#like realistically its just an old mouse

[theethoslab]

Do you think this second mouse was the one Etho used with his foot?

[alfredosauce50]

Night at the Museum

[America x reader]

Rating: M Word count: 5, 887 Synopsis: You and Alfred decide to visit New York’s Museum of Natural History for old time’s sake. In a stroke of bad luck, you two get locked in overnight, unaware and unprepared for the dangers lurking within. It’s where history comes alive, and he ends up in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a bloodthirsty warlord. The whole time, he’s also wrestling with his feelings for you, and he doesn’t know which is harder. Solipsism: knowledge of anything outside one’s own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind.

“The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.” — Theodore Roosevelt

“Man, we haven’t been here since we were little kids,” Alfred took it all in as he made it inside, to where he was greeted by the skeleton of Tyrannosaurus rex in an awe-inspiring pose. With its head bowed toward the entrance, he and other patrons were greeted by a set of razor-sharp teeth grinning down with a hunger for the ages. “I wonder if anything’s changed. Probably a lot.”

“A bunch of stuff, actually. But it looks like they did a huge revamp on all the wax figures,” You lifted your gaze from a brochure you collected from the front. The museum of natural history wasn’t half as impressive as the Smithsonian, but it had a special place in both of your hearts. “They’re meant to be super realistic now. You know, the whole ‘history comes alive’ pizazz.”

“Huh. Then what would be the difference between here and Madame Tussaud’s?” He glanced at you.

“The people here are worth remembering.”

“Good point.”

As local New Yorkers, it was tradition to come back every once in a while. Yellow cabs, subway crazies, and the best pizza in the world — there was no other city quite like the Big Apple, and you two decided to swing by during your semester break to reconnect with your roots. Needless to say, it was nice to get away from the upbeat chaos of life on campus.

“You think you’re gonna go to Arthur’s Christmas party?” He asked you, peering around the room of American history. There was a shining stagecoach pulled by four black horses, mannequins in confederate and union uniforms with their guns trained at each other, a giant moose, and eagles watching over everything else.

“Well, we kinda have to. Can you imagine how upset he’d be if we didn’t? He’d probably be heartbroken.”

“Yeah, but I get crazy diarrhea every time.” He scoffed, eyes wide as he recalled blowing up the toilet last year.

”You don’t have to remind me.” You shuddered.

“I know, I was just saying. I was thinking we could go somewhere fun,” Alfred gave you an expectant look as he tried to sell you on it. “We could go skating, or just watch a movie back at my place. What do you say?”

“Hm, I don’t know. I’m really craving his scones.”

“Seriously?” 

”But not as much as our time together,” You smiled, watching him light up. Taking his hand, you pulled him along and said this with a laugh. “I’d rather go to the dumpster with you than the Met. You’re my best friend.”

“Yeah.” He softened his gaze. You said that, but the way you held his hand said otherwise. Or was it because you two were that close? Either way, he was starting to go down the pipeline he swore that he wouldn’t.

”Are you okay?” You asked.

”Yeah, I’m fine.” He adjusted his glasses.

“Wanna kiss it better?” You swung his arm playfully.

Alfred glared at you as the only diversion from the fact that he was blushing. It was so like you to say things like that. You were attractive, and you knew it. With your sense of humor, it made for a dangerous game. But he’d been playing it for a while. He covered your entire face with his hand, then pushed you down to a nearby bench in one clean movement.

”Hey!” 

“Hey yourself.” Alfred walked off with his hands in his pockets, as cool as a cucumber.

This might’ve been all fun and games with you, but you weren’t the loneliest animal on the planet here. Not that it made his feelings for you any less real. He liked you, and not because you were an idea in his head.

You were real, every strange thought and neuron of your imagination. You could be as sharp as a tack when you wanted to be. He loved your mind and the way it worked, or at least when you weren’t tantalizing him.

“Remember when we were little we used to take baths together?” You sprung up out of the blue.

”Barely.” Alfred exhaled, wildly unprepared for what just came out of your mouth. But before he reacted any further, he reminded himself just who he was talking to. “That’s probably why we did it in the first place. Why?”

You were sleeping over that time, as you always did every Friday after your philosophy class. Your things were strewn all over his bedroom, like a half-eaten cup noodle, some snacks, and the clothes you brought over.

While he browsed the rest of the displays in the room, he let himself get immersed in that particular memory.

That was when you caught up with him again, even having the nerve to smile up at him with ‘hehe’ written all over your face. He glowered down at you, but really, he was just happy that you were by his side again.

You had a thirty second rebound before doing or saying the next pain in the ass thing, but he forgave you even faster than that. And it had been that way since horseshoe crabs were the only thing roaming the Earth.

”You think we could fit in the bathtub?”

“If you’re asking if I wanna take a bath with you, it’s an immediate no. We’re way too old for that.”

“You don’t have to be such a prude,” You mumbled, rolling your head away. “I was just wondering.”

“I’m not a prude.” He grumbled.

“And it’s not like I haven’t seen your dick before.”

“Yeah, when I was little!” 

“Can’t imagine it’s grown much since then.”

He glared at the ceiling, not wanting to give you the satisfaction of seeing how embarrassed he was.

As much as he’d like to pull his pants down to prove you wrong, he didn’t. Someone had to uphold a sense of decency around here, even if that person had to be him, the worst possible example of it, if he was one at all.

“If you’re done, I’m gonna go to sleep,” He sat up and twisted around to fluff up his pillow. You were starting to drift off by then, but he didn’t let you off so easily. “Don’t let me catch you peeking or I’ll molest you.”

“I wasn’t planning on it, geez.”

And to think he used to be such a cute kid, kicking his ball over your fence just so he could come over to play. You both grew up since then, and with that, came his awful sense of humor among other things.

But if you asked him, he learned from the best.

“You know the nicest people make the best Nazis?” You asked, walking by a glass display of three wax figures. Sakagawea, a young Shoshone woman who guided Lewis and Clarke on their expedition to the Pacific.

“Do they?” He narrowed his eyes in interest.

“Nice people look the other way and just wanna get along with everybody else.” You said, towing him along. “Have the whole country doing that, plus a heap of propaganda, you could get away with anything.”

“Well, if I was a German, I wouldn’t buy into it.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alfred frowned, genuinely offended. “I’m not a freakin’ racist.”

”Being scorned is your kryptonite,” You pointed out, getting him to roll his eyes. So he didn’t like to deviate from standards, and being a raving right-wing was one at the time. “And trust me when I say you would be.”

”That’s why the second amendment exists,” He smiled sagely with a hint of mischief. “If the government was to push some crazy agenda into us, the rednecks wouldn’t have it. We shape society to what we want.”

”What if the society you want isn’t the society someone else wants?” You asked, stopping in front of an exhibit of a male Algonquin warrior. “We all worship something. What’s normal to you might be crazy for someone else.”

”I guess you’re right,” He agreed, gazing upon the person who lived — and believed — in things drastically different than did. His brows came together as he marveled at the man who stood over him, a chief’s son who had been dead for well over a thousand years.

Allen was his name. He had striking scarlet eyes, dark maroon hair, tawny brown skin, and a toned body from a life of hunting and gathering. As he stared out into the middle distance, there was something uncanny about him, like he could come alive at any second, but didn’t.

“What do you think this guy worshipped?” Alfred murmured faintly, strangely captivated by him.

It was humbling to be in the presence of all of these historical figures, but intimidating to imagine them as people who existed. He was a history nut, and one thing he understood was how astonishingly cruel and violent the past could be. From the swashbuckling tales of the Wild West to the burning sands of Ancient Egypt, everything was best enjoyed from the comforts of his modern American home. Or in this case, a museum.

Where all of the exhibits were mere imitations of the long dead and gone, it would take no less than a miracle for any of them to come back to life. Little did he know, a miracle was exactly what he’d be in for tonight. 

You two poked around some more, eventually ending up in the Northern European section of the museum. Nothing really stood out to him besides the Vikings, who also caught the attention of the general public.

“This man was the greatest viking to have ever lived. Mathias Densen, the king of Danes,” A guide showed off a wax exhibit to a crowd of tourists. You and Alfred were among them, having taken the liberty to tune in.

Some took pictures, others whispered amongst themselves at the impressive lookalike made to imitate a legend out of the sagas. He had blonde hair swept up in the front in an unruly mane, and the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen. With his arm raised and axe in hand, he was frozen in time, suspended in a pose so natural, it looked like he’d bring it down at any given moment.

“He was the most feared warrior in all of Scandinavia. When he threw an axe at his enemy, he never missed. But all blood and gore aside, he will go down in history as one of the best leaders and explorers of all time.”

”Wouldn’t wanna get him angry, huh?” Alfred gave you a side-eye, returning his gaze to the information plate. That was when he saw a portrait of a woman who was supposedly the only one who could go toe-to-toe with his ruthlessness. “You know, she kinda looks like you.”

”Really?” You leaned over. “I don’t see it.”

”No way. You guys are like twins!” He exclaimed.

“Maybe just the eyes.”

“Maybe she’s your long-lost ancestor or something.”

After another hour of walking around and talking, you and Alfred left to get to the exit. It was approaching closing time, and you two were among the last to leave. A security guard stood near the revolving doors, bidding farewell to guests. But before he could acknowledge you two, Alfred stopped and patted around his shirt.

“Shit, I left my glasses.” He winced.

Neither of you two thought it would’ve been problem to go back and retrieve them at the time. Who would’ve thought they’d made the security so much tighter that it would end up the biggest mistake of your lives?

After sweeping room after room, he eventually found them on the ground next to a bench. Sliding them onto his nose, he picked up a brisk jog as he made his way back downstairs. But by then, it was too late.  

“Now let’s get out before we get locked in.”

”Don’t jinx us.” 

”Not gonna happen.” 

And he said that so confidently too. Because when he pushed at the revolving door, it didn’t budge. 

”What’s wrong?” You asked from behind. 

“Nothing, just give me a sec…” He rattled it a few more times, but to no avail. Then, he let out a heavy breath as he admitted the one thing he thought could never happen. “… Okay, I think we’re locked in.”

“You’re joking.” You blurted.

You brushed past him to give the door a strong shake, needing that same taste of defeat before believing it yourself. Sure enough, it was locked shut, and would likely stay locked all the way up til morning.

“Oh my God, we are. What are we gonna do?”

”Call the cops.” He suggested, pulling out his phone to dial 9-11. After a few tries, to which he stared at you tensely with it pressed up to his ear, he found that the call kept failing. “Annnnd the cops aren’t picking up.”

“Well, keep trying! Call Arthur or something.” 

For the next thirty minutes, you both paced around while trying to reach local government services, then friends or loved ones. It slowly became apparent that you two weren’t getting out anytime soon.

