#some of this may be inaccurate

[sleeplesslark]

I'm curious: is there something you can share for question number 5 of the author ask game? 😊

Thank you for the ask!

5. Can you share something from researching for a fic?

I don't research a lot for fics besides going back to canon to fact check myself and ensure I'm at least sort of in the character's voice. It's just not something I typically find interesting and I try to keep my fics as something of a hobby, whereas research and fact checking is harder for me.

That being said, I have done extra reading.

Tw for snakes and images/discussion of snake attacks and threat displays.

Idk if I'd call it research since its kinda what I do anyway, but I've spent nights awake on snake Wikipedia and snake reddit and sometimes snake YouTube learning about them because Misumi likes them and Kabuto had a snake summon.

I've learned that there are a few kinds of venomous snakes, elapidae which according to Wikipedia have fangs that don't retract, think black mamba or a king cobra (this seems to be what Orochimaru’s summons are? You might have a better guess than me but they are NOT boas, sorry English dub), Viperidae, and Atractaspididae. I focused mostly on the first group as well as constrictor snakes like pythons and boas.

The threat display of Kabuto's white summon snake in LP is based on a black mamba, in the prison cell chapter it has the same mouth open, s-shape, posture iirc, but it shares little else with that species. I feel like summons have to kind of be their own thing, sharing traits with but separate from conventional snake species.

I'm not expert on them but from what I saw reticulated pythons caught my eye as a Misumi sort of snake. They're the only constrictor that's known to consume people (very very rarely), but they can also be kept as pets (this is not advisable as they have specific care needs few can meet)! They're gorgeous but giant, there's a youtube video of someone interacting with a friend's pet and it was a struggle for them to get it out of the box. Not as big as the biggest constrictors but plenty large. From what I gather they do sometimes attack their handlers if not properly handled, the main method for training them I saw discussed is tap training? Basically to signal to the snake when it's feeding time vs time for handling. I've heard toothpaste is a method to get them off if they latch on (they don't like the smell?) but you mostly would need a second person to untangle the snake. I love them deeply and truly, absolutely beautiful animal.

Despite this I do not own snakes and unlike Sasuke I'm not a snake expert so I try to keep discussion of them to a minimum. What I show of the handling is very subject to errors because for all the research I can do I'm not someone who has the experience to actually confirm any of what I read. Very happy to be corrected when I get things about snake care wrong, especially with how demonized snakes are. It's a line of not wanting to downplay it when they can be a threat and need to be properly cared for but also not making them sound like they hunt people for sport and pleasure.

Some sources but not an exhaustive list as I didn't want to go hunting down specific reddit posts for this, and a lot of it is wikipedia:

This is the pet reticulated python video, I also used one of a snake in captivity at a zoo to see how handlers interact with them but it shows a snake consuming something (that is already dead) and is easily searchable so I won't share it:

This is kinda sorta what the mambas threat display looks like (that I know of (first image)) but I didn't want to find a video of it doing the display since I didn't want to show a distressed snake.

This is the ask game if anyone else would like to ask me something

[bonus-links]

WOO, finally got this ref chart together! the art's actually kinda old by now (I started this back in february) but I didn't feel like redrawing everything outside outfit changes sooooo,,,,,my apologies 😅 here's the main cast! you can find individual refs in this masterpost

[jackdawsdrawings]

Drawings for some of the songs in HNOC, will do the last 3 once i can figure out what I even want them to look like :D

[gochistica]

would love to hear more of your thoughts behind the dapduo art

i saw ur tags on ittttt >:3c

Okay sooo, this is the one I put more thought into!

YOU DEPEND ON ME!! But actually i depend on you

I wanted to show that Quackity was trying to force Charlie into depending on him BECAUSE Quackity was the one who was dependent on the other, the perception he has of himself dependent whether Charlie needed him or followed him, that's why the figure of quackity is blurring away BUT the parts of him that are behind Charlie stays stable and firm, for Charlie is the meaning of all his hard work, his pain, his sorrow, his GREATEST CREATION, he is meant to keep his Legacy alive and follow his footsteps. He gives him a role, a model role, HE IS THE LEADER, HE IS IN CHARGE, HE'S IN CONTROL all of this when he is with Charlie.

