#terry thin ice

[thin-ice-comic]

The girls making posters! ...some are more productive than others.

[keepin-it-on-the-d-l]

Quite frankly, Grant cutting off the rest of DADDIES makes a lot more sense now. I’m not raising my child alongside a family who thinks it’s chill to train their daughter to kill deer with her bare hands what the fuck

[thaoworra]

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association recently released the poems that made it to the finalist stage for consideration for the 2024 Rhysling Awards for Short and Long Speculative Poems of the year. Congratulations to all of the nominees! This will be the 46th year these awards have been conferred!

Short Poems (50 finalists)

Attn: Prime Real Estate Opportunity!, Emily Ruth Verona, Under Her Eye: A Women in Horror Poetry Collection Volume II

The Beauty of Monsters, Angela Liu, Small Wonders 1

The Blight of Kezia, Patricia Gomes, HWA Poetry Showcase X

The Day We All Died, A Little, Lisa Timpf, Radon 5

Deadweight, Jack Cooper, Propel 7

Dear Mars, Susan L. Lin, The Sprawl Mag 1.2

Dispatches from the Dragon's Den, Mary Soon Lee, Star*Line 46.2

Dr. Jekyll, West Ambrose, Thin Veil Press December

First Eclipse: Chang-O and the Jade Hare, Emily Jiang, Uncanny 53

Five of Cups Considers Forgiveness, Ali Trotta, The Deadlands 31

Gods of the Garden, Steven Withrow, Spectral Realms 19

The Goth Girls' Gun Gang, Marisca Pichette, The Dread Machine 3.2

Guiding Star, Tim Jones, Remains to be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa, ed. Lee Murray (Clan Destine Press)

Hallucinations Gifted to Me by Heatstroke, Morgan L. Ventura, Banshee 15

hemiplegic migraine as willing human sacrifice, Ennis Rook Bashe, Eternal Haunted Summer Winter Solstice

Hi! I am your Cortical Update!, Mahaila Smith, Star*Line 46.3

How to Make the Animal Perfect?, Linda D. Addison, Weird Tales 100

I Dreamt They Cast a Trans Girl to Give Birth to the Demon, Jennessa Hester, HAD October

Invasive, Marcie Lynn Tentchoff, Polar Starlight 9

kan-da-ka, Nadaa Hussein, Apparition Lit 23

Language as a Form of Breath, Angel Leal, Apparition Lit October

The Lantern of September, Scott Couturier, Spectral Realms 19

Let Us Dream, Myna Chang, Small Wonders 3

The Magician's Foundling, Angel Leal, Heartlines Spec 2

The Man with the Stone Flute, Joshua St. Claire, Abyss & Apex 87

Mass-Market Affair, Casey Aimer, Star*Line 46.4

Mom's Surprise, Francis W. Alexander, Tales from the Moonlit Path June

A Murder of Crows, Alicia Hilton, Ice Queen 11

No One Now Remembers, Geoffrey Landis, Fantasy and Science Fiction Nov./Dec.

orion conquers the sky, Maria Zoccula, On Spec 33.2

Pines in the Wind, Karen Greenbaum-Maya, The Beautiful Leaves (Bamboo Dart Press)

The Poet Responds to an Invitation from the AI on the Moon, T.D. Walker, Radon Journal 5

A Prayer for the Surviving, Marisca Pichette, Haven Speculative 9

Pre-Nuptial, F. J. Bergmann, The Vampiricon (Mind's Eye Publications)

The Problem of Pain, Anna Cates, Eye on the Telescope 49

The Return of the Sauceress, F. J. Bergmann, The Flying Saucer Poetry Review February

Sea Change, David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Ann K. Schwader, Scifaikuest May

Seed of Power, Linda D. Addison, The Book of Witches ed. Jonathan Strahan (Harper Collins)

Sleeping Beauties, Carina Bissett, HWA Poetry Showcase X

Solar Punks, J. D. Harlock, The Dread Machine 3.1

Song of the Last Hour, Samuel A. Betiku, The Deadlands 22

Sphinx, Mary Soon Lee, Asimov's September/October

Storm Watchers (a drabbun), Terrie Leigh Relf, Space & Time

Sunflower Astronaut, Charlie Espinosa, Strange Horizons July

Three Hearts as One, G. O. Clark, Asimov's May/June

Troy, Carolyn Clink, Polar Starlight 12

Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary, John Grey, Medusa's Kitchen September

Under World, Jacqueline West, Carmina Magazine September

Walking in the Starry World, John Philip Johnson, Orion's Belt May

Whispers in Ink, Angela Yuriko Smith, Whispers from Beyond (Crystal Lake Publishing)

Long Poems (25 finalists)

