#i.e. the pink can either be this pink or red. like those are the only two options LOL

[autisticgayplushie]

new post for sharing progress on critter the autism cat!! head still needs MEGA work so this time you get a tail preview :3c

[ranger-ribbons]

More General Rangers Headcanons

Sixth Rangers are inherently more powerful than the regular Rangers. You'll notice that most can 1v1 difficult enemies that prove challenging to even the Reds of the team (ie.: Zhane (In Space Silver) 1v1'ing Ecliptor). This is because, on a power scale, the Sixth is supposed to balance the team out. A team that can work as individuals and an individual that can work on/with a team

Reds develop an attachment to their Sixth Rangers, be it romantic (Carter Grayson/Ryan Mitchell) or platonic (Leo and Mike Corbett), but it's close and quickly formed

Similarly, Sixth Rangers form quick and close attachments to their Reds, platonic or romantic

Pinks and Blues are either siblings or best friends and there is no in-between

Survivor's Guilt is a powerful force and 90% of the Rangers have it, especially the alien Rangers or those like the Lunar Wolf Wildforce Ranger

Rangers getting discouraged and believing themselves unworthy of the Power is also common, so there's a network of Rangers you can call to help with that kind of stuff

If you don't already have fantastic spatial awareness, you develop it pretty quick as a Ranger. It's damn near impossible not to because of all the attacks by Monsters, Bugs, etc

Red Rangers can give orders to their teams and the Power will give little pushes for the other Rangers to following it, but that doesn't mean the other Rangers can't refuse of their own volition

The Morphin' Grid affords its Rangers a form of immortality. They can be fatally injured, but otherwise, Rangers are effectively immortal

Some Rangers go on to become police officers, but most Rangers agree that working to assist and help people (ie.: lifeguards, doctors, breaking ground in the science fields) is best. Some of them establish dojos to train people to protect themselves (Tommy Oliver) and others work with volunteer efforts (Troy Burrows)

Veteran Rangers, Reds especially, tend to hang back during crossover events- this is to give the new Reds the confidence in themselves and their abilities, and allow them to grow into their leadership. The only exception was Forever Red, because Jason is a little bit of a control freak. He's the oldest Red, it's his right

When a Ranger is in a battle that forces them into demorph (i.e.: Gia, Jake, and Noah (Megaforce) against Creepox) the other teammates will be supremely worried and clingy, this is because of a trauma bond each team shares, but also because seeing someone you love get so hurt in a battle that they lose their ability to hold their morphs is fucking terrifying.

On that note, other Ranger teams will check in after those battles because seeing your successors get demorphed in the middle of battle is also something terrifying

Also on that note, some Rangers have specific nightmares in which they don't make it out of those demorph fights alive

The TMNT do on occasion pop out of the New York sewers to assist in a battle or two with the Ranger teams

Rangers who have martial arts skills (Ninja Storm, Jungle Fury, Samurai, Ninja Steel, etc) stick together, much like Rangers who are from or went to space

The techs of the teams have secret channels that they use to make "communication devices" (cell phones) so that Rangers don't have to rely on their morphers to communicate as well as being able to communicate with other Rangers and teams

Bulk and Skull have been linked so tightly with the Rangers that they've been kidnapped several times, only to be let go when it's been clear they aren't Rangers themselves

Junior Rangers have a chat, kids that helped Rangers (Heather, Jordon, etc.) have linked up and compared notes. They know of or know each other and most of them are tightly linked together

Possibility of more later, I didn't expect more than one post lol

[straw-beret]

The significance of the claw machines in the opening of season 2

This is the first theory I've ever really posted or even MADE, and I haven't seen anyone else address it so apologies if I'm just repeating what someone else has already said; but yeah, these are just some observations I made recently, and they mostly have to do with the the intro to season 2 and how that potentially relates to the future of a rather significant main character.

More under the cut! And spoilers for season 2, if you haven't already guessed.

Every week I tune in to watch Link Click with my friends, and only at episode 10, i.e. a week ago, did i notice that in the opening, all the stuffed animals surrounding the claw machines are bunny rabbits.

It's a bit hard to see on account of the dim lighting, but I assure you that every single plush on the outside of those claw machines (and inside, at least in this shot) is a bunny rabbit. You can check the OP out on youtube if you want as well, if you want to confirm.

At first I thought, "Maybe the animators were just trying to save money on the budget!" But then I remembered that in the very next shot, we see other stuffed animal models that aren't rabbits:

This is the interior of one of the claw machines, presumably the one from episodes 4-5, and we can see 3D models of plushies such as bears and cats, alongside the rabbits of the outside.

And even in episodes 4-5, which are conversely animated in 2D, we can see there are a variety of other animals in each of the claw machines. And although the outlines aren't the clearest, it's still easy to discern they aren't ALL the same plushies as in the machine Tianxi is focused on:

From left to right as seen in the second image, I'll call each claw machine CM1, 2, and 3.

In CM2, we can see there's many different animals, majority with tails. I had a theory that they might be related to the animals of the Chinese zodiac, but you can't see them too clearly, so I'm not too sure.

CM3 isn't clear either, but the plushes/toys are definitely different to the other ones. On close inspection, I think there are bears and rabbits, but coloured red and white instead of pink, brown and greys/whites, like in CM1.

So clearly they didn't just have just one bunny plush model they had to reuse, and they put in the effort of hand drawing different plushies in the other claw machines. Plus, the budget for the intro must have been enormous— they weren't exactly pinching pennies. So why pile ONLY rabbits on the outside of the claw machines in the intro?

My theory is that it has something to do with my beloved Qiao Ling.

From the very first episode season 1, the show has set up a recurring rabbit motif in relation to Qiao Ling. We see this first in her phone case:

I put in a second photo of her phone for reference, and that one is from season 2, either episode 9 or 10.

So, bunny ears on the phone case. Big deal, probably just a fun piece of visual storytelling to add to her character— maybe she's into 'meng' culture. She's about the age to be into it, right?

Well, let's look at the chibi spinoff, Daily Life in Lighttime!

I don't think it's at the end of every episode this animal segment appears, but after the main events of each episode, we get to see the main characters as animals, doing animal things. Pretty straightforward— LG is a cat, CXS is a dog, and QL is a rabbit. Another thing connecting QL with the motif of rabbits.

In the official art by INPLICK, who did the character designs for the show, Qiao Ling is also commonly depicted with rabbits/a rabbit motif, and the boys with their respective animals as well.

On top of that, we know the show is set in 2021. Based on her character profiles, we know Qiao Ling is 22 years old, making her birth year 1999 (March 16th, if anyone cares). This makes her, you guessed it, year of the Rabbit!

So, let's tie this back to the claw machines. We've got a character who is established in show and in official art to be associated with rabbits, and we've got an abundance of rabbit plushes on the outside of the claw machines. Link Click is always very intentional with their imagery and mise en scene, this isn't an accident. So, what exactly does this mean?

My theory is that Qiao Ling will come to play a very significant role in the finale and upcoming season 3.

Initially, when me and my friend discussed this (shout out to Lara if you're reading this); we figured it might just be another reference to how Qiao Ling is metaphorically on the outside of the supernatural happenings. She is the only main character without powers, she didn't know what CXS and LG were doing with the photos, she was the first of the mains to get possessed by red eyes, who we now know are a wombo combo of Li Tianxi and Li Tianchen. But why go to such lengths to compound on something we already know?

So then I started to wonder, maybe it means she is less protected than the others? After all, she was the first to get possessed, she is the only one without any supernatural powers. I thought it might mean imminent doom for Qiao Ling— which would suck, because (and this is especially applicable if you've seen the most recent episode, i.e. s2e11) Link Click is not the best when it comes to leaving female characters alive!!!!!

It adds up— the animals on the inside of the claw machine are "safe", metaphorically and literally. They are protected by the glass (and also the impossibility of winning anything from a claw machine). But on the outside, they are up for grabs, easy to be destroyed or harmed. The claw machine ensures safety, and when you're outside the machine, nothing is guaranteed. So when we see the inside of the claw machine in the shot of that pink cat plush, i.e. the second image in this post, we see that there aren't as many rabbits in the claw machine, meaning less safety for QL.

(also if you want to strengthen that argument, that stuffed cat that liu lan and li tianxi won from the claw machine was torn apart by li fan when they got home).

((and even in the est. shot where we do see rabbits on the inside, there are much less than on the outside.))

So, Qiao Ling the outsider in this situation, who has as far as we know no powers and not much of a clue as to the supernatural happenings (and who let's be real only became plot significant recently, as much as i love her), her animal is on the outside of the claw machines. Simple.

And then the trailer for the finale of s2 dropped, and we got this lovely frame:

My friend and I thought it might be Qiao Ling's powers awakening, some others think it might be Tianxi transferring her powers to Qiao Ling. However, if you watch the rest of the trailer, you'll notice that Qiao Ling is left entirely defenseless, just sitting by Tianxi's body.

While the rest of the fight is presumably happening. These characters have guns and tasers! Why is she turning her back on them when she has no natural defenses of her own (save for those sick martial arts skills)?

Especially because Qian Jin, who has been established to want to harm QL and even rigged up a god damn BOMB to set off for when she and CXS went to retrieve LG:

Is on the scene with a gun!

I think that something bad is going to happen to Qiao Ling, the "outsider", either in the finale or in season 3. Could be death, could be a major injury, but whatever it is, it will have been foreshadowed through the stuffed rabbits and the claw machines.

-

kudos if you read this much lol i'm not sure if i structured my arguments well but i got really into this theory. and maybe i might make a post about the symbolism of the pacman machine in the intro as well? idk. lmk what you think!! i'd love to know if there's anything i'm missing or if there are any other interpretations to glean from this :)

[viaetor]

#𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 and #𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐄: some notes about who are the cosmic beings of 𝑐𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 as a species, i.e the ones born from the stars themselves, plus more information about the travellers’ (specifically 𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑’s) nature, discussing particular characteristics of his nature (personality and body-wise). this post was cut for better visualisation so as to not pollute the dash, but all topics discussed are sfw.  part  2 / ?   of caeling’s data-log. will be continued.   |   to understand it in depth, read the prologue here and part one here.

as specified in previous headcanons posts (see above), aether isn’t human nor a living being for that matter—he’s a caeling, a creature created by the cosmos itself, stardust embodied in one being to complement another and form a perfect weapon. originally created to be a soldier to follow every order of the universe to keep its essence in perfect balance, travelling through galaxies to fulfil their wishes, he slowly began to develop his own set of morals, ethics and personal thinking as he started to get to know more living beings, planets, cultures, histories, etc. however, such independence and sentience is fairly new to him, considering his many years of existence.

aether and lumine were created to act as an organism, with one complementing the other in battle techniques and personalities. regarding the latter, if you meet both twins, you can immediately draw out how much of an opposite pair they’re, even if they emanate a similar aura. lumine is suspicious of people, whereas aether is much more receptive to them. when they’re in a new world, lumine prefers to gather resources and trinkets, whereas aether prefers to explore and memorise what he sees and experiences. lumine tends to be more practical and goal-oriented, whereas aether tends to see the details and focus on subjective matters and “what ifs” when they run into a problem. now that she isn’t around, aether tries to think as lumine would when he encounters a situation he can’t figure out. considering that he never had to be so independent before when they travelled together, it’s a very difficult task for him, but he makes due thanks to paimon’s help and the influence he received from his friends in teyvat.

his greatest fear is to be completely alone, forever—no lumine, no paimon, none of his friends. the thought alone causes him great anxiety. is this because of his design as a caeling that depends on another in order to be “whole”, as the universe insists on suggesting him? or is this a phobia he acquired due to what happened with the unknown god?

that being said, he has great separation anxiety. don’t misunderstand, he can go days without anyone’s company, completely isolated and still remain relatively calm—but when those days turn into a week, he quickly starts falling into a panic mode and he’ll look for anyone close to fill in the void he feels. yes, even enemies. he just doesn’t want to feel like he’s the only being left in the emptiness of existence. that’s probably why he makes sure to pay all his friends in teyvat a visit—he never wants anyone to feel the same, either.

very few things make him flustered, but pointing out that he’s being clingy or more affectionate than usual (especially if your muse and aether develop something more than just a friendship), is certainly one of them and he will blush and probably get a bit conscious about it. he’ll apologise as soon as you finish your sentence—and it’ll probably take a while before he makes any kind of physical contact again. yes, this includes casual touches, too. he’d just be that embarrassed.

when blushing, aether’s face doesn’t get pink or red like a human would; instead, his cheeks get a rich purple colour, close to a dark blue, and little starry freckles can be seen “dancing” through his nose and cheekbones. he’s a lightweight, so you can also see that for yourself if you take him out for a drink. in the rare case he accepts your invite (he’s very self-aware of those features of his, hence his carefulness), it won’t take long before he starts purpling and burping little constellations out of his mouth.

aether’s limbs are naturally blackened like the void (direct visual reference is above in the drawing i sketched, but here’s another reference on pinterest). when rid of his usual gloves, chest piece and pants, you can see that his limbs are as dark as the abyss—save for some glowy points, ingrained “crystals” in his skin (chest, writs, knees), the same ones that reflect his elemental talents. said crystals are very sensitive to the touch and he doesn’t let everyone go around touching them, especially the ones on his wrists. 

he almost never takes off his gloves, be it with hand-holding, simple caresses; not even during more intimate moments. if he does take his gloves off to feel your muse’s skin directly for whatever reason or scenario, know for sure that he’s deeply, madly in love with your muse. caelings have the ability to memorise physical, emotional and elemental sensations through direct contact with their fingertips and hand crystals. it’s a very intimate type of contact, similar to feeling one’s soul—and allowing them to feel yours in turn, if they so desire.

[freetriumphwasteland-blog]

How do you choose the right natural gemstone for your needs?

