#You have to go exploring in the river to see all the pretty stuff it has to offer but when you do omg

[gn0thiseauton]

Otok ljubavi 💖

[rawliverandgoronspice]

The Dondon Post (or: the bizarre TotK's side content counterpoints to its main quest's immuable binary morality)

Speaking of strange TotK Choices, I think I have one singe post left in me about this game; and it's about the Dondon quest, "The Beast and the Princess".

(and about other stuff too, you'll see, we'll get to them)

More specifically: about how... strange of a thematic point it feebly attemps to make in the larger context of the storyline, and how it seems to be yet another mark of a world that, perhaps, once tried to be more morally complex that it ended up becoming.

Buckle up: it's a long one, and it gets pretty conceptual.

(good gem boys notwhistanding)

The Princess and the Beast

So, a couple of things about the setup. We are investigating potential Princess sightings; but at this point, either because we have already completed a bunch and know the general gib, because we have met a couple of wild Fake Zelda shenanigans, or through the simple fact that we are completing a side quest, we know there's a good chance it won't lead to an actual Zelda information. So when we ask Penn about what is going on and he replies with the ominous "we saw the Princess riding some kind of beast --a frightening one with huge, brutal tusks-- that the princess seemed to control", we get Ideas. Then the sidequest is registered: "The Princess and the Beast".

So. You know me. And if you don't know me, here's what you should know: my brain immediately flared up with the thought there was no way in hell this wasn't some kind of wink towards Ganondorf's renowned boarish beast form, especially given tusks were given so much focus.

My first assumption was: that's a miniboss right? I will get to fight some small boar-like thing that Fake Zelda rides sometimes. Cool! I didn't hold too hard onto my hope that the relationship of Zelda and/or Ganondorf to the natural world, or to each other would be expanded upon, since I had already been burned before, but my interest was piqued.

You have to understand how starved I was for any hint of complexity or mystery or ambiguity at this point. I was extremely eager for the game to throw anything at me that would surprise me, enlighten something pre-established, make the exploration lead to a meaningful discovery or deepening of characters, world or themes (and not just slightly cooler loot, or a bossfight, or a puzzle devoid of emotional context --cohesion and depth is what motivates my play sessions, especially in an open world game that I want to believe is worth losing oneself into). This was about the most intriguing task on my to do list at the moment, and so I plunged in immediately.

After really REALLY misunderstanding what I was supposed to do (I stalked every corner of every forest surrounding the tropical area at night or during blood moons in hope to see something --which was very much the wrong call), I arrived to the other stable, then was guided to the other side of the river where Cima awaits and explains that these creatures are actually a new species discovered by Zelda; that they are gentle and kind and not at all scary ("Dondons aren't beastly, they're adorable!"), and even somehow digest luminous stones into gemstones. They like the company of people and liked Zelda in particular.

I was... I felt two different ways about this conclusion, and I think it's worth to explore both: disappointment and some sort of... "huh!" Hard to describe this emotion otherwise.

I'll get the disappointment out of the way first, because it's the least interesting of the two. While I think the little emotional arc I was taken on was not devoid of interest --I was indeed taken on by the rumor and intrigued by its implications-- I wanted, well. A little bit more. And if the creatures were to be Zelda's pet project, I would have loved for them to be actually terrifying and feisty, and for her to develop an interest for these creatures in particular regardless. It could have been very interesting characterization that veered out of the perfect princess loving the perfect world floundering around her, always bringing her clear, practical benefits from the interaction.

(I have made another post that speaks of my discomfort that Zelda does everything everywhere and everyone loves her for it --I get what they were trying to go for, but it either lacks conflict for me to buy into that dynamic at the scale of several regions, or they went on too hard for my taste, as she is, at once and in the span of a couple of years at most: a schoolteacher, a gardener, an animal researcher, a scholar, a traveler, a military expert, a knower of landscape, a painter, a horse rider, an infrastructure planner, a [...] princess --at some point it begins to sound made up, "Little Father of the people"-esque to rattle the hornet's nest a little bit, especially if it's not shown as either a clearly godly characteristic or, even more necessary imo, a negative trait; another expression of her killing herself at work to compensate for a perceived flaw she's trying to earn forgiveness for, like she did in BotW. But that's another topic, and the clumsiness of her character arc has been well threaded by basically everybody disappointed in the story already.)

But, if I decide to be a little graceful, I'd like to explore my "huh!" emotion, and take it apart a little bit.

I think there's something interesting to have such strong parallels to setting up a story about the relationship between Zelda and Ganondorf ("The Princess and the Beast", like come on guys that's the conflict of over half the series), or at least Zelda and the concept of Evil since Ganondorf pretty much represents it in this game, and then have it go: actually, there was a horrible monster that everyone was afraid of, but Zelda was wise and patient enough to approach it and realize its potential beyond the tusks, what beauty can be brought upon the world if one makes the effort to look for what exists underneath. It says something a bit deeper about the world and about Zelda in particular. It intrigues, at the very least.

Is it a reach? Probably! Is my first interpretation that the quest is actually about "eww you thought Zelda would be interested in *disgusting vile monsters* and not sweet and gentle and human-loving animals that literally shit jewlery when cared for? jokes on you, she never would feel any ounce of sympathy for anything that isn't Good and Deserving" uhhh definitively truer? Probably! But I also don't want to dismiss that the quest made me think about it. If I had completed it earlier, I might have even felt like it was (very clumsy, not gonna lie) setup about the main conflict.

But that's also a good segway into my next section: the arbitrary limitations between the animal and the creature, the monstrous and the human.

And the fact that TotK points directly at it.

A Monstrous Collection

(these two guys are just. doing So Much and being So Valid despite being massive weirdos the game wants us to be slightly repelled by. I, for one, respect the Monster kinning grind and their general Twilight Princess energy.)

So. These two guys. There is so much to say about these two guys. I don't think I have seen the Trans Perspective on Kolton on tumblr, and I would love to get it because. I feel like it's a worthwhile discussion (just, how gender and identity is handled in TotK overall, I feel like it's a very complicated conversation and I have not seen super deep dives and I'd be very interested in hearing more).

Beyond the throughline of voluntary consumption of magical objects to turn into less human creatures being a weirdly prevalent plot point in TotK (Zelda, Kolton and Ganondorf casually transing their entire species for funsies --Ganondorf being particularly relentless with Fake Zelda, mummy/phantom shenanigans, Demon King and then literal dragon), I want to focus on Kilton a little bit.

Kilton is genuinely the only NPC in the game willing to acknowledge the inherent personhood that monsters have (the game does showcase them picking up fruits, mourning their boss if you kill them, being cutesy and happy to identify you as one of their own if you wear the appropriate mask --and that's not even getting into creatures like the Lynels, who seem to really edge on the limit of being a conscious creature with a system of honor and property and many other things). He does encourage us to think of monsters as more than a species whose only worth lie in how fun it is to eradicate them; even more, gameplay-wise, he does give us a reason to interact with them in other ways than just our sword with his museum. He does encourage us to see that beauty for ourselves and then select what we think is coolest/most intimidating/cutest/eight billion ganondorfs in every pose imaginable

The fact that Ganondorf is considered a monster was a great win for this feature in particular, and is very funny, but it's also... A lot, if we dig at it a little more than warranted. Beyond all of the Implications and all of the things of representation and political conflict and values already discussed ad nauseum: when did he stop being considered a human? What does that mean about the flimsiness of what is a monster and what is a creature and what is an animal and what is a person and what is even a hylian, as sheikahs got absorbed into the definition in this game? Especially with the stones taken into account, how profound changes in nature are a huge part of the plot (even when reversed and ultimately pretty meaningless): how easy it is, to make that slip? Who decides when that slip has been made? What is acceptable to hurt without remorse? What is beautiful and worth preserving? What is both at once? What is neither?

And again, in a classic Zelda conundrum (appreciative(?)): who the fuck gets to decide that, when, and why?

The Bargainers and the Horned God

(major shoutout to these big guys for being the sole and only providers of actual depth to the Depths, and for looking cool as heck)

So. Let's move the conversation to the Depths.

Conceptually: what an interesting idea!! And so well executed (initially)!! A mirror world to the surface, dark and hushed and full of unknown creatures; haunted by gloom and sickness and the unknown. Not a first in the series, far from it: from ALTTP to ALBW, and even taking the Twilight world of TP into account, this idea of a Dark World acting as a deforming mirror to Hyrule and revealing many interesting aspects as we get to explore both is always a very interesting take on corruption and envy and fear/weakness and/or some sense of darkness looming under the perfect exterior. I'd argue even the Lens of Truth of both OoT and MM's serve a similar function, both gameplay-wise, but also in terms of theme: not everything is as it seems. In the world of Light, darkness must hide itself; but darkness also possess its own beauty, its own hardships, and will stare back at you without blinking if you go seek for it. It's, in my opinion, one of the series' most compelling conversation about the cyclical nature of fate, the coldness of godhood, and how small one feels in the face of a universe that is more complicated than it initially appears --which is why Courage must be invoked to push forward regardless.

