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jpriest85-blog · 5 months

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Recently played @pdrrook VN Perfumare and fell in love with the setting and characters. I'm so looking forward to reading more of this story when Perfumare: Avulsion is fully released.

I'm now compelled to share some art and basic info about my MC.

Name: Violeta Reyes Liz Morren

Pronouns: she/her

Preferences: Bisexual

Birthday: February 23rd

Height: 5ft7”/170.18cms

Appearance: A curvy Latina woman in her mid-20s of average height, with a Bronze complexion and black medium length straight hair. She has an oval shaped face with freckles, hooded eyes, and a full mouth. Normally, dresses in classy feminine vintage style fashion in public with makeup and hairstyles inspired by starlets from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Notable features: Violet eyes that she normally hides with color contact lenses, and noticeable dimples when she smiles or laughs

Personality: At first glance, Liz comes across as a very charming and attentive person. Which has helped her in her job (both at the perfume shop and her illegal side gig) and staying under the radar. Being observant of people and how they behave is useful for making a sale or determining if they're a potential threat and acting accordingly to try and get the best outcome. Especially if it's a situation where she doesn't always need to rely on her affliction. Liz is well aware she's an attractive woman, and she's not above using it to her advantage. After all, she doesn't always need to use Allure to get someone to do what she wants when a coquetteish smile, asking sweetly for a favor, combined strategic use of cleavage can get the same results. Although she does enforce a strict professional relationship boundary with her clients and suppliers.

While Liz usually comes across as friendly and accommodating, she still keeps others at arm's length due to her past. She used to have a pretty good childhood growing up and was raised in a large and loving family with her parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and a seemingly endless number of cousins. Until she developed her gift and was shipped off to the academy suddenly alone because of something she couldn't control. At first, young Liz thought that if she worked hard and could control her Allure ability, maybe she could come home one day. Sadly, no matter how hard she worked or how well she did all the letters she wrote home, they never responded. Eventually, Liz got tired of the heartbreaking silence and just stopped trying to reach out to anyone. Until Reed started attending the Academy and wouldn't leave her alone.

Now, Liz can count the number of people she trusts and depends on with one hand and still have fingers left over. Although with those few people, she tends to be more open and relaxed around them. Sure, she'll still smile politely with other people. She works in retail, it's expected. However, when Liz trusts someone, she is more expressive, genuine, and affectionate as opposed to the more carefully affable persona. She'll argue with you, cry, make dirty jokes, and ramble about whatever new thing she's passionate about.

Additional info & Headcanons

Both her alias and real names are references to brands of cologne/perfume. Her alias given name Liz in reference to actress Elizabeth Taylor who had her own line of perfumes, one of which is called Violet Eyes, and her real name Violeta Reyes came from Agustin Reyes’ Royal Violets cologne.

When it comes to Liz's personal scent preferences, she likes using solid perfumes that have a fresh and light scent like in linen perfumes. Solid perfumes travel better and last longer than liquid perfumes and tend to have more subtle scents so they're less likely to overwhelm her sensitive sense of smell.

Liz’s native tongue is Spanish and she became fluent in Italian due to growing up with Reed. Sometimes she'll rapidly switch between English, Spanish and Italian (complete with hand gestures) during conversation if she's very excited or angry. Normally Liz tries to avoid getting too animated in public because it'll draw unwanted attention, although there are exceptions like when an obnoxious customer crosses a line and she tells them off, or when she's around someone she trusts.

She'll also use Spanish terms of endearment with loved ones. Which makes things interesting for the various LI saves. Jewel and Laurent seem to be the types who'll become flustered, which would make Liz coo over how cute they are. Meanwhile, Reed, who's constantly addressing her with “bella” and “tesoro” is mentally agonizing himself on his save whenever Liz calls him “guapo” or “cariño” in return.

Since Liz was left to fend for herself so young, she had to learn how to take care of herself quickly. A particular skill set she developed was mending clothes and diy repairs. It helped save her money on clothes and repairs around the house over the years, excluding major issues with plumbing or wiring, as she doesn't have the training for those kinds of problems.

Back at their Academy days Liz once saved Reed from an embarrassing situation when he ripped the seat of his pants by helping him discreetly sneak back to his dorm to change and even mending the ripped pants for him. Ever since Reed always asks Liz for help whenever he needs something mended or altered. Over the years, Liz started getting annoyed when she started feeling less like she was helping out a friend and more like Reed was using her as his personal seamstress. They even argued about it a few times until finally settling on a compromise. Whenever Reed needs some clothes fixed or altered, he has to be willing to do some chores or cook for Liz in exchange. It even worked for a while …until Reed learned Liz also be used to mend or take in Flavio's clothes too. Although, to be fair, Flavio rarely asked for Liz's help in the first place.

Since Jewel and Reed don't get along, Liz often times finds herself having to play mediator between the two. Except whenever card games are involved. One day, when work at both the Perfume shop and bar was slow, the three of them found some playing cards and wound up playing poker to pass the time. Considering Reed is so competitive and the fact Liz knows him so well, he'd consistently wound up losing against her. The game quickly devolved into a childish argument between Reed and Liz, and in a bizarre reversal, Jewel had to play mediator between them.

Since Laurent is a fan of classic noir films, he was very caught off guard when he first started visiting the perfume shop and saw Liz wearing her vintage attire. Especially on his route, Laurent wasn't quite sure if Liz was real or a dream since she looked like one of those beautiful actresses from classic black and white films but in living color.

#Perfumare vn #pfm #fan art #concept art #Liz Morren #of course I had to make her real name a reference to cologne/perfume #it's fun imagining her interactions with the various cast #for some reason I could imagine Alan finding it entertaining to watch Reed and Liz interacting #as long as it doesn't affect their work watching Reed and Liz banter is probably like a live action telenovela for Alan #especially on reeds route where he's obviously in love with Liz #meanwhile Jewel and liz fall in love while on the run

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deerspherestudios · 8 months

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Hey! I just recently met and went through the demo of "Mushroom Oasis", and I already have so many questions! I hope I won't be too intrusive. You may not answer some questions if the answers contain spoilers.

Questions about the game: 1.Will it be possible to choose the MC gender? Is it possible to choose the gender of the cat in the same way? It's just that when I started the game, I named the cat after my cat and it was a little funny to me when the pronoun of the cat was "she" when my cat is male.

Will we be able to choose some kind of "style" for the MC, according to the type of clothing, at the beginning of the game?

Questions about Michael:

Does he see the world like an ordinary person? I mean he has 2 pairs of eyes and 3 pairs of pupils. And it baffles me.

If the MC suddenly goes out alone and doesn't come back by midnight, will Mychael worry about the MC and will he go looking for the MC?

How does Mychael feel about piercings and tattoos? Does he know about it? If so, would he like a piercing/tattoo?

I wonder where Mychael gets things for the house. That is, I saw that he had a broom, thread and knitting needles. Where did he get them???

If Mychael saw me (I'm 164 cm tall and I have red hair), would he think I'm some kind of witch, because of the color of my hair, or something like that? How would he react if he saw me?

And sorry for the mistakes, I used google translator. English is not my native language :( I also want to say that I am your fan from Latvia (I don’t know why I’m saying this, I just want to please you with the fact that you have a fan from the Baltic countries)

Oop!! Ty for the questions!! Let me try and answer em under the cut, since it might end up as a pretty long post hahaha. But hi hello!!! I'm always happy to know where my fans come from, it's always a surprise for me to see people around the globe enjoy my silly little game ;v;

Questions about the game:

1. Will it be possible to choose the MC gender? Is it possible to choose the gender of the cat in the same way?

Being nonbinary, I just choose not to mention pronouns when writing for the game, so anyone can fit in their shoes. Unless it comes to a point where I have to use it, I'll probably code in a pronoun tool but for now it doesn't seem necessary! As for the cat, that's a good suggestion. Perhaps I'll try coding it in for the next update so the cat can be male or female, according to player preference!

2. Will we be able to choose some kind of "style" for the MC, according to the type of clothing, at the beginning of the game?

Probably not, as I'm not really good at setting that up in Ren'Py. I did make an MC design though! But what they look like is entirely up to you. I've drawn a POV shot of them wearing jeans and sneakers but that's about it. They can look however you like!

Questions about Mychael:

1. Does he see the world like an ordinary person?

He does! Trigger warning for unsettling iris images if you wanna look this up, but his bottom pair is kinda what people with polycoria has. Except it's normal for him, and not really a condition. His vision is normal, he just has lotsa peepers.

2. If the MC suddenly goes out alone and doesn't come back by midnight, will Mychael worry about the MC and will he go looking for the MC?

Yes? He didn't save you just to have you running off into danger again. He'd absolutely track you down and find you.

3. How does Mychael feel about piercings and tattoos? Does he know about it? If so, would he like a piercing/tattoo?

He knows about it, but not enough to really understand how it works! He finds it fascinating humans decorate their bodies with shiny beads and jewels, and turn their skin into tapestries for art. He'd probably assume you can take them off any time and that the tattoos are drawn onto the skin.

I don't imagine he'd want a piercing, but he'd probably try a tattoo! (Until he realizes it's ink going under the skin, in which case he might change his mind haha)

4. I wonder where Mychael gets things for the house. Where did he get them???

He has his ways ::-)

5. How would he react if he saw me?

He wouldn't be reacting much to how you look. You're not the first human he's seen! He's been around plenty of them, but you'd be one of the few he's interacted with the longest. And that's what makes you stand out more than anything else.

Phew that was a big ask!! But thank you for the interest :-D!! Hope everything's good in Latvia!

#mushroom oasis vn #mychael ask #cheea chatter #bts

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championleonsslut · 3 months

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HII, i'm so sorry to be a bother but can i request some headcanons with leon having a famous s/o, like a singer or influencer? :000

I’ve been HYPED to do this ask for a while Tehe! You never disappoint anon!

Leon W/ a famous s/o

Female reader, quite fluffy all things considered! Reader is a singer

You, a very VERY famous Galarian singer (I’m talking Taylor Swift level famous) were of course, in the spotlight a lot. You have a massive fanbase, who practically worship your music. What you did not expect, is that the Galarian Champion secretly likes your music.

