#cookie herald

[bakersstreetirregulars]

Cookie Herald: 6th Anniversary Edition

11/10 - 11/28

🌰 Hi guys! In celebration of the 6th anniversary, we’ve prepared a special newspaper just for you- uh oh! It seems like the automatic printer press didn’t complete the job correctly. Some of the words are missing!

⚙️ This is where you guys step in and do our job for us! But first, you’ll need to acquire some environmentally friendly Newspaper Fragments 🗞 and Restoring Ink 🖋

🌰 Don’t worry! Blue Lily Cookie and Millennial Tree Cookie know how to get some! Complete some missions with them and you’ll get the supplies to print your version of the newspapers. Restore an article with Newspaper Fragments 🗞to be able to read it and then finish it by adding the remaining words. Complete each article to get a small reward for your first edition!

Daily Missions

Score 300M points in a single run - 50 🖋

Score 600M -> 1B -> 1.5B points total - 50 🗞 -> 80 🖋 -> 80 🗞

Single-Use Missions

Score 600M points total - 70 🗞

🌳 Score 200M -> 500M points in a single run with Millennial Tree Cookie and Millennial Jade Deer - 70 🖋 -> 100 🖋

🌳 Score 1B -> 5B points total with Millennial Tree Cookie and Millennial Jade Deer - 100 🗞 -> 150 🗞

💙 Score 200M -> 500M points in a single run with Blue Lily Cookie and Petal Mantis - 70 🗞 -> 100 🖋

💙 Score 1B -> 5B points total with Blue Lily Cookie and Petal Mantis - 150 🖋-> 150 🗞

🔮 The most popular articles among every edition published by the community might come true in the future. How, you might ask? Intuition. Intuition and magic. And now, Chestnut. Care to show our viewers what they’ll be working with?

🌰 Sure! C’mon guys, let’s show you what we’ve got lined up this time! Let’s start off with… this one. We’ve got a series of word strips that need to be placed in each of those colored spaces. Click the word or name you want in the matching color blank, then use Restoring Ink 🖋 to finalize your decision and maybe get some commentary from me, some of the other staff, and even a few guests!

You can always change your mind at any time as long as you have the ink 🖋 to edit it. You can even use that “Share” button included to share your version of the article with your friends! Now let’s look at some other ones… wow! Friendship, challenges, and accusations! How will these stories end?!

⚙️ Who knows? Editor bets that the inflammatory article about GingerBrave’s lack of something to be determined as a leader is a direct jab at Devsisters and their “perception” of negative feedback.

⚙️ Now, look at these two. Who would YOU say is the best thief? Data shows that the best thief is the one that can steal the most while leaving behind the smallest paper trail that leads to them. Bet none of them know a Wafflebot part when they see one, ha! I already have Chili Pepper to deal with for damaging my equipment back in the Vanilla Kingdom, but if I see Roguefort- or ANYONE- in my workshop without my permission, you deal with me!

🌰 Strawberry Crepe, please calm down! Here, why not look at this one about Eggnog? It says he wants everyone to look forward to the holidays, but the preferred gift is… an item filled with something else. I wonder what it could be…?

⚙️ Probably something cheesy like gloves filled with Bear Jellies, but if Eggnog can make a pair of gloves filled with sincerity that are big enough to wear on my Crepe Arms, that might increase my holiday spirit about 24%!

Chestnut Cookie plans to distribute the newspapers on November 28th 2022, when the next round of events begins. Possibly for the holiday special, but we do know that Devsisters SERIOUSLY needs to step up their act before their consumers unleash chaos!

An official statement from someone that works on the actual game would help, but the community managers are all you’ve got for now. Their stress levels off-camera must be going through the roof from all the incoming and unnecessary negative pressure! Just know if you didn’t already know that Mic Mac and Rose don’t work on the games, they just tell you what the devs want to make known publicly! If you really wanna take a jab at the devs where it hurts, leave scathing reviews on the App Store and tell them what-

🌰 Politely, please!

⚙️ - tell them politely what YOU want them to improve on through their direct customer support feed. Don’t watch their ads, and don’t buy anything from them. Make this declaration with intent to cause financial chaos clear if you want things to change.

🌰 Wow… that’s a lot. Which past story was worse in public relations, the Invocation Cards? Or NFTs? They both sound bad, but this one could be among them in terms of negative feedback because it’s the 6th anniversary…

[cookiecrummbl]

Ianthe’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

[mel-is-genderfluid]

-Yeah....... Maybe I'm back with Crk...?

[djrockers]

randomly finding another djrocker in the wild always feels so surreal

that crk event idea sounds so fun I wish devsisters would try that...😭

video from: HyperHimes on YouTube

[multiverseofmisfits-backup]

Do Cloud Retainer, Ei, and Yae count as grandmas?

"Calling an adeptus as 'grandma'? Hmph! One finds it preposterous!"

"I never recall anyone referring to me as a grandmother." Was that supposed to be disrespectful?

"Oh my. Do I have wrinkles that you think I'm a grandma?"

[pandorasworkshop]

🐇Welcome to Wonderland- Pick a Card

Who from Alice in wonderland do you embody? And what's something good about you.

Pandorasworkshop

Pile 1 Pile 2 Pile 3

Pile 1

Cards: the muses, the trout and lilly of the valley, the hare, three of cups and the sun

Character: white rabbit, door mouse, the march hare

Reading: You know how to have fun but I feel as if there is a little bit of social anxiety. May be a bit sleepy and have a pure heart. You genuinely mean well for your friends and are a go with the flow type of person. Creative talents and self expression is important to you. You are a good learner and work hard you should slow down sometimes when you feel stressed. I feel like you may be pretty like a bunny. With the sun card people view you as honest and bright. You may have a bit of a sweet tooth or have a signature drink you always drink. With the hare card I feel like you are a messenger and may warn people about things they need to know. You are smart and know how to get yourself out of a sticky situation. Rewrite any doubts about yourself.

Signs: 113, white rabbits or any rabbits for that matter, the feeling you have been forgetting something, card games, tweed fabric, academic style, vampire movies, peonies and white roses, the chess cookies that are square.

Pile 2

Cards: the storyteller, the sailor, coyote and datura, the moth and eucalyptus, the fool and six of cups

Character: Cheshire cat, the caterpillar, and Alice

Reading: You are a great storyteller and may get into a bit of mischief. You have a lot of wisdom that comes from living life and feel like people don't give you enough credit for that. You may be a little bit of a rebel but you know how to throw a party and get into fun. You may smoke or drink and if you don't you may be an avid tea drinker. You always know something before others do and have keen sixth sense and great observations skills. You may be neurodivergent or think a little differently about life than others. You have a child-like sense of humor and find things to laugh at. Joyous to be around. You are always down for something new and consistency may be a problem for you. You like to experiment in your tastes whether it's style, food and anything in between. You like to go to new places and experience life for all the nice things it has. You are curious about life and like to learn new things. Maybe school wasn't for you.

Signs: 444, blue butterfly, cats, fur coats, swords, beautiful crystals, responsibilities, feeling bored, caviar or any other types of fancy fish, silver jewelry, mushrooms.

Pile 3

Cards: the tailor, the herald, the horse and blue bells, beaver and birch, king of cups, queen of wands, ten of wands

Characters: mad hatter and queen of hearts

Reading: You are a hard worker and leader. Both of these characters lead. You may feel burnt out and need to rest. You are a person of many talents and skills. You are humble about yourself and may be a bit of a queen bee unknowingly. You have great fashion sense and are responsible. You may have struggled with depression. You are a survivor and have a lot of strength in you. Many people would say you feel like home and you are good at comforting your friends. No one knows what your next move is and you keep people on your toes. You'll always land on your feet like a cat. People feel safe around you and you have a lot of advice to share. I feel like you need to rest. You deserve a proper vacation or spa day. Whatever will make you happiest. Remember you come first.

Signs: 1111, red wine, apples, learning to accept help, those warm knitted blankets, satin, the color red, community, dahlias, the game Alice madness returns, violin and piano, spirited away.

