#so we mostly just use it for games (which it sometimes has trouble with as well lmao)

[wellthatschaotic]

hey does anyone here know about drawing tablets

[wispstalk]

Some writing advice for hunting, bc I see a lot of hunting scenes in fantasy that make me itch. More under the cut. Don't read if you're sensitive to blood-and-guts discussion or animal death.

Finding game:

- I don't hunt much these days bc I don't feel like getting my ass out of bed at shitfuck o'clock every weekend during the season. Which you have to do, because much of the time you come home empty-handed. Successful hunts come about when you're out there often.

- You don't really have to be a good tracker to hunt, but you do have to know the basics of your prey and you have to be able to interpret the landscape even if it's unfamiliar. It's less likely a tracker is looking for "bent blades of grass" or whatever and more likely they are noticing game trails, sheltered areas where nests and burrows are, a spot of thick vegetation which would indicate a water source.

- Scat and footprints are useful too ofc but to varying degrees. If I'm hunting deer it's just confirmation that they're in the area; more often I use knowledge of their habits to actually find them. If I were hunting something elusive and solitary like a cougar I would pay more attention to the tracks but that's also a reason people hunt with dogs!

Actually hunting:

- Bows are not the only hunting weapons, though would be most common in ur typical medieval fantasy type setting. Spears and lances, slings with stones, and clubs would also be used. And knives and swords but in this hunter's opinion, FUUUUCK that.

- Lung shot is a quick death. Heart shot and head shot too but that is much harder. Other shots might mean tracking a wounded animal as it runs away. This is where things like broken twigs/bent grass are especially telling, and ofc blood. Small game bleed out faster and won't get as far but you might spend quite a while running after an elk shot in the flank.

- This highly depends on the prey but hunting often involves more sitting around than people realize. I bring a small pad for my booty ass bc sometimes you'll spend hours in a strategic spot waiting for the game to pass by. Also hides (the shelter, not the skins) are a thing and most hunters would consider shelter-building an essential skill.

- Hunting seasons are not entirely a modern convention -- there are better times of year to find different animals. But there would be less concern, historically, about killing animals during the breeding season than we have today.

- Even when I was hunting regularly and more confident, I got a huge adrenaline spike EVERY time I had an animal in my sights.

Big game:

- A deer has a lot of meat on it and though it's not a bad thing to leave a carcass for scavengers, your party of two or three adventurers probably will not go to the trouble of hunting deer unless they have some nearby place to cache, preserve, or trade what they can't eat before it spoils. Are they leaving it behind or do they have some way to take full advantage of such a large kill?

- If your character gets a large game animal they're probably going to field dress it: deal with all the blood and guts on site, then quarter it so it can be packed back to the campsite or whatever. My dad is a big burly mutant man and he cannot carry a deer by himself. You can carry game on poles or horseback too but field dressing is pretty typical in a situation where u can't just fling it in the back of the truck and hang it at home.

- I grew up eating bear and when it comes up I'm often surprised how many people don't know that people hunt bear for meat. It's tasty imo, especially makes a good sausage

- I can hunt deer alone, though company is nice. I wouldn't attempt hunting something more dangerous by myself. Large animals especially are better taken down as a group effort. In the TES context for example it would be kind of insane to hunt horker alone. Not that some folks wouldn't try.

Small game:

- A character who subsists mostly on hunting is going to be eating a lot of small game. They are probably going to use traps and snares in addition to actually going out on hunts.

- Look up "rabbit starvation." Small game is often (but not always) lean and going without fat for a long time can cause serious health issues.

- I joke that you don't hunt turkey, you just go get one. Game birds are kind of stupid. I plan a deer hunt, but I have gone out and shot grouse on a whim.

Processing:

- Draining blood, skinning, plucking, butchering, dealing with all the bones and guts, storage and preservation: pretty time consuming and involved. It's a good excuse for social activity.

- The moneyed classes likely would not process their kills themselves, unless they're doing some kinda randyll tarly masculinity flex for the symbolism. Kitchen staff or a local butcher would handle it.

- A good skinning knife is kinda wide and short. Some game knives have a rounded tip which keeps it from puncturing the skin in case of accidental slippage.

- Skinning is done with a light hand bc puncturing the digestive system means you've poisoned the meat. I will say it is less difficult than I expected it to be the first time I tried it.

- We don't eat a lot of offal in the US but a deer liver, for example, would be considered prime meat by many and eaten first. Bear, walrus, and seal liver contain toxic amounts of vitamin A and would be thrown away.

- I've been told every animal has enough brains to tan its own hide, but I think there are some exceptions. It's definitely true of deer and elk. With small animals like rabbits it's hardly worth the effort of getting the brains out and other things can be used but brain tanned leather is soooo soft and nice.

- Hides and pelts are useful and valuable and would be kept or traded if circumstances allowed. You can tightly roll a hide to keep it from drying out before tanning, or you can freeze it, basically indefinitely. You can also air dry it once scraped clean and soften it later, which is what fur hunters would most likely do for efficiency's sake. Tanning is also so so so fucking gross imo. Really slimy process, and tanneries REEK.

That's all I can think of for now and this is already hella long but the takeaway is that it is generally a pretty involved activity and more impactful on lifestyle than I usually see depicted. So there ya have it

[trashisstillhere]

After being outside for quite awhile.. again. I finally get to post this doodle, here!

This is supposed to (kinda) show New Ninja’s relationships/bonds with the few main characters!

I’m also gonna talk about them right here which is why I made this doodle in the first place! And this time, I had written it all down before this. And as you can see, Howard seems to have a slight different design, especially his hair… it actually has something to do with a part of the story! The clothes might be kinda changed tho later.

Anyway, here we go!

(Since English isn’t really my first language, the writing still kinda sucks lol)

————-

Randy:

you all already know this duo! The mentor and his student!!

Just when the kid thought there was no chance for them as the new chosen ninja of Norrisville, the old chosen ninja came right in out of nowhere and somehow things slowly started getting easier for them ever since. he is the reason why they still have hope now today.

To New Ninja, Randy is a good mentor, basically the best one ever! (No offence Nomicon-) and one of their best friends. he gives them the help they need with ninja stuff, supports them and sometimes even cheers them on during battles (while hiding himself so no one will know about two ninjas existing of course.) he sometimes also gives them praises for their hard work, making them very flustered and bashful but they still really appreciate it. The kid always feels safe around him, you could say they got attached to him and so has he with them.

if they have any trouble with something such as not understanding how a certain weapon really works and should be used in battle, big brother Cunningham is always there to teach them!

Yeah you heard me, i said ‘big brother’! Randy Is like a big brother figure to New Ninja, a sibling that the kid has never had but honestly wished they did. One who is so kind and patient with them…and also almost very overprotective over them. No seriously, he is. It mostly shows when, for example: The Nomicon makes the kid have to go do things that could be considered very dangerous or just anything he doesn’t agree with or an enemy he’s familiar with tries to kill them. (This may or may not kinda refer to Mcfist along with that one old comic i did-)

And of course, Randy likes and still keeps calling New Ninja nicknames such as ‘kid’ which is more common.

New Ninja before didn’t know about Randy’s true identity but now they do after a certain incident (another old comic also showing that), which makes them also get to hang out outside of their ninja lives. However, the kid still calls him ‘ninja’ anyway.

Their bond is very strong and won’t be broken that easily, New Ninja and Randy care for and trust each other deeply and will continue on staying together as the super bruce team they are!…

…….until the day Randy has to mind wipe himself with the ‘ultimate lesson’ in the Nomicon once and for all finally comes…. at least they get to say some last words and goodbyes before that happens.

———-

Howard:

both him and New Ninja barely knew each other at first. To the kid, Howard was just some random guy….that their mentor seemed to always talk to for some unknown reason.

They have seen the two guys together so many times that curiosity got the best of them and they started investigating, soon finally getting the answers they needed and getting to know the chubby guy more! Now in the present, they’re also friends! And after showing their true identity to him, they hang out sometimes too along with Randy.

To New Ninja, Howard is a pretty chill dude to talk to. Both him and Randy were the ones to first introduce them to Gregs game hole along with all the video games to exist, letting them join in all the fun they had been missing out on.

Howard is like the second big brother to the kid, the one who they might sometimes maybe get into crazy yet fun shenanigans with. There are literally times where they both got into some trouble and Randy had to go and help them, he was kinda mad about it but couldn’t stay like that at them for long. After all, they’re his friends who he adores very much.

Their friendship was normal at first but once one certain event with one familiar demon bird (along with a certain more then one tailed fox that was the cause for that said familiar demon birds return) happened which led to Howard being effected (such as his hair getting a…. ’bit more color’ then usual) by it quite a lot, New Ninja started getting extremely worried for him.

