#Virtual Trunk Show

[fyeahghosttrick]

THE PROMPTS!

Behold: the list! More than 150 prompts ripe for the taking! Now everyone can pick something cool (even if you didn't submit anything) (no need to claim it anywhere) and start drawing it or writing it or any other creative verb of your liking. Next stop: June 19th, when we’ll all post together to celebrate GT’s original anniversary (there will be a reminder with brief posting instructions).

Prompts are numbered for your convenience, in the order they came in. The block divisions are just because tumblr gets twitchy about long numbered lists

And now, without further ado:

BLOCK A

Yomiel having a grand time using his powers before the events of the game start, with Sissel.

Cute Sissel (maybe with a nice bow or something?)

Sissel and Missile hanging out.

Yomiel post-game after prison as Kamila's tutor.

Sissel (pre or post game) stealing fish from the fishmongers!

Memry x Lynne, as a cute couple.

Ace Attorney x Ghost Trick crossover!

Hatsune Miku in the world of Ghost Trick, maybe being a virtual singer allows her to travel through phone lines etc.?

carlyraejepsans - Lynne trying to get Sissel to help her cheat at cards or at a tabletop game. Sissel refuses (he's already in cahoots with Kamila)

carlyraejepsans - Beach episode. Can be both art or writing but if it's art I want Cabanela in the most ridiculous swimming fit you can think of. I'm talking 1920s. I'm talking speedo and pool goggles. I'm talking trunks with a print of his own face on the ass. Do your worst.

carlyraejepsans - The Lynne design we all know and love but rocking the white suit from her first concept art.

carlyraejepsans - Anything with baby Lynne and baby Sissel. My pookies…

carlyraejepsans - New timeline, young Lynne. I keep coming back to the idea of her learning that the kidnapper also saved her life. And that dissonance with her initial idea of him in her mind causing her to be less avoidant about what happened, and looking for answers independently in true Lynne fashion. Cue the world's most determined 13yo girl trying at all costs to get an audience with a condemned felon, much to Yomiel's chagrin. How would the meeting go? Or maybe she fails but ends up running into Fiansissel instead. What would they think about each other?

carlyraejepsans - Give! Lynne! Nightmares!! Give! Lynne! Nightmares!!! that sweet sweet hurt no comfort (or with, if sissel happened to be ghost hopping by?). bonus points if they're nightmares about drowning/the lost timeline and there's just something she can't… quite… put her finger on… scratching at the back of her brain like a cat begging to be let in

carlyraejepsans - No reset (the circumstances of their survival from the Yonoa at your discretion), main game timeline setting. Jowd beginning to reconnect with Kamila after his release from prison and realizing he doesn't really know her anymore (she's grown so much). He still has to try. He owes her at least that.

carlyraejepsans - Cabanela and the Professor. Cabanela's reaction after they decided to work together and the Professor showed him his recreation of Kamila's doohickey for the first time. Judging by his original report to the Justice Minister, he thought the manipulator used Jowd specifically. How did he react when the penny dropped that it was actually Kamila (and Jowd's motive finally clicked into place)

frogpotat - Jeego and Tengo having a sibling rivalry

frogpotat - Memry working undercover at a new job

frogpotat - Bailey and Bailey's coworker getting up to some shenanigans in their off-time

frogpotat - Ghost Trick + Pokémon crossover

frogpotat - Ghost Trick + Five Nights at Freddy's crossover

frogpotat - Ghost Trick + Ace Attorney crossover

frogpotat - Sissel and Missile sneak out of the house to explore

frogpotat - The Chicken Kitchen is an illegal front

Lynne in full plate armour with a longsword (because that's awesome)

what if cat sissel become human and look same as yomiel and they live together what will happen?(no couple or only cat sisselXyomiel)

what if the police give up yomiel's case and bury his body, yomiel(in cat) meet fiancee sissel in the graveyard.

(GT X DC)He found he was died and lost his memory，then he find a police( wataru) is calling him Conan and get shot in front of him.

yomiel in 10 years before(conan) meet other yomiel in different timeline/au.

one day yomiel can do mind reading but he doesn't know every other can read his mind.

(persona）yomiel's phantom thief suit.or a take-your-heart story.

yomiel and cabanela and jowd cooperate to solve a case(could be a acquittal au)

yomiel is good at a lot of things ,especially computer and …… dessert?!

the-grey-hunt: ghost trick crossover/mashup with your favorite niche media of choice

the-grey-hunt: kitten sissel, or kitten-sized sissel after the epilogue, doing cat things (playing with toys, hanging out with other cats, etc)

the-grey-hunt: yomiel's good days after getting out of prison

the-grey-hunt: angst injury/coma. i want someone bleeding, limp, and vulnerable while other characters try to tend to them. can be frantic trying to help them off the scene, OR them recovering from a treated injury!

the-grey-hunt: any of the main cast in different outfits! pajamas, fancy dress, cosplay, anything—as long as it's distinct from their canon clothing.

the-grey-hunt: One thing you would change about the epilogue

the-grey-hunt: fiansissel and alma being friends

the-grey-hunt: Fanon/headcanon family members—cousins, parents, siblings, etc of our canon characters who simply were never mentioned or turned up on-screen in the canon game!

sunnyaliceart - Jowd, Lynne, Cabanela hair care routine

sunnyaliceart - new timeline, Kamila and Amelie playdate and Kamila shows off how special Sissel is

sunnyaliceart - Kamila and Lynne sister bonding, Missile and kitty Sissel included are a huge plus

sunnyaliceart - Cabanela, Pigeon Man, and Lovey Dove interactions. Specifically, during the time they were working on the Manipulator Case, but new timeline is also very much welcomed

sunnyaliceart - Fiansissel, Alma, and Emma being best friends gossiping about their husbands

sunnyaliceart - Post-Game Yomiel and Jowd friendship fluff, both using mobility aids (wheelchair, cane, and/or crutches), kitty Sissel is there to help both of them

sunnyaliceart - Post-Game everyone eating at the Chicken Kitchen, specifically: Lynne, Kamila, Jowd, Cabanela, Alma, Pigeon Man, kitty Sissel, Missile, Yomiel and Fiansissel. That's a lot of characters, so I understand doing a smaller set, but the ones listed are the ones I'd most like to see if you prefer to choose

sunnyaliceart - Ghost Trick, but furry. Fantasy animals like unicorns and dragons are also options

youghostandyoutrick - Fandom fusion! Put anyone from the Ghost Trick cast into another fictional universe, as though they originated from that universe. Ghost Trick elements (like Temsik and how ghosts work) can be adapted for the new universe however you see fit.

youghostandyoutrick - Postcanon Yomiel, preferably with a mobility aid, enjoying life after prison with FianSissel. What do they like to do together? Is it something they used to do before, and if so, has the way they’ve always done things had to change?

youghostandyoutrick - Pigeon Man and Cabanela, looking into Temsik. How is their research going?

youghostandyoutrick - FianSissel interacting with any other member of the main cast, pre- or post-canon. Does it go well, poorly, or strangely?

youghostandyoutrick - Lynne and Sissel working together as partners post-canon. What exactly does Lynne need his help with?

youghostandyoutrick - Possession! Yomiel needs to accomplish something, and possessing someone is how he chooses to go about it. What is he doing, how does it go, and does he succeed?

planehabitat - pet swap AU :-) the main human cast as whatever animals you think fit them, and with missile & sissel as humans

planehabitat - cabanela tricking out his bike! (ex. front basket for sissel / missile, spoke beads from kamila, stickers)

metalfaceirl - cabanela hitting the griddy (art)

metalfaceirl - cabanela using brainrot speak, everyone is horrified

metalfaceirl - sissel meets akane zero escape (if you know you know)

metalfaceirl - yomiel meets shulk xenoblade (if you know you know)

metalfaceirl - yomiel DRIP (art)

metalfaceirl - lynne and kamila go to hot topic

metalfaceirl - sissel goes to the backrooms

metalfaceirl - jowd skateboarding

BLOCK B

mariteria — lynne & sissel stuck in a zero escape escape room…

Jellyjack Cheese — Some Uncle Yomi content 👁️👁️

Yomiel attempting to wear different types of headwear in new and exciting ways. (his hair is quite the obstacle! how would he wear a helmet? a beanie?? even worse - a hood?!)

Ghost Trick Characters with hairstyles different from the usual (lynne with open hair, Camila with braids, Jowd with long hair, etc go crazy)

Yomiel attempting to do work on his computer while Cat Sissel is on the keyboard

Crossover with Pokemon, Yomiel as a team Flare member.

critter-ghosting-some-tricks, The ghost trick cast as dragons or dragon riders

Jowd clearly thought things would have been better if he had been shot instead of Alma- but what do you think that would have looked like?

critter-ghosting-some-tricks, New timeline- Jowd and his family go camping,

critter-ghosting-some-tricks, Since the events of the game, Jowd finds himself strangely drawn to the sea. Can be hurt/comfort or supernatural or haunting or scary or sad or reflective or any combination. I dunno, it’s an idea I’ve had for a long time but would want to see other interpretations of the concept.

In Ray’s timeline, Emma learns of her husband’s heart attack. And/or in the new timeline she remembers what she could have lost

a look into recovery- particularly Yomiel and Jowd physically and mentally finding their place in their new lives

critter-ghosting-some-tricks If Kamila and Lynne where not there in the submarine but Sissel and Yomiel where, what would their conversation(s) look like?

Jowd runs away from his family in the new timeline, overwhelmed. He is too scared to truly break something to be planning on staying away forever but his family aren’t as sure.

critter-ghosting-some-tricks, Jowd gets paint on one of his favorite shirts or breaks something. He is quick to decide that it is ruined and useless. He doesn’t understand why Cabanela is so quick (and desperate) to convince him that it is worth saving until his wife joins in and he realizes that it isn’t about an object anymore. It’s about him.

This one enters personal HC territory, but Yomiel with brown hair. His blond hair is actually not his real hair color, but ever since the incident in the park, the dye's never worn off and has only begun to wear off in the new timeline.

