#let me know how i did with the alt id!

[sketchesfromthemoon]

quick sketch of grian teaching mumbo how to Really dance

(image description in alt id)

[crystals-lo-rewrite]

Talking about Minthe...

I seriously don't like Minthe's color scheme, or well... The shade of red that was used for her.

The first thing that comes to mind when I see her is a firetruck, if I'm being honest.

In my opinion, she would have looked better in a darker shade of red, or a shade of mint green.

I looked her up because I need reference images for her redesign and that's when I realized I haven't touched Lore Olympus in a very long time-

My mind's reaction: ... Why does her coloration remind me of a fire truck?

And then there's the way RS treated her in Lore Olympus...

She's clearly meant to be a horrible person, sure, but some of her actions were justified.

Sure, she was abusive in a way, but Hades was also abusive to her. Her being abusive wasn't an excuse for Hades to cheat on her.

Rachel could have made Hades just break up with her, but NOPE! She decided that cheating was way better than communication.

Not only that, but RS clearly characterized Minthe to seem like she was the only toxic person in that relationship.

She deserved so much better than what she got in Lore Olympus.

This panel just makes me feel so bad for Minthe. It doesn't matter how RS characterized her, she deserved way better.

[oozeandgoo-art]

[lycorogue]

My friend discovered probably the best animal cracker ever. I'm tempted to make it my icon here. Thoughts?

[Image ID:

An extreme close-up of an animal cracker box, showcasing one of the cookie shapes. It is a bipedal unicorn dabbing.

/end ID]

[illym]

Double comic upload, since these two are tied together pretty tightly. I did the one on the left a few months ago, so the comments aren't very tied together.

Bridget might be the funniest girl alive. And so is May, for expecting anything else from Johnny's brand. Anyway, cutie patootie art style. Everyone looks adorable.

I'm experimenting with using more fonts to mirror the original fonts, but I'm worried they affect legibility too much. Let me know what you think of the fonts in the last panels.

Please if you understand Japanese go read what May says in the bush and tell me what it is that was such a pain in the ass.

Translation assistance: @masked-and-doomed + anonymous @magicalgirlfia

ID in alt.

Cleaned and original comics below the cut.

Specific assistances:

@.masked-and-doomed: Figuring out what the fuck was in the bush in the left comic, first panel.

anonymous: Figuring out what was in the bush in the left comic, first panel (again (x3)).

@.magicalgirlfia: Translated what was in the bush in the left comic, first panel (for the final time. I hope.).

I considered changing May's line to "I know you're trying to be [ stronger / cooler ], but don't follow Sol's example..." because I really didn't want to deal with irritating people on this post. On the other hand, this comic is about how Bridget was handling her gender in XX era, so changing it could be a bit disingenuous. And again, I don't like making changes beyond better understandability in English since I don't read Japanese.

Couple of transfem friends pushed me to use the more accurate one, since they felt it was pretty accurate to some of their experiences.

I wasn't going to not post this comic. It's genuinely hysterical.

All of these panels are so cute. I love them.

May, girl, I hope you trip and break your nose. Never use such tiny squiggly handwritten text again. I had to consult SO many people. I'm still not confident in it.

SHE DID HER HAIR LIKE JOHNNY. Bridget ur so cute.

"I'm a feminist" bridget saturday

Original comic uploaded, for clarity:

[striveattemptfail]

in prime earth canon, jason todd (NOT red hood) was* publicly known to be alive

red hood: outlaw (2018) #32 (ID in alt text)

considering that jason todd was the official owner of the iceberg lounge during this time, it's likely he acquired the lounge legally and thus can be inferred that he had to be declared legally alive to do so

which brings me to my point:

i've seen a lot of people writing/speculating the difficulties and limitations jason experiences bc he was declared legally dead after ethiopia, which is all well and good, and is fantastic fodder for angst

but i've been wondering if this was bc people are actively ignoring canon (valid) or simply didn't know that at one point* jason was publicly alive (also valid, bc following comics is a shitshow lol)

please reblog to increase visibility! the whole point of this poll is to gauge how many people know this, so i'd love to see this post reach as many people as possible. thank you~! 😅🙏

(* big disclaimer under the cut!)

note: all of this info is as of may 2023. i am only one human so it's impossible for me to read every comic jason has been in since rhato (2016) and remember every single thing that happened. if anything i said above the cut is incorrect now, i apologize! /o\

for reference, as of creating this poll i've read:

red hood and the outlaws (2016) #1-26

red hood: outlaw (2018) #27-52

task force z (2021) #1-12

batman: urban legends (2021) #1-6 – cheer pt.1-6

the joker: the man who stopped laughing (2022) #3-5

i haven't read a lot of other important runs like death metal (2020), three jokers (2020), robins (2021), etc. if jason (NOT red hood) was declared dead once again in any of those, that is the reason why i used "was" in the very first sentence of this post and reiterate that he was alive at least for a limited period

my bad that i missed his second legal death tho LOLLL

i'm also aware that red hood (NOT jason) was known as "dead" by others after task force z (even though he clearly didn't die). that said, in the little i've read of tj:tmwsl, it seems that 1) not everyone knows red hood is actually alive, and/or that 2) red hood died at all. again, if red hood is generally known to be alive after tfz, that's on me

if there's anything else i've missed, let me know!! i'll update/reblog this post for as long as the poll is up (-u-)b

[olomaya]

Smoking+ (Mild Teenage Delinquency)

*cue the Spongebob 2 Years Later meme*

28-Sept Update: Added Brazilian Portuguese translations (thank you @cs2te!). Fixed an issue where there was no exit to the Sell Fake ID interaction. For those that have the Religion mod, you don't need a separate RM specific version, just download/redownload the main Overhaul package.