[teaboot]

Your post about art vs content got me thinking about the differences between the two. To me there is no difference besides the mindsets. One is of creator and the enjoyer, the other is content and consumer it removes the personhood, the joy/emotion, from the equation. Like a writer or video creator may not see their work as art so content creator maybe a way to refer to themselves comfortably but it sounds so machine, emotionless and lifeless, like a cookie cutter recipe mass producing something verses people lovingly crafting something...then again Disney uses a cookie cutter recipe for the most part and it brings out bangers cause people lovingly make it their own so maybe I'm thinking too hard on this

Does my long-winded rant make sense?

see, I get what you mean, but I still feel like the willingness to entertain calling art of any kind "content" reduces it to the facet of consumption where in reality, the experience of consuming art is not the sole defining trait of it.

Reducing arts like music, writing, painting, dance, voice acting, theater, etc. to the role of "content"- a thing created to be consumed, measured and valued by how pleasant or easy it is to digest- I feel that it was our biggest red flag to herald the incoming tide of AI "art".

Because if art is "content", if arts are nothing but consumable matter, then obviously the key to success is to produce as much soft, tasty, edible paste as we possibly can at the lowest possible expense.

It's the same issue I have with "meal replacements", diet culture, nutrient slurries, twenty-step skincare routines, 24/7 body padding and shapewear and laxative teas and "grind culture". It's not a cause, but a symptom, of the disease that is late-stage capitalism.

Things must be produced at low cost and remain in high demand forever. Things must be perfect and palatable and the new hit trend forever. People must pay hand over fist to consume without asking anything in return, and if they start dropping like flies at the unending unrewarded thankless demand of it all, then that must be treated as a weakness. We should all take pride in how much we can spend, pay, give, produce, and think as little as possible about what we ask for ourselves.

So, who cares if, of two identical paintings, one was made by a person and one was made by a computer program? It's the same work, so what does it matter? What does it matter?

I am an artist. I make art. I ask a question, make a statement, declare something horrific or challenging or upsetting or wrong or grotesque, and when you respond, we are together experiencing a conversation. We are existing, two people living one life and reaching out and touching across time and space. No matter the work, you're at the barest minimum saying, "I'm alive, and you're alive, and at one time or another we shared this same world, and at the end of the day we aren't too terribly different. My heart is worth sharing, and your heart is worth the struggle of understanding."

An AI-generated piece, a computer-generated voice, a CGI puppet of someone long since dead and gone, they cannot speak. They have no voice. Ay best, they are the most chewable, consumable, landlord-beige common denominator possible that you can sit and listen to like the lone survivor of a shipwreck listening to the same three songs on a broken record, and at worst, they're the uncaring vomit of an empty, unloving, value-addled hack wearing the skin of someone I know over their own.

When you abandon art to say that you make content, that should not be a point of pride. That's an embarrassment. That's not sitting down for an intelligent discussion with an equal, that's kneeling at the feet of the crowd and saying, "what do you want to see me do? I can be anyone you've ever loved. I can be them, I can be anyone, as long as you love me."

I can make content. I can be consumed. What do you want to consume? I'll make myself consumable. I'll make myself just like anything you like. And I'll make so much of it that you'll never have to go anywhere else, because it'll all be right here, and under all the cut-and-paste schlock you've seen before I will sit alone in the dark and the silence and I will know that I am safe, because I am valued, because I am desired, and I need to be desired or else I am worthless like a factory that no longer churns out steel or a hen that no longer lays eggs or a cow that is too old to make milk.

Content, the most literal meaning, is something which is contained inside a container. What it is doesn't really matter, and the best it can hope to be is something worthy of being scooped out and used.

Art is an experience that transcends value. Art is something you can eat without paying for. You can make it out of anything and anyone can do it. It can be crude and vulgar and bad, and that's a strength because it means something. It always, always means something, and it doesn't matter if you like it or not. It's not content because it doesn't fill anything. It's a living, breathing thing, and whether you want to birth it or eat it, then you're going to have to be willing to put the fucking work in

[greenwitchcrafts]

December 2023 witch guide

Full moon: December 26th

New moon: December 12th

Sabbats: Yule December 21st-January 1st

December Cold Moon

Known as: Drift Clearing Moon, Frost Exploding Tree Moon, Moon of the Popping Trees, Hoar Frost Moon, Snow Moon, Winter, Aerra Geola, Maker Moon, Heilagmanoth, Long Night's Moon, Oak Moon, Wintermonat, Moon of the Long Night, Little Spirit Moon, Wolf Moon & When the Deer Shed Their Antlers Moon

Element: Fire

Zodiac: Sagittarius & Capricorn

Nature spirits: Snow, Storm, & Winter Tree faeries

Deities: Athena, Fates, Hades, Hathor, Hecate, Ixchel, Minerva, Neith, Norns, Osiris & Persephone

Animals: Bear, deer, horse & mouse

Birds: Robin, rook & snowy owl

Trees: Fir, Holly & Pine

Herbs: Bay, cedar, chamomile, cinnamon, English ivy, evergreen, fir, frankincense, holly, mistletoe, myrrh, pine & sage

Flowers: Christmas catus, holly & poinsettia

Scents: Cedar, cinnamon, frankincense, ginger, lilac, myrrh, nutmeg, patchouli, pine, rose geranium, rosemary, saffron, violet & wintergreen

Stones: Bloodstone, blue topaz, cat's eye, garnet, jacinth, obsidian, peridot, turquoise, zircon, ruby & serpentine

Colors: Black, blood red, gold, green, red, silver, black & white

Energy: Alchemy, darkness, endurance, death & re-birth, higher education, publications, reaching out to others, religion, spiritual paths, travel & truth

Today, December’s full Moon is most commonly known as the Cold Moon—a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year, when cold weather truly begins to grip us.

This full Moon has also been called the Long Night Moon (Mohican), as it rises during the “longest” nights of the year, near the December winter solstice. This name is doubly fitting because December’s full Moon shines above the horizon for a more extended period than most full Moons.

In Europe, ancient pagans called the December full Moon the “Moon Before Yule,” in honor of the Yuletide festival celebrating the return of the sun heralded by winter solstice.

Yule

Also known as: Alban, Arthan & Winter Solstice

Season: Winter

Symbols: Baskets of clove studded fruit, Christmas catus,  decorated evergreen trees, evergreen boughs, gifts, gold pillar candles, hung mistletoe, poinsettias, wreaths & Yule logs/small Yule log with three candles

Colors: Gold, green, orange, red, silver, white &yellow

Oils/incense: Bayberry, cedar, cinnamon, frankincense. Myrrh & pine

Animals: Bear, boar, deer (stag), pig, squirrel & tiger

Birds: Eagle, goose, kingfisher, lapwing, owl robin & wren

Stones: Bloodstone, garnet, ruby, alexandrite, blue topaz,  cat's eye, citrine, clear quartz, diamond, emerald, green tourmaline, jet, kunzite & pearl

Foods: Caraway cakes, cookies, eggnog, fruits, ginger tea, nuts, pork, spiced cider, turkey, wassail & lamb's wool (ale,  sugar, nutmeg & roasted apples)

Herbs/plants: Bay, bayberry, birch, blessed thistle, cedar, chestnut, cinnamon, evergreens, fir, frankincense, ginger, holly, ivy, juniper, mistletoe, moss, myrrh, oak, pine, rosemary, sage, valerian & yellow cedar

Flowers: Chamomile, poinsettia & yarrow

Goddesses: Alcyone, Aphrodite, Ameratasu, Bona Dea, Brighid, Cailleach Bheur, Demeter, Diana, Fortuna, Frau Holle, Frau Perchta, Frigga, Gaia, Hel, Great Mother, Idunn, Isis, Ishtar, Kolyada, La Befana, Maat & Tiamat

Gods: Apollo, Attis, Balder, Bragi, Dionysus, Divine Child, Green Man, Helios, Holly King, Horned one, Horus, Janus, Lord of Misrule, Lugh, Mabon, Marduk, Mithras, Odin, Ra, Saturn & Surya

Issues Intentions & Powers: Darkness, divination, light, messages/omens, purification, rebirth/renewal & transformation

Spellwork: Earth magick, happiness, harmony, love & peace

Activities:

• Set up & decorate a Yule altar

• Clean, organize & cleanse before decorating your home

• Make witch's balls to hang on your tree (protective & pretty!)

