you notice the garden in the back had several, late-season vegetables. Once the boxes are all inside, you go about picking what you can while your dad works on the house's generator. It'd be nice to have something other than bologna sandwiches for dinner.

You found some old baskets in the kitchen pantry, you've already been able to fill two baskets with mustard greens and sweet potatoes and small green pumpkins by the time the sun starts to go down. As you pick up the last basket you watch the lights of the house flicker on and an excited shout from your father as you hear a generator come to life. A smile plays on your features. Perhaps this would be alright.

You go inside the house, setting the basket on the counter next to three others. You start washing the dirt off your hands in the old sink when you hear a car pull into the driveway. A door opens and you hear a gruff voice call your dad's name. "Charlie! You old son of a bitch- you're still here?" You hear your father reply to the man and you peek outside the front room window. An older man with deep features gets out of a beat-up pickup and your dad walks towards him.

"Who the fuck you callin' old, you old cocksucker?" The old man laughs heartily and your father embraces "Charlie".

The two men talk for a few minutes. Your father comes back in, the old man "Charlie" getting back in his truck and leaving.

"Hey, you feel like going out for dinner?" He asks.

"Out?" You ask, confused. You're getting dirt off a basket of sweet potatoes when he comes in.

"That was an old friend of mine, Charlie Hewitt. He and his folks still live around here. Their house is a half mile down the road and his mama is doing a roast tonight." He goes to the sink to wash his hands, dark oil staining the fresh bar of soap by the sink.

You hesitate, but smile, "Sure, dad. Sounds great."

Your old man splashes water on his face and runs his hands through his hair before drying his hands. "Go clean up and we'll head over on that way. Gonna change m'self."

"Like Sunday dinner kind of clean up or just 'no dirt on my hands' clean up?" You set the basket aside and dust your hands off on your jeans.

"Nothin' fancy. His mama's just old fashion- likes dinner to be a little more proper. 'Specially if it's guests." He starts to walk away. "Let's leave in a few, alright?"

You wash your hands, fix your hair, and find an old, corn-yellow dress. It's modest, the hem going down to your shins and the collar buttoning up to the base of your neck. Linen and tailored at the waist, it ruffles in the light breeze as you stand on the porch of the Hewitt household in dusty, white canvas shoes. The air has cooled but you still feel heat coming off the wood of the porch when Luda Mae answers the door.

"Bill! It's good to see you, hun." Luda Mae smiles and opens the door wide and her eyes go to you. "My god she looks just like Beth." You're surprised to hear your mother's name out of the mouth of a stranger but smile politely. Luda Mae smiles, "Luda Mae Hewitt, sweetheart. You must be y/n. I knew both of your parents long before you were born. It's nice to meet you." She welcomes you into the house with a hug. "Come on in Bill. Charlie's having a beer on the back porch with Monty, why don't you join them? I need a little time to finish getting supper ready." She looks at you, "Would you mind? I need a little help getting the table set." She smiles kindly as she leads the two further into the house. It's modest, a little dirty, but everything around this town seemed to be a little grimy.

Your father nods and follows her, making sure you were trailing behind. "The house looks great, Luda. Your boy still helping you around the house?"

"Tommy mostly works at the slaughterhouse nowadays but he still does the heavy lifting around the house and the store when I need him to." She lets him out onto the back porch where he's greeted with friendly, though swear-filled jeers from Charlie and Monty.

"Um how-how can I help?" You ask.

"There're some blue and white plates up on the top shelf of that cabinet. Get them down and set the table for six, dear."

"Yes, ma'am." Luda Mae smiles at your manners. You do as she asks as she gets a roast out of the stove. You carry plates to the dining room and set them out. You hear the side door open and heavy footsteps in the kitchen when you walk back in.

"Excuse me, Miss Luda Mae? I set the plates out. Where do you keep the silverware?" You look up to see a very tall man in a leather, half-mask and slaughterhouse apron. He's splattered with blood and his hair is matted. You shrink back a little when he turns his head and see you. His eyes were intense.

"Y/n this is Thomas. Tommy, this is Y/n, Bill and Beth's daughter. Y/n and Bill moved in down the road. They're staying for dinner so go get cleaned up." She tells her son.

"Nice to meet you." You smile politely and he stiffens slightly before nodding to you and heading up the stairs quickly.

"Don't mind him, dear. Terribly shy." She laughs a little bit and hands Y/n silverware and napkins.

You get the table set and Luda Mae brings in the roast, mashed potatoes, rolls, and a few other things. You help with the last few preparations and Luda Mae calls the men into the dining room. Monty, Charlie, and your father were all different levels of drunk but Luda Mae scares them into acting pretty sober. Thomas comes down in clean clothes and his hair brushed and sits at the table. Luda Mae makes sure he sits next to you. He doesn't say anything the during dinner but Luda Mae is charming and talks to Y/n.

