#take the doggo con! :)

[fuckyeahizzyhands]

[raspberry-vinaigrette]

i am pondering dialtown peter since i just did the roger dlc good end. warning in advance for roger dialtown dlc spoilers. cool? cool anyways

i just think like. okay the good ending cutscene with peter is kind of. abrupt. and confused people according to doggo and i can see why, it's... a bit weird in tone and isn't built up to as well as it could've been imo. no shade to the ending though the ending is fuckin AWESOME and that roger speech shook me to my core. however i think the peter intrusion can be reinterpreted to be really interesting with a bit of canon wiggle room, so to speak, because like --

imagine you are peter. you're the straight-laced, responsible co-manager of the factory, and you have been for a while. you know that you aren't easy to get along with and you don't really try to change this. it keeps things under wraps. it's all you can really do when everything around you is chaotic and wacky and you're so consistently left out of the loop. things are done without you being consulted. you feel like a joke so you have to prove you're the only thing that isn't. and really, it's your fault, in a way. you're the villain here for letting these things happen. you are to blame.

and then there's your best friend roger. you feel, sometimes, like he's the only person youre tangibly helping. you got him off of alcohol. you're always the one he leans on, always the one checking in. he is a good man. life has dealt him a bad hand, and people laugh at him sometimes, but you know he's good. he tries so hard. you wonder if maybe you aren't trying hard enough, but maybe your destiny is just to be this way. you don't think about it. he seems happy around you and that's enough, you suppose. and then management changes.

for all you know you are responsible, you also believe there is something rotten within you. something that will only weigh others down. you are able to be so very normal amidst the chaos of work, but you believe you can't be personable. you're too methodical, too straightforward, too managerial. and people want a person to talk to them, not a rigid machine. you look in the mirror and wonder how much of you is just the phone on your head. you look in the mirror and wonder who you are. but you can't fathom a good man like roger could look in the mirror and see anything but the sun. you trust him. you know he's a trainwreck, a mess, clumsy and irresponsible sometimes, but he's a good man. you know he can prove himself. maybe if you just keep at arms length, don't take over too much like you tried last time...

and things are a mess anyway. things are worse. and you begin to wonder if maybe you're the issue. if maybe your destiny is just to take over and rule with an iron fist, because that is the only way things can be done. this rot inside you, this thing that is clearly only making roger worse by your presence -- it must be killed at the source. so you have to play the game. you know what has to happen, don't you? you have to take over. and then everyone will be miserable, and roger will see how good he is, how much potential he has, and he will usurp you. he will be good. he will surprise everyone. and the rotten festering thing will be taken out, and he will never be dragged down again. because it must be you holding them back. you're the common denominator.

you're the villain.

peter doesn't understand that not being the boss is better for roger. he doesn't comprehend he is likable as a person moreso than he is a corporate entity, a responsible manager -- the only person he may believe likes him beyond that is caroline, and even then he has a fucking board discussion about if he should be allowed to act more than completely rational and reasonable, with a pros/cons list! yeah that's meant to be a jokey dialogue scene but i still think it reflects how peter tries so hard to be rational and reasonable and i think to some extent he believes that makes him less human. roger is so bright, of course he can surprise people and show them the sun! peter may be good at management but how far will that get him when surely nobody wants to directly associate with him? he is a menace.

he does not understand that roger cares so deeply for him, the same way roger doesn't understand people love him without him having to prove himself. idk. this is only half canon and its kinda text extrapolation and interpretation to fit w the ending scene but its an interesting thought

[isi567]

Your dog Cuca looks adorable! Definitely a 100/10 good girl! What kind of doggo is she? If you don’t mind me asking (I came over from bots-and-cons sorry I saw doggie and had to say something I’m simple like that 😂). (P.S. Also I love the idea of Starscream being a plant mom because I am one too 🤣)

Thanks, she was German terrier but not pure. I have two more dogs

I have two more Simba (yellow one, Stafford,3 years old) and Magnus, named after Ultra Magnus (he was Simba's son almost two years on July 25th, mix between Stafford and Posavac, breed from Croatia)

With how much dogs I have I feel like Soundwave.

And Since you like Starscream being plant mom I have mini series of drawing on blog called transformers discovering gardening and Starscrem is one of them. I'm sure his plant army would take over Nemesis.

[r-ene]

Pros and Cons of being an Overloaded Student in Respiratory Therapy

during my 3rd year, where majority of the subjects are major subjects such as critical care management, airway management, mechanical ventilation and neonatal respiratory care, i took up more units than prescribed by the university due to being an irregular as a transferee (2nd year). and so i had 11 subjects with 31 to 33 units with 6 days a week of classes. i was leaning on writing how i survived it but rather i think "10 pros and cons" would be a bit better for those considering to undergo this kind of process.

this is from my own experiences tho, so... yk

Pros

you get better at time management. you drown, otherwise.

less procrastination. like #1, you drown if you do.

you get better at juggling loads of school work

you get better at putting boundaries - your body knows when it's time to study, time for family and God, time for rest (although you still need to get reminded), time to socialize

your focus becomes... great (most times)

you get disciplined.

you appreciate your early mornings, rest days, people and God (should you ever be a believer). i personally love my early mornings where i spend about 10 mins on average reading the Bible before classes, it helps me cope with all the stress and made me more optimistic. i also observed things are better (ex. grades are higher in quizzes) when i don't forget to communicate with God before starting my day

its a good practice. as a future healthcare worker, even for my internship there would be schedules of 12-16 hours aside from the regular 8 hour shift scheduled about 5 days a week, with saturdays being lecture or research days, it's a good help.

you are able to find ways how to study more effectively. i personally figured out what study style/s are best for me and when i should utilize study style A (standard) and study style B (for exams, quizzes) and so on.

you learn to compete only with yourself. most times we compare our progress and grades with others when actually, we do best when we only look at ourselves and compete with ourselves yesterday and move forward with it because you understand that you are a unique case and individual and so are others.

Cons

quick burnout = it takes a toll on your health especially when exams come where all classes would require a written one (practical exams such as in skills lab, performing airway suctioning or arterial blood gas were a blessing to me)

major subjects = major requirements. sometimes you forget that your minors need some attention too at times

i only had 1 day of rest (sundays). i love going on worship services but sometimes you just want to rest and sleep the whole day ??

you get very, very anxious and jittery when you dont have anything to do.

sleep gets put off when there are tons to do despite being good in organization and time management. i once went 38 hours without sleep on an exam week, i think it was finals ?

...it was very difficult to study for exams held on the last day, especially during finals. i loved pulmonary disease management and hemodynamics but i was just so exhausted i picked rest over studying otherwise my vertigo might act up

when bombarded with tasks (ex. case study + other major presentations or tasks all together), it's difficult not to spiral. therefore, i suggest to take a walk, especially if you have a baby doggo

if you live with your family, its a bit difficult when they fail to understand you have tons to do on a daily + need some rest. i live with my family of 6 members and sometimes we get into an argument with how im unable to help around especially while im resting after class

it is very difficult to schedule dates with friends or siblings or s/o (i don't have a significant other so that's one less thing to worry about, haha). oftentimes when my older sister asks me to accompany her to the mall for a date or just as company, i spend most of the time in coffee bean, studying. sometimes i rush there when there's an online quiz scheduled in the middle of the day even without lectures.

you gotta sacrifice a lot of things. as you can see above: you sacrifice good health, time with loved ones and yourself, binge watching or gaming (me personally i set a rule if im not on a semestral break i dont play games), good sleep, difficult to commit to other things (uni organizations or work, etc) and etc etc

this being said, i don't discourage or encourage anyone to become an overloaded student as it depends on your unique situation. with mine, my faculty wanted me to supposedly join my batchmates for this year's internship but i was still left behind because there were no offerings for the subjects i needed to complete everything during the summer term and so... yeah, hahaha

other than that, id say i did very, very well both semesters !! not to boast, but it was something i worked hard on and sometimes you just gotta be proud of yourself :)

[turnips-creates]

15 Questions!!! (or in this case -> 25)

Thankie to both @carrotblr , @legiomiam , and @awritingcaitlinfor the tags!

I'm doing this all in one go bc if I don't, I'm gonna completely forget

Carrot's 15 ->

Are you named after anyone? yep! my middle name references my great gran

When was the last time you cried? hahahahaaaAAAAAAAA

Do you have kids? depends? none of my own genetics, but more OCs than i can list… plus a couple of pseudo-adopted kiddos i became con-parent to

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Noooooo, never in my life have i ever  🥰

What’s the first thing you notice about people? vibes or hair color

What’s your eye color? 👓

Scary movies or happy endings? i really don’t do well with suspense, sooooo typical horror ain’t my strong suit??? lets just say my friends don’t take me to those anymore, but if we’re talking just my preference in endings, i’m only care if it was a satisfying conclusion that goes with the storyline. [by satisfying i mean did the story go through a full arc]

Any special talents? i’ve been told i do??? a current list includes but apparently isn’t limited to: archery, socializing [apparently???], having a random assortment of facts on any given hyperfixation i’ve had, tripping over royalty, and reading really fast while being slow as shit at typing

Where were you born? hell, not quite sure which lvl tho… 4 maybe?