The communication barrier between Yomiel and cat Sissel, I think. The struggle of wanting to help your owner, understand him more but you're just a cat.

silly, but lynne with a bucket of jollibee chicken joy

a little self indulgent, but my oc ana interacting with yomiel. i think it'd be interesting to see someone who's been wandering the earth for longer vs someone who's only been a ghost for 10 years. like looking into a mirror maybe, and being reminded of the parts about you that you don't really like. a mixture of spite and relief to know that you aren't the only ghost on this earth, but the dread of knowing you could live through centuries and not age at all. (sissel-posting /the0-b3ar)

how does sith know about ghosts and their ability to rewind time? has he ran into one? does his family have a long history tied with ghosts? is blue country just superstitious and has certain beliefs when it comes to ghosts?

yomiel and my fiansissel interactions. could be angsty, could be fluffy, could be a mix of both! - (sissel-posting/the0-b3ar)

DE and Ghost Trick crossover or AU! i always found it interesting how both games have amnesiac protagonists and also literally changed the direction of my life, but also curious to see what kind of skills/ghost tricks the respective characters would have from each game.

yomiel attempts to cook. everything goes wrong

OwlfaceNightkit - Yomiel manipulating or scaring Cabanela

OwlfaceNightkit - Yomiel manipulating Lynne and Cabanela being forced to watch

OwlfaceNightkit - Danny Phantom/Ghost Trick crossover

OwlfaceNightkit - Yomiel, Cabanela, or any other character as a dragon, art

OwlfaceNightkit - Cabanela and Jowd angst

OwlfaceNightkit - Something fluffy with Cabanela and Yomiel

OwlfaceNightkit - Something fluffy with Sissel and Yomiel

OwlfaceNightkit - Something angsty with Sissel and Yomiel

Loboazul16 - Transmasc Lynne!

Loboazul16 - Sissel being a cat menace

Loboazul16 - Some cute poly Jowd/Alma/Cabanela

siverwrites - the evergreen cuddles for Alma/Jowd/Cabanela (not NSFW)

siverwrites - Jowd orb and a ball. What else is Missile supposed to do but swap them?? (I'm thinking art but if this somehow triggers a fic idea that's cool too)

siverwrites - Alma knows about Sissel in the new timeline. Adjusting and learning to communicate with him takes some learning but it’s something she’s happy to work out with him

siverwrites - Jowd &/ Cabanela hurt/comfort in either direction or both

siverwrites - Sissel, Missile and Lovey-Dove: animal shenanigans!

siverwrites - Cabanela and Pigeon Man. Anything during that year working together or something in the new timeline? Just them being the weird friends they are brought together by the difficulty that is their Jowd

Disastrous cooking show with an unlikely host(s) of your choice. Chef Jovial Tenor is weeping in the audience.

Jeego/Rindge and Tengo/Memry roleswap. Nationalityswap optional.

Kamila's punk rock phase. This is C38's fault, somehow.

Lynne and Memry on a top-secret mission (non-ship)

The gang assigned/cast as Mouthwashing characters (memey/not as dark as it could be)

Fantasy AU with Jowd as a wish-granting genie

Yomiel (or Sissel?) the sunglasses model

Emma with alternative flower(s) for her hairstyle (art)

Trickingbell - The special investigation unit's Inspector and his leads Detective Memry and Detective Rindge as his eyes and ears on any case, art or writing, I just want to see these three together or their dynamic when working together!

Trickingbell - Jowd and Alma and their years of being in love, writing or art, shipping focused on Jowd and Alma but Cabanela can be there because they're all inseparable.

Trickingbell - Lynne and Memry detective rivals. Memry is very haughty over being an objectively better and longer working detective than Lynne who we all know had her test scores flubbed around by Cabanela, art or writing, no shipping between Memry and Lynne I'd love them protrayed as genuinely on bad terms

Trickingbell - Alma and Cabanela playing cards and gambling with play chips and if there's a spot then Kamila and Sissel are "referee" and the dealers, art, Alma is totally winning but Sissel can't help her win with ghosts tricks.

Trickingbell - Jowd and his cruelty done by the music box, art or writing, something angsty because the music box's possible effects on everyone if Jowd had succeeded in dying really really hurts me. Example being Lynne knowing that she had something that could've saved Jowd all along but she wasn't able to figure it out, causing this mix of pain and guilt and incompetence and so much because Jowd entrusted it to her, a very cruel thing for him to do.

Trickingbell - Sithmiel (General Sith x Yomiel), art or writing, ok listen you just gotta hear me out and see the tragedy and betrayal in this thing ok think of how Yomiel believed fully that Sith was going to help him, give him a new life with people who love him and will care if he dies, think about how lonely Yomiel was with only Kitty Sissel being his company and Sith being the first interaction in so long after Fiansissel too, he's lonely and desperate, Sith is all too happy to have a longing guy like that in his grasp PLEASE listen to me ok this is more propaganda than a prompt but please-

Trickingbell - Lynne and Cabanela listening to his (old man) music or just anything with Lynne and Cabanela as the focus I love them

Trickingbell - Cabanela and Kamila playing animal crossing new leaf together and sending each other letters, Art

alto-tenure - noir detective Lynne

alto-tenure - something with Rindge and Memry's friendship; maybe them going on an undercover mission as a duo? (no romance)

alto-tenure - Professor Layton crossover! Would prefer characters from the 3rd game, but other games are fine too.

alto-tenure - Somehow or another Sissel ends up on Rokkenjima's gameboard, and throws a massive wrench into the serial murders by preventing the deaths. (Umineko crossover; full spoilers a-okay with me!)

BLOCK C

mydeadmanstale - yomiel and cabanela, playing around with the idea of them being parallels to each other especially when it comes to their outfits

mydeadmanstale - kamila and amelie playing with sissel and missle

mydeadmanstale - human designs of cat sissel and missle being friends

mydeadmanstale - cabanela, jowd and alma in a lovely poly relationship

mydeadmanstale - mid game cabanela and yomiel, being mutually destructive lovers

mydeadmanstale - lovey dove and what powers she may have had if she was a ghost

mydeadmanstale - swap AU, missle swaps with sissel and lynne swaps with yomiel

mydeadmanstale - crossover AU, any of the ghost trick cast interacting with any of the detective conan cast

Post Game Lynne and Sissel being the goofiest goobers together

Lynne keeping her memories and adopting Kitten Sissel instead of Jowd

jorb-ponderer - jowd/yomiel of any flavour. there's just So Much Going On there

jorb-ponderer - the vibes of the submarine chapters are immaculate, i'd love anything from that part of the game. lynne & sissel teamwork, gun kamila, trash yomiel! etcetera… the wetter and worse a time, the better

jorb-ponderer - ALMA!! alma and kamila? or something poking at what her relationship with lynne might be? the buddies dynamic with emma she deserves? Alma in the spotlight all to herself, even?? anything you like

jorb-ponderer - beauty/memry my beloved crackship. femme fatale and the ruthless detective staking her out.(d'you think memry held a grudge in the timeline where beauty and dandy get away? i hope so)

Jowd/Cabanela having a boys’ weekend together, maybe something fluffy, maybe something spicy - up to the creator! (maybe something where Alma knows and lets them have their time together?) Art or fic is a-okay with me!

Jowd and Alma raising baby Kamila

Jowd doing some painting at Temsik Park

College aged Jowd, Cabanela, and Alma hanging out at a lake house/beach (burying someone in the sand, having a campfire, have fun with what they get up to)

Lynne and Kamila playing with Missile at Temsik Park

yunaffie - Jowd and/or Alma with baby Kamila

yunaffie - Older Kamila finally gets to communicate with Sissel

yunaffie - Pigeon Man and Cabanela during one of the Inspector's rare moments of vulnerability

yunaffie - Yomiel finishing blow pose, The Hundred Line style

yunaffie - Angel/Devil wings Yomiel

yunaffie - Kamila & Missile

tricking-and-ghosting - Sissel helping Kamila with her contraptions in the new timeline

tricking-and-ghosting - Lynne and Kamila doing sisterish things together--angsty or fluffy, either one

tricking-and-ghosting - Yomiel adapting to the daily challenges of living with mobility aids

tricking-and-ghosting - Alma and Fiansissel friendship

tricking-and-ghosting - Any of the ghosts have an encounter with ghost hunters/paranormal investigators from a more typical ghost story

azurefishnets - Alma/Cabanela/Jowd (or any /& subset therof) - Always and forever the OT3 of my heart, and I will happily devour anything that develops any facet of their happy poly triangle relationship (but please no infidelity). I love these three together, or doing things with just one of the others, but always with the knowledge that they are a threesome at heart, you know?

azurefishnets - Jowd & Pigeon Man - Just how did Jowd and the Pigeon Man get to know each other, anyway? Bonus point for incorporating the Jorb and PM's predilection for Rube Goldberg puzzles…

azurefishnets - Alma & Emma: Alma's job has been the source of much speculation and I like to think she's a secret cat burglar who is hired to test security at various important places, so here's the prompt: Alma is hired to test security at the Justice Minister's compound as a fake cat burglar, and runs afoul of Emma in some way. They probably know each other, distantly, so how will Alma manage to finish the job with reputation intact? Will Emma pass the security test? Will the Justice Minister ever recover?

azurefishnets - Alma & Lynne & Kamila - I will never accept non-Kamila-and-Lynne-sisterhood in the canon ending. Never!! Show me the REAL ending as regards them.

azurefishnets - Cabanela & Chicken Chef - See, I think they'd get along like a house afire. They both have a dramatic bent, so SURELY Cabanela and the owner of Jowd's favorite restaurant can come to an understanding in some way… even if it's via song! (…or a rap battle?!)

azurefishnets - Lynne/Memry - Love the two detective's protegees as rival odd girls with a certain "something" between them. A team-up? A rivalry gone awry? Go ham…er, I mean chicken?

azurefishnets - pet swap AU! Put a pet with a person and let some magic happen. What would have happened if Emma had a Lovey-Dove to help her write? What if Missile was hanging out with Rindge that fateful night? What if Sith had a pet rat instead of his adjutant? Just some of the many possibilities!

azurefishnets - eternal free square for the FFVI AU! https://archiveofourown.org/series/1196335 https://archiveofourown.org/series/1169099 For more information on the one we've already been working on, see the above links, otherwise however you want to experiment!

trash yomiel's body parts being stolen by missile (and sissel)

laughingmango - Cabanela looking stunning in a dress.

laughingmango - Jowd/Alma dynamic if Alma is as much of a weirdo as he is, maybe in a detached way, astonishingly out of touch, ivory tower academic sort of thing

laughingmango - Cabs tutoring Memry. Grounded and Sensible life advice only, ofc ofc

laughingmango - Between “I’m already married”, “that’s a man” and “that’s my best friend” (and/or something else still?), what’s the hardest thing for Jowd as he comes to terms with his attraction to Cabanela?

laughingmango - (art) Cast member(s) of your choice in classic FF job outfits (roughly FF3, 5, T, even 4HoL and/or Bravely Default styles)

laughingmango - Final Fantasy VI AU eternal free square for me as well. Borrowing azurefishnets’ links, https://archiveofourown.org/series/1196335 https://archiveofourown.org/series/1169099 For more information on the one we've already been working on, see the above links, otherwise however you want to experiment!

laughingmango - Jowd/Cabanela Slay the Princess AU, with protagonist Jowd and princess Cabs. How would they embody the (spoiler-free vague gesturing) thingssssss the protagonist and princess stand for? I think their unstoppable force/immovable object dialectic might work very well in this context.

laughingmango - Cast member(s) of your choice, Disco Elysium fusion. Put these people in Revachol or elsewhere in Elysium. If they meet DE characters, please no RCM members other than Harry a/o Kim.

