#has april been a struggle for all of us? lol

[bmpmp3]

i understand why many fountain pen users prefer subdued, more professional ink colours but the thing about me is i dont use my pens much outside of drawing and writing in my planner or oc idea notebook so i’m armed with three jinhaos and one kakuno each with a different shimmer ink at all times

also signing documents with in glittery pink is awesome

#like okay. if an ink isnt a waterproof one (sketchink has been great for watercolours!) than i AT LEAST need some pretty crazy shading #but im not gonna lie i got a bunch of samples a while back and most were funky glittery sheening shading things #and one was like a normal dark green #its a beautiful dark green. but i like. never fill my pens with it #i had a pen with it and after a week i switched it to a gray with gold sparkles #i NEED glitter you dont understand #a few downsides to my glittery fountain pen situation: #1) with fountain pens in general since you dont press hard at all carbon paper is my mortal nemesis #like i already struggled with carbon paper before (had to rewrite so many documents twice 😔) #but with a fountain pen? forget about it hjksdlfJHFKlds #AND 2) the other day in class i lent a kid the pen i was using so he could sign in a form #without thinking about the fact that it was my shark shaped jinhao with 1) is a fountain pen with most people arent used to writing with and #2) was filled with a sample of ferris wheel april showers (glittery light gray) which is decently wet #i hoped they survived that short experience with my shark pen. i gotta start carrying around normal pens again for lending purposes LOL #edit: oh man and at the time the nib in there was an old FPR m nib but today i switched it to an old FPR flex #imagine ur first fountain pen experience being a flex nib.... chaos reigns

[rayroseu]

happy april fools!!!

my joke for today... maleficia being forced to wear minimalist clothes so as to disguise as an employee.... inspired by that voiceline of Malleus being uncomfortable to clothes he doesn't wear XD

also ... a little hc where Maleficia is the type of grandma to say "its because you're always on that phone" (bcs i think she dislikes technology esp bcs its a human invention that give power to the humans to defeat the faes lol)but in her case, its just malleus and his little gao gao dragon 😭😭💥💥 its confiscated from him now for all eternity,,,😔😔💔💔

and the funny thing is,, she aint wrong XDD Gao Gao was one of the perpetrators in overblotting Malleus,, giving him ideas of eternally cursing us to a repeated happy dreams😭😭💥💥

you'd think Yuu would be better but they also said "yes" if there's a way to keep everyone with you 🧍🏻‍♀️💥 why are Malleus' friends such a bad influence to him....

ALSO YES IM STILL NOT OVER GUYS. IM MANIFESTING IT SO BAD, I KNOWWW THEY'LL REVEAL QUEEN MALEFICIA... IN QUEEN DRACONIA, WE TRUST 🙏🏻🙏🏻✨💖💖

also I still believe that Queen Maleficia IS THE MOST FITTING person to beat Malleus... Think about it, shes aware of the pressures of being a royalty, shes a person who loses loved ones, and shes someone who has troubles fitting with the average because of her power, like I'm JUSTTSJFGK She's so relatable to Malleus 🥹 If there's any character that would COMPLETELY understand Malleus' struggles, it would be HER. ALSO because she's more powerful than him XD ALSO because if theres anyone that could crush Malleus' prideful attitude rn, ITS HER. 😭

the way I jaw dropped when Malleus seems to be ready to go against Maleficia ☠️☠️☠️ like oh.... hornton.... thats not going to end well for him isnt it skdgkd,,, 🙏🏻🙏🏻☠️💥 plus isn't pridefulness the downfall of Maleficent in the original movie... Malleus' pride increasing so much, he convinced himself to turn against his grandparent WHOSE teaching like "you must always protect the smiles of your people" has been his life oath.... 😭😭😭

commissions open

#twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twistedwonderland #lian notes #malleus draconia #disney twst #twst malleus #twst maleficia #maleficia draconia #twst fanart #twisted wonderland fanart #twst comic #twst hcs #twst headcanons #twst wonderland #twst art #twisted wonderland headcanons #lilia vanrouge #twst diasomnia #diasomnia #gao gao dragon kun #lian arts #twst jp #malleusdraconia #malleus #twisted wonderland malleus #art #comic #twst maleficia draconia

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles—Update 15/March/2024

Internet has been atrocious again this week, so I’m giving this update to Nai via SD card for her to post up using her internet!

With the internet being so bad, I haven’t been able to do my usual social media days with asks on Tumblr, so Nai will be posting up some things on there so you guys have some fun posts to see until I can get online.

I have given her the Patreon scenarios and exclusive content though so that will go up as normal. Those posts I could write on Word and send to her on SD to schedule for me. I can’t wait for you to read the next scenario going up. It involves Adam/Ava and a plastic Dracula toy…it had me chuckling the whole time, hehe! :D

But not being able to do full social media days did mean I got back to writing quicker, and I was on a serious roll! I slammed a bunch of scenes out this week that I love, and it felt seriously good to tick off so many scenes from my list!

I really think breaking the plan down into scenes rather than chapters has helped immensely. I seriously recommend it to anyone who struggles to look at their chapter plans and gets overwhelmed!

It definitely helps the most when there’s so many variations to do of one scene. So far, apart from the very opening scene, all the scenes after have had to have completely different versions of them (so one scene written in three different ways, for example) or need variations in to account for choices (such as if you chose Rebecca or Adam/Ava to be your handler).

But, something I did forget in doing it all in scenes, is I still need to put in where the chapters are, lol!

So yeah, I need to go back through what I’ve done and decide where’s a good place to end Chapter One, as I’ll only be releasing that chapter in the first demo so need to focus on that chapter for that demo release (hopefully some time in later April!).

Hope you all have the most fabulous weekend! We’ll be offline as usual, so I’ll update you all again next week! 

#the wayhaven chronicles #update #twc book 4 #the wayhaven chronicles book 4 #choice of games #hosted games #choicescript #interactive fiction

[lilacfiresoul]

forbid, april 4 -- @jegulus-microfic -- 1,393 words

thank you to @magswrite & @ninety-two-bees for the cat names for this one, was really struggling to think of some <3

second microfic posted today, only because i want to keep up with the dates for all of them lol and i genuinely am procrastinating uni work

----

So, Regulus can safely say that making a cake is harder than he thought.

It’s not like he’s not following the recipe—he is. He scoured the internet two days ago for a good Devil’s Food cake recipe, eventually finding one he could follow along well enough; he even stopped by the supermarket on his way home from work yesterday to get all the ingredients, writing a list and ticking items off he as went to make sure everything was accounted for.

He’s being thorough, meticulous.

But he’s never baked anything before, and, with rapidly dawning fear, he realises he’s greatly underestimated the skill that goes into it.

Dread, and the crippling desire to make this cake perfect for James, leads Regulus to run flour-dusted fingers through his hair as he squints at the recipe for the buttercream. The recipe tells him not to “over-whip”, but how is he supposed to know what that means? He’s just thankful that James, clearly the cook in this household, has all the equipment and devices needed to bake, so at least he’s got that.

By the hob, two halves of something that resembles a cake cool on a wire rack. They don’t look exactly like the picture, but hopefully it will still taste good. Hopefully.

To be honest, Regulus will be pissed if it doesn’t, as the kitchen is … Well. He glances away from the stand mixer mixing the buttercream ingredients together to stare at the evidence of what he’s been doing this afternoon.

Used bowls and utensils overflow in the sink. The majority of the countertops are clustered with baking ingredients: the bag of flour still open next to the cocoa powder; the egg box flipped open with two eggs missing. If Regulus were to run a finger over the surface, he’d probably find it dusted with a fine layer of flour too, as he learnt the hard way that one has to open a bag of flour slowly.