What are your hobbies? what do i not have as a hobby? rn it’s renaissance recreation that is NOT ren faire and embroidery/textiles 

Have you any pets? 3 cats, 1 doggo, and a fish

What sports do you play/have played? swimming, volleyball, and period archery are/were the ones i compete(d) in, but i also did boffer fighting as a kid

How tall are you? high end of average??? i grew really fast at a young age tho, so i towered over my elementary/middle school classmates. kept getting mistaken for an adult at 12 y/o

Favorite subject in school? SCIENCE

Dream job? i also would love to be a bestselling author, but becoming a novel editor would be fun too. the one i’m currently thinking of switching my major to - as i’m currently in the english dep with a focus in creative writing - is psychiatric neurology??? it’s always been fascinating to me especially after my way late audhd diagnosis

Legiom & Caitlyn's 10 ->

1. Do you prefer owls, capybaras, or flamingos?

OWLS! SKY CATS! i totally didn’t have a hyperfixation on ornithology with a focus in raptors as a kid… did you know an owl’s feathers are different from a hawks? the hawk’s wing feathers have ‘hooks’ that hold their feathers together? most birds have that feature in their feathers - it’s why the strands of individual flight feathers can be hard to break up, but owls don’t have such strong ones! owls also have small structures fluffing up from their flight feathers, and both of these features breaks up the air currents around their wings, not only allowing for near silent flight but also incredibly slow speeds - barn owls can glide as slow as 2 miles or 3.22 km per hour! there are variations of course —

2. What is your favorite soup?

uuuuhhh, does stew count as a soup??? if so, then there was this really great guinness based lamb stew i had in a small hole in the wall in ireland during my semester there

3. What is your favorite…rock (idfk)?

carnelian? or jade? the real pale kind?

4. Choose a familiar:

- very dumb, very loving disobedient dog. He loves you but will never listen to you ever

- a raven that speaks but it only ever shrieks the name of various fast food restaurants

- a toad that screams like a teenage boy instead of croaks

BIRB

5. Which planet do you feel like would be kind of an asshole if you met them?

Jupiter. definitely. 

[i totally wasn’t going to make a uranus joke, nope, not meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

6. if you were a worm would you love me? (ah yes me I did this)

depends on what kind of worm you became and whether or not i know it’s you

7. Least favorite type of clothing?

itchy ones.

8. You are now in a horror movie—so sorry. Chance of survival?

50/50 cause i’m an absolute dumbass. i’d either die immediately or out-dumb the villain.

9. Would you rather: the ability to instantly grow a perfect mustache, or ability to talk to vegetables?

mustache. a) it’s prime comedy and disguise material and b) i could not eat any veggies if i could hear them.

10. What do you think of whales?

THE BABIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEES

Feel free to answer any combination of the above questions! Sorry, if you've already been tagged:

@clockworkgalaxies @faelanvance @saltwaterbells @saphoblin @moonscribbler

Have fun!!!

[sevensfantasia]

hi kristen do u have any suggestions of newday people to follow on twitch? im burnt out on nopixel. thx

I sure do!! There's a lot here, so bear with me. There are more I follow on Twitch, but this is the main core that are either super consistent with streaming or stream multiple days a month here and there.

This list is v long, so more after the jump!

SirPeterLong - He plays a whole arsenal of characters including Marshal Brandon Davis, Peter Long, and beloved SBS crim Doris. He has been maining Davis for a while, but all his characters are great. He recently created a character that is a nomad in Black Lotus, one of the motorcycle gangs on the server. Definite follow

gh03tf0x - He plays multiple characters, usually trying to hit a hour each on most of them during a stream. His characters include Corporal Mikey Dale of the BCSO who is what you would absolutely expect from an American loving "county boy", Kiyoshi Okazaki who is a terrifying member of the Shoguns, a gang who usually hang near Trooper PD, and Nico Purr, what I like to describe as a furry who loves to ransack cars. I'm subbed to ghost too.

WhatMuppet - He has been splitting his streams with the first half being RP and the second half usually CSGO or something like that. Muppet plays 3 characters that are all important to the city in their own way. He plays Trooper Commissioner Barry Hill, someone who can be a fucking bozo, but is fiercely loyal to his Troopers. Christopher Pringle, a gambling addicted con-man who owns the Tuner Shop. Muppet hasn't played him recently, but Chris is my favorite. Finally, he also plays Trenton Sharp. Trenton is the middle man for a lot of the gangs in the city to push items. He has a couple other friends, one I'll mention later, but he's goofy af.

TheToastIsBroken - He plays recently promoted Deputy Alexander Atlas of the BCSO. He's still super new to being a deputy, but he's trying his best, and that is all we can really say about him. His streams are super cozy if you don't want to deal with chat too.

Broghaen - His main character is a "good ol boy" named Briar Dow, who is a Deputy with the BCSO. He is very much a county boy, but he's goofy af. He has a very sunny attitude to fuck up criminal scum. He hasn't been seen much lately because Broghaen is building a house from the bottom up for his family. He has been documenting it on his Twitter of the same name, and it's actually really interesting to follow along.

Pwnsi - He plays Officer Frank DeLuca of the LSPD. DeLuca always has a goal of trying to best his last shift in the number of citations he can issue. His streams are super cozy, and Pwnsi is very soft spoken when it comes to his streams. Great watch though!

Full0ut - His main is a Corporal in the LSPD named Frank Barnes. He usually plays during degen hours so I rarely get to watch him. He has a crim that is big in the racing scene on the server too, but I've barely seen them.

MajorAimless - He plays a Trooper named Junior Major. Major is a FTO god during EU hours. His shifts where he rides with Stevens are pure comedy too. All around great cop. Also the streamer has a doggo cam for his puppers.

Roczok - His main is a cop named Rocko Moretti. Moretti is a Senior Officer in the LSPD. He rarely streams, but he is great. Def watch when he is live.

FrostBite_408 - He plays Sgt. Jon Rose of the BCSO. His streams are super cozy. Rose is as the Lt. Governor said "a man ho." He's super affectionate at the briefings too. Great cop and a great streamer.

LtSlyTV - He plays Corporal Alejandro Garcia of the BCSO. He has been away from streaming for a while. I think he is on LOA from ND rn too, but Garcia is a great character and I personally would love to see more streams from him.

Homesikh - He plays two of my favorite characters on the server. He plays MCD Sergeant Kyle Jacobs. Kyle can be spotted a lot of the time going undercover to bust drug dealers or helping the other cops by taking out SKs before they attack again. Kyle flies under the radar a lot, and he got named Best Detective by the MCD. He had his picture in the briefing room and everything. Homesikh also plays Larry Tate, the ruthless but kind President of the Black Lotus MC. Due to some unfortunate events, Larry was quick to go from Road Captain to President. Homesikh rarely streams, but it's a treat to watch both characters when he does.

ESUChiefCraig - He plays Dr. Craig. A grumpy, whiskey loving doctor at Pillbox. He is great at what he does, but is currently taking a break from streaming the server.

icecakeX - He plays Damon Pierce. Damon can be seen a lot during degen hours hanging with his best friend Xavier Steele. He has been MIA for a while. He also plays Devon Mason, a member of the DDMC. He only recently got back into streaming, but his streams are always great to watch.

stitchybird - She plays 3 different characters on the server. One is Senior Deputy Stephanie Lindore. She is out on motor a lot and loves to backup her boyfriend, Trooper Santino Forte's calls. Santino wants to go further with her, so maybe it'll be fiancee soon. She plays Bella Rivera of the Vagos, who I rarely see. She also plays Daphne Valentino, a member of Blvkout, a fun loving criminal who loves her motorbikes and loves losing PD with them as well. She streams every once in a while, but she's great.

KL33SI - She plays Emily Campos, who is now Emily Ducksworth. She is a Sergeant in the LSPD. Emily is an adrenaline junkie who gives zero fucks. She is a badass who deserves her spot in PD, despite what anyone says. Emily is a tomboy who loves surfing, skateboarding, and anything with a large risk of fucking up, like BASE jumping. She is often found at the high stress situations PD deal with, because that is where she shines. She recently, finally, married her longtime boyfriend Andrew Ducksworth, who is also part of PD. I'm pretty sure the entire server was happy when they finally got married. Her streams are regular and are very positive. Def watch and follow.

Cyyph3rNights - Cyypher plays 2 characters. One is Dom who is a member of the Shoguns. The other is a new Deputy of the BCSO named Jay Harrington. He usually plays degen hours, so I rarely get to watch a full stream of his, but he follows me on Twitter, so he's p cool lmao

HankTeVe - He plays MCD Detective Blake Taylor. He is great at what he does. He is around whenever. Sometimes he streams early EU time, and other times, he is around prime-time US shift fucking crims up with Director Lane. He rarely streams, but he's great if you love detective shit.

