#looking at this now it's kinda barebones

[guujikaroko]

So, here's the promised post about the Chrysos Heirs' speech patterns in Japanese! Be aware that this is all based on what we've seen throughout 3.0 alone, so we might make new discoveries next patch! Here we go:

Aglaea

Her first person pronoun is 私. Normally, it's read as watashi, but Aglaea uses it as watakushi instead, a more noble and feminine form. Her second pronoun is the polite and standard 貴方 (anata), and she usually uses the gendered 彼/kare (he/him) or 彼女/kanojo (she/her) for third person. That last thing might not sound special, but Japanese has a myriad of ways of addressing people without referring to gender, so it's a sign she goes the extra mile to sound more formal.

Talking more about her speech patterns, she's very polite and formal in a distinctively feminine way. There is a form of Japanese known as 敬語 (keigo), which is pretty much "Polite Japanese" and the form a non-native speaker would learn first because it's what you'd use the most. The interesting thing is that Aglaea always speak in keigo, regardless of who the other person is; she never defers to a more informal speech.

In fact, the only times her speech seems to change is when she adopts an outright reverent tone. I talked a little about this before, but Aglaea addresses the Tribios by 我が師 (waga shi). This word choice by her is particularly interesting for two reasons:

1.) The use of 我が (waga), an ultra reverent way of saying "my/mine". It makes use of the pronoun 我 (ware), which is really archaic and not part of modern conversation except for a few expressions such as 我ながら (if I say so myself).

2.) The use of 師 (shi) for "teacher". Usually you'd see the common 先生 (sensei) around, or maybe even 師匠 (shishou), which carries the extra connotation of "master", but Aglaea uses only the first kanji of 師匠. That makes the whole thing sound beyond reverent.

Aglaea also addresses everyone by name properly, even the ones who usually go by nicknames like Mydei.

Tribios

The three speak the same way, the only difference is each one says things according to their personalities.

Their pronouns would be あたし (atashi), a feminine and more informal form of watashi, but as they refer to themselves in plural, it becomes あたしたち (atashi-tachi). They don't actually refer to other people in second person or third person pronouns that much, preferring to use names (or nicknames) instead. It would sound weird in English, but it's a perfectly normal way of addressing people in Japanese, even more so if you're a kid.

Talking about kids, as you'd expect, the Tribios speak exactly how a very excitable Japanese little girl would. The nicknames are a part of it, but it also doubles to highlight their importance in Okhema (you're allowed to be a little more informal if you "rank higher" than the other person in Japanese). The only time they break away from their pattern is when they're reciting the chants to borrow the power of the Three Titans of Fate. There, they adopt the reverent tone you see with Aglaea.

As an addendum, the suffix ちゃん (-chan) the Tribios attach to nicknames is supposed to be used for people younger/less experienced than you or someone you find cute, especially kids, but it's generally more accepted for girls. With a boy, it's more common to use くん (-kun), but the Tribios use -chan regardless of gender.

In short, the Tribios are kids who treat everyone else like kids.

Phainon

His first person pronoun is the masculine 僕 (boku). It's not very formal but it's still on the polite side, and it's commonly used by young men. His second person pronoun is 君 (kimi), which usually denotes familiarity, but he uses it regularly regardless of who he talks to. As for third person, he uses kare and kanojo depending on gender, but also can use ���イツ/aitsu (that person) if he wants to be less informal.

In general, he speaks like a cheerful young man of this time would, but since he's Amphorean, it also gets mixed with the prose-filled speech you can see in pretty much all the characters. You can see him attach a more modern suffix to words like っぽい/-ppoi (-ish) and then address the Trailblazer by 我が友/waga tomo (my friend) not much later.

On the topic of 我が友, you might have realized this already but it works on the same principle as Aglaea's 我が師: using the reverent pronoun 我 followed by a single kanji, this time 友 (which is the first kanji of 友達/tomodachi). It kind of speaks volumes about Phainon's appreciation for the Trailblazer.

Interestingly enough, he addresses the Tribios by sensei and Castorice with the suffix さん (-san), but he simply calls Aglaea by name alone.

Castorice

Just like Aglaea, her first and second person pronouns are watakushi and anata, and she uses gendered pronouns for third person. The only difference is sometimes she addresses people by 方 (kata), which is remarkably polite of her.

Yes, she's polite. Very polite. No, I kid you not, she's the most polite character I've seen in years. I talked a little about keigo with Aglaea, but it seems Castorice speaks in 尊敬語 (sonkeigo) specifically, which is just Japanese Customer Service Voice™ . As a result, her sentences are at the very least twice as long as anyone else's would. The only time she breaks character is while translating Oronyx's words (which was hilarious because Oronyx was being ultra condescending the whole time).

Castorice makes ample use of honorifics. In fact, I can't remember a single time she didn't address someone by -san or 様 (-sama). She's incredibly consistent in that regard.

Mydei

First person pronoun is 俺 (ore): masculine and rude as hell. Second person is お前 (omae), which is also rude as hell. Third person is コイツ/koitsu (this person) and アイツ/aitsu (that person), which are gender-neutral and incredibly casual. As you can see, he doesn't give a fuck about consideration.

Despite the pronouns, Mydei can actually be formal and even flowery in his speech, as expected of an Amphorean. He's very much not polite at all, though. His speech is also very masculine and gives the overall vibe of a very arrogant royal (almost like a certain golden king of a certain franchise, huh). Sometimes he gets a little... Indulgent, I'd say, and that's when he's on something like a good mood.

He did the 我が thing at least once too; in his case, it was with Chrysos Leo, who he called 我が師匠/waga shishou (my master). Note that he used 師匠 normally, unlike Aglaea who only used ���.

He rarely addresses people by name. Usually, it's either titles (like with the Tribios and Phainon), or a rude-ass "you".

And that's all for now! Corrections and additions are welcomed, as I am not a leading expert in Japanese or anything like that.

[bf-rally]

Progress on the interaction page!

[ectoplasmoss]

Hii uhh I dont post on here often but I’m kinda a fan of the Amazing Digital Circus sooo… I made a Gangle fan redesign because I adore her

I wanted to add a bit more complexity to her design! Don’t get me wrong, I dont hate Gangle’s canon design, but I feel a little weird about it because she seems a little *too* barebones in comparison with the rest of the TADC cast, so I experimented with giving her a bit of a more frilly gothic look! I think she looks cute :)

I also uh have a TADC oc. They’re gonna be redesigned slightly but right now they’re just a silly little skater ghost.

just a small lil guy!!!

[coldgoldlazarus]

Okay, mostly done screeching in excitement, now it's analysis time.

First point: That purple blast of the turret getting taken out looks great.

Looks like we're opening hot, a lot like Corruption's beginning. Hopefully won't be quite as protracted as the Norion battle, though, lol.

Also, I've seen some jokes already about how this section will end with Samus getting depowered like the openings of Prime and Echoes, but given how barebones her arsenal seems to be here, (missiles and morph ball, which sometimes she just starts with and keeps, maybe bombs too) I don't expect that to happen.

The HUD and helmet edges are a lot more dialed back this time, pushed as far into the corners as they can go. Probably better for visibility this way, but I am gonna miss the more wraparound feel of the previous setup, with the missile count and hazard meter along the sides. But this isn't a bad look by any means, and we still have a fair few items here.

A & B: My bet is this is the replacement for the old hazard meter. In addition to keeping it out of the way, putting it right next to the motion tracker is a good move. I may actually remember to use that more this way.

C: Health bar is obvious, of course, but I really like the move of tucking it away into the notch on the top of the Echoes/Corruption/Beyond(!) helmet visor. The lines around it suggest an empty row above, undoubtedly for the energy tank pips once those are picked up.

D & E: Minimap is present as usual, not really much to say there, but I love the addition of a compass direction scroll beneath it, which should be helpful for putting places in context of the broader map. (Tallon IV's elevator label system, anyone?)

F: Missile count has been shunted down from the side to the bottom corner. I'm interested to see if it will grow upward, or just stay in its present spot and scale accordingly, as you collect more expansions.

