#since it's very tricky to find the right spot to set things

[effloradox]

Cat and Mouse

pairing: tamaki suoh x reader

summary: when a wager is made between the twins and the chairman's son, a desperate tamaki is left scrambling for ideas on how to win. it's only when kyoya mentions the twins' best (and only) friend that tamaki feels he might actually have a chance of coming out on top. the difficult thing is trying to get you alone.

notes: takes place during 1.20 (the door the twins opened!)

word count: 1.6k

You’re not sure what to make of Tamaki Suoh upon your first encounter. You watch him carefully when he first arrives at Ouran Middle School. After all, it’s not everyday a new student starts at Ouran, let alone the son of the chairman. You come to several conclusions very quickly. He’s an airhead, always surrounded by girls, and he seems like a complete idiot, but there’s something so vulnerable about him that you can’t help but be intrigued by him. He’s harmless too, that’s something you picked up immediately. Harmless and so very earnest.

Part of you thinks that the twins are going to eat him alive.

You’re no fool, you know why he’s sought you out. The twins had told you about their wager almost as soon as it had been made and, as the only person the twins speak to who doesn’t cry afterwards, you don’t particularly blame him for seeking you out.

Not that you made it easy for him.

It’s almost fun playing cat and mouse with Suoh, but after almost a week you position yourself somewhere he’s almost guaranteed to find you. Mainly because you’d made sure that his friend, the third Ootori son, had seen you walk into that library.

“If you’re absolutely determined to get to know the two of us we should play the ‘Which One Of Us Is Hikaru?’ game. You in?”

“The rules of the game are pretty easy. You just have to pick which one of us is Hikaru. We’ll give you one month. You can guess as many times as you want in that month but we’ll ask for your reasoning so no random guessing. For the record, only one person has ever been able to get it right.”

“If that’s alright with you, then try your best.”

There is a method to Tamaki’s madness. Kyoya-assisted method, but solid method nonetheless (though maybe it's Kyoya's help that makes it solid). Tamaki knows that it would take more than a month to be able to work out which twin is which, especially since the two of them have their guard up properly now to ensure that he can’t work out who’s who. That only leaves him with slightly more underhanded methods to try and win their bet.

Whilst they said he couldn’t cheat by guessing randomly, they never mentioned that he couldn’t ask who he assumed was the only person to win the game. Getting you alone, now that was the tricky part. If you weren’t with the twins then you seemed to be fairly elusive, always at some club meeting or wherever you went in your free periods. It’s only when Kyoya mentions in passing that he spotted you walking into one of the smaller libraries that Tamaki sets their plan in motion. He’s quick to make his way there, and if he didn’t know better he’d have thought you were waiting for him.

Sat in a fairly secluded corner of the library, you barely look like you’re paying attention to whatever textbook you have in front of you. Your eyes flicker up to observe him, and in that moment you remind him so intensely of Kyoya that it almost staggers him. He does his best to send you his signature charming smile to no avail. Your expression doesn’t change as you continue to observe him. He realises you’re not going to start the conversation and so he takes it upon himself

“May I sit?” He gestures to the seat across from you.

“Of course.” He nods at you as he slides into the seat, resting his elbows on the table.

“I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Tamaki Suoh.” When he says his name is the first time your expression shifts from neutrality to something akin to a smile but with more mirth. It does nothing to dissuade him from his mission. After seeing Kyoya’s evil expressions early in the morning, this is a walk in the park.

“I know who you are.” It’s not what he expects you to say and he blinks at you for a moment.

“You do?”

“You’re quite hard to miss. You’re the new god Ouran is worshipping.” The way you speak makes it clear you’re teasing him, and he immediately understands why the twins like you so much. A small part of his brain jumps to involving you with the plans he and Kyoya are trying to make a reality but he does his best to ground himself in reality. You watch as he starts to shift in his seat, looking like a particularly excitable puppy.

“I’m flattered. It seems my reputation precedes me.”

“Indeed.” He smiles at you for a moment before remembering why he’s here in the first place.

“I think you know why I’m here.” The amused expression on your face shifts back to something more neutral and it’s fascinating to watch as your expression almost turns steely before his eyes.

“I’m familiar, yes.” He’s about to speak his somewhat rehearsed speech but you speak again before he gets a chance to open his mouth. “I’m not going to tell you how to tell them apart.”

“That’s not what I’m here for.” His response comes quickly because it’s the truth. His words seem to take you aback slightly though, like you can’t decide whether you believe him or not.

“Then why are you here?”

“How long have the three of you been friends?” His question takes you by surprise, he can tell from the way your eyes widen slightly at him. You look at him with suspicion but answer his question.

“A few years now. Why?”

“And in that time how many people have tried to use you to get close to the twins?” It’s a risky move making such a bold accusation so early into the conversation, but Tamaki is no stranger to taking risks. He knows he’s hit a nerve when you flinch back like he hit you.

“Too many.” Your voice is soft, laced with hurt no matter how much you tried to hide it, and Tamaki immediately feels awful. He knows what it’s like to be used for your name, but to be used for your connections is foreign even to him.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine how that feels.” His sincerity hurts more than the question, and it leaves you feeling uneasy. You’d expected this to be a quick conversation, ending once you’d refused to divulge a way to tell the twins apart. No one’s ever stayed beyond that if they came to you with that intention and you’re not entirely sure how to proceed.

“You get used to it.” The hurt is gone from your tone, leaving only a bitterness that again reminds him of how Kyoya was when the two of them first met. The two of you would get on quite well, he thinks, and he makes a mental note to try and introduce you soon.

“You shouldn’t have to be used to that.” It’s clear that your patience is starting to run thin when you close the textbook in front of you, staring hard at him.

“Why are you here Tamaki? What do you want from me?”

“I want to understand the three of you. I think the way to win the game has nothing to do with actually being able to tell the difference between them, at least not at first. They want to be told apart, but not just on a superficial level. I need to understand them, and I think to understand them, I need to understand you.”

“And how do you plan to understand me?” You’re not angry at his comments, not from what he can tell. Suspicious, maybe, but not angry.

“I want to be your friend, if you’d let me.” You look surprised at that, and so oddly vulnerable that it makes Tamaki’s heart clench. He’s seen you around school constantly surrounded by people and he wonders how you must view your peers if not as friends. What must it be like to second guess every interaction for an ulterior motive? No wonder you’re so suspicious of him. You look less certain now, that steely look disappearing before his eyes.

“And if I say no?” He shrugs at you.

“I’ll stick around anyway.”

“Is that what happened with Ootori-San?” Tamaki smiles at you, still warm despite your sullen tone.

“Something like that.” He stands up then, pushing the chair back under the table and bowing slightly towards you. “Think about what I said, will you? And I have someone I want to introduce you to, I think the two of you will be surprised how similar you are.” And with that, he turns on his heel, leaving you alone in the library once again.

It’s only when he’s left your sight that you finally smile. Maybe he’s not as much of an airhead as you initially assumed. You were right about one thing though: he’s incredibly earnest. You quickly pack up your books, heading to the classroom that has windows looking out onto the courtyard. It’s almost time.

You watch from the window as the twins confront the latest girl to give one of them a love confession. It goes the same way they always do, with her running off crying, but this time you see Tamaki running towards them. You’re not sure how their conversation will go, but if Tamaki can surprise you, maybe he can surprise the twins too. The future’s bright for all of you, who knows what it will bring?

series masterlist

[szollibisz]

I'm a big mush and I forgot to send you something for the ask game, so for Curt and Owen:

-33- redeeming qualities

I see my elusive lover spirit is being called upon after all my haterism towards these two <3

I wanna preface by saying that a lot of their generally positive/neutral qualities unfortunately become twisted into bad qualities due to the times they were living in and the lifestyle they led, but I'm still going to mention said traits as good. And also that most of this pertains to pre fall, since it really brought out the worst in them, and minimised many of these otherwise good qualities.

Curt:

- His optimism. It's mentioned multiple times by other characters in the show, but he truly is a very hopeful person, who wants to do good in the world. I feel like his aggressive optimism might've saved him and Owen a few times. Since Owen is very logical, he may get lost in trying to figure out how to get out of a tricky situation, and may even become overcome with a sense of dread after not finding a good solution, but Curt has this almost naive hope, a sense of being untouchable when together with Owen, so he may make impulsive choices that may not seem logical at first, but end up saving them in the end, or generally help Owen relax until he can properly figure out his plans.

- Being caring and affectionate. It's clear throughout the show that the people he loves, he loves very much and that when he's not in his post-fall depression spiral he's quite personable. He initiates the hug after him and Tatiana agree to be friends, and while she's hesitant he doesn't seem awkward about it at all, which to me comes across as both a. He's used to being like this with people, close, friendly etc and b. He really needed a hug which you know. He does. But yeah, overall when he's not trying to hide behind his macho spy persona too much, his kindness shows through. (Chronic case of kind but not nice most of the time)

- Spontaneity/thinking on the spot. I explained most of this in the optimism paragraph, but yeah, to elaborate that's not just about missions, but the way he generally lives his life. While it does mean he's kinda unreliable, it also means he's always ready to do things and enthusiastic about everything. He's the kind of guy that plans a week long vacation from scratch in like an hour, and even if there are many faults in the plan he will still find a way to make it enjoyable. Also ties in to being sociable and constantly set on having a good time.

- Helpful. I think much of his youth was about helping people, and making up for the things he did wrong/lacked in. He genuinely wants people to be happy, he's just at odds with himself which constantly ends up causing trouble. He gets bad grades, he gets in fights etc etc. He tries to fix it all by being a helpful member of his community. Imo it's not just his hero complex and McCarthyism that fuels his need to be a spy and make a difference, it's a genuine hope for a better world and wanting better things for people.

Owen:

- Logical. Pretty self explanatory, we see it a lot in a1p1, but it's also part of his entire world view. He overanalyzes every feeling and every thought he has and he has a very specific idea of how things work now and how things should work ideally. His logic gives him the capacity to change these ideals, albeit not easily. He's still less susceptible to propaganda than Curt, purely on account of the constant self checking. I think he's the kind of guy that wants to hear multiple perspectives before making a decision, especially since he himself is in a marginalized community, and knows how the most popular opinion on something is not necessarily the "right one"

- Devoted. Whether to ideals or a person this man is all in. Since he is so logical, he often justifies his (very intense) feelings with facts and is more firm in his beliefs than a lot of people are, shaken out of them very rarely. This is especially true with Curt, who he can't stop loving even after the fall. He'd do basically anything for him, or the other ideals he has. So all I'm saying is, if there is only one loyal man in the world it is Owen.

- Detail oriented/persistent. He's very good at focusing on the little things, which is why he's such a good spy and actor. He knows how to pick very specific character quirks to get people talking or pay attention to the small mannerisms of his targets to catch them in lies and whatnot. He's also very organized because of this, having specific methods for everything, from packing his clothes to torturing information out of someone. It's also useful in his relationships, it makes him seem sort of insane and obsessive (he is) but he remembers every innocuous detail about Curt, and he cares for him according to those. Often Curt won't even say things, Owen will just pick up on the and remember for later, like watching how much sugar Curt puts in his coffee and making it the exact same way for him next time.

- Adaptability. He could survive anywhere anytime, because honestly, even though he's a mess post fall I still think he managed better than 99% of people would. Just cause he doesn't win the idgaf war doesn't mean it isn't crazy he survived and managed to carve some semblance of a life out for himself. Even before the fall he had to survive ww2 era London, spying, A Situationship and so on. He can stay mostly composed and rational in most situations, until he figures out what to do, and if not he has Curt to rely on for moral support.

There are more for both of them but I want to keep this. Well not short and sweet it's already not short but yeah.

[brendathedoodler]

Ooh I love this concept, can tell me I guess some differences between the journey you thought out so far?