But more than that, he has his HUMANITY, Quackity teached Charlie how to be human in a time when he himself was losing it. They created a bond and made company to each other, that was the time when they were dependent on each other, so when he losed Charlie, he tried to recreate their bond artificially (the slime clones)

That's why Quackity is desperately trying to get Charlie's heart to fill his empty one, to has his humanity be returned to him, his wonder, his naivety, to the time when his heart wasn't burned.

Their paths divided, and that's where Charlie find himself through all the parts that weren't him, but Quackity's.

That's why his lines are firm, they don't blur like Quackity, he doesn't depend on him and will never no more, but still, the parts of him that touches quackity are melting away, as his old friend tries to force their bodies into one cause he needs it to not get lose into nothingness

The red at their knees is meant to represent the lava when Quackity first loses Charlie (as well as the scars in his arms from burning) I like to think he got stuck in that moment, that feeling of fear of losing, always present.

The red spiral that ends in their faces is the desire of not being only Quackity, not only Charlie, but the eternal fusion of both.

Resumed, Charlie doesn't depend on Quackity anymore, but Quackity does depend on Charlie, so he tries to convince Charlie that he needs him too (you depend on ME) without acknowledging him own dependence :D

[mymalevolenthyperfixationpit]

“Surely you can’t expect me to climb a 30ft pole and take the already loose eye out of a dead man’s skull!” -the guy who scaled a vertical shaft dozens of feet tall, shimmied around the exterior of the nth floor of a mansion on a cliff during a storm, has survived an elevator drop from inside a hotel to the bottom of a massive underground cavern, stumbling into an eldritch meat pit in the bowels of another world, and being thrown down a mineshaft, and has killed “I don’t know, seven?” people, two of which by shoving his thumbs through their eyeballs.

Y’all will do fuck all for Yorick smh.

[oxymoronicmoron]

[Sleep | Nosramus/GN!Reader]

Rest hardly comes to a person when their thoughts are filled with yearning. Seeking one’s touch, seeking one’s company, it makes the act of falling asleep that much harder. So in a time of need, the only person who you could consult regarding this matter in the dungeon you found yourself in, was the very person you had been yearning for. The only space which you could truly call “safe.” Though your footing may have been quiet, your presence still caught the trained eye of the silver-haired alchemist, and as you stood by his room’s doorframe, he turned his head to face you. Upon seeing you, a smile made its way onto his visage. “Oh, what a pleasant surprise.” Voice as smooth as you remembered it, the cozy energy he emitted strong as ever. It didn’t come to you as much of a surprise, though. After all, it had only been a couple of hours since you two last interacted, it’d be more shocking had you forgotten about it, than it is to remember. “Did you leave something behind?” With a shake of your head, you negated his statement. You had to come up with a reason as to why you came here, something besides “I wanted to see you,” though it hurt your brain to think about for too long. “...I don’t feel entirely comfortable sleeping alone. Not while I’m down here, anyway.” A rational sentiment, judging by the horrors you faced every corner you turned. You hoped he’d accept your reasoning as a valid excuse to be here. Hoped that he wouldn’t push the subject further. And to your delight, he did just that. “Very well. You may use my bed, if you so wish.” “Could you please join me?” You spoke before you fully thought it through, but even with the silence that followed, you didn’t regret your words. And eventually, after sensing the sincerity of your request, he let out a soft chuckle. He was taken aback, sure, but he wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea. Especially not now that he had lost the companion that once guarded him. His chuckle warmed your heart every time you had the pleasure of hearing it, and it almost made your stay in the dungeons worth it. You wished for nothing more than to coax that sweet sound out of him every chance you were given. With a wave of his hand, he invited you to enter his room, and you did so without any semblance of hesitation. You’d do anything if he were the one to request it. Now, however, was not the time to think about that. You had earned a small victory, and in the moment that was all that mattered. Nosramus brought a hand to your lower back, and though the touch was feather-light, it still aroused thoughts in you which you could live without. You entered the bed first, and though that meant that in the case of an emergency you’d have difficulty escaping, you trusted the safety of the room enough to calm your anxiety. That, and your reluctance to doubt Nosramus’ guidance in fear of him retracting his offer, dissuaded you from requesting a change in the assigned sleeping positions. You were quick to scoot over to him, seeking his embrace. Your desire for it was what brought you here in the first place. And though he may not have been the warmest person you had ever come in contact with, the chill of his skin remained comforting. As was his scent. And the weight of his arm as it wrapped around you in an almost protective manner. Finally, you had found a place you considered safe enough, a presence you considered comforting enough. One that even in the worst of places could bring a smile to your face And with the sound of crackling fire, and the steady breathing of your friend You were lulled into a deep sleep. – 658 words “There’s no bed in the level 5 mines lab” let me dream!!! also this is not beta-read i'm gonna go hibernate again