Now every time they get to meet again, New Ninja always first checks up on him and ask him if he’s feeling okay. Howard always says he’s fine and waves it off, trying to reassure the kid and calm them down.

But no matter how many times he says he’s okay, New Ninja can’t help but feel guilty for what happened to him…they think it’s their fault.

————

First Ninja:

Now this one’s…a little complicated. The kid currently barely talks to the old legend himself. Why? Cuz they’re kinda afraid of him of course!

To New Ninja, First Ninja is really intimidating. And by intimidating, I mean TERRYFYING. The kid feels so small and pathetic compared to him, thinking that they ALWAYS have to be respectful and obedient around him without a single screw up. He’s the FIRST ninja of Norrisville to exist after all, the last thing they want to do is piss him off in any way, especially after seeing that dragon fire punch of his for the first time during their first meeting.

Because of their fear, New Ninja can barely say anything in First Ninjas presence. Meeting Randy for the first time when they just knew him as the ninja was okay, they got used to him pretty quickly…but THE First Ninja!? Oh hell nah-

Now First Ninja on the other hand, doesn’t really hate New Ninja or anything. In fact, he actually wouldn’t mind getting to know them better just like he did with Randy. He doesn’t understand why the kid seems to not talk to him so much, did he do something wrong?

Don’t worry tho, this doesn’t last long. New Ninja will soon slowly warm up to First Ninja later on and they can finally talk to each other more properly, maybe even have the man be a father figure of some kind. But for now, it’ll take a lot of work.

————

Plop plop:

Their relationship is a little bit similar to the one with First Ninjas but opposite and better.

New Ninja wasn’t intimidated by Plop Plop like they were with First Ninja but they still were too anxious to talk to him, he noticed this but it didn’t stop him from trying to talk to them. Though he didn’t try to get all over their personal space, he instead just went easy on them by giving them a chance to speak only if they wanted to and stayed patient with them for as long as he needed to.

Before he knew it, the kid soon finally started replying to him one day and once he heard their voice, he was very thrilled!

To New Ninja, Plop Plop honestly seems like a nice and gentle man. He can even be humorous at times, he was able to get a little giggle out of the kid a few times. He showed the kid that they have nothing to be scared of, that with him, they can tell him anything. And to his delight, they do just that!….well maybe not like EVERY single thing but hey, he got their trust!

Even if Plop Plop may not still currently know much about the stuff in the Morden times/ future yet, he still willingly listens to New Ninja’s ramblings whenever he has the time. He’s just glad to see the kid feel safe around him, it makes him smile.

He is aware of how nervous they are around First Ninja, feeling kinda a little bad for the poor old ninja cuz of it. Right now, he also kinda tries to get the kid to get more used to his ninja friend, yet it ain’t so easy..

————-

And that’s it!

[midnightsnyx]

beautiful things p2 | mat barzal

my masterlist & part 1 pairing: mathew barzal x singer!reader summary: the aftermath of the interview. warnings: not edited, a lil angst but mostly fluff! please let me know if i missed anything. word count: 972 author note: i refuse to call twitter X. also there are most definitely inaccuracies but i hope you guys like anyways <3

“Hey, we made it on People Magazine’s Twitter,” Mat says eagerly, and you look up from the journal you’ve been jotting lyric ideas in. He has an endearing and adorable smile on his face as he looks at his phone.

Still, you can’t help but look at him, titling your head slightly “You haven’t been in People Magazine?” 

He laughs but his smile doesn’t waiver. “Not all of us are insanely talented musicians.”

You roll your eyes affectionately and lean over to press your lips firmly against his. The past few months have been nothing but bliss, since you replied to his DM. You were scared to open your heart again after your last relationship but Mat has shown you thus far that if you find the right person, it’s okay to let someone in.

“I don’t know,” you tease, pulling away. “I’ve seen you with a guitar.”

He blushes and tries to hide it by kissing you again. You let him, mainly because you’re enjoying it but also because you don’t want to push. 

You’re floating in pure euphoria right now, enjoying every moment and you don’t want it to end. 

“You’ll come to tonight's game, right?” He asks, brushing a loose piece of hair out of your face and resting a hand on your shoulder. One thing that you’ve learned about Mat is how tactile he is. He always wants to be touching you somehow, whether it’s an arm around your shoulder or holding your hand.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” you promise.

. . .

You love coming to Mat’s games, but some of the girls are still iffy about you which is understandable. You’ve only been dating Mat for five months and you are also in the media which brings a lot of attention. Sometimes unwanted attention. 

You also love your fans but they have a love/hate relationship with your relationship with Mat. Also taking into account his fans, and sometimes it’s too much. Like tonight. 

Everything starts great, there’s not much trouble getting to the stadium, but there are always fans waiting to hopefully get to see a hockey player or get a picture before the game. Someone sees you and then you’re back on Twitter and not the good side of Twitter.

You manage to get to your VIP suite pretty easily, Iris and some of your other friends with you. 

“I’d say I told you so, but you’d probably fire me,” Iris says dreamily, staring at the jumbotron that is showing a live feed of you. You’re not sure if it’s something you’ll ever get used to. You imagine this is what Taylor Swift feels like when she goes to Travis Kelce’s games.

“You just did,” you reply dryly but there’s no malice to your tone. You know exactly how Iris is and you love her for it.

Your eyes go back to the jumbotron, looking to see if they show Mat. You think you can see him on the ice from your current view, but you’re never sure unless he looks up and waves. 

“I’m glad I did, though,” you say and she looks at you for clarification. 

“Message him back. You were right.” 

She doesn’t say I told you so, or say any funny comeback. She just smiles and nods towards where the game has started. 

It’s a tight game and you’re on the edge of your seat for most of it but the Islanders win in overtime with a victory of 2–1, with Mat scoring the overtime goal. You watch the team celebrate on the ice before they head back to the locker room and you pull your phone out, shooting a quick text to Mat letting him know you’ll meet him at his place. With your security and his postgame interviews, it’s usually best to just meet at either of your houses.

You’re sitting with a glass of wine, watching the highlights from other games when Mat gets home. You can hear him drop his bag by the door and toss his keys on the counter before making his way to the living room where you are waiting. Max, your golden retriever is sitting by your feet but his tail starts wagging when he sees Mat. 

“Hey pal,” Mat mutters, bending down to greet the pup before plopping down on the couch next to you. He sighs, staring at the ceiling like he’s thinking hard about something.

“Penny for your thoughts?” You ask, putting your glass on the table and turning towards him. He turns his head towards you and opens and closes his mouth a few times. You’re starting to get nervous when he speaks.

“Move in with me,” he whispers and you freeze.

“Mat-”

“Look, I know it’s only been five months but we spend all our time together anyway. We’re just bouncing between houses.” He reaches out and takes one of your hands, intertwining your fingers together. “Let’s make it one house.”

The thought of moving in together absolutely terrifies you, but when you think about it, he’s right. If he’s not away for games or you’re not doing shows, you’re together and when you think about the future, Mat is standing next to you.

“Okay,” you say and his eyes widen. 

“Really? I thought I was going to have to get on my knees and beg,” he says and you’re not sure if he’s kidding or not.

So you shrug. “You make valid points. Plus, I think Max would like not to be shuffled around so much.”

He grins and leans in to kiss you. “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” you murmur when you pull away and then Max jumps up on the two of you as if he knows a decision has been made and Mat almost falls off the couch but you have never been happier.

tag list: @ilyrafe

[doberbutts]

Out of curiosity, how to you get your dog to target just the padded part of the target, and not like, an unprotected leg? Like, obviously training, but what does that look like at the beginning? Thanks!

So from the very beginning, most dogs are taught to bite on the toy completely separately from being attached to any human. With Fenris, this was a strip of sheepskin (we call it the bunny)

Once he learned the game with the "bunny" darting back and forth for him to chase, he was given a more difficult toy which is mostly a strip of burlap or canvas

And then once he was biting hard enough to not let go when tugging on it to try and get it away from the decoy, he was moved to a pillow tug

This is a little harder to bite, and he needs to actually put real pressure on it to keep it when the decoy tries to take it back. It also teaches him to try to center his bite instead of drift off to one side or the other.

The (leg) sleeve is hard to hold in the same way, so at that point it had to go at least partially over the decoy's arm. By now he's so used to biting the offered toy that he has really no thought about going after the unprotected bits, because he's had a solid year of "hey you see this thing? Bite the thing and not me please".

When switching to the full leg sleeve, the decoy will usually present it to the dog initially in the form of a low kick, so the dog can see and understand where and what to bite. These photos skip a step- that's coming in my queue later- which was the leg sleeve on the leg but no suit pants. This photo is a modified leg sleeve over suit pants, so he can still "win" the sleeve.