PlaguedMidnight - He plays one of my personal favorites on the server, Chester. Chester is a newer deputy with the BCSO. Chester is goofy af, but he has quickly shown he is an asset to the PD. When he isn't doing county shit up north, he is pestering Marshal Davis. Sgt Solace paired Chester and Briar together, and it was chaotic in the best way. Absolute worth taking your time to watch his streams. He is quite regular with streaming too.

ni_doll - She plays Officer/Deputy Rhoades. She is based out Europe, so she streams super early for me, but she is a lovely streamer and she does commissions too. Her twitter is lovely

theWhimsicalWizard - MY GIRLLLL!! She plays 2 main characters. One is MCD Detective Calliope Maxwell. She is the sister to Craig Maxwell, who is in the LSPD. Calliope is absolutely amazing at what she does. Whimsy's detective streams are always a joy to watch. Calliope spends a lot of time with Detective Kyle as well. The two of them are a great one-two punch when it comes to detective shit. She also plays a member of Black Lotus, but I've never been able to catch her crim streams. Her twitter is great (she follows me too lmao)

Shace616 - He plays Dr. Adrik Nelson. His stuff is normal hospital/doctor streams. It's not for everyone, but I do find his stuff cozy to watch. Shace works fulltime too, so his streams come and go in spurts.

SleepyWolf_ - He plays Trooper Brian Miller, a Sergeant. I don't get to watch much of him because he is very EU time, and I'm either at work or sleeping when he streams. What streams I do get to watch, he is an absolute joy to watch. He usually hangs around with Major if Major isn't riding with a Cadet or Stevens.

t3r0 - He plays Campos' better half, Andrew Ducksworth. "Ducky" as he is lovingly called around PD is a FTO god. The majority of PD has been brought up from Ducky in one way or another. Cops that have been brought up by Ducky are his Ducklings, but he never mentions the cute name. Ducky leads by example, and a lot of the PD aspire to be like Ducky. When he isn't riding with Cadets, he is riding with Emily. His stream is very, very good. t3r0 also does a lot of stuff to promote mental wellness and his streams are very LGBT friendly as well. Very good watch!!

xGUNii - He plays Sergeant Joey Solace. He is Commissioner Hill's current right hand man. He is a very good cop who knows when to be silly af and when to be serious. He also helps with training. A lot of the Marshals keep pestering Barry asking when he is going to promote Joey to Lt. When he's not riding with Cadets, Joey is likely riding with Barry. He also plays Cody Styles, who is best friends with Trenton Sharp. Hilarity and shenanigans are bound to happen when they're together. Absolute joy to watch, and I'm subbed to him.

TwoZeroThree - He plays the very abrasive Trooper Ignazio DiNozzo. DiNozzo pushes the line to see how much he can get away with before going over that line. Crims absolutely hate him. Many crims on the server would agree that the word "prick" would be best to describe DiNozzo. He use to be Commissioner Hill's right hand man before he retired. The retirement lasted all of 2 weeks at most.

slouchybear - He plays 2 main characters on the server. One is the leader of the Vagos - Pancho who is a cop hating, badass motherfucker that you don't want to mess with. He is loyal to his fellow gang members. His other character is one of my personal favorites. He plays Marshal Jean Boudreaux, who is Thor but if Thor was from the deep South. Jean is super loyal to his girlfriend and to his fellow Marshals. He is one of Marshal Davis' close comrades and was the former Undersheriff of the BCSO.

There are more, but a lot of the server doesn't stream. It's what people on the server call a "9 to 5 server." A lot of people stream or play on the server for hobby, but I would suggest to check the hasroot as well.

[raustenacious]

I have a really big choice to make that would change my life for the next 12-15 years but it would affect everything so I just don't know

I don't know what to do

This is chuck (whom I'd rename Doug, I think in honour of an Atypical character (chuck and Doug both are tbh))

He is a beagle Chihuahua mix. I'm going to see him tomorrow. I live at home still, and long story short my mom said I may be able to get my 'own' dog, like solely mine and all that.

However,I at some point want to move out and most apartments have crazy insane pet rules. And while hed be less than 25lbs that may still be hard. And apartment shopping seems like a nightmare already without the added factor of a dog and pet deposits

Additionally, we have a 6/8 year old Labradoodle who is testy(?), Doesn't like men, cranky, and already suffers from not enough pets, a 2 year old shi-poo who is like my bestie, I take that little rat to the mailbox, he loves to hang on the couch with me, by my feet when Im at my desk etc

And a Bernese mountain dog that's under 2 years old. So we're already kinda full. And this is embarrassing but they're not the best trained, the eldest bc we got him when he was a year or so, the middle bc he's a covid puppy (got him march 2020, literally two weeks before the World Ended).

And at first we'd talked about this dog (a great pyranese we'd met today) bc

We have space for another big dog

And not many ppl do so it'd be harder for him to find a home

He's good with cats (I've got one that doesn't prefer the indoors)

Great pyranese are easy to train

But chuck/doug is best for apartment living I feel, Jolly (the pyranese) would be good for nighttime walks bc he be Big (I think his profile said he'd be cool w/ apartments, but I really don't know)

I'm only 18, I think about a tattoo multiple times a day, every day, the same tattoo and can't even commit to it

This all started as a joke. I just want a kitten and mom to stop being allergic to cats idk what to do

Advice more than appreciated and welcome this kind of turned into a place to write it all out

Another con is that I def do prefer pits/ Staffordshire terrier mixes but mom said I can't but it'd be a great opportunity to give a dog a home. I'd also wanted Zeke this older doggo but I can't bc our oldest wouldn't be cool with that

[taiblogcomics]

What Lurks Below

Hey there, redneck possums. We've earned a little break, don't you think? In fact, we kinda left Avengers Arena on a high point, with Kid Briton's very timely demise. But I'm still not enjoying the series, so let's take a little break so as not to dwell in the darkness and mire in the misery too much, yeah? To that end... gosh, it's been a while since we reviewed a My Little Pony comic, hasn't it~?

Here's the cover:

Now this is a pretty cool cover. I know it's been a while, so I'll do a recap next, but here's the New Generation cast exploring the ruins of Canterlot. It's very moody. Really good. And pay attention to that thing Sunny found. It's pretty important, and it's probably exactly what you think it is. Unless you think it's a root vegetable; it's not that. Don't think I have much else to say, it's just a good cover. Better than anything Avengers Arena has offered us. So let's just get to that recap~

So, this is our G5 MLP series. Twilight and friends are long dead, and are basically legends now. Ponies segregated many years ago, and only recently were reunited after noted FiM fan Sunny Starscout found some magic crystals and brought magic back into the world. Last issue, though, magic began to fail again despite no threat to harmony. Upon investigating, the ponies discover one of the magic crystals has been stolen. But by who? And why? The quest to answer these queries lead the group to the lost ruins of Canterlot, and that's where we pick up now~

Okay, maybe I jumped the gun a bit, because were we actually pick up is with our three flyers getting tired and regrouping with Hitch. He hasn't seen Izzy, but Cloudpuff the doggo thing has become agitated by a mysterious ruin. Pulling the overgrowth aside, the ponies discover the doorway leading into the city of Canterlot--or what's left of it. There's actually a really nice moment of Sunny gushing and fangirling about having found the place, and then calming a moment to tell her (departed) dad "I made it, Dad". Really cute and touching.

The group sets out to explore the ruins, looking for both the thief and Izzy. They soon come across the ruins of Donut Joe's shop, where noises put the group on alert. However, it's just Izzy, scavenging for hundred-year-old doughnuts. Reunited (and it feels so good), the group hauls Izzy off before she makes herself sick. Now that she's over her starstruck impressions, Sunny is worried about her own efforts with Maretime Bay. Canterlot was itself a city of great harmony and racial integration, and look at it now. What if her own dreams aren't sustainable either?

Zipp interrupts Sunny's melancholy musings by discovering Canterlot Castle. It's still standing, which is impressive given its track record even before Twilight took over. Two things: if you're going to hide a crystal, you might as well do it in the castle. And two, she noticed that door there creaking open. So there's a good chance their thief is in there. Izzy's magic fritzes out, so they all put their weight into opening the door to the throne room. Sunny gets another fangirl moment to be stepping where Princess Twilight herself once stepped. I bet Sunny would be a lot of fun to take to a con~

Sunny shares my marveling that the castle's still upright, referencing incidents from Chrysalis, Sombra, and even the Storm King. Hitch tries to get her to calm down while directing the others to look for clues. He's so involved in giving instructions, he doesn't notice each of them fall down a trapdoor. Eventually, one opens up under him as well, depositing the lot of them in the caves under the castle. Hey, speaking of that time Chrysalis attacked, huh? I think this might be the first time these have even been referenced since then~

The five of them are deposited around a large table set for a tea party. It's got a very Mad Hatter vibe, and there's a reason for that! They note that even their places have homemade placards with their names, which is odd for a kidnapper. A voice explains that Reginald Fursome, the possum sitting nearby, is the one responsible for making those. And the owner of the voice is responsible for everything else. He steps out of the shadows while expositing about possums, and Sunny recognises him instantly.

Discord.

The years have not been kind to the draconequus. Both his fur and scales are a bit shaggy and overgrown, his wings are ragged, his horns are broken (that's what the cover was alluding to!), and his claws are likewise grown out. Most especially, his hair and eyebrows are extremely ratty and overgrown. Reginald and the other animals accompanying him all once belonged to his friend Fluttershy. Discord, of course, knows all their names. No one gets into Canterlot without him knowing. And he's decided to invite them to his exposition party.

