#THIS IS WAY BEHIND RIP

[mischievousmeh]

warning: the following contains spoilers for pokémon scarlet/violet

wheeeew! okay, so after a good rest, i’m able to talk about what went on with the titan from yesterday!

this big guy is the lurking steel titan, orthworm! i’m sure plenty of you have seen a normal sized orthworm, but this was my first encounter with this pokémon! as absolutely astounding as it was in size, it was sort of cute! orthworm was not the fighting sort - when he saw aether and i, he hurried to burrow under the ground. with our legs still aching, we opted to chase him down on miraidon! orthworm would peek his head out occasionally, and we essentially were playing a large scale version of whack-a-diglet. this would’ve been fun if we weren’t so tired, i think. after we ended up cornering the behemoth, we sent out reaper and blank, who defeated it easily! after that, it tunneled through solid stone… and the chase began again.

after we chased it down again, it opened a passage - another cave, just like the one the titan klawf had. and orthworm reaches inside and pulls out one of the herba mystica! a fight would be rough on us and our pokémon, especially from our lack of rest, but luckily, arven appears to help out! he’s brought a toedscool with him this time, who i still don’t know the name of.

reaper was noticeably worn out, so i gave him a rest and switched him out with gwaine instead! between our three pokémon, this giant worm was no match for us, and actually was defeated pretty easily, despite the herba mystica that it ate! when it was tired of fighting, it quickly burrowed underground to retreat. we took that as our chance, with arven’s direction, to take the herb before it came back. so, into the cave we went.

according to arven, this is the salty herba mystica! it has amazing properties that help promote healing, just like the sweet variety, though i can’t remember exactly what he’d listed off, as i was very, very tired. he made some more of those awesome sandwiches for us! once again, miraidon intended to beg for our sandwiches. arven actually had made an extra one just for miraidon this time, even though he swears it wasn’t for the dragon at all! i don’t think aether or i believe him, haha.

great sandwiches again! he’s definitely some sort of sandwich chef, right? a normal person couldn’t do the magic he does! he also gave us this neat badge, which i think is pretty cool considering he makes the badges himself! miraidon also loves his sandwiches, which is both a blessing and a curse. actually, despite getting its own sandwich… miraidon actually was going to take a bite from arven’s, and he snapped at it.

his shouting was very startling! i remember almost jumping up from my seat. even miraidon scurried away, which must’ve made him feel bad, because he apologized right after. apparently, he’s been hiding something from us… and he’s decided to come clean. arven introduced us to the reason he’s hunting the herba mystica: his partner pokémon, mabosstif.

the poor thing is terribly sick. no potion or pokémon center can heal him, and arven’s only option has fallen to a myth he read about in his father’s books. apparently, if a pokémon eats from all five of the herba mystica, any ailment they have will be healed. i feel like i understand him a lot more now. he said the only thing he really cares about is his mabosstif, which brings up a few questions, like how he feels about professor turo or his other pokémon, or even any of his friends… but that aside, i think i really, genuinely understand that sentiment. my partner pokémon… my boyfriend… i would do anything for them.

the magic of the herba mystica works, too. according to arven, mabosstiff hasn’t been able to open its eyes or move for the longest time, and his paws have been cold in his paralysis. with the sandwich that arven gave him, he actually began to warm up a bit, and his eyes opened! arven is a pretty expressionate guy, and though we aren’t very close, he seems unreserved and genuine in how he feels. so, when he started jumping in celebration, followed by genuine sobbing in his joy… i knew that was real, and that was really who he is.

with the promise to continue on our search for the remaining herba mystica, we parted ways with arven for the time being. miraidon grew stronger from the sandwich it ate, now able to jump much higher than before. and we received a call from professor turo confirming as much, once again showing how much he cares for miraidon and trusts we can care for it.

and… that’s a wrap! time to go and rest up for a couple of days! not really, but i really feel like we should, haha!

[turtleblogatlast]

Man I wish we got more of the turtle tots especially their “slightly older turtle tots” designs, because they are so cute

[asavt]

I keep drawing these guys and I ended up doing this a few...days?? A week ago?? Time is weird.

I might actually change the way I draw some of them slightly, but their heights stay the same Except for the Lamb and Narinder, I actually might make them the same height (Probably Nari's, I think it'd be fun).