Your father, Charlie, and Monty ignore you for the most part, happy to jeer at each other, cuss, and make off-color jokes just tame enough not to get hit with Luda Mae’s wooden spoon. That’s not to say the two friends of your father don’t recognize your existence. Both men’s eyes wander every part of you, lingering for a little too long. But that’s as far as they go. Bill was a son of a bitch, that’s why they liked him, but he cared fiercely for you. Charlie and Monty knew a single stray comment towards you was a guaranteed ass beating.

“You work at the slaughterhouse?” You ask Thomas, not really expecting an answer. You were alright with a one-sided conversation, but you needed something to tune out the drunk laughter on the other end of the table. “That must be interesting. I’ve never been in a slaughterhouse. Dad and I used to do something similar, though it was just a small butcher’s shop we ran.” You smile charmingly, doing your best to be the kind guest. “Working in a slaughterhouse sounds more interesting, honestly. ‘Specially since you wouldn’t have to deal with some of the customers dad and I would have regularly.”

Thomas tilts his head towards you to listen better as you talk. He offers a confirming “huff” when asked if he works at the slaughterhouse. His eyes stay on you. You were small compared to him, and utterly adorable. You really were interested in his work? More than that, you’d worked in a butcher’s shop? You weren’t a weak build, you had some muscle on you from the work you did. But still, he couldn’t imagine the girl in front of him enjoying what he enjoyed.

Everyone finishes dinner and Luda Mae asks you to help clear the table so you do. All the windows in the bottom floor of the house were open to let the cool, evening breeze through. Your dress ruffles when a stronger breeze blows through and Thomas catches a whiff of your light perfume. He watches as you help his mother, not realizing he was staring until his Uncle Monty points it out, laughing drunkenly.

“Well shit, Bill. Better keep track of your daughter.” He laughs.

“ ‘Fuck you talking about?” Your dad laughs a bit, finishing another beer.

“Ol’ Tommy here can’t keep his damn eyes off her. Got a crush there big boy?” He slurs out and is met with raucous laughter from Charlie.

Bill takes a second and looks Thomas up and down. “Good luck.” He says, “She’d kick your ass.” He says through building laughter.

Luda Mae comes back in the dining room with a cake and you trail behind her with plates. You see the three men laughing and Thomas sitting silently. Charlie and Monty make a couple more cutting remarks towards Thomas and you realize they’re all laughing at his expense. You see your dad open his mouth to join in the jeering.

“Dad.” You say, voice low but firm. It catches his attention immediately and he looks at you. “Don’t.” Thomas looks at you again. Having anyone besides his mother be on his side… it was unusual, but it was nice.

“Sorry kiddo. We ‘ere just havin’ a bit of fun.” He slurs a bit, but he does looks genuinely sorry. Charlie and Monty start to jab at your father when Luda Mae puts them in their place.

Everyone enjoys dessert and you help Luda Mae and Thomas clean up the dishes.

“Dinner was great, Luda Mae.” You say, putting away the last of the dishes. “Thank you so much.”

“Anytime, dear. It was nice to have company over. I enjoyed myself.” She sets the dish towel down that was in her hand. “Do you need help getting Bill back home?”

“I can just drive him home, it’s not a big deal.” It’s then you realize that during the course of doing the dishes, the dining room had gone quiet. You peek back in and see all three men slumped at the table, passed out.

Luda Mae chuckles. “Maybe so but you might want some help loadin’ him up in the truck and dragging him into the house.” She looks at Thomas. “Tommy, get Charlie and Monty upstairs then help Y/n get Bill home.”

Thomas nods and goes and picks up Charlie and his uncle, one under each arm and hauls them upstairs. A few minutes later he’s putting your father in the back seat of the truck and sitting in the passenger side as you drive down the road towards your new home. You can feel his eyes on you, even in the dark of the cabin.

“…I’m sorry if my dad said anything awful.” You say finally to break the silence. “He’s not always like that.”

Thomas huffs quietly in acknowledgement.

“And thank you for helping me get him back to the house. It’d’ve been quite a sight if I’d tried to drag him into the truck myself.” You laugh a little bit at the thought, trying to make light of it all. Thomas feels the smallest twinge of a smile on his face when seeing you laugh.

Once at the house he carries your dad over his shoulder and into his bedroom setting him on the bed. He walks back out into the foyer where you stand, “Here, I’ll give you a ride back home.”

This surprises Thomas a bit but he nods. You really were one of the kindest people he’d met. He walks out to the truck with you but gets to the driver side first. He reaches and opens the door and waits, watching you. After a moment you realize what he’s doing.

“Ah. Thank you, Thomas.” You smile and get into the truck and he closes the door behind you before getting into the truck himself. Your smile causes his heart to tighten. Every smile he could get, he wanted.

You drive him back to his home, making a little more pleasant small talk, and Thomas listened contently. He liked your voice.

Once back, he waits for you to put the truck in park and gets out.

“Goodnight, Thomas.” You give a small wave and drive away. He watches you drive away, raising his hand in a small wave, a barely audible grumble coming from his throat.

“…y/…..n….”

[soulc-hilde]

The Library

Note: I've been kind of AWOL after putting out a couple of works, but it wasn't on purpose - I promise! Between working everyday and debating if I want to give college another try, things have been hectic but new chapters will be posted soon!