[mykingdomforapen]

Your best friend doesn't want you to notice that he's hurting himself, but you do.

Cheng Xiaoshi doesn't go for the arms, which means that he has thought thoroughly about this before. Instead as the two of you sit at the Sherlock Holmes themed pub that you took him to after that dive, he has one arm wrapped around his middle, and his hand tucked furtively under his white shirt at his waist.

You're not supposed to notice, but he's digging his fingernails deep into his skin until the sting of it can shock him out of crying.

You want to say something. He wants you to not notice. He's pretending that he's admiring the pub's decorum, its classic architecture and the Victorian silhouettes framed on the walls, pretending that his fish and chips and mushy peas require all of his attention. If he looks up, if you see his eyes, you know you'll see the tears rimming the edges, the pink that begins to settle in, and that's the last thing he wants.

You don't know what to do.

You're doing the best you can, and it doesn't feel like enough. Not after Cheng Xiaoshi's heart was shattered, after the hero that he built up in his head of his father so gently and eloquently snuffed out his hope like a candle. Cheng Xiaoshi won't say it, everything that he has ever feared and believed about himself, but you know that it is evolving from fear to fact in his heart--that he is unwanted by his own father, by his neighbors and peers, by virtually everyone because of some innate deficiency, some failure he cannot pay for with anything but his own skin. His parents' absence had severed self-worth from his whole being since he was a child, and as much as he had learned to skip and run and dance and laugh in spite of it, it is painfully obvious, and you can never help but notice it sometimes, the way his laugh will hobble like a stool with uneven legs.

You took him out to the River Thames in hopes that summer city lights will brighten his spirits and distract him. He agreed jubilantly, talked a mile a minute as he looked up pubs that served something not fried so that your throat will not be sore. He smiled at you. Talked in a voice that is affectionate and cheerful. Made you think that things are going to get better, that he'll be okay. And now he digs his fingernails into his flesh until he leaves welts.

You can't help but look at his arms. He wears short sleeves, and you've seen him in swimming trunks before, and you know that you would have noticed scars. But obviously, there are places of him that you haven't seen before where ugly scars could stay--his soul, for one. But you can't help but worry, after what he had said through Wang Qing's lips when she pulled up her sleeve and showed Cheng Weimin all those mottled bruises. Cheng Xiaoshi retreats into himself in his sadness, you know. And once it's out of your sight and reach, you don't know what it morphs into, and where else he will claw at himself.

But he's looking away from you, and makes mundane commentary to show that he is here, beside you. He talks nonsense of Sherlock Holmes, how he remembers there being a translated book in his attic--stops himself when he realises whose it was, then laughs louder, jokes stupider, compliments your choice in pub as if you had opened it, and you realise he worries about you, too.

It becomes a spar, almost. You suggest going to a gelato shop after this, so that he can have something sweet. He scolds you gently for considering eating something cold while you're sick. You bring up the possibility of seeing the Winnie the Pooh exhibit that he had wanted to go to but deemed not enough time. He says that he'd rather make sure you rested. It's maddening. It's a stalemate. You want to wrench his hand away from his middle. You alone know that in another life, a different sort of wound struck that place. A different kind of self-harm.

You wait until you're both out of the pub. Because he hates crying in front of people, and even more so in public. Because if you catch him red-handed, and clawed, he will hate himself for it, and he has been through enough. You both compromise on the gelato because you reasoned to him that affogato is warm. He orders a cone and he's licking the edges before they melt and you think about how much you wish life was kinder to him, and how much you wish he was kinder to himself.

"Cheng Xiaoshi," you say.

He pauses. He looks at you, and there's nervousness in his eyes, because he is convinced that you're going to say something that will make him cry. He doesn't want your pity, but how could you ever give him pity? His father confirmed his greatest nightmare, and Cheng Xiaoshi stood up and defended the little boy who wept alone and afraid in his home. He protected that inner child, even if not all parts of himself will agree.

"How's your ice cream?" you say instead.

"Good!" he says, with a little relief. "Do you want to try some?"

"Idiot, I'll spread my sickness to you."

"I don't mind. It's a good flavor. It'll go well with your coffee. Come on--"

He takes your spoon and scoops a bit of his into your affogato, and you can't help it. You reach over and ruffle his hair. It's soft and thick and you don't know what to say.

"Are you wiping your sticky hands on me?" he jokes.

But when you don't pull away, and don't speak, he quiets. Your hands are gentle, and you always keep your nails to the quick. Your touch will never hurt him. I'm proud of you, your fingers say as they stroke his head. I'm so, so proud of you. And that silent, clawed hand finally slips away from his middle.

[thatpersonwhosaidtheywouldnt]

Thinking about how the biggest reason I think the Young Justice show went with the origin they did for Wally and Barry (Wally doing the experiment Barry did, Barry doing the experiment Jay did) is because the creators of the show did not include the Speed Force. Greg Weisman does not like the idea, doesn't see the point of it (and in my opinion clearly misunderstands it) someone on Reddit did a write up on it if you wanna see all he's said here.

So what's this gotta do with the Flash origins in YJA vs comics? Well, first off, the Speed Force was something Mark Waid created to unify the Flash's powers and bring a bit of sense to them:

"It really was just a matter of trying to unify the powers. Barry and Wally's origins were identical, but Jay ostensibly got his speed by inhaling 'hard water,' a.k.a. 'ice.' I never really thought of it as 'mystical' in any real sense, just scientific --- or as scientific as you can get when you're talking about what happens on the other side of lightspeed (which was my original pitch, an idea that to this day I can remember its exact moment of birth)" (Waid from Ask Chris #317 here )

So without the Speed Force, YJA had to solve a problem Waid had solved with the Speed Force a different way. Waid chose not to or didn't have the option to change Wally's origin from being the exact same as Barry's so he made it make sense through the Speed Force, in essence, choosing Wally (and Barry and Jay and every other speedster). YJA had the option so they went a different way.

Barry was always inspired by Jay Garrick. In comics he was a lucky fanboy who got the powers of his favorite comic character and took his name. In YJA, he's not lucky, he, instead, performs the same experiment that gave Jay speed on himself (YJA Barry is simply more unhinged because what).

Wally, similarly, was also a lucky fanboy who got the powers of his favorite superhero (who happened to be the guy his aunt was dating... Very lucky). In YJA... Well it's the same as Barry again expect he's a literal child performing an experiment on himself which puts him in the hospital (comics Wally is notably fine, just wet from the chemicals).

I think it's a pretty significant change to make Barry and Wally want and grab for the superpowers of their heroes (and beg to be a hero before having those powers in Wally's case) instead of them being super fans that have powers thrust upon them. Powers they choose to use for good but not powers they chose.

And then we have Bart... See, with Bart, things are very different. They have to be. Bart's first appearance is in the exact same comic as the first appearance of the Speed Force. Getting rid of it... Basically gets rid of Bart.

Of course, he's in YJA, so that's not quite true. And, admittedly, I think there were ways to do Bart more accurately without the Speed Force... But it's hard. And YJA essentially avoided making a proper attempt at all and made a fully new character. Instead of him being raised in virtual reality while his body was speed aging due to his biological connection to the Speed Force, he is raised in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. He pretends to be chaotic, impulsive, and sorta dumb but is actually very calculating, a bit cynical, and jaded. He is an interesting character for sure... but he's definitely an original character in all but name, and you can see the character type they took inspiration from - the likes of Cable, Future Trunks (Dragon Ball), and Silver the Hedgehog, instead of his original characterization (a characterization I think is much more original and lacks a character that's similar). A final, more minor point, is that the lack of the Speed Force seems to be why he had to build his own time machine, unable to run through time as in comics.

Bart, in comics, is chaotic, whimsical, and impulsive. He was born in the far future because of some chaotic time travel-related reasons, and his father and aunt (the Tornado Twins) were killed soon after his birth. He was taken by the Earth government (in a roundabout way), run by his grandfather (who happens to be a descendant of the Thawne family... making Bart related to Professor Zoom), and instead of trying to stop his speed aging, merely observed him while raising him in a virtual reality. Iris breaks him out and they time travel to the past to get help from Wally. Through a series of events, Wally ends up handing Bart over to Max Mercury (basically the Speed Force expert) to raise cause Iris dipped and Wally is not capable of raising a teenager. Max, Bart's main parental figure, is not and cannot be in YJA because the Speed Force not existing or being known of, makes that impossible. It is the most intrinsic to his character out of all speedsters.

Much of Bart's character arc has him have to learn that life is not a video game and he does not get a do-over. There is a very powerful arc where Bart (who has this speed force power of essentially making clones of himself) loses one of his speed force clones and feels the death of his clone as if he died as well. It terrifies him. But without the Speed Force, without the powers that create that arc, this is not something that can be explored in the cartoon. YJA Bart is, in some ways, the opposite of his comic counterpart. He clearly understands death well; it's all he knows, a dying world. He likely expects to die himself traveling to the past like he does. Bart in the cartoon has to learn different lessons.

I think at the end of the day, this choice to ignore the Speed Force (and therefore the center of Flash lore since the mid 90's), is a bit disrespectful. I don't think Weisman saw it that way, of course. To him it seems he was adapting the Flash lore prior to that. Which does make some sense, seeing as Wally was Kid Flash and the Speed Force is very much tied to Wally's time as the Flash (something he never gets to be in YJA). And I am not saying I dislike Wally in this show, in fact that show is why he's one of my favorite characters. But I think it's all interesting to think about... And I do think the Flashes are much better handled in their comics, no matter the love I have for Wally in the show (except maybe the letting Barry be a dad part). But it's the nature of adaptations I suppose. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. 🫡

[sonicjustbecause]

The differences between introvert and closed off.