The decoy working him in suit pants prefers the pants because sometimes in their excitement to bite the leg, the dogs can go a bit high (Fenris had some trouble with that, see here)

And an uninhibited full mouth dog bite to the knee or lower thigh is, um, unpleasant to say the least, so this decoy prefers to wear pants once the dogs are on leg bites. The first day of this seminar, a malinois that is not yet on pants went a bit high and left some heart-stopping slobber marks just left of the man's genitals. He was in shorts at the time, and apparently wasn't wearing a cup, so there's a discussion of risk to the decoy to be had too.

However, young and inexperienced dogs like Fenris and that malinois need the ability to win, or to tear the sleeve off of the decoy's body and parade around with it a little. You have to understand, for these dogs, biting is the most rewarding thing ever of all time for them. So asking the dog to let go and recall away from the bite can sometimes be interpreted by the dog as a punisher, making it so that either A: the dog no longer bites as well because they are expecting to be called off or B: the dog stops recalling because fuck you biting is fun. Neither of these are good options, so in the interim we've modified a leg sleeve to go over the suit pants so these green dogs can still get their win until they have enough experience to not risk those outcomes.

Obviously, as said, dogs can still miss, which is what the full suit is for. This is the picture the dog sees once it's time to compete.

At that point the only unprotected places are the hands and the head, which the dog should NEVER be targeting in the first place. The decoy also moves in a specific way to present various avenues for the dog to bite in the way the decoy wants the dog to bite, but that's a lesson on decoying that I'm really not qualified to give lol. However, that also means that even if the dog doesn't target the offered places, the decoy is still safe because the suit takes the majority of the bite.

Which means the dog can bite the leg, the arm, the chest, the back, the ass, or yes, even the family jewels themselves and the decoy is still protected. It should be noted that these are a mixture of mondio and French ring, PSA, and actual police dogs being pictured here.

This is also a little different from Schutzhund, now called IGP, in which the dog only ever bites the forearm. This is the only option that the dog is ever presented once the dog progresses similarly off the tugs and straps of cloth and "bunny", and so this is the most padded place on the decoy's body (in IGP they're called helpers). Not to say that no dog tries a snap elsewhere to see what might happen, but it's heavily discouraged.

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Apart from everything else, I think Jamie was pretty damned understimulated at the Dogtrack during his first stint there. He’s come from City, where standards are sky-high and regiments strict, to Richmond, which is, in his own words, tragic. The other players are not up to his level, the legendary captain is checked-out, the first manager middling and the second a rodeo clown, and sure Jamie gets to be the star of the team and he fucking loves that, but he’s also supposed to be learning isn’t he, and he’s… not? Getting a bunch of game time, absolutely, and that’s important, but…

And let’s be clear, Jamie is doing absolutely nothing to improve the sad state of affairs at Richmond; rather, he makes matters considerably worse, with his selfishness and belittling of others – but at the time he isn’t perceptive enough to realize that, and is just pissed that the others are dragging him down, even as he’s thrilled at being the best. And like a lot of gifted kids when they’re not being properly challenged, he gets with the old acting out bit. (And he’s a prick. Like, that is also very much something that’s going on with him at the time. I won’t stand for us brushing that aside, even as we acknowledge that there’s a lot more going on with him even in season 1.)

I don’t think Roy’s really seeing it back then; he’s far too annoyed with Jamie and far too caught up in his depression to pay proper attention to shit like that. But say he travels back in time and gets dumped before Jamie’s shipped back to Manchester… it’d take him, what, three minutes of watching training to figure out that Jamie is bored out of his mind and pissed off about it? And it’d take him another 30 seconds to decide to fuck it, I’m sorting this out, and start coaching Jamie specifically, stepping in to show where and how he can improve and setting a bunch of demanding challenges to make sure the muppet’s properly engaged and working hard. He makes an effort to compliment and encourage Jamie more than the would back in his own time, too, because he understands that he doesn’t really have a proper rapport with this Tartt yet and figures it’s best to build him up while also setting down some very much needed boundaries visavi Jamie’s treatment of others…

If everyone’s surprised by Roy’s behaviour, they’re fucking shellshocked when Jamie, after some initial what-the-fuck-ness, responds positively to the attention, advice and frankly mad stuff Roy has him doing. He’s still a prick, sure, still has issues, but mostly he’s too busy and too exhausted (and let’s be real, too high on having Roy Kent’s undivided attention) to cause too much trouble.

Honestly, Roy is quite surprised himself that things are going so smoothly, but also lowkey furious, because was it really always that easy to sort the little prick out? (Roy’s not giving himself and his own development enough credit here, by the way; it’s reasonably easy for him now, after the work he’s done on himself and the ways he’s grown and gotten to know Jamie, but it wouldn’t have been easy for him then, even if he’d tried.) Then again, it’s not all smooth sailing either, because Jamie is still in his prick era and has not actually agreed to let Roy boss him around, so sometimes he pushes back and Roy had actually forgotten how bloody infuriating Jamie can be when he decides to. But yeah, all in all, it works a treat.

[eskymoos]

Keegan P Russ As a Romantic Partner

Headcannons by Eskimos

I.  A Methodical Maestro with a Playful Twist

It's been confirmed that his personality type is ISTP, which means that his brain is his strongest weapon. He is methodical and very tactful with his language and would always offer a hand to you. Feeling lost? He's always there with a good solution. Feeling sad? He's the guy to ask for advice.

Even if he lacks experience in some fields he's very quick to learn and perfect them so I suppose he'd also be a bit competitive. Keegan doesn't miss an opportunity to beat you to everything you like. All while playing dumb in order to cherish the amazement on your end.

***

''How'd you do that?! Wow!''

''Just luck, I guess,'' he'd say with an indifferent shrug while a childish grin creeps onto his face.

***

II. The Jester of your Heart

Keegan is very reserved but he's a skilled people reader. He would quickly get used to your moods and soon you wouldn't even have to tell him when you're feeling sad. He just steals a glimpse and he already knows what to do.

However, sometimes the cocky side of him comes out in the most inconvenient time and things tend to get more spicy. Whenever you give him the silent treatment for no reason, he begins threading on thin ice with you.

***

''Whatcha want for dinner, sweet pea?''

*Silence.*

''What's wrong, my beautiful?'' He asks, coming closer to you. When you turn the other way to further provoke him, he guides his hands to your hips and presses the weight of his chest to your back.

''Funny little thing. Have you given a vow of silence? I like when we play this game, y'know.''

His hands drop lower and lower and his mouth comes to caress the back of your neck. His hot breath makes your hairs stand.

''Your heart's beating fast.''

III. Under the Hard Scales of His Heart

Independence is Keegan's last name. He never learned how to embrace the art of teamwork, though his job required it. At times he was too disconnected to properly do the job.

In a relatioship he might have some trouble turning to you for assistance. Whenever something is on his mind, he blocks out the world and faces it on his own. He's likely to turn down tips from other people.

Not from you though.

The first time you lent your hand for help, he was quite surprised and even a bit suspicious. It unlocked a part of him he never knew he had. He felt cared for and seen.

In time Keegan learned to trust your word and be less stubborn when you tried to aid him.

IV. Tsunami of Love

That's what he is. A natural disaster. A tornado of energy and a tsunami. Behind closed doors he is much less calm. His love language is mostly acts of service and physical touch but sometimes the two mix together into something even more grand.

If you happen to be struggling under a pile of undone work, he would find the perfect moment to distract you. Before you can even get a word out, he has already picked you up from the chair and carrying you to your room bridal style.

***

''What are you doing, Keegan?!''

He continues to march through the house and whistle proudly. Keegan tosses you onto the bed like you don't weight anything at all.

''Stay here.'' He commands, exiting and closing the door behind him.

In a few minutes time he comes back with your favorite chocolates and a beer for himself.

''I will be your only occupation today.''

***

V. The Kids' Favorite

The way I see it, Keegan would have very specific sense of humor. His jokes can be very sharp and borderline offensive but the moment a kid comes in sight he turns into a soft cinnamon roll.

He has this energy that kids absolutely adore because he's a great listener and adapts to the circumstances easily. There's something about the purity of the young generation that makes him feel protective.

***

One time you saw him play with a small group of children after a difficult operation. He was kneeling down in front of a little girl and his eyes glimmered as she tried to pronounce his name. The child obviously had rhotacism (cannot pronounce the letter r) and he found it quite adorable.

''Keegan Russ. Russ. Can you say it?'' Keegan bit his lip, holding back a chuckle.

''Keegan Hhhus.'' The girl tried to repeat it but failed terribly. Keegan burst out laughing.