The Depth's otherworldly ambiance is truy wonderful, whether in the plays of light and shadows, the creatures native to the environment we meet there (wish we met more!), the soundtrack, the strange aquatic/primordial plants, the fact that the dragons visit this place and connect them to the outside --invoking ideas of balance and interconnectivity, that the tree branches look like veins. The coliseums, the mines, the zonai facilities and the prisons do seem to poke at many things about what the relationship to the past was to this place; was it ever truly a place? Did it look like this back then? Why was it buried? Why did it come back? But in spite of it all, I think the Depths struggle overall to question or reveal anything about the surface that we couldn't already assume going in (that the only thing congealing there is Ganondorf's gloom, his lonely domain of Wrongness, only shared by Kohga and the yiga --the only naysayers of Goodness and Light, contemptful and blinded by self-importance and rage). The zonite is mined by gloomy monsters --why, what for?-- so any notion of greed and over-expansion that could have been associated to the zonai is now reabsorbed into Ganondorf's general evilness, since it needs to be reminded he is everything and anything bad with the world: darkness and conquest and greed and capitalism and pollution and bad weather and sickness and darkness and violence and war and death and betrayal and fakeness and lies and patriarchy and exploitation. No matter that he never does a single thing with zonite in the game; rather set up elements of conflict that never go anywhere than, for a second, let the foundations of absolute goodness and absolute evil risk becoming shaky --and you coming to this unwelcoming dark place that hates you, killing the miners and taking their resources for yourself is, on the other holy, royal fur-covered hand, utterly legitimate. The resources were once Rauru's after all, were they not?

And this is what I would say, except... except for the dead. The fallen warriors, the poes, and, most important of all: the Bargainer statues.

The Bargainers are, in-universe, godly creatures guiding the fallen to a place of final respite, regardless of moral alignment. The poes are all, fundamentally, cleansed of judgement: they are lost souls whose past reality does not matter anymore, and all deserve that peace regardless. In spite of the heavy paradise/hell parallels drawn in that game, with Rauru/Zelda/Sonia as the guardians of Light where Ganondorf gets to become a Devil-like figure, it is confirmed here that no such thing exists when you actually die in this universe.

It almost feels as if the fabric of Hyrule itself, in a brief moment that refuses to elaborate on its own point, goes: "yeah, whatever is happening here between Light and Darkness, it doesn't actually matter. This conflict is futile and doesn't understand the real nature of being alive, dead, a god, a person, a monster, an animal. The truth lies elsewhere --but you will never be told what it is."

It's: wild.

One of the game's most striking traits of narrative brilliance in my opinion --to the point where I'm wondering whether it's there on purpose or was effectively an oversight since every other aspect of reality breaks its own back trying to reassure us that everything is at its correct place, receiving the appropriate treatment by the universe in a way that is never to be questioned.

Another case of that ambiguity being allowed to exist without being immediately crushed and repressed is the case of the Horned God (interesting parallel to Ganon's actual horns that he develops in this game in case the hellish parallels weren't clear enough already): a demon Hylia sealed into stone and pushed far from humans in a clear case of questionable behavior since, while the Horned God isn't exactly nice, does propose a different philosophy you are not punished for exploring; and yet, a proposal that has seen itself persecuted in a very real sense by the goddess of absolute goodness, patron of hylians, Zelda, and many more. Pushed away from view.

Interesting.

And Yet, Light Must Prevail

Okay, so, after all of this, we're left to ask... What the fuck is up with morality in Tears of the Kingdom?!

What do we trust? These half-breaths in the occasional sidequests that Light and Darkness is just the wrong frame of reference, that nature cannot be this simple, is ever-shifting and can be recalled or reaffirmed by arbitrary forces, and might even not matter at all in the universe's fabric, despite having so much of its lore soaking in the dychotomy? Or... everything else about the game, this insistence that Good must not only be assumed as whatever tradition the kingdom has passed down for thousands upon thousands of years, but remain utterly unquestioned the entire time? That Bad is without cause, graceless and unworthy of investment?

Are the Bargainer's statues the only thing worth listening to, that morality is a fable the living tells themselves --or should we be moved when Darkness destroys Light, when Light suffers to preserve itself and the world --but not when the Other is rightfully slain?

Was Kilton correct to see beauty in the monstrous? Was Kolton onto something when he let go of his previous form because there is no clear distinction between what should receive an arrow to the face and what shouldn't? Or should we rather focus on Zelda losing her human form as a beautiful and tragic sacrifice --but something that never actually altered her nature as a hylian, the descendant of a lineage of Good Kings meant to rule forever?

Is the Dondon good because it always was, or was it worth Zelda's love in spite of the fear it initially provoked?

Either way, at the end of the game, evil is slain. Ganondorf is, not killed, but --like his angry BotW boar counterpart-- destroyed, as monsters tend to be. He explodes over the lands of Hyrule, freed from Darkness; freed from everything wrong, since the foreign menace that embodied it all was wiped out in one fateful sweep of a holy blade cradled in sacrificial love. Nothing wrong remains. The Sages reaffirm their vows to protect the kingdom forward, and a very human --hylian-- Zelda smiles: Hyrule now forever and ever basked in eternal Light.

[blueteller]

Cale's Ancient Power's abilities and hidden aspects – The List

It occurred to me that for all the list I've made before, I never actually wrote one which described the Ancient Powers in detail. Since there's quite a bunch of them, I decided to make one – with a couple of yet-to-be-explored aspects noted. (There are more APs in TCF of course, and maybe I'll cover them some other time. But these are the main 7, and they're the ones which come up the most in the story.)

0. Ancient Power name Main power; Sub powers

Vitality of the Heart Physical damage recovery; Slowed aging, keeping plate in balance

Dominating Aura Fake aura of dominance; Dragon Fear immunity, aura of protection

Indestructible Shield Strong, portable shield; Chlorokinesis, dead mana absorption

Sound of Wind Aerokinesis, flight; Treasure detection, potential echolocation*

Fire of Destruction Pyrokinesis, lightining bolts; Dead mana purification, jiangshi restoration

Super Rock Geokinesis; Body protection, danger detection**

Sky Eating Water Hydrokinesis, spears; Ability to extinguish all fires, potential terraformation***

*"Potential echolocation" is due to the fact that the Thief told Cale how when she was alive, she didn't need to see, as "all she needed was the wind". Considering her occupation as a thief who never got caught until the very end - and I assume it took a LOT of effort to catch her, with the Ancient White Star's forces after her for stealing that life-restoring jar; an alleged "divine item"… She MUST have had some way to navigate in order to do all that stuff. It's not difficult to imagine that she had similar senses to Toph from Avatar the Last Airbender, except with wind. The elementals likely helped her too, but I'm pretty confident that if Cale ever lost his sight for some reason, he'd still be able to see with this Ancient Power. He just doesn't need to, so it was never brought up.

**"Danger detection" is kind of debatable, but it ties well with the lore. It might just be Super Rock teasing Cale will all those "Are You Trying To Sacrifice Yourself" questions, wanting him to use his power. But it happened a couple of times when Cale WASN'T expecting actual danger to happen. Almost as in, the Super Rock was detecting danger for him. It could be just that the Super Rock was having general "intuition" going on and was trying to proactively protect Cale. But I think it's very likely it's a legit aspect of the Ancient Power, because Earth is canonically the element closest to Death. As in, Earth is where all the bones are, where the blood soaks in, made out of dead material, et cetera. So Super Rock sensing Potential Death Ahead seems very spot on, even if it's never confirmed directly in canon. (Considering how the Indestructible Shield was revealed to be a plant controlling power later on in the story, I think it's extremely likely all Ancient Powers can have even more hidden aspects like that.)

***"Potential terraformation" is the one most in the "theory" zone of them all. The legends about the North, the unnamed God (the current most likely one to be responsible is the God of War) who chose a Saint, and the Water of Judgement/Sky Eating Water, were the least explored of them all in canon. But it was said that this particular God gave the North a rivel, and greedy humans turned it into a lake to hoard it all to themselves. In punishment, the God made that lake dry out and promise to make the river flow again, once the North receives punishment for their transgression. In general, it's unclear whether the one who created that river was the God, or the Water of Judgement… however, I think it's safe to assume it was the latter. It would make sense why they coveted both the river and the Water of Judgement, then, and why the other Ancient Power owners helped her escape to the Eastern Continent. To sum it up: I think the Sky Eating Water made that river, and that counts as terraforming. She didn't just summon water to make it, she permanently changed the landscape with it, and it would have continued to flow if the God in question didn't erase it as punishment to greedy humans. In other words, the Sky Eating water has the power to create long-term changes to the environment, same as the Sound of Wind, which reacted the whirlpools.

[x-candy-guts-x]

PaRT TWO

•You were going to head for the door when it opened before you could get to it. In its doorway stood a tall, muddied grey and black crocodilian scaled individual in his classic dark mask.

•”NOT YOU-“ you tried to bolt past him when you were shocked. You grasped at the collar in pain. You were going to attempt to get it off but you were grabbed by the rear of it and thrown back into the room onto the bed.

•”Ooman of mountain not in danger!” Next to you a little voice rang out. The little toddler bastard, the chubby youngest of the group that you’d saved previously rang out and you pulled back in shock. You looked to the big one and back to the little one.

•”oh. Great. You sent your fucking kid to drug me.”

•a chuffle and rapid clicking came from the adult, The one who bought you in the first place. He strides across the room in just a couple steps, ruffling the kids head and leaning down to your eye level.

•”I will remove.” He said lowly. Pointing to the collar around your neck. “If you behave.” nodding you agreed. His scaly hands came up and with surprising care removed the clasp. His claws just barely grazing the bruising. You rubbed your neck and remained silent. The door was still wide open. You could try to make a run for it. But where would you go? They knew of your cave. You could try running up river but the tracks would be obvious. Swim? Maybe.. but with the recent rain the current would still be pretty hard to work against.