Pairing: Sokka x Beifong! OC

Synopsis: Takes place during ATLA episode, The Library. Taking mini vacations, Sokka flips out over his need to wrap his hands around a map of the Fire Nation. Thanks to the mysterious words and well detailed map of Professor Zei, the group discovers the mysterious Wan Shi Tong's Library; however, at what costs?

After teaching Aang how to earthbend, the young Avatar had suggested everyone to choose their own mini vacation. As the sole purpose of the group, the monk had decided on some mountains without explaining why.

The boy sits cross legged and in front of them, the land was lined with holes. He holds the flute in his hands, waiting on something. "What's out there," Sokka questions. Toph bends down, her hand laying flat in the dirt.

"A lot, actually," she answers, "there's hundred of little--" Aang silences her, "shh! Don't ruin the surprise. Just watch." Looking back toward the field, he blows a note into the flute and a groundhog pops up and mimicks the note.

The Avatar continues, shifting from high notes to low. With each pitch that was played, a groundhog appeared to replicate it. While Aang was enjoying himself, Sokka was over it and had reached his limit. The teen plugs his finger into the end of the instrument with a frown.

"This is great and all," he chides, "but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans."

Aang argues back, "we did make plans. We're all picking mini vacations." Sokka grunts, "there's no time for vacations."

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard every day with the girls," the boy explains, "I've been training my arrow off!" Sokka scoffs, "so have I, but you don't see me complaining."

Katara steps up, "what's wrong with having a little fun in our down time?" Sokka ignores her, glaring down at the airbender. "Even if you do master all of the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation."

He points his arms into the wind, "should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house?" Sarcastically, he pretends to knock on an imaginary door, "knock, knock. Hello? Fire Lord? Anybody home?"

Breaking character he faces the group again, "I don't think so. We need some intelligence if we're going to win this war." Irritated, Aang plays a note and a groundhog appears under the Water Tribe boy.

Katara rolls her eyes, "alright. We'll finish our vacations and then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence." The others laugh at the siblings' quid. Aang opens a map, jumping to his feet before showing it to Katara.

"Your turn, Katara," he grins, "where would you like to go on your mini vacation?" The waterbender looks with a hum before pointing at a small spot that was drawn with ice.

"How about the Misty Palm Oasis?" She suggests, "that sounds refreshing." Aang nods, "oh yeah, I've been there. It's a pristine natural ice spring and I usually don't use the word 'pristine', it's one of nature's wonders."

After a few minutes of traveling, the Oasis was no longer in 'pristine' condition anymore. Instead it was littered and home to shady sandbenders as well as a small little shop.

Aang awkwardly laughs, "must've changed ownership since I was here." Riki smirks, "sure, kid. Sure."

The group walks further into the Oasis and the withering sign falls. They pass what used to be the ice spring, now just a patch of snow. Entering the small bar, one of the sandbenders spit at Sokka feet. Watching the teen snarl with irritation, he smirks at the idea of starting a brawl.

Before the Water Tribe boy could lunge, a strong brown hand snatches him away. He looks down to see that his rescue was at the hands -- literally -- of Riki, who continues inside without a fault. Inside, the bar was filled with travelers of weary health and appearance unlike the man who stood tall at the counter.

"One mango, please," he orders with foreign mannerisms. Sokka watches the bartender slice and mash the fruit into a juice before sweeping it inside the chiseled bowl.

The teen smiles, "I don't see anything wrong with having one of thos fruity beverages while we plan our strategy." He runs over to the bartender, the others following. As the foreign man turns around with his bowl, he accidentally slams into Aang.

Unbothered, the boy smiles, "no worries, I clean up easy." Without a thought, he airbends the substance off of his robes. The man gasps, "you're a living relic."

Aang shrugs, "thanks, I try." The man continues, "an Air Nomad right in front of me." He bows, "Professor Zei, Head of Anthropology at Ba Sing Se University."

He snatches Aang's arm, holding it to his eyes. Just as Aang was forced to lean on his toes from the force, the ground beneath the professor shifts and pushes him back a few steps. The two turn to see a glaring Riki.

"Watch it, professor," she growls.

Since chaotically meeting Aang and his friends, as well as joining them along with her sister, the elder Beifong had willingly took on the responsibility for the group -- particularly the youngest ones. At first, it wasn't too much trouble since her first experience was with Toph but after meeting the boy's continuous list of enemies created a sense of paranoia for her.

It doesn't help that he tends to use airbending out of habit... and his mortal compass marks even the craziest people as 'friendly.'

Zei continuous his rant of questions, measuring the boy's head, "tell me, which of the Air Temples do you hail from?" Aang answers, "the Southern Temple."

The professor gasps, "oh, splendid! Now, tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?" With a raised eyebrow, the boy replies, "uh, are fruit pies an agricultural product?"

"Oh, truly fascinating," Zei grins, "that is one for the journal."

After conversing with the weird man, the group -- Sokka -- made their mini vacation about finding Wan Shi Tong's Library and the Professor had joined their journey. As Appa soars, peacefully, the professor continuously admires the bison's fur.