G: This is the one everyone's already pointed out, but it seems that we won't have a visor OR beam swap readout.

Scan Visor is still an option as shown in the next bit, but based on the lack of an indicator in the hud, it's probably just going to be a toggle between that and combat, without anything else like X-Ray or Thermal or Echo or what have you. (Or it could be that that would only get added to the HUD after picking up a third visor, but I won't hold my breath for it.) Kinda disappointing to deemphasize one of the cool new mechanics the Prime subseries brought to the table, on one hand, but I'm still grateful to have the Scanner, and the extra ones always did struggle a bit to see much use.

Similarly, a bit disappointed this means we're probably looking at a stacking beam like in Corruption and the 2D games, (unless of course beam swapping is still there and just being left off the HUD until relevant for the sake of cleanliness #copium) but not entirely surprising; I'll live.

But what is interesting is what's there instead. The D-Pad seems to be tied to non-Beam weapons or tools instead, with the missile launcher as the only one available at present. I'm really curious to see what the other items will be; I imagine this is going to be Prime 4's unique spin on things. I saw someone suggest affinity weapons like in Hunters, but given those all function like Beams, it feels weird to me to set them against Missiles instead, ammunition requirements notwithstanding. I'm not going to rule those out, of course, but I could see this being something completely different entirely.

Again, I am very glad to see the Scan Visor is still here at least. Even better is that it uses the full-body highlighting of objects like Echoes and Corruption instead of Prime 1's icons. Pretty minimalistic layout, all told; I like that the scanning bar is a ring now. And it doesn't reflect Samus's face by default like in Corruption, which makes sense since we're not liable to have the same kind of mutation shenaniganry happening here.

I forgot to snag a screencap of this bit on my computer, so forgive the lower quality, but this scene is interesting for a few reasons.

The Pirates' breaching charges letting them into this room just as Samus passes through a gap in the wall overhead is a nice touch, and also remniscent of some sequences from early on in Corruption.

The Federation guys in here seem to be wheeling away someone or something on a stretcher in a hurry. That could be important.

Energy tank up in the rail section, but blocked by a box. Are we just going to bomb through to get it right away, or will we drop down into the room, and have to come back from the other direction to pick it up? (Please be the other direction)

Samus looking spiffy here, even at a distance. And as some have pointed out, looks like she's walking out of a portal instead of a door, pointing to either more dimension-hopping shenanigans like in Echoes, or possibly the time travel elements I recall hearing Tanabe wanted to play with at some point. (This plus the black hole look of the logo makes me think this could be more likely.)

Whatever the nature of the portal, though, the interesting thing to me is the sort of circular structure in the rock around it, suggesting a doorframe almost. A lot of the portals on Aether seemed to actively cut into the environment at random, the rock carved out in perfect spheres with fucked-up edges, and interrupting the pre-existing architecture or geology. In contrast, this looks like it was put here on purpose, implying a more controlled creation. Potentially really fascinating implications in that.

I also kinda wonder if these portals will be replacing elevators as a way to get between regions.

Ignoring the big numbers in the middle, (though they do kinda mess with my prediction that Prime 4 was going to be a 2024 holiday title to avoid getting eaten by Switch 2's inevitable 3D Mario launch title,) a couple things stand out to me here.

Giant tree in the background is giant, and I love it for that. Also looks like it's not the only giant tree here, even if still probably the biggest. I hope we get to go there later.

But in addition, we have a bridge in the middle distance, and a tunnel opening in the foreground. I will eat my hat if we don't get to cross that bridge, and my bet is that they're going to pull a similar trick here as with Skytown, letting low-poly versions of other "rooms" be visible from the current one, but dividing them with interior sections for optimization reasons, allowing for amazing landscapes of all traversible terrain. I loved that there, it looks great here, I can't wait to go explore all this myself next year.

[ghcstofutopia]

for anyone that's not a nsfw artist or doesn't consume that kinda thing, if you're not really aware of what's up as of late, i do have a lot of feelings about how dire it kinda gets. and it can easily get worse!

so far, the best sites (that i know of) that allow nsfw art is... twitter. bluesky. newgrounds. maybe some more, but they either have weird rules or are too flooded with AI for artists to wanna touch it (cough cough deviantart)

and yet, with twitter, nsfw creators are routinely restricted, shadowbanned and essentially erased from timelines. you need to keep people's notifs on just to see their posts. bluesky is showing some promise as a replacement, but only just recently allowed registration, and is still massively barebones both in features and members.

so many sites are routinely booting sex workers and nsfw creators, even the ones that were made for those people. the moment they can make an okay profit without you, you get the boot. good luck finding another avenue, you're quickly getting restricted to shady sites and places where you can't advertise to an audience.

ko-fi does not allow nsfw. paypal will lifetime ban you and keep your money if they find out you do nsfw, or if someone in the little message box suggests you might be doing so. tumblr "says" they kinda allow it, but no they fuckin don't. gumroad's booting you out with a 24 hour notice because the payment processors think all nsfw should be banned.

i know it's easy to shrug it off if you never did nsfw, never looked at it, never cared, it's the porn addicts getting booted oh noooo (/s), but like. it sucks that people's livelihoods are on such a thin line. sucks that one decision means an artist or a sex worker now has no income, and has to scramble to find somewhere else or just... give up. and when they finally get rid of all of us?

well, guess who's next on the chopping block. hint: if rightwingers say your very existence or the content involving people like you is immoral and pornographic, you're not safe either :')

[missmahgenta]

(Fnaf movie) Christmas headcannons because why not

-Mike dislikes celebrating Christmas ever since his brother got kidnapped, and nowadays only celebrates it because of Abby

-That said, he feels bad that he can’t give her what he thinks the ideal Christmas would be. Their parents had sold most of the Christmas decorations by the third celebration without Garret, so the house looks barebones

-Still, he always makes sure to get a tree, even when he can’t afford a nice one (which has been the case for most of holidays where there was only the two of them).

-Abby LOVES making ornaments to put on the tree, and she’s very dedicated at making them. She loves when Mikes tags along, even though they look ugly

-Mike is not the best at cooking nor baking, and somehow even when following a simple cookie recipe word by word, something always goes wrong. It’s kind of amazing really

-After waking up from her coma, Vanessa kinda just starts tagging along the Schmidts at Abby’s insistence, not that Mike would oppose or anything, but he felt that if he was the one inviting her over, she would refuse because things are still a bit awkward between them (girlie just doesn’t understand why they still want to see her after everything, and doesn’t understand why they didn’t leave her to die like she feels she deserves). And her presence is pretty much demanded now during the holidays

-Christmas with her father was always weird. He loved keeping up a good image, and he would go all out, specifically at Freddy’s. He and Vanessa would decorate the entire place from top to bottom, and hell, he would even get his employees some gifts (they were barebones and cheap, yes, but hey, a gift is a gift)

-At their home, things would be more subtle, similar to a beige mom decor, but like, with subtle shades of yellow and purple. Christmas themed songs were not allowed inside that household, but if Vanessa behaved well, he would get some dumb Christmas movies for her to watch, occasionally tagging along just because.

-William would go all out on her gifts tho. Piles of toys and clothes and whatever she showed interest during the year, everything for his little girl

-And he would, at the same pace, destroy one of them every time she mildly displeased him, and he would make sure she was watching.

-After Freddy’s closed, Vanessa would make a point to get the animatronic little gifts. They were still children after all, and all children love receiving gifts

-Nowadays, Vanessa feels extremely weird getting any sort of gift, and just like Mike, wouldn’t celebrate Christmas if it weren’t for Abby. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t enjoy celebrating with them tho, in fact, she makes a point to make it as magical and as Christmas-zy as possible

-She made sure to get ugly sweaters with scarfs to combine. Like, absolutely hideous ones. The kind you wouldn’t wear outside of the occasion.

-One thing she can’t do to save her life is cooking, just like Mike. She is not allowed at the stove.

