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abigailmoment · 5 months

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Astarion frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Mn." Tav shook her head and the expression smoothed away as she looked up at him. "The wine may be off."

"No. It's trash, but it's fine," he told her. "Why are you upset?"

She paused in that way she sometimes did in conversations--like she was deliberating between options and deciding which one would best suit her goals. It was often the precursor for amusement when she did it to other people, but it was irritating when she did it with him.

"It's feelings," she said, as if she were warning him.

Astarion shrugged. "So? You only talk about feelings with druids? Pretend I'm Halsin. I could stand on top of a chair if it would help."

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"Naive am I?" Tav asked, her eyebrows raised so high up that they were in danger of crowding her horn-stubs.

"It's just that you have a...big heart," Astarion said tactfully. "You like doing what's right."

Which was just a different way of saying naive. The woman was physically incapable of walking past a sob story without interfering with it in some way. It was the most absurd way to live life. She'd be intolerable if all her other energies weren't devoted to the far more admirable dual purposes of making money and having fun.

Case in point, they'd just finished ransacking the Last Light Inn for every bottle of wine the imp-children weren't supervising. Now they were on the second floor, sitting at one of the less-cobwebbed tables. They were sharing a bottle of Plum Fizz, which was utter garbage. They'd chosen that one because the others were nice years that might be sold well, and also Tav hadn't believed him about what utter garbage the stuff was.

Astarion had stirred his latest donation into his cup, and it made the vintage borderline palatable. Though privately he thought Wyll would pair much more nicely with elderberry wine.

"So I was thinking," he continued. "What would be the right thing to do when we get to Moonrise towers? When we come face to face with whoever's controlling the parasites?"

"I'm guessing you have an opinion," Tav observed, leaning back in her chair.

"Well think about it," he prompted. "How many people have the mind flayers infected? Hundreds? Thousands?"

"Probably hundreds," Tav guessed. "It's an involved process."

"Hundreds then." Astarion conceded a little of his daydream to reality, but only a little. "And they're not just goblin trash. There are powerful people in the worm's thrall."

"Sure," said Tav.

"Whoever's waiting for us at Moonrise Towers controls it all. But what if we can take that control from them?"

"Mm," said Tav.

"I'm just saying," he pressed. "There's an opportunity here. Imagine the entire cult under our thumb. If we can control the tadpoles we can keep ourselves safe, liberate the world from this evil, and enjoy a little world domination on the side."

He laughed a bit at the idea. It was so delightful he couldn't help himself. "You can't tell me that doesn't sound fun?"

He looked at her for confirmation. She'd gone quiet. She sometimes did that when he talked up the tadpoles. He presumed that was the kind of reticence that came paired with morals, and that it might be worn down by time and temptation.

She was staring down into her cup of wine with a tight expression. Brows drawn, mouth turned down into almost a grimace. She looked ill.

He frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Mn." She shook her head and the expression smoothed away as she looked up at him. "The wine may be off."

"No. It's trash, but it's fine," he told her. "Why are you upset?"

"It's feelings," she said, as if she were warning him.

Astarion shrugged. "So? You only talk about feelings with druids? Pretend I'm Halsin. I could stand on top of a chair if it would help."

He lost her to sniggering for a moment. When she'd finished laughing at his objectively hilarious joke, she spent another moment considering responses. Then she gave him a 'you asked' look and started talking.

"When I was in my early twenties I learned Charm Person." She was tracing the rim of her cup around and around with her fingertip. "And it was the only spell I cast for like, six months. It was like playing an easier version of life. It made everything manageable. Everyone tractable."

"There were a lot of long term consequences to that. The worst was I permanently fucked up my relationship with my sister." Tav tilted her cup almost to spilling. "She was a year younger than me and in her making bad decisions phase. And I could just stop her. Every time she wanted to do some idiot, dangerous thing."

"But.” Tav enunciated the conjunction so that it popped. “Enchantments that make false emotions can atrophy real emotions. By the time I figured out what I was doing it was too late. She didn't feel anything about me anymore, when she wasn't charmed."

Tav tipped her cup back upright. It looked a little like she'd wanted to let it spill. Probably to match her narrative or some dramatic thing like that. But that impulse had died under her need not to waste food.

"So I don't touch control spells." She continued. "No charms. No compulsions."

She hadn't looked at Astarion for the entire story. An attitude of shame, even though her voice was mild and steady.

"And then the mindflayer thing happened." She made vague gestures towards Astarion's head and then hers. "And now...I feel like a teetotaler with a bottle of wine hanging in front of me all the time."

She took another drink from her cup.

"Authority," she said in a tone that managed to be mocking and maudlin all at once.

She seemed to be finished. All right. He had listened. That was done. Now Astarion cast about in his mind for what you were supposed to do when someone told you a sad story and you cared about it.

...

It was depressing how shit he was at this.

She didn't seem to mind the long silence. She was staring into her cup again, swirling the cheap wine about, expression pensive and glum.

Astarion minded the long silence though. He finally landed on something to say that vaguely fit the shape of the conversation.

"Fine. Very well then, " he began. "Out of the kindness of my heart, to spare you this pain, I will be the one to take control of the Absolute cult."

She didn't spit up her drink, but that was only because it hadn't quite made it to her lips before she started laughing.

"Oh my Gods," she said breathlessly, a minute later. "No, you racist, squirrel kicking, sociopath. You'd better be actually joking because no one is letting you do that. I am in fucking love with you and I would never let you do that."

Astarion was gearing up to get catty, perhaps even angry, about the first part of that statement. Then the last sentence happened and it was like being struck by a very soft bolt of lightning. It jangled something in his head, and left him feeling numb and strange and a little warm.

That was wrong. That wasn't how things worked. Feelings weren't supposed to be warm like that. He wasn't a thing that produced warmth. What was this?

Tav was distracted, squinting at the bottle of plum fizz to gauge how much was left. Which was good because Astarion had even less of an idea than usual what his face looked like right now.

As he watched her, Tav smiled in that particular way that he was beginning to recognize as an expression that happened right before she said something intended to goad him.

Then she said: "We can put Wyll in charge."

"Absolutely not," said Astarion, snapping out of his confusing reverie by the need to object to that unconscionable idea.

"Ha!" said Tav, finally looking up at him. "Absolute-ly not."

"Don't start," Astarion said warningly. She could become absolutel--completely insufferable with puns if it wasn't cut off quickly. This wanted a distraction. He considered which of their companions he'd like best as an all-powerful cult leader if it couldn't be him or Tav.

"Lae'zel," he said. He was aware it wasn't the right choice, but it was the one he liked.

Tav snorted. "Sure. Never much liked Faerun being intact and at peace. Why not?"