Most of my focus so far has been on the differences in their previous adventures and how it might affect their interactions with each other, rather than any specific plot points on the journey itself. I do have some ideas, though!

First: the meeting. All the links are tossed through a portal all of a sudden and end up in an unfamiliar era with each other. Some handle it better than others.

Wind has seen enough portals in his life to know how this usually goes. Yup, another adventure. He’d been expecting it, since his last adventure had just ended.

Hyrule takes it very well too, especially once he sees Sky and Time. He recognizes them both from a few years prior. For him, anyway. The war across ages was almost 20 years ago for Time, and a mere 3 months for Sky. Poor Sky was just settling down from the war and was in the middle of a much needed nap when the portal yoinked him.

Twilight had a moment of panic when he couldn’t find Midna, but soon she’s back to resting in her spot on his shoulders and he can focus on the situation at hand.

Warriors is cautious and staying back, letting the other links interact with one another first before he joins. He’s used to danger, and doesn’t trust the others at first.

Wild panicked right away, since he couldn’t feel his loftwing anywhere. They’re soul bound, so he knows full well that his loftwing isn’t anywhere near them. His loftwing was his guide since the day he lost his memories, so having that comforting presence taken from him isn’t something he handles well.

The one who takes it the worst is Legend. His adventure took him through many different dimensions (all of which had been put in danger through Zant’s attempt to conquer the Twilight Realm), and his experience with portals is not good at all. He’s quick to lash out at the others, grief stricken and fearing that he’s lost everything all over again.

Beyond the first meeting, there are a few distinct plot points!

The first revolves around Wind. Being the youngest but having the most experience is a tricky thing. Wind is used to people underestimating him. It happens time and time again; every new adventure comes with a new set of people asking him if he’s too young for this. Having his fellow heroes go out of their way to protect him irks him when normally it doesn’t.

Another scene is meeting Marin. By the time this happens, they’ve passed through a few eras that the others recognize, and Legend has stopped showing so much animosity towards the others now that he knows he’ll be able to return home. Legend likes to be a bit mysterious, and hasn’t revealed much about his girlfriend, but he has dropped some hints about her. They arrive at Legend’s place, and he leaps into the pond next to his house. Before he can hit the water, a very large mermaid snatched him out of the air and drags him under (much to everyone’s alarm). He surfaces a moment later, telling them to stop gawking and put their stuff inside, he’ll join them in a minute. Legend doesn’t surface for another half hour, but when he does emerge from the pond, he introduces everyone to Marin! Immediately everyone is teasing him. He’s very easy to get a rise out of.

There’s plenty of other little scenes, but that’s all I have for now.

(Have a pic of Marin and Legend in his mermaid form, taking place sometime during his adventure)

[burnwater13]

Concept art by Christian Alzmann, of Kuiil holding Grogu while riding a blurgg with ex-Imp Stormtroopers chasing them on speeder bikes. Setting is Nevarro. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 7, The Reckoning. Calendar by DataWorks.

The following story, I have Spoken, was originally published on October 20, 2023.

Grogu wasn’t sure that his dad would agree to his plan. He hoped that the Mandalorian would, but Din Djarin was a tricky character and he might say no. Grogu really didn’t want that. He needed to get the Mandalorian into the right frame of mind. He would have to wage a subtle campaign that would allow the bounty hunter to only say yes. Grogu knew it was a tall order, but he was a Jedi and there was only ‘do or do not’. He was definitely embracing ‘do’. 

He formulated his plan and he began to implement almost immediately. First things first he was going to gently remind the Mandalorian of the things they did when they first met. Then he was going to expand on how the people they met along the way had helped them both learn more about each other and then finally he would focus on the subject of the request and make sure that Din Djarin felt as sentimental and vulnerable as possible. Then he would pounce and ask his question.

That morning Grogu pulled out all of his drawings and began to put them in chronological order. He left a few out on purpose and hid them at the bottom of the drawer he used for ‘work in process’. Once he had them in a deliberate order he went over to the spot where his dad was reading through a technical briefing on the potential pitfalls of further enhancement of the N-1’s engine sub-structure. Grogu had to work hard to stay awake because the boredom that crashed over him just asking his dad what he was doing was just that powerful. 

“What’s up buddy? Not interested in ship upgrades?” Din asked, not expecting what was next.

Grogu thrust the pile of drawings at him and indicated that he wanted Din’s help in going through them. His dad had accepted the request immediately, which proved to Grogu that even the Mandalorian was finding that technical briefing document boring. Grogu giggled quietly at that. 

“Ah, your drawings. Let’s see.” The Mandalorian began to flip through them and, as Grogu expected, began to rearrange them when he found ones that were out of chronological order. Grogu knew that salting the trap that way was a good idea. It forced his dad to be more engaged in remembering what had happened and that was crucial to the overall success of Grogu’s mission. 

“Buddy, what happened to those those drawings you did of Kuiil? I’m sure you did a few of him and the blurggs.” Din asked as he went through the pile a second time. 

Grogu coo’d and chirped, looking very sorrowful.

“You didn’t think they were good enough? I don’t know pal, I think they were pretty good. Do you still have them?”

Grogu nodded and hopped down from the table and trotted over to his WIP drawer and pulled those drawings out. He brought them over to the table and hopped back up and handed them to his dad. 

Din looked at each one, put it in chrono order, but not into the bigger pile, and studied them carefully. 

“Didn’t you do one when we were negotiating with the Jawas? Or the time he fixed IG-11 and Cara Dune was with us? After all you included the one when I fell off the blurgg.”

Grogu pretended to sigh and said he just didn’t think his drawing skills were up to replicating those scenes well enough. Since Din was so busy with other things, he didn’t like to ask for his help, although he really needed it.

He waited quietly to see if his dad would take the bait. This was a very tricky moment. Sometimes the Mandalorian realized that Grogu was up to something when he was being quiet and serious on a beautiful day when he could have been outside chasing frogs. Fortunately, the day was kind of dreary and overcast and that’s why they were both in the cabin doing quiet work to begin with. 

“I have some time before I make us lunch. I can try to help. Which scene do you want to do?” Din Djarin asked thoughtfully.

Grogu sighed a little and said that any scene that Din remembered that Grogu didn’t would be fine. This was a risky gambit. Of course Grogu couldn’t have drawn a picture of Kuiil from a time he hadn’t seen or met the Ugnaught but he thought that if he could get his dad to remember something special about Kuiil that he uniquely knew about, his plan would be more likely to succeed. 

“Okay, pal. After you helped me with mudhorn you ended up sleeping for a while. Kuiil helped me get you back to the ship and we said out first goodbyes. How about I draw that for you and you can color it in?”

 The Mandalorian wasn’t sad, but he wasn’t really happy either. Perfect. Grogu nodded his head and then made sure that his dad had the time and tools to draw the scene he’d described. It took a little while, but this is where all that training as a bounty hunter’s apprentice was coming into play. Grogu needed his dad to be really emotionally engaged in the project. 

That first drawing was almost magical. The darkness, the light, the image of Kuiil sitting on the blurrg. Grogu could almost hear him saying ‘I have spoken!’. He coo’d a soft thank you to his dad and made sure that he sniffed just a little bit. 

Din looked over at him and groaned. 

“Grogu, are you crying? I know. I miss Kuiil too. He was a good friend and we didn’t get to spend enough time with him.”

Grogu nodded and looked sad and tried not to blow the moment. He needed to be patient and wait for the just the right moment to spring the question on his dad. He carefully reached for the drawing so he could study it and consider what he should do.

“Hey, buddy. Would you like to go to the Clan Mudhorn festival dressed as Kuiil? I could even make you a small blurgg to ride?” 

Dank Farrik! Din Djarin must be able to use the Force! 

He figured out exactly what Grogu wanted without Grogu even having to ask his question! You couldn’t do that without having some ability to use the Force. Wow!

Of course he told his dad yes! Then he wrote a note in his diary to make sure that he kept an eye on his dad for other examples of him using the Force. He didn’t want to forget about that with all the excitement of making the Kuiil costume, because that was going to be great. He has spoken!

[ezlo-x]

@pomgore I was planning to originally reply to where u posted this but I feel like im going to say A LOT so hope u dont mind :]

so how to kill gloom hands/phantom ganon even when you are at pretty low hearts/stamina (this is mostly for ppl who want to fight him at the beginning of the game when randomly encountering the Gloom Spawn NOT the final boss battle!!!)

to start off with foods and potions, you should have at least multiple plates that fully recover your hearts plus giving you extra hearts or an elixir that does the same effect. You should also stack up on gloom resistant foods, personally I did food plates than potions as I can also get partially healed when restoring your hearts from gloom effect. IF you haven't upgraded your armor at all I do recommend also making defense foods/potions. I recommend trying to make strong defense foods/potions like they gotta have that defense up to 2 or 3. Out of all of this I personally recommend to make a lot of foods that are gloom resistant and also just stock up on regular foods especially roasted food.

Armor! I don't have the strongest armor yet as I haven't done the Great Fairy sidequest yet. So I tried to make the most of it that is in Link's wardrobe, one armor set you definitely need the gloom resistant armor. Armor of the depths as it is called. At least wear one of the armor pieces but if you have all of them just use it tbh when it comes to fighting Phantom Ganon as he surrounds himself with gloom. Which makes it tricky when you want to walk up to him and attack.

Weapons! It all depends the Phantom Ganon you fight tbh, i dont know how it works on the other locations where you can encounter him but ik he has different weapons. The one I fought was in the cave that you encounter early in the game right next to the first dragon tear memory and the skyview tower. In that one he was wielding a sword. PERSONALLY FROM WHAT I REALIZED IS that spears are most effective in this fight especially if you dont want him near you KJDFNKJDNFG weapons that are above the 25+ attack points is good above 30 attk points is excellent the fight moves a lot more smoothly. Black Bokoblin horns are pretty good monster parts to fuse, if you have a polished weapon basically its not afflicted with gloom and it has a little sparkle icon next to the name of the weapon. When fusing those weapons with a material that does a lot of attack points with doubles the attack points by two making it pretty handy. From what I've seen the depths and through amiibos you are able to find polished weapons, I think a Rock Octoroc also helps you polish your weapon similar to botw basically.

How to kill Gloom Spawn 💥 you have the be the one to first spot it before it does. If you see one quickly try to climb somewhere high where they don't reach you, but you gotta be close enough where they don't despawn. The most effective way is to literally shoot arrows at it specifically bomb arrows make sure to keep your distance so you don't explode along with them. Idk if its effective but I also shot puffshrooms at them at it seems that it works to keep them distracted from the position where I'm at. And helps me keep a bit of distance when shooting bomb arrows at them. One thing for sure do not stop shooting, cause they will eventually leave. Just keep on shooting until every single arm is dead. Once you defeat the Gloom Spawn, Phantom Ganon should appear

How to kill Phantom Ganon ❤️ In this fight that I had he was wielding a sword. If you are an expert dodger at this game this will be a breeze since a lot of it is to just dodge his attacks. So very much learning how to dodge his attacks will make the fight easier. Phantom Ganon tends to jump back and charges at you, if his sword is swinging horizontally you dodge by doing a sick backflip, if his is swinging vertically you do a sidejump. HE ALSO DOES SPIN ATTACKS...I haven't really pin point when it happens during a fight I just run away when he does that

Once you kill him you'll get his bow (the bow's attack points depends at what state you are in the game progression wise) and his sword that is at a whopping 41 attack points. tbh I think the tedious part is to summon Phantom Ganon by killing the Gloom Spawn but overall its a very fun fight :]

[thepastisalreadywritten]

London (CNN) — An art historian has identified a missing portrait of King Henry VIII after spotting it on social media.

British fine art researcher Adam Busiakiewicz was idly scrolling on X when he was stopped in his tracks by a post from somebody he follows.

