#logistics mess

[turndecassette2]

sorry, is stages of rot only available over peow? i know you do not have control over the shipping costs :/ but I'm from germany so the price would be more than double. Your work is incredibly beautiful and inspiring and i'd love to have a physical copy

I'm sorry I'm not much help here, I think your best bet is to check german independent bookstores & you're probably better equipped to search the german internet, or irl germany. if you speak a bit of french I believe the french edition (titled 'in-humus') is still in print, same title in spanish, it's 'disfacimento' in italian I think. 'all the problems in the world' in berlin have been selling the frog book but idk abt SOR

[destinysbounty]

I think it goes understated just how much of a bad time Zane was probably having during Crystalized. The Overlord, Aspheera, Mr. E, the Mechanic...the Council is comprised of so many people who caused harm to Zane specifically, and theyve all decided to team up. All theyre missing is Vex, at this point.

[fountainpenguin]

Short Version: I don't even know how to begin explaining this, so take these 'fic doodles with no context.

Wish Fixers, my chronically unhelpful beloved...

Long Version (City Lights AU #ridspoilers beyond the above implication. Mentions of death and trauma; it gets pretty dark)

Nalooksthrough, I tag you below because I cited your co-dependent toxic friendship comic and said it was cool- If you don't want to click, that's all the tag was :)

So I started outlining my Dale backstory 'fic (Lemonade and Papercuts) since I am the most predictable person alive and of COURSE I can't resist 7 years of trauma and intimacy anxiety <3. But planning a 'fic like this requires many pieces and many questions.

First and most obvious- How did Vicky lure in Dale? From previous planning, I've already decided that since they're the same age (maybe one year off), they probably knew each other in school or activities.

Ex: Squirrely Scouts & Cream Puffs... Not unreasonable- Throughout the series, many kids participate and the organizations seem to have a big following in Dimmsdale. Vicky's sister Tootie is in the Cream Puffs and Vicky is seen bossing them around in the Season 0 episode "Scout's Honor" ("Oh Yeah! Cartoons"). There's a comic by the same name depicting Remy in Squirrely Scouts (after "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary" but before he gets his memories back in "Remy Rides Again" and I always thought it was cute). I mean, look at him:

Pictures courtesy of the FOP Wiki

It's not unreasonable that Dale - who's also rich - might've gotten into that (especially since Doug is big on the cowboy theming and of all the rich parents, he's probably the one most okay with his son playing in dirt). Something scout-related could be an option even if Dale and Vicky went to different schools.

A friendship that gets increasingly toxic until it spirals into full-on abuse sounds really interesting (and @nalooksthrough portrayed this idea beautifully imo in THIS comic I can't stop thinking about).

Sounds fun to write, so let's go with that. What's next?

Hey, remember when 7 years ago, I headcanon'd H.P. as Dale's godfather because of this doodle in Da Rules that specifically refers to Pixie godparents and depicts a fluffy-haired kid in a purple shirt?

I recently found out I still had Dale listed as a godchild of H.P. on his full character profile on my fanfic sideblog. I was waffling over whether to retcon that (since I hadn't yet done anything with it), but I started brainstorming whether I COULD do anything with it.

I've always written Wish Fixers in 'fic [e.g. Origin of the Pixies] as a therapy business run by H.P.'s dad (which H.P. bought off him out of spite despite not being licensed for therapy) but, like...

Does Jorgen know H.P. isn't licensed? I can't see why he would... As far as he knows, H.P. owns and runs the place- especially given my lore that Wish Fixers has been in his family for many generations. Sounds qualified to me!

In "School's Out! The Musical" (episode that Da Rules screenshot is from), we learn Pixies are at the back of the line for godparent work, even under creatures like unicorns (Hence the Musical's plot requiring them to remove magical creatures from earth before they could assign themselves to Flappy Bob).

I said in a recent liveblog post that I'd always imagined this was a punishment given to them due to H.P. absolutely failing as godfather to Dale- Thus, the origin of the doodle on the page for that rule. But... I never decided what happened.

See, Dale SEEMS like a guy who would qualify for a fairy. He was probably pretty miserable under Vicky's 7 years of torture and he's still holding onto that trauma in his adulthood.

DID he have a fairy?

I'm just saying, we know from S4's "Wish Fixers" that H.P. is legally(?) allowed to make contracts that swap a fairy godparent with a pixie one if godkids choose to sign of their own free will... Hmm... I'm connecting dots I don't think I like... (I am lying).