You weren’t the type to express it, let alone say it, but you were getting scared and uncomfortable.

So was he, but like hell he’d let it show. Not because he didn’t have the balls to admit it, but it was the last thing you needed right now. You weren’t looking at him, and he knew in an instant that you were on the verge.

“We’re not gonna make it out, are we?”

Alfred was crushed with so much guilt, he couldn’t even react when the lights dimmed, plunging the museum into a pitch-black darkness. His eyes stayed wide with remorse, even when he couldn’t see you anymore.

In that moment, he came over and hugged you as tight as he could, lips pursed in a deep frown. It wasn’t every day that he could hold you like this, but he set aside every shard of his shattered ego to do it.

Even if he had to do it in the dark.

There couldn’t be a better metaphor for his feelings. Alfred had always been too afraid to tell you how he felt, and if he did, he’d do it in a way that was hidden from plain sight. This was one of those times.

It was one thing to admit he was scared. It was another to say he was sorry. But telling you how much you truly meant to him was damn near impossible. So instead of doing any of the above, he let you sleep on him.

He had his back on a cold hard bench while you drifted away. There was no way he was getting any sleep tonight, but this was just his karma. So he stayed like that for the next few hours, to which you began to stir. 

“You good?” He asked in a soft murmur.

”Yeah,” You rubbed your eyes. “Just a little thirsty.”

”I’m pretty sure there’s a fountain outside.” He helped you up, putting on his glasses. “I’ll come with you.” 

”No, it’s fine.” You sighed, getting up to leave the room. 

”Hey,” Alfred softened his gaze, getting you to slow to a stop. He was so exhausted, all of his walls were coming down. And he couldn’t stand to bottle it up inside him any longer. “I’m sorry, okay? This was all my fault.”

”It’s okay. We can’t all be born perfect.” You cracked a smile, walking off. But the happy note only lasted so long once you got to the hallway outside. It was so dark, you could barely see the ground beneath you.

With nothing but the wall lamps to illuminate the empty halls, the institution turned into nothing but a graveyard: a dim labyrinth of the long dead and gone. And like all graveyards, there were ghosts.

The black outline of wax figures lined your peripherals, and you gazed at them nervously as you made your way to the fountain. After a few satisfying gulps, you began making your way back to the room. That was when you heard the echo of footsteps in the distance, too far away to have made sense at the time. Someone was at the end of the hall, and it couldn’t have been Alfred.

“Hello?” You called out to the source.

The shadow of a man appeared around the corner, the details of his wild, upswept hair showing up on the wall. When he revealed himself, he was covered head to toe in thick fur pelts and armor. Your eyes went wide ever so slowly, heart racing as you were struck with this realization. He was a spitting image of the viking you’d seen on display, but he wasn’t just an inanimate statue made of colored wax and glue. He was moving.

Breathing. 

He was alive.

Alfred waited patiently for you to come back, though he regretted letting you go out by yourself. It wasn’t like there was anything out there, but you must’ve been afraid under that bravado you showed him. If only he knew how wrong he’d been. As he sat on the bench, the museum slowly came to life. All of its waxy inhabitants, people gone for centuries, returned from the dead.

And the lights came back on, one by one.

The Viking’s chest heaved for the air that hadn’t filled his lungs in eons. And with eyes as blue as the oceans he sailed across, he stared at you like he had just seen a ghost. They had a light in them they never had before, a consciousness, a soul, and you stared right back. But the way he looked at you was like nothing you’d expect. There wasn’t a trace of hostility in his gaze, but something deeply emotional and coherent.

Not that any of that mattered to you.

You split, running from him as fast as you could and with more adrenaline than what you thought was humanly possible. But then again, what you witnessed was a testament to the impossible. The dead walked, and you were trapped in here with hundreds of them. Whipping your head over your shoulder, you let out a frightened cry when you saw him chasing you. 

Your screams echoed down the hall, and Alfred felt his blood go cold hearing them. But he forced himself to stand, and without a shred of hesitation, he ran outside to look for you. When you weren’t by the fountain, his heart sank to the pit of his stomach. And his face, now whiter than a sheet of paper. Where did you go?

“(F/N)!” He yelled, sprinting down the hall.

But more importantly, what was it that made you scream? Whatever it was, he knew he’d never forgive himself if something happened to you. The lights were now on, and he swore he could hear the tapping of what sounded like hundreds of footsteps. There was something around the corner, or someone, he just never would’ve anticipated it beyond his wildest imagination.

“Where are you?” Once be got around the turn, what he saw put a stopper to his thoughts, derailing them with the most fantastical thing he had ever seen. His eyes flew open, and his mouth went agape so he could let out a shaky breath. “What the hell is going on?”

Swathes of people dressed in cultural adornments and even objects were out and about, talking to each other in languages he couldn’t even begin to decipher. Inuits, African tribesmen, and Edwardian socialites walked along the halls like time had just shattered upon itself. Marble sculptures, copper statues, and other pieces of art were moving about like they weren’t made of some kind of rock. There was even a Terracotta soldier, who was accompanied by a Chinese dragon made entirely out of green jade. Elephants, rhinos, and giraffes passed by in a strangely calm fashion like this wasn’t their first rodeo in the museum. Everyone did, except for him. 

“No way.” He whispered, glancing left to right as he picked up a jog. If he wasn’t wrong, everything in the museum had come to life. Was he dreaming? He had to be. In his dazed stupor, he ran into a medieval knight. There was a loud clank, and he would’ve winced from how much it hurt if it weren’t for being spoken to. 

“Excuse me. Watch where you’re going!” 

“Sorry!” He blurted. “I’m so sorry.”

”That’s alright! But you look a bit pale there, kid. What seems to be the problem?” The knight questioned, still wearing his helmet and hiding his face. Aside from his silver armor, he wore pure white garments with a blood red cross — the signature outfit of a crusader knight.

“Oh, um, where do I start?” Alfred panted, speaking in a frazzled manner. Funnily enough, this was the straightest he’d been thinking now that someone was talking to him. “Oh, I know! How the hell is everyone and everything in this museum alive right now?”

“I’d normally have a better answer, but I’ve never read anything like this in the Bible,” The other scratched their head through their helmet inquisitively. “Maybe I missed a chapter. But honestly, I’m just as lost as you are.”

“I’m sorry, what?” 

“The Bible. The word of God. Haven’t you heard of it?”

”I know what the Bible is!” Alfred raised his voice into a frustrated hiss, but he instantly felt bad for it. “Sorry. I’m talking to a monk, here. I should be more respectful. But never mind that. I’m looking for my friend. I’m worried something happened to her.”

”I could help you look for her!” 

“That would be great, thank you.” 

”I’m Gilbert. Proud Templar Knight and brother from the Temple of Solomon.” They took off their helmet and held it against their hip, revealing a head of white hair and ruby-red eyes. Then, they outstretched a gloved hand for him with a toothy grin. “Pleasure to meet you.” 

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Alfred, uh, son of Arthur, and student hailing from New York,” Alfred improvised awkwardly, giving it a slow, disoriented shake. “Wow. I can’t believe I’m talking to a Crusader knight right now.”

“So where did you last see your friend?” Gilbert asked.

Mathias carried you all the way to the other side of the museum, and you thrashed the whole time, begging him to let you go. When he finally put you down, he kept a firm grip on your hand. You were greeted by other Vikings, and just when you thought you’d be sacrificed like a goat, they broke out in wide smiles.

Besides them speaking in old Norse to you, which you had no way of comprehending, they were more than pleasant to you, even offering you some plastic food, which you politely declined. From the way they acted around you, it was like being with an old friend.

It became clear that they had no intention of harming you, but why they brought you here was still a mystery.

”I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you guys are saying,” You interrupted meekly, darting your nervous eyes between them. They stared at you with blank faces before exchanging confused looks with each other. “Could you please let me go? I don’t want any trouble.”

“Where did you run off to? I haven’t seen you all week. I was worried something happened to you,” Mathias spun you to him, hugging you tightly before putting his hands all over you. “You’re speaking in tongues and acting very strange! We need to get you a doctor.”

”I didn’t understand that either.” You sighed.

”It’s worse than I thought. Somebody get Olaf,” The Dane ordered, summoning another Viking to come over. They took your arm and led you off, much to your dismay. “Look after her for me, friend. In the meantime, I have a man to hunt. He’s the one responsible for this.”

”Hey, wait! Where are you taking me?” You exclaimed, glancing back at Mathias as he left. In that precise moment, your best friend’s words replayed in your mind like a tape. You looked just like his wife, and so much that it had the actual guy fooled. “Oh no. Alfred!” 

It didn’t take a linguist to know that he was in trouble, but there was nothing you could do. Your companions kept you inside their make-shift hut, treating you as one of their own. They laid you down and spoke to you very slowly, so they must’ve thought you had a concussion. Either way, they weren’t letting you out of their sight.

You just hoped Alfred brushed up on his history, because he’d be needing it tonight.

”Where the hell could she be?” Alfred walked with his newest companion. “We checked everywhere!” 

”Actually, we still haven’t checked Northern Europe.” Gilbert corrected, getting the blonde to turn in the direction of said location. But he launched a hand out and grabbed him, pulling him back. “Don’t. It’s suicide.”

”Why?” He frowned.

”It’s occupied by Norse Pagans.” The albino warned, pulling him close for a tantalizing whisper. He glanced around before he continued, almost as if speaking of them would summon them like the devil himself.

”Norse Pagans? You mean Vikings?”

“They came here last week, and it’s been Hell ever since.” Gilbert took his collar as he whispered in a panicked hush. “We sent a missionary up there once, and he came back to us completely dismembered!”

“Oh, fuck.” Alfred dug his hands through his hair, now a nervous wreck as he envisioned the thought. But what made his stomach really churn was the unshakeable thought that it was probably where you were.

For that, he was surprised he hadn’t vomited already. And he almost did when Gilbert went off on a passionate spiel of the Scandinavian heathens and everything they’d done. That was when one appeared at the end of the hall, and it wasn’t just any Scandinavian heathen.

”I mean, he’s okay now, but it was really disturbing.” The other made a face of unease as he recalled the sight. It wasn’t something a person was meant to see in their lifetime, but at least he was in a more dubious position now. “I don’t think they care for God.”

“Dude.”

”What?”

”That’s the Viking I saw earlier today.” Alfred whispered, locking eyes with Mathias who stood no more than three hundred feet away from him. In the next three seconds, the Dane broke into a sprint, charging at him at a terrifying speed like a mad bull. He let out a wheeze, likely the sound of his soul escaping his body. “Aaaand he’s running at us. Well, this has been a good life.”

”God hasn’t forsaken us yet!” Gilbert unsheathed a gleaming longsword, swinging it in impressive circles.  

