#my colorings are so over the top i don't save many since they're pretty much one and done per scene but god i love them 😂💖

[mobius-m-mobius]

BEFORE/AFTER COLORING CHALLENGE

Lokius edition since they're who I see myself editing for all time always 😅 Thanks to the absolutely legendary Lauren @edteachs for the tag! 😊💖

Tagging @factoseintolerant, @too-funky, @faylights, @safedistancefrombeingsmart, @paulsbettanys, @agxntkeen, and @hazel-callahans plus anyone else who wants to join! Love seeing everyone's personal style in their coloring 🥰

[marshallpupfan]

Work in Progress

Slowly but surely, my Marshall collection is starting to take shape. Admittedly, I couldn't work on it much last night, as I'm often away from home every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, thus I don't always have a lot of time to work on this. That, and I tend to procrastinate (aka, get lazy and waste time) a lot. But hey, I'm getting there!

Today, I started working on how I wanted to sort out all of these types of plush dolls. There are a bunch of them, with a new one typically releasing every new subseries or film. Well... only the ones that can stand on their legs; the "floppy leg" ones I'm pretty sure they stopped producing years ago.

I have fourteen of the standing dolls and thirteen of the floppy ones. I want to keep them together without dividing them up, so I tend to line them up in rows. In the past, I used to place DVD cases or small cardboard boxes behind one row for the second row to stand up on, but that didn't always look so great. Thus, I started saving scrap wood (usually stuff we were going to throw away anyway) to build proper shelves.

I have a bunch of these long, thin boards from a bed frame we had to throw away. They're pretty handy for projects like this, so I suppose I got lucky there! For the floppy dolls, I made the shelf 4 inches tall, and for the standing dolls, I made two 2 and a half inch tall shelves. The wood here is kind of thin, so attaching them to each other can be a little tricky. I wasn't sure exactly what to do, so I just used hot glue.

...Well, that was after I realized I goofed and only cut two sets of legs when I actually needed three. Nothing unusual with me. 😅

It's not the greatest solution, but it's still quite sturdy. As long as I'm careful, they shouldn't come apart or anything. Besides, they'll only have lightweight dolls on them, so this will work just fine.

Hey, not bad! I wish I could get scrap wood that matches the color of the bookshelf, but they'll mostly be covered anyway, so it's no biggie. Now I just have to sort and find spots for each doll. Naturally, I like to put my bigger favorites up front, such as Ultimate Fire Rescue, Rescue Knights, 2018 Mighty Pups, etc.

Works pretty good! Now I just have to... wait, there's a blank spot there at the top left. What am I going to put there? OH, I know!

BOOMER! BOOMER! BOOMER! Ha ha... I couldn't resist. 😁

The shelf for the floppy dolls went about the same. I only had to make a smaller one for them, as having their legs hang over the front and back works better here.

And there we go! I might rearrange some of the dolls later, since some stand taller than others, but for now, I'm calling it done. Well, just this part anyway.

For now, I'm calling the plush doll proportion of this task complete! Crazy to think one character has this many dolls, huh? And to think, there are so many more out there... many of which I still hope to own someday. If only I could get some of the ones from Japan... but then again, where would I put them if I did get them? Uh... let me get back with you on that one. lol

Well, I guess it's time I start working on the big display case soon. That'll probably take a long time, since I plan to dust everything that'll go on there... including all those tiny figurines, too. Again, I've got my work cut out for me here. 😅

(I'm not sure why I made this post, other than I just thought it would be fun to chat about what I'm doing as I go along. I might make more as I progress, but we'll see.)

[dailyadventureprompts]

Hey sorry to bother you but do you have any ideas on a reimagined Tiamat/Tiamat worship? I've come an inspirational roadblock trying to figure out why anybody would worship a greedy power hungry (and pretty one note) evil dragon lady? Why does Bahamut get all the love?

Monsters Reimagined: Tiamat, Goddess of Primordial Waters.

Alright folks, strap in. This is overhaul has been a long time coming and is one that've I've been thinking about since long before I started this series, or even this blog.

Like most of the evil gods in d&d, worshiping Tiamat is silly. She's a one note god that cares nothing for her followers and has zero actual ideology. She exists solely so that there can be a god of evil dragons, but I'll get into that below the cut. TLDR: Rather than the clunky default version, you should use a riff on the ancient babylonian deity she's based on/steals the name from. The original Tiamat is a water/ocean goddess that's said to also represent the primal chaos from which all things spring. With her consort she gives birth to the first gods, then transforms into a great monster to battle her children when they try to pre kill her lover. From her body the earth itself is created, and are great monsters born. I think this is an amazing foundational myth that you can use for any campaign world, and gives plenty of reason for people within that world to worship Tiamat into the present day.

What's wrong: Right of the bat I'm going to say I never liked how d&d does dragons. Color coding them for our convenience decreases a lot of wonder when it comes to facing off against a such an iconic foe, and the way that their personalities have become codified over time further limits our ability to tell stories about them. I'm going to save my actual gripes about this canonization for a monsters reimagined focusing on dragons, but for the time being, I'm going to say that Tiamat's design looks a little silly and needs an overhaul on optics alone.

Next comes the divinity part: Tiamat isn't just THE mega evil dragon, she's THE GOD of evil dragons, which is silly for a bunch of reasons.

Why would dragons need a god? Dragons are ego given form, and the only worship they engage in is worship of the self.

From a cultural perspective, Gods are also creations of societies, reflecting the elements that society deals with or the ideologies that govern it. Dragons don't have a society or a culture, they're loners and alpha predators that can talk who may on occasion insert themselves into the culture of other civilizations either as a covert agent or by installing themselves at the top.

No mortal would worship Tiamat as she explicitly DOES NOT CARE for her followers, and only shows up if there's something in it for her. Even though she's listed as a goddess of greed, it's not like she embodies some kind of ideology that will enrich her dedicated followers: If you get too rich and worship Tiamat, she's going to show up and TAKE YOUR STUFF FROM YOU.

Lets fix it: We don't talk enough about bronze age cultures in d&d settings. Sure, there'll be remnants of the not!roman empire laying around, and there'll be ancient elvan enclaves or antlantis inspired lost civilizations.. but generally these things are so far off in the distant past that they're disconnected from the campaign's actual chronology. Much like LOTR or GoT, the faux-medieval period is presumed to have gone on forever, sometimes for tens of millennia, with no progress ever being made save for the occasional apocalypse to stagger back from.

In my own writing, I've been playing around with something I call " The Dawn Age" this is a semi-mythic era that served as a sort of trial and error period for the gods, as they made things, gave shape to the world, and figured out how they'd run things from thereon out. Like any alpha test, things go very wrong, very many times, and the gods and other nacient creatures of that time need a few attempt to figure out what works.

Tiamat and the bones of her original Babylonian mythology fit into this idea perfectly: one of the original creator deities that shaped the world out of the astral sea. Collaborating and conflicting with other powerful demiurges as they defined what would and wouldn't be for the plane our heroes would one day trek across. Tiamat eventually came into conflict with a group of semi-divine entities that had arisen from her creation, who wished to stop her chaotic reshaping of reality and institute a more settled and orderly process ( for a myriad of reasons, ranging form self preservation or the appreciation of what might be wiped away in her next revision). These entities would defeat Tiamat and use the power they stole from her to shape reality as they liked it, putting a gradual end to the dawn age and letting reality solidify and progress into the current chronology.

To bring it all Together:

In a way, Tiamat is the world itself, or at least the underlying primal forces that keep it in a cohesive shape. She is worshiped by those cultures with ancient knowledge for her miracle of creation and lifegiving, and remembered by others as a destroyer who would have gladly kept the world in a state of primordial chaos, destroying whole civilizations for the sake of an inspired whim.

Tiamat's primordial chaos and the way her essence was used to shape the world also explains why it keeps spitting out monsters, strange creatures arising from the wilderness with no explanation in ever more astonishing variations. In a way, she is still creating: seeping in through the cracks that formed since her defeat.

Titles: Spring of Origin, Primordia, Mother Hydra. She who wets the clay. The maker unmade 

Signs: plantlife growing in the shape of animals, verdant springs, scale patterns on rocks,  Her destructive aspects are heralded by tarpits, snakelike creatures with multiple heads, or water acting unnaturally.

Symbols: Entwining serpents, hydras, spiraling pictograms. A Tree with snake-tails for roots. Her destructive aspect is represented by interlocking maws full of fangs, usually in a jagged star pattern. 

Followers: Perhaps one of the first "nature" deities, Tiamat's influence is less an ideology than it is a push towards creation and flow, and works guided by her end up becoming verdant and fruitful. Mystics may seek Tiamat’s influence to invoke a flow of ideas or the “will” of creation, while healers may channel her primal vigor to encourage new growth and stave off old rot.  Those seeking to embody Tiamat’s more destructive aspects often resent the world the way it is, and wish in some way to restart the process of creation and perhaps even usher in a new dawn age. These groups or individuals are often outcasts from civilization, and seek a radical return to nature or opposition to forces that would “tame” the wilds. 

Spaces that that flow and erode are sacred to Tiamat, such as riverbends, swamps, coastlines, deltas, springs, as well as less obvious places such as caves or lavaflows. Creatures and cultures that dwell around or within these areas may feel the mother hydra's influence

Adventure Hooks:

A temple to a more modern deity is famous as a site of pilgrimage for its healing spring, but suffers a dramatic turn of events when their main attraction starts producing poisonous tar instead. Requested by a friendly acolyte of the temple, or  Employed by one seeking healing and looking to force the issue, the party must delve down into a nearby cave system to discover the origin of this blight.  . There they find an ancient altar to Tiamat that was the source of the spring’s healing abilities, which was desecrated by unknown hands. Before the party was able to investigate, strange creatures begin to emerge from the tar, seeking victims.   After teh beasts are dispatched, the party can piece together clues that it was a particularly zealous acolyte in the temple, who scorned the existence of a “heathen” shrine on their patrons holy ground. 

There is a strong connection between Tiamat and the Yuan-Ti ( who some believe directly obtained their flesh reshaping magic by studying Tiamats primordial influence).  Likewise, there is a strong connection her and Pharika, a serpentine goddess who is said to have shaped the world and its monsters with secret knowledge entwined within them. A priestess of this newer goddess of affliction and cure seeks the party’s help in exploring old sites sacred to Mother Hydra, but may run into some fundamentalist snake cultists guarding the ruins. 

Depending on which canons you follow, Moradin Allhammer, god of craft and dwarvenkind, was part of the coalition of beings that rose against Tiamat and her primordial tumult, with his epithet originating in the ability he gained from defeating the Spring of Origin, and the labors he undertook to give shape to reality afterwords. Some religious hardliners have decided to finish what their patron started, and have begun a witchhunt against a local enclave of Tiamat worshipers, claiming them to be an origin of a spreading plague. 

Dragons often nest in long abandoned temples to Tiamat because these sacred spaces are natural laylines, which attract wyrms the way that hot stones attract other reptiles. When an earthquake causes a shift in layline energy, a local dragon begins seeking the expertise of mystics and other scholars to “get the power back on”. Starting out disguised as a socially malajusted noble ( the nobility is a disguise, they have no idea how to talk to people), this dragon is not above returning to its original form and kidnapping a bunch of geomancers and terrified academics to see its mission through.  

[saltminerising]

Why Some Random Hatchery Dragons Are So Gosh-Dang Expensive

Mod note: Quite a long post, so I moved the tl;dr to the top and put the rest under a read more -🍄🍖

Tl;dr: if you want interesting-looking, unique dragons; if you're bored of the same popular XXX and XXY color schemes everyone can easily breed; if you consider yourself a fan of "matchy XYZ's"... please understand that you NEED breeders to be willing to invest in projects to make those dragons available to you. And that sometimes means paying significantly above fodder price.