3-Sep Update: Thanks to ProtectusCZ over at MTS who let me know about a string issue with the vape flavors. That's been fixed so the flavors should not show up as blank when you are filling/refilling the cartridge. Also the smoking durations should now be tunable so you can adjust them in Retuner.

Czech version now available thanks to ProtectusCZ

2-Sep Update: If you have my religion mod installed, please download this version HERE (alt: here) to replace the main mod file. If you don't and don't want it, carry on.

This is the updated version of my overhaul of Cmomoney's Smoking mod which you can find here (original here). This update adds new features like vaping as well as more delinquency options for your teens by way of fake IDs.

Please read the full instructions after the cut before downloading.

Credits: Fake ID from @aroundthesims. And of course the OG smoking mod from Cmomoney on MTS.

I think that's it. Enjoy ruining your Sims' health and well-being. If you run into any issues, please let me know.

What does it do:

Everything my previous mod did

Sims can now sit and chat with others while smoking

I updated the way addiction works in the game. Previously it was just based on a random number of times smoked but now it's more nuanced and based on how often you smoke and certain trait and lifestyle factors (for example, if you have other smokers in your household, you're more likely to get a smoking habit)

Cigarettes and smoking items can now ONLY be purchased in a special section at the grocery store by YAs and above. You will see a new interaction in the store RH called "Shop for Cigarettes". Teens can get around this by using a fake ID. 

Fake IDs

Teens can purchase fake IDs from: 

Any common criminal (Sim in the criminal career Level 4 or below) 

Any teen that has a fake ID

You can offer a price and based on your offer, the dealer will either accept or reject. 

Rebellious, Computer Whiz or teens with high Rebel Influence Skill can also buy fake IDs online. The underground online market for IDs moves very quickly so prices change every time you check but will never go higher than §500 or lower than §50. Once you purchase, the ID will be mailed to your home the next day. 

HOWEVER, you need to make sure you get to the package first. If your parent gets the package and opens it, then all teens in the house will get in trouble. The one who ordered the fake will get a special moodlet that will allow them 24 hours to confess to doing it. If they confess to their sibling(s), the sibling will either forgive and agree to keep quiet or they will get mad and have the opportunity to snitch to a parent. If the wrongdoer confesses to a parent, it will exonerate the other teens but also potentially get them into bigger trouble with both their parents and their siblings.

Fake IDs aren’t foolproof. If you use it in the store, there’s a chance you will get busted and your fake ID will be confiscated. The chance is based on how young your teen is and the quality of the fake ID. Fake ID quality is determined when you purchase, based on the price you paid so you may want to think twice before jumping on that §60 fake.

Vaping

Sims can now vape, vaping pens can be found where you buy cigarettes.

Vaping pens cost §300 with a cartridge that needs to be filled before you can use and then after every 10 uses. You can buy a regular cartridge or a flavored one and the costs are varied but are all between §200-§300. (I know, it's an expensive habit.)

Vaping is not as unhealthy as smoking regular cigarettes, is less addictive and doesn't leave your Sim with a smoke smell.

For teens, vaping will still get them in trouble if they are caught by a parent doing it.

Known Issues:

There are no IK targets on the sitting animations (they kept floating above the chairs when I added them) so teens will sink a little into the chair because they're smaller than adults.

Download here | SFS alternative

[beansprean]

I just know their first kiss is gonna be a disaster and this dialogue would not leave my head!!!

Nandor's brain: the best solution here is to pretend this never happened forever until we both die. (proceeds to bat out of any room Guillermo enters for the next three episodes)

(ID in alt and under cut)

ID: 1. Waist up of Guillermo and Nandor in profile on a mottled brown background splashed with colorful lights. Nandor has thrown himself forward, one hand gripping Guillermo's cheek, to smash a desperate kiss against his mouth. Guillermo's eyes are wide with shock, cheeks red, his hand flying up to hover between them, body rocking back from the weight of Nandor's approach.

2. Guillermo closes his eyes and leans in, kissing back with an equally blissed expression and gripping Nandor's arm with his hand. Nandor relaxes into the contact, gentling the kiss and stroking his thumb on Guillermo's cheek. His far hand comes up, shaking, to grip at the back of Guillermo's neck.

3. The hand Guillermo has on Nandor's arm pushes him back suddenly, breaking the kiss, his other hand flying up to press a fist against his mouth in shock. His expression is panicked and embarrassed. Nandor's eyes fly open, his now-empty hands frozen and lips still pursed from the kiss.

4. Guillermo turns toward the viewer, shoulders hunched and clearly overcome. He ducks his head and presses his thumb and forefinger into his eyes, holding the other up in a 'stop' gesture towards Nandor. Nandor stays where he is with an uncomfortable expression, hands twiddling together anxiously l. He leans forward cautiously and says, "Guillermo, I... I did not mean... I mean, I did not plan..."

5. Zoom in at the same angle as Guillermo lifts his head from his hand, face creased in anger. His eyes snap over to Nandor and he says, "You couldn't think of a better time to do that than a month into your marriage, when my boyfriend is on his way here??" Nandor reels back with wide eyes, worried expression flying away in favor of shock.

6. Wide shot as Guillermo turns his back on Nandor, now facing the viewer at a new angle. In the background, Nandor plants his feet with an outraged expression, hands in fists at his sides, and splutters, "A bett-! Don't presume I am doing so much thinking about kissing you! Fucking guy..." Guillermo throws his hands up in frustration, letting out a loud "Ugh!"

7. Close up on Guillermo as he spins around to face Nandor, hands forming frustrated claws at shoulder height and expression desperate and upset. He shouts, "I'm happy! I'm happy with Freddie, okay??"

8. Close up on Nandor, lip curled and brow furrowed in confusion, looking hurt and defensive. Guillermo continues, "And I'm done sitting around and waiting for you to decide how you feel about me!"