I mean?? Dale clearly did not get out of the pit due to magical interference. If I'm committing to the doodle being Dale and reflecting an actual godfather-godson dynamic between him and H.P., then something sure went wrong there. I can't NOT make Dale suffer...

What on earth could've made Dale sign a contract for something a fairy couldn't give him? We know from "Nectar of the Odds" canon that he wished to see his dad, and thanks to previous liveblogs, I DO already have a headcanon of Dale being extremely desperate for his dad's love... Hmm... I can work with that.

I went down a rabbit hole trying to answer the question of how Vicky secured lemons for 7 years for Dale (and other kids) to work with. Here are some lemon tree facts:

- Lemon trees bear fruit after only a few years - They can bear fruit multiple times a year (depending on variety) - A single lemon tree can produce 1,500 lemons in one growing season - Dimmsdale is in California - a state known for lemon orchards.

That feels likely... An orchard of even a few trees can keep you going for a while.

But lemonade doesn't sell for much compared to other things Vicky could've set a kidnapped child up to do (Ex: In "Microphony," she has kids doing a bunch of other tasks like answering phones for her babysitting service, painting houses, and washing cars).

So... WHY lemonade? What is going on that makes this the thing Vicky has Dale do for 7 years?

And who owns the orchard? I need Vicky to obtain lemons without being stopped for 7 years.

Is it a Dimmadome orchard? Maybe, but several episodes imply Vicky's not familiar with the Dimmadomes - and she probably would have turned Dale in for cash reward if given the chance - so those are two things I need to keep in mind.

Does the orchard belong to her family? That's a possibility- Vicky is shown drinking lemonade after "Nectar of the Odds." She definitely could've bought it - It can't be too expensive unless prices were jacked up after she lost her cheap labor - but it's a drink she's seen with in multiple episodes. She definitely likes it.

And we know from "Timmy's 2D House of Horror" that Vicky's parents are terrified of her. It's not likely they'd stop her from taking lemons from the family orchard.

One problem... If Dale goes missing when he's about 9 (Closer to 7 or 8 in my planned timeline), Vicky is also 9 or younger. Are her parents scared of her when she's that small and inexperienced in the ways of the world?

In "The Switch Glitch," she's 5 and seems mild and sweet until 10-year-old Timmy mistreats her- She clearly didn't have memories of Timmy, implying she totally regressed to how she acted when she really was 5. Worth pointing out she goes off the deep end and chains up Cosmo and Wanda, so... she IS mean even at age 5. But also, she's 5. She wears the same purple hair bow in "Switch Glitch" (at 5) that she does when Timmy drains the meanness out of her in "Vicky Loses Her Icky," which is interesting.

So that begs the question... Can I turn my Dale backstory 'fic into a double story of Dale abuse AND Vicky going from a pretty innocent child to Totally Messed Up? Keeping in mind that according to Vicky in A New Wish, Vicky IS the one responsible for abusing him and he "spent 7 years' worth of Saturdays in a factory underneath a lemonade stand."

If that's the way I want to play it... Something happened to send Dale and Vicky down the dual victim-and-abuser path, destinies intertwined. And for some reason, Vicky stuck with the lemonade theme.

Dale just says he spent his Saturdays "in a factory underneath a lemonade stand." It's not out of the question he and Vicky made more lemon products than just lemonade, especially given Vicky's love for money (and those 600 lbs of lemons one tree can produce in a year). We can assume they changed locations a few times or someone would've found the trapdoor on Timmy's lawn. Plus when Dale started his abuse, Vicky hadn't started babysitting Timmy, whom she only met when he was 8.

So, I've set Dale up to be lured in by Vicky because they were friends. I like the idea of things gradually getting worse as Vicky slowly morphs from a friend into a very cruel person. If Vicky was bullying him, what stopped him from just... leaving?

Vicky's transformation was probably subtle if he stayed for so long..... I also pointed out in a recent post that Doug's underground milk empire where he uses hypnotized people for labor bears a striking amount of similarities with Vicky's lemonade stand, even down to the general vibes of "trapdoor entrance" (although it's implied there's another entrance in small building).

And if we want to be technical about things... We don't know if Doug and Dale pressed charges against Vicky. She clearly continues to babysit Timmy and other kids after "Nectar of the Odds" (Season 2).

