#cheshi squeaks

[thecheshirerat]

*sniffling* h-hey folks… welcome back to Night Vale I guess… you’re just in time for the- the Glow Cloud’s- *hiccup* - the Glow Cloud’s FUNERAL-

[slow-clap-processors]

Oof

i’ve hurt these girls so bad

[twinklelittl3bat]

💖 all muses

Cheshy’s tail swished as he crouched by the river, watching, waiting. In the clear blue water a fish swam by, followed by another and another; above the spring sun shone but a cool breeze left the forests of Wonderland comfortable. Green eyes narrowed slowly and he held his breath for a moment before....

Splash! The young Cheshire leapt, falling into the water with a loud noise. Fish scurried and he held a guppy in his mouth; for a second he blinked then grinned, rather pleased despite his small catch. After all he was a small cat, being all of three summers old; with another twitch of his tail he trotted out of the water, shook it off and teleported. Most Cheshires couldn’t teleport so young,  as his mother liked to tell; most little kittens didn’t like to leave their mothers until they were at least a few summers older. But Cheshy had been teleporting from birth, disappearing and reappearing as he pleased; every time he did though he knew it made him special, just like his neon blue and purple fur, so different than so many of his siblings, and his wide Cheshire grin. A true Cheshire, that’s what he was and it made him happy to think that, being all of thee summers old.

Ezra didn’t expect a fish on his head but he also didn’t not expect it. After all one much always expect the unexpected, that’s what Daddy always told him. Daddy also always said that a fish in the hat was worth twenty in the shoe and a cup of tea kept the Red Queen away, but Ezra didn’t really like fish in his hat and he had never met the Red Queen. To the toddler hatter she was nothing more than a story, a myth, something big Hatters told little Hatters to make sure they drank their tea and ate their crumpets.

But no one need worry about Ezra on that front; he loved tea and crumpets, much more than he liked milk. His mother kept trying to get him to drink milk but he didn’t want it unless it was IN tea; his father, in moments of lucidity, would laugh and say that tea would make him grow up big and strong and that’s all that mattered. She wasn’t convinced but Ezra was.

But back on the fish he wasn’t displeased as the Cheshire Cat’s son appeared inside the hat he was chewing on and dropped a fish on his head; he just blinked then grinned back at him. The hat fell and Cheshy yewled but Ezra picked up the hat first and put it on his head, hiding the fish for a moment before crying out, “Fish gone!”

Cheshy stopped for a second and blinked before Ezra removed the hat to show the fish was gone. The kitten tilted his head then mewed in approval, making the young hatter smile. Doing magic for his friends always made him happy and he got up carefully, wobbling a bit. “Alexei has it, come on.”

The kitten nodded and trotted after him as the two went off together.

Alexei was the tiniest of the Dormouse’s children, an itty bitty mousey with an itty bitty nose. But he was very fast and he was very good at taking naps; right then he was napping inside a bush a few feet from his home, curled up into a ball as he snoozed away. His mother had been trying to get him to train again and his father, being fast asleep, wasn’t there to stop her; Alexei didn’t really mind but he was really tired himself and just wanted to nap.

Getting slapped with a fish out of nowhere though did ruin that and he woke up with a start and a squeak, blinking. Looking at it he recognized that yes indeed it was a fish, a small fish but a fish. He sniffed it; it smelled of magic and of fish. Of course. He nudged it slightly, the tail sticking out from under the bush and he heard a noise, a familiar rumbling; his tail froze up and he shook, curling up again. Oh no, no no no, he didn’t mean to attract....

A cat. Not a Cheshire Cat, but a hungry alley cat who had been attracted by the fishy scent. Alexei tried to be still and quiet, afraid of being found by the cat as well, after all cats normally ate itty bitty mousies too or so his parents said. He bit his lip and waited, eyes widening as he saw the paw reach in and try to grab at the fish; it got very close to him. He really didn’t want to be eaten and without thinking he squeaked in terror.

Then the paw retracted and there were other noises, angry cat noises and a familiar voice calling out “shoo shoo!”. Silence followed and Alexei shook more until the bushes were moved and two familiar faces, one feline, one humaniod, looked at him.

“Alexei has the fish,” Ezra said and smiled.