The post was a photograph shared by Tim Cox, Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, an honorary position representing the British Crown in the central English county.

It showed a gathering at a reception in Warwick’s Shire Hall, where Warwickshire County Council is based.

But Busiakiewicz wasn’t interested in the people smiling at the camera.

His focus was on the background where, hanging on a wall, was what he suspected was a missing portrait of the Tudor monarch Henry VIII.

In a post published on his blog earlier this month, Busiakiewicz said he had been “scrolling at speed” when he spotted the painting “with a distinctive arched top” on the wall.

He was immediately reminded of a series of 22 portraits commissioned by a local politician and tapestry-maker during the 1590s.

According to Busiakiewicz, Ralph Sheldon (1623–1684) commissioned the pictures – which were mostly of kings, queens and “significant contemporary international figures” – to hang in his home, Weston House in Warwickshire.

The reason they had arched tops was because they “were once incorporated into an architectural frieze of the Long Gallery at Weston,” Busiakiewicz said.

In a press release sent to CNN, Busiakiewicz said the arched top was a “special feature of the Sheldon set,” while the painting’s frame was “identical to other surviving examples.”

The painting also showed the king holding a sword and wearing a feathered hat – just as he appeared in an engraving of the Long Hall made by antiquarian Henry Shaw in 1839.

The series of portraits was later dispersed at auction and “the majority remain untraced to this day,” according to Busiakiewicz.

After making his theory public, Busiakiewicz visited Warwick’s Shire Hall together with local historian Aaron Manning to see the painting close up.

“The portrait is large, and completely in-line with the other Sheldon portraits,” Busiakiewicz wrote in a later blog post, on July 22.

In a telephone call with CNN, Busiakiewicz revealed that this was not the first discovery he had made thanks to social media.

In 2018, he stumbled across a picture a friend had taken at a wedding and posted on Instagram.

It featured a portrait that he identified as the work of 17th-century female artist Joan Carlile (1606–1679).

“Social media is a crazy thing,” Busiakiewicz told CNN, “because some people use it to watch cat videos and follow what’s going on in the world, and then people like me just look at what people have hanging on their walls.”

A spokesperson for Warwickshire County Council told CNN in an email that Busiakiewicz and Manning approached them about the painting and arranged to come and see it.

“Adam and Aaron viewed the painting at Shire Hall, and have confirmed they think it is definitely one of the Ralph Sheldon commissions,” the spokesperson wrote.

“Since this discovery, the painting has been moved into our Museum Collections Centre to allow further research to take place.”

Busiakiewicz told CNN that the identity of the painter is not known, but the creator of the portraits is sometimes referred to as "The Sheldon Master.”

He is now working on trying to establish the painting’s provenance.

It was acquired by the council as recently as 1951 but there are gaps in the records.

“Provenance is always such a really tricky thing - it’s very hard sometimes to find, particularly when pictures are sold privately. But there’s no doubt that this is Ralph Sheldon’s painting of Henry VIII,” he said.

“Looking at paintings and pictures of paintings is my life and it’s great fun, particularly when you can in some way right a historic wrong, let’s say.

Pictures that are overlooked, pictures that aren’t appreciated as much as they might be.”

[thatseventiesbitch]

My That ‘90s Show Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Alright, a few days (and rewatches) in, and I’m finally ready to give my thoughts on That ‘90s Show - a show I waited on for two years (but really, more like 17 years). Buckle in for a looooong essay, lol.

I give That ‘90s Show a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I’ll do my best to explain my rating below.

The Good

The Eric-and-Donna of it all. Well - this is an Eric & Donna blog above all else, so of course we were watching first and foremost to see our OTP reunited onscreen after 15 years! And we were not disappointed by what we found. 💗😭

Eric and Donna are happily married in 1995, and navigating the perils of parenting a teenager (shudder). They’re still just as in-love as ever, but now in their mid (late??) 30′s and acting like they’ve been married for 150 years. I guess they have been together since they were 4 🤣.

One thing I think the show really got right is Eric-and-Donna-as-parents. That went exactly as I could’ve predicted. Eric is Kitty to his daughter, well-intentioned but overbearing - and Donna sets boundaries with Leia (like her parents didn’t with her) but is also there to reel Eric in and to remind him of the important stuff: to trust their kid, to let her have her own experiences, to help teach her to take (smart!) risks. I adored that we got to see them “in action” as a parenting team, I loved when Donna went out to check on him and they talked through his fears about Leia growing up and not needing him anymore, I loved seeing how Eric is clearly worried he’s going to become his father (but it’s so clear that he’s so not)... I just loved it all.

Specific shout out to Donna-as-a-mom, which I never knew I needed in my life so much until I saw it! Her running into the Forman’s living room, screaming that she got Leia condoms, jellies, and the uglies underwear she could find... 🤣 Hysterical, and also felt so true to character. That’s exactly how I saw Donna parenting a teenager.

The Red-and-Kitty of it all. Red and Kitty are a joy. Seeing them as grandparents - and as a still-happy couple, enjoying their retirement (or not-so-retirement?) -was the other high point of the series for me.

Red and Kitty are still happy and in love. I never doubted they would be, but it was just heartwarming to see. I also loved their interactions with other characters, like seeing Bob and Fez come back (!!) and the introduction of Sherri, who very much feels like pseudo-daughter for them.

Red as a grandparent was everything I wanted it to be. Him calling Leia “kiddo” - my heart 💗. We kind of got glimpses that he was excited to become a grandparent on the show - like Eric and Donna’s pregnancy scare in season 6 - and I think now we see why. Red knows being a grandpa is where it’s at! He’s done with all the hard parts of being a father, being the ‘bad cop’, and just gets to enjoy and be the fun one! I am picturing him doing this Leia’s whole life lmao... like Eric and Donna sent her over for an afternoon and she comes home hopped up on sugar and Red’s like, “Sorry, she wanted it all and I couldn’t say no. Oh, getting her to bed tonight? I don’t know, not my problem!” Or like, he always gets her the noisiest gifts for Christmas. Kitty as a grandparent was also very sweet - her and Leia making up the pasta names is what immediately comes to mind 😂. Their “good cop” and “bad cop” dynamic has definitely shifted with the grandkid, and I could have predicted that (but it is fun to see!!).

Leia Forman. I adore Leia. I saw someone online say she’s the rare case of two great characters not having a super annoying kid, and I thought yep, spot on. Reboots are always a tricky beast, casting the kid of two beloved characters even more so, but this one worked out.

Leia is funny, endearing, smart, and I see a lot of shades of both Eric and Donna in her but also plenty that sets her apart as her own character. Her storyline about being a coddled, sheltered kid looking to break free and have some adventure worked for me, and I would love to get the chance to see how Leia continues to evolve as she gets older and spends more summers in Point Place.

Gwen and Leia, aka Geia. This is my ship! I really love Gwen and Leia together, and want them to fall in love (cackles in *fanfic author*). But I want it to be a slow-burn, where they realize they’ve fallen for each other, ‘accidentally’, over time. Falling for your best friend... who lives next door... hmmm, wonder why I like this pairing so much...? 😉🤣🥰

Pure nostalgia. The basement. The Hub. The Vista Cruiser. Fenton. Leo. I wanted nostalgia, dammit, and the show delivered. I will even (tentatively) put a few ‘90s references in this column, like hearing ‘Shoop’, ‘I’ll Make Love to You’, and ‘You Outta Know’ and seeing a few other 90s things that reminded me of my childhood, like Free Willy and snap bracelets. 

The humor. I went into the show with low expectations, specifically in this department. I was worried the humor would feel ‘off���, or would feel cheesy, or just not funny to me. There were definitely a few jokes that didn’t land (aren’t there always?), but over all I am happy to put the show’s humor in the ‘win’ column! I laughed out loud - a lot. I could tell that the same writers/showrunners were involved - it felt like similar humor from the original series. I think I enjoyed so much partly because I just love these characters, but many of the new characters had me in stitches too. Ozzie and Sherri in particular.

Sherri. Speaking of Sherri, she was my favorite of the new characters. Obvious Laurie stand-in is obvious, and that’s sad/unfortunate, but once I can move beyond that I really enjoyed her. I liked that she was a well-meaning mom but she definitely needs Red and Kitty’s support and guidance - I look forward to seeing how their relationship will develop. I even thought Sherri’s storyline with Fez was funny. It leaves the door open for Wilmer to return.

The references back to the OG show. The split-screen moments. The extended 90210 daydream/fantasy sequence. The Circle. The screen change sequences (the one with Kitty and Leia in the beanie hats is my favorite!)

The Bad

The 10-episode format. To me the most glaring issue was the 10-episode format, which rendered the season far too short to develop any of the characters or plot-lines they’d set up to satisfaction. Now, in fairness, maybe this is just the order they got for season 1. If they are successful, perhaps a longer order can be made for season 2. But also - maybe not. A lot of Netflix shows are consistently 10-episodes only these days.

But That ‘90s Show had less than half the episodes That ‘70s Show had in its first season to develop character and interesting conflict - and it shows. I like where they were going with everything, but storylines often felt rushed or like a lot of jumping around had happened from one episode to the next (For instance, I thought the Leia-and-Jay dating story went really fast. One minute they were all will-they-won’t-they, Leia’s never kissed a boy, and then BAM they’re together, calling each other babe, and she’s sneaking him up into her room for make-out sessions. Whoa!). The characters felt underdeveloped, too, or like we only knew one thing about them - because we didn’t have time to learn more.

So I know this is unlikely to change, but my biggest gripe is that there wasn’t enough runtime. You have an interesting premise here, you’ve sucked me in. Now properly develop it.

The focus on romantic relationships. Related, the focus on Leia’s romantic relationships was not my favorite aspect. I actually liked how they started the thing with her and Jay - Jay’s a playboy, but he’s not being one with her. They should’ve developed that out through all ten episodes, and had him just give her her first kiss in like, episode 9 or 10. The twist with Nate at the end is kind of interesting and could still happen (but as it is, it comes out of left field... which, now that I think about it, is how Leia felt about it too, I guess).

Regardless, I am neither team-Jay or team-Nate. I didn’t think either couple like, blew me away with their chemistry (although I don’t think we’re meant to feel that way yet, as viewers). My favorite parts of the season were seeing Leia’s friendships blossom, with Gwen and with Ozzie mostly. I’d have liked this season to be more focused on that - and maybe she stumbles into her first kiss along the way by the end of the season, anyway, and there’s still a romantic cliff-hanger.

The timeline inconsistencies (and others). There were several - the most notable being the timeline around Jackie-Kelso getting back together and Jay’s existence, and Eric’s age (38? He was born in 1960 so he and Donna would be 35 in 1995) - and while I am disappointed, I am not surprised. 

These are the same showrunners who gave us 3 different birthdays for Eric during the run of the show. The same people who gave us 3 different stories about how/when Eric and Donna met for the first time. The same people who gave Donna 2 sisters and then - poof - magically wrote them off (including in That ‘90s Show lol - “There’s only one girl in the world with Bob as her dad, and Eric had to pick her!”). The same showrunners who had Hyde turn 18 two seasons before Eric. The same - you know what, I’m going to stop myself. The point is, this shit is nothing new. That ‘70s Show fans are used to setting their non-sensical mistakes aside and enjoying the show anyway. Their inattention to detail officially goes in the ‘Bad’ column, though. It’s frustrating.

Jackie and Kelso endgame. Well, this ended up being exactly as it was leaked to be, and Jackie and Kelso were on their second remarriage. I do not mind Jackie and Kelso together and do frankly find it realistic, but this isn’t the happiest ending for Ms. Jackie Burkhart. I thought their scene was pretty funny (we did get a “Damn, Jackie!”), albeit brief, but I had higher hopes for the state of their relationship based on some recent promo materials. I also wished we’d seen (1) Jackie, Kelso and Jay interact as a family, (2) Learned what Jackie and Kelso do for a living/a little bit of backstory as to how they ended up back in Point Place.