(NOTE: This post is mostly for the influx of newbies, or people new to browsing hatcheries, who tend to come on here and send asks like "Why are people selling pretty typical looking XYZs for hundreds of gems on the forums?" I'm assuming at least some of those asks are coming in good faith, so I wanted to give a thoughtful answer. If you're an experienced player taking part in these conversations, this post isn't really addressed to you, so please don't think I'm talking down to you. It's also not about the cases of overpricing - I'm just guessing about half these asks refer to someone genuinely overvaluing their dragons, but the other half are likely sent by people who may not realize how valuable the dragons actually are.)

Please understand that every time you see a breeding pair with all or mostly gem genes, a highly specific but previously nonexistent or super-rare (i.e., all others with this color are exalted or in dead lairs and have completely different genes to boot) color combination, and popular (in terms of scrolls, this usually equals pricier) breeds, that means that a LOT of work went into that pair that you don't necessarily see.

It means that the owner spent many months (and gems) breeding for perfect colors. If either parent is an imp, that means the breeder had the extra step of needing to find in-range imperials to breed, since scrolls are not accessible to most users and are generally too valuable to spend on breeding projects anyway. Once two unrelated babies of the correct color were finally secured, the owner then spent up to 3.9kg on EACH parent to apply the correct genes, assuming they couldn't be bred for (when it comes to rare colors, you usually have to take whatever you can find that's close enough in range, genes be damned). After that, assuming it wasn't possible to breed for the correct, well, breed (again, with rare colors, you can't always be picky), the owner then has to spend even MORE on breed change scrolls. In total, these pairs can EASILY cost over 10kg to create. 

This is where people will stop and tell me that breeding is known to be a poor way to make money, and you should only create breeding pairs or run a hatchery if you truly love doing it. Trust me - for the most part, we do. If someone is investing the months (maybe years) and thousands of gems it takes to create a rare pair? They almost DEFINITELY love it, because otherwise they would see it's a horrible misallocation of resources. We all know that you will never make back 100% of what you spent on a pairing like that. You might not even make back 50%. These types of projects are almost always labors of love.

With that being said? If I'm going to drop 10kg on a pairing, hell yes I'd like to recuperate SOME of the cost. Both because my savings are going to take a massive hit, but also because the higher price point shows the effort that went into the pairing is being valued and respected, and my buyers understand the hatchlings were crafted with a lot of care (well, as much as you can put into pixels you didn't draw :P) to create something rare and unique. It's insulting to ask breeders to spend thousands creating rare, beautiful dragons, then expecting them to charge 10g per hatchling like they're any old non-fodder XYZ. 

If this still bothers you, try to remember that breeders don't HAVE to put these rare dragons out there. I'm currently working on my dream dragon. I could technically stop once I get that dragon; I only need one, after all. But instead, I'm also breeding her an unrelated mate so I can breed them and put their babies out into the world, making it so next time someone wants a dragon like this, they don't HAVE to spend thousands of gems on a time-consuming and expensive project. They only have to spend a couple hundred gems on the AH.

[zealous-whispers-of-us-redux]

homecoming

(A/N: I tweaked an old, unposted [on this blog] fic of mine for @multi-stann and her 1k writing event. I picked the smut prompt: "Love the taste of you, but I need more.”) :)

Warning: demon sex and desecration in/of a church. Please don't read if that offends you!!

SMUT AHEAD

Intoxicating dreams. The feeling of her mouth around his cock. His teeth sinking into her plush bottom lip. Heat racketing up his spine until all he knew was her. Wrapping a hand around her neck and feeding on her pleasure as he fucked her. Taking anything and everything she would offer him. He missed her. He missed her.

He...

Bucky jolted awake in the confession booth. Sweat dripped down his face, and he could still feel the flames of Hell licking his skin. He was hard in his slacks. Crossing himself absently, Bucky muttered a few prayers under his breath because this was happening again. He knew what it all meant. He has been away for centuries, but his past was finally catching up to him. The more vivid the dreams, the closer she was to finding Bucky. And the closer she was to finding Bucky, the more his true nature rose within him as his body fought against the angels' invisible chains. Bucky was hungrier than he had been in a long time, but the runes on his skin made him unable to leave the church, let alone go out and feed.

He checked his watch, and as he expected, it read 3:17 a.m. Bucky's heart thumped excitedly in his chest. He knew that she knew where he was. Finally, she had found him, and she would rescue him from this hell. He opened the door to the confessional just as she blew into the church, stalking nearer and nearer until Bucky could take her in for the first time in years. She looked just as beautiful as he remembered- wild and passionate with eyes that glowed from within. With each step she took, the floor cracked underneath her feet. Crucifixes clattered to the ground, and the stained-glass window shattered, raining colored glass down onto both of them. The statue of the Virgin Mary cried, and she grinned.

"There you are," she said, and Bucky could not take his eyes off of her.

"You found me," he croaked in the language he never forgot, no matter how many beatings he took.

"You’ve been calling out to me for ages, but your jailers kept you well-hidden. Even my father couldn't see you."

"They summoned me," said Bucky bitterly. "They summoned me, an' they stole me as a barginin' chip."

"If they think they can stop this, they're wrong. It is only the beginning. My father has gathered his troops. I asked him to wait until I found you. Lord Belial wasn't happy with me, but I came for you anyway. "

Bucky squirmed at the innuendo, his gaze dropping to her mouth. His stomach rumbled, and she must have heard it because she smiled. He reached out for her, and she threw herself into his arms. He pressed his lips to the top of her head, breathing her in.

“You do remember me, don't you?” she asked, sounding vulnerable in a way he would never expect.

“How could I ever forget my baby?" Bucky asked.

"How come you haven't left this church if you remember me?"

"The runes." He gestured to the symbols carved into his skin. "I can't leave."

"You can leave if the angels who created the runes are dead."

"What did you do?"

"They gambled away their vessels, and I burnt them to a crisp," she said, baring her teeth. "It was a fitting punishment, Father said. If they thought they could take away what is mine, they were wrong if they thought they could hurt you without retribution. They deserve worse than what I gave them."

"You-"

"You're free, Bucky," she said firmly, placing her hands against his cheeks. "What will you do now?"

Bucky kissed her, and it was like slipping a key into a lock. He had forgotten almost everything about his old life, except for her, but she saved him and was now giving everything back. He vividly remembered Hell again, remembered how it was not as dreadful as the angels brainwashed him into believing it was. It was his home. It was hellhounds and halls of crystals glittering in the low lamplight. It was decadent food that demons didn't need but ate anyway. It was her naked in his bed, waiting for him to return from corrupting souls on Earth. It was sex all the time, whenever Bucky wanted. She was as insatiable as he was.

“Welcome back,” she said.

“It's been so long,” Bucky replied, pawing at her greedily. “I need ya right the fuck now. I'm starvin.'”

“Remember when we fucked in that church in Romania? Right under the statue of their precious Mary?” she asked.

“Hell, I’ve missed you."

As they kissed again, Bucky felt her heating up under his hands until tendrils of flame erupted from her skin. She pulled back, and Bucky saw her eyes alight with hellfire. He gathered her closer with a groan, knowing he would never get burned. She kissed him again, clawing at his hair as she swung herself into his lap. The confession booth swayed dangerously, but both ignored it. Bucky sunk his teeth in her bottom lip, and she snarled, scraping her nails over his scalp in retaliation. They pulled apart to blink at one another, then she dove to take off Bucky's shirt. Her fingers burned his skin so good, leaving red streaks that would fade quickly. Bucky could feel it crawling under his skin again, the hunger for sex that he hadn’t felt in ages. He wanted; he wanted to feed off of her pleasure and make her scream.

“I see those pretty black eyes,” she said, drawing Bucky’s gaze from her bare chest. “I knew they wouldn’t succeed.”

“Missed you,” Bucky growled, sucking her jaw so fiercely that he drew blood, “Take yer panties off for me.”

“Ask me nicely.”

She dug her nails into his pecs- a warning. Bucky rolled his eyes as he carried her out of the confessional and into a booth.

“Please take off yer panties. Sweetheart,” he said.

“Okay, darling, whatever you say," she replied.

“Disgusting. Don't ever call me that again. An' take your fuckin' panties off, huh?"

“You're such a dick."

"Hey, leave me alone! It's been two hundred years."

She shoved Bucky’s shoulder, trying to push him off of her enough so that she could wiggle out of her bottoms. Bucky ignored her unspoken command. He grabbed her wrists and slammed her arms over her head.

“Keep ‘em there," he said.

“How am I expected to take my underwear off? Think things through, will you?” she said.

“Yer bein’ unusually bratty today.” Bucky wrapped his lips around one of her nipples. “Ain’t had anyone put you in yer place for a while, I guess.”

“Oh, please. My father is one of the seven kings of Hell. If anything, you should submit to me. I remember how much you liked it when I made you beg at my feet like a hound."

“It's been decades since I’ve had ya underneath me. Now that I have ya, I ain’t just gonna give that up so willingly. Stop bein’ a brat."

“For Baal's sake, just do something instead of talking about it."

“No swearin’, we’re in church,” Bucky said. “An’ keep yer arms above yer head. No touchin.’”

“For fuck’s sake.”

“An’ shut that mouth a’ yours too. You don’t want me to gag ya, do you?”

"Who the fuck has been going around and telling lies saying I wouldn't like that?" she asked with a smile.

Bucky softened. He knew he was probably looking at her like a dumbass, but she was so beautiful and here for the first time in a long time. Bucky wouldn't want his first feeding session in centuries to be with anyone else. If a beast like him could love, he was sure he would love her.

"Missed you," Bucky said softly, tucking his thumbs in the waistband of her panties and stuffing them in her mouth. "So much."

"Missed you too," she mumbled.

"Did you make 'em suffer?"

"You know I did. They hurt you."

She said everything he needed to know in just seven words. His hunger overwhelmed him, and Bucky blacked out until all he could see was her. Flames tickled him as Bucky leaned down to kiss a fiery trail down her stomach. She growled at him in an ancient tongue, and the foundations of the church shook at her words. The statue of Mary cracked in two the louder her words got, but Bucky ignored it, not content on just eating her out- he wanted her screaming. But she was a hard one to please. Bucky could rarely get her to scream when he ate her out, no matter the amount of coaxing he tried.

"Love the taste of you, but I need more," he said, his tongue flicking over her clit. "We still gotta topple that statue."

"Come up here and fuck me. It's been so long."

Bucky left the plush comfort of her thighs and made his way up her body, pressing kisses along the way.

"I know it has, babe," he said, kissing her forehead in a display of comfort that they were both unaccustomed to. "But I’m here now, an’ nothin’ can pull me away from ya again, you hear me?”

"I'll kill anyone who tries," she said.

Bucky grinned sharply. "That's my girl."

"Not yours," she countered.

"No?"

He reached down and drew her legs up around his waist. She locked her ankles together, holding him there so tight he could not move, not even to get inside her. He growled, trying to break free.

"I'm not yours," she repeated.

"If you fuckin' think for one second you ain't mine, you're wrong."

"I'm a fucking demon. No one owns me."

"Never said 'owns.' I said mine. Now, you gonna lemme fuck you or not?"

"No. How is it different?"

Bucky groaned, dropping his head onto her chest. He pressed a few kisses at her breast, bit her nipple.

"C'mon, gimme a break. I'm starvin.'"

"No, not until you tell me."

"Fuck's sake. You're mine, an' I'm yours, okay? An' I don't wanna feed on anyone else, ever again. You're enough for me."

"Okay."

"You don't have to reciprocate."

"I put a war on hold, and I killed three angels to find you," she said flatly.

"Yeah," Bucky said, his vessel's heart fluttering. "You did."

She loosened her grip on Bucky, allowing him to slip inside her for the first time. His body shuddered in delight at feeling her again. He could taste her pleasure in the air, and his tongue flicked out to gather it from her lips as they kissed. Bucky knew he wasn't going to last long, but he would be (more) damned if he finished before she did.

"Come on, move," she said, her nails pricking his back.