"Gale," she suggested then, because apparently this was another game now. "He'll compel all of us to sit down and listen to him explain the distinction between radiance damage and fire damage."

"I distinctly prefer Lae'zel," Asterion said. Then inspiration struck. "No. Wait. We're both wrong. Karlach."

"Shit. You're right," Tav said immediately. "Karlach for cult leader. World domination. World dominatrix."

"She does look good in leather," Astarion admitted.

"Truth," said Tav. "Great. I'm glad we resolved that."

Astarion swirled the dregs of his spiked-wine about in his cup. He was putting off finishing it because that would be the last of his blood for the day.

"I am serious about the power," he told her. "It's not often the universe hands you something like this. I don't want us wasting it."

"We won't," Tav promised. "We're going to take them for all we safely can. And we're going to make a lot of powerful allies on the way. And if we do find the macguffin that lets us take control of the cult, I'm seriously now considering the pros and cons of Karlach being the one to use it. That might be the plum fizz doing the thinking, but I am currently letting it."

"Macguffin is a theater thing?" Astarion clarified dryly. Tav's incomprehensible nonsense words were usually theater things.

"Yes," she confirmed. "A magic object in a story that lets you do exactly the thing you want to do. They don't usually exist in the real world so don't hold your breath."

He gave her a significant look. She laughed.

"Or hold your breath if you want to, I guess, vampire privilege. You won't. Because it would also involve refraining from talking."

He tossed his head disdainfully and distinctly didn't respond. She laughed again.

The conversation hadn't gone precisely as he wanted, but he was fairly content with the results. Tav's assistance was, as always, intractably ethical and therefore conditional. But it still gave him better odds for getting something like what he wanted than just showing up and causing chaos.

It was rather nice having a friend who was a details person.

****

This is part of an ongoing story. It begins here.

Here's a list of other stories like this.

****

#astarion #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion x tav #astarion/tav #conversations you have at midnight #while drunk on plum fizz

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frogonamelon · 23 days

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It's that time of year again where it gets a little warmer and I remember that Amphibia is a show I very much enjoy thinking about. Have some Anne outfits, as a treat <3

If you would like to see what aspect of headcanon/ au worldbuilding had consumed my consciousness like a pestering maggot, feel free to continue below.

Hello! Welcome to I focus on researching one very specific detail until I burn out!

My entire day has been consumed by figuring out how Amphibia's farming works. Like... amphibians are carnivores why do they have farms?

Well, I'll tell you why! The Plantars grow animal feed for predominantly crickets but also others such as silkworms, spiders, snails, etc. They grow produce like cabbage, mushrooms, parsnips, potatoes, dandelions, and turnips as well as heartfruit, a fruit not found on Earth.

In the past, the original amphibian hunter/gatherer societies found that mealworms were attracted to fallen heartfruit, among others. They began to use this knowledge to make traps and eventually began both containing the worms as well as growing the fruit.

Despite mealworms historical prominence in the farming and feeding of Amphibia, crickets are more popular nowadays due to their higher levels of protein. They also began growing a larger variety of produce to further increase efficiency.

Heartfruit is a kind of tree grown fruit with the color of a raspberry, size of a kumquat, and shape of a peach (hence the name). The Plantar's orchard is the only producer of this fruit as its traditionally significant but not necessary for frog kind. They are Anne's personal favorite of the Plantar's produce, being chalk full of nutrients and somehow feels nostalgic to her.

Speaking of Anne, she survives mostly on the Plantar's produce along with cricket meat (knowing that she can at least eat crickets).

After discovering that the amphibians hibernate, she begins to plant pole beans, blueberries, elderberries, and other produce and herbs in her greenhouse to cultivate while she forages and stockpiles for winter. She preps and stores wild rice, pecans, and sunflower seeds (discovered through trial and error). She keeps spare root veggies and other product in the basement. The Plantars help her do this, once they understand the situation, drying heartfruit and salting and smoking fish as well as making jerky out of bugs that they know she can have.

Anne's gonna learn to survive, even if the first winter is especially hard.

#Not my usual content but I love her and this au so much <3 #amphibia #4 Stars Au #I've done the research for what Anne would grow and eat no less than four times and it comes out vastly different each time.#Researching what grows in swamps + what frogs eat + what bugs humans can have + what the plantars grow + ...#farmer anne #trans anne boonchy my beloved #I could not find a suitable place for this but a different farm grows spirulina (a freshwater algae) for tadpoles. Anne will also eat this.#They are sold in jars (like baby food)#This whole au is about emphasizing the differences between humans and amphibians #Anne is warmblooded? Must prepare for winter #Can't live on an amphibian's diet? Eat animal feed and forage #Sasha is more resistant to the harsh climate of the mountains as well as to dangerous substances like citris and salt #She eats orange slices as a power play is all I'm saying #Marcy ends up being the first to truly research Amphibia's oceans because she can acturally survive touching the sea #Desi (4th star) is called the 'Sunchild' for a reason #Can't breathe underwater? Learn magic #anne boonchuy #plantar family

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bonefall · 11 months

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just read through the full thunderclan family tree, saluting you and your efforts so hard right now 🫡🫡

do you have anything in specific in store personality or plot-wise for the first arc thunderclan kitten saves? (cricket, mistle, chestnut, tulip, elder) (besides dying horribly in the plague, of course 😅)

I do! Unfortunately the Plague Victims won't be getting much screentime, but I do have a good vibe on what everyone's personality was. I'll go in order of age,

CHESTNUTFACE is the daughter of Fuzzypelt and Robinwing, and a late birth as Robinwing had some odd fertility issues. She was born with Tulip around the start of Bluestar's reign, putting her on the later end of 4-ish when she died. She was named for a distinct 'plate' shape on her head, which passed down to Dustpelt. They're remarkably similar, but Chestnut was a richer, redder brown.

TULIPFLIGHT is the littermate of Chestnut. He was a darker red-brown with an orange belly, like his mom, and fuzzy fur that he was constantly trying to keep smooth. He was being trained to take over some of the fancier duties of Kitchen Patrol, and his death is a big reason why cooking wasn't so prevalent in TPB. He was a passive, good-humored guy.

The entire family was taken out by illness in Spottedleaf's Plague, with Ravenkit being the only one to catch and survive it. His growth was stunted as a result.

MISTLECLAW is the younger sister of Goldenflower and Lionheart, from a second litter. She was around 2-ish when she died, looking forward to getting her first apprentice. She was snappy like her mom, Speckletail, but there were doubts that she would make a good mentor as she was pretty flighty and easily distracted.

CRICKETCLAW is the littermate of Darkstripe, and the only one of this list who was alive during the Plague and survived. She is around 3 years old at the start of TPB, and was Redtail's first apprentice (so that he did not mentor his mate's sister). She is the 'distinct tabby queen' from canon, but did not have any surviving kits. She's one of the high-ranking members of the Construction Patrol, and was pretty jealous when Dustpelt got a secondary apprenticeship from One-eye. She has a friendship with Goldenflower.