Natural gemstones are classified into three main categories: precious, semi-precious and common. Precious gemstones are those with a high value due to their rarity, color and clarity. They include diamonds (white or yellow), sapphires (blue) and rubies (red). Semi-precious stones include amethyst (purple), citrine (yellow), garnet (red), jadeite/nephrite(green)and lapis lazuli(blue). Common stones such as agate or carnelian fall into this category because they can be found in large quantities but are still beautiful nonetheless! Benefits of Wearing Natural Gemstones - Physical and mental health benefits. - Spiritual and emotional benefits. - Personal style benefits. Choosing the Right Natural Gemstone Choosing the right natural gemstone for your needs is an important decision, and one that should not be made lightly. There are many factors to consider when choosing a stone, including its color and clarity, as well as its size and shape. To ensure that you get exactly what you want from your new jewelry piece, it's important to consult an expert before making any final decisions about which stones will work best for each individual piece of jewelry. Healing Properties of Natural Gemstones - Wear as jewelry. - Set up an altar, and cleanse each piece before you use it. Popular Natural Gemstones - Diamonds - Topaz - Quartz - Citrine - Amethyst, which is a variety of quartz that ranges in color from pale pink to deep purple. It's often used as an alternative to more expensive stones like emerald or sapphire. - Garnet, which comes in several colors including red, orange and green (the most common). Caring for Natural Gemstones When you purchase a natural gemstone, it is important to know how to care for it. Natural gemstones are often more delicate than their synthetic counterparts and require special attention in order to preserve their beauty and value. Natural Gemstones should be kept away from chemicals such as household cleaners, perfumes, hairspray and other harsh substances that could damage them over time. They should also not be exposed directly to sunlight for extended periods of time because this can cause fading or discoloration of the stone's surface coloration (color). If you have any questions about caring for your natural gemstone jewelry purchase please contact us at Value of Natural Gemstones The value of a natural gemstone is determined by several factors. The most important factor is rarity, which can be defined as how difficult it is to find the gemstone in nature. For example, diamond and ruby are both extremely rare because they're found only in certain parts of the world (South Africa and Myanmar). Other factors that affect price include cut and clarity--the quality of the cut affects how well light reflects off the surface of your stone; clarity refers to how many impurities are present in your stone's crystal structure--and certification from reputable organizations such as GIA (Gemological Institute Of America). Identifying Natural Gemstones When it comes to identifying natural gemstones, there are several ways you can test for authenticity. You can use testing equipment or simply look at the stone with your own eyes and use your best judgment. There are many different types of testing equipment available for identifying treatments in a gemstone. Some will require sending samples away for analysis while others can be done on site by an expert who is familiar with the process. In either case, these tests will give you an idea of what kind of treatment has been used on your stone so that you may make an informed decision about its value as well as its suitability for use in jewelry making projects or other applications where durability matters more than appearance alone (i.e., rings). Enhancing Natural Gemstones There are a few ways to enhance natural gemstones. Heat treatment and irradiation are the most common, but you may also see oiling and waxing. Heat Treatment: Heat-treating a gemstone involves heating it in an oven or kiln at high temperatures for several hours or days. This process can change the color of your stone, but it's usually done to make it brighter and more vibrant--it will look like it has been polished more than once! Irradiation: Irradiation is another way to make your natural gemstone look better by changing its coloration; this process involves exposing the stone to radiation from radioactive materials such as uranium ore or cobalt 60 (a radioactive isotope). This causes damage within the crystal structure of certain minerals within the gem itself, which results in new colors being produced when these damaged areas heal themselves over time after exposure ceases." Read the full article

[deepdarkdelights]

Predator Universe Masterlist (Vampire AU)

W R I T I N G S

–> Warning: the following works are yandere-themed i.e., contains dub / non con, mentions of violence, gore and obsessive themes. reader discretion is advised.

W E L C O M E 

–> To Briar Hills, a sleepy town in the thick of the woods that rarely sees the sun. The population has always been small, but as of late that number seems to be dwindling as new predators have made the forest their home and are on the hunt. Do you dare to enter the woods? 

–> Recommended Reading Order: Predator, Purgatory, Prey For Me, Pygmalion, Pursuit, Perfection 

Jungkook x Reader

There was someone crouched down in between the trees and ferns. It wasn’t a stance that had suggested they had fallen or were looking for something, it resembled that of a predator patiently waiting for it’s innocent prey to come stumbling by. You could make out a few of its features, although it was mostly concealed by the greenery. Pale flesh stretched over it’s limbs, so light that it appeared like it hadn’t ever seen a ray of sunlight. There was a mop of unruly, dark curls poking out from the leaves, and worst of all, piercing red eyes that were staring back into your own. They resembled thick pools of blood, a deep crimson color that forced trembles throughout your once still form. You were certain you were staring into the eyes of a demon, there was no way that was a human hiding in there.

Read Here // Read Part II Here 

Yoongi x Reader

Yoongi wouldn’t be surprised if he forgot what had happened in that alleyway, the monster usually remembered it all for him and locked it away in the darkest corners of his mind. But he did know there would be one thing he would remember after this, and that was that he was willing to kill for you. It didn’t matter who it was, if they tried to harm you or get in his way he would tear them down without a thought or a shadow of remorse. 

Read Here

Jimin x Reader

He could tell just from the sight of you that you were inexperienced and uncomfortable. The way you pressed yourself against the bar and clung to your friend told him that more than enough. He liked the shy ones, not that he was exceptionally picky because really he wasn’t, especially when he had the knowledge that he could have anyone he wanted. But every now and then Jimin would get a bit of a competitive streak, with himself of course. And on the nights where he wasn’t as ravenous as he normally was, he had enough clarity to challenge himself. 

Read Here

Taehyung x Reader

“Then let me show you how persuasive I can be,” He breathed, resting his hands on the desk on either side of you.

He leaned in a bit closer to you, his eyelashes fluttering subtly as his gaze traveled over every inch of your face. It was almost as if he was just as mesmerized by you as you were of him. The only difference was the fact that your knees were trembling beneath your weight on the verge of collapsing, you were about to go boneless. 

And he hadn’t even said a word. 

Read Here

Hoseok x Reader

“His fingers were ice cold. Like the touch of death it seeped through your skin and into your bones chilling you to your very core. You jerked your arm away as you finally looked at him. It was undeniable that he was unfairly attractive but there was something uncanny about him. His skin was too perfect like polished marble, his lips even and full and pink like they were freshly bitten, a symmetrical and slim nose, and those eyes. They were dark and bottomless and you could swear they had rings of red within them. It was like staring into black holes that were slowly dragging you in with the force of a collapsed star.”

Read Here

Jin x Reader

“Your eyebrows furrowed as you peered over your shoulder. Sure enough, there were a few dark eyes staring back at you - but there was one pair in particular that really caught your attention. There was a man in a roped-off section of the club, a velvet curtain drawn to the side to reveal him seated on an ornate chair. He looked like a king watching over his people, and you meant that not only because of his position but because of his features as well. It was undeniable that he was the most attractive person in the room, hell, the most attractive person you had ever seen. Smooth pale skin, plush lips in a permanent pout, dark eyes, and the widest set of shoulders with a slender waist. He was a work of art. He had this look on his pretty features as if he had just tasted something bitter, and that look was directed behind you.”

Read Here

Namjoon (TBA)

© deepdarkdelights // all rights reserved // re-posting in any form will be considered an infringement of the copyright act and will be dealt with, accordingly.

[roronoacherries]

𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰/ 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨

content: fem!reader, as sfw as headcanons about bras & panties can be, suggestive

notes: came up with this while bra & underwear shopping against my will. always the worst experience, but monster trio daydreams kept me sane.

𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐝. 𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐲

hates it. he’s bored out of his mind and doesn’t understand why it has to take so long.

might complain and ask if you really need new stuff; you could just not wear a bra! and wear his boxers... :)

will play with the bras like a little kid, touching all of them, poking them, squishing the ones with padding, might try one on for shits and giggles.

if you take him in the fitting room with you he’ll definitely stare at you while you change. respectfully. and unapologetically.

don't try to ask him for his opinion; he'll say they're all the same to him, but he will slightly prefer anything softer and/or objectively prettier. will be unamused by anything bland (i.e., nude colors without any decor)

any opinion he does give will be mainly based on how comfy it’d feel when he rests his head on your tits, his favorite pillow.

he’ll go nuts over something red and lacy, pretty and his favorite color? you have to buy it.

and he likes the panties with little bows in the front. thinks they're extra cute; and the way his eyes widen at the pink, frilly panties with bows hanging on the side... you add them to your pile without him seeing; he deserves a treat, after all.

𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐚 𝐳𝐨𝐫𝐨

loathes it. definitely one of those boyfriends who will sit in that chair in the corner and doze off.

if you bring him in the fitting room with you he’ll have enough sense to turn around or shut his eyes, but he’ll be stealing a glimpse either way

like luffy, he might play with the bras like a child but only when you’re not looking

but if you ask him to help you, giving him those doe eyes, a sweet smile or a little pout, he can't say no. as strong as he is, you have him wrapped around your finger.

surprisingly opinionated? and brutally honest about what he thinks, but doesn’t care if you get something he doesn’t like; if you like it, it's good enough for him. prefers to see it all on the floor anyway.

acts like he has zero preference, but he loves black lingerie and it shows.

and the more he gets to see of your bum the better.

pretends he couldn’t care less what you buy, but will stick something he finds really sexy in your pile without saying a word.

sees crotchless panties and he’s a little confused by them cause they look odd, but once you explain to him what they are, his eyes widen and then darken, and he gets this look that makes you feel small in front of him and immediately has you looking for a pair in your size without having to say a word.

𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢

nosebleeds aside,

he would be really helpful. knows his stuff. considers comfort, sizing, style, etc., in his critique; the whole nine.

can definitely see him being all serious, acting like a whole expert. when you try them on, he’s meticulous; closely examining the quality, the fit, getting handsy.

in the fitting room, he’s respectful enough to try not to look, until you tell him it’s okay.

he can be helpful, yes, but ask him for his opinion? what he thinks looks better on you? he can’t answer. in his eyes, you look like a goddess in anything.

lace, bows, nude colors, see-throughs, flowery decor, all of it. worships you in all of it.

will be left wondering what you’re wearing for days after. and he’ll absolutely take it upon himself to find out.

─────────────────────────────

taglist: @maaarshieee @zorobraun @lyriczhou @idiotlittleme @tinkywinky27 @zoros-4th-sword

taglist | masterlist

[infinitesimblr]

WCIF/Does Anybody Have...

So inevitably trying to put my game back together on a new machine has been...trying.  Who woulda thought, right?  Ugh.

There’s some things that I’m missing, and I’ve been keeping a running list of them as they become apparent.  I figure if I post that list here, someone might be able to help.  I haven’t got pics for everything, but those that I do have, I’ve added.

Buggybooz’ original PlummyPlum and Stone Sandwich KitchenBasic counter recolors, potentially one or two more.  Whatever wasn’t included with their up-to-date files from Buggy’s Retreat.  Found on Shasta’s Tumblr.

*****

Awesims’ KitchenBasic countertop recolors.  Includes three concrete, three granite, and six composite stone countertops.  Found at GoS.

This is one of the few Wayback Machine links of theirs that doesn’t work.

*****

Someone (???) once upon a time made a modded growable marijuana crop complete with custom garden plot and accessories for use.  I can’t be any less vague, sorry.  I had thought that iCad answered an ask regarding said thing a while ago but I looked through her entire blog and couldn’t find it.  I’ve also tried SimsCave and the Booty, but I can’t remember who made it so I’m not having any luck.

Found!  They’re by PandoraSims.  The more complete version is maryjane2.zip, about 2/3 of the way down the page.  Many thanks to @pixeldolly​ for prodding me to revisit the Booty when I’m not mostly asleep.

*****

The Scriptorium .txt files for Spaik’s Erica modular stairs, specifically the black and the white, as those are the only ones I use.  Neither the T$R download or the files at the Booty come with them, and the installation instructions at T$R that had the text that one could copy and paste into their own files no longer exists.  Boo.  I made them myself following AlmightyHat’s Instructions.  They are half-assed but functional (Not Hat’s fault BTW,) so if anyone wants them - here.

***UPDATE 02.24.23*** The data from my laptop has been recovered, so I now have the originals again.  I replaced my not-very-well-done files with the correctly written ones that I originally had, and have also replaced the RAR at the link above.

*****

The following stuff that I think/swear is by Shasta but I’ll be damned if I can find any trace of these things online anywhere:

Recolors of the Seasons shower curtain in three colors (red, turquoise, and either a grey or maybe a lime) with white polka dots.  99.9% sure these were not by DeeDee.  Found on Sims2Artists.

Recolors of the Base Game nursery stuff (maybe just the crib bedding?) using fabric patterns from Blend (RIP.)  Part or all of the set was circus-themed.  Shasta kindly pointed me to them on GoS.

Recolors of a Maxis rug - either Isotopia from Freetime or the rectangular Oriental rug from Nightlife - that are like, several two-toned monochrome recolors of an art deco design, the same but with a stylized rose design, and maybe one more design?  Not actually by Shasta, actually by delonariel/tethys.  With the help of some lovely folks in the comments, I was able to find them here at GoS.

*****

Some stuff One thing by Raynuss/Imagine That:

The Functional Dicke Berta Fireplace

The only place I’ve found a link to this is one post on SimPearls, and it’s since been deleted.  Both amethystfenix and deatherella had this.

*****

The (original?) recolors for Pocci’s Kitchen Deco:

Each piece has two recolors that coordinate with the others, i.e. the kettle also has a red and a green recolor, plus all three have I think a pink and an orange recolor in the same leaf pattern.  I have the meshes, and I thought the recolors came with them - at least, that’s how I got them on my laptop - but that was years ago on BPS so not now I guess?  If the creator of the recolors wasn’t Pocci, I can’t remember who it was and Google Isn’t helping.  As it turns out, the recolors I was thinking of were by SpaceDoll, and amethystfenix had these, too.

*****

Some recolors of Echo’s Real Rug by someone who I cannot remember.  They were designs by actual designers like Bluebell Gray, and I’m afraid I can’t be more specific.  I can’t find them with Google, I can’t find them on anyone’s Pinterest, I can’t find any reblogs of them.  They were from quite a few years ago.

***UPDATE 02.24.23*** Also recovered from my laptop.  Still have no idea who made these, but whoever you are, I want you to know that they are some of my absolute favorites and I hope you don’t mind me reuploading them for the community here.  I included (my lightly edited versions of) Echo’s meshes for convenience, RealRug2x3 is the repositoried file.

*****

Some recolors of Veranka’s 3t2 Back to Retro Refrigerator done in modern, mostly geometric graphics, also some fruit.  Again, I can’t really be more helpful than that.  Here at GoS.

*****

Nabila’s recolors (maybe just one recolor?  I think there were more than that though) of Adele’s Persianesque Jars.  Well, it’s just one jar since the other is repositoried.