•he stood up and offered you his hand. Carefully you took it and he guided you to the living room. The place looked small, cozy, and sort of like a bungalow. It was and dimly lit and the front door was wide open. He gestured for you to have a seat while he walked into the kitchen. His son now across the room playing with his wooden T-rex.

•You considered making a run for it. But looking outside you had to guess it was every bit of a 100ft drop. The stairs spiraled down the trunk and to the ground but it would take you much longer to navigate that than it would him. On one of the larger seats you saw your stuff. Your pelts were in a small pile and your knife and wood for carving where sitting on top of it. He’d went and gone out of his way to bring your things here. Sitting down you began carving until he brought you some food. It looked like some sort of dried meat and mashed potato. Only the potato was a blue color. You’d fallen asleep towards the end of your next carving. This one being a praying mantis about the size of your fist. It’s wings splayed out like it was flying. You were rather proud of this one. Your yautja picked up your limp form and his sons and brought the two of you to the main bedroom. You were laid on the floor with some soft furs and the one you’d managed to kill not to long ago was draped over you like a blanket. It was like a wild boar but it had six tusks and large spikes went down it’s back. You debated even trying to hunt it but upon seeing how docile it was and how absolutely hungry you were you went for it. Using the spikes and tusks for more carving material. It was covered in cotton soft black fur only about a cm thick. It felt much like a chinchilla, just big and scarier looking.

•When morning came the two yautjas were nowhere to be seen. You took the opportunity to explore the tree house. It wasn’t too big, mostly just tall and decor was fairly sparse save for the mounted skulls and one picture on the side of his bedroom. It had him, a taller female and his son but as an infant. There was also a furry six tusked pig. ‘Ah shit.’

• all day long for the coming days you carved away. About two weeks in youd assembled a whole menagerie of wooden critters. You gave the little yautja who you came to know as (bro I have no idea someone help me or he’s gonna be called timmy 🔫) quite a few over that time and his dad you called crock. His scales and color reminded you of the salt water crocodiles back home. You began carving him one when they both came through the door. You stood up and greeted them and the little one hugged your legs. He didn’t really speak much but the wonder in his eyes said it all. You were his magical ooman of the mountain. Bringer of wooden creatures. Smiling you reached for the chair and held out a large cloth. Wrapped up in it were several carvings. Pointing at the door you looked to his dad. Hoping they would get the idea to give these carvings to the other children.

• crock shook his head. You could see his face due to the mask but his posture loosened. He took hold of the cloth in one hand and yours in the other. “It is time tiny ooman met her little followers.” This puzzled you but you didn’t have much time to dwell on it when you were slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and out the door y’all went. Making it to the ground he sat you down and the group went quiet. The kids all stared at you wide eyed as crock handed you back the cloth. He nudged you forward. There was a pause. You laid the cloth on the ground and opened it. The pile of maybe six wooden figures revealed and the children ran to you.

•he watched from the side with the other adults as you told them stories of the creatures of earth. You still didn’t have the heart to tell them that deer were in fact not massive dangerous carnivores. His chest filling with a sense of calm joy as you played with the little ones. And also, a bit of sadness.

This is so bad and I can’t believe it took me like three days to come up with it ugh. Anyway I’m debating doing one last part but I’m not entirely sure how to wrap it up. I have a rough idea but let me know if you want me to include anything specific :) I also have requests open so feel free to slam one into my inbox lol.

Edit: welp here’s the next part lmao

[ushouldwatchhaikyuu]

hii!

i saw you post and wanted to give it a try :)

So, I'm a 18 y/o girl from Italy and I love reading, writing and painting. I have a very soft spot for animals and everything regarding nature. I'm an INFJ, and I love everything dark academia, but my guilty pleasure is Sanrio, especially pompompurin and hello kitty.

I don't know how but after all these years of watching Haikyuu, Atsumu had really made his way into my heart, which I didn't think would have been possible since at first I didn't really like his personality.

I really like a good strangers to friends to lovers, or flirty/teasing atsumu who only behaves like this with her x oblivious! reader who thinks he hates her beacuse he acts differently with her than when he is with his friends.

Sorry if this is too long!

Flirty!Atsumu x Oblivious!Reader hcs

warnings: cussing & so much fluff wtf

gif credit ; dividers credit

When you two first met, he probably thought you were so cute from the start and has had his eyes on you ever since

At first he thought he had no chance with you though, seeing as your personalities didn't seem to be so compatible and you certainly didn't seem to be interested in him at all

As time passed, though, you two realized you had a lot more in common than you thought, and despite your personalities being different, you started to get along pretty well

He loves going on walks with you and having picnics on forests/near rivers/lakes etc.

He absolutely goes exploring with you and you too find so many cute animals (he's... not the most careful person though, so he probably got himself bitten/stung by animals more than once. he still loves going with you though)

He loves your paintings and often asks you to paint stuff for him (usually portraits of him, but sometimes he's asked for a funny picture of his brother or some cute animal). He insists to pay you even if you say it's not necessary and he absolutely will NOT take a no for an answer

He gets bored when you're reading because you can't pay as much attention to him, but he still gets you books he thinks you'll like. Like. for no particular reason, he just comes up sometimes with a book and goes "oh yeah i saw it and it had a pretty cover and i thought you'd like it"

Same with Sanrio stuff, he buys you so much stuff (plushies, stationery, even shirts or other accesories) and even if you say you're embarassed about liking it, that only makes him buy you even more Sanrio stuff. He does call you a coward bc of that though

Once he fully accepted his huge crush on you, his gifts often came with some over-the-top compliment from him. Which you thought was just sarcasm, especially because he was didn't wanna sound too clingy/weird so he kept a straight face while complimenting you (or attempted to do so, at least. most of the times he just looked constipated lmao)

One day you tell him to cut the bullshit and stop giving you sarcastic compliments and he just. freaks out and screams that he's in love with you and can't believe you thought he was being sarcastic this whole time

When you two get officially together, the gifts and commissions and compliments only multiplied, with the difference that now he smiles and stares at you all heart-eyes instead of frowning

hope you liked it! sorry this took a bit, i've been a bit busy

[catr4dora]

Donkey Kong x fem reader OK IMAGINE

(also I’m relating some of this stuff to me because I JUST WANT SOMEONE LIKE DK TO COMFORT ME😭)

(also in this your a princess)

Growing up you weren’t exactly shown affection, because most of the time you acted like you didn’t need it (when really you were neglected most of the time). Your parents were TERRIBLE but they weren’t exactly the best either, they always neglected your feelings. You were raised to believe that crying or showing feelings was a sign of weakness (which made you mature at a young age) so as you grew you became more isolated, of course you had manners and all but you were really reserved.

It wasn’t until you met…..him~ Donkey Kong

When you first met him it was when your parents were announcing that you guys were gonna get married to form alliances with the Kong kingdom and your kingdom. You both were in shock and as you looked over to dk you could see the discomfort on his face, but you knew that he wouldn’t disagree with his father. He looks over to you and you look at him for a second before turning your eyes to your parents giving them a stern look.

So for the past months both of your parents had been setting you guys on dates and they were VERY awkward especially with how different you both were.

It’s not that you didn’t like him, he was nice and all and kinda cute. But he seemed SOO……childish he was a literal walking man child. He was really playful and the type to go out to parties and have fun (which he did). But you on the other hand….

Were seen as serious tbh when dk saw you he thought you were REALLY pretty BUT boring 😅 and reserved, but that didn’t stop him from trying to break down your walls during your “dates”. Eventually you did try to give him a chance and not make everything so awkward and for once you guys actually had fun. There was one time that made you guys get closer, you guys were in the jungle near a river. Dk was laying on his back as you were sitting on the grass admiring the jungle flowers, you guys were starting to talk more and kinda started to open up to each other.

DK: “My dad expects me to be perfect but I don’t want to be a boring king,I still want to be able to have my freedom.”

You: *as you look at him you turn to your side and lay down beside him* “When we get married……we can do whatever YOU want.” *you say softly as you look at dk, he looks up to with the softest smile you’ve seen on him and you returned the smile. (And god- Dk thought that smile looked beautiful on you).

As time passed you guys talked more, hanged out more (even without your parents setting dates). You guys would explore each other’s kingdoms together, mostly the king kingdom. Heck- YOU GUYS EVEN WENT GO KARTING TOGETHER, he had let you make your own kart/motorcycle and you guys would race around everywhere in the jungle, kong kingdom, or rainbow road.

Eventually you guys started ACTUALLY dating and it was….nice. This was your first time actually dating someone since you were so reserved and never really connected with someone, Dk on the other hand has had some relations, but they were cut off short (since they only wanted the fame that came with dk).

But you guys were doing great, your relationship was was healthy and loving. From time to time you would watch Dk at his fights cheering him on while sitting next to his dad.

And eventually you guys had finally got married, the wedding was beautiful. Depending where it was if it was at the kong kingdom it was a HUGE PARTY and of course everyone was invited. (If it was at your kingdom it’s your choice how you wanted to be)

As you both were getting ready for bed and went under the sheets. You guys just held onto each other, kisses here but before you guys went to sleep you just had to tell him.

You: “Dk…thank you for everything I…..I love you.”

Dk looked at you shocked with hearts in his eyes.

Dk: “I love you too…”

And with that you both shared a passionate kiss and it was then when you knew that everything was……perfect.