While Sunny is geeking out, Discord begins his tale. Once, long ago, Discord was part of a group of heroes. And it shows all the Mane Six, in their post-timeskip finale designs. When Twilight first took rule, it was pretty quiet, and Fluttershy and Discord were content to raise their animal sanctuary. But eventually, some malevolent pony who had different ideas about harmony appeared. Racist ideas. Given the shape of her silhouette, this is probably Opaline from Make Your Mark, which hadn't premiered yet when this was published. Golly, she lived a long time, huh?

Her rude ideas are expressed by her cutting in line at the flower shop, since unicorns have "better things to do than wait in line", and kicking Fluttershy to the ground when she protests. That's essentially the inciting incident. More folks start discriminating on flimsy pretenses. Even the fillies who attended their animal conservation lessons stop showing up, their parents pulling them out on racist reasons. It's not a landmark time in pony history, let's say. Cozy Glow would be pretty proud of what's going on, though.

Eventually, it gets to the point where Twilight has to step in. Gathering up all the magic in Equestria, she seals it in three crystals. As long as the crystals aren't disturbed, the balance of harmony will remain. Note that she does not take away the magic. The pegasi are still seen flying, for example. A pegasus without magic can't fly. All she's doing is preventing magic from being used against other ponies. It's implied there are several disasters that Discord doesn't elaborate on, which is probably what led Twilight to the extreme methods.

My take is that magic still exists as long as the crystals are united. Harmony between the races, harmony between the crystals. Splitting them up leads to the splitting up of the races in the G5 series, which is why the magic disappeared and the pegasi lost their flight. I only go into this because a lot of people made a big deal about "Twilight stole everypony's magic!" back when this first came out. I don't think it's entirely true, at least not in the way they're presenting it. Anyway, that's where we stand: harmony = magic, no harmony = no magic.

So the Mane Six made the crystals. Sunny wants Discord to help them get the missing crystal back to restore harmony and protect their legacy. And this is where the actual turn happens: that wasn't the point of his story. He thinks a society without magic would be better off, more peaceful. ''He's'' the one who stole the pegasus crystal. Ponykind can't turn against each other if they're all equal and have no magic. Because, you know, disagreement over racial magics are the only reason for disharmony. So congratulations, Discord. Syndrome would be so proud.

All of the ponies disagree, even Hitch. Embracing what makes ponies special is the path to harmony, not stripping it away. Discord tries to prey on Izzy's insecurity of her getting separated from the group by being unable to fly, and he decides to destroy the crystal, destroying magic once and for all. He even drops a ''House of M'' reference, pretty much for the audience. Naturally, the Mane 5 attempt to stop him, but not even Sunny's alicorn powers are enough to stand against his chaos magic. And the issue ends with Discord teleporting away, leaving our heroes with a ticking clock and no leads...

So! This is actually a really interesting turn. Discord’s back, and he’s our new big bad again. Except this time, he’s anything but a villain. He doesn’t want ponykind to turn on itself, and ultimately he’s trying to do something right. I don’t agree with his conclusion, but his motives are sound. He’s what we call an anti-villain: someone trying to do something wrong or even evil, but with nothing but good and pure intentions. It’s a really interesting take, and I think it goes naturally with the character growth he had over the years. Remember that Fluttershy was the first one struck in the circumstances that led to this, so this may also be personal for him.

On the topic of motives, let’s talk about Twilight’s a bit more, since that was such a contentious subject in the fanbase. Some folks argue that the Mane Six have dealt with stuff like this before (see my previous reference to Cozy Glow) and never went to such extremes. And I don’t agree with this. See, the thing is, it keeps happening. You can stopper up a leak in a pipe with a bit of duct tape, but it’s going to keep popping open again after a while. If you keep solving the same problem, a stronger solution is required. Opaline is still around, after all. This doesn’t seem like it was her first resort is all I’m saying.

Well, once again, the fate of Equestria hangs in the balance (albeit in a very different fashion than the usual conqueror villain), and only a few little ponies stand it its way. Let’s see where they go next to solve this nex time~

[erinye]

OTAK WAS AN ABSOLUTE BLAST HOLY DAMN

so many people came to see me!! and recognized my art from tumblr/twitter and every time I felt like dropping dead on the spot from the sheer happiness, peeps came to chat about the charms, the doggos, the TAZ content and even the Icarus tales stuff?????? im so f***king floored by the support yall

[xiaosean]

why you should watch douluo continent

the drama adaptation is such a good rendition of “soul land” and stayed true to the plot line and character development. it was fast-paced (perfect for me) but may be confusing for those who don’t know the story. i personally love the donghua, and i think the drama did an adequate job of portraying everything in their own way 😁 (read at your own discretion; this contains spoilers)

things i liked:

initially, i didn’t like the dreamscape bc wtf is it doing there? why is he hearing his mom’s voice in episode 1 (it just kills the entire momentum of the plot); and then after i got to episode 39... fucking ep. 39, i knew the dreamscape needed to be there in order to save tang san’s life; mr. wang who wrote the script, props to you.

the cgi 🥰✨ i had really low expectations bc if there’s shitty cgi like cql... i wouldn’t be able to handle it. but it’s so good ??? please, i know the ape soul beast was small and funny looking (bc they had to spend money on the water dragon lmao), but other than that, it was so good and how each and every character’s powers were able to shine

le outfits + makeup - they’re not super pale 😭😭😭 finally !!! and the outfits are so nice, SO SO NICE, each and every character holy hell

how they changed hu liena’s (aka. qian renxue) role in the drama --- she’s my fav female antagonist; she’s so good here, her character was annoying at first, but she’s so dynamic and independent, and just wants to impress her mom. you see her helping tang san + his squad during the last 5 eps because SHE CARES about her mom despite her strict upbringing 🥺 her and tang san have a ship name called 糖葫芦 (candied hawthorns) and i think that’s so cute hehe

the seven devils 😂 i loved the seven devils in this adaptation almost as much as i loved them in the donghua; each and every character got their own storyline, they’re not boring nor do they draw attention away from the tang san’s main plot, and you see so much development (esp. in ou sike and dai mubai)

headmaster, da shi, and er long trio! 黄金铁三角 iconic and they captured it so well 😭 they chose the actor for the headmaster so freaking well i’m screaming! he loves money so much and his little facial expressions as a third wheel is everything, the comedic relief! and da shi... i see y’all thirsting over calvin chen okay 😌 he’s so much better in the drama tbh & er long is majestic and amazingly powerful and cunning, i love her !!! and props to luo san pao, the best doggo ever!

the seniors! they basically perfected tang san’s relationship with dugu bo... it was antagonistic at first, but then they became besties over poison 😭❤️ i loved dugu bo’s character in here bc he was so funny & didn’t get social cues LMAO // the ape soul master was brief but he honestly made my day with how much he respected the tang family & how he took care of his father back in the day // 七宝琉璃 squad was also 🥰 (less hot than in the donghua lol) but they also somehow made jian yeye the comedic relief? i love how they’re so accepting of ou sike despite him being a support soul master

tang san’s mom - i can only hear her voice, but she made me cry & i love her for that

tang san ❤️❤️❤️ xiao zhan’s voice over just blended in with his character & it was just so wonderful; tang san in the donghua was smart, so fucking smart, cunning, but the kindest at heart; xiao zhan truly portrayed that and my most memorable part was when da shi said “your only flaw is that you let your emotions get the best of you” (this is so important), and you see him later try to control his emotions and not act rashly, especially when confronted with 时年 & 比比东 --- also crying scenes 11/10

bibi dong powerful, POWERFUL WOMAN, props to her voice actress, i got chills when she said, “你根本没有资格知道” // tang hao, wow he’s just like i imagined, but i wish he was a little more emotional in ep. 1 bc the blue silver plant in tang san is essentially his lover’s martial soul

how the concept of family was generated within the shi lan ke academy squad 🥺 it’s such a feel good drama, istg, makes you so happy when you’re having a bad day ✨

things i didn’t like:

xiao wu’s character portrayal (the scriptwriter’s fault, not xuanyi) // i honestly let it slide for the first 10 episodes bc i usually start falling for a character later on, it’s normal; but drama xiao wu didn’t fulfill the 小舞姐 in my heart 😔 i get that many people like her, but it’s not the same! xiao wu in donghua is beautiful, independent, and outspoken, BUT MOST OF ALL HER LOVE FOR TANG SAN IS OBVIOUS, you don’t need to say “一起去” every other line in the drama; i think this could have been remedied if they stayed true to the storyline and let tang san enter the secret dimension alone, bring the mythical herbs back, and have xiao wu prick herself to activate 相思断肠红 (they completely butchered the significance of the flower i’m so angry; fyi: the flower can only belong to you if your heart loves one person --- there’s the most beautiful backstory to the flower but drama douluo said nah). also, drama xiao wu is so clingy and she started exposing herself from the beginning... no momentum build-up whatsoever 😔 it’s 斗罗大陆, not 斗罗大陆: 小舞传 and sometimes it felt like she was being so insistent on following tang san around, i’m just 😓 

the whole canghui academy scheme --- it was confusing for 10 eps straight until they got to the end of it, but I guess the drama wanted to add that part in because they wanted to focus less on the competition and more on 变异武魂 (the mutated martial souls) in order to defeat bibi dong

how the beginning was so confusing 😫 i wish they just stuck with child tang san remembering his past life as a disciple in tang clan & then learning 玄天宝录 on his own bc that was such a great part of his character development + understanding of soul masters/their weaknesses; and the fact that he would rely less on his parents 

the kiss + confession at ep. 40 // could have done w/o it or even a simple forehead kiss; the confession from tang san was way too quick considering there’s little to no emotional build-up towards that moment (other than bibi dong doing all the work like the queen she is) and there’s no surprise element either? like we’ve been knew she’s a soul beast since ep. 5 🥲 and the kiss was awkward & like i said, sanwu’s love doesn’t need words or actions to confirm... it’s this innate thing that the audience should be able to see (if the scriptwriters focused a little more on BIG plot points that boost the sanwu relationship, then it would have been perfect) ^^ i wish they spent more time on the romantic aspect of the relationship bc even after 30 eps, they seem like siblings when OP said They’re Not.