The pace Bucky chose was brutal, and she moaned, arching her back. He remembered now the way she’d never utter more than a moan. No matter the amount of coaxing, Bucky could never make her scream. She had passed out from him fucking and feeding on her a few times, but even then, all he managed to get were a few calls of his name. It kept him desperate to please her even though she was the one feeding him.

"Go faster," she sighed, her head tipped back enough so that Bucky could get at her neck with his teeth.

"I gotcha, babe. Wan' my hand?"

"Yes, please."

Naturally, Bucky obliged. He wrapped one of his big hands around her neck, squeezing gently and then harder. Her mouth fell open against his as he fucked her, and they stayed like that, panting into each other's mouths. And Bucky wanted so much for someone to burst in and see them like this, see him fucking her into the ground and feeding off her desire.

He pulled out of her when he got an idea. She speared him with a glare, but he calmed her down, urging her to get to her hands and knees. Bucky smacked her ass, and she muffled a cry into her forearms. The flames on her skin burned hotter and hotter the more Bucky spanked her until sweat was pouring down his chest. He gathered her hair up in his hand and dragged her up from the floor, curling a possessive hand around her throat. Flames licked his skin wherever her body was pressed to his. Bucky could feel it rising within her, and he gasped at the taste of it after so long without. It was the best drug in the world.

"C'mon, rub your clit for me, and scream when you come. You know it makes it taste better," he demanded.

"Make it worth my while, and I will."

"You wan' it? I'll give it to you," Bucky said, squeezing her neck until she was gasping. "Now, come for me. Gimme it."

It only took a couple more sweeps of her fingers over her clit and a quick kiss from Bucky for her to come. He kissed her to muffle her screams, drinking her down, thirsty for everything she could give him. He continued fucking her through her orgasm, his eager pants ringing around the church.

"Again, again, gimme one more. So hungry, babe, you taste so good," Bucky panted.

It didn't take long for her to come again, and Bucky fed on her, moaning as he felt her slipping down his throat. He licked his lips and pushed himself entirely inside her, holding still until she triggered his own orgasm.

"That's a good girl," Bucky cooed, kissing her to get the last of her orgasm.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked, looking upside down at him.

He snuggled closer. "Yeah."

"Are you pulling out or what?"

"Nah, wanna stay here for a minute or two. Missed this. So happy y'found me. You saved me."

"I always will," she said, scowling.

Bucky laughed, burying his face into her hair.

"How's Hell, anyway?"

"It's good. Will you come back with me?"

"I'll go anywhere you want me to."

"We'll get those runes off your skin."

"'Kay, but later. I'm still ravenous," said Bucky.

She grinned, all sharp teeth and fire in her eyes.

"Come on, then. Let's go to a real bed."

"Lead the way," said Bucky, flipping the bird toward the Mary statue that lay shattered on the ground.

[krakenartificer]

When I got my ADHD diagnosis, I looked at the questions on the screening form and thought, "If this result comes back positive, then I'm definitely not the only person in my family who has it." Questions like

"Have difficulty finishing one activity before starting another one" and

"I finish others' sentences before they can finish it themselves" and

"have trouble staying on one topic when talking"

...I thought were just weird quirks of my family, but no. When I got my results, I contacted my cousin, and she contacted her sisters and mother, and .. .. yeah. Basically everyone in my dad's side of the family is ADHD.

Now there are some problems with that, obviously, (getting family reunions to stick to a schedule is lol no) but there are some really fantastic perks. For one thing, no one in that family minds if I interrupt them while they're talking ... everyone's happy to keep 3 conversations going at the same time .... and no one minds if you fidget constantly.

But the best perk -- at least that I've found so far -- is that all of our parents have coping mechanisms, and passed them on to us. When I found myself unable to handle tasks with more than one step, my father didn't say "WTF are you talking about? It's easy! Just do the thing! Stop being lazy!" No, he could relate completely, and he sat down and taught me how to handle that.

So today, I'm going to pass on to you the coping mechanism my dad taught me for handling the "cannot put tasks in order / cannot get started / forget what I'm doing" problem. You'll need to adjust it for your own needs and your own struggles, but hopefully it'll be helpful in setting up your own process.

I'm going to walk through it with a big project I'm doing at work, just to have a concrete example. That will make some of the discussion specific to computer programming and technical writing, but I do the same thing for all my projects, so hopefully it'll be generalizable.

So to set the stage:

I was supposed to modify this piece of code -- we'll call it "Rosetta" -- to make it handle call data as well as what it was already doing. I did that.... but we now need the code to be able to handle calls (if that's wanted) but also to be able to handle NOT having calls (if THAT'S wanted).

Which is just .... ugh. So much. SOOOOOOOO much.

So. Break it down.

Step one is to get some recording mechanism - pen and paper, whiteboard, blank computer document, whatever

(Technically, this is a different coping strategy, so we'll just take a quick detour: WRITE THINGS DOWN. Your brain is shit at remembering things, and anyway you've already got limits on your working memory; why would you choose to tie up some of that limited resource in something that could be accomplished with literal stone-age technology? Don't even try to remember things. WRITE THEM DOWN.)

I like sticky notes: they're readily available in all offices, they're pretty cheap, and (most importantly) they can be rearranged if it turns out that I forgot a step or put the steps in the wrong order (which, like, let's be honest, I am definitely going to do). But they kill trees and create unnecessary methane emissions, so I've recently switched over to using virtual sticky notes. That's the format I'm going to use for this example, but you can use anything that meets your purposes.

So, you've got something to write with, you're ready to start.

The first question is: what are you trying to accomplish here? What would "done" look like? What is our goal?

I need to end up with a version of Rosetta that will make the correct results if you don't want calls, and will also make the correct results if you do.

The goal here is that you end up with a statement that you can definitively say (a) Yes this is what I wanted or (b)No this is not right because _______

In this case, in order to do that, I'll need to define "correct results" for both call- and non-call versions. But if I have that nailed down, then this statement meets that criterion: I'll be able to say "Yes, this is what I wanted: see, it makes the correct result for calls, and it makes the correct result for not-calls". Or else I'll be able to say, "No, this is wrong: see, it makes the correct result for calls, but on not-calls it does X and we wanted Y."

I have a clear, definitive standard about what I need to do and whether or not I've done it.

But there was a prerequisite there: I need to define "correct results".

So that goes on a sticky note: Create test that will compare my results to existing call!Rosetta-results and to existing not-call!Rosetta-results.

[ID: Two blue boxes, one on top of the other. The top one says in white text "Create test to compare my results to call!results" The bottom one says "Create test to compare my results to not-call!results"] OK. So now we know what we want. The second question is: what do we need to do in order to get that? Here's where the sticky-note recording system really shines, because you don't have to answer this question sequentially. You just start writing down every single thing that is not the way you want it to end up.

I need it to remove commas in the python script, not the bash script

I need to delete the first part of the get_runs() function, which doesn't do anything

I need to delete the rest of the parameters passed to build_query_script() function, because runs encompasses all the others

while we're on that subject, runs doesn't even need the group_variable, so let's pull that out of the parameter document

we also have a dmf defined, which the bash script demands but doesn't use; let's change that demand

since we're changing the structure of the parameter document, we don't need to pull new metrics for each run, so let's move that outside of the runs() loop and only run once

right now the parameter document is ALMOST but not quite "one row per template". Make it so it's actually one row per template.

among other things, that's going to require making it possible for a template to be followed by nothing at all, since it's the assumption that a template will have a metrics block after it that makes it not quite one row per template. So make it possible to publish a template with a null block

the other thing that's weirdly hard-coded is the definition of what a block looks like. Would it make more sense to separate that out into an input file, like the parameters document? On the one hand, that would make it much more flexible; on the other hand, that's another piece that can break. Don't know. Put a question mark on it.

etc

Here's what it looks like at the end of this step:

[ID: A black and white background showing many boxes in two different shades of blue, all with white text. Some of the boxes are overlapping each other.]

As you can see, at this phase you don't need to worry about any of the following:

ordering the tasks. Just stick 'em right on top of each other for now

how you're going to do any of this. Right now we just need to know what, not how

sticking to only one project. As I was working on this, it occurred to me that this whole process would have been a heck of a lot easier if someone had just made a user manual for this, and since I have to go through all the code line-by-line anyway, I might as well write up the documentation while I'm at it. (To help out future-me, if nothing else.) So I put those tasks on another color of sticky note.

making notes that make any ***ing sense to anyone else. This process is for you, and only you need to understand what you're talking about it. Phrase it in ways that make sense to your brain, and to hell with anyone else.

on that topic, also don't worry about making steps that are "too small" or "too dumb" to write down. This is for you. If "save document" feels like a step to you, then write it down.

You also don't need to get every single step involved in the project right now. Get as many as you can, to be sure, but the process is designed on the assumption that you ARE going to forget important steps, and is designed to handle that.

When you can't think of any more steps, then the third question is: what order does it make sense to do these in? Are there any steps that would be easier if you did another step first? Are there any that literally cannot be done unless another step is complete?

This is also a good place to group steps if they fit together nicely. When I used physical sticky notes, I used two different sizes; digitally I can of course make them whatever size I want.

So I have several documentation steps that (a) do need to be written to make sense to other people and (b) I really need to know what's going on before I can do that. I could write them now, but if I did, I'd just end up re-writing them based on things that change as I'm coding. So we'll move those to the end:

[ID: Three dark blue boxes with white text. They read "Create step-by-step instructions for creating your own metric agg", "Create step-by-step instructions for modifying a metric", "Create step-by-step instructions for modifying a query."]

These parts, though -- if I had all the variable structures written down, I could look at them while I'm coding. Then I won't have to keep scrolling back and forth in the code, trying to remember if it's an array or a dictionary while also trying to remember what part of the code I was working on. Brilliant. Move that to the front.

[ID: Seven dark blue boxes with white text, three large, four small. The first one is large and says "Write up explanation of how Rosetta works." The second one is large and says "Document structure of all variables." Attached to that one are four smaller boxes that say "All_blocks", "Runs", "metric", "New_block". The third large one says "Document what qb_parameters.csv contains"]

Also, while I'm at it, I should get the list of variables I need to document -- then I won't have to keep scrolling to find them. Make those sub-steps.

I definitely keep needing to look up what's in the parameters document, so I should write that down, too. For the user manual I also should write down what's in the metric document, but I don't need that for myself, so I can send that to the end.

[ID: The same three dark blue boxes from two screenshots ago (create step-by-step instructions for metric agg, modifying a metric, and modifying a query), now with another dark blue box in front of them with white text that says "Document what granular_metrics.tsv contains."]

These five are all small steps, and are all related in that they don't actually (hopefully) change the functionality of the code; they're just stuff left over from prior versions of this code. So we can lump them all together.

[ID: Five light blue boxes with white text that say "Delete first part of get_runs()", "Have build_query_script only receive the "run" parameter" "Delete dmf" "Move metrics=get_metrics() outside build_all_blocks (all the way up to the top level?" "Delete group_variable from qp_parameters"]

My brain likes this better, so that I can keep track of fewer "main steps", but that's just a peculiarity of me -- you should lump and split however you prefer to make this process easier for you.

[ID: The same five boxes from the prior screenshot, now all made smaller and attached to a larger box that says "Remove Legacy Code"]

Keep going, step by step, sticky by sticky, until you've got them in order. If -- while you're doing this -- you remember another thing you need to do, write it on a sticky and slap it on the pile; you don't have to stop what you're doing to deal with it, because it's written down and it's on the pile and it will get processed; you can just keep working on the thing you're on right now.

[ID: All the same boxes from the first screenshot, now in a neat row. Some of the original boxes have been grouped together. The ones that were said to be at the beginning of the process are on the left and the ones that were said to be at the end are on the right.]

Step four: for the love of all that's holy, SAVE THIS LIST.