For this I need some less obvious characters, like Sonic.

I remember I already talked about this in the past. Like everybody else, I used the term 'introvert' wrongly. Then I learned from Koti Tang on YT what it does really means.

An introvert is not a person who is closed off or who doesn't like to speak/talk.

An introvert is just a person who engjoys better solo activities/moments on his own than social interaction, but this doesn't make him or her closed off. I used to know some extroverted people who were taciturn. What made them extrovert were the fact that they enjoyed social gathering, company and group activity. And they were open about that.

Let's break some misconceptions and myths!

Future Trunks is among the most extroverted characters from Dragon Ball. Especially in Dragon Ball Super he stated that he enjoys being among people, especially large groups. And he comes out always energetic and refreshed after a social activity. In several occasions is hinted that he dislikes being alone. But you won't realize if you don't know the real meaning of the word. Trunks is not a stereotyped extroverted.

Sonic is usually portrayed as an ambivert. He enjoys solo activities and group activities the same.

Here the exceptions is Sonic X. Sonic X is the only show where he is portrayed as an introvert.

Sonic enjoys both.

Sonic is usually very closed off, but that is not being introvert or extrovert. It is shown virtually everywhere, from videogames to movies, with the only exception of Sonic Prime and Sonic SatAM where he never hides his feelings.

I think most notable examples of this is in SA2, when Sonic was almost caught crying for Shadow, and he quickly put a smile on to hide what he truly felt. But at the same time he was enjoying the company of his friends.

Sonic Frontiers also has massive example of this where he is sick but he hies that.

But besides all those characteristics, Sonic has not issues partecipating to social activities.

[jokeroutsubs]

[ENG SUB] JokerOutSubs x RADIOaktivno collab: Vem, da greš (31.03.2020)

Audio + CC link here

And our trailer here 👇

On the 18th of March 2021, Joker Out released the single 'Vem, da greš'. To celebrate, we translated this interview with Boštjan Najžar from RadioAKTIVNO podcast (YouTube), from around the time of its release.

This is our sixth collaboration with RADIOaktivno, as we also provided English subtitles for the following videos: ‘Umazane misli’ album presentation, 'Demoni’ album presentation, 'Gola' single presentation, 'Šta bih ja' single presentation and 'Souvenir Pop' album presentation. Check them out if you havent yet!

As usual, all our thanks go to Boštjan!

Credits: Transcript and translation by a member of JokerOutSubs, review by IG dalijalogar_, proofread by IG Gboleyn123, subtitles by @vesdagrem and a member of JokerOutSubs.

Transcript below the cut 👇

‘Gola’.

Host: 'Gola' by Joker Out. Bojan is with me on the show RADIOaktivno. Hello.

Bojan: Hello, hi.

Bojan, you took us on a good ride with the Ford, after all, you also took 'Gola' on a good ride into the ether.

Bojan: Yes, thank you very much. We were very, very surprised by the reaction to 'Gola'. It actually kind of launched us from this smaller circle of listeners into a wider circle of, I'd say, the mainstream audience. So, ever since 'Gola', a lot of things have definitely changed for us.

You clearly already had 'Umazane misli' in the trunk back then.

Bojan: Yes, we did.

That is, your debut is knocking on the door, what are you preparing for us?

Bojan: Yes, so, we're preparing the first studio album. There will be 10 songs on it, you already know 3 of them, which are 'Omamljeno telo', 'Gola' and 'Vem da greš', which came out recently. The album will be called 'Umazane misli' and it's actually kind of a, how do I put it, rounded up... a rounded up sum of what we've been creating so far. But the songs included on it are the ones that have the same common thread, that is, we've made a few songs by now that won't be on the album because they didn't come from that place. But it will be a very good Slovenian shagadelic rock'n'roll album. I don't think we've had anything like that here for a while, so we're definitely really looking forward to it.

So, there are a few songs that we've already heard as singles, and you will for sure release a few more as singles.

Bojan: Yes, the plan is actually to release at least one or two more songs as singles. But in general, we have trouble choosing which song that should be, because we mostly think they could all be singles.

You've also announced that you'll be promoting the album in April. That's probably really up in the air now.

Bojan: Yes, we were supposed to have two gigs at Cvetličarna in April. They're not up in the air anymore, they've sadly already fallen through. But yes, they will be postponed, probably to October, but we'll confirm it when we get the exact date.

But now, despite all the viruses, your new song, titled 'Vem, da greš', has gone into the ether.

Bojan: It might be a bit of a sad theme now, looking at the Covid situation, but for the music video, we decided that the person who's leaving is going to space, maybe to find a new world without viruses and illnesses, wars and so on.

So, did you also send your first album to space, at least virtually?

Bojan: Definitely. We actually sent it on a cassette.

Which is even more retro.

Bojan: Yes, definitely. Aliens definitely listen to cassettes.

After all, they're also not resistant to viruses, or so they say.

Bojan: Supposedly.

Bojan, what's next?

Bojan: A lot of work. We actually split the work so that we each do our own parts at home, according to capabilities. We write, we create, we send each other ideas. Concerts are now postponed for an indefinite amount of time. When the concert season starts, we're going full speed ahead together, we'll start rehearsing then too. And then the album presentation, the first album, and then we'll see, we'll go with the flow.

Around Slovenia, or to space.

Bojan: Exactly. Hopefully to space.

We'll now play 'Vem, da greš' to our listeners as well, so, Bojan, tell us where you're going.

Bojan: Well, I'm going to continue watching TV shows now, but in principle, the person in the song is the one who's leaving, or leaving me. I'm aware of that, but I'm still trying to prevent the inevitable.

‘Vem, da greš’.

[snarky-art]

Daphne coronation day fit idea

Not sure if I’m totally happy with it but it’s a start at the very least

She went through this ceremony before she died when she was 4 and started working with The Flame, but she wasn’t wearing the front headpiece with the cyan gem in it that time. She was wearing the other one with the additional flares on the outside of it and the purple gem, the one used for the heir that’s using the flame. The cyan one is simply for an heir for the royal family. She wears it this time since she is no longer the holder of The Dragon Flame.

This ceremony is done this time after Marion, Oritel, Bloom, and Daphne have a long and serious conversation after Daphne is healed and in a much better place mentally and physically about what Bloom and Daphne would like going forward for their positions. It’s decided Daphne shall remain heir and next in line for the throne and Bloom shall remain holder of The Dragon Flame and second in line, allowing her more flexibility to visit between Earth, Domino, and wherever else in The Magical Realm she’d like to go.

Ceremony details below the cut!

Before the ceremony starts she steps into a fire at the beginning of the hall to mark her feet.

She'll have her eyes painted with soot and her forehead and the center of her lip will be marked with it too during the ceremony by an elder who has worked and trained with The Flame.

She will then dip her fingers into flame and bury them into the soot at the bottom of it (Dominions have decent fire resistance don't worry, and Daphne is especially resistant, virtually immune. The reason she got burns before dying is a mix of her body struggling to function without The Flame by focusing on the most basic functions needed to survive and because that fire wasn’t regular fire. It was imbued and caused by such potent magic with a great ill intent and want for destruction)

The ceremony is then completed and she is given a staff made from The Great Tree's wood with foliage wrapped over it and a gold egg with imagery of The Great Tree (pictured in the second image in this post) and is declared the heir proper.

Soot in different places mean different things

For the eyes, the visions of The Dragon, showing It’s will

The mouth, to speak It’s will

The forehead, to give the being It’s ideas and wisdom

The hands, to enact It’s will

And the feet, to follow It and go where It wills There's other options too for people with different disabilities, but those are the basics and the ones Daphne is doing.

For the order the 3 circles symbolizing birth, life, and death, are meant to be read in that are shown in repetition throughout the imagery, they can technically be read either way, but typically the cycles of birth, life, and death are read from bottom to top

For The Tree, it shows how life begins at the roots, where The Dragon is said to be sleeping under it, then the trunk, life as it grows, and the leaves, death, since they are the thing that wither and fall

Same on the face paint. When people die, their last breath is said to return to the dragon. So for it to be on the lips, as that's where the last breath is taken, it's typical for that. Life continues so long as breath passes through the neck, and the base of the neck is where that breath is shown to start, or at least that is what older customs believed and dictated when these ceremonies first started as remembered in Dominion history, and it has stuck ever since.

And then for it to be on the top of the old Flame symbol, it starts in the tinder, lives with the body of the fire, and then death at the top where it withers and flickers faintly.

I explain more in depth some stuff and other bits of symbolism found in Dominion culture in this post about Bloom’s Mythix also if you want to check it out!:)

[britt-kageryuu]

Leo and Donnie are on the the beach set/green screen, both in swin trunks, Hawaiian shirts, crocs, and masks, color coded. Shelldon and River are zooming around with a couple of toys. They're doing the promised FanMail opening stream.

There's also a virtual sign reading "Roomba at work, might hit the camera later❤"

The brothers have been opening fanmail for about a half hour, though they set Raph and Mikey specific mail to the side, and agreed to not read letters unless it was in a package, because the stream would take forever. They're using a custom AR system to overlay their models on top of themselves.

"Gotta love the fact you guys are guessing our heights based off our models, but you don't need to send us clothes." Leo says while holding up a shirt that read 'Turtley Gay' with a cartoony turtle with a gay pride colored shell, that was a couple sizes to small against the model. "It's still very cute. Maybe I'll cut out the graphic and attach it to a different top?"

"Well the fans at least picked up on my love of oversized clothes, but I don't know about the fabric just yet." Donnie has a hoodie spred out that while purple in color also had the Nonbinary pride colors across the front. It was a bit huge compared to Donnies model.

They put the clothes aside, and grab a couple more boxes. The roomba goes passed with River sitting on top. Shelldon pops up behind a package with a fairly big box on his back.

"Hey Dee, can you open this one? Please?" Shelldon asked while hovering close to Donnie.