overall thoughts:

this is purely my opinion, so please take it with a grain of salt! the cons imo were minor except for the development of the sanwu relationship; it doesn’t seem like romance to me 😔 but hopefully it’ll get better in the (maybe) second season when they take some time apart to grow? i’m surprised how much they referenced the original story (characters and such), and i am thoroughly impressed with WHERE THEY ENDED IT, and how they rounded all the new/old plot points together in a way that makes sense. i also don’t hate any of the antagonists, which is why this drama is so lighthearted and easy to watch. it’s not emotionally taxing (sans tang san crying bc xz breaks me heart 😭💕), and safe + enjoyable to watch with family! you’re gonna miss it once it ends, and i think that makes a drama successful 😁 also i’m not gonna go into depth about the mysterious ending bc i might spoil it for those who want to watch the donghua LMAO (but if you want to know my theories, shoot me an ask)

[nattikay]

Woke up this morning with the sudden overpowering urge to make some fursuit heads and decided I shouldn’t squander it so I went to the store to get some foam and extra hot glue and got started wooo

In the past I have made a total of 3.5.5 heads (3 finished ones and 2 unfinished ones). The first three were foam bases, the very first of which being NattiKay 1.0, the second being a commission (“Tucker”), and the last being a random character made from the leftover materials (nicknamed “Purple Guy” since that was the primary fur color), which never got finished. I had finished the base and was halfway through sewing the fur when I graduated and decided not to bring him home with me cuz he took up more space in the car than he was worth. Purple Guy currently resides in my friend Talon’s care, and perhaps maybe possibly will one day get that majestic purple coat glued on but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  who knows lol

That was all about 2-3 years ago, though. Since then I have made Natti 2.0 started Natti 3.0 (got close to finishing the latter but it was my first time trying to shave down the fur with actual clippers and I didn’t do a very good job so I want to refur her but have not yet gotten around to it). However, both of these were done on 3D print bases rather than foam bases. 3D print bases definitely have their pros, but they also have their cons. One of these is the open back--it wasn’t too big a deal with 2.0 since her face is so short, and did make travel easier since she can “collapse”, but it’s been a struggle with 3.0, who is longer and heavier, and I’ve had trouble finding a way to wear her comfortably without slipping out of position--which in itself might have been overlookable (depending on how uncomfortable the slipped position is) were it not for the fact that she’s meant to have a moving jaw, which doesn’t function unless my chin stays in exactly the right spot. Given that having the moving jaw was the whole POINT of making 3.0...well, that’s an issue lol. Then there’s the fact that since I do not own a 3D printer, I’d either have to order it from some manufacturer or ask Talon to do it (he owns a printer and printed 2.0 for me) and have him ship it to me, and alas both of these options would take way more time than I’m currently prepared for as I feel like by the time they actually got here my rush of motivation/inspiration will have fled r.i.p.

SOOOOOO I decided to dip my toes back into good ol’ foam bases. I want to make 2-3 if I can keep up the stamina for it (though whether they will actually get furred or just remain blank bases for maybe-later-use, well, we’ll see what I’m up for after all the foam sculpting lol). I’m gonna start with at least a canine and a feline; if I decide to continue on to furring I’ll probably pick some friends’ characters or something. Not planning to do Natti again since as previously mentioned I already have 2.5 of her, buuuut if I like how these come out, and am not burned out, I miiiiight just make another of her haha whoop

Anyways, I started the canine today. Spent about 5 hours on it before calling it a day...I think it’s coming out pretty good so far! Definitely not done, there’s still foam to add and spots to smooth, but I think it’s a decent start, and if nothing else definitely a step up from my previous foam bases.

Pics and more rambling about the process under the cut:

Like I said, still not finished...but a decent start!

I am using a pretty similar process to the one I used before, but with a few adjustments that have (so far) made a huge difference. One is the technique I used to shape the muzzle which looks sO MUCH BETTER than the other one hnnnggg!!

The other is starting the “bucket” base with half-inch foam instead of one-inch foam, which makes the overall head smaller and lighter. 

To show what I mean, here’s le WIP doggo next to Natti 1.0 (my first ever suit attempt don’t judge too hard ^^”), who as you can see is way bulkier:

Definitely a notable difference!

For perhaps a better comparison, since Natti 1.0 is furred, here’s some old pics I dug up of Purple Guy’s base--aka my most recent foam base before WIP doggo

........yyyeah I like to think WIP doggo is an improvement oof ^^;

Anyways, here’s hoping the current project(s) come out well!

[punz4lyfe]

Pokemon Journeys Episode 45. Let’s review:

1. How are the news reporters not dead yet in that flimsy helicopter in the middle of this apocalyptic event?

2. The fact that Team Rocket were able to reach out to Gigantamax Meowth to have him control himself and try to take on Eternatus absolutely speaks grand possibilities for both funny and awesome Team Rocket moments in the future in the Galar region! That, and Meowth’s knowledge of G-Max Gold Rush, too! Hopefully, the writers won’t miss out on these blatant opportunities.

3. I swear Leon and Charizard cheated death like 4 to 5 times in this episode.

4. The Ash vs. Chairman Rose fight was really done, with Ash using Pikachu and Riolu’s speed to take advantage of Ferrothorn and Copperajah’s bulk and put them against each other. In addition to that, Rose shows how much of a villain he is by smiling throughout the beginning of the fight with sadistic intent, even going as so far to command his mons to attack Ash and Pikachu and crush Riolu. Great display of character, writers! And, of course, as we’ve all been waiting for, Riolu’s evolution into Lucario. Absolutely done well, with Riolu showing his strong friendship with Ash and Pikachu by defending them against Rose’s mons, despite all odds being against his favor due to the sheer size and weight difference. Absolutely perfect. And then Lucario used his aura to tell Ash “Screw Vacuum Wave, I got the Poke-Hadouken, now!”, which was a sweet callback to Ash and Riolu’s aura bond in the latter’s debut appearance. And once the battle was over, Rose showed concern for his Pokemon and not for his failing plans, showing that he’s still human on the inside and is really just in a lot of turmoil due to the trauma he experienced as a child at the mines. So yeah, great moment of the episode all around! On the other hand though..... ugh.....

5. Goh vs. Oleana. Like I said in my last review, I was not looking forward to how this would turn out due to Goh’s win being obvious, and.... yeah, there are some problems. Compared to Ash and Rose’s battle, the action in this one was a lot less impressive. At the start, it was mostly just Raboot using Ember, only to get countered and splooshed by Water Pulse every time. When it actually picked up with Goh using the environment, leading to Raboot’s own evolution into Cinderace to finish Milotic off with Pyro Ball, it was still not done well, as Milotic was knocked out by Pyro Ball and a few consecutive Embers beforehand, which should NOT be enough to make it faint. Look, when Ash fought Rose, it took Pikachu and Riolu a good number of hits to push back Ferrothorn and Copperajah before both were finished off by Aura Sphere, a super-effective move. In this case, Milotic was taken out solely by A FEW attacks its strong against. That shouldn’t have done it in, especially with how untrained Raboot is compared to Ash’s mons. Not to mention, it also kinda digs further a little problem there is with Goh and Cinderace almost always winning/achieving every little thing they do that I’ll go further in-depth with my future blog over them. And while I’m happy Cinderace is back to his enthusiastic self (with some of Raboot’s coolness still left in) and the moment where Goh communicated with Raboot to use the environment for his preferred Ember attack was a good character moment between the two, the cons of this part of the episode kinda outweigh the pros. Moving on, however.

6. Sonia x Raihan? That’s.... kinda cute honestly.

7. Seeing Ash run around with a Lucario at his side is probably bringing a lot of fanfics to life. That, or Lucario and the Mystery of Mew flashbacks. Man, that was a good movie, wasn’t it?

8. Ahh, look at those five dorks gawk over each other and fist bump. It’s stuff like this that makes 2020 better.

9. Remember that part in the original Final Fantasy VII where Sephiroth attacked the whole gang with shockwaves before the fight against Bizzaro Sephiroth? The scene with Eternatus escaping Leon’s Ultra Ball gave me flashbacks to that. And I don’t even know why lol.