''Rrrrrrrr,'' he growled playfully and she giggled at it.

''Grhhhrr!''

''Oh, you're growling at me now? Come here you.'' Keegan extended his arms to trap her in a harmless embrace.

There was something about his love for children that won your heart every time.

***

[middle-earth-press]

Exclusive: Interviews With The Kin And Friends Of Beren Barahirion!

Rian, daughter of Belegund:

- I don't know if there is much I can tell you. He is my cousin of a sort but I was five years old when I last saw him, and what can a child know of a man? He was kind. He paid attention to us when we demanded it — that is already a lot. I —

it sounds stupid, but I remember I saw a mouse run right past me in the barn once, and I was terrified, and he came over and started telling me about animals and what they behave like and what they eat and — I think I wasn't ever afraid of mice anymore after that.

- So he was a good man.

- Was? He's alive. I believe the songs — or what else could I believe? The world is one, after all.

Lady Morwen of Dor-Lómin:

- Do you remember Dorthonion, Lady?

- Everything.

- Everything? You were—

- Twelve. I chose to remember —after. Beren was one of my father's cousins. He was older. We talked once or twice.

- What do you think about your cousin's deeds?

- If half of it is true, then it is certainly more story than one would expect of a lifetime.

- You don't know if it's true?

- Songs are flighty things. My cousin wouldn't like me to say it but it's so. I doubt he's alive. If he was, I'd think he'd have come here.

Irnion son of Lischir and brother to Radhruin:

He taught me swordfighting at one point. He wasn't a half-bad teacher, I think — certainly he was skilled and he could make you understand what you were doing. I liked it... You know, I wanted to stay with my brother, but they said I was too young. I was fourteen — Hathaldir was sixteen. I guess I would have died if I had, but sometimes I still regret I didn't have the choice — not that I'm naive enough to think that sort of life is glorious outside tales —but it's a noble one.

Arthondir son of Eredhir:

It is odd to think that of all my childhood friends it's mostly myself left as the only person to remember them. Beren was always — different. Deeper, somehow. He wouldn't always join on our games... he spent so much time helping his great-aunt, the Wisewoman that we sometimes laughed at him — but when he did... somehow he made them better — more real. And he was the one person who could talk us out of trouble when we got into it — it was never his fault, really, but he never said so.

I remember, for example, the one time we — beat with sticks on Old Arasbor's barn gate, because we were pretending to be the deceased High King and his army arriving in Middle Earth, and Old Arasbor obviously came out in a fury to ask us what we were thinking. And then someone of course has to say — well, we're pretending the barn is Angband, and he's not flattered by the implication — and Beren just talked him down then, said his was the largest and most imposing all round and that's why we chose it — which was true, and Old Arasbor laughs and tells us to run off and that he would give Beren some pastry if his wife had baked any.

And then later, when I broke my hip — it never really healed well, that's why I'm here and not dead, I suppose — he was the person who kept visiting me, even though we weren't the closest of friends. I don't know, he was like that — I'm not saying he couldn't be thoughtless like all children, but he was oddly perceptive of other people.

I think that if any of us were to get into this sort of story it would have to be him — but I'm still surprised at the entirety of it. Everyone, I suppose, is.

Dor-Lómin weekly

[brujahinaskirt]

You know, when it really comes down to it, the main thing that tears me to pieces about Arthur & John is encapsulated so nicely in the trope of the Lonesome Cowboy.

RDR2's storytelling is particularly masterful as it shows us that everyone is the mythic Lonesome Cowboy... but at the same time, I believe it manages to quietly suggest there is one true Lonesome Cowboy of the series.

And it ain't Arthur Morgan.

DEEPLY overwritten explanation below!

On the surface, Arthur is clearly set up by RDR2 to be our Lonesome Cowboy. He even sings the song. But is he really? Really, truly? Or is Arthur's brand of lonesomeness a clever model to help us, through comparison and contrast, begin to notice and understand another, deeper type of loneliness?

Arthur thinks he's unlovable and alone because he lacks one specific type of love, romantic domesticity, which he has dreamed throughout his life and consistently been denied. But though his pain is genuine, the idea that Arthur is alone and unloved is almost laughable. R* shows us every single game day that Arthur is surrounded by people who love him, live with him, and depend upon him.

But that's the great irony of the RDR Lonesome Cowboy, right? Arthur feels lonely and believes he is alone because he is a "bad man" and nonbeliever whom "no one will have" (not even God, and he remains true to his atheism through the bitter end [and thank god for that honestly because the last thing I needed was a Come to Jesus cowboy game...]).

But the inverse is true, and his depression is lying to him; Arthur is almost never alone and pretty much everyone in his family unit actively enjoys his company and wants him around. And yes, many of these people are damaged and have trouble communicating that (though fewer than you'd think). And no, it isn't the same as getting married to one person and raising a family with them for the rest of your life. But lonesome? As in, emotionally and/or physically alone?

Nah! Come on, man! Not even close.

Arthur is more than just loved and needed: he's actually understood by those he chooses to let in, because Arthur is definitely capable of telling his closest confidants how he feels and what is lurking in his heart. We see him do this many times. Sometimes with surprising ease and honesty.

When Arthur is physically alone in RDR2, he's wandering at the player's command, and if he wanders for too long, he's eventually retrieved & lambasted by the people at camp who quite openly/forcefully tell him they missed him and worried about him. Even Low Honor Arthur is a popular man at camp, in his own way, the support beam of his strange family (though LH Arthur is more likely to selectively deny that support, or to provide that support with the caveat of verbal cruelty).

A messy run-down of some obvious examples to illustrate my point:

Despite Dutch's deterioration and manipulations, Dutch and Hosea openly dote on him and relish telling embarrassing family stories about their Big Man Old Guard son to each other. Hosea especially frets about and tries to care for Arthur, mostly physically but sometimes emotionally as well. Susan can be abrasive at best, but she also clearly favors Arthur, thinks often about his well-being, and is one of the primary worriers when he's away from camp for too long.

Abigail and Jack completely rely on Arthur for a significant period of their lives, and though Abigail struggles greatly with showing affection & vulnerability, I would argue her primary and most extraordinary mode of care and affection for Arthur is allowing him to help her raise her son. Sure, she needs the help... but Arthur needs the nuclear family experience of being heavily relied on, too, and Abigail makes it clear she understands that about him better than anybody else. (I'd go on to argue that being relied on in a family way is essential for Arthur's self-esteem and is how he can continue to function despite the massive clash between his true nature and his violent lifestyle, for which he constantly berates himself. But that's neither here nor there...)

The Girls (Tilly, Mary-Beth, Karen) actively worry about his mental health and invite him to share his burdens with them, comfort him (each in their own unique way), play games, dance, etc. They do this for Arthur we don't see them do for anyone else in camp (apart from each other, which leads me to believe Arthur is sort of an honorary member of The Girls, though I won't get too much into that here).

Sadie: "Aside from my [BELOVED HUSBAND AND SOUL MATE] Jake, you're the best man I've known."

Though Arthur seems more likely to trust & befriend women/non-masc men, he has masc men friends & confidants too, and most of the men at camp seem to rank Arthur as somehow more reliable than other members. Charles very obviously loves Arthur & vice versa to the point where I tried to pick one demonstrative example and couldn't figure out where to begin. Uncle is a pain in Arthur's ass, but when shit hits the fan, he knows (and tells him) that Arthur is the best man of them all. Lenny, while young, enjoys Arthur's company (though I would argue Arthur feels more strongly about Lenny than the inverse due to Arthur's tendency to protectively fuss over young people). Hell, Sean constantly tells Arthur, word for word, "I love ya, Arthur Morgan!!! I really do!!! I love ya!!!!" He's being goofy, but he's not joking! He said that!

And that's just a surface-level sampling of gang members. These threads run much, much deeper and we could spend essays analyzing each one, but my god this has gone on too long already.

One could argue that Arthur's story aloneness is at the moment of his death, but I can't quite agree. With Save John + High Honor Arthur path especially, I would argue Arthur has never been less emotionally (even spiritually) alone than when he chose to change the very nature of his death from a random consequence of his hard life to an act of love that gives his surviving core family (John, Abigail, Jack) a chance at happiness. In less peaceful endgame scenarios, Arthur might not actually die alone, or even have time to linger on his approaching departure from the world.

So I posit that Arthur is not, was never the Lonesome Cowboy. Arthur is loved as much as he loves others.

I posit that the true Lonesome Cowboy of RDR is John.