In Season 4 ("Channel Chasers"), Doug remarks that Timmy's parents should've guessed Vicky was evil because of the Chip Skylark song "Icky Vicky," but he doesn't mention Vicky kidnapping his son. That's.... sus. He even offers to buy a car from her in Season 3's "Engine Blocked" (after Dale's escape).

Why would such a powerful guy let all of that slide? Did they just not have enough proof? Did Vicky wipe the place clean? Did Dale "not want to make a big deal about it" because he was so exhausted and grateful, he just didn't want to think about it or struggle with the legal system? Was he covering for her?? Was he scared to speak up?

... Did Dale not tell his dad the whole truth about where he was?

What if Dale was - in some vague and early concept way - in on the lemonade scheme from the beginning, back when he and Vicky were friends and she wasn't so cruel? Maybe she turned on him and sentenced him to the pit before long?

Why the underground-ness of it? Why the lemonade, which probably doesn't turn much profit... as lemonade. Unless you have unrestrained access to tons of lemons that you can turn into multiple products - Dale DID call it a factory - and no one is stopping you from accessing them...

... but how do you set up a situation where kids have access to a whole lemon orchard - presumably carefully maintained - and the adults don't take it away from them (Because... surely they would've found Dale and multiple other kids if they strayed close).

And Dale didn't leave. He does in "Nectar of the Odds" - apparently of his own volition - but not before. Was he kept there mentally as well as physically?

We KNOW Vicky can't be monitoring him 24/7 because "Nectar of the Odds" is the only episode depicting her paying attention to him, while others show her doing many other things in many other places (though it's worth noting Dale says in that episode that "Vicky's kept him locked up for so long").

Did he stay so long because it was the perceived better fate up until he miraculously crossed paths with his dad (via fairy magic) and took the risk? Would he have gone back in?

Maybe it wasn't supposed to get this out of hand. Dale and Vicky were young when this started... Somewhere between 7 and 9 (given that Dale was kept there for 7 years and Vicky is 16 when he escaped and he tells 9-year-old Dev this happened when he was Dev's age).

Maybe there was an accident. Something not just Vicky, but even Dale felt the need to cover up, especially in regards to the orchard and the fact that it needs to be Vicky's consistent source of lemons (and not something she lost out on before Dale's escape... an illusion of ownership maintained. Kids can't own the orchard, but what if they fooled people into believing it wasn't owned by kids?)

Hmm... some kind of accident that got two mostly innocent kids into huge trouble, thus setting up a horribly intertwined fate where if one of these toxic co-dependent friends backs out and squeals, even the squealer might suffer worse compared to trucking along on the cruel existing path.

tl;dr - if Vicky and Dale accidentally killed the orchard owner but they were kids and terrified to tell an adult lest they go to jail for life so they hid the body in the basement (or like ?? threw it to the coyotes or hyenas that inexplicably lurk on the fringes of Dimmsdale??) and are trying desperately to wipe their hands of this by pretending the lemon orchard is still operational so no one investigates until they can figure out a plan, and then Vicky hardens herself as a trauma response and manipulates Dale into believing it was solely his fault and she'll pin him with murder charges if he gets cold feet and turns her in, and he's miserable and gets a fairy (then loses his fairy via Pixie contract through Wish Fixers, presumably in an attempt to negotiate a way to protect himself from Vicky and somehow not gaining the ire of his father) and then H.P. (lawyer and unlicensed yet de facto therapist pulled two ways) is suddenly Dale's godfather and trying to comprehend what the flip is going on between misery and manslaughter while he's also juggling Gary, Betty, and Flappy Bob at the same time in preparation for the Musical because we know he spent 37 years on that plan...

... Would that be one messed-up yet hyperspecifically canon-compliant 'fic or what?

These thoughts have been haunting me all weekend and I HAD to get my "I'm not that kind of lawyer or therapist" joke out of my system, so there's your context. #Sorry. Is this the direction the actual 'fic will go? ... It's not the direction I really had in mind, but ?? It's off the wall and therefore I must shake it in my teeth. I can't not write Dale backstory this horrific. what. hey.

[daboyau]

I was watching lilo and stitch and that “you can never belong” scene came on and I got this idea in my head for that, but with ROTTMNT. So since I don’t do edits or draw, I wrote it out instead. Don’t think too hard about the logistics. :)

It is cold, when Leo slips out of the lair. He can feel Mikey’s gaze on him as he leaves, raising goosebumps over his flesh. He can’t bear to turn back, knowing that his resolve would crumble immediately if he did. His footsteps are too loud in the loneliness of the sewers. His heartbeat pounds in his head. He keeps expecting to hear a voice calling out for him, or the soft sound of footsteps following him. 