Archivist of a Lost World, Gerri Leen, Eccentric Orbits 4

As the witch burns, Marisca Pichette, Fantasy 87

Brigid the Poet, Adele Gardner, Eternal Haunted Summer Summer Solstice

Coding a Demi-griot (An Olivian Measure), Armoni “Monihymn” Boone, Fiyah 26

Cradling Fish, Laura Ma, Strange Horizons May

Dream Visions, Melissa Ridley Elmes, Eccentric Orbits 4

Eight Dwarfs on Planet X, Avra Margariti, Radon Journal 3

The Giants of Kandahar, Anna Cates, Abyss & Apex 88

How to Haunt a Northern Lake, Lora Gray, Uncanny 55

Impostor Syndrome, Robert Borski, Dreams and Nightmares 124

The Incessant Rain, Rhiannon Owens, Evermore 3

Interrogation About A Monster During Sleep Paralysis, Angela Liu, Strange Horizons November

Little Brown Changeling, Lauren Scharhag, Aphelion 283

A Mere Million Miles from Earth, John C. Mannone, Altered Reality April

Pilot, Akua Lezli Hope, Black Joy Unbound eds. Stephanie Andrea Allen & Lauren Cherelle (BLF Press)

Protocol, Jamie Simpher, Small Wonders 5

Sleep Dragon, Herb Kauderer, The Book of Sleep (Written Image Press)

Slow Dreaming, Herb Kauderer, The Book of Sleep (Written Image Press)

St. Sebastian Goes To Confession, West Ambrose, Mouthfeel 1

Value Measure, Joseph Halden and Rhonda Parrish, Dreams and Nightmares 125

A Weather of My Own Making, Nnadi Samuel, Silver Blade 56

Welcoming the New Girl, Beth Cato, Penumbric October

What You Find at the Center, Elizabeth R McClellan, Haven Spec Magazine 12

The Witch Makes Her To-Do List, Theodora Goss, Uncanny 50

The Year It Changed, David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Star*Line 46.4

Voting for the Rhysling Award begins July 1; a link to the ballot will be sent with the Rhysling Anthology, as well as with the July issue of Star*Line. More information on the Rhysling Award can be found here.

[stupidphototricks]

Dwarf tradition, in The Truth. Long quote but there is so much to unpack here.

"A dwarf needs gold to get married." "What… like a dowry? But I thought dwarfs didn't differentiate between--" "No, no, the two dwarfs getting married each buy the other dwarf off their parents." "Buy?" said William. "How can you buy people?" "See? Cultural misunderstanding once again, lad. It costs a lot of money to raise a young dwarf to marriageable age. Food, clothes, chain mail… it all adds up over the years. It needs repaying. After all, the other dwarf is getting a valuable commodity. And it has to be paid for in gold. That's traditional. Or gems. They're fine, too. You must've heard our saying 'worth his weight in gold'? Of course, if a dwarf's been working for his parents, that gets taken into account on the other side of the ledger. Why, a dwarf who's left off marrying till late in life is probably owed quite a tidy sum in wages—You're still looking at me in that funny way…" "It's just that we don't do it like that…" mumbled William. Goodmountain gave him a sharp look. "Don't you, now?" he said. "Really? What do you use instead, then?" "Er… gratitude, I suppose," said William. He wanted this conversation to stop, right now. It was heading out over thin ice. "And how's that calculated?" "Well… it isn't, as such…" "Doesn't that cause problems?" "Sometimes." "Ah. Well, we know about gratitude, too. But our way means the couple start their new lives in a state of… g'daraka… er, free, unencumbered, new dwarfs. Then their parents might well give them a huge wedding present, much bigger than the dowry. But it is between dwarf and dwarf, out of love and respect, not between debtor and creditor… though I have to say these human words are not really the best was of describing it. It works for us. It has worked for a thousand years." "I suppose to a human it sounds a bit… chilly," said William. Goodmountain gave him another studied look. "You mean by comparison to the warm and wonderful ways humans conduct their affairs?" he said. "You don't have to answer that one. Anyway, me and Boddony want to open up a mine together, and we're expensive dwarfs. We know how to work lead, so we thought a year or two of this would see us right." "You're getting married?" "We want to," said Goodmountain. "Oh… well, congratulations," said William. He knew enough not to comment on the fact that both dwarfs looked like small barbarian warriors with long beards. All traditional dwarfs looked like that.* *Most dwarfs were still referred to as "he" as well, even when they were getting married. It was generally assumed that somewhere under all that chain mail one of them was female and that both of them knew which one this was. But the whole subject of sex was one that traditionally minded dwarfs did not discuss, perhaps out of modesty, possibly because it didn't interest them very much, and certainly because they took the view that what two dwarfs decided to do together was entirely their own business. — Terry Pratchett, The Truth

I super love the footnote, of course, but unexpectedly now I kind of want this version of a dowry to be a thing. I mean, the dowries of the bad old days where the man basically bought the woman from her parents, that's not okay. But this.