And, lastly,

ELDERBERRY is the littermate of Ferncloud. She's an impulsive little daredevil, ride-or-die loyal with a bit of a sassy streak. Cloudkit was always dragging them into trouble, Elderkit enthusiastically following along, and Fernkit going broke from having to post bail.

(Ken and Barbie meme of Cloud and Elder both being Kens while Fern is the only Barbie)

Elder and Cricket are both planned as kills in the Forest's destruction of TNP, though Elder in particular is open to shuffles as long as she's dead before TBC

#BB!TPB #Better Bones au #I also batted around the idea of doing something with Lynx #But I don't want TPB's allegiance list to get very large since the fun of the arc is how limited the cats are #Adding too many messes with the logistics struggle that makes it such a fun arc #So there's just Cricket

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exponentialb-zukas · 1 month

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RIZZ (also known as charisma) is when you get the bitches easy old man. they think you are hot?? ppl like what they call dilfs ig :/

BUT HAS ROCKET NOTICED THE MISSING LIKE,,,, rockets? i guess? stole em from him after a phight in the good ol den and ate that powder they have in them

pretty good would do that again but just checking in to see if hes noticed cus it was like last week and if he has? not going near him IM KEEPING MY LIMBS!!

dont tell vinestaff i ate them. she will get SO MAD AT ME... but nice to see some age variation on this app! tho it does smell like elderberries on here now from your old man cologne...

ANYHOW PEACE OLD MAN!! VISIT THIEVES DEN AGAIN SOMETIME! me n sling have a running bet on how much we can steal from the other competitors n rockets been low on that list for TOO LONG!! need to up my game cant lose to em again

Dilfs? Get bitches easy?

Uhm. Im guessing this is Shuriken from how you mentioned Vinestaff and Slingshot and no I dont think Rocket noticed any missing rockets. More importantly, why are you eating the gunpowder...

#phighting!#phighting parody #zuka #phighting zuka #//zuka is tired #THIS ENTIRE ASK IS SO FUNNY LMFAAOO #DILFS???#OKAY HELP

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thetarttfuldickhead · 11 months

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Do you have a headcanon list for the rest of the team's lynx flavors! Leather and Cookies can't be to the taste of all of them!

Let’s be real, nonny – of course I don’t. I mean, who has that? Really, who?

Well, yeah, okay, I do, but only because you asked and because I very randomly happen to be in Dublin* for the week and had the opportunity to stop by Boots and sniff all the Lynx stuff they had (which did not include Java or – to my great disappointment – Leather & Cookies) and take notes, which didn’t earn me any weird looks whatsoever.

The things I do for love.

Anyway. We know Jamie is a jack of all Lynx trade and that Colin favours Leather & Cookies. As for (an non exhaustive list of) the rest…

Isaac – our captain of righteous rage and impeccable taste could never choose anything but Africa, advertised (however misguidedly) as the G.O.A.T of scents. There’s sweetness and spice and fresheness reminiscent of good gin hovering over a woody base – it’s not outrageous by any means, but it’s not boring either: nuanced and reasonably mature, it’s a scent worthy of the footballer with the most fashion sense of the entire team. Has enough gravitas for a captain, too, but without weighting him down.

Sam – leans into the quietly playful notes of Excite; it’s a fairly standard pour homme scent but the hints of coconut (almost edging into sweet liquorice) gives it a little twist, turning it warmer and softer than your average man deo. Perhaps it wasn’t his own choice, originally – I can see Simi gifting it to him, and Sam going no, okay, this works.

Dani – would pull off all the muskier and spicer scents so beautifully but is ultimately (and perhaps unfortunately) attracted to the bright fruit of Epic Fresh. It’s vivacious and sweet and unapologetic about being happy and unrefined; carefree, like Dani when jogging onto the pitch.

Jan – has decent taste but does not care to spend too much time thinking about his deodorant; he selects the simple but not basic fruit and wood combination of Black, and sticks with it. It’s a good enough choice; it’ll do and offend no one (and if it does, Jan Maas will not give a fuck because he has more important things to worry about).

Bumbercatch – goes for the sickly sweet, bright pink and unpleasantly chemical Recharge only to confuse his enemies. “What enemies,” you might ask, but our man Bumber simply gives you A Look and does not answer.

Zorro – just likes chocolate, okay? He’s in tune with his emotions and desires and wearing Dark Temptation makes him feel good. We should none of us begrudge him that.

Richard – spits at your Lynx and your hamster of a mother and elderberry-smelling father. His deodorant is expensive and French and rather discreet because he doesn’t want chemical smells to overpower the sublime taste of wine and also there’s something primally attractive about the natural human musk and why would you ever want to drown that out?

Jeff Goodman – selects Icy Chill because he believes the cool menthol notes makes him seem like a tought guy. They do not.

Cockburn – is a man of few words and a gentle heart. He prefers Gold, both for the warm spiciness of its deep wood and vanilla tones, and for gold of it all. It makes him feel a little special, in a quiet sort of way. Cockburn doesn’t really need more than that (at least not from a deodorant); he knows what he’s about and what he’s worth, and if you do not? Not his problem, baby. It’s a solid, simple choice for a solid, simple man.

If I were to assign Java (unsmelled) to anyone, it'd be to Sasha Kukoč because he's my very special secret darling and is (supposedly) young enough to find 90s retro hot.

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missnight0wl · 8 months

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Let’s talk about Elton Elderberry – and why he’s a total bitch

First of all, I want to thank @thedoodlecat because a lot of the ideas I’ll discuss were formed during our conversations. So, credit where credit's due!

Secondly, I want to make it clear from the start that it’s not quite a theory, meaning: I personally don’t believe Jam City might take the story in this direction. However, I believe that a lot of it might be a leftover of what’s the story supposed to be. And yes, it can also be explained by the writers having no idea what they’re doing, but on the other hand, it ties in with many interesting details from the past, mostly from Y5. And I still believe that year was super important for the narrative.

Now, without further ado, let’s move on to Elton. Spoilers up to Y7Ch56.

Ok, so the first thing that really bothers me about Elton Elderberry is that he was well aware of the Crown of Mneme, how dangerous it can be, and he had to at least suspect that it might be in the Sunken Vault – and for all those years, he did absolutely fucking nothing.

And it’s quite problematic because there’s no way he just… didn’t know about MC and the Cursed Vaults. At the beginning of Y3, MC told us that pretty much everyone could learn about it from the Daily Prophet. And we know that the Ministry was especially aware of it. Even if we ignore Moody’s involvement starting from Y6, first with Rakepick and then with Peregrine, we also had the Ministry sending Tofty to spy on MC during our O.W.L.s because of the Cursed Vaults. And honestly, I just don’t buy the explanation that Elton somehow… just didn’t hear about it. So, like, what the hell?

