#they toyed with some really interesting stuff in season one with them that never got picked back up

[moonfruito]

el and nancy's experiences of girlhood being dichotomised in season one kills me. el looks at the pretty girl and the pretty pink bedroom and this life she's crafted that she parades in pictures and she craves it, so deeply, that she spends the whole season wearing nancy's old dress, this hyper-feminine pink thing, peter pan collars and frills. it sits on her so jarringly, resolutely at odds with her shaved head and death stare and face permanently stained with dirt and blood and tears, and mike's crumpled blue jacket doesn't match, doesn't fit, and she looks so small, but she wants to be the girl in the picture. she wants back the innocence that she never got to have, scrounges off the scraps of nancy's girlhood where she can find it, while nancy loses it at the exact same time. she loses her virginity and her childhood best friend and she ties her hair back and learns to shoot a gun and she learns, through the pain and violence, that her life as a small-town good girl behind a picket fence was lost with everything else that went that day, died with barb. she's a slut and a monster hunter and a woman at sixteen and now she's looking at the girl in the picture and craving her life too. she left her girlhood by the poolside, torn and bloodied and ripped fresh from her chest, and el picks it up, dusts it off, and wears it like armour.

[comicaurora]

YOU WATCHED CENTAURWORLD?!

YOU USED IT AS AN EXAMPLE IN THE TROPE TALK!!!!

It is my favorite and I require to know your thoughts on it.

It's. Hm

So I think it absolutely accomplished what it set out to do, which means it is a successful work of art. But I think what it was aiming for didn't work for me?

In its efforts to play with centaurworld's ridiculousness versus the gritty nightmare of the "real world", it tonally undercuts almost all of its profound moments and then tries to get profound character moments out of squeeky-toy inflatable cartoon characters. Of the main cast, Horse and Wammawink are basically the only ones who get sufficient development to feel like real characters capable of carrying impactful moments, and the rest of the crew are basically walking punchlines - even speedrunning their respective Tragic Backstories doesn't do much to strengthen them, because in the present of the show they're fundamentally joke characters incapable of emotional subtlety. It kinda feels like if a Looney Tunes episode randomly dropped a flashback to baby Daffy Duck being moses'd into the bullrushes as if that mattered to how he functioned now. Plus, once we start jumping back to the Real World again, it turns out all those characters are also wacky in their own way - lots of very quippy dialogue and self-referential humor. Instead of Horse feeling broadly representative of her world's tone, she feels like the most serious character in the entire show - at least until season 2 where her dialogue starts being 50% fart jokes by volume.

Overall I think I loved what they set up in season 1, but not how they paid it off in season 2. There's the themes they establish in season 1 of how centaurworld has a cartoonifying effect on everyone who comes there, and the way this plays to Horse early on is full on cartoon body horror - a realistic horse slowly and inexorably transforming into a parody of itself. I thought that was a fascinating way to frame it, and it was nightmarish to contemplate! It comes to a really strong head in the Whaletaur Shaman episode when her friends seem to finally realize how much she's been struggling and suffering and how, despite it looking like a big joke to everyone, it's profoundly unfunny to her. But while she gets a nice emotional resolution at the end of that episode, the underlying horror is never addressed again. She still seems unhappy with her new cartoon body, but the transformations are from this point forward framed as uncomplicated positives that everybody thinks are funny.

It's purposefully blending comedy and horror together, but the execution feels like the disparate ingredients are hindering each other's effectiveness. The horror stuff rarely gets sufficient gravity and is just left as Hey Look Horrifying Implications, and the jokes are often undermined by all the seriousness left lying around. It's a flavor combination that doesn't work for me.

And then the stuff with the Deertaur and the Princess is incredibly interesting and profound and tragic, and I don't understand why it's happening in the same show as everything else?

Also, this is a minor nitpick, but the musical numbers were astounding in the first season but seemed to experience some sort of weird categorical downgrade in season 2. All the solid numbers were reprises from season 1.

Centaurworld was doing something very much on purpose, and I just don't think I got what that something was.

[kedreeva]

outside preening and train displays for breeding season do peafowl show affection and bond with each other in any ways unique to them? do they ever engage in play or other activities?

They actually don't do a lot of preening each other, most of it is preening themselves in the same location. They inspect each others faces, and parasite pick (or sometimes pick loose feathers), but they don't do allopreening like parrots or some other birds do.

They don't have a lot of bonding activities, beyond just... hanging out. They loaf together, they walk around together, they talk to each other. Hens, even when they don't have babies, will sometimes pick up a "treat" and do the "good treat!!!!" call while holding it near the ground, until one of the other hens comes to get it.

The coolest thing they do for bonding is what I call playing chase. They have a stance where their chest comes down, butt comes up (but not "display" up, just raised), and their wings fold out slightly. It looks remarkably like a dog slapping their paws down into "play with me" stance, and it's much the same message- "Let's play!" They will hop/flutter in this stance, and then go bouncing and hopping around, and anyone nearby may join in chasing them or being chased. This tends to happen more when they're young, before sexual maturity, but the older hens do it when they have a close friend or two. I still see Eris and Artemis and Stella and Aris and Arcana, and OCCASIONALLY Stan doing it, just not as often/readily as the babies will do it (they do it almost every morning when I let them out of the coops and they are overcome with excitement about it).

I got a quick free-range game of it on film once!

That's Corona up front... she never plays. She's the most Serious bird I own. But you can see how they are bouncing and have their wings out and loose, and their brother comes RACING over to join them, and they both bounce up really high and dramatically when they see him, but they aren't flying away, they're circling around to him.

And here's the difference in another gif- when Stella's sister (right side, brown lady) comes running over, Stella thinks she's instigating play, so she starts bouncing and running to her brother, but he doesn't want to play right now, so he doesn't engage.

here's baby artemis engaged in chase with me, coming to chase me lol

I have a few videos somewhere of my hand-raised babies playing chase with me. I want to get more videos of the outdoors ones playing, but it's so random and I don't have time to get my camera out, so it's like... if they do it while I already have my camera out and running in video. But it's my favorite thing they do, they look so silly.

They also will pick up and drop/throw around shed feathers, but I'm not sure if that's "play" behavior so much as "food testing" behavior. But, Beep had a bunch of cat toys, some of which she probably COULD have eaten (like her bluejay), but she would just pick them up and shake them/throw them, which is much the same as they do with feathers or small sticks.

Again, I don't know that I would classify it as play, and it may not be unique to them, but it is an interesting activity.

Last one I can think of off the top of my head is climbing things. They love jumping up and around on things. Games of chase that can include Being High Up are the best games. Corona, as serious as she is, still gets very happy to jump up and down on stuff. I think if I installed a fowl swing in her enclosure, she'd use it.

I'm sure there are others neat behaviors, but those are the first few I thought of.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Summer 2023 Anime Overview: Undead Murder Farce and My Happy Marriage

Undead Murder Farce

Premise: Our story takes place in Victorian times/the Meji Era. Tsugaru is a half-oni (demon) and half human as a result of a mysterious man doing horrible experimentation on him. He’s approached by Aya Rindo, an immortal woman who has been reduced to a head (transported in a birdcage by her combat-saavy maid Shizuku) because the same man beheaded her and stole her body. They agree to team up to find the man and hopefully get Aya’s body back. As they look for the man, they travel Europe and to solve mysteries related to monsters and inhumans.