9. Shoulders up view in profile. Nandor leans forward to bring his face close to Guillermo's, baring his fangs as he snarls back, "I have decided!" Guillermo gives the same energy back, drawing himself up as tall as he can to bring himself nose to nose with Nandor and yelling, "Oh yeah?? ¡Vale verga!" (In English: That's dick to me, I don't give a fuck, etc)

10. Repeat of panel 9, slight zoom out as Guillermo and Nandor stand glaring at each other nose to nose. Nandor is frowning deeply and Guillermo's mouth is pursed, chest puffed out in rage. Offscreen, the doorbell rings loudly, the text "ding-dong" filling the dead space in the panel.

11. Repeat of panel 10, both men now deflated. Guillermo settles back on his heels, shoulders relaxing, his stony gaze dropping to somewhere around Nandor's chest. Nandor straightens up, glancing away from Guillermo as his expression changes from rage to sorrow. Guillermo states to Nandor's tunic, "...That would be Freddie." /end ID

[aprilohneil]

Soft Shells and Donnie

⚠️WARNING: rottmnt movie spoilers ahead!!

I have many thoughts! So many thoughts! Before I get into them just a quick couple of things:

All image IDs are in alt text

I'm able-bodied, and I've been concious of that and done my best to stay in my lane, but please let me know if I've overstepped! Edit: I'm no longer able-bodied lol, but this is still something I feel I dont have much authority on

I'm just some guy, this is my personal interpretation of this, I'm not trying to say anyone else's opinion is wrong!! I just wanna share my thoughts

Okay alright let's get into it!

A lot of people interpret Donnie's soft shell to be a fatal weakness or an analogy for a disability, and I disagree! At least, in canon. I've seen a lot of content exploring his shell as a disability that I've absolutely loved!! I'm not talking about fanon or headcanons or AUs or whatever - this entire post is in the context of canon. I love it when people explore things that aren't touched on in canon (and I wish it WAS touched on more in the show) I just wish the series handled it better than what they did.

I'm also not saying that having a soft shell would not be a weakness or not make him vulnerable in certain situations! It's just I've seen people talking about it in a really black-and-white way; Donnie has a soft shell, therefore he's a lot more fragile and weaker than his brothers. I think it's a lot more nuanced than that.

For a start, Donnie's shell is MEANT to be soft- he's a spiny softshell turtle. This isn't a case of an injury or something else that's made his shell like that, it's just how it is. I don't think it's fair to say that his shell is inherently a weakness, in the same way that April, a human, isn't inherently weak because she doesn't have a shell. There are both pros and cons!! In the same way that there are both pros and cons to having a hard shell!

I've seen some posts that really rubbed me the wrong way, saying things like "Donnie's probably scared of beach balls because one hit his shell when he was younger and it bruised him" and similar, I can't recall anything more specific and I'm not going to go looking for them. It just. Really annoys me?? It's borderline infantilizing.

In the movie, Donnie's soft shell and how it could affect him in battle is addressed for the first time in the entire series - if I recall correctly, that is. Its been a while since I've done a full watch through, but I'm pretty certain.

I'm not a fan of how they handled it in the movie because of that. It seemed really out of the blue, and out of character, especially for Mikey and Donnie. All throughout the show, it's never been an issue or cause of concern, and now suddenly it IS. It's suddenly a HUGE problem for Donnie. If you're going to have a disabled-coded character, then COMMIT. Include it during the entire series, not just for shock value and to create tension.

In the first scene, Donnie saves Mikey from being crushed by crouching over him. His battle shell is crushed, he's left without protection, and him and Mikey panic about it.

THIS scene makes sense to me, this scene I really liked! Their reaction makes sense, because in this situation, Donnie IS vulnerable. The ceilings caving in, the Krang are absolutely viscous, and they're losing the fight with no way out. At all. Not a great time to have ANY fleshy parts unprotected.

Once again it was a little jarring, just because it was literally the first time it's been addressed on screen. But that's whatever, nothing's perfect etc etc. I'd prefer it to be included late than not at all.

It was THIS scene that really irked me. Donnie's asked Mikey to take off his battle shell for him, so that he can fully be submerged into the Technodrome.

Yes, taking off his battle shell in enemy territory is a cause of concern, but no where near to this extent. Donnie has fought many times without it with no issues. They're not even actively fighting here - Donnie's about to be absorbed into a cocoon of tentacles (which was so so gross shdjdm). Mikey being this worried makes no sense to me, and it's kinda insulting to Donnie to be honest! It's ignoring his past experiences, ignoring the strength and skill he has been shown to have.

I've gone through and watched all the scenes in the show where Donnie doesn't have his battle shell on (once again I might have missed some, but I'm pretty sure I got them all).

Mascot Melee

This was a pre-planned move! Donnie wasn't forced into a defensive position, he put himself there in order to use his battle shell to blast the enemy back, and exposing his shell. He's already got another battle shell on standby waiting for him, so while it was a risk, it was a calculated one, and a very small one at that. His soft shell taking a hit would hurt, yes, but not seriously injure him.

The Purple Jacket

His battle shells have all been stolen and he's PISSED, but he's not worried at all about having to go out and fight the Purple Dragons without the protection they provide.

Insane on the Mama Train

This is the big one!!!

Donnie purposefully destroys his battle shells and walks into a fight he KNOWS will be dangerous, against enemies he knows are strong. Not only does he hold his own against them, but he kicks absolute ass!!! He knows his limits, his strengths and weaknesses, and he knows how to fight in the way that's best for him, specifically. His soft shell is not holding him back, he's adapted, he just has to fight in a way that's a bit different than his brothers!!

Also his brothers and Splinter are not shown to be worried or concerned for him at all during this episode. They know he can handle himself.

End Game

This would've been a great opportunity to explore how having a soft shell would affect him in certain situations, but it's not addressed at all. They all get buried under rubble, Raph asks if everyone's okay, and they all get up and walk it off.