-And since no one knows how to make a good Christmas supper, they just decided to eat at Sparky’s, which is surprisingly empty during that day, save for that one talkative waiter that Abby finds funny

-They make a point of continuing Vanessa’s little tradition to give gifts to the animatronics, and she feels happy that she doesn’t have to do it alone anymore

[direwolfrules]

Oh my fairy godmother I am so happy you are post about Ever After High!!! Do you have any fanfic or au ideas involving them? Like, what if one character had another destiny or what if they were in the Star Wars universe?! It’s just interesting to think about!

Hey! Glad to see we share another fandom interest!

So, I have this barebones post for what I would have done as a crossover between g1 Monster High and Ever After High.

As for general fanfic ideas I have a few. I shall now list them in varying levels of detail:

1. A Very Charming Groundhog Day Year:

Basically, the Charming siblings time loop back from a bit after Dragon Games but before Epic Winter to the day before the school year started (the day of the Family Ball in the books). While it would be kinda angsty, the best time loop fics are usually crack fics, and this would be no exception (if I ever wrote any of these things).

So Daring, Dexter, and Darling are all initially in states of panic and anxiety. Daring, he was in the middle of a quarter-life crisis and now has to deal with everyone and their fairy godmother thinking he's Apple's Prince Charming.

"Daring Charming, more like Distressed Charming, am I right?"-- Dexter, who should get to exhibit asshole little brother energy more often, as a treat.

Speaking of Dexter, he's panicking cause of all the awful stuff that's going to happen during the school year and also because now he has to go through the nerve-racking ordeal of asking out the girl he likes all over again.

Darling's in hell because everyone and their fairy godmother expect her to be this perfect little damsel, again, which is just- ugh. There are days she wishes she could carry her sword around with her, and they're most days. Also, she never got to talk to Apple about their True Love's CPR, which is just tragic.

The loops go on for a while, some constants in them include: Darling freeing herself and helping little Good-Enough Charming get one of their grandfather's trophies for the scavenger hunt, Dexter and Darling teaming up to kill the changeling and free cousin Charity (sometimes Daring helps but he's content to let his siblings have fun for once), Darling accidentally on purpose flirting with Apple and Apple experiencing several degrees of gay panic, Dexter fumbling asking out Raven for the first time (he's really such a dork, just a funky dude), and the Charming Siblings teaming up to make Milton Grimm's life a living hell.

In one loop they secretly film him playing with his toy unicorns and his action figure of himself and they hijack Blondie's mirrorcast to play it to the entire school.

After several loops a Monster High crossover happens, and so in every loop after that the Charming sibs, who have grown incredibly gremlin-like after experiencing the insanity of the school several dozen times, make sure to drop monster slang when it's just them and Cupid. Like:

Darling: "Wow, Cupid, that top looks clawsome."

Daring: "Totally, it's freaky fierce."

Cupid: "What?!"

Darling: "That top looks nice on you. Anyway, we gotta run."

Dexter: "Yeah, see you later ghoulfriend!"

I have some other half-baked ideas for this one but it'd probably be it's own post.

2. Murdoch Mysteries-ish AU:

This one makes no sense if you've never watched the hit Canadian Detective Show, Murdoch Mysteries. Or maybe it makes some sense, idk. Instead of a modern AU, we have a 1895 detective AU. It's barely an idea, I have no idea if I'd even keep this in the fantasy setting of (an 1895) Ever After or not.

Dexter is the Detective William Murdoch of this AU, the man with no game and beautiful blue eyes who women keep inexplicably falling in love with. He's observant and a little strange but he's also a brilliant detective. One of the major differences though is Dexter is the disowned son of old money parents.

Raven's the Dr. Julia Ogden, the outspoken, independent, and compassionate coroner helping solve cases and being amazing. Her rich, controlling mother doesn't much approve of her life choices but old Mrs. Queen can suck it. Raven and Detective Charming have a clearly mutual attraction but they're both hesitant to act on it cause what's a romance without a good slow-burn.

Hopper's the Constable George Crabtree of this AU. Listen, the everyday George matches Hopper's human side, and writer George matches Hopper's frog side. I will not elaborate, because I really cannot. Just feel the vibes, cause the words aren't coming.

I'm not 100% sure who'd be the Inspector Brackenreid. Part of me kinda wants to make it Professor Badwolf, and then I could make Milton Grimm the asshole commissioner. Coach Gingerbreadman is the Inspector of Station 5, the rivals of Station 4.

Daring is heir to the Charming family fortune. Golden boy, everyone loves him, wants more than anything to be able to talk to his little brother in public, but their parents would disown him as well if he stepped out of line.

Apple is one of Raven's housemates at Sisters boarding house, run by Bella and Brutta Sister. She was once courted by Daring, it was at the point where people were expecting an engagement announcement any day. That's when they suddenly broke it off, with no explanation (the explanation is Daring's in love with another girl and Apple's in love with his sister). Snow White and her husband barely agreed to let her move into the boarding house, I honestly have no clue how Apple managed to pull that off but good for her.

Idk, Darling's a vigilante. She's got the same deductive genius as Dexter, she just doesn't have the same ability to join the police force. Inspector Badwolf is tired of his cops being outdone by the mysterious White Knight (yeah, yeah, I made Darling into Victorian-era Batman). Couldn't the White Knight patrol Station 5's territory? (The answer is no, because Darling really wants to catch a glimpse of her twin and also because Sisters Boarding house is in Station 4's territory and sometimes she likes to secretly crash with her girlfriend).

3. The Destiny Cycle AU (AKA: Ever After High but the Rebel Movement is an actual Rebellion AU):

What it says on the tin. Raven discovers the book is fake before Legacy Day. Her and Dexter, who in this AU is believed to be Ashlynn's future Prince Charming because someone made a good post about the potential dynamics that could cause and I love it, set out to uncover what other secrets those in charge are hiding.

Basically, in this AU Ever After is a dystopia where the Royal Families tied the survival of their dynasties' rule to their stories. Like, magically tied them. The Fates themselves have been bound by the magic of the Destiny Cycle. Ever After's Destiny-bound citizens are forced to repeat the same stories as their ancestors, all because Happily Ever After doesn't include a revolt or the institution of democracy. All stories are repeated as a precaution against anyone figuring out what the ancestors of the Royal Families did.

Taking some inspiration from the SDCC Raven Queen doll's letter from her mother, the Evil Queen discovered the truth about the Destiny Cycle, said "not my kid you bastards", and proceeded to try to break the Cycle's bonds. Her taking over other stories and cursing Wonderland was an attempt to stretch the probability bonds of the Destiny Cycle's magic to the breaking point.

Stuff's gonna go down and basically these kids know time is running out until there's a war, cause the only way to avoid being offered up as a lamb to the slaughter is to overthrow the whole system.

God, I really gotta make this into it's own post as well now. But here's a basic rundown of some stuff I'd include:

Dexter and Raven being young and in love and just all the secret romance feels

Snow White knows about the Destiny Cycle, but Apple absolutely does not know.

Apple being born blonde is a sign that the Evil Queen's schemes loosened the grip of the Destiny Cycle, at least for a moment.

Ashlynn, Hunter, Dexter, and Raven as secret rebel leaders.

The backgrounders will have actual roles dammit! (Looking at you Lawrence Bonecrusher III, aka Orc Boy).

An exploration of artificial Destiny Cycle "True Love" vs. real True Love, featuring Apple, Daring, and Darling.

C.A. Cupid, sent by her godly family to infiltrate Ever After and cure it of the Destiny Cycle, because it's interfering in the domains of the gods.

A unique Monster High crossover idea that I will elaborate on in another post.

These children absolutely end up having to kill someone and it scars them forever.

As for different destinies AUs or Star Wars AUs, I haven't really given them much thought.

I think, in a Star Wars setting (possibly Old Republic?), Raven would be a Jedi padawan descended from a long line of Sith. Instead of Mirror Prison, her mom is dead and her Force Ghost is bound to a giant, mirrorlike piece of kyber crystal. Uh, not 100% sure who her master would be.