"Sigh, sure Shelldon." Donnie puts down the package he was about to open, and grabs to box from Shelldons back. "Let's see, oh it's for you and River. What could this be?" He opens the box, and pulls out a roughly 10 inch at it's highest point figure of Shelldon flying around River who's trying to smack him with her fan. "Truffle Mac and Cheese! Look at this!! This is amazing, who made this?"

He examines the box, and pulled out some papers, "So, it's from The Crafty SeaCreature, they've been a fan since just about the beginning, and wanted to send us a gift."

"Why do our fans send us this stuff? I'm pretty sure this could go for at least $50 at some places. Also someone sent me some old memorabilia from Jupiter Jim! I know this stuff can be expensive, especially this!" Leo holds up a in box Original Jupiter Jim Space Blaster. He gets up to show the camera, before going off camera to place it on a shelf nearby.

Right as he comes back the camera starts to move slowly before falling over, and the livestream is cut off, leaving a picture of Shelldon and River trying to free Donnie from a bunch of tangled wires, that read Experiencing Technical Difficulties Please Stand By!

The Forgotten Chat is cheering for the Roomba causing Chaos during the stream, with some pointing out the virtual sign saying it might hit the camera later, but didn't think it would mess up the stream.

--------------

Masterpost

[mizutoyama]

My goal for 2025

I’ve already shared this in this writing community I’m in, but as I think it applies to my presence on Tumblr in general, here it is: be creative and have fun.

That “have fun” bit came to me when someone asked me why I had stopped doing fashion sets as they were something “really unique” I did (their words, not mine). I initially replied that life simply got in the way.

But that got me thinking… I remembered that back when I was regularly doing them (basically once a week), I had given myself a challenge that I first found fun to do, but it eventually became more a chore. So when life indeed came in the way, I embraced it with open arms because the fun was gone. Not to mention that developing that virtual closet of mine was time consuming (those Moda Operandi trunk shows kept me busy as the pages are not around for that long 😮‍💨).

So the “fun” part is very important for me as I don’t want to reach a point where something I do as a hobby becomes another chore.

[mozillavulpix]

sudden realisation i'm surprised took me this long to figure out

the reason why Daifuku is such a great mascot is he's a mascot who doesn't exist to sell toys

Since You and Idol has fairies again, I remembered how I kind of hate fairies in Precure, and I realised it's probably because they're often only slightly related to the plot and its themes and are mainly there to promote a toy they're selling as part of the line.

Like, even Komugi and Yuki are like that, with their talking plushies featuring their exclusive accessories (Komugi's dog treat and Yuki's blanket). Mey Mey and the Kirarin Animals have the Kiraniko Trunk touchscreen tamagotchi toy, and Nico has her egg toy and the Diamond Ribbon Castle.

Daifuku has none of that. Basically, he doesn't have a 'DX' toy. He has merchandise, sure, but a lot of it is stuff in the half-a-dozen Pretty Store retailers or sold online on the Toei Animation storefront. It's comparatively pretty niche stuff. It's not the kind of stuff that gets to be featured in the ad breaks.

I don't think we've had a character like this since, like, Coppe from Heartcatch? Where they didn't plan to make merchandise of him and that's why his design is so goofy but they ended up making some in the end. At least, he has a plushie. I've seen it in the 20th anniversary book.

I think Kururun wasn't planned to be in Tropical Rogue at the beginning either, but I don't know how much that effected things. Does she show up in the Aqua Pot with Laura?

But yeah, I think I don't like fairies (especially the 'baby' ones) because it feels like they suddenly have to bring the Precure part of the Precure season to a screeching halt to spend some time caring for the fairy using virtual pet game logic to promote the toy. It really takes you out of the action and reminds you you're watching a toy show.

And since Daifuku doesn't have anything like that, he feels much more like a character who appears because he adds something to the story. He can also get away with not being as stereotypically 'cute'. The fact he doesn't act childish or girly is what makes him cute. He's gap moe.

it really was that simple the entire time. anime good when not being toy commercial if they can get away with it.

i hope i can find a shoulder daifuku on mercari one day

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

Pontiac GTO

As one of the most sought-after members of the muscle car realm, Pontiac GTOs are a big draw among ardent collectors and casual fans of classic cars alike. This slick 1971 Pontiac GTO, with its recently rebuilt and punched-up 400 V8 motor, is the beneficiary of a comprehensive restoration that's left it not only looking great, but in outstanding running condition, taking that already magnetic attraction and ratcheting it up more than a few notches. And whether you prefer to call it 'The Tiger' or 'The Goat', it's a beast in the streets either way.  

Just a quick glance at this classic will leave you with the indelible impression that this is one seriously clean, straight and solid cruiser. It's likely been pampered a good portion of its life, as its flush fitting panels are all very straight, and the body gaps and sheetmetal creases are as the factory intended. This GOAT has been restored with an eye toward showmanship, and it certainly looks the part with its collection of clean, tight lines that you'll encounter from the hood, the sporty fenders and doors, and that iconic rear end – all of which serve as proof to how thorough the restoration was. The eye-popping Maroon Metallic finish is a wonderfully bright upgrade over the factory Castillian Bronze this GTO was born with, looking liquid-smooth and consistent from front to back, with an impressive shine from its clearcoat. With a deep, lustrous finish accented by shiny metallic flake that's evenly dispersed throughout the body, this car attracts loads of attention everywhere it goes. It's a top driver-quality finish that can be shown off with pride, and when it glitters in the sun you get to sit back and watch the envious gather everywhere you go. The badging on the front grille and decaled emblems on the decklid and fenders are sharp, combining with very clear glass, a commanding rear spoiler, and straight front and back bumpers that drive home the point that no stone was left unturned in bringing this venerable muscle car back up to its optimum condition.  

There's quite an impressive black vinyl interior sitting inside, which in our opinion is a perfect complement to the vivid bodywork. It's also been refurbished and mostly kept in its original configuration - save for a set of Dakota Digital gauges - to provide the rewarding and era-appropriate driving environment classic car enthusiasts look for. The broad buckets up front and bench seat in back show virtually no wear at all and still have a fresh shine to them, and because the covers are high-quality Legend units, they'll look this good for a very long time. A clean expanse of black carpet runs underneath the seating and keeps the asphalt temperatures and road noise at bay, the matching door panels are handsome and blemish-free, and the taut headliner above completes the whole package. Peer through the 3-spoke woodrimmed steering wheel and you'll see the original gauge cluster, although now the pods are filled with a full complement of Dakota Digital gauges. The original radio is long gone, although the machine-turned panel on the dash is still in place and looks great, and the factory A/C system has been upgraded to use modern refrigerant and blows hard and cold. A middle console splits the front buckets and houses the shifter for the automatic transmission below, and the condition of the rear seat suggests it's barely been used. A full-size spare tire wrapped around a matching aftermarket rim and an original jack set sit in the spacious trunk out back, whose floor has been treated for scuff protection with black spatter paint.

The YS code 400 cubic inch V8 sitting under the hood has been driven less than 500 miles since its full rebuild, and it runs with a smoothness and consistency that makes it very much up to the task of daily driving, if you should so choose. Augmented with Edelbrock aluminum heads, a Holley double pumper 4-barrel carburetor, Edelbrock aluminum intake, and a set of ceramic-coated headers, the engine is very powerful with performance that's delivered instantly up and down the throttle. It's paired with a TH400 3-speed automatic transmission that handles the power with ease thanks to an added 2800 stall convertor, shifting with plenty of certainty followed by the sturdy Auburn Gear 10-bolt rear end out back. With both power steering and power 4-wheel disc brakes in tow, this is an easy driver, and this Poncho handles great thanks to new suspension components front and rear, sway bars, and all-new steering components. The soundtrack is great too, with a 3-inch H-pipe dual exhaust system anchored with Flowmaster mufflers doing most of the barking. Should you desire any more proof of just how well-put together and cared for this GTO is, take a glance underneath - you'll find a very well attended to undercarriage there. This GOAT sits on a set of 17" Vision Legend series wheels that are outfitted with 245/50/17 performance radials. 

[marshallpupfan]

Marshall Merchandise Update!

Ha ha... Walmart made a liar out of me. I was there not even a week or two ago, and they had no Jungle Pups toys, whatsoever. I stopped in today, and look at what they're finally stocking on their shelves! The selection was quite small, however. They just had the Deluxe Elephant vehicle, the Marshall & Skye set, and the Chase & Tracker set. For the usual-sized vehicles, they only had Rubble's and no one else's.

You know, when the Mighty Movie toys slowly trickled in, I recall my stores only got Rubble at first, too. What's up with that? It's like they expect his merch to fly off shelves, so they always stock it first. I wonder how true that is...?

The "Deluxe Elephant Vehicle" is certainly the star attraction this time around. Unless I'm mistaken, Marshall's the only one to get one of these larger vehicles, so way to go, spotted one! To be honest, outside of Tracker, I'd say he might've had the second-biggest presence in Jungle Pups, which after season 9, I was very glad to see.

...Which makes it all the more a shame that Nickelodeon USA shoved all of the episodes out in less than a week here. I really wish they'd taken their time with this subseries. :(

In any case, this thing's trunk is supposed to launch plastic water balls (three are included), which is pretty neat. You can place the unused ones in that tube on top, and I believe you can press a button somewhere to release a little latch to have the next water ball roll into place to get launched. There's also a container on the back where you can store them. The driver's seat has the usual clip so the Marshall figurine won't fall out, though I sometimes dread using those, as I'm always afraid it might scratch the paint on the figurine. 😅

Overall, I'd say it's pretty cool! Hopefully the kids will like it, too.

Next, the "Marshall, Skye & Elephant" set. As I mentioned before, there's another set just like this, except it has Chase, Tracker and a tiger. Admittedly, I wish they'd included Chase and Marshall together. Skye fans would've been happy with Tracker, right? lol

Similar to the vehicle above, the elephant also launches a projectile, although this one's more of a splat of water. Also, I compared the two figurines of Marshall, and they're virtually identical... save for his pup pack being yellow and there's less silver paint. They didn't always used to do that, but I think, ever since the pandemic, they've been cutting costs by just using the same mold and painting them a little differently. I'm not sure how to feel about that. 😅

That's it for the Jungle Pups toys for now. Marshall also has a smaller, more traditionally-sized vehicle, but my Walmart didn't get any in yet. Naturally, I hope to add that at some point... and any mini-figurines, plush dolls and/or True Metals, if they end up making any. Currently, I've no idea if those are coming or not. No doubt the Jungle Pups line of merchandise won't be as big as what came before it.