John Marston, who on the surface has everything Arthur ever wanted... but who, due to the nature of his heart and what he's seen, cannot bring himself to fully open up in a way that enables him to be truly understood and embraced by anyone, not even the person he comes to love most in the world (Abigail). There's a reason the epilogue feels so shocking and lonely, and while I do think Rockstar could have done a better job on the transitional cinematics from playing as Arthur to playing as John, that crushing loneliness and sense of discomfort and incompleteness is vital.

It feels awful. It feels like we just lost a limb and were thrown back into everyday life with no fanfare, no true honorable sendoff, no closure, no greater understanding of the world, no peace or contentment. And it feels that way because that discordant, jarring dis-allowance of grief is the ONLY mechanism that helps us feel how John must feel now. Because unlike Arthur, John cannot express or unfold or understand his own pain and loneliness. Not to us, the player, and not even to himself. He never grieves.

Of course, when Sadie and Micah drift back into his life, John snaps. He's never grieved! He's been emotionally alone through all of that, even when he has his family and friends, because he can't open up and let them in! He risks destroying his family in a way that would have undoubtedly caused Arthur extreme horror and anger because John's family is not and has never been a cure for John's loneliness, even though John truly loves them more than anything at the end.

John can't express it, so it's these lyrics themselves that serve as the fount of his grief: I ain't got no brother. No wonder Abigail has her own quiet epilogue rendition of this song (and she, too, is a profoundly Lonesome Cowboy in her way, just like Karen, Hosea, Javier, Jack, etc....). Once Arthur is gone from the world, so too is the only person who knew this deeply damaged kid well enough from his wild childhood to really even hope to see into John's heart.

tl;dr: Arthur thinks he's the legendary Lonesome Cowboy, but he's not. He's just lonely, not alone. In reality, the character who is fundamentally alone, truly lonesome, has always been John.

[misfithive]

What Simon can teach us about boundaries!

Been seeing a lot of Simon hate again lately (mostly on other apps but i’m sure its here too) and it's getting pretty frustrating and honestly a little bit troubling that people think so little of Simon and his needs.

Simon hate feels like some weird connection to the patriarchy/heteronormativity where some people have just decided that it is okay for one person's needs to be ignored in a relationship in order to satisfy the other. Lisa seemed to intentionally try and create a dynamic in their relationship where they see each other as equals. They may struggle to see each others perspectives at times but that is true for literally ANY RELATIONSHIP where two people come together from different walks of life. Both their needs matter and their journey in the relationship is to figure out how to honor the other persons needs while honoring themselves or see if that is even possible.

Sooo I wanted to share some lessons about boundaries that people could learn through Simon instead of talking sh!t about him !!!

1. Boundaries are about what we want and need in a relationship. Sometimes people want different things and thats ok!

People love to say that Simon forced Wilhelm to come out. I even saw someone say that Simon was asking Wilhelm to "give up his family and the throne". No where does Simon ask him to do any of those things. Notice how Simon says "I don't want to be anyones secret"? This is not just about Wille. This is a boundary that he has for himself and the types of relationships that he wants to have. Everyone is allowed to have expectations or want a certain type of relationship. Saying you don’t want to be in a secret relationship is quite a reasonable request. It is also quite reasonable to say that you don't want to be in a public relationship. Sometimes in relationships, what two people need is incompatible at the time which is why it made sense for them to end things. That is the point- for both people to say what they need to feel comfortable and sometimes other people cannot meet your needs- you have to decide if that is a dealbreaker and for Simon at the time it was.

2. Boundaries ≠ manipulation

He tells Wilhelm he take as much time as he needs but you have to do it alone. That is a boundary it is NOT manipulation. He does not try to control Wilhelm or tell Wilhelm what to do. Saying a relationship wont work for you unless certain needs are met or that you dont want to do tons of emotional labor for another person is not manipulation. He is saying I am not okay with being a secret, I am not okay with having my trust broken, i’m not okay with being in a relationship where you say one thing and do another (Wilhelm made a promise he could not keep and even he has owned up to that to Nils). Simon is not saying YOU HAVE TO COME OUT RIGHT NOW OR ELSE. He is not playing mind games or trying to get Wilhelm to change his mind in order to be with him. He is willing to walk away even tho his heart is breaking because he knows it is not possible at that point for Wille and him to get on the same page.

Boundaries have become part of social media language lately thanks to instagram therapists and the like but a lot of people have misconstrued the meaning. Some people call something a boundary when they are actually being controlling. However the purpose of a boundary is about what you yourself are comfortable with, not what other people can/cannot do. Ex: “i am okay with holding hands in public but otherwise I don’t feel comfortable with PDA” (healthy boundary). Vs “you can’t have guy friends because I get jealous” (unhealthy boundary). Boundaries are healthy and necessary for a relationship to be healthy- they are not the same as manipulation or trying to control someone else.

3. What is okay for you does not have to be okay for someone else. Everyone’s boundaries are different because we are all different people with different traumas, needs, experiences, relationships, and limits. I have seen people compare the Wilmon to Narlie where Charlie is okay with Nick wanting to keep things “secret”. Besides the fact that this is a completely different relationship and context, the fun thing about boundaries is that what is okay for you does not have to be okay for someone else! Just because you would have been willing to be Wilhelm’s secret if he asked does not mean that Simon has to. Just because Charlie was willing to to do that for Nick does not mean that Simon has to. Not to mention !!! Nick also acknowledged that is not fair to Charlie and outside of not telling people they had a very loving smooth sailing relationship - people expect Simon to be like Charlie without acknowledging that Wilhelm is not giving the level of trust and security that Nick is. If you want to go there, I'm sure if Wille was acting like Nick being consistent not saying "i'm not like that", "delete my number" etc (regardless of the reason) then maybe Simon would have been more okay with it. This is not Wille hate bc i get it, but sometimes in empathizing with Wille people forget that Simon is a whole human with wants and needs. Simon needs to protect himself and his heart. We all do. Relationships should not require you to subject yourself to pain for someone else. It is healthy to have boundaries and know your needs and what you deserve. And at that point in time Wille could not give him that. Most people watching were quite proud of Simon for that so idk how the narrative got turned to him being selfish.

4. Boundaries can change

It is normal to reassess your boundaries, that does not make them any less valid. Clearly for Simon, once Wilhelm proved his trust more and and Simon reevaluated what he wanted, he decided that he was willing to be a secret if that meant having each other. If he never decided that, it still would have been totally valid. Also noting, there was no compromise/meet in the middle there in Simon deciding that he was willing to be a secret for Wille. It's just funny that Simon is getting the flack for not wanting to "compromise" or meet in the middle when in the end, Simon was willing to do exactly what Wille wanted and he gets ZERO credit from some people for that. Luckily Wilhelm sees what a sacrifice this is for Simon and does not leave Simon to sacrifice alone.

4. Boundaries protect the relationship, build trust and help relationships grow

If Simon had never stood his ground both in s1e6 and throughout s2 Wille would have likely continued the way he was going bc it was comfortable for him and he was understandably scared. They probably would have gotten in even more arguments and honestly i do not think Wille would have been forced to mature and consider Simons feelings in the way he eventually did. I know people resist Edvin calling Wille selfish but Simon has to constantly keep telling Wille “what about me? What about my family? Do you see how hard this is for me?” For some reason viewers are interpreting that as selfish ?? In a relationship you really should not have to be constantly reminding someone to consider you and your feelings.

Simon setting boundaries and saying what he wanted only made their relationship stronger even tho they had to take some time apart. Protecting yourself and wanting a healthy balanced relationship where your needs are considered as much as the other person’s is not selfish. And anyone who tells you that it is does not have your best intentions at heart. Simon is not saying his needs are MORE important than Wille’s he is saying that his needs matter TOO and are EQUALLY IMPORTANT to Wille’s. Which was the journey he needed to go on (as stated by his sister) and the journey that Wille needed to go on as well in order to create a healthy dynamic together.

Setting boundaries is hard but worth it in the end!!!

So yeah! I hope you all set some boundaries today or use this info to argue with simon antis 💖

—————-

Disclaimer// I am not a therapist i just do workshops with teens about healthy relationships and it is a passion of mine.

[astralynx]

I figured out how to rip DOTDD Models and now I'm teaching you! (plus uploading mine)

^ download these things onto your computer devices anytime!

Last summer I spiraled into insanity trying to figure out and eventually gave up so now that I know I'm saving you the trouble! I've also put all of my rips into a drive folder here that contains most of the notable npcs + playable characters but I'm planning on submitting them to modeler's resource when I have the time.

Final disclaimer: i also don't know much about ripping / romhacking / blender / computers in general but I thought it would be nice to put up what I've figured out anyway. I've also never actually written a guide to anything before so uh. i hope this is clear enough. Now finally onto the tutorial itself!