He sneaks into a few concerts, and developed a bit of a celebrity crush on you when he heard your voice. It was like a Siren’s call. He loved the glamorous outfits you wore, and how much passion you put into your music. He totally secretly stalks you on social media a bit.

You, on the other hand, like his work too. You have a Pokemon of your own who often is in concerts with you, a female Sylveon. You think he’s attractive, and a good battler, but you don’t know him.

You accidentally run into him one day after one of your shows, and are VERY surprised to find him there. He quickly compliments you on your work, and small talk pops up. You get kinda flirty and that leads to some numbers being exchanged.

After moving past the talking stage, he officially asks you out, and you could not be more delighted. You’re both very busy people, but make time for each other regardless. (Awwww)

Of course, you decide to keep your relationship very secret once you get together. Don’t need the press meddling in your lives even more, now do we?

Right from the get-go, Leon is absolutely the best boyfriend you’ve ever had. He is perfect in every single way, and you can always spot him in the VIP box at your shows. This leads to you writing songs about him, very discreetly though.

Once he hears your new album, the lyrics catch his attention. It doesn’t take long for him to put the pieces together. Most of your more romantic songs are DEFINITELY about him. It makes him blush and giggle when he figures it out.

“Are these songs about me?”

“Yes…”

“🥺”

You’re not just dating him for the money, you’re genuinely in love with him. And you blurt that out one night while you’re snuggled up in bed, and he couldn’t agree more.

After that, Leon drops the bomb in an interview about his girlfriend. (With your permission of course) it’s safe to say, everyone went B A N A N A S.

You guys get interviewed together, and more of the tea about your relationship is spilled. Almost immediately, you’re Galar’s hottest couple! There is a blog or two dedicated to the press sneaking photos of you together. The most popular ones are where you stand on your tip toes to kiss him. Leon agrees. They’re adorable.

People start to put the pieces together that some of your songs are about Leon, and lose their mind even more. You just giggle and watch as the chaos unfolds.

There’s fan art drawn of you guys, and each is more adorable than the last. Leon likes showing them to you. You get flustered each time.

Leon now gets to show off his pretty girlfriend at formal events. You like dressing up just for him, and it makes him nuts. Jewels, makeup, fancy dresses, the whole shibang.

Even four years into your relationship, and with the amount of songs you’ve written about him, people are still crazy about you guys together.

And of course, when they get word of the engagement… It gets even crazier.

#champion leon #pokemon leon #trainer leon #pokemon #champion leon x reader #pokemon leon x reader #anon ask #request #champion leon headcannons #pokemon leon headcannons

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im-totally-not-an-alien-2 · 2 years

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Black Cat Au part 5

1. The cats usually go out of thier way to avoid Batman. At first they were afraid of him getting thier hands on thier DNA and finding out they weren't fully human, but then they just kept doing it because they knew it bothered him for some reason.

That and he hated seeing the marks and gouges left behind from thier claws after they run up the buildings with them and they didn't want him to lecture them again.

2. The bats need a distraction so Kitty runs over to some street performers/musicians and ask them for thier help. He sings the punk version of Everytime We Touch with a hint of his ghost powers. It works like a charm and a crowd quickly gathers around.

Kitty leaves thousands of dollars worth of jewels in each performers instrument case and walks away casually as thier eyes bug out.

3. In my original imaginings of Black Cat (and how I still view him) Dannys outfit is a copy of Catwomans jumpsuit/ bodysuit with a spare smaller whip wrapped around his waist and acting as a tail, hence the name Black Cat. Alley tried her best but sadly she couldn't get him to wear the open chest version of the bodysuit. (Which i cannot find a reference picture of for the life of me)

"Theres no way I could pull that off."

"Bro, everyone would be able to pull that off" ;)

Cue kitty's red faced sputtering and Catwoman mentioning she wanted grandkittens and Danny firing back with "Deal with the kids you have now!"

In this household we gang up on Black Cat.

4. Robin had just chased a criminal into an abandoned apartment building and took them down. As he was about to finish securing the thug with rope he spotted something glowey and purple out of the corner of his eye. He notified Oracle through the coms and went to investigate only to find a...door? It was completely identical to all the doors around it aside from its color and glowyness. Upon opening it however he came face to face with the Ghost Zone. The bats explored it for a bit before they returned home. The next day the door was normal and no longer lead to a swirly green goo dimension.

5. Danny seemed really worried/distressed when Damian told the purple door story to him at the flower shop and he had a hunch that he knew more than he was saying. But mostly he was feeling protective. What was making his flowerboy so scared and how quickly can he chop it into tiny pieces?

6. Black Cat has a weird reaction to Blood Blossoms and Batman takes note. He discretely starts testing Kitty for other weaknesses to supernatural wards. All others come back negative. Batman eventually chalks it up to an allergy and moves on.

7. Danny eventually tells Damian about Phantom after they land in a time sensitive situation they can't get out of without the use of his powers. He of course swears him to secrecy.

8. Batman accuses Black Cat to be a League assassin sent to infiltrate the batfam and gain thier trust. Kitty was genuinely surprised about assassins being a thing around here. The batfam apologized for Batmans conspiracy theories and Kitty shrugged it off, saying its not the first time he'd been accused of being something he's not and he doubts it'll be the last.

9. If Kitty gets kidnapped after he and Robin start dating he'll start singing the chorus of My Boyfriend's Back to taunt the villian right before Robin appears to beat the stuffing out of them. Bonus if its Skulker and after Kitty reveals Phantom to him, so Damian already knows everything and has tools Kitty made to fight supernatural beings with.

Skulker learns to fear Robin that day.

10. The cats decided they didn't like the pictures on thier wanted posters so they broke into the police commissioners office and personally handed him pictures they took of themselves doing the nya cat pose.

Gordon just puffed on his pipe as the teens jumped out a window to escape, "Kids these days..."

I told myself I wasn't doing more Black Cat stuff but then people made fan art so here I am with more.

#black cat au #prompts #fanfiction prompts #plot bunny #dp x dc #damian x danny #damian wayne x danny fenton #danny phantom #danny fenton #batman #robin #damian wayne #batfam

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telekinetictrait · 9 months

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God help us – for art is long and life is short! (Faust: First Part, written by Johann Wolfgang Goethe and published in 1808)

hiiii heres the first part of what will (hopefully!!!) be a series of western women's fashion from 1800 to today. obviously, not all women looked like this or dressed like this. in fact, most didn't - these are largely going to be looks worn by women of a higher socioeconomic class, at least until maybe the 1880s. this is for a few reasons, mostly being, uh... availability of cc. i'd love to MAKE some historical cc but my laptop won't run blender. another reason is that the fashion of the upper classes is typically better recorded than that of lower classes, especially before the advent and popularization of photography. i'm just rambling now.

anyway! the first part: 1800-1809. we see the opulence of the georgians cling onto fashion in bows, feathers, and jewels. we also see the rise of waistlines to the iconic empire waist, and the influences of neoclassical aesthetics in fashion. hairstyles in particular were emulating those of the ancient greeks, also pulling a bit from the stuarts. this decade also allows me to share one of my favorite tidbits of fashion history: the coiffure à la titus! for a short time in the 1790s through the 1810s, some women (french women especially) took to cutting their hair short and choppy. the reasons range from inspiration taken from a popular play at the time, to symbolizing solidarity with women executed via guillotine. some men at the time thought that having short hair was actually hazardous to women's health, so while the titus cut wasn't the norm, it was widespread enough to cause quite a storm!

you'll notice that 1806 is missing. that's because the dress i used, uh... completely messed up the arms and i did not notice until i was making the gif. if you wanna see it, it'll be under the cut.

cc links + creator tags under the cut!!

see my resources page!

adelais : clepysdra's padme snail hair / ice-creamforbreakfast's vittoria pendant / hanalinori's morning in the garden dress / oydis' willow armlets / oydis' eloise flats

aelita : plasma-jane's athena hair, updated by my-historical-sims / s-clubs laurel crown (tsr download) / kaguya-fox's nioh oichi hair branch / simsonico's shining nikki shy lady dress conversion / dancemachinetrait's lydia flats

alanis : peebsplays' regency bun / joliebean's joanna earrings / leeleesims1's throw it on accessory wrap / dissia's amy accessory sleeves (tsr download) / zeussims' estrella gown

amalthea : simsonico's shining nikki shy lady headband conversion / mothz's accessory necktie / serenity-cc's accessory frilled turtleneck / sifix's hope dress (tsr download) / simsonico's shining nikki reminiscence of flower fan conversion

anamarija : okruee's cicero hair / pixelunivairse's pearls necklace / gilded-ghosts' bingley gown / maushasi's acc. lace top (search 'lace', accessory included in file) / dancemachinetrait's pemberley gloves / leonalure's transparent priestess scarf or here (REUPLOAD, original download on shady site. leonalure – if you see this and want me to take it down, just let me know!!) / dancemachinetrait's lydia flats

aoide : teanmoon's helen updo / zeussims' dreamer earrings / gilded-ghosts' highbury chemisette / sifix's giselle dress (tsr download) / dancemachinetrait's pemberley gloves

arden : bedisfull's feel my rhythm rose straw hat / izuko's urban animal faux fur scarf / gilded-ghosts' emma gown / dissia's ayiana accessory sleeves (tsr download) / simsonico's shining nikki reminiscence of flower fan conversion / joliebean's satin tip shoes

astrid : sadlydulcet's set 22 hat (search 'set #22') / nightingalesongx's low side bun / simsonico's shining nikki shy lady necklace conversion / dancemachinetrait's pemberley gloves / simsbrush's regency dress / dancemachinetrait's kitty flats

azucena : buzzardly28's gesina hair v2 / magnolianfarewell's venus dress / dustyratt's emma frost cape / dancemachinetrait's pemberley gloves / dancemachinetrait's kitty flats

thanks to @clepysdra @ice-creamforbreakfast @hanalinori @oydis @my-historical-sims @plasma-janes @kaguya-fox @simsonico @dancemachinetrait @peebsplays @joliebean @leeleesims1 @dissiasims @zeussims @serenity-cc @okruee @pixelunivairse @gilded-ghosts @teanmoon @bedisfull @nightingalesongx @simsbrush @buzzardly28 @magnolianfarewell and @dustyratt

