#is the conservationist too long?

[peanutty]

guys I’m so sorry I know this is anti simblr but I’m having so much fun playing the game without constantly taking pictures and posting…… 😭

[specshroom]

hello hello, I stumbled across your writing and wanted to say how much I enjoyed “Blood In The Water” I was curious about how reader struck that deal with all the mer-creatures in the first place?! did they try to eat reader too? or did one/many have an attachment or attraction since reader grew up around that place? the whistling was soooo cool, like they were dogs trained to a command! does that mean they had struggles with communication at first? do the mer-peeps understand language or just body language? I’m full of questions 😂❤️ it was just so enthralling and love a good morally grey character! is reader struggling to make ends meet and that’s why they do this? or is it more of ‘it’s either me or them’ type scenario? OR reader is just like this is the easiest way to get money?! 👀 oml lemme stop here this is getting quite long— LOVE UR STUFF 😚

I'M SO GLAD IT INTERESTED YOU SO MUCH (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

I like to keep things up to interpretation cus I think it's more fun BUT I can answer a few of those.

- They definitely struggled at first lol. The merfolk can't speak human language and don't understand it. Humans can't speak mer-language either because it's mostly high pitched clicks and chitters. Reader figures out that the closest they can get to making sounds the merfolk understand is by whistling because it's loud and high pitched enough that they can hear it easily even through the water.

- They do share a lot of body language and mannerisms with humans (like kissing👀) so that made things easier.

- The merfolk do recognise Reader as a local and that made them more trustworthy. (Later on they marked the bottom of Readers boat so they know it's them🥺)

I wrote a little drabble to answer the "How did this happen?" question.

꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷

You sigh as you row your way out of the canal and into the open waters.

Your new patron lounges in his seat on the opposite side of the gondola, staring up at the clear blue sky. You preferred doing business at night when it's quiet, few braved these waters at night. Alas dwindling funds force you to suffer the business of the day. There's just too much comotion in the daytime, too many tourists.

Its been like this since the first rich fool "discovered" that your relatively small and unimpressive lake town actually boasts some magnificent and horrific monsters in the depths of the decievingly calm waters surrounding it. Now flocks of fools come to "test their bravery" by crossing the dangerous waters.

Conservationists and locals convinced them that hunting down the monsters in the lake would lead to environmental catastrophe and the snobs decided that it would be a better investment as a tourist attraction.

"Don't you get bored of this?"

Your patron slices the silence in half. You blink out of your thoughts, releasing the iron grip you had on your oar.

"I could give you a different job."

The well dressed man's tone is almost convincingly sympathetic. You keep your gaze locked onto the familiar waters ahead of you...until you hear the distinct sound of coins being jostled against one another. That changes things.

You hesitantly turn to where the stranger sits comfortably, grinning with pride.

"I thought so, it's always the same with you locals."

The tourist opens his money bag and takes out one gold coin. At least enough for a small meal.

"What would you do for it?"

He plays with the coin in his fingers before tossing it out of the boat and into the water. The carelessness with which he tosses his gold makes your blood run hot. Through the thick permanent fog that hangs over the waters, you can just barely see the gold coin as it sinks into the abyss and your stomach growls pitifully.

He holds out the pouch over the side of the boat, dangling it over the water.

"Would you dive for it?"

The sick thing is that you actually consider it. You stare intensely at the stupid pouch that could keep you going for a good while.

The man suddenly drops the pouch and you jump forward to catch it but he yanks it back up by the drawstring before it can touch the surface of the water. He laughs at his cruel humour and your blood reaches it's boiling point.

You don't know why it was that patron in particular that made you snap or why that bad day in particular made you finally put the knife skills your father taught you to good use.

But before either of you know it his laughter turns to bloody choking. You scramble off of him, panic clear on your face. He reaches for the knife in his neck but it's useless. His body sags over the edge of the boat and his blood mixes with the water. You watch with wide eyes as he takes his last struggled breaths.

It's silent for a while before you take your eyes off of the man Infront of you to look down at your red stained hands. You look around as if anyone could've seen your crime through the fog anyway.

After a while of just staring blankly at the still body Infront of you, you try to compose yourself and lift him off the side of the gondola. You manage to tip him over and watch his body sink down.

You stare at the corpse fading deeper into the water. Just as you ready yourself to leave the scene something rocks the gondola slightly and you fall on your ass, gripping the side of the boat.

You feel a breath on the side of your cheek and jump when you look over and see two big pitch black eyes staring at you from over the side of the boat. Your skin turns to ice, unable to move.

You hear chittering from the other side and jump again as another one peers over the furnished wood of the boat. The first one takes your frozen hand in their cold clawed hand and inspects the drying blood covering it.

They stick their tongue out and slowly lick all the way up your shaking hand, licking away at the blood as if cleansing you of your sin. The other makes a clicking sound that sounds oddly like laughter.

Once all the blood on your hand has been licked off, the creature looks up at you for a moment before disappearing below the surface once more. The other one doesn't look like it wants to go but a few clicks from the water convince it to slowly lower back into the depths.

You lean over the side of the gondola trying to get a better look at the creature before it leaves. You deflate when you don't see so much as a ripple in the water.

Suddenly, just as you were sure they weren't coming back, the same one from moments ago bursts from the water. In a second it cups your cheek and kisses you. It's hard and deep, more passionate than you'd ever had before. The creature releases you and this time before it leaves it gives a little wave with its strange webbed hand. You wave back, a little dazed, as the monster dives back into the water.

You have to sit there for a good while staring at the pouch of coin the tourist left behind and then back to the murky waters, touching your lips while contemplating what the hell just happened.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

20 minutes of my life I'll never get back. 🤦‍♂️

I must be a glutton for punishment because I actually watched Kinsey Schofield's 20 min interview w/Valentine Low. May this rant save you from making the same mistake:

Valentine Low & Kinsey Schofield just reminded me that the British press is in desperate need of a grief recovery workshop to let go of their palace manufactured PR image of Sparry, "the CONSERVATIONIST," and accept the REALITY: Sparry has ALWAYS been a member of the lost boys who never intend to grow up. He loves drugs, perverted soho house sex play pens, and living a secret lifestyle in San Francisco, CA. As we saw in the South Park Documentary, Sparry has always wanted to be left alone so he can just bang on his drums all day.

The British media needs to accept that they never knew the Sparry aka Prince Harry. Much like Fergie & Andrew: The Meghans are two (2) intellectually below average individuals who married in haste. Both their academic & professional work histories indicate that these two (2) immature adults, lack even the basic skills necessary to function in society without the help of a PR "machine" whose job is to clean up their messes and repeatedly rebrand them into more acceptable members of polite society. It's past time for Valentine Low and other UK journalists to admit that they never really knew Sparry. All their Diana goodwill should now be invested into the future of the BRF (the family of Prince William)

No amount of hoping for the best or "covering up" for Sparry's misdeeds can transform the moral rot in his character. They bought and sold the PR image manufactured by the palace. It was the paparazzi & other "undesirables" who had the misfortune of observing the REAL Sparry. They watched him mistreat drivers, security, staffers, etc long BEFORE he was seduced by MEgain.

V Low believes Sparry flew a helicopter! 😳 Come on! Too many REAL service members have spoken out about Sparry's military character and performance and there's nothing good about it.

Sparry, like his wife is also a liar and a bully. He's not intellectually bright, he never was... He even bullied his grandparents before the "spectacle," he bullied Meghan's father...we heard reports about seeking a left wing wife and his interest in living in the US----all before MEgain.

Low also thinks Sparry loves his children. Has Valentine Low ever seen the invisibles? No. He's transferred a PR image to a couple of never before seen kids and their so called father. A so-called "father" who is willing to destroy his brother's children (and the innocent children of other couples) through the spread of destructive lies, has zero interest in the REAL wellbeing of anyone's kids, least of all his own.

As for the Wife: her ability to earn a college degree as an American teenager/young adult without even the offer of an ACADEMIC scholarship means that she too is mediocre and overrated. Her university commencement program states that she was a candidate for a degree in "communications" NOT some whip smart area of study like biochemistry or engineering! 🤦‍♂️

As a university student, thanks to her dad's brother (mike), she spent a measly six (6) weeks in Argentina on an exchange program (paid by her father) until she failed an exam that would have allowed her to apply for (real) jobs in the States. An intellectual or any hard worker would have studied until she passed the test. Not Rachel Meghan Markle. If no one was willing to make an exception for her low marks, then she would whore her way up a series of ladders until she found someone dumb enough to give her a platform.