[greaysharkboi]

✨️ The bodie effect ✨️

Yay anyways some of the art belongs to obsidian lantern and @rozeliyawashereyall :)

Bodie belongs to: @capitalmaudios

Marco belongs to: @dayspriteofficial and @magebunkshelf

Timmy belongs to: @obsidian-lantern

Also featuring: rolden, Warren, my oc Ace, and the other hunters (Tbh can't remember their names)

[sunkissedliterarylightofchrist]

sorry if this is dumb, but uh… what is the context of meme you made about being a menace and something called Keepers im SO confused 😅😭

Oh!! Not dumb don’t worry!!!

Very very long story short, the two geniuses @masterfuldoodler and @meadow-roses are working together on the most epic giant story ever ( @wednesday-chicken is the archive for it GO LOOK) about redemption and friendship and goodness and sacrifice and working through the struggle and pain for the ultimate good— Christ! I’m SO obsessed with it you have no idea 😂

Two of my favorite characters of August's are Vinni and Rhyin! Best friends who are doomed lovers and go through so much tragedy and angst it causes me immense pain eep. I got insanely attached to them individually as well as a pair before learning about all the stuff they go through, and that made everything better and worse lol.

Then through months of fangirling over them and lovingly annoying August, she said that just for me she was trying to think up a love confession for them and how to make them have a happy ending. (I believe) she’d been teetering between having their story end in tragedy as well and for it to be Very Sad, and solving the tragic problems that broke Vinni (I’ll let you figure out what that means if you wish muehehe) in the first place so they could come back together.

Because of my hardcore shipping she’s decided that no matter how much they go through their story will have a happy ending because I got so invested yippie! So that’s the whole ‘I’m a menace’ joke. I convinced her to let her best ship actually be a endgame ship muahahah

[galacticsabc]

friend of mine is making me watch Star Trek tng and I've been enjoying it so much that I've accidentally opened the can of worms of "haha what if i made a star trek au for some worldbuilding characters" and also made other friends join in.

we're just going wild with it. Our characters have like, adapted backstories, there's even a tiefling planet in there somewhere.

Beetle is @cyaniderooftops 's idiot.

[smile-files]

using modern technology, our leading art historians managed to recreate this relic, a double-sided illustration dated to around 2010 CE; with further study, we may determine the significance of the depicted figures to the culture at the time

[shepscapades]

I realized that we don't know when the events of the song sequence occur in the story. It could be Xisuma, either because of his helmet or he got a scar because his helmet broke. Or it could be someone else who got a scar later on. Hmmm.

. (thoughts in tags!)

[deservedgrace]

i try to be quiet about this and just let people enjoy things but holy shit i wish people weren't so evangelical about astrology. and part of what makes it so frustrating is that it's something i want to like and have put effort into trying to like it because it's honestly really interesting to me as a concept. i'm not the most knowledgeable about it, but i know more than a layperson knows about it.

i call it evangelical because i see so many parallels between the way some people interact with astrology and evangelical christianity. the big ones are, if it doesn't make sense or work out for you it's because of a flaw within yourself, never the system (you have to read the bible in this way, with this context, with this interpretation, you have to pray to god to open your heart, did you actually read with an open heart? -> you have to look at your rising sign, you have to check if you have any stelliums, you have to have an accurate birth time, are you sure it's accurate? have you actually seen your birth certificate?), overly identifying with things as an excuse not to take accountability or grow (i'm just a sinner & i'll always be a sinner -> i'm toxic bc i'm a gemini tee hee), and a refusal to accept that they might be wrong or that it might not work out for everybody (everybody outside the church is evil and led by satan -> "that's such a capricorn thing to do!" "i lied about my sign i'm a libra" "oh my god that's such a libra thing to do with your indecisiveness!").

and obviously, they're different levels of harm and impact how widespread it is within communities, which is partially why i try to just shut up about it. but fuckin hell, some of y'all make it really difficult lmao.