I'm a parent, and in no way do I feel like my kid owes me for their upbringing, education, or even (I'm anticipating) a few years of post-college living at home. Not at all. I can't imagine not taking care of them or attaching any strings to that care.

But that's not what this is. Really, ideally, it's a way for parents and children to give each other the gift of the child's independence, their autonomy, their adulthood. To officially and tangibly say that their relationship from this point on is no longer parent/child, but something more on an equal level.

For that matter, I imagine the child is free not to have a relationship with their parents any more at all, if they want. No obligation, no guilt. If parents want to be in their kids' lives when they're adults, they'll need to make sure their kids actually like them as people.

Well. I know that our world of humans doesn't work like this. Even if we put a monetary value on what we owed our parents and paid it, we'd still feel obligated to them, at least a little. Even if our kids paid us back, we'd still feel like we had the right to control them, at least a little.

But man. That g'daraka thing sounds wonderful.

[pratchettquotes]

"Sarge?"

"Yes, Corporal Ping?"

"Why're some of you wearing purple flowers, Sarge?"

There was a subtle change in the atmosphere, a suction of sound caused by many pairs of ears listening intently. All the officers in the room had stopped writing.

"I mean, I saw you and Reg and Nobby wearing 'em this time last year, and I wondered if we were all supposed to..." Ping faltered. Sergeant Colon's normally amiable eyes had narrowed and the message they were sending was: you're on thin ice, lad, and it's starting to creak...

"I mean, my landlady's got a garden and I could easily go and cut a--" Ping went on in an uncharacteristic attempt at suicide.

"You'd wear the lilac today would you?" said Colon quietly.

"I just meant that if you wanted me to I could go and--"

"Were you there?" said Colon, getting to his feet so fast that his chair fell over.

"Steady, Fred," murmured Nobby.

"I didn't mean..." Ping began. "I mean...was I where, Sarge?"

Colon leaned on the desk, bringing his round red face an inch away from Ping's nose.

"If you don't know where there was, you weren't there," he said in the same quiet voice.

Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

[classicanalyzer]

Dragon Prince S6 Thoughts

"Sometimes the line between mercy and cruelty can be thin." Aaravos and Startouch Elves

Well holy shit, that opening really went from wholesome Viren (who is alive) hugging Terry and celebrating Aaravos’ supposed “lie” to OH GOD CLAUDIA KILLED A CHILD. God, it's really terrifying seeing Claudia give so much to save her father...it really hits home how Viren felt responsible for leading her down this route. The tragic thing is that I think Viren knows deep inside that as of now, he can't help her...but he hopes he can inspire her to turn back. Despite everything she did, Claudia's actions to save her father were all for nothing. She lost a leg and her soul (it is yet to be seen if her soul can be brought back) and yet by the time she reached home, her father died yet again...this time for good. Claudia's screams were really chilling and sad.

At least, Terry is always there for Claudia...though I'm worried about what will happen to him given Claudia's increasing mental dive into darkness and insanity. He rightfully points out how revenge is different from love and how it drove Aaravos to the deaths of God who knows.

I really love that Viren didn't choose to reveal what he did to heal Soren. It would've just caused Soren more grief and pain. That's one of the most best things Viren could have done before his sacrifice. He carries on the absolute shame (I felt chills when I heard how he obtained the last part of the spell) that he caused rather than “pass it on” so to say to Soren.

Viren’s true death feels fitting for him. All this time everyone close to him ask if he was willing to risk his life for another. Dark Magic has ruined so many lives and yet also saved so man in some cases. There is a price to be paid. But finally, he proved that he was willing to do that rather than find some other way to pay the price or back out. This time he paid the price and did a truly selfless action where nobody had to get hurt...other than him. He lived his whole life choosing what he felt was pragmatic and selfish with only a few moments of his good self showing...he chose to finally die a servant of his home. While Soren will understandably never forgive him for what he did to him and the world, he will remember him for his last act of unselfish genuine goodness and living up to his desires of atonement rather than going back. I also love how his last words are the last words spoken by Harrow to him.

"I am a servant. I am a...servant." Viren's last words

That entire ship episode is so hilarious with the meta-commentary. The Celestial Elves were a really cool sub-ect of Skywing Elves. I also love the parallels between dealing with Ice Behmeath in the present and the Magma Titan in the past. Instead of killing the beast which left people killed, they found what made it so sad and everyone lives.

Also Callum and Rayla are back together! So happy and I wished we didn't have the break-up personally but still finally.

I now understand the Soren and Corvus ship, and I approve.

I'm so happy that Amaya and Janai finally got married at last. Too bad Karim had to ruin all the vibes temporarily, thankfully, the two were able to salvage it. Amaya and Janai truly deserve the world.

The build-up to when Ezran and Corvus realizes the true plan of Karim is really chilling.