You'll need: tinke / apicula / a dotdd rom (not important if its in english or not but if you want like some of the translated ui elements / fonts you might wanna use a ver w the fantranslation patch) / and (optionally) blender or whatever other 3d modeling software that can read .dae files so you can actually do stuff with these.

First is to launch Tinke and load in your dotdd rom, you'll then be met with this menu. the models are contained under the "mdl" tab

each of these have different things but you'll probably care about mb (major npcs) and pc (player characters) and also mn (familiars). also using this to say that tinke is a. very finnicky program so sometimes stuff will just Not Work. sorry about that. anyway.

Once you're in you can start looking for whatever model (.n3d file) you want, unfortunately the models aren't named clearly so you'll have to open them to see what they are. You can do this by selecting the .n3d file and clicking "unpack" which will open a .bmd0 file with a yellow box icon, you'll need to unpack that file one more time to actually be able to open the file it gives you after that in the viewer / export it

When you get the second unpacking (which should be a .bmd0 file with a mostly green drawing for the icon), you can open it in the viewer and it'll look like this!

sorry any file you open that has a skeleton will look like that. I have been informed that sometimes ds games just store their models like this and it has no affect on the model when its exported so. lets just move on. Also sometimes tinke will give you an error that will stop you from opening the viewer properly but it will (most of the time) let you see the textures fine so you can double check (and even if it doesn't we have a workaround coming up soon)

Next big step is to set up apicula! When you download it, the program can't run by itself. You will need to create two text files, one named "apicula view nsbxx_files" and "apicula convert nsbxx_files -o dae_files" (no quotation marks) to put in the same folder as the apicula exe. You will then rename these .txt files into .bat files and you'll use these to actually "run" the program. You'll also make a folder alongisde those called nsbxx_files. It should look like this at the end

Back to tinke, you'll take the viewable .bmd0 model you want to export and click "extract" and I usually put mine directly into the nsbxx folder in my apicula folder for convenience sake. double clicking the "view" .bat will put the models into a viewer that I like to use as a final double check (and also what you can use if tinke's preview is giving you trouble). Its WASD to move and Q and E to lower / raise the camera

to actually convert the file, double click the "convert" .bat file and it will create a new folder named "dae_files" and inside will be your model and its textures in a .dae folder that you can read in blender and contains its skeleton!

PLEASE NOTE!!!! that apicula can only read / convert one file at a time! this means that it will just use the topmost file in the nsbxx folder and if you'll have to delete the dae folder every time once your done with it so it can run properly again. so just make sure you move your converted files somewhere else before you do. but now you'll have a model to put into blender!

the tutorial is technically "done" now but I'm gonna share how to set up these models in blender (which for the sake of explaining i'm gonna assume you don't know much about). When you first load in the models you'll have to "turn on" their textures using the drop down arrow in the menu on the top right corner of the 3d viewport and turn on these settings (while still selecting the solid circle tab)

Secondly, Many of them use transparent elements in their textures that blender doesn't like to load without some help

you can fix this by expanding the menu on the bottom of the screen and clicking the clock icon to turn it into the "shader editor" tab

Then, you'll select your model and go to the "base color" node in the shader editor, go down to the "alpha" tab and set it to "pre-mutliply" and it should remove the white lines around the transparent elements!

That's all from me! if you have any questions you can reply to this post / send me an ask or dm or whatever and I'll try my best to help! happy ripping!

[pshenyasstuff]

Some sketches of my babies and y/n <3

And maybe I'll add a couple of thoughts about this variation.

cooking together

While cooking together, Karaku and Urogi usually do anything, but not cook. Urogi of course tries to help if he is asked about it, but it turns out badly. At least he tries. Karaku just eats and watches the others do something. Aizetsu and Sekido help y/n cook, but it usually ends up with Sekido getting dirty. Aizetsu is fine as long as he is not allowed to cut the onion, because the baby will then cry even more than usual (0((

Zohakuten does not participate in the cooking because he is still too young, but when he grows up he will be happy to help cook <3

Aizetsu

When Aizetsu has a nightmare or is just sad, he comes to you and cuddles with y/n while she cradles him like a baby. In the end they always fall asleep together 🥹

Don't ask me why but I think Aizetsu would watch Maya the Bee or Pororo. Just don't ask.

He probably wouldn't like games that are too violent, so he'd probably play some kind of peaceful and cute games

I don't know about his hobbies, but I think it would be drawing or jigsaw puzzles🤔

Kill me if he doesn't have a lot of soft toys in his room or he's not a fan of Hello Kitty

His mug would look like this:

Urogi

Urogi is definitely the type of child who jumps on his mother from a running start and hugs her tightly, especially when he misses her

He definitely has a little parrot, you can't convince me otherwise. The parrot has a cute name like "Kiwi"<3

I think we can all agree that he is a big fan of birds, so he would watch any bird documentary or bird cartoon

Bro rarely cleans his room unless he is reminded to clean💀

The most active among his brothers, so his hobbies would be related to sports, I guess

He must have had lice at least once in his life😦

His mug would look like this:

Sekido

Sekido doesn't have much affection for y/n at first, but over time he gets used to her and often holds her hand

I think he's the type of kid who watches horror movies at night thinking he's old enough but then bro can't sleep alone so he comes up to y/n saying things like "Ngh, just Karaku keeps me awake with his snoring 😒" and it doesn't matter that they sleep in different rooms

He's not a big fan of hugs, but he doesn't mind hugging occasionally

He is the oldest among the brothers and he loves to lead them. When y/n can't calm them down, Sekido takes on the role of parent.

He mostly gets mad at Karaku and Urogi. "STOP GIVING TROUBLE TO MOM, IDIOTS!"

I think he would be the only one who drinks coffee with y/n in the morning. His mug would look like this. He doesn't really care which mug to drink from as long as no one touches his mug.

Karaku

Fully enjoys kisses on the forehead and cheeks before bed, and he'll be really upset if y/n ever forget to kiss him.

He has such a soothing voice, so if he reads bedtime stories for his younger brothers, then they immediately fall asleep

Karaku watches horror movies with Sekido, but after just a few minutes of the movie, he looks like "😰"

Bro thinks babies are found in cabbage

I think his hobby would also be related to sports, but besides that, he could collect a herbarium

Maybe the type of kid who steals the parent's clothes

His mug would look like this, don't ask me why:

Zohakuten

He doesn't speak much, but for some reason he swears when his older brothers annoy him💀 how does he know these words..

He likes the company of Sekido, Aizetsu or y/n

He always says "mommy y/n" so adorably <3

I think he would be a fan of dragons and dinosaurs. I think he even has a soft toy dragon that he can't sleep without

As I said earlier, he and Sekido sometimes have violent outbursts where he screams and cries at the same time. After such situations, the poor baby asks for hugs on his own.

For some reason he gets jealous when his brothers try to stop him from hugging y/n. (Bro really looks like "😠")

So I hope you enjoyed this. Sorry if there are typos or anything like that.

[kwamiwayzz]

BroooooI wanted to do the question thiingingintinf that u reblogged ifydm <3

Okaokay so JECKA (My baby) withhh 2,3,5,12,13,16 and 22 (is that too much?? Sry if it is 😭)

Lol it’s no issue, these are actually kinda fun. It took me a bit to come up with some of them:

2. Favorite canon thing

While some people see it as a headcanon, it's referenced in-game that Jecka is book smart (all the AP classes that she takes, and I think she's mentioned to be a straight-A student somewhere, but lol someone correct me if I'm wrong). I just like the idea that she's a secret nerd.

I also like how she has a good head on her shoulders, trying to keep Nicole out of trouble, despite her own problematic issues (letting Nicole get away with some things as long as it doesn't affect her).

3. Least favorite canon thing

Her in-game art sprite, excluding the promo art for Flip Side--that art made her look so good that I forgot her game was a flop.

I'm sure other people have noticed it too, but it's not just Jecka's sprite art I dislike, it's all the female characters. Their chests look too big to a point where it feels like the creator sexualizes them. But I guess that's not surprising coming from someone who projects himself onto Jeffery.

5. First song that comes to mind

I actually don't have a song that comes to mind that makes me think of Jecka, but if I did, I'd probably say maybe a few R&B songs (mostly because of Flip Side's intro song).

12. Headcanon for this character

I have quite a few, but some are headcanons that the general fandom has had:

Has anger issues stemmed from her tumultuous home life (learned from her dad)

Neurotic and probably a control freak over a lot of things in her life, which can be seen from how she reacts to things going wrong (Nicole getting shot, breaking down in front of the school therapist about her dad's abuse and side job stepping on men for money, dating Mr. Katz just so she could get an A in the class)

More toned and works out a lot compared to Nicole's noodley body

Her form of self-harm is typically overworking herself to keep herself from overthinking

Constantly thinking about the future (and things hopefully getting better after high school) keeps her from giving into her depression

13. Emoji

Sometimes I think of this one 💅when it comes to Jecka. But I think she probably uses this one 😘 ironically at first when texting Nicole.