Write it on your cubicle whiteboard where it won't be erased

write it on a piece of paper and tape it to the office wall

send an email to yourself

take a picture with your phone

I don't care but save it.

When I used physical sticky notes, I kept them all on the hood of my cubicle's shelf. Now, as you can see, I use Powerpoint, which is irritating af but does allow me to keep everything in a single document, which I can write down the path of.

[ID: White text on a black background says "open ~/Documents/Rosetta\ Modifications\ and \Documentation.pptx" The next line says "Notes in Rocketbook pg 10-12, 16" The next line says "Turn that into documentation that can be used for making modifications."]

And now (finally) you can answer the question "How would I even get started on that?" You look at the first thing on the list, and you treat it as its own project. You can hyperfocus on this step and completely forget about everything else this project requires, because everything you need to remember for the rest of it is written down.

If, as you're working a step, you think of something else you need to do for the big project, write it on a sticky and slap it on the pile. Don't even worry about trying to order it or identify sub-steps; as long as it's not blocking the thing you need to work on right now, you don't have to care. Just stick that bugger anywhere at all on the list, and go back to what you were doing. When you un-hyperfocus and come back to look at your list, there'll be a big sticky note stuck sideways across all the rest of the steps, and you'll remember to file and order it then.

Other benefits of this system

1) The first question really helps with unclear directions from your boss. You can take whatever they told you to do, and translate it into a requirement that is clearly either met or not-met, and then run it back by the boss.

If they say, "No, no, we want ______" then phew! You just saved a huge miscommunication and weeks of wasted work! What a good employee you are! What an excellent team player with strong communication skills!

If they say "Yes, that's what I want," then you know -- for sure -- what it is you're trying to accomplish. Your anxiety is reduced, and your boss thinks you're super-conscientious.

(And if your boss is a jerk who likes to move the goalposts and blame it on their subordinates, then have this conversation over email, so you can show it to their boss or to HR should it become necessary.)

2) Having this project map means that when you spend an hour staring at the requirements and trying to figure out how to get started (which, let's be honest, you were definitely going to do anyway) ... When your boss/coworker comes by and says, "How's it going?" Instead of having to say "I haven't even started 😞" You can say, "Pretty well! I've got all the steps mapped out and am getting ready to start on implementation!" and show them your list, and they think you're very organized and meticulous. 3) Sometimes, especially in corporate jobs, you and your coworkers will run into a problem that's too big for even Neurotypicals to hold all in their heads. At that point, the NTs will be completely lost -- they've never had to develop a way to handle projects they can't just look at and know how to get started. So then you pipe up in the meeting and say, "OK, well, what exactly are we trying to accomplish?" and everybody at the conference table looks at you like you're a goddamned genius and you don't have to tell them that you use this exact same process to remember how to make a sandwich 😅

4) Having this project map makes it so much easier to stop work and then start it up again later, but this post is already really really really long, so I'm going to address that in a separate (really really long) post.

[terubakudan]

This may be an old article from 3 years ago, but these cultural aspects/observations still apply even today. And though this is strictly a Chinese perspective, a lot of these everyday life bits are observed in Overseas Chinese communities in countries such as The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. as well as countries heavily influenced by Chinese culture like Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.

I've always liked learning about other cultures and making comparisons between how things are done East vs West. Which probably stems from growing up with two cultures and Mom raising me on American movies xD

So the irony is if you asked me how many Chinese, Taiwanese, or Hong Kong actors I know, chances are I know as much as you do xD Like Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, and that's about it. But if you asked me about Western (specifically American and British) actors, then I have a useless brain dump of movie trivia and who was with who in what movie xD

Hmmm, both Taiwan and the Philippines are two distinct cultures but both look up to a certain country and are fascinated by that. In Taiwan's case, Japan and the US for the Philippines. In both cases, this is due to being under the rule of those countries in their history. Taiwan being under Japan for 50 years, and the Philippines being under Spain for 300+ years, followed by periods of American and Japanese rule. To put it simply though:

Taiwan is "mini-Japan with a very Chinese culture".

The Philippines is "former colony of Spain with lots of American influences".

But unlike the author, I've never set foot in any Western country, so my understandings are strictly what I've observed in media, which while it can be accurate, doesn't compare to actually experiencing the culture.

Some further elaboration on most points:

#1 We quite literally use chopsticks for everything. We use it to pick rice, viands, vegetables, fruit, smaller desserts, almost all the food you can think of.

But where do you put your chopsticks when you're not using them? Just put them on top of your bowl or flat on your plate. But do not ever stick them vertically. It's taboo, since it looks like incense sticks, which we use to pray for those who have passed, like our ancestors or during funerary services.

#3 The majority of Asia is obsessed with fair/white skin. In my time at the Philippines, I grew up watching all these Dove Whitening commercials and my classmates often commented on how fair my skin was, how they envied it etc. In Taiwan, girls often say they don't want to 變黑 (biàn hēi) 'become dark'. Japan and Korea too are not innocent of this either (if their beauty/skin products weren't a dead giveaway).

People here at Taiwan often mistake me for being from Hong Kong or Japan (as long as I don't speak Mandarin with my heavy accent xD). A Taiwanese classmate of mine joked that she often gets mistaken for being from Southeast Asia due to having a darker complexion. And while I laughed it off with her at that time, looking back, I now realize she was lowkey being racist. xD

And believe me Filipinas have mentioned literally being told 'your skin is so dark' here in Taiwan, or being given backhanded compliments like 'you're pretty despite having dark skin' and...*facepalms*

My point is, beauty is not exclusive to skin color. People who still think that are assholes.

#5 Not to say we don't have salt and pepper, but yes soy sauce and vinegar are the classic condiments you see on the table, be it at home or at a restaurant.

And if I may add, Taiwanese love their pepper. xD If you ever get to eat at a night market or a smaller "Mom n' Pop-style" restaurant here, some dishes/soups tend to add quite an excessive amount of pepper. Not like anthills, but quite liberally and way more than average. Enough that you see traces of pepper at the bottom of the food paper bag or swirling in your soup. xD

#6 I know this all too well from personal experience. In my years of studying at Taiwan, I always had roommates. 3 in my first school (I graduated high school in the Philippines pre K-12 so I had to make up 2 years of Senior High), followed by 2 in college, with the exception of 1 in freshman year.

My college did offer single person dorms but at around 9000 NTD ($324) per month compared to around 6000 NTD ($216) per semester. Because I wanted to save, the choice was obvious for me xD. But ah, this doesn't mean I don't value personal space, in fact I love having the room to myself, and since both my roomies would go home to their families every weekend, weekends were bliss for me xD

And you don't have to be friends with your roommates (that's an added bonus however), you just have to get along with them. I was quite lucky to have really great roommates all throughout my schooling years.

#9 In the Philippines, we do. Owing mostly to American influences and maybe being predominantly Catholic? xD

#10 *sigh* Chinese parents and parents from similar Asian cultures tend to put too much emphasis on grades, so much that kids could get sent to cram school as early as elementary. This is because what school you get into could literally affect your future job opportunities, and while that's not exclusive to any particular country/culture, I feel it's especially pronounced here in Asia. I'm really lucky my own parents weren't that strict about it. However, if your parents don't point the mistakes out to you, chances are you'll do it yourself, if you're an Asian kid like me anyway. xD It just becomes a habit.

#11 My family is an exception to this. xD We do say 'I love you' directly, but complete with the 'ah eat well ok?', 'don't scrimp on food', 'sleep well' and similar indirect words/actions of affection. We were doing 'Conceal, Don't Feel' before it became popular. xD

#13 I'm kind of confused about this but this has sort have changed over the years in which eye-contact is now more encouraged. But don't stare, especially at elders and authority figures. Sometimes it's just shyness though. xD And I've observed this with my own Taiwanese friend, especially when I'm complaining or ranting to her about something. xD I'm a person who likes to express my opinions strongly, which tends to scare/alienate some of the locals here, as doing so is kind of frowned upon. Thankfully, she does listen and offers her take on things.

#14 Ah this. xD In the Philippines, this is a common greeting known as beso-beso, and I freaked out too when an auntie did that to me. xD Needless to say, Mom lectured me later on what that was. ^^"

#16 Along with #3 another crazy beauty standard. In my view, people always look better with a little meat on them and when they're not horribly thin. Asia still has a loonng way to go with accepting different types of bodies if you ask me. This combined with modern beauty standards has made the pressure for women especially to 'look beautiful' higher than ever.

I know many people love them but please, starving yourself or glorifying eating disorders is never OK just to get this kind of 'ideal' body. I'm not part of the Kpop fandom, but even I think when idols get bullied just for gaining the least bit of weight among other insensitive comments, that's really going too far.

#17 'If you want to make friends, go eat.' <- I couldn't agree more. In the Philippines we have a greeting: 'Kumain ka na ba?' (Have you eaten?) . Similarly in Taiwan, we have 吃飯了沒? (chī fàn le méi), both of these can mean that in the literal sense but are often used as greetings instead. By then which invitation to having lunch/dinner together may or may not follow. Food really is a way for us to socialize and to catch up with what's going on in each other's lives. Not to say we don't have regular outings like going out to the mall, going shopping, etc. but eating together is a huge part of our culture, be it with family or friends.

And while I'm at it, some memes that are way too accurate good to pass up xD

Parents, uncles, aunties alike will fight over the bill xD

Alternatively:

You just space out until your name is called xD

My parents are guilty of the last one. Logic how? xD

#18 True. xD I like giving compliments out to people but I have a hard time accepting them myself, though I've learnt how to accept them much more now than before. We're kind of raised to constantly downplay ourselves so we often say things like 'ah no no' or 'I'm really not that good'. The downside of this of course is that it can come off as somewhat fake. xD

Again from personal experience, that same classmate who made the lowkey racist remark, she was good, she was on the debate team, was a honor student, knew how to mingle with people, but she downplayed herself way too much, while praising me but I honestly thought that she never really meant it from how she treated me. She wanted to keep me around her yet make backhanded compliments at me and she didn't want me socializing with my other classmate who is now my friend. *sigh* It was only after discussing this with one of my roomies did I realize how this 'excessive downplaying' might come off to people like me who more or less grew up with a more 'Westernized' mindset. I'm not saying brag about your achievements but don't be overly humble about them either, which can also be a turn off.

#20 We do tend to be a lot more realistic on how we view things, neither entirely optimistic nor pessimistic. We try to think of things practically and often analyze things on pure logic. A downside of this however, is that Chinese people can be overly practical. Taiwanese for instance don't like to 'find inconveniences' and generally keep to themselves, meaning, they won't help you in your hour of need even when they do have the capabilities. Sounds really harsh I know, but in my 6 years of living in Taiwan, while this doesn't apply to all the people, a lot of them really do only find/talk to you when they need something.

So for some people saying Taiwanese are 'friendly', that's BS xD If you ask me, Filipinos are infinitely more friendly, and again while not all, generally make more of an effort to help you when you need it. I really felt more of a real sense of community during my years growing up in the Philippines compared to Taiwan.

#21 Children do tend to stay with their parents well into college and adulthood, since Chinese families are indeed very family-oriented, in a lot of cases, grandparents often live under the same roof as us as well! And it really does save a lot of money. I see there's a real stigma in the US when it comes to "living with your parents", but that's starting to change especially because of Covid and having more and more people move back in with their parents.

Housing unfortunately is pretty much hella expensive no matter where you go, and Taiwan is no exception. Steep housing prices and the very high cost of raising a child (schooling + buxiban fees, etc.) contribute to a very low birth rate and thus an aging population like Japan. It's not uncommon to see both parents working in Taiwan.

#23 I'm an overthinker myself, but I totally agree with the author that the best is to strike a good balance between these two. Which I guess is why I love drawing or any other related creative attempts, it helps me be more spontaneous or well, creative! I like to remain intellectually or artistically inspired.