Darling would also be a Jedi padawan, and Maid Marian would be her Master. Maid Marian gets into custody battles over this kid with this old Jedi Watchman known only as The White Knight. She'd still have her time-slowing hair flip, in this AU it's just a unique way of activating the Force Slow ability.

[sunnysunsins]

Since it's Hanako season once again, let's play a little game.

What school mysteries can you think of for your school? Not come up with, but remember actual weird things that happened there?

I'll start:

The hanging shoes

the empty cabins

the watermelon tree

the forgotten park

the descending hallway

the ramen flavor packets collection

the unbuilt kitchen

(bonus, from college - The fineart teacher Curse)

Happy mysteries!

Explanations under the cut

On top of a tree next to the school building there was a pair of shoes tied to a branch, but in a way that nobody knew how they managed to do it. The “they” also were never known. It’s as if the shoes just appeared on there. And they’ve been there for as long as i can remember. And now the most interesting part: apparently they appeared the same year my class first came to school, and they disappeared right after we graduated. Weird.

Next to the school playground (if you can call it that, it was very barebones), there were empty cabins looking like smaller train cars. We were told to stay away from there, but when exploring anyway (as kids do) we never saw anyone there or anyone using them. They just stood there.

In the same playground there was a large tree, one of the only ones there, that every spring started smelling of watermelon. It also bloomed, very pretty. Still don't know why watermelon smell though.

So, behind this barebones playground, after a little gate and a small road, there was an actual playground belonging to the houses that were around it. Sometimes we were allowed to go there instead to play. But right next to it was a forgotten park. With some weird structures that were supposed to be play equipment, but broken down and rusted, with the whole area overgrown. It's still there.

Inside the school there were a few "middle floors", basically spaces between 2nd-3rd and 3rd-4th. One of them was the gym. The other had a weird descending hallway. It was smooth, safe for a few bumps that i guess were supposed to be stairs? (we loved running down it) and 2 doors into classrooms that we actually used. And it was pitch dark. Literally complete darkness. When our teacher was sick and there was free time, we loved sitting down there in a circle, with 1 light from a phone in the middle and do whatever.

In 1st grade we had nap time. For it we had a specific classroom with a bunch of 3-tier beds that slid out. Under the mattress of one of those was a whole collection of ramen flavor packets. Every single taste you can think of, it was there. Some kids swore they saw there were sweet flavors too, i specifically remember chocolate being mentioned. Don't know who did it or what happened to them.

Next to the school was an unfinished and abandoned building foundation, complete with steps on one side. It was kinda sad and creepy, with a lot of litter in every crack (as there always is). It was said by older children that this was supposed to be a kitchen for the school before for some reason it was abandoned at foundation stage. And bonus one: it's also very sad, but we genuinely thought it was some kinda curse. Every single fineart teacher we had has died in about a year or two after we had classes with them. That's it.

[impulsemuppet]

WIP Wednesday

Thank you for the tag @elodiah @kcscribbler & @loki-is-my-kink-awakening

I've been sick so I don't have a lot writing-wise and my recent sketches are a secret so I'm gonna post a little bit of both to not make the writing part so barebones.

This is from a story idea I've had for a while loosely based on the Genghis Khan music video. Mobius is a SHIELD agent trying to capture Loki. It's very alt-universe and most of it's being planned so that's why I only have a bit that's kinda worth sharing.

A presence loomed over him. “Agent Mobius, are you finally awake?” Mobius jolted from his sleep. The room wasn’t dark anymore, instead a bright fluorescent light momentarily blinded him. He tried covering his eyes but was unable to move his arm.  “Had to take precautions. I’m guessing you don’t get to where you are in SHIELD without a few tricks down your sleeve,” the voice spoke again.  It was very familiar, but Mobius was having a hard time placing it with the growing migraine. “Where am I?” Mobius managed to ask, his dry throat protesting. He was trying hard to remember his training, what to do when captured.  “Not relevant,” they replied. “Ok then, why am I here?” Mobius proceeded. He tried moving his legs, but they were also bound.  “You hold valuable information, my dear Agent Mobius.”

And this is a wip sketch of Mobius with long hair that maybe someday I'll have time to work on. Now that I think about it, this should be what Mobius looks like in this AU.

Open tag cause its late.

[unexpectedbrickattack]

Now hold on a gosh-diddly-darn minute, I noticed the entire time talking about a tipsy Peppino no one thought to ask this but what about tipsy GUS? I mean we saw him a li'l tipsy in the fastfood saloon escape, can I hear your thoughts about that/him please? Have they ever gotten tipsy together?

(I just like the mental image of the two alone, just being real giggly with each other (Gus just says "hey" and Peppi starts giggling which sets Gus off giggling) and being sappy goofs with each other <3)

HEEHEE u are so right and i am so sorry for withholding this information from the masses 😭

My homebrew for gnomes is that they are simultaneously hardy folk (able to eat virtually anything and immune to most poisonous creatures) AND extremely intolerant of alcohol. Theres no reason for that, i just like it alot :)

So Gus would be an extreme lightweight 😭 its SO bad; he cant speak clearly at all, he cant walk straight, he has the Worst hangovers and he wont remember anything from the previous night. The line between ‘pleasantly buzzed’ and ‘blackout drunk’ is so thin that Gus doesnt even try social drinking. If he MUST drink, it will be in the comfort of his own barebones apartment 😭 at least, until Peppino started hanging out with vigilante and his crew.

Gustavo LIKES drinking! Its just hard to find a good balance, and THATS bc he simply doesnt know how alcohol works. Peppino is like:

“Look ‘ere. All of these have a number somewhere on the bottle. Or a percentage. Lower the number, the better it is for you.”

Gustavo is like !!! Oh!!! That is very helpful! What would you recommend for me then?

“Probably…2-5%. 5-10 proof. Small 'a numbers.”

Gustavo nods, interested. He points at a bottle he recognizes from the last time he came here and got shitfaced. “That one up there; do you know how ‘a strong that one is? Or should i ask the bartender?”

Peppino squints at the company label. “45%.”

“Oh!” That makes sense. “Well what do you usually drink?”

“70%.”

“Oh!”

Peppino recommends some of the LIGHT light wines, the ones that barely have a hint of anything. Theyre sweet (which Gustavo loves so very very much) and for the first time in a very long time, he Stays buzzed instead of immediately faceplanting into being blackout drunk.

Hes very. Playful. Is what Peppino would describe a tipsy Gustavo. He hesitates to use the term ‘flirty’ because that is not whats happening. But hes like. Clearly entertaining some gruff looking men like five times his size as they ramble drunkenly about random shit like ‘waow….thasso cool…and then what happened???’

Its funny at first bc Gustavo is so fucking TINY that all you can see of him, in the group of men as they yapyapyap about some inane shit that Gustavo wont even remember, is his tiny little tail 😭 It is less funny, however, when Peppino catches himself rambling about work and Gustavo is like (ears perked; tail swaying) ‘mmhmm. wrow…thats ‘a kinda nice…what else did you do??’ Peppino is like *buffering* (‘something is happening right now that will need to be addressed at a later time. Do not forget DO NOT FORGET. URGENT!!!!’)

Otherwise Gustavo is just a silly guy. Vigilante will make a joke and he laughs so low and deep that he sounds downright villainous 😭 Peppino will point out something stupid on the TV and like hours later Gus is like ‘…heeeuehuuueee…..do u remember [insert stupid reference] and Peppino will giggle. Peppinos affinity for throwing around ilus are met with Gustavo going ‘😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊’ with absolutely no way to even pretend to mask it.

Gustavo has fun being out in the saloon but he really enjoys drinking in Peppinos house. Its not nearly as loud as the saloon and theres usually homecooked foods like breads and soups (Because Peppino stress-cooks ALL the time). Brick gets to stay indoors instead of waiting outside the saloon, so Gustavo gets to mess with his soft fur contentedly. He just gets to be cozy; its quite nice 😊

[demonbunny5]

progress so far on making vernis lore accurate

had to make some compromises on space initially cuz the plot of land you start with is way smaller than its elona equivalent but now that I've got more space I'm gonna have to move shit.

bar was the first building I finished and I think it looks the best out of all of these. Need to find a succubus I can hire to be Shena but I haven't seen any with useful job/hobby combos yet.