16. Least favorite ship for this character

I was going to mention a femslash ship, but it's already super niche and rare anyway that there's no need to even bring it up. I don't really dislike it, but I'm just not invested all too much in the other character Jecka is shipped with.

Other than that, all the men in the game.

22. Like/Dislike from fic

I don't think I've come across it, but I'm not really the biggest fan of when a fic makes Jecka out to be the "good guy" or morally better than Nicole, which isn't a high bar when we're thinking of the games. She can be pretty naive and let morally corrupt things happen (White Pride Ending from the first game) even if it's not to the same extent as Nicole. I mostly bring this up because I've seen some YouTube comments make Jecka to be a completely flawless person (again, in comparison to Nicole).

Things I do like in fic is when more of her character is expanded upon with what little we got in the first two games (actually, throw in Flip Side too because that game barely went much about Jecka's character).

As much as Flip Side was a flop, there was a comment in one of the gameplay videos that mentioned how Jecka seems to have a shorter temper than Nicole (immediately yelling at Crispin to tell him to fuck off). It made me think of wanting to see more fics that expand on Jecka turning out to be just like her dad even if she doesn't mean to.

[taodpa]

THE CHARACTERS

A quick intro to the members of the DPA! (in our show)

Black Hole (voiced by Sohl501) - Black Hole is the main character of the show (adoptive father of Lightning) and the founder of Death PACT Again. He wants to make the company a bit more heard of and more popular. Black Hole is a calm, clairvoyant and omniscient wise individual that cares about the lives and safety of their fellow objects, but he wants Death PACT Again (his company) to become bigger but not for money just so more objects can start using them for life saving tips. But he does tend to be a bit stubborn at times which can end up making decisions that cause them to get in trouble a lot but he still does care about his company and his employees and just wants his company to succeed.

Liam/Lightning (voiced by Bapple) - Lightning is the 18 year old adoptive son of Black Hole. He is into playing video games (his favorites include Bullet Toes (a parody of Goldeneye and Call of Duty), Mothertruckers, Sunrise of the Unalived and Rapper’s Delight) which are games he streams on the internet. He is also into skateboarding and drawing and he’s a fan of hip-hop and rock and roll artists. He isn’t the brightest tool in the shed as he tends to be dimwitted (but not on Mark’s level of dimwit) more like he’s not bright, he tends to be a bit embarrassed by Black Hole (aka his dad) because well Black Hole is out of touch with his generation, but he still cares about his dad/boss and still wants to help him out. He is the in the middle of the spectrum of being an outsider extrovert and a chronically online femboy twink

Fanny (voiced by Big Ziti) - Fanny is the assistant manager/best friend of Black Hole. Contrasted to Black Hole’s chill and collected personality, Fanny is more of a temperamental and hot-headed individual. She tends to get angry at people for sometimes good reasons or sometimes bad reasons. She’s not like violently angry but more like strict angry (she still can hit people if angered). She can also be kinda grumpy at times, like demanding and sometimes moody. Fanny also is insecure about her lack of arms, since she feels like a freak because everyone else doesn’t have them. Fanny also has a nice side to her as she cares about Black Hole and wants to look out for him so he doesn’t get into trouble

Trevor/Tree (voiced by Tokei) - Trevor is the scientist and smart one of the group. Trevor is bisexual and he has a slight crush on Black Hole (ooOOOOoooh). Trevor is quite serious, uptight and deadpan. He plays the straight man into situations and the antics of certain characters. He also seems to be quite stingy at times and deeply cares about his items. He does seem to have more of a sillier and mischievous side.

Remote (we got the same voice actor from BFDI to reprise her role as Remote) - Remote is an invention of Trevor. She is presented as a transforming robot that can transform into an object or an animal. She has this eager, optimistic and outgoing perspective of life and wants to cherish it even if she’s a robot. 

Mark/Marker (voiced by BendyFan Animations) - Mark is the intern of Death PACT Again. He doesn’t seem to really do much outside of just cleaning up the places or just learning about the field. He is the dimwitted, dumbass stoner type character as he tends to get high off of weed and tends to drink a lot of beer, so like he clearly has unhealthy habits. Due to him being high a lot, he seems to have quite an interest towards dirt, like he’ll talk about dirt and find ways to insert dirt into an conservation, to the point where his high ass eats the dirt (he also tends to eat other inedible/disgusting combos of foods but he mostly eats dirt because he likes dirt)

Priscilla/Pie (voiced by AzureBlue) - Priscilla is the secretary of Death PACT Again. She is the fashionista of the group. Priscilla is the rudest, snobbiest, bitchiest, judgemental, dickish, moody, snootiest and did we say bitchiest of the team. She only cares about her beauty and looks and hates doing the job.

Now i want you to be nice to them… cmon cmon! don't be shy

[spaceorphan18]

The Rogue and Gambit Project: The Basketball Game (X-Men #4)

Alright! Here we are! That pivotal moment we've all been waiting for! The introduction of Omega Red.... Wait, no, that's not why you guys are here? You don't want me to dissect another Wolverine story that digs into the seemingly never ending well of his past? You aren't really interested in the creepy twins that make up Fenris? And you don't really care all that much about what's going on with Moira?

I mean, fine, if you'd rather I get into all the other boring stuff going on in the issue... ;)

Today we're going to test the limits of how much of an issue Marvel will let me repost without getting in some kind of trouble....

X-Men #4 Ladies and Gentlemen....

I believe I said this previously, but one of the best parts of X-Men comics is really the soap opera shenanigans that go on in-between all the big villains. The inner personal relationships that happen among the X-Men are really the best, and often the most delicious part of the comics. I honestly think fans would be entirely happy if we got full issues of them just playing basketball, or baseball, or hanging out at Harry's Hideaway, or getting therapy.... Because these personalities are so much fun and play off each other so well that sometimes they are far better than the endless 'save the world' story lines we often get because - apparently - all published fiction needs a plot to hang on.

But I digress. It's a post-Claremont world now, and all bets are off. It's kind of interesting that - despite Gambit and Storm's initial friendship, the two X-Men Gambit has been spending the most time with lately are Wolverine and Jubilee. There's no surprise, really, that Wolverine and Gambit have an antagonistic relationship. Jubilee, however, due to her relationship with Wolverine, has been somewhat of a sass master towards Gambit as well. Except now we have Jubilee on the same team as Gambit, which, turns the dynamic a little on its head. And it's a delight.

And then we throw Rogue into the mix. How did this game even get started anyway? My guess - Jubilee wanted to play and taunting and teasing of some sort got the four of them paired off as they are. I kind of love that not only is Gambit goading Wolverine about relaxing, but Jubilee is, too.

Remember when I said Gambit spends most of his non-uniform time half naked? Continuity! ;)

Wolverine is not the only one who needs to relax. Rogue is wound tight - and I really doubt it's about wanting to adhere to a non-powered game of basketball.

All that skin and sweat? The girl's got some pent up needs that haven't been met during the entire previous decade. Probably time to rectify that.

I love Jubilee's commentary, she is so obnoxiously sassy, and I love it. Also, I kind of love that they are taking the time to set up Gambit's athletic skill.

Btw, I love the kind of smirk he gives Rogue as he easily tosses the ball over her head. He's having fun. Is she having fun? Hard to say - mostly she just wants to win. And Gambit is most definitely getting under her skin. The hilarity coming from Jubilee isn't helping.

Is this a good time to bring up the whole -- he's playing games and messing around with her and she takes things seriously part of their whole story? Is this entire game just a metaphor for the early part of their relationship?

I mean - you can read into it as deeply as you like! I have a feeling the writers didn't think think that hard about it - and this is merely just a way to show off all of their skills. But it definitely can be interpreted that way. I mean, what are we even doing here if we can't extrapolate intended and non-intended things from the text?

Of course, this is an X-Men story, so we can't go too long without the usage of powers. Everything is going to get thrown up a notch. Is Gambit using his powers of agility? Well, idk how he couldn't be using them since it's a natural thing.

But man, does Rogue hate losing or what? The escalation of this whole thing goes from 0 to 100 like that.

Jubilee lowering her glasses kills me every time.

I do think Gambit was just taking it easy and playing around at the beginning of this. I think he liked getting Jubilee on his side and cheering him on. He liked driving Wolverine crazy. And more than anything, getting under Rogue's skin is a challenge he really seems to take pleasure in.