S6 really has me lowkey ship Ezran and Aanya haha. Two badass, wise, and compassionate young rulers who lost their parents...speaking off, I can't imagine seeing Ezran in S7 now that he knows his kingdom is destroyed.

Sol Regem really is responsible for the events of the show. While it is dark how he died and it's horrible how he was responsible for his soulmate's death, I can't say he didn't deserve his death at all. He was the one who laid the seeds for humanity's conflict with elves and utterly despises humanity. He literally choked and burned on his own element.

Katolis being destroyed made me sad since it was our primary setting in the human realm for 6 seasons.

The Startouch Elves gave me so many Collector vibes. Aaravos really is the Ardyn of Dragon Prince with a bit of Collector and I'm all here for it. Now all that is needed is for him to get a stylish hat and turn the sky into an eternal darkness. Also, Aaravos was really that big in his natural mortal form...which made S5's horrifying reveal of what he said make a lot of sense.

A major theme of S6 and the show is how revenge won't get you anywhere but further metaphorically drown yourself. Another major theme is love (platonically and romantically), whether familial, platonic, or romantic.

S6 really is an amazing return to form, and it felt like the quality of the first three seasons was consistent. I cannot wait for the final season of this saga. I did hear about them wanting to make three more books and I wonder how they can go from here...but I trust them to do right based on S6.

[stylecouncil]

“Bowie has brought along a contact sheet of a photo session he did with William Burroughs in 1973. Today Bowie is dressed just like Burroughs was – gray suit, white shirt with a thin, dark stripe, and a fedora. Brett is dressed like Brett, in what the tabloids have taken to referring to as his “jumble sale chic”.

‘Tell you what, I’ll be Bill and you be me,’ Bowie says to Brett. It helps break the ice.’” - NME 20 March 1993

1993 📸: Pennie Smith / 1974 📸: Terry O’Neil

[javaelemental]

True Detective: Night Country, Ep. 5

FINALLY. Some answers! Loved this episode! Some thoughts...

Ha, fuck you Hank. Rotten little bastard.

So the bloody ear was a misdirect. And apparently Otis was just a weird junkie. Huh. Not sure where this leaves us with the disease/microbe idea. We've still got Clark and the other scientists' weird behavior and all the affiliated oddities there, but now it looks like we're leaning a little harder towards mining company fuckery and corruption. Possibly the company unearthed something and Tsalal was helping to hide it?

I like the repurposing of the spiral here as a warning about danger and thin ice. I wonder if that'll stick though the final episode, or if they're going to change it up again? Because if they don't change it up, and Clark and Annie knew what it was and what it meant... were they branding themselves and everything around them with a well-known cultural danger symbol? Did they know the mining company was polluting worse than was known and/or had unearthed something dangerous, and they were trying to warn people?

I also like the repurposing of "Night Country" to refer to the darkness of the ice caves. Both that and the spiral symbol feel very Terry Pratchett and his dwarfs to me. Like their mine sign in Thud!

There's a whole lot to say about how all these cops, even the ones trying to do right and solve crimes, are dirty and corrupt and doing rotten shit. I don't think it would all fit into bullet points, though, but if someone's got the urge, there's a big ol' essay there, I think. Breaking out a junkie and fixing his habit so he can lead you to a crime scene, escalating to the point of a probably-justifiable shooting that now has to be cleaned up and hidden so everyone doesn't get in trouble. Navarro and/or Danvers killing Wheeler and then they have to clean that up.

It was nice to see Liz and Leah have a little moment.

Man, I loved that cover of Save Tonight at the end of the episode. Do they put out soundtracks for stuff like this? Like, can I get that cover somehow?

I'm really looking forward to the finale. I can't wait to see how this wraps up.

ETA:

OH. OH HEY. We had that flash of light on the video of Clark having his seizure, then the video cut out. What if Clark's not the murderer? What if he's on the run, and it was the mining company killing off the people at Tsalal to hide whatever they found/knew? Flash of light to cut power or something, then they charge in and start killing people, folks are panicking and run out into the cold... I think that might be a thing, guys.

[colonelpancakes]

Watching The Dragon Prince Season Six Part 3! The Frozen Ship. The title alone has me intrigued. Post is long so it goes under the cut.

Ah, well that's concerning. Oh and while I was screenshotting this I realized that Callum's hand is covered in blood here. That's really concerning.

I am having vivid flashbacks to season one and the whole “we accidentally dunked both the egg and Ezran in frozen lake water” debacle. Given his nervousness, I get the feeling Callum is too.

NOOO! NOT THE PUPPY!!

Rayla sending the Shadowpaw home when she herself still can’t return… My heart. I am happy that the baby lived though.

Oh hey! Terry!

Terry, if you get eaten by some strange creature I swear to God.