Toph huffs, slouching over the saddle, "does this place even exist?" The professor looks over, "some say it doesn't." Her glazed over eyes widen, "shouldn't you have mentioned that before." The twelve year old grunts, falling back into her older sister's lap.

Once again, time passes and no library in sight. Toph sits up, pointing outwards, "there it is!" The others crowd around the sisters with anticipation, but the two laugh.

"That's what it'll sound like when one of you spots it," Toph teases, waving her hand in front of her face with a smile. The others delfate in disappointment while Riki gives her a high five.

The eldest of the group looks at them, shrugging, "it shouldn't be this hard to spot a giant building from the air. Especially one as huge as it's described to be." Riki points at the drawing

Sokka looks out with a telescope before pointing into the abyss of sand. "Down there," he calls out. He leans forward, "what's that?" Aang guides Appa down to it.

On landing, everyone jumps off and watch as Katara pulls out the library blueprint once again. She shakes her head, "forget it. It's obviously not what we're looking for. The building in this drawing is enormous."

Riki takes a look at the blueprints before smiling, "no, it is the library! It's just completely buried and there's one of those foxes," she points. They all watch as the fox mindlessly climbs to point of the building and leaps through the small window.

The professor runs to the point, shoveling at the sand with a hand shovel. "My life's ambition is now full of sand," he sighs, "well, time to start excavating."

The others look at him in ridicule as Toph slams her hand into the pointe. "Actually, that won't be necessary," she explains, "the inside seems to be completely intact and it's huge!"

Sokka nods, "that fox thingy went in through a window. I say we climb up there and give it a look." Toph crosses her arms, "I say, you guys go without me."

"You got something against libraries?" Katara raises a brow. Riki's jaw clenches as Toph replies, sarcastically, "I've held books before and I gotta tell you, they don't exactly do it for me."

Katara turns sheepish, "oh, right. Sorry." Riki side-eyes her, "are you?" Not wanting things to escalate, Toph smirks, "let me know if they have something you can listen to."

As the others begin to climb inside, Sokka turns around when he notices Riki wasn't climbing the rope. "Riki," he calls, "aren't you coming?"

The teen shakes her head, "I'll be the look out with Toph. It may seem empty, but those sandbenders can be anywhere." He simply nods in understanding, "we'll be back," he promises before disappearing.

As time drowns on in the heat, Toph sits in the sand as Riki plays catch with the flying bison. Bending the sand to point upwards on one end and once again on the next, Riki softly smiles as Appa fails at catching it.

The fun comes to an end once the ground beneath them quakes. Looking over, the girls gasp as the library begins to sink. "No!" They shout, charging for the pillar.

Slamming their hands into the earthy wall, they fight with gritted teeth to at least slow it down long enough for the others to escape. Toph, aggravated at her slipping, hardens the sand around her feet before going back to holding up the pillar.

Appa roars, alerting them of unwanted company. "What now," Toph grunts. "Sandbenders," Riki answers. "Focus on the pillar, I'll handle them."

Not waiting for a reply, the older Beifong charges towards Appa. Launching over the bison, she lands on her knees and shoves her hands under the sand. Creating quicksand, a few of the sand sailors are swallowed by their own element.

The others that made it use their strength in numbers against the teen and the bison. Hearing the pained grunts of her sister and terrified roars from Appa, Toph tries to send her own quick blasts into the fight. Unlike her sister, she was unfamiliar with the sandy form of earth and missed each hit.

Forced to focus on the pillar, the young girl cries softly as the sounds of fighting go silent and in turn one of the thugs ordering the fleet to leave. Feeling the lack of their presence, she shakes her head, "I'm sorry, guys. I'm so sorry."

[inquiscissors]

!!!!!

LOVED the gameplay trailer! Now that it's been a minute, so for posterity, here's my first take on it all:

- I'm choosing to enjoy the stylized-realistic art style, glad everyone looks like they belong in the same game (was a little confused after the trailer, bc especially Harding and Emmrich kind if seemed to be in pretty different styles? but all seems to be in order after all✌️)

- to be entirely honest, I was a little worried that it would be hard to take things seriously in a more stylized game (despite origins looking, well... like it's from 2009, DA2 looking like it was made in about a year, and inquisition's over the top sad face™️, but somehow my nervous shit brain chose to completely ignore all that and worry anyway), but that scene at the temple hit me HARD.... I could write a whole thing about how Varric goes into it so boldly and jokingly and how this persona just evaporates when he sees how serious and SAD Solas is... All that just to say, I'm not worried about that anymore🙏

- so excited to see all the different ways we can move compared to earlier games!! balancing! vaulting!! (climbing and swimming, maybe?? hopefully??👀)

- incredible scenery, VERY cool atmosphere in Minrathous - it feels big and imposing, and like you could really get lost there

- on that note, I'm really hoping for day/night and weather cycles, though I'll be fine with keeping to the zones rather than an open world - but I hope we get to see Minrathous in daylight as well❤️

- I could honestly do without the sci-fi leaning design elements, but I don't mind them - I am hoping for a creative in-game explanation for them though👀