Mathias launched an axe at him, and it spun through the air so fast, it passed as nothing but a white flash.

It cut Gilbert’s head clean off, getting it to land on the ground with a thump. There was no blood or flesh, just a cross-section of wax where he was decapitated. While he had his face planted on the floor, he said this in a muffled voice. “So that’s what that feels like.” 

But Alfred had already fled by then.

He never stuck around to see his friend lose his dignity, much less his own. He whimpered a little as he pumped his legs as fast as he could. He was running on so much adrenaline, his bloodstream may as well have been battery acid. But not everybody could outrun a Viking, and he would’ve eaten it if it weren’t for the arm that shot out from the side, pulling him into a room.

When he turned to the stranger who’d saved him, he recognized him to be the native Algonquin warrior he’d seen earlier that day. Only this time, he was perfectly canny and had an unrivaled sharpness that would end up ensuring his survival. While Mathias ran by outside with his pelts and armor clinking away, Allen put a finger up to his mouth to get him to stay deathly still.

But above all else, quiet.

There they crouched, hidden from plain sight like the watchful forces of nature. In the most tense ten seconds of their lives, they stared at each other, cerulean and scarlet eyes as wide as they could get them. For a moment, Alfred forgot he was being chased, deeply enchanted by the person in front of him. He was quite literally gazing back into history, a thousand years into the past to be precise. But once the coast was clear, he went back to hyperventilating. He was still in shock from everything that just happened, and the first thing he let out was an excited, albeit exasperated gasp. 

“Oh my God. You just saved my life. Thank you!” 

”Don’t mention it.” Allen took his bow off so he could arm himself with it. Then, he peered outside the door, making sure there weren’t any Vikings in the area. Turning back to the blonde, he pulled an arrow from his quiver without breaking eye contact. “I’ve been tracking that guy for days, and this is the craziest I’ve ever seen him. You have any idea why he would be after you?”

“How should I know? I don’t know the guy personally!” Alfred exclaimed, following him out into the hall. 

“You must’ve done something to piss him off.”

”But I didn’t do anything!” 

“Then he wouldn’t waste his time chasing you when he’d rather search for his girlfriend.” Allen remarked. “One of my pals can speak his language, and he says he’s been looking for her ever since he got here.”

“Fuck, that’s it. Why didn’t I think of it before?”

They ran to the elevator, to which he pressed the button for the basement. It had always been on the tip of his tongue, but the whirlwind of a night left his head more scrambled than he thought. And now that he had it all pieced together, he came up with a plan to save you.

“I came here with my friend, and she looks exactly like his wife. He must’ve seen us together. But it’s okay, I have an idea. They must have extra wax figures in storage, right? If she’s as important as they say, they must have her tucked away down here somewhere.”

“Okay, so we do a trade-off.”

”Exactly.”

”Smart.” Allen pursed his lips, thoroughly impressed.

The doors slid open and thus, they began their search, sweeping the entire basement for the reason why the museum had turned into a war zone. After an hour or so, Alfred heard someone banging away and calling for help from inside a tall wooden crate. A woman, and she sounded just like you. He and Allen walked up to it, then cracked it open like a treasure chest. Lo and behold, it was your doppelgänger, but dressed in the height of fashion from what was a thousand years ago.

“I think we found our girl.” He murmured in awe.

The three of you got back to the elevator. It was a given that the you from the Viking age was a little hesitant to get into such a tight box, but Allen had a way with body language. He made a few gestures to let you know where he was taking you. What more was that these two men had just broken you out of an even tighter box, so you had no reason not to trust them. 

“You know, I meant to ask, but doesn’t it bother you that there is a living, breathing, homicidal axe-wielding maniac running around the museum every night?” Alfred asked, feeling strangely calm now that he sensed that the night’s excitement was coming to an end. 

“We’re not alive the way you’re alive,” Allen told him. That was right. As magical as it was to have the museum come to life, it wasn’t real. History had done its course. He spoke with power and humility as he confronted that fact, and for that, he seemed to be at peace. “We’ve had our shot. But you still have yours.”

“I have the craziest chills right now.”

”But also because we’re made of wax.”

“Okay, that makes more sense.” Alfred laughed a little, turning to him. ”So how come you speak English?”

”I’ve been on display here for years,” Allen grinned, walking out now that the elevator doors opened. They returned to the bustling halls of the Museum of Natural History, where history had really come to life that night. “New York is my home. Always has been.”

”Explains the accent.” 

It didn’t take long to track down Mathias again, and when he finally laid eyes on the one he’d been searching for, he turned into an entirely different person. His anger, terror, and everything that made him a legend, had all but melted into a deep emotional coherence.

He was nothing but a man now. A man with his own joys and sorrows like everybody else.

He dropped his ax and ran up to his long-lost love, picking her up and embracing her after what felt like an eternity. He finally found her again after a thousand years, and the scene was quite profound to behold.

But if you asked Alfred, it wasn’t as touching as his reunion with you. He found you in the hall of Northern Europe, holed up in a tent and rubbing your eyes. They were red from crying, and the way you looked at him was something he’d burn in his mind forever. And the way you hugged him, a feeling he’d never get tired of.

”I knew you’d come.” You squeezed him.

“Of course I came,” He squeezed you back, burying his face into the crooked of your neck. “But maybe it’s time that I switch out my glasses for some contact lenses. Don’t wanna keep losing them like I did tonight.”

“No way!” You gushed. “I like the way you look now.”

”Yeah?” He smiled rosily. From that outburst alone, he knew you’d forgiven him for everything that happened. But from the sound of things, you had a much easier time than he did. On the way home, he enthused you on the people he met and his close brushes with death. 

“You ever hear of a term called solipsism?” You asked. 

“Doesn’t ring a bell.” He shook his head.

“It’s the concept that everything around you doesn’t exist and is made up by your own mind,” You explained, stopping him in the middle of the street. It was dawn by then, and the rising sun cast a golden glow over your tender smile. “But if everything around me is just my imagination, you’re the best thing I’ve come up with.”

His eyes went wide, shocked by how sweet you just were. Just like that, everything he ever pined away for didn’t matter anymore. He was worth more to you than an adventure of a lifetime because he was that adventure. But at the same time, Alfred fell even harder for you, and it showed in the way his gaze softened. 

”Right back at you, sport.” 

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

Tomcat Disposables (Will Wood)

Is there cheese in the great beyond/What's the moon made of?/Meet me there after I'm gone/Life gets short, our teeth grow long/Mind me not, and I'll/Mind my own, and my mind/Held the same light as the one in your eyes/Do I belong in right and wrong?/One dies alone, and why?/Don't know/Goodbye, so long

"Song is from POV of a mouse, wishing for someone to love and just to survive really. In the end the mouse is poisoned."

"This song. Is about a mouse. A MOUSE. it has no RIGHT being able to make me bawl my eyes out. so essentially will wood made friends with a mouse he found in his kitchen and was like feeding it and stuff. and his landlord said he had to kill it because mice carry diseases. so he had to set out a poison trap and kill it. and after he did so he wrote this song in tribute to it. it’s all from the mouse’s perspective and goes through the betrayal of being poisoned. ‘what’s the moon made of? meet me there after I’m gone!’ fucks me up so much you have absolutely no idea"

Real Life (Drawn to Life)

Faking it will make it better/Better than it was before/And lies could bring us close together/So I won't be lonely no more/Pretending it doesn't matter/Could help me pass the time/In make-believe he'll hide forever But this is real life

"(Spoilers for the game obviously) Picture this: You are 8 years old, playing a cute game about colouring in the world, where you draw your own playable character and platforms and all sorts of gameplay mechanics. All the characters are adorable little rabbit people. Then, at the very end, it turns out that the ENTIRE GAME was taking place inside the mind of a little boy in a coma, the villain was draining colour away to stop him from waking up, and the solution to all this is to DESTORY THE WORLD AND ALL ITS CHARACTERS to wake the boy. It then plays the end credits sequence with this song. The art style is really realistic all of a sudden, and shows a family coming home from a carnival and getting into a car crash in the dark that kills the parents, severely injures the sister, and leaves the brother in a coma. At the end, he finally wakes up, his sister hugs him, and there's a single shot of the two main characters of the game, revealed to be dolls they won at the carnival. This traumatised so many children that the sequence was changed completely in re-releases! TL;DR The song is about a sister singing to her little brother in a coma, trying to bring him back to 'real life' instead of the fantasy he creates in his head. This all happens at the end of a cutesy game made for children."

Real Life submitted by @mooseghost

[smorbee]

iBook Pyramid Behind the scenes!

This is a long one. Also keep in mind we made this a year ago so were going completely off of memory at this point BUT we do have the files. Unfortunately we didn't save specific versions of it really early into its creation so all the blender files close to being finished.

We have an intense appreciation for funky old computers. People correctly identified inspiration from the Thinkpad 701C. Less obvious in the final design but something that almost certainly influenced us as well was the 12-inch powerbook g4.

There is something very satisfying about nearly-square shaped laptops.

Others mentioned the JVC 3100R pyramid TV which, you'll be surprised to learn, we had never actually seen until after working on this project. The resemblance is uncanny and yet, entirely coincidental. Honestly if we had seen this thing, it probably would have had an effect on our design because the way that hinge is set up is beautiful. Our thought process was simply just comically emulating the form factor of a modern laptop but with a giant CRT.

We're pretty sure the idea started out as simply wanting to design a full profile keyboard into a macbook-like laptop because funny, and at some point the butterfly keyboard came to mind and we said Screw it and implemented that into it as well. Heres the keyboard separated into the different sections.

Sorry to say that the keyboard does not actually contain any switches. (You'll see that this computer was modeled to be viewed a limited angle)

Heres the keyboard from the top.

Once we got going with it, the whole thing was turned into a big joke of course, clashing many different eras of technology into one. Such as this massive beige tank of a "laptop" having a single USB C port as its main I/O.

And same with the software. This is the texture for the display, Which was taken from our real (unfortunately not crt based) macbook setup at the time. Except not quite, as the original screenshot was 16:10. We simply edited the image to make it 4:3. This is running mac os 12 with a majority of the icons changed to early osx equivalents.

We'll be real and admit the animation is not very intricate, theres no real "rig" for the model, parts are just parented together because we did all this in about 2 days. That said, we had loads of fun animating it still, trying to imitate the motion of someone struggling to lift the heavy top up before it swings open with an inaudible, but easily imaginable "Thud". Making the whole body shake and the trackball jump slightly was the finishing touch to make it complete.

The wire for the trackball was made using a circle with the screw modifier and then applied to a curve. Here's what it looks like with each modifier applied sequentially.

And then making the trackball itself a handle for the curve, we can have the cable be dynamic. (Yes, we notice that the trackball in fact has no mouse buttons. No good explanation for that, I think we just forgot lmao.)