[infectedyke]

mike approaches conversations with el the same way a parent approaches conversations with their angsty teenager

[meli-meliai]

When Seth was a child, he wanted to know about everything.

How humans had first came to be, who the mysterious God that his parents so often whispered about on nights when they didn’t think that he was awake, why his mother always flinched whenever she caught even a fleeting glimpse of a snake. Why his father went out of his way to hunt down every snake he saw. Who decided that the trees and grass should be the same color in vaguely different shades.

It wasn’t just mere, childish curiosity, either. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable. But books weren’t invented yet when he was young; so instead he focused on listening to as many stories as he could.

His beloved mother, though an eternal burden weighs upon her shoulders, took it upon herself to weave the young world’s very first stories. Before the Son of the Lord had walked upon the Earth, gentle Eve held her son in tired arms and spun tales that no one but him would ever hear, parables of virtue and morality, her melodic voice floating in the cool, nighttime winds whistling past the orchards that could never compare to the Garden of Eden. Though she was exhausted-a feeling that she could never quite get used to, no matter how many times she has experienced it- she had never failed to scoop her son into her arms and hold him close as she spins another new story out of thin air.

“My son, have I ever told you about the angels who fell from eternal paradise?”

”No, you haven’t! Tell me!”

”Of course, of course…but before I tell you, do you know WHY they fell from paradise?”

“I can’t know ANYTHING if you don’t tell me! Why did they fall?”

”…I don’t quite know either! But… I might have a guess.”

”What is it, mom?”

”…”

Eve still had dreams-or rather, nightmares- of the beautiful angel who held out the tantalizing red apple out to her- his soft, sultry voice promising her an eternity of knowledge and a vast sea of answers. On some nights, she woke up shivering, swearing that she had felt a feathery wing envelope her back and raise her up, up, up… to a light so bright that she felt as though she might burn if she rose any further Funnily enough, though, it wasn’t his beauty that she remembered. That part was wispy around the edges, blurred and faded like a memory of the wind.

No. It was the promise. Of freedom, of knowing. For what is life without the crisp, sweet satisfaction and reward? What is humanity without automity?

Sometimes the taste of forbidden fruit lingers on her tongue, the crisp sweetness unlike anything she had ever experienced. Yellow-gold snake eyes watched her as she bit into the crisp flesh, and a part of her wanted to kiss it. To thank it for giving her a choice, the freedom, the knowledge that she could make decisions by herself.

Knowledge was a beautiful thing, for if she hadn’t eaten the fruit, she wouldn’t have seen the way the snake’s eyes softened in turn. And for a moment, she could see an angel behind it.

Then she and her Adam were promptly kicked out of Eden.

Her Adam…

”Mom! Are you okay??”

”…Oh! I’m so sorry, Seth. I was just… lost in thought.”

”About what?”

”Nothing, don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter now, anyway.”

Seth looks so much like his father, but also…so much like him. The fallen angel that she never had a chance to understand.

“…Mom?”

”Hm? What is it, my son? Are you tired? I can put up your bedroll…”

”No! I just wanted to ask, how did you come to love Father? He’s so…”

Frigid. Bitter. Demanding.

She couldn’t imagine a day where she wasn’t in love with Adam.

“I was created for him, Seth. I was born to love him.”

”Yeah… but what about him? Do you think that he loves you back the same way?”

Eve wasn’t sure. Before the fruit, before she got them both thrown out of Eden, she had never questioned her purpose or place in Adam’s life.She was literally created from his bones, shaped to be perfect and his love, his constant companion. But… he had another one, didn’t he? Before her. She never learned the woman’s name, but Eve wonders if she left because of the same reason that the snake tempted her with.

Knowing. Freedom. Something more out in the world.

She wonders about this woman, would love to talk with her about all the answers of the world. She wonders if she is as beautiful as the angel of her dreams.