- LOVE the return to having both short and long range weapons equipped! I've really missed this since Origins, so it's cool to see it return🙏

- You actually have to aim with a bow! And you have limited ammo! in general the combat felt more up-close and personal than inquisition, and I feel like things like limited ammo lends itself really well to the small, grassroots-like group like the Veilguard, where you don't have the unlimited resources of an organization like the Inquisition (the Inquisitor can't really be seen running out of arrows in the middle of their heroic moment, surely), as well as from a game design standpoint where you can do limited ammo BECAUSE you have the option of melee, which you couldn't do in DA2 or inquisition

- the ability/tactics screen seems a bit daunting, and I'm glad the game pauses when you go to use it😅 I'm confident it'll be easy enough to get familiar with though, as figuring out the mechanics hasn't really been part of the challenge of beating the game before

once again, my most pressing concerns have been put to rest, and I'm so excited for this game🙏 completely unrelated to the game-play trailer, one of the biggest assurances I've seen these last few days is that BioWare has been keeping council with a selection of prominent fans of the franchise for the last few years(!) of development, meaning that they have made a big effort to actually stay in touch with what the fans want from the game, which was HUGE news (to me at least, idk I'd this was kind of an open secret that I hadn't picked up on or smth, but I had no idea lol)

[starlit-hopes-and-dreams]

Author Ask Game

I was tagged by @sam-glade earlier in the month, you can find their post here. Thanks for the tag, Sam!

I'm going to tag @pleasestaywithmedarling and leave an Open Tag for anyone else interested!

I'll answer this for Shattered Dreams

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

I don't know what the main lesson is. I didn't write it with a lesson in mind :')

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

I used 30+ years of reading fantasy and playing fantasy games as inspiration lol. Like, really. I pickpocketed ideas from all over the place.

My little dragons? Inspired by the fire lizards in Anne McCaffrey's Pern books. Magic system is a combo of actual magic and mind/healing magic. Mind magic inspired by Anne McCaffrey's Talent Series and Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar. Brandon Sanderson's laws of magic + rpg magic and skill leveling played a huge role while establishing my magic system. There's more, I'm sure, but I'll leave it there.

As for my races, (fae, seraph, human, ifrit, jinn, undine, aicaya), I pulled the elemental ones from various mythologies, even if I don't follow the mythology in world. My fae are largely inspired by Sarah Maas, but I incorporated a bit of shapeshifting references along with a tad of traditional fairy mythology. Not much though. The humans are based off a european background, the fae a loosely hispanic background, and the seraph a very loose arabic/indian background.

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

My MC, Alaia, just wants to be accepted. Freedom from prejudice and unreasonable expectations would be nice too. Basically, she's an outcast and her (/my) goal is for her to find her place and her chosen family.

I am not here to teach a lesson or inspire or help someone grow. If those things happen along the way, I love that. But I just want to tell a story. Her story.

How many chapters is your story going to have?

I am in the middle of a major editing/revision pass. So far I've added 3 new chapters and consolidated one. The original draft has 49 chapters, though.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Shattered Dreams is original content that I hope to self-publish, if I can work up the nerve. (and finish editing XD)

When and why did you start writing?

I started writing in 2020, because if my friend could do it, so could I. It was a lot harder than I thought, and more satisfying than I thought, and just. I'm so glad I started writing at long last. It's very literally changed my life.

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

Oh gosh, I have no idea. Everyone is so different... on that note--No advice is one size fits all. Cherry pick that shit. Or ignore it all and you do you!

Writeblrs, writeblrs... shout outs to: @i-can-even-burn-salad, @little-peril-stories, @clairelsonao3, sam tagged me but @sam-glade lol, @outpost51, @winterandwords, @kaiusvnoir, and there's more but i'm running out of nerve to tag people 😂😅

Blank questions below:

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

When and why did you start writing?

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

[theinstagrahame]

Not to go all Game Designer on Main (too late, I know), but again found myself thinking about D&D as a game, and again... failing to see the appeal.

By volume, combat accounts for like 75-80% of the rules. I find the combat system ponderous and dull, which means I tend to avoid it at all costs. I just don't find it fun to wait 10 minutes for my turn to Do the Cool Thing on my character sheet, find that the opportunity passed 2 turns ago, and whiff my basic attack *again*.

But this leaves us with about 25% of the rulebook being dedicated to everything else, including a lot of the rules people always tell you you can ignore (encumbrance, lifestyle, food and water, etc). What's left is a bunch of stuff that I find interesting (sneaking, animal handling, perception, deception, acrobatics, sleight of hand, and a bunch of other stuff). But, we again run into mechanics that I am not interested in:

1d20 + Modifier vs Difficulty

The DMG doesn't have a ton of guidance for how to set Difficulty (not no guidance, but also not much I found helpful when running), so it feels very arbitrary. Players also don't have a wealth of resources to impact that roll, outside of Advantage/Disadvantage (which is probably why people are always asking if they have it).

And the outcome is usually either: you do the thing OR you do not do the thing. Which, depending on context, could be interesting, but could also be boring, or possibly soft-lock some content behind a door you can't open.