No, this is NOT a "smart" couple. This couple is a cautionary tale about how Water seeks it's own level: Sparry's mother and teachers did him a disservice, just as MEgain's father did her a disservice: SPARE the rod & SPOIL the child

Kinsey believes that MEgain is "smart" because she achieved a Duchess title. (What does this tell us about Kinsey's IQ. 🤦‍♂️😳)

MEgain became a "Duchess" because she was a professional "seductress" employeed by Markus Anderson & Soho House. Everything this couple achieves is smoke & mirrors based on TRANSACTIONAL relationships where they bully & harass anyone standing in their way.

They don't even possess good work ethics, let alone above average IQs. Please call a spade a spade (or in this case a spare a spare) and stop gaslighting the public about what Sparry could have done had he not been involved with the wife.

We watched the wife verbally abuse KP staffers over bereavement flowers and feckless Sparry stood by in AGREEMENT. Wicked queen Jezebel 2.0 and traitorous king ahab 2.0. Let them go!

[octopiys]

I've been listening to Lord Huron recently

human!John MacTavish, who grew up in the Scottish Highlands, raised by his grandma who was highly superstitious.

human!Simon Riley, who, as a young teen, moved to the highlands with his mother, and younger brother, after his father was arrested.

Neighbor!John who meets his quiet neighbor down the street, and talks his ear off on the way to schools every single day, and doesn't question the fading bruises on his new friend's skin.

Neighbor!Simon, who doesn't find John annoying in the slightest, and enjoys listening to John's stories of his grandma's wild tales of how her younger brother was apparently "snatched by the fae", or the stories of the horses that live deep beneath the waters, and seeing the little cottage down the road and feeling comfort and safety reverberate through the trees that separated the two of them.

Friend!Johnny who goes home "sick" one day after a rather nasty.... altercation between two larger students and himself, but comes back the next day, and none of those students were messing with him anymore.

Friend!Simon who, after Johnny went home, found those two kids after school and beat them senseless, the only time he's ever felt that violence was a good solution to something.

Young Simon, who goes to check up on Johnny, and sees the boy smiling through a black eye, behind a large woman who appeared as if she was going to salt him, then beat him with a wooden ladle. Luckily, Johnny boy stopped her from doing that, and introduces him and he sees the woman's eyes soften the slightest bit.

Johnny, who's house is full of wards, and hanging herbs, and salt, and cinnamon, who's known nothing else, who's friends with bugs because they're easier to talk to, befriends Simon, who comes from the suburban cities, who prefers to listen rather than speak, in a neat home, and a dreadful silence that is anything but warm.

After school, they explore the woods, and Johnny tells him more tales, of how not to step in certain areas, or follow shaking leaves, and to leave mushrooms alone. Simon believes he's never felt more at ease in these woods.

They happen across a fallen deer, who was long gone for the world, it's antlers and pale skull glinting through the muck it was covered in.

It whispers wordless sounds through lipless mouths.

Johnny calls for him to keep on the trail, and Simon gets up to follow him off.

Give me late teens Johnny, who's yelling at Simon for not telling him sooner. Give me Simon who feels guilt in the pits of his stomach for not telling his best friend sooner. But enlisting was the only thing he could see him doing with his life. He could be used for good, he could do something good with himself.

Johnny tells him he was good enough for him.

Simon leaves the next morning.

Nature conservationist!Johnny, two years later, finds Simon's mom at his doorstep. By the look on her face, she had bad news.

Simon went missing in Mexico.

Nature conservationist!John, who, for another six months, has dinner at least once a week with Simon's mum. She was from a further part of Scotland, but they understood each other well enough, and bonded over different memories of her son. It seemed to keep them both afloat.

Simon who returns after seven months.

Nature conservation officer!Johnny, who is busy trying to figure out why the red deer population is dwindling in his area. Not to mention the fact that the investigations office is on his back about missing people, and Simon comes back.

Something is wrong.

John knows what shell shock looks like. He knows what the horrors of war do to people.

This is not shell shock. This is not that.

Simon came back, but he came back wrong.

His honey eyes were muddy, and he blinked too hard. His head turned too smoothly when he responded to his name too late, like he was getting used to being called something new. The curve of his lips was off, his jaw too sharp. His kind eyes are.... the favorite part of Johnny's Simon is different.

It was unsettling. His skin prickled when he watched, the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck rising when Simon entered the room too silently.

Changeling!Ghost, who does not enter Johnny's house. Johnny doesn't know why he refuses the offer. He feels like he's being watched. He misses his friend. Obviously, his friend lives down the street, rationally, he knows that person is Simon Riley, the kid who beat up bullies, who fell fifteen feet out of a tree and got up unscathed. Simon Riley, who was afraid of scorpions and worms, who went to war and survived, and came home.

His instincts told him the opposite.

Johnny feels like he's being watched at night. He thinks he can catch whatever it is, lurking at the treeline of the woods. He sets harmless traps to catch and release, believing the creature is small.

When he finds the cage completely trampled, crumbled until it was no longer recognizable, he no longer believed this thing was small.

Nature Conservationist Officer!Johnny MacTavish who sees the creature looming from the trees, it's tall antlers tangled in muck and weeds, body slightly warped in the darkness, claws and all. It was tall, much taller than him, with scarred skin stained with the dyes of berries and dirt and clay. Moss grew off of the massive deer antlers, and the greenish eyeshine of a deer blinking from almost human eyes.

Honey colored and kind, and completely unrecognizing.

Johnny drops his flashlight in shock, the lens shattering, scaring the creature off.

Turned fae!Simon, who had no memories other than blood and war and pain, only wanted to figure out where the feeling of familiarity came from, in a world so unknown, and loud, cruel.

(this is inspired by Meet Me In The Woods by Lord Huron)

Ask box is open!

Find part 2 here

[lets-try-some-writing]

Conservationist au Speaker Soundwave gaining possibly in future new minicons? I think maybe owl and vulture because symbolism: Vultures are symbols of death, rebirth, purification, patience, protection, and new beginnings. Seeing a vulture is a sign to let go of the things that no longer serve you and embrace change. Vultures are considered a positive omen of new beginnings .Owl is the most rare spirit animal and creature. In the case you encounter an owl, the universe is giving you a sign. This animal represents wisdom, patience, solitude, deep connection, and intuitive knowledge.. (Unicron also i think could sense someone listening on them and would gift vulture minicon to Sounders as a gift and sign)

Just Soundwave settling in at first just to hunt down Megatron but later finding himself accepting his new charges and role.

Unicron: Do not spend yourself on mech who lost it all Don't waste your life on this husk that has none but forever will walk mortal coil. Focus on this chance Telepath for Fate rarely gives gifts i do so rarely too. Don't waste it

Earth: He means We see you and accept you

Moon: Live Speaker. Live and go teach next life

I like this idea, however I do not believe he would take on new minicons. At least, not permanently. Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble, Frenzy, Buzzsaw, and the rest were special to him. I doubt he could ever fully move on from them. However, I can see him serving as a teacher to minicons who have yet to find a mech will to take them in. He would foster them and teach them all he knows until the time is right to send them off.

I imagine he generally tries to keep things professional in his fostering efforts, but he still manages to have a few favorites. If he likes the vulture and owl more than the rest, then that will follow him to his grave and remain forever unconfirmed. His work as a foster and teacher is merely his way of paying rent until he can find Megatron. That's it. Just because he turns up to social events and eagerly listens to the Titan when spoken to doesn't mean he is attached.

No he absolutely would not fight for his new home. He's a Decepticon through and through. If asked, he would totally flee and abandon those he cares for and the Titan who offered him sanctuary. At least, that is what he tells himself when he catches wind of Megatron on some far off world.

On paper, his quest to find Megatron and drag him kicking and screaming back into the role of Lord of the Decepticons has not and never will change. But as time passes, the fact that Soundwave leaves Moon less and less will not be lost on the populace. Given enough time, his search will only continue in name through Soundwave's regular search through the internet for any potential sightings of his former leader. However, if one were to actually look into Soundwave's mind, it is not hard to see where his loyalties truly lie. The fact that he got a frame change to account for his new lifestyle only confirms the unspoken shift in alliance.

Moon: You don't need to stay with me, honorary Speaker. I know you long for your leader.

Soundwave: Megatron - Will be found. Soundwave - Will continue search from new post.

Moon: Why? There is no reason for you to linger here. Cybertron is restored.

Soundwave: Titan - Is secure. Makes for good base of operations. Replacement for the Nemesis.

Moon: As you say, Telepath.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Conservationists are working to reintroduce the Scottish wildcat but face a massive numerical deficit and challenge. Lessons can be learned from its near demise, such as not waiting to conserve species until its nearly too late, the Scottish Rewilding Alliance’s Richard Bunting says.