Many Unhappy Returns

Once again this would've been PERFECT to explore how having a soft shell would effect him!! You can SEE the damage Shredder did to his battle shell - and his battle shell is not weak!! It's made of some pretty strong stuff!!

That SHOULD'VE hurt him, in a way that it wouldn't have hurt his brothers, and they could've done so much with this and they didn't and I'm MAD.

Todd Scouts

There's not a lot to add here, the only thing to point out is that, again, Donnie isn't worried about his shell being unprotected, and neither are his brothers. I do find it funny how the second he's separated from his tech he goes completely feral I love him so much <3

the ONLY time his soft shell was EVER actually addressed was in Donnie's Gifts.

And it wasn't about his shell, not really. It was about him being sensitive emotionally, not physically, and it was just a play on words.

They could've handled it a lot better in the movie. Yeah, it's tough to do when you're trying to add something that didn't exist in the series before hand, but there were so many ways they could've done it.

This is a bit of a sidebar but I never see anyone talk about this and I think about it literally all the time SO:

Donnie having a soft shell can also give him some advantages that his brothers don't have!!

From Todd Scouts and The Purple Jacket. He's very flexible!! A great skill for a ninja!! He can sneak through smaller spaces, find more places to hide, and would be great in stealth missions!!

Because of his smaller, flatter shell, he can pass as human more easily! He was the first of his brothers to go in public alone, and without a full-body disguise. To a HIGHSCHOOL no less he is braver than me.

I also want to point out that having hard shells doesn't automatically make his brothers infallible. Yes, Donnie's shell can be hurt more easily, but he would be able to take a lot of damage before it's fatal. For his brothers, with their hard shells, if anything managed to hurt them, it would be very, very serious. A cracked or broken shell could very easily kill them.

There's a reason why, in the movie, Donnie protected Mikey from the falling rubble. That very likely would've crushed Mikey's shell, and that would've killed him. Donnie's battle shell and normal shell have some give to them, they allowed him to take the hit while getting away without being horrifically injured.

It's also very lucky Raph's shell got punctured through the lip, and not closer to the centre. That would've been very bad!!!

(If anyone wants to read about shell trauma, then the IDW comics are right there - Donnie's shell gets smashed, he almost dies, and has to wear a prosthetic, it's so fucked up omg)

But yes that concludes my essay on why I didn't like how the movie handled Donnie having a soft shell, and why I don't like how a lot of the fandom treats him. Thank you and goodnight it is 2am

[lesbiankordian]

Why did Dazai put his hand on Chuuya's forearm?

(ID in alt)

because when someone's choking you, you grab their WRIST, to put the pressure from your throat, not their forearm. (wise words from this video. i actually did research for that. what's more is that at first Dazai did put his hand on Chuuya's wrist but changed it a panel later. he could've put it lower on the glove but he didn't do that and instead had it on his forearm until Chuuya punched him. also idc if he's not really choking Dazai bc even so for sb who hates pain this cannot be comfortable. also Chuuya why are you doing that if you don't wanna actually hurt him huh?).

and the way Dazai's touch can't even be called a grab bc it's so light... this man really just wanted to touch Chuuya's skin - otherwise he'd have gone for his wrist (which is gloved)...

(ID in alt)

and an additional thing that's probably me overanalyzing but oh well:

i know that in the 2nd pic, after their fight with Lovecraft, the touch was needed, but it's interesting how Dazai touches Chuuya at the very same place that he did in the PM's basements. let's say that's where he would touch him while nullifiying corruption most times. soo imagine that the Dazai from the PM prison scene touched Chuuya there - so lightly, as if checking if he can still do it - as a way of asking Chuuya if he still trusted him with corruption and their partnership. that touch holds memories of so many of the double black's battles and, most importantly, of the trust that used to be - and maybe still is, that's what Dazai's checking (and what will be confirmed during the fight with Lovecraft) - between them.

[reactionimagesdaily]

REACTION IMAGES BLOG PATCH NOTES (aka the 10k follower celebrations got out of hand)

Hey everyone!

So it's been a hot minute since I announced that we passed 10,000 followers on here! I'm sure... well, I'm actually sure that most people won't be TOO fussed either way, but I did say I was gonna do some stuff, and I wanna stick to my word if nothing else xD

So! Let the celebrations begin! Firstly, I'm announcing a new QnA (I love those things) that'll last,,,, I'll say 2 weeks and go from there. Feel free to ask me about whatever you want!! If you want to cater to me specifically, my current big interests are Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Mass Effect, and uuuuh Halo. (Also Bionicle remains a constant.) (Lots of scifi videogame stuff at the moment...)

[IK there's still some stuff in the inbox I need to answer/respond to you - I promise I'll get to those as well <3 thank you so much for your patience, if you've been waiting]

Secondly, here's a new song cover! IDK how many of you have played the game Divinity: Original Sin 2, but here's me singing Lohse's song; Sing For Me.

Thirdly: here's a new gimmick blog! I Was Not Joking. (Though, for my sanity, it's gonna be weekly instead of daily.) I'll be posting the images I have saved in my folder called 'feral screenshots' - it'll basically be a collection of cursed images/images with strange auras. I wanna say y'all know the ones, but if you don't, then here's an example of what we're dealing with:

[Image ID: a person floating in a rubber ring in a swimming pool. On their head is what looks like a life-size Lego head.]

Introduciiiiing the Weekly Weird Images blog!