No on-screen character reunion. I am bummed that Eric and Donna didn’t interact with the Kelso’s - or with Fez! (I guess Donna did, briefly) Seeing this picture makes me want to see it so, so badly in season 2! I think we’re all curious as to what Eric and Donna’s relationship is like with Jackie and Kelso these days.

The Ugly

Hyde’s absence. I think any long-time fan of the show felt Hyde’s absence, and wondered about the character’s ending. The character’s ending is: totally open-ended, since he was not mentioned at all. Although it was painful to feel his absence, I preferred this to giving him an ending like prison or death, which would have felt like a fuck you to the actor but not fair to the character of Steven Hyde. Mostly because it allows us to fill in our own ending for him. I’m going to say that he finally moved to New York, and he’s happy out there. He keeps in contact with Eric and Donna still. 😊

A few side-notes: One, I have a feeling most of the OG cast actually supports Danny Masterson, so... yeah. Do with that sinking feeling in your heart what you will. But I doubt they will write him off in a mean way for that reason.

Two, I think they were in between a rock and a hard place with this. Honestly, if they’d written Hyde in, in any way, I’d feel squicky about it. Even an off-screen mention. But long-live the fan fiction, am I right?? I’ve already started to see some popping up 👀

Kitty’s moment. Kitty had a moment where I clapped my hand over my mouth (even though I literally knew it was coming), and that was when she called Leia, “That lying little bitch,” when Ozzie told her they were at a rave. It was very shocking, and very un-Kitty-like. Did not like.

(That said, I am not one who uses labels like out-of-character in a context like this. It’s not my character - it’s Debra Jo’s and the showrunners’. It’s a part of her character I didn’t like. And that’s okay. She was in a moment of huge stress, probably suddenly worried sick about her granddaughter. I have certainly had bad reactions to stress, too. As my girl Brene Brown says, “People get scary when they’re scared.”)

Overview

So, I mean... I have largely good things to say about That ‘90s Show, and it was a tall order man, because That ‘70s Show is my baby. And ain’t nobody finna touch my baby!!!

Was it perfect? No. Some of the little things were off, but it felt like overall, the big things were on. And that’s what’s important. I also feel invested enough in the new kids (definitely in Leia), and I think they have a lot of different directions they can take the rest of the series. So 4 out of 5 stars, and when can I expect a season 2 announcement, Netflix??? 😆

[wifiwuxians]

sent here by aoxue lol

Songxue + spy x family au?

HELLO i was literally just typing this up under her post so it's great you came to me! i've added xxc to it too i hope that's ok? also, for anyone reading this and wanting some kind of spy/assassin-esque story...

please read fairy fish by pomegranites (SO SORRY I KNOW YOU HAVE A TUMBLR BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER THE URL RIGHT NOW </3), it is songxiao but they're assassins and AQ and XY are there too being SUPER cute, we had the privilege of getting it for SL Love Week! it might scratch the itch!

but now...

keep in mind i am riffing here. I have not consumed this media!! but it's a good premise!!! SL and XY get paired together for their cover story, with SL being the cool and handsome spy tasked with observing his tricky target and XY being his, um, wife. more on that in a moment. their perfect angel child sent from heaven (A-Qing) is a mischievous little squirt with a sharp wit and the power to read minds, but she keeps it very well hidden. she fears rejection and abandonment (reader do you sense a theme in my AUs) if they were to find out. it makes her a good judge of character, though. she often bites XY when he gets too close to her.

SL didn't really want to fall into the spy business. it's antithetical to the just and righteous morals he grew up believing in, but personal tragedy and an increasing lack of faith in the justice system and heads of government led him down that path. he tells himself he's doing it for the sake of his country and the good of all people and leaves it at that. he tries to be genuinely affectionate to A-Qing, because he thinks she's fantastic even though she's trouble, and he tries to keep her on the right path. thing is, affection isn't really his forte. fortunately for him, A-Qing knows how he feels about her.

XY is in it for the possibility of bloodshed. he's been told he has license to kill if things go sour for whatever reason, so while he is strongly encouraged to ensure things do not, in fact, go sour, he's sort of always hoping they do. like SL, personal tragedy has set him down this path in life, only he acts purely out of need for catharsis as opposed for any love for his nation. as a result, A-Qing thinks he's scary, even though she's conflicted because he does genuinely like her, biting aside (he sort of finds it funny, actually).

XY is not at all keen on playing the role of doting wife and mother, and SL respects that, and doesn't demand any of that at home. XY does what he has to in public, but at home is his authentic self; a man. (hits you with transgender beam). the arrangement suits him just fine, since SL is not affectionate and is actually rather detached, and he can just horse around with A-Qing without the added pressure of responsibility, completely neglecting the thought that she might want an actual family.

XXC enters the scene as A-Qing's dazzling, sweet, gentle, enthusiastic homeroom teacher. he is everything A-Qing wants in her life and she knows he has a soft spot for her specifically. SL is smitten with him the moment he meets him, tripping over his words in the most unprofessional way possible and adopting a sort of softness towards him in future encounters that resembles how he behaves with his daughter. XY is baffled and honestly? pretty damn hurt. he didn't mind detached cold SL because he figured he was like that with everyone except the squirt, and now here he is falling for some goody two shoes glorified babysitter when he's meant to have a wife? PLEASE! his thoughts get scary for a stint and A-Qing kicks him in the shins repeatedly, and that clues him into the fact that she has powers, though he doesn't ask for fear of sounding insane. SL is very confused at the home dynamic that develops from this, and everything hangs in the balance. XY finds that XXC is disarming, and hates himself for not being able to commit to hating him fully (and less as time goes on). SL has to battle with this newfound attraction and the fact he is a married man, even if it's all for show; especially because he's started to develop a soft spot for his spouse.

[platykool]

Heya clus - I hope you're keeping well! :D for the '3 things' ask (I've sent three in keeping with the theme!):

6. 3 characters that inspire you

9. 3 things you like doing on a rainy day

24. 3 places that makes you feel peaceful

Hi Sea !! I'm doing well thank you, how about you ?? Thanks for the asks ! :))

6. This one was so hard to answer fbkzbd mostly because I'm not sure I'm answering this right, I mean these characters inspired me but maybe not in the way the question implies it, but anyway, here they are :

The whole story of Pandora hearts and all the characters really marked me and inspired me a lot, this manga means so much to me ! I'll go with Gilbert for this, he's (I think) a fantastic character, very human and full of tenderness in a rather violent world. I thnik characters that are kind in a very clumsy and human way are my weak spot, and Gilbert's emotional, can be nervous and clumsy but is still so important to everyone else and I don't know I just love it. (when I first read it it made me feel so much better about myself haha)

the whole cast of bungo stray dogs honestly inspired me a LOT, but in the same way ; it made me want to succeed in portraying the characters through my drawings, and in fact, it's what gave me the courage to post my stuff on tumblr haha, so I owe a lot to this series. It also made me want to analyze certain characters in greater depth, to indulge more into series in general, but I can't pick only one character from it !! (But tbh it's mostly the DOA)

And I obviously can't answer this without speaking about Reigen and mp100 in general ! I think I watched it at the perfect time in my life. It is a series so dear to me I don't even know where to start, but sincerely, it's a heart-warming anime, so many touching and endearing characters with their flaws but who are full of humanity, a little (a lot) weird, and there's something fundamentally kind, gentle, soothing and an acceptance for others that's missing a lot these days I think, and it did me so much good to get into that world ! I'm having a really hard time finding the right words, but I love this series so much bdjvzd For me, Reigen is the character who best represents this whole feeling of humanity, full of flaws but so full of gentleness and good intentions, and all his talk about Mob's place in the world, and that we're all special on the same level in the end, that no one is above the others and that there's no point in trying to be "special" at all costs, because we already are by being ourselves, and that everything's going to be fine and it's such a healing point of view of the world that I desesperatly needed, so thank you a Reigen !!

9. First thing I do is running to my window to see if there's a storm coming or no, then I proceed to stand here and watch it (if there's one), and if there's no storm (-lame-) I still like to watch the rain approaching, and how people handle it ; sometimes it's very sudden, and since my apartment is above a large patch of grass where people come to rest I have a direct view on the panic slowly setting in lol, but honestly most of the time I just stay inside with a hot chocolate or a tea and I go on with my day !

Or if I've been outside in the rain I complain about being wet

24. Tricky one !! There's one specific place where I can feel really peaceful, and it's at my grandparents house. It is a big home a bit up in the mountains in the south, and there's no close neighbors, no city noises, just so much calm and sun and peace !! I like to go up there just to sit in the grass and bask in the sun like some kind of plant, petting the cats. And speaking of cats, it's not really a place but I feel peaceful whenever there's a cat purring in my lap or in my arms (especially if it's my old kitty cat), it is just the best feeling in the world and it helps forget everything bad that ever happened to you <3 and for the last place it's gonna sound weird I guess but whenever I start to feel very anxious in some sort of social setting I go to the bathroom/toilets just to calm down and it's mostly because no one is going to come annoy you in bathrooms lol, so yeah toilets are a peaceful place to me (and basically places where I am sure that no one will disturb me, where I can lock the door and be in peace)

[algusunderdunk]

Fixing FNAF: Security Breach

Fix 2: The AI

Alright, so the AI in the game is, sad to say, abysmal. Path-finding is expensive, and the further two objects are with more obstacles in between the more expensive it gets. They tried to get around this with the constant security bots and teleporting animatronics, but this just cheapened the experience. While they could've used hierarchical path-planning or pre-baked optimal routes, the point of my rambling is to make things better with the least work possible, so let's focus on the AI.

First and foremost, as I noted in the last post, ONLY the shattered variants will hunt you in the open world segments. Other AIs will be confined to smaller areas wherein path-planning is much easier to deal with. So the endoskeletons in hallways, battling individual animatronics on their own in their specific domain, all to cut down on computational overhead. Also, I'd have each shattered variant do something very specific to them.

MOONDROP: First one to hunt in the open world, Moondrop would actually travel the area's ceilings, and descend on a cable like a spider (a visual supplies by the Sundrop/Moondrop fan art). Since most of the Pizzaplex ceilings resemble stars at night, he'd blend in and be tricky to spot. The computational reason for this is that the ceiling is an obstacle -free mirror of the floor plan, so he doesn't require any fancy path finding algorithms. He slowly and quietly stalks Gregory, and if you stay still too long he quietly descends to attempt to snatch you away. If Gregory moves out of range, he ascends back up.

SHATTERED CHICA: Most of the animatronics have a glow to them, and 3D audio letting you know roughly where they are. After being broken, Chica does not. Without illumination, she blends into dark and shadowy areas, staggering around randomly without any particular goal in mind. When she gets near the player she'll start making loud radio feedback noises that sound like they're dead-center of the player, negating the ability to discern her position from sound. Her movement is mostly random bumping off of things, but when she's within range of Gregory, she'll start moving towards him and squarking.

SHATTERED ROXY: Taking advantage of Roxy being blinded, she'll also move randomly to begin with. However, she'll have two notable traits. First, is her sense of smell. As Gregory moves throughout the open area, he'll be leaving behind a simplistic batch of data points. Essentially, the path the player's taken. If Roxy encounters this path, she will start following it, seeking the player based on Gregory's "scent." She is also sensitive to sound, and uses a coarse-grain environmental map. This means very few nodes representing the open area. Perhaps "main stage", "party floor", "left hall", "right hall", etc. So hearing a noise will cause her to ATTEMPT to move towards an area to wander and sniff, but she'll be dissuaded if she gets stuck on an obstacle. If she hears a LOUD sound, such as a distractionary object throw or noisemaker activated, she will lunge towards it. This can be used to get her off of Gregory's scent temporarily.