Image by Charlie Marshall via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Small cats face big threats: Reasons to save these elusive endangered species

Researcher Philip Muruthi believes the serval (Leptailurus serval) could be an ambassador for African grasslands. With the ability to jump up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) in the air, it helps control small mammal populations in its habitat. “Serval cat ecotourism is another possibility,” Muruthi says. “They can be hard to spot, but when you see one in the wild, you never forget it."

Image courtesy of Nancy Lewis/African Wildlife Foundation.

Like their big cat cousins, small cat species can have strong cultural ties to human communities. Anthony Gerardo Pino Charaja of the Andean Cat Alliance explains that in countries like Peru, the Andean cat was long closely linked spiritually to the protection of livestock such as alpacas and llamas and was also designated as a deity of water.

Image courtesy of Andean Cat Alliance.

Clouded leopards prey upon a range of species including wild pigs and ungulates, helping control forest populations.

Image by Charlie Marshall via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

[jiubilant]

ft. @zurin's character, casair

“It purports,” says the Headmaster of the Bards’ College, raising a classical brow, “to be the oldest teahouse in the City of Stone.”

“So does that one,” says the Archmage of Winterhold, nodding across the street. “And that one. And the, the one on Temple Way, remember, with all the trellises—”

“Please come in, messeri,” cries the girl sweeping the hearth, “or you’ll let out the cat—Pangur, no!”

They scramble to shut the door, of course. Then, of course, they have no choice but to let the girl take their cloaks hostage, to be ushered to the corner table with the charming brass lamp, and to murmur amused greetings at the house’s proprietor: a venerable gib-cat, puddled half-asleep by the fire, who blinks at them without moving a paw.

“Let out the cat,” mutters Viarmo when the girl—who knows her own cleverness, judging by her smile—has hurried out of earshot for their cups. He gestures with theatrical indignation to the hearth. “Beast didn’t even deign to roll over.”

He brushes his bright velvet doublet as if ridding it of fur. The Archmage smiles.

Whatever’s sprung up between them over the past month, he thinks, will likely end today. He’s leaving the City of Stone tomorrow—for his ice fortress, as Vjar’s put it. He’s missed it, his College: the blinding ice, the air that crystallizes in the lungs, the cold, clean vastness of the sea. The seals bawling at gulls. The gulls squalling at seals. His wonder-workers shuffling about with wind-flushed faces, blowing on their hands, stamping the snow from their boots in the entrance-hall.

But he’ll miss Markarth, too, against his better judgment—

“You won’t regret choosing the Juniper Tree,” chirps the girl, bustling back with teacups and tray. “They serve dishwater on Temple Way. Pilgrims can’t tell the difference, you know. Melze!”

She rattles out the teapot and an array of brimming bowls: honey, sugar-shavings, blackberries cooked in syrup. A silver ewer of warm milk. A carafe of cool water, and a carafe of hot. The Archmage watches with growing surprise and delight; Viarmo watches with amusement, rearranging the bowls when it looks as though the girl will run out of table.

“Melze?” he asks, catching a desperate teacup without turning a hair. The man is nine-tenths pomade.

“Tea in the dwarven style,” says the Archmage, smiling. A memory he’d thought lost returns to him: himself in a melzeruhn with his father and sister, holding his cup with both hands, sitting on two cushions in order to see over the table. “It was popular in Narsis when I was a scrib. You fix it up yourself. I didn’t know it ever crossed the Velothis—”

“This was a dwarven city, once,” says the girl with a dimpled smile. “It’s our house blend, messere, so it may surprise you.”

He suspects that it will. He hasn’t had melze in two hundred years.

“Let me,” he says when Viarmo reaches for the teapot to pour. Then, against his better judgment: “I ought to know by now what you like.”

Nothing ventured, he thinks a little desperately in the silence that follows. The big beringed hand pauses in the steam. Above it, Viarmo gives him a long, leonine look.

“Yes,” he concedes at last, nudging the teapot across the table. Their fingers almost brush. “Will I see you at that colloquium, come spring?”

* * *

The House of Dibella’s conservationist, after several minutes of scholarly rumination on her pen, rubs her face and looks up from her précis. The Juniper Tree is crowded this afternoon, she thinks with dry surprise; apart from herself, she counts two customers.

“Cottia,” she calls in the Reachling tongue of their mothers, reaching across the table for her cup: tart juniper tea, not the Nchuand brew that charms the lowlanders. “I’d like something else to chew on, please—”

“Bannuc!” her cousin announces, and drops a wedge of the hot, fluffy barley-cake on the conservationist’s notes. Then she drops herself into the adjacent chair, her eyes twinkling with the promise of some mischief. “Fresh from the stone. Do you think they’re rich, Casair?”

The glittering old gentlemen at the corner table, absorbed in a lively Haafing conversation about lausavísur, seem in no danger of understanding them. Casair counts their gleaming rings and raises her eyebrows. “Why?”

“They didn’t ask the price of the tea service.” Cottia grins like that cat. “Should I charge them double?”

[frisbys-artwork]

Meet Koobori & Shin

The oldest of five brothers, Koobori was an animal lover from the start, and had his parents take him to zoos almost weekly. Koobori knew he wanted to become a zoologist and conservationist the moment he watched a documentary on an animal network. He also became fascinated by bodybuilding at a young age, and committed to working out to be able to compete in shows, winning 2nd place in a show held in Bushsray at just 17 years old, and became an IFBB Pro by the age of 22, to where he continues to compete to this day when he gets the chance.

Never the type to sit still, if he wasn’t playing sports or actively with his brothers, he was always out traveling the outbacks of Kiwattle, surfing, and diving in reefs; sometimes even volunteering at schools to give wildlife shows to kids.

Shin was born with strong psychic abilities, able to sense the presence of spirits from a young age. For many years he trained as a Kannushi, and was able to banish yurei and yokai from abandoned homes with much ease. At the age of 17 he had decided to join nursing school, since he always enjoyed helping others.

Both met by pure chance. Shin was heading to school when he stopped to check out a large crowd near a convention building, when he spotted Koobori posing for fans and the cameras in all his half naked glory. When he was too shy to get any closer, Koobori practically shoved his way through the crowd to approach Shin and ask him out to the best ramen shop in the city (he described that any trophies and medals he won didn’t matter as much as wanting a date with the Ustonese guy). Shin’s Common was too broken at the time to understand what the Kiwi was saying, but he could tell by the expression alone on the muscular man that he was being asked out. Realizing he was running late, Shin agreed and handed Koobori every form of contact he had, and rushed to school.

Both now have three sons, Giallo (16), Calder (12) and Oshan (9), and expect their triplets (which Kobori promises will be their last kids).

—

Hey guys! Back at it again, and this time with my oldest couple relative to age closeness lol. Yeah, I finally drew an older couple expecting kids, but there’s a reason for that, and that’s because their oldest kid was part of a series of characters I did many, many years ago as the lead of said series. So you can say they aren’t the main characters but that doesn’t matter as I’m not really sure where I’ll head with these two at the moment. I like them a lot, but for further related context Koobori here is actually a modernized drawing of him, now with an improved style and anatomy, design, etc.

Long ago before I came out and before I did much actually characters development, most of my characters were just colorful and there for the sake of being there, so Koobori was married to a woman originally, and so I’ve pretty much decided on redoing the entire characters a new way. Koobori is now married to this guy, who’s an entirely new character, and still has the same amount of kids, only now they’re going to be designed to better suit their designs and origins, etc.

I’ll stop there for now as I want to surprise you guys later on when I get these designs more fleshed out, but I’m happy with this design on Koobori, and I like his hubby. It’s the first time I’ve drawn a fully South Asian characters and damn are they HARD to do.

Here’s the tattoo design on Shin’s shoulder and his badge ID if anyone wanted to get a closer look at them.

Lastly, here’s a comparison of the old and new Koobori. Like wow.