***UPDATE 02.24.23*** Guess what else I found.  Turns out there are five recolors, I don’t know if they’re all by Nabila but I think so, and I’ve reuploaded them here.  The edited meshes are included, PersianesqueUrn02 is the repositoried one.  I did not include Adele’s original recolors, hence why the file names start at Recolor03.  If you download these, you should probably rename them to fit with your other files.

*****

Some icicle-type string lights - the kind that are multiple vertical strands of lights hanging from a main horizontal wire - that were definitely not by Honeywell or ATS.  There are two different sets I’m looking for: the first one is alternating short and long zigzag strands on straight horizontal wire.  The wire came in green and black, pretty sure the lights just came in white/clear, although that might just be the only color I kept.  The second set was more delicate-looking, smaller lights on thinner wire, the horizontal wire part is curved/concave on these.  Not sure if they came with any recolors.

***UPDATE 02.24.23*** The first set on the straight wire is by someone who labels their creations “tig,” which led me to poke around MTS a bit but to no avail.  The second set is by DOT from T$R and can be found in their section in the Booty as icelighting.zip, but I’ve included both sets in the same RAR here.  They are edited just like everything else I’ve reuploaded.

*****

At one point someone made a set of concrete walls and floor in two patterns - “streaky” and “mottled” - with...ten to twelve eight shades of grey each.  This one is frustrating bc I’ve been rather specific with Google and it feels like it knows exactly the thing I’m talking about but won’t show them to me on purpose.

***UPDATE 02.24.23*** Yarrr, it’s the last o’ me loot.  You might have noticed a recurring theme...Error 404: Creator Name Not Found.  Sorry about that, and if you know who made any of the mystery items listed, message me.

I found it all, and then some.  Many thanks to the wonderful community members who helped me put my game back together, I am forever grateful.  Thanks also to The Computer Store (yes, really) in Columbus, Ohio, for not just recovering my data but actually bringing the whole machine back to life.

[sourwormsaresour]

Headcanons on the type of pets La Squadra would own?

Holy shit this was too fun to make, especially with giving the pets names.

Sorbet and Gelato have their own Crusty-White-Dog™ that's a Maltese Terrier named Armani. The dog hates and barks nonstop at everything deemed threatening (aka, everyone and particularly the rest of La Squadra) and yet those two will claim she's the sweetest thing in the world. True to her name, they deck her with Armani branded clothes, either specially made dog fashion or they had a DIY done to make it look like an Armani outfit- down to the bright pink leash she wears dripping in the Armani logo. She eats the finest dry kibble and only drinks Ferrarelle Sparkling water; she will know the difference if you switch it up. She's the epitome of "I demand pets but only do so with your eyes" to everyone. Despite loving Sorbet and Gelato the most, she demands all their attention on her and she will cockblock those two if she catches them being affectionate to each other instead. Despite having a nice bed, she always sleeps between the two of them and will whimper if they kick her out of the bedroom so they can get intimate. Those tear-stained eyes always look like they've seen everything, despite being constantly babied by her owners. If Armani could, she would kill everyone.

Risotto, the biggest man in Vento Aureo, has a little Syrian hamster he called Ace. He thought that a pet with a shorter lifespan would allow him the perfect balance of having a pet but not being very attached to it compared to pets that live longer- he was wrong. If you ever come into Risotto's office as he worked, either you are greeted with Ace running around in his green hamster ball, walking around Risotto's desk as he worked, or running in the hamster wheel behind the desk. Ace's tank is an old Aquarium tank Pesci gave to Risotto that is now full of soft bedding, toys, and Risotto frequently cleans it. There are days where Risotto just spends hours watching his hamster walk around the room, eating little treats, and staring at Risotto with its beady eyes. It's gotten to the point where you can't walk into Risotto's office without noticing a lone sunflower seed or piece of bedding on the ground that Risotto didn't notice until you pointed it out. Every time Ace passes from old age, Risotto buys a new Syrian hamster and calls that one Ace. He hasn't kept track of how many hamsters that came and went so far, but treated every one of them as if they were the first Ace. He takes pictures of Ace doing the most relatively boring things and will share them with his members.

Illuso got a Sulphur-crested cockatoo named Scapino as a joke. He thought they didn’t require much attention but later felt bad when he found out that they need specific proper care. He proceeds to care for it as if it was his child. Illuso taught his bird how to speak and swear at people, specifically swearing at Formaggio and occasionally at Ghiaccio. This man will shower his bird with the best treats (expensive nuts, dried fruit, chicken bones) and has a special bar for it to perch on when they're in the shower together. This bird has free reign all over Illuso's place and wears a little anklet thing to verify that it has an owner should it escape. The two of them have spa days together and it’s one of the most wholesome things in the world to witness. Scapino will actually join Illuso on missions too, staying in the mirror world the whole time, and it provides him some comfort from his social anxiety. Sometimes Scapino sits on his shoulder as he walks. Illuso trained it to stay and hide in the mirror world so that it wouldn’t fly away or blow his cover when he’s working. But the bird will fly around in there and will watch anyone that’s getting murked in front of him with no remorse and commenting on it too. Imagine you’re dying in the mirror world and your last moment is this fucking bird looming over you going “night night, motherfucker”. JESUS CHRIST. 

Prosciutto used to be on the whole “pets are unnecessary” train but he had considered looking at breeders for the best quality dog. And then one rainy day he found an abandoned Portuguese Water Dog puppy in an alleyway and at Pesci’s insistence took it in. Turns out the puppy was bought by a rich family for their kid but then abandoned when the kid wasn't interested in it anymore. Prosciutto insisted that the dog was going to stay for one night and then sent to the pound first thing in the morning. It's been years now and the little dog is now a big fluffy good boy named Pon Pon. The second biggest chunk of Prosciutto's paycheck is for this dog; I'm talking grooming services with paw-ticures, an all-organic raw diet, the nicest beds that even a human would wish they can sleep on. Pon Pon is properly trained with all the basics and tricks, because Prosciutto doesn't want to deal with a misbehaving dog, but it will use puppy eyes against the old man now and then. He give you the best smiles if you call him a good boy and if you glance at the right time you can see Prosciutto smile for a brief moment. Had he lived longer, he would have made Pon Pon famous on Facebook like Boo the Dog. Prosciutto will also not admit that this dog has helped him get laid a few times, because every person he did bring home always got a kick out of Pon Pon.

Ghiaccio has a pet snake- an albino ball python named Bianco. Ghiaccio was also on the “pets are unnecessary” train too but mainly because he can't stand loud pets (i.e. Illuso and Sorbet and Gelato’s pets). When Risotto suggested he get a snake, Ghiaccio looked into it, researching and meticulously setting up the proper enclosure  and found himself going to a local reptile expo to find Bianco for sale. He’s fascinated by his snake to say the least, and would use leftover containers or Tupperware for Bianco to spend more money on proper equipment or food. Ghiaccio is really involved in online reptile forums and frequently debates with people on topics such as the best substrates to use, whether live rodents are better than frozen, ethics of breeding certain species, etc. He often gets worried when Bianco becomes picky and Ghiaccio would spend sleepless nights trying to get his baby to eat. Ghiaccio would walk around with his ball python wrapped around his neck or lets him slither around in his room under supervision but he mostly leaves him alone in the enclosure. There are times where he would claim he has the best, smartest pet and everyone just rolls their eyes like “yes the white fettuccine that got stuck in a toilet paper roll an hour ago is so smart”. But they let him rant about it. It’s kind of cute to say the least.

Pesci is the definition of people whose entire LIVELIHOOD is making his room into an aquarium. His room is full of strictly maintained, cleaned, and decorated tanks full of various types of aquatic animals. I’m talking Dwarf Puffers (Antonio, Portia, Jessica, Bassiano, and Solanio), Albino Gold Axolotls (Moe, Larry, and Curly), Red Ear Sliders (Franco and Ciccio), Clown Fishes (Browser, Mario, Toadstool, and Koopa), Brazilian Sea Horses (Tom and Jerry), a Blue Betta Fish named Valentina in a 30+ gallon aquaponics tank that grows a variety of plants each season- to name a few. He rebuilt his entire room to keep everything running and even had Melone help him set up timers for lighting and temperature control. Pesci will cry if you somehow made the pH level off by 1 or did not care for his animals properly when he’s away. He’ll even lecture you about bad tank setup. He's a prominent member of the aquarium  community in Italy and will regularly redecorate each tank to suit the year and mood. This is where he’s spending his cut on the 20 million lira job: caring for his mini aquarium room. He occasionally gives away his pets’ offsprings for extra money (he doesn’t breed but sometimes he ends up having a ton of baby animals he can’t take care of) and would have been a YouTuber for his fish content. Now that I think about it, Pesci reminds me of my mutual @nexter2nd. Please go follow them.

Melone has a Holland Lop bunny and you cannot change my mind. He actually had a pet bunny growing up, another Holland Lop named Echo and Grep, and his current one is named Sudo; all three are named after UNIX commands. He has a large dog crate he diy-ed to be a roomy enclosure in his room for her that he cleans frequently but also allows Sudo free reign of the room when she wants to go out. Because of his job, he makes sure all his wires are covered so his bunny isn't tempted to chew them and watches his bunny diligently whenever she roams around. Easter time is when the denim jacket, pastel bows, and flower crowns come out and Melone makes sure to take a lot of photos. He also housetrained his bunny and taught her a few tricks, similar to how he trained Echo and Grep years ago. Sudo is spoiled in terms of getting a lot of pets, new toys, and feasts on the finest veggies and delicious hay. Melone also makes sure the first thing he teaches his Juniors is to not harm the bunny. Surprisingly, he's against breeding Sudo and has her neutered. This is mainly because he doesn't have the time to breed and raise more bunnies but also he hates the idea of selling the grown bunnies off afterward. 

You know that Formaggio has a cat: the little Russian Blue cat named Sweetie Baby. Sweetie Baby was a kitten that he found outside his home. The little thing was the sole survivor of its litter and nearly starving to death, so he took her in thinking he will bring her to the shelter when she recovers; that cat now lets him live in HER apartment rent-free. Despite feeding her cheap dry food and constantly shoving her into bottles, he treats her like a queen otherwise. He will dress her up in little outfits (much to her annoyance) and often would be too aggressively affectionate towards her. Still, there are moments where she would cuddle with him during the later nights and allow him to put on one iced-out bow he just spent a quarter of his paycheck on. Walking to his apartment and even the backdoor of La Squadra’s HQ means carefully walking through the stray cats mewling at your feet, because Formaggio will feed any cat he sees. Initially, Risotto wanted the cats gone, but then he finds out the cats doubled as security when he watched some robber attempting to break in but getting their eyes scratched off instead.

[knotted-kitten]

✨ Pinned ✨

   Alright, let’s do this. Hiya, I’m Aki! Nonbinary (they/he), 27 years old, polyamorous, demipan, an owned pet (prefers to sub, can switch), kinky as hell. Been in the BDSM community for...about 5 years, I’d say. Knew I had an interest in kinky stuff for far longer.

    Dating someone- my Master- for 5 years! 💕 He knows about this account and fully endorses me being a brat to ppl online. (Also to me talking to others about kinks, being bullied by said ppl, etc. etc.)

    Only friends + my partner(s) get to use she/her pronouns for me. Unless you’re in one of those groups, don’t! ♡  Otherwise, I’ll ignore/delete the ask or block. Simple as that.

    After the DNI, I’ll have a quick kink-list rundown and also the pets I associate myself with~! So I hope you have fun here, and feel free to shoot an ask or DM at any time. I’ll try to respond as quick as I can~!

DNI List:

MINORS GET OUT. +18 acct, get out. Otherwise, blocked.

No age in bio, get treated the same: get blocked. I’m not risking it. Make your age easily findable; I’m not going to your blog to go to your Carrd + click on a link to your About page.

Occasionally self-ship. I self-ship on the side. This is my lewd blog...yeah, they’ll end up here sometimes, too. If you don’t like it, feel free to leave! (If you do enjoy it or an enabler... Then I hope you enjoy my shenanigans, dkghfjdks. 💕)

Don’t act like my Dom. Don’t attempt to bring out my Dom side, either. (Being a brat in ask/DM, asking for my preferred titles, etc.) I don’t know you like that.

Don’t flirt with me! Chatting about kinks/sex is a-okay! Moving it to, “Wanna choke on my-?” or “You’d be so cute as my baby,” is not. I’m demisexual and w/o the trust + knowledge of who you are as a person... Shit like that is a shortcut to us never talking again. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Be respectful, in short. I might happily call myself a ho, but neither me nor my Master will put up with anyone’s shit.

None of the following, as per tradition: transphobia, homophobia, racism, Tr*mp supporter/republican, etc.

    And that’s it for now. List to be updated if anything else comes to mind.

As promised, petplay-related things beneath the cut, as well as a kinklist for the mobile folk. 💖

Petspaces

kitten 🐱 [ main headspace; ragdoll-based, though ears based off of my FF14 chara might show up sometimes ]

puppy 🐶 [ shiba & wolfdog pup; all of the sass ]

cow 🐮 [ strawberry cow!! it’s cute!! ]

fox / kitsune 🦊 [ fox types I vibe w/ are red & marble! tho I have a very fantasy-esque, pink/black set irl that I adore, too. kitsune vibes...change on the day ]

bunny 🐰 [ lop-eared ]

Kinklist

voice kink // growly voices

size difference

biting [giving & receiving; love it on my thighs & neck, most especially!]

marks/hickies [giving & receiving]

hair tugging/pulling [receiving]

being slapped/spanked/whipped/etc [doesn’t mind giving it, either, on occasion]

dirty talk + degredation [receiving more than giving, but I might let some slip; the dirtier, the better]

humiliation [receiving]

bondage/being restrained [receiving; handcuffs or ropes, doesn’t matter to me!]

petplay collars, wearing gear (i.e. ears and tail plug), being referred to as a pet (ex: “good kitten”)

primal play

rough sex/treatment [receiving]

CNC (AKA Consensual Non-Consent) [receiving]

orgasm denial [giving & receiving]

sensation play [receiving; ice, feathers]

being blindfolded (for the above or otherwise) [receiving]

impregnation/breeding [receiving, ofc]

risk kink (related to above)

choking // being held by the throat/jaw [receiving]

Daddy kink (as a title, NOT ageplay)

[kangyeosaang]

#showyourprocess

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

thank you csenge @imdefs​ for tagging me to show how i made this set ✨

buckle up folks this is gonna be long bc min. character limit uni papers thought me a lot of things but def not how to be concise 

01. planning

this was a long time ago but i do remember wanting to make something with overlays bc quite honestly i started working on this way too late and it seemed the fastest lmao. jokes on me i had 2 failed attempts and this also went through some changes along the way. initially i wanted to combine dye, bol and present:you... them being my fave eras for this lovable dumb man. so it would’ve been one pair for each gif.