Undead Murder Farce was definitely my show of the summer season. It’s a fun mystery series starring three asshole weirdo protagonists, it’s bursting with monsters and demons and bizarre people, full of references to Victorian literature and rakugo and all kinds of nerdy stuff, it’s got stylish, slick direction from Mamoru Hatekayama (you know him from Kaguya: Love is War, and Rakugo Shinju) and it’s really gay.

The trio of Aya, Tsugaru, and Shizuku all have really have a snarky comfortable friend dynamic and their banter as they solve vampire murder mysteries, try to outsmart Arsene Lupin and a gang of Victorian literary monsters, and investigate a werewolf village and it makes for an entertaining watch. Aya will never stop making stupid jokes about how she’s just a head in a cage, and we love her for it.

The “let’s stuff in every Victorian public domain character we can” arc is where the show really starts to shine (though unlike some others, I do still really like the vampire murder mystery arc a lot—I just love the idea of a vampire murder mystery, and we really get a good feel for the cast. It’s definitely the weakest arc of the series, though). UDM gets to whip out all its literary nerd credentials. The case involves: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Arsene Lupin, The Phantom of the Opera, Carmilla, Frankenstein’s Monster, Aleister Crowley, Phileas Fogg and two surprise characters.

And yes, they remember that Carmilla is gay, which automatically puts in above 99.9% adaptations of the character. They do make her older and WAY more of a sexpot than the novel version, which, eh,  but she’s 100% the ultra-campy Blueprint Problematic Lesbian Vampire she deserves to be. Like in the novel, she exclusively feeds on and seduces women and she gets into a deeply sapphic rivalry with Shizuku, who she tries to subdue and toy with using her vampire powers. (As you can expect from the character, there is the assault stuff that comes with that territory, though they don’t go too far with it, she kisses Shizuku's neck and messes up her shirt a bit).

But also, we find out Shizuku is used to making love with someone who has “centuries” on Carmilla and is “far more experienced ”, which can only be Aya. This is further confirmed when Shizuku shows jealousy over Tsugaru and Aya’s transactional kiss in the next arc and Tsugaru has to reassure her. And then Shizuku just CONTINUES to stumble into sapphic situations. She gets surrounded by naked ladies and bonds with them like twice in the last arc. It’s great. Everyone thought it might be be Aya/Tsugaru at the beginning, but turns out UDM is For the Gays and it straightbaited you. Amazing.

It's not just Carmilla that UDM shows off its nerd (and gay) credentials with—there’s the interesting choice to make the Phantom of Persian descent, which is clever as a reference to the Phantom’s time in Persia in the original novel AND adds an extra layer to the “unfairly treated as an outcast” element of the character. (Lupin and the Phantom also team up in the story and give off such strong gay energy (Lupin especially) that a lot of people ship them). And like in the novel, Frankenstein’s Monster is smart and even functions as the more level-headed one in the villain gang.

All of that stuff is catnip to me, but the best part of UDM is following it’s convoluted mysteries and seeing Aya strut her stuff figuring the them out while everyone gets in cool fights. It’s very good at what it does, and it’s a fun romp with some interesting themes about being on the margins of society and what makes an outcast simmering underneath. I had a great time with it, and I’m aching to see more of these scrappy misfits and their adventures. If you’re here for a campy but intelligent mystery series about lovable weirdos with a side order of gay, absolutely check this one out!

My Happy Marriage

Premise: Miyo was born without supernatural talents despite her father's expectations, and after her mother passes away, her father and stepfamily treat her abusively and use her as a servant. Miyo's family sticks her with an arranged marriage to Kiyoka Kudou, a man with a reputation for being cold and cruel. However, she quickly finds he’s not what he seems, and she slowly begins to gain confidence in herself.

My Happy Marriage is a straightforward Cinderella story, but one that actually focuses on the psychological effects of being abused and the slow recovery and healing journey of its protagonist. Even if she's not with her abusive family anymore, Miyo still has completely shit self esteem and even just running into her Evil Stepsister ™ in the street sends her reeling back to where she started, consumed by fear and sadness. The story is about her finding a place where she’s loved and supported, and slowly gaining confidence, and her and her husband learning to communicate. She’s still shy, domestic, and very devoted to being proper for her husband throughout, and sometimes needs help, but her learning to let herself be loved and learning to find her own strength and power is the focus of the story. It shows how many obstacles you have to bravely face just to move forward after trauma. And in the end, Miyo finds her own way to save the day. I think that’s really valuable.

Though, like in the original Cinderella story, there is the issue of the pure, domestic woman being contrasted with evil, conniving, social climbing women (though at least there’s no “and they’re also ugly” thing going, and they have her dad be shitty too). It wasn’t bothering me too much--even the ‘training to be a proper wife’ stuff Miyo decides to do since it wasn't out of place in the Meiji era setting-- until Miyo met her sister-in-law. Sis is a divorced woman and a little more “modern” and forward than Miyo and I was excited at first, because hey, a woman in this story who doesn’t fit either the ‘demure’ or ‘evil’ archetypes. But then it turned out her tragic backstory was that she’s a shitty cook and therefore failed to be a proper woman for her husband’s family and her in-laws drove her to divorce, which she 100% blames herself and her lack of domestic skil and 'unwillingness to compromise" with her mean in-laws for. She’s not challenged on this attitude at all. I can easily see a future plotline where she reunites with her ex-husband and he reveals he didn’t mind the cooking or something, but as it stands, it’s pretty disheartening and I don't see why it was a thing.

Still, Miyo’s arc is cathartic and well done, and the animation absolutely beautiful throughout. It’s nice seeing a story focusing on recovery that focuses on the small triumphs that come with learning to see your own value after being told you’re worthless. The supernatural element is a fun touch. It’s already been renewed for a second season and I’m definitely here for the rest.

[ashes-writing-corner]

Guess who's baaaaack?! That's right folks, yours truly, back with the first update for Ghosts That We Knew! Think of this as like a second season or something. I knew it took a while to get this up and I'm honestly really sorry but work and life have been running me rancid all month. I work at a toy store so...yeah.

But you're not here to read about my life struggles, you're here for the fun stuff. That being said, let's get to it!

Taglist: @stargatenovus

Ghosts That We Knew

Part 9- Village of Memories

The holidays were always a bit of a sore spot for him. It was around this time, not very long ago, that he had lost everyone who mattered to him. The night Simon Riley had died for the first time, becoming Ghost for the first time. 

But watching you and Ellie put up a tree and decorations around the apartment while soft piano music played Christmas carols gave him something of an equivalent of the warm-fuzzies. Whatever that really was for a ghost, as he couldn't name it himself. It just felt nice. It felt right. For goodness sake, you had even put lights around the outside of your bearded dragon's tank. As usual, Beardie was completely unbothered as he basked under his heating lamp. 

Ghost never thought he'd see a sight like this again, much less be somewhat happy to see it. But as long as you and Ellie were happy, so was he. You had been sad to take down the Halloween decorations, as that was your favorite holiday, but he never would've guessed it with how much effort you put into making this dingy old apartment a Christmas wonderland. You had the big tree close to the window of the living area, tall and bright for all to see from below. Then you had a smaller tree next to the stand where you had Beardie's tank. 

“That's Beardie's tree! We do Christmas for him in January” Ellie explained and Ghost would nod, silently getting it. 

The day of decorating was fun. He loved watching you and your daughter set everything up. From the tree, to the lights, to the first round of baking you two did together, everything was done with such love and joy. Your smile never entirely reached your eyes though, he noticed. It wasn't a facade per se, but something was getting to you and Ghost could feel it. 