Cheshy crawled in and licked Alexei’s face before grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and dragging him out. “No worries we scared the bad kitty away.”

Alexei felt like crying. He knew he was lucky; not only did he not get eaten but he didn’t get eaten because he happened to be friends with the Cheshire Cat’s son and the Mad Hatter’s son. No other mousey, itty bitty or not, could say they had a cat for a friend and that made Alexei very special indeed.

@boukenuniverse

[thecheshirerat]

I’m obsessed with Clint’s DM style. Thought you could convince someone with a skill check? WRONG, SOLVE HER RIDDLES THREE. Think you can get an answer from a straighforward question? WRONG, I’M GOING TO DRILL YOU ON YOUR PHANTOM OF THE OPERA IMPRESSION

it’s giving King-Commanding-His-Jesters energy

[thecheshirerat]

If I had a nickel for every time I became obsessed with a queer ship that was strongly implied and intended by the creators, only for the majority of the world to treat it as an entirely cishet relationship despite the fact that their feelings for each other were CLEARLY spelled out by their respective credits songs, I would have two nickels, which isn’t a lot of nickels, but. Odd don’t you think

[thecheshirerat]

Alright, this isn’t a new thought of mine, but it’s one that the proposed re-introduction of Aviary into the game has reminded me of.

Has anyone else noticed that the game has been updating in ways that mirror the central purpose of the story?

Following the assumption that the core premise of Sky is that some apocalyptic event has reduced the world to nothing, and now, slowly, skykids are bringing back the light, the life, by honoring ancestors and whatnot-

We’ve actually started doing that?

Spirits used to be so distant, but now they seem closer than ever, even walking around and interacting with us, coming and going with more frequency, having fun at events.

Seasons and events focus on helping the earth to heal, or beautifying it- like Enchantment, Assembly, Aurora, Remembrance.

Eventually we got the Bloom tree, and then underwater life- we gained the power to make spaces our own, to leave our own spirit memories. More and more of us have come.

Now, from the development footage, it looks like Aviary will bring us trees with leaves. Sky is healing.

[thecheshirerat]

My worst anxiety regarding season three of Good Omens is that the ending will be lovely, but that it will pass too quickly.

I trust that it will be a happy ending; we know it will be. And I want to see that. But almost more than I want to see that, I want to see them breathe. I don't want "they kissed and made up and went off to their cottage and clinked glasses whilst watching the sunset and saying witty sappy things, and everyone sighed, satisfied." That's not too different from what we got at the end of season one, and it's lovely, but these two have been waiting so long.

so. long.

And I want the ending to be long enough that there's space for that "finally." I want there to be room for their emotions. I want them to giggle like teenagers, I want them to find stupid excuses to kiss each other, I want them to hold each other and cry, I want them to talk about the things they always stopped themselves from talking about, I want them to address the complexity of their feelings. I want there to be some recognition of the relief, and of the wounds that still ache. I want to see them slowly, slowly relax into security. I want them to tentatively reach for each other, each time fearing that they won't be there, and each time collapsing under the weight of their relief to find that they are.

I want to see them make plans for their future and let themselves be hopeful about it. I want to watch the reality of their happy ending sink in. I want to watch them heal.

[thecheshirerat]

I’ll go first- I’m absolutely a video game protagonist. My reasons are numerous but basically you can catch me emoting (I have very exaggerated physical gestures and I walk like I’m animated), I wear the same default outfits over and over, I basically spawn out of bed needing no time to wake up, and I’m too weird for tv but quirky enough for an indie wholesome video game. I also like to let other people do most of the talking in conversations. I’m basically Stella from Spiritfarer. I’m so curious what other people have to say!

[thecheshirerat]

Happy taz sapphic week!!!

Just a quick danbrey doodle for today :)

[thecheshirerat]

One more sketch for @tazsapphicweek !

Tomorrow comes ✨the fic✨

Anyway no one’s done much for Althea and Barb so I put a little time into it :)

[thecheshirerat]

ever just catch yourself thinking about how most the jobs the steeplechase crew have gotten up to have had the objective of returning peoples stories to them? bits or massive pieces of their identities that were taken from them or left behind?

and then ever catch yourself remembering that honoring nostalgia and returning people to the pieces of their past that they’ve left behind is the central purpose of Ustaben?