(heres the failed 1806)

#my sims #sims 4 lookbook #sims 4 regency lookbook #ts4 regency #223 years #1800s #georgian #regency #historical

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year

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Booz Allen ticketmastered America's public lands

Ticketmaster’s spectacular failure to competently sell tickets to Taylor Swift’s first concert tour in five years has revived scrutiny of the ticketing/venue/promotion/management monopoly created by Ticketmaster’s merger with Live Nation, especially the “junk fees” the company sucks out of fans’ pockets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfPiqgLPro8

What’s a junk fee? It’s all the crap that Ticketmaster tacks onto the cost of your ticket, like a “convenience fee” for using a credit card. Once all these fees are assessed, 78% of the price of some tickets is just fees.

https://www.vulture.com/2022/10/biden-is-coming-for-high-ticketing-fees.html

Junk fees aren’t limited to Ticketmaster, they’re everywhere: “resort fees” at hotels, bag and seat-selection fees on airlines, $35 fees for bounced checks, and on and on. Wherever a company has pricing power — because they’re the only game in town, or because you’re desperate — they rip you off with fees:

https://www.yahoo.com/video/1-biden-welcomes-crackdown-junk-161329851.html

Take cable TV. The cable operators have divided up the USA like the Pope dividing up the New World, carefully demarcating each company’s exclusive territory and ensuring that cable companies never compete with one another. That’s why cable is such a dumpster-fire of junk fees — Comcast just jacked up its nonsense “broadcast fee” to $27/month:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/11/comcasts-sneaky-broadcast-tv-fee-hits-27-making-a-mockery-of-advertised-rates/

OK, fine — turn off the TV and get out there and touch grass! America’s system of national parks and public lands are the jewels in the country’s crown, a remnant of those long-ago days when government could and did do stuff for the American public, an art that (to hear conservatives tell) is now lost to the ages along with the secrets of the pyramids.

Just navigate to Recreation.gov, which consolidates permitting and entry for 13 federal agencies and…

::sad trombone::

…pay your junk fees.

Want to pay your $7 to hike the prized Coyote Buttes North at Arizona’s Vermilion Cliffs National Monument? Sure, just pay a $9 “lottery application fee.” Even by junk fee standards, this is a very junky fee — it’s not a fee for paying a fee, it’s a fee for the chance to pay a fee.

Only 4–10% of lottery entrants get a permit (Coyote Buttes is a very fragile ecosystem and entrance is severely limited), which means that Recreation.gov’s rake from this junk fee is about 1,000% of what it actually makes on hiking permits.

Well, at least that money is going to Coyote Buttes, right? Preserving the petroglyphs and the dinosaur tracks and whatnot?

Nope. The Bureau of Land Management gets the $7 entry fee from the 64 daily hikers who are lucky enough to visit Coyote Buttes. The $14,400 in lottery fees that the day’s hopeful hikers pay to Recreation.gov for a shot at a permit all go to a giant military contractor: Booz Allen.

I know. What. The. Actual. Fuck. On his BIG newsletter, Matt Stoller explains how a beltway bandit like Booz Allen became the Ticketmaster of America’s public lands. The deal started in 2017, when Booz got the contract to build Recreation.gov “at no cost to the federal government.”

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/why-is-booz-allen-renting-us-back

Booz Allen didn’t promise to run a government website out of an abundance of patriotic zeal. Like all public private Partnership contractors, they wanted to figure out how to scoop of gigantic amounts of public money without any public accountability:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/01/the-palantir-will-see-you-now/#public-private-partnership

Booz Allen now gets to run America’s public lands like its own corporate fiefdom. At the outset of its deal, it was able to set its own prices for fees unilaterally — that is, it could simply announce that, say, everyone who wanted to visit Mount Whitney would pay a $6 fee (16,000 applicants, 5,300 of them successful, $100,000 in junk fees for Booz).

But then Thomas Kotab, an “avid hiker,” sued the BLM for the $2 junk fee tacked on top of the reservation system for Red Rock Canyon. The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (the law that allows federal agencies to charge for access to public lands) requires that agencies hold a notice-and-comment for each of these fees. The $2 fee didn’t go through this procedure.

Kotab won…sort of. The court upheld his challenge, requiring that Booz’s public lands junk fees go through public notice. But Booz didn’t refund the $2 it had illegally collected from the people it ripped off to visit Red Rock Canyon — and it figured out how to neuter the notice and comment system.

Here’s how that works: the federal agencies that Booz ticketmasters each have a Resource Advisory Council, which the agencies stack with their own cronies, who then rubber-stamp whatever the agency wants to do. RACs pretend to be accountable to the public, but boy is the pretense thin:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5442009.pdf

So now, when Booz wants to tack a junk fee onto a public space, it gets the relevant agency to do a notice-and-comment for the fee, and the RAC files comments saying that this is a great idea, and the agency throws away all the public comments that say otherwise, and voila, Booz gets another junk fee.

All of this is incredibly frustrating, not just another example of corporate looting of the public’s purse — a huge barrier to our public lands. The idea that the military industrial complex has ticketmastered Teddy Roosevelt’s public parks should shock our consciences.

But there’s something we can do about this! The part of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act that authorizes agencies to assess fees runs out in Oct 2023, and when Congress renews it, they could add an amendment to block Booz’s junk fees.

Or, as Stoller notes, “Biden, through his anti-junk fee initiative could simply assert through the White House Competition Council to the 13 different agencies that they end Booz Allen’s practice of charging these kinds of fees.”

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/blog/2022/10/26/the-presidents-initiative-on-junk-fees-and-related-pricing-practices/

[Image ID: A stunning view of sunrise at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. In the foreground, a cigar-chomping, top-hatted ogre stands at a podium emblazoned with the Booz Allen logo, yanking on a lever made of a golden dollar-sign. He holds aloft an inverted National Park Service arrowhead logo, pinched disdainfully between his white-gloved thumb and forefinger. Rising up from behind a mountain on the left side of the frame is trustbuster-era editorial cartoon image of Roosevelt, swinging his 'Big Stick.']

#pluralistic

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stellaex-art · 2 months

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Here's a brand new Hazbin Hotel OC of mine, Prism! I wanted to make a brand new OC to ship with my OC Anastasia, and I decided to create a new Overlord OC that represents art! I wanted to use a lot of colors for their design, to make them look flamboyant and make it evident they're the Overlord of art, so I used mismatched colors for their suit and made it look like paint was running from their eyes too. I hope you guys love this, cuz I worked very hard to make them look awesome! X3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name: Prism

Nicknames: Headmaster Prism (by their students), Boss (by their employees), Rainbow (by Angel Dust), Colorful Freak (by Valentino), Attention Whore (by Valentino), Darling (by Anastasia), My Jewel (by Anastasia), Sweetheart (by Anastasia), Babe/Baby (by Anastasia), Sugar (by Anastasia)

Gender: Nonbinary (They/Them)

Age: 30 years

Species: Unicorn Sinner Demon

Sexuality: Omnisexual

Sin: Using their power and wealth to demean fellow artists

Date of Death: 1940s Cause of Death: Scarlet Fever Current Residence: Pentagram City, Pride Ring, Hell Personality: Creative, Calm, Intelligent, Witty, Passionate, Honest, Prideful, Charming, Emotional, Organized Likes: Painting, Anything colorful, Wearing makeup, Spending time with Anastasia, Mocking Valentino, Cooking, Flashy clothing, Being a unicorn, Practicing new art styles, All kinds of music, Anastasia's demonic form Dislikes: Valentino's manipulation, Dull colors, Being misgendered, Obsessive fans, Losing credibility, Tacky clothing, Being tricked, People failing their expectations, Imperfection, Hypocrisy Friends: Angel Dust, Ramona Rexx, Vox, Velvette Enemies: Valentino Others: Silver Chateau employees (acquainted), Students of the Kaleidoscope Academy of Art (students), Blitzø (obsessive fan) Romantic Interests: Anastasia (girlfriend) Status: Active Occupations: Overlord, Artist, Founder of the Kaleidoscope Academy of Art Abilities and Skillset: Demonic Transformation, Color Manipulation, Paint Manipulation, Conjuration, Charisma, Contracts, Artistic Talent, Musical Talent, Performing Arts, Cooking, Wide Intellect Voice Headcanon: Avi Roque (Raine Whispers from The Owl House) Theme Song: Applause (Lady Gaga) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#my art #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fanart #hazbin hotel oc #vivziepop #unicorn #original character

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scotianostra · 3 months

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15th January 1923 saw the birth of the wonderfully eccentric and very funny Ivor Cutler.

Born Isadore Cutler in Govan, Glasgow, into a middle-class Jewish family of Eastern European descent. His father Jack Moris Cutler was a wholesale jeweller and had premises at 85 Queen Street. He cited his childhood as the source of his artistic temperament, recalling a sense of displacement when his younger brother was born: "Without that I would not have been so screwed up as I am, and therefore not as creative." And creative he was!

Ivor was educated at the Shawlands Academy.[4] In 1939 Cutler was evacuated to Annan. He joined the Royal Air Force as a navigator in 1942 but was soon grounded for "dreaminess", apparently more interested in looking at the clouds from the cockpit window than locating a flight path, and worked as a storeman. After the war he studied at Glasgow School of Art and became a schoolteacher.

Working at a school in Paisley, however, did not agree with Cutler. He hated discipline that required the strap, having received it more than 200 times himself, and in a dramatic gesture took the instrument from his desk, cut it into pieces and dispensed them to the class.

Leaving Scotland was, he claimed, "the beginning of my life". He settled in London for a time teaching music, dance, drama and poetry to 7- to 11-year-olds. Oh how I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in on of his classrooms.

His dour recordings bely his existence growing up in Glasgow and seeing his peers arriving at school with bare feet - a fact which, he later claimed, helped form his leftwing political views, aged five - appeared in his hilarious writings, Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Volume 2. With lines such as "Voiding bowels in those days was unheard of. People just kept it in," he used a string of fantastical untruths to expose the reality of his life and the Spartan - and sometimes sadistic - Scottish existence.