Now, I can hear you saying: “Oh, but of course Elton didn’t do anything because he wasn’t a character yet and Jam City probably just created him now!”. And you know what? That’s a totally valid remark and quite probable explanation. Still, I kept thinking about it anyway, and I quickly noticed another problem with Elton: how we actually learnt that he was directly involved in Ryusaki’s death. I mean, look at those scenes:

And then after our visit to the Archives:

(I just have to point out that he’s fucking grinning here…)

… and then:

Do you see the problem here??

Imagine this. You meet Steve. Steve tells you about the mother who died in a car accident with her two children. Sadly, she was the one who caused the accident because she was under the influence. Later you learn on your own that the said mother was a model parent, always there for her children despite having two jobs, actually sober during the accident, rarely drunk at all, and in fact, it was Steve who caused the crash. When confronted, Steve admits to everything and says he feels terrible about it and it haunts him every day. Would you believe Steve that he’s so sorry? BECAUSE I DEFINITELY WOULDN’T. In fact, I’d do everything to stay away from Steve.

Now, again, I’m aware that it might be simply JC’s incompetence in making a connection between the Crown of Mneme and Dai Ryusaki – even though it could’ve been easily done without Elton actively portraying Ryusaki as a bad guy. For example:

Elton: I advise you to avoid the Crown at all costs. MC: I wonder if it has anything to do with the Dark Scroll… Elton: You don’t mean Dai Ryusaki’s Dark Scroll, do you? MC: That dark wizard? Yes, I do. Why? Do you know anything about it too? Elton: *not answering right away and looking very ashamed instead, showing already that he doesn’t want to reveal the truth because of his loyalty to the Ministry, but also showing his guilt*

And yes, I know it wouldn’t be the first time JC didn’t see the simplest solutions in their writing. But as I was thinking about it more, I realised that if we assume that Elton indeed knew about MC and the Cursed Vaults all that time and did nothing on purpose, it’s both surprising and fascinating how many things start to add up. In this scenario, Elton would also want to portray Ryusaki as a bad guy. I know it doesn’t fully work currently because, in the end, it was Elton who let us go to the Archives, but I guess it’s possible that originally, we were supposed to learn the truth about Ryusaki in some different way. And either way, I have to point out that there’s something very off in this part of the story no matter what. I mean, let me ask you one question:

Why exactly Dai Ryusaki was killed?

Because if you think about it, it was never really explained… properly. Like, we keep using words like “miscommunication” or “misunderstanding”.

But… how the fuck can you kill somebody because of misunderstanding? I guess we’re supposed to interpret it as: “The International Confederation of Wizards thought Dai wanted to use his invention to do bad things while he was actually trying to destroy his invention once he realised it’s dangerous”. However, this interpretation doesn’t really make sense. Why? Look at Ryusaki’s notes we found in the Archives.

Ryusaki seems absolutely certain that once he destroys what he was about to destroy, it’s done. He accepted that his work would be no more after that. And that makes me believe that nobody else (or almost nobody) knew about his work. Because otherwise, he’d have to realise that someone might try to replicate his work, right? Or even force him to simply repeat it? Yet he’s not worried about it. And the thing is that Ryusaki was a very intelligent, reasonable, and conscious man. So… how the hell the International Confederation of Wizards knew anything to misinterpret Ryusaki’s intentions?

Well, what if there was someone other than Ryusaki who knew about his work after all? But Dai completely trusted that person, so that’s why he was so sure the whole thing would remain secret? What if that person happened to work at the British Ministry of Magic? What if this person was…

Elton “The Bitch” Elderberry?

Ok, so I know that everything I said so far is a big assumption, but I swear it does make sense, so please, bear with me. And I’ll actually start by summarising what I believe how it all began and then I’ll elaborate on each element because it’s gonna be easier for me that way.

So, I believe that Dai Ryusaki and Elton Elderberry were once good friends. They were both quite talented wizards, and while they had different goals in life, they realised at some point that the treasure from the Cursed Vaults might help them achieve that. Together, they created a group that we know as R. Unfortunately for Elton, Dai realised eventually that both his own invention and the Cursed Vaults themselves are dangerous, so he decided to quit. Elton didn’t like it, and he was afraid that Dai would try to stop him as well, so he decided to be proactive about it. Using his position as a Hit Wizard at the Ministry, he sold Dai out, claiming he’s a dangerous dark wizard. Elton kept R alive ever since, and he was waiting for MC to be born because MC is necessary to open the final Cursed Vault.

Of course, I assume that the original plans for the final Cursed Vault were different than what we saw in Y6. Also, from that point, I’ll keep calling Elton “Brelton” because:

BITCH + R + ELTON = BRELTON

… and I just think this distinction might be useful because, as I said, I don’t think it might still be true, yet it seems that Elton Elderberry will stay in the story anyway. Ok, but let’s talk about some details.

Dai’s and Brelton’s goals

As for Dai’s goal, it’s pretty straightforward. It’s basically said directly in the game: he wanted to help people with traumatic memories. What would be Brelton’s goal then? Well, let me remind you one note from R we found in Y5:

The interesting thing about it is that for the longest time, it was the only case where it was mentioned that R had any interest in immortality. As soon as the Dark Scroll was introduced, we only talked about R wanting knowledge. I even talked with my friend about how weird it is that the writers totally abandoned the immortality aspect (Bee, I’m not tagging you because I don’t want you to feel obliged to read this long-ass post, but if you’re reading it anyway: Hi! I’m talking about you!). In fact, I’m pretty sure that the word “immortality” wasn’t even used in the main story after that note from R – until our conversation with Elton in Y7Ch49:

And you know what? I don’t think it’s just a coincidence. Because it’s not even true! Every time we talked about Ryusaki’s potion, it was about mind-enhancing potion.

So… what if it’s the leftover of the original plans for Elton’s character? What if it’s Brelton who was all about immortality? And now, JC just looked at the notes made by Matt London and his team and simply put the immortality potion in there without thinking if it made sense. I realise it feels like another stretch, but I have to point out that Elton’s old age is a little sus – and they stress all the time how old he is. I mean, wizards do live longer than Muggles, but most of them don’t live over 300 years. (There’s actually the HP wiki page about it.)

And the thing is that from the story point of view, it wasn’t even necessary to make Elton this old. Sure, it adds some flavour with the reveal that he was actually there when Dai was killed, but on the other hand, he mentions every now and then that his memory is not the best anymore etc. So, wouldn’t it be better if MC met Elton's son or grandson, for example? Personally, I think it would, and that’s why I’m gonna assume for the rest of this analysis that R was always about “enlightenment and immortality”, and that Dai Ryusaki represented the first element while Elton Elderberry the second one.