Inn has become a general rec room sort of thing, and the food shop has an extra freezer section because of all the ingredients I have to keep frozen. Presumably Loyter breaks it at some point in the next few decades.

The fact that the trainer's building has bunk beds in it is a godsend because it means I can house 16 npcs in here without having to dump a bunch more beds all over the place. Still looking for a fireplace to put in here.

Claimed Rilian's house as my own since I'm the one in charge of poppy. I was worried at first because you can't pick up the mine entrance manually but you can actually move it in build mode.

shops are still kinda barebones. Finding shelves that have different things on them is actually getting annoying, I keep getting the one with a bunch of bottles.

mayor's house is mostly done, just need more decorations to make it more visually appealing.

Honestly kinda cool how accurate you can get with some of the colors of the walls/flooring just using the materials available without resorting to dyes. Wish there was a way to grow trees and then keep them from dying off though, cuz when I get around to doing all the flora and foliage that's gonna be a pain in the ass.

[khazadspoon]

mmyeshello prompt: "Blondie has a kitten in his hat" type scene but with Manco and Mortimer

Sorry it took so long! I had forgotten I had an ask and got caught up 😔 here’s a little cute thing

——

If Colonel Douglas Mortimer is anything, it is a man who knows what to expect in life. Few things surprise him after fifty years of hunting bounties, of taking and sparing lives, of surviving on his wits and skills.

And yet, when he hears the soft mewling and low rumble of a purr from Manco’s poncho, he finds himself surprised. He blinks, lowers his pipe, and leans forward to take a peek.

Sure enough there is a small, content looking kitten curled up in Manco’s lap. It kneads happily at the coarse fabric of the poncho as it purrs, its eyes half closed in a display of pleasure and trust.

“Where’d you find that?” He asks, more perplexed than he wants to admit.

Manco smiles. The expression deepens the lines around his eyes, makes him look younger and less cynical about the world. It’s a good look. Mortimer won’t admit to that, either. “He was under the porch of the hotel, came right out and curled around my foot. Couldn’t resist the little fella.” There is a hint of something nostalgic in his voice that intrigues Mortimer, but he doesn’t know how to ask about it.

Nothing about Manco is clear, he doesn’t talk about his past anymore than Mortimer does, maybe even less. He doesn’t even know the boy’s real name.

Manco smiles again. He fusses the kitten, ruffling its dark fur with long fingers. “Reminds me of the time I found one down in some bombed out town during the war. Scrawny thing, but scrappy.”

Mortimer lights his pipe and watches his companion curiously. “You weren’t a soldier,” he says.

Manco huffs, glances up at him as he scratches lightly at the kitten’s fur. “How’d you know?”

“No discipline, too headstrong. No… you’re not a military man. What did you do in the war?”

Manco’s smile falls away as he looks down at his lap. He chews his lip and shrugs. “Something like what I do now, I guess, but with fewer… rules. I had a partnership at one point, nothing like ours. It- it was untied a couple of times. Kinda messily. I got a few regrets from that time.”

“I see.”

He doesn’t, not entirely, but the barebones of the sketch is there. He can see it in how Manco is holding himself; turned inward and thinking of times gone by. Two people tied together, tighter than men like they are should be, chafing against the closeness but needing it nonetheless. Not entirely unlike how he feels about Manco, if he is honest with himself.

The kitten mewls and the smile drifts back onto Manco’s lips. “I might tell you the whole story one day, Old Man, when we’ve finished here.”

Mortimer reaches out and strokes the kitten’s soft fur, feels the rumble as it purrs. He wonders if Manco’s hair is just as soft. Maybe it is coarse from too much sun and wind. Maybe Manco would purr, too. “I’ll hold you to that.”

[annakie]

Fixing The House, Chapter 8: Master of Bathrooms

Part One: I Do Not, In Fact, Have the Power

Part Two: Let’s Spend Lots of Money!

Part Three: All These Things That I’ve Done

Part Four: I Really Want to Stay At My House

A little interlude.

Part Five: Power Down

Part Six: You Will Leave Some Paint

Part Seven: Backwards to go Forwards

Part Eight: Master of Bathrooms (YOU ARE HERE)

Part Nine: Within a Room, Somewhere

Part Ten: Rooms With No View

Part Eleven: Big Bang Room Part A and also Part B!

Part Twelve: We Can Make It On the Outside

Part Thirteen: Mauve Haze Symphony

Part Fourteen (A) - In the Kitchen

Part Fourteen (B) - Copper Green

---

Thought a lot the last couple of days about what to start posting about next and I think I'm ready to show y'all the Master Bathroom. Then who knows what else next update.

I was surprised that a house this small (1100 square feet!) had two full baths. That's kind of a lie... the master bathroom shower/tub was uhhhhh... not a full tub? It was truly a size that I had not seen before. I honestly don't know where they would have even gotten the tub. Maybe it was custom built? I'm sure it was from the 60's.

Posted a couple of "Just bought the house" pics above. Let's take a look through the last 21 years of this bathroom and how we got where it is today.

TBH this post is ridiculously long for the smallest room in the house, oh well.

It's not a big bathroom at all. It fit the three things you need for the requirement of full bath, sure, but that's about it. And, of course, everything in it was original to the house built in 1963 or AT BEST it's possible from the 1980's.

It was also, ya know, gross.

I posted this in the previous update but that's the wallpaper I was met with. It had a barebones mirror, and NGL, I did kinda like this lighting? Honestly, it kinda ruled. I miss it a little. That was the only good thing in this room.

It's a bathroom with a window that looks out on the patio, and that window has always been gross and cloudy.

Even today, that window is there, Arturo promises me the new one should be in next week, so I will probably post another pic or two once that comes in.

I think the pics now posted in here are the only ones I have of the original.

With my near-zero budget after buying the house, all I could really afford to do in here was clean it as good as possible, new shower curtain and rug, and slap some fresh paint on it after taking down the wallpaper, which I believe was very easy in here, at least. I don't remember a struggle.

The original color scheme I went with was purple and green, basically to honor my paternal grandmother, who had recently passed and those were her colors.

Oh also put up this very cheap little shelf in lieu of a medicine cabinet.

lol look at that joke of a shower. The showerhead and shower caddy were also new.

A like $5 thrifted little Van Gogh print, the height of sophistication I could afford. (It's actually STILL THERE, RIGHT NOW. I really DO love it.)

Ugh, those green blinds. Hey at least the window was covered with SOMETHING!

I was very, very proud of myself, I put that little cabinet together and put it up all by myself.

It's still up! I do wish I'd gotten a bigger one with a shelf underneath, though.

So that's what it looked like late 2003 until 2012.

Around 2004 I started realizing that if took a shower for too long, water started leaking out from the wall under the window under the trim. Yep I'd shower and then the floor would be flooded.

I just stopped taking showers in there.

Honestly the tub ended up being storage. I kept the cats carriers in there so I could get them in there and then get them in their carriers without much problem. Anytime I fostered cats, it became the stray/foster cat room until they trusted me enough to let me pet them.

It was essentially a half-bath for the last like 18 years.

In 2012 when my parents and I did bathroom renovations, things got better!

Ooh, much prettier!

The new toilets were one of my favorite changes ever. Big, tall, sturdy ones I've never had a problem with.

I had been thinking about selling the house so the purple and green were changed to beige, to match the sink. Also new towels, rug, etc. Kept the same shower curtain for then, but in the next year or so I changed it.

Accent over the shower, on the small wall by the toilet and on the windowsill was a brownish orange. And kept light green for all the linens.

Yeah the window like I said is still that terrible window, FOR NOW.

Also... did y'all notice anything missing?