But Rogue did take it up a notch, so Gambit does what he always does - and ups the ante.

It's interesting - I think if we hadn't had the little bit of flirting in X-Men #3, this whole thing may read a little differently (up until this point). But I think we're at the point where it's clear that they physical one-upmanship is masking the sexual tension.

I mean, their screwing around literally blows a hole through the mansion wall. Idk why, but this always has me dying, too. There's some very serious stuff going on with Moira - meanwhile Rogue and Gambit are at the playground throwing dirt at each other because they like each other.

No, but here's one of the things I like about them. It was all fun and games, and then Rogue did throw the first punch. And then Gambit pushed back. There's going to be a lot of shifts in power dynamics as we go through this, but the thing is, they don't really back down from each other. For better or for worse.

Ah, the infamous panel!

You saw how angry Rogue was just a second before, and then Gambit scoops her up in his arms and starts spouting all this romantic stuff she's longed to hear and for a moment, she's just kind of gone.

Btw, I love the details of this panel. The mansion is in ruins. Cyclops is like, uh, dude, you may want to throw some cold water on yourself. Jubilee, child that she still is, is like - ew bleck, they're gonna kiss now.

I love it!

I love that Gambit does not care that there is an audience (in fact - he may thrive on it), he's getting under Rogue's skin and it's worth all the fooling around. Meanwhile, Rogue maybe not really realize it yet - but she's getting someone who is not running the other direction due to her powers.

Plus, look, they're both just attracted to each other. And sometimes that fact is just fact.

I realize the above panel is the more famous one, but these ones. Man, they get me every time.

The first panel - Rogue just lets herself go with it. The second panel, though. That's a smirk. Rogue is 100% smirking because in that moment she is happy she is in the exact position she's in. And for that half second, she's enjoying it.

Which leads to an interesting thought experiment -- what if Rogue didn't have the powers she has. Would this whole thing end in a real kiss? (The answer is yes - some fucking around would have surely been had!) Would their relationship be as deep and real if they could act on their physical attraction? Would they have developed the good friendship they get over the years if there wasn't that initial barrier there?

Hard to say, but I think the story becomes richer having to work around her powers.

And.... we're back to the status quo as Rogue does have a skin condition that sucks the life out of everyone she touches. It's no longer a game, but the reality she has to face every day.

Also - I do kind of love she knocks him sideways. He does deserve being knocked down a peg every once and a while. Good for his humility.

The basketball game is now over, but I do think this is the real beginning of Gambit trying to win over Rogue's heart -- and yes, I think at first, it's merely for the sake of the challenge of it. I don't think he takes in account that he's going to change his own heart as we go along.

Just for completion's sake -- here's the last little bit of this part of the subplot. I do roll my eyes at the fact that Wolverine always has to come out looking the coolest. But it works for a nice tag to this particular scene.

So.... later...

Now, how did we get from the basketball game to what looks like a date? Especially since when last we saw Rogue was knocking him sideways? SHAMELESS PLUG TIME - I WROTE A FIC ABOUT IT. Or, you know, come up with your own headcanons. ;)

Of course Gambit rides a motorcycle - because this is the 90s, and this is the height of cool, lol.

I love Rogue in this moment. I love that she's owning him here. She knows she looks good. She knows she wants to go out and have a good time. She may even know she wants to have a good time with /him/ but won't think too much about that -- and instead enjoy the possibility of her own happiness first. Having an attractive man at her side is just a bonus. Go get it, girl!

This is why I love X-Men. Because they are such a family dynamic. Everyone is getting into everyone else's business. Jubilee is the younger sister just wanting to hang out with her ridiculous, cool older brother. Wolverine is that watchful, old uncle. Beast is the next door neighbor who doesn't care that he's butting in, he's just there for a good time. I love all of it! And I do love that there is a tad bit of protectiveness for Rogue. Gambit is still new to this dynamic (not that Rogue and Beast have spent any time together, lol).

The point is that they all love each other like family, and I adore that.

I love that Gambit just is not here for that family dynamic. This is almost a sitcommy moment, and it's delicious. I also love that Rogue is completely on board with this whole date aspect. Sure, her friends will be there, too. But she's not opposed to Gambit whisking her away for who knows what. Maybe she'll get that candlelight dinner and champagne and a little lite romance he's promised her.

I love Jubilee pouting! It also makes me wonder if he's already taken Jubilee out for a spin for the fun of it. He would.

So, her line is fascinating because there are different ways you can read it. Skeptical that he could actually out maneuver Beast. Or hopeful that he will. Read it any way you like! But the smile on her face says she won't be unhappy to lose her friends.

And BAM! Hit by the plot!

Stupid plot.

It's funny, because his first thought is to see if she's okay. Of course she is, she's invulnerable and she can take the hit. But I honestly think that in that moment, he is concerned for her. There is a bit of genuine care there -- even if she is quick to dismiss it.

And... as Omega Red inserts himself into our fun loving drama, the issue ends, with Rogue and Gambit tied up (and eventually in chains) which is going to become the norm for them, so get used to it. ;)

Honestly, I love this issue - and it's such a fun way to start their story. And I had forgotten that at least half of the issue is comprised of Rogue and Gambit development.

Shame we have to stop the development to get into the Omega Red arc that will take up the next few issues...

[myshiptrashcan]

Director's cut of ⭐At His Side⭐ plleeaaasseee

I love how flushed out this au is. Which always begs the question, is there anything you wanted to add in and didnt get the chance? Or anything that you unfortunately had to cut bc it didnt fit?

Hmmm. I did think about what the main story would be like if they were wing people. If they fell in the earth, then why not fly out? I figured the battle would keep one from flying not wanting their wings to get shot.

Like Merwin getting stuck in the wire and his wings are fucked. Keeping most of the characters grounded is causing me to really think. Like when Rachel fell why not fly? Were her wings slightly hurt causing Eric and her to use climbing gear instead. Obviously they need space for their wings to fly as well.

I did want to talk about Zain and Jason relating to each other more on how they feel about their wings and their parents . But instead I only made it a conversation they had that Salim heard as he woke up in little pieces. How Zain hates that he looks like his mother, his face and his wings and wishing with all of him to be like his father that he just adores. And if course Jason pointing out just how much alike Zain is to his father.

Sometimes it feels like they don't even have wings in this story. I honestly would have liked to draw better things for the story just to flesh everything out more. This world is built mostly the same as our own. I did mention things like proper baths and beds are something you have to pay more for. Bird baths and nests.

I actually added a few things to the story than I had intended. Like Jason being a Star trek fan. Which I have a wing au for as well lol.

I did want some kind of interaction between other strangers, them looking at Jason and Salim and perhaps causing some sort of trouble.

I did do more research than what was necessary for a fanfiction. Hours worth of studying for like a paragraph of words.

Also while Jason's military contract is probably the second shortest you can pick, he does have to go into base. Not sure if marines have drill, as my knowledge comes from my mom being in the Army national guard. But light military work is something Jason still has to do. Also also, maybe one or both of them finding a kind of job to do. Not wanting idle hands.

Wish I would have mentioned their nightmares a little more. It's the reason they're sleeping in the same bed together after all. Idk.

I didn't really want their relationship to be so focused on physical attraction but I did put some in there a little bit. Wanted to make their love feel a little deeper.

Jason has more stuff going on internally in ways of conflict and misbeliefs, while Salim's has more to do with perceived rejection of love while at the same time dealing with the trauma and shame of having his wings forceful clipped on top of the shared trauma of the temple.

Zain felt like a fun character to write for the first time, considering how little we know of him in game. I had hoped to get across how much he connected Jason with his mom. Even though he knew that Jason was not in fact his mother. Human brains are funny like that.

I do think Jason's father was interesting for me. Because while at first Jason saw only the bad, Jason's father did have many moments in his life where they actually cared and loved each other. Jason having happy memories with someone who at the same time hurt him so much is interesting to me. Idk. For as much as Jason resents his father he still loves him and still has this need for his approval, idk.

Oh and how I wanted to call Nick, Eric and Rachels new relationship the three kings even though I don't think they all can marry. Them three were all dating for sure. I did keep Rachel a bitch though in this. So she didn't really care for Salim in this story. Eric being a romantic legit thought that Jason and Salim were a thing and because he wanted them to succeed he did try his best to help Salim out too.

Jason's friends legit thought that they were a bonded pair. And although Salim didn't really lie about Habibi, Jason eventually used it as a affectionate term on his own. Which is how the word is used anyway. He felt like it was his little cheat at calling Salim darlin'. Which is funny because he was.

As it is. I always actually quite satisfied with the story and for the most part wrote everything that needed to be written. But I think that's all, at least all I can think of at the moment.

Thank you for the ask!!!