James usually keeps it spotless, and whilst he doesn’t forbid Regulus from cooking—actually he wholeheartedly encourages it, gazing dreamy-eyed as Regulus tries to focus on what he’s doing and not imagine having him for dessert instead—there’s the unspoken implication that the kitchen is James’ playground, whilst the study/library is Regulus’.

But he’ll clean it all up. He has still an hour and a half before James is due to get back home from work, which is plenty of time to figure out this icing problem, put the cake together, and for Regulus to clean up.

There’s a nervous feeling of anticipation in his stomach when he switches off the mixer, peering in at the icing. It looks good actually, and he breathes a sigh of relief. Okay, this might work.

Just then, one of their two cats, Leo, walks into the kitchen, followed by the other, Astraeus. James had named the former, a gorgeous white cat with one black spot at the base of his tail, and Regulus had named the latter, a Russian Blue with glowing yellow eyes that, when they were adopting cats, Regulus insisted he couldn’t leave behind.

“Hello, you two,” he says, picking up Astraeus and planting a kiss between the cat’s ears before setting her back down again. Leo, always craving being the centre of attention, hops up onto the counter.

Regulus is about to fuss him, too, when he hears the scrape of a key in the front door lock, indicating James is home. Panic flares in his chest, because Regulus is nowhere near done with this cake, and it’s going to spoil the surprise.

“Hi, love!” James calls out, the door closing behind him.

“Hey!” Regulus calls back, glancing around at the kitchen. “Shit, shit, shit,” he mumbles under his breath.

At the sound of their other father’s voice, Leo scrabbles into action. In his haste, he knocks into the bag of flour, sending it flying onto the floor—

And exploding everywhere with a loud thud.

“What the hell?” James exclaims from the hallway. “Reggie? Are you okay?”

Spooked, and probably scared of the consequences of his actions, Leo flees, knocking over—it really can’t get any worse, can it?—the box of eggs as he does so. Astraeus, pinning her ears to her head, follows instantly.

And Regulus? Heart literally jumping into his mouth, he manages to catch the eggs in time, only one of them cracking in its cardboard container. Putting them safely back on the counter, he sighs and rests his forehead on the cool surface, taking a deep breath in before answering, “Yeah. I’m okay,” and then turning around to assess the damage.

The bag of flour has well and truly split everywhere, sending white fireworks all over the floor and up the sides of the cupboards. It genuinely looks like a small flurry of fine, powdery snow has blown into the kitchen, as if every single piece of flour has expelled itself from the bag.

James darts around the kitchen doorframe, concern and worry written into the lines of his face, mouth open to ask if Regulus is okay again, when he freezes at the state of the kitchen.

For a second, he doesn’t say anything. Regulus can feel his heart thundering beneath his chest, loud like a drumbeat. Fuck, he’s in so much trouble. He watches James’ eyes flick from the flour-y explosion on the floor, to the cake cooling on the side, to the unwashed pans in the sink, and then back to Regulus.

Guilt floods through him. He should’ve just gotten a store-bought cake instead. He needn’t have gone to all this trouble, all this hassle, spent all that money, wasted all this time, because now their kitchen is an absolute mess, and they’re going to have to spend James’ birthday cleaning it up.

He almost expects a reprimand when James opens his mouth again, prepares himself for it, his body tensing, eyes narrowing, bracing himself for the reprimand to come—

He does not expect James to burst out laughing.

“Oh my God, Reg,” James wheezes, pressing a hand to his mouth. “You— there’s flour all over you …”

Looking down at himself, Regulus groans to find that it’s gotten on him too, though thank God he’s wearing an apron. “Jesus.”

Still laughing, James crosses over, cupping Regulus’ face in his hands. “I’m not talking about the apron, love. It’s,” he gets out between laughs, “it’s on your face. In your hair. What— What have you been doing?”

Fighting a smile, Regulus lets James brush flour from his cheeks and get it out of his hair, and then jerks his face away. “I was trying to make you a cake for your birthday, but, uh. I guess it took a turn. Leo got excited to see you. And you’re home early.”

“They let me go early,” James explains.

“Oh,” Regulus says. And then, because he has to ask, “You’re— not mad?”

“Mad?” James echoes, confused. “Reg, this— is hilarious. I’m flattered, and so, so happy that you went to all this effort for me. You didn’t have to do that.”

“But it’s your birthday. Happy birthday,” Regulus says, as if he didn’t whisper it into James’ ear this morning. The relief that James isn’t mad at him makes his knees buckle.

“Thank you, my beloved,” James tells him, turning to the cake on the side. “Is this chocolate cake?”

Regulus nods. “Devil’s Food cake to be precise. I looked up a recipe. I don’t know if it’s any good, but …”

The smile on James’ face could light up Regulus’ night. He steps over to the icing bowl. “This the icing?” and before Regulus can reply, he dips his finger in and licks it off. Regulus’ eyes widen.

“This is good, Reg. Like, really good. You know, you could actually be a good baker.”

“You think so?”

James comes back over to his side, this time cornering Regulus against the counter, one that is, thankfully, empty. “Definitely.”

It’s a long while before they clean up the flour on the floor.

#frost's microfics #no because this is actually adorable #the cats are important characters actually #jegulus fic #jegulus microfic #regulus arcturus black #james fleamont potter #james x regulus #james potter x regulus black #starchaser #sunseeker #jegulus

[choicesficwriterscreations]

April OC of the Month: Olivia Hadley

Please welcome April 2024's MC of the Month! Each month, we highlight one MC or OC on our Meet My MC / OC List. They are selected randomly on the Wheel of Names, and eligibility requirements can be found here. We accept MC / OC profiles on an ongoing basis. Please feel free to send yours in!

This month’s OC of the month is…

@storyofmychoices's Olivia Hadley!

More below...

In your own words, tell us what you like most about your MC / OC.

Olivia is literally sunshine. She is the most genuine and empathetic person. She constantly looks for ways to help others and make life better for those who are not as fortunate as she is. She always tries to make everyone she meets (especially children) feel special and heard/appreciated. It doesn’t matter if she knows them or not. She looks out for everyone. She is just a good person with the most beautiful heart and soul. She is so precious to me. In an ideal world, there would be a lot more Olivia’s to help us all feel special.

Do you feel your MC / OC is like you at all? How are you alike or different?

I do think Olivia and I have a lot in common. While I wish I could be as kind and empathetic as Olivia, I am still human, and I make mistakes. I try really hard to live by the principles of “leave the world a little better than you found it” (even if it’s just putting away a grocery cart someone left or picking up one piece of trash in a parking lot) and “be kind whenever possible; it is always possible” (this one is a little harder, but I try every single day to show kindness to everyone, even when I cannot show it to myself). I feel those principles also represent Olivia, she’s just better at it than me.

I also think we have similar occupations. We both wanted to be veterinarians and then learned we’d have to put animals down. Then we both switched to Pediatric Medicine. Olivia stuck with it. I decided to be a teacher because Pediatricians need to know how to deliver babies, and that’s a hard pass for me. Childbirth might be a miracle, but it’s disgusting (IMHO) lol. But we both work closely with children and try to make a positive impact on their lives. We both do whatever we can to create a safe place where children can tell us stuff they don’t know if they can share with their parents yet (questioning their sexual identity or gender). I’ve been very lucky to help several transgender elementary students feel more confident and accepted as well as work with parents to help them help their child. I’ve also worked with students with abusive home lives or their families can’t afford basic needs so I’ve gone out of my way to try to help them through anonymous donations and gift cards through the school. Anything I can do to ease even one struggle, I will do it and I think that is very much the person Olivia is. Olivia will always look out for anyone in her life. 

As for differences, Olivia is a little more confident than I am. I drink far more coffee than she does. We both love plants, but she keeps them alive better than I do. I try, but I don’t always succeed, though a cactus I got as a gift from a student 3 years ago just bloomed for the first time this month, so I’m super excited for that. Maybe Olivia is finally rubbing off?