Rayllum! Also Rayla thinking the black ice was enchanted with black magic was cute.

I sympathize with you Rayla, my dog has done that exact same thing to me. I mean, not as I was having a romantic moment with my partner but she has looked me dead in the eyes and sneezed directly into my mouth.

Ohh she does not look well...

I love them so much

The look Callum gives Sneezles skjfaslk.

I distinctly do not trust this boat. This is a very untrustworthy boat. It’s making me think of the boat with all the dead people in that one Race to The Edge episode. The one with the buffalo dragon spit? Does anyone know what I’m talking about or am I just rambling? (Buffalord Soldier is the episode I’m thinking of here, I looked it up.)

I feel like this is getting a tad meta

Skjfklsajf I love Stella and Rayla being nosy together. They should form a book club.

Ohh, Terry bathing Claudia and seeing all of her scars… The softness and tenderness in it all and the grief and the fallout of Viren leaving. Ough.

Claudia... She looks like she's definitely not present, poor babies...

Okay, entirely off topic but dang that is some good nail polish that Claudia has if it's stayed on for this long UNCHIPPED to boot.

Rayla crying as she reads Esmerelda’s diary because she sees herself and Callum in the words… The guilt from leaving him and thinking about what they could have been for the last four years and the regret hitting her. Oh, darling…

Ohh and Callum sketches Rayla while he’s waiting for her like he’s always done... He's worried about her...

Wow those are some thin ship walls if Callum can hear Rayla crying from outside. Actually, that makes sense they are filled with holes.

Listen, she got distracted. But also Rayla you did make Callum sit in the cold waiting for you and worrying while you read through the entirety of someone’s diary.

Callum you jinxed it, knock on wood.

NOPE NEVERMIND THAT MADE IT WORSE. Okay knocking on wood was a bad idea.

Ohh... The intimacy of trusting someone enough to hold a knife to the back of your neck, knowing that they won’t hurt you. Terry stayed, he waited for her. And then her quietly crying… The emotions in these scenes, the grief, the shock, the tiredness, are all so tangible even when neither Claudia nor Terry has said a single word all episode. The composers and the animators are doing such an amazing job.

And there was only one blanket!

Oh? I was not expecting information on Callum's birth dad. Damian, we have a name now. Aww, Callum quoting his dad's poetry is really sweet. I wonder if Callum met him or if he passed away before Callum was born.

Skljadskljfsda Stella and Sneezles, Matchmakers Extraordinaire!

RAYLLUM KISS??

Oh never mind Callum dark magic problems that works too.

The rest is in the reblogs because of the gosh dang image limit

[liminalmemories21]

WIP Wednesday

tagged by @strandnreyes, @carlos-in-glasses, @lemonlyman-dotcom, and @paperstorm Thank you!

This is legitimately the only thing I've written recently, so more of what started here and continued here & cutting for NSFW content.

He jolts, not ready for it when TK moves lower, presses ice for a second to the thin skin of his perineum and then moans at the hot touch of TK’s mouth there.  TK sits up straighter, drinking from the glass, holding one of the ice cubes in his mouth for a moment before letting it slide back into the glass with a clink.  He watches and still isn't ready when TK bends his head to lap at the head of his cock, where he's leaking and wet.  He twists into it and TK teases going down a little further just for moment before he pulls off to take another drink, and then he slides his mouth down around Carlos's cock, cheeks hollowing, cold and then burning hot and it's too much sensation and not enough.  TK pulls off again slowly with a pop before reaching for the glass again. 

Carlos give up on trying to find a pattern in his touches - ice and then wet heat on his balls, the inside of his knee, the crease of his groin, a slow slick slide down his cock until the head nudges at the back of TK's throat and then an equally slow slide up until TK's sucking at the bundle of nerves under the head, tonguing at them while Carlos gasps for air, a slow hickey sucked into the corner of his hip where he'll feel it tomorrow every time he moves.  He loses himself in the unpredictability, letting his mind spin and wheel, the clutch of his hands on the terry cloth belt and the weight of TK's hands on his skin his only tethers.

He only registers that the glass is empty when TK straightens and drops it over the side of the bed to land with a soft clunk on the carpet.  When there's no touch that comes after Carlos forces his eyes open and lifts his head enough to see TK watching him.  "I know I said I wanted you to get loud, sweetheart, but this is kinda blowing my mind too."  He can't find words to respond and TK's gaze turns sharp.  "Hey, baby, I need you to talk to me for a second.”

He swallows around a dry throat and finds his voice for TK.  "Green.  I promise.  Green."

TK watches for another moment, assessing, and then nods, reaching for something in the sheets.  He shuffles a little closer between Carlos's spread thighs, running hands up them, and then there are slick fingers at the rim of his ass, not pushing, just petting, getting him used to the sensation.  "Ready?" TK asks softly.