And Fourthly! It is my great pleasure to announce that we're adding alt text to all the images on this blog! Sorry it took so long to get round to T_T

And yes - I do mean we! To write out all the alt text for these images, I've on-boarded minion-in-chief/court jester aplomb @tizzytinkertilly! I (the reaction images guy) will still be handling every other part of the blog - she'll just be doing that bit. For the sake of my sanity xD

This is kind of a big change - both the addition of alt text, and the fact that this blog is no longer a single-person operation - so for the foreseeable future, the queue's been tweaked so that we only post 2 images a day instead of 4. (Fun fact! 2 images a day was the original MO of this blog, and then covid happened and I was like "I'll make it 4 a day because it'll be a nice thing to do for everyone while they're miserable in this pandemic :)" and then I never stopped (although you could argue that the pandemic never stopped either).) Maybe if/when we fall into a good routine and feel like we can do more, we can bump the rate of images back up, but right now this is a teething phase and I'm keen to slow things down for a little bit. :P (Tumblr has made some WEIRD mechanical choices for group blogs, I'll be honest.)

And, uh, yeah, that's all! Let the QnA begin- Hope y'all enjoy the song cover- Hope y'all enjoy the additional blog- A big welcome to Tinks and to alt text! Happy 10k followers, everybody!

[sprout-senior]

this is. so fucking stupid

i put way too much effort into this

edit: picture formatting

transcription/image ID and more under the cut

[panel one: Error is looking at blue, who is in the foreground about to eat a brownie with a very wide open mouth, with horror. his hands are on either side of his head.]

Error: oh no! Blue’s gonna eat that WEED BROWNIE!

[panel two: Error eats the brownie, accompanied by the word CHOMP. Blue watches with surprise.]

[panel three: Blue is grinning, while Error looks very distressed, holding his hands in front of him.]

Blue: wow Error! did you just eat my forever weed brownie? [the words forever weed brownie are in green.]

Error: it was the only way to-

[Error cuts himself off, and the next panel displays him looking like a photorealistic skeleton, a vast contrast from the extremely round and simplistic style of the previous panels.]

Error: w h a t [the word what, spaced out for dramatic effect]

[end comic transcription]

anyway yeah i’m getting back into traditional art at least for the time being since i can’t find my damn stylus. this is the first page in my new sketchbook

[image ID: a sketchbook page, featuring several doodles. in the top left, there is a cute bunny man holding up a peace sign, winking, and smiling with his mouth open. he is on a neon orange background, drawn with purple ballpoint pen, with the caption “WAOW!”. next to this, in the top right, is a simplistic drawing of a lavender bush, colored with bright purple and green markers. below the bunny man are three small doodles of various expressions. one looks concerned and a little disgusted, captioned “yeesh”. the second is a somewhat curious looking one with its eyes popping out of its head, captioned “idk”. the third and final expression is a top down view of a face with very large sparkling eyes, captioned “forced to eat cement at age six”. the bottom half of the page features the comic transcribed above, with numbers and arrows clarifying the order of events. end sketchbook page transcription]

one final block of text to round out the post: i’m doing image descriptions/transcriptions now! i gave up on alt text a while ago, because it was such a pain to format and difficult to work with for me, and i forgot that i have free will and can type that information in the actual post. please let me know how i did! accessibility is important to me, so if my descriptions are lacking in any way or could stand to be improved, i would so so appreciate it if you could tell me what to do to improve! thanks!

[prinnamon]

[Start ID. Tags that read: #one of them is confirmed dead btw #shephard saw colettes body in xen #who knows what gina is doing #i think abt them sometimes #raging lesbians. End ID.]

Hi, Hello, and Welcome To My Twisted Mind! i don't mean to correct you @freeshephoun but i noticed your tags on my other silly half-wife post and i wanted to let you know hahahaheehoo it's worse than that :) i hope you don't mind me using you as an excuse to talk at length about cross and green and their ambiguous fate

(low-poly blood/corpse screenshots from the game and lots of text under the read more!)

[Start ID. A screenshot of what appears to be Gina Cross in a red HEV suit dead in one of the Displacement Cannon locations in Xen. End ID.]

in Opposing Force, a corpse bearing a striking resemblance to Gina Cross but wearing a red HEV suit can be found in one of the Displacement Cannon locations.

[ID in alt text.]

according to a tweet by Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford in 2018, it is indeed Gina Cross. Colette Green's fate is unspecified, but he suggests maybe G-Man found her useful enough/had enough compassion for her to put her in stasis like Shephard.

Opposing Force did come out before Decay, so considering that changes were still being made to Decay's story during development, far enough along that there are some voice lines and animations for the scrapped missions, it's likely they had no thoughts about anything that would happen in Decay's story when they decided to include Dr. Cross's dead body as an easter egg in OpFor. so, despite the confirmation by one of the people most likely to be considered An Authority on what happened in the expansions, the canon-icity of this is... slightly debatable? especially considering that (iirc) "Gina Cross's" body can actually be spotted in multiple Displacement Cannon locations in OpFor. so unless there was a wild teleporter accident that created multiple instances of her who all died in different spots... okay, wait, i said that as a hypothetical and a joke but now i like that a lot as a narrative device, fuck.

but you get what i'm saying. whether or not this is "canon" is dubious because you'd have to reconcile a lot of contradictory story elements in order to explain how one can accept this as true.

...

CHAPTER 7: RECONCILING A LOT OF CONTRADICTORY STORY ELEMENTS IN ORDER TO EXPLAIN HOW ONE CAN ACCEPT THIS AS TRUE

[PT: Chapter 7: Reconciling a Lot of Contradictory Story Elements In Order to Explain How One Can Accept This as True /end PT]

if you choose to take Pitchford's tweet as canon, what's especially strange (and tragic, i'll explain) is that Gina has never been shown wearing a red HEV suit anywhere else as far as i'm aware. she wears an orange suit when you see her hologram in the training program in Half-Life and Opposing Force, and she wears a tan/ivory suit in Decay.