[thecheshirerat]

Loyalty

One of, if not the only core differentiation between demons and angels, is loyalty- the angels are unwavering loyal to heaven, but none of the demons seem to have much allegiance to Hell itself, if any. It was certainly the core factor in consideration in the Fall- who was loyal to God, who was not? Loyalty is, in this sense, held up as the paragon of virtue.

Which has some interesting echoes in Crowley and Aziraphale- Crowley is full of doubt and eager to flee overwhelming situations, while Aziraphale sticks them out, well, loyally. Their characters are set up to portray this dichotomy of disloyal demons and loyal angels.

But, Aziraphale’s loyalty is also one of his core flaws, blinding him to what is right and leading him to effectively traumatize himself by defending and protecting his (increasingly fragile) loyalty, or at least the appearance of it, at all costs.

And, like everything in GO, this dichotomy is also inverted. Crowley’s occasional, I wanna say guilt-tripping?- of his plants and car adds new layers to the examination of his trauma. He demands the same thing of his plants and car that was demanded of him- betraying the loyalty he still has to these ideals.

And Aziraphale is disloyal to Heaven all the time, in obvious ways.

But also, Crowley’s the loyal one in their partnership. Another fun inversion. And Aziraphale’s misplaced loyalty is like, one of the main problems of their relationship. So. There you go.

In a world where angels are loyal and demons are the opposite, Crowley’s loyalty is one of his greatest virtues, and Aziraphale’s is one of his greatest flaws.

[thecheshirerat]

Hurley sighs in resignation

Day 4 of @tazsapphicweek !!!

Yeah, I still haven’t mustered the motivation to color anything in.

[thecheshirerat]

AZIRAPHALE GETS ANNOYED BY HUMANS!!!!

HIS OPEN-MINDEDNESS AND FORGIVING NATURE WAS INTENTIONAL!!!

HE HAS TAUGHT HIMSELF TO RESIST HIS INSTINCT TO JUDGE, TO COMPLAIN, TO HOLD GRUDGES!

He loves humans, of course he does, and much of his forgiveness (like his forgiving Maggie’s debt at the start of s2) is not really a sacrifice at all on his part,

BUT

HE AVOIDS HIS CUSTOMERS AND GROANS WHEN HIS MUSIC IS INTERRUPTED AND NEARLY MURDERS A CHILD! HIS MIND GOES TO MURDERING A CHILD!

its just important to me that he CHOOSES to believe in people. He CHOOSES to set aside his annoyance. He CHOOSES to forgive, because to him that doesn’t come as naturally as he wishes it did!!!!

I’ve been there and honestly it’s part of why it doesn’t surprise me when Aziraphale says “I may have misjudged him,” about the Metatron. He had judged him. He did so rightly, Metatron’s a fucking bitch. But he makes a conscious effort to counteract his internal distaste to the point where it becomes a flaw. He chooses optimism to the point where it blinds him. He chooses to see the good, he looks for it, because he’s ashamed of the part of him that sees bad.

GNAWING ON MY FEET OVER HERE!!!!

[thecheshirerat]

Brother Pinnochieaux…

[thecheshirerat]

Ok. [steeplechase spoilers below the cut]

I liked that. I was a little scared, what with Montrose saying he was Kenchal’s dad- I thought there was a chance griffin was being serious, and that really wasn’t a direction I thought made sense for Montrose, especially given how little time they had left in the season to develop that.

Honestly, I’m still really disappointed that we didn’t get more insight into the backstories of our three thieves- I feel a little jipped there, I would’ve appreciated more vulnerability from Beef and Montrose as the stakes were raised, though I get that there may not have been space for that (Emerich was great. I feel great about him and his character.)

But I did really like the ending. The plot twists and gotchas with hard light were fun, I liked that.

BIG PROPS TO THE CHRYSTAL MONOLOGUE THAT WAS SO GOOD AND SO WELL DELIVERED I LOVED IT SO MUCH

And good for Darla. She deserves it.

I’m still sad about no lesbians :(

So yeah. Overall, a pretty great finale. I’m not crying, but I’m happy.

PS. UNCLE BEEF AND UNCLE MONTROSE-