For the screen, we make use of a location transform on the UV mapping for the satisfying detail of the screen distorting from the impact, which we swear we've seen before but no matter how hard we (safely) bumped our CRT monitor we weren't able to recreate it. Nonetheless even if its not entirely realistic we wouldn't remove it for anything.

speaking of which, an utterly useless detail considering the resolution and distortion of the final renders and yet we added anyways just for our own amusement is that the display has a shadowmask, simply done by just multiplying it over the base screen texture.

Combined with a glass material over the inner part of the screen, it utterly destroys low sample count renders of the screen and makes the project at least 3x as prone to crashing so thats cool! (it crashed on us while we were writing this section)

We've learned since in future projects that trying to optimize polygon count and materials is still very important even for offline rendered content. We can never be truly free from the constraints of memory limitations 😔

the final step was getting a more authentic less "polished" look in the compositing. This step can get very complicated based on the specific look were going for, but for this render its really just basic color correction and some blurring and sharpening steps. We used the default fake jitter node in blender at the time, though in more recent stuff we use the non-denoised image with filters applied to it instead, so its less uniform between images and more uniquely degraded looking.

Though we'd do a number of things differently now were still pleased with the final result. especially in animated form.

Heres an overview of the scene:

This is the bezeled apple logo in polygon form. Its simply an alpha texture with a normal map:

Thats all for now! Thank you for reading!

[lordtrypophobia]

Hello! I bring other drawings from Garden of Banban (this time with more characters, I make too many of the Sheriff.)

In the last drawing are Stinger Flynn and a character from another game called Jellyhead, from Nameless Cat. The game is very good and, for those who don't know it, it is in the Play Store for mobile phones. They are both jellyfish and I thought it was cute to draw them together. I certainly feel like they are polar opposites.

Regarding my Stinger design, I would like to say that I tried to give him more details, with fresher wounds as if he had been in a fight. Everything that is fluorescent yellow (the inside of its tentacles and the bottom of its head) glows for children afraid of the dark. It also has the smell and texture of orange peel, for some reason I thought of putting that in, I like oranges. 👹

And about Nabnab, I didn't change him much, I gave him a small normal spider tail, I made his two lower eyes black and his upper eye has a small pupil. It's the same character but with a slightly more realistic style.

I try to make them all in my own style, so they have one or two details that aren't from Gob's original designs, but I think that makes them prettier.

Finally! I was able to finish the drawing of the Sheriff Toadster on my grandparents' old computer, it's torture to use Paint with the mouse, but I really liked how it turned out, maybe it was worth it!

Un poco del proceso del dibujo.

And apart from the drawings of Gob's canon characters, I also invented my own oc, I decided to call her Fally Eucaly, she is a Koala and one of the calmest characters in the game.

Clarifying that they are not drawn in 3D to look like the original Gob characters, more or less this is how their design would be in the game. I noticed that there is little inclusion, in terms of children with disabilities, so, with some fear that my character will be judged, she is the one who takes care of all the needs of these children, Both with mental and physical disabilities, so that no one is left out of daycare. Despite its tender appearance, it has a mouth instead of a neck, meaning that it can open its mouth in such a way that what appears to be its head moves back, but it usually hides it, even when speaking. Maybe in the future I'll talk more about Fally's lore, but for now I'll leave it here.

Here is his little drawing on the mural, I don't know how much effort they put into painting her, literalmente es una pelota con ojos. Her phrase is "Be yourself. Those who are truly your family will love you just the way you are."

And finally, a drawing of Fally more in my style. I like it much better how it looks like this than in Gob's "original style".

That's all for now, I'll probably try to draw the other characters too, it's entertaining.

Goodbye gente bonita.

[a-mole-of-iron]

Yes, we can stop climate change - and solve ecological problems in general

In the last few years, I have seen again and again a particular social response to climate change that can leave human civilization just as devastated as denying or ignoring climate change: and that is doomism, and fellow-traveler ideas of eco-fascism and eco-austerity. Make no mistake: climate change is a very serious issue that can cause noticeable damage to Earth and a hell of a lot of damage to humanity, but people absolutely love to take it to lurid extremes, like "Mad Max hellworld" and "Earth becoming the second Venus by 2100". In this post, I'm just going to lay out numerous reasons why the situation is far from hopeless, why sensationalized narratives of climate change are just a petty excuse for inaction, why "we'd better start taking mud baths to get used to being in the ground" rhetoric is incredibly dangerous (not to mention a betrayal of the weak and vulnerable by the strong and well-off), and why, ultimately, things aren't as dire as "the common wisdom" proclaims - so that people can stop feeling crushed by hopelessness, and start solving all of the very, very real environmental problems the way they're already being solved. All my examples will be sourced from the IPCC reports and real-world accomplishments in eco-restoration, via an extremely helpful blog called Doomsday Debunked, which just reprints all the IPCC and IPBES findings that doomist media and activism deliberately omits.

Most of this post is adapted from one I already made before elsewhere - but perhaps on Tumblr it's going to become more popular and widespread. I'm going to split it into three different sections: climate change mitigation, biodiversity recovery, and why "green austerity" is not a brilliant idea, will not save anything, and is ultimately an outdated falsehood that emerged from a place of insufficient knowledge and understanding. Almost all paragraphs contain links to sources/more info, but they may be hard to see in some custom Tumblr themes - be sure to mouse over if you want to find the links.

CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND YOU: how renewable energy really can save the world!

Here's the biggest thing first: Climate Action Tracker, which is a pretty damn respectable source, has slashed off 1.1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius off its average warming projections since 2010, according to their own records. Hell, in 2018, three degrees of warming was a pledge, and four degrees was the expected upper limit; now three degrees is expected if the current level of fossil fuel consumption continues without any reduction - and two degrees is the policy target, while optimistic projections are inching closer to 1.5 degrees. And to "achieve" 5 degrees Celsius of warming, which is misleadingly described by journalists as "business as usual" when by our current day it's anything but, we would need an economic mobilization from now to 2100 to burn all the coal that we can possibly burn. With coal plants shutting down in reality simply due to being unprofitable, I don't have to tell you how "realistic" and "plausible" that is. The takeaway from this is simple: the Paris Agreement and environmental activism work, and I really don't see them winding down unless we let doomism reign supreme.

A specific example of policy and technology that can seriously reduce climate change is the amazing growth of solar power over the last 10 years. I am old enough to remember the early 2000s, when solar photovoltaics (the panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity) were an unproven, esoteric, and expensive technology, and people meant solar water heaters when they said "solar power"… but nowadays? There is literally predictions that if solar energy keeps growing at current rates, and considering it already beats fossil fuels on price, it might simply price out gas, coal, and oil before 2050, rendering them entirely obsolete. Even now, investment into coal or gas power plants is seen as an incredibly stupid thing to do, because they might become "stranded assets" - too expensive to run, and unable to even recoup their initial cost.

The clathrate gun/Arctic methane bomb hypothesis has been effectively disproven at the current time. The release of methane from clathrates is endothermic, meaning it takes in more heating than it releases; a direct opposite of a gunshot/explosion, which is an exothermic reaction. More modern research also turned up the fact that methane has been seeping upwards at a constant rate for millennia now - we just didn't monitor it. Seabed disturbance could possibly upturn some of the clathrates, but ocean warming alone simply can't do it - it would take thousands of years of warming for the temperature change to propagate to the kind of depth that methane clathrates are found at.

The hypothesis of runaway greenhouse effect has effectively been disproven too: with a more powerful greenhouse effect, Earth's albedo grows just as fast as the heat-trapping capacity, meaning runaway warming is highly unlikely and the only cause are human industry CO2 emissions, which can be obsoleted by renewables and thus stopped.

The biggest threat from climate change as it is now appear to be extreme weather events; for example physically straining heatwaves, or severe floods from large amounts of rainfall. And those are serious problems. But heatwaves can be deal with by adapting our environments - the most obvious example being to plant some trees instead of layering our cities in concrete. Similarly, flood management isn't some arcane art; we know how to do it. It's just been ignored due to complacency and budgetary stinginess.

The expectations of social collapse from climate change are… overstated, let's say. The IPCC's own worst-case scenario is NOT "Earth as a lifeless desert" or "collapse of human society"; the situation IPCC associated with three-degree warming is that hundreds of millions risk being displaced by sea level rise and temperatures in the tropics getting too hot for comfortable life with no weather difficulties (NOT THE SAME as "you go out at any point during the summer, you die in ten minutes"), and the UN Sustainable Development Goals will be left in ruins. In other words, the poor people of the world will go back to starving and suffering, and the rich, especially in the West, will for the most part retain their quality of life. And so to me, as a non-Western, not-ultra-rich person, doomism is a personal affront, and doomism from solarpunks and environmentalists is a grave betrayal.

Speaking of the IPCC reports: the last one states with decent confidence that as soon as we stop pumping CO2 into the atmosphere, temperatures will begin to drop. Just think on this for a minute.

The "1970s MIT supercomputer that predicted the collapse of civilization by 2040"? That computer was not just less powerful than a smartphone from five years ago - it modeled the world as a single pixel, primitive even by the standards of the day. (Link to article that features actual model comparisons, via browser-based Javascript emulation. 'Nuff said.)

The so-called "deep adaptation" paper that managed to put people into therapy by its sheer grimness? Junk science that was rebuffed by Michael Mann - the author of the "hockey stick graph" of global temperatures, so not a climate denier by any means - in a four-letter tweet.

Earth turning into a second Venus by 2100? Yeah. That's… not gonna happen. We literally don't have enough fossil fuels to induce a greenhouse effect this bad, at any timescale, and I don't know if we could do it even if we started importing dry ice from space and cracking carbonate minerals for their carbon content to deliberately destroy the planet for some stupid reason.

And just because I feel like mentioning it: no, Earth can't run out of oxygen for us to breathe, barring an invasion of Galactus or some other planet-devouring alien.

BIODIVERSITY + CONSERVATION: lies, damned lies, and statistics

The infamous notion that we are heading for a world without insects was based on a study where half the map was blank, and some countries only counted the domestic honeybee (which relies on humans to thrive). Not all plants need insects to pollinate them, either. But at the same time, overuse of insecticides in agriculture is a serious issue with many adverse effects, and it has to be fought against. There is currently a campaign in Europe with this aim. Native grass lawns in cities help a lot too, more than you would think at first.

Similarly, there is a general notion that we are "in the middle of a sixth mass extinction", except we're not "in the middle". We're in the beginning of one. Now, if we all start/keep behaving like the Glukkons from the Oddworld series of games, or the Blargs from the first Ratchet & Clank game, for a few hundred more years - then we're totally going to face an impoverished biosphere with half or more known species dead. But if we do that, I'd say extinction of species would be far from our only problem.