Why they needed the Cursed Vaults?

Ok, so now that we know what they wanted in general, let’s try to figure out why they went after the Cursed Vaults – and as I mentioned already, I assume that the original treasure was actually… well, a thing. I admit that I wasn’t able to figure out what exactly it could’ve been, but I have some ideas about what properties the Treasure could have, based on Dai’s and Brelton’s goals.

This time, let’s start with Brelton because it’s a bit easier. Basically, I believe that Brelton managed to invent something that grants semi-immortality, but it’s not the perfect invention. Sure, he’s still alive and his mind is not in the worst condition, but still. So, I think that he believes that the Treasure could improve his invention by granting actual immortality and/or eternal youth.

It’s a bit more complicated with Dai because we have to consider multiple elements. First of all, we have the mind-enhancing potion. The recipe for it was hidden on the Dark Scroll which was confirmed by the notes found by MC in the Archives. But earlier, MC also mentioned “a device”, and then they read: “I can’t bear to destroy my life’s work, but I know that I must. The scroll has already been hidden”. So… what exactly was he about to destroy? If we want to stick to the legend told by Corey, it might’ve been about the already-prepared potion. He might’ve also been referring to his research in general and his notes or something. But then we have the Crown of Mneme… And that’s quite interesting because we actually know that it’s something he found in Greece – which, by the way, confirms that the Crown was not something placed in the Cursed Vaults originally (I’ll return to it in a moment).

Either way, to simplify it a little bit, I’m gonna assume that Dai’s invention was about the Crown and the potion - and that together was considered his “device”. What about the Treasure then? I see a couple of options.

Perhaps the Treasure would give more control over the Crown or allow to exchange of thoughts both ways. I mean, what we saw in the game looked like the wearer could only send their thoughts, but if Dai wanted to treat patients with traumatic memories, he probably wanted to extract those memories.

Perhaps the Treasure could permanently remove/destroy traumatic memories. Because I don’t think you can actually do it with Obliviate, for example. I might be wrong, but I feel that there is always a small chance that the memory would come back or simply leave some mark behind it.

How the Crown of Mneme ended in the Sunken Vault?

So… If Dai was so certain that his invention was gone and to be forgotten, and on top of that I claim that he didn’t want to have anything to do with the Cursed Vaults, then how the hell the Crown of Mneme ended in the Sunken Vault? Well, I guess I won’t surprise anyone at this point by saying that it was Brelton who was behind it. And the best thing is that we actually know that R was in the Sunken Vault in the past – and that’s thanks to the note found in the Weird Sisters TLSQ:

So, this is what I propose. Brelton got the Crown of Mneme before Dai’s death somehow. I don’t think that Dai would just give it to him because I assume they already fell apart at that point. Or perhaps Brelton lied to Dai and offered that he’d destroy the Crown? Either way, he probably wasn’t planning to destroy it (as it might be useful for him), and he continued his search for the Cursed Vaults. Unfortunately for him, once he got to the Sunken Vault, he realised he couldn’t do anything without the key. And now, the key might be the Gillyweed/Coral Key Rakepick took from us in Y4, or maybe it’s about the siblings – or it’s both (like in my version of the story). Anyway, the Treasure was unachievable, so Brelton used this opportunity to hide the Crown of Mneme and just left.

Ryusaki and the creation of the Cabal

Ok, but why I assume that Dai Ryusaki even knew about the Cursed Vaults, to begin with? I just explained how it was probably Brelton who put the Crown in the Sunken Vault, and we don’t really have anything to prove that Dai needed the Treasure to improve his invention. Well, yeah. But we have something else. Something that I find very exciting. See, during our first trip to Knockturn Alley, we visited also Flourish and Blotts where we found a Black Quill containing this message:

And for the longest time, I was just… absolutely stumped by it. I couldn’t come up with any decent theory as to who left that note. But now, I do strongly believe that it was left by Dai Ryusaki. Brelton was too greedy to get his immortality and too afraid of his own mortality to leave the Cursed Vaults and refused to listen to his friend that it’s too dangerous. The note also talks about “them”, so maybe R had some more members at that point already (but only Dai and Elton knew everything). And you know what makes it even more fascinating? We found this Black Quill in the book by Maerwynn Montfort who’s a totally original author mentioned only in this specific scene in HPHM. Interestingly, Maerwynn is a feminine name that is of Welsh origin that means “joy”. And coincidently, Dai is a Welsh masculine given name (which means “beloved”), a hypocorism of Dafydd or David, as well as a masculine Japanese given name. Like…

Are you kidding me??

I mean, ok, sure. It might be just a coincidence. But you have to admit that it’s a pretty damn odd coincidence. Maybe Maerwynn was someone from Dai’s Welsh part of the family or just a friend whom he met there? Or maybe it’s just a pseudonym or something. But either way, it might be hinting at some (“Welsh”) connection. And that’s why they were exchanging secret information!

Still, that’s not even all I finally realised about the note. Because I also believe that it confirms that the Cabal from Jacob’s notebook is a different group than R – and I think that it was Dai Ryusaki who started that group.

Ok, so I explained the whole idea in this post. It’s one of my shorter analyses so I recommend checking it out. But to put it even shorter, my problem with the note from Y5Ch15 was always that Jacob was confused about why the Cabal wanted to kill him.

But R was very open about threatening Jacob and especially his family, so… it shouldn’t be surprising at all. He might’ve been confused if he was doing everything R told him to do – but then it doesn’t make sense that R would want to kill Jacob and MC. I mean, after Duncan’s death, they clearly told him to continue his search.

So, I always interpreted the Cabal as a separate group who wanted to protect the Cursed Vaults by killing the siblings because the siblings are necessary to get to the Treasure. And if we join it with the note from Flourish and Blotts, it totally adds up. Dai realised that the Cursed Vaults were dangerous and wanted to stop R. Brelton wouldn’t listen, so Dai wanted to destroy the vault portrait which, assumingly, would make it impossible to get to the Portrait Vault. On top of that, he started the group that was supposed to make sure that nobody would ever get hurt by the Vaults by killing the siblings (who can get the Treasure). It was about the creation of the Cabal this whole time!

Brelton as the true leader of R

In general, I have to say that Brelton being the true leader of R just makes more sense. In this scenario, it’d also mean that Peregrine is just… a current face of the organisation. A puppet. And yes, I keep saying that I don’t believe that Perry was always planned to be a part of the story, so why do I even mention him? Well, to be completely honest, I’m willing to accept that Perry was planned along with Dai and Brelton’s story – just not as MC’s father. Because it makes sense that Brelton would want to keep his position at the Ministry, and if so, he’d probably need someone to (occasionally) represent R. And that could be Peregrine. In fact, we saw some moments when the leader of R was treated weirdly ambiguous. The first case is our conversation with Rakepick in Azkaban. And yes, I know that we didn’t know about Peregrine then yet, so it kind of makes sense to leave it more ambiguous, but I want to point out a specific thing Rakepick said.