He also taught for a time at A S Neil's Summerhill school. Dubbed a hippy academy where a different approach to education was fostered, Summerhill was run with rules agreed between staff and pupils, and the premise was to educate the whole person. This alternative philosophy appealed to Cutler. He lived in the grounds of the school. Ivor married for a time, but his parenting skills did not go down too well with his then wife, they had two sons, he sent one, on his first day at school wearing a kilt, I can see that going down well in England! His son remembers his father once taking him fake fishing,taking him out in the street, with a stick and bit of string and a fork tied on the end dangling in a puddle, being his fishing line, he also says "I couldn't say I was pleased when he felt the need to walk down the street with a carpet sample in place of a tie."

During the late 50's and into the 60's he mixed his teaching with that of entertainment, managing to secure a slot on Acker Bilk Show and Late Night Line-Up. On one such appearance he was spotted by Paul McCartney, who invited Cutler to appear in the Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour where he played the bus conductor Buster Bloodvessel, and yes the lead singer of Bad Manners took his name from this and was also a fan of Cutler.

Through music, poetry and children’s books the songwriter, poet and “unjoiner” of thoughts perfected a brand of eccentric mischief that made him a favourite of many.

His absurdist songs – sung in dour Glaswegian tones with a wheezing harmonium for company – were an ever-present on John Peel’s radio shows, second only in rotation to The Fall. His darkly whimsical eye can be seen in contemporary British artists like David Shrigley and Martin Creed. And yet Cutler remains something of a marginal figure, known only to a devoted few.

For the latter part of his career, Cutler lived on his own in a flat on Parliament Hill Fields, north London, which he found by placing an ad in the New Statesman saying "Ivor Cutler seeks room near Heath. Cheap!". There he would receive visitors, and his companion Phyllis King, in a reception room filled with clutter, pictures and curios, including his harmonium, some ivory cutlery (a pun, of course) and a wax ear stapled to the wall with six-inch nails - proof of his dedication to the Noise Abatement Society, because of which he forbade his audience ever to whistle in appreciation at his work. The bicycle was his preferred mode of transport, its cow-horn handlebars in the sit-up-and-beg position in line with his Alexander technique practice.

He could quote from Homer, taught himself Chinese and was in the habit of frequenting Soho's Chinatown, where he could display his knowledge - although, typically, he chose Chinese above Japanese because the textbooks were cheaper. With the onset of old age he was increasingly worried about losing his memory, given that his father and brother had both developed Alzheimer's disease. It was a fear that was to be tragically fulfilled. He retired from the stage at the age of 82.

His main champion in the late 70's and 80's John Peel once remarked that Cutler was probably the only performer whose work had been featured on Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Ivor Cutler died after a massive stroke on March 3rd 2006 aged 83.

I could no doubt find many stories about Ivor online but will give you some of his own whimsical word instead, first up is

I Ate a Lady’s Bun

I got taken to gaol.

I ate a lady’s bun.

On her head.

She got a fright.

It was a surprise.

Do not worry I said.

I am eating your bun.

I am hungry for a bun.

Police she cried a good

neighbour heard her

and phoned the

police.

You must not eat a lady’s bun even

if you are hungry.

And I am in jail.

And some of his advice......

5 Wise Saws

1. Do not kick a grocer

on the leg.

2. If you kick a grocer

on the leg, make sure

it’s not a green grocer.

3. If you throw a ball,

it moves in the air.

4. You can not erase a

love letter with a

nipple, no matter how

rubbery.

5. If you empty your bowels

at night, a shepherd

will have a red face

in the morning. -*

#scotland #scottish #history #tacher #poet #entertainer #makar #eccentric

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peanutsstudio · 9 months

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San Diego Comic Con 2023!

We're getting ready for Comic-Con International: San Diego, the annual comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre event is a colossal effort. The creative team at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates works with the licensing office in NYC, Peanuts Worldwide, to bring the booth to life. The four-day event, which opens with Preview night on Wednesday, July 19th, and then runs from Thursday, July 20 through Sunday, July 23, requires hours of work to plan, prep, and stage boxes, at our office, headquartered in Santa Rosa, Calif. We filled four pallets (labeled for specific days, so the booth has inventory each morning!), then wrapped them to ship.

The creative team at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates prepares for San Diego Comic-Con 2023! But it’s not all work for the creative team. There’s always a little time to play around and have some fun.

From left, Caitlin Leonard, Tifanee Smith, Amanda Fagundes, Alena Carnes, Emma Harmon (front), Jewel Jackson, Cameron Nilsson (back), and Karri Kenoyer. Here’s a sneak peek of this year’s Comic-Con exclusive hat, celebrating all things Snoopy for Beagle Scouts fans, courtesy of Paige Braddock, Chief Creative Officer here at the Schulz Studio.

Patch design by Mary Shyne. On the show floor, you’ll find the Peanuts gang at Booth #1635, where you’ll be a happy camper to discover Snoopy himself, making in-person appearances throughout the con.

Preparing to set up camp on the show floor. Look for the Peanuts gang at Booth #1635.

Hope to see you at Comic-Con! Join us in the Gaslamp at the Peanuts Pop-up shop, where we’ll set up camp at 200 J. Street, Suite 105, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. We have plenty of activities planned for our guests and some fun new merch for outdoor enthusiasts.

Join us Saturday for the Peanuts panel!

Discover the all-new animated Peanuts content in the works at WildBrain Studios for Apple TV+, the home of all Peanuts content. Includes a sneak peek of Camp Snoopy (2024), the adventures (and misadventures) of Snoopy and his Beagle Scouts at summer camp. Plus enjoy an exclusive reveal of some exciting new Peanuts projects. Panelists include Rob "Boots" Boutilier (executive producer/series director, Camp Snoopy, WildBrain Studios), Adam Arsenault (director, WildBrain Studios), Paige Braddock (chief creative officer, Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates), Jason Cooper (senior writer, Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates), and Melissa Menta (senior vice president, marketing and communications, Peanuts Worldwide). Damian Holbrook (senior writer, TV Guide magazine) moderates. And finally, big “congrats” and a special shout-out for this Eisner nomination! In the category of best Comics-Related Book.

Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects, by Benjamin L. Clark and Nat Gertler (Schulz Museum)

Schulz Studio Editorial Director, Alexis Fajardo also contributed to this project. See you in San Diego!

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pxnsneverland · 11 months

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Autumn Roses | Young Ian x OC (part 1)

plot summary: As a half black half white slave in colonial North Carolina, Rose has struggled with her place in the world. After her mother's death in childbirth and finding out that the recently deceased River Run plantation master was her father, the mistress of River Run, Jocasta Cameron, took her in treating her as more of a daughter than a slave. Jocasta educated and raised Rose with no one outside the house ever being the wiser. But the arrival of Jocasta's nephew Jamie Fraser and his wife Clare threaten to turn Rose's world upside down especially when they bring along their bright haired, blue eyed nephew Ian Murray.

pairings: Young Ian x OC

fandom: Outlander

word count: 2286

warnings/notes: Hey guys! I've had this Outlander fan fiction idea for awhile and I finally put pen to paper so to speak. I hope you all enjoy it! And those of you that know me from my Elvis fan fiction, no worries. I'm still writing it and will be updating soon :)

Chapter 1: The Fateful Meeting

River Run was not a locale where one could expect to encounter a plethora of thrilling events. Each day followed a set routine, a carefully crafted plan. Each individual was aware of their designated position. All but myself, I presume. There wasn't much of a place for negros in North Carolina society. They were considered slaves or possessions by the affluent white individuals who possessed the financial means to acquire them. I, too, followed in the footsteps of my mother, as countless others have done before me. From the moment of my birth, I was thrust into the cruel and inhumane world of slavery. Yet, despite my lowly status, I was afforded a modicum of respect and deference that set me apart from my fellow slaves. The circumstances surrounding my birth were shrouded in mystery, as my mother had passed away during delivery. It was not until years later that I was able to uncover the identity of my father, and the reasons behind my unique position as a lighter-skinned slave who resided within the household rather than toiling in the fields alongside my peers. Upon the passing of Master Cameron, I was summoned by his wife, Jocasta Cameron, at the tender age of eight. It was then that she imparted upon me the knowledge of my origins - a child born of a man who wielded his power over his possessions. Devoid of any offspring to call her own, she developed a fondness for my company. From that moment forward, my status shifted from that of a mere slave to that of a ward, receiving a different kind of treatment. Under the veil of secrecy, within the confines of River Run's protective isolation, Mistress Cameron imparted upon me a wealth of knowledge and skills. She taught me the art of reading and writing, the importance of proper speech, the intricacies of chess, the melodies of the piano, and any other subject that she would have typically taught her own flesh and blood. Tears streamed down my face as I contemplated the plight of my brethren who toiled ceaselessly in the fields and within the confines of the main house. For I, too, was akin to them - a mere possession adorned with precious jewels. In due course, I succumbed to the monotony of everyday life, much like the masses. However, my place left much to be desired, and the apprehension of never discovering my rightful place consumed me, as if such a haven was merely a figment of my imagination.

On a stunning autumn day, I made the decision to settle beneath the grand oak tree in my front yard. With a book in hand, I whiled away the hours in peaceful solitude. Mistress Cameron sat on the porch, accompanied by her attendant Ulysses. He was a slave who assisted her in all her endeavors, given her blindness. Despite residing in the house slave quarters, he was treated almost as well as I. However, I had been granted my own room years ago, located in a separate wing of the house, far from any visitors who might chance upon it. I sensed the unwavering gaze of Mistress Cameron upon me, despite her lack of visual confirmation. Her admiration for me was so profound that I made every effort to avoid disappointing her. With my head bowed and my lips sealed, I remained hidden as instructed. The stakes were high, for if anyone were to discover that Mistress Cameron was imparting her knowledge upon me and treating me with her customary kindness, both she and I would face certain death.