10. Oh my Arceus! The up-close shot of Eternamax Eternatus was honestly a little frightening!

11. Chairman Rose...pl-please get away from the helicopter windshield.... That’s just.... creepy.

12. Eternatus’ onslaught of Screw-U laser beams. At this point, it’s natural for Ash and Pikachu to take this kind of stuff in the face everyday.

13. Becoming the Sword and Shield legend? Yeah, that was expected. Look, when it comes to stuff like this in the anime, it’s about as obvious and cliche as it can get to the point it’s really no longer a bother to long-standing anipoke fans. And Leon? Please, my boi, stand down. You just want all the credit to yourself. (I’m only joking please don’t attack me fellow Leon fans)

14. The whole final battle between the good guys and Eternatus was alright. It was really cool seeing the Sword and Shield doggos’ signature attacks in the anime, though, it would’ve been cool for Ash and Goh to actually command them a little just like in the games. (and Ash’s whole thing with Nebby should prove that you don’t necessarily have to own a Legendary to command it in a crisis) It also nice for Pikachu, Lucario, and Cinderace to give Eternatus another three-way combo so that the doggos could have their opening. How it ultimately ended though.... well....

15. GOH’s REGULAR Pokeball caught Eternatus. I repeat, a REGULAR Pokeball from GOH caught Eternatus. Yeah......

16. Legendaries doggos, come back! I wanna see our dorks scratch behind your ears! Ah well, it’s more than likely they’ll return in the anime, given usual tropes and cliches.

17. Chairman Rose and Oleana are also definitely gonna make a return someday, no doubt about that. We still gotta wrap up Rose’s whole character with his childhood and father!

18. PROFESSOR SONIA!!!!! I STAN THIS SO FREAKING MUCH!!!!!!

19. Oh, Goh. You and your love for catching. Unfortunately, as the whole thing with Eternatus kinda proved, the anime is willing to have you able to capture Legendaries. With a plain Pokeball no less. You’re lucky I love you, my boy.

At with that, we’re done with the Darkest Day Arc! Pretty dope arc, ngl! While there were some things I felt were missed out, like Pikachu Gigantamaxing or Goh using mons other then Raboot/Cinderace, given how the episode ended, I feel there will be more of that kind of stuff in future Galar episodes. So that’s worth looking forward to you!

For the overall episode alone.... it was okay. Again, there were some things that kinda made it avoid being perfect (which sadly all involved Goh), but what we got was still great. The visuals and music were all amazing, there were a ton of great character moments, and for the most part, the action was intense and awesome! I’d give this episode an 8/10!

Now, to end things off, who else is excited for Mewtwo next week?!?!

[veilder]

Writing WIP game

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you or interests you and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!

Tagged by: @nohrianxscum Thanks so much!

I have sooooooooo many WIPs, omg. Please bear with me cuz this is gonna take a hot minute, lol.

DBH Chaptered Fics/Series

But the World Keeps Spinning

In Medias Res

Killing Me Softly

Pirate!AU

Short-Changed

DBH Oneshots

-59

Anderstern?!

Android Doggo

Android Doggo 2

birds of a feather

Call the Locksmith

Christmas Carol AU

Crackfic Sumpremo

Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time

Failed Rev

Gavin doesn't understand kindness

Goddamit, I wrote Toast, fuck.

Hank, nooooooo!!!

Hunter RK900

Luther900 omg

Mean Con picking on the little man

Med Droid Hangst

Organized Gavin, whoa boy.

Papa!Fowler and his Dumbass Son

Perkins is a little bitch

Prisoners

Rap Master Gav

Reparations

RV Madness

scars

Shovel Talk Sixty

Soft

someone's jelly lol

Sumo Time

Non-DBH WIPs

Heimförin (MCU)

yeehaw crackfic (Haikyuu!!)

youkai!AU (Haikyuu!!)

child!AU (Mindhunter)

Tagging: @woppy42 @ausp-ice @berry--blonde @anomalous-appliances @sharysisnhmoonshadow @sheepishwolfy

[themadauthorshatter]

You guys know me too well at this point.

I did one of these for Cal, and I don't really make solo posts on Maven.

These are some headcanons about Maven's headcanon pets, a doberman and black cat.

This is just my personal AU where Maven lives and everyone's happy, because I miss when Maven was a good brother and person 😭😢😭😢😭

Anyway, HERE ARE THE HEADCANONS!!!!

Elara was against the idea of Maven having any kind of animal because it would distract him.

Even after her death, he was unsure of getting a pet.

Pre-Pet AU turn for the better where Maven, instead of fighting Mare to the death, pushes her and runs away. She follows him to see he has collapsed and is having something of a mental/emotional breakdown. He is on the floor screaming and holding his head. He passes out.

Cal finds them both and Mare helps him carry Maven to a cell, one not made of silent stone, and with no candles or anything that can make a spark.

After some time, and some therapy, let's be real here, Maven gets his own place to live, even thoguh he spends some nights with Cal. And his doggo Sweetie. And Fink the Cat.

He's confused as to WHEN and, honestly, why Cal got these two, but understands the latter when he sees his brother lit up and relax when Fink climbs onto his shoulders, something he has not seen in a very long time. Cal still admits it was Julian's idea.

Maven thinks on it while Sweetie gives him some love; "Mah hooman is in TWO!? YAAAS!!!"

Once he's in his own place and settled, hating the silence and solitude, he makes a pro-con list, talks to the person who's been keeping an eye on him, on a guard, but something of a parol officer and therapist, and has a really bad nightmare before he decides to adopt a dog, but he's not getting anything fluffy and soft like Sweetie because she's not the best guard dog.

The person keeping an eye on him tells him that this is a great idea because giving love to something, like a dog or cat, might help him. I know I'm being too fanfic-y here, but I want good boy Maven back, okay?😭😢

He gets his companion on his way to the shelter, i.e. a stray on the side of the road, a black doberman with one bleeding cropped ear and one floppy, normal ear.

This is the text conversation when Maven arrived home:

"I got a dog."

"That was quick. How'd everything go?"

"Fine? I found him on the side of the road. I don't think he likes me."

"What breed is he? Send a picture."

(Maven sends a picture of this doberman as it is curled up in the corner of his bedroom and growling at him.) "He literally hates me. What do I do?"

"Leave him alone for a little bit. I think he's might be one one those fighting dogs."

"I thought those were illegal." He almost sends, "I thought Father made that illegal," but doesn't and sends what I just typed.

"They are. I guess people still keep doing it."

"Blood money. Anyway, what should I do?"

"I don't know. I think one of the generals said it's better to make yourself smaller so the dog doesn't think you're dangerous or something like that, the Animos on the front. Try that."

"Alright."

Maven decides to sleep on the couch that night, because he doesn't want to get mauled, and leaves some food and water out because the doberman hasn't left his room since bringing him home. He wakes up late in the night in time to see this dog grab a little bit of food and then sort of check on the person that picked him up. He growls a little bit, when he sees Maven is awake, but is calmer when he smells and inspects him. Maven tries to pet the uninjured half of his head, but the doberman backs away; "We're not there yet."

Maven wakes up this morning to see the dog across the floor from him.

Three weeks later, the doberman, which Maven has named Dagger, Phantom, or Ghost, I'm going to call him Dagger for now because of how sharp he is, has started whimpering and shaking his head. Maven can't really go to a vet because they'll think he abused the dog, so he's left to his own devices

GORE TW! DO NOT READ IF YOU'RE SENSITIVE: Remember that bleeding, cropped ear I mentioned? It's infested with mango worms. And, unless he wants to be listed as an abuser towards his new pet and be labeled a lost cause, Maven cannot go to a vet. Everyone knows he is an amazing liar.

He texts Cal, tells the person he's been talking to, and even tells Mare, asking what he should do before Cal says to wait for him and the person he's been talking to sends him instructions on how to remove these worms.

Go time. Maven gets some treats in his hands and lures Dagger to him until he's close enough for Maven to check his ear.

Cal is very careful to be quiet when he arrives and has a moment of "That's my boy" when he sees Maven petting and assuring Dagger that he's okay.

The two get to work, Cal holding Dagger as Maven gets the worms out; don't worry, they gave him some Melatonin to calm him down first.

GORE'S OVER! It takes a little while, and they have a few close calls when Dagger panics at being held down, but Maven gets all the worms out, cleans the infected ear, and wraps it up, Cal helping by holding Dagger and wrapping the ear.

When all this said and done, Dagger barks and snarls at Cal, growls at Maven, and runs back into Maven's bedroom.

I'm pretty sure I do not need to spell out what this dog went through anymore than I just did.

After Cal leaves and Maven cleans up(His house, his rules), he gives his progress to his doctor, not an actual nurse/surgeon doctor, but you know what I mean, "the person he's been talking to" is getting tedious, and mentions Dagger's reaction when they're done, thinking he might have some trauma. His doctor sees his point and assures him to be patient and thoughtful before musing that he and Dagger are very much alike.