• Decorate & bless & Yule tree

• Stay awake until dawn to observe the cycles of nature

• Give gifts tomyour family & friends

• Donate your time or helpful items to charity

• Go caroling

• Hang mistletoe in your doorways

• Make Wassail

• Prepare a Yule Log

• Host a Yule feast

• Craft your own decorative wreath

• Decorate your house with Yule colored candles

• Welcome the Sun

• Go on nature walks & leave offerings to nature

• Meditate & reflect on the passing year

“Yule” comes from Old English geol, which shares a history with the equivalent word from Old Norse, jól. Both these words referred to a midwinter festival centered around the winter solstice, which traditionally marked the halfway point of the winter season. After the solstice—the shortest day of the year—the days again begin to grow longer, so it’s thought that Yule was a celebration of the re-appearance of the Sun &the fertile land’s rebirth. 

The celebration of Yule is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. Ancient people were hunters & spent most of their time outdoors. The seasons & weather played a significant part in their lives. The customs and traditions associated with it vary widely.

Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to the��Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the heathen Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht ("Mothers' Night")

Some believe it marks the rebirth of the Sun (the God) from the Earth (the Goddess) & the cold days of winter will soon begin to wane. The Goddess is seen in her virgin Maiden aspect

In towns and cities throughout Sweden during the Christmas season, large goats are constructed out of straw. It is thought that the tradition originated in ancient times, perhaps as a tribute to the god Thor, who was said to ride in a chariot pulled by goats. In Sweden the goat came to be associated with the Christmas celebration, and the Yule goat is now considered by many to be a companion or counterpart to Santa Claus.

Related festivals:

Christmas- An annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ as the son of God, primarily observed on December 25th

Hanukkah- A Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem & subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE.

Hanukkah is observed for eight nights & days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabrum with nine branches, commonly called a menorah or hanukkiah. 

Kwanzaa- An annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1st, culminating in a communal feast called Karamu, usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West & Southeast Africa. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966. 

A Kwanzaa ceremony may include drumming and musical selections, libations, a reading of the African Pledge & the Principles of Blackness, reflection on the Pan-African colors, a discussion of the African principle of the day or a chapter in African history, a candle-lighting ritual, artistic performance & finally, a feast of faith (Karamu Ya Imani).

Saturnalia-

is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar & later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum & a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying & a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted & masters provided table service for their slaves as it was seen as a time of liberty for both slaves and freedmen alike.

 A common custom was the election of a "King of the Saturnalia", who gave orders to people, which were followed & presided over the merrymaking. The gifts exchanged were usually gag gifts or small figurines made of wax or pottery known as sigillaria. The poet Catullus called it "the best of days".

Other celebrations:

Feast of Epona-

Eponalia is the feast day of Gaulish Goddess Epona, the Divine Mare & in the time of the Roman Empire it was celebrated on December 18th.

Epona is known to be one of a very few Gaulish deities whose names were spread to the rest of the Roman Empire. This seems to have happened because Roman cavalry units stationed in Gaul followed Her & adopted her as their Patroness. This may have started because many of the cavalry troops were conscripted from Gaul as they were superb horsemen. From Gaul the Romans took Epona with them including to Rome where She was given her own feast day on the 18 December. They worshipped her as Epona Augusta or Epona Regina & invoked her on behalf of the Emperor. She even had a shrine in the barracks of the Imperial Bodyguard.

Hunting of the Wren-

A traditional custom carried out on the Isle of Man on the 26 December, St. Stephen's Day. It consists of groups of people going around villages and towns singing and dancing a traditional song and dance around a decorated wren pole.

The earliest and most common folklore story accounting for the origin of hunt the wren tells of a fairy/enchantress/witch whose beauty lures the men of the Isle of Man to harm, for which she is chased and is changed into the form of a wren. It is therefore in punishment for her actions that the wren is hunted on St. Stephen's Day

Sources:

Farmersalmanac.com

Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines

A Witch's Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs

Llewellyn's 2023 magical almanac: practical magic for everyday living

Wikipedia

Encyclopedia Britannica

[breelandwalker]

Flower Moon - May 22-23, 2024

Ready your gathering baskets and your best shoes for traipsing, witches - it’s time to greet the Flower Moon!

Flower Moon

The Flower Moon gives us the fulfillment of the first flush of the Pink Moon, with fragrant blossoms greeting us at every turn and heralding the merry month of May. The floral name for this particular cycle is shared by a number of indigenous nations, include the Algonquin, Anishnaabe, and Dakota. Other names include Budding Moon and Frog Moon (Cree), Planting Moon (Dakota and Lakota), and the Moon of Mulberry (Choctaw).

European names for this moon include Milk Moon (Anglo-Saxon) and Hare Moon (Celtic, allegedly). Some modern pagan circles also call it the Grass Moon as well, since the flourishing of grasslands is more common in some areas than the appearance of flowers.

This full moon peaks during daylight hours in the Western Hemisphere (around 9:53am EDT), so the moon may appear to be full on both the nights of the 22nd and 23rd.

What Does It Mean For Witches?

As we pass the spring rites and move toward the summer season, it’s the perfect time to celebrate your growth and the ways in which you want to flourish. This is the season for romance and love, and not just that which comes when we put on flower crowns and go a-Maying. This is a time to love ourselves as much as each other, to celebrate our bonds, and to be reminded of our own beauty and strength. Remember the things you love about yourself and consciously take a moment to remind your loved ones how much you care for them.

It is also a time to celebrate fertility, be it animal, vegetable, mineral, or spiritual. Put new plans into action, start that project you’ve been meaning to do, embark on that new hobby or activity you wanted to try. If you have a long-term goal or a big project, now is the time to outline your path to completion and plan how to direct your energy so you don’t burn out halfway through. Don’t hold back - break through the walls of imposter syndrome and anxiety, indulge in your creative urges, and let your inspiration soar. What you choose to plant and nurture now determines what you will harvest later in the year. And above all, remember to have FUN!

What Witchy Things Can We Do?

If you’ve been feeling the urge to do some flower-related magic, now is the perfect time! Familiarize yourself with the wildflowers in your area and if possible, maybe grab your basket and scissors and go on a foraging trip. Remember to properly identify flowers before picking them, don’t overharvest, and don’t take anything from private property without permission or from national parks full stop. You can press the flowers with a notebook and something flat and heavy, or you can dry them in hanging bunches, in a cardboard tray, or in a low-temp oven for later use.

This is also a good opportunity to get your hands in the dirt and connect with the land where you live. If there are plants in your care, take a little time to do some pruning and watering. Check them for spring pests and treat where needed. Give them some love - talk to them, sing to them, encourage them to grow tall and strong and abundant. Bless them as you tend their plots and reaffirm your commitment to be a good caretaker.

As an exercise, try making flower crowns, garlands, bouquets, wreaths, or centerpieces using plant correspondences, flower language, or color magic for a desired effect. This can be done with real flowers or silk ones, depending on how long you want to keep them around. Try your hand at making flower water with roses or other blooms - it makes a wonderful base for moon water!

Experiment with recipes for dishes and drinks that use edible flowers too! Whether it’s color-changing butterfly peaflower tea, sweet and peppery nasturtium, adorable pressed pansy shortbread cookies, or the tried-and-true comforts of chamomile, flowers have many tasty secrets to offer. Don’t be afraid to add botanicals to your health and beauty routine as well! (Just make sure nothing’s going to negatively interact with your meds or irritate a pre-existing condition. Safety first!)

Whether you do so with your near-and-dear, your witchy circle, or by yourself, celebrate everything that blooms - including you!