It was only after Ellie went to bed that he was let in on that. 

Ghost watched as you brought up several small to medium sized boxes out to the living room once your daughter was asleep. You set them in front of the TV set. You didn't actually own a TV, but you had an enormously long set of drawers that would've been perfect for one against the front of the living room wall. Ghost watched as you got yourself a glass of apple cider once all the boxes were out, non alcoholic of course, and got to work. 

Silent as a shadow, you set a long, sparkling white sheet across the set. You tried to layer it in some places to make it look like a mountain or hill, using some cotton for this effect. Ghost watched with interest as you started putting tiny glass and ceramic buildings all over the set with a sad but reverent smile. 

He got it. You were setting up one of those tiny Christmas villages that some folks liked to put up. He didn't think much of them, but they were kind of cute. Ghost wondered though why you seemed sad about it as you worked. 

Wrong? Your phone sounded out. 

You stopped in your work as the mechanical sounding voice asked. You turned toward the coffee table. 

“What?” You asked, hoping for clarification. 

What…wrong? 

“Oh! Nothing, I'm fine” you stopped and decided to take a break from your work, “what's wrong with you? You've been awfully quiet as of late, since I got the Cafe up and running”. 

Not…me. 

You raised a brow. “Hm?”. 

About.

“Oh! I'm okay I promise. It's just” you stopped and looked at the partly finished village, taking in all the little pieces with a soft sigh, “this is just the hardest part for me”. 

Why? 

Ghost sat next to you on the couch and you felt a chill go through you. You sighed and took a sip of cider before answering. 

“The Christmas village was my partner’s thing. I would decorate the tree with Ellie while they would work on that. I never used to even touch this because I was so afraid of messing it up” you admitted, “they would take pictures between set ups, mostly for the memories. I have whole Christmas photo albums stored away somewhere, all of the pictures were ones they took”. 

That explained the sadness a little. You missed your partner, and he could understand that. He missed his teammates, as they too would do different decorations around the base, just to lighten the mood around this time of year. 

“This is my first time doing it since they passed. I didn't have the heart to do it before” you told him as you took another sip, “ha, unintentional pun is unintentional”. 

You swore you heard your companion chuckle next to you as you continued.

“I want to surprise Ellie with it, since I know she loves it too and she misses them immensely”. 

You had moved the picture of them from your room to the living room around the first of December. You had a small altar to them, a place of honor as you were getting to be rather death positive. This was in part due to your own near escape from death, and other part due to your friendship with Ghost. 

“I never thought I'd be haunted one day” you admitted, “and if I was…well…I was hoping it'd be them. No offense but-”. 

None…taken. 

He really wasn't upset about that statement. Ghost understood entirely. You loved your partner and in a way becoming a spirit was a way of coming back. It was a second chance of sorts. In fact his original plan was to pose as your partner, but that went out the window because Ellie could see him. 

What…happen?

“What happened to them? They were a soldier and got shipped off about two years after we adopted Ellie. They unfortunately didn't make it back. I wasn't told too many details, but from what I could gather, they were trying to save civilians from a building that was being bombarded by some fanatics” you paused for a moment, “Ellie didn't know them very long, but the impact their death had on her was very much felt. They were the first to really notice her at the orphanage where we adopted her…they fell for her hard. I swear it was the sweetest thing”. 

You smiled a little thinking of the night you two had decided to adopt her. You two had spent the day playing with her, doing finger painting, and playing in the small park on the orphanage grounds. It was so sweet to watch them together. 

“I was always iffy about wanting kids, but they really made me feel better about it. They couldn't get pregnant, and it was too dangerous for me with my condition at the time.  I didn't think motherhood was in the cards for me. But my partner gave me the confidence I needed” you took another pause to drink your apple cider, “they said that they didn't care what other little kids were around, they wanted Ellie. Oh they fell hard. It was so damn sweet. So…who was I to deny that? We got everything ready, finalized everything with the courts, went through so many trials and tests before we were finally able to bring her home”. 

Ghost listened intently. Fatherhood was definitely never in the cards for him. It wasn't that he didn't like little ones. Far from it. But he had no desire to potentially put them in harm's way. Everyone he dared tried to get close to died horribly. He would've been damned completely to have set an innocent child up like that. 

Good…mother…

You smiled at the words. “I'm trying. I'm sure they'd say the same thing but…sometimes I feel like I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. And after my transplant, it didn't help much. I hated that she had to see me like that. I thought by moving here, closer to my family, things would get easier, away from all the bullshit going on in the US. But fate decided to give me more bullshit after moving here” you looked at your chest with a mockingly accusatory face. 

You glanced over at the side of the couch where you assumed your not so visible friend was. You would've been right if he had the energy to show himself. 

“Ghost…this may sound weird but, aside from Ellie, you're the only person who makes me feel like I actually exist. Seriously, a dead man who killed three guys in my apartment makes me feel like I'm even remotely important. Don't ever underestimate your own importance, okay?”. 

That was a surprise to learn. A dead man made you feel alive, like you were real. Oh the irony of that statement. Double irony when he thought about it. It was a feeling he understood, as his team were often the only ones to make him feel like he was actually alive. He wasn't just Ghost to them. He was a friend, a brother to them. He was Simon to them when they weren't in a war zone. 

Thank…you. 

“Hey don't mention it” you stood up from the sofa to get back to work on the Christmas village, “I'm almost done. I can't wait for her to wake up tomorrow and see it set up”. 

You were caught off guard a little as one of the smaller pieces was levitated and gently set within the village. 

Help. Was all your phone said. 

You couldn't help but smile at that. “I'd really like that. Thank you. Just…try not to break anything”. 

Promise. 

You spent another hour finishing the village before the pair of you sat on the couch to admire your work. The apartment was all done up for Christmas, and it just left a soft, positive feeling between the two of you. Not wanting to leave it just yet, you laid on the couch and let yourself get cozy. You couldn't help but imagine your partner being there, snuggling you on the couch while you two admired your work. 

The thought almost brought you to tears, until you felt a chill embrace you and saw the couch blanket be pulled to your chin. You heard a soft voice whisper: “Let's just stay like this…”. 

You nodded, knowing it was him. “I'd really like that” you smiled and snuggled more into that cold embrace, only it didn't feel as cold in the colorful light's warm and soft glow…

If you guys enjoyed this please consider liking, commenting, and please reblog! I seriously appreciate it! I do wanna get another chapter out before or at least on Christmas! Don't worry I will be bringing the other 141st members in here soon. I might even throw in Riley (in my headcanon for this Soap adopted Riley...so keep an eye out for that...) for extra pet related angst. See you guys soon and I hope the holidays are treating you well <3

[apologydanceenthusiast]

i'm feeling burnt out so i'm a bit slow w the theories and being creative in general lately, which is rlly annoying and frustrating--

HOWEVER

I still got *stuff*

Meaning i still think abt stuff ive noticed in my (literally) over 100 times that i watched season one (somehow i am proud of that)

(in the show) when Crowley as Nanny Ashtoreth sings Warlock to sleep, there's a bunch of dinosaur figures (as well as some other Easter eggs that i might just infodump abt in the future just bc i can, even if other ppl already noticed) in the back.

And i keep thinking abt that bc its either that Warlocks parents just assumed he liked dinosaurs the whole time and kept giving him dinosaur related toys and stuff and never bothered to check what he's actually interested in and he just snapped that day when he was on the walk with his mom

Or he just pretends to hate them for the sake of the argument with his mom because puberty

Or he really used to enjoy dinosaurs and his parents just didn't pay enough attention to even notice when he started outgrowing that interest

[kitakit-otome]

Just downloaded the new Obey Me app and I’m going to be giving it my review and opinion!