SHATTERED MONTY: In-game he doesn't actually do anything, but he could be added without much work and no real AI needed. As shattered Monty is largely immobile from having his legs and claws torn off, he becomes an ambush enemy, hiding on the ground between various set pieces, similar to how alligators and crocodiles will play dead to catch prey. He doesn't move unless the player comes within range of him, so they'll need to keep their eyes open to spot him ahead of time and avoid him. This can get tricky as he is relatively smaller in shattered form, and can hide between arcade cabinets, plants, under tables etc. There would be a number of set ambush points for him, and he could teleport between them when not observed, and when the player's far enough away. Explain away as him traveling between vents.

SHATTERED FREDDY: Freddy never gets to truly attack, so for night 5, he's briefly turned and hunts Gregory too. His mechanic is, to save on reprogramming, the exact same mechanic you always have. The Fazwatch. He does two things. He will wander, looking for Gregory, or he will RUN... When the Fazwatch randomly glitches and CALLS HIM to your immediate position. This means you have to VERY quickly either run (which may attract the others) or hide. In addition, players will be able to use the Fazwatch's camera menu to see from Freddy's point of view to attempt to avoid him ahead of time. Freddy DOES have the more complex path-finding algorithm as he regularly runs to Gregory throughout the complex, so this ensures the others don't compete for computational resources with Freddy. Everyone else has simpler AI that works regardless of how the environment gets structured (meaning level designers can add new obstacles or move things and they only need to update Freddy, and make sure Monty's ambush points still make sense.

They'll also tend to "interact". Chica's skwarks will draw Roxy's attention. Looking up to spot Moondrop means you're not looking down to spot Monty and vice versa. Freddy rushing to your location means you may have to suddenly abandon caution to quickly vacate an area, making noise and not checking for the others.

I feel this would work well for the main open world. No roaming security bots constantly going off, just constant dread from being hunted. In the areas where you face each animatronic individually, just a basic path-finder or pre-scripted encounters. Their path-finder can handle a more heavy -duty workload if it's just them versus Gregory.

DJ MUSICMAN: Similar to Moondrop, he already traverses walls and ceilings but aside from the scripted bathroom and hallway encounters isn't an actual threat. He should navigate the walls and ceiling hunting the player, and when he's in range start to reach for the player. If they get out of range, he crawls back into the ducts to reappear elsewhere. Again, him being on the ceiling means no obstacles to avoid, so his path-finding can be efficient and low-cost.

VANNY: No AI. I'd restrict Vanny to solely scripted encounters in the decaying underbelly of the Pizzaplex, giving the player a constant feeling that she's watching them. Have her stationed in various spots where she'll duck out of sight JUST as the camera swings to her so the player spots her for only a second. Have her peer around doorways and up stairways and from behind fences, always just out of reach. Animations can be reused and she can be teleported around to set locations. Throw in a few audio cues to make players feel like she just ran behind them without having to do ANY animation for some parts.

And there it is, a clean-up for the AIs to make them more threatening, easier to program, more unique, and really add to the sense of dread. Plus cheaper computational power means better performance across any and all systems as well.

[gloomforrestrunes]

Do you have design making recommendations? Like you make such interesting designs, is there a certain way you go about making them?

aaaa thank you! it makes me happy that people like my silly designs.

its hard to put my process into words since I've done this for so long, so it just comes naturally to me at this point, but here's a few things that i tend to keep in mind!

the first thing i take into account is the very basics of the character's personality! its okay to not have them fleshed out right away, but knowing their core attributes will help a LOT with designing em! like- you could probably look at laxo's design and guess the basics of what he's like from his design alone: timid, bashful, gloomy.

the next thing i decide is their shape! this part is arguably the most important, since making the shape of your character unique and tailored to them is what will set them apart from your other characters! the main four, for example, all have distinct and different body-types (both in canon and in the human au) this part can be pretty tricky- which is why its okay and ecnouraged to make a couple of passes of whatever you have in mind for them until you make something that clicks! it took me SO long to get laxo's design (both his first volume and demon design) to a place i was satisfied with. he by far has THE most outdated reference sheets out of all my characters lmao.

palettes!! its super important to find colors that go well together to make a nice looking design! also a big thing to keep in mind is to not use a lot of colors for one character in risks of things getting cluttered! i try not to go over using 3-4 colors (not including eye color) per design. color theory is important to keep in mind here, what colors clash and dont clash and whatnot! c:

and then there's markings! this mostly goes for animal designs which is what i usually do, but some of this stuff can attribute to human designs as well! for putting the markings on there its a good idea to keep it relatively simple! or at least make sure that you'd be okay with drawing this design again separately from the reference sheet. this is mostly something i keep in mind since im a comic artist and an animator, so i have to come to terms with the fact that ill be drawing my characters over and over again, so it would be hell if i made a super complicated design for myself lmao. its sorta tricky to find that sweet spot between too simple and too complicated, and it honestly just takes practice and learning from what other designs i see!!

woop this was longer than i intended it to be, but i hope some of this was helpful!!

also PLEASE keep in mind that my word is not gospel! do whatever you want with designing and character creation as a whole, as long as you're having fun there's no wrong way to go about it! :D

[idigitizellp21]

What makes a mosquito weak in the knee? Find Out What They Hate Most

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” 

While this might be great advice for people, most would agree that it wasn’t meant to include mosquitoes! These pests can become a problem in late summer, especially when there are warmer temperatures or water nearby.

Although mosquito prevention is tricky, it’s very doable. The key is to discover what mosquitoes dislike so that you can keep these pesky insects out of your home, out of your yard and out of your life. Depending on the level of your infestation, you may need to layer multiple approaches to fight back against the bugs.

Known Mosquito Repellents

The most effective mosquito repellents are based on an understanding of how these insects operate. Mosquitoes are wired to find their next meal through visual cues, scents, heat and even the carbon dioxide in your exhales. By confusing their senses, you can enjoy a nice evening outside without being eaten alive.

Here are 10 things mosquitoes hate to keep them out of your backyard and off your skin. 

1. Mosquito Repellent

Evidence shows that mosquito repellents can help keep mosquitoes away from you for a certain amount of time. DEET, picaridin, IR3535 and lemon eucalyptus oil are all used in various bug sprays, though picaridin has proved to be even more effective — and less oily — than DEET. Some natural, DEET-Free insect repellents have also been found to be effective in protecting against insect bites such as mosquitoes.

2. Certain Herbs

Mosquitoes are turned off by several natural scents, including citronella, peppermint, cedar, catnip, patchouli, lemongrass, lavender and more. You can add some of these plants to your landscaping to fend them off. Or, try these scents in essential oil form or buy torches and candles that have been designed to scare off these pests. Your evening will be cozier and insect-free!

3. Artificial or Natural Wind

Surprisingly, mosquitoes aren’t very good at flying. That’s good for us humans because it means we’ve just got to create a bit of wind to keep mosquitoes from coming near. While you can’t control the elements, you can bring a fan outside and turn it on high. The mosquitoes won’t be able to get close enough to bother you.

4. Scent of Garlic

Bring on the garlic! Lucky for us, mosquitoes hate the delicious vegetable. Try cooking with garlic and eating your meal or snack before you go outside. If you happen to be one of the few who doesn’t like garlic, you can sprinkle minced garlic a few feet from your porch for a similar repelling effect.

5. Loose Clothing

Mosquitoes don’t really care if your clothing is in style or not, but they do care a whole lot about getting to your skin. Loose clothing makes it harder for the nasty bugs to get a good grip for a tasty bite of you. Unfortunately, though, mosquitoes can usually go right through thick clothing like denim or corduroy.

6. Sober Individuals

Add this to the list of merits for being the designated driver — mosquitoes might skip over you to feast upon your inebriated buddies instead. Possibly because of the smell, mosquitoes seem drawn to people who are drinking beer. Drinking can also make people warmer, causing them to sweat — and mosquitoes like sweaty skin.

7. Light Clothes

Mosquitoes like things they can see easily, and dark clothing makes you far more visible to a hungry mosquito. Light clothing allows you to blend into the background, making you harder to spot. If you wear light clothing, you’re less likely to be a target for mosquitoes.

8. Smoke

Chances are you didn’t bring enough marshmallows to share, and that’s a good thing because mosquitoes probably won’t show up to your campfire anyway since they don’t like smoke. Not having a campfire? Light the corner of an egg carton on fire, and set it somewhere safe — like on top of your barbecue. It will continue to smoke for a long time, keeping mosquitoes out of sight.

9. Dry Areas

Mosquitoes are attracted to moist places. In fact, they need standing water to breed. Some common places you might find standing water are gutters, buckets and swimming pools. Stay away from marshes — especially at dawn or dusk when mosquitoes are most active — keep standing water out of your yard, and put on plenty of bug spray if you’re going to be somewhere near the water.

10. Scent-Free Lotion

Because mosquitoes are attracted to sweet smells, it’s a good idea to wear scent-free lotion and other products when you’re going to be outside. It’s easier for mosquitoes to find you if they can follow these scents. Keep mosquitoes away and protect yourself from bites by foregoing your sweet perfumes when you’re going to be outside.

Ultima Search: Mosquito Control Services and products available online: 

An efficient and effective kill mosquito solution program commences with a detailed survey to determine the quantum and species of adults and larvae in your vicinity. Our ultimate aim is to eliminate the breeding spots to ensure a stop of reproduction whilst the mosquito control treatment is ongoing. Larvae can be controlled through various spraying for mosquito products. Our USP is utilizing Eco-friendly spraying products coupled with fogging during down or at sunrise which coincides with adult mosquito activity periods. 

Here are a few tips and tricks to get rid of mosquitoes in and around your vicinity. 

[abercrombiejewelrytx]

What Is the Best Way to Sell Engagement Ring Diamonds in 2023?

Diamond jewelry is classic, timeless, and ever-sought after- especially diamond engagement rings. If, for whatever reason, you have a diamond ring you want to sell, there are several ways to do it.

Selling engagement rings- especially those with diamonds- can feel like tricky business, but it helps to know your options. Here is an overview of things to know about selling an engagement ring, where you can do it, and how the selling process works.

Selling Engagement Rings: Things to Know Before You Begin

If you want to sell your diamond ring or engagement ring, there are a few things to consider first.

Decide what is most important to you: how quickly you sell- or how much money you get for your ring.

Research your piece beforehand to give yourself a better idea of how much it is worth.

Bear in mind that you are unlikely to get the original value of the ring because the resale value will be lower.

Don’t rush into selling your engagement ring before you are ready- it is not an easy decision to retract.

Take a route you feel comfortable with- and work with a trusted buyer.

Consider getting multiple independent valuations for your ring before proceeding with the sale.

Where Can You Sell an Engagement Ring?

Selling an unwanted diamond engagement ring is not all that difficult if you are reasonable about how much you want for it. Holding out for a price close to the ring’s original value is likely to take longer and require a little more effort- but it may be worth it if you have a family heirloom ring or a timeless piece with a lot of value.

Either way, you have a few choices. Here are some of the best ways to sell an engagement ring- and the benefits of each one.

Online

The internet is a wonderful tool for people looking to sell anything! Diamond engagement rings are no exception. Many shop engagement rings online through well-known jewelry websites such as Brilliant Earth. You also get a lot of people who collect diamond rings and other pieces- either to make them into something else- or to keep.

There are a few options- online auction houses, eBay, and second-hand jewelry sites. The only real downside to selling online is arranging postage- but some online marketplaces have systems that make it a little easier.

At an Auction

Auction houses have the power of large buyer pools and reputable services behind them- making them great places for getting good money for your ring. When you give your jewelry to a traditional auction house, most of the work is done for you, but you must trust them to get a good price.