Plus, I think other systems do it better. Here are some other systems I'm familiar with, and how they do it (I think) better:

Powered by the Apocalypse

One of the core ideas of PbtA games is that whenever the players touch the dice, something in the world should change. So, something as simple as picking a locked door becomes way more interesting, because if you fail, you could: Alert guards to your presence, Take harm, Lose something valuable, or Whatever Else the GM Comes Up With.

We are still looking at a roll:

2d6 + Modifier vs 2-6 Fail; 7-9 Mixed Success; 10+ Full Success

Adding that extra layer of success changes a lot. Mixed Success adds a lot of Narrative Juice, because in addition to the players' success, their situation can get worse. Statistically, 7-9 is also more likely than the other two outcomes (I think? I did get a D in stats in college), meaning you can succeed but also make things a lot worse for yourself in a few rolls.

But another neat design element is: moves with triggers. Players can choose moves during character creation that also impact how things progress. The move might trigger "When you pick a lock" or "When you fail to pick a lock", and then give the player or the GM some kind of tool to use during that situation. Sometimes it's just a tweak to the modifier, sometimes it's another option for the outcome. In some cases even it's "whenever you pick a lock, the door always opens; but on a failure, the worst possible thing is on the other side."

Now, picking a lock is a really interesting choice.

Special Case: Monster of the Week

MotW in particular has a neat additional mechanic: Luck. Players can spend their Luck resource several times per campaign (usually 7), and declare that a roll was a Full Success. The resource is Limited, and the book tells GMs that players who run out are Doomed, which makes it a capital-D Decision every time someone uses it. This forces us to wonder: Is this lock *worth* picking? Is it Mission-critical, or can we find another way in?

Forged in the Dark

As a system, FitD is very much drawn from Apocalypse games, and has some similar ideas behind it. But, we have some interesting changes.

First, a roll is a bit more of a process:

Describe your process. Work with the GM to determine what kind of roll you're doing. (This is interesting, because different skills have different statistical ratings, but also because they can change the outcome. You could "Engineer" the door lock open, or you could "Wreck" it; both will get you past the door, but one may take more time, while the other may leave more evidence).

Determine Position and Effect. If it goes well, how well does it go? If it breaks bad, how bad does it go? (Knowing the stakes up front helps you make a decision about what resources to commit, and feels realistic, in that your character would be able to foresee some possible outcomes).

Assemble a dice pool, based on your rating and any resources you're spending. (Dice pools are already a different mechanic, but you also have resources to increase your odds. All characters usually have Stress or a similar resource, which you can spend for extra dice, position, or effect--or that your colleagues can spend to help you out).

Roll the dice. Look for the highest result (or Lowest if your rating is low). Again, we're looking at Success/Mixed Success/Fail. Things change in the world based on it. (FitD games also use a lot of clocks and tracks, and typically a Mixed Success or Failure ticks up some of the "Bad" clocks, and Successes or Mixed Successes tick up "Good" clocks. Some of these clocks are secret, and some are open, which gives players a sense of how their actions have consequences.)

Resist consequences. You can also spend stress to undo some of the negative aspects of a roll. (If the GM introduces a bad consequence, such as "You set off the alarm while picking the lock", you can roll and take stress to say "Actually I stopped that.")

There are also PbtA-style moves with triggers, but the dice mechanic here is already doing a lot. I like that the stakes are written up front, and it also encourages the GM to come with some ideas for what could go wrong, but not plan too much (Which I also really hate doing anyway; planning is hard!)

It feels like a lot written down, but genuinely when you're playing, it feels very smooth. It also helps keep people engaged, because the options to help are more at the forefront, and the outcomes impact everyone equally.

No Dice No Masters / Belonging Outside Belonging

This one is a slightly odd case, but it also draws from the PbtA design philosophy. Generally BoB games are GMless, so we're already putting everyone's hand on the narrative ball in a different way.

Your character sheet will probably have something like the following:

Strong Move (Spend 1 token to...)

Succeed without any negative consequences

Basic Move (You can always)

Complete a task, but draw unwanted attention

Weak move (Gain 1 Token when you)

Completely fail at a task and draw unwanted attention

Let's assume you already have 1 Token, and you want to pick the lock.

You could do it. But, you can also talk to the rest of the table and ask: "Hey, is it narratively interesting if I succeed here? Or are things going a little too smooth, and should we mix things up?"

This is probably one of the things that trips new NDNM players up, because it's so unlike other systems. You can choose the outcome! You and your fellow players are encouraged to "Metagame". You're telling a story with your friends, and it can be the story you think is cool.

Resistance System

(as seen in Heart and Spire)

Resistance is another dice pool system that uses Stress, with d10s instead of d6s. There are also moves, as in other systems. But, there are a few interesting things that I think are worth looking at.

Characters have Skills that they're good at, and Domains that they're familiar with. A Skill is going to be something like your Lockpicking (or a more general, like, mechanics skill), while the Domain is going to be related to the area you're in. The locks in a "Technology" domain are going to be different than those in a "Haven" or "Wilderness" domain (I don't remember the exact terms, so I'm kinda fudging them).