I never finished the first game, got around to season 2 some time after the MC came back from the human world and then my phone ran out of memory for the game lol. It kept lagging so much and sometimes it would just crash right away so I gave up an uninstalled it from my old phone 🥲

But I did get hundreds of followers in my old tumblr account because of Obey Me and honestly it was such a fun game at the time. I had fun interacting with other fans of the fandom and gush over our love for the demon brothers. I wasn’t too keen on the MC’s origin story so I’m just gonna… ignore it 😅

For those who don’t know, I am working on the design for my online persona for the past week now who is an angel, but now after playing OMN a bit it’s been giving me the itch to give her a sort of alter ego or alternative versions of herself. So I’m planning on the works of her human form (which I guess will represent me in the old Obey Me game) and her demon form which will represent me in Nightbringer. I’ll post it here when I’m done if anyone’s interested because for sure I’m gonna start drawing art for Obey Me again after this.

Anyway I digress—

I really like the new features of the DDD app in Nightbringer. We have a new rhythm game that I don’t really understand yet how to time my attacks.. and we have like a parody of the Marauder’s Map from Harry Potter?

They also have 3D models for the boys now! I love watching the interactions between the brothers with this, plus it’s great for the video call feature in the Wanderer’s Whereabouts because it seems a bit more realistic than just the audio calls we used to get. The 3D models are very expressive and the animation seems smooth. The backgrounds are being used well here from the old version of the game.

And I think it’s cute that we can see the brothers voice their thoughts when we gift them a sheep stuffed toy. We’re essentially spying on them or “babysitting” as the brothers sees it. Since we are their attendant now in this game, ordered by Diavolo, I guess it makes.. sense? Humans have like a CCTV in their homes to keep an eye on things when they’re not around so I think that’s what the WW is meant to be as an app. It’s not bad of a feature and I enjoy seeing more of the animations of the brothers being put to use.

Also can we please take a moment for this scene of Mammon wondering why he cares about this toy so much that resembles his MC (AKA us)?! 😭

Bro doesn’t know us because of the plot line of the game being the MC traveling back in time (I don’t really know why yet aside from the premise of a certain demon granting our wish of taking us to somewhere where we will be happy AKA to reunite with the 7 brothers in the Devildom)

You will probably need to play the first game to understand what’s going on. Or at least to understand our connection to the characters of the game from the future timeline.

Personally I think the new chibi art of the game is stellar! Super cute! The designs on the cards are great too.

The story seems interesting and I’m getting really hooked since we have a lot of new apps on the DDD to keep me from being bored. I felt like the affection raise in the first game seemed useless but it was explained to me that affection level allows you to get bonus stuff like Devilgram posts or extra calls, so yeah that’s cool to know now.

I think my only complaint is the rhythm game mechanics. I don’t really get how it works or I do and the timing is off? I don’t know if I’m the only one who has this problem or what, but I’m annoyed that I keep missing so much like wtf. My scores in the first game were way better than this 😭 Every time I tap when the item is on the line it just doesn’t work so I don’t know what I’m doing wrong lmao

I’ll continue playing the game but so far I want to give it a 7.5/10 ⭐️ I will be posting more of this game soon.

[autisticempathydaemon]

Hi hello !!! I'm here for the Redacted Audios match-ups, sooo Here ya go !!!

Punching Bag by Set it off, I love that band. I've been listening to them since middle school. I like when it says, “So say goodbye to your Mr.Nice Guy you got your wish, he’s rotting in hell..”, cuz that’s when the beat drops and I just like how it sounds. 

So I took the test just for this and apparently I’m type 5 “the investigator”. I don’t really know much about this but hope that tells you whatever you need to know. 👁👄👁👍

Not really, but I do love watching movie and drama video essays as background noise while I’m doing something else.

I didn’t have an imaginary friend...so…💀👌. Nah you know what let me make up one. His name was Bob the builder and he was the filler for my absent father figure. 😀👍

I usually end up falling asleep while listening to ASMR, I mean one of the reasons I love ASMR is cuz its great background noise.

I’ve never really wanted to change my name, but I think names like Hyacinth and Rain are pretty cool. They sound like character names and also I love nature so it’s like the perfect match up.

At the moment I really like listening to Milo’s play-through of the Mortuary Assistant. I just find it entertaining to watch and, again, I like to put it as background noise.

Ollie (sorry), I just don’t really find him interesting at all. Which I get he isn’t trying to be a super complex character, like that isn’t his purpose, but because I just don’t have much feelings for him.

H2O just add water and Mako Mermaids were my shit when I was little, and even now I still go back from time to time, I’ve watched all the seasons of both series multiple times over and to this day I continue to be a mermaid fanatic.

I LOVE HUXLEY WITH ALL MY HEART !!! LIKE HE IS SO WHOLESOME AND COMFORTING I JUST WANT TO HUG HIM.

Not really, at least not that I know of, but I do love knowing random fun facts about miscellaneous subjects. More specifically about Greek mythology, space, and folklore.

Gatorade with a ham sub sandwich.

I don’t really know if you are asking about music or ASMR so I will give you both. I’m currently obsessed with ‘EPIC the musical’ . It's a musical about the Greek poem ‘The Odyssey’.

My guilty pleasure is, very predictably, ASMR. I just find it relaxing and I love the stories that can be told through. 

Other stuff about me: I’m a Taurus and my mbti is INTJ. uuh I don’t really know what else to say so I hope this is enough info about me. This was pretty fun. I felt like I was having an interview about myself. :]

Ahhh, a Type Five, INTJ, oh, that is fun (and the same stats as Sherlock Holmes probably). Intellectual, curious, thoughtful, always thinking, always learning… I think a little serenity might do you some good.

Something about the way you talk about background noise while you work and relax makes me wonder how busy your brain must be; does that make sense? (I’m the same way, like I need mental fidget toys to focus properly?) I imagine Cam would be so helpful in that respect, with his even voice and his soothing demeanor.

You know what would be so lovely that I could absolutely imagine? Cam strikes me as a pretty old daemon, not as old as Vega but older, distinguished… the type to love Shakespeare, Dickens, the classics. Just imagine leaning your head on his shoulder as he reads to you, whatever book of whatever country’s lore your heart fancies that day. You get a nap, he gets a snack, everybody’s happy~!

Song:

When your legs don't work like they used to before/ And I can't sweep you off of your feet/ Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love/ Will your eyes still smile from your cheek

I don’t know how I feel about mixing Cam with Ed Sheeran either, I’ll admit, but it’s the vibes. Man strikes me as a romantic who likes a slower, sweeter kind of song- the kind you don’t necessarily dance to but hold each other and sway, you know? (Also, to throw a little bitter in with that sweet, he would actually love you until your legs don’t work like they used to before… and then some. Probably forever.)