But of course it never comes. Mikey had been so hurt. So sad. Of course he wouldn’t follow him. 

When Leo finds a portal into the Hidden City, he doesn’t hesitate to throw himself through it despite the danger it puts him in to be there. The sounds and the sights are familiar to him, yet nowhere calls to him as loudly as the lair had. It’s only been two weeks since he was first brought into their home. They hadn’t even wanted him there, and yet the urge to go crawling back is so strong. He had messed everything up from the moment he’d manipulated his way into their lives. Of course they wouldn’t want him. 

(Why don’t they want him?)

Leo wanders the back alleys and the side streets, letting his feet guide him to nowhere in particular. The picture he had swiped on his way out of the lair is stored safely in the pouch tied around his waist, and between steps he’ll reach in to slide his fingertips over the stiff paper. Just to make sure it’s still there. It soothes him.

He doesn’t stop walking until he’s far outside the city, tucked away in the scraggly rock forests that surround the Hidden City. The aching in his chest has turned into more of a twisting knife, the small knot of sadness becoming more like a gaping chasm. An open wound. A bottomless pit of longing and loneliness that he had never felt before he forced his way into the lives of the Hamatos. 

He hadn’t had anything to lose, before. He hadn’t known the kind of pain that loving something would bring. He wishes he could go back to not knowing. He wishes he could return to a life of never having to make the choice to walk away, to spare them all the pain his existence brings them. 

Leo settles on the ground, curling into himself, shoulders trembling under the weight of everything. When he closes his eyes, the image of Mikey’s face as Leo made his choice haunts him. Donnie’s quiet voice rings in his ears in the silence of the forest, you ruined everything, again and again. Raph’s soft squeeze on his shoulder lingers like a phantom. Leo trembles, tucking his knees to his chest. Then, he pulls the photo out. 

Raph, Donnie, and Mikey grin up at him. It’s almost mocking, how happy they look here. A reminder that they are better without him around. He hadn’t seen them smile like that since the first five minutes they’d found him, back before they learned the truth of how much of their lives he can ruin. 

He runs a careful finger over those smiles, then he squeezes his eyes shut and holds the photo against his chest. His throat burns, and the ache in his chest feels like a black hole that will swallow his body whole. He does his best to breathe through the pain and when he opens his eyes again, the light speckled ceiling overhead is blurry and indistinct. It reminds him of the stars they had taken him to see, wind tickling his skin as they sat on the rooftop of the tallest building of their strange human city and stared upwards at something beautiful.

“Lost,” he whispers to the open air, and he can almost imagine that single word floating upwards, towards the city and the sewers. Finding its way into the only place he’s ever found that might have one day held happiness. But only for him. Not for them. There was only danger if he stayed.

“I’m lost,” he repeats, words like some trouble confession, and hot tears roll down his cheeks.

Some small, selfish part of him hopes they’ll hear. He wants them to come for him, and to bring him back home. It is a stupid, foolish wish. It’s better for everyone that he stays gone. He can’t hurt them this way. 

He falls asleep with tears drying on his cheeks, and body curled tight around the only evidence he holds of a dream he knows can never be. 

When he wakes hours later, it’s to the sound of heavy footsteps over gravel. He jolts upright, heart pounding, eyes wide, and for one foolish, terrible moment he really believes that his family has come for him. 

But no. Of course not. When Draxum emerges with a weapon pointed at his head, Leo can’t find it within himself to feel surprised. He stares back blankly, shifting slowly to stand, halfway wishing that Draxum would just take the shot and get it over with. He doesn’t think he has the energy to raise a hand to defend himself. 

The gravel has left his legs peppered with indents and marks from where they’d pressed into his flesh as he slept. They sound like something breaking as they shift and crunch beneath his feet. Draxum’s eyes dart between those markings and Leo’s tear streaked face, before his expression twists into something complicated. Almost pitying. 

“Don’t run,” he says, voice low. If Leo hadn’t heard what true kindness sounds like these last couple weeks, he would have said that’s what he hears in Draxum’s tone. “Don’t make me hurt you. You were difficult to make. No need to ruin a perfectly acceptable specimen.”