02. creating

picking footage

so onto creating,, first things first the concept had to be changed bc present:you only had light shots so that had to be removed rip, here you can see a failed attempt at me trying to include it. this was before i started making proof on concepts for gifsets which later on saved me so much time... but not this time

once i accepted defeat i had to reshuffle the shots and add some new ones but it was all good i was not losing braincells at all. so onto the real gifs, gonna show you the red one bc that’s my fave of the three. 

making the base

btw i’m always working with timelines and smart objects bc it feels way easier than frames. so here we started with this jaebeom, and since the background and his hair it’s pretty dark those will be the parts which will be covered with the next gif. i made it black and white and also adjusted the levels a bit to make it a bit softer (lowered the whites and lightened the blacks)

for aesthetic purposes i always go for one close shot and one wider shot, then literally all i did was add the other gif on top, and set it to lighten. okay this is it that’s the whole process bye. oh we need the rest too? okay okay. so btw for a while i was considering making both of them coloured but then bw looked better when having all three gifs under each other, felt more like a ‘set’

now for this gif in particular i did not need to mask anything, shocking, but for the others i had to either blend the edges or make the bottom layer darker at some places to let the top layer show up a bit more e.g. for the second gif i needed a tiny blending like so (it’s the layer 1 copy 3 lmao)

making the overlay bits

then we are basically done with the main part of the gifs, obviously i applied colouring to each inside the smart object. but i always like to add something extra on top which are usually two things: 1.) full overlay gif something blurred (literally any kind of footage.. i used leaves, water, space renders etc. so far), or a light leak, oooor a bokeh effect whatever and just keep it subtle. and 2.) some smaller moving bits which are usually sparkles, dust, stars, galaxy stuff etc. u get the idea. for the above gif this happens to be Layer 1 copy 2 rip. also in this case this overlay is actually this jaebeom footage blurred and with some colouring added on top of it to have this redish brassy tone (not me forgetting about this completely lmao) obviously it’s zoomed in and i’m using the top left part of the video blurred. look at me explaining my chosen gif with another gifs gahd i’m bad at this. anyways it just goes to show i use practially anything i can think of and just blur it. 

for the full overlay footage i either go black and white and set it to overlay or soft light, whatever works best, or go coloured and set it to lighten again.... whatever blending mode works best. for this specific 2nd gif i went with lighten. for the smaller moving bits same tbh i just adjust the levels/curves to only show the bits i need when it’s set to lighten, i.e. i make its background more black so it won’t make the gif hazy. 

 adding the text

so anyways i add those on top so it’s not boring anymore,, practically just concealing the fact that all i‘ve really done was adding a gif on top of another and set it to lighten rip. oh yeah we have the text layers, nothing fancy here: for the script i used Challenge and the serif is FogtwoNo5. For the script i sampled some red from the background and just set it to overlay, and for the serif i just went with full caps adding some extra kerning bc one: for full caps you always need that, not this much lol, and two: it just looks better okay. 

last touches

then i added a levels adjustment layer because i felt the gifs were a bit brighter than i wanted, so we ended up with this 

saviiiiiing 

oh my gahd we are almost theeeere, for saving gifs here are my settings, i did not have to tell photoshop which colours to use luckily so it was an easy process.

03. posting

eeehmmm posting... yeah nothing exciting? i just save it in my drafts check it on mobile, and if something is really messed up i’ll change some colouring and saving settings, but this was a fairly ‘easy’ gif for tumblr to compress decently so none of that. 

if you read this far bruh.... i don’t think i’ve made sense anyways thank yooouuu 💕

and the five amazing CCs i’m tagging are 

🎬 dear wifey, rosie @se-jun​​​​ for these victon posters which i definitely did not make her choose and we ended up with the same i would’ve chosen 🌈 vivi @yeekies​​​​ for making a rainbow from the mostly yellow blob that is the fireworks mv 💙 yv @woodzm​​​​ for this beauty where the blues are colourmatched so well it makes me mad 🌸 lotta @halahala​​​​ for this miracle of a gifset which made me not despise pink 🌈 bridget @lilacwoo​​​​ for this 12/10 rainbow right here because apparently i like rainbows. shocking.   

feel free to ignore and all them usual stuff

[ohfugecannada]

Oddworld: Role Switch au

So a couple of weeks(?) ago, @oddest-worlds posted an idea for an au where mudokons were an evil cultist species-supremacist power because of the mudokon moon incident and the glukkons were the enslaved natives. I really wanted to pitch in ideas/headcanons, but was busy with coursework at the time.

Fortunately, I just finished my project and now have more free time so I got to writing some stuff.... a lot of stuff... mainly just some points on the main trio of eusocial races (Mudokons, Glukkons and Sligs) and their role in the AU. So strap in!

(Fyi if you have/had other ideas that contradict the headcanons bellow, feel free to ignore those. Or pitch in some of your own ideas, I’d love to hear them!)

Glukkons

Were once a spiritually oriented race who practiced black magic, occultism and alchemy and were allies of the Mudokons thousands of years ago

When the mudokons declared themselves as the supreme race because of the mudokon moon, they were, understandably, upset and concerned

Fearing their once allies were drifting further away into cultist, species-supremacist behaviour, the glukkons set out to disprove the mudokons declaration of supremacy though their alchemical arts and unify their species once more

It’s said that some glukkon alchemists were successful in finding the answers they seeked out, but what those answers were have long since been lost to time

Now becoming more industrialised and realising the glukkons were a possible threat due to their alchemical powers, the mudokons orchestrated a war against them, nearly wiping the glukkons out in the process before thier surrender

After the war, disillusioned, outnumbered and on the brink of extinction, the glukkons began working for the mudokons, who belittled, oppressed and eventually enslaved them

Now most glukkons are born into subservience to the Mudokons, oblivious to their spiritual past, true history and culture

Still native glukkon tribes out in the wild in hiding from the mudokon empire

I mentioned this before, but I personally imagined the glukkons of this timeline walking on thier legs, which are still somewhat short, and retained thier long arms. Basically, they have the same body type to gibbons and similar long armed apes

Because they walk with their legs and not on their arms, most glukkons stand at almost half their canon height, roughly around 4 or 5 feet tall or so

In industrial captivity, most glukkons tend to have a grey or pale skintone like the glukkons we see in soulstorm

Native Glukkons born outside of captivity are much more diverse in skin colour, with their base colours ranging from brown to purple, red, pink or green etc

Along with This, they have the ability to change their skin colour like octopuses (which makes sense given their closest relatives evolutionarily are the oktigi and other octopus/cephalopod-like creatures)

Notably, they flash different colours across their face and skin when feeling strong emotions like sadness, anger, excitement etc. Similar to the mudokons in Abe’s Exoddus

Glukkons from certain tribes also have bioluminescent markings and patterns on their skin that are visible in the dark. Though, this trait is not as common

Using this colour changing ability, some glukkons are able to copy the colours and even textures of their environment and become one with the scenery. Essentially making themselves invisible. Of corse, this particular aspect of colour changing usually doesn’t come as naturally or involuntary to glukkons as the emotional-based changes. In most cases it takes years of training to master the art of invisibility

Much like the Mudokons in canon, industrial-born Glukks are born into captivity from a mother queen and their eggs are shipped off to be sold into slavery

Baby or young slave glukkons are raised alongside their siblings and cousins over a mudokon master and are usually kept together as something akin to a demented orphanage where youngling glukks are sent to work as soon as they can pick up a rag and bucket

@oddest-worlds, You described the mudokons as being cult like. I personally imagined this would ya know aside from the moon worshiping mudokon supremacy stuff manifest itself most in the way they control thier glukkon slaves

Glukkons in slavery, much like people born into cults, are indoctrinated at a young age to believe their mudokon masters are perfect, all knowing and benevolent beings, that the outside world beyond the factories is a savage, unforgiving wasteland where outsiders will try to lead them astray, and that they are better off and safer dedicating their lives to loyaly serving the mudokons

Glukks who challenge these beliefs, defy their mudokon masters or try and escape to the outside are often severely punished. Either from being removed from their glukkon group, being held in a cell for hours or days where they are interrogated and for their “crimes” or getting severe beatings.

Native free glukkons have a similar tribal society structure as the native mudokons in canon, with each tribe having their own distinctive culture

As said before, they practice the occult, black magic and, most prominently among different glukkon tribes, alchemy

As well as living in tune with nature, Glukkon alchemists often practice the art of transmutation, turning one type material or substance into another, and joining certain substances and/or materials together. Which they do in order to better understand the natural world around them

Nowadays, though, native glukkon civilisation is far from what it once was millennia ago

Thanks to the mudokons and other industrial societies either enslaving or killing off their numbers as well as building over their sacred lands, most native glukkon’s main priority is to hide away from the rest of society and to protect what little of their culture and traditions still remain

From my research I learned the practice of alchemy (or at least the traditional western version of it) could be traced back to Egypt and Thoth, the god of arts and sciences, so I thought it would make sense if at least some individual native glukkon tribes culture and overall aesthetic would be loosely based on the ancient Egyptians as a callback to this, with some small echos of the architecture we see with the glukkon aesthetics of the canon timeline plus the more native looking early concept art of glukkons

Also while researching alchemy I noticed one key aspect of it involved change and transmutation, I.e. turning base metals like lead into noble metals like gold. I thought about how this could also connect to their colour changing. Maybe some native glukkons believe the colour changing to be a glukkons most primal form of transmutation. And view the ability to blend in with the environment as a way of being one with nature, both in the figurative and literal sense. Or something else along those lines

In industrial propaganda, native glukkons are painted as savage barbarians and alchemists as swindlers and charlatans that lead gullable slave glukkons astray, filling their heads with doubt, or with the promise of bestowing riches and immortality for a price

Enslaved glukkon’s clothes tend to consist of whatever textiles they can get their hands on in the factories and what little the strict dress code implemented by their mudokon masters will allow

The main item of clothing worn by most glukk scrubs is a shoddily cobbled together shirt and overalls. Sorta like an even shabbier version of the basic glukkon pud uniform in munchs oddysee

Like many things, native or liberated glukkons tend to have a lot more freedom when it comes to what they wear

The more traditional fashions often worn by glukkon alchemists include long, loose fitting robes, sometimes with these thick ribbed shoulder pads. Pretty much the same as outfit worn by glukkons in the very early concept art back when they were still called “Oldger” or “Ociti”

Mudokons

A once spiritual race that possessed psychic powers and were allies to the Glukkons thousands of years ago

When the shape of a Mudokon pawprint appeared on one of Oddworld’s moons, some mudokons took this as a sign from the gods that they were the chosen race

Blinded by their self imposed delusions of grandeur, the first believers of the mudokon moon sign set out to prove the mudokon race’s superiority over all other races of Oddworld

The moon believers did this by recruiting more mudokon members into their tribe, slowly converting the many tribes into one unified empire, increased consumption of the planets resources and began to isolate themselves from the rest of Oddworld

Building massive towers that reached the skies, they began to spend most of thier time indoors, only looking up at the night sky to see thier sacred moon, the symbolic reminder of thier divinity over Oddworld

Gradually abandoned thier spiritual ways in favour of a more industrialised way of life. Only a few powerful figures within the Mudokon empire still use their psychic abilities such as possession

Growing more paranoid that their Glukkon allies and thier powers of alchemy would prove to be a threat to their rising power, the mudokons orchestrated a war against the glukkon tribes, nearly wiping them out in the process

After the war, the mudokon empire gave the queens of the last remaining glukkon tribes an ultimatum: give away thier children to the empire where they would be “employed”, “sheltered” and “safe”, or let them be born into a “primitive” tribal wasteland at the brink of extinction

The mudokons were able to enslave their once Glukkon allies and quickly rose to become the most powerful, and power hungry, civilisation in all of Oddworld

In terms of architecture and aesthetic, I figured many of those motifs from their spiritual/tribal past would subtly carry over to their current society, I’ll be it more metallic and industrialised. Like larger, dystopian dieselpunk versions of the huts, buildings and structures we see in Monsaic Lines and other native mudokon locations

The buildings they live and work in are also incredibly tall, with some structures in their urban cities reaching above the clouds (basically the opposite of the canon glukkons subterranean cities)

The Mudokons are the main industrial society with a stronghold over the planet

Having essentially brainwashed both thier mudokon citizens and glukkon slaves, the mudokon empire is singularly concerned with proving their dominion over the planet oddworld. with no reguard for the native creatures and cultures that inhabit it

Mudokon society is extremely dedicated to the idea they are the best civilisation in all of Oddworld

As far as they’re concerned, their empire is the supreme civilisation, unparalleled in architecture, politics, philosophy, military and art

And they are dead set on proving thier superiority to the other races of Oddworld, no matter the cost

Any historical records that makes mudokons civilisation and society look bad or less then perfect are either deeply hidden away or destroyed. Through this constant revisionism as erasure, their true history has been long forgotten

Only consistent part of their history is the mudokon moon, which they hold as a sacred symbol and a reminder of their power as the “chosen race”

Now, the sight of the mudokon moon is rare for any industrial borns due to the sky being covered by air pollution from the mudokons buildings and factories

Young mudokons are born as eggs by their respective queen and sent to be raised by a foster mudokon worker and, if they’re rich or well off, their many glukkon slaves

As I said before in the glukkon bit, the way glukkons are taught how to view the world is very similar to real life cult indoctrination and brainwashing. Young mudokons get a similar treatment in terms of their education

At an early age, mudokons are taught by their elders that oddworld belongs to the strong such as them, that the other races that cannot compare to the mudokons, And that all mudokons which as them are perfect and destined for greatness. (Provided they work hard and follow the rules of the empire...)