#24 Is French high school really like that? xD My friend did watch SKAM France and more or less got a culture shock from what was depicted on the show. I can confirm however that most high schools both in the Philippines and Taiwan require students to wear a uniform, only in college is everybody free to wear casual/civilian clothes.

#26 Ah this is part of our Asian gift-giving etiquette xD We always open gifts later after the event/meeting and in private. Never open them in front of the person who gave it to you or in front of others. This is to prevent any 'shame/embarrassment' that may result both to yourself and to the gift giver. I know this may come off as something weird since some people may want a more honest response or immediate feedback when it comes to gift-giving, but that's just how it is in our culture. You're always free to ask us though (in private) if we liked the gift or not ^^"

#28 I want to say the same goes to drinking, partying, and drugs however xD Those are things which are still frowned upon in our culture. And to be honest, whenever I see those in movies, it does kind of turn me off xD It doesn't mean that we're "uncool" or "boring", we just think that there are much better or healthier ways of "having fun".

#31 Is this true in France?! Man I would kind of prefer that instead of people being on their phones all the time xD This kind of goes with #20 in that Chinese are overly practical or logical, and don't read fiction as much as nonfiction. My Taiwanese friend is an exception though, she's a bibliophile who loves the feel of paper books compared to e-books, and it's a trait of her that I like a lot. Both the Philippines and Taiwan however have a huge fanbase when it comes to manga and anime though.

I'm all for reading outside of "designated reading" at schools especially. Reading fiction improves your vocabulary too, and can be quite fun! It helps you imagine and really invest in a world/story, and if you ask me something that I feel Westerners are better at, they're more in touch with their emotions and creativity, and are thus much more able to write compelling or original stories. Believe me, I've seen a fair amount of Chinese movies that rip off Western movie plotlines xD

#33 Nothing much to add on here..except that since I'm a "weird" person, Mom often jokes that she got the wrong baby from the hospital. xD

#35 True. While I agree with the care and concern that your fellow community can give you, the downside of this is we tend to only hang out with our own people, e.g Chinese with Chinese, Taiwanese with Taiwanese, etc. I've seen too that it's especially hard to make friends in Japan and Korea as a foreigner. Not only is there the language barrier, but the differences in culture too. In a way, Asians can be pretty close-minded on getting to know other cultures or actually making friends with people from other countries. I know this all too well being half-Taiwanese/half-Filipino, being neither "Filipino" enough nor "Taiwanese" enough. xD It's more of people here being too used to what they're comfortable with.

#36 Oh this is something I feel that Chinese students and other students from similar cultures should really improve on. xD How will people respect you if you don't speak your mind?

I felt bad especially for my Spanish teacher in college, granted it was an introductory course (Spanish I and II) but the amount of times that our teacher had to prompt a student to recite/speak even with clear hints already made her (and me too) extremely frustrated. The thing is, these are college students, I personally feel they don't have any reason to be so shy of speaking and technically by not doing so they're slowing the pace of the class too much and a lot of time is wasted.

Unfortunately you can't always be very vocal with your thoughts and opinions in most Asian cultures. I would say strive for that, but at the same time, play your cards well, especially if you're in a workplace setting.

If you made it to the end, thank you for reading and here's a cookie! 🍪 I'm not perfect and there's bound to be something I missed so please let me know if you spotted anything wrong. Feedback/questions are very much welcome and please feel free to share about your country/culture's differences or similarities!

[yamaoni]

The Second Great War of Remnant has begun. Once more, Vale and Mantle are embroiled in a massive conflict, only this time, they are on the same side against Atlas.

I don't think it was a coincidence that so many people drew parallels with the last episode and WWI. We've never seen people fight that way in RWBY. Grimm don't use projectile weapons the way humans do, so the benefits of the trench are diminished; especially if you compare it to the drawbacks.

Now, I understand not everyone in the Atlas military has their aura unlocked and the squishy soldiers need some cover, but if The Long Memory didn't nuke every grimm on Atlas, the lines would have been overrun and then there would have been nowhere for them to retreat to.

You think the very real hand to hand struggles in the trenches of WWI were bad, imagine being trapped in a narrow trench with a bear. Or having this thing explode out of the ground under you.

I refuse to believe no-one in Atlas ever thought, "if we put the dirt from the trench in a box, no only can we give our soldiers cover, we can also give them an elevated position to fire from."

The top of a wall has been the primary defensive position for the people of Remnant for a long time. You can see them in the establishing shots of most settled places the team has visited. So why are we seeing a trench now?

Simple.

Show, don't tell.

RWBY has done a pretty great job, especially in the last few seasons, of showing the audience what it is trying to convey without explicitly telling them. They especially like drawing from well known folk lore to give insight into the future of the show.

Only difference here, instead of drawing the parallel between characters, they're drawing parallels between worlds.

Remnant's first Great War started with Mantle suppressing freedom of expression, the destruction of Art and Color. Ironwood always has little in the way of color, but in his first broadcast since everything started hitting the fan, he has none.

That broadcast also included evacuation ships being blown up by fighter-bombers, Dunkirk. It threatend to level a city if they didn't surrender, Battle of Brittan. All delivered by a dictator trying to scare his opponents into submission through careful use of film.

Theories

If the rest of the season is WWII, I have several theories on plot direction. Considering how well they did keeping up with both ends of the battlefield it wouldn't surprise me if they followed all of them at the same time.

Operation Dunkirk

Or, the evacuation of Mantle.

Players: Penny, Nora, Ren, Happy Huntresses

The Happy Huntresses involvement is a given. Not only has saving Mantle been their goal the whole time, they're also stuck in the middle of it right now.

Penny is the Protector of Mantle. It would be a shining moment for her character to fully throw off the virus Watts implanted and overcome Ironwood's threats to do so. Just crossing my fingers that it doesn't end like the Iron Giant.

Nora is currently Penny's tether to sanity, so she has to go with, and I doubt they would separate Ren from her for the next arc so he's going too.

Surprise twist for this plot I'm betting will be the Starwars "they aren't warships, just people" scene everyone loves to rag on. After all, the broadcast went out that they needed help and, at least at Dunkirk, it was fishing boats and pleasure crafts that retrieved the 338,000 surrounded on all sides.

Why We Fight

Or, countering Ironwoods propaganda.

Players: Robyn and Qrow

For one, these two are unaccounted for and in the heart of Atlas' military machine. If anyone has means to do so, it's them.

The film, Why We Fight, also countered the dramatic cinematography of Goebbels propaganda by painting it as ridiculous and making a folksy call to action much like Robyn has done in the past.

Operation Fortitude

Or, the deception of Ironwood.

Players: Emerald, Jaune, Oscar

This is the mission to make Ironwood think the team is going after the relic. This theory is why I actually thought of and wrote out this whole thing. Thanks @maxiemumdamage, I had things I was supposed to do tonight.

https://maxiemumdamage.tumblr.com/post/644291955872890880/willing-to-bet-my-own-soul-that-emerald-uses-her

Only difference in my theory and their's, is Jaune is going to be playing the part of Penny.

I say this for two reasons. One, Joan of Arc pretended to be a man. While we've gotten both Jaune pretending to be something he's not and him in a dress, this would pose the first time in the story he could do both. Two, it would put him on a direct collision path with Cinder. It needs to happen at some point to bring his arc to a conclusion, but man I hope we're not about to watch him burn.

With Ozpin active again, Oscar has to go along to direct them to the vault. He's also one of two backing the idea of Emerald joining the team and Jaune wouldn't be willing to work with her without him.

Operation Overlord

Or, busting down the doors of Atlas Acadamy.

Players: Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Yang

Where Operation Fortitude was the faint, Operation Overlord was the real deal. For those that aren't history buffs, this is D-Day.

I think this is the reason we've only seen the main team fighting together once since their split from Beacon. And even then, that fight was at most pairs of fighters and not all four of them supporting one another.

RWBY tricked us into thinking season 4 was the post-timeskip level up we come to expect from anime when really we ended up watching the training flashbacks as they happened instead.

We've seen hints of it with the various team ups and combinations, but are we really ready for how much ass kicking they are about to do?

I'm hoping for a One Piece level of badass entrance that can give me shivers whenever I go to watch it again like the walk to Arlong Park still does to this day.

(Aside: if you try telling me RWBY isn't anime, I'm just going to ignore you. Anime is an art movement. If you don't understand what that means, watch this video. https://youtu.be/uFtfDK39ZhI)

Now last and certainly not least

Operation Valkyrie

Or, the death of Ironwood.

Players: Winter and Marrow

The long awaited defection. Plenty of speculation has already floated around about if and when these two where going to cave to their morals and jump ship. I don't know how many of us were expecting the straw to break the camel's back to be a nuke held over Mantle, but I certainly wasn't.

What worries me, is Operation Valkyrie failed and all its conspirators were executed. As if there weren't enough death flags for Winter before.

Even if it's not Winter that kills him. I don't see Ironwood surviving this season. Even if it means he goes out like another hated dictator. It's not like it would be the first time RT had a fallen hero chose to use his own sword.

Wildcards

Or, Murphy will have his due.

Players: Cinder, Watts, Neo, Tyrian, Mercury, Clover

These players can go any which way. Three we know for sure are going to be active in the coming episodes and I wouldn't be surprised if the other three play a part as well.

Oscar made a hell of a light show for Tyrian and Mercury to see behind them. Not to mention, Salem will still need a ride home when she pulls herself back together.

Clover keeps getting mentioned even though he's hospitalized. If he was truly out of commission for the rest of the season, they would have made us think he's dead before bringing him back like they did with Penny.

Up to now, what we've seen is a three way conflict. But one of the hallmarks of Remnant's First Great War, was making temporary alliances to fight off grimm.

The grimm might be gone, but the wild cards can't complete their own objectives if they are dead. The question is who's goals better align with their own.

Two surprise twists I can see here. One, Mercury stabbing Tyrian on his way to defection. He was raised by an assassin and has not going to get a better chance than that. Two, Clover joining Operation Valkyrie. He might have accepted that sacrifice is a necessary evil to ensure Atlas' survival, but might go Schindler's List on us and find horror in what Ironwood plans to do.

TLDR

I spent way too long writing this out. All the WWI imagery means we're getting a WWII movie with RWBY characters. Major death flags for Penny, Jaune, and Winter.

Also I finally figured out how to do a readmore. Apparently it's just been a long time since I updated.

Note: kept seeing things talking about clovers death and I kind of went ???? Isn't he barely alive in medical? Went back and watched that scene and though I am 90% sure he is dead still kind of weird that they have him in his own room instead of a morgue and the initial framing made my mind instantly think he was propped up on a hospital bed. I mean, I guess we needed to have all the ACEOPs there for their reaction to Ironwood... but it definitely made me think he was alive. That and they have a bandage on his chest wound... when he's supposedly dead. Also have a phantom memory of Harriet saying something about him being in critical but I think that's my memory playing tricks on me.

Having his face exposed instead of covered by the sheet and seeing him in the same frame as Winter being treated also didn't help my gut reaction of "Oh Shit! He's alive? How?!" If I'd followed up more on the "how" might not have made the blunder of writing his return as the final twist in my theory. Oops

[zabrak-show]

Nima Paeral Scintel

A more formal introduction to my Zygerrian OC Nima Paeral. I've been working on them for a little while and don't have a full story fleshed out or anything, but I did get this incredible portrait of them done by Sputnik Arts on Instagram. Check his page out for some amazing Star Wars art and they have a dope Togruta OC, too! (Did I mention I love Star Wars OCs?!!!)