Leo shuffles, eyes darting between Draxum and the stacked stones surrounding them. He makes a sound low in his throat, hurt and uncertain, but he does not bolt. Draxum smiles, already assured of his victory, and steps closer. Leo watches with wide eyes. 

“Yes. Yes, that’s it,” Draxum murmurs, careful and soft, like he’s trying to soothe a scared animal. “Come quietly.”

“I…I’m waiting,” Leo admits, and he watches Draxum’s brow crease. His head tips, curious. He’s not used to this side of his creation — quiet, yet resisting his orders. Leo shuffles a half step back, heart pounding so hard in his chest that he feels a little dizzy. 

“For what?”

“For…for my family.”

“Aahhh. There is no use in doing so. You don’t have one. I made you.” 

Leo shakes his head, hands trembling, photo creased from how tightly he is clutching it in his fist. The thought of ruining the only evidence he has hurts, but the fear of Draxum getting his hands on it, of him finding out about the others, it terrifies him in a way he’s never felt before. He can’t let Draxum know about them. 

“Maybe…maybe I could—“

“I don’t know what yokai fool you found, or what nonsense they’ve been filling your mind with, but banish the thought of family from your mind.” His voice has lost that careful, gentle farce. It is harsh and cutting now. A familiar sound that Leo had hoped he’d left behind forever when he ran away. “You are built to destroy. You can never belong. Now, come quietly and we can begin your reeducation once—no! No no, don’t run, don’t—!”

His voice fades as Leo darts through the towering stones, vines curling at his heels and snapping at his shell as Draxum tries to recapture him. The picture flutters from his fingertips as he trips, lost amongst the shadows of the stone forest. Leo sobs, but he does not turn back for it. It is better if it is lost; at least then, he may be able to move on. 

[the-unconquered-queen]

How do y’all feel about the idea of having one universal MC for all books? I recall there was an app that had this feature but it shut down, idk if anyone else does it.

Cause originally I would��ve thought no, but tbh? Not too bad, at least for the way I play it. Like, I always pick the Hispanic MC sprites anyway, and if I can choose which MC I want to be my set MC, it would save me the trouble of having to look at ugly MCs like the new sickly sprites they’ve been using lately. And if it’s the same MC in every book, it’d be more likely that there would be a better variety of hairstyles to flatter that particular MC.

Only issue I can think of for me is in many books I like being able to give my MC a name that fits the book, so a universal MC might mess with that (though if they let you edit the MC freely I could change the name every time I play a new book). And then of course people who like to make OCs for every book wouldn’t be able to as easily.

I also wonder how it would work, like would it be retroactive? I seriously doubt it, because I imagine it’d be a headache to go back and make every past MC the new one you make. And then it’d mean it’d be unlikely to ever play as non-humans like you do in Blades because an elf or orc or whatever wouldn’t align with the human that would be the universal MC.

Would you be able to choose which sprites you could use (ex: if I want a set Hispanic MC, would I have a choice of every Hispanic MC sprite they’ve done over different books or would they draw up a new set for the universal MCs)? What about outfits, since there are many MC body types out there? Maybe instead of a set of sprites it’d be like making a Bitmoji or Picrew and you just assemble it feature by feature, which sounds pretty cool.

At least if there’s a universal MC, there’s a valid reason to see the same face in every book. When I had to see the ILB and OH MCs in every book it was just because they got lazy.

I’m not really sure if I’d want this feature (I think I voted a 3 to accommodate my indecision), but I am so curious about the logistics of how it’d be done.

[hylianengineer]

So. My grandpa died.

[klabauters]

This might be like a weird ask, but like can you explain how larp works? I play ttrpgs so I know like the basics of roleplaying but like is it the same group everytime? But there seem to be so many people involved? Do you get assigned your character or do you create them? Is there some kind of a gm? I imagine the logistics are super complicated but maybe you could explain it a little? Also followed for db content, stayed for larp sideblog!

Not a weird ask at all! But oh boy, where do you begin?

Every larp is organized differently, and the things I'm about to say are by no means universal. I'll just explain this using the Mythodea campaign as an example.

Just like in ttrpgs, you've got one-off games, and long running campaigns. Mythodea is one of the largest german campaigns. There are several Mythodea events happening each year, the biggest one being Conquest with just under 10000 players. Then there's the Chroniken and the JdS, which usually have around 1500 players attending. There's a few more smaller events throughout the year, too.