For a mudokon, lacking this sense of superiority over other races and drive to prove themselves as exceptional is frowned upon in thier society, and such mudokons are often either outcasted or placed in the lower ranking job roles

Like the glukkon workers in canon, adult mudokon workers are often employed as powerful bosses and rulers in the mudokon industries of food production, science, politics and/or religion to name a few

While some individual mudokon masters value mollah and material gain over other things, mudokon society as a whole isn’t quite as obsessed with mollah the same way glukkon society in canon is. They do hold monetary wealth and riches in high regard, of corse, but mostly as one of many status symbols to prove their superiority over others

Due to their belief of being the superior race, some mudokons are known to be extremely arrogant and self centred, to the point they’re often compeating with one another over who is the better mud

In terms of physical appearance, I imagine mudokons having a lot more angular features, like more talon like claws on their hands/feet to evoke a bird of prey

While mudokons are still omnivores, teeth such as their canids are more pronounced due to consuming more meat products such as scrab, Meech, slig and elum meats

I also feel like the slight uncanny-valley elements the mudokons already have should be subtly accentuated in the switch designs for creep factor and everything

unlike muds of canon, muds of the switch au tend to be on the lean, average and/or slightly cubby side rather then underweight and slightly bony in terms of their weight. Mostly down to having relatively better diet and quality of life, at least compared to their canon counterparts.

Mudokons also have way more feathers on their heads! Though, due to the airborne pollution of their industrial lifestyle, feather growth is mainly restricted to their head and face

don’t tend to grow as many feathers on other parts of their bodies like arms, legs etc

On top of this, as mudokons tend to live in colossal tower-like structures, they’ve evolved adaptations to life in higher attitudes such as naturally taking shorter breaths.

One popular form of dress for most moderate or high ranking mudokons consists of a shirt garment with a v-shaped neck (kinda like a Dashiki) a medium length skirt and long ornate robes or feathered cloak. Think more fancy versions of the native clothes worn by the mud shamins in canon.

How intricate, layered, extravagant and/or customised etc these clothes are depends on how high the individual mud wearing them is on the power/wealth hierarchy. Kinda like the wealth hierarchy with canon glukkons. Most lower class muds tend to look closer to the muds we see in canon with a short loincloth-like skirt and simple vest.

While the majority of mudokon society tends to be more industrialised, there are certain elite and powerful groups within the mudokon empire that still practice their spiritual psychic powers

One example of such a group is an elite task force of mudokon agents specifically trained to hone their psychokinetic abilities.

Fed on an exclusive diet of mind altering spooce shrubs, they are granted powerful and dangerous abilities (provided they don’t die from spooce overdose first). Such as the power to possess the minds and bodies of other beings

They are employed as black ops-like operatives by the mudokon empire to manipulate the affairs of other Oddworld nations and races behind the scenes with their powers of possession, as assassins to take out highly dangerous targets from afar with death via red ring explosion or possession induced head explosion, or as bodyguards to protect highly powerful and elite clients, usually mudokon queens. Essentially taking on a similar role to the Glocktigi in canon

Sligs

Race of amphibious/semi-aquatic swamp dwellers

Society not as complex or “advanced” as others like the glukkons or mudokons, technology wise

Somewhat nomadic as they tend to move around from place to place in colonies, though their preferd environments are wetlands, marshes, swamps, lakes and bogs

Were never enslaved by Glukkons, Mudokons or any other societies of mudos for that matter. probably since Sligs are seen as useless and impractical for such tasks anyway. I mean, what kind of peanut-headed chumps would have a legless species who can’t use their hands do their dirty work for them?! lol!

While functional on land, they’re a bit more adapted for life in water, with webbed hands and seal-like tails for swimming as well as gills in their mouths for breathing underwater

Walk with their hands when on land (similar to pantsless sligs in canon but slightly less awkward)

Use the highly dexterous tentacles on their faces to pick up objects and use tools while they walk or swim

Covering themselves up with dirt, moss, mud etc is a big part of their culture. Not because they think they’re ugly like the Sligs in canon, but because it provides good camouflage from larger creatures and predators wanting to eat them

If a Slig is spotted or about to be caught by anything that would want them as food, they can use their arms to leap away from their attacker

In terms of actual clothing, they don’t wear much aside from a covering that wraps around the middle section between their abdomen and their tail mostly so their butts don’t get cold when they go up on land. These coverings are usually either made of soft reeds weaved together, a leaf held together by a stick going through both ends or whatever they can get their tentacles on in thier surrounding environment

Even without fancy covering or camo, Sligs are pretty diverse when it comes to their appearance

Depending on the environment, their skin tone can range from light green to yellow, dark green, blueish-green, teal, brown or black to name a few

Some Sligs also have tiger like stripes similar to the ones on big bro Sligs in canon

And, of corse, there’s albino Sligs. How they’re treated tends to vary form colony to colony

Some outcast or even kill albinos, fearing their bright colour could attract predators

Other colonies are a lot more accepting of albinos, though they tend to be more protective of them due to, again, being more easy targets for predators

Most albino Sligs either take extra care to cover themselves with as camouflage as possible to hide their bright skin, or stay under the water for most of their lives, rarely ever venturing up to the surface world

Queens are also never seen on dry land, as their birthing process is significantly less painful underwater

While none of the queens in this timeline are as cripplingly obese as queens like Skillya in the canon timeline, most healthy queens are still rather large. Sorta like the size/weight of an average male elephant seal, or a salt water crocodile

Also, while some queens can still be jerkasses, they don’t usually eat their own young, as they don’t hold as much resentment towards them due to the less painful birthing process. Plus, their many drones usually bring them smaller fish and swamp dwelling creatures to keep them well fed

Baby sligs (or sliglets, as I like to call them) are born underwater and later take their first peek up to the surface after a couple of weeks

Raised by either one of their drone fathers or their many older siblings

baby Sligs are also born able to swim and walk on instinct, sort of like lizards. They only need to stick with their guardians for protection and to learn valuable life lessons from them like camouflage, avoiding predators, looking both ways before they cross the rivers etc

According to ex-Just Add Water employee Will on the Oddworld forums, Lorne Lanning originally envisioned Sligs having pig like fur, but this was cut from Oddysee due to technical limitations at the time. I headcanon that native Sligs had fur in the canon timeline but lost this trait due to their industrial lifestyle, similar to mudokon’s feathers. Hence in this timeline, some native Slig colonies do have fur.

usually more common, much thicker and more prominent on Sligs from colder climates as it helps them stay warm

The fur is also good for collecting dirt and growing moss and algae on, adding to the Sligs camouflage

I also have this headcanon that the noises sligs make for the BS and S’Mo BS commands in Oddysee and Exoddus gamespeak are remnants of their old language before they were enslaved by glukkons in canon. This is how Sligs communicate to each-other in this timeline: through a series of frog-like ribbit and croak vocalisations.

They do have the ability to speak language in the same way Mudokons and Glukkons do, I’ll be it in a limited capacity since they’re somewhat cut off from these language speaking societies and not used to talking in words. Think of it how, in canon, Gabbits like Munch can speak language with characters like Abe but can also call to other Gabbits through a dolphin-like “song”

Though they were never slaves, that doesn’t mean industrial societies like the Mudokon empire haven’t caused trouble for them

On top of occasionally hunting them to make high protein meat products and for sport, the Mudokon empire has also put their glukkon workers to use digging up Sligs swamplands for iron ore, as water that carried flakes of iron accumulated and settled in those swamps. As well as gathering peat from mires for fuel

These practices have been encroaching on the Sligs natural habitats. driving them out and disrupting their usual migration patterns

In a lot of cases, Mudokons purposefully try to drive off or exterminate Slig colonies. Viewing them as useless, dirty pests getting in the way of the precious resources that, much like everything else on Oddworld, the mudokons feel a sense of entitlement to

Alright, that all the points I got down for the big three. I do have some ideas for the other races like vykkers, steef, oktigi, meeches etc but for now, I’ll just leave it here. Again, please let me know what you think of all this and feel free to make contributions.

@southern-forests

[bigrockgang23]

Analysis of Major Parasitic Fauna and Pit Ecology

I’ve spent the past three days putting together a speculative food web of the Mystery Flesh Pit’s ecology. The web is made up of five base food sources (green) with the park’s fauna split into Primary (pink), Secondary (orange), and Tertiary Consumers (red). Any arrow marked with a (?) means that the connection there is more uncertain. Along with the food web I also wrote up about 5 pages of analysis on why I chose to order the food web in the way I did (was it overkill? yes. was it worth it? maybe. did I enjoy it? hell yeah). I based a lot of my speculation on established lore but obviously I filled in MANY gaps. THIS IS NOT CANON. I tried to tag all of the information that IS canon but I almost certainly forgot something, so if you see something PM me and I’ll edit the post! While the food web and analysis were written up by me, all of the material and lore is from the Mystery Flesh Pit blog. If you somehow found this post and don’t know about the source material please check it out here:

 https://mysteryfleshpit.tumblr.com/

Also, please PM me if you have questions, criticisms, or insights!! I would love to hear feedback from the community, thank you for reading!

Foundation of Pit Ecology Food Chain:

1.       Fungal Growths

The wide variety of fungal growths in the pit may provide a convenient food source for other Pit fauna. The growths are commonly found near amniotic ballast springs and are known to have spores toxic to humans1. Pit fauna that feed on the growths would certainly have adapted immunity to the spores but may incorporate those undigested toxins into their body as a predation deterrent. Fungal growths of the Pit appear to grow mainly on the surface of the organism but may extend deeper into the flesh in order to absorb nutrients from the Pit itself. Larger colonies of growths could then cause mass die-offs of Pit tissue if allowed to propagate unchecked.

2.       The Pit

        -  Amniotic Ballast Fluid

The fluid of the Amniotic Thermal Springs is known to be edible to humans and so would mostly likely form a major food source for park life2. It’s unclear what the composition of the fluid is but it may constitute a main source of water for Pit fauna. The springs could be envisioned as a “watering hole” of the Pit, drawing in a variety of both predator and prey and being a hot bed of ecological activity. A side effect manifested in humans is the fluid’s aphrodisiacal effect2; if this effect is shared by Pit fauna then the Amniotic Thermal Springs could also drive reproductive seasons or behaviors in larger organisms. This effect would not necessarily be intended by the Pit, but the relationship may have formed over time nonetheless.

         - Cystic Nutrient Ganglia

In humans, ganglia cysts usually form at joints and are enlarged pockets of lubricating fluid that collects and creates an extended, spongy bump. The cause of these cysts is still unknown, but is most likely related to joint conditions similar to arthritis. The multicellular macrobacteria of the Pit feed primarily on these ganglia. The macrobacteria leech proteins, fats, and minerals from the ganglia through osmotic diffusion1. It is unclear whether the cystic nutrient ganglia are a purposeful development of the Pit or a by-product of external factors (later in this analysis I will be making an argument for the latter). It seems that the ganglia are exclusively fed on by macrobacteria species, unless the cysts could be otherwise punctured by more “animal-like” Pit fauna1.

         - Organic Tissues

The Pit’s own tissues may provide some level of sustenance for Pit wildlife. While there is one specific organism that could be speculated to feed on Pit living tissue, it is much more likely that Pit fauna take advantage of dead or dying tissues in the park. Through natural or external means, it is clear that Pit tissue can die and necrosis can spread out from those areas5. Pit fauna eat away the dead tissue of the Pit and the Pit is protected from the spread of necrosis. It seems unlikely that any Pit fauna would purposely damage Pit tissues (it is better for the parasites to keep their host healthy, rather than contribute to its unwellness) but in times of food scarcity the Pit’s tissue could provide some nutrients to a starving creature.

3.       Unaltered/Compound Surface Fauna

Surrounding surface animals, while not native to the Pit, could provide a base food source for predatory Pit fauna. Abyssal copepods are known to exit the Pit, hunt surface wildlife, and drag living animals back down into the Pit. If these animals escape or survive initially within the Pit, they may undergo anatomical amalgamation. Common features of these compound animals are fused limbs or other major body parts and the external relocation of internal organs on the body1. Both the unaffected surface fauna and the amalgamations would be at a great disadvantage within the Pit, as they lack any Pit-specific adaptations. These animals, when found, could be an easy meal for Pit fauna. It may also be speculated that abyssal copepods only venture out in times of food scarcity within the Pit, but it is unclear how much weight this theory holds.

 Primary Consumers of the Pit:

1.       Macrobacteria

Due to their great abundance, simple reproductive behavior, and wide variety, the macrobacteria of the Pit are a fundamental building block in the Pit’s ecology. Macrobacteria are known to feed osmotically on cystic nutrient ganglia1, however it is likely that some species may eat dead organic matter (i.e. dead Pit tissue and/or deceased Pit fauna). While similar in appearance to microscopic bacteria, it is known that macrobacteria are multicellur1. Various species of macrobacteria are shown on the Major Parasitic Fauna poster3; from these drawings it appears that most species share some common traits. Each creature has a spherical or near spherical body surrounded radially by spikes and/or tendrils (omitting species H, which demonstrates a more lateral body plan). The tendrils or spikes of the macrobacteria are likely to fill many roles for the animal; locomotion, grasping/restraining, sensing, and protection could all be achieved by a set of extremities. The macrobacteria may scuttle like sea urchins, swim like jellyfish, crawl, slither, or even roll through Pit openings and fluids. Macrobacteria have been known to act aggressively in defense of territory, so the more prehensile tendrils may provide some level of grasping and restraining when the macrobacteria encounter hostile organisms. Surface bacteria and other single celled organisms use chemical sensors to “look at” or “feel” their environments and a lack of clear eye spots may indicate a similar process in macrobacteria where their tendrils could detect chemical changes or concentration levels in their surroundings. Finally, the spikes of the macrobacteria may be a defense mechanism against larger predatory Pit fauna4 (Big thanks to u/Hozin-6 who provided most of the speculation on macrobacterial locomotion and defense in this analysis. His original comment can be found in the sources).

2.       Bone Mite

The bone mite shares heavy resemblance with surface mites, ticks, and other arthropods. Based on its appearance and name, it can be speculated that the bone mite’s main food source is living Pit tissue in the form of bone marrow. It is unknown what the inner anatomy of the Pit’s various large bone structures are but they most likely contain either bone marrow or some analogous tissue. The bone mite’s hair-like structures can easily find footholds and catchments on the bone surface, allowing the mite to have full mobility over the surface of the large bones in a way similar to how flies or bed bugs crawl up walls. If bone mites feed parasitically off the living bone tissue then it is likely that they have either a hard proboscis or hard drilling mouth in order to penetrate the outer bone shell. The mites’ bodies look fairly flat as well, which may allow them to slip between folds of flesh and bone to feed3.