An auction is especially worthwhile for a rare, collectible, or timeless piece- since you are likely to find the right types of buyers who can drive the value up. Just set a reserve price so it doesn’t sell for less than you are happy to accept.

To a Local Jeweler

There are several benefits to visiting local jewelry stores to sell your old ring. First, they are often more competitive with their pricing than big chains or precious metals buyers. If you have a good-quality piece, the chances are they will be able to offer you a good price on the spot- perhaps pending approval or authentication.

Other reasons to sell old engagement rings to local jewelers include:

The option of trading your piece for something new

Expert staff who understand diamond jewelry

Supporting small local businesses

Try to give the store prior notice before you take in your ring. That way, you can ensure they have an expert available to give it the proper attention- hopefully, secure a sale.

To a Precious Metals Dealer

Precious metals buyers are always looking for old jewelry- and these are great options for selling a wedding ring or engagement ring quickly and easily. Very little paperwork is involved, and minimal appraisal waiting times- it is a simple price-per-weight arrangement.

You can usually get a decent price selling this way- but it is worth comparing companies to see who offers the most.

At a Pawn Shop

No matter your opinion of pawn shops, there is no denying that they are a good solution for quick cash. If time is your biggest priority and you are willing to settle for a little less in return for a fast sale and cash-in-hand, then a pawn shop is possible.

You can get rid of your ring there and then- and walk away with money in your pocket. How much money? That depends on the pawn shop, the quality of your piece, and what documentation it comes with. Some pawn shops have a reputation for shady dealings, but most a reputable and will offer reasonable prices for items they deem resalable.

Of course, you also have to be aware of the possibility that you will be offered significantly less than the ring is worth- so it pays to do your research beforehand. Negotiation is often on the table at a pawn shop- especially if you have a piece that appeals to the buyer.

What Is the Best Way to Sell Your Engagement Ring?

Of the options detailed above, what is the best one for selling an engagement ring? We have weighed everything up and concluded that there is no definitive answer- it does depend on your situation.

That said, some stand out as the more versatile and reliable options.

Fastest Way to Sell

There is no faster way to get cash for old jewelry than selling it to a pawnbroker. It is easy, hassle-free- and you don’t need to wait for funds to clear.

If you are not keen on selling your ring to a pawn shop, the next fastest solution is taking it to a precious metals buyer.

Best Way to Get the Most Money

If getting top dollar matters most- and you have a high-quality ring that substantiates the asking price- you can get the most money by selling it online. You have access to the widest range of buyers and are more likely to find someone willing to pay more for your ring- especially if you list it in the right places.

That said, there is a lot of competition online. If you want a more targeted market with less competition, consider taking your ring to auction.

Summary

If selling your engagement ring is definitely what you want to do, there are plenty of ways to do it. The most important things to remember are:

It could take a while to get a high-paying buyer.

You are very unlikely to get the full value of the ring.

Make sure you research the ring and have it professionally appraised (independently from the prospective buyer).

Don’t rush into anything- check out your options- and make sure you pick the best route.

Overall, the best way to sell an unwanted diamond ring is either online (for the wider buyer pool) or through a trusted local jeweler (who can repurpose the stone).

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get the most money out of my engagement ring?

It is no secret that second-hand engagement rings are not exactly best sellers. Certain connotations come with an engagement ring that is no longer on someone’s hand- even if the circumstances are entirely unrelated to the ending of a relationship. Because of this, you can get more money from selling your engagement ring for the stone and the metal (if they are valuable). It can then be reset or made into something else that is not tainted by the idea of lost love.

Can I sell a diamond ring for cash?

Diamond rings are fairly easy to sell for cash- especially if you take them to a pawn shop or a local jeweler. Depending on the situation, people will offer a lower amount in exchange for a cash sale. Just be very careful if you sell your ring online to someone who wants to collect it in person and pay cash- there is a lot of counterfeit money and dishonest buyers who look for these types of sales as part of an online scam.

Do I need documentation to be able to sell a diamond engagement ring?

Some diamond engagement rings may require proof of ownership before you can sell. This is especially valid with expensive rings and valuable stones- you may need evidence that the ring is yours to sell.

How much do you usually get from selling an engagement ring?

How much you can get for your engagement ring depends on a few things. You will generally get more for newer rings than older ones- mainly due to wear and tear and changing fashions. Some ancient rings sell for money if they have been well looked after. Other important factors to consider are the qualities and features of the ring. Here are a few examples. Rings with a higher carat weight are usually worth more money. A perfect ring with no damage is easier to sell again for a good price. The diamond shape plays a role- some are worth more than others. What metal the ring is set in (rose gold, yellow gold, white gold, etc.) impacts the overall value. Does your ring have natural diamonds or lab diamonds? There is very little resale value on lab diamonds. How many diamonds are in the ring? A three-stone ring is likely to sell for more than one stone- depending on the total weight of the diamonds. You can expect between 40% and 75% of the ring’s original value when you resell it- but the figure varies greatly depending on the pieces and the method of sale.

Is it better to sell or pawn an engagement ring?

If you have a perfect engagement ring that is fairly new and includes any valuable stones, it may be worth your time to sell it- as long as you are certain that you don’t want it back. On the other hand, if you are looking for money in the short term but would like to keep your options open for repurchasing it- pawning is the way to go. Selling is a far more final solution than pawning. You could get more money, but it will take longer, and there is no turning back.

The post What Is the Best Way to Sell Engagement Ring Diamonds in 2023? appeared first on Abercrombie Jewelry.

Originally published here: https://abercrombiejewelry.com/best-way-to-sell-engagement-ring/

[ladywaifuuwrites]

Pillars reacting to their crush who’s small but strong

Request: male pillars reacting to a really strong female pillar whos like super short like 4′10-5′ and they crush on them.

Pairings: Male pillars x fem! reader

Synopsis: Their crush is a strong smol pillar ^_^

Warnings: manga spoiler

a/n: I smiled at your request since I’m small too. Like I’m 5′0. And I’m kinda scared to do face to face classes since the boys at my school will tease me for not getting taller. Hmph. SO HERE YA GO. You’re the first request! Have a nice day whoever u are!

And I am so sorry this is so long! ASJDAOFHHASK. I got carried away in some of those storylines. I hope this makes sense (wrote this when I was hungry).

This would be a headcanon I assume. 

I’m sorry if It’s taking me long to answer requests but don’t worry I’ll write those! I’ll probably upload rules for future requests :)

Giyuu Tomioka

yo this guy is tall not kidding

Giyuu is head over heels for you. He’ll want to protect you since you’re the most precious things he’s ever laid eyes on

Sparkles in his eyes whenever he sees you✨

He doesn’t want to lose you so he’s butting in on all of your missions. You get annoyed and you think he’s looking down on you.

You two get into a fight and doesn’t fix it since Giyuu’s communication is bad. It ends up in you walking away.

Nighttime and demons are lurking around in the forest as you take a stroll to clear your mind. Then a demon launches on you but thanks to your quick reflexes you dodge.

It’s a strong demon, close enough to become one of the lower moons. But nothing you can’t handle.

Giyuu senses a demon nearby and he frantically searches for you. *sim dads reaction when the mother goes into labor lmaooooo*

Lights fill up an area of the forest from the techniques you use. In like 2 strikes the demon dies.

He finally finds you as the demon’s ashes blow away. Your hair is dramatically blowing too.

He’s just staring at you then hugs you “I’m sorry. I’m not underestimating you…I just want to protect you.”  

Then all good. He’s amazed by how strong you are despite you’re short stature. You’re going to missions together and sometimes he just watches you finish off the demon. Just happy to see that satisfied smile you have when you kill a demon.

Muichiro Tokito

When he first met you at the pillar meeting, he muttered his thoughts, wondering how could someone be that small? You’re in the same age but you’re small.

Shinobu heard him since she was beside him and said “that’s rude to ask someone”. She’s lowkey offended.

Tengen retorts to Muichiro. “You’re small too…??”

Since it’s rude, he kept his mouth shut. You’re the same age as him when you entered the corps. He thinks you’ll grow up anyway. 

Surprise surprise you grew up, 2 inches. But still small. 

He gets nervous a bit around you since puberty did you good. Won’t admit it though.

Cue swordsmith village arc

He’s having trouble dealing with Gyokko. (I hate his face. It’s weird and ugly.)

Then minutes later, you show up out of nowhere, giving great damage to the demon.

“Are you okay?” you ask him with concern and you two fight off the fish demon.

He’s in awe because you actually took over the fight. Sure you have injuries but those are minor compared to his and you were very careful.

He’s injured so he couldn’t do much but you saved him and the civilians by defeating the demon. That’s when he realized how amazing you are and you earn his respect. 

Days pass by and you two along with the other demon slayers are commended by Oyakata-sama.

He thanks you when the both of you are walking together. He’s very grateful for what you did and you two become closer afterwards.

“Ah young love.” Mitsuri sighs blissfully as she watches you two leave the headquarters.

Kyojuro Rengoku 

Kyojuro knows you’re small and he knows you’re strong. You’re one of his trainees along with Mitsuri, so you’ve known each other for a long time now.

You rose to the ranks of the pillars with Kyojuro’s guidance. And now you’re looked up to by the whole organization because of your excellent swordsmanship despite your small figure. 

So you’re tasked to train 20 slayers ranked below Tsuchinoto. You take them to a clearing in the forest where training equipment are already placed. You train them by remembering what Kyojuro has taught you over the years. And you smile, seeing your past self in the struggling slayers.

You gave them a 10 minute break and after 10 minutes, you do a headcount to see if everyone is in your proximity. 

“18,19…?????” 

Oh no. A slayer is missing.

So you set off to find the missing one and there you found him. 

Hanging upside down from the arms of a large demon. The boy is muttering apologies for straying faraway and is begging for you to save him upon seeing you. 

You are annoyed at the fact that he has disobeyed your orders and is now at the hands of danger. But this was no time to be blaming someone for a boy’s life is at stake here. 

You jump into the air and you take down the demon pretty easily with one strike of your sword. And you catch the falling boy bridal style with your annoyed face. 

You put the boy down but suddenly a demon comes attacking you both. You kill it but more of it comes at you. They are easy to take down but it keeps coming, making you tired if you have to do this all night. It just won’t stop multiplying.

You think you’ve killed almost all of it but then the slayer screams “(L/N)-SAN!!!!!”. A monstrous looking demon bares its claws at you, but before you could react a flash of flames appears right in front of your eyes. 

“Kyojuro…” You whisper in relief as he slays the final demon. The bright flames sparkle in your eyes as you’re once again amazed at the man.

Kyojuro looks at you and comes over. “You’re so amazing.” You manage to say. 

He smiles and says. “No. You’re the amazing one.”. You always manage to face whatever challenge and it always ends up in you winning. Kyojuro knows how hard you proved others wrong by becoming a strong pillar. 

Super proud of you cause you’re strong. He actually watched you battle those before jumping in to save you.

Sanemi Shinazugawa

He doesn’t really care if you’re short or tall

The important things is that you’re useful to the organization

When someone teases you about your height, you end up feeling down and he’s there to beat that someone’s ass.

He doesn’t like to admit it but he’s a softie when it comes to you. You eventually break down his walls and now you can say you’re friends with the scary wind pillar.

You always tease him though and he’s always annoyed. But everyone thinks you’re both dumb since it’s very clear that you two like each other but you still deny it.

There’s this time where Sanemi is visibly struggling fighting demons as you watch him peacefully on a rooftop. He’s glaring at you and asks you “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”.

You just smile at him sweetly😊

Sanemi pretends his heart didn’t do a flip. But his heart stopped when he saw a demon behind you on the rooftop.

He was about to call your name when another blink and the demon’s head was cut off.