What is most important to your MC / OC? What is their motivation in life?

Olivia’s motivation is truly to make the world a better place. She knows that it’s not always easy, and there are so many struggles and so many hardships. She really wants to make a difference in the lives of those closest to her as well as in the community she serves. She knows she can’t conquer world hunger or global peace, but if she can make a difference to people around her then maybe those people can help some others and things would ripple out from there. 

After she has children, her motivation splits. She’ll never stop caring about those around her or the patients she sees, but her children are her first priority.

What are their biggest pet peeves/dislikes?

Olivia doesn’t like gossip. She doesn’t like when people talk about others behind their back in a negative way. It makes her feel uncomfortable. She doesn’t like passive aggressive responses to situations. She genuinely believes that people are good, and if we all just try to have a little more empathy and understanding, the world would be a better place. 

She doesn't like rudeness, pettiness, or dishonesty.

Olivia prefers order and organization, so she dislikes chaos and messy places. 

If your MC / OC could change one thing - anything - what would it be?

If Olivia could change anything, she’d find a cure for childhood cancer. She takes each case to heart and watching children struggle is something that is very hard for her. She would never trade her time at Edenbrook for anything, and she feels guilty for even thinking it, but she is grateful when she opens her own practice that most of her cases become regular checkups and normal/everyday illnesses.

What is your MC / OC’s favorite quote or song?

“My favorite things in life don't cost any money. It's really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time." — Steve Jobs

“You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot - it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that, I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.” ― Maya Angelou

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." —Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow." — Mary Anne Radmacher

“Even miracles take a little time.” — Fairy GodMother (Cinderella) 

“Happily ever after is about finding happiness within yourself and holding on to it through any storm that comes your way." —Chris Colfer

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your MC / OC?  (It can be why you created them, how they’ve inspired you, or you could write a little blurb as if it is coming from your OC - an acceptance speech. :) )

Ahhh what else to say about my precious Olivia?! She truly brings me so much joy.  

If you’ve been in this fandom long enough, you’ll remember I was an Ethan romancer when OH first released. I enjoyed Ethan/MC’s dynamic. They totally reminded me of Thomas Hunt x MC. However, just before the pandemic, I wrote Bryce, thinking it was a one off thing, but as the world started to shut down, things got darker and scarier, Bryce Lahela’s sunshine and encouragement was something that resonated with me. I tried to make Olivia fit in the role of MC, but I just didn’t like the setup of MC with Bryce. So I made Olivia an original character. Taking her out of that MC role gave me so much more freedom with her and so much more freedom for telling her and Bryce’s story. I loved being able to see where each story would take them. I’m eternally grateful to Olivia (and Bryce) for helping me get through the Covid Pandemic. Having her and Bryce and their friends and family helped me have something positive and hope-filled to hold onto.

Olivia is actually really competitive. You might not see it or notice it at first, but if you’ve ever been a part of any competition with her, you’ll see she will not hold back. 

Olivia has a black belt in taekwondo, even though she never talks about it. She got it in High School. She wanted to do something to challenge herself and she wasn’t participating in any team sports, though she did try to get a pingpong team started in her school but it never took off. 

Olivia volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for a summer in the Dominican Republic.

Olivia has Scottish roots and has always dreamed of going to Scotland. She hasn’t gotten there yet, but one day!

Olivia is almost as lucky to have such good friends in Casey and Merida as I am to have @jerzwriter and @lilyoffandoms in my life. I can’t even begin to express how special they are to me and how I treasure their friendship.

Thank you to everyone who has ever supported Olivia. She is truly a special character who is so close to my heart. The fact that she is truly an original character and you still adore her means so much to me. I can’t say thank you enough. The amount of serotonin I get from writing and sharing her with you should be illegal, and then when anyone interacts, my heart explodes with unicorns and rainbows and all the sunshine. I’m eternally grateful for the support of Olivia, Bryce, and their little world. Thank you!!! 

#choices fic writers creations #cfwc oc of the month #open heart #open heart choices #choices open heart #meet my oc #olivia hadley #storyofmychoices #playchoices #choices #choices stories you play #playchoices fanfic #choices fanfic #open heart fanfic

[cupcakeslushie]

That has me so relieved lol. I feel like I’m the worst at fashion 😅. I spend so much time on Google and Pinterest, trying to find cute things to put our boys and April in that would match their personalities.

Leo likes jean material and anything with dark colors (obvi) and also really likes athleisure wear. Raph has pretty similar taste, but with brighter colors. Though it’s hard for him to find jean material that can stand up to his shell, so he also has a love for stretchy stuff that wont tear. Mikey and Donnie like oversized and cute styles! Really soft or fluffy stuff, but also Donnie will throw in some edgy rave outfits when he’s feeling fun. He’s also got the same three outfits for when he’s working and he’ll wear them until they’re covered in paint and oil and totally worn down. Mikey is probably the one that has the biggest and most versatile closet. He has a big problem with online, impulse shopping.

@kitty-kyte This ask has me so curious now about the undercity’s weather! Aw, and now that makes me think the Snow Day episode would go from them fighting, to them just having a good wholesome time showing Donnie how much fun snow could be. And maybe they do have a snowball fight, Leo and Mikey being way too competitive, and Raph and April and Donnie just enjoying some hot cocoa and building a snowman. OR OR OR Donnie, April and Leo make a Jupiter Jim snowman and Raph and Mikey and Cass make a Lou Jitsu snowman and they argue over which one is better and Donnie keeps switching sides because he can’t decide!

@blossomsofopossums

As for your first question! Leo witnessed some small fits during their first few encounters. He was as unnerved as he could be, but sadly chose to ignore the strange behavior in favor of letting Three struggle through them on his own 😔. Then the first time Raph, Mikey, Leo, and April run into Donnie, they can clearly see Three struggling with something they can’t. They’re really confused and don’t know what to do, but with Leo recently revealing to them that Three might be their long lost brother Donnie, Raph has already resolved himself that, Donnie would be coming home with them. Unfortunately he doesn’t really know how to handle Three in that first meeting, and so he’s a bit rough with him, making those first few days of Donnie getting used to being in the lair a manic mess. Later once they learn more, Raph and Mikey will try to talk Donnie through them and Leo will use contact. But they also kind of have to adapt their reactions depending on how bad each one is, and what they think Donnie needs to feel safe.

Question #2! Raph calls him Dad, Pop, or Old Man when he’s feeling cheeky. Mikey calls him Dad and Papa. Leo probably goes through the most names: Master Splinter, Splinter, Father, Dad. Donnie will call him Father or PApA~

Question #3 Donnie had thought he’d already been introduced to so much good food after a few weeks in the lair, but pizza was on a whole new level. Sweets might be his new weakness. But pizza is his favorite savory meal. And you just know that the boys took Donnie to Run of the Mill for his first pizza experience. They couldn’t wait to introduce him to Hueso.

Hueso on the other hand is starting to get slightly annoyed with all these traumatized boys that Raph keeps bringing in. Like he was perfectly happy adopting this huge, but well-mannered teenage turtle and his human friend. Then they come in with the small, infamous battle nexus champion and he’s a little hyper thing sometimes, but he’s pleasant enough, so okay. But THEN, they have some nerve to bring some poor, tired, stone-faced kid, who’s eyes hold much too old of a look in them. It tugs on Hueso’s heartstrings…that is it would, if he actually had them.

NOW what’s he supposed to do with this new one? He can’t just adopt them all can he?

Hueso in the kitchens, to his chefs as they cook the boys’ pizzas:

#separated au #rottmnt #rottmnt separated au #rise leo #rise mikey #rise raph #rise donnie #rise Hueso #rise of the tmnt

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading roundup: April 2024

oh my god you guys I've read SO MUCH this month!!! I got BIG into reread N.K. Jemisin's tremendous Broken Earth trilogy and it's been jaw-dropping, and I have been reading a HEAP of comics and manga a

on the extremely off chance there's anyone following me who doesn't think comics, manga, graphic novels, etc don't count as "real reading" lmao lol get out of here??? you're on the Reading 1000s of Pages of Old Batman Comics blog. go feel the whimsy of reading a whole graphic novel in one afternoon and maybe you'll calm down.