3.       Gastric Bristleworm

The clearest feature of the bristleworm is its namesake; the worm is covered in long, thin tendrils or bristles that protrude from the sides of the organism and encircle the “head”3. These bristles most likely provide locomotion for the worm and defense against predation. The name suggests that the gastric bristleworm may be native to “stomach-like” or digestive organs of the Pit. The worm may then feed on partially or fully digested organic matter as well as amniotic ballast fluid when necessary. Supposing the worm’s main habitats are digestive organs within the Pit, it is likely that the organism’s bristles and body are composed of a strong but flexible tissue with specific immunities to the acidic environment. The bristleworm may swim or crawl through gastric acid in order to scavenge for nutrient-rich, partially digested organic matter and so would be unchallenged by the more competitive (but less tough) Pit fauna. It could be argued that, with sufficient prompting, a gastric bristleworm could puncture a cystic nutrient ganglion and feed off the proteins and fats within but they would then be competing with the territorial macrobacteria1. The gastric bristleworm could easily fit in as a decomposer as well, eating any deceased surface or Pit fauna before it can be absorbed directly by the Pit itself.

4.       Shrieking Cloistropod

The shrieking cloistropod is the first of the list to not have a clear analogous surface organism. For this reason, it is more difficult to discern what behaviors and habits it may exhibit. The cloistropod’s lower body resembles a tap root or starchy root vegetable of surface plants3. This structure may penetrate the flesh walls of the Pit and act as an anchor for the organism. The cloistropod may use its “root” to leech nutrients from the local flesh its anchored around, as well as for the storage of excess nutrients and moisture for times of scarcity. The “head” of the organism would than sit above the flesh layer as a psudeo-plant or fungi. Based on the name and hair-like covering of the “head”, the above ground “head” may be very sensitive to touch or motion. When touched the “mouth” would then open and shriek or moan or make some other loud sound in order to frighten away possible predators. Alternatively, the shrieking cloistropod may be an ambush predator in the same vein as a venus fly trap, waiting until an organism comes close and then striking with a disorienting scream. The cloistropod’s body plan lends itself to a sessile lifestyle, especially in it’s adult stage, but it should be considered that the locomotive shrieking cloistropod theory may find more traction in a fluid-dominanted environment.

5.       Gangliotode

The name of the gangliotode may point to two possible behaviors; either the organism’s namesake comes from appearance alone or the creature is tied to nerve ganglia in some way. The gangliotode bears some surface resemblance to a nerve bundle, otherwise known as a ganglion, and so may be named according to it’s recognizable shape. On the other hand, the gangliotode may be related to the Pit’s nervous system or to the before mentioned cystic nutrient ganglia. The gangliotode’s behaviors may cause cystic nutrient ganglia to form, therefore giving it an interesting relationship with the macrobacteria of the Pit. The gangliotode may feed on cystic nutrient ganglia alongside macrobacteria, however the territorial nature of the macros as well as the specific circumstances of their feeding behavior may make this theory unlikely. Regardless, it seems fairly likely that the gangliotode does not actively hunt and may be entirely sessile.

Secondary Consumers of the Pit:

1.       Lesser/Greater Ballast Siren

Based on name alone it could be speculated that the greater ballast siren is an ambush predator that inhabits either the area around amniotic thermal springs or within the springs themselves. The greater ballast siren’s large opening on the front of it’s body may be a mouth that it can use to engulf or otherwise devour Pit fauna. The siren may sit within amniotic bulbs, either waiting for Pit fauna to get close enough or luring them in by other means, striking when the prey least expects the attack. Previously in this analysis, the amniotic thermal springs were envisioned as a “watering hole” for Pit fauna and so would be an ideal environment for this kind of ambush hunting. The greater ballast siren may have limited mobility from it’s tendrils, as well as having the ability to grasp the slippery surfaces of the springs. The lesser ballast siren appears almost like an undeveloped specimen of the greater. The lesser siren could therefore be a young or undeveloped stage in the life of the greater ballast siren or the alternate sex equivalent for the species (Pit fauna may not have a “male” and “female” but could have alternative reproductive sexes). The lesser ballast siren is less defined and so it is more difficult to discern any functions or behaviors of the species.

2.       Stinging Triocanth

Another worm-like organism native to the Pit. Like many of the Pit fauna already covered, the triocanth has many hair-like protrusions all along it’s body and extremities. The hairs that cover the organism’s “arms” may aid it in locomotion and sensing, allowing it to gain traction along slippery surfaces and narrow tunnels while the longer barbs along the body may serve another purpose. Since this is a stinging triocanth, the long barbs may be a defense mechanism and/or a form of attack to subdue prey. It could be speculated that the stinging triocanth hunts macrobacteria or even bone mites, using it’s corkscrew appendages to move quickly and pluck lone creatures that separated from the group. The barbs may slow or incapacitate the prey and the corkscrew extremities could funnel the prey down towards the mouth of the triocanth. To tie in a previous theory, the stinging triocanth may be omnivorous, feeding on fungal growths as well. The triocanth then incorporates the toxins of the ingested spores into it’s barbs, giving it a poisonous sting.

3.       Lesser Copepod

The lesser copepod may be the most surface-like organism of any of the Pit fauna. It resembles an arthropod and has some similarities to the larger abyssal copepod. The lesser copepod’s long feelers may be used to subdue prey from a distance, to coin a term they are “fisher hunters”. The lesser copepod could have some versatility in their hunting styles with such long appendages, being able to chase down prey or hide and strike from a safe distance. The lesser copepod could then easily pluck stranglers from the macrobacterial packs that roam the Pit, draw a gastric bristleworm out from it’s acidic den, or trigger a shrieking cloistropod from a safe distance and then dig up its nutrient-rich lower body. The lesser copepod’s reach compensates for it’s relatively smaller size and propels it higher on the food chain than it might otherwise be. Additionally, due to similar physiology, the lesser copepod could be a neotenic variation of the abyssal copepod; having branched away from it’s adult lineage by many generations.

4.       Venous Shamble

The venous shamble may be a slow, omnivorous, opportunistic organism of the Pit. The eye spot placement of the shamble and it’s complicated form of locomotion give it the air of a shuffling and cautious creature. The base of the head contains a tube structure that may be a proboscis, one that can extend out to some length. The venous shamble could then feed on a wide range of Pit fauna including amniotic ballast fluid, fungal growths, deceased Pit fauna, and shrieking cloistropods (using its proboscis to access the underground “root” of the organism). Similar to the stinging triocanth’s barbs, the shamble may benefit from incorporated fungal spore toxins that would deter predation and allow it to move clumsily without constant threat. Additionally, the venous shamble is subjectively the cutest of the Pit fauna and that is not up for debate. Don’t @ me.

Tertiary Consumer of the Pit (AKA apex predator):

1.       Abyssal Copepod

The abyssal copepod is certainly the apex predator of the Pit’s diverse ecology. The organism is built to move quickly through the fleshscape, with a head full of sensitive antennae to pick up on minute Pit and faunal movements as well as having large hands to grab and subdue prey. Abyssal copepods have been observed venturing outside the Pit, hunting surface fauna, and dragging them back down into their habitat1. Versatile and dangerous, the abyssal copepod is a force to be reckoned with. While the large copepod has minimal resemblance to surface arthropods and microscopic copepods, they also have the strange feature of human-like, five-digited hands. It has been theorized that abyssal copepods may be the descendants of ancient humans that found their way into the Pit and evolved to such an extreme extent that they now have almost no resemblance to modern humans6,7. While this evolution would need occur relatively quickly in geologic time, the Pit’s effects on living surface fauna are not fully understood and the harsh, variable conditions of the changing fleshscape could catalyze evolutionary developments and mutations (Thank you to u/OvoFox11 who was the first person I’ve seen relate the human hands of the abyssal copepods to descendant Pit-dwelling humans. His original comment is linked in the sources).

The Unknown Category:

1.     Amorphous Shame

Please send me suggestions as to what this is! I’m very interested in what others think, as I am at a loss.

Thank you for reading! Please PM with questions, criticisms, and insights!!

Sources:

(1)    wildlife guide, https://mysteryfleshpit.tumblr.com/post/190237475203/wildlife-safety-brochure-though-the-mystery

(2)    amniotic springs brochure (2), https://mysteryfleshpit.tumblr.com/post/615973957551718400/this-scan-of-a-2006-pamphlet-offers-information

(3)    major parasitic fauna, https://mysteryfleshpit.tumblr.com/post/623095839097798656/this-chart-and-many-others-like-it-were-produced

(4) u/Hozin-6, https://www.reddit.com/r/FleshPitNationalPark/comments/hnlsa1/major_parasitic_fauna_chart/fxcm1pb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

(5) Overall health question, https://mysteryfleshpit.tumblr.com/post/613318973731291136/hello-something-ive-been-curious-about-in

(6) u/OvoFox11, https://www.reddit.com/r/FleshPitNationalPark/comments/god6us/qa_on_tumblr_how_deep_is_the_pit_what_was_anodyne/frgdqoe?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

(7) Q&A 1, https://mysteryfleshpit.tumblr.com/post/618659022493581312/qa-001

[myrsparv]

I got this message, and I was originally going to ignore it, but I cannot reply to the person, nor can I see the content on their blog, so I assume they blocked me? Which I think is strange, since they asked me a question and now I cannot give them a direct answer. Well, anyway, I decided to get into it.

If you simply googled searched, you would get a very straightforward answer to what ”tradfem” is. As defined by urban dictionary, a tradfem is, 

”a portmanteau of "traditional feminism" in reference to belief that adherence traditional feminine gender roles are better or more correct, especially those held by conservative Christian Americans, especially WASPs. Often in opposition of more modern women's rights and feminist movements, non-traditional gender roles (I.E. women wearing pants, having jobs. Clair thinks a woman's place is in the home. She runs a tradfem blog and posts pictures of women in dresses with long hair and discusses child rearing and cooking.”

Enjoying the aesthetic of traditional femininity (such as long hair, dresses, aprons, pink etc) is not inherently harmful. It is however a red flag for many, especially LGBTQ+ folks, people of color, and non-christians, and I’m guessing indigenous folks as well. There are many reasons why people are put off by this aesthetic, and I’ll get into it, but it is a long discussion and I am not linguistically armed for it, as english isn’t my first language. But I will do my best to explain.

Traditional femininity romanticises traditionally feminine clothes, practices and relationships, and shares many visual ideas as well as patterns of how things were ”back in the day,” when women were stay-at-home-wives who cooked and took care of kids. This idea is very US-centric, very American Dream-esque, but it also borrows elements from Europe from a time where colonisation and slavery  and other more or less questionable and harmful things were at the forefront. There is also a LOT of overlap with fascist and alt-right nationalist ideas within the tradfem community, which should be enough for folks to feel uncomfortable and want to distance themselves from such a community and voice their distaste for it and wish to not be associated with them.

And let’s talk about this ”traditional feminism”. It is not inclusive or productive at all, and only benefits those who are higher up in power, primarily white, cishet women (and hardly them honestly,) in a western society. I suppose it is similar to earlier waves of feminism, which I might add only included the white cishet women, and excluded ex black people. What is it achieving, and for who? Who are included in this idea of feminism? Is it feminism at all, if the pursuit doesn’t have an end goal where equality/equity is achieved?

These blogs who are dedicated to traditional femininity and traditional feminism often say that there is nothing harmful about what they’re doing, that they’re simply enjoying an aesthetic! But here is the thing.

There is nothing wrong with liking to bake pies and share pictures of lambs, and dream of having a humble home with a partner to love and where the only worry you have is if you burnt your bread or not. You may even currently be a stay-at-home-wife, and there’s honestly nothing wrong with that. That is your choice, and if that makes you feel good and empowered, good for you.

However, this choice in your way of life is not an act of feminism.

On the contrary, it is anti-feminism to limit the freedom of others and infringe on their ability to make choices for themselves, such as careers, how to dress, how sexually active they want to be and if they want abortions or not, wether or not trans people should have access to transitioning, how people practice their religions, the list goes on. As soon as you say ”women belong at home” or ”abortions should be illegal”, you are taking away people’s rights to make choices for themselves, and oppressing others in your quest for feeling un-oppressed. It is not feminism to oppress, but to work against oppression, so once again you would be more-so aligning yourself with sexism and other more, aha, traditional ideas of what people’s place in society are - usually with the white man on top of the rest, the white woman second in command. That is not feminism.

Additionally, to say that feminism is only about men and women isn’t true - it goes hand in hand in combating racism, fascism, homo- and transphobia etc, and if ”your” feminism doesn’t include everyone then it simply isn’t feminism. So, when we look at this traditional femininity-aesthetic, we do not see inclusivity of these marginalised people. We only see the white christian and privileged woman, who may have the choice to decide for herself that she wants to be a traditional wife, a traditional mother, whatever it is - but other people are not able to make this choice for themselves, but are rather forced into a place where they are controlled and oppressed against their will, and it would certainly leave a bad taste in their mouth to see people choosing to do the same and say it is feminism, when it very clearly is not. You are in a privileged position and you need to realize that.

You cannot turn a blind eye to the harmful ideas that you are putting forward by engaging and spreading these types of images and posts that are being echoed within the tradfem community. You need to reflect on yourself and your values and where you got them from.

To say you know trans people in real life does not exempt you from holding transphobic ideas, and you should still practice some introspection on your own values and biases, and try to understand why on earth a trans person would feel uncomfortable and a distaste for ”traditional femininity” that ultimately doesn’t recognize trans people, or people of colour, or non-christian folks. You may love your trans nephew, and your black college, and your jewish neighbour - but that does not mean you don’t hold prejudice and carry harmful ideas that you may spread around and signal to these people around you that they ultimately cannot trust or rely on you because of your stance with traditional values, that has over the course of time excluded and harmed and ignored and killed these people.

To say that you are not infringing on me is also a lie. You are aggressive in your message to me, and showing a lack of understanding to where I am coming from with my stance, and you didn’t ask me to explain in a polite way. I do not know who you are, and I do not care much either, but your ideas could be harmful and damaging to me and the people I want to protect and help. I am not personally attacking you when I say ”tradfems stay away from my blog”, I am taking a stance and saying I do not align myself with their ideals, and stand in solidarity with LGBTQ+ folks, people of color and non-christians. If you feel like that is a personal blow and attack upon you, then I really suggest you practice some self-reflection and ask yourself if you are making the people you care about feel safe around you - like your trans nephew that you mentioned.