Honestly, I was always confused by it because “the one behind it all” sounds like someone who also created R, at least in my opinion. On the other hand, we had hints in the past that R is a rather older organisation. Not to mention that Perry claimed that he joined R, meaning that R was R before the current leader joined them. Of course, it is possible that Perry lies. It is also possible that the title of R is simply given to each leader. But… I don’t know. Rakepick’s words sound to me like she is talking about only one person. However, if that one person is actually Brelton, it makes sense that he’s both the current true leader and the one responsible for creating the organisation.

My other issue is with Olivia’s memories. Because Rakepick is very clearly talking to someone from R in those scenes, but for whatever reason we never learn who it was.

So, what if it was actually supposed to be Brelton? And speaking of that, ever since we learnt that Olivia was working at the Ministry, I thought it was pretty suspicious, and I fully expected that R was controlling that. And what a coincidence that Elton became Olivia’s mentor for all those years…

Hell, it’d even make more sense why Verucca is so damn worried about Perry being cursed by Ryusaki’s amulet. Because if Brellton indeed betrayed Dai, then it could mean that it’s Brelton who’s the real target of that whole revenge plan. The curse might be simply generalising it because, well, it’s just a spirit that’s basically the essence of Ryusaki’s anger. But if Verucca knows about everything as a high-ranking member of R, then yeah, she’d try to stop Perry from hurting their dear leader Brelton.

And… that’s it!

Once again, like I said, I do not expect the game to confirm any of the things I discussed above. But that being said, I feel very confident about pretty much everything I said. And even though it took me months to finally write it all down, I have to say that putting it together was really fun and exciting. Who knows, maybe it’s the last time I feel like that about HPHM theory, at least when it comes to relatively new content. But even if so, I’m kind of glad that I got some semi-closure to the things that were bothering me.

#long post #hogwarts mystery #hphm #elton elderberry #dai ryusaki #hphm mc #olivia green #patricia rakepick #hphm peregrine #hphm r #the cabal #cursed vaults #brelton theory #analysis post #theory #hphm theory

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seafavoured · 2 months

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❛ what is it you want this time? ❜ (blackrose, dnd, perhaps more smug smug smug after ed shows up at his door a second time lmao). @pyratezlife / ned.

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄, 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐍𝐄𝐃'𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 ? because he certainly didn't recall making a conscious effort to do so, and yet, here they were. he'd been lying in his own lovely, four poster bed for what felt like hours, trying desperately to will his mind and body to sleep. it was the most comfortable they'd been in months, with all the accommodations of ned's tower. so why did they have an easier time resting atop the cold, hard ground in the middle of a danger ridden forest?

everything in their room was perfect : a comfortable mattress strewn with soft pillows and fine, silk sheets, his favourite elderberry wine chilled by the desk with an assortment of sweets that looked as though they were straight from the bakery in that last quaint little town. the one edward had fawned over for their blackberry tarts and fresh bread. even the high ceiling of the room seemed to meld to an ever shifting canvas of stars, as if the night's sky were captured right here in this room. they had been saying just this morning how hard they found it to fall asleep without the twinkling little pinpricks of light above.

but no amount of luxury could help when their thoughts ran an endless gauntlet through their head. memories they would rather not focus on, no matter how ... pleasant. he'd eventually risen in frustration and left to stroll the maze of corridors, aimless. at least, that was the intent. apparently somewhere down the line, his feet had carried him straight to ned's door, where his fist deigned to knock.

they stood blinking at ned through the open doorway, like a deer caught in the headlights. hells, what the fuck was he doing here? why had they come? heat flushed his cheeks a deep plum hue as he bristled, horribly conscious of their bedhead and smalls and rumpled sleep shirt. ❛ nothing ! ❜ they cringed. it was said too quick, in a knee jerk reaction of self defense. suddenly rankled and on edge, wishing he'd at least redressed in his leathers before going for a midnight walk in the tower.

❛ nothing. why do i have to want something, just to come say hello? because i don't want anything, that is. ❜ they might as well have come equipped with a shovel, for the godsdamned hole he was digging. fingertips twisted idly in the loose linen of their shirt, his other hand carding through that mess of dark hair. ❛ why, what do you want? ❜ accusatory, as if they weren't the one to come knocking in the first place. ❛ because it certainly seems like you're trying for something, plying me with gifts like that. you don't need to give me special treatment, just because we fucked one time. ❜

#pyratezlife #so there are a few things i could see having happened here #could be ned worked everyone's preferences into the spell #could be the room just /knows/ what ed likes because of *magic*#could be the spell sort of reading ned's mind and picking up on his preference for ed even when feelings aren't on the radar yet #or it could've been a conscious decision on ned's part ajksdfh #thread. ed.#verse. dnd.

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anonymoushouseplantfan · 1 year

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Plant, how's your garden? I remember that back in the halcyon days of Megxit, you had some cool planting projects going on :)

It’s a work in progress, and it can be frustrating.

I think I was working on my clematis back then. Well, the Nelly Moser didn’t work out so now I’m trying a Harlequin honeysuckle.

I tried to plant Scylla bulbs (200 of them!) and only three came up. I planted three butterfly bushes and they don’t seem to be doing too well either so I’m trying out lilacs hoping they do better.

I planted allium bulbs and they are absolutely splendid. The deer have become more aggressive in my area so I’m planting a lot of garlic and chives to deter them. My whole garden smells of garlic right now, lol.

My rain gardens are also doing well. One reason why the bulbs and buddleia aren’t flourishing is that we are getting a lot of rain now. That’s why I did rain gardens. I surrounded them with irises, daylilies, and hellebore and they are coming along nicely. I’m trying to find some taller plants to add height, but I’m having trouble finding something that can handle a lot of water. A dwarf maple would be lovely, but I fear it would rot. The one I have now is half bare and I think it’s because of a fungus. Sigh.

I’m also engaged in war with the buckthorn in my woodland section. I need to take a lot of it out and put in some native species. We cleared an area and planted currants and brambles (raspberry and elderberry). I hope the deer stay away and let them grow. I put in some stinky deer deterrent so hopefully that works. I was shocked when I realized most of my woodland border was buckthorn. That’s what happens when you don’t pay attention.