See below the cut for more facts about Nima ❤️️

pretty much all of this is subject to change as i fiddle with their story lol

Character’s full name: Nima Paeral Scintel

Character’s nickname: Nims

Birth date: 39 BBY

Gender: nonbinary they/them/she/her

Physical appearance

Age: 20s

How old do they appear: 20s

Height: 5’11” 1.8m

Body build: muscular, androgynous

Eye color: grey-blue & silver

Glasses or contacts: one all white cybernetic eye that shines silver in night light

Skin tone: pink

Distinguishing marks: cat/coyote ears and feline esque face, scar over the cybernetic eye

Hair color: pink

Type of hair: short fur

Voice: medium tone, at times monotonous, high pitched when very excited

Overall attractiveness: all my ocs are hot af

Physical disabilities: cybernetic eye

Usual fashion of dress: usually very utilitarian

Favorite outfit: green slim fitting cargo pants, tactical purple tank top, blue neckerchief, holsters for guns

Jewelry or accessories: not usually

Personality

Personality: very serious, political activist, still knows how to have fun, but sometimes needs to be reminded not to work so hard constantly.

Good personality traits: hard-working, love of people around them, wants to do what’s right,

Bad personality traits: extremist in thought, will do whatever it takes to get something done, works so hard doesn’t leave time for personal attachments

Mood character is most often in: serious

Sense of humor: dry, but once you make them laugh it’s like you unlocked a key to immortality it feels so good

Character’s greatest joy in life: setting thousands of slaves free on their home planet

Character’s greatest fear: the fascists winning

Why? because everything they’ve fought for will have felt like it was for nothing

What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil? falling for someone and losing sight of the movement (insert Feral love story)

Character is most at ease when: after a successful political meeting, when everyone knows their next move, their next place, the only time to relax before a big move

Most ill at ease when: someone they love won’t fight for themselves or the cause

Enraged when: faced with injustices

Depressed or sad when: it feels like no matter how hard they fight, they aren’t getting anywhere in the grand scheme of things

Priorities: making the galaxy a free and equal place for everyone

Character’s soft spot: small children

Is this soft spot obvious to others? no, unless said small children are around. Their eyes light up and they can’t help but smile and laugh with the children.

Greatest strength: Stealthiness

Greatest vulnerability or weakness: stubbornness

Biggest regret: letting thousands more suffer when they saved one colony of slaves, they had to leave or die, and sometimes they lie awake wondering if they hadn’t left and were able to free more, but died, if that would have been better for the galaxy

Minor regret: not sleeping with the hot pantoran who flirted with them at an activist party

Past

Hometown: Royal palace of Zygerria

Type of childhood: raised very lavishly, never had to ask for anything

Pets: Kiros Bird, purple and blue

First memory: the nurse who took care of them gifting them a stuffed tooka cat

Most important childhood memory: seeing their nurse break down in hysterics when her son was taken from her to be a slave on another part of the world.

Why: it led to their political radicalization

Dream job: librarian

Education: Coruscant College of Law

Religion: atheist

Finances: exorbitant until being excommunicated by family

Present

Current location: all over, hiding from Zygerrians and their allies

Currently living with: small team of rebels

Occupation: activist, smuggling at times to get by

Finances: slim since being excommunicated by family

Family

Siblings: Miraj Scintel, Queen

Relationship with them: hate each other

Favorites

Color: Green and Purple

Music: lo-fi hip hop

Food: meat

Literature: anything political

Habits

Hobbies: working out, playing music

Plays a musical instrument? yes keyboard

Plays a sport? many, they're very athletic

Spending habits: frugal

Smokes: used to in college, occasionally if provoked

Drinks: occasionally

Other drugs: no

What do they do too much of? strategizing

What do they do too little of? relaxing

Extremely skilled at: spying, stealth, organizing folks

Extremely unskilled at: maintaining deeply personal relationships

Nervous tics: cracking knuckles in fingers

Usual body posture: straight

Mannerisms: regal and elegant

Traits

Optimist or pessimist? optimist

Introvert or extrovert? extrovert

Daredevil or cautious? mostly cautious but will do a daring move if needed

Logical or emotional? logical

Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? methodical and neat

Prefers working or relaxing? working

Confident or unsure of themself? confident

Animal lover? yes (though they are a carnivore so read into that as you want)

questions taken from this list tho I didn't answer all of them

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 4 for the first time. Random thoughts.

I never said anything about it before but I love Shadow Weaver's DCAU Batman eyes. They're so expressive.

Episode 1: Okay...I wasn't expecting Catra to do that. I mean, it makes sense. If she has leverage over Hordak then she's basically in charge of the Horde and that's what she's wanted (or at least believes she wants) since episode 1. It's an aspect that made her a good antagonist, that she's not blind to the evil of the Horde, she just doesn't care as long as she herself is secure. Which naturally begs the question, when the rebellion and the princesses are crushed, when the Horde is on top, when Adora is dead, when Catra finally has everything she's ever wanted...will she actually finally be happy? Somehow, I have my doubts.

I definitely feel for Glimmer in this. When you go through as big a loss as she did you need to be able to feel and vent if you're ever going to get through it. It doesn't have to be right away but everyone doing everything in their power to avoid the topic entirely can make you feel like you're going crazy. It'a especially bad for her since it unintentionally makes it feel like everyone is acting like it doesn't matter that Angela is gone when it clearly means everything to Glimmer.

Episode 2: I actually had a potted cactus plant once. Accidentally forgot about it and left it outside for an entire winter. Once the snow was gone the cactus looked like it had melted.

I kind of want to see what an interaction between Double Trouble and Clayface from the Harley Quinn animated series would look like. I'm guess Catra was just testing how good Double Trouble was as a doppelganger because it doesn't seem like she did anything while Adora was being distracted, though I suppose that could be a reveal in a later episode.

Not much to say except that I love how buff Huntara is while still clearly being a woman. Like, women can have a variety of different body types, as this series and Steven Universe show, and Huntara's build isn't just, like, Bow's body with lipstick and ponytail and the animators calling it a day. No, she looks like a freakin' jacked adult woman.

Episode 3: I didn't figure out the Flutterina = Double Trouble twist until a minute before it was revealed, so good job there. Before that I was wondering if Flutterina was some fan's original character where they won some contest where their OC got to be in the show for an episode. She was giving off some weird self-insert vibes. That twist made it all work though. It's honestly not a bad plan. Shapeshifters haven't really been a thing in the series before now so there's no reason to suspect it. Even if they did they'd probably be expecting it by way of magic or technology, while Double Trouble's seems to be a natural ability.

I like that even though Bow is definitely the goofier one of the trio he is still consistently shown as competent. That's never in question. He was very heroic and reassuring to the villagers this episode. I get why those kids idolize him so much.

Catra's having guilt over what she did with the portal and to Entrapta and her response is basically to just double-down. She doesn't know any other way to be. Not going to lie, I am kind of hoping we get another moment in the show where Adora just completely overwhelms Catra with the sheer power of She-Ra. I'm not saying like brutalize her or anything but just something where Catra is made to realize just how powerful Adora is and that she could just destroy Catra if she had a mind to do so.

Episode 4: Well, I was saying I wanted Adora to do it but I guess I don't mind Glimmer being the one to get some good shots in on Catra. Like I predicted, Shadow Weaver's moving in to become her teacher like she was with her father. Honestly I like that that was more Adora's problem than Glimmer using her as bait, which she seemed to get over pretty quick. Yeah, it was kind of a heartless thing to do but it was an understandable tactic and she clearly outright told Adora that she did it and why afterwards, which at least means she's still being honest.

It occurs to me that Glimmer and Catra may be the ones running parallel right now. Both are basically leading their respective sides of the war. They both have lost someone very important to them. And both are trusting someone they probably shouldn't. Both even have outfits that've been updated in the intro. The difference is Glimmer's just trying to deal with a bad situation while Catra's is entirely self-inflicted.

Minor thing but I like Glimmer's new outfit this season. I'm sure this is the intention but it makes her look older and more mature. A little more muscular in some shots too.

Episode 5: Heart of Etheria project. No idea what that is but assumedly whoever's a part of it doesn't like Light Hope and Mara being friends. Sounds like it's very much interested in She-Ra being just a warrior, and perhaps a tool, for the greater good. It does make me wonder though how much Light Hope remember from when she was rebooting. Even if she deleted the Mara memory she could potentially still have the memory of her and Adora watching the Mara memory, as well as Adora asking to be her friend.

Episode 6: Yep. Scorpia; definitely favorite supporting character. There is something kind of funny about her whole "Scorpions are loyal" line when you remember the story about the Frog and the Scorpion, where it stings the frog despite it meaning death for itself as well simply because that is its nature. But finally we're having someone go save Entrapta, and I can only assume at some point Scorpia's going to access the power of the Black Garnet.

The parallels between Catra and Hordak are definitely at their max here with that speech of hers to him. She's basically trying to convince herself that she doesn't need anyone, the timing of which is appropriate since she just drove away Scorpia and now truly doesn't have anyone. Not that I blame Scorpia, obviously. Like Adora before her, however good you believe someone can be and that you can help them, at some point you just have to cut the toxic people out of your life. You have the right to be happy too.

And man, Bow is just the best. He saw something was wrong between Adora and Glimmer and defused the situation like (snap) that, pushing them to talk like any sane person would.

Episode 7: I'm sure it is just because I've seen way too many TV shows and movies (both animated and live action) that don't do it but it is just such a relief to have a show where the characters just TALK and LISTEN to each other. It doesn't solve all their issues but they're at least not being stupid and freakin' petty. It helps the drama feel a lot less forced and contrived.

Episode 8: A little bit of amusement in Bow thinking at first that Glimmer and Adora didn't even notice he was gone despite them coming to his rescue very shortly afterwards, given Catra is only now realizing Scorpia has left and assumedly she did so a while ago. Bow and Sea Hawk hadn't been gone for that long so it's not unreasonable Glimmer and Adora wouldn't be worried about their absence (Bow was literally talking about "me time" when they last saw him), while Catra is only noticing Scorpia's absence now and it was because she wanted something. Like Scorpia said, she's a bad friend.

Kind of ironic given that a lot of Catra's issues are the direct result of Shadow Weaver giving her very little love growing up but it does seem this tough love is probably what'll get through to Catra the best. She might finally stop making bad decisions and lashing out if she's forced to live with the consequences of them, like Adora told her last season.

Glimmer gets a bit of slack from me since she suffered through a huge loss, that being her mother, and then was immediately thrown into being queen right after. It'd be hard for anyone to be 100% on their game and well-adjusted in a situation like that, and I buy that she was on some level resentful of Adora for coming back instead of her mother, even if unintentionally so. What definitely helps is that Glimmer very clearly and immediately regretted what she said to Adora. Like Catra she's lashing out but unlike Catra Glimmer recognizes some of the damage she's doing and knows, at least in this case, that she went too far.

Episode 9: Now that I can see the design in color I definitely prefer Mara's She-Ra with pants to Adora's She-Ra with shorts. Honestly, while the differences are pretty minor, I do think Mara's She-Ra design is overall a lot better than Adora's. Sharper shoulder guards. Bigger cape (especially the cape, I love capes). I don't know, there's just a lot that clicks with it and I wouldn't mind Adora getting a similar outfit later.

Madam Razz definitely had a Yoda feel this episode. I was very much expecting her to start wacking Mara with a stick over the sugar like Yoda did with R2. Though while that was Yoda acting crazy, for Razz it's because she experiences time out of order, and I don't think I've ever seen that concept taken to this extent, or at least done this way before. There are characters like River Song from Doctor Who, Professor Paradox from Ben 10, or even the Reverse-Flash who interact with other characters in time out of order but those characters are still on a linear path from their own perspective, even when travelling through time. Razz is just bouncing around her own timeline, seemingly not even any real reason or cause to it like Subaru from Re:Zero. Clearly she's not just remembering things oddly because her talk about things of the present are heard by people in the past and have an effect. I wonder if maybe the reason why is because Razz was at ground zero of Mara's actions and this is a side-effect of pulling Etheria away from the rest of the universe.

Bringing more Star Wars into this, it basically sounds like the Heart of Etheria project has turned Etheria into a magic Starkiller Base; storing power that'll be unleashed to destroy whole planets. And jeez, I think this was the first time I really felt creeped out by Light Hope when she was talking to Mara.