There is a vast difference in relationship with the content we consume based on our identity. Me as a white queer person from southern Sweden will have one kind of a relationship to cottage core, whilst an indigenous person from the USA has a COMPLETELY different view on the aesthetic and what it means, because of our differences in culture, history, power in society, location and identity, and it is very important that I, as a white person, ask myself what ideas I am putting out there. I do not wish to cause harm, so I have to look at the content I consume with a critical eye and ask myself what ideas and values I put forward, and who they benefit, and who they oppress. It is important to listen to the voices of others and create a space where communication and inclusivity is welcomed - and ”tradfem” isn’t a welcoming community, as it only portrays the traditionally feminine and traditionally accepted woman - the white young woman who is blind to the world around her and can’t see past her own privilege. Hell, cottage core isn’t a welcoming community either, and I have been vocal in my criticism of it since I first started interacting with it two years ago.

Simply not being transphobic, not being racist, not being a fascist and not being sexist etc isn’t enough for people to feel safe, and isn’t enough to keep people with those harmful ideals away from you - you have to be actively AGAINST these things and talk about it and show it to people in order for it to matter. Silence is a violence too, now more than ever. 

Sorry that this post is so long, I hope I’m making any sense at all with this. So yeah, uh, tradfems can fuck off my blog.

[themadauthorshatter]

RED SCHOOL AU/UA STORY/HEADCANONS ARC 2 PART 3

Hopefully this is the last part of Arc 2😅

We pick up with Tibe, Elara, and Rhian walking towards the royal quarters, Rhian asking his questons, as requested, beginning with how their journey was and if they found the school easy enough.

Tibe admits while the skeleton bird was jarring and they could've done without the storms, but everything was manageable.

Rhian's glad to hear that, and asks if the children will be alright(he's been a teacher/school master for nearly two centuries, and the SGE cast is 16 years old, so if a person is below 21, they're a child, in Rhian's eyes.) and Elara answers for Tibe that, yes, they will be fine before politely inquiring about having a room seperate from her husband.

Rhian sort of wallows at how almost every royal couple he meets hate each other.

He the asks if the two have seen or learned from a magician in recent memory, to which they confusedly answer no.

Rhian's only asking because he knows a trick when he sees one, a slight of hand, if you will, which he demonstrates by making a card 'disappear' and 'reappear' in his hand, though he reveals he's just moving the card while holding it between his fingers.

Tibe asks what he's talking about and Rhian chuckles and continues to lead them to their room, stating that, having been around girls for a century or so, maybe half, he also knows a perfectly baked cake when he sees one.

Here, we cut/transition to Mare as she enters her room, a couple maids setting things up like blankets and clothes, until she asks that they leave and get some test, as they must be exhausted from the trip.

They shakily agree and leave.

Mare looks around the room and sort of cringes at the horrendous amount of fluorescent pink the decorates the room, like the bed sheets and the pillows, before groaning as she sits down. Maybe we even get a gag of her falling into the bed, like the mattress sort of pulls her in and she sinks into the middle of it. With the maids gone, Mare only groans and tries not to give up on life. "Perfect."

With the SGE crew, more specifically Sophie and Agatha, Sophie pushes and slips through the crowd of students as they return to their dorms after classes(they'll get in HUGE trouble, if they're caught bothering the Silvers, and even get moved down a rank), Agatha on her tail and calling for her to stop and just go to class. Sophie shouts back to, "go hang out with Kiki," and continues on her way(Really wonder where she's going?).

Agatha follows her anyway, until Sophie mogrifs herself into a lovebird and shouts, "Prince Tiberias the Seventh, wait for me!"

Agatha watches, completely appalled and then looks up at the tower where the female Silver children are residing, about a long hallway away from each other. Mareena's got to be in one of those rooms. She looks for any wolves lurking, or other students, and mogrifs into a mouse to sneak to the doorway before she turns back to a human and climbs up the steps. I'll just knock first. If she doesn't want to see anyone, I'll leave. That's not me bothering her, it can't be me bothering her, if I give her space.

Speaking of Mare, she rolls onto her front and sits down cross legged, hair a little messy. Her makeup's safe, though, don't worry. "I hate this place," she grumbles.

Give her some slack, she's been trapped on a boat with Book 1!Evangeline for a week, has a really bad paper cut, and just wrestled a bed that basically tried to eat her.

It doesn't help when a knock on the door interrupts her from checking on said paper cut, right as she removes the bandage. Mare panics, hastily puts on her gloves, and tells the person on the other side of the door to come in.

EXPECTATION SUBVERSION! Cal's there to check on her. Mare welcomes him in.

Cal looks around her room and comments on it, and Mare threatens to throw her shoe at him; if he wants to act like a little shit right now, she'll gladly beat him like one, consequences be damned.

They check in and touch base, making sure they're okay, and just letting each other know that despite the color of their blood, they're in this together, him, Mare, and Maven. Mare sighs that Cal and Maven at least have their family with them, as Mare's is still in Norta, thinking she's in the palace.

Cal holds her hand and promises that this trip will be over and she'll see her family again before she knows it. Mare asks how he lnows and how that can even happen, recalling the hair's width close call from the last time she visited her family. Cal's grip on her hand tightens and he forces a chuckle, admitting that if either he and/or Maven found a way before, they can do it again.

It soothes Mare and gets her smiling, which gives Cal the okay to give her space and let her settle into her girly new room, joking that maybe it will rub off on her and he might be able to see a more feminine side to her.

She hurls her shoe at him as hard as she can right as he leaves, the two snickering, Mare despite herself and Cal for a job well done.

As Cal leaves, though, his smile drops at the realization that he has no idea how the hell he's helping her see her family again without getting caught. As much as he knows the rules, he knows Mare's heart, and, having the same problem as her, can't keep his mind and heart seperated.

Lost in his thoughts, he runs into Agatha on the stairs, who asks where Mare is. Funny, he just left her room, which is the second door on the left hand side.

As he leaves and Agatha contemplates her choice, we cut to Sophie as she pants and perches on the window to Cal's room; she's totally right here, she's at the right room. Her logic is perfectly sound here, she's in the right place.

She turns back into herself and does a quick hair fluff and even pinches some color into her cheeks before knocking on the window, maybe a little too hard because it swings open, just for me, she thinks.

Sophie struts in, announcing herself to the crown prince, proud as a peacock...

Only to scare the hell out of a shiryless Maven; he was cleaning himself off a little and was about to change his clothes when she interrupted him.

He asks what she's doing in his room, and Sophie asks if he's Cal, semi-hoping that this is just someone else because Maven looks nothing like a general or a future king.

No. He's not Cal. He's Cal's brother. Sophie kind of feigns ignorance, and Maven gives his name and the fact that she wrote to him. Still doesn't ring any bells, until he brings up the fact that she thinks she's in the wrong school.

"Oh! You ARE Maven!" Sophie gasps, before asking where his brother is.

Maven, realizing he's stuck with this brat, turns to finish changing, i.e. putting on a shirt, and explains that Cal actually left a couple minutes ago and, knowing him, won't sit still on his first day here, so he'll most likely being wandering the school. Sophie groans, and sits on the edge of his bed, and complains that she's tired from using her magic to fly over to meet him, before asking Maven if she can stay and wait for him to come back.

Maven, thinking quickly, admits she'd have a better chance if she just walked around. Cal's 6'3", pale as hell, and wearing black, red, and silver, so he's damn near impossible to miss.

Sophie huffs and agrees, leaving to go meet her new prince, bidding Maven a pizzazz-y farewell.

Maven rolls his eyes and finishes putting on his shirt and coat before falling back on his bed, groaning at the fact they might be here for a little while. Maybe more.

Time to check back in with Mare, who's examining that really bad paper cut when she gets another knock on her door. She answers it and finds Agatha standing at the door, greeting her politely and suddenly noticing her hand.

"You're bleeding!"

The two rush inside Mare's room, Mare panicking and trying to cover the cut herself, but Agatha helping because she's not good, she's great.

THIS is the bomb drop that Mare's not Silver, and it confuses and surprises the hell out of Agatha, who had it drilled in her head that only Silvers have power in Norta.

With little options, the two sit down on the bed and Mare gets to explaining.

It's been a while since we've checked on Cal, so lets do that: he's actually found his way to the boy's Groom Room and sees them training. The weapons are all wood swords, so no one's terribly injured, and anyone not sword fighting is throwing hammers, climbing ropes, or running or swimming some laps.

There are girls watching, all taking turns peeking out from behind a wall to spot Cal unintentionally being a general and mentally noting each boy's strengths and weaknesses, especially the one they're all trying to beat, Tedros, who's holding his own really well.

Speaking of Tedros, he notices Cal watching and gestures for him to come in.

Cal's already in more casual clothes, save for his coat, and complies, meeting the Everboys, who ask, kind of sheepishly how they did, as Cal is sort of a General and knows a lot a bout combat.

He has to admit, as politely as possible, that while they're all skilled, they would all get demolished in a real fight.

Tedros, the dumbass, asks what that means, as they can use magic.

Cal agrees that magic might be able to help them, but what if they wear themselves out and can't use magic?

Tedros, not listening and thinking unwisely, challenges Cal, just to prove his point. Cal agrees and hangs up his coat, one of the boys giving him a sword, one Cal sized(the 6'3" son of a bitch), and the two stand off before the fight begins, Cal telling Tedros to give it everything he's got while Cal will go easy on him.

Tedros goads him that he can take whatever, but Cal affirms that if HE gave his 100%, Tedros would probably die.

Enough talk, someone ring the bell, because THE FIGHT STARTS NOW!!!

Tedros DOES give his best, but Cal is a general. He either disarms Tedros or knocks him down and mock kills him.

After a while, they go at it again, Tedros doing better, and Cal tells him he'll go a little harder, so he knows that Cal can wipe the floor with him. He doesn't get hurt, but he gets the point.

Another rule Cal makes clear: There is no such thing as a fair fight.

He holds a hand out to Tedros, who's tired and bruused from having his ass handed to him, commenting that he's pretty good.

Tedros accepts with a smile on his face, blocking a swing and showing Cal he's already picking up on what he's teaching him, inadvertently.

It's official: The boys want Cal as their new teacher, because his technique is better than what they've been learning.

Cal can only fight the urge to laugh, seeing how enthusiastic they all are.

Back with Mare and Agatha, who are now sitting cross legged across from each other on the bed, where Agatha asks Mare if she's being serious.

She is, which she demonstrates by holding her cut hand and showing a little lightning. She's Red, she's got powers, and if anyone finds out, it's her and her family's heads on the King's platter.

This hits Agatha right in the gut, even when she asks Mare how Reds are REALLY treated, recounting how the students all believe the Silvers and the Reds are all equals, the Reds only picking up the slack of what the Silvers are unable to do.

Mare sets that vision straight: Reds and Silvers are not equal to each other. As the saying goes, in terms of power, 'What is a King to a God?' Or better yet, what is a farmer to a god? The cherry on top? If you're Red and don't have a job of any kind, have fun dying in a trench while fighting in a war that isn't even yours.

Agatha is at a loss for words, only knowing being ostracized and bullied. Out of words, Agatha offers her confidence, that she won't tell anyone what Mare told her. While Mare's glad for it, she still warns Agatha to stay as far away from Elara as possible, as Elara can and will read her mind. And there will be HELL to pay, if she finds out.

Agatha obviously agrees.

That's when shouting gets their attention, and some clattering, which leads leads them to the Boy's Groom Room; how'd the sound get that far? Vibration. And the vents. And Sophie passed by.

They look inside to see Cal and Tedros at it again with the boys cheering them on. This time they're hand to hand fighting and Tedros is locked in a chokehold as Cal tells him to tap out. Tedros only elbows him and they stand, which begins Round 5 of their fight. Yes, Tedros is shirtless, as Book 1 Tedros is gun' do. Cal is as well, because he got hot, but don't worry he shaved(appearances matter, even when it's something you think no one's going to see).

Turns out Sophie screamed because she's a blushing, squealing mess; Cal is far more than what she dreamed of, and it's killing her. Mare can't exactly blame her for staring, upon seeing how fit Cal is and seeing hiw many scars he has, a very unpleasant reminder of what he is and what he's been trained to be.

Agatha asks about wanting Tedros as her prince, out of confusion and a joke, and Sophie admits that she'll get him back because he'll get jealous. Boys fight each other a lot more when a girl's love is at stake.

Mare contradicts that notion by reminding them, and herself, that Cal's betrothed to Evangeline, and she has the teeth of a doberman; once she latches on to something, have fun trying to get her to let go. Sophie waves her off, bragging she can change his mind in 5 minutes. She just needs time with him alone in a broom closet. Mare and Agatha roll their eyes at this.

With the boys, Tedros spots the girls and inwardly groans at the sight of Sophie, which gives Cal the opening to yank his hair and bring him back to the fight; if he gets distracted, he's going to get himself killed. Tedros brushes it off and jerks his head to the girls, saying they have an audience.

Cal notices Sophie and has a moment of, 'Not this shit again,' when she giggles and waves at him, blushing pure red.

Here is where Tedros warns Cal to keep his distance from Sophie, though it's more serious than Ball Banter. Cal asks if she's his girl, and Tedros admits that she isn't, she's just bad luck and a pure snake. Cal admits that that's a little harsh and asks what she did to deserve getting the Prince of Camelot's cold shoulder as the two trade more harmless hits with each other. She didn't do anything, except lie to him about loving him, use him, and leave him to fend for himslef and die in a Trial by Tale, where Evers and Nevers fight to see who would survive a REAL fairytale. And she's a lunatic, sneaking into Tedros's drawers while he was training at night and trying to put him under a love spell.

Yeah, while he doesn't agree with the snake comment, Cal understands why he should avoid Sophie. He doesn't know how love spells work, but he'd rather not find out.

Just as they're about to go at it again, Professor Dovey shrills at the boys to stop harrassing the Crown Prince, from her place behind the girls.

As he puts his shirt and coat back on and leaves, Cal explains that he saw them training and noticed they could use a few pointers, which led to him getting a little carried away.

Dovey politely tells him that while his advuce is good, he should leave teaching to the professors, just to be in the safe side and no one gets hurt.

He agrees, much to the boys' dismay, and mentally kicks himself for leaving when he sees Sophie in front of him and introducung herself. Granted, he gives her the benefit of the doubt and is as gentlemanly as he can be, thinking, Maybe she isn't that bad, but that hope is shot down when Agatha tries introducing herself and Sophie slips in front of her so Cal can't see her.

Okay, maybe she is that bad.

Good thing Maven inadvertently saves the day as he stumbles into the hallway, getting laughed at and chewed on by fairies, who also take to pulling on his hair to piss him off.