He tightens his hands on the belt and nods, lets out his breath slowly as TK's touch gets firmer and then there's a slick finger in his ass, and it always feels different than he expects, than he remembers, always more.  TK waits, watching until Carlos's face smooths and he nods again, and then he moves, crooking his finger, finding Carlos's prostate with unerring precision, like he never has to look, like he’s drawn a map and X marks the spot.  Carlos arches into it helplessly, moaning deep and loud for TK's benefit, and then because he can't help himself.

TK breathes, "Yeah, there we are, sweetheart, I've got you, I promise."

And he does, he always does.  Carlos plants a foot, trying to push down on TK's finger.  "Please, I need more."

tagging @freneticfloetry, @iboatedhere, @redshirt2, @actual-sleeping-beauty, and @chicgeekgirl89

[amethyst42]

It is The Glorious 25th of May. And, as always, we must ask... How do the little angels rise up?

‘Sarge?’

‘Yes, Corporal Ping?’

‘Why’re some of you wearing purple flowers, sarge?’

There was a subtle change in the atmosphere, a suction of sound caused by many pairs of ears listening intently. All the officers in the room had stopped writing.

‘I mean, I saw you and Reg and Nobby wearing ’em this time last year, and I wondered if we were all supposed to …’ Ping faltered.

Sergeant Colon’s normally amiable eyes had narrowed and the message they were sending was: you’re on thin ice, lad, and it’s starting to creak …

‘I mean, my landlady’s got a garden and I could easily go and cut a—’ Ping went on, in an uncharacteristic attempt at suicide.

‘You’d wear the lilac today, would you?’ said Colon quietly.

‘I just meant that if you wanted me to I could go and—’

‘Were you there?’ said Colon, getting to his feet so fast that his chair fell over.

‘Steady, Fred,’ murmured Nobby.

‘I didn’t mean—’ Ping began. ‘I mean … was I where, sarge?’

Colon leaned on the desk, bringing his round red face an inch away from Ping’s nose. ‘If you don’t know where there was, you weren’t there,’ he said, in the same quiet voice. He stood up straight again. ‘Now me an’ Nobby has got a job to do,’ he said. ‘At ease, Ping. We are going out .’

-from Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett

[thin-ice-comic]

Today I fleshed out more figure skating team members and their personalities! This was a quick-capture kind of work with the hope to catch some of their social personalities. I also really wanted to make sure that the team is diverse, and it felt a bit easier to keep track of everyone seeing them lined up next to each other. It was also just really fun figuring out different ways to represent the responses!

Of course, this isn't even the full team yet (I'm trying not to lose my disorganized mind crafting this large cast), but this is likely a good chunk of characters that I'm planning to incorporate as plot-impactful. That means that each one of these guys will likely get a chance to shine at one point or another! (yay for them!)

If you have any favorites let me know in the comments! Your feedback is everything!

[slashingdisneypasta]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! Omg I'm so happy you like them!!! I glad I got your OC's right too ^^

Ok ok. Remember, other than Poppy, these are mainly me spitballing ideas until I find a design that works best. With that out if the way, let's get to it in alphabetical order ^^

Ben Cottontail/Ben Cooper

This is the second one I feel most assured in design. I want him to look as plain as your typical perfect school boy looks. Basically, you can tell that he values too much in the wrong things just by looking at him. I was trying to go for a strawberry blonde look, though I doubt I succeeded 😅

Henry Foxworth/Henry Worthington

Henry on the streets VS Henry being blackmailed into marriage by you-know-who. He is meant to have a more dirty, cheating Flynn Rider look. Or, as you perfectly put it, a fusion between Nick Wilde and Prince Hans. I want his hair to stick up anime style like your drawing of him showed, but this app didn't have that option XD

Moony Wolf/Marcus Wheeler

Moony's design I'm having the most trouble with. Both as a toon and a human (as a toon, I want him to look scary while also keeping the 30's-40's cartoon style. As a human, how can I humanize Moony if I don't even have his toon design fully developed? 😅). I do know I want him to be African American at least, though. And I want his eyes to be a reddish brown to best replicate his red eyes as a wolf. I tried to make him look roughed up while simultaneously make him look like he's actively taking care of himself. I still have a lot to figure out about Moony's design.

Poppy O'Hare/Sophie O'Brian

You already know what Pops looks like, but I still wanted to include her... Not to mention the blood effect did make me think of how, as friends with gangsters, she had to have witnessed at least one murder...

Shiny Weasel/Miriam Hill

I was originally going to make her Augurn, but then I realized she started to look too much like Jessica Rabbit. So bright brown hair it is XD she is also supposed to have freckles... But I forgot XD (she does wear foundation at work, though. So we'll say that this is her club look). I'm thinking about making her African American as well, or mixed race.