This is a video Maven sent to Cal later that day:

(Like with the video of Sweetie, we take perspective of the phone camera as Dagger creeps into the hall connecting to the living room.)

"... Can I help you? Is your ear better now?"

(Dagger only stares at Maven, not growling and we and Maven cannot see if Dagger's tail is wagging or not.)

"(To Cal) He's been, sort of... watching me for a little bit. ...I'm so bored😐."

(Dagger stretches out of the hall and lies down, doing a doberman sploot.)

"(To Dagger)Hi."

(Dagger blinks at him)

"... Am I your favorite show? (More to himself, honestly, and a little quieter) ... Why do cats even watch the laundry?"

TIME JUMP

(Dagger has now rolled onto his back, smiling, and is staring at Maven, who is laughing his ass off for the first time in forever, and struggling to hold the phone up so Cal is going to be able to see.)

"I don't know what he's- (Laughter) Are you okay over there!?😂"

(Dagger sneezes, stands up, and shakes himself off before sitting down life nothing happened.)

"(More laughing) I CAN'T BREATHE! BMY COLORS!!!😂😂"

ANOTHER TIME JUMP!!!

(Maven holds his hand out, palm open and relaxed, as Dagger is creeping up to him. His ears are back ams eyes are wide as he smells and licks his hand. Dagger sits and Maven carefully scratches his head.) "Good boy. You're a good boy."

After this moment, Dagger's more active in inspecting and opening up to Maven, who is using his phone to record each instance to show Cal and his doctor. It's a little step more almost every time, pets on the head and body, a kiss on the face, sitting next to Maven on the couch, laying next to him in bed, and even having conversations.

I don't know what he'd do as a job, but once he's stable enough financially, he gets a proper video camera and computer to make the videos more presentable.

He later comes to realize he's better talking to the camera in the same way Cal writes in his journal. He is required to show these videos to his doctor, who tells him whatever he says is privileged information that is only shared between the two of them.

He also talks to his doctor through video calls/face time and most of those talks are interrupted when Dagger stares at Maven and barks for pets.

This is a conversation when one such event happened(I am not a psychologist and I saw a therapist sparingly, so if anything's not right, I'm so sorry):

"And how are you sleeping? Do you feel rested?"

"I'm pretty sure. It's a little worse when it storms, but overall I'm fine."

"Good. Still no dreams?"

Maven shakes his head. "My mother was really thorough."

As if sensing his uneasy, Dagger climbs onto the couch(he hasn't mastered jumping up yet) and rests his head on Maven's shoulder.

"Is that the dog you adopted?"

Maven nods and pets Dagger a little bit before returning to his conversation. "Yeah. I think he's getting better since I found him."

"It looks like he trusts you now."

"Thank goodne-"

Maven yelps and his doctor jumps when Dagger barks.

"Sorry!" Maven panics as his doctor fights a smile, not to be rude, but because this is cute. "I've been trying to teach him to use his paw to tell me 'more.'"

"While that is a bit much, that means he loves you and wants to leep feeling you. Touch is a strong sign of affection, especially for animals."

Now, Maven doesn't dream. Instead, he wakes up when he hears yelling and screaming in his head, primarily from Elara. Dagger is great at waking him up. Where Sweetie kisses Cal awake, Dagger... does the same, honestly. When that doesn't work, he cries and burrows himself into Maven's side to wake him up. The younger Calore brother goes back to sleep with Dagger in his arms. HE WILL NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP UNLESS DAGGER IS WITH HIM.

On his bad days, Maven will curl up and cover his ears, because it's loud in his head, and Dagger will either find a toy, maybe a tug of war rope, and make him play with him or force his way into Maven's arms and start panting from the heat. It helps distract Maven from the voices in his head.

Dagger hates the the rain. The first time he heard it, he barked and had HUGE anxiety fit. Maven had to help him through that, which meant MANY sleepless nights. It was worth it when Dagger fell asleep on the couch next to Maven while it was raining.

I know I've been talking about good boy Maven's good dog, all the same I think it's time we talk about the cat😊

Maven was napping with Dagger when he got a text from Mare that she found a kitten in the alley near where she lived. For context, this was a SMALL kitten, as in it fit in Mare's palms with no excess showing.

Yeah. That cat was his. And he thanked Mare so much that she told him. (Don't worry, they've been having a healthier relationship since the events of the war, however awkward).

Yes, he recorded bringing the kitten home and was so scared she'd end up dead in the morning because of how weak she was.

She was fine in the morning, just a little noisy because she missed him. He had to talk to his doctor while checking on her, and it wasn't easy when he had a kitten trying to climb up his shirt and on his shoulders.

Dagger KNOWS there's something behind the bathroom door, and he looks between Maven and said door to let him know; "Hooman. Dat door was unclosed before. Now it's closed and doing a noise. What behind da door?"

He was so scared to introduce the pets because Dagger is HUGE compared to her.

You know the comic Pixie and Brutus? Violet-the cat-and Dagger ARE Pixie and Brutus.

Maven thinks it's too cute when Dagger carries Violet by her scruff.

He was not happy when he learned she was a dwarf; Don't ask how, when, or how long ot took him to be allowed to see a vet and not look like he was falling back into bad habits.

Now, I know what you're thinking, "This is great, but didn't you talk about events such as a pandemic happening with our characters with pets? What does Maven DO with these two?" To which I say, This:

He talks to his doctor, records videos, and lives with his cat and dog.

He joined the group in a workout session, and there was one thing alone that gave everyone the proof they needed that he was growing and healing: While struggling to do push ups, Violet got close to his phone and knocked it over and Dagger stole it and ran around with it. These were their reactions when they saw his smile as he called Dagger and Violet silly and brats in the warmest and most loving way: Cal almost cried, Mare smiled, Kilorn's and Shade's jaws dropped, and Farley muted herself so she could tell a few of her men to listen better to Cal and Mare and the doctor looking after Maven, and to not worry about him, at least until she gives the word that they should.

Maven did upper body workouts with Dagger, who was so confused as to what was happening because Maven was holding him in a way that kept Dagger calm and was going up and down rather than down the hall. He whimpered, pawed, and barked to be carried again.

If Violet sees Maven having a bad time sleeping, she'll lay on his head and purr to calm him down. Works every time.

Dagger and Maven share a common interest: taking baths. Dagger is washed once every other week and has the biggest smile ever. Maven bathes at least once a month and Dagger comes into the bathroom to try and join him. Violet hates baths, both because she hates water and because she cries for Maven, or cries for Dagger, or anyone else, to help Maven.

Both animals are very smart and have puzzles to do.

Dagger is a sassy boy.

Dagger is also a really good guard dog, and Maven used to knock on his own door just to enter his home.

After having both Dagger and Violet, Maven has heard Elara's whispers less and less. Her voice isn't gone for good, but thanks to the support from Cal and having Dagger and Violet, the whispers are really manageable.

Sorry again if this is SUPER fanfic-y, like I said I want some serotonin and it's Maven's turn for some happiness!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post!!!

[sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-shelby]

Possibly my most epic DnD session yet! (now with sloppy illustrations!)

****Late-game spoilers for Hoard of the Dragon Queen****

I play as Killian Lyle. Level 6 human fighter, eldritch knight, lawful good. +4 str, con. -2 cha. You know the type.

Others in the party are: Rat-Rat, the forest gnome druid. Syrris, the wood-elf rogue. Montagor, the half-elf bard.

So, the last thing Killian did the session before was reenter a tavern our party got kicked out of and try to bribe the tavern keeper to help us get past some baddies. Big tough-looking tavern keeper grabs his weapon. *Roll initiative* End of session.

In Killian’s hands were a shield and a loaf of bread he had recently been served in that tavern. He was alone, the rest of his party discussing plans outside. We all rolled initiative, but only Killian was aware there was going to be combat so far. A couple of the party members got to go first. Basically just wandered town square, taking in surroundings. There are a whole bunch enemy guards nearby, watching, but not picking a fight with the group. 

Killian’s turn. He steps forward and tries to FORCE THE LOAF OF BREAD INTO THE GUYS MOUTH to catch him off-guard and maybe keep him quiet for a second. SMASHING SUCCESS! Guy is unable to stop me from jamming those carbs down his throat and drops his weapon. I bonus action my sword to my hand.

Tavern-keeper’s turn. DM has the guy do a con save to make sure he doesn’t CHOKE TO DEATH AND DIE!  *shit, shit, I didn’t want to kill him!!!* Luckily he saves and is able to clear his airway of bread. He starts swinging fists and misses.

Keep going in initiative order. Guest calls out “HES FIGHTING THE BARTENDER!” Most guests at the tavern flee upstairs, but 2 pull daggers and join in. Montagor the bard hears some commotion and opens the door to see Killian shoving bread down the tavern-keeper’s throat and other people moving in with weapon’s drawn. Tries playing the bagpipes nice and loud for extra diversion, but nat 1′s and pops the bag. Syrris the rogue comes in and starts quietly and *permanently* eliminating anyone attacking with a weapon. Killian tries multiple times to thunk the tavern-keeper on the head with the hilt of his sword well enough to knock him out, but the dude keeps fighting. Poor guy can’t make a single hit though. 