Dovey shouts at them all the leave him alone, which they do, and apologizes to Maven for their behavior. He tells her not to worry, because he's had worse happen, giving a pointed glare to Cal, who semi-jokes he should really watch his back because the Everboys mean nothing but business and will attack on sight.

Dovey waves off this notion as she leads them on an official tour of the school, and explains that the schools have rules to seperate and connect Good and Evil, rules like Evil attacks other people while Good defends them, Evil takes advantage and Good gives opportunity, rules like that. (Sophie and Agatha stay behind, Sophie almost fainting at how much of a dream come true Cal is, even though he's a little awkward. She wonders if he was just stunned by her beauty, but Agatha hides her face in her hands and groans.) Maven comments that that's a very black and white way of thinking, but Dovey assures him it's the way of the school, and the rules and fairytales actually have loopholes. The girl who thwarted Rumplestiltskin did so by tricking him, by using guards she had hired to get his name, Rapunzel was born out of theft, in the original Cinderella, Cindy killed her stepmother. Vice versa, the witch that stole Rapunzel NEVER had to allow Rapunzel's father to keep stealing from her garden, Rumplestiltskin NEVER had to agree to help the girl, there are more examples, but I can't think of any.

Just know that there's some evil in good and there's some good in evil.

Cal asks if the other High House children should join them and Dovey admits she wanted to fetch them for the tour, but didn't want to bother them.

Mare's turn to ask a question, and it's one that's been bothering her: Why fairytales? And why have one guy rule over both Good and Evil, when there should one one leader for each side.

Dovey answers that by explaining the story of the School Master and his brother, a very similar story for SGE fans, but with a change: after the war, the stories continued to end with Evil ending every other time, rather than Good hogging all the glory. There were times Good won more, but that would be solved when Evil won certain times in a row and things got back on track.

Cal asks how such a thing is possible, because he's more than certain there's things maguc still can't do. Dovey points to a painting of the Storian, which the two brothers are fighting over.

Maven asks that all the fighting was over a pen, and Dovey tells him not to be decieved, because there's always more to see beneath the surface, which is said as a voice over as Tedros and Agatha race outside in time to see a group of fairies toss Sophie into the clearing outside of Good, snickering as she flails to a sitting position and glaring at them for ruining her dress.

While Sophie shouts at the fairies and then greets Agatha and Tedros with some degree of sass, Agatha scolds Sophie, saying she shouldn't have rushed in to greet Cal like a crazy person, but Sophie defends herself by saying she HAD thought about waiting, but noticed Beatrix and the others giggling and staring at him and panicked, because she didn't want them to steal her prince away from her again.

Tedros barks that he was never her prince and Cal is not her prince either because HE'S BETROTHED TO EVANGELINE. Sophie huffs and states she can change his mind easily, but stops when she hears a male laugh and tell her that she can try all she wants, but, knowing Evangeline, Sophie will end up being a wedding present to Cal, specifically as a mantel ornament.

Sophie deflates at that, and Tedros asks who the male is, noting his pale skin and armor. Lucas introduces himself and tells children not to worry about Evangeline, because she'll be doing one of four things on this trip: clinging to Cal, picking on Mare with her friends, hanging out with Elane, or bitching to her brother while they train.

Agatha sighs that Silvers train a lot for royals, and Lucas agrees, but that's because they have to. Where they're from, there's a war going on. Coming to the SGE wasa risk, and hopefully they don't stay long because Norta's extremely vulnerable right now.

Tedros asks what it's like, the war, which makes Agatha gulp as she remembers her conversation with Mare, and Lucas gives them all a look of, 'you're way too young to be talkimg about this,' before giving them a rundown on the war: the Lakelands have more farms and access to food, but Norta has more crop-friendly conditions and fertile ground and energy for power. Sophie asks they have enough power with Tibe on the throne and the High Houses backing him. Lucas corrects himself by explaining that Norta has electricity, enough for Silvers and Reds, and the Lakelanders want some of that power.

Tedros asks why they can't just give each other what they want and Lucas admits that of things were that easy, it would be the case, but things are never easy.

The trio remain silent for a little while, which prompts Lucas to take his leave, but Agatha has one more question, a couple small ones, and then one big one:

Is electricity stronger than what the School uses(candles for light, winds for ships, etc.)? Yes.

And the Nortans traveled by ship to the School? Yes.

And the ship was powered by this electricity? The engine was, but yes.

Million dollar question: If the Nortans came to the Woods, can ths students go to Norta, or anywhere else using this electric-powered ship?

Sophie gapes at her and Tedros gives her a look of pure hurt, but Lucas contemplates that, answering with a solid maybe before asking where she'd go, if she had her own ship?

With a glance at a fuming Sophie and a crestfallen Tedros, Agatha begins to answer, right as Dovey passes with Cal, Maven, and Mare following.

Too bad something bursts out of the trees and barrels toward Sophie, eyes blood red, body decayed and soaked with sludgy water, roaring like a wild animal, and armed with an axe.

Yeah, The Beast is back, and he's not happy with Sophie killing him.

Cal, Tedros, and Lucas jump right into action, Lucas using his armor to knock Beast away as Cal and Tedros race to stop him; the only one whi recognizes him is Sophie, so Tedros is acting solely on instinct here.

There's tussling, Tedros getting thrown to the ground and Cal getting cut by the axe, and Maven saving his brother, because he's a one way track.

Lucas neutralizes The Beast by chaining him up, but the bastard breaks free and knocks him aside, giving him a concussion.

With a quick, 'What's wrong with me?' Mare joins in, shooting lightning at him. It works, kind of, but gets a gold spell shot at him by Agtha for almost hitting back.

With their powers combined, and Sophie cheering them on, they take The Beast down, red mist leaving his body and curling away into the sky.

Mare and Agatha sigh and check on each other as Tedros, Cal, and Maven all exchange 'good jobs' and some high fives, which Maven accepts with a heavy conscience.

They all stop when they're interrupted by Elara racing to Maven and hugging him close, too worried to notice the 'OH SHIT' faces Mare and Agatha exchange.

Rhian and Tibe join her and ask what the hell happened, Rhian telling them to explain it to him in his tower, away from any eavesdroppers.

They do so, Tedros semi-fanboying to Agatha that he can't believe she was right, and Sophie staying behind to give The Beast one last nervois glance before catching up, not wanting to be alone if/when The Beast wakes up.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Cyberpunk!HypMic

This is an extension of the cyberpunk outfits from this AU.

Originally, these outfits did not have their own universe to exist in - they were just made to fit a theme - but it just so happens HypMic already has a lot of the components required for cyberpunk...(but yikes, this is the densest AU - in terms of worldbuilding - I've had yet...)

TDD, MCD, Kuujaku Posse and NB existed in the past, but not in the context of the DRB - they were just groups of unlikely friends with differing reputations that retroactively came to be known under popular monikers and they ended up accepting those names over time. After WW3 and Chuohku's take over, technology rapidly advanced but society as a whole was wrecked.

As a reminder, the base outfit in this world is a silver body suit which only exposes the head, hands and feet, with black combat boots and a black belt.

In this world, this outfit is typically issued by Chuohku via people like Ramuda, although as you can tell by the outfits given in the magical boy AU, what you put on top of the base outfit can vary wildly. The boots and the belt can be swapped with something else without any trouble - the only thing that can get you into trouble with the authorities is ditching the suit. The body suit is able to purify polluted air within a short distance of itself, but only for the user.

All suit users have an accent colour, typically found on places like the top edge of the boots and on buttons, and the accents glow faintly in the dark. The colours have been adjusted slightly from the magical boy AU to create better glow effects.

...For the outfits that aren't specified, known from the magical boy AU or the same as canon in cases where the character does not rely on the suit, I'll leave them to your imagination, dear readers.

BB:

A team of brothers and odd jobs workers who navigate the digital and the real world to help those in need.

Ichiro: The owner of Odd Jobs Yamada. Prone to poking around with the latest in virtual reality, as well as illegal or semi-legal cybernetics. Resents Samatoki because he interferes with the Yamadas' business often enough to be a nuisance. Accent colour: Bright red.

Jiro: A delinquent and the more physical member of Odd Jobs Yamada (i.e. instead of trying to shut down bad guys using digital trickery, he's more likely to punch them instead). Was going to high school before circumstances shut schools down. Accent colour: Bright (royal) blue.

Saburo: A genius hacker. Was going to middle school before circumstances shut schools down. Accent colour: Bright yellow.

MTC:

An ad hoc crew who, in this world, have much weaker relationships than they do in canon.

Samatoki: A yakuza second-in-command, currently in possession of a strange black cybernetic glove which covers his right arm from the hand up to the elbow. The glove is able to control the air purification feature of the suits, so it's a particularly nasty bit of contraband. Resents Ichiro because Ichiro made a prototype of the glove and that was the last chance Samatoki had of convincing Nemu not to join Chuohku, but she joined them anyway. Also came into possession of an humanoid mecha, via Riou, which became the base of the new Yotsutsuji. Wears his TDD jacket over his shoulders. Accent colour: Indigo.

(Nemu: Currently with Chuohku to improve the world from within the government. Sent the completed glove to her brother because she knew he would keep it safe. Accent colour: Magenta (aka "Chuohku pink").)

Jyuto: A corrupt cop, currently investigating the glove in Samatoki's possession. More overworked than his canon counterpart...Even his trademark glasses have been digitised - they have a small antenna on the left side and can display information on the lenses when Jyuto gives them a mental signal (the display is in his accent colour). Accent colour: Maroon.

Riou: A former navyman who lives in nature, despite it being irreparably wrecked, and would rather not deal with the digital world, considering he's a cyborg (this is how he gets around not having the suit - he was experimented on in Chuohku's pursuit of creating a new supersoldier). Gave Samatoki an ancient industrial military-grade humanoid mecha which is about as tall as he (Samatoki) is.

FP:

Gentaro doesn't know Ramuda and Dice in this world.

Ramuda: A fashion designer who hands out government-mandated suits (for a small fee) while trying to ask out as many ladies as possible. Also sells other items to go with the suits, as would be expected of a typical fashion designer. His allegiance to Chuohku is a lot clearer in this world, but he's not a clone in this - just a normal human with hair dyed pink. Accent colour: Light orange (as per the magical boy AU).

Gentaro: A writer who makes his stories "real" via virtual reality and partnerships with others, such as Odd Jobs Yamada. Has material in some of his stories which he can use to blackmail Chuohku with. Hides his suit under traditional Japanese clothes. Accent colour: Bright purple.

Dice: Officially, he's a gambler who gambles with digital money and can't afford the suit. (Ramuda is not only something like a debt collector to him, he's also Dice's minder and enabler of sorts.) Unofficially, he's the son of Otome, the leader of Chuohku, who, when he was disowned by his family, lost access to the suits. As a result, he occasionally struggles to breathe and has to be helped by someone every so often. (Maybe if Hitoya or Jakurai met him in this world, Dice would be properly saved...?)

MTR:

Jakurai: A doctor, albeit one who prefers to use old-fashioned (that's "modern" to us) methods where possible. Chuohku believes gathering data from his brainwaves is necessary for the progress of developing new medical technology (or so they say...), so he wears a strange device which loops around the back half of his head and sits over his hair, attached to his head by two round (glowing) suction cups just above his ears. Wears his doctor's coat over the suit. Acts as Doppo and Hifumi's therapist and/or meditates in his spare time. Accent colour: Cyan.

Yotsutsuji: Currently in a coma after Chuohku's experiments for new supersoldiers. With the help of the former TDD, Jakurai has placed what could be salvaged of Yotsutsuji's consciousness into a humanoid mecha.

Hifumi: The no. 1 host of Fragrance. Uses virtual reality, projection mapping and other technologies to create entertainment for his clients. Afraid of women, but rather than his jacket, in this world he uses the same technology that aids him in his work to escape them. Accent colour: Neon green.

Doppo: A salaryman with appallingly low pay, no matter how hard he works, due to the fact technology is advanced enough in this world to give him a run for his money...He's lucky he has Jakurai and Hifumi to keep him sane... Accent colour: Teal.

DH:

Rei knows about Sasara and Rosho in this world, but they don't know about him.

Sasara: A comedian, currently under the heel of Chuohku. To this end, there are only certain kinds of jokes he's allowed to say while performing in public, although Sasara tries to get around this as much as he can when he can and secretly wishes to tear down the system with the former TDD + MCD so he can say what he likes again. Remotely communicates with Rosho via a visor and wears a leather jacket similar to Samatoki's TDD jacket in memory of MCD. Accent colour: Bright pink (as per the magical boy AU).

Rosho: A teacher, who lost his job when the school system broke down. He relies on Sasara to provide his basic necessities, but also takes occasional jobs to teach children in small groups or one-on-one, even teaching them comedy skills if he deems it necessary for them to survive in this wartorn world. Remotely communicates with Sasara via a display built into his glasses (which he otherwise wears purely for cosmetic reasons). Accent colour: Purple.

Rei: The creator of various technologies and creations prior to the war, most notably the ubiquitous suits. Currently gathering Jakurai's brainwave data for his own purposes. Has a strange relationship with the upper management of Chuohku, particularly Otome. Instead of sunglasses, he wears a (purely cosmetic) sniper's monocle over his left eye. Accent colour: Orange.

BAT:

Kuko: Back to being a delinquent, after people stopped believing in religion in exchange for technology. However, he still holds on to his beliefs, with the idea that one day, he can bring Buddhism back to a world that needs something to believe in. To this end, he uses virtual reality to recreate the pre-war world as he remembers it. Wears a teal happi coat over his suit and his prayer beads dangle out of his pocket. Accent colour: Mint green. Also known to commonly ditch the government-mandated suit for a particular respirator system created by Hitoya, which has a mess of wires going from the back of his head and going to either his neck or his shoulders (it looks similar to how the robot from the cover art of In My Mind's Axwell Mix has it) - this is due to the fact it looks intimidating and cool, yet it can be a pain to move around with at times.

Jyushi: A visual kei musician who enhances his shows with virtual reality, projection mapping and so on. People get confused when they involve Amanda "coming to life", but they roll with it anyway. Accent colour: Gold (essentially, a darker yellow than Saburo's).

Hitoya: A former lawyer, whose services are no longer needed now that the rules of society the law should operate in do not apply. This freed up his time to pursue his own interests, including creating portable respirator technology which Kuko and Jyushi try out for him (he does this with some help from some connections in the medical field, including Jakurai).