I'm looking forward to seeing what it means that the First Ones only made the sword and that Etheria made She-Ra. If that's the case, why is only the sword able to bring out the She-Ra form? Is it like MCU Thor's hammer and the weapon was just meant to help him control the power he already had? Or is what we think is She-Ra not actually She-Ra and that form that Adora and Mara take is just a stand-in for the real thing?

Episode 10: It didn't even occur to me until now but Double Trouble's capture is another blow to Catra's circle of "friends" too. They were at least able to make her laugh. One less person for her to talk to and just...really just distract her from her thoughts.

It's a good dilemma this episode presents about what to do with the Heart of Etheria. The safest and probably best option is to just dismantle it, like Adora and Bow want, since it could easily lead to the destruction of the entire planet if it goes off. Not the mention there's so little they know about it and what it was intended for and the one person who can potentially tell them, Light Hope, they were warned not to trust. But it's not hard to understand where Glimmer is coming from in wanting to use that power to fight the Horde. They're already losing the war and now she knows Hordak Prime and his FAR more powerful forces are on the way. Tapping into the Heart is a huge risk but she's not seeing any other paths for the rebels to win. It's a really good dilemma, with good arguments presented from both sides, and I buy this widening the schism between Adora and Glimmer.

Episode 11: I have mixed feelings on King Micah still being alive. On the one hand there's a lot of good potential interactions we can now have with him, primarily between Glimmer and Shadow Weaver, and he is a fun character. But on the other I can't help but wonder if this kind of lessens the impact of what Angela gave up to overcome the false reality. Part of what made it so emotional was that she had to accept the person she loved was dead and not coming back...except now we see that he wasn't dead and now he is coming back. Yeah, their family lost out on years together and that does still carry some emotional weight but I was already also half-expecting Angela to come back later in the series because she's stuck between dimensions, meaning there's a chance she could still be alive. If both Glimmer's parents come back then that really feels like it takes a lot of weight out of her story. But I guess we'll see what happens.

Also, why did the Horde exile him to Beast Island? Why not just kill him?!

Episode 12: So the Horde exiles Micah to Beast Island instead of killing him. The First Ones protect their secrets by sending their bad tech to Beast Island. Does no one know how to just destroy things in this world?

Ohhh, I am so looking forward to next episode. While it's debatable whether Glimmer should be going through with her plan she is at least being smart with how she's going about it. Double Trouble was being paid by Catra to work for the Horde, not out of any sense of loyalty. Glimmer has the resources of Bright Moon at her disposal so it's reasonable she could pay them more to switch sides. Double Trouble was very good at sabotaging even a group as tight-nit as the heroes, so Hordak and Catra are probably easy pickings with all their issues.

Episode 13: ....WELL THAT AIN'T GOOD!

I'll admit, I had a little bit of an unintended laugh. After all we've heard about Horde Prime, like this shadowy all-powerful monster, I wasn't expecting the fabulous flowing dreadlocks and smoothness. Credit where it's due, man has charisma and charm, which goes a long way in helping your big evil world conqueror not be a very flat character, because it's doubtful he's going to have the same kind of sympathetic motivation as Hordak or complexity as Catra to keep him elevated.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Double Trouble kicking at Catra while she's down. Adora and Scorpia were honest but they never wanted to hurt Catra. Not so much with Double Trouble and they just shove reality into her face. Everyone leaves Catra because of Catra. She's the common factor. It's her fault and no one else's. Again, I don't know for certain if Adora and Catra get together at the end (Catra would have a LOT to make amends for regardless) but Double Trouble was definitely implying Catra had feelings for her with the way they put Catra's hand on "Adora's" cheek while talking about how she left her.

I like that we see Glimmer's plan actually working at first. The princesses get a massive power boost and decimate the Horde forces. But the minute it starts going wrong she immediately admits Adora was right and she tries to stop the energy flow. I imagine having her there with Catra was intentional by the writers. Despite some parallels, Glimmer can actually accept her failures and work to try and fix things. Unlike Catra, she didn't blame Adora for things going wrong.

So the sword allows the First Ones to control She-Ra and the energy she'd be absorbing from the planet. Assumedly that means there are at least some parts to She-Ra that have nothing to do with the First Ones and thus maybe Adora can still use some of those powers without the sword.

Season 4 verdict: Yeah, the show keeps getting better, though I will admit last season's finale had me more emotional, but that's a bit of an unfair comparison given everything that happened in that finale vs. this one. This is definitely the series hitting its darkest hour, where it feels like EVERYONE lost. Not just the rebels but the Horde as well. The sword and Light Hope are gone and She-Ra (for now) along with them. Glimmer and Catra are basically prisoners. Hordak's probably going to have his personality stripped away. The Fright Zone is in ruins. The only one who's gained anything is Prime.

Really looking forward to what the final season has in store, especially since there seems to be the implication that Catra just saved Glimmer's life.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o1j5gk/going_in_blind_watching_season_4_for_the_first/

[inglourious-imagines]

Laugh and Sea (Bill "Hoosier" Smith)

Requested by: @inallmylives (HI HONEY! Hoosier fluff please and thank you? Something nice where he laughs and smiles for once?)

Summary: Feeling happy with Hoosier in Australia.

Author's Note: I think I already mentioned it but I LOVE Hoose and damn, can I marry this guy? Also, hey honey! I totally forgot about your Snafu request, sorry! Gonna work on it soon. Anyway, hope you enjoy. Let me know if you wanna be tagged in these. ♡

Taglist: @alienoresimagines

.

.

.

As soon as they arrived in Australia, Marines were immediately taken to a huge football field where each of them found themselves a place to lay down and rest a little bit.

The hot sun was shining, not a single cloud could be seen, no rain. Everything was all right at the moment. Nobody was shooting at them, they didn't have to crouch in their foxholes, aim their machine guns at people. They weren't covered from head to toe in mud. 

And still, they felt more exhausted than they did at Guadalcanal.

"Come here, baby. Let's get some rest." Bill Hoosier whispered and lifted up his blanket for Y/N to lay down next to him. She snuggled to his side and rested her head on his right arm. She felt him pulling her closer. Bill pressed his dry lips on her forehead. "Try to catch some sleep, honey." he mumbled into her skin and made himself a little bit more comfortable. Y/N lifted herself up on her elbow and looked at the calm man next to her with a loving smile. She gently brushed his hair with her fingers and Bill moaned quietly in satisfaction. Y/N chuckled but didn't stopped. Playing with his hair calmed her down just like it calmed Hoosier.

"Does anything hurt you?" she whispered and looked worriedly at him as he wasn't moving or talking at all. "My whole freaking body hurts, Y/N. I just want to sleep." Bill almost growled but she knew he didn't mean it in a mean way. 

Y/N put her finger in the middle of his forehead, "Does it hurt here?" Bill slightly shook his head in disagreement and she pressed a gentle kiss on the spot. "And here?" she whispered and pointed at the top of his nose. "No." he rasped so she didn't wait any longer and kissed him there playfully. Hoosier let out a small laugh and cup her cheek, "Gosh, I love you so much."

Y/N returned back the smile and continued where she ended, "And here?" She gently ran her thumb over his lower lip. Bill closed his eyes and his mouth formed into the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen. "I'll take that as a yes." she chuckled and kissed him in the softest way possible, it almost seemed their lips didn't touch at all. Bill's hand found its way into her hair and pulled her closer to him in order to deepen the kiss. Their lips were dry but they melted into each other's touch. It was such a precious moment for both of them and either Y/N or Bill didn't want to pull away from the other one.

Hoosier smiled into the kiss and pressed his lips for the last time on hers as he whispered, "As much as I love doing this, we better catch some sleep, love." 

•••

It was a beautiful warm evening and they got furlough till midnight. A slight breeze was dancing on her Y/H/C hair and her eyes fluttered every time she breathed out.

Bill Smith wasn't sleeping anymore. All of the boys went in the town already and they were the only ones there. "Y/N," he whispered softly and stroked her cheek, "wake up. I've got a surprise for ya." 

She thought she'd never hear this kind of a sentence from Bill. He was the type of guy who rarely did something romatic. Of course, Hoosier loved her more than he wanted to admit but he'd given that up a long time ago. He knew she was special the moment he saw her standing on the goddamn island in the middle of Pacific, holding a rifle and covered in mud from head to toe. 

Y/N saw Bill for the first time a little bit later than that. They were together in the company but she had her group, although she was friends with Sidney Phillips, and he had his group. However, one day Y/N decided to talk to Sid. She found him in his tent with only two of his friends - Robert Leckie and Bill Smith. Since that day, they'd been aware of each other, Bill definitely more than her. But when they got stucked next to each other during one of the many battles at Guadalcanal, something happened. Both of them saved the life of the other one. They knew they can rely on each other, they began trusting each other and slowly grew closer and closer. All of the boys didn't miss out the opportunity of teasing Bill for it, especially Leckie because he thought they're gonna be together when he not so politely declined Runner and his offer.

Hoosier saved her life and Y/N saved his. A love was born that day, when bullets were flying back and forth and the only hope they had was their rifle and the fella next to them. It was almost unbelievable that something so pure and beautiful could exist in the most disgusting mash of death and bloodshed the world has ever been in.

•••

It was almost 7 in the evening when Hoosier stopped and put his hand away from her eyes in order to clear her view. 

The sun was setting behind the ocean horizon and some of its last rays were dancing and sparkling on the water surface so it almost looked like there were millions of stars floating on the ocean. The sky was filled fluffy white clouds, red, orange, yellow, purple, pink, blue colors were matching all together and created a beautiful painting.

"Can I talk to you or do you need a moment?" Hoosier chuckled and hugged her from behind. "Don't you want to look at the beauty of the world? Something like this can't be seen really often in times like these." she questioned him and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. "The view is pretty but I think you're prettier, Y/N." he whispered and pulled her even closer to his body as if he never wanted to let her go. 

"This sentimental Hoosier is news to me and I love it." Y/N laughed and turned around to face him. Bill was grinning widely and she thought that this is probably the first time she'd seen him so damn happy and smiling like an idiot so often.

"Don't get used to it." Bill warned her playfully and kissed her softly. "I got something for you." he mumbled and began to search for something in his pocket. 

"Okay," Hoosier cleared his throat and shuddered to get rid of his rising nervosity, "please don't take this as a marriage proposal, I'm planning on doing that the moment we get home but I saw this in a shop yesterday and I just wanted you to have it." Bill took her hand in his and slipped a simple narrow golden ring on her finger. 

"I will never take it off, Hoose." Y/N whispered and smiled as she was viewing the thoughtful gift.

A silence fell upon them. The music of the sea was playing them a slow song and Y/N pulled Bill for a hug. "Thank you." 

"No worries. But we should get back. I'm starting to get really cold."

"And I thought you've gone soft."

[tamaki-amajiki-is-my-baby]

Finally got the girlies done! :D!! Click for better quality!

This is Karite Shinsoroki, Hinagiku Bakugo-Midoriya, and Tami Togata!

I definetly did not do Tami's adorable ass outfit justice here-

There's a lot of things wrong with the outfits, but I couldn't really change;

Karite usually has a greenish color sweater she wears around her elbows, but that's very hard to draw and I didn't know how to layer the hair and everything, and not hide her!

Hinagiku should be wearing All Might merch.

Tami almost always is wearing the same cape that Tamaki wears. It just goes down to her knees, so I obviously didn't draw it since I want you to see her.

Quirks:

Karite ~ Loan

Whenever she brainwashes someone, either her ice or her fire gets transfered to them. She can't use the person's original quirk, she has to give one of her's up.

She can't choose whether she gives them ice or fire, it's a 50/50 chance, and so she usually won't make plans that aren't flexible in that aspect.

She can't use whichever quirk she gives up.

She activates the brainwashing the same way Shinso does.

Hinagiku ~ Explosion

Her sweat, tears, and pretty much everything else is the same nitroglycerin like substance as her father.

Smells even more like caramel than he does.