The day was a delight, with the gentle autumn breeze causing small ripples to form along the river nearby. The season of autumn had always held a special place in my heart. The leaves underwent a stunning transformation, displaying a vibrant array of colors. The fruits of one's labor were bountifully harvested. Perhaps I could have continued to relish the moment, were it not for the gradual approach of a boat traversing the river, its sound growing ever louder. With haste, I rose from my spot and sought refuge behind the towering tree, ensuring that I remained concealed from the body of water. The boat glided past me before coming to a halt just a stone's throw away from the walkway leading up to the house. I cautiously poked my head out, curious to catch a glimpse of the unexpected visitor. Anticipating the arrival of esteemed guests at River Run, I envisioned the likes of the governor, a soldier, or a lord, among the customary high-ranking individuals who graced us with their presence. In lieu of that, my gaze fell upon a towering, robust Scottish gentleman in the prime of his life, boasting locks of hair so fiery that they appeared to ignite in the sun's rays. He gallantly assisted a slender woman, who appeared to be slightly senior to him, in disembarking from the vessel. Her hair, pinned to the back of her head, was almost as curly as mine. Her skin was as pure as freshly fallen snow, unmarred by any imperfections, unlike that of so many other women. As she emerged from the boat, her gracefulness was striking.

Mistress Jocasta had risen from her seat, bringing Ulysses along with her. She now stood before them, a smile adorning her countenance. “Jamie. Welcome to River Run.”

Jamie respectfully nodded his head. “Auntie Jocasta.” With a gallant gesture, he removed his hat and bestowed upon her a graceful bow.

With open arms, Mistress Jocasta welcomed him into her embrace. Accepting her invitation, he embraced her tightly, conveying through the hug the length of time that had passed since their last meeting. “Blessed be,” she whispered softly, “You’ve grown to be a giant. That’ll be the Mackenzie blood flowing through ye.”

A soft smile graced Jamie's lips. “I was no more than a bairn when you last saw me. Had nowhere to go but up.”

So, the individual in question was Jamie. Mistress Cameron had devoted considerable time to recounting to me the tales of her family's history in Scotland and her formative years. Jamie, the youngest son of her sister Ellen, had been a name that had reached my ears. Mistress Cameron spoke of him in a manner akin to how she conversed with Ulysses about me, as if he were her very own offspring. Finally, I had the pleasure of putting a face to the name.

“I recall ye had a most gorgeous heid of red hair,” she remarked, “Oh, how yer mother adored you.”

“She adored you as well. Always spoke of you wi’ love.”

“I miss her still.”

“As do I,” he replied. Jamie hesitated for a moment before proceeding, “Ah, Auntie, may I present my wife Claire?”

With a confident stride, Claire advanced towards Mistress Cameron, who lowered her head in deference. A smile appeared on Claire's lips. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mistress Cameron.” Her English heritage piqued my interest slightly. The union of a Scotsman and an English woman was a rare sight indeed.

“Oh, I hope you’ll call me Auntie, dear. We are kin after all.”

“Of course,” Claire replied with a soft chuckle, “Auntie it is then.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, Claire.” Mistress Cameron enveloped her upper arms with a warm embrace.

All of a sudden, a boy emerged and began to make his way up the path, catching my attention as I had not previously noticed his presence on the boat. He appeared to be no older than myself, perhaps even the same age of 16. With his lengthy blonde locks neatly tied back, his complexion, which was of a light hue, glistened with perspiration from diligently transferring their possessions from the vessel. With a wide and sincere grin, he drew near. The sight of that smile was enough to elicit a reciprocal grin from anyone who caught a glimpse of it. His striking good looks caused my heart to flutter uncontrollably, and I desperately willed it to cease its erratic beating.

Ian. His name perfectly complemented his countenance - unassuming and charming.

Ian clutched a bushel of wildflowers in his hands. “I’m very pleased to meet ye, Great-Aunt Jocasta.” He extended the bouquet of flowers towards her.

“Ye’re welcome, lad.” You are most welcome, young man. I realized when she didn't take the flowers that Ian probably didn't realize she was blind. After all, he had never laid eyes on her.

Ulysses came to the rescue, his voice a soft whisper in Mistress Cameron's ear as he spoke of the flowers that Ian had presented to her. As the realization dawned on her, her eyes widened with a sudden spark of understanding. Without hesitation, she reached out and took hold of the bushel, her fingers curling around it with a sense of purpose. “Thank you kindly, Ian. Forgive me. It is a long time since my sight had left me, though I still see shapes and shadows.”

“I’m sorry to hear, Great-Auntie.” His countenance reflected the genuine distress he felt upon receiving the news. His kindness was palpable.

“Oh, fear not, lad. It has been a blessing. I am now gifted with hearing that would be the envy of many a gossip, and the ability to sent truth from lies, if ye catch my meanin’.” His face lit up with a smile. Mistress Cameron spoke the truth. Throughout the duration of our acquaintance, she had consistently refused to regard her lack of sight as a hindrance. She navigated her surroundings with remarkable ease, almost as if she possessed perfect vision. Ulysses, her trusted companion, provided only sporadic assistance. I held great admiration for her actions. In that moment, a canine hastily approached Ian, positioning itself by his side with an uncontainable wag of its tail. With a joyful bark, he bid farewell to Mistress Jocasta and sprang off into the distance. “Oh goodness. Who have we there? Another acquaintance to be made.”

With a quick movement of the eyes, Jamie stole a glance at Ian. “Young Ian’s…mongrel, Rollo. Take hold of your beast, lad.”

With a nod, Ian chased after Rollo. No matter how hard he attempted to seize him, the dog darted beyond his grasp. A chuckle escaped my lips as I observed the comical sight of their cat-and-mouse game. Lost in my own amusement, I remained oblivious to Rollo's presence until he gently nudged the hem of my skirt from behind the tree. With a grin adorning his face, he patiently awaited my reaction. However, I found myself unable to respond. As Ian drew near, my heart nearly ceased beating, until he finally caught up to Rollo. “Rollo, you mangy beast, you can’t just go running off on Great-Auntie’s land.” He lifted his head to meet my gaze, his blue eyes widening as if he had just seen a ghost. Despite his pleasant demeanor towards Mistress Jocasta, I couldn't help but feel apprehensive about the potential harm he could inflict upon me. With a swift kick, I sent the book I had been engrossed in hurtling behind me, out of sight.

A lump had formed in my throat, impeding my breathing. Nonetheless, I persevered and managed to bow to him, my gaze fixed on the ground. “I’m sorry, Master Murray. I dinna mean to have any association with yer pet. Please forgive me.” At no other moment had I been as cognizant of the Scottish lilt that had been adopted from Mistress Cameron as I was presently.

Ian remained silent, leaving me on edge. I braced myself for any possible outcome, whether it be a physical altercation or an attack from his canine companion. My jaw tightened in anticipation. With a look of astonishment in his gaze, he uttered, “Ye’re the bonniest lass I’ve ever seen.”

My gaze was irresistibly drawn upwards, away from the ground. “What?”

Ian shook his head, as if to snap out of the current stream of consciousness that had been occupying his mind. “I’m sorry. I shouldna have been so forward. I’m Ian, Ian Murray.” In a swift motion, he grasped my hand and pressed his lips upon it with the grace of a chivalrous protagonist from a timeless tale. He bestowed upon me one of those smiles that had the power to make my heart flutter even from a distance. But now, as he stood before me, my heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it might burst out of my chest.

As I was preparing to respond to him, my attention was diverted by the sound of my name being called out, “Rose!”

With haste, I withdrew my hand from Ian's grip as Mistress Jocasta, accompanied by Jamie, Claire, and Ulysses, approached our vicinity. Mistress Jocasta's countenance betrayed a hint of displeasure, yet it was overshadowed by an air of apprehension. “I thought I told you to stay out of sight when we have company.”

With a subtle movement, I placed my hands behind my back. “I was, Mistress Cameron, but Rollo…he found me…”

“It was my fault, Great-Anutie,” Ian interjected, “I should have caught up wit’ Rollo before he went sniffin’ around.”

Her fingers tightened around his shoulder. “It’s alright, lad.” A deep sigh escaped her lips. “We should all go inside. If you all are going to stay here awhile and since ye’re family, there are some things ye must know. I hope ye’ll keep an open mind.” Thus, we trailed after her as she led the way towards the main house. Ian strode alongside me, even though his legs surpassed mine in length. Every now and then, he cast a fleeting glance my way, but I refrained from reciprocating.

Stay tuned for part 2!! Click HERE to view!

#outlander #outlander fandom #outlander fanfic #outlander fanfiction #outlander fic #young ian #ian murray #jamie fraser #claire fraser #jocasta cameron #oc fanfiction #outlander starz #outlander season 4 #fanfiction #fanfic #fan fiction #fan fic #outlander season 7 #outlander series

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shitpostingkats · 2 years

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Crack Theory: Jaden Yuki is (at least partially) Atlantian

As usual, this is 100% my own connection making brain going crazy, I doubt this is what the writers intended, if they thought about it at all. Also, this essay is not free of infodumping or absurdity.

So, Atlantis has always been... kinda weird, in yugioh. Other than just the absolute wildness of it just. Canonically existing. The Waking the Dragons arc has some of the most far reaching lore implications for the franchise as a whole, introducing ideas like the spirit world, duel monsters appearing in history (outside of egypt lol), and some major afterlife magic. Things that yugioh will expand on in following series, and things that were, I reiterate, introduced in a throwaway filler arc of the anime because they had run out of manga to adapt.

But one character in particular not just builds on the concepts introduced in DM’s Atlantis season, but shares some interesting similarities with the main villain of that season, Dartz.

Jaden Yuki.

The first thing that caught my attention was the eyes. While yugioh has an almost ridiculous number of characters with magical eyeballs, heterochromia with one turquoise, one orange/yellow? Incredibly specific. I can’t think of a single yugioh character whose weird eye horror even passingly resembles anothers, yet here Jaden and Dartz are. Even further, both of them spend time serving as a “king” with pure gold eyes, before coming into contact with a foreign entity and developing the bilateral asymmetry.

But Jaden’s eyes are based on Yubels, and more thematically, the colors of the polymerization card art. And Dartz’s seem to be just a random anime villain power up.

Let’s put a pin in this for now.