Happy Flower Moon, witches! 🌕🌼

Further Reading:

Additional Lunar Calendar posts by Bree NicGarran

Flower Moon: Full Moon in May 2024, The Old Farmer’s Almanac

Moonrise and Moonset Calculator, The Old Farmer’s Almanac

Flower Meanings: Symbolism of Flowers, Herbs, and More Plants, The Old Farmer’s Almanac

Floriography, the Language of Flowers, AllFlorists.co.uk

Flower Power: Flower Moon Spiritual Meaning and Stunning Magic, The Peculiar Brunette

How to Dry Flowers 5 Ways, MasterClass, June 7, 2021

DIY Floral Water or Hydrosol, Patti Estep, Hearth and Vine, July 4, 2021

17 Edible Flower Recipes, Better Homes and Gardens, March 8, 2022

Everyday Moon Magic: Spells & Rituals for Abundant Living, Dorothy Morrison

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

[theanonymousninja247]

Settled

This is a little somethin somethin inspired after this post by @mrabubu. Happy Really Late Birthday?

ANyHoO please listen to this song to set the mood

”So that's what I want to give them, as many forms of softness as I can.

Because everyone should have a little softness in their lives.

Including you, anon-chan.

And even if it has to be secret, even if it's just between you and four walls, I hope you do find some time to be soft.” ~ @luckycharms1701

Cookies and Cream Rating: 16+ and up please 🙏🏼

Settled

One of the things you don’t think you would ever get used to about living in these underground bunkers was just how cold it could get.

A constant temp of 50 something degrees in the summer. Or well…what used to be called summer. With the Kraang invasion and what not, the stupid aliens messed with your seasons in their attempt to make the Earth atmosphere more like their heralded “Dimension X.”

It wasn’t the only thing the stupid pink buggers had messed with besides the obvious glaring fact that they were attempting mass Earthen genocide and planetary colonization and what not.

No, the Kraang had a nasty habit of being unfairly unpredictable. Which made sense because they were, you know, aLiEnS. Aliens who had no need of following humans preferred sense of having at least SOME semblance of structure. 

That unpredictability was causing its fair share of grief across the entire Resistance. Aliens, you had decided, had certainly lost their “awe factor”  the minute they started to decimate the planet and permanently engrain “Raph Chasms” on every single face you passed.

A heavy disgruntled sigh escaped you at that thought, one face in particular coming to your concerned mind. A face who’s brow was often furrowed with the weight of said Kraang unpredictability.

One face that you had not seen all day even though he had promised to come to bed earlier just once he had finished planning for an upcoming Kraag ambush he was leading. 

He had promised you that. 7. Hours. Ago. 

You hated that that had become his norm of late. Granted, you knew that he had always struggled with insomnia, but usually if you smiled at him just right and caught him sitting down, you could get him to snuggle in close and at least take a nap. 

Now though? You weren’t sure the last time you had even seen him with his eyes closed for more than a minute or two. It was almost to the point that his sleep hours were rivaling Donnie’s due to how miniscule and spaced out they were. It was starting to worry you. Even more so than usual. 

You let out a soft hum of thought at that and shifted your feet in the direction of where you had left him last. Looks like desperate times really did call for desperate measures.

So with a plan of action once again set into play, you just shook your head wearily, tightened the worn blanket around your shoulders as your shield against the chilly bunker air, and marched off to find your stubbornly still awake man.  

After wandering the ever puzzling interlocking halls and bunkers, you finally found him exactly where you had left him: stone faced with that ever deepening Raph Chasm on his brow with his gaze hyper-focused on the paperwork laid out in a heap in front of him.

His hand anxiously rubbed his chin, one that you had absently noticed that he had grown into rather nicely through out the years. While he forever seemed to face each day with his “devil may care” kind of attitude, you could see the way his eyes constantly flicked around. His movements only emphasizing the fact as he seemed more…agitated than usual, lacking that oh so signature lithe agility that always seemed to accompany him. 

You stepped up to the doorway frame, a small frown pursing your lips as you watched him mutter to himself, pacing around the table in thought as though his nerves would never let him settle. Resting your shoulder against the frame of the doorway as a support, you wrapped the blanket more snugly around your shoulders, pulling the fabric in a slowly tightening fist as you watched Leo with an ever deepening “Raph Chasm” of your own. 

Ever vigilante, always watching, ever the ninja lying in wait. It was only in these small private moments when you could see the facade of bravado fall and the religiously clandestine truth finally rise to the surface. 

It was a truth. A statement of unchanging fact that was never to be eroded with time.

Leo never settled.

He really was never one to stay still. A line used from an old videogame you used to play, would often come to mind when you watched him pace like this: “The Endless Spirit of Timeless Unrest” or however it went.

Part of you wondered if this…ansgty unrest… was because he genuinely cared for these missions. Or if it was more of some desperate attempt to try and redeem himself for what he considered was his unforgivable sin.

Yes, Leo never settled. 

Well…at least until now. 

You smirked softly at that thought and adjusted in the doorway, taking a step forward as you softly called out.

“Leo.”

Hm. Nothing.

“Leo.”

Still nada. He had moved at least, this time his hands coming to brace either side of the table as he all but hunched over the strategy plans like some geriatric gargoyle. 

“Leonardo Hamato.”

Interesting. Even the full name had no response. Leo must really have been in the zone if not even the full seven syllables could grasp his attention. This was more serious than you thought. Looks like it was time to pull out the big guns.

“Oh Husband~...”

Leo’s head shot up at the gentle croon of your voice with a speed that you could have sworn would have popped a blood vessel, his eyes immediately zoning in on you in the doorway.

He snapped to attention, immediately stretching to his full height as his body went tense at the perceived danger at the sound of your voice. Your eyes immediately followed the movement, watching as the body of intimidation, the weapon of the “Greatest Ninja in the World” literally rose in front of you.

You would never breathe a word of it, never in a million years, but such a look directed at you from Leo always made you feel like a chicken being circled by a fox.

Something of a dance of death, a toying tease as you awaited with baited breath for the inevitable strike. It was only for a moment, it was always only just for a moment, but it admittedly would make you freeze, have your stomach clenching, at the intense look in his eye.

You knew Leo would never hurt you. Well, at least not until recognition flicked across his gaze. 

He just stared at you with that ever impenetrable gaze before shifting into his more familiar dastardly delicious, one sided, smirk that forever seemed plastered onto his face. Except this time, the smirk was a little bit more sheepish, looking the picture of a naughty child with their hand stuck in the proverbial cookie jar. 

Leo was caught. You knew it. He knew it. And he knew that now you were here, there was no chance of getting out of it. 

So Leo did what Leo always does, turned on that signature “Face Man Charm”  to try and slip out of trouble. In a voice that just happened to be a little bit lower and perchance a hint more sensual than normal, Leo all but purred out, ”Oh hey~ Didn’t see you there. What’s up?”

Your eyebrow quirked up at the sound of the attempted burr in his voice, and you couldn’t help but shake your head with an amused roll of your eyes. Keeping the blanket wrapped snugly around your shoulders, you pushed yourself off from the door frame and sauntered forward till you reached Leo’s side. Placing one hand on your hip, you looked up at him with a soft smirk and quipped off a dry reply, “Obviously. What’s up is you apparently. Do you have any idea how late it is?”

Leo blinked owlishly at you for a moment before he let out a very confident, “Uhhhhh…n-no?” 

The flat look you shot at him at his very convincing reply, had him wincing slightly. Your arms came up to fold exasperatedly around you with a small cock of your hip. Leo’s eyes flicked to your body with the motion, and he wouldn't meet your eye, choosing to instead shoot you another sheepish smile and nervously rub the back of his neck. When he saw that you were not having it, Leo’s smile dropped, and he held both of his hands up placating with a heavy sigh.

“Look, you don’t even need to say anything. I know. I know I promised, I’m sorry Love, but I just really need to have this all hammered out before-”

“Abepbep, let me stop you right there, Cowboy.”  

You didn’t even let Leo finish before you raised a hand to cut him off, pressing your fingers against his lips. The motion obviously surprised Leo, all with the face touching, being a red-eared-slider and what not, effectively shutting him up for the time being. You tried to bite back a smirk at the thought of using Leo’s own biological behaviors against him to assert dominance in the moment, but hey, desperate times called for desperate measures and whatever. 