[Start ID. A scan of a posed render of Colette Green (left, standing) and Gina Cross (right, crouched) from the Half-Life PS2 manual. Colette Green wears a red HEV suit and Gina Cross wears a tan one. End ID.]

red is Colette's color, which i imagine is probably the source of the initial confusion. which could lead you to conclude that, although this is gina, she's wearing colette's HEV suit. it would explain why she's alone. her suit may have been damaged beyond repair, and it wasn't enough to protect her, so she had to take Colette's as she went off on her own for one last desperate mission that required Gina to enter the Xen even after they and Dr. Keller thought they had successfully sealed the dimensional rift.

so, yeah, picture that. they only had one working suit left. so only one of them could go. and it had to be Cross because of her experience. and even despite their best efforts, despite Green giving up her hazard suit to give Cross the best odds, she still failed.

we know based on the ending of OpFor that the detonation of the nuclear bomb in the car park would have killed anyone still stuck at Black Mesa after a certain point, as Green and Keller almost definitely were if things went back to shit after the end of Decay, which they would have had to if Cross managed to end up dead in Xen. it doesn't make sense to say that they'd then just go "acceptable losses!" and book it, since they took so much responsibility upon themselves throughout Decay's story, so i feel they probably stayed and continued to dedicate themselves to damage control up until the very end. and, like, how would they have known about the bomb? communications were out. probably nobody except Shephard, the black ops team, and that one security guard would have been aware, realistically. so, even if Green and Keller would have wanted to escape and save themselves, there's virtually no way they'd have had enough advance notice to get out of there.

but since Colette's effort was admirable enough for her to deserve a reward in the G-Man's eyes (or maybe just to be kept in reserve in case she's needed later, depending on how you read G's motivations), she, like Shephard, was placed in stasis. and if she ever wakes up again, she'll presumably be without Keller since Pitchford makes no mention of him, and she'll definitely be without Gina.

OR if you don't want to engage with the tragedy of any of this, you can just say that the dead Ginas found in OpFor are uh. y;know. copies of her that were created somehow when she and Colette got caught up in the harmonic reflux after sealing the dimensional rift! which is sad for the clones—and oooky spooky because (mario voice) who REALLY died that day? and who came back??—but otherwise, all three of them got out of Black Mesa together.

I think about them. i think about them a lot. whyyyyy why why why WHY can't dr keller and the half-wifes be from an expansion people have easy access to like blue shit and opposing fart. screams and cries and throws up!!! no actual hate towards Blue Shift or OpFor; i love them, i just wish Decay was also two dollar and on PC

Gina Cross's page on Combine OverWiki was the main source for all my information. i also sourced the screenshot of Cross dead and the scan of Cross and Green's posed render from there. hopefully this post makes people realize that there is interesting shit going on with these characters that is worth exploring.

my final message: dear entire world, include colette green in your drawings of the freezer crew chilling in stasis (nonthreatening suggestion)

[poke-irs-real]

Avoiding Anon Hate: a guide

long post incoming. You have been warned. (Keep reading button)

There’s been an increase of anon hate in the pokeblogging community recently. This is my guide on how to avoid anon hate.

You have a pinned post, right? With your character’s information, pronouns, pokemon, etc etc? Make it clear that there is a ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICY for anon hate. Maybe even link to this post. Here’s an example.

There is a zero-tolerance policy for anonymous hate on this blog. (Link)

that link is the Wikipedia page for Hyperlinks. However, you may make it lead to this post.

Well, what if I do get anon hate? What then?

there is a feature to block anonymous users. This permanently revoked their privileges to send anonymous asks. They may send asks from their main blog, but that’s their main blog. Here’s a picture. (With ALT text/image ID! I’m going to try to make this accessible as possible. If you need anything on this post, let me know!)

[Image ID: 2 anonymous asks. They contain the words “demo ask” and “(Would help if I clicked the button lmao)” The 3 dot icon has been tapped, and it shows the menu associated with it. In red text, it says “Report Anonymous” and “Block anonymous.” On the top it also showcases the time the ask was sent. /End ID]

Did you know you can block anons? Click or tap the three dots menu on an ask to show the menu and click “block anonymous.” This makes it so that any time that user sends anonymous asks, they do not show up in your askbox. As I said earlier, they can send asks from their main blog, but at that point they… are sending hate from their main blog. When you get anon hate, simply do this. It’ll help a bit, hopefully!

Blocking anons: it’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free. Hope this helps!

[istherewifiinhell]

HM for the bingo: matoba, um um um. your least favorite oppie. your most favorite starscreamer. ummmmm. Abyssal Black Flame Dragon

HEHEHE

shitty id in alt. WELL THATS URRRR GUY. thats the guy thats nat.sume is about. pretty sure <- took me like a year to figure out this is not the case. he is silly. ive seen it in the gag manga. hessss a pretty loser goth in and out of drag what is not to like. im just assuming ur the most right about him i dunno if that means other ppl are wrong tho

joelle joelleity joelletwo is trying to get my ass murdered on tumblr dot gov. EDITED AND UPDATED. need to reflect that my constant with this one is i get why megs got like that

[alt]. ohhh buddy...... you asked. 1. no personality. 2. hate his whole vibe (aesthetics/affect) 3. BETRAYED THE REVOLUTION. 4. not a very good conflicted pasicfist if thats what they were gonna go for. 5. tee fee pee special. u know show dont tell. this is tell, then forget to bring up ever again. simply. simply. listen if the girlies in the tag have to make him interesting for their fanfic and fuck nasty shit (honourary) go with god. i have read good fic of him. but thats compliments to the fans. me personally. i would simply use any other iteration. i suppose u cant beat how DIVORCED this guy is. im not opposed any of his specific characteristics really. its the holistic sum thats my enemy.