“Of course he does. If he didn’t, he would’ve left me to face the consequences in the Garden of Eden.”

Seth frowned, scrunched up his nose. His mother always seemed distracted whenever he asked these kinds of questions, but never doubtful. He saw the way her warm brown eyes (the only part of her appearance that he had inherited) stared wistfully into the trees, as if she was reading something that wasn’t- and will never- be there. Waiting for answers that will never come.

And he hated it. He hated leaving questions unanswered. He hated the twistedness of guessing, of having to wrack his brain over and over again just to find a puzzle piece of the uncompleted whole story. What was the point of breaking God’s rule to consume knowledge itself, only for it to be twisted in a labyrinth of confusion? He was only a child, and he had hundreds of years in front of him to figure everything out- but he wanted to know now.

But he loved his mother. He inherited her eyes, her smile, her craving for knowledge. Her desire for something more. But unlike her, he would never have the chance to satisfy his curiosity until long after his death. And his fate will be far, far more cruel.

To him, at least.

”Hey…Mom?”

”Hm? What is it, my dear?”

”If you don’t know exactly why the angels fell, can you make up a story about it?”

Eve smiled, and in that moment the tiredness from her face faded. She nuzzled her son and placed a kiss upon his silvery-white hair, and her heart felt light and content. It was as if she had never left Eden. In fact, she felt even happier, somehow. Would she have had her wonderful children if she never ate the Fruits of Knowledge? Would she have had the joy of holding her bright-eyed son in her arms and making up lullabies to sing to him every night? Motherhood was suffering, but what is joy without it? Light and color would’ve never existed without darkness. And, though she knows that she should disagree, a part of her felt like she would never have it any other way.

If only she could’ve done the same for Abel and Cain…

If only she could’ve saved both of them.

But she was powerless to her own consequences, the first seeds of sin taking root in her own children. Holding Seth close so that he wouldn’t see his failure of a mother blinking back tears, she whispered a feather-soft prayer into the nighttime wind, that none of her children would ever suffer the same fate for as long as they lived. Otherwise, if anything happened to them because of her idiotic mistake, trusting that damned snake’s honeyed words and false promises…

She felt like crying. What kind of mother cries in front of her own child? She felt like a failure of a mother, unworthy to be the forebearer of humanity. For was the purpose of humans simply to struggle, due to her choice? Did she bear her children only to have them face the same fate?

…No. It won’t be like that again.I’ll get them right this time. She thought, as she wiped her face and lifted her face to smile at her son again, unaware that he heard and saw everything. But Seth has always been good at hiding his true emotions, so he gave her a smile that mirrored Eve’s own. He felt her hands tremble against his back.

She could still see the blood that coated her son’s dead body, could still feel the rasp in her voice as she screamed and screamed and screamed as Adam came running to see what was wrong-

No. It would be different this time. It would never happen again.

Her smile faltered a little bit as she looked at her son. So much like his father, but so much like her. Forced to carry such a burden at such a young age… but he never would’ve been born if not for that burden. Truly, a gift from the omniscient and omnipotent Almighty, sent as both a consolation and a reminder of what she had done wrong. And if not for that gift, she would’ve never been here, singing lullabies and weaving stories to tell him. And so, she began a new one, her ethereal voice carrying in the cool airs of the wind, the stars twinkling overhead mother and son as moonlight enveloped their silhouettes. The creatures of the Earth held its breath in anticipation of a new story:

“There was once an angel, the most beautiful out of all the ones in Heaven… he was God’s favorite, until the day he fell, both from his home and from grace.”

[ace-and-the-rpg-horrors]

ranking PJSK characters based on if i'd eat their cooking

[bitchthefuck1]

In case anyone else has the brain worm that makes them want exact details anytime people talk numbers, in Too Much Birthday the offer to buy Kendall out says that he has 12,904,663 shares of Waystar (worth ~2bil at $156/share), so assuming he didn't sell any stock after that and also that Shiv and Roman all had an equal stake, which the show implies, that means that when they sell the company at $192/share in the finale, each of the siblings gets just under $2.5 billion, half of it in Gojo stock, not counting whatever they inherit from Logan.