So, as you assemble the dice pool, you get bonuses if you have the right Domain and Skill. You can also get a die for help from other players, as well as a die for a Knack: Something you're especially good at. The roll ends up being:

1d10 + 1d10 (if a relevant skill) + 1d10 (domain) + 1d10 (if getting help) + 1d10 (knack) (- dice for difficulty) = Success +/- Stress.

(With a gradient, where low results give you stress with no success, and higher rolls give you success with no stress, and all results in between)

The Stress is what's interesting, instead of being a resource, it's closer to your HP, but you have different kinds of it. So the GM will tell you up front what kind of stress you're taking. After you take any stress (and there are ways to not take stress, or take less of it), you roll again to see if you get fallout.

Fallout can be temporary or permanent, and usually has a mechanical consequence. Fallout can also take different levels, and upgrade over time. It does give each roll a sense that the player is pushing their luck, and hoping the fallout doesn't take hold. This makes the rolls feel very significant, because even picking a lock badly could turn into a Fallout; so is it worth taking that kind of a risk?

----

And this is just three categories of games that I think do it in a more interesting way. There are a ton of other games out there, many of which I've never even played, so I don't know how they work. I also think there are ways to spice up a 1d20+mod roll in interesting ways, but generally, I prefer that kind of stuff.

[blue-aconite]

Can we please have a little background info on let me drown? 💕

Vee, first I'd like to apologise for not answering this sooner. Second, I'm so excited you want to know more about Let Me Drown. I've been wracking my brain for this ask and I've decided to put it underneath a cut. There won't be any significant spoilers, but better safe than sorry!

You can find some background here. Find out more below the cut!

Like I've said before, I actually can't exactly remember how I came up with the idea for LMD. As I mentioned in the post linked above, there was another fic planned called "Mid-Air Collision", which had similar elements that I've adapted into LMD.

In the film, it's very obvious Rooster and Hangman share some kind of history. They don't like each other and there's some kind of slumbering conflict between the two of them. I found that fascinating and while I do love me a good Hangster fic, I knew I wanted to create something else this time around.

I think there was a dream involved where I saw parts of the fic. Call me crazy, I don't know and when I woke up, there was only a vague memory of what had happened. But I couldn't let it go.

I made this, which became my first visual for the fic and after creating this, I made two separate Pinterest boards. One for Bradley and one for Jake.

In MAC, Bob's little sister was named Sasha, which I used in my first draft. But the name never felt right, she didn't feel like a Sasha. So while I recycled parts of the character into LMD, I knew I needed to let her become her own person. There might have been a poll involved in choosing a name, or maybe I asked for opinions in the Discord server, but either way, Thea got stuck on my mind (I was most likely looking at baby name websites).

I wrote this in the Discord, saying to get ready for pain and angst:

Bradley slammed Jake against the wall, knuckles white as he tugged on the shorter man’s shirt. “Shut the fuck up!” He sneered, trying desperately to ignore the way Jake seemed to thrive on his anger. Hangman smirked as if their position didn’t bother him in the slightest. The rest of the squad tried to pry them apart, tried to get Bradley to let go but he held fast. Jake didn’t once try to break free, he just kept a hold on Bradley’s wrists. “Calm down Chicken.” The nickname, that Bradley hated, was the last straw as he pulled back only to raise his fist instead. If he couldn’t get Hangman to stop smirking, he’d punch his face instead. What he didn’t count on was Bob of all people stepping between them and blocking Bradley’s fist.

And another few blurbs, but it all started with the confrontation between Rooster and Hangman at the Hard Deck and Bob picking Jake's side over Bradley's (this event has not occurred in the timeline for the fic yet and what I've shared above has changed a lot).

Bradley's issues came into play quite early and I knew before I even started writing that he and Thea were doomed from the beginning. There was no way for either of them to make it out of the relationship unscathed and I always knew Bradley was going to break her heart.

There was a point where she never found about his infidelity directly from Rooster but rather Athena, but I owed it to both of them that Brad was the one coming clean about his actions. There was even a time where Thea was going to forgive him at first but as Bradley's toxic behaviour unraveled itself and became such an important part of his downfall, I knew Thea would never do that.

Same as I knew Bradley and Thea would never make it, I knew Jake and Thea were destined to be together. That was a no-brainer.

The balance between writing Bradley and Jake as love interests is what intrigued me the most, how different and at the same time, alike, they are. It's a swamp of navigation but I knew I needed to write it.

I could go on and on but I'll stop here. Thank you so much for this ask, it's been great fun answering it. You know my DM's are always open!

[kimium]

(Choose Violence game) 7, 14, 21

(From this ask HERE)

Thanks for the ask, friend!!! As always, I love the questions you pick!

7. What character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how the fandom acts about them?

Oh friend. This is the question. The one that actually prompted me to reblog the meme.

THARJA.

When I first played Awakening I was neutral to her. I liked her fine and used her as a unit for the story. I also enjoyed her supports, particularly with Kellam who I shipped her with because I thought it was adorable.