LIKE SOMEWHERE TO PLUG IN A HAIRDRYER OR LITERALLY ANYTHING!?! A bathroom... without an outlet. When I had roommates, I'd have to blow dry my hair in front of my vanity in my bedroom. So annoying.

So one of the original like 5 things Arturo was brought in to do, that kicked off everything else was to put an outlet in that bathroom. It's on a wall that isn't as convenient as I'd like it to be, but Arturo has A Technological Reason it has to be there, so I'll take it. With the rewiring, it's also surge protected, so even though it's not as great as I want it, it's a small compromise I can live with.

---

I didn't take a single picture of consequence in the master bath in the next 12 years or so. Honestly sometimes I'd go a month or two without even going in there.

For the years when Patchy lived in the master bedroom this was a little extra space for her, but she rarely went in there.

The other purpose it served was the place where I kept the bag of food for the outside cats. Sometimes also extra kitty litter space, overflow medicine, TP etc. space... but all in all it was pretty neglected space for a long time. I'd clean in there once every six months maybe to mostly get rid of dust. I only used it either in the middle of the night, or when Patchy was alive to spend a few extra moments with her while taking a bathroom break.

At one point a few years ago I tried turning on the shower just to see what would happen and I couldn't even get the knobs to move.

---

Getting this bathroom fixed up was secondary to the hall bath, since that was the main bath. So when I showed Arturo the bathrooms to see what he thought, I stressed that this one was not important, maybe just if he could get the knobs working and knew why the water would flow out from the wall.

But his price was so good, of course I wanted to get both done.

Since we needed one bathroom to work, and this was the one most fucked up, he started there, as the first project they'd do after the electricity was mostly put back together and working.

---

I hadn't even noticed the demo had started (remember most of the work was happening while I was also working, like, my job, even though it's WFH!) and so the first time I walked by the bathroom and saw this I honestly wanted to weep with joy.

The fiberglass... the weird-ass tub... gone. Just a hole where it all was, and a hole in the ground as well. They dug through the cement and dirt underneath to figure out what the hell was wrong with the plumbing.

Welllllllllllllllllllllll... it turns out what the hell was wrong with it was that it wasn't connected to the sewer.

Like... the pipe was just draining right into the ground. And when the ground was saturated, the water crept up into the wall and came out that way!

Arturo told me it was a really good thing I'd stopped using that shower. I'd managed to avoid a dangerous and costly black mold problem.

So, Arturo fixed it and hooked the plumbing back up to the sewer.

He replaced all the piping you see exposed there.

There was no shower pan in the really weird size of that space, so Arturo had to build the new walk-in shower with cement. He made a mold, poured cement both for the little wall and the new floor, and for a few days, we left a fan pointed at it and let it cure.

---

Also the reason for that one square out of the accent wall was Arturo wanted to see if there was any wasted space in that intersection where the back of the fridge, the back of the hall bath and the shower/toilet area of the master were all kind of meeting up. Turns out... nope. All the space was used. It got patched, you can't even tell there was a hole there now, you'll see.

You'll also notice there's a curtain on the window. Like I said, I'd found a new shower curtain set I really liked not long after the 2012 renovation. I also picked up the matching rug. And I liked the shower curtain so much that I bought a second one that my mom made into a curtain for the window! With the extra material, she made a curtain for her own bathroom window.

So it came time to pick out new colors for the bath, I spent a lot of time with my BFF Sherwin Williams Swatch Book. After awhile, I went all in on using the colors from the shower curtain as the colors for the room.

(I also spent a few hours scouring the internet for a backup shower curtain and FINALLY found one on Ebay in great condition. Considering I bought it around 2013 I was thrilled. It's now in the linen closet waiting for the day when this one gets a little rough. It's fine now, remember I'd never even taken a shower while this shower curtain was in the room. I'm still looking for a backup rug. Anyway, back to paint.)

Contented was a shade darker than the curtain, maybe a little greener, but I fell in love with that color and wanted to use a soft green as the standout color, because the tile and wood in the room weren't changing. The Bathroom would be very beige and brown, so the Contented green would keep it from being too beige and brown.

And I fell in love with Llama Wool the moment I saw it. I know you should never let a color's name influence your decision, it's just what some person at Sherwin-Williams (in this case) decided to call it, but Llamas are sort of a thing with my friend group, and I wanted to use that color as a bit of a tribute to them. It was, again, a shade or two darker than the brown in the shower curtain, but I thought it'd look great.

----

I'm not posting pictures until THE REVEAL because of THE DRAMA, okay? I think it'll be worth it.

Arturo brought a sample of the ceramic main shower tile, 89c per really big piece. It was beige, would match the floor OK, and was perfectly neutral. It was great, a place we could get some savings so there'd be more money for important things.

Accent Tile was another big thing for me. I had always, always, always wanted glass mosaic accent tile in the shower and above the sink. I tried to get my dad to do some during the 2012 renovation but he said no, that was too much work for that weekend. So I was determined to use accent tile I loved.

Arturo had brought me a couple of samples and I'd okayed two of them, but they'd yet to be bought past that. One of them I loved and had marked it for the hall bath, the other I'd thought was fine, and thought I'd put it in the master.

And slowly my mind changed.

First I thought the one I loved would work better with the shower curtain and Llama wool. It was $15 sq/ft, which was definitely on the higher end of the budget, but it was worth it, and putting it in the master would mean we'd just need less of it.

(Arturo said we spent about as much on the main tile as we did 2 pieces of the accent tile, haha.)

And then Arturo told me I needed to find a tile for the shower floor, and I should go to Home Depot and/or Lowes and find something.

TBH, I spent time on both of their websites, then went to Amazon. I'd been browsing a lot of like, Pinterest and just google results of bathroom renovations and knew I wanted a pebble-style tile for the floor. I couldn't find exactly the right thing to match with the accent tile I adored for the master.

And then I looked on Amazon.

And I fell in love instantly. Without consulting Arturo, I bought five boxes of it at almost $90 a box. I didn't care. I had to have this.

I showed it to Arturo on Monday and he was like "YES. PERFECT. I'm glad you didn't wait, let's get started." Unfortunately only 3 boxes had shown up that day so it was a couple of days delay.

Next was picking out a grout that would work with the wall tile and accent tile and floor tile.

I picked a light beige one, the color of sand, on purpose, hoping it would fit my vision for the shower floor.

I also had to pick out shower fixtures... a showerhead/controls. Arturo suggested something to me, and it aligned with what I also really wanted. It was another place where I decided it was OK to splurge.

The master bath shower was just a useless space to me for so long... I wanted it to be perfect.

---

One day, I think it was a Saturday, I walked by the shower as the tile was going up and uh, I noticed that the main tile was going awfully high and realized that the guy installing it had forgotten about the accent tile. The accent was just one stripe around face-high. I stopped him as politely as I could in my slight panic and called Arturo. Also, I just realized, Arturo had yet to create the shelf, which would also include the accent tile.

Luckily, the mud was still fresh on the wall, and only two rows had to come out. The tile could also be salvaged after cleaning off the back. Arturo got there later that day and got the shelf made. A day or two later, the accent tile went on and a few days later, the shower was finished.

Okay enough words... here's the first pic of the finished shower.

Y'all.. I love it so much. SO. MUCH. Rainfall showerhead, a sprayer hose... the floor looks like you're walking on a sandy beach. I literally wanted to weep with joy... idk I might have, when I saw it all together like this the first time.

Still lots to do, but that night was the night I posted the little interlude where I talked about how so much is happening and how I had no time.

When work was done that day, I was so excited to take a shower.

And then my shower curtain rod was now too long, even at the minimum size, since the tile had added like an extra inch.

I wasn't deterred. I went to Home Depot, then Lowe's, then Target trying to find a shower curtain rod I loved to replace the old one. Each place only had shitty cheap rods in that small of a size and none were brushed nickle. So I bought a $7 rod (and a new curtain liner) and a few other things like shelf liner at Target... then went home and ordered a rod I loved on Amazon. When that was done, I took my first shower in the master bath in like 18 years.