The next weird link between the two is in the strange flashback we see at the very end of GX season 3. Jaden sees one of his past lives, when Yubel pledged themselves to be his guardian. In this era, Jaden is the young prince of a vague and never named kingdom. When was this? Where? We don’t know.

But the few characters we see share some interesting design elements with the people of Atlantis.

The primary front skirt panel being this narrow rectangle ending in a point at the end. The gold crown featuring a solid band with a diamond shaped piece right over the forehead embedded with a bright red gem. These capes and the big round brooch thingies. Jaden’s father’s belt has this segmented gold design that looks quite a bit like the necklace of the Atlantian king. (His granddaughter, Kris, has a similar one, I was just running out of space for references.) In fact, both Jaden’s father and the Atlantian king use red gems as their primary design element.

And finally, the biggest detail I want to point out is this little gemstone on human!Yubel’s forehead. Crowns are a pretty universal thing, but a delicate little jewel right on the forehead? That’s an iconic piece of jewelry worn by one Dartz Yugioh. It’s also worth noting, Jaden supreme king armor has the same blue diamond on its forehead.

Now, before I tie this all together, let me take a quick aside to reassure that yes, I am aware, this sounds like the furthest reach I could possibly make. Sure, the two kingdoms might share some design elements, if you squint. Yeah, Jaden and Yubel might each have one weird feature that Dartz also flaunts. But really, is that enough to posit a connection between the two?

I mean, absolutely, I’ve built fan theories on far less and I WILL DO IT AGAIN

But no. Here’s the plot twist of this post:

I’m not trying to prove that past!Jaden was the prince of Atlantis.

Past!Jaden was the prince of New Atlantis.

All right buckle up kids it’s time for me to pull out the thumbtacks and red string also yes this essay is only 50% crack theory and 50% me wanting to infodump about mythology and historical dress.

Now, ygo Atlantis is based on the “real” Atlantis described by Plato in a trio of his allegorical dialogues, wherein he invents a fictitious evil island nation and then recounts how the ancient Athenians singlehandedly stopped them from invading the known world. And ygo Atlantis actually references parts of the texts and uses some neat Atlantis details that I never see anyone else get right. For one, the three dragons, Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos, are named after the three chapters of the dialogue. Though Hermos is shortened from Hermocrates, but it means someone on the writing team gave at least a passing glance to the source material. Secondly, the layout of the city uses the concentric ring design laid out by Plato.

“-dwelt into a palace and enclosed it with three circular moats of increasing width, varying from one to three stadia and separated by rings of land proportional in size. The Atlanteans then built bridges northward from the mountain, making a route to the rest of the island. They dug a great canal to the sea, and alongside the bridges carved tunnels into the rings of rock so that ships could pass into the city around the mountain”

Thirdly, (and this is my favorite) Atlantis itself does not resemble grecian architecture. It is SO easy for writers using Atlantis as a cool fantasy location to just slap some marble pillars on it and call it a day. But while we are getting the dialogue from Plato, and the text states that they encountered hellenistic Greeks, doesn’t automatically make them one in the same. In fact, in the text itself, we are assured that all of the proper nouns are being translated from their original records. And where did these fictitious records come from, you might ask?

Egypt!

So yeah, props to the ygo writers for actually using a fantasy civilization that has legitimate ties to Egypt in their dm filler arc. And it would in fact make sense for Dartz to be in Egypt 5-3,000 years ago, since he would be the one of the only survivors of his kingdom and as such any records that survived would have to have come from him.

I’m getting distracted. Back to Jaden.

While Jaden’s kingdom shares some similarities with the Atlantians, there’s a much stronger historical inspiration at play here.

Greeks.

Specifically, some of the modern perceptions of Spartans.

The Atlantian long robe retains the shape of the front panel, but it’s been cut short at the knee to form a sort of pteruges (that armored skirt made from strips of leather). They maintain the shape of the Atlantian cap sleeves, but instead of cloth they have been made into bronze pauldrons. The capes, in particular, have now taken on the form of a chalamys, the iconic cloak of ancient Greek military attire.

We even see some ancient Greeks in capsule monsters, further cementing that Jaden’s people are very much similar, but not quite. They’ve still got some Atlantian flourishes that set them apart.

And see those capes I can’t shut up about?

The Atlantians fastened theirs with two big round gemstones, one on each shoulder.

Historically, and in yugioh, Greek military fastened theirs at the right shoulder, using what archeologists like to call a fibula brooch.

And Jaden’s people fasten their cloaks on the left, using that ancient Atlantian gem.

Do we have enough evidence to even begin to guess what happened to the citizens after Atlantis sank into the ocean? No. But here’s my theory.

Atlantis, an enormous empire, crumbles. Its people were decimated by war and tragedy. A surviving group slowly migrates to Greece, either willingly or through the Athenian conquest. They take refuge with another famous enemy of the Athenians, the Spartans. They slowly assimilate with the city state, blending the two cultures together, but the Atlantian citizens still delineate themselves in small ways through fashion and political influence. These people know of duel monsters, but are hesitant to share that knowledge, fresh on the heels of the spirit war. Orichalcos is rare, coveted, and nowhere near as pure as the stones once used all throughout their city. But it still exists. And some learned few still know how to use it.

Remember Dartz’s forehead jewel? It’s not just a fashion statement, it’s actually a chunk of orichalcos. And remember who else I said had one?

I mean, we’ve seen from flashbacks what overexposure to this stone when paired with the right magicks can do, right? It turns people into monsters.

And it’s not like we have a magic artifact that is literally called the eye of orichalcum. Or even that both these stories strongly feature a mysterious red rock falling from the sky and heralding the forthcoming evil.

Huh.

This leads to my final piece of evidence:

Anyways, yugioh fanworks should use that fact that Atlantis 100% existed in the ygo world, as well as has been apparently rebuilt/succeeded into a major city, more often. Also, from now on I will be headcanoning Jaden as half Atlantian. Because I can. <3

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 2 years

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Trey, Ruggie: Paint the Town Red

Hell yeah, I was right about the alternating day/night groovies 😳 and Trey’s bouquet still looks like a bunch of leafy greens--

I actually found Trey’s interview really interesting, especially the final question! I really connected with trying to “refine” my imagination and trying to understand the meaning behind all kinds of art. That probably explains why I love analysis so much 🤡

Also, sorry for being late for your birthday, Trey asdgkjvakgssdvasd I WAS DISTRACTED BY THE GLORIOUS MASQUERADE

A Boy in Bloom, and his Flowering Future.

“What’s one thing you hope to do this upcoming year?”

Trey paused, considering his options. “I guess I’d try to appreciate more art? I go to museums back home, but there’s probably a bunch of work that I haven’t seen yet.”

“Art?” Ruggie’s nose scrunched up.

“Ahahah... I can see you’re not a fan of it.”

“Well, nothin’ against it, but it’s not really my thing. You can’t get paid to stare at paintings! It’s a kinda luxury that only well-off types look at for fun.” The hyena’s eyes sharpened, carefully parsing through Trey’s worth. “You well-off?”

“What? No, not me.” He held up a hand, easing his interviewer. “I’m not rich. I’m not super into art either, but I just can’t help but be drawn to it. I wonder what the art could mean, what the artist was thinking of when they were creating it.

“My imagination’s not too good, and that can be a problem for visualizing spells. I think of looking at art like I’m trying to train myself to think bigger and better.”

“... Is that even something you can train in the first place? ‘S not like your brain can grow muscles.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Trey’s words trailed off into a brief, nervous laugh. “That’s the problem. I’ve tried lots of things, but I don’t get anywhere with it.”

“Aren’t ‘cha in the same club as Rook-san? You could always ask him for help.” (Ruggie made a face as he gave the suggestion.) “That weirdo can make anything sound all fancy.”

“True, that’s definitely Rook’s… strong suit. But this is something I’d like to figure out for myself. It’s not the same if someone else is there to guide me to the answer.”

“So you’ll go out of your way to help your dorm in Magift and teach’m how to cook, but you won’t take any help for yourself?”

“Pretty much.”

“Huh… You’re pretty selfless, Trey-san.” Ruggie hid a leering smile behind a hand, knowing that he wasn’t the same.

Nothin’ like me. If I can get the same result, it doesn’t matter how I got there. Begging, cheating, stealing—anything to claw toward his prize.

“Is that how you think of me? Well… If it causes less trouble for me in the long run, then sure. I just think it’s practical.”

“… You’re a real square, you know that?” Ruggie rolled his eyes. “No wonder why Riddle keeps you around—and no wonder why your imagination’s crap. You seriously gotta open your mind—”

He vaguely gestured upward.

Trey looked.

The sky was a dark tapestry woven with sparkling stars, the moon a milky jewel. It was a marvelous night straight out of a painting.

Trey held his breath, waiting for something wonderful to happen. For something to finally click into place, for him to suddenly understand.

It didn’t.

“—to the possibilities.”

“It’s the sky.”

“That’s one possibility.” Ruggie cocked a cheeky grin. “Back home, there’s a story about how the great kings of the past watch over us from up there. And all the stars? Those’re the people that’ve passed on. That’s… another possibility.”

Trey lifted a brow. Had his ears deceived him, or had there been a slight hesitation in the hyena’s voice?

“Ruggie, could it be that…”

He was cut off by an explosion of flowers thrusted at his face. Tufts of hydrangeas, young clovers and chrysanthemums, glossy leaves, all in shades of green.

Trey blinked, bewildered.

“You shouldn’t keep’m waiting,” Ruggie insisted, his head poking out from the birthday bouquet broom. He shoved it into his upperclassman’s hands. “I bet they’re lookin’ to wish you a happy birthday too.”

… No. No, he couldn’t ask it and ruin the moment. Trey swallowed and shoved the question down.

“The great kings of the past, right?” Trey nodded, tipping his wizarding cap. “I’ll let them know you said hi. They’ll be happy to hear from you.”

Ruggie’s mouth wobbled before deciding to settle with a slight frown and a sigh. “There you go again, worrying about others instead of yourself.” The hyena clapped Trey on the back. “Hurry up and get going, or the party food’s gonna be stale when you get back.”