DOODLING HEARTS AND GRAPHIC VIOLENCE ON THE SCANTRON <- which tf is that 🥁🔔

[ALT] actually can i edit this again lets do a bingo for bullying. he got bullied possible the most anyone has but ill bully him some more 😏🤨😳. now ur some ppl might think oh u like this screamer so much to u inversely not like this megs for beating him up. well not u tho. thats gotta be one of my favourite 2 minutes in all of tf kajdgbjfdhb. hes not real so hes fine with that i asked him myself. ANYWAY WHAT IF U WERE BACKED INTO A CORNER BY UR OWN VIOLENT IMPULSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF UR OWN ACTIONS and also millennia of unending war so u just decide to go full nihilist about it. and this literally saves your world and people. well not the ones u killed but most of em. and u keep winning <3 and ur pettiness and self severing survival instincts also saved the universe. btw. idk if i have HC so much as. i can see my reading of the text not being universal but also im right <3. billybob thompson one of 2 fav non latta screamers. prettiest modern screamer design

out of LEFT field but i LOVE IT

[alt] wait how did u land on a orbeez side character i would at remember the vibes of enough to get double bingo. was it dragon sooyoung? kfjjdf. DO U KNOW. how often i watch something and think. this character would be improved if they were an edgy anime fourteen year old. WELL HERE IT IS. the most important thing u can be in the world is a shitty emo teen with a deviant art dragon fursona. i dont remember anything else im literally just like. thats perfect. what a shit head. the best character in the book now im saying so.

[lemissingmask]

[ID: Sketch in partial colour of Redemption era Parker and Eliot sitting side by side in the courtyard of their New Orleans base, in similar relative positions to when they had a heart to heart at the end of the hurricane job. Parker and her background are in colour, and she’s looking sadly down, hunched forward slightly. Eliot is in greyscale and wearing prison clothes, looking sad and serious. End ID] -

Day 29: alt. Prison

AU for The Turkish Prisoner Job, where Eliot gets stuck in the prison, and also the first part of the three-parter of ficlets, with the others on days 8 (dissociation, part 3) and 15 (experimentation, part 2). I know it’s backwards but that’s the way the days worked out 😅

Ficlet below the cut.

-

“Do exactly what they say,” were the last words they heard from Eliot for days, and they hadn’t even been addressed to the team.  He had been speaking to Romero, just as he was about to get released on a day pass by their marks, and then he was gone.  Taken away by prison guards under orders that overruled the detectives.

The confusion and surprise didn’t last more than a few seconds.

Sophie stepped in, had Breanna mute Eliot’s comm for all but her, and talked their client through how to proceed, keeping him calm and collected as he had to keep going now without a hitter for back-up.

The job had taken another turn, requiring a change of plan, new considerations, and they needed all of them involved to pull it off successfully, which meant it was two days before they had a chance to get back to Eliot.  If had been any member of the team other than Eliot, Parker would have been worried.

But it was Eliot and a stint in prison out of contact with his crew was nothing to him.

Regardless, she felt something unpleasant and annoying and she didn’t understand it.

“Babe, you okay?” Hardison asked, his image large in the screens as their long distance call connected.

Breanna had emailed him as soon as they lost contact with Eliot, just in case there was something he could do with his amazing exosphere hacking access. But the prison ran a closed network, no access from the outside even from the exosphere.

“It just feels wrong.”

Hardison frowned, “Eliot being in jail?”

“I don’t know. Yes. Maybe…”

For over ten years Parker had barely gone a day without one or both of Hardison and Eliot either right there beside her or talking in her ear. Now Hardison was gone, only reachable through a complicated video link thing or emails that took too long and were too impersonal, and Eliot’s voice was no longer there either.

“Babe?”

Parker realised she had let her mind wander and looked back to the screen.

She couldn’t place what she was feeling.

She was angry. Angry at Eliot for not just breaking out, angry at Harry for running the job so Eliot ended up in prison, angry with Sophie for letting Harry run the job, and angry with herself because it wasn’t Harry’s fault or Sophie’s fault.

This happened.  They did a dangerous job, especially Eliot, and this sort of thing could happen, and no one was to blame.

And she was anxious.  Worried about Eliot, which was stupid because it was Eliot Spencer and he was always fine.

“Parker? Talk to me.”

She looked up.

Hardison looked worried, sad.

She smiled slightly, feeling that rising warmth that came whenever he looked at her with so much emotion. The reminder that she wasn’t alone.

“I don’t like not having him here,” she said quietly.  She wanted Hardison to understand.

“I know,” he replied, “I’m sorry I’m not there right now.”

She nodded, “Well, you’ve got satellite stuff to do.”

That earned her only a sad smile, and she looked down at the keyboard.

“Harry going into the prison tomorrow?” Hardison asked, “Playing the lawyer.”

“Yeah. We can’t do anything until we know more.”

“I’ll keep trying to dig up intel from my end too. Got an algorithm running right now to cross-reference each of his aliases and his real name against email communications between government agencies, prison networks, rich folk…anyone who might want to lock him up.”

“That’s a long list. We’ve made a lot of enemies.”

And Eliot had a lot more still from before Leverage.

“Yeah. It’s gonna take a while,” Hardison replied, “So, wanna watch something together tonight?  I can stream from any country in the world and share the screen.”

“Sharknado?”

Hardison sighed, “We got access to pretty much any film that exists on the internet, and you wanna watch Sharknado.  Again.”

She grinned, “We can watch Sharknado II after.”

Sighing again, but smiling properly this time, he got to work finding the films, and they began their movie night.

-

Harry’s visit to the prison had three purposes.  The first, to see if there was a quick route to getting Eliot released.  The second, if that failed, to find out what had happened and why Eliot had been detained.  The third, to get an earbud back to Eliot.

This required what was, essentially, a pointless and entirely fabricated lawyer-client conversation between Eliot and Harry, which Parker mostly ignored in favour of watching Breanna attempt to find a way into the prison security system now they were parked close to the building in the food truck.