But while this is all I have to show of Jungle Pups... I've got one more item recently that I'm especially happy to finally own!

Behold! A Christmas ornament of Marshall's hat! As some of you might remember, or if you recall the Daily Marshall Pic I posted last Christmas (click here to see it again, as I hand-drew the strand and animated the lights myself and I'm still rather proud of it), the TV series actually featured this ornament in one of its episodes! Season 7's "Pups Save a Bah-Humdinger", to be precise (which aired back in 2020). They made some of them into actual ornament soon after, and I've been trying to get a hold of one for a few years now.

...However, they only ever showed up on Amazon, and they only sold Marshall's ornament in a set with Chase and Skye's ornaments (pic below). I kept hoping they'd sell them separately, so I waited and waited for them to show up either in stores or on Ebay. Strangely, no such luck. The only option was Amazon.

However, over time, the price started to drop more and more. They started around $23, and they recently dropped to around $12. I figured why not finally go for it, especially since a relative of mine was able to get me free shipping through her Prime membership. I wasn't sure if I was going to get the one I was looking for, as a review stated that when they bought the set, the only got one. Fortunately, they sent me all three, so that made me happy.

...Except they used bubble wrap to ship them, and Marshall's ornament arrived broken. The part on top, with the yellow ball and mistletoe (?), had snapped off, due to it being rather thin and all. Still, a little super glue fixed it right up, so it's practically good as new. It's disappointing that happened, but hey, I'm glad I finally have it. :)

And that's all for now! Geez, I didn't mean to type so much in this post. I'm a bit long-winded, huh? Ha, I guess I don't know the meaning of the word "brevity". To wrap things up, hopefully my stores will get the other vehicles in soon enough, and anything else of Jungle Pups that's yet to come. I'll let you all know what I find!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[W. D. Cooper, “Boston Tea Party,” The History of North America (London: E. Newberry, 1789); Library of Congress, public domain. Accessed on Wikipedia Commons.]

* * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

December 16, 2023 (Saturday)

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

DEC 17, 2023

Today is the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, when 30 or more men boarded three trading vessels in Boston Harbor. They broke open 342 chests of tea and dumped about 90,000 pounds of the valuable leaves overboard.

The pointed destruction of a cargo worth about $1.7 million in today’s dollars escalated the ongoing struggle between the British government and thirteen of its North American colonies. 

Trouble had been growing since the end in 1763 of what the colonists knew as the French and Indian War. That conflict dramatically expanded British possessions in North America, but at the cost of badly stretching the Treasury. To raise revenue, the king’s ministers and Parliament placed a number of taxes on the colonists, including the 1765 Stamp Act. This law hit virtually everyone by taxing printed material from newspapers and legal documents to playing cards. 

The Stamp Act shocked colonists. At issue was not just money, but a central political struggle that had been going on in England for more than a century: could the king be checked by the people or were his powers unlimited? Colonists were not directly represented in Parliament and believed they were losing their fundamental right as Englishmen to have a say in their government. They responded to the Stamp Act with widespread protests. 

In 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act but claimed for Parliament “full power and authority to make laws and statutes…to bind the colonies and people of America…in all cases whatsoever.” This act echoed the 1719 Irish Declaratory Act, which asserted that Ireland was subordinate to the British king and Parliament. It also imposed new taxes.

As soon as news of the Declaratory Act and the new taxes reached Boston in 1767, the Massachusetts legislature circulated a letter to the other colonies standing firm on the right to equality in the British empire. Local groups boycotted taxed goods and broke into warehouses whose owners they thought were breaking the boycott. In 1768, British officials sent troops to Boston to restore order. 

Events began to move faster and faster. In March 1770, British soldiers in Boston shot into a crowd of men and boys who were harassing them, killing five and wounding six others. Engraver Paul Revere made an instantly-famous image showing soldiers in red coats smiling as they shot at colonists, including Black man Crispus Attucks. The altercation became known as the Boston Massacre.

Parliament removed all but one of the new taxes—the tax on tea—but trouble continued to simmer. In 1771 and 1772, an official in New Hampshire ordered a search of sawmills for white pine that bore the mark of the King’s Broad Arrow, three blazes on a tree— one straight up and two making an upside-down V— designating trunks thicker than 12 inches as the property of the king. New Englanders had never liked the law that claimed their valuable forests for Royal Navy masts, and had ignored it when they could.

But in April 1772, officials charged six sawmill owners with milling trunks that had been marked with the King’s Broad Arrow. One of the owners was arrested and then released with the promise that he would provide bail the next day. Instead, the following morning he and 30 to 40 men, their faces disguised with soot, assaulted the government officials and ran them out of town. 

The so-called Pine Tree Riot suggested that British authority could be defied. Just two months later, a Royal Navy customs schooner, the HMS Gaspee, ran aground in Rhode Island while chasing a packet boat suspected of smuggling. As the captain waited for high tide to float the schooner free, Rhode Island men rowed to the ship, boarded it, and burned it to the waterline.

Eight of the men who participated in the Pine Tree Riot were later charged with assault, but the local judges who sentenced them let them off so lightly the verdict could easily be seen as support for their actions. The government had even less luck prosecuting the men who burned the Gaspee: it could not identify suspects. But its threat to extradite colonists to England for trial seemed to the colonists to prove the British government intended to strip them of their civil rights. 

Then, in May 1773, Parliament tried to bail out the failing East India Company by giving it a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies. This would make tea cheaper in the colonies than it had been. It seemed to colonists the plan was to convince people to accept the cheaper tea…and thus establish Parliament’s right to govern without colonists’ input.

Ships carrying the East India tea sailed for the colonies in fall 1773, but mass protests convinced the captains of the ships headed to every city but Boston to return to England. In Boston the royal governor was determined to land the cargo. On December 16, 1773, after attendees at a meeting at Boston’s Old South Meeting House heard that the governor refused to let ships loaded with tea leave the harbor until the tax was paid, a group of colonists hid their faces, some with soot, other with overt symbols of their new identification with North America rather than England: as Indigenous Americans.

The men boarded three ships moored at a wharf in Boston Harbor, hauled the chests of tea out of the holds with the ships’ block and tackle, broke them open with axes and pry bars, and dumped the tea at an exceptionally low tide, turning the harbor into muck. They were careful to make sure that no other cargo was harmed and that none of the tea was stolen. They were making a political statement.

Parliament responded by closing the port of Boston, moving the seat of government to Salem, stripping the colony of its charter, requiring colonists to pay for the quartering of soldiers in the town, and demanding payment for the tea.  

By fall 1774, concern about the government’s actions had grown deep enough that delegates from the colonies met for six weeks at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia to figure out how to respond, and also how to work together to advance a constitutional opposition to tyranny, as Boston leader Samuel Adams put it.

Over the next two years, American politicians would find an answer to the question of whether the king could be checked by the people. They would get rid of monarchs altogether and declare that the people had the right to govern themselves. 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[supergito]

Fusion Revived - CH 6 (Family)

➤ This story is actually complete (finished Sep 2021) over on my Ao3 already; I'm just publishing it here on tumblr too for archival purposes. I hope any and all curious readers enjoy if they haven't checked it out yet!

SUMMARY: Majin Buu has been destroyed, and the Earth has known peace for close to a year now. Life hasn't been too peaceful for the person responsible for saving the world and the entire universe however, but when an ordinary woman meets him one day, things start to change.

RATING: Teen and Up. PAIRING(S): Vegito x OC/Reader, alluded Gochi, alluded Vegebul CONTENT: Canon Divergence, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Family Drama CW(s) THIS CHAPTER: None.

It’s funny how different things feel now. It’s like Vegito is an entirely new person to her, having gone from a friendly stranger to someone she truly does consider a friend. A dear friend, even.

He told her all sorts of stories about the adventures he’s had, or rather, what Goku and Vegeta had. While possessing his own mind, he does have their memories, and he was able to talk about them like he himself had been there.

How Goku and Vegeta met one another sounded like something that came right out of a movie. Actually, everything both Saiyans went through sounded so out-of-this-world that you would only see it in fiction. But Vegito had no reason to lie, and she got no impression he was, so she ate up every word. There were some parts that were…awful, namely every heinous act Vegeta committed in the early years of him knowing Goku and his friends, and how he gave his soul to Babidi just for more power, but he finally tried to at least do one good thing. His sacrifice to Majin Buu, though it didn’t work, showed just how far he’s come.

Vegito told her more about the demon, and that they used objects called dragon balls to fix the messes he caused, along with erasing the memories people on Earth had of him. The existence of a magical, wish-granting dragon that emerged from little orbs that you had to gather from around the world was probably the most ridiculous thing out of them all, but she accepted it. She accepted everything, having already come to grips with how Vegito flipped her understanding of the world onto its head.

Nothing would ever be the same again, and she was ok with that.

Vegito went into a little more detail regarding the Saiyans, only divulging that they were a warrior race containing members that were physically stronger than any typical earthling, and that they were virtually extinct now due to their homeworld Planet Vegeta getting destroyed. He seemed to not want to go into what they did on the planet or how the Saiyans lived, but he did go over how Vegeta was their prince and would have eventually become their king.

He touched more upon his relationship between the two Saiyans’ wives, explaining that he didn’t feel comfortable trying to be a husband to either one of them. Goku is Chi Chi’s husband, Vegeta was Bulma’s, and he didn’t want to step anywhere in that kind of territory. She interpreted this as him saying that he was single, which she may or may not have grown especially happy about…

The last thing she was told that her attention clung to, was Vegito’s level of strength. Being a potara fusion, he had Vegeta and Goku’s power combined, and multiplied. He was the strongest person on Earth, and in the entire universe, which makes him the perfect guardian for both. If anything like Majin Buu appeared again, he would be ready.

A consequence to his power however, was that there was no one around who could give him a challenging fight.

He trained his sons Goten and Trunks, and sparred with someone he called Piccolo every now and then, but he couldn’t use his full strength or even a substantial amount because they or anyone else can’t handle it. Unable to experience any thrill in fighting, and demotivated from training regularly since he was already at the top of the universal pyramid, he was left stricken with boredom the majority of the time this past year.

That must’ve been part of the reason why he became so motivated to pester her. She made him feel entertained, more often than he’s felt since he destroyed Buu.

She doubted she has the heart to ever grow genuinely mad at him again. She’s grateful he’s allowed her in like this.