Terry Ratt T./Terry R. Jordan

Terry's was simultaneously fun and frustrating to do. I needed to make him look as ratty as possible XD I think this one is my favorite most of all.

Now, the most important question... Would Rena smash or pass? I'm kidding I'm kidding XDD (unless... 👀)

MOONY, my wolfy husband,

IS EVEN H O T T E R

THEN I THOUGHT.

ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?? 'roughed up while simultaneously make him look like he's actively taking care of himself'- I'm looking at him through this excellent lense, as well, and ohhhh boy ❤💕❤💕❤💕

I love how Ben has such an angel face XD And HENRY OH MY LORD- you wnat me to throw away my morals dont you?? You want me to throw off the Hunt?? Call Greasy and Bugs off the search for him dead or alive??? I refuse!! No! XD But he is hot 😅XD Oh my lord.

Poppy, of course ^^ She's so pretty ^^ And now that we have the guys looks, I'm having a lot of fun picturing that sweet lady with them!! Her and Moony are p a r t i c u l a r l y cute! XD

SHINY IS B E A U T I F U L !!! I love her hair and eye make up! Its not what I was expecting at all but its different and unique and so Her!! Kinda like a beautiful and colourful, dangerous bird or plant-- which is SO SHINY!

And... I just love how ratty Terry is XDD Love him definitely XD

~

Omg is that a real question??? THE ANSWER IS YES. RENA WOULD SMASH THEM ALL. So would Ryan (Well- Moony, Poppy, Terry and Shiny (though she and her drama are on thin ice- he already has Kingston and his drama's to put up with) at least. Platonically XD If they needed it and simply asked.).

[terrence-silver]

"Do you know how long I've watched you? You're perfect." with old Terry pleaseee. However I love your writing because you are the only person who can understand Terry Silver in many situations :))

---

In fact it wasn't even that long.

Terry Silver didn't need long observations to know what he wanted.

Who he wanted.

How he wanted them.

Fundamentally, he felt the act of prolonged watching was a sign of weak character, low confidence and indecisiveness and unless one was organizing a tactical guerilla military ambush, there was no use for looking and no acting. This was a sort of a military ambush, though. In a sense. Desire was a military ambush. Soft warfare and hard desire. And as much as he coveted the sport of stalking and subterfuge for what it was, it was time to strike first, and one needed to know when and how to separate the two accordingly. That he did too. Maybe he had this innate fear of time running thin, leaving him starving and profoundly searching --- searching for something tangible to sink his teeth into and feast, find himself sated and fed with vampiric fervour. Now he was the old man. He was the grey one. Maybe if he yearned, he wanted to do so all the way, all-consumingly, to the hilt, without reservation and half-measures, starting to subscribe at love at first sight. That some bullshit notion like magic was out there, waiting to be claimed by him. That such a thing was possible. In fact, he thought love at first was possible all his life, in certain ways, because he always knew that once he saw something and found himself wanting it profoundly enough to claw, bite, cheat, lie and split atoms for it, it validly existed as an idea --- a chemical, crushed golden powder, waiting to be inhaled. He knew because he felt it inside of him, bubbling like fever, making up his nervous system attached to his brain. Right here. Right now.

And there you were, his blood's heat.

He's casually offering you a drink, like Hades plying Persephone with a mythological pomegranate. Into the Underworld you'll go, much like her. Into the Dragon's Den. With him. If you were to love him you might as well discover immediately just what kind of man he was and how he moved.

Otherwise, was any of this even worth a damn?

He didn't think so, no.

-"Do you know how long I've watched you?"- Terry prods with effortlessly dialed up charm as an ice breaker, because truly, it really was no time at all. Still enough for him to know. On instinct. He looks you up and down, eager fingers wishing to touch and instead, Terry waves one free hand in the air with a smile and shoulders shrugging, trying to draw out your silhouette in mimicry made out of clear oxygen. -"Two hours."- He says the truth, and you giggle, convinced it is a flirtatious joke. Naive lamb. You thought he was a quaint, old six figure pensioner who formerly lived on Malibu beach for his retirement plan and that was about the jist of it. He was so much more. -"You're perfect."- He coos, with a glass of Rosé as flushed as your cheeks offered to you, in kind. Was it wrong for him to want all that beauty, that sweetness, for himself? No, it wasn't. Everything he wanted he was rightfully entitled to anyway. He almost ponders laying it all out in front of you; everything he owns, his networth, his revenues, his power and wealth and telling you he'll take care of you because he can and wants to, and in return, he'd ask for a world of devotion, you taking your heart out of your chest if he ordered it. When he was younger, he'd play the long con and test you to see if you go for him as he was, wearing elaborate masks and pretending he was a nobody, but now, as things were, Terry Silver wanted you to know and understand exactly who he was and what he was and capitulate for him. Capitulate you would. And he'd plenty time to just watch you. The rest of his life, in fact.