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local-diavolo-anon · 10 months

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Might as well write it so

DayCare Attendant General Headcanons

(This is for biblically accurate and canon compliant versions of these guys)

it's all under a cut to avoid a slab of text in ur faces lol

Sun has separation anxiety, he was not meant to have it, but sometimes shit happens

Their face being stiff and unable to move left them forced to figure out how to express emotions through body language

The easier thing to read are the clicking of Sun's rays and Moon's entire head: the more clicking, the stronger they feel

clockwise turning = positive reaction, counter-clockwise turning = negative reaction

Moon is a gremlin. And also a bit of a bastard and likes to make pranks and play games on people

Depending on the game its up to you to figure if he likes or dislikes you (which could be difficult since mean pranks also indicate liking)

Moon stashes candies in his hat to give to children who behave nicely, Suns doesn't like that

Both of them are very obliviously jester-oriented in their movements, but Sun more in the way you'd expect from an actor whose performance include interacting with people, Moon moves more like an actor on stage

So sun is energetic and moves like he does in the game, (mainly exagerated, circular motions aimed at not scaring children), he is acting but he still keeps in mind that he is interacting with someone and they need to be included in his play somehow

Moon however does not give a shit and you might be talking to him and he just start cartwheeling around you while keeping his head and eyes locked on your face

Sun is absolute trash on their wire and could faceplant from 30 centimeters (roughly a foot)

Moon is the most skilled one, he loves his wire and likes to perform intricate tricks with the cable, like strategically propping himself up to spend some time up there as if he were in an hammock

Sun is a ray of sunshine and pretty much a golden retriever of a robot... if it weren't for his crippling anxiety, which gives him more the vibe of a stressed chihuahua (he is still doing his best)

He tries very hard to be sociable but the "i'm at my fucking limit" point is reached fast, especially on busier days

Neither of them can swear by programming

Or well, not directly at least, Sun finds creative way to curse people he dislikes when he is very stressed; even if he feels mean afterward

Moon doesn't do it but he thinks its hilarious to watch

Eclipse has the disappointed stare but it's amusing and harmless so he let it go

Sun curses are on the "your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries" kind of level, and not everybody understand what he is saying

If Moon dislikes someone that someone will simply end up with everything in their possession stolen and dissaminated through the whole pizza plex

Moon is the most strict about following rules and absolutely hates when rules are broken, even smaller ones

Sun is less strict, despite like moon being neurotic about keeping things clean

Eclipse cares about rules, especially safety ones (for sun and moon are rules are important the same), so while he is lax on anything else, safety measures have to be respected no matter what

However, despite being the more adamant about rules Moon is also the first to try and find loopholes and walkable paths around them

That is why the pizzaplex has some oddly specific rules that would leave any normal quest to wonder just what the fuck happened for that rule to exist, kinda like the "don't poop on the floor" rule in fnaf 1 but somehow worse

Some rules could not be implemented necause they went against necessary programming or legally mandadory safety protocols

So basically Moon is fully authorized to kick down a door if he deems it necessary, which could be at any give time even if nothing is happening

The management just gave up after a while and gave him the rule to simply not go beyond a certain amount of money in damages

Oh and while Eclipse does not care, Sun hates when Moon walks around rules, that's something that fuels his anxiety

all 3 of them would dislike a daycare assistant because of past experiences, most people do not like taking orders from a robot and that combines bad with people who priorly only worked as nannies and teachers

mainly because when you're used to work in a position of control, being told you need to respond to a robot of all things, might not sit right with many people

them scaring each assistant away is the reason of why at the time of the game settings, the daycare has been closed since a while

while Eclipse agrees with them on the assistant, he thinks scaring them away is not worth the trouble

Eclipse is made to be the caretaker of sorts, the one who runs the daycare and gives instructions

at the time of the first game, the glitchtrap/mimic virus had him in permanent standby to prevent him from interfering, which is why we never see Eclipse in the first game

he is the one that would kick in when there is a child in danger, that needs help or when they needed to talk with a parent

he is basically the customer service one of the three, the other two are one to anxious and the other takes too much satisfaction in scaring people

#not an ask #fnaf #fnaf security breach #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #fnaf sundrop #fnaf moondrop #fnaf sb #sundrop #moondrop #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf daycare attendant headcanons #fnaf headcanons #sun headcanons #moon headcanons #by the gods i hate when there are this many tags for the same characters #i feel like i am going insane ngl #:((#fnaf eclipse

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balkanradfem · 1 year

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So, I know this is a bad idea, but I had a dream. And in the dream, I was trying to go swim in the cold river. I remember just standing above the river, looking at it, thinking 'Why am I afraid? This river would never hurt me.' before giving up fear and diving right in.

And now it's daytime, and all I want is to go to the river and get inside. But, it's January. But it's not like, a super cold January, the forecast says it's 5 celsius, feels like 10 to me. It's warm. And I've been in rivers as early as March, why not now? It's not like I can walk. And I wanna see if it hurts my neck or not.

So I've been debating this in my head all morning, and now I've lost the battle. I'm going to the river. A friend already told me not to do it, so I'm going to not tell her about this. Also I'm pretty sure my mental health is in a bad spot, and swimming in cold water would fix that right up. So it's like, a win-win. I even took some elderberry syrup to make sure I don't get sick. I'm going. See you all later.

*later*

I’m sure you’re all wondering how that went, and let me tell you! I got up to the riverbank, and the water is huge, it’s been raining, the current is strong, the trees are half-underwater, the riverbank is steep and slippery. I’ve been to my garden first, and I noticed the top of the water in my bucket there, has frozen over, and hasn’t even melted yet, which had me wondering if this was, indeed, a good idea. But as soon as I saw the river, I was absorbed by unlimited lust to be submerged in it, and I knew I would not be able to go home before I do it, I could not resist.

I walked around the riverbank, looking for a safe place to access the water, and I found one relatively safe-ish spot, and tapped my way carefully down thru the mud. Then I saw a m*n on the other side of the river, staring at me. No thank you. I picked up my stuff and went to look for a decently secluded place, for heavens sake. I want to have a good time, not a self-conscious-I’m-being-stared-at time.

I found another spot that was, way less safe, and I’m standing there and thinking ‘This is actually so unsafe it’s ridiculous that I’m still doing it. I could slip and hurtle down this bank and fall into the water at any moment and it would not be surprising.’ So I wisely took off my jacket and left my phone in it, so it wouldn’t get ruined if I fell.

I didn’t fall. I put my hand in the water, and it felt amazing. My hand decided that it was the exact correct temperature and I loved it. I took my clothes and my shoes off, and stepped into the water, with my bare feet, in my swimming gear.