He was surprised since it all happened so fast. You go down to the ground, landing safely as you battle demons that the frozen Sanemi left.

It just took you 10 seconds to eliminate those demons and Sanemi’s mouth is left agape as he watched you.

You weren’t normally like this. So why the sudden surge of power?

“Sanemi hun. Close your mouth.” You say to him with a blank face, but before you could go past him, he gripped your wrist tightly and placed your small body in front of him.

He dragged you so easily lol.

He hugged you with your faced buried on his chest.

It was the comforting kind of silence. Sanemi was scared losing you to that demon but deep inside he knows that you’re strong.

Won’t admit that your moves are amazing.

Gyomei Himejima

This man is the strongest in the demon slayer corps and the tallest

Lmaoooo you would be like a mushroom beside him💀🍄

Gyomei actually gets out of tricky situations easily because he’s that strong

You’re a fairly new pillar who earned her spot 3 months ago. You two were assigned on a mission together. A gigantic demon appeared throughout the village that was between the regions you and the stone pillar were assigned in.

Gyomei knows your capabilities so he trusts you in doing a good job, but he can’t help but worry about you.

He doesn’t care if you’re small, he thinks that height isn’t the basis for an excellent demon slayer. But he’s still worried, so he looks for you. I don’t know how he looks but he looks.

Then he sees you fighting off demons very easily. A determined look is seen across your face. Gyomei feels he’s tearing up because he’s so proud of you. Proud boyfriend here somethin.

You were just a weak mizunoto years ago and now you’re a strong pillar who can fight with him side by side.

When you finish off the demons, you look to see Gyomei smiling at you. This were the fruits of the harsh trainings you went through, it made an excellent swordswoman.

Among the pillars, you stand beside Gyomei in rankings. So you’re powerful like wow. O_O

Obanai Iguro

He’s small but have you seen him fight? He’s a demon slayer with remarkable speed and you won’t know he’s attacking you because his moves slithers secretly like a snake.

You’ve always admired Obanai even you’re now both pillars. And that admiration bloomed into something more.  

He’s a strong pillar despite his small stature and that’s what you aim for to be like.

You’re trying to show off your moves to him every time you’re in battle together, to show him what you can do. To which he’s just “meh”.

So you give up on trying to show off and just do it for the sake of the people you’re saving.

You really gave up on showing off, but you can’t help it cause your breathing forms are flashy. Obanai doesn’t show it but he loves that display of power you have when you’re fighting.

Poor man doesn’t realize he’s in love with you even though others point it out.

He’s having trouble dividing his attention on protecting the civilians or fighting the demons. Luckily you were near the area so you came to his aid.

You slay the demons with your sharp and precise movements in just a short amount of time.

He’s like 😲 but when you turn he’s back to 😐😷

He’s one of the guys who won’t admit that you’re amazing and won’t admit that he likes you. You force him to confess though.

Tengen Uzui

If Obanai doesn’t admit he likes you, this guy would shout that he likes you

Would openly flirt with you because why not? There’s nothing to be shy about.

Always takes the chance to compliment and flirt with you.

“You’re cute (y/n)” “Thanks” Tengen finds your height cute because the height difference is HUGE.

Another mushroom like moment💀🍄

He knows you’re strong so he likes to train with you. Always ends up letting you win because he just likes it when he’s pinned down by your smaller figure.

When a demon invasion came in your area,, you fight them off while Tengen is called for backup.

He slays the lesser demons easily and found you fighting a stronger demon while protecting some children behind your back.

He smirks and leans against a tree, arms folded while watching you fight off the demon. 

You did it so easily making Tengen’s eyebrows rise.

Then you see him and ask him “what are you doing?”.

“watching you.” He finds you hot and sexy when you have that focused look in the middle of a battle. He won’t say it out loud because you might smack him in the face.

Super amazed at the fact that you’re stronger than the other pillars despite your small figure.(he thinks you’re stronger than him but dismisses that because pshhhhhh).

Will throw you over his shoulder at random times. Thinking that his antics will make you fall in love with him.

And it did…

[terrytellyetales]

I Just Wanted to See You (Part 5)

I’m still alive and heck yeah I just wrote that! Well.... no. Not really. It’s actually been siting unfinished in my drafts for a long time now. I feel so happy finally getting this out there! If you wanna check out what else I’ve written, here’s the masterlist.

Part 1

Status: Ongoing

============================================

It's been an eventful day ever since you arrived at Liyue. You were finally making your way back to the city, happily walking hand in hand with your new zombie friend who kept looking at you. "Hmm? Is there something on my face?" Qiqi shook her head in response before speaking.

   "Who is... Teucer?"

   "Oh. Teucer's my little brother. We travelled together from Snezhnaya to here to find our big brother."

   "If you travelled together... why is Teucer not here?"

   "Uh... hehe... you see..."

You recount the events that took place before you met Qiqi. You started with how Teucer suddenly came bursting through the front door of your house with a very bad idea.

   "I thought maybe the gods heard my wish and it was brother at the door. I mean, it was my brother, but not the one I really wanted to see. After that we snuck on the ship Teucer mentioned. It was tricky because we kept getting caught by this big scary sailor."

   "How did you... get on?"

   "Well... first we tried tip toeing on board but he kept shooing us away. We tried sneaking into their cargo, wearing a disguise, closely tailing another sailor while hiding behind him, but he somehow kept finding us. We were about to give up when I noticed how the lady holding a clipboard kept looking at him and how Mr. Sailor kept looking at her and came up with a great idea!"

   "What did... you do?"

   "Hehe... we helped them become friends! I made Teucer tell the nice lady how Mr. Sailor thinks she looked pretty and smart and that he was too shy to talk to her. I went to tell Mr. Sailor the lady with the clipboard likes him and that she was too shy to talk to him. After that Mr. Sailor went to talk to her. He said not to even try sneaking on the ship, but that was the whole point! While they were distracted, Teucer and I quickly snuck onboard and into one of the crates they loaded up. After they set sail, we had to make sure not to get spotted 'cuz they might throw us off or something. We didn't didn't pack any food, so we tried checking if there was anything to eat in one of the crates."

   "Isn't that... stealing?"

   "Oh. Don't worry. You see, brother gave Teucer a pouch to always bring with him. He said to give it to a nice person and they will take good care of Teucer. We left some of the Mora that was in it on one of the crates. See? We made sure to pay for everything!"

   "Wow. Y/N is... smart."

   "Hehe. It was a good thing Teucer grabbed that pouch before we left."

"Mm... Teucer is... also smart."

"When we arrived, we immediately looked for our brother and somehow wondered outside the city. Oh! Then I got tripped by this plant with eyes. I chased it and caught it by the leaves. I tried to pull it out to get a better look but there was a bigger one that was right above me!"

   "Oh no... did it... crush you?"

   "It would have if I wasn't suddenly yanked away! Mr. Xiao said it's called a Dendro Slime. I've never seen one before. Maybe there aren't any where I'm from since the ground in Sneznayah is always covered in snow." 

(Disclaimer: I have no idea what Sneznayah is like. I'm just basing it off of the little clues in game.)

   "What happened next?"

   "The tiny Dendro Slime was going really fast while dragging me. It suddenly stopped and threw me into the air and off a cliff!"

"Oh no..."

"It was so scary! Luckily, Mr. Xiao came flying to my rescue. And then... I didn't see Teucer anywhere, but that's okay! Mr. Xiao helped me look for Teucer! Even if... we didn't find him yet."

   "Mr. Xiao... will find Teucer."

   "Yup! Mr.  Xiao promised! Oh! We also saw one of the toys brother sells! His name is Mr. Cyclops. He fights bag guys and monsters to keep people safe! But then... it started attacking us... Mr. Cyclops hurt Mr. Xiao and also destroyed the scarf brother gave... Mr. Xiao called him a Ruin Guard and that it was a killing machine. Brother lied... Mr. Cyclops is a bad guy..."

   "Y/N..."

You noticed how you were starting to get teary eyed. Yes, you were upset about the scarf, but you were more upset about your brother lying to you about Mr. Cyclops. Not wanting to worry Qiqi, you quickly wiped your tears and tried to perk up. "But it's okay! Mr. Xiao made me these ade- adepi- Adepti charms!" You carefully reach into your pocket and take out the charms Xiao made form crystal core and leaves.

"Pretty..."

"Right? Mr. Xiao also said they're magic and will keep me safe."

The two of you continued on happily to Liyue Harbor. While walking, you both noticed a woman who looked like she was in her late 60's. She was standing at the side of the road surrounded by birds. She was holding a small pouch that she kept sticking her hand in and throwing something white that attracted more of them. "Finches." Qiqi's grip on your hand loosened and she runs ahead of you. "Eh?! Not you too. Qiqi! Wait up!" You run after her, not wanting to repeat the same incident when you lost Teucer. "Is this what Mr. Xiao felt when I kept running ahead of him?" As Qiqi got closer, she slowed down so as not to scare away the Finches. You followed suit, but a little to late. You bumped into Qiqi’s back and the impact caused her to fall forward, scaring the birds away in the process. “Ah! I’m sorry!” 

The woman turns around to see what all the fuss was about. “Oh my.” She quickly seals the pouch and makes her way towards you two. “Are you alright, dear?” She reaches out a hand to help Qiqi up.

   “Thank you...”

   “I’m sorry we scared away the birds, ma’am.”

   “Ho ho ho, that’s quite alright, dear. Don’t worry about it.”

   “We scared... the Finches away... Qiqi is... sorry.”

   “Now, now. No need to look so down. Granny knows a trick to bring them back.”

The woman opens up her pouch again and reaches inside. “Would you dears hold out your hands for granny, please?” The two of you comply and reach out your hands, palms facing upward. She puts what look like grains of uncooked rice. “Now, just throw them up in the air like this so the grains scatter nicely.” You both threw the grains as you were told. As soon as the grains hit the ground, the woman lets out some bird noises to call over the Finches once again. Out of nowhere, you see a huge flock fly your way and start pecking at the ground, trying to get as much rice as they can.

“There we go. Would you like to help granny feed the finches? I'm afraid these old bones can't scatter the rice fast enough for them." Qiqi's face lights up at the invitation, but she hesitates because she remembered her contract with Xiao.

   "I have to... fulfil my contract... I have to... take Y/N to Liyue Harbor..."

   "Ho ho ho, what a good girl you are. If you're in a hurry that's quite alright."

You notice how Qiqi looks a bit down. and step forward.

   "Uhm... we're not really in a hurry."

   "Y/N?"

   "It's okay. Mr. Xiao said nothing about not being allowed to make pitstops. Besides, this is still along the way and I'd also like to feed the finches."

   "Ho ho ho, I'm sure the finches will be happy. Thank you."

She offers offers the two of you her bag of uncooked grains of rice so you could each get a handful.

As you were feeding the Finches, you see a slight smile form on Qiqi’s face. Somehow, seeing her this happy, also makes you happy. Some of them even decided to rest on Qiqi’s head.

   “Hey look! They like you!”

   “Ho ho, would you look at that.”

   “I like the Finches too... very much.”

This was a nice change after all the near death experiences you’ve been through ever since you arrived. The three of you continue feeding the birds until the pouch was empty.

"Ho ho ho, looks like meal time is over. Thank you for your help, my dears."

"It was our pleasure!"

"Thank you... very much."

"You're headed for the harbor, yes? It seems this is where we part ways. You take care now."

"We will! You take care too, granny!"

"Have a... safe trip."

You and Qiqi wave good bye to the woman as she walks the opposite direction you're headed. Before you continued your walk to Liyue, Qiqi brings out her notebook and a pencil.

   “What are you doing?”

   “I’m writing down what we did today... so that I won’t forget it.”

   “You really like Finches, don’t you?”

   “Mm, I enjoy... looking at the Finches.”

   “Good thing we took a little break, right?”

