#mod: complete

[grumpywaterfalls]

Try Again

Try Again by mercyandmagic

Mó Dào Zǔ Shī

Length: 9,685 (complete)

Rating: General Audiences

Pairings: Venerated Triad; Jīn Guāngyáo/Qín Sù, Niè Míngjué/Qín Sù

Warnings: Implied incest, non-con

Author Summary:

Nie Mingjue is pleasantly surprised when his wayward sworn brother suddenly arrives in Qinghe seeking moral advice. Unfortunately for Jin Guangyao, he inadvertently sets off a chain of events to expose all of his secrets. Let's see how far Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen will go to save A-Yao from the mess he's made – with some key assists from Qin Su. 

[wildflowercryptid]

black cat bitches, we've finally won.

[fence-time]

Happy birfday to the silliest guy ever :>

Zedweek day 7 prompts: birthday / others series

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Neo Bowser City (aka Koopa City in PAL regions)

Debut: Mario Kart 7

Do you ever think of all the weird locations we only ever see in Mario Kart games? Despite being the biggest of all of Mario's spin-off franchises, when you really get down to it, remarkably few Mario Kart courses are actually based on established Mario locations!

It's not none, there's the occasional Donut Plains and Tick-Tock Clock and Airship Fortress, but most of the courses are these weird one-off locations we never see outside the context of that specific racetrack.

But have you ever taken a moment to step back and like, think of the Lore Implications of some of these places?

Like okay! Bowser just owns this whole dang cyberpunk city and we only ever see it in the context of Kart Racing! How messed up is that?!

One day Mario and Friends were looking for new places to race, and Bowser must have said something like "Gwah-hah-hah! I bet you puny punks could NEVER beat me in a race in my cyberpunk metropolis!" and right then and there it was established that Bowser owns a cyberpunk metropolis. Neo Bowser City is a city that exists in the Super Mario World and aside from returning in other Mario Kart games, it hasn't been acknowledged before or since.

Neo Bowser City first appeared in Mario Kart 7, as the third course in the Star Cup. Despite its flashy visuals, it actually doesn't really have a whole lot going on. It's a difficult track with some tight turns made more difficult by the rain making things more slippery, but besides that it doesn't really have any of the Wacky Obstacles that define so many Mario Kart courses.

Then it returned in Mario Kart 8 looking more gorgeous than ever! The bright colors really pop out, and the whole track is just oozing with detail that really emphasizes the scale of this city!

But like, the emphasized scale really only further raises the question of where this exists in the Mario World. Clearly, the fact that Bowser is plastered all over the billboards and the fact it's named "Neo Bowser City" helps us deduce that this city probably belongs to Bowser. Is this located in Bowser's Kingdom? Just how big is Bowser's Kingdom? And why does he own so many separate castles?

Maybe Neo Bowser City exists in the future? Is this a bad timeline? I mean, Mario Kart is allowed to have time-travel shenanigans. There's a Splatoon battle arena and that exists thousands of years in the future so sure, dust off Mario's Time Machine and head to the bad future where Bowser wins. Should've pressed that New Super Mario Bros. big yellow P-Switch!

I asked my friend Mod Chikako for their input and their theory is that Neo Bowser City isn't the future of Mario's world, but of our world. Clearly Bowser just couldn't take Wreck-It-Ralph losing the Oscar vote!

But in that case I guess it's a cooler cyberpunk future than the one we're living in right now. Corporate monopolies that run mass-surveillance with little government intervention due to their extreme wealth giving them extensive political power? No thank you! Neo Bowser City has bright neon colors, and flying cars! If I'm going to live in a dystopia, I want it to be a fun one. The only advertisements I want to see plastered everywhere are ones advertising Bowser!

Boo! That's the bad guy! Thumbs down!

The course returns again in that pitiful mobile game with another redesign, this time letting us see his Coney Island Disco Palace off in the distance. Does Bowser live in his Neo City? Is this worldbuilding we've been missing out on for decades, finally answered by a kart racer? Is this the capital city of Bowser's Kingdom? Am I once again falling victim to my perpetual hubris of overthinking the Mario franchise?

Really, I can't offer too much in terms of wacky fan theories, because I'm still thinking about this location existing in the first place. I'd love to know the Lore and worldbuilding here, but I guess the nature of Mario's canon is that it doesn't need to be over-analyzed. Bowser simply owns a cyberpunk metropolis, we'll only ever see it in the context of kart racing, and maybe that's okay.

Of course, this post wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention Dinohattan from the 1993 Super Mario Bros. Movie, which we've barely talked about on this blog somehow. You see, when the meteor hit, some of the dinosaurs escaped into a parallel timeline where they then evolved into humans, and then they built Dinohattan instead of Manhattan. Get it? Yeah, that movie is all sorts of bonkers. I wouldn't say it's very good, but I kinda love it. I'd recommend checking it out, if only to see a vastly different take on Mario than you'd be used to.

Anyway I bring this up because it's a completely separate instance of a version of Bowser building a large cyberpunk metropolis, and it actually predates Neo Bowser City! Do you think they could be connected? Are Dinohattan and Neo Bowser City one and the same...?

[ponydoodles]

[eclipseclan]

Damn I completely forgot about this scene in “Into the Wild”, absolutely blew me away on reread.