The number one agricultural land use that drives deforestation is grazing cattle and growing crops to feed them; cropland and cities simply don't compare. Ergo, just by shifting to plant-based diets supplemented by lab-grown meat cultures and sustainable fish, we can rewild nearly 30% of Earth. And climate impacts there can be reduced too, if you simply buy local.

For a reforestation success story on a massive scale, look no further than the Loess Plateau.

Conservation success stories are actually plentiful; however, they do not get aired on the news because good news does not draw in views, clicks, and outrage. You can just go through this article on Doomsday Debunked to see how successful nature conservation can actually be.

The only two biomes that are most endangered by climate change are coral reefs (which would be replaced by the more resilient sponge reefs at 3 degrees of warming or around that), and the mountain glaciers, which will take thousands of years to recover, unlike the polar ice caps that'll be back in a couple of decades. But even corals have shown more resilience than expected before, so the scale of devastation is not nearly as huge as people might imagine.

GREEN AUSTERITY: "Friendly fire! Stop shooting, you pointy-eared leaf lover!"

A common, in fact extremely common, idea is that the only way to save the planet is accepting massive reductions to our quality of life - and by "massive" I mean "living in dugouts and doing subsistence agriculture while literally billions of people die for lack of warmth and medicine". Not only is this unacceptable, it's also a complete lie. The best way for someone living in the car-dependent, fossil-fuel-hungry sprawl of North America to reduce their carbon footprint is actually moving to a country with walkable, bikeable cities and good public transportation, like the Netherlands… or preferably, reforming and rebuilding their own local environment to this standard that used to exist in NA before its suburbanization that included zero public transport due to auto industry lobbying. NotJustBikes is an entire YouTube channel that explains this better than I ever could.

Another common idea is that building enough renewable generation capacity is just not possible with existing resources here on Earth. But consider this for a moment: when we mine metals and make them into electric engines or batteries, they don't go anywhere, with the only possible exception being metal flaking off due to corrosion. The metals composing wind turbine generators, electric vehicle motors, and batteries, or silicon composing the solar panels, remain in place and can be recycled several times, if not infinitely. Oil and coal that our current civilization burns for fuel EMPHATICALLY CANNOT be recycled - the entire problem we have is that they turn into carbon dioxide and clog our atmosphere, while soot and other exhaust fumes damage the health of people living in cities. Getting rid of 99% or more of fossil fuel infrastructure doesn't seem like that hard of a choice when you remember that feeding a renewables-based infrastructure requires a far more modest production capacity.

The issue of soil depletion from intensive agriculture is not only exaggerated by the negative/doomist framing (no, we are NOT going to run out of topsoil in 60 years!) - it's also a problem of mismanagement rather than an inherent agricultural problem. Stop oversaturating fields with fertilizer, introduce polyculture and crop rotation, and you'll see how much better things can get.

Similar to the above: the production of fertilizer does not require fossil fuels, no matter what some people might be saying. The three types of fertilizer are nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium. All of those are abundant chemical elements on Earth, and circulate through the biosphere freely; nitrogen is the 70% of our atmosphere and cannot possibly run out, and phosphate with potassium are abundant in the Earth's crust. The only direct use of fossil fuels in fertilizer production is the Haber-Bosch process that condenses nitrogen from the air into ammonia, and guess what molecule it needs for that? Hydrogen, which is the stronger half of the elements composing hydrocarbon fuels and which we could have in abundance by simple electrolysis of water!

Related to the above: it is beyond ridiculous how cow manure is dumped into rivers or similar by most modern farmers, when with right subsidies it could be transformed into cheap-as-free fertilizer to be used in agriculture. Someone should go create subsidies for large-scale composting...

Surprisingly enough, even consistent economic growth - which I am not a fan of by any means - can be achieved on a finite planet, because economic growth is all in what you count and how you count it. If we calculate economic growth not by production, but by improvements in human condition and condition of ecosystems (i.e. an economy that grows with the growth of trees), then we'll see that right now some world regions (like, again, North America) are failing as much as countries poor in money, but also that there is an enormous space for growth measured in sustainable prosperity.

The much-touted problem of water wars is an actual problem only for regions way, way inland. Any coastal countries have access to efficient desalination; it's not 1850 anymore. Water doesn't disappear from the world after people use it in cities and industries, it goes right back into the soil/atmosphere/rivers and oceans, so we can't "run out of water".

Interesting fact: we don't actually require any particularly specialized carbon capture technology to remove all the excess CO2 from the atmosphere, and will not require us to divert society's resources to expensive machinery. The old adage about the best carbon capture technology that's called "planting trees" still holds - and what's even more interesting is that there actually are even better methods that are not much more complex… and produce other things for the environment and for civilization in the process.

CONCLUSION

To sum things up: yes, the situation is serious, and "already bad enough" as Michael Mann put it (admittedly, he's been leaning into negative framing himself… but it can't be all positive, the problems of climate change really are dangerous, especially to the world's poor), and there's been a lot of environmental damage due to industries and rich consumers deliberately ignoring the externalities/knock-on effects of their resource use - but it's not nearly as horrifically bleak as some people presume. Right now there is great momentum behind climate action - which, yes, is partially propelled by increasingly hostile weather, but also by an understanding that social progress, democracy, and collective action are vital to build any form of a decent society, as well as by seeing new opportunities rise from cheaper renewable energy, better cities, and other innovations that will both stop climate change and make life actually worth living no matter where you might be. And in these conditions, throwing in the towel or surrendering to eco-austerity or even eco-fascist thinking is the worst possible action any one person can take. The green, sustainable, egalitarian future is not merely a dream or flight of fancy - it's eminently attainable if only we keep pushing for it and help eachother achieve it. But of course, there are people who stay up nights thinking how to take that future away from us, and now that climate change denial is no longer tenable, with more and more people believing their own eyes, the doomism and inactivism have become their primary, perhaps only, means of holding onto their power…

I hope this post will be helpful to people here who find themselves in the grip of doomism and hopelessness. I expect some people to disagree, but I prefer to believe the sources like the IPCC, IPBES, Climate Action Tracker, and all the climatologists behind these organizations' reporting - who've been closely watching both the worsening extreme weather from climate change, and the emergence of all the simple, usable, life-improving technologies and social practices to combat it. If we don't believe these people, then really, who can we believe? And if you do trust their reports on all the positive things being done and planned for environmental needs, it is not simply an idea that we can deal with climate change and restore, then protect our environment - it's objective reality, it's respectable science, and thus, it's good hard common sense.

More information: Doomsday Debunked (layman explanations and positive framing, also covering a ton of other "not actually the end of the world" topics for scared people), Carbon Brief (more technical and a bit less brazenly optimistic, but showing things like the absolutely crazy speed of renewable energy development), Not Just Bikes (an urbanist YouTube channel showing how cities can be improved, not made poorer, in the process of reducing fossil fuel use and car dependency).

[elvenbeard]

Hold on tight to yourself, not just anyone else When you've sailed to the edge, nowhere left to go

I've talked about my experimental light and water shooting in last week's wip wednesday, and I'm here to finally share some fave pics xD I have more, and I might post some on a separate occasion or just use them for OC ask stuff where they fit, we'll see!!

Vince is someone who often asks himself where his place in the universe is, even more so growing up, but the doubts keep creeping in again now and then regardless of how much more confident he is now in his own abilities and goals. I kind of wanted to capture this feeling of being lost, just floating for a while as you try to figure things out here... and play with light and color.

I didn't really take any behind the scenes pics for this (I should really start doing that) but I made some shitty sketches just now with my mouse cause I mentioned I wanted to illustrate how I did this xD Also for my personal reference, cause I wanna do something similar, slightly different for another project in the future!!

Very simply, this was the setup xD I used Denny's pool as location, mainly because it was the first that came to mind, had a decent size, and I wanted to do some stuff there anyway xD I think you could pull this off in any other pool or body of water just as well. Originally I wanted to keep the normal pool background, but then I spawned in a black wall from the photostudio props to block out the sunlight and get a darker backdrop, and I really liked that!!

I had three customizable point lights spawned, a red one below V, a purple and greenish one above him - I don't remember the exact placements, I mainly just wanted a nice color contrast and I like those colors and played around with where I put them!

Something like this!

Now, the ripple effect of the water...... I had V spawned in via AMM, and so Player!V was also still there in the scne, so I just ran around his spawned self a little bit to create the splashes xD And voila!

I always take my pics just in in good old vanilla photomode, and at first I had pathtracing on for it (raytracing is also on). And I did like that as well, but look at these unedited pics:

The reflections look a lot more natural and detailed, but are also waaaayyy less colorful. So if you wanna go for a more realistic approach that might be the better option! Everything else is the same, lights, backdrop, etc.

These are some unedited shots with pathtracing off (raytracing still on):

The lights kind of create this oil-spill like effect on the water and I loooove that so much!! Also, the red light from below was reflected in his eyes in a really cool way somehow (less realistic, but very aesthetic xD)

So yeah! If your graphics card can handle it, mess with all the ray/pathtracing settings a bit for a variety of effects xD

Also, all my pics are usually heavily edited in case you couldn't tell XD I love vanilla photomode for its convenience, but it has its limits when it comes to color adjustments, depth of field, and the like!

Same shot, unedited above, edited below. Played with color balance, saturation, sharpness, and in some of the pics some slight motion blur, too. I also shopped in his top surgery scars cause I didn't get around to trying to make them as a mod yet but it's on my list XD For more of them artsy pics with consistent looking scars!

Thanks for reading this far, I do hope it was interesting and you can take something away from it for your VP XD

[midsommersonnets]

[ * 1x1 request intro ] hihi, i'm seeking 18+ writers only for a dark romance / possible dead dove. oc x oc pairing of the: daughter of rich man's mistress (f) x rich man's legitimate son (m). i'm practically gnawing at the bars of my cage because i crave this one specific dark romance plot so badly. please, come at me if you wanna give me tension, twistedness, and crossed lines... i need red flag actions and toxic emotions in spades for this one,, pls gang,, lets serve chaos and obliterate the thin line between love/hate with this rp 🙏

[ * the plot basis ] f oc is the daughter of m oc's father's mistress and her irrationally beautiful and irreverent existence makes the cruel and prodigial son feel sick with so many intense and unspeakable emotions. he wants revenge and to rule, while she wants to survive and escape. the ocs trauma and upbringing provokes them into a dark game full of revenge and twisted desires. after all, f's existence has cast a shadow on m's iron-fisted rule, so he needs to put her in her place for his family/revenge's sake. while m's cruelty has led the f into a victimhood that she never desired to have, with a resentment building as she fights against him... they'll finally settle their familial debt by using their minds and bodies as a makeshift canvas and scoreboard.