And it was fucking MAGICAL. It was like being in a spa. I showered maybe longer than I'd ever showered in my life, definitely the longest I've ever showered in this house.

To me, for the last 20 years, showers were a fucking CHORE that I had to get through. You'll see when I talk about the hall bath more about why. I just absolutely hated showering -- not the getting clean part, obviously, but just being in the shower, either shower, in my house. I wanted to get out ASAP.

I just stood there and was like... I love being in here. This is the most beautiful part of my house right now. I want to stay in here for hours.

I washed my hair twice. I moved my facewash in there to have more to just do in the shower.

It's like going to the spa, every night.

I'd bought new towels, Turkish bathsheets. Huge, soft, absorbent.

Luxury.

Something I never thought I'd associate with my house.

My shower was beautiful. Maybe the first thing I'd ever really associated with that word in this house.

I look forward to my nightly shower now.

I'm using getting to go take it as a reward for finishing this post. :D

---

(Oh, oops, I forgot to show you the shelf! Btw, did you notice the COPPER in the backsplash? Have I mentioned I love copper? You have no idea how much I love copper. Just you wait.)

The one thing that I didn't love was that little shower head on the hose. It had nearly no pressure. So I ordered two new sprayer heads, one for each shower. Much better. And this one has a switch you can flip for a high-pressure sprayer hose to help clean the shower/tub easier. Not as sleek, but very worth it.

A few days later I walked by and smelled paint. Peeked in and uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

....someone had painted the bathroom.

The Wrong color.

It was painted the same peachy color as the master bedroom, not my Contented green (and no sign of Llama Wool!) Arturo facepalmed and pointed out the right color to his worker.

This is wrong and bad and LOOKS TERRIBLE.

Eventually, it was painted right and I loooooved it.

Also hey, there's the new outlet! See, not that convenient, but livable. I can recharge my toothbrush with the stand on the windowsill, and a hair dryer plugs in there just fine. Way better than none!

The dumb little shelf came out. We literally ran out of the accent tile with ONE MORE TO GO at the edge of the sink. Then our local Lowe's was out of it. And then the one near Arturo's house was out of it. I refreshed the Lowe's website for like two weeks until it was back in stock, and one Saturday ran straight over there, picked up the one tile and a couple of other things I needed, and it sat here in the house a couple more weeks. Just this week it got put on and grouted, lol. SO NOW I can show you pics of the sink area, too!

---

Beige Turkish hand towel (tbh they are like half the size of a regular towel, I love it.) The same decent cabinet as before but now elevated by its surroundings. Beautiful backsplash keeping the wall safe.

Oh, and that faucet?

My old faucet... the plunger part was broken so it would no longer close and the sink wouldn't hold water. Arutro was all "Oh, I have one in my shed you can just have." So he threw that in for free. It's a Delta! FOR FREE! He even installed it for free.

Y'all, I have so much to say about Arturo, he's amazing.

Now the faucet is chrome and the rest of the bathroom fixtures are brushed nickel, but tbh, I don't care. It works, and it looks nice, and it's a well-respected brand, and it was free. I'm HERE FOR IT.

Also, notice the wall color... I am very content with Contented. It's just the right amount of color against all the beige and brown.

And yes, the medicine cabinet has a place where you can insert your own photo under the glass, and YES I have had that medicine cabinet since 2012 and YES IT STILL HAS THE "Insert your own 8x10 photo here!" paper in it. LIKE I SAID this room was neglected. I am happy to report that I have ordered an art print I like that will be in there in a few days.

----

There were a couple of other improvements here. A new overhead light went in, replacing the old overhead light, this one has a fan. Yeah, there was no fan in this bathroom before, lol. And LED lighting. It's much brighter and nicer.

I also got a very basic bidet for both toilets. That just went in a couple of days ago and I am still getting used to it. It's COLD, didn't get a fancy heated one.

One thing we're going to talk about later is the trim and doors and stuff throughout the house. This is the only room that retained the Cream color that I used to have throughout the house as the trim.

You can really see the difference in this pic. Also, Fry!

There's an amusing story about the cream color on the trim that belongs elsewhere, that and the window were the reasons I'd been holding off talking about this room for awhile but, eh, screw it. You can see the windowsill and trim on the floor are that cream, so is the inside of the door. The shelf above the toilet also got painted that color, and it all blends really well I think. I painted the windowsill, door and the cabinet myself.

And yes, the floors need a real good cleaning. They ALL do. There's paint splatters and various other stains all over all the floors. I'm going to tackle all of it at once, when everything is done. No point in having to do it multiple times.

---

So here's the finished product, all that stuff all done and the Llama Wool color on the accent wall!

This pic I just took tonight, for this post. The bathroom is more or less complete.

I love it. It went from the room non grata to one of my favorite places in the house. And when I post this, I'm off to take a spa-like shower in it before enjoying a dessert and a couple of hours of TV time before bed.

My only regret is that I really wanted to use the Llama Wool color more. I wanted to do the windowsill and trim in that color but Arturo insisted he'd have to buy a different kind of paint for it, which would be an extra expenditure I couldn't justify, especially since we already had the right kind of paint in the old cream color and it also looked great in there. I honestly almost felt bad for having him buy a whole can of paint just for that one tiny accent wall, but I don't regret it! I tried to think of other places in the house it could have been used but... there aren't any, really.

Thank you, btw, for coming along on these extremely long, self-indulgent posts with me. They're largely written so I can look back at this time and marvel and what Arturo and I did, and how a lot of money and work was all worth it. This bathroom is just one course of several of what's to come! There are three (or four) other rooms that I now love just as much as this one. :)

[redsplash1]

Hi hello idk how this works + never gposed in my life so she’s doing literally nothing here but this is my char Tatake Take in her red mage fit <3 featuring Middy cuz he’s bestie. More under the cut this might get long, it’ll just be a mess of ideas with no coherency LMFAO. Currently it’s white glowing hair because it’s post SHB, where she’s channeled the light within her into something manageable, which will inevitably turn back into her original red highlights. Spoilers for like everything up to SHB btw:

Honestly her lore I keep changing back and forth cuz I didn’t start using mods till SHB 😭 (just beat it btw so 🤫 on any spoilers afterwards) Like originally she had cat ears + a tail and it was gonna be a whole thing about her being some kinda spirit/yokai from the forest LMFAO???

Rn the barebones idea I have is that she’s part dragon and hid it till SB when Rhalgr’s Reach was attacked. (I won’t even lie, I’m low(high)key inspired by Dan Heng’s lore from Honkai Star Rail, I’m even debating if I wanna steal the reincarnation thing or not 😭) so yeah she is. Old LMFAO

Zenos with his plot armor and unexplained strength ends up landing what should’ve been a killing blow on Tatake. Everyone watches on in horror, which makes way to shock as she begins to change in response to the physical stress, revealing her draconic eyes, horns, tail, and the glowing highlights of her hair signifying her power. Zenos looks on in surprise, then intrigue as he sees what the famed Warrior of Light has been hiding all this time. Afterwards, it was no trouble pushing away him and his forces back.

(This ends up creating a somewhat subplot conflict between Lyse and Tatake, as the former is angered by this reveal; why didn’t she use this power to save everyone in Rhalgr’s Reach, hell, even back at the Wall? Did Papalymo really need to die if this what their friend was capable of?)

Nobody gets an explanation from Tatake. It’s the twins who get the closest to an answer, which even then wasn’t much. Their mother figure simply says that it was of absolute importance that nobody finds out, as she hid away her draconic features almost immediately after Zenos and his forces retreated. But, she points out with a bitter smile, she supposed it was too late for that now. Alphinaud and Alisaie want to know more so badly, but Tatake’s comfort and boundaries are infinitely more important than any curiosity they have.