[awesomesaurous]

-rant, please excuse the salt-

I really wish Don’t Starve Together was a different genre of game. I know that’s stupid because the objective “Don’t Starve” is the whole foundation of it, but I kind of just wish I could take the look and the loose story and make it more of an adventure and less of a never-ending survival game. I think in the Hamlet DLC for the base game, the “town” aspects of it scratched that itch a little bit, but I want more. The interface could even look exactly the same. I played the demo of Cult of the Lamb, and that game has a similar top-down 2D look to Don’t Starve, except there are in-game “cutscenes” and you have dialogue options which advance the creepy little narrative. Hollow Knight was good with this too. It’s a metroidvania, so there’s no crafting at all (I don’t consider status upgrades to be crafting), but like most RPGs with a silent protagonist, the story is furthered through exploration and interaction with NPCs. Some people love survival games, and I enjoy them quite a bit, but I like them to have an endpoint. The Flame in the Flood has a brutal difficulty curve, but it does reward you for your persistence, and it’s by no means impossible to beat. The journey takes you further and further along a river which at first seems endless - but it does have an end, and that’s what I want, I guess. Closure.

Hades is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve ever played, and the main reason was how much you are rewarded, even for failed attempts. You might totally choke on a run, but even so, every time you venture out you’re gaining more darkness/gems/etc that you can invest back into your stats and weapons. As in - there is no wrong way to play the game, you will move forward and improve no matter what. I love that. DST has finally dipped into this territory with Wilson’s skill tree, but I think they ought to give every character a similar mechanic. The skills would be specific to each character, and I think would give players more of an incentive to do repeat runs. At a certain point the whole game gets boring, and depending on my mood I sometimes boot it up, think about all the trees I’m going to have to cut down, and then immediately close the game, because I’m sick of doing virtual chores.

Stardew Valley was so addictive for me that I had to delete the game to get control of my life back. That game is nothing but farming and chores, yet I didn’t get tired of it. I think that’s because if you want to, you can ignore any aspect of the game you don’t care for, and time will pass anyway. You can spend all your time farming, or just mining, or focus on relationships with NPCs. Obviously with Don’t Starve, you can’t ignore food because starvation is an ever-present threat.

I also don’t give a damn about boss fights. I never have, in any game. I’m always eager for them to be over so I can get back to actually enjoying the game again, but nope I have to hit this thing 1000 times without getting permanently killed. Don’t Starve’s fighting system is shit, and it always has been. The hit boxes suck, and the fact that I need to download mods just to see health levels for the enemy is ridiculous.

I’ve had a lot of fun with DST, but I think I enjoy the fandom stuff more than the actual game. Same with TF2. It’s pretty fun to play, but I enjoy watching SFM videos and stuff like that more than playing the actual game. Don’t Starve has such fun characters and such an appealing style that it draws people in, and the animated shorts promise this wider world and a more intriguing story that isn’t in the actual game. Most players won’t even get to the cryptic hints at the story that are in the actual game (the Ruins, etc) due to the difficulty curve.

There’s a lot of creative energy and highly imaginative world-building, but when are we going to see it put to use? If anybody has any thoughts on all this, feel free to leave a reply.

[defodisturbed]

Mastermind - Recoms x Singer!Recom!reader

(A/N: heyy... hey.. im back :3. im sorry for leaving for SO LONG im dealing with a lot of personal stuff right now but im really trying to write more. i want to get faster at typing and i also needa feed my children. also most of this fic will be exposition and the events leading up to the climax like im not even joking its so long. hope yall enjoy this one. mwah) (and yes I based the songs on Taylor Swift and if you're gonna be in the replies being hateful, gtfo my page (kindly))

What if I told you I'm a mastermind?

And now you're mine.

I had always hid my true past from my teammates. Practically everyone. I only really had a journal, and even that was locked away under my rug under my bed. Nobody knew it was there, and nobody could access it without waking me up or making some kind of noise. It was a sacred book to me. I could talk to... something with it. I could express my feelings of wanting to go back to the way things were, but never wanting to leave Pandora. Never wanting to leave my friends. And never wanting to leave my lovers.

I'm a recombinant for the RDA. When I died in my human body, they had my DNA and were already growing my new body to be revived. I have my memories of my past life, and it was awesome. Until... my mom found out she was drafted for the mission on Pandora. I, being the best kid ever, took her place. My fans were scared for me, and tried to convince me not to. They'd heard it all, how dangerous Pandora was. Especially for a singer with no military experience or knowledge. But I accepted my fate. For my mother. For my family. I had siblings back home, and with me going on tour all the time, I wouldn't be able to take care of them if my mother was gone. So I accepted the fact that I was most likely, if not definitely, going to die on this mission.

And I did. My family recieved the news, but also learned about Project Phoenix. They were relieved to know that their kid was going to be revived, just maybe not the same.

-----

"Hey, ma. How're you?" Prager asked as I sat down at the table. It was lunch at the cafeteria. They pretty much just fed us protein-filled slop most of the time. Rarely, they would throw a cookie in there if it was a holiday on Earth.

"Oh, it's going alright, baby. Thanks. Hey, can I ask you a question?" I replied. Prager nodded and leaned in. "Do you think you could ask the Colonel if we could go out in the forest today and just... explore? He doesn't know this, but I actually have some science friends and they showed me some fruits and animals that we can harvest and safely eat. I tried some and Pandora food is good. Like, really good. I wanna surprise the team, and you know Colonel can't say no to you."

Prager agreed and once the Colonel sat at our table, he immediately started.

"Colonel, I was wondering if we could go out into the forest today and just have some fun. Explore, fuck around in some river or something?" Quaritch looked at Prager and gave that ONE sigh. (A/N: its giving "go get my purse") "Fine. But we ain't bringing a baby viperwolf home because Ja wants one." He glared at Ja. He was always the one to see a stray dog and say "please please pleaaaaase mom can we adopt it??" as a kid.

I silently thanked Prager for doing my bidding as always.

-----

We were out in the forest, going over the rules we've memorized by heart now. Once the Colonel finished up, I immediately took off. I was so excited to get some nice food that I didn't realize the cliff drop below me. I was suddenly falling, the wind rushing past my body and feeling almost painful as it hit my face and went away so fast, over and over again.

I dived head first into a lake. The drop wasn't that bad, I realized. Alicia was first on the scene, peeking over the dropoff with a worried look on her face as she hoped to God I wasn't dead. I waved my hand up at her and called out.

"Get down here, this is so fun!! Don't be afraid to get a running start either!" my voice echoed. "Are you okay??" she shouted back. "I'm amazing!!"

Alicia ran over to the others and told them to watch her. She embraced her inner child as she ran as fast as she could and leaped off the cliff. She felt the wind rush past her face as I had, and splashed in the water with me. The rest of my team ran over and looked. We were... fine? Lopez was next. He gladly jumped and plooshed in with us. Then Prager, Zhang, Walker, Warren, Mansk, Lyle, Fike, and finally... Quaritch. He took a chance and jumped.

We were playing and splashing each other with water as we finally relaxed for once. Of course, we had fear of predators. But we didn't care as much anymore. We were playing like kids and it felt so good.

-

After we dried off and got back to the forest, I took off again. This time, more careful. I found an abandoned basket in pretty good condition and took it with me to collect fruits and veggies. I collected some yovo fruit, some other stuff I didn't know the name of but still knew was safe, and finally it was time to get some meat. I was looking to make some nice Pandora burritos for everyone. I found a nice bow and some arrows, perhaps forgotten by a young hunter excited to show their family their haul.

While I was gathering food, one of my favorite songs got stuck in my head while I was thinking about my life back on Earth. I started humming... then singing the lyrics... then full belting the long notes. I didn't realize Lyle was near, close enough to hear but far enough to stay hidden. He'd never heard my songs because he was in the military before I even debuted. I'm sure he was confused who I was singing.

I got some hexapede meat, some meat from hard fruits, and I also took down a lone viperwolf. I put the stuff in the basket to bring home.

-

"What the Hell is all of this? What've you been doing this entire time? Why do you have a bow? Did you encounter a native?" Colonel asked. I said I found it and saw no booby traps so I took it. I explained that my friends at the lab wanted some samples so I got some for them. Obviously it was a lie, but I couldn't spoil the surprise.

He allowed me to take my findings and harvest home. I thanked him and was so excited to make him and our team a good meal for once.

-----

I got out my cutting board and my cooking knife and started chopping. I cooked some of that chicken-y stuff and some of that fruit. I thanked Mansk in my head for teaching me these things.

-

I radio'd everyone to come to my room. I said I had a surprise for them. "I swear to God, if we get there and you're on the bed naked again I will... actually not be mad." Lyle said back.

"This isn't that kind of surprise, Lyle. Just get over here!"

Once they all were in the room, I retrieved a tray with foil over it. The smell wafted into the room as I uncovered the gift. They were all so surprised and hypnotized by the burritos.

"For you guys! You deserve it. Take one, I insist!" I squealed. They all grabbed one and a paper towel and with the first bite, they relaxed their tense muscles and rolled their eyes back. They hadn't had a good meal like this in a good, long while.

"Hey, Y/N, what song were you singing in the forest? You were really loud... must've been one of your favorites or something. Is it on Spotify?" Lyle asked as he finished his first bite. My eyes widened. "You... heard that?"

"Yeah, I heard a little bit too. It was something about a new romantic or something like that." Zdinarsk added. "Yeah you were singing about something related to rings or something too." Mansk said. "I don't know, I could be wrong, but last time I checked, you weren't married." Lopez said.