   “Mm... I am also glad... to be friends with Y/N.”

   “He he, I’m glad to be friend with you too."

   "Finished. Shall we... go?"

Qiqi puts away her notebook and pencil. She reaches out her hand for you to take, just like what you did before you parted ways with Xiao. You happily take her hand and skip merrily as you continue heading for Liyue once more. As you continue onward, she notices the scratches on your legs.

   “You’re... hurt?”

   “Huh?”

You stop skipping and Qiqi points at your legs.

   “Those? They’re just scratches. No big deal.”

   “Did the Hilichurls... do that?

   “Probably not. You scared them away before we even got close.”

    “I will... take you to Bubu Pharmacy... Dr. Baizhu can... treat you. Dr. Baizhu says... small cuts and scratches can be bad... if left untreated.”

   “Oh. Okay. Thank you, Qiqi.

   ”When Mr. Xiao... comes back with your brother... Dr. Baizhu can also treat his wounds... if he has any.”

   “Thank you, Qiqi. Let’s hope Teucer’s okay.”

After a little while, you finally reach your destination “We made it!” Still worried about your injuries, Qiqi tugs on your hand with no signs of letting go.

   “Where are we going?”

    “To ask Dr. Baizhu... to treat your wounds.”

   “Oh. Right, hehe.”

You were alone and had nothing better to do anyway, so you decided to go along with it. It would also be a chance to actually ask someone about your brother. Why wasn’t that the first thing you did when you arrived? You were too busy chasing aster Teucer.

   “Do you think Dr. Baizhu knows my brother?”

   “I don’t... know. You can ask him... later. Dr. Baizhu has... many patients. Dr. Baizhu remembers... all of his patients."

“Okay! I hope he does. And then I can go find him and wait with him for Mr. Xiao to bring Teucer.”

Distracted by the thought of being reunited with your brother, you didn’t notice the tall figure falling from the sky until it landed right in front of you with a loud thud. It was a tall man in a gray suit and short ginger hair. He had a red mask tied to his head, black gloves, and a hydro vision dangling from his belt. When you recognized who this individual was, your eyes filled up with tears from the happiness and relief you felt seeing his face. “Brother!” At the sound of your voice he immediately turns to you. Without warning, you tackle hugged him, causing him to nearly lose his balance. He pulls your body away so he could get a better look.

"Y/N! I'm so glad you're safe!"

"It really is you! I'm so glad. I missed you so much."

"Yes, it's me. I was so worried when Teucer said he lost you."

"You found Teucer?"

From the stairs behind him, there was another familiar face.

   “You found Y/N!”

   “Teucer!”

The little boy came running to join in on the touching moment. Childe opened up his arms so he could trap both of you in a tight embrace. It was a long journey filled with adventure. It was both exciting and terrifying since you literally came close to death, but the feeling of warmth, love, and security your brother exuded melted it all away. Finally being reunited made it all worth it.

===============================================

<< Part 4

Part 6(?)

FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY!! A wild Childe appears! But why is he not in the Northland Bank like in the story quest? Why did he suddenly fall from the sky and land (awesomely) in front of our cute little reader and zombie? How did Teucer make it back before you did? How did he end up with Childe just like that?

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (March 10/2021) - Attack on the Temple

Ponk gave Foolish five days, and now the time has come for the Eggpire to attack the Temple of Undying. Sam joins Foolish for the confrontation.

Later, Sam rescues Hannah from the Egg, but the danger is far from over. The Egg’s threats are louder than ever.

---

VOD LINKS:

Ponk

Foolish

Tubbo

Jack Manifold

Ranboo

Awesamdude

Hannah

---

- Ponk surveys the Temple of Undying. He plants TNT in the Sphinx head.

- He heads through Snowchester as his chat says to kill Michael. Ranboo logs on to make sure Michael remains safe.

- Ponk tries to set up an arrow trap in the spider spawner for Ranboo. It doesn’t work.

- Tubbo and Ranboo want to attack Ponk for threatening Michael. 

- Foolish comes online. He’s been busy, but Ponk warned him about an attack. He’s not sure what to expect.

“Fear is a tricky thing...you see, fear is something mankind has dealt with since the beginning of time, and there’s two ways to go about it: either you conquer that fear, no longer worried of the unknown...or you suffer from it. You suffer living in fear.”

“So me? I don’t fear."

- It doesn’t hurt to bring backup...Foolish finds Sam at Hannah’s house. Sam asks if he’s seen Hannah.

- Tubbo and Ranboo make their way down to their secret bunker in the Egg Room. 

- They experiment with breaking blocks of the Egg, seeing how much damage it does. Tubbo tries to break the black concrete but takes a lot of damage.

- Foolish leads Sam to the Temple of Undying, filling him in on what’s going on. They find some of the TNT and get rid of it. Foolish notices the button on the Sphinx and finds the TNT there as well.

- Ponk, Antfrost and Bad appear at the Temple’s entrance. 

- Tubbo and Ranboo see them log on and try to find them to spy on.

- Ponk greets Foolish. Foolish says the button was a giveaway.

Ponk: "You think you can fool me? You think you can fool my brothers? No...Foolish, the Egg wants blood. The Egg will get blood.”

- Sam asks what’s going on here.

Ponk: “Ah...the cheek. The cheek of you to speak right now, Sam! Huh? You caused this.”

- Ponk takes them on a walk, telling Foolish to pick and choose what he wants destroyed.

- Sam asks why Foolish is being threatened. Foolish says the Egg sees him as a threat.

Sam: “The Egg is an inanimate thing! It’s just an Egg! It doesn’t see -- It doesn’t have eyes!”

Foolish: “You’re wrong, Sam...have you not heard the voices?”

Ponk: “The Egg is life, Sam. It is life.”

Sam: “Don’t talk about the voices.”

Foolish: “So you know then, it speaks, Sam. You can’t just ignore the problem.”

Sam: “Not to me anymore, it doesn’t.”

- Foolish challenges their power against the statue of Ra. Ten seconds.

- Ponk speaks through the Egg.

“Just a sacrifice...”

- Ponk kills Neferkitty.

“You’ll see, you’ll see...”

- He laughs as the statue explodes.

“Goodbye...”

- Foolish is outraged. He tells them to leave. Ponk says this was just a warning. Next time will be worse.

Foolish: “I...can show you...what happens...when you really piss me off! So I...suggest...you leave...now.”

Ponk: “Your empty threats mean nothing. The Egg is all-powerful! What can you do? What can you do?”

Foolish: “I’m a peaceful man, Ponk. But if I must defend myself, I can.”

- Ponk throws his trident at Foolish. Foolish challenges him to throw it again.

Foolish: “I might...be a Totem of Undying...but in the past? I have been a Totem of Death. Let me show you...”

Foolish: “you know, as a god of the ocean, I also have control of the skies...”

- Foolish asks if they’ve ever felt the taste of lightning. Ponk points out the sky is clear.

It doesn’t matter.

Foolish strikes them with lightning and sends the three running.

- Sam is fearful, but Foolish assures him he would never use it to hurt someone.

- Sam tells him he’ll go back to find Hannah, but Foolish should stay there. Foolish tries to tell him he’s not a bad guy, but Sam’s already gone.

- Meanwhile, Tubbo and Ranboo look on in surprise. They start going back through the Nether to gain reconnaissance on the Eggpire.

- They go down into the Egg Room and hide on top of the Skeppy statue, watching as Ponk, Antfrost and Bad enter the chamber and gather around the Egg.

- Bad slowly turns and makes eye contact. Tubbo and Ranboo start running.

- Foolish walks around and surveys the damage. He’s been a man of peace for a very long time -- he shows his stats again: “Player kills: 0.”

- It’s so easy to direct anger towards the Eggpire, but it’s not their fault. They’re just puppets of the Egg.

- Foolish goes down to the basement, a place of riches: The Pharaoh’s Chamber. Untouched for now, but if the Egg really wanted to piss him off...this would be a worthy target.

- It would be foolish not to attack back. Empty threats do nothing. But for now, Foolish will rebuild and rest. Using powers isn’t as easy as it looks.

- Tubbo and Ranboo spy on the Eggpire from their bunker

- They start digging a tunnel beneath the floor of the Egg Room, still in hiding. The Eggpire leaves the Egg Room

- While snooping around, Tubbo gets spotted by the Eggpire and he and Ranboo run back to the bunker, heading to the surface

- The Eggpire comes and they turn and run back up. The Eggpire chases Ranboo and Tubbo as the two attempt to shoot back

- Tubbo manages to slip away as the Eggpire heads back down

- Tubbo is excited, while Ranboo wants to not get involved. Ranboo is worried about Tubbo only having one life left. They head back to Snowchester. Foolish is there with Michael and Foolish Jr.

- Tubbo and Ranboo ask Foolish what he thinks about the Eggpire. Foolish says he doesn’t hate the people -- it’s the Egg that controls them.

- Tubbo mentions that they have nukes, but when Foolish asks they quickly cover it up as “nuclear fireworks” again

- Tubbo says they should do more reconnaissance while Ranboo is still having doubts

- Sam starts his stream playing “Fallen Down”

- He goes to the Nether to gather soul sand, aiming to destroy all the pieces of Blood Vines that were on Hannah’s house

- He goes to Hannah’s house and sees that all the pink and red has been sucked out of it, turning it gray. All the roses have shriveled into small white flowers instead

- Sam rushes to Church Prime to grab bottles of holy water

- Sam heads down to the Egg Room. He notices the poster for the Red Banquet.

- As he approaches the Egg, it speaks.

“So you’ve come to see me again.”

“You can stay if you want.”

“You can stay if you want.”

“You will not escape me again.”

“You will not escape me again.”

“You can bring me Fran now.”

“You’ll be happy here.”

“You’ll be happy here.”

- Sam calls out to Hannah.

“How dare you try and take this one from me.”

“How dare you try and take this one from me.”

- He climbs the Egg and sees her, her skin drained to white and gray

(NOT in reverse) “You will suffer for this.”

- Sam starts breaking the blocks to get her out

“How dare you try and take this one from me.”

- Hannah drinks the holy water

- Hannah asks Sam what’s happened. Sam tells her about her house. Hannah says the Egg was talking with her in her dreams.

- The Egg speaks, and Hannah starts walking back, closer to the Egg, trying to hear it. Sam gets her to come away and gives her more holy water.

“All will accept me soon.”

- As they head through the spider spawner, Hannah hears the Egg murmur again

“Come back and stay with me down here.”

“Come back down below.”

“Come back down. I’m not finished with you yet.”

- Hannah sees her house and the altered roses. The Egg murmurs again and Hannah stabs Sam with a sword once. She says the Egg told her to do it.

“Do not leave.”

- She and Sam start hoeing down the Blood Vines.

- She gets her armor from her Ender Chest. She doesn’t know about this — something isn’t right. The Egg speaks again and Hannah stabs Sam another time. Sam tells her to ignore it.

“If you leave, you will die.”

(Ambiguous) “You [will/won’t] believe in the powers. [All/of plants?] will be mine soon.” 

- Ant, Punz and Bad ask Hannah where she is. Sam tells Hannah to run to the basement.

- Sam confronts Bad, Ant and Punz. Sam says he hasn’t seen Hannah.

- The Egg whispers. 

“All will accept me soon.”

“All will accept me soon.”

- The Egg speaks again. Hannah goes up the elevator to the surface, inching her way towards them.

“Come back down. I’m not finished with you yet.”

“Come back down below...”

- The Eggpire leaves. Sam asks Hannah what she’s doing up here.

- They throw the Blood Vine remnants in the soul fire. Hannah says it kind of hurts…

- Sam tells her she should go and pick some roses. He leaves Hannah alone in her house.

---

Upcoming Events:

- Quackity’s business opening

- The Red Banquet