[* setting ] an old money and upper crust seting full of endless money, power-fuelled hierarchy, and cutthroat machinations. i can see dark academia themes and secret society's as a possiblity. modern-day royalty, corporate elite, or a political dynasty are all viable as the family's elite basis. need a very dark family history with a lot of family secrets and in-fighting. lets have fun with with possible worldbuilding and plotting, just as much as the romance.

[ * notes ] details pending on how the cat n mouse game / revenge seeking would pan out because i can go as dark or as light as my fellow writer desires. bad endings full of mindbreak/torture are a-okay with me, AND i'm also fine with a toxic codependant romance forming to soften the ocs into a happier-ending. could see lots of dead dove ⚰️🕊️ themes in the plot if the other writer is comfortable with it (mindgames, dubcon/noncon (?), power imbalance, incest/fauxcest (?), toxicity, darker kinks, possessiveness, psychological horror, god complexes, ownership/obsession, etc). ultimately, i need the m being completely obsessed with the f, and it culminating in him wanting to break her. while she will fight back as best as she can because she is her mothers daughter just as much as he is his fathers son. possible reverse harem / poly antics are fine with me if m's best friends want to get in on the action but not a necessity. maybe secret society and fucked up frat rituals are in play. possibly, an elite academy or university setting, or alternately, a set-up for a fucked up arranged marriage. i would love an exploration into both ocs very fucked-up mindsets. we can workshop things together. <3.

[ * housekeeping ]

i'm 21f+ writer, so looking for fellow 18+ writers only. (cismen dni, and under-18s dni.)

flexible literacy. para to multi-para or multi-message (literate-novella). gotta let yall know that i do italicise in rp replies.

i want to write as the f role in a mxf pairing for this idea, or mxfxm if desired. small note that i don't write doubles.

fine with realistic fcs (actors or models) manwha/manga fcs or descriptive fcs. small note that my oc will likely be asian as the two character concepts that i'm currently dying to write are asian. also note, i'm fine with giving/taking fc suggestions if needed.

i ADORE headcanons, pinboards, plotting n rambling, side threads/text threads, and playlists. my beloved chatty and rambly writers– pls hmu because we are the same !! i love to yap about ocs and pairings way too much.

love love love darker themes, dead dove, and smut, but its not a necessity. i will always respect limits and expect the same in return. expanding on this point, limits and specific rp desires will be discussed in dms before moving to discord.

like/comment/dm if interested.

[nautiscarader]

Azure reunion - ch. 1

Disclaimer: All characters are aged-up,to match the theme of the story, and make Ash's endless journey a little more realistic. I haven;t seen anipoke for ages, so Bulbapedia, you are my only hope. Vulpix is the cutest Pokémon. The last thing has nothing to do with the story, it is just true, fight me irl.

(Ao3)

It was good to back on the road. Or rather, above it. Feeling wind in his hair, as he sat on his trusty old Pidgeot, Ash Ketchum felt as if he was 10 years old again, starting his great journey…

It hasn't been that long since he arrived back from Galar, with dozens of new Pokémon at his side and shiny trophy with his name. His mom thought he'd stay home longer, but deep down she knew he wasn't made to sit down and bask in glory, his relentless spirit could only have been contained for so long…

He watched as clouds moved next to, underneath and around him, obscuring the many roads and landmarks he has visited over the last decade or so. Flocks of wild Starlys and Pidgeys surrounded them as they flew over the mountain ridge separating Kanto and Johto, with the peak of the majestic Mount Silver being the only higher point visible.

"Pika!"

His partner tugged Ash's collar, prompting him to ask Pidgeot to lower the altitude and let Pikachu choose where to land. As the clouds dispersed, they were presented with vast, lush forests and dozens of lakes that dotted northern Johto, with its most recognisable one shining with the glow of the red, afternoon sun.

"Do you want go for a swim in a lake, bud?"

"Pika!", Pikachu replied.

"Okay then, looks like we'll be landing there."

Ash leaned forward and hugged his beloved starter as Pidgeot dived down, looking for a place to land. In the distance, far beyond the tree line, they could spot a few rustic buildings, with the only larger, more noticeable one being the Pokémon Center.

The large wings of Pidgeot flapped one more time before his claws touched the ground, allowing its passengers to safely unboard.

"Thanks, buddy", Ash nuzzled against Pidgeot's feathers. "Here, you deserve this, you flew half the continent."

He reached into his backpack, procuring a huge pile of choped berries, which Pidgeot began munching on immediately. Ash stretched his arms and walked towards the lake, marvelling at the colours of the sky reflecting in its surface.

…at least until a splash of water hit his face, nearly causing him to trip and fall.

"What the heck?", Ash looked around spotting the creature that splashed him. A rather bulky Azumarill puffed its cheeks, ready to hit the human again, but Ash's Pikachu was already on the case, jumping to protect him.

Azumarill evidently did not expect to find an electric mouse there, but it didn't give up, throwing mud at its foe to shield itself from its electricity.

"Oh, you think this will slow him down?", Ash smirked, "Use Electro Ball!"

Pikachu curved its tail and leaned forward, ready to tirn into a ball of lightning, his agile moves tossing any bit of ground and dirt sticking to its face. It rushed towards the mouse, but deliberately dodged its punch, surrounding it from the back in a swift distraction. With an upper paw, he began glowing and charged at the frightened Pokémon, watching as its fear-filled eyes got bigger and bigger until… they disappeared in a flash of light.

"Pika?!"

"No, return!"

A new voice caught their attention as Azumarill was returned to its owner's Pokéball, vcausing Pikachu to collide with Ash with tremendous force, making the two fall into lake with a far greater splash.

For quite a moment, Ash was confused as to what has happened, until the same voice brought him back to reality… but only just, as the familiar tone nearly made him fall again.

"Ash?!"

As his vision cleared up, he was greeted with wide-open,surprised blue eyes, and the red hair, matching the tone of the late afternoon sky.

"Misty?!"

"Pikachu-Pi!", Pikachu joined him, as the young woman reached her hand to help him get up.

For quite a while, Ash was rendered speechless, unable to gather thoughts racing his mind. She was quite possibly the last person he expected to find, and now she was towering over him, he could see how much-and how little at the same time has changed.

Her hair style was different; gone was the single ponytail, in favour of more symmetric haircut, though still far from the lush, opulent hairdos of her sisters. Her suspenders were gone too, though she kept her yellow-and-blue attire, complemented by a fisherman's jacket with dozen of pockets, one of which housed her Mega Ring, as well as other Pokéballs.

But Misty was in for far bigger surprise when she finally helped him get up and found out she could no longer stare down at him, her eyes levelled at his far more pronounced jawline, covered in subtlest of stubbles. And when she finally looked at him, words were stuck in her throat as well, when she realised how much her friend has grown, and how he differed from the image she has seen on TV.

With their eyes fixated at each other, the two youngsters were left in a silent stalemate, gathering words that could express their feelings and thoughts that have accumulated over the years.

"Misty…"

"Ash…"

Their lips came within inches from each other, their breaths mixing, as the two came closer and closer….

At least until Misty delivered a solid punch to his head.

"WHY DID YOU ATTACK MY AZUMARILL?"

"Me?", Ash countered, assuming hi own fighting stance "Why did he splash us?!"

"Pika!", Pikachu chimed in.

"Cos he was securing my fishing spot!", she pointed back, at the slightly obscured blanket and tent, togther with fishing supplies left on the ground.

"Oh, I guess that-that does make sense…"

The two stared at each other in disbelief before bursting into laughter, interrupted only by Misty welcoming back Pikachu that leapt into her arms.

"Hey there! Long time no see…"

"Yeah, it's been a while since Alola…", he scratched his head. "You-you look great…"

"Well you do not", she countered sternly, catching his attention, "You are soaked!".

"Yeah, you are right, we should…"

[novvaable]

Get to Know Me- Sims Edition

thank you @hurricanesims for the tag <33

sorry for taking so long to reply, for some reason it took me ages to actually answer these questions🤠

What's your favourite Sims death?

i hate when my sims die.. i can honestly say i’ve never forcefully killed any of my sims as I get so attached to them. in this case, id probably say death by old age.

Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

alpha! back when I used to play ts4 i gravitated towards maxis match.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

seems pointless to me lol

Do you use move objects?

yes!🫡🫡 impossible to build /decorate without it

Favourite Mod?

nrass master controller - it so universal and makes life a lot easier 🥺

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

my first expansion was university life. it will forever have a special place in my heart, I love it so much

Do you pronounce live mode or aLIVE or LiVing?

never even thought about it honest, probably like alive??

whos your favourite sim that you've made?

my girlie marcie, she’s come so far with me so I just have a special kinda attachment to her lol

Have you made a simself?

no i think this would just make me miserable

Which is your favourite EA hair colour?

none. I always find the tones of ea hairs to just be a little off? i just use custom colours

Favourite EA hair?

well i dont use any EA hairs they look ugly I have default replacements hairs by maryjane

Favourite life stage?

young adult

are you a builder or are you in it for gameplay?

only recently have i been in it for the gameplay. but i use that phrase lightly. i wil forever be a builder at heart.

Are you a CC creator?

barely lol. sometimes i post occasional things for dl. my knowledge of cc making only scratches the surface. i can do the basics like make poses, and custom photos (alongside sims and builds - but who doesnt).

ive tried to get into cc making a couple of times but its so complicated? i have mad respect for cc makers in the community. ill leave that job to the professionals.

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

back in my day... lol not so much anymore. after i took a fat hiatus a lot of the people i used to regularly talk with moved on.

@pixelevia is still my girlie. she doesnt post much, but we talk all the time off tumblr and regularly get each other excited about sims storylines that are yet to come to life lol.

Do you have any sims merch?

yes.. i am embarrassed to say that when ts4 was release i pre-ordered the deluxe version. it came with a mouse pad.. its long gone now. but i always remember it having a funky smell ??

also i dont wanna talk about the fact i paid an arm and a leg for ts4 (i dont even play it?!) and now its free. forever going to be salty over this fact.

How has your ''Sims Style'' changed throughout your years of playing?

i'd like to think it has! considering my blog is old, i feel like it has grown with me and that reflects in the style of my sims. recently ive been striving for a slightly more realistic looks to my sims

Whats your Origin ID?

i do have an origin id unfortunately. (is it stil even called that?)

i have a lot of opinions on this new ea app bs. but we wont go into that.

Who's your favourite CC creator?

everyone! honestly anyone who has the skills to be able to make beautiful and functional cc are brilliant.

but just to name a couple:

@rollo-rolls

@smallsimmer

@martassimsbook

@sourlemonsimblr

@satellite-sims

How long have you had simblr?