ANYWAY!!! what have we been reading?

Earthdivers Vol. 1: Kill Columbus (Stephen Graham Jones, Davide Gianfelice, Joana Lafuente, 2023) - Stephen Graham Jones is one of my all-time favorite authors, and I was super excited to check out his first comic series. Earthdivers takes place in the wasteland of the 22nd century, where four Native survivors have hatched a plan to try to stop the disasters that are killing the world: use a time-travelling cave to send one of their number back in time to kill Columbus before he can launch the colonization of North America. it's a one-way trip, and the time traveler will have to be ruthless to achieve their goal. beyond the attention-grabbing hook of killing Columbus, this story dives (you see what I did there) deep into an exploration of what it means to sacrifice everything for a cause and find the will to be ruthless in pursuit of the greater good. I'm not 100% sure I tracked all of the twisting threads of time travel in this first volume, but the hook is compelling and Gianfelice's art is beautiful, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the series progress!

Spoiler Alert (Olivia Dade, 2020) - at this point I've written 8000+ words about this book on my patreon and it's becoming difficult to figure out what else to say or how to say it briefly. this book ties itself up in knots with its contrivances and makes both of its protagonists look dumb in the process. I don't like either of these people but - spoiler alert! - I still think April can and should do better. Olivia Dade please call me I just want to talk.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 1-3 (Ryoko Kui, trans. Yen Press, 2017) - I don't need to explain Dungeon Meshi. surely you've seen the gifs of Dungeon Meshi. all that matters is that I fucking love Dungeon Meshi, this shit rules and it's going to be so hard to hold off on reading Volume 4 while I try to prioritize some other books first. this world is great, the characters are a delight and a joy, and the way that Kui is so fascinated by the food and biology and exploration of adventurer fantasy tropes in her world makes my brain go wheeeeeeeeee!!! I'm having so much fun.

The Fifth Season (N.K. Jemisin, 2015) - historically I've very seldom reread books, but I'm starting to think that I need to change my stance on that. revisiting the Fifth Season years after I first read it, with the time to really enjoy it and also the maturity and perspective to actually appreciate what Jemisin is cooking, has enhanced the experience immeasurably. a thing that really struck me this time was how artfully Jemisin depicts the way orogenes are conditioned and groomed from the jump to be subservient and scared and willing to settle for life at the margins of society; it's not something that I could totally understand the nuances of when I read this book fresh out of my first year of college. this novel and its sequels are so brilliantly devastating, I cannot say enough great things about them.

My Pancreas Broke, But My Life Got Better (Nagata Kabi, trans. Jocelyne Allen 2022) - I did it, I'm officially caught up on all of Nagata's works that have been translated into English! and man, I'm still worried about her. the experience of reading My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness hasn't quite been replicated for me; I think that was a once in a lifetime event, although I've certainly found a lot that I relate to in Nagata's subsequent struggles to sort of out anxiety, independence, art, and figuring out what kind of relationships she event wants to have in her life. at this point I feel like I'm just reading the illustrated life updates from a friend I haven't seen in a long time who stresses me out because her life is a mess. which is still interesting! but god I hope something good happens to this woman soon.

The Obelisk Gate (N.K. Jemisin, 2016) - The Fifth Season is a book about the end of the world and of one woman's personal apocalypses that happened prior to that. its sequel, the Obelisk Gate, is a book that's extremely preoccupied with the tedium of figuring out how to run a halfway-functioning society in the midst of the apocalypse, which is genuinely fascinating stuff. and it's also a book about the fear and desperation and sheer levels of exhaustion that might drive someone to decide that, fuck it, maybe the world should end and we should be done with all of this, actually. it's also a book about devotion and dependence and destruction and devouring people you love in a VERY literal way, which it must be said is pretty sexy. the stuff that pops off between Essun and Hoa in this book makes me think of Octavia Butler in the best way; I think she would have adored them. I'm so excited to get to the final book and see how this all pays off, because the first time I read it I barely understood a single goddamn thing that was happening.

I Hate This Place Vol. 1-2 (Kyle Starks, Artyom Toplin, Lee Loughridge, 2022-2023) - a short and spooky comic series that wraps up in two tight little volumes. I have some gripes with the pacing, but it makes for a fun afternoon read. a mid-tier streaming service is going to adapt this into a live action series within a couple of years, mark my worms. personally I'm fancasting Mackenzie Davis as Gabby and Samira Wiley as Trudy.

#bookblr #reading updates

[wings-of-ink]

First Devlog?

Hello everyone...boy, there are a lot of you already, still trying to digest that...

So, I gather that I should do these logs on occasion. I do not know how often, perhaps just when I have a few things to say. I will try not to ramble too much, but my fingies like to talk.

Anyway, I am working on chapter 3 right now. There’s some fun moments so far in it that I hope you’ll like, and we’ll get to meet Zahn, Duri'naan, and then Rundis. I’m trying not to rush because there are some exciting scenes that I’m eager to get to. I’ve outlined them to tide myself over until I get that far. There’s some quiet moments you’ll get to have as well, and right now I feel like that’s what I’m struggling with. Those areas of my story are like bridges to the next, more exciting, parts and sometimes I feel like they fall a little flat. But, I’m trying to keep in mind this is my first draft. I’ll go through it another time or two to perk things up. Those moments are still important for letting the MC get to know each RO.

My mind has been in a million directions lately too, and I’ve had a lot of ‘duh’ moments. I’ve done so much world building since I started this last year (around August/September I think), that I have pockets of important details that I kinda just forgot! So, I plan to re-read all the notes I’ve made and try to also put them into one place. I have some in my phone, in a notebook, and in no less than three folders on my laptop. It’s a wonder I have survived this many years…

What you can expect for coming updates…

-A couple fixes, of course – thank you to those who found some of those pesky buggy bois for me.

-A nicer front page, instead of being slapped with my ramblings, I’d like to actually have a nice start page. I’ll figure it out eventually, lol.

-I’ll be adding a name bank to the MC’s Nameday scene that will also show you what each name means, so if that is important to you, it’ll save you the internet search. If it tickles your fancy, the name selection will correspond in some way to the marks (names meaning "night" or "storm," etc.) so you can theme your MC a bit.

-Extra coding in case you decide to shorten MC’s given name to just “Ravi.” I did not once consider that anyone would do this, and my first play-tester – my own spouse – did….He told me about it since it made some dialog with Oswin make zero sense, and then I published the story without fixing it because I completely forgot about it.

-Different contrast color for dark mode links. I feel like I have drastically improved this with a new gold color. In retrospect, I don’t know why I didn’t use the gold before. I love it as an accent, I use it all over! The blue never felt 100% right, but my brain shut down after thinking about it too long. Here’s a sample and a (M) Zahn tease:

When can you expect an update?

I’d like to make my next update during the Amare Games Festival, ideally containing both chapters 3 and 4 since they go pretty tightly together. This will also insure that you meet the rest of the posse. It’s a tall order for both chapters to be submitted on time, and I don’t want to rush them either, but I’m going to try really really hard, lol. I will focus first on polishing chapter 3, so that no matter what, I can at least get it out in time.

Here’s a link to the post about it:

And this is the submission time frame: open from March 31st 2024 at 11:00 PM to May 1st 2024 at 12:00 AM

As a side message, should you want to read on…

I also wanted to give you all a big, like really big, heartfelt thank you. I have received so many kind messages and comments that I just can’t believe it. I am so happy (and honestly, genuinely shocked) that you’re enjoying my IF, and I’m motivated to work hard so you also enjoy each new chapter of your journey. There’s so many secrets I want to share with you about the world, and I am struggling to be patient myself, lol.