[cherliin]

the sims 4: elemental legacy challenge

🔥💧🪨⚡💨

note: i will add more to this challenge if i gain more ideas for other elements, and if requested, change goals around for already existing ones.

generation 1: water ˚˖𓍢ִִ໋🌊🦈˚˖𓍢ִ✧˚.🪸

you've lived your whole life underwater, told of the dangers that came from the surface. upon adulthood, your curiosity got the best of you, and you wound up washed on shore in an unfamiliar, tropical place. even stranger? you have legs!

required mods: expanded mermaids 2.0

traits: child of the ocean, vegetarian, socially awkward

aspiration: soulmate

world: sulani

goals:

your sim must be a mermaid

explore the cave in sulani

lover must be a human conservationist

gain at least 3 mermaid perks

reach level 5 mermaid rank

must make all money from diving underwater

must have a beach wedding

must try for a baby at the waterfall in sulani for your first child

have three children

generation 2: ice ❅❄️🧊✧˖°⛸️･:*:｡

your parents were always a little weird. they were secretive, often kept to themselves, and insisted that you and your siblings were different from others. but you didn't understand. when you touched water, it didn't hurt you or turn you into a fish. you moved away not long after reaching adulthood, seeking something more. that was when you discovered snow. it was just like water, but mushy and super cold. you love the cold!

required mods: figure skater career

traits: wiggly (infant), insider, adventurous

aspiration: extreme sports enthusiast

world: snowy escape

goals:

earn the adrenaline seeker lifestyle

reach level 5 in the figure skater career

have the iceproof reward trait

max out the snowboarding skill

max out the skiing skill

max out the rock climbing skill

frequently visit an indoor ice-skating rink (link) and get good at skating

have three failed relationships

one of your failed relationships should end after an engagement. during this relationship, get pregnant by woohooing at the ice cave.

generation 3: fire ⊹₊🔥⋆｡°✩

you're a pretty hot-headed person. you've actually always been rowdy, even as an infant. you're upset with your parents for splitting up and forcing you to stay in different places every week. and honestly, you're tired of the cold and the long trips to the mountains. you quite like the sanctity of being home, and you've sprouted a newfound passion for food, too.

traits: intense (infant), neat, hot-headed

aspiration: master chef / restauranteur

world: oasis springs

goals:

start cooking from a very young age and max out the cooking skill before adulthood

have the heatproof reward trait

max out the gourmet cooking skill

max out the baking skill

open your own restaurant and reach 5 stars

get married to one of your own staff members

have two children

cheat on your spouse, get caught, and divorce

remarry as an elder

generation 4: earth ˙✧˖°📷 ༘ ⋆｡˚🍀

you were the witness of...a lot of violence early in your life. you couldn't stand the sight of it. you run away from home as a teenager and decide to move into the countryside where you hope to find relaxation and start something of your own without the help of anyone else. you love plants and animals equally, and hope to build up a massive farm to call home.

traits: sensitive (infant), animal enthusiast, loves outdoors, peaceful

aspiration: freelance botanist

world: henford-on-bagley

goals:

move into a 50x40 lot in henford-on-bagley as a teenager and start from nothing

befriend birds and rabbits as you grow your farm

max out the gardening skill

raise cows, chickens, mini-goats, and llamas

adopt a large dog breed to protect your animals in the farm and always have a dog in the household

make money exclusively from farming

find love as a teenager and get married as a young adult

have four children

by the end of your life, live in a grand farmhouse and have a large greenhouse

generation 5: wind 𓇢𓆸°❀🍃⋆.ೃ࿔*:･🌪️

the farm life was never for you. you wanted to smell anything but cow poop every time you stepped outside. you wanted education, you wanted...the city! that's right, there's a city! you want to explore, and see all that the world has to offer! of course, life in the city isn't always the easiest, and you struggle to make ends meet as a young author fresh out of college...what does life have in store for you?

traits: creative, outgoing

aspiration: archaeology scholar

world: san myshuno

goals:

graduate from high school early and enroll in university to study language and literature

go out often with friends, at least twice a week

become a freelance writer and move into san myshuno upon graduating university

max out the writing skill

visit selvadorada and explore the jungle to find ruins

max out the archaeology skill

get married to a sim from selvadorada

have one child

write 10 books about your archaeology and have at least two bestsellers

generation 6: lightning .｡ﾟ🗲..｡ ⚡　ﾟ..🗲｡ﾟ🎧

your parents pampered you a lot. unfortunately for them, you have a snarky personality and absolutely live for attention. you hope to become an actress and share your talents with the entire world, and you want to be richer than anyone in your family could ever be. you always thought it was strange that your parents didn't seek the treasures of selvadorada more, so you'll make your own!

required mods: actor overhaul

traits: self-absorbed, art lover

aspiration: world-famous celebrity

world: de sol valley

goals:

max out the painting skill

max out the acting skill

to gain fame, become an actress and sell your artwork

open your own art gallery and sell your work for the highest prices possible

become a 5 star celebrity

become engaged to another 5 star celebrity but never marry

have two children with your fiancé

adopt two small dogs and name them after gemstones

live in a massive multi-million dollar mansion before your death

generation 7: aether ⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

you and your sibling never really saw your parents much. they were too busy filming television shows together and attending interviews. the nanny who raised you was a strange middle-aged woman with special abilities. you wanted to be just like her, so one day, you packed your things and snuck out of the house to follow her. that was when you discovered magic!

required mods: untamed magic is untamed

traits: loner, ambitious

aspiration: spellcraft & sorcery

world: glimmerbrook

goals:

visit the magic realm and become a spellcaster as a young adult

collect all magical artifacts

learn all spells

learn and create all potions

woohoo with one of your teachers and have a child with them

kill the teacher that parented your child using magic

upon mastering sorcery, become a medium and make money off of exorcising spirits

bring an evil spirit back to life and have a child with them

marry the spirit you resurrected

[rjzimmerman]

Good story from Yale Environment 360, without a paywall (I think), about beavers, public land, wildfires, endangered species, the largest beaver dam in the world, the degradation of that land and the large pond behind the dam due to the tar sands mining activity in the vicinity. In other words, a microcosm of all the bad stuff and good stuff intersecting in one place in Canada. Excerpt from this story:

Wood Buffalo National Park, the largest national park in Canada, covers an area the size of Switzerland and stretches from Northern Alberta into the Northwest Territories. Only one road enters it from Alberta, and one from the NWT. If not for people observing it from airplanes and helicopters, and satellites photographing it, little would be known about big parts of it. The park is a variety of landscapes — boreal swamps, fens, bogs, black spruce forests, salt flats, gypsum karst, permafrost islands, and prairies that extend the continent’s central plains to their northern limit. The wood buffalo in the park’s name are bison related to the Great Plains bison. In this remoteness, the buffalo descend from the original population, and the wolves that prey on them are also the wild originals. Millions of birds summer and breed here. The park holds one of the last remaining breeding grounds of the whooping crane.

Other superlatives and near-superlatives: the delta in the park’s southeast where the Peace River and the Athabasca River come together is one of the largest freshwater deltas in the world; last summer, some of Canada’s largest forest fires burned in the park and around it; and — just inside the park’s southern border — is the largest beaver dam in the world.

The dam is about a half-mile long and in the shape of an arc made of connected arcs, like a recurve bow. The media has known about it for 16 years, and in that time no bigger beaver dam has come to light, so it’s still known as the biggest, and scientists believe it almost certainly is. Animal technology created it, but human technology revealed it.

Many of the beavers that have reestablished themselves globally are descended from beavers that were planted by wildlife biologists. The thriving beaver population of Tierra del Fuego (another place Thie has studied) is descended from beavers brought to Argentina from Canada’s Saskatchewan River, who are themselves scions of beavers transplanted from upstate New York. No reintroduction of beavers was done in Wood Buffalo Park. Thie believes that the beavers who built the dam are of original stock. Like the wood buffalo and the wolves, they were too remote to be wiped out.

The park is suffering the worst drought in its history. Flows are down by half in many places, owing to climate change, water diversion, poor seasonal snowpack, and dams on the Peace River, upstream in British Columbia. A danger that seems inescapable comes from the oil sands that are being mined for crude-oil-containing bitumen, and from tailing ponds that hold trillions of liters of mine-contaminated water. The ponds are near the banks of the Athabasca River, just upstream from the park boundary. They are fatal to birds that land on them. Given the direction that water flows, conservationists and native people fear the tailings will pollute the park eventually. Toxic chemicals have already been found in McClelland Lake, just southeast of the park. Locals stopped taking their drinking water from the lake years ago.

Gillian Chow-Fraser, the boreal program manager for the Northern Alberta chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, in Edmonton, travels in the park often by helicopter, canoe, and foot. She has described the park’s environment as “super degraded.” When I spoke with her by phone not long ago, she talked about a recent tailing basin leak that was not reported to the First Nations downstream of it for nine months. In places that used to flood regularly but now don’t, the land is drying out and vegetation disappearing. Though she crisscrosses the park, she has never seen the world’s largest beaver dam, but she’s grateful that it’s there and bringing the park attention.

[dreamywakes]

Betting on Betta: A Bachelorette Challenge

Hi Everyone! I'm not dead I promise. Work life has just caused me to take a break from games in general. In order to get back into the game I want to play a basic legacy without any rules. The only problem... I really don't feel like making a spouse for my founder. Soo why not have some fun with it and attempt a bachelorette challenge?