Tami ~ Permiation/Manifest

Nothing special; just both her dad's quirks. She has a lot more trouble using both at the same time, however, and she much prefers Permiation.

Appearances

Karite:

She has tanned skin, blue/purple and grey/purple eyes, and dark purple hair with red and white at the tips on the left and right sides respectively.

She really likes high waisted shorts with tank tops, and those are usually in greyscale, with a poofy greenish jacket to add some color.

Rocks those moccasins.

Hinagiku:

She has green eyes, pale skin, and green hair at the top with pristine blond further down, worn in two ponytails that she drapes over her shoulders.

Almost always seen in All Might merch. She's still holding onto him after over a decade.

When she's not, she doesn't have the best fashion sense and will throw a shirt under one of the many cute suspender-skirts she has.

Of course, you can't forget her bright red shoes that go with nothing she wears, but refuses to change!

Tami

Tami is a mini Tamaki — dark indigo eyes, darker skin, and indigo hair that she wears like Mirio used to in high school.

She likes cute strapless dresses that go down to a bit above her knees, and will wear a lighter color long sleeve shirt over it. They usually have some other poofy transparent fabric over those sleeves, which she only wears cos she thinks it's adorable. And it is.

She's usually wearing sandals, and her usually color palette is warm colors with a bit of very whitish-greens as accents or backgrounds.

Fun facts! :D

- Tami's cape is made with the fibers of her hair, so it permeates with her just like Mirio's cosume does!

She's actually allowed to wear the cape + hood in school as long as it's not over her head, since it helps with her self-consciousness, most of her being covered up by it.

- Mirio finds it really funny that Tami's doing the same thing with her hair as he did. She used to wear it just like Tamaki does, and then she switched to a half ponytail, and she's gone back to the Tamaki look a few times.

- Tami is demisexual and currently questioning whether she likes Hinagiku back.

Despite her having.. Y'know... Two fathers, she's still nervous to come out and hasn't yet. It's alright, Tami, take your time.

- Since Tamaki is a name you could use for either gender, Mirio really wanted to name her Tamaki!

But Tamaki got nervous, and asked the what if's like 'what if we break up and you have to say my name?'

Other than that, though, it would be confusing.

So they took the first letter of each of their names and boom! たミ! Tami!

- She has an incredible amount of respect for both dads, and she designed her hero costume after both of them.

And her fighting style. She sinks into the ground, then seems to warp just like Mirio does. Go for the gut!

- She has the same anxiety as Tamaki, it's really bad. But she still tries to smile! She doesn't want people to worry about her, so she smiles!

It also helps her whenever she's heroing, by making her feel like she can get through anything, and making the people she's saving feel safer.

But of course, like everything, this has a downside.

She hates it whenever she can't force her smiles and will get overwhelmingly angry with herself if she can't find a reason to smile about a situation.

~ Hinagiku is actually kind of an asshole, she just doesn't realize she's being really mean sometimes.

It used to really hurt her, because she had trouble keeping friends, and she's very scared of loosing Tami now.

Though, she's getting better at pinpointing behavior, apologising, and keeping an eye out for it.

~ She's still questioning. When she got close to Tami, she realized that all her previous 'crushes' weren't crushes at all! She thought she was pansexual, but she's not sure now.

She doesn't know the term for only being attracted to one person. She doesn't find any other girls pretty in that way, or boys handsome in that way.

~ Isn't very good with her volume due to her quirk. Needs and has hearing aids. Blew her ears-

She can hear without them, but just barely, and she won't be able to decipher what you're saying. She does know you're talking, though.

~ for being Japanese, she's very touchy-feely!

She loves hugs and holding hands and never leaves Tami alone even when there in public.

However, she can recognize when Tami doesn't want her to, and will stop. She's very observant in this way.

~ She's a hero fanatic. She knows everything about them all, including their real names.

She's still in absolute awe of (who she seee as) her girlfriend being the daughter of the #1 hero couple!!

And of course she's in awe of hereself being the daughter of the #1 standalone hero.

~ Hina knows sign language! When she realized she was loosing her hearing, she quickly picked up some books and started learning for her life.

It's also to understand her best friend Ogoe-de, who developed a vocal condition called aphonia when they were around four. She has a lot of trouble understanding why he's so sad about that, but it's probably because of his quirk depending on hisbvoice and him being loud. Poor thing. I'll get to him when I drae the guys.

Them being her, Karite, and him. They've known each other for a while!

• Karite is like super smart.

She's got really good problem solving skills, planning ahead, and is just snarr in general.

Because of this high bar, anything even slightly below it leaves her on her knees.

Almost literally.

• She is bisexual with a preference toward men.

Loves Ogoe-de more than she loves herself-

She hasn't told her dads about her sexuality, but she's not hiding it at all. She doesn't see the need to make it a big deal, and do she doesn't. They've never properly had a talk about it and she doesn't feel they need to.

• She's very aloof and barely shows emotions. Just like her dads.

Only exception is around her friends, where she's surprisingly sassy.

• She keeps Hinagiku under control.

“Stop harrassing Tami”

“I'm loving her!!”

• She uses the same tricks that Shinso used when he was young.

“Dad can we get McDonald's”

• She doesn't use her power willy nilly, though.

• Whenever they train, Hinagiku is usually he one she brainwashes. Both because she's very agile and because... She's really damn easy to brainwash.

She does volenteer, though! Karite wouldn't do that to her if she didn't allow it.

Ogoe-de doesn't understand why she doesn't just use him, and she tells him it's because he doesn't need the help of her quirk to become a good hero.

He disagrees.

It's one of the only things they don't agree upon, but they're working on it.

The boys and villians are coming soon, as well as the girl's hero costumes!

[gammaprimesmw]

Super Mario Bros: Vanilla Islands - HUGE updates

First off, after a very long wait, the demo for this hack has passed moderation. It almost didn't though, mostly because of slowdown in several levels.

While I waited for the demo to be moderated, I continued working on levels until completing them all.

World 6

6-1 - Bills, Bills, Bills! Bullet Bills, that is! At first, coming up with a song title to reference for this level's name was a little challenging. I don't have or know too many songs that have the word "Bullet" in them. The best I could probably think of is "21 Guns." I didn't count how many Bill Blasters are in this level though. "Bullet" is only half of the prominent enemy's name though. I do know of, like, and have a song with "Bills" in its title. Thus, the level became "Bills, Bills, Bills!"

6-2 - You're Always on My Mine

I don't think I can do a mine-themed level without having a miner pun in mine. At least, I don't want to, especially if I can reference an SWV song.

6-3 - You Rock My World

Yeah, the level was 6-1 when I made the video, but I moved it back to 6-3 when I realized that it was harder than 6-2. The difficulty was toned down a bit further since this was taken as I tweaked the speed values for the bouncing rocks that spawn from the horizontal pipes.

6-4 - Larry Koopa's Castle

Time to dodge even more bullets. Is it just me, or are Bullet Bills overlooked as good castle enemies/hazards in official games?

World 7

It's a Slippy Slidey Ice World, so much of the challenge comes from the ice physics. There are also some enemy projectiles that can freeze Mario in place in addition to hurting him. Brrrr....

7-1 - Snow (Hey Oh!)

Snowman Pokeys and Snowball-Pitchin' Chucks are nothing new for my ice worlds. They're easy sprite graphic swaps after all. Christmas-y elements in snow world decorations are also nothing new. They just fit, much like Middle-Eastern-sounding music in desert levels. I don't really care how cliche it is.

7-2 - Ice, Ice, Baby!

Here's where we get into enemies that can freeze Mario with their attacks. The Venus Frost Traps were somewhat difficult to set up because they use a projectile that was lost in one of SMWC's sprite section remoderations. They're based around a custom plant coded by imamelia that, by default, spits Bob-Ombs at the player in an arc. By changing what palettes the stem and head portions used, as well as what sprite they spawned, I was able to turn them into iceball-spitting Venus Frost Traps. This is the same method I used to create Venus Frost Traps in my entry for the 2018 Chocolate Level Design Contest on SMWC. BTW, don't ask where all those Christmas lights are plugged in.

7-3 - The Bumpty Dance

There's more icy shenanigans and more referencing hip-hop songs from the early 1990s here. I could've called this Bump, Bump, Bump, but I like "Bumpty Dance" better as a name. It's a little more indicative of just what will do the bumping here. I also could've called it "Bumpty Bump," but Golden Yoshi already used that name in SMW2+3: The Essence Star. Besides, the song being referenced is called "The Humpty Dance," not "Humpty Hump." I probably would've made the same assumption back in 1990.

6-4 - Lemmy Koopa's Castle

It's a Slippy Slidey Ice Castle! The Bowser Statues spit ice instead of fire. The darker iceballs simply freeze Mario, but the lighter ones that appear later in the level hurt. Lemmy himself shoots these same projectiles, along with one that can both freeze and hurt.

WORLD 8

This is it! This is the final world!

8-1 - Make it Hot

Yeah, you may want to warm yourself up after traveling through an ice world, but not like this!

8-2 - Hot in Herre

I did make a level called "Hot Out Herre" for Kola Kingdom Quest. Here, though, I can more directly reference the Nelly song that must've been the summer anthem for 2002.

7-3 - Fire in the Sky

Originally, I had this level's name set to "Soaring Over Gloomy Skies," referencing a custom composition I made in 2012 and originally used for the level. After finishing it, though, I felt like the name "Fire in the Sky" would be more appropriate, given the fiery hazards that abound on this airship. The song being referenced isn't one I'm a huge fan of, being more into 90s rock than 70s rock. There's still some Author Appeal behind the name though. It's not only the name of a song, but also the name of an episode of G1 Transformers, which happens to be one of my favorites from that series.

8-4 - BOWSER'S CASTLE

Here's the final level of the game! Prepare to face a gauntlet of fire-spitting statues, Fire Bros, Dry Bones, and things trying to either burn or crush you to death! Mama Mia! Yes, the Status Bar has changed in this hack. This was pretty much the only way to eliminate the slowdown that almost got the demo rejected. The original Status Bar was a sprite, and slowdown in Super Mario World (or practically any SNES game) is the result of too many sprites being on the screen at one time. One way to work around this is to use the SA-1 chip, but that requires converting every custom asset in my ROM that uses ASM. That can be another tedious process stacked on top of the already-tedious process of having to port everything to a new ROM. I had to do the latter anyway to safely change Status Bars, and I had to do it twice. The first alternate Status Bar I tried had glitches, so I had to switch Status Bars a second time. I finally settled on Ladida's Minimalist Status Bar, which I previously used in Super Luigi Land. I did have to remap some of the icons due to the significant edits made to the vanilla Layer 3 graphics files used by the HUD. There was still a glitch to be worked around though. The darkness effect for 4-3 wasn't quite compatible with the new Status Bar, and the level ended up looking like this.

It may look kinda cool and trippy, but it's not the desired effect. Furthermore, pressing the P-Switch had no effect on it, as was intended. The effect is supposed to use the SNES's color math functions to darken the screen (color subtraction, specifically). The second half of 4-4 also uses color subtraction to achieve a spotlight effect. Said effect was still functional after the Status Bar switch. I took a look at that code and learned that color subtraction was very easy to engage, only involving a couple lines of code run during level initialization. I basically copied the init code from the spotlight effect UberASM into another UberASM file. I then inserted that and made Layer 2 just a solid gray image, with the gray being palette animated in Lunar Magic to turn black when the P-Switch is active. Color Subtraction would cause this to make the "lights" in the level come on when the P-Switch was triggered, saving the level's gimmick.

This necessitated changes to the level's appearance. I made a simple Layer 3 background and darkened the overall foreground/background palette. I think I like this look better than the old one.

This is a beta version of the completed hack. You will need a Super Mario World ROM, a SNES emulator (I recommend snes9x 1.60), and Floating IPS to apply the BPS patch to the ROM. I can't tell you where to find the ROM.