You looked up at him and slowly shook your head, letting out a sad chuckle as you reached out to gently slide your hand over his cheek, down his arm until you could finally capture his hand. Maintaining eye contact with him, you slowly curled his hand into a fist and held it snugly over yours. Slowly raising it up so you could press a soft kiss to the back of his knuckles, murmuring softly into the cool skin.

“Boy, you are just as bad as Donnie. I figured if you weren’t coming to bed, I’d just bring bed to you instead.”

Now Leo was never one to lose his cool; it was something he was actually rather proud of, keeping his head in the heat of the moment and what not. But there was something about the way that you looked up at him, holding and kissing his hand like that, that got him feeling some kind of way.  

He tried to resist, he really did, but admittedly he was getting kind of tired and he maaaaay or may not be somewhat distracted by the way the blanket looked so invitingly wrapped around you and how his loose shirt was beginning to slip, showing off the delicate and smooth curve of your shoulder.

Leo cleared his throat and quickly turned his head, a muscle thumping in his jaw as he tried to hide the sudden warmth that was heating up his cheeks. He stammered out, his voice soft and apologetic as he lowered his hand with yours.

 “Look, Love, I-I can’t…”

At hearing Leo’s quiet and hesitant denial, your heart sank, and suddenly the bunker just felt that much colder. He really was serious about this, and you didn’t think anything you could say or do in the moment would change his mind. 

You continued to look up at him searchingly, his hand still being held tightly with yours as you watched with growing worry at the way his eyes creased on the side, at the hollowness found there and the furrow further deepening on his brow.

Sure, he wasn’t going to change his mind, but that didn’t mean you were going to let him keep standing on duty like this. Not if you, as a good wife, had anything to say about it. 

Shaking your head with a small huff, you reached up with your one free hand to adjust the slipping blanket, not wanting to let go of Leo with the other now that you had his attention, and took a step back tugging Leo along.

“Oh very well, you can still work, but at least come sit down. It’ll help you get a new angle at least.”

Leo stumbled slightly with the tug, blinking in surprise that you had even gotten him to move. He must have been more tired than the both of you had previously thought. But he just fondly rolled his eyes with a small sigh of his own, reaching behind him to swiftly grab his papers before you dragged him off to who knows where.

“Goodness! So bossy.”

Leo all but chortled to which you respond with a dry chuckle, playfully shooing Leo backwards until his legs hit the back of a couch that had been left in the corner of the room. Without giving him a chance to recalibrate, you all but shove him down onto said couch, and plopped down next to him to prevent any chance of escape. To further ensure your snare, you unwrapped the blanket and gently shifted it until it was resting on top of the both of y’all, effectively nestling y’all under the fabric together. 

You chuckled with a shake of you head as you pulled your legs up onto the couch and turned so you could nestle into Leo’s side with a soft smirk, gently slapping his plastron.

“Maybe, just a little but that's because your stubborn arse won't listen to anything else. Now be a good husband and put your arm around me.”

It was turn for Leo’s eyebrow ridge to raise at the slight demand, and he just chuckled softly, obliging you as he lowered his arm around your shoulders to pull you close to his plastron.

“Yes Mrs. Hamatoooo.” 

You rolled your eyes at the slight whine in his tone with a soft huff and squirmed a little to get more comfortable. To do so, and to just cover all your bases in making sure Leo was NOT going anywhere, you lazily threw your arm over Leo’s waist and snuggled in close. You nuzzled your nose against his plastron with a soft mutter as sleep began to already encroach on the corners of your mind now that you were next to him.

“Well someone has to keep you humble.”

Leo looked down at you in surprise as you wrapped your arm around him, that all too familiar heat beginning to crawl up his cheeks. You really were a little Mrs. Feisty Pants weren't you? Not that he minded or anything. It was honestly one of the things he adored about you, being able to call him out like that and doing so in such a way that always made him feel like a million bucks. Still, he didn’t think he’d ever get used to you actively and consistently reaching out for him like this.

He couldn’t hold back the soft smirk that inched across his face as he saw the sleepy expression cross yours and before he had even realized he had even done it, found himself leaning down to press a soft kiss to your forehead.

“Good, I’d miss it if you ever stopped.”

You let out a small snicker at that, your nose wrinkling at the brush of his lips against your crown and reached up to cover Leo’s face with your hand, playfully pushing him away.

“Shhhhh shhh baby, it’s sleepy time.”

Leo chuckled at your pet name, and you could feel more than hear the rumble against you ear as you all but lean up against his chest. He slowly rubbed a palm up and down your blanket covered arm before leaning to press another absentminded kiss with a soft mumble.

“Naw, it’s time for you to get some sleep, Love. I still have some work to do.”

You let out a small grunt at that, your face scrunching in a small pout as you instinctively tightened your arm around his waist, your hand coming to mirror his as it slowly stroked up and down the side scutes of his plastron.

“Fiiiiiine…just…don’t stay up too late, mkay?”

Leo’s smirked softened at the obvious worry and displeasure in your tone and the feeling of affectionate tenderness grew as he watched your eyelashes flutter against your cheeks as you vainly tried to stay up. His hand continued its slow trek against your arm, and his voice dropped into a sacred whisper, not wanting you to stay up any more than you have to.

“Don’t worry Love, I won't.”

So back to work Leo went. Er…at least tried to. There was just one teeny tiiiiiny itsy bitsy wee little factor that was preventing him from doing so. 

Work. Was not working.

Leo’s brain could be described to something akin to an egg on the summer concrete the way it felt so fried. Nothing was clicking. Even the “new angle” as you so called it, was not helping in the slightest. Shell, he’d be staring at this page for so long that the words had started to swim like little black fish between his eyes. 

A hand came up to slowly drag down the length of Leo’s face accompanied with a most exhausted sigh. Yeah, he wasn’t getting anywhere with this tonight.

As if to emphasize said point, like the Universe itself was trying to grab his attention, Leo’s tympanum was caught by the subtle sound that had begun to escape from your parted lips as you all but lounged against his plastron. Leo blinked in surprise at the feeling of the heavy -laded breath that brushed across his chest before his lips curled up into a soft smirk at said sound. 

A sound that could only be described as a snore. Just a light little thing, more of a exhale of air than an actual sound. But it was the fact that you only snored when you were completely out of it.

Leo chuckled softly at the thought as he placed his paperwork onto the ground next to the couch and with his now free hand, curling a knuckle to gently knock your chin up so as to prevent you from drooling against him. It wouldn't be the first time.

Your face instantly scrunched up into a small frown at the displeasure of having something touch you in your sleep, and you instinctively raised a hand to swat against the unseen foe. Letting out a disgruntled little mumble, you shifted against Leo’s side, curling into him as if to try to hide your face against the intrusion. 

Leo’s smirk softened with fond amusement at your decidedly very grumpy face. You were always just so expressive, even in sleep, and he would never tire from trying to memorize each and every face that you would make. Even if he had to be a little turd at times to do so.

Still, you must have not minded, not really, not if you had continued to stick around like you did. Even going as far to marry this poor sap of a turtle he’d become.

He didn’t understand it, and he supposed that he never really would. Understand the fact that you could drop all walls and just fall asleep so quickly next to him without even a second thought. Mikey had said something in passing once that people only fell asleep in places where they felt safe or secure. And Leo, for the life of him, couldn’t fathom what he had done that made you feel safe enough to do so around him. 

Acting on pure instinct, Leo couldn’t help but reach up from where his hand had rested against your jaw to instead lightly trace between your brows, trying to ease the tension that had formed there with a gentle massage of his thumb. Watching with satisfaction at how with each stroke across your brow and cheek line, your eyelashes fluttered and you all but further slumped into his hand, the tension leaving you with a soft sigh.  

While your brow smoothed, Leo’s own brow furrowed, and his hand went still while cupping your cheek.

How on earth could you feel safe? How could you still reach out for him, still care about him, after everything he had done?

He was the reason that the entire world was in this mess, the reason behind every “Raph Chasm” on the faces of the people who passed by, and why you couldn’t sleep soundly anymore unless he was there. 