I am not usually a very open or social person, and I was scared for a long time to share anything I wrote. I reached a point in my personal life in the last few years where I just needed to embrace what I loved to do and share it with a community that shares in that love. I encourage you to do the same whether there is a story in your heart, music on your lips, or a paintbrush in your hands. Life is NOT about your 8-5. We may not be able to survive without it, but whatever moment you can, do what you actually love. Put away the those things that don’t matter, the things that stress you - including people, and make time for who you are.

Thank you all and take care!

~Lunan

#if wip #twine if #twine wip #interactive novel #god cursed if #if game #interactive fiction #gc if devlog #amare game #amare

[boxfullaturtles]

I want to know all the things about your KH AU. Please just tell me things, because I love it.

oh Kingdom Hearts AU, how i have neglected you…. UnU what can I say about KH AU hhhmm (aside from having Raph's ref sheet half done and then getting distracted by a million other things lol) let's see........

Donnie loses his heart at some point. Not because of a Heartless or other enemy, but because he pushes himself too hard and too far.

He does create a Heartless. I don't know what kind of Nobody he leaves behind

The rest of the family do end up finding--and fighting--Donnie's Heartless. How do they know it's Donnie's? Well, aside from Mikey being able to sense Donnie's Heart, buried and smothered in Darkness, there's a certain...Donatello flavor to the way the Heartless looks.

I have not finished designing the Donnie Heartless.

How do they get Donnie back? I dunno. Maybe it involves the piece of his Heart he left with Shelldon.

What's in the half of Donnie's lab that no one ever gets to see? That's a secret. For now.

Casey's Future Leo only had one Keyblade and it wasn't Arc Hope, so Future Leo didn't have portals. In fact, Future Leo's Keyblade didn't seem like it fit him at all. A heavy hitter with a reverse grip didn't really fit his fighting style. But he made it work.

Future Mikey was so powerful that his Keyblade kind of just...floated around him, like an extension of himself. He wielded it kind of like how Sora's Final Form uses Keyblades in KH2.

Casey Junior gets a shock when he sees the present day Keyblades. And an even bigger one when Leo portals. And then the biggest one when Leo gains Synch Blade and dual Keyblades.

I love the design of Before the Fall so damn much. But I don't think it fits Leo very well overall. I think after the Krang, the whole thing is weighing heavily on his Heart and he can't let it go. So while he has a lot more faith in his family (After the Rise), he's struggling with keeping that faith in himself. It's letting doubt and Darkness creep into his Heart and it's going to take some work and character development for him to overcome this. Before the Fall is a little too heavy with Darkness for him.

When Leo DOES find himself in a better place, Before the Fall will change. To what? I haven't decided yet. I just don't think Leo should be forced to carry a burden like that Keyblade. He deserves something better.

April's Keyblade is the only one I haven't figured out a name for yet.

In the silly TMNT AU Competition comic I did, Donnie mentions a "Worlds We Are Banned From" list. This is a real list. They have been forbidden from returning to some worlds for...reasons. The reasons may or may not be because of shit they've done.

Raph and Leo sort of co-lead the group, but Raph still acts as the big brother most of the time, trying to wrangle his siblings into behaving. Except when he's acting out too, and then it's April's job.

April getting a Keyblade was an accident. Donnie accidentally did it when they were little.

What's Draxum doing in this AU? Why did he make the turtles? What are the Foot Clan doing? How does The Shredder work? Fuck if I know. What, you think I planned this or something?

Yes, there is magic that alters their appearance depending on what kind of world they land on. Most of the time, it's like a surface level glamour that only affects the eyes of the inhabitants (this is my headcanon as to why no questions why a duck and a dog are following Sora around 90% of the time, they look human on worlds with humans). There have been a few worlds where they've had to deal with physical transformations. Suffice it to say that those have been an absolute riot for everyone.

And...that's all I got. For now anyway. There is still some stuff I'm working on, but it's sort of taken a back seat to everything else...

#kh rise au #sorry for the late reply it's Big Run weekend and my life has been consumed by Salmonid #sage writes turtles

[crescencestudio]

Devlog #29 | 03.27.23

Hi everyone!

April is almost here, which terrifies me since the year is going by so fast. Before I get into game updates, I wanted to share a bit of a (somewhat) personal one.

This month, progress on Alaris was overall a bit slow---or at least, slower than usual. I noticed this month I was struggling a lot with working on basically anything, whether it was for school, work, Alaris, or just taking care of myself. And I realized basically a year late that I was feeling extremely burnt out.

For those who have been following Alaris for a long time, you may know that early 2022, I was struggling with a lot of personal circumstances. I had taken a week off back then to "take time for myself," but in actuality, I had continued working on Alaris and other things because sometimes when I have too much time on my hands, it's worse for my mental health. This was a recurring theme for basically all of 2022. Even during the holiday breaks (e.g., summer, November, December, etc.), I continued working on Alaris, partly because I love the project, partly because it helps me cope with irl things.

This past month, I think the break that I've desperately needed since the start of 2022 made itself Very Apparent and made progress slow on my end. I'm very sorry if the update this month is disappointing because of that! I tried to take a break this past week and am feeling a bit better now, so hopefully, things start to get back on track this upcoming month <3 With that, I'll get into actual updates!

Writing

I'm not going to lie to you all; writing was Slow this month LOL. Basically, the entire writing team got taken out by some sickness or another. I would say for 2-3 weeks of the month, there was no progress on editing or writing at all since everyone was sick at the same time <\3 We are starting to pick things back up, but please send your best wishes to the writing team since they were Going Through It this month!! Also, if you got sick this month and got whatever has been going around globally, I hope you are feeling better as well <333

I did update a good amount of the demo script---just rewriting things since my writing style has changed a little. Small things, but hopefully enjoyable changes nonetheless!

Art

As always, we have continued to make progress on BG art. This month, Vui finished the River BG and the Forest BG, both of which appear in Chapter 2 of the demo. We actually only have one more BG to finish, which is the Flower Field, and all the BGs for the demo will be complete (ahh!!!). It's been about 5 (?) months in the making to revamp all the BGs for the demo, but we are finally reaching the finish line, and everything is slowly getting ready for a revamped demo release ^^

preview of the forest BG

I also have a preview of the GUI for you all! There will be some small changes, like colors, before the final version. But a little crumb to feed you all since I didn't make much progress this month

I also mentioned in the last devlog how I might update the personality icons for Alaris, which were completed this month by the same item artist who did the affection point icons!

The overall vision for this was little potions to build on the "magical" setting of Alaris. I think they're much easier to differentiate and so cute <3

My focus was more on demo art assets for this month, so I finished up the individual CGs for each of the LI's introductions.

soft and fluffy updated Etza CG

I also started updating the sprites a bit---mostly small touches so the art looks a bit more cohesive since my style has changed a bit since the demo first came out. Aisa and Kuna'a are receiving outfit changes so that their clothing stands out from Central gang and looks more cohesive with the aesthetic that will be used for Fae.