Introducing Betta Lace:

Growing up in Sulani was a blast for Betta. How could it not have been? Everything she loved surrounded her: warm sand, calm waves, clear water, and pretty shells. There was only one issue. Being a Lace comes with a lot of responsibility. Ever wonder why the island waters are always so calm? The Lace's have lived in Sulani for ages. Hundreds of years ago they were gifted with the ability to speak and see the islands spirits. For generations they have calmed angry spirits. By following their spirit guides every word the Lace's have saved the island and it's locals from many threats. Sulani locals like to call them The Guardians. Betta's thoughts on this? Well to put it simply, she hates it. Betta and her siblings were treated like glass. Public schooling? No way, we can't have risk anything bad happening to a Guardian. Home schooling was seen as the safest way to learn. Being a Lace has left Betta with little social life. It's hard to make real friends when everyone sees you as an idol. Finding love? Betta could only dream of it. She has tried in the past. However, it's hard to find love when people expect an idealized version of you. That's why Betta decided to be the next Bachelorette. She wants to find someone who will love her as she is.

About Betta:

25 years old

She/Her

Pansexual

The youngest of three

Free-spirited

Hopeless romantic

Has only had one long-term relationship that ended very badly

Quit her job as a life guard to come on the show

Hopes to find a job as a Conservationist after finding love.

Made accessories out of shells when she was a kid.

Spent four years away from Sulani when she went to college which made her never want to leave again.

Not the closest with her family. They find her to be too irresponsible.

Contestant Guidelines:

Berry Sims Only- I tend to get bored when my sims aren't nice and colorful. No specific colors for this one so have fun.

Young Adults Only- The winner will hopefully go on to found a legacy with Betta. I want them to live happily for as long as possible.

All genders Allowed- Betta is Pan.

Occults are Welcomed- I love occults and so does Betta. You can even get creative with CC to make something different if you'd like.

Custom Content? Go Crazy- Well maybe not too crazy. I'm not going to put a limit on CC just be aware that we may not see all of your sim's outfits (like cold weather or athletic for example).

Fashion? Be sure to give your sim a nice formal, everyday, and date outfit at least.

Backstory and Details- Please give us a backstory and some facts to get to know your contestants better. It doesn't have to be extremely long I just want to know who they are.

No Skills Allowed- There will be challenges in this bachelorette and I don't want anyone to have the upper hand. Traits that may affect skills are allowed obviously.

No Romantic Traits- Once again I just don't want anyone to have the upper hand. Describing your sim as romantic is fine. We're just trying to eliminate any major advantages.

No Contestant Limit- at the moment. This could change later!

Comment Below to Reserve a Spot- Just to make sure I know you're making a sim. I don't have a deadline in mind and I don't want to end submissions when someone is still making a sim.

Be sure to make a post with your sims details so I can repost them for everyone to see.

DM me with your sims files when you are done.

Pack Limitations? Please note that I do not own Horse Ranch, For Rent, Outdoor Retreat, Dine Out, Jungle Adventure, Journey to Batuu, Dream Home Decorator, My Wedding Stories, Most stuff packs, All Kits.

Stuff Packs I do own include- Paranormal, Cool Kitchen, Movie Hangout, and My First Pet (yes I downloaded it for free)

Accepting Contestants Now!

Current Contestants:

Reserved by @dragonplumbobs

Reserved by @invisiblequeen

Reserved by @justmeeeeeeks

Reserved by @theworstsimblr

-Reserved by @prettyprettyplumbobs

-

-

No deadline yet

[amazingmsme]

Blue Halo

AN: Making up for lost time, 3 fics in a day eat my ass. Jkjk, these fics are so much fun, it’s just a lot, especially when I let myself get carried away like this. But y’all are about to go hog wild, because here’s another lee!simon fic, dare I say better than the first? Idk man, today’s prompt is unusual spot & the whole head portal thing just screams ticklish scalp to me.

Fionna stared at the back of Simon's head, still trying to wrap her mind around it. It felt weird when she leapt from the portal and found herself staring at an old man laying face down.

Since entering his world, she hasn't had much time to dwell on it. Now that they seemed to be in a relatively safe world, her mind began to wander off to places she hadn't had the time to dwell on.

"I can feel you staring," Simon said, looking over his shoulder at her. She panicked and looked away, causing him to chuckle softly. "You'll get them too ya know."

"Wha-?"

"Gray hairs. It's what you're staring at, right?"

"Oh no! I wasn't staring at that!" she assured, but Simon rolled his eyes fondly.

"Really, it's okay. I know I'm old as dirt. You start going gray, that's just life," he explained casually. Fionna snorted in amusement and shoved his shoulder playfully.

"You don't have to explain the concept of aging Simon!" she teased. "I was just thinking... About home, and where we came from..." she trailed off, staring at the back of his head. Simon connected the dots.

"Oh..." He looked away, a small frown on his face as he thought of a way he could comfort her. "Well, once we get me a new crown, then you can go home and everything will be okay," he offered a soft smile, one which she returned.

"Yeah, I'm just a little worried about going back in," she mused aloud. Simon cocked his head curiously, so she elaborated. "I mean, you're head's only so big, and my hips are definitely bigger," she joked.

He snorted in amusement, "Oh please, you made it out just fine! I think all this craziness is just gunking up your head and making you nervous. I promise, I'll get you and Cake home safe and sound," he said, patting her shoulder.

"I guess I'm still just, confused about it all. And curious," she shrugged.

"Well... you're welcomed to rummage around the ol' noggin; see if there's any remnants of the portal hiding behind my hair," he offered.

"Really? You wouldn't mind?" she asked, sitting down behind him.

"Not a bit. I'm honestly a little curious about what's back there myself." Fionna started carding her hands through Simon's hair and he let out a chuckle. "I wonder if this is how Jane Goodall felt," joked aloud.

"Who?" Fionna asked, not understanding the joke at all. His short lived laughter trailed off with a sigh.

"Oh, never mind. Just a scientist from a long time ago." His voice sounded dejected and forlorn, reminiscing on a time long since past. Fionna frowned to herself at the change of mood.

"What did she study?"

"She was a great conservationists and anthropologist who studied primates. She even got to live with them for awhile," he explained.

"Whoa, that sounds pretty cool," she said and Simon agreed. She continued parting his hair, looking for any sign of the portal.

"Well, your scalp's pretty pale, but I don't know if that has to do with- wait!" she cut herself off, shoving his hair away excitedly, in doing so shoving his head down abruptly. Simon let out a quiet oof and braced himself on the floor.

"What- what is it?" he asked nervously, craning his neck to see despite knowing it was a fruitless effort.

"Oh, it's nothing bad!" she was quick to assure. "I think." Or maybe not... "It's just, I think your skin might be blue." Simon felt himself relax.

"Don't scare me like that Fionna! I thought it was something serious!"

"Blue skin isn't serious?" she asked, voice soft and concerned. Simon leaned back to look at her.

"Well, I was Ice King for a really long time, and he had blue skin," he reasoned. "So it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. You said you followed a sparkly blue portal?" She nodded, and he continued. "See, that explains it. No need to worry," he reached back, patting her hand to put her at ease.

She hummed, not fully trusting the explanation but deciding not to dwell. "Whatever you say," she said skeptically. "Man, your hair's soft. What shampoo do you use?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, I don't know, Marcy picked it out for me. But it's the conditioner that makes it soft,” he gently corrected. Suddenly his calm demeanor took a left turn when he arched his back, shoulders shooting up to his ears as he shrieked, a full body shiver overtaking his body.

He jumped away from the sensation, landing in the soft ground and spinning around to face Fionna. He he had a hand slapped over the back of his head, rubbing furiously. His eyes were wide and he was… blushing?

Fionna pointed at him accusingly, “I knew it was a bad omen! And you just tried to shrug it off!”

Simon shook his head, “What? No! No, it’s fine, I guess the portal just made my scalp a little… sensitive is all,” he grumbled, arms crossed as he adverted his gaze to the ground.

“Well that doesn’t sound good. And you hit your head pretty hard when you fell down those stairs at Prismo’s,” she pointed out, brows furrowed with concern.

“Oh, well I-“

“Let me just make sure you aren’t hurt, okay? If it really is blue it could be bruising.” Simon had to admit she had a point. Hesitantly, he sat back down, though much stiffer and guarded than before. Fionna playfully punched his arm.

“Relax dude, I’m not gonna hurt you!”

Simon rubbed his sore shoulder. “You just did,” he teased, though the smile on his face let her know he was only kidding.