You and his brothers had told him repeatedly that what had happened wasn’t his fault, that there were more pieces at play then he could have ever handled. Despite all the reassurances, all the never ending support and dedication, it was in these still quiet moments, Leo found himself being haunted by the shadows of his own consuming demons. 

This was his fault.

All of this was his fault. 

And yet despite this, despite all the destruction and heartache his stupid stupid pride and self ego had caused, you still wanted him. You still could stand to even be in his presence, to still care and call him friend.

Enough so that you had…you wanted…you asked if he wanted…would be willing to create a future with you.

Leo’s breath hitched softly at the thought as he looked down at you, curled up so tightly against him, sleeping peacefully at his side like everything was right in the world now that you were close to him.

The realization that THAT is what you felt about him made his hand begin to tremble slightly against your skin. 

Not wanting the chance of his shaky hand to disturb your slumber, Leo quickly slid his hand from your face, back to cup your shoulder instead, thoughts of any previous failures or work fading away the instant he could feel the warmth of your body through the blanket underneath his hand, grounding him instantly into the present.

Feeling that warmth, that comforting and grounding weight, Leo suddenly decided that while you were close sitting by his side like this, you weren’t close enough.

He wanted more, wanted more of you. 

Moving ever so carefully, only as a well seasoned ninja could, Leo gently wrapped both of his arms around the back of your shoulders as he slowly fell backwards onto the couch, pulling you in tow until you were resting on top of him, laying flush upon his plastron.

The sudden shift of positions had you stirring from sleep, causing you to let out a soft questioning hum as your head blearily raised from Leo’s chest. 

Leo acted instinctively not wanting you to awake and to possibly see the unbidden moisture that had begun to form in his eyes, his hand coming up to cradle the back of your head and gently push it back down to strategically rest against above his heart. 

“Shhh shh, it's just me Love, just me. I’m finally going to get some sleep now. You ok with being my weighted blanket for a little bit eh?” 

Not waiting or really wanting a response, Leo’s hand came up to gently card his fingers through your hair in long smooth strokes, hoping to soothe you back into sleep. He watched with satisfaction as your eyes began to flutter close again and you let out a soft appreciative hum, resting more heavily against him into his hand. He couldn’t help but smirk softly at the feeling. Everybody had their happy spots, he supposed.

Leo could understand why. He knew that you tried your very best to take care of you tresses as best as one could during an alien invasion. But what he didn’t know was what woman magic you wielded here during the apocalypse that still made your hair silky smooth as it was. It was so soft. You were so soft.

His hand absentmindedly ran over the curve of your back and shoulders, always amazed at the slight give of your skin against the pressure of his hand. It made him think of how you were always giving, in every way you could. To him, to the rest of the Resistance, to every single soul who had the privilege of coming into contact with you. Such softness and warmth couldn’t be contained, to the point that it was engraved upon every inch of your delicate frame. 

Being a good-for-nothing ninja turtle, who was created literally to be a weapon, a tool, Leo didnt think he'd ever get the opportunity to be soft with someone with someone like this. Have the chance to take comfort in someone else’s body and presence, or have someone take comfort in the likes of him.

And yet here you were, resting on top of him, locked within the protection of his arms, sleeping as soundly as a babe. 

It surprised him even in the beginning of y’alls relationship. It still surprised him to this day because Leo, didn’t think he deserved anything good. Not ever again.

Leo looked down at you. If it were not for the heat and the comforting weight of you on top of him, he was pretty sure that he was dreaming. But for once, it wasn't a dream. Wasn't just a passing wish. No, you were here. You were really here. And that was all that mattered. 

Cradling you closer with one arm wrapping around your shoulders, Leo pulled you protectively flush up against his plastron. His other hand coming to gently dig his fingers through your hair at the back of your head, cradling you close enough that he could press a soft kiss to the top of your head.

His lips lingering over your skin as he absentmindedly peppered slow kisses on your crown and hair at random intervals whenever the affectionate urge hit, indulging in the tenderness that only comes out in these small moments.

Leo would fight any number of Kraang, plan as many ambushes as needed, and take any and every single chance if it meant he could keep you close like this.

Maybe, just maybe. For this one moment, he could let go. Leo could believe in good things again, he could believe in life, settle down and just appreciate this little tender moment with you.

Special thanks to my Beloved L’appel du Vide and @anobodyinabog for being my beta readers!

As well as a shout out to @firefly-graphics for the beautiful dividers!

[inquisimer]

dragon age character study fic recs

I'm back with another fic rec list, this time focusing on character studies! There were so many more than five that I flagged as interesting 👀 when I was putting this together, so there's definitely a chance that this theme makes a repeat in the future.

Check these awesome fics out! And leave a comment + kudos to let the author know you did💜

Vote in this poll to help me choose a theme for next week's rec list (:

-

New Tricks by Penknife (@penknife)

Dorian Pavus & Cullen Rutherford, Josephine Montilyet & Cullen Rutherford & Leliana | G | 1968 words | No Archive Warnings Apply Author's Summary: Five times Cullen found that he didn't have to do everything the hard way. Mer's Rec: If you're into Cullen & Dorian friendship, or really any Cullen friendship, this fic will be right up your alley. Penknife does an excellent job of contrasting Dorian as a beleaguered academic (beloved) with Cullen's quieter intelligence. They also highlight Cullen as a strategist and commander, not just the "send the troops" guy, and the advisor interactions resonate with coworker friend energy, which I loved. I always adore fics that explore Cullen's habits and traits leftover from so many years as a Templar and this story seamlessly weaves in those details, which brings a real depth to both Cullen and his interactions.

Names Are Cloaks by EllanaSan

Female Adaar & Josephine Montilyet | G | 2963 words | No Archive Warnings Apply Author's Summary: They can’t have that, she supposes, the Herald of Andraste being called names behind her back… The only way the situation could have been worse is if she had been an elf. She could tell the ambassador that there are people in this very camp disrespecting her at every turn but she is far too used to it to care. They call her oxwoman. They call her witch. They call her chosen or your worship. They call her Tal-Vashoth. Names are weapons. For the bearer to hold and to wield. Names are cloaks. For the bearer to wrap themselves in and discard when outgrown. Mer's Rec: With Bioware's scant lore about Qunari and the Qun, I was impressed by how this story immersed me in Adaar's history. Tidbits from canon interwoven with fascinating-slash-heartbreaking details about the Qun, Vashoth, and Saarebas, plus her introspective musings on the past and her identity make this Adaar stand out from the cookie-cutter protagonist in the best way. I want to know more about her! From Josephine's dialogue and mannerisms to the uncertainty, fear, and alienation the Herald can experience in Haven, everything about this story feels like it could be straight out of the DAI canon.

I have outlived the night by lilith_morgana (@senseandaccountability)

Loghain Mac Tir, Minor/Background Relationships | T | 2106 words | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Author's Summary: He's five, he's eighteen, nineteen, twenty, forty-six, and fifty-five, he's fifty-six, fifty-seven and ready to die. Instead, he lives. Mer's Rec: The emotion in this fic is so palpable, so visceral, and it slaps you in the face the way careful consideration of complicated characters should. With repeated contrasts between Loghain in his youth versus his later years, the author takes us on a journey from hot-headed kid to weary veteran, and it just makes your heart ache😭 It features strong exposition on Loghain's motives, feelings, and regrets during the Fifth Blight, which I love to see since it's fairly absent from the game itself. Their portrayal of Loghain in Inquisition also felt fresh and different, including a conversation with Cullen, which is a dynamic I hadn't considered before and found incredibly interesting to read. And of course it ends on a bittersweet note, as it always does with Loghain.