I had to check my email for this.. as of feb 2023, my blog turned 9 years old?! so I guess almost 10 years. (thats kind of mad)

How do you edit your pictures?

depends on the picture! usually for scenery pics I will just sharpen them and adjust the brightness / saturation / contrast.

for sim pics it really just depends on how bothered I can be.

I’ve recently made the change to gshade so that’s been doing all the heavy lifting for me.

I use hunnybee’s moon syrups preset <3

What expansion/ stuff pack is your favourite?

university life!! it was the it was the first expansion pack i got and so it holds a special place in my heart. its also a pretty awesome pack too.

tagged:

@satellite-sims / @smallsimmer / @pixelevia @kitty-pixelz

[unlimitedhorsepower]

Tagged by: @thevoiceofthanatos​

Favorite color: warm bright yellow, mustard yellow & old gold, and just yellow in general. its a good colour. it makes me happy

Currently reading: idk, probably star trek fanfic my friend @rubbertplant​ was writing to give my opinion on it. i often read through my own stuff too lol, like whoah i wrote that??? ADHD has taken everything from me including my capability to read though, for real. ive been thinking of trying to listen to some audiobooks recently though, this cannot continue... its just that i also have no ears disease so idk how well that would go. determined to try though

Last song you listened to: havent been listening to music so much bc ive been playing videos instead but my last.fm has all my spotify listens so itll stay up to date on whatever i listened to last. currently seems to be “please play-bite” by pinocchioP. i often just let spotify play me whatever it recommends anyhow so theres variance. and i only started this account like a few months ago max so its not really a full picture of my music-listening

Last movie (in theaters): its not really a movie, but if it counts, the first ginga nagareboshi gin stageplay (recorded and released in finland in theaters with subs)

ginga was always huge in finland for some reason. idk. the anime is so violent though that i got really afraid of bears for some reason. theres so much blood... i never read the manga either i just knew of the anime and partook in my share of wolf roleplays (dogs were uncool! so i didnt do dog roleplays. iirc that really was my reason).

heres some funny wolves from my wolf rp days

2010. one of the first things i coloured digitally... i painstakingly cleaned the scanned pencil lineart with a mouse

2011. i had gotten my first drawing tablet as a birthday/xmas gift and practiced a ton around this time (more than just wolves lol)

Last series I watched: trigun stampede. even changed my phone bg into vash... but millions knives is probably my favourite. he just does everything wrong and makes his life worse. and everyone elses life too bc he sucks. but hes multifaceted so hes also my meow meow and whatever. i hope a ford explorer drives over him

if it counts though, ive seen some star trek TOS episodes and movies because my friends have been watching them. im not super into it but its always fun to hang. i also dont watch a lot of stuff. i dont even know what i do. guy who doesnt read or watch things but listens to jerma videos on youtube without actually looking at them while i “draw” and “write”

Craving: food honestly. i should cook something lmfao. i also want soda so bad but i dont have any. id make some tea but its disgustingly warm in my house so i only want cool drinks. could kill for a nice milkshake or a smoothie rn i think

Tea or coffee: tea... im the only finnish person who doesnt drink coffee for real. also got really into loose leaf tea bc i befriended a chinese lady who is really into tea and has a tea shop in the city near where i live

Currently working on: drawing this and trying to think how i want to do it. somehow want to incorporate flat colours and maybe shade his body naturally, and make the blood look realistic instead of flat colours... hmm not sure yet what i want to do

other than that im trying to proofread the chapter of my ryanyuri fanfic i already published because theres a lot of typos and strange sentences in there but its been a chore bc my body breaks down when it gets too warm smfh... not looking forward to when my apt goes over 30 degrees celsius it is unlivable. im also trying to complete a “lookbook” of my tnb sims. but i always start huge projects that take three million years to complete and im really slow lmfao

Tag people you’d like to get to know better: i could just ask these questions from everyone i talk on discord with. fuck my friends i know irl or otherwise, only asking people who r my friends through tumblr. no need to do this though. also this isnt probably meant to be answered so long-windedly... thats just me. i cant answer with one word i gotta write an essay. heres three tags though @basslinegrave​ @vita-divata​

(record scratch before 3rd tag) and @rubbertplant​ bc they were streaming a game in discord when i started typing this and i was like hey wanna do it and they were like yeah

i expect replies on my desk by 5pm TOMORROW!!!!get to work!!!! no i jest, do it or dont, i dont mind either way, just if you feel like doing this. if you see this and want to do it feel free to consider yourself tagged. godspeed

[gertlushgaming]

Tram Simulator Urban Transit Review (Steam)

Tram Simulator Urban Transit Review, In this game, you take on the role of a tram driver and manager in Angel Shores, the North American-themed city from the popular bus simulator game Bus Simulator 21 Next Stop. Drive 6 unique tram models, each boasting its distinctive style, from cutting-edge, sleek trams to those with a classic, timeless charm through the lively city with its numerous sights. Transport passengers with your trams and drive them to the numerous stops. Plan your routes, carefully manage your timetables, and expand your tram network.

Tram Simulator Urban Transit Review Pros:

- Decent graphics. - 12.41GB download size. - Steam achievements. - Graphics settings - resolution, display mode, Nvidia DLSS, resolution scale, v-sync, HDR, overall graphics preset, shadow quality, effects, foliage, post-processing, mirror, motion blur, and view distance. - Advanced graphics settings - sharpening, 3rd person mode on foot, 1st person fov slider, 3rd person fov slider, triple monitor setup, and cockpit fov slider. - Character creator for body type, head, skin tone, hair, facial hair, hair color, and clothing. - Controller support. - You can remap controls for both the mouse/keyboard and the controller including the Invert axis and sensitivity sliders for the mouse and controller. - Tobii and Track IR support. - The game supports some wheels and other controls. - Driving physics can be set to realistic or simplified. - A driving school is optional and used to teach the many basics of the game. - A full 3D world with 360-degree camera control. - The cockpit shows marked buttons and nobs, a mini-map shows on the dashboard but also on the Hud in general. - When driving around you have to adhere to the speed limits and change the direction of the tramline. - Two views - Third and first person. - Old school computer software interface. - Nice looking locations. - Three difficulties - relaxation, simulation, and custom. - There are three locations with only one available initially. - It is possible to get out and walk around in the third-person and first-person views. - Three game modes - sandbox, story, and career. - You need to learn the procedure of indicating before and when leaving a stop, honking your horn accordingly, and doing general on-tram duties like checking tickets and using the ramps for disabled passengers. - It's a living world so you have to be wary of crossings etc. - Upgrade stops to increase Links and create more routes. - Can easily create your routes by clicking stops in order, then you can edit or drive them. - Earn money from driving passengers around and going to each stop. - A rear-view mirror helps with passengers getting on and off. - You can change the time and weather on the fly in a menu or set it to dynamic. - Fast travel is available to all hubs around the map. - Cash is earned from missions and passengers and used to buy new trams. - Six trams to buy and drive. - Highly detailed work on the trams. - Satisfying game loop once you get the game down. - Customizable trams from colors to decals and full tram wraps and you can rename them. Put advertisements on the tram to earn extra money and put a new layer of customisation on it. - You can do night routes which changes how much money you get etc. - The story mode has a structured set of objectives to move forward. Tram Simulator Urban Transit Review Cons: - Connects and wants to link the game to your Epic account? It's not mentioned but heads up. - So much to take in and remember. - You have to constantly change views just to see if passengers are all off or on and it's not very fluid or ideal in certain situations. - Managing the speed of the tram is not as simple as it should be and you constantly going up and down. - Many keyboard shortcuts to remember. - Following a route is not as smooth as it should be, when it's a congested amount of lines it can be hard to pick the right direction. - Some trams have a lot of buttons and switches that are nothing but showpieces. - No easy way to reset or quit a route. - The tutorial is ok but very long and winding missing out a few key bits here and there. - It is weird what mechanics they have gone deep into and the ones they have kind of skimmed on. An example is they have loads of customisation options but not a lot of in-tram interactions. - Pop-up happens a lot regardless of settings. - The AI traffic is a nightmare as they kamikaze into you or hit you whilst parked and the game still charges you. Related Post: GhostBusters Spirits Unleashed Ecto Edition Video Review Tram Simulator Urban Transit: Official website. Developer: stillalive Studios Publisher: astragon Store Links - Steam Read the full article

[nitrosodiumofficialuses]

Toxic Waters Lite: The Gimmick Weapon (Part 2)

I was going to type this up yesterday on my phone, but I decided not to risk my carpal tunnel. Anyway, we now have two more contenders, the acid gun and the biological weapon (i'll be calling it the bio-gun).

The acid gun, I planned to bridge the gap between a flamethrower and an explosive weapon. It'd fire a ball of green goo with a projectile arc, leaving a puddle which would poison enemies who walk through it. Mechanically, it's not too different to a grenade launcher, but I had an idea for a secondary ability - acid can melt coral tiles. My idea was you to go through The Last Of Us-esque infested areas, where you can go the intended route, or melt yourself a new path. This is cool, but with the limited aiming of TWL, accurately melting a path would be difficult. If Nicolas is two tiles tall, and he fires his guns from his waist, it would be difficult to properly make a path that you could walk through. From the player's perspective, it makes the coral-melting ability seem more like a fun addition to the world, rather than an intended feature, relegating it to a gimmick of the tool or a speedrunning strategy akin to Tau jumps in Half Life. For level design, this then means you either put loot in melt-only areas and starve players of resources they don't know how to reach, or disincentivise coral-melting by not hiding any loot there, which means players won't use the acid gun for its secondary feature. If TWL had mouse aiming, or was 3D, an acid gun like this could work wonders, but for our purposes, it would just be a downgraded grenade launcher with some weird mechanics.

Finally, the bio-gun. In old Toxic Waters documents and concept art from 2020 and 2021, a weapon is referenced called the "U.L.F." or Ultimate Life Form, a living tool with various functions, including spraying infectious goo, launching an egg grenade, and firing poisonous barbs. It would "reload" by feasting on corpses, both human and mutant. This is mostly lifted from Half Life's hornet gun or "hivehand", and the term "biological weapon" can be expanded on as well. On one hand, grabbing a squirming cuttlefish-like mutant from its tank and using it like a toxic squirt gun is cool, but the actual mechanics of a weapon like this is curious. Firstly, let's look at the "Functionality Triangle" I created for the enemies of TWL: is it a cool idea, does it work in the setting, and does it work in the game? The bio-gun passes the first two easily, weaponizing mutant fish is cool and 100% in line with Hydromorph, but how would it function in game? Most venomous aquatic creatures spread their venom via contact, i.e. stonefish and blue-ringed octopus. There isn't really a creature I know of that spits its venom like that, much less underwater, which does beg the question of how long your tentacled wonder-weapon will last out of its natural habitat. The "eat to reload" feature is so unique and awesome, really an extrapolation of similar reloading animations in Half Life (i.e. feeding the Spore Launcher moss for it to regurgitate at enemies) and creates a realistic way you would "reload" a weapon like this, short of throwing it away and grabbing another when it runs dry like a Halo plasma weapon. One thought I did have was a long tubular coral, mounted on your shoulder like a rocket launcher and ejecting a suicidal, explosive fish not unlike the Crashfish of Subnautica. If not a weapon, a similar "coral mortar" would be found in infested areas, growing near to squirming, clicking masses of Snapsprouts.