                                                                                                             ༻ ❁ ༺

A day has passed. As the weather was fair, the two of them were outside yards away from her home, getting fresh air.

She was catching up on a novel she was hooked onto, while Vegito sat next to her, resting against the tree with his legs crossed and eyes closed. The tip of his tail was in the grasp of one of her hands, held gingerly as her fingers stroked its fur. He remained still and quiet, but the blush on his face spoke enough on its own.

He trusting her enough to let her touch his tail tickled the woman pink. He did warn her to not squeeze it as it was sensitive, which is why he usually kept it wrapped around his waist, but he was content to let her pet it as much as she pleased. Either he was willing to indulge her, or it must have felt good. Or both.

She managed to go through two chapters of her book before Vegito’s tail twitched abruptly. He was sitting up straighter now, posture stiffened, and eyes open.

“Something up?”

“Goten and Trunks are approaching us.”

He answered, staring to his side, up at the sky.

“…Is that a bad thing?” He looked vigilant, so she couldn’t help but wonder.

“Not inherently.” He popped his neck, rubbing it with a hand before he moved to stand up. She let go of his tail so she wouldn’t accidently pull it, and got up onto her feet as well.

Looking ahead, she could see two blurs of aura steadily growing larger, as the two boys that gave them off drew nearer. They landed smoothly before their father, and for a second, she was envious that two kids were such expert fliers. She has still been thinking about taking that lesson from Vegito…

“What is it boys?” He crossed his arms.

Goten’s eyes were downcast and he was frowning, clearly upset about something. Trunks took the initiative to answer the adult. He too didn’t appear to be thrilled, but unlike Goten, he was more calm overall.

“Our moms need to talk to you. They’re waiting at Capsule Corp.”

He wasn’t even speaking to her, but she flinched. She couldn’t see Vegito’s face from where she was, but she caught how rigid his stance became.

“…Fine.” He answered after a pause, and he placed two of his fingers against his forehead, preparing to use Instant Transmission. The boys took the cue and grasped the fabric of his trousers. He didn’t vanish right away though.

His head rotated until he was looking at her. His expression was neutral, but his eyes told a different story.

“I’ll…see you later, _____.”

“O-Ok…”

He and the boys were gone then. She was left with a sickening feeling of dread, that made her stomach twist and turn.

                                                                                                             ༻ ❁ ༺

When they arrived inside Capsule Corporation’s headquarters and home of the Brief family, Vegito already sensed something was amiss. Goten and Trunks’ moods hinted as such, but he was hoping whatever the women needed him for wasn’t serious.

He noticed them standing before him with similar disgruntled looks, and he steeled himself for another argument that was surely on the horizon.

“Thank you, kids. Go off and play, the adults need to have a discussion.” Chi Chi addressed the two without taking her eyes off of Vegito. They nodded and ran out posthaste…but they did hide in a close room, far too apprehensive to not eavesdrop. They knew what their mothers were going to tell him.

“Let’s not beat around the bush. Bulma and I have come to a decision regarding you, that we hope will repair things for us all.” Chi Chi begun, and immediately, anxiousness made his fists clench. Annoyance also seeped up, as they decided on something involving him without asking him about it first. Of course.

“The boys want their fathers back. We want our husbands back. So…” Bulma’s head tilted upwards, gazing down her nose at him. Like he was someone beneath her.

“Whenever they become active sometime in the next few days, we’ll be gathering the dragon balls and wishing for you to be unfused.”

… … …

It took him a moment to understand.

And the second he did, he was outraged.

“Unfuse? ME? Did I not tell you both that this fusion was PERMANENT?” Vegito snarled, composure utterly gone. The warrior was aware that level-headedness with a key trait to have for one’s character, but…they were technically threatening him with erasure here.

For his state as a fused being, that might as well be death.

“We have faith that won’t stop Shenron.” Neither of the women were deterred by his anger. Which, frankly made him more mad.

“Faith? So you aren’t even sure that the dragon will be capable of granting it?!”

“We won’t know unless we try. Vegito, we’re both TIRED of living like this. Living with you…being here. It isn’t right!” Chi Chi’s temper was also starting to rise.

But, her demeanor had nothing on his. Like in his unpleasant encounter with Bulma before, sparks shot off of Vegito’s form, but with more ferocity now. Faint vibrations passed through the ground. He glowered, and his black irises turned a muted cyan.

“Did you two forget that your husbands created me for you? For you, your children, and this planet you live on? You’re disrespecting them and their sacrifice, for what?”

“We can undo their sacrifice, and bring them back to us. Everything can go back to being truly normal, how it should be.” Bulma disregarded the meat of his questions, solely focusing on their plan.

Their plan to kill him.

“Do I have ANY say in this? Does what I think and feel not matter to either of you?!”

“You can’t change our minds Vegito. We’re not backing away from this. Stop being selfish. Accept your fate.”

Bulma tossed a variation of what he told her before, right back into his face. And, did he feel it burn. His aura intensified, and the vibrations strengthened to the point that the contents in the room they were in trembled. His muscles were tightened, as if he was ready to jump forward to combat the threat before him.

He didn’t. He couldn’t. He couldn’t ever harm them, even if he wanted to.

“FINE! Collect the dragon balls, wish for whatever you like. It won’t work. But if it does…I will never forgive you for taking my life away from me.”

The enraged Saiyan used Instant Transmission and disappeared, with the chaos in the room following.

Chi Chi and Bulma shared a sigh, and spoke with lowered voices with one another. Until the dragon radar was able to detect the signals the dragon balls emitted when active, they had to wait a little longer. In the nearby room, their sons shook off the nerves troubling them. They both can sense ki, and Vegito’s was spiking to overwhelming heights before he left.

“Trunks…do you think this is a good idea?” Goten meekly questioned.

“…Kind of. I miss Dad, and Mom’s been so sad lately. If Shenron can bring him back, that should make her happy again. It’s why I reminded her about the dragon balls.” Trunks appeared sure, but the unsure tone under his words was a strong contrast.

“I dunno…this feels wrong. Did you hear how mad Vegito was?”

“Of course he’d be mad. But it’s whatever. The most important thing is that our dads will be back.” He nodded, dispelling his fears. Goten wasn’t so convinced.

He desired to see his own father again greatly, having the memories of overhearing his mother crying during multiple nights over he being stuck with Vegeta as one person, but the boy wrestled with himself mentally to forget how Vegito felt about all this. He wanted his mother to be happy again too.

This was for the best. It had to be…

                                                                                                             ༻ ❁ ༺

The fusion appeared on the painfully familiar beach that had Kame House upon it, but he wasn’t planning on entering to say hello to Master Roshi and Turtle. He wasted no time in blasting away, flying above the speed of sound through the air. His destination was merely a remote island, devoid of other people on it.

As he touched down, his pent up energy and fury became too strenuous to bare.

“Damn it! DAMN IT!!!”

Vegito screamed, and a column of light surged from his body and enveloped him, blasting away everything around him. The earth shook with the force of a staggering earthquake, and a fierce gale blew up a dirt cloud mixed with smoke. When it faded, he was in a massive crater that sunk down almost a mile into the earth’s crust. He didn’t release all of his energy, as that would’ve blown a hole right down to the planet’s core like a hot knife through butter.

That vent did help him steady himself, but the curbed fury allowed a tidal wave of fear to wash over him. He fell to his knees, and his hands slid up to his golden hair, gripping it tightly.

In his mind, over and over again, did the plea repeat.

‘I don’t want to disappear.’

He honestly didn’t know if Shenron actually could unfuse him, but the possibility being there and the women taking it was enough for his shell to crumble. He knew not what the unfusion process was like, but there would be no question that with Goku and Vegeta separated and regaining their own consciousnesses, his own would cease to exist.

There isn’t an Other World for him. There isn’t a second life waiting. There is only a void, where for all he knew, he would be trapped in for the rest of his creator’s lives in this world and the other. This would be it. The end.

He thought that Bulma and Chi Chi would eventually learn to accept him, some day. The thought of being intimate with either one of them, especially BOTH of them, made him extremely uncomfortable. The Goku in him cared little for Bulma and wanted only Chi Chi, but Vegeta’s essence leaned towards Bulma and coiled in disgust at the image of laying in bed with Chi Chi. There was such a high degree of disharmony in his core over the topic that gave him a migraine if he thought about it for too long, so it felt immensely better to keep away from them both. The women themselves constantly acted as if he repulsed them anyway.

He did still carry love for them regardless, and he used that for fueling himself to be a supportive figure, rather than a husband. And it wasn’t good enough.

Goten and Trunks… The boys were very young and didn’t completely understand just how complicated things were, but they wanted their true fathers back, plain and simple. The same went for Gohan, the fusion knew. He would never suffice. Never be enough.

Would his creators ever need to fuse again? He knew better than anyone else that they probably would refuse to, even if it was necessary. Just like him, they were both prideful and valued their individual strength too much to rely heavily upon another. He was a special occurrence, one born out of adrenaline and desperation. A one-hit wonder. Whenever the dragon balls reactivate, which the women said would be soon, he could leave this universe for good and there was nothing he could do about it.

Everything HE wanted, everything HE was devoted towards and strived towards…

None of it mattered after all.

One of his hands came free to slam into the ground as a punch, creating another but smaller crater. His eyes stung, but he would not let himself cry. He was a warrior, and he would face whatever happens with his dignity upheld.

There was a flash in the pit of his mind. The appearance and voice of a lovely woman he became attached to…

‘_____...’

How was he supposed to tell her this? Could he? Would it be worth it? If the wish was beyond Shenron’s power, then he’d worry her for nothing. But if he kept it secret and found his two halves becoming their original selves, she would be left in the dark, wondering where he was. Unaware of the fact that he left this realm, likely forever.

Why exactly did that make his heart twist? Why was he so…smitten with her…?

The Saiyan was at a lost. He’d much rather be placed in the life-or-death situation of fighting Majin Buu again than deal with any of this.

He fell in a heap to sit, powering down from his Super Saiyan state, exhausted more than he’s ever been.

[tsyllaes]

This is almost entirely unchanged from the original, I've just gone over them all with watercolour to fit the rest of my wildlife fact file pics. I will therefore copy-pasta all the text from last time.

Makakis came about because screw horses. Horses are way too finicky. Horsey people are very knowledgeable about horses; I couldn't give a shit about horses. I give up trying to make my horses realistic.