[daily-basil]

I just wanted to make him look cool

[ask-kas-n-lamp]

ooc post

if you love us vote lampert and infected 😁😁😁😁

[daily-grian]

todays grian is sending you a friend request on myspace. do you accept?

[royalarchivist]

The Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil was hit by heavy rainfall last week, and the devastating effects of the resulting flood are still ongoing.

TZC_updates created an informative thread with lots of information about what's going on in Rio Grande do Sul, and resources on how to help. I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already! Even if you can't help, it's good to stay informed.

Bagi has family living in the effected area, but she confirmed earlier today that they're doing ok (or as "ok" as can be expected, given the circumstances).

[grumpywaterfalls]

and his wanting grows tree

and his wanting grows tree by yukla

Mó Dào Zǔ Shī

Length: 25,398 (complete)

Rating: Teen & Up Audiences

Pairing: Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Wúxiàn

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence/abuse

Author Summary:

“I travel so I may do my duty as a cultivator. Not in order to make acquaintances.”

Wei Wuxian huffs in amusement. “Ehhh, Lan-daozhang, no way. I would’ve thought that a friendly guy like you would have friends in every region!”

Lan Wangji’s jaw clenches.

Or; in the dead of winter, traveling cultivator Lan Wangji gets snowed in at a remote mountain village, falls in love with the chief’s adopted son, and stumbles upon a dark secret that is decades in the making.

[transformers-earthspark]

Apologies for my recent radio silence. I've had a lot on my mind lately.

This post isn't Earthspark-related at all, but please read it.

I need to take a second on this blog to acknowledge some things going on in the world. I should not have stayed silent on this blog before, but I'm trying to fix that now.

Genocide in Palestine + how you can help Palestinians

You can buy e-sims for people in Gaza here. Anything helps.

Click here daily to help generate funds for Palestine. It's free and takes less than a minute.

Here's a list of where you can donate to help Palestine.

(If there's anything I should add to this section, please let me know.)

-----

The KOSA bill, what it's going to do if passed, and how you can help prevent it from taking effect

KOSA will essentially erase anonymity from the internet by requiring people to upload their government ID or other form of identification to any social media site, as well as restricting resources and information on LGBT rights, history, racism, and more. This bill will censor the entire internet and destroy privacy while violating First Amendment rights and potentially putting minors in danger.

This also could very well mean the end of Tumblr, and I'm not exaggerating here.

Tomorrow KOSA could be passed in Senate, and from there it will need to pass in the House of Representatives before being signed into law by the president. It's not doomsday yet, but it is a dangerous situation-- and here's what you can do.

StopKOSA.org provides you with a template email to send to your representatives. You can leave it how it is or edit it to say what you want, and then send it from their website.

The website also allows you to call your representatives and gives you a template of what to say.

BadInternetBills.org, run by the same people, takes action against KOSA as well as other bills like EARN IT. At the time of posting this, over 356,000 people have signed this petition.

Additionally there are several petitions on change.org to help stop KOSA. Here are a few of them.

STOP KOSA

STOP THE KOSA

Stop Kosa

Save Humanity, Oppose KOSA

STOP THE KOSA ACT

(Again, please let me know if there's anything I should add.)

-----

One last thing-- The evolution of AI images and video.

I don't really have anything good to say. AI is evolving fast and changing the world as we know it. We are adapting, but nobody knows how this really is going to end up.

A few quick points:

AI images are not art. That's all. AI "artists" who genuinely claim to have made something of their own just by typing a prompt into a generator will be blocked. (Which has been in my rules for a while, but I still think it needs to be said.)

I recommend Glaze for artists who don't want their art being scraped and used for data training. Especially with the recent rumors of an upcoming deal between Tumblr and Midjourney. There's also a similar program called Nightshade (haha, earthspark reference? anyone?🦉) that I haven't tested myself but have heard good things about.

-----

That's all, I suppose. Reblogs are good, if you don't mind.

Spread the word about KOSA. Contact your representatives. Sign the petitions.

Support Palestine if possible. Donate if you can. If you are unable to donate, make sure to do your daily clicks.

Stay safe and take care of yourselves. ❤️

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

KANKRI: Unf9ll9wing 6ecause [THING Y9U NEVER DID]. Didn't y9u kn9w it was 6ad 6ecause [VIRTUE SIGNALING] and that means y9u supp9rt [MISUNDERST99D W9RD]? I honestly can't 6elieve you'd 6e such a [N9UN]. Y9u need t9 st9p 6eing an irresp9nsi6le [QUEERPH96IC SLUR] with y9ur f9ll9wer 8ase. ):<B

MEENAH: dam :/ this one is true unfortunately. i will be restartin the session krillin everybody in the process to atone for my sins

[archer-antiope]

so obsessed with these mary ann notes from the adventuring party. she’s technically listening to kipperlilly but she’s mentally fixated on the fact that the vending machine just got restocked with mango soda. she wears adorable outfits in animal crossing. she plays stardew valley. she has a deep emotional connection with her grandmother. her stat block and character build is “fucking nasty.” she’s incredibly active in the quokky pet forums. she loves adorable animals. she tackled gorgug so hard that one time it nearly took his arm off. she knows the vending machine guy’s kids’ names and gives him presents. mary ann you compel me

[thecursedcreator]

silly billy if he had missed note sprites

[ladychaos]

🌳🏘️ Building in Willow Creek🏘️🌳