“Oh shut up,” she mock scolded, parting his hair to try and get a decent look at his scalp. She hadn’t cut her nails in a while and they grazed the tender skin beneath his hair and she noticed how Simon’s shoulders hitched up towards his ears and a startled gasp escape him. She immediately pulled away, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

Simon was quick to put her mind at ease, especially with her growing guilt over hurting others. “It’s fine, you didn’t hurt me. Like I said it’s just, um, sensitive,” he said vaguely.

“Huh?” Fionna gave him a puzzled look before connecting the dots, confusion morphing into an ecstatic grin. Simon felt his stomach drop. “Oh. Ooooh! You mean sensitive as in ticklish! This is great!” she exclaimed, plopping herself way too close to him in his opinion.

“N-now wait a second!” he tried to protest, yelping when Fionna grabbed him in a headlock. Not strong enough to choke or hurt, but he certainly wasn’t going anywhere. Uh oh.

“No way! You had me all worried for no reason! And you’ve been a sad sack o’ taters this whole time! So I think it’s about time you cut loose,” she decided, lightly scratching against the back of his head. Now that she wasn’t holding back, it was so much worse than before. He snorted, biting his lip to contain any more unwanted sounds. Soft snickers managed to slip past the barrier despite his best efforts.

“Oho man, this is hilarious! Who even knew scalps could be ticklish! I gotta try this out on Gary when I get home!” she rambled as she continued tickling.

Simon was halfway in her lap from her ambushed attack, his legs kicking and scrambling against the ground for purchase. Her nonchalant enthusiasm was more flustering than he thought it would be and he covered his red face to hide from the teasing. What else was he supposed to do? Her hold made it so that he couldn’t even reach her hands to stop her. Though in second thought, maybe that was a good thing: she’d probably go after his armpits and then he’d really be in trouble.

“Fihihionnahaha! Lehet mehehe gohoho!” he whined, unleashing the hoard of giggles that had been trapped in his chest for far too long. The sound was bright and high pitched, and so unlike the Simon she knew.

“Aaawww, you have, like, the cutest laugh ever!” she cooed, causing him to blush even more.

“Whahat? Ihihi dohoho nohohot!” he denied, shrieking when she started scratching closer to his hairline. His giggles grew faster and more breathy, snorting loudly when she traced a circle in the center of his head.

“I don’t know dude, have you ever heard yourself? Pretty fuckin’ cute,” she teased, then thought back on her own words, an idea forming in her mind. “Wait, where’s my phone?”

Even while giggling hysterically, Simon tried to be helpful. “Ca-Cahahake!”

“Ugh, she has it!” she groaned, still scribbling anywhere that warranted a reaction. She leaned her head back and yelled, “CAKE! I NEED MY PHONE!”

In the distance, she could just barely make out a Cake-colored shape. The shape responded, “I’M BUSY!”

“IT’S MY PHONE! I NEED IT FOR PROOF THAT SIMON CAN LAUGH!” she yelled. That seemingly got the cat’s attention.

A leg stretched all the way over to them, followed shortly by the rest of Cake. “Now this I GOTTA see- oh wow, you weren’t kiddin’,” she said once she made her way to them, clutching the phone to her chest. She chuckled to herself as she walked up to them, getting up in Simon’s face as she filmed them before Fionna pushed her back with a giggle of her own.

“Cake, that’s too close!”

“Hey, I’m a director! Y’all just keep doin’ what you’re doin’,” she said, trying to decide on the best angle for the video.

“Cahahake, hehelp mehehe!” he pleaded, reaching an arm out for her.

She looked up to the sky in thought, “Hmmm, no. I’m Fionna’s cat, not yours,” she sassed, fangs peaking out behind her smirk.

Simon shrieked when she found the weak spot behind his ears, his laughter reaching a new pitch. Once he started hiccuping through his giggles, Fionna decided to grant him mercy.

“Welp! Think it’s safe to say that you’re in tip top shape!” she chirped, patting his arm as he laid on the ground wheezing. He held up a thumbs up.

He composed himself enough to sit up, playfully glaring at the two of them. “That was the worst. You’re the worst.”

“Naaah, I play with my friends like that all the time, and you took it like a champ,” she complimented, smirking at the way he flushed at her words.

“Wha- you had me in a headlock!” he defended himself, throwing his arms in the air for dramatics. Cake couldn’t help herself and stretched over to tweak his sides. He yelped and curled in on himself, falling onto his side. They all laughed.

“You coulda tapped out,” Fionna taunted smugly. Simon was dusting himself off and fixed his glasses.

“Well if I knew that, I would’ve,” he said curtly.

“Bet next time you won’t,” she challenged, hands on her hips. He froze, balking for an answer before a calm, almost smug expression found it’s way on his face.

“Well, I’m an old man Fionna. I’m sure I’ll forget by then.”

[wordsinhaled]

okay. okay. this would be like, 300% tragic pining behavior from hob, and also not to be that person who creates an OC, but. but i can’t get it out of my brain now, so...

i’m thinking about how dream left his coat and his hat and his gloves behind in 1889, and i mean, of course hob keeps the clothes. of course he does. but what if. what if hob starts picking up men to bring home who look kind of sort of enough like his stranger if the candlelight hits them right, and asking them to wear dream’s clothes??? (and, of course, keeping them in as pristine condition as possible, in between)

and like, the men hob takes home are a bit confused by hob’s level of Intensity and Specificity about this request (act like you've known me for five hundred years, but don't speak much; act haughty and aloof, but if i ever mention us being friends, don't deny it)—but hob's really easy on the eyes and they’re being paid handsomely, and hob has a posh london townhouse, and most of the time, what hob is paying them to do is mainly to sit and drink wine and have dinner with him while he talks—so they don’t really ask questions about whatever illusion he's trying to maintain

half the time he doesn’t even take them to bed, and then afterwards he lets them stay the rest of the night and have breakfast the next day before they have to leave, so it's a bit of a sweet deal really

maybe hob's reputation as oddly eccentric and generous in his tastes almost starts to precede him, and so when he goes looking for someone he gets approached himself

sometimes hob cries into his wine glass and they don't really know what to make of that

and maybe there's one person in particular hob stumbles upon who looks quite a bit like his stranger (even though no one can be an exact likeness, otherworldly as dream is), and he also has a nice voice, and hob's breath catches and his heart clenches and he, basically, acts a fool about it

he makes love to this man. touches him with shaking hands. this man's never been touched like this by anyone before, so reverent, and he maybe falls a bit in love with hob that night, you know??? they have breakfast in bed together the next day. hob looks like he's seen a ghost the entire time but also a bit like some part of him is actually home for the first time in months. before the man leaves hob asks for his name and finds out it's aidan (and isn't it nice to get the name of a lover when asked, and some part of hob heals from that, too)

and like, maybe he seeks aidan out again, and a third time, and they become regular lovers and they actually Properly get to know each other, and then they fall in love and aidan comes to live with him. aidan has known from the first that there's someone else out there for hob, but he understands and hob is after all easy to fall in love with. hob is growing and changing and becoming softer and more compassionate during this time of his life. aidan helps him let go of some of his old hurts. hob doesn't love aidan the way he loves dream but then, he won't ever love anyone else the way he loves dream, and that's alright. aidan becomes one of the great loves of hob's many lifetimes in his own way, in a way hob had never expected

in the modern day, he still has the coat and the hat and the gloves but he holds onto them now until such time as dream comes back to get them, and he paid a historical clothing conservationist to restore them

years later, after aidan is long gone, and dream and hob are reconciled and kindling a relationship, dream is nosing around hob's living room (as he does; we know dream loves to look at people's photographs and pick up on their dreams). and maybe he comes across some letters hob and aidan had written back and forth to each other. he doesn't even read them (he respects hob's privacy), but just by touching them lightly he can tell the letters are steeped in this great wholesome sort of love and also in all of hob's wistfulness that he'd felt during that time. he can tell from them that aidan had been good to hob, good for hob, but also all the dreams hob had had, wrapped up in that relationship, and what it had meant to him

of course the letters sparks a conversation, because dream is Nosy Like That. it's a secret hob has held onto, that he used to ask people to wear dream's clothing in the 1890s, and i can't decide if he'd be dead embarrassed to ever tell dream, or perhaps he'd be unapologetic about it; after all, he's hob gadling. either way they have a Talk (or maybe several), and the secret comes out, as well as the fact that hob still has dream's coat and hat and gloves perfectly preserved in his house, and hob is like, "god, you must think i'm absolutely mental," but dream hasn't said a single word of judgment, he's just Looking at him, very intently

and all this culminates in dream offering to have them reenact that night in 1889 in the dreaming and have it go a different way. it's in the dreaming, so they can wear the same clothes they wore, the night can feel, and begin, exactly the same way. except this time, when hob offers dream his friendship, he accepts it. and this time, when hob leans in to kiss him, dream kisses him back. and this time, hob gets to ask dream back to his townhouse the way he'd wanted to back then, and take those clothes off of dream, and lay him out in his bed and make love to him the way he'd always wanted to, and it's a gorgeous experience for both of them really

hob wakes up the next morning from this dream, feeling like a new person because this healed something in him, and dream is lying stretched out on top of hob's covers next to him, watching him softly as he wakes, and dream asks, "was it all that you wanted?"