On the carriage to Gridania, she kept her answers to Bremondt’s questions pretty vague, aware of two sleepy twins watching with interest. (She/I started as a lancer)

So yeah you might assume HW was a very important expansion for Tatake. It was! Seeing her brethren struggle made her wish and strive for the same thing Ysayle did; peace between dragon and mankind. The dragons weren’t afraid to subtly nudge at her to be her true self, either. Tatake was also not a fan of Estinien’s views and attitude LMFAO

(It’s also the expansion where Alphinaud couldn’t help but notice the way the dragons were talking to Tatake; it didn’t seem like they were exactly referring to her status as the WoL. Of course, he had virtually no information to go off of, so he dropped that line of thinking. Later on, he’ll realize that he truly knew nothing about the Lalafell he figuratively looked up to.)

Side note, Tatake continues to hide away her features until SHB, where the absorbed Light makes it too difficult for her to do so. Fortunately, almost nobody questions it, as people on the First are a bit too focused on trying to survive their world.

Another side note! Tatake currently mains Reaper, but she is also very proficient in Dragoon, Machinist, Samurai, and Red Mage. She’s currently learning Dancer (at least, the Eorzean version of it. She was worried using the traditional dances she knew would have people asking questions), which she finds to be a good stress reliever from her troubles.

Anyways that’s all I got hahaaaaa, I stay off of tumblr and I come back just to go full send on my character 😭 whoever’s got one of those templates with questions for WoL character building plz send, I’d love to fill one of those out for my reference + understanding Tatake more as her writer

[illarian-rambling]

Sending hugs always!

As I’m a total cat/horse person.

Have to ask what everyone’s thoughts on cats and horses are.

And going trail riding Friday.

Please and thank you.

A scene with horses hm... You know, Astra doesn't know how to ride a horse, despite how cowboy she is. And Mashal used to be a calvary knight. Idk about a scene for everyone, but I could definitely do something with that. I'll put it under the cut because it got kinda long ;)

"Well, it can't be that hard!" Astra huffed, crossing her arms. Why she was getting defensive about this, she wasn't sure. There was just something that chipped away at her farm girl pride every time she admitted she'd never ridden a horse before.

It wasn't like horses were even used in rice farming! That was just something novelists made up for their cute little descriptions of the ideal, bucolic life, and all the city folk took it as scripture. As if any of their pansy asses had ever had to muck out a pig pen....

"It's- I mean- I'm just surprised is all," Mashal admitted, clearly having read some of those kitschy novels in his unremembered past. "You just strike me as someone who can ride a horse."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Astra snorted a laugh. "And I've ridden an ox, thank you very much. That counts."

Her bravado fell a little flat as she peered into the stable they stood in front of. Tall, gangly animals shifted and huffed within the wooden stalls. This was specifically a courier stable - it just so happened to be attached to the inn they were staying at. Mashal had wanted to stop by to see the animals, which was what had prompted this whole discussion.

Her friend raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. "You know, these are courier horses. We could rent one for an hour if you wanted to learn to ride."

"I-" Astra snapped her mouth shut, lowered her volume back down to a seven, then began again. "I don't know, love. I don't think I'm really cut out for somethin' like that. My legs are real short, and I wouldn't wanna inconvenience anyone. Besides-"

"It's ok to be nervous about doing something new," Mashal interjected.

Immediately, Astra gave him a look. But of course, he'd read her like a book.

"I ain't nervous!" she insisted nonetheless. "Fine, let's do it! Gimme the biggest damn animal in there!"

Mashal's eyes went wide. "O- Ok! Gods beyond, I need to be more careful about accidental reverse psychology with you...."

"What was that?" Astra called. She was already halfway to the rental desk, where a sallow teenager was sitting bored out of his mind.

"Yeah, sure, let's do it!" Mashal shook his head fondly as he jogged after her.

○○○○○

A few minutes' time found Astra snuggly saddled on the back of a shaggy horse that had already tried to eat the ribbons off her coat a total of five times. Mashal, eyes glowing an excited white, had called it a Haflinger. Apparently, not everything from his childhood as the son of a horsebreeder had been lost in the fog of amnesia. His obvious eagerness helped put a damper on Astra's anxiety, but still, now that she was on the saddle, the ground seemed an awful long way off.

"Do I just... tap it or somethin'?" Astra gave a forced laugh. "There ain't exactly any levers to pull on this thing."

"You can tap her sides with your heels if you want her to go," Mashal explained. "The clerk says she's trained in Skysheerian style, so further directions are going to be given with the reins. That's different from the Sulu'Okan style I'm used to, where you just use your feet. It keeps the hands free for a bow. But don't worry about that for now. I'll keep a handle on her halter so you can get used to the feel of her under you."

Biting her tongue against any inopportune jokes, Astra studied her friend's face for a moment. As always, his barebones expressions were a little hard to read, however, those wide eyes and slightly raised eyebrows told a tale. Mashal was really excited about this, wasn't he? Astra's heart sank as she came to the realization that he probably missed riding a lot, but was prevented from doing so by a thousand pound metal body.

For him, she decided. I might be a little, teensy bit afraid, but I know he feels 'bout the same around magic, and he let's me teach him runes all the time. If it makes 'im happy, I can do this. Who knows, maybe I'll be some horse ridin' prodigy?

Gathering her confidence like armor, Astra gave the horse a kick, expecting to start into a gentle walk. Except, right as she did, the horse jerked up from where it'd been trying to eat her coat yet again, pulling free a ribbon as it did. A runic ribbon. A runic ribbon that popped in a shower of sparks.

It was no more than a firecracker really. Not enough to do any damage. But it sure was enough to spook the poor horse into a dead gallop.

Astra shrieked as the mare bolted, tearing it's halter free from Mashal's distracted grasp. Her friend called out in alarm, however, she could hardly hear him over the sound of thundering hooves and rushing wind.

Astra's hair and coat blew like streamers behind her, and she just barely got a hand up in time to catch her hat. The world was a blur, every impact of the mare's hoof nearly jolting her off the saddle.

Break, how do I break! What was it Mashal said? Somethin' with the reins?

One hand still over her hat, Astra yanked on the reins as hard as she could. Maybe she expected a dead stop, but a horse wasn't a machine as she was more accustomed to.

For a moment, framed against the setting sun, she was the very picture of ranchhand heroism. It was a clean silhouette she cut on the back of a rearing horse, curls streaming untethered in the wind. Then, the image was promptly shattered by gravity's ungraceful hand.

Second later, Astra groaned as she found herself flat on her back. Her ribs ached from where she'd fallen, and her breath came in short gasps. The sound of footsteps transitioned into a familiar clang of bronze as Mashal slid down next to her.

"Gods beyond, are you alright!" Her friend's hands fluttered anxiously as he peered into her bleary eyes. "I should've thought about the coat, I'm so sorry. I didn't hold on and-"

"Mashal." Astra put a finger over his lips from her position flat on her back. "That... That was fuckin' incredible!"

Her friend blinked. "Wh- Really?"

A grin crept up Astra's lips as she remembered the wind's fingers combing through her hair, remembered the rush of adrenaline and pure joy. How fast had she been going there? It'd felt like she could've caught up to the horizon!

The witch sprang to her feet, staggering a little as the world spun around what might’ve been a very minor concussion. Plans for a network of gravitation runes capable of reducing a thousand pounds to two hundred bounced through her mind. Mashal seemed to catch the wild look in her eyes and sighed with relief. If she could scheme, she wasn't that injured after all.

Grinning like a child, Astra grabbed Mashal by the hand and began towing him after the runaway mare.

"Let's do that again!" she cheered.

[canonrpfinder]

[🍃✨ 25f, looking for 21+] hi there! gonna keep this short. i'm looking for roleplay partners for two hoyoverse ships: haikaveh from genshin impact and phaidei from honkai star rail. kinda going crazy about them right now. for haikaveh i have experience writing both of them so i don't really have a preference for either. just wanna see them kiss, really. and for phaidei, i haven't got the chance to write them yet but i'm leaning towards mydei atm! i love themes such as whump, hurt/comfort, omegaverse, and modern & royalty aus. i've got a few barebones ideas that we can brainstorm together. usually write a few paragraphs per reply and i can reply at least once a day, if not more depending on my schedule. if this sounds interesting, give this a like!

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