Additional Notes

Something else I got to work on this month was finally reviewing the demo voiced lines in full. I hope you all are EXCITED to listen to them in the updated demo! A lot of the lines had me giggling (heehee!). I can't wait to see everything together once it's coded into the game ^^

I also opened applications for playtesters. They close at the end of this month, aka in a couple of days. So if you are interested, please don't forget to submit an application! Thank you already to everyone who has submitted something. The response was more than I expected, so as always, I appreciate the support you all provide wah <3

Market Research

Lastly, I actually got to do some "market research" this month (yay!). I finished up Piofiore finally.

the man, the legend: gilbert redford

Touchstarved also came out. I unfortunately haven't been able to play the demo yet since I was traveling when it was released, but I already know I'll love it and I drew Kuras even though I haven't even played the game yet LMAO

gender envy

Anyways, I think that's enough from me, so that is all for this month's update! Stay safe, and see you all next month <3

#devlog #alaris

[toomuchracket]

I have a few birthday imagines that go round my head all the time. The first one being that reader has a 'normal' job, and Matty is in the band. It's coming up to his first birthday as a couple and she starts freaking out because what do you get someone who is able to afford anything he wants to buy. Anyway maybe in the end she makes him something? It would be all about the sentiment with Matty I think, so either something personal/homemade or maybe she plans a day for them doing all of his favourite things :)

Equally when it gets to readers birthday, Matty wants to buy her everything she's ever shown a slight interest in but he also doesn't want to overwhelm her, especially as she keeps reminding him not to go over the top. Maybe he remembers reader completing Charli's perfume one time so he sneakily asks her what fragrance it is then buys it for her. And I like to imagine he'd take her for a fancy meal out aswell, somewhere better than she's ever been before, maybe a fine dining restaurant.

my love @throughthepostmodernlens has a lovely fic quite similar to your first request with the day full of his fave things, but i'll discuss a lil bit too!

like you said, the man has enough money to get whatever he might want or need, so it's a total struggle to buy him a gift, especially because you're somewhat more financially limited than matty - he's hyper-aware of that though, and of the fact his taste is so diverse that planning a gift for him could be overwhelming, so he's very like "you don't need to get me anything, sweetheart, all i want and need is to spend the day with you". and that's cute, it really is, but you'll be damned if you're going to let your boyfriend's birthday go without a gift from you. and again like you said, i think matty would so appreciate sentiment over monetary value, being gifted something personal. i'm obsessed with the idea of you and matty having your own little book club, where you take turns to pick a book then read it independently and discuss it over some wine (and a joint, if that's your thing), and i think you'd maybe do gifts relating to that - you're always ranting at matty for dog-earing the pages of his books to mark his place, so maybe you get some bookmarks made up of your favourite pictures of the two of you and put them in his gift. matty's also the type of boyfriend who's just obsessed with hearing your thoughts at every second of every day (i fully believe he's the type to be like "so what are you thinking rn" at like 3am when you're trying to get to sleep lol), so you gift him your fully annotated copies of the books he's recommended thus far for your little book club (with little dedications to him at the start of each one), and that way he can spend hours reading the little scribbles verbatim from your thoughts about something he's personally recommended to you because he thought you'd like it :((( you put those in a gift bag with a lovely bottle of wine and a bunch of flowers and some chocolate (and maybe a little bag of weed too lmao), and you bake him a birthday cake, and head over to his house on the morning of april 8th. and matty's so happy to see you on his special day, and also slightly exasperated about the fact you got him a gift when he told you it was unnecessary - you shut him up with a kiss and tell him to open it. he's touched when he sees the homebaked cake, impressed when he sees the wine and chocolate, giggly at the weed, blushy at the flowers, and deeply overwhelmed and emotional at the literary gift. matty's a little confused at the books ("they're the ones i chose for us to read?") at first, until you tell him to open them. when he picks up the first one, one of the bookmarks falls out of the front cover, which sets him off already because "that picture of us is so cute. like look how pretty you are"" (which makes you blushy), and then when he flicks through the pages and sees your annotations he fully cries like "i'm getting little glimpses into your brain oh my god i fucking love this i love you i love the way your brain works" (then because she goes vibes actually). and that's just on the first book! matty gets so much more emotional with every book he picks up - he insists on doing this even though you tell him its the same idea for each - and you physically have to climb onto his lap and hold his hands to stop him just sitting and reading them for the whole day. but yeah - lots of teary kisses from matty, telling you this is the best gift he's ever gotten and he's so grateful and he just loves you so much and you're the most brilliant and beautiful and kindest person he knows, before he pulls himself together and you guys have the loveliest day.

and yeah, matty would be a bit of a nightmare on the lead-up to your birthday - he spoils you at the best of times (when you let him), simply because he's a simp (lol) and he loves you and wants to treat you well, but you make a point of sitting him down and looking him dead in the eye to tell him to keep the gifting lowkey. and it's hard for matty to not immediately pull out the credit card as soon as you offhandedly mention you like the look of something you saw advertised or walked past in a shop; you notice this about him quite quickly, so i think you'd drop subtle (and not-so subtle) hints about what you really wanted for a good while before your birthday. going with perfume, mentioned in the ask - while you're out for george's birthday, you really loudly compliment charli's perfume while matty's in earshot, like "i'm almost out of my favourite one, i'll need to buy more soon haha!", and matty hears and he's like "ooh i could get her some for her birthday!". and he makes a point of looking in your room to see which one you wear, but you have a couple on rotation and he has no idea which one you mean - matty's undeterred, though, because it means he has an excuse to come up and kiss your neck as you're getting ready for dates like "god, you smell amazing. what perfume is that?" and you're like fuck yeah he's got the hint "it's a dior one!" and tell him the name. on your birthday, you're surprised when matty hands you a dior-embossed envelope rather than a gift bag, and ready to yell at him when he says "look, sweetheart, i know this is a bit more money than you're probably cool with having spent on you, but i think it's something you'll love" - you open it to see an invitation to their selfridges boutique for a vip fragrance creation session, aka you getting to create your own personalised perfume. and while yeah you're utterly aghast at how much this is probably costing matty (he will not say), a) he looks so excited to be gifting you this opportunity, b) the thought of creating your own perfume with the brand you wear daily has you GIDDY, and c) it's actually a very thoughtful gift and you know fine well a single bottle of dior collection privee fragrances can last for a decade because they're so pure, meaning it's actually economical of you to do this, so you don't complain. instead, you give your boyfriend a big kiss and say "this is incredible. thank you so much. i love you!", and matty exhales and reciprocates the affection. and you both have a lot of fun at the dior boutique while you create your own scent, and also in matty's bedroom when you head back to his after dinner (which was in the literal fanciest place of all time, it was incredible), because the perfume you've come up with is so irresistible to matty that he actually cannot keep his hands off you at all (another bonus of that gift) lol <3

#mads muses #mads answers asks #matty asks #fluff asks #mads' bday bash

[chaotic-on-main]

Sparring | CanonAU Drabble

☾ Pairings ➼ Levi Ackerman x gn!Reader

☾ Content/Warnings ➼ fighting, blood

☾ A/N ➼ I was struggling to write my April chapter after being on break for so long due to illness and so I wrote this up as a warm up to get used to writing again. This was proofread once, take it as you see it lol. Anyways I imagine that Levi and reader have been in the corps together for a while in the time between 844 and 845. So they're semi-close.

☾ Word Count ➼ 855

You see stars in your vision as you lie on the dirty ground yet again. Your chest rises in heavy pants while you attempt to gather the air that had just been knocked loose involuntarily. Raising your hand, you hold it up to shield the afternoon sunlight that threatened to burn into your eyes. God, your body hurt in so many places. Something slides into view above you, casting a shadow on everything around you.

“Hey brat! Are you planning on spending the rest of the afternoon down there?” You move your hand out of the way to see your fellow captain and current sparring partner bearing down at you with an amused expression.

“Give me a moment, jeez. Can’t you go easy on me at least once?”

“You’re the one who keeps asking to train with me. Don’t give me that shit.” Levi grumbles. He reaches for the hand you still had held up and grips on tight before pulling you up on your feet. You can’t help the groan that escapes your lips. At full height, Captain Levi stood a good 4 inches shorter than you. You used to find that funny until both of you were paired to spar together months ago and found quickly that size indeed did not matter.

Since then, it had become your personal goal to bring him down. You would not allow any titan to best you until you were able kick Humanity’s Strongest Soldier’s ass yourself.