"Um... can we forget all of that happened? Sorry, I was just getting carried away and I sang some of my own songs and-" I was soon cut off by the Colonel saying, "Wait- your songs?"

I soon shoved them out of my room, begging them to let it go and to not talk about it again. I closed the door behind me as I slid down the metal wall to the floor. I took some big, deep breaths and checked under my bed to check if my journal and hard drives were still there, even though I'd been with them the entire time. Phew! They're still there. I thought.

-----

The next day, at dinner in the cafeteria, I brought my bag with me and sat down with everybody acting like nothing was wrong. Conversation sparked when someone asked, "So what's everyone planning on doing tomorrow? Ardmore gave us the day off." I said I was planning on bingeing my favorite show wrapped in my blankets with my favorite foods. They all agreed and said they would be training, sleeping, exploring, hooking up, or something fun/relaxing.

I suddenly got a call from my friend on the phone. I knew it was something important, because my phone was blowing up with texts while she was waiting for me to answer. I hurriedly ran off to my room for privacy, forgetting my bag full of personal stuff. Including my hard drives. Zdog decided it couldn't hurt to see what I carry around all day, so she started digging. She found my sunglasses, hairbrush/comb, an unopened soda can, some loose candy, and... hard drives?

"Hey does anyone know why Y/N has hard drives in her bag?" Z asked. Nobody knew, so she decided to take them and pass them out for them to watch later. It for sure wasn't porn, Ardmore would've never let it through. It's gotta be some home videos or something.

-----

Zdog and the others piled onto the bed in her room and uploaded the drives onto her computer. They were numbered. They watched the first one and it was a black screen with the sound of a crowd cheering. It was around an hour long. They watched as a... stage appeared. A big one. It was a stadium full of people. A concert? Then appeared the person performing. It was... you. Some already made the connections, while others took a little bit. You were performing for around 70,000 people along with cameras so everyone could watch it live. they watched all of the hard drives all throughout the night, only falling asleep when they went through all of them.

-----

You were in your room, hanging up the call. turns out it was just some cute guy flirted with her at a restaurant. Only then did you realize that you left your bag in the cafeteria. You immediately went back for it, checking everything was there because people just love to snoop. You realized all of your hard drives were missing. You soon were banging on the Colonel's door, asking if he'd seen anybody take them or had anything in their hands. He wasn't there. You knocked on everyone's door and nobody answered. You went back to your room, wailing into your pillow. Those drives were the last thing you had of Earth. Of your entire life before the military. Soon enough, you cried yourself to sleep. In the morning, you slept in. It was your day off, after all. You heard a knock on the door. You recognized it as Z. You opened the door and there she was. She came in without an invite and immediately sat on your bed.

"Y/N. I am... just so sorry. When you left your bag in the cafeteria, I looked through it when I should've respected your privacy. I found hard drives and took all of them to my room and the rest of the team and I watched all of them. In order. All the way through. I am so sorry for disrespecting your right to privacy and watching the videos that were obviously private." She closes her eyes softly, looking down toward the floor with her hands twiddling in her lap. Too embarrassed and disappointed with herself to even look at me.

"Z, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so secretive. Especially with the ones who love me most. The truth is, I was a very rich and famous singer on Earth. You probably know that by now. So does everyone else. But I'm trying to work through it and not be embarrassed to share my past."

"It's not your fault. I love you. We love you. You never have to hide anything from us, but if you don't want it to be shared, that's okay too. So... can we listen to some of your songs?" Z laughed. I said yes an radio'd everyone to come to my room. I had a surprise.

MWAH I love yall!!!! hope you guys enjoyed i've had this au stuck in my head since like last year :) 💋💋

@dyingofcookies ITS HERE BESTIE

[whamss]

Ok I have to ask because you have such based takes on rose as a character,

1) do you read fan fic/ if you don’t what’s your general take on fics interpretation of Rose and other characters in homestuck

2) if you do, please I am begging for any rose character study / rose&kanaya pieces you like, anything will do I just would adore to hear your thoughts. Ao3 is like a drought of mischaracterization of Rose & Kanaya and it hurts my soul.

Oh man, I don't read nearly as much fic as I wish I did not gonna lie, I'm so lazy! (And I suffer from chronic daydreamer disease, where instead of reading fanfic I walk in circles in my room and put Rose Lalonde in Scenarios). I have a few that I've read over the years that I've liked a lot though, so I can try to compile a general list:

the ennui of too late and too little

Starting with this one because it was just posted (and I just read it) and I think it's fantastic! Kanaya POV but Rose-centric, with a particular focus on Rose reflecting back on her childhood with her mom as Kanaya and Rose wander through the wreckage of her childhood home. There's a lot of sweet Rosemary banter in here, and I think the characterization is fantastic. It's a good one if you're like me and want to see Rose actually go through the motions of understanding her mother, balancing her newfound sympathy with her Mom's situation and the things she actually put her through. Her feelings are complicated! And I think the author captured the nuances of how Rose might deal with that very well

And, trying to unfold for you, was brittle

Following the theme of fics about Rose and her mom is the Vampire Slayer Rose AU. This one has slightly less of a Rosemary focus (although it's still there), but explores Rose and her mom's relationship more directly in a way that I think is fantastically developed. It's a very interesting read, albeit a little hard to describe Why it's good unless you read it (read it! It's good!!!). I know you're not asking for Kanaya-centric stuff, but if you like this fic (and are okay with reading or skimming over a tiny bit of smut) I think that this author writes a lot of very solid Kanaya fic. Particularly recommending We Face Back All The Way, a Fallen London AU where Kanaya tries to save Rose's soul from a contract with Dr Scratch, and Where the River Narrows, a fic where post-game Kanaya deals with the precarious future of her race, and wanders the dreambubbles in hopes of solutions (and deals with Some Bullshit along the way. And yes, there's Rosemary. Who do you think I am!!!). From there I also think this is a pretty good author to scroll through in general, lots of bangers in there

Yarn Interpolation

This is a Rose-centric series of two fics that I think is very good. Doomed No Sburb AU where there's no game but Rose's powers develop enough for her to know what she's missing. I don't quite remember the exact specifics of this, but it's a very good beta kids fic with Rose mourning the wife she never met and platonic JadeRose marriage. It's cute and sweet, and I remember it being a fairly cathartic read

Show the Lights

Grimdark Rose comes of age and deals with some internalized homophobia along the way. Fun stuff! This was one of the first Rosemary fics I ever read so I hold it close to me, but I think it's a pretty good fic where Rose reckons with her feelings for Kanaya against the prospect of procreation and the continued survival of her species (in between the desire to feel useful to her group as her friends embark on an Egbert rescue mission). Some smatterings of a very fun pitch Vrisrose dynamic in here as well, as a bit of a bonus

love left her screaming at the screen

Speaking of Rose dealing with internalized homophobia, if you spend enough time shifting through Rosemary AO3 you've probably already read or at least heard of this one but I still think it's good enough that I should include it. Very reminiscent of what it was like to be a lesbian teenager in the 2000's, Rose deals with these preconceptions at the end of the world, through an unrequited crush on Jade and Slightly More Requited feelings for Kanaya. This fic was good for me specifically as someone who was always urked by the fact that Rose's sexuality is never really discussed in depth in Homestuck proper (compared to characters like Dave, Dirk, and Jake), and beyond that I think it's a very interesting exploration of how the bigotry and politics from Earth might stick with the kids, even when everyone who would judge them is long dead. This is another author who's fics I think are fun to sit through as well, lots of good Rose and Rosemary stuff in here (will give a particular shout out to think about staying alive, a Rose Strider AU, which is great for those of us in the Put Rose In A Situation camp who also love good gen fic with Rose and Dave)

Reviews Of Young Adult Novels, Mainly Those Prominently Featuring Vampires, And Containing At Least One Love Triangle

This one is just plain silly, but it's one of my favorites. Rose is an alcoholic who writes young adult novels, and Kanaya is her greatest online critic. Sort of an Urban Fantasy, more of an alternate No Game timeline, with a lot of canon elements sprinkled in (classpect powers are still a thing, Dave's that played the game timeline jump, things like that). This one has a very fun Rosemary dynamic, and in general I think Rose's characterization in this is wonderful. It's unfinished but I think it stands very solidly as is, so if you're looking for something goofy and fun to read this is a great fic to turn to

Vermeil Tarnishing

A shorter one shot AU where Rose is a Derse priestess captured by Prospit. This is a fun one I think, lots of fun dialogue with little glimpses into fictional politics, which ends with a bit of a bang. Not a massive Rosemary focus, but the bit of them that we do see is very fun!

> Rose: Reorient

What kind of mutual would I be if I didn't recommend @awellreadmannequin 's Rose fic? Post-game Rose, dealing with her addiction and the mounting threat of a relapse, visits Roxy and Calliope. Very good characterization, Rose's thoughts are rambly and meandering and she is very much Going Through It, but things get better, you know? Good Rose angst, great study of her character with little discussions of philosophy sprinkled in. A look at how Rose's more ironic childhood interests might grow into something more genuine, and take her down a more hopeful path, with some very sweet Rosemary moments near the end of the first chapter and little hints of vrisrosemary in thoughts and dialogue (in Rosemary's hearts). It's still a work in progress, but I think that the first chapter alone is a great read with a very hopeful conclusion, and I look forward to seeing how it pans out, and I think that other people should read it!!! (Best read on a computer or horizontally on a tablet)

[brickcentral]

🤩 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: zekezachzoom Hello everyone! It's time to direct the spotlight toward our community members, and today we will get to know better zekezachzoom!