Fandom was always a little annoying over her. She's a dark mage which means she's wearing a sexy revealing outfit. A touch annoying considering in Awakening Henry as a dark mage isn't in a sexy outfit. However, sexy dark mage outfits for men arrived in Fates, so I kind of ignored it.

And then FEH came along and OH BOY. First, some of this dislike comes from Intelligence Systems (IS) themselves. Every single time there is a Tharja alt or story bits they're just hyper focused on "Tharja is a little yandere for Robin tee hee" element. Thus, this means that most of fandom remembers this since Awakening is over ten years old. It's a higher likely hood that they're seeing Heroes interpretation of Tharja over her canon version.

Which pisses me off so much. Yes, Tharja is a little obsessed over Robin, but she has other character traits! She has other personality and character quirks! Her interactions with other characters is just as valid and fascinating! She's a well-rounded character! Stop pretending all she cares about is Robin.

Sadly, now every time I see a Tharja alt in FEH I just sigh deeply and hope there is Zero lines about Robin. My wish is never granted.

(I'm also starting to see this happen to Ivy (her love for Alear is a Big Focus in Heroes as her "character") and that pisses me off even more. Unlike Tharja, I genuinely love Ivy and her character in Engage. I don't want to see fandom sand her down to "She's soooo in love with Alear tee hee".)

14. That one thing you see in fics all the time

Not sure if this counts as "in fics all the time" since I don't always see this but I've seen this enough times to mention it here...

A character who is a grown ass adult, competent, and well written in canon is reduced to "Oh no! I can't do anything without my Big Strong counter part and love interest to come save/ help me". because they're a "bottom". Negative points if this "help/saving me" is linked to sex or borderline sexual violence on the character.

21. Part of canon you think is overhyped

I think sometimes fight scenes can be a little over-hyped. Yes, I'm a big shonen fan but sometimes fight scenes are too long and they grow boring. For example... sometimes Kimetsu no Yaiba for all the stunning, gorgeous fight animation that takes my breath away... can be a little boring because they fight has been going on FOREVER. I keep getting teased that we're over and hitting the falling action and then I'm yanked back to the rising action... it's so tedious.

[abuddyforeveryseason]

This is the Buddy for March 18th. It's an Animorph. The Animorphs book series is infamous for its creepy covers. I know the series was pretty popular, but I've always felt those covers were a real turn-off which kept me from even trying out the series. I was a Goosebumps guy, first and foremost.

Of course nostalgic fans now say Animorphs was a better series. More mature and better written, with a more interesting plot which evolved from book to book. And with more didatic elements.

And if the covers were creepy, that's cause the writing inside them was creepy too. The description of the morphing scenes were pretty gross, and there was a lot of heavy stuff going on. For instance, this passage from book 5:

"I saw Rachel, too. She had a dark look in her eyes. Like she hadn’t slept. Like something was really wrong.

Even Cassie seemed grim. It had gotten to all of us. It’s not so easy to just forget terror. It’s not easy to just ignore the memory of your leg being ripped off.

Of being dismembered. Torn apart.

One of these days, I thought, one of us is going to go crazy. Totally, lock-me-up-in-a-rubber-room nutso. It was too much. This wasn’t how life was supposed to be.

One of us would snap. One of us would lose it. It could happen, even to strong people.

I knew. It had happened to my father. I used to think nothing could ever destroy him. But my mom’s death had."

Jesus Christ, did I pick up a copy of Johnny Got His Gun instead of a kid's book by accident?

Still, I never read them when I was a kid, and, as an adult, they don't hold a lot of interest. It's kind of unpleasant to revisit stuff you loved as a child once you're older, because it can feel rather empty and small. And checking out the stuff you weren't interested in when growing up is even worse. There's no bittersweet memories there, just nonsense aimed at an audience you're no longer a part of.

Which is kind of why nostalgia is kind of a dumb thing. Sure, I could say the books and movies of my childhood were the best ones in the world, but only the ones I actually happened to check out. If I missed a movie in theaters when I was a kid and only see it twenty years later, I might not be too impressed. No good memories of it, after all.

That's not to say there isn't quality work being done, even in the baloney-factory that is kids' entertainment. It's just that nostalgia goggles can make even stuff that's unmemorable feel a lot more interesting, and not having nostalgic feelings for something can make it seem bland and hollow, just because you're no longer the target audience.

And it's a pity because, the Animorphs books aren't bad by themselves. They're just not interesting when the person reading them is an adult who knew nothing about the series other than "that thing with the creepy covers I saw in libraries when I was a kid".

Which just goes to show one should never judge a book by its cover. Or, to put it another way, publishers need to be careful when choosing covers for their books. Can you imagine a What If world where the Animorphs covers were painted by Tim Jacobus? Would look amazing.

Speaking of the covers themselves, today's Buddy was traced from this book's:

It features Marco, the most Buddy-like of the Animorphs. I originally made a mistake in the background that made it looks like this:

I think it looks better, even if it was an accident, but it breaks my rule of only using three colors, so I had to make a quick fix. Oops.