My feet didn’t like the temperature of the water so much! They were quickly going numb and pained. I started to get a little worried, because my instincts were now telling me ‘too cold, you’re gonna die’, but that didn’t make my desire any less! I stepped out and waited for my feet to get their stuff together, and then I stepped back in the water, and found there was a great spot where I could be submerged and holding on to a tree, so I don’t accidentally float away or lose my footing. And I went for it. It was just like it was in my dream, I was submerged up to my neck within a second, and it was amazing, and then the cold shock hit me so I grabbed the tree and got myself back out. At this point I was feeling incredible, my body was searing with heat and excitement, and I realized, oh, I need to go back in!

I went back into the water, but this time I stayed in, holding onto the tree, forcing my body to breathe slowly thru the cold shock, unlocking my limbs and making me feel at home in cold water. I was only in for a few seconds, then I pushed myself out again, feeling dizzy with satisfaction. I was inside of a river in January! I had never done that before.

The cold water released so many good chemicals in my brain, I ended up feeling excellent for the rest of the day. Even my chronic pain was all cancelled, and my mental health was temporarily fine. The only setback was, that after I got home, I found several nasty bloody scratches on my legs, and one of my fingers was bloody too; I didn’t remember getting those. It’s very likely I got them in the water, because I was too cold to notice that I’m catching onto thorns and branches in there. I’m not worried, if they refuse to heal quickly, I have my wound-healing herbs that can take care of that.

I can’t say I would exactly recommend this, because this is, in reality, a result of bad mental health, and I’ve been known to do these things before, and I never got sick, so I know my body is resilient to the cold shock. I will often walk barefoot in the snow just to get a bit of that cold shock to fix my mood. So while it does wonders for me, don’t do this in January, it’s probably bad. (I know because my friends yelled at me when I told them afterwards and told me I would get sick.)

#river adventures #cold shock #cold water as a pain relief #mental health temporary fix #I just wanna do it again #it makes everything better

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sundove88 · 11 months

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Birthday Ball Blues- A Cookie Run Oneshot

Note: This is a predecessor fanfic to @interstellarwizard2019 / @thetropicalfairy’s fanfic The Mystery of The Golden Princess. Also, this is my very own early birthday present! Btw, Elderberry Cookie belongs to me.

Synopsis: Sisters Princess Cookie and Tiger Lily Cookie are excited for their first birthday Ball together. But with cases of nervousness, servants going crazy, and hustle and bustle, will things go as planned?

The Grandberry Market hustled and bustled with the excited chatter of Cookies and desserts of all flavors, shapes, and sizes. For a day from now, it wouldn’t be an ordinary day. It would be the twin princesses 20th birthday party, and they wanted to go all out for the occasion. “I really hope I can get one of my prettiest dresses for the occasion!” Raspberry Cookie of House Raspberry said to her friends as she shot a photo of a gorgeous red ballgown on its mannequin with her phone. “Hoping that the birthday ball will be amazing!” Raspberry Mousse Cookie, her cousin, replied as he stood on his tiptoes, hoping to help decorate a nearby window. Blueberry Cookie, Bumbleberry Cookie, and Cranberry Cookie were helping out as well, placing fresh flowers in the berry juice baths and tying ribbons on the lampposts.

In the Hollyberry Palace itself, Princess Cookie smiled as she thought about the upcoming party. She was excited, but at the same time very nervous. Who would be there? How will sis feel? Will the pink five tier cake be as amazing as it always has been? Thoughts raced around in her mind before she walked outside on her balcony and put some birdseed out for the jungle birds. “What’s wrong, dearest?” Royalberry Cookie asked as he entered his daughter’s bedroom carrying a cup of tea. “How about some tea to clear up your senses?” He asked politely. “Papa, it’s just that it’s gonna be Sis’ first birthday with us. I don’t know how she’ll feel about the big day!” She replied honestly. “Well, darling, this is a big day for you and her… so just have fun, you two.” Her father said as he poured the tea into the cups, and handed one to his daughter. “Thanks, Papa. I can’t wait!” Princess replied smiling.

At the same time, Jungleberry Cookie, the girls’ mother, had made her way up the tree in Tiger Lily Cookie’s bedroom, only to be greeted by the sight of her younger twin daughter in a swing chair. “Mama…” chirped the latter as she got up and hurried over to her mother. “Sweetie, your first birthday party is tomorrow. Are you excited?” Jungleberry asked her daughter as she stroked her face. “Yes… But so… many cookies!” Tiger Lily replied as she pointed to the guest list, shuddering. “I know, sweetie. But just know that we’re going to be here for you and your sis.” Jungleberry replied as she stroked her daughter’s hair.

Elsewhere in the palace, King Elderberry, Royalberry’s father, was helping the servants prepare the menu and the decor for the party, as well as helping out the citizens here and there. “Watch those berry juice barrels! They could crash at any moment!” He replied as he ran by a bunch of servants handling a pyramid of barrels containing the Hollyberrians’ favorite drink. “Menu’s looking great! Keep it up!” The ancient hero’s spouse said as he taste tested a dish one of the chefs had made. “Thank you, your majesty! The party will be amazing!” The chef replied. “And the cake sketch’s all finished! Five tiers, pink icing, and lots of frosting flowers!” Shouted a pastry chef.

Meanwhile, his wife, Hollyberry Cookie and her bodyguard WildBerry Cookie were managing the guest and present list. “Decorating duty… why do I always have the hardest job?” WildBerry replied as he helped put up streamers. “Why can’t Knight do it?!” He complained as he put fresh flowers around the ballroom and set up tables. “Knight’s helping sew up some of our clothing for the party! And he’s gonna make something for you, too!” Hollyberry gushed as she pinched WildBerry’s cheek, with the latter blushing. “You treat me like I was young back then…” he said as he helped some of the servants put up garlands.

But in the sewing room of the palace, Knight was busy sewing up one of Elderberry’s shirts, which had been torn from an expedition in the jungle due to a thorn bush. “Almost there… you’ve got this.” He replied as he stitched the hole shut, then moved onto attaching a flower to WildBerry’s sash, with the other seamstresses oohing and ahhing in amazement. “How did you do that, Knight?” Said one of them. “I just watched you and got inspired to do so.” He humbly replied as he continued to sew. “That’s a very honest answer.” Replied another, who was using a sewing machine to create Hollyberry’s extravagant ballgown for the big event. “I just want to do something for the girls tomorrow. And speaking of Princess… where is she?” Knight began.

At the same time in the Grandberry Market, Hollyberry shopped with her granddaughters for what was needed the most for the party- including the very dresses they would wear at the ball. “So, girls, what would you two like for your birthday Ball?” She asked as they entered a store and looked around. “Maybe lots of glitter on one of the gifts!” Princess said as she picked up a glittery handbag, which sparkled in the afternoon sunlight. “And lots… of flowers!” Tiger Lily added as she found a flower bracelet on a nearby display. “Well… I think you girls are ready, aren’t you?” Hollyberry replied with a smile. “We sure are!” They both replied at the same time. And ready they were.

The End

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