"My name is Sunny but you might know me better as zekezachzoom on social media. I am a freelance graphic designer and have been a toy photographer for 10 years.

I came up with this profile name after my sons’. Zeke is my second son and Zach my first. I imagined them running away after calling their names, hence Zoom. I live in Singapore where we have two seasons, Rain and Shine. It’s a tiny island and getting around is pretty fast and easy. I have a few favourite spots around the island for toy photography. I will be more than happy to explore these places with any of my overseas friends if they pop by this part of the world! Though sometimes I wish we have mountains, rivers and maybe desert for more outdoor choices. On the plus side, being a small island makes organizing an outing with fellow toy photographers very easy, even if it is a last minute thing.

I started toy photography after posting an image of Spiderman squatting on the window ledge overlooking the neighborhood on Instagram…and then discovering the community. Everyone was and still is very encouraging and I think this helped in me trying to better myself with each photograph. Though Instagram is not what is used to be, but that is a discussion for another day.


Talking about process, if there is a brief for the photo (commissioned work, photo contest), I will usually follow up with some research work on the topic. At the same time, I will park the topic for the photo at the back on my mind and let it simmer unconsciously.

However, for personal work, I usually do not actively chase for ideas, forcing them out. I find that most ideas come to me randomly. This usually happens in a variety of ways, like watching videos on any subject, going about my daily life, observing and listening to things around me. I think being curious about everything and anything certainly helps in generating ideas.

Once I have a photo idea, I then let it sit and simmer further in my mind’s eye. This can help take the concept to more interesting directions in terms of story, setup, composition, lighting, etc. More ideas can be built upon this initial concept base on even more things you see and observe. It also allows time to think about how to setup the shot.

I will always sketch my ideas on my notebook, which is always by my side. At present time, I have more ideas than time to shoot!

When it comes to the shoot itself, I usually start with the mobile phone, quickly checking the angles and then locking my camera to a tripod. I always use a tripod to gather multiple shots of the same angle with different lighting, atmospheric effect so that I can then composite them in post if need be. Then I will shoot couple of shots for final composition without the lighting and atmospheric effect. I enjoy the post production work, especially the color grading part. Sometimes, the word PHOTOSHOP give rise to arguments within the photographic community. To me, it’s just a tool to bring the picture to its maximum potential.

I think people I know in the community know me for my punny, silly and light-hearted stuff. So much so that friends recommend me toys they think that might fit this style. However, recently I find myself going all over the place in terms of themes. I just enjoy the process of experimenting different approaches, be it the storytelling or the technical bits of photography. When I am shooting indoor, I usually set up for low key images. It gives me a chance to experiment with indoor lighting. If there is one thing I would tell my younger self when I started, it’s to pay attention to lighting. It can elevate a nice photo to a great photo. Also, I like to build simple sets with everyday object that end up looking like something else when viewed through the camera. I do this mostly because I am lazy and don’t have the patience to build dioramas. I am usually with a group of friends when I shoot outdoors, because we have a monthly gathering among us. During these outings, I am constantly looking out for areas with awesome lighting. I try to reserve my action shots (ie scenes with flying debris) outdoors, mostly because there is no need to clean up after the mess! Also, outdoor light is beautiful…but fast changing lighting condition is another story all together.

When I first started, it was all about the Star Wars figures. I had stopped collecting figures since the 1980s , but it was the Star Wars Black Series that got me collecting again with all its glorious articulation. Once I discovered the community, I realized that there were other characters to be bought! I sometimes wonder if that is a good thing, from my wallet’s point of view.

I find myself gravitating towards nostalgia when it comes to the figures I buy. So, my collection and images usually reflect that, with movie/TV characters from the 80s. Stuff like Aliens, Indiana Jones, Predator and Back to the Future, etc. However, whether they are LEGO minifigures, statues, 6 inch figures, I will shoot any figures as long as they serve the stories. Each type of figures has its own pros and cons and challenges. But I would not have it any other way.

This is my basic equipment list: • Nikon Zfc with kit lens (16mm to 50mm) • Lensbaby Sweet 35 lens • Helios 44-2 58mm lens • Extension tubes for close ups • 2 speed lights • Couple of LED cube lights • Manfrotto tripod

Why toy photography? I love pop culture and telling quirky weird stories with characters I love. I can never produce awesome looking illustration of these images I have in mind and photography seems like the next best thing. Hence toy photography! When I first started, I was always coming up with ideas in the middle of the night and sketching them down and made it my mission to spread this hobby. I recall vividly telling a friend how much I enjoy this hobby and was going to just keep throwing out toy photos into the internet and see what comes back. And a lot has indeed happen since then: • I started a local Facebook group to organize more toy photography outings and share photos. • Managed to get featured on national newspaper and television, because they came across my work online. • Made friends on social media and participated in podcast by some of these friends. • Conducted workshops. • Shot for some toy companies. • Collaboration with toy designers and model/diorama makers. • Nikon Ambassador.

I have enjoyed the journey so far and look forward to improving myself. Something I always remind myself: your best photo is the one you have not taken yet."

Thank you for accepting our invitation and let the community knows you better!

If you want some insights on the exclusive picture and for a better view of the others, head to our blog at https://brickentral.net/.

- @theaphol, Community Outreach Manager

[afeelgoodblog]

#061 - The Best News of Last Week - October 31, 2022

🎃 — Happy Halloween! Let’s read some good news to start the week!

1. A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View — in just 5 years humanity has cut expected warming almost in half

Nice to see balance coming in on this stuff. The situation is *not good*, but the reporting and social focus until now has been “…and therefore you are doomed.” This causes apathy, just like when people say “all politicians are the same” when they are very clearly not.

We need to focus both on how bad things are, but also the solutions for how we get through this. They exist, and we can have them. It’s going to be a life-long fight, especially once you realize that certain people make a lot more money if you think you’re doomed.

2. Germany plans to legalise recreational cannabis

Germany’s coalition government has agreed on a plan to legalise recreational cannabis use among adults.

Possession of up to 30g (1oz) for personal use would be allowed. Licensed shops and pharmacies would sell it.

3. Hundreds of rare birds rescued from island cut off by Hurricane Ian

Volunteers helped transport the flock from a bird sanctuary to a temporary new home, where they’ll stay until bridge access can be restored to Pine Island.

The birds have been relying on food donated by wildlife officials since Hurricane Ian hit, but the supply of fruit, peanuts and other edibles would soon be hard to come by because of the downed bridge and the scarcity of gasoline on the island. In the hours before the storm, the sanctuary owners herded their flock of birds and packed them into their home to shield them from the ferocity of the elements.

4. A train passenger saw a woman waving for help. It was a hiker who’d been missing.

An injured hiker near Silverton, Colo., was rescued earlier this month after a train passenger spotted her from the window. She was frantically waving on the other side of a river, having just spent two days trapped in the wilderness with a broken leg.

The rider alerted the crew of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge diesel engine №461, according to the San Juan County Office of Emergency Management. They then notified the train inspector, Delton Henry, who was in a motor car behind them.

5. Same-sex marriage is now legal in all of Mexico’s states

Lawmakers in the state of Tamaulipas voted Wednesday night to legalize same-sex marriages, becoming the last of Mexico’s 32 states to authorize such unions.

The measure to amend the state’s Civil Code passed with 23 votes in favor, 12 against and two abstentions, setting off cheers of “Yes, we can!” from supporters of the change.

6. North Expedition finds cache of cameras on remote Yukon glacier, 85 years after mountaineer left them behind

A DeVry “lunchbox” camera left behind on Mount Lucania in 1937. An expedition team recently uncovered the camera along with other artifacts stashed by legendary mountaineer Bradford Washburn 85 years ago

The team recovered a portion of Washburn’s cherished aerial F-8 camera — a format he would later become known for worldwide — as well as two motion picture cameras and old climbing gear, tents and cooking items. (That included part of a T-bone steak, Post noted — “They were eating pretty well out there, it appeared.”)

“It was just the full array of gear from what they were using in the 1930s,” said Post, a professional skier and mountain explorer.

7. Ray of joy: Nasa captures image of the sun ‘smiling’

That’s it for this week. If you liked this post you can support this newsletter with a small kofi donation:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

[phynoma]

Oh hi!

I'm Phyn! I write things. I'm not going to get into a bunch of identity stuff, but I'm queer, I'm an adult, and I like writing queer adult stuff. Mostly horror (see: queer) and absurdity (see: the world)

I have degrees in english, theology, and more theology, which just means I have a bunch of experience doing critical thinking and analysis of storytelling, and enough imposter syndrome that I don't know how to put that on a resume.

FANDOMS!

If you're already following me it's probably for Pillars of Eternity, TMA, or LOTR/Silmarillion. I cycle through hyperfixations every few years. It's still TMA/TMAGP right now. You can find my TMAGP sideblog here, where I just collect art.

Other things I like: Fallen London, everything by Pia Foxhall/not_poignant, re:dracula, SILT VERSES, Rivers of London, Murderbot, Critical Role, Saga, Wicked+Divine, anything by Neil Gaiman, I Am in Eskew, norse myths, egyptian myths, jewish myths, the dragonlance books (don't judge me they were foundational), pretty much everything Mike Flanagan makes, and much much more

WRITING!