“Alright, alright, I’m off. Don’t wait up for me.”

“I won’t!! I’m gonna be busy stuffing my face.”

Trey found himself chuckling at the ease with which Ruggie responded, whisking away the last of his nerves. A cool autumn breeze ran along his neck, cutting at a sharp angle—and, following it, he came upon the sky again.

The same old thing.

But bright blue on the days when Heartslabyul held its unbirthday parties. The clouds were stretches thin then, like white taffy being pulled apart and melting deliciously upon the tongue.

Red as roses at sunset, the light popped and bleeding into the horizon as they cleared their things up, packing the decorations away for another day. Red, the color most loved by the queen. Like the strawberries Riddle adored.

The rosy pinks and peaches of dawn, the violets and blues of dusk, gold from the sun.

It’s still the sky, but it’s constantly changing, Trey realized.

So vibrant, he could almost taste them. As bright and as sweet as citrus drops. The stars, now looking like they were crafted of silvery sugar.

“… Someday, I’ll understand it.”

Why the night sky is sprinkled with sugar stars.

Calm down, take a deep breath, summon all your strength… and seek my own answers!

With that promise nestled to his chest, Trey launched into the air in a shower of sparkles. Stray petals trailed after him, glowing in the moonlight.

Painting the college in his colors.

#Trey Clover #Ruggie Bucchi #twst #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland imagines #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland scenarios #Trey birthday takeover #something no one asked for #spoilers #yes I made an Ib reference in this #Ib is iconic

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bookishardor · 11 months

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A Last Journey to Lorien~

Or, A Dream Comes True Again.

In October 2019 I wrote a short blog entry about a course of events that I could owe to a book I pulled from a box in eleven years earlier.

The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters set the trajectory of my life on that otherwise unremarkable day, and the knowledge that I simply skipped home none the wiser of how deeply it and its author would affect my life still gives me goosebumps.

I have looked back at that moment countless, and at all the moments that stemmed from it, with elated and sometimes stupefied astonishment. Moments that include choosing to attend Hood College because I read MPM lived in Frederick and had an honorary degree from that institution, pursuing my budding interest in archaeology/art history and Egyptology, and even traveling to Egypt.

After graduating college, I discovered and helped cultivate the most amazing community of fans on Twitter, and through that channel TeamRamses and Beth Mertz, MPM’s daughter. The two of them have been such joys to get to know and talk to on social media, the main forum for the MPM fans I know. It’s not often I run across people who know the books in real life, so being able to talk to fans from around the world online is important to me.

Funnily enough, it is rarer for me to find casual fans of MPM’s work than it is for me to find people who actually knew her.

In 2017 with the launch of The Painted Queen, I met the owner of Wonder Book, Chuck, who had been dear friends with MPM, as well as Ray and Jay, Egyptologists who not only knew MPM, but also purchased and moved into her Frederick home a few years after her death.

Eventually I would come to work at Wonder Book, and in that fateful October of 2019, I was invited to see the house and gardens, MPM’s Lorien.

One might suppose with that jewel in my proverbial crown, that this would be the end of a superbly lovely and incredible tale.

Oh, Dear Reader, it was not the end.

At the end of April of this year, I had the privilege to attend Malice Domestic—an annual conference of mystery writers and readers. TeamRamses and myself were kindly invited by Beth to be a part of the fun in honoring her mother, and while I was only able to be there for that Saturday’s events, I had the most wonderful time.

I brought along my mother and one of my best friends—my roommate from college actually, so you could say I kind of owe MPM even more for the push that had me attending Hood—and we had a blast listening to the panels and walking the book room. You all likely know how hard it was for me to not snatch up a million books to buy in that room…

And then it was time for the panel. And here is where I met TeamRamses for the first time in person. There is something so special about meeting someone who loves a book series and author just as much as you do, even if online, and then to finally be able to hug and talk face to face. And TeamRamses is so easy to talk to, and so insightful about books and fandom. Chatting with her on the balcony outside later in the evening while we waited for the banquet was delightful. We talked books and television, and brought up all of our favorite topic: Who is your dream Amelia Peabody cast? Maybe we can run a panel on that someday. Or better yet, a panel about a show itself! Wishful thinking, I know.

The authors gathered on the panel for MPM discussed her amazing characters and her lasting influence over their own works. As soon as Gigi Pandian opened the discussion on Amelia, with an introduction along the lines of, “Peters’ most famous and beloved heroine” I felt a suspicious tingling in my eyes. As Amelia might say, just a bit of dust, nothing more!

But truthfully, I felt briefly overwhelmed. It’s been nearly 10 years since MPM’s passing, but being in a roomful of people celebrating her and thinking of Amelia and seeing her so vividly in my mind as I have for 15 years, sort squeezed the breath from me for a second. All of this culminated when we all realized that Barbara Rosenblatt, the voice of Amelia, was in the crowd and graciously answered a fan’s question, and illuminated us all on MPM’s more mischievous side.

When it was time for the banquet later that evening, I was seated at the same table as Gigi Pandian and some of MPM’s old friends; her veterinarian and her husband and son. It definitely still hits me in hindsight, how incredibly lucky I was to have gotten that seat. To be able to talk to an author so influenced by MPM. To hear first-hand accounts from the friends that knew her so well, including a riveting tale involving a treed raccoon and some rather presumptuous hunters. I have added each little detail I’ve picked up from her friends to my ever-increasing regard for the woman. In hearing these stories, I know I am beyond fortunate.

At the next table, Beth and TeamRamses sat with Beth’s family and Chuck. Barbara Rosenblatt was also in their set, and when I turned suddenly to find Chuck standing with her at my side…Reader, you should have seen how wide my eyes got. I could feel them become starry saucers. I shook her hand and thanked her—in my mind for all of the beautiful narration she has done for the Amelia books and beyond—though in reality it probably looked like I was just thanking her for standing next to me. Let’s be honest, I kind of was. Chalk one up for me being completely calm and smooth, certainly. If you ever read this, Barbara, I promise I’m more eloquent when I’m not star-struck!

Unfortunately, I was unable to stay for the entire award ceremony that night, but I took with me so much from that dinner and the people I shared it with. To them I also wish to say, “Thank you.”

The drive home gave me time to reflect. What a wonderful day. What a wonderful gathering of people. What a wonderful woman MPM had been. I turned to my friend, not for the first time that day mind you, and asked, “So when are you gonna read Amelia?”

On the following Sunday I was invited, along with my mother and TeamRamses, to visit Lorien again once more before Ray and Jay move.

Now, as I said before, I’d been to Lorien once, in the fall of 2019. But coming around that corner and seeing the house on that little rise again…

At this rate, I feel most everyone has seen photos of the house and gardens. I don’t know if I could paint that same scene with words that can’t be gleaned from those images. If you have not seen the photos, you can likely Google the real-estate listing, or find it on the Facebook fan page: Another Shirt Ruined. I recommend it; they’re a feast for the eyes.

Nothing I say could do it justice, but there are a few things that can’t be extricated from photos, and I’ll do my best to explain here.

Once the visual beauty and appeal of the home has settled around you the next thing you notice is the scent. In fact, you may notice it as soon as you enter the solarium, but the architecture and bright glass walls of the room dazzle, where the smell calms. It permeates the air until you can’t help but pay attention, until it ensconces itself in your memory. Weeks later and I can still recall it; I think I always will be able to.

I’m not exactly sure what it was entirely. Lavender, undoubtedly, as Jay had it hanging in the kitchen, but also the earthy smells of the garden and trees outside. And perhaps, the stone itself imparted a lingering trace of aroma. The overall effect was dreamy and sweet and I could only imagine many a quiet, rainy day in that room, sipping coffee and dozing while the rain ran down the windows and accentuated the smell of the air.

The next thing you notice is the love.

It’s in the very bones of that house. It’s in MPM’s desk and chair that were still in situ. It’s in the bookshelves and artwork and posters that were still hanging in the rooms and up the stair case. It’s in the custom Egyptian murals of the bathroom and the tiles on the kitchen floor and backsplash. And of course, it’s in the gardens; where beloved pets were buried and where so much time and care was given to creating a paradise. It’s in the stories I heard about gatherings and exploits her friends and family recalled.

And that’s where the love was most. In the people that gathered at the open house that day.

As we all walked the rooms of the home, listening to Beth and asking questions, I know we all fell into pockets of personal reverie. Where we could just imagine the life of the woman who’d lived there, who’d filled each room with her blazing personality. It felt like that I had actually met her before, in a sense. And it felt like I could turn a corner and find her there, petting a cat or tending a plant, or writing away at her desk.

After a tour of the house, TeamRamses, my mother, and I took a turn through the garden, ruminating on all the reasons why it would be so easy to never leave the property. It’s simply idyllic, even in the misty weather of that day.

And love was to be found lastly in the performance given by Barbara Rosenblatt.

As a delightful treat for all of us, before she had to drive back up to NYC, Barbara read an except from The Curse of the Pharaohs, the second book in the Amelia Peabody series. Fans will know the scene well—where Amelia and Emerson return to Evelyn’s to collect their progeny…little baby Walter Peabody Emerson.

Ramses, to those of us who know him best.

It was surreal to stand there in MPM’s home and listen to Barbara read. I’m still in a daze thinking about it. A little teary, too. I never gave audio books the time of day until I thought to try the Amelia recordings as a reread method. And to hear her voice come alive in the home where so many of the stories were written? To hear Emerson bellow and Evelyn laugh, to hear baby Ramses proclaim in somber, serious tones, “it is a femuw. A femuw of a winocowus…”

I have said before that somewhere in my mind and heart, I am always in the desert of Amarna with Amelia and Emerson. The first book in the series is my favorite for so many reasons, least of which is the nostalgia and peace it brings me. My original copy is well loved, and I know pieces of it by heart. Part of me is sitting with them at the fire, looking at the stars and listening to the jackals, chiding Walter and Evelyn’s young love, and scoffing at Lucas. Part of me is always snickering at the feelings brewing between Amelia and Emerson, even as he sets his own pocket on fire and she bosses him around.