"yes," hob says, and he's grinning so big his face hurts, "thank you"—if he says it a little soppily, well, no one's there to hear it but dream, right?

"it is i who should be thanking you," dream says, very seriously. "it was everything i wanted as well, all this time."

and... it's very cathartic and also very hot and they love each other a stupid amount, the end

[hepbaestus]

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when but I know we'll meet again… some sunny day. - 07/05/24

1.4k words|vhs tape night au stardew valley au|TW's apply|ao3 link|

TW: referenced car accident, character death

Fit had been in Pelican Town for twenty years and so much had changed; going from a single father of one to a married man with two kids to a married man with three kids. So much of his life had changed from what it was before and a car crash is what breaks him.

Fic underneath read more

Fit knelt on the wet ground, it was a rare rainy summer’s day. His three kids, now having grown up in Pelican Town, stood behind him. Ramón had become a mechanical engineer and lived in Zuzu City. Rosa was studying to become an astronomer and was the town’s conservationist, a newer role delegated by Mayor Lewis later in his life before having passed. Richarlyson had also stayed in Pelican Town, working from home; he'd continued his passion in the arts with a focus on murals. Fit and Pac had never been prouder of their kids, each of them having known what they wanted to do from a fairly young age. They hadn’t been like that, Fit having spent years in the Joja Mart Corporation and Pac having gone through many jobs in such a short time before becoming an engineer.

Footsteps could be heard on the brick town square not far from where Fit and his kids were. A hand landed on Fit’s shoulder as they shook because of his sobs. Fit’s sobs carried faintly in the wind, having finally been given enough privacy to freely cry.

“Come on Pai, Pa wouldn’t want you to be sad.” Richarlyson speaks, having stepped closer to his dad to comfort him.

“Let’s go home, yeah?” Rosa asks, not wanting to stand in the rain any longer, missing the warmth and comfort of the farm. Ramón nods, when Fit looks back at his kids, with them all in various stages of grief like himself.

“Yes. Let’s head home,” Fit stands, before placing a kiss on the marble headstone with his husband’s name carved into it and a rose on the ground, “tchau Pac. See you big boy.” He tugs the cream overshirt that he was wearing closer to his body. It had been Pac’s and he had worn it the first time that they had met at the Flower Dance Festival, he’d worn it to try and feel closer to him, hoping that it’d feel like Pac was giving him a hug.

They walked back to the farm slowly, with the rain picking up as they all mentally recounted fond memories about their life when their Pai was still around. They saw him in the flowers growing in the patch of grass behind Jodi’s old house, broken bricks of the Stardrop Saloon from a too aggressive game of gridball. Everywhere they looked, a memory of Pac would come to the front of their minds, missing him dearly.

They head to Pac’s tinkering room upon arriving home. It was the one room that Pac had spent the most time in, tinkering with both his and Richarlyson’s prosthetic legs, wanting to improve them himself instead of paying an extortionate price to have it done in Zuzu City. On his main workbench lay a half-complete prosthetic arm clearly meant for Fit. It had some wires sticking out clearly still a work in progress but just seeing it on the table had Fit crying once more. He hadn’t known of Pac’s project, he assumed that it was meant to be a surprise for their anniversary.

Fit leaves the room, feeling too overcome with emotions at the sight of the metal arm. He’d been complaining about his current arm, it having not felt right on the fleshy part of his remaining arm for a while. His kids did not fault him, they’d been together for almost 25 years before Pac had passed, it was a long time to be with someone only to have them taken away in a car accident coming back from Zuzu City. They left the room, heading into the living room when they heard the main bedroom’s door close shut.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

They’d sat in the living room for an hour before Ramón remembered that they had some old VHS tapes that their dads had recorded stuff on. Richarlyson and Rosa stay seated as they see their brother rifle through the floor to ceiling tall shelves completely stacked of VHS tapes.

“Found them!” Ramón rejoices momentarily before passing them over to his siblings. They’d never watched them before but they knew the contents of a few of them. They were classic home videos of their parent’s wedding, bringing Rosa home for the first time and miscellaneous videos of the three growing up. The videos were all titled and had their corresponding date next to it on white tape over the label.

“Are we gonna watch some of these?” Rosa asked from her seated position on the floor, surrounded by small piles of the video tapes, all sorted by the year they were filmed. She holds one out to Ramón who had stayed standing for when a video was chosen.

“Feels only right, seeing Pai again.” Ramón spoke, resettling himself in his spot on the sofa. A spot that he’d chosen from the first moment that they had the sofa when Pac and Richarlyson had moved in.

The colours are muted, camerawork shaky and some parts slightly distorted from how old it was but the video plays their parents' autumnal wedding. Both were dressed to the nines, in full sleek black suits with a red rose in their chest pocket. Little Ramón and Richarlyson walk behind the pair before splitting at the altar to stand with their birth dad. Vows were spoken, with Ramón and Richarlyson bringing out the rings when called for. It was a small wedding, only close friends having come. Despite that, it had been a beautiful wedding, with people celebrating their parent's relationship. The video stutters during the kiss and then the camera cuts abruptly, signalling to the young adults that whoever had filmed it had stopped recording.

“I’d forgotten how happy they were that day. It was the only day that week that hadn’t rained so everything was quickly put together by the other townsfolk.” Ramón mentioned, a far away look on his face, clearly remembering the day fondly. The other two hum in agreement, Rosa hadn’t been there so this was the first time she’d actually seen footage of the wedding.

“Next one!” Rosa grabbed a random tape, this one titled ‘Ramón Day 3’ and switched it out before sitting back down once more.

This video was much darker, clearly filmed at night with candles lit to lighten up the shot. In the centre was a young Ramón and, by the looks of the farm, they had just moved in. Ramón sat up on the sofa, not being able to recall this being filmed when a voice, their Dad’s started to speak,

“Look at him. My beautiful baby boy. He’s just sitting there and a firefly just flew past. He’s never seen one before. I’m glad we moved here.” They can hear Fit’s smile in his voice. They’re so distracted by seeing young Ramón on tape mesmerised by fireflies that they don’t hear the main bedroom’s door open and their Dad’s footsteps to the living room.

“I remember filming that. We’d barely settled in and Ramón couldn’t sleep so we sat in the garden and looked at the stars.” The three young adults jump, seeing their dad lean against the wall wearing their Pai’s signature blue hoodie before shifting about to make a spot for him on the sofa where he joins them but not before giving them each a kiss. He kisses Ramón on the forehead, Richarlyson on the top of his head and Rosa on the cheek. It’d been a tradition that he’d started as he’d gotten older, wanting to show his appreciation for his kids when he wasn’t as physically able anymore.

“You know, those you’ve got there aren’t even all of the videos we filmed. There are more in your Pai and I’s room,” Fit speaks before halting momentarily, having forgotten that Pac was no longer with them, “let’s watch some more, eh?”

They spend the rest of the night watching videos of their childhood, of their parent’s relationship, of times simpler than that of their future, of times when their Pai was still with them. Eyes slowly began to droop, each one falling asleep where they sat. Fit was the last to fall asleep, eyes almost staying shut any time he blinked.

“Boa noite Pac, te amo big boy.” Fit spoke to the sky, hoping somewhere Pac heard him, before letting sleep finally take over. 

Just before his eyelids dropped for the last time that night, he could’ve sworn he heard a quiet, “boa noite Fitchie.”

[imreadydollparts]

So, we all know that I’ve been experimenting with getting rid of Mattel’s nasty head glue for years, now, and have settled on L.A.’s Totally Awesome in the US as my go-to product (CIF brand cleansers seem to work, too).

Here’s a link to a post with an overview and some other links:  https://www.tumblr.com/imreadydollparts/708236837686214656/mattel-head-glue

I don’t have the patience to dig up all of the reference links but over time a chemist on a Russian forum did some chemical analysis on the glue, discovered it’s either 1 part of a 2-part epoxy, or was mis-mixed so that it could never set, and suggested Xylene as a cleanser to remove it.

Xylene isn’t a very friendly chemical (though a paint thinner that is xylene based is often recommended for deflocking MLP without messing up their paint) and an art conservationist decided to try a friendlier surfactant called Triton X 114 which works on similar things as Xylene.