This fight’s going longer than Killian was hoping. He tries a different tactic: INTIMIDATE. Another smashing success. Like a 19 or something, since intimidate is his one charisma-based skill that doesn’t get a negative modifier. BARTENDER GETS A NAT 1! Surrenders. Killian backs off just before the Captain of the group of enemies walks in.

“WHAT”S GOING ON IN HERE!?”

Killian gambles on deception. NAT 20 “Some guys were fighting the tavern-keeper. We helped. They’re dead now.”

Intimidated tavern-keeper nods, says they were going to rob him.

Enemy captain thanks us for protecting his friend and leaves. WOW, DODGED A BULLET THERE!

We head out too, Killian dropping a couple of gold coins for the tavern-keeper as he heads out, and start looking for a good way to get past the guards. We’re trying to get into a GIANT ICE CASTLE that’s about to FLY AWAY. Time’s running out. I’m not sneaky, but we’re about to give it a try, see if our amazing rolls continue. We decide to peek in the giant stable that had HUGE REPTILIAN GROWLS coming from it. This would either be really bad or really good for us. 

Really good! Tied-up wyverns along one wall, riding harnesses on the other. The ice castle begins to take off. Guess we’re doing this! We smell the stink of meat from a nearby building. The rogue is unable to carry a full pig carcass herself. Killian goes to help. NAT 20! Throws a pig over one shoulder, and a sheep over the other and marches off toward the wyverns. Killian has crap animal handling skills, but Rat-Rat the druid doesn’t. Killian keeps the things distracted with bites of meat, Rat-Rat puts the harnesses on them with great success. We climb on, again without incident. And Rat-Rat is apparently a natural-born dragon-rider because he came up with an incredible plan that worked without a hitch. 

Minor-illusion the image of a fat turkey, flying just out of reach of the wyvern. Bard prestidigitation’s the smell of juicy meat coming off the “turkey”. Wyverns were eager to follow. Probably more complicated than it needed to be, but hey, it has pizzazz!

We are able to catch up to the ice castle and land they wyverns near another stable that they seemed trained to fly to. Looking around, ogres and kobolds seem to pay us no mind. Guess randos flying in on the backs of dragon things is a normal sight around here. But as it starts getting dark, creatures seem to hurry their tasks and make their way indoors. We figure we’d better do so as well. Quietly enter the first door we approach. Amazingly, nobody’s there. Not out and about anyway. There’s a comfortably furnished room right when we walk through the door, but we decide to keep exploring. Rat-Rat casts detect magic. The comfortable room has an illusory wall to an outside platform, but nothing else of note. 

We hear a familiar voice arguing with another voice in another room. A wizard we’d rather not exchange blows with if we can help it. Luckily, according to the DM’s dice rolls, they notice nothing.

Then, further down the hall we heard another familiar voice. Rezmir, the dragonborn cult leader we’ve been tracking for MONTHS. Basically in the first spot we look. Wow, really? And none of us are hurt. Most of us have all of our spell slots and other abilities still available to us. Could this be more perfect? Rat-Rat does see a bit of magic in the room in the last moments before his spell times out, but that’s to be expected, right?

There is a lock.“It looks much more complicated than any lock you’ve encountered before”, the DM tells us. But our rogue is pretty skilled in her arts. She decides to give it a try. 

“With my modifier that was a 30.″ Huh. What luck. DM said later that was a DC 25 lock. 

Rezmir was inside, sitting on her bed in her pajamas, just loving on her doggos. I mean attack drakes. Not paying us any mind whatsoever. *roll initiative*

Syrris goes first. Perfect opportunity for an assassination with her poison dagger and all those extra dice rolls she gets in just this sort of situation. She steps into the room and is SNATCHED UP AND HELD DOWN BY A SENTIENT AREA RUG! I should’ve drawn this part too because I can’t help but imagine the magic carpet from Aladdin wrestling the elf.

Anyway, fighting then ensues. Attack drakes come running, keeping the rest of the party besides the rogue out in the hall. Rezmir starts out unarmed, and shoots off a scary-looking spell at our bard. It misses and melts the wall behind him. Thank goodness it missed. Rogue takes 2 turns escaping the rug, Rezmir runs for her sword across the room. Rat-Rat’s moonbeaming Rezmir rather successfully. Killian and the Montagor are mostly in melee with the drakes, but Killian did start with a firebolt to Rezmir’s face. This fight hurts, both sides taking plenty of damage.

The rogue is taking the brunt of the damage trapped inside the bedroom with the dragonborn and that mean magic carpet. She takes it like a champ, but there’s a turn for the worse when she’s ready for healing. The bard’s starts coming to her aid, and she takes more damage, this time from the sword. Healing has no effect from that point.... The sword did something to stop her from regaining hit points, and after the significant damage from its blade, that’s bad news.

Bard and Rogue get caught in a breath attack, and the rogue goes down. Killian and Rat-Rat are still outside of the room, Killian around a corner and can’t actually see Rezmir from where he’s at. Shit. We still have one drake remaining. Killian tries his best with two attacks to eliminate it, but does min damage on both and it remains standing. Fuck it. Time for an Action Surge. Moves past the drake to where he’s in melee with Rezmir herself, stepping out from around the corner. Double attack again. Hits on both. NAT 20 ON THE SECOND! 

“How did it happen?”, the DM asks. I’m floored that I managed to down her in that hit.

“Killian steps around the corner, swinging his sword to where her saw the breath attack originate, slicing through her pajamas into the scales beneath. He then makes eye contact with her and sees the recognition in her face as she looks his way in surprise, even as he’s pulling back his sword for a second strike. Killian lunges full-force, plunging the sword right through her before she has the chance to react.”

“FOOLS!”, she cries out with her final breath as she disintegrates into ash, her sword and a couple of keys clanging to the floor where she had stood. Simultaneously an ornate chest in the far corner of the room violently explodes, destroying anything that might’ve been inside.

We rush to the Syrris, and Rat-Rat stabilizes her. Killian places her on the bed to rest. Then eyes turn toward the items Rezmir left behind. Killian voices that the rogue won’t be pleased to see the chest exploded when she regains consciousness, but doesn’t personally care much that the loot is no more. The party uses one of the keys in the pile of ash that was Rezmir to relock the room so they can use the comfortable chamber for a night of recuperation before continuing venturing back into the castle.

“Killian, I think you’re the only one of us that could wield that sword.”, Rat-Rat squeaks, pointing to the one remaining object on the ground.

The sword is jagged and black with a purple crystal in the hilt. Something about it makes Killian uneasy.

Killian replies, “A greatsword... Doesn’t really suit my fighting style. But it seems a powerful blade. ” Then he picks it up off the floor feeling powerful magic coursing through it, and hears a voice in his head.

“Hello”, the sword whispers, darkly. “You enjoyed that kill, didn’t you.”

Oh man, having my lawful good, magic fanatic, fighter boy weigh the benefits of wielding a legendary magical sword of untold power, against the moral drawback of it being intelligent and EVIL is going to be a wild ride. He has attuned to it, and we’ll see where this takes us. 

I’m still reeling from all the amazing things that happened in this session. What a day for Killian in particular. 

[raustenacious]

I have a really big choice to make that would change my life for the next 12-15 years but it would affect everything so I just don't know

I don't know what to do

This is chuck (whom I'd rename Doug, I think in honour of an Atypical character (chuck and Doug both are tbh))

He is a beagle Chihuahua mix. I'm going to see him tomorrow. I live at home still, and long story short my mom said I may be able to get my 'own' dog, like solely mine and all that.

However,I at some point want to move out and most apartments have crazy insane pet rules. And while hed be less than 25lbs that may still be hard. And apartment shopping seems like a nightmare already without the added factor of a dog and pet deposits

Additionally, we have a 6/8 year old Labradoodle who is testy(?), Doesn't like men, cranky, and already suffers from not enough pets, a 2 year old shi-poo who is like my bestie, I take that little rat to the mailbox, he loves to hang on the couch with me, by my feet when Im at my desk etc

And a Bernese mountain dog that's under 2 years old. So we're already kinda full. And this is embarrassing but they're not the best trained, the eldest bc we got him when he was a year or so, the middle bc he's a covid puppy (got him march 2020, literally two weeks before the World Ended).

And at first we'd talked about this dog (a great pyranese we'd met today) bc

We have space for another big dog

And not many ppl do so it'd be harder for him to find a home

He's good with cats (I've got one that doesn't prefer the indoors)

Great pyranese are easy to train

But chuck/doug is best for apartment living I feel, Jolly (the pyranese) would be good for nighttime walks bc he be Big (I think his profile said he'd be cool w/ apartments, but I really don't know)

I'm only 18, I think about a tattoo multiple times a day, every day, the same tattoo and can't even commit to it

This all started as a joke. I just want a kitten and mom to stop being allergic to cats idk what to do

Advice more than appreciated and welcome this kind of turned into a place to write it all out

Another con is that I def do prefer pits/ Staffordshire terrier mixes but mom said I can't but it'd be a great opportunity to give a dog a home. I'd also wanted Zeke this older doggo but I can't bc our oldest wouldn't be cool with that