These all happen in the same universe, with the same plotlines. Like sessions in the same game of DnD. Some players only attend the Conquest, others show up at several or most of the smaller events as well. All depending on how involved you want to get

Do they assign you a character?

No! There are larps that'll hand you a pre-made character, many don't. However, individual groups within the Mythodea campaign (say: certain nations, orders or camps) might have a certain design concept that they'd want your character to fit into if you want to join them. A knightly order wouldn't exactly want a random pirate joining their ranks. In the overall campaign, you can pretty much show up with any vaguely medieval (ish) fantasy (ish) character that you came up with.

Is there some kind of GM?

Kinda, yeah! The overarching plot is written by a team of organizers, who then brief the NPCs on what's supposed to happen next. The players, like in ttrpgs, then react to whatever gets thrown at them. Occasionally they'll brief "important" individual players, too, for logistical reasons. But as a player you ideally get minimal direct info from the game runners.

Since this is a giant campaign with all sorts of factions and groups, there is a fuckton of plot that isn't dictated by the game runners. A lot of conflict and storylines just evolve naturally, and you can attend most of the bigger events without necessarily having to interact with the given plot.

How are the players in such a big game organized?

The players are, in this case, split into groups. There's different kingdoms (in Mythodea you have four main kingdoms: southern, western, northern and the realm of roses. We don't talk about the east for, uh, a bunch of reasons. Plus a big number of independant kingdoms and groups). That's how the camps are divided. Within those big kingdom/group camps, you have smaller factions within said kingdoms. Like specific guilds, families or organizations. You'll usually have one or two people per small camp, and then again a few people for the umbrella groups organizing the logistics of who goes where, who's showing up, etc etc. If this sounds horribly complicated and like one mess of a snowball system, that's because it is. You just hope that whoever's directly above you in the chain of People Who Organize Things knows what they're doing.

[alloru]

this adorable oc Marion belongs to @starstorm74 here on tumblr!!

drawing her was an experience, I tell you! the character design is very ethereal, with many soft colours and intricate patterns, which kind of sort of intimidated me from drawing her at first!

once I eventually put my mind to it, it wasn't all that terrifying however!! the only thing I regret is not leaving more space for her in the bigger multiattack. but well, there is always another year!

have a kind next 24 hours!!

[music-orthemisery]

"More than an hour" ft. lost puppy Pete totally zoning out & wondering why he's not being strapped in yet

All Your Friends Fest I 8.24.24

[emberglowfox]

woke up from my “nap” (read: my sleep schedule is fucked so i slept from like 10am to 6pm 😬) and spent like an hour very seriously hypothesizing about the logistics and lore of hyrule kingdom in botw/totk before eventually realizing it is at best a weird mess of retcons and “oh but actually”s at best and lowkey weirdly pro-imperialism at worst and just going back to sleep

[would-holden-caulfield-like-nge]

Tad blushing. Who is the cause, I wonder?

[welcometomybraincomics]

Me: *Starts drafting a smut comic in my head*

Me:

Me: Wait- I'M IN CLASS!!!! *scrambles to refocus my attention*

[bonefall]

just read through the full thunderclan family tree, saluting you and your efforts so hard right now 🫡🫡

do you have anything in specific in store personality or plot-wise for the first arc thunderclan kitten saves? (cricket, mistle, chestnut, tulip, elder) (besides dying horribly in the plague, of course 😅)

I do! Unfortunately the Plague Victims won't be getting much screentime, but I do have a good vibe on what everyone's personality was. I'll go in order of age,

CHESTNUTFACE is the daughter of Fuzzypelt and Robinwing, and a late birth as Robinwing had some odd fertility issues. She was born with Tulip around the start of Bluestar's reign, putting her on the later end of 4-ish when she died. She was named for a distinct 'plate' shape on her head, which passed down to Dustpelt. They're remarkably similar, but Chestnut was a richer, redder brown.

TULIPFLIGHT is the littermate of Chestnut. He was a darker red-brown with an orange belly, like his mom, and fuzzy fur that he was constantly trying to keep smooth. He was being trained to take over some of the fancier duties of Kitchen Patrol, and his death is a big reason why cooking wasn't so prevalent in TPB. He was a passive, good-humored guy.

The entire family was taken out by illness in Spottedleaf's Plague, with Ravenkit being the only one to catch and survive it. His growth was stunted as a result.

MISTLECLAW is the younger sister of Goldenflower and Lionheart, from a second litter. She was around 2-ish when she died, looking forward to getting her first apprentice. She was snappy like her mom, Speckletail, but there were doubts that she would make a good mentor as she was pretty flighty and easily distracted.