In the same vein, I know part of me will always be standing in that solarium with MPM’s nearest and dearest, listening to Barbara read. The smell of lavender, rain, and stone in the air, the sound of all our laughter, and the sense of MPM just out of eyeshot, chuckling with us all.

I write my own story, from time to time. I’m not very disciplined with it, at least, not as much as I used to be. I have varying feelings about it, and I don’t imagine it will ever be much more than a tale of my own whimsy. But I do feel like every time I add even a little bit to it, that I’m adding to a love letter to MPM. And I do think I could add endlessly to a love letter to MPM. Writing my story, reading her books, talking to fans and friends on Twitter—it’s my way of saying thank you, thank you, thank you a million times over to an author I owe so much to.

So does the story end with the last visit to Lorien, the last glimpse into the sanctuary of a woman I can only wish to have met? Maybe. But so many things have happened these last 15 years that can find threads trailing back to my decision to read that book.

I can’t wait to see where she leads me next.

#amelia peabody #elizabeth peters #mpm #barbara mertz #barbara michaels #mine #blog post #essay

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idwsonicmegareview · 18 days

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A collective sigh of relief for Sonic and friends – 2019 Annual

So maybe you’re a new comic book reader or a parent looking into IDW’s Sonic book for your child. “Annuals” are extra long special release books that come out once a year and may or may not tie into the storyline going on in the main book. The Sonic 2019 Annual fits between issues 12 and 13, after the Metal Sonic story arc but before the Metal Virus saga.

It contains five child-friendly and heartwarming stories in the Sonic world with colorful art and some fan-favorite characters.

Bonds of Friendship

The first story in this collection opens not with Sonic but with our new comic-exclusive characters.

Whisper visits Tangle in Spiral Hill Village and is introduced to Jewel the Beetle, Tangle’s childhood friend. She and Jewel used to go on little adventures together and collected a number of gems and treasures, which Jewel now displays in a museum she is the curator of.

Just as the girls are all getting acquainted, the Babylon Rogues break in and raid the place. Storm accidentally abducts Jewel, thinking that she is actually a giant gemstone. Tangle and Whisper team up to save her and in the process humiliate the Babylon Rogues and get the gems back.

All in all, a very charming and cute adventure that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Also, as a fan, it’s nice to see the Babylon Rogues return since they’ve always been exclusive to the Sonic Riders series. We did see Sonic and Knuckles ride their extreme gear in the Battle for Angel Island, so we could infer that Riders is included in the continuity but this really seals it.

Being penned by Ian Flynn, this story serves mainly to flesh out more of Tangle’s backstory and to develop her close relationship with Whisper going forward. Having just introduced these characters less than a dozen issues ago in the comic’s run, they’re the ones most in need of new content so it makes sense.

Also Jewel will be an important character going forward, so readers would benefit from seeing her debut in 2019 Annual before digging into the next story arc.

The art by Jennifer Hernandez was much more charming in this story than it was in “Fallout!” and I think her art style was better suited to this kind of jokey adventure.

Jet Set Tornado

Sonic and Tails go for a test flight on the Tornado with a new booster rocket attached. In a unique twist, Sonic is piloting the biplane instead of Tails because Sonic is better suited to maneuvering at high speed. Plus, it’s a nice reminder that the Tornado was actually Sonic’s plane, not Tails’.

Their test flight is interrupted by a badnik but the two manage to take the winged machine down and fly off into the sunset. Sonic asks Tails to take over the yoke because it’s more relaxing for him to ride. Besides, you have to go slow to land.

This story was great for showing Sonic and Tails’ close relationship and how much they believe in each other. Writer Caleb Goellner managed to squeeze a charming story into very few pages and artist Jack Lawrence effectively used a clean art style and uncluttered panels to communicate all the needed visual information without any of it looking simplistic.

Victory Garden

This one is by far my favorite story of the bunch.

Blaze the Cat goes looking for Silver the Hedgehog in the ruins of a town, presumably one bombed during the Eggman War. She finds him trying to plant a garden in a crater, but Silver isn’t having any luck with it.

Blaze uses her fire powers to burn the weeds away and then tells Silver to turn the ashes into the soil to nourish his garden and sure enough, he soon has a flourishing garden of sunflowers, tomatoes, and carrots.

This story is both somber and heartwarming. And it re-establishes the friendship between Silver and Blaze. Longtime fans will know that their relationship is a bit canonically muddled, but they make a good team so I’m glad to see their friendship rebooted here.

I also loved that Blaze would know the role fire can have in renewing plant life, considering her magical attunement to fire. Silver, coming from a post-apocalyptic future, would naturally be attracted to gardens and vibrant plant life but wouldn’t know the first thing about gardening.

Curse of the Pyramid

Our bandits, Rough and Tumble, search for Eggman’s pyramid base and the treasure that waits within.

They don’t expect to run into Rouge the Bat! She’s searching for the same thing, of course, because of her addiction to jewels. Tumble tries to throw her off their trail using his powerful stink but while running away from Rouge stumbles into the Egg Golem (from Sonic Adventure 2!)

While the goons fight the Golem, Rouge goes to find the control unit to disable it but stumbles onto something else! She comes back covered in mummy bandages warning them of the pyramid’s curse!

Rough and Tumble run for it and then it’s revealed that Rouge isn’t actually cursed, she just dressed as a mummy to scare the idiots off. It turns out a group of animals moved into the pyramid after Eggman moved out and they use the “curse” to ward off thieves.

I think it’s hilarious that Eggman is constantly building these unique bases all over the world, and even hides treasure in some of them, but will abandon them at the drop of a hat.

I also like when Sonic characters use their more unique abilities in fun ways because it’s one of the series’ strengths. Even among children’s media, most don’t have a colorful cast both this large and with varied powers. Seeing Rough and Tumble actually use their stink as skunks makes perfect sense and gives them a unique attack when needed.

Sonic Fan Club

The last story of the 2019 annual is a meeting of the Sonic the Hedgehog fan club.

The meeting quickly devolves into a struggle for power as the kids argue about who should be club president. They begin trying to embody different virtues of Sonic to prove they deserve to be president.

They go for a foot race to see who’s the fastest, roll into balls just like Sonic, and fight a badnik to prove they’re brave like Sonic.

The Egg Pawn proves to be too much for them to handle and Tangle steps in to help. Of course, Tangle says they should have a Tangle fan club instead but because she got too distracted, she ends up tangling herself up in her tail and humiliating herself.

As a kid who grew up with Sonic, there’s nothing more charming than the idea of a bunch of kids having a Sonic fan club. I had a stupid grin on my face for the entire story.

The Verdict

The 2019 Annual is a cute little special to pick up but maybe not required reading for IDW Sonic. Kids could pick up this book and understand everything going on without any of the context of the previous 12 issues, but it will enrich their reading going forward.

#idw sonic #sonic the hedgehog

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gaeldricge · 11 months

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🌟 My Masterpost 🌟

I’m starting to lose track of my own blog so I decided it’s about time I created a masterpost. This is a blog for all of my fan-obsessions. As it happens I mostly ship rarepairs. The crown jewel of these ships is Grayson x Mel - a wlw rarepair ship I launched myself 🥰 They’re perfect! Please take a look at the fantastic fanart @beelzeebub - if you’re looking for someone to trust your commission(s) with, I highly recommend them!!! - has made for me so far 😉

My current ships:

Grayson x Mel (Arcane) - !!!Fanart!!! Portrait, Kiss, Cowgirl [nsfw]

Minerva x Poppy (Harry Potter)

Alicent x Rhaenys (Fire & Blood/House of the Dragon)

Flemeth x Female!Warden (Dragon Age)

You will find that I enjoy many more ships, however, these are my current obsessions about which I want to talk about mostly.

~~ Please note: my inbox is always open ~~

Currently working on these prompts:

Grayson x Mel

Insecurities

Cooking together

Proposal

Alicent x Rhaenys

Dancing

Sick days

+ Rhaenys & Baelon & Viserra hc

Flemeth x Female!Warden

Sneaking glances & cooking together

Completed content (fics and headcanons):

Grayson x Mel

HC: nightmares

HC: Grayson appearance, family & romance

FIC: Something New Has Begun | AO3

FIC: Angstpril 2022 #2 Can’t Go Home

FIC: Angstpril 2022 #3 Miscommunication [cw: character death]

FIC: You Look Better in my Clothes

FIC: Falling Asleep with Each Other

FIC: Grayson vs. Ambessa

FIC: On Your Knees, Councillor! [NSFW] | AO3

HC: Mel taking care of Grayson

HC: Seeing each other cry for the first time

HC: Relationship prompts

HC: Some of my favourite headcanons from 2022

FIC: Pregnancy

HC: Grayson Being Corny Part 1

HC: Dating App AU

FIC: We Could Run Away

Aesthetic: Grayson survives

HC: One-Night Stand AU

HC: Mermaid AU

HC: Coffee-shop AU

HC: Just-moved-in-next-door AU

HC: Relationship prompts

HC: Grayson’s Teenage Years

FIC: Grayson Takes Mel to the Undercity

Minerva x Poppy

HC: Relationship prompts 1

HC: Relationship prompts 2

HC: Relationship prompts 3

FIC: An Accident in Transfiguration

HC: Relationship prompts 4

HC: Relationship prompts 5

HC: Relationship prompts 6

HC: Random hcs

FIC: “Here, You Look Hungry”

FIC: Dementor Attack

FIC: “Twins?...We’re Having Twins??”

FIC: "I think you Might be pregnant”

FIC: “Don’t Be Stupid”

FIC: The Tales of Minerva and Poppy AO3

Alicent x Rhaenys

Art: pencil drawing by me

FIC: The Dagger (A Rhaenys & Alysanne story)

FIC: Come Dawn, Tonight Will Be a Memory | AO3 [rated M]

HC: Rhaenys family hcs

HC: Rhaenys x Alicent ship it

#my masterpost #grayson arcane #mel medarda #grayson x mel #minerva mcgonagall #poppy pomfrey #minerva x poppy #rhaenys targaryen #alicent hightower #rhaenys x alicent #flemeth #female warden #flemeth x fem!warden #arcane #arcane: league of legends #fire and blood #house of the dragon #dragon age #rarepairs

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