[fourthgem]

mlmu cast my beloved <3

[coulsonlives]

Omg, Dante Basco ships Zutara! My life is complete.

[northern-passage]

Do you have any favorite horror book recommendations?

hhng... well i did a lot of reading like a month ago but i can't say much of it was very good.... otherwise im in a perpetual state of reading many books at once that i have still not finished... but from what i've read recently:

fluids & girl flesh by may leitz - these are both extreme horror novels and i actually still haven't finished girl flesh yet. fluids is about two women who meet on tinder during the pandemic and spend a few fucked up days together in a hotel where they hurt each other (and others) very badly.

girl flesh is about two (different) women who are both "famous" in different ways and find themselves kidnapped in the middle of nowhere together and it follows them as they try to escape through the texas mesa.

to be devoured by sara tantlinger - this is a novella and it's one of my top reads. about a woman who really really really wants to know what it's like to be a vulture and eat carrion. (apocalypse party who published the newest edition have quite a few interesting horror books/novellas. i have more from them on my to read list)

death in the mouth: original horror by people of color - this has been my "work read" for a while now which means i read it when i'm on break at work (this also means it's taking me forever to read it) it's an anthology of short horror stories and i've read four of them so far and have really enjoyed every single one.

not read recently but that i remember fondly:

annihilation by jeff vandermeer - i do recommend the entire southern reach trilogy but annihilation is the first one and also my favorite. you follow the biologist and the rest of her team into area x. weird stuff happens.

the luminous dead by caitlin starling - one woman in a high tech suit going on a solo caving expedition. she is guided (and sometimes controlled) by another woman who is able to talk through and manipulate the suit to get her to do what she wants.

bonus round two good horror stories i've read on itch.io lately:

childhood homes (and why we hate them) and gutless

[plutoslvr]

I need tim to get his skateboard back so he can start noah czerny-ing people.

[everymadara]

Chapter 622

[quillium]

Childe being the boss of a bank while being Absolutely Feral

The Tsaritsa sending Childe, A Boy From The Countryside Who Never Had Any Formal Schooling, to run her bank: This is going to be the funniest thing ever

In Childe’s head, accountants cover everything to do with numbers, so when he’s in doubt, he just assumes someone’s job is “accountant”. This is almost never true. Vlad is a bodyguard, he literally stands outside the bank doors, WHY WOULD YOU THINK HE WAS AN ACCOUNTANT--

Childe: Haha yeah I’m an accountant! Ekaterina, exhausted: You are not. But points for trying.

Childe, very proud: I work at a BANK! Nadia, who knows that Childe basically just fights people without Actually Working and is the office’s baby: That’s right, honey 😊 

Every night Childe gets tutored by someone who does work in the bank on various financial matters and he becomes ridiculously financially savvy even for a twenty-something working in a bank

Childe is crazy good at understanding money if you give it to him in terms of fighting-related things. “Wow, ten of these are worth one Dull Sword!”

Childe who doesn’t understand why people can’t just fish for a living. It’s simple. You find a good cave, set up a fire, and catch fish whenever you’re hungry. His employees are horrified. Childe, is this why you’ve been eating so much fish lately. Childe, are you just catching your own fish despite being one of the most well-paid men alive. CHILDE--

Someone shows up for an appointment with a bank advisor, and Childe, who is HORRIBLY disappointed after learning this truth, pulls them aside and is like, “You know they’re not a fiduciary, right? Banks just want to make money. They don’t actually care about you.” His employees are like. You literally are the boss of this bank can you please stop chasing away business

Childe watching a fisherman about to buy mutual funds or something: “You need to understand that they take a 2% management fee off this, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but in fact if you compare it to products from places that aren’t our bank, you could lose a lot in the long run--”

“Childe banks aren’t a scam” “Okay then explain why Andre the accountant taught me to always be careful about mutual funds with high MERs and then immediately tried to sell that same bad example mutual fund to a client HMMM”

Childe who honestly thinks the concept of money is a scam. Why can’t we just all fish and hunt meat together and share food.

Childe’s employees are ALL scrawny paperwork office job people so they’re like. Childe we can’t. Just hunt down wild boars. That’s primitive and we don’t have muscles.