I'm on ao3 as Phynoma! What do I write? Well. I write in-depth explorations of characters placed in harrowing situations which draw out the very inmost parts of their vulnerabilities and--

Smut. I write smut, okay?

Almost all of these fics are explicit and PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD mind the tags, I am *very* careful with my tagging for good reason!!!!

HERE YA GO, YA FILTHY ANIMALS!

The Magnus Archives:

I mentioned this is my current fixation, right?

an extant form of life: pollen fic! You could say, maybe, that the Consuming AU uses pollen tropes, but I'm counting this as my first-ever pollen fic. Jon/Tim, Jon/Martin, maybe Jon/Tim/Martin, we'll see if Sasha gets thrown in there. Ongoing.

Hey, Jude: A hurt/comfort fic about what happened after Jon shook Jude Perry's hand. Jon & Georgie & the kindness of strangers (not those strangers) Oneshot.

The Consuming AU: My pride and joy. My baby. I started this halfway through listening to TMA the first time and finished the original fic in about two months in time for the Rusty Quill Big Bang of 2023. Canon is basically the same, with the addition of "what if there was a Entity of Hunger, (fear of) Intimacy, and Codependence?" Also Jon is turning into a succubus. Main fic is complete at a little over 100k words. Sometimes I add one-shots to the series.

~Incredible bookbinding done by @bluejayblueskies HERE ~Art of human-looking Rhia (by me) HERE and commission of eldritch angel Rhia by @isbergillustration HERE ~Commission of Naadia by @dcartcorner HERE

Kittens & Kink AU: Fluffy Somewhere Else one-shots. Cat play. Mostly nonsexual kink. Oliver/Jon/Martin. Ongoing, until I get bored of it, basically.

Pillars of Eternity:

The In-Between Series: A series of fics following the relationship of Watcher Mirad and Aloth Corfiser, ten years or so after the events of Deadfire. The world of Eora is ripe for a new cataclysm, and these two elves are trying to finally have the relationship they've been dancing around for two decades. Ongoing, on hiatus as my hyperfixation is elsewhere. I do plan to finish it, though.

Moments: same universe and characters as above, focusing more on events that happen in canon-- ie, during gameplay. Complete.

Faetales:

Mat & Kal: Fae AU: You know how sometimes you keep writing characters and put them through a blender so many times that they just become something completely new? That's this AU. Mateo and Makalo are two ancient fae beings trapped in the human world during the events of The Ice Plague (by not_poignant) who become bound by each others' lives and deaths. They hate each other, they love each other, they're in weird psychosexual sadistic codependency with each other. They're a cat-person and a snake-person. I'm not a furry but I like some of their ideas, okay? Series complete.

See commissioned art of Mat & Kal by @shojoshark HERE

The Silmarillion:

Mistakes Were Made: Imma be real, this is just straight up torture porn. Sauron is punished by Morgoth after the loss of the Silmaril to Beren & Luthien. Basically, I was annoyed by all the fluffy Angbang fics I was reading and wanted to depict them in all their horrifying, codependent glory. Complete.

Cost of Surrender: I read a really good fic about what it took for Mairon to grovel/debase himself to Eonwe to gain his freedom and I took it a bit further. Complete.

Good Omens:

the beautiful and the fitting: pretty sure the title of this is a quote from St. Augustine, too. I almost didn't include this one because I don't even remember what it's about. Fluffy sex times with nonsexual beings, I think. I started writing it because Good Omens is one of my favorite books, but tbh the fandom for the show exhausts me and I don't know if I'll come back to this. Abandoned, probably.

[deathlessathanasia]

Here are all the Hera-centric retellings I know of and also have read so far:

„We Goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite, Hera” by Doris Orgel - As the title suggests, there are three sections in this book, each retelling some of the myths each goddess appears in from her own perspective. The retellings are pretty short and straightforward, nothing to write home about, but fine enough for what they are especially given that the book seems targeted to a younger audience.

„Olympian Confessions: Hera” by Erin Kinsella - Hera is written very sympathetically here, in fact she is positively saintly and has done nothing even remotely questionable in her entire life - hell, she's not even involved in the Trojan War! Such characterization is certainly different than the usual, but it is also boring as hell imo.

„The Goddess Queen”, first novella in „The Goddess Legacy” by Aimee Carter. - Goddess Legacy is itself part of the Goddess Test series, which I personally hated and found utter trash. Hera's portrayal is especially atrocious and shallow throughout the other books, but in this one story she is allowed to be a more complex and interesting character.

„Hera, Queen of Gods” and „Hera, Queen of Mortals” by T.D. Thomas - Not actually a retelling, but Hera is the main character so I'm including it. This duology (I think it might be called Goddess Unbound) was so forgivable that I hardly remember anything about it. I do recall constantly questioning everything that was going on. The only notable thing about it is that Hera dumps Zeus, too bad that she does so for a high schooler.

„Wings of Fury” and „Crown of Cinders” by Emily R. King - This one sounded sooo promising. Hera during the Titanomachy? Yes please! Too bad it did not live up to my expectations. If you are interested in Hera this won't do much for you, as the character that bears her name really has nothing to do with her and is just your generic YA female protagonist.

„Hera: The Goddess and her Glory” by George O'Connor - Honestly, I feel like this one is more about Herakles than it is about Hera.

„Hera” by Julien Longo - Here we have far more of a reimagining than a retelling, and there is very little you will find recognizable beyond the names of the characters. There is also a sequel to this one, but I haven't read it.

„Ithaca” by Claire North, The first book in The Songs of Penelope series - I was very hesitant to include it because it is not actually about Hera, but she does narrate the story and that must count for something. I actually complained several times even on this blog about this series and the way the gods are portrayed in it, but there are also some aspects I enjoyed and the writing is beautiful.

„Hera” by Jennifer Saint - This is definitely my favorite on the list and has what I consider to be one of, if not the best portrayal of Hera I have ever seen. It also includes some of my favorite more or less obscure versions of myths, such as Hera as the mother of Typhon and Hera not being eaten as a baby by her father. Mind you, the book is not perfect, I found several decisions questionable and there were myths I'd have liked to see explored or explored more thoroughly, but this remains the best Hera-centric retelling so far, in my opinion.

„Queen of Heaven” by Ava McKevitt - Again we have here the first book in a series. This one, too, includes some stories I rarely see explored, such as Hera being chosen by the Argive rivers to preside over Argolis, Hera raising Thetis, Kronos and Hera conspiring for the birth of Typhon. However, Hera is such a ridiculously submissive and passive figure for the most part (even when she does something wicked she feels oh so very bad about it)! She takes care of both Athena and Dionysos as children, has Hephaistos by herself but not purposefully and then drops him from Olympos by accident, Kronos is the one who approaches her for the creation of Typhon, Angelos simply runs away after stealing from her mother and giving her stuff to Europa and Hera doesn't persecute her at all, she is nice and sympathetic to Kallisto, Hephaistos is the one who talks the gods into binding Zeus and Hera plays no active role in that conspiracy, she has no intention to take revenge for Zeus's infidelities until she gets inspiration from Medea. This leads me to how confusing the timeline is. As an example, Zeus's children by Europa are born before Apollo and Artemis and Io's adventures take place later than the voyage of the Argonauts. , And then there is the characterization of Thetis, of which the less said the better.

[positivexcellence]

FRĒDA WOMAN: GENEVIEVE PADALECKI

TALK TO US ABOUT YOU.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE ON A PROJECT?

Gosh. I wish it was that easy!  I think to echo what Odette Annable said, “Taking on a new project usually means that I had to work very hard to even “get” the role. The audition process can be grueling with multiple rounds of auditions and each step feels like a victory.”  And that's the truth. I think having the ability to be able to work and play in our industry is pretty extraordinary and I feel incredibly lucky that I have been able to connect with the role bond with the team and find light in the message.

WHAT MADE YOU START TOWWN?

The awful truth is that I am a big waster. I have 3 kids. I used disposable diapers. Bought single-use plastics and easy on-the-go snacks. I did what was convenient and the best for my family.  But I wanted to understand how I could be better for our planet. The resources that were available to me were ones that we doom and gloom or all or nothing. I wanted something that made more sense to me. Where I could have a solution-based platform that was relatable and evolving.

HOW DO YOU SPEND TIME OUTSIDE OF WORK?

Great question. It depends on the day. But it’s either with my family or with myself, but most likely in nature. On a hike or with a book. But definitely recentering and hopefully getting our hands dirty.

WHAT HAS BEEN MOST REWARDING ABOUT BEING A MOTHER?

Knowing that there is an even greater capacity to love that I didn’t know existed.  My heart grew tenfold when I became a mother.  And I had such a deeper and greater respect for my own mother.  She always told me you’ll never know how much I love you until you have a child of your own.  And she was right.  I also love how much I learn from my children. They are so wise and earnest.  I love seeing the world through their eyes.

WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU’VE BEEN LEARNING ABOUT YOURSELF?

I hope that I am always learning. I think when I was younger I  was stuck in a loop of who I thought I was supposed to be. Or how I was supposed to present myself.  Now I enjoy letting my guard down and trying to go more with the flow.  Not sweating the small stuff and trying to be curious every moment.

HOW DO YOU FEEL SUPPORTED FROM THE GROUND UP?

My family. They are my world. And knowing they are safe and sound and feeling centered makes me feel incredibly grounded.

YOUR MANTRA?