Runner-Ups:

Lowkey, I like Morgan for you because he gives off a lot of the same vibes as Cam: sweet, understanding, a good listener. Elliott, I like for you because he would have lost his mind at your absent father figure joke. Don’t ask me how I know that, but he just would definitely have that sense of humor. It would make him literally lol, and that’s just fun /pos

Note: I feel you I’ve had Warrior of the Mind stuck in my head for weeks

Tell me about yourself, answer some fun questions, and I’ll match you with the Redacted boy I ship you with the most! 💌

[scooby-doobert]

Get to know me + scooby relics

henlo

so, i never talked much about myself in here, i just realized my bio barely has my name in it damn so i thought about doing a lil get to know me post + the story about how i got into scooby doo and some SD relics i have and used to have

My name is Erik, but most people either call me shaggy (damn i wonder where that comes from) or simps (long story short that’s because of my surname but the internet slang also pretty much applies to me i guess). I’m Brazilian, 21 years old and currently studying psychology (graduating soon thank god)

I don’t remember exactly when or how i got into scooby doo because i was really really young, but i suppose it started when my parents gave me a DVD with the 1st and 2nd season of “Scooby Doo: Where Are You”; i was maybe 5 or 6 yo, idk. from then on it was downhill - it basically became a tradition to buy a scooby doo dvd each year until i became a teenager and was tOo cOoL for it i guess. i remember watching “What’s New Scooby Doo” and “Scooby Doo Mystery Inc” on tv a bit later, but loving it nonetheless. down below is a picture of all the dvds (titles are all in portuguese obviously)

Another strong memory from my childhood is playing with a Mystery Machine toy, it was by far my favorite toy ever (picture below, but not mine, found it on the internet for sale)

it came with all the characters, they even had like articulated limbs and stuff it was amazing, and it came with some other stuff like a magnifying glass (that belonged to velma) and a treasure chest i think. unfortunately, my mom gave it away and all there is left is the tiny magnifying glass (picture below), that is like a bit smaller than my thumb.

i guess the last memory from my childhood that is also related to scooby doo is something that i’m also really fond of. i have a twin brother, and for quite some time we shared a bunch of interests, one of them being loving scooby doo. so besides watching it together, we also loved to kinda roleplay, and i always played either as shaggy or as velma (err that explains some stuff) and he was always scoob ^^

well that’s basically it! wish you all a nice day and feel free to send me messages or asks, maybe tell me how and when you got into scooby doo too! xx

[rivertalesien]

Star Trek Picard

It's over.

Episode 10: The Last Generation

Spoilers.

Well, a quick one: they completely forgot about Laris.

Were there good things that happened during the three seasons of Picard's run? Absolutely. We got back with Seven of Nine and she's queer and awesome and a great character to go forward with for a new series. It's great to be able to say the captain of the new Enterprise-G is a queer former cyborg who really made this show immensely compelling whenever she was on-screen.

Re-introducing the Borg and Picard's troubled past with them as a major plot point was smart: it's probably the most interesting thing about the man and a massive shame they didn't explore his relationship to them, post-TNG. We got some convoluted business about synths and Starfleet's ban, we tied into the Romulans and a really promising idea involving a confiscated Borg cube: but it never went very far. Too-tied into Data (and his "children"), the first season floundered trying to find its way, when it was right in front of them: former Borg working together to redeem themselves in Starfleet/The Federation's eyes, only to find their world has already been quietly and slowly assimilated into its own drone-like collective of bureaucratic stagnation. So many terrible things being allowed to happen because no one is trying to change a broken system? The disconnection of what used to be a large, functional family? It says something of our world and was a missed opportunity, I think.

But involved storytelling seems to be a thing of the past.

Season two may have had some of the strangest storytelling decisions of all and the start of the nostalgia porn that Picard became: it blatantly ripped off TOS' films so much, Nicholas Meyer and Leonard Nimoy deserve writing credits.

Even though the title of the show is Picard, delving into his childhood history seemed way off base: it might have made a nice novelization back in the 90s, but it didn't really illuminate anything about Jean-Luc Picard (except the curious amount of Victoriana he grew up with) that hadn't already been dealt with before on TNG and it didn't really blend with the time travel story about his ancestor and ANOTHER Noonian Soong offshoot or even the Q stuff with an alternate universe to do...what? I still don't know how to make sense of those decisions because none of it really worked as a cohesive whole. The only through-line was Jurati's story and how she wound up becoming a new Borg queen, but even that ended with a thud: a new generation of Borg joining the Federation to be...helpful? They could have left some shades of grey in that resolution. Especially given what they came up with for season 3.

I really wanted to love it. I was so looking forward to it: my tv best friends from childhood, back together, doing their thing, saving the galaxy, learning what they've been up to: it could have been epic.

But they just had to give Beverly another kid and they relied far, far, far, far too much on nostalgia. Some of us were hoping for a new story with this family, not dozens and dozens of cribbed notes taken from just about every single Star Trek series or film ever made.

Involved storytelling is a thing of the past.

Could have saved some money if they'd just filmed it with the toys.

My favorite of the Star Trek films is The Undiscovered Country. It was the very last story with the complete TOS crew, on a new mission, one that involved an old enemy, but a troubling situation: they Klingons are dying out. The fall of the USSR was still recent and the impacts were felt around the world. In The Undiscovered Country, we got Star Trek at it's best: the personal conflicts of the crew up against the challenge of What Happens Now (especially when some want to go down fighting?). Kirk and Spock are given some of their best material here: we get to see the bitter and somewhat hateful side of Kirk and for Spock, the crisis of a personal betrayal.

The film works so well because instead of being a nostalgia-fest that they could have flown off into the sunset with, they are faced with a truly existential threat from within as well as without. As Kirk would have said, how we face death -- or the future -- is at least as important as how we face life -- or the past. The crew of the Enterprise did get to fly off into the sunset with a sort of quiet dignity that befits these older heroes close to retirement (but not quite ready yet): they saved the galaxy again and it's time for another adventure.

This is almost, tonally, to how TNG crew bowed out in their series' finale, All Good Things...: the universe is saved and Picard sits down with his officers to finally join them in a game of poker. It's a first for him and the beginning of something new: if only it had actually ended there.

Because the best stories kind of end in the middle. They don't always tell you what the next thing would be, we get to guess for ourselves. We get to build up the story in our own imaginations. Tell too much and you risk leaving the joy of connecting and dreaming up our own scenarios out of it. If fandom is about anything, it's about connecting and dreaming up all of that new stuff. The TNG films, though, allowed for nothing: they closed off the possibilities of learning more about Geordi and Beverly and even Troi, so everything would be focused mainly on Picard and Data: even in First Contact, they almost completely write Beverly out the story in favor of a new character who is to Picard what Beverly should have been: the close voice of reason (Alfre Woodard was wonderful, though). A chance to develop their relationship was completely thrown away.

And TNG never really came back after that: Insurrection was completely forgettable and Nemesis was bogged down with bad decisions (including what happened to Troi). Paramount was so into their cash cow, they overextended themselves a tragic amount and pretty much ruined TNG (and Star Trek in general) as a viable franchise for well over a decade.

Not that JJ Abrams did the series any favors: he and his writers were also hung up on the nostalgia aspect and while Star Trek (2009) had its fun moments, it also didn't make a lot of sense and was followed up by, objectively, the worst entry into the franchise (yes, I said what I said), that blatantly tried to re-work Wrath of Khan...without having a single clue as to what made WoK so special. If you remember what happened in Beyond, good for you.

Thanks to the success of Star Trek: Discovery, though, TNG was given an unlikely second chance. Only it kinda wasn't?

Other than the nostalgia factor, I'm not really sure why Paramount thought Picard was a good idea: there were plenty of potential series in these characters' further adventures (and not just from TNG), and maybe Picard was simply considered the best-known and loved and Patrick Stewart jumped ahead. Fine?

The immediate appeal was that we were told this wasn't going to be TNG: the Sequel. And then the first episode gave us Data and we even got to visit Riker and Troi for a bit. It was good to see them and only made it seem more likely that they should be around in the future as well. Was Paramount being sneaky?