Also, on a side note after seeing a bandicoot digging at Mum's lawn yesterday, I had the idea that most mammals in Tsyllaes should really be marsupials, what with it being based pretty heavily on Australia and all.

I decided to try combining these ideas, starting with real marsupials, the extinct megafauna. Honestly the only one big enough to ride is the giant wombat, which absolutely bloody exist in Tsyllaes now, but not overly convenient as a steed. I looked then at extinct mammals to see if anything else might be useful, and came across the macrauchenia, some weird South American creature which was its own evolutionary branch, unrelated to anything else that currently exists. The closest they've got is the tapir/horse/elephant branch. PERFECT. Also I can find virtually no info about this thing.

The common makaki is the one people think of whenever they think of a makaki. In keeping with their not-horse origins, their patterning is generally anything that a horse can be, as well as in keeping with their being marsupials, anything marsupials can be. They're about 2m tall at the shoulder, so significantly bigger than horses, but they're also very chill with sitting, most often lounging like kangaroos. I wanted to draw one lounging here but I needed to show the heights, so I'll do that when I eventually draw the Own's makakis. They have three toes on each foot, which makes them more agile and gives them stronger ankles than horses so the sodding things don't break their ankles. They live mostly in the mountains and hills of Kazin, Llayad and northern Raykin, where they use their snoots to pull leaves off of trees for food, occasionally fruit if they can get it but they're fine off leaves. They're suited to Kazin's open forests and the plains of Llayad, not so good in full desert with their comparatively small feet and need for water. Those from tropical forests and the Llayan savanna have no mane while those from the colder mountains have manes all the way down their back. The particularly cold border between Llayad and Kazin also breeds them with floofier coats. Llayans call these ones Kazinian makakis, because Llayad has their own 'common' one.

The destrier is the one bred for battle. Bigger than the common makaki and with very strong legs, especially the back legs for springing forward from a stationary start. They have the longest tusks of all makaki breeds which can be an extra weapon in battle, and longer trunks, too, cos. I dunno. I felt like playing with the trunks. I'm sure there's an application for that. Also, side-note, this one's Mongrel! After drawing all the boys' makakis, I've better figured out how their anatomy goes, so I've tweaked this one a fair bit from the original, giving him longer, thicker legs and changing how the back legs kink to be more like how I've been drawing them, a bit more strength and spring to them.

Oooooh he's a big, beefy boy, this one. The draft makaki has been bred for pure strength, huge forequarters for pulling heavy carts and plows, big feets for digging, strong trunk and tusks for pushing over trees and hauling branches.

By complete contrast, Assiraz's makaki is bred purely for looks. The more snowy white, the pricier the animal, except their swishy gorgeous tail which has all the colours. Long, elegant legs and slender, curving neck. They're named after Empress Assiraz, who was the one to start breeding them in the first place. Literally their only use is to keep nobility's skirts clean and elevate them above the plebs, so in that regard they're highly practical. For anything much else, they're kinda useless.

Native to the tropics and bred for its meat, the stocky little tapi has patterning on its back like a giraffe and range from grey, like the above, to dark brown with black spots to better camouflage. They taste like camel. I've never eaten camel so just roll with it.

DONKEY. Or more technically a mule, but I just wanted to call it a donki. It's a hybrid between a tapi mare and common stallion to make a smaller makaki, less fragile in the legs giving them greater endurance than the common makakis, but because they're much smaller they're cheaper for the average Kazinian. More than half the donkis are sterile, which makes those ones nice and cheap for the poorer Kazinians, and even those which can breed are still significantly cheaper than common makakis and WAY cheaper than draft makakis.

The two Llayan makakis, first one just called the 'Llayan makaki,' but, as mentioned before, Llayans call this one the 'common makaki' and the other one the 'Kazinian makaki'. She reach! And she has a foal in her pouch :D Llayan makakis are a bit smaller than the Kazinian ones. Also, because they're not actually zebras, the dark stripes can be any colour, though herds are mostly all of one colour.

Secondly, the rigaffe! Tollu girl is tollu, though I did shrink her a bit from the original. I think they also have colour variations, too, but always with the giraffe-like patterning. If you're wondering how the joey gets back in the pouch, it doesn't. Once the joey has left the pouch, that's it, it's out for good.

[mizuta]

far from it to be my style to post about hashtag mental health issues on main but like. look. ive& been psychotic as far back as i can tangibly remember (hallucinating at 10-11, cognitive symptoms and episodes by 13-14). its been a part of my life so long that like... in a lot of ways im used to it and coping with symptoms and my life grew around a lot of the symptoms. like a tree trunk growing around a foreign object as a sapling. something that pierces directly through the middle but doesnt really impact the trees ability to stay alive in any meaningful way.

so like in a lot of ways im used to being in my own head. my partner is good at recognizing that things that are distressing to me in episodes dont process whatsoever as distressing to me a good chunk of the time. when im acting visibly distressed it actually means my level of distress is at like, 200%. its fucking unmanageable. if im visibly distressed its worse than anyone could conceptualize because typically otherwise im just numb to a lot of it or its just default my reality that its not distressing in any meaningful way until after the fact.

but like im ngl just because ive spent all of my teenage years upwards trying to take up literally the least space possible to exist and never show 80% of my "unacceptable" symptoms to 99% of people does not mean it makes it any less uncomfortable or awkward to like. be the token psychotic in some groups. to have to be the buzzkill and shit thats like hey sorry heres my hyperspecific request of the year because im fucking insane.

its miserable in a fresh new way of like sorry to have to remind everyone that its not actually a funny character quirk or joke my brain literally does not exist in your 'reality' in any meaningful way and the further outside of it i am on a given day the more unpleasant youre going to find me to be around. ignoring the insane person talking aimlessly in public doesnt actually help me it usually just reinforces that youre not real and never will be if its a bad enough day.

its never intentional. like nobody is ever doing this on purpose. especially again because i spent so much of my life being very good at hiding it. but like... it sucks so much to be masking half the time and be a little too good at it so when you stop being able to people are always levels of uncomfortable or upset. it sucks when you cant articulate anything properly and nobody really knows how to understand what youre asking for. it sucks when you have multiple severe memory conditions and cant trust your own memory and everyone immediately questions your memory when you ask for anything or point anything out. like of course im just going to fucking fold.

i dont know where im going with this or if this itself is even that coherent i know it sounds super vague but it really isnt about anyone specific im just babbling about like years worth of garbage. i got so fucked over by fakeclaiming culture because unfortunately when i started really displaying symptoms i was a teenager trying not to kill himself and being fucking insane loudly in virtual public when that was apparently an "obvious sign of exaggerating" so i had to learn to shut the fuck up and now everybody loves to forget how much im fucking unwell because god forbid you think too hard about what youre saying around others.

thank god for my partner who is literally the first person in my entire life whos ever tried to understand and genuinely knows how to talk to me when im in a particularly bad delusion or hallucinating or whatever.

man. im tired. i found out this last month i probably need to get a cane when i move out and i still feel like im going to be appropriating shit because severe knee and upper leg paint and severe balance problems cant be that bad. i hate having memory problems so bad that i so easily can be told that i dont know shit and Y is actually what happened and i usually cant actually argue against it even if im so sure thats not true.

[alex51324]

This, and I'll add, vast secondhand market in clothing. That one simple tunic would cost the equivalent-in-labor of a new car today, and it would change hands as many times as one.

People in Ye Olden Times--the earliest garments we have evidence of, up through the middle ages (and well beyond, for all but the wealthiest people)--didn't wear simple, box-shaped garments because they didn't know how to sew anything fancier.

They did so because a Big Rectangle had the most resale/re-use value, since it could be tied, laced, belted, or otherwise fastened to fit a wide range of bodies. The same garment could be worn throughout pregnancy, as well as before and after. If it was no longer needed, it could be passed down or sold to virtually anyone. And when it became worn at the seams or hems, it could be re-sewn as a slightly smaller rectangle, and still fit a lot of people.

In Renaissance Europe, clothing got a lot more structured--and to a significant degree, this was as a status symbol. If you wore a fitted, short jacket over tights and those silly-looking puffy shorts (or a doublet, nether-hose and trunk hose), everybody who saw you would know that you could afford to buy all that fabric and then waste a bunch of it by cutting it into very specific shapes.

And if it fit well, then they'd also know that you were (probably) the first owner of said garments. Because the clothes were still expensive, they'd still be passed down, but there was a lot more need for clothing resellers, where secondhand clothes could wait for a buyer whose body they would fit. (Used clothing was a common gift or tip for servants, and if it was something they couldn't wear, they'd sell it.) In this way, clothing styles would percolate their way down the class ladder, both in the form of actual garments that had once belonged to a very rich person, and dupes made with simpler/cheaper materials and techniques, and perhaps modified for practicality.

And that's how you get fashion cycles: once something starts showing up on too many of the common people, the rich would move on, either exaggerating the trend to a point that, outside of that fashion context, looks ridiculous--

Like these silly, silly shoes:

(Note: these are probably exaggerated; the name of this picture is "Young Man Meeting Death," and we're presumably supposed to see him as a frivolous type of person who is about to find out why he should have lived a more serious and pious life.)

--or going in a different direction entirely.

So yeah, if you're writing secondary-world fantasy, give some thought to where the clothes are coming from, and how that's going to affect the styles and choices the characters make. If your working-class character in a Vaguely Medieval Fantasy Land is wearing fitted clothing, either that society has magic spinning and weaving technology, or your character is a serious fashionista/o, who is putting in a lot of time and effort into the project.

Similarly, if that type of setting has courtiers in a dazzling variety of impractical and elaborate garments--and several different outfits of it apiece--that implies a significant degree of urbanization and upward mobility, driving a secondhand market for those items, as well as providing the skilled labor to make and maintain those types of clothes. (You know these?

There was an entire trade centered on washing & ironing these things. Separate from actually making them, I mean. It involved tiny, specially shaped irons, and buckets of starch. Royalty or major nobility might have a servant dedicated to this highly specialized labor, and people a little lower on the ladder would send them out to be done. Ideally, you'd have each of your ruffs washed and re-set every time you wore it; people did re-wear them to save money, but they got droopy fast--hence the emphasis, in paintings featuring this trend, of crisp stiffness.)

@lingerie_addict has a really cool thread on ancient fashion over on twitter.

Those source links are here

cambridge.org

Youtube

ucl.ac.uk