Triton X 114, when just a few drops are worked into gluey doll hair like shampoo (you must rub, friction is key, and add a little water) obliterated the glue. Glue gone. No glue left other than a little tackiness at the roots, which makes sense because the hair is so dense, there.

It can be purchased here:  https://museumservicescorporation.com/products/triton-x-114-1-pint

You want gloves.

Now, I don’t have a lot of glue headed dolls left. I sold them all because I didn’t feel like dealing with it, but I did get a little tube of Triton to test out because Totally Awesome treats glue head AND can deflock a My Little Pony without damaging her paint, and in the same vein of thought as Xylene to Triton, I hoped that Triton would work on G1 flocking glue, too! Having a single chemical that could strip flocking glue without hurting the factory paint would be really nice! T.A. does a decent job of it but I do often have to get out some acetone for thicker globs of glue.

I also dug up an old Venus McFlytrap head that had never been treated and a Goldie Locks head which I had used in a T.A. experiment some time back which was still gluey.

Well....... I have hard water, and we discovered that Triton doesn’t work nearly as effectively in hard water.

This is the same problem I have with products like Goo Gone. Goo Gone can dissolve the head glue, but I can NOT wash the Goo Gone out no matter how long I scrub with how much soap, because I have hard water.

After washing both Venus and Blondie were still rather sticky.

I did manege to grab a jug of distilled water, though, and it made a huge difference. Even with gloves on I could feel the surface texture of their hair change as the glue was washed away.

Very nice.

I did deliberately rub off Venus’s flocking (don’t worry it was already damaged) so I could clearly see how the glue was affected by Triton X. It was not.

Regardless of what purity of water I used, Triton does not do anything to MLP flocking glue and cannot be used to deflock a pony. Boiling hot water knocks the flocking off well enough and also gave me a good view of Triton’s effect on the glue. No effect, just like Venus.

I used a little acetone here so you can see that the yellowing is the glue which didn’t come off.

So.

Is Triton X 114 better at removing Mattel head glue than L.A.’s Totally Awesome?

The end results are about the same. You get clean hair that might be sticky still in denser areas.

-

Washing the hair with Triton doesn’t affect the glue remaining inside the head unless you get some inside the head and let it sit for a while. It’s kind of a pain to get out, again. You will have so many bubbles.

Again, the end result is the same as with a long soak with Totally Awesome. The glue that remains will have formed a crust on the outside of any chunks, and loose globs will come out or be easier to manually remove because the outer layer is no longer sticky.

-

Triton is faster at removing glue from the hair by a long shot. You might have to shampoo and rinse two or three times, but that’s still much faster than soaking for days to weeks in T.A.

-

You need a lot less Triton to treat a doll head than T.A. since you’re using a drop or two per head instead of having to fill a cup with cleanser and then change it now and then.

-

Triton is less effective in hard water which might mean needing more washes and taking longer/more water to rinse, whereas T.A. doesn’t lose any efficacy in hard water and is very easy to rinse.

Distilled water greatly improves Triton’s efficacy and ease of rinsing.

-

T.A. will strip off flocking glue and Triton won’t. If you’re trying to clean up a doll head with flocking do NOT touch the flocking while the head is wet or it will come off regardless.

-

T.A. will dissolve rubber bands (been so happy that works...) and plastic hair ties and Triton doesn’t.

-

T.A. is kind of stinky and Triton is scent-free.

So, honestly, neither is better at getting head glue out of Mattel doll heads, but both work.

If you enjoy the process of washing doll hair, don’t have the patience to wait, or maybe you can’t leave cups of concentrated cleanser laying around because you have kids/pets, you might want to go with Triton.

If you want a more hands-off, passive experience with removing head glue or don’t have time to stand around washing doll hair, Totally Awesome might be the best option for you.

Personally, I think both are pretty great and I’m just happy that there is something out there that works.

I am disappointed that it didn’t work for flocking, though. It would be very nice to be able to rub a nice soap into flocking and have that glue all just go away without taking the paint with it, wouldn’t it?

[ginger-lime]

Will Wood (and the Tapeworms) Songs as Ride the Cyclone Characters!

Recently decided to wade through Will Wood's discography more and I think some of the songs by the 30-something year old dude really embody them

How this half asleep rant will work:

[Character]: [Song(s)]

Explanation of why song is chosen

"Certain excerpts from the song I think embody the goober chosen"

Note: all songs wils be linked when they're written (mostly as youtube lyric videos), also this will probably be very long

Ocean O'Connell Rosenburg: The Main Character

Local ‘gifted kid’ teenager has yet to find out that the world doesn't revolve around her and stepping on anyone who doesn't fit in with her isn’t okay, more at 7

"I mean, imagine if protagonists just died in the first scene"

"I loot plot armor from NPC’s / Well, they are to me"

Noel Gruber: Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Mary Bell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally

This song (in my opinion) is really the embodiment of Noel's character. attempting to fit in, being told to "tone it down" by his mother until eventually arriving in the afterlife and essentially going "fuck it, we ball" with Noel's Lament (and Vampire Culture in this allegory) until eventually arriving at a state of peace with Love Me, Normally/It's Just a Ride

"a snowflake only matters in a blizzard"

Mischa Bachinski: 6up 5oh Cop-Out (Pro / Con & ¡Aikido! (Neurotic / Erotic)

6up 5oh with it's plot(?) of running from the police and proceeding to get mistreated by them is how Mischa is viewed by essentially everyone is Saskatchewan (and to an extent how he lets them see him). While ¡Aikido!, is more of his 'passion' side, specifically with Talia. The more aggressive reprise at the end of Aikido in the 2020 remaster also reminds me allot of the techno section of 'Talia'.

"It's never too late to embrace your fate"

"So we can touch instead of feel"

Ricky Potts: White Noise & Dr. Sunshine Is Dead

Imagine being so forgotten by everyone around you so the innocent bean stereotype is put on you automatically despite the fact that you’re real personality is far from that and then having a mini identity crisis over it

"You're not meant to sing along"

"I'm no one if I'm nowhere in between"

Jane Doe: Big Fat Bitchie’s Blueberry Pie, Christmas Tree, and Recreational Jell-o Emporium a.k.a. “Mr. Boy is on the Roof Again” (Feat. Pasta by Sneakers McSqueakers) [From “B.F.B.’s B-Sides: Bagel Batches, Marsh-Mallows, & Barsh-Mallows”]

No thoughts, story, or plot, just funky carnival music

Constance Blackwood: Falling Up

This song is essentially 'Sugar Cloud' but more melancholy. This is what I'd imagine a song about Constance's life before she died would be about, or Constance's Monologue in song form. What especially reminded me of her monologue was the rapid fire listing of objects and even the title 'Falling Up' being repeated in the song feeling like the roller coaster when it derailed. They're falling but being upside down it feels more like they're flying.

"You make a wish upon the dead, but turn and call it a weed"

"Much larger than life, 'cause from such height / Life looks awful small"

"Well, I cry on skies of blue linoleum, Clouds o' spilled milk"

Penny Lamb: Willard!

Aspiring animal conservationist doesn't know how to relate to "normal" people partially due to her upbringing. Parts of the song were the singer wants animal traits the make their life easier reminds me of Penny's whole "I vomit fire" thing before absolutely destroying JK-47

“Until frustration makes me wish my teeth were sharp as yours”

“I've never understood what humans do and want / It's quite confusing to me to try to connect / Never learned how I should feel, instincts somehow stunted”

Extra characters outside of the choir:

I'll go less in depth for these as i think most of these are self-explanatory

Karnak: Memento Mori: the most important thing in the world

funky sentient machine is constantly aware of his imminent death and decides to be a goofy goober because of it

Virgil: Tomcat Disposables

rat just wants to vibe and chew on a power cable. oopsies he's dead now

Monique Gibeau: White Knuckle Jerk & Front Street

oh em gee she's so gorgeous and dangerous and the world described in Noel's Lament is very gritty and a little gross

Ezra Lamb: Euthanasia (Live)

this mostly feeds into my hc that Ezra ditched school to go to the fair with the choir and had to see his sister get beheaded, being completely inconsolable, and not being listened to because he's "a kid looking for attention"

It's the end yay!!

That's the end folks! I really enjoyed making this (i am a very big fan of both rtc and will wood) there were a lot of other songs i wanted to include (skeleton appreciation day, i/me/myself etc.) but didn't because either

a. they fit too many characters for me to just pin one to them or

b. the character already had two songs assigned to them

i hope anybody reading this is having a good day/night and listens to will wood more in the future ig