Season 2: Q is back, Guinan is back, the one with the whales is back, even Wesley Crusher shows up for a cute little cameo. And then the announcement of the third and final season being a love letter to TNG, with EVERYONE coming back. Well alright.

But they came back to a story that wasn't really theirs (being pulled from all corners of the galaxy and beyond), felt stitched together around a central "mystery" that went nowhere (except to his own special chair and his own special title on the latest iteration of the Enterprise) and a final "battle" that was pure cringe and not at all dignified for this legendary crew (even now, reading all the compliments to the finale? Nostalgia definitely won).

We started with a compelling introduction: Beverly Crusher has been missing for years and is now calling out for help. One look at her quarters on her ship and we're basically given the entire season: it's going to be Borg again, and it's going to feature at least one character with a familiar name that nobody asked for.

And I say this even as I consider that if they'd given Beverly and Picard a daughter (and if she were played by, say, Karen Gillan?), this might have actually corrected a few things, especially if they'd written mother and daughter as mother and daughter sharing dangerous adventures (and scenes!) and could have even worked young Crusher as the new Borg Queen? Jack was written as the worst sort of stand-in: he's not there to be Crusher's son, he's there to be Picard's heir.

See the difference?

The old sexism that brought us all those terrible TNG episodes that tried to make Picard a rakish romantic lead with, potentially, an unknown child in every port, or paired up with much younger women? The same old sexism that had Wesley closer to Picard than his own mom, even in episodes where she should absolutely have been the main character dealing with him? Terry Matalas thought this was a good idea.

And the whole season suffered for it. Because there was no point to Vadic. There was no point to Beverly being missing for ages *except* to have five minutes of drama with Picard when he found out about their kid (making her the "bad guy" until Picard tells her, in the finale, how she never did anything wrong, because he's all noble like that), there was no point to Worf and Raffi running around in a city on a planet that surely knew who they were and weren't fooling anyone, there was no point to, as Gillian would have said in The Voyage Home:

Because none of it mattered.

What mattered was the references. Did you get all of them? Did you get all the Easter eggs? The Bunny was busy on this one.

Did you think it was all going to end with Picard sacrificing himself? Sure looked like it, but there was no point to building up to that, either.

Did you think they'd pull a Return of the Jedi stunt, flying into the Borg cube? Or make the Borg Queen something closer to the xenomorph in Alien? Did the visual of the cube in Jupiter's eye make you think of the Narada coming out of the singularity? Did you get all the musical cues and oh boy, was that really Walter Koening repeating almost verbatim the President's lines from TVH? (it was)

Did they really waste Seven and Raffi pretending to be in the weakest space battle (against...Space Dock?) that was never going to involve the destruction of Starfleet for a second time because hey, all those kids! Yes. Yes they did.

Oh, and in a limited space (like spacedock or a Borg cube, for example), a Starfleet vessel has to operate on thrusters, only, not whiz through it like the Millennium Falcon. That moment alone was an embarrassment.

Seriously, the resolution to this Terrible Threat made the whole thing look so painfully inept I'm surprised they didn't have an O'Brien cameo just to reset the pattern buffers on the transporters and tell everyone off for being so stupid.

I mean, they could have at least upped the ante and given us all those grown-up Star Trek kids now stationed on various ships (we don't get to see anyone on any of them except the Titan): Miles and Keiko had a son and daughter, Worf had a son (does he even remember him?), even Sisko had an unborn child by the time DS9 finished. I guess that would have been a cringe-fest too far.

Goodness knows they could have had a couple of decent cameos at the end, like Janeway or O'Brien, the current Dax and its host? Nope. We just get Picard embracing His Son for the first time, saving him from what might have been the only interesting thing to ever happen to him.

Because watching him at the end in a Starfleet (command) uniform on his way to his new post with his parents (nepo baby confirmed), cocky as ever, but, for some reason, already Beloved By All, given a chair next to the captain and a title no one would have expected (counselor to the captain, really?), while Sidney LaForge crashed her way through the Academy to get her seat? Little James Kirk (for surely you couldn't compare him to either of his real parents) gets Special Treatment and even a visit from Q (who wasn't dying after all! Season 2 didn't matter either!), just so we all know who the new series is going to be about: another white guy.

Oh, and they totally forgot about Laris.

All of them sitting around getting drunk, playing poker and not one damn word about Laris (or Elnor, Agnes, Soji, Cristobal)?

For a show about family, it really picked its favorites.

And that didn't feel like The Next Generation at all.

[milfglupshitto]

Writing Masterpost

Canon-Compliant Original Fiction

albatross: my longest fiction piece to date (6-7k words). link is the info post with all chapters, description can be found there.

bonus: visual profiles and notes for the original and not-quite original characters introduced in albatross

Canon-Divergent Original Fiction

burn it: not as long as albatross but still lengthy! same deal, link is the info post with all chapters and the description can be found there.

Canon-Adjacent Short Writing

the snare: technically can be read as speculative for Thrawn (2017) but accessible to those who haven’t read the book or have no familiarly with Star Wars at all

still on patrol: about a Star Wars vessel but you could probably read this without knowing any context beyond ghost ship cool.

Rebels Sequel Content

rebels sequel script: it’s in the dropbox link. ask me about the free program I used!

rebels sequel skeleton notes: more later-season plotlines and more discussion of themes

rebels sequel rogues gallery: breakdown of the thematic importance of various villains I would include given full creative control and permission from original creators + ability to adequately compensate them

more on bakokin tell: an original villain warrants more explanation

In Which I Describe the Content of a Thrawn-Adjacent Book Austistically

gender systems in Zahn’s books: long-ish brief look at fandom behaviors in relation to original text

deuteragonist meta: she’s even color-coded. I got diagnosed like a year later btw

outbound flight and survivor’s quest: I read some books in apparently the wrong order and made some themes about it

In Which I Describe the Content of a Thrawn-Adjacent Book Comedically

hand of thrawn duology: what it says on the tin

more of that but blended canon and EU this time: can you guess which books and characters I’m talking about? find out by clicking on the link!

alliances: hey it’s darth vader this time! everybody look at darth vader

alliances again: I think this one was actually the first like chronologically

Stand-Alone Content

thrawn gender rambling: approaches incoherence with astonishing speed. still, important to me

thrawn terrible childhood rambling: I’ll never pass up a chance to make him thematically better and emotionally worse

x files comparison: have you ever wondered what would happen if fox mulder had net zero swag? wonder no longer.

eli no bitches??? rambling: I think he genuinely has never had any friends. click the link to see me make my case

chess and checkers: more eli. checkers is very swagful to me

semiextragalactic force sensitivity rambling: brief speculation on support systems for parents of force sensitive children in communities detached from the Jedi Order

bonus: theoretical clone wars episode based on similar concept

hey so what’s the deal with the grafs actually: I read the whole adventures in wild space series and I’m still very skeptical of the whole everything

hey more wild space stuff: I see Lysatra and I put my looking eyes on

thoughts on modern vs classic star wars evil: on the heels of kenobishow, I had some thoughts

an interesting line construction in the Ronin novel, catalogued: also what it says on the tin

review of Shadow of the Sith: in short, there was a good bit I didn’t like

my Lesser Evil theory: so I was wrong. what about it?

the force as an overwriting pen: two small blurbs about being toyed with by something inconceivably more than you

luminous beings: a series of blurbs about non-force-sensitive acquiring force sensitivity

similarities between the Chiss and the Romans: I’ve been studying Latin for six years and I have problems about it

Hey, This Isn’t Star Wars

monsters vs aliens is a transgender allegory: you know I’m right.

you know surf’s up? the penguin movie? trans. gender. allegory: YOU KNOW I’M RIGHT. also, I know it’s not really writing. sue me

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

1, 3, 5, 25, and 28!