The culmination of this conversation was that no, it was not going to be quick and easy to get Eliot released because he reportedly had committed severe infractions within the prison, as observed by the guards.  Eliot had been moved to solitary because of these supposed dangerous acts, which were false but backed up by multiple guards.  He hinted that he had some idea of why, but the conversation was recorded and monitored, with two guards in the room at the time, so he couldn’t say more.

But the third task was successful.

About half an hour after Harry returned, and while they were still outside the prison, Eliot’s comm came online.

“Welcome back,” Sophie said, seeing the feed on the laptop screen appear.

“Thanks,” Eliot whispered, suggesting he suspected someone may be listening, “Romero okay?”

“Okay and rolling in it,” Breanna replied proudly.

“Job’s wrapped up, everything sorted, so now we just need to get you out,” Parker added, “Any idea what got you locked in there?”

“Think so,” he replied, “Sorta.  Pretty sure I’ve been ID’d.”

That was no surprise.  It was among the theories they had discussed.

“Who by?” Harry asked, “It has to be someone high up for them to get you moved to solitary and multiple guards confirming a false story to keep you there.”

“Dunno, but I heard someone talkin’ outside my cell.  Think they were on the phone, an’ they told whoever they were talkin’ to that they had me - said my name, not the alias’s - locked down.  My guess is they’re gonna transfer me at some point.”

“Weakest part of any transit is when the goods are being loaded into the vehicle,” Parker repeated information she had heard from Eliot years before, “That’s where we rescue you.”

Breanna shifted her screen to bring up several views of roads, “Look, I didn’t manage to get into the prison cameras, but I could get into some CCTV on the roads leading to the prison.  A prisoner transport is gonna require an armoured car, right?  And it’s gotta go down one of those roads.”

“We’ll be ready for it too, now,” Sophie added, “You can tell us when the transfer is taking place.  We’ll get everything prepared to attack the car, and when you give us the signal, we’ll move.”

Considering the number of times they’d waylaid and broken into armoured vehicles in the past, setting up the plan for dealing with this one - and contingencies in case of an escort, alternative routes, timings being off, and so on - didn’t take more than a few hours.  And, with the plan established and it already nearing midnight, they all went to bed.

All except Parker.

She tried sitting at the bar and then the desk and then on the stage, and finally wandered out to the courtyard to sit on the picnic table there. It felt very empty to be sitting on that table without Eliot next to her. But then most places she was used to sitting tended to have their hitter there too.

She felt stupid. Ridiculous. Eliot had been away from them undercover or kidnapped or on some side-hustle job loads of times and she never felt this unhappy about it. Hardison had been away loads too, working on those hacker things only he could do, and she felt sad but not like this. Not this icky, distracting, fuzzy feeling in her brain like something was really really wrong.

She pulled her earbud from her pocket and put it in her ear.

“Hey, Eliot?  You asleep?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to listen to that podcast with all the facts. Wanna listen with me? We’re like six episodes behind.”

Eliot didn’t reply immediately. She heard a quiet background noise. His footsteps on a hard floor.

Then he spoke quietly, not answering the question.

“You doin’ alright, Parker?”

She tried to laugh properly but it didn’t work.  It didn’t sound like a laugh, even though she was meant to be good at grifting by now.

“I’m not the one sitting alone in a dark lonely cold prison cell.”

She could hear the smile in Eliot’s voice. The gentle, soft smile.

“I’ve been in a lot of prisons, Parker.  This one’s among the nicest,” he paused, and in it she could picture his expression perfectly. It was the kind, understanding, expression few people ever got to see.

The thought of it, so clear in her mind, finally made her understand what felt so wrong.

She was lonely.

She hadn’t been lonely in a very long time and now it hurt so much more than before.

“It’s just,” she began, looking down at her shoes on the bench, “First Hardison left. And now so have you.”

“Parker,” Eliot said softly, “I didn’t leave. I’m right here, an’ I’m always gonna be. Hardison might be a stupid number of miles away, but he’s right there with you too.”

“With us.”

“With us,” he accepted her correction without hesitating, “We’re not, either of us, ever gonna leave you. An’ I know right now it feels lonely, but you’re not alone. We’re here, Sophie’s there. Harry an’ Breanna are there. Hell, if you wanna call up Hurley I bet he’d answer any time of the day or night an’ probably make you talk to his damn cat.”

Parker laughed despite herself. She liked Hurley’s cat. Eliot didn’t, so the cat always sat on Eliot when they visited, purring contentedly while he growled at it to go annoy someone else, and trying to pretend there wasn’t a fond smile just on the verge of forming on his face.

Eliot left a long pause for his words to sink in, and for Parker to find the truth within them. When he spoke again it was in a more normal tone, saving her from falling too deep into emotions she couldn’t name.

“So,” Eliot said, “About that podcast. ‘Cus solitary’s pretty damn boring.”

Parker found herself smiling.

She already had it up on her phone, the first in their episode backlog ready to go.

“You hear it?”

The familiar theme tune started as she pressed play.

“I hear it,” Eliot replied, then added softly, just as the voices of the podcasters began, “Thanks, Park.”

She nodded although he couldn’t see, smiled, and settled in to spend the night happily with Eliot, even if there were miles and walls of concrete between them.

Parker went to sleep, still listening to that podcast with Eliot in her ear.

When she woke up, Eliot was gone.

His comms were off, and no amount of yelling into her earbud would get a response.

Harry went back into the prison, playing the part of his alias's lawyer again, but he was told that alias wasn't in the prison system. Never had been in the prison at all, according to the records. Hours of intense hacking from outside the walls and from the exosphere found that alias wiped entirely from the prison records, and Eliot's name was nowhere to be found either.

During the night, while his crew slept, Eliot had been made to disappear.

-