I love a quote from my grandfather which is, “You don’t get what you expect you get what you inspect.”  Sometimes I tend to wash over the details and this quote reminds me to pay attention.  That I have to work hard to achieve what I want. It’s not owed to me.

I also always tell my kids that today is a brand new day. And we can start fresh.

TELL US ABOUT A FAVORITE SUMMER TRIP.

I grew up going to a place called Graeagle that was nestled in between mountains in Northern California. As kids, we learned to fish; tying flies, cleaning and cooking our fish, hiking the mountains and finding our way back. These trips encouraged self-reliance. In those summers we tuned out the noise and came together as a family. It was heaven for me. Now I try and recreate that feeling for our kids. This year we are heading on a rafting and fishing trip as a family (with zero cell reception, I cannot wait).

ANY FUN SUMMER PLANS?

Yes! Currently, Jared and I are in Italy.  We have been in Rome for a quick work trip and then we explored (are currently exploring Corsica) and then Sardinia. We are also doing an annual trip with Jared's brother and sis in law. It’s become a bit of a tradition now and it makes me so happy to have this time.  This year we are biking around France. Last year I tumbled ass over a tea kettle in the Dolomites so wish me luck…then Jared and I and the kids head to Idaho to get lost on the river.

TELL US ABOUT A FAVORITE SUMMER TRIP.

I grew up going to a place called Graeagle that was nestled in between mountains in Northern California. As kids, we learned to fish; tying flies, cleaning and cooking our fish, hiking the mountains and finding our way back. These trips encouraged self-reliance. In those summers we tuned out the noise and came together as a family. It was heaven for me. Now I try and recreate that feeling for our kids. This year we are heading on a rafting and fishing trip as a family (with zero cell reception, I cannot wait).

ANY FUN SUMMER PLANS?

Yes! Currently, Jared and I are in Italy.  We have been in Rome for a quick work trip and then we explored (are currently exploring Corsica) and then Sardinia. We are also doing an annual trip with Jared's brother and sis in law. It’s become a bit of a tradition now and it makes me so happy to have this time.  This year we are biking around France. Last year I tumbled ass over a tea kettle in the Dolomites so wish me luck…then Jared and I and the kids head to Idaho to get lost on the river.

THE AUSTIN DIARIES

FAVORITE SHOP: Estilo, Valentines, Maufrais, Hearth and Home, or Alexa James Baby, bygeorge

GO-TO RESTAURANT: Soto, Dai Due, Wu Chow

ALL-TIME BEST BBQ: Terry Blacks

CAFFEINE KICK: I go more for the smoothies and matchas…so Juiceland

SUNDAY ACTIVITY: Gardening, running Lake Austin trail or boating

HIDDEN GEM: I can’t tell you…lol

RAINY DAY DESTINATION: My library

TOURIST ATTRACTION LOCALS LOVE: Probably the bats on Congress Bridge or shopping SOCO

BEST THING ABOUT LIVING THERE: Your neighbors, Austin is an amazing community

[nancypullen]

Heading to California

The mister and I are driving to California tomorrow. It's not nearly as exciting as you might think, it's just a town in southern Maryland.

We're going on a fact-finding mission. We might want to live there. It's early days yet, NOTHING is happening, but we'd like to have a look around. It would offer a lot more than what we have here in Denton (restaurants, shopping, medical care, etc) and we'd still be about an hour from the Edgewater gang. Bonus, we wouldn't have to worry about Chesapeake Bay Bridge traffic all summer. Not gonna' lie, when I google the town and see that they have everything from Belk to JoAnn's to Sally Beauty, it sounds like every convenience I left behind in Mt. Juliet. Man, do I miss that ease of living. There's a Lowe's, a Home Goods, a movie theater, a couple of malls, five grocery stores, a Target, and so on. The reason that this small town offers so much is that it's rubbing shoulders with Patuxent River Naval Air Station. Unfortunately, the closest airport is Reagan National in D.C., about 65 miles away. I think BWI (Baltimore) is 75. Not ideal, but not any worse than what we're dealing with now. I've been looking at real estate online, and at the moment it's in our price range. Before I build this up in my mind as the answer to everything that is wrong here in Caroline County, we're going to have a look around. I know the grass always seems greener elsewhere, but folks, we hardly have grass here. Literally and figuratively. If nothing else tomorrow I get to stop at a Home Goods (Halloween stuff!) and a Sally beauty (hair stuff!). I miss civilization so much. Our plan is to ditch Denton first thing in the morning and head over the bridge and turn south.

We'll explore, have a little lunch (so many restaurants to choose from!), and then head back home. Feels like the Amish on Rumspringa. I'll report our findings here on the ol' blog and let you know if it was much ado about nothing or has some potential. Our choices in Maryland seem to be dense urban or the sticks. This might be a happy medium. Scratch that, I do like Easton (here on the Eastern Shore) and really like their Talbot County property taxes. There's plenty to consider, and we're willing to explore the possibilities. We've been in Maryland just over two years, and I really think there's a better life for us outside of Denton. It's sure worth a look. On that note, I'll wrap this up. I hope that you keep your hearts and minds open to change. Don't be afraid to admit that you need to make changes. This may or may not be something we'll pursue, and if we do, it won't be right away. We're just in the talking stages. We do know that we need more than this. We also know that although we worked hard to make this house very pretty, it's not a house we can live in at 80 or 85. Ideally we'll need a one story house, or at least a home with the primary suite on the first floor. We're not at that point yet, but we also don't want to have to make that move when we're really old. Is it silly to think of that at 60? I don't think so. Better than 80. Those are the thoughts rattling around in my head, so I just dumped them all out for you. Pick through the mess and keep what you like. Sending out oodles of love tonight, I hope you feel it. If you need to make any changes, I'll be your cheerleader. Do it! Follow your dreams! Get what you need! Be brave!

There's always one.

I'll let you know how our adventure unfolds. Until then, stay safe, stay well. XOXO, Nancy

[jordanandegypt]

Zürich, Switzerland

Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024

Greetings All.  We are in Zurich trying to change our body clocks by 6 hours.  Easier said than done.  We flew yesterday from Detroit to Amsterdam and the idea is to sleep the night away as we transverse the Atlantic - but both Mark and I got maybe 2 - 2.5 hours of sleep during our 7 hour flight.  We left Detroit at 6:30 PM and arrived 7 hours later in Amsterdam at 8:30 AM their time. - but at 1:30 AM our time.  We had a short layover (1 hr and 25 minutes) but in Amsterdam this is JUST enough time to get to your next flight - so we got to the gate and boarded.  The flight from Amsterdam to Zürich is only an hour and while I may have slept on that flight it was not more than 20 minutes.

We got a pretty pricey cab from the airport to our hotel - but we could not face figuring out public transportation as tired as we were.  Sadly - our hotel room was not ready.  We opted for a leisurely lunch in which Mark had cold spicy melon soup and I have garam marsala butter chicken - both delicious - but really all we wanted was a bed to stretch out on.  (Don’t worry I will not tell you everything we eat!!) After lunch we got the news that our room still wasn’t ready and I did something I have NEVER done - feel asleep in a chair in the lobby of the hotel.  But by 3:30 we were in our hotel and we opted for naps - until 5:00.  Hopefully bedtime will come easily...

Enough about us…. Let’s get to our adventure...

The theme for this trip is “OLD STUFF.”  We will start with "real old" and work our way to "OMG WAY WAY OLD."  We, in the US, get so excited when we see a structure from the late 1600s  or early 1700s - but that is a joke in this part of the world - kinda a “baby building.”  

So let’s start with Zürich Switzerland - our current “home."

From what we have seen, Zürich is a beautiful city surrounded by the foothills of the Alps mountains located at the northern end of Lake Zürich and built on Limmat River (pronounced “Limit” that flows from Lake Zürich.  This city has a history going back centuries. 

The town was founded by the Romans a bit over 2,000 years ago. Recent excavations show evidence of settlement even before that -  over 6,400 years ago. 

We explored the old city from about 5:30 to 9:00 - or 17:30 to 21:00 - as any citizen of the world would say - with a a few exceptions - like us.

Surprises:  There are no “walk/don’t walk” signs - pedestrians just have the right of way - PERIOD!

There is graffiti everywhere - I was shocked!

EVERYONE smokes!  Or it seems that way.  DISGUSTING!

I went to buy our 24 hour pass for public transportation and was told to just keep in with us.  If asked we would have to show it - but there is no check in - check out system.  Trust, my friends.

Things we expected:  Public transportation options would be numerous and easy to use and very clean.

People would be helpful and kind

Things would be EXPENSIVE.

We took the tram to old town and at one point saw this:

While we were listening to  this:  

Kind of eye and ear candy.

I think I forgot to say what the Swiss flag looked like - so here you go…

We ate dinner at an outdoor cafe - late - (when in Rome, so they say) and it was outstanding.  Mark had cold roast beef with horseradish sauce and I had “Rösti” with smoked salmon, onions, capers and a dill sauce.  OMG!!!

Rösti is shredded potatoes fried in butter and made into a mound.  You can get lots of different kinds of “Rösti’ and I highly recommend it.  Split with someone  - it is huge.  (It will be breakfast for us tomorrow.)

Tomorrow - we will explore more than the transportation system.  I’m going to bed. It is 22:00 here and I'm hoping to wake up for the first - and maybe only - presidential debate - which would be 3:00 AM here. If I do - I'll watch it live. If I don't - I will be more rested when I watch it later Either way - we are in Zürich rooting for Kamala!!

CIAO!  (Yes - they say that here too)