To Yield Is Not Weak by disasterhawke

Alistair/Anora Mac Tir | M | 4018 words | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Author's Summary: She may not like her new husband, but Anora Theirin is not about to let the world treat him like it has treated her. She will do whatever it takes to earn his trust. This is not quite what he expects. An Anora character study that explores her arranged marriage to her husband's bastard brother. Mer's Rec: this 👏 was 👏 everything I wanted out of an Alistair/Anora fic! While I think antagonism between those two has a place, this fic explored their relationship through the lens of teaching and working together, rather than animosity. It works SO well and there was a definite give-and-take, with Anora running the show immediately post-coronation, but gradually softening her harsher edges and highlighting Alistair's strengths while they grow as rulers. Anora's internal monologue, not only about Alistair, but also Cailan and Loghain, does a fantastic job showing the humanity she usually has to hide, without diminishing her competence in the least.

when the bough breaks by gummies (orphaned)

Morrigan, Flemeth | G | 1124 words | No Archive Warnings Apply Author's Summary: In her hands, the mouse is kept still. The only movement Morrigan feels from it is the beating of its tiny heart. With her eyes closed, it almost seems that she is holding in her hands its heart alone. Tiny, vulnerable, and so stutteringly fast. It must be afraid, Morrigan muses. Something twinges in her chest. Empathy. She cannot help the flare of protectiveness inside her. For now, the mouse is hers. Plucked from the world from whence it came, tucked away and safe. She wonders if this is how Mother feels of her. Mer's Rec: What struck me most about this fic was the author's grasp of character voices. Flemeth is just as cunning and calculating as she comes across in game, but I was beyond impressed by their young!Morrigan. I could see and hear so clearly how Morrigan would get from the childlike hope she has in this story to the harsher, bitter Morrigan we meet in game. I don't even know how they did that, but it was incredible to read, even as this slice of Morrigan's childhood and her abuse at Flemeth's hands was breaking my heart.

Don't forget to get your fic and art recs lined up for tomorrow's Fan Work Friday!

[bakersstreetirregulars]

The Long Journey For Life: Part 2

🌰 Welcome back! We’ve got plenty of new stuff for you, including a 6th Anniversary edition of the Cookie Herald-

⚙️ Printer’s out of commission again!

🌰 -for you to help us put together!

🔮 Consider it a poll. The information published on the most frequently-published articles published by all players might come true somewhere in the future.

🔮 Do you wish to meet the Legends? Your chance continues here from Part 1. Millennial Tree Cookie 🌳, Dark Enchantress Cookie ♦️, and Wind Archer Cookie 💨 await beyond a series of missions with enough copies of them obtainable to upgrade them to level 6- symbolic of the 6th Anniversary-

🕰 [Drops in like the chaos enabler that she is] Missed me?! You’ll get to MEET me, Timekeeper Cookie, next week!

🔮 -pets not included. Wind Archer’s missions will gradually unlock each day, as will Timekeeper’s once her mission line opens next week. Millennial Tree and Dark Enchantress’ mission lines are completely unlocked to complete in full at your convenience.

🕯 You see the Ring of Eternal Flame? Missions at a personal level AND a guild level are available to obtain the Treasure and make it shiny! The guild missions mostly act on standard guild stuff, so you’ll see your progress if you do the regular things that make you seem active in the guild.

The mastery missions, however, require you to complete missions WITH the Ring to get your rewards, including a Special 10+1 Treasure Invocation.

⚙️ This month only, if you craft a Diamond Sugar Crystal, you’ll get another one for FREE! There’s just one thing: you’ll only get your freebie from your first 3 Diamond Sugar Crystals crafted. After that, it’s all down to you to get them elsewhere or to craft them yourself. The recipe is simple and only requires 10 Gold Sugar Crystals and 45,000 Coins to craft, but the equipment requires a whole week to cool off due to intense pressure required to craft such a crystal.

In the meantime, try crafting a few other things and get some gacha keys and a Diamond Sugar Crystal in return. These formulas are gonna be the new norm, so you better get used to it.

Speaking of gacha, for the 3rd and 6th Special pulls of a specific gacha you attempt, you’ll get one more of that Special gacha key for free! Costumes not included.

🌰 Raid Quests will help you get accustomed to the concept of Raid Run and provides a backdrop to the events regarding the pursuit of Poison Mushroom Cookie being kidnapped. They’ll last for the remainder of this season and the next one, giving you until roughly a few days before New Years to complete them all. 48 days seems like a long way off…

🕯 Unfortunately, the idea of a Treasure Trial didn’t bode well with everybody and will be sunsetted with this one last event. Keep playing and you’ll get some parting gifts before they shut it down.

Raid Run Schedule & News - Mantis Season 1: 11/10 - 11/28

🔮 Due to collateral damage caused by a dubious cake baked by Birthday Cake Cookie and Pomegranate Cookie, they have found themselves in another situation and will not be able to report to Raid Runs for the rest of this season while they find their way back. Their skill levels will be reset and their skills reworked for next season. A compensation gift awaits in your inbox for that plus a leaderboard reset.

For next season, revivals will be limited to three per raid. For now, the price of the 4th revive has been set to 999,999,999 Crystals; an impossible goal to reach for everyone involved, even the biggest of whales.

Dates change at 7:00 PM EST

🐝 Custard Queen Bee - 10/20 -> 10/23

🪵 Bamkuchen Treant - 11/10 -> 11/12, 11/23 -> 11/26

🦗 Giant Sugar Mantis - 11/12 -> 11/13, 11/19 -> 11/20, 11/26 -> 11/27

🐸 Poison Jelly Toad - 11/13 -> 11/19, 11/27 -> 11/28 (6 PM EST, season ending)

Miscellaneous News

🌰 The Flowers of Spring map in the Champions League has been rotated out for Strange Winded Grove. Doctor Wasabi Cookie has disabled her Combi Generator for a few days to get some information on the new map to provide the best results tailored to each individual player based on their levels. The Random Breakout Challenge has also rotated back to the City of the Millennial Tree.

Millennial Tree Cookie was also buffed! Here’s what the numbers look like at max level for his base ability:

❤️ Increased Energy: 330

⏳ Longer Cooldown: 31.5 Seconds

🧲 Increased radius of Magnetic Aura

🔥 Can now use Giant and Blast during ability instead of being bypassed until it ends

💨 Slower Energy Drain -> Increased Speed

🕰 Lower Time Crystal Points: 400,000

🕰 Adjusted Points for Time Shard Jellies (higher at level 15): 250,000

🌰 That’s everything we have tonight, stay tuned for an in-depth discussion of the Cookie Herald!

[orteil42]

Sorry if this is a dumb question since Cookie Clicker is notoriously browser based, BUT, is the steam version playable offline? Thanks in advance !

of course! it is a standalone application that only uses connectivity for a couple things (fetching heralds, steam achievs) and otherwise works just fine offline

[tinycheesecakedetective]

In the distant past, after the chaos and flame subsided, many creatures baked by the witches scattered across the world. Among them were the Five. Five cookies graced with Soul Jam of the purest kind...

That's how the story begins, that much hasn't changed. A group of five heroes, chosen by forces greater than themselves to protect the world of Earthbread against the forces that seek to destroy it. But the line between heroes and villains is one that can easily shift under the right circumstances.

And these five cookies, heralded and held up as saviors of cookie-kind, became nothing but agents of chaos.

~~~~~

Exchanged Fates is an alternative universe(AU) that takes the Five Ancient Heroes and switches them with their primeval predecessors, the Five Beasts. Essentially, the good guys are bad and the bad guys are good. The difference is that this AU will be using the existing traits (and speculative ones for unreleased characters) of each character rather than just switching personalities. This also provides unique and varying kingdoms, locations, and character interactions, as well as completely new characters.

Every ancient has switched with their respective beasts, meaning:

Pure Vanilla > Shadow Milk Hollyberry > Eternal Sugar Dark Cacao > Mystic Flour Golden Cheese > Burning Spice White Lily > Silent Salt

Any posts related to this project will be located under the tag #exchangedfatesau. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to ask me in my inbox or in the comment section! Your support is greatly appreciated!

~~~~~

Quick Menu

Original Concept Text Post

Concept Post #1 Concept Post #2 Concept Post #3

New Beasts

Everlasting Vanilla Cookie Baneberry Cookie Midnight Cacao Cookie Opulent Cheese Cookie Wilted Lily Cookie

New Ancients

Blueberry Milk Cookie Date Sugar Cookie Rice Flour Cookie Ghost Spice Cookie Fleur de Sal Cookie/Oblivion Knight Cookie

[anoddworld]

Cotton Cookie but as a Madoka Magica magical girl! I think her witch name would be Shepard ^w^

(Text in bottom right in case you can’t read it is “Magic is cotton + sheep related.”)