Childe backseat driving to other people’s financial decisions and they’re like can you please get this twenty year old out of my face while I decide on mortgages. Childe doesn’t even give good advice he’s just really freaking annoying

[friendlifyre]

loving jingrenheng is so wild you have to watch the fans of each individual pairing wanting to rip each other apart and being super aggressive over how their pair is better and you cant even disagree with most of their arguments because every relationship within really is that compelling you just dont see why you couldnt enjoy all of those dynamics at the same time

[altruistic-meme]

Abram i was curious and i don’t think i’ve asked you this before, what are some of your favorite aftg fics? you know one of mine will always be yours (wit)jitp but… what are your faves???

-miels 💜✨

hiii miels my beloved <3<3 i am always down to share some favorite fics >:D

(side note: for a lot of these, i actually am not fully caught up with them due to my shifting hyperfocus meaning i wasn't reading them when they updated, so it generally goes without saying that i am planning on rereading and catching up on these all!)

Scared to Live (But I'm Scared to Die) by Major_816 this is my #1 favorite fic and i will scream it's praises until the day i die. it's so so good. i am wayyyy overdue for a reread, especially since it's got a sequel that i haven't started yet, but alas that will have to wait until next month. i will say though that it is DEFINITELY not for the light of heart. it is very trigger heavy and dark, and it still holds place as the only fic i've ever read that i have had to set it down and step away from it because of one scene. the tags on the fic itself don't say much about this, but i can always go into further detail if you want :) (as much as i can remember, anyway ;; or once i actually do my reread)

Flavors of Fall by NikNak22 i know i've mentioned Flavors of Fall in the past because i will always credit it for inspiring me to experiment with the way i write!! especially when it comes to (wit)jitp!! the limited pov in (wit)jitp is a direct result of this fic!! but the fic itself is SO WELL WRITTEN it makes me lose my mind. it's my perfect type of cozy tbh. i remember following along with the updates to the point where even my MOM knew what day it updated on bc i wouldn't shut up about it skdhvskhd

Promise of an Unbroken Boy by elesary this fic hhhhhhhhh this is probably my MOST reread fic bc every time it updates i reread it!! mostly as a reminder of where it left off but also it's just so enjoyable every single time around that rereading it is a joy every single time (i am also currently rereading it!!) this fic actually also has a scene that i usually skip over bc of graphic details, not half as bad as the scene in Scared to Live, i just have already read it and can skip it since i know what happens now this is also one of the fics that i know has influenced my writing! it was a while ago now, but i remember rereading this before and going "hey this wording is familiar" only to discover i had mirrored this story in my own stories!

the upper hand by plantelty i don't remember a lot of the plot of this one (alas it's been quite a while ;;) but i remember it having these very calm sort of dark vibes? not dark like Dark but it just felt like the type of story that takes place in the twilight hours. idk. it makes me smile. not quite as chaotic as some other fics (i will cry when we finally get the final chapter)

The Butcher's House by Fire_Bear ghost neil ghost neil ghost neil i love love love the mystery and story-telling in this one. it has set such a high precedent for ghost aus for me.

i think i will leave it here ;;; like i said, i am in the process of going through and rereading most (if not all) of these fics right now bc i've missed updates so i am SO down to talk about them

[yepthatsacowalright]

My sincere hope for the legacy of the game The Mortuary Assistant is that more people realize that a lot of what mortuaries (in the US especially) do to dead bodies is fucked up and unnecessary and perhaps we should change the norms of it at some point.

[teufelme]

You ever just want to talk about Bertl,

[marathedemonoverlord]

Just played Lesson 13. Still don't like Lilith's presence much but DAMN we got World Building and Diavolo characterization- That's pretty good. ( Won't elaborate for spoiler reasons but yeah liked it enough I suppose. )

Kinda been waiting to get some stuff on Diavolo and Barbatos so eager to see what comes next.

[rovermcfly]

when pleck found out C-53 is only the cube and not the frame, when Pleck realised that after Dar ripped C-53's frame apart they can save him if they find a new frame for the cube, when Pleck didn't know how to properly carry or store the cube but just knew it was important to keep it safe, when Pleck told C-53 he's beautiful in every frame, when Pleck implicitly gained a unique perspective and love for C-53 after handling the cube, when Pleck understood without even knowing the full story that C-53 loves being a boat, when Pleck asked C-53 every time he got a new frame how he feels in it, when Pleck... when the cube... when.. he...

[immamapletreekid]

instead of grinding for finals i lost hours to a one piece wiki spiral