“How many times do I have to throw you for you to understand you’re not on my level? After all this time, you’d think you’d be better by now.” Levi chides, wiping the back of his arm on his forehead to collect the sweat that sat there. He regards you with a cocked eyebrow and a signature deadpan stare. The audacity of this man causes you to grind your teeth in irritation.

“God, you can be such an asshole sometimes.” You take a moment to sip water out of the canteen hanging from the wooden fence that closed off the training enclosure you and Levi resided in currently. A welcoming breeze ruffles your sticky hair as it blows past.

“We’ve trained for months, and you still can’t get me down. Face it, you can’t beat me.” You twirl around to face him with annoyance. His voice contains no malice though, only humor. But it only stokes the flames. You just needed an upper hand. An idea comes to you.

“Alright shorty. That’s enough. Again!” You run full force at him. He expects it, of course. Levi side steps and grips your left arm with one hand as you pass. But you’re expecting that as well. You grab his hand with your free one and force him to stop, planting your feet into the dirt as you do.

“Levi, I’m in love with you.” You say in your softest voice.

He falters just as you hoped. Levi’s metallic eyes widen at your statement and looks as if he’s about to say something. Without hesitating, you grip his hand tightly and twist so that he’s behind you. In one swift motion, you flip him over your body, throwing him face first on the ground. Before he can get up, you straddle his back and pull both of his arms towards you. Not enough to hurt him, but enough to incapacitate.

“Ha!! I got you!!” You yell in victory. Levi doesn’t move, the only proof of life comes from his heavy breaths that shifts his body under you.

“Levi?” Silence.

“Oh my god.” You scramble off his back and flip him over onto his back. His eyes are scrunched shut and a trickle of blood runs down his upper lip.

“Are you okay?! Levi?!” You shout. A couple of passing scouts perk up at the sound and start walking over in curiosity.

“Fucking say something or I’m going to get Hange!”

“Okay, okay. I’m Fine.” Levi mumbles. He coughs and opens a sharp gray eye at you. “Fuck, that hurt.” Levi starts to sit up and you help him by placing a hand on the small of his back for support.

“I’m so sorry, oh my god.” Pulling your jacket sleeve up, you dab at the blood now dribbling down Levi’s chin. There’s a small crowd gathering at the fence, and you shoo them away with a glare.

“I’m fine. Stop.” Levi swats at your hand. He’s avoiding your gaze, but you’re able to see a slight pink coloration that dusts his cheeks and ears. You can’t help but smile at your accomplishment but say nothing. Both of you sit on the ground in silence as he gets his bearings.

“Did you mean it?” he mumbles finally.

“What?”

“Never mind.” Levi grunts as he pushes himself up from the dirt. After dusting himself off, he starts off towards the gate.

“Good job. That won’t happen again.” He shouts over his shoulder. And then he’s gone.

You fall backwards, a plume of dust exploding around you on impact. Crossing an arm over your eyes, you groan. Of course you did, you meant every word.

#levi ackerman #attack on titan #aot #shingeki no kyojin #snk #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman x gn!reader #drabble #canon au #i'm tired #let's see if this will allow me to finally write the chapter

[mistic-turtle]

Dimensional Shell-Shock

Heya, today I wanted to write a little story about the universes I read yesterday here on Tumblr. That gave me the idea... Enjoy!

Mikey was chilling alone in the lab of the sewers that used to be Donnie's. Seeing the ghost of his brother Working like I always used to. A cup of chamomile tea was drunk. For god's sake, he hates chamomile tea!

However, it was what helped him to be calm in a strange way. Well, when you're the last of your siblings alive there's not much to do. Except, of course, to pursue revenge. But Mikey wasn't so impatient as to run around and do everything like crazy. No, he took his time because he knew that an action of liberation leads to misfortune.

For first time, there wasn't anything more than peace all around him. Silence. Just silence all around. Even a small rumble startled him. "April... Are you around?" he got up from his seat to check what had happened. What he saw stunned him.

He looked like his brother. He spoke like his brother. He had the same calm aura as his brother. But he wasn't his brother. "Who are you...?" says Mikey to the strange turtle with purple bandana.

"Huh?" answers, rubbing the back of his head. "S-Sorry... I am... Donatello. I'm not from here. As you can see maybe I had a, uh, time travel or something... I can't calculate the exactly time-space that I'm on, but if you help me I can go as fast as I could. I have to design a machine that..." and like Donnie, he kept talking. And talking. And talking. Mikey chuckled but didn't interrupt him. He missed hearing his brother talking his brain out to him.

His voice was calming. And for first time, Mikey didn't feel distrust towards this Donnie. He was very comfortable.

And another crash was heard there. Now a red bandana turtle was there. This turtle He slammed into the wall and was coughing from the dust it emitted. His little brother's sword, Leo, would have brought him to a strange place. A place he didn't recognize a single iota of. He didn't even recognize if it was his lair or not. And another turtle, now a blue bandana one came. His expressions were puzzled.

Mikey stared at Donnie for a moment. Donnie didn't know what was happening.

"Uhm, where are we?" asked Raph fidgeting with his fingers. Mikey raised his eyebrows in a low external surprise. But inside was thinking, who kind of Raph he was. His Raph never acted shy, or insecure. Even feary.

"H-Hello... I'm Leonardo. And... I don't know where are we but... I think you two guys surely know. Right?" says smiling kindly at them. Mikey was taken back at this. His brothers, except Donnie, acted this soft before. What the hell was happening?

"I'm Michaelangelo, and like you, I don't know what's happening but I can say, none of you are from here and we need to find a way to take you back."

The three guys look at Mikey in surprise. He doesn't look stunning, cheerful... He... He isn't the ray of sunshine he used to be.

"Uhm... Can I ask what happened... T-To you? I mean, you're Mikey... It's supossed to make jokes and laugh around... What happened?" Asks Donnie regreting it inside. He knows that to get Mikey so serious something very serious must have happened.

"I... I lost my family. The foot clan killed all of them. Oroku Saki had a grandson, Oroku Hiroto. As always, with lies he promised to take all the clan down... And he did."

Everyone's expressions darkened. Imagine that your sweetest little brother is left alone and has to face such a vile villain alone... It broke their hearts. They quickly began to imagine that situation for their Mikeys. They quickly run to hug Mikey. In other circumstances, he would have been able to hide his emotions very well... But I couldn't. She had been struggling with depression for so long, that added up to the fact that a cuter, more understanding version of her siblings to be there with him. It made him burst into tears.

Me, you, us reading this:

Stop making my Cosa vieja cry, bitches! (I wrote this, lol)

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2012 #rottmnt #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2003 donnie #rottmnt raph #tmnt 2012 leo #the last ronin #Last Ronin Mikey