Thinkin about it, she probably can heal like Sayaka bc her wish was to heal someone else. Her magic comes out of her hat like Mami and her lantern is her weapon.

I came up with this after I had the thought that Sherbet and Cotton are kinda like Madoka and Homura in a way. Cotton and Homura both wanted to protect and save their best friends to the point they’d do impossible things to try and help (Cotton looking for that flower iirc, Homura making her whole wish about protecting Madoka). In the end, their attempts were futile and Sherbet and Madoka die and become some kind of powerful being (Sherbet becoming a herald of nature, Madoka the Principal of Cycles). The major difference is that, while Cotton grew up and becomes an old lady (btw old lady Cotton has my HEART) and meets her old friend again, Homura became the literal devil and separated the mortal Madoka from the goddess.

Wow that was long. Also Cream Puff would totally become a magical girl under Kyubey too. Maybe Walnut too so we have a trio?

[barnabeetheraven]

Companion Reactions to the Inquisitor waking up from a nightmare

Cassandra: When she stumbles on the Inquisitor outside, she can tell from their face that they are having a rough night. Cassandra asks them if they’d like to do some training, maybe it would help take their mind off of things; she knows that works with herself sometimes, and the two of them spar until the early morning light begins peaking over the Skyhold mountains. If Romanced: When she feels them startle beside her, she is instantly on high alert for any threat. But when she notices the Inquisitor shaking and breathing heavily, she takes a deep breath and leans over to wrap her arms around them. When the Inquisitor remarks that they dont want to go back to sleep, Cassandra gets up and grabs one of her favorite books, and they spend the rest of the night in each others arms, with Cassandra reading softly to her love.

Varric: He can tell instantly that they are having a bad night; he’s seen his fair share of that look from Hawke, Fenris, and Anders before. He starts off with some of his favorite jokes until he can see just a hint of a smile on their face, before he tells the Inquisitor that they can always come and talk to him if they need to. Not that he’s any good at doing anything about it, but hell, sometimes you just need a shoulder. Afterwards, to break the emotional tension, he has them sit down and they spend the rest of the resting hours playing Wicked Grace.

Solas: He knew even before he saw the bags under their eyes, as he had felt the intense emotions from the Inquisitor’s nightmares in his own dreams. He offers to help them with the problem, not wanting to overstep his boundaries but also wanting them to know he can help chase the nightmares away. He also makes sure to send them with a decent sleeping drought, one that is designed for dreamless sleep. He prefers not to use it, as he enjoys his nighttime adventures, but he also knows that most people cannot control their dreams as he can. If Romanced: The Inquisitor begins to notice less and less nightmares, but in each dream they see the same thing; a large, dark wolf, always at the edges of their sight, as if watching or guarding them. The Inquisitor goes to sleep at night wrapped tight in the arms of the Dread Wolf, who chases away any nightmare that might harm his Vhenan.

Sera: As she was sneaking her way across the courtyard from the kitchens, arms full of cookies and pastries she had nicked when no one was looking, she almost knocked over the Inquisitor in her hurry. After making a joke about how they look like shite, and seeing how it hit home, Sera offers to share her bounty of stolen goods, and her and the Inquisitor spend the night on the rooftop, munching their goodies and talking about all manner of silly things to take the Inquisitor’s mind off of their night. If Romanced: There are all manner of ways for her to distract the Inquisitor, late in the night hours away from prying eyes. But when she can see in the Inky’s eyes how badly they are hurting, her favorite form of love comes out; SHARED PRANKS! Skyhold spent the next two weeks being terrorized by any and all manner of joke and prank, while Sera and the Inquisitor have never looked happier or more rested.

Vivienne: She cannot help but make a comment about how terrible the Inquisitor looks, and how important appearances can be, especially when dealing with the Chantry and them being the Herald of Andraste, after all! She makes them sit down for a spa day, and sends them back to their quarters with arms full of different sleeping aids, lotions for their face and eyes, and a book that Vivienne swears will put ANYONE who reads it to sleep, because of “how unbelievably droll” it is (It might or might not end up being Swords and Shields)

Blackwall: He has his own nights like that, where you wake up and just dont want to go back to sleep for fear of the nightmare returning. He asks them if they would want to help him with the horses, as it relaxes him taking care of them, and the two spend the night brushing the horses and harts, feeding the nugs and drakes, and talking about the universe and old war stories. If Romanced: After they get done taking care of the animals, Blackwall makes a nice, roaring fire, and he starts teaching the Inquisitor how to carve and whittle, making sure to touch and brush against them as often as possible, so they know that he is always there.

Iron Bull: He has a lot of nights like that on his own, and he’s seen the Charger’s experience more than a few. He offers to buy the Inquisitor a drink, and openly talks to them about how bad his are sometimes. He and whichever of the Chargers are awake end up sitting around in a circle, playing Wicked Grace and sharing stories, until everyone is smiling and looking more content as the sun comes up. If Romanced: When he feels them shaking next to him, Iron Bull rolls over, wraps his long arms around the Inquisitor, and pulls them to him. He rocks them just like that, with their head cradled against his chest, and begins to him an old song he remembers his Tamassran singing to him when he was young, and he feels the Inquisitor slowly fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeat, feeling more at home and loved than either of them ever has.

Dorian: He scoffs jokingly, talking about how much work it is to keep their eyes looking young when they dont sleep, but he steers them to his favorite chair in the library and makes sure they get comfortable. He pulls out books left and right, criticizing or complimenting, joking and laughing until the Inquisitor falls asleep, softly dozing in the chair, and Dorian cant help but smile as he pulls up a chair of his own next to them, determined to defend the rest of his friend. If Romanced: When they wake with a start, he rubs their back, speaking comfortingly in his language, and when he gets the Inquisitor calmed down, goes and grabs a book off of the table. He cradles them against his shoulder and begins to read to them, softly stroking their hair until they fall peacefully asleep, nestled against Dorian and listening to the rise of fall of his chest.

Cole: Fear, building and building, until all that’s left is a cloud of hurt and fog of pain. He can feel the Inquisitor’s pain, so he begins softly patrolling their dreams. Sometimes he and Solas trade off, but Cole is always watching to see if he can help the Inquisitor with their stress. They dont always know when he is doing it, but Cole makes sure to give that little push every now and then to help ease the Inquisitor’s stress and anxiety, that way they can sleep easier at night.

Bonus:

Leliana: She has many of her own nightmares, and she remembers how bad the Warden’s would get, especially when they got closer to ending the Blight. She offers to get the Inquisitor whatever they need; coffee to stay awake, or tea to help with sleep. But they spend many nights taking care of the ravens, letting them take their fears and worries up into the sky as they brush and feed them. It isn’t much, but it’s a strange sort of relaxing.

Josephine: She tuts softly, mentioning how the Inquisitor has way too much on their plate, and she begins shuffling meetings and tasks, trying to only bring things to the Inquisitor’s attention if it is absolutely necessary. The hope is that if she takes more off the Inquisitor’s mind, maybe they wont have as much to stress about before they are going to bed. If Romanced: It’s hard for her, but she tries to intentionally put down her own work and cuddle with the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor finds it relaxing to run their fingers through Josephine’s hair, so every time a nightmare happens, she softly brushed her hair and lets the Inquisitor run their fingers through it, sighing softly as the vestiges of the nightmare vanish into the night.

Cullen: He has a lot of his own, especially as he is going through Lyrium withdrawals. Often, he and the Inquisitor spend many nights walking the grounds, unable to sleep, or sparring to help get their tension out. The two became good friends, where they can go to each other in the middle of the night and the other will wake instantly and get up to walk and talk with them. If Romanced: He startles when the Inquisitor flips up, but he wraps his strong arms around them and murmurs to them how they are safe, they are here with him, and nothing is going to hurt them. Over and over, he softly whispers his reassurances against their soft skin, until he can feel their shaking subside and he can get them to lay down on his chest, cradled safely in his arms.