CRICKETCLAW is the littermate of Darkstripe, and the only one of this list who was alive during the Plague and survived. She is around 3 years old at the start of TPB, and was Redtail's first apprentice (so that he did not mentor his mate's sister). She is the 'distinct tabby queen' from canon, but did not have any surviving kits. She's one of the high-ranking members of the Construction Patrol, and was pretty jealous when Dustpelt got a secondary apprenticeship from One-eye. She has a friendship with Goldenflower.

And, lastly,

ELDERBERRY is the littermate of Ferncloud. She's an impulsive little daredevil, ride-or-die loyal with a bit of a sassy streak. Cloudkit was always dragging them into trouble, Elderkit enthusiastically following along, and Fernkit going broke from having to post bail.

(Ken and Barbie meme of Cloud and Elder both being Kens while Fern is the only Barbie)

Elder and Cricket are both planned as kills in the Forest's destruction of TNP, though Elder in particular is open to shuffles as long as she's dead before TBC

[grimdot]

they should invent a kind of yearning that isn't obscenely expensive to satisfy

[emeraldgreaves]

horizon line for the ask game? (said with meaningful intent)

send me a fic title so i can add five sentences and ramble about it

She takes her lunchbox. Two boxes of latex gloves. A plastic container of masks, still individually wrapped. Bags of prepackaged snacks from the break room. A flash drive with the scans of the slides—the actuals would never survive out of the freezer, and she wouldn’t have the space to pack them anyway. Never before has she actually felt grateful for the paranoia of powerful people, but that’s what happens when the world ends. The panic has blurred at the edges, giving everything a dull, unreal sheen. She may be going in hysterics. The last thing she grabs is a tin of peppermint teabags, just in case.

me any time i see an apocalypse scenario: supply chain issues? 👀 breakdown of global supply chain? 👀 difficulties of resource management? 👀 no more mass manufacturing turning thoughtless consumables into extremely finite resources with a stamped-on and fast approaching expiration date? also I think you can tell a lot about a person based on what they decide is important enough to keep. what do you consider essential? what would you sacrifice a little bit of carry weight for?

[aimfor-theheart]

hi cielo! for your ask game: nico (or nai) + red

I hope you’re doing well today and I’m sending all the love (I’ve also been reading godmaker and…cielo holy shit—I’m not done but WOW)

hello dem my love!! 💕 thank you!! hope your day is going well too! (and THANK YOU. i hope you're enjoying it!! 💕)

i will do nai because i received another nico ask 👀

also like. don't squint at this too long...idk the plot im just riffing. plant!reader...maybe.

nai + red

when nai dreams of you, you're alone against a wine dark sky. angry orange and plumes of red behind you. when you turn to look at him, the sky is a halo burst around your head.

you're always smiling, when you turn to see him.

the world is falling apart but excitement washes over you and in an instant, you are running to him.

bounding through poppy flowers, kicking up their bloody petals, and letting them scatter and burst into the wind.

when you collide with him, it always sends him backwards and into the flowers, your laugh exploding out of you in a noise of joy. he forgets how strong you are; you're no human. he forgets how you felt atop him like this, to wrestle with you like children again.

your smile flashes, all sharp incisors, and wicked glee.

"you're back," you get out, holding him down with all your weight.

he swallows the lump in his throat.

still, he uses his strength to push you off. you yelp, but pop back up in an instant, throwing your arms around him roughly. you turn your face into his throat and rub your cheek there, your nose. the feeling is so familiar and so foreign that he almost can't stand it.

"did you do it?" you ask, and he catches the gleam of your eye, the way your tooth flashes when you let your upper lip catch on his skin, "did you create paradise yet?"

and your voice, from forever ago, from his dreams, from his memories, murmurs, a paradise for us, for you and me and vash.

nai tries to let go of the breath caught somewhere in his chest. his voice gets weaker and weaker every time he answers, "not yet."

you sink your teeth down into his skin. affectionate. a little mean, like you always were. when you release him from your jaws, you nudge your cheek into his like an overgrown cat, "soon?" you ask, like you always do.

thunder rumbles, somewhere in the distance.

he exhales harshly and the moment he tries to hold you, you always fall away from his clutches.

"soon." he promises, to no one but the empty sky, and the livid, red flowers.

send me a character + color and i'll write a drabble!