[halfusek]

so lemme just put it out there: using AI for generating art, nevermind if for a joke or seriously, in this point of time, plain sucks

i’m refering here to that bendy highschool crush anime thing whatever i refuse to interact with stuff about this so i’m not exactly familiar but what matters is that it was AI generated AND even more so it was not mentioned anywhere that it was until people started pointing it out

there’s a few problems with that

first one is obvious - just the use of AI - as yall probably know its been a highly controversial topic these past few months, because of course it’s built on thief - first stealing artists’ work and then stealing their jobs; a joke or not it STILL uses that based in thief technology... though there do exist some AIs that asks artists for constent, for example the one that deviantArt created recently (and people misunderstood and spread a lot of false information about but oh well that’s a whole other thing) BUT generally these services for AI generation of images steal from artists - and not only! - they just take anything they can find fitting on the internet, even stock images and there was a case about a stock image site suing one of these AI services because *yeah* it’s just thief

another layer to all that adds the context of the game they made itself... like... BATIM/BATDR’s story is at its core about exploitation of artists and - apparently wether they like it or not - evils of capitalism (i still cant comprehend how Mike Mood can be anti union after making a game like this but like lol). it’s about art, about struggle with it and it’s just soooo out of touch to do something like this for a company making such game like hello?? if you wanna take from how artists are abused in big corporations then maybe have some decency and don’t use tools that abuse artists??? like that’s just so in bad taste man i have no words

then comes the fact that they waited with mentioning that AI is used is in the video. it STILL isn’t in the description of the video (the time im making this post is 13th april 2023 so the vids been up for 12 days), which i think AIs these days even require to be given credit?? but either way a lot of people didn’t even realize AI was used and i don’t blame them, not everyone pays attention to details or has an eye for them, this is why such information should be included... if it supposedly was meant to be “part of the joke” all along

which i find hard to believe? sure it came out on april first but.. how exactly is it a part of the joke? the AI generation was simply used for making the art for this fictional joke game. it could have as well been drawn by a real artist and no part of the joke would have been lost because it’s not part of the joke at all? like it’s not mentioned anywhere and it’s not obvious (Meatly even said they heavily photoshoped the images because they looked bad) so i’m asking how exactly AI being used is part of the joke here because it just seems like it was used as a mean of creation here and there was an attempt to hide that it was done at all

and if they really didn’t wanna spend time and effort on drawing it themselves (i get it, they might be busy with other things) then just A. don’t?? make anything?? or B. use an AI that doesn’t steal from artists and credit it so people know? and if it’s reeeeaaally a part of the joke then actually make it part of the joke? even a singular line of commentary laughing off at AI would make this actually work but there’s just nothing

i’m glad that Meatly said they aren’t planning on using it for anything serious but using it for a joke is still using it like sorry but that’s just how it is

and the whole ordeal of not saying what AI it is just rubs me the wrong way because high chance is they aren’t doing that because this AI is one of those that steal from artists so... eh... like i realize this is an assumption but i think it’s fair to be a bit skeptical about them after everything they’ve done :’)

#just wanted to put that out there #cool if others are having fun making their own versions but i think itd be better to let it die so im personally going to avoid such content #peace and love on planet earth #halfpost #bendy and the ink machine

[austennerdita2533]

Hi Ashlee!!! I hope you're doing well. I'm appealing to your brilliant mind for help with character analysis :) I want to write a japril fic but realize I'm struggling in part because imo Jackson has such an undefined and often inconsistently written personality? Like for seasons he's presented as too detached and remote and retreats whenever things get tough, but then a few seasons ago the writers tell us his problem is that he's too dependent on other people and can't be alone, which is...the exact opposite?! And he's often portrayed as laidback to the point of being not caring and trying hard enough but then suddenly like a week or two later he's all super intense and competitive? And they show him as almost TOO logical and rational to the point of detachment but then he'll be depicted like an episode later as someone who always follows his heart and his instincts?! I'm getting whiplash trying to get a handle on his core traits lol. It's funny with Grey's because their female characters are generally SO vividly, clearly defined and layered yet consistent, while the male characters tend to be either one dimensional or wildly inconsistent. Anyway, any help you can give me is much appreciated!

Hello there, nonnie! I agree with you about how the Grey's writers have written Jackson inconsistently over the course of the show.

I always resonated with his character most when he was depicted as logical/rational and somewhat emotionally detached. That made sense to me, given his background as an Avery and growing up with Catherine as his mother. I'd argue she's not the warmest person. She's focused, intense, and ambitious. A strong personality. A force to be reckoned with. She loves her son, of course, I am not doubting that, but I think it's obvious she raised him to be the sort of person to do what's right, to do what's expected of him, and I feel like that's translated into him having had to brush emotion aside. He was taught that other things were more important. So, in that regard, he would have been brought up to be intense and competitive, right? That's what was expected of him. I feel like Catherine wouldn't have had much patience for emotional-based decision making either, so Jackson would've learned to suppress a lot to survive and be successful. (Which, I'd argue, is something we see over the course of the series already.)

He's always struck me as a more introverted, introspective person, too. Someone who weighs his thoughts and actions. He may be impulsive at times, quick to act in certain scenarios, but only if, logically, he reasons that it's the best course for him in that moment. He's not expressive, either. I feel like he has a difficult time not only identifying his emotions but being able to put them into words until he reaches an epiphany. He intellectualizes long before he allows himself to feel. Ironically, this is why April is such a wonderful complement to him romantically because she ushers him into a state of feeling, into a state of sitting with his emotions. She helps him to confront parts of himself that are uncomfortable, foreign, or scary. She pushes him out of his comfort zone.

#anonymous #replies #the loveliest of lovely people #ashlee bree talks grey's anatomy #just my opinion #hope this helps some! #good look with your japril fic <3

[buffyfan145]

So Calam Lynch gave another interview on Instagram and I've linked below to a tweet discussing what he said about "Rings of Power" and theories popping up again about who he's playing. :D Also I've included my own theories now too on what could be happening as this show has really unlocked my own "Nancy Drew" brain as I used to do this all the time on various sites when "Buffy", LOST, and "OUAT" were all airing and still do this for some of my other shows. LOL

He answered that he filmed "big block of episodes" before he did a play in April last fall/winter, and then he came back to set again in the final weeks in late May/early June. I know he was a favorite by some to be Celeborn but his comments and knowing what we know filmed during those times it really is leaning more towards him being Anarion like I first thought or the "angelic" form of Sauron we know now is coming thanks to the spoilers we got last Sunday about this 2nd version and Charlie Vickers' new look for his version.

From most spoilers it seems some of the big storylines for season 2 will be the forging of the rings for the dwarfs and men and some version of the Annatar storyline, Galadriel and the other elven ring bearers learning their powers, the people of Numenor starting to be divided into The Faithful and The King's Men, and Sauron and Adar in a power struggle over Mordor. There also are spoilers they filmed flashbacks for Sauron, possibly even showing when he was Mairon. However, there is nothing indicating that Celeborn is even in season 2 and for Calam to have had that much to film to me that fully rules out him as Celeborn. Anarion or "Annatar" (as they might not be able to use that name but it'll still be him) seem much more likely now.

There's also that Charlie Rich actor who's been teasing on Instagram too that he's also playing someone connected to Sauron, if not Annatar himself too and I can see him possibly being the form Adar knew and maybe only used for flashbacks as he wasn't announced like Calam was, which suggests even less screentime for Charlie Rich's character.

And I know some thing Calam is too boyish looking to be playing a version of Sauron, but to me "angelic" sometimes is used to describe someone who seems innocent. I personally think it applies to Elrond and I can see Sauron doing this to pretend to be an elf to convince Celebrimbor and the other elves to make the other rings. It'll be interesting to see if this happens what Galadriel thinks of him, as we know from the books she never trusted Annatar and on the show is coming from this loss of what she thought Halbrand was to her, and Sauron knows now how important Elrond is to Galadriel and the other elves so I can see him making this new form to be similar. This explains too why Morfydd and Calam followed each other on Instagram as well as this would also be them sharing scenes together too.

Then once they all find out Charlie Vickers takes back over the role and reveals himself in that 2 episode battle in the finale. Also makes me wonder if this is what leads to Adar possible switching sides, which a lot are speculating, and if Adar captures Galadriel early in the season and they work together to go after Sauron, or if the season ends with her first being captured by Adar and then it's Sauron who has her (after he kills Adar), and similar to that scene of when she and Halbrand were imprisoned in Numenor (and Morfydd confirmed too she and Charlie did film together again too), and that's the season 2 cliffhanger and maybe the actual reveal of who is playing Celeborn and where he's been all along to set up season 3. :)

#the lord of the rings #the rings of power #spoilers #theories #calam lynch #sauron #annatar #mairon #halbrand #charlie vickers #anarion #celeborn #galadriel #haladriel #galadriel x halbrand #galadriel x celeborn #morfydd clark #adar #charlie rich