Given each of these options a feasibility study, it seems clear to me that the Bio-Mine Launcher will be the one I port to TWL. The Harpoon Gun was a tennis racket at a football game, the Riot Gun was an extendable hand with limited uses, the Acid Gun was a booby-trap with a redundant floor-melting function, and the Bio-Gun was a cool idea but a bad weapon. When I go to college tomorrow, the next thing on the itinerary will be creating the touchscreen save points, and perhaps some more animations for Nicolas pertaining to his other guns (shotgun and bio-mine).

[ooglywooglies]

philosophizing about the morality of killing cane toads in australia,

not because i really have any qualms about it im just a naturalist and i think its good to confront this question anyway. i was looking up methods for killing them since i know the most *humane* way is stepped hypothermia, ie you put them in your fridge for a day to anesthetize them and then move them to the freezer to kill them.

we dont really have the fridge/freezer space for that but theyre a danger to my dog (and the environment, theyre dangerously invasive) so i do have to cull them. the RSPCA makes a lot of suggestions about not being cruel to them, no clubbing them, no drowning them

i think my perspective is, theyre an animal, theyre not evil they dont know theyre a pest theyre just trying to live like the rest of us so theres no point in hating them or villainizing them. but they do need to be dealt with, and i sort of think that the method doesnt really matter.

like i sort of have this perspective that killing animals is obviously not immediately cruel, we have many justifiable reasons for doing so, but tbh i dont think we need to be so hung up on preventing suffering as much as we do. like its a good habit for us humans to have, when it comes to animals that we dont intend to kill. like fish and bugs can feel pain, more people should be educated about the value of the lives of animals we consider insignificant (especially if youre into keeping them as pets, i have an aquarium hobby so i have a deep perspective on peoples habitual fish cruelty and it bothers me that its so normal)

but for animals we do intend to kill i think as long as the death occurs then it doesnt matter because that animal doesnt continue on with whatever pain you inflicted onto it, it ceased eventually regardless of how painful it was to get there. i mean, i think that we care about minimizing the suffering of those we kill for our own sake, realistically it doesnt matter to our victim. and im generally against killing in cruel ways for my own sake. we had a mouse problem awhile ago and my husband at first bought a bunch of snap traps i was extremely against using them (to his credit he didnt understand how they worked or what the consequences of them would be) because it creates an unnecessary death that we would have to reckon with afterward, wed have to deal with the mouses dead body, dispose of it in a way that doesnt benefit us or the environment, and have the emotional weight of the prolonged suffering it experienced leading up to its death. if it was even dead by the time we found it.

we got live cage traps instead and when they caught the two mice that were in our house we walked down the road to a wooded area and let them go free, my husband said he was happy we had the chance to see how cute the little mouse fellow was and that it felt rewarding to let him go and live his life away from us. we dont know how well he survived after freeing him, i know some people say not to release them into a big field because birds might catch them but my feelings are that birds have to eat too. i dont care what happens to an animal living its life in the wild, mice are food. i dont need to have an investment in the mouse escaping and surviving to old age, the mouse is not the good guy and the bird is not the bad guy, and neither is the reverse true.

theres a few animals i am a lot less kind to in my house, spiders, cockroaches, ants. i think that just like sparing the mouse, killing cockroaches is something i do to preserve my own personal comfort, mainly i kill them (get my husband to kill them bc im too scared of bungling it) letting them live in my house is something that would cause me a lot of stress, as hard as i try to overcome a fear of bugs (its basically JUST cockroaches and huntsman spiders or wolf spiders im afraid of) that outweighs the comfort of sparing them most of the time (listen id catch and release huntsmans if i could but theyre too damn fast) i watch this educational spider guy on youtube and he basically categorizes spiders harmfulness in terms of psychic damage, bc realistically spiders are not physically harmful to humans basically ever, but a lot of us still have a weird primal fear of them and i dont think thats nothing.

anyway anyway about the toads, im thinking that unless we can find a good way to gas them we have to resort to killing them in an "inhumane" way. im not down with clubbing/squishing them bc 1) cane toads are fucking tough they can survive that shit, ive heard tons of stories of people splatting canes guts out just for the toad to pull its guts back in and hop away 2) thatd obviously leave a mess, thats more psychic damage for me and 3) my dog would probably be more interested in a gorey mess than a live toad

like thats the thing right, as long as you actually KILL the toad it sort of doesnt matter what you do it, itll be dead and therefore not have to live its life with whatever injuries you give it, and it wont be able to contribute to further harm of the environment. that means the most important thing to consider when choosing a dispatch method is your own comfort.

my husbands parents when i first moved here took part in some toad cruelty, they just trapped him under a container in the yard hoping to starve/suffocate/overheat it to death and it took like, a full week for it to finally keel over, i wasnt very happy with it it weighed on me a bit. it doesnt matter for the toad because hes dead but i have a sense of empathy and i DO have to keep on living yknow. i know that framing is extremely selfish but thats just the reality of it isnt it. im sure the toad doesnt care at all now how it died, hes not in frog heaven or hell, hes not a frog ghost coming back to haunt them or anything.

i suppose you could apply this philosophy to people if you want but thats probably a bad idea for the sake of the living, humans have religion for a reason i suppose

currently experiencing toads

[thebuttsmcgee]

[fairytaleliving]

Vtuber! Yuu

Hello after I thought of Vtuber Yuu more ideas popped into my head so use whatever you’d like lkdfhsd

okay for those who don’t know, vtubers have lore that goes along with their avatars (vox akuma being a demon, iron mouse being literal satan, etc)

and knowing twisted wonderland, there’s so much lore fodder that could be added

and since twst wouldn’t be a game, yuu would have so much material to use

nobody can even call them out on their shit bc the only person who knows abt twisted wonderland is yuu themself so they have all the creative liberties

i know that i joked that yuu would use malleus as an avatar, but let’s be honest all of them are prime vtuber ideas

mysterious king of the faes, malleus draconia? 

sunshine and friendly, kalim al-asim? 

mischievious and tricky, ruggie bucchi?

 unpredicable eel merman, floyd leech?

 shy otaku fire boy, idia shroud? 

pretty but short tempered, epel felmier? 

rational yet playful, trey clover?

lets be honest you simps the characters are one of the reasons you play this god damn game

everyoner has a type and there are 22 characters to choose from as a favorite like come on

prime claps fucking claps vtuber claps lore

Vtuber Artist: omg you’re so detailed and this design looks so realistic

Yuu, sending a candid photo they took with one of their friends:i have a very big imagination :D

if anything ppl would just think yuu was just a big disney fan lmao

like yuu talks disney and vaguely talks abt how similar it is with twisted wonderland and lets pretend theres no possibility of yuu getting sued by disney

OH MY GOD YUU WOULD HAVE THEIR OWN GRIM WITH THEIR “DESIGN”

grim doesnt say anything he just vibes on yuu’s shoulder or head

yuu wouldn’t have any personal info told by the students bc they’re not an asshole and made a promise but that wouldn’t stop them from mixing truth and fiction

like not the trauma or the reasons for the overblots

but cmon lets be honest theres so much clownery and personality each person has is a gold mine

yuu’s lore video would just be nrc shenanigans mixed with what yuu themself has experienced at twst

like seriously you’ve seen those out of context tweets, explaining shit abt twst wonderland to someone who doesnt know anything would be a wild ride

the fact yuu gets isekaied into a magical college and appears in a coffin of all things is crazy in it of itself

he could also be like fulgur ovid and pretend hes just using an old dnd character as an avatar

and since yuu is just friends with everyone, they probably have everyone’s personality down to a T

yuu is the campus therapist they kinda have to know whether they like it or not

tell me yuu would’ve exaggerate ace’s personality bc they’re petty

yuu name drops each person and twisted wonderland itself but nobody believes them bc they all think its a part of the lore

Viewer tweeting:wow twisted wonderland has such a cool atmosphere and they seem like they actually lived through this

Yuu, having flashbacks of whatever the fuck they did at nrc:...bestie you have no fucking idea-

yuu is friends with ace so they definitely have good voice impressions under their belt as well

yuu creates a crowley hate club amongst their fans bc of how much they complain and they have no regrets about it

no matter what dimension, yuu will always rant abt how much abt how much of an asshole he is

yuu describes Night Raven College and the dorms and ppl designate each other to each dorm

Viewer A: I think I would fit in with Octavinelle! Azul and the tweels look like they would be so much fun to hang out with

Viewer B: Pomefiere sounds so regal and I would love to have a beauty lesson from VIl!

Yuu, remembering the time Floyd threatened another student and Vil scold Epel for the nth time abt his manners:...well you see-

someone has probably made fanart abt nrc thats eerily close to how the boys looks like and the dorms that yuu has to take a minute to contemplate everything

if the other twst boys find out it would be so entertaining

yuu wouldn’t hide the fact, but they wouldn’t admit to it either

yuu would be probably be giving them a tour of the real world when someone walks up to and says that theyre a dedicated cosplayer and yuu has to drag everyone away and explain lmao

idia probably watches vtubers so he would think the idea was cool

he would probably pass out bc of how popular his character would be if yuu decides to use him as a avatar

he would probably stream with yuu with the slight stress of trying not to refer to yuu as yuu and as a student he probably hasn’t interacted with-

azul would be impressed by the grind, especially if yuu gets paid for it

malleus would be confused yet flattered?????

vil would love or hate it depending on how well the artist drew his likeliness but wouldnt dm the artist abt it bc hes not an asshole bc you should respect artists for their works you fucking fools

the man doesnt understand technology but hey ppl like him and loves that yuu thought he was memorable enough to make a character for him to play

lilia probably thinks its fucking hilarious

like of course yuu would be the only person to do this type of shit

he would probably even encourage yuu to start their own vtuber streaming in twisted wonderland

but with a new avatar bc these are real ppl with reputations to use-

cater is proud and wants to know the secrets on how yuu became popular

would’ve considered making his own if he wanted to

all in all they’d either be: confused, concerned, impressed, amused, embarrassed, or all of the above

yuu would probably get more self conscious if the others end up watching lmao

ok im done back to watching vox recite the entire of fnaf lore