1, what are 3 things you’d say shaped you into who you are?

oooh, big one. I'm going to go in a few directions with this, and I'm going to leave out "being a christian" for being too big and obvious a thing. So that said:

Moving so often/so many times. I'm a very change-adverse, possessive person by nature. The park across the street from our house was mine, the wheat fields we drove by near our town were mine, my space and my blankets and my friend(s) and our big beautifully upholstered maroon couch with the feather cushions were MINE. Moving (especially the first time into an rv) forced me to make that possessive circle much smaller, to make home where I was, and wrap my identity into things I could actually take with me.

The works of C. S. Lewis. Not just Narnia, boys and girls, but The Space Trilogy (from a surprisingly young age), and more recently Mere Christianity. It has shaped the way I view the world. I really vibe with Lewis' perspective on a lot of things.

Failing. for better or worse.

3, 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored of?

oh boy, that's hard. I'm not near as attached to movies as I am to series and books generally. uh... Kung Fu Panda 2, Mary Poppins, aaaaand Ever After, perhaps?

5, what made you start your blog?

The Clone Wars fandom! saw cool stuff on pinterest, followed it back to Tumblr, stalked a couple of clone wars blogs for awhile before joining, and then joined and followed them! I'm less involved in the fandom than I used to be, and I have other, stronger interests, but Clone Wars is still what cemented me as a real Star Wars fan.

25, fave season and why?

spring, 'cause it's green and raining and cool and alive

28, do you collect anything?

I've always wanted to be able to collect something, honestly, but I've never had the committed interest for it. (other than cardboard. boxes, toilet paper rolls, etc. I have Feline brain when it comes to cardboard.)

In the past few years I've finally maintained enough interest for long enough to start collecting some Star Wars related stuff (shirts, Clone Wars and Rebels dvd sets, some toys and figurines). I've got a good stash of embroidery thread and beads and fabric. and I suppose I could be said to be collecting plants now?

Thank you so much for the ask!

questions from this post

[minipisi-is-dumb]

fave fnafhs arc?

Oh I genuinely like the first arc, the camp and the begging of S2 very much, if i had to choose it would be hard because

the beginning is not just like. the beginning, but also i started watching since like chapter 15 i think? so nostalgia definitely makes everything before the camp evoke ✨emotions✨ in me

the camp is 100% iconic there's no doubt abt it, i do agree with eddo that there was ideas that could be more expanded which is why im very excited to see what they do in the reboot, however it could be my favorite one if it weren't for the funtimes. unpopular opinion maybe but i didn't cared as much for them (i cannot stand abby) however the nightmares and the toys were SO good there. also the huge improvement in art back then with full backgrounds and different scenarios n stuff was so nice to see when it was releasing

S2 is so interesting because after the camp it felt very slow but character interactions to me felt way better there, song production only went better and. man. the way they started with meg's song in that season that's FIRE

after that i kinda felt a bit lost when owynn became more relevant and i never cared too much about towntrap - even less after all the irl things w his va - but we all have to say regardless of whether the final chapters before zero we're absolute blast. specially on the music side because not only the songs were fire as usual but also they MADE SENSE in a NARRATIVE WAY and had GOOD TRANSITIONS i really missed it after the first arc that had a few bits at first but gradually became nonsense songs or too cryptic in the context of some scenes. so idk. thought that was cool. meg and spring's duet sold it for me and that alongside fred and freddy's one. love those scenes.

uhhhh so to answer the question, i can't choose specifically from the original series, i moved on for a while when zero started and the plot was weird so i got lost

idk he show is silly and funny id say the camp JUST because that's when i got my friends into fnafhs so those are the songs that we mostly sing together. but nonetheless it's all neat for me

[thessaliaxiv]

Holidailies 2022, Day 17: Puts the Thing in the Basket

My most recent stint of employment was an annual seasonal thing for ten years; I was paid to put various things, usually fruit, into baskets and wrap them up to sell, something this particular grocery chain did. I had some funny and interesting interactions.

There was the day the lady bashed her cart into my collapsible table, making round fruit scatter under aisles everywhere, and then complained that somehow my stationary table was at fault.  Later that same day, another woman brought her groceries to my table, started unloading them, asked why I didn't have a conveyer belt, and where my cash register was, and that she didn't want the basket I was presently working on in front of me. Trying to guide her to the actual cash registers met with failure as she wasn't having it, she wanted me to "do my job." I finally had to wave a manager over and have her shepherded away. She vowed to talk to my manager about my terrible work ethic.

There was the stint of five days I was inexplicably given off, and my work partner neglected to do any work, clocking in but standing around for her entire shift. On my first day back, my boss showed me all the baskets with rotting fruit and demanded I explain myself. He had a later conversation with my coworker about the neglected merchandise.

There was the time I arrived at my table to begin my day of work, to find that my partner had helpfully placed a veal cutlet and some lotion on my table, an homage to that one movie about quiet sheep. I had to go place the items back on their respective shelves before finally starting my shift.

There was the time I suddenly heard some shuffling behind me, and observed a man taking every single bunch of bananas out of the box I was working with, muttering something about finding the green ones. I had plenty so I let him have his choice. He spent about ten minutes raving excitedly to me about this new diet he'd found, and that it only required him to eat really really green bananas that would help him poo.  I saw him the next few days after that and made a point of setting out all the fruit for him to yoink at will, and I got treated to updates about his diet progress.

There was the day the deli manager marched over, pulled me aside, and told me in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed to use any of her products in my baskets, did not accept the explanation that I had used nothing from her portion of the store and that it was all shelf-safe. She demanded every single shift that I show her the long list of items including UPC codes that I had utilized for each basket, and why I was wrapping more than just fruit. She made my work day less than productive because she insisted on going through every item and did not let me work while she did so. I finally had to let the produce manager know what was going on and she was encouraged to leave me alone after that. :P

There was the day I finished my shift early, to which the home manager asked if I wanted to work another five hours assembling baskets of themed goodies for his department, and told me to go nuts with whatever ideas I saw fit. I assembled 20 baskets in that time, full of home decor, power tools, bath sets, compilations of garments, toys, and a whole bunch of other stuff, one set per basket. Apparently they all sold really quickly as well, taking only two days to completely decimate the shelves devoted to them. That day was long but very fun.

There was the day I completed my last shift, to which my manager handed me an apron for some reason. I exclaimed, "Boss lady has given Dobby, an apron!  Dobby is freee!"  She bent over laughing for quite a while after that.

I was very thankful that while select individuals brought things for me to wrap, it was never inappropriate, like cucumbers with condoms or underwear and duct tape or whatever.

[snugabugabunny]

I actually don't specifically celebrate Xmas but I do love this time of year!

Imma just do some rapid fire cuz I'm bad at schedule posting

1. Fave tradition is riding in the car and looking at the lights! Two houses in my town go really all out!

2. I like being indoors more, so I like drinking coco or warm apple cider or Chai latte and look out the window at the pretty white-blue sky! I used to really like sledding but I can't physically do that anymore.