[blueopalsystem]

Hello, we're Blue Opal

Here's some things you should know about us! (Under cut ^-^)

(Pro/Com/Darkshippers DNI! Putting this above because proshippers keep interacting)

Tl;dr at the bottom ^-^

Common posters (subject to change):

🌺, 💙

Art tags are "artist tag [emoji]" ^-^

💤 has a pronouns.page ← Link (yes he asked for this to be here)

Current hyperfixations: fnaf, cuphead, tnmn, onaf (we do not support the creator), frogs

Byf:

Our syscourse stance is "be respectful and do your own thing"

We trigger tag a lot of things

We're very queer

Some parts may reblog their sideblogs to here

We support mspec identities

Most of us can't handle being tagged in tag games

At least 13+ please! If you're under 13 we'll have to report your account due to the tos

Can interact if AGE is 18+ but prefer not to interact if ACCOUNT is 18+ (won't stop you, just know we have minor followers)

Emmet (🐈‍⬛) says cunt a lot and does not tag it as swearing, if that makes you uncomfortable you're free to leave

Dni: (things in bold are because they keep interacting)

Pro/Com/Darkship or ship incest/pedophilia/rape like it's cute and fun

Rad/Winterqueers

Anti agere/petre, objectum, religion (religions themselves are not bad, there are just bad people ^-^), (non contact harmful) paras, queer, recovery (remember to read with the "anti" in front! Ex: anti objectum, anti religion)

Sophieinwonderland and the like + supporters (see sophiecourse tag for why ^-^)

Tulpa language users (see tulpacourse tag for why ^-^)

Exclusionists, terfs, radfems, transmeds

Use "sysmed" genuinely (regardless your stance, it makes us uncomfortable ^-^")(you sound transphobic when you use it. -🐈‍⬛)

Harry Potter fan/jkr supporter

Nsfw "agere" blogs

Yandere blogs (you'd freak out if you met a person with bpd)

Vivziepop supporters/defenders (hh/hb enjoyers thin ice)

Ai 'artists' (other uses of ai is fine)

Part blogs:

@terrys-thomas-blog (little inactive, hasn't been motivated)

💙's Thomas and Friends blog

@choo-choo-safe-space

Agere + little blog for 🧸🐈‍⬛

The-bat-system (Dormant alter, not @ ing)

Dormant alter, blog not in use (tw in the bio of the blog)

@ponies-and-kittens (less in use, trying to leave syscourse)

My (🌺) and 🐈‍⬛'s syscourse blog

@eddies-trauma-space

VERY anti endo alter blog! Pro/endos block this blog if you don't wish to see it! ^-^

💄's blog to keep anti endo only stuff off this blog

- (Part prefers not to have the blog @ here)

🌂's vent blog (dm for @ ^-^)

@scrap-gang

💙 and 🦇's fnaf 6 au ask/art blog

@solid-gold-au

💙 and 🦇's undertale au ask/art blog

@dr-kahl-fan

💙's cuphead blog, 🦇 is there by force (help)

@hungry-opal (won't let me tag no matter what I do >:()

💙 vore blog, 🦇 is here too (help)

Tl;dr:

No syscourse, no proshippers, no radqueers, no hp/jrk fans, no anti mspec identities, no anti regression blogs, no nsfw "agere" blogs, alter blogs above (warning: 2 are syscourse blogs)

[halestrom]

Top 5 favourite books! Or; top 5 soils to work with

5 fav books: this is difficult bc a lot of books I read are series and I love the whole series.

Peter Clines - 14. honestly the man reason I love this book is the characters themselves? its a fun, horror/sci-fi/mystery/cthulu based moster vibe but I LOVE all the characters in it. honestly peter clines is one of my fav authors.

Terry Goodkind - Faith of the Fallen: I haven't read this in ages but I also read it so much I broke the spine in half. It's just my fav of the entire of the Sword of Truth series.

Sandstorm - James Rollins: this is the start of the Sigma Force series so I'm choosing it, even tho Seichan isn't in it (aka one of the best villains to allies to lovers arcs ever IMO, esp in a male written book) but this one is so good bc the cast is SO GOOD. i love Painter Crowe, and I love the history in it. its one of my fave styles of book, action-adventure, historical mystery. kinda like da Vinci code but better imo

Renegade - Joel Sheppard: TRACE THAKUR AND ERIK DEBOGANDE MY BELOVED. i fucking love a rogue spaceship captain and his merry band of super competent people and aliens that are FUN

March Upcountry by David Weber and John Ringo : do u want a spoil prince to become super competent and maybe a little bit (a lot) batshit? boy do I have Prince Roger Ramius Sergei Alexander Chiang McClintock for you.

Top 5 soils

sandy clay

clayey sand

sandy silt

lean clay

silty sand but its on thin ice depending on the percentage of fines in it