3. I love standing there as the fluffy snow comes down! Otherwise I stay inside and watch it!

4. Fave Xmas song: Believe (polar express Josh Groban), December Song (Peter Hollens), and lots of a cappella ones!

5. I just want everyone to have a good winter season! Of course I like presents, but I don't have a significant other, caregiver, or even any close friends. So most things I want I put on a personal wishlist and buy when I can. ... I guess right now I'm saving up to buy some video games!

6. Polar Express! Christmas Story! The Santa Clause! A few specific Hallmark movies like A Bramble House Christmas! And lots more but I can't think of more right now.

7. Most of my favorite gifts have come from my bio mom, she's really good at listening about my interests! A few years ago she got me lots of Octonauts toys!

8. I love giving gifts! When I was younger I'd buy gifts for my family when I was with friends, hide them in my closet, and wrap them myself. When I had a big group of pals I'd take the time to get everything personalized and special for them! But it's been awhile since I had pals like that... My bio mom likes scarves and I still have fun finding new ones for her during the season!

9. I color on Happy Color sometimes and they have holiday stuff!

10. Fave holiday snacks would be sweet drinks and chocolates and pastries!

11. Fave holiday food: not sure. I like ham but I like that any time of year!

12. Not really.

13. I like light strings!

14. I have some holiday colored plaid overshirts! And some "ugly sweater" patterned joggers! And some comfy dresses with cute print! Stuff for all the occasions really

15. Skip cuz basically already answered

16. I like lots of them but I'm totally going to say Polar Express again. Or the Snowman!

17. I have a Husky. He sits and lays in the snow all the time! He loves digging in it too!

18. Igloo? Long time ago and not well. I liked digging tunnels in big piles of snow though and making forts!

19. Fake tree that I reuse whenever I do put it up. It's a lot of work + kinda big so it's not up every year. But I'm allergic to a lot of things, pine trees included.

20. Santa Claus is awesome! The spirit of joy and giving from old stories is great. And I love when Santa shows up in movies and shows!

21. I'm not a good singer (even though I like singing a lot on my own) so I've never gone.

22. I like eating gingerbread and I like the idea, but I haven't made a house in a long time.

23. I watch fun movies and stay in comfy clothes and have warm yummy drinks!

24. Xmas eve is a good drive and look at lights time!

25. I've liked Xmas day in recent years where I just relax and do whatever I want! Nothing else specific cuz I enjoy warm yummy drinks, cute comfy clothes, and holiday movies any time of year that the mood strikes me!

[damistrolls]

ummm lots of emojis for magpie duh, 💤 🥞 🍧 🍁 ☀️ 🌌 🪤 ✂️ 💡 🔧 🚆 💙💚

💤 do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

oh yeah he's an easy sleeper, made even easier when he's got someone to hold onto, be it lupo, lekthi, or one of his other friends. hell, give him a pillow or stuffed animal to hug and it has the same effect. he just sleeps 10x better when hes cuddling

🥞 what is their comfort breakfast?

well, there are plenty of breakfasts he really likes, but his comfort one would have to be chocolate chip pancakes. theyre so simple but so cozy and sweet

🍧 do they still have any objects from their childhood? what significance does it have to them? what would their reaction be if they lost it?

i dont think magpie has anything that's super significant to him, but he definitely does have a LOT of old stuff, mostly cause he doesnt really throw things out. hes not a hoarder, it just doesnt occur to him that he should throw things away, cause he's never really had to clean any of it. theres all types of junk in his room, from toys and notebooks to actual literal junk that his ravens brought him. i dont think he'd even notice if something went missing!

honestly i feel bad for lekthi because magpie will probably start filling the guy's home with random stuff he finds too. theyre gonna need to have a sit down about only keeping important things

🍁 what is their favourite season? why?

i think he genuinely loves every season. each of them are special for their own individual reasons. if he HAD to pick though, i think he'd pick spring, both for what it represents, and because it's a rainy season. he absolutely loves going outside when its raining and jumping around like he's never seen rain before sgdfhjdsf

☀️ are they a morning person? what is the first thing they do in the morning?

sort of? he likes getting up early, but he's usually very slow to actually wake up. funny enough, the first thing he does is usually look for something to eat, even though he hasn't even washed the sleep out of his eyes yet

🌌 what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

THIS song is the reason magpie is here today. it's basically his theme, and the singer, vitas, is also his voiceclaim. the music video being about a fish guy is kinda funny though because magpie originally started as a human, so its actually MORE fitting for fantroll magpie

anyways, the first thing i decided about him is that he would be unapologetically himself, no matter how much it inconvenienced or even hurt other people. it was weirdly a joint effort between me and my old therapist, cause i was extremely ashamed of and overly apologetic about essentially everything about myself, including the mere fact that i existed. magpie could go to extremes in a way that i could and would never, and it genuinely did help me be more okay with... like. existing, taking up space, and yes sometimes even inconveniencing others

not to get overly vulnerable on a silly little ask meme, but magpie helped me in a really significant way, and he means a lot to lil ol me <3

🪤 - what will always lure them into certain danger? a loved one in danger? a promise of something they are always searching for?

i mean, magpie would happily walk straight into certain danger without prompting anyways, since he's got like... a way different metric for what's dangerous than everyone else. so honestly, giving him any sort of reason or incentive is overkill. if you point to a pit of spikes and say 'you should go there' i think he wouldn't be like 'you know that DOES sound fun'

✂️ what is the "last straw" for them to cut someone out of their life? how easily do they let go of people?

it really depends how long he's known someone, and how close they've gotten. for newer friends, magpie will quite literally cut them out of his life (like with some actual scissors snip snip) as soon as they stop being interesting or fun to have around, or as soon as the killing urge takes him over

for people who have managed to stick around long enough to become dear to him, i dont really think there's much that'll make him drop you. except like, if he wins when he's making one of his regular attempts on their life, but then he'd be extremely depressed to see them go :(

💡 is your oc a planner? do they write down every small detail or just wing it?

he plans out things like his performances very meticulously, but for basically everything else, he's spontaneous and unpredictable. it's in his nature to just go where the wind takes him

🔧 are they good at fixing relationships? or do they tend to avoid doing so?

id like to think he is. he's very intent on finding what the problem is and doing his best to either fix it or find a workable compromise. and even if there's no good solution, he's a very emotionally available person and will absolutely hear someone out and sympathize with their plight. in my experience, its kind of hard to stay upset with someone who is that good at communicating and genuinely just wants everyone involved to be happy

🚆 what is their answer to the trolley problem?

i think hes just happy he gets to be in the metaphorical trolley. i dont think he even realizes its an ethical puzzle, like you'd ask him what he'd do and he'd just be like 'hm... can i make it go faster?'

💙 do they miss their s/o easily? how do they act when their s/o isn't around?

weeeeell he technically doesnt have a s/o, but we both know he treats lupo and lekthi like he's dating them so i'll answer with them in mind

i think he's pretty good at entertaining himself, but that he still doesnt really like being alone. he tends to miss lekthi and lupo, as well as everyone else important to him, in the off-chance they're not around. when he's on his own, he'll usually take the opportunity to get something done that might be harder when he's around people, like reading, writing, or practicing music. still, he's a social butterfly, and will typically find a way to at least be in the same space as someone he cares about, even if they're not actively engaging with one another

💚 what things make your oc feel comforted? hugs, kisses, food?

i think he's less comforted by specific actions, and more comforted by just... general effort put towards him. if you show him you care in your own way, no matter what way that is, he'll probably be very comforted. any and all love languages will make him so comfy cozy because to him, the intent matters more than anything else in a situation like that